Week 74 - Florence, SC - 12/8/14

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Well this has been the craziest transfer in the history of the church! But some good stuff still happened! We'll start with John and Faye! Last Monday, we went over the 15 Step program to stop smoking! They did great! They committed to every single step! As of today, they have stopped smoking for a week! John and Faye were also interviewed for baptism on Saturday and they both passed! John's on track to be baptized on the 13th and Faye will be baptized on the 20th by John! I'm so happy for them :)

Other than that, it's been real crazy. Sister Clinger and I have been struggling to recover from our injuries physically. It's hard to get to Florence from Marion every other day, especially when neither of you can drive (It's about a 40 minute drive for us to get to our doctors). Sister Clinger chose to go home to recover. I will miss her greatly. She was a great companion who taught me a lot.

As for me, they emergency transferred (which is to transfer a missionary before the regular transfers every 6 weeks) me to Florence on Saturday to be a Sister Training Leader! As a Sister Training Leader, I am responsible for all of the Sister Missionaries in the Florence area. I get to go out on exchanges with them to help them learn more and for me to learn more as well! What I'm excited about is I'm going to be in a three pack. It will be me, Sister Davis, and another Sister (we will officially find out who that is tomorrow at transfers) serving in Florence! I'm so excited to be back in the city to work!

Now I say I'm excited to be in the city, but don't get me wrong, leaving Marion was harder than I thought it would be... especially leaving John and Faye right before their baptisms... Luckily, President Turner told me that basically if I could find a way to get there, I could go! Yay!

Cody, my brother, talked a bit about the "He is the Gift" initiative that the Church has put out in his last email. Now that video is so cool! It's fun to share in the South because it's all based off of John 3:16, which is everyone's favorite scripture here. We watched it yesterday in Relief Society and something stood out to me. It says in the video "For God so loved the world... And so loved you!" I thought about that and had this thought: "For God so loved Sister Christensen that He gave His Only Begotten Son." God loves each one of us so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ to the earth. Jesus Christ didn't just come for the world in general but He came for us as individuals. It's reassuring in this point in my life where it's a constant battle to get better so I can go out and work but Christ knows all that I have, will, and am going through. That is something that I'm eternally grateful for.

If you haven't seen the "He is the Gift" video, go to christmas.mormon.org. If you have, share it with your friends, family, co-workers, etc. Share it online with #ShareTheGift! Help us flood the earth with this 2 1/2 minute video entirely based on Jesus Christ! I can promise you that it will help strengthen your testimony of Him and the testimony of others. So do it!

Well that's it! Thanks for all the support! As for the letters, keep 'em coming! Even though I can type with two hands, it's still easier for me to write than to type! I love y'all! Have a blessed week!

- Sister Amy Christensen

#CrippProbz

From casts to splints! Boo yah!

Me and my physical therapist, Cathy. She's the best!

Sister Clinger and I in front of our tiny house in Marion for the last time...

Us with Elder Smith and Elder Speck before Sister Clinger and I left Marion. This would be an excellent Christmas card.

Us with the Schallers, the senior couple who has been taking great care of us in Marion

And last but certainly not least, us with John and Faye for the last time. So many tears in that visit...so many tears.
(Hi John - from Sister Christensen's mom!!)

Week 73 - Latta, SC - 12/1/14

Hey Everyone!

Happy December! I can’t believe that we're at the close of 2014 already. Time has flown... I'm going to try typing this email first so that I have the time and I'm not attempting to type my whole week in 10 minutes with one hand like I did last week. It's hard being a gimp...

First off, surgery went well! Thank you for the prayers! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I haven't been in much pain since the surgery! Here's to a speedy recovery!

John and Faye are doing real good! I just love them so much! They brought us Thanksgiving to our house on Wednesday night since I can't drive (for obvious reasons) and we ate together! They have just been the best! John told me yesterday that he'll be sad to see me go. Hopefully that's not a sign that I'll be transferred for my last transfer... We'll find out this weekend with transfer calls!

Thanksgiving was great! We had a good few members take us under their wings. We went to lunch with Sister Cayce at her mama's house and then we went to Sister Phyliss' house to talk with her and Brother and Sister Byrd. We didn't have anywhere to go that evening but that's ok because the surgery and Thanksgiving kind of exhausted me!

