Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)

Haha what a week! Definetly one I will never forget! It all started when me and Zuster king got into a taxi... that wasn't really a Taxi. After driving down some sketchy side roads and in the opposite direction of where we wanted to be. We ended up at an old warehouse but Heavenly Father blessed us and a Bus drove by at just the right moment so that we could hop out of the car, get on the bus and make it safely to the city.

Then that night Zuster King's head was super itchy so I started looking through her hair to see what was the matter. Well it turns out that she had lice. So I then spent the next 3 hours picking through her hair and combed out a bunch of lice eggs... The next morning we turned our apartment upside down cleaning everything to get rid of the lice. Well our apartment doesn't have hot water and you have to wash everything in hot water to remove the lice so we had to boil water on the stove. Then fill up our washing machine for every single load. That took forever...

Well then our washing machine broke after we had only washed less then half of our clothes. So we had to bike our clothes over to a members house and wash there. Well there washing machine was broken too, so then our Zone Leaders came and picked up our clothes in their truck and are washing everything for us. But hey I never got lice and we caught it fast enough before Zuster King had it too bad. So thank you Heavenly Father, it could have been a lot worse.

Well then the next day my arm was itching really bad and it looked kinda weird. There was a big, round thing on it. It didn't look normal. So I called the mission doctor and it turns out that I have Ring Worm... Awesome :) Haha but she told me how to treat it and it's already getting better!

Then we were at the church for a metting with the Elders and the Branch President and after the meeting we got to get on our bikes to ride home. Well we couldn't find Zuster King's bike anywhere... it got stolen. We had even set our bikes inside of the church so they would be safe and some one still stole it. So one of the Elders let her borrow it so we could get home.

This week was one I will never forget. Crazy thing after crazy thing happened and there was a couple times I kinda just wanted to cry because it was really hard. Even though this week was crazy and in the hard moments all I wanted was for it to be over. Looking back there was so much good. We made cookies for all our investigators, less activies and members and we went by and sang christmas songs to them. It was so sweet to see how this little bit of service was able to make them so happy. One of our investigators cried because she was so happy that we thought of her on Christmas.

Yes this week was insane and really hard but so good. I am so happy that I was able to be a missionary at Christmas time, it's the best! Yeah it was different being away from my family and my own traditions. But it was so wonderful at the same time! I was able to really feel christ's love as I served the people around me. And that really is the true spirit of christmas. To love and serve everyone, just like Jesus did. So even if you are having a hard time, and all you want is to cry and feel sorry for yourself. Take one minute to be sad, then get up and go serve some one. I promise it will make everything better!

Well I love you all so much, thanks for all the letters and emails. I hope you had a Merry Christmas. Till next week :)

Met Liefde, 

Zuster Christiansen

Christmas & a Baptism

I hope ya'll are having a Vrolijk Kerst (merry Christmas) and are getting excited for Santa to come this week! I just love Christmas and how happy and giving everyone is this time of year :) And I feel so grateful that I get to be out here in Suriname, serving the Lord and sharing the good news and the real reason for this wonderful Christmas season. It's extra special to be a missionary this time of year. I just feel God's love and how pleased he is that we are celebrating the birth of his son!

The Lord has blessed me like crazy this week, I am so grateful :) Sherijl's son, Vaizel, got baptized this week! He is such an awesome kid. He is way cooler than I was as a 12 year old.... I don't know many boys that age who would take the time to meet with 2 weird missionary girls everyday and then actually listen to them and read the book of mormon every night! He is such a stud. And it was so cute to see how happy he and shreijl were when he was baptized. Sherijl bore her testimony to him just before he was baptized. It was such a special moment to see how the gospel has made her so happy and just how happy she was that Vaizel was following her example. I love them both and seeing them both be baptized and trying to follow Jesus makes me so happy! Those are the kind of things that really matter, and that is the best christmas gift I could have ever gotten :)

Also this week we helped a member build his house. It was so fun! Haha we made LOTS of cement and shoveled dirt and did other house building things... Haha it was really fun and on Christmas we are gonna go over there with him to help lay the tile. We also went around caroling and bringing boxes of food to members of the branch. It was so sweet to see how grateful people were. One man started crying when he saw all the food that we brought. It really touched my heart seeing people who had so little yet they were so grateful for the things they did have. Christmas is just the best! :) 

I hope you all remember the reason for the season and go out and serve someone today! And also have a wonderful Christmas with your families! Love y'all 

Vrolijk Kerst

Zuster C

Rainy Season

It's been a really good, crazy week! Haha but that's how all weeks are as a missionary I guess. We are now in the rainy season here in Suriname so basically everyday it pours down rain. And since I'm on a bike basically that means I'm soaking wet... all the time. No big deal though me and Zr. King rock the drenched in water look :) haha!

 There is a member in our branch, Patricia, who I absolutely love she comes out teaching with us all the time and she had a car so she would pick us up and take us to lessons. It was the best! Well a couple weeks ago she got into a bad car accident and her car got real mashed up. She doesn't have a car anymore so she is stuck at home all day. And she lives pretty far away so we hadn't seen her in a few weeks. So this week we got the feeling we should take the time to bike over and see her and make sure she knows we love her. So right when we started our long bike ride over to her house it started raining, but not super hard so we thought maybe if we biked super hard we would get there fast enough and beat the rain. Well we had never been to her house before so we were going off the directions the elders gave us... Haha long story short we got lost. So we were biking around in circles and it starts dumping rain. Like a crazy amount of rain! Haha so we call Patricia and find out the Elders gave us the wrong street name and we ended up finding her house. She was so happy we had made the time to come see her. She kept saying "You girls really do love me!" With a big smile on her face. After seeing her reaction nothing else mattered. I didn't care that I was soaking wet and freezing or that my legs were all noodley from biking so hard. Haha all that mattered was that we made her day.

That is what missionary work is all about. It's those random moments were you think of others before yourself. It's when you take the time to make sure people around you are happy and that they know you care about them. Missionary work really isn't hard, anyone can do it! Just love and serve the people around you. Remeber to love and serve as Jesus Christ did. Remember the reason for the season and that with out Jesus Christ love for us and His sacrifice we would have nothing. But that all things are possible through Him :)

I love you all so much and I hope you are having a wonderful christmas season! Thanks for all the love and support! Talk to y'all next week :)

Met Liefde, 

Zuster C

P.S. A member dressed me and Zuster king up in traditional african clothing the other night... super cool right? She made the head things out of napkin clothe things. Then we had a service project out in the country this week and those were a group of kids that came and attacked Zr. King and I. Haha all of them wanted to play with my hair... Whats knew? All the little kids here are obsessed with my hair. Love y'all :)

Kinder Dag

Well it was another really good week out here in Suriname with Zuster King. We are working really hard and it's really cool to see how the Lord is blessing us. I just love Suriname so much and all of the people that we are teaching. The lady who was baptized last week, Sherijl, well her son, Faizel, is going to be baptized in 2 weeks. So me and Zuster King are working really hard to get him ready. He is the coolest kid! He is 12 and super smart and really accepting of the gospel. He asks good questions and I can tell the he really wants to find out the truth for himself. I'm just so happy we met them and we are helping to guide their family back to the path of happiness. 

