Shracks return home

Sarah and Matt Shrack left home.
For 18 months and two years respectively, they mostly cut themselves off from the lives they were used to living. They emailed home just once a week, and called just twice a year.
They did it in order to honor their church by serving others.
The siblings from Dunkirk have been back in Indiana for less than a month after Sarah spent 18 months in the Philippines and Matt two years in Utah serving as Mormon missionaries.
“I wanted to do as much as I can, I guess, to pay back the heavenly father for what he has given me and my family,” said 23-year-old Sarah, a 2010 Jay County High School graduate who now shares a Muncie apartment with her brother as the both attend Ball State University. “I wanted to have the opportunity to help others.
“It was a great way for me to learn how to serve others who I don’t know … to have that chance to love anyone and everyone.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members are commonly known as Mormons, encourages young men to take part in a two-year mission. It is also an option for young women.
Matt and Sarah’s father, Michael, had served a mission in Italy in the 1970s. And their older brothers Ryan, Thomas and Jared had done so as well, in Utah, Japan and South Korea respectively.
“I would say we’re a missionary family,” said Matt, who graduated from JCHS in 2012.
So when they came of age — then 21 for Sarah and 19 for Matt — they decided it was their turn. They sent their paperwork to the church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City, where leaders made the decisions about where each would serve.
They started by spending three weeks at a training center in Utah, and then began their service.
Their typical day started with waking up at 6:30 a.m. for a half hour of exercise, followed by preparing for the day and eating breakfast.  They studied for several hours, and from about 11 a.m. on their day was dedicated to talking to people — by appointment, door-to-door or simply on the streets — about the Mormon faith.

Both had a curfew — 9:30 p.m. for Matt and 8:30 p.m. for Sarah — after which they planned for the next day before going to bed.
No regular radio or TV were allowed, although they could listen to church music or watch movies produced by the church, and they used cell phones only to communicate with their local missions. Communication with family at home was limited to once a week via email and twice a year — Christmas and Mothers’ Day — by phone.
“During the mission we kind of stay away from all of the stuff the outside world worries about, all the politics, the television, the sports and everything,” said Matt. “We would put all our focus on helping others focus on Jesus Christ. Everything else we pushed aside.”
So there were significant adjustments for both siblings, but especially Sarah, who was an ocean away from home. The first few weeks were difficult, she said, as she lived with three Filipina women while trying to adjust to a new culture, including unfamiliar food.
“When I really learned how to forget myself and how to focus on the people I was surrounded by, it became a lot more manageable,” she said. “It still was hard, but it became manageable. With my faith and God helping me, I was able to adjust, but at first it was really hard.
“I had to rely on the things that I knew …I really had to learn how to love other people. That’s what ultimately helped me to adjust to the great change, just a love for the people.”
She drew inspiration from many of the people she spent time with during her mission.
One such situation involved a couple that missionaries had already been teaching before her arrival. The husband and wife were poor, living in a home made out of bamboo poles and a tarp with a tin roof.
But each Sunday she would walk for more than an hour to make it to church services.
“And she would be there before us sometimes,” said Sarah, who learned the Tagalog language and some of the Ilokano dialect during her stay. “I look up to her a lot. Just the dedication and the commitment I saw from her was such a good example for me for how important it is for us to live our lives by what really is important.”
Matt, who worked extensively in the Hispanic community and is now fluent in Spanish, had similar experiences in Utah.
He recalls helping to teach a Venezuelan woman, who was in Utah visiting family. She had been attending church services combined, but with help from Matt and his companion was baptized during her time in the United States.
But not everyone was so receptive to their efforts.
Matt noted that sometimes he and his companion, which changed every couple of months would sometimes go several days without any success. And on occasion those who were receptive would change their mind without warning.
He had to learn how to deal with rejection and try not to take it personally.
“They would be willing and open to listen, and then all of a sudden they wouldn’t want us back,” said Matt, noting that missionaries never force anyone to listen but simply offer to share their message. “They would slam the door in our face. … That was difficult.”
While their missionary lives presented challenges, Sarah and Matt faced their greatest hardship when tragedy struck their family back at home.
Their mom, Cynthia, was killed in a Wells County traffic accident in April. She had been driving on Ind. 1 just south of Ossian when another vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with her Ford Windstar minivan.
It was struck by another car before coming to rest, and Cynthia was pronounced dead at the scene.
After learning of their mother’s death, both Matt and Sarah had the opportunity to return to Indiana for the funeral. But they both decided to stay on their missions because that’s what their mother would have wanted, Matt said.
They instead were able to watch the funeral via Skype.
“My first thought was, ‘I can’t go home. I have to stay and finish this,’” said Sarah, noting her belief that her mission brought blessings not only to those being served but to her family as well. “The only way that I could help my family at that time was to continue serving.”
The Mormon belief that families are bonded together for eternity and that he will get to be with his mother again helped him find peace.
Since returning home, they’ve spoken about their mission experiences at their church north of Dunkirk and in Muncie and return to the lives they left in 2013
They look forward to getting married and starting their own families, and sharing with them the faith that their mission service helped strengthen.
“I’ve grown closer to the heavenly father myself. It’s helped me become a better person and really deal with he challenges and trials that we face in life,” said Matt.
“It was an amazing experience.”