All in all, the branch has been excellent. So many people in our branch, stake and even nonmembers just think the world of us for not giving up. I can't tell you how many people have come up to us to tell us how proud they are for us to stick it out! I think it's building the testimonies of the branch to let them know that this isn't just something that we do because we're told to or feel obligated. This is something that we do because we know it's true and because we want to bring others to the same happiness that we receive as we fully live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The church is so true! I wouldn't be out here as a crippled sister if it wasn't. I know that this obstacle is something that I was meant to overcome and that as I do so, it will be a stepping stone in my life! I love y'all! Have a blessed week :)

- Sister Amy Christensen, the Crippled

Now how about that for a one handed email ;)

Pre-surgery photo

Sister Clinger and me with John and Faye

Thanks for the Surgery Survival Kit, Mom and Dad!

Sister Clinger had the idea to make a gratitude wall in our house. These are the things I'm grateful for!

Us with Annah Cabaniss. She broke her leg around conference time and just got rid of the walker she was using to get around. She's one of our #CrippSisterzz

Only in the South... I need this for my house! So great :)

Us with Sister Cayce and her kids Kaleigh and Jamison on Thanksgiving

Opening up the Holiday season with some Christmas glasses and bathroom selfies. Classy.

Week 72 - Latta, SC - 11/24/14

Family and Friends!

It's a great week to be alive! I'm sorry that I don't have too much to repost on this week due to mine and Sister Clinger's injuries... But I won't complain! I have so much to be grateful for which is appropriate since this week is Thanksgiving. I'd just like to give some bullet points of what I'm thankful for:

- The Mission: I have never changed so much so fast in my life. I've met a lot of great people and gained a lot of new experiences to help me become the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

- The Church: This is my constant. No matter where I am, it's always there for me! We are so blessed to have Christ's true church restored on the earth today!

- My family: Y'all are my rock!  I'm so blessed to have such an incredible support system.

- Hospitals: For obvious reasons.

- Pants: I don't get to wear them much any more... But when I do get to wear them, it's pretty much the best. 

- Jesus Christ: Without Him, I'm literally nothing.

John and Faye are still on track to be baptized! They have given up their coffee and now need to work on the smoking. They both came to church yesterday and loved it! Please keep them in your prayers that they will be able to be baptized on December 13th!

Oh boy. The church is so true. It's been manifested to me in so many times this past week that it's true that there's no way that I could deny it! I say this quote every morning for part of our standing quotes, "I love tough things! I am first to do tough things! I do tough things first! I'm a finisher! I love being a missionary!" Pretty much sums me up.

I love y'all! Have a blessed week!

- Sister Amy Christensen

Eating fish & chips with Sister Weatherford

My new cast (up until today) - it hurt :(

We ate at a cool Chinese buffet after my CT scan.

Week 71 - Latta, SC - 11/17/14

Hello family and friends,

This has been...quite the interesting week. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to report on, so I will keep this brief. 

This week, Sister Clinger and I had a sweet companion study. I had just read about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and we thought it was cool that they buried their weapons of war. We decided to do the same thing. We wrote down some of our weaknesses on a piece of paper that we wanted to improve upon and we were going to bury them but we taped them on our walls instead. We want to be reminded of how we can improve. 

Next, we have John and Faye. We saw them this week and committed them to pray about baptism on December 13th. It was a very spiritual lesson and we were praying that they would be able to find their answer. We called them on Thursday and talked to John...and he said...THEY'LL GET BAPTIZED ON DECEMBER 13TH! *Cue Victory dance!*  We are very excited for them and look forward to their baptism! 

And get this, Brother Josh got a calling yesterday to be a branch missionary! He has progressed so fast. Makes a missionary proud. 

Some of you may have noticed in my pictures that I have a cast and Sister Clinger is on crutches. We cannot discuss why over the internet so if you want to know why, it looks like you have to send me a letter. *Hint, Hint*

Sorry for the short email, this isn't even me typing due to my cast (Hi everyone, it's Sister Clinger! ;)) She's a champ.

I love y’all. Have a blessed week.

