this week has been a lesson in charity.

sometimes we get to a point where being nice and freely giving of our selves becomes no longer easy or doable but like hard work and even a struggle.  the thoughts of what I want to get done and where I want to go and what I want to teach sometimes take over and I loose sight of what is really important. 

yes there are many lessons that I can learn out here but approaching them from that perspective of looking into a mirror as to how everything reflects on me is not a productive way to look at things.  it leads to selfishness, self pity, and self centered ness.  I need to stop looking for that reward of doing a good deed, shouldn't the deed be reward in and of itself?  shouldn't I feel happy when other people feel happy? and rather than trying to do things that I think will make me happier I should just do things that make other people happier.

the days where I get upset that my companion is helpless without a gps or guide (me) to help her anywhere or the times I get frustrated when I don't get to finish a letter or the days when that stupid 5 BX workout program just won't go away are the days I struggle, those are the days when I cannot for some reason, by choice or by attitude look farther than the tip of my own nose to stop being so concerned by things that just shouldn't matter and yet do to some people! (including me) why do we struggle so much to let stupid little things go? why is it so much work to just choose to be happy? 

I know for myself that I struggle the most when I make this work my work.  because It isn't.  If I were to leave, the work of salvation would continue on, would hasten regardless, because "no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing."  including mine. the only way that anyone is to change their lives and themselves is by listening to the counsel of God himself.  in Mosiah chapter three verse 19 we learn it again " for the natural man is an enemy to god and has been since the fall of adam and will be forever and ever, unless he yields himself to the holy spirit and putteth off the natural man, and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the father seeth fit to inflict upon  him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

haha funny thought, once in my mission preparation class we were talking about humility and the professor said to the tune of a primary song I think most of us will naturally remember, "if you're humble and you know it then you're not." 

as in the book of mormon it is easy for us to fall into a cycle of pride. but, the way we brake it is through choosing to humble ourselves, alma taught 'blessed are they who humble themselves, without being compelled to be humble, or rather, blessed is he that believeth... without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know before they will believe.'  and as the people in helaman's day demonstrated in the face of severe persecution, even within the proverbial walls of the church,  'Nevertheless the did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in their faith of christ, unto the filling of their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.'

so I just need to do that.

sorry for using this email as an extension of my personal study, I think I needed to do a little self examination.  and I feel better now!  the scriptures are great. I love them. so i'ma get off my soap box now and go be happy.

I'm going to seriously try to write some letters today, I know I've said it like a million times, but really I need to write you people!  D:

I love you all,

Kelsey

ps: some pictures from before the sisters in our district peaced out.

hey everybody!! it's goood to write you again.

exciting things, lets see.  i gave a talk in sacrament meeting this week, that was pretty cool.  I used \elder \johnson's and elder Bednar's talks from last general conference about being desciples of christ and diserning the difference and important relationship of testimony and conversion.  because while it would be easier to talk on faith or baptism I find I always have to cut to the heart of the matter and talk about what makes the difference.  are we converted?  do we know how to endure faithfully to the end?  is that conversion manifested by our works, as alma and moroni testifies it should be? questions for your soul and all that deep 'who are you really' thoughts.  and then garbled over the microphone in a nervous jumble to a branch made up of spiritual rocks and waifs.  I hope they don't take it as offense, and I hope that they don't take it too lightly at the same time.  but do I really expect a change in missionary work from one measly talk of mine?  not really.  I'll have to keep working and keep pushing and keep on trucking out here on  the rock as they say.

there was also a funeral for the senior member of the branch this week, his name was brother hubert hobbs.  We didn't ever get a chance to know him other than on paper, or from word of mouth.  he seemed like quite the father figure for the branch,  so it's sad to know that he's moved on.  his wife is a rock though, I don't think I've ever seen anyone more put together in my life.  she's someone for whom I want to do the best work I can.

