Date
November 2, 2015
Area
Resistencia
Companion
Elder Karmanov
On Final Approach
11-2-2015
¡Hola Mis Seres Queridos!
This week we have been super busy teaching, doing service, teaching people, planning meetings, helping the missionaries in our zone, and more teaching. I love teaching people, and I love when people want to learn. God has really helped me learn a lot about real intention and faith from our investigators this week. Maria, David, Silvina, Mariza, and even a couple of new investigators. When the people we teach begin to live what we are teaching them and they begin to experience the gospel, and when they begin to share what they know to be true, or in other words their testimony, I am pretty sure that I am the one that learns more.
David is still doing well. He came to stake conference yesterday. He has been progressing well, but we aren't exactly sure when he's going to be able to get baptized anymore. His parents feel like it's too soon for him to get baptized, and don't think that he's ready yet, but they aren’t exactly opposed to the idea, so we are going to keep working with him and keep encouraging him to share his testimony with them.
Maria. She is still struggling with her depression, but she is fighting hard. She knows, and she tells us, that she finally feels like she has something to hold on to, to help her fight this battle. She also came to stake conference on Saturday, and I don’t think that the talks could've been better for her. There was a great focus on families and several speakers talked about their desires to see their loved ones who have already passed away and how the temple makes it possible. She loved it.
Mariza is my hero. She has grown so much in these past weeks. She has gone from being quiet and timid to firm in her answers and unwavering in her desire to be OBEDIENT. With everything we teach her now she relates it to obedience. This week she wasn’t able to make it to church because she got really sick (just in the morning!) and after she told us that she was very aware that that happened just because there is opposition because she is about to make one of the most important decisions of her life. Baptism!
Silvina may just be one of the most faithful persons I have ever met. Last week I told you that she had denied her work last Sunday to be able to come to church, but this week we realized that she didn’t just deny her work on that Sunday. SHE QUIT! She quit to be able to keep the Sabbath day. Right now she doesn’t even have work, but she says that she feels calm knowing that we promised her that the Lord would provide and watch over her. I can’t even begin to write about all the experiences we have had with her. There are just sooo many, so I think it will be better to just tell y'all about it in person.
Well, this is it. This will be the last letter that I write home. This next week I will be getting on a plane and I will have to leave my beloved Argentina. This will not by any means be easy for me. It's going to be really really hard. I have changed and grown so much during my time here, and I have such a love for this country, these people, the food, the language, and for the incredible faith that I have seen in them.
My time here is of greatest value to me. My mission is precious to me. I don’t think that it would be possible to explain all that I have learned in an email, but I want to share with all of you some of the most personal lessons that the Lord has let me learn:
• God Always Has a Plan - Even though at times we may have the tendency or the temptation to ask, "why me?" we must know and accept that God has a plan. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. He has shown me this time and time again, by making me know that he places me in certain areas, with certain people, for a certain amount of time....FOR A REASON....Many times I didn’t know what that reason was until months after that moment already passed.
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• We Really Do Plant Seeds - when we share the gospel we plant seeds, and NO effort is EVER lost. Many times I never saw the results of my efforts, and many times I felt that my efforts were in vain, but He showed me that it is not so.
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• God Answers Prayer Always - He has answered mine, and during the mission I know that he has helped me to recognize the answers, and most of the time, the answers didn’t come as I had expected. But they came. Always.
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• Christ's Atonement - The greatest and most personal lesson that I have been taught on my mission is that we are sooooo imperfect. I have been absolutely amazed as I have seen more and more clearly my own imperfections and as I have come to know better the true character of our Savior. He is perfect. This I know. As we strive to be like Him, we see our own imperfections more clearly so the Lord can help us make those weaknesses into strengths!
I truly believe that our Heavenly Father constantly offers us many of His tender mercies. This past week has been full of them for me. He really does so much to make sure that we know that He is there and that He is involved in our lives. I cannot adequately express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing me so much.
I know that the Lord loves me, and all of us. It's been an emotional couple of days for me, mostly because I have felt so much of the love of my Heavenly Father. I have felt the Holy Ghost so strongly, helping me to see things beyond my own sight and helping me learn things beyond my capacity. I know that this gospel is true. I just know it. I know that Christ lives. I know it, I know it, I know it. I know that His Atonement is more than a spiritual soap for our sins, it is a power to become more than we can currently imagine. I know that there is life beyond death and that it is only possible through Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives... I have seen it time and time again.
I love each and every one of you and thank you for you love, prayers, and support. I invite each and every one of you to search for Christ in your lives and strive to be more like Him (Ether 12:41).
I am a representative of Christ and I will continue to share His message ‘til the end! This time is precious and I know that I am on Final Approach. These moments are critical and there are still great things to accomplish. I'll be landing soon and will be telling you all about it!
"... the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” --2 Timothy 4:6-7
Con Mucho Amor,
Elder Christiansen
These are some of my favorite scriptures, and I invite and ask each of you to read each of them this week!!!!
• Romans 12:9-21
• Romans 8:321
• Romans 8:18
• John 13:34-35
• Luke 22:32
• James 4:6
• Moroni 7:45
• Luke 9:23
• 3 Nephi 5:13
• 2 Nephi 2:24
• 1 Nephi 21:14-16
• 1 Corinthians 13
Q&A
1) How is my missionary son????
I am on top of the world. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father, and I am so so grateful to still be here. I feel soooooo blessed right now. I can’t wait to tell you why I feel so great in person!