Week 73

Hello family and friends.  This week was an exciting one in our zone. We have a district in our zone that has been pegged as one of the two wards that nobody wants to go.  Last year, this ward had (I think) 2 baptisms. This weekend, they had 3, bringing this year’s total to 5!

Another cool story.  I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous letter, but at the beginning of March when I first got to this area, Pomona had not had a baptism in 3 months.  President came to our zone meeting and asked us, "Why isn't Pomona baptizing."  Our district leader had been in the area for 6 weeks and had had the assignment of district leader for 4 days.  Every companionship had just changed 4 days earlier.  We have seen everything change here in Pomona.  In the last 30 days, we have had 7 baptisms in this ward and every companionship has baptized.  We aren't dealing with thousands like Ammon and Alma, but we're on the right track :)

We had interviews on Tuesday.  President did something a little different with our companionship.  He brought all 3 of us in and we talked about planning.  Here's how the conversation went down:

President: "Who's one of your progressing investigators?"
Us: "Rosario."
President: "What is the biggest thing that you could see getting in the way of her getting baptized?"
Us: ...pause... "Not understanding that this church is Christ's church and not some other church."
President: "Good. Good. Very insightful.  Now, what have you done about that?"
Us: ...pause... "Uh. Well. Nothing yet."
President: "So I'm not picking on ya, but you're telling me that the Spirit has told you what this lady needs and you haven't done anything yet?  So what are you going to do?"

It sounds harsh, but he did it with so much love.  He amazes me.  He told us that we are doing well.  As a mission, baptisms are up.  Now this newer focus on planning is going to take us to the next level. This upcoming Mission Leadership Council he told us that we will be looking at the mission effectiveness report (or whatever it's called) and setting goals and making plans to hasten the work.

These last two transfers, I feel like I have been learning so many life lessons.  Working with different types of people, the power of a unified vision, the power of planning, and acting on those plans.  As described by my good friend Elder Andrew Woodruff, who is finishing his mission this upcoming week, the mission is the Disciple Training Center.  I'm so grateful to be here.

To close, here's an update on the Lopez family.  Last week, the Lopez family did not come to church nor to a church activity that we had. We talked with them Saturday night and we asked them if they have felt any kind of a difference this past week. They all said that they felt empty. We explained again the importance of the sacrament. They committed to come to church the next day and asked us to give them a call to help them be on time for the sacrament. They came 5 minutes before the meeting started (the earliest they have ever been). We stopped by for a quick visit after church. We asked them how they felt. They said that they feel normal again. I am so grateful that they now have an increased testimony of the importance of church and it was really the Spirit that taught them everything.

Love you all!
Elder Christensen

NOTE: I asked Tanner what they do to involve the members with the investigators/new converts. This was his reply:

In the ward I'm in right now, we have a monthly FHE as a ward where it is encouraged for people to bring their nonmember friends.  We also make a huge push to get our current investigators there.  Also, every week the members of our ward get together to play volleyball.  This is a tradition that has been going for a long, long time. We usually have around 30-40 show up so we end up rotating who is and isn't playing.  When we aren't playing in the games, we are introducing our investigators and less actives to the active members.  We think that this had a HUGE role in the Lopez family's social conversion.  Also, we are working with a prospective elder that hasn't been active for 7 years.  He has had a blast the last two weeks at volleyball and he came to church yesterday.  On his way out, he said, "I'm surprised how many people still remember me."

 

So ya, that's what we have done.  We haven't really started anything new, but we have made an effective use of what was already in place. 

Love you!

"Because of Him"

So this was my first full week with my new trio.  We did pretty well this week in every category except for sacrament meeting.  We found 9 new investigators which is the most I've had in a while. It was good to get back in the groove.  Elder Williams has been helping a lot.  We had 6 people lined up to come to church and none of them came... lame sauce. 

It was so cool seeing the "Because of Him" video "light up" Facebook.  All of the members that saw it loved it.  We ended up teaching Gospel Principles yesterday with the topic of Easter.  We showed the Bible video that came out last year called, "He is Risen."  We started talking about the Easter story and why all of that was a big deal.  We tore apart Alma 7:11-14.  Then we watched "Because of Him" to close.  It was a very spiritual meeting.  Too bad that there weren't many investigators.  We'll do better this next week.

