Pictures from Devin!

Family,

Here are some pictures!  Sorry I don't have more.  I'll have to get them developed.  I haven't found a good place to get them developed here.  I'll keep looking and send you some more.

Elder Schenk, Elder Mera  January 2011 Carcar

Elder Schenk, Resly Racho, Elder Mera  January 2011 Carcar

Elder Mera, Elder Schenk, Rosalina, Nephi & May - members

Felix- investigator

January 2011 Carcar

Elder Schenk January 2011 Carcar

Danao, Cebu Philippines

Elder Schenk January 2011 Carcar

March 9, 2011

Dad,
Sorry I didn’t have a chance to read your email. The internet wasn’t working this morning and we have little time now. This week is going great. We have two baptisms this Saturday, our apartment is clean and I really like my companion and my area. We have some really good investigators. One has a sister who was baptized a little over a year ago who is semi active, and a brother who we just baptized last transfer. He is a really good convert and helps us teach her the lessons. When either of them talk about the gospel or Jesus Christ the spirit is really strong. Yesterday she prayed fervently that she would be able to come to church this week for the first time, amidst the temptations and trials of the devil keeping her from coming. I love teaching the gospel and I love my mission. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.

Love you all tons! Take care

Elder Schenk

March 1, 2011

Mom,
How ya'll doin' up yonder in the snowy country? I miss that white fluffy stuff. This week is transfers, and for the first time in 6 transfers, I am not going to transfer meeting because both Elder Mera and I are staying in Carcar! We just moved into a new apartment on Monday because our contract had run out in our last one and the owner wanted to do some repairs. So we got to talk the new owner through the contract and get him checks and so forth. That was interesting. Usually Zone Leaders take care of that, but they live an hour away and can’t come down to Carcar multiple times in a week. I learned a lot. Our new apartment is in an actual apartment complex and is new. The problem is that it is right on a main road and there are noisy motorcycles going by all the time. And there are lots and lots of ants that come out of the walls by the hundreds if you leave out food. We have a great bug killer that the mission provides. I don't foresee any more problems. The new apartment does have a great shower! I like that. I haven’t used a shower for almost 5 months. We just throw a bucket of water over our heads and call it good.

The work here is going great. Philip and Kesha Lana were confirmed on Sunday. We have two baptismal interviews this Saturday for Angel Diapera and her friend Jocelyn Ferando. Their baptism is scheduled for the following Saturday. Angels mom was inactive for a long time, and with the help of the ward we reactivated her two months ago. She started bringing her daughter to church (the building is less than a block away) and one Sunday they brought Jocelyn who had been taught by the missionaries before and was super enthusiastic about the gospel and wanted to be baptized. It is like a competition in our lessons between the two of them to see who knows the assignments better. They want to know more about the gospel than the other. It is great to see the work spreading here. We also have 3 other good investigators with baptismal dates, but because they haven’t been coming to church, their baptisms have been postponed. They are really good investigators though and all want to be baptized. I am excited for this next transfer!

I don’t really miss driving. Gasoline here is even more expensive than in the states. It has been over $4 for a long time.

I have just about filled up an sd card, so I’ll probably load it onto a cd. The problem in Carcar is that there are no new good machines to do it on like where Sister Robison was. She was in downtown Cebu and had the two biggest malls in the Visayas in her area. I’ll try to have a member help me out so I can send some home. Sorry, so many computers here have viruses and I don’t want to lose 9 months of pictures.
Thanks for everything. I sure love you all! Take care in Wisconsin!

Love,
Elder Schenk

Hey, Hey, A Letter Came After All!

February 24, 2011

Thanks for the email Dad, sorry I didn’t email yesterday, I we had a zone activity 30 min south and I thought we were going to email there. By the time my companion finally told me we were doing it before, it was too late, and we got home late from the really beautiful and sweet hike, so I had no time. We now have the opportunity to visit Mormon.org twice a week to get familiar with it, so I am using that time to email you, sorry it will be short. I’m glad to hear that I am missed when it comes to skiing, because I sure miss skiing! No snow here. Only volcanoes. I didn’t even know there was a volcano until sister Bailey told me that mom emailed her yesterday about it. I saw her today at zone conference. That was a really great spiritual experience. It was evident today that President Hansen is the mission president that the Lord wanted me to have and called me to. He is an amazing man! I remember when Chris Chord got off his mission we went to some amazing church meeting and I remember him just saying, "I know nothing!" over and over and over again. That’s how I felt today. President Hansen's knowledge of the gospel is so deep. He talked today for 15 min on one phrase in a 3 line verse in John. He has an immense knowledge for the gospel! I love that man!

Well I had better go. Just a quick update. My dog bite is almost healed and the dog is still alive and kicking, just hopefully not biting! Haha! We had two baptisms this last Sunday! Woohoo! And have another 5 who are really good investigators who will all probably be baptized with dates in March.

Love you all!

Elder Schenk

No Letter from Devin This Week :(

I did get this response from Elder and Sister Bailey when I emailed them today!

Good Morning Brother & Sister Schenk,


It was wonderful hearing from you again. As for the volcano, it is so far from us we didn't even know about it. All are fine here in beautiful Cebu. Today is Zone Conference and we will see Elder Schenk. We saw him a couple of weeks ago and talked to him last week. He and his companion are moving into a new house this week so I'm sure he is quite busy. Yesterday all the zones had a zone activity service project. His zone (Talisay) went to Argao which is at the Southern end of their zone for their project. I don't think any of our missionaries had a chance to email home because of it. We are very proud of our wonderful missionaries here. They really work hard and the results are reflected in the number of souls they bring to the Lord each month. You can be very proud of your son and the work he does here. He is a very hard worker and is enjoying what he is doing. When they come in for a Temple session, it is always nice to see his smiling face and he always come to the office to say hello. Well it is time to get some breakfast and head into the office. May the Lord bless you in all you do and thanks for the message.
Have a Great day.
Elder & Sister Bailey

Letter from the Baileys (Senior Missionary Couple)

February 20, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,


It has been a long time since the last update. For those of you who enjoyed them in the past, I apologize for not doing one lately and for those who didn’t like them, neener, neener.

Now that I have that off my brain here is what’s been happening here in our part of the Philippines. I say it that way because Sister Walker and Sister Cooper are up north in Bagio. Hi Sisters!!

Our beautiful temple is closed for two weeks for cleaning. Because of that, the Temple Complex has been really quiet this last week and will be next week also. We sure miss all of the patrons in and out and the visits to the mission office with their most welcome referrals. We are continuing to baptize about 100 people a month. Our missionaries work so hard and love what they are doing.

Our mission is continuing to grow. We are getting in more missionaries that we are losing and are able to open more areas. We opened two new areas since we arrived and are splitting an area in March and another in April. We are also planning to open two more areas in the very near future if we get approval. The Philippines is a great place to be right now as the Gospel is being spread throughout the country.
Some of you may be aware that on April 28, 1961, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, then Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Philippines for preaching the gospel. In his prayer Elder Hinckley invoked blessings “upon the people of this land that they shall be friendly and hospitable, and kind and gracious to those who shall come here, and that many, yea Lord, we pray that there shall be many thousands who shall receive this message and be blessed thereby. … We pray that there shall be many men, faithful, good, virtuous, true men who shall join the Church.” We are preparing to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of that momentous meeting and dedication.

Here is our missionary plea again. In March and April we are losing our three key senior couples, and there are no replacements in sight. If you (speaking to those not already on a mission) have had thoughts or discussions with your spouse about going on a mission, now is the time to act. The need for Senior Couples is greater than you can possibly imagine. There is no way Sister Bailey and I can fill our callings and theirs too, nor could we even try. One couple served in Bogo City at the northern end of Cebu Island, one on the Island of Bohol and the other on the Island of Negros. Sister Bailey and I cover everything from Cebu City, South and the West side of Cebu Island. Let the Lord know you are ready to serve. I’m sure there are other missions with needs the same as ours throughout the world. The work is very rewarding and the pay greater than you could ever think possible.

It has also been a while since we sent a picture of a Jeepney. Here is our Jeepney of the month for February courtesy of the Hilton Hotel, Cebu. (See file "Jeepney Feb 2011.doc")
Our prayers go out to all of you every day and we want you to know we love you and miss you. It’s hard to believe we have been on our mission for 7 months already but we certainly are not ready to leave yet. We still have 16 more months of service to give and look forward to every day of it.

May God bless all of you and may you continue to do all you can to keep the commandments that will enable you to return to you Heavenly Father when the time comes. I testify to you that I know the importance of the work we are doing for the people of the Philippines and for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that our Savior lives and loves us and wants the best for us each day and that through His Atonement we can have eternal life.
Take care and I will try to do another update next month.
Elder & Sister Bailey

February 15, 2011

Family,
It’s good to be able to email and have a little time to let my mind
loose. We have been so busy lately. When we planned last Friday for
the week, I realized that we didn’t have enough time to visit all the
people we wanted to, potential investigators, investigators, recent
converts, and active and inactive members. We planned no tracting
time because we had no empty space! We have so many people to teach!

Well I’ll start off this week’s experiences with a good saying I learned
in high school and am now learning the truth of. "Don’t do stupid
things." The last few days I have done a few of those. For instance,
don’t pet dogs in the Philippines! I got bit on my hand yesterday but
it’s almost healed already. It’s ok, I’ll live, I think, unless the dog
dies in the next 10 days. If it does then I get to get a nice HUGE
shot that sounds painful. Also I learned today that playing
basketball barefoot is not a good idea. I got my toe smashed by
someone who was wearing shoes. I left my shoes in my last area.
And number three, don’t walk too close to monkey cages. They go crazy
and try to pull Americans inside! It almost got Elder Ashdown. But
it made for a good time. We spent some time getting to know it. It
was just a little monkey in a little cage on the side of the street.
They don’t have those in America.

Now for the good experiences. Three weeks ago when I was with Elder
Ashdown, the American the monkey wanted to eat, on exchanges because
our companions were going home. A lady stopped us and said that her
grandson wanted to bless us. Here it is respectful if you take the
hand of someone older than you and put it to your head. I do it to
old ladies. He came up and blessed us and then we were about to walk
away, but I figured, well we might as well talk to her. So we started
asking her questions and prepping for an invitation to hear the gospel.
She said that she had a friend who wanted us to teach them, but they
were shy. They wanted to hear about Christ and how we can be happier
as families. That just happens to be the first two principles of the
first lesson. So of course we gladly accepted. We wrote down her
name and his name. Her name is Emma Yap. The next week we found the
referral and taught him. He is old and didn’t learn a whole lot.
Later we returned to the house of Emma Yap and were able to teach her
and her daughter and grandson. We told her that there are 5 things we
need to do to be successful in this life and return to live with our
Heavenly Father again. She said "Excuse." and got up from her chair.
She grabbed a pen and paper and then sat back down ready to write them
down! I have never heard that before! That was awesome! They are:
Faith, repentance, baptism, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the
end. The spirit was so strong in that lesson and I felt that these
people were so important to the Lord. They were very grateful for
our visit and are excited for us to come back. We were supposed to
return yesterday, but ended up having to get the contract for our new
apartment we are moving into signed, so we didn’t have time.
Hopefully tomorrow. It is so amazing to have the Lord not only place
people in your path, but then have them come talk to you! I love
missionary work so much! It is such a blessing!

Our investigators are:
Kesha and Filip Lana - being baptized this week!
Johnly
Felix
Terry, Glendeth, and Mariss Warnak
Harry Villaver (his parents were baptized last year and he is excited
about the gospel!)
Angel and Joselyn
We have many more that we work with, but those are the ones that are
progressing... well at least have potential.
And a word for all that complaining in America about the Chinese
people in sweat shops who are making our things, if it is anything
like the Philippines, those sweat shops are what is feeding the
people, it really is a blessing. If someone can make 200 to 300 pesos
a day, that is great. There are so many people who have no work. It
may be only $20 a week, but that’s a lot better than nothing. I met
someone yesterday who has 11 kids, the oldest is 17, his wife left
them, and he drives a motorcycle with a sidecar from 8 in the morning
to 11 at night every day and probably makes 300 pesos on a good day.
That’s a hard life. It really helps you be grateful for what you have.

We were at a member’s house the other day. Their family of 9 had 4
eggs and rice for lunch. The only thing of value in their house is a
TV that probably didn’t cost more than $10. So no matter what life
serves you, smile and be glad that you have food and running water and
that your sandals don’t have holes in the heels and that you don’t have
to walk through sticky deep mud to get to your front door. We really
are a blessed people. I also know a great old man who is 65 years old
who still plows fields with a caribaw (like an ox) and a plow in the
heat of the day so he can grow some corn for him and his wife. What a
hard working man!

Well thank you all for your love and support. Eleanor looks very
cute in her bear coat... nice work Dennis! Tell Shane hello for me.
And Eric, that stud, keep up the good work! Dad tells me how proud
he is of you!
Love you all!
Elder Schenk

The Amazing Missionary You Call Your Son and Brother

February 8, 2011

Family,

How are you all doing? Things are good here. I'm really sorry my email didn't go through last week. That’s too bad.

Well I am now officially a legal alien here in the Philippines! Yesterday all of the Americans in the mission that have been here less than a year went to the mission office and got our visas renewed. We got finger printed and got our picture taken and all that good stuff. So it’s official, I can stay here!... for another year and a half anyways.

Teaching has been going well. My language has progressed in such a way that I can teach all of the lessons. Some better than others, but I can get the message across in all of them. In a general conversation I can understand most of it, especially if it is about the gospel. Sometimes I still get lost when they are talking about specific topics that I haven't learned the vocabulary for yet, but that is getting more and more rare. I am so grateful for the gift of tongues. I fasted for that last Sunday, and on Monday I was able to learn vocabulary extremely fast. Last week I was teaching at a member’s house and the member told me to relax because I was talking too fast. So that is a good thing as well. I am learning more and more ways to say things, and it is getting easier and easier to express myself. I still struggle to express my feelings, but that is often hard in English too.

We have 4 investigators with a baptismal date! Kesha - 10 and Filip - 11 Lanya, siblings of inactive parents who have been coming to church with their cousins, so they have a good support system. Their date is for February 19, but I’m not sure if that gives us enough time to teach them everything in the lessons. It will be close. Then Johnly and Angel have a baptismal date for the 5th of March, but transfer day is the 4th, so hopefully we don’t transfer. Johnly has now had all of the lessons and just needs to get to church 4 times in a row. Angel is the daughter of inactive parents who live right next to the church. Her mom has been coming for the last 3 weeks now. She has really bad arthritis in her right foot and has a really hard time walking. And she walks really really slow. There is a hill between their house and the church, so she has to get a ride up it to get there. But the ward has been helping her to church and now she comes every week!

We found another investigator, Margie, who is progressing well. She prayed and felt calm and happy and that our message is true. We invited here to church last Sunday and eventually she said yes. We went to her house before church as planned to bring her, but she wasn't there. Her baby had gotten sick and she was away buying medicine. That’s too bad. We also have a recent convert who has a 20 year old son who has been coming to church, but we haven't been able to teach him yet because of our schedule. We just have no time yet. We are trying to figure out how to fit him in. He is a really good candidate for baptism and has questions and wants to learn. I just wish we had more time in a day. There is too much work to do!

Well I better go before I run out of time or talk your ear off, or both.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers. They are helpful. I have felt the spirit more in my lessons and can feel the Lord guiding my words and leading me to the scriptures that the investigators and members need.

Salamat kaayo sa tanan sa inyong mga pagampo! Malipayon kaayo ko diri. Nagkat-on ko daghan matag adlaw. Salamat gayud!

Love,
Elder Schenk

Last Week's Letter

Sorry my email didn’t go through last week. It came back with an error this week. Here you go.


February 1, 2011
Family,
I am so happy to hear that all went well with baby Eleanor and that the Wood family is doing great. I’m glad you got to spend so much time over there mom. Your emails from your phone did come through, all of them, so I got the same email from you 3 times. But that’s alright. I am just happy I got them.

Dad, how’s your back doing after ice caving? You need to learn to let the boys do the work. :) Sorry I wasn’t there. It’s been cold here too! I actually got cold yesterday. Of course I was wet and wearing flip flops, shorts, and a t-shirt riding on the outside of a tricycle coming home from our service project, but I got cold. That doesn’t happen very often here, but lately it has been cold. We had a typhoon come though on Monday night and everything is all muddy here. It has been raining for about the last week straight and on and off for about a week before that. The only difference the last few days is that the wind has picked up a little. First time I’ve felt that in the Philippines. On the way home from the service project we were waiting for something to ride, preferably a mulitcab. Cheap and fast. Elder Chastane, an American from California saw a Philippines Army truck full of soldiers go by, so he waved like we wanted a ride, just as a joke. They stopped about 50 yards down the road, then they started to back up to us. Elder Chastane looked at me and said "oh crap now they are going to come and shoot us!" A bunch of Americans! When they got back to us they yelled "Get in." but of course in Bisaya. We grinned at each other and the 6 of us scrambled into the back of a Filipino Army truck with 10 soldiers in the back in full camo with rifles. That was a lot of fun! We got some pictures and taught them a little about the gospel. And it was a free ride! SWEET! Saved us each 7 pesos!

I did get my package mom, about 3 hours ago when we went to Cebu to go to a temple session. That is always nice. I am so glad that there is a temple here.

Dennis, I am glad to hear you are planning on running a marathon. That’s great! Don’t make Diane look too bad.

I have been learning a lot this week about teaching with the spirit. I have felt D&C 84:85 come into play in my life when it says that we will be given in the very moment what to say. That is so true. I have been led to scriptures and know exactly where to find them. Then I come up with what I think is a good idea and it bombs. So listening to the spirit is soo much more effective. I found out that the scripture that says that if you don’t have the spirit you shall not teach is really true. They don’t learn anything. But through the spirit you can help change lives. I love doing that.

Well I love you all and pray for you!
Love,
Elder Schenk

February 1, 2010

No letter from Devin this week for the first time.  We hope to hear from him soon.

