Another week of growth, learning, love, and lots of laughs!

MOMMMYYYYY !!!!!!!! 

Wow! It sounds like you had another, incredible week!!! Awww I love my family they are absolutely PERFECT!!!! 

Okay this week! Another week of growth, learning, love, and of course, lots of laughs!!! So winding down from 18 de Septiembre, still lots of kites in the sky and flags in the breeze, but thankfully more people returned to their houses and we got back to the regular routine of things!

 I had intercambios with Hermana W., who started her mission 3 months ago, and man, that changed everything! She is so amazing!  Our intercambio was incredible!!! We saw so many miracles, and I can´t believe what an amazing missionary Hermana W. is! First of all, I feel so blessed to be able to learn from her, and I really felt like an instrument in God's hands. And, I don't know how, but somehow I was able to help comfort her and give her the guidance she needed.  In the end, with tears in her eyes, she thanked me because it was exactly what she needed to hear! I was praying so much to know how to help her, and the Lord was able to reach her heart during our time together. This spirit is amazing. She is struggling a little bit with the language and her confidence, but she has every quality the Lord needs from his missionaries. She is an incredible missionary!!! So full of the spirit!!! 

 It's an indescribable feeling how I felt so much love for her! I love the mission! I never imagined I could be able to love people so quickly and so much, but when we really are able to see people as Christ sees them, it changes everything!!! 

Soooooo this week I only almost got eaten by a dog three times! Good stuff! This week has been a trial of faith for us! All of our baptismal dates fell, and lots of our investigators are ignoring us or have told us they don't have time or don't want to receive us for now. It's hard when they don't choose the gospel, because they don't understand what they are missing, but no worries! We have SO MUCH FAITH!!!! This just means that there are more people prepared for us!!! 

! I don´t know what hit me, but yesterday there was a click in my mind, after lots of our investigators decided they didn´t want to continue learning, I felt so sad because I wanted them to have the gospel with all my heart, but then I realized how important it is to make it known to everybody the message of the Restoration, because this is THE most important thing in the history of the whole universe! And I am so grateful that I feel this now, because I need to change and bear testimony in EVERY moment for the rest of my mission, because these are sons and daughters of God! Why would I hide all this joy and knowledge? Why would I be afraid or timid in sharing this message? I don´t know! All I know is that everything changed!!! Everything totally changed!!!! I feel like I finally FEEL how important my calling is! And it all just clicked!!! 

My companion is THE MOST AMAZING COMPANION IN ALL OF CHILE RANCAGUA!!!!! I am so incredibly blessed to learn from Hermana M.!!! I have such a love for her! She has completely changed my mission!!!!  And as I said, this week was a little hard as far as progression. All of our fechas fell, and some investigators are avoiding us, and we don´t know why. But we had a very meaningful companionship study the other day, and we both felt very strongly that there is someone waiting for us still this cambio, and we are going to find her. We read “Pray with Faith” in Preach my Gospel and ever since, we have been praying and searching with faith, to find her. It doesn´t matter if it´s at 9:23 the last night of this cambio, we are going to find her!!! The Lord is trying our faith, but we know the miracles are right around the corner!! 

All in all this week was a success with our activity that we promoted about family history!!! It was such a success!!! All the members brought memories of their ancestors! We felt the Spirit of Elijah so strong!!! All the members were tearing up and it was so beautiful! I LOVE my ward family here in Rauquen!!!! 

Wow, as this conference weekend is coming up soon, I have been getting more and more and MORE excited! We had an amazing lesson with a lady named Fatima yesterday, and she is going to come to the conference, and she is going to come prepared with questions! I would like to invite all of you guys as well to think of a question you have for God right now in your life, and go to conference with this question in your heart and I PROMISE you will receive an answer!!!! I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!!!!! And I love this gospel with all my heart!!! More than anything else in this world, and I am SO BEYOND GRATEFUL for our beloved prophet, for prophets in general, and I thank God so much for this opportunity we have to hear His message for us, especially in these times!  I am so excited!!! We have been promising all our investigators they will receive answers at conference!!! And I know they will because you can always put your money on the Prophet!!! ;)  THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND THE BOOK IS BLUE, and never forget that God loves you!!! :) 

I love you all so much!!!! Have the best conference weekend ever!!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Christensen :) 

18 De Septimbre Journal Entry & Pictures

Excerpt from her journal on 18 De Septiembre:

YAY!  It’s 18 de Septiembre!  YAAA!  Haha.  But actually it’s like the best Dia de Reposo ever because it’s actually going to be a day of rest.  We aren’t allowed to proselyte today because it’s dangerous because everyone is drunk!  Haha.  But no worries, we got plans to make pancakes and watch “17 Miracles” and enjoy our 18!  But yesterday was our 18 basically because it was the activity with the ward!  So remember how I bought a dress? Yeah.  I bought a dress de China (chinay wasso).  And Hermana M. had a dress with the flag and Hermanas E. and F. borrowed dresses so we got all dressed up!  And took pictures outside!  We are so famous that this guy from Poland asked for a picture with us!  Haha, so funny!  Then we went walking to the church.  The members LOVED our outfits!  And oh man, the activity was SO much fun!  I LOVE BARRIO RANQUEN!  WE really have the best members ever!  I went around talking to everyone with Hermana M. or Her. F. and took LOTS of pictures!  I love our members!  They are like a family!  But anyways, we had it all!  First we had empenadas.  Later we had churipanes, and then came the asado! Wow, it was so yummy!  And then everyone started dancing the cueca.  But it was AWESOME!  And so sad!  Like every member asked us if we could dance! L  But after the mish I am SO learning how!  It’s the story of a rooster trying to conquer a hen is what they tell me!  Haha.  But no worries, I got lots on video.  Oh man, it was so fun!  We were there for 3 ½ hours and it felt like 10 minutes.  And they were playing this weird folk dance music during lunch.  And Her. E. called it “hard core folk”.  Oh, it was so funny!  It was the PERFECT 18 with the perfect people in the perfect barrio!  

FELIZ 18 DE SEPTIEMBRE!!!

FELIZ 18 DE SEPTIEMBREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! 

Wow!!! Words cannot describe how amazing this week was! A conference with President Packer from the 70, I SAW HERMANA HILBURN, tutoring kids in math, preparing my compi for her interview in English, and 8 de Septiembre: dressing up in traditional dresses and watching the dancing, eating lots of meat and empenadas, laughing our heads off, people wanting pictures with us, growing our testimonies, and literally the only day of rest in the mission!!! It has been the BEST week ever!!!! 

But, wow this week really has been a week of growth!  First of all the conference with President Packer was an answer to my prayers. I learned exactly what I need to do to be the missionary God wants me to be right now in my mission!!! I am so grateful for the spirit that testified to my heart. I have seen a change in myself. I feel like I woke up in the mission! My companion and I reviewed the talk we received about ¨El misionero que testifica y desafia¨ and we had a change of vision! We need to invite in every chance we get! And everything needs to be related back to the atonement of Christ, because that is the only way we can get back to God, and the only way they can be converted to this gospel! We are going to start inviting everyone to baptism! It makes SO much sense!!! I LOVE THE GOSPEL!!!! And talking to literally everyone! This week we had a day where we literally talked to everyone! It was incredible! I really felt like an instrument in God´s hands! We had a contact that was literally 30 seconds, but the woman told us her address and to come back next week, and that would have never happened if we didn´t stop her in the street! It´s incredible how God puts people in our path, but sometimes we miss the opportunities because we don´t open our mouths! I learned so much this week I can´t write it all, but I am so grateful for this mission and the direction we are going, and the vision President has for us, and the promise of Elder Packer!

Our investigator X. is really progressing! She has all the desires in the world to do what´s best for her family, and is SO hungry for the gospel! She read the whole pamphlet we left her and answered the questions! Jo. too, is incredible! She wants her family to listen to us, and she read the folleto tambien! She is amazing! Our lesson was so spiritual, and she wants to know if the Prophet really is a prophet from God! We also found Ju. this week! She is incredible! One of the most prepared people for the gospel! She studied with the Testigos for 21 years and said she never understood, but when she read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, everything was clear, and she understood!!! God is answering our prayers and giving us people ready to receive the gospel!! I love this work!! 

THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!! ESPECIALLY IN CHILE!!! The whole feeling of the country right now is incredible! Everyone has a flag outside of their house, and on their cars, they are all flying kites, there are SO many empanadas! Everyone is so patriotic here! We had our ward activity and dressed up!!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!! So much food and dancing and laughter and LIFE IS SO GOOD!!! I love my lil’ Barrio Rauquen! There’s no place I´d rather be! Chile is the BEST country in the world!!! 

So signing off from this amazing week!!! 

Your happy lil Chilean, 

Hermana Christensen :) 

One year ago I opened my mission call!

Exactly one year ago, I opened my mission call to serve in the Chile Rancagua Mission, and I never imagined the crazy, most amazing experience was in front of me. I am so grateful for my mission! It has changed EVERYTHING and I am so grateful I still have so much time left to serve! I really love this country. It has changed my life! 

Okay so wow!! This week was full of intercambios (exchanges) with the Hermanas, cooking in the house, laughing my head off, inviting people to baptism, my first talk in Spanish in church, and SO SO many blessing from the Lord!!! Wow. I just feel so blessed! Every week just keeps getting better and better!!! The Lord loves me so much!!! I have learned SO much this week! It has been a week of learning!! I have seen my understanding enlightened by the Holy Ghost grow in many instances this week, and my love for all the Hermanas and our investigators has grown too! And I have gained a greater, deeper understanding of the atonement this week, and how it´s not just to repent of sins, but it´s actually to be used in every aspect of our lives!! 

