Life truly is good!‏

Let me first start off by saying THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY LOVE!! It was so fun to get a little piece of all of you down here in the heart of Texas. It really was a lovely day and you all contributed to that! 

This week has been awesome! I said good bye to Elder A but we are still in the same zone so we will continue to see each other. My new companion is Elder R. He is incredible! I have already learned so, so much from him and I hope we get to be together for more than one transfer because I have so much to learn from him. Hopefully he can learn something from me too. He is from Utah, can't remember the city but its down in south Utah. He has 7 brothers and sisters and he is the 2nd youngest. He is an awesome example to me! He has a wonderful how can we help attitude and looks for ways to help everyone. Very humble and full of the spirit. 

We have had some super cool floods here in the past couple days. We had a deluge the other day and the streets became rivers. That's not even an exaggeration! We had to go a very different way to get to our apartment because the streets we normally go down/by had knee high water rushing down them into the draining system. Super cool to see. We had lots of opportunities to help others that day. A lot of people would think they could go through and get completely stuck. It was fun. Thankfully no real damage comes from these floods. Apparently though in Dallas and Houston they have had some real problems with the flooding and the wards have been asked to go over and help. The city contacted the LDS church to go over and help which is awesome. So they sent 30 missionaries over to help and the respective wards. I think this weekend its our turn to go and help so that will be fun. 

We continue to work with Jennifer and she is certainly progressing. Her countenance has lightened up and she seems more relaxed. She feels like she needs to better understand the BoM in order to feel ready for baptism so we are working with her to help her get an answer that its true and real and baptism is what Heavenly Father wants her and everyone to do. It really is a big commitment. I can see why people choose to take their time and think it over. 

We had dinner with the H family and they are so fun. She either makes roast beef or chicken and the way they interact is hilarious. Its a husband and wife in their 50's. Bro. H is hilarious and always has some witty, funny comment to make. We found out he was in the special services in the Vietnam War and he showed us all his cool medals and such. There really is so much history to each person! 

We are still working with Baltimore. He has the desire to be happy and we are slowly showing him that this is the way to do so. He smiled this last time we met with him and he is doing better. He even read the BoM!! It is so great when people keep their commitments and aren't just saying yes. He is showing that he wants to change. We will continue to work with him. 

I think this transfer will be a lot more productive than the last. We are off to a great start! Something we both wanted to work on this transfer is working with the ward and getting to know the members. I really do love this ward. I don't think there is a ward on earth quite like the SA1st ward. Humble, great people that want to do whats right. 

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/biographies/elder-l-tom-perry?cid=HP_day_date_dPAAST_PERY_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng

What a great, great, great, great, great, excellent man. Awesome article! Thats my thought for the week I guess!

Love you all so very much. Thank you so much for the love I feel from your letters and emails. Do good things!

Elder Christensen

5/25/15 - Turtle pee smells like the inside of a rotten pumpkin‏

So pretty exciting week if I say so myself!

This past week the weather gods determined that San Antonio was going to have a record breaking amount of rain. Well on Saturday, the clouds unleashed their fury. Me and mi companion were out knocking on doors after a baptism we went to for some other elders and we both feel like we should go home. But being rather dumb we ignore it and go and knock on one more door. While knocking we get a text that says Extreme Alert! It says that there are chances of a tornado so "Take shelter now." So we leave that lady and go home and it starts pouring rain and we have some intense thunder and lightning going on so we go back and hang out for the rest of the evening. Well at about 10 the lights flicker annnddd the power goes out. Everyone in our apartment complex loses power and everyone in the area as well. At this point its raining cats and dogs and the thunder is so loud we decide its bed time. So we all go to bed with the hopes that the power will turn on. The next morning, so yesterday morning there is still no power. Taking a shower and shaving with a flashlight was a first for me. Thankfully none of us got sucked up by a tornado the night before. But we eat breakfast hoping that our food will be ok, cereal of course, and then start studies. The other elders in our apartment have ward council so they head over to the church. They text us saying no power at the church were coming back. We have electric gates at our apartment and somehow they got out but they text us saying we can't get in which I think is hilarious so they go back to the church to see if the church has power yet. It doesn't. So they try a second time to get in and the power comes back to our apartment and they succeed! Yaaay! So we let bishop know that the church building doesn't have power and we get a mass text saying all meetings at the building are canceled for the day and we need to attend a different building and a different sacrament meeting. It was just a weird weekend to say the least. But some parts of San Antonio got 9 inches of rain and had some serious flooding. Hopefully everyone ended up ok in the end. It was a good time and rather exciting. 

