Hola!
Just a reminder that those who want to send any missionary (especially sister missionaries who are in Peru) a quick email can do so through www.DearElder.com. I think you just put the name of the missionary (Susan Christensen) and the name of the mission (Peru Lima North) and they send it to the mission office and print it off. Then, I get to read your letters!
Mini-Dialogue (Teaching Neida the law of chastity)
Hna. C- Do you know what the word “castidad” or chastity means?
Neida- I think it comes from the word “castigo”, or punishment.
Hna. C- (thinking quickly) Some people might consider it to be a punishment, but I like to think of it as a synonym of the word “caridad” or charity. If you live this law of sexual purity before marriage and complete fidelity after marriage, you will have more charity and love within your family and in your life!
Neida- But it's almost impossible to find people who still practice and live that standard.
Hna. Duarte- But, what do you really believe is the correct thing to do?
Neida- (pause)Wait to have relations after marriage.
Neida recognized that no amount of rationalizing, no matter that the society or culture accepts a lower moral standard, God's law of sexual purity is the correct way to live. Yesterday was our stake conference and a member of the Area Seventy gave a powerful discourse on dressing modestly and the law of chastity, especially complete fidelity (mentally and spiritually and not just physically) after marriage. I couldn’t help but murmur loudly ‘amen!’ much to the embarrassment of Hna.Duarte. It was all I could do not to cheer from the audience. Oh my, how much the stake here needs to hear and apply this counsel! Not just them, but everyone! It’s hard for a lot of people because it is such an accepted part of their culture and they don’t see anything wrong with it. They have to go against their culture and what they have been raised to believe their whole life. The importance of a firm testimony and good friends, especially as a youth. It can shape the rest of your life.
I read and experienced Jacob 4:7 this week. “Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that is by his power and great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.” I was feeling depressed because of all the ways I have to improve when I read this verse. I realized that I was trusting in myself too much and that I needed to recognize and let God do His part with His work, show a little more faith and a lot more humility, recognizing that if there is success it is because God loves His children and sends His prepared children to His prepared servants.
Sunday this happened. We were walking down this path and we passed this family. I decided to contact them, so I stopped and pretended to fix my shoe, to give them time to catch up to me. Hna. Duarte and I talked with them and the woman told us, “I need to be baptized. When can you come?” Hna. Duarte and I looked at each other and said, “No, I’m sorry. We can’t help you. Maybe next time.” Just kidding! Of course we set up the time to meet with her. Of course, we have a lot to explain, that it’s not just a matter of receiving the baptism, but it’s the lifetime covenant you make with God to be obedient and remember His son, Jesus Christ. But, hey, it’s not everyday that people tell you that they want to be baptized.
We met this family, Deisy and Rafael, who have 7 kids. Turns out they are from another city, but they are here helping their son, Jesus, get settled for college. They accepted a visit and encouraged us to visit their son. They accepted the missionaries to visit them in their city, too, so we are going to send the referral to the elders in Riquena. They have so much faith. They pray every night for each one of their kids, and you can see the difference it makes in their family. They traveled 15 hours in lancha (raft or ferry?) to take their son to college. It reminded me of my parents (and other parents) who sacrifice everything for their kids. Thank you!
That’s all for this week! Pray and read your scriptures and find out the counsel that your loving Heavenly Father has for your life.
Love, Hna. Christensen
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Such a Good Week! (sent 19 Apr 2010)
Wow, such a good week full of changes and recapacitation (repentance).
We had our interviews with President Perez, along with the accompanying training. Hna. Duarte and I set our goals and are putting them in practice. She calls me a nerd because I keep on saying effusively, “I love repentance! It’s the best thing in the world.” A lot of the change is simply a matter of putting a “cuando” or scheduling a time to do it. It can be immediate. Why wait for the New Year to change? Change every day! We are writing a lot of thank you notes now and are writing down (immediately) when we feel an impression from the Spirit. I am greeting every person I meet, and we are walking faster. We have lived some very beautiful spiritual experiences this week.
We spent all this week trying to find blood donors for a family member of our investigator, Romer. We found many people that had the right blood type, O+, but had contaminated blood, and so they could not donate. The importance of the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity….it can save lives. (Obviously those are not the only reasons why people cannot donate blood.)
We talked with a ward member who gave us the referral for Zaida and her family (they have plans to be baptized May 1), because they are in dire economic circumstances. She said that she would visit them and see how they are doing. When we visited Zaida and her family, we found out that this Good Samaritan had bought a big bag of bread and lots of coal for the family to sell. With the money they earn from the sale, they can buy more bread and coal and can have at least some income. Also, the plan is for Angelica Maria to work 3 days a week at her house, cleaning. Hna. Duarte and I were SO grateful for this generous woman who knows how to help others. Microenterprise in action.
