April 21, 2014

Dear Family,

 I love you!! I hope you had a wonderful Easter! I did:) It was a wonderful roller coaster of a week:) Apparently I have a lot of stretching still to do:) haha but I am being strengthened:) I had an interview with President Weston that helped a lot:) I will have to write about it later though for lack of time:) anyways, don't worry:) I'm doing ok:)

First of all I have huge news!!! R accepted the baptismal commitment to get baptized!!! This is for reals!! We have set the tentative date of May 3rd but we think we are going to move it back a week. (May 10th!!!) I am so happy I might die from happiness over here:) not going to lie. As soon as Sister Fulbright and I walked out of the lesson and she was out of sight we were dancing around and doing heal clicking:) haha:) Then as we got in the car, we were screaming like crazy!! haha:) good times! good times:)

Easter was really great this week:) We had a lot of great members looking out for us:) I believe you got a couple of pictures from this week:) We decorated eggs with the Gudjenovs Saturday night:) It was a lot of fun:) They have really cool traditions in Bulgaria and we implemented a few of them into our routine:) One of them is they take the eggs after they have been hard boiled and decorated, and you smash the tips of everyones eggs together. The person with the last egg to get cracked is the winner:) (hope that made a little sense:)) Sister Fulbright and I won:) Apparently it is a huge thing there and all of the kids run around smashing eggs with each other until they have a winner:) the winner is supposedly supposed to have good luck for a year:) Pretty sweet:) haha

We had dinner last night at the Taylor's house. They had a non member friend there (her name was Teresa) and the spirit was so strong during that lesson! I honestly don't think I have ever felt the spirit stronger in a lesson than that one. She is leaving to Alaska for 5 months and is going to read the Book of Mormon while she is there. It was awesome! Oh and I had to repent after being in their house;) It was gorgeous!! Haha I tried not to covet:) haha:) He is the CEO for Oriental Trading Company. Do you remember the magazines we always got in the mail? yep that's the one:) haha:) So I have some ins now:) haha

Thank you for the cards that I received and the pictures today through email:) I loved them!!! you guys look so good:) you are growing up way too quick tho!! do you want to do me a favor and slow down a little bit? :) I'm glad that you had such a fun time at Arches and that you soaked up some sun:) how wonderful:)

So I am sure that you watched the video "Because of Him", but if you haven't already, I recommend it!   "Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. Because of Him, death is not the end, and life takes on new meaning. We can change, we can start over—and we can live again with God. This Easter, celebrate His life and discover all that’s possible because of Him." One of my favorite scriptures on the resurrection is found in Mosiah 16:7-9 

7 "And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no ^asting, there could have been no resurrection.

 8 But there is a ^aresurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of ^bdeathis swallowed up in Christ.

9 He is the ^alight and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

Because of Him, the grave has no victory and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. Because of Him, no goodbye lasts forever. Because of Him, we will be able to live again in our Father's presence with our families for eternity:) I am everything, because of Him!

Have a wonderful week!!

Love you lots!!

Sister Christensen:)  

April 14, 2014 - Happy Easter

Hey my dear family and friends:)

I hope that things are going well for you and continue to do so. I am glad that you were all able to have a really great Spring Break. From what I've heard, it sounds like you were able to do a lot of fun things and enjoy your time off:) That is wonderful! I am so glad to hear that:) Omaha is pretty crazy when it comes to weather:) It has been a long, cold winter and then all of the sudden it got really hot and humid:) Saturday was in the 80's and very humid.. then we wake up this morning to snow everywhere again:) haha it's super bipolar:) I don't understand it:) Only in Omaha:) haha so I'm sorry if the email is any shorter today than normal:) we realized that we didn't have a car scraper in our new car either..so our hands were the next default option:) so I am trying to defrost my hands as we speak:) haha:)

This week was a pretty good week:) It stretched me emotionally but everything is ok:) My testimony of the Atonement continues to grow each day:) I am so thankful for a loving Savior that overcame everything that we would ever experience so that we would never have to run this race alone:)

Haha so onto my week. We had exchanges again with our Sister Training Leaders, Sisters Page and Larson. I spent the day in Papillion again with Sister Larson this time which was wonderful! I had no idea that you could get a headache from laughing too much:) but, it happened:) haha our heads were pounding by the end of the exchange:) haha at least we had a really good time:) haha she had us switch roles for a little bit so I was acting like the STL:) It was nice to be able to feel like I could help her:) haha you know me, I am not one to normally open up to people and share problems, so it was nice that I could do what I like to do and help other people with their things:) But, let me tell you:) It was the most awkward exchange in the world!!! no joke!! I will tell you of a few of the things that happened:)

One of their investigators had her home flooded. But, this wasn't any normal kind of flood. It wasn't the kind where your basement fills up with water... It was their sewer! It got backed up or something and so it all came back up through their toilets, sinks, etc. Their basement was about 4 inches tall everywhere you could see with nasty sewer water. Haha so here is a lesson for you kiddos:) when mom asks you to clean up and do some simple chores around the house, don't complain! It could be worse! You could have been cleaning up a basement full of nastiness like I did:) haha:) Being a missionary has really humbled me, because I now have the opportunity to do a lot of service that I would have never gotten the chance to do before.:)

Haha some other things from the exchange I won't go into detail in, but needless to say, we had quite a few people open the door without sufficient clothing on. There were 2 that were completely bare. I never know how to react and what to do in those situations:) haha:) it must have been because its a lower class area because I saw more people like that, that day, than I have my entire stay in Lakeview combined! Awkward:) haha:) on that note...

I am really looking forward to Easter this week:) It is a wonderful time of year to more fully remember our Savior and His sacrifice for all of us. I watched a Mormon message titled "None were with Him" if you would like to take the time and watch it. It is from Holland so you can count on it being super powerful! I am so thankful for my Savior. Here is an excerpt from Elder Bednar's most recent General Conference talk on the Atonement.

"The Savior said:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

A yoke is a wooden beam, normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals that enables them to pull together on a load. A yoke places animals side-by-side so they can move together in order to accomplish a task.

Consider the Lord’s uniquely individual invitation to “take my yoke upon you.” Making and keeping sacred covenants yokes us to and with the Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, the Savior is beckoning us to rely upon and pull together with Him, even though our best efforts are not equal to and cannot be compared with His. As we trust in and pull our load with Him during the journey of mortality, truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

We are not and never need be alone. We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help. Through the Savior’s Atonement we can receive capacity and “strength beyond [our] own”

I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us more than we can comprehend. The Atonement is for us and His sacrifice is in vain if we don't use it. We can repent and become more like Him, receive strength and comfort through hard times, etc. It covers everything and is there for us each time we need it:) I know this, because I have seen this personally in my life and in those people around me. It is amazing!

Have a wonderful Easter! I love you!

Sister (Erica) Christensen:)

"Life by the yard is hard, but by the inch it's a cinch". "Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God...if they hold out faithful to the end...they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness."(Mosiah 2:41). "Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so: all is right...Happy day! All is well!" Don't worry. whatever the struggle may be, we have lots of people around us and the Lord to help:)

April 7, 2014 - Nasty Oreos

Hello my wonderful family and friends!

I hope that all is going well for you back home:) I saw that you are headed to Arches! That is awesome!! Have lots of fun and take pictures:) Enjoy your spring break!! (I'm assuming that's happening this week considering dad and mom are allowing you to miss school:) ) haha:)

I am sure you want to know what happened with transfers this week:) Everything is actually staying the same:) I am with Sister Fulbright, serving in Lakeview for another 6 weeks:) We moved houses though. So we are staying with the Gudjenovs! They are converts from Bulgaria! They are wonderful and it should be really great living with them! Haha it is a little weird not being able to understand half of what they are saying tho:) they speak pretty fluently now but they prefer speaking to each other in Bulgarian:) I will send my address in a different email to you mom:) Elder Demke and Sister Rasmussen both got transferred so I will miss having them in our District, but I am very happy to know that I will see them again. Sister Rasmussen and I plan on working at a dude ranch after the mission:) haha we'll see if that happens:)

So I cut my hair:) Only about 4 inches though so nothing too extreme:) Oh also, on April Fools Day we had some members pull some pranks on us:) One member gave us a bag of oreos, but she had taken all of the cream out of them and replaced it with tooth paste!! sick!! haha

I forgot to tell you a funny story that happened a couple of weeks ago:) maybe you had to be there but I thought that It was really funny!! So after District Mtg, we were going out to lunch with the Millard Sisters and we really like this place called A+ Buffet:) It is a Mongolian buffet:) The waitress doesn't understand much English but it hasn't been a problem in the past:) She was asking what drinks we wanted and I told her that I would like a Sprite:) haha! She brought the drinks back and they were in plastic cups with lids so you couldn't tell what you were drinking very well. I was really thirsty so I took a big gulp!! You can imagine my horror as I realized that what I was drinking was most definitely not Sprite! It was tea!! I was mortified and quickly spit what I could back out:) haha!! it was quite the scene:) JK!! So yes, my first and only time having tea, happened to be on my mission:) How ironic, right? I hope that you found it humorous:) haha

R is doing really well! She has been receiving an answer:) Last sunday she said that she woke up and she described it as a voice that spoke to her in her head and told her that she was on the right path!! She watched the Sunday morning session of GC with some friends from another ward and really liked it and she got another priesthood blessing! I love her! She was so relieved to hear that neither of us were getting transferred:) She is wonderful!

So from Ballard's talk, you probably heard that we should share insights we learn from Preach My Gospel. So here is something that I learned from my personal study in it this morning. I am studying the section 11 on commitments right now. On pg. 195-196 we learn that Commitment is an essential part of repentance! commitments prepare people to keep commandments which then prepare people to keep covenants (full access to the Atonement) which leads to a deep and abiding conversion! Did you follow that? Commitments prepare people to keep commandments, then covenants, and ultimately conversion! People will not likely change unless they are invited to do so!

Did you just love General Conference this weekend?? It was incredible!! I always feel like I am on a spiritual high after listening to our Prophet and church leaders. They speak for God and tell us what we need to hear. I hope that your heart and mind was open to the Spirit and that you were able to receive revelation on how you can improve and how you can improve the situations you are in:) I know that I did! As we learned in the Priesthood session of General Conference from Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, the purpose of conference isn't fulfilled unless we intend to act. Intend to change! The messages that we heard and the guidance we received will do nothing for us if we don't act on those things we have heard! I fully understand that change can be very hard. I am not discounting that at all. But, change is possible as we have faith in Christ and allow His atonement to make weak things become strong!

In Mosiah 3:19 we learn "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, andputteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." We have weaknesses because we are human, but through the Atonement of Christ, we can change our natures to become more like our Heavenly Father.

In Helaman 12:27-28 we learn "27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them theirweakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness." As we exercise our faith and overcome our ultimate weakness, which is our lack of faith in our Savior, then He can make those weak things become strong!

I would invite each of you to look at the things you have learned from Conference. I know that each of you received inspiration on what you personally need to improve on. Individually, pick one thing that you want to improve yourself in. It can be anything! It can be making time for scripture study or prayer daily, your attitude, going to the temple more, putting God first, etc. There are infinite possibilities! I know that as you have faith in our Savior, you can make weak things become strong. It is difficult and you will mess up several times before you get it right, but through the Atonement, it is possible!!

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week!! Mom and Dad, I hope that you have a wonderful 21st Anniversary this week! You are wonderful examples to me of what I want to aspire to grow up to be like:) Thank you for your love, support, encouragement, and prayers that you send my way:) The same comes back to you from me:) I love you!

