Emily sent us the following email on Monday, April 21, 2014:

Hey familia! 

I hope you had such a fun Easter and I hope you had fun coloring eggs!  You are going to need to send me some pictures of the eggs! 

Mom and dad, you guys should read the talk by Gordon B. Hinckley called the four cornerstones of Faith.  It talks about how the 4 cornerstones are Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith's first vision, The Book of Mormon, and the Priesthood.  This is simplified, but something I loved from the section about the first vision says, "This transcendent experience opened the marvelous work of restoration.  It lifted the curtain on the long-promised dispensation of the fulness of times."......"For more than a century and a half, enemies, critics, and some would-be scholars have worn out their lives trying to disprove the validity of that vision.  Or course they cannot understand it.  The things of God are understood by the Spirit of God.  There had been nothing of comparable magnitude since the Son of God walked the earth in mortality."

About the Book of Mormon, I love the part that says, "The evidence for its truth, for its validity in a world that is prone to demand evidence, lies not in archaeology or anthropology, though these may be helpful to some.  It lies not in word research or historical analysis, though these may be confirmatory.  The evidence for its truth and validity lies within the covers of the book itself.  The test of its truth lies in reading it.  It is a book of God.  Reasonable people may sincerely question its origin, but those who have read it prayerfully have come to know by a power beyond their natural sense that it is true, that it contains the word of God, that it outlines saving truths of the everlasting gospel, that it came forth by the gift and power of God...to the convincing of the jew and the gentile that Jesus is the Christ.” 

Something I read a little bit ago that I really liked about the Book of Mormon is that reading scriptures brings a quiet confirmation that we too can overcome difficulty and doubts that seem insurmountable. 

When Elder Richards came and talked to us he showed us a video that I think is called 'Sanctify Yourselves' by Elder Holland.  When I watched this video, I was very touched and overcome with the faith that is required to exercise the Priesthood.  Faith can be procured, but by the nature of faith, it tends to be something that is instinctive--meaning that either it is there, simply,  without effort or that it would require great effort to obtain.  Or maybe everyone has faith but the values of this world create a mask of skepticism and cynicism that make us feel like we don't have strong faith. 

One of the ways we can know that we have strong faith is because we trusted the plan that God set up for us and we left out home in Heaven. 

I was reading in the gospel principles book about final judgement and there were some things that stood out to me quite strongly.  First, I don't think I fully understood that there was actually a book of life that was kept in heaven that would be brought out at our judgment to aid in where we go.  We--ourselves--are also a record of our lives.  This record is written by ourselves in our own minds. 

Under the people that are going to go do the celestial kingdom, it says "Ellos son los que han vendico al mundo por medio de la fe" (these are they that have overcome the world by way of faith). 

Under the part about being judged for our words, works and thoughts, I like the part that says: while we repent of our sins and put behind us all thoughts and acts impure, the spirit will effect a change in our heart so that we will not have any more desire to sin.  I like that it says he effects a change in us.  It is like we do what we can, and then our efforts are consecrated and he purifies what we have left over.  This part goes on to say: Then when we are judged we will be prepared to enter into the presence of God.  I like that is says we will be ready to be with him.  I want to live my life in a way that makes me be excited to rush to the presence of God. 

At the end of the chapter, it says: in reality every day is a judgement and we should live in harmony with a celestial law.  Part of the culture here makes it so the people cannot understand the nature of eternal laws and that God requires that we put off the natural man by cleaving to a strict attitude of obedience.  It is hard for them to understand that there are necessary refining processes where they will feel themselves taking more control of themselves.  It is hard for them to understand that in addition to being merciful, he will be just also.  I think we even can return to the knowledge that strictness is required of us and every minute we spend here on earth during our 4 minutes matter.

I read a scripture this week and I can't remember where it is, but it said something about how we will choose the kingdom that we go to.  NO, no, no, it was something else.  Let me look and see if I can find it...(10 minutes later) Alma 3:26, 27  It just says that you act in a way so that you can receive happiness of misery according with the spirit that you you want to obey.  So that could be either with the spirit of obedience that you let excite you or it could be being obedient to the spirit.  I mean, there are so many different things this scripture can tell you. 

