The area is exploding with people to teach :)

 

Hi Family!

It is always so great to hear about everything going on at home. It seriously is so weird to think that there are still track meets, engagements, and everything else still going on. It seems like a long way away from here ha-ha. That is super exciting about Amber!

Discovery of the week, Dear Elder is great in the MTC, but takes over a week to get out here. It looks like it is great for writing friends, but not family. Looks like Email is the way to go. Or a letter or package those are always so nice too :).

Wow what a week. Sister Simplicio and I are working hard and learning a lot (at least I am learning a lot from her ;) ). Thank you for all your prayers! This past week our area has seemed to explode with people to teach. What a blessing and miracle. I am learning the virtue of patience. I have control over very little out here but my own personal worthiness and preparation. It is a lot like your story Mom in trying out for the track team (and mine too). We are given the white handbook, preach my gospel and the scriptures as missionaries. When we stick to the program, we allow miracles to occur.

This week we had a ward talent show and the ward asked the missionaries to do an act for it. We did a skit for Lehi's vision of the tree of life including the tree from the foyer, towels and rope costumes, black curtains for the mists of darkness, and a rope tied b/w 2 chairs. We also had light effects.....pretty awesome for a bunch of missionaries with only an hour to figure it out. At the end, I had to tie it into our purpose as missionaries... in Spanish. The skit was awesome, the ward loved it, and I successfully testified of the power of the fruit and the importance to invite all to partake of it. Best part of it was that we didn't know what we were going to do when they made the program and so they entitled it, "The Book of Mormon" and announced us as the Broadway play (trying to be fun and make it cool)....I don't think they knew about the play selling out on the other side of the river ha-ha! Oh well.

The Relief Society broadcast was AMAZING. I am sorry it wasn't working in your chapel mom, but I am glad you went to watch it because I thought of you and how it was kind of neat to think we were watching the same thing, and singing at the same time :) it will be like that for conference too. Here, conference is all in the afternoon and evening, I am SO excited for conference. At the broadcast was also quite special to watch. There are women from literally ALL over the world in the Queens stake and each was listening to the words of a prophet in their own tongue. Really was a testimony to me that this church is for the world, and Jesus Christ is literally the Savior of us all.

Anita and Saul came to church!!!! I might of mentioned this in a letter to you mom, but Anita is a less-active member from Mexico and her husband isn't a member, neither is her son. They all own and work tirelessly at the Dry Cleaners right by the chapel and where we live. After we found them, we have been dropping by almost every other day. It was pretty cool, we had one lesson in the back of their store, sitting on buckets and eating Mole. We are growing to love them so much and they both have a lot of faith, just not the motivation to act on it.....yet :). We committed them to come to church last week, but they didn't come. I guess Anita said that she didn't feel ready to go back and that they couldn't afford to leave work. I guess for the whole 3 hours during church, not one customer came by. Both Anita and Saul took as a sign they needed to go. This week, Hermana Simplicio and I went to their store to pick them up and take them to church. Again, Anita said they couldn't go because they needed to work, she didn't feel ready and her husband was fixing something at home. We testified of the power of the atonement and that all she needed to do was take that 1st step and come to church, also right then, her husband Saul rode his bike up to the store, just in time to go to church :). They were still concerned about leaving the store for an hour ( we are taking baby steps). We promised them that it would all get done and that church is what they needed to do. They dropped the piles of shirts they were sorting, quickly changed (they brought church clothes that morning planning to come :) ) and came to church. Boy did that feel good!!! They came and people immediately remembered them and invited them to sit with them. It was an amazing testimony meeting, all about the gospel of Jesus Christ and a couple were specifically about the power of coming to church. They loved it and you could tell they really felt the spirit and enjoyed it.

This week was really tough. I am learning for every 5 "jukes" (when people aren't there for our appt with them or they cancel) there is a miracle. (It isn't that exact of course, but I hope it makes a point.) There is truly opposition in all things, we cannot have success without failure. Our hearts can't be full unless they break. We can't have joy without stress and strain. The people here are amazing. How lucky and blessed I am to be here :)

Well I can't figure out how to extend my time on the computer today so that's all for email today folks! I love you and miss you and am praying hard for you too :). I know the work I am engaged in is real and it amazes me each and everyday.

Hermana Chipman