Week 63: Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Dear friends and family,

I hope you had a merry Christmas and that you felt the love and peace of the Savior on that special day. I testify that He lives and loves us. My testimony of that has grown so much this last week. There are a lot of struggling people in this town. One of them is Frank, an older gentleman that we've been teaching. I haven't even been to his house yet because everytime we've seen him it's been in his hospital room. He has diabetes and it's really messed up his feet. In fact, one of them was infected really bad so they had to amputate his lower leg. Last time we visited him, he had been out of the surgery for only two hours and he was in a lot of pain. He called the nurse in and told her he wanted more medicine, and she said she couldn't give him more because they gave him the strongest pain killer and he couldn't have another dose for hours. I'm sure I speak for Elder Clegg as well when I say that we wanted so badly to be able to help him. We knew that there was nothing we could do to take his pain away. But I knew there was Someone who could. We gave him a priesthood blessing and I could feel the Lord's love for Frank. After the blessing we discussed the feeling of the Spirit that had filled the small room. Frank thanked us and said "I can already feel a difference in my pain." I also know that because of the Savior and His Atonement we can have our pain alleviated and even removed, in some cases. I testify that Jesus Christ knows what it is like to lose your right foot. He knows of the pain of the recovery. I also know that because He has felt that exact pain, that He alone can perfectly empathize with Frank to help him through this time.

I also know that because of Christ we can all have our pain lifted. Whether you are a lonely widow, a frightened soldier, a dying patient, a discouraged missionary, a troubled criminal, a sorry sinner, or just a normal person with normal problems, I know that you can be healed through the Atonement of Christ. I know this because I have met all kinds of people with these discriptions and I have seen how the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped them access the Atonement and find relief to their minds, bodies, and spirits. I know the Redeemer lives!

Our week was very slow. So many people are on leave to see their families for the holidays. On top of that, there is a sickness spreading around the entire city and it seems to have gotten into every home of the few families that are still here. three of our seven investigators are in town and two of them are sick. The other one is dealing with a lawsuit concerning the custody of her child and despite our promising that a message about the gospel will help she hasn't allowed us to come over yet. We contacted a lot of referrals, though, which is good. Anyway, I don't have a lot of great stories about lessons or proselyting because not much has happened.

Christmas was pretty good. We got to eat breakfast on Christmas and dinner on Chrismtas Eve and Christmas day with members. My favorite part about the whole holiday was sharing a message with the families who fed us about the glorious news of the restored gospel and how we can give the gift of missionary work to members. And of course getting to talk to my family even though it's only been a couple weeks since I've seen them. It was especially great to be able to talk to Christa this year. 

Other exciting news: we have a new addition to our backyard buddies. We've been getting so much food from members (we get fed about every day... except for during the holiday season, apparently) that we can't eat all the leftovers and goodies they give us before some of it goes bad. So we've been putting the bad food on our back deck for the 11 stray cats that live in the woods behind our house to eat. At first when I heard about this tradition I thought the past elders were pretty stupid, but when I realized that the cats were already coming I figured, "Eh, what the heck" and so I've been throwing my cold pizza crusts out onto the deck. The other night we found out that not only the cats have been loving the food when we peeked out our window to see a big fat possum chowing down on some stale pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. He was huge! Since the 11 cats already have names, we decided to name him, too. We call him Pachus the Possum, named after the king of the Nephite dissenters in the Book of Mormon. Kind of a weird name, I know, but we found it in the pronounciation guide in the back of the book. We looked up who Pachus was in the index, and he seems like a varmint himself so we figured it would be a good name for our possum.

Yesterday in church one Sis. Bluth (a sister missionary in our ward) and I performed Dad's arrangement of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" for cello and piano. We were kind of nervous because we only had one day to put it together and the cello we got was a 3/4 cello, which Sis. Bluth had to adjust to, but it turned out really great. She played beautifully and I was really pleased with how I did. Our ward loved it, too, and they're asking for more!

