Monday, June 17, 2013

Last one :(

Well I wish I could reflect on my whole mission and let you know how I feel about everything, but words really aren't able to describe it. It has been such a blessing to so many people and I have a heart full of gratefulness for that.

So there was a great experience this last week. Sunday the 9th, I fasted for just one more miracle my last week in my new area in Apopka. It was amazing! We were so blessed!!!! With more than just one.
1) This 21 yr old named Gabriel had been investigating for a while, but never came to church. Sat. the 8th we visited him and were going to drop him, but instead we felt like we should give him one last chance. So we invited him to church. He said he would go if his family went. Well Sunday came and his family didn't come, but he came by himself. We went to the YSA class with him and he made some friends! Then this last Saturday we had an appointment with him and he said he really liked church and felt peaceful afterwards. He came yesterday to church as well and enjoyed it. He is getting baptized this Saturday! :)
2) We set a baptismal date with Melissa and her two boys for the 29th of June. They are amazing!
3) THE COOLEST ONE! So yesterday we were tracting and we felt like we would see a miracle. And so we knocked a door and the guy to my surprise let us right in without even a great contact haha. We sat down and it was him and his wife. He said his gma and mom were Mormon, but that he wasn't ever baptized that he couldn't remember. And we talked a little bit and he said he was in the military. I asked him where he was stationed. He said, "Oh in a naval base in Nevada." I was like "Wait! Fallon?!" And he said yes. Haha. So we became best friends like that. I asked him if he ever went to the dentist. He said yes. He thought his name was Christiansen haha. Said he was young, kind of bald and had glasses. I told him that he has some hair still. So I think his dentist was Donny, he said Donny would remember him because he had to like order a whiter tooth or whiter paste because his teeth were too white for what they had and so Donny like ordered one straight from his pocket or something. His name was Brandon. Ya, he and his wife are going to get baptized! 

Monday, June 10, 2013

MIRACLE WEEEEEEEEK!

Your prayers worked miracles this last week! It was an amazing week. So last week I told you about Armando and asked you to pray for him. He is the one who visits only for a week at a time about once every other month. So Sunday he came to church and we couldn't get an appt. with him. He told us he was leaving on Friday. So Monday we bought him a white shirt (we thought maybe that's why he hadn't got baptized cuz he didn't have a white shirt... haha.. hey it happens) Anyways it was a good excuse to go over, so that night we went over and gave him the shirt but he was real tired, so we couldn't teach him, he didn't really seem interested in talking either so I lost a lot of faith in getting him baptized this last week. Tuesday from 12-6 we had tracting planned 6-7 was a lesson and 7-8 was a dinner with a less active family and we had some people to visit after the dinner. So we hit 5 o clock and we are dead from tracting. And then both our 6 o clock and 7 o clock canceled. We were soaking wet from the rain and we were pretty frustrated, so we continued tracting and went home at 6 to dry our clothes and grab a bite to eat. As we thought what to do, Armando came to our mind. So at 7 we took over one of my comps ties and a picture of him and his family at the temple that my comp printed off from the temple tour we did with them at his last visit a month and a half ago. He answered the door, he said we could sit down, we gave him the picture. Then he told us he was thinking about getting baptized that week! So we told him, yes yes yes yes do it. please. So we got his interview on Wednesday for him and baptized on Thursday! It was a miracle and a half. I realized the blessing of the appointments canceled on Tuesday and had to repent for thinking I knew better than the Lord and for not accepting His will at first and murmuring. Anyways I called up President Hall for permission to confirm him as well at the baptism since he was leaving Friday and wouldn't be at church. He said yes, and I invited him to come to the baptism, and he came. He actually knows the family really well. And at the end he said a couple of words. He mentioned how he and Sister Hall were praying for him that they would see him get baptized before they left on July 1st. POWERFUL. EVERYONE was praying for him including many of you and I am so grateful for that. His name was even in the temple! :)...
 
Then on Friday, President called me to tell me I would be getting Emergency Transferred. So that night I packed up my stuff and went to APOPKA. It is still in our district, and I knew I was going to be getting ET'd over there because the elder had some joint problems and couldn't walk real well and doctors couldn't figure it out and President had been talking to me quite a bit throughout last week and warned me that I would probably leave. He was such a good elder. It was sad to see him have to leave. He will be back though once they figure out how to help him. So my last week of my mission is in a new area. We had a baptism on Sunday here with a guy that I have met a couple of times because of exchanges. So that was cool haha. And this week my old area has a baptism as well on Saturday. The Lord has blessed me so much at the end of my mission. It is great! :) I love it.
 
Pray for me to love tracting my last week please. I still am doing fine on teaching and getting out and doing missionary work. But I am dragging my feet when the appointments fall through and I know we have to tract. haha. I'm gonna finish strong though!
 
Love you all!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Livin' la vida loca!

So I am really loving life right now. Just trying to get as much out of the short time that I have. Things have been going great though. Our companionship is doing amazing and we are having a blast. We had some new investigators come to church this week and also we had the couple that has to get married come to church on Sunday. And we had the one guy that goes to Texas and back come back and he came with his family. He is pretty awesome. His name is Armando and his family is all baptized, but him. He knows it is true, loves the BofM, keeps the commandments, goes to church every Sunday in Texas. Wants to be baptized, but just hasn't done it yet. I am baffled on why not. We are trying to get him to receive the blessings of the gospel this week. Please pray for him specifically and also pray for miracles. We have been being blessed a lot. We found a kid named Andres. He is 20. Good heart and very sincere. We have passed by 3 times now and he loves it. We are going to try to get his family involved. The group here is doing good as well. They are doing some missionary work. We are going to an FHE tonight with a family and their friends that they invited over. And also a member that just moved here and came to church yesterday said he has a referral for us. So we are super pumped about that. I have started to write down life lessons that I have learned from my mission. It is amazing to reflect and see how the Lord is preparing me for the future. I have realized that my mission was a blessing and not a sacrifice.
 
We are loving life, we have a good week planned ahead of us. Please pray for miracles. We love them! thank you for all your support, love, and prayers!
Love,
Elder Christiansen

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Hey!

So we had a pretty good week once again! I am loving this area. It has been a fun struggle that is for sure. We are seeing too many miracles though in order to cry. This week we made pancakes for a different family and brought them to church with us! They are la familia Jimenez! They are great. I think they liked church ? They had to leave after the first hour because the youngest daughter didn't want to stay. She is very hyper and was very scared of Primary. She is 5. We are visiting them tonight. Please pray for them. Your prayers are working so many miracles out here in Orlando! Whether you believe it or not.
One Miracle this week:
We were knocking in a neighborhood and felt like we were in the wrong place. So we went down a hill to the next one. We decided to go right on the street. We walk past a couple of English looking houses and as we walk past one, the impression to knock it came. So we knocked it and a Dominican lady came out and she was sooo nice! She actually knows a member and likes how she talks about the church. And we talked about the Restoration and some other things on the porch and are going over today.
 
I would write more, but I am too scared that that would be prideful and whenever I get prideful, the Lord humbles me haha. Happens a lot. I am truly scared to pray for humility because I know He answers prayers and that week could be the roughest week of my mission haha. So I'm just going to leave it at that.
 
I almost died this week. We were in a neighborhood tracking and there was a house surrounded by a chain fence and they also had an in screened porch about 15 ft. from the fence to get to the front door. I got to the metal fence and shook it to see if any dogs came running. None did. So I walked in and I was about right in the middle of the chain fence and screen porch and my companions were behind me, and then a pit bull comes running around the corner of the house. So my companions ran towards the metal fence and I ran to the screen porch. The dog went for my companions for some reason, it probably could have got me though. We all made it safely in. Then I realized that the dog was still between me and the fence. The screen door wouldn't lock shut, so I was too scared to leave it to knock the door for help. Luckily kids came running outside and I asked them for help haha. So I was saved :)... I will never get a dog after my mission.
 
Love you so much! Things are great. We still have Elder Cheney the Visa Waiter. He keeps us oldies fired up! The Lord is blessing us so much. Thank you for your prayers! Love you all!
Elder Christiansen

Monday, May 20, 2013

HOLA!

Well where to start? O ya.. We had a new family come to church this week! :) We have been blessed with so many miracles recently. There is no room to be sad. They are really cool! They loved church as well. So that is great. We have another lesson with them tonight and I think they are planning on going on a temple tour this Wednesday. There son who is 13 started investigating at first from the English elders. He was going to church with a neighbor friend. Then the mother got interested to see what her son was learning. And she doesn't really speak English, so we started teaching her. Then we invited her husband to join us as well and he did! There is also a daughter named Ailec who is 9! They really are a wonderful family!
 
Our Visa waiter, Elder Cheney is doing great! He is still with us. It is kind of selfish, but I don't want him to leave haha. It is crazy that at any moment we could get a call and he is gone.
 
Last week we knocked a lot a lot of doors. And we saw some miracles with that. Yesterday we were walking down a street and we don't knock every door, just the Spanish looking ones, and we felt to knock a door and so we did and a lady answered and her daughter isn't doing so great. So we said a prayer with her and taught her a little bit and she seems really great! We have another appointment with her this week. Tracting isn't the most desirable thing, but we make it fun and we are meeting some great people. We don't really have too many members, and no one is outside, and we aren't too creative, but we work hard and the Lord blesses us. We are getting really really tan though. No bueno. Me and my white companion use a lot of sunscreen.
 
Thank you for your prayers! They help me stay concentrated and motivated. We see miracles daily!
Love Elder Christiansen

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hey!

Hey everyone! Sorry we emailed late. We had a dentist appointment super far away, and we got back later in the day and the computer lab was down. So we are all just sending one email to all our families! So you know we are alright. Because they only let us onto the computers for like 5 min.
The week was super great! We had a blast. It was pretty hot. We knocked a lot of doors. But we also taught quite a bit of lessons. And had some spiritual ones in there! We had a couple investigators come to church and they liked it. We are hoping to set a couple of more baptismal dates this week:). We all get along pretty well. A trio is pretty fun! Never a boring moment. We have a young couple Jose and Marisol that are truth seekers! And we also have a couple of other families in there. It was a great mother's day at church. They gave them roses. We love you and thank you for your prayers. They always help us keep going! :)
 
-Los Misioneros
 
P.S. Sorry Grandma Jean for not responding about school! I felt bad afterwards. haha. I love you! And yes I am excited and nervous and sad. Bittersweet!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Baptism!

Tuesday was probably one of my favorite days of the mission for sure! We had a baptism on Tuesday and we had invited the family that has a baptism date, but they weren't able to come because the mom had back pains. So while we were sitting in the baptism, the thought came to visit the family after the baptism and give her a priesthood blessing. The baptism was so smooth! We have a new way we run the baptism program and it was just perfect! We really couldn't have asked for a better baptism. And when we started the water to fill the font about 3 hours beforehand President had recommended that we watch the font fill up for a couple minutes. It was a real touching experience. Real peaceful. So after the baptism we took a couple with us to go do the priesthood blessing. We gave her the blessing and it was another just peaceful experience! She felt the spirit for sure and we shared a little message with them and they seem to be doing so well. As we left it started to rain pretty bad. The worst rain that I have seen in my 2 years here. So We had another appointment to go to and there were a bunch of cars that had just stopped in the MIDDLE of the road and put on their hazards because their windshield blades I guess couldn't keep up. So we were weaving in and out of them haha and we got to our next appt. The streets were just filled with water! And in that appointment, we had another great experience with the family. We watched a little video with them and talked about commitment and they committed pretty hard to go to church Sunday. Unfortunately they didn't come, but it was still a great experience. As we were driving home, I ran into a lake in the road haha and I think we were about wheel deep in water, so I just punched it and then all this water shot off the roof of our car. Exciting spiritual day haha. My feet got soaked this week from all the rain. I guess it cuz of all the holes in my shoes haha. Don't buy me new ones though. They were born with me into the mission and they are going to die with me in the mission :)
 
Today is the start of transfers. I am staying with my companero mexicano and also they are sending us a new missionary that is waiting for his visa #ElderStockardSwagg. So we will be in a trio for a while I imagine. Gonna be a blast!
 
Elder Christiansen
#143
Thanks for your prayers Happy Mother's Day!

Monday, April 29, 2013

ya tu sabes!

Well we had a super duper amazing week! A lot of fun for sure! :) We saw plenty of miracles. And tomorrow Ana Rodriguez gets baptized!!!! And so I am extremely excited for that one. She is very special and soooo ready for baptism! Wish you all could come :).
 
This week Elder Soares from the Presidency of the 70 came to our mission. He is from Brazil. Pretty funny guy. Still has an accent! His daughter was there too and she just got out of the Paris mission, so I asked her if she knew Elder Adams. She said if she saw him probably, but she knew the name. I almost yelled at her for not knowing the greatest thing in that mission behind Belgium waffles, but I held back :p... He gave a good talk. Talked for about 90 min. Really humble guy and had some interesting stories to tell. It was a good spiritual feast!
We have been teaching a family of 7 and we set a baptismal date with them this last week!!!!!! And they should be coming tomorrow to the baptism as well :). I really hope so! They are really cool and like what we are teaching them. It is the Rodriguez-Arroyo family if you wouldn't mind praying for them! It won't be an easy road to baptism, but possible! So we are praying a lot for them.
We learned about God's will a lot this last week. I think that a lot of the things that go wrong in this life, we often wonder "why"... We had some cool experiences with that. Like last yesterday, we went to an appt at 1 and 2 o clock and both postponed for later that night at 7 and 8. So we went back later and one wasn't home and the other had guests over and since we had changed our plans around at night and shuffled some stuff around, our back ups were about 15 miles away and we are running out of car miles. So we went to Heavenly Father in payer and told Him we had done our part, we tried are hardest and our plans didn't work out the way we saw it. We asked Him what He wanted us to do, what was His will. We started driving and a thought to visit someone who we didn't think would be real interested came into our head. We went and followed the thought. We knocked the door, she opened and said that she was busy, we kept talking and then she came out on the porch and sat on her bench and we just kept talking. I could see in her character that she wasn't happy and even though she acted happy, she knew something was missing. We had a great lesson with her and she went away feeling the spirit that night. She speaks really good English so we passed her on to the English elders. I learned a lot from that personal experience. Sometimes our plans aren't the Lord's plans. Our will isn't always His will. But I know He sees the big picture when we can't. We often get frustrated and upset when our plans don't go through, but I know that is because He has something better. So a goal I have now is that when my plans and ideas don't go through, that I am not going to get frustrated, but search for what God wants me to do and learn.

