I've Got My Eye On You

This week was a pretty good one! the zone leaders came up to chipley for exchanges, so we taught like 20 lessons this week, so awesome!! while on exchanges with elder abrams, i really learned how important it is to listen and show love! the best way to feel gods light and love in your life is to emulate it for others to see! so my goal is to just forget myself and focus on helping others and making them feel special, cause we never know what people are going through, so why make them feel worse?

elder abrams and i went to go and visit with carl and talked with him about he oath and covenant of the priesthood and how if we receive the priesthood and always live worthily of it we will receive "all that the father has" it got him really excited and now has a fire burning! while there, i noticed that it looked like he got punched in the eye, so i asked him what happened and he responded with "oh, i dont have my eye in"  ive known carl for 4 months, and i had no idea that he didnt have an eye!! so he proceeded to go and get his fake eye and let us hold it while saying "i got my eye on you" hahahahahahaha carl is so funny! he also gave me a signed tie that said "to skip, from your friend carl forever" i love this guy so much!!

so the other zone leader, elder gunnell, played baseball back home, so for our morning exercise we went out in the front yard and played some catch, it was so sick!! he's trying to get me to go to utah state with him and play ball there, which would be super dope! who knows, i might just do that!

so one of the sisters in calloway is going home for surgery, so the sisters in my district are going to be in a trio with the other sister down in calloway for the rest of the transfer, so now its basically just a district of me and sabin.... do you know what that means? DISTRICT MEETING AT OUT APARTMENT IN PAJAMAS! its gonna be kinda weird, but pretty cool too!

this week i have realized just how amazing the scriptures truly are! it doesnt matter what you are going through, you can find comfort and solace in the book or mormon! literally every single chapter there is something that can be learned and applied into our lives. every day, i learn something new! i know that the book or mormon really is the word of god, and you can get closer to him by reading and abiding by its precepts than any other book! i would encourage you to pick it up and just start reading, i promise that your life WILL improve, it did, and continues to do so, for me in my life!

i love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

elder skippy

Funeral

This week wasn't as exciting as last but it was alright!  I talked about how we had a ton of solid potentials but almost none of them played out.  So we are going to hit the pavement some more.  Tracting is always interesting and is pretty funny most of the time!  One of the potentials we visited with basically just got in an argument with his wife while we were there and told us that when he gets angry he just feels like killing people, he kept trying to get us to take his side on everything but all we would say was "We aren't here to be marriage counselors, we are here to teach you the gospel, which, if you live it will make your life and marriage better."  But they didn't listen, so that was pretty fun!

We also got to meet with Brother Kennedy this week (a less active we have been working with for quite some time and has been coming back to church) and you could just see a light about him, it was pretty cool.  He was a lot more friendly, more receptive, talked more, and just seemed happier, it was really cool to see! He is going to church and praying, we are now trying to help him read his scriptures, which I know will help him that much more, it always does, no matter what!

We then went to Stan Porter's funeral.  Where was it at?  The great and spacious building of the First Baptist Church.  I'm not bashing on them or anything, cause they are great people, they just have a massive building and are adding another 6 million dollars onto it.  Going into this church made me realize how people feel when they come to church with us, they don't know anyone, don't know the music, and really don't know what to expect.  The service was weird but good.  It made me realize how amazing our church is; everything there seemed pushy and forced, it was strange.  They were so close to the truth, but yet so far!  The people were really nice people, they are just "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it."  I truly am so thankful to be apart of Christ's restored church, it is amazing!!  Every aspect of it!!  The people, the building, the love, the doctrine, ect.  One funny part from the funeral; Bro Aukema was asked to speak, because he was Stan's best friend, AND HE TOTALLY QUOTED THE BOOK OF MORMON!!  Elder Sabin and I just looked at each other and laughed!  No one knew that it was The Book of Mormon, except probably the preacher, but there's Gary, up at the front of a baptist congregation at a giant podium made of crosses, with a drum set behind him, preaching from The Book or Mormon.  Cassic!

Thank you guys for all of your support, even though you are making fun of me for having to put my face in a 350 pound mans butt.... hahahahaha.  I love y'all, keep on keepin on!

Elder Schipaanboord

Scarred For LIFE!!

This week was a really awesome one filled with amazing blessings as well as with crazy stories.  Sorry, but it's going to be a long one...  I think that I'll start by sharing the crazy stuff first. 

