July 6, 2009

From: Corrine Christison
Subject: mass email
Date: Monday, July 6, 2009, 5:20 PM

HERMANAS Y HERMANOS!!!

i hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of july. i was a little bummed i couldnt go watch the fireworks but my companion and i saw a couple on our drive home that night. this email will have to last two weeks because with the HILL CUMORAH PAGEANT coming up, we dont get any time to email... which i know is so sad but it is okay, try not to be too sad ;) and i'll just have you know, for anyone who was wondering, i hit my 6- month mark on the 14th of july. i cannot tell you how fast the time is passing and my feelings of being 1/3 of the way done with my time
here in new york. but i do wish to tell you a story...... if that is alright. my companion, sister autrey, and i are currently teaching a woman named joann. she has had some wonderful
experiences in her life and then some not so good experiences. unfortunately, i think the bad outweigh the good but to get on with it- we were teaching her about prayer, and how it can help us build a stronger relationship with god and how it can truly bring peace in her life. i share my experiences and testimony- sister autrey shares a powerful, wonderful testimony and then joann said something that made me think. she said "i wish i could say what you just said and believe it". sister autrey turns to her and says "you can. you just have to try it for yourself" this experience reminded me of something elder ballard said in this past general conference. he is talking about how we strengthen our own testimonies and faith; he said: " you cannot do a google search to gain a testimony. you can't text message faith. you gain a vibrant, life-changing testimony today the same way it has always been done... it comes through desire, study, prayer, obedience, and service" so basically, the moral of the story and of elder ballards talk is: JUST DO IT! (wait, its that nike's theme too?) :)

enjoy the next couple of weeks! y'all are in my prayers!

sister christison

June 22, 2009

From: Corrine Christison
Subject: mass email!
Date: Monday, June 22, 2009, 12:41 PM

HERMANAS Y HERMANOS!

greetings from irondequoit! im almost 6 months into my mission and i cant tell you how FAST it is all flying by!! i think ive also discovered the key to happiness in this life... now, im talking about that deep happiness and peace that is very hard to comeby. i know i never got it from watching tv, or movies, or even just hanging out with friends. i have however- found it on my mission. its not there all the time, but ive noticed that when im doing what my heavenly father has asked
of me (which is to open my mouth and share his message that the gospel of jesus christ, which he set up while on the earth, has been restored through the prophet joseph smith), than im happy. i have that true sense of joy! this all kind of reminded me of this quote by elder hales, from this past general conference, in which he said "as children of god, our deepest hunger and what we should be seeking is what the lord alone can provide- his love, his sense fo worth, his security, his confidence, his hope in the future, and assurance of his love, which brings us eternal joy"..... the lord alone can give us that peace which comes from doing what he's asked of us-- love one
another, love god, read our scriptures, pray daily, etc etc....... these tiny little things...... try it! i KNOW it will brings the lord's love, confidence, and sense of worth that elder hales
promises. i know it.

adios!
sister christison

Greetings from Dana Point

Date: Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Subject: Greetings from Dana Point!
Greetings from Dana Point!

Brother and Sister Christison,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you that I had the pleasure of being guided on a tour of the Joseph Smith farm and frame home by your daughter last week. I took a special trip with my mother-in-law and nephews and nieces back to the church history sites, and your daughter did a wonderful job of describing the sites and helping these young men and women feel the Spirit there.

You should know that she is doing well and is working hard!

Thank you,
Noall Silvester Director of Rooms and Guest Services

Thursday, June 18, 2009

From: Corrine Christison
Subject: mass email
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 11:47 AM

HERMANS Y HERMANOS!
no time to write because our time at the library is always cut short by appointments or service but i thought of some other reasons why i love new york:

1. im now in a city called irondequiot...... who comes up with these names?!?
2. everytime it rains, it smells like worms... not the most pleasant but we deal with it!

so, i just want all of you to know that i know that the church is true. that i know that we were literally created in the image of our heavenly father and mother and that they love each and every one of us sooooooo much. it is mind-boggling to me to try and think about the amount of love they have- and the amount of love our savior has for us. there is a quote that says "when we think of our savior and that he did all that he did not because he HAD to but because he LOVES us, is a sobering thought indeed"..... think about that. our savior loves all of us! and im sooooo grateful to know that..... okay, my companion is giving me that look! im off!
have a great week!

sister christison

Oh how i love new york!

From: Corrine Christison
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 6:11 PM
HERMANAS Y HERMANOS!

oh how i love new york! let me count the ways for you:

1. i love how when we're tracting down the country roads, we have to step over the three-day old roadkill... i think ive passed possum, beaver, and deer. yes it is sad, but it is new york!

2. it rains 5 out of the 7 days of the week and the natives say we're behind on our rain this year! i dont want to see how much it has to rain for us to be on target!

3. there's a hamburger joint in town called "chill n grill" where we went all the visitors for the best ice cream around. they have a map so visitors can put a star where they are from... 50 % of the stars are on utah! :) palmyra truly becomes a mormon town in the summer
time!

4. the palmyra temple is laid out exactly like the raleigh (that is really in apex) temple so everytime i go, i get a taste of good ole north carolina.

okay! thats enough! truly though, new york is growing on me more and more and i know that it is because when you truly serve people, you grow to love them. i wanted to share a testimony building experience i had this week. one of our investigators named ian told us
"since you ladies have been coming, i feel like ive moved from that kid in the back of the classroom to the front of the room"..... tender i know! but truly, when our relationship grows, when we better realize that we are not just one in the 6 trillion billion people that have come
to the earth but that we are a daughter or son of god-- we feel more special. we are more able to feel HIS LOVE in our life and thus, we will strive to do his will. the best way i have found to feel closer to my father in heaven, to feel my relationship with God growing is through
prayer. let us strive to say more meaningful prayers... just as if we were talking on the telephone to
our father who we havent seen in a long time! i
promise that if you can strive to do this, your relationship
with your father in heaven will strengthen and his love will
be more abundant in your life! prayer- it works!

sister christison

Daddy Email - 5/31/09

hey daddy,

i wanted to share with you the letter our assistants to the presidents just sent us. so bear with me!

"we have moments of great joy but also times of great sorrow and disappointment.  this is an essential part of our mortal existence. we can exprect our faith to be tried and disappointments to come. those times, however, "need not lead to discouragement," because we can also expect miracles and great joy.  by definition, to discourage is to deprive of confidence and the ability to conquer fear or despair.  discouragement causes us to lose focus, motivation, and the desire to obey. it weakens our fatih and brings with it greater difficulty in feeling and following the spirit.  the reasons it comes are varied.. it comes from missed expectations, from comparing ourselves to others and feeling that we dont meausre up.  often, it comes from doubt, thoughts like "i dont know if i can do this"... sometimes discouragement seems to come uninvited and withou reason, even when all is going well.  nevertheless, it comes. how is it overcome? ... discouragement is overcome by choosing faith "even when the mist of darkness confromnting us is exceedingly great".  when these time of disappointment come, to "maintain a vision of who we are and what we are doing," and to "continue to diligently move forward".  we must also plead for the strenth, desire, and guidance we need.  it is our testimony that we cannot comprehend the joy that awaits us for "as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for them that love him".

so dad, when disappointment comes, we must choose FAITH, remember who we are- that we are SONS and DAUGHTERS of a LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER and then PRAY for the STRENGTH to continue on

i love you sooooooooo much!

sister kiddo

Corrine Mass Email - 5/20/09

> Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 12:03 PM

> HERMANAS Y HERMANOS!
>
> so im not a spanish speaking missionary but i got the
> chance to invite someone, well, kind of invite him, to read
> the book of mormon in spanish!  it was a rush thats for
> sure!!  anyways, i'm telling y'all right now that im
> falling in love with the country (and i thought i was a city
> girl!)  but spring has just come into full bloom and
> the rolling fields here in palmyra are just
> GORGEOUS!!!  i'll take a picture and send it
> sometime... just so you can see the beauty!
>
> we had stake conference last sunday.  elder robert d.
> hales spoke a little bit about the sacrament.  he said
> that in the sacrament prayer it says: "to always remember
> him..." elder hales pointed out that in order to remember
> something, we first must experience it or know it.  so,
> in order to remember christ and his atonement during the
> sacrament, we must first know him and experience the effects
> of the atonement in our lives!  so next week, as you
> all are sitting church, strive to REMEMBER the savior--
> recall how you felt his love this past week, reflect on what
> you learned about him, etc.  not only will your sundays
> become more spirit-filled but your life will be richly
> blessed, i can promise you that!!  blessed how you may
> ask? well, elder porter (also at stake conference) said "the
> fruits of the spirit are JOY BEYOND EXPRESSION and DEEP
> INNER PEACE THAT IS BEYOND UNDERSTANDING"... sound good to
> anyone?  it does to me!
>
> i hope all of you are having a great week!
> sister christison
>
> ps.  every week we have a site meeting where all the
> senior couples and young sisters who are working at the
> historical sites get together.  a couple of weeks ago,
> one senior sister told of an experience she had at the book
> of mormon publication site where a boy asked: "why didn't
> jesus christ waitl till the computer age to print the book
> of mormon?" (prompted of course by just learning about the
> old fashioned printing presses) . so she is relating this
> story when another senior elder raised his hand. he says: "
> the lord wanted the gospel to be restored by a prophet, not
> a computer nerd"
> ** an apology goes out to all the computer nerds reading
> this... i think you're right up there with a prophet in
> terms of importance!