Be thankful this Thanksgiving...

Ho ho ho, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, everyone needs to calm down hahaha.

Hello everyone, in answer to your question mother, I was able to go to the temple for the first time and probably the last time on my mission. It is the first time missionaries have been able to go because of our mission president in like two years, so it is a blessing and seriously the coolest place ever. You can almost hear God when he’s talking to you. I loved it and it spiritually recharged me!

I do have a home to go to for Thanksgiving as of right now! I am going to Alex and Aaron and Erica’s to eat. They are this family that we are teaching and Alex and Aaron are on track to be baptized. Idk if I’ve told you about them, I think I have, but I love that family they are so cool!

My companion is from Mesa, Arizona, the land of the free and the home of the heat. He said he loved it and he is excited to go back in a matter of 7 weeks. Haha that is the weirdest thing, my companion is almost going home....it happens haha.

So I might be getting transferred on Monday so if you were planning to send me any letters send them by Wednesday or please hold off till I can give you my new address!

So this week was pretty fun...... it was about 5 degrees of fun....hahaha, yah it was cold and windy here and it snowed some and the entire town shut down and we weren’t allowed to drive anywhere, so we were on foot, it was crazy haha. It was a bad time to shave my head, my ears are cold haha. But blessings do come from going hard in the snow. We were able to talk to a lot of people as they were running in their house, had a lot of one-sided conversations with myself haha, but when we knocked on doors everyone would let us in because they were like, wow you guys are going to die, you need to get in here, then they would give us like some hot cocoa, everyone wanted to give us tea which made it a perfect segway into, well we don’t drink tea, which leads to baptism hahaha. There are a lot or really good people in this world I love it haha.

So I have been thinking a lot this week about gratitude and then the talks in church yesterday were also about it (there were 15 people at church because of the snow it was cool:), so often we focus on what we do not have and we take for granted the things we do.... and I have taken people for granted in my life, I have not been focusing on what I have and what relationships I have, but what I don’t have and what will make everyone happy. The only way to happiness is through gratitude. The sin of ingratitude is a weird sin, but still a sin.... look it up! So be thankful this Thanksgiving and remember what we do have and not all the silly little worldly things we do not.

I am Keegan Christensen, I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I carry a message that will bring everyone eternal happiness. I know this gospel is true no matter how hard it is out here, it is still true and I have to stand by what I believe! I just think about what Christ did for me and all of us.......I have to be here.

I love you all and I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving no matter where you are and remember to thank everyone, even that guy across the street. I love you all

Love elder c

Go out with the missionaries they need you, they want you haha, not in a weird way...

Edna, John and Mario all dropped us this week. It has been tough, not going to lie, some metaphorical tears have been shed by this odd companionship that we have.

We did find three new people who are much more promising now :). Alex and Aaron are an 11 and 15 year old, they are so cool, their mom pulled up to us and was like, hey I want you to teach the lessons and baptize my kids. So we didn’t say no. We went over and they made us steak it was so good.

Also this week we ran into a guy who swore that he knew me. He was positive that I worked at Burger King and while we’re teaching him the entire time he kept interrupting and was like, yes you do worked there, I know you man I know you! So finally I was like, sure I work at Burger King and we left. It was an awful lesson, his name is Craig by the way and so we decided to go to Burger King for dinner that night just for kicks and giggles and this lady dropped her burger on the ground, so I pick it up for her and started whipping it with a napkin and that guy walked in! And he was like hahahaha, I knew it man you can’t fool me! So that was what happened there.

I was reading a lot in the Book of Mormon this week and it really spoke to me quite a bit. The Book of Mormon is so easy and people try to make it so hard. It is true I know it is true, without this book everything would be chaos. So this week I tried only teaching out it and really it was a lot easier than I thought. Pretty much our entire religion is found in the Book of Mormon. Good day. I wish that I had more to share this week with y’all it has probably been the slowest week ever, but with wind gusts of up to 60- miles an hour. Pray that we will be able to find people who are ready and willing.

Be a member missionary. Go out with the missionaries they need you, they want you haha, not in a weird way, but it makes everything better with y’all there and be nice to people you don’t know at church. Don’t just talk to the same three people every week, try to befriend everyone because that is what people go to church for, beside the sacrament, to make those friendships that will stand the test of time, to go to those people who truly need them and want them, so try it, try to reach out of your shell, why not.

Love elder c

Be a good neighbor like they used to be in the sixties and fifties...

