How has life been? :) haha I hope that it has been swell:) I love each
of you so much and appreciate your support:) Thank you for the
difference you have made and continue to make in my life for good:) I
appreciate each of you so much! I hope that you had an enjoyable time
at the cul-de-sac of fire on Monday:) That is one of my favorite
traditions for the 24th of July:) I can't wait to hear more about all
of your adventures the last couple of weeks:) From what I hear, you
have had a pretty good summer so far:) oh and I hope that you had a
good birthday Ashley!! I was thinking about you on your special day!
Monday was great as I said in my email last week:) With Ragbrai going
on, our little town was buzzing:) But, at least it was a little tender
mercy that we were able to sleep some that night despite the noise of
thousands of campers outside our home:) It was so nice having many
members of our church coming up to us and talking with us:) It was
such a tender mercy:) We got fried! Yes, I wore sunscreen and I put it
on several times throughout the day, but it didn't work as well as
hoped:) I have been drenching myself in aloe vera so that has helped
some:) but now I am in the awkward peeling phase:) haha:) oh well,
this too shall pass:)
Interviews went well:) It is great to meet with our Mission President,
even if it is only every 3 months:) He is one of the most spiritual
man that I know. When he talks, it feels like the earth is shaking:)
haha:) In Sister Peterson's interview, President gave her some hard
news. Because she has been out for 9 months with no luck getting a
visa, she had to make a decision. He gave her 2 options. 1. To have
him call church headquarters and have her reassigned to a Portuguese
speaking mission (could be stateside or foreign) (and could be in 2
weeks or after another transfer) or option 2. To stay here for 3 more
months as a visa waiter. If the visa comes, she would go to Brazil. If
not, she would permanently be reassigned as a Nebraska, Omaha
missionary. She had about 24 hours to make this decision and it was
really hard on her, as it would be for anyone. In the end, she decided
to choose option 1 and get reassigned to a different mission. It was a
difficult 24 hours for both of us. She really just wanted to do
Heavenly Father's will, whatever that might be. She was able to get a
Priesthood blessing which helped her a lot I think:) She made her
decision as we were in Le Mars:) The ice cream capitol of the world!!
President Weston had called and needed the decision so we decided to
make a stop there and talk about it some more while eating ice cream:)
cuz ice cream usually helps with anything:) So we stopped there and
after getting our ice cream, she made the call. We both cried a lot
and it was neat to have such a close experience with her. I did my
best to comfort her and we just sat there and cried for a while:) but
its ok:) she is doing much better now:) It was cool to feel how much I
have come to love her in the last 2 transfers. I didn't expect that.
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| Sister Peterson and I |
Oh and a random other thing that President committed all of us
missionaries to do. He wants us to pray at least 30 times a day. I am
pretty sure we have come close to that but it will be cool to really
include the Lord in everything that we do:)
Exchanges was great though! right after Interviews with President, we
went on exchanges with Sister Larson and Sister May in their area in
Sioux City. It was well needed and so great to be around other
missionaries again! Its easy to get lonely when you are 2 hours away
from the closest sisters:) I can now say that I have served (in some
form) and slept in 3 different states on my mission:) Their area
covers parts of South Dakota:) and that's where they live so that was
cool!
One tender mercy happened on Sunday. Sister Holloway is awesome! She
is the Relief Society President in the Spencer Branch. We were talking
about Sister Peterson's decision at church on Sunday and she made the
comment that she didn't know why, but on Friday, she felt like she
needed to fast for someone. She didn't know who, but she knew that
Heavenly Father needed her to fast for someone. So she did! how
inspired! I love those little moments when Heavenly Father shows you
that He is aware of you and what is going on in your life. :)
I hope that you have a wonderful week and know that I love each of you
so much! Oh!! I almost forgot some really cool news!! Sister Fulbright
sent me a letter last week and told me that the Turners are getting
ready to go to the temple to be sealed as a family eternally!! I am so
excited for them!!! and another less active that I worked with in
Lakeview, Sister Peterson, is getting ready to go through the temple
for herself as well!! good things are happening there:) And.. they
have 16 solid investigators and 4 people set for baptism!!! what???
Some of them are people that we found while I was there. The thoughts of why did I have to leave right before all of that crossed my mind, but I am happy that I was able to be a part of planting seeds in Lakeview:) I actually reopened Lakeview so its cool to see that even though I may not see the success of opening or reopening an area while I serve there, that good things happen down the road!
I remembered this time to remind you that it is fast sunday this week!
Can you believe it? So take some time to prepare yourself for this
sunday and make your fasts meaningful:) We should be preparing
ourselves for Sacrament Meeting just as we would for baptism:)
With love,
Sister Christensen
P.S. a little thought from president's weekly email to us
missionaries:) "I, not events, have the power to make me happy or
unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be" (Groucho Marx). "Men
are, that they might have joy" (Nephi 2:25).
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