Now to the turtle story, which isn't as cool. Yesterday we were driving out in the country parts of our area and we saw a weird shape in the road and we come to the conclusion that it is indeed a turtle. So we pull over and I get out of the car to move this dumb turtle which has wandered into the middle of the road and stopped. So I go over and pick it up to move it to the side and it starts to pee all over my hands. Apparently turtles think its appropriate to pee on the thing that saves it. It smelt bad and then I had to shake hands with my turtle pee hand. Kind of gross.

We also saw a spider the size of my hand while visiting people the other day. We go up to knock on someones door and its right under there door and it starts scuttling along the underside of the door. I am pretty sure my heart stopped for about 5 seconds and then picked up again. It was horrifying to say the least.

I learned this week that I of myself can truly do nothing. It is only through the Lord that I can do diddly squat. This is stupidly humbling. I used to be so full of myself and thought I can do everything I don't need any ones help. What a lie that was! I pray for humility everyday and I sure hope I will be able to develop it. 

It is so hard to see people that have the key to happiness not use it and open the door. It really hurts! I was reading in Alma this week and Alma gives a great prayer that he and his fellow missionaries will be able to bring them back unto Christ. And there is a great verse, Alma 31:38. Everything they experienced was swallowed up in the joy of Christ. The good the bad, everything. What a great reminder that was to me and it should be to everyone, that if we follow Christ we will receive eternal life and a fullness of joy, regardless of what we feel now. Just a reminder to keep moving forward and striving to do your best. 

This has been the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done and probably ever will do. I am uncomfortable allllll the time but growth only occurs when we are outside our comfort zone so hey, it will be worth it!

I am doing well, thanks for all the love and support!

I love you all!

Elder Christensen

5/24/15 - A tender mercy from Texas ...

Wendy (Kade's mom here) -

I love the kindness of strangers ... I was touched by this photo of Elder Christensen and the little text that came with it:

Dear Sister Christensen, today we were visiting our son in Texas where we ran into your missionary son, serving. I am attaching a sweet photo of him with our precious grandson, named ... Kade Christensen same as your young man! Same spelling and your Elder even pinned his name plate on the perspective Elder. Thought you would enjoy the photo.
Hugs from another Sister C.

THANK YOU!

HELLOOOO!‏

​Hi family and friends. Its nice to talk with you again. Another week has come and gone and it was a longer one. The weeks and days are starting to blur together so that's fun. Feeling super lazy today so this email might be lacking in content.

We had stake conference this weekend which was cool. We went to the adult Saturday session and the power and goodness of the saints here in San Antonio is powerful. I thought that this is probably a little bit of what apostles talk about when they go to Africa and meet with the saints there. Just good people who want to do whats right. I don't know if they focused on the same things in Washington but the Brethren told them to talk about ward council. Some awesome talks by bishops were given and then the stake president chastised them for not doing a better job at sharing the gospel. It was a good loving way to do it though. It was enjoyable and I am glad I had the opportunity to go. 

Then Sunday was actual stake conference and they didn't announce the time at church the previous week so there was hardly anyone there and they missed out. But it was a crazy lightning and thunder storm and rain storm so it was ok I guess. The lightning and thunder storms are super cool. You don't have to wait at all for the next flash or boom. It is constant. If there isn't one for more than 10 seconds its surprising. But its weird because we will have a crazy storm but then like 3 hours later the sun will come out and dry everything up and everything will be back to normal. Its fun though to see rivers form in the streets and lakes form and such. That happened quite a bit this past week. 

No biking this week which was fine. The other elders in our apartment decided to bike when it was pouring rain and got drenched to the bone so we decided against that. We also had a zone meeting planned for last Wednesday but our Zone leaders apartment got bed bugs so they moved it to Friday. Bed bugs are pretty popular I hear and hopefully I won't have to deal with that. 