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS: 

1) Not any pictures with Amarillo people yet, except for Tomas, but I will try to get more to you I promise. I don’t have too much time because I am sending about a thousand pictures today, so the letter is going to be short but the memories forever ;). (Keegan did send 32 pictures, I will attach 6 and the rest will be on the blog. The big guy is CJ who was a ward missionary in San Angelo, then Tomas getting baptized, some of the many strange signs in Amarillo and one of Elder Chuck his new comp fixing the bike.)

2) Nah, nothing really I want to much for Christmas or Thanksgiving, but I will think about it this week and get back to you haha

3) Yes, I did talk with my mission president, needless to say we are besties haha, not really but we are alright. Sister Augustin is my girl though, we talk all the time about life, love and you mom, it is wonderful ahha.

 Amarillo is fun. I like it a lot, the people are so nice it’s not even funny, just random people feed us and are like come here, I will listen to you, teach me about God, but then they don’t want you to ever come back again. Will they say they do, then they are not there and it is kinda sad haha. 

Okay so this week we knocked a street. And we felt inspired to do so, but not a single person wanted to hear our message, not one. And everyone was home. But before we left each house every person said, be careful on this street and similar things like that, every house without fail. Which made me think that no one knows their neighbors really, that they all think they are bad people, never gave them the chance to get to know them, so reach out get to know your neighbors. Be a good neighbor like they used to be in the sixties and fifties. Sure the times have changed, but seriously the teachings back then were beautiful. 

The Book of Alma could be the coolest movie ever made if it were made into one. I know that for a fact haha. I also am teaching Edna, Mario and John. They are all scheduled to be baptized. I will tell you more next week I promise, but pray that they will do it and be comforted. 

Thank y'all for everything. I love you . Now enjoy some signs in Amarillo haha. Elder Keegan

This is how the mission should be...

Hello New York!!!!!!!!! This Elder Keegan Fjeldsted Christensen coming to you live from the hospital is Amarillo Texas, temperature is a solid 51 degrees with a wind chill that makes it 30 it is beautiful and I couldn’t ask for more. This life is a lot different than the life I used to live in San Angelo not going to lie it’s a lot more poor and very few people speak good English its awesome haha. This is how the mission should be. Everyone is willing to talk to us and that is cool but no one is there when we go back so that’s kinda hard.

We baptized Tomas On Saturday and he is one beautiful son of god it was a way cool experience that was a blessing to be a part of. It goes to show that no matter what you have gone through in your life you can do anything with the Lords help and I know that to be true with every fiber of me haha.

Our ward is super weird not going to lie it’s kind of like I’m in a crazy foreign land or something like that. It is really small and the lights make it seem like I’m in prison but the people are all super nice and amazing we had dinner at someone’s house the other night he is the coolest guy in the entire world I loved it God bless America

So I said I would tell you about my homeless friend idk if I already did but he got an apt now so I wanted to share that with you too. We first met him and he had nowhere to live hadn’t eaten in days and he looked like he was about to die and he said he needed our help so the Lord was there to pick him up. We said that if we prayed and he truly had the faith that the Lord would help him that he would make it through these hard times and then we parted ways. Later that day he was walking buy this restaurant and this guy was like hey I feel like I need to feed you for some reason I need to. You can come here every day and I will give you a meal. Blessing number 1 from praying. Then later he was walking down the street and all of these cop cars came up to him and were like get in get in. so he was like okay and he got in the car and they were like you murdered this guy and strangled his girlfriend an hour ago and we are taking you to jail for the rest of your life there is no way you are getting off for this we never make a mistake. so they pull up to the girl who he supposedly strangled and she said that that was him and they started to take him to the police station and they started filling out the report and at this time my friend was in tears and he PRAYED that the lord would help him and said that he had the faith. Then the lady doing the report right after he finished said, “wait a minute.... you don’t have black eye brows” and he was like I know (he’s Bald). Then she was like you’re not the guy..... and he was like I know! and then the cop was like here is ten bucks don’t tell anyone about this and they shoved him on the side of the road... he found us later that week and told us everything and how he wants to meet with us and how he knows God is there and now we are meeting with him and he got a job at that place that was feeding him and he has a place to stay and he knows it all because of the Lord.

Ya it was a little scary that when he was telling us this there was a murderer loose right by us but we still were overjoyed and I am here to say God answers prayers so everyone pray and have faith like Alma when he prays to be loosed from his chains then he rips them out of the wall and the whole building collapses it is awesome!

Okay, I love you all, be safe, be strong. Life is hard I know it but we must carry on!

Elder Keegan Christensen