Hello, family and friends!
Happy Dia de Amistad (Valentine’s Day). The highlights of
the week include the marriage of Rosa and Jose. They were
married, along with 10 other couples, in the church. Our
zone leaders, Elder Angulo and Elder Crum, organized the
massive wedding. After the wedding, the couples had a dance
to celebrate. The Latins sure know how to party! Hna. Rodriguez
and I had to leave because the music was too tempting. (We did
dance a little merengue in the bathroom when no one was
looking.) My whole mission I have wanted to write Mack
Wilberg. When will MOTAB (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) come out
with a CD of Latin hits for all the missionaries to enjoy?
Even more special was seeing Rosa and Jose in church the next
day with their son, Juan Carlos. The whole ward accepted and
fellowshipped them, and they are preparing a party for her
baptism this Saturday. Our ward is becoming much more united
recently, all working together. On Friday they threw a bash for
the 50 year anniversary of the stake patriarch and his wife. My
companion cut their hair (she has salon experience) as a service
and I took photos of the event. The ward is working together to
do an amazing musical program on the Savior for Easter (here
Easter is celebrated the whole week, Holy Week) and an excellent
Public Affairs opportunity.
My companion and I still continue to be nerds and it is so much
fun. We have 6 days of consecutive coordinating outfits. (I don’t
know how it’s possible, but we even do the same hairstyle). Now,
we have promotional weeks where we focus on different goals we
have. For example, this week is Word of Wisdom week. No, we don’t
have a problem with drugs or beer, but we are drinking milk twice
a day, eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting back on fat,
drinking more water, and doing more exercise. It’s the best. The
idea is that after the promotional week, we continue with the same
habits. And, we have goals to put Christlike attributes in practice
every week. Last week was faith and this week is obedience. We
work hard and have so much fun.
Have a great week! Gotta run!
Love, Hermana Christensen
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
More Opportunities for People to Have a Better Life
Hola family and friends,
Every day I learn new things in the mission. It is truly a one of a kind experience. Yesterday, Sunday, I felt so much love from our Heavenly Father. I was sitting next to Jack, one of our valiant Primary kid investigators who doesn’t come from a good home. (I asked him if his mom knew he was here at church and he said, no. He just roams free.) I just want to adopt Jack and give him a better chance at life. His parents won’t let him be baptized right now but he is setting the goal to be baptized in a few years. It is so ironic that the people who can be baptized don’t want to and those who want it can’t. When the members of the church went to the pulpit to bear their testimonies, I told him, “All of these people here are part of your family. You can ask any one of them for help and they are here to help you.” I want so much for Jack, and others like him, to have another opportunity to have a better life.
We are teaching Wilma, who is a widow of two weeks. She doesn’t want to pray or feels insecure or we don’t know what her doubt is, but she doesn’t pray. We wrote the steps of prayer in large print and we practiced and she repeated, but she just looks at us and smiles and doesn’t pray. I was so sad, because I was thinking of how much pain she feels that could be relieved and how Heavenly Father was sad because she didn’t talk with him. Then, I remembered something humbling. I will confess that the night before, I didn’t pray before I went to bed. I remembered the times that my prayers are just mechanical and not heartfelt and then I felt sad. That is exactly how Heavenly Father feels. I realized that Heavenly Father wants to hear from me personally, that He is interested and cares about me and wants to know what is going on in my life, what my goals are, what my doubts are, etc. It was a special experience that I hope everyone can have.
I know that Heavenly Father lives and that He hears our every sincere prayer and that He gives us exactly what we need. (I prayed that the elders wouldn’t call us so we could go to bed a little earlier and the elders called us early in the morning instead, something that rarely happens here.) Oh yeah, and we were hungry after fasting and didn’t have any food, but when we went to the appointments, they gave us chapo (banana drink) and bread and the president of the Relief Society served us peanut butter and crackers. I know that Heavenly Father takes of our spiritual and our temporal needs. He is the best.
We have a new area, Barrio Amazonas. Now we have 2 areas. The people are so excited to have missionaries in their area after a long time. We are helping the Relief Society to organize a night of fellowshipping. Oh yeah! If there are activities, that is what I love to organize. I’m such a nerd, but we have such unity with the leaders that one of the highlights of our week is when we get to have the Ward Council and Mission Correlation. Working with the people here is so great. They are so willing to help, they serve the Lord with the very best that they have, and they are humble.
