Bouncy House Missionary Work

What a week, I am more tired than I have ever been in my entire life, in a good way. We literally bike like 40 miles a day and more so we can find people to teach. It is awesome. It sucks all of the people we have found in the last little while have been baptized so now we just need to find someone else who is prepared and the Lord has provided once again.

This week started off amazing... quick story….So a member of our ward was having a birthday party for his two year old son, and he was inviting all of his neighbors over so we could teach them. When we arrived at this two year old's birthday party we were stunned when we saw one of the greatest things known to man on this earth....a bouncy castle. So we were mingling with the guests and they were nice, but none of them thought we were allowed to do anything fun with our lives so they didn’t really want to talk to us at first. So Elder Hammond and I needed to do something big and as we were thinking, we both cast our eyes on the bouncy castle. Needless to say it was one of the greatest moments of my entire life. And now we have some new investigators to start teaching.  So don’t be afraid to have fun out there on the mission, the Lord will bless you haha.

So the next couple of days after that were kind of slow with biking and heat. So we were kinda sad, so we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to give us someone solid that we could baptize. That night we met Cynthia, she is a 50 year old woman who has been looking for a church and the truth for 30 years. And it just so happened to be that God put us in her path at just the right time and place. After we shared the message of the restoration to her, many tears were shed and she is ready to start this course in her life. She then came to church on Sunday and more tears were shed and she finally found the family she was looking for…Its true we are a family on this earth and we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints can never forget that. Look at everyone you see as your family and you will change the world. 

Lastly we worked at a food bank this week and it was actually way fun to do it. I really enjoyed it and serving alongside great men and women of this country was a blessing. So I challenge all of you to volunteer and do something good in your community. I have decided I am going to do this always because its awesome just to help and to love people. 

Be safe everyone. I love ya I do, love love me do, I know I love you…

Well, I have to go now, but be safe everyone.

Love, Elder C

Kandy joined the team!

One more for the record books!

Kandy Lee Staten after getting hitched to Justin Ray Ballard/Staten, has now entered into the waters of baptism and is a part of the team! More on that in a little bit.

So this week I got Elder Hammond as my comp. He has been out for a long long time and is from Salt Lake City Utah, not too far away from home. He is like 6 foot 6 and a really nice guy. We are loving it here. He agrees that Portales, New Mexico is the Zion of the mission, so I am pretty blessed to be here not going to lie.

 Also I hit my 13 month mark yesterday which is weird. I will be home in only 11 months so everyone be getting ready! Haha

Something cool that happened this week that was rad was I was getting my hair cut by Kendra, one of the coolest people in the world and she asked me, “are you the youngest child?”, and I said, “yes, how could you tell?” And she was like because you are always happy and you always think everything is going to work out the way it needs to.... I thought for a minute and I didn’t know what to say haha. I don’t think that is because I’m a youngest child. I think that everything is going to be okay. I know it’s because I have faith in God. My entire testimony is faith, everything I am is faith. I literally would not be on a mission without faith. So no matter what you’re going through right now no matter who you are just have faith that God will tell you what to do and have enough faith to act upon your answer.

Okay, so so cool with Kandy this week. Kandy has been waiting to be baptized for so long now... She truly knows the commitment she making and she is so grateful for Jesus Christ she is so awesome. I have learned so much from her. But Kandy is kind of a shy girl and she doesn’t like getting up in front of people, so her baptism she was really nervous. But when we opened up the doors to the fount and watched her walk down all of her fear went away. She was happier then she has ever been. Then she went under the water and when she came back up she was crying. She had finally done what she has been waiting her whole life for. She stood there in front of God and the world and wept because she was blessed enough to be baptized. 

Let none of us take our baptism for granted, it is one of the most important ordinances performed on this earth. And I am blessed enough, trusted enough by our Father in Heaven to find these souls and to help them get to this spot in their life. I am really beginning to feel the weight of the calling of a missionary. I am so glad I am here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I know I have bad days and I get to really low points, but I know that is because I can only go higher.

