Hello Everyone!


Wasn't General Conference incredible?? With 25 pages of notes, you could say that I enjoyed it! Haha I received a lot of peace as I heard the simple messages about living the gospel is truly the way to happiness. The talk that resonated with me was Elder Rasband's talk about following the first prompting we receive from the Spirit. I realized just how often I don't do that! Haha so I've been working on it the last few days, and he is so right! The Spirit will direct us promptly, we just have to be willing to follow it. 

Ok storytime! The eye-covering picture from last week was from an experience Sister H and I had up in Fort St. John. We went to this sketchy trailer park to try by a former investigator. She opened the door, and she couldn't have been more uninterested. She chatted with us for a bit though, and a few minutes into our conversation, I realized... she had no thumbs! Not on either on her hands! I kept playing through my head how she would open a jar or open the door.. haha such a unique experience. So we decide to go knock on her neighbor's door, and this guy peaks through the blinds..... I immediately turn to Sister H, and loudly whisper, "he's naked!" We were horrified as the door slowly opened. All I kept thinking was Maintain eye contact!! He kind of hid behind the door as we talked with him, trying so hard not to die laughing! He was for sure under the influence of something, but we had a nice conversation! Haha as we wrapped up our conversation all of a sudden, he stepped out from behind the door! AH!! I just kept staring at his face and wrapped up the conversation as quickly as I could! He took our card, and it took everything in us to wait until we were around the corner to start laughing! I couldn't believe that we had just talked to a naked old man! We laughed about it for a solid hour, and I felt so bad that corrupted this brand new missionary! Haha but it was a memorable experience none the less. 

Life started to get pretty real these past few days. I was able to have my exit interview with President Pattison on Saturday, and my My Plan interview with President Appleton yesterday. It felt really good to verbalize my goals and plans. It's been a bit hard to see anything past mission life, but I'm grateful that the Brethren are encouraging us to take the time to have solid plans and goals for when we get home. It was a blast being able to talk business with President Pattison! I've been waiting for so long for that to happen! And of course.... there was a great marriage pep talk... haha 
I am so grateful though for an incredible supportive mission president. I love that man more than I can express. He has changed my life. The Lord knew that I needed President Pattison. 

Well this is it, this incredible journey is about to come to a close. It truly feels so unreal. The closer it gets, the more unreal it seems, but what a blast it's been to look back on how I've grown. I look forward to some incredible experiences this week! Have a wonderful week everyone!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

Well Friends!


The Great White North treated us well this past week! We got to see so many incredible things! 4 moose, the Northern Lights twice, and miracles upon miracles!

​Sadly there is not a ton of time this week.... I'm sure I sound like a broken record... but our next P-day is in just a few short days! So the majority of those stories will be told next week. I will however tell you about some of the thoughts I've had over the past few days. 

With countless hours of driving time this past week, I've pondered about how my mission has changed me. I've been thinking a lot about how I've transformed over the last 18 months. Something that was really hard for me at the beginning of my mission was the idea of being a different person when I got back. Everyone that I knew that went on a mission came back a different person. Although it wasn't a bad different, I was so worried about being so different that the people that I love would think differently of me, possibly in a negative way. After wrestling with that for the first 3 months of my mission, I learned that I needed to accept that I would change and that change is a good thing! That meant that the cleansing power of the Atonement is working in my life! So as I let myself accept this change, I found that I was a lot happier. About 3 months ago, I was reflecting on that struggle I had experienced, and I compared it to how I felt now. To my surprise, I felt more like myself than I ever had before in my life. When I came to this realization, the thought popped into my head, "you're becoming more like the person you were before you came to this earth." Wow. What a truth that is. I feel as if I am coming to be the person I was in the pre-mortal existence. The one who fought for the Father's plan. The one who knew what struggles she would face but chose to come anyway. The one who couldn't wait to become like her Heavenly Father. That's what this life is all about, rediscovering that person and becoming even greater. I'm in awe of how the gospel truly changes us. What a privilege it is to look back and see how the Atonement of Christ changed me. The greatest part is that the change isn't even over! I can continue to discover myself as I continue to live the Doctrine of Christ. I think that's the most exciting part, there is still so much to come. 

People, I know I say it every week, but I love what I do. I love that I can share this message of hope and love every single day. I'm learning that life is about moments, those small instances where we see something incredible happen. My mission has been made up of millions of them, and the finale just keeps getting better and better. 

Until Tuesday, I hope each of you enjoy a blessed General Conference weekend! As I always say, "It's the Spiritual Super Bowl!" Also, the new Easter video is INCREDIBLE! It's exactly what the world needs. Be sure to check it out at https://www.mormon.org/! 

I love you all! 

Sister Bethany Christensen

#blessed

People, my life is insane! What a crazy week and a half it's been! But I have loved every second of it. I have learned so much! Since we were on exchanges on Tuesday, our P-day is today!


First of all, the sisters of this mission are incredible. They blow me away with their dedication to the work and to the Lord. I feel honored to be able to spend time with so many of them. They have taught me so much. Our adventures this week took us to Wainwright, Lloydminster, CHERRY GROVE, and Sherwood Park.Of course with the limited time I have, I can't give you updates on every place we went, so I'll mostly focus on Cherry Grove, I'm only slightly biased. ;)

Because one of the sisters in Lloyd got sick, we got to head to Cherry Grove a day early, which meant that we got to go to church!!! Heavenly Father is so good to me! As soon as I walked in, my heart just started exploding with love for these people I care for so dearly. I was basically sprinting through the doors, and I immediately started seeing the members! It was the greatest feeling in the world to see their faces light up as much as mine. It almost felt like coming home. I love that place more than I could have ever realized.You can't put a price tag on the experiences of a mission. Sitting in that chapel, surrounded by people who have changed my life, I couldn't help but think, "this has got to be what heaven is like." My life has truly been changed by the people of Cherry Grove. I don't know why I have been so blessed to have been able to come back 3 times on exchanges. I keep trying to figure that out, and it may take a long time before I find out, but I am so grateful to have been able to watch the people I taught transform. Being able to see some of my investigators at church, to go teach lessons with the sisters, I can see the transformation in these people! It almost brought me to tears because I can see the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in their lives. I can never thank Heavenly Father enough for the people of the Cherry Grove area. 

Another highlight of the past few days was our two Mission Leadership Council (MLC)! Man, I have missed that glorious council! We had the opportunity of meeting with 2 members of the Missionary Department of the Church! One of them was Brother Donaldson, now if you've served a mission within the last 6 or so years, you'll know that Brother Donaldson was the mission president over the mission where they filmed The District 2! Needless to say, he's a missionary legend! Sister E and I got to spend some time with him and the Assistants on Wednesday, and then we were trained by him yesterday. What an incredible man. He reminded us that as missionaries, we make things way too complicated. The gospel is simple! Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. That's it! Everything we do leads back to those basic principles. It really brought me back to the basics, which I always need. Some exciting things are coming for the mission, and I can't wait to see the miracles that do come,

Goodness people, I just love this work. Every day is such a sweet gift from Heavenly Father. I'm so glad I have a few more to help more and more people come unto Christ. As I shared my departing testimony at MLC today, I was overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude to my Father in Heaven for this experience. I'll never be able to pay Him back for this. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me this week. 

I love you all! Have a great week!!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

​Hello Everyone! 


What a whirlwind of a week! The life of a traveling STL is INSANE! But SO fun! We were able to go to Wetaskiwin and Red Deer this week. Sadly, email time is in seriously short supply this week, so pictures will have to do! Sorry friends! I promise that at least on my last week, I will write a legit email. :D 


I am so grateful to get to spend time with so many wonderful sisters. We have seen miracle upon miracle and it's only the first week! I can't wait to see what's next!

I love you all so dang much! Have a great week!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

Hello Friends!


Things have taken quite the unexpected turn this week. We received a transfer call, and I will be leaving Sister W. She has been called to TRAIN! She hasn't even finished her training! But I have no doubt that she is going to be incredible. It has been an absolute blast being her trainer. I didn't really have to do much! She is so capable and follows the Spirit so closely. I am so sad to have spent such a short amount of time here, but my next assignment is going to be an adventure!
I have been called to be a Traveling Sister Training Leader! Crazy!!! So as of tomorrow, I will be traveling throughout the mission assisting other companionships with finding, teaching, and such! I'm overwhelmed by this call, I feel so inadequate! But I am so grateful to have a chance to work with some incredible missionaries. I can't think of a better way to spend my final moments in the mission. 

