11/30/10 Hermana Christensen

we just found these guys. they're members that have moved into our ward--vanessa and valerie tellez--and we love them.

Hello hello everyone!

I am going to be full of rage if i find out you opened my christmas present before the 25th of december. haha. but seriously. if you did already, put all that goodness back into the box and WAIT to enjoy it all, my goodness!
It was such a joy to see the dyers. christine and i hugged forever--it was soooo good seeing her! Ah! I seriously just feel so grateful for the ward and for my family.

Thanksgiving was beautiful. Basically we partied at the mobat for a little while (pictures someday) and then went and visited a whole bunch of people. but hyonestly, we didn't take much advantage of the eats. sad news, but oh well. I had one piece of pie and deeeeeelish sweet potats. raging. ha ha. danky dank. but anyway, the point is that i realized how many lonely people there are in the world--especially around the holidays. i'm grateful that i have a companion that is so sweet and thoughtful and rad, and that we both have other sisters and members surroudning us to help us out, not to mention awesome families and an all knowing father in heaven. i'm just thankful. even if/when we feel alone, we aren't. He's there. He understands. there's a line in my patriarchal blessing that says I will be led to those who need me and that when i need them, they'll come to me. I know it's true. I know that we are all here for each other. simple as that.
there's literally no time. i'm sorry i won't have time to write you all your separate emails, but i wanted to say:
colb--your stack of paps are immaculate. i've gone through TWO and have already been inspired. my district has asked for copies of the mediocrity paper.

willy--i got to ride a stationary bike this past week (JOY!!!!!!! SOOOO HAPPYYYY!) and i thought ofyou. it's amazing how fast you lose it like you said! yikes. also. about rubios--i realized why i like it so much and why you have no reason to give me all that garby. i've eaten authentic mexican food and it makes me a little sick because it's soo greasy. but rubios is FRESH eats! and i don't feel heavy and gross and fat after eating it. does that make sense?

ma--my advent times will be PERFECT. you're so thoughtful! thanks for jenn's address! i think pg 42 of the ensign was my fave. and my fave bom part--the whole thing. no but seriously. alma 26 is my fave fave fave.

bro--YOURE SO AWESMOE! keep going in el conquistador. i may have a referral for you soon!!! ... it's brewing. :) ENCONTRAR ENSENAR BAUTIZAR!

kaylynn--your freaking pictures are HIGHLARIOUS and i particularly loved all your diction; my favorite: mediocre at best. HA! thank you! i know we are missed if you're quoting us! keep it up!

you guys. i want you to know that i count you first as i enumerate my many many blessings. i love you more than i can say! i want you to know that i feel your prayers. honestly, when i get down or discouraged, it literally canNOT last for long because something good immediately comes; i know that is heavenly father blessing me because there are so many of your praying for me and my success and happiness. i'm serious. i got some pretty profound revelation about that the other day, when i was thinking about how this should probably be harder than it is... then i remembered my cheerleaders and it all made sense. :) your prayers are felt. oh, are they!
i hope everyone's thanksgiving was beautiful. i love you. i am thankful for forever families.

hermana christensen
mormon.org

11/29/10 Elder Christensen

First.... Me gettin my haircut today!! That lady is SO cool! Thats the machine I bought too mom!

Second... Us at our baptism yesterday with everyone!!

Third... Just us and him at the baptism.

We just did it yesterday that baptism!! SO GOOD! So spiritual! His mom and sis showed up and they LOVED IT!!! It was very spiritual and powerful.

Love you all a ton. I look forward to talking with you all next week. The church rocks!! Ciao! Elder Christensen

11/23/10 Hermana Christensen

UTES?!!:  a bunch of them came in this week for the game, and it was sooo confusing for me.. i'd see the big UTAH on their chests and i'd get excited, but then i felt this instantaneous hatred for them... haha jk. but seriously. it was confusing for me. utah! wait... ugh utah. haha dang utes.

HELLO EVERYONE!

happy week of thanksgiving! and myyyyyyyyyyy am i ever grateful for all of you? SO grateful! i feel like gratitude is something i can be so much better on--just noticing the good things and not worrying about the other stuff. :) i'm redoubling my efforts in that zone. :)

oh, before i forget, i talked to president and he was totally cool with a conference call of sorts. BRO! that'll be siiiiiiiiiick. but i really have no clue how yall will do it. you may need to get skype? i dunno. bros i just don't know. but i DO know that it'll be classy and i cannnnnnnnnot wait. (bro i heard that if things don't work out with that you may be able to call me here, too. so don't fret son. ps. adolf hernandez? hahaha i laughed SO hard! hahaha.) oh man. anyway, that'll be great. get workin on it!

