Week 4: I wanna be where the people are...

Hola Familia!

Wow. I can't believe it, but I only have about 17 months left in my mission! hahaha. But really the time is flying by in the MTC. I apologize, I didn't get a letter hand written this week, but hopefully next week I can squeeze it in. At the MTC, every second we are learning and growing, or eating and sleeping. When I do have a moment where I'm not doing something, I am memorizing scriptures or vocabulary. 

This week was great! On Thursday was Thanksgiving. Most of the missionaries forgot because it was just like any other day. But when we went to dinner, there was a surprise waiting for us! The cafeteria staff had made a nice dinner for us. They put tableclothes on the table with cloth napkins, pitchers of juice, and flowers. Then they served us turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. It was so nice! The food was a little different than normal thanksgiving, but I was so glad that they made it so special for us. President and Sister Carmack came and sat by us during dinner, so that was fun to talk to them a little bit more. 

On Friday was the big day! We went on splits with some missionaries in the Santiago West mission. It was cool because that is where my MTC companion is going, so we got to see her mission a little bit more. It was such a cool experience, I hope that I can share everything that I want to.

When we got to the mission, we went to the chapel and got assigned our companion for the day. When I went and sat by her, she looked super familiar but I didn't know where I had seen her before. Her name is Sister Miller. We went out walking and contacting and talked to a couple people. I could barely figure out even the topic of the conversation, let alone join in and say stuff, so that was kind of hard. Then we went to see if some references were home. As we were walking I found out that she liked singing with her sisters, and hanging out with her family, so...same. There are a lot of Hatians in Sanitago, and espcecially in the area we were in. We taught this one lady who was really shy, and she kept laughing and covering her face. But I got to bear my testimony in spanish to her! It was really short and very simple, but the spirit was there. Then we sang The Lord is My Light to her. It was great. While we were singing, I figured out who my companion was! She is one of the sisters from Elenyi, the youtube group. I felt like I was hanging out with a celebrity hahaha. I didn't say anything about it though because she didnt say anything but....basically I sang with a famous person. NBD.

This week I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I am trying to finish by the end of the year, so I have to read 10 pages a day. It is my favorite time of the day every morning when I get to read the Book of Mormon in personal study. Maddie, I am in Mosiah also! This time when I read, I actually understood the relationship with Ammon and King Limhi and Zeniff (sp?), so that was awesome. When I read the Book of Mormon, I just know that it is true. I just know it. It is so good, and so relatable to our lives. One of our classes each day is that we read the Book of Mormon as a district. Sometimes we read one chapter all together, and sometimes we go around and share a scripture that we each like. As we have done this, I have realized that basically all of the scriptures relate to missionary work. They all contain insights to help me and encourage me. 

I have to go now, but I love all of you so much! I wish I had more time to email all of you, but it feels like I can either do a group email or email little responses to everyone. Lo siento.

Love, 

Hermana Christensen

ps. Here is the picture with Elder Gong