Wanica--language barrier

Oh boy we had such a good week! I absolutely love it here in Wanica! It's so fun working in a new area. It's so different here, it's such an adventure! And this week we had one of my favorite members from Tammenga (my old branch) come on a mini mission with us. Her name is Monica and she is amazing. She is almost 17 and she has been baptised for about a year and she is so excited about missionary work. She always says she just wants to be older so she can leave on her mission! She had a vacation from school and she begged her mom to let her come out and work with Zuser Wood and I for the week. I'm so impressed with her. I don't know if I would've wanted to give up my vacation to go out with the missionaries when I was 17! She's a boss!

So suriname is crazy. There are so many different Languages that people speak here. So you have Dutch, which people learn in school, then there is Sranan-tongo which is the street language everyone speaks, then Saramacons and Ocons which are the jungle languages. Those are the languages that people speak who live in villages out in the Jungle. It's crazy right? Well Zuster Wood and I are teaching a couple who only speak Saramacons, they know a little Dutch but not much. So we have to bring a member who knows Saramacons who can translate. So this week we had my first lesson with them and it was so cool! I was speaking to the member in Dutch and then he would translate what I would say into Saramacons. We were talking to them about the plan of salvtion. And the women, Jackie told us that she had 2 children who died when they were very young and how it broke he heart and all she wants to be is a mother. When she told us that the spirit hit me so strong. And I testified to them (in dutch) about how she would be able to be a mother to her children one day and that she would be able to live with them forever. The spirit was so strong in that lesson we were all in tears. It was so cool because even though there was a language barrier and we couldn't really understand each other the spirit was the same. And we were all able to feel it! It's so awesome! 

Well I hope y'all have a good week love you

-Zuster Christiansen

WANICA

It's been such a crazy good week! This was my first week in my new area with my new companion, Zuster Wood. Zuster Wood is amazing! I am so excited for this next transfers I just know God has some miracles in store for us!

So for the past 6 months I have been serving in the same branch in the city. It was really hard to leave all the people there, they had become my family. But I was so excited for the next adventure Heavenly Father had waiting for me. My new area is Wanica and it's out in the country/jungle. It's so different from where I was serving before. There is long dirt roads with fields and jungle on the side. It's such an adventure, I love it :) And we bike so much! haha our area is huge! Oh boy I am getting buff legs! Ha but I love it here. It's crazy how I just feel at home where ever I am. I just know that God has placed me here in this area at this time for a reason. And that there are people in this crazy jungle country that I need to meet and bring the gospel to! Gosh it's seriously the best. I know this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. And I can't wait to give my heart and service to the people here in Wanica. I love them so much already it's crazy. 

We had a good week! The area here is super new to sisters so it's basically like we are starting out with a fresh area. I'm so pumped to go out and find the people God is preparing for us to meet! We don't have too many investigators so we are gonna be hitting the streets this week to find some awesome people ready to accept the gospel. I'm excited, it'll be really fun to go on an adventure through our area. 

I've got a funny story for y'all this week. So in sacrament meeting yesterday I was sitting in between a bunch of little girls. (whats new all girls here are obsessed with my hair) .They were playing with this rose and in the middle was a bud fabric type thing. One of the little girls starts pulling out the fabric in the middle. And it's like a string. All of a sudden one of the little girls holds up this string in front of her and I realized that she's holding up a red lingerie thong!!!!  The girls were just wondering what it was and I was dying laughing. It was so funny. Good times in the Wanica Branch. I love y'all have a good week! 

Met liefde,

Zuster C 

Easter//Transfers

Happy Easter :) Wow what  a week! I don't have a lot of time to email this week so my letters going to be short, sorry! I'm at a members house right now and they are about to take me and my comp to this really cool place in the city. We got transfer calls and after 6 months here in the tammenga branch I'm being transferred to wannica. It's really bitter sweet! I'm so excited for the new adventure ahead in wannica but I'm going to miss everyone here so much! I've fallen in love with the people here. I love all my investigators and members and I've had a blast serving with them.. It's going to be hard to leave. But I really am excited for all the new adventures that await me. My new companions name is zuster wood. She's awesome. I'm so exited to serve with her :) 

General conference was amazing! Oh boy it really is like the super bowl for us missionaries. I just absolutely love hearing from those amazing and truly inspired men and women. I can't wait to get the ensign with all the talks so I can read them again! Hahah I learned so much. Well I love yall sorry the email was short. But I'm happy and absolutely loving it here in Suriname. Have a great week! Love you :) 

Zuster C

New Investigator

It's been a good week! It rained a lot haha I'm really starting to turn into a Surinamer cuz I am freezing if it's anything less than 85 outside! So if it's rained all day and I'm soaking wet when we bike home at night I have goosebumps!

We have an investigator Estelle. She is so amazing and such a miracle. She had a book of mormon at her house and started reading from it before we even started teaching her. She is the next door neighbor of one of our other investigators, Sister Betty, who has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time. Estelle is 14 and she is so excited about the gospel, loves reading from the book of mormon and coming to church. And she is a great example to Sister Betty. Haha I think Sister Betty doesn't want to get showed up because she came to church again this week for the first time since I've been here. Estelle really is a miracle. She is so sweet. This week at church she kept running up and hugging me telling me she was so grateful she met me and that she can come to church. It was adorable. I love her so much! And she is going to be baptized at the end of the month! I'm so excited for her :)

Heavenly Father is so good. He loves us so much and he knows our needs and concerns  He is perfect! He knows exactly what we need to feel better. I'm so grateful for him and all he does for me. But my favorite part of my mission has been seeing what he does for other people. I love seeing how when people turn to God and rely on Him how much He will bless them. Something else I have learned recently is if you are struggling or feeling down. Ask God for help then look for someone else to serve. When you are in the service of others that is when you are the happiest! I'm so insanely happy right now and I love that I get the opportunity to give my whole self to the service of the people here in Suriname. It's so worthy every sacrifice! Doing the Lord's work is the best and will always make you feel better. I'm so grateful for my time as a missionary. I love it with my whole heart!

