April 28, 2014

Dear Family,

I love Flagstaff, AZ! After going to transfer meeting and feeling the heat of the valley on Wednesday I was definitely grateful to be sent back up North! And guess what...there are trees!! And they're green! I'm definitely loving the weather and scenery. Probably the closest thing I'll get to home! 

Elder Muñoz is a boss missionary! I am super pumped to be working with him. We speak mostly Spanish in the apartment and I have already learned a ton from him! He is a hard worker and really cares about the people here - he has been here since last September. That's when I came into the mission! He's been out 15 months and his family is from Minnesota. The Cedar Hill ward is very similar to how the Glassford Hill was. It's English with a Spanish group. So we cover all of Flagstaff and Williams and Grand Canyon area. Oh yea, Sister Taylor took us shopping after transfers because Elder Muñoz needed a suit, so you can look up those pictures in the blog I guess mom... :P 

So we had Stake Conference on Sunday. Former President Frost was actually sustained in General Conference as a new Area 70! There were 2 other members of the 70 there as well who spoke, that was cool. It was a great meeting, a lot focused on Hastening the Work of Salvation. president and Sister Taylor spoke and called Preach My Gospel the "best Family home evening manual ever." They said that the real MTC now is in our homes. They encouraged everyone to prayerfully create a family mission statement using PMG and apply it!

So on the way home from the evening Session of stake conference, I had some random thought come to me that I had forgotten my wallet at home. I checked my pocket and sure enough it wasn't there. Well, of course my first instinct was to slow down so I was actually going the Speed limit. No more than a few seconds went by before a family of 5 deer decided it was a good time to run across the road! They were about 30-40 feet in front of us. So two miracles happened here 1) had my foot not already been on the break we may not have been able to slow down as fast as we did and barely stop in front of them and 2) my companion hadn't even seen them jump out. For those who know me well, I am horridly night blind and can't see much at night unless there is light. It was a major blessing that on this unlit 45 mph road, I somehow spotted the first deer on the side of the road and my companion didn't. Lesson 1 learned, it's preferred to drive with your wallet. Lesson 2, drive the speed limit. Lesson 3, the Holy Ghost works through OUR thoughts and OUR memory. It whispers so subtly, yet so surely, that if we do not immediately respond, we will be sure to collide with unforeseen danger in the darkness ahead. I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life. It has guided me and protected me from much more than a possible car accident. It is a gift I will always cherish. 

On a lighter note, I'm alive! And driving in Flagstaff is fun! And I am learning the area a lot quicker than I feel I am! 

Well we have a couple baptisms coming up this weekend. J and T  are 9 and 10 years old and belong to a part member Navajo family. It has been cool to get close with their family and see them prepare for baptism!

That's it for this week! I am loving it here, I'm loving the work and am grateful for your prayers and support!

Scripture of the week:

"And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock" (3 Nephi 18:12).

Elder Collin Christensen

April 22, 2014

Dear Family,

Well, first things first, I'm getting transferred! It's been a long 6
months up here in Prescott Valley, not going to lie! But I have loved
it and learned so much since I first got here. I will email you
tomorrow and let you know my new address!
It is great to hear you all had a great Easter! We had an awesome week
and Easter as well. We talked to so many people and shared the Because of Him 
video probably 50 times. We had some cool experiences with just
talking to everyone we saw - we realized that sometimes we pass
judgement on people without even talking to them or giving them a
chance. So we repented and started talking with anyone and everyone we
saw, more or less. It was cool!
Juan Ramos was set apart as a Ward Missionary on Sunday and then later
got to come with us to teach Jorge! It was his first visit with us and
was pretty nervous, but he gave his humble testimony of the Book of
Mormon and invited Jorge to read it. The Spirit was powerful and Juan
took it like a boss.
We had some awesome lessons with A. as well this week! She is SO
prepared! We taught her the plan of Salvation, invited her to baptism,
and said she wanted to! Elder Hicks and I were reading the story of
Ammon and king Lamonhi recently. The way he did missionary work was
Preach My Gospel status! Before even teaching the king, he served him!
It opened the path to a powerful lesson of inspired questions which
led to the kings conversion. It has been so similar as we have found,
served and begun to teach A. However, she hasn't become overcome
with the spirit and passed out on the floor yet...minor difference. :D
Well, I am learning so much out here. I am pumped to go experience a
new area and keep serving these people! I'm grateful for the time I've
had to serve and learn from Elder Hicks. I'll miss him, but it's
probably about time I leave my trainer. Haha :)
Love you all! Happy Easter!

Elder Collin Christensen

Happy Easter

Hello family and friends!

