Navajo Code 4/28

       Yaa Teeh!

       This week went by really fast as well. It just seems that my mission is getting faster and faster! NOOOOOOOOOO! I want it to last longer but there is no brakes on this thing. :)

       Monday at the end of emailing a guy and his wife came into the fort and we started talking. He's from England. So, naturally, I asked about Liverpool Football Club. THEY'RE IN 1ST!!!!!! Best conversation with an Englishman EVER! :D Then we were going to go to a members house and play pool for the last half hour of our P day but they weren't home. So we, in our prolyhting clothes, went mountain (trail) biking in the outback of Bluff! So fun!! That's actually what we are doing today!

       Tuesday I was up at 3 45 in the morning being sick. So we stayed in until I was feeling better around 5 and we tried some people that we had an appointment with and they both weren't home. 

       Wednesday we went on exchanges. I stayed in Bluff with Elder Phillips and Elders Johnson and Lindsay went to Blanding with Elder Maupin. Is it sad that our most productive day is always on exchanges. :) We got to met with a man named Ernie. We read about the tree of life and he understood it. It was an awesome lesson. Then we had a lesson with Randy and his family. They are doing such a good job! They are on date for the 24th of May and they are so excited!

       Thursday was really busy! We had district meeting up in Monticello. Then on the way to a meeting in Blanding we got a phone call from one of our recent converts telling us that they had just moved! NOOOOOOOO That family was amazing! I loved going over there. But it was for the better. And the missionaries up there need a good family to teach as well so it's an overall good thing. Then we had our meeting with the District Leaders and then we went shopping and then we came home. Later we went and showed some of the Fort missionaries where one of their visiting teaching people live. 

       Friday we had a great lesson with Marvin and Trevor. Trevor is really getting interested in the church. He's read almost 50 pages in the Book of Mormon with out us even asking! Then we tried to wash off some dirt in the community center pavilion, really we just made a big mud puddle. :) Then we played some basketball.

       Saturday we went to a funeral for someone we visited. The service was at the Episcopalian church. Wow that was different. I've never had the sacrament at a funeral before. :) Then we went exploring a big part of our area on less that a quarter tank of gas. :) We barely made it back to Bluff. :)

       Sunday we just had church. Good day.

       So we have transfers on Saturday. I think I will be staying. But please don't send me any mail until next week. Thanks!

Well, I gtg. Until next week, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 4/21

      Yaa Teeh!

       This week went by really fast for me. Just a lot of small stuff to get done so this week just went by really fast.

       Monday we went on exchanges with the Monticello Elders. I brought Elder Varela down to Bluff and Elders Lindsay and Johnson went up to Monticello. Well we went and biked on the reservation and Elder Varela couldn't breath really well, so he asked me to give a blessing. That was a really cool experience to give him a blessing on the middle of the reservation after only being with him just over an hour.

       Tuesday we went over to the fort to get one of our bikes fixed. We needed to get the gears off. Well almost all of the elders there came to help. They tried everything. They started with a hammer then went to a 4 lbs sledge hammer then finally brought out a 16 lbs sledge hammer. Then they were going to bring out the blow torch but they got it off before they get that fully functioning. Then we went and "explored" a part of the area that I haven't ever really been to. We talked to a few people and placed several books of Mormon. Then we had a really good lesson with Daylene and her family. We taught How to Begin Teaching. I showed them an object lesson on the book of Mormon and that went really well. :) Then we cleaned the truck for Zone Conference the next day.

       Wednesday we went to Zone Conference. Elder Johnson and I actually got to train during the meeting. That was a whole new experience. But it was a lot of fun. We also won 2nd place in the vehicle inspection. President Batt did a really good training on Faith. He is so amazing!

       Thursday we were walking on the reservation because we didn't have our bikes fixed yet. We went to this house that had a black dog. It was nice but after we finished at the house we walked back to the truck and the dog followed us. The best part was that whenever a car was about to pass the dog would hide in the brush, and hide quite well. A few times we couldn't even find it until the car past and it came out of hiding to chase the car. Awesomeness. Then we had a lesson with Randy and family then played dodgeball with the kids. Always fun.

