Spanglish Baptism

September 02, 2020

Spanglish Baptism

Hello from Kirkland!!

I hope everyone had another great week starting school and that you all stayed safe! It was a good week here in sunny Washington! I hope summer weather never ends here honestly.

The easy highlight of the week was the baptism of the Tiburcio girls, Sarah and Kailynn! Sunday was such a special day for their family and it was so much fun to plan the baptism for them. I gave a talk on following the example of Christ by being baptized and shared scriptures from Christ's own baptism in Matthew 3. As it says in verse 16, the heavens really were opened and I know Heavenly Father is "well pleased" with Sarah and Kailynn! There was such a sweet spirit during the service. As a missionary your heart really is filled with love and happiness when you see the people you've taught enter the waters of baptism. It got me so excited for the rest of my mission when I can hopefully help more of my friends be baptized!

We had MLC this week and that was another highlight! I don't know how much longer I'll be able to fake it there with transfers coming up but I'll take what I can get! It's always so much fun to tag along and I learn so much! It's always great hearing from President and Sister Beardall and being surrounded by so many strong missionaries.

Progress with our friends is continuing too! Johnny is facing lots of problems still and Satan is working hard on him but his testimony and desire is strong! We love Johnny so much and even though teaching him has taken a different turn than we thought it would, it's been so great to bring him closer to Christ. He's awesome! Keep him in your prayers. Sweet Lilianna is doing great as well! She is progressing so well and I love seeing her faith grow each day. As of a few days ago, she has gone from 5 cups of coffee a day to zero! She's amazing. We are praying that continues!!! Her baptism will be happening soon! We're so excited for her. I have time and time again seen the hand of the Lord in the lives of my investigators and know that every success we have is all due to Him.

We had exchanges this week with the hermanas serving in Federal Way! So for the day I had the opportunity to basically lead in Kirkland! It was so fun. I was here with my companion Hermana Mather and Hermana Zacarias who entered the field with me on the same day. Hermana Fredrickson likes to take control of things usually and Hermana Mather can be more on the shy side at times, so it was a good change for me to step up and make some decisions! All of you know me and know that taking charge and leading is right up my alley ;) We taught several lessons and the exchange helped me realize how I've already grown as a missionary and will be ready to finish up training in 3 short weeks! Lots of good things and good change to come! I'm excited!

An overall theme I saw throughout the week was love. I saw and felt the love that Heavenly Father has for His children in several moments. I have found out that the more we focus on loving one another, the better we understand the supernal and unconditional love that our Heavenly Father has for each of us. With more love in our hearts, we grow closer to Christ and our Heavenly Father. It is through love that we are all here on earth and it is through the loving sacrifice of the Savior that we can find our way back home. Sister Beardall shared with us this quote from Elder Utchdorf during MLC this past week:

"For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become. We are created in the image of our heavenly parents; we are God’s spirit children. Therefore, we have a vast capacity for love—it is part of our spiritual heritage. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals; it also defines us as a church. Love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ."

I loved this reminder from Elder Utchdorf that love is what defines us as a church and as individuals. Showing love to others is our path to become like Christ! Look to love more this week everyone!

On that note, I love you all! You're all amazing and I appreciate all the love I receive on a daily basis from everyone back home. Have another fantastic week!

Sending love from sunny Seattle!!

Difícil es bueno.

Xoxoxo

Hermana Christensen

P.S. Just to put into perspective how great Kirkland, WA is….my sweet Grandma Barbara informed me of a fun fact that Costco was created here! That's where the "Kirkland Signature" name comes from! Hahah pretty awesome right??! Go Kirkland woot woot