Kelsey's Mission Blog

Hello All.

I don`t even remember what I wrote last week, but I remember it wasn`t very much, and probably super unsatisfying for most of you.  My bad!  I got caught up in something else and ended up not having time to give this proper attention.

We found out about transfers and I am staying around for another six weeks.  I am not even training!  here I was bing nervous that I would ruin the spirit and expectations of a happy unsuspecting greenie, and that president leavitt remembers everyone he threatens with training.  apparently not.  so that is a relief.

and with that, really, I will not tell you my mailing address because number one I don`t know the postal code, and number two the office is really five minutes away and we go there on a regular basis.  I can pick up my mail there. number three, it would probably be safer there too, because we don`t stop back at our appartment during the day and otherwise it just sits in the lobby waiting for anyone to take it.  super sketch.  use the mission office address, it`s great.

This week was the canadien thanksgiving!  it was weird because nobody really had any traditions for it, no one really knows why it started and it isn't related to fall decorations or pilgrims or native americans, or even turkeys, which in my mind defeats the purpose of thanksgiving.  all the buisnesses were close though, so that was fun.  I actually ended up not doing much more than my laundry last week too because something else  came up.  but we did have dinner at a members house, and I got to have a turkey leg and play with her cat lizard and dog. all good things in my opinion.  I think she said the lizard was like an aramaic armored lizard.  or something.  it looked like a dragon and didn't do much more than lick my arm.  I still think lizards are awesome in case anyone is wondering.

We... lets see here we did lots of running aruond chasing our investigators trying to get appointments with them and failing last week.  that was fun. I think we need new ones, they seem less than enthusiastic to see us most of the time.

I still need to talk to everyone* because my companion is really verbose and good at being professional at the drop of a hat as well, an uncanny and sometimes annoying trait as well but that is my own weakness and I digress.  it is super easy for me to not try very hard to talk to people is what I am saying. and that is a bad thing.  I need to change that.

*but not everyone really because as we found sometimes there are situations where you should have just kept walking.  we were talking to people on the street one night ten minutes before curfew because we had nothing else to do, and paused to talk to a guy lifting an amp into a doorway. we got talking and he found out sqinting at our tags that we were missionaries.  we did the usual "you ever met missionaries before/heard what they have to say/do you want to come unto christ?" and he was not really interested by obvious diversions away from the topic. he then ended up asking the question "you got a boyfriend at home?" and I was like 'no.' and then he asked "do you ever date on your missions?" and I was like 'No.>:| '  and he came back with "how long is that, 18 months? holy cow! I wouldn't ever be able to do that, I can't say celibate for 18 days!" to which we ended up clipping the conversation to that's nice sir, nope we don't do that, do you want a card, no, okay we're leaving.
moral of the story don't talk to people in front of bars, because they try to pick you up on a date.  and not the byu kind. XP

anyway let's try to salvage this with a spiritual thought.  so this week I was reading in the beginning of seccond Nephi, and chapter two talks about the nature of our lives and how there is opposition in all things and that is a result of the plan that was created in heaven by God and the Fall of Adam and Eve.  all of it works by the power of the messiah and his atonement right? and then we come to these two verses, 28 and 29

"And now my sons I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his holy spirit;

      and not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the decil power to captivate, yo bring you down to that hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom."

what all of this comes down to is that we ultimately choose to yield ourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the flesh, what we want, because as nephi later says in chapter 4... oh shoot I can't find it.  well it went something like christ deliveres us from sin, pain, and our frailties... and I really wish I could find it because it said something else about our habbits or our desires or something like that.  huh.  bummer.  well, that was going to be cooler but I am less of a scriptorian than I thought I was.  point is what we want isn't always good for us, and trusting the Will of the Lord helps us avoid our personal faults and pitfalls.

anyway.

send me mail. 

I love you all and am glad things are going well.

Sister Christensen.