Week 52 - Latta, SC - 7/7/14

My Dear Family and Friends,

Yup. I'm hitting my year mark this week! I can't even believe it! I'm silently panicking because I feel like there's still so much to do in 6 months! That's such a short amount of time! This is just madness!

Well this week, we went by one of our former investigators, T's house to give her a letter that the previous Sister wrote to her. They dropped her because she had some Word of Wisdom problems and wasn't ready to keep commitments. When we went by, she told us she's been clean since they had the drop lesson with her and that she was ready to commit! She didn't make it to church this week unfortunately because she had to work but she was totally going to go if she could! She was so upset when her fiancé reminded her that she was working on Sunday! But there's always next week!

We met our new mission president and his wife this week, the Turner's. They seemed super nice! And they gave us gourmet suckers. They've pretty much won me over already. Haha. We'll have interviews with him on Wednesday and I'm excited for it!

The 4th of July was good, I guess. It seemed like any other day except we had to be in by 7:30. While we were in we ate "Red, White and Blue Bell" ice cream and made star sugar cookies... That's pretty much it. But there was also a pink, white and blue sunset that day! That was pretty patriotic! The members in our branch told us yesterday that South Carolina is the most patriotic state in the country apparently! So that was why I was sent here because I'm the most patriotic person that I know! Haha.

We went out to eat with just about the whole branch on Saturday at this place called Shuler's Barbeque. My goodness! It is the best Southern buffet I've had since being here! That's saying a lot! Well when we were there, there was a camera crew just filming the inside. When we asked what was going on, someone told us that they were filming a reality TV show called "The Profit." I thought they said they were filming "the prophet!" I was like "President Monson is not even here!" But yeah. When that show airs, look for an episode where he goes to Shuler's in Latta, SC. I'll probably be in there, just saying!

Just yesterday, I was talking to Sister Parker about when I put in my mission papers. I wanted to go Spanish speaking so bad mostly because then I'd be bilingual. I never really realized why I'm English speaking until yesterday though! I remembered going to a hand off lesson with a set of Spanish elders and one said "I don't really know how to teach The Restoration in English so you'll have to take the lead on this!" I know that the Lord has called me to this English speaking mission because I needed to learn how to be comfortable with sharing the gospel in my native tongue.

Oh guess what? There's only one piano player in our branch and she was gone yesterday. I couldn't really play the piano because well I haven't practiced in nearly a year. But they asked us to play in Primary yesterday and it was so bad it was hilarious! Sister Parker played the right hand and I played the left! We were cracking up the whole time as we were playing "America, The Beautiful." But then the kids wanted to sing "We'll Bring the World His Truth." It was so neat because the 10 kids were like belting out the song and you couldn't even hear our bad piano playing! They brought the Spirit so much with that song! It got me all pumped to go out and do missionary work again! Then in the closing prayer, the oldest primary kid got up and was like "Thank you for the Sister Missionaries coming to play the piano for us today." It basically melted our hearts! Needless to say, I'm going to need to start practicing the piano again.

Well that's all I've got for this week! Thank you for all your love and support! I wouldn't complain if any of you wanted to send letters... Just saying ;) Haha. I love y'all and keep you in my prayers! Have a blessed week!

- Sister Amy Christensen

I pledge my allegiance to "Red, White and Blue Bell" ice cream!

  

The most patriotic sunset on the most patriotic day!

Sister Parker and I in our patriotic outfits! I have the red (kind of) and she has the white and blue!

Week 51 - Latta, SC - 6/30/14

Hello :) Sorry I'm on a bit late! The library in my new area (not going to spoil the surprise yet) had some computer problems and then my new companion (still not going to tell yet) wanted to get her hair dyed before meeting our new mission president on Wednesday so... yeah. Now here I am at a member's home emailing after my companion. My apologies again.