It is so nice when people feed us dinner. We have missionary food every lunch and sometimes dinner but when people sign up it is mana from heaven. I sure do appreciate the people that decide to feed us.

We had a lesson the past week with a Less Active/Part Member family and I was worried about it so I prepared some scriptures I wanted to use and what I wanted to say and such. This lesson was the best lesson I had ever done or taught. And it was all because I was worried about it and I prepared. I could feel what the Holy Ghost was saying through me was helping her see the importance of the gospel and coming unto Christ. If we truly want to help others we really have to put in the effort to do so. Heavenly Father can't use dull tools. It was a good lesson to learn this week. Using the scriptures while teaching is so key and helping others see the importance of them and helping them feel the spirit is so rewarding, just a lot of work.I am beginning to see how much effort I can personally put into this and I pray that by the end of this I will be putting in 100% effort. Because that is where happiness is found, trying your hardest. We all have such an incredible potential for good and I am starting to see it. Heavenly Father really does love us and though it may not feel like it at times, He is there urging you and supporting you on your journey. Its true, its all true! By reading the Book of Mormon we can know it for ourselves. 

Just do whats right and everything will be just fine. There is a conference talk in the recent general conference I think by Clayton but he talks about our greatest decision everyday is whether we will believe and move towards the light or not believe and remain lonely and afraid. Choose to believe! If you don't know what to believe start with Mosiah 4:9-10. Just believe! And if you believe and want to have faith experiment upon the word! See for yourself how wonderful it is. It will not come all at once. Nothing of value or worth ever does. It will take time. So be patient and trust in God. The picture is a picture of me in front of a church who knows exactly what God is. God is good! Turn to Him and live! The gospel is so rooted in my soul and the fruit is joy. Being happy is much funner than being miserable. Ye are free to choose liberty and  ETERNAL life through the great mediator of all men or captivity and death according to the power of the devil. Just choose eternal life. You won't regret it! 

We even have a Prophet on the earth today that helps us towards that eternal goal so listen to him and follow his counsel. For it is the Lord's counsel and would the Lord tell you to go and jump off a cliff? No, he would never lead us to harm. The prophet and the Lord love us so listen and obey. 

Hopefully you enjoyed my weekly rant. Do whats right and enjoy the reward!

Love you all!

Elder Christensen

5/11/15 - Vultures! Vultures everywhere!!‏

A blooming onion ...

So down here in the heart of Texas we have a wide assortment of birds including but not limited to: vultures, big black scary gross but yet cool vultures, red cardinals, blue birds, cool ducks, scissor tail birds (not sure actual name), hawks, grouse, a different breed of skinny turkey which weirdly enough people have as pets and they sit outside of peoples front yards and then follow you around, and lots and lots of tweety birds! So that's the birdy news.

This week I really focused on just enjoying the journey which made it more enjoyable. (Go figure)

Monday- We had p-day like normal and we actually had some errands to run so we did that. And actually the other day as in a month ago I managed to crack a gallon of milk while I was carrying it so I got milk all over my blue suit! So we looked for a reliable dry cleaner but could not find one. Oh well, most of the milky spots came off with water and a towel. Still wearable! It was actually pretty comical because I set it down to open the trunk but I sat it on the trunk so when I opened it it fell and cracked and then I thought it would be a good idea to pick it up. To say the least it was funny for everyone that witnessed. Anyways, we did that and then went out to proselyte. We met with a guy named Baltimore who wanted to meet with us and has the desire to change his life around. We shared that through Christ's atonement we can do that and left him with a BoM and we made a follow up appointment. I realized again this week that people ultimately have to make the decision for themselves to change; people have to choose for themselves to be happy and the gospel shows us how!

Tuesday- We went and stopped by a lot of people and tried to find some new people to teach. We have been meeting with a cool Jamaican guy, Bro. V, and he made the decision that he wants to make church a part of his life again so he has been reading the BoM ever since and is going to tell his boss that he can no longer work on Sundays. It has been so cool to see his countenance change as he has made the gospel a part of his life. Whenever we go over now we feel the spirit and we can see that it is in him. We invited his wife to learn about the gospel and she said yes. Well she does not believe in God and Christ so it was different. We just told her that if she did want to know than the BoM is the way to do so. Hopefully she comes around eventually and if she continues to see how much Bro V grows then I think she will.

Wednesday- Had district meeting again! We have DM every Wednesday unless we are having zone meeting, that replaces it. Our district leader is also Elder Christensen! What are the odds? So we had DM and then we went to go and teach a LA. We challenged her to read the BoM everyday for a week and look for the difference it makes in her life. Hopefully she does it! We meet with her again this Wednesday. Oh in DM we had a training on what people need to feel in order to become converted and in 2 Nephi 4:16-35 it talks exactly about it. It was a neat little study. We then had coordination with Bro. W at 5 at Texas roadhouse and had a glorious blooming onion thing. And then we went to Aaron and his family and taught them. We have been working with his wife but I think it will just take time for her to accept the gospel and want to be a part of it. 

Thursday- Was a 0 day but it happens. We had weekly planning and came up with some great ideas for how to help people see how the BoM blesses them. We came up with a challenge we wanted to give to people and I would challenge you the same! 

BoM Challenge: First, pick a question you have about life, doctrine, personal question, etc. Then write it down on a piece of paper and pray that you will be able to receive an answer. Read the BoM everyday for two weeks and truly seek for an answer, it does not matter what you read but as you read try and apply your question to everything you are reading and have the question in mind. As you do so you will be able to have your question answered through the spirit. If you truly have the desire to know the answer Heavenly Father will give you the answer as you exercise faith in Him. It is a great faith exercise to help us see that Heavenly Father cares and the BoM answers all of our questions. It just requires work on our part!

Friday- I had exchanges on Friday and Elder Christensen came to my area and I led out. We were EC squared that day but no one made a comment about it. It was a bummer. We stopped by a lot of people with not a lot of success but it was fun to spend the day with Elder C. It was a super slow day.

Saturday- We rode bikes again which I always enjoy. We went to the G's for lunch which is an older couple. It was a nice lunch and then we rode bikes to look for more people and stop by more people. For dinner we got Big Louis pizza which is probably the best pizza I have ever had. So we pigged out on pizza then went back out for the evening. We tried knocking but no one would answer or they were not home no matter what are we went to. People tend to leave for the weekends down here. Then we went and stopped by some other people and set up some appointments. 

Sunday- I skyped with my family which was wonderful! Church was centered around mothers day and it was a good sacrament. Robert came to church again today and an excommunicated member is starting to come more often so two good things. We teach the gospel essentials class which has been going well. It is always better when we have more than 2 people because then we can have a discussion. In the morning we went to Bro W's house so Elder A could skype his family. I made pancakes with his family while my companion skyped. We put pancake mix in a squeeze thing and made different shaped pancakes and boats and such. Then we went and visited some people out in the country and had a chat with an older gentleman. Invited him to church and then went to church. After church we had dinner then we headed back out to the country so I could skype. Then we had a lesson with Aaron and his family again and called it a day. 

Every week I become more and more convinced that this is all true. The BoM is true and from it we find joy. Read it and live!

I love you all and hope you all have an awesome week!

Elder Christensen

Mother's Day 2015 -

So thankful for Elder Christensen and his kind heart ... He always has time to send me a quick email of thanks and love on P-day and I always get a letter in the mail each week!

Proud of you!
Love, MOM

PS; The Skype call on Mother's Day was the best gift ever!

It was so fun to share a virtual hug and hear his voice and see his smile!

We loved hearing his testimony and felt his love for the Savior, for his mission and for each one of us!

Go and Do!

5/4/15 - cats are wonderful and so are you!‏

Hi friends and family! I made an effort to write in my journal everyday this week so I would remember what happened throughout the week and it would be more informative to what I actually did. But guess who forgot to bring my journal to the library? Yours truly. So you get whatever comes out of my brain.

Monday- P-day was fun, we actually switched it up a little and went to the church and played risk instead. I don't normally get into board games that much but I got a little competitive when we played this time and when I get competitive I am going to win. So I won. It was fun, I have good elders for apartment mates. Then we tried to go and preach the gospel to people for the remainder of the day and it went fine from what I remember. 

