Tuesday, June 28, 2011

6/28/11 Hermana Christensen "June Bloom"

THE BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!! hermano chavez baptized hno roman!
Hello to my dearest familia!!

so good to be able to write you about this incredible week! lets just hop to the point!

okay. SO. last tuestday hermana and i were a LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTLE nervous because we still hadn't taught hermano roman the three big laws (chastity, tithing and wow) and his interview was days away. we took hermano miller and his wife with us (he's the white guy withthe beard in the pics... our ward missino leader) and had a really really incredible lesson with him. the spirit was totally strong and hermana miller testified and hermano miller totally received revelash and taught by the spirit, but the coolest thing was that hermano roman ALREADY KNEW IT ALL. how? oh my goodness. hermano chavez taught him. all. everything. HE TAUGHT HIM. you may be wondering why i'm freaknig out right now. lets just think back to how many MONTHS of torment that man gave us as we taught in circles everything 26 times and he still wouldn't be baptized? well, we all know that worked out how it had to. but on tuesday night, my mind was opened and my heart was EXPLODING with gratitude because i could see that we NEEDED to teach him so clearly because he was going to be a teacher. :) unreal. so incredible! ahh. everything worked out and hermano roman had his interview and the zone leaders said, "he is 100% ready." on saturday the whole branch came out and hermano chavez baptized him. i know that i said this last week--that it was so beautiful to see him passing the sacramanet or telling people over the pulpit in the spanish fireside a few weeks ago to just get baptized--but this was the pinnacle of happiness... seeing a recent convert baptize someone he helped teach. ahhh. oh and on sunday he blessed the sacrament. !!!! we were exploding with happiness. :) and hermano roman is great. he says he was expecting to feel like a lightning bolt or something wayyyyy dramatic, but he didn't. at first i was a little alarmed, but he told us yesterday that it was simple... he feels the same, but really different somehow. he says he doesn't get angry and he feels clean, like a new person... ah. baptism. ordinances. it's the only way to access the atonement. i love the gospel. i love being a missionary.

on sunday we had the blessed chance to sing in the missionary choir for president and sister donaldson's final fireside. i tell ya... i am going to MISS those two. so much. so so so much. i love them like you--my padres!--and i'm so grateful to have been able to serve with them. mosdefinately go to their homecoming and keep in touch with them. ma, she said she wanted to go out to lunch with you and finally get to know the sweet woman sending her all this cute jewelry. :) i love them and i just feel so grateful for my mission to get to know all these people who bless and influence me in such an eternal manner. (ps. because the new mission president is coming in, this transfer is a week longer--so the next transfers are the 13th or something. of july. unreal. where did june go? i keep saying it skipped from may to july. i think it really did!)
saw jamie jennings hansen at the temple.. smallest world

so. last week there was a car accident and we are now one car short at the battalion. that means 11 sets of sisters share six cars... and guess who gets to do all that fun scheduling? that'd be us. but! we try to make it as eeeeeeeeeasy as possible for everyone. yesterday we decided that we would give up our car and walk... all day in our area. (we get full days in our area once a week, where we're not in the battalion at all.) i was a little nervous because our area is huge and our hispanic people are so spread out....ah! but in studies i read alma 8. will you all please just go read this chapter immediately? i'm not kidding. it was from heavenly father to hermana christensen yesterday. maybe it's only in my book of mormon actualyl... hahah jk jk. god speaks to us through the scriptures. when we want him to communicate with us, we read. so it makes such sense that that should come FIRST thing. :) anyway, point being--we had an amazing day. we saw milagros left and right. we taught a TON. and as we street contacted, our testimonies were strengthened. there is a part in pmg ch 1 that i read this morning that says that as we preach throughtout our missions, we will learn that EVERYTHING comes back to the restoration. and it does! yesterday we walked with cynthia, a black minister for half a mile or so and she told us she was done with organized religion because it just separates us. i said, "i know, right? we need one lord, one faith, one baptism--like it says in ephesians!" and then we testified and it was almost silly how clear it all was and that it was EXACTLY what she was looking for... yet she didn't accept. she didn't care. she was open. she didn't hear. she didn't listen. and that is TRAGIC to me. absolutely tragic. but. sometimes i think that this mission is for me. to convert ME. because when i can't sleep at night because i'm so happy and smiling and laughing and feeling so awake and alive because i LOVE MY MISSION and i LOVE THE GOSPEL and i LOVE MY SAVIOR, i think that this time isn't a sacrifice at all. i am converted to Him, His ways, His gospel. as jeffrey r holland once said to some elect byu-jru students--"you have the responsibility to never be the same--" I DO. I have that responsibility and i will NOT be the same. I will not go back to the old me and I will not forget these things that i'm seeing, doing and learning, nor will i ever forget the people who have had such a lasting impact on me... even cynthia in the street who helped me see that each human soul REALLY is looking for the truth! bottom line: amo mi mision. do i say that every week?

the gospel is true. i come to that conclusion multiple times a day. it's a standing joke between sister lewis and me. we think it's true. it's pretty clear. we LOVE it. we are in the work of saving souls.

let us hold fast to the iron rod. enjoy alma 8, your conference ensign and your utah mountains and know that your missionary in san diego is pleading your cause. i love you.

hermana christensen

at the mission president's fireside. unreal. with my sweetest amor robles from my birthplace aka chula


Saturday, June 25, 2011

6/25/2011 Elder Christensen "Here I Am Again"

