Thanksgiving in Nephi

Hello everyone!

It has been a fun filled thanksgiving week in Nephi, Utah. I myself was stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey 3 times over the course of thanksgiving and even more throughout the week with leftovers and such. I would say that I am about ready to hibernate but there is no time for hibernation in the Lord's work. We played in the turkey bowl tourney for Juab county. There was 8 teams and I was on the championship winning team and made the championship winning touchdown catch just like I hope megatron did for the Lions on thanksgiving.

We went to sing at the retirement home and it was such a special experience. They were so appreciative that we would take an hour out of our day to go and spend time with them. Elder Lazarus played the piano and I sang. We had a good time. 

The weather has been unexpectedly warm this week. the promise of snow and cold is ever present though. They say it is supposed to storm pretty good starting Tuesday and that we will get our fair share of the Utah cold. I simply can not believe that it is almost Christmas. It is crazy to think of how fast my time is flying by here. This transfer ends this week. It went by way too fast. From talking with President I think that Elder Lazarus and I will stay together here for another transfer. 

We are still working on finding people to teach. It has been pretty slow as of late but there are some promising signs that the work is picking back up. We had an unbaptized 10 year-old come to church for the first time this week. His mom was completely against the church ever since I have been here and something happened and her heart was finally softened. Miracles are happening.

I want all of you to know of the great testimony that I have of this work. Our God is still a God of miracles and if we take the time to see that then we will know how big of a role that is hand plays in our life. I hope that all of you had an amazing thanksgiving. I love you all!

Elder Ammon Christensen

Another Great Week!

This week has been filled with a lot of great experiences. Elder Lazarus and I have hit the ground running here in Nephi and are keeping on. We love the work and we love the people! This past Sunday we had the privilege of confirming both Kaylee and Taylor the spirit was so strong and the ward just absolutely loves them. We have been out in the cold and rain on our bikes this week working for our Lord and Savior and testifying of his goodness. 

The wards here are really starting to catch fire. It is amazing because I see the hastening of the work happen every single day as I am out here. We find so much joy in doing the work and have fun a long the way. We are teaching a lot of less actives right now and it has been very fulfilling. We want to do all that we can to bring them back into the fold. I love you all and pray for all of you!

Elder Christensen

Here is some P-day fun

It is Really Cold in Nephi!

Hello everyone!

This week has been another great one. My new companion Elder Lazarus and I have really hit the ground running. We have found a strong unified desire to work hard in bringing souls unto Christ. We have been focusing a lot this week on finding people to teach. We are trying to gain the trust of the members by serving them and loving them. We find it ineffective when we simply ask for referrals. We have had many experiences this week where we are able to work with the members in a more effective way as we serve them and try and increase their own faith.

Kaylee and Taylor are still doing completely amazing. They have strong support and love from the ward. The Jones family has taken them under their wing. The Jones family has built their own testimonies as they began to do missionary work with these little girls. Simple acts like bringing soup over when their mom was sick show that true Christ like love that we should share with our fellowman. This work is all about LOVE! It starts and ends with love. I can only imagine the amount of love that Christ has for each one of us. Kaylee and Taylor's story started with the love of determined visiting teachers. Visiting teachers that didn't give up even when the door was not open, even when they were told they were not needed. Love drives this work. I end up loving the people I teach every single time. As I begin to love them I want them to have what I have and I want to serve them. 

That is our goal as a companionship this transfer. To love the members and all the people of Nephi. To let them know that we are their missionaries and that we are here to serve them. We have raked so many leaves this week. We have helped move someone in. We have done all these things without even planning them. They just happen as we are out and about and see someone in need. We found multiple non-members this way and are building a wonderful relationship with the community. We are kept so busy this way and we love being busy!

I know that this work is our Heavenly Father's. I know that I can not do this work unless I strive to develop a Christlike love for all of His children. I feel his love all the time and know that he watches over me as I obey his commandments and determine to work as hard as I can to spread the gospel to his children. I love all of you and pray for you day and night!

Elder Christensen

Ammon's Pumpkin Carving of Joseph Smith

Pumpkin Carving of Ammon's Mission President

Raking Leaves!!

Beautiful Fall Colors!

Hello from Nephi once again. This past week has been one of beautiful fall color, sunshine, and crisp fall mornings. I love the days we ride our bikes and get to wear our fall sweaters it is my favorite time of the year! I drank lots of apple cider this past week. I got it from the local grocery store to make me feel more at home and it worked! I cannot however and will never get close to the amount of cider my brother Austin could drink in his Michigan days.

Our investigator Brandon had a very up and down week. We had one of the most spiritual lessons with him on Monday. We shared the story of Enos. We talked about receiving answers from our Heavenly Father through prayer. He openly admitted that he knew the church was true and had known for a long time. It had just taken him a while to put all the pieces together and for him to be humbled enough to accept this answer. We felt so spiritually charged after that lesson. We had known from the very beginning with Brandon that he knew this church was true and that he knew this was the right thing to do. During our next meeting later in the week we met a very tired Brandon. He had been awake for over 24 hours. He looked depressed and distraught. We started our lesson and everything was going well until the end when Brandon said that he had received two conflicting answers. One he claimed from the Book of Mormon that said he should not join and another answer from a picture he drew that told him the church would give him the peace and serenity he was seeking. We were shocked; Brandon had been doing so well up to this point. We promised that his confusion came from the devil and not from God but he could not understand. We hope that it is only the sleep deprivation that confused him. 

One of the best parts of our week was going to the Heritage Hills Rehabilitation Center (retirement home) to play bingo and give ice cream to the patients. For some reason old people really do love bingo. They are also very hard of hearing so sometimes we would have to repeat ourselves a lot. Bertha got very excited when she won and Bob had about five helpings of ice cream. He really did love that chocolate.... We love serving there because we know that these people love company. They are truly sick and afflicted to a point where independently living is impossible. This service hits very close to my heart since my grandparents were just put in such a home. I think of them every single time I go there. I try and serve them, as I would want my grandparents to be served. One of the patients Margaret said that she would adopt me in a minute but my Mom would probably not go for that. I have grown to love these people by spending time helping them. I have gained peace and perspective from giving outward instead of inward.

This week we have helped at the local Nephi Ghost Tours (an activity for funds for the library). It has been a great and fun service opportunity. We get to tell ghost stories around town and people see a different side of missionaries than they are used to. As we have done this we have become a lot more visible in the community and have talked to several non-members and less actives. We haven't had any teaching opportunities surface yet. But, we can see how much good it is doing for the work.

One of the best things about fall is football. In order to get one of our investigators named Lewis to come to church I promised that I would wear my football jersey to one of the lessons. I did and he loved it! Lewis is making progress and we are still trying to convince him that church is more important than the Jets. He is fun to teach and a handful.

I love you all and want you to know that I know the gospel has been restored. It is the driving force behind all that I do. "Oh that I had the voice of an angel and could speak with the voice of a trump..." I would proclaim it boldly all day long. My voice isn't that loud or authoritative (I learned that from bingo with the elderly) but I do my best sharing what I know in a way that is my own and that is what He wants, that is what He commands. 

Have a good week!!!

Love

Elder Christensen

Pumpkin Time in Nephi!

Hello everyone,

I titled this letter because everyone in Nephi seems to grow their own pumpkins. We now have received (for free) four good size pumpkins that decorate the porch of our apartment. Everyone else has large home grown pumpkins on their porch as well. It must be a Nephi tradition to grow your own pumpkins. The weather here keeps getting colder and colder. The snow has not reappeared except on the mountains since the last time I wrote. The fall colors on the mountains are so beautiful and I really love the cold crisp weather. It makes for very nice bike rides all around Nephi. One of the service opportunities that we had this week was to dig potatoes and harvest pumpkins for our landlord. It was a new experience digging potatoes I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately the potato crop was very poor and not what our landlords had expected. They were disappointed and had to order some for their winter store. We also harvested pumpkins and we got to choose two to put out on our front porch. It was fun and a great way to get service.

One of our new investigators is named Brandon. We met Brandon last week as he was walking home from high school. We were on our bikes and I said we should stop and talk to him. We stopped and chatted for a while. We immediately hit it off. He said that he was a non-member and that we could come back and teach him again. He was excited and so were we. We taught him the first lesson and the spirit was amazingly strong. He also related that us meeting him was not an accident that he had had a very rough day and week and that we were sent from God. He said that this past year had been preparing him to accept us. Brandon has so much faith we are just trying to direct it in the right way. He cannot read very well (he has severe dyslexia) but he tries so hard and I can see the Lord blessing him for just trying. The Lord has prepared him in unseen ways to receive the gospel.

Billy who is the mentally handicapped man is also doing well. He went up to bear his testimony on Sunday. He bore his testimony on how "God was true" and that "he is always with me" I was surprised by how powerful his simple testimony was. I felt Christ's love so strongly. I felt so proud that Billy had the courage to get up there and share what he felt even though he might not have been as capable as the others going up to bear their testimonies.

We volunteered at the retirement home this week. We went around and gave out ice cream to lift the spirit of the patients. As we went around we met some of the sweetest spirits. They appreciated our visits and asked when we were coming back. Some of them had dementia and got confused as to why we were there. But when we said we were giving out ice cream they all smiled. I felt the pain of their hearts as some of them related to us their stories. Most of them had been away from home for a long time and missed their families and living normally. It must be terrible to have lived so long on your own and get to the point where you need help doing a variety of daily tasks. Some of them said things that made me laugh, some of them said things that made me cry. I learned so much from serving them. When Jesus Christ was on the earth he sought out those that were sick and downtrodden. He knew that they would be humble and willing to listen. These people were so humble. They truly had broken hearts and a contrite spirit. I love them all.

As Fall is inevitably and finally here with its pumpkins, football, playoff baseball, and apple cider. None of that really seems to matter as much. Of course I miss it, I would be lying if I said I didn't. But the changes I have seen in others and myself is much more rewarding. I miss you all and pray for you day and night.

Love Elder Christensen