Hello my incredibly amazing and wonderful family :)
This week has been absolutely amazing. It has been filled with blessings from the Lord and I know that there is nothing that happened this week without the Lord being a part of it. We had four people we teach come to church this week. One was a young boy named Andrew who's mother is less-active and his father is not a member. Missionaries have been working to help their family for a long time and we have been working to help Andrew be baptized into the church. He is a very, very bright young man and it was exciting to see him at church. It was the first time I saw him at church since I have been here.
Brother Pan was able to come to church this week and during the week we met with him 3 times :). On the third visit he said that he will be taking a test on July 30 and would need to change the date. We asked him when and he said, "What about next week!" We would have loved that but we knew that he still needed a little bit more time to be able to fully understand what we taught. So we moved the date from the 30th to the 23rd. Brother Pan knows that he will be baptized and he has already said things like, "when I am a mormon...". It is amazing to see the progression that he has made in the past two weeks.The thing that really helped his progression was coming to church and I am very grateful for the help of the members in the ward giving him rides. He is a special Son of God and I know that God has a work for him to do. I can't wait for his baptism!!!
The next person to come to church was Ivan. He is our Russian friend and this week when we tried to teach him a little more about the gospel he rejected it. But when he came to church he really started to ask questions and open up on some concerns that he has. It was a real testimony to me of how important it is to have people not of our faith come to church. We asked Ivan if he would like to receive a Book of Mormon in Russian. He said he would rather have english. But we explained that if we gave him both it could help his english and understanding. He agreed and we are working on getting him both an english and russian Book of Mormon.
The last person was Panda and her cousin. Well, with Panda she wanted to come to the singles ward and she came early enough for her and her cousin to just hit the last few minutes of RS in the Mandarin Branch. From that the members were able to invite Panda's cousin to activities and got her email address. It was cool. Then I sat with Panda during Sacrament meeting and taught her a little bit about the sacrament and it's significance. I had her read the Sacrament prayers in the Book of Mormon and she continued reading Moroni chapter 6 about baptism. I don't know if that hit her or not but hopefully she will come each Sunday for church and english improvement. After Sacrament meeting she her cousin came and picked her up. I don't know too much about how that affected her but I hope she was able to feel something different. It was incredible to see them all at church and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for his help. I know that His hand has played a big part in the things that happened this week. I am very grateful.
We were also able to find a new investigator this week. One of our recent converts named Andy called on Tuesday and said that he most likely had an investigator for us. Later he asked if we could meet with him and Keeler on Wednesday. We said sure, of course ;) and were able to meet with them. It was great! Keeler had so many questions and we helped him to see the importance of finding an answer to those questions for himself through prayer and scripture study. Keeler said that he hadn't been feeling anything from his prayers in the past and so we taught him a little bit about how to pray. He almost came on Sunday to church but through a series of events (he came and texted us that he didn't feel comfortable coming in but we had forgotten our phone and didn't know that he needed us to help him come inside) he wasn't able to make it to church. We called him after church when we saw our phone and apologized. He said that was okay and I asked him about his prayers. He said, "I think I'm realizing something and feel really good." I said, "Really! I am so excited for you! Have you been able to read the scriptures yet?" He said no and so I encouraged him to read the passage we left with him (Enos 1). He said he would and he is excited to meet with us on Wednesday. It is so great to hear someone say that they are excited to meet with us ;)
I love you all and I know that this gospel is the "only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..." (2 Nephi 31:21). I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and as we help others develop the faith to follow the commandments they will feel it's healing power work in their lives and desire to learn more. I know that Heavenly Father plays a large part in our lives. He guides us each and every day. I know that there is a living prophet today who leads and guides this church. I also know that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. (Alma) We have had some really tough weeks without a whole lot happening but because we were able t continue in faith we now see the great blessings that Heavenly Father was helping us to appreciate. Trials help us to appreciate the good that we have or receive. Think of those starving around the world and you will appreciate the food you have. Think of those who have lost limbs and you will greater appreciate yours. I look back at the trials that I have had these past few weeks and I know that I am much more grateful for the blessings because of my trials. I love this gospel and I know that Heavenly Father is the perfect teacher. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Brother Pan was able to come to church this week and during the week we met with him 3 times :). On the third visit he said that he will be taking a test on July 30 and would need to change the date. We asked him when and he said, "What about next week!" We would have loved that but we knew that he still needed a little bit more time to be able to fully understand what we taught. So we moved the date from the 30th to the 23rd. Brother Pan knows that he will be baptized and he has already said things like, "when I am a mormon...". It is amazing to see the progression that he has made in the past two weeks.The thing that really helped his progression was coming to church and I am very grateful for the help of the members in the ward giving him rides. He is a special Son of God and I know that God has a work for him to do. I can't wait for his baptism!!!
