Progression

This new transfer has already been so much better than the last, and it's only been 5 days!  Elder Abrams and I are working super hard and we feel like there is so much in store for us this transfer as long as we serve with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, and we have seen it already!  A few weeks ago we talked with this guy named Travis, on the side of the street, and when we got talking to him, he wasn't interested because he thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses.  He was really nice and shared some cool stories with us and then we gave him a card and he looked at it and said "Wait y'all are Mormon's...?" with like no emotion whatsoever, so we were super scared that he was going to go off on us but we said "Yes sir, we are."  He proceeded to tell us that he actually likes our food storage and being prepared beliefs and has actually been wanting to learn more!  So on Friday we texted him and asked if there was a time that we could visit with him and he said "Sure, when does church start?  We can do it after"!  So he came to church this week, participated in the lessons and really liked it.  We then shared the Restoration of the Gospel and talked about The Book of Mormon and he was really interested and wants to find out for himself and he said that there is a very good chance of him coming back!

Then, we had a dinner appointment with a member and they told us that they invited a friend and her son that wants to learn about the gospel, cause her mom just died, and her dad is nearing the end of his life as well. This member asked if that was okay..... OF COURSE THAT'S OKAY!!! IT'S EVERY MISSIONARY'S DREAM TO HEAR THOSE WORDS COME FROM A MEMBERS MOUTH!  So w taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it!  She didn't know about a lot of the stuff but said it all made sense and she wants to learn more.  We found out today that she is so excited for her next lesson!

Yesterday was daylight savings, and let me tell ya, it's the worst!!!!  So here in the south, once it gets dark, everyone goes to sleep, and doesn't want to visit, so there isn't much we can do in the night time hours.  Before daylight savings, it got dark at 6:00 then we would have dinner, and then we would work from 7:00 to the end of the night without much success.  Well now it gets dark at 5:00, so our whole evening is pretty much shot now.  We are trying to set appointments at night, so we don't feel useless, but until then all we can really do at night is be diligently ineffective (walking the streets trying to talk with people) for 3 hours..... 

Even though last transfer absolutely sucked, I know it was for my own good and I know that the Lord really is preparing people for us to teach, we just had to pass his test, and I sure am glad that we did!  There are great things that are going to be happening this transfer, we are so excited!

shout out to my Uncle Shon who sent me this awesome quote, hope y'all like it!!

"The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It's more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It's more important than appearance giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have and that is our attitude. I'm convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you we are in charge of our attitudes."

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

Elder Schipaanboord