Dear Friends and Family,
Hope you're doing great! Things are just awesome here. First a quick update on my health.
To be honest, it's been pretty rough this week. I'm not really sure why, either. I talked with Dr./Elder Smalley again and he sent me to get my blood checked for the 4th? time to see if I have mononucleosis (mono), Lyme disease, or a vitamin D deficiency. He should probably get the results either today or tomorrow and he will let me know what they are as soon as he gets them.
Aside from how I've been feeling physically, though, this week has been awesome. We were able to teach a lot and we had 7 investigators come to church... more than I've ever had come on my mission! The best part is they all really enjoyed it.
We had another lesson with Nitza, Katrina, Jerome, and Trevaughn (he's the 10 year old investigator), this time with their step-sister (Angie), their mom (Yvonne), and Angie's boyfriend Tristen. To be honest, it really wasn't that great of a lesson because we were trying to cater to the needs of 7 people, 5 of whom all wanted to share their thoughts and experiences, and all that in about 40 minutes. The good news is Angie expressed a desire to join the church and be baptized! One of the funny parts of the lesson was when we found out that Tristen apparently was forced by Yvonne to attend because even though she doesn't want him dating her daughter she said that if he's going to have a relationship with Angie then he needs to listen to us! First of all, that's awesome because it shows that Yvonne is opening up and showing support now, and it also gets us another person we can share the restored gospel with! Double plus. Further into the lesson, Yvonne (kind of) bore her testimony to Tristen about how accepting the gospel and being baptized would be a blessing to him, because then he could get sealed to Angie in the temple. He looked pretty embarrassed. We thought it kind of turned him off a little bit, but lo and behold, there he was at church on Sunday with Angie, Katrina, Jerome, and Trevaughn!
Church was awesome. Jerome passed the sacrament for the first time and loved it, and Britt, a less-active sister we've been working with came to church for the first time in a long time with her two daughters. She was happy to be back! Our investigator named Charlie came to church with two member friends, and one of them brought her non-member mother and brother. David was back in church for the first time since he left the hospital. Steve and Karen were making all kinds of awesome and impressive comments in Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood... Steve was sharing with us how Moroni was such a great example of faith and Karen was talking about the importance of watching General Conference (which, by the way, I can't wait for!)!!! After church, another returning less-active man we've been working with went to have a bishop's interview to get things straightened out, which was super exciting to me. Trevaughn wanted to know where he was going to get baptized so we showed him the font. Angie ran up when we opened the font doors and pushed Trevaughn to the side so she could peer over the glass and she said "Is this where I'm getting baptized?" She is SUPER excited to be baptized... so I think she'll accept our invitation when we extend it tonight. :)
The A/C is almost fixed. Supposedly it's getting taken care of today.
I know the Book of Mormon is true! I love it and I know that it represents a full restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hope you're all doing well! I love you and hope to hear from you soon!
With love,
Elder Schank