We were knocking doors (we do a lot of that) and knocked on someone's door and she told us she followed more a pattern of indigenous worship.  (Native American?)  Immediately, I knew what to do!  I asked her if she believed in the great spirit.  She replied: yes.  Then I told her that this was God.  #alma18:26-28

Teodoro passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized in a week from yesterday.

We got two of our menos activo families to church on Sunday. 

I am loving the endorphins I get from biking.  Our car is in the shop so we have only had bikes as of lately and I LOVE IT!  This area is better to be biked anyway!

I am excited to skype you or something!  We'll figure that out when it happens!  There is still an email time in between now and then to let you know how it will go down.  Worse case scenario I will just make a phone call in the evening :)

I was told by a companion that I only have 7 months left on my mission and that scared me a lot because I never want to come back into the real world.  I feel like I am the type of person that could potentially get panicky as my time here ticks down.  I am instead going to channel all that energy into improving and being diligent.  Ah!  Here we come!

I love you and I will talk to you soon!

Love, Emma

Emily sent us the following pictures and email on Monday, April 14, 2014:

L-R:  German, Francisca, Hna. Clifton, Erik, Hna. Blankinship, Hna. Emily

German and Francisca came and found me at general conference!   Apparently they'd been looking forward to this for a long time and Francisca brought tamales for me to take home and eat.  They are doing so good and being such faithful members.  It's crazy because people hardly even know anything before they get baptized.  The conversion comes after and the baptism is still just an act of faith.   [Emily taught German & Francisca in her first area.  They were baptized just before Em was transferred.  Emily loves them dearly, and I think they feel the same way about her. :) ]

This is Sweet Teodoro.  This is the Saturday of general conference and we wanted him to go to the priesthood session.  We passed by his house about an hour before so we could teach him and help him understand how cool it would be to hear the words of a living day profeta.  

I know it's kinda hard to tell, but this man is little and the most tender person I've ever met!  We talked to him and then when we asked him if someone could pick him up to take him to the session, he had to decline because he was right in the middle of cleaning and getting food ready for his wife who would be coming home from dialysis and the rest of his family members that were expecting him to have things ready.  And he is just a little guy with lots of things to do.  He has a lot of health issues and he is still so genuinely happy and delights in the small things.  His health is really bad right now.  He has been having really bad head and intestine pain because he has had prostate cancer for the last 5/6 years and then he fell last week.  He picked up some medicine but I don't know if it is doing anything for him.  Sometimes my heart hurts for him because he is so tender and he is in pain and he is the most faithful and joyful investigator we visit.

At first we didn't know how to react to him telling us that he wasn't going to come.  After a minute we decided that we should pray and ask Heavenly Father what he thought Teodoro should do.  We let him say the prayer and it was the most precious thing I've ever been a part of.  

He knelt down on this little knees and, bowing his head and holding his hands in his lap, he offered the most sincere prayer: 

Padre nuestro, te pedimos este día por tu ayuda porque tengo muchas cosas de hacer y yoli (Yolanda is his esposa) va a regresar y necesito hacer comida y limiar y solo estoy yo aquí de manejar todas esas cosas.  Y padre gracias por las hermanitas que están y por la lucha que están haciendo que yo vaya y se que quieres que tenga tu espíritu solo es que necesito ayuda y no hay alguien otro que solo yo de hacer esas cosas.  

(Heavenly Father, we ask you this day for your help because I have lots of things to do and Yoli is going to return and I need to make food and clean and it's only me here to do all these things.  And thank you for the hermanitas here and that they are in the fight that I go and I know that you want me to have your spirit.  It's just that I I need your help and there isn't anyone else except me to do all these things.)

Whenever we come to his house he just gets so excited and calls out "Hermanitas!"  and then he says "boy a bajar me libro!" (I'm going to bring down my book) and then he goes over to the stairs and takes off his little mexi platform worker shoes and walks up the carpeted stairs.  When he returns from the upstairs he slips his feet back into his little shoes and comes over all ready to read and excited to show us what parts he's read since we saw him last.  Teodoro is remarkable because he understands the message and he understands what we talk about.  After the priesthood session of conference he asked me why they had said that una persona necessita las lllaves para user el sacerdocio (why a person needs 'keys' to use the priesthood).  He thinks about everything he hears and I help him understand everything we talk about in principios del evangelio at church.  

