SO GRATEFUL

November 26, 2020

SO GRATEFUL

Hi everyone!! I hope everyone had a great week and that you are enjoying the start of the holidays. This is my favorite time of year and I'm excited to experience my one and only Thanksgiving and Christmas in the mission field!!

It was a pretty solid week here in Kirkland!! The work is going really well and we haven't seen too many set backs with the new Covid regulations. Fortunately we are still able to teach people inside their homes but aren't allowed to eat within member houses and we can't go out and tract as much. So the work is moving on!! I do understand that many other missions have a lot more strict of rules right now so I am grateful for all the work I get to do outside and inside other homes! Even if it 40 degrees and pouring rain ;) On that Covid note… the entire Kirkland zone (besides us and the sisters) are all in quarantine due to either exposure to the virus or an actual positive test. So us sisters had a blast doing all of the service projects the Elders had set up and raked leaves for hours! The sun was even out for one of those days so that was a total treat for my pale and sun-deprived face haha!

The Flores family is still doing amazing! They really are my second family here in Kirkland and we have a blast together. We spent a lot of time this week introducing them to the features of Light the World and watching President Nelson's gratitude message to help them kick off the holidays. They loved all of it and all of them were in tears watching the prophet's message. It was amazing. We even helped them set up their first Christmas tree and Nativity set in their apartment! It feels so good to serve others and enjoy the spirit of the holidays by helping others grow their testimonies of the Savior! I will be sad to miss the holidays with my own family back home but I know Heavenly Father has given me a second home with the Flores' where I am needed this year!

I hit my 6 month mark in the mission this past Thursday! I have learned so much on my mission so far about the gospel, the Spanish language, my Savior and about myself. My mission has stretched and pulled me out of my comfort zone time and time again but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I am so grateful for the last 6 months I've had being a full time missionary and it has already changed my life! Cheesy but true. I have never experienced such tough moments of trial and such amazing feelings of joy and love thanks to my mission. I am so excited to serve this next year and to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me. I love being a missionary. Hard is good!

I hope all of you enjoyed President Nelson's message as much as I did. I have loved focusing on gratitude these past few days and I know it has made a difference in how I go about my day. So for a spiritual thought, I would love to share my quick testimony of the gratitude I feel for all my many blessings! I know you all have been bombarded with stuff like this lately but I hope you can endure just a little more :)

To begin, I am so thankful for my amazing family. I'm grateful for my loving parents and all that they've taught me. I'm grateful for the examples of my siblings and the unconditional love they show me. I'm thankful for the support I receive from my amazing grandmothers and the love I feel from my strong angel grandfathers on the other side of the veil. I'm grateful for all my many cousins and aunts and uncles and the joy they bring into my life. I'm so grateful for the beautiful earth we live on and all the incredible adventures I've enjoyed in God's creations. I'm grateful for my dogs. I'm so thankful for my amazing friends that I've been surrounded with my entire life. I wouldn't be the person I am today without the Christlike influence and positivity I receive from all my many girl and guy friends! I'm grateful for my ward families! From the Princeton ward to the Poplar Grove YSA with Bishop Jim and now to the Lake Washington spanish ward, I've learned so much attending them all. I really am so thankful for each and every one of you! All of you have had a profound impact on me and I wouldn't be here on my mission without all of your never ending support and love. I never feel alone thanks to all my loving family and friends and I couldn't be more grateful. Last but not least, I am so thankful for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I don't know who I would be without it! I am so thankful for the knowledge that I can live together forever with my family and that God really is my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful that I can become a better person and overcome any challenge ahead of me by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm very thankful for the Book of Mormon and the reassurance, love and revelation that it gives me each time I read it. I'm grateful that through all of these crazy and difficult times, I can always be looking forward to the future with hope and faith because God already has a perfect plan in place. And of course, I'm grateful for my calling as a missionary and the fact that I get to solely focus on the good. I'm filled with so much gratitude for all of these and countless more blessings!

I consider everyone reading this email just an amazing blessing to me! I love you all. Have an amazing Thanksgiving week and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. I would love to hear from you!!

See you in a year everyone ;)

Sending love from chilly Seattle!!

Difícil es bueno.

Xoxoxoxo Hermana Christensen