September 29, 2014

Dear Mom, Dad, Family, and Friends,

I want to start by just expressing how much I love each of you! I am so thankful to have so many good friends and a wonderful family! I treasure the relationships that I have with each of you so much and I could never tell you just how much you mean to me. A mission really makes you appreciate the good people around you that you often took for granted before. :) Although I am not the best at writing each of you individually, I pray for you individually and think of you often. :)

I had a pretty good week:) Sister Hirro and I have seen many miracles! I will tell you of a few of them:) On Wednesday evening, we went out to dinner at village inn with Sister Souder (an active member) and a few other Sisters from the ward. It was fun! And free pie day:) yumm! (sorry for the random side note:) I have a strong love for food:) haha:) ) anyways, so Sister Souder let us know that she has a grandson that wants to be baptized! He is 10 years old and lives with her some of the time:) His mother is a non member and his father is very in-active in the church. The grandson has come several times with Sister Souder to church and he has been to a baptismal service as well! He loved it! Right after the baptism, he made plans on who would do what for his baptism. He asked who the highest in the ward was (the Bishop) and he decided that that is who he wants to baptize him:) Sister Souder talked to him and said that before he can make that decision, he has to meet with us to make sure that he believes everything we do and is ready for that kind of commitment. He is so excited! Pray a lot for the parent’s hearts to soften! We have to have parental consent before we can begin teaching him:) But he is so ready!

Later that night, we decided to try some former investigators:) We decided to try the Bucci (pronounced Boo-chee) first:) When we got to their home, all of their lights were off. We walked to the door and knocked but it looked pretty dead inside. We headed back to our car to head to the next person. Right as we got to the car, their lights turned on and a boy looked through the window. So, we walked back up there:) the boy let us right in and said, Oh! I know who you are. I will go grab my mom for you:) The mom came down and we gathered with their family in the living room. They are such a fun family! The father passed away due to cancer in December so it is a single mother, Julie. She has 2 children that live at home. Dominic is 13 (male) and Jasmine is 10 (female). They had missionaries coming by about a year and a half ago, but they lost contact with them. With the passing of their father, their hearts have been softened and they really like what we believe about the Plan of Salvation. We taught them how to pray and they said that they would pray each day. Our next appointment with them is next week so I will keep you updated as we continue to meet with them. They already had a Book of Mormon but we gave them another one so they could each have one:) I am really happy and excited that I get to work with this family:) People are coming out of the woodworks right and left:)

On Friday, there was a fireside at the Trail Center. We made several calls that day inviting everyone that we could:) One person in particular that we felt impressed to try was Sister Vicich. She is the only member in her family and a convert of about 20 years. She was promised long ago that if she would remain faithful, her husband would one day become a member and be called to serve as a Bishop. She has remained strong all of this time but nothing has changed with her husband. He didn't have any interest to learn more. Part of a back story, Sister Vicich has had many concerns over the Jews and how they will be brought to the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A few years ago she decided to put that on the back burner and not worry about it anymore. So, back to Friday:) We called her that morning inviting her and she said that she would have to check with her husband if she could go, and to give her a call back around 4:30. We called her back later that day and she didn't answer:) She said that she decided to not answer on purpose but we were persistent:) We called her back a little while later and she answered and said that she would call us back in about an hour to let us know if she decided to go or not:) She ended up being able to go, so we went to the fireside with her. It was on the Law of Moses being fulfilled! It was perfect! She said that the things we learned that night, answered those concerns that she has had for years! She was so excited!! She asked the instructor to send her a copy of the power point via email.:) so, the next day, she was driving in the car with her husband when the email came through! She was so excited and started telling her husband all about it because he wanted to know why she was so happy:) Long story short, his heart has been softened and he wants to know more! (not from missionaries yet.. but from his wife!) Wow!! She thought that she would never see the day that her husband’s heart would soften:) I know that as we stay faithful and do our part, miracles happen in the lives of those that we love:)

The Women's Broadcast was so amazing on Saturday night!! We went to the Gray's house to watch it and they had a lot of the women from the ward over:) It was so nice watching it with a family and knowing that my family back home was doing the same thing as I was:) It answered many things that I have been struggling with lately:) Isn't it great to know that we have a Father in Heaven that is involved in the details of our lives and answers our prayers:) I am so excited for General Conference this weekend!! It will be wonderful!! I know that as we prepare ourselves to hear the word of God from our Prophet and inspired leaders this weekend, we will know what God wants for us and those areas that we can improve in:)    

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I love you all so much!!

Sister Christensen