Out With The Old, In WIth The New

Wow, this week has been so crazy! We spent most of the beginning of the week saying goodbye to all the people that Elder Abrams has come to love so much. He was here for 2 weeks shy of a year, so he got very close with a lot of people and they loved him so much too. Hopefully by the time I leave here, I will have made some great friendships, because this place is great! The ward is honestly amazing!! It is the most missionary minded ward that I have ever seen and everyone loves the missionaries. We are very fortunate and get fed just about every day, we have lots of members that are always telling us about their friends that they are trying to share the gospel with; I really hope to be a great member missionary when I get home and share this amazing gospel and it's blessings with my friends. 

The rest of the week was just craziness! I got my new companion, Elder Burch, he is such a stud! He and I are getting along so well, it's awesome! He is very mature and has so much wisdom, so I am really excited to learn from him; I feel like I already have learned a lot! Since we moved into a new apartment, we had to clean it up #eldersaremessy, and then unpack everything, it was nuts! But now our apartment feels like home, it's great! Honestly, I hate clutter and messiness so much, it stresses me out and makes it so I can't work.

Since Elder Burch and I moved apartments, we also switched our proselyting area from the west side of Lynn Haven to the east, so we basically know nothing about the less actives and investigators in our area... it's really cool though because Elder Burch and I are really having to work together and rely on the Spirit with everything and we feel that the two of us together are going to be able to do great things, so a fresh start is perfect.

One thing that our mission is focusing on is service, and so we have been able to do a lot of cool service projects lately. My favorite one thus far has been going to the Salvation Army to sort our food and gather gifts for children and families that will be going without if it weren't for these amazing donations. While there, I honestly feel so attached to the people that we are getting the things ready for, it makes me love them so much, and I haven't even met them before. It's amazing how service helps invite the Spirit into your life and helps you love people. One thing that I want to do when I get home is to have a monthly service project with my family! Before the mission, I didn't really like service, but now I love it and always want to get out and help people!!

Church this Sunday was absolutely amazing!! The primary got up and sang two Christmas songs, anytime the primary sings, it kills me, they are so cute and so pure, I love it!! Then we had the Richardson family do a musical number, the mom was on the piano, Audrey (16) was singing, and Arlee (return missionary of 2 weeks) was doing sign language, it was AMAZING!! Audrey's voice was incredible, and Arlee put so much passion into the sign language, the spirit was most definitely there! I do know that my Redeemer lives.That brief, sweet sentence does bring such comfort to me, and I wish everyone could have the same knowledge. Who wouldn't want this kind of peace and love in their life?

Now, for the best part of the week, Panama City Beach Sisters had a baptism this Saturday for an absolutely wonderful 72 year old lady named Pamela Hale, it was the MOST powerful baptism that I have ever attended! This sweet lady, is 4ft nothing, is on oxygen, and can hardly walk, but has a Spirit of a giant! We sang two songs at the baptism and she was singing her little heart away, even sang a solo of a song that she created, it was absolutely amazing! This baptism made me think of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and how the people that came to work in the last hour got paid the same as those who worked all the day long. This experience made me realize that it is never too late to change, it is never too late to accept the Savior's love into your life, you have never gone too far to come back to the fold, our Heavenly Father loves everyone equally and wants them all to come and accept the blessings of the gospel, all it takes is one act of faith, and if you take it, your life will be changed for the better for ever!

I love this gospel, and am so happy that I am out here in Florida serving the Lord, learning and growing, and helping others find what they are searching for. With Christmas being this week, I am especially thankful to my loving Heavenly Father who sent and sacrificed his only begotten Sn, so that we can find true joy and happiness in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. I would encourage y'all to take 10 minutes to just sit and ponder the wonderful gift that our Heavenly Father gave to us, remember the reason for the season.

I love y'all and hope that y'all have a happy Christmas!!

Elder Schipaanboord

3502 N Jenks Ave 

APT 6106 

Panama City, FL 32405