This morning I had a great experience. A week or so after I returned here from Utah I felt like something was missing. I didn't have the Spirit as strongly as I remembered having it before. I have been doing my best to be exactly obedient to the mission standards and the commandments, I've been working hard, and I just couldn't figure it out. Yesterday at church I realized that the biggest difference between now and then is that I haven't been reading as much from the Book of Mormon. Since I've been back, I've just been using it to supplement my studies, rather than focusing my studies around it. Today I got a fresh copy of the Book of Mormon and decided to start over with it and mark certain concepts with different colored pencils, like I did several months ago. I read the introduction and the first 9 chapters of the book, looking for references to Christ and His doctrine and Atonement. An hour later, when personal study had ended, I realized that the missing something had been filled in by the Spirit. I testify of the truthfulness and divinity of the Book of Mormon. I know with all my heart and soul that it is a book from God.

To every one of you that is reading this now, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon. It doesn't matter if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint or not, and it doesn't matter how many times you've read it in the past. As a literal representative of Jesus Christ, I promise you in His name that if you read it with real intent, looking with faith to know how you can strengthen your relationship with Christ, that you will find what you are looking for. You have absolutely nothing to lose---I know from experience that this book will only bless your life. To miss out on the opportunity to read the Book of Mormon is to miss out on the blessing of coming closer to God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true because I have read it and witnessed it change my life and transform me into a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I have seen that happen to dozens of people as I've had the humble privilege to be one of two to bring them the book that the Savior wants them to read the most. I extend this invitation only because I love you and I know that by accepting it you will be happy and blessed by the Lord.

I am grateful to my ward at home. Thank you for your love and the support you have given to me. You are in my prayers and I love you all very much!

Again, I know that Jesus is the Christ, our loving Savior, Redeemer, and Atoner. I know that the fulness of His gospel and the authority to administer sacred ordinances was lost but has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The work of the Lord is hastening.

I hope to hear from you soon! And I hope you have a great new year's eve! Don't do anything stupid because people that do stupid things on holidays make it so that missionaries like me have to stay inside all day!

With love,  Elder Schank

Merry Christmas from Elders Schank and Clegg

Week 62.5 Merry Christmas (tomorrow)

Dear friends and family,

This one will probably be short because Elder Clegg and I have to share one computer we found in the family history library in the church.  So I got my package this morning. My presents are sitting under our ghetto Christmas tree, along with Elder Clegg's gifts. Tomorrow we are having Christmas breakfast with the Sutherland family and dinner with Bishop Reese's family. The area is really great. We've had some great lessons with Carlos and his family. Two of his kids got baptized last month, his wife is returning from less-activity (well... we think so... no one can find her records but she remembers her baptism and obviously is familiar with LDS culture), and the other kids are younger than 8. He is trying to quit smoking because that's all that is keeping him from being baptized. We had a few other lessons with Ted, a 21-year old grunt Marine. He told us that he knows our message and the Book of Mormon are true and he wants to be baptized. Most of our investigators (6 or so) are gone for Christmas so I haven't even met half of our teaching pool. Good stuff is happening.

One funny story is we went to contact a referral named Marco. Church headquarters told us he wanted a missionary visit. So we went and we were really excited to meet him! We knocked on the door and a really abrasive, large Hispanic man in shiny blue silk pajamas (belly button clearly visible) opened the door. He told us he knew who we were, that we didn't believe the truth, and that he believes we're a cult. He seemed surprised that we weren't shocked at all when he said that (we get it all the time). We tried to clear up any misconceptions but he didn't want us to tell him what we really believe. He accosted us with the whole "don't add or take away from this book" problem in Revelations, and then quickly changed the subject when we had a completely sensible explanation and told him the correct interpretation of that verse. (We get that one all the time, too.) Then he targeted me and started testing my Bible knowledge by quoting obscure Bible verses and challenging me to fill-in-the-blank and judge our beliefs in God. I got most of them right, but after I missed one he told me that I was totally unfit to be an elder because I didn't know the Bible well enough. We kept trying to bear our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and things to him but he always went back to how I didn't have the Bible memorized and was a terrible missionary because of it. It was hilarious. We were pretty fed up with him trying to keep provoking us into argument so we struggled for the next 5 minutes to leave. We asked him if there was anyone in his area who was lonely for Christmas or who we could help. He said he did, but he wouldn't tell us because if we were really ministers of God then the Spirit would direct us to them. I guess he doesn't know how the Spirit really works---through people. It's always sad to see how some people completely harden their hearts to the truth. It does, however, make me grateful that I have the gospel in my life, and it motivates me to find those who are ready to accept it for themselves.

I invite everyone this Christmas season to watch a video about the birth of Christ. I love the Savior and I know He is the Messiah. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true. I love that book!

I hope that all of y'all have a very merry Christmas! I love you and hope to hear from you soon!

With love,

Elder Schank

Week 62 - Elder Schank is back in black!

Hello, friends and family!

It's been a whirlwind of a week! I found out last Thursday that I was coming back to the mission! I was set apart on Sunday evening and I shipped out early Monday morning. My family came into the airport with me and we gave our goodbye hugs just before I went through the security check... right behind a whole bunch of other missionaries! They probably thought I was some totally apostate new missionary. They weren't going to North Carolina, I found out, but I met the group going to my mission at the terminal. I didn't get to sit next to them on the plane, which was kind of a bummer because I was looking forward to talking with them, but it was good, too, because I got to sit next to some nonmembers and share some of our message with them. One of them was a lady from New Orleans named Priscilla. During the flight from Atlanta to Raleigh, she game me her phone number to give to the missionaries in Louisiana.

When we left the terminal to get our luggage, we were met by President and Sister Bernhisel, the two new assistants to the president, and Elder Farr, who was my first companion in Hope Mills. (He was one of the assistants, too, but he finished his mission today so he was helping to train the new assistant.) I already knew a lot of what was going on so I pretty much hung out with him all day after we got back to the mission home and I had my interview with Pres. Bernhisel. It was great to catch up on things. I found out in my interview that I was being sent to the Jacksonville 3 area, home of Camp Lejeune, a big Marines base. I'm excited to see the similarities and differences between serving in an Army town and a Marine town. I can already tell that this place needs the gospel really bad, even though I haven't even been here for 24 hours. I'm super excited to be here.

On Tuesday morning I was an honorary assistant to the president for the day. I helped transport the missionaries to and from places, revise the transfer board, and run errands for new missionaries who forgot stuff places and the mission president and his wife when they needed things. When the transfer meeting almost began, I was received by a lot of my mission friends with a really warm welcome. They said they were really excited to see me back, but I don't think they have any idea how much more excited I am to be back. We received our assignments and then headed out to our area. Jacksonville is in the Wilmington zone, really close the southeastern coast of the state. When we arrived, I met my companion, Elder Brady Clegg from Eagle Mountain, UT. He's a really great missionary, and I've been really impressed. He has been on his mission for three months (he entered the mission when I left it) and so I will be follow-up training him. He was in a tripanionship with Elder Black and Elder Langford, who trained him, until I came. Elder Bentley came with me to be Elder Black's companion. We weren't able to move back to our original apartment, so the four of us all camped out in the Jacksonville 2 apartment. It was kind of cramped, but really fun. E. Clegg and I slept on the couches. That night we also taught a part-member family that's struggling with getting along with each other, but they are great and I love them very much. The gospel has obviously already helped a lot and I can't wait to see how they change even more! I forget the first name of the dad, but he is going to get baptized soon! We just need to help him quit smoking first.

This morning we had district meeting, and we got to meet the sister missionaries that work in both the 2nd and 3rd wards, the military relations missionary couple, and the Hampstead elders. Elder Brewer is our district leader (and one of the Hampstead missionaries), and he's a good friend of mine in the mission. It was weird to look around the room during our meeting and realize that I was the missionary who has served the longest in our whole district, except for Elder Brewer who goes home in 6 weeks. I can already tell that the next 9 months are going to fly by. (Yep... only 9 months... I found out I come home 17 Sep 2013.)

After the meeting we came back to our apartment and Bro. Petino, our ward mission leader, helped us move to our new apartment. It's more run-down than I expected. Elder Clegg and I will be having a deep-clean day tomorrow because it smells bad and it looks like someone broke in. (I don't think anyone really did, but the place is in shambles.) We live in a quad-plex, surrounded by a bunch of marines. There are helicopters that come from the airfield in the camp and they fly over our apartment and they're really loud. They remind me of the trains in Kaysville and make me feel at home. We basically dumped our stuff in our apartment and headed straight here. Hopefully we'll have time to go shopping right after this before we get picked up for dinner with a member and leave to teach a couple lessons to night. If we're really lucky, we might even have time to unpack.

Anyway, it's been great so far. I love the missionaries I serve with. They are great elders and sisters. I know the gospel is true and that the Book of Mormon changes lives because it is true as well. I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost and how it testifies when we bear testimony. I know that Jesus is the Savior and I love Him with all I have.

I hope that you are all doing well and I would love to hear from you! (My address is below.) 

With love,

Elder Schank

North Carolina Raleigh Mission

6508 Falls of Neuse, Ste. 100

Raleigh, NC 27615

United States

http://mormon.org/me/2JZ1/KennySchank/

Goodbye Elder Schank....take two

Inter-Mission, Week 1: Hello, again, Utah

Hello, Friends and Family!

This has been a crazy week. Probably one of the weirdest weeks of my life. I think I'm going try to send most of these email updates on Monday like I used to do when I was in the field, so if you want to stay posted check for them then. (If you don't want these updates just let me know and I won't send them to you.) I guess the best way to do this is to just give a summary of each day. That makes this email really long, so I'll do a short version, too.

Short Version:

I came home and I'm doing pretty good. It's really weird being back. I had a lot of doctor appointments and after some exams they think that I have a disease called ankylosing spondylitis, which basically means the bones in my pelvis and spine are fusing together. It's not a sure diagnosis yet; in fact, an x-ray shows that all the bones are fine. I'm going to get an MRI done on Friday to get a better look and either diagnose or rule it out for good. I also had a blood test done; haven't gotten the results yet. It's been great to see my family. I'm still hurting quite a bit. I got released as a missionary and I'll be returning to North Carolina once the problem is all taken care of. General conference was awesome; I got to go to the priesthood session and Sunday morning session.
I've been able to do vicarious work for the dead in the Logan, Brigham City, and Bountiful temples.

Long Version:

Last Tuesday:

I started to get a little bit of a glimpse of how awkward this stage of my life (my "inter-mission") is when I was grouped along with the returning missionaries. It was a weird kind of feeling… going home but not really ending my mission. For all intensive purposes, I was a "returning missionary", but while everyone else was thinking about college and jobs and relationships and things I wasn't thinking about any of those things because they don't really apply to me. We had an awesome dinner provided by some of the sister office missionaries, had exit interviews (for me it was kind of like a "get well soon" interview), and closed the night with a great testimony meeting. I had a lot of mixed feelings. It was a good but pretty uncomfortable day.

Last Wednesday:

We headed off to the airport. Everyone got their bags checked at the airport and were ready to go with their boarding passes… except for me. Apparently someone in the missionary travel department had reserved a spot on the airplane for me but never made the payment! Turns out there wasn't any room for me on the second plane, so I had to fly first-class from our layover in Atlanta to Salt Lake City. Oh, shucks. As we flew over Utah, I was surprised at how open it was and how big the mountains are! I had forgotten about all of that. It was beautiful. The man sitting next to me was amused by my excitement and how I was taking pictures of the brown "desert". We finally landed and made our ways to the baggage claim areas. When I saw my family, I was surprised to see how much my littlest siblings have grown, especially when Becky, my youngest sister, rushed me and rammed me all the way up to my sternum with her face as she gave me a big hug. Jacob had grown like a sprout, too, and though Adam hadn't seemed too much taller, he definitely seemed a lot older. As I was going through this sibling inventory, I realized that almost half of them were gone. It seemed like our family had shrunken significantly even though 6 of the 8 of us were together again. After lunch at Cafe Rio, we headed home. The first thing I did when I got out of the car was fall into a face plant on the grass. I missed the nice, green Utah grass. After doing a little unpacking, I headed off with Dad to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City for the dress rehearsal of the choir that would sing in the priesthood session of general conference. One of the choir members was too sick to make it to the dress rehearsal, so I got to serve as a place-holder for him and I sang along with the choir for the rehearsal. It was a lot of fun and it brought back a lot of wonderful memories of the times I have had the opportunity to sit in those seats behind living prophets and Apostles and sing and listen to their words as they spoke to the world. Following the rehearsal, we drove to my stake president's home so he could release me. While I no longer have an obligation to live missionary standards, he encouraged me to live the same standards regarding the missionary schedule and media. My family is being very supportive of that. It was a long day.

Thursday:

Woke up early in the morning and had family scripture study. I missed that. After a while my parent came with me to the doctor to start taking care of the problem. He referred us to a rheumatologist, who we saw later that day. They suspected ankylosing spondylitis, a disease that, if I understood correctly, basically causes the cartilage in my spine and pelvis to deteriorate and the bones to fuse together. At the end of the appointment with the rheumatologist he had an x-ray taken of my lower back and pelvis to try to rule out (or diagnose) ankylosing spondylitis. Between doctor visits mom cleaned my teeth at the dentist's office.

Friday:

Went back to the doctor's office to get another blood lab done to check for a few more things. After that we drove up to Logan to pick up my sister Sarah from her dorm at Utah State University. It was great seeing her again… I missed her so much! We headed to the Logan temple to complete vicarious ordinances for the dead; I baptized and confirmed Sarah and Dad baptized and confirmed me. After the temple, we went to the infamous Bluebird restaurant on main street then went back onto the campus to pick up Sarah's friend Josh and take him home for conference weekend. On the way back to Kaysville we stopped at the Brigham City temple and did more work for the dead. When we arrived at the baptistry, there was already a large group of young women doing baptisms. Because they didn't have very many men there, I was asked to help baptize some of them. I got to baptize about five of them, then Sarah, and then Josh. Then Dad baptized me again. When we got back home we played some games and did some other fun family stuff.

Saturday:

General conference begins! When President Monson announced that young men can now serve missions at the age of 18 and young women, 19, the Spirit filled our family room and Mom, Dad, Sarah, and I were visibly touched. We made the realization that Sarah could serve now, and Adam could apply in just about a year and a half! Even 10-year old Becky and 13- year old Jacob are excited to serve missions. Wouldn't that be great if all 6 of us served?! Between conference sessions, Bro. Winkelman from our ward came by to see me and we talked a little bit about our missions in North Carolina (he served in the Charlotte mission). After the second session of conference, Adam, Jacob, and I headed to the conference center for the priesthood session. We got to sit on the 7th row because Dad was conducting the choir. The talks were great and the choir did a great job on the music. I especially liked Dad's arrangement of "Hope of Israel". It was so powerful! After conference the four of us went to Red Robin for some burgers, steak fries, and our traditional game of "I spy" whenever we eat at that place. It was a great day.

Sunday:

My good friend Hailee invited me to go with her and her ward to sing hymns next to the protestors before general conference, so we went back to the conference center in the morning and it was a cold but great time. Even though the protestors were trying to cause a lot of disruption and contention, I could feel the Spirit as we sang, and I could visibly observe how it affected other church members as they filed into the conference center and even the other pedestrians as they bustled to and fro. We left our posts and went inside the conference center ourselves just in time for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's broadcast, "Music and the Spoken Word" (which was great), and the Sunday morning session of General Conference immediately followed. It was an amazing session of conference. My favorite talks were "Where Is the Pavilion?" by President Henry B. Eyring and "The First Great Commandment" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. While at the session I got to see some other friends, and it was good to see them again. When I got home I laid down for a little bit because I was hurting pretty bad. It was totally worth going though! I got to talk to my grandparents on the phone before the final session started, and that session ended too early. I can't believe conference is already over! The good news is there's only 6 more months we have to wait for the next one! :) Following the Sunday afternoon session and a quick nap, another family from the ward came by and delivered cookies for our family to comfort us and show support to me. I was very touched because I know that that family has gone through a much worse trial lately, but they still were aware of me and how I felt. They inspired me to look for more opportunities to serve and to never make excuses or think that I'm exempt from helping others.

Monday:

We had more appointments to get looked at and take care of "The Problem". Got a phone call saying that every thing in my back and pelvis that was x-rayed looks perfect, so we'll do an MRI on Friday to look for more. Not much else huge happened besides that we had a block party for family home evening and I got to say hello to some neighbors I haven't seen for a while and get to meet about 4 other families that have moved into our neighborhood since I left for North Carolina.

Yesterday:

Went to the Bountiful temple with Mom. The work I did took a lot less time than Mom's, so I had some extra time to sit in a special place in the temple and just study, ponder, and pray. I love the peace that is always in the house of the Lord. I missed being able to go to the temple so often. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the Salt Lake City, Oquirrh Mountain, Draper, Jordan River, and Timpanogos temples, too, before I leave again. Had some mission-cavities filled. In the evening we drove to the BYU football stadium to watch Adam's high school marching band competition. His band did a great job and I really liked their performance. My cousin Julia came and watched with us, and after the competition we went to the creamery for some ice cream.


I have some job opportunities here and there to earn a little extra money. I am also going to be volunteering to help the missionaries working in the family history center at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in temple square. Well… that's pretty much it! I've done a lot of piano playing recently to get out the stress because I can't run around and exercise like I used to. Like I said, it's been a weird week: full of mixed feelings and pain but I'm trying to be optimistic and hopeful.

There are a lot of things about this situation that I don't know: what the problem is, how to fix it, when I will be able to return to the mission field, etc. But I do know that God has a plan for me and that He loves me. Despite the difficulty of it, I'm grateful for this experience to help me build my faith. I know that the Lord blesses those who accept His will and have desires to serve Him.

"Many of us, in moments of personal anguish, feel that God is far from us. The pavilion that seems to intercept divine aid does not cover God but occasionally covers us. God is never hidden, yet sometimes we are,     covered by a pavilion of motivations that draw us away from God and make Him seem distant and inaccessible. Our own desires, rather than a feeling of “Thy will be done,” create the feeling of a pavilion blocking God. God is not unable to see us or communicate with us, but we may be unwilling to listen or submit to His will and His time. Our feelings of separation from God will diminish as we become more childlike before Him. That is not easy in a world where the opinions of other human beings can have such an effect on our motives. But it will help us recognize this truth: God is close to us and aware of us and never hides from His faithful children" (President Henry B. Eyring, "Where is the Pavilion?", General Conference, 7 October 2012).

I know that this statement is true. God does see us, and if we incline our minds to Him---in both times of peace and times of turmoil---He will grant us great blessings and our lives will improve. I know that to be true. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and that God has restored His gospel again.

I love you all so much! I hope you're doing well! I hope to hear from you soon! (You can email me now! :) )

Love,

Kenny Schank
(801) 546-0444
ksschank@gmail.com
elderschank.blogspot.com

P.S. The phone number above is my phone number; I don't have a cell phone.
P.P.S. The blog site above is still running. (It contains all of my weekly email updates.) Due to the size of the files, there will be more pictures included on the blog than on the emails.

Week 61: Good bye (for now) North Carolina!

Hello, friends and family!

This week was a wonderful week. It was a hard one, too. I'll start with the happy stuff.

On Friday we had an awesome zone leader/district leader training meeting. We were instructed by President Bernhisel as well as Bro. Watson and Bro. Wade from the proselyting division of the missionary department of the Church. It was so good! Some of the things they taught us completely changed my mission! Bro. Watson, who is the director of the proselyting division, was really good at speaking and motivating us, but it was the topic that really brought the Spirit. He focused everything on the Doctrine of Christ (faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and taught us how everything that Jesus Christ taught (and that we should teach) points back to the Doctrine of Christ. I wish I could have recorded it because it was amazing. At least I took 4 full pages of notes. It was awesome.

Saturday was a great day as well: I got to baptize Trevaughn, the 9-year old boy we've been teaching. It was so great. It was awesome to see how many members of the ward came to support him even though he's really young. It was probably the first time his mom, Yvonne, set foot in a LDS church building in a really long time. Among the people there to support him were Angie, his step-sister; Tristan, her boyfriend; and one of our other investigators, Lynette. Lynette loved the service and seems to be even more excited to be baptized herself. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom in a lesson right after the lesson and she is excited to receive the blessings promised for obedience to that commandment. Following the lesson she watched the Relief Society general broadcast and loved that, as well.

