Transfers, funeral, branch-wide correlation!

Peaches and cream with Sister Bentley

                                      

This week has been crazy. Since my dear Sister Endemann and to leave me, We went to say goodbye to lots of the beloved members. We had wonderful appointments with them; they all love her so much! So getting off to transfers was difficult. But the meeting was so good! It was also very sad because I saw so many wonderful missionaries that I love that I have no idea when I will next see them! But it was also a really neat meeting because it was the first one that I have gone to where the members are invited to come see the departing missionaries. It was such a powerfully spiritual meeting. I saw many members from my previous areas which was so wonderful! I miss them all so much. It was definitely a treat.

                                  

The next few days were so busy! Sister Bentley and I planned for our Branch-wide correlation meeting that occurred during the third hour of church yesterday. It was so stressful! But it turned out so well and we have received over 40 referrals because of it! We are so excited. Lots of work is coming up! We are already exhausted from the past weekend.

Not only did we do a ton of planning to be prepared for the meeting, we also had many activities going on. We get a lot of last minute calls sometimes, so Friday we got a call from a less active lady who moved to New York Saturday morning and said she needed our help to clean and empty out her house. We ran up there and worked with her for about 2 hours getting all their stuff into their U-Haul truck. It was an interesting experience in and of itself. But we got it done and she is on her way. It is kind of sad to see her go, but I know this is a better situation for her.

Saturday morning we had funeral to go to. One of our member's brother died and they asked us to attend and help out. We were gone from 8:30am to 9pmthat day! It was insane. We were only at the funeral from 9:15 until 2:30 then we had a meeting with our Branch president and our newly called branch mission leader. It was awesome. We are so excited to work with our new mission leader! Then we had to run to another town to give the Springfield elders their phone.. they left it at our chapel on Friday from district meeting. After that we planned, took a break and had dinner with a member, then planned again until 9pm. That was a heck-tick day! But it was so worth it because we had a wonderful day yesterday, besides the stress.

I am so grateful for this work. I am so excited to work hard this transfer with Sister Bentley! We are pumped with all the new things coming up. I love the work of Salvation! It is so refreshing and relieving to know that you are doing the work of the Lord.

Love you all!

Love,

Sister Christensen

Hello Everyone!

Our District...3 are being transferred

This week has been so crazy! But very good and productive. Last Monday we had our usual lesson with our investigators, T and her son A. We taught them the restoration (again for T, and for the first time for A) and we used the cups demonstration (if some of you don't know what that is it is when you use stacked cups to show the importance of the priesthood and the organization of Christ's church which then leads into apostacy). Then we watched the Restoration dvd with them. The lesson went so well and they both had great questions. Sometimes it scares me to try and teach Tara because she is so smart and intellectual, she thinks of every odd and end and asks a ton of questions. It is kind of hard to teach her sometimes because she doesn't have a strong belief in Jesus Christ. Ultimately it is her desire to seek out her own revelation on whether He is truly the Son of God or not. But her faith is definitely building since we first started meeting with her. I love teaching Aras because he is also very smart, but he is very sincere and has a great desire to know the truth.

Making Lei's for the district

This past week Sister Endemann and I had to give a training on the spirit in conversion for our district meeting. It was such a neat experience because we really felt like the Lord was leading us in preparing for our training. We decided the night before to put together a video of the district's "investigators" in 5 years telling them thank you for their work and dedication in helping them in their conversion. They also told them about the blessings and successes in their lives, like getting baptized, going to the temple, being sealed in the temple and so on. We had our members pose as the investigators. It was so cool! Most of the members were converts themselves so it was really neat to see them look back on their experience with investigating in the church. It was a really fun idea and the training went so well, the spirit was definitely touching everyone in our district. It was neat to watch.

                                             

Right after district meeting was t-text and my dear, sweet companion, Sister Endemann is getting transferred to Norwich, Connecticut as a Sister Training Leader! I am so proud of her. She will work many miracles down there. I am so sad to lose her but I am so excited for her! She is going to my very first zone.. I loved it down there! So my new companion.. Is.. Sister Bentley!! She was my MTC companion! I am so excited for her to come here to North Brookfield! It was so funny because when I saw her name I just remembered when we were in the Mission Home right when we arrived and we told President Packard that we wanted to stay as companions! Now we finally get to be companions! I am pretty excited :).

