10/26/15 - Raining and flooding, again!

This past week we had some serious rain. Me and Elder Shipley had no
idea why until we talked to this one lady who said the strongest
hurricane ever recorded hit Mexico and the aftermath was coming at us
in a straight line. It rained for 2 days straight and we got 9 inches
in one day. It was awesome! Though it made a damper on missionary
work. We tried to bike around but we became soaked to the bone in a
matter of minutes. It was a no go. So we only went to our set
appointments and went and visited members we didn't know. It ended up
being a fun day.

Before the real storm began it would rain for 5 minutes and then stop,
rain 5 minutes and then stop. But it became quiet and still or about
30 minutes. Then all of a sudden it began to dump buckets of rain on
us. It was quit the adventure! Since we were close to the church we
went and took refuge there and waited for it to stop. We were dripping
wet so we tried to dry off a little but it didn't work. We ended up
being wet for the remainder of the day. All part of the adventure
right?

I can't remember if I told you the "trail" story, so I will tell you
in case I haven't. Since we are on bikes it can be hard to get to
certain places in our area. Sometimes we have to come up with creative
ways to get to these places. We had been assigned by the ward council
to go and talk to this lady, Elizabeth, about taking the missionary
lessons and she so happens to live in one of these special, hard to
get to places. We looked at google maps on our iPads for a way to get
there and thank heavens for Elder Shipley's trail dedication. He found
one that would get us to where we needed to go. We get to the place
where the beginning of the trail should be and its a construction
site. We walk through it thinking the trail is going to be on the
other side of the site, which it is. So far so good. We take the trail
for a little while until we get to fence number 1. I admit, this was
not our best idea nor was it very smart. We hop the fence and get our
bikes over and continue on our way. This happens two more times. But
we get to this spot where a bridge should be and there is no bridge,
only a stream that's about 100 feet wide. Our only choice was to cross
it. We get to the other side and go to Elizabeth's house only to find
out that she is not home. Turns out she does not want to take the
missionary lessons but she wants to come to church and still have her
daughter go to activity days. It will take time but they will come
around. It sounds like her husband is not too supportive which is
keeping them back. Bummer, but there is a plan for everyone.

I also had the privilege to go on exchanges with Elder Iverson. He
taught me lots, he is a great missionary! He is really good at getting
peoples attention and then relating something they say back to the
gospel. Something I would like to do better with. Something I am going
to work on this upcoming week is being bold and proclaiming the gospel
as with a trump! There is no need to not tell people about the gospel.
It is the power of God unto the salvation of man. It is what is going
to save mankind and the world. Every time I don't talk to someone or
bear testimony is an opportunity wasted. There is a quote in PMG
regarding testimony by Thomas S. Monson. It says "Regarding one's
testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while
that which he selfishly keeps he loses. ...Teach and testify. There is
no better combination." I think I have learned what that that means
this past week. If we don't open our mouths and share our testimony
when we are given the chance to do so, we are going to lose it. Kind
of cool huh?

We saw a very cool miracle yesterday. Normally we call to remind
people that they have signed up to feed us dinner a day in advance
because we are all human, we all forget. But for whatever reason, we
did not call to remind these poor people on Saturday that they signed
up to feed us on Sunday. Before sacrament meeting started we went over
and asked them if that would still work and they said sure, come on
over! We go to dinner and they said they used to be in Walsh ranch but
because of the Ward split they are now in vista ridge. They remember a
guy that was baptized about a year ago and they said we should go by
him sometime. It just so happened that we were going to where he lived
after dinner! We end up going by and he comes out on his porch and we
talk a little bit and then he invites us in. His friend who was there
said he had always been interested in what Mormons believe. We teach
him the restoration and he says he will read the Book of Mormon. How
cool is that? I am always so impressed by Heavenly Father and how well
He knows His children. I promise you that Heavenly Father knows you.
He weeps when you suffer and rejoices when you do what is right. Very
cool to see the spirit direct the Glazier's thoughts towards that guy
and then having us go by. We are truly in the Lord's errand!

Because Heavenly Father loves us He desires us to be free from the
burden of sin. So He sends missionaries to people who need to hear the
message of the gospel; the message that they can be clean and be free
from the sins and addictions of this world through Jesus Christ and
His Atonement.

Something very cool I learned more about this week is the enabling
aspect of Christ's atonement. Commonly referred to as grace. All we
have to do is ask and it will be given us, as long as we are striving
to do what God asks of us. It only makes sense that we receive
blessings we show God that we want. We show God we want blessings as
we keep the commandments. Mosiah 2:41 "consider on the blessed and
happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold,
they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual." Blessed
in ALL things. Keep the commandments and ask for strength to endure,
strength to change, strength to accept the will of God, whatever it
may be.

We had district meeting this past week as well. It was fine, we have a
wonderful district so if it turns out meh then that's ok because they
are still awesome. Lots of leaders in this district. Always next time
right?

Yesterday we had our other Ward primary program. Funny stuff was said
. But on our other Ward it was a normal sacrament meeting and the
coolest story was shared. This kids grandparents are in Madagascar
serving a mission. In Madagascar they have been having awful drought
so the people are literally starving. The grandparents had the
opportunity to go and deliver food to the people there. The grandma
said the picture that will always stay in her mind is a starving
mother with a starving baby on her back that looked lifeless. They
were escorted by 7 armed gun man because rebels might try and take the
food. They get there start handing out the food and the rebels start
coming out of the forest. They stand at the edge of the forest and
just wait. The grandma thinks it might be a good idea to go over and
make friends. She goes over with her translator and asks if she can
have a picture with them. They end up being flattered and say yes that
would be fine. Originally they saw 14 of them but all of a sudden they
started coming out of nowhere and there ends up being 200 rebels with
shotguns standing there wanting to be in the picture. It works! They
become friends and they end up going over and helping hand out the
food to the starving people. Isn't that awesome? Thought that was a
cool story, wanted to share.

Love the gospel, love Jesus Christ, love all of you! Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
Do Good Stuff

This is a cane standing on a turtle! We ride by this lake almost everyday.

You might have crows in a power line, but we have vultures. Yes, those are all vultures ready to eat anything that has recently died.

10/19/15 - Will the priesthood please put the chairs away?‏

*This is a longer letter*

President Slaughter is a funny man. Lots of little traditions that the
church has that drive him nuts, and one of them is when people say,
after a meeting, "will the priesthood please put the chairs away?"

President Slaughter: Whenever I hear people say that, I just sit and
wait to see what's going to happen. I wait for the chairs to fold
themselves up and put themselves away. What we should really say is
will the men please put away the chairs.

Here another one. We were talking about praying and vain repetitions
we often use. One of the ones we as members of the church use a lot
is, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day." When we pray we
are speaking directly to the most powerful being in the universe, and
we thank him for the day.

President Slaughter: I hear it all the time, people when they start
their prayers will say thank you for this day. If God walked into the
room would we all turn to Him and say, "Ah, thank you for THIS day!"
No, so why do we when we pray?

He says that using these vain repetitions such as help us get home
safely, thank you for this day, etc. keep us back from saying things
that actually matter and asking for things we actually need. All in
all, he is a good man. I will miss him when he leaves. I have come to
love him.

Every other transfer, so every 12 weeks, we get to sit down with
President and have interviews. This past Wednesday I had the chance to
talk with him. I brought up the point that I really don't enjoy
talking to people, because this is something I consistently struggle
with. I wanted to know if there was a way I could enjoy it or what I
could do to change. His response, so you're an introvert, me too. He
then went on to say how in the past 50 years of his life he hasn't
found out a way to enjoy it, but how his perspective has changed. His
love for the Lord has sunk deeper, deeper into his heart and because
of that its not about him, it's about the Lord and others. Because he
loves the Lord, he talks to people, laughs with them, and strives to
help them feel comfortable. Our love for the Lord will lead us to do
things that will stretch us and make us better tools in his hands.
Someone once asked an apostate if he enjoyed being an apostle. The
apostle said, "I didn't know it was a requirement to be an apostle. I
do it because I love the Lord." That should be our motivator as well.
If you don't feel deep love for the Lord, learn of His atonement
through the scriptures and then apply it to your life. Elder Dallin H.
Oaks gave a great talk about the atonement in this recent general
conference titled, Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

One more cool thing I learned and then I will tell you the stuff you
want to know.