I want to share a bit of what I have come to better understand while being here on the mission.  That is the example Christ gave while passing through all that was required to fulfill the Atonement.  As His suffering in Gethsemane was approaching, Jesus said that he was "sorrowful unto death."  He partially comprehended that what he was about to go through would stretch him like nothing that He, or any other human, had ever or could ever experience.  In more modern English, He essentially said to the Father, "Father, I know that you can do anything. I know you have all power.  Please let there be some other way."  And then, he starts his next phrase with the word that has become one of the most significant words for me found in the Bible, "nevertheless, not my will but thine be done."  To quote Elder Holland, "This is the Living Son of the Living God saying, 'isn't there some other way?' And for Him there wasn't."  

So when we are called to pass through our personalized trials, we are often tempted to ask if there is any way that we could get out of it.  We ask for the bitter cup to pass.  But the answer from our Father sometimes will be the same as it was for Christ.  God does not leave the salvation of His children to chance.  Everything that we pass through has been calculated perfectly to give all of God's children the best chance for salvation.  So when we are called to drink our much smaller versions of a bitter cup, we can know that there is always a purpose.   In these moments when we ask ourselves if God's love has ceased, in fact it is often being demonstrated in ways that we are often unable to recognize.

I can't remember who said this, but there was a quote that I heard this week that went, "If the New Testament ended with the death and burial, there would be no good news."  Christ's triumph over death forged the possibility of a brighter future.  Because he lives, we will all live again.  We have the promise that we will overcome our trials and weaknesses.  We have the promise that no bitter cup is bottomless.  Because he lives, all that is unfair will be made fair. 

Elder Maxwell said, "If it is also true (in some way we don't understand) that the cavity which suffering carves into our souls will one day also be the receptacle of joy, how infinitely greater Jesus' capacity for joy, when he said, after his resurrection, “Behold, my joy is full.” How very, very full, indeed, his joy must have been!"  Someday, we too will experience this fullness of joy.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is essential to our salvation and our eternal happiness.  All these things are made possible because of him.

I hope that you all had a fantastic Easter.  I thank you all for your love and your prayers.

Elder Christensen

Week 71

So family and friends, transfers take place tomorrow, and I'm staying here in Pomona. I'm in a trio...for the 5th time! My new companion is Elder Williams. He was my district leader a year ago. All three of us have been out more than a year and a half, so we'll keep each other moving!!

Yesterday, President came to Pomona and taught the 3rd hour of church. The Lopez family also got confirmed and President confirmed Omar (dad). It was pretty cool writing "Seventy" next to his name on the baptismal form. We are teaching one of their cousins and she really wants to be baptized. We are going to figure out how to play this one out since she is going back to Mexico soon-ish.

For a super awesome spiritual uplift, you HAVE to watch this video if you haven't seen it already. It's on www.easter.mormon.org. If you have seen it, watch it 5 more times. And then, post it to your Facebook or email it to a friend. It's so cool!  I feel like I can take on anything after watching that video. 

Elder Christensen

P.S. Thanks to my family for the package of food and Easter goodness. I've been loving everything!

Week 70--The Work IS Hastening!

First off, I realized this week how little time I have left and it freaked me out a little.  Then, thinking over the past 6 months helped me realize that I still have a lot to do in the next 6 months.

Wasn't conference fantastic?  I loved Elder Bednar's talk.  I have a talk by him from a few years ago where he shares much of the same principles.  For some reason, it hit even harder this time.  I am so grateful that we live in a time where the talks are ALREADY online to listen to again.  I love it. (After listening to Elder Bednar's talk, I have made the following change to my write-up on Grace that I sent last week...."Simply enough, when you trust in the strength of man, you carry the load alone.  When you trust in the strength of the Lord, the strength of the Lord carries you.")

So for all those who haven't heard, my mission president has been called as an Area Seventy.  I don't have many more details than that, but I would like to say that, like President Eyring was talking about, President Becerra has become one of my spiritual heroes.  He has helped me develop a hunger for the word of God that I hope never dies out.  I can't remember if I mentioned this, but that grace write-up I did last week was a result of an invitation he gave me.  He'll do a fantastic job.

On Tuesday, we had the chance to go as a Mission Leadership Council to the temple.  It was SO cool. We went through a session and then had about 30 minutes to talk with the temple president.  And of course, when you get a chance to ask questions, all the questions you have either leave your mind or don't have revealed answers.  It was such a special experience.

