Week 64

I have never been more happy. We had a great week. Sorry I didn't email yesterday, we had a sisters conference in St. Johns and we didn't get back home until late! So we are emailing today! It was a powerful sonference for the sisters in the mountains. At the end we all were able to bear testimony and it felt like girls camp but better. We all were best friends after an  we all bawled together. Ah I love crying. Sister Doolhoff decided we burn calories when we cry haha which makes it even better. Us three were able to sing the opening song. I sang the alto part and was SO nervous but I am getting better! I love how much my companions are teaching me!

Miracles miracles miracles! We are actually finding prepared people for real now!!! Jesse is a man we talked to while we were at the Post office. He was getting into his car and ended up agreeing for us to come by his house. We finally found his house this week.

The morning that we taught him, I prayed outside after exercise out loud.

I was pleading with Heavenly Father to PLEASE let us teach a prepared person. ANYONE. I prayed so sincerely and promised to listen and follow His promptings. 

When found Jesse's house, I told the sisters about an experience I had at his house a few months ago. It was before we moved up here and I was with Sister Arevalo. We talked to the people outside this house and they yelled at us to go away. We did, but then I turned around and gave them a pamphlet as he screamed at us for trespassing. haha. So i was apprehensive to come back to this house. But Satan always tried to scare us from the prepared souls!

We knocked on the door right as one of his friends was leaving and so we scared each other and he started screaming- as sister Harrast tried to run away and trips down the porch steps haha. Then we explained we were looking for Jesse, Jesse invited us in happily. He was shirtless and covered in tattoos and piercings in a house full of the smell of smoke. He has a pool table as his living room furniture and liquor bottles lining his kitchen. 

We went over some how to begin teaching points that went PERFECTLY and he said, "it's so weird that I met you all and you came by because I was just talking with my girlfriend the other day about finding a church."

He agreed to be baptized and is so humble. He is the coolest man I have ever met. I cant wait to meet his girlfriend too! 

He attends Narcotics Anonymous right now too... He is trying to change! What a perfect time to meet us :) I know Heavely Father answered my prayer. It was a miracle. 

We also received a referral yesterday over the phone, our relief society president met a woman with a child in Alpine who want to meet with us! THEN yesterday we got a call from a man living in KINGSMAN AZ with a friend in RESERVE who wants to meet with us!!!!!!!!! Members are THE BEST!!! 

Also I don't think I told you about the miracle in Pie Town from the Pie Festival. We talked to a woman that was selling T shirts, I was looking to buy one for Dad but none caught my fancy, this woman lives in Datil and is agnostic with an atheist husband. I asked them if she knew Sister Owens who lives in Datil and she said yes! Anyways... now this woman's daughter goes to church with Sister Owens every week. The mother wants to give her daughter the opportunity to learn about Christ. It was so great to see sister Owens and Niah (the girl) and Bernie all together at church. AND BERNIE GOT THE PRIESTHOOD and passed the sacrament. It was a great Sunday.

We had another lesson with Dale this week. We are hoping he will come to church! He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying! Keep praying for him :)

I love my area I cannot tell you enough. It has changed so much. I know we are exactly where we need to be and I know God is helping us to find His prepared. I love being a missionary for these stubborn people!

Jesus Christ lives and helps me everyday. My Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers every time I know it. 

I still love 1 Nephi 17. It is just like our area up here. We are actually starting to build the ship now that we made the tools!

Hermana Christensen.

Sister Owens teaching the two kids in Primary in Pie Town. (Niah)

Week 65

Well the less actives we are working with in Pie Town came to church yesterday!!! President Hobbs was so happy! That was our little miracle this week!

Also during planning we were thinking about who to bring to Jesse's lesson. After a pause I said, brother Parnell. Sister Doolhoff about exploded because she was thinking the same  person and was about to say it! We brought brother Parnell and they were PERFECT for each other. Jesse was so receptive and his girlfriend was the nicest girl ever too! 

Also during planning I had a feeling we really needed to visit the Hulseys. Our lunch fell through yesterday so I ended up asking Sister Hulsey if we could go by and eat at her house after church. She said they had no food in their house but that we could go by the lodge where their hunters are and her daughter Larae would cook us something. So we drove up the dirt road to the lodge to awkwardly find Larae not there. Then Sister Hulsey pulled up and told us to stay, that she would go and get Larae. 