With love,

Sister (Erica) Christensen:)

March 31, 2014 - A Week of Miracles

Hello my dear family!

I hope that everything is going well for you! You are all amazing and I am very fortunate to be a part of this great family! I hope that you enjoyed the General Women's mtg! I thought it was absolutely amazing!!! The spirit was so powerful and it was really cool knowing that even though we were in different places, we were all experiencing the same things:) Thank you for the package that you sent this week! It was wonderful!! Thank you for the letters:) Oh and I got a priesthood blessing last night:) So I am doing much better with everything.:)

So this week was a week of pretty amazing miracles! Let me tell you of a few of them:)

First of all.. Guess what?!?! REBECCA CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!! Sister Fulbright and I almost fell out of our seats as we were standing in the church hallway, and here walks in Rebecca!!! over 30 minutes early!! I am so amazed with her desire to do what's right even though it is really hard for her. She has so much faith! She came to church yesterday, knowing that she was going to get really sick as a result. Whenever we go to teach her, she gets sick because of the scents on us. She is really sensitive and allergic to any scents including chemicals in carpets, deodorant, perfumes, cleaners, etc. So that is a really hard challenge for her. But she is doing amazing and I am so blessed to work with her!

Next, a miracle at the hospital! So we had just finished dinner on Thursday night when we were driving out in our area, going to try some less actives. We were driving by the hospital and I got a strong prompting that we needed to go and visit Sister Jones there, even though we had just been the day prior. So, we went. We went up to her room number and the door was shut. A voice from the other side said "come in!" as we knocked on the door. We opened the door and to our suprise, Sister Jones wasn't the person in the bed.. You can probably imagine our shock:) (Apparently Sister Jones had been released Wednesday night) When we walked into the room, the lady said "Oh sisters! I am so glad that you came!" We talked to her and found out that she was a sister in a different ward, and that she had just had a stroke that day, so she was taken to the hospital. She didn't tell anyone in the ward that she was there, but she was praying all day that someone from the church would come and see her. Kind of ironic right? Praying for someone to come and see you even though no one knew you were there. Well. The Lord works in mysterious ways! She was crying for most of the time because she felt so touched that we came. She said that we were an answer to her prayers and that she could feel that Heavenly Father was aware of her. It was a very humbling experience. It was very neat being led by the Spirit without even realizing that we were. Heavenly Father is aware of us! I know, because He sent 2 strangers across town, to visit His beloved daughter, Sue Quinette.

We went to the zoo today with Sister Cooper!! She is so good to us! It was such an enjoyable experience! The Omaha Zoo is really great! Apparently it is ranked like 2nd in the Nation!

Wish me luck with transfers this week. I am pretty nervous to hear what will happen. But I know that regardless of what happens, I will be where Heavenly Father needs me to be at this time. Thank you for your letters, love, prayers, and support:) They mean so much to me and gives me strength to press forward:) I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week and enjoy General Conference:) Hopefully you can have your conference ensigns done in time:)   

With love,

Sister (Erica) Christensen 

March 24, 2014

Howdy Family and Friends:)

Sorry I am later than normal again today:) Hopefully I don't form a habit of coming late to the library:) We have had some crazy days these past couple of weeks:) This morning, the house that the Millard Sisters are staying in flooded! And the members were out of town. So they woke up this morning around 5:55 with the whole basement flooding. At that point there was about 3 inches covering the whole thing. So that's not good! But luckily, none of their things got ruined! So that put things for our preparation day behind schedule:) Everything is fine though and the water is mostly gone now:) In about an hour we are going to help someone move as well. So if you don't get any letters this week.. I am really sorry! I will do my best but my schedule is a little tight! I hope that everything is going well with you back at home:) I feel privileged to be a part of my family and I am so thankful for each of you:) You lift my spirits whenever I hear from you:) thank you for all that you do! You are in my prayers each day:)

Just a couple of updates from this week:) Michaela had her baby boy! They named him Aiden! He was born on Friday, March 21st at 7:07 pm! He is 7 lbs. 1 oz. He has dark hair and is so stinkin cute! Seriously, I wish I could hold him so bad! haha:) but its ok:) I am learning self control:) haha:)

So we did a lot of walking this past week. Luckily the weather was pretty decent here:) We felt like we needed to stop by at the Ks house (even though we had just taught them the night before). Their cousins from Mississippi came into town that day unexpected and we had no idea! But we were able to randomly walk in and teach them! It was pretty funny when we walked in because Sister King kept saying "I promise! I didn't call them or plan this!" (talking to her cousins) She was really happy that we decided to stop by though because they haven't let missionaries teach them in the past when they have knocked on their doors. So this is about the only way it would have worked:) The Lord works in mysterious ways:)

I had an interesting experience last week.. I was in a lesson where the less active almost died in front of us. It was bad! Sharon had been in the hospital about a month ago and they thought she was getting a little better. Apparently not. We went to see her on Thursday night and she was in an awful condition! It took her about 10 minutes to form one sentence, she was shaking, not coherent at all!, etc.. So we called a couple of people to see what to do and they ended up taking her to the hospital. I was really nervous though because watching someone die on my mission was definitely not on my bucket list.. :) All is well though!

Funny Story. So I have been seriously cravings onions for a while! I know, I'm pretty weird:) So I bought some at the store last week.. and I am not experienced with cutting onions. I don't know any tricks to avoid this.. but I was making myself a salad for lunch one day and thought to include the onion in it:) haha bad choice:) By the time I was done, my makeup had all smeared down my face! I looked like the lady off of Mulan! I will send a picture.. but just know:) It was much worse than the picture shows:) I wiped off most of it before my companion stopped me and took a picture:) and this pic doesn't go on the blog:) haha:) #missionaryproblems! at least it gave us a good laugh:) haha

This past week we did a lot of service! It’s always good for me to remember that I am CALLED to SERVE! I am very lucky to be able to do so much service for people. Christ set the perfect example on how to love others and serve them. I think we try and over complicate things sometimes, but it is really just through small and simple things that make the biggest difference. (Alma 37:6-7) “The Lord answers our prayers, but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.” (President Kimball)

Short story to go along with that thought. So I was talking with my companion this past week and I was thinking. I really need to get a journal so that I can have one just to write about the people that I meet so that when I am home from my mission, I will be able to remember them. A few days later, this ward member, Sister Broyles comes up to us and shows us this journal that she felt like she needed to make for Mari so that she could write about the people that she comes in contact with. She then proceeded by asking us if she gave us the supplies if we would like to make one on one of our Preparation days!! can you believe that? It was such a small thing but it really showed me that our Heavenly Father is aware of us and concerned with even the details of our lives, because we matter to Him. "If it matters to you, it matters to Him." It was such a tender mercy:)

 It is so cool that we are the Lord's hands. As we follow the quiet promptings from the Holy Ghost, we can give service to, and uplift those that are in need. How cool right? I am so thankful that Heavenly Father trusts me with some of his children here. One other thing that I noticed this week. You are all pretty familiar with this scripture I am sure..

"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt^alove the Lord thy God with all thy ^bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy^cmind. 38 This is the first and great ^acommandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt ^alove thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 22:36-39.

If we are to do this work, we have to love ourselves. You love yourself by forgetting yourself!

I hope that you are all doing well with your conference ensigns and finishing them up:) I am really excited for General Conference!! It will be amazing! Hey, and just in over a month from that, I will see you again:) haha long time, no see:) Until then, keep calm and serve on:) I love you all! sorry if my mind was scatterbrained for this email and that it isn't too packed with adventures..:) haha its been one of those tiring days:D haha

P.S. I forgot to share with you a cool story from exchanges! I almost died! Sister Page was driving and we were at a light and it turned green for us to turn. We started going but then got a strong sudden prompting to stop immediately! We both got it and stopped within like a second and right then, a car zoomed through the light and missed the passenger side by about a foot. (where I was sitting) If we had gone and not followed the prompting, the truck would have smashed right into the Passenger side of the car from the side, right where I was. Pretty cool! I am so thankful that I am being protected and that as we live our lives in a way that allows us to have the Holy Ghost with us, it can be a protector for us and warn us of danger! So don't worry about me, I am following the promptings that I get and I am being watched over and protected! The church is true! The book is blue:) have a good week my friends!

With love,

Sister (Erica) Christensen

March 17, 2014 - HaPpY St. PaTrIcK's DaY

Hey family and friends!

Happy St. Patrick's day! Haha the highlight of my morning was when the alarm went off this morning and I chased my companion around the basement trying to pinch her because she forgot to wear green to bed! haha! I made sure I didn't remind her last night:) I'm such a nice companion huh? haha:) So yes, I made sure that I wore lots of green today:)

You will notice that I am emailing later than normal again..:) It's been a busy morning:) We went and had 2 visiting teaching appointments this am. (they couldn't do it any other day) So we sacrificed some of our preparation day:) I was a little bummed but it will all work out ok:) We went to Jason's Deli for lunch today which was really good! I got a chicken salad wrap which was really yummy and lots of fruit:) Haha I am trying to eat healthier overall:)

Thank you for the package that you sent me this week:) It was great:) I actually just picked it up from the post office about an hour ago because i wasn't home when they delivered it on Saturday.:) But i am so thrilled about the banana bread!! It smells so good and reminds me of home:) haha except i am much luckier now because i have the whole loaf to myself:) and my companion of course:) but.. i won't have to fight for it between 10 people now! haha oh the joys of serving a mission:) thank you for sending my crimper, a cd!, and many other great things!! I loved all of it so much!! I really do think I have the best family ever:) I'm not biased or anything:) haha

So some things from my week:) It has been kind of a crazy week:) Here are a few updates from some of the people that i am working with. First off, Rebecca!!! (one of my investigators) She is doing very well! She is going through some very extreme trials right now. It has been a very messy divorce. On Thursday, we called her up and apparently, we called at the exact moment that she needed it. She was crying and really struggling when we called. We talked to her for a little bit and asked if she would like a priesthood blessing. She obviously hadn't ever heard of this before so we explained what it was and what would happen and magically, she agreed to have one!! I was so happy:) So, we began making calls to set up a time that someone from the ward could come and do that:) Let me tell you.. Satan did NOT want that happening. This never happens, but we spent 4 hours making calls trying to get someone that was available that night to give her one. We were almost all the way through the ward list (we only had 3 names left!) and finally a kind brother in the ward said yes! Let me tell you, it was a very spiritual experience seeing someone get a priesthood blessing for the first time! The spirit was very strong there and she even said that her neck stopped hurting during the blessing and after for a while:) I think that the spirit really touched her and that things are heading in the right direction:) We bought her some Book of Mormon CDs and stuff to help her with her reading. She really wants to come to church but is struggling because she gets really sick being around any type of scents. We have to wash off all of our deodorant, perfume, etc before we go and visit her because of that...and she still gets sick most of the time because of the laundry detergent in our clothes.. so we are trying to figure out how to get past that one.. So it is a really interesting situation. Pray for a miracle that Dr's will find something to help her so that she can come to church:)

On Friday, I had exchanges with Sister Page:) It was great!! They did exchanges a little differently than normal which was nice:) Instead of both of them coming and staying at our place for the night and staying in our area, one comp went with one of theirs to their area. So I stayed in Papillion over night and through the next day:) It was really interesting being the new companion again that didn't know any of the people. It made me really appreciate how long I have been in Lakeview because I know the people so well:) But we talked to everyone that we saw and even committed someone to baptism!! We saw so many miracles that day so it just goes to show that the Lord is preparing people all over, we just need the courage and faith to open our mouths!!

