Monday, October 31, 2011

10/31/2011 Elder Christensen "This is Halloween!"



My bed on the floor with the title of liberty flag
 Definately short on time here... but Hey.. We had a GREAT WEEK! The Chilean sun is coming back out though and oh my goodness its ripping us apart. Dad you always ask me to send you some pictures of our house so finally I took a few. It`s pretty tiny don`t get me wrong! We like it though. The only real problem is that its not insulated. So its an OVEN during the daytime hours.

We were able to find a few new investigators as well but we are worried because well... they aren`t exactly young people haha. It`s always hard to teach the gospel to ancianos... old people but hey, we`re gonna give it a shot. As well we had a bunch of really good lessons with some inactives we found while knocking doors.


Study ZONE! You can guess which side is
 mine....haha. The crazy pic filled one.
 Elder Zeballos, a GA 70 came and spoke to us this week. Super poderoso. I love love love listening to our leaders honestly. They definately have their heads on straight. He talked a lot about a lot haha but he did mention one cool thing. The engish scriptures are the original transalted words from Joseph Smith himself. As you know, we definately don`t use our english books like.... at all here haha. So he was talking about the difference in the translations and there is SO much we can find in the doctrine.. How blessed we are to have them. We, and you being english speakers, don`t think about that often. But man it honestly is cool. English is the language of the restoration. I feel so blessed to have been called to Chile and to have been able to learn another language. It`s an eye opener folks. Also his wife shared a little story about one of their kids who had invited a friend to church... they were only like 12... So the one kid started to go. After that, the parents got involved and started to go as well. En fin, they were all baptized into the church. The POINT! They had received missionaries 10 years before and wanted nothing to do with the church.. It just goes to show that the Lord is sabio...wise.... and he does everything in his own debido.....appropriate time. You are all wonderful people and I`m sure you`re planting seeds every day. :)

Bueno I only really want to comment on one thing I read this week... I was reading about Alma and his bros. Man what STUDS they were. This is Alma 26 and I invite you all to read it. Super good. Anyways, he talks about Joy.... more specifically the joy that he and his brothers have because of the sucess that the Lord gave them. Verse one... My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?
Our tiny kitchen... My comp is in like every pic by the way haha.

I was thinking about how that is related to us... to me... DId I suppose when I left Utah that God would give me..... THIS!!?? No way. I`ve found such happiness in life. In the gospel. Not only that, but as the chapter moves on to describe, we were able to bring many other sheaves into this the great gospel..

6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the astorm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the aharvest, and they are his; and he will braise them up at the last day.


Our NAVY blue house. Its not that big, we live in the back
half of it.  The window on the left is ours. 
Our house=Kitchen, bathroom, upstairs big room. Simple
 I was thinking a lot about my converts.... My "Sheaves". HOW GREAT IS MY REASON TO REJOICE!?!?!? They are safe. They have found solace and happiness in this the great gospel of Jesus Christ. They are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest and safe from wheaver storm that may come their way. Amazing. This chapter helped me so much. Honestly I felt kinda down that day... this picked me right back up. So cool. I marked a ton of stuff haha.

9 For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with ahatred against us, yea, and they would also have been bstrangers to God.
Had I not come on this mission? If we werent here preaching? They would still be lost. Maybe they wouldn`t hate us.... but they would definately not have been close at all to our heavenly father... as the verse says... they would have been strangers to God.

Elder Guzman and I after another division. Don`t ask
me about his face haha. Crazy one.
(SICK TIE MOM! MTC Gift remember?)

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all apower, ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a cmercifulBeing, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

Have we not reason to rejoice? Have we not reason to press onward in such a great cause? As Ammon says if this is boasting, LET ME BOAST. I love this church. I love our Heavenly Father. His plan of salvation is perfect. Down to even the minute detail... The Atonement is for us. It can help us with any kind of problem that we come across in this life. We just need to press forward and trust in him.

Sweet chapter eh? Drink it all up please. So good.



Tiny bathroom with SUPERRRRR tiny
shower.  Cozy no doubt!
  Last thing. You guys have lots of time in the house where you can just get on the computer and search. We have access to general conference talks back to the stone ages. Just set apart 25 minutes this week, at some point, and go back years and years into those conference messages. Find a title or a topic that relates to you and your life. Then just turn off the lights, grab a snack or somethin, and watch it. WATCH IT PLEASEEEEEEE! We have pages and pages of doctrine from all of our prophets. Hours of talks. Modern revelation for our days directly from God himself. (http://lds.org/general-conference/conferences?lang=eng) Theres the Link. Honestly. Just do it. Maybe share if for family home evening. Whatever it may be, just check it out and I promise you`ll feel the spirit.

Okay. Officially outta time. HAPPY HALLOWEEN. I dont think there will be anybody in our yard scaring kids with fog machines and a leaf blower this year...... lamest halloween ever haha. But hey. Enjoy it. Eat tons of candy now you hear!?!? We`re gonna make some cookies ourselves... thats about as exciting as it gets haha. As requested dad, house pictures. Enjoy. Have a great week everyone.

Much love from Chile, Elder Christensen.

Love you all! CHAO!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

10/25/2011 Hermana Christensen

it's been really misty here these past few days and this looks SO COOL!
oh my familia!

so much love! holy cow! i am. SO. GRATEFUL! and excited about alllllll the profiles!! madre bay i'm so sorry! i remember you giving me the code to get on it, but i thought it was still in the works! and dad and bro! AH! i'm making a list of all of your profiles so i can have it at the ready. gramps thanks so much!!! and uncles... wow. you guys are the best. thanks so much for doing it! i'm sorry it was a difficult assignment. was it just hard to know what to say? or like literally the site was difficult? i'm sorry! i've heard it was kinda slow and stuff. but hey! you're heeding the prophet's call, so more
blessings to you! at gold panning sometimes i invite the parents of missionaries to make profiles bc the missionaries can show their investigators and people that mormons are NORMAL people! it's so powerful. i'm so excited about it, so thanks a million!

wwow. what a week it has BEEN!!! i just want to pause and say first off how happy i am. things... wow. really. things are going so well. our area is coming along poco a poquito but it's SO SATISFYING! and i feel like i need to give a huge shout out to hermana ortez. she is seriously the BEST thing ever. i feel like, with her, i am happier than ever. not that my other compas aren't bombsauce or anything, but there's something so special and so perfect about her for me at this time of my life and mission. I feel like she inspires and helps me to be my very best... and we are ALWAYS laughing. life is always so good and we are just so happy! and the Lord has really blessed us to get onto the same page in every way! like with waking up early to go exercise and to teach together and to want ice cream at exactly the same moment.. hahah. but seriously. i'm just so happy and feel so blessed that we're companions! thank you mama madera!
this is us five seconds ago at the templo

we had a BEAUTIFUL i repeat beautiful week. some highlights:

1: on sunday we went to an appointment we had with a lady in la jolla who is AWESOME. after her recent divorce, she's grown so close to the Savior and she is now in medical school so she can go to Africa and serve people there. wow. so we taught her about the restoration on sunday and it was probably the best lesson i've ever been a part of. the spirit was SO STRONG and everything just flowed together and her questions were so perfect and wow. there were also these amazing analogies that just painted it all so perfectly.. wow. she said herself that she feels like her life has been like a puzzle and the pieces are all coming together and she's so happy.. and I looked at her and got all emotional and told her that it wasn't coincidence that we were led to her at THIS time when the puzzle pieces were arranging as they were... and that she was missing the CENTER, the prettiest, most rewarding part of her puzzle! ... and that's what WE OFFER! she looked stunned and the spirit totally touched all of our hearts and wow. it was incredible. and i loved that analogy that we used all throughout the lesson. the gospel and alllll the knowledge and blessings we get from it is EVERYTHING! it's like the picture of the puzzle! kaylynn and i always used to do the edges first... but so that's what life is like without the gospel. you've freaking got nothing! you can't even see the beauty and the beast picture! or the little mermaid one! (those were always my faves) but with the gospel... it all justmakes sense and life is SO COMPLETE AND GRATIFYING.


this is that cute scarf padres! thanks so much! i love it!
 2. sunday night we went for another cita with a bomb lady who lives right by the beach. haha. as we were headin in, we saw the lights on in one of our less actives house. gasp. we went to her door, knocked and she was there! we had this joyous moment but we HAD to get to our cita... so we invited her to come! she was kinda weird about it at first, but she came and wowowoowow. the lord put these two ladies RIGHT NEXT DOOR to each other for how long? and they are perfect for each other and thye're just BARELY finding it out! the less active has been trying to get work off foreverrrrrr ( that is the hugest problem with linda vista. EVERYONE WORKS SUNDAY. its never been such a huge struggle before, in any of my areas!)... and turns out THIS SUNDAY she has off! so she invited the investigator and wow. the whole lesson they laughed because we kept referring to them as best friends, but i think they really will be! it was so neat to see the hand of the Lord just leading and guiding the work that night. and wow. everyone was edified. the investigator, the less active, the missionaries...!

3. the battalion continues to be sacred ground for me. i have been blessed to take these tours lately that have inspired and uplifted me SO much. i can't even tell you. the battalion is SUCH a haven for me. and somehow the people that come there are there for me to teach them? i think it's the other way around! (ps it was so fun seeing the dyers! and ma, sister dyer was wearing toms and she said you'd inspired her!) anyway. i love my call and i love the battalion.

4. also on sunday (the other days of the week were good, too, promise!) we taught gospel principles (we don't have a teacher and we always forget to ask someone/the elders so we just do it).. and we felt like we should teach about repentance. well, unfortunately none of our investigators came booooooo but we taught a less active. and wow. i share this with such tenderness and such ... well, it's sacred. we were in this tiny little room and the spririt was there, but this lady asked a question about how she can't forgive someone and the spirit kicked me HARD core to speak. so i did. and a little tidbit of my mom's story came out. and then i was crying. and the spirit was soo strong and i was so grateful to be able to testify of my mother who, after years of not being able to forgive and being hindered by that, was able, through the atonement, to forgive and let go... wow. she is a NEW. PERSON. and she is full of life. and she is happy. and my family? is.. wow! we are so happy. the spirit taught her and taught us. it was beautiful. thank you so much mom.

all is well. life is bliss. thank you for all your love and support. love my family so mucho. hope halloween is boring without me and kurtis but that you eat a delicious shake with the candy you get. haha. love you all!

hermana christensen

dyc 136:11
ps this was a really special tour we took. so the little boy, jackson, was sent to san diego like three years ago by make a wish. he was born and the doctors misdiagnosed or did'nt diagnose something and so he  lost all of his motor skills as a small boy. he understands everything but can't respond or move his body how he wishes he could. so sad. but these parents and the sister were AMAZING. it was neat to see how strong the family was even through their trials. we all four lifted his stroller up onto a stool so it could balance for a sec while we took a picture. it was really special.

