Hey Y'all

  This week has been a great week. We were able to see many miracles while working this week. I guess just starting from the beginning, we met with our bishop last week and got a list of names from the ward he wanted us to try and meet. We did this most of our days, but we were able to get into a lot of the homes of those people and see how they were doing. I love going around and meeting with the people in the ward. It is a great time to get to know the ward better, as well as to share messages about our Savior Jesus Christ. 

 Training has been going well, I am trying to help Elder Harris out in any possible way that I can. My goal for training him was to make him a better, more prepared missionary than I was when I was first out. We have been going through the different lessons practice teaching and working on the main principles we have to teach. But not only that, creating an environment where the spirit can dwell. As we work on getting the spirit there we can build companionship unity as well as have the spirit be the true teacher. We are only the mouth pieces for the spirit. But for the last couple weeks we have been trying to hard to get our investigators to answer us back. Sometimes this can be so frustrating, but as we continued to work hard, we were blessed. 

Tuesday we had a great chance to go to the temple. I absolutely love being able to go to the temple and being able to feel of the spirit there. I went with different questions in mind of how I can be a better missionary, trainer, District leader, and just how I can help my area out the most. I just felt that I needed to keep working hard and doing my best. Those were my thoughts when leaving the temple. 

But I had a great tender mercy when walking out of the front doors of the temple. I saw Tammy Sue Thayer. She was a member in my last area that always would have us over and would always take good care of us. She was our ward mother. I loved being able to see her and catch up with her. She made me feel so good when talking to her, she said she loved having the other missionaries in her ward, but she missed having us. It was just a tender mercy to me, and she just helped make my day that much better. 

Wednesday rolled around, and we were still working hard to find people to teach and to find new investigators. We biked around a lot that day because we had used so many of our miles to be able to go down to the temple. But it was worth it, we were able to be seen by more people. But that night when we got back was when the miracles were beginning to happen. That night after planning we got text messages from Lexi, Evan Dodge, and Brittnee Podejec. These have been 3 of our investigators we have been trying to contact for the past few weeks. And we were able to catch back up and see how they were doing, and also set up an appointment to meet with Lexi.

 Lexi is one of Greg Prows friends. So because of the member missionary work of Greg we have been able to get more investigators. But Greg just left this last Wednesday to go on his mission. He will be serving in the Alpine German Speaking Mission. Its cool because that is the same mission where my older brother Elder Ryan K. Christensen is serving. 

 The next day we started to prepare to teach Lexi that night and we got a message saying that she would not be able to make it. She has done this before, and my companion was a little upset that this kept happening. But I thought for a little bit how to reply to her. I told her this, "Lexi, we would love to meet with you tonight, but we understand that things come up. What time works for tomorrow?"  I tried to make it sound as nice as I could. But she later replied back and said she would try. She ended up changing her schedule to meet with us which was another miracle! 

We called up the Prows family and asked if we could meet at there home for the lesson, and they accepted. We got there early to talk to the Prows about what we would be teaching that night, and I had the thought to tell them to try and not bring up Greg being gone through out the lesson. But right as I began to tell them this the doorbell rang, and Austin and Lexi showed up for the lesson. I totally forgot to tell them about the feeling that I had. Well we started into the plan of salvation, and it kept going off topic to the thought of Greg being gone. Several times this happened, and it just made me realize that the thought I had was absolutely from the spirit. And I was slow to act upon it.  The spirit can tell us so many things and can help warn us of things. It is so important to listen, and if we do we will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

The lesson with Lexi still went well. The spirit was still there and she could feel it. She told us that when she was home that she was happy, but when she was in the Prows home with us she felt 10X happier. She described feeling the spirit as a happy feeling heart burn. It is so true when we feel the spirit we can have those warm feeling in our heart. That is the holy ghost testifying of truth. At the end of the lesson we invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to be baptized. And she looked at us and said YES!! We set the date for November 16th! So now we will continue to help her work towards that date. 

We also committed her to come to church, and we have done that in the past, and for about the last month, but yesterday she came with the Prows family. It was such a great feeling to be able to see her there. And she really enjoyed how welcome she felt. You can also begin to see the changes that are going on in her life. She is seeming more happy, and she wants to continue to read the Book of Mormon. She is really excited about being able to get baptized!! I love this gospel and the change that it makes in each of our lives. It is truly divine. 

  

To end the week we had a devotional at the Bishop's home with the youth last night. And they were focusing on family history. I loved the sweet spirit that was felt during this meeting. We went through it and it helped get some of the youth more excited to try and do family history and indexing. And at the very end Bishop gave us the opportunity to talk with the youth about our thoughts with family history.  And I was so happy to be able and talk about the subject. 

I was able to speak on how much family history has affected me while just being out here on my mission. I have felt closer to my family back home, as well as my past ancestors. There is a real protection that comes from doing family history. I told all of the youth this. And I really do believe this. " I am closer to the age of a lot of you, I only graduated this last year. But if there was one thing that I could change doing through High school, it would be taking some time each week to do family history and going to the temple. Satan is going to do all that he can to throw us off, and to get us to make mistakes, but as we do family history we can be protected!! I know that this is true.

 I have already experience this while I have been out here on my mission. I would invite you to think about doing more family history. It will help you so much in your day to day life. I know that some of us have busy schedules and don't feel we have enough time to do it. But do you think if you want to do family history more in your life that your Heavenly Father will help you to have the time?  I know that he will help us to be able to do it. He can help us and He wants to. This is a great time of life to be living in, and we have so many opportunities to serve. We just need to take advantage of those opportunities. Our ancestors are real people. They aren't just names in the computer. They are just waiting to be able to experience the happiness that we do. And they can receive that as we do their family history and temple work. I know as we do this we will be blessed abundantly. This is my testimony, and I know it will help us. 

Well I hope all Y'all have a great week.

Elder Joshua V. Christensen 

Transfer Update

Well this last week was a great week. It has been a bit crazy but it has been good. First off, my good friend Elder Peterson finished up his mission and is now back home in Utah. He was a great companion, and I loved being able to serve with him. I am going to miss him, and I was a bit sad when we dropped him off. But other great things have been happening while we have been here. It has been crazy with how transfers have been. They have now been moved to Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. So  Elder Peterson left the area  on Monday. So I was with Elder Petersen, he was another companion that was with us for the past few weeks. We got calls that Tuesday night to see who would be training. President Pingree called me, and has asked me to train this transfer, I was kind of nervous, because I have only been out 3 months. But I did understand that anything is possible when you have the Lord on your side. So Tuesday was transfers, but the new missionaries didnt come in Till Thursday, so I was then put with Elder Cornwall. And we worked in both our area till Thursday. 