Jesus Christ, whenever he taught people or healed someone, He always
required them to show faith. He did this because He wanted them to
develop greater faith; he wanted them to grow. For example, when Jesus
rose Lazarus from the dead, He asked the people present to move the
stone away. This took faith that Jesus could actually raise him from
the dead. The same goes with priesthood blessings.

Elder Nelson puts it perfectly.

Olive trees are special in the Holy Land. The olive branch is
universally regarded as a symbol of peace. This tree provides food,
light, heat, lumber, ointments, and medicine. It is now, as it was
then, crucial to life in Israel. It is not a deciduous tree, but ever
bearing--always green. Even if the tree is chopped down, life will
spring from its roots, suggesting everlasting life.


Jesus came to the base of the Mount of Olives to effect
the first component of the Atonement. This He did at the Garden of
Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane comes from two Hebrew roots: gath,
meaning “press,” and shemen, meaning “oil,” especially that of the
olive.


There olives had been pressed under the weight of great
stone wheels to squeeze precious oil from them. So the Christ in the
Garden of Gethsemane was literally pressed under the weight of the
sins of the world. He sweat great drops of blood--his life’s
“oil”--which issued from every pore. (See Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18.)


Jesus was accorded titles of unique significance. One
was the Messiah, which in Hebrew means “anointed.” The other was the
Christ, which in the Greek language means “anointed” as well. In our
day, as it was in His day, the ordinance of administration to the sick
includes anointing with the consecrated oil of the olive. So the next
time you witness consecrated oil being anointed on the head of one to
be blessed, and these sacred words are said, “I anoint you with this
consecrated oil,” remember what that original consecration cost.
Remember what it meant to all who had ever lived and who ever would
yet live. Remember the redemptive power of healing, soothing, and
ministering to those in need. Remember, just as the body of the olive,
which was pressed for the oil that gave light, so the Savior was
pressed. From every pore oozed the life blood of our Redeemer. And
when sore trials come upon you, remember Gethsemane.

The anointing of oil before a priesthood blessing is an opportunity
for us to remember the Savior and to develop greater faith in Him and
in His atonement.

Anyways, about my week! It was a great week. Still low on teaching
others but that's because we have been doing things wrong. President
gave me and Elder Shipley advice to stop knocking on so many doors and
start getting to know the less actives, part-members, and active
members. Chastisement taken, it was needed. We received that advice on
Wednesday so for the past three days that's what we have been doing.

As missionaries we do this thing called weekly planning where we plan
for the week, just how it sounds. So we made a list of every once in
the Ward and put them in their color. We have our area split into
colors so we can organize ourselves and make the best use of our time.
We did that which will help a ton. We also got a Ward roster for the
vista ridge Ward and a prospective elders list which will give us
direction and keep us busy. The work is improving.

I think I left off talking about our plan to teach more. That's the
end of that!

We had a lesson this week with a family that's coming back to church
named the Dollahites. The reason they decided hey needed to come back
was because of their son and an experience they had with the Lego
Movie. After watching the Lego Movie, their son Tim, had some
questions about God and was convinced that Will Farewell was God. This
concerned them quite a bit. Since Bro. Dollahite had been raised LDS
and his wife was baptized but never active, they decided to come back.
Kind of funny! We talked about the importance of the BoM and what it
helps us with. The BoM plays three roles, foundation of testimony,
witness of Christ, and fullness of doctrine. We then read Alma 36 and
focused on its role as a witness of Christ and hoe the BoM helps us
grow closer to Him. They really enjoyed it. As a missionary I get to
do stuff like that all the time so I forget sometimes that it's a
treat when we go to people's houses and they get to learn about the
gospel, at their house! They are a very sweet family. I like them a
lot! Its always cool to see how the gospel unites people. At first it
was kind of awkward as we tried to get to know each other and talk but
by the end we could feel the connection. And that connection comes
from the gospel and our love for Christ. It's neat to experience.

