Amazed by the workings of the Spirit

Michael with a recent convert

Michael and Elder Williams on their way to Albany

Dear everyone,

Oh hello again!  It was great to talk with Mom, Dad, and Ste yesterday!  Happy Mother's Day.  Family is the best and I'm so excited to be with the family soon.  I'm sorry to hear about Papa's being in a boot for his heel, that's too bad!  Feel better and I hope he heals up quickly.  The updates on your Book of Mormon reading is cool. I'm right in the beginning of Mormon so it sounds like we're all in the same ballpark :).  I'm happy for the Lewis family, again, and impressed with the amount of gifts from the shower.  I got Mom's letter today - everything there sounds good.  Hope all is going well for everyone.
I'm doing great.  The work here is wonderful.  Our investigator Ann is all prepared to have her baptismal interview this Saturday at 12.  I'm so excited for her and she's so excited for her, ha.  Last week was a blast and crazy.  3 Zone Conferences and 3 District Leader trainings. Saturday was really cool driving to and from Cortland with President Bulloch for a District Leader training.  This week upcoming will be equally crazy if not more so.  Tomorrow we'll be in Binghamton, Wednesday in Elmira, Thursday in Malone, Friday in Potsdam, Saturday & Sunday in Utica.  I feel great and I continue to be amazed by the workings of the Spirit in my life and in the lives of others.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love,
Elder Christensen

I'm lovin' it

Michael with Lois shortly before her baptism

Dear all,

Hey there. It's great to hear from you. Things here are as good as ever, I'm lovin' it. Congrats to the Lewis family on the news of having a Boy! I was totally not thinking they were going to have a boy, but that's alright. The homecoming talk on the 17 is fine, no problems. What is my 'topic'? (so I can relate my stories to a principle ;) haha, dad).  I will be going through Ithaca probably around 3ish on the 16th; as much as I love you guys, the Lewis fam, I think I'll prefer going without organizing a get together this one last time. I feel the last was pretty sweet :). I'll see you soon. Calling home at 4:30 AZ time shouldn't be too much of a problem. Look forward to it. The summer plans sound great. I would love to spend some time in SLC and at Lake Powell. I've asked several times already, but what info have you gathered on working at the mtc; or more specifically when I should apply this summer and what, perhaps, that whole process entails.  Hope all is well with Papa and Nana; hope Papa's foot feels better. I look forward to spending time with you soon. Good to hear from the Jennings! Abbie looks great.

This week was great. It was definitely the most 'low key' week of this transfer. Meaning, from here on out there are a lot of exciting things I'm looking forward to in the coming weeks! I must say that going to Rome had to be the highlight of this past week. It sounds like you already caught word that while I was there I was able to visit and teach Lois. We had a very good, scriptural based lesson with her on prayer and praying aloud/together. She's such a sweet heart and she looved meeting Mom. If you would please email her the picture of you all at the Easter pageant she would appreciate that; also you can attach the pictures I'm sending today. Work is going great in Utica. Ann is doing so good! She is right on track to be baptized on May 26. She couldn't be more excited I don't think. We taught her about tithing last night and she is actually excited to do so once she's baptized! Ha. Martin came to church yesterday as well as others we are teaching. Church was very powerful; the testimonies centered around mothers and families. And, not to mention, the sweet potluck lunch that followed. Elder Williams and I are traveling to Albany later this afternoon to then do a training with the district leaders in that zone. Then, tomorrow is the Albany zone conference. The focus is Obtaining the blessings and guidance of the Spirit. I'm very excited for it. Then Wednesday and Thursday are the Utica and Syracuse zone conferences, respectively. Saturday we are doing more trainings with district leaders in other zones in the mission. Undoubtedly it's going to be a very eventful week.

I love you all so much. Thanks so much for all you do for me. I look forward to talking with the Mesa crew on Sunday and seeing the rest of yous (New York term) in the near future.

Love,
Elder Christensen

Loving everything here in Utica!

This picture is my lineage. 

 I trained Elder Stratton, and on his left is his son,

then the two on the left of him are his two sons.

Dear everyone,

Hello!  What a great time of year. It's nice to hear from you all.  I'm doing really well and loving everything here in Utica.  Glad that Mom and Paige are home safe from Orlando and that they had a good time there.  My homecoming talk on the 17th is sounding better and better - that'll be great.  Also, my birthday being celebrated at home (or rather, in a very small way out here) will be great.  I don't need anything out here, but thanks.  The phone call on Mothers' Day will probably work best for us at 7:30 - 8 pm our time.  If there are any problems with that, let us know.  How exciting for the Lewis family to find out the gender today!  Too bad her appointment wasn't this morning, oh well.  Gail was an investigator here in Utica who E Miller and I found on Christmas Eve; the dinner she had with the Bullochs was a major success.

It's been a great week filled with new missionaries and missionaries going home and Zone Leader Council.  These are great times and I'm really enjoying everything.  Our investigator Ann is still going remarkably well.  She is progressing without a hitch and couldn't be more excited.  The ward is really getting behind her and she feels the power of the Spirit.  This week will be relatively low key compared to the weeks ahead.  I am going to Rome on exchange Wednesday and Thursday which I'm very excited about.  But other than that the only other to-do list items we have are to get all prepared for Zone Conferences the following week.  I'm thinking back on the following week and nothing particular is standing out to report on; basically everything was just good, ha.  Martin is doing well, our Mexican investigator.  We set 2 other investigators with baptismal dates for mid and late June.  Really, it's all going great.

I love you all so much and thank you for all you do for me.

Love,
Elder Christensen

Spiritually Blasted

Dear everyone,

It's great to hear from you all and again congrats to the Jennings family, how great Abbie is. I love family; I find the irony so interesting that it's when I've been away from family that I feel close to them and appreciate them even more. One principle I have undoubtedly learned in the mission field is the importance to find joy in what you're doing or to appreciate what you have while you have it. I'm happy that the bachelors in AZ aren't roughing it too badly without Mom home; and not to mention Ben being home without Paige. Ha, I don't miss doing 17 page reports for school, hope it went well, Ste. Nana is getting around, too, it sounds like which is great. I love you all so much.

This week has been amazing, I don't know where to begin. I'm soo excited to be serving here in Utica my last transfer! I absolutely love the people here in the ward, I love the people we are teaching, I enjoy the responsibilities I have as an Assistant, and I'm excited to be with E Williams for a 2nd transfer (this will be only the 2nd time on my mission I will be with the same companion for 2 consecutive transfers! Elder Potter is the only other one). Planning the transfer was very exciting and enjoyable, seeing the Spirit work as we council and make decisions is so cool. On Tuesday I worked with a missionary whose companion was on the Palmyra trip (and E Williams likewise, working with another missionary) in Utica. Between both companionships that day we taught 10 lessons! What a blessing to our area. Anne, our investigator with a baptismal date, is still right on track! She came to church again yesterday and loved it. Then last night we went over and taught her the word of wisdom and she decided to obey right then and there. Very exciting,  Other amazing things happened this week. Saturday night I felt prompted to call Martin (the Mexican man we taught before, ate with on Easter, etc). I found out later from him that the timing was perfect. He had had some events take place this past week which left him feeling pretty low; but upon calling him he quickly realized his need to trust in God and rely on Him. He came to church yesterday and loved it! We then taught him that afternoon, then a recent convert took him to a single adults dinner and activity. I think he was Spiritually blasted yesterday. What a great man and I'm so happy and excited to be teaching him again. President and Sister Bulloch are having Gail over for dinner tonight, I'm very excited to see how it pans out! This week is going to be another great one, too. Tomorrow we pick up the new missionaries from the airport and are with them. Wednesday is transfer day and Friday is Zone Leader Council.

I hope you all are doing extremely well and again know of my love for you.

