I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge today. One day I'll run it!

Hi family! How are you?                                                        November 25, 2013

So this legless dog, isn't as legless :). Thankfully my muscles are regaining strength and I can walk, drive, type, write, and stand again. My body is still really sore, but I don't know if that is still the antibiotic, or my body is starting from square one and building strength to move again. At least I can carry my own bag again, and I was able to walk across the Brooklyn bridge today... One day I will run across it.

Miracles galore this week. First off, Wednesday was mega zone conference and I woke up sooooo nauseous from other meds I was taking for side affects of the antibiotic ( I am learning that sometimes the treatment is worse than the disease!) I was really bummed out because not only would I miss mega zone conference but also my opportunity to give my departing testimony! That is just when all the departing missionaries take a few moments to testify of their savior and how their mission experience has changed them. I laid in bed and kind of laughed "this situation seems almost too familiar". I rolled out of bed on to my knees, prayed for strength, got up got ready and went to the conference. Poor sis Glaittli had to drive through Brooklyn, which she hates and usually leaves up to me, but we made it. We were an hour late but president was so happy to see that we made it, he didn't care. I was able to feel better, and bear my testimony, and even receive a special and powerful blessing from president Calderwood. Among other things, I was promised that it would not be easy but as I am wise in taking care of myself, I will be able to finish my mission strong and with the other missionaries. By that point I had already decided to stay, but it was powerful to hear, know and feel that Heavenly Father didn't see my work here as being done either.

Another miracle, we found an investigator this past week named Graciella who is going to be baptized my last weekend here in New York! She is wonderful and so prepared. She is a referral from the elders in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She has been taking her grand kids to church there while their mother works. She lives in Staten, has been investigating the church for over a decade and has always told the missionaries that she would be baptized when she retired and didn't have work in Sundays. Now she is ready to do it :). When we told her that she could be baptized as soon as the 7th of December, she was so excited and started  to cry as she thanked Heavenly Father for the good news in her closing prayer. She came to the thanksgiving party with her daughter from Bushwick. Her daughter was baptized in the ward 10 years ago and attended till she got married and moved to Brooklyn. Everyone was really excited to see her, and as Graciella was introduced to them, she would tell them how she is going to be baptized on the 7th. It is set for 10am that day :).

But more than that, the spirit has been so strong in our lessons with her. It's amazing the difference in teaching someone who has already decided to be baptized, and trying to persuade them to make that choice. The spirit is still strong in both, but the spirit is that much less restrained when teaching an open heart. She is really excited, and even told us that she is ready to do all the homework.

I know God lives, that he loves us and is mighty to save. He is a god of miracles and I know that he delights in helping and blessing us. I am so grateful to him. I am so grateful also to all of you. I wouldn't be able to do this without you. Thanks for the emails, support and prayers. Almost there, 2 more weeks! And yet at the same time, no matter how miserable all this is, it is quite heartbreak to think of leaving all of it. 

Happy thanksgiving! 

 

Vista nation XC: please go dominate the "turkey trot" for me :) and congrats on the awesome placement at regionals!!!!!!!

 

Love you all!

Megan 

Sent from my iPad

Oh where do I begin?

                                                                                                November 21, 2013

Oh where do I begin??

What an insane and crazy week. After I emailed last Thursday, I woke up Friday feeling the same. And on Saturday it was even worse. My antibiotic severely weakened and swelled my tendons. It got so bad that I could barely lift my bowl of oatmeal, or work my iPad....de verdant. It felt a little like sponge-bob lighting that glass of water. I did learn a lot though. Sis Glaittli, my comp, is an anatomy fanatic. She worked in the cadaver lab at Utah State. I had no idea that I had so many tendons all over my body! I would feel pain in my head and ask, "I have a tendon on top of my skull??"  Then she would get all excited, and tell me what the name of it was, where it attaches, and what it is used for. Still I have no intention of going into medicine or stepping foot into a cadaver lab, but at least I now know better which tendons are where.

My sweet district leader was concerned about my mobility and confinement in the apartment and so went through the trouble of getting me a wheelchair/ walker so we could be out and about on Saturday. Funny story, as soon as I saw it, I sensed I would find away to hurt myself with it. The memory of flying over my handle bars of my scooter gizmo (I rode around BYU campus when I had my stress fracture.) still burned strong in my mind. I sat on the seat of my walker, and my awesome companion was willing to push me. Within 4 steps we hit the sidewalk crack which sent me flying onto the pavement. I was okay, though  my district leader didn't let her touch my walker after that haha. We were able to join the zone for "ferry singing". This is where we stand outside of the Staten Island ferry terminal with instruments and we sing, give free hot chocolate and invite people to come to Christ. It was a lot of fun, the spirit was strong, and it was wonderful to be able to do what I could to share the gospel.

