February 7, 2006
[Editor's Note: I was fortunate enough to be on line when this came through and got to exchange a few emails back and forth. He must use the public library to email and since it is closed on Mondays, we'll probably be hearing from him on Tuesdays. He is using a myldsmail.net address and I have a snail mail address. I've decided it is too risky to post it here (don't want any crackpots writing to him) so write to me at debonken@gmail.com and I'll send the addresses to you.]
Hey there!
how is everything? So im here in Mass. and its very cold. its like 20 degrees right now, and im about ready to die. its been snowing the past few days, but not terribly. When we first got here to Mass. we were picked up by the APs at the airport and loaded our luggage into the mission vans, where we met the pres and his wife. Instead of driving directly to the mission home in Belmont, the APs took us on the "T" (the train/subway). They gave us all BoMs and we headed over to Boston Commons. Once we got there Elder Haslam sent 3 of us off in one direction. We started contacting right away. I had a nice 30 minute talk with a man. he was really nice, but i think he was a tad bit crazy since he said his name was Ramseus the Great hrmm... Well, After that we went to the mission home and had dinner. after dinner we had a testimony meeting and turned in for the night. We woke up early the next morning and headed over to the Chapel where the transfer meeting was going to be held. My trainer is Elder Fletcher from Orem Utah. hes really cool and smart, and has been teaching me alot.
I think its kinda ironic that my first area is a small town named North Adams. Its the furthest away from the mission home you can get. Probably the welfare capital of Massachussetts, and the most po-dunk place i could imagine. Absolutely opposite from back home. The drive was about 2.5 hours, and i was able to see the countryside of Mass. all on my first day. Mom, dont you have a friend who lives in N.Y? thats my area! lol, its kinda far though. everything outside of boston is so remote. i think 75% of Massachusetts' population is in Boston itself. there are 5 zones in the mission. The population is so central in Boston ,that my zone is half of the entire mission land wise. North Adams is the smallest branch in the entire mission. we have about 20-30 active members, but about 60 including inactives. The church is located in the back of a Days Inn, but its a really nice building. Elder Flethcer and I are lucky that we have 2 senior missionaries in our area. Elder and Sister Pabst are from Idaho, and have been out a year. They are so nice, and its been a great help having them here. We are well fed here in N. Adams, the members take great care of us.
So the first days are still a little hazy, and i was so home sick that i coudl barely take it. Things are so different here in N. Adams, let alone being here and on a mission. It was culturaly shocking, but every day gets a bit better. We went tracting the day after i got here, and we had pretty good success. We got 1 new investigator, and 2 prospects. the new investigator is named Alfred, and he has 7 children and a wife. We are going to go teach him on wednsday. i hope that goes well. other than that, there is a lady who has been investigating for 6 years, and now she has a set a baptisimal date. her name is Flo Grover. i cant even exlpain her, she is the nicest, most rough and tumble kind of old lady you could meet lol. she has no teeth, and looks about 80, but she has more energy than me! lol. Another of our investigators is a guy named Joe Novak. he has been meeting with the missionaries for about a year. hes grown up catholic, but loves to meet and talk with us about twice a month. hes probably in his 60s, but still very active. He finaly told us that he believes Jospeh Smith is a prophet, and that he did in fact see God the Father and Jesus Christ, but thats about it. hes an existentialist... I've now had a first person account of how such a wide open and positive attitude, can in fact hinder someone. we are going to have a lesson with him and have the topic be truth. he just doesnt understand that there is in fact one 100% correct way. Another ivnestigator is a lady named Veronika. she was born in Frankfurt Germany, and moved here when she was younger. After a marriage of 35 years, her husband started to abuse her. its a very sad story, but we have been doing a lot of service for her while she moves in. she came to church last week and loved it.
Ive had pretty good experiences here, but its still tough. Not alot of people are very open to us. in fact, most people wont even wave back to you when you say hi. we tracted into a Reverand the other day. Jill Grahem... she wasnt to keen on us. North Adams is so small, but it has more churches than i have ever seen. its famous for its 7 steeples. it has 3 Catholic Churches, but only 1 preist to run them all... still trying to figure that one out.
Its cold, and my ears hurt i think ive lost some weight since ive been here. although i have been eating jell-o, other than that the meals have been pretty healthy. P-day was cool. we went with the whole zone down to Amherst and hung out there. We played Basketball and ate at wendys as a zone. i even played Magic: The Gathering with one of the other Elders lol! the DL Elder Farr is actually in the Army. we were talking about stuff, and it was an interesting conversation. Tommorow we are going back into Boston to report to the Mission Pres. itll be a good opportunity to see the whole district from the MTC. its crazy to think ive been out a month, but when i really think about it i feel like ive been out a long longer than that. I was talking to Elder Johnson, and he was telling me that it feels like that until after youve trained (4 month point), and then it all feels the same. Well, i really have got to run, but i hope i can write back soon. I love you all and miss you. write back to this email or to [deleted] .hope all is well.
Elder Onken
Hey there!
how is everything? So im here in Mass. and its very cold. its like 20 degrees right now, and im about ready to die. its been snowing the past few days, but not terribly. When we first got here to Mass. we were picked up by the APs at the airport and loaded our luggage into the mission vans, where we met the pres and his wife. Instead of driving directly to the mission home in Belmont, the APs took us on the "T" (the train/subway). They gave us all BoMs and we headed over to Boston Commons. Once we got there Elder Haslam sent 3 of us off in one direction. We started contacting right away. I had a nice 30 minute talk with a man. he was really nice, but i think he was a tad bit crazy since he said his name was Ramseus the Great hrmm... Well, After that we went to the mission home and had dinner. after dinner we had a testimony meeting and turned in for the night. We woke up early the next morning and headed over to the Chapel where the transfer meeting was going to be held. My trainer is Elder Fletcher from Orem Utah. hes really cool and smart, and has been teaching me alot.
I think its kinda ironic that my first area is a small town named North Adams. Its the furthest away from the mission home you can get. Probably the welfare capital of Massachussetts, and the most po-dunk place i could imagine. Absolutely opposite from back home. The drive was about 2.5 hours, and i was able to see the countryside of Mass. all on my first day. Mom, dont you have a friend who lives in N.Y? thats my area! lol, its kinda far though. everything outside of boston is so remote. i think 75% of Massachusetts' population is in Boston itself. there are 5 zones in the mission. The population is so central in Boston ,that my zone is half of the entire mission land wise. North Adams is the smallest branch in the entire mission. we have about 20-30 active members, but about 60 including inactives. The church is located in the back of a Days Inn, but its a really nice building. Elder Flethcer and I are lucky that we have 2 senior missionaries in our area. Elder and Sister Pabst are from Idaho, and have been out a year. They are so nice, and its been a great help having them here. We are well fed here in N. Adams, the members take great care of us.
So the first days are still a little hazy, and i was so home sick that i coudl barely take it. Things are so different here in N. Adams, let alone being here and on a mission. It was culturaly shocking, but every day gets a bit better. We went tracting the day after i got here, and we had pretty good success. We got 1 new investigator, and 2 prospects. the new investigator is named Alfred, and he has 7 children and a wife. We are going to go teach him on wednsday. i hope that goes well. other than that, there is a lady who has been investigating for 6 years, and now she has a set a baptisimal date. her name is Flo Grover. i cant even exlpain her, she is the nicest, most rough and tumble kind of old lady you could meet lol. she has no teeth, and looks about 80, but she has more energy than me! lol. Another of our investigators is a guy named Joe Novak. he has been meeting with the missionaries for about a year. hes grown up catholic, but loves to meet and talk with us about twice a month. hes probably in his 60s, but still very active. He finaly told us that he believes Jospeh Smith is a prophet, and that he did in fact see God the Father and Jesus Christ, but thats about it. hes an existentialist... I've now had a first person account of how such a wide open and positive attitude, can in fact hinder someone. we are going to have a lesson with him and have the topic be truth. he just doesnt understand that there is in fact one 100% correct way. Another ivnestigator is a lady named Veronika. she was born in Frankfurt Germany, and moved here when she was younger. After a marriage of 35 years, her husband started to abuse her. its a very sad story, but we have been doing a lot of service for her while she moves in. she came to church last week and loved it.
Ive had pretty good experiences here, but its still tough. Not alot of people are very open to us. in fact, most people wont even wave back to you when you say hi. we tracted into a Reverand the other day. Jill Grahem... she wasnt to keen on us. North Adams is so small, but it has more churches than i have ever seen. its famous for its 7 steeples. it has 3 Catholic Churches, but only 1 preist to run them all... still trying to figure that one out.
Its cold, and my ears hurt i think ive lost some weight since ive been here. although i have been eating jell-o, other than that the meals have been pretty healthy. P-day was cool. we went with the whole zone down to Amherst and hung out there. We played Basketball and ate at wendys as a zone. i even played Magic: The Gathering with one of the other Elders lol! the DL Elder Farr is actually in the Army. we were talking about stuff, and it was an interesting conversation. Tommorow we are going back into Boston to report to the Mission Pres. itll be a good opportunity to see the whole district from the MTC. its crazy to think ive been out a month, but when i really think about it i feel like ive been out a long longer than that. I was talking to Elder Johnson, and he was telling me that it feels like that until after youve trained (4 month point), and then it all feels the same. Well, i really have got to run, but i hope i can write back soon. I love you all and miss you. write back to this email or to [deleted] .hope all is well.
Elder Onken
posted by Queen Bee at 11:03 AM
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