THE LORD IS HASTENING HIS WORK!

There is so much going on that proves how strong the Lord is trying to hasten His work. First of all; the missionary force, the new missions, the new temples, the new website on lds.org so that missionaries and members become one in mind and purpose to bring the Lords purpose and work up.

Speaking of new temples: The ground breaking for the Hartford, CT Temple is August 17, 2013. Just think of this for a minute... The Boston Temple can’t even be filled yet. There is no reason to build a temple in Hartford. How will it get filled if the Boston Temple can't even get filled yet?  Just think about that. Something BIG is coming to New England. They have been trying to build the Hartford Temple for YEARS and now it is finally being built, though who knows how we are going to make it functional! Now that it is being built and that "something big" has to happen in the next 5 or so years. The work has to explode here. And you know what?   It already is!

Since President Packard has come there have been so many more baptisms than there has been in this area for the past 5-10 years. Even just in my area is the work is starting to explode. It is amazing to watch. First off, there are 8 missionaries in our district that cover 2 wards and a Spanish branch.  We, as sisters, cover both wards. For us we have a ton of work to do everyday. We barely get in the routine things we have to do. It is kind of insane. We are lucky to have members so willing to work with us. And we are so lucky to have the Elders we have to work with. Our district "motto" is "we are one". We correlate everyday with the elders. We figure out together what each wards need. We, as sisters, come up with some ideas and we share with the Elders and they put the idea to work since we cannot focus all our effort on one ward alone. We truly are becoming "one" as a district. The Wards are even catching on! Mostly in one of the wards, we are still working on the other one. But for example; in the one ward council yesterday. They showed the "we are one" video from the web sight "hastening the work of Salvation". And then from that video the Bishop picked out the "three legs of missionary work" talked about in the video. 1. Missionaries- our job is to teach. 2. Members- to fellowship, invite, teach. 3. Leaders- to fellowship, invite/involve, teach, strengthen, give callings and so on. How amazing is this work!! I could go on for a while but I will spare you :) I just want to say that it was such an amazing meeting and the ward is starting to become ONE! :)

This week has been crazy. We are always going, going, going! Covering two wards is really hard sometimes. But for some reason it always works out :)  Whenever something gets cancelled something else comes up! It is so cool. Our days are ALWAYS full. We hardly have time to eat, sleep, and blink. But it is so nice to have so much work to do. It makes it so much better and happier. We have so many potentials and we have one progressing investigator and she is so awesome. We are planning on teaching her the plan of salvation this week though we have already gone over lesson 3. But I think it is what she needed. 

Thank you all for your testimonies. I love to hear them and know that you have such strong testimonies. It gives me strength. I know how hard Satan is going to strike now because of the Hastening of the Lords work.  Please keep your foundations strong and your testimonies stronger. It is amazing what the Lord can do,  Just keep your trust and faith in Him. Please help those who are struggling and who are searching around you, they NEED you! You have no idea how much of an impact a member can have on investigators, new converts, and even fellow members.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

 Love, Sister Christensen

Playing Violin and Speaking

It hasn't been too long since I last emailed so it is hard to think of something to write from the last couple of days!  A lot has happened, however.   First of all, Friday, I got a call from the Traveling Elders and they asked if I could play in the Hartford Stake Missionary Musical Fireside. The next day. They asked if I felt comfortable playing and I said the issue isn't my comfort zone it was having to move our schedule around a bit.  They said they didn't really care about the scheduling they just wanted to know if I felt comfortable playing.. I was a little upset because we were supposed to have dinner with the amazing recent convert family that night. But luckily we were able to move our schedule around a bit, and we had dinner with them last night :). Luckily it wasn't as bad as some of the other missionaries who had appointments with a lot of investigators and they didn't have a car so they had to find a member to drive them 3 hours to Hartford to play in it..  But it all worked out. It was a wonderful evening, the spirit was really strong, as it always is with the musical firesides. It was just a little sad because there were not very many people there. Maybe 30-40 people and most of them were members. But it was a nice night until I remembered I was speaking in sacrament meeting the next day AND teaching young womens, and we got home at 10:00 that night.

I kind of made a fool of myself when I spoke in church but it was alright I guess. I had to talk on the 8th Article of Faith. Which was fine, I just had no time to prepare! Our week has been crazy. And this next week is going to be even more crazy. Which is really good. I can't wait for it.

Yesterday while we were doing our studies at the church, after all the meetings, we got a call from this sweet old lady. For a bit of background info, she never calls us. We usually  visit her once a week, but this past week was too busy and we weren't able to go over. She chewed me out at church. When she called she was trying to see when we would come even though she is home 24/7, she then said, "I miss you guys". She is so sweet, and really funny. I wish I could somehow tell you all how she sounds. One of her common comments is "well you know what they say, God works in mysterious ways." In her voice it's hilarious! I love it so much.

We had a wonderful dinner with the recent convert family. They have such a strong spirit in their home. I wish I could go over there everyday! They are amazing people, and so unbelievably strong. You would think that they have been members their whole lives. I am so blessed to have had the chance to meet them.

Well that kind of hits all the important points of the last couple of days. I love you all! You are the best.

Love, Sister Christensen

SIX MONTHS!

Can you believe that yesterday was my 6 month mark?! It has gone by so fast! The Elders have been saying (a ton) that I will be home this time next year, which may or may not be true, depending on when transfers are.

I don't have much time this week but I will briefly talk about some really neat experiences from this week :). First of all, I was able to witness a whole family get baptized on Saturday! This family is amazing. They oldest son went to BYU and was baptized in March and he was able to baptize his whole family. It was the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to. I will never forget that amazing event. You would think that this family was always Mormon. It took them a while to finally get baptized but they made it and are such a strong unit in the ward!

