Hello again from Western New York.
It has been an incredible, packed week! Saturday morning we got to go to the temple as a district. I LOVE THE TEMPLE! And there is a special place in my heart for the one here in Palmyra. Then we went to lunch. Sister Dimick split me a junk plate, mmmm upstate NY. :) Then a BEAUTIFUL walk though the grove (it's turning green!), and a shift at the Smith farm. And then a dinner appointment. Could you ask for a more perfect day?
Sunday was just about as good. we barely had time for studies because we were so busy with church, teaching appointments, and a baptism! I don't know if I told you about Rebeca, who got baptized last month (not our investigator but still our ward), but her excommunicated husband got rebaptized Sunday after church! There was a lot of support there and President Christianson even spoke. Sister Killen sang a solo of Come Thou Fount that I accompanied/arranged. It turned out to be really beautiful. Since Monday, we have been SO BUSY with meetings and the sites. Sister van Geenen is training and we had meetings for that, and we helped someone clean their house because they are moving, and we were able to teach Lizz and Carol as well. Both are doing great. Steve is doing notsogood, still coming to church but we aren't teaching him anymore :/ I worked my LAST shift at the Hill Cumorah yesterday, SAD! I love that place. Luckily I was smart enough to forget my planner there (I have been so forgetful this week!), so we will have to go back. :D It was nice though, I spent some time studying in the Christus room... the peace there is incredible. It is thick and real.
Oh! I almost forgot, guess who came to our Wednesday night site meeting—Don Enders and Gordon Madsen. No big deal, right? Dad, you might be the only ones who knows who they are, but basically everything we know about the Joseph Smith family during their time in Palmyra is because of research done by Bro Enders. He was the one who did the archaeological dig for the log home, etc. Basically, he knows everything you could know about the site I give tours of every week. Bro Madsen is a top-guy working on the Joseph Smith papers. Haha, I'm probably a dork for being so excited about getting to hear from these men, but it was so cool! It is interesting to me how much they make a point to defend the Smith family and their work ethic.
Oh, speaking of, we also got to go on a tour this week from Bob Parrott (the man who cares for the grove/Hill/all the trees a the sacred sites) of the temple grounds. He's not a member so he can't say much about the temple itself but the grounds are on the west end of the original Smith property and it took over two hours to learn about some of the detail there that connect us to the family. We got to see the original rock boundary wall that they built. So much skill and work involved! Also a well dug by the Smiths. And the place where the original pageant was performed. And a couple of places where you can look out at the whole farm. It's so cool to see how talented and driven the Smith family really was. You get a feeling for their personalities as you spend time really observing their work. I love the Smith family.
So because Don Enders showed up kind of last-minute, our normal weekly site meeting got bumped to Thursday (last night). Your last site meeting is kind of a big deal, because it's the last time you'll get to see most of the site Elders and Sisters we've worked with so closely. So they have you bear your testimony, and a lot of times the sisters leaving will do a musical number. Sister Brown is awesome and arranged a BEAUTIFUL version of I Need Thee Every Hour. We had performed it Wednesday for the Don Enders meeting but the site director asked us to do it again last night. I had been fine when I sung it Wednesday because I'd heard it for the first time less than an hour before and I was focused on singing the right notes at the right time. But last night, I really thought about the words. Haha, big mistake. I was singing the first verse solo so luckily that went okay. Then we started with the words "I need the every hour, stay Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh." I totally lost it. I haven't cried at all about leaving, but I realized in that moment that the hardest thing for me won't be leaving the sites, or the culture, or even the people, (as much as I love all of those things)... it will be leaving the call to represent Jesus Christ and have Him "nearby" so constantly. But, I know that the Spirit isn't a magical thing you get with a missionary call. It comes by keeping covenants. And even though I'll have to be a lot more "in the world" next week (scary!), I'll be okay if I just stick with those covenants. Which is the master plan :)
The rest of site meeting was good. We were actually trained on a new way of doing referrals at the sites that our mission is piloting. It was developed by Sister Raines (the one I'm planning on living with at BYU) and her companion, and immediately approved by Salt Lake. It focuses on "teaching the members how to fish" but getting THEIR contact info rather than their friends', and inviting them to invite their friends to act, then following up. Brilliant! We are giving members tools to learn how to be missionaries themselves instead of doing it for them. I'll only have 3 days to see it in force, but I am excited to hear how it changes things.
I feel so blessed to be a servant of the Lord here in the Rochester mission. I know that this was the right place for me, at the right time, and I'm so grateful to the Lord, who chose me to be here, now (John 15:16). I also know that He still has a plan for me, and even though I don't have the perspective to see how all of this will work out, He does. And that is enough.
This gospel is true! This is Jesus Christ's Church. He loves us enough that He restored the knowledge, authority, and ordinances necessary for us to have help in this life and to live with our families forever. Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration; Thomas Monson is God's prophet today. I love this work! It is God's work, and it is one of joy. The Book of Mormon is God's word. When I read that Book, I feel a light on my soul that doesn't come any other way. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, and He has power to forgive sins on Earth and in Heaven. And to strengthen us to do better. He lives. I love Him. And I love each of you! I will see you soon!!
Love you forever and a day,
Sister Schank
