2/1/2016: Week 20 - I Would Walk 500 Miles

Hello All!

A run-down of my week:

1. Sister S got sick. :( We stayed in the house and talked about our lives and made spaghetti. That was pretty cool.

2. We went to the baptism of a kid in the ward, and it was really sweet. Sister S and I had the chance to sing at the baptism as well. The Spirit was really strong. 

3. This week, I lived a part of every child's nightmare and fell into a storm drain. My oh-so-loving companion then took me to the pharmacy and wiped alcohol not-so-lovingly across all the cuts I had on my leg. I really need to work on this whole balance thing. 

4. I learned how to crochet with a woman from the ward. 

5. I learned I am not blessed with the gift of crocheting.

6. We were teaching one inactive family this week, and everything went really well. We talked about Christ and his love for us, and the entire family started to cry. The dad then told us that he had been praying for some guidance spiritually that day in another church, and we showed up at his door later that night. They also came to church this Sunday, which was amazing to see. I love being a missionary. 

With love, 

Sister Christensen

1/25/2016: Week 19 - Rocky Week

Hello!

This week has been a rocky one. Because we don't have many people to teach, we spend the entire day in the street making contacts and talking to random people about the gospel, all of which "already have a religion" or "don't have time". The only people we don't talk to are the ones who cross the street before we can get to them. 

We also visited a house where we had given a Book of Mormon earlier in the week. The three girls we talked to were really interested and wanted us to enter and talk more about the gospel. Needless to say, we were really excited to return. However, the next time, their mom answered the door, and we actually received a Book of Mormon that day instead of giving them out! She told us that she didn't want the book and to have a nice life. *Thumbs up* ...at least it didn't end up in the trash.

But just because the work was hard doesn't mean that we had a bad week! Sister S and I laughed a lot. One man loudly blessed Sister S's eye in the middle of the street, and I accidentally kissed a woman. Long story short, people here greet you with a kiss on the cheek, but one Sister of the ward turned her head, and well... lets just say kissing people on the cheek is a bit dangerous. We also dressed up like nuns and Irmã Júlia appeared in the window and started laughing at us.

Anyways, that was my week. I hope everything is going well back home! 

Love,

Sister Christensen

1/18/2016: Week 18 - New Area and Companion

Hello!

It's official! I have been transferred and I have a new companion, named Sister S, and she is amazing. She is American, is studying music, and I love her. We make climbing the thousands of hills here a little more fun by singing random songs practically the whole day.

Usually, when you transfer, there is one companion who has been in the area a bit longer who shows you how to get around and where all the investigators and members live. However, this transfer was a bit different because Sister S and I are opening the area. "Opening the area" is fancy talk for being constantly lost and not having anyone to teach. The Elder's here before us split up the people they were teaching between Sister S and I, and the other companionship of Sisters, but we have practically have nothing to work with. We are walking with faith and a slightly out-dated map. But we are happy and singing while doing it!

The day before we got here, we spoke to the Elders who had been working here, and they said that the house was a little dirty. I don't know what you think of when someone says "a little dirty," but I imagined that there would be some dirty dishes or some materials out of place. No, when Elders say "a little dirty" they mean: pants on the table, dead cockroaches on the floor, a box of sketchy unwashed dishes on another table, and trash literally everywhere. So, you know, that was a fun first day. But now its all clean and the apartment is actually livable, thanks to the Sisters and yours truly. (To my missionary friends: If you ever leave your apartment like that, I will personally come and hit you with a flip-flop. That is all.)

A few other things:

1. The members here are amazing. They want to help with everything and give us bread and cake pretty much every day.

2. I am running in the mornings now. *applause*

3. My hair dryer doesn't work here.

4. We had a really neat experience the other day with a member who has a lot of heart problems. She called us over in the morning to pray with her, and when we arrived she was crying because of the pain. We each took a turn praying for her, and at the end she had stopped crying,and was smiling and talking with us without difficulty. She and her husband bore their testimony about the power of prayer that next Sunday, and she said that she hasn't felt pain since. That was pretty neat.

5. I have seen a lot of miracles happening here the past week. It is amazing to see the hand of the Lord here in Brazil. When you work hard and with faith, miracles will always happen. 

I love and miss you all! Beijos!

Sister Christensen

1/4/2016: Week 16 - Feliz Ano Novo

Hello!

This week has been a good one.

1) We have one investigator named J who has had problems understanding our messages. She has a family with three kids, who are all relatively timid (except the youngest,G. He is crazy and doesn't stop talking). Anyways, this week we made her little posters about prayer, scriptures, and going to church, which she put up around her house. It was neat to see that everyone in the family was finally understanding the messages, and were an active part of the lesson as well. 

2) Another woman told us that we were angels sent from God, which is always good to hear. You don't really feel too much like an angel when you are sweaty and dirty from walking all day, ha ha. 

3) There is also a family here that we are working with to get them sealed in the temple. They have three little kids who LOVE the missionaries. The little girl calls us "Chi Chi" because she can't say sister. She is probably the cutest thing in the world. Every time we see them, they run up to us and hug us and give us a kiss on the cheek. Adorable. 

