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!

11/30/2015: Week 11 - Transfer #1 Complete

Hello everyone! I am pleased to say that I have survived the first Transfer out in the mission field! I will be staying with Síster G for the time being. Which is good, because she is a sweetheart and I love her​. 

This week, we taught a woman named R who we met while knocking on doors. She invited us in, and we were able to teach her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She listened very intently and participated during the entire lesson. We invited her to be baptized on December 27th, and she said yes! We are very excited to return and to teach her more about the church. It was amazing to see that God truly prepares people for us to teach. There are people out there who are ready for the gospel, who are ready to learn more about Christ and to change their lives and follow him. Our job as missionaries is to find those people, and to invite them to come unto Christ. No matter how many people reject our message, no matter how hot it is or how much our feet hurt. What better work is there?

Sorry this e-mail is a bit shorter than the others, I will write more next week! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Tchau!

With love,

Síster Christensen

11/23/2015: Week 10 - Haircuts, Bugs, and Heat...Oh My!

Hello!

This week has been a bit different. It has been difficult to find people to teach this week, so my companion and I spent most of our time walking around, and arriving at houses only to find that they were busy or not available. But that's alright, because that means that we get a lot of exercise. However, I am glad that we have the opportunity to start a new week!

Our apartment has been a bit crazy this week as well. 

1. Sister N decided that it was a good idea to try and cut her hair herself. She ended up with a Christmas tree haircut, with one side about two inches higher than the other. (Picture included). 

2. Just in case you haven't heard, its pretty hot in Brazil right now, so we have to get creative with ways to stay cool. Our apartment doesn't have air conditioning, so the other day, the sisters decided to create their own with a box of ice and a fan. (Picture also included).

3. We also have a slight problem with bugs. We either die from heat and keep the windows closed, or open the windows and risk being invaded by bugs. The other day, I was minding my own business and going to brush my teeth. I got my toothbrush and my toothpaste, and started to brush my teeth. I then felt something that was definitely not toothpaste in my mouth, and went to spit, and realized that I had eaten an earwig. AN EARWIG! I am much more careful now when I go to brush my teeth. (Picture not included).

But don't get me wrong, the week has been good. A, A, and R are all progressing and came to church with us this week! I love being able to meet with them and continue to teach them. We even had a Family Home Evening with A and A the other day.

I hope all is well, I love and miss you all!

Love,

Sister Christensen

11/16/2015: Week 9 - Satan's Armpit

Hello all!

Yet another week has passed! I am so jealous that it is winter in the United States. It has been 100+ degrees here this week, and I have been drowning in sweat. I live in Satan's armpit. However, the work has been moving forward and we are very happy about the progress we have seen this week!

We were able to invite one boy named R to baptism this week. He is one of my favorite people to teach. I gave him a CTR (choose the right) ring a couple weeks ago, and he has worn it every day since. He has also been coming to church, and has been doing great!

We have also started to teach a couple, A and A. I talked a little bit about one of them in my last e-mail. They are both really kind and accepted the invitation to be baptized. We invited A to a Relief Society activity, and went all together this week, as well. It started to rain really hard -- I am talking a torrential downpour, the-sky-is-falling rain -- and a member offered to take us all home. The only thing is, we had to stuff seven people into a car made for four. My companion gradually fell to the floor, A was against the window, and we all moved like Jell-O whenever the car hit a bump. When we got to our apartment, we realized the door had a child-lock on, so that was a whole other adventure. We laughed the entire way there though.

It is amazing to see the changes that occur in people's lives when they are following the example of Christ. As I have been here, I realize more and more the importance of acting on our faith. Faith is a principle of action. We cannot be passive in our beliefs, especially in a world that is constantly trying to tear them down. I want to invite you all to do something this week to show your love for God, and exercise your faith. Love a little more. Serve a little more. After all, when we are in the service of our fellow men, we are "in the service of our God".

I hope everything is going well for everyone at home. Enjoy the snow and the cold!

With love,

Sister Christensen

11/09/2015: Week 8 - Baptism

Hello everyone!

This week has been amazing. We had a baptism on Sunday! The missionaries here have been teaching her for a while, and we were able to invite her to be baptized three weeks ago. This week she came to church, and immediately after sacrament meeting, she got dressed in white and a Brother from the ward baptized her. The program was really neat, and the Young Women sang her a song to welcome her to the ward. There was a lot of happy crying and a lot of good feelings. 

We also started teaching a few new families this week.:

The first we visited twice this week, and were very receptive to the message and invited us back. One of them told us that she had a dream about the Book of Mormon and that God was with her and told her to read it. So that was pretty neat. Through her, we were also able to meet another man who is interested in our message. We are going back to teach them more this week.

The other family was very welcoming and kind as well, and they started to cry when we talked about the Restoration with them. One of them came to church and to the baptism this Sunday, which was really really neat. I am excited to continue to teach them as well, and to invite them to be baptized.

We also had splits this week, and I was able to meet another wonderful Sister missionary

A few things I would like to say about Brazil:

1) You don't need to ever go to an amusement park if you are in Brazil... just get on a public bus. The buses here are like the Night Bus from Harry Potter. Except there's no magic and you just end up feeling queasy afterwards. It's a wonder that they don't crash more often, because it is seriously like riding a roller coaster at times. 

2) The first thing people ask me when they meet me is where I am from. The second is "Wow you are really white." Complete strangers will come up to me and start talking to me about my skin, how white I am, how I look like a doll, and ask me about my sunscreen usage. They then explain to me that I need to be applying it throughout the day. So don't worry mom -- I have a constant reminder to use sunscreen. The entire country is looking out for me. 

3) My legs are going to look really good after a year and a half of walking constantly. That is all.

I love and miss you all, but I am so excited to be here and to be serving a mission, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with these people. This church has blessed my life in so many ways. I hope everyone has an amazing week. Thanks to everyone who wrote me this week, I love hea​ring from you. 

With love,

Sister Christensen