Well, I'm out of West Columbia! Sister Johnson finished up her 12 Week Training and she's on her own now! I'm sure she's doing great in that area! We both needed the change because we were getting too comfortable together. It doesn't make leaving any easier. I really liked the area and the people I was working with. But it's all good!

On Wednesday, we went to transfer meeting and . . . drum roll please! I'm now serving in the Marion Branch with Sister Madelyn Parker who's from Las Vegas, Nevada! She came out with Sister Johnson two transfers ago.  Here are a few fun facts for you! 1) I've wanted to serve in a branch my whole mission and 2) I actually went out knocking with Sister Parker her first few days in the mission before they were all assigned companions! What are the odds of that happening? Marion is a really big area actually! We cover Latta, Dillon, Marion, Fork, Lakeview, Sellers, Linkside, and Mount Calvary. Very big compared to West Columbia!

Well, getting back on my first day, we found out that our air conditioning was broken. You cannot have broken A/C in the summer in the South. It was 93 degrees in our house and it was super humid. It was awful so with President Holm's permission, we stayed over at a member's house until it was fixed the next day.

If that's not bad enough for the first few days, our tire popped the next day! But let me tell you something good that came from it! We were pulled off on the side of the road waiting for our Branch Mission Leader to come save us. Sister Parker suggested we go out to knock the area at least. As we do, a guy riding his bike looked at us and said "Do you need help?" Sister Parker said that we were fine but I figured the Lord placed this guy in our path for a reason. I asked if he knew how to fix a tire and he said he did and that his dad was a mechanic. That was a miracle! Then we were talking to him about the church as he was fixing our tire and it turns out that he's this super prepared guy! Definitely a tender mercy of the Lord.

One thing that I love about Marion is that the people here are all so prepared! We're finding a lot of very interested people and I'm excited to be working with them! I'm just very happy to be in Marion! I've adjusted quickly and very well! I'll let you know more of my branch adventures next week!

I realized that the 4th of July is this week! It's been a year on the 4th that I've been set apart as a missionary! How neat is that? The time is going by so fast! I'll be sure to do something fun for my year mark!

Anyway, I've got to get going! We still have to wash our car and eat dinner in the next 50 minutes. Yikes! Wish us luck! Love y'all! Have a blessed week and a great 4th of July!

- Sister Amy Christensen

One of mine and Sister Johnson's last days together.

Us and W. This perfectly describes his personality.

The D family at our last visit together.

Posterity! My grandma, me and my daughter all living in West Cola.

Me and Sister Parker

No A/C! I look like a hot mess!

Spare tire on the car... whoops!

Week 50 - West Columbia, SC - 6/23/14

Hello Family and Friends!

It's been quite the interesting week! So many things happening, so little time!

So first of all, we had such a cool experience. We were just out working the other day when we saw a guy, Tony lifting some watermelon out of his truck into a shed nearby. We went over to talk to him and see if we could help and he actually let us! That rarely happens because people are like "Oh... I don't want y'all to get dirty..." But he let us! While we were helping, we were telling him a bit about the church. It turns out that he's been traveling to Georgia to attend church! We told him our church was like 15 minutes away and he was excited to hear that! Right before we left, Tony's friend came over and said "Sorry I'm late! Do you still need help getting the watermelon out of your truck?" Tony was like "No! These ladies came over and started getting to work! They didn't even give me the excuse that they didn't want to get dirty! It was an answer to prayers! God is good." I agree. God is good! He placed us right where he needed us. If we wouldn't have been willing to talk to everyone, we wouldn't have been effective tools in the Lord's hands.