       Friday we got stopped by a random Native that asked if we could go down by the Arizona Reservation and give his mom a prayer because someone had died. One of the senior couples took us down. When we got there we realized that the mom didn't really speak English at all. That was fun. We did leave her with a prayer though. Then we had basketball night.

       Saturday the Fort had a big Easter Egg hunt so we went over and helped. Then we went out to the reservation and visited with Leroy outside. Near the end of the lesson some Jehovah's Witnesses drove up to the house, saw us, turned around and drove away. :) That was fun. Then we helped with a families easter egg hunt. At the end of the night we played some football and soccer with some kids from Bluff.

       Sunday we had Branch conference, so church was full. At the end some kids were outside climbing on our truck so I was going to go out and talk to them. Then I remembered that I had the remote in my pocket. I pulled it out and pushed the alarm button. I watched as the alarm turned from the truck to the kids faces as they ran back inside saying, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" Oh fun stuff!

       Well there is my week, thanks for all the support! Until next time, Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 4/14

 Yaa Teeh!

       This week went by really fast so we'll see what I can put down. :D

       Monday we played pool with a member until we needed to go, then we went out to the reservation and found a really prepared 9 yr old little girl named Allyn. She has already read the Book of Mormon Stories book, the one with pictures, and is really excited to get baptized. 

       Tuesday we were on exchanges with the assistants. I was with Elder Knighton and Elder Lindsay. We went up to an area called 5 points, because at one point there are 5 roads going in different directions. So I've only been up there twice while I've been in the area. So we did some truck-ting, yes truck-ting. Most missions go tracting to find people to teach. Out on the Reservation however you have to go truck-ting to go find people. It's really pretty interesting. It's like a game of hide and go seek except they can't run, however they often don't answer the door. :) Fun stuff.

       Wednesday we went out to a place called Toda. We go there a lot and bike a round to save some miles and time. This time we decided to try and find a shortcut. There was a mesa in between us and our next house we wanted to visit. So instead of going around the mesa we tried going over it, with our bikes. So we couldn't bike up the hill to the top of the mesa because it was too sandy. When it wasn't to sandy it was to steep. So we get on top and start walking around, because of how much sand there was we couldn't bike. We eventually found that there wasn't a trail and started walking the general direction of the house we wanted to go visit. We had our bikes on our shoulders for almost the entire time we were up there because of how many bull heads were around. So what normally was a 5 to 10 minute bike ride tuned into a 30 minute hike. lol. :D But hey, it was loads of fun. Then we went to the Oasis village and contacted a referral. Well when we were coming out Elder Lindsay realized he had lost his helmet clip. So we spent 30 minutes looking for that, but we did eventually find it. Then we had a lesson with Randy and family. We read Alma 17 with them, they have an 8 yr old boy so I thought he'd like the story. We also invited them to baptism and... they accepted! That's always nice when that happens. :) Then we had dinner with one of the senior couples here in Bluff. 

       Thursday we had district meeting then we had a meeting with Bro Martin about the tutoring program we are advertising for. He ran us through the program..... oh my goodness amazing. The biggest things I got from it was to succeed in college have a study group and read a head. He said if I brought a flash drive he would give me the whole presentation. So worth it. Then we went and saw Kaeahliyah. She is so smart! We taught her about the sacrament and how it relates to Baptism. Then we had a bar-b-que with all the senior missionary couples. I love having all these senior couples around, they're the best!

       Friday we helped out with a funeral. Then we went and taught Marvin, we actually read and discussed Jacob 1 with him. Then we did some service moving some gravel and then played basketball.

       Saturday was really fun. We help a guy move, then helped another guy put on a hood for his truck plus the grill. Then we got to go out to the reservation and see Wilbert. So we start teaching lesson one. We teach up to the Great Apostasy and then Wilbert starts teaching us the part on the Restoration! It was increadable! It was really quite interesting. Then we went and tried a potential investigator. I've never had a door slammed in my face before. Well, we went up to the door and an 8 yr old came to the door said some stuff that I couldn't really hear then said, "Bye, Bye" And closed the door pretty hard. So I'm going to count it, I've now had a door slammed in my face.... by an 8 yr old.... on the reservation. :)

       Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting. Kaeahliyah got up and almost made everyone cry with her testimony! Then we went up to Blanding for a meeting with the stake president. Then we had dinner with a member in the ward. Fun Stuff!

