Cheese, Harrison Smith, and Other Stuff

Greetings!

Another week has come and gone. The days are flying by. 

We had zone conference this past week. We watched a little cartoon based off the popular book: “Who stole my cheese?” The video has a depiction of two men who leave their houses everyday to a big mountain of cheese. Every day they eat this cheese. Then one day they find the mountain of cheese is gone. One of the men becomes angry and wants to know who is to blame. He wants to know who did this to him. The other suggests that they can go looking for other cheese but he says he doesn't want new cheese - he wants the old cheese. The other takes proactive steps. He goes searching for new cheese. The difference is that this man visualizes success. He is willing to take a risk, think positively, celebrate little successes, and can adapt and enjoy the taste of the new cheese. 

I like the idea that our reaction to certain situations is the key to our state of being. As missionaries, it is easy to live in the past and want the old cheese and forget to enjoy changes and a new challenge. It can also be easy to be negative and search for someone to blame when things don’t go right. I am feeling ready for a new challenge in a new area. I have absolutely loved it here in Gazcue but am ready for a change. I feel that I have done what I can do here. While I was watching the video I was reminded that I need to be adaptive and make the most of what I have because where we work is out of our control. 

Someone shared a spiritual thought this past week that I really liked. She talked about how Laman and Lemuel were actually quite obedient in the quest to go retrieve the plates. They did what they were told but with a bad attitude. They complained and said, "it is a hard thing which is required of them." It is interesting how much of a difference their attitude made. Our obedience isn’t beneficial if it is done with a heavy heart. 

At zone conference a missionary was showing us pictures of his family. I saw a picture of him at his baptism with the two missionaries that taught him. One of the missionaries resembled Harrison Smith. I asked him the missionaries name and sure enough he said: Elder Smith. I told him “no way, he married one of my best friends.” It’s a small world in the church. 

We got to go through the temple this past week because robert went to do baptisms for the first time. That was wonderful. Also, my companion is working on her English. We practice as we are walking in the streets. My companion lives 20 minutes away so she often runs into family and friends in the street or in the market.  It would be very different to serve so close to home.

I got a dear elder from uncle Robb. Thank you Robb! He has such a funny sense of humor. 

Also, I straightened my companion’s hair this past week. She showed me how to do it. I gasped and told her she was going to fry her hair. She told me, "hermana calm down. My hair is very different than yours." Ain’t that the truth. Mine would fall out if I straightened it like she does. 

peace and blessings, 

meg

"Write your fears, grief, and the things that offend you in the sand and the things that make you happy in a stone. For the words in the sand will be erased by the tide but the words in the stone will last."

"Is man what he seems to the astronomer, a tiny lump of impure carbon and water impotently crawling on a small and unimportant planet? Or is he what he seems to Hamlet?"

                                                                        - Bertand Russel 

Habichuelas Con Dulce

Happy Easter! 

To celebrate the occasion, hermana manalo and I had eggs for breakfast. It made me think about Jim Gaffigan: 

"What do eggs have to do with Easter?" 

"Ok, we'll hide em." 

"I don't follow your logic." 

"Don't worry. There's a bunny." 

Here, they celebrate the semana santa  during the week leading up to Easter. its really more like spring break because everyone goes to the beach. 

Also, a tradition here is to make habichuelas con dulce for Easter. This consists of beans, condensed milk, sweet potatoes, raisins, coconut and lots of sugar. It's different but yummy! Add enough sugar to anything and it tastes good. 

One night we got a call that we had to stay home because the streets can get pretty dangerous. What did we do? We made treats and watched Legacy. Then we painted each others nails and jammed out to efY songs. It was girls night-in; missionary style. 

The sun is getting stronger and stronger. I always walk with an umbrella but i was still getting terrible squinting headaches. There were a few mornings I couldn't study because my head hurt so bad. President gave me permission to use sunglasses. So now i walk around with shades #missionarywithsyle. Some people here already thing that missionaries are spies. I feel pretty ridiculous but it's worth it. 

We really tried to focus all our lessons on Christ this past week. He truly is the center of our message. I thought a lot about Elder Holland's talk about the days leading up to his crucifixion. His apostles betrayed him; his closest friend denied him; and the father had to take the spirit from him. He was completely alone. I wonder if he had doubts or second thoughts. Nonetheless, he fulfilled his mission and gave us the greatest gift. Everything in this world has a price and that which holds more value has a greater price. I am so grateful that he paid that price for us and that he had the strength to do what he came here to do. I love my savior and am grateful that I can testify of him everyday. 

Good job Cate on the marathon!!! so proud of you. I love you all so much and am so grateful to have you in my life. 

xoxo

Hermana Christensen

"It's great to have your feet on the ground - but keep them moving. Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind. Thinking without constructive action becomes a disease."

                          - henry ford

"you cannot control the length of your life, but you can control its breadth, depth and height."

Hermana Mack

New Companion

Hey hey! How is my beautiful family? We had a good week here in Gazcue. The temperature is definitely rising again.  I walk with my umbrella and put on sunscreen but  I still seem to always burn. 

I was sad to say goodbye to hermana Morales. We got along really well and had a lot of laughs. However, my new companion is also wonderful. She is super sassy and hilarious. The other day a pigeon pooped on her head and shirt and I was crying and laughing watching her freak out. She got all the pigeon poop off then drenched her head and shirt in hand-sanatizer. She loves accessorizing and is really creative. Her goal is to teach me all the Dominican slang so that I can be a “Gringa on the outside and Dominican at heart.”

One thing I have discovered throughout the mission from living with people from different countries is that there are indeed different customs within cultures. Many of the American sisters have a "this is mine and that is yours" approach to life and my Latina Hermanas generally have more of a philosophy of "what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours" approach.  It’s something I had to adjust to at first but I can see the beauty in the Latina mindset. 

Another thing  I have discovered here is that I like change.  I have found that whenever I am transferred or get a new companion, I am more likely to progress both personally and in the work. It also helps to keep up my excitement for the work. A lot of what we do everyday is very routine and it is nice to get some change so that I don’t get complacent. 

 

Meg is Praying

Robert is preparing to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. He is gathering information on his grandparents - which is pretty exciting! I hope you all have a fantastic week. 

xoxo

hna Christensen

Sister Mack

Family!!!

Thank you for your emails and pictures. It looks like you had a fun weekend. Conference was so wonderful. 

Transfers are tomorrow and my companion and I are going to be separated. I am going to be staying in our area and my new companion will be Hermana Mack. She is Dominican. I am getting demoted and will no longer be a Hermana Leader. I am going to miss the meetings and I have learned a ton, but it will be nice to not have to go on so many exchanges. 

The pros in staying in this area are that 1) I love the ward, 2) the bishop is wonderful, and 3) Gazcue is beautiful. One of the cons is that I have already contacted all the buildings and I am not sure where to work now. My companion and I decided that I will make my new companion re-contact the apartment buildings; I will wait at the bottom and she will yell down to me if someone lets us in. Hopefully, Hermana Mack is down with the plan. 

The other night when we came home we found our door open; the lock was thrown on the floor, the lights were off, all the dresser drawers were opened and it looked like someone had gone through them. My companion and I saw the mess, freaked out and ran. I was so scared I couldn't get the gate open. We finally worked up the courage to go check out our house again and the Hermanas that live with us jumped out and said, "April Fools!" I didn't remember it was the first of April. They got us big time. I love the story you wrote about Karla aka "bambi" tricking Wayne. 

The leadership meeting was really good last week and I think my talk went well. I didn't blush like I usually do when I am embarrassed - so that was a plus. I used quite a few of the ideas you guys gave me. The A.P.s gave a talk that I really liked. They talked about the middle of things; we often focus on strong beginnings and strong endings - but there is a lot more in the middle. They showed a clip from a movie about a football team. The coach challenged a player to crawl from one end zone to the other with a player on his back. The player didn’t think he could do it but the coach was by his side the whole time cheering him on. The player said his arms hurt and he wanted to quit but the coach said, "I know they hurt but keep going!" It was something I needed to see. There are definitely moments when I feel exhausted or unmotivated, but we have to keep going and push through. The AP’s asked if we thought that Christ ever felt tired, discouraged, or alone during his ministry. Of course he did. But he just kept going and focused on what he needed to accomplish. 

Conference was great! It seemed like quite a few speakers focused their talks directly at the youth and young adults. I was hoping I would be able to watch it in English but it wasn't an option; the voice-over’s are not the same but it was still cool to have that experience as well. We took our fifteen-year-old investigator to one session and I didn’t get one thing out of it. He was asking me the whole time why everyone in the choir was old; how many people were in the conference center; is the pope or President Monson is more powerful? Haha – it’s funny to see conference from his perspective.

Congrats to Madelyn on her mission call! That is so exciting.

Have a great week. 

Love you so much,

Hermana Christensen

Our Friend - The Artist

We got to watch the broadcast of the Relief Society meeting yesterday! It was so good. I thought I saw mom in the audience... I think it was just wishful thinking. Or maybe it’s because all white people look the same.