Monday, we went over to this members house who had 10 pallets of sod that they needed to be laid.  While there we were going about doing our work for like an hour, and then it started to rain like crazy!!  We were drenched from head to toe, walking through mud and trying to lay the sod as fast as we could but we only got 5 pallets done before we had to leave.  We didn't even have time to dry off, so our car got soaked and now it smells pretty gross.  The rain here has been absolutely crazy and it is just like the movies; it will be dry and then BAM, everything is drenched, it's so cool!  Everyday this week has been raining cats and dogs, it's pretty scary to drive through but its also pretty fun!

This next story is the one that scarred me for life... we were over at this lady's house checking up on her dogs when we heard this lady next door screaming and yelling, and pounding on all the doors and windows trying to get inside.  Turns out her uncle (who recently had a stroke) fell and couldn't get up (every senior citizen should have life alert).  So we went over to see if we could help some how but we basically just watched them break into the house and then we had to help get him up and into his wheel chair.... he weighs like 350 pounds.... there wasn't much room in there so I just sat there and watched Elder Sabin and this other guy, Dylan, try and lift him up but all they did was make his pants fall down....then I knew that my worst nightmare was about to come to pass... all of a sudden I hear the man say,

"I need someone to grab my middle."

And there I am, just staring at this full moon.  I looked at Sabin and Dylan, and they looked at me with the most scared and hoping eyes.... and then I knew that I was the one that is going to have to lift his middle.  So I said, "You want me to grab your butt?" 

He says "Yeah!"  

So I say "Alright man, I'm gonna pull up your pants first." 

And I proceeded to pull up his pants, but it didn't work too well, so I just bit the bullet and went for it.  I squatted down and picked up this 350 pound man by his butt.... BUT IT WORKED!!  After we got this man up, Dylan came and gave me the biggest and hardest hug I have ever received before!  Even though this was a crazy weird experience and I will never be able to unsee what I saw, I am really thankful that we were there, there is no way that they would have been able to get that guy up!  The Lord really does have a perfect plan, we were in the right place at the right time.

Now that that is out of the way, its time for the spiritual side of things.

First off, y'all might remember a man that we were teaching who was so close to baptism, Stan Porter, well we got a call from Brother Aukema two days ago telling us that he passed away in his sleep.  It really shocked us.  He was such an amazing man, and taught us so much!  We are so sad but know he is in a better place!  We will be going to his funeral tomorrow.

I finished The Book of Mormon this week, and really love the last chapter!  First off, we listened to a talk where this guy said that sometimes as you read the scriptures you will start to cry for no reason, and that is the Spirit telling you it's true.  When I read the promise in Moroni chapter 10 verse 3-5 about reading and praying about The Book of Mormon, that's exactly what happened, tears just started to come for no reason.  The Book of Mormon is so true!  The promise that if you read and pray with a real intent having faith in Christ is real!  God answers prayers, I know that to be true, he has done so for me so many times and I'm not special, he doesn't just do that for me, I know he does that for everyone!!

I continued on in Moroni chapter 10 and it talked about not "denying the gifts of God, for there are many" and they are given from God "unto men to profit them."  There truly are so many gifts that the Lord gives us each and every day, we all just need to stop being prideful or scared and just accept the gifts that he gives to us, like the power of pray, church, family, the scriptures, ect.  The gospel is really there to bless our life, nothing more, nothing less.  God wants us to be happy and these gifts are to help us in this life.  The more I live the gospel, the happier I am and the better my life seems to be.  For example, I have been trying really hard to do as it says in Moroni chapter 10 and "deny [myself] of all ungodliness" and "lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift nor the unclean thing" and the Lord has blessed us so much!!  The work here really is progressing so much!  We have a ton of potential investigators and random non members coming to church, and I pay it all to the fact that we are trying our hardest to get out and work and be as obedient as we can be!  The more obedient we are, the more blessings we receive!  I am so thankful for everything that the Lord does for us each and every day, he truly is a part of every aspect of our lives!  I love this gospel so much and am so thankful to be out here in Chipley sharing it with others!!

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!

Love Elder Skippyjon Jones

Potentials 4 Dayz

This week was so crazy!! The work has been pretty slow lately, so we have been praying a lot for people to teach, and this week the Lord answered our prayers so much! We got a media referral for this lady who apparently believes all of our doctrine and wants to read from The Book of Mormon! SO CRAZY!!! We went to gave her a BOM, and she was diving into it right away! We didn't have a chance to sit down with her, cause her husband was sick, but hopefully sometime this week we will get to teach her the restoration. We got another media referral of this guy who wanted a bible, and a message about the BOM, so we have an appointment with him this week! Then, while we were shopping at Walmart, this lady came up to us and asked if we were the Mormons, and she told us that she has been trying for 6 months to get an appointment with us! The Lord really does answer prayers! The answer may not come immediately, but the answers do come!!

