I Don't Even Know

This week was probably the weirdest week of my life.... but there was also a lot of blessings that we saw!  First things first, WE HAD A TORNADO!!!! I have been wishing for a tornado or hurricane for the longest time so that we can do some crazy clean up, but there was no damage in crestview, even though there were apparently 2 tornadoes here, nonetheless we still got to see some CRAZY weather!!  It rained harder than I have ever seen before and the lightning and thunder was like an incredible light show!!  We had a blast sitting on our back porch watching everything happen.

Later in the week, Elder Renslow and I were sound asleep and got woken up to a phone call from the other Elders at 2:00 am!!!  We heard Elder Pranger say "Hey uhhhh.. Elders?  Can you come pick us up?" and we were thinking "What the heck!? From where?! It's 2:00 AM" and he responds and says "We are at the hospital and can't get home..."  So we got out of bed and drove over to the hospital at 2:00 in the morning to pick the Elders up, it turns out the other Elder's whole body went numb and ice cold and his vission went blurry, the doctors said he just had a panic attack... the next day we got a phone call from the mission office getting mad at us for being out at 2:00 AM (thanks to stupid tiwi) but we explained the whole thing and he was like "Oh... thats a good reason to be up and driving around" hahaha it was so funny!!

On the missionary side of things, there was almost no luck this week... we went to see Jim Brown 2 times but he wasnt home, and the Jenkins bailed on us 3 times... thankfully we ended up teaching them, but they still aren't reading from the Book of Mormon and didn't come to church this week): The biggest thing of the week was that we got to see Isaiah, a recent convert who hasn't been to church in forever and hasn't been talking to anyone, but we played basketball with him and talked about life, and he even came out on splits with us!!!  He is such a cool kid who is going through a lot, but we are going to start working with him some more!

While we had nothing to do, we decided to start knocking on doors, and found this kid named Daniel (19 years old) and taught him two times this week!!  He said that he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon, so I am excited to see him next week!  We also taught Joey Moore (the young Joey) about the Restoration of the Gospel and he too said that he would read and pray and we set a baptismal date with him for March 26th (we don't know how strong that is, but hey, its there!)

One last cool story, we had like 3 appointments bail on us, so we decided to go and visit this kid named Quinton and his dad; it was perfect, because they were outside!!  They walked right up to us and started talking!!  We built a good relationship with them and got a return appointment.  Before we left, Quinton wanted to go on a bike ride, so we rode up the street a little and he asked if he could knock on some doors with us!!!! haha It was so crazy!!  We had already knocked that street and didn't know if we should have a non member tract with us, so we told him we had to go...

This week was a pretty crazy one filled with lots of strange adventures, disappointments and excitements.  I love y'all so much and hope that you have an awesome week!!

Love

Elder Schipaanboord

We had to put our beds in the hall, away from the windows.

Elder Renslow

This week has been a good one!  Thank you all for the birthday wishes, it means a lot to me and gave me some extra motivation!  So I got a new companion, and he is so awesome!!!  Elder Renslow and I have already had some really funny experiences and have had some cool spiritual experiences as well, it is going to be a really good transfer!

Sadly we didn't get to visit with Jim Brown this week, we went to his house but he wasn't home, so we are hoping to see him this week and hear some good news from him.  We also didn't get to visit with the Jenkins... they were super busy and couldn't meet, but we have big plans for this up coming week for both of these guys.

Elder Renslow and I went on a split with a guy with downs syndrome named Danny (42 years old). We thought that it was going to be so bad and that we wouldn't enjoy it, but it was so fun!  He has such a powerful testimony and made sure to tell everyone about it!  He is such a funny guy and made us laugh so much!  He served a 6 month mission in the Florida Tallahassee Mission as well!!!!