oh funny story though.  I was trying to find some less active members of our branch and we went down the list (which is extensive) to find chris fudge.  his house is in part of the older part of town, south of the university campus, so I almost expected him to have been a short term student from a few years ago.  so we go around knocking houses, and come to his on the corner, and try to decide which of the four doors on this awkwardly shaped town house is his, and after eliminating two came to the third, built out of the corner.  we knock, and nothing happens, so thinking the address might be wrong we look across the street.  the door opens behind us, and this guy is standing in a towel.  we then find out that he is chris and that he was thinking of 'coming to your church for the funeral.'  it's his chruch too, it's crazy to me that people think that just because they stop coming that the records magically dissapear.  but we talked to him behind the door in a towel and that was interesting.  he didn't come to the funeral.

that was pretty much the highlights of my week, the work is good and I'm running out of email time.

I love you all!  do what is right!

Sister Christensen

weekly email??‏

so I know these were supposed to be weekly and I am sorry. but the good news is I haven't died! 

and there is no bad news so win win.  

these past two weeks have been crazy, let me tell you.  last week when we were supposed to email the power went out and all the libraries were closed so we couldn't go someplace else, and then we didn't have a car because it was in the shop getting a new bumper because the elders before us broke it.  so it was good times.  we found out how to use the bus system which was fun, and my companion made a huger deal out of it than was really necessary but there you go.  

I don't know if I said before but we got a new senior couple in our district, and we just use them to drive all the people.  none of our investigators have cars, so they always need rides to the church which is tough because not many members drive and those who do usually have opinions on the subject of driving other people around.  so Elder and Sister Noftil are a Blessing.  

we had them drive us a couple places around town while our car was getting fixed, and we got to know them a little bit.  on their drive from the mission training center in utah they were in an accident that totaled their car, and luckily gave them no lasting injuries.  but because of that Elder Noftil is not at peak condition and I didn't think about that wen we asked them to walk across a college campus.  we had to turn around and it was awkward. good times.

but following that Noftil thought the mission president was here for our zone conference, and he had lots of good things to share with us and say.  I learned a lot, the main focus on his trainings was CHANGE (imagine an obama poster with P Leavitt on it, and you've got it.) and knowing our message (That the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in it's fullness... I'm always like, "we have a message!! but you dont get to know what that is until you let us in"  XD FAIL)  and then he proceeded to turn the branch on it's head and re-organize the presidency with Elder Noftil.  I am actually looking forward to all of this, as we now have a much tighter connection with the leadership in the branch, and somebody who's helping us out as far as missionary work goes. 

but what that basically means is that now instead of working toward the standard mission goals he wants us instead to focus on strengthening members in Newfoundland, since there's been a lack of unity in the members for a long time, and there's no reason why there shouldn't be a ward (full congregation)  in a city of 200,000 people.  especially since in some areas of canada there's multiple steaks (organization of multiple wards)  in communities of 4,000.  

so that is fun.

as far as my own experiences go, we met a really awesome person this last week, she let us in after bringing her kids home from soccer, and we had a nice chat about God and families.  when we met her the next time we learned that she'd been planning a trip to africa to do service, and she's like the community soccer mom with dreadlocks and a flair of interior designer.  honestly she reminds me of Liz, and I think it's great that you can find people to feel at home with all over the world.

I would share a spiritual thought but I have to get going.  I could use Sister Miehe's favorite one, Proverbs 3 : 5-6 "trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding,  in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths."  life's hard for a purpose, but if we trust in what we know to be right and true, we will feel God's love for us.  you can do eeeet!

