WEEK 6 IN MICHIGAN!

Amazing. Week.

Bruce passed the sacrament in church on Sunday. The three people passing sacrament were all converts from China who got the priesthood within the last month. Woohoo!

Also - GET THIS! We have another investigator getting baptized! Yifan is from Shanghai. He is amazing, hilarious, brilliant, and is going to be baptized on Saturday!

Guess who is going to baptize him.

...BRUCE!!!!

We are so excited! The Lord truly is hastening His work! Also, Bruce wrote us a song this week and it was the best song ever! He tells the story of how we knocked on his door and how the Book of Mormon changed his life and how happy he is now! We love Bruce.

Yifan also did something so great yesterday. After our lesson with him, we walked outside and saw all these fireflies. I caught one for him and he was so excited! He didn't know that they were called fireflies, he just always saw them at night while riding his bike home from class and described them as "the stars coming up from the ground." I gave him the firefly to hold and it glowed in his hand. He was so happy! He brought his cupped hands close to his face to look at the awesome little glowing bug inside and just whispered excitedly, "Thank you Heavenly Father!" It was the best thing ever!

We also had a ward BBQ that was a MAJOR success! There were about 25 members there and 45 nonmembers!!! It was so great to be able to have that many potential investigators in one place! Some people wanted to learn more about the church so we're meeting with them this week. I am so grateful to be in such a missionary-minded ward.

I just realized I never really update everyone on my companions! They are AMAZING. We work so well together. Hopefully Sister Dixon doesn't get her visa anytime soon and can stay with us a little longer. She's such a hard working missionary. Sister Probert is an amazing trainer and I wish you all could hear her sing. She has the voice of an angel! So does Sister Dixon! Too bad they got stuck with me... but when we sing as a trio I just let their beautiful voices drown mine out! 

I hope you all have an incredible week! 

I love you and miss you all!

<3 Sister Christiansen

P.S. I'm attaching a picture of my district! Some of them are gone now because we just had transfers but luckily my companions and I get to stay at MSU longer!

PPS.

Also, I just watched this new Mormon Message and it's SUPER RAD. It shows how the words of Joseph Smith are still so applicable today. So many people we meet (specially on a college campus) are asking the same questions. People are seeking truth everywhere we turn. We should always be actively seeking knowledge in our lives. I love how this encourages people to "go to the source" and ask God. God truly does answer prayers. We see it every day here. He loves you all and wants to hear from you. Have a great week!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-messages-for-youth?v=2505987918001

WEEK 5 IN MICHIGAN!

This week was amazing as usual!

4th of July was pretty fun! My companions and I ran around and caught fireflies while watching fireworks. We also ordered delivery from a place called Insomnia Cookies... Best decision of my life. They deliver hot, freshly-baked cookies to your door and a scoop of any type of ice cream you want and you make a cookie ice cream sandwich. It was the most delicious thing I'd had in a while.

Some fun, random information - Our apartment is in a place called the Living Center which is right across the street from campus. The cool thing is, it was built by the church as a place for LDS students, couples, and other people (as long as they follow the rules-no alcohol, smoking, etc.) to live! I love being surrounded by members of our ward. The property manager is the bishop (Bishop Solomon - this awesome dude from Hawaii) and it is a dedicated building! I always feel so safe at our apartment!

I love my area so much. I can't say it enough. We've been doing a lot of "bus finding" since we don't have a car. That basically means we get to talk to tons of different types of people every single day. I met this really cool guy from Zambia this week, and also another really cool student named... get this... Lemuel! We told him there was someone in the Book of Mormon named Lemuel. He was like, "What?! I definitely have to buy a Book of Mormon now!" and we were like, "Here, you can have one!" It was really funny. What are the odds?

Being a missionary is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I love being here and meeting so many people. It's also been incredible to see how much the gospel blesses the lives of those we teach. We are able to watch them change so much and the happiness they feel because of that change is so contagious!

Thanks for all the emails, letters, packages, and support! Have a great week!

<3 Sister Christiansen

 

Also, this week I wanted to encourage you all to watch this video about civility and kindness. ALL OF YOU! It's so awesome. A lot of you have probably already seen it, but I love it and think it's incredible! Have an amazing week!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1101417666001

Week 4 in MICHIGAN!!

BRUCE IS OFFICIALLY BAPTIZED! His baptism on Saturday was incredible. He bore such a strong testimony at the end and the Spirit in the room was almost tangible. I will post pictures in this email because it was such a great night! The next day at church, he was confirmed a member for the Church and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. An RM who spoke Chinese on his mission gave the prayer and blessing in Chinese! It was so awesome.

The baptism almost didn't happen though! Our church building here in Lansing has been through so much. A couple years ago, it was burned down and everything was destroyed except for a picture of Jesus Christ. Then, on Thursday, someone pulled the fire alarm and the sprinkler system flooded the church! Talk about Old Testament-status! Fires and floods! But we prayed SO HARD and everything was cleaned up in time for the baptism on Saturday. 

We met more people from all over the world this week! We taught people from Rwanda, Nigeria, France, India, Yemen, Togo, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, China, and Ethiopia! I learned some Ebo, which is the language one of our friends from Nigeria speaks. I'm also learning Portuguese from my companion before she leaves for Brazil!

Oh my goodness. As I'm typing this email, we just got a call from an investigator named Leandre asking us if we could bail him out of jail! We weren't able to help him out but what the heck! Haha East Lansing is awesome.

Overall, this week was just amazing because of Bruce's baptism. He was so happy, and his happiness was just contagious for everyone who was there.

 

 

This weekend was amazing! Hope everyone has an awesome week! 

<3 Sister Christiansen

 

  Here's me and my companions with Bruce!