Last Email

This is officially my last email from the mission field! It is incredible how quickly time flies. It seems like just yesterday I said bye to my family at the airport. At times, I just feel like I´ll be coming home after a long vacation, but so much has happened and changed over these last 18 months. I have been so blessed to be able to serve this mission in the great California Ventura mission and in Brasil Ribeirão Preto too. I have had experiences and met people that I will treasure forever. This past week, I have started to feel so many different feelings... Sometimes it´s hard to know how to feel, but reading these emails today have made me more excited to go home and see all the people I have missed so much. I know that my time here is coming to an end and it´s time to move on to the next adventure. I don´t know all that God has in store for me the rest of 2015, but I´m ready to go step by step and have new experiences. Between packing my bags, working, my interview with President Brum, lunch with all the missionaries who are finishing, and visiting the people I love in Bebedouro and Ribeirão Preto, I know this week will fly by. Just a few more days!

Thanks for all the support and all the prayers.

I will see y'all soon!

Love,

Sister Shipp

Happy New Year!

2015 already? New Year´s Eve we were sleeping when we were woken up by lots of noise and fireworks at midnight. We watched them from the window for a few minutes, wished everyone a happy new year and continued sleeping. Holidays sure are different on the mission!

 

As time winds down here, I feel like I have a lot less to say. We keep busy going on exchanges with companionships of Sisters. This week, we went on 2 exchanges. Between exchanges and trying to keep up with our area, time passes really fast.

 

We received our plans for our last week here... interviews with President Brum, lunch with him and Sister Brum.. we´ll visit people in my first area (Bebedouro), go to church in our area (Campos Elíseos) the last Sunday and Monday, we´ll get on a plane. Sometimes it´s too much to think about, but it´s all exciting too.

 

I am so grateful for this time as a missionary. It has truly changed by life.

 

Love y'all!

Sister Shipp

2015!

Feliz Ano Novo!

 

I hope Christmas was great for everyone! It was really amazing here. We had lunch with a family in the ward and then went to the church to skype our families. It was so amazing to talk to my family. Everyone said that my eyes were gleaming afterward. Talking to them made me more excited to be home with them soon! These 3 weeks will fly by.

 

We saw miracles this week, as usual. It is incredible all that happens here and how people´s lives change. I´ve really reflected this week on the people who have made a big difference in my mission. I have been so blessed to meet so many different, amazing people who have been such great examples to me. I am so grateful for all of the people that God puts into our lives.

 

I can´t believe 2015 is already here. Time to start off the year right :) We will be going on exchanges with 2 companionships with Americans in their first transfers. That´ll be an adventure ;) I´ll let you know how it all goes next week!

 

Love and miss y'all!!

Síster Shipp

FELIZ NATAL!!!!!

This week was awesome! We had our Christmas Conference. It was so great to see so many of the missionaries that I love here.  I am so grateful for this last transfer and for everything it is turning out to be. It is literally incredible.

Saturday was a little funny. We talked to a lot of people and knocked some doors trying to find more people to teach. The whole day was pretty awkward. We got rejected by a lot of people, but with each rejection, we just got a good laugh. With all of our work the day before, God blessed us a lot yesterday. We had an amazing lesson with Henrique and at night, we found a new man to teach that is really excited to change. I know that God blesses us because of our efforts, even if it takes a little while to happen.

 

I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas this week! FELIZ NATAL! I am so grateful for this time of year and for all that we get to celebrate and remember.

Here is a Christmas video that I love that helps us remember why we celebrate Christmas:

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

 

Love you all!

Sister Shipp

Almost Christmas?

We got to visit Bebedouro (my first area) and go on exchanges with the Sisters there this week. It was so amazing! I got to see 2 of my recent converts there. It was a miracle. I am so grateful for how everything always works out so perfectly.

Between everything that is going on and everything that I need to do, time is going by faster than I can even keep track of. I feel like Christmas is still weeks away, but it´s almost here. And then New Years, and then..... CASA (home). In 5 weeks. I can´t believe it. It is going to be so hard... but I am looking forward to seeing everyone. Miss y'all.

Today is December 15. Today is Chelsea Larsen´s 21st birthday. I miss her so much. I had the opportunity to show my pictures of my friends and me to my companions and a few other sisters this week. I got to tell them all about the story of Chels, Chelsea, Hayley and I. It always makes me so happy to remember our friendship and everything that we did and accomplished together. I am so grateful for all the opportunities that God gives us all the time. He is always giving us good memories, friendships to treasure, and love and smiles that will go on forever. Happy Birthday, Chels.

Much Love,

Sister Shipp

The Best 6 Weeks

So my last 6 weeks will be in............. Campos Eliseos in Ribeirão Preto! I got to stay in my area and I gained 2 companions, so we´ll be in a trio. Sister Auna from Washington that will finish her mission with me, and Sister Palomino from Peru. I am super excited!