So we went up to Bonifay this week to help somebody move, and boy oh boy was it hot! We were sweating from head to toe, it was pretty gross hahaha but it felt so good to get out and help, I love serving people! Even though it isn't the funnest thing at first, it brings the greatest feeling!! So that day it was apparently 102 degrees, and the very next day was a crazy storm that started flooding the streets, it was so awesome!! Thankfully it stopped and nothing got damaged, but it was still pretty neat.

During the rain storm, we coulnd't really do missionary work, cause it wasn't safe to drive anywhere or do anything with all the water and lightning, so we listened to a talk called "The Meaning of the Atonement" by Cleon Skousen, soooo good!!! It made me learn a lot more about the Atonement and how amazing the Savior is! It doesn't matter what I do, I will never be worthy of his love, and yet he still loves me! And would go through it all over again if He had to! I am so thankful for my Savior and how he has helped me in my life and helped me become someone even better! I love him so much, and really hope that I can serve Him to the best of my ability to show my appreciation for his sacrifice!!

Read Moroni 7: 45-48 and replace the word "atonement" for "charity."

I love y'all so much and hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

Heavenly Devoted Son - Jesus Christ

These dogs really scare me and don't like me at all, so I was so happy when they let me take a picture next to Sis Young! She is like our Grandma away from home, it's awesome!

Just earning my wings.

Working hard?  Or just the humidity?

Learning A Lot

Well first off, let me tell y'all about some of the things that happened this week before I go off on a bunch of things that I learned.  First, last Monday at 8:55 we felt prompted to go and see Sarah before we went in for the night, and it turns out that she quit her job at Arby's and is moving down to Panama City... she ended up moving that night, I am so thankful that we were able to go and talk with her one last time and give her our phone number in case she needed anything.  It is really sad to see her leave, cause she was slowly moving forward, but there is no doubt in my mind that she will receive the gospel one day, just not today.  Later in the week we went to visit some of the people that were in the Greenhead area book and ended up meeting 3 part members, 2 of which really want to learn more!  Both families have a lot of problems and hard times, but I know the gospel with help them so much!!

We went to visit this less active Hispanic member, and talked with him for like an hour, and I am so thankful that I am serving in the states, cause I got a little taste of what some of the missionaries in foreign countries have to go through.  This man was soo humble!  He has had 4 strokes in his life, and at one point couldn't move half of his body, but he prayed everyday that God would heal him.  He didn't just sit around and wait either, he would literally crawl out of bed and his house to go to work, cause he needed food.  Eventually he regained all of his strength back but he is still very humble!  He works almost everyday out doing manual labor, but makes less than $30 a day... he said that the happiest moment in his life is when he can feed both of his kids (both in their 20's).  It made me realized how lucky and fortunate I am and honestly kinda made me feel really guilty!  I have been blessed with so much, and there are so many people out there that work so hard and have nothing, and yet they are so happy.  I truly do love this man and have learned so much from him already!

We had a dinner with President Well (a member of the mission presidency who lives in the Chipley ward) and he told us about how when he was in the Stake Presidency his favorite thing was releasing missionaries. He talked about how some would grow so much and be very tender towards their mission and express their love and gratitude for serving, and then there were some who would be so happy to leave and take off their name tag.  He could tell those ones didn't learn a whole lot.  It made me really want to leave part of my heart here with the people of the Tallahassee Florida mission.  I definitely love the people here, but feel like I am holding back, and could give more of my love.  I don't want to be this missionary who didn't learn anything, I want to learn all that I can and come home someone different from when I left.

Elder Sabin and I sat down and listened to one of Elder Holland's talks titled "Remember Lot's Wife" it is one of the greatest talks that I have ever heard and would highly suggest all of you to listen to it.  It talks about not looking back to our past and wanting to go back to our old life, but keeping our heart looking forward and seeing who we can become. my favorite part was when he said "Why would you go back and open up some wound that the Savior himself died trying to heal?"  I learned so much from this talk and am truly thankful for our Savior who made it possible for us to put our past behind us and never have to look back, but we can look forward at the endless possibilities that are in store for us.

I love y'all so much and hope that y'all have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

Splits with Brandon

Aukema's Land