Monday, October 24, 2011

10/24/2011 Elder Christensen "Calling Occupants"



Elder Monsen and I.... we took this same picture in the
same place 17 months ago.... what happened??? SICK!

19 months ago!
Hellloooooooo everyone! Wow.. We had a pretty normal week here in La Cisterna but nonetheless we had FUN. The Lord has also blessed us bastante... (How does that translate...anyone?) Blessed us.... a lot this week in the sector. Yesterday for example we found 4 new investigators just by knocking some doors and looking through our past investigators... The future looks bright watson! The good thing is that my companion and I are having a blast. Elder Higgs... talk about a classy guy haha. I`m also really excited that you guys got to go to Elder Poulsen...or.... ahem... Sam`s homecoming yesterday. What a straight shooter that guy. I learned a lot from him about just... being charitable and having a good time. Theres that song thats super old that says... "Don`t worry... be happy." If we could all remember that and actually apply it.... along with "Charity never faileth".... then we would be set for LIFE. That`s really become my new attitude on not only my mission but my whole life. Charity IS the pure love of Christ... If ye have not charity, ye are NOTHING... Strong words right? Nice work Moroni. "He who has charity in the last day, it will be well with him." SO good.

Okay then... This week I read the story about the Anti Nephi Lehi`s and when they buried their weapons of war. I know that I`ve already talked about this previously but it`s SO important and it`s something that we can do often in our lives. (See alma 23:24.) This people understood what conversion really is... they knew that their swords were clean and they actually feared God`s wrath against them... So they didn`t want to re-stain them... It says in 24:13 that maybe the blood of Christ would no longer be able to clean them if they returned to kill once more.... they got scared... so what did they do? They buried them up... Hid them... chao.... I LOVE 24:19..... Once they knew the truth and believed in it......they maintained themselves STRONG in it... They even were willing to die before taking up their arms again.. In the end. you know that like 1000 of them die but that more of the lamanites get converted than the number of slain men... The Lord works in mysterious ways to get his people converted right? Because those who had died were saved, and those who were killing them got converted... meaning that everyone was saved in the end practically... SO COOL! Anyways..... we need to re SEARCH our lives and figure out what our weapons ARE.... I know I`ve talked about this but its key honestly.... RID YOURSELVES of those weapons... I know its got to be hard. Some of your favorite music, movies, habits, etc... but DO it. Alma 13:12....After having been cleaned by the spirit, having cleaned their robes, being clean before God, they couldnt see sin without DISGUST.To me, sin is something... disgusting. It has to become that to us. Being latter day saints, that is part of what we believe. It`s part of who we are.... and it NEEDS to be that way so that we can have the spirit with us always. So that we can stand as witnesses of Christ at all times and in all places.... DyC 121:33...... "What power is there that detains the heavens? It would be as worthless for a man to reach out his arm to stop the flow of the Missouri river as it would be to try to stop the all powerful from spilling his spirit upon the latter day saints..." The POINT is... God`s spirit will continually be spilling upon those who are worthy.... if we are busy toiling with weapons of war, we will miss out on those important impressions we otherwise would have received. GET RID OF THEM NOW. LOOK UPON THEM WITH DISGUST!! Then, you will be blessed. I know that really is how it is... I`ve seen NUMEROUS examples of it on my mission... Once we fully consecrate ourselves and turn ourselves over to the Lord, we can take advantage of all that our loving father has in store for us. That is the message of today... Do it. Love it. Be HAPPY! Okay then... I hope you have a wonderful week. Know that you have a friend and family member on the other side of the world who`s prayin for ya. Take care now. Much love, Elder C.

Pics... Only two sorry... Don`t want to get robbed out there!

Elder Higgs and I in our tiny kitchen.. Its dope though!


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

10/18/2011 Hermana Christensen "agrio"

last preparation day we went to coronado island. soo pretty!
mis hijas!! all of my daughters... this picture is PRECIOUS!
It's been another amaaaaaaazing week in linda vista!

this morning we went on the most gorgeous hike to a place called cowles mountain. we left really early and were able to be up at the top of the mountain for the sunrise. you'll love the pictures! it's not quite hawaii, but it's its own kinda beautiful!

okay so. this week has been wonderful. really truly. i have a couple experiences i want to share:

--we had a lesson with hermana alamillo and one of her fellowshippers at the church. we watched the testamentos in the foyer and after the movie we huddled around the book of mormon reading 3 nephi 11 on the floor while the sun went down and the sky was pink around the palm trees... the spirit was so strong as we read the Savior inviting all of us to venid a El and to touch the wounds in his hands and in his feet.. she cried and said she was so happy she followed his example and was baptized and that she knows the church is true and always wants to sit and read the book of mormon... oh, it was gorgeous. and time just flew!