We did the community service project the other day with the YSA and it brought about some good results. We are going to do more service projects as a ward, with the Young Men and Young Women. It is good public affairs and it helps unify the members who serve. We have gained the confidence of the zone by sharing our 5 minute microwave brownies. They are so incredible and will change your life. We are sharing more recipes with the Relief Society, including no bake cookies (there is a man in the ward who makes peanut butter, so we are enjoying this), and instead of lemon bars, with maracuya (a fruit that is yummy and plentiful here).
Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Christensen
Every day I learn new things in the mission. It is truly a one of a kind experience. Yesterday, Sunday, I felt so much love from our Heavenly Father. I was sitting next to Jack, one of our valiant Primary kid investigators who doesn’t come from a good home. (I asked him if his mom knew he was here at church and he said, no. He just roams free.) I just want to adopt Jack and give him a better chance at life. His parents won’t let him be baptized right now but he is setting the goal to be baptized in a few years. It is so ironic that the people who can be baptized don’t want to and those who want it can’t. When the members of the church went to the pulpit to bear their testimonies, I told him, “All of these people here are part of your family. You can ask any one of them for help and they are here to help you.” I want so much for Jack, and others like him, to have another opportunity to have a better life.
We are teaching Wilma, who is a widow of two weeks. She doesn’t want to pray or feels insecure or we don’t know what her doubt is, but she doesn’t pray. We wrote the steps of prayer in large print and we practiced and she repeated, but she just looks at us and smiles and doesn’t pray. I was so sad, because I was thinking of how much pain she feels that could be relieved and how Heavenly Father was sad because she didn’t talk with him. Then, I remembered something humbling. I will confess that the night before, I didn’t pray before I went to bed. I remembered the times that my prayers are just mechanical and not heartfelt and then I felt sad. That is exactly how Heavenly Father feels. I realized that Heavenly Father wants to hear from me personally, that He is interested and cares about me and wants to know what is going on in my life, what my goals are, what my doubts are, etc. It was a special experience that I hope everyone can have.
I know that Heavenly Father lives and that He hears our every sincere prayer and that He gives us exactly what we need. (I prayed that the elders wouldn’t call us so we could go to bed a little earlier and the elders called us early in the morning instead, something that rarely happens here.) Oh yeah, and we were hungry after fasting and didn’t have any food, but when we went to the appointments, they gave us chapo (banana drink) and bread and the president of the Relief Society served us peanut butter and crackers. I know that Heavenly Father takes of our spiritual and our temporal needs. He is the best.
We have a new area, Barrio Amazonas. Now we have 2 areas. The people are so excited to have missionaries in their area after a long time. We are helping the Relief Society to organize a night of fellowshipping. Oh yeah! If there are activities, that is what I love to organize. I’m such a nerd, but we have such unity with the leaders that one of the highlights of our week is when we get to have the Ward Council and Mission Correlation. Working with the people here is so great. They are so willing to help, they serve the Lord with the very best that they have, and they are humble.
We did the community service project the other day with the YSA and it brought about some good results. We are going to do more service projects as a ward, with the Young Men and Young Women. It is good public affairs and it helps unify the members who serve. We have gained the confidence of the zone by sharing our 5 minute microwave brownies. They are so incredible and will change your life. We are sharing more recipes with the Relief Society, including no bake cookies (there is a man in the ward who makes peanut butter, so we are enjoying this), and instead of lemon bars, with maracuya (a fruit that is yummy and plentiful here).
Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Christensen
Monday, January 31, 2011
A New Companion and Another Busy, Happy Week
Hola, family and friends!
I am so happy. My new companion, Hna. Rodriguez (from Guatemala), and I are such good friends, and we only have had less than a week together. We are working hard (don't run faster than is needful...) and having fun doing it. We have scripture searches together and we pick key words (such as joy, charity, forgiveness, etc) and find scriptures that can help our investigators. I know that these scriptures won't only help our investigators right now, but also people that I visit teach in the future, my family, etc. The scriptures rock! I highly recommend them. We also do aerobics together, and the other day I taught her the only African dance I remember from my modern dance class. She learns quickly. We are going to be twins and make (or have made) matching outfits. The people laugh at us because I am significantly taller than her and we walk arm in arm down the street together. We appear to be the odd couple, but we don't care! She is so great.
