November 16, 2015

I hope everyone is doing really really well and had an amazing week!!! 

This week was great! I'm super happy that I get to stay here in San Juan with Hermana Carmack!!! It's been super fun and amazing and I feel like it's going to continue that way!!! :D 

 Two of the highlights were member present lessons that we had! One was with a recent convert named Getsi who's 19ish and is soooo amazing! We took her to our lesson with our investigator Blanca who's a senior in highschool and talked to her about the Book of Mormon. We all testified to her of how amazing it is and the blessings we've received from reading it and applying the principals! It was so amazing to hear Getsi's testimony because she decided to read the Book of Mormon on her own and she read it every where she went. She talked about how her life has changed because of the decision she made to be baptized and the Spirit was so strong there. I know that my testimony grew during that lesson and it was an amazing experience. Blanca hasn't really been progressing a whole lot so we're hoping that gave her a bigger push to continue to meet with us and grow closer to Heavenly Father.
The other one was with another young women named Cindy and we went to our investigators' Patty and Mariana's house! They're a mother and daughter and Patty has been investigating for a little while too! We had Cindy share her favorite scripture and we all testified of the power of the scriptures. That lesson was also a testimony builder and we're hoping that with the new relationship that Patty has with Cindy will help get Patty to church. 

Yesterday, we went to a less actives house to teach them. They have a young son who is disabled and has trouble functioning physically and mentally. He's probably one of the cutest and kindest kids I've ever met. I immediately could feel the Savior's love for him while talking to him and giving him a sticker and letting him use a notebook of mine to write his name on. While all of that was going on however, his mom and his grandma proceeded to sternly tell him to stop talking and to leave me alone and to not mess with my stuff and to sit down because he was being a bother and said other negative and not so kind things about him. In that moment I really felt like telling them off about it and I was so frustrated but I knew that it was not my place and that the best thing that I could do was to continue to share a message and show them as much love as possible. And I also realize and know that his mom and grandma love him very much and are probably amazing to him and that I have no right to judge them or criticize them because I'm sure that it's very hard for them too, just in that instance I felt sad for him at that moment. I know that I'll never be able to feel even in the slightest what the Savior felt when He suffered all our pains, but I think that experience put into perspective something I hadn't thought about before. The pain He felt was even more stinging because He loves us. I felt a sharper pain for this boy because I could feel a large love for him, and I can't even imagine the immense pain that Jesus Christ felt going through everything we do but at the same time, feeling a perfect and individual love for us. So through that I've gained an even greater appreciation for what He did for us, and also gave me more motivation to serve Him by having charity, or rather, by showing His great love, to those around me. 

One last cool super awesome thing that happened was while I was on an exchange with an English Sister who just got here a couple days ago names...SISTER CHRISTENSEN!!! yes she has the same last name and it was hilarious. So because she doesn't speak Spanish I knew that it was all up to me to talk to people that day. So we were on the streets of La Zanja and a woman and a man walked by and I felt prompted to talk to them (which is still kinda scary sometimes) but I did it and I just made small talk with them! Eventually I asked them if they've talked to missionaries before and they said they remembered talking to Hna Roos (my old companion) and some others before. So then I explained to them what we do and then gave them a card with our number and they looked at it and saw the picture of the Book of Mormon on the back. They asked me about it and I testified to them that it has changed my life because it, along with the Bible, have helped me come closer to Christ and know what He wants me to do. And then I reached in my bag and gave the woman a copy and they both were like 'Uhhh wait don't you need that? Arent you going to use it?" and I told them no that I had more and that they should keep that one and read it! They treated it like it was a great gift and told me thank you and also gave me their address without me even asking and told us a good time to pass by and told me that we should come over! I was SOOOO happy!!! We've been wanting to find new people to teach and basically they just found us! hahaha So I'm very excited to see how that goes! Her name is Patricia and I love her already! 

We also got to eat dinner with Agrepino this week at a little tiny Mexican restaurant and it was amazing and I want to eat there every day of my life!!!!!!!! :D 

I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve and show charity to others as a missionary! And that's something that I will strive to do the rest of my life because I feel so much more happiness and so much more love from my Savior when I do! 

Well I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week!!!!!!

Love, 

Hermana Christensen