Well Spring has sprung in Dayton, TN! I love it here! The trees are all blooming and the grass is so green! It is beautiful! I wish each of you could see it for realzies! :] The weather has been so nice! There were a couple of rainy days this week and that brought some colder temps but I am thankful that we haven't had anymore snow! I hear that it rains a lot here in the spring so it will be different than in Utah, but I like the rain here.
This week has been great! On Monday we went to Chattanooga as I said in my last e-mail. I sure do love it there! We went and played basketball at the stake center and by that I mean that I went in the other room and played the piano while the elders played basketball.. haha you know I don't do sports! ;] After that we decided to go bowling and it was so much fun! I stink at it, but it is always fun to be around a big group of missionaries! There was probably about 30 of us there! So fun!
Tuesday was an amazing day! Sister Shumway and I had tracted into Lisa the other day and we went back to teach her the first lesson! It went so well and we even soft committed her for baptism. She said that she just wants to follow Jesus Christ as closely as she can and if that is in this Church then she will do that. I could tell that she felt the Spirit so strongly and that the wheels were turning in her head. She is going to pray about everything that we taught her and we are excited to go back tonight! Should be good to see her and I pray that she has received an answer. I have felt such pure charity for her. I don't really know her that well yet, but I can tell that she is a follower of Christ. That she wants to do what is right and that she is a prayerful woman. I am so grateful that we were even able to find her and that we have been able to teach her so that she can follow Christ as closely as she can.. and I know that the only way that she can truly follow Christ is through the principles and ordinances that we have in this church. I want so badly for her to be able to receive all of those things so that she can be truly happy. I can really see her being baptized. I can see her in the temple. I can see her in the Celestial Kingdom. She is so prepared to receive this gospel.. We felt really prompted to warn her of Satan trying to pull her away from this.. because she is so prepared to receive this, Satan is going to do all that he can to pull her away. Please keep her in your prayers and pray that we will be led by the Holy Ghost to know what to do to help her receive this gospel in its fullness.
Thursday we went tracting and found Tommy. He is so awesome! He used to be addicted to drugs and he said that Christ is what helped him overcome those addictions. We are going back on Wednesday to teach him and his family. i pray that we will be able to bring the fullness of blessings into Tommy's life and help him feel of God's love for him as His son.
Friday we had the Athens elders come tracting with us and they found us some new investigators! Saturday we went tracting and we found a baseball game at Bryan College. We watched the last couple of minutes of the game and it was really touching to see all of the players kneel in a circle and close their game in a prayer. It is so good to see that people still pray and that they haven't forgotten our Savior. Even if that college teaches anti about our church, their motto is CHRIST ABOVE ALL. And that touches me. I pray that somehow their hearts will be softened toward us and they will realize that that is our motto too. Christ above all.
This will be 2 weeks in a row that we have found 5 new investigators! We dropped some of the ones that we found last week because they weren't really interested.. but We are having success here. It might be small, but we are seeing success. Our hard work is finally paying off. I love this work. It is hard, and it has taught me to stretch myself. I have so much more self confidence than I have ever had before. I know that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me!! Through Jesus Christ I have been able to overcome a lot of my weaknesses, but I have learned that I still am weak. Alma 37:6 has helped me realize that that is why I am here.. Christ is making me strong and using me to accomplish His plan. I have felt so much strength while I have been out on my mission!
Last night, Sister Shumway and I had the opportunity to speak in a fireside for people that are preparing to go on missions. It was such a wonderful opportunity to bear my testimony of the importance of this work. We talked about what we did to prepare to come on a mission, why we came, what we have learned since we have come on our mission and what we wish we had done before our mission/advice to those who are preparing to go. The biggest thing that I talked about was the importance of having a strong testimony. My testimony is what has gotten me through a lot of hardships on my mission. And when I am down and I feel like I wanna just give up, I remember my Savior and He helps me stand right back up and get back out there and keep working hard. I love this gospel so much. I know with all of my heart that it is true. Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith in the sacred grove and they used him to restore Christ's church on the earth. I know that this isn't Joseph Smith's Church.. This isn't Thomas S. Monson's Church either.. It is Christ's church and it is run by Him. I know that Jesus truly came to earth. That He really did suffer, bleed, and die for me so that I wouldn't have to suffer if I would just live His gospel. I know that my faith in Him and my faith in His plan is what leads me to my knees to repent daily of my imperfections and beg Him for the help that I so desperately need. I know that without Him I am nothing. I know that I was baptized by the proper authority into Christ's church. I know that by that same authority I was confirmed into His Church and that day I was given one of the greatest gifts that I could have received and that is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that if I endure to the end that some day I will be able to kneel before my maker and say "I did my best" and the Savior, will vouch for me. I pray that I will be able to look up and thank Him for that un-thankable gift that He has given me. I love Him so much.
Thanks for your prayers and your love and support! I couldn't be here without you and I hope you know how much I appreciate it!
Have a wonderful week!
Love always,
Sister Christiansen
