Happy Easter

Man, being out here in the Mobile stake, we literally drive so much!! This week we went all the way up to the top of the zone to visit with the Toxey Elders in Butler (3 hour drive) and go to their district meeting, and then we had an exchange planned with the assistants over in Tallahassee, so we literally drove from one end of the mission to the other, it took a total of 7 hours!!! It was so crazy! For anyone that knows me knows that I will fall asleep within 10 minutes of being in the car, so I said a prayer that I would be filled with energy to make it all the way to Tallahassee while being attentive and not once on that drive did I ever feel tired, it was so awesome!! I love how the Lord answers even the simplest of prayers!

While in Tallahassee I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Renslow, it brought back such great memories! Chad has honestly grown so much since we were companions, it is amazing to see! So the assistants are now on TCC (Tallahassee Community College) campus, so we spent all day roaming a college campus together, it was so sick!! I swear we walked like 10 miles and talked to like 100 people, I loved it!! There was this one girl that literally asked us "What do y'all do? Like why are y'all so happy all the time, y'all are always smiling and waving at everyone, it's awesome." The students there were able to see the Light from us and want it, what a wonderful blessing! That is what this gospel has to offer, light and joy! While together Chad taught me so much! He taught me about not having fear in any situation, and also what it means to have confidence in the gospel, it was incredible to work side by side with him again! 

We had a zone training this week. As we were preparing for it, we were having a hard time figuring out what to train on, but we finally decided that rather than having a whole training on the "how to's" of missionary work that we would just simply teach the Savior, because the study of doctrine will change behavior faster than the study of behavior will change behavior. So what we did was focus on the new "Prince of Peace" Easter initiative put out by the church, and how the Savior has brought peace into our lives and why those around us need the same blessings, it was super good!! It is really cool how the Spirit guided us to train on the things we chose, because almost everyone was in tears and said that it was the best zone training that they had been apart of, and the coolest thing is that we didn't train at all, we had 8 missionaries from the zone train on the "principles of peace" from the initiative, I LOVED IT!!! 

If you haven't seen the new Easter video, you should check it out at mormon.org cause it is one of the most powerful videos that I have ever seen!! After being out for 18 months, I have come to a greater understanding of who the Savior is, and how much He truly cares for each and every one of us.  He didn't just die for our sins and heart aches, but he suffered for each sin, and each heart ache and trial, he knows exactly how we feel in every situation, and knows exactly how to help us!  He has taken me from the person that I was, and molded me like a potter and turned me into such a greater person, and I know that He can do the same for you, you just have to be humble enough to allow Him to mold you into what He wants, and trust Him enough to know that He is the Master Potter and never makes mistakes.

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

Elder Schipaanboord