March 31, 2014

Hola familia mía!
This was such a busy week, I can't even believe how fast it went by!
We taught more lessons than I have ever taught in a week. In one
evening we had 5 or 6 lessons set up and had to get members to come
split with us so we could get to all of them! It was definitely
stressful at times but still awesome. We really want to get better at
teaching quality lessons and not just teaching people to teach them.
Sometimes we way overbook ourselves. Sometimes we can hardly focus on
the lesson we're at because we are worrying about the next one that we
are late to! It's great to see how much work there is here though, and
how busy we are staying compared to when we first got into the area. I
will just say attitude is everything. Our thoughts control our
perspective, and our perspective controls the results. A change in
results comes from a change in perspective!
 
We found 4 new investigators last week, 2 new Spanish couples! They
are both awesome families and super prepared. We are teaching D.
and C. again tonight! We had some great lessons with them.
Juan was interviewed and sustained to receive the Priesthood! He was
also called to be a ward missionary, he is so excited to start coming
out with us! We are pretty pumped too. :)
 

One of the coolest and most exciting days was Saturday! There were
TONS of people at Tamrah Johnson's baptism! We got to be witnesses,
and the Spirit was so strong. Seeing them both dressed in white, Andy
being able to exercise his Priesthood, and Tamrah happier than ever to
make this covenant, it was just amazing to be a part of. We have both
really grown to love that family as we have seen them grow closer
together through the gospel. It's life changing! We also got to give a
presentation on the Atonement while they got dressed. I shared this
scripture which I have come to love on my mission:

32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I
am not alone, because the Father is with me.
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
have overcome the world.
 (John 16:32-33)

I am so grateful for the Atonement. I love being able to study it time
and time again, and still learn something new. I am grateful for the
full access I have to the Atonement because of baptism by Priesthood
authority. I am grateful for Jesus Christ, who overcame everything we
will ever need to overcome, and I am grateful for the peace and
forgiveness available to us through the Holy Ghost.

I don't know if I have ever been as excited in my life for General
Conference as I am now. I wish I would have realized earlier in my
life what a great opportunity it is to hear our living Prophet give us
counsel and direction directly from heaven. I'm excited for the week I
have to prepare for it. :)

I love you all! Have a fantastic week

Elder Collin Christensen

 

PS - Mom I haven't received any recipes lately....but I have been
cooking! If breakfast burritos and oatmeal counts... :p we are getting
fed pretty well here by the members. Also, we will be watching General
conference at the Stake center, and possibly with Jonathan at a
members home for a session.

March 24, 2014

Hello Family and Friends!

Well this week has been both hard and amazing! We found a couple new
people to teach, and Juan got baptized and confirmed! 
 His baptismal service was so awesome, he had a ton of
support from the ward, even members who didn't speak Spanish. He was
so happy and kind of giddy too. Haha. After I baptized him I gave him
a hug and he told me that I could trust him with anything and  he
would do anything for us. He is the coolest guy ever. :)

The difficult part of the week was when M. called us and told us she was canceling her baptism again. We have no idea how to help her anymore, because literally the day before we had met with her, made her baptismal program, and she was super pumped about it. She has given us a few different reasons, but mostly just excuses because she
is scared of committing. Elder Hicks and I were pretty down for a couple days, because it seemed like everything was falling apart with everyone. The more we talked about it the harder it got, especially for Elder Hicks. There were a couple of days where he just didn't seem too healthy physically, mentally nor emotionally. But we prayed a lot,
and we were blessed with one great baptism this week, and our little depression phase didn't seem to matter anymore. We knew everything was in the Lords hands, and that was the most comforting thing.

One of the best "lessons" we had this week was with a new investigator
named A. When we had first knocked on her door she told us that
she had a recent neck injury, so we came back and trimmed her terribly
overgrown bushes that were taking over her front yard. So as we
chopped her bush up she sat there in a lawn chair next to us and we
taught her something from every single missionary lesson...it was
awesome. Haha she had some great questions, and by the end she told us
she wanted to try out our church! She ended up not being able to make
it because she fell in a hole and hurt her back. But it was cool!

Church yesterday was crazy. I think we had the most Spanish people we
have ever had at church! It was good for Juan, but our translating
system kinda shut down and was super fuzzy for everyone with the
headsets...I was running around pretty much all of sacrament meeting
trying to help everyone and fix their receivers. But it was great
anyways!

Oh yea, a couple months ago we went to dinner with a less active
family in our ward. They had invited their mom Linda over as well, who
wasn't a member. Well eventually we got to talk to her a little bit
and give her a Book of Mormon, but she lived in another ward so we
introduced her to the other missionaries. Well last Saturday she got
baptized as well!

Well we are doing pretty well up here! :) the weeks are really
starting to fly by. We are excited for Tamrah's baptism this Saturday!
Hope you all are doing great! I appreciate all the support I feel from you!

Favorite scripture of the week:
"And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither
should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they
should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in
the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and
this because he prayed in faith" (Alma 31:38).