I love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers! I hope all is well :)
From Disney World
love Elder Christiansen

Monday, April 22, 2013

Hey

So we had a pretty exciting week! We were able to set a baptismal date with Ana so that is always good! The Lord has prepared her for sure! Her date is for April 30th! And she came to church and her granddaughter and great granddaughter and her great great granddaughter as well haha. She is incredible! She went on a temple tour with her granddaughter, Lymarie. They really liked it. And Lymarie and her daughter are also progressing! So they are the highlight of my life right now.
We had ward conference on Sunday and that was really good! The Stake President gave a real good talk on how we can learn and study, but we can never know until we experience it. and he talked about how that is how it is in the gospel and especially with repentance. He gave an example about how when he got to Florida, he had seen tv shows about riptides and what to do if you get caught in one and one day he was snorkling and he saw a turtle, so he was just watching it and watching it and then like 30 minutes earlier the turtle looks up at him and he could see in the turtle's eyes the expression of "what the heck are you doing?" And so he came out above water to find himself what seemed about 1 mile away from the shore! And he had learned about rip tides and what to do, but now he was experiencing it. He didn't tell us what he did or what happened, but he was speaking, so I imagine all turned out well haha.
 
We met a pretty cool Cuban lady this week who has been to church a couple times with her nephew who is a member and she likes it, so she might have some potential! :)
 
There is nothing greater than missionary work I am learning. It is missionary fun. President Hall gave a talk to bishops, wml's, ward missionaries, and the missionaries within our stake and he was really bold haha. He talked about how we are too prideful to pray sometimes and don't want to get on our knees and ask for blessings and help. It was one of my favorite talks that he has given and it was like 10 min. long. That's my PRESIDENT.
 
Hope you have an amazing week! We will! :) Thanks for your prayers!
Elder Christiansen
143

Monday, April 15, 2013

:)

Soooooo we had a very good week! It was amazing! I love being back here in Clermont. Me and my companion are getting along good and I am getting to know the Spanish group little by little so that is good! They are very cool. We are a group within an English ward and so the first hour is English with translation and the 2nd two hours have Spanish classes. But since last Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, we had our own fast and testimony meeting in the relief society room. It was a very good one. There are usually about 25-30 people that go a week, but last week a less-active/part member family blessed their baby at church and their big family came, and we had 3 investigators and some other people came that aren't regulars so all in all there was about 50 people! Haha we filled the Relief Society room, so we had to bring more chairs. The family with the baby blessing made us look pretty good haha. One person told my companion, wow! There are a lot of investigators here! Hahaha, yup wasn't us, but they can think it was so maybe we can get more help from them. :) The group is really good. They love to go to lessons with us, so that is good!
We had a miracle last week because we had 3 investigators at church on Sunday. They are Ana (great grandma), Lymarie (mom), and Maria (daughter). The Grandma is a member in my first ward, valencia, in oviedo. Other missionaries referred them to us because they went to their baptism that they had of a cousin or something. And so our first lesson with them, I was on exchanges so I didn't get to meet them, but I met them all on Sunday. And guess what! A year ago when I was in Minneola I taught Lymarie's son, Chris and his wife dianne. So I had already met Ana and Maria but not Lymarie! Haha. When I talked to Ana a year ago, she said something like, "I don't want to listen, I am getting baptized in the future." something like that. So I guess Ana has been in contact with the church for about 25 years! And the night of the baptism she went to the other day, her father came to her in a dream and told her she needs to get baptized, so now she is finally ready she says! :).. I will be able to teach them tonight for the first time! They are a real special family. I hope all goes well! It was definitely a blessing/tender mercy/miracle. Please pray for them. The Lord can do more for them in 3 seconds to help them out than we can in 3 years!
We had a fun week. Knocking a lot of doors. I love it! We are having a great time down here. Lots of miracles, I appreciate your prayers, they are definitely helping us out!
Love you all!
Elder Christiansen 143

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

General Conference

Well I don't think I really have to say it, but General Conference was really amazing! I really loved it. I learned a lot. I hope that you all as well were spiritually fed by the words of the living oracles of God. I don't know what oracles means, but it sounds really good so I'm leaving it like that. I learned that I need to love a lot more. My whole mission I really have loved the work and I have worked hard. But I felt like I really need to love more. Love is what creates a lot of desires in this life. When people know that God loves them, they will desire to change and come unto him. They also talked that as people feel that they are accepted by others with good morals in this life they will do good things. And if they don't feel accepted, they will look for acceptance in other places usually not within the gospel. I know that God loves us all. That love is true love that does not have measure. His love is the most desirable thing in this life. We feel His love through the Spirit. It is peace, happiness, and tranquility. I really want to work on loving my investigators knowing that I love them. I want every contact as well to know that I love them. A lot of them are not interested, but I still want them to know that I love them and that God loves them as well.
Conference was really amazing. They talked a lot a lot about missionary work. Just do it! Lets pray, set goals, and open our mouths, the Lord is hastening His work. Let's catch the wave. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It truly changes the lives of our brothers and sisters. They need it. It is a real simple equation, study the scriptures, plan your life with purpose, teach the truth with testimony, and serve your God. Always invite. People often will not change unless invited to do so. We can talk all we want but we must invite. 3 simple words, Come And See.
We had a good week. Things are going great here, I love it. I cannot complain, I have Jesus Christ as my guide and friend, I know that I will always have him to lean on and to build my foundation on. He is the Son of God. He suffered, died, and resurrected. He is the Prince of Peace, I love him so much and am so grateful for him and all he has done. I am eternally grateful for my mission. It is amazing. I know God loves us and knows whats best for us. He is perfect. The plan is perfect. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Jesus Christ's church as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. He saw God and Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon is the word of God, there is power within its pages. I love it. The field is white, already to harvest.
Thank you for your prayers, I love you all.
Elder Christiansen

Monday, April 1, 2013

Back for round two

Feels good to be in the same area again haha. We cover two English wards and since I already served in one of the English wards, well I know half the area already. I had my worst week ever on not being clutch haha. First day... We go tracting for about 4 hours. The first person we talk to is this like 12 yr old kid. He was swinging an axe at some bushes trying to cut them down and he was struggling. So I offer to help, he says yes, and I ask him what he wanted us to cut down. He said the bushes and a smaller tree. So I just go to work on the tree. About half the way done with it, the mom comes out screaming,"NO NO NO! What are you doing?" uhhhhhh... So best believe I threw the kid under the bus and said, he told me to chop it down. And she looked at the son and wasn't too happy haha. And they were his chores too haha so she wasn't happy about that. I apologized and she wasn't mad at us, just the kid haha. Then so as we are leaving, I see two older men walking so I say, How are you gentleman doing today? And I soon noticed that it was a man and his wife... ooops again. Then later in the week, the automatic key pad to our car is broken and we drive to a spot to tract for 2 hours, we park, I turn the car off and put the keys in between my lap to say a prayer. We say the prayer, I get out, and lock the car manually, shut the door, ooooops again. There were the keys on the seat. So we started tracting and calling to find people to help us and we ended up having to tract 4 hours instead of 2 waiting for help haha. But we saw 2 miracles from it. We met a guy that lived in Utah, he is from Argentina, and we talked to him, he didn't seem too interested and he said he went to church quite a bit in Utah. We kept talking and he opened up more and more. He gave us his number and said to call him, as we were leaving, he said, I was going to wait till next time, but I'm just going to tell you now. I am a member. My companion then put his arm on him, looked at him in the eyes and told him it wasn't a coincidence we met and that it was time to come back. Then later we found a Peruvian lady (best food in the world) and said a prayer with her and ended up teaching her yesterday and she is coming to conference this Saturday! Her son is in Mesa Arizona, so of course he is investigating and I guess really loving it! So we will see with her! And when we got to our car, there was the member with two metal bars prying our door open with a wire trying to pull our keys through. With time it worked haha, pretty cool. Car took a little damage though.. Oops. So my non-clutchness turned out to be a blessing. Glass half full!
 
Church was good this week. It is an English ward and there is a Spanish group in it. It is weird going to an English ward again. It is a real good ward, but very different than Spanish one's. In the English ones you have to go up to the members, and introduce yourself and the usually give you a welcome. In Spanish, you are like a rockstar. You go on, people come to you, take pictures, sign autographs, they ask you where your from, how much time, tell you to come over so they can feed you and get you fat, etc. Spanish people are really outgoing and love to love others and talk. We gringos are usually self-centered and don't know our neighbor's name haha. Unless your Donny and he see's someone with a new truck ;).
 
Don't pray for me... April fool's! Please do! Love you all!
Elder Christiansen

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

I am getting transferred today! :( I love this area so much and the people that I have met. I wasn't happy to come here and now I don't want to leave. I am going back to Clermont! I was in Minneola which is in clermont and that was English work. Now I am going to be in Clermont still but doing Spanish work. We will live in the same complex that I lived in in Minneola haha. My companion is elder Jimenez de Mexico. He moved here though when he was 8. He is pretty cool. I would be upset to go there, but I learned my lesson last transfer. The Lord knows best. So I am happy to go sad to leave. Bittersweet is the lifestyle on the mission for sure! Today we have to switch houses with the sisters because their house is huge and ours is small and there are a new set of elders coming in and well I would be living with them but I am getting transferred. So I get one night there. There is a jacuzzi bath tub in the master bedroom. I was looking forward to that haha. But I guess I will have to test it out tonight lol. It is seriously so big! There are a lot of new areas in the mission. It is crazy. I think that is the hardest thing for President Hall. Is to get housing for all the missionaries.

This week we had a great Sunday. We had some investigators come to church! Lalo came. He should be baptized here pretty soon. The 20th. We had Maria like always! She is doing good. Then we had the girl named Brenda from Argentina come. She is pretty cool. She just moved here and so no english. And her spanish... well... its different. I will call her on the phone and be like "Hola, como esta?" And then all I hear is, "kdjafljdklajklfdjiefei voz che djkfjsdkl como estas? Ask Donny what that means. But she uses a lot of different words than the other spanish countries. So it is pretty funny to talk to with her. And she has a different tone of voice and accent. instead of saying playa (beach) like ply-ya she says it like ply- sha and she says aysha instead of ay-ya.. it is spelled ella. which means her. So sometimes I have to think for a while to understand her haha. and she talks fast. She should be baptized sometime soon too! It is crazy to work with her because she is argentinian, her member friend is Puerto rican, and her other friends that we teach are from Ecuador. So we got all types of spanish going on including our gringo spanish. Good times.
 
We definitely saw some miracles this week. Especially at church. I had a question that I brought to church and the answer came to me as I was sitting there in sacrament meeting. Our gospel principles class had like 20+ people in it! full of investigators/Less Actives/recent converts, us and the teacher, WML and 2nd counselor of stake presidency. It was a real peaceful drive home. I love days like those. Where you just feel the peace and love of the gospel. The Lord is blessing us so much. The branch works really hard here! They are amazing. It is a blessing to be here!
 
I love you all and miss you!
Elder Christiansen

Monday, March 18, 2013

Hola

Here I am writing again! These weeks go by way to fast. And a lot of times, I sit down and I can't even remember too much because everything is just going by so fast! This week was another good one. As President Hall's time is counting down he is pushing us more than ever. I love it. Right now we are focusing on teaching everyone we see and asking them if we could share a message with them and if we aren't teaching someone we are finding. And there is no down time never. It's really hard because people love to talk about sports, life, etc. but we are being told to basically get down to business, get out asap, and go find someone else to teach. I like it. I feel like it will change our mission. It is really getting us fired up. A lot of us work hard, but insanely hard is the next step I guess haha and I am excited for it!
 
Well a really cool investigator just moved to P.R. for two months. She is the one that always feels the spirit really strongly. We took her on a church tour this week and she walked in the chapel and it was like a brick wall of the spirit hit her right in the face. Yup, best believe. She loved it! And we had two hermanas their from our branch and it went really well. It is kind of good she moved though because she goes to a church here, but it isn't in P.R.! But ours is. So she will probably get baptized in P.R. She is loving the BofM! It is really amazing to work with her and just adds to my testimony as well as the truth to the BofM.
We also were tracting the other day, met a lady from Ecuador! She was older and pretty lonely. We asked if we could say a prayer with her. She said yes. We asked her what she needed in her life and then prayed accordingly. She started crying during the prayer and then we taught her the restoration right after it on her porch. It was a really great experience. There is no better feeling than truely blessing others.
We have another investigator named Carlos from P.R. He is a tough one! The spirit is definitely working on him though. Chipping away at him little by little. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it made a lot of sense to him. And he really liked it. And to my surprise we actually set a baptismal date with him haha. It was definitely a miracle. IDK how it happened but he is doing really well and his heart is being more and more softened.
I fixed my bike this week finally. It was a pain in the neck! It has been out of order for like 2 months haha and we are running out of miles, so I had to fix it. I learned a great lesson though. Take care of your stuff and if something little breaks, fix it because in the future something big will break. And then the other one is: if you don't know what you are doing, take it to someone who does know what they are doing. I truly have learned a lot from my bike hahahaha. And it is a testimony of how we learn more through trials and afflictions than through easy riding ;)....
Love you all, miss you! Keep praying for those miracles! I love them
Elder Christiansen

