¡Hace frío!

¡Hola muchachos! ¿Cómo están?!?

 

Well, last week was a great week. We had no snow but it is still getting pretty cold. The lowest we saw last week was about -13. I feel myself getting used to it a lot more, but when it hits -40 I don't know what I am going to do. I just pray that the Spirit can warm me up. I just hope that we can have a white Christmas.

 

This week we had a lot of our lessons cancel, but many little experiences made up for it. We had to say goodbye to one of our best members named Modesto. He is from Mexico and is up here for work. His family used to live here about two years ago but they left and he stayed behind. He has decided to move back to be with his family. But he is a truly great man. I met with him about 4 times in my time here and he helped us find a great person to teach. He is really missionary minded and I really am going to miss him. He is probably one of the most humble people that I have ever met. I will truly miss him and hopefully I can stay in contact with him.

 

We were teaching a younger guy named Vianney and we had to turn him over to the south side when he moved. He was one of the first people that we taught while I was here and I was really sad when we could not teach him anymore. But we are happy to hear that he is getting baptized on Saturday and he asked if Elder EZ could baptize him. We are really excited that he has made the choice to be baptized. Even though we did not get to teach him the whole time, I recieve joy that he is going to change his life for the better. He was really funny in the beginning because he had so many good questions and he was honestly interested. AHH I'm so excited.

 

I have to tell you guys about an experience we had on Saturday. We went to try to visit a less-active member and they were not home. But, as we left the door and started walking into the street, a car pulled up and a young man yelled out his window and said, "Are you mormons? I want to ask you some questions. Get in my car and we can go talk." We explained that we could not get into his car but we could follow him to his apartment. We went and started talking to him and noticed that he has a Spanish accent. It turns out that he is from Argentina and had a lot of good questions for us. We invited him to the ward party that night and he came! He met some of the Spanish members and he seemed to have a good time. He has to work and is going to be out of town until January. So we are going to get in contact with him then and meet with him. Elder EZ and I really felt the Spirit strong when we were talking to him. He seems like a great guy. I'll keep ya posted.

 

On Friday we had our Christmas conference. It was super fun. We had some trainings by President Campbell and his wife to bring us into the Christmas season and then we had a great lunch. It was super delicious and it ended with the best dessert...cheesecake. Then we had a talent show. Many people in our mission are musically talented, by not our zone. So we performed Johnny Lingo. It was super cheezy but super fun. Then Elder Ez planned a funny skit with President. To get his hair cut in front of everyone. They planned to just have President call up a volunteer to demonstrate proper hair length. It was a surprise and everybody bought it. We all got gifts from our wards and got to sit on Santa's Lap. Ha ha!  It was a older elder from the office. But a fun day to help us remember Christmas and the real meaning.

 

But my Spiritual thought for the week is not a scripture or any deep doctrine. Probably the most simple thing that the Savior taught to us: Just go out of your way to say hello to someone and share a smile with someone. The Saviour taught us that we need to treat others with kindness, not just around Chirstmas but all the year. Let this special time of year remind us that we are trying to be like Jesus. This is what will make us truly happy.

 

¡Les amo muchísimo! ¡Feliz Navidad!!!!

 

Elder Kipp

HOLA!!!

¡Buenos Dias! ¿Cómo está todo en el mundo afuera de la misión?

Well, this week it started out snowing a bunch. It is not so cold but it is turning out to be a white Christmas. I haven't seen a white Christmas in a long time. But everything is getting colder and whiter. I pulled out my overcoat to keep me warm and snow boots to help me not slip this week. Alberta is weird like that. It will snow a bunch and then get hot so it all melts. Then it all melts and freezes. So it can get a little dangerous. I have only fallen once. Thank goodness, because the thing in the mission is if you fall you have to buy your district doughnuts. That is a good purk, except when you are the one falling!

This week was really good. We started off rough with a lot of people cancelling on us and not showing up for appointments. But that just gives us more motivation to find more people to teach. We have been working a lot with the less active members and getting their trust in order to get them back to church. We met with a older lady named Sister Orellana. She is so sweet and her little dog loves me so much for some reason. Both times we have visisted her, the dog has jumped on my lap and won't move. We talked about faith and tried to get her going to church. But she is going back to El Salvador for about a month and hopefully she will return and get back to church. Also, we are working with the Cruz Family from Columbia and they are really hard to get a hold of but have been back to church once.

