¡Feliz Navidad!

¿Cómo están todos?

We are having a wonderful time up here in Edmonton during the Christmas season. The mood around here is amazing.  I love how it changes during the holiday season. People are more open to talk to us and people say "Merry Christmas" as you are walking down the street. It has been moderately warm but we haven't had any snow lately. It is supposed to get really bad after the new year. Looking forward to that.

Christmas Conference on Wednesday was incredibly fun. President Campbell gave us some great training on how when we talk to people we need to genuinely be interested in them, not just talk to them to get a number. He talked about his father-in-law that would just talk to anyone and be friends with them within 5 minutes. It reminded me a lot of Papa and his amazing skill to just talk with people. I have been working on that skill for my whole mission and I still have a long way to go. But the talent show was a amazing. My boys did Noche de Luz on the guitar and the violin. Another sister in my zone (Sister Milburn) and I did a parady on "Baby, Its Cold Outside". It was about this district leader that was trying to get a sister in his district to stay on the phone during stewardship. It was a hit. I had to be sure that President knew that there was nothing implied.

We also had our 4 stake wide Latin Christmas dinner last night. We had about 100 people that were able to come and it was really successful. Marta and Mauricio were both able to come out and they had a blast. They are becoming really good friends. Recent converts are the best "fellowshippers". We had a small little spiritual message and songs in the chapel to begin and then the dinner that followed was incredible. I really love getting all the spanish people together to feel the unity that there should be in the city. Man, they really know how to throw a party. We were listening to a talk recently that talked about 2 conversions that one needs to go through to be converted to the church. Spiritual and the social. The missionaries are the spiritaul and the members of the ward are the social. I encourage us all to keep an eye out for those that are investigating the church and making them feel welcome into theire future ward family. There has to be both to get a quality conversion. Spanish people are great for this. That is why I love working with them so much.

Marta is loving coming to church now and she has been free of coffee since Wednesday!! It is so awesome to see the Atonement in action. She is going to be baptized on the 29th and she is so excited. We are going to be working this week to strengthen her testimony of the commandments and the Book of Mormon. Eduardo is making more friends at church and is workign to overcome his problems. I am sure the Lord is so proud of him and the changes that he is making. I love these two and can't wait to see them progress more. Vianney is back up in Edmonton and I can't believe that we are not calling him a recent convert anymore. Love that guy.

I hope that you all can feel the Christmas Spirit. If not, get it. Read Luke 2 and feel of the Savior's love for you. I love you and wish the best.

Mucho amor,

Elder Kipp

Hola Familia

Hey guys,

 

Not too cold today to be honest. It only about -2 Farenheit. So not bad at all. We are probably going to go play something outside today. It is crazy how much I have gotten used to the cold. I know that I would be so cold if it was this cold back when I was home. I am becoming more of a polar bear than before. he he

 

We had a great week as far as finding new people to teach. We found a guy named Hugo through a less-active. He is Jehovah's witness but is really willing to learn anything. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and you should of seen him focused on the page. He is really wanting to read it and compare it to the Bible. The New World translation is a little hard to compare, but we will see where it goes. We also got in contact with a family that had had a lot of contact with missionaries before and one of our bishops referred them again to us. We are using English to get into the door, but they are willing to listen to anything we have to say and reading the scriptures. We are being blessed with people that really want to follow the Savior lately. Both Martha and Eduardo came to church and they loved it. Martha has been having a hard time giving up coffee, so we will probably have to push here date back. We know that she can do it and she does as well. It was really interesting what she said the other day. She said that this should not be this hard. "It's just coffee." She really feels ashamed but we keep assuring her that the Lord is so ready to help her. She is doing great.

 

Eduardo brought two of his kids to church. It was nice to see them there, especially because he said that it would be hard for him to get to church because of his job. He is really struggling with some personal things, but it is amazing to see how much the will of someone changes when they want to change, the right way. It reminds me of Mosiah 26:30. As often as we are willing to repent and change, the Lord is there to forgive us. He is so ready to change and teaching him the Plan of Salvation last night was such a great experience. He was telling us about the Atonement and the Fall because he has read so much of the Book of Mormon. His son Luiz sat in and he seems interested but you could tell that it was a little different for him. He is 15 and we just got really personal with him and let him know that it is different, but that he needs to recognize how he feels. Hopefully he keeps sitting in with us. Man, solid people make for solid conversions.

 

We are going to have Christmas Conference on Wednsday and I got asked to be the Master of Ceremonies for the talent show. It is going to be so much fun. I got some jokes picked out and hopefully I can keep the show lively. We also got news that the new elder coming out in January is from Peru. Native speaker baby!! Hopefully we will all get to be with him. It would help us out so much. The Christmas parties are really fun, especially when we get our people there. Our fridge is jampacked with leftovers. Booyah! But I am having so much fun in this Christmas season and hope that all can feel the love that comes during this time of year. May it last for all the next.

 

Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

The Snow is Here

¿Cómo están?

 

Oh man, it has been snowing a lot here lately. About everytime we go in somewhere to teach, the car will be covered with a blanket of snow when we come back out. I have to admit that everything does look very Christmasy and it is making me really looking forward to celebrating Christmas. President Campbell is really wanting us to focus on sharing the Christmas message in our proselyting. Mormon.org is a really good resource to use. Also, did you guys watch the Christmas Devitional of the First Presidency? It brought the Christmas spirit really strong.

 

We have been having a lot of success lately. We have two investigators that are on date to be baptized. The first is named Marta and she is from Mexico city up here learning english from on of the local universities. She is really prepared and is going to be baptized on the 22 of December. We invited her to be baptized and she prayed to find her answer. She called us back that night and told us that she had her answer, but that she wanted us to pray and find a part in the Book of Mormon to read to her that next day. We all said individual prayers and flipped open the Book of Mormon to a random part. We all came up with very personalized messages just for her and all of our scriptures applied to her situation and baptsim. It was really amazing to see the look on her face as we read our inspired scriptures. It is really amazing to me that we can be the messengers for God when people are making life-changing decisions. We taught her the Word of Wisdom yesterday and her only hang up was coffee. She simply said, "Well, I guess I got to change now." Nice!! But The other guy on date is named Eduardo. He will be baptized in January and he is really prepared. He has already read 1 Nephi and it's only been like 2 weeks. He was even a little apologetic when we met with him. We are looking forward to great things with him.

 

One good thing about covering two stakes is that you can go to all the Christmas parties!! Ha ha but it really is great to bring out our investigators and less-actives out to feel the Christmas Spirit. We are going to have a city wide Spanish Christmas Activity in a few weeks. If it is as successful as the last one, than it will be a hit. I love Christmas time as well, because all the Spanish people start making their favorite Spanish dishes. Especially tamales. They are so good! We are going to learn how to make them here soon. So ready to learn how to make these things from heaven. I recommend you find a Spanish person and have them make them for you!!

 

Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

Miracles Come in Interesting Forms

¿Cómo están?

 

Its -10 C right now in Edmonton and we are loving it. It is crazy to think that I would be absolutely freezing back at home, but being used to the cold I am not even wearing a coat. Sorry mom. Don't worry...I am staying warm. How is everything getting ready for Thanksgiving? A family that we are pretty close too are going to be having us over on Thanksgiving so we don't feel too far away from home.  We are all really excited to eat some pavo!

 

We had some pretty cool things happen to us on exchanges this week. Elder Schubert and I left to go to our district leaders area, which we cover as well, and we were with Elder Batchuluun. He is from Mongolia and one of my favorite Elders. He played on the Mongolian national basketball team so he can kick my butt. But he also drove for Ford in the Asia curcuit. Pretty cool eh? He is a really good missionary and it is a riot being with him. But we went tracting and he didn't know where to go. We were driving and I had an impression to go to this townhouse complex. So we did and we started knocking. Nobody really wanted to talk to us at first, but we kept going in the cold. We started talking to this cool guy that was not interested but he read our tags and told us that there were Spanish people that lived next door. We knocked on the door and started to talk to them. It turns out that we found an inactive member that I have been trying to locate since I got here! He is from Nicaragua and he was wondering where people from the church were. But we are going to be meeting with him this week. It is just amazing to me that the Lord knows were his people are. It is such a blessing that we get to be the instruments that he can guide to bring them back. We had another cool experience. Elder Batchuluun was driving and we started to slide on the slippery road...He moved into the other lane quickly to miss a stopped car. But the car behind us hit us when we stopped. It was pretty scary, but I was completely calm. I wondered why and then we met the guy that hit us. Turns out he was a Spanish guy! We started to exchange information and his family has all passed on and he is going to a local Christian church. So we are going to stop by this week and see him and really push the Plan of Salvation. Coincidence...I think not. Diosidencia hehe. It was a miracle in a stange form. They happen everyday we just have to look out for them.

