Hump Day! I never knew just how much my mission would change me!

 WOW!!! THIS WAS SUCH A BIG WEEK FOR LIL’ HERMANA CHRISTENSEN DOWN HERE IN CHILE!!!!!! 

Holy Hannah! I had no idea so much could happen in just one week!!! It´s insane!! But here we go! First of all, I have the BEST mission president who is SO inspired! And everything changed! We are now giving away two Book of Mormons and 2 pamphlet of My Family and making return appointments with these contacts every day.  And this week we had Consejo as leaders and made new goals for our mission.  I felt like I was one of the founding fathers during our great council. IT’S SO AMAZING HOW THE LORD IS HASTENING HIS WORK!! Oh my goodness! We are talking to so many people and giving them the opportunity to learn about this AMAZING gospel!!!! I am SO grateful for President! He is SO inspired!!!! 

So that´s just the beginning of this BIG week we had! We tried on pants, had special training with President, and at Consejo I saw Hermana Al-M.! I also saw Hermana F., my first trainer, for the last time probably because she goes home next cambio.  We had to stay the night in Rancagua so I got to go back to Machali and I SAW MY CONVERT M.!!!! Oh, my joy was SO full!! She went to the temple, is doing family history and personal progress, and LOVES the gospel! And nothing could make me happier! 

We came back and haven´t had water since Friday... so we have been showering in houses of members! Hahaha!  I have never been so grateful for water before!!! hahah :) O. and E. opened up to us, and are REALLY progressing!!! Their whole family came to church this week!!!! They LOVE the church!!! And they want this gospel for their family!!! We also had amazing lesson with our two investigators from Brazil!! I´m learning Portuguese because L. only speaks Portuguese! Her husband Luis is chileno, but they are AMAZING!!! I got my brother’s wedding invitation in the mail, and oh yeah!!! I HAD MY HUMP DAY!!!!!! 

9 months ago, I embarked on this journey that I knew would change my life, but I never knew just how much it would change me!!! I am forever grateful for my mission! I cannot imagine my life without everything I have learned here! Really, I could not be happier! The chance I have to bear testimony of my Savior in every minute of every day is absolutely astounding. I LOVE IT!!! I have such a testimony of this gospel! It´s not just a church, it´s a way a life, in every moment of every day! And I could not imagine a better life. 

I love you all so much! SHARE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! It literally has the answers to every question, even the deep questions of the soul. Have a great week! And Happy Halloween!!!! :) 

All the love in this happy lil' Chilean’s heart, 

Hermana Christensen :) 

Found some gringo Halloween!

Roomies

Service project

Look who's wearing the pants!

Weed-wacking!

Compis!

Keep holding to the rod!

Sorry, I don't have time to write and update because I am figuring out how to save the pictures of Hna Morales!! But you can send this:

It´s been another week of miracles and adventures here in Rauquen! From the burning hot to freezing cold climate, my cute compi experiencing hail for the first time, I played BASKETBALL with the zone, and lots of intercambios and a trip to the country, 2 investigators at church this Sunday, and lots of love for my Savior and his work!!! The mission has changed my life. I could not be more grateful to be here! 

I love you all so much!!! Keep holding to the rod!!! :) :)

*On FB I (Ashley's mom) received a mesage and a picture from a young woman, M., that Ashley taught and saw baptized in her last area!

A friendly hello from the happiest missionary in the world!

HEY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!! 

Just a friendly hello from the happiest missionary in the world!! This week has been AMAZING!!! From amazing contacts, intercambios, pouring rain, a trip to Rancagua, Roberto, my recent convert is ENGAGED, lots of fasting and prayers answered, and of course, an ABUNDANCE OF MIRACLES!!!!!!!!! But really. Wow. I cannot believe another week has flown by! Every week I feel like I learn more and more and MORE!!!! The mission is incredible, let me tell you! 

This week in our sector, we have been having a hard time with helping our investigators progress. The main problem is none of them are married. WHY IS THERE NO LOVE IN CHILE!!!??? And they don´t understand the importance of church attendance. But this week we have lots of lessons planned! Lots of ideas of how we can help them understand!  O and E., J., X., L., Y., B., and T., our investigators are amazing! And we found D.! A joven of 14 años who told us that she knows she needs to be baptized but hasn´t found the right church yet, in our first contact with her! The Lord is preparing so many people! We are seeing so many miracles!!! Rauquen A is so amazing! This week we have goals to put 5 fechas. And we have SO MUCH FAITH!!! We are going to do it! WOOOOO!!!! Haha sometimes I feel like a superhero being a missionary. It kinda rocks! :) 

Okay But as far as this week goes, I learned so much about the enabling power of the atonement, and how inspired Preach my Gospel is! But really quick I just want to share two experiences with you! So this week, we had intercambios and Hermana Giurleo came to my sector with me! First of all, it was one of the BEST intercambios I have had!!! We really prayed hard that we would be able to help the Hermanas see our sector as an example, right? And God sure answered our prayers! We taught four lessons, taught 6 investigators, found two futuros and took out citas with them, and wow it was crazy! It was amazing! But what happened was I got sick to my stomach, at about 6, and we still had two citas scheduled, but I felt SO sick.  I couldn´t concentrate because I felt like I was going to throw up, so we went to a members house so I could have a bathroom, and then we walked to the other members house who was going to accompany us to our lesson, and I was praying so hard the whole time. I thought of the story the assistants shared in consejo about the enabling power of the atonement, and the story about the pioneers praying for their stomachs to be strengthened to be able to hold the raw meat they ate.  Well, I know my situation wasn´t as dramatic as that, but the pain was very real and I felt so weak! But I knew we had to teach O & E, so I prayed with so much faith, because I know that the Lord has so much power, and I asked my Father in Heaven to strengthen me just for this lesson, so I could fully share my testimony with all my heart. And the Lord answered my prayer. We went with our member to O & E, and for that lesson, I forgot about my stomach completely, and it was the most spiritual lesson of the day. I bore my testimony of the Atonement, and I felt such a burning in my heart, I know they felt it too. Their friend Alicia described the feeling she felt inside her chest, so strong. It was incredible. We returned back home, and the pain came back. But one thing I know is that God is SO merciful. He hears his children, he helps his children, and if there´s one thing I know, it´s that there is power in the atonement. It is so real. It´s the most real thing I have ever felt. I love my Savior. 

Just really quick I wanna say my companion is INCREDIBLE!!! I don´t know what I did to deserve Hermana Sousa!! I feel like I am really progressing as a missionary and as a person with her! Cambios are so inspired! And Hermana Sousa is too! This week she was reading in Preach my Gospel about how we need to be ready in any moment to teach about the Restoration, and that we can teach it in just 5 minutes, in a contact. So we decided to apply it. That afternoon we met Cl. Cl. was a good contact, he tried to explain that his family isn´t really open to other religions, and he was about to leave us, but then he asked "And who was the founder of your church? What was his name again?" Thinking we would tell him Joseph Smith but no, this was our chance!!! In a matter of about 3 minutes we explained the message of the Restoration. At first, he seemed to be a bit skeptical, but when we talked about Joseph Smith, a prophet of God, and how we have prophets today, without even inviting him to pray he said "I´m going to ask God, if he was a prophet, I want to know!" So we GLADLY left L1 folleto with him, and he had all the hunger in the world to learn more about the gospel! We walked away in shock!! So full of the spirit! Preach my Gospel is so inspired. And my companion is too. :) 

I love my Savior so much!! The more I seek my Savior, the more real his influence is in my life is. I have such a testimony of the Atonement of the Savior. I cannot describe in words just how real his power and mercy is. I want to do everything I can to see my Savior again! And have him be proud of me! And I want everyone to be able to feel this too! I just want to share a scripture with ya´ll really quick! In Helaman 3:35 it says, 

"Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in their faith in Christ, unto the filling of their souls with JOY and consolation, yea even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." 

So I want to invite you all to really pray, with all your heart, and often, to the Lord!! Your faith will strengthen, and your life will change. Completely!! :) Personally, I LOVE THIS SCRIPTURE!!!! It brings me so much joy!!!!! It basically describes my mission in a nutshell!!! The closer I get to the Savior, the more joy I feel, and THAT, my friends, is the hope and joy of this gospel!!! THERE IS SO MUCH JOY IN THIS WORLD!!!! AHHH, I’M GOING TO EXPLODE! I NEED TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE!!!! 

Thank you so much for your help and support and all your prayers for me! I can feel them strengthening me every day!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Go share some hope with someone this week, yeah? 

Lots of Love from this happy lil' Chilean, 

Hermana Christensen  :) 

New Cambio, baby!

Okay this weeeeeeeek!!!! WOOOOOOWWWWW!!!! New cambio, baby!!! And man has it been FULL of new adventures!!! That´s for sure!!!  A few highlights: we are now living 6 hermanas in an apartment for 4, hahahaha, we found 4 new investigators!, yy new compi is INCREDIBLE, I got to see all my Coordinadoras in consejo!!! (Including Hermana Al-M.!!!,) we saved Hna Ms’ pictures, I got lots and lots of personal revelation and answers, there are amazing new leaders, and everything is so happy because the weather is getting warm and there are so many people outside their houses to talk to! 

This week has been so fun having six hermanas in our little apartment! It´s been a week to remember for sure! But I am so incredibly grateful for every one of them! We are learning so much together!!! I am so excited for this cambio!! I love my companionship studies with Hermana S, I have already learned SO much from her! And we have put some amazing goals to work hard on this cambio and we will help the Hermanas grow spiritually too! I know cambios are inspired because she is exactly what I needed right now!!! I love Hermana M so much, but Hermana S is really helping me progress as a missionary!! She is absolutely incredible!! I love her so much!!! She is so valiant! So courageous! And she has already helped me so much! We make a great team!! I LOVE HERMANA S!!!

