Weekly Update: My first experience with an antimormon...

Hey, everyone!

 

Not a lot has happened this week, just one pretty big event. Elder Westley and I were sick Thursday through Sunday (we're still dealing with it a little bit today), so we stayed at home and just tried to heal up fast and study a lot. The ward members have taken pretty good care of us and we're doing ok, just trying to get over a weird but intense cold that's going around.

 

So this week we went to teach a man named Matt. He is a firm Christian with a pretty good knowledge of the Bible, and has been doing a lot of soul-searching lately. He apparently was praying really hard for direction to know what God wants him to do in his life the other day... the day before the other missionaries in our area found him. He accepted their invitation to learn more, and, after teaching him a few times, they referred him to us because he's in our area. He's got a real desire to learn more and has come to terms with the fact that either he's right in his beliefs and we're wrong, or we're right and he's not. He says that if he comes to know that what we teach is true, he's willing to be baptized a member of the Church, regardless of whatever he has to leave behind or change. As you can see, he's really got a deep desire to follow Christ and he just wants to know the truth. Then, there's his friend Mark. Mark is really well-versed in the Bible, and also has read up on a lot of antimormon literature. Matt invites Mark to all the lessons, which has caused a huge problem for the other elders because his intentions are to cross us in our words and essentially disprove our teachings. It becomes really difficult when Matt is there to learn truths and Mark is there to Bible-bash. When we went to teach Matt for the first time on Thursday, nothing was different. Mark was already there, waiting for us to come, and had printed material ready to throw at us to combat us in our teachings. It became so difficult to teach and to have the Spirit there. We knew we had to avoid argument at all costs, because the Spirit, which is the real teacher, can't be present where there is contention. We were respectful and gentle, but Mark was relentless. He pretty much had one motive: to completely destroy our work with Matt and prove that we were "false prophets" who didn't believe in "the real Christ". He tried to show us that the Bible contradicted our words, but I knew he was interpreting the verses falsley. I felt a little down on myself, though: he knew the Bible way better than I did. How could I compete? I looked at Matt, whose face showed that he really just wanted Mark to be quiet so he could learn from us. At that point, I felt something inside me tell me to do something I don't usually do: be bold and a little confrontational. I knew that feeling was the whispering of the Spirit. I didn't want to speak out at first, but I knew that if I wanted Matt to learn, that the Spirit had to teach, and that couldn't happen if I, the Spirit's conduit, shut myself off. I realized that I had something that Mark didn't, and it was much more powerful than a proficient knowledge of Bible references. So I sat up straight in the stool I was sitting in, and, with all the courage I could muster, said: "Matt, no matter what any of us can tell you, there is only one way for you to know that what we're teaching is true, and that is for you to know for yourself. You can't rely only on what we say or what Mark says. You need to know for yourself. You will know when you learn of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, because if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God, and there is continuing revelation in these days, and there is a living prophet on the earth today. The only way to know if the Book of Mormon is true is to read it, study it, and pray about its truthfulness with real intent to know and faith that you will be given an answer. God is your Heavenly Father, and He loves you. He wants you to be happy, and He wants you to come unto Him. He cannot lie, and He will not lead you astray. I know that if you ask Him sincerely---with a real desire to know---if the Book of Mormon is true, He will tell you. If it does contain the fulness of the gospel as we have said, He will tell you through the power of the Holy Ghost. If it is a lying and blasphemous book, He will let you know. But you have to do the work yourself, and you can't rely on any of us here for that knowledge. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true, and that you can come to know it. It might be hard, and the answer might not come immediately, but I promise you that you will come to know for yourself that that book is true if you do study and pray about it in faith. I have come to know of myself of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon as I have read it and prayed to know. It has brought so much peace and happiness to my life. That is why we're here; the message that it brings is of such great worth to us that we want you to experience the same joy that it has brought into our own lives. I know that it is true, and nothing and no one can take that knowledge away from me." As I spoke, I felt the feeling of power spread from my core to my arms, legs, and head until I felt completely energized and empowered. The power of the Holy Ghost flooded the room. I knew that the Spirit was teaching through me, that I was being an instrument in the hands of the Lord. As I testified of what I knew to be true and of that which is so sacred and dear to me, emotions began to overcome me and I was able to teach boldly and courageously without anger. As I looked around the room, I could see Matt sitting on the edge of his chair, looking into my face as if he wanted to learn more. Mark, on the other hand, was completely silenced, and seemed to be trying to hide himself by backing into the padding of the couch. Elder Westley was also emanating with the Spirit, and his own testimony was evident in his face. I could see the Spirit testifying to all of us that my words were true, whether they liked to admit it or not. Having all of this power and authority was amazing and it really built my testimony. And yet, it humbled me. It reminds me of something the Book of Mormon prophet Ammon said:

 

"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things;... Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.... Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo." (Alma 26:11-12, 16, 36).

 

I am thankful that I was able to be the means to teach Matt and help him to feel the Spirit

I learned some important things: boldness, when used righteously, is an act of love. Jesus never wavered and was always bold, yet loving... that's why He could teach with such power. Moroni said:

 

"Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear" (Moroni 8:16).

 

That's what I learned: if I really do have love for the people I teach, I will teach with boldness and without fear.

 

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that he was chosen by God to restore the church of Jesus Christ to the earth. I know that Christ's priesthood authority has also been restored, and that the Book of Mormon is true. If you don't know that the Book of Mormon is true, I promise you that you can know for yourself if you study it and pray to know of its truthfulness. God will not lead you astray, because He is your Father and He loves you. A testimony of the Book of Mormon isn't just another nice little thing to add to your list of personal religiosity. It testifies of Christ and proves that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's true church on the earth today, and that by abiding by its principles you can achieve eventual eternal life with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I also know that there is a prophet on the earth today, and that prophet is Thomas S. Monson. He will be speaking, with other Apostles of Jesus Christ, to the whole world this weekend in the General Conference of the Church. I encourage you to watch it, hear from their words, and be spiritually fed by these prophets of the Lord.

 

Have you had any good missionary experiences lately? I'd love to hear about them! And if you haven't had any, I'd love to hear from you anyway!

 

I love you all so much and hope things are going well in your lives! Thanks to those of you who have sent me letters recently! (I think the issue with the mail has been resolved.) I enjoyed reading them so much! I miss you and hope all is well at home!

 

With love,

 

Elder Schank

Weekly Update---Let the 2nd Transfer Begin!

Hey Everyone!

 

I've got to make this one really quick!

 

Well first of all a miracle happened! We went to the ghetto (not that that's saying much) to find an inactive member of our ward. We were pretty scared cause it was dark outside, but we felt ok about it. Turns out he wasn't there, but his girlfriend, Markevia, was! We had another man with us, so we went it and talked with her. She had seen the missionaries before, and she said she had some questions that she wondered if we could answer. We said YES! We started with a prayer and then asked what her questions were. She asked if there were more commandments than just the 10 commandments that we needed to keep in order to be saved. We began to explain that yes, there are many other things. When we mentioned baptism, she said "Wait... so baptism is a commandment?" We showed her that the Bible and Book of Mormon both taught that was. Then we began to teach her that it needed to be done by the priesthood authority of God. It made a lot of sense to her. She told us that she had been baptized Baptist, but that she knew it wasn't done by authority. I invited her to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority, and she said she would!

I was so excited! I hope she stays with that committment. In our closing prayer, she revealed that she had been wondering about the things we were taught her for many years, and she expressed gratitude for that newfound knowledge. Wow! And we weren't even looking for her originally! What a miracle.

We went by later in the week to teach her again. It was dark (I really don't like the fact that the sun is setting early in the day these days) and it was really scary again. We forgot the exact apartment she lived in, so we called her, and she told us she was gone for the next week! No!!!!! We just reminded her to read from the Book of Mormon every day and pray to know if it's true (because if she learns that the Book of Mormon is true then she knows that everything else we say is also true). Dang it! It seems like whenever we come close to being able to teach someone, the opposition kicks in and it makes it so much harder to teach them! Our investigator Grant is in Arkansas for a month just as he was almost done breaking his addiction to coffee; our recent investigator Betty can't come to church because of some other obligation; and another investigator... well... we had to drop him (see next paragraph). As I was talking with Markevia on the phone in her neighborhood, some domestic violence broke out about 30 feet away and a huge group of people started fighting so we left poste haste.

We had another investigator named Matt. We went to see him and things were great. He was really willing to learn. We saw him come to church yesterday! We were in the hall after sacrament meeting, and we watched him come in and go to the young single adults branch sacrament meeting. We were really happy! Three minutes later we saw the branch president escort him back outside and kindly but firmly tell him that he was no longer welcome and that he shouldn't come back. As Matt left, the branch president explained to us that he was dangerous, particularly for the sisters, and that he was no longer welcome on the church property. We also found out that he has a history of kidnapping. Yikes. So there goes one of our investigators. Dang opposition.

Well I gotta go, but I want to leave you with my testimony that I know that the church is true and that miracles still exist! The world says, "Show me a sign, and then I'll believe." But God says "Show me your faith, first, and then I'll show you a miracle!" (see Ether 12:6-12.) We have to do things the Lord's way. I know that if we have faith first, we can see miracles after.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

With love,

 

Elder Schank

Elder Schank: Weekly Update 9/12/11

Hello Everyone!

 

I hope things are going well in your lives. Things here are going pretty great.

 

I have been getting better and better at understanding people when they talk here. I still get a kick out of their accents, though. We've been doing a lot of moving recently. It seems like suddenly everyone is moving! Last weekend, we helped two families move from upstairs apartments to different upstairs apartments. This weekend, we helped one family to empty their house into two 26-foot-long moving trucks, after which we helped a different family in the other ward unpack another moving truck. I'm pretty sore from all of the lifting and carrying of heavy boxes and furniture, but it feels so wonderful to know that we have made a difference to these people. In some cases, the jobs couldn't get done without our help. The blessings of service that we have received outweigh by far the soreness that we're still experiencing from all that hard work!

 

Health wise, I'm doing pretty good. I'm covered with bug bites because our phone doesn't work in our apartment and we have to go outside to make phone calls each night, but that's not really a big deal! There are so many mosquitos here! And they're gigantic! I also went to the dentist this week to have a mouth infection cleaned out. After a stressful series of phone calls between the mission office,  the mission president, my home in Utah, and the dentist office, we were finally able to get my SSN (I kinda forgot it...) and get in. I'm on an antibiotic now and the stitches in my mouth are driving me crazy, but it went really well and I feel a lot better than I thought I would. The infection has been quite the blessing, actually. Before the procedure, I was supposed to take an antibiotic. That led us to the pharmacy, which opened a huge door for us that I'll talk about in the next paragraph. When we went back to pick up another post-operation antibiotic, a man flagged us down at the same pharmacy and told us that he was an excommunicated member who was trying to make changes in his life after many years of alcoholism and illicit drug abuse. He was a way cool guy. He asked for the bishop's number, which we were able to give to him, and it sounds like we'll be seeing him in church pretty soon! Were it not for the infection, we wouldn't have been able to meet him or the woman I'm about to mention in the next paragraph. I also talked to a chiropractor in my ward about my knee problems. He said that he thinks lazer accupuncture will help. He offered to do the procedure for free! Depending on how much time it will take, I think I'll do it. If it's something that I can undergo without it interfering with my work, I'm going to give it a shot... we've tried pretty much everything else short of surgery. If it takes up too much time, though, I'll talk to him in two years about it. :)

 

We have been teaching a man named Louis (I can never remember who I've mentioned before) who has recently become fully active again. He loves us a lot and we love him too; he is the friendliest person I have ever met. He likes to go on exchanges with us, where he basically tags along when we go to teaching appointments. Exchanges are really important to missionary work, because there is a special power that is added to the work when members of the church are present. (Remember that!) We were on an exchange with him once, and we ended the exchange with a trip to the pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic. As we left the pharmacy, a woman pushing a shopping cart asked if we could help her. Of course, we jumped at the chance! As we loaded her groceries into her van and Louis helped her great-grandson get into his car seat, he began to talk more with her and they seemed like old friends. Then he explained to her who we were, and what we were about. He asked her if we could come by and teach her sometime. She said yes! Then he got her address and set up an appointment for the next day. Elder Westley and I were shocked and super excited... we try to do that all the time and it's a miracle if we can get people to accept us. Louis made it look way easy. The next day, Louis came on another exchange with us to visit her. She was very open, and didn't know anything about the Church at all. In fact, she thought we were the Jehovah's Witnesses (it seems like EVERYONE thinks that!). We began to teach her the first lesson: the Restoration of Christ's Church. As we taught her, she was so open and she became very excited when we taught her that there was a prophet today who received revelation for God's children! The Spirit was strong as we told her about Joseph Smith seeking to know the truth, and how he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She accepted our invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray to know if it and the message that we shared are true. We think she will be a great progressing investigator! The only real concern we have so far is that she is a member of a nondenominational Christian congregation who is pretty well-known for distributing anti-Mormon literature. But we think that her stubborn-ness and open-ness will help her to seek the truth about the Church from those who know best about it: us! :)

 

One of our other investigators, Grant, really wants to be baptized! He isn't technically a "progressing investigator", according to the definition in the Preach My Gospel manual for missionary work, but he is improving each day and getting a little closer to being able to be baptized. We can really see his countenance begin to change each time we visit him. Before, he just seemed like a normal old guy... now, there is a light about him. His testimony is growing. His thoughts are more centered around Christ. Once we went to visit him and he welcomed us in, saying, "Hey, fellas! I was just reading up about revelatory!" We asked him what he meant and he showed us a printed-out article by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles about revelation. We were surprised! "Where did you get that?" we asked. He explained that he got it from us! We assured him that we didn't give it to him... the print-out showed that the article was printed after we last saw him. Oh well... I guess it doesn't matter where he got it, but we sure were excited to see him reading it! He's changing so much! A while ago we taught him about the word of wisdom (again) and invited him to not only strive to keep it by not drinking beer or coffee anymore, but also to dispose of the alcohol and coffee he had in his home. He made excuses to keep them, assuring us that he wouldn't drink them, but he needed something to give his friends when they came over, and, besides, he doesn't drink the whiskey and moonshine either... he just thinks the bottles look cool. However, last time we saw him, he told us that he would get rid of his alcohol! We were so proud of him! We didn't even bring it up! That's kinda how Grant works; teach him a principle a billion times, and a week later he'll finally get it. :) The last time we taught him, we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ: that in order to enjoy eternal life with our Heavenly Father again, we must 1) have faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, 2) repent of our sins, 3) be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority, 4) receive the Holy Ghost, and 5) endure to the end. We read 2 Nephi 31 together, which pretty much outlines those 5 points. It was powerful and the Spirit was strong. He gave many of his own insights and it was very obvious that he has grown so much and he has really learned a lot! He's so close to qualifying for baptism... he just needs to kick the coffee habit and he'll be ready!

 

I've done a lot of studying about the Gospel of Christ (the 5 points above) recently. One thing that has hit me really hard is that while we can repent and change whenever we do something wrong, we cannot receive a complete forgiveness of sins unless we are baptized! That's something that I always knew, but I guess I didn't completely grasp it until just a few days ago during my personal study hour. That's why missionary work is so important! God wants all of His children to live with Him, but "there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God" (1 Nephi 15:34). Because of the Atonement of Christ, all men can repent (change) and receive forgiveness... but we can only be forgiven if we are baptized by the authority of the priesthood. Think of those you know and love who haven't been baptized by proper authority. You want them to be saved, right? Alright... then go do missionary work! It doesn't have to be big... just go serve them... love them... be their friend, and show them who Jesus Christ is through your own example. I encourage you to read 2 Nephi 31. I am very impressed by those of you who have told me about the work you are doing to bring people closer to Christ... keep up the good work! I promise you that if you do missionary work and help other come closer to Christ, you will be happier, and you will be blessed.

 

With love,

 

Elder Schank

Elder Schank weekly update 9/6!

Dear friends and family,

 

Things have been pretty interesting around here lately. We've been doing a lot of Hurricane Irene cleanup these days. Most of it's taken care of now, so it's getting back to normal, but in the last week I've been spending much of my time in jeans and a tshirt doing all kinds of work. It's pretty weird that now I feel really strange wearing jeans because I'm just so used to my "church clothes"! It's been nice that we haven't really had time for tracting, but all this work has been pretty hard on my body. On Saturday alone, we helped two families move out of their top-floor apartments into  different top-floor apartments. Elder Westley and I moved most of the heavy stuff because there weren't very many men to help with the move. My knees are still feeling it, but I can feel the spiritual rewards of making a sacrifice of my physical comfort. We've also had a few opportunities to help people clean up their yards or reduce fallen trees. Most of them were members of the Church, because almost every nonmember who sees our nametags quickly turns us away when we offer to help, even if they still have hours of work ahead of them. That can be pretty frustrating. I just wish these people would soften their hearts enough to accept help when they obviously need it! We did get to help one man who was cleaning his yard. When we were done, I told him who we were, what we were about, and invited him to learn more. He said he would like to have us back over so we could teach him! It's such a wonderful thing when someone finally accepts to learn more. It turns out, however, that he was cleaning a friend's yard and his home is not in our area. Oh well. At least we were able to help some different missionaries teach someone!

 

We found out about a week ago that we're expecting a second hurricane on Friday. Oh well. Hopefully another storm will humble people enough that they will be willing to accept our help!

 

We're still trying to find people. No new investigators yet. That can be pretty frustrating. It seems like everyone is "satisfied with their salvation". We have about 15 potential investigators, but because of summer vacations, the beginning of the school year (our area covers East Carolina University), and the hurricane, everyone is really busy and doesn't have a lot of time to meet with us.

 

We are still working with our only investigator, Grant Smith. He's 81 and has been battling his addiction to coffee for quite some time now. He's slowly cutting back though, and tells us that he's seeing the blessings for cutting back. He wants to be baptized, and this is really the only thing holding him back. He even fasted on Sunday that he would have help to overcome his habit. We're a bit worried though... he's going to be in Arkansas to see his daughter from 9/13 to 10/9! He'll be gone for a whole month! We're praying that he won't lose his growing testimony, that he won't give in to temptation, and that he will keep reading the Book of Mormon while he's gone. He is planning on meeting with the missionaries in Arkansas to help him get to church each week, and we'll be having lessons with him over the phone, so things should be pretty good. I'm sure he would benefit from your prayers....

 

Well I don't really have a lot of time today to write a super long email. So I'll try to wrap this one up.... Thanks to those who have sent me letters. I think the hurricanes are really messing with the mail system because I got 6 letters all at once and they were sent on different days... all about 2 weeks before I received them. And the packages I've been told that have been sent still aren't here. Thanks to those of you who have sent them... I'll let you know when I get them!

 

Today we're meeting with Bro. Smith. Then we'll be teaching a potential investigator for the first time a little later with a recently-reactivated man in our ward named Louis Warren. I can't remember if I've written about him before, but he is my favorite person of everyone I've met so far! (He apparently wrote a letter to my mom and dad!) We'll also be teaching him tonight.

 

Well, I've got to go, but I hope that all of you will keep trying to improve in your daily prayers and scripture study as well as your temple attendance. I know that if you do those things, your relationship with the Savior will grow and strengthen and you will have a better understanding of His love and sacrifice for you. That's why I pray for each of you every night to do a little better at these three things!

 

I testify that Jesus Christ lives. I know firsthand that He is very active in the lives of His brothers and sisters on earth. He loves us very much and promises to help us in our times of need---no matter what they are---if we will accept His constant invitation to come unto Him.

 

I hope to hear from you soon! I would love to get a letter from you!

 

I love you all and hope you are doing well!

 

With love,

 

Elder Schank