Hola Amigos

Maloalale,

I am trying to learn some Tongan. he he I probably should stick with Spanish and English. Learning languages is so fun though. I encourage anyone who has the oppurtunity to take it. You never know when you will get to use it. Shout out to Elder Austin Kipp in el CCM in Mexico. Sounds like he is doing very well. I dont know how he couldn't be; he said that there are tortillas at every meal. AKA heaven! Espero que este bien amigo. We all love you and it is really cool to know that there are more than one Elder Kipp in the field serving the Lord.

We are doing great here in Red Deer. It has been so beautiful here in the amazing Alberta summer. We had a member invite us to go out on their boat in Sylvan Lake, and I just about said yes, but remembered that I was a missionary. I told him we probably would drown if we went so probably not a good idea. ;) But I am definitely excited to come back and enjoy the Canadian summers.

We have been doing something really cool. There are quite a few youth in the ward that are preparing to go on missions. So we are trying to meet with all of them individually and go over the lessons with them. They have been super spiritual and it is funny how they all want to go out with us a lot more. But it feels awesome to help the next missionaries gain a greater desire to serve. I can see why dad loves teaching seminary so much. We are also meeting with quite a few less active people trying to get them back to church. It is a littl more difficult now that the building we meet in now is 30 minutes away. But it is really a great oppurtunity to try and rekindle the fire inside these members that have lost their way a little. We had supper with a man that has not been to church for a few years. We are just trying to reestablish the relationship. We got talking about some of the misconceptions of the world about the church. It was really cool to see him defending the beliefs and actions of the church. It taught me that people that find themselves fallen away still have a testimony, but life is beating them down. It is up to us to remind them of their testimony and support them as they make their way back.

I just wanted to express my love for the Lord and His work. We can sometimes get discouraged in the work we are trying to do. But we must realize that we are not alone in it. No matter what calling we have or the difficulty of it, we must push on. Success is only truly judged by One, One greater than all of us. Anyone that is struggling in their calling, being a parent, at a job, anything, take courage and stand strong. The Savior is closer than we all think. He stands behind us to push us forward, in front of us to lead us, to our side to comfort us, under us to sustain us, and above all over us to pull us up. He loves you. I testify that there is hope in and through Him. Espero el dia cuando puedo estar con El y mirar en sus ojos, y darle gracious. Voy a ver las marcas en sus manos y sus pies y solo voy a poder decir Gracias.

Mucho Amor,
Elder Kipp

Hello Family and Friends

Hey peeps,
Another beautiful week from Red Deer. Sunny and warm, just how we like it. But this week was kinda hectic. We switched our apartments with the sisters. We both felt like it would be a good idea. They live in a sketchier part of our area and someone tried to break into their apartment a couple of weeks back. So we changed with them, especially because ours is on the second floor and theirs wasn't. But we like the place and we are already meeting our nieghbors. The guy that lives next door helped us move in and when we were finished he said, "I am not religious, but I know he is there." Really cool moment.

So I got news that Martha was able to go to the temple last week and do baptisms for the dead. She got to be baptized for her grandmother and uncle, and 20 other people. ;) She was like "10 was ok, but 20 was a lot of times to be dunked." She is so funny. She said she felt absolutly amazing and she can't wait a year to go back and see the rest of the temple. It is an amazing feeling as a missionary to see the people you taught progressing and having desires to go to the temple. Truly, nothing like it.

Mucho amor, Elder Kipp

 

Gracias

Hey everyone,

 

It was great to be able to call home yesterday. My last call, and I can't believe it. Time goes by so fast. I love how the prophet and apostles council us on enjoying the little moments in life. If I didnt I think that I would go crazy. Also I have been thinking a lot lately on how when we think "Wo is me", we should shift our focus on the things that we are grateful and remembering to say "Gracias". A thankful heart shoves all anger and sadness from a tough day. Let us all be thankful for what our Father gives us. Especially our families. Good to talk to my family, and I wish that more could have been there.

 

Well last week was pretty hectic (hence no email). But how did you like the qoute? Our area was split in two! We knew about it for a long time but we couldn't disclose the information. Secret Business. But we are super excited to have another set of elders in the ward and so is the ward. Elder Coomer is new and is from West Phoenix and Elder Rydalch is from Oakley, Utah. They are both here to work. A lot of the week was spent on getting them moved into their new apartment and helping them get situated. Also getting all the other missionaries situated becasue of transfers. We got three new elders and sisters fresh from the MTC. Our zone is pretty young. You know what that means GREENY FIRE. Its the best. We are seeing growth in number of investigators and eventually we will see more people entering the kingdom of God. Which os good for everyone. We also had to prepare a Zone Training Meeting for Thursday. It went very well with our three trainings. One on helping people understand the "Why" of going to church, another on teaching people and not just lessons, and also how conversion is directly related to obedience. I love being able to train missionaries because you end up learning the most.

 

We had a good week teaching less active members. We had a very powreful lesson with a couple that hasn't been to church for a while. We explained the PLan of Salvation and it was really cool how the Spirit directed the lesson to prophets. We ended up testifying of modern day prophets and the Spirit was really filling the room. You could tell that that was exactly what they needed. We are struggling to find investigators at the moment but not loosing momentum. The ward is really responding to us meeting their friends and just the challange to get to know us. We are excited to see what will come of it. We are going to find someone ready this week. I can feel it.

 

Luv you all a bunch and hope the blessings of heavan be upon you all.

 

Mucho Amor

 

Elder Kipp