June 22, 2015- ELK GROVE HOT STOVE

Monday:

Today was not P-day because of transfers so we had towork away and we had a ton of Lessons set up ! Elder D. and I were exhausted by the end of the day. We taught a seventh day Adventist pastor who has been doing it for 30 years ! that was fun ! ALSO  GOT  transfer calls..... Off to serve in Lao/meinh languages covering half the mission ! also covering Elk Grove park English ward.. thatll be fun !

Tuesday :

P-day filled with packing and goodbyes :( always hard!

Wednesday:

Bro T. came to pick me up and take me to south sac ! so awesome I miss that guy ! so yup got into the area and got settled and off we went to start working. I had my first Lao meal. they eat with their hands. you take sticky rice and make like a little spoon with it and eat some super spicy stuff with it! we also called president and he told me to start learning Lao !

Thursday :

District Meetings ! we had a crazy district meeting. Elder P. started it off by giving a letter to us from the first presidency that said that they no longer were going to call young missionaries for missions and was going to be on volunteer base only . and we would be interviewed for continued service. The letter was FAKE but it was to get a point across as we all were given a lesson by the spirit that a mission does not lastthat long. you have got to make the best of it because it will not last forever and time flies.

Friday:

Weekly planning... took forever !!

Saturday :

Still trying to learn the Language!  Just all around busy day and I, running out of time !

sunday:

We  had church for literally almost all day starting at 7:30 and ended at 4 . then we ate dinner and started to get to know the area better. Then we had a zon e activity ! we met on the roof top of a members home and had a zone meeting. it was like a zone testimony meeting and then they brought ballons and told us to write all of our fears down on a sticky not then tie it to a balloon. then we let them go . Cool symbolism and a great way to start the transfer ill try to send a picture of it !

love you sorry for a quick one !

Elder Kristensen

June 15, 2015-Here's a quick one!

Hey everyone heres the deal i forgot my journal and so ill have to catch you up next week because i dont really remember what happened ! woops ! But i will send you a couple pictures ! what you do need to know though is we got transfer calls yesterday. Im going to Elk Grove stake now and my new companion will be Elder P. ! Im super excited ! sad to leave foothills though ! 

Something i have come to know though is that God Grants according to our desires ( Alma 29:4). If your desire is honestly to become more like Jesus Christ then you will become more like christ and the only thing that the Lord Requires is a "heart and a willing mind" (D+C 64:34 ). if you desire to be unrighteous God will grant you that also. But i dont think any of us want that. I know that because of the Atonement of Christ we can be changed. and what it takes is sincere desire and he will do the rest. If i gain anything from my misssion i want it to be a testimony in Christ and his atonement. Love you all,

Elder Kristensen

Goodbye recent converts Leigh and Deborah !  

June 1, 2015- IPADS

Lots of stuff this week!!

Monday :

Not much happened! regular P-day! Except it was memorial day so everything was closed. Awesome right ?

Tuesday:

We received a legit Training on Ipads. yup thats right you heard it. Ipads are coming soon to the sacramento California mission. But not To modesto. so there were a lot of mixed feelings being in that training knowing that 1/5th of us will not be getting Ipads. It was awesome because the training wasnt so much on how to use the device, but rather how we can better become disciples of Jesus Christ. Elder Evans from the seventy came and gave the training. One of the things he said was " the Lord has never Loved a generation as much as this one." thats kind of cool. The Ipads are Really for us to help others come unto to christ but is also there to prepare us for the future. so rather than running away from Technology, we should learn how to use it properly and prepare for when we are home. He gave a cool analogy and put President Jardine and his wife on the spot. He held up a pen and asked if  she had ever used one to write President Jardine on his mission. She said yes. then He asked President If it ever was a distraction. President said YES. Pretty comical. the point is that the pencil and pen has been just as destructive and just as distractive as any technology. its just a matter of how we use it. Also super cool. Elder Evans was in Japan for like 12 years or something like that and got to know Elder D's Dad fairly well. So we talked to him and took a picture before the meeting. it was pretty awesome.

Wednesday:

Exchanges with Elder G! So not to much was Exciting. Except for Elder G is in Hmong work. That Language is CRAZY. i gotta learn how to speak it. It was kinda boring not understanding it though. makes it difficult .

Thursday:

District meeting. Talked about the importance of members . And From the baptisms ive been apart of , most of them are becaseu of members. Just a testimony to me of how important they really are ! we also served at a fruit market. got a bunch of fresh fruit from it ! best thing ! 

Friday:

cool mini miracle... there was this guy we biked passed the other day that we had the spiritual prompting to go talk to but for whatever reason blew it off. But then today the same guy was put in our path. turns out the Lord really wants us to talk to him. He used to live in Utah and his boss was LDS and LOVES the church. He even almost got baptized. and now he wants to meet with us. so Ill keep you updated on that !

Saturday:

Interveiws with President Jardine. This guy is ALL inspiration. He had a scripture that he showed me in the doctrine and covenants where it talked about the whole armor of God. and it lists it off. and then asked me if there was any "back plate" listed. and of course it doesnt. and thats because what he said was the battle is infront of us not behind. that that was cool. also saw a wild peacock. thats weird. 

Sunday:

All around good sunday. Thought forsure that we werent going to make our weekly goals this week. but then all of a sudden the Lord took over. in a matter of an hour and a half we taught 6 Lessons and added 3 new investigators. ya. We do not do the work here. 

It was an awesome week ! im happy and healthy and heres a bbunch of pictures!!  

May 25, 2015- A Quick One

Okay so im running out of time but Ill just lay out some of the highlights this week. There was a ton of emergency transfers in the mission and now my whole zone is pretty much brand new ! it is insane! So with that has come all kinds of different challenges. But thats just it, that the Lord does the work here, not us. it doesn't matter who is here or how new the zone is . 10 hours of my hardest work would mean nothing without the Saviour. without him work wouldn't get done . I'm so grateful for that; we are only instruments ! I read something amazing in the Book of Mormon today in 1 Nephi 17. Nephi is constructing the ship to come to the promise land. And paraphrasing the Lord basically tells him, "After you have reached the promise land will you know that I, the Lord, am God." It is after the trial and after the adventure that we see Gods hand guiding and directing us. We will see the promise land and we will know the divinity of Jesus Christ. Our savior. He did die for us. He made it so we can grow and change in this life so we can progress eternally to become who he knows we can become. But that only comes as we humble ourselves, and go to the Lord in Help. Every prayer is answered. The Lord is present in our lives we just have to be the ones to seek him out. He makes us be apart of hard things so we can grow and overcome the world as He did and over come the Natural man, who is an enemy to God. A mission is amazing. I have loved every minute so far. I would not trade this experience for anything in the World. It feels amazing to be apart of the noblest 18-26 year kids in the world. this is Christ's church. Truth was restored through Joseph Smith. I love my Savior and redeemer. 

Your missionary, 

Elder Kristensen