There can be miracles if you believe!

Okay this week! The Lord has blessed me more than I can ever imagine!!!! We are seeing SO many miracles here in Curico!!! Okay! So besides the rain and the cold, I decided I got to give my all to the Lord. Basically these last 2 days have been incredible!!!! I can’t believe it!!! We had companionship inventory, and we talked about how we both were lacking in faith. So we decided to ask in faith, for specific miracles! And that´s just what we did!!! That night in my prayers, I prayed with all my heart, and I asked God to help us find a new investigator, just one! Just one that would progress! And I knew we would find one the next day.

So we were in divisions and I went with Hermana S to her sector in the morning, but then at lunch with the Hermanas I asked how the morning went, and they said, AMAZING!!! And I was like WHAT? And they told me they found a new investigator! And she´s really interested. And as soon as they told me, I knew God had answered my prayers. And from that moment forward, we have been doing everything with faith! Every lesson! Every contact!!! And The work is BOOMING!!!! There is so much to do!!! But it all starts with our faith!!! If we believe the miracles will come, they COME!!!! We found 4 new investigators this week!! And we are committing Francisco, and investigator as of one year, to baptism tonight! And all the members are SO amazing and want to help us with lessons and everything!! Our little barrio in Rauquen is really progressing!!!! 

So basically I have learned more this week than in my whole mission probably!!! I feel so blessed and fortunate to be here with the Hermanas I am with, they are AMAZING, and to be able to see the Lords work progress!!! I was talking with my companion, and we don’t know what happened, because we didn’t do anything, but all of the sudden the work started booming! And all these things started happening! People who have been totally turned away from the church are coming back! And we really can see the Lord doing his work! We are just the instruments!!! 

But that’s about it for now!! I am SO HAPPY!!!! And SO EXCITED!!!! And so incredibly blessed to be a part of this great work!!! The Lord really works by faith, and the miracles always come!!!! So in the words from the song from Prince of Egypt "THERE CAN BE MIRACLES IF YOU BELIEVE!!!!!" 

I love you all!!! Have the best week every!!! And enjoy the sun for me!!!! :) 

Happy Birthday, Hermana M!

This week stretched me!

Wow, to say that this week stretched me would be an understatement!!!! For me this week has been harder than leaving for my mission!!!! Literally everything I know and loved was taken away, and I got plopped in a whitewash.  But okay, that’s good, right??? I am so far out of my comfort zone but that’s okay because this week I have done things I never would have done in Machali... 

BUT DON'T FREAK OUT MOMMY,  I AM SUPER HAPPY!!!!! It’s just different!!! I have to learn to love in a different way with the hermanas I’m with. It’s so different! I am the only gringa in the house, and the youngest in the house, and yup!!! Hahaha but I am really learning to love it here!!! The hermanas are great! So different, but so great!!! 

After yesterday things calmed down. Our ward is really small, but it’s good, and it’s progressing!! The sector is sadly a walking sector, but it’s pretty big! I love it though!!! 

My compi is good! We are really diligent and I love her, but it’s different.  She hasn’t really opened up to me yet, but she’s starting to!!! She’s from Argentina, and we have the same time in the mission. Again! Hahaha 

(Answer to my questions:)

I would say I am adjusting well to the change after one week!!! Hahaha- We have a new rule where when we get sad about missing our old sectors or comps, then we have to contact the next person we see.... Man, we are going to run out of pamphlets!!! Hahaha, just kidding. 

Curico is cute, tranquillo, and I do like it here overall!!! Yesterday I decided I have to give up my desires, to be able to give the Lord more. And he has called me and trusted me in Rauquen! So from now on I will give all my heart to Rauqen!!! 

 Yes, we keep warm!!! I think I came the most prepared! Thanks mom!!! 

 The only person I knew in my zone is my zone leader, Elder Porter! I was in the same zone as him my first two cambios and that was so nice to have a familiar face!!  What a bro!

But yeah!!!  No worries!!! We have lots of work to do! 

M's baptism & "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord"

Oh my gosh, Mom!!! This has been the CRAZIEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!! 

YES, M. DID GET BAPTIZED!!! YES, IT WAS THE BUSIEST/ BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!! YES, CAMBIOS HAPPENED!!!! 

But wow, I can´t even describe how much love I have for M. and her family. The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to get a sneak peek of how much love Christ has for them. My first day in the field, my very first lesson, was her first day and first lesson with the missionaries. And we´ve grown together these last 5 months, every step of the way, and I am so happy she had the opportunity to make this covenant with her Father. I asked her how she felt when she came out of the water and she simply replied, "Libre." My heart was so full of joy!!!! 

And.... I am getting transferred out of Machali. My new sector is in Curico! About two hours south of here!!!! I will be companions with Hermana Franco! She came to Rancagua in my group! And she is the littlest sweetest Latina you would ever meet!!! 

