Week 16 - Helaman 14:2

Familia!

Thanks for your pictures from Thanksgiving! Those lucky elders that
were able to be with ya'll! I was pretty lucky here too. President and
Sister Bennion invited us and our investigators, the Oliver family,
over for Thanksgiving! The Oliver's didn't show up.... Sad 💔. But we
did get to help Sister Bennion Cook and eat Thanksgiving dinner with
just the four of us and Christine was watching movies in her room
across the hall. We had on aprons and laughed and shared experiences
from our day and it was so good. My apron had the army of Helaman on
it. Oh yeah! I forgot to take pictures on my iPad so hopefully one day
you'll see the evidence.

Next we ate at Sister Coln's. She came to church for the first time in
almost a year on Sunday. Miracle.

Next was the Robinson family. I love them. The dad baptized his wife
and two of his daughters the week I got here. All of their other
children were there too and it was amazing! They are enduring despite
many challenges thrown their way!

Next Miss May. We were able to have Nguyen come to her home. He has
spend the last 7 years alone on Thanksgiving. He told us he felt like
he had hit the jackpot. Miss May sent him home with enough food to
last him a month!

The most spiritual thing for me this week happened on Thanksgiving
morning. We were on the way to a lesson with a member, Sister
Caballeros, that has RA really bad so she can't make it to church. We
drove past another members house, Sister Brock, and the thought came
to my mind to visit her. We met with her a week and a half ago and we
knew she was going to her Sisters to be with her family so I pushed
the thought from my mind. We had the lesson with Sister Caballeros
(and her husband-bonus miracle) and I still felt like we should check
on Sister Brock's house. I felt a little dumb but "maybe her son
stayed behind and we'll finally be able to meet him" I told Sister
Hawkins. Sister Brock opened the door with tear filled eyes and let us
in. Because of stuff going on with her family she couldn't go at the
last minute. We testified to her of our Heavenly Fathers awareness of
her and her needs and told her how we were promoted to go check on her
even though we knew she was going to be gone! I felt the spirit so
strong! I love and cherish having the gift of the Holy Ghost! Heavenly
Father is so mindful of each and every one of his children!

There are people the Lord has prepared and we are being led to them
and they are being led to us. We met Murphy and Diane within the first
few weeks of us becoming companions. We knocked on their door and
Diane greeted us but had to go back to cooking. Murphy knew who we
were and had read lots of information from places other than
Mormon.org about us. He was friendly and honest and really concerned
for our safety. He opened up to us about some of his hardships and we
agreed to pray for each other and went our separate ways. About a
month or so later as we walking down the street a van slowed down to
talk to us and it was Murphy!! He pulled over and started asking us
about what we do as missionaries because he had read more about us and
told us of the respect he has for us. He invite us over to have dinner
with he and his wife and told us "And if we have to talk about the
Golden Plates then I guess that's fine". We never got his number and a
few weeks went by and he never called us. We felt impressed to go
check on them and bring a treat. When we knocked on the door Murphy
welcomed us in like we had an appointment! He said they were just
talking about us the other day. We talked a little bit about
recognizing the Holy Ghost and acting on those promptings. God led us
to them. Then Murphy to us. And then us back to them. They agreed to
have us come over and share more with them. At the beginning of the
lesson Murphy wouldn't touch the Book of Mormon and by the end he
agreed to read it and to pray about it and to be baptized if he came
to know it was true. The Lord is softening the hearts of those around
us. He leads and guides this work and I pray that I can continue to be
humble enough to witness His hand in all things.

I'm thankful for my testimony. I found a quote from President Gordon B
Hinkley that really touched my heart this week:
"Jesus is my friend. None other has given me so much. “Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
(John 15:13). He gave His life for me. He opened the way to eternal
life. Only a God could do this. I hope that I am deemed worthy of
being a friend to Him."
Jesus is my friend too.

I love you!!
Sister Christensen

Thanksgiving dinner

Fly like a bird

The Robinson's

I love this picture so much.

The Coln's home

Week 15 - Omni 1:26

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so happy to hear my dear family is having the elders over for
Thanksgiving!! Warms my little heart! Ask them about the people they
are teaching and the spiritual experiences they have had.
We have two dinners lined up and hopefully pie as well on Thanksgiving.
The Robinson family (they were baptized the first week I got here)
Miss May (an investigator we have been working with)
 We hope to bring Nguyen to Miss Mays! He is a 61 year old man from
Vietnam. He lives in the home of a man that has him teach Vietnamese
to his children. He lives completely off charity of others. I met him
within my first week here. Did I tell ya'll about him around general
conference? He has changed a lot since the first time I met him. He
said on the first day Sister Tau'aho brought me over to meet him he
could read my mind (sounds kinda creepy but I think it is because of
the language barrier). I've always wanted to know what it was that he
read in my mind! The one time he mentioned it it sounded like it
wasn't a good thing. So last week he brought it up again and he
finally told me what it was. He said he looked in my eyes and knew he
could trust me. From the first day he met me he could just tell. It
was humbling. He said he was willing to come with us and members to
the church and other activities because he knew he could trust me.
Heavenly Father has truly blessed me. He must love Nguyen a lot to
help him see that in me. That was a little random... Sorry!

My most spiritual experience was on the car ride home from dinner with
our investigator Jeremy and Sister Lietchy. He had asked all of us
what it meant to us to be Mormon and Brother and Sister Liechty and
Sister Hawkins and I were all able to bare our testimonies to him. It
was so powerful. The spirit was so strong. So on the ride home I asked
him how he felt while we were all sharing our feelings with him. He
said he was in shock that we leave our families and serve missions. I
was able to explain that after the Savior suffered as he did for the
love of mankind serving for 18 short months is least I can do to show
my appreciation. And that we as members of the church say we will
serve him always just like Sister Liechty was doing right at that
moment. Sharing my testimony truly helps me have more understanding as
I try my best to allow the spirit to speak through me. At the same
time the spirit is testifying to me the truthfulness of what I share.
The Holy Ghost is such a wonderful gift.

I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity to serve as a
missionary at this time. I am thankful for a loving and supportive
family. I am thankful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the
joy and peace it brings to my heart. In good times and in hard times.

All my heart
Sister Christensen

I realized I didn't take a picture of my face and I always loved when
we got to see Shelby....

This is Shehkjh (?on spelling) he works at our apartment complex and is so nice! He is driving a golf cart and rolling a fridge behind it on a dolly. He took it over that speed bump at the bottom of the picture. Very impressive. I laughed so hard.

Week 14 - Alma 58:10-11

Family!

We taught a man named Jeremy the restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ yesterday. When Sister Hawkins was telling him about the first
vision I felt the spirit warm my heart (I feel that every single time
we tell someone). We asked him what he thought and he said to come
back to him because he didn't know how to say it. I then bore him my
testimony. I told him how I had to pray for myself and ask God if it
was true and how every time we talk about it I feel such a warmth in
my heart and I know it is the Holy Ghost telling me that it really
happened! He said "Can I ask you a question?". I said "Sure!". He said
" How does it make you feel to go out and change people's lives like
this?". I can't describe it. It's the greatest joy I've ever felt. We
showed him a video of some of the apostles and the prophet bearing
testimony of the Savior (He Lives: Testimonies of Jesus Christ
(2:11)). He can't wait to listen to more of his teachings! We talked
to him about the Book of Mormon and the power it has. We asked him if
he had any questions about what we talked about and he said "Yeah,
where's this book?!". Jeremy is preparing to be baptized on December
13th. I love being a missionary. It's hard but so so good. Heavenly
Father is really preparing people to receive the gospel and they are
just waiting for us to share it with them!

It snowed in Utah?! It's pretty sunny today in Georgia! But it has
definitely been quite chilly a few days this past week!

I met a family that was just visiting their grandma and they are from
the DR! I told them to look for Sister Jenson when they go back :)

I love you! I pray all is well for you!

❤️
Sister Christensen

See and hear modern-day Apostles testify that Jesus Christ is the
Savior and that He lives today.

Week 13 - D&C 31:3

Family,

Transfers are this week...

I am in Lilburn with Sister Hawkins for another 5 weeks! Yay! There is
really cool nativity celebration that I was praying I'd be here to
see! It's the first weekend in December. We are handing out
invitations like they're going out of style! The next transfer will be
on December 16th and I will most likely be leaving Lilburn 💔.
My favorite tender mercy this week was a lesson we had with a woman
named Gloria. We had met her a few months back and had a really
powerful lesson about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in
4 minutes at her front door. She expressed some concerns and questions
she'd heard about the church in the past and we were able to help her
understand a few things. She was going out of town for a month but
really wanted to learn more. A month later we had the impression to
call her. She answered and it just happened to be the day she flew
into town! She was happy and excited to get together. The lesson had
some intense ups and downs. She was closing up but then the spirit
took over. We explained to her that understanding doesn't always come
at once and we were there to help her understand and answer any
questions she might have. We testified of Gods love for her, of our
Saviors love for her, and how much we loved her. It was amazing to see
the change in her. In her closing prayer she thanked Heavenly Father
for sending us to her and to help her have understanding to know if
what we are teaching is true. When we invited her to be baptized she
said "I'd have to if I came to know these things were true!". I know
she will. Sometimes we want everyone we meet to understand everything
at once forgetting that we have a lot to learn as well. We have a
loving Heavenly Father who is loving and kind as we are learning and
growing. Why would He want us to treat His children around us any
differently? I love this work! I love watching the spirit take over
and pray that I can be worthy to continue to witness these things!

