Greenie take the wheel

This week, I was cleared to drive and assigned to be the designated driver.

Why? 

Because Sister Layton got a speeding ticket. 

Lol

It's actually not that funny, because $154 is a lot of money, especially for a poor missionary. The funny part, however, is that the trainee (me) is driving. But it's also kind of a blessing. We have lots of stuff we have to do throughout the walk and walking everywhere just ain't gonna cut it, so I'm grateful that they cleared me to drive. 

An amazing family that we have in our ward are the Chans. They're a Chinese couple that we absolutely love. He teaches the Gospel Principles class and they own the Subway in the mall. They feed the missionaries free sandwiches and a drink every P-day and Brother Chan draws pictures of the temples. This last week, we had heart-attacked their car in appreciation for their service to us. In Gospel Principles, Brother Chan said, "Oh you girls, I'm gonna get you back!" So we were expecting something scary to happen! On P-Day last week, he walks up to us with these huge posters of the drawing he'd done of the Cardston Alberta Temple. So beautiful! We love them. I decided I had to get a photo of us and them in front of their license plate before they leave because they're Asian and it says "Chopstix"! Sister Chan added the actual chopsticks to the photo, and it all just turned out marvelous. 

We lost two investigators this week, which was really sad. We felt like they would have done really awesome in the gospel!... if they would have kept their commitments. I guess it just isn't their time, but they will receive the gospel some day! The Lord will prepare them! 

But the Lord provides, because we got two new investigators! It was so awesome, they both are neat people and I can't wait to continue teaching them. We had an awesome lesson with one of our previous investigators on the Plan of Salvation. What really got her was the understanding that she is a loved daughter of God. I can't express to you how important that is! We are His children and He LOVES US!!! Isn't that awesome?! 

We had plenty of opportunities to do service this week. One of them was helping out at a 5K/10K. It was neat and we got to wear construction vests! It's such an awesome experience to be able to serve others. It helps us forget ourselves and do the Lord's work! I love it!

I encourage each of you to find ways that you can serve others this week, whether it be something as simple as holding the door open for someone, or something as big as helping your neighbor de-junk her house. Which is something we've done this week, so I understand. 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for the support you give me. Keep on keepin' on! Love you!

Signing off,

-Sister Pipkin

Sister Kolkova from the Czech Republic

Momma Bear in the big blue house

This week, I went tracting for the very first time. 

Crazy, right? You'd think I'd have done that already in the four weeks I've been in Canada. But we're so slammed with less-active work that we've not had the chance until this last week. And boy, was that an experience. The very first house we tracted at was this big, ugly, blue house. And I was like, Dude, Sister, this house is atrocious. But we knocked anyway. And she was not happy to see us. And that's when we deemed this unhappy lady the nickname, Mamma Bear in the Big Blue House. We only knocked on about four doors before we had to head home, and they were all dead-ends, but hey, I can now say that I've tracted haha. 

Cool story. Some of the elders in our area texted us asking if we could help them with a service project, moving a lady into our ward boundaries. They sent us the info, and it turns out that this lady is actually a referral we got this last week from our ward mission leader and she's less active, but trying to come back to church. We contacted her and she'd said she was moving, but didn't need help, so it was awesome that this whole thing worked out. This way, we can help her out and hopefully reactivate her and her two boys! It's neat how the Lord does things to get His work done. 

We've done lots of service this week. Helping members clean their homes to surprise their moms for mother's day and helping other members prepare to move. It's been a real learning experience, and quite humbling. Cleaning is such an awesome way to serve others and to build a relationship with them. I encourage you all to try it out! 

This week has been really busy, but nothing too exciting has happened. We went to Calgary for a re-training meeting and that was really neat. President Nicholas and the assistants, Elder Kelly and Elder Smith, are super awesome and they are awesome with their leadership callings. We learn so much from they every time we are taught by them. 

One thing I wanted to share with you all was what I studied this morning in Mosiah. After the sons of Mosiah realized they were being punks and repented, they all wanted to serve the Lord and bring the gospel to the Lamanites. This is super huge, you guys, because previously, the sons of Mosiah put all their efforts into destroying the church, and now they see how wrong they are and they want everyone else to feel the blessings the gospel has had in their life. I realized this morning how much I am like the sons of Mosiah. While I have never went around destroying the church, we all have our own personal trials that have taught us how important the gospel is in our lives. As Sister Layton and I are teaching our investigators, I have had this overwhelming desire to share all I know with these people! I know with a surety that what I have has made me so happy and I just want to share it with others so that they can have the comfort and guidance they need to get through the tough things in their life. It's crazy, but it's real, the love I have for these people that I've known barely a month. 

I know that the Lord has given me this opportunity to love these people so that I can have a small taste of the love Has has for me, and for everyone else. I love you all so much and it was awesome to Skype with my family yesterday. I hope all you missionary moms out there had just as awesome of an experience. Our families are so important to us as missionaries, and we greatly appreciate your love and support. 

Love you all!

Signing out, 

Sista Pipkin <3

Exchanges and MORE Injuries

I know what you're thinking.

MORE injuries? Really, Karen? 

Yeah. Really. Although they aren't severe, THEY STILL HURT, OK?

So we'll start with the first one. The other night, I took my earrings out before I went to bed, but I was too lazy to walk all the way over to my dresser to put them away, so I just set them on the floor next to my bed. Well, later, I was making my bed and STEPPED. ON. MY. EARRING. It went IN my foot, guys. In it. Like, what the heck is this crap. Whatever. The day before, I punched myself in the mouth with my toothbrush. How? I don't even know, but my gums are swollen from it and it's just real neat, I tell ya. 

But hey. The rest of this week wasn't too shabby. Before I maimed myself, we had some awesome lessons. We have this couple that is investigating the church. He's from Kenya and she's from Ethiopia, so they're really neat! They both seem really interested and we're hoping to get them on date soon! We'd invited them to church yesterday, but they texted us and said there wasn't room. I'm not sure what that means, but whatever. We're shooting for a meeting with them this week and another invitation to church. We also have a less active that we've been working with to reach her goal of getting sealed in the temple and she's making progress! Yay! We love her! We challenged another less active to start reading the Book of Mormon again and that night, she texted us saying she'd listened to ten chapters on the Lds tools app! Yay! Such progress with these awesome people!

We're really praying for our investigators, though. They are all going through a lot of hard things right now, with financial issues and family issues and it's been really hard to help them. We expressed our sorrow for them and told them that the gospel will be able to help them deal with these things. We're not sure what else to do beyond that because their struggles are more than we are able to help them with. 

This week, I went on my first exchanges! So fun. I went to Taber with Sister Baer, and Sister Layton stayed in Lethbridge with Sister Kolkova. It was really neat to see other ways to do things and to experience a different area. We visited a lot of less active members in Taber, and then had supper with their ward mission leader and a recent convert. Such sweet people. 

We've done lots of service this week, helping members clean and pack so they can move, and we also helped a sister in our ward throw a birthday party for her three year old! We got some really awesome Spider-Man cupcakes out of it!

I would now like to plead with each of you who are reading this. Throughout the week, we have visited with people who have told us so many negative experiences they have had with members of the church who have treated them poorly, resulting in them not wanting to return to church. Brothers and Sisters, please. You. Cannot. Do. That. Be aware of how you treat people! Be aware of the things you say and the tone with which you say them! Be kind to others, serve them! These brothers and sisters of ours are in need of love and acceptance, and we need to give it to them! I was reading in Mosiah, and I came across the scripture mastery verse from seminary, Mosiah 2:17. "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." This really stuck out to me because we are always looking for ways to serve God. And the only way to do that is to serve His children, to love them, to show kindness and acceptance to them. So please, I urge you all, to look for ways that you can reach out to someone this week, to try and make someone's day a little happier. And you know what? They might not receive you too well. And that's fine. Do it anyways.

I love you all and I know you are all doing the best you can. Thank you so much for your love and support, it means so much to me. Except, Jacob Pipkin, how many times do I have to yell at you before you email me, you rotten little brother. Come on. 

I know I'm here in Canada for a reason, and I've seen it in the way these people have impacted me in the four short weeks I've been here. 

Signing out, 

Sister Pipkin <3

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