1-11-16 / News flash!‏

Me and Elder McNeil are swapping apartments with the Sister
missionaries. They live outside of their area and it would save them
lots of miles if they lived where we live now. So, alas, I will not be
living in the mansion. My new address is: ....

If you have sent something to my old address, no worries! I will be
able to get it with ease. This might be a blessing in disguise. We
have been wanting to work more in the Vista Ridge Ward and now we will
be living over there. And now we will have easy access to wifi and
now we will have a gym! What a blessing. On to the good stuff!

We have been playing tennis on our p-days as of late which has been
fun. But we always had to call members and borrow their equipment.
Last week someone at church brought us tennis rackets and donated them
to this area. Too nice huh? Serving has been our biggest weakness.
Takes way too much practice! We played tennis, had some fun and then
went and planned a lesson with a member.

Update on Kasey and Clare, the friends of the member missionary. We
had a lesson on Tuesday with them and the members about the plan of
salvation. We have started to notice a trend of people believing in
God but not seeing the need for Jesus Christ. The belief that there
are many ways to heaven, not only through Christ. That's what Kasey
believes. But she always thinks very deeply about the lessons and
always keeps her commitments. We invited her to come to church and she
came! And she enjoyed it! We are doing our small part of inviting and
the Lord is doing the rest. I think it might take some time but I
think someday she will be baptized. The gospel will help us through
anything.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder
Iverson! We went over to his area and had some lessons and some fun.
Exchanges to another area are always so nice. You get to sit back and
relax; watch and learn! He has a lot of apartment complexes in his
area so we worked in those. We also stopped by a less active guy who
is a glass artist for a living. He makes these glass marbles with
galaxies in them. They are pretty darn cool. We stopped by and he
showed us all his cool stuff he's made and collected over the years.
It was a good way to get in the door, and it was nice of him to show
us. It was neat.

Then I went on exchanges with Elder Mecham! He is a green missionary.
I remember the struggles of being a new missionary. Hard, but the only
thing you can do is push through and rely on the atonement. Really
that's all we can ever do! But we went to Torchy's Tacos so it was all
ok. Not much happened that day. Lots of biking, but not much talking
to others.

Oh update on Paul! We had our second lesson with him. I wasn't there
but it went very well! We brought a member with us and they became
instant friends. We even met a couple of his kids. We are trying to
get them involved and slowly but surely it's happening. He continues
to read the BoM. All because the spirit told us to knock on his door.

It was weirdly cold this week, which makes biking miserable. But once
again, the only thing we could do is push through! It really doesn't
even get that cold but the humidity makes it cut to the bone.

We are being way too blessed right now. I feel like we haven't done
too much but we are being blessed with people to teach and good stuff
to do. The Hester's are going to be baptized on the 30th of this month
which is great. There is a child of record that wants to be baptized,
we have progressing investigators, the Lord is good. We were biking
the other day and some guy pulls over in his car and tells us he was
investigating the church for 13 years but was never baptized. He then
invites us over and we have a lesson. Hopefully we will be able to
help him have the peace and happiness the gospel offers. It was kind
of funny because the other people there were devout Catholic and they
love their bibles! We ended up looking at their bible collection. They
had like 7 bibles all throughout one room, open to different pages.
Some people have very different beliefs. It's interesting.

We got all our stuff moved today. It really wasn't bad. The only
painful part was fitting all our stuff in the car and making one trip.
Other than that, it was fine.

Anyways, it was a good week. Life is so very sweet when you keep the commandments and strive to do what is right. I love you all so very, very much. Thank you for taking the time to write me! I always look forward to Monday and reading your emails. It's so ought full and I am grateful for your dedication to do so. 

Love,
Elder Christensen

November 2015 (photos) -

Thanksgiving Dinner in Texas - Special thanks to the family that fed him and for the photos! Kindness goes a long way :)

11/23/15 - I am grateful for...‏

Jesus Christ and the Atonement, above all else! I am also grateful for
birds, painting, and nature. I am grateful for family and kindness,
and unlimited amounts of chances to get things right! And vultures,
you can never forget to be grateful for birds that eat dead animals.
Don't think too long about it, gross thoughts will come....