 Oh a cool Holiday that they have here is Kinder Dag (kids day) It's like mother's or fathers day but for kids. Haha it's so awesome. The parents spoil the kids and get them presents.. so basically kids here get 2 Christmas! I think we should start that in the states...  One of the young women in our branch bought me and Zuster king these really cute pearl earrings for kinder dag. It meant so much and made our whole day. The members here really are the best. I feel like they are my second family and they give us so much love. Sometimes I feel like a total goob because I'll just be riding my bike on the side of the road with my super dorky helmeton, just smiling. I am so happy. I have never been so happy in my whole life. I absolutely love being a missionary and the people here that I am serving. It's the best. The gospel just makes me so happy and to see how it can change peoples lives for the better. That is the best feeling. I love it! 

Well that's all I got for y'all today. I hope you have an awesome week and give your families a big hug and tell them you love them. Thanks for all the love. Have the best week! 

Met Liefde

Zuster C

First Baptism

What a week! I had my first baptism :) Sherijl was baptized on Saturday! Looking back it really was a miracle and it's amazing to see her journey to getting baptized. The Lord's hand was in the whole thing! The day that we contacted her she had been looking for a new church for her and her 2 boys so then that next Sunday she came to church and she felt the spirit so strong that she started crying! Then the first time that we met with her she could hardly read and it was really hard for her to pay attention during the lessons but she had a really strong desire to be baptized from the beginning. So me and Zuster King helped teach her to read every lesson from the book of Mormon. And we prayed really hard that the Lord would help her. It was so amazing to see her progress, every time we went over there her reading got better and better and she told us how she had been praying to heavenly father to help her read. Sherijl has more faith than anyone I have ever met. This experience just goes to show that through Heavenly Father's help anything is possible and through him you can achieve your greatest potential. The women who was baptized on Saturday is so different then the women we met a month ago. And I'm just so happy that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to help him in bringing back one of his daughters :)

Haha something funny about Sherijl she was insanely excited about getting baptized! I'm pretty sure there has never been anyone in the history of ever who was as excited as she was to get baptized. haha So this last week we went over to her house everyday to make sure she was really prepared and every time we went over there all she could talk about was her baptism on Saturday. She said that she couldn't sleep at night because she was so excited. Then when it was time for her to get baptized she didn't just walk into the baptismal font.... she danced! It was so cute to see how excited she was. I love her :) I just know that I was sent here to find her and teach her. Nothing has ever made me happier than to know that I helped someone find their way back to the path of happiness and to Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary! I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to go out and find my friends here in Suriname who are waiting to receive the gospel. Through this experience I have learned that with hard work, determination and faith in God absolutely anything is possible. And God really does work according to our faith. So believe in him and know that he is here to help us, we just have to have the faith to know that he can :)

I love y'all so much and I'm so grateful for all the prayers and love. I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and ate lots of turkey and pie and watched lots of football! Talk to you next week! Doei!

Met Liefde, 

Zuster Christiansen

Love my Mission

Holy cow what a week! Sister King and I realized that we could be pushing ourselves a lot harder. So at the beginning of this week we talked about what we can do to really see more growth and changes in Suriname. So we changed all of our goals and made them a lot higher. Haha we might have been a little crazy because some of them were almost doubled of what they had been before but we prayed lots for Heavenly Father's inspiration and we knew that with his help we could accomplish anything. We both told each other we wouldn't be satisfied unless we came home exhausted every night... I worked harder this week than I ever have in my life. We were biking all around Suriname it felt like teaching people, finding more people, every chance we got we shared the gospel. It was so fun! Honestly missionary work is a blast! And it was really cool to see Heavenly Father blessing us as we were giving all of our energy to our work. We received so many blessings this week and were able to meet so many amazing, and super prepared people. When you lean on the Lord for help it's amazing to see how successful you can be. Then yesterday when we were looking at our goals for the week, we were so amazed! We were able to achieve every single one of our goals and even exceed some of them! It was a miracle and my testimony was really strengthened in knowing that when you give everything to the lord and lean on him for help he will provide miracles and help you. The Lord really is in this work and he wants so bad for all of His children to find the truth. If there is one thing I am learning more and more is that I am just an instrument in his hand. And the more diligent and obedient I am the more useful I am. Becuase he can bless me and help me to find those he is preparing. So why wouldn't I want to strive for those things? I want to be able to bring as many people into the truth as possible because it just makes me so happy :) I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and all of the wonderful things it has brought me. And I want that same thing for everyone! The gospel is the key, honestly it is the only thing that really matters. I'm so happy I'm a missionary and I have this opportunity to teach people how they can find this happiness, light, and truth for themselves. So if you already have the gospel in your life, don't take advantage of it. Use it, live it and love it. And I promise with my whole heart you will be happier than you ever have been. I love you all so much and I want you to know this and to never forget it. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can accomplish anything :)

Real quick a funny story that happened to us yesterday. So we went over to a members sister's house for dinner... She was so nice to have us over and the food was lekker! But the kinda weird thing was that she was not a member...she was hindu! Haha she just really wanted to feed us for some reason. So we were really grateful. But they weren't just kinda hindu, they were REALLY hindu! They had like 10 Hindu flags outside of their house and then inside they had pictures of hindu Gods eveyrwhere. And there was also this little shrine thing in one of the rooms. It was real interesting, Me and sister king kept looking at eachother like where are we. Haha then her husband was watching this weird bollywood film with really weird music and her kids kept walking by and looking like what are this 2 white girls, with Jesus Christ name on their shirts doing here. Haha so funny, it kinda felt like a trip to the twilight zone it was that weird. Hahah definetly a night I won't forget!

It's been a really good week! I hope all of y'all have a wonderful thanksgiving and to remember to thank God for all of the wonderful blessings he has given you. I love you all so much. Talk to you next week! Doei!

Met Liefde, 

Zuster Christiansen 

What a Week!!

