A lot has happened in these few short weeks. I was sent home from a mission and a work that I loved, and I was diagnosed with cancer. More specifically, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoblastic Lymphoma.
That shocked me a little bit. I always seemed to think that cancer was a disease that other people get, or at least it sure feels that way. I just never thought it would happen to me. But here I am, sitting in a hospital bed and having chemotherapy. While this path will be scary and hard, I have complete faith that God will lead me through it. As it says in Joshua 1:9, "...Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest". I can feel the love of God with me, even when things aren't easy or the way I would like them to be. But I know that he is at my side through the pain and will carry me through this trial on His shoulders.
Another family in my ward also planned a homecoming party for me and their son. It was super sweet of them. Pictures are included below.
But anyways, I am at home now, and I have already given my homecoming talk. If you would like to read it, I have pasted it below
Being a True Disciple of Jesus Christ
Good morning. My name is Sister Christensen and I just returned from serving in the Brasil Campinas Mission. I loved my mission. I loved the experiences, I loved learning and teaching about the gospel, but most of all, I loved having the opportunity to do my small part in the changing of lives.
I believe that two things should happen while you are on a mission.
- You invite others to come unto Christ.
- You become a different person than who you were when you left.
As a missionary, you see and experience a lot of things. You see heartache. You see pain. You see illness and depression. In short, you see Satan trying to destroy the hope and faith of humanity. As Paul says, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). There is a lot of darkness in the world and it is a real power. No one can deny that. However, God is more powerful, and His work is far greater. His kingdom brings light and hope, and has the power to change lives.
Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, people are lost. They are as sheep with no master. As Matthew puts it, the blind are leading the blind (Matthew 15:14). But as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have something different. We have the light. And because we have something different, we need to do something differently.
Our purpose, as missionaries (and as members in general) is to share the light that we find in the gospel with others. As we do so, we take our friends and our loved ones by the hand and lead them out of the darkness and into the light. This light comes from our faith. We have faith in Jesus Christ.
On my mission, I had the opportunity to do just that: to invite others to come unto Christ.
There is a scripture that I really like in Ether 12:4 which reads:
“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”
This scripture says that it is through our faith in God and Jesus Christ that we obtain a hope for a better world. Despite all the works of the adversary, we can have hope that because of Jesus Christ, we are free from our worries, our illnesses, our weaknesses, and our sins. We have a greater perspective that all of our sufferings and afflictions will “give [us] experience, and shall be for [our] good” (D&C 122:7).
The next part of the verse says something equally as important. When we have faith, we must abound in good works. So how do we abound in good works? How are we made sure and steadfast, being led to glorify God? The key is action. We must act on our faith and our beliefs if we are to inherit all of these promised blessings.
I think that James sums it up for all of us when he said, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).
When we are true disciples of Jesus Christ, we seek to apply his teachings in our lives. As we do so, we quickly find that it is much easier to talk the talk than to take up your cross and follow Him. I have learned that the best missionaries aren`t the ones with the best language skills or the most scriptures memorized. The best missionaries, the best disciples, are the ones who love others as He did and does. They are the ones who are doing the work of the Savior. Anyone can talk about Christ. But it takes a devoted and humble servant to get up and do something; to follow in the footsteps of Christ and to change themselves for His sake; to leave everything at His feet and to serve as He did.
When we are baptized we make the promise that we are “desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another`s burdens, that they may be light… [and] willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that we may be in, even until death” (Mosiah 18:8-9).
You will notice that this scripture does not say to do these things until you are too tired, until you think you have done enough, or until that person that you are serving starts to get on your nerves. It says that we must comfort those who stand in comfort, we must mourn with those who mourn, and be an example at all times, even until death. There are no time-outs in the road of discipleship.
As members of the church, each and every one of us made that promise when we were baptized. I would ask of you, how are you acting to keep this sacred covenant with God?
One way that we keep this covenant is through charity.
It is no wonder that the first and greatest commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind… and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37-39). It is through service that we become more like our Heavenly Father and more like Jesus Christ. It is through service and through action that we take up our crosses and follow Him.
There was one day on my mission where we woke up to find that a tornado had passed through the area, destroying entire parts of neighborhoods and cutting trees across as though they were toothpicks. There were several members whose homes were completely demolished – walls had fallen down, the ground had sunk, entire roofs were lifted away in the wind, not to mention there was about two inches of water inside of the houses. It broke my heart to see the scene that had unfolded in front of me. I saw people who I loved sunk down in utter despair at the sight of their homes. They were afraid and had a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
However, that very same day, I watched as the entire ward sprang into action to help their suffering brothers and sisters. In less than ten minutes after sacrament meeting, the ward had organized parties to go help repair and clean houses, as well as lunches for the families affected by the tragedy. They dropped everything to go and help. I even saw a man with a vial of consecrated oil in his hand, ready to give a blessing to whoever was in need.
And yet their love and service didn`t stop there. Over the weeks, they organized a donation of clothing, mattresses, and food for the affected families, both inside the ward and in the community. I saw the hand of God working through the ward to reach out and comfort his other children. I was touched by their selfless love.
A couple weeks later I had the opportunity to see how a great be with a true disciple of Christ. The last few weeks of my mission I spent with Sister D. We were in the hospital, in the mission home, or traveling between the two. It was exhausting. I can`t imagine how tired she must have been, but she didn`t show it. She slept on a bad hospital bed and didn`t say a word. She called the President to give updates with a smile in her voice. And if I was struggling, she was there with arms open to give me a hug, and encouraging words to say. There wasn`t one moment where she was annoyed or frustrated. I looked at her and I saw Christ by my side. I saw that she wasn`t just teaching people about the gospel, she was living it.
I think that is the most important thing that you can learn in this life: to love and serve others humbly.
I was asked to speak about how I have changed on my mission. I could give you a list of things that I believe have changed about myself, but I feel like that wouldn`t prove much. What I believe is that the mission starts a process. It starts us on the road of true discipleship. It is when we leave our will behind that we may truly become as the Savior was.
--- end talk fabulously and bear testimony--
My last invite can be found in Mosiah 4:10, which reads, “and now, if you believe all these things, see that ye do them”.
PHOTOS
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| Waiting for the Bus to the Airport |
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| My Friend who Came to Pick Me Up and I Eating Icecream |
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| Arrived Home! |
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| Homecoming Party with Friends |
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| Homecoming Party/Banners |
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| In the Hospital with my Sister |
