March 10, 2014

Hey fam!

Sorry for not writing a good letter last week! Ping pong was really
distracting. I am getting better at it, but now Elder Farmer, the
missionary in the district that had the set up, is in Jamaica, so we
won't play as much anymore.
Elder Sua'ava got transferred to Midwood, Brooklyn. It's the zone just
south of ours. He is with a Tongan missionary called Elder Fine, and
is really excited about it. I am now with Elder Barker! He was Elder
Farmer's companion. So both of our companions left and now our pools
are united. Which means we have twice as many people to work with. We
did our weekly planning on Thursday, which usually takes about 3 hours
or so. Ours literally took all day! We went to the church to plan,
after a while got dinner, and the at the end we got on the train to go
back home! There were 27 people or families that we talked about!

Here's what I wrote to president

Dear President Calderwood,

I'm sorry I didn't get a letter sent last week. I was going to talk
about the huge blessings of revelation and repentance. I want to live
a very repentant life so that I can be as much of a help as possible
to the Lord. Repentance and adjusting has allowed me to love and be
unified with Elder S. In some ways we are really different but
we developed a good groove and were continually growing together, even
though we had some rough patches.
The weekend before last we had a fantastic experience in branch
council. President R. asked us to have a presentation ready,
and at the end of the meeting we had a short time to talk. We brought
up our focus people, and with MUCH help from Elder P. we
counseled about how the auxiliaries in the branch could help out
certain focus families. It was by far the most effective part of the
meeting. The atmosphere changed, everyone worked together, and you
could feel the difference in how they feel about the missionaries
after. I am so thankful to Elder P.. He has been sent here to
help me.
This last week has gone well. I am excited to work with Elder Barker.
He is the companion that I have been praying for. Time management is
important for him. We are going to have to learn how to be really busy
and balance a schedule like that, and I think that will be a great
lesson for me.
I see much more clearly what I need to do here, I took some time to
seek revelation about it. It amazes me how willing the Lord is to
teach us when we are humble and desirous. I have learned that this is
also the key to the conversion of those we teach.
This transfer we have a really solid district. I want to help unify us
a lot so we can truly have power together.
And I have set up the time to really meet with President Rodriguez to
talk about how we can unite our keys. I am excited to for us to unify
ourselves with him, and the branch.
The Gospel is so cool, Heavenly Father has done so much to help me
learn and develop constantly. I am so grateful for the incredible
experience and love I have received from Him. I am also really
grateful for the district I am able to serve in, and I am excited to
learn all I can from Elder Barker. And I am so grateful for all you
teach me about leadership and the Doctrine of Christ. This will be a
great transfer!

Love,
Elder Schenk


Also, we have had some funerals recently and I spoke at one! I had
never heard of the guy before, but he was a member that hadn't been
able to go for a long time. So I shared a short message in Spanish
about God's love for us and His plan for us, and how the Gospel makes
life happy even though it can be hard. It was a crazy experience.
Missions are the best...