May 21-May 24, 2023-Week 2.3-Mexico City MTC

 Letter to everyone:

It's only been a few days from my last email, but from now on for the next four weeks I will email on Wednesday's. I honestly do not have much to say. Most days are pretty routine but I love it. I find myself smiling all the time and I have never been happier. I know that we all have a Savior, even Jesus Christ, who knows us intimately and is cheering for us!

I got to go to the México City temple today and do baptisms, confirmations, and initiatory. It was cool to do it in Spanish and go inside another temple. It is cool and designed similar to Aztec infrastructure. 

I really love being a missionary. I love growing in the gospel and learning about how I can become like Christ. We watched a cool pre recorded devotional by Elder Bednar on Sunday. He talked about being truly converted to Christ when we look outward and onward. I loved that. Learning to be selfless, staying obedient, fulfilling our callings, and putting God first is a way that we can become fully converted.

A really good part of my week is just hanging out with those in my district and showing the Elders up in spikeball. Elder Hulme and I are dream team material!

Letter to Family:

Since Saturday, not too much has happened. It has been really good since then! On Sunday, we had church. There was only about 20 missionaries, since we have three districts in a branch. Our relief society lesson was really really good though. We talked about the gifts of the spirit. There are so many gifts I hadn’t even thought about that could be considered gifts that come from the spirit. But “every good gift” cometh from the spirit as taught in Moroni 8. From this lesson, I felt prompted to make a list of my goals for the mission. Something that really inspired me for my spiritual focused gifts is Hermana Langkilde. She suggested I try to double my talents. This was so fitting since I had just read the parable of the talents. I began to pray about what gifts I already have and then read my patriarchal blessing and thought of some gifts I want to develop. I am so excited to grow to become more like Christ to bless His children. Side note, a physical goal is to be able to do a 5 minute plank. So pray for me there, haha! But I will be coming back with some abs for sure. My comps and I were also asked to be sister training leaders for our zone starting the following week! This means that I will get to train new hermanas coming into the mission, plan music for sunday’s, and make sure everyone in our zone is doing well. I am super excited and I am grateful the Lord trusts me to give me this opportunity!

I also want to testify of the answer to prayers. Hna Langkilde shared this awesome quote: “your spirit learn different than your intellect…if you learn by reason only, you will never understand the spirit and how it works” (Boyd K. Packer, Personal Revelation: The Gift, the test, the promise). I could never quite understand how to explain how I knew the church was true and the book of mormon. It was always peace and happiness and joy and comfort. But, that’s the opposite per-say of me learning organic chemistry. Both require work to know the truth of and to understand, but i am not overjoyed and comforted and reassured by the principles of organic chemistry lol. Mary can relate ;)

Hermana Langkilde got the proposition to switch to a Latino district in a week. So, she will probably do that because she is so so so bored in class. She can already speak so well so I am glad she gets this opportunity to progress her spanish because I know there are people in Ohio that need her! I will be sad to see her go though because she will have to switch districts and houses and companionships. But, I know the Lord gave her this opportunity because those latinos need her. 

A principle i learned this week is we always need to be asking. We practiced asking questions investigators may ask and I thought, “well why would an angel appear to joseph smith if god knew he wouldn’t even give him the plates for another whole four years?”. I feel like I already know all the answers and am like well, he needed preparation, maturity, and testing. But, I studied the question further and learned that Oliver Cowdrey did not even come to the Smith home in Manchester until 1829 when Joseph Smith got the plates. Without Gods timing and without Oliver Cowdrey, the plates could not have been translated. So we need to continually ask and never assume we know everything because God wants to keep giving us more knowledge!

Tuesday I got the opportunity to direct the choir for devotional. It went really well and it sounded like voices of angels. We sang (in spanish) if the Savior stood beside me. Hermana Langkilde played piano and there was a cello and a violin. It went really well, especially for only one practice of one hour total. 

I have been having a little bit of a hardish time with Hna Langkilde. She is a little hard headed sometimes and makes decisions without consulting us companions. Most the time it is 6s (that’s for you Grammy and Marsh) but some other times its a little weighty decisions. She also sometimes looks at me like im crazy if i don’t agree with her 100%. But, I really do love her so much, so hopefully we can work it all out. Or maybe we won’t since she will go to a latino district lol.

Really, it has been a great week. Some random stuff is:

I cannot hacky sack for the life of me lol

I am still goated at spike ball. Elder Hulme and I destroy

I have been lifting some with the Hnas so that has been fun

I went six days without washing my hair so that is a score

Hna Langkilde said I have the most perfectly shaped face. Honestly one of the best compliments I’ve ever received

Elder Kersten is obsessed with being a kiss up to the Presidents of the CCM. He always goes and talks to them and shakes their hands. One time we were like, oh go clear one of the mission presidents wifes tray, but he wouldn’t because he said it would cross the line. So Elder Guzman did it and it was smooth to say the least

Hna are supposed to stay and arm length away from elders which kills me

The whole district is learning to moon walk at the moment

That is about all! There is a lot more funny stuff that happens, but too be honest, I cannot quite remember it all. Days are a blur, but seriously full of smiles. 

Love you!!!!!!!

Hna Christensen

Future job: tampon model

Listening to song options we might perform for church. We liked to practice the piano and sing during class breaks.

Segregation of the Hermanas and Elderes for no funny business

Cool photo of the Savior and angels walking among sister missionaries

Gym time = all smiles

Hna Wilson and I among the flags displayed at the CCM

Random aztec head

The Mexico city temple. We did baptisms and confirmations and initiatory today. We woke up at 5:30 to leave at 6:00.

The Christus in the temple visitors center

The visitors center contains many historical reading sections, this was one of them

City traffic

Drive to the temple. Look at the pretty houses on the hill and the gondola used for public transport!

The district! Back: Trendler (Argentina Buenos Aires West), Kersten (Panama Panama City), Ganus (Texas Austin), Hulme (Panama Panama City), McAlister (Mexico Monterrey West), Guzman (Texas San Antonio) Front: Wilson (Texas Austin), me, Langkilde (Ohio Colombus)