June 10, 2013

Wait, a hurricane hit? we definitely got a ton of rain the other day, but I heard nothing about a hurricane. The sidewalks and streets were kind of like rivers, and I was happy that I my rockport shoes are waterproof. And I learned that my backpack is pretty waterproof, but only to a certain degree. apparently hurricane rain is beyond average REI quality. That day I actually wanted an umbrella. I think I will start using mine more often now, which means my companions won't be able to use it anymore. Elder Rose would usually use mine, and Elder Nisgurizter usually does now. He is planning on getting an umbrella soon. Perhaps the reason people back home don't use umbrellas is because they usually don't need to be outside for a long time walking around town. So if it's rainy you just stay inside your  house or your car. Here, most people don't have cars so walking is the way to go. And that makes umbrellas more important I think.

 I usually don't print my emails I get, but I can. We can print 20 pages a day with our library account.

I am eating pretty well, I think. I eat lots of hardboiled eggs and toast for breakfast to accompany my cereal, and sometimes I will add applesauce and or yogurt. Lunch is usually a sandwich or something, or Subway. And dinner, last week I started making macaroni and cheese and macaroni and tomato sauce. I only made them once apiece and apparently macaroni and tomato sauce is something people aren't used to. But I assure my companions that it is really good.  Last night we used some things we had gotten free from the branch (they sometimes leave canned food or something in the kitchen for us) so we made mashed potatoes with gravie and chicken and corn and garlic bread. Everything was from a package pretty much, the garlic bread was toast with butter and garlic salt. But it was really good. It kind of tasted like I was back at the MTC. other than that I kind of just throw random foods that we have together to make a dinner. It turns out alright

I wouldn't mind a couple of simple quick recipes.

Wow, 3 inspections a day for dad? that's intense. I hope it all goes smoothly.

Yesterday at church we only had sacrament meeting because something with the air conditioning broke so it somehow leaked water all over and flooded parts of the church, including the branch president's office. That was interesting and unexpected. they are going to build another chapel in town but I don't think they have started and it is supposed to be 2 or 3 years before it's done. The chapel we use now was originally a bank I think, and then the church of scientology had the building, and now we use it.

I might be practicing a lot of piano soon because nobody in my branch really plays except for Sister Dean, one of the missionaries. But she isn't very good at sight reading, so the music in sacrament meeting is somewhat a capella. The branch chorister doesn't always pick the easiest songs for her to play either. And since I can play "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" and I was recently plucking out "Sweet Hour of Prayer" the missionaries in our district think I have what it takes to maybe play every couple of weeks or so. I play new music mostly by ear because I don't know what note meets which key. I think then my only qualification really is willingness. I think maybe the blessing of this for our branch is that they realize that they can't hide their voices behind the piano, so they all sing good and loud now. We used to have a pianist, but it was a sister missionary here that left last transfer.

When the rain was really bad, Elder Nisguritzer and I decided we should go tracting just to show the people that we thought it was really important, and to keep things exciting. I don't know how effective it was, but it was kind of fun.

Last week was kind of interesting as far as lessons. One investigator who we thought was really solid didn't show up three times in a row, and we'll see if he shows up tonight. Others that we thought didn't show much potential show some true sincerity, so we shall see how that goes. I think our district is starting to feel the effects a little bit of having every senior companion replaced by a brand new missionary (except for mine - Elder Nisguritzer has been out about 7 months). We have tried to do some activities all together to proselyte, but they have been kind of innefective as we have tried to figure out how to do them, etc. A focus that we are trying to do now is on the elliptical, which is the area/ community right around our church buildings. The shape of these communities looks generally like an oval or ellipse. We are trying to build the church inward to outward, so that way it can be strong enough to support the people we bring from the edges of our areas. Part of the purpose is to bring the church out of obscurity. So as a district we are trying to do elliptical activities together, like chalking the sidewalks, inviting everyone we can to come to church, etc.

I got to go. Love you! Thanks everyone for your prayers. I am learning so much.

Love,

Elder Schenk