 

We got 2 new awesome investigators this week. One guy found one of our cards in a Spanish shop that we left a long time ago. He sent a referral through Mormon.org and we got to meet him on Wednesday. The other one our stake mission leader in Bonnie Doon Stake met at school. She is from Mexico and is up here to learn English. She has had lots of evidence of godly preparation and we are excited to talk to her about baptsim this week. I feel like she will be very receptive. Make sure all you members are doing your missionary work. I know it can be hard, but the greatest situation for us missionaries is to teach your friends in your own homes. I read a talk about member missionary work and they were talking about if you give a talk in church to invite 5 friends. For a lot of other churches to give a talk is a big deal. It impresses your friends and gets them into the Spirit-filled chapel. Just a quick idea.

 

I send my love and a little bit of the cold from Alberta. Remember the Lord loves you and is always watching out for you. Lest we forget, love is the most powerful motivator. Cuidense y portense bien.

 

Elder Kipp

¡Háce frio!

Hello my friends,

 

Sorry for no letter last week. I was writing other people and realized that I didnt have anymore time left. Way to go me. But it has beeen really cold up here lately. We got a lot of snow this week and we are looking to get even more. We were able to talk to a lot of people about the gospel becasue of the snow. With a shovel in hand, we went trackting for some of the time this week. It is amazing how much more people want to talk to you after their walk is cleared off. Don't worry mom, we are being really carfeul driving in the snow. Especially because Elder Doxey is the one driving. But it has been really great to see the snow on the trees and in the river valley. We already broke out the Christmas music here, becasue Canadain Thanksgiving already passed. Boo Yah! Check out the David Archuleta christmas album, super good.

 

While being in the Christmas spirit already, Mormon.org is making a new page on their site to promote Christmas. Their people can request the christmas story told to them by the local,missionaries, a bible, or even download free MoTab Christmas hymns. It is going to be a really useful tool for spreading the gospel at this special time of year. We are going to be able to direct people to this site and really use it in our missioanry efforts. I encourage every one to keep thier eyes out because it will be uo and running in about 2 weeks. Mormon.org is such an effective way, especially for members to introduce the gospel to their friends. We had stake conference in one of our stakes and the stress was preparing for missionary work and getting everyone to participate. With this new site, (Mormon.org/christmas) will intoduce people to another side of our faith they probably didnt know about.

 

We had a great week this week, The highlight was definatly the Family Home evening (Latin Style) that we had for the members and our investigators. Actually 5 of our investigators and a few more new people to teach showed up. We had a little food and we played some fun games. At the end of the night we shoed Finding Faith in Christ and shared our testimonies. The Spirit was very strong and it was a great experience for the progressiong for many of our investigators. Actually Maria Cristina from Columbia, who I never expected to come to church came for all three hours and was able to make a lot of friends. She is one of my favorites and she has so much faith. She makes me smile becasue she puts ita and ito on everything. One of our members brought a friend from his Spanish club and she is super sweet! She wants to meet with us and talk about the miracels she has seen God bless her with. Her name is Marta and she was invovled with many of the dangerous things in Mexico. She is up here to learn English and get away from the problems. So we will see here this week and let you know. But overall the activity was a giant success.

 

We are still teaching Jesus. He has stopped progressing a little bit because he is having a hard time quiting smoking. Or rather finding the desire to stop smoking. He still wants to be baptized but it is hard becasue he works on Sundays and he never knows if he will get them off. We are going to meet with him tonight and see what we can do to help him. He is so cool and would be such a great member, but he needs to make sacrifices like we all need to. We have been really focusing lately on the principle lately that obedience brings blessings. Reading DC 130 20-21 seems to reall yhelp people and it has helped me realize that I have been blessed with all I have because I try and strive to be obedient to the commandments of God. We talked about that with Los Amigos last night. They are going to be leaving this Saterday, so it was really hard to see them off. But the Spirit was really strong when we were all sharing our testimonies and encouraging them to keep up the preperation in Mexico. We are pretty sure that Manuel, Joanna, and Jose Luiz will be going to continue to go to church and learn more. They already found their church and we are going to refer them to the missionaries down there. We had such a fun time with them and there were many reasons why Heavanly Father put us together on a little farm in Alberta Canada. I look forward to see how everything goes wtih them. I learned a lot from them and I know they were effected greatly by the message of the gospel.

 

I want to thank you all for the support and the prayers that I feel. I can't believe that time is going this fast and I am glad to see myself still pressing on the purposes of the Lord like all of you; and I am having a fantastic time doing it.

 

Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

 

HOLA!

Hey guys,   I wanted to start of with a couple of jokes that we have learned this week, sorry they  are in Spanish, but they are super funny:   ¿Que le dice una mama a su hijo para que lea?   -Hijolee ¿Que le dice una estufa a otra estufa que esta caminando con sus hijos (estufitas)?   -es tu familia?   Haha sorry but I wanted to remind you how missionaries can be easily entertained. It is really funny how weird you get as a missionary because you are so focused on other people all the time that you just become a really funny person with your companions. I remember that when I first came out that missionaries were perfect and they are just amazing spiritual giants. You can be a spiritual giant but still be a complete goober.   I dont have enough time to send off an email, ill get it out soon.   Tu Hijo Elder Kipp

¡La Nieve Está Aquí!

¿Como están mis hermanos?

 

¡La Nieve Está Aquí! We are getting snow and its really light and fluffy; the good kind. But it has been -7C so far and it's not even Halloween yet. The trick or treaters here are expecting to be going out in -4C and lots of snow. Its funny how it works out. On Wednesday we have to be in by 6 o'clock because a couple of years ago a buncj of delinquents (don't know how to spell anymore) dressed up like missionaries and did some stupid things. So, President wants to know that all his elders are inside for Halloween. It gets actually really dangerous up here that night. But we are going to carve pumpkins. We are going to carve Book of Mormons and the First Vison.

 

But I was really excited to hear of the influx of missionaries that are putting their papers in. It is so cool to see the work of the Lord hastening. It is so true. More and more people are getting prepared to receive the restored gospel. We received 6 new investigators this week. We are really seeing the hand of the Lord preparing people to receive his missionaries. Two of them we found in our apartment building. They are chilean and we brought them cookies to invite them to the building and they let us in and had a lot of questions. We are going back this week to give them a Book of Mormon cause they wanted to read it. Really cool experience and even cooler because they live upstairs.

 

We got to watch the Calgary temple dedication this past Sunday and it was super awesome!! President Monson, Elder Walker and Elder Ballard were there to do it. It was a beautiful expereince. Mauricio and Alexandra were both able to be there and they both loved it. I love the Hallelujah chorus and that whole thing. I wish we could have gone down to the tour, but it;s outside of our mission.The Spirit is so strong whenever we are talking about missionary work.

 

All of our investigators are doing well and we are hoping to have a couple of baptisms before the end of the year. Things are looking great!

 

Mucho amor,

 

Elder Kipp

¡Háce Frio!

Hey everybody,

 

It has been getting a little colder here in the great nation of Canada. Today when we went outside it was -7 celsius. So not horrible, but it is getting progressively worse. The people "Los Amigos" that we are teaching up on the farm said that the work is getting a lot harder because it is super cold. Unfortunatly they are going to be leaving at the end of November, but they are getting more and more excited to learn. Every Sunday when we are driving up there we get really excited to talk about the gospel with them. They ALL read Alma 40-42 becasue we were going to talk about the Plan of Salvation with them. It was a lot better and they asked a lot more questions because they had read. I have noticed that a lot lately. When we learn and teach from the Book of Mormon the Spirit is that much stronger and people seem to be a lot more interested. We are just preparing them all to go back to Mexico and start going to church with their families down there. It was Jose Luiz's birthday last night and they shared his cake with us. We sang happy birthday in spanish and also "las mananitas" Super memorable expereince with some true friends.

