The week where no one has any idea what is going on...

Hola familia and amigos!!!

I'm a missionary, what up

Well, I've officially been here for a little over three days now. Really? Three days - that's it?!? It feels like I've been here FOREVER. I'm sure all my RM friends will get a good laugh out of that, because they know exactly what I'm talking about. Did I even have another life before I got here? Is this even real?

Ok, before I go any further, I just have to say I'm a little disappointed here. I've been here three days, and I have no mail and just two emails... Come on guys, I KNOW you can do better than that!!! ;) But, seriously...

While I'm here in the MTC, dearelder.com is the best way to write me (my unit is 804 and my departure date is NOV 03 :D). It's free AND I get the letter really quickly. I don't have to wait until preparation day (our teacher is really trying to get us to avoid saying P-day) to get those letters. Our district leader checks our mail twice a day and I can take those letters home with me to read over and over and over. Maybe this sounds really selfish asking for all these notes, but I can't even BEGIN to tell you how nice a little note of encouragement is. Because, believe it or not, this is really hard. Like the hardest thing I've ever done. It is so so awesome and it's just going to continue getting even more awesome, but it is so so hard and will continue being hard the whole time I am serving. In the words of Elder Holland, "missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience." I didn't really have any expectations coming in, since I had no idea what to expect, but it is harder than I ever imagined.

Ok, enough with the heavy stuff. I'll tell you a little bit about what it's like here. So I live on the West Campus (formerly Raintree and Wyview student housing). I live in Wyview and have class in Raintree. It's a little weird/funny to me. I used to use Raintree's pool all the time. It was my favorite pool!! Now there is no pool. No swimming for missionaries!! All the Spanish missionaries live on the West Campus. In about four weeks though, they are moving everyone back to the main campus (where you dropped me off, mom and dad). So I get a practice transfer I guess!

My cute compy and I

My companion's name is Hermana Kroska. She's 19 and from Minnesota. Oh my gosh, my entire zone are BABIES!! They are so young! The Sister Training Leader is my age and graduated from BYU this April too. Everyone else is like 18 or 19. Totes adorbs. I'm like a little grandma, haha. Anyway, back to my companion. She's such a sweetheart. We were definitely meant to be compys. If one of us is having a hard time, the other one is able to lift up the other. It's great. This will be a great companionship.

Compy and I :)

I'm in the intermediate Spanish class. My teacher, Brother Hammond - who is so great, BTW - said I could probably test into the advanced class and leave in 12 days... yeah, better not (said with an Australian accent). One, I think my mother would have a heart attack if she knew I were leaving that soon. Two, I need A LOT of practice. Like a lot a lot. Especially with this whole teaching thing. Yikes. We taught our first lesson yesterday to Jared (pronounced Har-ed). He's not really an investigator, but he portrays an investigator that he knows. He's actually our second teacher, but we're not supposed to know that yet. Our zone leader told us, and we accidentally discovered it in our online materials. Oops, haha. Anyway, I spent half the lesson wanting to laugh because it was going so terribly and I spent the other half wanting to cry because it was going so terribly! I keep telling myself it was only our first lesson and it can only get better from there, and it will. It's a little discouraging, but I really can't expect to be this great missionary from the get-go. I've got to put in the time and just keep trying. I can't wait to actually share a successful missionary story with you guys!!!

Ok, time is short. We get an hour on Saturdays to email. Everyone says your first week in the MTC is the slowest/hardest. After that you get into a normal routine and aren't running everywhere wondering what in the world you are doing (hence the title of this email). And time starts to fly. So hold on tight.

I love you all!! Muchos besitos!

Love,

Hermana Chipman

My cute little district... Elders Vavricka and Lyman, and Hna Kroska

"Silly" district pic

Normal district pic

El templo!! (I had her stand on the tall part)

So, why a mission?

Well, this is it. I’m about to embark on an incredibly amazing, incredibly difficult 18-month journey. In just a few short hours I will be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After spending six weeks in the Missionary Training Center learning as much Spanish and teaching skills as possible, I’ll get on an airplane and fly to Argentina where I’ll spend the remainder of my mission. I will get two phone calls home a year, on Christmas and Mother’s Day. My only source of contact with my family and friends at home will be through letters and emails, which I’ll only be able to check once a week. The other six days I’ll spend knocking on doors, talking to people in the streets, visiting member and less-active families, serving others whenever possible, walking several miles a day, praying, studying, planning, celebrating, crying, pleading, singing, laughing, and rejoicing – all so I can share the precious message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with people I have never met and would never meet under any other circumstance. Now why in the world would I choose to do such a thing?

I thought this post would serve as a good prequel to the series of entries that will come throughout my mission, updated on my behalf by my wonderful mother. I want to share how I came to know that serving a mission was something that I really wanted to do, and more importantly, something that God wanted me to do.

A mission was never something that was expressly written into my plans. In high school it was a big maybe, like “Maybe if I’m not doing something else (read: married) when I’m 21 (the age for sister missionaries at the time – now it’s 19), I’ll go on a mission.” Then in college it turned into an “I don’t think so and I don’t think that’s what God wants for or needs from me anyway.” To be fair, I didn’t just come up with that on my own. A couple months before I turned 21, and right before the mission age was lowered to 19 for women, I started considering serving a mission. I still didn’t really want to go, but I resolved that if Heavenly Father wanted and needed me to serve, I would gladly go. This was during a time of enormous spiritual growth for me and I knew that I could share His Gospel with excitement, conviction, and love. Then one day during church I had a very distinct impression/thought that Heavenly Father had a different work for me to do and that I should not serve a mission at that time. I won’t pretend that I wasn’t relieved. I didn’t really want to go, and now I knew I didn’t have to go. My reasons for not wanting to go weren’t exactly the best. I feared missing out on some other opportunities (finishing my accounting degree, getting an internship/job with the Big Four, meeting Mr. Right), and I didn’t want to miss out on life in general here. I was really enjoying myself, my friendships, my schooling. I was relieved to be able to let the thought of a mission go.

Then a few months later it all seemed to make sense why I wasn’t meant to go. I was dating this boy. He was amazing; his family was amazing. I thought, “You know this might actually work out. It just fits so well.” Life was wonderful. Fast forward a year or so and we were engaged. I was over-the-moon happy. I could not believe how lucky and blessed I was.

A month later my world came crashing down. Our engagement was over. I was left wondering what in the world I should do now. I had lost everything that was so dear to me. The future looked so bleak. I just didn’t understand why I would feel so good about something for it not to work. Why did I keep moving forward so confidently with something that would ultimately end so painfully? I knew I had to figure something out because I was graduating in a couple months. I had accepted a job offer in Salt Lake, thinking I would be staying there while my husband finished school. I had done an internship in California so I thought about going back there. I had a lot of friends going there, which could make it easier and more fun. But I just couldn’t wrap my brain, or my heart, fully around the idea. Staying in Salt Lake didn’t feel any better, but that’s where I was headed if I didn’t figure something else out.

Shortly after breaking up, the thought of a mission popped into my head again. I didn’t really give it any merit though, because I realized I was in desperation mode. Going on a mission to escape from my problems was not a good reason to go. Nevertheless, I didn’t completely shove the idea from my mind. It was an option to consider, but one that would take a considerable amount of thought and prayer. Over the next few weeks I learned some very tender lessons from a loving Heavenly Father, which I actually wrote about in my previous post (click HERE to read those). These really set the stage for my decision to go. The most important thing I learned, for myself, was that I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior more than anything or anyone, and I wanted to do Their will for me. Like really, really, really wanted to. I realized that, for me, the best way to demonstrate my love and my willingness to follow the Savior was to give up 18 months of my life, hand myself completely over to Him, go where He wanted me to go, and focus completely on His work. I would give up my job, my friends, my family, and the pursuits I enjoy. I would give up my imagined, or maybe real, opportunities that I saw in the near future. But at this point, I knew that what I would be giving up was so unbelievably small compared to the blessings I and others would receive. Absolutely it would be worth the sacrifice.

What sealed this desire though was actually a funeral I attended. Her sons told stories of the faith this woman exhibited, including serving a mission. I knew that her daughter-in-law had served one as well, and her granddaughter, a friend of mine, was out serving at the time. What a legacy of missionary work there is in that family. I decided right there that that kind of legacy is something I want in my own family.

The burning desire was there, and the following Sunday I met with the Bishop and started my mission papers. I still hadn’t received any sort of confirmation that this was what God wanted me to do, but I made my decision and moved forward with it. During the process of filling out my papers I came to know, without a doubt, that I had made the right decision. This was exactly what God wanted me to do. The joy, peace, and excitement were undeniable. I could not wait to be on a mission. I could not wait to be teaching, serving, and loving those people. When I received my mission call to the Argentina Bahía Blanca Mission I again knew that this was exactly where the Lord needed me. Can you tell I’m just a little thrilled to be doing this?

I still don't understand why everything had to happen the way it happened. Maybe it was the best way Heavenly Father could instill in me a desire to serve a mission. Maybe this boy needed to learn something and I was the one Heavenly Father needed to help him grow. I really don't know the answer. But that really doesn't matter. What I do know is that going on a mission is the right path for me to take right now. I believe it is what Heavenly Father wanted for me all along, and through His loving guidance it has become what I too want for myself.

In answer to the question posed at the beginning, I chose to go on a mission because I love God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I love the plan of salvation They have prepared for us to return and live with Them again. I want to spend every day for 18 months sharing that message with others, in a place where God needs me to share that message. I know my call was divinely inspired. It is no chance that I am going to Bahía Blanca, Argentina. The Lord knows that I will grow the most there, as well as do the most good there. This is His work, and I am privileged and honored to be a part of it. I am in no way suggesting that those who choose not to serve missions love God any less than I do. A mission is a very individualized choice. Everyone’s plan is different, but the goal of all our plans is the same – to become like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that we can live with Them again, and enjoy the kind of lives that They do. I testify that They live and that They love each and every one of us, with a love that cannot be fully comprehended. You are a child of a loving Heavenly Father. You are His work and His glory. You matter to Him.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Chipman

Happiness: Part Two

A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the things I’ve learned about happiness and about how following God’s path for me is the source of my greatest happiness. If you’d like to refresh yourself on this little life lesson of mine (or if you want to read it for the first time!), click HERE.

Recently, Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to learn some more about happiness and I would like to share some of what I’ve learned. I realize that this post is quite a bit more personal than most of my other posts, but I’m sure there are others who have similar thoughts and feelings. My hope is that this will benefit someone else, in some way.

My single greatest desire is to be married and have a family. There is literally nothing I want more than that. No job. No career. No status or title. No possession or experience. I want to be a wife and a mother. I don't care if I am never well known to the world. I want to quietly serve my entire life in what I think are the most important roles I could ever have. I believe that's one of the biggest reasons we are here – to have families. So sometimes I just can't fathom why that is so difficult for me to reach. I see many of my friends get married and start having families. Why did it seem so easy for some of them? All they really wanted was to be married and have a family and they got that, seemingly with little struggle. So why can't I have it too? I'm graduating in just over a month, and I couldn't manage to find a husband among the thousands of people in the five years I was at BYU. What the heck?

Those are some of the things I've thought about in the past few weeks. But Heavenly Father has tenderly and lovingly humbled me and answered some of those questions for me, teaching me some very important lessons.

First, I need to have more faith in His plan for me. He has a plan of happiness for me. He sees the end from the beginning. He knows what will bring me the most long-term joy, and what will bring me long-term sorrow. He knows where I can do the most good and what will help me grow and progress the most in this life.

Second, not only does He know the what of my happiness and progress, but probably more importantly He knows the timing. Timing is something I struggle with A LOT. I definitely have my own little timetable of when I think things should happen. I think I know when good timing is so I try really hard to make that timing work, and it's usually when it fits neatly into my plans. But He knows better and can see more clearly than I can. My patriarchal blessing tells me that I will be a wife and a mother in this life. Interestingly though, it tells me that these are callings I will receive. We don't choose the timing of our callings (with the possible exception of a mission). They come from the Lord, when He needs us to fill those roles that we are called to. He knows the best timing for us and others.

Third, while my great desire to be a wife and mother is a righteous, worthy, and important one, it should not be my greatest desire. My greatest desire should be to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He needs me to right now. My greatest desire should be to follow His will and do His work, no matter where that takes me. I'm sure there are many who may look at that desire and think, "Wow, that's pretty selfish of God. He just wants us to do what He wants, not what we want. We don't get any say in this at all. What kind of life is that, just doing whatever God's whim is? That's so unfair." You know, I've thought those things too, and they make a good argument. It kind of does seem unfair. But Satan is a very cunning and convincing liar. What he fails to mention, is God's perfect, pure love for us. He is motivated only by love. God doesn't ask us to do His will simply to use us and make us do things. He asks us to do His will because He wants us to experience the joy and happiness available to us and He knows exactly how each of us, individually, can experience that. If my greatest desire is to always do the Lord's will, then I will experience the happiness I desire, because He knows how to give that to me.

I know that my Savior knows me, personally, and He knows my individual path of happiness. I know that He loves me more than I can even comprehend. How do I know that? Because He made the ultimate sacrifice on my behalf. He suffered all the pain and sorrow I would ever experience in this life, all so that He could pave the way of happiness for me, and then guide me along it. He will never steer me wrong. I know the same is true for you.

Let the Mountains Be Our Teachers

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than [one] seeks.” – John Muir

I am absolutely certain that you can learn every important life lesson there is to learn just by spending a few hours outside each day. And not just outside in your backyard. I’m talking outside in the mountains, in the forests, in the canyons, in the deserts, as far from civilization as you can get, and sometimes you don’t even have to go that far to find yourself in these places. Thirty minutes north of SF, across the Golden Gate, you’ll find yourself among the majestic redwood forests of northern California. My good friend Spencer and I spent our last Saturday in this heaven we call California at Muir Woods, named after John Muir, a naturalist that helped establish the National Park system.

We spent a good three to four hours here hiking around. The lower boardwalk area where you see most these giant redwoods can get pretty crowded, especially on the weekend. But there are several hiking trails that branch off from the main path that see considerably less traffic. These I would recommend, because these are where you get to really experience nature and the peace it brings. You can hear yourself think, and when there is no noise to crowd out your thoughts, you begin to discover the amazing lessons nature can teach you.

I have Spencer to thank for this post; he kept a list of what we were learning and was actively searching for additional insights. In those few hours, the mountains and the redwoods taught us six lessons:  

1. Pain and trials bring opportunity for growth. When one of those magnificent redwoods crashes down, it causes a lot of destruction to the surrounding area; however, that destruction brings the opportunity for new life and growth. It allows sunlight to reach the plants on the forest floor and the remains of the redwood provide nutrients for the new plants and shelter for animals. The forest grows in a new way.
2. Trials make you stronger. We saw several trees with scorch marks on them, indicating that at some point in the near past a fire must have run through the forest. As the redwoods heal from the burns, their plant material and bark becomes thicker around the burn marks, making them even stronger than they were before.
3. Strong, close families enable all members to better reach their potential. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. We noticed that the redwoods grow together in clumps. You rarely see a redwood growing by itself, and if it is, there will soon be others around it (and by soon, I mean years and years later, but when you live to be 2,200 years old, that’s soon). The root system of a redwood is very shallow in proportion to its height, yet it can reach such heights because the root systems of the surrounding trees intertwine and weave together while spreading outward. They help each other reach the heights they achieve.
4. Don’t quit at 90 percent. Spencer and I hiked to the top of this trail and enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley and the distant ocean. On our way back down, right near the top, several people were making their way up and most of them asked us how much farther the top was. They seemed ready to give up and turn back and miss the incredible reward they had waiting for them at the top.
5. First you must have faith that the path will get you there, but then you must actually walk the path to get there. We trusted that the trail we were taking would bring us to the destination we desired, but what good would that have done us if we didn’t actually walk forward on the trail? We would have gone nowhere. It was acting on our faith that enabled us to find what we were looking for.
6. Sometimes perceived setbacks are actually the way forward. There were many points on our hike where the trail began slopping downward, even though we knew that we needed to go up. But that didn’t mean that we stopped at the first downward turn and decided that the trail must not be the right one because it wasn’t going up like we knew it needed to. Even though we were going down instead of up, we were still progressing forward to our destination.

Our view from the top. Definitely worth it.

Those Simple Days

At the request of my dear Uncle Ken, I present to you this blogging update. Actually, I’m glad he asked me to do it, challenged me really. There’s been too much time between posts lately and every time I sit down to write, I remember how much I love it. And if you don’t believe be, I’ve got 21 journals to prove it.

Well, I’ve been in California now for over a month and I loooooooooooooooooooove it. Love, love, love, love, love. I think I love it even more knowing I’m missing the worst winter Provo’s had in years. Sorry friends! It’s gorgeous here. It’s warm here. It’s fun here. Did I mention that I love California?

In spite of all that love, I miss Provo. I really do. I miss those beautiful mountains I’m blessed to see every morning. I miss the closeness of everything there (traffic is a nightmare here – only thing I can’t stand). Most of all, I miss the people. I miss all the amazing people I had to leave behind when I set off on this adventure. This experience has taught me to appreciate the simple blessings of friendship and love I enjoy when I’m there, and I think that’s why we go through experiences like this. I get to learn about gratitude for three months. And I can go to San Francisco, and the Oakland Temple, and the Jelly Belly Factory, and Malibu while doing it. :)

Life Lessons: Happiness

Oh yikes. I was thinking back on everything that happened this past semester and thought: shoot, I’d have to write 20 posts just to cover it all. And that’s just not going to happen people. I’ll admit I kind of forgot about updating y’all on my life’s crazy adventures. I also have to admit that I’m not really sad about that. I was too busy just enjoying life to write about it. And you know, I think that’s a pretty darn good reason. Thanks for understanding. :)

As the title suggests, I learned a lot about happiness this semester, and it’s been the most wonderful life lesson I’ve learned so far. Seriously, these past four months have been the best months of my life. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friendships; I finally have purpose and direction in my life; I’m in the number one Masters of Accounting program in the United States; I signed an internship offer with Ernst & Young in San Jose; and I’ve met one incredible man and his equally incredible family. I don’t mention all these things to brag about the blessings in my life. Instead, I want to show how blessed and joyful and happy your life is when you allow God to be part it. That’s not to say I haven’t had my fair share of trials and challenges. Let’s be honest, sometimes life just sucks. But knowing the Savior and understanding His Atonement gives you a whole new perspective on the purpose of those challenges and empowers you to endure them with a smile on your face. I promise you, even when you’re facing challenges in your life you can be happy.

Why? Because that’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s the pathway of happiness through this life. From my own experience I know that is true. I look back on my life (as short as it’s been so far, I know) and the times when I have veered from the Gospel path I have been considerably less happy. For two years I didn’t know what my purpose was. I felt lost and generally alone. There was no motivation to better myself. For two years I pushed God out of my life. Sure, I went through the motions and put on appearances for the sake of others, but not because I really felt it in my heart or even believed it in my mind. I wasn’t a bad person. I didn’t seek out bad things. But I wasn’t letting God or the Savior be part of my life either and I wasn’t happy.

Steering back onto the Gospel path, allowing the Savior to heal those wounds, and not fighting God’s path for me anymore has brought inexplicable joy back into my life. That, my friends, is the secret to happiness. No matter what comes your way, you can sail through the good and the bad with joy in your heart. God’s path, His Gospel, His plan of happiness is how you will find happiness both in this life and the life after. What is His path? What is the purpose of His path? What is the end goal? Nothing short of perfection. His path is one of ultimate perfection. It’s the way to become like Him and our Savior, Jesus Christ. And the best part about it? We don’t walk that path alone. We can’t walk that path alone. Both God and Christ are right there on either side of each of us, helping us reach the perfection and state of happiness they desire for every one of us. It’s a life-long pursuit, even an after-life pursuit, and one that brings purpose, direction, and happiness to my life as I develop personal relationships with God and my Savior.

To sum up: happiness is not an end goal in itself, but a natural by-product of a much greater end goal. As I strive to follow His path, I’ve found that happiness naturally follows. We aren’t meant to know all things in this life. Sometimes I find myself asking why, because I can’t see the end from the beginning. Sometimes it takes a great amount of faith to walk that path, but I am putting my faith in Someone who never fails. Things always work out.

This post went a completely different direction than I originally intended (think: long post about what I did this semester, rather than what I learned), but as I looked back and reflected on this semester, and this entire year, this is what I thought about. Like I said, it’s the most wonderful lesson of my life so far, and I look forward to learning and progressing toward even greater happiness that is to come.