Humbling

This week was one of the most spiritual of the whole mission, it was absolutely amazing! 

We have been trying to get in contact with one of our investigators (Jack) for like a month now and we were finally able to have our schedules line up, boy was it incredible! We went over and reviewed the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation with him and really focused on the Priesthood and Baptism, and then it transitioned perfectly into the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we taught, their dog was being so loud but Jack was 100% focused on us,and he felt the Spirit so strongly it caused him to tear up. As we talked, we could tell that he truly just wants to be forgiven and clean from all his sins, so we were able to set a baptismal date with him for June 10th!! Honestly, this lesson was what I have dreamed of since I was a kid. I have always wanted to be teaching someone and have them feel the power behind the message, start to tear up, and accept the invitation to baptism. It was one of the most powerful lessons that iIhave been in on my mission. We then went over another time this week and taught the Word of Wisdom and he completely agreed with it all and talked about how he has been trying to quit smoking and he wants to live the Word of Wisdom. We told him that we were able to give Cassie (John Berger's wife) a blessing to help her quit and she hasn't smoked since. He said "Could you do that for me?!' Right when we said yes he jumped out of his seat, dropped to his knees in front of us, it was one of the most humbling things I have ever seen. He has such a strong desire to change, and he wants to become better and I can see how much joy this gospel will bring his life!

Last week we went down to Foley for John's baptismal interview, which he passed!! We then went to the mall and hung out with him and his family for a while. While hanging out we got talking about what we want to do when we get home and I told them that I don't know, Cassie said that it was okay, cause she didn't know what she wanted to be until she was 25. Then john said "Well I knew what I wanted to be since I was 6 years old" and he continued to say "a good husband and a good father" it was so cool to hear that coming from such a big muscular guy with tattoos all over his body, and it made me realize that my goal should be to be the best husband and father that I can be, and that it is my goal!!    Then on Saturday, we were able to hold a baptismal service for John, and it was so perfect!! There was such a sweet spirit there! Something our mission president wants us to do is to have the person being baptized bear their testimony after being baptized, so we had john do that. Even though we could tell he was nervous and didn't know what to really say, he bore a simple and sweet testimony of the things that he has come to know to be true and he closed his testimony with "........ and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this church is true!" It was so powerful! I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to help teach such a wonderful man about the restored gospel and see it change his life!

Recently, God has been blessing us with a lot of success, and it is really humbling! I have learned more than ever that God is the one in charge and that we are just tools in his hands, but it is our job to be the best tool that we can be, so He can trust us so use us. God has such a perfect plan, all we have to do is be humble enough to listen!

Transfer calls were this week and I found out that i am being transferred to Enterprise, Alabama. I am sad to leave this area and the people that we are teaching but also exited to go to a new area and see new things and learn a whole lot more!!

Thanks for all that you do, all that you say, and all that you say you do!

Elder Schipaanboord

CTR

John is literally the coolest guy ever!! We went over to teach him and his wife and he shows us that he is wearing a CTR ring, so now his new thing is when ever he does something good, or whenever someone else needs some help (us or his wife or kids) he shows the ring and says "choose the right", it's so funny!! We were talking with him about being a member and his wife said " yeah, can't wait for the 27th" and he responded so perfectly, he said "well technically not until the 28th, cause the baptism of water is incomplete without the baptism of fire." It was the dopest thing ever!!!! He is truly converted to the gospel! He reads and prays everyday, and is so sincere about everything, he is a light to everyone, including his wife and kids, its so cooL!

