One Last Transfer...

I don't know exactly what to say. We just got Transfer Calls this past week. I AM STAYING! Which comes with mixed emotions, mostly positive, but I am getting another companion... Elder George from London Canada will replace Elder Wasden and be my last mission companion. 

I don't know him very well, he came in the same day as Elder Robins. I am excited to work with him, but am really going to miss Elder Wasden. We've been together for 3 transfers. Its been a blast. We came in with different ideas and things, and at the beginning it was a bit rough. We both agree that 3 transfers ago, had we had a choice we wouldn't have picked eachother as companions. But looking back I can honestly say that I wouldn't have chosen any one else. Its been alot of fun. :-)

I am however still looking forward to this next transfer, there is a lot to be done. Things are running smoothly, but could always be better, starting with my bike but that is a different story... ;-)

We had a pretty busy week, Monday was completely full, we went and visited a castle out in Leutkirch with the Buchanans which was awesome. Tuesday I was on exchange in Dornbirn with Elder Moon. SO MUCH FUN. I love working with Elder Moon. It is really interesting we went to the same Highschool, but never really met each other. We have become pretty good friends out here. We have only worked with each other on 2 exchanges, but we have a really good flow back and forth. We spoke German the entire exchange, which is something not easy to do with new missionaries, and it was WAY FUN.

Thursday was transfer calls. We got up and started the day as normal, and I got the feeling that I would be staying. Between that, and the experience the week before I wasn't overally tense that morning. Poor Elder Wasden. He was really tense. So I, being the good companion that I am, decided to a bit of fun. :-) 

The phone has a fake call function on it. when you press the down arrow button 4 times, it sets off a 10 second timer, after which it simulates a phone call from an unknown number. The funniest part is, President Miles usually shows up as unknown on the phone... ;-) For those of you who think this was mean, I need to clarify that it was by no means mean, this is the kind of companionship that we have. :-) 

Anyway, I did it, the phone rang, Elder Wasden JUMPED snatched the phone and answered it. Nothing, he looks at me who is smiling very widely and yeah... it was really funny. The phone call came at around 9.20 or so. Elder Wasden will go to Heilbronn and be a district leader there. Crazy.

That pretty much was the biggest highlight of the week. We had another fantastic lesson with Vladimir, at the end of which we set a baptismal date for the 14th of December. He is really excited. As part of the lesson (before we talked about baptism) he mentioned how past mistakes had really been haunting him, and how he wished those feelings could go away, and start new. We taught about Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was really strong, we set the date and he is excited to work towards it. :-)

Jason is doing splendidly well. Being from China we were worried how he would accept the word of wisdom, because typically they like to drink strong green teas in China. But he accepted it without any problem. He made the observation that commandments are really love from God, that just like our parents want us to have happy lives and give us rules to help us progress, God also gives us these commandments to help us be happy and make progress. He is doing really really well and is making steady progress. :-)

We also got to meet with Courtney again this week, he is an American, we met him awhile ago but haven't been able to meet up with him for awhile. We went so that Elder Wasden could say goodbye. We had a great time. He has a really neat story about him becoming truly converted to Christ. Him and his wife are very strong Christians. We had such an uplifting conversation, its way fun to talk with them. At the end we showed him a Mormon message, the one about the boy and the bike. He liked it a lot and said that he was going to immedieately post that on his facebook account. He is way awesome and we hope to talk with them some more.

I am excited to get into this new transfer. We have seen so many miracles and I am excited to keep working and see more. God is blessing us so much. It takes work, its not always easy, but we are pushing forward. :-) I know that this is Gods work and we will see miracles when we just have faith, and work for them!

I wish you all a great week!

love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen

Last Zone Conference...

Wow. I don't have too much time to write today. This week was COMPLETELY packed. Monday was P-day, Tuesday we drove with the Buchanans to Singen to have a quick District Leader Training meeting, Zone Training Meeting (3 hours long) Interviews (3 Hours long) Spend the night in Singen (ISlept on the floor with no pillows or blankets. It's made me much more grateful for the warm bed that I have.. Then the next day Have a 1 hour District leader Meeting followed up by a 6 hour long Zone Conference. It was incredible and very uplifting. :-) For My interview with President Miles I got a new Temple Recommend, Which is all there was time for. I had the interview in German. SO COOL. :-)

Zone Conference was amazing as always I love them so much. There used to be one part in particular that I really enjoyed and that was the testimonies at the end, which are given by all the missionaries who are going home before the next Zone Conference. This time I was in the program. I never ever ever thought that would happen. It didn't really hit home that I have really been here two years until I walked up to the Microphone. 

What made it the worse, was that Elder Chapman bore his testimony first, and started crying, Then Elder Davies likewise. Two missionaries who have become great friends, then I am supposed to get up and bear testimony. I managed not to cry but I was choking up the whole time. Back when I first arrived you bear your testimony at your first Zone Conference and at your last. My first Zone Conference was when I was in Dornbirn. My last one was in Ravensburg. SAME DISTRICT. That was hard. At least we aren't in the same Zone as we used to be, if we were in Winterthur I would have lost it. Elder Davies first area was Singen. So he was the most emotional of the (5) (Elder Gubler and Wilson followed after me). It was incredible however. IT was an incredible experience those two days. After that we jumped on the IRE SPRINTER back to Ravensburg.

The next day was Thursday, We had scheduled an exchange and were to be in Lindau at 10, which means we needed to catch a train at 9. We got up and studied as normal, then as we were getting ready to head out the door, I notice that a pocket in my bag was open, and my wallet was gone. I panicked way bad. I knew that I had it in the train, because I had bought a snack from a vending machine in Singen at the train station and put my wallet into my bag. 

So I panicked and started looking around the apartment frantically, and getting more and more upset and stressed as time went further. I stopped and prayed. After that I got up, and looked a bit but it was obvious it wasn't in the apartment, and must have fallen out sometime in the train. I called the DB lost and found and reported the wallet as lost, and that is all I could do. With the panic we missed the first train and pushed back the exchange one hour. I had come to the decision, that I couldn't do anything about the wallet in that moment, report it to DB and pray that I would get it back that is all I can do. (As well as block the credit cards). We exchanged and I felt peace, that everything would be ok, and we had a great exchange! We had two fantastic lessons with Jason and Vladimir. It went really well. I am glad that I put that out of my mind because if I had been worrying about the wallet it may have very well ruined the exchange, and lessons.

Jason and Vladimir are both doing really well. Jason bore the coolest testimony about prayer during that lesson. He says that he has noticed a change since he has started meeting with us. He said before he used to stress out a lot about various things, but now he just thinks "Hey I have prayed, I don't need to worry anymore" and then he feels peace. He is a computer programmer and has been working on an intense project for Chrysler, and on Sunday he said that he would be completely full this week and not have too much time because of the project. 

Then on Monday night he called us and told us " I have some great news! I finished the project today!" He went on to describe how he had prayed that morning for God to help him out with the project, that he could finish it earlier and he finished it that very day. And said that he knew he got it done that day because he prayed and God helped him.  WAY COOL MIRACLE! He has an incredible testimony of Prayer. He had never prayed before in his entire life until we met him. It was neat because in that lesson, after he told us that he doesn't worry about things as much I told him how I lost my wallet and needed to pray and also got peace that everything will be ok. It fit really well, maybe that was why I needed to lose it.:-)

Vladimir was so excited to meet with us that he called and confirmed the appointment a couple days early and then the day of to make sure we didn't forget. :-) We had a fantastic lesson, he had watched a few General Conference Talks, and like them a lot. We started talking about the plan on Salvation and he loved it a lot. He is taking up everything we teach like a sponge. We could have been there for HOURS. He loves talking with us. We only stayed for an hour though. At the end he asked us how we are so happy and positve all the time and asked it it was possible for him to also be that way. We promised him there was. 

I am so excited to teach him about the gift of the Holy Ghost and read with him about it. That is exactly what he wants. I am so excited for him. Sadly he didn't come to church though, he called me that morning saying that he couldn't sleep all night long because he was feeling really depressed and all of the bad things that had happened to him were haunting him and that he was very tired and needed to sleep. But he wants us to come and visit him on Thursday. We recommend watching some mormon messages, praying and reading in the Book of Mormon when he was feeling depressed. He liked the idea, and at one point in time he was feeling depressed, he told us that he prayed and felt peace. :-)

Things are going really well. Losing the wallet was hard, and at the same time I was feeling so incredibly stressed out about these upcoming transfer calls. I have never wanted to leave an area, but I have never felt so strong about it before. This week there was a point in time where I was feeling so terrified of transfer calls that it was consuming me. We have seen so many miracles here, and we have 4 really solid investigators at the moment, who will all most likely be baptized with in the coming month, and after struggling for so long and after finally getting this far being transferred would be SO INCREDIBLY HARD. 

The wallet thing happened about the same time. I wanted to talk to President Miles (during my interview)  and request that I stay for my last transfer, but I didn't end up doing it. At the end, Peace finally came through praying, as I was praying about the wallet and the upcoming transfer, a scripture ( I think I mentioned it a couple weeks ago) came back to my mind "Lass dir an meiner Gnade Genügen". Let my grace suffice you. -2 Kor 12:9. That really hit me in that moment, and it has changed me. Everything that was causing me stress over the past few weeks, I was able to let go. I don't know how things will turn out, but I am going to do everything that lays in my power, and will trust God in doing the rest. 

Even if I get transferred and never see the Wallet again, even if I am going to need to go about the process of getting a new Visa and everything, I know that everything will be ok. That God has a plan, and that he is there and will help me. It may not go as I want it to. It may not be as planned, but at the end, I will be happy. I know that. Deuteronomy 8:15-16 

I wish you all a fantastic Week!

Love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

STAKE CONFERENCE! And a new bike.....

Well, I must say first off that my thoughts about repairing that bike was me being really optimistic and not wanting to need to buy another bike. But I took it into the shop and they said that it couldn't be repaired and commented how the bike was actually meant for people much shorter than me (the frame didn't really indicate that other than the fact that I found it strange that the mount for the seat sat so low (which is why all the Elders in the past have pulled up the seat so incredibly high way past the point that it should have been moved. Then there is me, who isn't exactly the smallest Elder in the Mission and after nearly 8 weeks of me it gave up the ghost...) 

Anyway, so I talked to President Miles and he told me to try to buy another bike from Marcus, who we bought the bikes from in the first place. Long story short, Marcus was about to shut down for the season and didn't have any more bikes. But was able to bolt the seat in place. But here is the thing, the frame is meant for people much shorter, and because we were missing that extra two inches that the mount provided, it was WAY SHORT. I got on it and my knees were nearly at my chest as I rode. Elder Wasden saw how pitiful I looked and (he having not nearly as long of Legs as I do) decided to switch me bikes for the week. So now today we are going to go on a bike hunt for another bike which is durable and within budget. Sweet. And knowing my luck, what will happen is that we will find a bike, I may get to ride it for 2 days or so and then its going to snow really hard, and we will be unable to use the bikes... 

From Monday night till Tuesday night we had an exchange. It was rough. All the appointments fell out and even after nearly 4 hours of contacting no one wanted to speak with us. District meeting was good though. :-) 

Wednesday. Going into the day we had 5 appointments set up! Then shortly into the day 3 fell out, but we kept the practice teach appointment with sister Schmelz. Which was great, and we met again with Prosperi. We had a good discussion about faith and how to gain it using Matthew 13 and Alma 32. Prosperi is way awesome! He understands a lot. He understands that the only way to gain a testimony is through prayer and guidance through the Holy Ghost. Something neat though that happened that morning, on the way to our first appointment (with a polish man in Weingarten ) we were on the way there and were talking to people on the street at this point in the day there weren't too many people out and about. We talked the first person we saw and for some reason something about the conversation just felt off. 

Talking to people on the street has been really something that has been bugging me because I feel like I could do better. I had been pondering about that during personal study that morning. I wasn't feeling too much of a personal connection with the people I was talking with and I didn't know why. And I was trying to do better. One of the things that came to my mind was to listen, pause think and then answer, instead of trying to just shoot out a blatant answer or testimony. 

We talked to the next person, we mentioned who we were and that we were talking about God. He quickly said that he didn't believe that there was a God and that he had no interest really. We asked why, and he said that he had been through so many hard things that there couldn't be a God. We paused and spoke and told him that bad things happening is not evidence that there isn't a God, because Jesus once said "he maketh his sun to rise on evil and good and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust". And then I ( with Joel 2:13 and Isaiah 57:15, 18-19 in mind)  bore testimony about how God knows that bad things will happen, but only wants us to turn to him, humble our selves so that he can heal us. 

The Spirit came, I felt it, and he felt it, and I could see it in his eyes. He gave us his phone number and address and we made an appointment for Friday. That was the best street contact I have ever had. Its not easy to do that, and I don't know exactly how to keep doing it, but I know its possible, and I know how a street contact can be. Now the trick is to be better at it. Granted of all topics that I could have picked having had much hard times and having been comforted myself, this topic was very close to my heart in that moment and I think that really helped. Had I not had such hard time these past few weeks, maybe that would have never happened. Who is to say, either way I am INCREDIBLY grateful for the that which I have learned and experienced.

