Sister Ripplinger's Weekly Letter, Handcart Trek and Sunburns, May 7, 2013

Dear family and friends,

This week has been really wonderful. I am learning sooooo much and it's amazing to see what the Lord has to teach us. I've been praying really hard about specific topics and the Spirit is working on me. It's AMAZING!!!!!! We had a few really neat experiences with all of the sisters this week.

Yesterday, all 20 sisters and Sister Gilliland went on a handcart trek. We started out at 9:00 am and we got back about 2:30 pm. We were all divided into companies and had a handcart to take as a "family". We each brought 17 lbs worth of stuff to make the carts more heavy. Some of the sisters have been sick all week, so they were weak and tired, but they were troupers and they made it. It was a really neat experience for me. There were five of us to my handcart and we were able to see the other handcarts ahead going up the steep and muddy hills before we got there. It had been raining all week, so everything was pretty wet and muddy. Everyone was slipping  and struggling to get the handcarts up the hill, but we all made it. My handcart group was struggling quite a bit. We were in the back most of the trek. We got a system down where Sister Holt and I were pulling in the front and it was working really well. I started to think, "Ok, it's easy like this. We'll enjoy the rest of the trek." Right after I thought that, we all stopped and some of the sisters were "claimed as sick" and taken away. Sister Holt was taken from me, as well as one other sister. So three of us (one who had been sick all week) pulled our handcart up the huge hill by ourselves and it was pretty difficult. We barely made it and the other handcarts weren't in sight when we got there. haha I was very, very grateful to get Sister Holt back at the top of the hill. That experience made me realize how hard it really might have been to lose your spouse on the trek across the plains. To be honest, I was devastated when Sister Holt was taken. The woman I was representing on the trek had come from England and had a comfortable lifestyle. They had two homes and were doing well. Her husband would never convert to the religion, but he wouldn't let her trek across the plains on her own, so he came. Halfway across, he died and they had a lot of challenges the whole way, but she made it to Salt Lake.  In life, the Lord knows us and He knows that there is no growth in comfort. As soon as we start to get comfortable or it gets easy, He gives us the opportunity to grow, to push harder, and to become better. We're all supposed to go onward and upward. 

Today we went to the beautuiful Nauvoo Temple. We get to be the daughters when we participate in sealings and I LOVE being around those temple missionaries. President Condie is the temple president and he is AMAZING. He was a general authority for several years and has so much experience. He was performing the sealings and afterwards, we had our own little lesson from him. We were sitting there with big eyes, listening intently to what he had to say about the sealing ordinance. I LOVE the opportunities that come in Nauvoo!!!!!

This week, we were serving in the Lyon Drug and a man came in that had a relative from the 1840's that was baptized in the Lyon Drug by Heber C. Kimball. It was so neat to hear him tell the story of his ancestor and see the sparkle in his eyes. It's always fun to see what will happen when we are serving in the historic sites. Sister Mills is a lot like one of the senior sisters we served with. The historic sites take a lot of endurance and those two sisters were going crazy sitting still for very long. So they were both jumping up and down, flapping their hands in the air like birds, and laughing about how funny they were. hahahaha The other senior sister there looked at me and we both started laughing. This time of the year was pretty slow last year, as well, so I have some goals set to make the most of the time we have. I'm reading the Book of Mormon in 85 days, reading the Doctrine and Covenants, reading "Our Heritage", and I am trying to teach Sister Mills everything I can. Endure it well!!!!

This week, we got bikes for the sisters and everyone was very, VERY excited. My companion was especially excited. The first morning we had them, we woke up and went for a long bike ride up a long, steep hill. haha I have to try and wear her out somehow! =) Then we rode to our site we were serving in that day and back home afterwards. It is so much fun to enjoy Nauvoo in a big, puffy pioneer dress on a bike. 

One of my favorite memories from this week is when we were serving in the Cultural Hall. There is a stage/theater on the first floor where some of the live performances take place in the evening. President Call came in during the morning time and we were standing on the stage. He is "George" in one of the skits they do. George has a crazy wife named Agatha and she's always bossing him around and telling him this and that. George works the system right and convinces the doctor that she's crazy, so the doctor takes her away. In that scene, Agatha is jumping and squealing and fighting to get away from the doctor. Anyways, so we are standing there on the stage, I smiled and started yelling, "GEORGE!!" and President Call hands me the duster that Agatha uses. I start jumping around yelling, "Oh! It's George!!! He's the crazy one!" We acted out that scene and I pretended to know all of Agatha's lines. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! 

I love this gospel. I love being a missionary!!! We have the opportunity to learn and grow, to be taught by the Spirit, and to share the gospel with others. I am so grateful to know that Heavenly Father is perfect and that we can trust Him. 

Love,

Sister Heather Ripplinger

Sister Mills and I

Sister Zibetti and I