Pics for "Come and See"

9-15-13 Come and See

Hey everybody! It's been a super good week this week! Elder Anderson and I have been working all kinds of hard! It's still been raining loads. I feel right at home with the good folks of Utah. We have had flooding too. So it's been great! But we also had a mission tour this week. Elder Echo Hawk came and spoke to us. That was way cool! It's always special to have a general authority come and speak. We had some good training there. 

 

But weekly happenings first! First, on Friday night, I was coming downstairs to go to sleep. But I almost walked into a ginormous spider! He was hanging right about head level on above the stairs. I freaked out like a little girl! It scared me so bad! I've seen them in other people's houses, but never in mine! Not cool! So I had to end his life before I could sleep. And then I was pretty paranoid after that. Sigh. Wuss. 

 

We also had another unfortunate happening. Elder Anderson is a pretty good cook. He is learning me up in the ways of Filipino cooking. On Friday, he made my very favorite; Bicol Express. Nothing better. I love it!! So we bought it all up. He prepared it all. Cooked for about an hour. It was all ready. Smelling great. And then, all that was left was to move it all to the table. But, in the 4 feet of space between the stove and the table, the pan broke. Bicol express....on the floor. And the walls. And the beds. It went far! nearly made it out the front door! And thus, we didn't eat it! It was so sad! And very disheartening for my poor comp. 

 

And yesterday! We had a baptism! Our wonderful Jose couple got baptized! It was a wonderful experience. They really get it too. They have made changes in their lives. It's awesome! 

 

So at the mission tour, we talked a bit about getting the members involved. Members includes all y'all! So I will hit you with what I've got! So, Alma 5:33 - All are invited to come unto Christ. But an interesting thought here. How are they invited? Each missionary can probably ask a couple hundred people. Maybe the general authorities can invite a few thousand. But there are billions of people in this world. How do we get the invite to all of them? Here's how! 

John 1:39 - The apostles all go out and invite others to come and see. The people they invite in turn go and invite yet others to come and see. Basically, all that come to know the gospel and the Savior need to invite others to come and see. 

1 Nephi 8:10-12 - The fruit makes us happy. Makes us desirous that our family (and friends) should partake also. Once we have partaken, we will be desirous to share it with others. 

D&C 18:10,15 - The worth of souls is great. We need to share the gospel with everyone! 

Alma 29:9-10 - When we share the gospel with others and see them change and come to the Savior, we feel joy. The joy from sharing the gospel is incredible! I can promise you that! 

2 Nephi 26:33 - All are invited to come unto the Savior. None are turned away. 

We also have been given a nice example of how to do it. The church has the Work of Salvation videos, I think on lds.org. You see the example of how families can share the gospel with those around them. I recommend watching those with the family and discussing what you can do as a family to share the gospel with others. Miracles follow our faith. Wishing does nothing. The Lord expects action. The only way to bring others unto the gospel is to go and do it! I know that if we will pray for opportunities to share the gospel, they will come. And as we act on them in faith, the Lord will help us to be the means of bringing the blessing of the gospel to others. I hope you all will catch the vision and share with those around you! 

 

Pics. We've got me and my comp getting our Filipino squat on. Then us at our wonderful baptism!! Jose Family!!! Then me and some of my wonderful folks I ran into from Ampid Ward! Being in Montalbon again is wonderful!!! You know what everyone from Ampid says? I'm sooo skinny. Man. Rough, eh? But better than fat!!! And then I ran into a sister that just came back from her mission in Hawaii. Turns out, I actually ran into her in the MTC 18 months ago. She was very excited when she found out where I was headed. Turned out my first area was in her state! And then I came back to the same stake! And then ran into her. It was crazy! Cool, eh? Sorry, not much on pics today. We were working a lot! Not much on pics. 

 

Excellent week though! I'm glad that you're all doing well! Be missionaries! Have a great week!

 

Much love, 

 

Elder Christensen

 

Pics for "Either"

09-09-13 "Either One of You Make It Across that Sink Hole..."

You get the sloth. That's right losers, take one step and you're dead! ...You were bluffing huh? Yeah, that was a bluff. 