Thank you so much for all the love and support! I will talk to you next week. And remember to serve and love those around you :) Have a good week!

Love, Zuster C 

Zuster Walsh Update

It's been a really good week! 

Zuster Walsh update: We went to the doctor earlier this week and spent lots of time at the hospital and they ran a couple blood tests. We are going back today to find the results. But we are pretty positive it is Chickun gun ya and there really is no cure for that. You kinda just have to let it run it's course... and it doesn't go away for like a year. I feel so bad for her but she is so amazing and strong. I've got an awesome companion. 

Good news! We were able to go out and do work this week. It was a kinda crazy week though. President and Sister Mehr came for Zone Conference with Elder Cornish a member of the Area 70. Oh man it was so cool to hear from them. It was a total spiritual rejiv. I learned so much!

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Brian and his daughter Melissa. We talked to them about the atonement and the fact that Jesus Christ died for us and that through him we can become stronger. Brian has struggled with Drug addiction for most of his life. I told him God can take his addiction away from him, he just needs the faith to pray and ask for help. Then the next time we met with him he said he had a really good prayer with God and we were able to set a baptismal date with him. He still has a long way to go but he has the faith that God is going to help him. It's so awesome to see the atonement working in peoples lives. Love y'all :)

Zuster C 

Finally out of the house!!

This week was good! I was able to go out and get some missionary work done. Cheniva, the member girl who is waiting to go on her mission to Georgia, came out with me while Zuster Walsh stayed at a members house. Zuster Walsh is still pretty sick, we are going to the doctor later today so hopefully we can find out what is wrong and she can get better real soon! Keep praying for her!

Even with all the craziness that has been going on here it has been so amazing to see the blessings and miracles God has placed in our path. We have a new investigator Brian. He is so willing to change his life and follow God. He has been addicted to weed for the past few years but he has been slowly trying to wing himself off drugs. This week we had a lesson with him and the spirit was so strong as I testified that Jesus Christ knew his addiction and knew exactly how he felt. I told him to give his pain and heartache over to the Lord and he would find true happiness. Not that moment of happiness that comes from a high but the long lasting happiness that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong with us and I could see the desire in His eyes to find a true, long lasting happiness. I love looking at him and seeing his willingness to change and to follow Christ. He loves the Book of Mormon and reads every night! He really wants to change and I just know if he gives himself over to God, God will change him. That's something so real and amazing about the gospel. It has the ability to change our lives for the better, to help us become stronger, happier people. I've loved seeing that in the people I teach and also in myself. 

We taught mission prep yesterday. It was so awesome looking out at everyone and seeing the potential that they all posses, to go out and preach the gospel through out the world to people God is preparing for them to meet. I had so much fun teaching and bearing my testimony of the importance of a mission. I absolutely love my mission. It's the best decision I ever made. The work that you do as a missionary is unlike anything else. It's God's work. I get to go out everyday and make a difference in peoples lives that will last for eternity. It's so special. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love it here and I have given my heart to these people. I love getting to serve them with my whole heart. It's the best! Thanks you so much for all the love and support. Y'all are the best. Have a great week! 

Met Liefde, 

Zuster C 

Phagwa

Hey Y'all!

Wow what a week... This week was Phagwa. That is a Hindu holiday and basically everyone dances around in the streets throwing colorful chalk and paint at each other! It's absolutely crazy! Well there is a member of our branch that was Hindu before she was baptized so she had all the missionaries over to celebrate. It was so much fun! We were covered in a bunch of colors and it was fun to embrace the culture with the people here. I loved it! And my hair is still green... I've scrubbed my hair but I can't get all of it out. So I'm going to be a green haired missionary for a couple more days! hahah it's unique right?

Zuster Walsh has been feeling a little better so we were able to go out and do some work this week! It was really hard staying inside and not getting the chance to go out and see people and it got my spirits down a little bit. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard in my life that God with bless us with a miracle and that he would give Zuster Walsh the strength and confidence to go out and work. After I prayed I opened my scriptures to a verse. 2 Nephi 4:29 it says: "Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions" That scripture hit me so hard. And it made me realize that I was not going to let my self feel down because I was going through a hard time. Life is full of hard times and full of ups and downs. That's why we are here isn't it? To be tried and tested! So I made up my mind right then that I was not going to slacken my strength because of hard times. I am going to give my all to the Lord and my all to the people here in Suriname in every way that I can. 

Later that day we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Sister Better. We have been teaching her for a while. She was almost baptized before I got here but she doubted her self and since then she has not had a strong desire to do anything with the church. But when we came to her house she was smiling and so happy that we were there. She told us that she had read from the book of Mormon every night since the last time we visited. She had that excitement and desire again. I was so happy! God gave us the miracle I had desperately asked for. God, loves us! He really does. And he looks for opportunities when he can bless us and answer our prayers. We just have to be humble enough to ask. I am so grateful for the hard times because God always finds a way to teach me something. So when life seems like it's too hard and everything seems to be going wrong, Remember "Do not Slacken your strength because of your afflictions!" Stay Strong! I love y'all so much! Have a great week and remember God loves you!

Met liefde, 

Zuster C