Rocking around in Rhyl Town!

Welsh/English

That Subject line makes me feel like a gangster. Probably because Rhyl is full of that kind of people.. 

This week has been Super Good. That's how one of the Zone Leaders say it. We went shopping for P-day in Wrexham with the Wrexham sisters because Sister Klemm is going home next week. I cannot believe how fast this transfer has gone! I feel like I just came to Rhyl.

Posing on the Beach

We went to a conference on Wednesday where Elder Dyches from the 70 came and spoke to us. He gave us little tips on how to work with ward leaders better and build trust and unity in our areas. It was good because he showed how the difference is made while working in the details. We should do little acts of kindness for the members just to let them know that we care about them. We should ask the Bishop his opinion of where we should go find or what we should do in certain teaching situation to show that we respect his authority and value his opinion. It was really uplifting and gave Sister Madsen and I ideas for what we can do differently.

Making Choir Practice more fun

We actually went to Bishops for tea this week and did service by making tea with his wife. It was so fun! It is called Tagliatelle. I'll email you the recipe next week, if I remember. Their kids are so cute, I've never wanted to babysit for anyone more in my life and I can't! Ah! I love Rhyl ward, they are just a big family and they make you feel like you are family.

We taught our investigator, Paul, last Thursday. It was so powerful. I felt like the Spirit was literally in the room with us as we testified of the power of the Atonement. He has been dating a member in the ward for the last year and decided he wanted to take the missionary discussions and guess what. They got engaged last night! They are getting married! It is so exciting! I feel like I'm one of the missionaries from "The District" (missionary teaching videos). Eternal Families! 

Shopping before Sister K goes home

I had to give a talk in church yesterday on Tad R. Callister's talk from the last General Conference. I was so nervous. I prayed so much that morning and when I stood up to speak, my nerves just left me. I don't know how well I did but I wasn't nervous at all! I just got up and talked then sat back down. I talked about how three major things mentioned in the talk were that children need to be taught 1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ 2. Meaningful Prayer and 3. How to Use Time Wisely. I then paralleled it with missionary work and how each of those sections are in Preach My Gospel then gave examples of each.

setting up for Christmas

I feel like I'm finally starting to feel like a proper missionary. Everything is a learning experience and the last 8 months have just been building on everything I've learned from home. So thanks mum and dad for being my prime gospel teachers.

I love you all and hope you have a brilliant week!

Love, Sister Christensen xox0

Wrecked in Wrexham

This week has gone by so quick! Time has just flown by. We went on exchange and I went to Wrexham (Wrecsam) with Sister Ryser. She is from Switzerland and we were in the same MTC group! She is so cute and I learned so much from her. We did a lot of finding together and were able to teach together really well. She is fearless! She isn't afraid to talk to anyone, she'll stop every single person and it was amazing because we found five new people for the Wrexham sisters to teach. 

Sister Ryser & Me

Sister Klemm, Sister Ryser, Sister Madsen, Me

Thursday we taught a member referral and it was incredible! My highlight of the week, definitely. This member, Emma, has been dating this man for a year and he would always ask her questions about her faith but wasn't religious. She invited him to come to church and he's been coming for over a month now and last week he agreed to take the missionary discussions. He had a good idea of what our church was about so, when we taught the Restoration, it wasn't really new information. We talked about Joseph Smith and he had seen the Restoration movie and something about it reminded him of a dream he had and he told us that that was an answer to him. He knew the church was true because of that. We are just teaching him everything he needs to know before he gets baptized! The Spirit was present in that lesson. It was such a privilege to have Emma show that kind of trust in us to teach the people she cares about!

With the Wade's,  I also made the scarf I am wearing!

There is also a family that is just reactivating into the church and we visited with two of the sisters and that was so good! They are really sincere about coming back and have such strong testimonies. One of them has a son that hasn't been to church since he was two but since they are starting to come back to church, he has all these questions about it and we are teaching him later today!

We went to Sister Calcott's home for tea this week and we showed up and her daughter is there! She has been less active for a while but has young children and wants to give them a foundation in the church. We were able to get to know her and teach her about how God is our loving Heavenly Father. That was also so incredible to see the Spirit work with her and her family.

Last miracle, we were walking to church and this girl passed us right in front of the chapel and we stopped her and taught her! She was on her way to work, so she couldn't come to church but we set up a time to see her again. Ah! I love being a missionary! I love seeing how much this gospel blesses the lives of everyone who will hear it. I hope you all look for opportunities to share your testimonies. I love you!

