Howdy Y'all!

       

    Hey! So this week has been a pretty good week. Last Monday we were able to meet with one of the investigators who has been waiting about a year now to get baptized. She has been waiting for the support of her spouse. But Monday we were able to get to meet with her and the Bishop and talk some things out. She talked about how she is still very interested in becoming a member, but still wants full support from her spouse, which totally makes sense. That is how it should be. But she said she wants her husband to meet with the bishop so they can talk a little bit. But it was a really cool experience. 

The spirit was defiantly there, and at the end we got to share a lesson with her that I really think helped her out. But it was a great way to spend that Monday night, and then following that we were able to go over to our ward mission leaders home to teach him the lesson on commandments, that way my companion would be able to practice teaching them. It went really well, and I feel that we had a good conversation on the ones we discussed which were Prayer, and studying the scriptures. So that was a great night. 

Tuesday

It was a little bit of a slower day for us. We went out around 12 after having all of our studies and our training we have to do and then lunch. And we went around to a couple of different members that day. We were also trying that day to continue to find new people to talk to, so we just walked around a couple of different parks that day. And then later that afternoon we were able to go and volunteer at a food bank, where we helped organize food for those who were in need of it. We did this for about 2 hours that day. We then had dinner with family in the ward who I did not know to well, and I was able to get to know them better. We were able to teach them a lesson about prayer and scripture study as well. 

Wednesday

We had interviews with the Mission President, and also had the Assistants present some training to us. They talked to us alot about the topic of teaching simply with love and by the spirit. So we all practiced doing this in a role play where we taught the message of keeping the Sabbath day holy in about 4 minutes. But I felt like during this training and the time I had to spend with President Pingree I was just so excited to be able to go back and work again. It was a good recharge for my spiritual batteries. 

But after this me and my zone leader companion went on exchanges just for the afternoon. We had to prepare for Stake Correlation that we had on Just yesterday, but it took us a couple of hours to finish that all up. We were planning this night to have a lesson with one of our investigators Jenny, but it ended up falling through last minute. We were trying to meet with a lot of our investigators this week, but alot of the appointments fell through. So now we are trying to reschedule with the majority of them. 

Thursday

We did our studies and we also did our weekly planning. But right after that, we went over to our bishops house. He wanted us to go with him over to his neighbors house so we could introduce our selves to him, and then he wanted to do a couple of actives with us. One of them was golf related. In his back yard he has a big putting green, but because of the storm we went into his shop where he has a little one. And they wanted to see who could putt the best. So it was a fun activity where we were able to get to know him better, and do something that he enjoyed doing. So that was fun. 

This day was pretty cold, and we had freeze warnings, and actually got a some ice and a little bit of snow. It was crazy and we are actually expecting more of it tomorrow. But after bishops house we went to more members to teach them the missionary discussions. And that night just walked around the mall and market street to try and find others that might be interested in learning more. We have really been trying to find more investigators this week so that we can have more in our teaching pool so we can continue to stay busy. 

Friday

Alot of members were home today because of the storm that we had. But also this day we did some tracting! And people were really nice! We tracted for about 2 hours in about 34 degree weather, and so it was a blessing because more people were willing to talk with us. But we had a miracle happen to us at them mall. We just went in and started walking around. And about 30 mins in, a lady named Dianna stopped us at the customer service desk, and started asking us questions. She had different questions about Joseph Smith and about other things about our church. And we were able to answer them. We gave her a card with our information, and she said if she had anymore questions she would contact us. She was very nice though! So we want to try and go back and talk to her the next time we see her. 

Saturday

 We did service for the majority of the morning. We went up to a homeless shelter up in Conroe and helped them reorganize some of their storage facilities. It was a great experience to  be able to help them out and we got to meet some people with some really cool stories. But we got back around 2 30 and then got ready, and then we just went out for the day and followed the same patter as the rest of the week. 

Sunday

Sunday was a little long but it was good. I had to wake up at 515 so that I could get ready for our early morning meeting with the mission president and stake presidency. I dropped my companion off with Elder Stewart's companion and then we went to this meeting. We talked alot about the missionary work going on in the stake. We had other meetings and things that morning, and then church. But after church we went and visited with members, and just walked around trying to meet new people. We then got a message from one of our investigators named Morgan. I haven't talked as much about him, but we met with him in December, and he seemed to be struggling, so we went over and talked with him, and tried to help him out. By the end of the night he seemed to be doing much better. 

But he told us he believes in the Mormon religion, but he also wants to be apart of other faiths as well. So we are still working with him, but he is so awesome and he is doing well. Then to finish the night we ended up walking for about 2 hours to try and find those who were around different parks, and we were able to teach a lesson to someone who was in a park and we were able to invite a couple other people to learn about the gospel. I know it was God who put those people in our path and helped us to be able to talk with him. 

So I know that there are those who are out there who are ready to hear the gospel. We just need to do our part as members and pray for opportunities to find them. Please continue to pray for the missionary experiences. I promise you that if you will be able to have them. And also just pray for the missionaries in your area. Pray that they will have success. I know that this will help them as well. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here serving a mission, and I know this is where I am suppose to be right now. Great things are happening here in the mission. 

Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week. 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen