Good-bye to the great state of Texas!!

Hello everyone and good-bye to the great state of Texas!!

Yes it is true I am leaving and going out of Texas, but wait I am not going home! No, I have been called to serve in Portales, New Mexico!... (outside or NW of Roswell)… and let me tell you I am a little bit stoked to go there and to convert that great state to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I am sad to leave Midland though, over the last couple of months it has become my home and the people here my family....I will miss them :)

So this week was one of the best weeks of my entire life and that is because I know the Lord truly has sent me on my mission for a reason…

Today I am going to tell you about my friend Shaquel. He is a twenty-year-old who just got home from doing a tour in the army. When he got home he fell away from the church and wasn't comfortable coming back.... about 2 months ago Shaquel was driving his truck and he stopped at a four-way stop. He then proceeded to go, thinking it was his turn. As he pulled out into the street a semi-truck that failed to stop, going 60 miles an hour, hit his truck…turning the truck into a blob of destroyed metal.... Shaquel was pinned under the dash board and he was losing a lot of blood. The ambulance then came after 17 minutes and cut him out of the truck gently pulling him out. He was then rushed to the hospital. When he arrived he found out that he had broken both of his femurs, shattered his right ankle and broken every rib on the right side of his body. He was bleeding a lot and the doctors didn't think he was going to make it. He then, after getting to the hospital, had a massive stroke leaving him on the brink of death…

It was about 8:00 p.m. when we received a call that we were needed at the hospital to give a blessing. So we biked as fast as we could to get there. When we got there it was one of the scariest moments of my life. We asked the nurse where we could touch him and they said nowhere.... we pleaded that we only needed to put one finger on his forehead and after a little while she then agreed. She said she was afraid it wasn't looking so good and that the only thing they were banking on was that he was a strong boy. Elder Clement and I then gave him a blessing of healing. We said he would be healed because the Lord said he would. We then left. About a month later we received a call from Shaquel’s grandpa saying thank you. You saved my grandson's life. Apparently after we left Shaquel began to change dramatically and he then began to awaken. He asked us to go see Shaquel in the rehabilitation center, so we went and when we got there we saw him. He said thank you for doing what you did for me. He said that he is going to change his life. He said he has seen the power of God in his life and he knows that the priesthood is real! Shaquel and I are now lifelong friends and I know that the Lord sent me to Midland for him. I needed to be worthy, I needed to be ready and He needed me at that time. 

I am so blessed to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands. I am so blessed to be on a mission and I am so blessed to be alive. I love life and I love all of you. Thank you for everything you do.

Love Elder Christensen