Week 57

This week was a quickie! 

Maria and family did not come to church. we are not sure why yet, but good thing there is always next week! 

As for the food we eat here- its a lot of GREEN CHILE! Green chile every thing. I have had green chili fudge even! And green chili cheeseburgers. That's what we do here. Its all about the green chili. And TexMex. 

The stragest thing I have almost eaten here was mountain oysters.

I didn't though.

A new key indicator that our mission is keeping track of right now is TTI's. Which are first contacts with people we don't know and inviting them to learn more. So my competitive drive has come out even more in talking with everyone.

We had the Catron County Fair this weekend, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They cancelled school on Thursday for the fair- its a BIG deal here! A few weeks ago we visited a less active family here in Apache Creek and they are in charge of a lot over the fair and so we were able to help out on Saturday cleaning up after the BBQ. Everyone of the usual helpers were so thankful and appreciative of our help- we washed A LOT of dishes. 

There was a group of young men there paying guitars and singing and we were able to talk with them. We ended up inviting them to learn more about the gospel and 4 of them agreed and they all happen to live in PIE TOWN of all places. So we carved their numbers into a Styrofoam lid and told them we would call them! 

Then my favorite part of this week happened Saturday and Sunday.

We were heading out of town for a meeting in Eagar and we had just left Brother East's home (He has a whole nother story). When we were passing down one of the 5 roads in Rancho Grande I noticed some men sitting out on a porch and waved. Then I remembered TTI's! So I said should we turn around? I got a "no that will be so awkward."  So I turned around anyways because I thrive off of awkward situations. We pulled in front of their home and Sister Harrast was a little apprehensive at the sight of the men and Sister Lee said, "yeah big blonde and beautiful over here is going to get us killed." hahaha. So I walked up and noticed they were all drinking... They spoke Spanish and were so happy I did too! They are here working for a few months from Mexico-legally! 11 of them live in that little house. I said that we have a special message to share with them about Jesus Christ and asked if we could come back another time when they weren't drinking. They tried to invite us in but I was persistent and we set another appointment. 

So SUNDAY, Bishop Payne came out with us, we went in the house and all of the men were dispersed through out the house and they kind of awkwardly ignored us. So Bishop motioned for me to take charge. I walked through the house and told everyone to come listen to us that we had a message for them. After a good ten minutes of trying to rally up these tired men, we had 7 of them sitting in front of us.

 

I started us out with a prayer and then went right into how the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth by a prophet in these last days. Bishop explained about Joseph Smith and then we introduced the Book of Mormon. They were all staring bright eyed and attentively at us. It was so neat.

Bishop Payne and I were able to teach them together in Spanish. We had a copy of The Book of Mormon for each one and read a few parts all together. One of them, Roberto, was so sincerely interested and had SUCH GOOD QUESTIONS. Then the other ones started asking if they could be baptized into our church and then if they would be able to serve missions too if they did! Haha, we explained that yes they could, once they read the Book of Mormon and believed that the things we teach are true. 

We taught them how to pray and invited them to church to hear us sing next week and to the chicken fry on Saturday. They seemed really excited to have something to do other than work and lay around the house and drink all day so hopefully they come! 

The cool thing is, is that Saturday morning I took a Spanish Book of Mormon out of the car to carry around with me instead of an English. I said a prayer in my heart asking Heavenly Father to help me find someone to give it to. That night I gave it to Jesus the Mexican worker I talked to on the porch. I know that my prayer was answered and form that small act of faith we were able to teach many people in Spanish. I am so happy. 

I love my companions, we have a lot of fun and are very creative in the ways we talk to people and the things we do to bring about much good in this area. I love it here. 

Hermana Christensen

Among the flowers.

One of our many river crossings, and check out the beautiful country we live in! (in Luna)

Week 56

In the PT trailer! Also I have so much hair.

This is the Snow's ranch down the road from us. This is where we spend every preparation day!

being models

Holding my elk Jerky

At Ale Gray's being models.

With Sister Gray.

I wanted all 3 of us to ride together in the front seats. Don't the 3 other seats in the back. We love each other. :) 

Sister Harrast and I in the back of Linda's car on the way to dinner in Alpine!

Crossed my legs while on a long drive from Datil to Reserve.

At Foxfire with our friend Linda (non-member) and sister Lee

Week 55

These last few days were awesome! The best part was seeing Cynthia again. We drove up and she was outside working in her yard in her red shirt like always! She was so happy to see us. As we went inside she started talking about how she finished all the readings we gave her in the Book of Mormon. She told us how simple and easy it is to understand compared to the Bible. (YEAH!) Then she talked about how after we left the other day she was searching for something in her dresser and stumbled across the notebook that she wrote her answer in to her prayer about which church to join. She read it to us along with the date that it happened. It's true that God does hear and answer prayers. In Cynthia's case she heard an actual voice saying that the churches she was considering joining "are not my church and they are not your church either."

We ended up answering a few questions she had about her readings. She told us how she finished reading Moroni chapter 10 then asked herself who Moroni was.. SO she read the whole book of Moroni and found out he is Mormon's son! Then she was wondering who Mormon was! We told her she just has to read the entire book!

We taught her all of lesson one in good depth. She is such a fun person to teach because she asks questions right away whenever they pop into her mind! As we would explain things she would listen intently and then repeat what we said in her own words for clarification! She is the best investigator ever! 

As we were finishing up the lesson she stopped us and said, "Please leave me more passages to read in The Book of Mormon before you go?"

We said of course! After we invited her to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority from God, she looked at us and said, "well it sounds like you are telling me that my baptism wasn't valid?"

I don't remember what I said back to her but my companions said it was perfect. She understands prayer and the role that the Holy Ghost will play in helping her receive an answer from God. She knelt and prayed at the end of the lesson. She thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her and pleaded that we would keep coming back to teach her. I want to cry just thinking about it. She is a truth seeker and it is so incredible to watch her eyes light up as we remind her truths that she once knew.

I love Cynthia so much.

We did service again this week for Linda B. We got ladders and cleaned the bricks of her huge fireplace. She was so appreciative and we sang hymns and primary songs as we worked. She invited us over to play a game with her next week then I asked her if we could have dinner with her too and she agreed! Haha woo!! Best friends with Linda! One day she will join the church. We are making good headway!

We were able to help out at the church for an auction we had. We had to finish raising $10,000 as a community so that we can have a pavillion built in Luna. It was approved by the church as long as we raised our part of the money. The auction/enchilada dinner was a success! Sister Lee and I helped the man at the mike. We chose the items that would be bid on and held them up and I modeled them when I could haha. The next morning in Ward Council was complimented on my Vanna White skills.

I realized this week how incredible our area is doing. I thought about day 1 up here. There were 2 investigators that I knew of. Now we know SO many people and have created an actual teaching pool. It helps me to stay positive when I think about day 1. We have made so much progress. I love Luna and Pie Town!

Also the picnic in Pie Town was so good! The members brought so many friends and we have 3 service appointments set up from it!

Also some members volunteered to clean our trailer this week! Yay for clean trailers!

I love studying. I love companion study. I love learning about the scriptures. I love singing songs. I love the mormon messages, ("the Savior wants to forgive" is still my favorite). I don't ever want to stop being a missionary. I know who I am and I know my purpose. 

Thanks for sending me Tad's letter. He sounds great! Thanks also for all your letters!  Coco looks like a little Kass/Drew! Like she should!

Also I had fresh antelope meat yesterday at Sister Gray's. It was killed just two days prior. It was yummy! Yay for all the hunters.

With Sister Harrast in the Trailer!

Luna welcomes you

ALSO I FAILED TO MENTION THAT ELDER ORME IS IN EAGAR IN MY DISTRICT NOW! My life just got that much better!  Weekly call ins with the District leader. (We are an hour ahead of them and I was ready for bed!)

Week 54

I never thought the day would come that Sister Harrast would be my companion! We served in Scottsdale zone together the whole time and were such good friends! She was waiting for a visa to Brazil and never got it so is officially re-assigned to our mission! Now she's my companion (with Sister Lee too) and I could not be more excited!

We all love each other so much. Sister Harrast went to BYU and was on music scholarship and we know a lot of the same people. She is from Michigan (the Lansing mission).

Transfers were crazy. 5 hours down and 5 hours back up. We stayed in Eagar last night and finished driving up this morning. We just barely got back home!

The most exciting news is that WE GOT A TRUCK!!! I felt indestructible driving back up the mountains! And I wasn't AS afraid of hitting an elk, and we just glide right over the dirt roads. Hallelujah!

2 weeks ago when we showed up for volleyball one of the non-member ladies we play with walked up to us and handed us a folded piece of paper. It was a service referral! One of our neighbors really needed help with yard work and asked for us to give her a call! We did and a few days later helped Cynthia weed and do lots of yard work. She wanted to pay us so badly but of course we could not accept that! So she insisted on feeding us lunch. As we chatted with her she let us know her whole religious background. She was once married to a Mormon and took ALL OF THE LESSONS, but never decided to get baptized. She divorced that husband a few months later and hasn't had really any contact with the church since (about 30 years). When she moved up here a few years ago she started attending different churches and finding out how she could be baptized. She was studying with this one church and attending all the classes she could to learn what she should do. She asked the pastor a bunch of questions about baptism and he was not able to answer them so she eventually stopped going. One day while she was walking on the mountain behind her house she was praying and asking what she should do, she heard a distinct voice tell her that "they weren't the right ones". (in regards to the churches she was attending and their baptisms. Anyways... She ended up finding out by herself that she needed to be immersed in water to be baptized. So she got her friends from every different church that she had to come and baptize her in the river. If the person didn't say something right or do something another religion believed was correct, they fixed it. So now she figures she HAD to have been baptized correctly with all of their help! She is a true truth seeker…

She had a Book of Mormon and after we taught her a little bit about what we knew she got us a bunch of pieces of paper and asked us to mark a bunch of passages she could read. So we gave her 8. We came back about a week later and she had read 4 of them and highlighted! She watches BYU channel everyday and just watched all of the Work and the Glory movies and LOVES them.... SHE IS AWESOME!!

We are trying to figure out how to fellowship her to church. We love her so much. All from a non-member referral!

Also... last week we were in Alpine and ended up having 2 and a half hours before dinner and were figuring out what we should do. The thought came to me so I asked the sisters if we should go to the Blue (a town about an hour south I have heard about). We all agreed and our adventure commenced! It was the most beautiful drive ever. I felt like I was traveling back in time and in some Mayan river bed. We made it down there and I only knew 2 names of less actives down there. IT IS A PRARIE. Seriously NOTHING is down there. But after knocking on a door we asked where Betty lived, or where the Joy's lived. We found them both! Sister Joy was so nice and at the end of our visit she agreed to start reading her scriptures again. She said having us there made memories flood back. She wants us to help her and her husband get to the temple.

It was so worth going down there. We will go visit with her once a week!

Good things are happening. We have a potluck picnic in Pie town in a few hours! And the members are going to bring LOTS of friends so we are excited! I am hoping sister Harrast will be able to play a tune maybe on her guitar for all of them. We will see how it goes.

I love working up here. It gives me a chance to REALLY get creative. I feel to happy. I love this area. I love these rural parts!

I am happy to hear how much Trevor is going to the temple! He is such a good boy!

And mom- good girl for working there!

Dad- thank you for helping me learn how to recognize the spirit, you are such a spiritual man. I admire you for that.

And Riley- I expect a wedding announcement soon!

Kass- good job on all of your talks! Thanks for the Coco updates.

Coco- keep learning how to talk GOOD GIRL!

Tad- keep having fun and learning in Costa Rica!

Drew- thank you for the workouts... they are killing me. I LOVE feeling sore again!

LOVE YOU!

TRUCK! and Harrast!

me with trucky. 

ALSO! AURELIO IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! I cried when sister Wheelwright told me! SO HAPPY! It took him a year!

Week 53

Crazy week. Sister Lee was sick for two days so that set us back a little bit. Nevertheless, we saw many miracles.

We saw Gary again this week! He finished the whole restoration pamphlet and told us it was all right on the money except for when it got to Joseph Smith. He clarified on a few more of his concerns and we tried to help him understand a little better from teachings in the Bible but he just said he disagreed. So I happened to have a Plan of Salvation pamphlet in my current proselyting Book of Mormon. I asked him, "Gary have you ever wondered where you came from, why you are here, and where you are going after you die?"

He said, "woah those are deep questions."

He thought for a second and said "yes, I do wonder that."

We invited him to read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and he agreed!

So we will just keep helping him along! Good thing we have so many pamphlets!

I went on exchanges this week and I went down to Eagar with Sister Heap while sister Thompson came up  here with my two companions. It is good to be in a different area for a change sometimes! We taught a woman in a retirement home with Dimensia- that was a blast. Then we visited a few more people and had a BBQ dinner up in Nutrioso.

Now I will back up to about a month ago. Sister Lee went through the temple with one of her Less Actives and Sister Arevalo went too. So sister Heap, Pass and I worked in Eagar. Dinner that night happened to be at the Roger's in Sister Heap's ward. It was her first time at dinner there. Anyways, it ended up being Kaisa's new husband's grandparents house! Sister Rogers said that Kaisa would be visiting for the 24th and I said oh you should come up to the Rodeo in Luna! We will be doing tickets......

So fast forward to this week. I forgot about Kaisa and the Rogers until we drove past the Rogers and I said," it's the 24th weekend! Kaisa was supposed to be here!" We stopped by to see, before we headed to Nutrioso fro the BBQ. Sure enough, I got to see Kaisa and her whole family. Small world. It was a little tender mercy. What are the chances I was in Eagar in sister Heap's area for that day one month ago for dinner and the day this week that Kaisa was there?! Heavenly Father loves me so much that he set that all up :). I was asked to offer the prayer before we left their home. Such a tender mercy.

Well transfers are next week and I am excited to see how our are will be changed up! I am so excited to stay! ( I don't officially know yet, but I do know I am staying.)

Sister Thompson in the Luna ward gave me a Luna t-shirt that she bought at the rodeo. She was wearing the same one and I told her how much I loved her shirt! I was in Nutrioso on exchanges so I didn't get a chance to see any of the t shirts. I asked her how I could get one and she said they only sell them one day a year at the rodeo. I told her I'd be back next year! As I was leaving her home yesterday she hugged me and handed me a folded up t shirt that was the same as hers, my size and everything. She kissed me on the cheek and told me she loved me. 

I love my Luna mother! I know she did not purchase the shirt for me, but she was so kind and generous. I wore it bed last night and looked at myself in the shirt in the mirror as I was brushing my teeth and started to cry haha, I am just so happy that people are so kind!!!

Food for thought:

"Because we face challenges everyday, it is important that we work on our spiritual stamina EVERYDAY."

Daily scripture study and prayer are to protect us from falling into temptation. Just like exercising our bodies we need to work out our spirits so that we may win the daily battle to Satan and his temptations! We are commanded to read and pray each day. Remember, obedience brings blessings!

I love you!  

I love being a LUNAtic! 

Hermana Christensen

After Volleyball last Monday we came home to a beautiful full rainbow!

I made bacon jalepeno poppers the other day :) my companions are hooked.

Luna T-shirt :)

Week 52

Highlights of the week:

-We play volleyball Monday nights in Reserve with the community. BEST way to make friends. And I am not too bad at volleyball!

- We drive to Eagar once a week for district meeting and get a few groceries while we are there. 

- We went to a community self defense class this week and learned some survival skills. Also we each have a killer cat key chain (a self defense tool).

- Also sister Thompson in Luna gave us the self defense Hair brush- the brush pulls off and turns into a killer dagger.

- My testimony is being strengthened of the importance of The Book of Mormon. I am studying 1 Nephi chapters 12-14 and others. The restoration is a marvelous truth. 

- We sang at a funeral this week. We did real well, accapella. It was Bishop Payne's first non- LDS funeral and he gave a wonderful sermon on the resurrection. He and his wife and us missionaries were the only Mormons. There were about 60 people there and we got a lot of compliments after and met a lot of new people! It was really good. I am surprised at how I am coming to recognize people in the community and remember their names! We almost know every person here! haha.

-We drive about 100 miles a day on average.. 

-We are hoping to get a truck soon! The other day bishop had to drive us to a dinner appointment because our car can't go on certain roads. To get to the home we crossed a river 7 times. They live down this MAYAN canyon in a river bed of rocks and among trees and snakes. It was the most unique living quarters I have ever been to. They don't have  a house. They have like an army camp set up. It was different!

-Katie in Pie Town wants to come back to church- WOOHOO. And she wants visiting and home teachers!

-Kristin in Pie Town finally let us know how anti-mormon her husband is. But she still wants us to visit her, and will think about letting visiting and home teachers be assigned to her. 

We have interviews and inspections this week I am really happy! 

I am so happy that Trevor received his endowments! 

Love you all!

Hermana Christensen

Also at Joyce's I french braided Sitka's hair haha. Everyone doubted me. I did it! I want a husky! So I cant french braid its whole body!

District Meeting

Lipstick

Week 51

Girls camp was awesome. The first day with the YCL's we talked to them 3 times (3 groups) for an housr each time. Tiring. As sister missionaries. We each shared a different aspect for about 10 minutes of how to come closer to Chirst. I talked each time about prayer. I shared a personal experience and yes i cried every time. At dinnner that night one of the girls (Brook) came up to me and thanked me for my story because it really helped her.  I asked her about it and she told me why. She is so sweet and asked me for advice everyday at camp. She looks like a combination of Riley and Savannah. Everyone told us we looked like sisters.
This happened with so many of the girls. I MADE SO MANY FRIENDS! haha I really LOVE all these girls so much. I was able to love a lot during camp.

This week at girl's camp a miracle happened. We had 1 non member come with the Luna ward to camp, Logan B. She is 16 years old and lives VERY far from the church but has come a few times over the years with her non-member mother. At camp she got along well with all the girls and with us. Friday during the day Logan read the Book of Mormon with Sister Pass and ENJOYED what she read and learned. Testimony meeting came Friday night, she bore her testimony about the Love of Christ. After testimony meeting was over we were all walking towards the bathrooms and sinks to get ready for bed. I walked next to Logan and asked how she was.
She said, "just thinkin."
I responded, "thinkin about what?"
"activating" she said.
I asked, "activating what?"
Logan said," come on you are bright.....Activating myself in the church!"
I grabbed her shoulders and retorted with wide smiling eyes, "you want to be baptized?!"
"YES!!" She said!
By then Sister Lee and Hermana Pass were by us and we all squealed and embraced her and jumped up and down.
Logan told us how she has been to so many different churches but that she always feels SO GOOD when she is at the Mormon activities, she said "there is something about your church that makes it different from the rest and it makes me feel so good!"
We were so blessed to be at girl's camp and forge this friendship with Logan. She is excited to see us again!
I feel so happy! We are seeing miracles! There are prepared people here, we are sure of it, just is a matter of finding them.
We are trying to figure out how to REALLY motivate the members to HELP us. We literally cannot do anything with out them up here.

I failed to mention that on July 5th when sister Lee and I were on our way to Pie Town we decided to stop by President Hobbs and President Parker's homes on our way. They both live by Quemado Lake. We didn't know exactly where, just kind of, but there aren't too many houses between us and Pie Town so I figured we could find it. Anyways we didn't. But on our way back from the Lake to the main road, and ambulance passed us, headed up towards the lake. I figured an accident happened on the Lake right? Well, then that night the scary lightning happened. Then the next day at church Sister Lee and I were studying in the relief society room and Sister Hobbs and President Hobbs were the first to show up for church. Sister Hobbs walked in with her sunglasses on and asked how we were and hugged us. Then we asked how she was and she started to cry and said, I am very sad this morning. President Parker passed away last night." 

President Parker was helping a neighbor out on the roof and slipped and fell off and hit a railing. He didn't make it to the hospital. That ambulance we saw was for him :(.... really crazy, the ONE time we ever tried to go to his home, he ended up dying.
After we talked to Sister Hobbs for a minute she left, then President Hobbs came in and asked if we heard about President Parker. We said yes and he looked at us with tears in his eyes, '"Sisters, I need your help, I am losing everybody in the branch. "
Talk about MOTIVATION!
His wife Della asked us to sing at his funeral "I am a Child of God." I remember that's the song we sang at Grandpa Eem's funeral.

There were lots of nonmembers at the funeral and they loved the service. They all live in the gated community by Quemado Lake, we will go visit some soon. We didn't stay the whole time, it was really hard for sister Pass, that's the first funeral she had been to since her mom's. Then we headed back to girl's camp.

We were finishing weekly planning yesterday and we had this prompting to leave and contact this referral we received from Bishop Payne. We went and found this man Anthony, his dad just committed suicide. We had a nice visit and he was very kind and appreciative of us coming by. Then his girlfriend came out as we were leaving and we waved to her and said hello.
As we started to drive away she started running towards the car so I rolled down the window. In her Russian accent she told us how she didn't appreciate us talking to her husband instead of her. That we are missionaries and should know that that is immodest. 

She was MAD and stormed off.

It was really awkward.

Then we felt sad because our prompting to go to visit them wasn't as fruitful as we expected and we felt a little discouraged. 

On the way back through town I got a feeling to stop by this house we had talked to people at last week on the 5th. My companions weren't too supportive after what had just happened but I stopped anyways because I knew the girl at this house would cheer us up.

Sure enough. Veronica was ECSTATIC to see us again! She hugged us and talked our ears off! She told us her whole life- SUPER SAD! She is 18 and just moved here with her boyfriend into her cousin's home. We had such a good visit and were all crying as we shared experiences with one another, She accepted to read The Book of Mormon. She was so excited. She asked us to please come visit her next week and she will text us after she finished the chapter we assigned her to read. She recognizes when she feels the Holy Ghost and loves feeling that "spiritual high". A REAL investigator! She just has a lot of things we have to help her with. We are excited to HELP HER!!

I love Reserve. There are some harsh people a lot of the time actually. But we are softening a lot of hearts. Progress. :)

We were talked about as Ninja Warriors in Relief society yesterday. We are the ninja warrior missionaries!

Haha Love you all! AND THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE! BEST PACKAGE EVER! I THINK I SAY THAT EVERY TIME! BUT THEY JUST GET BETTER EVERY TIME! :)

Hermana Christensen

Brook and I

The first aid girls