Love,

Elder Christensen

On cloud 9

Dear All,

YAY! Congratulations to the Jennings Family and their new addition to the family! How exciting! Thanks for the awesome picture that you sent, Rachel!! I must say, though, that Ste hands down wins the award for actually informing me most about it all! So she was born Thursday morning? How long and heavy was she? She looks very healthy (and old, perhaps just with the open eyes in the picture!). How cool. I hope Mom is there helping out and having a great time; and that will be fun when Paige arrives, too. I think Paige and Ben are going to have a girl. I'm happy to hear Nana was able to go to her meeting this week; hopefully the doctor appointment this week brings good news. I got Mom's letter this week with the sheet on Premed information - I have yet to really look at it, is there anything about it I should know? Also, I bought new contacts and they should be arriving at home within the next week or two; the eye appointment last week went great. Sorry, in advance, this email will be short as we are lacking much time today. We have begun the transfer planning process today - it's so cool to see the Spirit work in these council sessions (and in events leading up to them) with President.

What a great week it has been. There are so many highlights but the most notable is our new investigator Anne. The week before this last week we went to a funeral of a member in the ward. We felt prompted to go early to the service, during the viewing portion. We felt it would be the best time to actually talk with people compared to when we all would be sitting listening to speakers and the program. This prompting lead to a great thing, meeting Anne - a friend of an active member in the ward, Jim. Anyway, we taught Anne with this member on Wednesday night and she is already preparing for baptism on the 26 of May! She came to church yesterday and was on cloud 9! So sweet, and we taught her again last night and it went very well. Saweet. Also this week going back to Albany was a blast. I love the people there so much. E Williams and I sang a duet in Sacrament meeting yesterday, which went very well. He's very talented and I just backed him up but we both felt really good about it. Also, a recent convert who I am very close with received the Melchezidek Priesthood yesterday! He was so touched by the Spirit and feeling so good. He also brought a friend to church we are excited about teaching this week. Oh, it's worth mentioning, President Bulloch said he woke up early in the night and thought about our former investigator, Gail. He feels prompted to invite her over for dinner and speak with her :). This week is going to be great, too. E Williams and I are going to each be working with a different missionary tomorrow here in our area (these missionaries' companions are going to the temple trip tomorrow). We'll be planning this next transfer throughout the week, teaching a bunch, and also we have Return and Report with the new missionaries and their trainers on Friday.

Well I hope you all are doing great. Thanks for all that you do for me.

Love,

Elder Christensen

Easter was great in Utica!

Michael's mom meets Lois, Kevin & his mom at the Mesa Easter Pageant

Dear everyone,
I hope everybody had a great Easter! What a great holiday it is. It's great to hear from you. I received the Sheffield's nice Easter surprise, thanks very much to them for that! Hopefully they all are doing well and had a good Spring Break! It's Spring break this week for the kids here. That's great that Nana has a new and easier boot to get somewhat around with. I'm happy to hear that the Easter traditions are still alive and well in the Christensen home, even if Ste is beginning to think he's too cool ;) ha. I'll never be too cool for those. What a joy it is that Mom finally met Lois! That picture of you all at the Easter Pageant is so amazing! How cool. Hopefully Lois enjoyed the pageant and meeting Mom as much as I can imagine she did.