Zone Conference was this week. It was rough on my emotions... Mostly because President and Sister Holm called it "Transitional Training." It was basically President preparing us for President and Sister Turner coming in next week. I'm excited to be working with President and Sister Turner but it was hard to say good bye to President and Sister Holm. Ugh. Missionary problems. It was a really good meeting other than that though! It gave Sister Johnson and I the fire in our bellies that we need to keep working :)

Willie's doing good. We went over last week and taught him about tithing and prophets. We basically didn't even need to teach him tithing. We asked him what he knew about it and he said "It's 10% of your gross income, not your net. It goes to help the church." We were like whoa. Then he loved learning about fast offerings because the money goes to help those in need. Then when we taught him about prophets, he was like "I already believe that President Monson is a prophet of God!" Alright! We can work with that! We're hoping to put him back on date to be baptized tomorrow night when we see him!

Get this! Yesterday at church, Sam comes up to us and I guess he's been extended a calling! He has been progressing so well! Sister Johnson and I are very proud of him!

Well... Some of you have already heard the news I guess via Facebook... But yes. The rumors are true. I'm being transferred out of West Columbia. I've had a lot of good memories here and I feel like I've grown a lot since I first got here. I'm excited and ready to move on though. I don't know where I'm going yet. I'll find out on Wednesday at our Transfer meeting! The suspense is killing me! I know that I'm going where the Lord wants me to be at for this point of my mission.

That's all for this week! I'll tell you more details next week! Love y'all! Have a blessed week :)

My first #MissionarySonicRun! We got Nerd Slushies. Just to let you know, they're delicious!

Me and Sister Cafaro

Me with Tanya and Jordan Park. They think they're funny. Hahah.

Week 49 - West Columbia, SC - 6/16/14

Week 49 – June 16, 2014

Family and Friends!

It's been a pretty interesting week. We've put in a lot of hard work in and I'm grateful that I get a slight break today (I say slight because often times, P-Days are more stressful than other days for me. So much to do, so little time).

We had exchanges this week and I got to go out with my mission grandma, Sister Roundy! Sister Roundy trained Sister Craig who trained me. Thus she is my grandma! We had a lot of fun in West Cola. We were invited to contact 15 people a day at our district meeting that day and then we went out and actually contacted 15 people! We even met all of our lesson key indicators that day including member presents, other lessons and lessons taught to less-active or recent converts (LARCs). It was a miracle! I feel like these last two exchanges have built upon each other. With Sister Creager, I learned how to talk to everyone. With Sister Roundy, I learned how to talk with everyone. I'm learning how to make our approaches more friendly and more than just "Hey! We're missionaries! We want to talk to you about Christ and how much He loves you!" Not that I ever do that... but to give an example.

Then yesterday was a proud day for me as a missionary. Sam passed the sacrament for the first time and he also gave a talk about how he felt when his sons were baptized. It was a really good talk! I was just sitting there grinning. He's so awesome! I'm definitely just blessed to be working with him!

So I got on a bit later today because we just got back from the Riverbanks Zoo! We went for Sister Roundy's birthday today. This is my second time going but we got in for free this time! I guess the other sisters know someone. I'm not complaining! We saw President and Sister Holm there too! It was really neat. We got to talk to them for a minute! They are some of the neatest people and they'll be gone in a few weeks. I'm so sad about that... But it was still cool to run into them there. We went to feed the birds and right as I threw away my nectar cup and started to leave, three birds landed on me! I didn't even know what to do with myself except give my camera to Sister Johnson to take pictures. Needless to say, it's been a pretty good day.

Well, that's about it! Sister Johnson and I are finishing up the final week of her 12 Week training program this week! So that's exciting! We'll get transfer calls on Saturday which will also be exciting. Who knows what will happen, especially since I've been here for 6 months. We'll see in time though! I love y'all! I'll tell you what happens next week! Have a blessed week :)

-  Sister Amy Christensen

Me and Sister Roundy! Posterity for the win!

Happy Father's Day!

Not sure what to think about this . . . .

Me in SC with the popcorn that Pres Holm bought for us. I didn't know what to do with it except hold it... that's not the last you'll see of the popcorn. :)

Me and Sister Johnson (and the popcorn) with some lion statues.

Feeding the giraffe!

Me and the penguins!