Sister Amy Christensen

Sister Clinger and I with our "weapons of war"

With Elder Speck and Elder Smith at church yesterday.  #CrippSisterzz

Week 70 - Latta, SC - 11/10/14

Family and Friends!

This past week has been quite the interesting week! Not a whole love has happened that was super eventful unfortunately. But I'll tell you what Sister Clinger and I have been working on.

The Marion Sisters area is a wreck. When I came in to the area, we had 700+ potential investigators and 200+ former investigators. Not ok. Especially since a lot of them really weren't interested or they weren't really what I'd consider to be formers. We have been visiting every single potential and former in our book and taking them down if they aren't really interested (which a lot of them haven't been). It's been a huge project but it's been worthwhile. Through it we've been able to find even more potentials who are actually interested in learning about this message. No complaints.

Well we've still been working with John and Faye. Faye is amazing! She committed to go a whole day without coffee or cigarettes. Unfortunately the day got stressful so she ended up smoking but she went a day without coffee! We were so proud of her! Hopefully she continues to go without coffee and works on going without cigarettes! But both John and Faye made it to church yesterday! *Cue victory dance* They loved it! Faye said she's going to try to get work off next week so that she can come again! Yay! Things are looking up!

I think yesterday was an excellent day to come to church too because it was the Primary Program! Oh my goodness! It was amazing! I think what amazes me the most is how simple but true the songs are. My favorite song was "The Family is of God." It was pretty much The Family Proclamation in song form! It was amazing! The Spirit was so strong! I just pray that the less-actives and investigators who were there were able to feel that Spirit and want to come back!

Something that I've been learning a lot this week is how I need to rely more on the Spirit and not on my own knowledge. I've been working on "getting out of the way" so that the Spirit can testify to the people the truth of this message. It's not about me or Sister Clinger but about our Savior's teachings. How can they feel that way if I don't make it about that, you know? I was reading in Alma 21 today and I read verses 16 and 17. It says "And they went forth whithersoever they were led by the Spirit of the Lord, preaching the word of God in every synagogue of the Amalekites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites where they could be admitted. 

"And it came to pass that the Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, they did convince many of their sins, and of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct."

I know that as we pay attention to the Spirit and rely on it more fully, we will be placed exactly where God needs us to be and we will be able to bring even more souls unto Christ!

That's it for this week! Thank you for all your support and love! I appreciate all y'all do for me! Just keep on writing :) Love y'all! Have a blessed week!

- Sister Amy Christensen

This is what we look like when we see an empty mail box. Just throwing that out there.

You Only Mission Once. Apparently that statement terrifies Sister Clinger.

Rocking our Walmart jackets. #WhatItIs

Week 69 - Latta, SC - 11/3/14

Hello everyone :)

How's it all going? I feel like there's always so much to say but too little time to email... so "let's get down to the nitty gritty!"

Sister Parker and I had to get to Irmo on Tuesday for the Training meeting so that we could meet the trainees and go out to work with them for a little bit. But here's where it gets weird.  After we went out to work, guess who we ended up staying with for the night? The West Columbia Sisters! I stayed in my old apartment with my old companion, Sister Johnson and her trainee. I even worked in their area with them. It was so hard for me to go to those lessons because we saw people that I worked with when I was there.  It was kind of a throwback for me. Throwback Tuesday. It's a thing now.

Then if that wasn't weird enough, at transfers, I saw everyone and their dog - Sister Dent (MTC comp), Sister Gardner (Boiling Springs comp), Elder Bateman (who's from my home stake) and Elder Tonga (Boiling Springs Zone Leader) came to visit! So crazy.

But to get the suspense done and over with, my new companion is Sister Clinger! She's from Bountiful, Utah. She's 19 years old... just like all of my other companions. Haha. She's been doing great so far in this area. She'll be good for me because she's pretty opposite of what Sister Parker's teaching style. I think that she will be able to help some of my weaknesses in my teaching become strengths.

