4/12/2011 Hermana Christensen "Carved Out"

Oh mi querida familia

we went to coronado island last preparation day

check it out. so beauty!

once again. another week of every possible emocion. en serio.

when i got on my mission i told heavenly father that i neeeeeever wanted to get sick so i wouldn't waste a second of His time. well, i don't think that i've ever been sicker than i was last week. whatever got inside of me forced its way out, burnt my throat so badly, and left me feeling completely carved out. but, i had a beautiful experience: i was sitting in the shower shivering and shaking and crying--and then i felt your prayers. i did. not only that, but i felt the prayers of the entiiiiire ward. and then i felt better. even as i was sick, i felt okay ( i don't know how to explain it!)--and i want you to know that it is 100% because of your prayers on my behalf. I'm getting better. I may never eat rice again, but I feel better. :) i'm grateful that i got that over with--so i got sick on my mission and slept a few extra hours. hopefully it'll never happen again! (the funny thing is that i felt wayyyyy more tired after resting! haha what a WASTE!)

I've thought a lot about that this past week. After being sick all night and wanting to die, i somehow felt better. that next day, i was weak and tired, but I was more... I was more able to sense and understand the spirit and what I needed to do. I listened better. I prayed more. I loved more easily. And I felt like I was more patient. I realized that when Heavenly Father carves us out--aka gets alllllll that gunk out of us--we feel better. It's hard, and it KILLS, but it leaves us purer... literally. And then we are more able to do His will, more moldeable, pliable and bendable.

Milagro: Well, this past week we've been blessed with new investigators. doesn't happen very often. but it's happened, and it's been AMAZING.

a) pedro. he's the friend of hnas nancy and gloria. he happened to be there at the cita we had with ellas and, well needless to say, because the Plan of Salvation is amazing, he cried. In the beginning I asked him a question and he was all, "sorry i wasn't listening... i'm having a lot of personal problems right now and my mind's everywhere..." BINGO. As we taught the plan of salvation he felt calmed. He told us he wanted to learn more. BAM!

hno enrique y yo after conference (remember. he's from
 chula. but he comes to a lot of the activities in la mesa bc his
 friend has family in the branch. best days for me everytime.)

so then we went to the mission president's fireside--which was LEGIT. a) we never really get to go to these bc we're normally in the battalion or we dont have investigators to go with us. but because of PEDRO (BAM! milagro!!!) we got to go. but that's just the beginning of it. :) it was in CHULA!!!!! aka i got to go back to my motherland and i was giiiiiiiiddy as we drove back there. ah! and it was in the same building and everything.... the music was INCREDIBLE, and surprise--it was in spanish! we had no idea! but that wasn't even the best part.... sister peterson said the opening prayer. i thought i was going to burst. but then ENRIQUE stood up and walked to the pulpit. he was one of the recent converts to speak at the fireside! I had NO idea this was going to happen and I literally... ah, i gasped so loudly... ah! He bore this gorgeous, simple testimony. He talked about conversion, about studying--not reading--the scriptures, and how he was baptized on his birthday... so he was literally reborn. __ listen. there. is. NOTHING. more satisfying, more... rewarding... more FILLING than seeing someone you were able to teach and baptize invite others to follow our Savior. NOTHING!!! i was (and am!) so incredibly full of gratitude. so full. so so so full. i love my mission. i LOVE being here. i love this work! i love these people with all my heart and soul. I LOVE preaching the gospel and inviting others to repent, to get that goo out of them and to become more like our savior. These really are the best years of my life!

The sweetest part was when he said that what really changed it all for him was when he read alma 26. let me just say something: things happened with enrique so fast: finding him, adding him, teaching him and baptizing him. sister story and i--in the heat of all this-- forgot to plan a commitment for him after one of our lessons. I distinctly remember sitting on their floor after the lesson and wondering what on earth his commitment was going to be. So i just invited him to read my favorite chapter in the book of mormon. i remember explaining that it was my favorite and inviting him to read it, and him saying yes. But i had NO idea it had impacted him like it did. After the fireside we were talking about it and he explained that, because he's a chemist, when alma is talking about being weak and about depending onthe lord, this REALLY helped him understand faith. As a scientist, he wanted proof. But there's no proof for faith! it's just something you have, something you do, something you are... something you live by. but that chapter really helped him understand that. and shortly thereafter he wanted to be baptized. i'm not tooting my own horn here. lets face it, there's no horn to toot. the thing is that that heavenly father is SO aware of us. He know who needs us and when. He knows who WE need and when. He knows everything. He is the Master Gardener here. What confidence I have in knowing that. We CANNOT fail with His help!

five more sisters left today, and the Ricks. my little heart! you know i hate change! even though mi mundo is changing like crazy and who knows what in tarnation will happen tomorrow, i feel still. i feel very very peaceful. and SO happy. I am so happy and so full. I am grateful.

the end.

pleeeeeeeeease make a profile on mormon.org. i check for you on there so often. please help us in this effort to spread the gospel to the corners of the world!

(that was something really neat e ricks shared with us last night at a departure devo. he said that his pbless says he'll see to see the gospel spread the corners of the world. and he said, "I had NO idea that the corners of the world would come to ME at the battalion." I felt the spirit so strongly because i KNOW that is what's happening here. There are no coincidences. Heavenly Father leads these people here! what a GREAT CALLING IT TRULY IS TO BE A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!)

know that i love you. dearly and deeply.

 we found this graffiti park! VIVA MEXICO

hna christensen

oh and ps i totally forgot to mention that last night a guy called us and said he's new to the area but he's prayed and feels like his fiance need to be taught by sisters... even though we're in a spanish branch we're the only sisters. aka. THAT'S US! milagros i tell you!!!! so blessed! we;ll just see what happens tomorrow....

JOAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you! stay strong you sweet thing! you look beautiful and i'm glad your bed has bars on it now. :) that always scared me before. now you're going to be tight light a bed bug! don't be too hard on yourself. remember to go slowly and to take your time. enjoy what you have and know that you're surrounded by people who love and will do anything for you. sue, thanks for keeping me posted!

mikie-thanks for writing. you're so legit. i met some canuks the other day. i'm glad to hear the office sitch is good! so cool to see that things are working out. i never saw the old one, but i'm sure the new one is way rad. and all fancy with sweet computers, no papeles? inteligente. you're a stud. tell me what i can do for you. i was thinking about what you could do for your branch, and you should have an activity night with mormon.org--pump them up by watching the powerful little movies and tell them they can make their own. if you've got a projector or something to play it, some popcorn, and the spirit, it'll be a real hit. :) tell the fam hi!