This week has been fun. Lots of stuff has happened. We have no idea
how long we are going to have Leander's car. We only use it when we
are in a pinch, which has happened a few times and we have been
grateful to have it. It's really started to get chilly this week too.
My poor hands are dry and cracked, but nothing lotion can't fix. It's
so deceiving. During the day it will feel perfect, blue sky and sun
shining. But then around 6 when it gets dark it becomes rather cold.
Grateful for sweaters, jackets, and coats. It only caught us off guard
a couple times before we learned. People that tell you Texas doesn't
get cold are so full of bologna. Trust me, It gets cold.

We had some ridiculous wind that made biking miserable. Thankfully
that was only one day. Probably nothing like Spokane winds, but not
fun nonetheless.

(more random stuff)

The pond we ride by almost everyday was still super high, like 20 feet
above where it normally is, on Friday. We rode by on Sunday and it was
back to normal. How they got rid of so much water I have no clue. But
I'm ok with it being back to normal. Now the turtles are back!

Tuesday was a good day because we had zone conference. We were taught
how to ask better questions and the importance of doing so by the
Assistants and other leaders. President Slaughter then gave us a
training on keeping the sabbath day holy. The brethren have said that
if the missionaries can improve their sabbath day observance and then
help the members do so, the face of the church will change. Pretty
cool huh? We talked about that a little bit. The take away for me was
the brethren aren't going to give us a list of do's and don'ts. But
any activity we feel is appropriate and makes the sabbath a delight is
appropriate and is the goal. Focus on the outcome! How will we feel as
a result of this activity? We also talked about gaining trust with the
members and things we can do and then President opened it up to
questions.

Later that night we had a very brief lesson with Gracen. He has a
baptismal date set for Dec 12th. We should be good to go, he's an
awesome kid! We then had dinner with the Gray family and did some
proselyting.

The Round Rock stake is so missionary oriented I love it. Every month
we have a missionary breakfast at one of the stake president's homes.
They make us delicious food and we end up having a missionary
discussion at the end. Always motivating and always fun. They taught
us how to use just serve, but Washington received that training so
long ago. I was ahead of the game. But we have an opportunity to help
serve thanksgiving dinner to the needy at a Catholic Church. Our zone
is going to go and do that together. It will be a good experience.
People are so good to us. We have been asked so many times if we have
thanksgiving plans. You're probably wondering the same! Me and Elder
McNeil are going to do the service dinner thing and then go to a
members home for food! We are then going to help him paint a room and
then probably go and proselyte a little bit. It should be a great day!

This stake is awesome. Three times a year they have a 'Why I Believe'
fireside and they have coverts bear testimony and share their
conversion stories along with beautiful music. It was so powerful. One
lady named Jeanie was approached by missionaries with no desire to
change her bad habits or change at all. She didn't care why she was on
earth and had no desire to find out. She said the missionaries could
come by and they always did even when she didn't want them to. Slowly
she opened up and came to church and slowly grew to like the church
and the teachings. She was so impressed by all the people that were
members of our church and she wanted what they had. She went on and on
about the little things we take for granted being lifelong members
that she deeply appreciates. It is always so nice to hear different
perspectives, and she had a great perspective! Another guy, Perry,
grew up on a tiny Caribbean island. His mom was deeply religious and
started out Catholic. She had questions that her pastor couldn't
answer so she left. She went on a journey to find God. Perry said
every week they would go to a different church. They eventually went
to every church on his island and his mom wasn't satisfied with any of
them. His dad one day was working for a man and at the end of the
workday the man invited his dad and his family over for "bible study."
That's what they thought it was, but it was really FHE. His mother was
introduced to the BoM, the pearl of great price, and D&C. All her
questions were answered from the new scripture and shortly came to
know the church to be true. Later on a stake was organized and they
became active. Perry, at the age of 14, wasn't so sure what he
believed. He went on his own journey to find God and did it the same
way his mother did. One night he was watching his sisters when he felt
a prompting to go to a religious gathering that was going on. He
listened and went. While he was there a man asked him what church do
you go to and why are you here? He answered I am here to learn and I
am from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The guy then
took him about 50 yards from the gathering and asked him again what
church he was from. Perry said the same thing. The guy then told him
everything wrong and bad about the church you could say. Perry said an
overwhelming peace came over me and I told him that Jesus is the
Christ, God is my father, the BoM is true, and Joseph smith was a
prophet. The spirit bore testimony to him that the church was true,
and his journey was over. Then ANOTHER powerful conversion story was
told. It was great! I'm running out of time so I will give you the
gist. He lived in Norway, he came to America as a foreign exchange
student, the family he lived with was lds, they prayed to know what
they needed to do, they gave him a BoM, he was baptized at the age of
19 and now is in the stake presidency.

If you want to see what a positive, powerful affect the gospel has on
individuals and families, go on a mission. You won't be able to deny
the power and the truthfulness of the gospel.

Elder McNeil is the best companion I could ever hope for. I consider
myself nice, but he is so nice. He is so obedient and tries so hard to
do what's right. Is so kind and charitable to others and strives to
see the good in them. I am grateful for our companionship and his
great example!

We have had so many funny things happen to us. When you work with
people all day it's inevitable. They are hard to explain, but I will
give it a go with one of them. We were visiting less actives in a
older neighborhood when we see this older lady struggling with
something. We offer our assistance and she lets us help. She is 73 and
is trying to cement caulk some cracks in the outside of her house. She
clearly has no clue what's she is doing, but good on her for trying
right? The cracks are absolutely tiny, and don't need to be covered at
all, but she is selling her house so she wants it to be perfect. She
ends up being hilarious. We couldn't figure out why the caulking gun
wasn't working, we got it to work but she couldn't do get the cement
to come out consistently, we ended up doing most of it for her but it
was hilarious. She got sooooo excited. You kinda just have to meet her
to know how funny it was. Her name is Diana and we have an appointment
with her tonight.

The sweetest lady, Jalene, asked my mom for my favorite foods and then
made them for me when we went to dinner. How nice is that?

So many good people are members of this church. I love to be a part of
it and grow with others!

My favorite scripture this week is Mosiah 2:22. We are asked to do a
lot but when we keep the commandments, all is well. The promise for
keeping the commandments is found in Mosiah 2:41. Keep the
commandments and I promise you life will be great and peace will fill
your days.

I love all of you and I am grateful for all of you in my life. Have
the best thanksgiving and know that I am thinking about you! Eat good
food and be happy!

Love, love, love,
Elder Christensen

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

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

Letter from the Mission President

We received this letter in the mail from Elder Christensen's Mission President ...
Letter dated: October 8, 2015

10/5/15 - Boy do I have news for you!

"If you go to Austin, be careful, it's a wicked place." -Sis. Campbell 

Oh the irony. Guess what? I have been transferred to this place called Austin, Texas. You might of heard of it. I really enjoyed my time in San Antonio and the wonderful people I met there. That will always be my Texas family. But it's been interesting to go from San Antonio, ghetto, to Austin, incredibly nice. Definitely a change! My new companion is Elder Shipley. He has been out for three months and he is from Orom, Utah. He is a musician who is good at pretty much every instrument. He also writes his own music ranging from electronic music to classical. Pretty cool! We cover two wards, Walsh Ranch and Vista Ridge. And the best part is we are on bikes! It has been a blast to ride bikes. I love it. It is so nice to always be outside and around people to share the gospel with. And another bonus, it is cooling off. It hasn't gotten much hotter than 80 this past week so it has been beautiful. Riding back at night is perfection. It feels about high 60s, which makes me think it's going to get cold soon. We shall see! 

We get fed every day. It is incredible. Today we didn't even buy very much food because we only have to buy lunch and breakfast stuff. I don't know, it is soooooooooo different. A total 180. It feels like I have come to a whole other mission. It's also been interesting to go from a Ward where we had so much to do to an area where we don't have a whole lot to do. Hopefully this transfer we will be able to get some stuff done. It also interesting because in SA everyone is living a life of sin and they don't care if anyone sees so it's easy to see the need to share the gospel with them. But here everyone tries to show that their life is perfect, all is well. You have to look deeper for opportunities to serve and find the people that need and are open to feeling the spirit. My motto thus far on my mission though has been "if you do your best God will do the rest." I know that as I do my best to find them it will happen. People have been prepared and they are everywhere. 

