Another transfer here in College Park!

Howdy Y'all!

 This has been a really good week. We had some really great miracles happen. We also had some fun with car troubles. So Monday night we got a call from our vehicle coordinator telling us that we need to take our car up to the Ford dealership to get some repairs on the transmission. ( It has been miss shifting really bad, probably for about a month and a half.)  So we did that and we dropped off the car and got a ride from some of the Elders who work in the office and they drove us up to the mission office where we got a new car to use. It was a 2014 Chevy Cruze which was a fun little car to drive. But we used it for two days and got our car back. 

Thankfully it actually wasn't the transmission, it was actually the software that was loaded into the cars computer that went bad. So they changed it and now out car runs so much better.  That is what mainly happened on Monday and Tuesday. We also went around to members of our ward to try and get to know them better and help them in any way we could. 

  Well Weds was  a day of Miracles, the first being that is actually when we got our car back and it wasn't to much trouble with it. But Weds I was scheduled to give a baptismal interview to an investigator named Loveline from one of the other wards. And so we got there at 5:00pm and we were expecting her to be there at the same time as us. But she didn't end up showing up till about 6:00 pm. But the whole time I was super nervous about giving the baptismal interview. 1.  being that I have never given one before and didn't receive any training on how to do it. 2. being that Loveline is a super nice Nigerian lady with a really thick accent. I was told by my companion and by the other Elders that it was really hard to communicate with her and understand her. I was praying so hard that it would all go well. 

Well at 6:00 when she got there, I introduce myself to her and lead her to the room we would do the interview in. And we went in the room and started off with a prayer. I said it and asked for the spirit to be there and some other things that I can't remember. At first I just had to listen really careful to her, but the spirit was absolutely  there. The gift of Tongues must have kicked in or something. I was able to communicate with her and  could understand her completely. It was truly a miracle! 

The spirit so strong and you could just see the desire she had to make that promise with our Heavenly Father. She wanted to be take upon herself the name of Christ. I can't even tell you everything that was said, but the conversation was led by the Spirit. I know that because of the Help of my Father in Heaven I was able to understand her, and she was able to understand me. Our Heavenly Father does listen to our prayers, we just need to remember to have faith and know that he will provide away for us. 

So right after the interview we drove over to the house of one of our members. They invited there friend from work to come and listen to the missionaries. We learned that there friend was afraid of dying, and didn't know what would happen after death. So we got to teach the Plan of Salvation! It was so good! We were teaching her and she had a lot of great questions about it, and the best part was when she learned about the great gift we receive where we will all be resurrected. This made her so happy, and at this point we were able to bare testimony to her about the truthfulness of this principle. 

And it was cool because after we said this she looked at us and said I know that you believe this but how can I learn this for myself? So it was the perfect intro to The Book of Mormon. She said that she would start reading it, and she said she wanted to see how it compares with the Bible. But she has started to read it. I can't tell you everything that was said but it was defiantly driven by the Spirit. 

I have said that a couple times already this email but it is so true we had this happen to us so many times this week as we tried to meet with investigators and members. We come out of an appointment and can't even remember how we answered the questions. The Spirit is the true teacher in missionary work. As missionaries we prepare and do the things necessary to have the Spirit, but in the end the Spirit communicates through us, and it can tell us the things that we need to say to be able to help others out. 

 Thursday we had a great meeting with the Bishop where we talked about what was going on in the ward. But after we thought we should go check on an investigator that lived by. And we knocked on the door and no one came. So we were walking to the car and Eva walked out and we were actually able to meet with her that day. And her biggest concern about being a member is what her family would think. She come from a Roman Catholic background, and so she doesn't want to disappoint her family. But just asking her how she was doing she began to start crying, and me and my companion didn't understand, but we just let the Spirit speak through us again. I don't know what was said but the lesson was great! 

This week was so full of miracles! I just love seeing the tender mercies of the Lord. He does care about all of his children and wants them to be able to return and live with him. I know that this is true! I have seen it out here as I have come to know the people here in this area. I care so much about them and there are amazing people here in this area! 