Wow what a crazy week! I'm writing this email right now soaking wet. Haha it just poured down rain on us as we were headed to come cyber. But my companion Zuster King flew to Trinidad this week for a leadership training, she is going to be the new sister training leader here in Suriname! She's gonna be so awesome :) So I stayed back here with a mini missionary. She is a young girl in our branch who wants to go on a mission. Her name is Zuster Zeeglar, she is 20 and basically all around just a boss. I had so much fun working with her this week and she really helped me with my dutch, she speaks okay english but mainly dutch. So I was able to learn a lot! She is so cool, she is 20 years old and the seminary teacher for our branch... Like I said she is a stud! So along with missionary work this week I got the opportunity to help her teach seminary. It was really fun :)
This week really did push me though, I had to lead out the area and step it up with my dutch. It was fun though, I like to be pushed :) Nothing too crazy happened, we worked really hard and taught lots of lessons. I really had to rely on Heavenly Father's help though, dutch is still really hard sometimes. I try not to get frustrated, but it's just annoying when I know exactly what I want to say to them... in english. Not dutch. I'm learning that Heavenly Father really wants to humble me. Haha so there are good and bad days with the language but i'm still trying really hard!
Okay so today we went to Brownsberg! Brownsberg is about 2 hours from the city out in the middle of the jungle. It was a blast. We went on 2 hikes to these really cool water falls. I sent pictures. Me and Sister King climbed to the top of one of the water falls. It was slightly sketch because it was super slippery but we felt real adventurous :) haha It felt so good to be out there in the middle of nowhere, walking around in a beautiful jungle. I almost couldn't believe it. I love Suriname, it is a hidden wonder.
Well something cool that happened this week. Yesterday a lot of our lessons had fallen through and we still had like an hour until we needed to go back to the apartment so we were riding our bikes around trying to find someone we could teach. So we stopped by 3 different houses of old investigators and no one was home. So we keep riding. Then the strap on the back of my bike fell off that was holding my scriptures and they fell all over the road. So i jumped off my bike to go pick up the books and sister king fixed the strap. While this was happening Zuster King said "I think today is a day Heavenly Father just wants us to endure through." We both laughed then right after she said that a lady walked by so we contacted her and it turns our she is really good friends with a member who just left on a mission to England. So she had heard about the church and she was really interested. She was so nice and took a book of mormon and we scheduled a lesson with her for later this week. It was really cool to see how Heavenly Father had lead us to her. That everything else feel through and no one was home so we could meet this awesome girl! God's hand really is in missionary work and I love moments like that when I can really see him there helping. It's really comforting to know that I'm not doing this alone, I have lots of help!
Well I love y'all and I hope you have a great week!

Met Liefde,
Zuster Christiansen 

Fish Eyes

I know I say this all the time... but I love my mission! It's the best. We had a really good week. On Monday the senior couple from Guyana came and they are the sweetest people ever! They are sister and elder Poulson and they spoiled us missionaries so bad :) Last monday we had a sports day so all of us missionaries got together to play volleyball and football (soccer) and jewl (a suriname game thats really fun) We had a blast and it felt so good to play volleyball again. Then after our sports day the Poulson's took us all to get Subway. That is such a treat here. It was delish! Then after Sister Poulson came over to our apartment and cut me and sister kings hair. It was so nice to have another sister to talk to, since we are stuck with only elders here... all the time! She is the nicest lady on planet earth. She was just like our mom making sure everything was okay and we were happy. I'm so grateful for her. Sister King, Sister Poulson and I are all best friends now. 

We worked really hard this week and a couple times we came back to the apartment and our legs were so sore they felt like noodles because we had biked so far. There isn't the insane hills here like in st. vincent but it is so windy! Haha I'm gonna have some seriously toned legs by the end of my mission. Me and Sister King decided that we were going to work really hard, be obedient and give our everything to the Lord but that doesn't mean we can't make our missions fun at the same time. So we make "fun" goals every week, that we do so we won't go completely insane and to have some fun. Our first week we made spaghetti and ate it without plates and then this week we made caramel apples. Since it is still really hot here, we thought caramel apples could put us in the crisp, fall mood. It was so fun and they turned out super delish :) 

Haha funny, random comment I got this week. We started teaching this guy named Marshel. He has so many questions! We have to plan to have lessons with him for almost and hour and a half because he just keeps asking question after question. Anyway so the first time we went over there he asked me and sister king what sports we played. I told him that I played volleyball and he said really... I thought you would be a swimmer. I asked him why he thought that and he said. "You have fish eyes." And I was like ummm... what does that mean. Then he said no you have WET eyes. Haha I still had no idea what he meant by that. Then he said your eyes are the color of the ocean and you look like you spend a lot of time in the water. I finally figured out the thought I was a swimmer because I have blue eyes. Hahah so ridiculous, people in Suriname make the craziest connections. People here are always so amazed by my eyes, I think it's just cuz they don't see very many blonde haired, blued girls running around. I'm constantly so amazed by how much Heavenly Father is here with me. Helping me in my missionary work. That is something that I have been working on, is having more specific prayers and to look for times when Heavenly Father was there helping me. And since I have been doing that I see his hand in almost everything I do. I'm so grateful for him and all of his blessings he gives me. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and the book of mormon. Living and keeping the commandments and reading the book of mormon everyday has brought me so much happiness. That is where you will find true happiness in this life, through the gospel. I love all of you and I challenge you to do this. To take on the name of Jesus Christ and to follow him. I promise you won't regret it, it'll only bring you happiness. Thank you for all of the love. Till next week :)

Liefde, Zuster C

God Answers Prayers

I hope y'all all had the best Halloween and eat lots of candy for me! They don't celebrate Halloween here so I almost forgot about it. Haha I guess that's what happens as a missionary, you start to forget things. 

Well what a week! I learned how to make roti at a members house and oh my goodness it was heel lekker! We made these tortilla type things and you put this yummy filling inside. It was so good. The food here is really different but for the most part super delish. They do eat chicken feet though... I"m dreading the day when I have to eat that. Haha well we moved into our new apartment this week and the water works and there is no cockroaches. I'm So happy :) No more bucket showers!

Then on saturday we were able to do another mormon helping hands service project. It was a blast, we were walking around raising awareness about chickungunya and different ways to prevent it and what you do if you do get it. It ended up being really big, lots of members came and helped and 2 area 70 came. It was also covered by the local news. We had so much fun and we were able to meet so many awesome people. And hopefully help them so they won't get chickungunya... it's the worst! Everyone who gets it says it's terrible and your whole body is in pain. Something kinda ironic and sad that happened was one of the elders got chickungunya while we were walking around telling ways to prevent it... poor guy!

So we have this investigator named sheriel and she is amazing! We started teaching her right when I got here. And in our first lesson we committed her to a baptismal date. She has come to church the past 3 weeks and her first time at church she started crying because she felt the spirit so strong. She is so accepting to the gospel and just wants to find the truth for her self. Its so amazing to see. But she can hardly read. It's really hard for her to understand the book of mormon because it has such big words. So me and sister king brought her the childrens stories book of mormon and we are helping her practice her reading. This way she will learn all the stories and hopefully that will make reading the book of mormon easier. It was hard at first.. trying to teach someone to read in dutch when I don't even know dutch myself. But in our last lesson with her she was doing so much better and she was smiling and so proud of herself. So we asked her if she had been practicing and she told us that she had been praying to Heavenly Father to help her read. I'm just so amazed with how humble people are and how much faith they have. Sheriel wants so bad to be able to read the book of mormon and she is doing everything she can and is trying her hardest. And it's amazing to see that as she gives all her effort and does her best then asks for help from the Lord. That he is there to make up the difference. That he is there to help her. He loves her so much and wants her to come back home to him. I can see that and it makes me so happy to know Heavenly Father trusts me enough to help guide her on that path that will bring her back home to him. The gospel is true :)

Well I love all of y'all so much :) and remember God loves you too and he is always there for you no matter what! Have a good week and I'll talk to you next week! 

liefde, 

Zuster C

P.S. if you want to send me letters or packages (I would love that hehe) here is my address 