I had a member ask me this week for some advice to her son on a mission about building a successful area. I thought a lot about that question, and this is what I came up with. I don't know if there is much of a secret formula, connecting with others comes through love. I've always loved the phrase, "leave an area better than you found it." Being in my 4th area, I've had the chances to work with 6 different wards. The most successful areas are the ones where the Ward council is focused on missionary work. The Lord will provide work only in areas where He can trust the members. If He can't trust them, why would He bring His children there? That being said, I've found that the best way to get the Ward Council on board comes through serving them. Meeting with the head of each auxiliary on a one on one basis builds a lot of trust, and it shows you're ready to help. The more you're involved in Their work, the more they will care about ours. Only with rare exceptions, members WANT to support the missionaries. And they will, especially if they learn to love you. If they see you working your tail off, especially when helping them, it's inevitable! They will have that Christ-like love for you growing naturally in their lives. I think as missionaries, we expect things to change in a manner of 6 weeks, because to us, that is a big chunk of our missionary life! But as we've seen in our investigators, true lasting change takes time. We may never see an area become successful, but we can plant those seeds of helping wards become a unit that the Lord can trust. The Rutherford ward especially is one of those wards. The Lord trusts them!!
 
Well friends, my emails honestly most likely won't get any longer before I head home. Just know that I love the gospel, and I love this work! Never forget that the Lord loves you!

Have a great week!! I love you all!!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed
​

Hello!! 

People, it was such a warm week this week!! Almost all of our snow is
gone, we could tract without our coats, life is just too good right
now. I told Sister W this week that I'll never complain when it
gets hot.... and that's probably a lie.... haha but after being in the
Arctic North, I'm so grateful for warmth! It has been such a good week
for us. It has been miracle after miracle, and it just keeps on
coming!

Wednesday, I had my interview with President, goodness I love that
man! We had a great conversation about how things are going, balancing
the work and prepping to come home, and he said that more than likely
Sister W and I will be staying together!!! So so happy! I love her
so much. Then we had district meeting which was a blast! We played a
jeopardy-style scripture game and had a blast. I love the missionaries
I serve with. Then we got to spend the majority of the day tracting,
which was incredible!! It was almost 60 F! It's amazing how happy you
are when the sun is out and it's warm. We talked to a lot of people
about their families with it being Family Day weekend. Not a ton of
people were interested, but we did find a few potentials!

One experience we had while tracting was with a Syrian family. The
father answered the door, but he didn't speak much English. His
daughters started translating the best they could, but it was quite
the struggle for all of them. They offered to have us come in and have
some coffee or tea, but sadly the mother wasn't home. Due to high
religious persecution in their home country and the huge language
barrier, we aren't able to teach them right now, which breaks my
heart! They mentioned how they had been in Canada for only a year, and
I can't even imagine what it took to get them here. I take so much for
granted in my life! Everything I could ever want is right in front of
me, and I don't have to flee my own country to find happiness and
peace. We walked away from that experience counting our blessings for
sure.

Thursday was another big Finding day! We started out with Contacting
outside the LRT station which I always love! So many people to talk
to. Then we went back to tracting! We went out to a newer community on
the edge of our area, and we didn't find many people home. Then.....
4th floor, last door! The woman at the last house at the end of street
was cleaning out her car, and so we started chatting. She's a lost
sheep!! She grew up in her church, all of her family are members, but
she has joined another church. She was quite standoffish at the beginning, but the more we talked, the more she opened up. She never really gained her own testimony. We were able to talk to her about her family, and it felt so good to help her share the things that mean the most to her. We can't make anyone want to participate in the gospel again, but we can help them feel the Spirit. I know that Heavenly Father wanted us to find her that day. 


I don't have much more time, but here's a quick update on the humans we're teaching!

M and kids- So so so good! They came to church again, and they are loving the ward! She's slowly starting to understand the need to be baptized, and we hope to set a date either this week or next! She's praying about it right now.

C and B- We got to teach them the first lesson this week, and it went really well! 

And there are more people, but I just don't have time! Sorry friends! I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

Hey-o!!

Things are so crazy in our area! We found out on Sunday that one of our wards we cover is moving to another building that is 30 minutes away from our current building. SO.... things are going to get insane on Sundays!! But we'll see how it goes! In all honesty, writing emails is hard! I just don't have the brain power anymore! So sadly this will be a shorter email. Sorry friends!

Sister W and I are doing so great! We work really well together and with the ward! We are making some major headway with trust of both ward councils. I'm excited to see what will come from it matched with our hard work.

