October 23, 2012

The highlight of my week was that my former investigator, Jennifer, from San Clemente, decided to be baptized! I got permission and went down on Saturday night. It was so awesome! I got to see Sister Andrus and Jennie (my RS President), Shauna and Breanna (from the Vista YSA ward)! And all my old peeps from San Clemente! It was so fun and such a boost for the week. I am so glad Jennifer made the decision to be baptized. There is such a special spirit present at baptisms that I love, love, love to feel!

The Church is true and is such a blessing. We had a RS activity this week, that was centered on scripture study and getting the most out of reading. There were five mini-lessons, each with a different emphasis. It made me so excited for my future family and implementing the scriptures as a daily part of our lives. My parents set a great example for me because I would randomly see them studying the scriptures each day and I knew that it was important. Although family scripture study was a disaster 5 out of 7 days of the week, it still made the difference because it stuck with me and was important to our family!

Hope everyone is doing well. Loves!
-Sister Christensen

Jennifer's baptism!

My homies

October 16, 2012

Tuesday we had zone activity. We split into team blue and team white and played a bunch of games. It was fun, to say the least.

Wednesday and Thursday we had sister exchanges. Sister Semones came into Laguna with me and Farmer went to Mission Viejo with Sister Somers. It was fun and keeps missionary work interesting.

Friday we had weekly planning and met some awesome people who I really liked. That's always a plus.

On Sunday I met the sweetest dog ever that I really, really wanted to take home with me. He reminded me of my Tessy from home. It made me slightly homesick, ahh, I loved him so much!

Monday was full of lessons and keeping busy. I signed the mission dresser yearbook...and overall it was a good week.

Today during studies, I studied repentance. Did you know in the dictionary the word "repent" is a verb? When I was younger there was this big campaign for kids called "Verb: it's what you do" and so when I saw that "repent" was a verb, I thought "it's what you do." I tied it into Holland's talk from Conference last week, "The first greatest commandment", in that if we truly love our Heavenly Father, then we should all be repenting regularly and showing God that we do love him above all. And that love should manifest itself in our actions. Repentance in my mind also means change...I am far from perfect so I should be striving to change each and every day. This might have been jumbled, but I enjoyed my studies and thought I would share.

So repent cause the Church is true.
Love, Sister Christensen

October 9, 2012

We did a lot of service this week. I really love to organize because it helps me de-stress, and I got to organize one of the messiest rooms I've encountered on my mission. It took about six hours over the period of two days, but it was so beautiful by the end! I was very proud.

We also got a handful of potential investigators who will hopefully bloom into for-real investigators asap. Over the weekend, Conference was wonderful. I especially loved the Saturday morning and Sunday morning sessions. I took lots of notes and cannot wait for the Ensign issue! On Saturday we had a zone lunch which was fun, and yesterday we were super busy, I was exhausted by the end of the day.

I didn't take too many photos this week, but here is what I got - 

1. Zone lunch--this was only half the group

2. My district

3. Me and my companion....JK.

End testimony, "I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it." The Church is true.

-Sister Christensen

October 2, 2012

Today will be a blog email via pictures and comments..

1. On Thursday night our recent convert, Tammy, told us to come over for a light snack, and to say "goodbye" to her dad, who was leaving back for Iran on Sunday. Earlier we had eaten a full dinner and dessert, plus a second dessert at another members' home. We showed up at Tammy's house and apparently by light snack, she meant full Persian feast. I literally said a prayer in my head as I looked at the food, that my stomach would expand. They were so excited about our meal and feeding us, so I did it! I ate a lot of interesting food that I otherwise would never eat, but I love them! I would upload a video I have from it, but the computers are slow. Needless to say, I think I gained three pounds that day.

2. On Friday Laurie and Dana came to take us out to lunch. I've missed them. Has it really only been 10 days?!

3. I saw this license plate while driving. I think God is cheering me on. This has easily been the hardest transition in my mission.

4. We went to a 13 yr old's birthday party on Saturday night. We were doing service, helping set up, and fellow shipping a bunch of non-members so we felt justified in participating in the fun.

That was a tour of my week in pictures. I also got to meet our investigator, Sandy, who has been on and off for a couple months. The lesson went really well, but I still can't tell how sincere she is. We'll find out! On Saturday we attended the General Relief Society broadcast, which was great. Sunday was the Primary Program, which was so dang cute, and then yesterday we had an awesome zone meeting which boosted my spirits. The Church is still true, despite opposition.

Loves.

Sister Christensen

September 25, 2012

This is weird but I really have nothing to report on! I got transfered to Laguna Nigel, Wood Canyon Ward. My companion is Sister Amber Farmer. She is 29, from Boise, Idaho/Phoenix, Arizona/SLC, Utah. She has been on her mission for ten months. If you know the color code book, we are both red/blue. It will make for an interesting companionship, but so far so good. We currently have no investigators. The first week in a new area is always slow because I don't know anyone and she has only been here for six weeks! We had a fun hoe down slash 30 yr. anniversary for the Laguna Nigel Stake on Saturday and that was great. Our ward is mostly middle aged couples with lots of kids. I really like all the people I have met so far so I am excited to see how this area progresses. It definitely has tons of potential. Also this week I finished Jesus the Christ for the second time. That book is a beast so I was pretty stoked!

Anyway, the Church is still true. I always mourn the loss of my old areas, but it forces me to do a lot more praying and relying on the Lord. I had a fabulous Sunday full of spiritual experiences and people saying exactly what I needed to hear to make it through. I am choosing faith, not fear! Party hard people, you are loved!

-Sister Christensen

September 18, 2012 w/ 5 pictures!

