CHRISTmas season!

Hey hope y'all are having a wonderful week! 

Things this week have been really good. We have continued to see miracles going on in this area. I went on exchanges this week. It was really good! On Monday and Tuesday I was on exchanges, and exchanges are a great chance to go and learn from other missionaries! Tuesday we were able to get lessons taught, but that night when we were trying to contact people at the mall we ran in to someone who wanted to ask us some questions. We tried to answer his questions and use the scriptures to help him understand. We were there for an hour and a half. It was a long night, and he walked away trying to prove what his bible believed and wasn't very happy with us. It was another one of those moments that are hard to be a missionary. But at the same time, those moments are where you really can grow and learn and feel of the saviors love for each of us. We didn't have all of the answers to his questions, because we are not perfect teachers. But to end Tuesday night we exchanged back and did our planning. 

Wednesday we went around finishing delivering invitations to the Christmas party that we had planned for Saturday. We were able  to get in with some different less actives in the ward, and with other members as well. We were giving extra invitations out so others would invite there friends to come. But that night we went over to teach Ben and Stephen the next lesson. And for the first hour we were just there answering alot of the questions that they had. And Stephen is one that is truly prepared. He has started reading the Doctrine and Covenants just for fun, and he is really sincere when it comes to learning about more.  

Ben is also very prepared. They had alot of good questions that tied into the lesson we were going to teach them on the plan of salvation. So after answering alot of questions we dove into the plan of salvation and started to be able to answer some of the questions they had. I love being able to talk about the plan of salvation because of the joy and knowledge that it has brought into my life. I love being able to know that because of the atonement of Jesus Christ I can continue to progress back towards my Father in Heaven. I love being able to know that as I continue to repent and become better that someday I can live with my Heavenly Father and my family and have eternal life! That is such a huge blessing of knowing about this wonderful plan. 

So we taught it and committed Ben and Stephen to come to church, and they accepted and they also said they would come to the Ward Christmas Party. So it was just a great night and the spirit was so strong, they are truly interested in learning more, and are very open to the idea of Baptism. 

Thursday we did a lot of service with the Bishop. We helped him boil 4 sheep heads. That is also whats cool about this ward, its the only ward where you will talk about missionary work while helping do taxidermy! It was a good day and we were able to really help the Bishop out. After helping him out we did our weekly planning which was good! We got a lot of ideas for how we can help our investigators to progress and help them out. Weekly planning can be long, but it is also so good! When it is done right you really can receive revelation on what we can do to be better and help others out. 

Friday we had a great specialized training by the President, and it was about planning and setting inspired goals. It was such a great training and some of the things that were said I absolutely needed to hear. It was good to learn more about how to better use our time. We had the chance to also meet with one of our investigators named Morgan and we taught him about the plan of salvation, and he agreed that he would take the time and read the Book of Mormon. Also that night we made these little bundles that we wanted to give out at the Christmas party as gifts people could take to there friends. So we had a big assembly line of us putting those together and we made about 40.

Saturday we had our ward Christmas party and it was a really good turn out. We had Ben and Ashlie come to it which was really fun. We were wearing these ugly Christmas sweaters that we found at Walmart, so that was fun. 

And alot of people took the bundles for gifts that we made. So we will be following up to see how it goes. But we were so happy when we saw Ben come to the party. They stayed and we were able to share a Christmas message with those who were at the party! Sharing messages about our Savior Jesus Christ really can bring the spirit into our homes so much! I love being able to share that with others! 

Sunday we had Ben and Stephen and Adriann all come to church. So that was way good. Ben and Stephen stayed for all 3 hours and they said that they enjoyed it. The ward did a great job at making them feel welcome. They had alot of good questions that we were able to help them answer while they were there. That night we met with Adriann and taught her the next discussion. She is continuing to progress. We are so blessed to be able to have our investigators progressing!  There are alot of great things going on here in this ward. 

 Things are going well, and I would just encourage each of you to continue to look for opportunities to serve during this great Christmas season. I know that so many people can feel that peace and love that comes from the savior Jesus Christ. It all just starts by talking with one person. You can do it. Things really are going well here and I feel so blessed to be able to serve in this ward this Christmas season! :)

I hope y'all have a great week! 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen