Oh my goodness! So so so many miracles this week! We have gone from 1
investigator to 4 in the last 3 days! It's been amazing how the work
is finally taking off! I have no doubt that it is because the Lord
sees us working as hard as we can, we're being obedient, and we have
faith that he will lead us to those who are ready!
Our 1st new investigator is H! She's 15, and she was a Mormon.org
referral. Her brother wanted to give her a bible for Christmas, so he
requested one through the church website! He had no intention of
sending missionaries to her, but the Lord works in mysterious ways! As
we delivered the Bible to her, we asked if she would be interested in
learning more about our church! She said yes! We had one of the
miamaids from the ward come, and what an incredible lesson! She was
able to recognize the Spirit so quickly! As we read Moroni's promise
with her, we asked what she thought it was saying. She said, "well I'm
not sure, but as we were reading, I got this strange tingling
feeling!" The Spirit!! She has agreed to read the Book of Mormon, and
if she finds out its true, she's agreed to baptism on February 13!
Whoo! It was the best 1st lesson I've ever been a part of! It was
worth the wait! Haha
Our other 2 new investigators are S and M! M was in
our books from 2014 but was never contacted. We called him up, asked
if he was interested, and he immediately said yes! We went over and
his grandmother, S, answered the door. M had just left but
would be back soon so she let us in! We started talking with her, and
she is a very spiritual person! She's lived in Lacombe for 2 years,
but she hasn't gone to church because she hasn't found the right one.
Perfect! 😜 we started the lesson with her, but not too far in,
M shows up! This guy was not what we were expecting! He had long
black hair, a nice thick goatee, big chain crosses around his neck,
more of an alternative look! Haha and he is the nicest guy in the
world! As we taught them about the First Vision, they both thought
that this was an experience that could have happened! They also loved
the idea of the Book of Mormon so they have agreed to read it! The
only obstacle we came across with S was the idea of baptism and
priesthood. She's been baptized in another religion, and she doesn't
see the need of being baptized again. So we're going to work on that!
Haha it's amazing how something can be so clear in your mind, but it
sounds like gibberish coming out of your mouth! But I'm so excited to
teach these wonderful people!
Yesterday, we were in the little village of Clive! Just 700 people in
this place! We were doing service for a member, and we decided that
instead of normal tracting, we would try service tracting! Meaning
offering free service! We prayed to know where the Lord needed us, and
then we started driving! We drove passed this lady who was shovelling
her sidewalk! Perfect! We ran back to the member's house, borrowed
shovels and headed back! We asked this woman if we could finish the
job for her, and with a face of relief she agreed! We worked away, and
Sister P worked her way up to the porch. This lady opened the
door and they started chatting. Soon her husband joined the
conversation. After I finished, I joined them, and then her husband
looked at me and said, "Christensen huh?" I nodded, and then he said,
"that's actually kind of humorous!" Confused, and thinking he was
going to ask if I was related to someone, he proceeded to say, "well
it's humorous because you don't believe in Christ! Mormons don't
believe in Christ!" 😳😐😞😠😡😤 Wait what?? I almost proved his point
by doing something very un-Christlike! But I stopped myself, but still
corrected him by saying, "actually I do believe in Christ!" He said,
"Mormons don't believe that Christ is the son of God!" "Actually we
do." "That he's the only way that we can get to heaven?" "yep, he's
the only way to get to heaven!" "Only through Him can we be saved?"
"Exactly! He's the only way!" Naturally then he threw in, "but what
about Joe Smith??" I proceeded to say, "he was only a prophet. We
worship Jesus Christ! This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints!" He didn't have much to say after that so his wife thanked us
for our kindness, and we went on our way. What a frustrating/fantastic
experience! I've never felt so insulted, and yet I wasn't insulted at
all! Haha It would have been so easy to have taken offense in that
situation, but I'm so grateful that my last name was able to let me
teach someone the correct principles about our church! I realize that
I have a pretty big name to live up to! And I not only represent the
church, but I carry Christ's name twice on my name tag! What a
beautiful blessing! I feel so honored to represent my family and my
Savior.
We visited one of our etern-I-gators this week, or an investigator who
has been visiting with the missionaries for years! Haha her name is
B, and I just love this woman so so much! She had let us know
that one of her friend's sons was dying. As soon as we showed up, she
was reading the Book of Mormon! We asked about it, and she said, "I
was having a hard time and I remember that in Alma it talks about the
resurrection so I turned there for comfort!" 😳🎉🎊 how amazing is
that?? We talked about the plan of salvation with her and cheered her
up. She knows that this book is true! She just doesn't want to change.
So please keep her in your prayers! We're really going to focus on her
this week!
Whew! That was a lot of stories I know! But it was amazing week. It's
never ever easy, but it is so worth it! I had a dream the other night
that I came home early from my mission. My family and friends were
supportive, my co-workers welcomed me back with open arms, it was
amazing! But I wasn't happy with myself, and I knew that I hadn't
fulfilled the promise that I made to my Heavenly Father. I'm so lucky
to have that kind of unconditional love from the people around me, but
I'm here to serve my Heavenly Father with all my heart, might, mind,
and strength. Thank you for always loving me and supporting me! But I
won't see you for 14 1/2 more months! I fully intend to serve 18
months, and I can't wait to see what new adventures lie ahead after
that! Have a killer week! I love you!
Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed
investigator to 4 in the last 3 days! It's been amazing how the work
is finally taking off! I have no doubt that it is because the Lord
sees us working as hard as we can, we're being obedient, and we have
faith that he will lead us to those who are ready!
Our 1st new investigator is H! She's 15, and she was a Mormon.org
referral. Her brother wanted to give her a bible for Christmas, so he
requested one through the church website! He had no intention of
sending missionaries to her, but the Lord works in mysterious ways! As
we delivered the Bible to her, we asked if she would be interested in
learning more about our church! She said yes! We had one of the
miamaids from the ward come, and what an incredible lesson! She was
able to recognize the Spirit so quickly! As we read Moroni's promise
with her, we asked what she thought it was saying. She said, "well I'm
not sure, but as we were reading, I got this strange tingling
feeling!" The Spirit!! She has agreed to read the Book of Mormon, and
if she finds out its true, she's agreed to baptism on February 13!
Whoo! It was the best 1st lesson I've ever been a part of! It was
worth the wait! Haha
Our other 2 new investigators are S and M! M was in
our books from 2014 but was never contacted. We called him up, asked
if he was interested, and he immediately said yes! We went over and
his grandmother, S, answered the door. M had just left but
would be back soon so she let us in! We started talking with her, and
she is a very spiritual person! She's lived in Lacombe for 2 years,
but she hasn't gone to church because she hasn't found the right one.
Perfect! 😜 we started the lesson with her, but not too far in,
M shows up! This guy was not what we were expecting! He had long
black hair, a nice thick goatee, big chain crosses around his neck,
more of an alternative look! Haha and he is the nicest guy in the
world! As we taught them about the First Vision, they both thought
that this was an experience that could have happened! They also loved
the idea of the Book of Mormon so they have agreed to read it! The
only obstacle we came across with S was the idea of baptism and
priesthood. She's been baptized in another religion, and she doesn't
see the need of being baptized again. So we're going to work on that!
Haha it's amazing how something can be so clear in your mind, but it
sounds like gibberish coming out of your mouth! But I'm so excited to
teach these wonderful people!
Yesterday, we were in the little village of Clive! Just 700 people in
this place! We were doing service for a member, and we decided that
instead of normal tracting, we would try service tracting! Meaning
offering free service! We prayed to know where the Lord needed us, and
then we started driving! We drove passed this lady who was shovelling
her sidewalk! Perfect! We ran back to the member's house, borrowed
shovels and headed back! We asked this woman if we could finish the
job for her, and with a face of relief she agreed! We worked away, and
Sister P worked her way up to the porch. This lady opened the
door and they started chatting. Soon her husband joined the
conversation. After I finished, I joined them, and then her husband
looked at me and said, "Christensen huh?" I nodded, and then he said,
"that's actually kind of humorous!" Confused, and thinking he was
going to ask if I was related to someone, he proceeded to say, "well
it's humorous because you don't believe in Christ! Mormons don't
believe in Christ!" 😳😐😞😠😡😤 Wait what?? I almost proved his point
by doing something very un-Christlike! But I stopped myself, but still
corrected him by saying, "actually I do believe in Christ!" He said,
"Mormons don't believe that Christ is the son of God!" "Actually we
do." "That he's the only way that we can get to heaven?" "yep, he's
the only way to get to heaven!" "Only through Him can we be saved?"
"Exactly! He's the only way!" Naturally then he threw in, "but what
about Joe Smith??" I proceeded to say, "he was only a prophet. We
worship Jesus Christ! This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints!" He didn't have much to say after that so his wife thanked us
for our kindness, and we went on our way. What a frustrating/fantastic
experience! I've never felt so insulted, and yet I wasn't insulted at
all! Haha It would have been so easy to have taken offense in that
situation, but I'm so grateful that my last name was able to let me
teach someone the correct principles about our church! I realize that
I have a pretty big name to live up to! And I not only represent the
church, but I carry Christ's name twice on my name tag! What a
beautiful blessing! I feel so honored to represent my family and my
Savior.
We visited one of our etern-I-gators this week, or an investigator who
has been visiting with the missionaries for years! Haha her name is
B, and I just love this woman so so much! She had let us know
that one of her friend's sons was dying. As soon as we showed up, she
was reading the Book of Mormon! We asked about it, and she said, "I
was having a hard time and I remember that in Alma it talks about the
resurrection so I turned there for comfort!" 😳🎉🎊 how amazing is
that?? We talked about the plan of salvation with her and cheered her
up. She knows that this book is true! She just doesn't want to change.
So please keep her in your prayers! We're really going to focus on her
this week!
Whew! That was a lot of stories I know! But it was amazing week. It's
never ever easy, but it is so worth it! I had a dream the other night
that I came home early from my mission. My family and friends were
supportive, my co-workers welcomed me back with open arms, it was
amazing! But I wasn't happy with myself, and I knew that I hadn't
fulfilled the promise that I made to my Heavenly Father. I'm so lucky
to have that kind of unconditional love from the people around me, but
I'm here to serve my Heavenly Father with all my heart, might, mind,
and strength. Thank you for always loving me and supporting me! But I
won't see you for 14 1/2 more months! I fully intend to serve 18
months, and I can't wait to see what new adventures lie ahead after
that! Have a killer week! I love you!
Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed