August 19th 2013

Dear Family,

It has been another hot yet great week in the mission field. It has been a week filled with ups and downs. Smiles and frowns and everything else in between. We started the week by searching and searching for new investigators. Boy it can be tough work trying to find people who are interested or who will even open their door to talk to us. But we were blessed! After many long hours tracting over the course of 3 days. We were led by the help of members to a home. It was the end of the night, the time was far spent. But as we knocked on the door we were welcomed in by a Mom who was a convert of ten years. We came to find out that both of her children were unbaptized. We had an amazing lesson and were able to set up a return appointment for this Tuesday. They are almost completely golden...Christ loves his little children so very much. I have come to know that on my mission so much more than I could ever comprehend before…I talked to my first polygamist this week. We knocked on the door and it was my turn to talk. She was very scared of us. We asked if she had ever talked to missionaries and she said no. We told her what we did and she immediately said she was from Colorado City (FLDS capital) Anyways it was fun to be able to talk to a polygamist. It felt like she was scared of us. People are scared of us all the time, I continually wonder what they think we are going to do to them. I love all of your letters keep them coming. They uplift and strengthen me every single day. I miss all of you and hope that you are all doing great. I pray for you and can feel the power of your prayers in my life. Signing off from Hurricane.

Elder Christensen

Ammon week of 8/6/13

Hi family! I found out that I get to stay another six weeks in Hurricane! with my same companion and eery thin I have grown such a love for the people down here, specially one of my Ward Mission Leaders...Our work in his ward is progressing so rapidly because he is so involved and wants to keep us busy. He is a great man. The weather is still hot down here, I have been promised by the locals that it starts to get better mid-September (around my birthday) that would be the best birthday present ever, sub 95 degree days...Wow  can't believe that, time is flying I feel like dad was just dropping me off at the curb...this week we went to the best Mexican restaurant ever, Irmitas, if you are ever down in St. George, go! It is so good! it was also free because a member owns it and loves the missionaries. We are so spoiled here in the Utah St. George Mission. We are so loved in fact, we were ran down when we were tracting in a neighborhood by a little 5 year old and his family, his dad told us that the little boy wanted to see the real life missionaries, we told him we were as real as it gets. He was the typical 5 year old shy, but was so cute, he reminded me so much of Bennett. We were invited  to dinner next Sunday at their house and they even gave us a couple of referrals. LIke I said we are so spoiled/blessed in the Utah St. George Mission...I love teaching more than anything. I think it is because I love the scriptures so much....Keep doing what you are doing and remember that Elder Christensen loves you all, prays for you all, and thinks of you for motivation when the going gets tough to be able to keep my head up.

Elder Christensen

Ammon being his silly self :)

Letters 7/29/13

Here is a picture of Ammon and his district:

Hello everyone!

The weather here in Hurricane seems to just keep getting hotter. Everyone tells me to wait until the winter and then it is beautiful. I am not sure how much I trust them though... Anyways it was a challenging week but a rewarding one in the mission field. I feel as though I am finally getting used to the waking up at 6:30 am thing. It is still a challenge but it is now just more automatic…It is an exciting time in Hurricane we have three baptisms scheduled for next month. One of the little boys asked me to baptize him I am nervous and pretty excited. We are teaching this one boy named Westin who is just on fire right now, he wants to meet with us every single day. He is so excited to go to church and even more excited to be starting scouts. The Lord has eased me into the mission life by giving me so many children to teach. They are the best to teach! They listen so well and get so excited by gospel concepts. Most people run from us but children run to us. They recognize who we are and what we do…We had a very spiritual tracting experience the other night. We had only 30 minutes left that night and Elder Weyant felt impressed to drive into a subdivision that we were near. He asked me which house and I pointed to one that was pretty closed. He said "That is the one" We knocked on the door and what were the chances, at least in this neighborhood that it would be a non-member (an inviting one nonetheless) the door opened and a woman in her late 50’s opened the door. She related to us the experience of her last 8 years living in Utah. She is a non-denominational Christian who had never been befriended by a Mormon, never been invited over by a Mormon, never seen or talked to the missionaries, and was strong in her faith of Jesus Christ. We discussed what we do as missionaries and debated a little about the doctrine of grace. She is a very nice and neat lady. She said that we could come back, which is always good. We got back in the car and Elder Weyant told me that he only drove there because the spirit had told him that someone needed us that night, someone needed to talk to us and have the opportunity to be introduced to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Lesson, Always listen to the spirit, even if you are afraid, even if it seems illogical, even if it is inconvenient. The Holy Ghost leads us and will never lead us astray. I am so grateful for this gift that our Father in Heaven offers to us…I meet someone new and interesting everyday. I talked to a German man at church in German yesterday he told me how he escaped eastern Germany when the Iron curtain was up. I miss you all so much, the Lord has blessed me so much for being here already. I meet new and interesting people everyday. I am given the privilege to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. To offer to them God's plan of happiness and show them the way to eternal life and joy with their families forever.

I love you all!

Elder Christensen