Us at a Noche de Hogar with some great members. ( FHE )
Hey there! Well.. this week we had a few solid citas ( appointments ) and a great time here in the office. Its SO fun to live with Elder Poulsen I can´t lie. We always find ourselves talking about people..... our old friends. We wonder who has made it and who hasn´t... Who has the vision of life clear and who doesn´t. Maybe where these people are... Its amazing to me how the mission changes your forma de pensar... The way you think as a person.. I tend to think about my old habits... or maybe some big mistakes I made in the past. By that, I can focus on what I need to do for the future. The way that I can prepare myself and make the conversion process be constant. I want that. I NEVER want to plateau as a member. I never want to just hit some point where I don´t learn anymore... I already know that if I continue to practice the same principles of the mission afterwards that that dream will come true and I will continually CRAVE the gospel. The scriptures. The Sacrament. Maybe that sounds weird coming out of my mouth... I think a lot too about a quote I heard that goes something along the lines of... " I asked for two years of work not two years of time." How could someone go on a mission and then come home NOT CONVERTED??? How can a return missionary just go home and forget what he taught for two years?? It´s because they were NEVER converted to what they were doing. They never dedicated themselves to the people and gave their WHOLE heart to the work... They were always holding on to something from home.. Or thinking about afterward without ever really focusing on the now. So then, when its not obligatory to study, pray, or go out to proscelyte, the habits disappear! They quit practicing them! That my friends is when the progress stops. It is important that we all recognize that. Progression and conversion are CONSTANT if we make them that way.

Elder Monsen and I on our 15 month day.
 Do we look the freaking same?
Anyways, we had a couple great citas and we were able to resolve some BIG doubts. It´s amazing what the Holy Ghost can do to people.... The first time you teach them they are negative nancys... They don´t want ANYTHING. But with time, prayers, and visits, the spirit touches them and they change.. They start to see the light. That is when the vision becomes clear and I LOVE it when they reach that point. Then they just open up! They let their feelings pour out and they progress. We have a joven named Carlos who is going to have his baptismal interview tomorrow. He is amazing. He was definately prepared a long time ago for this... Smart as a whip, commits, follows through, DESIRES the change. Definately a wheat among tares. I have been so impressed by his attitude and the vision that he has so clear. He lives with like 12 people in a tiny little home.. He will be the only member there. We were talking about it, and the world is SO BAD! Its like.... We are literally in Babylon no joke. You have no idea what its like to be a white kid walking around here. They just LOVE that blonde hair and blue eyes thing.. So people do some really dirty things while we´re walking.. or they yell garboo.. I think that for the most part the members of the church have the vision mas que claro. Like super clear. We MUST obey the prophets words. We have to be an example for the rest! It´s like you said Dad.. There are some people in the world who carry the rest. It´s SO true. A scary amount of true. Us as members need to carry everyone else. ( Get Carried!!) I´m proud to be a member of the church and mas encima a missionary. Its the best.

Well I think thats about all I have for you today. I wanted to thank you for being who you are. Some missionaries find that its best to just forget your family so that you can work harder.. I personally find that I work harder while I think about my family... I think of the disappointment you would have if I was lazy..... and that makes me work harder. Or I think of the satisfaction it brings you when I do something correct... Kind of a backwards principle but I like it like that. I think about my family and it makes me understand how blessed I really am and how MUCH I have to do to repay and represent you. Weird I know but it pushes me along. So ya. Thank you guys for your example and all the support that I receive from your end. Truly I am grateful for who I am and the influence that I have received from all of you.

I hope you guys all have a sweet week! Remember that the spirit will always be with you as long as you are obedient to the commandments! ALL OF THEM. There aren´t only 10! Everything that the prophet says is scripture. Lets bury our weapons of war and reap the rewards. I´m praying for you all! Love you!

Elder Kurtis Christensen

Secretario Del Presidente

Misión Chile Santiago Oeste
We got the headlight fixed! We were proud of that one!


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

6/21/2011 Hermana Christensen "Caving!"

caving! i got so worked! broke my toe! hahaha
hello familia!

sorry to be writing so incredibly late! today we went straight up caving through some caves in a place called jamul and it was siiiiiiiick. i took tons of fots for you but, alas, forgot my camera in the car. haha. of course. next week! it was way sweet though, definitely good to be adventurous and excercise and shimmy through some tiny caves on my stomach... we are filthy but had a blasty! i forgot how much i love doing stuff like that! it made me think hardcore of the time we were up at aspen and kenny or treebor conned me into going on a "hike" with them.... hahaha turns out it was MOUNT TIMPANOGOS hahaha. like thirty minutes into the hike i asked how much farther and they said we'd just begun... haha. so funny. good times. love my fam!