hermana ortezs FIRST experience with frozen yogurt.
WHAT?!! good thing she has me.
--there is a less active family, well couple, in our branch that we've been meaning to visit. they've been on my mind a lot lately, so we dropped by and the senora let us right in. we sat and started talking to her and her husband came down. what's fun about being new is that you can act like you don't know the background about anyone (even though you totally do), so we were like, "alrighty, well, we'll see you at church on sunday?" haha even though they've been inactive for four years... and (something i love about hispanos is how francos they are) they were like, 'well hermanas, honestamante we are kinda alejados um far distanced from the church right now..." and we acted all shocked then simply asked why. haha. then they told us. and honestly... i don't remember a time when the spirit was as strong as i looked them in the eye and testified that going from life inactive to partly active or whatever it may be to ACTIVE ACTIVE is the ONLY. THING. THAT. MEANS. ANYTHING. my cheeks got all hot and i just felt the spirit surging through me and the room. we all sat there, crying, and i told them that one of my favorite parts of being a missionary is being able to feel the Savior's love SO POWERFULLY and so clearly--even for people we don't know. we told them that more happiness and joy than they can even IMAGINE is waiting for them. we'd talked about eter 12:6--the anchor--and about hope in our Savior. The hermana is really sick right now and the hermano works and so it's been really difficult for them to come to church, but they want to. i have heard that a million times before, but these two meant it. they flat out told us that they have no reason to be distanced from the church--only that he'd been called as a second counselor in the branch presidency and he wasn't paying his tithing, so he didn't feel worthy.. but they told him he was...? so he stopped coming. but he said that other than that they have NO REASON and that they want to come back. it was a celestial cita. seriously.

a hike we went on this morning at 450 called cowles mountain
 and look, we were in the clouds! it was gorgeous.
--last night we had an fhe planned with an active family and a less active one. the less active hermana called the active one and said she was feeling sick and... you know... but the active hermana (who is AWESOME) said, "oh dang! you're sick? well that's okay. we'll just come over to your house and you can sit in your chair!" haha. no refusal. so we went over there and built up the lords church out of cups that symbolize authority, baptism, faith, profetas, etc. well, turns out TONS of her roommates were there, including one who has eighty billion preguntas, so we had this insaaaanely wonderful lesson in a huge circle of like 12 people just talking about the precious truths of the restoration. ah. and? it was FUN. like we laughed and we cheered when another person came in the room and we had cookies and milk and aaah. it was just SO FUN. especially when our less active hermana testified and answered her non member friends questions.
hahahhaha okay so the other day we were headed to an investigator's house, but we were right by a really discouraged members' house, so we decided to knock her door. turns out her son (the reason she's discouraged) was home with his friend. they said they'd just baaarely left. we were like aw dang, but started to talk to them... we went to the lawn in front of their house and had a sweet little charla about alma 36 and change and repentance and forgiveness. the boy's friend has been in and out of jail and he's only 19 and he feels like he's bound to be like his dad--who's in jail--so we had a really powerful lesson with them. the world is in SUCH DARKNESS! ah. it was amazing. but that's not the funny part. the reason i said hahahah is that because, as we sat there, the members son started getting really jittery. then he said that they had... enemies,... and that we had to not sit there, that they couldn't be there and they didn't want to be responsible for us. huh? so we went back to the house and talked to them in the doorway (there wasn't a woman there so we couldn't go in) and we noticed this three-dotted tattoo on their hand... THEY ARE STRAIGHT UP IN A GANG!! we laughed about how ridiculous the whole thing was--19 year old and a 17 year old in a gang wow. our lives. well, the world is horrible, first of all, but our lives! don't worry. i never feel in danger. just chillin in the hood. (but it's not really even at all!)

so there are these cristianitos who pray and they draw out all their s's. so they'll be like.. "oh diosssssssssss... venimosssssss ante ti para darte graciasssssssssssssss" as we were making plans for an investigator that does that i said we should invite him to talk to salazar slytherin for us.... but hermana freaking didn't know what i was talking about and i had this little spasm (this girl hasn't even had FROZEN YOGURT FOR HEAVENS SAKE!) so i was like YOU DON'T KNOW WHO HARRY POTTER IS?! hahhaa nd then she was all, "oh you still have to see the movies.." and i was like " DON'T WORRY i've got that taken care of already.. my sister and i are going to dress up and watch them..." and she was all, "are you going to dress up like that girl?" "hermione granger?! no! are you serious? she's boring! i've already been her." hahahahha it was in that moment i realized what a geek i sounded like... already having dressed up like her like freshman year... ohhh so funny. anyways, kaylynn we've still got that date! and mal--i totally thought of you and ken-- haha "HE WAS THEIR FWEND! THEIR FWEND!" bottom line: don't pray with drawn out s's because you don't speak parseltongue ya crazy cristianitos.

i'd like to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to you SAINTS out there heeding the prophets call! dearest willy has a profile!!!!: http://mormon.org/me/4GWG/ does bro! and gma/pa and kristen are working on theirs. you can do it! check em out and then get to yours!!!

last thing. yesterday i took a tour with a couple from utah. in the beginning the woman said her ancestor, abraham hunsaker, was in the battalion. COUSIN!!! hahahah okay so it was distant but still. we had a reeeeeally sweet bond there and alllllllll throughout the tour she just LOVED it. she cried. when i showed her his pic at the end, she just cried and said she can't wait to meet him and that we have so much to thank him for. i don't know that much about his life. i know that you may have told me but i just don't remember. she told me some stuff i didn't know and i just feel even more proud to be his descendant. what an incredible man. anyway, the point was that it was so neat to be able to take them on the tour. they were a very special couple that were touched by the battalion's story. i looooove my call.

well, all's well in sion. mucho amor to you dear ones out there. keep goin in the battle!

hermana christensen

Monday, October 17, 2011

10/17/2011 Elder Christensen "50 Years of Chilean goodness"



Elder Poulsen and I before he left..

Elder KING and I at the stadium! SICK ONE! OREMITES!
Okay so this week was officially lights out. Way cool. As some of you know we celebrated 50 years of the LDS mission in Chile. SO COOL. The first missionaries in Chile had a little clip where they talked.. how are those guys even still alive?!? We went to a stadium called... El estadio Santa Laura... Kinda far away from where we live but hey we liked it! We went on friday to "Practice" singing a hymn... "I`ll go where you want me to go". Then we actually went on Saturday to the real thing. The Area Presidency spoke which was pretty cool although lets be honest it was hard to focus on that.... WAY COOL thing though I ran into tons of members from El Conquistador my second sector! Man I LOVE that place! I`ll send you a pic maybe you`ll recognize them.... They built a little temple that looks like where Christ came down in the Americas.. They reinacted that whole scene as well... Really really really cool.. They also had 2000 teenagers dress up in loin cloths and stuff and sing on the field... Whats that called in english... To bring the world his truth? The armies of helaman? Something like that... But anyways it was SICK! I have it recorded... The coolest part I think was when they let us sing. We sang at like 9:45 but it was a POWERHOUSE. Our mission, the north mission, the east mission, the Viña del Mar mission, and half of the Rancagua mission. LOTS of power! The echo of our singing was superrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr loud. It had to have been heard for several blocks... OH YA! I also bumped in to Elder King again. Talk about a huge baller. OREM POWER! Hahah. We had a blast.

Kinda blurry but its the 2,000 stripling warriors!

Elder Speakman and I at the stadium.. needs a haircut!
The work is going well too. My new companion is from Ogden. His name is Elder Higgs and he`s got about 16 months in the mission up til now. We`re brainstorming some ideas to try and lift up our zone a little bit. We`re all in kind of a weird funk.... But hey, as Joseph Smith said to Brigham young, the Lord takes raw material and molds it to make what he wants... We`re in the molding process right now and we know the future is a bright one. Referring back to the stadium and the event we had... It was cool to think that just 50 years ago these first missionaries had arrived and there were no members or anything.... Now we can FILL a stadium with members.. We have tons of stakes and wards. It`s like Daniels interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzars dream that was talked about in conference..... The rock that broke and FILLED the earth. The gospel as well is filling the earth at this very moment. Think of ALL the converts in ALL the world each month... There are LOTS of people making covenants each month..It`s moving slow but it`s definitely MOVING. We`re here to gather the wheats from the midst of the tares... Theres just a TON of tares to sort through in order to find that wheat. Hahah. They are there though. I know they are there. It`s up to us to find them as well. This is Gods Church. People always say that they want the church that applies "The bible". Thats when I`m like... Hellllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo... listen to us! Then they go off about how we don`t apply the bible because we worship Joseph Smith... ¿Mas ignorante? Ignorance. IGNORANCE and STUBBORNNESS are what prevent the work from going forward at times. People don`t know what we preach... they have heard rumors... and they are too stubborn to actually open their hearts and hear the truth. WE declare the word as the sound of a trumpet. (DyC 42:6) We`re bold in our teaching. We know what will happen and when. THOMAS S. MONSON IS a prophet of god. How can you know of a true prophet? By his fruits. The church is true. Let it be known. Joseph Smith is it`s restorer..... Remember that! If you`ve fallen off the path and let go of the rod...well... ITS STILL THERE! The rod hasn`t moved! YOU HAVE. The Iron rod is the word of God. Let us read the scriptures DAILY and grow closer to our heavenly father. As nephi said its for our benefit! We should constantly be meditating their teachings passages in our lives. I`m converted. I´M CONVERTED. If you`re not.... GET CONVERTED! You live in UTAH for crying out loud!! What in the world is your opposition there? The majority of the problems are from poor use of agency... Here in Chile it`s people that are lost because they have never found the way. They have never found the rod. We have to DRAG them out of that great and spacious building and put their hands on the rod... Once they find it, they LOVE IT! However... in Utah it`s backwards.. Members who have CHOSEN (Poor use of agency) to let go of the rod and what they know is true so that they can party in that same building. Obviously I know this doesn`t apply to everyone but you have all the tools in the world to get yourself converted in Utah. Get to seminary. Get to mutual. Get to Scouts. Get to institute. GET TO CHURCH! Conversion... Get on it. Thats my challenge this time. Find your weak points. You know what they are. Pray about it. Pray for help. Change little things. By small and simple things great things are brought to pass..... so work on the small things and I promise you that you will all be more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You will literally become more like him and grow in ways you never thought you could. Turn of that Rap, turn off that rated R movie, get your scriptures out and learn about what really matters! I love you all so much. There is no greater work than this. I wish you all an excellent week.

 Much love, Elder Christensen.

Front of my Triple.  Thought you'd like that.


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

10/11/2011 Hermana Christensen "?que son los bienes para mi? (dyc 117:4)"

this is us at la jolla coves
helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

i did something sweet today and read your emails first. :) well, parts of them. haha. lov eyou guys!

