October 6, 2010

October 6, 2010

Dad, and Family,

Thanks for your letter. It is so good to hear from you. For some reason your email made me cry today. I know the Lord is blessing you so much. I just wish you could know how much he is blessing me. My new area is hard. My companion is a lot different than I am. My last area was amazing and my companion became one of the best friends I have ever had. I never had to worry about teaching because no matter what I said or how well I did, I knew that the lesson would be really good. My new area is a lot more work. My companion is a lot less motivated, so I can’t just follow all the time. I have to be the one leading. But I am growing so much more here. Don’t take it that hard is bad. I love it so much! The Lord has opened my mind so many times to things in the scriptures that I had never known before. I think of the counsel that the Lord gave to Joseph Smith in carthage jail, that even if the very jaws of hell should gape open after him, that all would be for his good. I feel the same way. When things get hard I learn the most. There are a lot of church leaders who had hard times in their lives. I have Dieter F. Uchtdorf on my iPod. He tells about how hard his childhood was as a refugee. But I can’t help but feeling that our challenges and struggles are really a blessing from the Lord. They are the refining fire, preparing us for the rest of our time here in this life, and also preparing us for our work into the eternities. Don’t worry about me, the Lord is on my side, and it is him who I serve. He is watching over me.

You don’t see a lot of animals in the bukid. But it is beautiful. I just asked an elder how hot it is here, to my surprise, I thought it was cooler, but it is in the upper 80's today. It is in the upper 90's a lot. I didn’t think that. I must be turning Filipino. My laundry skills are improving, but are way too slow. I don’t have time to do everything.

Eric, you know that song by inside out "I hope they call me on a mission"? Remember when the little girl said that her uncle didn’t like the Brazil mission because he had to eat fish including their skin, eyeballs and bones? Been there done that! It’s not actually that bad. I have really come to like fish. And sardines, not that bad either! I learned today the Filipino way to eat with your hands. That one is going to take some practice.

I got your package today! Exactly 1 month early! Nice work! I am going on exchanges with the district leader today. I will be with his companion in Danao. He doesn’t speak English. That will be fun... I am excited. I get to learn again!

Eric, I am proud of you! Keep working hard. Learn all you can now. Education is really important. Keep up the good work.

I haven’t seen conference yet. Saturday morning session would be Saturday night here. So we get to see it this weekend. We also get to hear from Elder Cook in person on the 14th! I get to shake his hand! I am really excited!

I love you all so much! Take care! Tell Jeff Komar thanks for writing me. I don’t have time to send him a letter so you will have to do it for me.
Love you!
Elder Schenk