week 29

Dear friends and family,

Updates here: We got transfer calls last night, and everyone in my apartment is staying! That was a surprise, I was pretty sure I would be leaving (I've been here for 6 months now and Sis Aiello is done training), or at least that I'd get a new companion, but apparently I have more to learn. My first reaction was that I'm not sure if I can do this—I love Sis Aiello but it has been a roller-coaster couple of transfers as we learn together, and my expectations were for a more-experienced missionary to help me learn. But I woke up this morning, and just felt it—it's going to be a good transfer :) (Actually, the transfer ends with pageant, so it will be doubly excellent!) I finally feel like we understand each other's personalities, and we are getting to be friends, and I guess the Lord wants to use that, which in retrospect makes sense. She is teaching me to make sauce next week. :) We also ate gelato this week... pistachio is still the best flavor. :) And we did a musical number together Wednesday night... Il Mattino Era Sereno, which is Joseph Smith's First Prayer in Italian. My pronunciation is getting good ;) The Book of Mormon has also been a huge blessing to our companionship. We are reading it together as a mission starting a couple of weeks ago. By the end of this week I think we'll be into Words of Mormon or so. Reading together has really helped to unify us.

As far as my health situation goes... so I went to the doctor last week, and she thinks I have a disease called GERD (very lady-like-sounding, I know :P). It stands for Gastro-Esophogeal Reflux Disease or something like that, and is basically just acid-reflux. You have this little valve called a sphincter in-between your esophagus and stomach, and it is normally closed except when you swallow, which keeps your stomach acid inside your stomach. But sometimes things can keep it open... a hernia, a certain type of bacteria, or even stress. And then acid can splash up into your esophagus and start eroding it away. If this erosion continues, it can turn into an ulcer. Obviously the erosion is not a really pleasant thing for your esophagus, and it can sometimes cause esophageal spasms. Because you have a lot of nerves that wrap around your chest, this can cause chest pains and/or numbness all over your upper torso, which may feel like a cardiac event even though it has nothing to do with your heart. Aaaanyway, they put me on omeprazole, which is reflux medication. I'm taking the meds daily for the next month, and then I have a follow-up visit to see if that solved the problem. I also had some blood drawn last week for a H. Pylori antibody test... H. Pylori is a bacterium that can hold that sphincter open, and it would actually be good news if the test came back positive, because there is medication to eradicate the bacteria, which would be a total cure. If that's not the problem but it is GERD, I will probably just have to take a once-a-day pill indefinitely. So overall, pretty doable either way. I'm hoping that they have found the problem and it will be fixed soon. In the meantime, I have just appreciated being able to assume it's a gastrointesinal problem so I can exercise hard again.

Gotta run... love you all! <3
Sister Schank

Week 28

Hi friends and family!

Lots of things to talk about this week...they may or may not end up coming out in any sort of coherent order. Here goes:

Went to the cardiologist for probably the last time this week. I have taken pretty much all of the minimally-invasive tests they have and they all look good. We are almost certain it's not my heart, which is excellent news! The less-exciting news is that we still don't know what's going on. So, back to primary care this week. I'm still feeling pain but I am very functional and honestly getting used to it, so not too worried. I'll keep you updated if/when we find out more. Thanks again for all of your prayers; I am really grateful for how well my body is holding up. :)

I was at the Joseph Smith Farm this week, and a group of young adults came in. Not only do they live at Alta apartments (where I lived last summer) and know Amber Feigleson, but I quickly found out that one of them was Heidi Dymmock! Mom and dad, I don't know whether you still keep in touch with their family, but I haven't heard anything from them in about 12 years, so that was fun. :)

We got to go to the temple this last Friday. It was really wonderful!  I love the temple so much!! It is totally worth any sacrifice we can make to get there. While I was in the temple, I was overcome by a feeling of gratitude---for the covenants the Lord is willing to make with us, for the restored gospel and priesthood so that we can make those covenants in this day and age, for family members that keep their covenants and thereby bless my life daily, and for those who do family history work and submit names to the temple so I can go there, even though I am a busy missionary and can't do my own family history work right now. I totally want to get into family history work when I get off my mission. Mom, hold me to that. ;)

The site missionaries are transitioning into using a cool tool called the online area book more. We used to use it only for the people we contacted through chat, but now we are using it for all referrals and people we contact through the sites/pageant. Eventually, every missionary will transition into using an online area book in their proselyting area instead of a physical binder, but I think that is at least a few years off. It is very cool to see the ways the church is utilizing media and technology to help the work roll forward.

Being a missionary in the summer time is awesome. People in general are happier, more available, and easier to contact. And especially in this mission, summer means pageant time! Pageant is about 6 weeks away, but that is not very much time at all. All the wards are talking about it, we have flyers and pass-along cards galore, and the Hill Cumorah Visitors center has a new display of costumes from past pageants in celebration of the 75th anniversary year. I am really excited to see how busy the sites get...since I came out in December, I have spent a lot of time studying in an empty visitors center, but no more! At least for awhile. It will be tiring, but excellent. :)

Things are going really great with my companionship this week. We are both making adjustments and are starting to really click and actually become friends. She has been really applying herself lately and studying really hard, and I am working on being less selfish and just reaching out and showing my love. We are learning a lot from each other. A couple of times, she has asked if I have always been this strictly obedient lol. She has also had opportunity to call me out on being irritable every once in awhile. We are finding a good balance where we can be effective but still have fun together and learn about each other and just love each other. It is helping us to teach and plan in more unity, and also I think to love those that we teach even more.

Okay running out of time but last thing. I read the BEST conference talk this week... you need to check it out. It's called Jesus the Christ: Our Master and More (click on link to view talk) and I'm pretty sure it was April 2000 conference by Elder Nelson. Excellent address; I learned a lot from it and it really affected me.



Love,
Christa <3

Week 27

Okaaaay, it's been a really busy week and my time is cut this week because of the holiday so this is going to be a little bit of a whirlwind. Here goes:

-Zone conference: We had zone conference in the sacred grove and at the base of the Hill Cumorah this week. SO COOL! We got to just spend 30 minutes on our own in the Sacred Grove to pray and study and get some questions answered...highly recommended. I ended up playing More Holiness Give Me as a piano solo for the musical number, and despite my really shaky hands I did okay (big blessing!) The best part of zone conference I think was actually after it ended. My companion was worried about some things and we asked President Christianson if she could get a blessing. I came with her to kind of translate her concerns and so after her blessing, he asked if I wanted one. It was one of the most amazing blessings I've ever had. He promised me added patience (everyone who knows me knows I could always use that!) He blessed me with the gift of tongues to communicate and understand. He told me that my sins had been forgiven...I know that the sacrament really does apply the atonement to our lives, but hearing someone say that out loud has really impacted me. He also told me that I would run and not be weary and walk and not faint. This brings me to my next "point":

-Health: I hadn't been able to run more than half a mile in over a month. Until that blessing. The next morning I woke up and ran a mile and a half. Miracle! I know that all of your prayers are helping as well; thank you thank you!! I am still feeling daily pain but I am definitely functional. I had a stress test today, which is where they hook you up to a million things and then put you on a treadmill and keep increasing the speed and incline until you have to stop. Still a little sore from that, but doing okay. I talk to the cardiologist about results on Thursday. I am improving, and trying not to think about it too much.

-Sunday night fireside: Alex Boye came out and did I fireside on Sunday, and I got to go! I actually shook his hand :) It was really good; he has a lot of talent and especially a lot of passion for the gospel and the atonement.

Aaaah that time went way way too fast! Memorial day was great...and I need to go. Sorry. I love you all so much; thanks again for your prayers. I'll try to write more next week.

Love, Christa

Week 26

Hi friends and family!

Before I forget.....PICTURES!

Bro. and Sis Williams (from my home ward) came to visit the Smith Farm

The morning of my 22nd birthday (Sister Madsen made coffee cake for breakfast from SCRATCH!)

Me and my b-day loot

Me in a cute hospital gown when I got my CAT scan 
(CAT scans sound scary, so this picture is so you can see that 
I look okay and like I feel great!)

Keith's baptism! (Sis Aiello, Sis Madsen, Sis Wall, Tina, Keith, Sis Clark, me.)

Okay, most of these I think have been explained in previous emails, but let me catch you up on a few things. Baptism first. Tina got baptized on Christmas Eve and is on fire. She made a LOT of life changes, and she is awesome. She takes really great care of the missionaries. She started bringing a friend, Keith O'Neill, to church probably in February or March. So fast-forward to May. He got baptized this last Saturday, and they are getting married on Friday! It seems to have happened kind of quickly, but I am really excited for them. Tina's husband passed away 3 years ago and Keith has 4 kids but has never been married. And they will be really great for each other. Yay for weddings!

Health update next. I am still feeling varying amounts of pain on a daily basis, but there aren't really any other symptoms. I had an echocardiogram this week, which is just a fancy name for an ultrasound of your heart. It was weird but kind of cool to see my heart beating on the monitor. I saw my cardiologist Thursday, and he said that my echo, EKG, and CAT scan all came back clear. So it's not something serious like a blood clot in my lungs, or fluid around my heart or anything crazy like that. Which is good. The only bad news is that we still don't really know what's going on. He was going to send me back to my primary care physician, but I asked him about whether I was allowed to run and mentioned that running is painful. So he said there is one last test I need to take. :P It's called a stress test, and it's the one where you have to run on a treadmill... yeah, that's pretty much all I know about it. Anyway, it's next week. In the meantime, I am taking lots of ibuprofen and doing a lot of ab work and speedwalking in the mornings instead of running, or after running a short distance. So... I won't know much else for a couple of weeks.

This is going to be a big week. Not only is the wedding on Friday, but we have zone conference. In the Sacred Grove. Pretty cool, right? Well the morning half is in the Sacred Grove anyway, and then we will move to a chapel for the afternoon. And I found out this weekend that I'm the only one in the zone with musical inclination and so could I please figure out a musical number for Tuesday...by myself. Aaah! That would not be a problem if I was really good or well-practiced or anything...but as it stands, I'm a little nervous. I decided to do that piano solo of More Holiness Give Me in that little black book we made, dad. It meeds a little brushing up but is pretty simple, so hopefully it will go fine. Ha, pray for me!

I know you already are praying for me. Thank you so much. Things are going about as well as they ever have with my companionship, and with my area as well. I am loving the sites. I love you all very much and miss you, but I am so glad to be here! Gotta run. >3!!!

Christa

Week 25

I am emailing a little late today because we just got back from the Lilac Festival in downtown Rochester. Normally, there are hundreds of different lilac bushes in the park, but it was really warm and then froze over again this year so they were all gone. But we mostly went for the food anyway. There is this place in Rochester called Nick Tahous that coined the "garbage plate." they are very popular around here but no one makes them quite the same as Nick's. It is mac salad and home fries with hot dogs or hamburgers on top covered in a hot meat sauce, served with bread. Super greasy and bad for you, but surprisingly delicious! Nick's is in kind of a shady part of town (most people go at like 3 AM after drinking all night), so it was fun to get one at the festival in a safe environment. We also got frozen custard, yum! Tina Klein took us. She got baptized two days before I flew out to NY and she is AWESOME. She used to ride with a really crazy biker gang and was into drugs and violence and heaven knows what else, but she has really turned her life around. She actually just got engaged (she was widowed a few years ago) to one of her friends from high school, who is getting baptized into our ward on Saturday! Exciting stuff.

We taught the Franks yesterday, and it went well. Both girls that we'd taught before were there, Hailey (16) and Jamie (11). They are starting to pray and we taught them about the Book of Mormon.  We also have high hopes to start teaching a JW man named Victor this week, possibly with his gf and/or adult daughter. He got disfellowshipped from the Witnesses like 12 years ago when his wife died because he kind of went off the deep end, but he's cleaned himself up a lot. He has a lot of faith, and it will be interesting to see whether he sincerely wants to learn and change. He is a really cool guy, and I like his daughter Michelle as well. I hope it works out. :)