I love the scriptures and feel like they are coming alive even more, the more people I talk with and find out what their challenges and past experiences are (especially the talk that Jacob gives in Jacob 3 (law of Chastity), and repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ´s Atonement (Alma 36). We spent so much time this week teaching people the importance of prayer and the power of forgiveness. So many people want to know, “Does God really forgive sins?” Yes, He does! (D&C 58:42-43), when we confess and abandon the sin.
I am so grateful for seminary and the Scripture Mastery scriptures, because I refer to them constantly when teaching. Maybe I didn´t understand the importance of them when I was in high school, but the more of life I experience, the more I understand the importance of them.
The mission is lo maximo(the best). Every day we are working hard, finding people to teach. The ward members are so important in the work. Really, there is no sustainable progress without their involvement. If they only knew how important their examples are for their families, for their neighbors, and how important their visiting and home teaching visits are, more people would be helped, more faith sustained, and they would feel more of the love of God in their lives. Our salvation is not just “I will be content with being a good person. I haven’t killed anyone.” No! Whether we want to or not, our example and influence helps or deters others, builds or destroys faith in God, and has an impact on every person that knows us. Our salvation is intertwined with the salvation of our brothers and sisters.
That’s all! May we constantly bless others with the blessings that God has given us!
Hna. Christensen
We had our interviews with President Perez, along with the accompanying training. Hna. Duarte and I set our goals and are putting them in practice. She calls me a nerd because I keep on saying effusively, “I love repentance! It’s the best thing in the world.” A lot of the change is simply a matter of putting a “cuando” or scheduling a time to do it. It can be immediate. Why wait for the New Year to change? Change every day! We are writing a lot of thank you notes now and are writing down (immediately) when we feel an impression from the Spirit. I am greeting every person I meet, and we are walking faster. We have lived some very beautiful spiritual experiences this week.
We spent all this week trying to find blood donors for a family member of our investigator, Romer. We found many people that had the right blood type, O+, but had contaminated blood, and so they could not donate. The importance of the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity….it can save lives. (Obviously those are not the only reasons why people cannot donate blood.)
We talked with a ward member who gave us the referral for Zaida and her family (they have plans to be baptized May 1), because they are in dire economic circumstances. She said that she would visit them and see how they are doing. When we visited Zaida and her family, we found out that this Good Samaritan had bought a big bag of bread and lots of coal for the family to sell. With the money they earn from the sale, they can buy more bread and coal and can have at least some income. Also, the plan is for Angelica Maria to work 3 days a week at her house, cleaning. Hna. Duarte and I were SO grateful for this generous woman who knows how to help others. Microenterprise in action.
I love the scriptures and feel like they are coming alive even more, the more people I talk with and find out what their challenges and past experiences are (especially the talk that Jacob gives in Jacob 3 (law of Chastity), and repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ´s Atonement (Alma 36). We spent so much time this week teaching people the importance of prayer and the power of forgiveness. So many people want to know, “Does God really forgive sins?” Yes, He does! (D&C 58:42-43), when we confess and abandon the sin.
I am so grateful for seminary and the Scripture Mastery scriptures, because I refer to them constantly when teaching. Maybe I didn´t understand the importance of them when I was in high school, but the more of life I experience, the more I understand the importance of them.
The mission is lo maximo(the best). Every day we are working hard, finding people to teach. The ward members are so important in the work. Really, there is no sustainable progress without their involvement. If they only knew how important their examples are for their families, for their neighbors, and how important their visiting and home teaching visits are, more people would be helped, more faith sustained, and they would feel more of the love of God in their lives. Our salvation is not just “I will be content with being a good person. I haven’t killed anyone.” No! Whether we want to or not, our example and influence helps or deters others, builds or destroys faith in God, and has an impact on every person that knows us. Our salvation is intertwined with the salvation of our brothers and sisters.
That’s all! May we constantly bless others with the blessings that God has given us!
Hna. Christensen
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Special Moments with Special People (sent 12 Apr 2010)
Hola, hola!
We had some really special moments this week. On Sunday, Hna. Duarte and I were so happy to see that Alexander, who was baptized recently, gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. He began to pray for his mom, who is passing through difficulties. After the prayer the Bishop said, “He is one of our newest members and he is worried about his mom. This isn’t just his preoccupation. This is ours as well.” So sweet. He will have his priesthood interview this Wednesday and receive the priesthood on Sunday.
This Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. I pray every time that no one says anything doctrinally incorrect, or extremely offensive to our investigators. I was so happy and relieved with the testimonies that people gave. I think that everyone felt much more unified and felt the Spirit. It was powerful and so good. It was also 1 hour and 45 minutes, so we didn’t have Sunday School. So many youth bore their testimonies, too, which impressed our investigators. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and our investigators Liliana and Neida were impressed that there were people who still taught and lived the law of chastity, in a society full of pornography, soap operas, music with double meaning, etc.
We are teaching Cristian, who is so cool. He is a 27 year old Seventh-day Adventist that got in trouble with his church. The leaders had their fancy laptops while the church didn’t have light, fans, or brooms So, they didn’t pay their tithing to the church. Instead, they created their own fund for their congregation by pooling their tithing together to buy lights, fans, and brooms. They also bought huge sacks of rice and beans and went to remote villages where the people didn’t have anything. After distributing the food they taught the gospel (note: Christ used the same strategy by feeding the multitudes with bread and fishes and teaching His gospel). For his rebellion, they punished him. We love to teach him, because he asks such good questions and we get to use the scriptures to teach the doctrine with him. And, he reads! I love it!
Cristian told us a story that illustrates what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. He was with his family on the way to church one Saturday when he noticed an older man who was struggling to push his cart of coal up a hill. Cristian stopped to help, but his family said, “Let’s go. The meeting’s about to start. We’re going to be late.” His family went ahead but Cristian stayed behind to help. He took off his shoes and helped the man with his cart. He had to go home and change afterwards and then go to the meeting. Cristian said, “I felt really good and felt like I did the right thing.” It made me remember the phrase, “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say.”
I had a similar story this past week. We noticed this man that had his cart laden with wood (about 12 feet long). He, too, was at the bottom of the hill. We stopped and offered to help. Usually, the people say, “No, no. It’s okay” so I was surprised and delighted when this man accepted our help. Hna. Duarte offered to ride in the cart with our bags (ha ha) while we push the cart up the hill. I was tempted to sing many a Primary song about pushing handcarts, but I refrained. A gringa in tall shoes pulling a cart full of wood already attracts enough attention, I don’t need to sing pioneer songs! The man and Hna. Duarte pushed and I pulled the cart. Phew! Talk about a workout! I was grateful—Hna. Duarte and I always look for ways to help others. I love service!
Oh, Hna. Duarte and I are jogging 3 times a week, which also is a rare sight to see in our Peruvian city. We have more energy during the day, which is happiness.
Blessings!
We had some really special moments this week. On Sunday, Hna. Duarte and I were so happy to see that Alexander, who was baptized recently, gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. He began to pray for his mom, who is passing through difficulties. After the prayer the Bishop said, “He is one of our newest members and he is worried about his mom. This isn’t just his preoccupation. This is ours as well.” So sweet. He will have his priesthood interview this Wednesday and receive the priesthood on Sunday.
This Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. I pray every time that no one says anything doctrinally incorrect, or extremely offensive to our investigators. I was so happy and relieved with the testimonies that people gave. I think that everyone felt much more unified and felt the Spirit. It was powerful and so good. It was also 1 hour and 45 minutes, so we didn’t have Sunday School. So many youth bore their testimonies, too, which impressed our investigators. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and our investigators Liliana and Neida were impressed that there were people who still taught and lived the law of chastity, in a society full of pornography, soap operas, music with double meaning, etc.
We are teaching Cristian, who is so cool. He is a 27 year old Seventh-day Adventist that got in trouble with his church. The leaders had their fancy laptops while the church didn’t have light, fans, or brooms So, they didn’t pay their tithing to the church. Instead, they created their own fund for their congregation by pooling their tithing together to buy lights, fans, and brooms. They also bought huge sacks of rice and beans and went to remote villages where the people didn’t have anything. After distributing the food they taught the gospel (note: Christ used the same strategy by feeding the multitudes with bread and fishes and teaching His gospel). For his rebellion, they punished him. We love to teach him, because he asks such good questions and we get to use the scriptures to teach the doctrine with him. And, he reads! I love it!
Cristian told us a story that illustrates what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. He was with his family on the way to church one Saturday when he noticed an older man who was struggling to push his cart of coal up a hill. Cristian stopped to help, but his family said, “Let’s go. The meeting’s about to start. We’re going to be late.” His family went ahead but Cristian stayed behind to help. He took off his shoes and helped the man with his cart. He had to go home and change afterwards and then go to the meeting. Cristian said, “I felt really good and felt like I did the right thing.” It made me remember the phrase, “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say.”