                                       

Have a wonderful week everyone! The Church is true :) I love you!

Love,

Sister Christensen

The following pictures are taken of The Cross in Barres, MA

MIRACLES IN ALL FORMS

                                      

It has been a very interesting week. Lots of random things came up but it was good. We have had a few miracles happen this week.

One was our branch missionary meeting. We set this up about a week or two ago and pulled it together really quickly. We have never had this meeting since I have been here, but we are going to have it every month now :). The purpose of this meeting was to take full advantage of our branch missionaries and get them totally updated with our investigators and their needs. We only got a few words in but it was a fantastic meeting! Basically what happened was that all our missionaries realized the importance of coming out with us and working more with us, the importance of fellowshipping our investigators! They are all converts and they realized how vital members were to their conversion. It was awesome.

                                     

We also were able to visit with an older less active couple this week. I met them briefly once, my first week here. They didn't let us in then, but they immediately let us in this week and talked to us for an hour! They were so happy. Sister Endemann said that they don't usually let us in, let alone be that happy. Also, the husband usually doesn't stay in the same room to talk, but he stayed the whole time and we had a wonderful visit with them. Sister Endemann has this thing.. whenever we are with an older couple she always says "hey, Sister Christensen is going home soon, do you have any marriage advice for her?" she kills me.. So she did that with this couple, and I actually think it was a great ice breaker for them. It was pretty funny.

One of the two biggest miracles that happened (for me) this week was when our sister training leaders had us do a last minute exchange. One of them was really sick, my companion was really sick, so those two stayed in North Brookfield, and I went with the other sister to Oxford.  It was just what I needed! We had one appointment fall through (which I was really sad about because it was with a family and they seemed really awesome!), but we had another appointment. It was with an older man, in his 60's, who was taught by the missionaries 40 years ago in Germany. He had 3 baptismal dates in Germany, but they all fell through because his wife, at the time, wouldn't let him get baptized. He has been living with his current girlfriend for 15 years. So we taught him about the law of chastity and said that if he wants to be baptized he has to either move out, or marry her. He said he has been trying to marry her forever, but she doesn't want to get married. So that is an issue. But you can tell that he is so sincere and so set on being baptized that he will not let anything get in his way. He is hopefully getting baptized in July! That was a really neat appointment because it went flawlessly and we had the perfect member with us who said exactly the right things. One of the best lessons I have ever had!

                                       

Now, the second of the two big miracles was our lesson with an investigator last night. This might seem like a weird miracle, but it really built my testimony.

Our appointments with these two investigators, E and A, have fallen through since our first visit with them a few weeks ago.  But we finally got a set date and we brought a recently returned missionary with us. Arty was busy so he didn't sit in on our lesson. We taught Elizabeth the restoration and it went so well. Another one of the best lessons I have ever had! When we invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, she declined. She is currently reading the Bible and said that she does not have enough room to start reading and trying to understand the Book of Mormon. She said she had too much respect for the book to take it when she had no intentions of reading it. She grew up in a non religious household and is still very young in Christianity. She is trying so hard to understand it all and has definitely come a long way. She was so kind and sincere about the invitation but then she said that she respects us and what we are doing too much to have us come back and waste our time with her. I gained a lot of respect for her as we talked. It was sad that she had to be dropped because you can just tell how sincere she is and what she could really gain from the gospel. But as we talked outside with the returned missionary, we all felt like she and her husband both will accept the gospel. They are not ready now, but they will accept it in the future. It was such a powerful feeling that we all left that house uplifted and strengthened. I know for sure she will accept it, without a doubt in my mind.

It has been a special week, hard, but a lot more special than I realized, actually, until now. I love serving a mission. My day does not go as well unless I have an opportunity to bear my testimony or share the gospel in some way. I am so excited about the gospel and love searching and finding those people who are being prepared. I love teaching, though I am not the best teacher, but I always feel so good afterwards, even if the lesson did not go as well. It is truly amazing how many blessings you get from sharing the gospel. I hope you all feel that.

I love you all so much!! I hope you are having a wonderful week! Happy Father's Day this Sunday!!

Love, Sister Christensen

Beautiful Massachusetts

                                     

 “Give me some of your Revelations”

This week I decided to start rereading the Book of Mormon again with highlighting examples of diligence, and I am also rereading preach my gospel (start to finish) as well. So far, it is so enlightening! I just love everything about these two books. They mean 10x more to me after each time I read them! I am so enthralled with the Book of Mormon, I can hardly put it down. I read it before I go to bed, first thing in the morning, and any other spare moment I get. It is wonderful.

Since doing this process I have realized more and more about how important it is for our investigators to have personal revelation. And then, on top of that President Packard was inspired to call a random zone conference on personal revelation! It was so perfect! So tonight we are teaching our wonderful investigators, Tara and Aras, how to receive personal revelation so they can receive their own witness of the truth! Wish us luck!

I never realized how significant it is that we believe in personal revelation. Most people and scholars believe in revelation but not how we do. They believe that revelation is received from recorded history and scripture. They don't believe, or know, that you can receive revelation in so many other ways! That was really interesting to me. President Packard said that James 1:5 is one of the most revolutionary concepts Joseph Smith ever taught, that you can ask God a question and that He will answer you. We are so blessed to have this knowledge and the opportunity to receive revelation personally from God! Don't take that for granted!

I think the most important thing I learned from this wonderful conference is that we cannot give up on trying to receive and perfect the way we receive personal revelation. It really is hard! It is hard to keep it up. But if you continue to try your best you will only get better. You will fail and mess up time and time again, but it really is only through these mistakes that we learn how we can perfect ourselves and the way we receive, recognize, and act upon the revelation we receive.

I hope you all have a wonderful week with this beautiful new week of June!! What a beautiful world we live in. Enjoy it! :)

Love, 

Sister Eliza Christensen

Cultural Night at Relief Society

Rock House Reservation in Ware, Massachusetts

Sister A & me

Lady Slipper--going extinct:(

The Road Less Traveled

Our Chapel in the Woods

REMEMBER YOUR MISSION

It has been such a powerful week. We had an incredible mission conference with Elder Holland on Friday. We were in our seats quietly studying for at least 30 minutes before he came in. But right  before he walked in you could just feel his spirit enter the building, everyone was looking around for about 5-10 minutes waiting for him to finally enter the chapel. That was pretty cool. And even before he spoke to us, he was very emotional and you could just see the revelation he was receiving just while he was sitting in his seat. Elder Hallstrom and Sister Holland spoke before he did. Each of the talks were so powerful. President Packard asked us to come with questions and every single one of my many questions were answered in all of the talks.

There were a few great impacts that I received from these messages. The first was from Sister Holland, you have to love yourself in an appropriate, godly way before you are able to fully love those the Lord places in front of you. I thought that was incredible. I already feel like I love so instantly but I realized I could love these people even more if I love myself. The second was from Elder Holland. He talked a lot about staying strong in the faith and not losing your way after your mission. He emphasized how much his mission has changed his life and he was struggling with even the thought of returned missionaries losing their way. He kept saying he could not understand it. He was so sweet and powerful, very loving. The whole meeting all I felt was love from these three speakers, love and complete joy. I did not feel chastised or critiqued, I felt motivated and edified. They just poured out their love and their spirit stayed for a very long time.

I think one of the most powerful moments of that day was when Elder Holland left. We stood as he walked out of the chapel and we stood for who knows how long. I think we all were thinking that President Packard (who had left with Elder Holland) would walk back in, but he didn't. We felt it when Elder Holland left the grounds, and I think it was about that time when President Christensen walked to the pulpit and invited us to sit and record the feelings we had during that meeting. He was so sweet and emotional. There were hardly any dry eyes in that chapel. You could tell everyone was greatly impacted by the messages and the spirit that was present. It was such an incredible experience. Elder Hallstrom told us in his talk that this was such a significant day and that it will change us. It certainly did.

I only wish you could have all been there. But it was such a wonderful day that brought our mission that much closer together. I don't think anyone in that room will ever forget the things Elder Holland told us, especially that we have to remember our missions. Remember your mission when you get down, when you start to lose your way. Remember the things you learned, the testimony that was strengthened, the people you influenced and changed. Everyone has a different experience on their missions but overall, it changes you for the better. There is no way anyone can forget the impact their missions made on their life.

I love you all and hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend! Remember your mission and do all you can to stay strong and be that great example of a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is through Him, anyway, that our missions change us.

