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