Navajo Code 9/15

Yaa Teeh!

       Monday we had a District Activity. We just stayed up at the church and played soccer and basketball and stuff like that.

       Tuesday we got to meet with Kendric. Kendric is the bus driver that I talked about last week. Well we go to the "Bus Barn" where they all hang out and we start talking to him in the main foyer, kinda weird no chairs and just an interesting environment. Right before ask if we can have an opening prayer in the manager walks in and see us and sees Kendric and says, "Want to use my office?" MIRACLE!!!!! Oh that was so nice. Then we have the lesson and come to find out, his two daughters both want to join the Marine Corps! Oh this is great! Then... he asks if we could give them each a Book of Mormon with a note on the inside. Oh ya! I totally called writing to the two future Marines! Oh it was awesome... except for the fact that we learned he lived out side of our area. (Face+Palm) All well, other people need elect investigators too. :)

       Wednesday we set up for the Navajo County Fair and spent the remainder of the day there. We had a booth there so we would just try to pass out Book's of Mormon and get referrals.

       Thursday we got to meet with Russell. He came and talked to us on Sunday and wanted to meet with us. So we found out that he is a Less Active member and he can talk... a lot. But hey, I like him... He's cool. :)

       Friday we went to teach a less active guy named Randy who wants to get back into the church. We'd met with him before but this time he invited us into the house. Now, he lives with an excommunicated member that neither Elder Krebs or I knew. So we were a little hesitant to go inside. We walk in the house is a little dirty. There are gallon jugs of empty sweet tea everywhere. Then he walks out. He starts talking to us. He introduces himself as Obie. He then tells us he's an atheist but that he's going to call the bishop for a blessing. (At this point I'm mentally scratching my headed thinking, "How does that work?") Then I try and dig a little deeper and this is what I find. He has a great faith in the Book of Mormon! Loves it to death! Believes it's true. Believes that Christ is the Son of God and that he suffered for all our sins. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and Faith then left. Once we got out of earshot I started talking to Elder Krebs. "Ya, He's not atheist." That was one interesting visit. That night we got to go talk to a Black Man!!! Oh Man Was I Excited!!!! Well we get there and this guy is outside with a bandana over his head with dreads coming down about six inches below his shoulders in the front and he was wearing sun glasses. Oh, and did I mention he was carrying a shot gun. Ya, he was walking towards us with a shot gun. DON'T WORRY! ELDER KREBS AND I ARE JUST FINE! He actually when he saw us told us to come inside with him. Then he started talking to us about stuff in the Bible. It was crazy. He would go from serious to laughing back to serious to laughing all in a sentence. That's twice in the past week somebody has done that to me. PEOPLE, Do you realize how hard it is to follow you when you do that. Ok, it might not be that hard but it's still a little challenging. Lol. But I love this guy. He's awesome. He just shared stories with us about him and the Bible. We maybe got 2 full sentences in. :)

       Saturday we were at the Fair most of the day. We were just sitting there when I look up and see Sister Paxton from Aztec walking toward me! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! So I jump up and run over and talk to her! She was helping out with the rodeo and saw us and wanted to say hi. I talked with her for a little while and then got a picture with her. Then we had a pro photographer come and take a picture of all the missionaries. He said that you could see the picture at www.spanglerpics.com So ya! I haven't even seen that photo.

       Sunday we had to be at the fair part of the day. It was really weird missing part of church. Ya, I didn't really care for it that much. I like church. Also, Happy Anniversary DAD and Cindee!

       So I hope you all have a great week! Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 9/8

Yaa Teeh!

       So I'm now in Radiator Springs.... oh, a..... I mean Holbrook AZ. :) Pictures of town should come in the up coming weeks. :)

       Since you already heard about Monday we'll jump right into Tuesday! Got with my new companion Elder Krebs and made the 4 hour drive down to Holbrook. We got to meet with this really awesome recent convert named Pete. He's awesome! He is still learning but he's a great guy!

       Wednesday I really started to learn the area. I could get myself from point A to B pretty easily on the south side of town where we live. Then we had a really great lesson with a less active family. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the importance it plays in the church and the said they haven't read it. So we watched a couple Mormon Messages (I love Mormon Messages, they're GREAT!) and then we committed them to read the Book of Mormon.

