Hello my dear family:)
I hope that everything is
going very well for you! I hope that you had a Happy Valentines Day!! Hope you
had a happy birthday ryan!! Maddy, I have a letter coming for you, but with it
being President's day yesterday and the mail behind, I am not sure if it will
make it on your birthday or not.. If it doesn't I am really sorry!! I had a
good last half of the week:) It has been amazing to say the least:) Let me
share with you a few of the great things that happened:)
First off.. guess
what??!!? it was 64 degrees outside as we walked into the Library!!
Hallelujah!!
haha its a very dramatic
change to what its been like lately! I am so thankful for the sunny skies here
in Omaha today!
So on Valentines day, we
went to the temple as our missionary zone!! What a perfect day to have the
temple trip fall on:) It was absolutely wonderful! There is nothing like being
in the temple and doing the work for ourselves and our family members that have
passed on. It is amazing! I was able to give the names out to
several fellow missionaries that you sent me so the work was done for all
8 females:) I will send them back to you sometime this week:) There is such a
special spirit when you do the work for your own ancestors:) Oh and I was able
to see the "new, new" video!! The one that just came
out last week apparently! I didn't realize that there was another new one! It
was really good:) I liked having a variation and trading between the 2 new
ones because I felt like I was able to learn more and get more incites out of
it that I hadn't picked up on before:) It was really cool:)
Yesterday was the BEST
preparation day ever!!! Not even kidding:) With it being Presidents day, we had
a little extra time yesterday due to the fact that we weren't emailing
yesterday.. so us and the millard sisters (Sisters Rasmussen and
Willis) went to the amazing pizza machine!! It's very similar to a
chuck-e-cheese or something like that. There is a big lunch buffet, arcade games,
bumper cars, rides, laser-tag, etc:) Haha so we had a blast!! We played a game
of laser tag with just us four sisters:) It was awesome!! I had 3 slurpees as
well!! Delicious!! It brought back so many great memories with the younger
kiddos:) We did a photo at a picture booth while we were there so I will try to
send you a pic of that today while im emailing:) haha it was so much fun!! And
we got permission to play the dance dance revolution game there:) I won:)
haha so that's all that matters:) The Zone Leaders are trying to get
permission to get together as a district next pday and go there again.. but im
not sure if that will get approved:)
Today we had our
last district meeting before transfers so it was pretty sad to know
that it was coming to a close. This has been the absolute BEST district of my
mission so far! We have gotten really close to the other sisters:) (Sister
Rasmussen and Sister Willis) and the Elders. haha I finally remembered to
include this.. Elder Demke from Lehi has been one of my zone leaders this
transfer:) So that has been really entertaining for all of you that know him:)
Haha I have loved it!! The Zone Leaders got permission to go to lunch as a
district today which was really fun for a change:) (As a mission rule we aren't
allowed to eat lunch or do anything with both Sisters and Elders together) So
it was really neat to be able to go today:) We went to a Mexican place called
La Mesa:) It is very similar to Guadalahonkeys:) So it was really yummy:)
Yes, transfers are this
week.. Im really hoping that nothing changes with my companionship and the
other companionships in our district. But.. we'll see what happens:) We will
get a phone call sometime on Thursday letting us know what will happen to us
for the next 6 weeks of our lives and then transfers will happen about 7:30 on
Friday morning. Can you believe its already time for transfers again? This
transfer flew by it feels like:)
Oh, some exciting news:)
The millard sisters are moving in with us tonight!!! Just for about a week:)
The members that they are living with right now have some family coming to stay
with them.. so they are coming to stay at our house through next Monday:) So
that will be a par-tay!! haha
Funny moment in a lesson
this week: We were at a members home, the G’s, and we were teaching about the
Book of Mormon. In a verse that we read, the word ignorance was in it. So.. we
checked for understanding and asked them what they thought ignorance meant:)
Right away, their 3 year old boy answered, "Uh.. Parents?!?" haha we all
just about died laughing:) It was a pretty perfect answer:) haha
M T's baby shower is this
Saturday! I can't believe that she is already 8 months along! That baby boy
will be here before we know it! I hope I'm here to meet him when he comes, but
if I'm not, I know that that is Heavenly Father's will. Haha I will just have
to come back and visit in a year and a half or so:)
Mari Simpson (the yw
preparing to serve a mission) Leaves in like 3 weeks!!! She reports to the
Provo MTC on March 12th! She is going down early though to stay with some
family:) It is coming quick!! So it is really cool being on this side of the
situation and being the one that is encouraging the future missionary to be:)
haha It is much nicer!! Seriously, a mission is great!! Do everything you can
to live worthy of it because it is seriously one of the best things you could
be doing!! I love it:) The work is difficult, but so worth it!
