11/16/15 - Winter has fallen upon the city of Round Rock‏

It's a whopping 50 degrees, which isn't even cold. But because of the
painfully hot summer I have become a huge wimp. I've had to pull out
my jackets and sweaters a few times now. It's not bad walking around
but biking in the chill air can be a bit cold sometimes.

Anyways, on to more important news. I have a new companion! That last
transfer was the fastest transfer ever. It felt like only a couple
days ago me and Elder Shipley first met. My new companion is Elder
McNeil. He is fun and we should be able to get lots done this
transfer, which is always such a blessing. He is my oldest companion
yet! He has been out for a year, he is from Arizona (Sho Low), he is a
soccer player and has 5 siblings. He is the second oldest. It will be
fun to serve with him.

Lots happened this past week. We found a new person to teach. His name
is Fabio and he has recently moved here from Brazil. He has a wife and
a two year old son. Elder Shipley had knocked on his door in the past
and he said we could come by sometime. We went and knocked on his door
and he said, "hold on, I have something to show you." That's the
translation, or what he meant to say, kind of a language barrier. But
he comes back down stairs and to the door and shows us a Book of
Mormon in Portuguese. He says he has been reading from it with his
nephew. How cool is that? (I might have told you that part already).
We set up an appointment and we taught him this week. We taught him
and his wife the restoration and he expressed to us that he just wants
to know the right path that leads to heaven. A very prepared man. We
told him that the prophets will always show us the right path. He then
asked "how do I know if someone is a prophet?" We told him that a
prophet has to have the priesthood and the priesthood is in this
church. The BoM and prayer is the way to know. I didn't do the best
job answering his question, but we will meet with him again. He said
he would read and pray. We have an appointment with him tonight!
Always fun to teach lessons.

We also met with Gracen and Gabi again. Gracen is doing great! We
taught him the plan of salvation this past week. At the beginning of
the lesson we explained that the pos answers some big questions such
as where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going. We
asked him if he had ever asked himself those questions. He said yes I
have, not all at the same time, but at different times I have asked
myself that. When I was ten I was still thinking about nothing
important. We then explained a little bit about how families could be
sealed in temples. He thought that was the coolest thing. He said my
mom and sister always told me that after we die and go to heaven we
wouldn't know who our family was, but I always knew that was wrong! He
is one incredibly prepared 10 year old. He is living with his uncle
who was baptized about 9 months ago. Because of his uncles choice, he
has been introduced to the gospel. Our choices matter. The only
problem I could see us running into with his baptism is his mom not
giving him permission. But we will see.

Gabi is doing ok. She has some pretty big concerns at the moment with
the doctrine and the church. A while back we taught the plan of
salvation and she had a problem with the fact that if her family
didn't become lds her family wouldn't be together forever. She has
expressed to us that her family doesn't want to be baptized lds. They
think church is too long and too boring. She's struggling, she might
stop meeting with us soon. We tried to teach the plan again because
she said she didn't understand it but she had concerns with everything
we taught. She is a very knowledgeable lady, hopefully she comes
around and decides to do what is right. She knows what she needs to
do, it's now a matter of doing it.

Tuesday was also the day we got transfer emails. So that's when I
found out I was getting a new companion. Same area, but new companion.
It also meant that my district was being switched up. Elder Hunt,
Shipley, and Sister Storms all left. Sad day. Elder Meachum, who's
name is also Kade, is in the district, and so is Sister Angulo. Funny,
because she was in my last district. I think this transfer will be a
bit trickier than last as a district leader. I think the district will
need more help and guidance. We shall see!

We helped someone put together chandeliers. It was fun, I guess. It
helped save them so time so it was service. Service is always good.

We transferred on Thursday. That was interesting. Austin transfer
meeting is at 2 so it leaves so much time to be nervous. I always get
nervous when I get a new companion. It's awful. So just prolonging the
time when you find out who your new companion is is awful. But like
always, transfer meeting was great. The chapel that it was at was only
25 minutes away which was nice. At every transfer meeting they are
starting to have musical numbers. Sister Weber sang come thou fount.
It was incredible. She has quite the talent. She is a small lady but
she has a loud, powerful voice. We were all impressed. Elder Baker is
training, and to make a long story short he can't drive. So guess who
has their car until he can drive? We do! It's been nice to have one.
We could totally use a car in this area. It's big enough.

I've seen twice this week what divorce can do to families. Don't get a
divorce, work it out. It hurts everyone involved. We met with a less
active lady who is struggling with her beliefs. Thankfully she is
willing to stay in contact with the church. It's a sad situation. Me
and Elder McNeil afterwards were like ok our hearts are broken now.
Kind of neat how we were able to meet with her. We stopped by a
previous day to meet her and she said we could come back. Long story
short, our plans feel through. But the spirit show d us EXACTLY what
we needed to do. The spirit said go to the orange area, and go to
Jennifer. It was really cool. She let us in and we figured out what we
could do to help her. The spirit is real, and like President Monson
says, when you're on the Lord's errand, you deserve His help.

All in all, great week!
Trials help us grow. And it has been incredible to look back 9 months
ago and see how far I have come. I have really, truly learned that the
gospel is the only way prepare ourselves for the great and last day.
God loves us so He has restored the gospel so we can know the way.
Live the gospel, be happy. A mission is a wonderful thing!

Love you!
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen