Connor Christensen, a 2015 East Hamilton High School graduate, completed a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
Connor served his mission in the Florida Tallahassee Mission, which includes parts of Alabama and Georgia. The Florida Tallahassee Mission is one of more than 418 missions of the LDS Church worldwide. The LDS Church has over 74,000 missionaries serving full-time.
“I loved being a full-time servant of The Lord,” Connor said. “There is nothing more important in all the world than inviting people to come unto Christ, the Savior of mankind. Jesus Christ is the living Son of the living God. He is risen, and His gospel has been restored to the earth.”
As President Ezra Taft Benson, a prophet of God taught, “We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 1988, 167).
What is the gospel? The gospel is the “power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans1:16). It is the glad tidings of great joy – of faith, repentance, baptism and confirmation. It is the knowledge that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for us. Central to our Heavenly Father’s plan is Jesus Christ’s Atonement. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be made clean from our sins. Because of his resurrection, we will live again.
As a representative of Jesus Christ, Connor was grateful to testify of Him, to teach about His ways and to proclaim that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “is led by Jesus Christ through apostles and prophets” (lds.org). Connor was especially happy to teach that families can be together forever.
Connor is the son of Brad and Melanie Christensen. He has four brothers – TJ, Coleman, Bridger and Cannon – all of whom are preparing to serve missions when they turn 18 years old. TJ leaves this week for the Texas Fort Worth Mission. Like Connor, TJ will devote himself full-time to The Lord for two years. During those two years, like all missionaries, he will not date, go to movies, watch tv, listen to the radio, or make calls home – except at Christmas and one other time, usually on Mother’s Day. He won’t travel outside of his mission area. He will be fully committed to serving the Lord. Like Connor, TJ has also been found worthy to serve, having prepared himself spiritually, physically and morally.
In addition to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, Connor had many opportunities to serve the community in other capacities – like helping with clean up efforts after storms and working with Habitat for Humanity. “Serving others is what Jesus would have us do,” Connor said. Connor is now attending Utah State University in Logan, Utah.