So, as I stated above, this week was marvelous. Monday we headed down to
Quebec city, for an activity with the zone, and we took the scenic route through
a national forest.
oh.
my.
gosh.
That was the single prettiest drive I have ever made in my life. Oceans of
fiery red, vibrant yellow, and bright orange, with dark creen pine trees
scattered throughout. Turns out Quebec has some very large hills. I would even
call those small mountains. It was breathtaking. There's nothing quite like
driving through the fire of Autumn and all of a sudden passing a break in the
trees and seeing a lake, sitting perfectly still, reflecting the clouds hanging
so low in the sky you can practically touch them.... Quebec is....
amazing.
It was a perfect start to an amazing week. Zone study was, as always,
spiritually uplifting and fantastic, and we had interviews with President
Cannon! Sister Cannon is a doll. She took our pictures to send them home to our
mom's. :P After a great couple of days in Quebec, we trucked up to Rimouski to
do exchanges with them. The missionaries there are incredible. Elder Pihatarioe
is the new missionary that Elder Pehrson is training. He's from Tahiti, and like
most polynesians, his testimony could move mountains. I drove up with him and we
talked about everything. He's going to be a stellar missionary. Elder Pehrson
continues to exceed all expectations as well. I feel like I'm surrounded with
the Lord's elite.... It makes me feel very small sometimes. :P But! I'm in a
great situation to learn eh? :)
Thursday morning we left Rimouski at 9 to make a six hour drive back to
Chicoutimi, then we had friday to WORK, and then conference started Saturday. We
didn't have a lot of time in our area this week, but we had an abundance of
spiritual nourishment, so I'm sure we'll make up for it next week. :)
CONFERENCE. BLEW. MY MIND.
I feel like the world is about to be flooded with 18 year old boys and 19
year old girls, and the spirit they'll carry will is going to rock us. I'm super
excited. :) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland definitely gave my favorite talk, but they
were ALL incredible. We're so lucky to have these men to lead and guide us.
Anyone that didn't get a chance to watch that conference, I exhort you. Hop to
it. It's worth it.
I don't have a ton of time, because we were driving all last week, so I'll
keep this short, I just wanted to share my favorite quote from Conference.
Men. Can. Change.
That's the message we're sharing with the world. That's the hope of the
gospel. That's what Christ does for us. Really, at the base of everything else,
THAT is the miracle. Change. The ability to CHANGE your nature, to turn AWAY
from the things you're inclined to do. "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone
to leave the God I Love". Inside of every single one of us there is something
that wants to do bad things. We, as humans, are naturally inclined to sin. If we
rely on our own strength, on our own abilities, we will fail every time. Trust
me on this one, I've got a pride complex and I like to do things by myself. ; )
But really. "Lean not on the arm of men..." because that Arm is weak. That's the
point. Do you get it? We can't do it. We can't do anything. We can't work hard
enough, we can't learn enough, we can't BE good enough to get back off of this
world, back to the world where we belong. We're like mice trying to climb up a
glass wall. If we try to do it on our own, we're destined to fail. But we don't
have to fail. Christ came down here and gave his life, so that you and I can
climb that wall. So that we CAN do it. So that we can change our nature, so that
we can get home again. Take a minute to think about that. That's something
special.
I love you all. And I love my savior. And I love my Father. (Yes dad, you
too. *wink*)
Love,
--
Elder Christensen
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