Me again

Ohh hey,

  This past week was eventful and I learned soooo many wonderful spiritual things, but I forgot my notebook.......so lets see how much my brain remembers!!!

  Monday: Brother Cappelli came out teaching w/ us to Dan, and it was super fabulous b/c Dan quoted back half of his talk to him.  We were so impressed that he remembered.  He is working towards baptism this weekend on the 30th. That is exciting stuff my friends!

  Tuesday: We taught James w/ Brother Dupre, and Sister Morales came out w/ us to visit some people. We saw Sister Greathouse and enjoyed the time w/ her.  She is soo sweet.  Then we saw Sister Landis, and then Sister Campbell came w/ us to Dan's and we broke our tradition and went inside his house.  That was unusual.  Sister Helis took us out to eat. Pizzia is fabulous my friends.  Marion's is definitely a must if you ever go to the Dayton area. So we went to visit the Hollands and Sister Colton was a little out of it. Earlier in the day we had text Christian to see if he wanted to come out w/ us, but he had been busy, and when he walked in he asked us what did you girls need. Somehow Sister Colton thought that he had said are you Sisters going to eat w/ us. So she replied no we ate lots and lots of food. He gave us a pretty puzzled face and said you wanted food. I was laughing and said no we had a lesson, so we were just checking to see if you could come.  It was funny tho. If nothing else I had a good laugh.  

  Wednesday: Brother McMurtry came out teaching w/ us and then invited us over for lunch.  BLT's sooo good.  Tyler came out teaching w/ us and we had some super quick lessons w/ some peeps.  I thought I was going to die that day, it was soooo humid!!! Man when we go out in the mornings I feel like we are going to die, it is killer!  We had a good visit w/ the Henderson's and then we went and taught Brother Rhoudebush.  He is soo nice.  We had a lesson all set up w/ the Eyong's but they forgot so we taught Sam and gave him his own BoM and I even gave him a special inscription on the first page. We went to dinner w/ Sister Terry and then we went and taught the Blanton's.  It was good times.

  Thursday: Manna from heaven!!! Zone Conference! I received pages and pages of inspiration.  President Porter gave us more revelation on the power triangle and how to use it in our lives. It is found in D&C 103:36 in case you are wondering.  But in short here are some things I learned. Our obedience shows our love for God, and our diligence shows, our commitment to God.  He talked a lot about increasing our faith in Jesus Christ.  It was awesome.  I learned a lot of things about and for myself.  It is really cool to see the way the spirit directs us in the things we need to change and do better on. Because like President is always reminding us we need to be changing everyday.  We cannot be the same person or we are not applying the Doctrine of Christ into our lives.  We need to be repenting everyday and working on something new.  He used the example of one day we bury the selfish person and the next day we bury the impatient person. Everyday we need to be perfecting ourselves and the only way that is going to happen is if we think to God and allow Him the opportunity to help us change. Two other things that are super important was this. Find what is right. We have to look for the good.  He said that a person or situation is going to have as many bad things as we find.  It is our choice.  We have to be finding the good. We absolutely cannot be looking for the bad, or that is what we will see.  Secondly Lock your mind. We have to weed out garbage. We do not have time or space to dwell on bad things.  If we lock our mind on the good we will be able to be much happier.  It is super important to do that.  There was a lot of other things that I learned but those are some of the highlights.  I was inspired to be a happier person, who looks for the good in every situation.  Because lets face it, realists are pessimists.  They are indeed one and the same and I don't want to be one of those.

  Friday: We had a surprise meeting and so Thursday night there were 6 Sisters total  in our apartment. it was a little crowded to say the least.  But the good news is Sister Colton and I actually finished weekly planning in the time slot we had for it. Also Elder Campbell and Elder Giblette brought cookie dough Oreos, and those are good!! We then actually went on our exchanges and I was w/ Sister Lewis. We got to go see Sister Spencer and hopefully cheered her up a little, and we had a good visit w/ Miss Tammie.  Mostly though I was just reminded that we are put w/ certain people for good reasons, God definitely knows us best!! Sister Colton and I love being together.

 Saturday: We got to celebrate Brother Morales' birthday w/ him.  Also our server looked so familiar and I just kept looking at her. Turns out she was Amy, someone that I had found for the Spanish Elders a good few months ago. So it was fun to see her again.  We watched some of the Restoration on Brother Dupre's computer, Dan really liked the movie. Did a heart attack, you know all that fun stuff.

  Sunday: We went to ward council, and church and made the baptismal program. Taught our little cutie Brandon. he is definitely the person who is most excited to see us each time we visit, and he isn't even technically an investigator.  But hey its all good. He brightens our day so thats what really matters.  We had a good visit w/ Sister Mosier.  We went to a fireside in Greenville, and they have the cutest little building I have ever seen!!!!!!!! My goodness I loved it.  It really is so cute.  But anyways, it was a good Missionary fireside, the only problem was that there was almost an equal amount of missionaries as members....but hey it was a chance to see President and Sister Porter again so Sister Colton and I jumped at the chance.  We had a good chat w/ both of them and it was fun.  We were also able to talk w/ President Valencia for a little bit, which was good.

  I love you and I hope your week is  awesome.  Enjoy being a member of God's Kingdom on earth! :)

Love,

         Sister Christiansen

PS Keep Dan in your prayers b/c his baptism is on Saturday

Hey Everyone

Good Morning!!!

  So today I am really grateful that families are eternal.  A less active that I used to go visit a whole bunch died last week, and we were asked to give the prayers at the funeral. Ohhhhh my goodness it was sooo sad. I couldn't help it I cried a little at the funeral b/c the overwhelming feeling in the room was just utter and complete devastation.  It reminded me how important keeping our covenants truly is, b/c we honestly have no idea when the end will come.  I am so grateful that we can be w/ our families forever. I know that it is an eternal principle and it shows us how much God truly values and loves us.

  This week was interesting and I'm going to give you a quick rundown:

  Monday: We taught Dan and one of his friends. We also found out that some people don't live where it says they do on our ward roster.....but actually that is a common theme thru the whole week, b/c on our roster I don't know a huge number so Sister Colton and I are actually trying to find out if they still live there or if their records are just floating in our ward.

  Tuesday:We had some delicious BLT's for lunch. We taught Dan at a members home and had lunch.  We saw Gaylene, and she talked our ears off.  We tried to go heart attack our favorite family. We were able to do so, but as we drove off they saw us. But it was tons of fun.

  Wednesday: We took brownies to district meeting to celebrate Elder Tavake's birthday, and also I'm going to say so we could also celebrate Ty-o's and Jordans as well. District meeting was great. Elder Campbell always has games for us to play......We saw a fun LA couple who asked us "To what do owe this visit too?" We replied back that it was Wed at 3, and we were just keeping up w/ the last few weeks.  They didn't realize that we had set up a standing appointment I suppose, but hey we enjoy it. I ate some delicious cotton candy ice cream. We got to hang out w/ our champ member, Brother Dupre.

  Thursday: We never left our apartment besides for our morning run. Sister Colton was ill, it was not her favorite day of the week. I was able to spend some time doing some much needed record updating, which was painfully BORING!!!!! I text the Elders and told them I was bored out of my mind.  But luckily Sister Colton woke up and I was able to spend some more time w/ her. It was good bonding time that is for sure. and then we had to cancel some appointments we had, and Brother Dupre was going to come out w/ us but I told him we needed to cancel and he asked if we were sick and then he brought us some things. It was soooo nice!! We are really grateful we have someone to always help us out. 

  Friday: We were on exchanges and we had a good time. I was w/ Sister Hefner and it was good times.  Nothing too exciting happened but frozen custard, that my friends is always exciting!!!!!  Also we did some more heart attacking, b/c who doesn't like exciting surprises on your door??? Also b/c we live a ghetto life, we used....Electrical tape to make it happen #justdoit

  Saturday:  We got to go out of the mission, and see missionaries from Columbus.....weird eh?? I kinda felt like a rebel, no worries it was totally okayed.   We taught Dan and Brother Dupre came w/ us to that appointment.....also later that night we were walking around this neighborhood looking for some new people, and we got this text from Brother Dupre which said, "D&C 31:3-8. You are on the Lord's errand! You are doing great things." Ahhh isn't he nice??? Seriously if we ever need anything he is our go to guy. However we might need to find a new bestie b/c his wife is due like next week w/ their 4th child......

  Sunday: Sacrament meeting was probably the most spiritual moment of my whole week.  It was also much needed. The spirit really helped put things in perspective for me.  Brother and Sister Cappelli spoke yesterday and I just love them. They absolutely amaze me. They moved here strictly on faith. They are from Virginia and they just both had the impression that they needed to move and so here they are....quite literally.  My whole goal in life is to be as spiritually intune as they are.  Sister Cappelli talked about their story of moving here and some good take aways from her talk were "I asked the Lord, what do you need to tell me?", "I went to the one person whose opinion really matters....the Lord!", "There are many reasons to be fearful, but there are more reasons to be faithful". Brother Cappelli also had amazing things to say.  He really centered his talk on 2 principles. God will always provide for us, and The Lord is in control.

  It was simply outstanding!!!

I love you all and those that are doing the school thing good luck on your first week :)

Love,

           Sister Christiansen

Longest Week of my Life!!!!

Hey Wonderful people!!!

  First off I have an important thing to say: Tyson Happy, Happy Birthday I love you more than most! You're my favorite brother, and I hope you have a simply fabulous day coming into the land of double digits. :)

  Second off: Jordan I hope that your Birthday is simply fabulous as well! 

  Thirdly someone tell Colton Congratulations on his Baptism!! That is so wonderful!!! The more I learn about baptism the more important it becomes to me in helping others learn about it so they can decide for themselves to take the step of coming closer to Christ.

 Onwards to my week summarization!!!

  I am going to preface the report by saying that this week I learned that I need to be a better person.  Sister Colton and I still did a lot of things, but there was so much room for improvement. I feel that I learned a lot of things about myself, and with a fresh start this week I can again refocus and be a better person. :) I just love the Atonement so much!!!!!!

  Don't worry we still taught 34 lessons, 17 mem pres and had 6 at church. :)

Monday: We had a FHE at the Tiptons house with an inv. We learned that our game really wasn't so effective at holding little kids attention, but the important thing was that we tried ;)

  Tuesday: I ate the healthiest lunch of probably my entire life. We had fruit and vegetables.....that was it. Don't worry tho, I made it slightly unhealthy by drenching everything in ranch. Brother Dupre came out teaching w/ us again.  We gave him the rocking chair to sit on and you should have seen his face when I warned him against sitting on the cushion......priceless is all I have to say!!! He is fast becoming our best friend in the ward.  He always wants to come out teaching with us and help us out as much as he can.....it is so nice!!!! Then we had Christian come out teaching with us again. Miracles happened and we were able to drag him around a few different places to get 3 mp w/ him.  It is so nice that he is willing to come out and go around w/ us.  Then we had some lessons w/ Brother Morales, and in case you were wondering, we were on time!!!! It was a big deal for us. We had to text and tell him that we beat him because it was such big news :)

  Wednesday: We had Zone Meeting, and visited w/ the Henderson's. I had one of the more interesting "conversations" of my mission. I learned some enlightening definitions to a few words.........good times had by all involved.  Oh we finished Mountain of the Lord w/ the Ballards. It was a pretty good movie. I at least enjoyed it :) But they were just so lucky that they were able to see us 3 times this week. Once w/ Christian, once w/ Sister McMurtry and once at Church.

  Thursday: We watched the Restoration w/ Jeremy and Sister Estes. I think by time I come home I might have that movie memorized :) Good thing I like it eh? We went randomly to visit this investigator that we had planned on dropping and surprise surprise....she put herself on date. It was not at all the outcome we had expected, but hey it was a good one. :)

  Friday: Sister Haas saved us!!! I love her soo, sooo, much!!! She helped us out by giving us some much needed recipes, and also some supplies that we did not have.  Also she invited us to have some lunch while we were there, so we ate something w/ actual substance....which was nice.

  Saturday: We had another lesson w/ Jeremy.....this one went wayyyyyyyyy deep!!! But he just smiled and went w/ it w/ us. We found a new investigator that lives down the street from him that has 2 grills.  It is so sweet, one on top, and one on bottom. Can't get better than that :)  But we had a sweet miracle!!!! Peter came out teaching with us!!!! It was his first time teaching w/ us.  

