Sunday, September 28, 2014

September 15, 2014

Hello dear family and friends!

I hope that you have all been doing well! Are you feeling any better
and getting over those sicknesses? I am so sorry to hear that you were
all really sick this past week! Just a reminder that transfers are
this week, so if you send any mail after today, send it to the mission
office:)

Things in Fairview are going well:) I now know most everyone's name,
so I can shake their hand each week:) haha so life is good:) There are
some good members here that have continued to steal a little piece of
my heart:) I had no idea that my heart could hold so much love for so
many people:)

We had a good week:) I am trying to figure out what to share..:) We
had a really good lesson with Brother Brown and Angie last monday
evening. We went over there for our family home evening and had..
strawberry shortcake! again:) haha I could get used to eating that
every week:) haha:) I consider Brother Brown to be a grandpa away from
home:) He's great! Brother Brown taught the lesson and for his lesson,
he read the talk "Drawing closer to God" from the October 2013 General
Conference. He had almost made it through the lesson when all of the
sudden, he just broke down! He couldn't hold himself together and he
just bawled. He said that that has only happened to him once before.
He has had a few experiences recently that have shaken him up a
little, (friend's have given him anti material) but he decided that he
would put all of that behind him and stay true to what he feels is
right. He prayed for a confirmation to feel that this was true again
and it definitely came. I think that that is one of the strongest
times that I have ever felt the Spirit on my mission. You could almost
reach out and slice it with a knife:) In all honesty, I don't think
that there was a dry eye in the room. Even though he has been a member
for a year now, he said that when he feels the Holy Ghost, it is still
kind of new for him. He said that it was hard not having the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in his life, but it was worth the wait:) I love the
Brown's and their examples of diligence and faith:)

On Thursday, we had a lot of service opportunities:) Sister Peterson
and I went down to Plattsmouth for a few hours in the afternoon and
provided some service at a thrift shop! It was fun for a change:)
haha:) then that night, we had a relief society activity where we made
kits for a humanitarian project! I love service:) that is probably one
of my favorite things about serving a mission! There was a little 8
year old girl in our ward that got baptized yesterday after Stake
Conference so we were on spiritual highs:) I am so excited for the day
that I am able to hear about or see someone that I have worked with
enter the waters of baptism:)

I was reading a talk this morning in my personal study called "Faith--
the choice is yours" by Richard C. Edgley. In it, he shared a couple
of thoughts that I wanted to include in the email today:)

"When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast a devil out as
theyhad just witnessed the Savior do, Jesus answered, “If ye have
faith as agrain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence toyonder place; and it shall remove” (Matthew 17:20). I
have never witnessedthe removal of an actual mountain. But because of
faith I have seen amountain of doubt and despair removed and replaced
with hope andoptimism. Because of faith I have personally witnessed a
mountain of sinreplaced with repentance and forgiveness. And because
of faith I havepersonally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with
peace, hope, andgratitude. Yes, I have seen mountains removed."

I have found similar times in my life and the lives of those that I
have worked with. I may not have seen a literal mountain move, but I
have seen emotional and spiritual mountains move. As we make the
choice to have faith in our life, we are given the strength through
the Grace of Christ to move symbolic mountains.:) It doesn't matter
what "mountain" may be in front of you right now. It could be fear or
uncertainty about the future. It could be a recent loss. It could be
an overarching feeling of despair or discouragement. You might feel
alone or abandoned by God. No matter what you are struggling with, it
can be overcome! That is something that I have learned about Christ
and the Atonement on my mission. Yes, Christ did come to Earth to take
upon Himself everything that we would ever go through. But, He didn't
just experience it so that He could relate to us perfectly when we
struggle. He overcame everything. And because He overcame everything,
we can too! He knows what it takes to overcome everything because he
did so perfectly! As we choose to have faith, and more specifically
faith in Christ, He can help us and strengthen us to overcome our own
personal mountains. Through His strength, we can do all things:)

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

With love,
Sister Christensen

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