March 29, 2011

Mom,
My apartment is good. It is new and clean and HUGE! We have one of the biggest houses of anyone in the ward, and there are only two of us. But it’s nice. The only problem is that the nozzles in the bathroom pop off every once in a while and the entire bathroom gets soaked while you try to screw it back on. Other than that, and the long walk to the downstairs bathroom in the middle of the night, I love it!

The food here has been good. We have been fed well by the members here. We usually get at least three meals per week, but lately it has been more. This week we got fed last night, and have a dinner appointment with the bishop tomorrow, dinner on Friday at the Flores family, Lunch Saturday at the Ortega Family, dinner Saturday at the Kabunkal Family, and dinner Sunday at the Weller Family. YAY FREE FOOD! We have been cooking a lot at home, and last week for the first time, we bought no canned food. That was great!

Francois, the rich guy from France is good. He wants us to come over so that he can record Elder Mera playing a song on the guitar, but the problem is he just started working every Wednesday at the temple until almost 5. Wednesday is p-day and it ends at 5. But we are going over there today at 4 to play. Hopefully he gets home early.

Our investigators are doing well, they just need to come to church. They always have things that come up that keep them from coming. We have one, Rescy, who really wants to come, but every week is either sick, or her baby is sick, or some other unavoidable unexpected problem arises. Last night we watched Finding Faith in Christ at her home. That was great. The spirit was so strong and both she and her member brother Resly were touched. We had a great discussion after which we shared some scriptures about Christ and then bore our testimonies. I loved it.

We have another investigator who is the daughter in law of an inactive family. She has had the lessons before and is super excited about the gospel. She studied her assignment and could almost quote the answers to our questions from the lesson 1 pamphlet. That was great.
Thanks for all that you all do. Sure love you!
Elder Schenk


Dad,
That’s great that you got to hear from the missionary about Elder Clark! I love that guy! We had a lot of fun together. If you get a chance to talk to him, tell him I said hi and that he needs to write me. Tell him also that I followed his advice and am not bugoy. He will be glad to hear that. He had a big impact on the way I do missionary work, even though we were only companions for a short time.

I am so glad that Eric gets to go to conference! I loved those trips. The Sunday morning session at Bishop MacKay’s mother’s house where she cooks breakfast is amazing! He's going to love it. I miss those good ol' days.

Thanks for all your encouragement dad. Sure love you! I was looking through pictures last night and saw a picture of you and Eric and Bishop Atkinson at Britney’s farewell party. I respect those three men so much. You mean so much to me. Thank you for always being the good example for me. You always held your priesthood with honor. That is a problem here. Even some of the very first members here who have been sealed in the temple would rather have the missionaries bless their families. It is so sad to see them miss out on those great experiences. If only they knew the joy that would come. You were always ready. I'm so glad that I had that great example in my life. Thank you Dad. See you in a year and 2 months!
Love you tons,
Elder Schenk


Eric,
It is so good to hear from you. You are becoming a man and not just the little kid I call my little brother, nor are you little anymore. I can see it in the way you write and in how mom and dad talk about you. I don’t read a lot in D&C so off the top of my head I don’t know. My advice would be to spend time each day in the Book of Mormon. All the standard works are important, but a prophet said we should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book. Maybe you could read a little of both. My all time favorite story in the Book of Mormon is Moroni and his time period. He was the captain of all the armies and Teancum and Helaman and Lehi were some of the other leaders. To fully understand their story you would have to read Alma 48-62, but that would take a long time. But you can read about the invisible army. Read Alma 56:56; 57:25; 58:59 about the army of Helaman and Alma 49:23 and 62:26 about the army of Moroni. Then read Alma 56:47-48; 57:20,26; and 58:40. That should excite you. Then apply it to your life. Next week I’ll give you something to read in D&C.

Keep learning in physics. You will need that knowledge if you are going to create worlds someday, And if you endure to the end you will end up with that opportunity. You will have to learn it sometime. Now is a great time. I love to learn now. Elder Mera and I spend all of our free time reading the different church books we have, treasuring up knowledge continually (D&C 84:85). I love it.

Take care buddy. Good luck in you soccer. Enjoy General Conference. I won’t get to hear it until the next week, because Saturday here is still Friday there.
Love you!
Elder Schenk