Elder Carlson

This week has been pretty crazy! On Wednesday, I went to Tallahassee to pick up my new companion, and he is sooo sick!! Elder Carlson is from Broomfield, Colorado (just north of Denver), and we are getting along so well! He honestly reminds me so much of myself when I first came out to the mission. It's crazy but also really cool because I am able to be on the flip side and know how to help him. While in Tally, I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite missionaries/people because they were going home this transfer; it was a bitter sweet moment.... they have helped me so much in my life, and have truly become some of my best friends!

 

The ward here is starting to work really well with us; we have soo many members coming out with us this up coming week, it's going to be so great! They are being super supportive and are really helping us out, I love it! This is a really good ward for Elder Carlson to start out in, I hope he learns a lot and will be able to apply it into the rest of his mission.

Elder Carlson has been having a fun time with the humidity down here and has been sweating like crazy. We were out tracting, and his knee caps and butt were sweating through his pants, it was so funny! Then we got a phone call from Bishop who asked us to go and help with a move but we didn't have time to change, so we just went all dressed up. This move was a crazy move with sooo much heavy lifting, so we were both sweating through our white shirts and everything, it was crazy!

We have had some pretty cool experiences this week with teaching and finding new people. First off, we went to teach Sister Rose again (Elder Carlson's first lesson), and it went so well! We taught about the restoration, and the importance of the Book of Mormon and why we need to read it every day. As we were teaching and testifying, she was in tears and told us that she wants to be able to live with her dad after this life, she knows that she wouldn't be able to right now ): Hearing this was super sad, but also really cool, because the Spirit taught her, and she recognized where she could improve and why she needs to. We are really excited for her and already have so much love for her and want whats best for her.

I set a goal to do at least one thing by the Spirit (something that scares me) each day, and on the first day it paid off! We were trying to see a less active member but somehow ended up at a different less active members home, so we tried them, but they weren't home, so we got back in the car to drive away. I saw a guy sitting on his porch and I felt very prompted to go talk to him and remembered the goal that I had set, so I turned off the car and went over and talked with him. As we talked, we told him about how we believe that there is a prophet on the earth today, and that The Book of Mormon is evidence of the first prophet, and he really really liked the idea and said "I can roll with that" and then he had questions about life after death, and we taught him about the spirit world and the degrees of glory, and he loved it and asked for our number and wants us to come back over and visit with him again, and also said he wants to come to church. this experience really built my testimony of promptings of the Spirit. Elder Rasband said "We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten"

The last crazy thing that happened was we got a phone call from Isaiah Allen (recent convert from Crestview that I was always around). Long story, he has been trying to figure things out in his life, but has been running from the church and everyone in it. But he started going to Troy Universtity, and he kept finding the church and people from the church and missionaries every where he went, so he finally quit running from it and is now trying to apply the gospel into his life to be more happy. He drove down from Troy and we were able to teach him, it was so cool! I didn't feel like I was actually teaching him, but just talking about life (while bringing the gospel into things), and I realized that is how it really should be in all teaching situations! If I want to teach people and not lessons, I truly need to love and care for the people, then I will be filled with the Spirit and understand their needs and concerns. 

I am so thankful for this gospel. It has truly changed my life so much and I am forever thankful for that!

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Elder Schipaanboord