July 20, 2015 Last Email!

Hello Everyone! 

Well last week we had a pretty good turn out at our Noche de Deportes! We had quite a few less active members and a couple investigators come to play soccer. They may have roped us into playing in our shirts and ties, but that's not important. It was a lot of fun and helped a lot of people become friends again. 

We have been facing similar struggles lately with getting people to church and such, but we had some cool experiences this week including a church tour with a new investigator family! Their names are Alfredo and Lilia. They both want to come to church but she has to work on Sundays. It seems like that is always the issue, especially when you find someone super solid. This week at church we had a few members come though, which was great. We sang "I Believe in Christ" half in Spanish and English with the Choir. It was fun even though neither of us really knew what to sing, we could say the words at least! Its been cool to see how the Cedar Hill Ward is adjusting to being a "bilingual ward". Next week I will be speaking as well as Hermano Castruita, who will be speaking in Spanish. We will have someone translate his talk into English, which will be the first time thats happened! I'm excited. 

I love this ward. They have been so awesome and kind and loving. I will miss so many of these people I have come to love. Being on a mission truly has changed my perspective and my priorities. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know that He Lives. I know that His gospel is the only way to find true happiness. 

I will save the fluff. I am sure you all get it. I invite you all to my Homecoming talk.

Well this is pretty weird, but I guess this is it! See you all next week! I love you and look forward to seeing you.

Love,

Elder Collin Christensen

July 6, and 13

July 6-

Mom,
Sorry I didn't write this week. We were at BEARIZONA looking at some
wildlife and I fell asleep afterwards. I'm doing good. Glad you had a
fun and safe Fourth of July. Talk to you next week.

Élder Collin Christensen

July 13

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I didn't write much last week. Last week we went to BEARIZONA, a wildlife sort of park and took a bus through the whole park to see some pretty cool animals. I didn't get many pictures unfortunately, but it was fun. Today was awesome. We got up at 4:45 to climb Mt. Humphreys with a couple other Elders who are going home with me. It was super fun to be able to climb it again. I'll bring home some pictures of the hike and the top because they are all on my normal camera. 

Mom asked some general questions about the Spanish Group that I'll answer. Yes we are the only Spanish elders in the Stake. We still haven't received the new translation equipment. And as far as the vision for the Group, the Stake is being selective in who they pull from English Wards to help support it. The goal is to create a strong functioning unit of Spanish Speakers were any investigator or member can go to feel comfortable learning the gospel and feeling the Spirit in their culture and in their own language. We are focusing primarily on native Spanish speakers, and it's been a slow process but we have got one active family almost completely moved into the group, and a couple less active families who will be moving or have moved their records as well. Basically our focus is still the members. The Facebook events we have been making for Sacrament hasn't yielded any huge results, but it has put church on people's mind more and I believe it has helped remind our semi active family to come. Facebook has been a good tool to just try to unify and excite everyone, and most the members have been good at being involved. And my group coming home is the last group that won't be taking our iPads home. Beginning with the next group after us had the chance to pay for theirs to take it home.

It's been a little tough lately to get people to keep their commitments honestly. It's kinda been wearing on us. Part of the culture is that these people are so nice and hospitable to us that most of the time they will say "yes" to anything we ask them or invite them to do. Then it doesn't happen and we get confused. We really are working on teaching the doctrine of the Sabbath Day and church attendance, inviting with power and then following up, and setting goals. The last three weeks we haven't been able to get Investigators to church but at least some members have still been coming even with Summer vacations.

Well we found an awesome new couple to teach, and now we are also teaching a guy named Alejandro who a member introduced us to. The work is hastening, but it's just happening in a different way than we expect. I love the Lords promise to us as we labor in His vineyard, both as members and missionaries: "And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard" (Jacob 5:75). I have experienced this joy as I have labored with the Lord. I love that. He truly is by our side laboring with us. He is the one hastening His work. I may not see a baptism happen after working in this area for a total of nearly 12 months now. But I know the Lord put me here for a reason, and that I've been able to learn valuable lessons as I have planted seeds that will someday be harvested. I have complete faith in that.

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Élder Collin Christensen

June 29, 2015

Hey Everybody!

We had a pretty great week, and ended up having 5 less active members come to church and participate in our Sunday School class! Our investigators seem to be getting harder and harder to contact, but we continue trying! 

