¡Boom Vatos!

Hey vatos,

I can't believe that it snowed in Arizona. I am stunned. Well I guess that is just the way it goes. Life would not be exciting if there were no surprises. I love the oppurtunity to change and learn in this life. We are given this surprising life to help us realize the happiness that can be found here and in the life to come.

So we are living comfortably in our new pad and we are trying to keep it super clean because it is a member's house. It is nice living beneath members because if you ever need anything they are right there. We actually had a cool experience. Sister McKeddie (our landlordy) has a friend named Len. He does electrical work. So on Friday he came to our apartment and he fixed the lights that were broken. Turns out that he is a big believer in God and he said something that will always stick with me. "All the time that I have been searching for God, I am always brought back to the same conclusion that I thought in the first place, that He exists. Its like an onion, we have many layers of learning, but they all start from the same point." We are excited because he is willing to meet with us and I feel like he will soak it all up.

So if you have never tried posole, have someone cook it for you. It is a mexican soup made with chicken or pork, and has hamini and many other great things in it. Dont forget the oregano. We had it like 4 times in the past 2 weeks. It is the best.

The recent converts are all doing very good. Martha is getting fellowshipped like crazy and had home teachers that are talking to her like once a week. She is just soaking up the Spirit and is learning a lot more about the doctrine. She went to a Relief Society conference this weekend and she asked us why she was crying. We were like "we dont know if it was your womenly feelings or the Spirit". We concluded a little bit of both. Eduardo still came to chruch yesterday after getting off the road at like 1 o'clock in the morning! Talk about dedication and fire in the gospel. He is exploring the scriptures a lot and loves his new quad given to him by the bishop. Haven't heard from Mauricio in a while.  He is still in El Salvador. But Alex and Chris are still stickin in there to get sealed at the end of this year. And we are finding lots of people through these recent converts. Such a good way to find!

Martha introduced us to her friend named Hilario. We taught a very powerful Restoration lesson and the Spirit was really strong in the middle of the library. He was like "I am not ready to change my religion yet, but maybe in the future." We know he will. You can just feel it with him. It is just a matter of time. He is interested in the BOM and that is one of the most important things. We also started teaching another family from Ecuador this week. They have been living in Spain for the past ten years and just got here to start work. The cool thing is that he looks oriental because his dad is from China. Really funny to be speaking Spanish with a guy that looks Chinese. But he is a member, and she is not. They have two young kids who really want to go to primary. So we are looking forward to teaching them more. Manual was going to get baptized but he is going up to Fort McMurry, like 5 hours away, to work in the oil fields. His member friend is going with him, so we hope for the best with him. He has become a really great friend. I have seen him change inmensely and I will be very content on the day when he makes the committment.

We handed over some investigators this week to some other elders. We found them when we had an impression to try an old potential in one of our areas. We knocked on the door and a very nice native women answered the door and said that she was looking for a church. She has 5 girls and is a single mom. Rough past but ready to change. Her whole family came to church yesterday and stayed the whole time! I just love how the Lord knows His children and the things they need. It reminds me that we need to follow the impressions that we receive because you never know what will happen. Another cool experience. We were calling to confirm an appointment with the Diaz family. There are more that one Diaz in our phone. I called the wrong one but it turned out that this family had a very sick daughter and needed a blessing right then. It was funny because I asked "Oh, I called the wrong family, but do you need anything?" She was stunned and explained the situation and we went over there. We ended up giving more than on blessing. Again the Lord knows his children. And the Lord knows the situation so well that he can even work through our errors.

Well, Elder Schubbert and I are still seeing miracles, how ever small they might be. I am still excited to be where I am. I love this work.

Mucho Amor,

Elder Kipp