We also experienced a wonderful miracle on Thursday. I mentioned awhile ago that there was a couple from Markdorf that tried coming to church but couldn't find it so they went back. Well Adrienne texted us and wanted to meet with us, so we brought the Buchanans and we went. We get there and she runs out and give sister Buchanan a hug and shakes all our hands and we walk inside and talk with her a bit. Its rough, she is from the Ivory Coast and French is her mother language. She speaks decent German but it is still rough. We talked to her a bit and found out that she is actually a member of the church! She was baptized and shortly after had to move to a different city down in the Ivory Coast, where the church wasn't at. After several years she met her husband (who is German) and later moved to Markdorf. She hasn't had any contact with the church for over 10 years. Until Elders Kingery, Wasden and I got the refferal from the Kontanz Elders and when they weren't there, we knocked on a few doors in the area. 

She was so THRILLED to see us that second time. She is going to visit Family back in the Ivory coast and leaves this Saturday. She won't come back till January 10th. Ouch. But we managed to stop by on her on Saturday to bring her some cookies we made. She was even more happy to see us that time that she immediate embraced both Elder Wasden and I. She gave us her e-mail and skype information and said that she wanted to keep in constant contact when she is there. She is so incredibly happy to have found the church again. And I can't help but sit back and marvel and be so grateful for God and his great mercy. This is by no means the first time that has happened it happened in Munich once, and now twice here with Elder Wasden and I. We would have never ever found her, if we hadn't received that refferal. Markdorf isn't exactly a big place and it wouldn't be my first choice to do missionary work in (although I must say I LOVE MARKDORF we are there a few times a week and I have come to love it.) 

I am running out of time again... :-P Time is not my friend. But I did want to talk about Vladmir (the one guy who we found on the street that I mentioned). We went and visited him and had an incredible lesson. We started out by asking him what he expected from us/ what made him want to meet with us. And he told me that the scripture I shared really touched him and that he wants peace and real happiness. As you can tell by the name he is from Kazakhstan, and he isn't kidding when he said that so many terrible things have happened to him. We read in Alma 32 about how he could find out for himself it these things are true. We read verse 42 and asked him what he thought. He said almost with tears in his eyes that is what he wants. We talked about peace and healing from God. It was powerful. We invited him to read Alma 7:11-13 and 3 Nephi 17. I am way excited for him He has a lot of interest and really wants to come to know God. 

We have been very blessed here in Ravensburg, and we have a lot to look forward to, and much to do. I am so happy to be here serving a mission here, and for the wonderful things that we are able to see. God truly leads this work, I know it. 

I wish you all a wonderful week!

love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen

.... Wow what a Week...

Well, Even though there are 7 days in a week I will only hit up the highlights of the week. 

Tuesday, we had district Meeting in Dornbirn. :-) Fun as usual, District Meetings are always uplifting. Later in the days we had a lesson With a Man named Thomas Haman, he is a friend of Brother Stevens that Brother Stevens got to know through his business. He likes to ask deep questions and hear the answers from each one of us. It was a great discussion. We hope that he and his family will come to church at some point in time in the near future. Right after that I called Mariet, and She had time right then, so we went up with the Buchanans and were able to meet with her. She is doing well, she is just busy with work and apparently has a lot going on and wants time to get things settle before she gets baptized... But we will keep meeting with her and see what happens. 

Wednesday I went on Exchange back to Dornbrin and spent the day Bregenz with Elder Fox, who has only been here a couple of weeks. That was fun. He forgot the Map back home, but I knew were all the streets were (having spent a lot of time in Bregenz last year) and so I navigated us the whole day which is cool, but at the same time it is probably the biggest downside of doing exchanges down there. They assume that I know the area better than they do and often expect me to lead out on the exchange. I need to figure out how to overcome that. 

Saturday, the day after a German Holiday.... Stephan needed our help so we planned to catch a train to Markdorf and be there at 3 to help him out for a few hours then change and try to stop by on the Micov Family and the Kunz Family. We arrive at the train station in Ravensburg, only to be greeted by the announcement that our Train was cancelled. Ok, no Problem, we will just catch the next one, which should leave in about 8 minutes and we should still be able to get there. It turns out in that particular hour, that train didn't exist. Stephan doesn't have a cell phone, so we can't call and tell him we will come late, or that our Train was cancelled. 

We decided to catch the next train to Friedrichshafen and catch a bus to Markdorf. Well Long story short we missed the bus to Markdorf, and ended up getting to Markdorf at 4.00. We hoped that Stephan would try coming back to pick us up, but after waiting for 10 minutes we gave up and went and changed. I was a bit frustrated at the train for being cancelled because the connections really aren't that down here, so it took up an additional hour of our day to get there, and he probably thought that we blew him off because he doesn't have a cell phone. So we went to the Restrooms located in the center of Markdorf to change We now have much more time than we anticipated. Like I said I was frustrated at DB in the moment  (They aren't exactly known for punctuality and great service in this region).