 

Sister Soto left for Chile this morning and Sister Kunkel (My MTC-São Paulo companion) is staying with me until she heads home here in a couple hours. It has been one CRAZY week with Sister Soto´s final preparations and THE BAPTISM OF UALAS which was yesterday! It was so so so great. He is amazing. And one of the other people we are teaching, Henrique, came to church and stayed for the baptism. It was the best :)

 

I guess the only other news from the transfer is that my friend from BYU, Elder Josh Menden will be serving close this transfer for the first time. That´ll be fun!

 

That´s about all the news I have. I am getting ready for a crazy transfer. I know it´ll pass by sooooo fast.

 

Love you!

See y'all in 6 weeks!

Sister Shipp

December 1.... Wait... What?

I cannot believe it´s December. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I mainly just forgot about Thanksgiving since it´s not a holiday here and we didn´t have much time to do anything. It´s all good though! I just kind of forget that it was November and now it´s December because it´s hot here! It rained all week though, which was a blessing!! It was a little cooler this week :)

 

We had a pretty great miracle this week! We have been visiting Ualas this whole transfer. Last week, he got an answer that he needed to be baptized, but was having trouble feeling good about a date. Saturday we had a lesson with him and invited him to be baptized Sunday December 7. He thought about it for a while and then said he would answer the next day at church. Yesterday at church, Sister Soto and I went over to talk to him after the meetings and we asked about the baptism. He said that he will be baptized this next Sunday. We are so happy! So his baptism will be Sunday after church and early Monday morning, Sister Soto will catch her plane to Chile and I will be getting a new companion to start my last transfer. It is absolutely incredible how fast time is going.

Happy December First! Hope it´s a great week full of miracles :)

Com Amor,

Síster Shipp

Miracles

This week was incredible! I wish I had more time to tell everyone about it.

We had an amazing zone meeting Tuesday talking about how we could all have miracles. We fasted as a zone to receive these miracles. They happened.

Thursday we fasted again, this time with our investigator who has had some doubts about being baptized. After the fast, he didn´t have anymore doubts and is feeling really good. He knows he needs to be baptized because God answered his prayer.

Sunday, Henrique (another investigator) finally went to church. He worked Saturday night. The whole night. He got home 6 am Sunday morning, took a cold shower and waited for us to come. We walked him to church. He loved it. We had been praying so hard that he would be able to go and that he would feel good there. It all happened.

God is incredible and miracles really do happen. Don´t ever doubt that.

I don´t have words to express all that I felt this week.

 

That´s all the time I have. Time is passing by so fast.

We visited a park with waterfalls in the middle of the city today!

 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Lots of love,

Síster Shipp

Miracles

This week was so great :) I feel like I´m finally getting the hang of this area.

I think the best thing you can possibly do that makes you feel so good is serving other people. My goodness. This transfer is so neat because we get to serve 2 companionships of Sisters and go on exchanges with them. I learn so much from each one of them and I feel so happy whenever I´m with them because I am thinking about them and how I can do more to help them. It is seriously the best feeling. I love it :)

 

We found 3 really awesome investigators this week! They found a Book of Mormon in the trash one day and brought it home. Months later, we visited them, they saw the Book that we had and realized it was the book that they found in the trash. They started to read it before they met us and knew it was special, but were having a hard time understanding it. God is amazing.

 

Also, Sister Ashworth (my last companion in CA) sent me an email saying that one of the people we started teaching got baptized! How incredible it is to see things happening from the amazing opportunity we had to start teaching someone :)

I am so happy! The mission is the best!

Until next week!

Com Amor,

Sister Shipp

Boa Semana :)

It was a great week! We had some really great miracles :)

 

We met a man named Henrique and he is awesome! We had 2 incredible lessons with him this week. We also had Stake Conference and I went on my first exchange! We traveled to Franca which is about an hour and a half by bus to go on exchanges with Sister Palomino and Sister Araújo. I went with Sister Araújo who is starting her second transfer. It was a lot of fun, especially with the rain that fell all day long. We walked and walked with our umbrellas :) Having Sister Soto as a companion is really great. We´re learning a ton together. I´m grateful for this time with her :)

 

I´ve been reflecting a lot on my mission lately. That seems to happen when you come to the end of something. I have learned so much that I don´t think I could have learned anywhere else. I am so grateful for this time and wouldn´t have traded it for anything else. What a priviledge it has been to serve here and in the California Venture Mission as well.

God is so good.

Hope you all have a great week! Til next time.

Sister Shipp

Birthday on a Mission

I had a good birthday! We had our meeting with our district and they surprised me with 2 chocolate cakes :) It was really sweet. Sister Jales gave me this amazing present with things to open throughout the day. A birthday on the mission is interesting.. It really doesn´t feel like your birthday, but that´s okay. Overall, it was a good day.