My homeless friend Garfield!
well. it has been a GREAT week. but i say that every week! it's true! every week is great in the life of a missionary! i love it! the other day i was just straight up smiling the whole time i was on a tour... just legit beaming. for no reason other than the fact that i was there. i love being a missionary!

okay so on sunday NO BIG we just had stake conference. it was uber edifying! i know i was a hellian of a child but MAN how could you guys stop going to stake conference?!!! haha ga's just throwing down always... it was unreal. maril k jensen and and elder hiam (sp?) came and spoke to us. they were FUNNY guys too, willy, you would've loved it! okay but first of all, there was this rad youth speaker who threw down the law about for the strength of youth; he started in by saying that, even though they wish it were so, the measurements weren't different for the chargers to make a touchdown. the courts weren't made smaller for tennis players, and the laps weren't made shorter for swimmers... everyone has the same rules and they have to make themselves match up to the rules. i thought it was the sweetest anaology EVER to be show that we all have the same guidelines--what am i saying, guidelines?--COMMANDMENTS from our profeta, yet sometimes we justify because of this or that circumstance. this kid was wise beyond his years; all of us were way edified. modesty is SUCH an issue these days... even at church! sister mendoza always used to freak out because of how short the skirts are here (even and especially at church!!). our prophets give us commandments from God, and we change to live them. end of story. so true. and then elder jensen talked about covenants... if there's one thing i've learned on my mission, it's that covenants are the way that god WORKS. it just is. king benjamin talked about us making the connection between what we KNOW and what we DO and that's by COVENANTS!!!! how we do in the end will ultimately depend on the covenants we've made and kept. he gave a bunch of examples about his life and from the book of mormon about when people made and kept covenants because they realized the longevity of what they were doing... one time he cheated and felt awful, he vowed he'd never cheat. another--when he was leaving to be a mission presidente, his youngest daughter was going into college, so they made her promise that when they got back three years later she'd still be chaste. she was. and ALL the time in the bible people talk about OATHS. and i love that story, i forget exactly where it is, but i thought about it as he talked about this, when the people can throw down their swords and enter into an oath not to fight or get annhilated. and because they recognize how strong an oath is, and knowing they wouldn't keep it and didn't want to break it, they didn't enter into that covenant. even though they were big dummies, i still love that they had THAT much honesty and that much understanding of this ancient principle of covenants. and we've all made covenants with our Heavenly Father. The baptismal covenants are so pure and simple, and the ones that we make in the temple just build upon those. in the end, we are just plain blessed if we keep our promises!!! i loved it. ah.

i think it was also elder jensen but maybe elder hiam who talked about how his wife got him a mountain bike and how he got all into it... and how this one hill would always KILL him and he'd have to put his foot down. so one time his friend said, "pay attention. is it your lungs or your legs that make you need to put your foot down?" so he paid attention as he went up this hill, thinking, "legs or lungs? is it my legs or lungs?" and he found out that it was neither. his legs and lungs could've kept going, but it was his spirit that got tired and then he put his foot down. i thought that was profound. so it made me want to tell you something that president donaldson (love that man!) taught us what "endure to the end" means. i always explain in that "you just keep doing these four things--have faith, repent, honor your covenants, strive to have the hg, etc and that's enduring to the end." wrongo. well sorta. it literally means

TO MAKE EVERLASTING AND OMNIPOTENT.

wrap your brains around that one.

so. think about how sometimes you're tired. your'e going up that hill and you end up needing to take a break, put your foot down. but, in reality, you could've kept going. THIS is enduring to the end, it's becoming more like our Savior Jesus Christ, more omnipotent and everlasting, but only through Him. and the onlyyyyy way to do this... is through covenants. that's why it's SO important that we are making, keeping and renewing our covenants. those people who are less active and not coming to church or whatever and you're thinking about what to do for them--what will help them the most? PARTICIPATING IN ORDINANCES!!! get them to partake of the sacramant. through ordinances we make covenants. we have to renew those covenants through ordinances. and that's the only way to receive blessings that MATTER and to be made omnipotent and everlasting. will you keep this on your mind as you are being missionaries this week? How can we help our brothers and sisters make covenants? I know it's hard in utah since "everyone" is a member, but there are TONS of people who need ordinances to make covenants. think about it. pray about it. execute it. will you?

WE ARE SO BLESSED. do you see what we have?! everything!!! the gospel is so clear! it's so true! everyone needs to know about it!!!

okay so quick story/miracle that will go down in history for sure. yesterday i was on exchanges with one of the group leaders here at the battalion. what we do is go on exchanges in our area, etc, like norm, but then we come to the battalion and evaluate and execute here. it's amazing. i love it. but so yesterday we'd just finished taking a way awesome tour, and i was standing by the camera and sister nielsen was going to leave with our tour to show them how to pan for gold. in walks sister brenchley (a senior missinoary whom i LOVE!!) with a couple speaking quickly another language. they didn't want a picture and they were just breezing past all of the amazing cases that hold sacred artifacts that we use to demonstrate the faith, service, and sacrifice of the mormon battalion. she kinda stood and watched them, and i felt that little guy inside of me telling me to just stay put. so i did. i motioned over to the bom/biblia in the case and then BAM lightbulb--sister christensen there is an italian bom in the back. so i ran and got it, and also my pmg for some reason. i showed them the book and talked about it and testified a little (i was speaking spanish real slowly bc they're sorta similar). then i asked if they'd like one and they said YES. never happens! so they started filling out the card, and i realized that i had my family tree in my pmg in the fifth section of ch3 about fam history/temples. so whipped it out and showed them my italian side and they got SOOO excited about it. i can't even really explain what all happened. but the spirit of elijah was there, and the spirit of their ancestors and mine and the battalion and the holy ghost and AHHH it was just a beautiful explosion of joy. by the time they left there they had my address and i had theirs as well as an invitation to come live with them from the woman who was crying saying she wished she was my daughter because they'd never had any. it may sound strange, but it was amazing. i was so speechless and just... ah. so full of love afterwards. destiny. and the missionaries are going to take over di libro di mormon and those two will remember that feeling and i HOPE when i go live with them we will all go to church together. :) Heavenly Father's got a plan. It's a perfect one. And He's got alllllll the details worked out so we are where we need to be and when we need to be there. I love Him for that.

