Dear Amigos y Familia,
Hey. This week has been a long one. Last time (or two) I mentioned how I'm officially a "grandpa" here in good ol' North Carolina, but I didn't feel that old (at least not more than usual) until this week. It's been right nice, and over-all, I'm doing great, but I am exhausted.
FIRST of all, it's been cloudy and rainy, and that never helps. I guess we need the gloomy days to enjoy the nice ones, right? Right.
A lot of our appointments have been cancelled or postponed for whatever reasons. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I think more than half of all the appointments I've ever set up haven't gone through as planned, but such is the life! :)
My back and legs have been acting up more than usual, too. I talked to Dr. Smalley who is still working with me over the phone for the next two weeks to see if I can get it better through some exercises and position-changes. If it doesn't work by the end of the two weeks, he's sending me to a physical therapist or an orthopedic surgeon. I'm still pretty skeptical about any of these courses of action, but doing nothing sure doesn't help. PLEASE keep me in your prayers, that someone out here will be able to figure out what is wrong with me so maybe I can get feeling a little better, if that's the Lord's will. I'm basically just worried that if I continue to be unable to exercise, I'm gonna put on more pounds. I DON'T want to get fat.
The most stressful thing that's happened, though, this week is we've been working with two members of our ward who are just having the toughest time. The first, Robert, works in the army at Fort Bragg as a mechanic for aviation equipment. He's a 25-year old single parent of a 4-year old son (his wife died from cancer of the adrenal glands just a few years ago) and he's a recent convert with a miraculous conversion story. He's a genius when it comes to the scriptures. He has the strongest testimony of them. He's taught me more than I already knew about how the scriptures---yes, including the Bible---prove that the Church is true. If people honestly studied them, they wouldn't be able to deny that fact. Sometimes he calls us when he is having a hard time and we go to the Book of Mormon to help him overcome it and the change in the tension within his mind is visible and practically immediate. I'm really amazed and inspired by him. He's a really good friend by now. After all, he was the man who brought me my bed. :)
The other member of our ward is pretty similar but way different. Lena is returning from inactivity but is about as knowledgeable as a nonmember when it comes to churchy things. She has been in the army for a long time now and, like Robert, is also is a single parent. She is really shy and gets really nervous in public places until she gets to know people. When we met her for the first time, though, she warmed up after a few minutes and explained to us her story. She was baptized in a kiddie pool during basic training without ever having been taught about the Church by missionaries, and she doesn't remember ever being confirmed. She wants to learn more about the history, culture, and lifestyle of Church members. We're going every Thursday to teach her the lessons and help her to improve her faith. She's an awesome woman... she's hilarious and really nice and she's going to feed us beef stew before our lesson on Thursday. Awesome. She introduced us to Olivia, her sniper rifle, and Oliver, her pistol. By the end of our first lesson with her she was teasing me a lot for being "Mom" and being kinda strict about mission rules. She was trying to guess our first names and she sarcastically said to me, "Let me guess... Joseph." I was honored. :) She still calls me Joseph. Haha At the very end of the lesson we asked her to say the closing prayer. It was the most interesting and beautiful prayer I've ever heard. At Church on Sunday she was a lot more reserved and very shy. I sat next to her during Gospel Principles (Sunday School). Before the class began, she was asked to give the closing prayer. Our lesson was on sacrifice and when it was time for her to pray for us, she took a deep breath and began another very beautiful prayer. She expressed that she was very nervous and scared to be praying in front of so many people, and she shared insights that she had learned during the class and prayed that we all would be able to understand the "Why?" behind each sacrifice we are asked to make. When she closed the prayer, I was deeply touched and I told her how good of a job she did. She smiled and I could tell that she felt the Spirit telling her that God was proud of the sacrifice she had made to leave her comfort zone and give that beautiful prayer.
I know that the gospel is true; that Jesus is the Christ, that He has restored His church through a continuing series of living Prophets, and that He has brought for Another Testament of His words and works: The Book of Mormon.
I hope that you are all doing fabulously! Please remember that the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows for us to change and repent. Repentance is a gift and a blessing. The Atonement allows us to receive the help we need to overcome pain, sickness, burdens, weaknesses, trials, temptations, sins, and, yes, even death. As a representative of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I testify that this is true.
Elder Schank
