Welcome Home Elder Schenk!!!

Tuesday morning, May 29th, Britten woke with a smile on his face. He raised his arms in the air and said

"Lets go home!!"

After spending 75 days in the hospital, Nurses, therapist, and Doctors came to say their goodbyes. Britten gave them hugs and a "thumbs up" as we walked out the doors, grateful to our Father in Heaven to be going home.

Not knowing how Britten would feel after the long ride, and so as to not overwhelm him, a few friends and family were called the last minute to welcome him home. And what a great Welcome Home it was!!

    When we approached our street, a few neighborhood kids waved and cheered as we drove by. Elder Schenk smiled and gave them a big "thumbs up". As we pulled into the driveway he saw family and friends standing there cheering for him and said "What the heck?!" He was so surprised! His face radiated with pure joy to be home.

Prayers of gratitude filled our hearts as many embraced Elder Schenk. Smiles, tears, and hugs were shared. Words cannot express the feelings felt that night.

We are grateful for the friendships made in Brazil, and the wonderful people that saw to our needs there. While in SLC, many family members brought in food, gave up a good nights rest to stay with Britt, and cared for our needs in every way.  Our Ward, family, neighbors, and community watched over our family, giving us peace of mind knowing all was well at home.  We are so appreciative to all for the love and support we have felt.  The Lord has showered many blessings on our family.

Elder Schenk has far exceeded every Doctor's expectation for him.  He has many therapies ahead of him, but with his tenacity, determination, positive attitude, and blessings from above, we know he will succeed.

Muito Bem!!!

We hope to continue to post updates on Britten at least once a week.

Thank you again for your prayers.

We love you!

The Schenk Family

Our Savior's Love

After Steven's beautiful post, it reminded me why I love him so much.  His strong testimony, love for the gospel and his Savior,  has been a strength in our home.  It is easy to forget our spouse in our busy lives with work, chasing kids, and church.  But through this experience we have rekindled our love for each other, relyed on each other, as we have trusted the Lord.  I  too have felt like a child, submissive, humble and very dependent on our Heavenly Father.  I told a friend today, that I never want this feeling to go away.  I have felt our Saviors love, every day!

* I'm sorry, I've tried for hours to get this to rotate!

The last 4 days have had a lot of up's and down's for Britt. In the morning's he has been battling being nausaes. Yesterday and today he started having seizure like activity again. We think they are being brought on by a certain medication for nausea. So we hope they will subside, as the medication gets out of his system.

We have been grateful for better afternoon's, as Britten has been able to "Welcome Home" some of his good friends from their mission. The joy and delight on his face radiates as his friends stop by the hospital, on their way home from the airport. Their embrace was priceless! The Spirit filled the room as they laughed and enjoyed catching up. Britten's  life has been blessed over the years, with so many amazing friends!

Last night Elder Schenk had a remarkable thing happen. As he was getting ready for bed his Dad asked him a question.  Britt responded in Portuguese. Steven said, "what"? Britt responded again with two simple sentences in Portuguese. Britt's eyes got big and he said, "Did you just hear that? I can't believe that I just said that"! Thrill and excitement over came the three of us. All night, Britt was practicing Portuguese! How elated we were to hear him speak some simple words and sentences, in a language that he has loved.

Britten has lived his life in a manner to invite the Spirit of the Savior to be with him. The Savior in return, stands with His arms open to demonstrate His love and appreciation for him. May we all invite the spirit into our lives, so we can feel our Savior's love.

Remarkable

Karla left the iPad at the hospital tonight, so It must be my turn to leave a post. It has been a while, as I have had the the night shift along with some of my siblings, since I have taken this opportunity. Many nights I watch Elder Schenk as he is sleeping and have a chance to ponder and think about this journey we have been on for 70 days now. We surely didn't intend on this being so public, as we mentioned before, Lora started this blog at the last minute before Karla and I departed for Brazil, as a way for our family to communicate. It has been a blessing to us and our family though, to have so much support and love in our time of need. I wish everyone in this world of ours that are going through hard times could feel the outpouring of love that we have felt. I have personally felt and been lifted up. When we covenant to mourn with those who mourn, bear one another's burdens, lighten others loads, comfort those who are in need of comfort and be of service to our brothers and sisters we are also blessed. That is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This journey has been so much easier for me because of each one of you and your prayers! Perhaps most of the comfort and peace I have felt has come from the Holy Spirit and from my Savior Jesus Christ. Someone said to me the other day, "with so many praying for Britten, Heavenly Father would have to hear their prayers and bless him." I have thought a lot about that. There are so many of our brothers and sisters around us, in this world, in this hospital, even many of you, who are fighting battles and struggling with trials of their own and don't have a public knowledge of thousands of friends and family praying for them. Our Father in Heaven is no respecter of persons, He has a perfect love for All of His children, whether they have a blog or not. He hears and answers each and every prayer and none carry any more weight because of volume. I'm sure that as we humble ourselves and become meek and submissive to His will, like a little child, our prayers mean more to Him. My prayers have changed. Thank you all for your prayers! Several people have commented that Btitten is a remarkable young man. He is, and yet soon I'm sure he will tell you himself that he is ordinary. What has made Britten "remarkable" is simply, his personal relationship that he has had with his Savior Jesus Christ and his understanding of and application of Jesus Christs atonement in his life from a very early age. That is really the only thing that could really make any of us "remarkable". As long as we make sure that we are on Jesus Christ's team there is no way that we can lose. Please pray for all who struggle! All our appreciation and love, the Schenks

A Cherished Opportunity

Elder Schenk has had 6 good days in a row...a well-deserved relief from all the difficulties associated with the accident.  Unfortunately, this morning he awoke with a migraine followed by nausea.  He was very uncomfortable all morning, but this didn't stop him from sharing his missionary spirit with his therapist.

