Week 61

Y'all, miracles are literally flowing down from heaven. 

☆ We put Tanya and 2 of her boys on date for baptism for August 27th (hopefully her 3rd son tonight as well).

☆ This super elect guy named Isaiah came to church with some members and he wants to be a missionary?? We got his number so hopefully we will be teaching him soon!

☆ I had probably the most spiritual lesson of my entire mission so far with Regal. Yes, Regal. He was super weird the first time I met him but every time we see him again he's more normal. We've talked to him a few times now but hadn't had a sit down lesson until we stopped by last night and taught him the restoration on the spot. When I recited Joseph Smith's first vision the winds calmed down and we all felt the Spirit rush in. I asked Regal how he felt and he couldn't deny that he was feeling the Spirit. We continued to talk about the Book of Mormon and Christ's church being restored to the earth and he told us he knows Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. He's been reading a little bit in the Book of Mormon and said he had also prayed to know if this is the church he should go to and God said yes. I asked him if he would like to be baptized into Jesus Christ's church by someone holding the priesthood authority (God's power & authority to act in His name here on earth) and he said yes and couldn't stop talking about it. We almost set a date with him but he said he wants to come to church first (which totally makes sense). You're probably thinking: "Why would you ask this man to be baptized in your first official lesson and before he has come to church??". Well it's cause the Spirit told me to and Regal is so ready!! Regal told us he's been cautious because he wanted to make sure we were true followers of Christ and that He is the at the center of our faith. Last night that was all confirmed to Regal and now he's ready to jump in head first! I'm just praying I don't get transferred on September 1st. 

☆ On Thursday evening we had a few minutes left before we needed to go home so we went over by the creek to talk with people. We weren't having much success but we kept walking and started talking to this guy while he was fishing. We asked if we could share a scripture about Jesus Christ with him and he said "Well, I'm Catholic" so we were like "Great! Then you'd love this scripture about Jesus Christ!". We read Alma 7:11-12 which talks about the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us and how he can understand exactly how we feel. He said he was actually going through a really hard time so we asked him what was wrong and he told us that his father passed away a couple weeks ago. So I shared a scripture about what happens after we die and taught him about the spirit world. I could see in his eyes that he felt the spirit and I could feel it too. Unfortunately our lesson the next day fell through but despite that I know we were led to talk to him that night. Even if he doesn't end up meeting with us I know we had a impact for good. 

Here's some other random stuff that happened this week: 

- We met this lady named Mrya the other week that needed help releasing a bird back into the wild that she saved (it was literally just a pigeon but she was scared her cats were going to kill it) so we gave her our number so that she could call us later on to come take it and release it somewhere. Well she never called us so we stopped by and she had found a way to release the bird. We asked if we could come back to share a message about Jesus Christ and she said yes. Fast forward to our lesson... we found out she's Muslim and we tried sharing the restoration lesson with her but she was all over the place haha. She did teach us how to say something in Arabic though! It's pronounced "Subhan Allah" which means "how great is our God" or "سبحان الله". We also asked to pray with her and she said she keeps her eyes open and raises her hands when she prays so we raised our hands with her and said a prayer. It was definitely a new experience for me but I enjoyed it! 

- Okay so my companion and I were walking down the street and this guy called over to us and asked if we could pray with him. We said of course and he told us he lost his keys and needed help finding them. So I said a prayer and we helped him find his keys. Then we got talking with him and he said he's talked with missionaries before and that he's the preacher of a Baptist church nearby. He told us that he moves to different cities and helps unify the churches there. He then asked us if we would like to preach in his church and we said yes?? We asked our mission president about it later and he said we can do it! We probably won't go till next Wednesday but I'm honestly so excited haha. Wish us luck!

- We have a friend named Julio that calls us late at night when he's drunk and for some reason my companion thought it would be a good idea to entice him to come to church the next morning by telling him there are attractive girls at church. He said he was going to come and at the end of the call he said, "I'm getting married!" hahahaha! He didn't make it and then he called us again last night and said he got stabbed the night before??? This mans was literally in the hospital all day but he's doing okay now. F in the chat for my brother Julio.

- Remember Angelica and Everardo? Yeah, they told us yesterday that the church wasn't for them and they don't really care to meet anymore. That crushed me. I'm not giving up on them yet but I think they've made their decision. :((

Over the course of my mission My testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has developed into something far greater than I thought it could be. I've heard so many claims against the validity of my church but none of it has affected my testimony one bit. If anything, it has actually strengthened my testimony. I have studied a lot about our church history and the doctrine of Jesus Christ and I can firmly say that this is truly Jesus Christ's church on the earth today. I also know that Joseph was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is God's word. These truths are confirmed to me through the spirit every day as I study and teach others. I cannot deny the things I know to be true and I will defend them for the rest of my life. I've chosen to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and that's never changing.

If you're struggling with your testimony, study the scriptures and ask through prayer to know the truth. We have to constantly be nourishing our testimonies or we will lose it and be exposed to the enticements of the devil. So choose to not be lax in your faith! Choose now to believe and strengthen your testimony! This has truly changed my life and I know it can change yours as well.

Love y'all!

- Elder Christensen

Pictures

☆ We found the cutest puppy and I had to take pictures with it 

☆ Zone Conference road trip!!

☆ The best snowcone in the world