Horray for Hurricanes

Hello everyone!
So we are in the midst of a hurricane watch right now! Woo! We were
instructed to get lots of water and non perishable food and then hang
out in our apt because there is a crazy storm coming! Houston can't
catch a break! We were at the store this morning and it was PACKED.
People were stocking up on what ever they could get their hands on.
This is why we have food storage! So when natural disasters come we
don't have to be all panicky! I couldn't believe it. The store was
actually running out of food. It was crazy! Anyway, we are all
prepared! Now we are just watching and waiting! As of right now, it
doesn't even look bad out! Just a little cloudy! It is supposed to hit
at 7 tonight so I guess I will let you know what happens!
 
So this past week has been awesome! We have a baptism coming up! His
name is Kevin! And he is actually Litzi's cousin! He is going to be
baptized this Saturday and we are so excited!!!!!!
 
This week we had a couple of really cool experiences. We have started
teaching this really special family. They have a little son (hes 6)
with terminal cancer. He is down to his last few weeks and he just
stays on the couch while the family cares for him. We had an
opportunity to sit with all of them this week and teach them the plan
of salvation! It was such a special experience. The spirit was so
strong as we taught of how families can be together forever. It was
probably one of the most special experiences I have had on my mission!
We also have this other little family we are teaching. They have been
investigating for a long time and haven't really been keeping
commitments. For the longest time we haven't been able to decide if we
should continue seeing them or not. We decided to have a "do or die"
lesson with them. We went in and talked about waiting on the road to
Damascus and how we need to act now on our faith! (There is a really
good Mormon message if y'all have time to watch it. It's called..
Waiting on the road to Damascus) They took our lesson really well.
When we were done, both me and Hermana rupp both had the strongest
impression that we can't give up on them yet and we need to keep
teaching them. And then low and behold they came to church yesterday
for the first time in 4 months! Hopefully they will start to progress
towards baptism!!!!
 
In other news, I learned how to make tamales this week! This sweet
Hermana in our ward was put in charge of making tamales for the ward
party we had on Saturday. She asked if we could help her for a bit, so
we did! It was so fun!!!! The ward party was crazy. Hispanic wards go
hard when it comes to party's. They are filled with food and everyone
is dancing and they usually last until about 10 or 11. We have to go
home at 9 so we missed all the craziness this time. We had a few
investigators come and they loved it! Also.. This is a little off
topic.. But none of the Hispanics use utensils when they eat. It's all
hands! Or tortillas. They make fun of us because we are used to always
eating with a fork or a knife. Some of the members have a special set
of utensils that they only use when we are over! It is so funny! I am
so bad at eating with my hands! It is hard not to make a mess! Haha!
 
Well I hope y'all have a great week! Look for missionary experiences
every single day! I love ya!
 
Hermana C.
 

Hola Amigos!

Hello friends!!
 
We had such a special week this week!! Yesterday I had the most
special sacrament meeting of my mission!!! We are teaching a family of
7 that go to the English ward. So we go to the English ward with them!
(6 hours of church! it is awesome) Anyway, the mother and the oldest
daughter went up and bore their testimonies about how they know God is
real now and how He is helping their family!! I cried like a baby!
Everyone did! It is amazing to see how the gospel can change lives!
They are going to be baptized by the end of this month and we are so
excited!! They are so special and so prepared! There was also another
little lady who went up to bear her testimony. She was probs like 80
years old and she didn't speak any english! She had someone translate
her testimony for her. (She spoke Korean) She bore powerful witness of
how she can't understand anything at church but when she takes the
sacrament, she can feel the spirit. It was powerful! This lady comes
to church every week and will bring her iPad. During classes, she will
look up the lesson and read in it Korean. She told us that she doesn't
understand why people who speak English don't come to church! Her
faith is incredible. She understands the importance of church
attendance! And she is so blessed because of it! This English ward
here is so so special. I have never felt such a strong unity and a
spirit in a ward before! I love this area so much!!
 
We are going to have a family home evening with one of our
investigators tonight! We just found out that she invited about 5 of
her neighbors and their families to join us! She is already a
missionary and she isn't even a member yet! I just love how excited
the people here are about the gospel!
 
We just got back from going downtown! We went to the natural history
museum with our district! It was pretty cool! Except everyone talked
me into going in the butterfly exhibit.. Butterfly's freak me out so
much. But I made it alive and only panicked like twice. We also had
this really nice man buy us all lunch! Every time we go downtown, rich
people always buy us lunch! It is such a blessing!
 
Well darlings, I miss you all! Missionary work is the bomb! Have a
wonderful week!!!!!
 
Love,
Hermana C

Hello friends!

