Finding the Happy in the Hard

October 18, 2020

Finding the Happy in the Hard

Liliana...I love her!

Hola todos! I hope everyone is doing great and had another solid week. Thanks so much for reading along!! We're officially in fall here and that unfortunately means a lot colder temperatures and the beginning of constant rain as the leaves continue to change! Nevertheless, we are soaking up every bit of sunshine we can get.

We are having a ton of fun in our companionship and have been setting some high goals to work towards! We are staying busy and I have seen a lot of growth the last 3 weeks in my confidence, Spanish and overall trust I have in the Lord's hand. We taught 25 lessons this week and had a blast doing it. Can't believe the transfer is already half way through...the time warp of missionary life! The biggest blessing and curse hahaha! We really do have a lot of work going and tons of potential in our area. I had interviews with President Beardall this past week and kindly informed him that I'll be staying in Kirkland for at least another transfer to get some of our investigators into the waters of baptism. He simply laughed at me and smiled so I think we are on the same page haha!

Some of the highlights and updates from this week include Liliana's testimony, Johnny's blessing and our homie Herman! We were in charge of a Facebook devotional this past week and our recent convert Liliana bore her testimony for it! I was there filming with her and listening to her describe her own conversion story and how she feels about the gospel was so special for me! The spirit is so strong with her. Her favorite thing to do is to grab my right cheek with my dimple every time I smile at her. I love my Colombian mama! This past Sunday Johnny was given a blessing from one of our members in the ward. Needing comfort and clarity in his situation, Johnny was super eager and excited to experience the blessings of the priesthood in his life. The spirit was SO crazy strong that it was almost tangible. Such an awesome experience. Keep the prayers going for good ole Johnny. Another quick highlight of the week was meeting our new friend, Herman! Herman was found on Facebook by missionaries in Missouri (I think?) and after a few referrals later he found the Spanish speaking Hermanas in his area...us! Herman is from Guatemala, super nice and had us right over after we gave him a call. He is really interested in changing his life and has family friends that are members. He told us that he wants more light in his life and we reassured him that the light of our Savior is the best place to start. Herman is an awesome example of the work being hastened via. technology. I know there are so many people that wouldn't be able to receive the blessings of the gospel without technology! I'm excited to keep teaching him, to continue to work with all of our other investigators and to keep teaching english/gospel lessons with a bunch of potentials we have! The work is busy and even if missionary life is challenging at times, I am happy! Hard is good.

On that note, I want to share a quick spiritual thought from the latest missionary devotional that we participated in. Sister Becky Craven spoke to us about noticing and maintaining the joy in our lives even in difficult times. I would love to share two quick quotes from her message that I loved! The first was,

"This pandemic has taken a lot away from us. However, it will never take away our faith, our love and our joy that we find in the gospel."

I loved that! We may look at the world as a place that lacks love and peace right now but when we focus on our core beliefs and purposes in this life, we will realize that our joy never can be taken away! The world will never take away your own personal joy! A second quote she shared (this is already hanging up next to my bed) is,

"Find the happy in the hard."

Hard situations and difficult circumstances surround us but let's all find the joy in them! We are always learning, slowly growing and actively choosing to let God be the most important influence in our lives when we look for the happy in the hard! Keep looking for this joy because I know through our knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is always there.

I love you all so much! Have the best week. It makes my day whenever I hear from any of you. I feel like such a lucky missionary to have you all as my cheerleaders. I am cheering you all on in all of your many endeavors as well!!!

Sending love from rainy Seattle!!!

Difícil es bueno. Encuentre el feliz en lo difícil.

Xoxoxo Hermana Christensen