Love, Sister Christensen

I’ve Decided….I’m Getting A Castle!

We went to Conwy Castle last Monday! I went to a Castle in Wales! How many people can say that? Probably a lot, if you're from Wales..

Anyway, This week has been wonderful! We had a few miracles throughout the week. Tuesday, we went up to Denbigh and we were walking down this road and Sister Madsen remembered knocking a door the first week she was in the mission so we knocked it again and L answered! A former investigator. She said it was a bad time and was about to turn us away but something changed her mind and she told us to come in. We sat down and she just opened up to us about how stressed she was and about everything that is going on in her life. What was really miraculous though was she moved houses on Friday, we went by her on Tuesday so we were able to get her new address and we'll be teaching her this week. 

We went to a tea appointment and got there early so we prayed and did some tracting for forty minutes and we had four lessons, two new investigators, and one potential investigator. Our two new investigators are also families! It was so amazing! I have never had such strong lessons on peoples door steps. It reminds me of a talk that says when we teach people on the street or in front of their house,  piece of sidewalk was consecrated for just that moment and it becomes holy ground.

A similar thing happened the next day. We got to an appointment 20 minutes early and did some tracting. It is funny because we planned on doing tracting closer to our flat but we didn't think we had time but we ended up being early so we tracted somewhere else. We met Laura, a mum of two boys, who is also a new investigator! Later that same day, we called by a referral that has been impossible to contact but she answered the door! We prayed with her, and it was so cute, she just kept saying thank you while we were praying. We also have an appointment with her this week!

Last one, we met with Bishop and he gave us two streets to tract. There is a walkway that goes between the two streets and we prayed on the corner of the walkway to begin our finding and a man saw us and started talking to us about it and now he is a new investigator as well! He has been to pretty much every church and he has even read some of the Book of Mormon but not much, so he doesn't know what to think about it. 

I just want to end with telling you how much I love Wales! I love the members here! They’re are my family too and they are so excited about missionary work and involve the missionaries in everything. I love serving here! I am so grateful for the gospel and I feel so privileged to be sharing it with the people of Great Britain! There is no greater cause than this, to share the gospel! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Christensen 

This is what Welsh looks like

Found my Knight in Shining Armour

I made a delicious breakfast

I got my Halloween package

The Ways of the Welsh

Me & Sister Madsen

I feel like I am so clever with my email headings sometimes :) My first week in Rhyl has been absolutely fantastic! I love the people here! The members are so kind and they think I'm really cheeky, which british people like I guess.. But Sister Madsen and I have been getting along famously and it makes the work so fun.

We visited a lot of members this week, which was really fun. I loved getting to know them right away, I feel like I've known most of them since the pre-existence. We've also had a tea appointment literally everyday this week. I am going to get fat. Not complaining though! "Let your soul delight in fatness" (2 Nephi 9:51 or Isaiah 55:2).

Sister Madsen is amazing. She is so happy about serving and is very supportive. I feel like I'm relearning a lot because of the past couple of transfers and she is a great teacher. She's been out two transfers less than me but our companionship is very equal. We have the same goals for this area and really desire to work hard and do our best. I feel like there are no limitations, we get to work hard all the time and don't have to worry about anything stopping us! We've had a great week already and everyday is good. I am so excited for this transfer.

We had a miracle last night, actually. We were walking back to our flat and we stopped a girl going home from work. When we first started talking, I thought she felt we were really weird and wanted to get away from us but we kept talking and asking her questions, just having a good conversation when she asked where we're from and why are we in Wales? We told her that we're missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we're out sharing a message about how we can be with our families forever. She is really close to her sister and liked that idea. She said all churches should be like that. So then we had a gospel conversation with her and prayed with her. Then we asked if she would like to meet again and learn more. She thought about it for a second then said, "Why not?" It was so exciting! She's a new investigator and we're going to see her on Friday!

We have a Zone Meeting on Wednesday and dad will be happy to know that I'll be playing my violin for it! Finally! We're doing "Come Unto Christ" which is the Youth Theme for 2014 and my beautiful companion and a couple of other missionaries will be singing and such. Should be good! I'll try to have Sister Ulrich record it and hopefully put it on the mission facebook page or something.

I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!

Love, Sister Christensen

A member crochet'd this dragon for me

We made our own Halloween Fun

I'm in Wales

New District: Elder's Van Wagonen and Jolley
Sister's Klemm & Ryser
Me and Sister Madsen