April 24, 2006

Mom,

Hrm, i cant seem to check my LDS mail box. ive decided to just have this email (elderonken@gmail.com) be my new main email. Everybody can start writing to this one now. There has just been too many problems with myLDSmail :/

I would love to get that talk! ive been looking online and i want to try and get some from the FAIR and FARMS websites. they posted a bunch of Nibbley talks on the FARMS site. maybe someone can download them, and then burn them for me? ::elbow elbow:: Meanwhile i got a bunch of FARMS reports from the LDS bookstore in Boston. In your next package will you include "The key to the science of theology / A voice of warning"? i have it in my book box in the garage. its a thin book by Pratt. The mission pres is pretty cool with books we read, but i still want to see if he has allowed us to read "rough stone rolling". Nick was telling me it was great!

School sounds like a pain right now!! geeze, i can definetly wait until i have to write a master's thesis! lol. Good luck, i know you will do fine!

How is Oma doing? i wish i could have visited her before i left.

We have SOOO much candy left over from Easter i think im going to get diabetes (i know thats a serious problem, i dont mean to make light of it). i have never seen so many peeps in my life. Dad would be in heaven! we had some fun with them... did you know they get like 10x bigger when you put them in the microwave?!

I heard that the weather was getting nice! same here. we drove to Belmont the other day to go to the Temple and we were sooo enjoying the N.E spring. Ill take pictures when it REALLY gets spring-y.

While in Boston we went and visited a blind member there who's name is Herby. what a funny guy. ive never met so many blind people in my life as i have on my mission! I have a picture with him that ill send home when i can get a hold of a computer that will allow me to.

We have been really busy. Last week we taught 28 lessons (Nick will know how many that is). We have to move Meg and Autumn's baptismal dates back because of some technicalities Other than that we have been doing a lot of effective teaching, and hope to set another baptismal date for Veronika within a week. We have transfers on Thursday, and i really hope i dont have to leave N. Adams. The other night we had dinner with Linaya, and the Pabsts. She is the lady who wont join the church because we didnt support the ERA, or wont let Women have priesthood. I assume she doesnt even have a testimony, so its better that we just continue to teach her. She has been reading a lot of anit-mormon literature, and ive been helping to debunk the lies that she has read. She said she just wants to make sure that she gets all perspectives. i told her that its good to know the perspectives, but not to be decieved by blatant lies. She has been our latest frustration lol. We had a powerful lesson though, and i think she has been thinking about what we taught her.

I cant really think of anything else that really has been exciting... oh yah! wait! hahaha. So we were eating dinner at the Lowther's (the branch mission leader) house, with the Greenhalghs and they put in a movie called "Liken the Scriptures". It looks like such a serious movie on the cover, but its like a cheesey kiddy movie (barney style) with paper mache backgrounds and stuff and they sing and dance. but anyway, the really funny thing was that one of the guys in the movie (who played Laman) is in our stake back home!! Larry Bagby (the smoker dude in Saints and Soldiers), who ditched the Dear Diary play we were doing. I was busting up so hard, i thought i was going to wet myself lol. It was great.

Well things have been good. Ive been amazed at the ammounts of learning the Lord has blessed me with. To see how clearly thinks make sense, as opposed to how i used to view things is just amazing! Im in awe at how complex ideas in doctrine, and philosophy, as well as science can become so simple and easy to understand by scripture study! Its amazing! It hurts to know that many people get discouraged or convinced not to read, or study the scriptures because they cant see 'the top from the bottem'. Ether tells us that 'a witness comes only after the trial of our faith'. it is so true. look at Moses and Abraham! They were tested in such comparitivly simple instances, and as a reward God revealed to them the "mysteries of the kingdom". Look at Abraham; he was shown how Stars and Worlds were created! The vast ammount of knowledge and understanding in relation to all aspects of existance can be found in the scriptures! It is amazing to feel how the spirit can teach and enlighten. I am so greatful for the wonderful opportunity i have to share such a message with people who are in need of hope! The work is going great, and im loving every minute of it! take care, much love!

Elder Onken

P.S - can you get me Jake Van Orman's email?