I had a similar story this past week. We noticed this man that had his cart laden with wood (about 12 feet long). He, too, was at the bottom of the hill. We stopped and offered to help. Usually, the people say, “No, no. It’s okay” so I was surprised and delighted when this man accepted our help. Hna. Duarte offered to ride in the cart with our bags (ha ha) while we push the cart up the hill. I was tempted to sing many a Primary song about pushing handcarts, but I refrained. A gringa in tall shoes pulling a cart full of wood already attracts enough attention, I don’t need to sing pioneer songs! The man and Hna. Duarte pushed and I pulled the cart. Phew! Talk about a workout! I was grateful—Hna. Duarte and I always look for ways to help others. I love service!
Oh, Hna. Duarte and I are jogging 3 times a week, which also is a rare sight to see in our Peruvian city. We have more energy during the day, which is happiness.
Blessings!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter and General Conference Highlights
I had a goal to work on brevity (brief is beautiful), but this week´s email will not permit it, so skim or endure!
Here in Peru they are not distracted with Cadbury chocolate eggs and Easter egg hunts. They focus on “La semana Santa” (holy week). They eat chonta, a plant that looks like fettucine and fish (prices triple or quadruple for Easter). Everyone watches movies from the Bible and on the Savior that they show on the normal stations of TV, and the Catholic church has processions in the streets (we didn’t get to see any, though). The Peruvians have a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. It was neat to see their religious focus this week. Easter was special.
From the General Conference I was impressed with the emphasis on Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, the importance of teaching the gospel (especially the youth) in the home, and the importance of learning how to love more and be more obedient every day. More than what I learned intellectually was the powerful spirit that I felt at the Conference. I was impressed at how reverent the Peruvians were (with 7 wards combined together in one stake center and a lot of little kids, that is no small feat). Every time they mentioned the Haitian earthquake I thought, “Karen and Adam and Bishop Dort are watching this same conference.” I was happy to learn of the Church’s response to help the Haitians with shelter, water, food, etc.
Hna. Duarte and I were excited to see Rosa and Romer at the Conference. Rosa told us that her husband, Romer, was so excited to go to church (his first time). He woke up and told Rosa, “We are going to Church today, right?” Then, every hour he would look at the clock until it was time to go, so that they could leave on time. This couple was married in December (Rosa is a member and Romer is not) and have made a lot of important changes in their lives. We celebrated Rosa’s birthday after the conference with a “birthday cake” made out of cookies, and they told us about their Conference experience. They felt the Spirit, and Rosa told us, “We are going to go to church every Sunday.” The power of the Holy Ghost in changing people’s hearts and giving them the desire to draw closer to God is real.
We noticed that all of the members (and the missionaries, too) left edified and happy. There was a lot more love in the air and people were sharing and showing more love and courtesy to each other. The power of the Spirit. I, too, left the Conference with more faith in Jesus Christ and happiness and love.
Hermana Duarte and I will stay here in Iquitos for another transfer! We didn’t know where we would go, because 7 sister missionaries go home this Wednesday (including my beloved companion Hna. Tepen). We are happy because we are friends, we have so many plans for this ward and we are emotionally attached to the people here. It really is a privilege to serve here in “the selva” (the jungle). I was pretty discouraged in Lima, because we were not having success, because we were mostly contacting and not working with the members (note, obedience is the key to success). Here, we are having more success and I am a lot more happy! Thanks for your letters and for keeping me in your prayers.
Love, Hna. Christensen
Highlights from General Conference (translated from Spanish to English)
1. The purpose of every lesson, activity, law, principle, belief, talk, sacrament meeting, and ordinance in the Church is with the purpose of helping the family to be happy at home (the perfection of the person and the happiness of the family). –Boyd K. Packer
2. God forgives us, with the condition that we forgive others. –Keith B. McMullin
3. Happiness and joy is not a product of circumstances, but a reflection of our joy in Christ. If we increase our faith in Christ, we increase our hope in life. –Wilford W. Anderson
4. The Church is here to help, but it is in the home where we should teach the gospel, by precept and by example. –M. Russell Ballard
5. The scriptures remind us of God and our relationship with Him and the Savior….Before the translation of the Bible (and the widespread distribution, thanks to the Guttenburg press), people were ignorant because they didn`t have access, but now people are still ignorant of the scriptures, because they don’t read them! –Todd Christofferson
6. Sometimes we don’t keep the commandments because we don’t think they apply to us, they aren’t important, or they are difficult. We justify ourselves by thinking, “God understands my personal circumstances and why I can’t obey this time.” No! When the Lord commands, do it! --Bruce Carlson
7. Christ’s strongest words were against the Pharisees, the “members of the Church” at the time who judged and condemned others for not living the commandments. ..We need to recognize that every soul has worth and that every person walks their own difficult path. We are here to help and heal others and not to condemn. Our baptismal covenant is to “mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort” (Mosiah). –Dieter F. Uchtdorf
[Note from Carol Christensen, Susan's mom: www.lds.org indicates that it will have the full text of the talks from General Conference on Thursday.]
Here in Peru they are not distracted with Cadbury chocolate eggs and Easter egg hunts. They focus on “La semana Santa” (holy week). They eat chonta, a plant that looks like fettucine and fish (prices triple or quadruple for Easter). Everyone watches movies from the Bible and on the Savior that they show on the normal stations of TV, and the Catholic church has processions in the streets (we didn’t get to see any, though). The Peruvians have a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. It was neat to see their religious focus this week. Easter was special.
From the General Conference I was impressed with the emphasis on Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, the importance of teaching the gospel (especially the youth) in the home, and the importance of learning how to love more and be more obedient every day. More than what I learned intellectually was the powerful spirit that I felt at the Conference. I was impressed at how reverent the Peruvians were (with 7 wards combined together in one stake center and a lot of little kids, that is no small feat). Every time they mentioned the Haitian earthquake I thought, “Karen and Adam and Bishop Dort are watching this same conference.” I was happy to learn of the Church’s response to help the Haitians with shelter, water, food, etc.
Hna. Duarte and I were excited to see Rosa and Romer at the Conference. Rosa told us that her husband, Romer, was so excited to go to church (his first time). He woke up and told Rosa, “We are going to Church today, right?” Then, every hour he would look at the clock until it was time to go, so that they could leave on time. This couple was married in December (Rosa is a member and Romer is not) and have made a lot of important changes in their lives. We celebrated Rosa’s birthday after the conference with a “birthday cake” made out of cookies, and they told us about their Conference experience. They felt the Spirit, and Rosa told us, “We are going to go to church every Sunday.” The power of the Holy Ghost in changing people’s hearts and giving them the desire to draw closer to God is real.
We noticed that all of the members (and the missionaries, too) left edified and happy. There was a lot more love in the air and people were sharing and showing more love and courtesy to each other. The power of the Spirit. I, too, left the Conference with more faith in Jesus Christ and happiness and love.
Hermana Duarte and I will stay here in Iquitos for another transfer! We didn’t know where we would go, because 7 sister missionaries go home this Wednesday (including my beloved companion Hna. Tepen). We are happy because we are friends, we have so many plans for this ward and we are emotionally attached to the people here. It really is a privilege to serve here in “the selva” (the jungle). I was pretty discouraged in Lima, because we were not having success, because we were mostly contacting and not working with the members (note, obedience is the key to success). Here, we are having more success and I am a lot more happy! Thanks for your letters and for keeping me in your prayers.
Love, Hna. Christensen
Highlights from General Conference (translated from Spanish to English)
1. The purpose of every lesson, activity, law, principle, belief, talk, sacrament meeting, and ordinance in the Church is with the purpose of helping the family to be happy at home (the perfection of the person and the happiness of the family). –Boyd K. Packer
2. God forgives us, with the condition that we forgive others. –Keith B. McMullin
3. Happiness and joy is not a product of circumstances, but a reflection of our joy in Christ. If we increase our faith in Christ, we increase our hope in life. –Wilford W. Anderson
4. The Church is here to help, but it is in the home where we should teach the gospel, by precept and by example. –M. Russell Ballard
5. The scriptures remind us of God and our relationship with Him and the Savior….Before the translation of the Bible (and the widespread distribution, thanks to the Guttenburg press), people were ignorant because they didn`t have access, but now people are still ignorant of the scriptures, because they don’t read them! –Todd Christofferson
6. Sometimes we don’t keep the commandments because we don’t think they apply to us, they aren’t important, or they are difficult. We justify ourselves by thinking, “God understands my personal circumstances and why I can’t obey this time.” No! When the Lord commands, do it! --Bruce Carlson
7. Christ’s strongest words were against the Pharisees, the “members of the Church” at the time who judged and condemned others for not living the commandments. ..We need to recognize that every soul has worth and that every person walks their own difficult path. We are here to help and heal others and not to condemn. Our baptismal covenant is to “mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort” (Mosiah). –Dieter F. Uchtdorf
[Note from Carol Christensen, Susan's mom: www.lds.org indicates that it will have the full text of the talks from General Conference on Thursday.]
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