Love, Sister Christensen

BUILDING ZION

 

This past week has been incredible. So many miracles are happening! The next few miracles that are listed are just from yesterday!

Miracle #1. We had branch council in the morning, our branch president gave us a few minutes to talk about our people. Before he let us speak he talked about what a blessing it is that the Lord took the Elders out of our branch because it is making the members do their part. The Elders were amazing and did so much for the Branch. But the members started getting used to them and would let the Elders do their work. They would go visit the people who needed to be visited, home teaching, bless and pass the sacrament, take the sacrament to the elderly, and so on. But now, the Lord has taken off the training wheels and expects the members to do that work. He went on to say that we, the sisters, need their help more than ever, because we do not have the priesthood so we can't bless the sacrament, or take it to the elderly. We also can't always visit the elders were visiting because we can't always get a chaperon. The Priesthood holders need to step up and do the work that the Elders were doing. We also don't have enough time and miles to do everything the elders were doing, the things we are doing, plus all the work that is starting to increase. Our Branch president then asked us to make the announcement in Sacrament meeting that we need the members help. #2 Before sacrament meeting our investigator and her daughter (we just found them on Saturday) walked in with the member who was willing to pick them up. #3 And while we were giving the announcement in Sacrament meeting another investigator came in!
#4 We have been struggling with getting into the homes of members for a little while. No one, really, has been feeding us, let alone just letting us come share a message. Which is very unusual. But, yesterday, our whole entire week got completely booked. The only hour or so of time we have to spare is Saturday or Sunday. Every minute is totally filled. I know this is because of our branch president who is so on board and so supportive of us! He is so incredible. We are so blessed to have this chance to work with him. The things that have happened in this area has a great deal to do with him!
#5 We were going to visit an elderly lady yesterday and we decided we weren't going to leave the apartment until we found someone to come with us. A name popped into my head and we called that sister, she accepted gladly. We met her at the care center and had such a wonderful visit with this elderly lady. The sister we brought was exactly the person that needed to be there with us to visit this other lady. She supported, loved, and encouraged her. She told us some of her thoughts afterwards and it was clear to us that she had a great spiritual experience while we were there.
#6 After that visit we went to visit a potential that another sister and I had stopped by while on exchanges. We went by and they immediately let us in. The wife, Elizabeth, sat us down and just talked to us for a while. She told us how she had been wanting to come to a church meeting ever since she had met the missionaries a year or two ago. She was so friendly and so open it was incredible! We talked a lot about service and why we are serving a mission, and a lot about how Christ would serve. We then asked if we could share a message. We had not prepared a message, but it was one of the few times I felt calm and collected while giving a message on the spot. I usually get really nervous or start freaking out in my head because I don't know what to say. Our lesson went so well! It was a miracle! I knew what we needed to share with them and I knew what they needed to hear and feel. They were so open and are looking forward to our future visits!
Sister Endemann and I were talking about it afterwards and we both thought Elizabeth could be the next relief society president, she was that type of person and she was just so friendly and amazing! We thought her husband could definitely be the next high priest. They have so much potential. We are so excited!

I loved President Packard's letter today that I had to share it with all of you!
"We had a wonderful conference this weekend in Providence with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! During one of the meetings, Elder Holland mentioned the power of words. When God created the universe, he used words. When we make covenants, we use sacred words. When we invoke the priesthood, we do so with words. Words are the most powerful tool we have.

Yet, words do have their limitations. If someone tries to explain what a morning cup of coffee tastes like, those of us who have never tasted coffee will not really understand. This is because words themselves do not generate understanding in a vacuum. (Even if you have tasted coffee, we have no way of knowing whether we actually experience the same taste. Have you ever wondered about that? We have all been taught that the sky is blue, but do we really know that the “blue” that I see is the same “blue” that you see?) The point is, if we are going to teach or learn anything new, we have to use language, but our language only communicates meaning if it triggers knowledge or experiences that are shared by both the teacher and the learner. For example, we can tell you what it is like to love a child, but you younger missionaries can only process that concept through the lens of a child – not as a parent. You will not truly understand until you have your own children. Each one you will have difficulty using words to explain what happened when you cried out to God for forgiveness and felt His love and acceptance wash over you. Those of us who have lost loved ones in death can’t really use words to communicate the profound comfort that the temple ordinances and our faith in Christ brings to us. Moreover, words don’t adequately explain what “spiritual experiences” feel like or, more importantly, what they mean, and words don’t fully explain God’s love, His acceptance, or His fullness. Doctrine can be explained with language, but true comprehension of spiritual matters comes through experience – personal, individual experience. As Ammon explained: “I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.” (Alma 26: 16). Elder Boyd K. Packer is fond of saying that he cannot teach us most of what he knows. Paul said it this way: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:13–14.) If we are trying to teach someone who does yet understand the things of God, or if we are trying to understand spiritual truth ourselves, words fail us miserably because we are trying to explain something that is learned primarily through experience. When it comes to the deep things of God, we are unable to learn or teach very much on our own. However, we can connect ourselves to the True Vine! (John 15:5). Christ can and does teach people every day in a way that transcends language or even human thought. With His infinite mind and through His Spirit, He speaks directly to our souls and gives us the capacity to comprehend things that we could not naturally comprehend. Christ also gives people what they need to understand – experiences through His Spirit that communicate what words cannot."

I loved this so much because I have been having so many amazing spiritual experiences and learning so much about the gospel and what it means to me this past week, and I wish I could just tell you all and explain how incredible it has been. But, sadly, the truth is I can't. There are no words to describe these experiences. You just have to go through the experience for yourself to understand at least somewhat of what I wish I could tell you.

I hope you all have such a wonderful week and are able to see the Lord's hand in your life. He is there and He loves you! You are so important to Him, and so are all the wonderful people around you. So share the joy and the love you have found through the gospel and help others find their way :)!

Love,

Sister Eliza

cupcakes for Elder's Birthday

Cupcakes for less active member

                                     

smashed bumble bee

                                     

MIRACLES

It was so good to see and hear from my wonderful family last night! Seems like everyone is doing really well and have so many good things happening in their lives! I love you all so much!

Let me just tell you. Miracles happen everyday if you look for them. We have seen so many this week!  First of all. We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and both sets of us found more people to teach!! Miracle #1: Sister Bingham and I were driving back from an appointment and she was telling me about this lady she had met while she was serving here in North Brookfield. She was showing me where the lady lived so I could go by another day when we had more time. But we thought "why not just stop in right now?" So we did! We both were pleasantly surprised and so glad we did. The lady wasn't home but her husband was. He was so unusually nice (for a New Englander) and friendly! He recognized who we were and even knew some things about the Mormon's and knew where our church was in North Brookfield! It was awesome! He said he would be so glad to give his wife our number and would love to get to know us better! He said that his wife had mentioned how she had met the missionaries before and he was so positive about it! It was seriously incredible. We are so excited. It seems like we have been finding people to teach right and left!

Another Miracle, we had breakfast with a wonderful member this week and she lives nearby a few less actives and invited one of them. Sister M (the less active) was so sweet, she doesn't act like she would be less active but she is struggling with a few word of wisdom issues. When the waitress came to get our orders she started sharing the gospel with her! Not only that, but the girl seemed pretty genuinely interested too! It was so fun to see. You never know who is waiting or ready to receive the gospel, let alone who is willing to share it! So amazing.

Since I didn't really get a chance to share my testimony with my family I thought I might just share it with you here :). I loved what Andrew said about how to prepare for a mission. He is so wise! I am so proud of that kid. I just want you all to know that he is completely right on that. You have to have a testimony of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith. My testimony of all three of those things has grown ten fold while on my mission. I could not serve God as sincerely or as hard as I have if I did not have a testimony of Him. I want you all to know that I do know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the only way we can return to our Father in Heaven and that He has truly felt all our pains and is with us in every one of our challenges. I do know that He is with us more that we even know. He helps us even more than we can imagine. I love this gospel and am so grateful I have this chance to serve Him with my whole heart, mind, might, and strength. I am still learning how to truly consecrate all of those four things to Him, but that is a lifelong process. Luckily I do not have to be perfect to have the chance to use the Atonement in my life, how silly would that be? :) If we were perfect there would be no need for the Atonement.

I love you all so much and hope you are doing well and loving life as much as I am! Hope you have such an amazing week filled with miracles!!

Love, Sister Christensen