We are very spoiled this week!!
It feels like Christmas.....TWO LONG emails.
One did not send last week, and the other
reason is below:
yes i got the tablet! I typed up the email before i came here which saves me a lot of time! I just have to add pictures to it now. Yeah we have zone conferences! They are always aweseme. But we only have one with the president every 3 months i think. He is soooo cool. He's really spiritual yet kind of relaxed at the same time. And he really knows the doctrine.
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Hello everyone, I've been in Argentina for 10 weeks now. Sometimes it feels like I've been here forever, and sometimes it feels like I just got here. Time is really weird on the mission.
Last week, after I was done emailing we borrowed the other elders bikes for the ride home. The bike I was riding was from an elder named elder Pace, he is the same one that crashed last week and had to go to the hospital. Now I can tell why he crashed, his bike was in a really bad state while i was riding it. The handle bars where extremely loose, as was the front wheel. While i was riding the front wheel was wobbling like crazy and the handle bars where completely messed up. Sometimes I had to turn it completely side ways to go straight! And we were on a busy road so I was actually kind of scared, I just prayed that the bike would be alright until I got home. I made it okay, and then I kind of forgot about it. But later that night when elder pace went to ride it, the second he touched it, it completely fell apart. I mean really fell apart, the handlebars disconnected and the front wheel fell off. If that had happened while I was riding, I could’ve been really hurt. It was either really lucky or a miracle haha.
We have a couple progressing investigators right now. A girl named Genesis who wants to get baptized but we have to get her dads permission. He is a member of the Jehovah’s witness church but he let’s his daughter go to our church every week. There is this Lady named Vanessa who has 3 kids, Ella es muy pobre, por eso she doesn’t believe in God. We taught her the first 4 lessons and she still says she doesn’t believe in God. But its only a matter of time, I think because its plain to see how much happier she is now compared to when we first met her. Its like night and day. She says she wants to come to church. And finally we have the Hermana Rivadera. She has a ton of faith in God and she wants to get baptized soon. She has come to church once, and she just needs to attend one more time in order to be baptized.
The Hermana Rivadera has a pet parrot named Polly, and that thing is seriously of the devil. He does any thing that he possibly can to disrupt the lesson anytime the spirit is there. He is always perfectly calm until we are saying something important, then he starts freaking out causing a scene, trying to spill the sugar bowl, or pecking someone. Never more so than when we told the first vision. He was on top of the roof and as my companion began reciting the verses from the JS history when he has the vision, he does a flying attack and starts pecking the back of her neck and screeching really loud. Stuff like this ALWAYS happens during the first vision. Either a kid will start yelling or a phone will ring or something. This has really strengthened my testimony of the power of the words, because of how hard Satan tries to stop people from hearing it. The spirits always there when we tell it, and he doesn’t want anyone hearing anything about it.
On Sunday we were expecting 5 investigators at church but only had one show up. That was Genesis. Its kind of frustrating, but everyone has their agency. What is frustrating though is when people say they don’t get an answer, but when we ask if they have read, prayed on their knees with real intention to act on an answer, or gone to church they say no, no, and no. Then we ask if they believe that they’ve done all they can to receive an answer and it gets them every time. They can’t lie, they just say “well, truthfully no”. Then they recommit, and things work out.
Everyone needs to understand that reading the scriptures, praying and attending church are the keys to receiving answers and feeling the spirit. This is what we always tell investigators. And I mean fervent prayer, really talking to God. A mechanical robot prayer is like not praying at all.
Moroni chapter 7:
5 For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also.
6 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.
9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.
Basically, if we don’t pray with real intent and show faith by following the commandments, we aren’t going to feel the spirit strong enough to receive an answer. First comes actions of faith, then comes answers. I know I say that like every week but its just really true. Faith isn't something we just have, its a gift from God that comes following actions.
I hope everyone is doing well! Love, Elder Christensen
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