So on Thursday we had transfer meeting which is always fun. But I went to the one in SA and if they don't read your name then you know you are going to Austin. They didn't read my name. So you have to load up your luggage in a trailer and then you ride over to Austin for their transfer meeting. It's about an hour and a half drive. Then at the transfer meetings we all sit down, the senior office couples give us some announcements, and hen they do call outs. They will say so and so is with so and so. And then you stand up, go to your new companion and give him an abrazo. And abrazo is a manly hug. And then you stand up front until they read off all the people in your zone. Then you go and sit down! I always get nervous when I get a new companion. Elder Shipley is a nice guy though, so all is well. 

General conference was wonderful. I loved the Beautiful Savior hymn sung by the kids choir. So good. All the talks were wonderful as well. I feel like the strength of the church only increases as time goes on. The apostles seem spiritually stronger than ever. Elder Holland's talk on mothers was great, the ponderize idea is awesome, Elder Nelson always gives great talks, loved Monson's talk on be an example to the believers, Elder Bednar was great, in conclusion, they all were great. Always inspires me to do better and pushes me onward. It's a wonderful time to refocus on the Savior and the basics of the gospel. We watched it with Bro. Greer. He is the Ward mission leader in vista ridge Ward. He has three kids who are hilarious. The oldest is 10. It was fun to watch it at their home. They fed us after the morning sessions were over and then we went and worked a little then went back for more conference. Oh I also loved Eyring's talk about the Holy Ghost. Ya, they were all good. 

Almost forgot, I do live with another set of missionaries. We live in the place called, "the mansion." It's ridiculous. It's not even an apartment, it's a town house. We have two floors, 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a backyard, a garage, and it's quiet. We have windows in the room we study in so we get the sun coming through in the morning. It's awesome. The other elders we live with are the zone leaders of the zone right next to ours. They make things funny. 

I will make sure to take pictures and send them to you of the area, our home, etc. next week. 

Not much to report on teaching wise this week. Sis. Campbell is on track for baptism next weekend. So is Claudia and Jalissa in SA. Elder West is training a missionary now, Elder Acor is still a zone leader in SA east zone, and now me and Elder Rowland are in the same zone. That's the update on my companions thus far. They are all doing well. 

President Slaughter has been using a scripture that I would like to share. It's John 3:30. He must increase, but I must decrease. We must decrease, just like John the Baptist. Christ must be in our countenances because only then can we help others know the way, the light, and the life. How can we help others know Christ of we don't know Him ourselves? We can decrease and Christ can increase as we study and ponder the scriptures, listen to the council of the prophets, and look to Christ in every thought. I think this ponderizing thing is a wonderful step in the right direction. I'd say give it a go! Some of the blessings promised if we ponderize are as follows: increase of spirituality, able to lift those you love, deeper understanding of the gospel, and an uplifting place for thoughts to go.  It may be hard, but hard is often good. 

Love you! 

Elder Christensen

Do Good Stuff

The Color Code ...

Hello my lovelies! It has been another wonderful, hard, missionary
week for me. No place I would rather be. A mission has really helped
me be excited for the future.

The reason I am so late in writing today is because, oh wait, I can't
tell you yet. You will just have to wait and see!

Monday - p-day, we played basketball and emailed. It was a good,
relaxing day. We met with the Domino family again. We went over the
gospel of Jesus Christ using 2 Nephi 31. That is a beautifully simple
chapter that tells us His teachings. Nothing like the Book of Mormon.
We then went and stopped by some people we wanted to visit but no
luck.

Tuesday - We had a zone conference. A zone conference is when a couple
zones get together and have a meeting directed by the Assistants to
the President and the Lead Sister Training leaders, and of course the
mission President. Mission president gave us some good direction on
how to improve our studies in the morning. Very helpful. But the main
theme was baptism. In PMG it says we are supposed to find those that
are prepared to receive our message, the message of the restoration.
The only way to do that is to invite them to be baptized. That was my
biggest take away, so I will be working on that. That went till about
4 and then we went out and proselyted. The only lesson we had Tuesday
was with Glenda. I love visiting with them but it might be time to
move on.

Wednesday - I had exchanges on Wednesday and this time I went with
Elder Cruz. Him and his companion are doing much better. We went and
worked, stopped by a referral, a lady that ordered a bible, and read a
chapter with her and she expressed to us that she wants to find the
true church. Pretty cool! We introduced the BoM and then set up
another appointment to come back. We then went and stopped by some
people in hopes that we could meet with them. Dinner was at 5 with the
good ol' Morins. They made us some yummy Mexican food which I have
come to love. After that we went and had a lesson with some ladies in
our ward. They lost her records and she wants to be baptized again so
we are working with her. Should be incredibly easy. They live out in
the country a little ways. They are awesome! Both 60+ and live in a
nice RV on 15 aces of land. They take care of it themselves and its
impressive. Every once in a while we go and help them with whatever it
is they need. After that we went back by the Morins and picked up the
leftovers. I must say I have been incredibly lucky to stay in an area
for 7 months. I know the people in the ward and they know me, I am
part of the family!

Thursday - Weekly planning. I just realized you probably don't know
what that is. It's just what it sounds like, we plan for the upcoming
week! We plan lessons we want to teach, things we want to do to find
new people, plan for baptisms, etc. After that we had our scripture
study class. 2 successful ones in a row! Then we went and worked for
an hour.

Friday - I don't think much happened on Friday. We went by some
referrals that we received and dropped off items. Invited them to
church and learn more about what we teach. Some said they would like
to come to church others said no thanks. Just one step in the right
direction, one step closer to the gospel. I think we finished up all
the referrals we had gotten which was an accomplishment. We then had
dinner at the Brown home again. Nice people.

Saturday - This day was supposed to be busy, but alas, 'twas not so.
It was busy, but all of our appointments fell through. We figured
there was some place else we needed to be. We went and stopped by a
less active in the ward. They have serious health issues and have a
hard time coming to church. They weren't up for meeting so we walked
around their neighborhood a little bit. We ran into a couple people
and had great conversations with them. One was a younger guy in his
late 20's that had lots of questions. He didn't want to take the
lessons but he seemed very interested. We will stop by later this week
and see if we can teach him. We pretty much taught him the
restoration, not in a formal setting though. Just standing. It was
fun, I enjoy talking about the gospel. We then talked to an older
black gentleman who liked us because we were "fellow Christians," we
get that a lot. We then had Derek's baptismal interview, so he will be
baptized this Saturday. He's so excited, he's been trying to get
baptized for the past 3 years but has ran into roadblocks. He came to
church on Sunday and we had recently taught him about tithing. We were
standing by the door and he comes up and says I made 20 dollars but I
only have the 20 dollar bill but who do I give it to when I have it?
For an 11 year kid he is very ready and very excited. The gospel makes
life so good.

Sunday - We had breakfast over at Bro. Forrest's house, our ward
mission leader. He's a funny guy. We teach the gospel doctrine class
so we then went home and got our lesson ready. Went to church, I love
church. I didn't go last Sunday and it felt so empty. Life without
religion is an empty life indeed. It's a good reminder that everything
is just fine. We met with the Lomas family. Jessica is still very
excited for baptism and it's going to be very soon! Excited for that.

Now, for the fun stuff. Today a lady in Mission Creek ward invited us
and her wards missionaries to go to the zoo and other fun stuff. It
was so fun. Her husband is a top layer for the military so she then
took us to her home which is on base and took us to this funny names
place. She told us all we needed was celery. So we went to the store,
bought celery, cut it up, put it into plastic bags, and then walked
over. We get in there and it's a big open courtyard with peacocks,
turkeys, geese, and ducks all over. So we fed celery and carrots to
the birds. So odd, but so funny. It was bizarre. All of the birds
would eat it out of your hands and were not scared. She then got us
some watermelon and sent us on our way. I will make sure to include
pictures!

All I have to say is the church is true, the gospel is real and very
true, the atonement is real, and we are all children of a loving God.
Life is good when you live the gospel!

I love y'all, have a great week!

Elder Christensen
Do Good Stuff

We went in this aviary place to feed some birds and the birds attacked
us. They scraped my head!

9-7-15 / Elizabeth Street is heaven

Dear friends and family,

Life is good when you live the gospel.