The next person to come to church was Ivan. He is our Russian friend and this week when we tried to teach him a little more about the gospel he rejected it. But when he came to church he really started to ask questions and open up on some concerns that he has. It was a real testimony to me of how important it is to have people not of our faith come to church. We asked Ivan if he would like to receive a Book of Mormon in Russian. He said he would rather have english. But we explained that if we gave him both it could help his english and understanding. He agreed and we are working on getting him both an english and russian Book of Mormon.
The last person was Panda and her cousin. Well, with Panda she wanted to come to the singles ward and she came early enough for her and her cousin to just hit the last few minutes of RS in the Mandarin Branch. From that the members were able to invite Panda's cousin to activities and got her email address. It was cool. Then I sat with Panda during Sacrament meeting and taught her a little bit about the sacrament and it's significance. I had her read the Sacrament prayers in the Book of Mormon and she continued reading Moroni chapter 6 about baptism. I don't know if that hit her or not but hopefully she will come each Sunday for church and english improvement. After Sacrament meeting she her cousin came and picked her up. I don't know too much about how that affected her but I hope she was able to feel something different. It was incredible to see them all at church and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for his help. I know that His hand has played a big part in the things that happened this week. I am very grateful.
We were also able to find a new investigator this week. One of our recent converts named Andy called on Tuesday and said that he most likely had an investigator for us. Later he asked if we could meet with him and Keeler on Wednesday. We said sure, of course ;) and were able to meet with them. It was great! Keeler had so many questions and we helped him to see the importance of finding an answer to those questions for himself through prayer and scripture study. Keeler said that he hadn't been feeling anything from his prayers in the past and so we taught him a little bit about how to pray. He almost came on Sunday to church but through a series of events (he came and texted us that he didn't feel comfortable coming in but we had forgotten our phone and didn't know that he needed us to help him come inside) he wasn't able to make it to church. We called him after church when we saw our phone and apologized. He said that was okay and I asked him about his prayers. He said, "I think I'm realizing something and feel really good." I said, "Really! I am so excited for you! Have you been able to read the scriptures yet?" He said no and so I encouraged him to read the passage we left with him (Enos 1). He said he would and he is excited to meet with us on Wednesday. It is so great to hear someone say that they are excited to meet with us ;)
I love you all and I know that this gospel is the "only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..." (2 Nephi 31:21). I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and as we help others develop the faith to follow the commandments they will feel it's healing power work in their lives and desire to learn more. I know that Heavenly Father plays a large part in our lives. He guides us each and every day. I know that there is a living prophet today who leads and guides this church. I also know that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. (Alma) We have had some really tough weeks without a whole lot happening but because we were able t continue in faith we now see the great blessings that Heavenly Father was helping us to appreciate. Trials help us to appreciate the good that we have or receive. Think of those starving around the world and you will appreciate the food you have. Think of those who have lost limbs and you will greater appreciate yours. I look back at the trials that I have had these past few weeks and I know that I am much more grateful for the blessings because of my trials. I love this gospel and I know that Heavenly Father is the perfect teacher. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
