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!