   That Tuesday though we had a great experience. We went with some other Elders to a dinner appointment at a less actives home. I have met with him 2 times, and the first time he did not want us to talk about the gospel at all. Well the 2nd time I saw him was on Tuesday night. And that night he had a feeling saying that we should stay and talk with him a little longer. He said that he felt like we were suppose to ask him questions because something was really bothering him. 

Well this discussion we had was truly inspired. The other Elders started asking questions, and after about 5 minutes of sitting there and thinking, I asked  a question to him. And I asked him what was his main reason for wanting to go and serve a mission. He sat back in his chair and you could tell he was really thinking about what to say. After a minute or two of silence he looked at me and said he thought that he would be blessed. So we kept talking, and I then asked him what he wanted to do after his mission. Well he said back to me, "While I was serving I had thoughts that I needed to go to college and get an education. I never had any plans to go to school before my mission, but while I was serving I had that thought to go to school." I asked him if he thought this was a blessing of serving a mission, and he agreed saying that it was a huge blessing of going. 

He continued to talk talk with us for a while about getting through school, and how he stopped a couple times. But he kept having those feelings to go back to school. Part of the reason he stopped was for financial reasons. After feeling those things about getting an education he wanted to go back to school and so he took out some student loans. After he had finished school he had about $8,000 to pay back in loans. He had a two years to pay back this amount.So he went into construction for a little while to earn money and he did that for a couple of years. He knew that the time was coming to pay that amount back to the bank, and he was getting ready to price a lot he was working on. He was working on deciding how much to sell it for to make a profit. Well after he had figured the price out he took it to the buyer. The buyer accepted and guess how much he made.   Thats right, exactly $8,000. He was able to pay off that debt. I asked him if he believed that this was a blessing of serving a mission. He thought about it and agreed that it was. 

I asked him what caused him to have those feeling on his mission and through out going to school about getting and education. He thought for a couple minutes when I asked him this. And he then said it was the holy ghost. There were many other things that we talked about, but one thing he was wondering was what serving a mission did for him. After talking he was able to see that he was blessed for serving, and after we talked he looked at me and said, " That was a good question to ask me." 

    The spirit can help us so much from day to day things. Those questions that were talked about during that meeting were inspired questions that the spirit brought to our attention. Its just all about listening to the promptings of the spirit. It was a great experience for me to be able to see how the spirit can help lead a discussion. 

   I mentioned earlier that I was asked to train, so on Thursday morning we went down for some training and to pick up my new companion. When they called my name to go up, I went and explained the area I was serving in. And then right about President Pingree got up and called the name of my new companion. His name is Elder Harris, he is 24 years old, and from Lehi Utah. He is a great companion, and he is so excited about the work. He really enjoys hunting and being outdoors. It will take a little time to get use to the change, but I am ready to continue to work hard and to try and help this work move forward. 

    We got back to our area that Thursday afternoon, and I got to work trying to get him up to date on the potential investigators we have as well as some of the members of the ward we have been working with. So thats about all that happened on Thursday, but Friday we got to meet with the bishop, and with some other members of the ward council and get him introduced. We also got to teach a family in our ward the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been meeting with lots of families and teaching them the lessons. But it was a really good lesson. Elder Harris did a great job at the lesson, and the spirit was there. It has been so great being able to see the change that has been taking place in the College Park Ward. So many members are now striving to have missionary opportunities. I am really loving seeing the excitement that comes from seeing the ward get involved.

   Yesterday was Greg Prows mission farewell, and he is best friends with Austin Carroll who got baptized last transfer. And yesterday for the first time Austin got up to bless the sacrament. We had to run out right before the sacrament because of something, but I got to hear him bless it over the speaker in the foyer. I felt the spirit so strong at that point!! To hear him bless was absolutely incredible!! Just seeing that change that has taken place in his life is amazing! You can tell how much more happy he is, but seeing him continue to progress and to bless the sacrament was a tender mercy for me! It helped me to feel the spirit and to better understand my purpose of being out here. 

The gospel is a happy message. I have said this before, and it changes lives. This is so true! I have seen it take place in my life and those who we have been able to teach. This is my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, he created the atonement so that we all could feel peace and the love of our Heavenly Father.  He suffered for not only our sins but for our pains, temptations, afflictions and everything else we ever endure. He did it because he LOVES us and wants to be able to help us!  He stands at the door waiting for us to open it and let him in. We just need to take those steps to let him in such as daily scripture study, sincere prayer, and continual faith. I know he is there and is always waiting for us. I know he wants to be able to help us in anything we do. And I leave that with you as a representative of Jesus Christ.

I hope all Y'all have a great week. 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

General Confrence

Howdy Y'all,

 What a great opportunity we had to listen to a prophet of God this last week end. I love general conference so much, and the guidance that can be received from it. I agree 100% with President Thomas S. Monson, when he said this had been the most inspired conferences. I wrote down a bunch of different questions that I wanted help with, and I received answers to all of them. There were also two talks in particular that I feel were said just for me! Some of the things that really stuck out to me were, the emphasis on gaining a strong testimony. This really is such and important thing that we all must do. As we read the scriptures we can find strength, and we can find help to our questions. As we do this we gain a testimony. Also one of the talks mentioned that we grow our testimonies by living the principles of the gospel. How can we gain a testimony of something that we don't live. We can't do that. If we want to gain a testimony and begin to become more converted we have to live the way our Heavenly Father would have us live. And we need to do the simple stuff as well. 