We are also cooking for the time being, while our pensionista is in Pucallpa. I am officially Peruvian, as I made my first refresco from carambola, boiled bananas (a necessity at every meal), eggs, etc. We taught the Lopez Vasquez family how to make white chocolate popcorn (so good with peanuts and candy corn...it will change your life), and Delicia about dirt pudding (your chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and gummy worms). The idea is that the chocolate recipes can help the family with their venta (their business) that they put out for Valentine's Day and for Mother's Day.
We helped with the Relief Society training on Visiting Teaching and are helping the supervisors with their action plans to help the sisters recognize the importance of visiting teaching. (See Barbara Thomson's talk in the last General Conference.) On Friday we walked around with brooms and told people, "We are here to sweep your patio!" After sweeping their patio, we made appointments to return and teach them the gospel. We will do the same with the YSA on Saturday to find new families to teach. Some thought we were part of the municipality and asked us to return more frequently! Funny.
Rosa and Jose's wedding is postponed until February, because the mayor was out of town. But, it should be in 2 weeks. Rosa is doing well and is progressing. We just found out that we will now be in 2 areas, Amazonas and Clavero. So, we won't sleep much. But life is good.
I love the gospel and I am sad thinking about leaving, so I won't think about leaving! I love the Lord's work and am so grateful for the opportunity to be a full-time missionary. It is the best!
Love,
Hna. Christensen
I am so happy. My new companion, Hna. Rodriguez (from Guatemala), and I are such good friends, and we only have had less than a week together. We are working hard (don't run faster than is needful...) and having fun doing it. We have scripture searches together and we pick key words (such as joy, charity, forgiveness, etc) and find scriptures that can help our investigators. I know that these scriptures won't only help our investigators right now, but also people that I visit teach in the future, my family, etc. The scriptures rock! I highly recommend them. We also do aerobics together, and the other day I taught her the only African dance I remember from my modern dance class. She learns quickly. We are going to be twins and make (or have made) matching outfits. The people laugh at us because I am significantly taller than her and we walk arm in arm down the street together. We appear to be the odd couple, but we don't care! She is so great.
We are also cooking for the time being, while our pensionista is in Pucallpa. I am officially Peruvian, as I made my first refresco from carambola, boiled bananas (a necessity at every meal), eggs, etc. We taught the Lopez Vasquez family how to make white chocolate popcorn (so good with peanuts and candy corn...it will change your life), and Delicia about dirt pudding (your chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and gummy worms). The idea is that the chocolate recipes can help the family with their venta (their business) that they put out for Valentine's Day and for Mother's Day.
We helped with the Relief Society training on Visiting Teaching and are helping the supervisors with their action plans to help the sisters recognize the importance of visiting teaching. (See Barbara Thomson's talk in the last General Conference.) On Friday we walked around with brooms and told people, "We are here to sweep your patio!" After sweeping their patio, we made appointments to return and teach them the gospel. We will do the same with the YSA on Saturday to find new families to teach. Some thought we were part of the municipality and asked us to return more frequently! Funny.
Rosa and Jose's wedding is postponed until February, because the mayor was out of town. But, it should be in 2 weeks. Rosa is doing well and is progressing. We just found out that we will now be in 2 areas, Amazonas and Clavero. So, we won't sleep much. But life is good.
I love the gospel and I am sad thinking about leaving, so I won't think about leaving! I love the Lord's work and am so grateful for the opportunity to be a full-time missionary. It is the best!
Love,
Hna. Christensen
Monday, January 24, 2011
More Good News from the Jungle!
Hi,family and friends!
This week there are transfers. I will stay here and be with the Hna. Rodriguez, another compañera from Guatemala, and the Hna. Barrios (for reasons of health) will be going back to Lima, but with the Hna. Reyes, my former companion! It’s a small world in the mission. I am grateful for the Hna. Barrios, who taught me very important life lessons. She is very active and taught me to make decisions and then to act and not to be wishy-washy. If you are going to do something, do it now! Decide and act! She is very proactive and exactly who I needed to be with during this transfer. Tonight the ward is throwing her 2 farewell parties!
I received a letter from Hna. Avalos, who told me that, not without much difficulty, the family of Rosa and Amador (in Lima) were married! And baptized! The whole family is going strong (although not without difficulty. There is always opposition up until the last minute). Now, the goal is to help them prepare to be sealed in the temple in 2012. And, I am thinking of the Hna. Avalos this week because she is leaving the area and moving to her second area. I know that the ward is in tears at her farewell and that she is going to bless many lives in her new area. She also told me that Yonel, the young man that we were teaching who almost finished his training to become a Catholic priest, was baptized the 1 of January. He received a very special witness from Heavenly Father in answer to his prayer and was baptized.
We are working with activating the Tanchiva family, and two of the grandkids, Renzo and Yaritza, are preparing for their baptism in February. We told them directly, “If you want to be baptized, you have to be prepared. Do you think the soccer teams who play in the World Cup just show up on game day and hope everything will work out all right, or do they have to practice and prepare ahead of time? It’s the same with your baptism. We and your parents are your coaches, helping you, but you are in charge of the preparation.” I thought the soccer analogy was appropriate for the kids, and they are actively working to prepare for their baptism. For their baptism preparation they need to pray 5 times a day (minimum), read the pamphlets and the scriptures, attend church, listen to us (with their parents present), and repent (live the commandments).
I love teaching those kids. I loved sitting with them in sacrament meeting and explaining the scriptures to them. The kids here just love church and Primary and will show up in hordes, but without the support of their parents teaching them in the home, they can’t progress. (There is also the concern that some parents just send their kids to church as a free day care.) It is so sad. I just hope that we can rescue some of these children, because they are so innocent and full of love and everything that Mosiah 3:19 (in the Book of Mormon) describes. I remember when Bishop Dort said that little kids want to be like their parents when they grow up, but that the parents would do well to follow the example of their little kids and be like little children, full of love, patient, humble, obedient, etc.
The ward is hosting a reception for Rosa and Jose, who will be married this Friday. Some members of the Relief Society are heading over to her house that same day to help her fix her hair, do her nails, and to pamper (and most importantly, to fellowship) her. Rosa will be baptized the following week. For years the missionaries have taught her and invited her to be baptized and married and she said, “I was always hard of heart and didn’t want to.” But, years later, she has softened her heart. When they announced her marriage in church, she just smiled and got all excited. She is 34 and has been living with Jose for the past 15 years. She says, “I never thought I would get married.” Her husband is excited, too. They are cute.
I thought of our other “eternal investigators” in other areas that we visited and often thought, “No pasa nada” (or, nothing is happening). But, the conversion is a process and it is slower for some people. It isn’t always super quick as we might hope. Some conversions are like microwaves, and other conversions are like Crock Pots. In reality, the conversion is a Crock Pot process for the rest of our lives, with the continual input of energy, effort, and submission on our parts and on God’s part to change us until we are “well done.” Sometimes I want the process to be like a wok. It is much faster that way.
On Wednesday we were forbidden to leave the apartment because they are fumigating the city to combat the dengue fever. But, the same is scheduled for the next week as well, so we will be under “house arrest,” as I affectionately call it. We are teaching a lot of people who have or have had dengue. It usually is treatable but there is a type of hemorrhaging fever that kills quickly. We have mosquito nets and are required to use repellent. I hope I can hang on 3 more months without catching the dengue. We joke about walking around the city wearing our mosquito nets in order to avoid mosquitoes. (Mosquitoes are unavoidable, especially in the areas where we teach. We walk on these bridges with planks that threaten to break with every step, especially if we eat a lot of rice at lunch time!)
Sorry I write so much. I hope you aren’t bored. Have a great day and make good choices!
Love, Hermana Christensen
This week there are transfers. I will stay here and be with the Hna. Rodriguez, another compañera from Guatemala, and the Hna. Barrios (for reasons of health) will be going back to Lima, but with the Hna. Reyes, my former companion! It’s a small world in the mission. I am grateful for the Hna. Barrios, who taught me very important life lessons. She is very active and taught me to make decisions and then to act and not to be wishy-washy. If you are going to do something, do it now! Decide and act! She is very proactive and exactly who I needed to be with during this transfer. Tonight the ward is throwing her 2 farewell parties!
I received a letter from Hna. Avalos, who told me that, not without much difficulty, the family of Rosa and Amador (in Lima) were married! And baptized! The whole family is going strong (although not without difficulty. There is always opposition up until the last minute). Now, the goal is to help them prepare to be sealed in the temple in 2012. And, I am thinking of the Hna. Avalos this week because she is leaving the area and moving to her second area. I know that the ward is in tears at her farewell and that she is going to bless many lives in her new area. She also told me that Yonel, the young man that we were teaching who almost finished his training to become a Catholic priest, was baptized the 1 of January. He received a very special witness from Heavenly Father in answer to his prayer and was baptized.
