Hola mi familia maravilla! Como
This week has been an awesome week. The MTC is
really hard, really powerful, and I feel like I change and become better
everyday. I finally feel a little more at ease here, and I am really happy. I
also have now been here for 4 weeks and so I am almost half way done!! I would
have to say it has been the longest and shortest month of my life.....I now
know what they are talking about when they say that a mission is a time warp!
Mom, thanks for sending my racing flats here, they are
perfect for walking around in on p-day and doing our weekly service project. I
also was actually able to use them for their original purpose :) Here at the
MTC, they have a record board. They have weightlifting, push-up, vertical,
soccer juggling, and etc. records. They also have a mile record for both Elders
and Sisters. When I first got here, I saw the record and thought to myself,
"No way, I don't want to worry about it."........and so of course,
knowing me (and maybe I can also blame the spirit of the Olympics haha) I tried
to break it this past week haha. They time you as you run 2 laps around the MTC
practice fields (which means you have to go up the beginning of the temple hill
twice). At the encouragement of my district and my companion I tried it, just
to see where I was (I haven't tried to run a fast mile in over 2 years). Anyway
I ran it, and my body seemed to still remember my original pacing. I ran the
first 800 in 2:30!!! At that point I knew I was going to die, but miraculously
I held on okay. I ended up running a 5:25!!! I beat the record by 33 sec! I was
in shock (and so was my body the rest of the weekend haha). The record has to
stand for a week before it gets posted (2 more days!), but it will feel good to
be on a record board again :) Also, mi maestro (teacher) had a good point when
he said that seeing how the MTC is our own sheltered little world, in some ways
I had broken a world record, I will take it. It was such a tender mercy from
the Lord, and I am grateful for the reminder that God still wants us to be
ourselves as we accomplish His work.
Oh also, Celeste and my Brittany Apts friends pretty much
made my life and sent Boyd the Knome for a visit :) A note to them: pictures
will be coming! Thank you for thinking of me, and I miss and love you all!
This week I have really begun to learn and realize the power
of the Book of Mormon, and the miracle and mercy that it is. I think that
sometimes in the church, we take it for granted. It can sometimes be, as Dad
says, just a "paper weight" on our desks. The Book is full of the
very power and spirit of God. We can read it with the promise that as we seek
for truth in it, and ask God, we can know for ourselves and experience for
ourselves the truthfulness of it. The power and miracle of the Book of Mormon
also is not just that it was translated in 70 days by a 23 year old man (which
btw is like me translating a 251 page book in Spanish in the time that I am in
the MTC), or even that it is evidence of the restoration of His gospel. The
power and miracle of the book is that it brings us to Christ and brings Him and
His spirit closer to us. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, and there is no
other book that explains His suffering in the garden, death on the cross, and resurrection
from the dead, with such power, plainness and promise. I testify that it is
true. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, and the purpose of
the Book of Mormon is to persuade each of God's children to Come unto Christ (2
Nephi 6:4). How great is my calling, and how blessed I feel to "make this
known unto the inhabitants of the earth." May we all realize the gift that
it is, read it each day and gain our own testimonies of it. May we all also
live by that testimony and its precepts and be willing to share it.
Love and miss you dearly! Thank you for all of the support
and prayers! It means the world! Hasta proxima semana!
Hermana Chipman
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