Learning to lean on incomplete faith rather than fear

Wow, what a crazy week! But we are hanging in there :) and miracles are happening everywhere. We were able to go with Gus to the temple on Saturday, and were even able to do an endowment session right before it while the rest of the branch toured central park. I am so grateful for the temple and the peace and spirit that reside there. I am so grateful for the power that also comes from the temple. I feel like the power of temple attendance doesn't always all come right at once, or even when you are inside it's holy walls, but is most powerfully manifest in the days and weeks between our visits. I think it is because it not only refines us, but builds us, changes us and reminds us of who we are.

 

I also got to speak in Sacrament Mtg yesterday. I haven't done that since I gave my farewell talk last July. Thankfully, the only talk I have given on my mission so far has been in English! I also got to talk on Elder Holland's "Lord, I Believe" talk from this past General Conference. He talks about the story of the Father with the boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. The apostles were unable to heal them. In desperation the father cried out to the Savior, "If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us" to which the savior replies, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible." To which the father straightforward cries out, "Lord, I believe, Help thou mine unbelief. " At that the Savior, healed the boy, and all were amazed. What I love about this story and this talk, is that it reminds me that the faith, hope, light and anything that is good that is within me is more important and powerful than my doubts and fears. Often times I fall into the trap of thinking that if I am scared, then I have no faith, because faith is the opposite of fear. What I learned as I prepared and gave a talk on this topic was that yes fear and faith cannot co-exist, but I am learning that is more about which you LEAN on, and LEAD with that makes the difference. This father cried out with all the faith he had and leaned on it, and though it might of been partially incomplete, the required quality of faith was there, and the miracle was able to be performed.

 

We do need to build our faith, and I think more importantly, we must be loyal to the faith that we already do have, before it can grow. And it is so good to know that God does not condemn concerns, questions or doubts. It is just a matter of what you put forth first, your faith, or your fear, and if you turn to Him to help you with your fear.

 

I know God Lives and that He loves us. I know that our Beloved Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ is the Master Healer and that it is only through Him that we can return to our Heavenly Father. I also know that I do not know everything and sometimes I find the storms within and around me to be overwhelming, but I know the voice that the seas obey, and I strive to lead out with that faith and knowledge.

 

I love and cherish you all! Enjoy General Conference and invite a friend to come to it. Who doesn't want to listen to Modern and Living Prophets, and gain revelation and answers to our personal challenges and questions?  I know that Thomas S Monson is a Prophet of God, and I cannot wait to hear his message to me and to the entire world :)

 

Much love,

 

Hermana Megan Chipman

I found a running trail!

Well, the last week of summer brought the cold in. It is already jacket season. It actually is SUPER nice! The ocean breeze is keeping it cool and drier. Which I am grateful for. Sis Mortensen and I found this beautiful bike trail near our home. We went for a run, it was FABULOUS. Now I won't say how fast I went, cause I refused to look, and I am very out of shape, but it was wonderful. I haven't been on a trail like that since I left Denver. Also, I could run, so that was really good, my lungs are calming down :). One baby step at a time.

Also! Our good friend Augustine received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday! I met Gus a few months back on an exchange while my companion-for-the-day and I were looking up his sister from one of our YSA lists. Gus is an amazing guy with a lot of faith. Just over a year ago, he suffered a catastrophic stroke in his brain stem that left him un-operable and as he says it he was "on his way out." He was in and out of a comatose state. At that time, he had been less-active since moved to NY, almost a decade before he reached out to the church from his hospital bed. As he would tell you, he begged God to be able to live and promised Him that he would dedicate his life to Him and to learning His word and being active in his church if he were given that 2nd chance. He was. Miraculously, Gus was eventually able to leave the hospital and move back home. Only problem was that he couldn't afford in-house care or rehab therapy and there was a problem with his insurance. Essentially what happened is that he learned to rehab himself through youtube and taught himself to walk again, talk again, and look people in the eye. He really is a walking miracle. He is still recovering, and making incredible progress. He really is one of the happiest people I know. When we met him, He had been going to to the family ward in Huntington for a couple weeks, we invited him to the Singles Branch and He has been coming ever since. We have been helping him prepare to receive the priesthood and to receive a temple recommend. And this week it happened! He had about 3 interviews with the branch president that fell through this past week, (oh the joys of opposition), but yesterday Elder Owens, one of the Senior missionaries (him and his wife teach institute) conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon him. The spirit was so strong, and Sister Mortensen and I are so grateful to be apart of that miracle. I know that this priesthood will change and bless him and his family. Gus is so good, and we are excited to go with him to the temple next week! It will be his first time!

I love you all, and hope that you are happy and well. I hope you (Mom and Dad) have a fun and safe trip and if anything it will be fun to think of you only 7hrs away :). 

Allie, keep up the amazing work!!! Will you run with me and get me back into shape when I get back? (...don't know which one scares me more, Dad's running prison, or Allie's?.....) I will be honored to get to run with the District Champ :)....and you won it at Larkspur too! 

And last but not least, keep going Elder Chipman. You are right about missionary work taking a lot of patience. Sometimes the only answer is to take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and just believe and have faith it will all work out. Also remember, Jesus Christ lives and that He suffered and died for everything we have done wrong and failed to do. What does that mean? That means that as long as we apply and internalize the Doctrine of Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End), and do our best, there is nothing that we can do or fail to do to keep someone or ourselves from entering into the kingdom. All God has ever had to work with is imperfect people, and he is perfect at doing it. And through His perfect plan, it will all come down to each person's agency, whether they want to live with God or not. Simple as that. So keep it up, keep your head up, and trust in God. Most of the good you will ever do on your mission or in your life will be unrecognizable to you, but God sees it and is so grateful for it, and so are so many others!.....so just remember that and have faith that it is there, even when you don't see it. 

Have a good one! 

Love, 

Hermana Chipman

New Yorkers have a hard outer shell, but a soft pure heart.

Hello family!                                                                                       September 16, 2013

So this past week a huge rainstorm hit, I mean nothing out of the ordinary around here, but enough to DRENCH us as we ran from our ward mission leader's house to the car.......but that sounds like nothing compared to what has been coming down back home!! Yikes! I am still getting over the shock of it. I hope everyone is okay. If you get the chance, I hope you do get to put on the Mormon helping hands yellow vests. Yellow vest, trashed and muddy jeans, rain boots and a bandana is still my favorite missionary uniform. Also let me know if you need any "clean out muddy basement" pointers......And make sure you get lots of rubber gloves....the kind that go up to your elbows. And rain boots are a worthwhile investment too. I will start praying that they can find all those missing persons and help everyone get out!

Oh and guess what?? Transfers are tomorrow and I am staying with Sister Mortensen!! For the first time in my mission I will get to go into a 4th transfer (6-week period) in an area! I am grateful, it will be nice to stay the course and get healthy, and keep working with everyone here. Also, that means I will get to serve as a Sister Training Leader still. No complaints here! Oh AND I get to be on the Island for all the Fall Colors. I have always dreamed of coming to the East Coast in the Fall. It already is getting pretty, and so I can't wait for the leaves to change!

So when I first got my mission call to come to NYC, everyone warned me about how mean, cold blooded and hard the people were. Now looking back, I think that if you think that, than either, you didn't stay in the city long enough to not be a tourist, or you didn't talk to enough of them. Now, have I been screamed at and cursed at by random people on the streets? Yes, but people are just stressed out here haha, and I am a missionary, and as missionaries we have a way of attracting negative attention at times. Its not funny at the time, but makes for a good story later. But that's not my point. My point is that every single day, I am grateful to be surrounded by so many pure hearted and kind people. New Yorkers have a hard outer shell (which you need in a place like this!) but many of them have a soft, pure heart.  I was leaving this morning and realized my wallet was missing. Couldn't find it anywhere. Prayed to be able to find it and felt like we needed to go to the library. We asked the desk, and yes they had it. I must of left it there from 2 days before! And it even still had my cash in it :) Makes me grateful for honest people. Also, this past week, Sister Mortensen and I met this kind old man, who saw us, said he respected what we were doing and bought us a NY pizza pie to take home. This same man saw us today, and gave us some NY desserts to try. All in all, we are all God's children and I am grateful for all of the many friends I have made out here. It will break my heart to leave this wonderful place.