It also is a miracle how god has helped me continue on in this work. So with only 3 weeks left and being so sick and barely able to move, I found myself with a decision to make. I had to decide if I should stay and finish even if it meant being the legless dog being pulled in the wagon or go home and focus on getting healthy.  I had a very heartfelt conversation with my Heavenly Father on Saturday night. It was a little different because I couldn't kneel, also, I was crying so hard I could barely talk. I was granted that gift to weep. After everything I had been through, endured and fought through to finish my mission, and now I had the option to honorably walk away. It was emotional to say the least. I also had committed to giving a sacrament meeting talk, musical number and relief society lesson in church the next day... all in Spanish. I prayed that the way would be clear, and somehow I would find the courage to be wise and do what God wanted me to do. I didn't feel good about letting go of my Sunday responsibilities, and just prayed for a miracle.

The next day was nothing but a miracle. I still was in a significant amount of pain, but I got up, got showered and ready, and so very slowly walked into the church building, and sat on the stand. I prayed so hard that it would all work out. I felt peace and just went along with it. My time came to speak, and though I had to lean on the podium, and shift my weight from one leg to the other, I was able to stand for my talk, and speak by the spirit in fluent Spanish. (It wasn't me! It is what I call the gift of tongues). The musical number was the same! And so was the lesson, but I sat for that. I kept wanting to go to the car and get my walker, but I made it through church without it.

So why did I share this? It is because I learned something very important. I may feel like a leg less dog being pulled in a wagon, but god still has an important work for this legless dog to do. We have no right to fully judge our influence and effectiveness as builders of his kingdom. It may not make much sense, but having faith seems to be the only sensible thing to do right now. I know god lives, and that my mission isn't over till he says so. There are a lot of miracles that can happen in 3 weeks, and I know they will. I love you all, thanks for your prayers!

Love,
Hermana Megan Chipman

Ps..I now can walk! My zone now calls me the modern 'John Tanner' from that Doctrine and Covenants video. Haha

Sent from my iPad.

I've been thinking about the power of belief

Today at 7:26 PM                                                                   November 15, 2013

 

Welp it finally happened. I now have an iPad.  The world can end now. Haha...  But seriously, you'll see at the bottom of this email, sent from my iPad, and no--I didn't type it.  So your probably asking, so if you have an iPad, why did it take me so long to email?  Reason: I have an iPad, but no internet.  It's quite obnoxious.  Also my companion and I have been sick this week and haven't been able to get to the church in order to use the wifi there.    But I made it! And yeah, don't be surprised that I'm sick again.  I had an adverse reaction to an antibiotic, so now I can't move with out feeling like I'm going to tear something.  It's quite awful...  But The Lord in His tender mercy has provided miracles and He's also helping me not be crazy about being stuck in the apartment again. The English Sisters were super kind and drove us to our appointments in Manhattan yesterday.  Our GPS lost signal and we accidentally ended up by the 9/11 memorial, whoops! But  kind of cool. Then on the way home Our GPS took us over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a fun adventure.

By the way the Siri app is really cool and saving my fingers a lot of pain... Just forgive the lack of punctuation.

Funny story we were in the target line and as I approach the check out, I cheerfully looked at the attendant and called her by her name and asked how she was doing. The look on her face is priceless. I laughed and asked, "how often are you asked how you are doing?" She laughed and said "never". We talked about how she must get tired of asking how everybody else is doing when no one asks her the same thing. After that I just said, "don't worry I'm not from here". To it she laughed and said, "I could tell! Are you visiting?" I went on to say, "not quite I've been here for over A year." She joked, "oh I see.”  “You just haven't assimilated with us yet." I laughed and said, "I may smile like a west coaster, but I now drive like a New Yorker." She very much enjoyed that answer and so did the lady behind us in line. Haha. I really am going to miss this place. It will be weird to not be the smiley alien anymore :-).

Today I have been thinking a lot about the power of belief. It's really interesting how you can be forced to know something, but you have to choose to believe in something.  Knowing comes through experience. Belief is a choice. It is so funny how our world today almost disvalues the credibility of belief when really it's one of the most
powerful functions of the human heart. Belief brings miracles, belief creates faith, and belief brings reason to hope, and strength to persevere. Belief opens the windows of heaven to us, and allows us the opportunity to let God into our life, no matter how small it may be.

