Week 3! It's a Roller Coaster

This week has been a week of miracles and set backs! Isn't that what missionary work is? It's a roller coaster it seems.

 

Monday we had a good lesson with a family about the enabling power of the Atonement. We know that this will really help the mom with the trials she is struggling with! She committed to study more about the Atonement! I know this will be a blessing in her life.

 

Tuesday was President's interviews. Amazing. I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was a source of spiritual strength and an uplifting time that was needed. Sister Anderson and I also received a lot of revelation for our area as well. I saw Sister Coleman again! It's nice to see her! I was able to tell her about the email she sent to my mom this past week. In my interview with President Castro, he said that as I work hard here, I will be able to keep up with the language, and when I do get to Brazil, it will be as if I've been there for a while already. 

Sister Anderson and I didn't have any letters that night, so we decided to make a feast for dinner. She made french toast with her non-hormone eggs, I made scambled eggs with hormones, cheese, and mushrooms. It was good. I love her. I feel like I've known her forever, and then I realized it's only been 3 weeks. Here are some quotes from the night:

-On a scale of 1 to eating a jar of Nutella, how depressed are you?

-Who came up with French Toast? Well, possible the french...

 

Wednesday we met with our investigator Lee who has a baptismal date of October 19. We sat down with her and made goals. We then broke her goals down into what she was going to do, what Sister Anderson and I were going to do to help her, and then help she needs from the Lord to complete these goals as well. We invited her to pray about these goals and ask Heavenly Father for the help that she needs. Through addressing her concerns, it became evident to me just how incredible it is how Heavenly Father has prepared me in the past for these investigators! As I talked with Lee, some of my own experiences came to mind and I was able to share these with her.

Days we don't have the car are interesting. The couple we ate dinner with offered us a ride to the church, but Sister Anderson refused. We walked like 2 miles. Quickly, with full stomachs and full bladders. I told her next time, we take the ride and walk up and down the street once to get some street contacting in :)

 

Thursday we had a lesson with Carl who seems to be an eternal investigator. I was impressed to share in James 2 that faith without works is dead. We were hoping that this would be the push he needs to take steps and progress, but we are not sure that it worked. We are planning on a commit or drop lesson this week. Later that day, we met Killian! He is a student at Cal Poly, so we referred him to the Elders in the Single's ward, but he seems elect. It was a blessing. We also had a short visit with Lee where we shared Matthew 5: Let your light shine. It really helped her to remember the goals that she set.

 

Friday morning, I was sick. It really set us back in numbers this week, but that's okay! I got rest and felt a lot better the next day. Later, we met a potential investigator, Ryan, who we have a return appointment with this Friday. We also met with Lee. who had had a really rough day and had unfortunately watched a show on TV that was not so nice about the church. We addressed her concerns and then left.

 

Saturday Sister Anderson was sick in the morning. We have both recovered and are doing much better. Lee cancelled our plans to attend the Relief Society broadcast together. This was really disappointing. Sister Anderson and I attended the broadcast and had many of our concerns and disappointments lightened as we listened to the words of the conference. It's incredible the revelation you receive not only for yourself, but also the area and your investigators as you invite the Spirit into your life. We felt much better after the conference and have some new direction to work on this week. I also got 4 letters each on Friday and Saturday which were the hardest days of the week. I know Heavenly Father is watching out for me, and so are you all. Letters mean so much and get me through the hard days, thank you so much!

 

Yesterday we visited briefly with Lee. She was dealing with a lot of medical pain, but we left her with a quick message. We are not sure where she stands at this point with being baptized on the 19th. We will follow up today.

 

Missionary work is hard, but I know that it is worth it! I know that miracles are coming! I love San Luis Obispo and am striving to increase that love for everyone here. I love Sister Anderson more than I can say! I feel like I've known her forever, and then I remember it's only been 3 weeks. 

 

The Relief Society Broadcast was so good! I am so excited for the rest of conference! I know it is such a blessing in our lives! Watch it! It's on lds.org on Saturday and Sunday. Prophets and Apostles of God are speaking. How incredible is that?