Oh. I should mention we are having two baptisms this weekend. Well, three as a branch. Brace yourselves!

period. exclamation mark. i love being a missionary. smiley face. asterisk. the church is true.

hermana christensen

sorry--impersonal:

***elder hiam also said a few things that reminded me of you, willy. "what we need in the church is great music and more of it, and great talks, and less of it." also, "the best synonym for love is WORK." that's what you are, that's what you do and that's what you've done for our family to show us that you love us. and we know you love us because of how hard you work! i love you so much! i hope your father's day was wonderful!!!!

***broseph i LOVE you! how are things going?? talk to me talk to me baby. i've been thinking about you a lot lately. on exchanges yesterday, sister neilsen said her bro had some astronomical experiences in the office and that it was the favorite time of his mission. :) sisters here always ask about you, and i'm always so excited (and proud!) to tell them about how wonderful you're doing and what a strong example you are. i love you so much and am praying for you!

***kay, colb, tab. THE HOUSE!!!! i have been pendiente for you guys allll week! and i have a little pic of tab in my apt and some sisters were just oogling over her the other day. :) she's beautiful! i love you two! please let me know if there's anything i can do for you!!

***kristen!!!! i got some sweet pics of you on my hike today--toms and all--like the ones you sent from europa. i can't wait to start a collection. and i need your help--would willy wear toms? ha. :) but seriously! i need you to tell me because i don't think he will. honestly. AND. how are you? thank you so much again for the little goodies with the roneys a few weeks ago--still going away at that for sure!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

6/18/2011 Elder Christensen

Hey there everyone. Its been a sweet day here! We got in some great studies, as well as we went on a fun little adventure! We got to go BOWLING again! It´s the second time I´ve been to this place in my mission.. Insaneeee. Last time I was there was around a year ago when I was with Elder Stoddard. Anyways, it was SO fun! Man it´s so weird just to go and do something like that ya know? Afterwards when we went outside it was pouring cats and dogs! Ugh! We walked a bunch in the rain which was fun but my suit and tie hated it the whole time. Okay so let me get organized here. I have two things that I´d really like to share... First.. BOOM!

• Being in the office you kinda see the inner working of things. ESPECIALLY references. How they are handled, how many there are, etc. My companion Elder Speakman is in charge of that. Anyways, a little over a week ago WE got a reference! Wow that NEVER happens! So, two days ago we had no plans... We thought... What can we do now? My companion kinda just blurted out... We could leave that DVD at our reference if you want! So off we went! It was late and freeeeeezing outside when we approached the door. We were about to knock when we saw this guy working on his truck out front. We went to say hi and he immediately recognized us as missionaries! Turns out (of course) that HE was our reference! We left him a copy of Juntos Para Siempre and he totally invited us into his house on the spot! Way sick! We talked for awhile and somehow we figured out that he had been baptized years and years ago into our church. The missionaries must have been suppppper disobedient or something though because he didn´t even know what the Book of Mormon was haha. I just thought it was AMAZING that we got into this guys house from a reference! Work that other missionaries did. We are now starting to work with the family. It´s frustrating too because they are suppperrrr deep in apostasy. The Lord led us there for a reason though! All you missionaries (and members!) Work on those references!
Belen's Baptism last Sunday!!!!

• We taught one of our main investigators, Carlos, this week. He is really receptive and I LOVE to teach him. The return missionary who referred him to us always says... "Golden Elders.. He´s golden." In english and everything haha. Anyways, he has a baptismal date for July 3rd. The appointment we taught this day was the 10 commandments and the Word of Wisdom. We have this way of teaching the commandments with hand signs so that the people can memorize them easier. He loved the lesson and participated the whole time. He even let it be well known that he strongly disagrees with smoking, drinking, and drugs.. I thought to myself... Man this kid really was prepared beforehand for something bigger... Our Heavenly father KNOWS what he´s doing. The golden people are out there. They really are. I was touched by that! Some people we have to work work work and they end up kicking us out. Others, like Carlos, just say YES to everything and LOVE it. Those people really are special... It´s like they´ve known the gospel forever and we´re just giving them a reminder....

No more bullet points. Those were the main things that I really wanted to share with you guys. We´re all getting along, growing, working, progressing, and ready for what the future has in store for us here. The work is great. LAST THING I just remembered... The other day my comp got an email from a mission in Buenos Aires Argentina from their secretary.... "Elder Grover" I thought... NOOOO WAYYYYYY JOSE!!!! I knew that Bryan Grover was in Argentina but I didn´t know where! After a little exchange we put together that yes.... Indeed. BRYAN GROVER. Hahah. Insane. Talk about Elder Grover, Poulsen, and Christensen all in the office?? Huge coincidence. Alrighty. Hope you guys all have a great week. I´m praying and working for ya. Hope those blessings come when you most need them. Keep doing all you can on your half! I know that we are here and prepared for what we are doing right now. It´s OUR time. So lets live up to it okay? Go help everyone! Be a light this week wherever you decide to go. Love you!