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Holaaaa


Well we had a pretty good week! Last week I think I told you all about a lady that we talked to and she felt the spirit and said she would come to church but didn't... And so this week we would call her, visit her and had no luck.. So we thought we lost her :(.. But one day we knocked her door and still no answer, so we walked down the street to another house and no answer as well, so we returned back towards the car and her brother came out of the garage. We told asked him if he would get his sister for us haha, as he opened the door she was right there and she saw us so she hurried up and ducked out of the way, he came back and said that she was sick. So we asked him to ask her if we could give her a blessing. He went back in and she actually accepted it by some miracle! haha.. So we talked with her, gave her a blessing and she told us how a friend had told her some "anti" garbage etc. And so we talked some more and she said she felt so peaceful and she knew it was the spirit. And so we just testified of it and at that moment no one in the room had a doubt that our message wasn't true. It was an amazing experience. The internet can lie, but the Spirit can't. And so she was going to come to church again but got sick.. This missionary business is a #headache... but a rewarding and happy one haha.
 
I just have to tell you about how awesome of a member that Ivelissee Rodriguez-Ortiz is! So she is ALWAYS looking for opportunities to share the gospel. She is a convert of about 5 years and she really has put the gospel first in her life. And she is so happy because she has done that. She has a powerful testimony as well. Last night one of our investigators called us and said she needed a ride to Orlando (about 45 minutes away) for her daughter's doctor appointment who is learning how to walk again after being in a full leg cast. The investigator's husband has a car, but he has to work far away, so we called Ivelissee last night to see if she could help out the investigator and without knowing when or what she said yes to help. We have a lot of members in our branch that are like that and it has been such a blessing to serve her. They have taught me soooo much and I really would not rather be in any other part of the world right now.

We are happy and safe
 
Love and miss you all, thank you for your prayers, they mean the world to us
 
Elder Christiansen

Monday, March 4, 2013

Teach people not lessons

This last week was another good week. Our numbers for teaching lessons were down, but I am okay with that because we taught more people. We had Zone Conference last week and that is something that I learned about. Is that we are constantly teaching. Why we eat, sit, email, find, teach, etc... We are teaching. And we should be teaching people and to their needs instead of just teaching what we study. We saw some miracles with that (later in letter).. We also learned about the power of testimonies. President Hall told a story that he heard about his friend's son that served in Hong Kong... One night he was on exchanges and 9 o clock was approaching to go home, but they decided to talk to one more person. They walked and found a person and started talking to him. The guy said that he traveled a lot, knew Mormons, knew the message, and wasn't interested but thanked them and kind of started to walk away. The missionary felt impressed to bear his testimony, so asked the guy if he could and he said yes and he shared it with him and then they left in separate directions. That guy then went on vacation and the missionary had no knowing about him and the guy said that his testimony just stuck in his mind and kept coming back. So as he was gone, he decided to take the lessons and him and his family got baptized.. Cool right? Well then the guy came back to Hong Kong and went to church and the same missionary was still in that area and so the guy went up to him and asked if he remembered him, he said he knew the face, but didn't know where, so the guy told him and told him that him and his family got baptized. He told them that next week he would bringing some more family to church and he wanted the missionary to teach them. So the next Sunday he brought 36 family members to church that were from mainland China! And the missionary taught them and a couple weeks later there were 36 baptisms in that ward... Cool right? Well that was a HUGE number and really not common haha. So the Area Authority came to the mission and interviewed the missionaries to make sure they weren't being disobedient and going over to the mainland because the church is very protective of that. They told him the story and then even Elder Holland came over to interview them! And they told their story and all was OKAY haha... Cool right? So then with in another month 100 more people came from mainland China and got baptized as well in that ward!!! Cool right? So 136 total baptisms in about 2 months from 1 simple testimony. The other miracle is that the 3rd branch I think? in mainland China was started from that. Sooo... I am going to share my testimony with others a lot more! And I hope you do too.
Saturday we were STRUGGGLING. We had like 6 lessons set up at one point and the first five canceled haha. So as we were walking down the street, I looked at a house and saw a "casita" (a decoration Spanish people always have that is just a little house by the door usually.)... And I had the thought to knock it. I was sooo just frustrated that I had no idea how the spirit was with me haha, but anyways we knocked the door and a guy comes out and tells us his name before we could talk, starts talking a lot, and invites us in, but I could tell he was handicap or something wasn't quite right, so I said.... "well... Umm.. we just want to pray with you right here outside." haha and he looked really confused, but I just did not have a good feeling about going inside, so I was thinking to myself, "Elder Christiansen, you are horrible at following the Spirit" haha.. So then all of a sudden a car pulls up in the driveway and she rolls down her window and talks to her brother and tells him to go inside and tells us that he is handicap. So we start talking to her (in Spanish) and she says she has heard our message before and just doesn't agree with it and isn't really interested and she is getting baptized in some other christian church... So I ask her what her doubt was or whatever. And she explained to us that she understood that the Book of Mormon was actually our bible. She thought we believed the real bible is a fake bible and that Moroni buried the REAL and TRUE bible haha. She said the missionaries that taught her in Puerto Rico couldn't really speak Spanish and it had been 15 years. I was on exchanges, so my companion didn't speak Spanish, so I went on to explain everything and the Restoration and bore testimony talked with her, asked some questions and at the end we both were enlightened by the spirit, it was freezing cold outside and I just had a white shirt on, but the spirit warmed me up haha. And then she said, "next week I'm coming to your church and I want you to teach my daughter and her family as well!" She said she couldn't come this Sunday because she had to go to her church. I told her that this Sunday was testimony meeting and very special and so she said with a smile, I'm coming tomorrow then! So that was cool. Sunday came and she didn't show up, and neither did a lot of investigators that we were sure would come. I was upset a little bit. But then testimony meeting was a little crazy you could say! The craziest one I have ever been in for sure. So I am glad they didn't come at the end of the day... I had to repent for bickering... like always. At the end of the day I learned, teach people not lessons, bear testimony, and the Lord has a purpose for everything and knows best!
 
Well love you all! Thanks for your prayers!
Elder Christiansen
#GMC$

Monday, February 25, 2013

Hey!

How is it going around the world? I hope all is well. Things are going great here in Del-Rico. We had a pretty great week again. Especially towards the end of the week.

I got my new companion, Elder Bieber! From British Colombia Canada... So EVERYONE talks to him about his name haha. Great on contacts. But as he knows of, he is not related to him. But we think he is somewhere down the line. #GottaGetOnThatFamilyHistory... He is pretty cool. Big guy. about 6'5" so I look like a enano (midget in spanish)... But its allll good. He also likes to golf so HELLO P-DAY golfing. We had a great first week together. He goes home in December.

