We Have Hermanas

 

Hola hola hola!! I was so excited to hear that  you got to watch the missionary conference also! We were required to go to the stake center last night to watch the broadcast. Arriving in the stake center was an adventure but it was so worth it; I really enjoyed the broadcast. I got chills a couple of times especially during the video showing all the missionaries - just knowing that Meish and Spence were watching the same video, all of us thousands of miles apart. 

 

One week down in Benjamin. I love Benjamin. We live in a really cute and tranquil neighborhood. We have to cross rail-road tracks everyday and walk a distance to the houses of our investigators. Our area is huge. Also, I am loving the ward here. We took one of our investigators to the ward movie night (which turned out to be a video about family history, she was super bored and confused). Anyways it was dark and quiet in the room and one of the members walked in late and saw us and in a really loud and obnoxious voice so everyone could hear said, "Misioneras! We have Hermanas." Ha she is an awesome member. 

 

Everyone is so kind and welcoming. Also, no one can say my name its usually christen or christina. Also, we get called Elders every day by people in the street. Usually by men trying to be all flirty. I have to try not to laugh. Have I mentioned that all the men hiss here. Thats their form of cat-calling. The sound gets so annoying. And I get called rubia (blondie) all day long; in my head i just think, you should see my sisters. 

 

I recieved the Ensigns and talks you sent. Love love love. I am especially impressed with the talk by Michael Otterson, "Exploring Questions through Faith and Reason." Some things I found interesting were:

 

1) Faith stretches us. Its an active force not a passive condition. 

2) My favorite part is his theory that we have to develop faith on the earth because of the expectations that will be placed on us in the next sphere. "In the eternities to come, will those who create worlds do so because they have learned the laws of physics that govern the universe, or will they work through the exercise of perfect faith or a combination of both... when Jesus says that by faith we can move mountains, is he merely being figurative or is there something about the power of faith that we now only dimly perceive, but that we must learn while here on earth"

3) It's ok to ask questions. Questioning, probing, searching and exploring when accompanied by an attitude of personal growth and spiritual enrichment is not only one of the joys in life, it is absolutely essential to our progression. A religious truth will never be in contradiction with a scientific truth. If they appear to be so, it's because we are lacking information on one side or the other, or both. And if a question can't be resolved immediately, don't worry; time has a way of solving lots of questions. 

4) You can work through doubts. Don't let the things you don't know take on a larger life than your faith. This reminded me of the talk that President Holland gave this past General Conference. "Hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes." Or as Alma says, it will grow inside you as a seed. 

5) The balance between faith and reason are interesting but it is our faith is driven more by a feeling than reason. This reminds me of something Gram wrote in her letter to me, she said that she has found the spirit speaks to her in a feeling not a voice. 

Ok my apologies; that was a longer summery than I intended. But I really connect with this talk. He says that faith is one of the spiritual gifts and its a wonderful gift to have the kind of faith that brings peace of mind and surety of purpose. For me, I don't think faith has ever come that easy. It's not one of my gifts; it's something I have to work at. Since coming into the field, I understand faith so much more and have grown so much. As Dad said in one of his letters, faith isn't faith until its tested. 

 

Ok that was a novel. Love you to the moon and back (what a pretty full moon last night). 

xoxo

Hermana Christensen