 

We got our other companion on Wenesday. His name is Elder Schubert and he is from Trenton, Ontario. I am finally companions with a native!! haha native canadian that is. He is really awesome and we are all getting along very well in our tripanionship. It is a little overwhelming to be training two people at the same time, but it is easy because they are both humble and are extremely ready to work. We has a really cool experience tracting the other day. It was the first time for Elder Schubert. We saw a really inticing red door and we said that should be our first door. He told us later that he was praying really hard so that his first experince would be good and that someone would be interested. A nice old lady opens that door and the first thing that come out of her mouth is "Hey do you guys have a Book of Mormon?" I was standing back a little bit to let them talk to her, and it was awesome to see the faces of these two young missionaries in awe as they handed this women a book that can change lives. We are excited to go back and it was a testimony to me that faith and prayer, when worked together can bring revelation more than anything.

 

We are excited too because the Calgary Temple Dedication is next Sunday. Info to follow!!

 

 

Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

Hey Guys!

Hola mis amados amigos,

 

How great was general conference?! I am still thinking about it. I have been studying from some of the talks and I can't wait to get the new Ensign for November with all the talks in it. It is such a testimony to me everytime I watch general conference that we have living prophets and apostles on the earth that represent the Savior. I am so happy that I have had the priviledge of growing up on the earth when the priesthood and gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored perfectly through a modern day prophet. I am so happy that I can carry this message to people and that we can help people find the truth they deserve to remember.

 

So we got an interesting call this morning. I have known that we were receiving a new Spanish missionary for a while now. This is big news in the Canada Edmonton mission seeing that there are only four. But it was a big surprise when I found out that I am getting another boy! We are going to be tripanionship and I'll be continuing to train Elder Doxey and also train the new guy. It is going to be crazy! Everyone keeps joking around that I am having twins. ha ha. I dropped as district leader. President Campbell thought that that might be a little too much responsibility. Estoy de acuerdo!  (agreed) But I am excited to see what happens and really looking forward to seeing Elder Doxey step up a lot and help me out.

 

We were able to get the part memebr/less active family we have been working with since I got here to church on Sunday. The ward just soaked them up. It was a great experience for them and the bishop gave a great testimony, I think directed to them. But we taught the Plan of Salvation to Jesus and los amigos on the farm. They all loved it. I love teaching the plan of salvation because it always hits the heartstrings. They all responded to it well and are excited to talk about it more this week. We are continuing to find new people to teach, but the difficult thing right now is getting them to commit and to come to church. But we are working hard and I know that the Lord's hand is truly is in this work. The Food Drive was on Saturday and Alex was a champ. We went out with her to pick everything up and she was talking to people as she picked up the food. We are super happy that she is doing great as she serves others and learns what it means to be a disciple of Christ. I think that church pulled in a bunch of food and money for the people of Edmonton. Its an awesome cause.

 

But got to go, I love you all. Keep on keepin on! in the gospel that is. Remember that you can always repent, change your ways, and come back into the light.

 

Mucho amor,

 

Elder Kipp

First Snow of the Season

¡Hola muchachos!

 

¿Cómo estamos? Well, it is getting a lot colder here in the great north. The first snowfall came today. Elder Doxey and I were really feeling up to the occasion so we got up early and went for a run in it! It was super fun and really cool to say that we went running in the Alberta snow. But I am actually looking forward to the winter even though everyone is saying that it is going to be terrible. Last years winter was not even classified as winter. It seemed like winter to me!

 

We had a really cool week. General Conference was definitely a highlight. Man! I can't believe that the age changed for all the missionaries. I would already be home by now, isn't that crazy to think. I personally think that it is a great thing because we lose so many potential missionaries in that year of "limbo" between high school and mission. Hopefully that gives more time for missionaries to go out and serve. And its even more crazy that the sisters can go at nineteen. We are going to receive so many more sisters, and its a good thing too. Cause lets face it, they are better teachers than the guys. he he  But all the talks were very good. Especially Elder Holland's. I love how he reads between the lines in the sciptures. I hope that I will be that good someday. Also, President Eyring's talk was incredible. We are going to be showing that to many of the less active members up here because many of them form "pavilions" between them and Heavenly Father.

 

Alex and Chris are already doing missionary work. We met their downstairs neighbor that happens to be from Guatemala. They were really anxious for us to meet him and start talking to him about the Book of Mormon, which changed both of their lives drastically. But we shared the BOM with him and he is really looking forward to reading it because he suffers from insomnia and he can't find any books to read in Spanish. We are looking forward to talking with him this week.  Los Amigos up in the farm are doing very well. We are going to be talking to them about the Plan of Salvation and I think they are going to respond very well to that. Jesus is also doing great. He has not been able to come to church yet but he is reading the Book of Mormon and liking it. We had a lesson witht the older lady from Peru this past week as well. But we found out something very important. She has been baptized. We extended a baptismal committment and she told us that she was baptized in a river in 1970. Good for us to know! But she is so sweet and she treats us like her kids. We are excited to help her regain her testimony so that when she gets back to Peru, she can hit the ground running. I got a letter from German and he is doing awesome. The missionaries are seeing them every monday and helping them progress towards baptism. I love that guy!

 

But everything is going good up here in Canada. I send my love and un abrazo para todos!

 

Mucho Amor

 

Elder Kipp

What are you guys doing this weekend?

Hello amigos!   We had a super great week. It was full of meeting new people and people making changes in their lives for the better. And above all it is such a great time to be in Alberta. Right before it gets cold and snowy, the weather is pretty much perfect. The sky is amazing and the sunsets are the best. They are right there is nothing like Alberta skies! But we had a wonderful thing happen this week. Alexandra got baptized!     It was an amazing service. The Spirit was definitely there and it just went smoothly. Many of the members of the ward were able to come and support Alex and Chris in their many great decisions. I actually got to translate one of the talks. It was a very humbling experience for me because it is a lot harder than I thought, especially on the spot. But the speakers were wonderful. Chris recieved the priesthood on Thursday night and so he got to baptize his wife. They had to repeat the baptsim twice, but the third time she was completely submerged and she came up and she looked amazing. She was just beaming and you could tell that she felt like a new person. I was so happy to see this happen and have been able to see their progress as a couple. I was able to confirm her and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. The blessing was very stong and it really focused on her and Chris getting to the temple. I am so excited to keep working with them and it was such a blessing and testimony strengthener to have seen this process and the changes that happened in their life. I know that the Atonement can heal and change any situation.   We are getting blessed in so many ways. We received 7 new investigators this week! The first one we got was from a member. His name is Jesus and he lives across the hall from the member who happens to speak spanish. he he But je is from Mexico working up here for his family and he already has been reading the Book of Mormon and some of the pamphlets. He is solid and we are excited to keep teaching him. The next one is the brother-in-law of some less-active members and he is excited to finally learn about what they believe. I feel like this will be a great oppurtunity to get the less actives back to church. I have known them my whole mission and they make the best pupusas ever! And then our last five live about 20 minutes outside of the city on a small farm. They are all family and they are up here working for the summer. The owner of the farm is actually a member so he called us up and told us that they were interested in learning more. We had a great lesson with them last night and taught them about the Restoration. The Spirit was incredibly strong and you could tell that they were interested. We gave them all a Book of Mormon and they all committed to read. We are going over there this weekend and watching General Conference with them. And the coolest thing ever was that as we were driving back on the gravel road we saw the Northern Lights!! It was so cool. Elder Doxey was freaking out. He is so funny. But it was just a cool moment for us last night. We were so grateful for the time we have to be spreading the gospel. Who would have thought that we would be teaching a bunch of Mexicanos on a farm in Northern Alberta! Crazy!   But I encourage everyone to watch General Conference this weekend. It will be a great oppurtunity to listen to our modern day prophet and apostles. It will be amazing.   Pues cuidense mucho y portanse bien!   Mucho Amor   Elder Kipp's New Companion - Elder Doxey Elder Kipp

Hey Guys!

How is everything going in the big bright world??

 

Well, here in Canada, all is going well. We are really excited becasue Alexandra is going to be getting baptized on Saturday. Chris will be recieving the priesthood and he will be baptizing his newly married wife. It is so cool to see this story continuing on. It is going to be at 3 o'clock and she has taken the initiative and invited a lot of her family and her nieghbor too. But I will take a lot of pictures and be sure to send you guys a lot. We went over everything that she has to feel, understand, and know before she gets baptized. She is soo solid. Oh I can't express how happy I am. It's going to be awesome.

 

Mauricio passed the sacrament for the first time this week. He looked so nice in his white shirt and tie and he was just glowing. He was a little nervous but it all worked out for the best. Pretty crazy thing happened yesterday as well. They made one of the wards in one of our stakes a Married Student ward. So any couples that are married and attending some sort of schooling of secondary training, even if they have kids, they will go there. We were joking around that thae primary is going to be absolutely huge. Hopefully it all works out because there are so many. I don't know how the missionary work is going to go. "Are you married? Are you a student? Sweet we can teach you!!!" he he

 

We got a sweet new investigator last week. She is an older woman from Peru and she went to church there a while ago. A member across the street referred her to us and she welcomed us in with open arms. She wants to be baptized, but she doesnt know if she wants to do it here or not. We are going to keep talking with her and hopefully she can make the decision so that the blessings can start coming into her life. Elder Doxey and I are doing superb. He is such a good guy and we are having so much fun. Our mottp is "choose to be happy". It is really easy to get sad but it is our choice if we want to be happy or not.

 

But I love you all and hope everyone is excited for General Conference.

 

Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

¡Hola mis amigos!

Sorry for no email last week. We have just been so busy. Which is a great thing. But it's true, Elder Crocco is a dead man. He went home Thursday the 6th of Sept. and he was pretty sad. He told me that when they took his tag off, that it was one of the hardest days of his life. But he was a great companion and I will really miss him. But the new generation has arrived. Elder Doxey has arrived in cold Canada speaking the Spanish language. He is from Virginia and a sporty little guy. He is so ready to go and just what this mission needs. He is awesome already! His Spanish is pretty good, a lot better than when I came out, but he is having a hard time understanding people right now. A lot different than the MTC. I reassure him everyday that it will come. My Spanish abilities have shot up since he got here, it is pretty cool how the Lord truly qualifies us for the job. The district is doing great and I have no complaints. Its really fun getting to know them even more and talking to them about how they can improve their areas.

 

Mauricio received the Aaronic priesthood last week and he asked the bishop to ordain him. It was a great experience even though he was a little nervous. But he is doing great, and he has already been doing his home teaching (remember how important that is guys). Alex and Chris are also doing super good. He has his last interview to get the Aaronic priesthood on Tuesday and then the baptism the next weekend. It is going to be so amazing!! We are teaching them tonght and it's amazing to me to see how much they are changing. They are accepting so much more and Alex is so ready to finilize her repentance. I truly love them with all my heart.

 

All of our other investigators are moving along slowly and we are trying to come up with more creative ways to teach them all. We have two that are close to baptism but they just need some time. Leo and Manual are both from Mexico and they are working and sending the money back to their families. This is why they are so humble. When they hear about families they are really responsive. But we also found a guy named Nixon, that lives with Vianney, who is doing awesome by the way, and he is really interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We are excited to keep teaching all these guys and hopefully they can pull through and choose to make the right decisions. We also got into a less actives house and they want to start making the steps to make it too the temple. Super Exciting!

 

But I love you all and hope everything is going great. May the Lord continue to bless you. And remember that tortillas are made in heaven!

 

Elder Kipp

Crazy Week!

¿Como estamos? This week it actually started to get a little colder. I am bummed. The summer is going away. But its all good. Man this week was crazy! Elder Crocco leaves tommorow and it is crazy. We have spent last week gettting everything situatedwith everyone we are teaching and saying goodbye to all the members. It was cool to see the mixed emotions that he has been feeling. He is about 50% super excited to go home and 50% really sad to leave his new home. I am not looking forward to that day. But he had a great last week in my eyes. Yesterday for preparation day we went glofing with a member in the north part of the city. It was really fun and I never realized how bad I am at golf. It is really hard and it gave me a new respect for those that golf. But I was getting the hang of it by the back nine holes. We also went to West Edmonton Mall. It is one of the biggest malls in the world and it has the biggest indoor roller coaster in the world. We were there for about 5 hours and we didnt even hit half of it. But it was super fun and a good thing to do for Elder Crocco before he goes. So I got a very interesting call on Friday night. It was President Campbell and he was informing me that I would be training, which I already knew, but also that I would be a new distict leader. It was very surprising because Spanish missionaries rarely ever go leadership in this mission because of the size of area they cover. So I am excited and a little overwhelmed to train and be a district leader. It will be super fun and I am looking forward to getting my new companion tommorrow. Saturday was a crazy day too. I had leadership training in the morning and then we had a big Spanish activity. We had a lot of people show up. There were probably 60 people that made it out and we played soccer and ate some delicious food. It was good because we had quite a few investigators there. Mauricio was there and he is actually super good at soccer. He definitely beat on me. But Alex and Chris were there too. She is still going good for the end of the month to be baptized and Chris is working hard to do his best. We then had Mauricio's baptism. It was so good. It was small, only about 20 people including Alex and Chris. But the Spirit was super strong and he was so happy. It was more a celebration of all the changes that he has made. I am also happy that I am sticking around in my area so that we can keep tabs on his progress. It was a great day ending with an amazing man making an amazing covenent with his Heavenly Father. I am excited to get a new guy and keep the work going up here in the North Side. I love this work and I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. And its not just satisfaction, but its true joy. Its crazy how that works. I heard someone say the other day "I am glad to hear that life is stressfull. I know that that is not what you are expecting but I know that through all the stress comes growth. How ever much we hate it, life helps so much". Let life become a blessing rather than a burden!! Mucho Amor Elder Kipp

¡Hola Mis Amigos!

¡Hola mis amigos,

Hey, sorry for not sending you guys an update last week. We have just been so busy we are even teaching on P-day. But it is good. Elder Crocco goes home next week and I'm going to get a brand new Elder. It is going to be fun and a great learning experience. But I have been doing super good lately. We are seeing miracles happen and even the little things keep your testimony strong.

For sure the highlight of our week was the wedding of Chris and Alex. They got married on Saturday. Bishop McMohan from the Londonderry ward performed the ceremony. It was really small. Only Chris' mother and Alex's two aunts and families were there. It was what it needed to be. It was more for them to make a committment to follow the commandments so that Alex could get baptized. The whole attitude of the marriage was so that they could go to the temple and make their committment for eternity. Even their vows made evidence of their desire to spend eternity together. It was funny because Chris' were really poetic and Alex's weas a little scampled because of her English, but she portrayed how she felt very well. We are so excited for them and it was really cool when we drove away. We both said that we felt real joy. We almost felt better than if someone was getting baptized. We figured that it was because they were both making a committment to help them both stay together for time and eternity. I have to say that I know Heavenly Father was looking down on that little ceremony and was smiling in happiness. Chris will be working for the next month to get worthy to baptize her. So in a month's time she will enter the waters of baptism hand in hand with her husband. They are so sweet!

We had to say goodbye to a great friend on Friday. German left for Mexico. But he has a great reason to go. We had dinner with him on Friday with some of the members that have been influential in his conversion. He expressed his testimony, which is so solid. I pray that he can get to Mexico and convert his family. Show them the joy that he has found and show them through his example. I am sure that he will be a great instument in the Lord's hands. I am going to miss him and we are staying in contact so that I can know everything that is going on in his life. He has changed my mission and I will never forget him.