As far as cool stories, we found a less active member who hadn't been to church for years and whose records were no where to be found. We taught her as well as her nonmember godchildren who just moved here from Mexico! She told us she hadn't had contact with the church for over two years and she was so happy we found her. The Lord works in mysterious ways! 

We have really been focusing on the less active members and strengthening them. I feel that as we've been doing that I have been strengthened in my own desire and commitment to live the gospel. And it's been super fun to hear their stories! We got to weedwack one inactive members yard which brought back a lot of fun memories of the Christmas tree farm. Haha! It was fun though, in all seriousness. We actually had a lot of service opportunities this week. I feel like that is partially what has been helping me. I've really come to know and believe what President Monson said: "Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives" (October 2009, What Have I Done for Someone Today?). 

This week was also pretty special for me. I've been blessed to return here to this ward. Last November we began teaching Taylor and her then inactive husband Eli. She was so solid and almost got baptized, but then it didn't work out. The sister missionaries then took over the area and kept teaching her here and there, and just this last Saturday Eli baptized Taylor. It was awesome to see the fruits of seeds planted months ago! They will be sealed next year in the temple. The other awesome part of this week was yesterday at church. 

I got to confer the Melchizedek Priesthood to Kevin, one of the people we taught and baptized last August. He was one of my favorite converts. It was incredible to be back here and to see how he has progressed and to have him ask me to ordain him an Elder. Another awesome example of how the fruits of our labor a can never really be measured completely, especially not at the time we plant the seed.

I wanted to include this brief portion from President Griffin's letter to us this week:

"Dear Missionaries,
Hasten – “To cause (something) to happen sooner than it otherwise would." This is what the Lord is doing with the great APM! How is it being hastened? Sometimes our missionary work shows that He is hastening His work by calling us to take the sole responsibility of finding, teaching, and baptizing and only calling the ward members to fellowship. Elders and Sisters that is NOT the Lord hastening His work, that is us hindering His work by not enlisting the rest of the Army of God.
Are you enlisting the whole army of God in your areas? If not, review Preach My Gospel chapter 13 and establish a vision of how you can help the members “Come join the ranks! Come join the ranks!” ... I promise you that Heaven will help you “rally round the standard of the cross” with these members and then will His work truly be hastened in your areas."

I hope this helps you think about our responsibilities, not just as missionaries but as members of Christ's family.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Élder Collin Christensen

June 22, 2015

Hey everyone!

Well tonight we will be having a Father's Day Potluck at the church
building and we are excited to have a ton of people come! We will see
if that really happens, but either way, it will be a great experience
for everyone who comes, both member and non member alike. At least to
get to know the church building and other people they can relate to
and communicate with. This week consisted of a lot of busy visits and
making invitations and inviting everyone we had time to in between
teaching appointments.

We were referred to a former Investigator named Genaro last week that
we had lost the records and information for. He called out to some
Elders in our district who were riding their bikes past his place and
he asked them to send him the Spanish speaking Elders. We went that
night and taught this man about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how he
could be cleansed from his sin. He loved it and was so happy to see
us, I have never had someone so excited to meet with us I don't think.
Then we came back last night and taught him how to pray, and as we
explained to him that he could ask Heavenly Father questions, he just
stared at us and said "You mean I can ask him? Anything? I can do
that?" It was a cool moment for him to understand what his true
relationship with Heavenly Father is. He began begging us to let him
say the closing prayer, and we did, of course! It was one of the most
sincere and heartfelt prayers I've heard anyone offer. Afterwards he
told us he had the most beautiful feeling he had ever felt, and he
wanted to know how he could keep it with him always. I love the Holy
Ghost because it is so hard to describe sometimes and yet so distinct
once you can recognize that it's God's way of communicating truth to
us. Well anyways, he wants to be baptized and take his family to be
sealed in the temple one day. He has a lot of changes to make, but I
couldn't help but look up at the stars that night and say a true
prayer of gratitude. The Lord placed a truly prepared man and family
in our path, just as we have been specifically praying for for the
last 6 weeks. I do know and believe that God hears and answers prayers
at just the right time, when our heart is right and our faith is ready
to grow. I know that if we ask for the opportunities, God will place
people in our path who need the message we have. But don't let that
scare you from asking him for those opportunities! Sharing these
truths with others really is the most fulfilling and rewarding thing I
have ever done.

