week ending 3.27.11

 Hey everyone,

This Sunday was good for us with 2 baptisms. Their names are Guisselle and Jordan. They are sister and brother and they were so happy to be baptized. We have been working with them so much and so hard and we got them ready in time haha. The day when they were going to have the interview to see if they were ready was nuts! We went past their house to take them to the church a little before 4 and they weren't ready and Guisselle wasn't there. Then we went to the church to wait for them and they didn't come so we cleaned the Font and then we called them at 4:45 and nothing. So we went to their house to see what was going on and they said their mom was sick. But in the end they came and they were ready and all was well. haha. But it didn't help the stress level. haha.

Now we are on a mission to help a kid named Eric and find more people to teach. I am ready to do what the Lord needs me to do! I hope.  haha. We have been working really hard and we are seeing a lot of fruits, and I am happy about that.  Now I want to see more so I have to work harder, so if you could add me in your prayers I need a little more help this week, and for Eric as well. Thank you.


Well I am really pumped to watch conference this weekend and I wish I could just watch it but no I have to worry about getting people there. Don't get me wrong, this is the best thing in the world for the new people to see so I am going to make sure that a lot of people get there. haha. But I really need some help from the leaders of the church! haha don't we all?!

That's what I have for you all this week! I am really happy for the friends and family that I have. I love you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 3.20.11

Hey everyone!

Well this week was a short one for me. I have been working to lighten the weight of having the 2 sectors now and it's going well - so well that we are going to have 2 baptisms this weekend! I am so excited! Their names are Guisselle(16) and Jordan(10) they are brother and sister and they are so great! They love going to church and are so pumped for their baptism. This weekend they couldn't go to church and we passed by in the evening and they told me that they felt so bad that they couldn't go to church. Now think about this: 2 kids that aren't members missed a day of church and felt bad, and how many of us that are members miss a day and don't think twice. We have something so special but sometimes we don't see it. I invite all of you that missed a day of church to say sorry to the Lord and make it there this Sunday because it's something so little but so important in our lives! And I got taught that by two kids here in Chile. We can be taught by anyone and anywhere!

I would like to share with you this story that the mission president shared with us that teaches us some important principles:

The Silent Lesson

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.  After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.  Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation.  As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.  Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.  The pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave.  He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire.  Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the pastor reached the door to leave his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday”.

Like before if we are going out just a little our fire goes out, but when we get put back in the fire we can catch fire so fast and just take off!

Well if you have anything you would like to know about Chile or my mission ask me because I am running out of things to write. haha. Thanks.

I love you all and have a good week.  I hope this message helped you in some way.

love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 3.13.11

Last night was a tough night for the 4 missionaries that lived in our house. We had changes and the changes that happened were not what we wanted. Well, Elder Stark goes home today (he's standing next to me), his companion Elder Poole got sent to a different sector and my companion, Elder Mendez (on the far left) was sent to another sector. I stayed and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Helmick. He is from Oregon and was in the army before the mission. He is a great guy from what I know and it will be fun working with him. I continue as district leader of 2 sisters haha.

 This photo is of the sisters that are in my district, Sister Agilar is from Guatemala and Sister Martinez is from Mexico.
 
Well now that I have to take over 2 sectors we have a lot to do.  We gained a lot of people that Elder Stark and Elder Poole were teaching so we have a lot of work to do. And if you ask if I am happy about the changes, I would say no. I didn't want this to happen but it's what needed to happen. So I have to live by this saying, "Come what may, and love it." So what ever happens, I have to love it and just work my little butt off.

On the bright side we are still working with Marcela and she is doing really good - especially with quitting smoking and she feels so good about herself now. I am so happy for her. We have also found a lot of other people that we are really excited to teach and I will be letting you know how all of this new change stuff goes next week.

Thank you all for your emails and your love and support. Have a good week and I love you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

{with my new companion, Elder Helmick.}

week ending 3.6.11

Hey everyone,

Well this week was a good one! We worked really hard and we got a lot of things done. We have a lot of people that are learning more about the church and want to keep listening but all the ones that are really good can't get baptized because they live together. We have two families that aren't married and that's what we are trying to do with them because they are super great. One is Marisol and she is from Colombia and she is super great! She is so funny and says things how there are. One of the things she said that was great is that she wants to be Mormon. So we will be working with her a lot this week. The other family that we are teaching is fantastic, Their names are Maria and Giovani they learn all the things we teach them and understand that they need to get married. So we will see today if they want to keep learning more and get married haha. They are super great.

Something I learned this week is that consistency is the key to all the things we are going to do.  When we can keep doing the things we want to do with our heart and all we have it goes so well. The other consistency is do the things that we need to do but sometimes your heart isn't there. The first one will bring us so much more happiness.

Another lady we are teaching is Marcela. She is doing great and trying really hard to give up smoking but it's a tough thing to give up but she is fighting. She is doing well, but she couldn't make it to church yesterday. We are going to keep working hard with her so she can complete her goals. So if you could put her in your prayers that would be so amazing. Thank you.

Have a good week and we will be talking next week! bye

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 2.27.11

Hey everyone,

This week was just amazing!  On Monday we passed by a reference we got from a lady in the street. She was like I want to you two to come by tomorrow and teach my niece and we were like okay. So we passed by and we met Marcela, she is a women that is really strong. She is passing for a lot of things in her life but the gospel is changing her life. She is in a wheelchair and we taught her the plan of salvation and she ate it up. And every time we pass by she is like I feel a burning in my chest and I just feel so good. When she says that I just want to cry and jump up and down for joy. She has the baptismal date for the 20th of March so if you can put her in your prayers to help her to quit smoking she would really love that! thank you.

I really don't have much to say this week. I am looking at the screen thinking about what to write and nothing so I am sorry that this is short but it's my email and I am stumped haha. But I have learned if there isn't love in a companionship or marriage there is a good chance that there will be fights. So I invite you all to show the love in your friendships, relationships, & marriage haha. I love you all!  Have a good week!

love,
Elder Christensen