One year older and wiser (maybe) too

Happy Karen Day, everyone!!! I hope it was great for everyone, I know Sister Durrant and I had a great Karen Day!(;

Lol, but for real, Happy New Year(:

This week was preeeettttyyyyy slow, as the week after Christmas normally is for missionaries. But we kept busy and had heaps of fun. 

Wednesday, we were at the food bank like we normally are. I was wiping down door handles, when I hear all this whispering behind me. I turn around and everything goes quiet. One of the ladies made eye contact with me and she looked like a deer in the headlights -- guilty! She  quickly fumbled for words and then said, 

"Uh... Sister Pipkin! Come here, I need your help!"

Ok... seems sketchy to me. 

She walks me around this huge shelf and looks at this tiny pile of cans, like six of them, and goes,

"Uh... I need your help putting these cans away."

Still seems sketchy. 

But I helped put the cans away. And then out of nowhere came this chorus of "Happy Birthday" complete with a birthday cake and an entourage of the volunteers at the food bank. It was seriously the sweetest thing ever. I couldn't figure out how they knew about my birthday, I must have been talking about it weeks in advance, but that just doesn't sound like something I would do... (; 

Anywho, the cake was delicious and I just love everyone we work with at the food bank. They're awesome. 

Thursday evening, we had to be in by 6, but luckily we live in the basement of members, so we didn't have to hang out by ourselves for hours and hours on end. They invited us upstairs for hors d'oeuvres and "special juice" as so called by their 4 year-old, or sparkling grape juice. It was fun to be with their family for New Year's Eve. 

Friday was my birthday. Obviously. And it was super sweet. Sister Durrant decorated our mirror and brought me a huge chocolate muffin with a candle to blow out. My trainer, Sister Layton, called and sang me happy birthday, and Sister Durrant wrote me this cute note about how much she loves me. Aww. 

 

And then the elders called and asked if we could unlock the church library for them so they could make a copy of their progress record. So we went to the church to meet them and no one was there. Sooooo I thought we'd just wait in the warm car, but for whatever reason, Sister Durrant wanted to go inside. So we did. She wanted to play the piano in the Relief Society room, which is electric, and she goes, 

"Sister Pipkin, I need help turning on the piano."
"Is it plugged in?"

"Yeah, I just can't figure it out."
"You just push the ON button."

"I know but it's not working, will you please come help me?" 

So we're walking down the hallway to the Relief Society room and I smell burning. I'm all,

"What the crap is burning?"
"What? I don't smell anything. Come on, just help me turn the piano on."

We walkin the room and 

"SURPRISE!!!"

Somehow, and I don't know how they pulled it off, but the elders in my district and Sister Durrant planned a surprise party for me. They got me THE most hilarious birthday card, and they even baked me a cake! So sweet of them. Then one of the elders sang happy birthday to me. It was great. We went to lunch afterwards and had a great time. Then, we had supper at our ward mission leader's home with his family. We had savory fondu and it was soooooooo good. I don't even know how to explain it, but it was delicious. They got me some cute little gifts, and it was just a really awesome birthday. 

Saturday, we spent the day helping one of our friends move. She had everything ready to go and super organized, but everything beyond her control that could've gone wrong did. Poor thing. But through it all, she was a trooper. Her daughter and ex were coming from B.C. with the trailer, but they left later than they'd planned, so they wouldn't be here on time for the elevator that she'd had to pay to reserve for moving. So that was stinky. And then the highway was closed for a few hours because of an accident, so they would be even more late than that. And then, they lady in charge of reserving the elevator was there THE WHOLE TIME we were moving her in and she was awful and terrible and if I wasn't wearing a nametag I would've told her where to shove it. And then, we had to go back the next morning to finish moving everything in that came in the trailer that finally got there. It was so crazy! But it all worked out. And she fed us pizza, which was sweet. Luckily, our friend is super awesome and was positive throughout the whole thing. She's a trooper. And we had fun anyways. 

So that was our week. It's been good. We're looking forward to what this next week will bring. We're trying new ways of finding people to teach, people who are ready to hear the gospel and do the things that Christ asks them. Reading scriptures, saying prayers, going to church, all those things don't sound like huge things to do. But when we do them, they make a huge difference. When we don't do them, they make a huge difference. The Lord has so many blessings He wants to give us, but we need to be willing to do what He asks. And sometimes (actually, most of the time) that's harder than it sounds. But "...I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things which He commandeth them." (1Nephi 3:7)

K, rant over. 

But. I love you guys so much. Thanks for all your support. It means so so so much to me. I am so grateful for this gospel. For the Plan of Salvation that our father has laid out before us. Sometimes, life sucker-punches us in the gut and it sucks. But the Lord has a plan for us. He wants us to be happy. He will provide. 

<3 Sister Pipkin 

Oh, also, that terrifying photo is of Sister Durrant and I. We got these really cool face masks from a member for Christmas that we decided to use. I think we kind of look like the art freaks from Mean Girls, or something off of Nightmare on Elm's Street, but that's just me.