July 29, 2013

July 29, 2013

Mom,

Wow, so many things are happening back home. That's really cool! So is there an MTC in Spain that Drew is going to? that would be cool. I would like to get his email so I can say hi and see how the Spanish is going.

That's sweet that Hunter and Calvin were on trek together. I would have loved to be there but I was a little busy.

Last Monday we went to Coney Island and had a pretty good time. There is this place called Nathaniel's (I think) and they seemed kind of like an east coast ivars, so I tried their famous coney island fish and chips. It was pretty good. I also went on a roller coaster and it was pretty fun. It was small but I think it was a good step for me to get into the world of roller coasters. I did it with Elder Henstrom, and Elder Nisguritzer took a couple of pictures. I look pretty excited in one of them.

 

I'm excited for Hunter, and Drew, and Thomas, and Carson, and everyone. The Gospel makes everyone so happy. If only more people could see that.

A family just moved into the branch and yesterday was their first sunday here. They are really cool for a couple of reasons. They moved from Seattle! they actually aren't Hispanic but I think they both learned on their missions (I think they served in seattle) and they are raising their kids to speak English and Spanish. So that's pretty cool. and they seem like a solid couple on top of that.

letter to president

President,

The more I serve and focus on being a blessing to others, the more I love them. It happens with my companion, my district, and the members especially. My relationship with Elder Nisguritzer continues to have little ups and downs of course, but there are more ups, and it keeps moving up. And I have learned to love the branch so much more just in this last transfer. A transfer ago, I loved the branch, but not nearly as much as I do now. I had started thinking about if I would transfer away only 3 or four weeks into the transfer, and this transfer, the thought hasn't crossed my mind nearly as much.
I think that two major things that slow the work here are: the difficulty of communicating with people, and the difficulty of finding a time that they can actually meet with us. It is difficult to teach, bless, and inspire the people with these two barriers. But I do know that they can feel the love that we have for them.
I don't have much else to say, other than that I am really grateful for Flushing. The members and the missionaries here have helped me learn immensely, and I have learned a lot about loving others, including the Lord.

All right, I got to go. Elder Nisguritzer is usually done emailing before me, and I shouldn't make him wait so much. Love you!

Elder Schenk

Dad!

Everything's going really good. The MTC night sounds like a good idea considering how much bigger the missionary program is getting in the church. Of course I feel that way because I'm in the middle of it. I'm reading about the sons of Mosiah right now in my personal studies, and it's a good story. I like reading missionary stories on my mission. There are a lot of good things to learn.

For the advice for the Priests:

1. Forget yourself. The purpose of a mission is to serve the Lord. It's His work and He knows exactly how to do it best. Christ Himself said that he that will lose his life will find it. That doesn't mean we have to die. It means that we always put the Lord's will ahead of ours. When I have prayed and asked to be able to forget myself, I enjoy those times on my mission better. I am happier. I learn more.

2. Pray to develop Christlike Attributes. I didn't really think of it much before my mission, but as we are to become like Christ, we need to develop His attributes, and it's not always easy. But as I have asked the Lord repeatedly day by day to help me develop Charity, or Humiliy, or something else, I can see it growing in myself.

     2.5 Prayer is really important. Study it in the Bible dictionary and realize more of it's purpose and power. It is required to gain some blessings, and is one way to show our faith.

3. The Spirit is most important. The Spirit of the Lord is united perfectly with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. His presence means that God approves of what your doing. So if you feel Him leave, or realize that He's gone, God is telling you to change something.  The best way to live is to be perfectly obedient to the Spirit of God.

also, the priests should realize how lucky they are to be raised in Burlington. I don't know how many priests there are right now in the quorum, but I am pretty confident that there are as many, or maybe more active priests in Burlington than active youth (Young Men and Women in total) in my branch. They aren't able to have activities very often and the program just isn't nearly as well established as it is back home.

Thanks for everything, Dad. I love you so much, you are the best Dad.

Love,

Elder Schenk