El Campo!!!

Translation: THE FIELD!!!!!!

So first of all Im going to have a LOT less time than I did in the CCM but Im going to try really, really hard to get everything in and then respond to personal emails from everybody!! I wish I could just chat with you about everything but "Que sera, sera!" or "What will be, will be!" 

ANYWAYS!!! 

I'm in the field!!!!!!! 

TRANSFER MEETIN: 

So my flight from Houston to here was delayed like an hour on the tarmac because there were some screws loose on the pannel so I ended up getting to the Transfer Meeting like just as it was ending! The senior missionaries who picked me up told me to go sit on the stand in front of everyone and so I was like "ok cool all the newbies are probably up there!". Nope. Just me. And President Orgill was talking and then once he finished what he was saying he invited me to go stand up there with him and told me that I had already been introduced by him with some of the information that they have from my mission papers and that everyone was so excited that I was there! Then he told me who my companion*S*(yes I am in another trio) were and I ran down to meet them!!! The funny part of this story is that I was informed later that President doesnt ever do that and bring people up to the stage so Im sure everyone felt very awkward(including myself) hahahahah But he and his wife are soooooo nice and kind and welcoming!!!! They told me that we should take a picture with companions and with them to send to you guys when I sent that email saying I was there!! They're so amazing. 

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS HERMANA CHRISTENSEN:(sing like Carmen San Diego theme song)

I live in Mission Viejo right now and the weather and everything is soo gorgeous and I LOVE IT!!!! We live in an apartment with two english speaking sisters and they're awesome and very nice. Our apartment is two bed, two bath, livingroom and kitchen and its very nice. 

So my ward is the Mission Viejo 5th Ward!!! The people are soooooo soooooo soooooo nice and awesome and I love them already!!!! The bishop's name is Bishop Cambell and he looks almost EXACTLY like Uncle Kent. Like even the way he talks and his mannerisms are like Uncle Kent's and is crazy!!! He also has a niece or nephew(cant remember) who is in the Walnut Creek Ward in our stake! He is very,very,very nice and when he met me he was very excited and told my companions to get me in some lessons!!!! 

FIRST LESSONS/ARE YOU SURE IVE BEEN CALLED SPANISH SPEAKING?/AM I STILL IN CALIFORNIA?

So my first full day I was nervous because my spanish isnt super great yet and they teach the lessons a little differently than I know how and I was scared BUT THEN!!!! The first lesson we taught was in ENGLISH! We went and visited a less active young women named Diana and she prefers english! She was AMAZING. She reminds me so much of my PAL my senior year and I love her so much! She told me I looked like/remind her of Jeannette McCurdy (from iCarly/Sam & Cat) hahahaha Then after that we went to have dinner at an english speaking members house in a different ward because they dont have sisters and they like to feed us once every transfer and they live in Covenant Hills. GUESS WHAT WE HAD???? BBQ. And Im not talking about like Utah BBQ( hotdogs, hamburgers) Im talking huge ribs, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, corn on the cob. It was like being back home!!! They were incredibly kind and we shared a short message with them and talked for a while and it was a pretty amazing first day! 

We've also taught other lessons in english to other young women who are inactive. I love teaching them, no not because they're in english hahaha,but because I feel like I can relate to them and they all are so amazing and have such strong testimonies of the Gospel. We just need to get them to church so they can feel of the amazing spirit that is there. They're all sooo awesome and it reminds me of all my PALS and its so fun. 

ESPANOL ES LA MEJOR...CASI/ SPANISH IS THE BEST...ALMOST

So I've been doing really good at spanish even though its not the best yet I still have been being able to express myself a little bit and bare my testimony. My companions keep telling everyone we meet that my spanish is really good for five days and the members have been giving me compliments but I still struggle with tenses and certain things but its the best! Almost! 

However I understand pretty well. So story: We were teaching one of our investigators(Margarita, who is actually supposed to be getting baptized in two and a half weeks). And we were talking about the Plan of Salvation. So we discussed that the purpose of life is to try to become more like Christ so that we can return to live with Him and Heavenly Father again. So,I thought Margarita said (in spanish) something along the lines of that she had faults and wasnt perfect. So then a couple minutes later I asked, "So you said that you had faults right?" and she goes "no, I didnt say that" So I'm sure at this point my face/ neck started to blotch like it does when I freak out, because how awkward is that??? I basically just told her, Im assuming you have faults even though I just met you and Im a jerky teenager blah blah blah. <- my thought process during this whole thing. BUT GOOD THING IM 