So this Friday we visited the two sisters that came to church last week and the activity. Eliana and Nena. Nena is visiting from New York for a long time and Eliana's husband is working in New York and visits here and again. They are from Ecuador. We went over with their friend that is a member (Ivelissee, Mrs. Missionary Work Herself) and when we pulled up to the house EVERYTHING was pink that could be pink. House, chairs, etc. haha.. Quite a site. Might take some pics for ya. And we got inside and there were pink rugs, etc. and they had a friend over named Jose. He is from Costa Rica "Pura Vida" (its like their main saying in Costa Rica).. So we taught the three of them and they were real cool. Liked the Restoration. Gave BofM's, committed to church but couldn't go cuz something came up, got return appointment with dinner! with all 3 of them. So that was a great little miracle. They are really cool.

Then on Saturday we had another pretty cool day. We visited this lady named Natasha from P.R., taught her outside (no guy) and we brought a P.R. member with us and she seemed to have the question "why does God allow evil and suffering to happen if He loves us?" And so we taught the PofS and at the end of the lesson, she said it all made sense! So I feel like that was able to answer her question, so that was great as well. And her and the member seem to get along good. And Natasha wants her hubby to learn as well, but he is a little hesitant, but I think we will be able to teach him this week :)..

Later that night we visited this guy named Lalo.. He went on a trip to Miami with a member that lives in Jacksonville for like a week to work and the member talked to him about the church and everything and they even went to church and Lalo really liked it. And so the member gave us the referral and we visited him. When we got there on Saturday, he had the bible, BofM, and all the pamphlets except 1 haha. The member did a very good job at preparing him. So we shared the Restoration with him to make sure he understood it all. And when we were talking about Joseph Smith he was saying he believed it is true. He hadn't had the confirmation of the spirit yet, but just believed that it was true. We then had the impression to have him kneel down, say a prayer, ask if it was true, and then wait. So we deviated a little from the lesson, and invited him to pray right there. He said the prayer with us all knelt and said amen. We waited, waited and waited. We were praying and praying that the spirit would testify to him the truth. I noticed that he kept praying after he said amen. We probably waited 2-3 minutes, then he looked up and said, "yes.. It is true." And the spirit filled the room :)... And then we talked a little more and set a baptismal date with him for the 19th of April. He will be coming to church this week! It was a great experience to be apart of. That is the greatest thing about our message. is that no one has to take our word for it, but that they can just ask God if it is true and that the Spirit will testify to them that it is true as long as they have faith, a desire to act, and have a sincere heart. It is the greatest message in the world. It is a blessing to know that our families can be together forever and also know what we need to do so our families can be together forever. This message truly helps others and helps them accomplish their dreams and desires. The truth doesn't hurt, it heals.

Today we have P-Day with the whole district, should be fun, going to a park and do some stuff haha. Kite fighting maybe? lolzz

Love you and thank you for the prayers. Miracles, Miracles, Miracles :)
Elder Christiansen
As President Hall always says... "Onward"

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Hola

So this week was amazing it ended so awesome! There was an activity at the church on Saturday for Valentine's Day. A dinner that you payed for to help the YW do or go something or somewhere haha. Missionaries free though. :) So me and my date, Elder Sharp, went. It was pretty good. And we have this member, Ivelissee Ortiz (Eee-Bay-Leas) who is just amazing. She shares the gospel like no one else I have ever seen in my life! And she just recently enrolled for English classes at the college here and so she is just preaching the gospel like crazy! And so she brought two ladies that she met at class to the activity :).. And then her husband, Javier, brought his friend and his son to the activity as well. And then there was another lady who brought her friend, but she lives over by Orlando, so we can't teach her, but will see if we can send other missionaries over to her... And we invited all 4 of them to church on Sunday. Sunday came along and BOOOOM! Best Sunday of my mission! Hands down. We had Ramon (ivelissee's uncle) and his gf Carmen come who are not members. Then the 2 other friends of Ivelissee and their kids, then the two friends of Javier, then Marta (more to come on her), Maria came, some YW's bf haha, and this other lady named Isabel who her friend brought her! So there were about 10 non member's at church! 6 of them we have taught, two of them we have and appt with, one said we could stop by, and we didn't set anything up with the bf yet. So we were blessed beyond belief so that was amazing! And then after church Marta de el salvador, got baptized! And 6 of the remaining 9 stayed for the baptism and then there was a little dinner afterwards! I think the church frowns on food after church, but hey, we like to party :).. So it was the best best best Sunday ever. Miracles like crazy. Marta is amazing. She was so happy yesterday. The Spirit was felt strongly and it was just a wonderful baptism. It was a blessing to teach her. She is on the kindness level of Grandma Jean if that makes sense. Just sooo sweet and caring.
 
Also this week we taught Ramon and Carmen (ivelissee's uncle) and we taught the Word of Wisdom, they through away all their coffee stuff and smoking stuff right there with us and committed to stop that night! And they have a baptismal date for April 13th :).. It is so amazing to see how willing people are to change to have the spirit in their life. It is the greatest possession we can have.

We also taught this other guy named Carlos. He is really cool. It was a sweet lesson. We taught him before and left him the Book of Mormon and he read part of it then he got on the internet looked up stuff and kind of got anti-ed, so he brought that up, then we taught him the doctrine, all of his doubts were just erased right there on the spot, the spirit took over the lesson, then we started just asking questions, bearing testimony, teaching doctrine, and just being bold with him, it was amazing. At the end of the lesson he could feel God loved him, he knew there was a purpose to this life, he felt that Jesus Christ could heal him, and he knew that the internet is garbage and that the spirit is the true teacher. It was awesome!

Your prayers are working miracles over here. I love you all
Elder Christiansen
143


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Feb. 11, 2013

Well after all of my prideful past emails of how awesome this area is and how it was on a roll, the Lord decided to humble us a little bit. It wasn't a bad week, just every week was getting better and better in all the numbers for the most part. But, the Lord blessed us a lot. We just didn't have to much success at finding our teaching really but it is alright, this week we will make it a better week. That's what life is all about just progressing and trying our hardest. We knocked doors for like 5 hours Saturday and probably a total of 15 hours between Tuesday to Saturday and didn't find too many people, so we have to change it up a little bit! :) The definitely best part of the week was Sunday. Our top investigator, Marta, de El Salvador came to church and then we taught her afterwards. She has a baptismal date for this Sunday after church and is progressing really well. Last week we taught her the word of wisdom and she gave away her coffee and hasn't gone back since! She is the sweetest most kind lady ever. She is about 58 years old I think. She is just amazing. It has been a blessing to teach her. She just wants to follow Jesus Christ and do what is right. If all goes well she will be baptized this Sunday! :) So the week really wasn't that bad to be honest haha.. And some members brought a friend that they met at the gym to church and she seemed to like it, we have an appt with her this Wednesday. Also I gave a talk about scriptures in sacrament meeting. That was a good experience, learned a lot. So Sunday was pretty bomb to be honest.
We are teaching this one guy named Ramon who is the uncle of a member. The coooolest member ever possibly. And a while ago we gave him a blessing for health and we have taught him about 3 times now and last time he was telling us how he has just been so happy recently and feeling more peace than ever and his health is good, and he thinks it is because of the blessing and our visits and teaching him the gospel. Se llama el espiritu santo mi amigo! :) He has almost died like 5 times and God saves him every time, so he thinks there is a reason he is still alive. So that is awesome :)

We have a pretty cool week planned ahead of us so I am excited about that. We are going to teach a part member family tonight. The husband isn't a member and has been married to his wife for 10-ish years. Has read the BofM twice (his wife told us) and has had the discussions several times. She is active they are from Colombia. So we have been praying for him quite a bit. He is a really nice guy.