January 25, 2010

Family,

I got a new companion this week. I LOVE him! He is a Filipino. His name is Elder Mera. He is 24 from Luzon, the big island up north that Manila is on. We entered the MTC the same day, but on opposite ends of the world. They only go to the MTC for 3 weeks where we go for 9 so he got here a transfer before I did. He is a lot of fun to be with. He is always happy and helpful and clean! This morning we cleaned the apartment. That was great! It looks so much better now. It is nice to have a companion as clean as you are. He is a great teacher, and is so loving. He is willing to give up what he has to members who need it and don't have the money for it, like ties and shirts. While we were cleaning, we found some extra socks and belts and things like that. I would just throw them away, but he came up with the idea of giving them to members and investigators who don't have them. That is a much better idea!

We also did have our baptism this week! Resly Racho is now a member of the church! And this week he will receive the priesthood! I am excited. He is the most prepared of all the baptisms I have had. Also this transfer we have the opportunity of having a lot of baptisms. We have 4 other progressing investigators, 3 who could easily become progressing, but don't keep their commitments yet, and 3 more who are good potential investigators. We have the possibility of many baptisms in the next two transfers! We are EXCITED! My companion talks to everyone and says hi to everyone. He said there were some sisters who talked to everyone and were always smiling and happy and eventually people started to get to know them and say hi back. Eventually they began to ask about them and then would refer themselves! We are trying to do that here. The missionaries have been here for so long that a lot of people call us Elders, or whispers "Mormons" as we walk by. And if not that, there is the constant chorus of people yelling "HEY JOE" and the little kids yelling "Americano!" It's fun.

Katie, congratulations on your baby! and if you haven't had it yet, good luck. I am excited to be a tito, or uncle.

Salamat kaayo sa inyong mga letters ug emails. they are always nice to receive. Salamat kaayo sa inyong mga prayers ug googma. Nagdawat ko lig-on sa inyong mga pagampo. Salamat!

Love always,
Elder Schenk

January 18, 2011

Family,
I hope you are all doing well. I think Katie has already had her baby, but I'm not sure, so CONGRATULATIONS KATIE AND JOSH! I am happy for you! You have a lucky child to have you as parents.

I sent my companion home yesterday and am staying with elder Ashdown who also had his companion go home. He has only been here for 2 transfers so I know more Visaya than he does. I am learning well, and I can pretty much talk to people about anything and understand a lot. It is really a great blessing from the Lord.

My new companion will be Elder Mera. He was in my zone back in Lilo-an when I was in Carmen. I am excited. He is a really good missionary and is fun and Filipino. Our baptism is finally going to happen this weekend, it fell through the last two weekends because he has had other obligations in Cebu. He decided to skip last weekend and be baptized, but his leaders told him he had to be there. So this weekend it is! If all goes well we could have 7 baptisms this transfer, but most likely some of them will not pull though. They are:
Resly - being baptized on Saturday
Kesha, Filip, and Melissa - all siblings of an inactive family who were never baptized. they come with their aunt to church.
Johnly - 12 years old and has had almost all the lessons, but struggles to get to church because his parents are not members, but his cousin who he lives with is inactive. Also the ward mission leader lives across the street.
Serjio, Macmac and Isa - Serjio is the father and the others are his children. Serjio is really promising. He has almost no money but drives tricycle sometimes. He gave us a ride worth 42 pesos and wanted to give it to us for free. That is a lot of money! I am excited to continue to teach him.
Terry and her daughter Mariss - still investigating, I don't think they will be baptized, but they are still progressing, so we will keep trying.

It turns out our mission has the lowest investigator to baptisms ratio for all of the Philippines! That means we should baptize the most! Last year the average was 1:30. one baptism for 30 investigators. Ours was 1:24 last year and this year is 1:16! That is almost twice as many baptisms as the average last year! I feel so blessed to be in such a great place where the work is moving forward. It is great to work for the Lord. I think that Elder Mera is a hard worker, so I am Excited for this next transfer!

Elder Ashdown got some brownie and muffin mix from home so we are going to go bake it at a members house here in Naga, his area, since we don't have an oven. I am excited!

I love you all! Take care!
Elder Schenk


Mom,

Thank you for the care package. I appreciate it! Thank you also for your prayers. I have found an increased sensitivity to the spirit in lessons lately. There are a lot of times where I end up sharing different scriptures than I would have thought were appropriate. Last night I shared a scripture in Ether about faith in order to get members back to church. It ended up being what they needed to hear. I know I shared the two scriptures the Lord wanted me to. I have found that I have been doing that more and more. It feels so great to be doing the work of the Lord!
Thanks for everything!
Love always,
Elder Schenk