Friday we had a good district meeting, but at first I was worried that I taught terribly, I was worried I didn't help the district out in ways we can use The Book of Mormon to help our investigators. But I have a firm testimony that the topic is presented each week in district meeting is inspired by the Mission President. After district meeting I heard of different companionships using what they learned that day in their missionary work. And we had an experience that night where we were able to give Ashlie (The leasing agent for our apartment complex) a copy of the Book of Mormon. The things president asks us to teach on is really to be able to help us in all of our missionary work! 

Saturday we met with different members and went to Lovelines baptism, and that was it for that day. The spirit at the baptism was so great! You could tell how excited Loveline was to be able to be baptized and feel clean from any feelings of guilt and sin. Her countenance  has changed so much! This gospel can change lives and can bring so much happiness to others. It is a gospel of change and joy. 

Sunday we had our normal meetings, but for the 3rd hour we talked about a new program the church has come out with for family search. They have a booklet called my family, and it is so great! I would invite all you that are reading this to look it up and get a copy. It is such a great way to be able to look at your family history and get started and show it with others. It helps deepen that connection you have with your ancestors. Please look into it. 

But to finish off my week we had a devotional at the bishops house. And I was asked when we got there to share my thought on goal setting and how we set goals here in the mission field. I loved being able to stand in front of all these youth that I have been able to get to know and share my testimony to them. I talked to them about how it is important to set goals that are important to you and to check back in with them and measure them. 

There is a quote in Preach my gospel that says, " When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." That is so true. When we report back on our goals we can see how we have improved and see how we can improve. But the important thing about goal setting is having your Heavenly Father involved. With the Lord nothing is impossible, and he can help you to be able to accomplish any goal you have in your life. I know that this is true. I know that this church is true, and that Jesus is the Christ, I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers! He cares and wants to help us we just need to go to Him! I say that in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. 

Well I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

Elder Christensen sent the following pictures of P-day activites:

 He said he loves ultimate frisbee because it is fun and a good way to work out any stress.  The missionaries play with members and some others each week.

Howdy Y'all

Well this week was a bit rough, but still really good. We tried to meet with alot of our investigators, but a lot of them are out of town, or they had to cancel with us. So that was a little rough on us, but the work will continue to move forward. Some really great things happened this week. 

Monday was just P-day, but later that night we went to the mall to walk around and try to talk with people. This is proving to be a good place that people will approach us. But we always open up with a prayer before we walk in, and we asked to have someone put in our path. Well that night we were able to teach a couple different lessons. We talked with a guy that worked at one of the shops, and he was just cleaning the windows of the store but he started talking with us, and we talked with him for a little while. And he told us about how he has young kids and how we wants to raise them in a good environment. And so we got to talk to him about the youth programs that the church has, and he seemed interested, but we will see what happens. 

That night we also got to have an experience with someone that didn't really like us. He stopped us and started to talk to us about Jesus. So we got to talk with him for a little while. He was a nice guy, he just didn't think that we should have organized religion. So he started bringing out scriptures right and left. We asked him questions to try and help him see what we were trying to tell him. With all of the scriptures he was reading I could have put out a scripture to try and help him see what it meant, but right when I was ready to do this, I felt that I shouldn't. I felt that if I would try to help him see what we were trying to see with him it would progress into Bible bashing, and this is the last thing that I wanted to do, so I had a feeling that we should just say thank you for talking with us and then to keep going. So that's what we did. Listening to the spirit really has helped me so much in my mission. 

 Tuesday we were going to meet with Lexi, but she had something come up right before. We wanted to meet at the church building so after she could have the chance to go to young womens. She is way nice and a great person, but she just couldn't make it that night. But that night we had a miamaid in our ward invite her friend to young womens. So we went and were with the young women that night. We got to meet her friend and we were able to tech a lesson to the  young women in the ward. 

Thursday we had a great meeting with the ward council where we were able to talk about a lot of the members of the ward who were Less Active, or other members who needed help with something. We were able to help the ward council out a lot  that night because we have stopped by every house in the ward that is LA, and those that the ward council wanted us to meet with. We unfortunately haven't made contact with everyone but we have knocked all the doors, and were able to answer a lot of questions that ward council had.  

We just visited  with members the rest of the week, and just have been going through the lessons with a lot of them still. It is great to see them looking for more missionary opportunities. But my favorite part of the week was on the training we received from our mission president. It talked about how we need to become more converted. First he asked us what is the difference between a testimony and conversion. And we went through and talked about it. And we talked about how testimony is gained through the holy ghost, and it is the foundation up which conversion is built. We went through the scripture Moroni 8:25-26. And it talks about the process of conversion. 