okay let me just tell you something.... WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT REALLY HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!! it was... wow. it was just the best thing ever. we realized early on last week that hermana alamillo (la que se bautizo) was WAY more prepared than we realized. she... she has such desire to follow jesus christ. on friday we had a HUGE scare--her husband found out she was meeting with us to get baptized and if she didn't come to the church at 4 (for her interview!) she wasn't going to get baptized. ahhh. we found that out at eight in the morning. so we decided that EVERY time we'd pray we would pray for her to be baptized. we knew it could happen. and when they drove up to the churhc..... i fell to the ground. hahaha we were SO happy!!!! it was spiritually draining i'll tell ya. but she passed her interview and was there on saturday and we had a really sweet service and then... she was baptized. to say the least, it was one of the most uncomfortable baptisms i've ever had to watch, and i was reeeeeeeally nervous she was going to back out because she just COULDN'T GET ALL THE WAY UNDER.. but she didn't. she finally got all the way down. ................... huge sigh of relief from EVERYONE present. but seriously. (she's way afraid of water... and to add to that she can't lean back because of a surgery she had... so she was literally ON HER KNEES and president was literally trying to push her under the water and she was blowing bubbles and almost crying...oh my gosh. BUT!!!! SHE DID IT!!!! hahha. and afterwards she shared her testimony (i did'nt think she'd do that either!) and it was more like a prayer, but it was so sweet! and she said that she just felt sooo different and so happy and she couldn't stop crying. and on sunday, after she'd been CONFIRMED A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS!, she participated a TON in our sunday school lesson. this coming from the lady who used to HATE church. hahah she was always so bored and wanted to leave and kept asking how much time there was... hahah but we gave the lesson about the spirit world and we got talking about the need to act now, and hna alamillo raised her hand and straight up was like, "my husband doesn't know i got baptized, but i knew it was the right thing to do. i feel so happy and i know i did the right thing! and it was hard, but i know it's worth it." uuuuuuum okay. it was BOMB. and its sweet because she totally prays tha ther husband will accept the gospel. :) and one of her main reasons for wanting to be baptized is because we talked SO much about doing baptisms for the dead for her son who recently passed away and for the baby she miscarried like 40 years ago. it's going to be a joyous day when she does their baptisms, but even more so when she and her husband are sealed.. .then those kids can be theirs for FOREVER!

ah. i love this. i love what i'm doing. i'm so thankful. SO SO THANKFUL. i love my mission. i feel so privileged and so blessed and so fortunate!

IMELDA'S BAUTISMO!! hna delgado and presidente curtis
so in my studies the other day i was reading about christ's church bearing His name. I'm reading in doctrine and covenants and guess where i was that day? wow perfect--section 115. verses 3-6. what really struck me was when it says (in vs 6) "a fin de que el recogimiento en la tierra de Sion y sus estacas sea para defensa y para REFUGIO contra la tempestad y conta la ira..." with that i was thinking about the branch. about how Christ's church is meant to be a REFUGE from the anger of the world. guys, things are coming in our little branch. on sunday, there was laughter in our gospel principles class. people comforted each other. people were friendly. it was really neat to see! I was thinking about la mesa, and how when i first got there i felt... well, remember how sad i felt? haha. ridiculous. because i wasn't in chula anymore.. left my ward of 900 for a branch of 30 and it was a shocker. but in my ten months there, i watched that little branch change. and i saw people grow TOGETHER and closer to the Savior in suuuuuuuch a beautiful way. so i KNOW it's possible. maybe that's why heavenly father put me here... in this branch that's been a branch for thirty years. i know it's possible that they can love each other and be there for each other and make church a haven! i know that the way to do this is to USE them more, and to take them out with us so that they feel that love Heavenly Father has for each child and to help them feel it too. Aaaaaaaand? this past week we only had ONE LESSON without a member! it's neat. so we're going. we're already seeing progress!

this is where we llive. and kristen, i got
many a compliments on that necklace!
but continuing on with that thought, i realized that's, too, what a home is. it's a refuge. it's a haven. it's a safe place. and in the mission manual it says "church members may dedicate their homes as sacred edifices where the Holy Spirit can reside and where family members can worship, find safety from the world, grow spiritually, and prepare for eternal family relationships." and then i was so thankful for you guys. really truly. i 100% feel that way. home is such a refuge for me. and that's what it's intended to be. i know that doesn't sound like anything profound, but wow. the other day i was thinking about how a lot of my friends are now married and with children, and how i probably won't hang out with them like we used to.. and it made me sad. but THEN. guess what i realized? well, i pictured kaylynn and colby and me watching a movie with tabstar crawling around... just totally chilling. willy was on the couch behind us and kristen coming downstairs with a treat. and wow. i realized that "hanging out" with friends is totally just mimicking what goes on at home. being together! and just passing time together! that's what it's ALL ABOUT! eternal family relationships.. my best friends. wow. it sounds silly, but it was this big beautiful spiritual confirmation i had that everything's going to be okay and that i've got this incredible family bubble that are the funnest, funniest, BEST possible people to be around. so i love you guys! home is where my heart is! what a sacred refuge from the storm!

random--the other night i had a dream that you all came to church with us. and i held tabby. and then in the middle i was like, "wait! i can't hold children!" and then i woke up feeling guilty... haha. but it was super real to me. it was good to see ya in church for a sec!

This is the info on Henry Boyle at the Battalion: On December 8, 1846, he wrote, “I have heard the sound of the everlasting Gospel, have been convinced of it’s truth, have been driven from my parental roof for obeying it & here I am in the service of a government that has driven the Saints from its borders & we are as a people wanderers in a strange land. But all is well, all is right. I love the people I am associated with & the principles of the Gospel better than all else & my heart leapt for joy when I contemplated the situation I found myself in compared with what it had been.” wow. isn't that beautiful!

well. off to another week in the most blessed work of eternity. hope all's well. thank you for all you do for me! love you dearly! can't wait to see your profiles! (except WILLY!!!!!) :) YAY!

hermana christensen


--us feeding the squirrels (REMIND YOU OF LONDON?!) the... TAPATILLO DORITOS! haha he loved it!

