April 4, 2012

Family,
(please correct the mistyped, miscapitalized or mispunctuated words, this keyboard has a few flaws...)
It has been a HOT week here in the Philippines! I am sweating and we are in an air conditioned room. It has been a great week though, one full of great surprises. The first surprise we had was on Sunday. We had 7 investigators and 12 less actives come to church! 7 of the less actives came for the first time in a few months. That was really exciting. It makes missionary work a lot of fun when you have success in bringing souls unto Christ. We also have 4 investigators with baptismal dates for April. They had all been for the 21st, but on Monday we had another surprise when Riza asked if she could move her baptismal date. She wants to be baptized sooner! Not a problem! She will be baptized on her grandfather’s birthday, Friday the 13. Hopefully everything goes well. Her cousin, elder Plania, who used to be my companion, is in our district and Riza asked if he could baptize her. That will be great.
The Ricafort family is doing great. They have been to church twice in a row and three of them have a baptismal date for the 21st, noel, the father, and his two daughters, Marjorie - 9, and Bella Mae - 8. The rest of their family is all members.

What shoes are you wearing for basketball? Did you end up buying tennis shoes?
I bought some used Nike’s for under $5. I have been using those. We play every week now. I am getting a lot better. That makes it fun. But you have to play early in the morning because by 9:00 it is too hot.

Can you get Eric one of those cool belts?
I did that a month ago. Anything else to buy? I asked about some pearls the other day. They have some deep sea pearls that are super expensive, about $80 for one pearl, or some lower quality ones that aren't perfect circles but are still good that are really cheap. You can buy a one foot strand (approximately) for $5-$10. But you have to make it yourself. I can get those for you if you would like.

Do you have any new ideas about what you want to study in college or what career you are interested in?
I have had a lot of ideas and was not planning on anything to do with computers, but the other day I decided electronics is what I love and am good at. I might try more on the making and repairing of hardware and not so much on the using the computer part. I can’t stare at a screen all day. I have also thought about finances or business.

What has been a blessing from serving your mission that you may not have mentioned before?
I think one of the greatest blessings has been what I wrote Eric about. I have learned how blessed I am and how important I must be to the plan of God, and how important it is for me to be the very best that I can be to fulfill my purpose. One of the prophets said that it should be a matter of pride that you will do more than anyone else, according to your individual capabilities, to further the kingdom of God on earth. He said that it has always been his goal to do his part here on earth. I have learned the importance of doing that.

I sure love you all. I’m excited for conference!
Love,
Elder Schenk

Dude what’s up little brother? Kamusta man ka dong?
So your all getting ready to head out to college like a big boy. Nice work. My keyboard sucks, by the way, so there may be a few errors, like capitalization of letters. Sorry. I’m super stoked for you to get out and experience life out of the good ol' sheltered Schenk home. Though college and my mission my eyes were opened after I saw bad parenting, drugs, drinking, breastfeeding in public, naked babies crying in the street, homeless families who live on the skywalk over the highway, broken homes, broken families, you really begin to see how wonderful your life is. When you get out you will realize that you are in the 99th percentile of "THE MOST BLESSED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD-- TEMPORALLY AND SPIRITUALY" category. Your parents rank among the very best. Don’t be like I was when I first went to college and not write the family or call home. That’s no way to thank your parents. I’ve repented. I write them a letter every week now and will continue that for a long time.
Take care. I love you to death!
Elder Schenk

Dad,

Hey send some of that cold weather this way. This has been the hottest week of my life! Check the temperature here in Cebu and let me know how hot it really is. Give me both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Is it up to 40c? It just hurts to be outside between 12:00 and 2:00.
Love you dad, enjoy skiing!
Love,
Elder Schenk