Wellll Things are good. Weather is really nice. Work work work. Thanks for them prayers! Love you all. The church is true

143 Elder Christiansen

Monday, February 4, 2013

Feb. 4th, 2013

Congrats to my auntie Karin on her baby Jeffery Douglas. Very studly name. And Happy Birthday to a lot of people out there.. Grandma Jill, Grandma Jean, Kenzie, and Brooklyn? Haha, to many B-Days right now.

This week was great as well, they keep getting better and better. And I am not lying. We set two baptismal dates this week! :) So that is definitely the highlight. We were very blessed. We also taught that guy that I told you about last week who is really really smart. He didn't bash at all, just had some real sincere questions! So that was good! Hopefully we will be able to teach his family here pretty soon and he also told us he would go to church with us :)... We have a lesson with him tomorrow, he is a really busy fellow, but we are going to try to get at least 2 lessons with him a week. His name is Rene. We also found a great guy named Carlos this week tracting around. He was pretty cool, we taught him the Restoration right there on the doorstep, he felt the spirit and liked it. He is an old fashioned guy and so he was thinking that he would have to change if we came back to teach him more, so he was kind of hesitant about that, so we are going to make a surprise stop at his house real soon haha. We found some other potentials as well this week by tracting. This Venezuelan lady named Lisett from Caracas, Venezuela... She opened the door and said, "hola" as in we look white so she didn't think we spoke Spanish, so we couldn't bother her, but one of the cool things about the gift of discernment is that you can tell when people can speak English haha. So even though we both could speak Spanish, we said, "hey, how are you doing?" (with confidence to show her that we knew she spoke English). So then she started speaking English, then later we threw the curve ball with the Spanish and finished the conversation in Spanish. Gotta keep them investigators on their toes haha. But she actually seemed to turn around during the contact and invited us back when her family was home.

We had a kind of awkward moment this week where we knocked a door and a like 18 yr old kid and his dad answered the door, and they let us in, and told us it was the grandparent's house, so we walked in the house and the dad asked his parents (the grandparents) if it was alright that we came in. And the grandparents were eating and didn't look too happy to see us and said, "Probably not a good idea while we are eating." And it wasn't a very nice tone, so we turned around and went back out the door haha.

We were blessed with 2 investigators at church this week. One of them is Marta from El Salvador. She is the sweetest lady in the world for sure! Her baptismal date is for the 16th of this month. She is awesome though. She is doing everything! Reading, praying, and going to church. And she is feeling the Spirit a lot in her life and at church! The greatest thing about our message is that we just invite (sometimes beg haha) others to just try it, see how it is. And it is as simple as CPR.. Church Pray Read... CPR isn't that easy, but easy to remember the letters haha. It is a blessing to share the greatest message in the world for these 2 years! Love you all and thank you for the prayers, we are being blessed because of your prayers and faith. :)

143
Elder Christiansen

Monday, January 28, 2013

Jan. 28th, 2013

The weather is really nice here, birds chirping, people singing in the streets, no one gets old here, and everyone is happy... No complaints over in DELTONA-RICO baby... We had a great week, every week so far has gotten better. Numbers are going up, investigators are going up, but most importantly we are seeing others progress in coming closer to their Savour Jesus Christ. We are really being blessed. We picked up some more new investigators this week who are a lot more solid than last weeks new investigators. As we are working hard, the members are working hard here as well. It is just like that good ole grandpa Jeff conservative blue grass music Willy Nelson style music to the ears over here. Already my favorite area I am going to say. We taught this lady named Marta in a member's home this week! She is a referral. She came to church as well this week. She is just awesome. When we mentioned baptism, she smiled.. Hehehehe... haha. So she is the highlight of my life right now.

We were talking to everyone and their dog the other day trying to meet some goals, and the VERY LAST PERSON WE TALKED TO AT 8:50 PM. was awesome! Hopefully.. Haha.. We were biking and he was walking and talking on the phone and so we kind of just well, started talking (sometimes ya gotta be rude, I mean, it's salvation) and so then he told the other person he would call them back and he hung up. We started talking in Spanish, found out he was from El Salvador and has lived in the US for 7 years, (that usually means they don't speak good English, especially if they are older) but he kept throwing in English words without too much accent, so then we later found out he is a translator. He translates English to Spanish and French. He also speaks German. He speaks English better than me haha.. He said his grandpa in El Salvador taught him English, but with the British accent haha when he was little. So when he came over here, he was fluent, but at the airport they detained him because it was suspicious that a Spanish guy was speaking with an English English accent haha. Any who.. He asked us if we were Mormons, we said yes. He asked where we were from. Nevada and Arizona. He said it surprised him that we weren't from Provo. (He still spoke to us in Spanish just to be nice haha.) And he told us he went to Provo last year and loved the people there and was very impressed with them. He told us he has researched about every religion (that usually is not good haha) and he said he has read the Book of Mormon more than once. Then he invited us over and I'm thinking to myself (I have fell in this trap before.. Bashing).. But then he said he didn't want to bash, just ask questions about the pre-mortal life what it is too understand it better. He thought Jesus Christ coming to the Americas was fascinating. But had some questions. He wasn't able to talk to anyone in Provo. But he is really really smart, so hopefully it is not a trap, but if he is sincere, it will be a miracle for sure. We are going over tomorrow. So that was cool. We also found a family of 7!!! haha. And we got some sweet member referrals this last week.

The church is true. It is true, true, true... The Book of Mormon is the literal word of God. The Spirit is the best teacher and the most desirable thing on the earth. It is accessible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ the Living Son of the Living God. Happiness is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through the Prophet of God, Joseph Smith.

Love you, Your prayers are amazing

Elder Christiansen

Monday, January 21, 2013

Miracles

So I love my area! So much. Possibly could end up to be my favorite area in the mission! My new address (only for packages, keep sending letters to the mission office on satellite blvd.) is 1622 Moreno Ter. Deltona, FL 32725 ....