I love you all!  

hey everyone! 

something cool happened this week. Michael was baptized.  I don't know if I've told you guys his story in full so I will start from the beginning.  sister Olson had been in this area about three months before I arrived on the scene, and spent a day at the university trying to find people to teach.  Michael came up and spoke to her in french, she spoke back and didn't really know what she said or if it was correct, handed a card with the address to the church and sent him o his way without getting any contact information or his name or anything because it was like her second day in the field.  it was then forgotten about until two months later when he showed up on his own at the last hour of church, having ridden the bus and asked people for directions for the hour and a half before he got there, alone, without being asked.  that just does not happen.  actually it does.  he came.  and then we didn't talk to him until the first time we met with him in a lesson at the university, when we answered a few questions about the law of chastity (fun times!) and gave a quick lesson on the restoration.  it was getting toward time to go, and the room we were in was booked in the next hour, so i decided what the heck, he doesn't seem that interested but I'll run baptism by him.  his answer was an emphatic yes.  surprise. the next meeting we got him on date, and then he came to every meeting and activity and Sunday service to the day he was baptized.  

his testimony is amazing, we thought his family was living in France but surprise again they live in Iran.  he gave up all possibility to going home because he knows this is true, he has had a personal connection with his father in heaven for perhaps years leading up to these past two months, and was completely willing to follow any and all things that were asked of him.  he said that once he started living the commandments, his days were better, his research went better, and in all he was happier.  that allthough there are real threatening consequences tied to his conversion and land of birth, he is okay with it, he trusts in the Lord, who is "Omnipotent and Omniscient" and will never let those who trust in him fall. 

Preparing for that day was interesting, cleaning the font and filling the water was like the celebration for me.  Newfoundland hasn't had a baptism for six months, and I think that his light and testimony inspired much of the branch, not just the missionaries.   being able to see the changes that this gosple has on people's life, is truly inspiring, that if we trust in the lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding that it will work.  it just will.  that you can see that light grow in people's lives, and just knowing that I played the smallest part in helping someone experience that change is amazing.  it's awesome, and for once that word really has meaning.  and to be honest, I really did nothing.  I asked some questions, the rest was God bringing one of his sons to the truth.

I love you all and appreciate all you letters and love!

I know Jesus is the christ, my redeemer, my savior,

until next week

Kelsey

Canada Day

I sent out a few personal letters today, so I don't feel so bad about just saying, I don't have time to write because it's Canada day.

here's a weather update, it's 24 degrees C and 110 % humidity.  we may as well be breathing water.  I'm pretty sure it is more humid than Mississippi, it's crazy.  and the air conditioner kind of broke in our car.  good times

I love you all!  if I haven't written you back it isn't because I don't love you but I really just don't have any time.  Like ever.  but know I do read your letters and love every one of them!

have a good week!

So

Hi everybody.

our friend from Iran is  getting baptized in two weeks.  we found out from president Leavitt that after looking into all the rules and regulations and guidelines and after having met with Him via skype and learning some things about him and his circumstance, he decided through revelation and prayer I'm sure, that as a child of God, our friend (name removed for privacy) can be baptized.  he is glad.  in his own words he said that he is speechless.

so it's kind of funny, so I'll tell a little bit about what happened with all that this week, because as you can assume it was an emotional roller coaster, and I'm glad that I survived it, and that my companion can just be happy now.

I'm going to name him Michael because I can't keep referring to him as he.  Michael had his conference call with president Leavitt on Tuesday, and when we got to talk to him about it he pulled us aside privately and asked us if everything was alright.  to which we asked the same question and he was like "well, we talked and it was good, but sometimes I was uncomfortable.  it was like an interrogation, lots of questions, and some of them were upsetting."  apparently President Leavitt accused his parents of hiring an assassin to kill Michael after his baptism.  haha good times.  Michael thought we were all crazy and that we had terrible misconceptions.  so we talked, and asked him if things like that don't happen and he was like "they do, but I'm not important enough for that."   hah.

he also didn't understand why it would be a higher consideration ( considering the whole church) and so we explained to him that his baptism is a private affair, but people tend to hear about things like that and blow them out of proportion.  take the whole Jewish people in temple work for example.  it's a matter of not offending anybody who could ever possibly be offended, because if they can, from experience they will be, mostly because they don't understand. 

so all in all, things are great, because Michael knows and understands his savior Jesus Christ, and is excited to follow his example and now can be baptized.  yay for happy endings.

also the missionary broadcast was great,  if you guys didn't get a chance to see it, I encourage you to look it up because it was awesome.  (sometimes a bit corny, but who doesn't love happy families?  it kind of is part of the whole meaning of life.)

so basically i should stop writing so much and let the other sisters have a turn, because today's a holiday and apparently everything and it's outhouse is closed on holidays in Newfoundland, and we're emailing on the church's one family history computer.