We had two awesome lessons this week.  One with the Mallory's and one with a new investigator named Joey.  We went up to the Mallory's and talked with them about patriarchal blessings.  They thought that it was so cool and wanted to work towards getting theirs.  We also talked with them about going to the temple and how they can do baptisms for the dead.  They want to do all that they can to get to the temple, so they are going to talk to the Bishop this week about it!  The lesson with Joey was pretty cool.  We just got to know him and shared the Book of Mormon with him and he seemed really interested and said he was confused on why there are so many churches around the world.  We are meeting with him tonight to go over the restoration with him, he is so solid and is going to love it!!  On Sunday, we had a kid who we have been trying to work with show up to church!!  He works on the food truck owned by a member and has had lots of questions about the church, so we are going to start working with him as well!  His name is also Joey, so we get confused when talking about them hahaha.

I am so exited for this transfer, there is going to be great things happening and there are going to be some amazing miracles happen, I just know it!! I hope that all of you have a great week!

Love Elder Skippy

First moments with Elder Renslow.

Elder Renslow and I out knocking on doors, met some atheist dude who told us we were playing a video game, and our lives were fake, because we believe in god. oh good times hahahaa.

Funny church signs #BeforeItWasCool

Ironing our money, gotta stay fresh.

Went to watch Chandelor (a member) play some baseball on my birthday, and his sister (Madison) got me a birthday present, such a good day!

Went to watch Chandelor (a member) play some baseball on my birthday, and his sister (Madison) got me a birthday present, such a good day!

Birthday stuff, ties and "golden" treats.

One More Transfer

This week was so awesome!  We got a lot of stuff done and probably had our most successful week numerically.

One of our investigators (Jim Brown), has been having a really hard time accepting The Book of Mormon.  Every time we go over, he just preaches at us non stop.  This week, we were sick of it and read John 7:17 with him that basically says if you do His will, He will know if it is of God or of man.  It really softened his heart and made him more willing to read and pray about it.  We also promised him that if he quit smoking (he has been trying really hard to) he would get an answer that what he was seeking to know is true.  It was super cool to see his face when we said that.  i think he is going to really try hard to quit and to read and pray.  I can't wait to meet with him on Wednesday!

We had Stake Conference this week and the Jenkins showed up!!!  It was so cute, they already look like a member family!  We then went over to their house and had a lesson with them about chastity, because they aren't married, and they were totally on board for it!  They are going to talk to the Stake President about it and said they will get married by March 12th!  We also set a baptismal date with the two other daughters who are of age!  It is amazing how prepared this family is!  The Lord has really been blessing us lately!

So some of the members spoiled, Elder Judd and I and took us out to get some fresh seafood.  It was sooooo good!!  They got us king crab, shrimp, crab claws, raw and fried oysters, hush puppies and fried okra!  Never in a million years would I have expected me to ever eat this stuff but I am glad I did, my eyes have been opened up!!  The members just kept buying us more and more food because they thought it was funny to watch us eat it, I wasnt complaining though!

Last thing for this week, we got transfer calls last night... and I was so tired that I was already asleep... hahaha but Elder Peck informed me that I am staying in Crestview for at least one more transfer!!  But Elder Peck is leaving... so I will be getting a new companion this Wedenesday!  I am super excited but nervous.  I hope my new companion will be cool and will have a strong desire to work and that we can help each other to learn and grow.

 I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week!

Elder Schipaanboord


Send me letters!!

800 Spring Creek BLVD
APT - 9206
Crestview, FL 32536

Blessings

This week was absolutely amazing!!  First things first, we went on trade offs again with the Zone Leader's and I got to go down to Santa Rosa for a day with a Spanish Missionary, that was interesting... haha.  We taught 3 lessons, all Spanish, I just sat back and listened to random sounds being spoken but I could tell that the people were really feeling the Spirit and understanding it.  It's amazing how humble and prepared the Hispanic people are, they are so nice and willing to listen.  We taught this one less active lady who wants to go to the Temple and do baptisms for her ancestors but isnt really living the Gospel.  Needless to say, we had an incredible lesson with her (thankfully it was in English so I could participate) and she is a lot more willing to do the things she is supposed to do.

Back in Crestview, there were some miracles happening too!  We were teaching Kelsey a lesson and getting her ready for her baptism when her sister, Rylee, asks for a pen a paper to write something down.  So a little background on Rylee first, every time we would ask her to pray or to read or to come to church she would say "nope" and never wanted to do anything but over time she would slowly start doing these things little by little.  So on the paper she wrote "When is my baptism?" HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!  At first she wanted nothing to do with the church and now she wants to be baptized!!

On Saturday we had not one baptism, but TWO!  It was so awesome!  Elder Peck baptized Kelsey and I had the opportunity to baptize Rylee.  It was such an awesome experience!  Because Rylee is so short, when I baptized her, her feet flew up out of the water before they went back down and she was completely immersed.  We also had the opportunity to confirm both of them and give them the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, during church.  The microphone wasn't working, so I basically had to yell the prayer.  It was awkward but it turned out to be a great experience!

There was another miracle in Crestview this week!  We had a Family Home Evening with the Jenkins over at the Roberts (Stake President) house and they loved it!!  We now have a weekly appointments with them every Monday and Saturday.  While we were teaching them on Saturday, Ashley (the mom) sat down with us (everyone else was asleep) and out of no where told us that she had been thinking about it and she wants to join the "Mormon Church"!!  So we set a baptismal date with her for March 12!

It is so crazy how much the Lord has blessed us lately.  When we first got here, there was no work happening but now there are miracles happening left and right.  It is so awesome!!  Transferrs are next week though.... I hope that I stay here one more transfer.  I used to hate Crestview but now I love Crestview!  The people here are awesome and the work is moving along.  It will be hard to say goodbye if I end up leaving....

I hope that y'all are having an awesome week and take time to look back to see what the Lord has done for you in your life.  It will amaze you what he has done.

Love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

This is Pounders.  A member owns it and is the best food in town!  We go here like 3 times a week and sometimes get free food!

The Austin kids

We met some skaters and had a good talk with them and then played football and shared a message with them, it was awesome!

Career???

This week was pretty dang cool!  Elder Peck and I got to go teach early morning seminary at a members home.  Even though we had a really awkward subject (Bathsheba), it was awesome!  I love being able to teach teenagers, maybe because I still am one, it's so enjoyable!!  As we were teaching, I was thinking to myself, "How great would this be to do this everyday? You get to learn the gospel more and more and you get to interact with the youth."  So who knows, maybe when I get home I will be a Seminary Teacher.

Also this week, we randomly went to go teach the Mallory's (a recent convert and husband who just became active for the first time in 47 years) and found out that Bro. Mallory had an interview to get the Priesthood!!  As we talked about the Priesthood, we could tell that he was nervous and excited about it but the best part was that he understood how important it is.  He wanted to learn about all the responsibilities and duties so that he could do his best to fulfill all that he was asked to do.  It was pretty inspiring and made me look at the Priesthood in a different way!  On Sunday, Elder Peck and I were able to stand in the circle and be a part of giving him the Aaronic Priesthood, it was awesome!  I am so excited for him and can't wait to help him move closer to the Temple!

This upcoming week is going to be so cool!  We have a Family Home Evening planned with our investigator family, the Jenkins, at the Stake Presidents house, it is going to be so fun!  We also have a baptism planned for Kelsey this Saturday, and possibly her sister, Rylee, the same day or the following week, we don't know for sure!

The work has been progressing, people are actually listening to us and enjoy us coming over to their house!  Sadly transfers are in two weeks, so hopefully i don't get moved, Crestview is a dang weird place but I love it and don't want to leave!

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!

Love Elder Schipaanboord!

 

Brother Tew killed all these deer and elk.  Elder Peck and him made fun of me for being a city boy and wanting a picture.

Elder Peck improvising and using a clear trashbag while getting a haircut.