3 heads are better than 2?‏

Hello to all those not here in San Gabriel! It was a good week, long but good. It's been a lot of biking and trying to find people, and not a lot of teaching, but that's how things go in the mission. There are
waves where there are a ton of people to teach and so not much time for finding and then waves of not having a ton of people to teach and so most of the time being dedicated to finding. Right now we are solidly in finding mode.

Our efforts are beginning to pay off though. I'm contacting more than I have ever done. We have a goal of contacting at least 10 people daily. We've gotten pretty good at it, though some days it's still
hard. We also have met quite a few people who have showed interest in learning more. We are going through the area book and looking for anyone and everyone who has ever talked to missionaries before. Slowly this area is taking off. Or it will soon.

We're also learning how to work together as a trio as well. Teaching is interesting and we haven't completely gotten the hang of it yet. It's hard to balance during a lesson and making sure that we
transition smoothly and testify together. It will be fun to work out how to do it best, and to see what I will learn from this experience. It's also hard to figure out plans and who will lead and basically
everything. Syncing our iPads is also an experience. Eventually everyone gets all the information though and eventually we all get where we need to go.

There have been quite a few fun experiences though. Like the other day we were trying to find an investigator (no one was home) and a cat jumped at the window we were standing in front of. It was starting to get dark and for a moment it looked like a person. I found myself in between my two companions with both of them clinging to me in fear. Eventually we figured out it wasn't a person and were able to go on our merry way.

We also have fun living with a companionship of Chinese sisters. They love to feed us, either food they made or food that is given to them. So far everything has been really good. We've been given dumplings, some type of meatball and some sort of pasta. It is super good. We also have fun learning phrases in Chinese and teaching them phrases in Spanish. They are super cute and fun and kind.

We've had other fun experiences like visiting the local mission as a district (the 4th oldest in California) and then translating a Korean man's broken English into Spanish for another man who only spoke Spanish at a bike shop. We've dodged cars and semi's, and I've finally watched all the driving safety videos.

Basically I'm loving my new area. It was a little rough at first but it's gotten better. I'm super excited to see what things I'm here to learn and meet the people I'm here to meet.

I hope all is well wherever you all are at. I send out my love and my prayers. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers I get in return.

Nos vemos.
Hermana Anna Christensen

P.S. I'm going to start ending my e-mails with my ponderizing scripture in both English and Spanish. Enjoy!

And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? -2 Nephi 31:10

Y dijo a los hijos de los hombres: Seguidme. Por tanto, mis amados hermanos, ¿podemos seguir a Jesús, a menos que estemos dispuestos a

 

guardar los mandamientos del Padre? -2 Nefi 31:10

Goodbye Rimgrove, Hello San Gabriel‏

 The matching shirts came from a sister in the ward, who bought them so the missionaries could sing for the stake choir.

 With the ward mission leader in Rimgrove Ward, He made carne asada, and Anna is starting to really like it.

 One more picture from the temple, with all the hermanas in Anna's district.

The transfers have come and gone, and I was the one chosen to leave the Rimgrove Ward. Now I'm in the San Gabriel Ward, with my new companions, Hermana Austin and Hermana Escalante. That's right I'm in a trio! It's a new experience for me, it will be fun to see what it's like. We live with 2 Chinese sisters, so it's a little more crowded than I'm used to, but it will be fun.

I'm sad to leave Rimgrove. I really learned to love the people there, and the area was just beginning to pick up. One of our investigators will be getting baptized next Sunday so it will be hard to miss that
but I made Hermana Diaz promise to e-mail me pictures. We also had just started meeting with some new investigators. Oh well. I left the area in good hands and I know that there is a reason I'm now in this area.

I don't really know what to say in this e-mail so I'll keep it pretty short. I'll let you all now how the area is going, how it is living with 4 other girls and all sorts of fun things. It's the start of a new adventure! I hope all is going well in all of your lives. Keep ponderizing!
Nos vemos,
Hermana Anna Christensen

Una fiesta en el corazón‏

The subject line credit this week goes to a sweet little old lady we visited this week who got super excited when we told her that it wasGeneral Conference this weekend. That phrase was how she described it, una fiesta en el corazón. It also describes a lot of this week, not just conference.

To start out with we had some great lessons. One of our investigators, Jesús, is progressing wonderfully. He has a baptismal date and is moving towards it perfectly. We were also able to have his brother in law come to the lesson with him. It was super great because he bore a super strong testimony of the Holy Ghost and His importance. It was really good to have someone besides my companion and I telling Jesús why the gospel was important in his life.

We also got to go to the temple this morning. We went super early, for the 5:30 session in fact, but it was amazing because when we turned off the freeway the temple was straight on ahead and then you just drive straight up to the temple. It was all it up and looked so beautiful. It was a wonderful way to start out the morning.

Finally General Conference. I loved so many talks from it I can't pick a favorite. If you didn't get a chance to watch it go and do it! There is a talk for everyone there. Any favorites from anyone else? I would love to hear them. You could also share your thoughts on a scripture you are ponderizing. Mine is 2 Nephi 4:35. I would love to hear about your studies from all of you!

All in all it was a really really good week. I can't wait to see what transfers bring, and how my life will soon change. I hope the weather is cooler wherever you are at, and life continues to go smoothly for all of you. If there is ever anything that I could do for any of you please let me know!

Nos vemos,
Hermana Anna Christensen
Pictures: my district at the temple. The sun was in the worst place possible.