Mauricio is going to be baptized this Saturday and we are actually eating dinner over there tonight so we will finalize everything. He is doing so good. He looked so happy yesterday at church and you can tell that repentence is taking a big part in his life. It is so exciting. We are having a Spanish activity for all the people that live in the city to get together and socialize and also say goodbye to Elder Crocco. It will be fun. He keeps saying that he did not think that it would be this hard to say goodbye to everyone. I am nervous to have to do that. Cause if I left next week I would be super sad...sorry mom. But this is the place I know I should be. I get that reassurance everyday. We finally got to teach Gabriel's kids. He is the less active and his wife is a Jehovah's Witness. We know that they felt the Spirit when I recited the First Vision. Their young Spirits were touched. So hopefully we can help them recognie that more when we go over next week. And by the way, pupusas are the best things in the world! Some members had us over last night to say goodbye to Crocco and they made so many. I had like 12. And if you know how big they are, that is crazy. But if you have a chance to have them, do it!

Mucho amor amigos, que les vaya bien!!

Elder Kipporoni and Cheez

¡Qué Chévere!

Hola mis amados amigos! 

How is everything going? I can't imagine being in the heat of some parts of the US. Like Arizona, where it is 112. That is crazy as it has only been about 80 a couple of days here. Elder Crocco and I are dying. I can't imagine being in Reno where he is from. He is going home in 3 weeks and is is going to die of the heat.

We were able to go to the Spanish session at the Edmonton Temple on Saturday. The temple truly is the place where you feel closest to Heavenly Father. I love the feeling you receive and also the fulfillment you get from doing the work for our ancestors. I have to say that the session is a lot more beautiful in Spanish. It is a lot better when you can understand a lot more. Ha ha But I encourage all that have the opportunity to go to the temple to just go. Choose a time that works best and just do it. No questions asked. It will be good for you and for the people that came before you as well. It is the greatest manifestation of love to give your time to perform the saving ordinances for someone that cannot do it for themselves.

We had a good week. Mauricio unfortunately did not get baptized on Saturday. It was a bummer, but it is better for his situation in the long run. He still has a desire to be baptized, if not more now. He just needs a little more time to get things straightened out. The people in the ward are really helping him keep up his progress. We are meeting with him tomorrow. He is planning on doing it on August 25th, the same day that Alex and Chris are going to get married. We are not worried about him, he is making so many steps forward. He will be fine with the Lord's help. Alex and Chris are really excited to get married and they are looking forward to going to the Calgary Temple open house in September. It will be a great thing for them to do. Ah, we are so excited for them! Oh my it was so fun. We had dinner with Vianney and the YSA sisters on Sunday night. He made us really delicious Mexican food including ceviche. The sisters were complaining that it was too hot but it totally was not. But he is so sweet. He is progressing a lot and it is so crazy how much we have both grown since we met.  He's a new person and he loves the gospel. I could not be happier for him. German is leaving to return in two weeks. Actually the 25th. Thats going to be a great day for a lot of people. We are getting everything ready so that he can get baptized really soon when he gets there. We are so excited for him!

But we are getting everything ready to go for the North Side Spanish work if I get tranferred when Elder Crocco leaves. We are super excited because we just got a Spanish work representative in Bonnie Doon, our other stake now. We have a ward mission leader in both stakes. Finally! It is so exciting to see our efforts are being recognized and we are receiving the help we need. I kind of do not want to leave this area even though I have been here for about a year. We will just have to see what happens. We had a really good day at church on Sunday. We had 5 investigators come to church and also a less active family that we have been inviting for a long time. It was a big surprise, but I need to start getting used to surprises on the mission. They are happening every day. I love this work.

Cool experience we had on Thursday after district meeting. We met a guy outside the restaurant that left the church and was actually excommunicated. But he said that he had seen missionaries more than ten times in the last two weeks. He wants to come back and resolve all the problems in his life. But it is just a tesimony to me that it is never too late. The Lord wants you to come back. His hand is never stayed. He never gives up on you and always wants your benefit. We are going to meet with him and begin working with him. This work is amazing.

Mucho amor muchachos,

Elder Kipp

¡Hola Amigos!

¡Hola mis amigos!!   We had the opportunity this week to go to Heritage Festival. About 50 missionaries were there collecting donations for the Edmonton Food Bank. It is an amazing festival where about 100 countries are represented. They bring their food, dances, and customs. Six Latin countries were represented and we were able to talk to a lot of different people that speak Spanish. Also, the food is really delicious! Especially the Piña Colada (virgin ofcourse) and the pupusas. It was a great way to get the name of the church out there and collect a lot of mony for the food bank. It was really hot though. And there were so many people. An experience that I will never forget.    We had a really successful week. Mauricio is getting baptized on Saturday! We met with him on Wednesday and he picked out his own day and he is ready. He is really making the best decision for his life.  He also went to Heritage Festival with some members yesterday and he is really getting some friends in the ward which is essential. But we are looking forward to it. We also are really excited because Alex and Chris are getting married on the 25th of August and her baptism is going to be the following week. She has done a complete 180 and all because of the Book of Mormon. This is truly a miracle. Three weeks ago she didn't even want to get baptized and not get married for a year. The bishop is amazed because he has known them for a while and it is just surprising how much their desires have changed. Elder Crocco has been talking a lot about how repentance is really a change of desires. Your desires are what motivates everything, so if your desires change, your whole being changes. We were super busy this week and it is exciting and good too because Elder Crocco is getting ready to go home. I cant believe he is leaving in 4 weeks. I love that guy, he has helped me out a lot.   German is leaving to go back to Mexico in 2 weeks. He is getting in contact with his bishop in Leon. He is really excited to see his family and share all that he has learned with them. We figured out that since the time we met him, he has been to church every week without fail. He even went to another ward so he did not miss the sacrament. We are hoping that he can get in contact with the right people once he gets there. He is so amazing and so ready to be baptized. We are so excited for him.   Can you believe that I have been on the mission for a year?!? It is so crazy how fast time has gone by and I am so excited for the next year and all the challanges, excitement, and miracles that are in my path. Thanks for all your support up to this point and I am ready to make this a year to never forget.   Mucho amor!!!!!!   Elder Kipp

Hola mis amigos,

 

Mormon.org is in Spanish!!!!! We are so excited and it is helping so much already. The Spanish people are finding relief in this website because it explains every basic unit and core belief in the church, and now that it is in Spanish, more people can access it. Sweet!

 

Don't have too much time this week, but we had a good week meeting with people. The people you meet on your mission you will never forget. Mauricio was able to attend a baptism down in the south side and it really affected him. He really had a different attitude the next day at church. It is amazing the Spirit that you can feel at a baptism. Alexandra let us know that she believes the Book of Mormon to be true and she wants to be baptized. It is really a miracle how much power the Book of Mormon contains. She explained the feeling as having "butterflies in the tummy". She is progressing very well and she is currently praying to know what to do about her marriage and getting baptized. Hopes are high! We got to talk to Germans family on Skype the other day while we were teaching him. They seem super cool and we know that once she goes to church, her opinion will change. Our new investigator Manual came to church and he loved the gospel principled in Spanish. We are looking forward to meeting with him soon. He already started reading the book of Mormon and he likes it so far.

 

Tranfers didn't do too much to our district but we got a new sister, named sister Attikson from Pocatello, Idaho. She seems super cool. Elder Crocco got his travel plans and he is getting really excited to go home. But he is torn because he is excited to go, but also he really is going to miss everyone and everything. So it is funny talking to him. Everyday is different, but we are still working hard. I love that guy. Thanks to everyone for the letters and emails, they really mean a lot.

 

Shoutout to Papa!! Keep in there big guy! I send you my love and my prays. I can't wait to see your new leg.

 

Mucho Mucho Amor,

 

Elder Kipp

¡Hola Muchachos!

¿Cómo estamos?

 

We had a very successful and fun week her in Canada speaking Spanish!! We found 3 new people to teach and they all seem super sweeeeet! Funny story: we actually called a member that we have never met. It turns out that he is extremely inactive and was really surprised when he answered the phone. He is a returned missionary from Chile and owns a construction company. We were really surprised when he told us that he had like 5 friends that are interested in learning about the gospel. We had a lesson and met Emilio, one of his employess that just got here from Chile. He really wants to stop smoking and when we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon he treated it like it was a treasure. We are really excited to help out Pierre, the inactive member and also teach Emilio, who seemed super interested. Also, the Bonnie Doon ward has been pulling through. That is were we have most the people we are teaching and a member from Mexico just got here to work. We stopped by his place and he wasn't there. But his 4 roommates were and they were really surprised that we spoke Spanish. They invited us in and really wanted to hear what we had to say. They asked "So what do you guys exaclty do, Ernesto has told us a little bit about you guys?" Perfect question! We found out that one guy named Manuel lost his six month daughter about 2 years ago. He was really confused because the Catholic church said that she was damned because she was not baptized. He blamed himself. It was really sad and he felt really good when we told him that that was totally false. We shared Moroni 8 with him and he was already reading more when we left. I cannot wait to share the Plan of Salvation with him. He is a great guy. And the perfect situation to have a member there to answer any questions.

 

All of the other people we are teaching are doing good. Mauricio, German, Gerardo, and Cloti all came to church. German's wife is still feeling a little apprehensive about her husband getting baptized but he told us that he is 100% ready to be baptized and he is for sure going to get baptized in Mexico, if not here. We are still working with Mauricio to get him on date to be baptized. We were not able to met with Alexandra but we are going to this week. All these people are so amazing and it is a pleasure getting to know them and helping them and thier families find true happiness. Something sweet happened this week as well. So we have been asking the Edmonton North Stake for a long time to get a representative for Spanish work in the stake. We got someone. Hermano Alejo already is really listo to do missionary work and he is going to be able to cross ward boundaries and act as our ward mission leader to relay information to the Stake. We met with him last week and he is really excited. He is already having a fiesta on Saturday and inviting like 6 of his friends that might be interested in the gosple. Booyah!! This will help a lot. This work is so true it's not even funny! I have been thinking a lot lately about being truly humble. If God really wanted to convert his children in his infinite wisdom, do you think he would really need our help? He needs our help because we need His. He needs our help because of his choice to give us agency. If we could all help one person find the happiness or lift their burden a little, everyone would be covered. Working with individual people is what matters. Remember DC 18:15. "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!", This can mean your own soul.

 

We always are sharing our testimonies in our missionary work so I thought i would bear you my testimony....in Espanol.

 

Yo se que con todo mi corazon que Dios vive. El envio su hijo Jesucristo para que tengamos felicidad en todas las cosas. Se que Jose Smith vio El Padre y Su Hijo y por cunducto de el tenemos El Libro de Mormon que es verdadero tambien. Se que las familias pueden ser eternas y estamos en un camino para cambiarnos y llegar a ser como Dios. La Iglesia es verdadera y no hay otro camino que podriamos tomar para ser salvos. Mi Padre Celestial me conoce personalmente y El sabe mis problemas y dudas. Yo hablo con El cada dia y siento El Espiritu Santo que me da tesimonio de todas de estas cosas. Estoy feliz, y se que mi felicidad viene de un poder que no podemos ver, sino senitr. Nunca voy a negar las cosas que yo se. No podria hacerlo. Estoy emocionado por el dia en cuando puedo ver mi Salvador con mis propios ojos y darle la gracious que el merece.

 

TRANSLATION: I know with all my heart that God lives.  He sent His Son Jesus Christ so that we could have happiness in all things.  I know that Joseph Smith saw The Father and His Son and that through him we have the Book of Mormon, which is also true.  I know that families can be eternal and that we on a path to change ourselves and become like God.  The Church is true and there is no other path that we can take to be saved.  My Heavenly Father knows me personally and He knows my problems and doubt.  I talk with Him each day and I feel the Holy Ghost that gives me a testimony of all these things.  I am happy, and I know that my happiness comes from a power that we cannot see, nor touch.  I will never deny these things that I know.  I couldn't do it.  I am excited for the day when I can see my Savior with my own eyes and give Him the thanks that He deserves.

 

If you can't understand, just get someone that speaks Spanish to translate. I love you all and love this gospel.

 

Mucho amor y abrazos

 

Elder Kipp

Man It's Hot!

¡Hola mis amigos!

¿Cómo están todos?

Pues, tuvimos una semana increible. Sorry, I am loving Spanish lately. It just flows better. But this week was super hot and humid. It would rain at night and then be about 90 degress farenheit during the day. But it was good and I cannot complain because it is better then the "super cold".

We were able to be meet with mostly everyone this week. It was really good. Justine told us that she wants to be baptized in the beginning of September. We were not able to meet with Cloti but we are pretty sure that she will have the same desire. They are learning a lot and they love how much kindness and service they have received. The ward has just taken them in. It is just a testimony to me of the way that the Church is supposed to work. German is doing great but he will not be getting baptized this weekend because he is still waiting to hear if his wife talked to the missionaries in Mexico. We talked to him on Saturday about sharing his testimony with his wife and how it is the most powerful thing that he can do. We are still working with him and preparing him to convert his family. I love how he is looking past the hardship of this time and seeing his family being together forever. He has so much faith and I love him for the example he is to me. Maurico is currently praying for a date to be baptized and he is having a tough time with his family. But we are still helping him see the change of heart that he has had. He is doing good and we know that he will receive an answer to his prayers.

Oh my! Something crazy happened on Friday. So we havn't met with Alexandra for a while now and she left to go on vacation. I got a prompting to text her and see how she was doing. She responded that she was doing good. What followed was a crazy conversation. She said that she had been reading in Alma when he baptized many people and how he established the church. She said that she had butterflies and desires to be baptized when she read that! We were shocked because we were expecting to be handing her off to Chris' home teachers. But she is going to talk to us when she returns and we are really excited to explain what that feeling was and that if she really wants to get baptized how good of choice it is in here life. It is amazing what the Book of Mormon can do. We also talked to Linda and talked to her about gospel dispensations. She asked if we were in a dispensation or an apostasy and we of course answered a dispensation. She said, "Wait, we have a living prophet and I didn't know about it?" She was excited and the room went silent, the Spirit was really strong. She also asked "Why did I not know this before?", and we were like "That's why we are here." I think this is a turning point for her and her progression. The Spirit rocks.

Another cool thing that happened was I called a guy yesterday that we have never been able to contact. He never answers his phone and the address we have on record is wrong. But he answered yesterday and said that he had been waiting for us to call him. He is an RM and has been inactive for a while now and he wants to meet with us and come back to church. He also has a friend that is really interested in the gospel and he wants to meet with us. We are excited to meet them and hopefully it will work out for the best.

Thanks for all the love and prayers. It is amazing how much of a blessing the gospel is in our lives. I want everyone that reads this to know that no matter how hard the times, Christ has already preformed his amazing Atonement and He is the one we can trust in. I love this fact and it keeps me going. Have hope in Jesus Christ and let that be your motivation to get through the "suckiness of life".

Mucho mucho amor!!!

Elder Kipparoni and Cheez

Hace Calor in Canada

Hola mis amigos! Como estamos?!

Hace calor en Canada. Its been really hot lately. Around 90 degrees Farenhiet. So it reminds me of summers back in San Diego. Too bad we cannot go jump in the ocean like we used to. Don't get me wrong it is not as bad as the   -40, but it is still hot!

This week was really fun. We were able to help a lot of people do fun service. There was a member in one of our wards that was re-doing his garage and he called us to see if we would help him do the drywall and everything that it entails. I never thought that it was so much work. We took about 2 hours during 2 days this week and it was really fun. I now know what to do (somewhat) if I ever need to drywall me garage. I love all the members up here. We have meet a couple that we have not been able to meet with either because they are busy or they are less-active. They are all trying to do their best to learn English and it is amazing the courage they have to come to a country were barely anyone speaks there own language. You were right Dad, you get to love the people you serve more than you have before in your life. Hermana Delafuente cooked for us last night and she is one of my favorite people out here. She is always correcting my Spanish and tells me that I need to move to Peru to meet a nice wife. She always says that if I go, to any latin country for that matter, that I would be married in no time at all. She is hilarious. It has been funny learning the way that peolpe from all the different countries speak. Their humor is different and you got to know the context in which they say some things. I have thought that people have said the worst things, when they are actually really innocent phrases, according to them.

German is still progressing really quickly and he is still working with his wife to get baptized. He is really wanting to get baptized but his wife is just not too comfortable with the idea. It is hard to have patience sometimes because I know the blessings that will enter into his life, but also I understand how hard it would be for his wife. I don't worry about him too much though, he will be just fine. Mauricio is doing pretty well, but he is just beign a little hesitant and getting baptized so soon. There is someone or something holding him back and I pray that we can help him get over this obsticle. Justine and Cloti are still reading and trying to recognize the awnsers from the Spirit. Colti loves church adn it was awesome yesterday. A returned missionary named Evan that had been in Spain for a year teaching English came back yesterday, and they instantly hit it off. He said that he will be able to come to their lessons from now on. Cloti asks the best questions too. It is soo great as a missionary when someone asks a golden question and te Spirirt just starts jumping up and down in the room. (that was a wierd description) But things are looking good here on the front lines and the Lord's work is still pushing along.

I have a strange incling to tell everyone to GO TO THE TEMPLE. I wish we had more time to go, but there are millions of people waiting for the blessings of the gospel but they do not have the means to obtainer the ordinances nessecary. It is such a blessing that we have to do this service for so many people. And it is time for you to relax and spend time with Heavanly Father.

Shout out to T-Stone who just got home from the field, and also to Nathan Neeley who is just beginning his amazing journey in the MTC. Love you both, may the Lord bless you!! And everyone else por supuesto!!

Mucho Amor,

Elder Kipp

Hola mis amigos y familia,

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about how blessed we truly are. To have the knowledge of the Restored Gospel is just an amazing thing to understand. I hope that anyone who wonders why we are so happy and really peculiar to read the Book of Mormon and find out who we really are. I am sure that you will be surprised.

 

If you have not gotton a chance to see the latest Bible Video on lds.org I reccomend that you go see it. It is about the woman that is healed from her "issue of blood" by simply touching the clothing of the Savior. (Mark 5:22-43) This is my favorite story in the New Testament because it demonstrates true faith in the Savior. We are all trying to get to this point and I hope that I can get to this point quicker in my life. But I know that it is a lot of work.

 

I am really red. I got sunburned yesterday while we were at P-Day. Yeah, I know that you are probably thinking that that is not possible in Canada, but I got fried. But it was really fun. On Sunday it was Canada Day. The Canadian equivalent to Independance Day. So one of the members had a BBQ for all the Elders in the Zone and we played beach volleyball, pingpong, and foosball. It was really nice of them and it was a good change from basketball, even though I love playing basketball.  I reminded me of the San Diego sand and it really felt good to ge the ol' toes in the sand.

 

We have been really busy these past couple of weeks. We are still meeting with all our investigators and most of them are progressing very well. German decided to move his baptismal date to July 21st because he wants his wife to be more okay with the decison. The missionaries down in Mexico are going to visit them and answer any questions that they may have. It is such a testimony that this work is true. Missionaries in two different countires are working to help the same family find the truth. He is still really learning a lot and he has actually been going to High Priests every week with a member in the Forrest Heights ward. Hermano Mesen is our Stake representative for one of our stakes and him and his wife are fellowshipping masters. They both served missions and love helping us out. But German is learning very rapidly and I cannot wait for him to recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost so his learning can grow even more. Unfortunately, Mauricios' mother went into the hospital about two days after our really great lesson with him and his big change. So he has not been able to meet with us for about a week and a half. So we are guessing that his baptism is going to be moving back. But we are still hopeful that he will be able to keep pushing through adversity.

 

We are going to stop meeting with Ruben and Cindy. They are just not progressing and they are having some trouble committing to some of the concepts that we are teaching them. It is really hard to stop teaching someone, but sometimes it is necassery in order for the purposes of the Lord to move forward. It allows us to focus our efforts on someone else and also it allows them to ponder on the things that they have learned. But it is still hard. We are still meeting with Justine and Cloti and they are still going strong. They are continuing to read and Cloti has really been getting involved with Young Womens. She might even be going to girls camp next week. They got hungup on 1st Nephi 4 (Laban) but we cleared it up and they continue to have really good questions.

 

I give my love to everyone and hope that all is well.

 

Mucho mucho amor,

 

Elder Kipp

 

¡Hola mis amigos!

 

This week was another one that was on and off rain. It is really nice to get both the rain and the sunshine because it makes everyday a little different. And in the terms of missionary work there are always surprises when you are walking down the street. We actually had a funny experience with one of the members downtown. We were at Justine's apartment to pick up Cloti to bring her to a dance on Friday night. Sister Kramps was walking with us to the door and these two people stopped and wanted to talk. Sister Kramps just started to share the gospel and how much it has helped her life. It was really a cool experience not having to do anything. They related very well and we gave them our phone number. Hopefully they will call us. It was just a testimony to me that everyone in the church that has the wonderful understanding of the gospel should share the gospel, any chance they get.

 

We met with German twice this week and he is progressing very well. He visited some "not so approved" websites talking about the church and he came to us with some questions. But for the most part he just pushed it aside and said that it was not important. He is learning very rapidly. We had to move his baptismal date to July 7th because he needs more time to talk to his wife. He is so motivated to get his family baptized and he wants the blessings of the temple so much. Mauricio made a big step last week. He decided that he really needed to just repent fully and get his burdens lifted away. He has opened up so much and it is really cool to see the change in his life. His new thing is to apply the faith  and show that he is growing. So, he will be baptized on the 7th as well. We are excited!

 

We met with the Bravo family and we talked about the plan of salvation. They really liked it and I think we were able to resolve most of their doubts. They also made us this really good Colmbian food. That is one good thing about being Spanish speaking in Canada is that you get to try food from all around the world. But they cannot meet with us until July so hopefully they will do some of their "tarea" and gain a bigger testimony. Justine and Cloti are doing well. Cloti has been reading the Book of Mormon a lot since she doesn't have much to do during the days. Justine has been working a lot, but it is really good for her and her daughters. We are meeting with them tommorrow and we are teaching the Plan de Salvacion, always a hit with souls searching for the truth. ha ha. We also met with Bi, the guy from the Ivory Coast that lives across the street. We brought a member that speaks French and he taught a lot about the Restoration. It was cool to feel the Spirit in a language that I could barely understand. We are going to be handing him over the to the other missionaries soon and we both feel like he is interested.

 

Oh man! On Thursday we helped some former investigators clean up their backyard. We borrowed Bro. Turgeon's weed wacker and went to work. It took about 4 hours because they had a field of just dandelions about to my waist. I wish I would have taken a picture before and after. Super fun and they really liked it. They even cooked us some tacos!

 

I challenge anyone that wants to see the miracles from missionary work to start opening your mouth. I have realized that members are so powerful in bringing others to the truth. Having people in your home and the missionaries teaching is such an amazing experience for everyone. The Spirit that can be felt in member's homes cannot be repeated. People can really feel it. What have you really got to lose??

 

I realize more and more everyday that this gospel is true and that the church provides the best way that we can live it. I love my Savior and He is the one that can help us out everyday!

 

Mucho Mucho amor!!!

 

Elder Kipperony

Hola mis amigos!!

 

Missionary Work is the best. And like Dad always says, "There is nothing bad about missionary work, it benefits every party involved." It has been raining a lot this week and that makes it even more green! I am not looking forward to the snow that is coming in 4 months so I am going to remember what it looks like now.

 

We were able to meet with both our investigators who are getting baptized on June 23rd. German is progressing very rapidly. This past week he read 10 chapters in the BOM, watched "Between Heaven and Earth" , and also read D&C Sections 84 and 89. He is so prepared and we are so excited to see him continue to grow in the gospel. But his wife is Jehovah's Witness and she has been giving him some opposition this weekend. He does not know whether it would be better to get baptized here and then show them the gospel, or whether he should get baptized there so they can see it. He is praying to find out what would be the best for his family. Mauricio is opening up a lot and is letting us know a lot of his feelings. He is a little more timid to get baptized but they announced his baptism in elder's quorum yesterday and so we think that it kinda put it into perspective more for him. They are both doing well and we are so grateful to the Lord for the chance we had to meet them.

 

Justine and Clotti are progressing as well. Justine found her job and unfortunately has to work some Sundays. We talked to her and she is going to speak with her boss to see if one her days off can be Sunday. But Clotti has read a lot of the Book of Mormon because she is not going to school right now and she has a lot of time. We hope that they can continue to see the blessings of the Lord in their lives. It is a miracle being able to see the hand of God so much guiding them toward peace and happiness. Ruben and Cindy have both been pretty hard to get a hold of and they don't really have that much time to meet. It makes us a little scared that they are not making time for us like they used to. They are so faithful, but they just have trouble applying that faith. That is one thing I have really learned on my mission is that in order to grow your faith, you must be willing to step outside your comfort zone and try something new. It is an amazing principle that the Savior taught, that without works, faith cannot grow.

 

Dad will be happy to know that we helped a member on Saturday frame his basement. Something funny in Canada is that none of the homes when they are built have completed basements. So you either have to hire someone to build it for you or build it yourself. So we helped him out putting up walls on his basement. It brought me back to all the projects that me and dad did in the garage. Fun times.

 

Just know that I love being a missionary and love the daily miracles that I see. I love the Lord and I love serving Him. I hope my testimony can grow even more of the miracles that can come to pass through faith in Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and nos vemos hasta pronto.

 

Mucho Mucho amor,

 

Elder Kipp

¡Hola mis amigos! ¿Qué tal?

What's going on? How was the week? Canada has some super beautiful summers I have to say. Especially because we live near the river valley. It is so green! It is just a reminder to me everyday that there is a God up in heaven that is watching over us.

Incredible things have been happening all around us these past couple of weeks. I can really see the Lord's hand in people's lives around me. First of all, I need to tell you about Justine. She is from the Congo originally but moved to Spain ten years ago as a refugee. Because the Spain economy is terrible, she looked online where to find a job. Edmonton Alberta came up on her search first. So she got her two daughters, Cloti and Sophie, managed to get three tickets to Canada one way, and showed up at the airport 3 weeks ago. There was a women that discovered her situation and amazingly handed her the keys to her apartment because she was leaving to go to Montreal. So Justine and her kids went to the apartment and then the next day went to a humanitarian place to get some food. A returned Spanish missionary found them there and invited them to church. They loved it and the bishop stepped in and started taking care of them. Then we were introduced to them and started teaching them. She wanted us to come over like everyday because she "didn't want to waste anymore time. This past weekend she found a job that would give her a work permit so she went down to the border yesterday and re-entered Canada as a worker. So now she can work and her daughters can go to school. We thought that she was just investigating the church because it was helping her so much, but she said that God provided a way for her to get to Canada and she wants to keep learning and have a better life for her daughters. There is no way that you can look at her situation and not see God's hand. When German, our other investigator found out about her situation, he said that there are too many "Diosidencias" (Godly coincidences). It is a testimony to me that God is really watching out for his children. How crazy is that !?!?

German is coming along so well. We feel like we are not doing anything. When we met with him on Saturday he had read a bunch and studied about the Priesthood on the church website. He is really excited to keep on learning and he says that his desire to learn is just getting stronger as the days go by. He is still looking forward to his baptism on June 23. Mauricio is also working toward that day as well and they both came to church yesterday. Alexandra came to church as well with Chris. We are going to talk to them about their marriage date and see if we can move it up, because that is a long engagement.

We are meeting with a new family that we met last week. They are former investigators and they are pretty cool. We think that Carlos, the father, knows that it is true because he comes to church occasionally by himself, but his wife is holding him back a little bit. It turns out that they have a daughter with autism. She is really funny and reminds me a lot of Cass. They have the same thing where they have a different thing they are focused on like every six months. It was pretty cool. We talked about Cass and their daughter Tatyana for like a half an hour. They are really cool and we are excited to teach them again. It will be better this time because the time before it was in English. They seem more excited this time.

I have to tell you a funny story. So we were driving up in a more remote part of the north part of the city and the GPS told me to turn onto a road. There was a "dirt road" like right before it and I turned onto it. Elder Crocco was yelling at me and I went into panic mode. It turns out that is was a walking path and it weaved through a bunch of trees. Super funny! Luckly, we did not hit anyone and we got to a place we could turn around. It reminded me of something mom would do. just kidding mom...

I love this gospel and I testify that it is true. I want everyone to know the joy that I feel from simply following the Savior and choosing to Haz Lo Justo. Stay strong and keep the faith.

Mucho Mucho amor,

Elder Kippy

P.S.  If you know someone that can make "arroz con pollo", ask them politely if they could make you some. ¡LO MEJOR!

Hola mis amigos,

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high;"   D&C 121:8-9

I read this section this week and I wanted to share it with all those that might need a pick-me-up. It really helps me if I am going through a hard time or need some reasurrance that God is still there watching out for us. I love having a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation because it shows me that the challenges of this life are going to be very small compared to what we will be able to achieve after we die. We taught the Plan of Salvation like three times this week and it is just a reminder of Heavenly Father's existence and love for His children. I just hope that we can all remember why we are here on this earth and remember the joy we can discover through the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Oh man, it has actually been super hot here these past couple of days. We did some weeding for this lady we know that is being taught by the English elders and it was actually really hot. And oh my she had so many weeds! It was good and it reminded me of all the yard work that I used to do with dad. Good memories. Fun times. 

Elder Crocco is in Jasper right now. As missionaries we are able to go to Jasper one preparation day in our mission. It is a national park and super beautiful. He left this morning at like 5 and went with a member that he was really close with in the South side. I am excited to go and I am thinking about going sometime next summer before I go home. 

This week was really successful for us. We were able to meet with Mauricio and he decided to move his baptismal date to June 23, the same day as German. It is good for him because he feels like he will appreciate it more if he learns more and I definitely agree. He really liked the review of the Plan of Salvation and saw that it is a really big step in our mortal existence. He is still doing good and we are excited for him. German is still planning on the 23rd of June and he is more prepared for the gospel than I thought. He wants to get baptized here before he goes back to Mexico because he wants to have the Spirit with him when he sees his family so that they can see the change in his life. He is already doing missionary work. He said that the Plan of Salvation made sense to him and he thinks that it feels right. We also taught Alexandra and Chris the Plan of Salvation and they are really excited to get married. They seem to be really interested in going to the temple. We explained what it meant to be sealed and they really liked that aspect of it. 

Oh, my funny side note. On planning day this past Friday we took the car in to get some work done and we planned at the church. While we were walking back I was looking down and I totally hit my head on this sign in the side walk. It really hurt and Elder Crocco was laughing really hard. What made it even worse was that a lady drove by with her window down right as it happened and you could totally hear her laughing. It kind reminded me of something that would happen to mom... he he.

We started teaching a new guy this week and his name is Jorge. He is from Chile and it was kinda hard to understand him. But he hates politics and wants to meet with us again. His wife is Jehovah's Witness and he really does not like the church. When we talked about the Book of Mormon he seems really interested and wants to keep learning more. We finally got in contact with Linda and she wants us to start coming back. We are going back tonight and we are going to talk about the Plan of Salvation because one of her doubts is that she does not believe that Satan exists. So we gave her 2 Nephi 2 to read and hopefully we can answer her questions. One of the members in one of our wards met a woman and her two daughters from Spain this week. It turns out that they are from the Congo and moved to Spain about 10 years ago. 

We had stake conference yesterday, for all the stakes in Canada!! It was really good. William R. Walker (the member of the Seventy that visited our mission), D Todd Christofferson, and Elder Packer all talked in a special broadcast to all the stakes in Canada. German, Mauricio, and Justine and her daughters were all there. So it was a very good day and they all seemed to enjoy it. 

Thanks for all the love and prays. I love you all and I am so happy to be here serving others and my Savior. 

Mucho mucho amor,

Elder Kipp