Sacrifice

This week was a pretty good one!

I was able to go on an exchange with Elder (Cole) Abbott, we got along sooo well! I learned so much from the exchange too, it was great! He is really into photography, like a lot, and is so passionate for it, so it was really cool to not only learn about photography, but just to sit and listen to him talk about what he loves so much. He is so filled with light and just knows who he is and is very comfortable with that. I really want to figure out who I truly am, and find what I am passionate about, and stick with it! I also really want to be as passionate about the gospel and sharing it with others. I love it out here, I have never been happier but I can still love it more, and I want to, so I can be more effective, help more of God's children, and also so when I get home I can have a stronger foundation.

We weren't able to meet with the Alexanders' this week, and they got their work schedule changed where they have to work on Sunday but they made sure to have the mornings open, cause they "need church"! At church, Jack came up to me and said "Skip you wanted to learn how to play the guitar right? Well I will trade you some lessons for some lessons."  They are so awesome, I love them sooo much, and can't wait to work with them more!

Yesterday, we were able to go to a Pentacostal church, it was so sick! I was pretty nervous going into it, cause my dad told me that he went to one on his mission and a bunch of crazy things happened, but it was actually pretty good. The people were very kind, and welcomed us with open arms. The preaching was really good, he taught almost all truth, and I took a lot of notes of things that I liked, but the one thing that I didn't like was that i didn't feel the Spirit; maybe my heart wasn't open as much as it should've been, but there was just something missing, and I know it was the Spirit of God.  It was a great experience being able to go and see what other faiths are like and understand what people coming to our church feel like, so all around it was a great time.

Recently I have been studying about church history and it is so amazing to see how they gave up almost everything for the Lord, and because of that, they were able to see soo many amazing miracles. As I was pondering this, I thought, "Well why don't we see such amazing miracles today?" and the spirit taught me very simply and directly, "It's because you don't sacrifice like they did." We have so much, but give so little. They didn't just give the Lord a little here and a little there, or just 3 hours a week, but they gave ALL of their time, energy, money, and talents, and because of that, they were rewarded immensely! I know that "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." So I ask, what more can you sacrifice? After all, it is all the Lord's anyways. 

 I love you all and thank you for everything!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Crazy Week

Man, this week was so crazy!!!!! On Wednesday we drove over to Pascagoula, Mississippi (an hour away) for a baptismal interview, so cool!! We also had a combined zone conference on Thursday over in Pensacola, so we were planning on the Toxey elders spending the night at our place and then driving over in the morning (they live 3 hours away.. and their area is as big as the Panama City zone). We got a call from them at like 7:00pm telling us that they were going to be a little late because they got stuck trying to contact a bible referral (their whole area is suuppper back woods), so a member was going to get them out. Well, a couple of hours later they called and said they would be a little bit later because the people who were to rescue them got stuck and needed to be towed out too... so we told them to text us when they were on their way and we decided to stay up until they got in, well.... We didnt get a text or call and it was midnight, so we called them and they told us they they couldn't get their truck out, so they needed a ride, because they were an hour and a half from their house. We left our apartment and drove an hour and a half up to the middle of no where to pick them up, then drive another hour and a half back to our place, now 4:00 in the morning, so we only got 2 hours of sleep then we had to wake up and drive an hour to Pascagoula for zone conference, sit there for 7 hours, and then drive another hour back home. Then when we got home we ate a quick dinner, and drove all the way back to where they were stuck which was 30 minutes further than where we picked them up the night before... while there we drove in a members truck (me and another elder was in the truck bed because there was no room in the front of the truck, and it was basically like riding a bull!!! We almost died!) and went deep into the woods to find their truck which was stuck in 2 ft of mud.... so we spent an hour getting it out, and then drove 2 hours back home, now 1:00 in the morning......... I was the driver this whole time, and literally drove 12 of the 24 hours and CRASHED!!!!!!! We had absolutely no energy and the biggest headache ever, and slept for like 12 hours the next day.... so we have basically been exhausted the rest of the week.

Remember the random couple that showed up last week at church (the Alexanders)? Well they showed up again this week, and invited us over for lunch and a lesson afterwards! We brought a member couple with us and had such a good time!!! They were honestly so cool!! The member, Stephanie, is basically fully active again and is commenting in church, dropped all things against the word of wisdom, and is reading her scriptures every day!! Her nonmember husband, Jack, has such a desire to learn, and wants to be "redeemed from all of [his] guilt", and loves what we teach!! We just got a text from him saying that he has been reading The Book of Mormon and is really liking it!!!! These guys are honestly sooo cool and so prepared!! It is so amazing how the Lord is preparing people! Most people in the south have a pretty good understanding and relationship with the Savior, so I haven't had too many opportunities to teach people that want to be redeemed from their sins and guilt, so I am so excited! I know that the Savior can heal any wound and and rebuild any broken heart; there is nothing that we, or anyone else, can do that will be too much for us to feel of our saviors love, its an infinite atonement, it covers EVERYTHING!!

I LOVE YALL SO MUCH!! thanks for everything have a great week!!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Ala-freakin-bama

This week has been one of the best weeks of the mission!! With transfers going on and me leaving my area, I thought that it was going to be pretty hard but I love this place so much!! I am officially living in Alabama, and it is not what I imagined at all!! We live in Lake Forest, which is the biggest subdivision east of the Mississippi, and this city just reminds me a lot of home, it's awesome, however, our zone is super far spread out all over the country, so it's gonna be so much fun going to district meetings and exchanges!

