Seek and Ye Shall Find

Family,

I have had a pretty good week. 

The young man we are teaching is doing great! There is a good group of returned missionaries in our ward and they have been taking good care of him.  I am really happy for him and was thrilled on Saturday because he came to a baptismal service and after told us that he felt really comfortable in church. 

We also have another investigator who is doing very well. He was going to get baptized this week, but his wife will be traveling, so he will get baptized next week. I am really excited for him because he has seemed really great these last two weeks. His wife and daughter got baptized a few months ago, so we are really excited to start helping them take steps towards the Temple. 

I have been doing well this week. I want to thank each of you for your letters last week they really meant a lot to me and helped me so much. I am so grateful for your love. 

I loved reading your letters this morning as well. I was really sorry to hear about Dad´s back. That made me feel really sad, but i am glad that it isn't worse. I cried when I heard about mom's experience at the grocery store. Mom is the best! She holds the family together. I want to thank her for all of the work that she does for us! Mom does all the dirty work and everybody is going to really miss it when they leave the house, I can promise you that! I am so grateful for all the work mom puts in to make our house a home. I also liked reading about dad's one on one time with Claire. That one on one time with mom and dad is the best. It is so special. I loved the time I spent with mom right before I left. 

I loved dad's challenge to read the New Testament with him this year and for my thought I would like to share Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it shall be given and seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened".  Right after this it talks about the scripture mom shared with me today as well.  What father will give his child a stone if he asks for bread? I like these scriptures because Christ is inviting us to ask, to seek, and to knock. I believe He wants us to ask so that we remember to be humble and to choose on our own to turn to God for help. I believe that He wants us to seek, so that we can learn and grow. I also enjoyed reading the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6: 9 through 13 and meditating upon the importance and significance of each phrase and how it covers our basic needs. I was touched as I read a while back in 3 Nephi about how Christ prayed for the Nephites and I feel like we should remember the way he prayed for them when we pray for others. I also learned that we come to understand others better when we pray for them. I feel like that is one of the primary reasons the Lord asks us to pray for our enemies. I also noticed in my personal prayers as I prayed specifically for others I felt a special spirit. Often, I become too focused on myself.

Anyways, kind of a mess, but I learned a lot in my studies this week and it is hard to type and express it all so fast. I hope you can make something of it. Thanks for the invitation dad. I am now in Matt 9!

I love you all more than I can express. Have a great week! 

Elder Christensen