Well I love each of you and hope your week is wonderful!

Élder Collin Christensen

Last Transfer! June 16, 2015

Hey family and friends!
We have had a pretty awesome week. Although none of our investigators
came to church on Sunday we had three less active members come and one
of them decided he's going to help us build up our group again! His
name is Gastón. We are still trying to figure out how to provide
better translation for those who speak Spanish, but we should be
getting new equipment soon. 

Other than that there haven't been too
many changes. But we have a family we are teaching who came to a
missionary Christ centered musical fireside the stake did, and they
loved it. We got to show them the baptismal font (the only one we have
is not at the building we meet at) and it was just super clear to us
that they are ready. So we are excited to keep working with them. 

José is doing well. we weren't able to meet with him last week
unfortunately because he was visiting family. But we are teaching him
tonight and hoping to give him a tour of our church building!
We have another returning less active member coming out with us
tonight to that lesson to help get people excited to come be a part of
the group. His name is Antonio, and he had been hesitant when it came
to church and meeting with us for quite a while. He was embarrassed to
tell us about some of his issues he was having, and we finally taught
him about the Restoration and invited him back to church. He came, and
the next lesson we taught about the sabbath day and left him with a
pamphlet on the Word of Wisdom. He came to church again, and then we
met up with him again and he had a grin from ear to ear. He invited us
in and showed us his huge tub of powdered nesquik drink mix and said
"Elders, this is what I drink in the morning now!" Come to find out he
quit drinking coffee, smoking, and working on Sunday's and no he is
reading his scriptures each day and coming out with us to lessons.
It's pretty incredible because we don't feel like we did anything, it
was as if the Lord was preparing and guiding him and all he needed was
the invitation to come back, to feel needed in the church. I think
it's the same way for so many who are members and even those who
aren't yet. Our testimonies and invitations can be powerful when
combined with the Lord "pour[ing] out his Spirit on all the face of
the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare
their hearts to receive the word" (Alma 16:16).

Well today was pretty laid back. Looks like I'm finishing out my last
transfer here in Flagstaff as I had suspected. Definitely have some
mixed feelings about finishing, but that's not a worry. I'm happy to
be here in this place and with these people I have grown to love.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Élder Collin Christensen

June 8, 2015

Hey Everyone!

Elder Thiel and I had a great week! There are a lot of great things happening here. We began our week with some stretching goals that we prayed pretty hard over, and despite tons of setbacks everything seemed to fall into place. 

Not only did we reach our goals, but we had some amazing spiritual experiences with a few of our Investigators who really needed it. One of them was José. He has been struggling a lot with having the "ganas" to keep his commitments to read the scriptures. But we hadn't been able to keep appointments with him or even finish teaching him the most important part of our message yet, so we finally just sat down with him and taught about how God calls prophets in every age so that we can know how to return to live with him. We taught about how Christ's church fell when the apostles were killed. Finally we shared with him in Joseph Smith's own words his experience of the First Vision, and as we did he began sobbing. He kept telling us he didn't know why, but he felt good, and he felt like all the questions in his mind were being answered one by one, and that he knew that what we were telling him was true because he was feeling it. It was one of those moments where I knew that the Lord answers prayers without a doubt, because just that day we had prayed that people would recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ and that we would be guided to those who would be ready to receive the message of the Restoration of His church. It reminded me how much I love sharing this with people. The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth, it's as simple as that. And we don't have to worry about trying to convince everyone our message is true, because if they are willing to learn it and ask Heavenly Father "with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto [them], by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:4). I've given up trying to convince people, I simply can't. I can't offer them a lasting testimony, but the Holy Ghost can, and I do know that it will teach them that our message is true if I teach it clearly. José accepted the invitation to be baptized by someone holding the restored Priesthood authority of God that night.

Well we had a great turnout at church, and our Sunday school class is getting bigger and bigger each week. 

Today we spent the day at the Grand Canyon and got to see a lot of cool things including a wild Black Bear! 

I love you all! Have an awesome week!

