Hola! Como estan? Tengo gozo en mi alma ahora!

Porque estoy saliendo el martes! A las 4 de la manana! Que loco, no!? It has been a great week in the life of an elder at the MTC. It is so incredible that I am leaving in less than 4 days to head off to cold Canada. I met an Elder that is from Edmonton at lunch yesterday. He was overjoyed to find that I am going to where he grew up. He told me that the members and the people are just amazingly nice. He also told me that it is really cold, but I would get used to it. He worked for a construction company over the summer and said that there are lots of Spanish speakers but not many spanish members. Most of the latin people that are in Edmonton are there for the work so it is hard to keep a branch. He told me that my mission president is great and I would love him. This gives me a lot of motivation to get up there and start pushing the work for the Spanish members. The field is really all ready to harvest. I pray that I can have the companionship of the Savior and the Holy Ghost to lead me to people that need the gospel.

I got my travel plans last Friday. My flight leaves on Tuesday morning at 7:10 am from the SLC airport. I have a half an hour layover in Denver ad then off to Canada. I will be arriving in the cold at about noon. I am so excited to finally be going. I love the MTC and I have grown so much here but it is time to leave. I am ready to use the skills that I have learned and focus on the people rather than me learning. Yesterday me and Elder Anderson where given the chance to demonstrate "How to Begin Teaching" to a group of new Elders that arrived yesterday. We were placed in a room with about 30 new elders and we got to teach 2 investigators (actors). We started the lesson off with conversation about religious backround and introducing principles of the gospel. At an appropriate point in the lesson we were cut off and the new elders got to take over. It was a great oppportunity to help other Elders and also to strengthen my teaching skills. I have realized since I got here that people are just people. They want to just have a conversation and learn new things. Everyone has different needs and different questions. Our job as missionaries is, with the Spirit, figure out new ways to present the gospel to people and build their relationship with Heavanly Father. The gospel is for everyone, it helps everyones problems in a unique way. That is what is so amazing about this church. We are all part of a church run by Jesus Christ with standards and values, but it is also incredibly individualized. Anyones problems can be fixed by the Savior and gaining a relationship with Heavanly Father.

On Tuesday, the devotional was given by Elder Clark of the Seventy. It was the perfect talk to be leaving on. He said something that really touched my heart. "Don't just go through the mission, allow the mission to go through you." Meaning that we need to allow the mission and the work of the Lord to become all we are about for the next 22 months. It is hard sometimes but I have faith that I will become a tool in the Master's hand and have a front row seat to the greatest miracle on earth, the true change of heart through the gospel of JesuCristo. Another thing that he mentioned was that it is not intelligence that converts people, but really diligence and realization of the Spirit. We as missionaries are not capable of solving other people's problems or converting them without the Holy Ghost. We are simply providing an environment for the Spirit to teach people.

Spiritual Thought: Read Mosiah 18:9. Think if you have made a difference in the life of someone else today.

Mucho Amor,

Elder Kipp