My companion is AMAZING!! We have so many gospel discussions like all the time!! I really can´t believe how blessed I am to be able to learn from her example! I have learned so much from her in how to do the work, how to love people, how to teach, how to serve, how to help, and just in everything. I know companionships are so inspired! I just feel so blessed! Wow. Our sector is amazing. Right now we have 4 fechas (baptismal dates). And we are working hard to help them all progress! C. and Y. are a matrimonio (married couple), Yus. is a girl of 11 years, and F. is a boy of 11 year,s too. Franco is the son of a menos activo, and Yus. is daughter of another investigator. Yus.came to church this week! She is so amazing! And X., another investigator came to church for the first time this week! She loved it! I love X.  She is incredible and really wants the best for her family. She is so disinterested in herself and totally interested in everyone else! She cried in our last lesson and thanked God in her prayer for sending the missionaries exactly in the moment when she needed them the most. Wow. She is incredible. But that´s about it for our sector right now! It´s a sector of miracles! Every day we write a daily miracle in our agendas, but we can´t limit ourselves to one!!! 

I am so happy!!! And so, so lucky!!! The spirit is amazing!!! And he helps me SO much, like all day every day!!! Haha, I love him so much!!! I love my Savior!!! I am so full of joy for the gospel and this great work!!! I know the Lord prepares the way! 

Oh and I am SO excited for general conference in just a few weeks!!! 

I love you all!!! HAPPY 18 DE SEPTIEMBRE!!!! 

Love, 

Your happy lil Chilean :) 

The light the gospel puts in everyone's eyes!

Sister Training Leaders with President and Sister Harris

Wow. Yet another amazing week here in La Mision Chile Rancagua. Literally every week gets better and better!! Every week I see more and more miracles and I just can't believe how the Lord is preparing his people! So a quick lil’ sum up of this week. Chile is getting SO pumped for 18 de Septiembre (Chile’s Independence Day). I LOVE my compi! The work is progressing! I had my first leadership training! And first intercambio as coordinadora! (First exchange with other sisters as a sister training leader) The weather is getting warmer, and I am just SO HAPPY!!! Oh, and my companion is on the most Christ-like person I have ever met in my entire life! I can't believe I am so lucky to learn from her every day! She has totally changed my vision of the mission, and we could not be happier to be together in Rauquen A right now! 

 

Leadership Meeting with Sister Training Leaders at the mission home

Oh wow. So many miracles in our sector this week! First of all, we found two new investigators who are amazing.  Second of all, we had 3 investigators who came to church! E, O, and their daughters July and Stefany. They are from Colombia, and we had one lesson with them this week and E, his eyes lit up when we testified! It was incredible! I think that is the thing I love the most about the mission! It’s the light the gospel puts in everyone's eyes! The change that occurs when the Spirit steps in! You can totally see it and it's like MAGIC!!!  But wow, they came to church!! And E stayed for all three hours! O for 2, but it was a MIRACLE! The members received them so well, and E loved every second! He is never going to miss a Sunday, I know it! Also last night, we had a lesson with Y and C, and they accepted a fecha (date)! Our first fecha in this sector! For the 15th of October!!!  They are incredible as well!!! They know the Book of Mormon is true, and the structure of the church, the only thing is they never heard of Thomas S. Monson, but Y said if she receives and answer, of course she will get baptized and go to church and never miss a day! So many miracles. I am still in shock! THE MISSION IS AMAZING!!! 

This week we had an intercambio with the Hermanas in Rauquen C. I went with Hermana E in her sector (my old sector). Ha-ha, it was so amazing! So much fun to talk with all the people from last cambio!! And I GOT TO TEACH IGNACIO!!! Man, he is so amazing! We taught the Word of Wisdom and he was like “Yes, I will stop drinking tea.”  He is so willing to do whatever he needs to! And it was so fun to talk to him again!!! He is DE ORO!!! But yeah. Hermana E, she is amazing! Absolutely incredible!!! She is so obedient, diligent, and happy!! I love her so much! She went to Skyline so she is close to home! :) But it was fun because she only has 3 months in the mission, and reminds me of how I was in the beginning of my mission! WOW I am old..... Hahaha! Oh, but what a life! I love the mission so much!!! We are all happy down here in Curico!  

I love you all SO MUCH!!!!! Just remember, our Savior suffered for everything, and his arms of mercy are ALWAYS extended. (3 Nephi 9:14) It doesn't matter if you have pain, heartache, sins, temptations, weakness, doubt, loneliness, sorrow…Everything, absolutely everything, can be made right if only we come to him. He's always waiting, with SO much love. I know that the Savior can help us love those who have wronged us, or those who are hard to love. He is the only one who can give us charity, and in the end, charity is all we need. (Moroni 10:48) He has changed my vision, and put so much love in my heart for these people. I love my Savior. I love him so much!  And I love you all!!! Have the BEST week ever!!!! 

Your lil’ Chilean, 

Hermana Christensen :) 

Mission Leadership Council

Newly called Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders