Yoohoo! Hi Family!!

Hello my dear family!!

Thank you so much for your emails and prayers. They mean a lot to me and they help me so much! 

This week was all kinds of crazy. I went on exchanges with Sister Slade to Portales, NM and got to practice my Spanish more! :) We met some really amazing members there who were so nice. On Monday night we had dinner with Paula and Larry Hickman, who are these really sweet and awesome older couple, they took us to Cattle Baron, which is a pretty fancy restaurant, and we had a great time. I had prime rib! :) So, don't worry, Dad, I had my prime rib for the Christmas Eve dinner just a bit early this year ;) 

Something that I realized this week is that I am meant to be here on this mission, at this time, and with these people. I don't know how on earth I am going to make it through the next 16 months, but I know that I will because He is with me, and He wants me here.

This mission is teaching me so much, about myself and about the gospel. There's too much to fit into one email, so I'll just share a couple:

"Just because something is difficult, doesn't mean that you can't do it."

"The mission is the MTC for life!" <-- it's true!!

"Whenever you feel as if you're drowning, just remember: your lifeguard walks on water"

On Saturday, we did 7 hours of service!! We started with serving at a free pancake breakfast that one of the churches in town does every month, and then, Harvest Ministries (a food pantry where we serve every week) got in a HUGE shipment of food and they needed a LOT of people to help sort and move and organize it. It felt like such a long day, and I was tired and aching by the end of it, but it was a good day :) It's funny, because by the time we finally got home that night, my legs and ankles were achy and I found myself thinking, "Why does this feel familiar?" And then I realized that that was the way I felt after every shift at In'N Out!!! Too funny! So, the next morning, I was up and ready to go like any other day, and my companions were still super sore ;3 Funny stuff. 

One last thing: So, we've been teaching an investigator named Fermin for the past few weeks, and HE ACCEPTED THE INVITATION TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!! He's getting baptized next Saturday!!!! :D Exciting stuff!!!

LES AMO MUCHO MUCHO!!!!

2 month mission picture

Kristina made guacamole

Hermana Tycksen

Hermana Tycksen with the sisters in the Roswell Zone

Love it when parents of other missionaries post pictures!!   Kristina's companions are on either side of her.  Sister Villondo and Sister Slade.  Soo fun!!!  Photo courtesy of Rob Beyl

TWO MONTH MARK!!!!!

Companionship in Mexico

Hermana Tycksen and Hermana Russell flying to Texas!

Hello Family!!! Today is my mission birthday!! ;) Two months! WOW! I feel accomplished! ;) this week was good, it has been the hardest week so far, but it was also the best :) Funny how that works. I am adjusting to the mission life, it's slow, but it's-a-comin. One thing that happened this week was my first Zone Training! It was all about the WHY of missionary work and the gospel. It was really interesting, and I have started studying that in my personal study, and it is helping me so much. It is deepening my conversion and creating deeper roots for my testimony. One thing that has helped me to remember Christ during the sacrament is some of the song lyrics that I have for "His Hands" and "This is the Christ". They help me to focus on what He did for me, and I have found that I'm able to get more out of the whole meeting when I do that. One scripture that I read this week is in Psalms 119:105 and it says "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." I really loved that!! And then I cross-referenced with one of the footnotes in Alma 37:44, which talks about the way being as easy as following the Liahona. And then it hit me, the way back to our Father isn't always easy, but it's simple. We make it complicated. So, we've been teaching an investigator named Fermin for that past couple weeks and he is progressing so much!! His wife is a member, and she is super supportive, and we've been able to bring members with us to his lessons and they're just so great! I love it! It's funny because he really wants to understand WHY, and not just know the what of the gospel. So, he's progressing slowly, and at his own pace, but he IS progressing!! Exciting stuff!! Thank you all for your prayers on my behalf, they are very much felt and appreciated :) I love you all SOOOOOOO much!!! Hermana Tycksen

Greetings from the Land of Roswell :D

My dear Family,

This week was good! It honestly was. There were quite a few rough spots, but I can confidently say that going through those has shaped me to be a better missionary and person than I was before :)

Okay, to start off, the people in my mission are absolutely amazing!! Last week I fasted that I would gain a love for the people here, a love like Christ would have for them, and I'M GETTING IT!!! IT'S HAPPENING!!! There are so many people that I have met and talked to in the last week that I just think, "Wow, if nothing else, I was meant to meet you on my mission." So cool!!!

One of our less-actives is doing so good!! His name is Hector, and he's a student at NMMI (new Mexico Military Institute). He leaves for training this friday and before he left, he wanted to strengthen his testimony and make sure that it was solid. That was two weeks ago, and he has progressed so much!! It's amazing how the gospel works, but this is the first person that I have been able to see a change happen in their life!! SO GREAT!!! Yesterday I was reading in D&C 64:33, which says something along the lines of "be not weary of well doing, for you are laying the foundation of a marvelous work". It made me remember something that quite a few people told me before I left, that we're planting seeds, even if we don't get to see them harvested :) 

So, because my companions are the STLs, they go on a roadtrip basically every week! This last week they had MLC (I'm not sure what that stands for) and so I went on exchanges with some sisters in Brownfield (really tiny town) and it was SO interesting! I did about three hours of finding, which I haven't really done yet in my mission, but apparently that really is what missionary work is, and I was able to talk to someone in Spanish!! YAY! Exciting stuff! 

Okay, now I have a challenge for y'all (haha, I'm actually saying that now!) Yesterday we had a lesson in church about "flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon" Entonces, I had an idea!! After my mission, I want to do this, but until then, I'm gonna need y'all to help me out a bit. So, I challenge all of y'all to post something about the Book of Mormon to social media at LEAST twice a week! Think it's possible? I think it's possible. You guys are AMAZING!!! Keep me updated about how it goes!! 

I love you all and I am sending you lots of love!! ( it's traveling by UFO, so we'll see how long it takes to get there ;))

LOVE,

Hermana Tycksen

ROSWELL!!!!

Hello family!!!

I am writing to you from the land of UFO's and extraterrestrials!!! Haha, but seriously, there are a lot of aliens around town--statues and pictures and a lot of the businesses say 'Galaxy' or something like that ;) But it's good! I like it! If I didn't know any better, I would never guess that I was in Roswell--it looks just like any other town.

It's actually not super hot here! It has been raining a bunch and so it's pretty mild. The sunsets are absolutely gorgeous and the sky and clouds are too. I love clouds :) They're awesome.

Anyways, we actually do a lot of lessons for less-actives and recent converts more than investigators, BUT we are starting to get a few investigators!

The members are great, they're really welcoming.

I've had a few tough times this week, but it's okay, because they're helping me to learn and grow :)

One thing that I learned spiritually this week is from Ether 12:4 where it talks about an anchor to your soul. An anchor keeps you in one place, even when a storm comes, you don't drift too far from where you're anchored. Entonces, ANCHOR YOURSELF IN THE GOSPEL AND IN CHRIST!!!! I know that if we do that, we will never drift away.

Not a whole lot of time today, but I want you all to know that I love you and miss you and I'm doing really well!!

Lots of hugs!!

Hermana Tycksen

All of these pictures were posted on the blog by Sister Heaps, mission president's wife!   Thanks Sister Heap.

Arriving in Lubbock :)

Temple with all the new missionaries

Awaiting assignments!!  I think this is cute how Kristina happened to look at the camera. 

Traditional dinner :) Last time with Sister Russell.

Pictures of District 12 B

We received these from Hermana Call from the Mexico MTC.   Hermana Tycksen loved her district and learned so much from each of them.  Hermana Russell will continue onto Texas with her.  :)

District 12 B

I wonder if this is when they emailed home :)

MEXICO CCM - DISTRICT 12 B

The TRIO companionship..Hermana Tycksen, Hermana Russell and Hermana Carabine

The OTHER TRIO companionship