June 30, 2014

Hello Family and Friends!
So today has been crazy busy with running around everywhere and
playing soccer and volleyball at NAU. It was pretty fun. It was a
little nostalgic when it started raining right at the end. Monsoon
season is coming! Apparently it gets pretty crazy here. Sounds like we
will get some good opportunities to give service if it gets bad. Oh,
mom, my address right now is still 3318 E. Ascona Way Flagstaff, AZ
86004.
Anyways, this last week has been just as crazy and busy as the week
before. We had two back to back exchanges, one of which I drove down
to Glendale with Elder Arave for Spanish Specialized training, it was
an awesome meeting, but they mainly focused on how we should speak in
Spanish 100% of the time and how to work with Spanish people in
Spanish wards...so some was applicable to me, and some wasn't. It was
good though to see Elder Hicks for the last time. He goes home in two
weeks!! Oh yea, remember D. in Prescott Valley? Her husband was very
against her joining the church. She got baptized a few weeks ago! I
guess she just up an told him she was doing it. She is awesome.
We went back out to Williams/Ash Fork this weekend and found 3 new
investigators! Gustavo and Mayra were a couple in the very same
trailer park as Edelmira. Last week when we had gotten discouraged
cause no body was home, we had just started knocking random doors and
asking for Hispanic names like Jorge. Haha It probably wasn't the best
way of finding, but we talked to Gustavito (Gustavo's son) and he said
we could come back. I had forgotten about him, but Friday night we
were in the area again and about to go home, but for some reason I
remembered talking with Gustavito and so we went back, met his parents
and taught them the Plan of Salvation! They are super prepared people.
Another prepared person we found was an old investigator named Kevin.
After talking to him once, the Spirit really has been preparing him as
well! He said he wants to be baptized, and came to church yesterday!
Well sorry this is short and jumbled, I'm about out of time today
though. Please know i feel your prayers and appreciate your love. The
church is true! I love you all!

Elder Collin Christensen

June 23, 2014

Dear Family and friends,

Well this week started out to be a bit of a bummer, but it ended up
being very successful! L. didn't show up to his baptismal
interview, so we canceled his baptism until his family shows more
commitment. He has a hard time remembering things like appointments
because of a car crash a while back. Apparently he just up and left
town, so we still have no idea where he is at! It's better this
happens now though, and not after his baptism. It was hard for me at
first to accept that it wouldn't be happening, but I learned a lot
about how important the covenant of baptism is. We promise to take
Christ's name, to remember him always, and to obey his commandments
for the rest of our lives! If people don't understand that or just
aren't ready to make that kind of promise, it's our responsibility to
make sure they don't make it. So I think everything happened for a
reason.

But on the bright side, we were incredibly busy again this week! We
decided to stay out in Williams last weekend to find some Spanish
speaking people. We ended up finding a new investigator who wants to
be baptized but just works too much, and we talked with a TON of
people. Saturday afternoon we spent a couple hours just walking around
in an area with a dense Hispanic population. It seemed like either no
one wanted to talk to us or they just weren't home, so I was getting
pretty annoyed and discouraged. We decided to leave, but as we were
walking back to the church I felt an impression to knock a door we had
skipped earlier. Honestly, I was sick of knocking doors so I ignored
that prompting and kept walking. But immediately another thought came,
something President Taylor had said: "If it's something you don't want
to hear, odds are it's the Holy Ghost." So we went back, knocked the
door, and a lady named Edelmira answered. She was probably the only
one we talked to that afternoon who was interested in what we had to
say. And when I say interested, I mean she was pumped! It even got me
excited! She took a Libro de Mormon and invited us back next week.
I don't know if that lady will ever join the church, I don't know if
we will ever even see her again, but I DO know that The Lord directs
His work. Nothing else could have made us knock that door at that
time. I also know that The Lord knows his missionaries! He lets us
struggle, He pushes us, He sometimes lets us reach the point of even
giving up and losing hope. But if we pay attention, he will give us an
opportunity to exercise our faith. And then he'll remind us He is
still there, and that this is His work! I know that we, as
missionaries and as disciples of Jesus Christ, are his instruments.
While he uses us to do his work he shapes us into the people he wants
us to be! I'm grateful to be a missionary!
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back,
behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the
Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give
unto you success" (Alma 26:27).

I know that Jesus Christ has restored his church to the earth. I know
the Book of Mormon to be true, and I wouldn't still be here if I
didn't. I know the Gospel brings us peace in this life and prepares us
for eternal happiness in the world to come.

I love each of you! I love being a missionary! Please email/message me
if I can ever do anything for you, or if you have any questions. Until
next week,

Elder Collin Christensen

June 16, 2014

Dear Family and Friends!
Well, I was looking forward to some baby pictures, but I guess I can
wait! I hope everything goes well with the delivery and that he comes
SOON! To answer all your questions mom:
Yes I got your email! Yes, we are still teaching in Spanish, mostly me
right now. But Elder Blake is learning to pray and bear his testimony
in Spanish! We've been trying to get more member support so I'm not
teaching alone. Yes I'm the senior companion. The weather is good,
about 80s everyday and a tiny dust storm today! We aren't outside too
much though. I think I still have two extra packages of pages for my
journal, so I'm good for now.