 

I am loving my new area and my new companion. I am teaching an English class every week, which is fun :) The members here are really nice and make a lot of really good food. Since it´s Sister Soto´s last transfer, we have a lot of goals for the next 5 weeks of what we want to do before we go home. It´s neat to have a companion with about the same time on the mission as you do.

 

I´ll send pictures next week because time is up.

Miss you and love you!

Com Amor,

Sister Shipp

Birthday Wishes! :)

First of all, thank you SO MUCH for all the birthday wishes! My inbox was flooded today with all of them. I am printing them out so I will be able to read them on Wednesday. (21 years.... Can´t believe it!) Unfortunately I don´t have a lot of time left today to reply to all of them, but please know that I appreciate them so much! It´s amazing to know how many people care. Y'all are literally the best.

I´m kind of headed into the final stretch here! I´m down to my last 2 transfers... which means just 12 more weeks left! So here´s the news from transfers...

I was transferred! I´m still in Ribeirão Preto, just in another area called Campos Eliseos. I have only heard the best things about this area, so I am way excited to serve here for at least the next 6 weeks! My companion is Sister Soto from Santiago, Chile! The last bit of news is that I became a Sister Training Leader this transfer, which means I will be going on exchanges with a few companionships of Sisters and get to take care of them! It´ll be so great! I am way excited and grateful for this opportunity to serve more and help some of the Sisters in this mission. It´s going to be a great transfer.

I am continually seeing miracles here and it is so rewarding. One of the miracles is the change that you see in yourself, which is huge on the mission. The other is the change that you can see in the lives of others and God´s hand guiding you and this people each and every day. There is no way I can question if He´s there. I know He is and He is helping each and every one of us.

Thank you again for all the birthday wishes! I really feel a ton of love!

Lots of Love,

Sister Maryann Shipp

It is HOT in Ribeirao Preto!

Sorry I didn´t get an email out to everyone last week! Sometimes emailing time is a little short.

 

Well, we had a really good week this week! We taught the most lessons this week than I have any other week of my mission. It was really satisfying to sit back with my companion and think about all we accomplished. The only bad thing here is how HOT it is. It is so hot and the people are saying it´s only going to get worse these next 3 months. We have 4 fans in our house and 4 Sisters so luckily I have my own fan. My companion and I started getting ourselves wet before going to bed, which is helping us stay cool and get some sleep. I now thoroughly appreciate air conditioning and will never take it for granted again. I run into air conditioning sometimes in stores, in sacrament meeting, and the mission office, so that´s nice every once in a while. I will be coming home really really tan. There´s already a big difference. Even with the heat, I really love it here. This is the last week of this transfer. It has gone by SO fast. We´ll find out about transfers this Friday... where I´ll spend the next 6 weeks and with who. I´m anxious to know!

 

So much happens during the week... it´s really hard to know what to write about... Everyone will get a better update in just a few months in person. That´ll be way better.

Hope you all have a great week!

Sister Shipp

Conference!

Oh my goodness. General conference was SO GOOD! I got to watch it in English with a few other American Missionaries (pic attached). We switched it over to Portuguese when Elder Godoy spoke, which was way cool. After watching conference this weekend, I feel like I have so much more strength to do all that I need to do and finish my mission strong! I really got some answers that I was needing as I listened to the words of the Prophet and the Apostles. If you missed it, go watch it! It is definitely worth your time. I really loved Elder Bednar´s talk at the end of the conference. He explained why we share the gospel. It explained perfectly why I am so far from home for a year and a half, adjusting to a new culture and learning a new language. All the talks are on the website lds.org :) I am so excited for this week. I´ve got new goals that I am excited to accomplish.

The gospel really is true. I´ve never had so much joy from anything else.

Love Y'all!

Sister Shipp

Another Week

Man, when it comes to writing emails, I never know what to say...

 

This week was so good! We had a conference with my mission president and a few other zones. All of my Brazilian companions were there, as well as my 2 American MTC companions, so that was neat :) I am really enjoying serving with Sister de Oliveira! She is so sweet and so prepared to be a missionary. I am sending a couple pictures with her so you can see what she looks like!

 

I think the highlight was seeing the Woman´s Conference. I am so grateful for the opportunity to listen to living a Prophet and Apostles! I´m so excited for the chance that we have to hear them this weekend. I know they will tell us the things that we need to know, the things that God wants us to know. (lds.org)

 

I hope you all have a good week! Get ready for conference! I´m already making a list of questions I have to listen for as I watch conference.

 

Love y'all!

Sister Shipp

First Week in Ribeirao!