We had such a great week this week! We are still working hard with our investigators and they are progressing really well! I was so sad to hear that Elder Perry passed away. He has been such a great example and teacher to all of us! 

Honestly not too many exciting things have happened this week. We have been able to teach this angel of a woman named Ivonne. She is a single mother of 6 children and still makes time every day to read the Book of Mormon for 20 minutes. I love her so much! We teach her in English which is actually very difficult. When I teach in Spanish, the lessons are very simple because my vocabulary is very limited. But it is good because the people understand really well. In English, it is easy to make things a little more complicated then they really are.. haha! But she is learning and I am learning as well! It is a win win situation. She has a baptism date coming up and we are very excited! Keep her in your prayers! 

We had a mission president fireside on Sunday. It was so beautiful. They had a bunch of converts share their experiences and then we all sang songs. The missionaries sang the EFY medley in Spanish. It was so powerful! The spirit was so strong and there wasn't a dry eye in the room after we were done! I love this mission! And being a missionary! 

I am sorry this is kinda short this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Hermana Christensen

Hello friends!

I was unable to email yesterday because it was memorial day and everything was closed.. The struggle! Anyway.. We have had such a crazy week! First things first, THERE WAS A TORNADO IN HOUSTON! It hit three streets away from our apartment really early Sunday morning! It was so freaky! I had never seen such insane weather in my entire life! We woke up to an alert on our phone telling us to take immediate cover because there was a tornado. We didn't believe it at first so we went outside, saw the winds, and immediately went back inside and took cover! It was crazy! The lightning was crazy and the thunder was shaking our apartment! We just said a prayer and ate popcorn and watched. Normally if I wasn't a missionary, I probably would have been hysterical, but I really didn't feel scared at all! Sure I felt a little nervous, but I also felt peace that everything would be ok! And it was! Luckily it wasn't a huge tornado. It just destroyed a couple apartments. Then yesterday we had another freak storm! The weather here is crazy! It hit during our last appointment. Hermana Rupp and I had to drive back home and make a run for it! We were lucky we made it home! There was a huge flood! The elders in our area didn't make it home in time and had to camp out in their car until 3 am because the water was too high to drive in! Texas is pretty intense! 

We have two more baptism dates for this month, making the grand total 6 for june! We are so excited! Remember our little friends the Torres family? Well we go into their home on Saturday and Hermana Torres just looks at us and says, "What do I need to do to be baptized?" And we just looked at her with our mouths open. The temple tour really had a strong effect on her and her husband! We have started teaching them and they are scheduled to be baptized on the 27th of June! Please keep them in your prayers! 

Well I don't have much time today! We just got back from a training for our iPads! We should be getting them soon! I am so excited to use this new technology to help the work progress on! There are going to be so many miracles because of them! Have a great week! I love you all! 

Hermana Christensen

El Templo

Hola! 

This week was so amazing!! EEEE. We got to take Lizzie to the temple to do baptisms! Even though I just sat and watched, it was still so wonderful to be in the temple again! I have missed it so much! There is such a special spirit there! Some advice to anyone who lives close to the temple and doesn't go very often.. Repent and start going! There is always time to go! We are only allowed to go to the temple if we bring a less active or a recent convert. It is a struggle because we have to get them prepared and they aren't always ready to be prepared. So we hardly ever get to go! So all y'all that are able to go when ever you want, take advantage of it and GOOOOO!!! Anyway, Lizzie LOVED the temple! It really strengthened her testimony and her conversion! I love that girl so much! The interesting thing about being a missionary is that I am literally obsessed with all these people! Sometimes I can't understand them but I just love them so much! And they don't even realize how much I love them! I think in a way it is similar to how our Heavenly Father feels for us! (Although His love is probably 100000000000000x stronger) He just wants us to reach our potential and have full access to blessings! I know it makes makes me devastated when people don't keep their commitments! Imagine how He feels when we don't keep the commandments and willingly chose to disobey Him! 

We also had temple tours this week! Once a month our mission hosts tours around the outside of the temple! I have never been able to go until this week! It was so special! We brought la familia T. We had a little miracle with them. The morning of the tour it started to rain like crazy and hispanics are a little weird about the rain. They think their whole lives have to be put on hold. So that morning we received a phone call from them and they told us they couldn't come to the tour because it was raining and I guess they can't drive when its raining! We were so sad because we had felt so strongly that they needed to be at the temple! But we knew that if the Lord needed the this family at the temple that day then He would provide a way! So we prayed and prayed and prayed that they would have a change of heart and would want to come! Well about an hour before the tour was going to start, the rain stopped and all the clouds went away! We called the them and asked if they could come and they said YES! It was so special! They came and LOVED the temple! They said they felt such a peace in their hearts. Hermana T kept saying how she had goosebumps when ever she looked at the temple. We invited them to be baptized after the tour and they accepted! They will be baptized by the end of June! Miracles all around! Woo! 