Élder Collin Christensen

June 1, 2015

Hey Everyone,

Today will be a quick update. Our Spanish group is growing slowly but
consistently. We had new Investigator named Ruth come to church for
the first time yesterday, and she definitely wouldn't have come unless
she had the member support that she did. It reminded me of how
important and crucial it is that members and missionaries work
together to bring souls to Christ. Man, it makes me pumped to hear
about Kess, please tell him congratulations and that I'm proud of him.
I'm sure several of you played a critical part in the process of his
conversion.
So it was Ruth's first week at church, and she seemed pleased with
everything's she heard and learned. But I couldn't help but notice her
figetting with her translation headset throughout the beginning of
sacrament meeting, so I decided, you know what? I can't expect these
people to come and wear headsets in a so called "white person" church
if I won't do it myself! So I got my own headset and learned a lot. I
learned how they must feel to be one of the few people who need
translation. I learned how frustrating it is when the translator
doesn't say things exactly because they can't be translated exactly,
and how frustrating it is to have old translation equipment that makes
loud static and sometimes doesn't work. I learned that it is difficult
for a member, let alone an Investigator, to stay very interested in
the church if they have to deal with those kinds of things. Now, I'm
not blaming anyone or anything. But I am growing in both my compassion
and love for these people. So often I get down or discouraged because
they seem to not care as much or not to be flocking to the doors of
the church! Why not? Well it's hard! It's hard to be a Latter Day
Saint, and it's especially hard when you can't speak the language. We
will work out the kinks, things will get better as time moves on and
the Lord answers prayers and guides us to those who will gain
testimonies and stay strong. This work was never supposed to be easy,
but it sure has been worth every effort I've put into it so far. This
is the salvation of God's children! It's the fulfilling of the
prophecy that “Every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his
own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained
unto this power” (D&C 90:11). I'm grateful for all these opportunities
to learn and to serve.
We have been praying that we find families that will be prepared to
receive the gospel and be baptized. Last week we found three different
families and a total of eleven new Investigators. It's been clear that
Lord wants this group to grow!
Well I love you all!

Elder Collin Christensen

May 25, 2015

Hey Family and Friends!

This week surpassed our goals and expectations in almost every single way. It was a bit disappointing when our three investigators on date for baptism felt they weren't ready and became too busy to meet consistently with us. One of those was Eduardo unfortunately. His work schedule picked up so he is now working all day all week. But he has the most sincere and humble heart, so we haven't given up, and we won't. 

But our area has also been super busy and successful lately besides that. We had four Investigators at church, and four native Spanish speaking members, and 4 Spanish speaking RMs to create a Sunday school class of 12. It kind of blew us away. We are working hard, but I think I've tried to do that most of mission. I think here what's making the difference is God's will and the urgency of our prayers. I'm finding that I'm praying for my Investigators and members by name because I really sincerely do want them to be baptized and have the happiness I do. It's pretty amazing what the Lord can do if we just place ourselves into his hands with a willing heart.

This week we are praying to find families. Families ready to accept the gospel and be baptized in June, and families who are members maybe haven't found out about the Spanish group. Your prayers would also be appreciated!

We had some pretty funny food this week, including cabeza and some sketchy pastel and Peruvian mystery juice. Gotta love these Peruvians, they're legit! Elder Thiel gets sketched out by the food sometimes, it's pretty fun. 

I don't really have much else to update you all on, things are just dandy. I'd like to hear everyone's plans for Memorial Day today and how all the families are doing!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Collin Christensen

May 18, 2015

Hey Family and everyone else!

So I know I may have sounded a little negative the last week or so regarding our area and whether or not we would be able to keep working here in Flagstaff. But my attitude has been changing and we have truly seen miracles happen this week. We had a good discussion with our Stake president about how the work has been going and the needs of the people. We concluded that we ought to change our plans and create a critical mass of Spanish speakers, particularly natives, who meet together on Sundays. This will be so much better for both our less active members and Investigators to come and feel the spirit and learn the gospel in their own language! What we were doing before just wasn't working. 

We began this week, and prayed super hard that we would be able to get people to church. I think we may have even started to bother Heavenly Father with how much we prayed for that! Probably not though. We decided to begin finding through members, and this week we ended up find three new solid and very prepared Investigators, Eduardo, José, and Anastacia. We set goals for how many members and investigators we would have come each week for the next two months. With the Lord's help we had 4 native Spanish speaking members show up to church yesterday (usually there are none) and 2 investigators. They stayed for our Sunday school class in Spanish, and we had 12 people total participate in the class. We even had an Elders Quorum class in Spanish of about 15 people that Elder Thiel and I taught (including native Spanish speakers and Spanish speaking returned missionaries)! We haven't had a priesthood meeting in Spanish here for over a year, and even a year ago when I first got here there was only one man we had the meeting for. The support from the ward is incredible and we are really seeing things start to change right off the bat. There are still so many members that aren't coming yet, but the goal is set, we have an action plan with the Stake, and we are all committed to achieve it. This area is still a tough one, but Elder Thiel and I are working together well to make the changes that need to happen and find the elect who are prepared to receive gospel. Now we are just striving for consistency to show we can actually make things happen and this isn't just a once and done thing. We have the faith to do it and the Lord seems to be making it all happen, and guiding us every step of the way. 

So anyways, enough of that. I really am starting to think about the biggest ways I have changed and the most important lessons I have learned during these months. One of them is Honesty with self, and with God. Another is working smart and doing the most effective things, rather than simply working hard. Most importantly, I feel I've gained a great appreciation for the Savior, and a firmer conviction that he loves me and can literally give me strength when I need it. I've tried doing things by my own strength and I've failed. I still try sometimes, but I think I'm learning quicker and quicker that I need the Lord and his help. I'm grateful for these and several other lessons I'm learning, and will continue to learn throughout the rest of my life.

I love you all! You ought to all know how awesome it is to be a part of the Hastening of the Work of Salvation. If you're waiting to be a part of it because you don't now where to start, get on your knees today and ask Heavenly Father to give you a chance to help him build his kingdom. If you're waiting because you're scared, or nervous, or don't think you know anyone you could share the gospel with, get on your knees and follow the above process! He absolutely hears and answers your prayers, so don't wait.

"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work" (D&C 4:3).

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Collin Christensen

May 11, 2015

Dear Family and Friends!

It was great to talk with some of you family members yesterday,
especially you mom! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day. I have
felt and appreciated your support throughout my whole life and
especially my mission.
Well last night after we got off the phone every appointment fell
through and no one was home or available as we knocked for a solid 2
hours. But at least they were probably making their own mothers day
calls so that's ok! It was kinda disappointing though, so finally
around 8pm we said a prayer and decided to go back to one house we had
tried earlier. They were home and let us right in! It was a blessing
and a reminder that we absolutely need the Lord in this work. If we
ever feel we can do it on our own we are wrong.
As I mentioned yesterday we are focusing on building up the testimony
and conversion of the Spanish speaking members here in Flagstaff right
now. It's a different approach, but it needs to happen if the Group is
ever going to grow. So that's been interesting. It's made me think
more about what love is. At first I have felt hesitant about inviting
these less active members to repent and come to church because I have
grown to love them after working with them for so long. But I've
realized that I can't be hesitant about the truth. Jesus Christ was
the perfect example of how to love, but He didn't mince words when He
reprimanded the Pharisees or cleansed the temple. He couldn't! Boldly
speaking the truth is a true expression of love, and I've definitely
felt that for these people this last week. It reminds me of the
example of Peter and the Apostles going fishing again after Jesus
Christ had performed the Atonement and been resurrected. When Jesus
finds that they'd gone back to their old lives and forgotten their
commission, he first helps them by telling them where to cast their
nets. They bring in a huge catch, and then later on the shore they eat
together with Jesus. He then asks the very bold question to Peter, "Do
you love me?" Our love for the Savior is determined by how we show it
through our obedience to his commandments and our willingness to serve
him and feed his sheep.
This week I have definitely grown in my testimony of how the
scriptures can be applied to our lives, and especially how the Book of
Mormon can answer personal questions we have.
Thanks for all your support! I love you all!

Elder Collin Christensen

May 5, 2015

Dear Family and Friends!

I totally forgot about Mother's Day this Sunday until this week, so
I'm excited to be able to talk with some of you! I am not sure if 5
will work on Sunday because I am getting transferred to another area!
In fact I will be in the same area I was for the last two calls home,
which is the Spanish area in Flagstaff! Anyways, I can probably call
between 5 and 7, and I will just have 40 minutes as usual.
We don't have transfers till tomorrow so no one really knows yet, but
it looks like I will be finishing up here in Flagstaff. It's been a
pretty fun 12.5 months so far! Anyways, we pretty much have to go in
and figure out if we are going to try to make a Spanish Branch or not.
The work has been struggling apparently and there isn't much member
support, and our mission is dealing with a shortage of Spanish
speaking missionaries, and missionaries in general. I was kinda bummed
at first just because I wanted that area to have some fresh eyes of
another missionary. But having been in the stake this long I might as
well finish here and use what I know to benefit the stake.
Ashley got confirmed and she was super happy all week! She bore her
testimony on Sunday  after her confirmation about how simple the
gospel is and how she made the decision to be baptized harder than it
needed to be. We are glad she made it though!
This last week we had a few training/council meetings on how to use
Facebook and online resources with members to do missionary work.
The Montoyas were out of town this week so we weren't able to meet
with them unfortunately. Hopefully the Elders can keep teaching them,
they're awesome. We also found a new Investigator last week named
Herman. He is blind and just randomly called us up to have a visit. He
has had lots of experiences leading up to us meeting him that have
been preparing him to receive the restored Gospel.
Anyways, I did like your Mousectomy mom and dad, it was impressive!
And no I haven't contacted anyone in ASL ever, they just tell us to
write back and forth with them and get their contact info. Dad asked a
couple questions...

-Could you tells us more about your day to day activities? What does
you typical day consist of?
Our typical day includes studying preach my gospel and role playing
the lessons, making lesson plans, teaching Investigators at the
welcome center on south campus, trying to find potential Investigators
home, serving at the food bank or a members house, having
district/zone meetings, testing out new ways to use Facebook, eating
with members, visiting members to get referrals, having coordination
meetings, teaching more Investigators, showing up to activities to
meet non members and show them we are real people, and calling people
throughout the whole day to confirm, follow up, report or
reschedule.....yea I'd say we stay busy!
-Do you ever have to cook for yourselves?  What do you cook?
We usually get fed dinner but we usually cook for ourselves for any
other meal. I usually make breakfast Burritos, eggs, oatmeal, salads,
stuff like that. But we usually get junk food from members so that's a
weakness...it seems like it's every members goal to make us more
chubby.
-Do you ever ride a bike or are do you stick with cars/trucks?
We are always in our truck because the area is so big. I haven't had
to buy a bike still and it doesn't look like I will need to.
-What is the goofiest thing your companion has done to you or you to him?
My companion and I don't really tease each other as much as we do the
elders we live with, besides emitting unspeakable fumes during
prayers, studies, planning and locking the windows, doors etc. Are
roommates are two redhead elders...and I don't know if I'd be
comfortable admitting to some of the things we have done to them.
Don't worry we aren't cruel.. Hah

I hope you have a great week! Thanks for all your support!

Elder Collin Christensen

April 27, 2015

Hey Everyone!

This week was quite an adventure and extremely busy!
We had a Zone conference and housed some ASL Missionaries who trained
us on how to contact and help deaf people! They are just rolling out
an ASL Branch and beginning to meet people they can help who
beforehand couldn't meet with missionaries because of being deaf. It's
a pretty neat thing to see the fulfillment of the scripture in D&C 90:

For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the
fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language,
through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration
of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus
Christ" (D&C 90:11).

They may not "hear" the gospel, but they will learn the fullness of
the gospel in their language, and most importantly learn from the Holy
Ghost that it's true!

It's been interesting to see how the church has been focusing a lot
lately on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and Fasting. It was a topic in
our zone conference as well as Stake Conference this weekend with
Elder Stoddard from the Seventy. It's definitely something I will be
studying and applying more completely.

Ashley got baptized this last week! We weren't actually able to go to
our own Investigator's baptism because she did it in her hometown
which is outside the mission. So we were bummed about that, but it
doesn't really matter because she got baptized all the same, and she
had so much support they had to move to the chapel! We are excited for
her.

We have been praying a lot lately for the Lord to lead us to a family
at we can teach and help be baptized. Last week we found our family,
the Montoyas! They are some of the most humble and prepared people we
have met in a while. It was exciting to feel the spirit teach and
testify of the Restoration to this family who has been searching for a
long time!

Well I feel like I talk about the same things every week, so if you
have anything you'd like to hear about so I don't bore you to death,
please email me and tell me what you'd like to hear more of!
I love you all and pray you will be safe and have a wonderful week!

Elder Collin Christensen

April 20, 2015

Buenas tardes!
This week was awesome. Saturday Jake and Ashley got hitched and later that day Jake was baptized! He is a trooper and has a solid testimony of the Gospel. The hilarious part was the Batman themed Wedding in the church building...don't worry, we felt uncomfortable too. Haha They were happy though! Just a few months ago Jake considered himself the last person to join the church, but after spending time around his close member friends and feeling the spirit he started to recognize the truth of the Gospel. My favorite part of being a missionary is definitely seeing the gospel click in someone's mind and heart, and then watching it bring light into their lives as they live it. I don't know how else to put it! 

I've been reading through the Book of Mormon again looking for how people demonstrate Attributes of Christ. It's been one of my favorite times reading through and I have noticed several things I have never noticed before. One of my favorites so far has been Nephi. If you know who Nephi is, you know he was courageous and stalwart, and extremely obedient. Well of course that's what we learn growing up, every kid wants to be "large in stature" and chosen to be a "ruler" over their siblings like Nephi was. But honestly, it's pretty true that most people admire Nephi and want to be like him. But how did he get the way he was? Was he just born that way? I always just assumed so.
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." (1 Nephi 2:16)

I love this. Even Nephi had to have his heart softened, but it all just began with a desire to know the truth of what his father had spoken. Nephi had to gain his own personal witness and testimony before he could courageously say "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded" in chapter 3. Because of his desire and effort to know the truth, the Lord said:

"Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart. And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper" (1 Nephi 19-20).

Personal application is that we can try our best to be as faithful as Nephi, but in end if we don't begin with a desire and effort to know the truth we can't do the right things for the right reasons. Sometimes coming to know something comes from living it. Whatever way we learn truth, I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon and how it can teach us truth according to our needs. I know it was written for our day.

Have an awesome week everyone!

Elder Collin Christensen

April 13, 2015

Family and Friends:

This week was awesome! Damien got baptized and he is pumped to go to
the temple with us soon! He bore his testimony of how his baptism for
him was the fresh start he had been looking for, and even invited some
non member friends to come! The Spirit in those baptismal services is
unique and it's no question to me that those who choose to be baptized
are following God's will for them. I'll attach some pictures!

This week we had a bunch of meetings, so it was the longest I've
stayed in Phoenix in a long time. After our MLC I exchanged with Elder
Taylor down there, who grew up in the Mexican Colonies in Chihuahua. I
learned a ton from him and we had a good time. It was crazy seeing so
many Spanish speakers again! During our exchange we had a Spanish
Specialized Training done by a professor from Spain! We had a family
from my first ward in Peoria bring their taco truck by and feed us all
lunch too, it was awesome. I miss that culture so much! The Spanish
speaking population and missionaries here makes me so happy. A lot of
them don't have much, and yet most of them are happier than any
English speaking person I've met. I think a lot of it has to do with
things like outlook, perspective and priorities. Most everything they
do is for their families, and not for themselves. It wouldn't be fair
to say they are all this way, and English speakers are all the
opposite, but it's always been something I've loved since I began my
mission.

This week we had a Zone meeting about online Proselyting. Since we
haven't had it for a while as missionaries, most people don't miss it.
It was viewed as just a distraction. Yet the prophets and apostles
have said missionaries will use Facebook to move the work forward. So
we took away everyone's phones and said we wouldn't have them for a
while. It was pretty hilarious to see because everyone was freaking
out. No one knew what they'd do without their phones because it's so
helpful in missionary work. Finally we told them we weren't really,
but that we have to change our mindset of how we use Facebook so that
its as resourceful to us as our phones are. It will be cool once we
get back on to see how things change and how the work picks up!

Funniest door we knocked this week was a less active members house. No
one answered so we knocked again, and within seconds a Great Dane
opens the door and walks out to greet us. No humans home, just the dog
welcoming visitors! Haha Animals must be getting smarter.

Well, today we played racquetball with our investigator Arnaud and his
friend Tyler, who's a member. It was super fun, was going well until
Elder Searle pegged him real hard right where it counts. Poor kid, we
will see if he wants to keep meeting with us when we see him tonight.
Haha
Love you all! Have an awesome day!

Elder Collin Christensen