Afterwards, we talked a lot about planning.  I have decided that 1) I'm awful at planning, and 2) I never want to stop planning my days. We talked a lot about having a vision for what we want to accomplish, like asking ourselves, "why am I working towards this?"  "why do I want this baptism?" "why am I going to school and studying this major?" This helped us (or me at least) get a higher vision of what we are doing out here. It was one of those lessons that I know I have been taught before, but it really sunk in this week.

The Lopez's are still doing so well.  They came to conference this week.  On Saturday night, we went to their house and two of their cousins were visiting (one from Mexico).  We had Hugo (11) help us teach by showing pictures and talk about what's going on.  As we started talking, she said, "ya, I want to be baptized. I want to get closer to God."  Hugo (11) and Fatima (14) both prayed that God would help their "aunt" get baptized.  They came to conference the next day and said that President Monson was by far their favorite. Omar (dad) said, "that man has power!"  It was so cool.

In our zone, the attitude has totally changed.  We had a meeting with our zone where we taught everyone about having that higher vision. The spirit there was so much stronger than it was last month.  In our area in particular, the number of lessons has almost doubled since the beginning of March.  I think having everyone see the Lopez baptism got them stoked.  To explain the situation a bit more, 2 of the 3 wards in our zone are historically difficult and the ward that is historically good (where I'm serving) has been having a really rough time.  One of those 2 historically difficult wards has baptized just as many this year as they did all of last year and they have another one set up for next week.  The other ward had a baptism last week and will have another this upcoming week.  Our ward had the Lopez's last week and another baptism yesterday.  The work IS hastening.

Thank you for all your love, prayers, and emails.  Transfers are coming up this week....

Elder Christensen

 

 

NOTE from Sheila... My brother-in-law (Peter Evans) met President Becerra at the training meetings for the Seventies last week. He sent us this picture Saturday after President Becerra had been sustained.

"What They Had Always Dreamed Of" --AND-- "Thoughts on Grace"

"What They Had Always Dreamed Of"

Hey family and friends.

 

This week was one of the most memorable weeks of my mission.  It was so insane.  To sum it up, THE LOPEZ FAMILY GOT BAPTIZED!!

 

So I have decided that I hope my wife doesn't want to do anything huge for the wedding, because weddings are a pain.  So, we tell everyone to be there ready to set up at 6:00.  At 6:00 we had 4 missionaries and 2 members.  At 6:30 we get a call from the bishop's wife saying that she won't be able to make it because of some stuff that she had to attend to at home last second (not her fault).  The day before she had said, "Don't worry about decorations.  We'll take care of it."  My heart dropped.  At this point in time, we had the tables and chairs set up with nothing else.  We had enough food for about 15 people.  Then at about 6:40, everyone starts coming.  We ended up with all the food we needed.  We were able to throw together some decorations from past activities, and it actually ended up looking pretty cool.  We had a less-active make the cake, and she did a super good job.  

 

Everything ended up perfect...UNTIL...EARTHQUAKE!  It was the first one that I have ever felt.  I don't know if it was big enough to be on the news in Utah, but ya, it happened.  The Arizona Kerrs sent me an email saying they were at Disneyland when it happened.  We were cutting the cake when it happened.  I felt the ground vibrating quickly underneath me.  I thought my body was doing something weird.  Then, we all felt the floor shift about 6 inches instantly and we realized what was going on.  Then it calmed down after about 10 seconds.  A few people freaked out a little, but we were able to keep going with the wedding.  We left to go home a few minutes after.  We have felt a few aftershocks since then.

 

Alright, so to sum it up again, there were lots of little miracles that happened along the way to get them baptized. It happened, though, and it was such a cool baptismal service! We played the bible video of Jesus getting baptized right before the ordinance and it brought the mom to tears.  The ward support for the wedding and the baptism was inspirational. The wedding was "what they had always dreamed of."

Hermana Olvera (bishop's wife) gave the talk at the baptism. In her talk, she mentioned how she and Bishop dropped by one night to talk to them. Bishop came home that night with the distinct impression that this family would be baptized and that they would be great instruments in the Lord's hands. She said that since then, they had been praying for this family to be able to be baptized. Omar (the dad) said that her talk "greatly moved me." All four of them stood together in front to share their thoughts at the end and the Spirit was very simple, but very powerful.