We went on exchanges with the the district leader on Tuesday. It was really fun to be with Elder Skousen again, even though he is a goofball. We helped someone move for about 2 hours and it brought me back to the summer when I worked for Muscular Moving Men. The woman that we helped move reminded me of mom during moving times. She was super OCD about the placing of her things and where she wanted them. It made me laugh. But we met with a return missionary that went to Chile. His name is Brother Myer. He is super cool and I got to share the message in Spanish. It was a little nerve racking but i got through it.

We were trying to get in touch with a former investigator that Elder EZ knew and couldn't for a long time. But we were near her house and it just so happened that we found her. We talked for a while and invited her to one of our ward's Christmas parties. Her name is Marcela and her mother's name is Synthia. They want to go to church but they both have to work. So I'll keep you posted on their situation. Yesterday, we were asked to help out with a recent convert's baby blessing. He is actually in Mexico trying to work out his citizenship here. But it was a great experience and we were honored that we where able to help. We then went over to a member's house named the Cristanshens. He is from Columbia and they made us dinner and we watched the Christmas devotional. It was really exciting. I recommend it if you have not seen it yet.

I also recommend pupusas if you have not had them yet. A member made them for us and they were amazing. But everything is going good. Still trying to keep the work going and doing what we can in the vineyard. Thanks for all the support and prayers. Keep the faith and the fire of Christ burning always!

Mucho amor,

Elder Kipp!!!

HOLA de CANADA!?!?!

Como estan ustedes?!? It has been a fun week full of spiritual experiences and challenges that are making me grow!

First of all, we started our Spanish class this week and tried to make it really fun. We have two non-member people there so it should work out good if we can start teaching them. They are both not very good at Spanish so it is helping them to learn some English that they can use in their work. We also met with our stake representative for Spanish this week and he gave us some great advice on getting some of the less active members back to church. We also met with a man named Jaime and his family. They are interested in going to church and we are hoping that they can get involved with the members. We also stopped by the house of a woman that was a potential but turned out that she was a less active member. So we are going to try and get her back to church.

The work has been a little slowed down from the snow. But we are still pushing along and trying our hardest to find new people to teach. I'm sorry I don't have much time today but just know that things are going well. I went on exchanges with my zone leader on Friday and it was so fun. We worked really hard and I felt accomplished when my head hit the pillow. It is a different experience going tracting -ha ha.


Spiritual Thought: We talked in church on Sunday about the final judgement and exaltation. It is very interesting to hear all the opinions on who and how we will be judged. Read the last chapter in the Gospel Principles manual. This lines out the things we must do to receive exaltation and live with our families forever. Also Read Matthew 25:23. This is what I want to hear when I get to heaven.

Mucho Amor,

Elder Kipppppppppppp

Hola! Bienvenidos a la nieve y el frio!

Hola!

It is snowing a lot in Canada! Thats for sure eh. But nothing is prettier than looking out my 11 story building window onto the snow covering the city. It has been a little scary because the temperature keeps going up and down so there is a lot of ice. On Thursday it was -10 celsius. But with the windchill it was -35! It was incredibly cold. I cannot believe that it is going to get even colder. I enjoy driving because it is a new challenge. And I was suprised to find out that the drivers in Canada are very good in the snow. But that still does not change how many accidents there are. It makes it a little hard because we cannot book appointments with people too close together. And because we have such a big area we find ourselves in sticky situations. But the work still goes on and we are still trying to find people to teach.

Last week we made invitations to an English class that we are going to teach twice a week. It should be very fun. And hopefully we can get a lot of people there that are interested in the gospel as well. I don't know how good of English teachers we are but I am looking forward to helping people out. We figured we can promote the Book of Mormon by reading from it during the class. And then stress that it will help them with their English. BOOYAH! We are sneaky.

This week was a little slow because we are getting used to the snow but we have still been able to meet with some new people that seem interested. We still do not have any progressing investigators and that is difficult. But we excercise faith everytime we go out the door or call someone to get into a lesson. I have been praying very hard and I am learning that things never turn out the way that you think. People that are interested in the blessings of the gospel are never the people that you expect. That is why I constantly need to remember that we really do not have that big of a part in this whole process. We are just kind of "pushing" people in the right direction. But we are trying to find new ways to keep up the motivation.

I got the opportunity to teach gospel doctrine yesterday. It was such a fun experience because I found out that I was teaching during sacrament meeting! But I taught about the postmortal spirit world. This topic always is interesting to me because it gives the answer to where do we go after we die. There was an investigator that had been taught the plan of salvation but he had a lot of questions. We had a great conversation about what the world will be like after we die. It will be a great time for missionary work and the people that choose to follow Christ will find great joy.

Spiritual Thought: What do we need to do to take away power from Satan? And will Satan be bound in the millenium or will the people living have no desire to sin? (Hint: 3 Nephi Chapters 18-27)

I know this is the true work of God. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives and guides this work. I feel happiness when I do what is right which brings me closer to my Heavenly Father. I know with all my heart that the Book of Mormon is true. I have read it and prayed about it. Read it. Pray about it. You will recieve an answer. This answer will bring you joy in your life.

Mucho amor para ustedes.

Elder Kipp

It Snowed!!!

Hola! ¿Comó estan?

It has been a very cold week here in old Canada and I am happy to say that I am staying warm. I feel really bad about the people that are homeless here because they must be so cold. We meet a lot of them and we try to help them out as much as possible. But it is snowing officially in Canada! It did not stick very much but everyone is telling me that it is going to get worse. I am ready for the snow though! It is so white all over and so beautiful. People tell me that it is some of the purest snow in the world because it is so far north. But remember to not eat the yellow snow!

Last night we went to the Spanish broadcast that they had at the conference center for all Spanish speakers. It was very cool to hear everything in Spanish. I could not understand most of it, but my companion helped me out a lot and I could feel the Spirit and that is what matters most, right? There was a slim turnout but the people that attented said that it was what they needed to hear and it was definitely inspired for the Spanish community. They talked about keeping our covenants all the time and constantly remembering why we made them. Also, they talked about the blessing of having the Holy Ghost in our lives. If you get a chance to read it or listen to it, I recommend it.

But we are continueing to meet with a lot of members and sharing the benefits for everyone when they participate in missionary work. We have been having a lot of work coming out of one of our areas named Castledowns. The bishop and one of his counselors are Spanish speakers and there are many families that are members as well. The English missionaries there are on fire and we are thinking we can tap into this as well. We don't have any investigators at the moment, but we have faith that the Lord will help us find people to teach. We went to an area in this ward boundry that is prominently Spanish. The first two doors that we tracted into let us in and allowed us to talk and share a message with them. This is always very exciting.

It was the end of the tranfer today. It is very funny how missionaries get so worked up about moving around into new areas. I am trying to stay out of it, but it is really exciting and sad at the same time to see people come and go out of your district and go to new areas. We just need to remember that it is all the Lord's work and he knows better than us the people that we can affect. I have realized such a big difference in the times when I focus on myself and when I focus on other people. You find more joy when you are working for other people and not for yourself. When we focus on other people we find that we get even more for ourselves and we grow even more. The Lord does know us and our weaknesses. The mission really does show you your weaknesses because the Lord wants you to fix them through serving others.

Spiritual Thought: Read Mosiah 5. This chapter outlines what it means to be followers of Christ and how we can grow and have his name upon us all the time. I always love hearing this in the sacrament prayer. That we will ALWAYS remember him and take his name upon us. We as missionaries need to do this all the time. Hopefully we can be followers of Christ in our actions and the way we treat others.

Everyone have a great week, and have a cup of hot chocolate for me.
Mucho Amor

Elder Kipp

¿Comó le vá?

This week has been a good week full of the roller coaster of missionary work. I don't think that at any other time in my life have I had the oppurtunity to do so much for other people. It makes you so happy. It really gives you a new attitude and I can see the difference in perspective I have gained. But it has been getting colder and colder. On Thursday it was -10 and the wind chill was pretty high. But I am staying warm. It has not snowed yet but maybe this week we will be receiving some nieve.

All the members up here that speak Spanish are so cool. When we go eat dinner they just keep wanting to feed you. But I love it. Not going to lie - it keeps me sane when we get to meet with members, share a message, and get them interested in missionary work. One ward in particular called the Castledowns ward has been helping us out a lot with finding people to teach. There recently-called bishop is from Mexico and there are a lot of Spanish members in that ward. So we are hoping for great things from this ward. One of the referrals that we received from a member in this ward is great. Their names are Carlos and Ofelia and they are really interested in the gospel. He is a member and wants to come back to church and wants his wife to get baptized. He is from El Salvador and she is from Columbia. She speaks super fast! Sometimes I have to look at my companion because I have no idea what she said to me. But I am looking forward to meeting with them again and sharing my testimony with them.

Elder EZ had leadership training this week for two days. It was really draining for him but I think he got a lot out of it. I got to work with Elder Skousen and it was really fun. We went and visited a man named Frank. He is pretty awesome. I think he has autism and is has been a member of the church for about 8 years. He invited us in ang gave us some frozen lemonade and some cheese puffs. He loves meeting with the missionaries and I wish I could visit him everyday. He is so fun to talk to and you can feel his caring personality from the minute you meet him. I love people like Frank because we can learn so much from them.

My Spanish has been growing but it is hard because we are not being immersed in it. But I pray everyday that I can learn more and keep having faith. People keep telling me that I need to drink a lot of hot sauce to keep my Spanish up. Anybody have some good tips on how to help my Spanish more? I can tell that it has grown so much in the little over a month that I have been here. I will come back a true Spaniard. Something that was hard yesterday was that we had to turn over an investigator named Vianney. He has been progressing well. He lived on the border and we thought that we could keep teaching him, but we learned last night that he needs to be taught by Spanish south. It is hard to not be able to see him anymore, but we know that it is the Lord's will and we hope the best for him.

Spiritual thought: Read 1 Nephi 8: What does the fruit represent and how can we grow our seed into a fruit. Compare to Alma 32. You will find that faith is the most important aspect of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mucho Amor

Elder Kipp

Feliz Noche De Brujas!

Happy Halloween!

Que Tal? How is everyone doing? It has been a very interesting week, full of challenges and great times as well. Edmonton is started to show us the cold shoulder. I had to break out the gloves for the first time this week and my cheeks have been rosey red. I have learned in my short time here that life as a missionary is very unpredictable and it just seems like things are hard, but in the end it all works out. Today is going to be a little weird because we have P-day until 6 and then we all have to be in our apartments because there are going to be a lot of crazies out there. I keep telling people that we get to dress up too: Just as full-time missionaries. People get a kick out of that.

But we met with a lot of members this week and are trying to get in touch with the Spanish members because there has not really been a presence of Spanish missionaries here in about a year. But one ward in particular is getting really involved in the work and we received 3 referrals this week, which is really rare for Spanish in Edmonton. But Elder EZ had a very good idea to give members a copy of the Libro de Mormon and ask them to put a picture of their family and their testimony in the front. Then, they can start fellowshipping people into the ward. We need to remember that we are called as full time teachers and the members are full time finders. It really does make missionary work more effective when the memebers help out a lot. One of the recent converts is getting deported to mexico and he recently had a baby. He is going to spend about 6 months there. It is going to be hard for him but he is such a stud because he is being so positive about it. He finds it as an opportunity to see his family and share the gospel with them. I am going to miss seeing him every week.

But a lot of our lessons with investigators have been cancelling and it is really hard to stay in contact with them. But we are staying positive and trying to widen our teaching pool. No effort goes unnoticed in this work. Everyday I learn that our part in this work is very minimal compared to the Saviors. But I really love meeting new people and just learning about there background and seeing how the gospel can help them in their lives. We may never realize how we affect people and how the Lord's plan for them has us involved. I have learned that we are not only asked to follow the commandments in our own lives to make us happier, but to be an example to others and help them find that happiness that we so much enjoy.

Funny story. We were really late to an appointment last night because we got lost, so we just called them and tried to reschedule. So we went back to our apartment and went street contacting. Even though we don't find many Spanish people while we do this, we find that we meet many people that other missionaries can teach. But we met some very funny homeless people and they asked us if we had any money. I made a fatal mistake. I said "I don't have any Canadian money, all i got is some American dollars." I was done. Before we realized there was about 10 homeless people surrounding us asking for money. I told them that I would not give them any money but I would buy them some food. They all left except this one older woman and she was telling us some crazy stories and I eventually bought here some wonton soup. It was a funny experience. I love living downtown.

Spiritual Thought!: 2 Nephi 33:11 - This is a great scripture that testifies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. If you believe in Jesus Christ you must believe in the words of this book because they testify of his divinity and life. If you believe in the words of this book, you will believe in Jesus Christ as well. They go hand in hand. So if you want to grow your testimony in Christ, read this book. It is the best way to do it. I also stress to get involved with your ward and missionary work. Pray about people that you know and be listening if they are ready to hear the gospel. The members are a major factor in the finding of people for the missionaries to teach. All you have to do is pray, open your mouth and be a friend. Everyone wins in missionary work!

Well have a great Halloween and don't eat too much candy!

Mucho Ammmmmorrrr!

Elder Kipp