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