M's doing so well! We met with her Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. She expressed how she knows that God placed us in her life for a reason. haha  She and her kids LOVED church! To use her son N's words, "if Church were a YouTube channel, I would hit subscribe!" Haha they are so great! They came again this week, and they walked right to their classes! And they were SO good in sacrament meeting! This is our golden little family! The only concern that has come up is baptism. M doesn't see the need to be baptized again, so our next lesson will be reviewing the Priesthood. I just love them all so much. The ward is really excited about them, and we feel this will be such a positive experience for their family. 

The C Family is one of the miracles from the week! We were stopping by a referral, and they live across the street. I was so extremely exhausted that day. I don't know what it was, but I could barely stay awake. The referral wasn't home, so we were trying to decide what to do with the 20 minute window we had before our next lesson. Sister W felt the prompting to knock on their door, and they let us right in! B is the oldest, 22, and he was the one who let us in. We showed them the Hallelujah video from last Easter, and him and his teenage brother, C, talked about their faith in Christ. They currently attend a Presbyterian church, but they have agreed to hearing about the Restoration next week. We invited them to the His Hands concert as well, so they may pop in to see that! I can't express how grateful I was for Sister W in that moment. My energy tank is starting to run on low, and her energy and enthusiasm has carried me through this week. Heavenly Father has blessed me with an incredible companion!

To make up for my extra short email this week, here are a ton of pictures! :D I love you all! Have a great week!!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

Hello friends!

When is life going to slow down?? I feel like I was just writing you yesterday! Time sure is flying... here are some of our adventures this week!

Tuesday night was amazing! We had a chance to go to the His Hands concert. Our mission has put together a choir consisting of 12 missionaries. They are traveling to all of the chapels around the city performing this concert that is centered around the life of the Savior. It was INCREDIBLE. These missionaries are SO talented, but the Spirit itself was incredible. They have put so much work into it, and it shows! They had over 120 people at their last performance, and it's only the beginning of the month! The one our wards are hosting is at the end of the month, and I have a feeling that the place will be packed. Music has the ability to touch hearts in a way that words can't, and I know that we're going to see a lot of miracles from this concert. I'll keep you posted on what happens with it over the month!


We had a really cool experience on Thursday! We had 20 minutes before our supper, and so we tracted a street that was just around the corner. The first door we knocked on was a super nice Indian man! He said that we could come back later that night! Miracle! So after dinner, we went over and taught him and his wife! Their names are R and M. They moved to Michigan from India so he could attend school, and now he is a professor at the University of Alberta! They are of the Hindu faith, and so our conversation was very interesting. We taught about the importance of God and prayer. Because they practice a polytheistic religion, (many gods) and so we felt it was important to focus on the principle of God being our loving Heavenly Father. We were able to testify to them that God truly has changed our lives! M then said, "I'm always interesting in life-changing things!" Haha It was so cool because she asked us how she could pray so that she could receive answers to her prayers! R was a bit more difficult to convince, but they are  both open to learning more. It was such a blast teaching them! Sister W did such a great job with asking inspired questions, and they both want to come to the His Hands concert. We're praying for a miracle with those two! It's amazing how fast you can come to love people. 

We were able to teach M this week! We found out that her phone hadn't been working, but we had a lesson with her on Saturday! She's so solid. We read in the Book of Mormon with her, and she loves it! It's a bit challenging for her because English isn't her first language, but we are getting one for her in French. We're going to be meeting with her two times a week now, once by herself, and once with her kids! Those kids are too cute. They love when we come over! They kept asking their mom if they could go to church! They all were able to make it to the last hour of church this Sunday! The ward was so welcoming to them, the two older boys fit right in in Primary, this is going to be so great for their family! 

I got to check something off of my mission bucket list this week! Teach a lesson with the Assistants! I've always wanted to see how they teach, and I wasn't disappointed! One of the recent converts in their ward, L, is dating a guy that is interested in learning about the church! He lives in our area, but he has been attending their ward for church. His name is C, and he's in his 20's. We taught him with the AP's on Saturday, and the lesson was the Plan of Salvation. What a great lesson!!!!! The Spirit though! This guy is just so humble, he has such a sincere desire to know. He recognized all on his own that they way he will know if this is true is by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it's true. We all prayed together at the end, C said it, and after, there was a solid 90 seconds of silence, and the Spirit was just radiating in the room! He kept saying he wants to know why he is feeling these feelings he's never felt before. It will be such a blessing to play a role in this journey he is taking. 

