Sister Christensen in front of the Church Building

Elder Christensen in back of the Church by a beautiful dogwood tree.

Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel

Lookout Point overlooking Chattanooga

Hello everyone,
          It is so beautiful here in East Tennessee this time of year.  We learned that the average annual rainfall here is about 48 inches, which explains why it is so green and beautiful.  We are staying busy, both at the mission office and in the West Hills Ward as Ward Missionaries.  We just finished a great weekend Senior Missionary Couples Activity in Chattanooga.  We were in charge of the activity.  On Friday afternoon we all met at the Joseph Standing Memorial Park in Northern Georgia (just south of Chattanooga).  The Church maintains this little park in honor of Joseph Standing, who was a 24 year old Mormon missionary who was shot to death by a mob in 1879 on that site.  He was companions with Elder Rudger Clawson, who was not killed and later became the President of the Quorum of the Twelve.  Next we went to the Chattanooga Branch building, which is a Civil War era historic building that the Church leases.  There we had a tour of the building and a local brother gave us the history of the building including how it relates to the Civil War.  It has been restored and is such a beautiful building.  We arranged to have dinner and a program there at the building.  We had a discussion with the other couples and two of the couples who are leaving the mission soon bore their testimonies.  We then went to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in downtown Chattanooga to stay over night.  On Saturday then we went to Lookout Mountain to see underground Ruby Falls and the Rock Gardens.  We also visited the Civil War battlefield of Lookout Point.  We had such a great time.
          We are enjoying the missionary work too.  This past week we were able to participate in teaching an investigator out in Sevierville (close to Dollywood Theme Park).  This is a lady who has cancer and interested in the Church.  She was referred to us by a person in Salt Lake City who is her friend.  We taught her and then had the young Sisters and Elders help us with a service project to clean her house.  It is exciting to be directly involved in missionary work.

Have a great week y'all.  Love Elder and Sister Christensen