This is a Beautiful Life

August 05, 2020

This is a Beautiful Life

Best Humans Ever!

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great week. It was a busy and fast week here in the WA Seattle mission! The best kind of weeks as a missionary! It was nice and warm weather here and I worked on my missionary tan lines even more...but it doesn't come anywhere close to the heat back home in Utah though! I sure am fine with being here in Washington right about now haha!! Nothing better than summer in Seattle!

There was lots of driving this week! We had Zone Conference, exchanges and Missionary Leadership Council all in the same week. Due to the current Covid restrictions we can't meet as large groups of missionaries inside, so we drive down to Federal Way to have our big activities at an outdoor pavilion. It's actually so much fun to enjoy the fresh air and be around so many other missionaries. Both Zone Conference on Tuesday and MLC on Friday had perfect weather, yummy food and awesome spiritual messages. President and Sister Beardall are my favorite people ever and always have such great things to share with us. I learn so much from each of them! I unfortunately was placed on the front row of both of these events and they made sure to call on me for almost everything hahaha...President wasn't going to let the newbies fly under the radar at all! Even though it turned into a long day of driving from Kirkland to Federal Way, those days have been some of my favorite and I will continue to look forward to these every transfer!

Due to my companions' roles of STL, I get to tag along whenever they need to do exchanges and that means every single week! Lucky me….haha. On Wednesday we had exchanges with our Hermanas in Enumclaw, a smaller town that is more inland from most of the areas. Lots of cow pastures, trailer parks and amazing views of Mt. Reiner! We just do day long exchanges so I spent a few hours there doing service and some contacting with the members in Enumclaw. Other than the pretty views, there really is not much to do there! The work is slower and the Latino population is nothing compared to my own area. For the first time on my mission, I wasn't just homesick for Utah but I was homesick for Kirkland! That exchange really put into perspective how blessed I am to be serving where I'm serving, with the companions I have! I feel so lucky to be trained in such an amazing ward and area. Driving back to waterfront Kirkland and feasting on some of my homemade cooking at the end of the day felt soooo nice. I do not want to leave Kirkland anytime soon! But transfers are next week so I don't want to speak too soon!

Another perk of all our early morning drives we had this week, was the views of Lake Washington! We drive past Mercer Island a ton and I love to drool over all the beautiful lakeside homes with their private docks. I even saw some boats enjoying the peaceful mornings by pulling some water skiers up the smooth coastline of the island. Definitely a dagger in my heart seeing that. Let's just say that waterskiing off of Mercer Island on Lake Washington is now on my post-mission bucket list!! Anyone can feel free to join me!!

Other than all of our meetings this week, we made sure to do some actual missionary work too!! We had two lessons with our new friend, Lilianna! She attended church the past Sunday and she is so great! I love her already. Our lessons have been filled with the Spirit and I'm excited to help her any way that I can! There's a technique called the "Pause Method" in my mission that our President encourages us to use a lot. This is where the missionary explains to the investigator what the Holy Ghost is and what it can feel like. Then after sharing a scripture, saying a prayer or showing a video, the missionary pauses for a time to give our investigator the opportunity to feel this same spirit for themselves. It might sound weird but hey it works! I pulled the pause method on Lilianna after I recited the First Vision from memory (shoutout to my MTC bff's) and gave the spirit the chance to its work! It worked beautifully and Lilianna described how peaceful and comforted she felt about Joseph Smith being a prophet of God. Seriously such an amazing missionary moment. Lilianna is now on date to be baptized at the end of this month! I am so excited for her and so so grateful that I get to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. Keep praying for Lilianna that she can continue to progress and build her testimony!

I want to share a quick spiritual thought from a book I've been reading called "Almighty". My mom sent this to me a few days ago and I've fallen in love with it! It talks all about "how the most powerful being in the universe is also your loving heavenly father" and is by David Butler. Definitely recommend it!! The simple truths I've read this week have reassured to me that I am never alone in this world because I am a divine child of God! One quote perfectly describes why we've chosen this journey here on Earth:

"Yes, it would be hard. Yes, it would have its challenges. But the experiences we were about to have, the lessons we would learn, and the way we would grow into the people God intended for us to be would make it worth it. This is a beautiful life, and the Father has a beautiful plan. Everything He has arranged on this Earth is for us to reach our eternal potential."

I just loved this quote! It beautifully explains the eternal perspective of our lives on Earth and why our Heavenly Father encouraged us to take this path! I hope all of you know that you have a very real and very present Heavenly Father that is supporting you in every moment! I know that every hardship we go through is to help us transform into the celestial beings that our Father in Heaven is yearning for us to become. No matter where you are on your own path, you are never alone as you endure and hopefully enjoy your way through this beautiful life!! I'm so grateful to be in this life with you all!!

Missionary life is still difficult and days can still be long but I am so grateful for my calling as a servant of the Lord! Nothing has brought me higher highs and lower lows than starting this adventure in Seattle. I've only had about a transfer in the field but I know these past weeks have changed me for the good. And it doesn't look like things are returning to normal back home anytime soon so I don't think I'm missing out on too much yet! Thank you all for continuing to read my weekly's and for all the supportive emails and letters I've been receiving. I have the best cheerleaders! I hope everyone has a great week and continues to enjoy the rest of summer. I love you all!!!

Deficil es bueno.

Xoxoxo Hermana Christensen

P.S. Quick funny story. We were doing some phone contacting this past week of potential investigators and came across a Latino family that is super interested in learning more and receiving lessons. Unfortunately they have recently moved out of our mission to none other than….Des Moines, Iowa!! We immediately referred them to the Spanish elders serving in their area. If only Elder Christensen was still there!!!! We could have done some tag team sibling missionary work. Oh well!! But I know this sweet family is in good hands in the IDMM!