Elder Delamare is one of my favorite companions already! He and I are so much a like; I don't think that I have stopped laughing the whole time we have been together! The both of us have such a desire to improve and make things happen, but most importantly, we are following through with the things we say we will do, it is amazing! He and I just want to work as hard as we can for as long as we can, and we have seen miracles already!

I came into this area and there was little work going on, it was all people that had been taught forever, but haven't made any progression with them. With all of the conferences that we have had recently, we have been taught to "find all day every day" so Elder Delamare and myself have done so much finding, but in a way that we can still teach. We set a goal on Friday to hand out an entire box of BoM's in a week (the most I ever did was 20 in a week), the first day we handed out 19!! The both of us have always heard about talking to everyone, but didn't understand that until we got together; we literally drive from appointment to appointment with our windows down waving at everyone and saying to hello to everyone we see, then we straight up get out of the car and give them a BoM, either at a stop light, or just on the side of the road, it is so awesome!! 

As we have been doing this, we have had so many blessings come, its unreal! We found this family that are refugees from Mira Mar, a Buddhist country, who are Christians, and they welcomed us right into their home, and gathered around to hear our message. It's a husband and a wife that speak very little English with 3 kids all younger that 7, but they are so open! Their names are Thang Mang (Tong Mong the dad), Ching (Jing, the mom), Kim (the oldest), Dalsang (Dollsong the middle), and Bahoy (bah hoy the youngest), they are the nicest family ever!!!! We shared the restoration, and asked what the felt, and they said that it felt so good! We love them so much already, and cant wait to work more with them! The only problem is that they work every day in the year except for 3.... so its tough to meet with them and for them to come to church, but I honestly believe that they will accept this wonderful gospel! We also got a referral from the sister missionaries for another family to teach that really wants us there. Then we had an inactive member show up with her nonmember husband (no one knew who it was) and she wants us to come and visit them!  Then some nonmember youth showed up who knew a member that used to live here and said that he is old enough to drive now, so he wants to come to our church. It's amazing how when you do what the Lord asks that you really do receive blessings, it is becoming so real now!! 

It has been so much fun to work here in Alabama, and I am really excited for this transfer, and know that the Lord is preparing people for Elder Delamare and me to teach and bring to the gospel. Even though it is really hard work, it is so much fun, and we lay our head down at night, and feel so accomplished, I love it, this is what a mission is all about!!

Thanks for everything, y'all are amazing!!

Elder Schipaanboord

 

 

Transfers

Transfer calls were this week and after 6 months in Lynn Heaven, I got the boot ). It's super sad, because the work is finally moving along and there should be lots of baptisms this next transfer, plus I love all the members here, so it's gonna be hard to go but its also good. My new area is Daphne, Alabama, and my new companion will be Elder Delamare, he was an assistant for 5 transfers so it's intimidating but he is also super funny, I am so excited!!

First on the list is the bad news, we got a voice mail from Myra saying that she is going to stay with her church and that she doesn't want to study with us anymore.... We were so shocked and sad, it sucked so bad! But in the call she sounded really sad and confused, so we think that he pastor found out she was talking with us, and told he she was going to go to hell if she kept talking with us, so we had some ward members that she clicked with reach out to her, so I guess we will see what happens, we aren't going to give up!

The other day, we were driving home and we got a random text from Mike Huber, and he said "how about the 25th?" and we were super confused, but come to find out, he was talking about getting baptized on the 25th!!! I was honestly so excited! He is my favorite! We have honestly gotten so close with him and his family, it's not even funny! I am really sad that I am going to miss his baptism but at least I was able to fulfill my purpose and invite him to come unto Christ; plus a year from now I will be able to come back and attend their temple sealing!!

We were also able to go and see Ty this week, and he has changed so much!! He loves the glasses that we got him, and is always reading now, its so awesome, he is half way through Mosiah! As I have taught Ty, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has increased so much! We have been able to see him while he is reading, and while he isn't, and I can testify, that it has changed his life! The Book of Mormon has given him so much strength; while he has read, he hasn't had a drop of alcohol, but when he doesn't, the temptations come so much more, and he falls much easier. I've seen it with me too. Lately we have been so busy with a bunch of stuff that we hardly have time to read, and it is killing me!! I don't feel the same, and feel that the Spirit isn't with me as strong, So it is my goal to make time no matter what to read the Book of Mormon every day.

So, crazy miracle for the week. We had a goal of 3 investigators at sacrament meeting this week (Ty, Mike, and Myra), but Mike was out of town, and Myra dropped us, so we were left with just Ty... well, we were about to start PEC with the Bishop when we got a call from a random number, and this guy told us that he isn't a member but most of his family is, he had just moved in from Illinois, and he wants to come to church! Awesome, so we are now at 2. Well, we get out of all our meetings and we see 2 guys dressed in normal clothes, one was Dave (the guy that called), and the other was his cousin, who isn't a member either!!! It was honestly so crazy! As we talked, we found out that Dave knows everything to be true, he is just a smoker, and his cousin is super open and ready to learn! So even more crazy, we had a zone training this week, and Elder Burch and myself taught about finding the elect, and we promised that "golden souls will fall from heaven"! Well, of course, right when I am leaving two golden souls fall from heaven hahahahahaha!!!

Life is good! I love it out here and am excited for my new area, great things will happen there!

Elder Schipaanboord