Changes

This week was pretty awesome! Elder Burch and I were out of our area for 3 1/2 half of the days, but still managed to teach quite a bit of lessons, and got members out with us! On Wednesday we were so busy with getting transfers all figured out and making sure that they went smoothly that we had no time for our own area. Transfers were super sad because this was the first group that I knew most of the people going home and most of them were very close friends. I love how close that you get with those that you serve with and around, they truly are friends for life!

On Thursday we went over to Tallahassee for a 2 day MLC, it was so much fun! The first day all we did was eat dinner at President Smith's home, played games at the church, and then had a camp fire. While at the campfire, President Smith got everyone's attention and and told us to clear our schedules for February 18th. All of us were super confused, but then he told us that we are going to be having a FULL MISSION CONFERENCE WITH ELDER STEVENSON, ONE OF THE 12 APOSTLES!!!!!!!! I couldnt believe what heard!! I am going to have the opportunity to sit in a chapel and listen to a special witness of christ for 2 hours! We then found out that Richard J. Maynes is coming to the Panama City Stake Conference! We are literally so lucky!!! 

Day 2 of MLC was super cool too! We watched a worldwide missionary broadcast with Elder Oaks, Elder Bednar, and a few other general authorities, it was so cool! They talked a lot about how we truly need to have the doctrine of Christ always be a part of our lives, so that we can not only know what it is, but truly understand how the Savior can help "Bad men become good, and good men become better." One thing that i really liked that was talked about was that if we want our investigators to understand the importance of baptism, and have a desire to be baptized by the proper priesthood authority, we must always be speaking of the doctrine of christ and baptism. so what i am starting to do is figure out how to bring up baptism in every lesson that we teach, and it is going so well! at first I thought it would be hard, but it is actually really easy, all things point to baptism! 3 Nephi 11 is so awesome and explains baptism and the priesthood very directly, I love using it! So the big news from this broaadcast is that our schedule got changed to help us get more sleep and stay effective. So rather than planning at night, we plan in the morning. When we get home and get to do what ever we want for an hour and a half rather than stressing over getting a bunch of stuff done, it is soooo nice!! The other thing that was changed was what we report for numbers. Rather than reporting 9 numbers each week, we only report 4, and they are the most important ones, so it is making us focus on doing the most effective things, its soooo cool, I love it!!!! "Where performance is measured, performance improves. Where performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates" and what is being reported back? Only the most important things! 

On the way back home, we went to visited one of our new investigators, and we were finally able to go inside, and taught an incredible lesson of the plan of salvation, the Spirit was so strong!! The thing that really stuck with me is the humble circumstances that she lives in.... she lives in a trailer with literally nothing! There was a tiny table with three chairs, and that was it! We brought a member with us, so I knelt on the ground as we met. The 3 times we have met with her, she wore the same clothes.... and all she has to eat is soup, it literally kills me!!!!!! We are so fortunate to have what we do, and I wish I could give it all away! When I get home I want to help less fortunate people out as much as I can, I hate seeing people in these circumstances, why be selfish and not help when I can? Mosiah 4:19-27 is what i feel right now:  "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God,  

for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for

 all the riches which we have of every kind?"

I love you all and thank you for all that you do! Remember that the book is blue, and the church is so true!!

Enjoy your week!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers

so good news, transfers are this week, and elder burch and I are staying together for another 6 weeks, which will make it a total of 6 moths here in lynn heaven! i am really excited, it is going to be a great transfer; the members are getting more involved, and the people we are teaching are starting to move forward, its great! i have learned a lot from elder burch already, so i am excited to see what comes next!

on Tuesday and Wednesday we had exchanges with wewahitchka, and Apalachicola, so we didnt have much time to be in our area for coordination on Thursday, and we reported 0s to our ward mission leader, it felt awful! i dont know how missionaries report 0s all the time, it would kill me, i honestly felt like the biggest chump of a missionary... but the very next day we went out and taught 5 lessons, it was sweet! working hard and teaching lots of people truly make the mission so much more fun, you feel accomplished, and it makes the time go by faster. while we were out and about, we knocked on a less actives door at like 5:30, and he comes to the door in a robe carrying a flippin gun, and what does elder burch do? "thats a nice gun, what kind is it?" hahahaha it was so funny! i wasnt really scared, cause he was just trying to intimidate us, but it was super funny!

while in wewah, i conducted a baptismal interview for one of their investigators, and i had to decline him.... i honestly felt so bad!!! he had the greatest of intentions and was one of the nicest and most genuine people i have ever met, but he hadnt quit smoking, he smoked that day.... so we talked with him about how baptism is to completely cleanse us, but we must first repent and change our lives. he understood, and he even let us take his cigars, it was awesome. i have no doubt that he will get baptized, he knows its all true, and loves every bit of it, its just a matter of time of when he quits smoking. i wish people could see that smoking, drinking and doing drugs isnt cool, all it really does is destroy your body and makes you feel awful, plus it restricts you from feeling the spirit and receiving blessings that the lord wants to give.

so over the past 2 days we have had some gnarly rain storms, and a few places in the zone had tornadoes! the first day we didnt get any word from president about anything, so we just went out to work in this down poor of rain, it was so awesome! we would park the car, pray, then sprint to the front door, only to have people not answer or open with a surprised look on their face and say "youre getting wet, get out of the rain" and then close the door, and then we would sprint back to the car, it was honestly a blast! the 2nd day, president told us not to go to work, so we just hunkered down at the Cornelius' house for like 6 hours after church, it was so sweet! while there, we convinced brother Cornelius to let us cut his mop of hair, he looks like a new man! 

i am loving it out here and cant wait to get back to work and help people accept the wonderful and eternal blessings of living the gospel.

elder schipaanboord

ps good news, transfers are this week, so i'll get my camera back from the assistants!