Easter was great in Utica! We had Stake Conference which was a real treat. The Bulloch's spoke, as it is their last Stake Conference before they go (in the Utica stake). Sister Bulloch spoke about what it's like being the wife of a mission president; it was hilarious and great. In fact, one of the reasons it was so great is because I was featured in the talk, as I was referenced as an elder who was sprayed by a skunk at close range. Ha, it was a hit. Elder Williams and I put together some Easter cards for people we are teaching, hoping to teach, who help us out, etc. and went around delivering those and visiting with them. It amazes me how much people appreciate a simple, thoughtful act like that. The feeling of joy that comes as you see the recipient feel loved, thought of, and appreciated is priceless. This Easter wasn't without an Easter miracle, either. I may have mentioned in the past that Martin (the Mexican man and family; who stopped investigating not long ago) knows a woman from the ward. When he came to church he was surprised to see her there; they used to live in the same building until Martin moved across town. Anyway, this Sister from the ward had us signed up on the dinner calendar for Easter. When we called and confirmed she told us that she invited Martin and his kids over too! Ha, I had no idea how this would go but we hoped it'd be great. And it most certainly was great! We had an awesome meal outside on a picnic bench with this Sister and Martin (and the kids at the kids' table, ha). Martin is such a good guy. He was overwhelmed with a poor family situation but has since calmed down about it a bit. He wants to come to church again and sounds like he will allow us to come teach him and his family! It's great. One cool part of the story is that the sister who had us over for dinner had no idea about Martin stepping back from the church and investigating; so she invited him over and I am so grateful she did and it worked out. After we ate and talked we hid some eggs for the kids and they did a little egg hunt outside. Also, it was awesome yesterday we were invited over by the Puerto Rican family to eat and have a lesson. We had awesome arroz con gondules with pork. This family is so great and I'm very excited for their progression. Going to Rome was a good time this week; it's so fun seeing people again with whom you've grown close. Speaking of which, we are going to Albany this week for our last district meeting trainings and working with the Elders there. I'm very excited for that.

I hope that you all are doing great and know of my love and appreciation for you.

Love,
Elder Christensen

Gifts of the Spirit are great and certainly real

Dear everyone,

Hello. It's great to hear from all of you after this exciting weekend. I hope you all are continuing to do well as it sounded so from your emails. I'm excited for Rachel and Tyler! Do you have the name decided already? How cool. And very fun that Paige & Ben made their official announcement - nice timing with April Fool's and all..haha. Thanks Nana for the Easter card, I just got it today. I received the Easter goodies from home; everything is great, thanks a lot. That's great Sarah made cheer leading and Ste is doing well in his sports. It was great to see Jackson's picture from his birthday; I'm excited to get to know this now 'big-boy'. As far as my contract at Alpine, my first inclination is to say go ahead and do a 12 month contract. I don't know if I'll do Spring/Summer (probably?) but it's likely that I'll be working, ideally at the MTC, and won't want to step away from that for a little season like that. That's great you've signed up for some classes - we'll fine tune everything more so in the future. I failed to bring my other memory card with Lois' baptism pictures on it. Next week, sorry. How is everyone coming along with their Book of Mormon reading?

It's been quite the week; it's gone by so fast it's as if it didn't exist. This week ahead will be much more low-key, relatively speaking. I'm going to Rome tomorrow for the day - that will be fun! Too bad Lois isn't home, ha. I loved General Conference so much. You're right, seeing Elder Zwick was awesome giving the prayer. And great memory about Elder Pieper being the one who
interviewed me some months ago; it was very fun listening to him speak. I always feel connected to family while watching Conference as a missionary. There is such a renewing, uniting Spirit that comes as we gather (even if it may be in different locations across the globe) together. It's hard to identify one favorite talk because I loved them all. We were able to get one investigator to come to a session of Conference. She said she got a 'good vibe' from listening to the people speak. Gail was planning on coming to the Saturday afternoon session (which Elder Cook's talk was perfect for her) but cancelled at the last minute. Bummer. With all of the traveling and meetings and Conference this week we didn't have too much time to work in Utica. That didn't stop the Lord's work from progressing, though. At lunch in between Conference on Saturday a guy came up to us asking if we could come over and visit with him sometime, ha. And yesterday night we went over to that part-member Spanish/English speaking family I mentioned before. Only the husband was home this time, who we didn't get a chance to interact with much the
last time we were there. This was great because we were able to teach him directly and get him up to speed with his wife and son who we taught the last time. His Spanish is much better than his English so I taught and talked with him in Spanish. I still cannot believe how these words and grammatical patterns come out of my mouth with the little studying and experience with Spanish I have. Gifts of the Spirit are great and certainly real. I hope you all have a great week preceding Easter and that we all ponder on what the Savior did His last week in mortality. I feel His love in my life and know He lives and cares for each of us. Let us show our love and care for Him.

Thanks for all that you do for me. Happy Easter. I love you.

Love,
Elder Christensen