REALLY GOOD WITH AWKWARDNESS. Because I just kept talking and explained to her that all that's important to God is that we try and make our best effort to follow Christ and keep our covenants we've made with God. And it actually turned out really well!!! So then the lesson ended and we went to the car and I told my companions that I was so sorry and that I thought I heard her say that but Im glad I recovered my own fumble and then they told me "No!! She totally said that!!!! I dont know why she said that she didnt say that because she totally did!!!" So point of the story, puedo entender Espanol!!!!!! (I can understand Spanish!!!!!) Also! In that same visit, a friend of Margarita's walked by and Margarita asked her if she wanted to join us and she did! Her name is Aris and she speaks english and is in her twenties and told us that she has been feeling a void in her heart and like she needs to go to church but doesnt know what to do. I wanted to raise my hand and go "I KNOW I KNOW!!!!!!" because this Gospel has brought so much joy and fullness in my life and I just wanted her to feel that so bad. So hopefully we'll be able to visit her soon! 

WE WILL RISK OUR SENSE OF SMELL TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

So one night we were going to visit a lady in the ward who cant come to church because her boss wont let her get off Sundays. So we really wanted to see her because she fasted and we wanted to follow up and talk to her about fasting and stuff. So we go to walk up to her house, and there is A FAMILY OF SKUNKS. Not one, but A FAMILY. Luckily after a couple minutes they walked away/ the cat chased them away(only time I have loved a cat ever). So we got to visit her!!!! It was very hilarious and scary at the same time hahahaha

ANOTHER AMAZING DISTRICT

So my CCM district was amazing and now I have another amazing district/zone!!! Theres only one Spanish speaking zone in the whole mission so everyone is really close. So theyre all really nice and awesome. Our district leader looks like Coach K(I believe the Duke basketball coach) so when we had our first district meeting one of the elders announced our name and our favorite numbers like it was a basketball game and it was hilarious. 

I've already seen soooo many miracles with contacting people who are interested in learning more about their Savior, with being blessed with amazing people around me, with feeling the spirit SO strong, all the time and especially while we're teaching. I love the people so much and they desire this Gospel and the joys, that I KNOW without a doubt in my heart, this Gospel brings. I love all of you so so so so much and Im so sorry that I might not be able to respond very in depth or to everyone but I appreciate all the emails and support and love from all of you. I pray for my family in every prayer I say and I know that the Lord will be blessing you all!!!! 

P.S. Happy belated birthday Kendyl! I love you sooooo much and I hope that you had an incredibly amazing day!!!!!!! Say hi to Gimlie the chicken for me!!! 

P.S.S. EVERYONE GO LISTEN TO  "An Unlikely Mormon" by Glen Beck AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. We listened to it in the car and its amazing and so inspirational!

Happy belated Easter everyone!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful, amazing, and uplifting holiday!!!!

General Conference was so perfectly timed because it was so amazing to celebrate Easter by listening to it!!! Thank you so much Mom for all the Easter things!!!! We did an Easter Egg hunt in our classroom and everyone loved it so much!!!!!! Everyone is so thankful!!!!! Hna. Saunders gave me a note that was addressed to the Easter Bunny and said thank you for making it to the CCM and making Easter away from home special! It was so sweet!!!!

Conference:

I loved it so much!!! It was so edifying and uplifting to have questions ready and then recieve sooooo many more answers than I even would have thought possible!!!! I hope you all got the chance to watch and if not I encourage you to go back and watch it if you can!!! I have too many favorites to recommend just a few!!! But I reallllyyyyy liked Elder Holland´s talk Sun morning and Brent H. Nielson and Elder Bednar and yes just all of them hahahah I thought one of the main messages was the importance of family and I thought of my wonderful amazing family the whole time!!! Im so grateful I have such a loving and supportive family! 

CCM Mom Birthday!