Well, it´s been a good first week in my new area! Ribeirão is sooooooooooooooooooo different than Bebedouro. Everything is a lot closer and we walk a lot less which is awesome because my legs have to last for 4 more months and they definitely hurt sometimes. It´s a lot different serving in a ward again after serving in a branch for so long! My companion is from the Southern part of Brasil this time so I´m getting used to a new accent and new words that she uses that my other companions from the North never used. It´s been fun so far :) We had some rain this week so things were a bit cooler, but I´m getting myself ready for a hot next few months and a really really hot Christmas. That´ll be weird. Christmas in the summer....

 

Everything is good here! Training seems to be a lot easier this time around and my companion is literally awesome. She is already teaching so well and leading the lessons lots of times. I have to remind myself sometimes that she is only in her 2nd transfer!

I hope y'all have an awesome week!

Sister Shipp

Transfers

So after 5 transfers (6 months) in Bebedouro, I have finally made my way to another area! I am now in Ribeirão Preto! I´ll be serving in Ala 1 with Sister De Oliveira from Southern Brasil! She only has 6 weeks (1 transfer) here in the mission, so I´ll be finishing her 12 week training. It should be good! I am excited!

 

I had a good last week with Sister Vaneza, although the goodbyes were really hard. It was especially hard to say bye to José Luiz, Franciele, Leonildo, and Jeniffer. They are some really special people. I am really going to miss them!

 

I´ve been thinking a lot about change this week. Change is hard, but from time to time, it´s exactly what we need. We can learn so much as our circumstances change. As I´ve reflected back on my mission, I´ve realized how much I´ve learned from each companion and area. I´m so excited I Have this new opportunity to learn more! I just hope I don´t get too lost here in Ribeirão. Oh, and I´m a lot closer to the mission office where letters are so I´ll get letters faster ;) That´ll be nice.

 

Oh how I love to be a missionary <3

It really is the best.

Com Amor,

Sister Shipp

My Heart is So Full

My heart is SO full right now. This week was hard. We definitely had some challenges and I was feeling pretty down when I got here and opened my email... and now? I feel like I´m on top of the world. Thank you for all the emails you all sent this week! Even though I may not always be seeing exactly what I want happen each week, I know that this is where I need to be. Sometimes I´m here in Bebedouro not for our investigators, but for my companion, or the other Sister missionaries here, or to learn something I need to learn, or maybe to bless my family. I was especially grateful for the emails I got from my family today. It is incredible to see all the many ways that they are being blessed while I am so far from them. I know that the best thing that I can be doing for them right now is to be here for a little while longer serving God´s children in another country. I know God is taking care of them! I am so grateful for all the growth I am seeing in each one and the successes they are having as well. I have one pretty incredible family! :)

 

I guess that´s what I really want to say this week. I know that each time we make a decision to serve God, He will bless those that we love more than we can imagine. Even if the decision takes you to another country miles and miles away, it´s. worth. it.

I love y'all so much!

 

Com Muito Amor,

Sister Shipp

 

13 Months

This has been a crazy week with lots of challenges, but we also had some big successes yesterday. I think the best thing right now is following up with Jeniffer and Leonildo that were baptized a little over a week ago. We had a Family Home Evening yesterday with a few other families in our branch. It is amazing to see how the gospel changes people and families. I was reflecting back on how Leonildo was when I first met him a few months ago. He is a completely different person now and their family is so much happier. I have talked to so many people during my mission who feel like they are missing something. They can try and do any number of things and yet this empty feeling still exists. Then I look back on the ones who decided to start reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible, talking with us (the missionaries), going to church, and praying. These are the people who now feel like they have what they were searching for. I know that the gospel is the only thing that can give us that complete feeling and also the joy we are searching for. I am so grateful that I have this in my life. All I want is for everyone to have this, especially the people I love. I am so grateful for this time to be here in Brasil bringing this joy that I have to anyone that will listen.

 

Sister Shipp

Exciting Week!!!

What a week in Bebedouro!

Just found out too that my trainer is getting married in a few months. Congrats Kelsey! I´m way excited for you!

Wednesday was Jeniffer and Leonildo´s wedding. It was so great! It was a special day and they were so happy :)

Thursday, I got to be companions with Sister Marchant (my MTC companion) for a day! It was so amazing to see how much we have grown since we were companions a year ago in the MTC. We were remembering the struggling to teach in Portuguese in the MTC (how scared we were, how we had no idea what was going on in lessons, how we prayed SO HARD before each lesson) to now when we can say pretty much anything we want. I´m so grateful for all the amazing companions I´ve had! I´ve learned so much from each of them while on my mission.

Friday was Jeniffer and Leonildo´s baptism! It was simple, but it was really sweet. They were confirmed Sunday. It was so amazing to see their smiling faces this week as they took some important steps in their lives that will bless them and their family forever.

My heart is so full that I get to be here and experience all these amazing things. I am so grateful for my mission. <3

 

Much Love,

Sister Shipp