        Well GTG, until next time Hagoonee'!

Elder Chipman

Navajo Code 4/7

       Yaa Teeh!

        So I have a lot to catch up on, so here it goes!

       Wednesday was also crazy. So we needed to go the the elementary school to have the new Elders sign some papers. Well, when we came out we talked to some students from Mizzou University. Well we left and went to the house for lunch. About 45 minutes later we get a phone call from them asking us to come to dinner................... um.................... sure. :) So we set up a time to go by at 8. Then we went out to the reservation, and the wind REALLY picked up! So the wind was so bad that when you walked into it you couldn't look up because of the wind and the sand. But us being the brilliant missionaries (Elders :D ) that we are, still went tracking and biking! :D Then we got to go to the meeting with the Mizzou students. So there were 10 girls and 1 guy, plus us. Ya that was interesting. But the meeting went sooooooooooo good! We got to know each other for a little while, then they started asking some religious questions. We summarized all four lessons! It was amazing!

       Thursday we had district meeting then we had an interview with a guy to help get some free tutoring program on the Reservation.  Then we got back to Bluff and had some good lessons with Kaeahliyah and then with Tristan and Mckayla. That night I couldn't fall asleep because I was coughing like crazy. I was getting up every 15 minutes to go blow my nose. Finally around midnight I bumped Elder Johnson and he gave me a blessing and then I went right to sleep. :) Blessings are great!

       Friday I slept in because I really wasn't feeling good. Then we went and biked around Bluff. That helped clear my lungs out. That night we went to go play basketball and we got there and found out that they had changed the locks on us. Not cool. So we went back to the house and I finished figuring out miles for the Zone. President Batt had asked me to reformulate the miles for the Zone.

       Saturday we talked to one of the Bluff Fort senior missionaries. He was a lawyer in Delaware, he is so funny! Then we went out to the reservation and had a really good lesson with Aaron. We watched the restoration. He really liked it and still wants to be baptized. Then we had a lesson with Eno. He basically said that he doesn't want us to come by anymore. It's interesting the spirit that you get when you testify about the truthfulness of the gospel when they are rejecting it. 

       Sunday the power went out right after church and it stayed out until about 9 45. So we took numbers for the zone in the dark. We also had to go up to Blanding for a fireside that President and Sister Batt. So good!

       Monday we went down to Farmington for MLC on Tuesday. I got to work that night with my former companion, Elder Krstyen.

       Tuesday we had MLC. President Batt trained on Agency. Amazing! Dad, I'll have to tell you about it. I forgot to write about it in my letter. We also started an exchange with the Montezuma Elders. I brought Elder Lindsay and Elder Wood to Bluff.

       Wednesday we had a really good lesson with Patterson. He has been going through some hard times. We showed him the Book of Mormon and he was really happy about it. I'm excited to go back. Then we got to go biking on the reservation for a little while. That's always fun. Then we went to Randy's house with him and his family. We taught about the Atonement. That was really good. Then we got to go play dodgeball and basketball with the kids. Then we went back into Bluff. We then had one of the best lessons on my mission with our recent convert Kaeahliyah. So she is 8 and we also teach her mom. So we read 1 Nephi 2. I really focused on the mom. I personalized Lehi's actions and trials to her. When I started talking about Lehi's oldest children rebelled Kaeahliyah (who is her oldest) started crying pretty hard. We asked her what was going on, she said that she thought about herself rebelling against her mom but she couldn't do it, she just loves her too much! The spirit was so strong! It was amazing! Then at night when we had gone home I needed to go to the church to make a copy and the light above the door was off and I needed that light. So I said a quick prayer in my heart and asked the for the light to come back on and... the light flickered on. :)

       Thursday we had District meeting and extra meetings with the district leaders. 

       Friday we did a lot of driving because we needed to get a vehicle to Farmington so we met the vehicle coordinator half way. 

       Saturday and Sunday was filled with wonderful conference! 

       Well I gtg, Until next time. Hagoonee'!

Elder Bryson Chipman

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