1. Read the scriptures

2. Ponder the meaning of what you read.

3. Pray, and as our Heavenly Father if it is true. 

You also need to act on the principle

This works for every aspect and principle of the gospel. If you are trying to gain a testimony of tithing. You need to be paying your tithing. And it isn't just a one time thing. Conversion isn't just a one time thing. It is a day to day process. I love this because it just goes to show that we are always teachable. We can always improve and become better sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. So please if you feel that your testimony is struggling do the things that were talked about in conference. And then be on you knees in sincere prayer that you may know if this message and church is true. Because if we gain a testimony of The Book of Mormon, then Joseph Smith is a true prophet. If Joseph Smith was a true prophet, then the priesthood has been restored, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's kingdom re-established back to the Earth. We will also know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He came and he payed the price for our sins. Because of him we can feel the peace and love of our Heavenly Father. I also love the truth that was talked about in conference, it is NEVER to late to come back. All of us make mistakes, we are human and it happens. But we can repent and become better! 

   The gospel of Jesus Christ is so important, and it was discussed alot during conference! I would invite you and ask you to please study it. You will be able to understand more of our Heavenly Fathers plan for us. Read, 2nd Nephi 31, as well as 3rd Nephi 11. These both talk about the doctrine of Christ. It is so important and it will lead us to want to be better member missionaries. 

This also leads me to the next thing that I really liked. Elder Ballard talked about the importance of member missionary work. He talked about how we have so many missionaries now, and the light of Christ that comes from them. But we can't help the work move forward with out the help of the members. "Now is the time for members and missionaries to labor together in the the vineyard." We read in Doctrine and Covenants 88:73, 

 73  Behold, I will hasten my work in its time. 

Now is the time when He is hastening His work. And that is through the members and the missionaries. Elder Ballard said, that many of us don't pray for missionary opportunities because we are afraid we won't know what to do when they come. I promise you that if we pray for these experiences and we read the scriptures and "Treasure them up in our minds" then Heavenly Father will help us, and the Holy Ghost will bring things back to our remembrance. I know that is true, because I have experienced it out here while on my mission. It has blessed me, and I know that it will bless you.

 " It is impossible to fail when we do our best, and we are on the Lords Errand." and " Its a matter of faith and action". There were so many great things said in general conference  and I can go off on them all day, but I don't want you to take my word for it. I want you to be able to find this out for your self. So please pray about it, and do the things that are needed to have those experiences. They will bless you I promise.

   Things here in the woodlands are great. I am loving it here, and I will be getting a new companion this week. I will find out on Thursday who it will be, but it looks like I will be training. It will be a good experience for me. I am excited to be able to serve, and help the work go forward in this area. 

  Well I hope Y'all have a fantastic week, and I would invite you to go back and read the conference talks again.

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Another week in the Woodlands!

Hey! 

This has been kinda a crazy week, but it has been good! 

To start the week we went to Market Street again to try and do some street contacting, and this was after meeting with our Bishop and coordinating the missionary efforts in the ward. And we started walking around, and I thought to myself that I should say a prayer real quick. So I stopped and said a prayer, and asked to be able to have someone we could teach a lesson or scripture to, and I said amen, and with in 45 seconds we ran in to someone who we taught a lesson to. And the scripture that I wanted to share was 3rd Nephi 5:13 which says: 

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. " 

This is one of the reasons why I am out here. I have been able to feel the abundant love and peace that comes from this gospel, and I want to be able help others to feel that same feeling! This gospel can bring so much happiness to everyone! So that was one of the tender mercies I was able to experience this week. 

We also were able to have interviews with the mission president, and have a training from the assistants. And it was such a great training! We talked about how to have a powerful first lesson. But one thing we worked on quite a bit is our purpose and helping others to understand why we are here. And they challenged us to get up in testimony meeting to state our purpose and to bare testimony of our purpose! And I want to do the same thing, because I believe that it is a very powerful and true message!

 Our message is central to Jesus Christ, and as called representatives of Jesus Christ we invite all to come unto him. We do this by helping them build faith in Jesus Christ by inviting them to do the things that will build there faith in Jesus Christ. Things such as praying at the end of the lesson, reading the scriptures and Praying to know if they are true, and then attending church. By doing these things we build faith in Christ and it will cause us to want to change the things we do. We will want to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  This is simply what we call repentance. And as you make those changes your desire to follow Jesus Christ will increase. You will want to enter into a promise that you will take his name upon you, and always remember him. This is baptism, and after we are baptized and are able to receive a remission of our sins, we can feel the peace and love of our Heavenly Father. We are then also able to receive a special gift. The gift of the Holy Ghost, which can be our constant companion. It can lead us and guide us through temptation and difficult times. It can protect us from physical and spiritual danger. It has helped me so much in my life, and I know that it will be able to help you in your life as well. This is my testimony and promise. 

General Conference is coming up, and we have a great experience to listen to the prophet and his apostles and learn of the things that he would have us do.  I am so grateful for the time we will have to be able to listen and learn. The things they  say are truly inspired and they receive revelation of the things that we need to hear. I want to invite all Y'all  to think of a question or questions you have or things you have been praying about, and write them down on a piece of paper. Then as you listen to conference listen for an answer to that question. I promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that you will find an answer!  I have experienced this in the past couple years, and I know it to be true. 

I heard a quote yesterday, and it was, " God doesn't always give us what we want, but when that happens he gives us something better" It might not be the answer we are looking for or want, but our Heavenly Father Knows each of us and what will help us to become better. Times can be hard, but with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ we have no need to fear or worry. We can be "Saints of all seasons." 

I wish y'all the best week!

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Boy Howdy, We Had A Baptism

This was a bit of a crazy week!

We had a baptism on Friday, and we had planned to start setting up for the baptism at 5:00 (2 hours and 15 minutes before the baptism.) We were told that the font takes about 1 1/2 hours to fill. So we started filling up the font, and setting up the other things. First thing that went wrong was the printer was putting lines through almost all of the programs we were trying to copy. Once we got that all worked out we continued to set up chairs and get some Mormon Messages ready. I had the feeling to check the font, and I just put the thought out of my head. Like a minute later, I had it come back, "check the font".  Well at this time it is almost 6:15 and I went to go look into the font,and it is like a foot of water. The font had been filling for about an hour and 15 minutes, and it only had a foot of water. By this time it should have been almost full. I got my companion and we started to get a little nervous and so we were trying to find out what we could do to help fill it faster. Well we go into the kitchen and we find 2 five gallon barrels. So we go to the Janitors closet to fill these up. Turns out the was more pressure coming out of the janitors closet. So for about 45 straight minutes me and my companion were bailing water into the font trying to get it to fill faster. After those 45 minutes people started to show up, so we had to stop doing that. It was only about 2 feet at this point. Austin and Greg both came early, and they were a little nervous with how low the water was. The baptism soon started, and I was running back and forth during it to see if the font was filling any more. We had it going up until the time that Austin was baptized. Well it ended up working out, and after he was baptized a couple of times, it was good! :) Well while he was changing, of course we had technical difficulties with the Mormon Messages. After all was said and done that night, it worked out to be a great baptism. I know that Austin will be such a great member, and it is so cool to be able to see the changes in him now. He is so much happier. This gospel really does change lives, and it is so important and it makes me want to share the gospel even more. 

