Tuesday, May 31, 2011

5/31/2011 Hermana Christensen

the year mark clan
hellooooo family!

my heart is just bursting to see your faces and these happy happy happy pictures from all over the WORLD!!!! this is beautiful! the gospel makes us SO HAPPY!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

okay. so. a lot to report on. a lot of awesome stuff is going down. so we just came from the laundromat. i was sitting there studying and one of the regulars came in and started heaping all of us his dirty garby onto the table to sort through and start his loads. all fifty of them. ahah. but seriously. i just kept studying but i felt that little spirit totally rebuking me for not talkin to everyone so i made some stupid comment about men doing laundry and he laughed and shot back in a SIICK accent--totally a mississippian. so rad. we ended up talking forever and it was sooo cool. the elders who serve in that area happened ("happened" just by SHEER chance. haha yeah right) to come in around that time we were talking about how rusty (this rad guy) doesn't know any mormons... so we introduced ourselves, then the elders, and then they talked about baseball...turns out rusty's son plays with a member family... we invited him to church, the elders gave him a church card... it was just this BEAUTIFUL moment so celestially orchestrated; sister lewis and i were silently sqealing by how exciting it was and how much we just loooooove love loveooeoeoeooeoeo being missionaries. he whipped out his phone and said he was going to "drop a pin" there. i guess that's things people do with iphones. technology. he said that he's been wanting to go back to church but he's never found one he's agreed with. testified. invited him. he said it was scared and asked all about it... he said that he grew up methodist but felt like he just went through motions and he wanted substance... testified. threw down. invited him again. i just feel so blessed to be able to talk to people--i know that probably never in my life are people just giong to open up to me like this again... just tell me their needs and the questions of their souls. being a missionary makes people trust you somehow. and then you testify to their needs and invite them to do _____ aka repent and become more like jesus christ, and its the most BEAUTIFUL, SATISFYIN, FULFILLING THING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

yesterday i had one of those so-grateful-to-be-a-missionary experiences yet again. there many on the daily. but yesterday, after the bat, we ran to a cita with the roman family (more on this in a sec). we watched finding faith in christ bc they have questions about faith. as we were sitting in their living room on their comfy couches with the lights off and the blinds billowing a little with the slight breeze, i looked over at these four investigators and realized how amazing missionary work is. and how FUN! i love doing stuff like that! but doing it with people who are searching to strengthen their faith... ah! it was like, aha! this is it! this is real joy! this is the best thing ever!!! and it is.

the romans. okay. so get this. huge milagro. papa roman contracted an infection. he's been in the hospital/nursing home since october. his leg was infected reeeeeal bad and they almost had to amputate it. (when we first met hno ivan roman and his mom, we found out he was in the hospital and sent the missionaries to bless him. the priesthood is SO AWESOME!!!) he got out of the hospital on friday! so he's there in home with them now. :) he's so nice and just way gentle and sooo sweet. they all want to come to church. we have a vision--bc it might be hard to find a member/car/way to drive him there, i think we're going to PUSH him there. can you even imagine? ah!!!! it'll be up a lot of hills, but i would do it 26 times squared to get him to church. while we were watching the movie, i looked over at him, and saw him dressed in white in an endowment session. he's going to be one of those cute old guys, like brother brown, who knows and loves the gospel and survives because of it. can't wait. :) so we'll be adding him soon. :) next part of the roman saga miracle is that ivan hno roman LOVES CHURCH. he's waking up early and is not going out to party the night before so he can come! so sick! not only that but he's reading and asking hno chavez his qs! AND he's inviting his friends to come as well!! his friend, juan, came to church with us on sunday and he LOVED IT!!!! he's waaaaaaay interested in the book of mormon and why it's important and what we believe and what makes us different. we met him once a few weeks ago and had a reeeeally good feeling about him. he's looking. he's coming to the battalion tomorrow with hno roman and hno chavez. oh, and did i mention that hno roman has a baptismal DATE for the 22ND OF JUNE!?!!!! so stoked. he and his mom are so believing. they are awesome. a little lazy but we know they're going to get in gear as we keep inviting. :) love the culture, bless their hearts.

something funny sis lewis and i concluded the other day that i want to share with you all. she was telling me about her sister who loves to cook and is way classy and elegant and just way proper and stuff. she said, "she served at the dc visitors center. you know how they are. " i was like, "umm no i don't actually. what are they like?" and she told me about this "type" of sister that goes to that visitors center. and all of the visitors centers kinda have a type of sister that serves there. so we had to ask ourselves--what type is a battalion sister? and we concluded that we freaking wear pioneer dresses, talk to imaginary people, make stupid jokes and use dumb humor multiple times a tour multiple times a day, nd we know all about war equipment in 1846--down to the calibur of lead bullets, i thank you very much. the sisters that serve at the battalion are HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even though this is something small and maybe insignificant to you, it was HUGE for me, and i received a gigantic spiritual confirmation afterwards that it was a correct deduction. aka--humor is something important to heavenly father. and i'm so grateful for that. mal and i talked a lot about humor and about entertaining people, and it's so sweet to see that my love and search for humor and happiness was really legitimate all along.

well this is bastante largo. oh, i should probably mention--haha. i got transfered. no i'm just kidding. i'm still in la mesa baby. pray that i die there. sister lewis has a feeling we'll be together for awhile..... keep your dedos crossed. i love la mesa, the people, the branch, the work. i'm so grateful to be there. so viva this transfer and viva la mesa and viva the WORK. president donaldson also assigned us as the mobat training sisters. sister leadership is weird. its sorta igual to zls. we sure feel humbled but grateful for the opportunities we now have to serve our sisters. lots of learning. the obra misional is the best in the west and universe and i'm so eternally grateful to be a part of it. my life is bliss. i feel so grateful. so so so grateful. do i say that too much? ah, its true.

keep working on this profiles and looking for those missionary opportunities. even small stuff. will you?

Hermana Lewis' dress!!!!!
love

hermana christensen

oh ps. best news EVER! hno chavez is getting the PRIESTHOOD ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!! and on wednesday we came to the family history center with him and helped him get going on some research to find his antepasados... aka BAPTISMS ON THE 16TH!!! so stoked! and did i tell you he volunteered to speak at the charla on the 12th? haha. he has no idea what a fireside is, but i'm SO EXCITED for him to share his conversion story and blow people's minds. the best ever!!!!

pss. haha. guess who i took on a tour the other day? no big. just the young men GENERAL PRESIDENCY. soooooo sick! and turns out presidente ochoa is my mtc teacher's DAD! so tight! they're way legit. there was a big scouting convention here in sd so tons of the church leaders were here. so awesome.

joan joan joan. i love you dearly. it's almost june!!! how are our mountains lookin? how are you feeling? thanks so much for writing me! i love you!

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