P.O. Box 2932

Paramaribo, Suriname

South America

Stay sweet xoxo

Finally in Suriname

Wow this has been a pretty intense week! It was transfer week, so it is always a little crazy! I left St. Vincent on Tuesday afternoon and flew to Trinidad. I was really sad to leave all of the awesome people I had met there. It already felt like home but I was so pumped to be heading to Suriname.So I stayed in Trinidad for a day and went out with the sisters there. It was really fun to be serving in another country for a day and just see how different it was. I contacted this one guy... actually he contacted me. He was sitting in his house and waved for me to come over so I started sharing our message with me. Then when I finished he said he really liked the vibes I was sending him. Hahah he was such a Rasta man. It was really cool to see how even though people and places are so different the gospel is the same and it can touch people in many different ways. So what he wanted to call the Holy Ghost cool vibes, I'll take it. Haha gotta start somewhere :)

Okay so after my adventure in Trinidad I got on a flight to Suriname with 7 other elders and we flew in at 2 AM. I was exhausted but the ZL's drove me to my apartment and I finally got to meet my companion! Her name is sister king and she is awesome! We are already best friends, I am so excited for this transfer :) We are going to work so hard and have so much fun! She is from Alaska, she loves the outdoors,and she is up for any kind of adventure! We're going to have a blast!

Well so the next morning we woke up and our branch was having a sports activity. So I got to meet lots of the members in our branch. They are so awesome, I love them already. And they taught me some Suriname games, haha it was a really fun morning. Then we went back to our apartment and the water wasn't working there so we had to take our showers out of a bucket! Hahah talk about an adventure... we had to fill up 2 big buckets of water and dump it over our heads and call it good. Sister King was telling me they have moved 5 times since she has been here and they are trying to find a new apartment where the water works! Haha I guess that is what happens when you are the first sisters in Suriname. But don't worry we were able to find a new apartment and it is really nice. We actually moved in this morning. So hopefully we won't have any more apartment problems.

I absolutely love it here in Suriname. I just know this is exactly where I am supposed to be. The members are amazing. I bore my testimony yesterday in church (in dutch) and everyone told me they couldn't believe I had just been here for a couple days. That my dutch was really good... I'm not sure if I believe them but it made me feel good :) So just now I'm gonna be fluent! Hahah but everything here is wonderful and I'm ready for all the crazy adventures that I'm sure are just waiting for me. I'm so happy this is going to be my home for the next 15 months. I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Thanks for all the emails and love you send me. I'll talk to you next week

Suriname Bound

What a week! My visa came in so I'm leaving for Suriname on Wednesday! I'm so pumped but I am really going to miss it here on St. Vincent. I've already made life long friends here so it'll be hard to say goodbye. But it's alright because I'll be coming back here just now and I'm definitely up for the adventure in Suriname. I'll be on a bike so I'll let y'all know how riding in a skirt goes!

Haha this week we climbed some pretty steep hills and got absolutely soaked a couple of times... but hey it's building character right? The funny part is everyone here is afraid of the rain. If it starts raining everyone in sight takes off for the nearest dry spot and they won't leave until the rain stops. Haha it's actually quite hilarious! Well me and my comps love the rain! It gets so stinkin hot here so when we stand out in the rain it feels so good. So we continue to walk around even if it's pouring and as we walk by people always yell at us to seek shelter or to hurry inside before you catch a cold! haha they're so ridiculous... We've also had people tell us we're gonna catch cold from the AC in the car.. I love my vincey's! :)

Well this week we met so many amazing people. I really am going to miss it here, all of these people are just so wonderful. But my two fav's were Tanni and Nick. We met Tanni last week and taught her a couple times then found out she had a boyfriend so we asked if we could teach him too.. So he joined us! And oh boy is he awesome! When we met him he wasn't wearing a shirt (guys here never wear shirts) but he had this huge scare all the way down his stomach and he was limping and walking with a cane. So we asked him what happened and he said a month ago, just down the road he got shot 3 times! Twice in the back and once in the foot. And so the huge scar on his stomach is where they went in for surgery to remove the bullets. He told us he is lukcy to be alive and he felt that God spared his life for a reason and that he wants to be a better man. So we started teaching him about the restorations and it was so cool to see how accepting he was. he has so many good questions and most of them were answered with the restoration! This lesson really reminded me why I'm out here on a mission and just how much the Lord's hand really is in the work. I read this scripture the other day and I really liked it. It's D&C 68:5-6 "Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you... be of good cheer and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you and will stand by you..." This scripture really hit me because since I've been a missionary I have really felt the Lord right there nest to me, helping me along the way. And this scripture is true for everyone. if there is one thing I know for certain, It's that God and Jesus Christ love us so much and they are always right there with us. So be happy! Don't be scared because there is always someone there for you. We are all children of God and every single person is important. So remember how important you are and be happy :) I love y'all so much! Thank you for all the prayers and support. Talk to ya next week! Tot Ziens!

Liefde, Zuster C 

Wah Gwaan

Wah Gwaan (whats going on in Vincey) hahah

It's been such a good week! President Mehr and his wife came this week for our zone meeting! It was so fun to see them, I love them so much. I don't know how I got so blessed to have such a great mission president. And I got to go out teaching with them while they were here. They contacted this guy named Jammall. He lives in our area so we got to go out and teach him with them. It was awesome. It was such a cool learning experience for me. To be there and see how President and Sister Mehr teach. They are fearless and so bold with the message of the restoration. By the end of our meeting we had committed him to baptism and he already wants to have us teach his sister, brother and some other family members. Haha it was so awesome :) The gospel is such a blessing. That has been one of my favorite things since I've been on my mission to see. Just how great the gospel is and what a blessing it is in peoples lives. It's my favorite when I'm teaching someone and the message just makes sense to them. And I see them make so many changes in their life so that they can live in harmony with the gospel. People here sacrifice so much, it amazes me. But with out fail I've seen when you sacrifice something for the Lord he blesses you 10 times more. It almost makes that sacrifice not seem like a sacrifice. The gospel really is the key to finding absolutely happiness in life, I've seen it and I'm living it! I have never been happier in my whole life than I am now. When you do what is right and you're really trying to follow Jesus Christ, that's when you feel true happiness. I love you all so much! Sorry the Email is short today... I don't got much time! 

One Love, One nation...

Liefde, Zuster C

Survivor

Halo Familie

Well I survived another week Chicken Goonya free! It was a close call though... I got a really funky rash and I guess that is how it starts. Hahah so once people found out that I had a rash they started freaking out and trying to get me to try all their remedies to "cure" me. The people are crazy in the Caribbean, I love them but they're crazy! Haha I had so much coconut oil rubbed on my legs! Everyone here uses coconut oil for everything. It's actually super cool. One of the members is going to show me how to make it... I'm so excited :) 

So I am continually amazed by the beauty of this place. It is constantly taking my breath away. We had a meeting on the other side of the island this week. The whole drive was along the coast and it was beautiful! Dad it was like when we drove down along California through Malibu but even better! Oh and there was 2 baptisms on Saturday, Zoana and Tony. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. The people here are just so amazing. They were baptised in the ocean then after we had a testimony meeting on the beach, it was so cool to feel the spirit so strong and to hear them tell of their conversion story and their testimony of the church. Then to feel their excitement as they are starting their life long journey in following Christ. It was pretty awesome.