But get this.... not only am I being transferred, I am opening up a sector, in a whitewash....... basically there haven’t been missionaries there for three months, and me and my companion don’t know anyone or anything, but I AM SO STINKING EXCITED!!!! ADVENTURE!!!!!!!! But yeah. That happened!!!! I will send you the videos of the cambios!!!! So I was sad about leaving Machali, especially after having to tell M.. I called her as soon as we found out, and I told her, and I just started bawling. I couldn’t talk. And it was really sad, but that night when I kneeled down to pray, a peace filled my heart, and my whole body, and I felt the strongest confirmation that I was supposed to go to Curico. The spirit was so strong, and I just knew that I am meant to leave and that there is someone there waiting for me. As I kept praying, the song "A donde me mandes ire, Senor, a montañas o islas del mar" kept coming to my head, and I was so happy, comforted, and ready to take on whatever is ahead! The Lord knows me, and he knows what I need.

 I look back at this cambio, and the Lord answered all my prayers, let me see Miranda get baptized, He 

helped me in my weaknesses and gave me the perfect companion that changed my life. This cambio was a gift, and I know there is a lot of work ahead of me, but I am so grateful for all my time in Machali. I learned more there than I have in my entire life, and it has shaped me into who I am today.  

So whatever lies ahead of me, I am not afraid! I am so excited! The Lord has given me all the tools I need to succeed! And I am ready to go to work!!! This gospel is too amazing not to be shared! I´ve seen it change lives, and it’s changed mine. 

 I love you all! Have the best week! 

"I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, over mountain or plain or sea; I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I'll be what you want me to be. There's surely somewhere a lowly place in earth's harvest fields so wide where I may labor through life's short day for Jesus, the Crucified. So trusting my all to thy tender care, and knowing thou lovest me, I'll do thy will with a heart sincere: I'll be what you want me to be."

All my love, 

Hermana Christensen 

Happy 4th of July!!!

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!!

Ashley and her housemates sporting their patriotic bling on their 4th of July P Day!

WOOOOO!!!! WHAT AN AMAZING WEEK!!!! Okay but seriously!!! So much is happening here in Chile! We got a new mission president! I love my housemates! I am teaching English classes by myself! Chilean soccer!!!  M. passed her baptismal interview, and I feel like I can actually speak Spanish now! Sometimes! But really, I LOVE THE MISSION!!! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone! It’s amazing! I have learned so much!!!!

But really quick update with my peeps!!!!

B. and M. B. has a fecha for the 30th of this month and Miranda is getting baptized this Saturday on the 9th with two other people in Machali! She has already had her baptismal interview and she passed! She’s ready to go! But we are going to be verifying every day this week to keep her on the course! She is so amazing! Her first lesson was my first day in the field, 4 and a half months ago, and it’s been a long road, but she knows now, and is ready to make this covenant! It’s going to be an amazing day!! We are trying to find some new investigators right now, but we have lots of investigators with potential to progress! It’s actually amazing!!!

I just want to share a quick experience! We were talking to M.’s aunt this week who is a very active member of Cachapoal, and she told us this story. She was talking to M. about her baptism one day, and she knows that Miranda loves the missionaries and we have a really close relationship with her. But she asked M., "Do you really believe? Because I know you love the missionaries and I don’t want you to get baptized just because of them. They are amazing but that’s not why you should get baptized." and M. said, "Clementina, I believe. If I didn’t I wouldn’t get baptized." And my heart was so full of love for that girl! It’s a miracle! I am so happy for her!!!  I really cannot believe all the miracles that are happening in our sector!!! It’s miraculous!!!

That’s about it for now! Things couldn’t be better here in Machali C! Thank you for all your love and support!!!!! Remember, to always choose the harder right, than the easier wrong. That’s the new motto thanks to our beloved Prophet! 

All the love in this lil’ Chileans heart,

Hermana Christensen

P.S. REMEMBER: Nothing is awkward when it comes to eternal salvation! :)

P Day soccer

Sleepy Hermanas

New Mission President!

Ashley got a new mission president this past week! Here is the information about her new Mission President that was found on the Church's website:

Reed Juan Harris, 58, and Kathleen Coleman Harris, six children, Twin Falls 24th Ward, Twin Falls Idaho South Stake: Chile Rancagua Mission, succeeding President Thomas R. Warne and Sister Renae K. Warne. Brother Harris is a former stake president, stake presidency counselor, bishop, high councilor, stake Young Men presidency counselor, ward mission leader, and missionary in the Bolivia La Paz Mission. Self-employed cardiologist. Born in Moses Lake, Washington, to Dee Meikle Harris and Betty Jean Kinghorn Harris.

Sister Harris is a former ward Relief Society and Young Women president, ward Relief Society and Primary presidency counselor, Relief Society meeting coordinator, and ward Young Women adviser. Born in Moscow, Idaho, to John R Coleman and Marjory Remington Coleman.

Here is an email and a picture that President Harris sent to us today:

We are President and Sister Harris, and we just arrived in Chile as representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to direct the work of Jesus Christ in this part of the world. Also, We are excited to work with Sister Christensen, who we had the opportunity to meet this week.

Thank you for the support that you are giving him. Sister Christensen is an excellent missionary, and we are ready to work hand in hand in this great Work of Salvation for the children of our Heavenly Father.

President and Sister Harris