Blazin Weather and Chicken wings

It is so. Stinkin'. Hot here. I never thought I'd say that about Canada, but here I am. Saying that it's stinkin' hot here. Like, 33 Celsius. I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit and I'm too lazy to look, but I know that it's hot and I've got a pretty good tan line. 

Because it's summer and I'm serving in a first world country, things have been pretty slow. Everyone is out of town for vacation or they don't want to commit/follow up on appointments. So we have been doing a lot of service and working with the members to try and get referrals or think of new ways to work with people they know. 

And something cool came from it! There's a less active lady in our ward who we hadn't seen in a while and we decided to stop by her the other day. She's married to a non-member, and when we got there, she told us she'd been thinking of having us over to give her husband the discussions. Awesome! We have an appointment with them on Tuesday, so we'll pray that it goes well! 

And then we had a meeting in Calgary this last week. It was great, focusing on fearing God more than man, which is something I needed to hear. I've been having a lot of fears lately that I need to put in the Lord's hands to help me overcome. I know that meeting was totally inspired. 

After the meeting, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. And guess what I did. 

That's right. 

The Blazin' Challenge. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with Buffalo Wild Wings, the Blazin' Challenge is where you have five minutes to eat ten chicken wings, covered in their blazin' sauce, the hottest sauce they have. And you can't drink anything or wipe your mouth/fingers/hands until you're finished. My strategy was to tear all the chicken off the bones and then shovel it in, because I knew if I did it wing by wing, I'd never finish. And I really wanted the t-shirt they give you if you make it! So I did that. And about half way through, my hands started going numb, and my throat was closing up, and my eyes were watering and I thought I was going to throw up. But, gosh dang-it, I wanted that t-shirt! And I got it, because I was doing the challenge with three other elders and I would NOT be the one to not finish! I even beat one of the elders, so that was awesome. 

But be warned. 

This is not a challenge for the weak hearted. 

Because later, I got some sauce in my eye, and that hurt a tonnnnn. 

But the t-shirt was worth it. And I'm never going to do it again. (:

I want to encourage you all to be more missionary minded this week with the missionaries serving in your ward. They're doing the best they can, but they need all the help of the ward members they can get. And they miss their moms. So be nice. And tell them you love them and that they're pretty, especially if they're sisters(; 

You guys are all great for being supportive and I'm so thankful for all you do. For those of you near my family, thank you SO MUCH for taking care of them. They are really special to me. Keep doing the things you know to be true, and the Lord will bless you. 

Love,

Sister Pipkin 

Rejections and purposals

David and Susannah Pipkin 

are pleased to announce 

the engagement of their daughter

Karen Joy Pipkin

to 

Liam Leavitt

the son of 

Kasz and Brittany Leavitt

So this is my engagement announcement. You should all be receiving one in the mail. I'll be coming home soon to follow through with this arrangement. 

Lol.

Jk. 

But, I did get engaged to this little guy, Liam, this week. He's 6, but cute as can be, and I'm always teasing him and asking if he's going to marry me after my mission. But this time, I decided I needed to act upon it. 

So I took my ring that I was wearing, and I showed him how to propose. And it was cute and all, and then he gets this wild look in his eyes, tells me to stay here, and books it into his room. I'm standing there, feeling like an abandoned bride, and about ten minutes later, he comes back, dressed to the nines in his Sunday best. He gets down on one knee, takes my ring back, and then proposes again so we can get pictures taken the proper way. 

You guys, my heart melted. I literally think my heart melted into a little puddle on the floor and I have pictures that you can all enjoy the moment from. 

 

But aside from that really exciting moment in my life, this week has been kind of odd. 

Obviously, part of being a missionary is rejection, right? Yeah, I knew that. But. This area is hard, my bruthas and sistas. Everyone has extremely severe substance addictions or has a lot of money and feels that they're above accepting the Lord in their life. So it's quite the character building experience talking to people on the street haha. But it's great. It's taught me how to laugh at myself and at other people. It's great. 

Also, I would like everyone to take a moment to visit your local Taco Bell and enjoy it's yummy goodness. Because here in Canada, they don't do it right. And it depresses me. So enjoy it for me, because I can't. And I'm only slightly bitter about it. 

This week, I sang the Rob Gardner arrangement of "Savior, Redeemer" in sacrament meeting. It was really neat to share my talent with others and to be able to feel the Spirit through it. I love singing, and sometimes I find myself singing bits of songs that don't quite invite the Spirit, and it doesn't do me much good. But when I take the time to hum the tune of a hymn or other uplifting song, I immediately feel a difference. I am so grateful for the gift of music that the Lord has given us to enjoy. It gets me through a lot. 

Sorry this email is kind of shorter. I'm slightly pressed for time and this week is transfer week, so p-day got switched to Tuesday and it totally throws me off and I hate it, but it's cool. 

I love you guys! Thanks for the emails and support! You all rock my socks (:

-Sister Pipkin