I also wondered often why a mission is so hard, and I have come to know through experience that it is so hard, and being a member can be so hard, because it is so true. And anything worthwhile in this life is worth standing for and working for. And I am grateful to call this my cause.

I love you all! Thanks for all your prayers in my behalf!

I learned about the NYC commute

Hola Familia!                                                                                      September 9, 2013

It's been another week of miracles to say the least. It also is crazy but tomorrow is my year mark in NYC!! So amazing and weird to think I haven't left this place in a year. I have also heard that once you are here for a year, you are considered a New Yorker. Since I can't be a Colorado Native, at least New York will take me ;)

I learned that I NEVER want to commute into NYC--- however much I love the place. Sister Mortensen and I decided to change the times of our sister exchanges (when we switch companions for the day). We usually exchanged at 9pm the night before to 9pm the next night. We wanted to change it though, because it was just too hard to plan for the next day, and made us EXHAUSTED after back to back exchanges. We thought we would change it to 5pm to 5pm instead, just to avoid the craziness at the end of the day, also to preserve our "prime time" as missionaries (6pm-9pm when people are usually home). Problem is that we forgot to plan for traffic...and we ended up needing to travel to and from Queens almost everyday this week in the dead of traffic.....so we had a lot of time to talk in the car haha. Not the best planning on our part....but now we know, and are that much more grateful for a clear highway!

This week has again been a humbling week, and I have been grateful for the ways the Lord is prompting me to grow. Throughout my mission, He has taught me to serve. How to serve like Him, and to serve everyone. And I have been grateful for all the opportunities, from sharing the gospel on a subway, to cleaning out a flooded hurricane basement, to helping serve a struggling companion or other missionary. This week, He has been teaching me to let myself be served. How to receive that service, and who to let serve me. It’s been a goal this week, and I have been so grateful for the everyday angels around me who have stepped in, in the past week and helped me. My natural self is that with the Lord’s help I can take care of myself, and then I will go and take care others. (Ashley and Michelle (my college roommates) are probably laughing as they remember me trying to serve myself a bowl of cereal when I was on crutches.) But this week I have been reminded again of the importance of not resisting the angels God sends to us to help us in our time of need. He has sent me many this week. There have been sister missionaries who pray for exactly what I need for me while I am on an exchange with them, or who will stay up and watch "Finding Faith in Christ" with me while I try to calm my asthma down, or even a companion who is kind enough to go for a midnight stroll around the neighborhood so I can calm my breathing and go to sleep.

At the beginning of the week, I was getting to the end of my rope--especially with other missionaries beginning to point out how tired and awful I looked (I just say” Thank you Elder" haha) Its out of loving concern of course, just not what I want to hear! Especially when I only have 3 months to look cute again before I come home! haha. But in all seriousness its amazing how the Savior always reaches out his arm of mercy, and how it usually is through someone else. My favorite part of being a missionary, is that I can be a light of hope to someone, especially those who feel they are in the dark. What I often forget is that while we are bearing God's children up, God is bearing us up through His children also.  It comes full circle. However much I love to be self-reliant and independent, I am so grateful to know that I don't need to suffer through my everyday challenges alone, and neither does anyone else. That is what having a Savior is all about.

As far as the work goes, we are still teaching a lot and having a lot of fun. Our investigator from Austria got back into town yesterday! We tried to send missionaries to her home in Austria, and they showed up, but I guess her parents flipped out.....so we will have to see more of what happened (bummer!). But I know it will all be okay. I get to teach and work with the coolest people in the whole world, and meet amazing people everyday. We have 3 weeks left to reach our three month goal of 1 baptism, and we know we can do it. We are working really hard, and the Lord is incredibly blessing us. Last week, between the 2 of us, we seriously were either in a Dr. Appointments, member present lessons, or on exchanges. This week has been either Dr. Appointments, member present lessons, traffic or on exchanges. He truly is aware of each of His children!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

What it means to be an online missionary

 Hi everyone!                                                                                      September 2, 2013

 

Thank you again for all your support and prayers. This week has been rough health wise, but vale la pena! (worth the pain). 