Monday, October 10, 2011

10/10/2011 Elder Christensen

My comp and I... our last pic! Hes OUT!
Whats today? Uh.............. (long pause.) October? It`s PDAY!!! We`ll see who catches that quote :). Wow lets just say it was an INTERESTING week to say the least.. We didn`t actually work a ton in our sector... Like hardly at all. I was doing divisions in other sectors all week long with other missionaries... My companion had to do all kinds of things to get ready to get on the plane. Lots of meetings, trainings, they went to the temple.. etc... But ya. So I don`t really have any miracles to share at the moment haha.. Next week my letter will be a lot more spiritual don`t worry! We did almost get robbed though... I went on divisions with an Elder named Elder Lowry here in our sector... This was... Wednesday.... Ya... We were just contacting this lady and this guy starts yelling at us... Which is normal so we didn`t pay too much attention.. He yelled and said that he wanted to talk to us about Christ and the church and whatnot so we went... He made small talk until there were no people around then he asked for our watches... he told us his 3 friends were gonna put bullets in our backs if we didn`t comply... ya it was definitely scary! Then some more people started to walk by and he changed the subject to Christ... It was obvious that he was alone and had nothing to really threaten us with... So we started walking and went into a bank... Long story short... He ended up just running away and yelling swear words at us..... That is why we don`t carry expensive thingsaround! The funny part is that we were both wearing those 5 dollar wally world watches lol. His is the one with the calculator and mine without.... Here they sell those types of things for drugs. Now we`re definitely walking with our heads up and praying for extra protection! You have no need to worry though honestly I just figured I`d share that haha. Apart from that... We taught some members the plan of salvation with a little puzzle I have.. THat was FUN. This kid named Enso is super smart.... we had previously taught him the Plan and it was touching to watch him re teach the plan to his little brothers. Honestly. Prepare yourselves to SERVE in the Lord`s army! These are the last days! Well... we gotta go to Maipù today so that my companion can be on his way... Sorry I can`t write more.. This isn`t my typical letter... I have no real spiritual story nor commitment for you guys this week... But you KNOW where you have to improve and what you have to do it. I`ll let you ponder about your own lives this week. I hope all is well in all of your lives and that you continue strong as examples of the believers.

Much love, Elder Christensen.
Fast and testimony bingo lol. For you mother! 3 bingos!

 Cya guys. Take care.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

10/4/2011 Hermana Christensen "Perpetual Pacific Smile!"



this is elder stanley and e debaltzo, the missionaries for the branch!
 unreal.

literally ALLLLL WEEKEND LONG, anyyyyyyytime i thought of you guys hanging out with my la mesa friends, i couldn't help but beeeeeeeeeam! and giggle! AH!!! how was it?! aren't they soooo great!! thanks sooo much for letting them stay at the house! i cannot cannot cannot WAIT to see pictures and read your emails! i actually just met hermano chavez for a sec at the battalion and he gave me the fritos. hahah tapatillo! but he was just... wow. he was so full of light. he pulled out his camera and showed me alllll the pictures of you guys and even a video and wow. SO NEAT! i cannot telll you how much i loved seeing all of those i love SO DEARLY together!! it made my DAY! and my weekend! and my LIFE! hahah!

but seriously. this weekend, as i sat and watched conference, knowing that they were there, staying with my family, in my house, and in that moment in the conference center... i just felt so grateful. six months ago sister mendoza and i asked hermano chavez to take notes and listen intently to conference. we fasted. but not just us, our WHOLE DISTRICT fasted so that THAT MAN could get his answer. and after the sessions, when we pulled him into a classroom to let him know we, as a district, were praying and fasting for him to get his answer, he told us he was fasting too. the spirit was so strong in that room! and then we knelt and he offered a beautiful prayer of gratitude. and then he hugged all of the missionaries and there was this mutual understanding... even for those who couldn't speak spanish. and there was such LOVE. everyone just desired SO BADLY for that man to finally get baptized! and so sitting there this year, hearing the speakers talk about BAPTISM and remembering looking over excitedly to hermano chavez six months earlier, hoping he was getting it, but this time realizing he is a MEMBER..? wow. there is no words for that kind of love and gratitude and joy. i. love. my. mission.

one of my very fave sistas, sis kearsley. :)
conference was... beautiful. i loved taking specific questions and getting specific answers... in the first session! it's so true--knock and it shall be opened unto you. it was such a feast. really. love the talk about hope from elder hales. hope for the future, hope in facing challenges, hope in the Savior. "el esperar en el senor requiere fe, paciencia, humildad, mansedumbre, guardar mandamientos, y perseverar hasta el fin. Hay que esperar en El y tener confianza en El. Hagamos todas las cosas que deberiamos hacer hasta perfeccionarnos. Confiemos en El y en sus meritos." ah sorry english. you can translate that. i just love that it went on to say it's hard to have hope, especially when we don't understand his plan. pero it comes line upon line precept upon precept little here a little there. lets pray for paciencia to be able to bear it all. in his time the answers will come. his blessings are ETERNAL.they are more than we can even realize. Hope has the power to change eternities! And i hope to be able to bless these people here with my knowledge of the gospel. ah. i just loved that talk so much. it was so comforting and direct answer to my concerns. i love general conference.

so not only is the battalion helping to preach the gospel to every nation, language, kindred and tongue (including mandarin now!), but there's a new addition! the last few months of jesse's mission he served in the mtc referral center where people can get online and ask to chat with representatives to answer their questions and request more information. well. because of this delightful mormon.org campaign (where are your profiles?!) it's EXPLODED. and so? the referral center missionaries can't do it on their own. they've asked for historic sites and visitors center misisonaries to be trained so that we, too, can participate in online chat work. We are SO excited!!

things in the branch are going well! we are having a baptism this weekend. so blessed.