We also had transfers this week! Lucky for me, Hermana Rupp and I are both staying here! Phew! I love this area so much and honestly would be perfectly content if I stayed here my whole mission! H10 is the bomb! We also found out we are getting iPads in our mission. We are having a training on it this week! I am interested to see how it is going to help move the work along! 

Well thank you all for all your love and prayers! I love ya! Until next week! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Christensen

Feliz dia de las Madres!

Hola Amigos!

This week was pretty bombin! Litzi got baptized! AHHHHH! It was such a spiritual experience! Her baptism was scheduled for 1:00 but she didn't show up until about 1:20. I was having a panic attack by that time because I thought maybe she wasn't going to come! Oh me of little faith.. She came and we were able to have a beautiful service for her! She cried her eyes out! And the great thing is, we brought another investigator to watch and at the end of the baptism the investigator said she wanted to be baptized too! So now we have three dates coming up and we are so pumped! Hermana Rupp and I are going to do baptisms in the temple with Litzi this week. I am so excited because I know Litzi is going to have such a great experience! And I haven't been in the temple for almost 4 months now and I have been missing it! Wooo!

We have some pretty solid investigators that we have been teaching. They are so open to the gospel and are keeping commitments! That is the key to getting people close to baptism. They HAVE to be keeping commitments! How could they possibly keep their baptismal covenants if they can't do something as simple as coming to church or reading their scriptures every single day? It has been such a blessing to witness how people change as they act! Being a missionary is such a blessing! We get to watch the atonement work in the lives of everyone! 

We had another neat experience this week with our English class. We teach english classes in the church and in many of the schools in the spring branch district. It is really interesting that they let missionaries in the schools! There are so many blessings because of it! Anyway, this week the coordinator for the school district had us help out at a service event. It was an opportunity for parents to come and look for more ways to serve in the community. The lady wanted us to be the "face" of the event and so she asked us to help sign people in and direct traffic! It was so fun and it was great exposure for the church! We had so many people ask us who we were and what we did! At the end of the event, the administrators of the district told us how much we have changed their community and how much they love us and are grateful for us! They even got a little emotional about it. They said that just by having missionaries in their schools, parents and others were getting more motivated to serve and help out in the community. It is amazing how much effect a good example can have on people! 

Well friends, I hope y'all have a great week! I love you all and miss ya! Always look for missionary opportunities! :) 

Love, Hermana C.

BAUTISMO!

Hola Amigos! Que Pasa? Guess what. We have a baptism this week!! MAHHH! Her name is Litzi. She is 14 years old and is a doll! We have been teaching her for a few weeks and she is getting baptized this Saturday! We have been struggling with getting her baptized because her mother didn't feel that she was ready! But the Lord works miracles every single day! We were able to go and talk with her mother and work out concerns! By the end, her mom was so willing to give permission! It is such a blessing! Litzi will be baptized this week and then we are going to do baptisms with her in the temple next week! I AM SO EXCITED! The work is on fire over here!

This week was amazing! Hermana Rupp and I have been working out tails off and because of that, we are literally being handed people on a silver platter. We found so many people last week that are just prepared to listen! Our mission is on fire! Just a fun fact, our mission is one of the top finding missions in the world! Houston represent! Anyway, I have an awesome story. So remember our little friend Tono? The golden investigator? Well he has been struggling to receive an answer over these last few weeks. Weeeeelll, last week we went and had a lesson with him all about the Holy Ghost and prayer. It was POWERFUL! We left the lesson and later that night he called us! He told us that after we left he started to feel this incredible feeling in his heart and it wouldn't go away all day! He said that he didn't know what it was. We quickly told him that he was receiving his answer! He was so excited and it was amazing! He is going to be baptized this month as well!! AHHH! 

We also had a ton of investigators come to church yesterday! Like I have said before, getting people to church is like pulling out teeth! But, this week it was super simple! We didn't even have to go and wake people up and drag them with us! People are starting to come and it is helping them so much! They are able to recognize the spirit while they are at church and it is helping them as they seek for answers! This is such an exciting time! 

We went to the zoo last week! It was so fun! I love going downtown! Houston is huge and so diverse! There was this awesome hobo man who was making origami out of palm leaves. I bought a grass hopper from him and we taught him the gospel! I love Houston so so much! 

Well my friends, have a wonderful week! Share the gospel with everyone! I love you all so much!!!! 

Hermana Christensen