Love For The Gospel

This week was better than last; we still aren't teaching a lot but we are definitely putting in the work and finding joy in it.  We went on 3 exchanges and I went with two elders who are going home this week, so it made me pretty trunky and miss home a little but I am so glad to have time to serve the Lord because they wished they had more time, I am so lucky!!  I know it's hard and sucks but I'm learning a lot from this!

 

Elder Smith and I kinda got in a bible bash this week.... well the guy was trying to bash with us but we were very calm and collected and didn't try and prove him wrong but it still wasn't the greatest environment.  This guy was trying to talk about the trinity and all this other stuff and then basically told us that we don't know God and that we don't search the scriptures and understand them but we totally defended ourselves and just said that we read every day and pray and that we know God, it made him mad but we weren't going to sit there and take it any longer, I hate when people tell us what we do and don't believe without even asking us, it's so annoying!

 

Church this week was so amazing!  We had a PEC (priesthood executive comity) and the leaders talked a lot about the progress of the youth and they got very emotional about them and seeing them grow; it really touched me and made me think about all the amazing people who are all around me helping me and have gotten me to the point that I am at in my life.  There have been incredible ward members, family and friends that have changed my life forever; there is a saying in the south that I love "it takes a village to raise a youngin."  So I want to thank all of you that helped raise me, I love you all!  In sacrament meeting there were amazing talks given about not judging others because the way we judge others is the way we are going to be judged, but what really hit me was watching the Bishop and his counselors, they have such a love for the members here as well as for the gospel, I think it is something that all bishops have and it really inspires me to do better!

 

Transfer calls were yesterday and for the first time, I was the one that did the calling, that was pretty cool! Abrams and I are staying together, but Elder Jensen is leaving.  I'm gonna miss that guy, we got pretty close but we will see each other at the Christmas half mission conference!  This zone has 4 greenies in it now, and that means more exchanges!  This transfer we will be going on exchanges with every companionship in the zone and with the AP's, so a total of at least 9 exchanges!!!  I am so pumped!!

Anyways, love you guys and hope you have a great week!!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Still Slow

This week was very similar to the last week... we went on 3 exchanges and knocked so many doors and no one really wanted to talk with us.  We had this one dude at the mall tell us that the Jesus we worship is a false prophet.  He was yelling it in the mall and we almost got kicked out... the gospel is so amazing and has changed my life and all I want to do is share that with all of God's children but for some reason none of them want more joy and happiness; I know people have their agency, but it's still sad, we have what they need!

BUT enough of the sad stuff, I will focus more on the good for this week! 

On Monday we went to the beach with a bunch of the missionaries around here and had a blast!  We played a great game of wiffle ball baseball, some beach soccer, and just enjoyed the water (without getting in it of course)!  I love serving around other missionaries, there is always stories to be made and fun to have!

We got a referral from another ward to go and see this guy and we have been trying for a while but could never catch him, we finally did this week and he let us in!  He didn't have much time, so we just taught a brief Book of Mormon lesson and he and his 2 kids (teenagers) seemed pretty interested and invited us back over!  So this might just be an answer our prayer of finding a family to teach and baptize.  We are excited to see what comes of this!

Two cool stories:

We went to Gulf Coast this week and set up the booth again for three hours and yet again only 3 people talked to us BUT one of them was super awesome!  When she saw us she was super excited and started talking to her friend and then she bit the bullet and came over to talk with us (since we can't initiate the conversation).  Come to find out, she has a Mormon friend that would tell her all about the church and she just thinks the world of it and wants to be a part of it!  Even though it sucked to sit there for 3 hours, those last 30 minutes made it all worth it, there is a reason we were supposed to be there and I am thankful we were!

Our go to activity for our 8:00 hour, since every one goes to sleep at 7, is to go walk the parking lots of shopping centers and just OYM (open your mouth = talk to people).  As we were walking past one place, we heard footsteps running behind us, so we turn around and see bishop's daughter running to catch us; she was sharing the gospel at work but needed some help and just at the right time, we walked past!  Nothing came of us teaching but its still amazing to me how perfect God's plan is!  It's not coincidence we were there right then, an answer to bishop's daughters prayer.

So the last thing that happened this week was surgery... 

It wasn't anything crazy big or nothin, I just had a gnarly ingrown toenail that I had to get cut out, so we went to a podiatrist and got needles stuck in me and a few cuts in the toe, it was kinda cool to watch hahahaa! They want me back in 2 weeks to do another surgery to make sure that it will never happen again.

That was my week, lots of rejection but also lots of fun!  Thanks for all the support y'all give to me, I really appreciate it!  Love you all and hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Trial Transfer

Man, this week has been a rough one.  We had a lot of fun with the other elders on exchanges but other than that, it flat out sucked.  So sorry if this email is short and depressing, but you will see how we feel right now.

We have a pretty small teaching pool right now and have been having a hard time with getting a lot of lessons in each week and to make matters worse, we had TEN PEOPLE DROP US!  We had an investigator who had a baptismal date tell us that "for various reasons this is definitely NOT the religion for me" after having a SOLID lesson with him the day before.  We then had a recent convert of about 3 months tell us "this just isn't the right religion for me" and then we had a ton of people just hang up on us when trying to set up and appointment and tell us "I'll stay with (whatever church they currently go to)."  So because of all of these people dropping us, we now suddenly have a lot of time to go out and find, in fact for both of the exchanges that I went on this we we tracted and contacted at the mall ALL FLIPPIN DAY!!  Elder Abrams and I both think that the Lord is testing us this transfer, he is seeing if we will be obedient and still work hard, so we are going to keep working hard; we want the Lord to trust us!

Yeah, that's about all I got for ya this week, I have already been depressing enough, so we will just leave it at that.  I am still having fun; we have 2 exchanges a week and that is awesome!  I love Abrams, I love the ward, I love the area, and know great things will come.

Love you guys and hope y'all have a better week than we did!

Elder Schipaanboord

Eating cookies the way  Cookie Monster taught us.

Elder Smith clogged our toilet...

...and made it overflow.

You know you're sweating when it starts to show through a white shirt.

Tender Mercies

This week was a pretty hectic one for sure! So much diversity to fill our time, it was pretty sweet! We got to go set up a table at Gulf Coast State College for people to start to talk to us about the church.  The table was set up in the cafe area so there was a ton of people but we weren't allowed to initiate any conversations (some rule of the college), so we just sat there for 3 hours with signs and stuff to give away, and only 3 people came and talked to us; all they wanted to talk about was the play "The Book of Mormon".... so it wasn't really effective but we are coming up with new ideas of how to draw people in, any ideas?

This week also consisted of my first exchange as the leader, it was pretty cool. I got to go with Elder Larson (one of the elders who was in the 4 pad with us). We had a lot of fun but also put in some serious work! We hit the pavement the whole day and just knocked doors.... BUT it was rewarding! So as we were starting to tract, we decided to go to a street name New Jersey, so we put it in the GPS but it took us a street over, so we just decided to tract that street instead. Right away there was this house that looked abandoned and that no one was home (no cars or lights), so I was thinking to skip it but decided not to; thank goodness we didn't skip it! Right as we walked up the pathway to the door this man, with a big smile on his face, opened the door and came out to talk with us. as we got talking with him, he told us that HE WAS JUST PRAYING FOR SOMEONE TO HELP HIM TO BE A BETTER EXAMPLE TO HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY! He said "Yeah I just finished my prayer and looked up and saw y'all walking up to the door."  So flippin cool! It wasn't his house, so he couldn't invite us in but we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. The Lord truly does have a perfect plan for each of us! We are going to try him this week and hopefully great things will come! It's moments like these that make all the hard times worth it!

MLC AND HALF MISSION CONFERENCE!! We got to go to Tallahassee for MLC (missionary leadership counsel) and a half mission conference with Elder Sitati, a member of the 1st quorum of the 70! It was so cool! MLC was so cool, it was just 20 missionaries in a small room having a discussion about missionary work with a general authority! He started the meeting by saying "I bring the love of President Monson and the First Presidency." It was really neat to hear that and feel the Spirit behind it! As he taught he focused a lot on love/charity and humility and how you cant really have the Spirit with you unless you have those attributes.  Listening to him was really cool, he has such a great understanding of the Gospel and such a strong testimony!  The half mission conference was great! I loved seeing a bunch of friends that I have served around! For some reason being around missionaries just brings happiness, I love it!

on Sunday, we got to go back up to Chipley for Jonita's baptism! We went with the Chipley Elders and helped them set up and get everything ready for it. When she got there, she said that she wanted another person in the water with her to make sure that she doesn't fall, so she asked if i would be willing to! I didnt bring my white clothes or an extra pair of under clothes, but I wasnt going to turn it down, so we found some white clothes in the church, and I got all dressed up! Jonita has a bad back and is kinda scared of water, so we got a chair for her and put it in the font so she could sit down and then have Bro Aukema and I just lean it back, which was a great idea until we realized that when the back goes down, knees come up.... so we had to do it again because she didn't go all the was under. The second time we just sat her down on the bottom of the font and then lowered her down from there. It was a really neat experience being able to go back up to Chipley and help out with her baptism! I am so thankful that she came up to us that day in Walmart! It's amazing how there really are prepared people out there! She accepted everything so quickly and without hesitation, it was exactly what she was looking for, the truth. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to teach her and get to know her, she truly is an amazing woman! 

This has been a great week! The only thing that would have made it better is if the hurricane would've hit the west coast of Florida rather than the east, #missionstories, but all is well! I am happy and loving the work! I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Over the Hump

This week we got to go on exchanges with the AP's, it was so fun!  We didn't do any teaching, but were still very productive.  There is this investigator in Tallahassee that they found just days before we got there who had been praying to find something to change his life, and up come the missionaries!  We did service in this guys yard for like 6 hours!  We built a massive fence, cleared trees, and leveled out like 2 tons of dirt.  There were like 6 missionaries there helping out, and it still took us that long.  While we were working, the AP's took him to the side and taught him a little more, and we found out yesterday that he is now going to get baptized!  He has such a neat story; it was a pleasure to meet him!  Plus the service was a blast; for some reason I love getting out of the white shirt and tie and putting in the dirty work, it's fun!

Well, I have made it.  I'm passed half way.  It's so crazy to think that I have already been out for a year. Other missionaries were right when they said that days feel like weeks, and weeks feel like days.  I feel like I have been out for so long but I also feel like I got here just yesterday.  I am so incredible thankful for each and everyday that I have been out serving the Lord, yes even the terrible ones.  The mission has had it's ups and has had it's downs, I have had a lot of tears because of sadness and also because of joy but I am thankful for the trials that I have had, if things weren't hard, we wouldn't ever grow!  This past year has completely changed my life forever!  Even though I am no where near where I would like to be and I feel like I have so much more to learn and do, I have grown so much!  It is amazing what can happen when you turn your life over to the Savior, he will refine you and turn you into something better.  I have learned so much about this amazing gospel, it is so true!  I have had so many experiences where I have seen the Lord's hand and too many spiritual impressions to ever deny the fact that this is Christ church on the earth today, I know it without a doubt in my mind!  I have seen people who have such bad lives that could be changed just by simply doing what the Lord asks, but they don't, and it makes me so sad!  Everything in this world could be fixed if we would just live the gospel.  Some people say that the gospel is hard, and it is at first, but it gets easier and easier, and soon enough it gets hard to not live it.  The blessings that come from living the gospel are truly worth any sacrifice!  The gospel isn't to restrict us or keep us from having fun, but it is merely to help us to have long and happy lives.  I don't know where I would be without the gospel, and I know that it is because of the Savior and his gospel that I am the person that I am today.  I am looking forward to this next half of the mission; I know that there are going to be ups and downs again, but I also know that the Lord has so much in store for me and that I am going to grow even more!  I can now say that I know for a fact that the Book of Mormon is true.  I know how much it has helped me and brought me peace and comfort in my life, and I know it can do the same for anyone who reads it, so read it!  You will not regret it!

Thank you for all your support that y'all give to me, I really appreciate it!  I hope you know that I love and care for each one of you!  I hope that y'all have a great week and enjoy reading the Book of Mormon  (;

Elder Schipaanboord