We are working with activating the Tanchiva family, and two of the grandkids, Renzo and Yaritza, are preparing for their baptism in February. We told them directly, “If you want to be baptized, you have to be prepared. Do you think the soccer teams who play in the World Cup just show up on game day and hope everything will work out all right, or do they have to practice and prepare ahead of time? It’s the same with your baptism. We and your parents are your coaches, helping you, but you are in charge of the preparation.” I thought the soccer analogy was appropriate for the kids, and they are actively working to prepare for their baptism. For their baptism preparation they need to pray 5 times a day (minimum), read the pamphlets and the scriptures, attend church, listen to us (with their parents present), and repent (live the commandments).
I love teaching those kids. I loved sitting with them in sacrament meeting and explaining the scriptures to them. The kids here just love church and Primary and will show up in hordes, but without the support of their parents teaching them in the home, they can’t progress. (There is also the concern that some parents just send their kids to church as a free day care.) It is so sad. I just hope that we can rescue some of these children, because they are so innocent and full of love and everything that Mosiah 3:19 (in the Book of Mormon) describes. I remember when Bishop Dort said that little kids want to be like their parents when they grow up, but that the parents would do well to follow the example of their little kids and be like little children, full of love, patient, humble, obedient, etc.
The ward is hosting a reception for Rosa and Jose, who will be married this Friday. Some members of the Relief Society are heading over to her house that same day to help her fix her hair, do her nails, and to pamper (and most importantly, to fellowship) her. Rosa will be baptized the following week. For years the missionaries have taught her and invited her to be baptized and married and she said, “I was always hard of heart and didn’t want to.” But, years later, she has softened her heart. When they announced her marriage in church, she just smiled and got all excited. She is 34 and has been living with Jose for the past 15 years. She says, “I never thought I would get married.” Her husband is excited, too. They are cute.
I thought of our other “eternal investigators” in other areas that we visited and often thought, “No pasa nada” (or, nothing is happening). But, the conversion is a process and it is slower for some people. It isn’t always super quick as we might hope. Some conversions are like microwaves, and other conversions are like Crock Pots. In reality, the conversion is a Crock Pot process for the rest of our lives, with the continual input of energy, effort, and submission on our parts and on God’s part to change us until we are “well done.” Sometimes I want the process to be like a wok. It is much faster that way.
On Wednesday we were forbidden to leave the apartment because they are fumigating the city to combat the dengue fever. But, the same is scheduled for the next week as well, so we will be under “house arrest,” as I affectionately call it. We are teaching a lot of people who have or have had dengue. It usually is treatable but there is a type of hemorrhaging fever that kills quickly. We have mosquito nets and are required to use repellent. I hope I can hang on 3 more months without catching the dengue. We joke about walking around the city wearing our mosquito nets in order to avoid mosquitoes. (Mosquitoes are unavoidable, especially in the areas where we teach. We walk on these bridges with planks that threaten to break with every step, especially if we eat a lot of rice at lunch time!)
Sorry I write so much. I hope you aren’t bored. Have a great day and make good choices!
Love, Hermana Christensen
Monday, January 17, 2011
Teaching and Learning
Hello, family and friends!
Yesterday we had a Family Home Evening and I was talking with Susana, a grandma and member for 20 years who will finally get to go to the temple in February. She had set the goal to go last year but passed a lot of trials, including caring for her terminally-ill sister who passed away. She is so sweet and bore her simple testimony with all of us about how God lives and listens to every prayer. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and His gospel is restored in its fullness here on the earth. I told this faithful woman that when she enters the temple, she will feel so much peace and will know so strongly that Heavenly Father knows and loves her and that the Plan of Salvation is real. She will feel like a princess! There are other families in the Clavero ward that have saved up for years to attend the temple and they are going in caravan in February.
My companion is still a little sick, and the weather doesn’t help. (There is torrential rain out of nowhere and then blazing sun for a few days.) It is hard on her (and can be hard on anyone, for that matter). Hna. Barrios is very active and is very-well trained and teaches me a lot about missionary work. She is from Guatemala and has a love and enthusiasm for life. Together we are helping Rosa and Jose get married, which means running around town to get documents ready (a similar but simpler process than in Lima, but now we are experienced in helping couples get married).
We had interviews with President Blunck this past week and then he surprised us by taking out all the sister missionaries to dinner with him and his wife! They were grateful for us and for our labors (because apparently we keep the elders in line).
We are teaching various families (many want to listen, but there are few that will attend church) and have received a few references from the members. We are also helping activate families, through the Family Home Evenings.
That’s about it for this week!