 

Such a week of miracles.  Love to see everything that made all that possible. (pictures attached)

Thank you all for all your prayers!

 

Elder Christensen

"Thoughts on Grace"

Here is a compilation of what I have learned regarding grace over the course of my mission and specifically what I have learned in the last few months.....

In 3 Ne 12:48, the resurrected Jesus commands, "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."  Then a few days later, he asks, "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?" Then, answering his own question, he says, "Verily I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Nephi 27:27).

Perfection always seems out of reach.  It feels as though with every step we take, we come to realize the journey is one step farther than we originally thought. We look at where we are now and where we need to go, and we are often overwhelmed by the distance that exists.

This is what we usually focus on, forgetting that the Lord has promised the way is prepared to accomplish what he commands (1 Ne 3:7). "Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and fallen state, and ever would be SAVE they should rely on [the] Redeemer" (1 Nephi 10:6) We ARE in a lost and fallen state.  We can't pull or lift ourselves out of it.  The Redeemer is the ONLY way (Acts 4:12).

A convert from Australia said, "My past life [was] a wilderness of weeds, with hardly a flower strewed among them. [But] now the weeds have vanished, and flowers spring up in their place."  Bruce C Hafen taught that Christ's grace is needed to pull out the weeds and to cultivate the flowers (Atonement: All for All, April 2004).

It seems that it is commonly accepted that Christ's atoning sacrifice was necessary to help us pull up all our weeds.  In my life, and I think in much of the Mormon community, it is presumed that we are left to our own abilities to cultivate our flowers.  We read scriptures that say, "work out your salvation with fear before God" (Alma 34:37) and we mistakenly think it is all up to us.

We think we can just "white knuckle this thing" and do it by "sheer grit, willpower, and discipline." There came a time during the Great War between the Nephites and the Lamanites that the Nephites began to trust in their own strength.  They thought that they could do it on their own.  They had seen so many miracles come that it was starting to go to their head.  They had forgotten the reason for and the source of their exceedingly great strength. "And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper..." (Helaman 4:13)

In contrast, Nephi, after recognizing his weakness, prayed, "O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh" (2 Nephi 4:34).

We might think that because Jesus had to drink His bitter cup on his own, we have to do the same.  This is not the case.  Elder Holland testifies, "Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so" (None Were with Him, April 2009).

Simply enough, when you trust in the strength of man, you are left with the strength of a man.  When you trust in the strength of the Lord, the strength of the Lord is added to you.

Paul testified, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). This does not just include divine strength to break bands and withstand fire, but also the extra help needed to turn weaknesses into strengths. We must be merciful with ourselves and others for as long as that process takes -- and it is a process. "Slow, steady progress is possible through the strength of the Lord. His grace IS sufficient.

Elder Christensen

La Habra earthquake

Here is the extent of the effects of the earthquake... :) Gratefully, Tanner lives about 16 miles NE of La Habra (where the earthquake was on Friday), so their apartment did not receive any damage. But, as he said in his letter, they did feel it while they were at the Lopez wedding. He said that Friday night was pretty rough with all of the aftershocks, but things have calmed down! 

Another Wedding and Baptism!!

Hey family and friends.  Another week here in Pomona.  Still having a rough time adjusting, but we feel like we have a little bit more direction now.  Historically, this has been a ward that does really well with member referrals.  I think that there is a lot that could happen doing that.  Anything before 5 o'clock is pretty hard. Everyone has a normal, consistent work schedule here.  That alone is a big change.  Those who have jobs and families are generally much more established here than they are in LA.  I think that means a greater potential for real growth.

So, we have been able to use Facebook for awhile now.  To this point, what we have seen is there are two groups of missionaries: the group that gets on Facebook and wastes an hour of their day not doing much good, and the group that isn't sure how to use Facebook effectively so they have kinda stopped using it.  I definitely have fallen into the 2nd group. This week, we got an updated packet of instructions for Facebook.  As I was reading it, I could feel the huge potential that could come from Facebook.  So we are going to be going through the suggestions more thoroughly and see what we can get to happen.  As far as I know, nobody has had a baptism from Facebook proselyting yet, but I think that there is definitely potential there.