I want to share a short miracle that happened this week as well. My wrists have been very painful. Don't worry tho! I am just fine! Anyways, we got a call on Saturday from the McM’s to come and do some service for them. They were doing a big spring cleaning for their house. So we went over and started working. I was in a lot of pain and so I went to a different room by myself and knelt and prayed to my Heavenly Father, asking Him if it was His will, if He could take away the pain for a few hours. Just long enough for me to work hard and serve this family and then I was ok for it to come back after again. It was a miracle. The pain went away from my wrists and it didn't hurt me one more time while I was over there. Haha it came back after but for those couple of hours, it was like there hadn't ever been a problem with them. It was a miracle! God is truly aware of us and answers our prayers as we have faith in Him.

We had an amazing Stake Conference this weekend! The Adult Session was my favorite!! They had all of the youth come, ages 12 and up, which was really cool for a change:) President and Sister Weston were both there as well as the temple president and his wife. It was so good to see them again:) At the end during President Bartlett's talk (the Stake President) he had President Weston get up and call up all of the missionary leadership that were in attendance. (Assistants to the President, Zone Leaders, District Leaders, Sister Training Leaders) He had them all standing up there on the stand with him. He then called up all of the Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders and had them all stand up there as well. He then called up all of the full time missionaries (Sisters, Elders, and couples) and had us all standing in front of the stands. So needless to say. between all of those people, there was a ton of people up on the stand and in front of it! (when you figure that there are between 4-8 full time missionaries in each ward) He then shared the account in 2nd Kings chapter 6 vs 15-17. Paraphrasing it says.."Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." President Bartlett said, "Look! This is your army! In numbers larger than we have ever had before! But these missionaries are not the only ones in this room. There are powerful missionaries and angels all around us on the other side of the veil that are standing with us tonight. Fear not: for they that be with us, are more than they that be with them!" It was so powerful! He then had all of us missionaries and ward members up there to link arms so that we would show that we are one! He then had everyone in the Stake center stand and link arms as well. Demonstrating that we are one, called to the work! He had them sit down after and he had all of the missionaries remain standing. He had us sing the first verse of called to serve (which is always so powerful singing as a missionary!!) and then he had everyone else join in for the 2nd verse! By the end of the 2nd verse, everyone in the Stake Center was standing up with us again with tears in most of our eyes:) It was such a powerful thing that i don't think i will ever forget. When things get tough, just remember, there are many angels on the other side of the veil that are here to strengthen and protect us. I feel their presence and strength. I am so thankful! In the Sunday morning stake conference session, when he spoke he had the whole audience stand again and link arms. (This time the missionaries and members were all intermixed) and had us link arms again. Signifying that the members and missionaries need to work together and that we are one. It was so powerful!! I hope that all made sense:)

I want to extend the same commitment I gave you last week. Continue reading the conference ensign and try to get all of the talks read by the next general conference!! You can do it!! If you haven't started yet, start today! You have enough time to do it:) I love you!! I know that by reading and studying the talks from the living prophet and apostles, and then following their teachings, our lives will be greatly blessed! I know that this church is true! I can say that because I have read the Book of Mormon. I have prayed about it to know if it is true. I have also prayed about many other things. And I have received confirmation from the Holy Ghost time and time again, that this church is true. And that knowledge has blessed my life in more ways than I could ever explain. I am so blessed!

I love you all so much!! Enjoy the rest of your day!

