Navajo Code 3/31

       Yaa Teeh!

       This week was just straight up crazy.

       Monday we had a good lesson with Tristan and McKayla. We read the scriptures in Alma. It is really cool to see them progress in understanding the scriptures.

       Tuesday...crazy... Up by 5 out the door by 5 30 and in Farmington by 8. Got Elder Tucker on the Transfer Van and met up with Elder Lindsay. We went and worked with Farmington 5th for the day. So we went over to their house and got to do studies with them. That was really nice. Afterwards we split off, I went with Elder Spencer. Well my truck needed an oil change so we went and dropped the truck off and I also told them that the truck pulled a little to the right so they said they would check the alignment. Well we go out to lunch and then right as we are about to head back to get the truck they call and say the to check the alignment it will take an hour. Oh and we have an appointment in 20 minutes. So we said not to worry about. When we got back they had called our vehicle coordinator and that he said he wanted the alignment checked now. So we start brainstorming idea's on how to get to our appointment. Eventually we call the Zone Leaders and they come and take us. Well we get there about five minutes late and we knock and ..... no one's home. LOL! So we start walking the 5 or so miles back. Then we get a phone call from the other elders that we were splitting the area with and they came and picked us up and took us 2 miles so we didn't have to walk as far. We then walked about a mile and a member picked us up, took us to his house for a second and then dropped us off at the auto place. So then we took the truck and went to the Apache building because I needed to fix some bikes. Well I start going to town on the bike intertube and I go to pump it up. So we have this air compressor and I'm filling it up and stopping and checking it every so often. Well I fill it up and then feel the tire and I feel the intertube come out of the tire. Then it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Then I think to myself, "Aw crap." A few moments later.... BAM!!!! Yep, I popped the tire. Great. All well. Well after that we decided to change the rims out so we went up to the vehicle coordinators house and do that. On the way there we lost one of his favorite tools, lol. When we get there we get everything fixed and working right. So we drive back and end up finding his tool under some stuff in the bed of our truck. At this point it's 6 pm when the Transfer Van is supposed to show up with my other companion. Well next we get a phone call from the other elders in the area saying we need to go to an appointment right now! So we go over there and find there is no 3rd male so we reset a time and go back to the Apache building. The Transfer Van was already there so I got Elder Johnson all loaded up and we got Elder Lindsay and all his stuff and wen to the gas station to fill up before we leave. Well we start filling up and all of a sudden I see and here gasoline coming out of our truck! It didn't shut off automatically! That was insane!

Sorry don't have more time, Email you the rest next week!

Love Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 3/24

Yaa Teeh!

       So I'm just gonna jump right in! :D Monday we finally toured the Bluff Fort. It's pretty cool. If you are ever in the area you should come check it out I took a good amount of pictures for the outside stuff. They have a video inside a lot like the one over at the Mormon Battalion in California, if you've ever been there.

       Tuesday we got to volunteer at the elementary school. We got to help in the computer lab. It was fun. They have some pretty sweet school games online now! lol. :)

       Wednesday I got to go on an exchange with Elder Provard in Blanding! Double bonus! Exchange with your best friend and in your old area. We had a good day. Got to talk a lot to each other about what we want from our missions and how we are going to do it. Then we got to go see one of the people I used to teach. She has stayed away from alcohol and has also quit smoking now. She also has voiced that she wants to go to the temple. I'm so excited for her!

       Thursday I started compiling all of the mileage usage for our zone because president has asked me to redo the mile for the zone. So I got started on it. The hardest part is going to be meeting with everyone and getting their information. Then we got to go to a few appointments with the missionaries from the Bluff Fort. We invited an autistic missionary and his grandparents to one lesson. We taught about Faith. Well at the end the grandpa shared a story about a firefighter on 9-11. He was talking his team down the stairs of the building when he heard the building coming down. He heard a voice tell him to run. So he told is team and those with him to run. They started running down the stairs. All of a sudden the voice came again and said, "Stand still." So he told everyone to stand still. Pretty soon there was stuff going everywhere and he didn't know if they were going up or down but then they finally stopped. The voice then told him, "Go up." So the went up. They were the 9 people to come out of the rubble of the two towers. There apparently is a picture of it too. I would really love to get both the whole story and the picture.

       Friday we went out about 2 miles east of Bluff and saw a guy named Backster. Well his dogs don't like us much. There are two dogs. So we bike in and I get off and walk when we get closer because the dogs don't get as close as fast. So we approach the door carefully and go in and see him. Well he is basically deaf and blind so it's really hard to teach him. We did leave him with a prayer though. :) Then we had to get out. Well Backsters daughter came out and tried to get the dogs away from us. But one of them bit Elder Tuckers pants and bruised his skin. So we again proceeded with caution. Then we walked around Bluff and we saw one of our less actives outside bar-b-queuing some ribs and he said we could stay and have some. So while we waited we played b-ball and soccer with his grandkids. That's always fun. :) Then we had basketball night. We had a total of 9 people show up. Some community members stopped by and said that they were happy that we were doing this. That's a huge step considering that this is an anti mormon town. :D

       Saturday we were doing some service chopping some wood and the ax head kept almost coming off. So I found a really long old nail and began to file it in half. IT WORKED!!! MWHAHAHAHA!!!! I was so proud of myself. :) Then we got transfer news. Elder Tucker is off to New Mexico and I am staying in Bluff. I am getting Elder Johnson as a fellow Zone Leader and also Elder Lindsay. So I'm going to be in a tri-panionship. This will be a new experience for me. But it will be good. 

       Sunday at church I was sitting with Shyra and kids; 8. 4, and 2. I tried to entertain the kids the best I could. I went out and got some coloring books from the truck, that helped for about 30 seconds. :) The four year old kept yanking and climbing up my tie. So I basically had to retie it. :) Then we had dinner with the Talkers. He is the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency. We had muttin and salad and fried tortilla's. The muttin was sooooooo goood!!!! They also had some MRE's and THEY GAVE ME ONE!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It was fun. :)

       So it's been a good week. Thanks for all the support. Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

 

 

Navajo Code 3/17

       Yaa Teeh!

       Ya this week was pretty interesting.

       Monday we had exchanges with the assistants in Farmington. We went and saw this single mom and here three kids. The youngest daughter is about to be baptized and the oldest son is going to be baptizing her. Well half way through everything the middle son said, "Mom, you need to have another kid so I can baptism them." Awesome!

       Tuesday Happy Birthday Christopher! We finished our exchange and headed back to Bluff. I really had a good exchange with Elder Knighton. Who is from Kaysville and knows Mariah. Small world. One the way back to Bluff we talked the whole way there. It was fun.

       Wednesday we had exchanges with Montezuma. I had Elder Carpenter in Bluff. We went around and placed a Book of Mormon and then went and saw one of our potential investigators, Bob, and he had his grandson with him. He said he was about to leave with his grandson. Well his grandson turned and wrapped both his arms around Bob's legs and then did the same thing with his legs. He started to slide down Bob's legs, with Bob's pants. It was so difficult not to break out laughing! We also got chased by some sheep. That was weird. What really happened is we were walking past the only opening in a little area and the sheep must have gotten scared or something so they started to run towards us to get out of the fenced in area. That was scary!

       Thursday we had zone training in Monticello. I trained on working with members, considering that our zone probably has the most members in the entire mission. That took up most of our day along with some extra meetings.

       Friday was crazy! So we start off the day by going to this guys house. When we get there he just wants to argue with us! So we started testifying  and reading scriptures. Finally I pulled out 2 Nephi 9:28 and 29 and read it to him to try and warn him. He fits that scripture so well. He says that because he is older than us and went to school to study religion we can't teach him anything. It was crazy. Then we got to be in charge of setting up the Bluff Forts Tee-Pee. We worked on it for about 3 hours. Then we saw a problem with one of the poles. So we started to fix it by moving one of the pole and ... CRACK It breaks. So we decide to take it all down. When we were taking it down it actually fell over and broke another pole. Ya that was funny yet embarrassing all at the same time.

        Saturday was really windy! We went out and started working on the reservation and we got a text from one of the missionaries asking us the name of a movie where someone finds a Book of Mormon in a burn barrel and get converted. Well I text back and tell them the name of the movie. Then 3 minutes later we were helping someone clean up from a fire and we found a burnt Book of Mormon! Crazy!

       Sunday at church I got to meet Elder Evans who is the area seventy over my home stake in West Jordan! Small world. He took some pictures of us and said he would send them to President McCleary. Fun stuff!

       

       So that was my week. Thanks for all the support. Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 3/10

       Yaa Teeh!

       Not a real big week for me. So this one might be a little shorter.

       Monday I had a good birthday. Thanks Jessica and my wonderful family for the packages! They made me smile and I got lots of  pictures. I'll send them when I can. So we went cave exploring. When we got up to where the caves were we found out they weren't caves so we just hiked around and got on top of some bluffs. Got some cool pictures. 

       Tuesday we went out to the reservation and we went to Leo and Amelia's house. Well they got some chickens and we walked up to the door and knocked. Not home. So we started to walk back to our truck and we were being closely followed by the chickens. Like within a foot. We turned and tried to scare them a couple of times but it didn't work. That night we went on exchanges with Monticello Elders. I brought Elder Craig, from Wisconsin down to Bluff.

       Wednesday on exchanges we had a great day. We found two new investigators and taught six lessons. We were playing with some kids and they wanted to play a game. I remembered seeing a basketball down the road a little. I said that they should go grab it and we could play a game. After a little   discussion one of the girls said, "You get it! You got legs!" That was supper funny. One of the new investigators we started teaching is a really old Navajo woman. See doesn't speak english really well so we are going to need a translator. That will be a new experience for me.

       Thursday we had district meeting and then we headed down to the reservation. We went and tried one of our potential investigators and he said he was just headed out the door to go set up a tee pee. He asked if we wanted to come and help. OH YA!!! So we got to go set up a real tee pee. It's really simple yet really complicated at the same time. But it was a a lot of fun. Then we went and tried another family. After knocking and getting called to come in, I really don't like it when people do that, we found they were watching Life of Pi. Man that movie looks good. They fed us fry bread before we left. Good stuff.

       Friday was a busy day. We went and helped finish setting up the tee pee. Then we went up to Blanding for some interviews with President Batt. I learn so much from him! I also got to talk to Elder Provard for a little bit. Then we came back down and had our basketball night. We had 10 people play plus 5 little kids running around. Fun stuff.

       Saturday we picked a new investigator. Edwin, a white guy. This is the first white guy I have taught since I have been in Bluff. Crazy! And more crazy than that he has a master or doctorate in religious theology. So we can actually use gospel terms with him. It's different but we are excited.

       Sunday we had a meeting with the stake president in Blanding. It went well. 

       Today we get to go down to Farmington to go on exchanges with the Assistants. So we are excited. 

       Thanks for all the support! Until next week, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 3/3

       Yaa Teeh!

       It was a really fun week this week!

       Monday we went into Farmington because we had MLC on Tuesday. I got to go on exchanges with Elder Spencer. I had a good time with him. Well we went to the place we were staying the night and they weren't home yet so we saw a Wendy's across the street so we ran a cross the street and got a frosty and fries for each of us then came back and ate it. So good! Well we were sitting the the car and all of a sudden we hear this scream. We look around but don't see anything. Then we hear it again. This time we see the person that is making it. He is in the middle of the parking lot coming towards us. We were in the truck and we made sure all the lights were off. He kept screaming and we kept being still. Then he went inside a house. We were talking about how crazy that was when he comes out and starts screaming and walking towards us.... great, just great. Well Elder Tucker and I are just frozen. This guy walks rights in front of our truck but doesn't turn to look inside it. So he walks to the corner and right before he goes out of sight... he stops. Man this felt like a horror movie. He was just looking around. After about 2 minutes he walks out of site. Then another 2 minutes we see a police officer outside looking under cars with a flashlight. Before we could go talk to the police officer he left. So Elder Tucker and I are looking around, all tense and stuff. All of a sudden I turn to Elder Tucker and yell. THAT WASAWESOME!!!!! I didn't know a person could jump so high while wearing a seat belt. :) And his face was priceless! Then we see a Police Patrol vehicle coming so I get out to talk but it kept right on going. So I turn to get back in the truck... and I see the guy walk towards me. So I hurry and climb back in the truck. Then the other missionaries get here and they get out. I have never gotten out of the truck and gotten everything I need so quickly. We almost sprinted to the door. It was crazy. Then after about 10 minutes Elder Tucker found out that he left phone in the truck. (FACE + PALM!) So he turns to me and tells me to go get it cause I'm faster. Eventually after a good talk we both go out and grab it. Ya that was a fun night. :)

       Tuesday we had MLC. SOOOOO GOOD!!! We had training on the Book of Mormon. I love President Batt! He is great! Then we got some groceries and traveled back to Bluff.

       Wednesday I went on exchanges in Blanding with Elder Maupin who I was in the MTC with. We walked around a lot. The house also needed some real cleaning because of previous missionaries so we spent about 2 hours with us and the other elders that live there just cleaning. Then we went and helped with the YW New Beginnings. They had us read some stuff from the Apostles. It was great.

       Thursday after District Meeting we went to the seniors center because we got invited over and I helped with a puzzle. Those people are GOOD at puzzles. Then we headed out to White Rock. Ok, so at White Rock we park at the entrance and walk a half mile to get to the village to save on miles. So we knocked on one house then the wind and rain started. So we started walking to another house and it started to rain harder. We decided to go back to the truck and it started to hail. We started sprinting back to the truck and it REALLY STARTED TO HAIL! Like it hurt, like bad. I'm just glad we both had umbrella's. Then we went to Montezuma Creek for a baptismal interview. 

       Friday we got to go meet some of the new senior couple missionaries that will be serving at the Bluff Fort this year. I love all our new senior couple missionaries! Grandpa and Grandma Chipman, do you the Masons from Aurora Utah? They said they might have worked with you in the Manti Temple. Also do you know the Healey's? The are from Mount Pleasant. We also got to have our basketball night. That was fun. We also stayed under miles this month! The first time that has ever happened in this area since it was created almost a year ago. The limit is 1700 we ended at 1686. The next closes anyone has gotten in about 2050. It felt so good!

       Saturday we got to meet more of the new missionaries. It rained off and on through out the day, which is really nice because we need rain down here. I also set a personal record of a no handle bar bike ride, about mile, including turns. :)

       Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and I was sitting by our investigators. About halfway through the meeting she bumps me and tells me to go up. That new. :) But I did and turned out really well. We also got fed by one of the senior couples that night. We are going to get so spoiled because of them. I just love these senior couples!

       Thanks for all the support! Until next time, Hagoonee'!
Elder Chipman