[These pictures show that Emily is still mischievous and loves to have fun!]

We thought it would be fun to hesusify the elder's door.  They live in our area, and we had a bunch of junk cards that don't have any numbers or websites on them so.....tada!

Emily & her 2 companions, with Enio, a recent convert.

Emily sent us the following email on Monday, April 7, 2014:

Hey familia!

Nothing changed with our companionship this last transfer.  We've all got at least one more transfer in Arleta!

General Conference weekend is always really nice because you can get the social nourishment that you crave and just go without.  I got to talk with some of my favorite people from my last district and that was really nice!  We will have 3 new elders in our district and I'm hoping some of my friends can come fill these spots!  They are taking pacoima back and giving it to an elders companionship which will be good. 

We are being given a chance to grow.  We are having no success and almost no investigators.  We talk to many people and even though our contacting has improved, we aren't seeing the fruits yet.  I feel like we have to build up a history of working really hard before God can bless us with any success.  Because of my companion's health problems and such, it hasn't felt like we've done much missionary work lately and so there is no way that God can let us have success until we prove ourselves for a while and start deserving it.  I'm trying to not be discouraged. 

I know that God calls prophets and apostles.  True seekers of truth should be searching for the church that most resembles the church that Jesus Christ established.  It seems only clear to me that this is the Church of Jesus Christ.  There are no other churches on the earth that even kind-of follow the commandments.  Something that is very true of the population we teach in California is that they like to have their own version of God (like was said in one of the talks).  They like to assign him  characteristics that they would like him to have.  We have talked to a lot of people that have no interest in religion and don't want to change to live the commandments and they don't seem to care that this is the only way to return to Heavenly Father. 

I liked in conference how they said that people chose to follow this gospel once before and we should have faith that they will choose it again. 

I liked the analogy about how the load gave the truck the traction that it needed to get out of the snow. 

My favorite talk was President Monson's about loving people and telling them and showing them.  It's easy to look over things like that when we are happy or when our lives are easy.  It's easy to take that advice and have it leave your mind quickly because it's something we feel like we know.  We need to treat it more like the valued and profound conclusion that it is.  We need to notice ourselves doing things differently and let this talk change us.  I feel like I've been learning a lot of things lately, but they have more to do with treating people than with teaching strategies.  One of the biggest things is to love these hermanas I am with as much as I love Skibby and try to treat them that way.  For instance, I love them and care about them, but I know if they were Skibby I would take a more active role in helping them with individual projects or helping them develop skills, I would listen more carefully to their stories, I would let their troubles be my troubles and be able to offer them advice that I'd thought about in my spare time.  It was said that "he who is found possessed of charity at the last day, it shall be well with him." 

I noticed that they talked about the power of scripture study and family home evening.  Please do this.  I love you guys and I want our family to have this strength and protection.  Something that I've noticed helps me when I really want to make a change like this (like study differently or be more diligent or set inspired goals) is write down the plan and then pray to Heavenly Father and make it a covenant with him.  Promise him that you are going to be different and tell him what you are going to do.  It's powerful.

I liked how much they talked about commandments.  Keeping commandments is powerful.  Being obedient isn't being submissive or weak, it is being full of faith.  I have noticed that keeping the commandments is the difference between the Nephites and the Lamanites.  

Ok, I love you guys!  I'll hopefully hear from you sometime!

Emily sent us the following email on Monday, March 31, 2014:

Dear Familia,

I am so glad that I am a missionary.  Sometimes I think what it would be like to be a real person and I feel like being a real person would be really sad. 

I have realized that I need to be a lot better at a lot of things.  I try to do diligent studies but I want to increase that a lot.  I'm trying to figure how I can have more revelatory personal studies.  I know that they are better when they are centered around a question but sometimes I feel like I'm just picking a question so that I have one. 

I want to get my language skills a lot better.  I hope that at some point I can get to have another native companion. 

