Hi family!
Crazy to write you all and know you are all together. I hope
you are all happy and having fun with the new toys ha-ha. I loved the Jib
Jab!!! Wow I miss snow and mountains and you :).
Also, a shout out to Michelle! And really Ian and Emma
Clouse, CONGRATS!!! You are parents!!! And Michelle you are an Aunt!
What a crazy week. First of all, an interesting aspect of
being a NYC missionary is that we aren't really in the "missionary bubble."
We don't go out looking for news and music (no TV or newspapers), but the
breaking news and newest music surround us. I heard about that horrific
shooting in Connecticut
My companion ended up needing to go to the ER last night and
as we were waiting, Wipeout was on (made me miss you guys, and it was cool to
see that even in a somber place like an ER on a late Sunday night, that show
was making everyone laugh together, no matter their background :) )...but more
importantly, President Obama's Vigil came on. It was a powerful speech and
powerful to hear our president quoting scripture and testify of the Living God.
It was also interesting because it was extremely similar to the talk and call
that one of Christ's living apostles gave just 2 months prior. Modern day
Revelation is real.
Also, with Hurricane Sandy and the Sandy Hook Shooting my
companion and I decided that the past 2 months have ruined that name for us.
My companion has been really down and out this week, so
there has been a lot of hanging out around the apartment. It's a good thing I
love my companion ha-ha. I have really enjoyed getting to know her. We have
spent a lot of time talking and laughing and getting to know each other. Our
lives and worlds before the mission are completely different, and yet, God has
brought us together at this time to serve each other. I have never had to
experience anything close to what she has endured. I have always strived to be
someone who is aware of her blessings and that not all the world lives the same
privileged life that she lives. Over and over again on my mission, I come face
to face with that other side. It is one thing to read about African poverty, it
is another thing to have a dear friend who has lived it and will be returning
to it.
I loved the family Christmas card this year! It is
interesting, usually I read it, cringing to see what embarrassing thing Dad
wrote about me (I was honestly scared this year seeing how I had no way of
preventing it, though, it isn't like I had a say in Christmas cards past ha-ha.)
This year, I read it and actually started to cry a little bit because of how
amazingly blessed and amazing my family is. I really miss you a lot.
I was able to go on a couple of exchanges and do a little
bit of missionary work this week. A really cool experience this week came when
Sis Gonzalez went to visit a less-active who the bishop wanted us to see. She
was just moving back in the ward and needed help folding clothes and organizing
her apartment. We originally told her we would be by at 7pm, but we had to
change the appt to 6:15. We sent her a text, but she never got it. As we were
walking to her place, there was a woman with a lot of bags, who was carrying a
baby and pushing a child in a stroller. Just as we were coming up behind her,
she desperately asked us for help (she was looking for anyone). We of course
said yes, and as she turned to look at us, she excitedly exclaimed, "Las
Misioneras!!" At first we were confused cause we didn't know who she was,
but then she introduced herself as Rony...the women who we were on our way too
see. She said she was hurrying home from picking her kids up from the way from
work to get ready for us to come. And as she said, "God knew that I needed
you now." I know it was nothing short of the spirit that put us where we
needed to be, and I learned that often the spirit "silently" guides
us. As we are obedient, and have the spirit with us, we don't have to always
worry about whether we are receiving promptings or not, the Lord knows our
souls and how to communicate with us in ways we don't always recognize. This is
why the spirit is EVERYTHING in this work and why obedience is SO critical.
I will get to call you before I send my next email!!!! I
will call sometime on Christmas Day (Probably morning). Sorry, that is about
all I know, so keep your phones on :). Missionaries keep asking about Skype but
I haven't heard anything definite. I am going to go with no cause I don't know
where we would do it. I am so excited to talk to you all. By the way, the
subway this morning was FULL of ads for this Samsung Galaxy smart phone, It was
one of the strangest moments of my life to think that one of those phones were
in the hands of my mother :p ha-ha. I hope Allie lets you actually use it.
Merry Christmas!!!
Hermana Chipman
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