Well this was quite the week! After teaching 25 lessons we now have
Steve and Julie on date for July 19th! They don't know each other at
all, but they both picked the same day! We are excited for them both.
Steve is awesome and still getting over his fear of coming to church
with people he doesn't know. But he will work through it! Leander is
still planning on being baptized this Saturday the 21 so we'll be
praying all goes well with that! The Lord truly has been hastening his
work here in Flagstaff. We had members at almost half our lessons and
we have been running all over the place all week. I don't know what
we're doing differently, but it just seems everything is falling into
place.
One thing I have gained a stronger testimony of as well is the power
of two or more witnesses. I don't particularly like teaching by
myself, but we found ourselves in several situations this week where I
was teaching the whole lesson. I realized I can only do so much.
Really, what I do, and what we do, is very minimal. We are messengers,
but the Spirit is the teacher of truth. We can't convince anyone that
Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ. We can only bear our personal
testimonies and allow the Spirit to back us up with an additional
witness. There's hasn't been a single time on my whole mission that I
or my companion have recited Joseph Smith's experience in the sacred
grove and the Holy Ghost hasn't born witness to me again that it is
true. And when you have a companion who testifies as well, it's even
better. Elder Blake really is taking it like a champ though. He's been
setting goals each week to learn Spanish and participate more.
Well, unfortunately I caught some bug this weekend. Don't know if it's
stomach flu or what but I guess success comes at a cost! Hopefully
it's gone by tomorrow for our Zone conference in Sedona!
I love each of you and appreciate your prayers!
Until next week,

Elder Collin Christensen

June 9, 2014

Buenos tardes Familia y amigos!

Well, my new companion is Elder Blake! He's from SLC, UT and has been
out about 17 months. He is a nice guy, pretty quiet, and he plays the
piano like a mad man! Oh yea, and he is an English missionary. I don't
know what President Taylor was thinking making me the only Spanish
speaking missionary proselyting in Flagstaff. Being in a hybrid
companionship is definitely testing and humbling me. Teaching alone
isn't too fun, so Elder Blake is actually learning Spanish with me! We
had a super successful week though, we found 4 new investigators and
had a lot of member participation!
Elder Muñoz ended up in Peoria, in the Agua Fria ward where I was
trained! He has my old bed! Haha
Sorry this is a short email, we are having a big activity today! I
love you all!

Elder Collin Christensen

June 3, 2014

Dear Family and Friends!
Well, we just received transfer news, and Elder Muñoz is leaving tomorrow. :( we are both pretty bummed about it. We have learned so
much from each other and have loved the last 6 weeks working here. I am a bit uneasy and quite honestly nervous to take over this area.
While our English ward is small, our Spanish area is enormous and a little overwhelming. I didn't really realize it until this last weekend when we stayed out in Williams and Ash Fork. I know that The
Lord doesn't expect me to know it all or be able to do everything perfectly, so I am grateful for His help which I will most definitely need! I feel I have learned two huge things from Elder Muñoz. The first being love. We can't do the Lord's work unless we do it in the Lord's way, and the Lord's way is love! Elder Muñoz is an awesome example of loving the people and showing it.  The Second thing I have learned from being with him is how to effectively and confidently make decisions. I am still learning it, but ever since I got here, he turned most the reins over to me and really let me guide our decisions. I believe he was inspired to do that so I could learn to trust not only the Spirit, but also my own ability to make decisions. Anyways, I love this guy and will miss him!

This last week we've stayed busy. Recently we have been struggling with how to get the members to work with us. They are excited and willing to participate, and they trust us, but most of them just don't have a clue how to do missionary work. It's understandable too, of course people want to share the gospel, but the "method" of sharing is isn't quite so easy. Well, I can tell all you members reading this,
the "method" is the missionary manual Preach My Gospel. As Elder Ballard said this last April's Conference, this is a manual for missionary work, and so it's a manual for all of us! His Apostolic
challenge to us to study it as members of the church is not merely a suggestion! So I will back up his challenge with mine - study it! If you truly want to share the gospel, you will heed this call from a prophet of God. I promise that if you do, the Spirit will enlighten
you and give you an idea, a "method", in which The Lord would have YOU participate in His work. And the COOLEST part of this last week has been watching members apply the principles taught in Preach My Gospel. They invite! We had several lessons with members who not only invited current investigators to come to their home, but who introduced us to new people as well! I just testify that there are people you see and know each and everyday who are prepared and searching for the truth. You may or may not know who they are, but The Lord does! Trust him, fear God more than man! Invite invite invite, and watch The Lord work miracles through you. I know he will if you follow his Method.  So some of these new people I mentioned are Steve and Jacob. Steve has a girlfriend who is a member and is helping us teach him. He is
soaking everything up and already wants to be baptized! Jacob is from Phoenix and is staying with his aunt in our ward. He's an awesome kid. Both of these people we would never have found if members hadn't
invited us to meet and teach them! The truth is, we can't do this work alone as members nor alone as missionaries. We are excited to see the hastening of the work in action!
I know this church is true!

Love,

Elder Collin Christensen