We are trying to improve church attendance again.  It is a constant thing you are working on. 

I'm excited that general conference is so close!  We watched the women conference all in Spanish because we were able to get an investigator there from just 1.5 hours earlier.  Surprisingly, I understood basically everything but I wasn't able to have more advanced thoughts because my mind was just working on translating everything. 

We have an investigator named Teodoro and he is about the most tender thing you can even imagine.  Every time he sees us he says "hermanitas!!"  We got him to church on Sunday and I think he just loved it.  He is probably in his 70s..  He diligently reads El LDM [El Libro de Mormon] and has never even had a question as to whether any of this is true.  He just accepts it all.  Even though it seems like he is childlike in his acceptance of this message of truth, his example shows a lot of spirituality and faith.  His heart is so open to the truth and even though a lot of people might even want to do what he is doing, I don't think they could pull it off with his sincerity.  He is precious.  We took our recent convert Enio to a lesson with them and watching them interact melted my heart.  Teodoro's wife Yolanda goes to Dialysis every other day and takes the bus.  She works in the morning selling tamales she has made and so she isn't able to come to church.  I don't think she quite has the mental capacity to understand what we are teaching because she can't really focus very well. 

I love you!

Love, Hna. Christensen

Peter and I heard on the radio yesterday morning (March 17, 2014) that an earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale had occurred near Los Angeles just before dawn.  In our email to Emily, we asked her if she had felt the earthquake, and she said she had.  She described it as "exciting/scary/exciting!"  Here is Emily's main email for the week:

Someone from the ward gave me a green lantern ring. Apparently he gives all the missionaries one once he zones in on their 'strength' o algo asi. Each color of ring means something different. I don't really even know if this comes from a movie or a TV series or comics.... but he awarded me with a green one which means: will--as in willpower. His radars blew up with that color and he didn't even have to wait to hone in. Ha:) This ward is really great!

I love the ward mission leader. He is the sweetest man. His name is Hno. Sacor. He is trying so hard to magnify his calling so that he can earn blessings for his family. I am always touched by him and his eagerness. He bought a manual so that he can truly do what a ward mission leader needs to be doing.

I remember in my last area I started wondering if an earthquake would come because we are always just waiting for one.   I basically hoped that one would come and that I could use my preparedness bag and practice my survivor skills.  Hna. Herrera and I would use earthquake preparedness as the reason why we were running every morning--haha to be ready to "hunger games it" when the city crumbled.  Don't worry. The first thing we did when the earthquake came was gather in the door frame and I said a prayer.  Don't worry about me while I'm on a mission because Heavenly Father will protect us from all dangers.  

Like I said, this ward is really great.  The members have noticed--and think it is hilarious--how easily I blush and so now at dinners that becomes somewhat of a game. 

Enio is one of my favorite people.  I know I haven't told you very much about him, but that is mostly because you need to experience him.  He just barely got baptized my first week here.  I try to take very good care of him.  We took him to a first lesson that we had with really solid potentials.  He was absolutely the perfect member.  To describe Enio in one word would be: tender.  

He is from Guatemala, about 41, single, has one adopted daughter still in guatemala, most spiritually sensitive person ever, trusting, delicate, reliable, willing to help.  He is just a small little adorable man.  The couple that we took him to are named Yolanda y Teodoro and they are also from Guatemala.  She sells tomales that she makes and when Enio found out that she makes ones like the ones from Guatemalteca, he was so excited!  They exchanged numbers so that he can come and buy some from her!  They are about the age that his parents would be and I'm hoping that they can form a family friendship.  My heart was so large and bursting with happiness to watch them interact at this lesson.  Enio had been a little nervous because he'd never been taken to a lesson, but his sweet sincerity and excitement for life and faith in Jesus Christ just radiates from him and you can't help but love him.  He was touched when we told him that we would always be here for him.  

There are just things that you have to see to really understand them.  There really aren't words for the spirit we had during the lesson.  They both have baptismal dates for the 6th of April.  

I love you so much.  Happy anniversary!  I'm excited for you to get my package!  Enjoy the card!