So our friend that we have been teaching for a few months was baptized on Saturday! As I have told you, his investigation began strictly out of curiosity. He is an artist. He loves philosophy, history, and is a deep thinker. He asked many questions that challenged us and really made us think. When he was first invited to be baptized he was quite reluctant. We would meet every week and he went to church every Sunday . . . but the transition of curiosity to conversion was quite gradual. But, little by little his heart was softened and the key factor in his conversion was when he began to pray to know if the church is true and if it was a path he should take. For days he didn't feel like he received any guidance from God; but over time he had a strong feeling that it was something he needed to do. He said that he couldn't deny what he had felt and that God had communicated with him. The baptismal service was beautiful and the ward loves him. He is a great person and I have no doubt that he will be a strong member. 

So there is a wonderful family in the ward that we are really close to. The mom feeds us often and likes to give us sandwiches to take with us. I failed to explain to her in the beginning that I don't eat meat and now I feel like it’s too late because after all this time she will naturally wonder why I didn't tell her earlier and what I've been doing with the food. So far I've been good at hiding it but this past week it was a little challenging. She gave us fajitas with beef and cheese and then she sat down to chat and watch us eat. I made eye contact with my companion; we both knew I was in an uncomfortable position. Before even touching her food, my companion starts eating off my plate. The lady watched her with the funniest expression. Hermana Morales just smiled and said, "I'm really hungry." I sure love my companion. She's got my back, even if it makes her look selfish. 

I saw the president of the D.R.! We were walking and many police cars passed and then a nice SUV. President Danilo was sitting in the front seat. I was freaking out, "It's Danilo! It's Danilo", My companion laughed at me and asked who Danilo was. I was so disappointed in her for not knowing. Then when we got home I told the other sisters I saw Danilo and they didn't know who he was either. Lame. I thought it was cool. 

Once a month we have a leadership meeting with President Hernandez and his wife, the zone leaders, the district leaders and the hermana leaders. There are three missionaries that speak and then the A.P.s and President speak. Everyone else takes notes and then the Z.L.’s give the same talks in their own zones. I have been assigned to speak this week. I am SO nervous; especially because my Spanish isn't that great. Pray for me!!! I'll let you know how it goes. 

Thank you so much for the packages!!!! I got one from the fam, from Grandpa Gwen, and from Shannon and Hannah. You all know me too well and sent me some of my favorite things. Thank you SO much!! I love the treats and already wore the new skirt; it’s nice to have something new in the wardrobe. 

I am so sad to hear about the passing of Ann Ostler. The Ostler’s are so wonderful and I cannot imagine how tough that is.

I love you all so much. Thank you for your emails; I laugh so hard at your stories and love your insights and updates. I'll find out on Sunday if I get transferred or stay. I will let you know. Hope you have a great week! 

M

"Life is the acceptance of responsibilities or their evasion. It is the business of meeting obligations or avoiding them. To every man the choice is continually being offered, and by the manner of his choosing you may fairly measure him." 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that really matter."

                        - Martin Luther 

Man On The Hill

We have to climb a big long hill twice a day to get back to our house; once in the afternoon on our way to lunch and then in the night when we have finished our work for the day. Lately, when we are on our way back for lunch we have been running into an elderly man pushing a big cart up the hill. This man collects bottles and other things and puts them in his homemade wooden cart. It is heavy. We have begun helping him push his cart up the hill on the days we run into him on our way home for lunch. People cheer us on. Some cars even pull over to watch. We help him until the incline ends which also happens to be the edge of our area. I don't know where he goes once he makes it over the hill - but we love helping him on that little stretch. He smiles at us with his toothless smile and says, "adios mis hijas." It’s something so simple but so rewarding.  It makes me feel happy and super sweaty. 

My Favorite Dominican Dish

This past week my comp and I had to give a talk for our zone on having a positive attitude. A negative attitude can be destructive in any situation and a mission is no exception. We asked our zone what things make them feel discouraged. Everyone started shouting things at the same time. Apparently they had a lot of things that discourage them. The list included the heat, their ward, companion, bishop, ward mission leader, exhaustion, investigators, when all their appointments fall, illness, etc. We talked about how there are things out of our control and we shouldn't focus on these things that we can’t change. A few months back I told you about a book that the church produced to help missionaries adapt to mission life. It is really useful. Below are some of the tips:

o   Accept the reality of some boring routines. Not everything in life is deeply meaninful and exciting. 

o   Don't procrastinate. Learn to break down big tasks into smaller pieces; putting things off can lead to depression

o   Avoid comparing yourself to others

o   Let go of what you can’t control

o   Be kind to yourself. Talk to yourself with kind encouraging words. 

o   Take care of yourself by eating well, exercising, and plenty of sleep. 

o   List your strengths and gifts and cultivate them

o   Give yourself credit for doing something you don’t enjoy or don’t do well. Don’t tell yourself it only counts if you are happy about it or did it perfectly. 

o   Envision success - worrying can be a way of mentally practicing failure. 

o   Give yourself permission to sound confident, even if you don't feel it. 

o   Focus on gratitude

o   Take it one step at a time. Remind yourself, "All I have to do right now is..."

o   Break up your day. Don't do one type of activity for too long at a time. 

o   When you live with someone 24/7 you will notice some things that annoy you. You come from different backgrounds and have different ideas of what is appropriate or normal. Your companion's behavior makes perfect sense to him, even if it doesn't to you (this one makes me laugh).o    

o   Be humble. Humility is the fountain of all virtues.  