 Sunday came and we confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I had a chance to stand in on the confirmation, and the spirit was so strong. I love the chances I get to be able to use the Priesthood. 

So even though we had some problems during the baptism, it all worked out. Satan didn't want Austin to be baptized, and he tried to mess up the baptism several times, but of course, the Lord Always provides a way. I know He is pleased with Austins decision to be baptized. And I look forward to being able to see him go do baptisms for the dead. 

This week we had another really cool thing happen. One of the girls in our front office was talking with us, and we got on the topic of families. We were both taking about our dads, and they had  a ton of things in common. It was almost scary how similar they were. Well she started out writing her family members down on a piece of paper, and she said " I just need to make a family tree or something". I probably looked like a kid in the candy store as soon as she said that! I started telling her about family search. And it was cool, before I even had finished explaining it she was on the website and she was signing up. By the time that afternoon was done she had alot of stuff entered in, and she even had all the birth dates, and other dates of her parents and grandparents. It was funny we told her that is would be kind of addicting, but she didn't quite believe us. That night she sent us a message and asked if we could come back the next day and help her out some more. And she said she just couldn't stop doing it! The spirit of Elijah is very real, and it affects us very much as we go about doing family history. We can see it in just this case. 

We read in D&C 88 That the lord will hasten his work.  We can see that he has with all of the changes that have been taking place in just the last couple years. The push for family history, the mission age change, and the hastening the work broadcast.  I love this because as the members and the missionaries come and work together we can help the work move forward on this Earth. And as we also teach about family history, and the members go about we doing temple work, we are able to hasten the work here on Earth as well as in the spirit world! Please continue to look for people to talk with about this gospel. This is something that everyone needs. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I promise you that as you go about talking with others, your mouth will be filled. You will know what to say to those you talk with. (D&C 11:21-22, D&C 84:85, D&C 100 5-8) We are promised that through out the scriptures. 

I wish Y'all the best week, and look forward to hearing about your missionary experiences.

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Life in the Woodlands

Hey!

  Things here in The Woodlands are still going well. It is cool to be able to be out here and serve. Our ward here is so great, and they are continuing to become more missionary minded. We have been able to stay busy for the most part which is great! 

  This week has been good, we have continued to teach Austin this last week, and he has decided to move his baptism to this Friday!! He is so ready, and we are so excited for him. We also had a cool experience this last week. One night when we were on our way home we got a message from a girl named Lexi. She said she said she wanted to learn more about the church. Immediately me and my companion look at each other and we were speechless! That doesn't  usually happen out in this area. So we were able to meet with her and answer alot of the questions that she had. And she seems to want to learn more. At first she was kind of concerned, but then when I started to explain how once we are baptized we can have all of our sins and feelings of guilt washed away, and you could see her countenance change! I then asked her what she thought about that! And she said she wants that! So we are excited to see what happens with that. The Lord does truly prepare people! This gospel is such a happy message we can share with others and I love that! Its is so great to know that we are all human and that we mess up. But because of what our savior Jesus Christ did we can repent and partake of the atonement he did for us. We can feel clean each week when we partake of the sacrament and we remember the covenants that we have made. It is such a blessing to be able to have that knowledge and know that when we stumble and fall we can get back up and keep going.

  This last week I also had a crazy experience with prayer! One of the days we were going  from place to place, and we went street contacting at Market Street, and also around the mall. Following that we went and taught a lesson at a members home. Well I got back that night and I reached into my back pocket to get my wallet, but it wasn't there. I was freaking out, I searched my whole apartment and was frantically trying to remember where we had been that day. I  began to make myself sick because I was worrying so much about where it would be. I had my licence and my temple recommend, my debit cards as well as some other things we need out here. Because of some changes back in Utah there would be no way I could get a new license sent to me, and so I would have to end up getting a Texas Licence which would include me having to re-test and road out here, and then also with the debit cards I was not doing to great! I went into the bed room and I prayed to my Heavenly Father. I was worried and I wanted to find where my wallet was, but after I prayed I felt a little bit better. I had the thought to call the members home that we were just at. And when I called they said they would look for it, and after a couple mins they told me that they had found it. Now it may seem kind of lame for me to be so scared, but with all of the places that we were that day, it could have fallen out at Market street or the mall, and I would probably had never seen it again.  But I was able to have my testimony strengthened with the power of prayer. In 3rd nephi 18 we read that Jesus Christ set the example of Praying, and the power that can come from prayer. I was able to be comforted and was able to find where my wallet was. The spirit can help us do things, and even though my prayer was small, and was about finding a wallet, my Heavenly Father listened and helped me. I love the gospel and the chance I have to be able to communicate with my Father in Heaven anytime and any where. It is amazing.

We also have a chance to go each week now and volunteer at a ranch, where children with disabilities can  go and ride horses. It is so cool, and so fun to be able to work with these kids that are here. They have such sweet spirits to them. I love being able to go and to help out. Service is a great time were we can go and serve Heavenly Father and also our fellow beings! 

Well that was pretty much this last week, the only other thing that really happened was when we were street contacting, we were walking and someone yelled "Go BYU"!! Well of course I turned around to look!! And some guy was looking at us. And so I walked over to talk with him. He was telling me how he was so glad that BYU beat Texas! He was a funny guy, and he wasnt a member. But he kept telling us that when they won he was cheering saying "Yeah BYU, good job mormons!" It was pretty funny, but we were able to share a scripture with him. So because BYU won we were able to talk with another person about the gospel. It was a great week.

We also got challenged by the young men to some tennis for there young mens activity, and we had a little competition to see who could dress up with the most tennis stuff. We will just say we won! :)

 Well I wish you all the best this next week,

 Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Another week in Texas!

