Hello, friends and family!
I hope all of you are doing well! We had a really interesting week!
We only had 3 lessons this week despite the tons of appointments we had scheduled, and that stank it up, but the lessons we had were good. Since Elder Clegg and I are both leaving, Elder Bentley from the Jacksonville 2 area is going to be replacing one of us. He has a pretty good idea of what the area is like because he serves next door AND he started his mission in our area! He already knew 4 of our investigators and got to meet the other 2 when we went on a 4-hour exchange last Monday.
Elder Bentley and I taught Sean about the importance of being obedient to commandments, praying often, and studying the scriptures, and he soaked it up like a sponge. He's a brilliant young man, and I'm excited for him to get baptized in a few weeks.
After we taught Sean, we taught a second lesson to Justin, who, you will recall, wants to be baptized in a few weeks. He expressed out of the blue that he doesn't like going to church and doesn't believe that he needs to in order to have a good relationship with God. We taught him that while discipleship isn't solely based on church attendance, it's important to go to church weekly after you're baptized so that you can take the sacrament and thereby renew the covenants made at baptism that bring a remission of sins. We read some verses from 3 Nephi 18 about the sacrament and he noticed the correlation between them and certain Bible verses. But... he didn't come to church, so it seems like Elder Bentley will need to go over that with him again. :)
We had our final lesson on Tuesday with Carlos. He's doing great! Last night (Sunday) is his 10th day without smoking and we are super proud of him! We had to break some sad news to him that he couldn't actually be baptized until he has certain things concerning the law figured out because restitution needs to be made. It was the first time I've ever seen him sad... he started crying. It broke my heart to see this big tough man crying, and I felt for him, but at the same time I was really happy to be reminded that baptism is so important that it's a tragedy to him to have to wait a little longer. Carlos has changed so much over the time he's been taught by the missionaries. Elder Clegg says that when he met him for the first time (in the beginning of October), he didn't think that he would ever even be slightly receptive to the gospel message. But he had changed a lot since I arrived and has changed even more over the last 7 weeks. It's been amazing to see him transform because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Carlos began to cry over the bad news, we testified that repentance is real and that the Atonement is real and that it's something that can't be had by cutting any corners. We expressed our love, and as representatives of Christ expressed the Savior's love for him. Carlos said that even though it hurt him to think that he would have to wait longer (and we don't know how much longer) to be baptized, he would press forward and continue to be prepared for baptism. What strong faith! I love Carlos and his whole family! Please continue to pray for him that he will stay strong. He's doing great!
Over the span of three days we built a really nice wheelchair ramp for Frank. Well, the materials are really nice and will probably outlast his trailer if a tornado comes through, but you can kinda tell that it was constructed by a whole lot of amateurs. For a free ramp, it will do the job. :) It was a lot of fun to build. Our foreman was Bro. Patino, our ward mission leader, and our work force consisted of Carlos, and all 6 missionaries. It was a blast! Except for one part where I was drilling holes in some of the posts with a half-inch drill bit and a massive power drill. Something happened to where the drill fell out of my hands and when it hit the ground the button got pushed in. The drill bit started to spin against my shin and it got all tangled up in my jeans. Luckily, everything was fine... it just hurt like the dickens and now I have a rainbow-colored bruise the size of a baseball on my shin and calf. No big deal. After we finished the ramp on the third day we helped Bro. Patino dig some trenches in his lawn to start creating a French drain, which I guess will be a draining system under his lawn that will reduce flooding in his backyard and take the water into the drain along side the road. That was fun too. It might be weird to say this, but I'm going to miss North Carolina dirt. It's so much easier to dig than Utah dirt!
I've been thinking a lot about the importance of coming to church. It started in our lesson with Justin, and when the Spirit directed us to the right answer and the right scripture for him. Since then I've been thinking about his questions... "Why do I need to go to church?" My mind kept going back to the importance of taking the sacrament. I think that's something that a lot of people who have been baptized but have stopped going to church either don't understand or have forgotten. It occurred to me that just as baptism by authority is the only way to receive an initial remission of sins, taking the sacrament is the only way for someone who has been baptized to receive a remission of sins, beginning after the first mistake made following baptism. I was grateful for the remission of sins I received at my baptism as I watched a little girl who the sisters have been teaching get baptized on Saturday. I am so grateful for the Atonement and Christ's mercy in allowing us to receive yet more forgiveness as long as we seek to repent and are willing to commit again to keep the commandments and remember the Savior.
It still hasn't sunken in yet that I'm going to be in Utah in 2 days. I will miss being a missionary. I have grown so much on my mission. I've learned so much, too, about the truths of the gospel, how to be a better disciple and man in general, and (especially) the love that the Father and the Savior have for us as children of God. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ---faith in Him and His Atonement, repentance, baptism by authority, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end---is the way, "and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God," and that it is "the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 31:21). I love the Book of Mormon because it teaches these and other truths that bring peace, joy, and comfort to the lives of any and all those who read it. I know that the gospel has been restored from apostasy and that the Book of Mormon is a large part of the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies concerning this restoration.
I know this email is just getting longer and longer, but while I'm still an official representative of Jesus Christ and His missionary, I want to extend to you a final invitation, and that is to do missionary work. I have also been thinking a lot lately about why, if the spreading of the gospel is the most important cause in the universe, is it left up to us---imperfect, distracted, and usually-fearful people. I remembered a previous time when I thought of this question and the answer I received: if the Father's "work and... glory [is] to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39), then in what other way can we better become like Him? None, that I can think of. I have also learned because of Preach My Gospel that setting a good example is NOT doing missionary work! So many times Elder Clegg, my other missionary companions, and I have invited people to do some forms of missionary work and they have said "Well... we're being good examples to our nonmember friends and neighbors." Elder Clegg and I have talked about it a lot, and we're super glad that the members of the church are keeping their covenants and living higher standards than the world. But we are also concerned because they seem to think that missionary work includes setting a good example. While setting a good example is a wonderful way to prepare people and get them curious, almost no one will do anything to start coming unto Christ until they are invited by someone else who has already come to Him. Missionary work always includes extending any kind of invitation to come unto Christ. "People will not likely change unless they are invited to do so" (Preach My Gospel, pg. 196). But all people can change!
I invite you to invite someone to come unto Christ in any way. Some of you probably think "All of my friends are members"---no one says that you can't invite other members to come closer to Christ! And I know that there are nonbelievers all around you, whether you live in Kaysville, Logan, Salt Lake City, or Las Vegas. I testify that if you pray to the Lord in the search of someone you can invite to come closer to Christ, that He will direct you to someone you can serve and invite. It will bless their lives and it will certainly bless yours. I testify that you will be happy.
I also know that God loves us and leads us where we need to go if we didn't withstand.
I'll talk to you later!
With love,
Elder Schank