Rock on world…I love ya… 

Love Elder C

  

This week was a toughy...

Hello outside world, how is it out there? 

Inside the mission life is going good, it has been a real tough this week though, Kandy’s baptism is going to have to be pushed back to next week, so pray that everything goes well there and that she will be completely converted to the gospel.

Also I am staying in Portales for another transfer and I am getting a new companion Elder Hammond so this is going to be fun. This is now the longest area I have ever served in and it is the smallest city by far which is awesome haha.

So last week was a toughy. We didn’t teach too many lessons unfortunately but we did grow in the knowledge of the gospel a ton which was really cool. I feel like my knowledge is growing every day and that is the cool thing about Christ’s gospel and eternal progression that we are always going to be learning if we are living the commandments. With this knowledge of the gospel I have been gaining it has changed me as a person a lot... and what I truly want in life. The gospel changes you inside and out, it changes your present and future. I challenge all of you to study the gospel. If you are making poor decisions in your life, it will help you get one the right path and straighten you out. And I promise this is the only path worth walking on. I have been on both sides of this and I know what I need to do to get back to my Father in Heaven. I know how to get there and I know what I am willing to do to get there. No unanswered questions, no holes the gospel is complete.

Let the gospel change you, let your light shine, be who God wants you to be and not what the world expects you to be. Be you, be the son or daughter of God that you need to be. Gotta love preaching haha, but I’m sorry I don’t really have a story this week. I promise next week will be better:)

Love Elder Keegan

Road trip to baptize Chelsea!

Back to back blessings!

This week was a pretty slow one here in "The Land of Enchantment" haha, but it was still a good one none the less. There are a ton more students in town now coming back for school, so there are a ton more people to talk to. It’s weird though I seem to get along with all of the exchange students more than I do all of the regular people. I guess I just have a foreign personality. I think it is the pants....haha.

So this week was kinda really slow with no success. Then on Friday we got a call from the Elders in Clovis which never happens. Clovis is about a half an hour away from Portales, but it is like another world cause we aren’t allowed to go there haha. But on the phone call they said that Chelsea was getting baptized this week, if you didn’t know Chelsea is Jesus's girlfriend who moved to Clovis so Jesus could get baptized... and we had taught her all of the lessons as well. But they said that she was getting baptized tomorrow and that she had asked if I could baptize her! This was the greatest phone call I have ever had hands down. I was so pumped it was awesome. So the next day we made the trek to the foreign land to baptize Chelsea Ranae Lopez. 

When we got there we heard the sound of running water in the baptismal fount and I got chills everywhere.... Baptisms are one of the greatest events performed on the face of this earth, through baptism is the only way to gain the Celestial Kingdom! So it is always the new best day of my life when there is a baptism and especially for Chelsea, she has become one of my best friends in the world and I was so blessed to be able to do this baptism.

As we went into the water...I Felt the spirit stronger than I ever have in my entire life.... it was surreal, almost like a dream. I then proceeded to baptize Chelsea and when we were walking out of the fount I asked her how she felt? She said she felt warm; she felt new, she felt like this was the first day of the rest of her life and that she can do anything.... I almost cried.... then I told her never to forget that feeling. Always hold on to it....Those moments right after you come out of the waters of baptism are the moments in your life where you are the most clean you will ever be. It is so cool all of the guilt is washed away, all of everything bad is gone and you get to start out with something completely fresh and new. I was so blessed to be able to baptize Chelsea and to see this step she is taking in her life for her and her daughter... I am without words this week. I am just so blown away by how much God has blessed my life and how much He truly trusts me to bring back some of his greatest children on this earth. I am so small but yet the work is so big, I am weak yet He continues to build me into a soldier of God. I do not deserve what God has given me, but I will cherish every moment and continue to be there for the souls he entrusts me with. God is awesome...

Love Elder Christensen