Tuesday- On Tuesday we had exchanges so for the day I got to go to a Spanish area. It was fun. It was nice to not have to talk at all and be oblivious to everything for a while. The elder I went on exchanges with is Elder W who has been out a while. We went a visited a guy who lost his legs to diabetes and only speaks Spanish. He was a nice, friendly guy and we ended up reading the Book of Mormon with him in Spanish. It was neat because even though I had no idea what they were saying I was still able to feel the spirit. The church is true everywhere. We then went and stopped by some people and tried to have a few more lessons. Then at about 7ish we had a lesson with a lady who is ready for baptism but doesn't know it. We taught her and it was a great lesson. We were able to help her understand some things she was confused about without knowing she was confused. She has been handing out Book of Mormons to he family because she loves it and sees the difference it makes in her life. Then after the exchange we went and got sonic milkshakes. Good day.

Wednesday- We had a pleasant surprise. We got a call saying come to the mission office and get your new car! So we swapped out of Toyota Carolla for a new 2015 Carolla. Its a nice car and drives smoothly. Then we headed off to our district meeting. It is always good to learn more about being a better missionary. After our meeting we went to Panda Express and had some yummy food. We then went out and started to proselyte. Not a lot of people wanted to lend an ear this day but it was a good day regardless. We then had our ward coordination with our ward mission leader. Bro. Weger is a great guy and he came up with a plan to get less actives re-activated. The ward has 600 people on the roster but only 120 come consistently. So we are going to try and figure out what drove these people away and how we can help them come back. And also who has moved and who exists. It was some direction that we needed. 

Thursday- In the morning we went with a member to help him with his home teaching. He does a lot for us so we said of course. It was also good to go by and visit people that we did not know were apart of the ward or people that we had a hard time meeting with. It was an inspired visit for sure for the 2 people we met with. One older lady needs help with her yard and the other needed a visit. Its easy to serve people temporally because its instantly gratifying. But when serving people spiritually it requires patience and effort because you cant see the fruits of your labor. It requires faith and consistency. It other words, its just harder. We then came back to the apartment and had weekly planning. Then we headed out for the day. We went and stopped by people and tried to set up appointments and then at about 6-ish we knocked. I enjoy knocking. You can get better at it every door and it gets me outside of my comfort zone. Lots of room for growth. 

Friday- Our ward had the assignment to clean the temple on Friday and I wanted to go! So we were informed that one of the brothers in the ward was going and had two seats available. So we asked if we could tag along and he said yes. We went and cleaned the temple. It is a lovely temple. The celestial room is awesome! There is a stained glass piece of art on every wall and each one is the tree of life. They are gorgeous! Beautiful pieces of art. The rest of the temple is gorgeous as well but that was my favorite part. The also have stained glass in the baptismal font room and the front doors are stained glass AND parts of the higher up places are stained glass. Lots and lots of stained glass. It was fun to clean and be in the temple. We then went to eat at a chines bistro with the member and had some yummy sushi. After that we went back and hopped on the bikes. I love biking and doing missionary work. Much better than the car, but I probably won't agree with that once it becomes 1 billion degrees and humid. Every once in a while a couple dogs will chase us on our bikes and try to bite but they get confused as to where to bite and they don't. Its funny. We went and stopped by some less actives and former investigators and had some success. 

Saturday- So actually we rode our bikes this day not Friday. In the morning we helped some older ladies in our ward load up 600 bricks and take them to their house. It was fun. Then we hopped on our bikes and took off for the day. We rode bikes till about 8 at night and it was a blast. It is fun to ride around San Antonio and talk to people on the way. Fun to see all the cool stuff there is to see while avoiding cars and dogs and people. We also taught lots of lessons this day. We are teaching a guy named Juan who has a lot of health problems. He takes so much patience to work with but he appreciates and needs the visits. 

The weather lately has been soooo nice. Today is cloudy and windy but its a good change from the heat. 

Sunday- Had church, went to PEC, had a potluck after church, ate some good food, appointments fell through, and tried to find more people to teach and contact. The fasting was wonderful and I enjoyed the testimonies given.

In conclusion, good week.

Love you all, thank you so much for all the love and support and wonderful letters. It really is a boost to my days.

I was reading the recent general conference talks and I really like Utchdorfs talk On Being Genuine from the priesthood session. Really all the talks from the recent conference are great, read them! And reading the Book of Mormon brings joy into life, I promise!

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Christensen