Dear Friends and Family,
This week was totally awesome! It was absolutely amazing. We had a lot of great lessons and we are working with so many great people who are doing such a wonderful job! For example, David, who in the past has not been progressing due to Word of Wisdom issues, had a revelatory experience the other day while reading the scriptures. He had a specific question, and he prayed in faith for an answer to his questions. As he read, he felt the spirit answer his question and confirm to him that the Lord desires him to live the doctrine of Christ and be baptized by authority. What an amazing miracle! At the end of the lesson, he took us into his home and showed us a sealed carton of cigarettes. He gave us a permanent marker and asked us to sign the box, signifying that he would live the Word of Wisdom for the rest of his life.
We taught Trevaughn and his family several times this week. It's always hard to teach with 12+ people in the room, but it turned out pretty good each time. Yesterday, we taught Trevaughn the law of tithing, and while it made sense to him and all of his siblings, Yvonne told us that she doesn't believe in paying tithing. Yvonne's children, those who benefit from her income the most, practically rebuked her and told her that she should pay her tithing. It was interesting to see as her several children, with their firm and steadfast testimonies, had the faith in God's commandments to do that.
Everyone else is doing really well. Angie can't wait to be baptized; Steve, Karen, and Carlie are getting baptized on Saturday; and Lynette is already telling everyone that she's a Mormon even though she won't be getting baptized till mid-October.
This weekend we also had a great stake conference. Our stake was reorganized because our stake president is moving, so it will be interesting for us to work with a new stake president to coordinate the missionary work in the Fayetteville stake. In each session, we were addressed by Raleigh temple Pres. & Sis. Scott (Richard G. Scott's brother and sister-in-law); Elder Keith Giddens, our area seventy; and Elder Corbridge of the 1st quorum of the seventy. Both meetings were excellent. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn from such great leaders, and to the Lord for providing us with leaders who hold His authority to teach and minister.
I made an important realization during the tail-end of the final session of the conference. I realized how important it is for us to receive trials in our lives, and how much of a blessing they really can be. As many of you know, my year of college was a very difficult time for me. Physically, it was very painful and it was emotionally difficult to cope with the fact that I may or may not be able to serve a mission as I would like to. During that experience, I learned how to humble myself enough to accept the Lord's will and have faith that His plan is more perfect than mine. It was a really hard time... the hardest time I had in my life up to that point. However, I'm grateful for that experience because without it, I may not have been able to cope with these harder trials I am now facing with as much faith or trust in the Lord. It seems to me that the trials I faced before my mission were preparatory tribulations that in the end gave me the added strength I would need to face the trials I'm wading through now. I am grateful that the Lord loved me enough to prepare me then for now.
I know that Christ is our Savior and He feels the pains of all of us. I love His gospel and I know it is true. His church has been restored... what a wonderful truth! I love the Book of Mormon and know it to be true. It provides me with so much peace to endure the difficult trials of life:
2 Nephi 2:1-2
2 Nephi 4:20
Jacob 3:1
Alma 26:27
Ether 12:27.
Love you all so much!
With love,
Elder Schank