Lots of love,
Hna. Christensen
P.S. Apparently the eagle story renovating itself (I shared it an email a few weeks ago) is an urban legend, just so you know. The moral is good, but it is not true. Sorry about that!
Yesterday we had a Family Home Evening and I was talking with Susana, a grandma and member for 20 years who will finally get to go to the temple in February. She had set the goal to go last year but passed a lot of trials, including caring for her terminally-ill sister who passed away. She is so sweet and bore her simple testimony with all of us about how God lives and listens to every prayer. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and His gospel is restored in its fullness here on the earth. I told this faithful woman that when she enters the temple, she will feel so much peace and will know so strongly that Heavenly Father knows and loves her and that the Plan of Salvation is real. She will feel like a princess! There are other families in the Clavero ward that have saved up for years to attend the temple and they are going in caravan in February.
My companion is still a little sick, and the weather doesn’t help. (There is torrential rain out of nowhere and then blazing sun for a few days.) It is hard on her (and can be hard on anyone, for that matter). Hna. Barrios is very active and is very-well trained and teaches me a lot about missionary work. She is from Guatemala and has a love and enthusiasm for life. Together we are helping Rosa and Jose get married, which means running around town to get documents ready (a similar but simpler process than in Lima, but now we are experienced in helping couples get married).
We had interviews with President Blunck this past week and then he surprised us by taking out all the sister missionaries to dinner with him and his wife! They were grateful for us and for our labors (because apparently we keep the elders in line).
We are teaching various families (many want to listen, but there are few that will attend church) and have received a few references from the members. We are also helping activate families, through the Family Home Evenings.
That’s about it for this week!
Lots of love,
Hna. Christensen
P.S. Apparently the eagle story renovating itself (I shared it an email a few weeks ago) is an urban legend, just so you know. The moral is good, but it is not true. Sorry about that!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Healing for Body and Spirit
Hello, family and friends!
I received a packet of letters and Christmas cards this week and I just wanted to thank everyone for keeping me in your prayers. I thank Heavenly Father that we can stay in touch and still be part of each other’s lives, even when often we go on in different directions. Thank you for being a special part of my life. Thanks for the letters from the following people: Jenay Weekly, Jennifer Ricks (congrats on your baby!), Richard Jamison, BYU Freshmen Mentoring, Jeff and Janet Rees, Crystal Baysa, Michelle Lizon, Amy Faragher (congratulations on the change of last name!), Brian and Melissa Elkins, and all the rest that are sure to arrive in February or March (heh heh).
There’s not much to report for this week, except that we have converted our room into a hospital. I was sick last week. I ate something that wasn’t properly prepared, was sick, but I prayed and told Heavenly Father to take away all the yucky stuff out of my stomach all at once so I could sleep through the night. Two minutes later, He answered that prayer. (And, for the record, that really was the exact wording of my prayer. I don’t know how to translate “yucky stuff” in Spanish.) The following day I was exhausted and limited to a diet of liquids. I find it highly ironic because in the last email I sent, I mentioned how I wanted to have a parasite to lose weight faster and then 3 days later I get sick. I will be much more careful about what I want, because I think God will give it to me. Now, I am just battling a sore throat. But, my companion is suffering with a throat and nose infection that just wipes all the energy out of her and so we are going to the clinic today.
We had interviews with President Blunck yesterday and cleaning inspections of the room. They invited us, only the sisters that are serving in the jungle, to have a special dinner with them in the hotel they are staying at. They just spoil us sisters out here in the mission. And that is okay with us! So, after the doctor’s appointment we will be going there.
Yesterday we had dinner with a sister who is returning back to activity in the church after years of inactivity. She counseled us to read and follow our patriarchal blessings. She regrets not having married in the temple. She was sad and full of “if only…” My companion and I listened to her story and then we both took her by the hand and told her, “The race isn’t over yet! God is merciful and has His arms outstretched with His blessings awaiting you. Go get your blessings!” I have learned that so many times we look back on our lives and on bad decisions we have made and sometimes it can consume us. I believe that the miracle of forgiveness is that we can learn to feel God’s forgiveness and also that we can forgive ourselves and move on with our lives, looking to the future and not on the past. Those are some of the best blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. God wants us to give us all the blessings that we need and will give them to us, but we have to have trust in Him and ask for them and then work for them. I know He listens to our prayers and that He answers every one of them, according to our needs.
Have a happy week!
