Do I Truly Believe That I Have Been Redeemed?

You already know who it is! It's yours truly, 

크리스텐센 장로!

Yes that translates to "Elder Christensen" I wanted to put that in there because I remember spelling my family's names in Korean! Here is my special treat. If you want to see me try my best to translate your name into Korean shoot me an email or a message on messenger and I'll make a list of all the names I did. So far Charley has the coolest looking name in my opinion (찰리). 

First of all I want to thank everyone who has sent me emails telling me how proud they are of me and giving me some great advice. And yes Grandma I will be looking forward to those Zucchini Pancakes that you claim are incredible. And Nainey, I am glad that you shared D&C 98 with me. It made me look at all the hardships I have faced in my life and see that they were for the good just like you said. One thing I have noticed, especially in the mornings here at the MTC, is that when things get really hard and I may start to feel homesick or just simply sad. I hold my name badge/tag and just focus on the word "에소 그리스도" which translates to Jesus Christ. As soon as I realize who I am representing and who I should have faith in, all my sorrows wash away. This brings me to my question I asked in the title:

     "Do I truly believe that I have been redeemed?" This was a question that was asked by one of our branch leaders Brother Riley. He reminds me a lot of a football coach, even though I've never had one of those, but this is what he does. While he is talking he loves to just point at a random person and ask them questions about what he just said. I personally love that because it keeps everyone engaged and we all want to give the right answer to this guy. Another thing he does is repeat a lot of tricky questions and get them ingrained in our head. My personal favorite question he asked was 

"What is the worst thing you can do as a Missionary?" 

The correct answer is: Waking up at 6:31 as you are already starting your day off wrong. Another one he asks all the time to new missionaries is this; (I'll use Elder Schmitt in my district as an example because this literally happened to him.) 

"Do we have a Keaton Schmitt here?" Elder Schmitt raises his hand and says, 

"Yeah that's me."

Brother Riley then says, "No it isn't you left Keaton at home your Elder Schmitt from now on."

Okay now back to Brother Reily's question "Do you truly believe that you have been redeemed?". This was something he had said we as a district needed to work on. He said we had the knowledge, talent, love, and care to learn about Christ. But we didn't believe it. That stuck out to me a lot because he said, if we can't truly believe that we made the choice to be a divine servant of Jesus Christ because of his sacrifice for us then how are we supposed to convert people? We can't, we have to be converting ourselves and growing our personal testimonies so that we can grow the testimonies of the people we are teaching. So that's our goal in the MTC right now even if it might not be written down. It is to remember that name we represent on our name tag and remember the sacrifice He made for all of us and to truly believe and have faith in it. Do I feel at this moment right now that I truly believe and understand fully what Jesus Christ really did for me? Probably not to my fullest potential but that's the whole point of growing a testimony and that's what I plan to do.

This had all happened on Sunday September 28th. But that wasn't the only amazing thing that happened that day. There is this suggestion that the MTC has for Elders in regards to participating in the Choir. They say that if we have been here for 4 or more weeks and have participated in it twice then we are told to not go. When I heard this I was actually pretty sad to hear this mainly because every single time I participate in the Provo MTC Choir the spirit personally touches my soul to the point that all my sorrows and worries are genuinely filled with joy. I am actually starting to recognize my singing talent and feel more confidence about it. So, I asked one of my branch leaders, this time being Brother Morley, if I could go. Him and his Wife simply said that if there was enough room then Yes. Boy, I was thrilled and I was so glad I went yesterday (Sunday the 28th.). Because it just so happened that the MTC had invited some of the World Mormon Tabernacle Choir to come sing with us AND the old Director of the Mo Tab, Craig Jessop, was there and personally conducted the song we sang. The song we sang was an arrangement of "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet" appropriate for the passing of President Nelson. You would not BELIEVE the spirit that filled the room when we sang through this song. (I may have teared up a little). Another cool thing to note was that the current MTC Choir Director said that he and his assistant chose these songs beforehand months ago and it just so happened that this song was chosen for this specific day. Crazy.

So, Sunday was a great day (It almost always is). But my close second has got to be Tuesday. Specifically because of the General Authority/Officer devotionals. This week it was Elder Kevin R Duncan of the Seventy Presidency. He gave 10 principles we should be following to be the best missionary possible. I will list them off below with their respective title and scripture if he gave one for it:

1. Expect An Adjustment Period. "Alma 26:27"

2. Develop an Optimistic Attitude "D&C 127:2" and "1 Nephi 18:16"

3. Smile and Let The Joy of Jesus Christ Show On Your Face (I love this one) "2 Nephi 20:12"

4. Boldly Invite Everyone To Come Unto Christ "Moroni 8:16"

5. Be Flexible

6. Emphasize God's Blessings When You Teach

7. Study Everyday Both On and Off The Mission

8. Be Grateful of Your Companion "Two are Better than one"

9. Be Absolutely Obedient "John 8:29"

10. Be Grateful of the Supreme Privilege of Serving and Remember whose Work This Is

I want to emphasize that last one as it goes really well with that question I asked at the beginning. I had written in my notes in bold underneath this principle:

"Consider the perfect love of our heavenly father and understand the importance of working with the GodHead."

If I am able to remember this I will be one massive step closer to increasing my faith and belief in Jesus Christ and what he did. I challenge all of you to apply this question yourself in your own life. Do each of you truly believe in Christ's redeeming love? And do you actually believe that you can be redeemed? I sure hope so because you have been redeemed. Apply some of these 10 principles in your own life even if you are not planning to serve a mission.

With that I want to again thank everyone who has sent me emails/messages. I have been reading them and I am trying my best to respond even though I am not the greatest at that haha. But the biggest shoutout has got to be to my Mom. The package you had sent the District has increased our unity ten fold. Each of us sends a massive thanks (Especially for the chopsticks with our names engraved on them). Love ya Mom.

I love each of you very much and I am only praying for each of your eventual uprisings. I only want the best for you. I couldn't have asked for better Friends and Family you all defined who I am. Thank you.

Much Love,

-Elder Christensen

Tate writing my name “Natalie” in Korean

Sunday Choir

Natalie here: the district moms were able to combine ideas for a fun package to send to all 16 kids. Not only was it a miracle we found all 16 moms but we all were able to get this package to them. In the video you’ll notice they get so excited about the ramen. They have “ramen parties” but the line for the microwave is ridiculous so one very clever mom suggested a hot water kettle which you also see them get excited about. The stainless steel engraved chopsticks were a hit and again a great idea by a mom. We also sent a variety of Korean snacks. When I decided to contact all the moms to put together this package I did so with only one intention in mind “unity” I felt impressed to do something to help bring them all together as a district. As Tate reads the letter he comes to the words “unify” and I noticed an unusual reaction by the kids…they chuckled a bit. I later asked Tate what that was about and he said that his branch president had mentioned they needed to be more unified!! lol happy coincidence I was thinking the same thing? Being able to feel of Tates missionary spirit at home has helped me so much these past few weeks and I’m so grateful for his example.