I also had the privilege of going on exchanges with Elder Baker on
Tuesday. He's the youngest, mission age, in the district but I have
lots to learn from him. He does a great job talking to others, showing
interest in them and helping them feel comfortable. And by so doing he
can share the gospel easily. I also got to use a car for the day so
that was a blessing in its self! Elder Hunt and Baker live with an old
lady. She likes to be called Abuelita. It was kind of fun to live with
an old lady for the day. I feel like when you live with someone it
feels like you actually live in a home. You don't have as much
privacy, but you do have a home feeling. But since she is old she
likes to keep the temperature at about 78 which is hot. At night they
sneak out and turn it down and before she gets up in the morning they
turn it back up. Not the best, but also kind of funny. There are a ton
of small business here because everyone is rich, which means there are
tons of good restaurants. We tried this place called Bahama Bucks
which is the best shaved ice I have ever had. It's incredibly fine, I
don't know how they do it. It was yummy stuff. Also on our exchange we
taught a guy named Conner who they had been working with. We brought a
lady from e Ward to the lesson with us and we think she might of felt
attacked a little bit by his questions and as a result she went on a
rampage of bearing pure testimony. It was intense. So hopefully that's
not ruined for them, she felt bad afterwards. It happens. A lot
happened that day. We also had dinner with the cutest, awesome at
family ever. They had 6 kids, 3 boys and 3 girls. I thinks that's
perfect. But she made us homemade noodles and made chicken noodle
soup. It was incredibly good. They were fun to eat with.

A while back we were asked to teach a class for a mini mission youth
activity and of course we said yes. We did that on Wednesday. It was
fun, we taught three classes 15 minutes each to a group of about 10 on
the purpose of missionary work and why it's I
important to share the gospel. You can tell people all day everyday
these things but unless you have felt the atonement work in your life
you won't have a burning desire to share it. Hopefully they will feel
it and then desire to share it.

As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your
desire to share the gospel will increase. (Preach My Gospel pg. 2)

We are still getting fed everyday by wonderful people. They make sure
to take care of us, that's for sure! If we don't have a dinner or
someone can't have us over for whatever reason, they order is pizza.
Way nice. People are good.

We also had a great opportunity to serve a lady named Maria. She asked
us to help her load her trailer with stuff she was taking to Mexico to
donate. We said of course and helped her out. It was fun, and she
bought us groceries so we don't have to shop today. It was sweet of
her. We are going to try and teach her, she has been taught in the
last but maybe she will be open this time, who knows!

It was funny because the day before we went over to help her i was
thinking, man I wish I had a shoe horn. While we were packing up all
her stuff, in one of the boxes there was a shoe horn and she said I
could have it. Heavenly Father is oh so mindful of all of us.

I get to go one exchanges with the zone leaders tomorrow which will be
fun. My zone leader from my last area, East Zone, moved with me to
this zone and is my zone leader again. He has been my zone leader my
whole mission and I have always wanted to work with him for a day and
now is my chance! His name is Elder Tovar, he is wise and a hard
worker. Can't wait!

We also had an awesome stake missionary breakfast at our stake
presidents house. President Ludrop has missionary breakfast once a
month where all missionaries in the stake are invited and all the Ward
mission leaders too. We talk about how we can improve, what's working,
what's not working, etc. It was awesome! Lots of wisdom was shared and
lots of things to improve on. The food was also great! Austin is
awesome.

Anyways, the gospel is true. Our main purpose in this life is to
conform our will to Heavenly Father's. His will is for us to return to
live with Him. But we must be obedient to do so. Conforming our will
to God's will is hard and requires faith, but it can be our sturdiest
rock to stand on. If conforming our will to God's is essential, it
means that the gospel is true. The universe is set up for our success.
It's so much bigger than just us. I don't know how to express this. If
you ever doubt the gospel and the truthfulness thereof, remember that
there is more than just you. Remember that we need to conform our will
to God's, humble yourself and acknowledge a grander purpose. Life is
good! God is good! He is always around us.

Love you all!
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
Do Good Stuff

10/12/15 - Hot, Heat, Burning, Fire, Scorch, Inferno, Scald, etc.‏

All these words describe Texas, even on October. I thought it was

cooling off, but alas, twas not so. It's supposed to be about 90+ all
week. People are nice though and give us bottles of water quite
frequently. The concept of bottled water is bizarre. Water, which is
everywhere, in a plastic bottle.

Since we cover two wards we do a solid 6 hours of extra church. I love
it, the only bad part is getting motivated afterwards to ride bikes. I
really like two sacrament meetings. In the SA 1st Ward no one played
the organ so we had an electric organ that played itself. But this
limited us to 10 of the sacrament songs. I became familiar with those
ones. Sometimes it would just do the most random things. It was an
unpredictable organ. But in the two wards I'm in now they both have
organ players so we have full range of the hymn book. The little
things we take for granted. We really don't know what we have till
it's gone. Both wards are so rich, such a difference between the two
areas. Of course I received a warm welcome. Lots of good, kind people.
I think I've gained some weight too from all these dinners.

In our Walsh Ranch Ward we attend the priest quorum the third hour.
For some reason we have been asked to do so. It was fun. Youth are fun
people, lots of energy and excitement. I guess I'm still a youth, but
I sure do feel a lot older.

We might be moving from the mansion soon. The lease is almost up on
the mansion, the other elders in our mansion ad moving out sometime
this week and they haven't told us where we are going yet. It's tricky
because they can move us to apartments but the closest ones are at the
bottom of vista ridge and if we get moved there it's going to be quite
the journey to get up to Walsh ranch Ward. But who knows, we will see
what happens.

For the mean time our most common path is the brushy creek trail. It
takes us wherever we need to go! It's shady too so it's nice.

At the moment we have 1 investigator. Her name is Gabi. The
missionaries have been working with her for a while. She is in her
40's with a few kids. We met with her this week and she feels like she
has yet to get an answer as to whether or not being baptized is what
God wants her to do. As to whether or not this is the true church. Me,
Elder Shipley, and our Ward mission leader fasted that she would
receive her answer. Now we wait and see. Of course she will get one.
God always keeps His promises. Since we only have 1 person we are
working with consistently we do a lot of knocking. The primary program
is coming up so we are going to work with the members and hopefully
get them to invite some of their friends to the church.

We also went by these potentials, Jason and Jennifer. We knocked on
their door and they let us right in. We sat down and talked a little
bit about his background and his beliefs. We had a nice chat and we
would of taught him a lesson but due to some circumstances we did not.
We invited them to church and they said yes! Absolutely! But they
didn't come, we will invite them again and hopefully we will be able
to teach them. We get a lot of people that say yea you can share your
message but we won't change. I haven't been very good at taking these
opportunities to teach but this week I'm going to do better. Since we
also don't have too many opportunities to teach and testify each
person is a golden chance to do so. Whenever someone is on the street,
begin to testify immediately and hope they are receptive to the
spirit. I think this area will really help me with my ability to talk
to people as well. It will be good.

Me and Elder Shipley get long great. He is easy to get along with, I
think I'm easy to get along with, therefore it's easy. We've been
ponderizing this past week and we set a goal to do so the whole
transfer. It's awesome! It invites the spirit and helps you in your
thoughts, behaviors, feelings, really with everything. Outlook,
kindness, etc.. Pretty cool!

We also had our first district meeting this last Wednesday. It was
fun, the spirit was there, therefore it was a success. We will get
some district pictures next Wednesday. Due to zone meeting we will not
have district meeting this week. They want to take me to all these
good places to eat here in Austin so we started with this place called
Torcheys (Torchies?) Tacos. It was really good. We will try something
new next week. Sister Rey had us over for dinner this week and made us
some phillipian food. She made some great egg rolls. I was impressed!

Slow week missionary work wise. We will be led to where we need to go,
all is and will be well!

I was reading in 3 Nephi the other day in chapter 17. In this chapter
Jesus Christ prays for the people. In PMG there's a chapter called
developing Christlike attributes. Under the charity section there is a
scripture study box that gives you scriptures that show how Christ
showed His love for all of us. I was reading those and I think 3 Nephi
17:14-17 fits in quite nicely. In v. 14 it says "Jesus groaned within
himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of
the people of the house of Israel." The word groaned is powerful.
Shows His deep love. This teaches us about the character of Christ. He
never thought about himself. He was always and always will be
concerned for His brothers and sisters. He knelt down with the people
and prayed for them and with them. In v. 15-17 we learn how the people
felt about this. They felt joy! They felt the since and genuine love
Christ had for them. As we develop and pray for the love of Christ we
can help others feel that love. And that love brings joy. Jesus Christ
is so dedicated to our joy, I believe He is constantly working for our
benefit and always striving to prepare us for His gospel. Even if we
don't see it or feel it, He is always helping everyone. I've seen that
more than ever serving a mission. It's a priceless thing to see.

Love you all. Have a great week!
Do Good Stuff

Sincerely,
Elder Christensen