Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Happy New Year!

Christmas Celebration
Well, How’s it going?


We had a fantastic week this week! I mean, Christmas time is the greatest time of the year anyway, right?


Its always fun to spend Christmas in a place different and see the differences in the way we celebrate, but we all celebrate the same thing. While we ate different foods, did different things, we were all centered in the same thing, which is the birth of our savior. Every country around the world reads the same story about shepherds caring for their sheep, when an angel appears, bringing joyous news, Wise Men from the east, bearing gifts for the Son of Man, and a baby, Savior of the World, born in the humble setting of a manger, because the world which he created, had no room for him. While we are in different pàrts, we sing the same hymns, tell the same stories, and in the end, share the same gift. What a unifying time of year.


Now we are preparing for the new year. In La Plata, they have the tradition of making sculptures out of paper mache, and filling them with fireworks. At New Years, they burn them up and the fireworks go crazy. While it is fun, there are always a few injuries that occur every year. But we are walking in the streets seeing giant Mike Wazowski´s (from Monsters Inc) Minions from Despicable me, and Mario! It is fun to see, lets just say, we will take pictures!


Well, it’s definitely not cold here like it is in Colorado.  It’s super hot, and we are sweating like pigs, but worse! The sun here is super strong, so while the temperature might not show it, it feels like I'm under a heat lamp all the time, but it’s the summer. Whatcha going to do?!


Happy Anniversary mom & dad!  I think you should celebrate by going to the Hickory House restaurant.  If you go there, all of your problems will go away :) Haha, It always works for me!


Lately, I’ve been reading the Old Testament. It is a lot harder than I thought, but I'm learning a lot. I read Genesis to Exodus in about a week and a half, but its taking me about 3 weeks to get through Leviticus. I find it slow with weird stuff, but it helps me understand that God is the same for ever, and He has always had ceremonies and symbols for his teachings.


I grew a ton this week. I have been struggling the past few weeks with homesickness, fatigue, Christmas, and everything. Overall, I was just disanimated. I would work and do what I was supposed to, but not with a lot of feeling. But this week, I was able to put things into perspective. I realized that this is like I´m on the last lap of the mile race, with about 300m left. This is where every runner has the decision to either coast to the finish, or push and give it all you got. This perspective helped me understand that what I was feeling was normal, but I had to make a decision, and it’s a decision that every missionary has to make too. So, I decided I was going to kick it in, and give it all I have, and so that´s what I´m going to do! I feel better, and we had some great days this week, and we are animated and ready to go!


I hope we take the time to make goals, and see what we can do better in the upcoming year. It’s a great time to reflect what we've done, and how we can improve.


For me, its been an amazing year. I've been able to dedicate all of my time to the Lord, and I feel blessed to be able to continue doing it for a while longer!


Love you all, thanks for all you do! I’m sorry for the short letter, but I'm always short on time!

Elder Chipman

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