Hectic

This week was a pretty hectic one, we hardly got any time to proselyte in our own area. On Tuesday we didn't have district meeting, but we had interviews with President, which are always good, I love hanging out with him and just getting some one on one time with an inspired Servant of the Lord, he always gives the best advice and helps so much! Since zone training was the following day, we had all the missionaries spend the night here in Panama, so we went on mini exchanges and picked a spot and tracted for like 3 hours! We had a total of 24 missionaries just out and about tracting, it was pretty cool! We found a couple of pretty solid people that we should start teaching this week, in fact one of the people we talked to, Jim Firimonte, loved what we had to say and said "Alright, I will read this (The Book of Mormon) and I want you back so we can discuss it." It's really cool what happens when you get out and put your trust in the Lord. The night of interviews we had a little zone building activity with lots of games and had a camp fire with s'mores, it was so sweet! This zone really is the best, I hope i don't leave for a while, but i think i will....

Wednesday we had our zone training and it went so well! It's crazy how the Spirit works; we had an elder teach on obedience, and then we were going to teach on the correct way to correct disobedience (with love and kindness), but he did it all, and it went perfectly with the training! We also were trained a little on finding, and something that was said really stuck with me, "You are here, because were 'found' by someone who wouldn't give up on you, so go out and find someone to return the favor." It made me think of the scripture "Freely ye have received, freely give." The Lord has given so much to us, so we must return the favor and serve Him by serving His children all around us.

When we finally got back into our area, we had dinner with a returning member family. While there we talked about the power of prayer, and they bore very powerful testimony of prayer. The dad, back in the day when he was in the army, he wanted to know if God was truly there, so he prayed and asked God to stop blessing him so he could know that he truly was there.  He said within a matter of 3 months he needed a hip replacement, which failed, so he got another one, and that surgery caused him to start having seizures..... it's is so crazy how much Heavenly Father truly does bless us!! Most of the things he blesses us with will never go noticed, because it is things that he prevents from happening. I am so thankful that God is in my life and for all of the very little things that He has given me! One thing I love to do is give a prayer of thanksgiving and just pray and thank Heavenly Father for everything I have. Every time I do, I see all the very little things, like socks, shoes, a bed, a car, scriptures, a phone, etc.. I encourage all of you to do the same, you will not regret it!

Something that I have been noticing a lot in my life lately is the abundance of the Spirit. I have always heard that if you live right you can always have the Spirit to be with you, but I never understood that until just recently. I can't explain it but I can literally feel of God's light and love at all times of the day! We will be driving down the road talking, and out of no where I will feel God's light, it is truly incredible!! The joy and happiness that this gospel brings to be is worth any sacrifice! I wouldn't trade the feelings that I have for the world!! I truly love this gospel so much!

Thank y'all for all that y'all do! I really appreciate each one of you and look up to you so much! Each of you has taught me at least on thing that has had a lasting impact on my life, so thank you! I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord

Sorry no pictures, I get my camera back next Wednesday at transfers!

What a Week!

This week was pretty sweet! Monday, after emailing home, Elder Burch and I got to go over to our assistant ward mission leader's home and help him process some chickens, it was soooo cool!! When we first started I felt pretty bad/sad about it but I quickly got over it because I realized that that is how we get our food, plus it was pretty interesting! While helping with the chickens, I felt super red neck because we used branch cutters to chop of its head and a kitchen knife to slice open the body! After we got all of the good meat from the chicken, we threw the dead body to the rest of the chickens and they started eating it!!!! Thankfully throughout the process there was only 3 drops of blood that landed on my shoes.

Cool thing about this week, I was able to be in all three of my areas within 3 days! We went up to Chipley for an exchange, and then went back to Crestview for MLC, it was sweet! While in Chipley we did some service for Brother Aukema out on his farm, something I would always bug him about, but never got the chance. We unloaded a 57ft flatbed trailer filled with hay, I honestly had so much fun! Being out there was definitely hard work but it was worth it, I always feel so accomplished after a day of hard work. Also while I was in Chipley I got to go visit with Carl again. We knocked on his door and he told us to come in, so we went and sat on the couch while we waited for him to come in the room. When I walked in, he was just talking as normal, then he looked at who was there and got super excited, yelled "SKIP!" and came up and gave me a massive hug, it was so cool! While there I found out that he has a goal of getting the priesthood and going to the temple for baptisms, so we taught him about what he needs to do to get to that point. The thing that we really focused on was the word of wisdom because he has been having a rough time with that again, but we taught a very powerful lesson to him about how if you do what the Lord asks then there is always a blessing that comes. He really liked and Elder Carpenter invited him to write down in his journal "January 3, 2017.  Today I quit smoking" and he said "Well I haven't yet..." to which we replied "Sure you did, you just chose this day to serve the Lord and accept the blessings into your life by quitting smoking." So he took his journal and pen and wrote it down, it was so cool! I honestly love Carl so much and just want him to be happy! I really hope that he will be able to reach his goal and make it to the temple, what a great day that would be! As I was reflecting on my visit to Chipley, I realized how much I grew to love that place, I actually miss it a lot. When I first got there I hated it, but now I miss it so much; its cool how the Lord softens peoples hearts and allows love to fill into it in every situation, but only if you have a willing heart.

