Week 34: Elder Schank Sees Daily Miracles

Hello, friends and family,

Another week has come and gone and we've seen some pretty great things.

I had the opportunity to go on companion exchanges with Elder Alaguretnam. He comes from Salt Lake City, but was born and raised in Sri Lanka until he and his family fled to Thailand as refugees. He has been a member of the Church for about 3 years now. He is serving in Lumberton, where we held our exchange. The work that he and his companion are doing is incredible; they are teaching over 30 investigators right now, most of which are refugees from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). The refugees are mostly from the Karen or Karenni tribes in Myanmar, and they are enjoying the freedom to be able to legally speak Karenni and practice their own customs and culture. We sat on the floor for our lessons and had to teach very simply. It was very difficult to understand and communicate with many of the investigators we taught because few of them know English, and many of those few still aren't very good at it at all. It has been difficult for them to learn the gospel because the Book of Mormon has yet to be translated into Karenni... actually, I think the translation began because of the people in this area. It was a fun and very enjoyable experience. I was even given my own Karenni name: Tu Reh (TOO-ray).
I also got to go on exchange with Elder Hoy, who is serving in Fayetteville. Yesterday completed his third week in the mission field. We were teaching in my own area, and even though it wasn't super different or exciting, it was an enjoyable exchange.

On Saturday we were able to attend a baptismal service in the Fayetteville 1st ward (the ward I was transferred from three weeks ago), and three people were baptized. One of them was Tom Howell, an amazing man who I had the privilege of teaching. It was so wonderful to see him enter the waters of baptism and join the Church. He is especially excited to have the gift of the Holy Ghost (which he received yesterday) to help him through his deployment, which is coming up in June.

We have seen many miracles this week. Lately, they've been happening about once a week. I'll list a few:

1. Elder Farr and I were heading in to Walmart last week when we saw a less-active member of the ward in the parking lot. We stopped to talk to him for about 3 minutes, then headed back into the store. As we walked in, a young man called from behind and said "Elders!" We turned around and saw him coming toward us. "I want to buy you lunch. Do you have time?" He invited us into the Subway near the doors in Walmart and he told us to go ahead and get in line and order our food while he got his girlfriend. After we ordered and received our food, the four of us sat down together and he informed us that he was a returned missionary who was in town visiting his girlfriend, who is not a member. After a little small talk we asked Stephanie, his girlfriend, what she knew about the Church. After a little while, she turned to her boyfriend and asked, "Is it ok if they come over to my house and teach me more?" We were shocked and very happy. The next day we went over and taught her about prayer. She said she was atheist, but that she would pray to God to see if He existed. In our next lesson two days later, we followed up with her about her prayer. She told us she felt a warm feeling in her heart and she knew that God was there and that He loves her. She has been an amazing investigator. However, we found out that she (barely) lives in another companionship's area, so we referred her to them and they will be teaching her for now on. It was hard giving her up, but I know that it's all the same work and I'm just happy that she's found the path that can lead her closer to Christ.
2. While on my exchange with Elder Hoy, we found that we had 15 minutes before an appointment with an investigator, so I took us down a road to try to contact someone I knew of who didn't live too far off. I thought I knew how to get there, but we eventually got lost. After contacting a different person, we came back, heading off to our planned appointment. A woman in an SUV pulled us over while we were on our way and asked "Do you have a card? I'd like to go to your church." She was visiting from Texas and had recognized us as LDS missionaries. She's been to our church before while in Texas and wants to come again! After exchanging information, we headed off. I think she has a lot of potential to become a great investigator.
3. We were in a neighborhood trying to contact various less-active members of the ward when we recognized the house of an active member. We asked him if he knew of anyone we could teach. He referred us to his neighbor. We went next door and talked with a very nice young girl named April. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and taught her what it is, and she was very interested in learning more. We have a return appointment to teach her more this week.
4. Two Saturdays ago we were teaching two less-active members in their home when one of their friends came in the room and started asking more about the Book of Mormon. After we explained it to him, he told us that it made sense... he always thought there was more to the gospel than just the Bible. We taught him the story of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith, and he wants us to teach him more later in the week.
5. We got a new car this week at training. Ok, so it's not really a miracle, but it's a reeeally nice 2012 Chevy Cruze. It smells so new and drives really smooth. We were excited about that. :)

We have experienced these and other great miracles as we have worked hard to earn them. I know that God provides miracles in these days as He did in days of the past.

 15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do ^ano miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

 16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous ^aworks of God?

 17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his ^aword the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was ^bcreated of the ^cdust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

 18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty ^amiracles? And there were many ^bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

 19 And if there were ^amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he ^bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

 20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do ^amiracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should ^btrust.

 21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, ^awhatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this ^bpromise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

(Mormon 9:15-21)

I know that our Heavenly Father will give us everything we faithfully ask for if we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon makes it clear that God loves us and will always give us the righteous desires of our hearts if we ask in faith. Through our faith in the Son, we are fit to witness and perform many mighty miracles on behalf of our Father in Heaven.

I hope that all of you are doing wonderfully. I would love to hear from you!

With love,

 

Elder Schank

Week 33: Pilot Program: Book of Mormon Reading Companions

Hellofriendsandfamily,

I've got 6.5 minutes so this will be short.

Besides finding 3 new investigators, not a whole lot has changed except for the weather. It's getting to 85 degrees and we got permission from our mission president to take our suit coats off while proselyting if the temp is upwards of 75 degrees. (Suit season officially ends on General Conference weekend.) Thank goodness.

Something really neat that's been going on for the last month or so: Elder Gonzales of the 70 has extended a priesthood assignment to half of the stakes in our mission (one of which is the Fayetteville stake, aka the stake I'm serving in). We are conducting a pilot program to see how the Book of Mormon affects the conversion of investigators. We want to see if it will improve conversion and retention. Therefore, each companionship has been asked to identify 2-3 progressing investigators and ask them if they would accept a Book of Mormon reading companion to read the Book with them between missionary visits and help them understand the principles and stories in it. I am very interested to see how it will go. It's really just an experiment right now, but I'm sure it will do amazing things in the future because I know that the Book of Mormon has divine power in healing and conversion, as it has healed and converted me. I know the Book of Mormon is true! Read it! :)

I love y'all and hope things are going well with you!

With love,

 

Elder Schank

Week 32: Life in Hope Mills

Dear Friends and Family,

This one's going to be way short, but there's so much to say!!!

I got transferred to Hope Mills, which turns out to be in the same zone as Spring Lake! Elder Benson's new companion is the district leader in his district, and zone leaders go on exchanges with district leaders and their companions once a transfer. So not only do I still get to serve closely with Elder Benson and see the ward members and investigators in Spring Lake every once in a while, but I will probably also get to go to baptisms for Tom, Pepe, and Sharron, all of which are lined up for the end of this month! Woohoo! Elder Farr from Bountiful, UT is my new companion. He is a great elder and he's already taught me a lot. We've been working very hard (meals are our backup plans... it's ok, Mom) and the Lord is providing us with miracles all over the place. We've been doing service projects like crazy, finding 7 new investigators (all of which have been member referrals) and teaching lessons in homes, on the streets, and even around campfires in trailer parks. I have a greater appreciation for the previous zone leaders I have known... it's so tiring, and there is so much behind-the-scenes work to do! We work with the numbers for every companionship in our zone (3 districts, each with 4 companionships), and we have to report back and forth between the mission president and district leaders as well as the stake president and the district leaders. We have great district leaders, which is so helpful... we provide training for them in conference calls once a week... and last week's was way bad, mostly because of me. But they have all been so kind and patient and I think they understand that I'm still trying to figure out the ins and outs of being a great missionary, let alone a good zone leader.

One quick and really cool detail about our zone... the city Lumberton covers our area, and it's full of Burmese refugees that have been SO prepared to hear the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are two companionships in Lumberton, and together they have around 40 investigators... so much that they can't increase their teaching pool because there aren't enough hours in the week to teach them and help them progress properly. Last week alone, the Lumberton branch saw 9 baptisms. If all goes as planned, there will be another 20 joining the branch by the end of the month. The language barrier is hard, especially because they have to work through translators and the Book of Mormon has yet to be translated into the right language, but the Lord is obviously behind the work.

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that there is a prophet today, and that Jesus is the Christ!

Watch out Hope Mills - Elder Schank and Elder Farr have arrived!

With love,

Elder Schank

Week 31: Elder Schank Gets Yet Another Very Surprising Phone Call

Hello, dear friends and family!