I love each of you. I know Heavenly Father loves you! He knows you perfectly and loves you unceasingly. Find one way you can follow Him and His Son a little better this week :)

Love,

Sister Maryann Shipp

Week 2 - Green Missionary

Sister Anderson and I have had a very busy and very interesting week as well! Sitting next to me on her own computer, she was super excited to hear about the results from the Utah vs BYU game. We don't need to talk about it. She wants to get a picture of us; me in my BYU shirt and her in her U shirt. I guess that one will probably make it to you next week.

 

Last Monday, we played Volleyball as a district! Got to show off a little. It was fun! Lots of dropped balls and lots of laughs. That night, we had dinner with the Huber family in our ward. They have a tradition where the make a green dinner for "green missionaries." Literally. Green soup. Green milk. Asparagus. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. It was so fun! They are so sweet. For our dinner message, we shared the Restoration lesson and invited them to act like investigators. It was my first time teaching that lesson with Sister Anderson, and my first time teaching it in English as well! The Spirit was so strong. We challenged them to think about people in their lives that they could share the gospel with and invited them to pray about it. Sister Huber came to us yesterday and told us that she took our challenge and prayed about it and a name came to her mind. She sent him a talk by one of the Apostles and it was an answer to his prayers. We are hoping that more stories and referrals will come as we continue to share this message with members. I didn't realize how important members were in missionary work until I became a missionary!

 

On Tuesday, we found a man named Shane who is here in town for a rehabilitation program for mental problems. He seemed interested in how he could obtain forgiveness from his sins and move forward in life. We returned to him on Saturday and taught him about prophets, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ. He tried reading a little from the Book of Mormon, but is convinced that he cannot understand what we are saying because of his mental problems. We invited him to pray.

 

Also on Tuesday, we met with Lee. We have been trying to teach Lee tithing for some time now, but something always comes up. We went to her house determined to teach it this time and we were dismayed when we saw her. She had just started a new medication and she was really out of it. We talked to her for a few minutes and then asked if she would be okay for a lesson. It was a miracle. As we began teaching about tithing, she regained her ability to focus. We explained Tithing and Fasting as simply as we could because we knew this principle was what was keeping her from being baptized. After we finished, Lee agreed and said that the principles made complete sense to her. We started talking about baptism. Lee expressed that she felt the need to study more. We explained that you don't need to know everything in order to be baptized, you just have to have faith. Sister Anderson nudged me under the table, and I extended the invitation for her to be baptized on October 12. SHE SAID YES. We met with her again on Wednesday; members of our ward gave her a blessing because of some health problems. She quit smoking that day. On Saturday, Lee had a panic attack and yesterday, she smoked a cigarette. Her family is not very accepting of her decision, which is hard on her and she still is waiting for the results of some medical tasks. We set her with a new baptismal date of October 19 and we are determined to get her there. We know she can do this.

 

Also Tuesday, we met a man named Billy, who is missing a lot of his teeth, but he has a really cute dog. Billy just spent 40 days in jail because he pushed his ex-wife's car off a cliff. We left him with a Restoration pamphlet.

 

For dinner, we ate with the Slusser family. They are like the perfect missionary family! Their daughter's friend, Stella, comes to church with them each week and wants to be baptized. We may have another baptism here soon :) Brother and Sister Slusser told us the story of how they met. They met when they were both missionaries serving in Florida! How crazy! Such a good story! After dinner, we had a lesson with Emily. It was my first drop lesson. I dropped my first investigator. I know it was a good decision though.

 

We dropped another investigator, Jean, this past week. We had a lesson on the Restoration and asked him a lot of questions. The intent just isn't there, so Sister Anderson and I decided that he is not ready yet.

 

Wednesday was my first talk in District Meeting! It went well! My district leader says he might assign me a talk every week. We'll see how that goes. Our whole day was pushed back by some unexpected delays, but because of that, we caught our investigator as he was coming home and also met Lia! Lia does not have a strong religious background and is totally open to learning more. We had a lesson with her Friday and taught the Restoration. She said she would think about what we taught and would read Moroni 10. She is very open minded and we are hoping to teach her more.

 

We met with Carl on Thursday. He has been investigating the church for years and years, but we found out that he has still not prayed about the Book of Mormon for some reason. We are trying to figure out what is best for him. We are planning a lesson for this week on acting because of the faith we do have. We hope this will push him to make changes in his life and to pray about the Book of Mormon. We briefly met Barbara while knocking who thinks we are Polygamists. Some people's ideas are so funny. Later in the day, we knocked a house that had a Confederate flag and all these red-neck signs. We knocked twice, then a sick feeling crept into my stomach. I felt like we shouldn't be there, so we left. I hope one day, I will know why.