I love you all, I promise I'll write letters today!

Hey all!

I've gotten a lot of mail this week, the district leader and some other Leadership peeps went to Halifax for a day and came back with my mail!  so that was good to see the things that you'd sent before I learned my NF address.  I'll work on replying to those today so that you can stop thinking I'm a terrible person, who never replies to her mail.

oh man what a week.  can I just say, sometimes I get stressed? I didn't think it would happen out here, but I realized that it still does.  I just hope that I'm justified in my worries, because man oh man, my stomach's in knots.

so then there was this one time when we were teaching two really awesome and interested children of god.  each were found separately and each is learning and growing in their knowledge and testimonies of the gospel at their own rate.  they both have a Muslim background, both are insanely smart, have PhD's in pharmaceuticals and masters in nanotechnology and whatnot, and both happen to be from Iran.  this was all fine and good until one of them brought up the concern when we asked him if he was considering baptism, that if he doesn't get permanent residency in Canada and has to go back to Iran, (which in all honesty would happen because his family lives there) then he would almost undoubtedly be shot and killed.  Martyrdom is great.  haha just kidding no it's not.  so then we asked our other investigator what his knowledge was of this and he was like "yeah, I know the consequence. Death. But it's not about You.  it is about you're responsibility to God."  so we asked the mission president what to do.  because we have no intention of sending people to their death.  he called up the line of church authority and found that we are advised to not even teach people from Iran, because we're not supposed to baptize them, and just waving the benefits of the gospel in front of their noses while withholding the ability to participate would just be cruel.  

so now we have an investigator who has a solid testimony that Jesus Christ is his savior, keeps the commandments, and is ready to hop in the baptismal font without us, and we aren't even supposed to be teaching him.  like at all.  and President hasn't yet told us what to do.  so I'm stressed.  it's great.   and he hangs out with the YSA Girls. and Victoria is openly flirting with him.  and he might not be able to be baptized.  and I don't know what to do.  I'm hoping that something will happen, somehow they'll be given a route to citizenship or something, because everything I've learned about Christ so far would suggest that he would not prepare the hearts of these people so well, without having a plan for their happiness.  so that's happening.

but on another note, we had a pretty cool experience in church this Sunday.  one of the former investigators from mount pearl came to church, and sat in on the Gospel Principles class on baptism.  she's been coming to church off and on and her parents are Mormon, but she was never baptized.  toward the end she had an epiphany that was better described later in relief society.  she'd said that she had been having a lot of trouble trying to make ends meet, and last night that from a little extra money she had she could have gone out for a night of dancing but instead decided to stay in and read (later revealed that she'd read her scriptures.)  the next morning she woke up in time to make it to church which apparently never happens (and also had time to get a Tim Horton coffee on the way which she then sipped through sacrament, but little steps.) while waiting in the parking lot she had the money that she had the night before and decided that she should pay tithing.  as she decided how much to give, she came to an amount that gave her peace, knowing that she wouldn't have enough probably to pay bills. and turned it in.  as a result she gained a spiritual witness to an answer that she'd been looking for for more than 25 years.  she said and I actually found it quite profound, "I get it now!  I've always had concerns about the authority, but now it makes sense.  Women were given the ability to create life, and Men were given to cleanse it."  of course she was much more dramatic than the text sounds, because she's got more blackitude than most Mississippians.  but it is always cool to see someone else's testimony grow, and gain that witness yourself as well.

so basically, life is normal, I guess?  I'll write everyone back as best I can today, and hopefully you will get letters soonish.  and by that I mean a couple of weeks.  the post is slow on the rock.

Love 

Kelsey