Love, Hermana Christensen
I received a packet of letters and Christmas cards this week and I just wanted to thank everyone for keeping me in your prayers. I thank Heavenly Father that we can stay in touch and still be part of each other’s lives, even when often we go on in different directions. Thank you for being a special part of my life. Thanks for the letters from the following people: Jenay Weekly, Jennifer Ricks (congrats on your baby!), Richard Jamison, BYU Freshmen Mentoring, Jeff and Janet Rees, Crystal Baysa, Michelle Lizon, Amy Faragher (congratulations on the change of last name!), Brian and Melissa Elkins, and all the rest that are sure to arrive in February or March (heh heh).
There’s not much to report for this week, except that we have converted our room into a hospital. I was sick last week. I ate something that wasn’t properly prepared, was sick, but I prayed and told Heavenly Father to take away all the yucky stuff out of my stomach all at once so I could sleep through the night. Two minutes later, He answered that prayer. (And, for the record, that really was the exact wording of my prayer. I don’t know how to translate “yucky stuff” in Spanish.) The following day I was exhausted and limited to a diet of liquids. I find it highly ironic because in the last email I sent, I mentioned how I wanted to have a parasite to lose weight faster and then 3 days later I get sick. I will be much more careful about what I want, because I think God will give it to me. Now, I am just battling a sore throat. But, my companion is suffering with a throat and nose infection that just wipes all the energy out of her and so we are going to the clinic today.
We had interviews with President Blunck yesterday and cleaning inspections of the room. They invited us, only the sisters that are serving in the jungle, to have a special dinner with them in the hotel they are staying at. They just spoil us sisters out here in the mission. And that is okay with us! So, after the doctor’s appointment we will be going there.
Yesterday we had dinner with a sister who is returning back to activity in the church after years of inactivity. She counseled us to read and follow our patriarchal blessings. She regrets not having married in the temple. She was sad and full of “if only…” My companion and I listened to her story and then we both took her by the hand and told her, “The race isn’t over yet! God is merciful and has His arms outstretched with His blessings awaiting you. Go get your blessings!” I have learned that so many times we look back on our lives and on bad decisions we have made and sometimes it can consume us. I believe that the miracle of forgiveness is that we can learn to feel God’s forgiveness and also that we can forgive ourselves and move on with our lives, looking to the future and not on the past. Those are some of the best blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. God wants us to give us all the blessings that we need and will give them to us, but we have to have trust in Him and ask for them and then work for them. I know He listens to our prayers and that He answers every one of them, according to our needs.
Have a happy week!
Love, Hermana Christensen
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year and New Life!
Hello, family and friends!
I love the story of the eagle. The eagle has the potential of living 70 years. At 40 years, it has to decide whether to keel over and die or to undergo a process of renovation. The process is painful and lasts 100 days. The eagle climbs the mountain, scratches off its curved claws and its useless beak, plucks its old plumes and is in constant pain. However, after the process, it can live 30 years more! All of us are like the eagle. We can say, “I’m too old to change. I have always lived this way.” Or, we can change and decide to have new life. We are using this story to help our investigators to change and recognize the worth of their souls in the eyes of their loving Heavenly Father!
Happy New Years! Church was full yesterday, full of people making the commitment to change and start the year off right. (Hopefully it doesn’t follow the same trends as the gym attendance in the USA, full in January and tapering off in March!) Our Ward Correlation was the best! It was full of motivated and sharp individuals who love the Lord and love missionary work.
Wow! This is the most supportive ward that I have ever been in. We use the Informe [report] and talk about families and their needs, both temporal and spiritual. Our mission plan is to do Family Home Evenings (FHE) in the houses of strong families in the ward, inviting their neighbors and our investigators, and the less-active members in their sector. For example, we mentioned that we did an FHE with the Lopez family and the leader asked, “What are their needs?” We mentioned that their kids have dengue fever and they immediately set about finding solutions to fumigate their house of mosquitoes. They all have great ideas. The ward is full of RMs that don’t hesitate to give us suggestions for how we can improve, which is awesome. Hey, that’s cool! And, they accompany us on the visits.
We visited a lot of less-active young women this week, together with YW of their own age. We did one of the Personal Progress goals together, about Individual Worth. We invited their moms to write the positive qualities that their daughters have and we also invited the daughters to do the same for their own mothers. (The idea is to bolster self-worth and also to improve harmony in the home with mothers and daughters.) We will follow up with them this week to see how they went. However, I don’t know how effective the visit was, because none of the YW attended church this week. Poco a poco (little by little).
We are working with Yesson, who has 9 years of inactivity in the church. We invited him to meet with the bishop (and he already set the appointment for this week!), we invited him to pray 5 times daily, and we invited him to attend church (and to play soccer with the missionaries in the mornings). He needs a lot of fellowshipping from the YSA. We found him by doing a Family Home Evening with the Pezo family.
This next week is full of FHEs (5 to be exact) and each one is different. Some of the leaders arrive to all of the FHEs, and we don’t want them to be bored, so we always have a variety of games and lessons. It’s fun for the missionaries, too.
Hna. Barrios is helping me to be so much healthier. She is a fitness buff and so we go running at 6:00 am or do aerobics with our pensionista, Vikki. It is so fun and gives me a lot of energy during the day. She’s helping me burn off the kilos of rice I have consumed in the course of 15 months in Peru. I always hoped I would get a parasite and lose weight really fast, but this is a much healthier method. Hna. Barrios (from Guatemala) is really wise and has great counsel, and so when she speaks, I listen and heed! She also has a great memory and is observant.(Sometimes I forget people’s names and didn’t recognize the Bishop’s wife on Sunday…yikes! That’s super awkward.)
Life is good! Happy New Year!
Love, Hermana Christensen
I love the story of the eagle. The eagle has the potential of living 70 years. At 40 years, it has to decide whether to keel over and die or to undergo a process of renovation. The process is painful and lasts 100 days. The eagle climbs the mountain, scratches off its curved claws and its useless beak, plucks its old plumes and is in constant pain. However, after the process, it can live 30 years more! All of us are like the eagle. We can say, “I’m too old to change. I have always lived this way.” Or, we can change and decide to have new life. We are using this story to help our investigators to change and recognize the worth of their souls in the eyes of their loving Heavenly Father!
Happy New Years! Church was full yesterday, full of people making the commitment to change and start the year off right. (Hopefully it doesn’t follow the same trends as the gym attendance in the USA, full in January and tapering off in March!) Our Ward Correlation was the best! It was full of motivated and sharp individuals who love the Lord and love missionary work.
Wow! This is the most supportive ward that I have ever been in. We use the Informe [report] and talk about families and their needs, both temporal and spiritual. Our mission plan is to do Family Home Evenings (FHE) in the houses of strong families in the ward, inviting their neighbors and our investigators, and the less-active members in their sector. For example, we mentioned that we did an FHE with the Lopez family and the leader asked, “What are their needs?” We mentioned that their kids have dengue fever and they immediately set about finding solutions to fumigate their house of mosquitoes. They all have great ideas. The ward is full of RMs that don’t hesitate to give us suggestions for how we can improve, which is awesome. Hey, that’s cool! And, they accompany us on the visits.
We visited a lot of less-active young women this week, together with YW of their own age. We did one of the Personal Progress goals together, about Individual Worth. We invited their moms to write the positive qualities that their daughters have and we also invited the daughters to do the same for their own mothers. (The idea is to bolster self-worth and also to improve harmony in the home with mothers and daughters.) We will follow up with them this week to see how they went. However, I don’t know how effective the visit was, because none of the YW attended church this week. Poco a poco (little by little).
We are working with Yesson, who has 9 years of inactivity in the church. We invited him to meet with the bishop (and he already set the appointment for this week!), we invited him to pray 5 times daily, and we invited him to attend church (and to play soccer with the missionaries in the mornings). He needs a lot of fellowshipping from the YSA. We found him by doing a Family Home Evening with the Pezo family.
This next week is full of FHEs (5 to be exact) and each one is different. Some of the leaders arrive to all of the FHEs, and we don’t want them to be bored, so we always have a variety of games and lessons. It’s fun for the missionaries, too.
Hna. Barrios is helping me to be so much healthier. She is a fitness buff and so we go running at 6:00 am or do aerobics with our pensionista, Vikki. It is so fun and gives me a lot of energy during the day. She’s helping me burn off the kilos of rice I have consumed in the course of 15 months in Peru. I always hoped I would get a parasite and lose weight really fast, but this is a much healthier method. Hna. Barrios (from Guatemala) is really wise and has great counsel, and so when she speaks, I listen and heed! She also has a great memory and is observant.(Sometimes I forget people’s names and didn’t recognize the Bishop’s wife on Sunday…yikes! That’s super awkward.)
Life is good! Happy New Year!
Love, Hermana Christensen
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