Tuesday, July 12, 2011

7/12/2011 Hermana Christensen

some 4th of july action at the battalion.
I'm not even really sure where to begin seen as how tomorrow is JULY 13TH. no words. absolutely unbelievable. this transfer has flown by! even though it was a week longer because of the change, it still feels so short! and then this next transfer just being five weeks... what is going on?! but. with each passing day i love my mission MORE AND MORE!!!!!

i don't really have anything huge to report on. hm, no. nada mucho. just a few thoughts i guess.

i'm not entirely sure how it's happened, but somehow, during the course of my misson, i've become quite scatterbrained. i feel like i used to be really organized and on top of stuff... but lately i've been losing EVERYTHING. and like.. important stuff. stuff that's made me ache. stuff that's important to me. stuff that i've used my whole mission. it's upsetting. on sunday i lost a really important folder where i keep all of the legit papers for all the battalion sisters and schedules, etc. oh and my planner. you bet. my transfer planner. lost. anyway, that night i went to bed just feeling so... so so so sad (it sounds dramatic but you know it's a culmination of a LOT of things, but you also know that stuff is pretty important). i got into bed and of course couldn't sleep--what's new. but as i was just chilling there forever, i could literally feel my heart change. like, i felt this shift where i knew that heck, sure, it was a let down that i'd lost all that stuff, but the work was going to roll forth and i was going to keep breathing. ha. i remember distinctly thinking, "as long as i've got my libro de mormon, mi predicad mi evangelio, my nametag w/bro's sticker on the back, my testimony and my companion... i was going to be okay. and then i fell asleep. it made me think about my pbless where it says, "continue to place your highest priorities and emphasis in your life upon those things which are eternal and which will continue with you beyond this life. this includes.... worry less about the things of this world which will be left behind when you are called to leave." so let's all just re-evaluate. what are the things we are focusing on that really aren't 100% essential? lets focus on the weightier matters. bottom line: it was a reality check and a blessing for me to see what REALLY matters.

and i love this work. so much.

our area is so bangin. i seriously love la mesa. we will see what happens tomorrow, but cross your dedos that i'm in it for the long haul. we'll see what the Lord wants. it's been an interesting week. we found out one of our less actives is a prostitute. um? shes like... not real skinny. no one is knowing. i just don't want to believe it. ignorance is bliss. also. ready for the milagro? okay. have i ever told you that la mesa doesn't get referrals? like.... zero. zip. nada. null. cero. haha okay but seriously. there just aren't a lot of brown people. but so last week we were up at the temple doin work and these two cute ladies came up and we offered to take their picture. the older littler cuter one came over to me and said,"hermana soy miembro pero soy inactiva..." aka sista i'm an inactive member. and then she started crying as she held onto me for support. it was like this instant connection with this adorable woman from venezuela; she told me about her life--not sparing any details, as you can see from how open she was with me from the get go--and about how she wants to come back to church. so we told her we could easily help her with that and asked where she lived. "en la mesa" she said. and then it was my turn to cry because i knew we had this connection and this instant bond and love for a reason. :) to make a long story short, she did come to church on sunday and she LOVED it, and she's probably coming to dinner and the battalion with ustonight. :) BUT. the thing is that we added her daughter as an investigator, who is also awesome and PURCHASED (unnecessary!!!!!) a libro de mormon from the temple because she wants to read it. we had a lesson with the two and talked about the sacrament and it was powerful and beautiful and then the daughter prayed. it was too good to be true! as we walked out to our car she kept talking about her girlfriend and i said, just to be sure because she couldn't possibly be talking about THAT, "oh so just one of your good friends?" and she said, "no my girlfriend, my wife, my lover." ___________. ay ay ay. but she DID come to church on sunday. so. we're not reeeeeeeeally sure how to handle the whole thing, but we'll just go for it.

we have four investigators with a baptismal date. four. that's great but it's also so sad because NONE of them are progressing. one of them even told us she'd only committed to do it because she knew it would make us happy. ouch. big time. huge time. eternal time. YOU DON'T GET IT!!!! so that's been a little discouraging, mosdef has kept me up until the wee hours thinking about how on EARTH we can get these wonderful souls to GET IT. so i'll keep you posted. this morning we read this part in the manual misional that says, "you and your comp are assigned to a specific proselyting area. you represent the lord in this area and are responsible for obtaining His direction in carrying out your assignment and blessing the people there." it was like i'd never read it before... it hit me so hard and was like this chastisement for being too prideful and not relying on the Lord enough to do His work by His way in His area as His representative. I feel like EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE comes back to pride and humility. i think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something......!

So. bottom line for that. Like you said Kristen (and i'm mosdef going to gather some thoughts about the disciple lesson!) we are ALL disciples of Christ! We have taken HIS name upon us (being baptized) and then we made covenants in La Jolla (what president donaldson always said..aka the temple)... and so we have a responsibility to DO HIS WORK IN HIS WAY IN HIS AREA NO MATTER WHO OR WHERE WE ARE!!! we are ALL disciples! so THINK aobut that one and lets depend on Him more!

Humility.. that's what it's all about.

Well, I love you. I got emails from many of you and i can't wait to read em. I feel like i am the most blessed human being int he world... plus the fact that i'm a missionary andi have your support and your love and your blessing and your ... everything. i love you. willy, i hope you get feelin better. what a blessing that you are okay!

love you all. sigan freakin adelante even though the storms are a ragin. remember the weightier matters and to depend upon the Lord this week. capeesh?

mucho amor

hermana christensen

joan b glad. i hope your place has a WAY COMFY COUCH FOR ME!!!!!!!! love you dearly!!!!

at mission bay... we taught a LESSON THERE!!!! that's the ocean!
 hahahha my life is such a joke! how BEAUTIFUL IS THAT?!!!
sassar. i loved your letter. only read the first part of it but i can't wait to read it. and freakin youd better BELIEVE i'll be writing back don't you DARE tell me not to! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

0 comments: