10/26/2015: Week 6 - Mission Field

Hello everyone!

I have finally arrived in the mission field! I love it. My companion is really sweet and very patient with me as I learn the language. She is a wonderful missionary, and is very good at what she does. There are two other sisters who live with us, They are both really kind and sweet as well (and a little bit crazy). All three of the other sisters are Brazilian. Which means I am the only one here who understands English. So it has been really challenging and interesting trying to communicate with them, but I am doing the best I can! Sometimes speaking  Portuguese is like playing a really difficult version of Taboo and Charades. If I don't know the word, I have to describe it using words I do know, or by acting it out (which can sometimes be embarrassing, especially when you are jumping down the street with your hands above your ears trying to figure out how to say "rabbit").

The members here are all really really sweet, and there is actually another American in the ward who always speaks English to me haha. After a week of only speaking Portguese, it is really nice to hear some English. The first time he spoke to me, I jumped a little bit because I was expecting Portuguese, ha ha ha!

The people in Brazil are also all very kind. There are so many who are willing to hear about and accept the gospel. I had the opportunity this week to teach several lessons in Portuguese, and even invite one girl named T to be baptized. She said yes, and we are holding her baptism this Sunday. :) I couldn't be more excited.

I also have pictures now! There will be more to come. I love you all!

-Sister Christensen

10/14/2015: Week 5 - Last Week in the CTM

Hello everyone!

It's finally here: I am leaving for Campinas in less
than a week! So that means that this is my last e-mail from in the
CTM. I can´t believe that I have been here for six weeks already, it
feels like I have only been here for a week or two. I am so excited to
get out into the field! This week my district and I bought a big cake
to celebrate the fact that we have been in Brazil for a month. We even
got a big candle, and decided that it was a good idea to light it
inside. It turns out that the candle was actually a sparkler, so we
all panicked trying to put that out. But all is well, we didn't burn
down the CTM (yet). There was another scare this week, far worse than
a surprise sparkler though. After exercise time (where I keep getting
hit in the head with volleyballs), my companion and I headed over to
the laundry room to help iron some sheets for service. Everything was
normal until I went to stack blankets. As I picked up a blanket,
something hard (and definitely not the blanket) touched my hand. I
looked down, wondering what I had just touched and OH MY GOSH IT'S 

A. DEAD. COCKROACH! So yeah, I touched a dead cockroach. Almost vomited.
#Brazil. On a slightly cheerier note, things have been going really
well. I can almost hold a full conversation in Portuguese, and I love
teaching lessons to our "investigators". It makes me sad that I am
leaving, because I have met so many great people here. I have friends
from all over the States, South America, and Latin America. Including
one missionary who speaks in broken English and tells me to, and I
quote, "stay fierce" every time he sees me. The people here are
wonderful, and I will miss them, but I am so excited to get out into
the field and teach real people and bring the gospel to them. I am
sure I will have more stories while I am in Campinas, but until then,
these stories will have to suffice. I love you all, thank you for the
e-mails. I hope everyone is doing well! 

With Love,

Sister Christensen

10/7/2015: Week 4 - General Conference and Missionary Work

Bom Dia Everyone! 

This week has been crazy exciting! This past week we
had the opportunity to go proselytizing for the first time! That was an
adventure. We started the day by having an English fast, aka
Portuguese 24/7. Anyways, after lunch our instructor
took us into the middle of São Paulo. São Paulo is like the sketchy
downtown Salt Lake area, but gigantic and everyone speaks another
language. Not to mention it is one of the largest cities in the world,
so there's that. Each one of us received 3 Books of Mormon and we were
told to give them out. I gave one woman a copy on the bus, and then we
got to the actual street. That's where the real craziness began. One
man waved me and my companion down, and we started to tell him who we
were and a little bit about the church and Book of Mormon. However,
before we could get much out, he started firing off in crazy fast
Portuguese telling us how good it was that young people were out
speaking about Christ. Then all of a sudden he was rapping some
religious poem in the middle of the street about Matthew and Paul and
Judas Iscariot. I didn't realize it was a song until the very end when
I realized that everything he said was rhyming. I maybe understood
about 10% of the things he said. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he
asked us how much it cost. We told him that it was a gift and then he
proceeded to quote the Bible about how the word of God should always
be free, and he thanked us. I am pretty sure he preached more to me
than I did to him. Another man got really excited when we told him
about the book and that God loved him, and that we had only been
learning Portuguese for 4 weeks. He took the book and kissed it and
held it into the air. We sang "Eu Sou Um Filho de Deus" (I am a Child
of God), to another man, in the middle of the street as well. The
people in Brazil are much more willing to hear a message about Christ
and the gospel. Almost everyone we talked to was open to hear about
our message, and asked us questions. It was a really amazing
experience. I also had the opportunity to listen to General Conference
this weekend (where we hear messages and receive guidance from a
living prophet and apostles of the church), and I loved it. It was a
nice break from learning Portuguese every second of every day. I loved
hearing the prophet speak about how we all need to be examples of the
believers in all that we do: in word, conversation, charity, spirit,
faith, and purity. He concluded with his testimony, which was one of
the strongest things I have ever heard. As he and the other apostles
spoke, I was filled completely with the Spirit, and I received another
witness that they are men of God, and are called of God. I am so
grateful to live in a time where we have living prophets and apostles
guiding us and helping us come closer to Christ. I also have a strong
testimony that Christ is my personal Savior, and is all of yours as
well. Also: a quick shout out to moms everywhere. You guys are
amazing. Thank you for all that you do for your kids and the people
around you. I love you all so much, and I love hearing from you all. I
am sorry that my time is so short, or else I would respond to each
e-mail individually. I read them all, so please keep e-mailing me! I
hope everything is well back home in the US. 

Love, 
Sister Christensen

9/30/2015: Week 3 - Three New Elders

Bom Dia!

Hello hello! Yet another week has gone by. It's almost October! I hope
everyone back home is enjoying the cool weather, sweaters and boots
(especially you Tay), and the pumpkin pie around the corner. I am
going to miss pumpkin pie. As for me, I will be enjoying to heat and
sweat of Brazil. This week we got 3 new elders from the Provo MTC in
our district. We now have... 1) Elder P, who has curly blonde
hair and asks hard questions, 2) Elder H, who was born in Guiana
and is both shy and outgoing at the same time, and 3) Elder E, who
is nice and quiet but I don't know much else. They have been a
wonderful addition to our district, and have brought a better focus to
the group. (Trying to work and study with eight 18-yr old boys can
sometimes be a struggle). This past week we were able to watch the
funeral of the apostle Richard G. Scott. It was very touching, and he
was a great man. We also watched his last devotional given at the MTC,
and he shared a really beautiful message about the power of prayer and
recognizing answers to your prayers. Sister A and I have been
teaching two "investigators" (our instructors pretending to be
invesitgators). The weird thing is, the lessons can feel so real while
you are teaching them. For example, one of the investigators told us
that she just found out that her friend had cancer and only had a
short time to live. This woman was shedding real tears, and within
five minutes, we had shared a short message about hope with her and we
were all crying together. It was a really neat experience. Anyways, I
am off to go get some Brazilian treats for General Conference this
next weekend! I am looking forward to being able to hear from the
prophets and apostles, and to recieve the guidance they have for us. I
hope all of you will watch it at home as well. I love you all, and I
hope you have a great week!

 Com muito amor,
 Sister Christensen

9/23/2015: Week Two - The Brazilians Are Gone

Bom Dia!

This week has been great. I can't believe I have been
here for two weeks. It feels like six months. Every day in the CTM
runs together. I spend the majority of my time sitting in a classroom,
studying Portuguese or planning for my next lesson. I have two
instructors: Irmão F and Irmã C. F is really laid back, but is a bit of a kook.
He will randomly make us start singing our lessons in four part harmony,
or will come up really close and make a weird face while sayings something
to you in Portuguese. He's even had a push-up contest with one of the elders in
my district. Irmã C on the other hand, is like an Energizer
Bunny. She speaks Portuguese really quickly, forces everyone to
participate, and has us speaking in Portuguese 24/7. She is really
short and sasses the elders to no end. I love both of them, they both
teach really well and have helped me progress in Portuguese by leaps
and bounds. This week, the Brazilians that were here all left,
including my two roommates (if I could attach pictures I would show
you). Sister L and Sister R were both really sweet and
hilarious, so it was really sad to see them go. One Brazilian Elder
stopped me in the hall the night before he left, and started
serenading me with the first two lines of the song, "A Whole New
World" from Aladdin in broken English. After he was done, he proceeded
to put his hand up to his face and said, "Call me after the mission."
Then he walked upstairs and that was that. I have never talked to him
before, but man, it was so funny. I have a few notes about Brazil: 1)
The don't use toilet paper, they use tissues. 2) Pão de quejo is the
best thing on the planet. 3) People here like to touch my hair because
I am blonde. 4) Brazilians aren't very good at playing
basketball/volleyball. On a more serious note, last night our district
had a meeting. For the lesson, I felt prompted to have everyone talk
about the reason they went on a mission, and the person that they
wanted to become afterwards. I thought that our district needed a bit
more focus, and a reminder of why we are here... serving the Lord and
sharing the gospel. We went around the circle, and each person shared
with us their reason. It was amazing to hear the testimonies of
every single person in that room, and to see a glimpse of someone's
soul. By the end, everyone was crying because the spirit was so
strong. It strengthened our district immensely. I am so happy to be
here in Brazil and to be sharing the gospel. This church makes me so
happy, and I am so excited to share that joy with other people. I love
this church, I love my Savior, and I couldn't think of a better way to
spend the next 18 months. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me, I am a
little short on time, so I can't reply to everything, but I read them
all and I really appreciate them.

With love from Brazil,

Sister Christensen

9/16/2015: First Week in Brazil

Bom Dia!

I have been in Brazil for a week now, and I have loved every
second of it. I am going outside of the MTC (Missionary Training
Center) for the first time today, and I am really looking forward to
it. I also had the opportunity to go to the temple here in São Paulo
today, and it was absolutely beautiful. However, back to the MTC. 1)
The food here is delicious. I eat a lot of beans, rice, and meat,
along with some somewhat questionable side dishes and desserts. I love
rice and beans though, so no worries here! 2) The Brazilian people are
so nice. We sit next to them at lunch and do our best to talk to them.
They are funny, kind, and are always willing to help you with learning
Portuguese. 3) As for the language, you could not believe how quickly
we are learning it. I have only been here for a week, yet I have
taught four 20-45 minute lessons, completely in Portuguese, prepared a
talk for church in Portuguese, and held a 2 hour conversation with my
Brazilian roommates about the differences in culture between the
United States and Brazil ONLY IN PORTUGUESE. It is truly a miracle
that I can speak this well after only a week. It would't be possible
without God, and I am definitely developing a testimony of the gift of
tongues. 4) I love my district (the group of missionaries that I
learn, teach, and work with). We have a lot of interesting characters,
including: Elder Murray (our district leader), Elder Jefferies (who
can throw my sass right back at me), Elder McGladrie (who had a stone
in his salivary gland -- but don't worry, he's okay), Elder
Westenhaver (who has a really blunt and dry sense of humor and reminds
me of Leah), Sister Brown (who's name is Haley, lives in CR,
and goes to BYU -- we are practically twins), and Sister Trejo (who
eats "banana spoders" and speaks English and Spanish, and is now
learning Portuguese). That brings me to my companion, Sister Almgren.
She is really nice and we get along well. She is from Minnesota. She
helps me focus, work hard, and *cough cough* leave the room on time in
the morning. I would like to say sorry in advance for the poor spacing
on these letters, the computers here don't like to let you use the
enter button. Also, I am not allowed to send pictures until I get into
the field, but I will do that as soon as I can. I love you all, and
the church is true! :)

 Sister Christensen

Farewell Talk - August 30th

We are on an official count down! Only one week until I get set apart! With that in mind, I have decided to post my Farewell talk for whoever wants to read it. 

_____________________________________________________________

Showing Love Through Service
names changed to initials to protect identities

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Hailey Christensen. I have been called to serve in the Campinas Brazil mission and I leave in about a week, (no matter how much my mom is denying it). I have a wonderful mom and dad who always push me to do my best, my little sister C who I adore, and my crazy little brother, B. I will miss them all very much when I leave, but I am so excited to go and preach the gospel in Brazil.

For me, deciding to serve a mission wasn’t an easy choice. I was torn between staying in school and putting my education on hold to preach the gospel. Both options seemed good to me, but as I prayed about it, I felt that I needed to go on a mission. So I took a leap of faith and started my papers immediately. As I walked into the Stake President’s office in my BYU ward to finish and submit my mission papers, I asked him what I could do to start preparing for my mission right then and there. I hadn’t even received the assignment of where I would serve at this point. Even so, his answer was simple: Pray to love the people I was called to serve. Love is the single most important gift we can give to another person. 

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37). He then continued by saying, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:39). It is no coincidence that the two greatest commandments involve love: love for God and love for our fellow men. It is by love that we keep the other commandments that God has given us, and it is through love that we travel throughout our mortal journeys and strive to help others along their way.