  Sunday: We spoke in church. I never actually wrote my talk......slight problem eh? Also I found out that morning that our Stake President was going to be there.....talk about no pressure eh?!?  Don't worry, I prayed really, really hard and lets just say that Lord really, really answered my prayers. I got up, w/ less than a page of notes, and ended up speaking for 17 minutes. It was a pure miracle. I must have been boring tho, b/c as I looked out at the congregation there were at least 5 people sleeping. :) that isn't a joke

  We are having a baptism this weekend. Dan is being baptized and we are quite excited. He still wants Elder Tavake, who he calls Sun, to baptize him. But no worries it'll all be taken care of.

I love you lots, and I want you all to know that I know that this gospel is true. and that as we apply the Atonement in our lives it truly changes who we are, into something much better.

 Have a great week!!! and Tyson and Jordan I really do hope that your day is simply the best!!!!

Love,

        Sister Christiansen

Englewood run continues!

Oh hey its me again,

  Turns out Englewood and I are still besties :) Going 7 transfers strong!  But hey I'm super excited b/c we have tons going on and I have lots to accomplish here still.  Sister Colton and I are going to continue to see a billion new miracles this next transfer.  The way this companionship works is like this: Sister Colton is the brains, and I just throw things out there. She makes sure we get tons accomplished, and I just go along for the ride.

  But good news we have a big week planned this week with lots to do. I am kind of hoping that we calm down a teensy bit, b/c I'm getting super worn out with the fast pace that we keep. But ohh well such is life.  

  This past week we did pretty good.  We had 38 lessons, 23 being member present, 6 new, and 6 at church. Our zone did really well too, which was great to see. We had 25 at church, and 3 baptisms this week. cool beans huh?

   So on Monday we had a goal of 3 mp and one inv, wasn't there, our other cancelled, so we had the one, and then our member suggested we go and try the other inv again so off a knocking we went, and then Sister Colton and I were praying sooo hard that something would work, and God gave us a miracle. When we walked out of the appointment we found a new inv. It seems God is always showing me that He is the one in charge of this work, and I just simply need to do as He directs me too.  

  Tuesday we went to do FHE with the Hollands and we read the story of Jonah, I haven't read that since I was in 9th grade I think. But we had this super spiritual lesson on the restoration w/ them that was super awesome. Probably one of the best restoration lessons I have taught this past transfer.  That was cool.  We love our weekly FHE appointments. Oh and we didn't have time for dinner that day so it was nice that we were able to have some super good zucchini bread.

  We never seem to have time for meals, b/c we run from one thing to another, but this week we are changing that, b/c we both really love our food :)

  Dayton has a Senior couple nowadays they are super cute. They have only been married for 9 months, but I think it'll be good to have them around.

  We have called on a bunch of members all week long. Yesterday in his testimony Brother Morales kind of mocked us for asking him if he wanted to come spend quality time with us. It was all good tho :)

  Mission Leadership Council was awesome as always. I learned lots. I even got to give one of the 20 minute trainings. The Assistants called us Thursday morning and I had to do it on Friday. I was freaking out a bit, but the other Missionaries were really nice and told me it was good, so I'm going to go w/ that :)

I love you lots! I hope that you have a fun week and as you go to Idaho just remember that church is still important :)

Love you,

 love Sister Christiansen

 

I still need some good things to do w/ little kids. I am running out of creative ideas to do FHE and other such things, so some ideas would be stellar :)

 

One last bit Miracle!!!

This Sunday we had such a miracle at church.  We took breakfast to an investigator with a member.  When she came to the door she was wearing not church clothes which was not a good sign. Then she had a few concerns about church that we were able to resolve with the member, which was really really good. She said that she would be coming along in a few minutes she just had to finish getting dressed. I knew beforehand that unless we followed her to church she probably wasn't going to make it.  Turns out I was right. She never made it to church. Sister Colton and I were a little upset!! But its okay because God loves us, and sent a miracle our way.  There were a whole bunch of people at church yesterday quite a few that I didn't know, and Sister Colton saw some lady with 2 kids that she said we needed to go talk to after sacrament meeting, because I had no idea who it was.   She left before Sacrament meeting ended, but then a few members had a prompting to go and get her, one of them followed it and introduced Alexa to me.  Turns out her life is kind of in rambles right now, and she just felt like she needed to go to church. The one that she usually goes to was closed yesterday so she told the bus driver she wanted to come to the next closest one, which miracle of miracle was ours. She said that she felt so much better and we are headed over to teach her tonight.