New companion and a stomach bug

Hola!

Hermana Sparacino se fue a las 8 en la mañana hoy por Esquel y mi nueva compañera viene a las 6:45, Hna Vasques de las Honduras! Woo ciao English! Haha I am sad to see my trainer go, but I am super excited for a Latina companion! My Spanish is "re bueno" according to one of my zone leaders and Hna Sparacino, but a transfer with 100% Spanish is going to do so much! 

I had my first run in with stomach problems this weekend, apparently it's impressive that I made it this far! We did a "tsunami" in Junin to help the Hermanas there and when we got back to San Martin it was freezing and pouring and we didn't have the appropiate clothing for that weather. And the next day I had quite the fever, headache and cold on top of upset stomach. Talk about a long weekend! Haha but I am feeling much better, our mission nurse put me on a diet of veggies, rice, noodles, "the bland things" is literally what she told me. 

I think we're going to enjoy this beautiful day and go on a hike today! La primavera here is gorgeous, so many colors! This beautiful world is such a blessing and a testament of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. I am so grateful for the blessing to be here and see all of His wonderful creations.

I hope that all of you are doing well, I miss you all! Let me know how you're doing!

con amor

Hermana Christensen

General Conference Musings

Hola everyone! 

For those of you who might not know, this weekend, we had the opportunity to hear from our beloved prophet and apostles and the leaders of the church. Two times a year, we have General Conference and everyone in the world has the wonderful chance to hear the words of the Lord through His prophets. In this email, I would like to share a few thoughts, quotes or messages from this past General Conference that really touched my heart. It isn't good enough to read my wimpy transcriptions though, I invite all of you who might not have had the chance to go online to www.lds.organd read, watch or listen to the talks yourself. I promise you can be uplifted spiritually through the teachings of the living prophets.

From Lynn G. Robbins, a question. Which way do you face? 

Do we face the way of the Lord or the world? 

Neil L. Anderson

Opposition sends seekers of truth to their knees...Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers from God. 

Tad R. Callister talked about the importance and the power of prayer. He talked about our morning prayers, personal and as a family. Do we let our children (or ourselves) march out the door in the morning to the most dangerous war and to face Satan without the protection of morning prayer?

I loved that Jorg Klebingat counseled us to acknowledge our weakness but to overcome them rather than letting them overcome us. That is something I think we all struggle with, we find a weakness or a fault and then it becomes everything and suddenly we are convinced that we are nothing.

Jeffrey R. Holland, who is such a powerful and wonderful speaker said something that touched my heart. "I may not be my brother's keeper, but I am my brother's brother." Isn't that true? As sons and daughters of the same God, we are brothers and sisters. We should take up our duty then to help each other in times of need, for truly we all need help during this mortal life. 

I absolutely loved Richard G Scott's talk about the things we need to do to strengthen ourselves and our family and that absolutely nothing is more important than our foundation in Christ. 

I learned so much this weekend and am so grateful that I live in a time where we have a living prophet, called by God to lead and guide us. I love this gospel and I love the Lord.

Hermana Christensen

pictures

Service Project Selfie: Agus, Cami, Me

S

Mama Spara and I last P-day

In Which Hannah's Red Hair Attracts Younger Men

Hna Sparacino had to go to Neuquén for tramites so I went to Junin and had a trio party with Hnas Mejia and Zenger. I left for Junin at 10 pm Wednesday night. We had to ask someone to "pay" for my bus ticket with their card and that we would give them the money. And of course, Elder Slavens asked the young man. Jokingly, I said to the Elders "Hey, just because he's paying doesn't mean it is a date. If he tries anything it is your fault." So we laughed about that and I got on the bus by myself. I sat down and the young man sat down in a different place. I got out my journal with the intent to write and about 2 minutes later, guess who comes and sits by me. So we make a little small talk, his name is Juan, he is 18 and likes music. I explained that I am a missionary and yada yada. Then he starts to compliment me...According to Juan, I am the most beautiful girl in Argentina. I blamed my hair and said I'm just different. He asked about my husband (Elder Slavens) and I explained, again, that we are missionaries and none of us are married and threw in for good measure that I have a boyfriend in the States. That didn't help my situation. Juan then proceeded to tell me that my novio probably isn't very faithful because there are lots of girls in the States. And then....he asked me what I would do if he (Juan) kissed me!!! To which I replied "No no no no no no no no no no no no no! " Seriously, I said no like 20 times. You have to realize, I am a foreign young woman who has very limited Spanish and at this moment was alone without a phone! I was terrified. And couldn't get rid of him. He was running in circles, I'm beautiful, he's in love with me, my boyfriend isn't faithful, he wants to kiss me. I was running in circles, I'm not the most beautiful girl in Argentina, I am a missionary, I have a faithful boyfriend, he cannot kiss me. Then he proceeds to ask me if I need a place to stay because he and his mom (talk about lame, he invited me to his mom's house) have some room at their place. After a long, very cozy hour on the bus, we arrived in Junin and I ran to the welcoming arms of the waiting Hermanas.

Three Months Down

Hola all!
I reached 3 months this week!
So something that cracks me up, people find out I am from New Mexico and 2 things come to mind, first-it is obviously Mexico and I speak Spanish perfectly. Then I correct them with my poor Spanish (haha) and they ask about Roswell and Area 51 and aliens. And I realized that I honestly don't know the story about Roswell at all!
I am so excited about General Conference coming up in 2 weeks! For those of you who don't know, General Conference is 4 sessions in which the entire population of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gets to hear counsel from the prophet and apostles of the world. It is a wonderful weekend full of spiritual lessons that we can all benefit from. I invite all of you to listen to at least one session the first weekend of October; I promise it will be worth the two hours.
The missionaries here in San Martin were able to attend a fireside with the temple president and his wife from Buenos Aires. Wow, it was quite lovely. At the end of his talk, one of the members of the Branch Presidency here went up and whispered something to President Fernandez, who then turned back to all of us sitting in the audience and asked me to sing. He chose the hymn " Yo Sé Que Vive Mi Señor" and asked that I sing the first verse and that the rest join in for the last 3. What a blessing it was. I sang with tears in my eyes as I sang my testimony. I really do know that Christ lives, that He is our Savior and Redeemer. I am thankful every day for his Atoning sacrifice that allows us, sinners and mere humans to progress and learn from our mistakes.

I hope that this letter finds you all healthy, happy and blessed.
Con amor,
Hermana Christensen

Six weeks and lovin' it!

I cannot believe that I have almost completed my first transfer in Argentina! My Castellano is not where I wanted it :( but it is progressing a little every day. Hermana and I had a visit from the Hermana Training Leaders this last week. They are in Barilochi (which is where Hna Terry is!! She is doing great according to the HTLs) and the visit the Hermanas in the area every month to do intercambios. I got to go with Hermana Guerra from Brasil! A whole day without a single word in English, because even if I didn't know it in Spanish, I couldn't ask her! Whew...talk about a brain workout! But it was great, we visited a contact and had a great first lesson!
It is almost spring here, which I was super excited about until I found out that primavera here means more lluvia...ah...but rain is better than windy springs in Portales! ;)
We had almuerzo with Hermana Aguerra from church, who is the music director and once she realized that I was the soprano voice she could hear coming from the congregation and that I play the piano, she pulled out music for me to play and then requested a couple of hymns for me to play and sing. It was great fun, I miss singing and playing! I sing every day, hopefully it isn't annoying for Hna Sparacino! She has her own little radio companion! I am always humming or doing lip trills or something! But it is nothing compared to the hours of singing I did at Eastern! I think this break from heavy training will really make me appreciate it even more!
We did a service project as missionaries in San Martin at Puentes de Luz, which is a facility for disabled people here. It was lovely. We spent the morning helping landscape and plant trees. Thanks to Dad, I have experience with that!
Elder Randall asked me to speak on Missionary Conduct in our Reunion de Distrito this past week. I enjoyed studying it out a bit and what I learned that really what we need is the conduct of Christ. As misisonaries and representatives of Him, we have to show His love.
I have begun to read El Libro de Mormón, gosh, reading the scriptures in Spanish is way slower than English. But I notice different things, usually little words like "siempre" (always). That word really means a lot when you think about it. Not many things always work, but the Lord always loves us. How blessed we are!
I love you all and hope that everything is going splendidly wherever you are!
Ciao
Hermana Hannah Christensen