it's been a good week. somehow or another we had about nine lessons with less active recent converts... that is a WHOLE lot. but it was good. i loved what bro said the other week about how this is a family matter and how we are here to strengthen families so they can have what we have. that is SO true. we're really working with the woody, esparza and pongia families to see that. if they were all in this together and if they all wanted the same things and were all headed in the same direction.. ah! things would be so much easier for them and they would feel god's love in their lives more.

yesterday morning we were talking with our district leader about how we can be truly converted in this work, not just for the duration of ourmissions, but for forever. this quote came to mind:

"if we are to build zion of which prophets have spoken and of which the lord has given a mighty promise, we must set aside our CONSUMING SELFISHNESS. we must rise above our love from comfort and ease and in very process of effort and sturggle, even in our extremity we shall become better acquainted with god." ;-gbh

wow. how's that for power? i know that there are certain things i am selfishly holding onto--like studying 1/2 hr of the bom for ME and not using what little time i have to study and prepare for others-- etc. i know that the second we render our WHOLE hearts to god, He'll endow us with power. so that's what i'm working on. that and christlike attribute of the week charrrrrrity... we can get there. the more we try to become like our Savior, we can help those around us. it's such a purifying process--the way it's meant to be.

welp i'm fresh out of time. i want you all to know that i am SO grateful for you. seriously. when i get down, i rest easy, knwoing i have a family at home who is behind me 126%. you are such a blessing and strength. and this thanksgiving season, as i count my OVERFLOWING blessings, you are at the top of my list.

i love you all.

happy thanksgiving! enjoy it thoroughly!!!

hermana christensen

11-22-10 Elder Christensen

Hello family and friends!! This week has been HOT but really great!! I can´t believe that you guys have SNOW there. So lucky!! Here I am with sweat dripping as we speak!! Haha. My comp and I have been doing great here in El Conquistador. We´ve had a ton too do lately as well. We have been visiting a bunch of members who are like all inactive.. I don´t get it... They are ALL inactive and they ALL say that they are unhappy and that they need to return to the church.. Then they don´t do ANYTHING. They take NO steps. They all say as well that it is hard to return once you´ve left it.... You guys!! DON¨T GET OFFENDED IN THE CHAPEL PLEASE. I´m so sick of that sorry excuse for a weak testimony. Ohhh but so and so didn´t say hi to me and I got offended.... Uhhh.... really???


We learn so much in the chapel. The sacrament is one of the most incredible things that we have the oportunity to take every Sunday. We are CLEAN and we are PROMISED the holy ghost at the end of the prayer.... As a missionary its obvious that I want the spirit with me all that I can so that I can be a better instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father.. Somehow people forget that........ no... I´m too tired this week to go.... Or no... I would rather go to the movies... How hard is it to go to church? Los principios del evangelio son sencillos y VALEN LA PENA . The principles of the gospel are simple and they are WORTH IT. There is a REASON why we do these things!! Reading the Book of Mormon is another one... The book is FULL OF POWER!!! It doesn´t matter if we read about the zoramites and we don´t understand a word of whats going on.. We have that extra power for just having READ the book during the day. Our president told us that if someone with a baptismal date can read EVERY SINGLE DAY even just 5 verses that their baptism WILL NOT FALL THROUGH. My goal is to visit our candidates and read EVERY DAY with them to take ahold of this promise. I love each and every one of you so much. I know that life is FULL of challenges and trials that we don´t always know how to overcome. In the movie together forever, this teenager says... I don´t know the answers, but I know where to find them. The gospel is AMAZING. We follow the principles... WE ARE BLESSED!! SO SIMPLE!! However sometimes the world wins. Sometimes we would rather watch a movie or go out with our friends....But I promise you that if you can do the things recommended by the prophet as well as take hold of all these principles, you will see the difference in your testimony as I have in mine. I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week wherever you are. ITS TRUE. Ciao. Elder Christensen

Ps ... A picture of a kitten that we rescued.. We heard it meowing behind our house and it was starved and dying. MOM that reminds me of the time we rescued a kitty from the baseball field!! Shes fine and we´re giving her away today. ... Me last week at the end of internet... Big smile!!

I´m working for you guys! I´m working to make more famlies like ours! I love you all and hope this week is great! Ciao!

A picture of a kitten that we rescued.. We heard it meowing behind our house and it was starved and dying. MOM that reminds me of the time we rescued a kitty from the baseball field!! Shes fine and we´re giving her away today.

11/16/10 Hermana Christensen

Well helloooooooooo!!
I've been told my emails are long.. haha, well good thing I'm fresh out of time this week huh?