First before we start reading this we need to understand that conversion starts with the words of God. It starts by reading the scriptures and going to church and living the gospel principles. This then leads us to build faith in Christ and we want to then change. This change is simply repentance, and then later on when we are baptized and confirmed we enter onto the path of discipleship. So starting in vs 25 of Moroni 8, it says  that the fruits of repentance is baptism. When we do this we are able to receive a  remission of sins. 

Going on to vs. 26 it says that the remission of sins leads us to become meek and lowly in heart or humble. And when we are humble we are able to have the Holy Ghost as our comforter which fills us with hope and perfect love. So as we do this we are slowly becoming converted.And this whole process is centered around the atonement. When we use the atonement in our lives and when we always strive to be better, we can become converted. A great quote that was talked about says, “You cannot convert people beyond your own conversion” (General Conference, April 1996).  As you deepen your own conversion, you will have more power to help others become converted. I love this, so I would invite you to take these steps and try to become more converted to the Lord. I promise that as you do you will be able to help others around you feel the Love of our Heavenly Father. I know this is true, and I have felt this in my life. 

Well it is weird to think that another transfer about about to come to a close. This Sunday we will get transfer calls. I am not to worried, I am sure me and Elder Harris will stay in the College Park Ward. I love this ward so much and I am so excited to continue to see it grow. The members here are great and I have truly grown to love each of them. 

Have a fantastic week Y'all

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

A Week of Miracles!

This was a crazy good week! On Monday we taught a guy who is totally prepared for the gospel! His name is Tony, but we went and talked with him after a couple weeks of trying to get in contact with him. We had a great dinner with him and his girlfriend that is in the ward. They were so kind, and after dinner we had the great opportunity to teach the restoration. 

The spirit was so strong, and when I recited the first vision, " I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun,which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description,standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other-- This is my Beloved Son. Hear Him!" There wasn't a dry eye in the room. You could tell that Tony felt something. 

He has been reading the Book of Mormon and see that the Book of Mormon and Bible support each other. And me and my companion both felt that we shouldn't give him a firm commitment for baptism. But we left him with a soft one. We committed him to baptism once he finds and answer to his prayer. And he accepted. After we asked if he would come to church and he said yes. He also wants to start inviting his friend to church. It is cool to see Tony already being a missionary and he isn't even a member! 

Tuesday was so great! We had the chance to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with the youth. We couldn't do baptizing, but we got to help confirm. It was great! But the reason we were able to go is because it was Austins Carroll's first time going to do baptisms. So I had the great chance to see him there and be able to do temple work. It was so cool when I got to confirm him in proxy for someone else, and when I got to see him preform the ordinance of baptism in proxy for those who have past on. I have loved being able to see Austin progress. We also have been able to start into the new member discussions this last week with him, and they have gone really well. But it was such a great experience to see him there dressed in white in the temple. I loved seeing how happy he was. 

Wednesday we did service at Panther Creek inspirational ranch. And it was raining and we were trying to move hay to a new building that they built. But we had to be careful cause there were some snakes hiding on the bottom level. Those who know me know that I don't do snakes very well, but it was a great experience to be able to serve. 

But later that afternoon we went out and tried visiting with less actives in the ward. We went to meet with a LA Member in the hospital. He is 91 years old and he is still as sharp at a needle. He really opened up to us and allowed us to share a message with him. But he is a super friendly man. 

Thursday, so this last week has rained quite a bit and there has been a little bit of flooding here in some parts of the Woodlands so we got a call from Panther Creek Ranch and they said they needed some help evacuating the horses from the ranch. So we got ready and went over there as fast as we could. It was absolutely pouring. When it rains here, it pours. And I don't have a jacket yet, so I got soaked! But it was good. 

We volunteered for those hours of the morning and helped get the horses to safer ground. This same thing happened last year and they lost a horse last year because the flooding was so bad so they really needed some help. I just love being able to be out here and serve everyday. Whether it be for physical needs or spiritual needs. That is my favorite part of serving a mission is being able to help others out for this period of two years. But that day it got even better. 