 Hey guys,

Things here in College Park are going well. This last week has been really crazy with all of the meetings and leadership training stuff going on, but we had some very cool experiences. 

We got to meet with Austin a couple more times this week, and he is still wanting to be baptized. We talked with his good friend Greg, and he mentioned that Austin might want to get baptized one week sooner!! That is cool because he really wants to get baptized. We have been teaching a lot of the members lately also, and we are trying to help them get excited about missionary work. It seems to be working, but it really is through the members that we will start finding more people to teach. The members are so so crucial in helping this work move forward. 

First of all our purpose as missionaries is to help invite others to come unto Christ. We do this by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. As we help others understand they will be able to feel the love of our Heavenly Father more abundantly in our lives. Now each of us are at different stages in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are some who are building their faith in Jesus Christ, those who are repenting, those who are preparing for the ordinance of baptism and confirmation, and receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and then many of us are in the enduring to the end part. 

Now the message that missionaries have and the lessons they teach are lessons of happiness. As we listen to them we can have the spirit in our homes and be able to feel of the peace and the love that the message can bring. The lessons they teach are not a one time lesson, and as soon as your baptized you don't need to listen to them any more. As we hear them we will be reminded of the importance of why we are here and of the covenants we make with our Heavenly Father. 

Now our Heavenly Father loves us so very much, and he wants us to be happy, and we can feel an increased happiness as we listen to the missionaries. I have said this many times, there are people who are being prepared daily. We just need to go and find them. They are people who we associate with every day. Those we go to school with, those we work with, and our neighbors around us. We have so many opportunities to share the gospel with others we just need to be praying for those opportunities. 

There are so many promises through out the scriptures that tell us if we open our mouths then they shall be filled ( D&C 33). But I really like what D&C 100 says. I would invite you to read it and read the promise it gives us if we speak the things our Heavenly Father would have us do. In my last area I was in our ward mission leader came back from a follow up meeting  to the Hastening the work broadcast with an area authority. He said one of the talks said somethings that I think is so true. 

  

Some of us look at finding by the spirit to mean we climb  into our cars and start driving, and have the spirit say go 3 blocks turn right, then drive 1 mile and turn left. That person in there front yard, yeah talk to them. It would be nice if it worked like that, and sometimes it does. But finding by the spirit means that we go and we talk to those we associate with, and as we speak to them, they will see the light of Christ in your eyes. They will be able to feel the spirit, and have the spirit testify to them of the things which you are talking about. This is what finding by the spirit is. 

We are always worried about what they will think of us, but we shouldn't fear. A quote that I love is " True conversion is measured by your desire to share the gospel." When we experience something that we love and something that brings us happiness we want to share it with others. Why should it be different with the gospel? I can promise you that as you try and talk to people about the gospel and you prepare by doing the daily simple things, Pray, Read your scriptures, and look for opportunities to serve. 

 I would encourage all of you to find out who the missionaries are in you area and have them over for a lesson. They will bring the spirit into your home and you will want to share the gospel. I know this is true.

Some cool talks I would recommend looking at are from last conference by Elder Neil Anderson, titled Its a miracle. It talks about how we can be missionaries in the area we are in. 

I wish Y'all the best in this next week and look forward to hearing about your missionary experiences.

Trees Everywhere.

My first cochroach.

Week 9...Curve Ball

 

Howdy Y'all

This last week was incredible and I had some unexpected things happen. First off in White Oak we had some really good thins going. We were talking with lots of people. We were beginning to get some more investigators and I was getting so excited. We were on the side of the road and a car pulled over and invited us to his house for some water. Of course we accepted, and we went. They were such a nice family, and we talked about the gospel with them. It was so cool and they really seemed interested in learning more. This happened on Tuesday and me and my companion were so excited! It was great!! That area is so prepared!!

  On Tuesday we also had transfer calls, and I really just expected to stay in my area. If anyone was getting transferred I thought it would be my companion. Well we got back to the apartment on Tuesday night and planned and we were just waiting for the call. We got called about 10:20 and I was just sitting on my bed writing in my Journal, and I heard over the phone, " Tell Elder Christensen to pack his bags, he is leaving." I didn't even know what to think. I was kinda freaking out. My mind raced all night long, and I probably didn't fall sleep until about 2:00. I was sad that I was going to leave this area that I had come to love. We were just beginning to find people and I was so excited. 

Well Weds came we went to some members homes and I said good bye to them. They didn't expect me to be leaving either. At this point I knew that I was leaving, and that night we were waiting on a call from President Pingree to find out if I would be training or not. My companion said that I would be training, because he said he talked to President and I guess he said I was ready to him. So I knew that could be a possibility. Well again late that night the phone rang, and it was President and he was talking with Elder Brown. He asked him to train again, and it sounded like that was all he was calling about so I went into the other room to finish packing my bags. And then I heard him say, "Can I speak to Elder Christensen. I picked up the phone and he said he was sorry he was pulling me out, and I told him I didn't mind. It shocked me but I told him in the beginning and that night that I will serve where the Lord will have me serve. This is His two years. And then the shock came as he asked me this. "Elder Christensen would you be willing to serve as District Leader up in the College Park ward in Spring Stake?"  I was completely thrown off. I expected to train, and he asked me to be a district leader and only after being out for 6 weeks, I was completely humbled!. I told him of course I would serve in that spot, and he told me Weds night that I needed to be prepared to teach the district that Friday Morning. 

Well after another night of not sleeping came transfers. I met my new companion Elder Peterson, and he is a great Elder. He leaves in 5 weeks, so the President said that I need to learn the area asap because he is having me take over and train most likely next transfer. I love serving the Lord, and I knew that I could do it with Him by my side, but it is still crazy how fast that all took place. I was so nervous, and it just took me by surprise because usually a new missionary would be in his first area at least for a little bit. But I am so excited to be able to have this extra opportunity to serve as a District Leader here. I had to throw a lesson together quick for District meeting, but I feel that it went ok. It is amazing how much the spirit can help us when we feel like we are incapable of doing a job. The Lord certainly does qualify those he calls to the work. I know because of him and because of the spirit that District Meeting went well. The spirit is the real teacher, we are the mouth piece, and the spirit really can talk through us. I testify of this. I mean here I am,  an 18 year old teaching missionaries that have been out longer than me, and are older than me. I just hope to work as hard as I can, and I know the Lord will help me.

  This week I began to also meet members of this new ward. They are a great ward just like my last, and I met with the bishop and his wife on Friday. We had the chance to go through the restoration with him, and the spirit was so strong. I love how strong the spirit can be when you recite the first vision, and you testify of the truthfulness of it. On Saturday, we met with a kid named Austin. He is best friends with Greg Prows( who is a member, and also getting ready to serve in the same mission that my brother Elder Ryan Christensen is in). We met and we talked with him and re-taught the restoration. Now the missionaries have been meeting with him the past couple months, but when we taught this last week again the spirit was there. And we ask him, " Austin will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood Authority of God?" And he excepted! He is going to be baptized on Sept 28th!!!!! We had the chance to meet with him again last night, and we will meet with him tonight, and he is loving the lessons, and it is incredible how much he knows. He is so prepared!! This just goes to show that the Lord is always preparing those who are ready for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  Another cool miracle was, we wanted to end the week with 20 lessons. So at the end of Sunday night we were at 19 and we only had one hour before we had to be back to the apartment. We tried to go to one other members home, but they weren't home. So we went to Market street to do some street contacting. Before we left we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to put someone in our path who we can teach. So we go out and we begin walking, and with in 15-20 min of getting there someone stopped and talked to us. It was a man who use to be a member, and we asked if we could share our favorite scriptures with him. He agreed and we started to share. The scripture I wanted to share was Either 12:27. As soon as I told him what scripture it was he was so happy. He said he loves that scripture and that helped him get through so many hard times. He then had me read it, and he said it almost brought tears to his eyes to hear that scripture. Our Heavenly can prompt us and put people in our path who need a specific message. I know that it is because of him that we were able to talk to that man. I know that the scripture I thought I should share was for that man we talked to. It just all goes back to relying on the Lord and looking for those chances that we have to serve others. It was a great experience. This last week has been spiritually and mentally draining, but the Lord has blessed this area, and I am so excited to continue to move forward and teach people. I know that Heavenly Father wants me to be here in this time, and I am so excited for the chance that I have to be able to be out and serve. 

  Keep looking for opportunities to share the gospel because they are there. Keep doing family history, because it will help you so much, and there are those beyond the veil who are waiting to have temple work done. You can help them so much, and be blessed for doing so.

 I wish you all the best week,

    Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Week 8....Howdy

Hey!

   This week has been another good week. We are still trying to go out and find people. We were able to talk with some more people this week that seem interested in learning more. We followed up this week with Alex. Now Alex is a great guy, and he loves talking about God. We went back and we taught him the Plan of Salvation. He seemed to like the things that we talked about, and he likes the thought of being able to live with our families for ever. And what was cool, is we gave him a reading assignment last time, and we had him read Alma 32. And when we came back to check on him he had read it and he liked it. Now the great thing about Alex is he feels the spirit. He says he feels good, and when we talk he feels peace. Well if we go to Galations 5, we read in there what the fruits of the spirit are. And in there it talks about those things that he has been feeling. He have been explaining to him that feeling he has is the spirit. And that the spirit is testifying to him about the truthfulness of the message. We are praying that he will be feel spirit as he reads the Book of Mormon. When we go back we will be making sure that he knows how to pray. We kinda assumed that he did, but we want him to pray with us. We will also be able to teach him about family history!! :)

  

     Were really trying to get more into family history. More people are interested in talking about family history. And when we do family history, we can feel the spirit as we learn about our ancestors. I had the chance on Monday to go over to a members house, and they taught us more about family history. It is so cool because on Family Search, we can see pictures of our ancestors and sometimes there are stories. I found out this last week that my great great great Grandpa, met Joeseph Smith, and hear him talking with another man one day. Also that ancestor of mine his brother worked along with Brigham Young, and they would occasionally stay at Brigham Young's house. When they came over to meet with the saints going to Salt lake, they stopped and they went to see the place where Joseph Smith was killed. He talked about how it was a sad time, but the saints kept moving forward. He helped lead people over to the Salt Lake. That night I could absolutely feel the spirit when I was learning more about my family history. And what was cool, is on Thursday after our planning session for the week, we decided we wanted to go to the library to learn more about family history. With in 30 secs of walking in, someone came up to us and started talking with us. He told us about he liked our church and it made sense to him. He struggled with somethings though, and we promised him that as we do our family history we can receive help with the things that we struggle with. We have been told by apostles that as we do family history we can eliminate the influence of the adversary in our lives. That is something that we all need. After this we sat down and we talked to him about how to do family history and we helped get him started. He said he wanted to come to church, and it just so happens that he lives on the street of where we meet for church. Again it just goes to show that our Heavenly Father is constantly putting people in our path that are ready for this gospel. We just have to go about finding them. Sometimes it is nice when they approach us and talk to us about it and want to learn more. But sometimes we have to go out of our comfort zone and go the extra mile to find those who are ready. Pleas pray to have missionary experiences and I promise you that you will have them. You will be able to bring happiness into someone Else's life.

 I always loved hearing the quote that says, " sometimes the lord answers prayers through others." We can be that answered prayer for someone as we strive to look for serving opportunities. We don't need to go straight to someone and start preaching about the gospel, but as we go about and try to have activities where we can invite others to come and participate is a great way that we can bring others closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So look for those opportunities and you will be blessed. The Lord is hastening his work, and he is going through the members for finding. John 10, and the end of John are great chapters to read. If you have some free time try to read them. If you have some experiences, I would love to hear about them, because they will come as we do what we need to and we are constantly looking for others who are ready for this wonderful gospel.

 
  Transfers are coming up, so we will see what happens, it is crazy how fast time flys, days may sometimes seem long, but the weeks fly by. This week we went to a baptism for a guy named Marcus. He is 18 years old, and was baptized last Saturday. It was a great experience to see him have the chance to do that. The spirit was so strong, and we had a great turn out there. Alot of his family came and we got to welcome them and introduce our selves. On Sunday he was conferred a member of the church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, he told us afterwards that he loved the feeling that came when he did it. He is a great guys and he will be a great member of this church. And whats also cool is he loves to golf, so one of these P-days we may be getting to go golf with him.

I will keep extending the same challenge just becasue I know that it can bless your lives so much, learn more about family history, go to the temple as much as you can, and read and ponder the things you read in your scriptures. You will see miracles in you life! :)

Well I hope Y'all have a great week!