Two Months

I hope that is how you spell that...but anyways, today marks two months since I reported to the MTC! How crazy is that?
Argentina is slowly warming up, hallelujah! and things are still going well. Hermana Sparacino and I have had some really exciting lessons this week with our investigators. It is such a blessing to help people come unto Christ, which is exactly what we are called to do as missionaries.
Unfortunately, the majority of our investigators didn't come to church this week. We have been studying a lot about the importance of church attendence recently and I am really coming to understand it more. I have always known, but I think I am learning how to apply it to my life better.
Durante uno de nuestros almuerzos, hicimos tortas fritas con la Hermana Godoy! Tortas fritas are basically scones, at least the ones my mom makes, and Hermana Sparacino and I got to get in the kitchen and cook. We made it fun with different shapes como corazones, estrellitas, un oso...that looked goofy, pescados, all sorts! We had a blast!
Our district hike last P-Day was beautiful. I didn't know we were right next to a lake! We hiked all the way up one of the mountains and had a gorgeous overlook of the town and lake. This lunes, tenemos plans to go to the lake and have a picnic.
During one of our talks with our District Leader, we formed a new goal. After our baptism and confirmation, we have the blessing of being able to have the Holy Ghost with us at ALL times, but have we ever managed to actually have His presence throughout an entire day? As humans, we all make mistakes and lose the guidance and presence of the Holy Ghost. But, we are working towards improvement. Life is all about progressing, growing, and learning. So, that is something our district has set as a goal. We are all going to slowly improve so that we can have the Holy Ghost with us more and more and more. As missionaries, we rely very heavily on the promptings of the Holy Ghost as to what to say, who to talk to, where to go, and many other things. It isn't us personally that changes people, it is through the Holy Ghost that people come unto Christ and experience a "mighty change in heart". We just invite them and help them to do just that.
I hope you are all doing splendidly-sending a shoutout of congratulations to my awesome brother and his new bride for their wedding in the temple! I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple in my life, that I can be with my family for eternity and that eventually I can be sealed to my husband for all eternity, to love him and be with him beyond the grave. I see many broken families every day and it makes me so much more thankful for the things I have. I love this gospel.
I love you all, and I hope that somehow, everyday, you are finding a way to come closer to our Savior.

Con amor,
Hermana Christensen

Hermana Hannah Christensen
Argentina Neuquén Mission
Casilla de Correo 321
8300 Neuquén, Neuquén
Argentina

Learning Spanish

..Hola from Argentina!
Espero que ustedes son feliz y buenisimo en los Estados Unidos. Sé que yo amo Argentina! Alright, back to English ;)
San Martín is still cold and rainy, but lovely! Our district has hiking plans in the mountains for the afternoon of our P-Day.
I love the food. Mmm...so tasty! Pasta, bread, delicious pastries :) and not nearly as much beef as I was expecting! I also love that sometimes we have fruit, fresh fruit for dessert! I was talking to Hna Sparacino about Argentina and what our favorite aspects are and other than the people, we both agreed that the food was the winner. We met a Canadian in the correo this morning, who was travelling and had been in South America for 5 months. We decided that we definitely are having the better experience. First, we're missionaries-which is practically the coolest thing ever, and we are really getting to know the people, the culture, the life of Argentina!

The members are fabulous, I have no idea what they are saying a lot of the time, but I think it has all been nice..! I do communicate, although a lot less than in English. Let's just say that I practically have a whole new personality in Argentina because I lack the communication skills. I did have a really great experience in a lesson this week though. We had lunch with a family and the father is not a member. This family loves to chat and I had no idea what was being said, because not only is my Spanish limited, they were talking about weird things not related to the gospel...talk about lost! However, mid way through the spiritual thought that Hna Sparacino was giving, I knew what to say. And when the time came, I began. I shared the testimony of Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24--And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father-That by him, and through him, and of him, the words are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.
As I read, I personally felt the Holy Ghost testifying to me that what I was reading was true. I felt my testimony grow in that moment and as I bore mine I was filled with so much love for this family.
I also add my testimony to those that have been given. I know that God is our Father and that His son, Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love being a missionary, I love doing His work.
Have a great week! I love you all!

Hermana Hannah Christensen

Hermana Hannah Christensen
Argentina Neuquén Mission
Casilla de Correo 321
8300 Neuquén, Neuquén
Argentina