The year commemoration of Hurricaine Sandy in Rockaways

Thank you for the emails and love, I sure do love you guys!         

Craziest thing happened today; today is the first day of my LAST TRANSFER!!! Also, sadly, it’s my last day in Plainview. The Lord has a special place for me somewhere else where there are new people to love and a new place to adore. Now I just have to wait till tomorrow to find out where that will be. Wherever it is I will love it. I haven’t yet served in Brooklyn or Staten Island. Who knows, maybe I will be back in Queens! Maybe I will get to speak Spanish again :)

It is hard to express my feelings about Long Island and the people that I have come to know and love here. In reality, I am trying really hard not to think about it because it is just so painful. I LOVE the YSA branch. I really will miss the entertaining ward councils, munch and mingle volleyball (I have gotten pretty good at playing in a skirt!) and the POWERFUL sacrament meetings and lessons. Most of all, I am grateful for all of the challenges that have come. The past 4 transfers have personally been probably the hardest 6 months of my life, but these challenges have just been opposition to the INCREDIBLE blessings and joys that have been out poured upon me. I still may feel really sick, but I have been surrounded by people I love, been filled with the spirit, and been able to do a work that I love with my entire soul. This area has become almost a Temple for me and I don’t think I will ever be the same because of it. 

 Do you want to know how I knew I was about to get transferred? This happened before president told me. Sis Mortensen had the stomach flu, and despite my diligent efforts to avoid it, I ended up with it, and was in bed for a few days! EVERY time I have been transferred, I get the stomach flu the week before....Don't want to know what will happen the week before I go home! When president released me as Sister Training Leader and told me I would be leaving. I laughed and told him I already knew that because I got "the bug." He laughed and told me to call him next time because it seems to be a pretty reliable indicator of whether or not I need to be transferred. Thankfully he follows the Spirit too :)

I learned an important lesson this week, the power of healing. We were able to go to the "Rockaways Rising" yesterday. All of us missionaries who could, traveled back down to the rockaway beach (BEAUTIFUL white sand beach btw), put back on the yellow vests and participated in an enormous human chain with the residents of the Rockaways. We all held hands and cheered, cried and celebrated the amazing resiliency of the people of the area. Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of Hurricane sandy. It was a sacred opportunity to be one of the missionaries who were here and participated in the clean-up. The streets were clean, unfogged cars lined the streets. People had beautiful lawns and children were outside playing where moldy, soaking piles of stuff used to lie.  Boys were playing basketball where army vehicles used to be parked. There were still eerie scars of boarded up houses, empty lots where a burnt houses used to be, and that unforgettable smell as you drive by certain places.  But if anything those scars stand as a testimony of the healing that has occurred here. We all came to the beach as strangers, but celebrated as friends. It was incredible, and I can’t thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me enough to come to know and love the people of that peninsula. 

 

Also, don’t pass out! But I decided not to hide my talent and love for singing anymore and sang a whole solo yesterday in church!  I sang Sweet Hour of Prayer. Sis Mortensen and I switched spots. I sang and she played the piano. I really didn't care how well it sounded, I just prayed that God would flood the chapel with his spirit and my voice could be a vehicle for that. He answered my prayer, it was powerful. After I sat down, I swore never again to hide my talent for singing under a bushel, even if other people's talents shine brighter! 

I love and miss you all! Keep up the great work chipper! 

Till next week,

Megan 

News story of the "Rockaways Rising":
http://pix11.com/2013/10/27/rockaway-residents-form-human-chain-to-show-solidarity-on-sandy-anniversary/#5DIpLpWxuP7deDXX.01

 

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!

A wonderful & entertaining week

Today at 11:09 AM

Hello! 

Fall is here and the leaves are beginning to change. Nothing too dramatic yet, but I am really excited! The smaller trees have almost all changed, but the big ones are still tall and green. I have never been around so many trees in all my life, I can only imagine the mess the leaves will leave! Oh well, I think I now understand how people actually jump into leaf piles. They live in a place like this! And Dad, you asked about how often I get to see the ocean. It depends, sometimes more than others. It is quite a treat when it happens. There was a Less-active who lived in an apt right near the water in Port Washington. We never did find her, but we never minded paying the place a visit :) 

What a wonderful and entertaining week. I started taking this new medication to help me sleep, and it has made me quite punch happy. My companion and district have been thoroughly entertained. Mostly, I now just speak my mind more than I used to....oh dear. My body is getting used to it, but I still say the silliest things. They don't mention that side effect on the bottle!! It also knocks me out...all. day. long. But all missionaries are tired, so maybe I have just been out for 15 months. 

 Even though I have been really sick this week, we were able to get a lot done. And I learned something else last night. The worst part about being sick, especially as a missionary is all the things you cant do and all the work that is left undone, that usually wouldn't be a problem for you. Its been quite the challenge to balance keeping our enormous area going, manage mission leadership responsibilities, try to exchange with 13 sister companionships during the transfer, meet their needs, try to get healthy and climb out of a hole. Its also hard when how I feel can be so unpredictable and debilitating. Its not even frustration at not being able to do all of these things perfectly (I let that go a long time ago), its just simply not being able to do it. Its hard not to feel that it wouldn't be better if someone else came in  to replace me so as to not let so much go undone. I was praying to Heavenly Father, and voicing all of my concerns when that familiar voice entered very powerfully into my heart and said, "I want your all, and I don't care how much that is." I was then overwhelmed with this feeling of peace and acceptance from my loving Father, and a reminder of all we were able to accomplish this week, and the strength he has given me. My prayer than changed to thank my Heavenly Father and all He is permitting me to do. Also, it all started to make sense. I thought of the widow's mite and how she gave greater than they all, because she gave her all. I thought about the covenants or promises that we make at baptism and in the temple. We promise to give our all. I thought about the scripture in The Book of Mormon that says, We are saved by grace after all we can do. Christ gave his all so that our all will be enough. Enough for what? All that the Father has. Grace makes ALL the difference! I know I can't balance everything and everyone's needs here, but if my all, is all he requires, than I am doing a pretty good job :) 

Also, so many miracles. We found 2 new investigators this week. And were able to teach 3 lessons, which is pretty good! One of the lessons was when I was in the Doctor's office. My asthma doctor is this  beautiful fiery Persian Jewish woman from the Bronx. However stressful Dr appts can be, I like going to her and she is taking good care of me. Over the course of my visits, we have been able to have some neat discussions as she is examining my nose, ears and throat. Kind of funny to be teaching someone about prophets as they are looking straight up your nose, but God's thoughts are mysterious :) anyway. Sis Mortensen was in the lobby making calls, while I went to see the Doc. About 5-10min later she came in and said, "What's the call? Did you find anything?" The doctor smiled sheepishly and said, "Not yet" To which I smiled and said, "We are actually talking about Joseph Smith, we haven't gotten to the nose stuff yet." It was neat, and taught me that there is no specified way or time to share the gospel :)

Another miracle and a story to prove the power of member missionary work. We went out to Terryville to exchange with both of the sister companionships serving there. We met the sisters at the chapel after a baptism. I took the two trainers and stayed in Terryville, and Sis Mortensen took the trainees back to Plainview. Our Ward mission leader was kind and offered to take us out to eat while we had correlation. On the way there, He called and asked if I would invite the other 3 sisters too. As I went to do so, I realized I had BOTH of our phones (we have 2) and as I asked the other sisters which one of them left their phone with the others...neither had. "fantastic!" I thought haha, we had 4 phones for three sisters, and no way of getting a hold of the others. Thankfully they didn't get too far down the road before they realized they had no way of calling anyone. Somehow they found some elders who let them use the phone to call the mission leader. Anyway, we went to Five Guys and made quite a scene with 1 young man paying for 6 young woman who were all dressed up and had tags and addressed each other as sister. The owner took notice and asked our correlator where we were from. Joe was talking to him for a while. When he came back to the table, the owner asked if we wanted anything else and that it would be on him! He also said, to let him know when we ever came in because he wanted to make sure we ate for free. As he walked a way, Sis Mortensen asked him, "What did you say to him?" and Joe, our ward mission leader said simply, "We just talked about the gospel." Not 5min later the kid who wrung up our order came up to our table and said, "The owner said you all are Mormon, and I don't know very much about your church and want to learn. I love learning about different religions." Then handing us a piece of paper with his information on it said, "Here is my name and number I would love to learn more." Right then and there Joe got his address and set up an appt with him. We will meet with him tomorrow :). Amazing thing about it all, is that we missionaries just came in and stuffed our faces with delicious burgers. Joe is a return missionary and still does a great job at sharing what he knows to be true. In fact after our friend walked away, he said under his breath, "I still got it." It is fun to realize that just because I may be going home soon, doesn't mean I have to stop being a missionary. The world needs this gospel, and the Lord needs his missionaries and members to only be willing to open their mouths.

I love you all! Good Luck Allie! I read that milesplit article, look at you all famous. You are going to do great! Just try to relax and give yourself a break. I am praying for you! And chipper, hope you enjoyed your first week in Argentina! Have you eaten steak yet? Argentinians eat a lot of really yummy steak :) You will probably feel at home. 

I learned again, my weaknesses do not define me, or even my success

Hampton Bay's duck

Taking our good friend to the temple for the first time

Howdy family!                                                                      

Wow what a week! Lots of neat people, lots of lessons learned, and many many miracles :) So funny how now it is so hard to remember it all now that I am writing you but I will do my best.

It was an amazing week to be a missionary. We had Presidents Interviews, Mission Leadership Council, and General Conference. It was about as exciting as Christmas! 

 It was a spiritually powerful week and an opportunity for a lot of self reflection. And a lesson I learned this week, that BLEW my mind. Probably shouldn't of, but I guess it’s about time that I learned it. As Elder Richard G. Scott said yesterday in General Conference. The Lord is a God of Justice and Mercy. He will punish our rebellions, and extend mercy towards our weaknesses. I realized something powerful. I seem to have it in my head that I need to be punished for my rebellions and my weaknesses and that is how I am to learn. Through gritting my teeth, enduring and getting through it. No pain no gain. But then during his talk, I realized that the Savior Heals and Strengthens through Mercy, Love and Forgiveness. So why should I think that I can somehow become better by beating up on and focusing on my weaknesses? Weaknesses are only overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, or in other words, his grace and mercy. That is why God gave us weaknesses, so we could enjoy his mercy and learn to overcome through him. 

Also, Heaven is trying to tell me something. It was incredible to have my president's interview. And I learned again, my weaknesses do not define me, or even my success. I went in there thinking of all the different things I could and needed to change, but just came to find that President fully trusted me and that he wanted me to see how incredibly successful of a mission I had. I felt the spirit and knew it was true, but found it hard to believe as I thought of all the people I failed to talk to, days I failed to do this that or the other....blah blah blah.  Heaven sensed it wasn't sneaking in and so prompted a past companion to seek me out and try to talk to me. She sat me down and shared with me how successful I have been and how we had grown together. I was so grateful to her and her willingness to follow the spirit. And also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is long-suffering to get through my thick head what success really is.  I have learned that success in God's eyes is not the absence of weakness, or even what we accomplish. It is trying to live worthy of the spirit, to love people, to be happy and better ourselves despite the opposition we face. God doesn't want us only to be successful, but feel it too. What does success mean to us if we do not enjoy it? No wonder I am so high strung and stressed all the time, I have had skewed ways of seeing it. Makes me so grateful for repentance and being able to change my perspective on things. 

We also got to talk to a lot of people this week from all over. Vietnam, Mexico, Brooklyn, Jamaica, Gianna, and Poland to. Even in the Island, there is strong diversity. Still neat to be able to preach the gospel to every nation. 

We are now off to go bowling with the other missionaries in our zone. This should be interesting! I love you!!

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!