...long story. she asked me to color the sky blue..
all i had to use was my scripture marker... ummm.
i just read part of my email from you mom. tell sue i love her so much. joan was... wow. she played such an important role in my life. i love her so much... ah. i am so thankful for her. and for the plan. and for knowing that she's now able to garden all day everyday and read books and walk freely and not have to worry about sick gluten waffles... haha. there are no words for joan bourne glad. what a saint. what an example. i love her so much. sue, i'm praying for you and yours. thank you so much for always being so selfless and such an example of constant service. i love you and your family so much! please let me know if there's anything i can do for you all.

i guess here's where that hope talk was even more meant for us, huh? hope. we have to hope that things will all be okay and that we'll be able to manage without joan and with all this change. we can hope and have faith that heavenly father has a plan. i know that He does. i know that He loves us. I love him so much. I love Him for the deep, eternal kind of love that he has for each of his children, and for how freely he loves us. He's so constant. He's so aware. He's so present and involved in our lives. Let's be better this work in noticing how involved he really is.

i love you all. thank you for the love and the involvement in my life and my mission. thank you so much for your support and prayers. i'll be thinking of you during the funeral on thursday. sigan adelante.

hermana christensen

ps. staish. read dyc 137. i read it this morn and thought of you.

jean i love you. thanks for bring joan into all of our lives. :)

mal. 100% considering it. ttyl hags.

mikey glad to hear the branch is growin. you've done such selfless work for that branch for so long! thanks for writing!

Monday, October 3, 2011

10/3/2011 Elder Christensen "Wow!!!!...Conference!!!!"

My companion and I at the top of the fort. Dad you`d LOVE this.
Not a lot of time.... Gotta get right to work! GO! General Conference... Wow... I was definitely on the edge of my chair and just SO excited the whole time while we waited for it to start. While you were in the comfort of your living rooms with blankets and popsicles our zone was in a huge beasty room using primary tables to watch the action. I can`t decide which is better... I honestly think I like it more when I`m in a shirt and tie and I can just write at a table in the stake center! Anyways.....I`m gonna talk about my favs from each session....
1.. Saturday Morning... BOYD K. PACKER!! This man is super old and yet still has like 634 times the power that I do. WOW! Blew my away... He talked about how we are being raised in enemy territory and that the adversary is honestly everywhere. I have no idea how I honestly made it through the labyrinth that those teenage years really are... Its so dangerous to all of us honestly. We are surrounded by those who have lower standards than us! We are surrounded by FILTH and all kinds of other spiritually numbing things... I loved how he talked about being imprisoned by the adversary... Once we slip? We`re cooked. Thats when we get to the other extremity of life and lose all of the spiritual hope we had worked so hard to acquire. Now... I loved how he said.... We have the KEY to unlock the prison cell from the inside.... We have the way out! We just need to decide to stand up, and actually unlock the door. Also his little example of the Crow made me laugh.. So awesome haha.
This is my cannon!

2... Saturday Afternoon... L Tom Perrys talk about sharing the gospel related to a temple open house... EVERYONE can come in and see whats up right? We can get these people comfortable and then start to ease them into the process. They themselves will have curiousity sparked just from what they see and hear. He also talked about being BOLD in our declaration of Christ. I know that there has to be someone in Orem who isn`t a member so get sharing with them! As well we need to be an example... I love that scripture that was repeated 3 times from Timothy... Be an example of the believers... In EVERYTHING you do.... The people will get curious and really have the desire to come to know the gospel for themselves..
Our Zone at the Fort in Santa Lucia.

3... Priesthood session... Okay honestly.. Need I say who? Obviously it was Jeffrey R Hollands talk.. INSANELY sick. He talked about being worthy and really taking this work seriously... The thing I most loved was when he said... You cant sit around with the adversary and then try to put on the armor when its mission and temple time! That hasnt worked and will not work in the future! Sad to say there are lots of people who are actually doing that.... Thats where we need to get better right? The mission is no walk in the park by any means so it`s important that we stay WORTHY and actually prepare ourselves for whats to come. POWERHOUSE. Sign my up Elder Holland.

4... Tad Callister... THERE IS NO MIDDLEGROUND FOR THE BOOK OF MORMON... I liked the little rhyme..... Its the word of god or its a fraud! If this book is true, than JOSEPH WAS A PROPHET!! This IS Gods church on the earth in its restored form.Whats to misinterpret? We can know for ourselves... we can first gain a testimony of that and then maintain that testimony! IT IS.... Or it isn`t.... Loved it.
Elder Guzman and I after our division....
 Mom you like that flag? 

5... Last but not least.. The Prophets closing words.... EVERY calling here on the earth for members is important for the construction of God`s kingdom... I was to send a shout out to all of you reading this that have callings. You make a difference! People look up to you as their teacher and example at church on Sundays. You play a part. Just be sure you LIFT where you stand and really give it all you got. Thats what`s important. YOU. Nice work guys!
With President and Hermana King after my interview. They rock!

Okay.. Thats it. Whew. Now I can breathe a little bit. I hope you can all love General Conference as much as I do.. Honestly. We get to HEAR the living Prophet speak! What could be better than that? Certainly not a sporting event or playing video games! We should take advantage every 6 months to really sit down and look at how we can better ourselves. The mission has really changed my perspective on conference... Its the BOMB! Okay guys. I love you all. As always. You`re the best. Friends and family keep a missionary on his feet. I hope all is well for you and that you continue letting your light shine! Have a
great week! CHAO!

Elder Christensen