Oh Yea!! How could I
almost forget? We had zone training this past Wednesday! We are doing what is
called "The Mission Olympics". It is a series of events (sit ups,
push ups, stick pull, ladders, and curl ups) that we all compete in. We compete
first in our zones and they have a Sister and an Elder that wins from each
event. Then they have those winners compete against other zones until we have a
champion:) Hope that made sense:) So guess what?? I was the winner for the Sisters
in Sit ups!!! (Just for my zone so far) I got 102 in 3 minutes:) I will be
competing against 2 other sisters at zone conference this next week. Wish me
luck! I'm starting to train:) better late than never right? haha It's a little
pathetic:) I was so sore those first couple of days after it! My stomach
muscles were honestly torn apart! I couldn't move, it hurt to breathe, laugh,
etc:) It reminded me of a horror movie:) or Hell. There was a lot of wailing
and gnashing of teeth going on when it was time to get up in the morning:) haha
it took all of our strength to make it out of bed:) haha So mom, on
facebook, Sister Weston said that she was going to be posting some pictures
from that:) You should look on there and see if any of them are up yet:) one
funny moment that she might put a picture on of.. Is of Sister Rasmussen,
Sister Winterton, and I doing stick pull with Elder Demke. It took all 3 of us
but we were able to win him!! haha It was pretty sweet:)
Thank you for the
Valentines day package that you sent!!! It was wonderful!! the owl theme was so
adorable!! I loved the hot chocolate! I have actually been wanting some of
that!! They don't sell very much hot chocolate here in Nebraska.. Apparently a
lot of the brands that we normally get are Utah only.. Weird.. :) But thank you
so much!! I loved the letter, card, scarf, mug, candy, talks, etc!! It was
perfectly perfect!! thank you much!! haha
Something that stood out
to me this past week was in the temple. In a few instances, they are told
"go and be happy". In Second Nephi chapter 2, we read that "Adam
fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." I think we
often tend to overlook that last part of the verse. We are to have joy!
Elder Jeffery R. Holland
gave a talk titled "The Tongue of Angels" in the April 2007 general
conference. In it, he states, "I love what Elder Orson F. Whitney once
said: “The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on
the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down
and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to
yield obedience.” We should honor the
Savior’s declaration to “be of good cheer.” (Indeed,
it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost
any other!) Speak hopefully. Speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try
not to complain and moan incessantly. As someone once said, “Even in the golden
age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too
yellow.”
I have often thought that
Nephi’s being bound with cords and beaten by rods must have been more tolerable
to him than listening to Laman and Lemuel’s constant murmuring. Surely he must have said at least once, “Hit me one more time. I
can still hear you.” Yes, life has its problems, and yes, there are negative
things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland’s maxims for living—no
misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."
I love that!! So I'm not
saying this to make you feel bad if your language or attitude isn't always
great:) We all struggle at times to find the hope and happiness that we seek
for. But, we should be happy:) Look around:) We are so blessed:) I am
so blessed:) I have an amazing family and friends back home that support me:) I
have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation:) and I have a
loving Savior that seeks to comfort, strengthen, and love me
unconditionally:) I may not be around my mortal father at this time, but my
Heavenly Father hears my prayers and watches over my family and I while I'm
here. I have so many more things that I am grateful for:) but that would take
all day to type out:) I want you to know that I am happy:) Quite honestly,
happier than I have ever been my whole life! I am so thankful and privileged
to be a part of Hastening the Lord's work!! It is an exciting time to be
alive and an exciting time to be a missionary!! There are so many things that
we have to be happy and grateful about:) I would challenge you each to take a
moment at the end of each day and find something that happened that day that
was great:) Find a tender mercy or a miracle that happened that day that showed
you that Heavenly Father was aware of you:) There are so many things that
happen each day that show this:) I promise you that as you look for the good
things, you will be more happy! I have seen this in my own life as I find a
miracle or tender mercy each day in my own life:) Heavenly Father is aware of
us and He loves us unconditionally:)
I love you!! Have a great
week and know that I love you!!
Sister Christensen
No comments:
Post a Comment