 Our sector! So I don´t exactly know why, but lots of our investigators from last cambio seem to be hiding from us! But sometimes they just tend to do that.... hahaha.  But that´s okay because we found four new investigators, including a FAMILY! T, her husband, and her son V who  is 8, and they are incredible! The Lord is answering our prayers! I know when we pray with faith, the Lord will always deliver! We are trying to apply everything we learned in consejo (leadership meeting)  this past week, and the short lessons with members and menos activos REALLY WORK!!! Yesterday we went to visit a member who was baptized about 3 years ago, and we went in talking about her baptism and the feelings and spirit she felt and shared a powerful scripture.  It was incredible! She got emotional, and couldn´t believe how much the Lord has blessed her, and in the end, she gave us 3 references! It´s incredible how the spirit works! President is so inspired!!!! We are making big changes our mission!!! But Rauquen A is amazing! Our sector has so much potential! 

Okay I would just like share with you guys reallly quick that if there is one thing I know in the world is that the power of the atonement and the power of this priesthood is REAL. It is the realest thing I have ever felt, and that´s why I am here, every day to share with everyone that God is literally trying to help us, every second of every day, and His love is the most powerful thing in the universe!! I love love love this gospel!! The Atonement is amazing! I am so grateful I get the privilege to use it every day!

I love you all so much!!! Keep on saving the world back home and I´ll try to save the world in Chile! I LOVE YOU ALL WITH ALL MY CHILEAN HEART!!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Christensen :) 

(with the heart of a frutillita)

Mission Leadership Council

Sister Training Leaders

Presenting at meeting

Answers to Prayers :)

Wow. Another incredible week in the best mission in the world has flown by!!! I am SO BLESSED to be here serving the Lord; I would not want to be anywhere else in the world!!!! 

THIS WEEK has been a week of answers to prayers!! Hola Presidente!!! Semana 6. Always the week with the most miracles!!! This week was incredible! More than I could have ever imagined!!! First of all I don´t know if you remember last week I explained that we had a GREAT companionship study about praying with faith, and we decided to pray to find specifically a woman that we felt was waiting for us.  Well guess what, WE FOUND HER!!!! WE FOUND LA MUJER!!! She is so excited to fulfill all her commitments and we are going to put a fecha with her this week! She is amazing! She is feeling alone and recognized that God sent us to her! Her name is L., she is so humble! That was the biggest miracle of this week! I know God hears our prayers!!!! 

Second of all CONFERENCE!!!!! WAS THAT NOT JUST THE MOST AMAZING THING THAT HAPPENED LIKE EVER?!?!?!?! For me this conference changed everything!!! I really feel more converted to the Lord right now in this moment than any other moment in my life, and this conference I really understood. I really understood the gospel deeper and with more love than ever before. We are SO blessed to have the truth! And the prophets!!! AHHH LIFE IS JUST TOO GOOD!!! I CAN´T BELIEVE IT´S REAL SOMETIMES!!! :) :) :) 

So sadly, cambios this week!!!  I feel like I have learned more this cambio than any other cambio in the mission! And I find myself saying that after every cambio! It´s amazing! But yeah! I am staying in Rauquen, as Coordinadora, with Hermana S. de Brasil! She has 2 more cambios left in the mission, and she is incredible as well! I am so blessed and excited!!! Hermana Franco is going to open another sector in another part of Curico!!! Whitewash round two!!! :) And Hermana E. is staying! But I am happy and excited! I knew from day one it would be too good to stay with Hermana Morales for more than one cambio!! 

Our sector is definitely better off now than how we found it! Even though we don´t have any fechas, we have many investigators with lots of potential! And Y. finally came to church!! She attended conference and loved it!!! I hope it was the answer she was looking for! For me, conference changed everything and the Lord answered every one of my questions!! Besides Y., we have lots of great investigators, but unfortunately the majority are not married, but living with their pairs. But I have SO much faith this cambio is going to be incredible!! I am so excited to work hard and give every ounce of my to the Lord to help bring these people the joy of the gospel! 

It was so funny! After conference Saturday and Sunday night, people kept telling us we looked radiant! And asked why, like what did we see? They noticed a difference!!! All we could say is we were full of the Spirit from Conference!!! So full of the love of Christ!!!! And that´s the truth!! The Gospel and my Savior are my source of JOY!!! I don´t think I have ever been happier in my life!!! It´s just true. That´s all there is too it!!! It´s all true!!! And I feel so blessed to be able to walk side by side with my Savior every day, and share this joy!!! 

I love you all so much!!!! Have the BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!! 

Love you all, 

Hermana Christensen  :) 

***Ashley's trainer, Natalie, came and stayed with us this weekend.  It was so fun to be with her and hear all of her stories about the 3 months she spent as Ashley's companion.  She loved her so much and sang her praises the whole time she was here.  Since Ashley didn't send any pictures this week, I am attaching a picture of her with Natalie from her mission and a picture of when Natalie came to visit us!***

With Ashley in Chile

With Ashley's siblings in Utah!