Confessions of a Sister Greenie

Confessions of a Sister Greenie

And by that, I mean, we ran out of toilet paper and money, so throughout the weekend, after members had fed us supper, we shamelessly asked them if they had toilet paper they could lend us. And since we have an amazing ward, we now have a lot. Of toilet paper. 

What else have I done as a greenie? Well, let me tell you. I don't speak Spanish. Which is fine, right? Because I'm not a Spanish missionary, right? Wrong. We have Spanish investigators because our ward is the designated Spanish ward for the area. And that's great and all, except for when we meet with them, we have no idea what's going on. I can do survival Spanish, like ask where the bathroom is or say that I'm hungry, but that doesn't quite cut it. Luckily, we have an awesome ward and the Spanish members come with us to lessons. Even luckier, one of the sisters is an RM and she served in Peru, so she basically takes over. It rocks. And Sister Layton and I sit there and try to make jokes in Spanish and it just doesn't work. Whatever. It's a learning experience. So I might come home being fluent in Spanish. Who knows. 

I had my first zone conference on Friday, which meant we had car inspections. We passed. Kind of. Our was clean, but the sisters who had it before us got pranked by some of the elders, so there's this stain on the side of the car that we can't get off! Stinkin' elders! And we have a broken windshield wiper. And a broken headlight. So not only will I be learning Spanish here in the mission, but also how to replace parts of a car. Also, as part of zone conference, we did a musical arrangement of Be Still My Soul with two elders and my companion. So that was fun. We also took some photos in front of the Cardston temple. The photo is of me and Sister Tilley. She was in my zone in the MTC and she's serving in Raymond right now. She's the sweetest. 

So I was reading in 2Nephi, and I came across this verse in the first chapter, verse 21 that made me laugh so hard. It's not funny, but the way it hit me was just too good. It says, "...arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity." This is Lehi talking to Laman and Lemuel before he dies, and he basically just told them what's up. He's like, Be men! Grow up! Quit being rebellious teenagers and just be obedient because the Lord is frustrated with you, he wants to bless you but you keep being punks! And this is why I thought it was funny, because they're grown men now with families, yet they're still acting like rebellious teenagers who think their dad is a fuddy duddy. It really hit me because obedience has been my goal here on the mission, and Laman and Lemuel are exact examples of what NOT to do. I just loved that. 

We found these fake tattoo finger mustaches that Sister Schell got for her birthday, so we thought we'd take photos with them this morning, so that was fun. 

Not much else happened this week, which is why I only have a few photos for you. It went by really fast though, which was weird. I turned one month on Saturday! Yay! I love you all so much. Thank you for emailing me! You don't even know what it means to me(: 

Signing off, 

Sister Pipkin 

 

 

 

 

Buddhists and B.O.Ms

And by that, I mean Books of Mormon. And by Buddhists, I mean that I tried to give a Book of Mormon to one. Talk about awkward. Let me explain. So we were doing car contacting (which is mildly weird if you think about it. Like hey kid, want a Book of Mormon? anyways) and we weren't having much luck. We saw this little old Asian lady at the bus stop and we thought hey, let's ask her if she wants one. So we strike up a little bit of a conversation and I said, "Well hey, do you want a Book of Mormon?" And she said, "Oh, well I'm of a different faith." And I said, "Oh that's ok! This book is about Jesus!" And she said, "Oh, no, really, I'm ok." And I said, "Come on, everyone believes in Jesus! Don't you believe in Jesus?" And she said, "Well, I'm uh... I'm a Buddhist." So no, no she doesn't believe in Jesus. Insert foot in mouth, eh? I just kind sat there like, well crap, what do I do now? Luckily, my companion rocks and she saved me by following up with, "Well that's ok. Do you know anyone who'd need some service? We'd love to help!" So that was my fun awkward situation of the week.

WE GOT TWO NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK! One was via Facebook. He messaged me and I was like, "WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST?!" And he said yes. Holla. Anyways, he lives in an area where missionaries aren't allowed to proselyte, so we've been having discussions on Facebook and it's awesome. 

Our other new investigator was a referral. He called us and wanted to come to church because he's looking for a new start. Well look no further, sir. He isn't in our are, but he visits some friends on the weekends who live in our area, so we'd planned to meet with him while he was here. AND THEN! He called us the other day and ASKED US IF HE COULD COME TO CHURCH! UHM YES YOU CAN! And he did! He brought his little girl and afterwards he said that this was exactly what he was looking for and that he'd be back next week. CAN I GET AN AMEN! It's sweet. 

Also, for those of you who are wondering, yes, the members here are awesome. We've got every night for the rest of the month scheduled with someone feeding us dinner, so that's awesome. We love our ward, they rock!

So I had my first real life walk-and-talk the other day. We'd stopped at a less-active's home to visit her but she wasn't there. As we were leaving, I saw this guy standing in this big truck type thing in his driveway and I just waved, not thinking anything of it. But then he opened the door and waved and started heading towards me! So I was like, alright, here I go! And I went up and asked him what he was doing. He and his buddy are cleaning out this food truck so they can sell poutine (a Canadian thing. It's like chili on fries or something like that, but I haven't tried it yet) out of it. I was like, "Well cool... Have you ever heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" You guys, I don't even know where that came from. Out of my mouth, obviously, but I was like wait, what? He said he hadn't, so my comp and I kind of talked to him and his sister a little bit and then left them with a pass-along card advertising the #BecauseHeLives video and our number on it. We haven't heard from them yet, but at least we planted the seed!

On Thursday, the Relief Society had an activity hosted by the Spanish sisters in the ward. It was awesome, and we got name tags and since it was a Spanish activity, we pretended to be Hermanas for a few hours, hehe. Our ward is actually the designated ward for Spanish members in the area to go to. So we have a few Spanish investigators and it's a struggle because, uh, no habla espanol. I guess I'll be learning! We also had a few service projects this weekend. We helped run some booths at a gymnastics convention and we helped out at the stake youth conference. They did an MTC training type deal and it was way fun. It was awesome to see the testimonies of these youth grow and their wanting to serve a mission. We loved our little 'zone'. So that's what most of the photos are of, our little zone(: 

This week has gone by really quickly because we've been so busy!! I can't believe I've almost been out for a month, it's crazy! I love you all so much!!! Thanks for you love and support and prayers. Keep praying and reading your scriptures, I know you will be blessed for it!

Signing off,

-Sister Pipkin

Canadians Say 'eh'...Like all the time...

Canadians Say 'Eh'. Like all the time. Yeah, this might be a commonly known thing, but it's still super funny to experience in real life. They say it they way we say 'yeah' or 'huh' at the end of a sentence. Example. "You're our new sister, yeah? (eh)" It's super funny and I love it and I love Canadians and they rock. This place is awesome. And it's not even cold! Ok, that's a lie. It's mildly chilly, but nothing compared to what I apparently have waiting for me in the real winter months. 

I. LOVE. MY. COMPANION. Sister Layton rocks. She's from Arizona and has been out about seven and a half months and she rocks. This week has been quite the transition, but because she's so patient and understanding, it's been smooth sailing and I'm so grateful for that. We've visited a ton of less-active members and the members have fed us every night. We visited with a few investigators this week and they're all just awesome people. Even if they're not super interested, they still feed us. (;

As most of you have discovered, I am now authorized to use Facebook! Yay! But it's only for proselyting purposes and to help share the gospel. SO. Please do not be offended if I don't reply to messages or posts or stuff like that cuz well... I'm kind of not supposed to unless it's sharing the gospel. If you want to talk to me and tell me how awesome I am, you can email me (:

So exciting thing. The other day, Sister Layton had to print off some documents for her taxes that her mom sent her, and she wanted to get rid of it after she was done. However, lacking a shredder, she decided she wanted to burn them. So she's standing over the trashcan in our apartment burning these papers, when things kinda went crazy. For whatever reason, the tiny flame exploded into a huge one and she dropped them into the garbage can and starts screaming, "TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!" and I'm like, ok, I will. So I started blowing on it and yeah, that didn't work. As the trash can liner starts burning and melting, we finally discovered the magical powers of water. Needless, to say, the smoke detector went off and basically, Sister Layton and I don't do well under pressure. But. We have successfully, without poisoning ourselves, made dinner two nights in a row! Yay us! 

Also, Flamin' Hot Cheeto's isn't a thing here in Canada. Like, you can only get them in the states. So if any of you decide you'd like to send me some, I'd love you foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr. 

Here are some photos of my Comp/Trainer and I. She rocks. There's also one of me on the plane, sitting next to one of the Elders going to my mission, who had no sense of personal space. But that's ok. Jesus loves him anyways. 

Today, I was reading in 1Nephi, because President Nicholas asked us to start over, and I cam across this verse in chapter 15, verses 8 and 9. This is where Nephi is talking to Laman and Lemuel about Lehi's vision and he's asking them if they understand it or not. It says: "And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." WELL DUH! YOU HAVEN'T TRIED! It's so vitally important that we learn from these two verses that we cannot expect the Lord to just give us the answer! We have to pray with REAL INTENT. That means to REALLY INTEND to act upon the answer you are given! Stinkin' Laman and Lemuel. They need to have more faith. 

But anyways, that was my little insight of the day. 

I want you all to know that I love you SO MUCH! I'm so grateful for everyone who has emailed me. You don't even know how much that means to me. Even if we haven't talked in ages, EMAIL ME!  Tell me how you've been! I might not respond because I have SO MUCH TO DO, but I will definitely read it and it will make my hear happy(:  

I know that the Savior lives and that He loves each and every one of us. The Lord has a plan for us and He knows what He is doing, so trust Him!!

Signing out, 

Sister Pipkin

Vocal Point and Wardrobe Malfunctions

That's right.

Vocal Point. 

They came for our Sunday Devotional, and I'm not ashamed to say that I totally fangirled and cried during their first song because holy cow, Vocal Point. They were seriously amazing. I've seen them before in concert, but this time was even better because they each shared stories from their missions, and that was super special. They started off with that one song from The Goofy Movie, and then they did a hymn arrangement and then a Christmas medley which was awesome. Then they sang a parody of a song that they rewrote to be about the Savior and it was so stinkin awesome. They sang a few more hymnal arrangements and closed with Nearer My God To Thee, which was seriously the best thing ever. For those of you who don't know, my friend Cory Zwahlen sang this arrangement at his mission farewell with some of our friends, and I'm seriously in love with that song. Ah. So awesome. And it was definitely something I needed. As far as music goes, we get the hymns we sing before class and the random line of some Taylor Swift song I can't get out of my head while I'm in the shower. So I'm super grateful that we were blessed with Vocal Point and their amazing talents. 

And of course we can't end our time here at the MTC without a wardrobe malfunction, because it wouldn't be my life if I did!(; So we're sitting there in class today, going through a role play with a "less active member" and I reach down to fold my dress under me as I sit down, and my hand gets caught in this GIANT HOLE IN THE BACK OF MY DRESS. LIKE WHERE DID IT EVEN COME FROM??? IDK. So I sit there and finish the lesson, and then as we go to walk out of the room, I tactfully grab the back of my dress where the gaping chasm is and hold it so my covenants don't show. As we go to walk back into our classroom, I grab my companions and say, "Sisters, we need to go to the bathroom, NOW." So we went. And they laughed. And thankfully, because my skirt had such volume to it, the hole wasn't that noticeable. Which blew my mind because it was huge. We head back to class, and I can't think about anything else while sitting there, so I blurt out to my teacher, "I have a giant hole in my skirt." And my teacher (who is a guy) looks at me and goes, "uh...." He turns to the sister who was helping him teach and goes, "So... I'm gonna let you take over." And she starts laughing and everyone laughs because I'm the worlds biggest dork. So they let us run to the bookstore and buy a sewing kit and I fixed my skirt and all is well. But if this isn't a perfect depiction of my life, I don't know what is. 

This week has seriously flown by. I cannot believe that I leave for Canada tomorrow, at 4:30am, bright and early. It's crazy how much has changed in two weeks. I hated the MTC with every fiber of my being, but today, I'm sad to leave. My district has grown so close, and I love them all so much. My companions and I are like sisters and I'm sad that we will be splitting from here, but I hope to be paired with them again in the field! We've learned so much from each other, and I'm so grateful that the Lord knows me so well to have stuck me with these people for the last two weeks. My testimony has grown so much, and I know it will grow so much more. 

 

To all of you who wrote me DearElder letters, sent me packages, and wrote me letters, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I can't even describe to you how amazing of a feeling it is to receive mail here at the MTC. It seriously is the best and I can never repay you, but thank you so. so. much. And I just lost my train of thought because Elder Vai called me over to look at a photo of his girlfriend, so I did have something else thoughtful to say, but it's gone now. What a punk. 

Anyways, I love you ALL THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Love, Sister Pipkin