  Elder Christensen

Week 7...The Lord Works Miracles.

This has been a really good week. One of the biggest things I have enjoyed is going to the temple. The Houston Temple is so beautiful. I loved being there so much. When I was done I just wanted to go back in so bad. It is incredible how much the temple can help your day go better. There is such a wonderful spirit that comes from going to the temple. I also got to learn some more about family history. A sister in our ward showed us some stuff about family history, and it made me even more excited to do family history. I want to go and do family history, and take names to the temple.

      

 Well this week we have been really focusing on finding people to teach. We have dedicated some of our days just to finding. For example, on Weds we prayed like we always do right before we leave the apartment. And we asked our Heavenly Father to put people in our path that we could talk to. With in about 5 minutes of leaving the apartment, we found someone to talk with about the gospel. He wasn't very interested, and he said he didn't have much time. We hope he will still call us, but we will see. We went on and we walked for about another 20 min, and a car pulled over and these people said they would give us a ride. They were a catholic family, and drove us to the park we were going to. We talked to them for just a little bit, and they said we are welcome to come to there house and get water anytime. Well the park they dropped us off at had 3 Hispanic men. We started to talk to them and basically we taught the restoration to them. They were all interested and we gave them Books of Mormon. It was really good, but we handed them off to the Spanish sisters, so they will continue teaching them. We kept walking and we found 2 cars right by each other in the entrance to a golf course. One of the cars wasn't working, so we went over to check on them. We talked with the guys who were in the car, and one seemed very interested. We will be calling him this week, and hopefully we can teach him. So just in that day we came in contact with many people, and 4 who seemed that they were interested in the gospel. That just goes to show that the Lord puts people in our path when we go to him and dedicate out time to finding. He will help put people in our paths. I want to encourage all of you back home again to be open with those around you about the gospel. I know it can be scary, but the Lord really will help each of us to share the thoughts he wants us to share. So keep in mind how you can help someone come closer to Christ this week. 

Later in the week we also were able to meet one other person who was interested in the gospel. We tried to contact him, and he is  just not ready for it yet. We hope he will call us back when does feel ready. He said that he had been to Salt Lake and has seen the temple, and he really did show interest in learning more until we contacted him. Last night we were walking in a park and there is this Asian couple that is always there. We always say hi to them and talk to them a little bit. We decided it was time to talk with them about the gospel. We told them the things we believe in, and the husband said he would want to take a tour of our church, and also he is going to read the Book of Mormon. We are so excited for this. He also says he wants to take us to lunch or dinner this week, so we can talk more. So for this week, we have 3 investigators. We are praying for them and hope they will want to learn more as we teach them. While on exchanges this week, my companion and another missionary that was on exchanges with him found an investigator. I was so excited when I heard about this, and I was so excited to go and teach. Well we went over the next day and the husband answered the door. He told us about how him and his wife( who was the investigator they had found) had been going through some crazy things and wouldn't be able to be taught by us at this time. I was kinda sad when I heard this, but we are going to keep going back to checking on them and try to help them.

One of the coolest experiences we had this week though was, we practice taught a part member less active family. And the spirit was so strong there. We had the stake president and his son with us as we taught them. Alex who is the dad, and non member was listening very intently to what was being taught, and he was asking questions. They had a little daughter that was being a little loud, but I began to recite the first vision to this family and the spirit was so strong there. I didn't see this, but my companion said as soon as I began there little girl was completely quiet and  just looked at me. The spirit has a might effect on people and even kids. We know that Alex felt the spirit, and he is allowing us to come teach again next week. I am so excited for this.

I am sorry that I don't have alot of time to write more this week, but the Lord does prepare people every day to hear this amazing message. I have seen that, and I know he will help us find them. So again I am wanting to challenge all of you to find those to share this gospel with. It is so important to not just take it for granted. We can help someone to feel the same peace we feel. And I know that Heavenly Father will help us! Continue to do family history and temple work and you will be more prepared to share the gospel. 

I love the chance I have to be our here and to serve, and I hope all of you have a great week. Look for those who are prepared to hear the gospel. There are many. 

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Week 6...What a Crazy Week

This week was a cool week. We had the chance to meet with Brother Monnich. I am not sure if I have mentioned him yet, but he is a less active member. He has been going through alot of problems with his health. We have been able to visit him a couple time since we have been here. We were able to talk with him for about an hour this week, and we talked about family history, and some other things. And we talked about different dates/events through out church history that were really cool. He talked about the day of healing, and about the saints that came over with Joseph Smith. When they were in Nauvoo on the banks of the river, many of them were very sick. Even Joseph Smith was very sick. And he went around giving blessing to the saints and healing them. At the end he look at me and said, "Do you believe you have the power to heal." and this kinda took me back, and I said to him that I believe I can heal if the spirit prompts me to do so. Then he said something else, but the whole discussion really had me thinking about what he had asked. We continued to talk with him, and he mentioned that he wanted to come back to church, but he was just getting to sick to make it. We asked him, "Brother Monnich do you believe that if you came to church, that the lord would help you make it through the meetings? And he said yes. My companion went on to say, " Brother Monnich, we can make you this promise that if you come to church the lord will help you get through it. It may be the hardest thing you have done, and you may not feel well at all, but the Lord will help you get through it." The spirit was strong, and we were quiet for a minute. We asked him if we could find him a ride to church would he come, and he said he would!
 

   Well we were trying to find out who would be the best person to give him a ride to church would be. We first called his home teacher, and he lived on the other side of the ward. His home teacher said he could, but said ask the Rotolo's( A new family that just moved into the ward this last week, and lived just down the street from Brother Monnich.) I went on splits that night and met with the Rotolo's, and they were clearly the perfect family to take Brother Monnich. They are so kind and were happy for the opportunity to serve. It was good to get to know them as well, and build those relationships with the ward members.

