The Spirit of God like a fire is Burning!!! Email dated 5/26/15

Hello dear family!!

This week has gone by so fast! I can't believe that I'm leaving the CCM next week! Ahh! So soon! This week has been so hard, amazing, short, and long all at the same time. 

I started reading Jesus the Christ this week and I absolutely love it! I have been craving a way to get to know my Savior better, because it has hit me this week--I need to know Him better, I have a deep yearning for it! It's absolutely amazing. I have never felt closer to my Savior than I do right now. 

On Saturday I had the opportunity to practice teaching with Hna. Anway to a sister who was struggling with an addiction to pornography (it was all role-playing). So, we prayed beforehand, and planned out a couple scriptures to share, like Isaiah 1:18 ( I think? It was about sins becoming white as snow) and the story of the lost sheep in Matthew. I bought a book with gospel pictures in it at the tienda the day before and so I had a picture of the Savior holding the lamb in his arms ready to show her. When we started, we talked a little bit about why we were there and what she expected from us. As we were about to start with a prayer, Hna. Anway asked what her name was--she said Kristina. I was shocked for a second, but after the prayer, I had a super strong impressions to ask her this:

Me: Hermana, do you know what your name means?

Inv: Mm, no.

Me: It means "follower of Christ"

At this point, I was tearing up and so was she, and in that moment I felt the spirit like I have never felt it before--Like my soul was on fire. It was incredible and the lesson from that point on was, hands down, the best lesson that I have ever taught--and Hna Anway said the same :) 

Later that day, I was having a hard time--probably because it was so amazing in the morning! I was praying for my angels to come and take the feelings of sadness and anxiety from me and I saw and felt, clearly, multiple angels surrounding me, but three specific angels were right next to me. Then I felt someone else--It was Grandma Tycksen. She was the one holding me up, and she had an arm around my shoulders, supporting me. It was an incredible feeling.

I read in Nehemiah 8:10 that says something along the lines of "In the joy of the Lord is your strength". It was something that described exactly how I felt in that moment, how I felt when I decided to serve a mission, and how we feel when an investigator says yes to baptism! Happy feelings!!

After this, on Sunday, pretty much everything was on faith--r.s, sacrament, and sunday school. and something that stood out to me was that Faith is a Sign of Trust unto the Lord--and also that "We don't need to see the whole staircase--Just take the first step." This has helped me so much this week--I can really feel my faith, small as it is, increasing.

Well, I'm out of time! I love you all and I hope you're all doing well!

The next time I write, I'll be in Texas!!

Love, Hermana Tycksen

Cute note from Hermana Russell

My companion Hermana Tycksen is the best. She has the most beautiful voice so when she braids my hair she sings and i feel like rapunzel. jaajaj i love her:)

Press Forward Saints!!!!! email dated 5/19/2015

Hello Family!!!

That hymn has been my favorite this week--it's always stuck in my head :) This week flew by! It honestly feels like it was Tuesday YESTERDAY. WHAT is this???? My Spanish is coming along really well--we have solo Español days almost every day now! I'm learning so much :)

We still have three investigators, but we are also starting this thing where each one of us is an investigator and we teach each other! It's pretty fun, although when they first introduced it, I started to feel the stress and anxiety come back (that I haven't felt for like 2 weeks) BUT later that night I talked with one of the hermanas in my branch and I also got a priesthood blessing from the elders in my branch and both things helped me soooooo much. I realized that all I need to do is shift my perspective--this new thing isn't a stress, it's a challenge, a FUN challenge, and also an opportunity to grow!

Something that I've learned this week is the importance of the Book of Mormon. I've realized that I need, I need to read it every day, or else nothing really feels right. 

One other thing, on Saturday, Elder David A. Bednar was here!! I don't know if I told you beforehand, but he gave a devotional Saturday night and I was in the front row and he called on me!!! ( It was kind of a  Q & A type thing) It was amazing to be that close to an apostle of the Lord. 