Love, Em

This is at one of our investigator’s houses.  Terry and I are both Sagittarius and so he gave me milk in this cool matching cup so I could eat it with my Mickey Mouse brownie.  These are his specialties.

My area just doubled in size!  The combination of the two areas is shown with the light yellow line.  The missionaries that were in this area previously got suddenly moved and so now we work both areas.  I love it there!  It's exciting and feels like Canoga Park!

This is called Pan con pollo and it is delicious!  It is basically a work of art.  It is from El Salvador and one of the tastiest things ever.  This was made out of season and on special request--usually it is eaten as a Christmas dish.  So many of the women in this ward seem to really love me.  They love teaching me things.  When I come home, we are going to have this for Christmas or at least try to have this :)

Emily sent the following email and photo on Monday, March 10, 2014:

Dear familia,

Things are good here in Arleta.  We have good ward members.  Our investigators should be more committed.  We do a lot of finding.  We need to do more 'potential' follow-up because otherwise the contacting is useless.  I think this transfer is more about other things than specifically contacting.  I think there are other things I'm supposed to learn.  

Something about Laman and Lemuel is that they go through the same things that Nefi does, but in the end, Nefi is strong and Laman and Lemuel are bitter.  What is the difference?  You could say obedience or humility but actually I think it is that Nefi knows the purpose that the Lord has and he realized that these things are meant to make him who the Lord wants him to be.  It is almost more his mind-set and that he can see and use his trials to make him more faithful/obedient/humble/diligent/etc.  When we truly realize that we can take the same situation and either come closer to the Lord or pull a Laman and Lemuel, the choice is obvious and we feel like we've broken out of a lesser mode of coping.  

You and Peter need to do something fun for your anniversary.  I am going to spoil the surprise and tell you that next Monday I am mailing you some pan dulce to eat. (very Mexican)  You will probably have to carefully warm it up before you eat it.  It will make it get soft again.  I always think it is best when eaten with soy milk.  I will also mail Skibby's birthday present with it so don't let her open it until the 25th.  

I love you so much!!!!

Love, ME!

This man is 99!  And we started teaching him and when we asked him about his 
religious background he told us he was Mormon! (truth)

That cute old man.

Emily sent the following email on Monday, March 3, 2014.  She has been transferred to Arleta, CA, but we don't know her new mailing address yet.

Hey familia that I love so much!  

I am back in the valley! This was a good move by the president.  I have a testimony that President Hall is an inspired man.  The work is so much harder in Santa Clarita that I have this theory that they send missionaries up there so they can become excellent and then come back and destroy it in the valley.  

I am in a tripan now.  My new companions are named: Hermana Clifton and Hermana Blankinship.  I feel like I have learned a lot about loving people and being patient and about what is important. Before I left Santa Clarita on the morning of transfers, my zone leader Elder Guevara (from south/west jordan) came to my apartment to pick up my bike and offered me a blessing because he knew that I'd never ask for one even if I needed one.  As time has played on and experiences have unfolded, I have found the words he told me to be more and more inspired. 

To say we have been experiencing a lot of rain here would be an understatement.  It has been dumping.  (Hopefully pictures to follow)

Edilberto got baptized on Saturday.  Yay!

Enio got baptized on Sunday.  Such a tender man!

The ward here wants to be very involved.  Maybe to a point that it is almost detrimental, but I'm going to have it work for our advantage.  

Woo!  Arleta!!

Con amor, 

Hna. Christensen

I said goodbye to Santa Clarita this last week. This is the sweet little Mendez daughter. 

She cried when I left and gave me these flowers. 

She told me that she wants to go on a mission when she gets older.  

She is the smartest little girl I think I have ever talked to.  And president Mendez

 is one of the best men.  He really reminds me of you, Dad.

  He always has so much energy and gives everything to the work.

  He is the miracle our branch needed. :)

Hello Arleta and the rain!  This is us on the way to the Baptismal interview!  We were trying to help Edilberto find us so he could pick up Enio (right) and take him to his baptismal interview.  We met this wonderfully sweet Chinese woman and it was a bonding moment for all involved!  This picture doesn't do the amount of downpour justice.

Two of my absolute favorite comps

Hermana Herrera (left) & Hermana Larsen (right)