It has been one heck of a week! Sadly M. has fallen off the map and doesn't seem to want to talk to us anymore. But on a happy note, Tamrah got confirmed a member if the church! She was so happy, and it was a special experience for her husband to be able to confirm her. J. son told us he wants to be baptized in June! We are going to miss that family so much, they have completely moved into their new house.. Also Juan got the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and was excited as always! He is searching for family names to bring to the temple, and we are planning on going with him in a couple weeks to do baptisms. D. and J. S.. came to church, they are a cool family but the dad isn't super supportive. [Their Daughter] is 8 and really wants to be baptized, but her parents are so casual about everything it's hard to help her progress. But they were at church so that's a blessing! We also felt guided to a members home last Monday, and we ended up teaching the excommunicated husband! He is a super chill Hawaiian guy who wants to be rebaptized! It's been cool to be able to go over there a few times now and bring the spirit back into their lives. Saturday we found this guy named J.who is really solid. He's about 25 and was really interested in Joseph Smith, said he believed it! I look back at the investigators we find and end up teaching, and I realize that so many of them came to be simply because we decided to talk to them on the street, or we followed a prompting to knock on their door. The Spirit truly can guide us to the elect, who are prepared and searching for the hope the gospel brings! We are still struggling with teaching and finding new people, but we are trusting in the the Lords promise: "Go your way whithersoever I will, and it shall be given you by the Comforter what you shall do and whither you shall go" (D&C 31:11).

One if my favorite talks from conference was by President Uchtdorf, Grateful in Any Circumstances.  When I read back over this talk, I tried to think of all the things I might not be so naturally inclined to be grateful for right now. As I thought, I first realized how blessed I already am. But from every thing I thought of that I might usually complain about, I suddenly recognized multiple blessings those things might provide me with. What I know is that even if we feel we can't recognize the blessings of our trials, there will always be a reason to thank our Heavenly Father. That's what makes gratitude an act of faith! I am trying to be more grateful for every experience and opportunity The Lord gives me.

With Easter approaching this Sunday, the church has launched a new Easter Initiative. Many of you have probably already heard of or seen this site, but the purpose is to help everyone feel the Spirit and love of God, and consider all the things that are made possible because of Jesus Christ. The site is www.mormon.org/BecauseofHim. I encourage you all to watch the video and share it on your Facebook page with your simple testimony! It's only for this week, so let's share it with as many people as we can!

I love my Savior and I love his work! I love that I can learn by experience and failure and he will still be there with His hands extended. I wish you all a happy Easter!

Elder Collin Christensen

Conference Was Incredible!

Hola familia y amigos!

It's been a great week! I will just say that General Conference was
incredible! I don't think I have ever been as excited for it
beforehand, neither have I been so sad when it was over. But I love
and will never forget what Elder Hales said in October:  "The greatest
blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is
over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather
to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live
them" (General Conference October 2013, Strengthening Faith and
Testimony). Sometimes we get on this spiritual high when Conference
rolls around, and we bask in the Spirit we feel. But then we get to
face the daunting task of application and continued study of the
talks, and if we forget then that Spiritual high fades rather quickly.
That's what I have noticed in myself, at least! But this conference I
came with a few questions in mind, and tried harder to listen more to
what the Spirit was telling me, rather than just to what the speaker
was telling me. It was hard at first, but I think most of us can
recall a time in a General Conference when we felt the speaker was
speaking directly to us and for us. My testimony grew a lot after I
prayed specifically about my questions and then received very specific
answers to them through those who spoke. I know we have a living
Prophet. I know our leaders are inspired, and that our Heavenly Father
is very aware of our individual lives. I loved the story of the boy
who prayed on the side of the road for help. With everything else
going on in the world, God is aware of us in our individual
circumstances and lives. At conference, I felt very much like a lost
boy on the side of the road who's prayers were answered. I am so
grateful for prayer, for living prophets, and for a loving Heavenly
Father! I look forward to studying all the talks in the coming weeks
and months. :)  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/04?lang=eng&cid=HPFR041114678

As far as the work this past week, we taught a LOT of new members,
members, and less actives. We are struggling finding and retaining new
people to teach. But so far we as a ward have been retaining the
recent converts well! Juan began his search for family names to take
to the temple. The Johnsons moved on Saturday, and as
sad as we are to see them go, we know the Sister missionaries who
cover their new ward and they are great! After our last lesson with
them this week, the 11 year old was standing all alone so I
went up to talk to him. He's a shy kid, but he told me he was thinking
he wanted to be baptized...! He probably wouldn't have said that
during the lesson, but it was cool to be able to talk to him about it.
We are so excited for that family and this new life they are
beginning.

Oh yea! The lady we did service for, and her daughter and two
granddaughters all came to watch conference and they loved it! Of
course they decided to come to the Saturday afternoon session, when we
do all the sustaining! Luckily it didn't scare them away though!

So a couple weeks ago we got to give a blessing to a member's neighbor
who has pancreatic cancer. She was very weak, and said they had kinda
run out of options for her treatment. Well, my testimony of Priesthood
power sure grew as we laid our hands on her head, and the specific
impression came to me to bless is woman that she would be healed. I
was surprised at first, but the spirit was so strong in that home.
Later, I definitely had thoughts of doubt and worry that I had spoken
out of place. But I couldn't deny that the blessing had come from
heaven. Just a couple days ago, the member called us and told us his
neighbor had WALKED over to his house to tell him she had been getting
better and stronger everyday since the blessing, and that she was
eating again. I was so grateful for the reaffirmation that God's
Priesthood is real. It was a humbling and faith building experience
for me!

Well, that's about it for this week! I love ya all and hope you had
great experiences with General Conference! I'd love to hear how things
have been. :))

Until next week,

Elder Collin Christensen