1/30/2012 Elder Christensen "The Story of the Lightbulb"

Hey family and friends! It`s been a super busy week here in El Sauce.. I can`t believe its already over... We had a lotta things goin on.... We had zone conference, ward council ( MILAGRO!), baptismal interview, and the baptism itself. Somehow, we still managed to have a decent amount of success in our sector. The Lord is really blessing us. I actually had the opportunity to interview this lady named Mirta Rubio for her baptism.. Man it was incredible... to be honest. This lady is like 60 and her conversion story completely blew my socks off. She had a dream and she saw her grandson who had passed away... He told her that he wanted to be together with her one day and that she had to talk to her daughter that day... She woke up, went and talked to the daughter, received the missionaries, and got baptized. She went 3 weeks in a row and even got up her first sunday to BARE HER TESTIMONY!!! Wow.... anyways.. this lady had already lived the principles of the gospel and just needed an "Empujonsito" as she said... or just a little push in the right direction. I would say there were about 70 people at her baptism. HUGE status. One cool thing... We talked for about 25 minutes in the interview before we even prayed. It was kinda out of control. She just started talking and telling stories IMMEDIATELY. But... I loved it. I learned a lot from her. She actually BORE TESTIMONY to me in the interview... she just said.. I want to assure you that THIS is God`s church.... and that it is all true.... I sat there shocked and was just like... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhm.... Whos doing the interview here? I felt like maybe I should get re baptized! Haha. No. But it was incredible to see somebody so prepared by our Heavenly Father...

Okay... So this week we listened to some talks on my iPod while we went to sleep. One of which was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf`s talk about "The lightbulb". Super good talk. He tells the story of a plane that crashed and killed over 100 people... All of this because of ONE little tiny 5 cent lightbulb that failed to illuminate. This was the light that showed whether or not the landing gear of the plane was down... They got distracted, panicked, and weren`t paying attention to the constant descent that the plane was making. All of this could have been avoided had they just stayed the course and payed better attention... He went on to explain that its the same in life. We need to stay focused on the MOST IMPORTANT THING and work for IT. Not losing our focus... This can be hard... it requires FAITH, and consistency. I found a story that is strikingly similar in my scriptures... In Alma 51.. One of the war chapters believe it or not..... Moroni is one of the best leaders there is... great example... there began to be contention and problems between the people... a little group called "Kingman" were the ones causing it all as well.. What happened? This people became divided.... They stopped worrying about the most important thing, (Their freedom? The existence of their people?) and started worrying about something much less important.... which was the changing of a few laws and the placement of a king over the land.... In the middle of a war, why in the WORLD would you worry about such stupidity? Goodness.. anyways, this contention cost Moroni and his people... We read....

Alma 51:2 Behold, it came to pass that while Moroni was thus breaking down the wars and contentions among his own people, and subjecting them to peace and civilization, and making regulations to prepare for war against the Lamanites, behold, the Lamanites had come into the land of Moroni, which was in the borders by the seashore.

23 And it came to pass that the Nephites were not sufficiently strong in the city of Moroni; therefore Amalickiah did drive them, slaying many. And it came to pass that Amalickiah took possession of the city, yea, possession of all their fortifications.

26 And thus he went on, taking possession of many cities, the city of Nephihah, and the city of Lehi, and the city of Morianton, and the city of Omner, and the city of Gid, and the city of Mulek, all of which were on the east borders by the seashore.

27 And thus had the Lamanites obtained, by the cunning of Amalickiah, so many cities, by their numberless hosts, all of which were strongly fortified after the manner of the fortifications of Moroni; all of which afforded strongholds for the Lamanites.

All this happened..... because they LOST THE VISION.. They LOST THE FOCUS.... Just like one little 5 cent light bulb can kill 100 people, one little stupid contention caused the death of many and the loss of many cities..... So we can apply lots from this... We need to have our GOALS, and stay focused on them. Little things like sports, movies, music, video games, etc, shouldn`t take our eye off the prize. Let us maintain the focus on the task at hand and, with the help of God, endure to the end. Hope all is well there. Take care. Have a great week. Elder Christensen.

PICS.... Ya.... well..... I attached my pictures and its pretty dang fishy... I dont want anyone getting any viruses! Looks like it`ll have to be another week. Truth be told... Internet cafes= Not very good! Sorry everyone!