Oh baby, we are trying to be fast today because our day is short so here goes:

Tuesday we had a fabulous district activity. A human pyramid may or may not have been involved. And some basketball stunts. I love balling with the elders. They can't touch us and they are forced to pass us the ball, so it's a lot of fun! haha.

Wednesday: We visited one of my favorite families, the Cleveland's. Sister Cleveland had her third baby in her backyard. She did Hypnobabies and totally inspired me. She is the biggest hippie I have ever met and we love her so much! Also, for dinner I got Cafe Rio!!! It's been almost a year since I have had my all time favorite, sweet pork salad. It was BTS. We ended the evening taking two huge German shepherds for a walk and giving them a bath. It made me miss my puppies!

Thursday: It was our last color for unity day at district meeting. We did red. I have loved this district a lot. We had so much fun! We had a great Relief Society activity that night and a little cake adventure.

Friday was a chill day. We didn't seem to accomplish very much...oh well. At night we watched "Legacy" with Cheyanne and Miguel. It is one of my favorite Mormon movies. Ahh! It makes me love and appreciate the pioneers soo much!! I love my heritage!!!!

Saturday was the hottest day in San Clemente in years. No bueno, but we spent the day with people we love so all's good. At 9:30pm we got transfer calls...it was a big shocker.....BOTH Andrus and I are getting white washed out!!! WTC?! We were in a state of shock for a couple hours. It was so unexpected. Three sisters are white washing in. I am thrilled NOT to be in a trio, but I wish one of us could have stayed here. We love San Clemente and we have really worked hard to make it awesome! Needless to say, we are leaving extensive notes about the area and what they need to do!

Sunday our bishopric announced over the pulpit that we were leaving and had us bear our testimonies. People were crying! It was so tender. I swear, I am not even bragging, we were super popular here. People loved us! We spent the Sunday and Monday teaching last lessons and saying goodbyes! It was emotionally draining. The best part was that we set a baptismal date with Jennifer!!!!! It was so bittersweet 'cause we are stoked for her and beyond excited, but also sad that we might not get to come back for it! Ahh! It was a great last day. We spent all morning packing and getting ready.

It's so surreal that we are both being ousted, but we are excited for the adventures that lay ahead. We keep saying "keep calm and carry on!" Life is going great. Hope everyone's week was fabulous!!

Lovies, Sista Christensen

This was the only semi-successful pyramid. There are some hilarious other ones that were not so successful...

The wonderful Barker family.

Meet Sarge and Kaya.

The transfer of faith and fun has ended!

Our favies, the Del Francia's.

September 11, 2012

Missions are such an adventure. It was a good adventure this week. Here are some highlights:

*We saw some homeless people holding a sign on the side of the road so we decided to pull over and talk to them. Never in my life have I ever approached homeless people with the intent of learning about who they are or where they came from, so this was fun! These crazy kids were from Washington state and had a whole lot of bad luck (and I am sure, bad decision making skills). They were very optimistic about their lives, which was interesting. As we were standing there chatting with them, people drove by and made rude comments to them, but they just smiled and waved. It reminded me of my life....although sometimes I don't smile or wave! haha.

*We love serving on base. I cannot tell you the hours of conversations we have had with Marines about their MOS's, ranks, Muhs, deployments, politics, families--the whole nine yards. It is so interesting! I don't have any family members serving in the military currently, so I am kind of out of touch with how it all works. It's fascinating and eye opening. I have most definitely gained a greater appreciation for what the military does for us and what they have to go through....I'll have to share some of the stories I have heard when I get home!

*We had an insane street contact this week. We approached this guy on the street named Doug. As soon as we said "hello" his eyes lit up because, surprise surprise, he used to be a member of the Church but was now free!! He served a mission, was married in the temple, attended BYU - basically the ideal Mormon life, but somewhere along the way he got mixed up with anti-Mormon lit. and left the Church. He was so thrilled to tell us how wrong we are and all the knowledge he has learned. Sometimes I am cool with it and just smile and nod, but this day I was fired up. I did not just lay down and take it. In fact, it was probably the most fun, fulfilling, testimony building "argument" I have had my whole mission. Let me explain:

He was going on and on and on about temple ceremonies and Joseph Smith and false teachings blah blah blah, but what I retorted was that my faith and testimony lie with my Savior Jesus Christ. This guy had completely overlooked that simple fact. I have a relationship with God and Jesus Christ and because of that relationship I know I am on the right path. I may have gotten a little too into it when I started sarcastically and theatrically telling him that he was right, therefore, "I was greedy and needed to get my 10 percent back, and that the time I spent at the temple would be better spent watching MTV and playing on Facebook, and oh, all that food I have made for others in need, I shouldn't do that because heaven forbid I serve and love others. Nope, I shouldn't do any of that because Joseph Smith had an extra wife." Oh man. It was good stuff. Maybe not as Christ-like as it could have been, but whatever. My parting words to him were "Thank you, you have now only increased my testimony and faith in the gospel!" Good riddance. haha.

*We had a dinner party and movie night which were both fun. Also we found some really nice boxes on the side of the road...I know that sounds stupid, but it's the small things that make days fun haha. We had a sweet zone meeting on Thursday and Church was superb on Sunday--both spiritually uplifting experiences. We enjoyed lunch with the Del Francia's and their son, and their son's boyfriend, and yesterday we walked two huge German shepherds. We looked totally BA with those dogs.

Also, wanted to make mention of today being September 11th. I still remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in 6th grade and all these crazy rumors were going around the school about what was happening. I didn't grasp the enormity of the situation until later years, but I still remember tons of American flags going up all over town and the feeling of somber unity. I love America a lot a lot and the older I get, the more patriotic I feel!

The Church is true. Keep it real.
Love, Sista Chris