What you find when you de-junk an Elder's apartment

Hola family!!                                                                         

ALLIE CHIPMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL COLORADO XC STATE CHAMP SAY WHATT???????

Thanks for sending me those photos, article and video. Girl, you have a beautiful and powerful stride! I am soooo proud of you and so happy it all came together so beautifully. Way to be. You trusted in God despite your fear and circumstance and went for it. You really are my hero, thanks for your example. You really are going to whoop me into shape when I get back. Just please don't leave me to the coyotes!

Thank you also for sending me your testimonies and experiences of that miracle. I needed to hear it. Sometimes God isn't waiting to deliver us because he wants to punish us or wants us to suffer. He really is all about timing. And if I learned anything in my life its that God loves suspense and buzzer beaters. Maybe he likes it for the same reasons we do, but I think its more that its by His timing that we recognize who is behind it. Also we had stake conference this past week and the stake president, President Hardman said something that got me really thinking. He said that the spirit once taught him that, "Pain is the greatest schoolmaster." God is merciful not in the sense that he saves us pain, but only allows the amount we need to learn the lesson we need to learn. Once we learn it, he takes it away. It makes God's punishment a lot less menacing when you think about it like that.

Miracles this week? Can I count the ways!? First off, my head finally cleared, and I was able to drive into queens and back, and then to queens and back on Tuesday. Still feel pretty silly at times, but I have kind of always been like that. Maybe I am just feeling more like myself again :)

Poor Sister Mortensen was sick with the Stomach flu this week. I took the opportunity to finally finish cleaning out all the junk left over from years and years of missionaries more specifically elders. All the things I found were really interesting. Water guns, nerf guns, a full chess set, polaroid film, 2 year old easter candy, an entire set of world book encyclopedias (A-Z), a set of fancy kitchen knives in a briefcase, lots and lots of tennis balls, baseballs, ping pong balls, you name it. I quite enjoyed myself. Also it felt good to scrub down the place. The longer I am out hear, the more and more I realize how much I am like you Mom, especially in how I clean and like it clean. But its a miracle, our apartment is clean and almost completely dejunkified, and we have a coat closet that doesn't smell like man!

We had an amazing week of teaching too. And the miracles just unfolded in how they all took place. Just as I was about to cancel our appts on Wednesday night, Sister Owens (the Owens are one of best senior couples in my book!) , called us back and said she could stay with sister Mortensen in the apartment, and I went out on my own! haha not  quite, Liz an awesome member here picked me up and was my companion for the evening. Still was really weird not being with my companion, well I go on exchanges almost 3X a week, let me rephrase that. It was weird being the only missionary in the room. Especially when I was teaching, and I paused waiting for my companion to say something, and realized everyone was just looking at me haha. It was a wonderful night. The spirit was strong in both of the lessons that night. And it miraculously all worked out.

Also, I realized again something powerful during my second lesson that night. And it has been something I have been pondering on since. We were originally teaching a member who just hasn't been to church for a while, but we’re soon joined by another member who also had been struggling. There were also 3 other members sitting at the table. I knew we wanted to teach the Restoration of the gospel, but I prayed with my whole heart to know how to teach "the resto" in a way that the spirit could touch all of our hearts, because I knew it was something we had all heard a number of times. We started by focusing on prayer and our relationship with Heavenly Father and moved through the lesson from there. When we were discussing the Savior's life, ministry and atonement, I had the distinct impression to stop and focus on this point. I just asked both of the members we were teaching and the Elders quorum president to share their testimonies of the savior and what he means to them. The spirit filled the room as they testified of Jesus Christ and the role he has played in their lives. It then hit me again. The restoration of the gospel is ALL about the atonement. I even felt prompted to share the sad truth that so often as a missionary I feel I need to kind of rush through the beginning of the lesson, particularly the part about Jesus Christ's life, ministry and atonement (Especially if they are already Christian) so that we can get to the Joseph Smith story and teach about the Book of Mormon. BUT Jesus Christ and His atonement are what it is ALL about. Joseph Smith didn't go into a grove of trees just to find out which church was true to know how he should spend his Sunday mornings. He was a 14 year old  boy with the deep determination to return to God and he had the deep and burning question within his soul that we all wrestle with, "How do I gain salvation and get back home" He wanted to know which church he should join because he wanted to know HOW to apply the atonement (or suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and be saved. God the Father and His son Jesus Christ didn't only appear to him to answer his question (none of them) and call him as a prophet to restore their church. They appeared because they wanted to restore the knowledge, and authority and power to call upon the powers of heaven to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ and Save the entire human family by doing so. Becoming and active and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not an "end" in and of itself it is the means by which God has given us so that we can reach the greatest end, Eternal Life. I don't know if that makes sense, but it blew my mind. Simply put, Jesus Christ called the Prophet Joseph Smith, and through him restored His gospel in perfection, the way to make it back home with him and the father.

I love you all and miss you! Cant believe I will be seeing you in 7 weeks! I am trying not to think too much about it. And thanks Allie, I am glad I will have your help with my social skills when I get back, but I think you have always worried about me in that regard haha. Too bad you can't come with me to my first Sunday back at BYU!

 

Also I hope you are loving Budge, Argentina Elder Chipman. I will pray you have an amazing birthday, and that you can find yourself a good argentine steak!