April 19, 2006

Mom,
Easter rocks! woot!
let me first say, i dont think ive been getting all of my emails! maybe its some myldsmail.net filter thing. i respond to EVERY email i get, so if you havnt gotten a response from me, it means that i didnt get your email!
Also, who has heard of patriots day? that was a holiday on monday, thus i couldnt write emails then.
Jamie: please send some of your chocolate layered cake... j/k, im sure it was good though, and thats why i said that.
Mother's day is comming up soon, and itll be good to call home! Everybody asks why we cant call home on Father's day, and we tell em to write Salt Lake on our behalf lol. not really, but thatd be funny.
I totaly forgot taht Greg is getting married!! its just too unreal! have you met her yet? i forgot.
Mark told me how he got set apart. he is so excited for the work and im so proud of him for everythign hes doing!! Its reassuring to know that back home there are missionaries i know and trust that are trying to spread the gospel there.
So E. Johnson wrote to Chelsea again? hes like the coolest guy ever. we are going to start a band when we get off our missions. itll be wholesome punk rock we have decided lol. He is totaly Chelsea's type. white, tall, and skinny lol. I miss Chels and Nat, im going to try and write them soon. things have been pretty hectic these past few weeks though. im sorry for slacking :/
wait... the guy is Nick's ward (McClaskey?) the same guy who wrote the mission song, baptized THE John Grover? i dont expect you all to understand, but hes like LEGEND here. EVERYBODY knows him. thats amazing!! i didnt get an email from him, but id love too! we are going to Flo's tonight to teach Larry, Sue, and Missy, and ill ask her about it.
Flo's baptism was amazing!! There were so many missionaries there because of the countless ammounts that she has gone through. for some reason it reminded me of Dad's baptism story. how many missionaries did he go through before going through the ordinance?
the spirit was so strong. Sue essentialy said that she would get baptized if she were worthy, and Larry's eyes were filled with tears as he ASKED to take the lessons. Even on sunday at Church he was asking us when we were going over so he could make sure to get off of work to be there. Missy is also comming along in the gospel. she has a testimony, but shes just so shy about it. i wouldnt be suprised if she asked to be baptized any day now. I had the opportunity to confirm Flo a member of the church, and bestow the gift of the holy ghost upon her. that was amazing... it was one of those really weird experiences where i literaly became a mouth piece for the Lord. If i can try to illistrate what its like, just imagine this. its like your thoughts and mind becomes like a blank white board... nothing there, but then words just start appearing, clear, simple and precise, and then once youve said them, they disapear, until more words come. it was an amazing experience.
You can feel the momentum of the church's growth here in the Northeast. Even after just 3 months i can already see a different attitude in the people, a different understanding of the gospel. people are more open, and such. We were taught by our Area Seventy how to do a special study method for the gospel. Elder Christenson (hes a professsor at Harvard Business School) told us to 1) pray 2) read 3) write answers to your questions 4) pray for assurance 5)re-read 6)revise answers 7) pray in thanks. its an amazing process, and i recommend you all try it. we were asked to use that method in conjuction with some scriptures, and answer the question of "how the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel, and how we can find them". even since doing that, i was astonished to clearly see how what i felt prompted to write was actually going on. Its amazing. We have 2 more baptisms scheduled for the 29th, and we hope those go through. Other than that, i gave a training at Zone Development Meeting about Consecration and such. Elder Farr and Lyman (the ZLs) are such great missionaries, and i was so honored to be given such an opporunity by them.
Overall thigns are going well. thigns have been busy, and thats always good. im so honored to be here serving the Lord. i heard a really great thing last week from Sister Greenalgh, the primary president. She said how although the little kids might not know exactly what baptism is, and the extent of its application (who ever really does, right?), she said they do understand, and feel the spirit confirm to them the necessity and importance of making the commitment. I was thinking about this alot actually, and i was always reminded of the Prophet's words where he said that 'one could study the first 4 principals and ordinacnes of the gospel [faith, repentance, baptism, GotHG] their whole life, and still not understand it completely'. its so true. it really hit me even harder when i was giving my testimony at ZDM. there really are no words to explain or do justice to the ammount of gratitude and humility needed to express one's love for Christ and his atonement. i found it ironic that what seemed to be the best way to describe such is exactly what small children say when they given their testimonies in Church. I know this Church is the true church of Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that Gordon B Hinkley is the prophet today. i know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and i know that Jesus Christ is the savior and redeemer of the world. and those things i know.
Love you all, miss you much, and hope all is well.
Elder Onken
P.S Transfers in a week.