Halloween was pretty good! No complaints. We didn't have much to do that day since we do our Weekly Planning that day and then we were on "lock down" that night. So what did we do? Some much needed updating and we baked cookies. Yup. We're living life on the edge. But we did enjoy our candy from the package that y'all sent me! Thank you :)

Church yesterday was amazing! We were lucky enough to have Melissa come again and John come to his first sacrament meeting! Unfortunately Faye couldn't make it due to work. But John said it was "interesting" and that he liked it! Wahoo! Not only that, but one of our less-actives, Sister M came to sacrament meeting for the first time since I've been here! It was amazing! We're hoping that this past Sunday will lead to lasting conversions for all of them!

Well everything's going well! We're just doing a lot of "cleaning up" with our potentials and formers. We have far too many! Good things are going to happen these next two transfers. I can feel it in my bones. Thanks for all of your love and support! Remember that I still love getting mail regardless of how much time I have left ;) Love y'all! Have a blessed week!

- Sister Amy Christensen

Oh! P.S. I was told yesterday that it sounds like I've been in the South for a while now! Mostly because of instead of saying "y'all" like it's spelled, I say "yaw" like a true Southerner. Score!

My posterity! Me, my daughter Sister Johnson and granddaughter Sister Strom.

The other part of my posterity!  My other two daughters, Sister Gardner and Sister Clinger.

Gas prices at $2.67? Say what?! That's the lowest I've seen it in a long time! Had to take a picture!

Week 68 - Latta, SC - 10/27/14

Hey y'all!

Oh my goodness. Can I just tell you how crazy slash great of a week it was? It's weird because the beginning of the week was not all that eventful but the end of the week - BAM! All kind of great things were happening! I'll really just touch on three of the main events from this week though!

First of all, we had the Fall Festival this week! We had an amazing turn out! We had 93 people there! I know that may not sound like a lot compared to a Utah ward... But when we typically have 40-50 people at church every Sunday, it's amazing! Sister Parker and I decided to dress up but you can't really do much to dress up as a sister missionary... So we dressed up as each other! It was so much fun! We also decorated our trunk with copies of the Book of Mormon #MissionaryStatus. The best part about it is that John and Faye Csondor came to it and also Melissa McCoy came with her mom, step-dad, and niece! We were so happy! They all really enjoyed themselves so that's a plus right?

This weekend was Stake Conference! It was amazing! The Saturday Night session focused a lot on missionary work. Two recently returned sister missionaries spoke and President and Sister Turner spoke as well! It was great! The Sunday Morning session was just as great too! It talked a lot about being in the world but not of it and gaining charity. I got a lot out of both conferences! Want to know the best part? Yesterday, Ricky Bourgoin and Brother Josh got the Melchizedek Priesthood! Want to know an even better part about it? Our branch mission leader pulled some strings so that Sister Parker and I could attend the ordinations (That usually doesn't happen here, I guess)! It was the best Sunday I've had in a while!

Now the moment you've all been waiting for - transfer calls! Drum roll please! ... I will be staying in Marion and Sister Parker is off to a new area! But here's some more news for you! Saturday morning, I was in the middle of sharing what I learned in our companion study, when all the sudden, our phone rings. It was a call from President Turner. I stop talking and start panicking! I answered the phone and President wanted to talk to me! So the news is ... I've been called to train yet again! My third and final daughter in the mission field!

Wow. I'm just amazed. Partially because I've been praying to train my last two transfers. I know that training will help me keep my mind in the mission field in this time when most missionaries get "trunky". It just amazes me about how the Lord hears and answers our prayers! It happens with anything from us needing to get rides to stake conference (which we got a ride to both sessions when we weren't expecting one to either) to us wanting to get milkshakes (we didn't actually pray about that... But we both really wanted one when we were in Florence and our member bought us some) to me training. There are so many simple ways that the Lord expresses His love for us. I'd like to invite all y'all to look for those little tender mercies in your lives. I know that as I've looked for the blessings in the little (and big) things, I've been a happier person!

Unfortunately I won't know who my trainee is until Wednesday but we'll be heading to Irmo for the trainers meeting tomorrow. I'll keep y'all posted next week on my new adventures here in Marion! Thanks for all your support! I love y'all! Have a blessed week and happy Halloween :)

- Sister Amy Christensen

Sister Parker and I dressed up as each other for the branch's Trunk or Treat!

Us with the Nolan's before they left the Marion branch for the mission office.

I'm pregnant... again!