So on April 3rd it was Hermana Saunders's moms birthday and she gave ME a card that said happy  birthday. At first I was confused but she told me that I was her CCM mom so she is going to celebrate that day like it was my birthday!! It was sooooo nice!!!! Then that night, Hna. Bloxham and Saunders came to my door and gave me a matching track suit that they both have different colors of from the Tienda hahahah It was sooooo nice and thoughtful and I love them soooo much!!! These track suits are fantastic and Im going to put the pictures in the dropbox so you guys can see hahahaha

Childrens Story Time con Hermana Christensen: 

So before I came on my mission, Mom bought me the CUTEST bilingual childrens books about Texas animals!!! I love them so much! So I brought them to class with me when conference was going on just in case in between sessions I wanted to read them. But then at night, I read one of them to my district as a goodnight story before we went home and it was AMAZING. hahahaha They wanted me to do all the voices so I did and I even did my old lady smoker voice for them. It was very, very much appreciated hahahah

Star Wars & Lord of the Rings: 

So the other district in our zone decided that they would assign everyone a Star Wars characters(because our WHOLE zone is pretty dorky and loves that stuff) . So I walked into their classroom expecting some weird obscure character and they put me as Mace-Windu hahahahaha If you arent a fan of Star Wars, the actor who plays him is Samuel L. Jackson and the character is really awesome and is like best friends with Yoda. And Hermana Bloxham was put as Yoda hahahaha It was hilarious. THEN. Our district assigned characters from Lord of the Rings and I was assigned Gimlie hahahahahah In case you dont know, Gimlie is a dwarf and he is very fiesty and hilarious and I was honored. If I havent already made it clear, I love my district. They are seriously soooo amazing and kind and are such amazing representatives of Christ. They know how to have fun but when its time to do the work of the Lord they do it whole heartedly with a smile on their face!!! I love them all! 

Anyways I love all of you soooo much!!! Im so excited that this time next Tuesday I'll be back in the same country as you all and I love you so much!!!!! You are all amazing!!!! 

P.S. I think I get to email this Saturday night as well because its our last week and were leaving Monday and Tuesday(me). so be ready!!!!! hahaha

Because He Lives and Birthday Videos

So this week not a whole lot of things happened sooooo I´m not really sure how long this email will be! hahahaha

School of Rock/ Parent Trap:

So reason #1000 why Hna. Bloxham and I are best friends forever. We both love school of rock and one night on our way home sang every word to one of the songs from that movie. We also learned the handshake from Parent Trap that Anna and the butler do and its very fantastic! 

TRC: 

So TRC is an activity we do here at the CCM where people volunteer from the community to be taught by us. It could be a teacher, non-member, member, less-active, recent convert, anybody and we teach them for about 20-30 ish minutes. I LOVE TRC. Its so fun because we get to meet new people and its fun to talk to them. So this past week, my companions and I got a guy who actually was just visiting Mexico for a conference but is from...SAN DIEGO!!!! He said and our teachers said he was practicing his spanish because his whole family is hispanic so he actually spoke really well and helped us a lot and we actually talked in english a little bit because the lesson was just soooooo amazing. This guy was absolutely a tender mercy because he just kept telling us thank you for being missionaries and that he is so grateful for our decision to serve. He told us about how one day he was having a very hard time and he prayed to God that he could just have some friends in his life, he walked 3 blocks and the sister missionaries were there and changed his life forever. We were supposed to be teaching him that day but he was the one teaching us. I loved that experience so much. 

#BecauseHeLives 

So I dont know if you guys know this yet but on April 5th, everyone who gets on youtube will see a called "Because He Lives". If you havent seen it, watch it. It is absolutely amazing. As we near Easter, my mind has been on the Savior a lot. I'm so incredibly greatful for every single thing He has done for everyone on this planet and for me personally. The Atonement not only allows us to repent from our sins but to not feel alone in our trials and tribulations, He is with every single one of us in every single thing we go through. He knows how we feel and He will help us in todas los tiempos en nuestras vidas. Estoy muchísimo agradecido por mi Salvador y por Su Expiacion. I encourage all of you to get on Youtube on April 5th and invite others to do so. The video is absolutely amazing and everyone (not just those who are members of the church) will be edified by it. Watch the video here!

Sorry that this email is so short!!! Not a whole lot happened but the things that did happen were 

so amazing and edifying and I am so grateful for all the experiences Im having here. I love this mission so much and I cant wait to get out into the field and go to California and find the people that God wants me to help. Im so honored to wear Christ's name on my badge and to be a representative of Him. 

I have learned a lot at the CCM and I have learned more than just what the teachers are teaching me but what the Lord is trying to teach me about this Gospel and about myself. I realized that

Our goal on this Earth is to become more like Christ and the character of Christ is turning out to everyone, no exceptions. That was a very cool experience for me to receive that revelation. 

I love every single one of you con todo mi corazon. I absolutely would not be here without the wonderful family the Lord has given me, and I know we have been placed together in a family on this Earth by the hands of God, who has a perfect knowledge of what we need and who loves us so much. You are all so amazing and I love you all!!! Have an amazing week!!!! 

Hermana Christensen!!