Okay so since I've been on my mission I have been absolutely exhausted. I come home at night and crash hard then I wake up in the morning and feel like a zombie. I'm just so tired altijde. I am pushing my self so hard though, so that I can have energy to do this with all my effort. I'm doing my best... So I think Heavenly Father understands :) The other day when I was reading the book of mormon I read Helamen Chapter 5 verse 6. This verse talks about the importance of names and it made me think back to Peyten and his talk at my farewell. And I started thinking of my name and how for the next 18 months my name is Zuster. I started thinking about all the awesome Zusters who have gone before me like mom and aunt laura and so many other amazing women. I don't want to let them down. And I'm not going to. I'm going to remember their works and do good. So don't worry I'm not slacking off here on the beach I really am working hard. And although this is the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done... I'm putting in my best effort and absolutely loving it! The church is so true, I have never been happier in my whole life! Well I gotta go but I hope y'all have a great week!

Liefde, 

Zuster Christiansen 

Time Flies

Hey y'all!

It's kinda crazy how time moves on your mission. I can't believe how fast time flies, I've already been out for 2 months! I'm really starting to fall in love with the people of st. vincent. They are so amazing and such an example to me. Most people here don't have very much. Even their most basic needs aren't met such as enough food, clothes, and a clean house for protection. People here go thorough struggles I have never thought happened to people. But despite the trials and really hard times their faith is never shaken. As I hear and see them bare their testimonies by the things they do and say it really touches me. These people are amazing! And sometimes while I'm sitting down with them and they begin to tell me their struggles, I just want to cry with them and give them everything I have. And I kinda do in a sense. I give them my whole heart. I bare my whole heart and testimony to them. I tell them that with a strong faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ we can make it through anything. Jesus is our big brother and he knows what we're going through. He waits for us with outstretched arms waiting to take on our burdens and struggles we just have to remember to lean on him for strength. And every time with out fail as I bare my heart to these people they smile and nod their heads. They know this too. It really is amazing to see the miracles that happen when people give their all to the gospel. Here is an awesome quote by C.S. Lewis

"The Lord says to us, give me all. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your work; I want you. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man but to kill it, no half measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of a new self in my image, give me yourself and in exchange I will give you myself. My will shall become your will, my heart shall become your heart."

I absolutely love this quote. This is what I am working on        with all my strength. I want to give my everything to the Lord, not just some things but everything. I know when my will becomes His will, that is when really amazing things will start to happen.

I'm learning and growing here so much everyday! Haha and absolutely having a blast while doing it. Missionary work is hard but so fun at the same time. Every single day something happens that just cracks me up. People in the Caribbean are so funny! The other day all the missionaries were together getting lunch at a members shop. And there was a tall plum tree. And I hear something up in the tree so I look up and there is a lady clear up there picking fruit. The funny part was she was in a dress and her legs were stretched from branch to branch. She was flashing everything! Haha then she started yelling at us, wondering if we wanted any plums. Then before we knew it, it started raining plums. All of us missionaries were laughing as we tried to grab plums as they fell but also trying not to look up at the lady flashing her underwear to the world. Haha oh I love it here so much!

Well I miss y'all and I love you bunches! Know that I think and pray for you all the time.

Talk to ya next week! Tot Ziens!

Liefde, 

Zuster C 

St. Vincent

Hey Y'all!

Wow this has been a crazy week. I'm gonna try to catch you up with what has happened... So I left the MTC last monday at 4:30 am to head to Trinidad where the mission home is. Everything went really smoothly flying to Trinidad, which our mission president said usually doesn't happen. He said that they try to sometimes deport missionaries or charge them a fee to enter the country but luckily this didn't happen for us! So then we stayed in Trinidad till Wednesdayfor training and I was told I hadn't gotten my VISA to Suriname yet so I was being reassigned to the Island of St. Vincent. I knew nothing about the Island so I was excited to get there and see what it was like. As I was flying in I was so amazed... I am seriously in Paradise! It is gorgeous here. There is turquoise water, and the island is basically all hills. So flying in it looked like beautiful green hills spotted with colored houses. It's pretty amazing. But as soon as I landed here I realized I was no longer in America. It is very different. The airport we flew into was basically one room. It cracked me up. Then I walked outside and met my companions, Sister Shelton and Sister Worthington. They are the best, I love them. I lucked out with 2 awesome trainers. Well Something kinda crazy is that they drive on the other side of the road here. And the roads are so super tiny that 2 cars sometimes can't even pass eachother. One will have to stop and pull over or back up to let the other one through... it's crazy! And my companions informed me I would have to drive a lot this transfer, we have been practicing. Haha it's a little crazy but hey I can do it. It's definitely a 3rd world country here, they only thing that kinda reminds me of America is there is a subway and a KFC. 

So this is an English speaking island so I just practice my Dutch with my companions for an hour in study. I thought maybe it would be kinda fun to start out my mission English speaking and I could work on my teaching. Haha well I can't understand what they people are saying here. It's not english, they talk so funny. I always have to look to my companions for explanation. But I've been able to meet almost all of our investigators and the members of our branch and I so love the people here! Everyone is so friendly and super chill. We stand outside of the house and yell " Hello goodafternoon inside!" And they most of the time who ever is inside will come out side and just talk to you. That makes it super convenient to just casually bring up the gospel. I love it we meet so many amazing people :) It is absolutely gorgeous here and sometimes when we are driving I just stare out the window and I get so happy. I am in the most beautiful place I have ever seen spreading the happiest message. Life is so good and I'm loving it :)

The only thing that is a little scary is there is this sickness going around called Chicken Goonya... apparently it is awful. Literally your body shuts down, you can't even move and everywhere aches. Everyone on the island has it and lots of missionaries have gotten. So fingers crossed that I have a strong immune system. Well I love all of you so much! I'll talk to you next week. 

Liefde, Zuest C

 Companion Sisters

The View from my apartment

Farewell MTC

It's my last week in the MTC! I can't believe it! It's really bitter sweet! I'm so extremely excited to finally get out to my mission but at the same time it's gonna be so hard to say goodbye to everyone here. I've made so many amazing life long friends and all my teachers are the best! It's gonna be so sad to say see ya later on monday... at 4:30 AM! Hahah I just know Monday is going to be a super long day. We fly from SLC to Houston! So that is really cool! I'm gonna be so close to the fam but so far at the same time... It'll be weird. Then from Houston straight to Trinidad :) I'm so pumped to get there!

So this week we welcomed the New missionaries. I love all of them, they are so awesome! And today we are getting 36 new missionaries... It's gonna be a little crazy but I'm so excited to meet them. And my friend Jordan that I met at school is one of the Norwegian missionaries! Can't wait to see here :) It's so nice to see familiar faces here.