Elder Collin Christensen

Mom,
I did actually get to play the piano recently! Not anything like
Raphsody, but I played at Juan's baptism and then for a Spanish family
who sang in sacrament meeting yesterday. People seem to be pretty last
minute, and they also seem to know I don't care, so they always ask me
to help day of or day before. Haha   :)

March 11, 2014

Hola familia y amigos!

This has been a fantastic week! First of all, both Elder Hicks and I
are staying here for another transfer! We are both pretty glad too,
things are really picking up in this Ward from what they were before.
We now have 4 people scheduled for baptism in the month of March!
We are so excited for them.

J. has been progressing a ton as well, and is more excited about his
baptism than ever. We met with him about 5 times last week. He came to
church this last week and loved every minute of it. He was giddy later
that night when we visited him because of how much he liked it. Haha.
He's a real seeker of truth and just soaks in all our lessons. When we
invite him to do something, or when we leave his apartment he always
says "Si! Primero Dios!" At first we thought it was kinda funny, but
the more I think about it the less funny and more real it becomes.
This man truly has put God first in his life. For him it has been a
form of repentance, a change of priorities. I love the definition of
Repentance found in the bible Dictionary: "a change of mind, a fresh
view about God, about oneself, and about the world...repentance comes
to mean a turning of the heart and will to God." As missionaries we
invite people to repent. I never realized it, but whenever we invite
them to do almost anything, we are essentially inviting them to
repent! I am learning so much about that word, and about the real
blessings that come when we just turn our will over to God, and choose
to see ourselves as he sees us. It is so apparent in the lives of
these people! It is a huge blessing to be a part of it and literally
watch it take place.

M. went to Mexico for spring break, so we have no contact with her
at all. We are hoping and praying she will be able to keep all her
commitments and a stay on board for her baptism. Your prayers are
appreciated as well.

This morning we got a call from a less active member who never has
really believed in God. He grew up in the church and never gained a
testimony, and after 10 years away from the church in the military, he
started having some doubts and questions. His name is M. and
whenever we meet with him he has a hard time believing what we say.
But he is always willing to keep our commitments because he really
wants to know the truth. So for the last few months he hasn't been
progressing at all, and so in our last visit we invited him to just
pray and test God. Well, he called us this morning and told us he did
it, and had some crazy miracles happen this last week that were direct
answers to his prayers. Prayer is so real! This guy is definitely also
gaining a fresh view about God and about himself. It is an answer to
our prayers as well as his.

On Sunday Elder Hicks and I got to participate in J.'s
confirmation! I love that kid so much, he is the most committed and
solid person I have ever taught. He is studying Preach My Gospel and
wants to go on a mission! He is only a Junior. I still can't even
grasp the fact that just about a month ago we started teaching this
guy who knew nothing about the Gospel! Talk about a "change of mind,
and a fresh view about God and oneself"!

Mom, don't worry about missing the email. We were pretty busy last
week anyway and got to go hiking in the gorge in Paulden! Hermana
Baumgartner was serving up there as part of our district, and she
finished her mission today. She was a captain of the Harvard Hockey
team and she actually was taught by and knew Clayton Christensen who
wrote The Power of Everyday Missionaries! Pretty sweet.

Well, I love you all! You are all a blessing in my life and I am
grateful for your examples and kindness to me and my family!
This church is true. Repentance is real. I am grateful for the
Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I don't know what I would do without
it.

Elder Collin Christensen

March 3, 2014

Hola Familia!

This has been another great week! And.......M. J. is getting
baptized March 22! As long as she can stop drinking coffee! tomorrow
we are following up and potentially ridding her house of coffee. :))
she is super excited, ready, and determined to do what she needs to
do. In our lesson I was leading up to invite her to be baptized, and
she just stopped me and told me to invite her to be baptized...Never
had that happen before! That's how excited she is, and we are too!

J. was baptized last Monday by his friend Brandon! So cool to be a part of that and see his growth just in the last few weeks.

Well, we got to be a part of the Gilbert Arizona Temple Dedication yesterday. There were no LDS services in all of AZ, and only temple
worthy members could attend the broadcast of the dedication, It was a weird feeling having to tell investigators they couldn't come to church. :( but the Dedication was so great! President Monson, Eyring
and Elder Callister were all there, and it was definitely a neat/new experience. Something that jumped out to me was a comment made in one
of the talks about how the temple literally gives us an eternal
perspective, and should remind us of the things we need to be doing
(or not doing) everyday. He said that if people from the outside world
were to see through the walls of the temple at what happens inside,
they might very well say "how ridiculous"; but when we enter we
understand the eternal importance of the Lord's House, and if we were
to look through the walls of the temple into the outside world, we
might just as well say to our selves "how ridiculous". I'm grateful
for the knowledge the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ gives me. I am
grateful for the blessings of the temple that allow my family to be
together forever! :)
As for the rest of the week, it was a little slower as far as work
goes. But I went up to Chino Valley for a day with Elder Sutcliffe. He
is a great missionary! I learned a ton and enjoyed going to a new area
with new people I would never see again. I think it helped me be more
bold and confident.
Well, I hope all is going well. I love hearing from you all and your
testimonies and experiences! Sorry this is so short, but we are doing
well and loving the work.

Elder Collin Christensen
edication. It was a