Elder Christensen: Letter 5/6/13 "One LOVE, Bob Marley"

Well this week was Awesome have some good news on Martin and Alecia. After the blessing and all the events that took place in her downtime and reading the Book of Mormon like crazy they are wanting to move their wedding day forward! :) My comp and I will be the witnesses for their wedding and the only thing we are waiting on is paperwork for the wedding, which should be coming this week or next week.  So I'm super excited for that! I didn't think I'd be here for that and I will be so that's awesome !!!  This Sunday we got to be with Martin and Alecia for their daughters 2nd birthday and that was a blast. Yhey are so much fun. I can't wait to see them when I come back to visit !!

 

Oh and according to Apples to Apples, I'm Healthy, Cool, Sexy, Depressing, Glorious, Funny, Loveable, Worthless, and Desperate ha ha ha (We always take the cards that we win and they suposedly describe you) Hope you enjoyed your week and the NBA playoffs as the Heat will be winning it again this year!

Transfers are May 22nd, just 2 days before my birthday so that's a bummer if I go. I hope I stay but we will see what happens?  It rained, no joke, all week other than Monday. We went to the Zoo and played some golf with Brother Marco. It was a super P-Day !! We did more service on Wednesday for the Tornado. I used a chain saw and cut more trees and had the youth carry them off. Fun stuff, but hard work !!

 

We set another baptism date with Dorris Carter for Mothers Day, but I feel she will want to push that back more. We will see how that goes but that would be a cool Mothers day !!

 
I was thinking a lot this week about how I can continue to improve both as a missionary and a Human being and through all my diligent studying and praying this was what I got.  The biggest stumbling block to the missionary work is self. Self that refuses to sacrifice. Self that refuses to give. Self that refuses to go. Forget Yourself :) - Elder Christensen. So I'll be trying to do better at this for the next year. Hope I get there! :)

I love You all!

Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 4/15/13 Tornado time

Well this week I got to see my 1st ever tornado. Those things are crazy and deadly! I have no clue how people can live where they happen so often!! This one was really close to our apartment and the church. Luckily both didn't get hit. Tons of homes by the church are ripped in half, which is sad!! Full grown trees were thrown into homes and street lights are long gone. We lost power for 24 hours and some areas had no power for the whole week!! We did get to do some service finally though. We helped neighbors cut trees and haul them off and this Sunday we helped put together food and clothing kits with the Radichels and the Ringling family at the Hazelwood elementary school. Nothing would have gotten done if the Mormon crew did show up! No joke. They had no clue what they needed to do!! 

Also this Sunday, Dorris Carter, our investigator got up and bore her testimony. It was great! Then at the end of her testimony she said, "I would like to thank God for my missionaries he has given me. I would like to say they is the most handsome Elders I've ever seen!" Everyone busted up laughing including me. Ha! Ha! She is a character for sure!! Hopefully we will be getting her dunked soon.:)  We also taught a part member family on Friday for FHE and talked about the structure of the church and how the Book of Mormon came to be. Her 2 little kids loved it, especially Kiara. She is so cute! She is 8 years old and loves art.:)  

This month has been going by super fast cant believe I'm almost 20 years old! I'll no longer be in my teenage years:/

Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 4/8/13 Stayin here

Well, good news! I'm staying for another transfer. :)  General Confrence was great. I really enjoyed all the talks. I really could realate to president Monson's talk when he shared the story of almost burning down all the cabins and pine trees.That sounds a lot like something I would've done!! 

 

This week people were super talkative on the busses, but only to me. My comp didn't get much action there for some reason.  I was very happy. I got to teach 6 other lessons within 3 buses. Pretty cool! One of them used to be a former investigator and we wouldn't know that because some really dumb missionaries before us threw away all the records of the area. I hope they get their just reward for that deed!:) Sam is the former investigator in whom I'm talking about and she is way cool. I talked with her about the plan of salvation and she just ate that up!! She really wanted a book of mormon so we gave her one and will be meeting with her this Thursday, :) 

 

We had a great dinner with the Radichel family and this was the last time we will be seeing their foreign exchange student from Germany. Hopefully she has learned tons from the Radichels and the great example they are for our ward. Maybe she will taking the lessons in the future now, or at least stop the missionaries when she sees them?  The work is picking up out here. Our area will be getting cut in half this Wednesday, but I made sure that we kept some of the ghetto for us too. Ha! Ha! Hopefully we get some good Elders and a car!! I have taken over the duties of basketball on Tuesday so we can teach those non-memebers and get them rolling. I'm so mad that it just stopped and never came back, so I'm making it happen lol. I bought a new ball last week, and got a key for the hoops on its way! :)

 

I have learned a lot about myself this last transfer and its been almost more than I can handle. I'm so thankful for my Father in Heaven, and for my friends and family who write me. I won't ever forget these letters and emails and when I get home you will be the 1st people I hold in my arms!!  I love you all and hope you are enjoying this Spring and getting ready for this summer. :)

Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 3/25/13 It's Snowtime

Well this week we got hammered by a thunder snow storm. Pretty cool to watch! Got to do lots of service shoveling peoples walks for them. I don't think anyone here was ready for that storm. They where trying to use brooms and dirt shovels haha! I was like ohhhh myyyy!!  We only had a 15 minute church this week because the storm was getting so hard that people wouldn't be able to get home but we still had the sacrament so that was good!!:)  Then we went to the Radichel's for dinner and lunch and games. We hung out there all day. I can't say how much I love that family. They make me feel like I'm at home. They are so much fun!!

