Exploring to understand Abilene

Carry on, 

The world is a beautiful place my friends and Abilene can be that beautiful too if you look really really really hard haha. I’M KIDDING. I dig it here a lot. So my area is the rich part of town I found and every single house here is a lot nicer than my own, so I was kind of intimidated when I arrived I am not going to lie. Driving down the road for the tour of my area only struck more fear into my heart with every house I passed by. Knowing that all of these people already attended one of the 400 churches in town made me think of the difficulty of my situation. Then I said a prayer for God to give me strength in my new home here. Immediately my outlook of the whole situation changed.

I realized with the light and knowledge in which I have gained all I can do is help these people. Even though they all attend a different denomination, they all have questions that cannot be answered by anyone but me and my companion. And the Holy Ghost of course. My area has a few mega churches in it as well. If you don’t know what that is… picture 3 football fields or so side-by-side, then put a giant box over it with a steeple on top. Each one of the huge churches holds thousands of people every Sunday. And a few of them teach a strictly anti- Mormon Sunday School class. This town everyone is so religious but it is so strange to me that with all of this love for the Savior everywhere, there is so much hate towards the one sect that I represent. This is going to be a crazy transfer I know it. But I have no fear. With the Lord and my companions beside me Abilene’s heart is going to be softened. Challenge accepted my friends.

The Church is true… it is more true today than it ever has been before. I know this because there is no way I would be able to feel the way I do right now if it were not. I love my Savior and I love y'all too… if you need me I am here for ya.  Be safe out there remember who you are and what you stand for. 

Love elder c 

(And my pictures aren’t working today :( sorry everyone I had some cool ones this week.)

PS. Keegan bought some souvenir boots :-)

Goodbye San Angelo...Hello Abilene...

Goodnight and Good luck to good old San Angelo,

If that didn't give it away, I got the call on Saturday night…oh Saturday night…that I am leaving this wilderness of San Angelo and embarking on a new journey to the forbidden land of Abilene, Texas for my last two transfers I presume. To a Land that has more different kinds of churches per capita than anywhere else in the world. A Land so weary that because of so many churches it is illegal to proselyte after 7 PM. A city so mysterious that it has a Red Robin....the only Red Robin in the mission mind you… It is weird I have been called to the Lubbock Texas Mission. But I have yet to serve in actual Lubbock itself. I have literally served everywhere around it. Am I livid? A little. Do I know the Lord has a plan? 100%

This week I would like to touch upon the subject of friendship and good impressions. So moving from area to area as a missionary is kinda lame sometimes, mainly because you build such good relationships with these people, then a couple months later you stab them in the heart and just leave them. I have done it a lot on my mission, so I am kind of used to it. But this week I had to say goodbye to all of the people I have grown to love here in San Angelo. I think I learned what friendship and love truly means these transfers. True friendship you don't need to be fake or talk too much or anything, if you are yourself then everything will fall into place. But I don't like the term just “be yourself”. I don't. I know a lot of people will disagree with me when I say that, but that is okay. I believe in order for us to make the best friends and have the best environment to live in, we need not only simply always just be yourself… but always be your “best self”. If we are being our best self, we are always improving, we are always getting better and I have found myself being more myself these last few months more than I ever have. And I have found that,

1) I am living the best life I ever have

2) I am having the best happiness

3) I am making the best friends

And because of that I have the best testimony I have ever had as well. So I challenge everyone to be their best because it will only bring the best. And I know that all of you know what your best is and way too often we are not doing it. So try it.

Also go to the temple as much as possible. I went on Saturday and it was revolutionary.com and then I taught seminary this morning as well about the temple and missionary work vs. temple work. It was so cool. The students asked me a couple questions which is weird cause in my mind I literally just graduated high school, so I don't feel any older than these kids, but it was cool. They asked if going on a mission was better than school. And I said,  “oh my goodness yes”… haha but  it is. They also asked if they should go on a mission at 18 or wait. And I guess I never really thought about that before. Should people just go at 18 or should they wait a year. Then I thought about me personally. And there is no way I would have had the tools to make it through college without my mission. I hear all the time that college is where you "find yourself" and that is such a crazy intense place to find yourself. Which is good in some ways because you can say no to temptations head on. But there is so much more room to fall. Going on a mission I was able to find myself in ways that I thought I already had figured out. I have found myself so there is no need to do it later. I know who I am. I know God’s plan. And I am going to be me.

Well I love y'all. If you need me let me know. I will be in Abilene.

Be safe.

Love elder c

P.S. my address is 3549 Curry Lane Apt. #3612, Abilene, TX 79606

Eating out, unexpected kiss and helping hands...

Every day is my destiny…

Such a weird week, it was the most far-out week of my mission but I loved it.

Couple cool things that happened… We went to Ballenger this week to teach our investigator there. He works at the local best restaurant in town and I like to go out to eat so people can see us as normal people and we always have people come and talk to us so it is sweet, but this was different. This being the best restaurant in town, in a small town on a Friday night, literally everyone in town was there and literally all but 3 came up and talked to us asking us where we were from and were so happy that nicely dressed younger men were coming into town to make the appearance of it better. And all of the old ladies hugged us. It was weird...but legendary. But now we have a lot of people to talk to there so the Lord works in mysterious ways. As long as you are out doing His will, He will put people in your path.

Secondly, I am keeping a distance away from every girl I see now haha. So this week I went on exchanges with the other companionship in my district and something crazy always, always happens on exchanges. Well anyway we taught so many people that day literally over 12 and it was nonstop teaching, but on the way to one appointment we were biking down the street and we see this girl crying, she is in her early 20s and she looks upset. She was being sent to a voluntary rehab clinic for the next 6 months and she was so afraid of the future. We talked to her about how if you put God as your goal and continue to strive to walk towards Him taking steps of faith onto an unknown path, God will put the stepping stones in front of you in order to make that journey. It was an incredible moment on the side of the road, and then she asked in her tears if we could pray for her, I gladly said yes and began to pray for her saying the things that she needed help with and asked God to help her. We all said amen and I look up, as I am in the motion of looking up I see her face getting super close to mine, and I panic and all of a sudden she kissed me right on the lips!! I jumped back really quick (obviously she was a little tipsy),  then I said goodbye as quick as I could and we got out of there but she was just happy as a clam telling us thank you, thank you so much, she knew everything was going to be alright. I am glad we got to talk to her but idk if it was worth the cost haha. I felt dirty all week but my companion assured me everything is alright. 

So ya, it has been a crazy week here in San Angelo. To close things off…. this week on Saturday we did a helping hands project for a member of our ward who’s house is slowly eating away with squirrels in their roof and the sides falling down. So we got the ward together and there is a member who owns a contracting business in the ward. And we got all the materials donated and we rebuilt her roof and the sides of her home. Putting in new windows and doors and sinks. It was so cool to see the look on this mother’s face with her daughter and grandchildren living there with her. She was crying and said thank you. Thank you for all you have done. I am so glad I have been able to come on a mission and help people who truly need my help in many different ways. I am also blessed for what I am learning. I will now be able to do repairs and help my future family with our house issues as well as those in my ward. The Lord has many reasons for us to be where we are and I am so excited to find them all out.

I love you all be safe this week.

love elder c 

Testimony time in the TLM....

Hey,

This is Elder Keegan Christensen from the TLM, Texas Lubbock Mission, or The Lord’s Mission, whichever you prefer. This week was weird it seriously felt like it didn't even happen, I don't know if that has ever happened to you.

I love Easter, it is one of the two times a year that everyone who is a Christian comes together to celebrate the Living Christ. And to top it all off we had Conference where we get to hear from the prophet of God. Doesn't get much better than that my friends.

This week I would like to share my testimony of the power and divinity of Jesus who is the Christ. I know that he lives today, I have thought a great deal about him, I have meditated, and prayed to know if he is there. And all of those were good. But I did not know for myself that he was there until I accessed his infinite atonement. Those of you who do not know if Christ is truly there and you have prayed and asked to know if he is there and got no answer, I invite you to act to get your answer to know that he is real and that he lived and that he died for us individually. I know this more than I know anything else on this green earth. I know that he not only died but he rose for us so that we all can live again with perfected bodies. Not just spirits but bodies with no blemish or fault. No pain....or disease. And most of all I know he lives for us today and because he lives we can make it through, we can leap over every obstacle and we can be free from anything holding us down. To know this is to live. I love him.

It truly is as easy and simple as that. He gave everything for us every debt has been paid. Don't worry, just act and use him. I love you all so much. This email is brief, but it is the truth and I lie not.

Be safe I love you

Love elder c