He asked his speech therapist if she was one of us?  "What do you mean?" She inquired.  He asked if she was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  When she replied, "No", he asked what religion she belonged to and then asked what she liked about it.  He then genuinely invited her to attend our church and suggested that if she did, she would surely enjoy it. I could picture this tall, handsome, energetic Elder Schenk walking the dirt paths and busy roads of Brazil, eagerly chatting with whomever would glance his direction. I'm sure he was a fabulous missionary!!

This afternoon brought some relief from the headache and the nausea.  Then the real Britten came out.  He was laughing and joking and talking non-stop.  He shared his love for Brazil, his Mission President, his companions, and the people he met while there.  I loved listening to his mission stories.  Really, I simply loved being in Elder Schenk's presence--he is my hero!! This day was a cherished opportunity for his "Other Mother".  Trudy  

Attitude is Everything!

Today we had a consultation with a facial plastic surgeon for the reconstruction of several bones in Britten face. They included his eye socket, a shattered cheekbone, a broken nose, and several other fractures including around his ear. As the Doctor showed us the CT Scan and where all of the fractures were, we (including the Doctor) were amazed that all the bones were lined up where they needed to be. No surgery would be required for reconstruction. Only his broken nose will need to be fixed at a later date. My chest started to swell as I had a prayer in my heart, giving thanks once again to my Heavenly Father, for his tender mercy in Elder Schenk's behalf. Each day Britten gets stronger and stronger as he pushes himself in physical therapy. His goal is to be running this summer and I have no doubt that he will accomplish this. His Speech therapy is coming along as he try's to re-learn many words. It is incredible to me that he understands everything in Porteguese, but it is very frustrating to him that he is not able to come up with the words to speak it. I believe that in time that it will come back to him, as he pushes himself to learn. We appreciate Britt's great attitude as he try's his best to make his situation enjoyable. He loves teasing and joking with the nurses and gives everyone thumbs up or high-fives, as he passes them in the hall. He definetly puts a smile on everone's face! One of Britten's favorite quote is "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it". He is such a great example of this as he is trying the best he can to deal with his trials. Thank you again for all your love and support, as Britten is becoming more aware of things. He is in awe and speechless as we explain to him all the people that care and are praying for him. He loves for us to read the comments off the blog to him and it definetly lifts his spirit. Sending our love to you...Steven, Karla & Britten

Let your Light so Shine

This morning our family had the privilege of attending Sacrament meeting in the hospital Branch with Elder Schenk.  The spirit filled our hearts as we sat in our seats with Britten by our side, and listened to the prelude music.  The smiles on our faces radiated with love, for Elder Schenk,  for the gospel, for our Savior Jesus Christ, and for our loving Father in Heaven.      

The Branch President welcomed home Elder Schenk, who was serving in the Brazil Sao Paulo Mission.   Elder Schenk's face beamed with true joy and happiness to have served the Lord. A young women spoke on "Let your light so shine".  I couldn't help but think how Britten has been a wonderful example of this. We are SO proud of him! He amazes us with every step he takes. His determination and will power becomes stronger every day. Every moment with him he uplifts our spirits, strengthens our testimonies, and encourages us to do more and be better.

      We met another family in the hospital today who's 18 year old son has had similar surgeries to Britt. She wondered if Britten wouldn't mind stopping by her sons room to say hello. When Britt walked into that room, you could just feel the spirit radiate from him as he gave encouragement and hope to that young man. His missionary work never ceases to end.

      Britt's vision is still very limited. He can only see partially out of his left eye and even that comes and goes. If you can imagine trying to complete a simple task such as eating your lunch without being able to see. I'm sure the best of us would go crazy, but not Britten!  Most people that meet him probably don't know that he can't see them very well. He greets them with a big smile and a missionary's handshake.  He approaches every task that is presented to him with gusto and determination! We know that strength comes in numbers and we know that if it is God's will,  Britten's eyesight will return. We thank you for your continued prayers.

     

Today was the most amazing day we have spent with Britten since the accident.  Our family was together as we played ball, took a walk, and laughed till our sides hurt! It's amazing how steady Britt is on his feet. Words can't describe how wonderful it was to see him "shooting hoops" with his brothers! For that reason we have decided to let him show off a bit for you all tonight.

   

We love you and continually thank you for all your prayers, love, and support.

"Let your Light so Shine."

Love,
Karla & Lora

**note: video does not work with iphone or ipad (sorry!)**

Blessings From Above!

What a blessing it is for me to be with Britten tonight and report that he has had 3 good days in a row! Steven and Karla are spending some quality time with Canon and Jaxon, so I am the fortunate one to be with Britt. It was reported to me that Aunt Leslie got to see Britt and his Physical Therapist playing some "basketball" earlier in the day. It sounds like The PT had Britten playing defense and dribbling the ball, getting him ready to play some ball with his brothers! Britten then got a call from his very special friend in Brazil who is leaving on his own mission in 3 days! Britten was so excited to be able to understand every word of Portuguese. The day kept getting better when Britt had a surprise visit from Elder Frank, a good friend just returning home from his mission today. He had visits from a few other good friends as well, which really brightened his day and brought out his fun sense of humor. What a blessing it was for me to see him interact with a few of these wonderful friends that I have heard so much about! The wonderful end to the day was when Britten's family stopped in for family prayer, and Britten was able to say the prayer for the first time, and he did it perfectly! Words can't express the beautiful spirit as Britten thanked His Heavenly Father humbly for so many blessings, especially our Savior Jesus Christ. Today has truly been a blessing from above! Britten's Aunt Sheri