September 29, 2010

Hello Family!
I didn't mean to scare you off that time that I said not to email me
so much. I just got a lot of longgg emails that time not giving much
time for a reply. Diane and Katie, I would still like to hear from
you too.

Carmon is a small town. It has one main street. It is full of buses
going from Cebu to the Northern part of the island and back. All of
the stores and everything are within about 2 blocks. But it has a gas
station! I haven't found a place to buy meat here yet. I have to go
to Danao, about 20 min, to get anything but fruits and vegetables to
eat. We have district meeting there on monday. I bought some meat
there last week and it had gone bad by the time we got home. But
vegetables are cheap here! I got two bags full for about a dollar!
Fruit is much more expensive though. I wish they had more variety. I
eat a lot of mangos and bananas. They have good grapes here though.

We now have 5 people in this area with baptismal dates! one of them
isn't that dedicated, and some of the others, unless they really
become converted, I don't see them staying active. They live with a
bunch of inactive members and this branch of 40 or so people isn't
exciting enough to go for the social life. We will keep working on
them. Well I am sure glad we have a washing machine back home. It is
so time consuming washing your own clothes. I literally don't have
enough time to eat and clean and do laundry and study and sleep for
the full time. Yesterday I got up half an hour early and went to bed
half an hour late and almost missed an hour of study time. I just
wish I could work and study and not have to worry about the little
tedious things.

I spent all of my pday cleaning the apartment. It was a mess when I
got there. But it is clean now! the fridge still stinks though. I
cleaned the entire thing with bleach this morning and as soon as I
plugged it back in the stink came back. any ideas?

I am right on the ocean here. It is beautiful at night! The other
day the moon was full, the sky was clear, and it reflected of the
water so beautifully! There aren't any nice beaches though. they are
all cliffs or rocky.

We haven't gotten a fan yet. hopefully in about 20 min. Ill unload
my 1200 pesos on it and hope the Zone Leaders pay me back tomorrow at
zone conference. that will be exciting! For conference we have to
drive an hour I think to the chapel somewhere else. Probably the
stake center. thanks for doing the debit card for me. Master Card
doesnt work very many places here. Ill find out today if it works in
danao. If not I may be asking for a Visa.

Thanks for all your prayers for me! I feel so blessed here. I wish I
could study all day long. the scriptures have so much doctrine in
them! I have grown so much in the last 3 weeks! I love being a
missionary. Things I have never thought about are making so much
sense to me now. It is hard sometimes, but it is so worth it.
Everything will be for our profit and learning right? It is hard now,
but I am learning so much. I will be so much prepared for life after
my mission than I ever could have been. The Gospel is such a
blessing to us. Knowledge has become so important to me. I love
learning! I bought an english dictionary so I could better understand
the scriptures. I am learning so much! Eric, you will never know how
much of a blessing a mission will be for you until you look back on
what you have learned. Dont miss it for anything. Learn to love the
trials. It is the Lords way for preparing you to serve Him better. I
heard so much that people said they thought they had a testimony
before their missions and realized how small it was once they got in
the mission field. The same is happening to me. I knew it was true,
but there was so much I didnt know. there was so much I didnt do. It
is amazing how much we can learn from the Lord and from the
scriptures.

I love you and hope you are all doing well!

Elder Schenk