So we got to meet with a guy name Morgan. We set a time to meet with him, and we met him at Greg's mission farewell open house. And we went there to see how things were going, and his dad sat in with us and we got to just talk about god and beliefs for the first 30 min or so. But we just decided to go into the restoration. And the spirit was truly guiding the conversation. They were asking so many questions, and for almost every single one I had a scripture pop into my head. 

We were talking about apostles and prophets, and Morgans dad ( Phil) Asked us this, " I think it is so interesting that there are apostles and prophet just like when Jesus Christ was here. But I wonder if there is a prophet and apostles why they don't make them selves known to others." We started talking about general conference and how he could go online and see and listen to them. He got so excited and he asked for the website immediately. But this went on for the entire 2.5 hours we were there. At the very end he asked if we could pray with them. And it was so cool, they both prayed and asked our Heavenly Father if this is the path that He would have them take. They said when they get an answer from God they will follow it. 

Friday we had a wonderful zone meeting, it was focused on making members a priority in our everyday finding. The spirit was so strong and I loved being able to listen to the message that was taught that day. But members really are the best way to get things done. So after zone meeting we went on exchanges with another elder in my district, and it was a good chance to learn and teach. That is what is nice about exchanges. You have different opportunities to learn from other missionaries and other areas. And that kinda finishes out the week. 

 But again what I want to focus on is the member missionary work. We have been  going around to about 20 different families in the ward going through the missionary lessons with them. And we can see that they are getting excited about the work there are more missionary chances that members can see. The 2nd counselor in the bishopric wants to be know as the Master Inviter.  He wants to become the best at inviting everyone he talks to. He had a great experience this week where he prayed for a missionary opportunity and he found one that day and he acted on it. He bore testimony and said that his co worker should meet with the missionaries. And she said, "You tell me when and where, and I am there." Just a simple invite and they accepted. 

A priest decided to just invite his friend to learn more, and we will be meeting him on weds and teaching his friend. Another family is going all out the daughters went trick or treating this week and talked with there friends about coming to church and other things as well. These are just a small amount of things that have been going on in the ward. But because of the member efforts we are seeing the fruits of teaching them in this last week alone we got 4 brand new investigators all based on members inviting or member activities. We have two more potential that I just talked about. We are almost up to 10 investigators, and only a couple have been found through us. Believe me when I say we try everything we can do to find on our owns, but when the members get involved miracles happen. 

This is my testimony! I have seen this here in this amazing area that I am in. So pray for those opportunities and you will find them!  Once we show our faith to the Lord by setting a goal and asking, we can be blessed and help someone to experience the happiness of the gospel. I know this is true, so please I invite you to keep doing your best. Just remember the the Lord answers the prayers of his children through others.  

Have a wonderful week Y'all

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

A Blessed Week in The Woodlands

Howdy! 

This has been a pretty good week. It has had its ups and downs. Over all things have been good. Last Sunday I went around and set up a lot of appointments to meet with members so we could continue to go through the lessons with them. You can just see how much the members are wanting to have missionary opportunities, and the lessons are just getting them excited. The ward is now looking for more chances to share the gospel with others. It is really good, and we know that it is the members that will help this work to progress. We have been able to teach many lessons this week. 

Monday was P-day and it was fun because we carved pumpkins as a zone, but afterwards me and the Zone Leader Elder Stewart went on exchanges with each other. It was really good we taught 3 lessons just on that Monday night which was really good. It went through Tuesday, and we were able to do a lot on Tuesday as well. It was really nice being able to leave the apartment at 10:00 am instead of around 12:00. The Church has a 12 week training program for new missionaries, and so since I have been in Texas and me going through that, and now me training another missionary we have been doing that up until around 12:00. But we went out and tried to street contact. We didn't have much luck, but it was still a great chance to be able to learn some new things from the Zone leader. We exchanged back later that day, and we went and taught Lexi. It was a good lesson, and she is still progressing which is good. 

   Wednesday we had zone conference, and so it is were different parts of the mission gather for a big meeting and training. It was so good. We talked a lot about how we can help out our individual areas. Again me and my companion were thinking that we need to try and do some more family history stuff. So we will see where that takes us. But we both felt spiritually exhausted by the time it was over. We had to be there by 8 am and we left around 4 pm so it was a bit of a long day. There were some really great things that were said though. The spirit was so strong while we were there, and it just made you want to go back to your area and just keep using new ideas on how to find people. Also the members were brought up again so we will continue to work towards that. But something that stuck out to me was when you go out, pray for someone to be put in your path that you can talk to. It would not leave my head and I knew it was something that I wanted to try and do more often.