       Thursday we had District meeting. I have the best District in the whole mission. No doubt in my mind. They were all participating and and to the discussion. This is going to be a good transfer for this District. We are really going to be unified. Well, after District Meeting we were walking past the middle school and on the back of one of the school buses I noticed a USMC license plate. (I didn't know you could put that on buses!!! That's AWESOME!!!) So we go talk to him and give him a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment. Weird that that all started because of a USMC license plate.

       Friday I got to meet another really neat family with a ton of hyper kids. Ya... that lesson... SO MUCH FUN!!! I like that family already! Then we had dinner with this older family. Probably in their late 60's or in their 70's. The guy is awesome! He has his own "mini" gym down stairs that he showed us. And it shows that he uses it! He invited us to come and work out with him anytime! I really want to but the only problem is he lives a little ways away. They also have a grand piano and I got to play a new song I just got. At the end they gave me a song to learn. Wow, that was cool. I've never had people just give me piano music like that before... BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING!!! :D I also got to meet our stake president, President Hatch who is just straight up awesome!

         Saturday... spent 8+ hours in a car. Totally worth it. This is why.... Are you ready?!?!?! I don't think so!!!!! We got to go up to Farmington and have a special conference with... Elder Holland. OH YA!!!!!! It was supposed to be an hour and a half conference but Elder Holland said, "Is it ok if I keep you a little longer? Ya it is, cause I'm in charge." :) So it turned into a two and a half hour conference. And yes, I'm sure it was Elder Holland because he made us feel great while destroying us. Banging the podium with his fist and all. Super cool! And even better, I got to sit next to Elder Provard in the choir and sing for him. We were two of the 18 missionaries from the whole mission that got to sing for him. After, before he left he turned to the choir and said, "That was absolutely great. Never better. I want you to sing at my funeral." Wow, he is fun to be around. Let's just say there is never a dull moment with him. He talked a lot about staying active after the mission and about teaching with Power and Authority. He truly is an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ!

       Sunday we got to go to 7 hours of church. That's a lot of Church but it was all really good. Oh ya, I guess I should tell everyone. I cover three wards and a half here. ;) I did get to see a sister missionary that I knew as she was coming back to visit her mission. To make it even weirder, she openly admitted that she is dating my trainer. Ya, that was awkward.

       My week was stupendous! I hope everyone has a great week themselves! Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 9/2- new address

       Yaa Teeh!

       Monday we finished teaching a recent convert all of the lessons so we are done teaching him. He has received the priesthood and is doing great!

       Tuesday we did a lot of service. We did some for an investigator family digging holes through bed rock, then we chopped wood for a less active member. Then we took one of our less active members and taught a lesson to an investigator family.

       Wednesday we did a lot of walking. We talked to 7 people about the gospel and all 7 of them accepted a Book of Mormon. That has never happened! It was awesome! Later that day we walked about 2 or 3 miles up to try this one guy. Then we talked with him, he wasn't interested so we started walking back. Well it had taken 45 minutes to an hour to walk there and we only had about 30 to get back so we start walking at a good pace. When we were about 300 yards away we started running... So let me try and paint the picture for your mind. Here we are 2 missionaries at almost 9 pm at night running down main street with back packs on and everything. Ya, that probably look really interesting, especially for those who were driving by. :)

       Thursday I came down with a pretty good cold. So we stayed in for a little while and I tried to catch up on some sleep. Then we went and taught an excommunicated member who is getting really close to being baptized. Well we started talking and he asked me if I would baptize him when the time comes. Wow, that was special! He's also a Marine so it makes it all the more special.

       Friday we got to teach seminary which was loads of fun. I always enjoyed teaching seminary. Then we come back and there is a knock at the door. I go and open it and there is nobody there... Well I look around and see someone walking away. I look down and see a package. Oh..... Packages are so much fun to get! That night we got to go teach Fred. He is doing so well and is progressing so well to his baptism date of sept 20! But at the end of the day both Elder Martin and I were just completely exhausted!

       Saturday.... So, we were doing our personal study and we have about 10 or 15 minutes left when the phone rings. It's President Batt. Elder Martin says it's for me. President Batt tells me that I have done a wonderful job as a Zone Leader and he is grateful for all that I have done. But the Lord has a new calling for me. He asked me if I would be a District Leader and a Step-Trainer down in Holbrook AZ. I said yes. So yep... I'm getting transferred!

Here is the new mailing address:

517 Hopi Dr.

Holbrook, AZ 86025

So after that exciting news we finished studies then got a phone call from the Aztec 2nd Sisters to come and teach a lesson and give a blessing. So we go over and find this guy they are teaching. He is terrified to go into his house. Well the sisters hand him off to us then they leave. We finally get him to go into his house and we dedicate the house. Then we decide to walk him to the church (2.5 miles) and give him a church tour. So we do that. The church carpet was making his allergy's act up. But it was interesting, he said that he wouldn't go into the baptismal room because it didn't feel right. Well we start walking back and I'm walking behind him this time. He was staging while he walked. Well we get down to the corner and he tells us that he isn't going back to his house. He is, instead, going to go to sleep behind the dumpster. And he did. Ya, he was drunk. Then we had dinner with the Less Active that we've reactivated! That was a good dinner! Then we went to our ward mission leaders to get the rest of the Transfer new which didn't come in till almost 9 45. Crazy stuff. :)

       Sunday was just a day of taking pictures with people and saying good bye. I don't really care for transfers! :P

       Monday was a lot of fun. There was a tri-ward activity that we went to and played soccer with little kids for like 3 hours! Then I got to talk to Sister Harrington for a little while. It was so good to be able to talk to her again. I miss that family so much! Then I went to the excommunicated members house and got to talk with him. That was really special. I'm so excited for him! He is doing great things. I'm so sad that I won't be here for his baptism. But I am excited to go to Holbrook. My companion there will be Elder Krebs.

       Well that's all for this week. I will say it is kinda weird almost knowing that this will be my last area. Crazy how fast it has gone. I love being a missionary! Well, until next week, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 8/25

Yaa Teeh!

       Monday we got to go to the temple! So good! So needed! I miss going to the temple every week! Then we got to go to Fred's house and Chet (the Less Active member that we've reactivated) came with us. We had a good lesson. It's amazing to see Chet help us, because he knows the gospel and he fills in the parts that we forget or otherwise miss. So nice to have him there!

       Tuesday we got to go see Tonya and go chop some more wood for her. I really enjoy chopping wood! Then we got to go see Lloyd, an excommunicated member that is getting REALLY CLOSE  to getting back in the church! It's amazing to see how much the gospel means to people like that!

       Wednesday we were out walking around and this guy and his cousin were out working on their fence and he started talking to us. Well, we gave them each a Book of Mormon and offered to come back later and help with his fence. We then had to go to a lesson. We watched the John Tanner Story with them. The husband, non member, said, "I see all of these people getting healed in the movies but is it really real? My wife has been having some serious back and hip pain for several years and no doctors can figure it out. Could you heal her?" wow..... Well, I told them how blessings work and asked who they would like to give the blessing. They asked Elder Martin and he gave an amazing blessing! The Elders Quorum President and the High Priest Group leader went over later this week and she told them that her back and hip are feeling better than they have in a really long time. Talk about having faith, and the husband isn't even a member! Later we go back to Daniel's, the fence guy, and help him out. He really appreciated it and let us talk to him about the gospel.

       Thursday after District Meeting we had interviews with President Batt. I love that man! He is such a good example! I can go and talk to him about anything. Later that night we got to go on splits. I went with a member and finished a movie with a part member family.

       Friday was fun... We went and helped Daniel again with his fence. Well he need us to dig some holes for his fence posts to go in. They need to be about 18 inches deep. Oh, and it's all rock below us... So we used a small concrete pole and a small hand sledgehammer and were chipping away at it. Well it was almost time to go but we had the idea to go and grab my maul because it was bigger and heavier. So we did. We started using it and it worked pretty well. We then got it in the ground pretty good where it would stand up by itself. Elder Martin suggested that I just try and hit it as hard as I can without him holding it. "Ok, sounds good." lol..... So we just slides back a little bit and I go for it. Well, I make contact with it but it came out of the hole, end over end, and hit Elder Martin straight it the face...... DON'T WORRY! HE'S OK!!!!! See picture to see true damage. :) Well after that we decided to go for a walk. I am still convised that God has a good sense of humor. We start walking and after two minutes it starts to pour! I mean pour! Well, we keep walking and we walk for an hour and a half. We had one lady pull over and give us this nice looking flower umbrella. So the funny part is about two minutes before we get home the sun comes out. lol. :D All well. It was a lot of fun. My feet got a little discolored from my shoes/ socks. :)

       Saturday we did some more service for Daniel then went to a fireside in Bloomfield were this guy played the piano and talked about the power of music. It was really good!

       Sunday we got to do sharing time in primary which is always fun! :)

So that was my week! Hope you all have a great one too! Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

 

 

Navajo Code 8/18

       Yaa Teeh!

        So we literally just got back from the Temple! I love the Temple! So if you wrote me a letter this week and don't get anything back that is because I didn't have any time to write back. Next week I will definitely try to write back!

       So on Monday for P-day we went and got pizza, headed up to the church and watched some church movies and played the piano for P-day. Then we went for a walk and saw some kids playing soccer. I was so excited that I went up and asked if we could play with them. It's a lot different playing soccer in missionary clothes than it is in actual soccer clothes! HAHA. :D

       Tuesday we got to go volunteer at the senior citizens center. I went and played the piano and then we both helped serve. After lunch was over a few of the people asked us if we wanted to stay and learn how to line dance. Wow, I miss dancing. I really want to take a ballroom dance class in college. Jacob Hatfield, we'll have to get together some time so you can show me some moves and stuff. ;) Then we got to go over to Fred's house! He is coming so far! He is progressing in the gospel like nobody I've ever seen! More on that later!

       Wednesday Elder Martin and I sent all of the Elders in our zone on exchanges. :) hehehe. I brought an Elder from Bloomfield second up to Aztec and we walked for a good part of the day. We had a man yell at us from across the main road, with traffic going by, asking us where are church was. We ended up meeting him at a corner and talking to him. He was in the Army and has been wanting to meet with missionaries for a while. :D

       Thursday we went walking for 4 hours just trying to talk to people. Then at dinner we had the member ask us if we could give him a blessing for some health issues he is having. He asked me to give him the blessing. It's interesting how God will tell you that your are doing the right thing and that you still have the spirit with you. That was one way he did it for me, letting me give that blessing.

       Friday, met with Fred... again.... AWESOME!!!! So we started going over the Restoration again just to make sure he understood everything. We got talking about the saviors mortal ministry and the Atonement and Fred brought up how his daughter was acting the way she normally was. He asked us if we could give her a blessing. Elder Martin gave a great blessing. After that Fred said the closing prayer. You could feel how much faith he has just by his prayer! It was almost like a fog, you can't physically grab it but you KNOW it is there. Then we helped him fix his bike tires. We didn't have all the right tools, so we called Chet to come help us. That was great, we got Fred's bike all fixed and ready to go. It's amazing to see people come together in the name of the gospel!

       Saturday we did a lot of service for our members. We did some weeding for one and set up a glass desk for another.

       Sunday we had a member go pick up Fred's family for church. Fred was going to come late because he was working. Normally there older two children are crazy. But when they got to church I was AMAZED!!! at how well behaved they were. They loved church! It is so good to see that family come so much closer to the gospel!

       Thank you for all the support! Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 8/11

Yaa Teeh!

       Monday we had a Tri Zone activity. I got to play Ultimate, I did pretty good. I got to play with Elder Provard. He's really good at Ultimate! Then we saw our recent convert and then Chet. They are both doing good. :)

       Tuesday we had MLC. We talked about improving our missionaries and talking to everyone. I really love those meetings. They are so spiritually uplifting. Then we went out with a member and saw a less active lady that is trying to come back to church. Members are so powerful! They can do so much more to influence the people than we missionaries can.

       Wednesday we met with one of our investigators, Fred. When we walked into his house it was like hitting a brick wall of the spirit! He had some piano hymns playing in the background and he had been reading. It's amazing what good music plus reading the scriptures can do to influence the spirit in the home. Well, he's doing great. We set a baptismal date with him for the 20th of September. I'm really excited for him. That night we got to go play ultimate with a group that plays almost every week. They are really good too! They are better than me so I really enjoy playing with them.

       Thursday we did our zone training. We had our sister training leader train on talking to everyone, a district leader train on viewing everyone as if they were going to the temple, Elder Martin trained on the commitment process and I train on potential. That took up a good chunk of our day.

       Friday we got meet with Fred again. He is still doing so great! He's reading and getting a lot out of his reading. It's so good to see how the gospel can affect peoples lives!

       Saturday we went walking for 6 hours in the middle of the day in 94+ degree temperatures. Someone got a great sunburn at his collar line. :) Then we went to a baptism that Flora Vista had. It was interesting because the person getting baptized asked me to speak at it. That was kinda weird but I was excited to do it! Fred was also able to come to the baptismal service and then we gave him a church tour. So it went really well.

       Sunday we had meetings and then we meet with the high counselor over missionary work. Then we went on splits. I went with Bro Black. He does such a good job at fellowshipping people. Members here are just great! I love being in Aztec!

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

Elder Chipman

 

Navajo Code 8/4

Yaa Teeh!

 

       Monday we got to go play some soccer with two kids that were already there. That was a lot of fun.

 

       Tuesday we went and picked up Elder Leichty from Farmington. Then he got a little unpacked before we had a lesson. We then had splits that night. I went with our elders quorum president and saw bro coleman. Bro Christensen (Elders Quorum President) is awesome! He started testifying and giving suggestions to Bro Coleman of how to quit smoking.

 

       Wednesday was crazy! We had exchanges with Escrito so I brought Elder Brown up to Aztec and Elder Martin and Leichty went down to Escrito with Elder Helsley. Well we had a lesson with a part member family and we brought a member and the member just started testifying about prayer and the Book of Mormon. It was great because that is what the non member needed to here. And plus they've been life long friends! It's great! Then we went for a walk. Well after about an hour and a half of walking in 90+ degree weather Elder Brown needed a drink. So we go try a members house but they weren't home. So we thought we'd stop by sonic and grab a drink for him. Well as we are walking there a lady pulls over and asks if she could by us a drink. Wow. Talk about a miracle! So she gives us like 3 dollars. Then we walk to sonic. Once we get there another lady asks if she could by us a drink. We told her that we'd already been paid for but we started talking to her about random stuff. Well, she was going through the drive through and we were on foot so we are standing outside her car as she is pulling up inch by inch. Well after about 5 minutes of talking to her the manager comes out and tells us that she had just gotten a complaint about us prosilyghting on Sonic's property and she asked us to leave. lol. All well, so we walked over to a gas station and get elder Brown his water. Then we were having dinner at our house when we get a call from President Batt telling us that Elder Leichty is being Emergency Transferred down to Indian Wells. That was a fast tripanionship. So we had to meet up and get elder Leichty back so he could pack what he had just un-packed.

 

       Thursday.... I have never been yelled at, sworn at, and told Christ isn't real so many times my entire mission. But right before we were finished with the walk we were on a lady yelled at us to come back and teach her family! Awesome!

 

       Friday we met with the Catholic guy that tried to convert us. His big thing was Reason before Faith. It was interesting but he was a really nice guy. Then we got to met with one of our old investigator who is going through a hard time. We invited him to go and meet with the bishop on Sunday.

 

       Saturday we met with the guy that we had filled in ditches for all last week. He wanted to pay us for the work we had done. Ya, that was an interesting conversation telling him that we couldn't accept money from him because it was against the rules. So we finally agreed that he could get us gift cards to some food places around Aztec. That night we had a sports night with all three wards in Aztec. We played soccer! That was sooooooo much fun. I did really well. I scored a few goals while I was in the field and had a lot of really nice, some diving, saves while I was in goal.

 

       Sunday.... Fast Sunday. So what do Elder Martin and I decide to do?! Go for a two hour walk before church! Brilliant! Just Brilliant. So we were thirsty all the way through church. But the investigator that we met with on Friday came and was able to talk to the bishop. I went in to him a little more at ease and it went really well. The bishop gave him some great advise and we ended up giving him a blessing.

 

        Well I hope you all have a great week! Until next time, Hagoonee'!

 

Elder Chipman

 

picture of the misquito bites I got from golf. :)