A year has passed already...

Elder Skoubye is doing great. He has just passed his one year mark! He loves serving the Lord. Thank you all so much for the prayers you offer on behalf of all missionaries everywhere. Those prayers help the missionaries to find strength and energy to serve the Lord to their fullest potential. 

We are grateful for your friendship and wanted to wish each of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy Winter Season.  

If you get a chance check out this link: It is a great Christmas message.

Missionaries serving in Elder Skoubye's mission

More missionaries!

Missionaries serving in the Centralia, Washington area

View from Elder Skoubye's apartment window

Even Missionaries take selfies!!

Handsome, right?

Elder Skoubye's companion, Elder Hernandez

11/30/15

There are challenges but they aren't too bad. I think it would be sweet if mom could come here and whip my companions into shape and teach them how to clean and keep things clean.... Anyways besides that I am just really grateful for all mom taught me.

We also had a really good visit with James Taylor who is a recent convert and it went really well. We talked about the tree of life and the iron rod and how it can make a difference in his life. He really opened up and told us how he first gained interest in the Church and how it was through the service that members provided to help clean up from a big flood that they had 10ish or so years ago. It was pretty cool. Those service projects after natural disasters really do help people to accept Jesus Christ in their lives, even if it is just to prepare the soil for a seed to be planted. I think some people’s hearts just need a little tilling first:)

Thanksgiving was good but also torturous. I cannot eat any where close to what I could before the mission. We went to two houses for the dinners. We didn't get to go to the third house for dessert because the second house went long. We weren't allowed to proselyte on Thanksgiving so after the second house we went home and laid down. I was super full. I only had one plate at the second house and it took forever to eat. But its okay because the members also only had one plate and ate slow too! They also enjoyed having us over. Then in the evening we went over to the old stake presidents house and played board games with the other missionaries in the stake, it was pretty cool:)

Quisiera compartir que se que la abilidad que tenemos aqui en este mundo para arrepentirnos y llegar a ser personas como Cristo es una gran bendicion. Estoy muy agradecido por el Evangelio de Jesucristo y la oportunidad que tengo a cambiar. Se que la obra misonal es de Dios, y se que su obra seguira adelante aun que haya mucha opposicion. Dios nos ama y quiere que mejoremos.

11/23/15

…It would be way could if people would be like King Lamoni and even better would be to be (like) his father. It was because of his father that so many more people were able to come to the gospel! (He gave the missionaries a lot of referrals:)

I think my best experience so far has been with Josh Barrak. We had a 'Why I Believe' fireside last night and it was really great! We got to sing the EFY medley, Amazing Graze, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and Called to Serve. It is when we sing songs and the recent converts get to bear their testimonies. Josh gave a wonderful talk about his conversion process and how it took twelve years. He is now in the Elders Quorum presidency. He talked about how I played an instrumental role in his conversion process. He sent me an email last night as well. It was pretty cool; he said he was impressed by my patience with him and my testimony. He is a great member. I am very impressed by him. I am really grateful to have been able to help him to make the decision to be baptized and to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He is doing a great job at keeping that covenant to! That is probably the coolest thing:)

The most challenging (things on a mission) are the companions. But I am thankful for them, I am learning a lot from them. What to look for in a future wife and what to run from:) Also I learn things not to do from them.

11/16/15

…We found this really cool family. They have four daughters. Like you said, families are the most ideal. They are also good friends with a family in the ward, and we are looking forward to their progress. We are meeting with them tonight for the second time. Hopefully it goes well:)

In Spanish we don't have any super solid investigators but it is possible that one man will be baptized in two weeks. He isn't an investigator right now but he comes to church every week. I was talking to him on Sunday and he wants to be baptized and he has been taught all of the Lessons twice. He said that there is nothing that is holding him back as well. So we just have to meet with him and make sure he is really for baptism and then get that set up:) He is a really cool guy. It is funny because he drinks a monster during Church that he keeps in the front pocket of his shirt.

11/2/15

Halloween was pretty interesting, but it was a lot of fun. We got to go to the Stake Center at 3-8 and then we went home. We got to play a little bit of knockout and some board-games. I found Settlers of Catan to be pretty fun. Also, we ate pizza and got to watch 17 Miracles. It was really good; it is amazing to see how much the pioneers sacrificed to be able to get to Zion. It was also amazing to see the miracles that took place with those pioneers as they went across the wilderness with the handcarts. I guess it is called 17 Miracles for a reason. One of the miracles was the lady who went into the cave and a man gave her beef jerky. I remember how we were given beef jerky when we went on trek and I thought that was pretty cool. Trek was pretty cool when we were able to go on it. You and Dad were cute together to!

Day light savings was pretty cool; we got to sleep in for an extra hour! That is probably one of the most uncommon things to happen on the mission! 

Also it has started to rain more lately and it was flooding. Elder Hernandez and I were Knocking on Doors and to cross some or the intersections we had to wade through the water! It was pretty fun:)

Also it is incredible to think how important the Atonement is to Gods plan for us. It is key to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the Atonement we would not be able to be forgiven of our sins or make it back to live with God again. I know that Jesus Christ died for us. I know that if we listen to him and live his gospel the way we see ourselves will change and our view of the world around us will change.

10/26/15

This past week has been really good. We had an amazing lesson yesterday about the Atonement. It was taught by Hermano Del Bosque. The old Ward mission leaders son in Shelton. We read from Alma 7:11-13or 14 and we talked about the girl who wanted to buy a bike and did all that she could to save up money to buy the bike but only got a few dollars but that was all she could do. Then her dad paid for the rest. That is a lot like us and how the Atonement. Sometimes feeling like you have to shoulder it all just weighs you down to much. But knowing that Christ is there to take care of the rest that we can't is so uplifting and wonderful.

Transfers are tomorrow and I am going to stay here in Centralia with Elder Devenburg, and Woolston. Elder Delgado is going back to the Tacoma area in Lakewood.  The craziest/coolest part is that I am going to be companions with Elder Hernandez again! He is coming down from Lakewood. I think it will be pretty cool.

10/12/15

You are right, the gospel doesn't solve our problems. But, it does give us hope. I liked how Elder Franks described hope. He said he looked it up in the dictionary and it was lame, used the word hope in the definition. He went to the Spanish word for hope, esperanza, and he said it meant to hope, wait, and expect. I thought that was really neat because if we have hope then we patiently wait and expect that things will improve. That doesn't mean that you wait and do nothing. The gospel if lived it does solve many problems and it gives us a new perspective and outlook on life.

We have some pretty cool investigators. A few of them come from some pretty rough backgrounds. Josh, Nicole, and Kaylie. Kaylie really wants to be baptized and was pretty upset when the ward mission leader told her that she has to come to two Sacrament meetings at church in order to be baptized. But she really wants to and I think it will all turn out okay and I think she will be baptized on the 18th or on the 24th of this month! Josh and Nicole are her 'guardians' in a way. She lives with them even though she isn't their biological kid. Josh and Natalie are still working on getting married but that is going to take a little while. In the meantime, Josh is being one of the best ward missionaries, even though he isn't a member yet. He introduced us to Kaylie as well as Natalie I believe, and then he brought a friend named Andrew to Church as well!

Also, we knocked into a guy named Hugo and he is pretty cool and it seems that he is actually willing to read the Book of Mormon and so we are going to meet with him again tomorrow. As well as this lady named Carla, she and her boyfriend Travis seem really open. As well as another lady named Dolores. These people seem to have a lot of potential.

Being laid back is good, not so black and white. But I am pretty black and white I would say. It works pretty good, it just allows you to connect more with the people, but can't be so laid back where you forget about your purpose.

The mission is really cool overall, I am learning a lot.

10/5/15

I know that God has called the men that he has for a reason and that if we heed their prophetic counsel we will be truly happy and be able to live with God and our families after this life.

Conference was amazing!! I really liked Elder Viñas talk and the one before or after him, I didn't bring my notes to the library so I will have to go off of memory. I really liked how throughout the conference that keeping the Sabbath Day Holy was brought up multiple times. I have come to believe that it is really important. Also, I really like the Prophet Thomas S. Monson and his talk during the priesthood session and keeping the commandments, I thought it was some really good advice and a great talk. Also the talk on Sunday about the barriers in the ocean and how they are like the commandments and how sometimes we don't know why the barriers are there and like the surfers we get upset until we see what the real danger is if we cross the barrier and how life threating the other side really is. I also really like the talks about repentance, they were really good, I know that it is through repentance that we can become "white as snow". Sometimes it can be hard, just like the person who dug a hole and made a swimming pool out of it and had to get sprayed clean with the hose for what felt like to him an eternity. I also really like the one about how we need to put the gospel in the center of our lives so that when we are on the 'clay spin will' that Jesus Christ can mold us, if we don't keep the commandments and aren't centered on living the gospel of Jesus Christ than he won't be able to mold us. Another talk that I really liked was the one that talked about ponderizing. Is that in the dictionary yet? Maybe someone will put it in soon. I think if everyone starts doing that they will be some of the best missionaries and know what scriptures apply to which people and how to use them to help people come unto Christ.

Overall I really loved conference. It fascinated and moved me more than it ever has before, I felt the Holy Spirit so strong and I know that what they were teaching is true. Now the difficult part is just making sure to apply it. Line upon line and precept upon precept and I think it will go pretty well.

9/28/15

Centralia is pretty interesting. It has got a wide variety of different people on the economic scale. Some on the poorer side and some who are doing well. There seems to be more Hispanics here then there was in Shelton. However, I have not knocked all of Centralia.

Being in a foursome is very interesting, we get a lot of new investigators and a lot of the time you have no idea who they are because the other companionship found them.

The ward/branch feed us very well. We have food pretty much every day. The branch also feeds us pretty regularly and we have gotten to try some cool Peruvian food lately. We have gotten to drink Chicha Morada which is a crushed purple corn drink and it tastes and smells exactly like bubble gum!

Some of the challenges here are only having one car among the 4 of us and using bikes when you don't have a car. Another is that the branch wants us to only focus on doing Spanish work, however, we are both English and Spanish and that wouldn't be a good use of time. It might be possible if they had a higher Spanish speaking population.

But other than that things are going really well. My bloods sugars have been pretty good. Elder Delgado actually talks to me in Spanish while we knock doors. The foursome is a lot of fun as well.

Also, Church was really good, we had a really great lesson about Service and how Jesus Christ being our leader served those around him. It is amazing how the Son of God being perfect would take time to serve us. I think that it is the quality of a great leader, one who is willing to serve those around him. I am really grateful for Jesus Christ and his example, he was the Son of God and showed us the way to return to live with our Heavenly Father. I know he lives.