The other elders in our apartment have not been getting along. It has
made for an interesting week to say the least. Me and Elder West have
been caught in the crossfire.

Anyways, Monday! P-day like always, no surprise there. We washed the
car, bought groceries, communicated with family, etc, etc. After p-day
ended we met with Glenda later that night. It is so important to keep
the commandments and remain worthy of the Holy Ghost. If you don't
have it you can't serve God the way He needs you to. We didn't have an
appointment set up with Glenda but we felt prompted to go by so we
did. She was having a rough day and hopefully she was able to relax
and cheer up a little.

On Tuesday we had exchanges. I had the privilege of going with the one
and only Elder Forbush. It was fun. We worked in his area for the day
which is always so refreshing. It's a nice break. He served in the
Mission Creek ward and most of the members in his ward are on the
military base. We had dinner that night with a family over on base. It
was cool to go onto a military base. Very different culture. We then
met with a less active family in his ward and had a good lesson with
them. But on this day we found Elizabeth st! It was glorious. So I
have been in the ghetto for 6 going on 7 months now and working with
people in the ghetto can be hard and frustrating. We somehow ended up
on this street where every house was incredibly nice. It was so
refreshing to find people with money. Sounds bizarre, but it was nice.
We decided to knock on a couple of them. We chose this gorgeous home
with fire on the sides of the door. The guy opened it, said no thanks,
and shut it. It was awesome! I wouldn't have known how wonderfully
glorious these houses were unless I served the opposite first I guess.
Appreciation is a funny thing.

Wednesday we had district meeting. It was an odd one because we only
had me and Elder Forbush and then the sister companionship at DM.
Elder West was a champ and stayed home with Forbush companion who was
sick. We then decided it would be best for elder Forbush and West to
go together for the day so I stayed home with the other elder. They
got a lot done in our area though on Tuesday so that was good.

On Thursday we had weekly planning and our scripture study class. A
non eventful day.

On Friday we had a zone service activity. South zone every week on
Friday goes and serves at the food bank and helps them with whatever
it is they need help with. Our zone, east zone, decided to go and tag
along. It was fun, always good to serve. They had donated to them 6
thousand pounds of potatoes and tons of corn. We put all the potatoes
into a 10 pound bag and shucked the gross corn parts off of the corn.
It took a while to do it all. There was lots of people there, about 30
missionaries, 30 people from a different organization, and a school
class of kids. So we went and helped with the that and then had dinner
at a new families home. They live out in La Vernia, it was a good 30
minute drive over to their home. They are a solid family. They are
trying to share the gospel and do their duty. We helped their kids
know how they can answer questions and then extend an invitation to
act. Did some role playing. It was a fun dinner.

On Saturday I was feeling sick so we went to our scheduled appointment
then went back to the apartment and I napped. In the morning we met
with Derek. He's a good kid, we moved his baptismal date back a week.
He's a funny kid. A good kid, just needs some direction. We then met
with Glenda again. We read a conference talk by Monson with her and
she seemed to enjoy it. After my nap we went to an appointment with a
single lady that recently moved into the ward. We asked Bro. Rohrer if
he would come with us and he said yes. We ended up just riding with
him because it was out next to Floresville (far away). She is a busy
lady and she forgot. Oh well, so we drove back with bro Rohrer too.

Sunday I felt like death so I texted sis. Slaughter. If you're sick
you are supposed to text her your symptoms and she will tell you if
you can leave the apartment or not. She said I was banned to the
apartment for the day. It felt so weird not going to church. Life
would be horribly empty if you didn't go to church consistently. Faith
makes you rooted. Reminds me of ether 12:4. Long, boring day. I ended
up reading Jesus the Christ and the New Testament for the day and
watching videos on the gospel library app.

It was an odd week. They happen! Tomorrow we have zone conference
which is always wonderful.

Alma 34:31 tells us a lot about repentance. Once we repent, truly feel
bad and repent, turn to God, we are immediately forgiven of our sin.
Isn't that incredible? Once we truly confess and forsake there is no
need to feel bad or lament over the past. You are immediately forgiven
so keep moving forward!

Love you all and have a great week!

Love,
Elder Christensen
Do Good Stuff

Here are some choice houses from Elizabeth st.