This week has been all over place. We've had ups, downs, and in-betweens throughout the week.

Investigators
Pepe is making amazing progress.  and her baptism is scheduled for March 17.

Tom is a boss. He is so prepared and is the poster child of the "elect". His baptism is scheduled for March 24. He (like almost everyone else here in Spring Lake) is in the army, and he's already quit coffee, tea, alcohol, and chewing tobacco so that he could be baptized. He has a powerful testimony of the Word of Wisdom. In fact, he made many amazing comments about it in Sunday School yesterday, because the lesson was on the Word of Wisdom. We were so impressed with him!

Sharron is continuing to do a great job.  She is zooming through the Book of Mormon. She started in January and is in Ether 13 as of today; she has 13 chapters left and she's done! Amazing.

Priesthood Blessings

We have had the opportunity to give a lot of priesthood blessings this week! My testimony of the power of the priesthood has increased a lot, especially about how the minds of priesthood holders are filled by the Holy Ghost with what should be said in a blessing.  The Holy Ghost truly does work through priesthood holders (as He does all worthy members of the Church), and He works with us as if we are tools in the hand of the Lord.

Little News
My back has stopped progressing, but it does feel much better... the pain is at a much lower level and it's been so great getting back on the bikes.

Big News

Yesterday marked the end of the 6-week period we call a "transfer" here in the mission field, which means some missionaries from our district are going to be leaving to another area. We all figured that our district leader and another certain missionary in our district would be leaving because they have been here for 6 months (4 transfers), which is usually the longest a missionary will stay in any given area. (The average stay for a missionary in an area is 3-4 transfers [4.5-6 months] and it's pretty rare to stay any less or more than that amount of time.) We also figured that our new district leader would be me, seeing as the other missionaries in our area were all still being trained. We awaited "Freaky Friday", the last Friday of the transfer period on which President Cotterell usually calls individuals to leadership positions, to see if we had guessed right. Freaky Friday came and went, and I breathed a bit of a sigh of relief, thankful to have escaped an additional leadership position this time around. Being a trainer is hard, especially when you're opening a new area, and, quite frankly, I still feel inadequate and that I'm still a pretty weak missionary.
As we were out working on Saturday afternoon, we got a call from President Cotterell. He said, "Elder Schank, I think this call will come as a bit of a surprise to you...." Thinking I was one step ahead of the mission president, I thought "not really" because I knew he would be calling me as the district leader after all; but, I didn't say anything. He told me, "you are being transferred." He was right; I was surprised. On top of that, he told me that I was being called as a zone leader in the area in which I would be serving. More surprised. I decided then and there that I should just stop trying to think I know what the Lord is thinking.
I am sad to be leaving Spring Lake just after one transfer and only half-way through Elder Benson's training process. I was just starting to get used to the area, the ward's missionary efforts, and the members. I'm also pretty sad that I'll be missing Tom's and Pepe's baptisms, and that I won't be here to see Sharron continue to progress. There are a lot of people here that I've grown to love soooo much, and I will miss them a lot. But I am excited for what lies ahead. Nervous, but excited. I have no doubt that the Lord knows what He's doing, and I hope and pray that I will be able to meet His expectations for me in this new and a little overwhelming calling. I think it will make me a better missionary, and it should be fun getting to know and train the district leaders in my new area... even if I've never been a district leader before. I don't know where I'm going, but I find out tomorrow and I'll let you know next Monday! I can definitely use your prayers on this one. Thank you so much for the prayers you already say on my behalf.


I love each of you and hope that all is going well for you. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve on this mission. The growth I have experienced has been wonderful and I love this work with everything in me. I know that our Heavenly Father loves and is mindful of each one of His children, including you. He knows your name and your need, and He sacrificed His Only Begotten Son as a scapegoat for us so that we could return to His presence if we have faith in His Son and repent. I know that His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Redeemer, Savior, and Mediator. He loves you as well and knows your every pain. He died and suffered for you "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor [you] according to [your] infirmities" (Alma 7:12). I love you as well and invite you to consider something you can do, starting today, to make His Atonement just a little more effectual in your life. This has been something I have been considering and I have already seen how it has brought me closer to Christ.

Hope to hear from you soon!

With love,

 

Elder Schank