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 

I thought this week would never end.

Literally, I thought this week would never end.

But evidently, it did. 

And then I looked back and said, "What did I even do this week?"

The answer is, tracting. 

Ughgggghhh you guys I hate tracting. I don't know, something about people slamming the door in my face isn't very appealing. Maybe that's just me? But we did it anyways. Lots of it. And street contacting. And visiting with less active members and doing service and receiving rides from members because it rained like every day this week. And that's basically it. 

I feel really bad that nothing cool happened this week. And I don't have any funny stories to tell either. SORRY GUYS I'LL DO BETTER NEXT WEEK.

Oh wait. 

There is one.

Yesterday, we had supper with the elders at a member's home. They have eight children, and number nine on the way, but they are some of the most well behaved children I've ever met. Anyways. I wrote a song on the ukulele a couple weeks back and as part of our dinner message, I shared that with them. And then they asked me to sing it again so they could record it. And then they decided to go stalk my YouTube profile. HOLY AWKWARD IT WAS SO EMBARRASSING. There are videos from songs I wrote like back in 9th grade and they forced us to sit there and watch ALL OF THEM and the elders were there too! *sigh* Super embarrassing. But. They're a great family and I totally want to be just like them some day. Just maybe not eight kids...

I love you guys a ton and I'm super grateful for all the support that comes my way from you all. You're the greatest and I couldn't do this without you. 

Enjoy these photos. 

 

This one was taken this morning while we walked our laundry to a member's home. For whatever reason, we didn't have our car and I was not happy about walking my laundry. So Sister McDonald had to take a photo. And then, mom, I got that skirt and I took a photo in it. Look, mommy, I'm a princess! (: 

Love you!

-Sister Pipkin

 

 

That one time I held a bottle of Vodka....

You all remember our investigator, Dave, right? The one that was super drunk

 the first time we met him? Of course you do, I talk about him like every week. 

Well, he had sort of a relapse this week. Actually, he had like three relapses. BUT

 THAT'S OK BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ATONEMENT FOR A REASON! But

 the story is a great one. So here I go.

Earlier this week, I was on exchanges in my area with Sister Hernandez. We had
 an appointment scheduled with Dave and Michelle for that afternoon at 2, but he
called and said he had to cancel for a doctor's appointment. So we did some other
 stuff and then started walking down the street, when I look over and who comes
of out the liquor store? Dave. My goodness gracious, I about peed myself. 

I yelled, "Dave!" He looked around, trying to figure out where the voice came from,
 and then I yelled his name again. This time, he saw me, and tried to hide the bag
 behind his back, as if I didn't see him walking out of the liquor store. 

I marched up to him and said, "Give that to me." 

He hung his had and handed me the bag, and then looked at me all confused and said,
"Hey, you give that back!." 

"No way, Jose," I said. "I'm going to pour this out right here, how much did you spend
 on it anyways?" 

"Ten bucks," he said. "No, don't pour it on the sidewalk, that's a waste. But I don't want
 Michelle to see it, either." 

"Where is Michelle?" I said. 

"At home in the pool," he said. 

"Alright, well let's go show her what you got!" I said, and then we walked him to his house,
 which is literally right behind the liquor store. Convenient, I know. I walked in the front
 door and into the back yard, holding this bottle of vodka and yelled, "Michelle! I brought you something!" 

She climbs out of the pool and into the house and looks at Dave and says, "David! Aw,
come on." 

"I'm pouring this down the drain," I said, but Michelle asked me to let Dave do it. No way
 was I going to let him do it on his own, so I held the bottle over the sink, waiting for him
 to come pour it down the drain with me. He puts his hand on the bottle and pulls it to his
 lips like he's going to take one last drink before we pour it. 

"Oh no you don't," I said, and pulled the bottle down, placed his hand over mine, and we
 poured that whole bottle of vodka down the drain. It was glorious. 

Needless to say, this week has been rough. When someone has an addiction, they can't just
 overcome it right there. It takes a lot of work and support, and effort on their part to accept
 that the Savior really can help them and that's what the enabling power of the atonement is
 for. So we're working hard with them and we will never ever give up. They need this gospel
 so much and I can just see them being sealed in the temple some day. 

Other than that, this week has been pretty slow. Because it's summer, everyone is out of
town, so it's hard to meet with our less active members and finding new people to teach is
super hard. Especially because it's hotter than Hades outside, so there's no one to street
contact and people get suuuuper upset when they open their door and we're standing there
all sweaty and crap. It's great haha. 

This work is so. Hard. And we can't do heaven's work without heaven's power. So It's been
 a week full of praying and praying and praying, because I can't do this without the Lord'
 help. It's His work, and it will happen how He wants it to. 

I love you all so much and I'm extremely grateful for those of you who email me and send
 me letters and stuff. Emily, you're slacking. But I still love you. 

Loveeeeee,

Sister Pipkin

P.S. here's a photo of me and my baby. Sorry it's blurry and sorry it's the only one, but oh well. 

The blind leading the blind.....an old post that I missed

The last two weeks have been kind of insane. I say 'two weeks' because Sister Layton had the flu on p-day last week, so most of you haven't  heard from me for two weeks. I'll start from the beginning... maybe, there's so much, I don't even know how to do this lol. 

First thing's first. I gave my first Law of Chastity lesson. To a member. For a dinner message. Why? Because Elder McLaren and Elder Gill dared me to. They didn't think I, the greenie, could do it! Well... I proved them wrong. Because I totally did it and I didn't even laugh. Not once. Point for Sister Pipkin. 

And then we had our first real lesson with our investigator, Dave, and his wife, Michelle. And we put him on date for baptism. Yes, this is the drunk one. And it's so awesome and we're so extremely excited for him. And then later on in the week, Michelle asked us of her own free will if SHE could get baptized too! Of course we said yes, duh! They've been to church the last two weeks and the ward has welcomed them with loving, open arms, and it's been awesome. We haven't hardly done anything, but the Lord is working with them to help them change their lives for the better. I couldn't be more excited for them. 

And then on Wednesday, I got "the call." What is this call, you might ask? Well.. it's the training call. The call that the AP's make to tell us who is training this next transfer. 

Guess who's training.
Me. 

Yup. 

So I went from being the trainee, to training. 

Whaaaaat????

And because of that, every day since then has been a whirlwind of chaos. Sister Layton got sick, we missed P-day, she's been trying to pack and say goodbye to people because she's being transferred, and it's been so chaotic. 

Skip forward a week to this last Wednesday. We drove up to Calgary to pick up my baby (my trainee) and bring her back to the good land of Lethbridge. Now, I knew training was going to be hard, but I think I underestimated it quite a bit. Lots of things have changed and it's just been tough. It's hard adjusting to a new companion, not to mention training that new companion. But, Sister McDonald, my baby, is a great missionary, and she came here to work. She's going to do awesome. 

This being said, I've really been struggling. The last couple of days has been a lot of praying on my knees for Heavenly Father to comfort and guide me, to help me know how to teach this new missionary what I know and to be able to be taught by her. So, yeah, I've been doing lots of praying and crying and just straight up struggling. I've been struggling with a lot of anxiety, and I would just ask that you pray for me. And maybe email me and tell me that I'm pretty and that you love me. That'd be sweet too (;

I want you all to know that I LOVE this gospel. That's why I'm out here serving, struggling, and sharing with others. Because this isn't easy, but  I know the Lord will bless me for it. I know my Savior lives. I have felt His comfort over the course of the last couple of days and I know He knows what I"m feeling and going through. I love you all so much and I'm grateful for your love and support. 

-Sister Pipkin 

Bike riding and baby hungry

This week, we got bikes. 

Yayyy. 

Not. 

I know I'm being extremely spoiled when I say this, but I miss the car we were using. It was sooooo helpful. And, let's just face it, riding a bike in a skirt just isn't all that fun. Neither are those seats. Ouchie. 

But! It's an adventure. And it's kind of fun when I decide to make it so. So here is a photo of Sister McDonald and I in our cute little bike helmets. 

In other news, our investigators, Dave and Michelle, are on date for baptism on July 18th! We're extremely excited for them. Dave is our drunk friend, who has now stopped drinking, and Michelle is his beautiful wife. They've decided to get baptized on the same date and we're doing all we can to help them reach that goal! And then we found out that Michelle smokes. Lol. So that was a cute little bump in the road. But, no fear! We taught them how to fast, and that was something that they fasted for, that Michelle would be able to quit smoking by the 18th. And they're just rocking all the commitments we're leaving them. They study the Book of Mormon together and they read the Gospel Principles manual they received from Sunday school, and it's just awesome. They're so golden. Next step, temple sealing! Yay yay yay! (:

We've done LOTS of service this week, which is awesome. But I'm also really sore from it, which is also awesome, but kind of pathetic haha. And from all this service and walking/biking everywhere, I've got a great tan. A sister missionary tan, but still, a tan. Bet you didn't think you'd send me off to Canada to get a good tan, eh? (; 

The elders serving in one of the wards in my zone had a baptism for their investigator, and they asked Sister McDonald and I to do a presentation on the Restoration while their investagator was getting changed after the actual dunking. So we did. And we didn't prepare that well because we've been so busy, but it turned out really well! We started off with playing the Telephone game around the room and tied that in to how we need prophets on the earth today to guide and direct us, leading into the Great Apostasy and the First Vision. It was a cool thing!

Mom, I got your package. THANK YOU I NEEDED THAT YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER. And Grandma, I got the face wash. THANK YOU I NEEDED THAT YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER. And Bishop and Sister Argyle, I got your letter. And mom, tell Jo at Dr. Hill's that I got her letter. And Trystan, I got your letter! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

P.S. 

Also, this random toilet I found in a back alley while we were walking. If you know me, you know that I HAD TO take a photo on it. If you don't know me, then what the heck? (;

-Sister Pipkin

AWKWARD

I forgot to talk about the baby hungry portion of this week. 

EVERYONE AROUND ME HAS BABIES AND I JUST WANT TO HOLD ONE! Being a sister missionary is like super duper fun, except I can't hold people's babies. And it's awful because THEY'RE SO CUTE WHAT WHY. 

And that's it. It's just been plaguing my mind all week. 

Love you all!

Once upon a time there was a guy named Dave

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Dave. Sister Layton and I met Dave as we were getting ready to get in our car and we saw him walk by with his arm in a sling. Naturally, we asked him what had happened. "Motorcycle accident!" he told us. We talked a little more, and then the kind man went on his way. My companion and I watched him walk into his home and we thought to ourselves that we needed to knock his door sometime soon. But of course, we forgot, and didn't think much about it since then. 

Until. 

Earlier this week, we received a call from Sister Johnson in our ward. She had been sitting in the church foyer waiting for an interview when this man walks into the church, asking who he can talk to to help him know more about the church. Sister Johnson, being the amazing woman that she is, promptly directed him to the missionaries. That would be us. She gave him our info and then she called us to tell us about it. We gave him a call and he wanted us to come over that night! We were already in for curfew, but we set an appointment for the next day. We followed the directions to his home and once we realized where we were, Sister Layton and I started to freak out. THIS WAS THE SAME GUY WE MET BEFORE! We went in and started talking to him, only to realize that he was extremely drunk and on pain killers for his shoulder, due to the motorcycle accident previously mentioned. BUT. HE SAID HE'D READ THE BOOK OF MORMON AND COME TO CHURCH AND GET BAPTIZED. Even though he was drunk, I totally felt the Spirit, like more than I have in any discussion, I'm pretty sure. We told him we'd come back later that week and see how he was doing, and then we left. 

We came back on Saturday to meet with Dave again, but no one answered. As we were walking back to the car, his wife came out and started walking towards us. Naturally, I started internally freaking out, afraid that she was going to come chew us out and tell us to never come back. BUT THEN. She told us she was so thankful that we had stopped by the other night and talked to Dave and that she felt that our visit was inspired. She told us that Dave wasn't feeling well, but she wants us to come back later when he is and when she's not at work so she, too, can listen to what we have to share. She said that if he was feeling better that they'd be at church the next day! It was SUCH an awesome experience and I just know that these people are going to accept the gospel in their lives. 

Sister Layton and I sang I Believe In Christ in church this Sunday. We mostly used it as a way to get people to come to church, and it worked! We had a lot of our less active members that we've been working with come out to hear us and they were reminded how much they loved coming to church! It's been neat to see how our talents have helped us hasten the Lord's missionary work. 

Attached are a few photos from our trip to Waterton last week, as well as a lunch we went to with some youth we met a few weeks ago. These girls were in our group when we helped out at a youth conference pre-MTC training thing. We met up with them for lunch and they're all so awesome! 

Another of the photos is of Sister Layton and I after one of our investigators did our make up. She has her license in aesthetics, so she's done our nails and our make up and now she's letting us teach her! It's awesome. 

I LOVE THIS MISSION!!! I'll admitt I have my trunky days, but it's definitely the best experience I've had this far in my short 19 years on this earth. I also thank ALL of you for your love and support. It means so much to me! Have a great week! Remember to keep saying your prayers and reading your scriptures and going to church and telling people you love them! (:

Signing off, 

Sister Pipkin