The MTC is still hard, but I am really enjoying it :)

Hola familia!

Well I am now on my "3rd" week here in the CCM (that's MTC in espanol :) ), don't ask me why, but they count half weeks as full weeks. According to them I will be here for 10 weeks. Anyway, I learned my departure date. Turns out I leave for NYC on Sept 10. Guess what that means? My first proselyting day will be Sept 11. It should be a particularly good day to teach people about Jesus Christ.

Thanks for letting me know about that shooting. How horrific! I heard about it the day after it happened, but it was through the MTC grapevine and so all I knew was that there was a bad shooting in Denver and that children died. Really sad.  It is just more of a testimony of why we need the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Things are going well here in the MTC. It still is pretty crazy, but I feel like I am learning and changing a lot. Our "investigator" that first week is now our teacher. His name is Hermano Galvez and he is kind of nuts but in a really good way. He is very intense, full of energy, and very funny as well. We have a lot of fun. He also is from Guatemala and so its quite a blessing to be learning spanish from a native speaker.

Gym time is one of my favorite times of the day. The Gym is closed for construction, but there is still a lot to do outside. Hermana Mortensen and I like to play beach volleyball with some of the elders from our zone. We had a pretty insane rally that lasted almost a full min, which ended with me spiking it on an elder......it was pretty awesome. I know I lucked out seeing how I kind of just jumped at the right time and he didn't, but anyhoo its a lot of fun to play with them. And now they also know that Hermanas can play volleyball too haha And yes Dad, don't worry, I am getting a workout. I usually just run around the volleyball courts for the first bit of gym while mi compenera plays :)

It has been really HOT here. There is something wrong with the AC in the MTC. We had our devotional last night in the cafeteria (because the gym is closed). That is a lot of people to be in a room with no AC. Thankfully, I am a sister and don't have to where suit jackets :)

The MTC is still hard, but I am really enjoying it. The miracles just seem to keep pouring. I feel like I struggle with the language in the classroom and feel like I don't know any of it, but then when I am teaching an "investigator" or member in the TRC, I can literally feel my tongue being loosed and I am able to teach with the little Spanish we know. My companion and I are also getting better at teaching together. At first it was mostly me talking, but we have been really working on trusting in the Lord, working really hard, and praying very earnestly that we can communicate in our lessons. On our last lesson with our first "investigator" before he became our teacher, the spirit just out poured its blessings. I was for some reason very nervous but mi compenera and I prayed very hard that we would both be able to teach by the spirit and express our feelings. We were teaching about Jesus Christ, His suffering and death and His role in the Plan of Salvation. Again, we did not know a lot of vocab, but we had faith. I also prayed that we would both be able to experience the spirit loosing our tongues. Again, prayers were answered. We were both able to equally speak and share our testimonies of Jesus Christ and how His sacrifice and atonement have blessed our families. We were able to talk about the plan of salvation and how through Jesus Christ we can be with our families eternally. The spirit was so powerful and the love we felt for our "investigator" was so real. These role-plays are incredible in that, even though we know the investigator is an actor, we feel the spirit and love for him just as powerfully. It is hard to have to teach someone in Spanish when I don't know it, but I am grateful that they do it this way and so soon. I feel like they through us into the fire to teach us that God will not let us burn.

I feel like my testimony has just illuminated since I have gotten here and that I am almost a different person, even in these two weeks. The gospel of Jesus Christ is simply faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end and the gospel is EVERYTHING. It is living and stands on its own. It is what was restored through the Book of Mormon and it is what will save us all. I am privileged and so grateful for this opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ and partake in it.

I love you and miss you. Thank you so much for all of your letters and support! And thanks for allowing me this opportunity.

Until next week!

Hermana Chipman

Megan's first week at the MTC

Here is her first letter:

 

Hola!!!

Thank you so much for all of the pictures, dear elders and email! I now understand why missionaries get so excited about mail....it really is a wonderful thing and makes me feel very loved :). Also, wednesday is my pday and the only day I can email and write letters, and so that is when you can expect to hear from me.

wow, it is crazy all that has happened this week, and I will try to write as much as I can in the 23 min I have left on the timer....