THANK YOU all so much for your prayers. Things are going a lot better with Sister Aiello. Still stressful, but we can at least communicate with each other almost 100% of the time. MIRACLES are happening. I firmly believe that we are both being influenced by the gift of tongues, because there are a lot of times when I shouldn't be able to understand her based on what she is actually saying in English, but I somehow know what she means. Her English is improving drastically as well, and she is starting to communicate effectively with other people, which is a blessing for both of us. I can feel all of your prayers and I know that I could not do any of this without the Lord's help, so THANK YOU thank you. God is so good. :)

New York is beautiful this time of year. Not quite as green as NC, but beyond anything I've ever seen out west. Today is was abut 70 degrees and overcast, with just a little humidity. PERFECT. I am loving it. I keep catching myself saying things like "all set" and driving like a New Yorker (don't worry mom, I follow the speed limit EXACTLY.) I really like it here. :)

Oh, I had a CAT scan this week. They put you on like a gurney thing and give you an IV with contrast dye in it to expand your arteries and make your blood stand out on the scan. It is the weirdest feeling because it makes your warm everywhere, almost like you wet your pants. Then you hold your breath and they pass you through this circular thing that takes a bunch of 3D pictures of your lungs while you hold your breath. Anyway, I passed. No blood clots, hooray!

Gotta run, but I love you all so much!!! TTyl <3

Week 24

Hi everyone! First of all, soso excited to talk to my family on Sunday!  Second, did you see the CES broadcast last night?! It was awesome. I am RIGHT THERE in The Sacred Grove all the time! In fact, I will be there tomorrow... I actually went on tour with Bob Parrott shortly after Elder Jensen did... sneak preview. Everyone should watch it, it made me feel a little closer to my loved ones back home to know they would get to see a little peek of a place that is so close to my heart (and physical proximity). Someday we will all have to go to the Sacred Grove together. <3

Here is the link to watch the broadcast.

May 2012 CES Devotional: Elder Marlin K. Jensen

My health is doing alright. I had the flu or something this week and threw up, but feeling all better from that. My cardiologist appt is Wednesday, so I will update you Sunday. So excited to talk to you then!

Last thought---we had a training this week about how angels are all around us, as well as the Holy Ghost inside us. Look for them this week! I know they are there, including grandpa.

Love you! <3

Week 23

Well, it has been an eventful week. Let's see what I can cover:

Health: I got my hospital results back. Chest x-ray was normal. Blood work--- low creatin and vitamin D levels. I'm on a prescription strength weekly vitamin D pill for the next 3 weeks. Not much we can do about creatin except drink more water (I already drink SO MUCH). I have a "just in case" cardiology appointment on May 9. My doctor doesn't think it's my heart, but wants to be extra sure. I am feeling MUCH better, but still having chest discomfort. Mostly just tightness. I'm sleeping fine and all of that, and I don't have any other symptoms, but my mission pres' wife has banned me from running until my appointment (probably best, but LAME). Thanks for your prayers. They help. :)

Birthday: My birthday was excellent! I felt so celebrated :) I got sung to many times, got to give a tour to a friend-of-a-friend at the sites, my roommate made me coffee cake for breakfast, and I got a package from home right on time. I had lots of cards to open and we had a late-night birthday party complete with games, presents, and more cake.

Transfers: Since this isn't first of the list you can probably guess, but Sister Aiello and I are both staying in Webster for another 6 weeks. We are getting a new roommate though. Sister Wall and I have gotten really close, so I'm REALLY sad she's leaving for Pittsford, but we'll still see her around. Our new roommate is Sister Clark, and she flew out with me. She is from TX and is really nice. She is probably moving into my apartment as we speak (type?)

My area: The biggest news from my area this week is that we started teaching the Frank family. The mom is less-active and her records weren't even in our ward, but we learned about them from some other missionaries and fixed that problem. She has 5 kids and a husband who are all non-members. And we have started teaching them! Awesome :) We are doing a lot of less-active work now that the ward is trying to implement the Perry plan, but that's good because not only can we strengthen members but it's a great way to find new investigators. :)

Community service: We also started volunteering at the Hope House this week. It is a place where struggling families and individuals can get food, clothing, etc so they don't lose their homes. It is a lot of fun to serve in a different way, and a good way to meet people in our area.

I think that's about all the updates I'll have time for today, but it's been a fun week.

Love ya all! <3

Sister Schank