I think sometimes I over think what it is to know that God lives.  There are times that I over think about the future and whether things will get better. But I am beginning to realize, that it really doesn't matter if I absolutely know what's going to happen, or if I have all the proof in the world that God is real, loves me and answers my prayers. No, there is something much more powerful than that. It's my choice to believe in him, it's my choice to believe that things will get better. And no one and nothing can take that away from me, including my recent struggle with depression, and a sick and tired body.

I believe in miracles. I believe in healing. I believe in Jesus Christ, and I know he is my savior redeemer and healer. I believe this church is true, and through my personal experience I've come to know it is well. As a missionary my invitation is simple and the same as
that of the Savior. Come and see, and choose to believe, and be baptized in his name. And as you choose so, you will choose the greatest joys this life can offer.

I love you all!!!!

Megan

Sent from my iPad

Staten Island Libres (That is what we call our district out here :) )

Hello Everyone!

Forgive the delayed post. And next week will be the same way. But I am really excited, you want to know why? Because I will be emailing home from my own personal iPad! Each missionary will be getting an iPad that they will keep for their whole mission, and return at the end of it. Each companionship will be getting an iPhone! Turns out we are one of the first missions to use Facebook, iPads, and iPhones. I am really excited, and so is everyone else. Not just to have an iPad (probably the only one I will ever get haha), but how much it is going to advance the work. For all of the return missionaries, imagine your entire area book on your iPhone and iPad. And then when you transfer areas, you will automatically be connected to the cloud of your next area and so will have all the information you will ever need for the area immediately at your fingertips, and it fits in your pocket. Usually it takes about a week, even a full transfer to get all the info, but not anymore :). Also, all the pamphlets are on the iPad and integrated with Bible Videos and Mormon Messages and General Conference clips that you can now show during a given lesson, or even as you are talking to people on the street, on the bus or in the train. Now I know what you must be thinking, with my luck with computers and all, but I will let Heavenly Father figure that one out haha. I am just excited to be apart of it, even if it is for just a month.

Oh and I totally forgot! You don't know where I am! Crazy how I have already been here for a week so me moving here seems like old news already haha. I am now serving on Staten Island in the Spanish ward (Staten Island Barrio III)! I am really happy to be here. It is a little crazy, because even though I lived on Long Island for so long, it still didn't feel like an Island. But Staten Island is small enough that it does. There are only 2 bridges connecting Staten to the rest of the world. The Verazzano connects with Brooklyn (One of the Longest bridges in the world! 2 miles long!), and then another one (I forgot the name) connects with New Jersey. The leaves hit their peak this past weekend and it has been spectacular. Staten has some pretty steep hills, which makes for  frequent and dramatic vistas of Jersey and particularly Manhattan. The driving is actually kind of fun. It is full of narrow roads and NYC driving which keeps it entertaining.

I love my district. They really know how to have a good time and get things done. The Elders are trying to get me to play "Magic" on P-days. We will see if they succeed. I watched them play a couple games as they tried to teach me. When they asked how I understood it, I just shook my head and said "No Hablo Magic" haha. But its cool how they can keep it all straight.

The members here are WONDERFUL and it is so great to speak Spanish again. After about 6 months in an English Ward, I have surprised myself with how much I can speak and understand, but also funny to think of how far behind I am where I used to be! Asi es (That's how it is). But I forgot how much I love speaking and teaching in Spanish and grateful Heavenly Father chose to let me use my Spanish again.

Also, its only been a couple weeks but we have been seeing countless miracles. We didn't have any investigators at first, but the Lord is helping us and guiding us and we are finding people to teach. We also are helping a lot of Less-Actives come back to church. One woman named Maria (she is so great!) just recently started coming back to church (the week before I got here). And now she is coming to teaching appointments with us! There is nothing easy about starting over, but when we are on the Lord's errand we are entitled to His help. Something I know to be true and am really grateful for! Lesson learned this week: Instead of looking at opposition as the "op-poser" of miracles. It really is the "revealor" of them. Without the cold we wouldn't know the warm. Without the pain, we wouldn't know relief. Without opposition and adversity, it would be really difficult to see God's hand in our lives, and recognize his love and tender mercies. However crazy it sounds, a loving God allows suffering to be in the world, because without it, we could not know Joy. Thankfully there is opposition, so we can learn to enjoy life and His miracles.

I love you all! Also, I can't believe its that time, I promise I am not getting "trunky", I just need a place to live in Provo! If you are in Provo, like where you are living and are looking to sell a contract or know someone who is, send me an email and let me know! I really have no idea where anyone is anymore.

Love,
Megan