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
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