HI everyone! I hope things are going well! Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I hope everyone is reeeeeeeeal stoked. I sure am. Dia de gracias. and i have sooo much to be thankful for! namely you--my sweetest familia who i love so dearly. i hope that everyone is well and happy. :)

so henry received the espiritu santo yesterday. unreal. so neat. and he's suddenly speaking in church in a few weeks. that guy really was a dry mormon! but now he's wet. ha. so legit. what a pleasure and joy and blessing it has been working with him and his sweet fam. they've taught us more that we've taught them, surely!

Henry & Petersons before Henry's baptism!

the work rolls on. people are coming along poco a poco. our investigadores sure have a lot of struggles. it's unbelievable the things that they're facing. and really--HONESTly--it stems from part member families. kids can't be baptized, wives can't go to church bc their hub won't let them... honestly, i am learning SO much about family relations out here. the gospel needs to be our EVERYTHING in order to have families exist and survive and be happy. ah. i am just so grateful to have what i have.

i've been thinkin a lot about all this lately--i've seen a lot about how the environment here really shapes people. and you know what i thought about? my sweet parents. i was telling hma story about how we used to take those sunday bike rides and walk through houses and stuff, and dad, sooo many times you said, "kristen and i almost bought this house but..." and 99% of the time the problem was something about the neighborhood. and you know what? I am SO grateful to have grown up wherei did. I didn't really see how it made a difference then, but, looking back, WOW do i ever. where we grow up and who we do so with makes such a difference--especially in our younger lives. and, so, as i've thought about kay and colb buyin a house, i imagine them being just as careful and prayerful as you guys were--knowing that pita needs a good neighborhood with good good neighbors to help raise that sweet sweet little girl. when kris, kc, and laura came in, i got a little emotional telling them about how much love is in my heart for rr1 and all the studs there who really helped me in my progression; i am who i am today because of the good influences i was brought up around. So, mom and dad, i thank you for always having our best interest at heart, for being sooo careful and so thoughtful as you made decisions that have and will continue to always bless my life.

i sure love you all! i wish you a BEAUTIFUL, happy, healthy week from sunny sunny san diego. :) ha!

love!  hermana christensen

ps happy bday leelee!

pss KELSSSSSSSSSSSS ;ALSDFJ;ASLDKJF;OASKDJF;AOISEFJ;AFA;LSKDFJA;SLDFJASL;DKFJ i am absolutely BURSTING!!!!!! i'm praying for you sweetness!! BELIEVE IT! go forth and conquer! i'm here for you! always!

"With even your straongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will y ield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow." -Richard G Scott

"To me was a trying time after being driven from my home and leaving all both land and house in the hands of enemies and now to leave my wife and children with nothing but a blanket over them to keep them from the hot sun, but leaving them in the hands of the Lord." -Jeremiah Willey

"I am full of pleasure and delight when i look upon so many with whom I had the honor of walking with knapsack and muskit." -David Wilkins

i should explain--

the last two quotes on my email are quotes from the kiosk of the roster list here at the mobat. i'm trying to incorporate that into my emails more because it really is sooo incredible. the story and the spirit here is incredible! and it really is so sweet because people are just lured into here unknowingly, and then they feel the spirit and then refer themselves and WABAM! jk. but seriously. just yesterday a guy came in and told us that his son is now teaching a guy in the CZECH REPUBLIC becase he referred himself here at the mobat. it's so incredible. it's a powerful story.

so the quotes are from the men who were on the march. :) what faith and sacrifice.

love you!

11/15/10 Elder Christensen

Hey everyone. So today my internet session was fried. I put itunes on the computer only to have all the songs get erased. Then the internet crashed. Then I couldn´t print your letters. Then nothing I had would send. Basically I had it all planned out to get an email out and chat with you guys but my internet was terrible. All is well here. TAWNY I got your package and opened it! THANKS FOR THE FOOD AND THE SICKKKKKKK TIES!!! Mom and dad. I got your hawaii package too. Wow. It came late but it came FULL and awesome! I´m so sorry for today. Its crap and I feel terrible. I usually have time to write you individually and then chat as well but today was so bad. I´m so frustrated. My comp is standing and ready to go so I have to cut this off now. The work is GREAT. We are working so hard and having great results. Tawny and the Fam. I´m wondering if there is going to be some way that we can all arrange to talk together for christmas. Talk to your mission president tawny! I think we may have to arrange a conference line or something. I´m gonna ask my president too. Mom I´m still working on getting a pic with something chilean. I have pictures to send today but I don´t have time to send them. Maybe next week I can get a computer that works and we can do it like normal. Again I´m so sorry. I´m a bit upset I have to wait another week to talk to you all but... thus is the mission right?? Dad I love you keep working hard and loving your neighbors. Try to stay happy and kick out your stress from work! Mom. Keep doing all you can to support dad and loving him and the gospel. Keep being you! Kay and Colb. Keep making smart decisions together and preparing to have another member in your family! Tawny. Keep working hard. I know you are a great tool in the lords hands. Again.. I´m sorry this is so lame. That will make next week even better right?? I love you all so much! You´re in my prayers!! OH!!! We have another baptism this week! An 18 year old kid named Jose!! I¨ll have pics next week! I love you alllllllllllllllllllllll ciaoooooooooooo!!