It was also a hard week because I had to say goodbye to a lot of people I love. Sunday was fast and testimony meeting (because of general conference this coming weekend) and after Trevaughn's confirmation I wanted to bear my testimony one last time to the people I've been serving around and with for the last 7 and a half months. As I sat on the stand and waited for my turn to speak, I looked out over the congregation and saw all the people I have come to love---members and investigators included. I had planned to only let them know that I was getting transferred because I didn't want a lot of attention, but as I began to share my testimony, the Spirit prompted me to briefly explain the whole situation of me returning home to resolve medical issues. It was hard to hold back my emotions and I realized really how much I love these people! As I shared the short story and testified of the truth, the congregation, little children included, went completely silent and I felt the Spirit again confirming to me that I'm doing the right thing in going home for a time. After sacrament meeting, a man who we helped return to activity and his still-semi-returning-to-activity wife came to tell me goodbye. I had only really spoken with her once or twice, but she had tears in her eyes and thanked me for sharing my story with her because it had really spoken to her. Her husband said that he didn't want to come to church that day, but his wife told him that they needed to go (it's usually the other way around). I'm grateful that she followed her prompting that she needed to be at church and that I was able to receive a prompting to share something that could strengthen her testimony.

Aside from that confrontation with that couple, though, I almost regretted having shared the whole story with the congregation because I got a lot of attention in the halls and classes after sacrament meeting. I felt very, very loved, though, by the Hope Mills 1st ward. Several people wanted to exchange hugs, handshakes, and/or contact information. A lot of people spoke comforting words and I was able to say goodbye to some people we've been working with that I probably won't be able to see again. One priest even gave me a hug and told me that I was his second favorite missionary ever (I'll take it)! I was touched by how much the ward showed love toward me, including people I didn't think I knew that well. I feel, though, that the Hope Mills 1st ward and many of the people in it have made it into a special place in my heart.

After church a drunk kid tried to break into our car. Luckily, Steve, who got baptized the week before Trevaughn, saw him, stopped him, took his knife from him, helped him calm down, and got the police to come pick him up. Go, Steve! :)

That's about it! After this I'm going to pack up some stuff and I head out on Wednesday. You can reach me by email at kennyschank@gmail.com (if I remember correctly). See you soon, and make sure you watch General Conference! I promise it will be worth it!

With love,

Elder Schank

Week 60: See you soon...

Hello friends and family!

It's been a great week. Steve, Karen, and Carlie were all baptized! It was awesome. So many people came that it almost filled the chapel! Elder Simmons and I were asked to give the talk on baptism, which was pretty interesting because 1) I'm not used to team teaching behind a pulpit into a microphone and 2) it's weird giving a talk, not teaching a lesson. WAY different. They are going to be such strong members, I can really tell.

Left to Right: Me, Elder Simmons, Carlie, Karen, Steve, Bob Hales, Chris Fuhriman, Sister Brown, Elder Brown

Things are going well with many of the investigators. We lost 3 this week (due to the baptism) but the Lord brought us 7 more people to teach this week.

A family of 4 former investigators called us out of the blue and asked if we could come over and talk to them because they've been going through a really tough time. When we went to teach them, they were all there, plus a fifth person. They live in really humble circumstances in a dangerous pocket of town. They have been humbled a lot because of recent trials and they are much more prepared to receive the word. In fact, they all have accepted to work towards November 10th to be baptized. The biggest problem was they were going to get evicted. We shared some comforting scriptures with them from 3 Nephi 13 and promised them that the Lord would take care of them if they were to make Him their priority. After we returned to our apartment, we prayed long and hard for a miracle to be provided for this family. Turns out that a few days later they were evicted. For a few days, they had to live in a broken car. But when we called them again to check on them a few days later, they were back in their trailer again and things worked out to where they can still live there! I know that the Lord was behind it.

