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