April 10, 2006

Mom,
The spirit is great here in Mass. right now.
this lady at service tells me about the weather in Cali all the time, she said that your probably rowing a boat to work lol. the weather is warming up here, but big storms are forecasted this week. They say that its normal to get snow well into May.
School finishing soon... thats exciting! im proud of you mom. How are Nick and Jamister? i miss em alot. How about Chelsea? she wrote back to E. Johnson, thats good. she would totaly like him lol, hes the skinny white type she likes, adn they are the same age! Hows Natalie? havnt heard about her in a while, and i miss everybody! Hows Dad? tell him to write me more often lol geeze. im jealous that you have Oma food! Geeze, no fair!
Wow, are you missing your PT? what are you going to do about the license plate? can you x-fer it? send me pics of the mini once you get it.
i still want pictures of the stuff youve done to the house.
This week has been pretty great! all of our investigators have been progressing wonderfuly, and Flo's baptism is this Friday! we are having so many investigators come, im SURE they will feel the spirit. We had a great testimony meeting this past sunday, and its always so refreshing to know you can feel the spirit, if you allow yourself. Its so amazing the validity of the saying "when you lose yourself, then will you find yourself". So many people ive talked to in the apologetics forum say that the spirit is 'self-induced', and that you have to be skeptical of what you feel... i understand where they get that idea, but then i DARE them to ACTUALY give up their skepticism and apprehensions and TRY to feel the spirit. The feeling of the spirit exceeds any feeling i have ever felt, and the undeniable inspiration and revelation that one recieves while intune with the spirit. Every day my faith becomes more of a knowledge as i continue to strive to feel the spirit, and recieve a confirmation that i could NEVER induce upon my own mind. So many things in this world test us and shape us to be affraid... when we deal with God we have no reason to fear. the bible dictionary states that "fear is somthing unworthy of a child of God"... thats so true. the words of Isaiah come to mind,
"Behold, God is my salvation; i will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation" (Isaiah 12:2)
These words bring peace and comfort, as well as teach the doctrine of true conversion. God is my salvation, not my own thoughts and feelings. i will trust him, and not be afraid, for when i trust myself doubt is always a factor that i must deal with. With God, he "cannot lie "(titus 1:1), and will always give me support. Christ is my strength, and my joy. he lends me support, and he enligtens me with the knowledge of a greater, eternal perspective. When i ALLOW myself to believe in him, i will, and then will i allow myself to feel the support, joy and salvation of him. I find it hard to not be upset when people, who so clearly NEED the gospel, refuse to even allow it to help them. i understand the frustration of missionary work, but i also understand the joys of it. "Godly sorrow bringeth a man to repentance", as did Zeezrom as he became concious of his guilt. God offers us joy beyond what we could ever imagin we could ever achieve on our own accord. The Gospel is the gospel of hope. Paul, in his epistle to the Colossians reminds them of that. he reminds them of the uncertainty that exists before they had the gospel. he reminds them of the joy and structure that they can actually feel, not just believe, if they "continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel". the gospel is true, and the church is the organization of Christ based on the gospel. Joseph Smith is the prophet of this dispensation. The Book of Mormon is a true book. and that is truth.
"LISTEN to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I AM, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins" D&C 29:1
Elder Onken