Okay, I was put to the test a little this week. As a sister training leader it is my responsibility to make sure all the sisters are doing good. I interview them each individually and just get to know them and see if there is anything I can help with. So usually I LOVE it! It's so fun to talk to all the sisters and get to know them. Well this week there was a big problem with one of the companionship's. They are both extremely different so as you can imagine after 4 weeks of having to spend basically every second together... lets just say  there was quite a bit of tension. Well after many individual interviews and hearing both of their concerns I had absolutely no idea what to do. I didn't know what advice to give them... I had never been in a situation like this before. So that night after talking to the sisters and feeling extremely overwhelmed. I knelt down and prayed. I asked God if he would please help to soften both the sisters hearts and me me know what to say to help them. I prayed so hard, I needed his help so bad! Then after I prayed a warmth came into my heart. I felt like everything was gonna work out. Then the next day I got the impression to have the sisters talk their problems out together and I could be in the room to mediate. I was so scared! I still felt like I had no idea what I should say to help them. I said a quick prayer for comfort then went in with the sisters. I have no idea what I said or how it worked but the sisters were able to work out their differences. And that Sunday when I reported back to the branch president he told me how concerned he had been about the situation and how he was thinking he was going to have to step in and help get it resolved. And how amazed he was with how I handled everything. I learned something really important through this experience that I hope I remember forever. The Lord really knows best and when you have faith and rely on him he is always there to help take control of any situation. 

Ik houd van Hem. En Ik weet dat hij for mij liefhebben. God is ons Hemelse Vader. Hij is hier om te hulp en om troost te brengen. I houd van het evangalie en het de vredevol voelen brengen. De kerk van Jezus Christus van De Heiligen Der Laatste Dagen waareste kerk op de aarde is. 

I love my mission. I am constantly learning and growing. And for the first time in my life I can bare testimony of the truth of this gospel and know with out a doubt that it is true. I hope you all feel the same and if you don't that is okay. That is why were are here on the earth, we get lots of time to practice :) I love you all so much... talk to you on the other side!

Liefde, 

Zuester C. 

 Me with all the Danish Brothers

Suriname & Sweden

Testimonies are a Cool Thing

I can't believe I've been out for over a month now... it's crazy! We leave in less than 2 weeks and we get our flight plans this Friday! I'm so pumped to go to Suriname :) This week was kinda sad. The danish missionaries in my zone left Monday to go to Denmark. I was so excited for them to finally get out into the field but it was hard to say goodbye. It's amazing how fast strong friendships can grow when you are working and serving the Lord together. I've made friendships here that I'm gonna have for a lifetime. So now my district is the oldest in the Zone. WHAAAT? It's sometimes intimidating trying to be the best example I can be for them but i find it's much easier when I just simply love and serve them. We are getting 9 new missionaries today: 7 Sisters and 2 Elders. It's so awesome! So far the Elders have always outnumbered the Sisters but now we are catching up! Since I'm a sister training leader I get the opportunity to welcome them and tell them all about the MTC. I can't wait to meet all of them :)

Okay I've got a funny story for y'all. On Sunday at Devo me and another sister were sitting together by some random Elders. So to be nice I talked to them for a little while before the devotional started. I asked where they where serving, where they're from, you know normal convo... nothing special. So then Devo started and it was great as always. Well after I stood up and shook their hands and said how nice it was to meet them and good luck on their missions. Then one of them blurts out before I can get away "Can I have your email, we can write each other about our missions!" I must have made a really strange face because he just started back and asked "was that wrong to ask." I wanted to say.. Ummm yeah, dude we're on missions! Haha and the most uncomfortable part was the speaker had just talked a lot on "locking your heart" and how Elders and Sisters should not flirt. And the importance of staying focused on our missions. Ahh it was so uncomfortable and I didn't know what to do. So reluctantly I gave it to him... I thought things like this wouldn't happen on my mission. Haha well if anything I guess it made for a funny story!

Basically everything in the MTC is the same. Lots of studying and praying. I love it here though, the spirit is so strong. And it's so cool to see missionaries all around learning and growing in the gospel in all different languages. I like to go outside to study because the weather has been so great here and its nice to get out of the classroom. It's cool because every time I'm out their studying a set of missionaries come up to me and bare their testimonies. And tell me why the choose to go on a mission. And even though sometimes I don't understand what they are saying. I can always feel it and I can feel their love for our savior Jesus Christ and his gospel. I hope all of y'all remember how important you are to God and how much he loves you. Thank you so much for all the support and letters! Y'all are the best. I pray for you always!

Liefde,

Zuster C

My entire district & the flag of each country they're going to!

 Sister Allred & I; she is going to Sweden!

 The Suriname district!

Evangalie is Waar

I love being on a mission it really is the greatest decision I have ever made. So since I'm a solo sister I have way more freedom then your average missionary. I don't have a companion (still can never be alone tho) so I just hoop around an talk to everyone. I love it! So I have gotten to be really close to all the Elders and Sisters in my zone. They're the greatest I'm so grateful I have been able to meet all of them. But sad story... the danes are all leaving on Monday :( I'm so excited for them but it's gonna be hard to say goodbye. They are all so awesome! Yesterday was one of the sisters birthdays so we tried to make it special by making her a card and some posters. Her mom also sent her a cake! Then last night we all had a "sleepover" in one of the sisters rooms. We shoved a bunch of mattresses in there and used all the beds. It was so fun and felt good to feel kinda like teenage girls again. Haha we did stay up way too late and are totally feeling it today but it was so worth it! And I can take a guilt fee nap today so all is well :) 

So on Sunday my branch president called me to be the new sister training leader. I work with the Zone Leaders to make sure everything is running smooth in the Zone. I'm also in charge of making sure all the sisters are okay and uplifted. Not gonna lie... I was kinda intimidated when he called me. There are other sisters more "experienced" here at the MTC than me and everyone is just so amazing in my zone; I look up to them so much! But I'm really looking at this opportunity as a time to serve and love them. And it's so easy because there are all so great. I don't know how I lucked out, my zone is the bomb! 

I've had such a good week! Said goodbye to Koy on Sunday. That was sad knowing I won't see him for 2 years, but I know he is going to be so great in Mexico! And he was so excited to be leaving the MTC...I'm jealous I've got 3 more weeks here! And he had an awesome companion who promised me he would take care of him :) So last week I mentioned how learning dutch has been way hard and so frustrating... Duh haha. Well this week I made it a goal to just give it my all. In my personal study and in language study. I started to notice as I lost myself in my work things got a little better. I was really able to touch the hearts and help one of my investigators with a problem she had. And I was able to finally get my message across clearly and really help my other investigator feel Gods love for him. And seriously as a missionary when you finally get through to you investigator and touch their hearts there is no better feeling!  So that's what I learned this week. When I give everything to the Lord and work hard he will bless me. And His blessings are the best and totally worth all the time and effort!

Okay so dad asked me what I've learned about "Making a Difference When Sharing the Gospel." Well I heard this quote the other day and loved it! "Teach the gospel and when necessary use words." I love this so much because it is so true! You bare your testimony in so many other ways then just talking about it. Honestly you share your testimony with everything that you do. You can show people your love for the gospel by serving and loving them. By being obedient and working hard. If you are living the gospel people will see something special in you. So if there is one thing I have learned it is that if you are really living and loving the gospel of Jesus Christ then this is when you make a difference. Ik weet dat de Evangalie van Jesus Christus waar is. En dat het zal uw hulp en troost zeganen. In da naam van Jesus Christus Amen. If you wanna know what that means zoek it up ;) 

I love you all so much. I feel so loved, thank you for all the letters and emails! I've got the best family and friends ever! Know I'm thinking and praying for all of you.

Liefde,

Zuester Christiansen

Me & Koy before he left the MTC

Patience

This week I think the Lord was really trying to teach me patients. The first 2 weeks the language was coming so great and everyday I couldn't believe how much I had learned that day. Well I think my brain must've said woah now hold up.... there is no more room in here! Haha gahh it is so frustrating to sit in class and have your teachers try and teach a grammar principle and you literally understand nothing. It's so easy to get frustrated with your self when this happens and believe me sometimes I get mad and think why can't I get this. But I decided yesterday instead of getting mad at myself I'm gonna use those opportunities to push myself and work even harder! So I'll let y'all know how that goes. Another thing I think the Lord is working with me on is patience with people. So for gym you have the option to play volleyball. And I've actually gotten a pretty good team together to play, there are some ballers in my zone. It's awesome! Well yesterday for gym we were playing and it was a good game, then the guy who works at the gym came over and asked if he could play. We said sure... So we were playing and someone tipped a ball so I went for it and "dove" for the ball. Actually I just put one knee to the floor and got the ball up... totally not a dive but the guy who works there was like "Sister why did you do that?" I kinda gave him a weird look and He said NO DIVING! So I apologized saying I didn't know that was a rule and we continued playing. So the game started to getting pretty intense... or as intense as a game can get at the MTC. Then one of the Elders spiked the ball and I had an awesome dive and dug the ball up. So as I'm laying on the ground, not gonna lie I was pretty proud of myself, then "Gym Nazi" comes over and said "Uh you're gonna have to leave the game!" ha never in my life would I think I'd get kicked out of a volleyball game for "Diving" for a ball. So mom and dad I hope you're proud of your missionary daughter who as my Elder say it "Got kicked out for balling to hard" lol. Still makes me laugh thinking about it.... 

One thing I've been reminded of over and over again since I've been here is that God gives us our trials to help us grow and he will never give us something that will completely breaks us. He may push us past what we know to be our limits. But God knows us bettter than we know oursleves and he knows what we can handle. He will mold us into the people he wants us to be. And that version of ourselves is our greatest potential. So why wouldn't we want that for oursleves also? It's becuase this molding process can be really hard at times but if we remember to always ask for God's help, he will be there for us. God is ALWAYS there ready and eager to listen and comfort, something we often forget. So don't be silly and always us the Lord's help because he really is the best! Keep working hard and I promise I will too! I love you all and I think and pray about everyone back home. Y'all are the best!

Liefde, 

Zuester Christiansen 

Find the Tongans

This week has flown by it's crazy! 2 weeks down 5 more to go... 

This has been a really good one. It's insane how much you grow in the MTC. Last Wednesday we got to go to the temple (we go every p-day) and I just love the temple so much. The spirit felt there is amazing. While I was in the session the man reciting the temple prayer said please bless all the missionaries serving around the world. And this amazing feeling just hit me, I felt a wave of comfort come over me. It's crazy to think that in every temple session, in every temple around the world they pray for the missionaries. That's a good feeling to know that I have all those prayers and blessing to back you up when things get hard.

Well so on Thursday I got a note saying to go some shots, so I had to get Hep-A and Tdap. It was fine everything went good but while I was down there a lady stopped me and asked where I got my shirt. I was wearing and AJGA shirt (american junior golf association) and I said it was my brothers and that he was a really good golfer. That actually he had a scholarship to play golf at BYU. Haha well it turns out her son is the BYU golf coach! Cool, huh? So we talked about Austen for a while. I'm so proud of my little brother :) Then the rest of the day went good I taught my last lesson with my investigator Sophie and she told us at the she was actually one of our teachers... Sister Moses! I was so shocked, but relived to know she understood that I had just begun learning dutch. Everyone keeps asking my how my dutch is coming... Well all my teachers speak is dutch with us and we have to try to answer back in dutch or at least with as many dutch words as we know. So I feel like within the past couple days I can finally understand most of what my teachers are saying and I've been working really hard with the language. Basically now I say all my prayers in dutch, I can bare my testimony in dutch, and I can have simple get to know you conversations. So it's coming along :) Some exciting news yesterday I taught my first lesson with out using an exact script in dutch. Instead I really tired to have the spirit lead what I was saying. It was probably one of my favorite moments so far in the MTC. The spirit in the room was so strong and I was saying things I didn't even know very well. Then I bore my testimony that the book of mormon was the word of God and I knew that it would make her happier. And I asked her if she would pray to know what I taught was true and that The book of mormon was the word of God. And she said she would! Gosh it was so cool. It really motivated me to know that when the spirit is there, there is just no denying the truth of the gospel.

Okay something cool that just happened to me about 20 minutes ago while I was waiting to pick up a package. A women asked me to drop off some mail for a missionary and so I said of course I would. She then asked me where I was serving and I told her The West Indies. She looked at me and smiled and said oh there are so many Elders there. And so I told her yes I was one of the first sisters. She smiled and said I was special and she handed me a rolled up piece of paper and said it had the Tongan flag on it with a history of their culture. She told me to read it and find the Tongans while I am in the West Indies. I felt so honored that she thought I was special enough to be given the responsibility to teach her people that she loved so much.

I am so grateful for all the letters everyone is sending me :) I have the best family and so much support, it's awesome! I got my stitches out YAY! They hadn't quite healed all the way so the doctor just put some anesthetic stitches and they should be good to go in a couple days! We get a new district of dutch speaking missionaries going to the Netherlands today and I'm so excited to meet them! I love my zone and district, we have all gotten so close and I'm grateful for all the great examples I have. I love y'all! Hope everything is going fabulous for everyone back home!

 -Zuester Christiansen

Me & a sister with some of the Elders in our district

MTC

Wow if there is one word for the MTC it's CRAZY! Dad you asked for details so here you go... After I collected myself after the very dramatic drop off and saying goodbye to the family I waited for the sisters to come pick me up at the front desk. So sister Fredriekson and Sister Alred came to pick me up and helped carry my bags to our room. Then we had just enough time to drop the bags off and we hurried to class. There is where I met my district, they are so sweet! There were counting down until I would get there and they had drawn a big welcome sign on the board for me! They're the best. So my district consists of Elder Hood, Hedler Orton and Elder Dolphin and we are all going to Suriname (dutch West Indies). I am the only sister in my district so that means I'm a solo sister... I don't have a companion! Y'all must be thinking no how can this be? Well sister Fredriekson and Sister Alred are in my zone and they are also solo sisters so if I"m not with my Elders I have to be with one of them. I'm never alone except for when I'm teaching. And boy that's so hard! Ha I'm gonna be so grateful for my companion when I get out into the field. I have to teach all my lessons alone in Dutch. Less than 24 hours after being in the MTC I wrote and taught a lesson in Dutch all by myself. My teacher asked me if I wanted to wait a day or two since I had come in late but I said what the heck ya gotta start somewhere, so I did it right then. And since then I have taught 3 lessons to my investigator Sophie. Bless her heart my first two lessons were a struggle, I'm not sure if she understood a word I said because I sure know I didn't understand anything she was saying. But the last lesson I taught yesterday I was able to get her to pray with me. The spirit in the room was amazing! I was so pumped afterward! Ha it was so frustrating not being able to communicate at all so that lesson really gave me the confidence to keep going and I know I am going to be able to do this. 