Thursday rolled around and we did some service over at the bishops house. He just had surgery on his eye. So we helped him out. He needed some things built on his wall so I was able to help him with that. It took a couple of hours but I think the end result was pretty sweet. I built the things on the walls, and my comp took the meat off of a deer skull. So that was our day there. 

  Friday!! We had a great miracle happen on this day. We went out and I was trying to figure out where we should go that day. And me and my companion decided to grab out bikes and put them on the back of the car. We drove to a certain point in our ward. We were going to go to less actives around that area. There were 8 we wanted to try and visit with. We started and door after door, no one was home. But we kept going to the next home, and we came to one home where we were going to talk to this family, but they didn't really even want us on there property. They weren't too happy when we showed up. We talked to them for just a little bit, and we kept going after and we went down the street and took a right into a dead end. We didn't want to have to turn around and go past that house again, so I thought well lets just try to find a way through. 

Well we found this path that lead to this park. And we followed it until it came to a parking lot. I saw this person who was in the car, and I thought I would just smile and wave to them. We kept biking for like 100ft and I heard a faint voice saying something. I turned and looked back and I see this hand signaling to us to come back. We turned around and started to go back. It was a man named Paul. He said he had a Mormon roommate, and always wanted to learn more just never had the time to stop and talk to missionaries. So we sat down right there and taught him the beautiful message of the restoration. He said that he was going to read the Book of Mormon. He said he would be interested to learn more. So we are waiting to hear back from him. 

The coolest part of this whole experience is before I took  my bike off the rack, I said a little prayer in my heart. I asked Heavenly Father to please put someone in our path that we could talk to. That thing I heard at zone conference absolutely helped me. I believe that is the reason that we were able to find and teach Paul.  God does prepare others to hear this great message we just need to pray with sincere intent to have those opportunities. So I would like to invite/challenge y'all to pray for a missionary opportunity each day. They are out there. Please look for them because as you do, you will be able to feel the love of our Heavenly Father more. I promise that you will be blessed for it. This is a wonderful work that we are all apart of. Keep up the great work. 

Saturday we had the great chance to do more service. Sean Micheal is a recent convert in one of the wards near us. He is a CEO for the Montgomery Food Bank. We helped with this big project to give a lot of people food. So we were going to be in charge of directing traffic. But Sean Micheal wanted me to go with him. I was helping him with a lot of the organizing of what would be happening that day. So I was running all over with another missionary checking on stations and making sure people were ready and prepared to help out. People started lining up at 5:00 am in there cars to come and get food. 

These people come from very humble lives. They don't have enough money to provide to things in there life. So they came to get food to help them out.10:30 was the time that we were scheduled to start handing out the supplies, and we were there by 8 am to help. Well at 10:30 Sean Micheal and I along with another missionary that was there, (my companion was out with another missionary helping with other things) started to help direct traffic at the very front of the lines. It was a great time. I got to help, but I also got to talk with a lot of these people who had been sitting for quite sometime. My love really grew for the people of Texas in just those early hours of the morning till the later hours of the afternoon. So many people have been struggling, and I just wanted to help each of them so bad. Many people asked me if I was in school, and I had the chance to explain to them that I was a missionary. Many of the older people thought it was just mind blowing to have an 18 year old Elder. That sure gave me a good laugh! I just loved being able to smile and talk with them. It was really such a great experience to share with these people.

Saturday night to Sunday we had stake conference. For the first time the missionaries were invited to go to the adult session of stake conference. The Spirit was so strong. The whole message of the conference was to help members become the full time finders. It was a great chance to be able to hear from the mission and Stake President. They bore such great and sincere testimonies! Again just this whole week has been so great, and we have truly been blessed in many ways. Lots of little miracles have been happening! I love being apart of this work, and I am so grateful to know that I am not alone. I know because of the saviors great and infinite atonement that we all can be helped from day to day. It is just one way that we are able to see the great love that our Father in Heaven has for us. I love the Lord and this gospel, and I am so happy for the chance I get to share that with others. 

I wish  Y'all the best and safe week.

Elder Joshua V. Christensen

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