Someone shared an analogy with me that I enjoyed. She said life is like a train. Some passengers may be scared of the speed; others think it’s moving too slowly. Some people are looking out the window and are awed by the beauty of the view; others don’t notice and are missing the stunning scenery that is passing by. Some passengers are enjoying the ride; others are not. They are all going to the same destination but their perspective of the ride varies. 

This past week I did an exchange with my friend who is a Hermana from Hondurus. When the day was finished, we got ready for bed and started to talk - which ended up being a three hour conversation. She told me about when her brother was shot and killed; she talked about how difficult it was for her family. She told me about how much she loves her country but how sad it is to see all the challenges people face there. We talked about experiences we have had in the mission field and all the heart breaking things we have seen here. The poverty has been one of the hardest parts of my mission. I am in a wealthier area right now but still, I have seen and can't forget the way many people live in the world. Sometimes we just have to remember that many things are out of our control. 

I got a letter (DearElder) from Aunt Sara. Tell her thank you! It was so fun to hear from Sara. I am glad to hear you all had a good week. 

Our artist investigator is getting baptized on Saturday! Pretty exciting!! :) I will update you next week. This has been so rewarding because initially he was just curious to learn more about the Mormon's and we have gradually been able to observe the steady growth of his testimony. He is intelligent, educated, speaks perfect Spanish, and has really studied the doctrine and knows it well. 

The papaya season is at its prime so we are eating lots of papaya. I love you and am praying for you. 

Con mucho amor, 

Meg

"You cannot control the length of your life, but you can control its breadth, depth and height."

"Life is not a rigid business of being but a lively process of becoming."

                       - Ford Lewis

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I forgot to wear green - but no one´s noticed. Actually no one is wearing green. 

The most exciting happenings of the week are as follows:

1) We had the opportunity to go to the temple this past week; we only go every six months. On Thursday our zone attended. It was SO incredible. I have been thinking about it since we were there. I won’t say much but I will say that I love that sometimes we choose to take the hard path even though we know it will be hard but it is what we need to do. 

It's a Tradition to go to Wendy's After the Temple

2) Brownies in a mug! I have been introduced to this wonderful creation and my life has been changed for the better. It is super convenient because it the serving size for one person and doesn't require an oven - just a microwave. The recipe is as follows:

4T flour, 3.5Tsugar, 2T cocoa powder, 2T oil, 2T water, 1/4t vanilla. mix in a ceramic mug and bake in microwave for 60 seconds. YUMM

3) We had stake conference. It was so edifying. The area president Elder Anderson spoke; such a gifted speaker. He spoke about missionary work. He shared a bible story from Judges 7 about Gideon's army. Gideon had 22,000 men but the Lord tells him that was too many. Gideon says to his army that if there is anyone fearful or afraid they leave the army. 10,000 stayed. This was still too many. Gideon then does a strange test to see who drinks water properly and who drinks like a dog. After this test, 300 remained. Gideon's army was reduced from 22,000 to 300. President Anderson said the Lord does not need many; but he needs the faithful. 

He also asked the congregation who was born in the church. A few people raised their hands - mostly missionaries and youth. He then asked who were converts. Almost everyone in the congregation raised their hand. 

This little survey was interesting because this past week I was told twice that I don’t understand the challenges of keeping the church's standards because I was born in the church. One time it came from a progressing investigator and the other time from a recent convert who is also less active. I have thought about this. To an extent, I agree that it is easier for me to maintain my standards because I have always had the gospel. I am grateful for all the converts in the congregation that raised their hands - being first generation members. For their faith, their children will receive the blessing of being raised in the gospel light. I am grateful for my ancestors who were willing to leave their homes and often times their families to embrace the gospel. Because of their courage, I was born and raised in the church. 

4) Thank you for the package! I love receiving packages; especially when they have chocolate inside. The Cadbury eggs were delicious, the note book was adorable and I loved the notes from the young women. 

Happy birthday Katelyn and tomorrow. . . . Happy 50th to Jeffrey Reed!!!!! I hope it’s a good one. I will be thinking of you. Goodbye to Sarah, she will be a wonderful missionary. 

xoxo

Hermana Meg

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."

"We are what we repeatedly do"

                      - Aristotle