April 3, 2006

Mom,
oh geeze, a mini coop? lol, GET OFF THE ROAD!!!! lol j/k. congratulations, you deserve it!
Gen Con rocked! Eyring's talk was my favorite i think. Elder Evans' was inspiring, and i hope it touched the heart of many who are struggling with the decission of a mission. Overall, it was sad to think that our time with Pres Hinkley could be running short. hes done such an amazing work, but did you notice how much President Monson seemed... different? we have said that he sounded "prophetic". Ive never been so excited for General Conference. its like... "Hey, who wants to listen to prophets from God give REAL TIME REVELATION, that has NEVER been heard before!" its so exciting! did Nat and Chels get a change to see any? you should get it on DVD when it comes out (6$).
Sounds like your getting senioritis!! lol, school is comming to an end, thats a very big deal!
haha, you ran into Patrick? thats cool. Hes a good kid. im still trying to get e-mail addresses from some of the people back home.
So this week has been interesting. We had Zone Conference. that was awesome! it was taught by Elder Clay Christenson, an area Seventy. hes a professor at Harvard Business School ( i guess like 3 of the professors there are mormon) and gave a great training about using scriptural homework to help others feel the spirit. It was a great opportunity to meet him and hear his words.
Other things this week... we had to move Meg Brook's baptismal date back because she has canceled a few appointments with us because shes sick. we need some more time to prepare her, and to help her stop smoking. Flo however is set and ready for baptism! she has former missionaries flying in from ALL over the country to see it! its gonna be an extraviganza!
Its been hard work lately. the branch refuses to institute Home Teaching, and instead just sends the missioanries to visit the Less Actives... whcih is TOTALY inneffective because we leave every 6 weeks and they are pretty much desensitized to us by now. :/ its sad, because so many people WOULD be active, or WOULD be baptized if they had the fellowship of a home teacher :( its frustrating.
did i mention that we started to teach antoher minister? thats 2... they are cool people, and are pretty busy until after easter, but then we have meetings with them.
We ate lunch at this sweet hole in the hot dog/ burger place called Jacks. the burgers are like 50 cents, and the hot dogs are like a dollar. its totaly rad.
Today we watched the Work and the Glory.... ive seen it before, but wow. its remarkable. they brought up a lot of good points in that movie that i had never before really thought of in such a context. it is amazing how many people are quick to dismiss this church as false or evil, or untrue without even trying the test that the Savior himself said to use. Matther 7:20 states that when testing to see if a prophet is real, or false, that "by their fruits ye shall know them" because a good tree (true prophet) CANNOT produce bad fruit, and a bad tree (false prophet) CANNOT produce good fruit. so many people jump to the conclusion without even attempting to learn, and dismiss it on grounds that at least they have tested it. Its frustrating and upsetting to me to see this happen. I know, and have experienced the great joy, assistance, and enlightenment that comes with the gospel. I have tested, and gained a testimony on my own grounds, not on the grounds of another. I have grown up in the church my whole life, yet it took me seriously contemplanting and testing to validity of the Book of Mormon and the gospel to recieve a real testimony. I would almost consider myself a convert at 18 when i finaly recieved a testimony. i am greatful that i was baptized at 8, because that was the first step in giving me the tools (such as the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost), knowledge, and experience needed to find out that truth at a later time! Isaiah 28:10 states that we all can learn truth, but it MUST come as "line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precepet, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little". the process of this makes our confidence and conviction in the truth even greater, as it makes it a long process, not an instant gratification! few great things have evolved over night and remained great.
I have decided that the greatest gift someone could ever possibly give me, would be to honestly and truely take the time to learn about the gospel of christ, and read the Book of Mormon with heart felt sincerity. the sincerity to know if it is true, not to just blindly believe it. as Moroni stated, i restate as if my own words and testimony:
"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will fmanifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
i challenge not only non-mormons, but even those in the church who feel as though they have no testiomony, or need a reaffirmation of that which God has already given. give this a try. read sincerly, and deeply. do not just read, but "feast" upon the words. then humbly ask of God, as a child would, throwing your own inhibitions and doubts and opinions away. as your mind clears, and thoughts subside, a still small voice of warmth, love and love WILL fill your hearts. it happend to me... and it continues to happen to me whenever i repeat the process. pray with real intent, and the Lord will bless you. when you honestly tell the Lord that you will heed his council, whatever it may be, then he will answer you. Dont let previously obtained opinions, and thoughts prevent you from experiencing truth. Man is imperfect, thus we must rely upon a perfect source of truth. that is our loving Heavenly Father. this is not just a Jesus-Freak dissortation, its a true principal. i say this not because im a missionary, but because i know that all can use the gospel. righteous living, is successful living; spiritualy and temporaly. do not be decieved by doubt, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
there is no greater gift than that of the gospel, and that is an eternal truth that cannot be changed.
I love the Lord and all he has done for me. im greatful for my testimony and the countless experiences ive had to reaffirm that. I am forever endebted to those who have helped me recieve a true testimony, and am greatful for the learning experiences that brought me to such a point. prayer is real, and so is God. Joseph Smith is undeoubtebly a prophet, and anybody who says otherwise has never taken the time to read the fruits of his prophetic call. if all man were like Joseph Smith, this world would be much better. The Lord said that at the last days, all the terrible destructions will come, but that 'righteousness will cut my work short'.
i love you and miss you. take care
Elder Onken