Tengo gozo en mi alma hoy!

Hello from Canada!

It has been getting a little colder. Today it was -2 degrees Celsius but still pretty chilly. But it is funny how you do not worry about the cold when you are busy in the work. This week was a little busy but it was hard too because a lot of people cancelled their appointments with us and all the potentials were not home when we stopped by. It is difficult to plan our days out perfectly because our area is so big and we are teaching people on all sides of our area. But I am learning so much about everything that is going on in the mission and all the areas as well. Spanish has been coming along better every day and I am trying to grow a little bit every day as well. Elder Ez said that when he got out here he studied so much that he burnt himself out and did not want to speak Spanish very much anymore. So I am taking his advice and trying to take it day by day and talking with a lot of Spanish people. But it has been fun to learn such an amazing language. It is going to be hard in Edmonton because I am not being immersed in it, but the Lord will provide. He wants me to learn Spanish and he will provide a way to do so.

This week we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and we are going to do it again this Wednesday. But I spent the day with Elder Skousen and he is in the same transfer as me. He is great! We worked really hard all day and met some pretty amazing people. But I especially loved the experience I had talking to a woman. It was the last woman we talked to that night and we started a conversation about her religious background. I then found out that her son had autism. I got the chance to relate him to Cassidy. She was very interested and I knew that I was supposed to talk to this woman about Cass and the incredible miracle she is. She became really interested after we talked about this and hopefully she can meet with the other missionaries. But It is amazing how much the Lord's hand truly is in the work. My testimony is growing of this every day.

Yesterday we went to the North Stake center to meet with the Castledowns ward. Their bishop is from Mexico and is really enthusiastic about the Spanish work. But we are going to meet with him in the next few weeks and try to get his input and ideas on what we can do. But when we got to sacrament, we were pleased to find out that it was the Primary program. I was like "Sweet!" I have so many memories of the primary program in the San Diego ward and how amazing they were. This program was so great and the Spirit is so strong when children and running the meeting. But they sang my favorite song, "I Like to Look for Rainbows". I was brought back to the day that I was baptized.

We met with this old man that week that is a less active member. His name is Mario. He is such a funny man and has a problem with drinking. But he still comes to church and has a firm belief in El Libro de Mormon. I love talking to him because I can’t understand everything he says and I get lost sometimes and he just laughs at me. But he is great man and I hope we can continue to teach him every week. He is the kind of person that you just need to stop by and see how he is doing. We are also still teaching Vianney. We watched the Restoration video with him yesterday and I feel like he got a lot out of it. We are going to teach him the plan of salvation next week and see if he wants to get baptized and when. His girlfriend is at BYU Idaho and is really supportive of him. I pray that he can find that desire to continue to change his life. This next week is going to be very busy because we have dinner with a Spanish member every night and have several appointments.

But all is well in Canada and the work is growing on my heart. Thanks for everything!

Mucho amor y bendiciones,

Elder Kipp

PS: I have a joke. How did the canadians name Canada? C-eh-N-eh- D-eh
ha ha