 

Wow! Family! You are amazing!! I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY EVERRRR!!!!! I am amazed every week at your accomplishments and I am so, so proud of all of you. I wish I could give you all just a big hug right now!! (and you know how I am about hugs ;) )

Something funny this week is that I'm starting to replace English words with Spanish words--automatically. Like, this morning I was saying a prayer in English and I went to say ''please'' and ''por favor'' came out! I'm completely immersed and becoming one of the locals! ;) haha just kidding.

Our district is so amazing. We have really become like a family. I have become so close to the other hermanas and it makes me devastated to think of leaving each other in two weeks! :'( The other district in our branch is amazing too, I love each one of them too! This whole experience has been amazing! And I still have 17 months to go!

When I was reading this morning, I was in Moses 1 and in verses 3, 4, & 6, it really hit me.

Those verses talk about God and how he is everlasting and his power has no end, but in verse 4 he says ''Moses, thou are my son'' or something like that, and I just replace it with my name so instead I read ''Kristina, thou are my daughter'' and it is sooo much more impactful. In verse 6, it says ''I have a work for thee to do'' and it made me think--What am I doing?? I have a work to do!! Why am I not studying this doctrine 24/7?? It was a really cool experience for me.

Okay, funny story time-- Hermana Russell is absolutely hilarious. She gets words mixed up sometimes in Spanish and so our teachers think it's hilarious, and we're all not sure what's going on,, but that something just happened :) Today she called Elder Bednar, ''Bernard'' because she couldn't remember his name!! XD we were laughing so hard!!

Thank you so much everyone for your emails! I really really love em!! They make my day!

MUCHO AMOR!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hermana Tycksen

Notice the statue in the background

The AMAZING Trio!

Elders in their branch

Sisters in their branch

Hello Hello!! Week Three!! Email dated 5/12/15

Hello Family!!!

Wow, is it already week three??? I swear, the days here turn in to weeks, but the weeks are actually feeling like days. I'll be home before I know it! ;) It makes me so happy to read all of your emails and to hear how everyone is doing :3 I love Tuesdays!!

This week has been one of extreme growth on my part, mentally and spiritually, and also lingually (?). I have learned the importance of personal study and how amazing prayer actually is. I had a couple of experiences this week where we were studying for our lessons that we were going to be teaching, but I had no idea where to start! SO, I got down on my knees and prayed fervently, and specifically for the word and phrases to come to my mind. And they did! The Lord works in mysterious ways, but immediately after my prayer, a line of scripture popped into my head and so I looked it up and it was exactly what our investigator needed! So amazing! 

This last Thursday was a ''Solo Español'' day--where we only spoke Spanish! It was so hard!! BUT by the end of the day, it was coming really naturally to me and

I was actually having a LOT of fun.

I am learning so much about myself, about the gospel and most importantly, about my Savior. Every Sunday we watch a video that's made by the church and this week we watched one called ''To This End Was I Born''. It was so powerful. It uncovered a deep yearning inside of me to know my Savior. So, that's what I am trying to do in my study time. To know my Savior deeper. I realized that there is a big difference between knowing  the Savior and knowing of the Savior. It's like in Alma when Alma the Younger is describing his experience with the angel and he calls him ''one Jesus Christ''. He didn't know Him yet! The video that we watched also made me realize how much I love my Savior and how excited I am for Him to come again!! I want to see Him in person!!

A kind of funny thing this week was that I was able to relate Lord of the Rings to following Christ. Every Sunday we see a power point of the zones who are leaving the next day and the very last slide says OUR KING! with a picture of the Savior with Called To Serve playing in the background.  At the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, when Boromir dies, he tells Aragorn (who was supposed to be the king but Boromir didn't want to follow him) ''I would have followed you, my Brother, my King''. I realized, I can do that!! But it's not 'would have' it's changed to say ''I will follow you. My Brother. My KING.'' He is our Savior, Redeemer, Brother, and King and we CAN FOLLOW HIM. It's really incredibly easy!! 

 

The CCM is so amazing and I am learning so much!

I might send more pictures this week, but I'm not sure...we'll see!

MUCHO AMOR!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOX

Hermana Tycksen

This was a couple days before Kristina went to the Mexico MTC.  Lunch and Temple date with Papa Tycksen. I just noticed this but they match. :)

Semana Segundo!!! - Email dated 5/5/2015

Dear Familia, :D

This week has been so amazing! It's been tough, but AMAZING! It's only my second week, but I already feel like I'm being put through the refiner's fire. 

I am sooooo sorry for not answering questions from the last emails, I was a little pressed for time last week :)

The CCM is great! Last week was, and sometimes it gets, a little rough and tough, but I'm learning how to lean on the Lord and to give Him my struggles. The food is good, really good sometimes. It's all Mexican though :I I've never really been a big fan of Mexican food, as you all know :) 

Okay, I just need to take a moment and say that receiving and reading letters from everyone is really the highlight of my week! It makes me so happy to hear how everyone is doing and I absolutely LOVED the pictures! :D

Dad, my camera cord--the one that came in the package--works great, so I probably don't need a card reader :) 

I was so excited to hear about the puppies and everyone's events! It amazes me every day how talented you all are. :D

So, this week! 

We finished teaching our first investigators! In our second to last lesson, we extended the invitation to be baptized and they accepted! The spirit was so strong and I honestly felt SO much JOY that I felt like I would burst! 

The spanish is coming along, and I can already see so much more progress than before :) It's starting to get a little tough though--gotta put my back into it!

We have gym time every day, and the past few days we've been playing volleyball :D It's so much fun, but I've learned that I can be pretty competitive and also dramatic :3 For example: yesterday, we played volleyball, and every single time I would hit the ball, it would go way out of bounds! I was so frustrated that I didn't even remember the good parts of the game. So, in reality, the ball only went out of bounds about 30% of the time that I hit it :3 Case in point, I can be dramatic :)

My companions and I were called to be the sister training leaders for our branch! I am so excited, but also so humbled, because I want to be His hands, and I'm afraid to mess up an opportunity to touch someone's life. We got three new sisters in our branch, along with four elders, and our casa is now full! All five rooms have sisters in them! Speaking of new sisters, our service activity every week is to help with the new missionary orientation. It is sooo much fun! We were taking the new sisters to their houses last Wednesday and talking and having fun, and they asked how long we had been here. One week. :) We had been here for one week. They were so surprised, they thought we had been here for much more than that!

We have classes all day long, and it can get rough and kind of sleepy sometimes ;) but it really is amazing! We have amazing teachers and they help us so much. 

We went to the Mexico City Temple Visitor's Center today! It was so beautiful and it reawakened my missionary desire to help and serve others :) I'm sending pictures btw :)

Yesterday, it rained BUCKETS in the three hours between dinner and the end of classes. We had to go to class, but we're not supposed to run because it's  really easy to slip and fall on the pavement. So, my companions were kind of running/jogging, and I was calmly walking to class :) I love the rain! I feel like it's a way that my Heavenly Father shows his love for me :) But, we found out that the pollution in the city makes the rain really dirty so we all had to wash that dirty-ness out of our hair. yuck.

Something else that I have learned this week is that how I word my prayers is very important--not only for how I receive my answers, but also how I feel about my prayer afterwards. It has helped me strengthen my testimony about prayer and about prayers being answered. It's so funny, but we're trying to learn how to teach investigators, and the Lord is teaching me so much!

I can't believe we only have three and a half weeks left in the CCM! It's surreal! I'm trying to savor every moment, but sometimes they pass by so fast!

Until next time!

Our district

Con mucho amor! <333

Hermana Tycksen

Such fun Hermanas!

Mexico City Temple Visitors Center