September 20, 2011

Family,
First to answer Dads Questions,
1. I would love it if you could come pick me up at the end of my mission and visit some members here. I would love to show you the Philippines first hand. I don't know how long, a few days probably. I'll try to ask my mission president what the policy is.
2. My plan was to return to school in January and work up until then. I could possibly try to change my track so that I could go back in September, so that might be an option.
3. I would love to go on a big trip as a family when I get back, especially somewhere I could go swimming. The John Day River would be a blast.
The Vancouver temple is a lot like the Cebu, but bigger. I think the Cebu is about as small as they get.
Thank you for the spaghetti. It was a little taste of home. Also I loved the cards from Sister Macon's primary class. Please thank her for me. They are fun to look at and read.
The zipper on my camera case just broke, and I am using another bulky one I brought. If you could send another one in my package I would appreciate it. It is a little neoprene stretchy fabric case that just fits my camera inside. It has no pockets or anything. The brand is Case Logic, I think, and I bought it at Walmart.
Thank you for the music. I would like a William Joseph with the orchestra in the background, and some upbeat music I can cook and clean to.
I would like to send the pictures home, but I don't know where I can get them burned onto a cd here. I’ll try to find a way to get them to you soon. Maybe I’ll do that today.

We had some great success this last week with a baptismal service with 5 baptisms! Only three of them were ours though. We combined with San Ramejio Branch. Juvy and Michelle Orque, ages 13 and 11 respectively, and Daniella Litanon, age 9 were all baptized. Juvy and Michelle are great. They are the family we walk to church and back with every Sunday, except for last week. We were planning to walk, but I had a stomach ache and the runs, so I payed for a tricycle to take the 6 of us. They also brought 2 investigators and 3 inactive members to their baptism as well, all of which are their neighbor cousins. That was a great success as well.
We, at the moment, are working to find new investigators to progress to baptism. We have some that we are working with, and a few that said that they are going to come this Sunday, but we will see. Hopefully we can commit another few this week to go along with our 3 committed for October.
We have transfers next Friday and my companion will probably be transferring. I'll let you know what will happen next week.
We have a great opportunity in October! On the 20th Elder Jeffery R. Holland, Tadd R. Callister of the presidency of the seventy, and John U. Teh of the seventy, are coming to Cebu! All of the missionaries get to attend, so I am really excited. We have been asked to prepare ourselves by more fully committing ourselves to be obedient and invite the spirit more fully into our lives. I am so excited to be able to shake his hand! I have seen Elder Holland a few times and heard him say "take care" when we saw him at the MTC, but this will be even better!
Dili ko magdugay, kay dugay na ko. Salamat sa inyong paglinkod ug pagbasa sa akong taas nga gisulat ninyo.
Love,
Elder Schenk

September 13, 2011

Family,
Maayong haopn sa inyo tanan. Maayo gud ang kinabuhi diri sa Polambato. Dako kaayo akong gugma sa tawo diri. I am so grateful to be a missionary. I have learned so much since I have been in Polambato even though it has only been 1 month. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I only have 5 more transfers left! That's like nothing! Ill probably only have one more area after this. I hope that I am assigned here for a long time. This is one of the happiest times of my life.
We have good success right now in our area. We have 3 baptisms this Saturday and I just found out from President Schmutz that they are going to be building a church in my area! An actual church building and not just a renovated house. They are still in the planning mode, and not everything is approved yet, but it is so exciting that after almost a year of no building that they will get one again. It will probably take a long time to build though and I will be home before it is finished.
In our ward we teach the gospel essentials class for the investigators, recent converts and all of the youth. There is so little leadership here. We also speak every 3rd Sunday, so this week. We are a large part of the ward here. We have continued to walk with our investigators to church. That is really good in building our relationship with them, I just hope that they will have faith to keep coming even if we don't walk with them. Sometimes it is really hot, other times it is raining. They are being blessed so much for their efforts, I love to see that. Lovely, the recent convert older sister, is already done reading 2 Nephi and is in Jacob. Juvy, her 13 year old younger sister is in 1 Nephi 16 and their younger 11 year old sister Michelle is reading as well, though not as far. We are visiting the Anteligando family alot right now. MaryJoy and her younger brother are inactive members that got baptized a year ago. Their mom and 2 aunts are interested and hopefully they will all start coming back to church and the 3 of them will be baptized. My companion is a really good teacher and always makes the lessons fun and interesting. I am learning a lot from my junior companion.
We were able to go to the temple today. That was great! It has been so long since the last time I have been there, 3 months I think. It was closed one week when we were supposed to go, and I transferred right before my old district went and right after my new district did. Needless to say it was so good to be in the house of the Lord today. It was definitely worth the 3 hour bus ride there. We are about to head back right now. We had McDonalds for lunch, it was soo good! Nothing like good ol' filipino-ized American food! I spent about 250 Pesos, or about $6. That’s more than most people in my area make in a day!
Thank you for the package. The food is almost all gone. It was really good. The only request I have for the next one is beef jerky. That spicy jack links was really good. I could go for some more of that.
Sure love you all,
Elder Schenk

September 6, 2011

Good Morning Everyone!
So you know, I will probably be emailing earlier now. We are emailing first thing in the morning here. Don't feel too bad if you missed emailing on time some of the last times, I still know you love me. Maybe you could email the day before so dad doesn't feel guilty.
Today we have a zone activity. We are going to Daan Bantayan, I guess it is really beautiful there. We bought 2 kilos of tilapia (fish), 2 kilos of Filippino pork chop and 4 kilos of mangoes. It is going to be a great BBQ!
Last night we walked from Polambato to Olbo, about 15 min through a jungle of palm trees and banana trees and some underbrush, over a bamboo bridge that the missionaries built about 6 months ago, and through a beautiful field with cows and a ton of frogs. I love that part of my area. It was raining so we got wet. And then coming home we got soaked, it poured. That was fun. I also went through a sugar cane field for the first time yesterday. We took a short cut. The leaves are rough and you have to put your arms up to protect your face. The path was made for little kids, not tall Americans. Sugar cane probably gets to be over 10 feet tall and is more crowded than a corn field. It was fun.
My zone had a ton of success this week. All of the areas are doing great, and from the records from November to now, we broke a bunch of records like investigators with a baptismal date, investigators attending sacrament meeting, and lessons with a member present. In the 4 areas in our zone we have 33 investigators with a baptismal date! That is incredible! I love my area. I have felt such a joy serving here, more-so than the rest of my mission. I love the people so much and love serving them. We walked to and from church with our investigators again on Sunday. We saw them walking while we were waiting for a ride and decided to go with them. I also went on exchanges with the District leader, Elder Swicegood, one of my favorite missionaries, on Tuesday last week, and from what the president told me that he told him, I guess I am a good missionary. That's good to hear.
I am so satisfied with where I am in life. I love my mission so much and am so happy to be here in Polombato. My apartment is amazing. It is one of the nicest, if not the nicest I have seen. It has a granite counter top in the kitchen and is well built. I have had a brand new one before, but it was really low quality and things started breaking after a few weeks. So I am happy here. We live in a gated community like grandma Hart, the nicest homes in my area. It makes me feel bad that we have it so nice when our investigators have nothing. I wish I could help them temporally so bad. I’ll have to settle with teaching them the gospel.
Sure love you all! Take care.
Love,
Elder Schenk

August 30, 2011

Mom,
I am so grateful to be a missionary. I had such a great week. We were able to go to zone conference on Friday with President Schmutz and Elder Teh, the area 70 assigned to the Philippines. I learned so much and came out with new spiritual direction. Elder Teh had asked for all of the missionaries to come fasting, so the spirit was especially strong. The conference was in Mandaue, about two and a half hours away. We were so tired by the time we got back. We went down Thursday evening and slept at the elders apartment in consolation, so I knew everyone there.
Then on Sunday we committed a family for baptism, Liza, the mother, and her 3 kids, McHard, McLyn, and Ward. They are all teenagers. They are amazing investigators who have so many questions and understand the doctrine so well. McHard thinks so deeply about things and then asks us some deep hard questions, most of which we have never even asked ourselves. So that is a new experience. But on the second visit he asked what the urim and thumim were and where the Hill Camorah is. We are really excited for them.
We also have the two younger sisters of Lovely, our recent convert, committed for baptism. They are Juvy and Michelle. There is also another part member, Daniela, committed for baptism. She is only 9 years old, but comes with her aunt and grandma to church. That makes a total of 7 investigators with a baptismal date! We are so grateful for the blessings we are having here.
The branch here in Polambato is struggling though. About half of the active members walk to church, which is a lot to ask. Lovely and her sisters and aunt walk to church, so on Sunday we walked home with them. It took about half an hour to get to our apartment, and they live another 15 minutes away down a dirt trail that is often muddy. The actual Polambato aria is another 30 minute walk further from the church than our house, and one family lives a loooong ways past that, and they walk every Sunday with their 1 year old child. It is so hard to ask of them, as many are malnourished, especially the little kids. We were teaching an inactive member last week that said they could all get a ride to church, but then on Monday they would have no food. They have to choose one or the other. Seeing their trials is strengthening my faith.
We were able to do a csp (community service project) for a member in the San Remegio aria on Monday. I learned how to weave palm leaves to make a roof. That was fun. We also cut down their weeds with machetes and helped them take the kernels off of their corn. They dry their corn until it is hard, then take off the kernels and grind them up. They eat that sometimes instead of rice. You boil it in water and make it into a hard paste, kind of like cream of wheat. That makes your thumbs hurt real bad. We had a lot of blisters. It was a great opportunity to serve. They also have two children who are going to be baptized. One is 8 and the other is 9, Johnly and Rose-ann.

I also included the letter I wrote President Schmutz. Its easier than writing it all again.
Sure love you all!
Elder Schenk


President Schmutz,
I had such a great experience at zone conference. It was a spiritual feast and I learned so much. I am grateful to be in Bogo zone with such inspired leaders and missionaries. Thank you also for your letter, I will study and apply what you have taught. We had a lot of success in our area on Sunday when we committed a family of 4 for baptism. The Lord is really pouring out blessings on us right now.
Yesterday I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Swicegood. He is a great leader and missionary. We both learned so much from the exchange and had immense success. It truly was a faith building experience to literally see both of our prayers being answered all day long. In the morning we tracted and taught two lessons, one a family and extended family of 10, who listened very well. They all have potential. We also committed a family to baptism, the two children first, and the parents later. The parents want to be baptized, but are not married and the wife has pension because her previous husband died. If they get married then the pension stops, and they are very hard for money. But they said that they want to be baptized, and when their income increases enough, they will cut the pension and get married so that they can be baptized. The entire day the spirit was so strong, and the two of us spent the entire day in amazement of the blessings the Lord had given us. By the end I didn't want to sleep, just sit on my bed and bask in the spirit and be grateful for the tremendous success we had had. The Lord is so generous with us. When we give Him the crust, He truly gives us an entire loaf.
I am so grateful to be a missionary President. I know without a doubt that I am where I am supposed to be surrounded by the people the Lord has prepared for me and prepared me for. Thank you for your never-ending support.
Love,
Elder Schenk

August 23, 2011

GOOD MORNING AMERICA!
A lot has happened in the last week, so I'll give you the load down.
Last Wednesday I found out that I was transferring at our last zone basketball game. My district all had new matching jerseys, so that was fun. Thursday I picked up some shells that I got specially made by an investigator there. They were supposed to have the temple on them with "Philippines Cebu Temple" printed underneath. Well they though I wanted my name on there too, so in nice big bold letters they wrote "Elder Schen's" on all of them. So I am getting the name removed and I'll pick them up from Elder Casio when I see him this Friday at zone conference. Friday was transfer day and I woke up sick with a sinus infection. I talked to Sister Schmutz there and she said to pick up some amoxicillin. It was a great meeting. The talks focused on loving your companion and being obedient. Then we had the 4 hour bus ride to Bogo. My companion, Elder Laboson, didn't come because he didn't have an extra 300 pesos to get there and back. I got a blessing that night from my companion and just like sinus infections don't do, it just went away. That was a great blessing. I was still really tired though and not all the way better, so on Saturday we had weekly planning, and I slept quite a bit of the rest of the day. Sunday I met the branch, all 28 of them. We meet in the Bogo church building that is only about 15 min away, but it is too expensive for most members. There used to be a meeting house in Polambato (It is just one street going from the highway to the ocean), and the plan was to renovate another building and got to church there, but somewhere something fell through and nobody knows what is happening, but nobody has started working on the new meeting house. As the result many members went inactive. There used to be 100 who attended. I absolutely love the area. My companion is great. He is quite a joker so we laugh a lot. He is from Manila and has been out almost a year. The Polambato area is bigger than my last area, but there are a lot less people. There is a lot of sugar cane though. It’s everywhere! Sometimes as far as the eye can see in all directions. The people are all really poor. In my last area, if someone died, they would rent big tents and gamble and drink under them for a week, and then have a big feast at the funeral. We went to the funeral of the wife of one of our members on Monday and all they could do was give out 2 peso muffins for a snack with a little bit of juice. Everyone is so poor. I love it though. Yesterday we went to visit a recent convert and had to walk down a muddy path through the woods, and sometimes you had to walk right through the water. My pants were so muddy by the time we got home. It is like going on a hike just to get to their house. It’s fun. The mud here is really sticky. It’s more like clay than mud. The mud builds up until each foot weighs about 10 pounds. It’s fun. I am going to be washing a lot of pants by hand here. But it is worth it because the people are amazing! Everyone is so kind. We have 3 investigators committed for baptism and another 4 who know the church is true and for one reason or another, sometimes social, sometimes financial, they don't want to join the church yet. There is no real town or city center or location where you can say "this is it", there are just some little stores here and there and little places where you can eat. Right by our house is probably the largest place. It is a store full of canned food about the size of our kitchen. But it is enough.
I am so glad to be assigned here. I have so much I can learn. In my last area I was the most obedient missionary in the entire district. We had district meeting here on Monday and I felt like I was one of the most disobedient. It was such a great feeling to be surrounded by so many great spiritual people. I have never seen this much faith in a district before. I am so excited! Both the zone leaders and the district leader are amazing missionaries. It is going to be a great transfer.
So to wrap it all up, I love my life. It is great here. I thought the city was great, but being out of the city is way better!
Love you all,
Elder Schenk

August 16, 2011

Mom,
I've got some news this week. First, we had a great baptism last Saturday, and for the first time I was able to confirm one of my converts a member of the church. That was great! And then second I am transferring to Polambato! It is one of the furthest north cities on Cebu and might be the furthest north area in the mission! It has a lot of mountains in it, so bye-bye city life with all the rich people. I am really excited. I am replacing Elder Newfield, who got here one transfer before me. He is way hard working! That means I am transferring into a good area and won't have to start with nothing! that is always much easier. I have had 4 of the 5 people in my batch serve in Bogo Zone, so I will be following in their shoes. So far I am just staying on Cebu island, but I am excited, and am grateful to still be able to attend the temple, even though I live probably 4 hours from it. Friday is going to be sooo tiring. Probably 5 hours of travel with all of my luggage.
We played basketball today as a zone, and I am pleased to report that I am improving! It was a lot of fun.
I have included part of the letter I wrote to President Schmutz. I thought you would be interested in reading it.

President,

Thank you for your email. I will give your congratulations to Sheila when we see her tonight. Her baptism was a success as her husband came, and then came to church the next day. He has been an inactive member for many years. I was able to confirm her on Sunday and was prompted to bless her with the guidance to lead her family with Kevin, her husband, to the temple. That is what she wants, and what a great blessing that is. Her husbands sister-in-law, who lives right next door, is now interested int he church. She was taught by missionaries long ago, and I taught her one before, and she was not prepared. She had no desire to grow. But now she wants to join the church, but is not married. I can see the blessings start to flow to their family.

We followed up with MJ who we found last week. He is definitely prepared for the gospel. He has such an open mind and is willing to follow the answers he receives from the Lord. I feel like he will be baptized, even just after the two times we have visited with him.

I am also excited about the transfer. I have heard good things about Bogo Zone. And replacing Elder Newfield will be great, he is a hard worker. I think we can have a lot of success there. I feel at ease with that transfer. Thank you.

Love you all,
Elder Schenk

August 9, 2011

Hello Family!

This has been an exciting few weeks. We had 3 baptisms 2 weeks ago, a child of record baptism last Monday, and then this Saturday we have a convert baptism, Sheila, and her 8 year old daughter as well. And then on Sunday they will be confirmed and her 8 week old son will have its naming and blessing in sacrament meeting. And then next week is transfers. We have 2 elders in our zone that are going home, and I think I am going to transfer, probably off island.

On Monday we were going to visit Mhean,. an investigator that we haven't visited in a long time. She lost her motivation to learn. And even though we didn't think she would be home from school yet, we went anyways. She was still at school, but her cousin's boyfriend was there. We talked with him for a bit, and then asked if we could share a message. He was at one point schooling to become a baptist minister, but before he was done got offended and returned to the catholic church. He was born in the catholic church, but doesn't believe it is true. So when we taught about Joseph Smith, he had a lot in common. He really is looking for the truth. He knows a lot of doctrine, but is hungry to find out more. At the end we showed him the Book of Mormon. He said that just the night before he had been looking through Mheans Book of Mormon and didn't think it was any coincidence that we had come the very next day. He said the odds were 1 in 1000 and it wasn't just chance. He said that he would sincerely pray about Joseph Smith, and wanted us to teach his girlfriend as well. That was a great success! He has a lot of potential.

We also had the opportunity to do a service project for a family in the ward last week. Their house burnt down and we helped them pack up all of the burnt stuff into rice sacs. We are going back Saturday to help clean up the rest. That was so sad. They lost everything, and they had a nice house. And to make things worse, her husband left 3 days before fire to work for 6 months out side of the Philippines. But the ward is taking good care of them. They live in the Mormon neighborhood so there is a lot of support.

August 2, 2011

Whew! I had some long emails to read, but it was a good read, so thank you for that. We don’t have a lot of time and just got back from a cool zone activity where we rode a 400 meter zip-line over the ocean and onto an island and back, so I am a little tired and probably won’t write too long, but I’ll try to pack it full of excitement. Thanks for the slideshow. It is sure good to see my family, especially Diane Katie, Eleanor, and grandma. I don’t get to see too many pictures of them. I’m glad you all had a good time and that the boat is working better now with its new water pump and I hope Dad is recovering well from his sore bum from his bike ride and that pifford is recovering from his long runs with Diane and Eric.
We had a great success this weekend, three baptisms! That was a great experience. We hopefully have one more, Shela Tud-Tud on the 13th. She didn’t come to church last week because her husband ended up having to leave and I think her baby might have been sick. If she comes this week she is still good to go, but if not, postponed... And that’s no good because I think I am transferring the following week. In response to dad's question, I would be happy to be assigned anywhere, off of Cebu has some great beaches and different experiences, but you don’t get to go to the temple if you go off island. I’m not so crazy about that. But, "Ill go where you want me to go, Dear Lord..." It is great to be placed where you are needed.
Yesterday I went on exchanges with my district leader, Elder Babia, in his area. We had a ton of success! We had taught 5 lessons before lunch! Alot of times we don’t even get 5 lessons in a day! All in all they ended up with 9 lessons. That’s great! The weekly standard is 20. As I was with him, I got to teach a lot of recent converts and other members. In each of the lessons I felt the guidance of the spirit directing me to the scripture verses that each one specifically needed, and I was able to fit it to their needs, even though I don’t really know them. That was an amazing blessing. I have been working on being more obedient, and the blessings just flow when you do what you are supposed to do. I was so grateful for that.
I am also grateful for my mission president. He is an amazing person and teaches me so much. He wrote me over a page long email today talking about my specific needs. That is amazing. Each word feels like scripture to me. It’s like getting a new patriarchal blessing every week! I am so grateful to be able to serve under him. He is going to help me reach my full potential. I love that man.
Well, it turns out that I did get a little long winded. I got excited.
Take care! I love you all!
Elder Schenk

July 26, 2011

Mom,
It’s great to hear about all of your experiences as a family. I’m glad you all had a good time. Surprisingly I don't miss it too much. I am super excited for it when I get back, but for the time I am content to hear about your stories. I forgot to write last week about you coming to pick me up from the Philippines. I think that would be great! It would be tons of fun to be able to revisit members and converts and such and to be able to help you see a little of what the Philippines really is. It’s something you can’t describe or catch in a picture. It is about the people and the lifestyle. So I would be happy for you to come.
The little monkey that Sister Robison talked about is only found in Bohol, the island just East of Cebu. I haven't seen one, but they are smaller than the palm of your hand. There are tons of t-shirts from Bohol with them on it. There aren't many animals where I live now. It is too close to the city. We do have some cool lizards though. I have seen quite a few in the tree just behind our house. Today we found a great place to buy little souvenirs for cheap. In a mall a little Cebu key chain is about 50 Pesos, but there they were only 10. There are also cheap pearls here in white, pink, and black, so if you want some I could pick them up for you. I hear they are really cheap in Negros too.
It’s good to hear that so many people are going on missions. There is nothing like it that can change your life the way it does. What a great blessing. I can’t wait for you to get your mission call to the Philippines Eric! Then you too will understand the greatness of the Philippines.
WHAT!?! The Richesons are moving? What is the ward going to do? Seminary... the Corn Bust... What are we going to do? Where are me and Eric going to play racquet ball? Well you better help them move. They've been helping our family since Diane was in seminary.
We are very excited about our baptisms this Saturday! I get to baptize Mark and Andrea and Elder Casio is going to baptize Jameson. We also have another baptism on August 13, Shela (Lit-Lit) Tud-Tud. Great name eh'. Lit-Lit Tud- Tud. She is such a great investigator. We committed her to baptism on our second visit after teaching the Book of Mormon. She has been taught before in 2008 and the missionaries just stopped visiting her, probably because they weren't married. But since then they have been married. Her husband is an inactive member and they live right next to his member mother. After teaching her I asked her if she believed the Book of Mormon was true. She said she did. So I asked her if she believed that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. She said she did. Then I asked her if she believed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was true. So I committed her to baptism. She accepted and came to church the next day with her four kids. Her husband Kevin is off on business.
Well I love you family. Take care. Tinuod gud ang simbahan.
Love,
Elder Schenk

July 19, 2011

Hello Family!
Nice work Dad, you snuck that email in just in time. It’s great to hear that things are going well back home, that Mom is getting the house all tuned up and Eric is trimming the bushes well. Keep up with the double shifting work schedule. It’s hard sometimes, but you are saving for your mission and that's what is important. Katie emailed me. Eleanor is getting bigger! I spend so much time around kids here. They are everywhere! I haven't had those experiences at home, Eric can change his own diaper now.
In news, we have three baptisms coming up next week. They have interviews on Friday. Hopefully they do well. I have been hoping for two more baptisms this transfer, before August when I think I am going to transfer, but I don't think we can get them. None of our investigators have been progressing enough. None have come to church yet.
Our new mission president is great! I absolutely love him. He talks to us on a very personal level and often tells you exactly what you need to hear, in fact the 4 times I have talked to him I have received the answer to what I need to do next in becoming a better missionary. He is very different than President Hansen. President Hansen was a genius. He could spend 20 min expounding one verse. You learned so much from him. He taught us like a class, as he was a school teacher. President Schmutz is different. For his workshop we sat in a U around him and Sister Schmutz more like a family. He teaches very simply, but the spirit teaches you what you need to know. He writes long emails and really tries to give each missionary exactly what they need and what the Lord Himself would give. I am grateful to serve under such a man. He is so full of love, the very same principle he is teaching me. Love is so important, and we cannot gain it by ourselves, it must be bestowed upon us by He who is Love (Moroni 7:48). I love that verse. It is powerful.
Take care! I love you all. I’ll send pictures soon, my SD card is almost full.
Elder Schenk

Funny Story
Today we got together as a zone to play basketball. After we ate at Mang Inasal. They have BBQ chicken and pork. Elder Doxy had asked them the last time he was there for an ice water. They said they didn't have ice water, but tap water. So this time he just asked the waiter for a tap water. It took them forever! Everyone else had gotten their drinks first and he was like, "How long does it take to put Ice and water in a cup!" A little later they brought him a cup of water. It looked SUPER cold with steam coming out. He excitedly went to drink it and when he touched it realized it wasn't cold, but scolding hot! He said "What the heck man! I asked for ice water and they say they only have tap water. So I asked for tap water and they give me hot water! What do I have to do to get a cold water!" Then later, after he suffered down his hot water the waiter came around to give us refills. He was so excited for it! The waiter filled up my cup, then Elder Oliver’s cup and then when he got to Elder Doxy he only got a drizzle and then it ran out of water. We laughed so hard. About 5 min later the waiter came back and finally gave him a full cup.

July 12, 2011

Well Howdy there amigos! Those are some mighty fine Australian cowboy hats you got there. What’s interesting being here in the Philippines is when a pair of shorts or a hat or a souvenir says "Hand Made" it’s true. There are people here who spend all day making Adidas shorts and weaving baskets and doing things I would never imagine would be done by hand, but day after day that's what they do. I’m really working with the shell lady trying to get some cool ones. They make designs on them and put cool polishes on them and make them into shell statues and stuff like that. They keep showing me new stuff and I think I might get a whole bunch. I can get it custom made. They turned out to be good investigators too. We have taught them 3 times and the last two lessons we had 7 and 8 investigators! They get all their neighbors to join in the lessons. One of their neighbors, Cristojan, or Chris, is a really good investigator. He always reads and is ready for the lessons. I hope him and some of the others get baptized.
We have 3 baptisms lined up for July 30. Mark and his 9 year old daughter, and 11 year old Jameson who is living with his member cousin. Mark is a really good investigator, and all three of them come to church every week, even though we go to the next town over because our church is being renovated starting last week. They are going to make it 3 stories and put an elevator in it! I haven't even seen a 2 story church in America, and this will be the first 3 story I've seen here. The plot of land the church is on is super small, so that is probably why it is being built taller. Half of the parking right now is under the chapel. We have 3 wards that go to church there. My area is about the size of the country club and our neighborhood. Super small! But there are a ton of people there. I have probably only tracted maybe half of it in 3 months. They would probably have 10 or more houses in the same size of property as our house. They are not too big, lots of poverty in my area. I met a lady on Saturday who is split from her husband, has 4 kids, the oldest is 19 and the youngest is 6, and she works like 12 hour + days 6 days a week and makes P1200 a week, less than $30. It’s such a hard life. I hope we get to teach her. She just has a really busy work schedule from early morning to late in the evening. Sunday is the only day. I think she would accept the gospel very well.
I get to meet President Schmutz this Saturday at Zone Interviews. I am super excited for that. From what I have heard he is a great guy.
I have started eating better food lately. Instead of just opening up a can of tuna or sardines and putting it over rice I have been starting to cook vegetables. My companion has been teaching me. I LOVE VEGETABLES! I made myself a salad last week... Delicious! I am excited to try out Eric’s fried rice and chow mein. They call chow mein pancit here. It isn't nearly as good. Too salty. We will have to have a cook off when I get home. They eat a lot of spicy food here. I like it.
Thanks for your email dad, it is sure good to hear from you. You always seem so happy, along with all of you. Good work. God wants us to be happy. 2 Nephi 2:27.
Love you all,
Elder Schenk

July 5, 2011

Mom,
Thanks for your email. Sounds like you have all had a fun time lately. I miss the fireworks, that would have been fun. But today we had a BBQ with pork chops and Filipino hot dogs. It was super good. We laid out banana leaves on the table and then dumped a bunch of rice down the middle and lined the outside with the meat. It was good! Mmmmm... I’m glad you had a good time in Leavenworth. Brittney told me that they used to go there every year for some festival and they always had some WORLDS SPICIEST SALSA! She used to always get it. We eat a lot of spicy food here.
We found out today that there are no transfers for us. Both Elder Casio and I are staying in Consolation 2 for another transfer. It will be good. I learned a lot from the new mission president in his email today about my responsibility and how I can improve and have more success both with my companion and in the area. He had only been in the mission for 1 day when he wrote that email, but it felt like he already knew me. The spirit is strong with him. I am really excited to serve under him. I think we have zone interviews next week so I will get to know him then.
We have an investigator named Mark who has been to church twice an is living with the Villarete Family. Elder Villarete was a mission president and an area 70, so needless to say that Mark was prepared well. He has been living there about a week. He understood everything we have taught him. He accepted baptism on the first visit, actually in our Gospel principle class on Sunday before we had even visited him and he accepted! We think he and his 9 year old daughter Andrea will be baptized this month. We are excited about that. Also we are teaching Jameson, a 11 year old who is living with his member aunt. We expect him to be baptized this month as well. Success finally! I expect a lot more will come this transfer. I feel an extra burst of enthusiasm that will help me boost up my enthusiasm, excitement and effectiveness in the work.
I have started reading Jesus the Christ this past week. I am only 30 pages in and I have learned so much and felt the spirit so strongly as I read. It is such a good book. It is the only one in the approved missionary library that I have not yet read. I am excited to keep going.
Thank you so much for your prayers in my behalf and for my companion and investigators. They are very much needed. It really is amazing to be in the work of the Lord.
I love you all, thanks for everything.
Love,
Elder Schenk