WEEK 3 IN MICHIGAN!!

I love it here. Okay, are you ready for this?

BRUCE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! Can you believe we met him on my first day here?! He has been prepared and is so elect. He's incredible. His testimony is so strong and we couldn't be more excited for him. Expect pictures from the baptism next week!!!

This week was a week full of new languages. We learned so much from our investigators about where they're from and their different languages (we only taught ONE American this week!). I learned how to say stuff in Chinese, Swedish, Kurdish, Portuguese, Luganda, and more!

I'm learning so much mentally, but I'm also learning so much spiritually! I can feel myself being stretched every single day which is awesome because that is how I know I am growing. I realized this week that deciding to go on a mission was the best decision of my life thus far. I absolutely love it!

One of the random highlights on my week is that on Thursday, we saw the first fireflies of the season!!! I had never seen fireflies before! I still don't understand them. They are so magical. I caught three and kept them in a jar for a while before letting them go. It was awesome!

We also met an interesting guy while Sister Dixon and I were on exchanges in Williamston. He is a pentecostal pastor and he has had a crazy life! He has been stabbed multiple times and shot 5 times! He showed us the scars on his stomach and the bullet holes in his back! Crazy!!! He talked to us a little bit about how he used to be a part of the Native American tradition, and his name was "Two Bears" and he was a warrior. He was also in a biker gang and dealt drugs. Then he became a Mormon for a while and "got clean"! What?! Haha but then when he divorced his wife (who was the one who introduced him to the church), he stopped going and decided to become a pentecostal pastor instead. He was really funny and also a little crazy. I liked him.

We meet the most interesting people here! We meet with people from a ton of different religious backgrounds. Last week we had lessons with a Hindu man from India, a Muslim man from Saudi Arabia, and a Chinese man who had never heard of God - all in one day! It's awesome being here and getting a taste of the world. All in East Lansing, Michigan - who'da thought?!

I love this work and all that it teaches me. I used to be worried about balancing optimism and realism on the mission, but I am realizing that being optimistic IS realistic on a mission. God is capable of incredible miracles, we just have to have the faith that He will deliver. This is His work and if anyone wants us to be successful missionaries, it's Him! I love and miss you all! Thanks for your continued support as I'm away on this mission. I hope you all have an awesome week!

<3 Sister Christiansen