Friday night was one of those tender mercy moments. We had planned to stop by a part member family, and so we did, but the parents wouldn't be back for about 20 minutes. We decided to stop by a less active who lived next door. Honestly, the only reason I wanted to stop by her was because she has the same last name as MaRhea and Sam... so shallow! So we knock, and she lets us right in! So we start chatting away about this and that with her and her mom. I asked her to tell us some fun facts about herself, and she said that it wasn't a good time, she was having a rough night. Only then did I realize that her arm was all bloody. Just minutes earlier, she had attempted harming herself. My heart just sank. Heavenly Father knew! I hadn't had the slightest clue! But he knew, and he made sure that we were there at exactly the right time. A few minutes later, her visiting teachers showed up to help, and they were so shocked to see us. They said she doesn't normally let the missionaries in, but we were there at exactly the right time. I have such a testimony of God's timing! I don't understand it, but he knows each of us so personally and gives us exactly what we need at just the right time. It's so incredible. He just loves us so much!!


Life is seriously so good. I am so grateful to be in this amazing country serving incredible people. Even if it's so cold my eyelashes stick together! Haha I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I hope each of you know how much I appreciate and love you! 

Have a great week! 

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed

Hello Everyone!

What a fantastic, incredible, exhausting week! Super week was so super!

It started with our WorldWide Missionary Training on Wednesday! There were many things shared about repentance as well as baptism and the new focus the brethern of the church are having in helping others to more fully come unto Christ through these things. Also our missionary schedule has been changed! We now are doing what they call "being agents unto ourselves" which means we have more freedom to choose how we want our schedule to be like. It's kinda different and crazy to adjust but it's a neat way to help us exercise our agency and prepare for real life when we come home after our missions to know how to fit in the important things in life like praying, reading the scriptures, etc. 

After the training, we had exchanges! I had Sister H with me here in Greenfield. I just adore that human! She works so hard and has the biggest heart! She is so energetic, and we had so much fun! We went tracting for a nice chunk of the day, and we had one of the laurels with us. We had a lot of people not answer, but fourth floor, last door! The last guy answered! We had a great conversation with him, and he almost accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! But we might be working with him in the future on a service project, so he said he would take one then. We also got to teach a recent convert together, and I loved teaching with her! She follows the Spirit so well, and she makes me want to be so much better!

Friday was MISSION TOUR!! What an incredible day. I finished the day being so spiritually exhausted in the best possible way. We received some amazing counsel from Elder and Sister Echohawk. He shared some pretty incredible stories with us about the influence that missionaries have, and it was so inspiring. I left feeling so empowered and motivated to help every person around me! Something else that he mentioned was that we aren't in this mission because of some random selection, God called us here because we needed it! I am in the Canada Edmonton mission for a very specific reason. I feel a big part of that is President Pattison. I love that man more and more each time I see him.He sustains and lifts me every time I see him I'm in awe of his diligence and careful effort to help each missionary. Every time he talks to me or writes me an email, I feel like I'm his favorite person! And I know that he makes everyone else feel the same. It has been such a blessing to have him as my mission president. 

Saturday was one of the best days of my entire mission! I had the opportunity to go see P and W K get baptized in Sherwood Park! Fun story- I didn't know W was also getting baptized!  I had called Sister A just to make sure the baptism was at 2, and she said they had a surprise for me. I had my own theories, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. So we show up, and P & W sprint out of their car to come see me. Totally made my day! After we get inside, we start getting everything ready near the font, when I am informed that W IS GETTING BAPTIZED TOO! I tried to keep it together, but the tears just started flowing! My heart just exploded! I love those two kids more than I can describe, and they both made the decision all on their own to be baptized. It was perfect. As I spoke to them about the Holy Ghost, both of their faces just lit up with joy. They get it! They know that it's true, and I can't wait to see what they will do in their futures. 

I have been so blessed to watch three incredible people enter the waters of baptism over the last 2 weeks, and I can't express the joy that I feel! This is truly the greatest work on Earth! Nothing is as fulfilling as helping others come closer to Christ. That was a big theme I noticed during mission tour. This is truly a sacred work! What a privilege and honor to work alongside the Savior in His work. My time is starting to get fairly short, but I know that I can't slow down even a little bit. There is too much to do, and too many people to help. I am so grateful for my role as a representative of Jesus Christ.

I love you all so so much! Have an amazing week!

Sister Bethany Christensen
#blessed