Boom!

Hey guys,

How is everything going? Sorry for no letter last week. We had a crazy day helping getting all the new missionarie's beds into the storage unit. But everything is going incredibly great up here in the great North speaking spanish. I hope everyone is safe and having a smiley day.

Since Martha and Eduardo joined the church in December and January we have been really trying to find new people to teach. We have been going to our faithful members and they have been helping us get to know their friends. As I have been on my mission I have realized that this is the best and most effective way to find those that are searching for the truth. The Lord places people around people that already have the complete truth so that they can get to know the gospel in a calm and friendly manner. Retention is so much better this way and the church expreiences "truth growth". I love seeing people's friends enter into a covenant because both "are edified". To see someone that you have seen change continue on the straight and narrow brings a peace to your life like no other. We got invited to a Tamale Party through Martha's friends and met a bunch of people from Mexico and one family was interested. We are going to meet with them later on this week and we are excited. We also got invited to a baby shower by another member who had the sole purpose of having us meet her friends and seeing if they would be interested in meeting with us. I love the reaction when Spanish people meet a couple of "gringos" that can speak spanish. Even though there aren't that many people that speak spanish we have something different to help us get in with them. We were able to meet a lot of her friends and we got some info and some return appointments. Missionary heaven.

We also have started to teach this guy named Jack. He is from El Salvador and we found him through a former investigator that thought he might be interested. We started talking to him and introduced him to the BOM. Something interesting happened. He was like "I don't read Spanish, I only read English". As Elder Schubbert and I looking at each other surprised, he explained that he never learned to read or write in his mother tongue and when he got to Canada he took the opportunity to learn how to read and write in English. So we are teaching him in Spanish and he is reading in English. I never cease to be amazed up here. We are still helping Manuel progress. He is going to go to Mexico so his progression might be halted a little or it could grow as he sees his family. He still needs to quit smoking and drinking, but his attitude has really changed. He has taught me that your desire and attitude to do whats right has to change before you will change the action, or by changing.   But he is doing great and he is learning a lot. He was supposed to get baptized at the end of February, but we probably will be moving that back a few weeks. I am excited to see if he has changed when he comes back.

Some words of personal opinion and council. If you have home teachers, please let them come over and do their job. We have a less active family that we are working with and their home teachers are trying to get in contact with them. The family told us that they don't want to bug anyone and be a burden for anyone. They don't want people to worry about them. That is what home teaching is for. Home teachers feel an obligation to help their families and they do worry about their families. But that is what they should do! So please help them do their job. I promise you will be blessed and they will as well. Let the program that the Lord made bless your life and those around you like it was designed to do.

I love this work and I feel that the charity in my soul has really grown. I know that that happened because I am serving others. Mucho amor!!

Elder Kipp