During lunch we talked to a few hunters. Two were 15 mils away from where sister Harrast lives in Michigan- Crazy! And other two were from Florida. After lunch we ended with our signature "Nearer My God To Thee" song. Only one hunter was in the room with Larae. He didn't really say much and didn't wan to learn more. But we walked out to our truck and two of the men were on the porch. They told us how good we sounded, that they could hear us from out there. We left, only to realize ( after 10 minutes) that we forgot our cell phone. When I went  back, Larae quietly pulled me aside and said, "they have been talking about your little musical number ever since you have left! You left such a good impression!"

Then we invited all of them to learn more after they asked us some more questions. They all said no..

Then 5 hours later we got voice mail from sister Hulsey saying that the hunters have asked them so many questions about us missionaries and Mormons and they want us to come back to lunch again!!! So we are going back tomorrow for lunch! And are preparing more songs to sing. 

That was such a miracle. Sister Hulsey was so impressed with our following the spirit to ask her for lunch.

I love being a missionary. People reject us a lot, and lots of people still don't want to listen to us. But in my interview this week, President told me about the people he has talked to from Luna who thank him for us, because we have changed all of Catron County's attitude towards Mormons. We ARE making a difference President assured me. I cried of course. It's hard to see the progress at times, but then I look back and realize how far our area has come along. I love it up here so much. I can't tell you enough!! I love my two companions and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hermana Christensen

P.S.I am half way done memorizing "The Living Christ" in Spanish!

P.P.S. We can get on Facebook now to share messages!

Cleaning an investigator's house, we washed all of her dishes. While discussing religion of course. This picture may or may not be posed.

Our favorite little Parnell boy.

We are the message!

Breaking the rules! No, just Mary's porcelain replica of her mother as a baby.

This is Mary (investigator) and her porcelain baby doll Sarah. Sarah was made to look like Mary's deceased mother. She loves Sarah! So do we!

We made Baklava and bread with Carol and her sister Sheila visiting from England! We love them!!! Call us cultured. Sheila doesn't believe in God. We had an interesting discussion.

In Brother Sink's model A Ford he built! 

Self- explanatory :)  In front of our little cottage :)

Week 63

We watched conference with Cynthia Saturday morning. She loved it and she loved how much it talked about missionaries. She is almost done with Mosiah. She leaves tomorrow for a horse back riding trip to in Utah. She will be in Tropic and Kanab and all those good places. We hope she has lots of good exposure to the LDS there! 

Mary C, one of our investigators in Reserve wants to be baptized! It was a miracle. She doesn't understand very well. But on exchanges Sister Cole came up with Sister Doolhoff and I and it was so inspired to have her there with us! Mary still didn't understand why she would want to be baptized again after being baptized in the baptist church just last month. Sister Cole then with a GENIUS idea explained to Mary that her baptism that she just had was only done with authority to make it last until she dies. BUT that baptism done with God's power and authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will last FOREVER even after she dies. A light bulb clicked in Mary 's head and she said, "Okay, I didn't know that! What do I have to do to be baptized with that authority?"

Ah it was so great and now teaching baptism with the proper authority will be so much easier! I love how much I still learn as a missionary! I never stop learning!

We also visited our less actives in the Blue. I prayed and prayed so hard that one of them would be there. She hasn't called us back in weeks. She was home and we had a good lesson with her whole family! Ah I love working on faith. It gives room for miracles to occur. 

I really loved the Saturday sessions too. I loved Elder Christofferson's talk. But I also loved Elder Bednar's. His are so clear and easy to follow and understand. Just FYI Elder Nelson's talk was made in Phoenix AZ. He told us he was working on it while he was staying here haha. 

We had another meeting with Dale L at the Thompson's last night. He agreed for us to teach him! He seems very open to listen! Just has some problems with organized religion and gave us a disclosure of "no promises". Keep praying for him! 

I love you all!

The elk are still my best friends. They are bugling like crazy.

Our house is FREEZING. Hopefully getting wood tomorrow!

Hermana Christensen

I AM the Message while pumping gas.

Cozy conference Sunday morning with the Elmers in Reserve!

Week 62

My two favorite people in the world right now are Phyllis and Cynthia.
They just give me so much hope! I love watching them progress!!
So a few of the miracles this week...

Cynthia came to the Women's Broadcast with us! Sister Payne drove us
all out to the Luna building. We got there and were the only ones so
we hurry and set it up right as they were singing the opening song.
Sister Doolhoff and I bawled through the whole thing. I have a
companion who cries as much as I do now! Haha I love it! After the
broadcast we walked out and the first thing Cynthia says in her cute
smiley voice is, "Okay I have LOOOOTS of questions now!" She said,
"what is the temple!?" The whole thing practically was about the
temple! She is understanding so much! Little by little. She mentioned
on the car ride home how much she respects our church because in other
churches it seemed like the women weren't respected very well, but she
was impressed how highly esteemed the women are in our church and that
they are able to speak in functions like conference! Her prayers keep
getting better too! She doesn't feel like she is progressing but she
is! She is in Mosiah in her reading, learning about the wars between
the Lamanites and Nephites.

Phyllis is a gem. We had a lesson with her. Her husband was supposed
to be out looking for elk but the rain drove him back home. So he was
there for our lesson too. We figured out he is pretty anti-mormon. He
dominates our conversations and is very skeptical, I look at Phyllis
while he is talking and ask what she thinks, she mouths, "I agree with
YOU!"......
So....... We read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with them and
tried to leave them each a copy. Phyllis took one. At this point we
weren't so sure that she would listen to us and not her husband and we
were praying that she would read The Book of Mormon. And a miracle
happened!
The next morning we get a text that says,"Good Morning Sisters!
Enjoyed our visit last night. 1Ne 7:12 "The Lord is able to so all
things for men if they exercise faith in him;"

SHE CAME TO CHURCH WITH SISTER GRAY ON SUNDAY and stayed for all 3
hours. Afterwards I was talking to her in the hall about how she feels
and when we will see her next. I suggested we have another "girls
night" suggesting that we have a lesson without her husband and she
came right out and said, "I am so sorry, I thought he was going to be
gone the other night!" She looked me in the eyes and said, "I know
this is where I belong, I agree with everything that your church
teaches and I always feel SO GOOD when I come to your church over any
other church."
Phyllis has a testimony! She came to lunch with us afterwards at
Sister Gray's. She loves being around us. SHE IS SUCH A GOOD PERSON
AND I LOVE HER SO MUCH! She grew up in an atheist home in Mesa AZ.
However after having 2 kids she almost died from a brain tumor and now
knows there is a God. She believes so much!
I love our area. I thought about the day I will leave it and how hard
my heart  will hurt!
HOW WE TALK WITH EVERYONE:
The other day we were driving trying to find an alpaca ranch that
these people we met at Pie Fest owned. A ways north of Pie town. We
had been driving on this dirt highway for a while and I started to
wonder if we were lost. Not 20 seconds later an oncoming car
approached and I waved my arm out the window and slowed to a stop, I
asked them where to go and then we asked them if they had a Book of
Mormon. They did and knew missionaries where they lived. I testified
that I knew what the missionaries taught them was true!  We gave them
a pass along card and told them to call and get a free movie about
Christ!

Driving to Alpine the people in front of us pulled over to take
pictures of Elk. I turned around and got out and offered to help. They
were members but we gave them mormon.org cards and invited them to
give one to a friend.
Then off we went and another man was pulled over on the side of the
highway. Same thing haha. He wasn't a member though, his wife is a
member and he is catholic. He kindly turned down our invitations and
as we left I called him brother and it caught him very off guard and
he laughed.

I am thoroughly  convinced of my seed planting gifts in this area.
Pulling off the highway to talk to people is what we do every day!
We also got lots of new service opportunities this week! And a
non-member who loves us and calls us her angels is taking us to lunch
this week.
I have heard many times now from various members and non-members how
much we have changed this area. How blessed the people are to have us
here and how much light we bring to these little towns. I LOVE IT. :)
So many people are more open and nice to us because of the great
reputation we have from serving up here!

I love my mission. I love being a part of the building up of His
kingdom. There will be a Pie Town temple someday :) haha

Hermana Christensen


Sorry no camera cord...
We are in Eagar because we saw MEET THE MORMONS this morning in
PineTop!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! I CRIED DURING THE CANDY BOMBER
PART and at the end. Watch it the weekend it comes out! They will play
it longer in theaters according to how many people watch it opening
weekend!
LOVE YOU!