P.s.... Ya.. Totally forgot to mention... We are friends with a Seventy here named Elder Nuñez as well as his secretaries... They invited us to lunch... Ya... Ahem.. SICK! (See attached)

Elder Kurtis Christensen

Secretario Del Presidente

Misión Chile Santiago Oeste

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

6/14/2011 Hermana Christensen "Bold"

to my dearest darlingest sweetest familia!

my oh my! i feel like i have so much to say to you all! but first of all...

HAPPY DIA DE FAJAS VILLIAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sure love you!!!!!!

second of all

thank you soooooo uuuuber mucho for your sweetest emails etc. i know that i have the bombest familia ever. your support means the world. and the pictures are hilarious and precious and the videos don't work. not sure why--sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. but hey. thanks so much for writing! baby tab is presh!

lets just get right to it.

guess what happened this sunday? well, our little branch that normally meets in the relief society room was upgraded to the CULTURAL HALL!!!! you know what that means? our little branch is GROWING!!!!!! there were 108 people there!!!!!!! it was fantastic! granted it was rachel garcia's farewell, and the garcias are big dogs, so lots of their fam came for that, but still. it was amazing. SOOO cool. the neatest parts were: 1) a lady named ana alvarez, whom i love dearly and will probably hang out with at a later time we get along so well, who was baptized aeons ago but isn't at alllllll active anymore CAME TO CHURCH! here's my latest ploy: mexicans love to eat. and i like to cook. so it's a win win when i say, "podemos venir y hacer algunos hotcakes (aka PANCAKES!)" and then they have to come to church. haha. it's only worked a couple of times but STILL! she agreed. so we went over and she actually ended up cooking for us (typical mexicans) but then.. she CAME TO CHURCH. although it wasn't a number that we report on, we felt SO happy and so grateful that this precious daughter of God came to the rama. she felt it. she cried. she loved it. it was amazing!!!! 2) so ivan and raquel roman, oh hey! i forgot to tell you i think that we committed her to be baptized on the 22nd with him! she was a little hesitant, but she agreed! anyway, we invited them to church, along with the friend, juan roman, and their dad who was in the hospital forever aaaaaaaaand.... THEY CAME!!! it was soooo amazing to see them all walk in.. first hermana roman and then ivan, juan, and then papa roman wheeled in in his wheelchair and sister lewis and i were so pleased! ahhh it was amazing. best times.

so this past week we had mte with president donaldson. my love for that man... unreal. no words. inexpressible. able? ni modo. i seriously love the donaldsons sooo much! mte was amazing, mind blowing, of course. i can't even try to tell you what all went down because it's just not possible. this keyboard doesn't write in hebrew or greek. hahaha. no but seriously. the point is that, because he's outta here so soon, he kept saying, 'there's no time! we have been tiptoeing around this for waaaay too long!" and then it was all about us just being BOLD and blunt and just INVITING PEOPLE TO ACCESS THE ATONEMENT THROUGH ORDINANCES. sooo beautiful. the work is sooo much more simple and gospel of christ-driven when we focus on what ordinances we are going to get this people to. duh. it sounds so basdic. but ANYWAY. bc of schedule changes, our night opened up and we were able to spend time with a familia i mentioned last week who is in serious danger--the parents are 99.999% certain their separating and it's breaking my heart. so we went to their house and had a little lesson and it was just... simple.. we discovered that they aren't reading their scriptures or praying individually or as a couple/family. um? hello? we have a HUGE PROBLEM there! the dad told us that he felt so much paz peace as we read with him.. it was just soo simple but it helped me see that when we are not doing the small and simple things ourselves, everything else around us begins to decaer! what does that mean in english? crumble? worsen. shoot. whatever. THAT. and it's sooo true. this week has been hard for me. i'm not sure why. i've been reeeeeeal sad and just feeling so small and thin and useless. and i realized that it's because i haven't read my scriptures! what kind of a missionary am i?!! we always joke around about that, but i'm serioius. like, there REALLY isn't time. it's like real life, except somehow i always made time but now we just have all these other responsabilities. the point is! we invite people to ordinances that will save them. but they will ONLY get there by doing small and simple things that invite the spirit and testify of the truth. aka reading praying and coming to church. when we don't do those things, we halter. so check yourself. check those around you. we do those simple things ourselves individually, then as families collectively, and then we are able to succeed. i'm praying this family felt that their marriage was still salvageable if they just depended a little more on the lord and fed their spirits so they could serve and love each other.

after that simple yet amazing cita, we only had a little time, but we felt like we oughtta go see ana alvarez. so we did and she wasn't home, but guess who was? an exchange student from CHILE! aquiles yanez! ah!!!! he told us that he'll be h ere for a month and that he's looking for something to read.... ummmm? hahah! come again? OKAY! so don't worry. we totally got him the bom and bro, i promise to send a solid, baptized, striking chilean your way to be a ward missionary and help you in the obra. :) can you IMAGINE! heavenly father is SO AWARE OF US!!!! I LOVE YOU BROSEPH!!!!

mobat milagro. yesterday at the bat i was dyin. my head was killain and yikes. the sweet senior couples take such good care of us though and sister stallings wouldn't let me stand up. hahah. i was sitting in the rocking chairs in the front when this older brown man walked past her with a little guy. i asked her if she recognized him and she said that he was just going to use the bathroom and to stay put. she went inside to do something and then this dude came out. so i started talking to him but he didn't speak english... so we switched to spanish and the conversation was about 2.6 seconds long. he didn't have time for the tour and his family was waiting for him. i asked if he wanted a book of mormon and he LIT up and wrote down his COMPLETE ADDRESS, zip code and ALL! first name, middle name, last night, other last names. (hahahah huge mexican joke. their names are SO LONG!) then he was gone. manuel. it was just a HUGE testimony to me that we ALWAYS HAVE TO ASK. ALWAYS HAVE TO INVITE. some missionaries in el paso texas are going to be very pleased.

also. a younger dude came into the bat yesterday and left a referral in spanish, so elder stallings gave it to me to take care of it. the boy was a member but left his neighbor as a referral. so i called the neighb and talked to him and said that his neighbror wanted to share a really special book with him, and this guy was like, "CLARO QUE SI!" and again, gave me all his datos--social security number and all! no, jk, but seriously. he gave me everything and he gave it at the blink of an eye based on the sole fact that his NEIGHBOR, whom he knows and likes and trusts, referred him. bottom line: there is no better way than through the members. THAT is why it's every member a missionary. because you are the only way! the ONLY way! the only way that works! so PLEASE see yourselves as and remember that you are missionaries! you may not be baptizing, but you are finding, you are strenghtening and you are building the lord's kingdom! you made sacred covenants in a holy place to do that until the end of your life, so don't slacken but hasten!

and you want to know one way you can really help me to do that? MORMON.ORG!!!!!!!!! can't wait for all these profiles!!!!! are you sick of me saying it? hahaha maybe by november i'll actually get to see them in the red! (red = internet)

how could i forget?!!!! guess what else happened sunday? this is a true story. hermano chavez passed the sacrament. he did. he really did. and it was soooooo sweet. so so so special. ah. progression is beautiful. then? he spoke in the charla foganera that night and it was hilarious. it was actually kinda not hilarious, the funny part was that he'd written a poema about "dos lindas misioneras.." haha. bless his heart. i must say that hearing him invite all the investigators there at the fireside to just take the decision and GET BAPTIZED made my heart throb. here he is inviting them... being a m issionary. hermano chavez... huge baller. he's going out with us and with the elders multiple times a week, and i'm hoping he's going to the temple this week.unreal. so blessed!!!!

mosiah 9:17-18; 15:7.

I LOVE MOBAT!!!
i love being a missionary. best time of my life. at the end of mte we sang hasta ver (god be w/you) and it made me all teary.. the last time i was singing that i was in the mtc and our district was trickling away... and i just felt so grateful for this time as missionaries and for my district and the people... ah. i can't imagine my life without these people. i feel overwhelmed with love for them! i am also so grateful for my savior and his atonement, and for this time to invite others to come unto Him. this is the ONLY thing that matters. the only thing. the only!!!!!! and i love saying that. i love being bold. there's no time not to. i don't want to hasta ver them ante the rey and feel like i hadn't invited them to do something. i love the gospel of jesus christ. i KNOW it was restored by a prophet. the book of mormon is the word of god, and we truly do grow closer to our heavenly father by abiding its precepts that by any other book. i know it. and i'm so grateful for thischance to help others know it.

i love you dear family. hasta ver. :)

hermana christensen



Saturday, June 11, 2011

6/11/2011 Elder Christensen "Another one bites the dust!"

Our investigators at Presidents house. Recognize that Moroni in the background? Sick.

Hey thereeeeeeeee! Well. It´s been a very BUSY week you know picking up all the new missionaries and sending some others home. ( ELDER STODDARD ha ). But we are finally starting to get stuff under control. This week we had two interesting experiences. First one came Sunday. We have a little girl named Belen who is getting baptized tomorrow and she came in to get her interview from one of the DL´s. While she was being interviewed, we were talking to her parents named Raul and Ximena. They ROCK. They are super faithful but can´t get baptized due to divorce issues. BLAH. Anyways.... Raul hasn´t come to church for A MONTH (!) What the.....? These people are like SUPER converted though so that´s why its weird.... His dilemma last sunday was his back. He said it was killing him and that he couldn´t even get out of bed. He had to muster up all his strength to walk over for his daughters interview. We offered him a blessing and he accepted. My companion annointed and I blessed..... I could just feel the spirit pulsing in that room it was insane. You could have cut it like hot butter! (Pilch haha) Anyways, we went to his house tuesday night and he was BETTER. He didn´t even need to get a shot or anything. I was like... MIRACLE MUCH!!? Back.. HEALED! Way cool. We also got to go up to Presidents house TWICE on tuesday. Once to train the new missionaries, and the second to eat dinner with President, Raul, Ximena, and Belen. They have been investigating forever and are great friends with the Kings. I´ll attach some pics.

Yesterday we went to a lesson with our convert Ximena. Her aunt and her aunt´s sister were all upset because some of the Elders explained a mission rule for the first time. It was the one about how we can´t go in without a member. Her sister was honestly upset though. She was thinking about NEVER GOING BACK TO CHURCH because of what happened.. I was sad..... honestly I even expressed that I was saddened by that comment. Even the PROPHET talked about that. We cannot be "offended" for any reason nor "taking a break" from the church. It just means that the testimony is weak and that the roots of it were NEVER able to grow deep into the ground. You could even say the foolish man built his house upon the sand! Anyways, we talked about MIT. The most important thing. The gift of the Holy Ghost. I straight out said... Hey you guys the spirit is NOT here right now. You are all members and you have the right to this gift... We also explained how EVERYTHING is related to MIT. Everything. It was interesting to see the difference in when we got there and when we left. We had ALL felt the spirit. Also we all sang the spirit of god and they used their NEW hymn books. (MOM YOU ROCK!) So you could say that we´ve had an excellent week. We also gave the pension a good deep cleaning and its wayyyyy more Homey now. I love it. We even bought a glade plug in! Yeeaaaaa! Proud to be an american! Alright. That´s all for today. I hope you are all finding ways to serve daily. In whatever aspect. Could be something simple. Remember that when you serve others you are serving God. The other day a lady was in the act of falling and my companion CAUGHT her haha. Service right there. We walked away VERY fast though. It was weird. Hope you guys have a great week! Enjoy Elder Stoddards.... urr..... Nathan´s homecoming! SICK! Hope you enjoy the few pics we captured as well. Much love,

Elder Kurtis William Christensen
Why dont you just throw that one on the next Snuggie infomercial...
Wait.. Can you even see me sitting there?

Elder Poulsen and I. We just BARELY took that. It´s hot off the press. You guys rock.

Hey let Troy and Annalee know that Sam and I are stoked to be in here together. 801-802-0409. Haha. Take care ya´ll

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

6/7/2011 Hermana Christensen

DROP YOUR BUCHETS AND RUN!!!

remember how i love that story about the logan saints who aaaaaaaaaaaalways had something come up when they wanted to go to the temple, then the prophet told them to, "drop their buckets and run"? Well, I love that story. And I think about that everytime I go to the temple. Including TODAY!!! we just got out of a session and holy hannah. We were there for hours and hours because we did NOT want to leave! I know I'm spoiled because the temple is close, but, like bro said after he went through a few months ago, "once you go and you're spiritually fed, you realize how STARVING you are!" haha. so true. I feel like I just thanksgivinged at jude's. mashed potatoes from gladebaby. so good. only spiritually. i only have one comment for you: The church is true.

This week has been UNREAL. i have had SO MANY things happen that I've been excited to tell you about, so I'll just start! bullet points anyone?

• has anyone heard of a program the church is doing called the "Hispanic Initiative"? unbelievable. It's a real thing. It's been going down for awhile but it's being put into action HARDCORE, especially at the battalion. We read tons of scriptures about the Lamanites being gathered and about the preaching of the gospel to the elect... and then my heart swells and i feel SO GRATEFUL to be a part of the gathering of the ELECT children of our Heavenly Father! We are FULFILLING PROPHECY HERE!!! anyway people, the hispanic initiative. my notes: "the church is embracing the undocumented!" gbh said, "there is a PURPOSE why they are coming here across the border; the Lord's hand is in this." Apart from Mexico (in 2008), the US was the SECOND HIGHEST in hispanic population. read 1 ne 21:22 15:13-14, dyc 90:11 and the title page... the book of mormon was written TO THE LAMANITAS!!!! it's everywhere. i think i mentinoed it last week maybe even, too. who knows. i see it all over the scriptures and feel honored. 1 ne 22:7-8, 2 ne 30:3, dyc 49:24, enos vs 13... enos straight up prayed to the lord that the record would be preserved for HIS posterity... oh my goodness. "the church must never assume the role of forcing the spanish speaking people to l earn english. the church is for the people and not the people for the church." -spencer w kimball. anyway. the point is: they are elect. we are fulfilling prophecy harvesting them and restoring them to the truth. (and there are two languages we all should know; the language of the restoration an the language of the lamanites. aka SPANISH AND ENGLISH! SO SICK!)

• milagro. i've been bursting all week to share this with you. on thursday we were serving on temple grounds last week. sister lewis was showing a member family the phots and telling them all about the majesty when I saw a couple walk up kinda far away. i walked over to them and found out they were from france. they spoke minimal english, well, she did, he spoke maybe 2%. haha. (i love percentages.) so we walk over to the pics and she just starts flipping through them WAY fast and i was totally alarmed because this is a SWEET teaching tool and way for them to feel the spirit and us to ask inspired questions, invite them to learn more, etc etc etc, but she was speeding through it. i could tell it was going to be rough explainging stuff because of the language barrier. so i was trying to kinda pull the book towards me and explain the celestial room and sister lewis peeled off to talk to these two boys who were standing sorta close to us. she said she walked over and felt prompted to ask where they'd served their missions--somehow she knew they were members... guess where they'd served? FRANCE!!!! so they came over and talked to these people for seriously like 10 or 15 minutes. it was BEAUTIFUL. sister lewis and i were both crying a little bit because of how unbelievable it was and how strong the spirit was and how they ALL lit up like fireworks to speak french. anyway, did they didn't end up referring. BUT. they felt the spirit. they were given such a good impression and were interested and i KNOW things will be different next time they see missionaries in france. this also helped me see and feel how AWARE heavenly father is of us. individually and personally. he arranged that PERFECTLY! seriously, those two rms weren't going in.. they didn't even know why there were at the temple. one of them had driven SEVEN hours to get there and they'd been there two minutes before sister lewis walked up to them. God knows!