So recently I have been trying to focus all of my studies on the savior, and something that has really intrigued me lately is the mission of the Savior.  I read some scriptures prophesying that Christ was going to come and cleanse them from sin, and have the sting of death swallowed up in his sacrifice, and I thought what that must have meant to those people and the kind of hope that it brought to them. Then I got thinking about how that is the same for people today, there are people who are struggling in life, and need hope and relief, but don't know where to find it. So I am starting to read all about the things that the Savior did to offer us that hope and relief, so I can know how to teach and testify with more power and help others see how this gospel can change their lives forever.

sorry for the short email, but not much happened this week ):

I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

GOLDEN

john berger (the guy that moved from kentucky) is literally the most perfect investigator ever!! we went to visited him and his wife 2 times this week, and he told us that he finished the book of mormon, read the entire gospel principles book, and is on section 84 of the doctrine and covenants!! also, he said that giving up drinking and living the gospel is going to be easy, so he decided to make a bigger sacrifice and gave up all caffeine which includes pre workouts; he said that he went to the gym for the first time in 20 years not using a pre workout! they did have a little hiccup and got in a little argument this week, and he wanted to drink super bad, and she wanted to smoke a cig, but both of them were able to resist the temptations and hold out strong! i am so excited for the 27th, it is going to be such a good day, he is so prepared to receive the fullness of the blessings of this gospel into his life!  

i was also able to go on an exchange this week with elder binnie, and learned so much! he is such a great missionary! literally the whole time we talked about the scriptures and the gospel and how it has been able to help us in our lives, and it made me want to go out and share it with everyone! he also taught me about baring testimony; no matter who it was or what we were talking about he bore a simple and yet powerful testimony of the truth of the message and how it can help them. missionaries that have an eye single to the glory of god are truly amazing, and they help me so much! they arent distracted by things of this world, but they are always talking about the gospel and building up the lords kingdom. and the amazing thing about elder binnie is his ability to have fun in the work as well! the whole time together we were laughing and having a good time, it was amazing, that is what missionary work and the gospel in general is all about!

so other than meeting with john, not much happened... elder abbott and i both got sick, at separate times... so it was pretty rough. but we were able to skype home on sunday for mothers day, what a treat that was! i loved being able to talk with my wonderful family! one of the many things that i have become so thankful for in my life is my family. they mean the world to me! i wish i wouldve given them more time and respect when i was home... but now i know! they are amazing, i love each one of them and am so thankful for them in my life! its crazy to think that the next time i see them it will be in the salt lake city airport! 

time on the mission is running short, but there is still so much work to do out here! i love it! at interviews this week i was going to talk with my mission president about extending, but i found out that no one is allowed to..... it made me super sad! i truly love it out here and am so thankful for every day that i have had to learn and to grow and to help others do the same!

i love you all and thank you for all the support you give to me!

hope you have a great week

elder schipaanboord

Mobile

Life here in the Mobile Zone is great! We were able to have lots of great things happen this week, but also being in the Mobile Zone means that we drive so much. This week, we made another one of those super long drives across the mission. we had MLC in Crestview, then an exchange in Tally, then a baptismal interview up in Toxey, so we spent 4 days out of our own area, it was pretty crazy! I'm just thankful that Elder Abbott drove this time, he is a saint!

MLC this go around was pretty boring, we literally just reviewed everything from the past 6 months and talked about how we can do better and take it to our zones. The thing that I liked the most though was the fact that we went over a General Conference talk by Elder Hales "Becoming a Disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ." As we talked about it, iIrealized that being a Disciple is nothing that I do, but who I am. In 1 cor 13 it talks about how if we do all these wonderful works, but don't have charity, it profiteth us nothing, and why is that? Because we don't progress. That is literally all that the gospel is for, to help us to learn and to grow, so if we do things unwillingly, with a hard heart are we really learning and progressing? So this past week I have really been focusing on the Christ like attribute of humility, and as I have been studying I realized how similar all of the attributes are. You cannot develop one without another attribute strengthening, they are all interconnected.

The exchange in Tally was super cool!! I was able to go with Elder Gunnell this go around, and had a blast! we have been on like 5 exchanges, and spent a lot of time around each other, and he has really become one of my best friends! Spending time with him roaming around TCC (Tallahassee Community College) was a blast, even though it was pretty dead cause of finals week. Even though it was slow, we were still able to see a miracle. We were waiting for an appointment to show up, and while we were, I noticed this guy sitting on a bench just looking off into the distance really pondering life, so we decided to go and talk with him. When we got over there, he said "How do I get saved?" It was so cool! It never ceases to amaze me at how perfect God's plan is. Because the appointment fell through, we were able to go and talk to someone who has had lots of questions and wants to find true and lasting peace in this life; he said he has looked and tried a lot, but has never been able to find it.  It's amazing how this gospel can give people just about everything that they seek in life (sense of belonging, greater connection with god, stronger relationships with family members, comfort through trials, lasting peace, etc...), I love being out here and being able to give people that hope that there is something more, and something better in life.