The Lopez family is doing super well.  They decided that they want to get married!  We brought President on a lesson with them on Tuesday. He helped them see that they didn't need to have this massive wedding.  He explained that this wedding is to be able to follow God's commandments.  The wedding in a year is the REAL one to celebrate. So ya, they're ready to go.  He hooked us up with a guy that is willing to help recent converts get clothes for church.  They were super excited to be able to blend in when they go to church.  The 11-year-old had apparently been talking to his mom a lot about looking like a missionary. So we are going to be having a wedding on Friday and then their baptism on Sunday. They are super cool and super prepared.  The ward has been awesome in helping get everything ready. There are just a few small strings to tie up before Friday.

So for the last few months, I have had an ongoing study on grace. This week, I'm going to type it up and that will be a major part of my letter next week.  It has been a super cool process to go through and learn about this topic.

Thanks for everything!  Keep praying for the Lopez family.  I'll try to get caught up with pictures next week too.

Love and kindness,
Elder Christensen

NOTES:

• Tanner mentioned that he'll be going to the temple with the Mission Leadership Council and President Becerra next week. He is so excited to be able to attend with his President.
• The 11-year-old Lopez boy is already talking about how badly he wants to go on a mission! Tanner's going to give him a "Future Missionary" badge.
• Tanner mentioned in his letter last week that he wanted to try going gluten free. Well, he tried it and found that it's not so easy in an "uncontrolled" environment. It was also creating more problems with his hypoglycemia. He's decided it'll be better to wait until he is home, where he can learn more about it and control what his meals comprise. (smart boy!)  :)

Week (what is it?) :-)

Hello family and friends.  Thanks again for all the birthday greetings.  My birthday was full of meetings.  We had district meeting (and we went to a different one in our zone), then we had a meeting with the district leaders in our zone, then we prepared some reports that took way longer than we thought it would, then we ate dinner with a member in our area, then we went to Stake Correlation and nobody from the Stake Presidency was there. So that was a little frustrating.  The package I got from my family was AWESOME.  Mom's cookies, some stuff to help with headaches, and a painting from Dad.  The painting is SO cool.  I will send a picture of it home with the next round of pictures.  My birthday cake was 3 of Mom's cookies stacked on top of each other with a candle I got from another missionary stabbed down the middle (picture pending). Thanks for all your love!

This is my first time being FULL TIME biking. Ya, I biked a few weeks here and there in my other areas, but this is definitely new. We're on bike all the time except for when we have a zone leader assignment. Riding the bus and walking are not really options in this area, so "finding" is a whole new experience here.

So, I'm going to try going gluten-free this week and see if that makes any difference for me.  There is an Elder in our district that gets super messed up when he eats gluten, so he's going to be my guide. I went to the chiropractor again last week, and I'm still doing well headache wise!

The Lopez family is still on track.  We are a little worried that they might not make their date on the 30th.  There is a lot that needs to happen between now and then.  They all came to church and enjoyed it a lot.  Please pray for them.  Side note, Sulema (mom) is a fantastic cook.  She made camarrones a la diabla (a super spicy shrimp dish) this week.

The experience of the week was definitely yesterday.  We got a text from a member that we didn't know asking us to come over.  When we got there, her 95-year-old mom was there.  She had just gotten out of the hospital.  She felt like it was about her time to go, so she wanted a blessing before passing on.  There was such a sweet spirit there. We'll be checking up on them throughout the week to see how she's doing.

Question: Have you done any good in the world today?

Have an awesome week!

Elder Christensen

Note from Mom:

Emily and I got to meet Tanner's good friend from the mission, Elder Blanchard (Tanner was Elder Blanchard's last companion before coming home). We attended his homecoming yesterday. It was so much fun hearing him talk about investigators/converts that we "know" and have pictures of.

We went up to introduce ourselves after the meeting; and when I told him who I was, he got this HUGE smile on his face and said, "Oh, I LOVE your son!"  I thanked him for the impact he has had on Tanner and told him how glad Tanner was to have had the chance to serve with and learn from him. Elder Truman said,  "Well, he's really a great missionary... and, I asked if I could be HIS companion for my last transfer."  I thought that was so sweet!

It was hard not occupying all of his time. I just wanted to keep talking with him...he had just been with our boy!!!!

It was a great day!