The “highest, noblest, strongest kind of love”, or the “pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:47) is called charity. Christ set a perfect example of loving others in his earthly ministry. As President Monson taught, (quote) “[Christ’s] life was a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved. At the end the angry mob took His life. And yet there rings from Golgotha’s hill the words: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34)—a crowning expression in mortality of compassion and love.” (Love – The Essence of the Gospel, 2014). Christ managed to love people regardless of their sins, their trials, or their circumstances. Even when he was crucified, Christ gave freely of His love to all, and blessed countless lives doing so. We have been commanded to follow Christ’s example in this way and to have charity. In John 13:34-35, Jesus gives a new commandment to his disciples, saying, “love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this all men shall know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” As members of the church and as disciples of Christ, we each have a sacred responsibility and duty to love the people around us in whatever way we can.  However, it is not up to us to decide who deserves our love. Truly loving as Christ did means that we love every single person that we come across, no matter how different they may be, or how much pain they have caused us. We strive to love unconditionally as Christ did.

However, it is not enough to simply love the people around us. We must take that love and put it into action. We must constantly be striving to serve the people around us, whether they are family, friends, or strangers. Just as “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20), love without service is dead. Too often we say that we love someone, yet do not do everything in our power to serve them. It is not enough to simply say that we love someone and then to move on with our lives without a second thought. When one possesses true charity, they love the people around them as Christ did – by serving them with all their souls and with all their minds.

Giving service is like giving a well thought-out gift. When I take the time to pick out the perfect present for someone, I get really excited. I look forward to seeing their reaction more than giving them the actual item. As they open it, I get to see their face light up with happiness. Knowing that I was able to brighten their day just a little bit, I am happy and feel joy for the person I have given the gift to. As we go out of our way to show our love through service, a little bit of that love comes back to us, and who couldn’t use a little more love?

Each day there is service that can be done, whether it is small or big. More often than not, it is the little things that count when they are done in the spirit of love. M. Russell Ballard compared these small and simple acts of service to a man who sold all of his possessions and traveled to California in search of fortune in the gold rush.

(quote) “Day after endless day, the young man dipped his pan into the river and came up empty. His only reward was a growing pile of rocks. Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, ‘That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.’

The young man replied, ‘There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.’

Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, ‘Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.’ He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, ‘I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.’

The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.

The old prospector said, ‘Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.’” (Finding Joy Through Service, 2011).

It is our responsibility to offer these small gold flecks of service to those around us, continually and patiently, and always with love. Over time, what seems small and insignificant can turn into something great and have a far larger impact than we could have ever imagined.

While I was attending BYU, I had some struggles during the year, mostly due to the fact that I was living on my own and trying to manage everything in my life for the first time. I was homesick, worried about school, and missing friends from back home. Although I tried to make the best of the situation and to keep a positive attitude, I didn’t always succeed and often ended up feeling disheartened and upset. However, I was blessed to have people around me who loved me enough to offer service to me. One roommate wrote me a card and brought home some of my favorite treats, even when she had troubles of her own to deal with. I had friends (and my wonderful mom) who would call just to let me talk, and a family who took me in with loving arms and gave me a home away from home.

None of these things were especially large acts of service, yet each and every one of them left an enormous impact on me. The negative feelings I had were forgotten and I was able to focus on all of the wonderful things in my life. All of these people gave me their own small specks of gold, which together became priceless. After all, as Alma taught, it is “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). Small and simple acts of service are like a pebbles dropped into a lake. While the pebble may be small in size, once dropped into the water, it creates ripples that reach out across the surface of the lake. The pebble creates a very large impact, though the initial splash was small. What may seem insignificant to you could mean the world to someone else as they receive your service. Often, one act of love can lead to others, and creates a chain reaction of charity.

Realistically, it isn’t always natural to love everyone we meet, so we must be constantly striving to have charity in our hearts. Moroni taught we should “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love” (Moroni 7:48). Just like any other spiritual gift, we can and should pray to receive the gift of charity. If we do so, we will receive it.

My Stake President at BYU gave me the best possible guidance he could have by advising me to pray to love the people I was called to serve. As I have done so, I have been filled with a desire to teach them, and a love for both the people and the gospel. The promise that Moroni gives is true: if we pray for charity, we will receive it. I will continue to take my Stake President’s advice in the field, because as Dallin H Oaks said, “the most effective missionaries always act out of love” (Sharing the Gospel, 2001).

As I go out as a new sister missionary, I will also remember the words in Doctrine and Covenants 4:2, which reads, “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength.” I am going to love, work, and serve the people of Brazil with all my heart, might, mind and strength, and I couldn’t be more excited to do so. I can’t wait for the adventures in store for the next year and a half.