This Sunday we went out with one of the youth in the ward; everywhere we went we got shut down so hard core, I felt really bad that we weren't able to have a good experience with him, but he still enjoyed it, so that is good. Afterwards, I was really down, not because I felt like I failed, but because those people didn't want to learn. The song lyrics "they who reject this glad message will never such happiness know" was ringing in my head, it literally fills me with so much sorrow because people are rejecting our message (and in turn so much happiness) without even knowing what it has to offer them.

Last thing for the week. Remember that couple that just moved from Kentucky and randomly showed up to church? Well they are doing sooo good!! Cassie (the less active member) has given up smoking and is now a week without a cigarette, John (the investigator) has read the whole Book of Mormon, knows its true, and wants to get baptized! Every time we go over he just sits so calmly and listens very intently to what we have to say, and because he is a part member family, he basically already knows everything, but we have still cleared up a lot of things, and he accepts them so well, because they make so much sense to  him. He is literally the most solid person that I have ever taught in my life! As missionaries we do a lot of "role play" lessons where we just practice what might happen in a real lesson; these are generally very generic and easy lessons, cause its jut to give us practice, well teaching John is literally easier than doing the role play lessons, it's so cool! So John is a body guard for the hospital, and last time we were over he told us that he started The Book of Mormon over again and is already through Alma, because all he does is sit there and read for work. During our lesson we talked about faith being like a seed and he was like "oh yeah, read that the other day and sent it to Cassie" and then we talked about the title of liberty, and he said "Are y'all talking about that Moroni guy?" it was so sick!

Being out here serving the Lord is truly amazing! I love this gospel so much and am so thankful for how much peace and happiness it has brought into my life!

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

I HEART Abbott

This week has been so sick! Elder Abbott and I are really getting along and  have been having so much fun with each other and we are working so hard as well. We went on two exchanges this week and made it a point to focus on the missions slogan of "more faith than fear" by talking with everyone, it was so fun! We were able to find some new investigators and really help the elders out a lot.
 

But on the real though, I literally love Elder Abbott soooo much!! He is one of my favorite companions! He and I have the same personality and lots of the same interests. This morning for P-day we went to the pier and had a super sick photo shoot with his crazy good camera. We are working super hard with one another and have been blessed to have lots of people fall into our lap to teach; I am finally feeling that this is what missionary work is all about: having fun, growing up, and learning lots. I love it!!

 

We had zone conference this week and a lot of great spiritual upliftment. There was a training on the first great commandment, and it was so great! I feel that we could all give a little bit more love to God; we can give up some time on our phone or tv to read or pray, or even get out and serve God's children, we just need to be a little bit more "anxiously engaged in a good cause" rather than wasting our time away on things that don't matter now, and definitely wont matter a year down the road. As we were talking about this, President Smith got choked up, and told us that his son was getting sealed in the DC temple, and he couldn't be there.... he then said that if he couldn't be there with him, than he couldn't think of of a better place to be than with us. It's so amazing how much he has sacrificed to come and serve us and the Lord. He literally sold his home in Arizona, left his law firm, and moved to Florida to tend 185 missionaries for 3 years, if that isn't love, I don't know what is.

 

Recently I have really been trying to focus on doing things out of a love and devotion for the Savior, rather than obligation, and it has really changed my whole out look on the mission and life in general. When things are done out of love there is so much more meaning, dignity, and diligence behind it. I am so thankful for my Savior and all that he has done for me, and continues to do! If we just turn towards him and simply do the things he asks us to do than our life will improve, no matter what!!!! All it takes is a desire to have a better life, a particle of faith, and experimenting upon that particle to see if it brings forth good fruit, but it always does!

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

Elder Schipaanboord