Another man we taught, Kevin, was the husband of an inactive woman. When we first met him last week, he asked us "Who is Jesus?" That's always a bad sign; everyone in the South knows who Jesus is, so we knew he wasn't asking us out of curiosity but to test us. I guess our first answer was good enough for him so we were able to set up an appointment to meet with him again. As we met at the appointed time, he pulled out a really nice pamphlet out of his Bible that was called "Christianity: Cults & Religions". Here we go! He started reading what the pamphlet said "Mormons" believe and---I'm not gonna lie---there was some pretty ridiculous, border-line blasphemous stuff in there. We were able to set him straight and he was willing to accept the truth. He's a really staunch Baptist with an impressive knowledge of the Bible, and he says he will know if the Book of Mormon is true if it doesn't contradict the Bible, so I'm not worried. It will be interesting and probably pretty difficult to help him understand the truth, but once he joins the Church he will be a super solid member. We have high hopes for him, especially because there were several times were he said, "My church teaches this, but I believe it's more like this..." and those things that he believes that digress from his church's teachings are actually more in line with the truth.

The final person we found this week was Lynette's daughter, Victoria. Lynette had a great time at church and got emotional during Sunday school and Relief Society. She is just eating it all up! She loves the new knowledge she is gaining from the restored gospel. Victoria seemed a little overwhelmed during our lesson because her mom had a lot of questions that wouldn't make sense to anyone without a little bit of a background, but she said she'd read from the Book of Mormon and meet with us again. I think she also has really high potential.

David is doing really well. He had to go to the hospital again this week because his "stump" is acting up again. But ever since that spiritual experience he had he's known that the Church is true and that he needs to be baptized, so that's given him a greater reason to live the Word of Wisdom. He's been tobacco free for over a week now! We usually don't baptize people unless they've been living the law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom for the last three weeks or more, so he should still be ok to be baptized 13 October.

Trevaughn, our nine-year old investigator, is excited to get baptized this weekend. I think his step-sister Angie is jealous because she has to wait till October since we haven't taught her as much as we have him. He asked me to perform the ordinance on Saturday and I look forward to it. It's going to be a stressful evening---there's a baptism in the other ward right before Trevaughn's, then right after the baptism we're teaching Lynette and Victoria, and we have to make sure to end at 7:30 so that they can make it to the ice cream social the sisters in the ward are having before the Relief Society General Conference broadcast at 8---but I'm excited!

Yep, things are going great here in Hope Mills. I love this place. The work is just so amazing!

So... if you're observant like my Dad, you would have noticed that the subject for last week's email said "The Best and Worst Week". I told you why it was the best, but I forgot to tell you what I meant by "the worst." Last week was the worst week as far as pain goes. When we weren't teaching a lesson, or planning or making phone calls, I was pretty much laying on the floor trying to find some relief. That made me think a lot about what the Lord wants me to do about it. Over the last two weeks, through inspiration I received in the House of the Lord, while at stake conference, and through personal prayer, I feel that I received an answer from Him. My thoughts and feelings began to be inclined towards the idea of going home to seek out physical therapy and return to the mission field once the problem is resolved. This wasn't in accordance with my will, but as I thought about all the reasons in the past that I didn't want to leave, a quiet and peaceful reassurance came into my heart as if Someone was saying "Don't worry about it; it's going to work out." I have a testimony that God answers the prayers of His children. It doesn't come all at once, and it never comes without work. But through diligent prayer, fasting, and real intent---including submitting my will to God---I was able to gain the answer I was looking for. I know that it is an answer from God, and because of that I am not afraid or even upset to do what He wants me to do. Why would I rather yield to my own desires than to the will of God? I would be a fool to think that I have a greater idea of what lies ahead than does my Heavenly Father. And so I will be returning to Utah on October 3rd (9 days). While I'm not afraid or upset, it still is a very hard decision and I am going to miss working here and being a missionary a lot. I am looking forward to returning soon to the mission field to complete my mission. I hope it's soon, "but if not" (Daniel 3:18)... not my will, but the Lord's be done (see Luke 22:42)!

So... yeah! I know it's probably pretty surprising and all-of-a-sudden. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all.

I love you all and hope to hear from you soon! (If you send a letter after Wednesday it would probably be best to send it to:

726 Mill Shadow Dr.
Kaysville, UT 84037.

With love,

Elder Schank

Week 59: The Best and Worst Week

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