 I cut my finger pretty bad in the WC which made me even more frustrated and then in that moment a scripture popped into my head, Joel 2:13: "...rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God..."

It is a scripture that I had become fond of, and it came back to me in that moment. In this part of Joel, Joel prophecies of a terrible war and catastrophes that will happen. Then verse 12 and 13 is God inviting us to turn unto him with our whole hearts, not to get angry and everything bad that is happening (rending your garments) but to become humble and turn to him (rending your heart) because "he is merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness [and he will turn away the evil from you]". It had already great meaning to me, but in that moment it meant so much more. Almost as if he were saying to me "Yeah, your Train fell out, you missed your appointment and have a lot of Free time on your hands on a day after a holiday, but don't get angry, just get humble and turn to me, and trust me". I took a few minutes to pray and try to re align my view. 

We went out and were able to stop by on the Micov family and bring them a pamphlet of the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, printed in Macedonian (the only the the church offers in Macedonian) and talk with them for a bit. That was great. Later on, we went by on the Kunz family. We haven't had an appointment with them in over 2 months they have all fallen out, and we haven't been able to contact them at all. Not knowing what to expect we said a quick prayer and then I rang the doorbell. They were there! And we had a great conversation with them for an hour and a half (the timing wasn't the best because all of their kids were sick and so one parent was always helping the kids get ready for bed while the other was talking with us, and then the would switch :-) ). It turns out that they have had some phone problems and have felt so guilty because something would come up, they couldn't make the appointment and then they couldn't contact us. They are really busy during the week, but we were able to meet with them that night. If we would have had the service project, that wouldn't have happened. It taught me a great lesson.

The next day was Sunday. It was a great day. Jason was there, as well as the Trautmans Granddaughter, which surprised me a bit, but we taught both of them and that was fun. Later on, we were supposed to have an appointment at 3 with a Sri lanken family here in Ravensburg, but they ended up saying that they don't want to meet with us. The Buchanan's were having pie with Derick and Jason, and invited us, so we got our bikes and started to ride. Those who have thought "Wow! Elder Christensen had a whole week with no bike problems!" Just wait. 

On the way up the hill all of the sudden with out warning the seat fell out from underneath me, nearly throwing me backwards off the bike. The uppermost part of the frame which fastens the seat and pole to the frame snapped off. Not repairable except through welding... I don't just mean that a small part broke off, a good 2 inch long ring of the frame broke free, and with it the seat fell off. So my bike is... dead. I don't know what to do right now... :-P It has great brakes, wonderful pedals, steers really smoothly and has a wonderful oiled chain, just no seat... At this point I just thought to myself "rend my heart, not my garments, rend my heart, not my garments..." :-)

So we spent the rest of the Sunday walking around trying to visit some people. No one was home and the people on the roads were being incredibly rude. One thing that I ought to also mention that over the past week, Satan has really been working hard on me, and it has been getting worse and worse. Every possible thing that Satan can use is has been, stressing me about things, wearing me down, with every possible angle, Highlighting many many weaknesses. 

2 Cor 12:7-10 ( I will only put in verses 9-10)

 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (bolding and underlining added)

The difference between the King James and the Martin Luther here is only a slight one, but in Verse 9 in the Martin Luther it says "LET my grace be sufficient to thee". 

Later I thought of D&C 98:1-3 

1 Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

 2 Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

 3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord. (bolding and underlining added)

Essentially, Hard times will come. There is no question, and there is nothing that we can do to stop it. But we can change how we react to them. If we humble ourselves and let ourselves be satisfied with his grace (which may mean that things don't work out like we want them to) everything will work together for our good. Our Weakness will be made manifest, to keep us humble, Then our Weaknesses will become strengths. 

With this e-mail, the number of remaining weeks I have left in the mission field is now a Single digit number. Could I really expect anything else than to have it be the most difficult time? But I know that God hears my prayers. I know that even though things don't always go as planned, that everything will work toward our good. I am still learning more about "rending my heart, and not my garments" and still have a long way to go until I can say that I am really can let Gods Grace be sufficient, But I am working on that, and I trust that God will help me get through it. I am grateful to be a missionary, to spread the Gospel and to come closer to my Savior, who descended below all things. 

I am grateful for his atonement, and the promises he has made to me. I know he loves me, and loves all of us. And that "the gates of heaven are open unto all who believe on Jesus Christ the Son of God" (Hel 3:28) That is why I am here, that is my goal is to help as many as I can feel that love, and be able to one day return to God.

I wish you all a wonderful Week!

Love,
Elder  Ryan K. Christensen