Well this past Sunday at church was like the best Sunday on my mission at church... We went into the branch president's office and had a meeting. We made a suggestion list for him for ward missionaries that could be called to help out the work here (we have 0) and we told him why we needed them and he seemed pretty willing to call them. They have tried in the past to get more ward missionaries, but it hasn't happened, hopefully now it will. It will be a great accomplishment. We then started talking to a ton of the members. One lady gave us a referral for a guy that seems pretty cool, we found out a little girl that is turning 8 needs the lessons to get baptized (parents aren't members... yet) long story. I will fill you in on it when the whole family gets baptized :).. Then a 14 yr old girl has a friend that is interested (youth are golden for referrals), some member has a sister that would be interested, and we set up an appt with a cool part member family that is the family mentioned above.. The kids are all members but the parents aren't... yet.. So we are really going to work with them. More info to come after this week. O ya and this super cool kid that is like 18 named Maklin has a family for us to teach this week. These members are spot on in this branch! I love it! We are being blessed to the ears... (is that a saying?) Well we are getting a lot of blessings. Prayers really work. I read in the bible dictionary this week something like: prayer is one of the ways of receiving the highest of all blessings! Holy smokes, that is powerful. By small and simple things, great things come to pass. I thank you so much for your many prayers and for putting my name in the temple. It has been a testimony builder for me on the power of prayer.

We got 10 new investigators this week! In order to be new investigators, you have to teach them and leave them a commitment and get a specific return appt. 5 of them were for English elders though haha. So we got 5 for us... It was awesome... And they are all families! Just not all of the family has heard us yet. One is a family of 2, other 4, other 4. So we will see where it goes in the future.

We served the Brazilian family this week. They are so cool. We helped them with dry wall. I am super weak haha. We had to hold it up and push it against the ceiling why he screwed it in...

We are in full car here, so hopefully I can get chunky... amen.

Love you all, the work is amazing. Hope you all are praying for missionary opportunities and setting specific dates to have someone invited to be taught in your house. It will come to pass.

143
Elder Christiansen

O ya, we had a meeting last night in Daytona Beach for the stake, We were about a mile away from the beach, but we didn't see it. We passed the race track though. THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!! haha. It was huge though. Pretty crazy. Love ya all!

O ya, if I haven't written you a letter back, forgive me, I am working on it!

Monday, January 14, 2013

New area!

Cool Cool! So the new area! First of all, I live in a house. It is nasty... Trashed. I don't like that haha, so we are cleaning today! :)... I don't know the address, I will get that to you all next week. But my new companion is Elder Sharp. He goes home in less than 3 months! It is a blessing to be with him. He isn't trunky and he knows how to teach and he is pretty laid back in the sense of personality so that is good. He is from Phoenix and is going to be a neurologist. He goes to Arizona and he is 23 years old so he has already been to 3 years of school. We get along really well. The area is amazing. We live in Deltona, but it should be called Deltonarico... Deltona and Puerto Rico.... Everyone is Puerto Rican and from New York basically. New Yorriquens... New York and Puerto Rico haha.... So we find a lot of them, but the majority of them speak English better than Spanish and have the New York accent.... We cover the whole Zone!... Which has Deltona, Deland, Daytona, New smyrna beach, bunnel, and other towns... But we only stay really in Deltona and Deland. Because Deltona is where our church is and the other cities are 45 min- 1 hour away... It is a new little building. It is like a mini church haha.. It has everything, just miniature scale. We have like 3 columns of pues and like 7 rows haha.. It is pretty cool. We are a branch, but about to be a ward. We averaged around 80-105 people at church last year, but church started at 9 in the morning and this year we start at 1 so we should have a little bigger attendance. The cool thing is that most of the branch is active! We have like 130 total members and 90 active. Really uncommon in Spanish work.

Deltona is full of houses, basically no apartments (switch from my old area), and it looks like Fallon. No lie. Yesterday we ate dinner with a member family from Brazil. I felt like I was eating at the Faught's house and the Hutching's house if they had a kid haha.. They had a couple cows, chickens, and a really beautiful house. My Grandparents would have loved it. All their kids are gone now and one lives pretty close to them so they have 4 grand kids that visit them often, so it is a grandchildren house. They have a bed that looks like a wagon, a tent in the living room, etc. haha.. They eat there own animals so it was some good food. Feels good to get out of the city and get back in the country. He had a diesel truck too. Probably the 2nd one I have seen on my mission.

The people here in Deltona are crazy!!! No lie. There are some normal ones, but I think Deltona is famous for being a little crazy haha. So there is never a dull moment. I was stunned my first day here. But I love it.

Love you all and thanks for the prayers!

Elder Christiansen

Monday, January 7, 2013

Transferrreeeeddd

Yup Yup... So long to Windy Ridge.. 7 months later (5 and a half with the same companion haha)... It is definitely a Bitter Sweet. I made a lot of good friends here in this area and it has definitely been my favorite, but I feel like I've been here forever, so I am kind of happy to leave.. My next area is called Deltona 2.. It is in the very north of our mission. It is the only Spanish area in the Deland stake, so we cover the whole stake. It will be my first area with the beach on it because Daytona is part of it. So next week I will send you my new address. I guess it is super country, so I am guessing it will be a lot like Fallon haha. We will see though. And it might be my last area in my mission. I have accumulated a lot of junk on my mission, and I am pretty sure it all won't fit in my suit cases and stuff, so I have to start throwing some stuff away.

But anyways this week was a good one to end on... O ya, you remember how last week I said "Wait for the miracle this week,"? well.... We had a baptism!!! So you remember how I told you about Carlos who was the dad of a member and just visiting from Peru? well he has been going to church for about 3 months straight and he wanted to wait to get baptized when he returns here in like 2 more months because he preferred it like that, and then last Sunday he told us that he wanted to be baptized. And that he wanted to be baptized Wednesday. We hadn't covered a ton of the lessons with him, but he was definitely ready for baptism, so on Monday we basically taught him every lesson except for the plan of salvation and we also taught him all of the commandments. He is really smart, so it wasn't too big of a problem. Then on Tuesday he got his interview and passed with flying colors then on Wednesday we had the baptism! And it was the most spiritual baptism of my baptism. At the end he gave a little testimony and it was so perfect! We were blessed. The Lord did some amazing work once again. :)

Then we also found a guy last week that we just said a prayer with him and we blessed him and his mother in the prayer, then we asked if we could come back and he said yes. So we came back and taught him and invited him to Carlos's baptism and he came, then we taught him again and invited him to church this week and he came to church along with his mother and they really liked it! :) They are from Cuba.. Cuban Spanish is a little difficult to understand sometimes but its all gooood.

I went on exchanges with a Portuguese elder in his area and so I studied some Portuguese for language study and then went to work. It was an awesome exchange. But I couldn't speak Portuguese at all, so I just listened and spoke back in Spanish and they usually can understand me. I really enjoyed it.

Well Imma miss this area :''''( but on to the next one! It should be awesome
Your prayers worked a lot of miracles for us these last two weeks!
Love you and miss you all!
143
Elder Christiansen