March 22, 2011

Mom,

Thank you for your letter. One of the great problems among missionaries is motivation. For two years you do the same thing every day, and have the same exact schedule every week. The only change is new people and new companions and new areas. It is so important to grasp the importance of the work. When Elder Cook was here he talked about the serious responsibility that we have here in the Cebu Philippines Mission because of the temple that is here, and that we need to take this responsibility seriously. We have been successful in this area, but really it’s not hard. The lessons and golden investigators just come. We can meet all of the standards and not even work that hard. There is so much room for improvement in my work. I need to continually keep myself focused on the work and remember to do it for the Lord. Each of the people here will eventually have the opportunity to receive the gospel. I want as many as possible to hear it from me.

We had an experience teaching an investigator last night where we asked what she had learned from her reading assignment. She taught us almost the entire lesson we were going to teach her! She had learned so much from her reading and understood it really well. After she was done I looked at Elder Mera and he looked at me and I said, well that about sums it up. We can close now. We did teach her and she did end up leaning. She really is a golden investigator. That was amazing. We also gave her a blessing last week. When she recovered from her illness she thanked us for healing her and said that if she hadn't received the blessing that she might still be sick. Her testimony is so strong, partially from watching the change the gospel has made in the life of her brother, who I was able to baptize in February.

Could you please find out the address for the California Rosevil Mission for me? I met Elder Mulleneaux in the mtc and I want to write him, but don’t have his address.

Sure love you all! Tell the third ward thank you for sending me the Valentine ’s Day package. I loved all the letters. It is good to hear from them all. The Big Brown Heart was great! And brother and Sister Wilson, those chocolates were amazing!
Love,
Elder Schenk

Eric,
Yes you go and get some dinner. It’s weird to think that you just sent this 6 min ago and I am about to have lunch on your tomorrow. It’s 11:23 AM here. I’m glad your soccer team is doing so well. Good luck! Let me know when you get that goal. I’ll be cheering for you from the Philippines.
I’m glad you are excited about your mission. You will learn so much, especially if you go foreign like me. Everything is different and the adjustment changes you into a much better person. As you come unto the Lord you can see your faults, and then have the opportunity to work on them and slowly become like Christ. Keep up the good work. Sure love you buddy!
Elder Schenk