The big news is that our mission has been selected to become an online mission! Not everyone is online yet, so far it’s just the assistants, zone leaders and sister training leaders, but starting in October, everyone will be on facebook!

So what does it mean to be an online missionary? I am not even completely sure yet, but essentially it is that we can use our Facebook, blogs and Skype to fulfill our missionary purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. We can teach people in any part of the world using the internet. We can even communicate with and teach family members and friends from home about the gospel and missionary work. We can even have skype lessons with anyone who wants to listen. So yes I am on Facebook, but no it's not like before. I am not supposed to use it for anything outside the missionary purpose, even on our preparation days. Also, I think I am just going to keep my blog the same. I will still be emailing home, and you do such a good job mom, I will just let you do it. Only difference now is that I can look at it and add other posts if I want.

It will also take a while to figure it all out, it is really weird to be on facebook and still be a missionary! It was really funny. At the end of our Mission Leadership Council, President and the Assistants invited us to log in to our Facebook and start the "clean-up" process to get them ready to use for missionary work. All of us missionaries were pretty panicked about seeing their Facebook. As we came back into the meeting, one Elder was laughing and saying, "That was the weirdest thing, looking at pictures of my girlfriend on facebook and having president looking over my shoulder!" haha We missionaries are so weird. 

Another weird thing, we probably will be introducing ourselves by and sharing our first and last names with others so people can find us on facebook.......I don't even remember what my first name is anymore.....haha 

I have had several sacred experiences this week. All of which were in unexpected places. One actually happened last Friday night. Sister Mortensen and I were sitting in the ER with the Sister Missionaries in Richmond Hill. We had an exchange with them that night, which was a good thing, because I don't know how they would have gotten home from the ER otherwise. Anyway it was 2am and we were all exhausted. There was a Jewish man who had passed by us several times throughout the night, as he was going back and forth from his father's bed and the waiting room. After a while he asked if he could sit down in the chair next to me. He was very kind and was wondering what was wrong with our friend (why we were there). We got to talking. Turns out he is from Iran, and immigrated to Isreal and eventually came to NYC seeking for religious freedom. We talked about all of the September Jewish Holidays (School still hasn't started here because of them) and also His father who had had a stroke that day (why he was also in the ER at that time of the night). We also talked about his Sabbath which had begun by that time. I shared about our Sabbath, and this took him a back. He said that he thought no one really followed that commandment anymore. And then I had the distinct impression to give him a Book of Mormon and tell him a little bit about it. I didn't think I had one in my bag, but as I looked for one, I found my own personal paperback copy that I was reading and trying to finish before the end of my mission. I apologized that it had markings on it and gave it to him, and showed him how it was written specifically for the "Jew and the Gentile." The spirit was really strong. You could tell my small gift meant a lot to him, and all my markings seemed to make it mean more to him, almost like I gave a piece of myself to him. I showed him some of my favorite passages and he said that he found them beautiful and wanted to learn more. He even invited us over for dinner, and he would make us some of the traditional Jewish Holiday dishes. Of course, he lives in Forest Hills, Queens which isn't in our area. I had to explain to him that I couldn't come, but that other sister missionaries would be able to. He was okay with that and gave us permission to pass his info along to them. We gave his info to the Rego Park sisters. One of the Sisters' father is Jewish. She was so excited to about the referral. Also, I hope to keep in contact with him over the internet. The blessings of now being online! All in all, opportunities to share the gospel don't have to be at a doorstep, and don't even always need to be rehearsed or perfect. All God requires is a willing heart and a willing mind. As we follow the spirit, we will be in the right place at the right time and do the right thing, however much we feel we might blunder through it. As the Savior promised in Matthew 17:20, if we just have the faith of a tiny mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to us. I know that is true. I know that our Savior lives, and loves us and is constantly seeking to help us, even at a ER in Queens at 2am. 

 

I love you all! And hope to hear from you soon! See you on the web :D

I'm on Facebook now !!!!!

Sister Megan Chipman

 

• Hello Everyone! It's me, Sister Megan Chipman, facebooking from NYC I have been serving as a Missionary for the LDS church for the past 13 months or so and am loving being a missionary and a New Yorker. This is one of my favorite videos. I hope you enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dNYpXZIN_c&feature=share

 

 

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