What
a week! This was Sister White's last week on the mission so we got to
work at all four sites, plus I went on exchange TWICE this week. It
has been an adventure. Probably the best day of the week was
Valentines day. I got to be companions with Sister Wall for the day
up in Fairport, because we had plans to attend Tina and Keith's
wedding! They are both recent(ish) converts from Irondequoit, and it
was such a tender experience to be able to see everyone from that
ward and to see Tina & Keith so happy. The Spirit was actually
really strong, which I don't know that I expected (they were married
civilly, because Keith has been a member for under a year and I
expect because Tina was recently sealed to her deceased husband
Bruce). It was awesome! I also got to sit in on a baptismal interview
done by our mission president with one of Sister Wall's investigators
that day. Her name is Jenn and I was blown away by her faith. Her
husband has been a less-active member since he was a child but she
decided that even though he's not fully back on board yet, she knows
it's true and she's going to live it. Wow. Oh, we also had a really
awesome lesson with Christine this week. She has a 17-y.o. family
friend named Gabby sit in on the lesson and by the end of the night,
both Christine AND Gabby had a baptismal date for March 9. She is a
little nervous but she KNOWS Joseph Smith is a prophet and the Spirit
has really changed her. Gabby kept saying things like "I have
never felt this way before... yes, I believe everything you taught."
I am excited to teach them again this week! Oh also, I think I talked
maybe last week about Kristy and her daughter Abbey. Since it was
Sister White's last Sunday, Kristy came to church this week (even
though she'd been up all night delivering papers). The last time she
was in the chapel was at her mom's funeral (her mom died like the day
before she was supposed to be baptized), and she felt really close to
her there. She has been studying a ton since then and is ready to
really get moving to progress toward her own baptism and especially
Abbey's (her own will be harder because she's living with her fiancé
and their wedding date is in like 5 years. This is pretty typical of
NY it seems.)
So,
we have a little bit of news this week... first off I went to a GI
specialist on Thursday and he said my symptoms are weird and don't
directly point to reflux (which I could have told him, that's why I
was at a specialist), but that it's probably not dangerous to my
health since cardiac has been ruled out. Because I'm still in daily
pain, he suggested I get an upper endoscopy, so I am scheduled for
one of those on March 7. It sounds like a not-a-big-deal kind of
procedure, and I am ready to get this figured out, so that should be
good.
The
other news is, I found out Wednesday night that I am training again!
We have 20 missionaries coming out this transfer, and more like 30
coming out in 5 weeks, so LOTS of people will be training pretty
soon. This time around, only 2 of the 20 are sisters. So my new
companion is either Sister Day from AZ, or Sister Van Geenen from The
Netherlands. Your guess is as good as mine! The other sister trainer
is Sister Larsen; she's with Sister Wall right now so her comp is
also going home, and she came out with me so we have the same amount
of time left. She served with Sister Aiello in the other area of the
Canandaigua ward right before I got here, so we can't really make a
good guess either way. Sister Larsen and I are pretty different, so
it will be interesting to see what happens once President meets our
new comps (they are on a plane to NY RIGHT NOW!) Pray for them. And
me :) I'm a tiny bit nervous but mostly excited. Training was really
hard last time, and I still feel like I'm new to this area, but the
Lord makes it work and I am excited just to get back to basics and
end my mission with some serious work and missionary fire :) The Lord
knows just what we need and when.
Okay,
more to catch up on my area: We met with a young woman (mid-20s)
named Brianna who has been less-active for the entirety of her adult
life. Found out that her sister is getting married int he temple this
summer and she's really upset she can't go. It is sounding like she
is willing to meet with us weekly to see if she wants to change
things and prepare herself to be able to go. How awesome would that
be? Especially if her husband became interested... she is a really
sweet girl, and the gospel would really help her raise her young
family. I am excited for her :) Likewise, we taught a less-active
family named Rotz last night. They are really busy but are looking
for more direction and purpose in life. They know the gospel is the
right way to live but are just a little overwhelmed with all of it...
But the Spirit is already working on them, and they are a really
wonderful family. I get the feeling I am really going to come to love
and become close with them.
Love
you all a million!
Sister
Schank <3
Love you all a million!
Sister Schank <3
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Here is a picture from a really magical day a week and a half ago in the grove. Pictures don't do it justice, but it snowed and there was no wind and it turned out to be beautiful.
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