 

Earlier in the week we went to contact some referrals and we met Shambria. She's 20 years old she's been a Pharmacy Tech for about 2 years so her and I really hit it off, and we taught her the restoration with her brother Marco and he was so excited for the chance to bear his testimony. It was really cool!!  His testimony was very simple and I could feel the spirit just sink into Shambria and she began to tear up and said "thank you so much for coming by can I call you guys next week for when I can meet? I'm moving into a new place," and its in our area HECK yes! Also Martin and Alecia where super sick all week last week and they got better and we met with them on Thursday with Brother Kipp and taught them about faith and how to increase both ours and others faith.  His uncle came out of his coma so that's another miracle that he was able to see.  I was blessed with the opportunity to give a blessing to a young man in the ward, Eric McCowin. He is in the final stretch of his chemotherapy. He is such a trooper! He will be a great missionary!!

 

Also this week on Tuesday I was able to receive a letter from one of my best friends Karli Augat. Her letters are just pure Awesomeness. They have way good drawings, glitter and she is the same funny crazy person I loved hanging out with it. It was nice to hear from her :) I really need that letter. This week has been a hard one on me with my SD card missing, people dieing, dates falling through, and I just haven't been myself lately, but I'm gonna turn that around as soon as I can!! 

 

Julie, a member from my last area, came up with her family and talked with me about Amanda and her temple experiences there.  She also said its crazy that the 4 women she knew at the temple 3 of them where found, taught, and baptized because of me, so that was way cool to hear :) Those 3 were Amanda, Grandma Hurley, and Barbara.  Amanda also talked with Julie and the Bishop and she is starting her papers for her mission. She wants to SERVE A MISSION! How cool is that? Next January she will be able to go!! ASL missions are way cool too. They get transferred from state to state or anywhere in the world. So cool !! Well I love you all and wish you the best!

Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 03/18/13 Muddin'

So this week was an ok week. A lot of our appointments fell through which wasn't fun, but it got better by the end of the week... So we got to do some awesome service this week. We helped Brother Brooke's move from his old house to a newer one still in the ward. When we got there, the U-haul was stuck in his neighbors lawn up to the front axle in mud. I saw this and thought of all the stupid pictures on Google of people who park on bridges and boats and their car is messed over!  I came up with the idea that if we load all the heavy boxes over the back wheels and get another truck pulling from the rear we could get it out and over the curb where it was high centered. Sure enough it worked and we where able to provide the service we where there for. I love helping people move on my mission. It feels a lot like what I did at home ha ha!

 

We also found a new flea market this week just off the freeway. It's in storage units and pretty ghetto, but they have tons of nice stuff, so it will be harder for me to save my money now ha ha! They have Dr.Dre Beats for $30, Affliction pants and Jordans way cheap but I'm holding out the best I can!! I did by some new B-Ball shoes for $20, Jordan Aero Flights. They looked a lot like my dream shoes from the movie Space Jam. I'll get to test those today when we play basketball with the Radichel family!!:) 

 

We went tracting a lot this week but nobody was home. Stupid holidays! They ruin missionary work lol! This week I just finished reading Jesus the Christ and that's the longest book I've ever read next to the Bible. I did learn a lot from that book about our Savior and his life. I'm a little bit more angry towards Jews now though because in the book it makes it so clear that Jesus is the Christ and they couldn't see that for some reason but its all part of the plan... I've read all the books that I wanted to on my mission and now I'm going through the Old Testament and highlighting all the key points in the chapter headings so I will have quick references to whats going on. I've already done this to the New Testament and the Book of Mormon and D&C and the testimonies of the witnesses and the prophets. I've learned so much scripture it blows my mind as to how clueless I was about my church before and now I'm realizing there are many Mormons that don't know anything other than the primary stories lol. But that's why its a lifetime study. You can never know too much about the gospel!! I'm so happy I'm in a state side mission where I can study the Bible instead of another language :)

Another really great thing this week Julie from my last area called me and told me that Amanda and Grandma Hurley both went to the Nauvoo Temple last week and did Baptisms for the dead there for their Grandmothers. They loved the temple so much and couldn't believe how beautiful the building was and the spirit was so strong there!! I'm glad to say that I didn't just put them under the water and that they're truly converted to the gospel:) It doesn't matter if you baptized 200 people if only 10 of them stay active and keep their promises to God. You've really only brought 10 people to Christ. These people aren't just numbers they are souls and my new goal is to do my best to not have any people who fall away!! Julie will be coming up to the city this Saturday to tell me more about how Amanda is doing so that will be great :) I hope everyone is well and I hope to hear from you soon!

Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 03/11/14 Tears may fall but a man will rise!!

Well this week we got some solid new investigators and they are so funny. Ones name is Ladonna and I read her this scripture from the restoration pamphlet and she was like, "ohhhh that scripture was a good spanking for me! That spank is telling me to get in the word!" I was with a member, brother Davidson at the time. Ha! Ha! He got a kick out of that as well. He said, "Elder I've never seen a missionary spank one of their investigators with doctrine before!" Ha! Ha! It was fun!!! 

 

My new comp is awesome but got some bad news this week. He had a girl waiting for him. They've been dating for 3 years and she just wrote him off, so he is super down. I gave him a blessing and I'm keeping him as positive as I can but that's pretty rough!! He has two 3-inch binders full of letters from her, 14 pages a week and all of them say I'll be waiting for you and how much I love you ... I feel so bad for him I'm doing all I can to help him!! I'm so happy none of the girls from home really liked me. It's really kept me focused on the Lords work.:) I've written one letter and I've gotten 1 letter and that's enough for my whole mission! lol. So my advice to anyone who is reading this and preparing for a mission is to get a job and live at the gym so you have no energy for girls or energy to get into trouble!! He talked with president Clark yesterday and he seemed a little better. Then president Clark pulled me aside and said, "Elder Christensen I know you're the missionary that can get him through this. You're one of  the happiest missionaries in this mission and everyone of your companions talks very highly of you. That's why I've moved you all over the place!  There is a lot of missionaries that struggle in this mission and come to see me and want to go home early but after they serve even just 1 transfer with you they are a new man!!" I really had to contain my emotions but I was so happy to hear that from him because I was wondering why I had been moved so much!! I don't think I'm the happiest missionary but I would say I enjoy a lot of the things I've been able to do in my mission!  Everyone says oh the mission is the best 2 years of your life, but I would say they are wrong!! I say the mission is the best 2 years FOR your life! It's by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do but I'm already seeing the long term effects this work has had in my life and those whom I have served with:)

This week Mary sent a way awesome text saying she knows she needs to quit smoking so she can be baptized and reborn in the spirit so she can fully turn her life around. It was so cool reading that! We also met with Martin and Alecia. They are so awesome and prepared. I really hope I can be a part of their baptism. They have definitely found a place in my heart! I love every moment I get to be with them because I can see what great members they will be and the effect it will have on their daughter will be amazing!

Well I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!
Love Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen: Letter 03/04/13 New Comp

Well, this week has been great. Every day after transfers has been a blessing! :) I Love My New Comp. His name is Elder Shivers. He is from Chandler, AZ and he has been on his mission for 20 months. I'm still the Senior Comp which I find very weird!! This week we met with Eric White and had a great lesson and talked about baptism and he said I need to be baptised. I know Ive prayed about it, I just need to figure out how I would get in the font and everything with my medical issues. He has been on bed rest for 10 months. I'm pretty sure he had a problem with his colon and things didn't go to well but we are hoping that we will have him in full health at least able to to be baptised sometime in April. Hopefully I'll be staying here that long!  I've been cursed and haven't been in a area longer than 3 months so we shall see ha ha:) 

 

So our funny black story for the week is Elder Shivers is a pretty tall thin guy. He is 6'4 and about 160 lbs and we were waiting for our bus and this drunk black lady comes up to him and says "Hey there looking for a good time I've got some sauce here for you" Elder Shivers says no its too cold and your drunk lol" Then she says "its cuz I'm black isn't it?"  HAHA! Then she comes up to me and I'm like " Oh DEAR here we go again.... She says "Hey yo friend don't think I'm pretty! What's wrong wit him?" I said, "It's cuz he is white." She then says "you're right, we black people need to stick together!" LOL She was so drunk she thought I was black!! This place gets better and better!!

 

We had alot of great lessons this week and had a lot of support from the ward :) This Sunday was Stake Conference and it was amazing because Elder Hawk from the quorum of the seventy shared a football story and talked about how life is a football game and made a lot of the same connections I did. It was so cool! And I gave my talk a little while a go and Mary said hey you and this guy must know each other huh? She really enjoyed the talks and felt the spirit, so it was a great Sunday :) Then we went to the Radishel's for dinner and it was so much fun. I love that family so much. They remind me so much of my family at home :) We played games with them and enjoyed the company. That's the best way to end the good week !! Well I love you all so much and hope to hear from you soon:)

 

Love Elder Christensen