Well folks, that may have been a bluff, but this isn't. "I was afraid that you'd be angry!!!" That would be Oscar. I still got it! BUT! Don't be angry. I have no time. I'm going to send pics and put a little down here, but I have to go so it won't be much. Just be happy and know there will be more to come next week! 

It's been an awesome week! We are teaching like crazy! We stay soo busy. Lots of people to teach. We have a baptism this week for a crazy awesome couple. Hopefully their two kids will follow soon. We also have a mission tour coming up this week! Elder Echo Hawk will be coming out to lay down the good word on all of us. It will be way cool! 

We have also been OYMing and tracting some pretty big houses. Hopefully that will yield some good fruit. But we will see! Ahh! I have no time! I'm soo sorry! This probably takes the cake for the worst email ever. But I do have some pics!

More pics of the area. It's just beautiful! I can't help it! You'll probably get a lot of those. Elder Anderson and I in the middle of a rice field with sunset going on behind us. Not bad. Hm. Pics are loading really slow. Can't be a good thing. A few sunset pics. And a rice field. My comp enjoying the sunset. And the sunset all alone, just to make you all jealous of how completely beautiful it is here. I know. Don't be sad. But it's pretty sweet here. 

That's all folks! Don't kick me off the will or put me on the black list. I'll shoot for something better next week! Take care and be good!

Much love, 

Elder Christensen

Pics for "lil cloud"

2013-09-01 "Come on lil cloud, you can do it!"

Well, I'm not sure what happened to the rain, but it's gone. GONE! Someone had told me that we had a new storm coming through the area, but I'm not sure what happened to that. It's been nothing but blazing hot the last few days! And I don't know if you know, but blazing hot days make for stinky missionaries. Or at least one particular stinky missionary. Ah yeah, the quote. All who got it, cheers for you. If you didn't, that my friends would be Holes. I feel like I'm in the desert digging holes. I know how they feel. But don't be fooled! Tis not a complaint! I do happen to enjoy heat as well. Ha, kind of. 

But goodness, it's been a good week. I said goodbye to Elder Jensen and the kids and headed out for Montalbon. Sad to see Valenzuela go. I loved it there! But at the same time, it is nice to be back in Montalbon. It's a little weird. Kind of like being back in training again. I have an older companion. Elder Anderson. The man is solid! He is so cool! It's also his last transfer. He will be teaching me loads. The man is full of knowledge and wisdom that I will be happy to take from him. It's the first time I've had a companion older than me in the mission for a long time and it's kind of nice! It's been humbling. I realize how much I still need to do to improve! It's going to be a very good transfer in that way. He is also loads of fun, so we will probably enjoy ourselves. And our area is awesome! Good things on the horizon folks. 

I got here and we got right to work. Great thing about transferring is that you spend your first couple of days completely lost. I never have any idea where I am. And it takes me a few visits to get to know the people. For instance, most of the people that we taught this week, I saw at church. I only recognized a few of them. But it's been awesome! Elder Anderson works hard. We have been constantly on the go. We have spent a lot of time finding less active people. They are all over the place! We are teaching a lot of cool people. We have a family here that will be getting baptized in a few weeks. It's been awesome! 

We had a lesson that we were teaching with a LA sister about the plan of salvation. Then, she somehow brought up the fact that she is addicted to coffee, but how that can't be all that important because it's only something that is physical. Elder Anderson talked about how all commandments that affect us physically, also affect us spiritually. We helped her understand that breaking commandments doesn't just hurt her body, but it hurts her spirit. That was a great lesson! She has been almost a week now without coffee. Bore her testimony about it yesterday in sacrament meeting. It was great! 

I'm way looking forward to the work here. The people are wonderful. The area is beautiful! We have an exciting next couple of weeks. We have a mission tour coming up in about 2 weeks. Elder Echo Hawk will be coming to speak to our mission. Lots of preparation to do for that. 

Sorry there is not a lot here this week. It's been a pretty crazy week. Next week, I'll have more for you. But first, pics!

Pics. First is me and Elder Jensen on my way out. And then a few pics of the area. Ah! This area is beautiful!!! Then us at temple tour with our killer awesome investigator family. And then some of the Valenzuela ward that I ran into at temple tour. 

Now we are finished. Thanks for all the love and support. Keep doing the things you're supposed to do. Read your scriptures! 

Much love, 

Elder Christensen