   Well we got a call on Sunday Morning at 7:30 from Brother Monnich, and he said that he was ready to go, and to have the Rotolo's call him when they left. He was ready 1 and 1/2 hours before church. I was so happy to know that he was coming. When I got to church I stood by the doors where most of the members came in from, and I saw him walk into the building. He looked so happy, and he said "it feels good to be back" that really hit me hard. I was so happy to be able to see him there.  He struggled  during sacrament meeting, but we said a quick prayer with him during it. And he made it through, he wasn't feeling up to staying for the rest of the meetings, but it was so good to see him there at church.  I was praying so hard that he would make it through, and in my mind I said, " Heavenly Father, please help Brother Monnich, he has shown his faith in coming, and we felt prompted to tell him that it wouldn't be easy, but he could make it through. After this and the prayer with him, he started to seem to be doing a little better. And he had the chance to partake of the sacrament. It just goes to show that our Heavenly Father really does care for each and everyone of us. And if we show our faith and put our trust in him, then he will bless us. He really helped Brother Monnich during that church meeting, and I was so happy that he made it through the meeting.

  This week we also said goodbye to our good friend Mark Chamberlin, he has been in Houston selling pest control, and he is heading home this week. We have been able to practice teach the lessons with him, and it is just so cool to see how much he has changed. We talked with him on Sunday, and he said he wants to go home and change his life around. He decided to start coming back to church when he came here to Houston. He is such a great example and he will do great.

I am so grateful that I am serving in the area that I am, and I know that we will find people to teach soon. I want to challenge everyone just like last week to find the time to go to the temple, and to do some family history. I know that as you do this, you will be blessed, and you will be able to feel the love of Jesus Christ more in your life. I testify of this, and I know it to be true. I look forward to hearing from the experiences that you have.

I hope all of y'all have a great week. 

 Elder Christensen

Week 5....Boy Howdy

(I can't believe my son is already into the Texas slang, his use of y'all made me smile)

 Things are still going a bit slow here, but overall we have seen some pretty cool miracles this week. So far since we have been here we have been going down the ward list meeting all of the members. Now this list doesn't show who the less active, and non members are, so we are just going through it. Brother Lutzel was next on our list. We dropped by and knocked on his door, and no one answered. So we were just getting ready to go. My companion was plugging in the address for the next house when Brother Lutzel walks around the corner. We just started talking, and we originally thought he was a member because of how friendly, and how open he was talking with us. We asked him if we could practice teach the lessons with him and his wife, and he said if he was home he would be ok with it. Well it turns out that his wife is a less active member, but he is a non member. So we may have a chance to practice teach him. We have been practice teaching the lessons with members and less active members because of the fact that we don't have any investigators yet. We also found out that Brother Lutzel was a professional racket ball player, and because our apartment has two racket ball courts, he has offered to come over and teach us how to play. So we will have a great opportunity to get to know Brother Lutzel. We also found out that the stake presidents wife is Sisters Lutzel's visiting teacher. And she has always told the family that if the need anything to let her know.  Brother Lutzel has been having some medical problems, so he got a blessing from the stake president. I am not sure how everything will all turn out, but I think some great things are beginning to happen.

     We also were able to practice teach the Restoration lesson this week to a part member family. We went into this lesson wanting to really have the spirit there. Gary is the father, and he isn't a member, but we were able to meet with him for a little while. It was awesome being able to teach them. The spirit was so strong, and at the very end of the lesson we asked how can we improve. They really didn't have anything to say. But Elder Brown asked was the spirit here while we taught? Every one in the family nodded, even Gary. He felt the spirit, and we explained what the spirit felt like during the lesson. He is such a nice man, and we have been invited back to practice teach the other lessons. We are excited to be able to have these chances to teach. They have a son going on a mission to Guatemala, so there family will be blessed.
   

 The members here in White Oak are so generous and so kind. They are always willing to allow us into there home and feed us and let us share spiritual thoughts. But they even help us fix up our bikes if they have problems. Like on Saturday night we were biking and my companions bike chain fell apart while we were biking. So I had to tow him like a mile  or two to the ward mission leaders house(Brother Stone) . We knew that he had experience fixing bikes. So after we arrived he took us to some stores to try and find a new bike chain for my companion. This is at like 8:00pm so most places that would have chains were closed. So Brother Stone drove us home that night and picked us up for church the next day  and also fed us. Then he drove us to another members house that was able to repair the broken chain, and we were able to get on our way. We really have been blessed to have members in this ward who can help us out. And it will be through the members that we will find people to teach. So thats why we are focusing on getting to know the members so well.

      In my personal study this week, I was reading in D&C 112, and there are some really cool things in this section.I would encourage Y'all to read it. But particularly vs 10-11 and 14. Now these are things that can be done to help us be better missionaries, and member missionaries. We need to be humble and love others as we love ourself. And if we do this we are told that God will lead us by out hand, and will answer our prayers. But then I love in vs. 14 when it says Arise gird up your loins, take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep.  As we follow the example of Jesus Christ, and we are humble, we can help so many people out and help bring an increased happiness into there lives. I know it may seem hard to love some people, or hard to talk to others about the gospel, but I know and I testify as a representative of  Jesus Christ, that as we are looking for others to serve, and others who are ready for that gospel, and as we follow christ and feed his sheep, we will be blessed, and we will find those who our Heavenly Father is preparing.  Just like in vs 19 the lord will be with us, and we will be happier as well. I want to encourage Y'all to find others to serve or share the gospel with. Get to know others, and help bring the light of Christ into their lives. It may not happen right away, but you will have those opportunities to share the gospel and have those missionary moments.

Another thing I would encourage Y'all to do, is to look into family history a little more. There are some amazing blessings that come from doing it, and so I also want to encourage you to find a family member who needs temple work done, and to help do it for them. You will be able to have your testimony grow as you do this. And if you are not yet 12 and can't go to the temple you will still be able to see those blessings as you search for you ancestors who are waiting for the work to be done. This is a cool thing and I can't wait to learn more about it out here. 

That's all for now, I hope you have an amazing week.  

Here are some pictures.  Texas is beautiful!

Josh also added a brief email to me, I will include the relevant parts below...

... This last week we had zone conference, and that was kinda cool. We learned more about how to find people and stuff like that. And that happened on Tuesday. This week was a busy week with service, but I had the chance to give a blessing to a man in our ward. He thinks he has a stomach parasite, and his wife just had a baby like a week ago, and the baby was born with a broken collar bone. But even though I sometimes am nervous about giving blessings, I know that the power of the priesthood is and incredible thing. I haven't had a chance to see how he is doing, but I was gonna call him later and see how his family is doing.