Hello family and friends!!!!!!!
I fly out on April 11th for Nauvoo!!!! Wooooohooooo!!!!!!! I report to the travel office at 6:00 am and will head to the airport. Family, I can call you from the airport if we have enough time. I'll write you a letter about those details, but YAY!!!!!! =)
This week was absolutely spectacular. I have so many experiences and not enough time to tell the stories. Between my weekly email, hand written letters, and my journal, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with everything! =)
To begin, I would like to share a few of funny "Elder Stories". There are many of them, but a few stand out above the rest. hahahaha So last Saturday night during personal study time, a few elders came wandering in front a different class. One was very eager to share his Doritios with me and he magically appeared at my side the next day when my zone went for our temple walk. This elder, we'll call him Elder Awkward, showed up as we were taking zone and district pictures. He approached me and asked if he could take a picture. "With just ME???" He nodded his head and handed his camera to a friend before I could respond. I awkwardly folded my arms as he scooted over next to me and pretended to put his arm around me. That alone was awkward as my whole zone and his friends watched us take our little picture in front of the temple..... Monday night, we were having a really deep, spiritual teaching experience in class. Our teachers were talking with Elder Niupalau as though he were an investigator, and the demonstration got a lot deeper than anticipated. So in the meantime, someone keeps knocking on our classroom door. No one answers it because we are all so into the moment. After twenty minutes of this random knocking on the door, one of the other teachers comes in and summons for me to come out. In my mind, I panicked and thought maybe I had missed one of my leadership training meetings or choir practice or something. I jump up out of my seat, kind of disoriented and confused because I was so into the classroom experience. The one teacher directs me into another classroom where there are two guys waiting. I didn't know if I was even allowed in a room alone with them, but the teacher told me to go on in...so I did. I quickly realized that one had a teacher's name tag and the other was Elder Awkward. The teacher shut the door and I just stared. What the heck? The teacher said, "I am sorry...I'll make this the least awkward as possible." THEN, the teacher turns around, moves over to the corner of the room, puts his head against the corner of the wall, and places his hands over his ears. ??????WHAT??????? Elder Awkward gulps and says, "Yesterday I did not act like a missionary. I took a picture with you in front of the temple and I told you you were gorgeous. And....I have had evil thoughts since then. I am sorry." What am I supposed to say to that?!?!?! I just stared at him. The teacher's body is shaking in the corner and he suddenly pulls his head out of the corner and says, "I'm sorry, this is just tooooo awkward. Let's go Elder." So they march out of the room and I am still in disbelief. What in the heck just happened?! Seriously THE most AWKWARD moment of my entire life. So I see that elder every single day and I try to hold back the laughter and awkwardness. Yeesh. It reminds me of when I went to Israel and Egypt and all of the Egyptian men wanted to take pictures with me because they mistook me for Shakira. Now it's the elders that mistake me for their future wives and take pictures in front of the temple. I learned a lesson from that experience. During the Sunday afternoon session of Conference, one of the elders kept leaning over and asking me where I was going to school after my mission, where I was from, etc. I gave short answers, but apparently not short enough. Before leaving after the session, he leaned over again and told me, "In the most innocent and non-flirtacious way, you are goregous." Thank goodness I'm going to Nauvoo, which is the land free from young elders. Halleluiah. I know Heavenly Father really does love me. =)
So.... on a less awkward note..... the rest of the week and the entire majority of the week was absolutely SPECTACULAR. I was incredibly busy. Sometimes we had three practices a day for the Conference Choir. I also had leadership training meetings and other responsiblities. It was kind of a demanding and slightly more stressful week, but that's what made it so awesome. I pushed hard through the week and gave it all I had. Saturday morning, it was all worth it.The Conference choir met at 9:00 am and drove to Salt Lake on seven huge travel buses. We were spoiled with lots of treats and things to keep us happy. =) Singing in the Conference Center truly was a once in a lifetime experience, and being a missionary in the Missionary Choir is even MORE rare. I LOVE THAT EXPERIENCE. I was able to sit 25 feet behind the speakers and see the world from their side of the the building. Watching their tiny little bodies speak out to thousands of people, in the Conference Center alone, and to thousands and thousands throughout the world was so humbling. They are inspired and they speak by the Spirit. When President Monson walked in, I felt a rush of the Spirit. He is our latter-day prophet, called of God. I will never forget when we stood up and sang the closing song, "Priase to the Man". As the song built, I looked up into the crowd, into the bright lights from above us. I am part of the Lord's Army!!!!!! Simply unable to describe the feelings I had.
I mentioned earlier Elder Niupalau and our teachers in the classroom experience. THAT was an experience I will never forget. So our two teachers sat down with him as though he were an investigator. They were trying to show that it really is essential to teach by the Spirit. So the two teachers left the room, and Elder Niupalau was supposed to choose something he's worried about. Based on a few little comments I've heard him subtly make before, I knew that he was concerned about his parents, but I had no idea the depth. He did choose to have his relationship with his parents as his concern. The teachers came back in 5 minutes later and started with a prayer. Within two minutes, Sister Stapley said, "I feel impressed to tell you that your parents love you. Even though you don't always see eye to eye. She nailed it based on the promptings of the Spirit. Things quickly escalated from that. They started getting down to his soul. He began to express some VERY bitter feelings, and I dare say hatred toward his parents. I don't understand the extent of what happened during his childhood, but he is VERY bitter. The Spirit was burning so strongly in the room. I could feel it shaking inside of me. But Elder N couldn't feel it. He directly said, "Aren't you both supposed to help me?! If you ARE trying to help me, how come I can't feel whatever it is that YOU both are feeling???!!!" He was getting really worked up and I could feel the tension in the room. They were trying to help him, but his walls were going up and he was so frustrated. As everything was happening, I had so many thoughts running through my head. Suddenly, a flood of thoughts came back from when I was in the Garden of Gethsemane nearly a year ago. I remember Brother Lund talking about forgiveness. After the teaching experience was over, and after I returned from my awkward elder experience, I was wondering how I could help him. The teachers provided that opportunity. They asked if anyone in the room had thoughts they'd like to share or felt prompted to say anything. I did. I quickly raised my hand and before I knew what I was saying, I started teaching him what Brother Lund had taught me. When the Savior was hanging on the cross, after he suffered in Gethsemane and right before He died, he said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." Your parents and family members don't know that they hurt you so badly. You can't hold all of those feelings against them because they have no idea how deeply they hurt you or how badly they scarred you. You can forgive them because the Savior forgave the people that killed Him. You need to write a letter to your self, expressing all of the things that hurt you and that you hold against your parents. Get it all out on the table in that letter. Then go burry it in the ground. When you burry that letter, leave everything in the ground and NEVER go dig that letter up. Let the Savior take those burdens from you. Then write a letter to your parents and do not say anything about what they've done to you. Just ask for their forgiveness and tell them that you love them. Let the Savior heal your relationship with them. Let the Savior take His place in your life."
Elder Niupalau felt the Spirit and he wrote those letters. I will always remember that experience. My invitation to everyone that reads this is to let the Savior heal you. If there are hard feelings against anyone, that you should love and you don't, let it go. Do whatever it takes-even writing a letter to the dirt. Free yourself from the unnecessary burdens you are carrying. I know that Christ can heal us because I've personally experienced that healing process. Trust Him. He loves you.
I love all of you SOOOOO much. I am so grateful for my family. Everytime I pray, I thank Heavenly Father for my family and friends. I am so grateful that serving a mission is part of Heavenly Father's plan for me. I loved singing in Conference, I love learning about the Gospel, and I love the Gospel.
Love,
Sister Heather Ripplinger
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