• Next milagro. So like two seconds after the aforementioned miracle, we were sitting on our chairs basking in the beauty of what'd just happened when i looked up and there was a dude whizzing past us plugged into his ipod. he was practically gone, but... we TALK WITH EVERYONE!!!!!!! so i just yelled out to him. Kept walking. yelled again, and he came back and talked to us. it ended up being that he'd just gotten off work and had NO where to go, he was just heading home, but had no hurry. he told us how stressed out he is about the end of the world and not knowing where to turn... we testified and he was WAY interested. adn then--get this--guess what happened? haha. I INVITED HIM TO BE BAPTIZED. and he said YES!!!! hahahah as if tat wasn't enough, i knew five seconds later that the missionaries in that area would be coming to replace us at the temple. so we waited with him, tony, and the sisters met him and set up an appointment. UNREAL. and if i hadn't been prompted to open my mouth? who knows.

right now. go and read the talk, "defending the family in a troubled world" by Bruce Porter. it's on page 13 of this month's ensign. a--his diction is fabulous. b--WOWOW IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND! SO TRUE!!! will you go read this talk immediately?

well. the lights are flashing. i've gotta jet. just know i LOVE you all. SO MUCH! and i lvoe the gospel of jesus christ and being a missionary. it is the best time of my LIFE!!!

oh. and i love the temple. mom. tell president olsen i'm THERE!!! sign me up!

love, hermana christensen

ps who has been to the sd temple?
aaaand YOU ARE ALL ON THE SAN DIEGO TEMPLE PRAYER ROLL!!!!! BELIEVE IT!!!!

and if you could pleeeeeeeeease pray for the aguirre family, i would be so grateful.

love you!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

6/5/2011 Elder Christensen WAY Good Week!




Us with Family Sandoval. The family with whom I feel like family!!
 Remember Edith Mom? Her fam.

SEALING in NOVEMBER!  I'll be there!
Family Godoy
Hey there everyone. It´s been a busy but wonderful week here in the office. We´ve had to run all over the place doing tons of things for those missionaries who will be going home soon. I don´t have tons of time to write today as it is a sunday.. You may wonder why I didn´t write yesterday... I GOT TO GO BACK TO CARLOS VALDOVINOS with Elder Stoddard to say goodbye to the VERY families we were teaching a WHOLE YEAR AGO. Wow.... It was like nothing that I have experienced up until now in my whole mission. We were both like screaming as we drove through the old sector... THATS WHERE THIS HAPPENED!! Or.. WOW PEDRO LIVES OVER THERE! We were super giddy. We showed up there around 2:30 and went up to an aparment of a lady named Denisse. I thought it was going to be just her and her friend Francia ( Our convert ) but they had invited another couple named Miriam and Nestor and one lady named Guillermina.. SUCH a surprise to us. We loved every minute of it. I was thinking about my old memories the whole dang time. They gave us a HUGE lunch. Tons of cheese empanadas, salads, and peruvian food. SO good. Peruvian food is hands down... Delicious. We talked with the members and took tons of pictures. Then we got to visit The Huerto Godoy family who are also amazing but they haven´t been able to progress a ton over the last year. Sad. We ended up with the Sandoval family. I don´t know if that name sounds familiar or not.. It has been a year. It was soooo sosososososo amazing. We had two converts there. Joty and Rodrigo. I felt so emotional to say the truth... Just to see these people who at first wanted nothing to do with us... Nothing to do with the Gospel... Nothing to do with Christ.. They were just kinda floating through life and going through the motions. Now???? They are all SO happy. The spirit was there as we were all able to reunite and just enjoy some laughs. It honestly felt like I was with my family.. I dont know how to explain it... Our converts ( 2 guys, 2 seperate couples ) will be getting sealed to their wives in November and invited me to go. I´m just... BLOWN AWAY by what happens when we let the gospel sweep us off our feet. When we put in the effort. These people are real life examples to me. They have buried their weapons of war and dedicated themselves to live a better life. To raise the bar. It was just... touching I don´t know... Everyone LOVED that Elder Stoddard and I were back together though.. I mean LOVED. As well they thought it was weird that I can actually speak the language now haha. I was a greenie that couldnt speak according to them. I love the gospel honestly. Some have progressed more than others, and some have moved backwards from where they were. Just means that they are using their agency improperly or that they just aren´t fully converted..
CAKE!!!

Okay. I´m loving the mission. Its CHANGE week this week so we´ll be all over the place working like crazy bees. I´m really like sad that my trainer is leaving! It´s weird its like my brother is leaving or something.. Blah. But thus is the mission! We just have to keep working hard and helping these people understand the doctrine of this, the perfect church. It´s hard but its SO worth it!! Alright. I hope that all is well for you all wherever you are. Sorry that this is short and a little disorganized.. OH MY GOSH!! One more thing.. How did I forget!?!? WE SET THREE BAPTISMAL DATES! WOOO! One is with an 8 yr old named Belen. She will get baptized by Presidente King next Sunday. The other two are named Carlos and Marcos. The Lord as blessed us so much as well as the understanding of our investigators. They are so easily accepting commitments to read and come to church. I wish I could stay in the office forever because the work is just... ELECTIFYING here. We have little time out there but its always electrifying honesetly. So powerful. These are also member references. That should teach us something.... EVERYONE needs to search for some friend who is a non member and help them receive the gospel. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO DECIDE IF THEY ARE READY OR NOT. You do NOT know what our Heavenly Father may have in store for that person. So GET OUT THERE! Find someone. Help them. Thanks everyone for all you do and have a great week! CIAO!



Elder Kurtis Christensen

Secretario Del Presidente

Misión Chile Santiago Oeste

P.S... Hope you enjoy the pics...
This is me... Reclined in President King´s lazy boy! SO NICE!