November 24, 2014 Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Family and Friends!
This is coming out so late today because we decided to take our
District hiking to the top of Mt. Elden! It was a lot of fun, as well
as my nap right after. :D So this will be short but I will try to hit
all the highlights of our CRAZY week.


First of all, we finally got more missionaries in our Ward! It was a
miracle because we lost a bunch of missionaries, 26 in the whole
missions, so many areas had to be combined. The new missionaries are
Sisters McCombie and Wooden, and they have a lot of energy! It will be
so good for this ward. We are now focusing our efforts 100% on Spanish
speakers. Because of that we found 2 incredible families this week! I
will tell you a little about one of them, Filiberto and Magdalena.
They are a middle aged couple with about 4 children who we just
contacted on the street like 4 months ago. They had tons of questions
and I thought they were going to keep us there all night! At the end,
we all kneeled and Magdalena offered the most sincere prayer asking if
the Book of Mormon was true. The Spirit that filled that room was
undeniable. It was such a powerful experience for their whole family,
we all just stayed kneeling for several moments after the prayer. It
was a testimony builder to me of Moroni's promise:
 
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye
would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these
things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with
real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it
unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
Moroni 10:4-5
http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng

We are excited for the successes and trials that lie ahead! It will be
a growing experience, for us as servants of the the Lord, for those we
will find, teach, and baptize, and for the work of salvation here in
general.


So for Thanksgiving we will be eating with an older lady in our Ward
and some others and will spend the rest of the day inside!
I love you all! Have a happy thanksgiving!

Elder Collin Christensen

November 17, 2014 Still in Flagstaff!

Dear Family and Friends,

Yes, it's cold in Arizona! Transfer week is is week, and it looks like I will be up here in Flagstaff through Christmas. Woo! Sometimes I wonder if they forgot about me up here... But that's ok, I love the ward and the work! Don't worry mom, I will be sure to get a jacket. The one a member gave me literally reaches my knees. I look like a dwarf.

Well we had an awesome week with the temple dedication and cultural celebration. Were you able to watch any of it online? There were a TON of youth and we were there pretty much all day. President Monson and a Uchtdorf were there as well as Elder Oaks, but we hardly saw them. President Monson is a happy guy and said some pretty funny things on both occasions. One the things that hit me the most as he dedicated the Phoenix Arizona temple was the insight that we are all temples of God. How dedicated are we to Him? A "re-dedication" and consecration of ourselves to our Savior perhaps is necessary on a regular basis. As I reflect on my efforts to be a consecrated missionary I am reminded that there is still so much more of myself that I can give and dedicate to Him. On that note, here's two of my favorite scriptures!

"25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Matthew 16:25-26

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/16?lang=eng

"15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve....but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/josh/24?lang=eng

The rest of our week was awesome too, other than the many appointments falling through. We should have some families committed to specific baptismal dates before the end of the month. The Begay Family was baptized on Friday and was able to come to the Dedication! We are starting their new member lessons because they just moved into our ward. We are also receiving tons of referrals lately, because we are asking for them! One neat story was after we shared a video with a Less Active sister, we asked who she knew who would benefit from seeing that video as well. She mentioned her daughter, so we found her on Facebook and sent the video to her. Sure enough her daughter was going through a rough time and she said the video turned her whole day around. Later we had several experiences right in a row with being in the right place at the right time to help certain people and find new people to teach! I love being the Lord's hands in working small but sure miracles to bring his children closer to him. I've seen it happen over and over again! 

Well I think that sums up this week. I'm grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's sole purpose is to cleanse us from our mistakes, guilt, and pain and allow us to enjoy the Holy Ghost with us always. I know it's true. I'm grateful for the ability to repent daily and trust that God will be with me as I do my best.

I love you all! Stay warm and awesome!

Elder Collin Christensen

November 10, 2014-Thankful

Hello Everyone!


I hope you're all doing swell and getting excited for Thanksgiving! I
forced myself to think about some things I was thankful for this last
week. I wish I didn't have to be reminded by a national holiday to be
thankful, but I guess it's a good opportunity! I think out of the many
blessings I have, I'm most grateful for my family and for my testimony
of Jesus Christ. As President Uchtdorf said, "this personal testimony
of the gospel and the Church is the most important thing you can earn
in this life" (Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth;
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/receiving-a-testimony-of-light-and-truth?lang=eng).
I'm grateful that I have one, and that it can still grow, and that I
can trust in it when I doubt and when I have trials.


This week we stayed very busy and had another Zone Conference in
Sedona. It answered a lot of the questions I have been having. And I
scored on a free flu shot from Walgreens! Also, Aabrey and Valerie got
baptized! I don't have pictures yet...but they are awesome girls. It
was a good step for their parents in coming back. We've been
struggling to find new people lately and had a lot of our prospects
fall through. But one family we found is super Golden! Dan and Shannon
are the parents, and Karlin is the oldest son. Not only are they
extremely open, but have already seen the blessings of the Gospel in
their family as they have started praying together. We are excited for
them!


Well I don't know what else to say for this week. We are doing the
work and work is changing us. I'm humbled everyday and brought to my
knees. I'm learning to trust in my Savior Jesus Christ, do my best,
and as Elder Wirthlin said, "leave the rest to Him."
I love each of you! Keep being solid!

Elder Collin Christensen

November 3 Grateful to Be a Missionary

Dear Family and Friends,

Our week was packed full and flew by! We started out by going on exchanges. While in the other Elders' area we knocked on the door of a referral for their ward. They came to the door and said "no English..." They were pretty surprised when they found out I spoke Spanish, and what was even funnier was when the dad told his daughter to tell us he wasn't home...as if I couldn't understand them. Haha So then I started talking to him and he asked us to come back in April... Anyways, stuff like that happens quite a bit actually. It keeps things entertaining I guess. 

Later in the week we went to the Temple Open House again, this time just as our district of missionaries, which was incredible as always. I love that Heavenly Father always will reconfirm the truth to us, literally time and time again. It strengthens my testimony each time I feel the Spirit teach me something and helps me know that I'm on the right path, and that this message is true. 

Well on Halloween we couldn't go out in the evening to proselyte, even though I'm sure plenty of people would have loved to see us in our costumes. "Hey look it's a Mormon missionary! How creative! Here's your candy, now get off my porch!" We got to have a Zone activity though which was awesome. We play Chair Soccer, Death Ball, and Speed Ball a lot in this mission and I don't think it'd be worth it to try and explain each of these games. 

We had an awesome Stake Conference this weekend and had some less active Spanish speaking members come just in time to hear President Uchtdorf speak about the new Phoenix Temple and the need for everyone to be worthy to hold a current temple recommend. It definitely got them motivated! Unfortunately President Uchtdorf wasn't there in person, but it was still an awesome conference. 

One revelation I had during stake conference was that I need to bear my personal testimony more frequently, multiple times during lessons and everywhere really. As I have begun doing so, the Holy Ghost has filled our lessons. They still aren't perfect, but at least the Spirit is there and we have the chance to point it out and help our investigators discover their own growing testimonies. Another revelation is that I need to sacrifice more of what I want for the benefit of those we are helping, be it my companion, investigators, members, or leaders. These are all things I hope to be able to improve on and grow to love doing.

I'm also grateful for how the Holy Ghost has been guiding us, and helping us to make important decisions. There are many elect here in this area and the way God's hand has guided us to them has just been incredible. An example is Taylor, who messaged us randomly this week and told us she would like to be baptized on December 6th! I decided to start writing in my journal every night about how God's hand guided and impacted the work that day. It has helped me realize how little we can actually do on our own, and be able to keep a positive outlook.

We are struggling with balancing the Spanish work here. There is much of it to do but we are kept busy every hour of the evening all week with mostly English work, going on splits with the members 3-4 times a week. The members here really are looking forward to having another set of Missionaries to help.

I am grateful to be a missionary! If you are a family member, friend, non member, or anyone really, I want you to know that I know that I am not wasting my time here. Actually there isn't enough time! This work is true and it is right. If you aren't sure of that yet, I invite you to find out! God will always reveal truth to those with sincere hearts and real intent. Message me on Facebook (Elder Collin Christensen) if you'd like to talk about it!

I love you all!

Elder Collin Christensen

October 27--Phoenix Open house and More

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, we had a roller coaster of a week! Definitely had some highs and
lows, but all in all I am grateful for each of them. We met some super
interesting people this week... One was a previous investigator who
has abused drugs most her life. She called us and told us she had some
evil Spirits in her home...so we went over to say a prayer and she
proceeded to tell us how Happy she is when we come, and also when she
gets high because it's more fun to play with her animals when she is
high. :P it was funny for us at the time, but looking back it's pretty
sad to see what can happen to your life if you hand it over to what
the world has to offer you. Then another guy (who had been
drinking...) stopped us on the street to try and convince us to stop
preaching the Book of Mormon because "it just couldn't be true, and is
unnecessary." He would not give up, until he heard us bear our
testimonies from the Holy Ghost. He couldn't do anything to discredit
that, no matter how hard he tried to discredit everything else. It was
neat! He was pretty hilarious though, especially when he got down on
all fours and began to imitate a tadpole, terra-dactyl, and Ape for
us. People....haha. We also ate Quail, Bison, and Elk this week. Today
we explored the Lava Caves which was pretty cool...and cold...and
dark!

We got to go to the Phoenix Arizona Temple open house with 3
investigators (Francisco, Josh, and Shania). It was incredible! I love
the Spirit found in the temple. Each of them felt it for sure, and it
impacted their perspective and feelings about the church for the
better. Afterwards Josh kept going on about how amazing he felt, and I
just asked him "so when do you want to be baptized?" He responded
without hesitation "ASAP, bro...ASAP." :D he has some things to work
through still, but his testimony was strengthened and desire to do
good increased. I'm just plain amazed at all the work that goes into
making temples what they are, and grateful for the chance to use it as
a teaching tool. I know the temple is God's house, and there we can be
receive blessings that will last for eternity.


One rough part of the week was last Saturday, when F. told us
he didn't feel ready for baptism in two weeks. He has a ton of
influences working on him right now. He has felt the Spirit confirm
the truth of the Book of Mormon and of Jesus Christ as his Savior, but
he is just struggling with a lot of doubt and confusion. The Holy
Spirit witnessed to me the truth as I was able to share how the
Atonement of Jesus Christ has changed me. I chose to fast for him on
Sunday, so he could figure out his life and know what he should do. I
love this guy, and I felt an increase in love for him yesterday. I
felt an increase in love for the people in general. There is something
special about feeling God's love for another one of His children.


A. is doing well and is still on for Baptism on Nov. 8. She has
ADD and a pretty short attention span, like any kid, but her mom is
super supportive and her brother just got the Priesthood! She was in
the Primary program last week and did awesome.


Well anyways, I should wrap this epistle up. I am grateful for this
Gospel. I am grateful for the unconditional love our Heavenly Father
has for every single one of us. I'm grateful we can choose each day to
follow his perfect plan. Sharing that message these last 14 months has
truly been the greatest joy of my life.
I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Elder Collin Christensen