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
