October 2025 Letter

Dear family and friends,

Sometimes it is difficult to decide what to share.  To us, it all seems so routine.

Some of the things that occur at the Bishop's Storehouse where we serve are often heart breaking.  For example, many of those that come in for help are also receiving government help for medical needs or for food and groceries.  As with everything else, there are those out there that are always looking for ways to steal money and goods from others and the government welfare program is no exception.  There have been a lot of our patrons that come in and during the course of helping them with a food order, they share with us that their welfare account has been hacked and the money stolen from them.  They are generally quite distraught when this happens, of course.  One lady that I helped recently had this happen to her, but even more devastating to her is that it was her brother that stole hers.  She was very shaken by it.  

So many that we help are living right on the edge of and even within poverty conditions.  It is very gratifying to be able to see how their burdens are lightened when they leave with some provisions.

This past week, we saw an increase in visitors to Welfare Square as we were approaching General Conference.  Sometimes when that happens, the number of visitors that are there for tours overwhelms the Sister Missionaries from Temple Square that conduct the tours.  When that happens, our management and sometimes even Toni and I will help out with a tour or two.  This past week was no exception.  I conducted two partial tours and one full tour.  The Sister Missionaries caught up to me on one of the tours and took it over and Toni completed the other.

The tour that Toni completed was fun.  It was two women and a man.  The two women are guest choir members from Finland and from Australia.  The tour that I conducted in its entirety was a youth group along with leaders from Northern California.  Also in this tour were two women from Austria.  It's fun to visit with these guests and to share a bit about the welfare program, how we also have partnerships with many non-profit organizations in the valley and also with other churches.  Of course, sharing a bit about the history of Welfare Square is fun as well.

Living so close to home, we have been blessed to see most of our kids and grandkids fairly often.  Several have made it to Welfare Square for a tour with us or to actually serve with us for a few hours.  We've also been able to spend some time with our parents and siblings.  We feel a bit spoiled in this regard.  We do have a new granddaughter that was born a year ago today and that lives in the state of Massachusetts.  Because of that distance, we have yet to meet our cute Ivy in person.  We look forward to doing so once we complete our mission.

Our hearts are full with love and appreciation for our beloved prophet, Russell M. Nelson, who recently passed away.  His counsel and encouragement to us over the past several decades as an apostle and more recently as our prophet are so appreciated.  Toni and I decided to start our family after hearing a sermon delivered by then Elder Nelson when he was a new apostle.  He has been a wonderful influence on our lives.  He will be missed.

A couple of our grandkids asked us to share some specific things in our letters.  Thanks for the suggestions Dallin and Lilly.

One of them asked how we have witnessed growth in some of our young service missionaries.  Let me share a couple of these.  I may have shared this first one clear back at the beginning of our mission ... if so, I think it is still a great example.  One elder came for a tour and to see if he would like to serve with us at Welfare Square.  His parents accompanied him on the tour.  They are serving at the Salt Lake Headquarters mission and he came with them to serve as well.  They are from California.  This missionary has auditory processing challenges that hinder his ability to speak.  He can speak but when he is nervous, his condition is very evident in that you get little to no words from him.  On the tour, whenever we would ask him questions, he would look at his parents to answer for him.  At the end of the tour I asked him if just he and I could talk for a few minutes.  He was very nervous but we did visit.  The best I could get from him in the way of answers were one and two word answers.

This elder has improved so very much in this regard.  He is more willing to interact with patrons now.  He still is limited in his speaking but he often isn't afraid to do so.  He will come up to us and speak without hesitation too.  This to us is amazing.  We even encouraged him to share some thoughts in one of our morning devotionals.  He agreed to a set date and came through and did well.  He was nervous but he didn't let that stop him.

Another elder that was very shy with us when he began and reserved in his speech is now one of our lead missionaries.  He will come up to us and ask us how we are doing regularly.

Some of the missionaries that come with the most mental challenges have the sweetest spirits and have the capacity to teach us and love us in ways we could have never imagined.  This leads me to answer a second question that was asked ... "how have we grown?"  I think one of the ways I've grown most is in trying to see people more like the Savior sees them and trying better to respond to situations with the help of the Holy Ghost.  Sometimes we see people and expect them to know and do things the way we know and do them.  That isn't always the right way to approach things.  Everyone is at a different place in their progression and everyone has a different set of challenges to deal with.  There has been several times when we have had problems to address with missionaries where I may start with the "me" approach and it generally doesn't go very well.  Each time that I have stopped and had a silent prayer asking for guidance, I have always been helped to handle things in a much better way.  This is a truth that I know ... God will send us guidance when we are living the way we should and we ask for it.

We love each and every one of you.  We love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We pray that we can continue to serve him all the days of our lives.

Now let's make a great week!

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, your friend and neighbor, Elder and Sister Christensen