 

Mi Compenera es Hermana Mortensen. She is WONDERFUL and we have a lot of fun together. Kendall called it. She just graduated college in communications and is going to my mission. Her dad is a lawyer too and so we relate ;). She also went to NYU for a year and worked in Brooklyn so its fun to hear all about it. It is interesting to get used to being with someone 24/7. We can't even get up to go to the bathroom with out our companion following us out or watching the bathroom door. Sight and sound is the rule. At the same time, its really nice always having that support and protection. I am learning to really like it.

My district is amazing too. I do feel sometimes that my maturity level is decreasing each day as I am constantly surrounded by 19 year old boys, but I love them all. Allie would like to know, there is a "farmin kid" from AK in my district and he has a very thick accent, its a lot of fun. Oh and so you know the organization. There are 10 missionaries in a district, and we have 4 of us hermanas in our district which aparantly is a lot. Turns out there will be a record number of sisters in the MTC this month. SO COOL!!! We spend all day with our district studying and going to classes and studying. Its a good thing I enjoy being around them :)

I feel like I am a freshman again living in heleman halls. I live in a dorm and in a room with 5 other hermanas. It is kind of crazy, but all of the girls are great and we all are trying to be obedient so we get to bed on time and get up at the same time. I love them all. They are the other hermanas in our branch/ zone of about 50 missionaries.

Oh and I can't go 10 min without seeing someone I know from home or school or wherever. Its so awesome! And a true blessing!

ah got 12 min, oh and tender mercy. Everything of mine is on the top floor. My dorm is on the 4th and my classroom is on the 5th. I wonder how many empire state bldgs I will have climbed by the end of my stay here haha Also, My classroom has a BEAUTIFUL mountain view and view of provo. I cant tell you how weird it is to be at BYU but not be. At least I do feel a little at home here.

Spanish is coming. At a miraculous pace too. I am in no ways good at it, but they throw us into it. I have already taught 3 full lessons with a role play investigator in spanish, and successfully communicated. The spanish wasn't pretty but the spirit was there. The first two lessons were kind of scary and I had notes that I looked off of. On Monday, however, as my companion and I were preparing to speak, I was kind of panicing because I had no idea how I would be able to communicate my testimony in a language I don't know. We then had a powerful lesson by my teacher, Sister Ricks, and learned that our testimony is what invites the spirit and that we don't need perfect spanish to communicate those pure and simple truths. Afterwords I felt prompted to bring only my spanish scriptures and a word of wisdom pamphlet in espanol (that was our lesson). I prayed really hard that I would have the gift of tounges and be able to not be afraid, open my mouth, and have faith he would fill it. The lesson began, and during it, the investigator asked about the priesthood. Something I had NOT studied the vocab for, in fact I had just come across it and learned the word for priesthood that day. then a miracle happened. I just opened my mouth and it was filled. I just used words I knew but was able to successfully explain the priesthood, why I didn't have it, how it blessed my life and my testimony of it. I came out of the room knowing that God is with me and that the gift of tougnes is real.

I know this church is true and that the power of these truths can be communicated without knowing a language very well. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, how wonderful is that? God lives and I have never felt the spirit so strongly then I have this past week.

I love you all and miss you dearly!!!

Love,

Hermana Chipman

Hello Everyone!

In a couple short hours, I will be set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I could not be more excited! Serving a mission is a sacrifice, and it has suprised me how hard it is to leave everyone I know and love. However, the little I have, I give with all my heart and I feel privleged to be able to give myself completley to such a master, even Jesus Christ. I feel the same as Bruce R McConkie did when he stated his "My Missionary Commission"...

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him--to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me.
My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrine is His doctrine. My Commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work.
How great is my calling!"

I know Jesus Christ lives and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His kingdom on the earth today. I am humbled and honored to serve Him in this capacity and I hope and pray that I may be worthy to be the insturment in His hands to serve His children. This is my Joy.

See you all in 18 months!!

Love,

Megan (very-very-soon-to-be Hermana) Chipman