4) We also had New Year's Eve this past week, and while the entire world was partying, we spent it mopping up a river of water that had fallen down the staircase from our apartment because it had rained and we forgot to unplug a drain, ha ha. But afterwards, we waited up until midnight, climbed a ladder to the top of the building, and watched as fireworks went off all around the city. We yelled into the wind/rain, and it felt like that part in Footloose where they scream at the train as it passes by. The next day it was a little hard to wake up at 6:30, ha ha. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Set some goals. Do something different this year. Be a little better.

With love,

Sister Christensen

ROMANS 8:18

12/21/2015: Week 14 - Feliz Natal

Hello and Feliz Natal!

This week has been really busy. We had splits, the ward Christmas party, and got locked in the chapel! I am really looking forward to this next week (CHRISTMAS), and for the opportunity to talk to my family. :)

Splits: I was able to spend the day with the lovely Sister L! She is our Sister Trainer, and I was a little bit nervous to show her the area and to teach with her at first. However, we had a blast and were able to teach five lessons and gain six new investigators in one day. That was a miracle. I was able to gain more confidence in my teaching, and my Portuguese as well. All in all, it went crazy well and I loved Sister L.

Ward Christmas Party: As always, I enjoyed the ward Christmas party. One member gave us Panettone, which is a type of fruitcake. Thankfully, he gave us a chocolate flavored one, because I am not too fond of the fruit variety. Brazilians are crazy about Panettone. Anyways, the party was full of salgados and cakes and all sorts of good food. We also took a picture with the bishop.

Locked in the Chapel: One night, Sister G and I, along with the other sisters, were in the chapel calling people and confirming appointments for the next day, All of a sudden, we see a random man yelling "moças" (young women/girls) from outside of the church. Sister G ran to the door and locked it, and we hid in the church for a good ten minutes until we were able to call a member to drive us home.

I hope you all have a very very Merry Christmas, and have a good time celebrating the birth of our Savior. I love you all!

Sister Christensen

12/14/2015: Week 13 - Christmas Challenge

Hello world!

This week we had the opportunity to go to the temple with A and A! We talked with them about temples, and about eternal families. I always love teaching about families. There is no greater blessing in this world than our families. I love my family more than anything, and I love being able to share the message that we can live with our families in happiness for eternity. And there is no better place on Earth to talk about familes than at the temple! 

This week was also a bit sad. The father of one of our investigators, R, forbid us to teach him anymore. It was even more sad considering his baptism was marked for this week. But as Sister G said, God will watch out for him. I hope that he continues to make good decisions and that some missionaries will find him in the future. He's a good kid.

We also had a lesson this week with a teenager and a ten year old member. As we were teaching the teenager, she expressed doubt about the Book of Mormon being another testament of Jesus Christ. We didn't have time to explain before the ten year old took over the lesson and said "I told you, you have to read and pray about it. Thats the only way you are going to know." I am pretty sure she could have taught the lesson better than I could. I love hearing the simple and profound testimonies of children. You could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice that she knew the church was true -- and she wasn't afraid to share it with her friend. 

So here is my invitation. Share the message of Christmas with someone, whether it is at work, with friends, or even online. If you don't know how, mormon.org has a bunch of wonderful videos about the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas that you can share on Facebook, Twitter, etc. At times we tend to forget what Christmas is really about. The world likes to change the meaning of Christmas. Christmas isn't a time of recieving, it isn't a time for buying. It is a time to give, to spend with our families, and most importantly to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for each and every one of us. #NasceuoSalvador 

I love you all and Merry Christmas!

Until next week,

Sister Christensen

12/7/2015: Week 12 - Crazy Week

Hello! 

This week has been a crazy one!

Let's start with Sunday. This Sunday started out normal -- we listened to messages, sang hymns, partook of the sacrament, all that good stuff. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until we were about to leave and I forgot about a little something called gravity. A.K.A., I tripped and fell (in a dress) in front of about ten people, and bled, and thoroughly embarrassed myself. So you know, that's always good, ​but in all honesty, not exactly out of the ordinary.  

We also had a WEDDING! One of the sisters in the ward was finally married. She was wearing a pink gown and had all of her kids with her. It was super cute and super sweet. 

I am pleased to say that the heat has subsided this week, but only because it has been raining constantly. The rain here is crazy. I am pretty sure the person who made up the saying "raining cats and dogs" has never been to Brazil. It rains more like hippos and elephants here. The other day, we were working far from home and got caught in one of the thunderstorms. We ran to a bus stop and waited there for about an hour for the torrential downpour to stop. While we were waiting, a man came up to us and introduced himself.  He said that he was an inactive member, and we conversed with him for a little bit. He left, and then returned about thirty minutes later with two chocolate bars. It was super super sweet, and we shared a message with him about the Plan of Salvation and about faith. We are hoping to meet with him again soon.

We also had the opportunity to teach a woman named M, who goes to another church. However, she had a lot of questions that we were able to answer, and is a bit annoyed with her pastor (long story and slightly funny -- ask me when I am back.)  No matter how many people casually don't show up for appointments or lie about their addresses...we always seem to have one ray of light during the week. 

I hope everyone is preparing for Christmas (I am)!

Love, 

Sister Christensen

Sisters

Princess Art

Papai Noel

 

Christmas Lights

Rain!