My dear friends and family,
This letter will probably be a little bit shorter because I don't have as much time today...but here I go!!!!
First of all, thank you for the letters and packages that have been sent to me!!!!! I am so grateful for all of your love and support. I got the package from my ward and I absolutely LOVED it!!!! My companion and I have been reading a Christmas missionary story every day so far! I LOVE the stories and the little notes written on the bottom. I got Grandma and Grandpa White's box of decorations and they are hanging up in our house!!! I love you guys sooo much!!!!
So I feel like I should share some funny stories because Sister Nelson and I have been working hard, but we also strive to find joy in the journey. I'd go crazy if I couldn't have fun along the way. Last week, we were helping Mama Rose (the lady the sister missionaries are living with) unpack all of her Christmas decorations and we found a baby doll that one of her sons had about 20 years ago and it hasn't seen day light since. She calls him "Baby Jerry" and she seemed so sad to find him stuffed in a box at the bottom. She said that she wished someone would love the little doll again and somehow the baby ended up in my arms. =) I figured we may as well take Baby Jerry out on the town the next day to our District Meeting with all of the elders. Sister Nelson and I planned to keep straight faces and be totally serious about holding the baby like he was real. So I walk into the room, with Baby Jerry wrapped in a blanket, holding him carefully in my arms. I sat down, opened up my scriptures, and kept a totally serious face. The elders were all subtly looking around at each other, and trying to figure out why I was holding a baby. We started the meeting and just kept going. About half way into the meeting, one elder leans over and whispers, "Hey, Sister Ripplinger...why do you have a baby? Is it an object lesson from President Weston??" I smiled and said that I couldn't tell him yet. So they all kept watching carefully as I treated this little doll like a real baby. Later in the meeting, we were role play teaching and one of the zone leaders was observing us. I asked him if he could please hold Jerry while I was teaching. He anxiously agreed and carefully took the baby in his arms. While we were teaching, he treated that little baby like it was real. He was rocking it and holding it ever so gently. I was struggling to keep a straight face the whole time. After the meeting was over, we went out and got lunch, then brought it back to the church to eat all together. All of the elders kept asking me if I wanted them to hold the baby while I ate my lunch. So they all took turns holding the baby. Well, now it is preparation day, and they still don't know why I brought a doll to the meeting, but they are determined to find out. I don't really have a good reason. Any ideas?! hahahaha It was HILARIOUS to see all of them take care of Baby Jerry. I wasn't sure how they would react. I thought they would joke and throw him around or laugh about it. But they totally took me seriously, so Sister Nelson and I have been laughing all week. Missionary humor. =)
This week, I heard Lola pray out loud for the first time and it was such a beautiful and sincere prayer!!!! She addressed Heavenly Father, then went on to thank him for the sister missionaries and said, "I know that they have a Supreme purpose and they are sent from heaven." It melted my heart. =)
There is a lady that has met with missionaries SEVERAL times before, her husband converted a few years ago, but for some reason she is just stuck. We were over there this week and something very interesting happened. We started talking about one of the young women in the ward that is preparing to leave on a mission in a few months and discovered that Mary LOVES this young woman. I felt prompted to ask her about Whitney teaching the lessons to her for practice and then I remembered President (Elder) Aulestia's story from Nauvoo. He told me about his conversion and his story came to mind while we were talking with Mary. Instead, I asked if Mary would be willing to study the Restoration and be "Sister Davidson"'s companion to teach Sister Nelson and I. She AGREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So Brother Reed told us that she has been studying the first lesson in Preach My Gospel and she is getting ready to teach with Whitney!!!!!! Sister Nelson and I will role play investigators. I have a really good feeling about all of it....and I think Heavenly Father is incredibly smart. I'm so glad that He is in control. =) Mary is really studying the lesson and I think that something amazing is going to happen this time around. It is a totally different twist to missionary work, but nothing else has worked for Mary yet. I'm praying hard that the Spirit will touch Mary!!!!!!!!!
Last week I talked about Veronica and her Brazilian family history work. This week, she asked for a Priesthood blessing and the young man that just returned home from his mission in South America gave her the blessing. He was able to say it in her language and the Spirit was SO strong. She's getting the family history work done quickly and it is stirring up other things with extended family members that she hasn't spoken with in twenty years.....MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING!!!!!!!!
Something else really cool happened with Veronica. All of this week, I've been getting really distinct impressions about her. I kept thinking that she will leave the guy she is living with (even though they've been together for over 20 years) and move back to Brazil. However, based on what she has said previously, it seemed very unlikely that she would ever consider doing such a thing. But I kept having dreams about her being a church leader in Brazil!!!!! So that night before she received the Priesthood blessing, we were talking about her wanting to be baptized. She wants it REALLY badly and she knows with all of her heart that it is right. I felt prompted to tell her about the impressions I have had and she started crying. As the tears were pouring down her face, she responded, "I know I will go back to Brazil. I've felt that this week, too, but was so afraid. I'm so glad that you said something because I know it wasn't just me. I feel like it is right. This week, I've been making preparations to separate from (the man). It was such a neat experience and it strengthened my testimony even more that Heavenly Father really does know us and He will help us along the path if we will obey.
One more quick story. So there was a huge storm here this weekend. Sunday morning, we woke up and the power was out. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was pouring rain. Sister Nelson and I got ready in the dark and then sprinted out to the car in the pouring rain. There were trees that had fallen down across the roads all over and there were little rivers of water along the sides of the road. We had to take a back road to get to church because our main road was totally blocked by a huge tree. It was quite the adventure, but we were totally safe and fine. There was a young man and his dad waiting for us in the church parking lot with umbrellas and they escorted us over to the building's door so we wouldn't get wet. They were such heart melters! I feel so blessed to be serving here and I'm sooooo excited that I get to stay here for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words cannot even begin to express how happy I am about that. Sister Nelson and I are staying together and we've got lots of neat things coming up for Christmas and during December. Wooohoo!!!!!
I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Ripplinger
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