We have had quite a few women come out with us this past week. Every time it is very successful. I cannot express how much better missionary work is when we have members with us and working along with us. It is amazing! We always have such a neat experience with these women. For example, yesterday we went to visit a young man who the Spanish Elders asked us to go and visit and the lady who came with us was the PERFECT person to have met him with us. She related so well to him even though she was 30 years older. She bore her sweet testimony and I think it really touched him. He is such a sweet guy and really deserves to find true happiness. I could not help but feel so much love for him! I absolutely loved that encounter yesterday. That was definitely one of my highlights.

Tomorrow is transfers, but both Sister Hinton and I are staying so we will just have a regular missionary work schedule. We are only losing 2 Elders from our district, one going home and one moving to a different area in the zone only 30 minutes away.

Love you all so very much. Thank you for all you do and for your testimonies that keep me going and remembering the power of the work I am doing! I love this gospel and the light and truth it brings. Share it with others! :)

Love, Sister Christensen

This barn was used by the underground railroad to hide people

This Elder is leaving to be a district leader

Sister H and Sister C

I just have to start off saying that I am so grateful for the love and support I have felt from everyone back home. Thank you so much for all you do and have done for me. I really appreciate it. Because of all of you, I am on a mission and my testimony grows every day! What a wonderful experience for anyone to have, serving a mission and being able to help others come closer to Christ a long with yourself. How amazing!

This week has been pretty fun, being the fourth of July and such! We had some crazy adventures. We were only able to see the fireworks through a hole in the trees but it was fun, though it was such a hot hot day! The humidity was so bad that day. We were running around all day so everyone was sweaty from morning until night. Fun.

                                    

                                                             Watching the Fireworks

                                    

This week Sister H. and I decided to shoot a little high on our weekly goal of attaining investigators. We set a goal to find 4. We nearly got it too!! We found 3 and then a potential investigator, who came from one of our other investigators! it was crazy. We have seen so many miracles this week. I love coming home at night, not only because I can't wait to hit the pillow from exhaustion, but because after we plan we always talk about the miracles we saw that day. We are hoping to find something "cute" to start writing them down and putting them on our wall so we can see them every day. Everything we do and have has to be "cute" for sister H. it's really funny.

I love our district. We always have fun together. We are crazy too. But I feel like we really are building zion!! Though we will probably have to start over again next week since probably half our district is leaving at transfers... BTW Transfers is next week so I won't be emailing until Wednesday :)

I have been studying a lot about prayer lately and I have found that we really need to counsel with the Lord in ALL our doings. I like a quote from President Hinckley (I think) from preach my gospel. It says something about how we need to pray like we are actually having a conversation with someone rather than sending in a grocery list and hanging up. I focused a lot on Counseling with the Lord and how we should do so. In 2 Nephi 28:30 it talks about "line upon line" and "lending an ear unto my counsel for they shall learn wisdom". I love that verse because we will only be able to gain that wisdom as we seek the Lord's guidance and show our humility before Him. We should always seek to counsel with the Lord so we will always know that we are doing the will of the Lord. That we may always know that we are on His side and He is directing our paths. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I can talk with God. That I can seek Him and know that He will respond to me. I love the Lord and I love His work. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to follow Him and seek counsel with Him to help others find that joy and happiness of the gospel.

I love my family so much, you all mean a great deal to me, more than you know. I have some pretty great friends too :) Thanks for all you have done for me, you are incredible people!!

Love, Sister Christensen

Historical New Haven CT chapel

Used to be a Mansion

                                      

Faitled attempt at a jump shot

Ok, they got it right!

Sting Ray shell

On Short Beach, Stratford, CT

It rained so hard.  Biggest rain storm I have ever seen.  

We had to stay under the pavillion until it cleared enough to run

3 Nephi 18:24

3 Nephi 18:24   

“Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.  Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.”

I love this scripture so much, I was flattered the other day when President Packard pulled me in for an interview and shared this scripture with me saying that I do this very well. I am unsure how true that is but it gave extra strength to me that day. I felt lighter, happier, and more excited about the work after I had my interview with him. I never anticipate having an interview with him because it is always uplifting and leaves me feeling 10 times better than I did before.

This week I have been studying a lot about patience and Zion. Patience is always needed to bring hope, faith, diligence, love and so on. Some famous examples of patience are the Sons of Mosiah (Alma 17:10-11, 26:27). They had so much patience! But even they almost gave up at one point and the Lord had to comfort them. Another favorite scripture is from D&C 101: 38, "And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life."  Patience is so important! I think that is one reason why it is so hard to achieve sometimes, because it is so important, it is a key player.

During our interviews with President Packard the Traveling Elders gave training on Zion, because President loves that concept and we are trying to achieve it in our mission. Zion is amazing. I have so many thoughts about Zion and I have learned so much about it! I could go on and on about Zion. But I won't :) It is so amazing to read about it in the scriptures and to talk about it with President Packard.  Some scriptures that we have talked about come from 4 Nephi; Mosiah 18:21, 27-29; D&C 82:14-15,19; D&C 43; Alma 37:36-37 and Moses 7:62. Just study up on Zion :) It's the best! We are working on building Zion first in our companionships, then in the district, then in the zone, then in the mission. It's pretty sweet! I love it here so much. Maybe except for the humidity and the office elders still haven't brought us an AC unit so we don’t stay in our apartment for long, its too hot..

Anyway, it's been a crazy week! I love you all hope you enjoy the 4th of July!! So excited to celebrate :)

Love always, Sister Christensen