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  :)