Then on to Crestview. Man I miss that place a bunch! I really have been so blessed with the areas that I have had the opportunity to serve in! Even though I was only in the building and didn't get to go see anything or anyone, it brought back so many good memories! While there, we got to hear from President Smith and the assistants, and i loved what they trained on! The assistants focused on having pure desire and as I have reflected on it, I compared it to baseball (naturally). While in high school, literally all that I desired was to play baseball and get better at it. We would wake up at 5:30 for early morning practice and I was so excited for it! Then I would have practice right after school and I loved it! Shoot, while I was in school all I wanted to do was get out on the field and then when I got home, all I wanted to do was go play catch or hit BP with my dad or friends, now that is pure desire! So if I had that kind of desire for baseball, why not for the work of salvation? I love it out here but I don;t have that kind of desire yet, so that is going be what I am working on, I want to be like Jeremiah and have such a burning inside that it cant be contained!

The longer I am out here, the happier I get, it is so much fun and I am being filled with so much joy! No matter what anyone says, living the gospel will make you happy. I have personally seen it on both sides and I never want to go back, it's not worth it! The Savior told his disciples "Peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you."  This is so true, the gospel brings peace that this world can not bring and what a blessing it is to have it in my life, I just wish that everyone could have what I have!

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

Elder Schipaanboord

PS I was pretty dumb and left my camera in the assistants car, so I wort get it back until the 25th...... sorry.  You'll have to settle for more pictures from last week on the beach.

 

 

Inspiration to the MAX

Last week for p-day, the day after Christmas, what did we do? Well it was 80 degrees and we live in Panama City, Florida, so we went down to the beach and Pier Park!! It's so crazy how warm it still is here, I honestly miss the snow and mountains so much but the beach was pretty fun I guess! We had the whole zone come down and we all played volleyball and football and just enjoyed the nice weather, it was awesome! Coming together as a zone is honestly so great! I love hanging around missionaries, they are the happiest people I know, and it makes me so happy! Even though I miss home sometimes and the work is hard, I absolutely love it here, I am the happiest that I have ever been and I am growing so much.

This week was great! We had 3 exchanges and I learned so much! I got to go with Elder Gunnell (my old zone leader that I loved so much). Every exchange that I go on, I receive so much inspiration and this week wasn't any different! Elder Gunnell and I get a long so well and we set a lot of goals for the type of people that we want to be and the things that we want to do, it was awesome!  Elder Gunnell is  a very diligent missionary and talks with EVERYONE! It's amazing! That is something that I am going to start doing. One thing he suggested to do is get a sticky note and put it on my planner and write "how many people I walk past without speaking with them" and a question to ponder "how many of those people could have accepted the gospel" and put a tally mark every time I walk past someone. I haven't done it yet, but just thinking about the advice has helped so much. I want to help as many people as I can! I also am wanting to be as obedient as I can. I feel like I am pretty obedient but pretty obedient doesn't bring miracles, so I am really wanting to be exactly obedient with everything! It's gonna be hard and I always hated people that didn't "have fun" but now I realize how important it is to do what is right and still have fun.

I also went on an exchange with Elder Galloway, can you say inspiration?! He and I also get along really really well. He is going home soon, so he and I really set goals to be completely consecrated with the time we have left. We both made an "alter of sacrifice" (a letter) that contained all the things that we were going to sacrifice (disobedience) so that we can truly become the missionaries and people that the Lord wants us to become. One of those things that I put on there was hair. I care wayyyy too much about my hair, so I had Elder Galloway cut it off for me. It was super hard but it has helped a lot! It's crazy how the little things that we hold onto can help us so much if we just let go and move forward; the Lord will shape you into the person that He wants you to become, all you need is a willing heart.

I am so happy for this new year! It's a time of reflecting and goal setting and that's exactly what has been happening here. This was the first year that I ever really set some goals for the type of person that I want to become. I am upset that I didn't do this before, I missed out! I really love what Elder Ballard said about goals, “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” We need to set goals! No one that I know wants to stay the same person, we all want more. Heavenly Father sent us here to improve and grow, not to just sit around and become stagnant, this gospel is a gospel of growth, not comfort! So I encourage you all to sit down and reflect on your life and set goals to help you become that person that you want to become.

  I love y'all so much and thank you for all that you do! Keep on keepin on!

Elder Schipaanboord!