Elder Christensen

11/09/2010 Hermana Christensen

I told hermana about the 26 thing this week. she was skeptical but then her groceries were 26 dollars and just about everything that could've been a number was 26, so...

Henry and Hermano Peterson

HI!!!!

guys guess what? no big deal. henry was TOTALLY BAPTIZED!!!! it was SOOOo legit. Honestly.. this is just a taste of eternal joy. seeing our brothers and sisters come to the knowledge of the truth. seriously. and the fact that henry was so uber prepared... wow. there are people JUST LIKE HIM all around the world! it's all about us having the faith to find them, right?

a guy came in yesterday morning for a tour that was from italy, living just downt he street from us! what are the odds?! he's good pals with janita anderson and actually wrote neena on her mission. what? anyway, he told me that he found the missionaries when he was 19 on the buses in italy; he said something told him to go talk to them. "And my life has been changed forever.. for the BETTER!" it was so sweet. there's just such love here, so many amazing people come in and i feel like I'm the one that ends up edified! I feel so scattered right now--i apologize. but i really do just feel so full of this inescribable happiness, like this warmth and peace in knowing that i'm here in this moment for a reason. god works in such mysterious ways. he's putting people into our paths according to his timetable. henry came to camilla baptism over TWO MONTHS AGO and he and his family noticed how happy hermana and i were, and they remembered us. so when she were trying to decide what to do with henry when he decided to take the lessons, they remembered us. what? and camilla wasn't baptised with the other missionaries who'd taught her before because heavenly father KNEW that henry would come to her baptism and that we all needed to meet each other. i'm telling you. it's unbelievable the things that are going on and the feelings of love and familiarity that i'm finding around every corner. it's an incrdibly small world.

so henry was taught in vegas for four months and was never ONCE invited to baptism. hmmm. i hope that's not peties mission! henry said he was ready but no one ever invited him. wow. president says that people can't get to salvation unless they are baptized.. so why are not inviting every chance we get?!

tomorrow is zone conference. translation: tomorrow my brain will explode. president is brilliant. one day i'll kidnap him and take him to the temple and tie him down to a chair in the celestial room until he drains out his every bit of wisdom. good thing they live close! ha. can't wait.

i'm glad to be in chula still. with my hermana. things are good. we've got soooo many people with soooo much potential. people lives are just SUCH a mess without the gospel! they just NEED IT! it's really the solution for everything. :)

i love you guys. i'm so grateful for you. i've been thinking a lot about how far our family has come throughout the years. there are few lessons when i don't mention my family in some way. i'm soo grateful for you all. just know that. we've come so far! and there's even farther for us to go, and i'm grateful we get to go it together. :)

mormon.org.

ahem.

i hope that everyone is having a WONDERFUL week! i'll talk to you next time!

hermana christensen

ps. tell leelee happy bday on the 16th! and tell kels that LIVE IT UP!!!! she's going to LOVE the mtc! kels kels kels! don't stress baby don't stress one bit. get a lot of those little baby socks from target. bring a coat with a HOOD. there are awesome little side bags at the mtc that everyone here loves. hm what else. bring sweaters. long sleeved stuff to mix and match. and you really will need an umbrella. it's RAINY! i'm SOOOO EXCITED FOR YOU KELS! what a tm! ah! know i'm praying for you! ALL MY LOVE SWEETNESS!

"Porque he aqui, so yo el que hablo; he aqui, soy la luz que brilla en las tinieblas, y pormi poder te doy estas palabras. y ahora, de cierto, de cierto te digo: pon tu confianza en ese espiritu que induce a hacer lo bueno, si, a obrar justamente, a andar humildemente, a juzgar con rectitud; y este es mi espiritu. de cierto de cierto te digo: te dare de mi espiritu, el cual iluminara tu mente y llenara tu alma de gozo; y entonces conoceras, o por este medio sabras, todas las coasa que de mi deseares, que corresponden a la rectitud, con, fe, creyendo en mi que recibiras." dyc 11:11-14

After Henry's Baptism!!!