With love,

Sister (Erica) Christensen:)

March 10, 2014

Hello my dear family:)

I hope that all is going well back in Utah for you guys:) No big deal.. but it is 65 degrees warmer here today compared to last Monday!! I love you lots and miss you. But, I am being strengthened to handle things so don't worry about me. I am so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ! Through it we receive forgiveness, strength, comfort, healing, etc. I cannot convey my gratitude for my Savior for all that He has done for me. I would not be anywhere without Him. I am truly so thankful for a loving Savior that sacrificed and gave everything for us. It doesn't matter what challenge you are experiencing.. Everything can be overcome through the Atonement. What a wonderful blessing we have been given and how fortunate we are to have the knowledge!!

You may have noticed that we got here to the library later today than normal:) Let me explain why:) So right after our studies this morning, we got a text letting us know that all of the computers at the libraries in Omaha were down today and they didn't know when they would be up and working again. We were pretty nervous that we wouldn't be able to email today but all of the missionaries prayed a lot!! We went to the grocery store instead of the library first and within the hour, we got another text that said that some miracle happened and they were able to get them all up and running again!! Heavenly Father answers our prayers as we act in faith! Well anyways, there is more to the story:) haha:) So after we were done at Walmart we passed a homeless guy and decided that we would give him a Book of Mormon with a dollar bill in it. haha:) We drove by a couple of minutes later, and he was outside holding the Book of Mormon for all of the people to see, instead of his sign!! haha good missionary opportunity for him right?!:) the Lord works in mysterious ways!! Hopefully that Book of Mormon ends up in someone's hands that needs it:) I guess I'll never know the result of that, but it was a pretty cool story:)

Some exciting news this week.. We got a new investigator!!!  She has a less active husband that works out of the country most of the time, but he was back in town last week for a couple of weeks so he said we could come by. She is Buddist and she is from Thailand. There is a little bit of a language barrier but for the most part, she is pretty fluent in English. We taught her about God is our loving Heavenlty Father and prayer, and she accepted the commitment to pray with her husband each night! She is great! and they came to Sacrament Meeting yesterday!! I was so excited to see them there!

Also, something that i forgot to tell you about in my email last week..:) At Mari's farewell party, she had a couple of non members there. We tried to talk and mingle with all of them to see if any of them were interested. One couple was very interested! Their names are C and A. When we met them, they were actually sitting at the kitchen table, talking to the same member that introduced Mari Simpson's family to the chruch!! We went through the Restoration with them (as her farewell party was going on around us! haha) and gave our number to them to call with questions. :) Pretty sweet! there are missionary opportunities everywhere if we pray for them, look around, and have the faith and courage to open our mouths! Apparently the next day, A contacted Sister Simpson and they had another long talk about the church and our beliefs:) there are people prepared everywhere!

At a dinner appointment this past week with a single sister in the ward, Sister Druery, she invited one of her non member friends, L, to come. So we got to know her and taught her the Restoration! When we extended the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, she automatically said that she wasn't interested, but we were persistent, and got her to accept a copy of it. We didn't think that much would come from that.. but.. on Sunday sister Druery came up to us and told us that her friend L has been reading the Book of Mormon ever since the day we gave it to her! She said that L was really impressed by our persistence and love so she started reading it! Pretty cool!!

So Mari left today to fly out to Utah and the MTC! craziness! I can still remember when she first decided to serve a mission. So we were helping her get ready to go on Saturday and we decided that we would have a lesson at Yo-Yo berry (one of my new favorite places to go!). It is a self serve frozen yogurt place that is amazing! I will have to take you guys there next year when we come back:) it is delicious! So i was struggling a little.. and Heavenly Father made sure that I knew that He was aware of me. As we walked into the store to get ready to buy our yogurts, a random member from the Millard ward walked in and paid for all of it for us! He left right after that. that was such a tender mercy that showed me that Heaveny Father is aware of us!

For your commitment, I want to extend the same one that mom and dad seem to be giving..
:) Try and read all of the talks from the previous general conference by the time of the next one!! I know that you can do it!! I am so thankful for Living prophets and the guidance we receive as we follow them! You are amazing! Keep up the great work! I love you all so much!!

With Love,

Sister Erica Christensen