My teachers are awesome! I love them so much already. They always know exactly what to say to get me motivated and to help me grow more than I ever thought I could. My favorite teacher is brother Norton and he served in Suriname so it's really cool because he tells us lots of things about Suriname and kinda what to expect. It gets me so excited, it sounds like such and adventure. The Elders are so excited because they get to carry machetes. I'm not sure how I feel about that...

 The Elders in my district are so great, I can't even tell you how much they have helped me. I was basically 3 days behind and now I have caught up to them. We are already so close since there is only 4 of us. We take breaks from studying and talk and tell stories. Which is nice since we were in class for 10 hours yesterday.. It's a nice break. 

Ok so my Zone Consists of Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Suriname!  I have the best Zone. Everyone is so nice and helpful. All the experienced Dutches going to the Netherlands leave next week so they help me so much with my pronunciation and with advice on how to learn the language faster. I'm so grateful for them. 

So, good news! I got to see Koy (Elder Huxford) two different times already! It was so nice to see a familiar face. Haha it's kinda weird though... We can't give eachother a hug or be in a picture with just the two of us. I mean really we are cousins. But rule are rules... In the devotional last night John H. Groberg came and talked to us. You know the movie The Other Side of Heaven? Yeah, that is about him. He was such a good speaker. He talked a lot about different ways we can share our testimonies and how we don't just share them with our words but with our actions. And I really liked that it was a good reminder to me that I can not only touch peoples lives with the spirit through my words but also with the way that I act. I love you all so much and thank you to everyone who has written me it means so much! I'm doing great and loving it here. 

-Zuester Christiansen 

 My MTC roommates & I

Farewell Family and Friends

These past 4 months have been so much fun! I have gotten to go and do pretty much everything and see everyone before I leave on my 18 month adventure to the West Indies. So here's what happened... After I got home from school in April I was able to go out to Maryland with my dad and Austen for one of his AJGA golf tournaments. It was so much fun, I love watching my brother play golf… he is so dang good! And it is always a blast spending time with my dad. It was also really cool to be in Maryland because I had never really been to the east coast before other than NYC and while we were there we also stopped in D.C. for a night. It was awesome! Then right after being in Maryland I flew straight to Las Vegas to babysit my cute cousins while their parents went on a cruise in Europe. I had so much fun spending time with them! Then after being in Vegas me and my dad ran The Super Spartan in Austin which consisted of over 8 miles and 25 obstacles. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I was so glad that I got to do it with my dad. The next day after running the Super Spartan not only was I extremely sore but I hopped on a plane to New York with my mom to meet my very favorite friends The Johnsens! We had a blast walking around central park, shopping, seeing broadway shows and of course eating delicious treats! It was for sure a trip to remember. Then after coming home for 1 night the next day my family turned around and left for Disney World! We had a blast!! It is a vacation that I will never forget with my whole family… I loved it. So after spending a few days at Disney the rest of my family left to go back home and my very best friend and roommate in college came out with her mom and we spent 4 days at Universal Studios. It was my very first time to ever go and I just have two words… Butter Beer. It was so yummy! I can't believe I had never been there before it was so fun. I am definitely looking forward to going again someday. Then after the Disney and Universal trip it was time to come home and stay home. Then fast forward a couple weeks and it was a week till my farewell. Time went by so fast! My Huxford cousins from Vegas flew out the Wednesday before and so did my grandparents. We had so much fun partying it up… going to water parks, shopping, go cart racing. We had a ball. Then I went through the temple, Ashlen was baptized and I had my farewell all in the same weekend. I had so many family and friends there to support me. I am so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life. That was a very special weekend and one that I will never forget! I have made lots of wonderful memories and had so much fun! I will remember these times and thank Heavenly Father for the amazing family I have been blessed with I am really gonna miss them…

But because I have been given much I too must give… and I am ready to give my all and serve the people of the West Indies.

Road Tripp

It's crazy to think that I am done with my first year of college. I can't believe time has flown by so fast… I'm feeling really old! I am in my last year as a teenager its crazy!
Okay, I don't care what anyone else thinks I have the best mother in the world. She came all the way to Iceberg Idaho (or Rexburg) to get me and bring me home. And yes I know I called it Iceberg, I did just endure the most freezing winter of my life and at times I did feel like I was an iceberg myself. Lets just say I am glad I will be spending the next year and a half somewhere nice and warm. So yes I drove over 1,700 miles back home to good old Houston. Along the way we did stop to see some of my adorable family. I love them all so much and saying goodbye to all of them is going to be so hard. I have been so blessed, I have the cutest, coolest, family around town. We stopped to see my cute cousins in Utah, Olivia and Gracie. And of course my cool cousins in Vegas, Boen, Briggs, and Bayden. While I was there I was able to see Bayden kick serious butt in her track meet. That girl is awesome. Then we made a stop at my favorite person in the world's house… KRN! I hadn't seen her since she got married last May so it was so nice to see her and catch up. Then after seeing KRN we endured the remaining 18 hour drive by listening to Divergent. Such a good book! As soon as we finished we went to go see the movie in the theater. If you haven't seen it yet, go it was great! So starting out I thought this road trip was going to be awful but it turns out it was pretty awesome filled with lots of memories I am going to keep with me forever.

Gracie and Olivia

Briggs

Called to Serve

On March 6, 2014 I was called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was called to serve in the West Indies Suriname mission region and I will be speaking the Dutch language. When I read my call I was shocked. I didn't know where the West Indies even were but it sounded like somewhere around India so you can Imagine I was surprised and a little confused when I read I would be speaking Dutch. It was not until a little later, after the initial shock of reading my mission call wore off that I found out where exactly the West Indies were. If you don't know they are a cluster of Caribbean islands. But the West Indies mission also includes 3 small South American countries and this is where I will be serving, on one of those little countries. Suriname to be exact and that is why I will be speaking Dutch because that is the main language in that country. Here's a couple interesting facts about my mission. It has only been around for the past 25 years and the first sister missionaries were sent there only a couple years ago, so there aren't many. Also as of right now there has not been any sister missionaries in Suriname, so I will be one of the first. It's a little intimidating but don't worry I'm up for the challenge. I'm so excited to be given this privilege to bring the gospel to the people of Suriname. I will continue to make posts as I prepare to serve a mission. This is the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in my life… I can't wait :)

My Mission