 

Friday I got my first letter here! YAY! It was so nice. I've missed mail so much. Sister Anderson also stained part of the table with a wet pink sticky note during weekly planning. My companion. 

 

Saturday there was a baptism! I wish it was one of our investigators. It was a student from Cal Poly. Sister Anderson and her last companion actually found him, but referred him to the elders over the Single's ward. It was a great ceremony :)

 

Yesterday, I spoke in church. I talked about missionary work, trying to inspire the members to be missionaries with us. Everyone loved it. I got so many compliments. The people in this ward are so great :) So many were impressed that I am only 19. As Sister Anderson and I were walking to one of our appointments yesterday, a bird pooped in her hair. We needed the laugh. We stopped, found something to wipe her hands off on, used lots of hand sanitizer, took a picture, and kept going. We also ran into an angry old man. We were walking the same way down the street, so we decided to say hi. He refused to tell us his name and then ignored us as we walked down the street going the same direction. People.

I love being a missionary. Sometimes I think about how it would have been easier to be home or continuing my studies at BYU, but I know this is where I am needed now! I love it here and I love this opportunity I have to serve the Lord! Hope all is well. Love you!

Love,

Sister Shipp

San Luis Obispo, CA - Week 1

So here is my mailing address (it is the address for the mission office, they forward the mail to me):

Sister Maryann Shipp

California Ventura Mission

3301 West Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036

I have been assigned to San Luis Obispo, CA! I love it. I can definitely tell I'm in Cali though. I'm making a list. You know you're in California when.... (Please don't be offended.. These are just my observations.. Very different from Texas):

-You run into 2 brothers named Forrest and River

-You are taxed when you don't supply your own bags at stores

-Drive Throughs are illegal in your town

-Someone yells out the window of their car while smoking weed and says "Nice Bible!"

-You see a sign pledging allegiance to Earth and life

-You pass a shirtless man carrying his life on his back, hitch-hiking to Long Beach

-The town has a "Thank the Whales" celebration

Kind of a whole other world over here, but I love it. No house looks the same. They are all different colors. And the weather is perfect! I cannot even describe how nice it is.

First week in the field! It has been incredible. I love Sister Anderson so much. She is from Salt Lake City and is a huge Utah fan, but we don't hold it against each other. We have seen so many tender mercies and I have learned so much from her so far. I love San Luis Obispo and am so happy to be here serving the Lord and the people here.

On Tuesday I met our investigator, Lee. Sister Anderson just wanted to share a quick scripture with her so she could get to know me. She asked me to share one of my favorite scriptures and I felt prompted to share D&C 6:20-23. As I read those verses, I substituted Lee's name into the verse. I guess it was exactly what she needed and had addressed some of the things that she had previously been through. It was definitely a tender mercy since I was not fully aware of all the details about Lee.

On Wednesday I attended my first district meeting in the field. Incredible. I am so impressed by the revelation that came as we met and strengthened our resolve as a district and worked to improve our teaching skills by learning how to ask inspired questions. It is definitely something I want to implement more strongly in my teaching. Later in the day, we met a woman named Liz who loves the Bible. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read and pray about it. Hopefully we can catch her this week to follow up. After that, we ran into the mail woman who happens to be LDS! She gave us 6 referrals (some of which were for other wards). What a miracle. I don't know how many referrals we normally get, but apparently 6 in one day is miraculous. The Lord is looking out for us!

Thursday we had 5 lessons planned, but 4 cancelled. It was a little discouraging. We visited a less active Sister in our ward named Linda in the ICU. She was really struggling that day, so I think it was a really good thing the Spirit had led us to visit her. We were able to pray with her, talk about the Atonement, and about the purpose of life. I think those little messages really touched her and the support of a visit that day was especially what she needed. Later, we experienced a miracle as we met Larry when we were on our way to one of our appointments that eventually fell through. Larry is a super optimistic man because he "keeps Jesus in his heart" all day. It was inspiring to see his faith and how he manifests it to others. We left him with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and have an appointment with him this Wednesday. We also had a lesson with our investigator, Gene. We taught about the Plan of Salvation since his wife died somewhat recently. I don't think he believes he can really know for sure if this plan is God's plan or that there is only one true church. We are trying to figure out the best way to help him understand.

Friday we spent a long time on weekly planning. I loved it. I really felt like we received some good direction on how to best help our investigators and who to focus on this week. I really am so thankful for Sister Anderson. She is so encouraging and is so easy to get along with. We have similar ideas of what we want to accomplish in this area and set goals to make them happen. We are really striving for 2 baptisms this transfer and praying everyday for the help to accomplish it. We visited Lee that day, walked her dog, and shared a scripture with her. She is going through a health scare right now. We don't know what she might be facing, but tests will come back for whatever it is this Friday. We have been planning on teaching her tithing, but with her anxiety and level of faith at the moment, we think we should focus on faith first. She is going to receive a blessing on Wednesday.

Saturday we found a college student named Crystal when we returned her roommate's iphone (we found it on the sidewalk while running that morning). I think it was a miracle. Crystal grew up Catholic, but is looking for a new church. We told her a little about the Single's ward and suggested it for her. We met 2 interesting guys later in the day as well. First was John who is conflicted between science and religion. He really likes the Bible so we left him with a Book of Mormon to read. The other man is Chase. Chase has been through a lot in his life. Part of the time, he was challenging us, especially when we pulled out a Book of Mormon to give to him. It got to the point where he wasn't letting us talk. He was just falsely criticizing this book. Sister Anderson boldly interrupted him and testified of the Book of Mormon. He was silent. I think there were tears in his eyes and he shook our hands and said he would read it. I really hope he does. I don't know what he is going through right now, but there is something and I know the Book of Mormon and the rest of this gospel will help him. It's amazing how strongly I felt the Spirit as Sister Anderson testified.

Sunday I attended the SLO 1st Ward. I love it. The ward members are so nice, welcoming, and excited that we are here. I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Joe, a less active in our ward who is struggling with his testimony, and suggest that he read "Lord I Believe" by Jeffrey R. Holland. We did a lot of tracting and met some nice individuals and invited them to church.

Overall, it was a wonderful week and I am so thankful to be here. I love this area. I love the ward. I love my companion. I love being a missionary. I know the Lord is helping me retain the Portuguese I learned in the MTC. It's incredible how much it has stayed with me and how I am still improving even though I only speak it a little each day.

I am excited and looking forward to many more miracles this week.

The family we ate dinner with last night actually served in Ribeirao Preto. He showed me tons of pictures and told me all about the area. I am excited! Excited to be here. Excited to go to Brazil. It is so nice to speak English. I said the prayed in Portuguese and he said it was really good! Yay! I'm trying to teach Sister Anderson Portuguese. She broke our key to the library this week. In the lock. Good times. Love her.

TUDO BEM (ALL IS WELL)

Love Y'all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Shipp

Final Days of the MTC and reassignment

What a crazy last half of the week! Let me tell you about my last few days here in the MTC.

Wednesday my district got to Host the incoming missionaries (take them from their families at the curb, help them get all their things, and find their classroom and dorm room). I knew my roommate Alli Yost was coming in so I was looking for her! I got to host a sweet girl named Sister Blood first. It was such a neat experience. Part of our job was being a comfort to the parents. It was so sweet because I went through the same experience 5 weeks ago so I could relate. The second girl I hosted was going to Milan, Italy. After we picked up her keys and name tag, I found out that she is Sister Yost's companion! And that they would be at the West campus so I wouldn't see them after that day. After I took care of her and assured her she had one of the best companions ever, I frantically looked for Sis Yost. I hosted another girl while looking around. As I waited for Sister Wood to get her name tag, I saw Sister Yost come out of the building in front of me. I ran to her and gave her a huge hug. She was still a little shaken so I went into mom mode and told her how much she will love it here and how great she was going to be. I knew I probably wouldn't see her again before I left, so we hugged a few more times before saying bye. What an amazing tender mercy. What are the odds that I would host her companion? Or that I would see Sister Yost before she left for the West campus? I am so grateful. Later that day, Sister Marchant played a piano solo at the new missionary meeting. She did amazing. She is such a great pianist :)

Thursday we had In-Field Orientation which was so great! We talked about what it would be like in the field and learned how to work with members and other leaders in the ward. Elder Bendel and Elder Gariety got their visas! They will be off to Riberao Preto on Monday. We were hoping reassignments would come, but they didn't. I guess the Lord knew I would be anxious and would need a little boost because that was the day I got 3 packages. I cannot express to y'all how loved I felt. Thank you so much. Letters and packages mean so much. I got fudge and pictures from my family; candy, letters, stickers, letter writing stuff, and a notebook from Sister Yost; and chips, queso, salsa, chocolate zucchini bread, reeses, picture (from my cousins Tanner and Porter), a card, and a letter from my Aunt Julie and Grandpa & Grandma Shipp. I've been sharing a lot with my Sisters and the Elders in my district as well. Thanks again! That night, Sister Baker got a Dear Elder from here mom who found out her reassignment from her Stake President and told her. Salem Oregon! Leaving Saturday. I started to cry. It became a little more real in that instant. I am so sad to leave these sweet sisters. I cannot express how much of a support Sisters Baker, Lewis, Hoffman, Vanhoven, and Marchant have been to me since coming here. I love them so so much.

Friday. I was so anxious, I didn't sleep much the night before. I was really anxious all of class that morning as well. After class, most of our district walked to the building where our mail is and waited for the district leader to come back with the contents of the mailbox. They were there! We went back to our classroom and read them one by one with our fellow district. Ventura, California! Sister Marchant and I are both going there. We leave for the airport 3:30 Monday morning. The reassignments for the rest of my district include Salem Oregon (Sis Baker), Portland Oregon (Sis Lewis), Seattle Washington (Elder Oxendine), Spokane Washington (Sis Hoffman and Elder Woolley), Riverside California (Elder Epley), and San Fernando California (Sis Vanhoven). How crazy! I'm nervous and excited. I got yet another package later that day. All the love is coming this week! I guess I need it. Thanks Sis Pope for the amazing package!

We woke up at 4:15 this morning to walk Sis Baker to the travel office. We walked her there in our PJs. We met our Elders there as well. We stood in a circle and said a prayer together, our last one as a district, before saying goodbye to Sis Baker. It was such a sweet and special moment. We all love Sister Baker. I know each member of that circle this morning will do amazing things.

I appreciate all of your prayers in my behalf. If I could ask, please keep me in your prayers this next week as I leave the MTC. I want to do my best in California and I know that I can't do it without the help of the Lord. I love you all! I still don't have my next address, but I'll get it out as soon as possible!

Love,

Sister Shipp

 

Week 5

The weeks are going by so fast! I LEAVE THIS WEEK. So here's the deal. I do not have a visa so far, so I will be getting a reassignment on either Thursday or Friday! AH! I had a dream it was Georgia a few days ago... We'll see. I will have a P-Day the day before I leave (which could be anywhere from Saturday-Wednesday) SO that is when I will be able to tell you! So I will be getting a new mailing address as well! Keep that in mind. Mom will post the new address as soon as she gets it. I would hate for any letters to get lost... :( I am so incredibly excited! But a little nervous as well. Life in the field will be so much different here! I just can't wait to find out where I will be.

So this week...

Tuesday: Elder Andersen came! How cool! He talked about love and sacrifice. The main take away I had was that you will not know in this life all the lives that you touch. This is encouraging but it also pushes me to be better! I want to live in a way that I am always reaching out to others in little ways no matter what I am doing. His main quote was "We sacrifice for the things we love and we love the things we sacrifice for." I know this is true. Think of when you serve someone consistently; you grow to love them. Automatically. And think about this: How much, then, does Jesus Christ love you? He suffered all for you. He lived a perfect life for you. He suffered for your sins. He suffered all afflictions, loneliness, and any negative feeling that you have had, are having, and will have. He died for you. He sacrificed so much for you. He sacrificed that because He loves you and He loves you even more because He sacrificed for you. Think about that this week. I know it's true.

After the devotional, they told us to stick around in the Marriott Center and sing some hymns since there was a thunder storm going on outside. We stayed for a little while, but then they told us to head back. The thunder and lightning had stopped, but it was still raining and it was a little chilly. It was a neat experience. No one was complaining. We were having fun in the rain even though we were not in good clothing or shoes to be trudging through. It's the little things, y'all. I love the attitude of the people here.

Wednesday: I saw Sister Jessica Bagley (my BYU visiting teaching companion)! It was nice to see her :) She is going to be such a great missionary. I also got a surprise package from home! Brownies! Thanks mom! My roommates/district Sisters say that you are magic. They loved it. Some people want the recipe from the coconut bread as well.

Thursday: We Skyped with a man in Brazil! He is a member and we gave him a 30 minute lesson on prayer and the Holy Ghost. It was scary. He could see us, but he didn't have a camera so we couldn't see him. It was awesome though! He was so nice. He said that we spoke well for speaking Portuguese for a month now. He shared a couple experiences and we thought we had some idea of what he was talking about. After hanging up with him, our teacher told us what he had said... totally different than what we thought. Oh well. It will come. The Sisters and I in our district had a funny moment. They have been calling me bonitinha everyday like 50 times a day for the past few weeks. We thought it meant cute, which it does in the dictionary and apparently it does when you are talking about objects as well, but not people. Our substitute teacher heard Sister Baker use it and immediately corrected us. Apparently when you use it to describe a person, it means that normally the person is not cute or ugly but because of some temporary circumstance (like clothing, make up, etc.), that person is cute in the moment. It's really rude. One of them found that out the hard way. Apparently it depends on who you talk to as well. We laughed so hard. Now they call me bonita instead.

 
Friday we learned more about prayer. I know I've talked about it quite a bit, but it is so important and so fundamental. The big take away for me was that when we pray, we should have the intent to act on whatever answer we receive. When we pray in this manner, Heavenly Father will be more ready and anxious to give us direction because He knows we will listen and obey. Another amazing thing about prayers is that you can bring the influences and guidance that your family/friends/loved ones need! How cool is that?

A revelation I had this week: We can pray for people all the time. Maybe we want them to choose a different path than they are now. When we pray for them, we can bring influences and opportunities into their lives they would not have otherwise. Maybe it won't change their mind because each person has the ability to choose, but they will have more opportunities to be guided in the right direction when we pray in their behalf. I testify that some of my most rewarding prayers have been pouring out my heart to the Lord in behalf of others.

Saturday we taught our investigators Landon, Maryann, and Bridgette. One of the lessons went completely off plan, but looking back, I realized how much the experiences I have had have shaped me and have been for the benefit of me as well as others. I was sitting in those lessons, and when they would ask a question, an experience I had would pop into my head. These experiences helped them understand what we were teaching about, but also help them to know that these things we are teaching are real! I know they are real because of the experiences I have had in my life.

Sunday was Fast Sunday! We had Mission Conference. We learned the importance of obedience. There was a quote that said something like: at the moment obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, at that moment we will be endowed with power. I also learned how much being the Young Adult Sunday school teacher for those short couple months blessed my life! I have looked back at those lesson plans several times when preparing lessons. It helped me understand and love a few principles of the gospel that much more.

Monday. We played Volleyball as a district for gym. My district is getting better :) I am so proud. It was so fun. That's one thing I'm definitely going to miss about the MTC. I learned all the Preterite Irregular Verb Conjugations later in the day when my district was practicing "Come Thou Fount" which we are singing this Sunday to say bye to our branch. All those verb conjugations are a bit of a nightmare right now. It'll get better though, I know! Since BYU started today, they switched teachers around so yesterday was our last day with Irmão Chamberlain and also our investigator Vander. Vander said he has prayed about what we have taught and believes! Such a sweet experience.
And Today... We went to the temple this morning. I ran into Elder Pate Cribbs from home :) He's headed to Las Vegas tomorrow! We got a picture together.
There are lots of things to look forward to this week! We get to be hosts for the new missionaries that will be coming in tomorrow! I will be looking for Sister Allison Yost! I cannot wait to see her! Thursday we have In-Field orientation most of the day. Thursday or Friday is reassignment day. And who knows after that! Things are crazy.

Thanks for the letters this week. I love hearing from y'all. I will try to get letters back to you! P-Day is way too short.
I love it here and I love being a missionary. I can see God guiding my life and I am so thankful for this opportunity. Take the time to thank Heavenly Father in prayer for all of your many blessings! Also think about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I love you all! Lots of prayers for you! Have an amazing week!

Love,
Síster Maryann Shipp