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is so real. It can heal us. Physically,
emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I don't think I will ever be able
to fully understand it but the more I do understand the more amazed
and in awe I am. It truly has healed and changed me in ways I will
NEVER be able to repay. But I can show my gratitude for that infinite
sacrifice of my precious Savior by loosing myself in His marvelous
work. Life is not always fair and I know that that unfairness will be
made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! How beautiful is
that? Heavenly Father knew I needed to go on a mission to become the
person worthy to be with the amazing family I have forever. Don't give
up. Hold true to the things you know and remember more understanding
will come later.

I love you more than words can express!
Sister Christensen

“I can live with some human imperfections, even among prophets of
God--that is to be expected in mortal beings. I can live with some
alleged scientific findings contrary to the Book of Mormon; time will
correct those. And I can live with some seeming historical anomalies;
they are minor in the total landscape of truth. But I cannot live
without the doctrinal truths and ordinances restored by Joseph Smith,
I cannot live without the priesthood of God to bless my family, and I
cannot live without knowing my wife and children are sealed to me for
eternity. That is the choice we face--a few unanswered questions on
one hand versus a host of doctrinal certainties and the power of God
on the other.”

-Tad R. Callister

Elder and Sister Dixon had us over for dinner. They looked up Manicotti and made it for us. They're the best!

Our district! No more Spanish Elders... They made their own district.

We paint these lovely ladies nails every Wednesday afternoon. I love them so much! We sing church hymns together while we paint and it's so uplifting. Some barely talk and can't remember much right now but they remember the words to these songs. How Great Thou Art is a favorite!

Week 12 - Moroni 7:45

My people,

This week has been lovely. I love rain. It's so fun! " I like to look
for rainbows whenever there is rain"🎶. It's very much fall in
Georgia! So many beautiful colors and so many trees!
I have a fun story this week! Sister Hawkins and I were going through
our area book and contacting people that missionaries in the past have
taken information for but never got in contact with them for whatever
reason. We had a lot of wrong numbers and a lot of people hang up on
us and a lot of people say they weren't interested. We respect that!
We aren't hear to force anything on anyone.
We called one man named Phil. We played phone tag with him for a day.
We finally got on the phone with him and he asked "When are you coming
over for a lesson?!". We about fainted! We told him whenever he
wanted! We set up a time and got his address. It wasn't far from us.
We were walking down the street and realized we were headed to a golf
range! We called Phil and made sure we had the right address. He said
"Yeah! Did you bring your putters and your drivers?!". Haha he wanted
to give us a golf lesson the entire time! We had no clue! We get there
and we realize we were all a little confused haha. He was about 80 and
had started teaching lessons there after he sold the place a few years
back (who knows how long that really is haha). He agreed to sit down
with us but told us he wasn't really interested and was a devote
Catholic. We eventually said he wanted to know the short version of
what we believe. We explained the restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ to him. We showed him a short clip of some of the apostles and
the prophet bearing testimony of the Savior. We explained the Book of
Mormon to him. He told us he didn't want the book. We talked about it
a little more. He was interested. He wanted to read it and told us he
would when we walked out the door. He said his mother would be so mad
at him! But I couldn't help but feel how happy his mother must be that
he has that precious book in his possession and the hope it must be
giving her. We plan to see him again real soon. We lost his address
actually and one day he pulled up along side us in our apartment
complex. So we were able to make sure we had it down and weren't going
to lose it! I think Heavenly Father wasn't going to let Phil miss this
opportunity. He cares about each one of us. Regardless of age, gender,
color, or past choices. He wants all of us to succeed in our journey
back home to Him.
I love you! I pray for all of you! I feel your prayers. I love this
Gospel! I love Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I grow to
appreciate and recognize Their tenderness toward us more and more
everyday.

❤️
Sister Christensen

Only in the South

Fall 😍🍂🍁