the simplicity of the Gospel

Happy V Day from the Squad

What’s up mis queridos ?

Another solid week here on the south side of Des Moines! I really have nothing special to talk about that happened during the week but Saturday was a solid day. It was a good day of service, work, and some fun. We were able to go help out at the home of our 1^St Counselor in the Branch in the morning. He had knocked down one of his walls in his home to open his living room up a little more. So we came over to help him do a little heavy lifting/eating breakfast...haha  We did one of those pretty easily but the other took some effort. It was nice to have a change of schedule in the morning for a bit.

We then had our first (real) lesson with Angel and Ana! We went over the Resto with them again and really hit on the Book of Mormon. I feel like the lesson couldn’t of gone any better. The Spirit was strong, they were asking all the right questions, and the Spanish was clicking. We both gave them a Libro de Mormon for themselves and they loved it. I actually gave Angel a little mini LdM, a copy that the fam sent me for Christmas, with their testimony and a picture of the five of us. It was tender to see the both of them open up the front cover and see a picture of the fam and watch them read a powerful testimony on the blessings the Book of Mormon brings to families. Made it extra special realizing that it was their first time reading such a thing about a book they had just found out existed. The next day at church, there in their hands were their copies of the LdM! Super cool to see!

After our lesson with Angel and Ana, Elder Rivera and I were off to Hampton, IA! A tiny town about an hour and a half away to watch the baptism of an investigator E. Rivera taught. But this baptism was a little different than usual….the service only consisted of the two of us, the other two Elders in Hampton, the Branch President and his son, and Sandra. Just the seven of us in total. But even without a lot of other people there, not this big fancy event, the Spirit was very strong. Maybe the strongest I’ve felt on the mission. The whole thing, seeing Sandra, someone I had only met one other time before, be baptized and confirmed helped me recognize the simplicity of the Gospel. It just takes a small step of faith, taking upon ourselves the name of our Savior and following His example. I’m excited to see Ana & Angel progress towards taking those steps for themselves, just like Sandra and so many others.

Love you all!

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.”  1 Nephi 11:25

deficil es bueno

Elder Christensen

Jimbo taught me well!

Someone doesn't like the snow...Sorry SLC, it followed me to Iowa.

Twinning with Valentine's Day ties