June 26 2006

Dear Mom, family, friends ,countrymen, etc...

How was Serra's reception? i got an invitation from her, and was disapointed that i wasnt able to go... but you know, i kinda had previously scheduled plans. lol. How are the Cianflones? is Zak going on a mission or what? he should, he would be a stellar missionary for sure. he should come to the MBM!!! thatd be sick.

So i about shouted for joy when i heard Toone's mission call! im so stoked for him! There are some missionaries here in my mission who are from that area! ill ask them about it. He is going to be such a good missionary. i need his address again, i lost it :/ i want to write him and tell him congrats!

Nick is still sick? man, just have him take his tonsils out! i would do it for him if i were there. which reminds me, Veronika fell and shattered her hip, so we went to the hopstial with the Pabsts and gave her a blessing, and she showed up the instruction "manuel", although it looked more like a pamphlette, of how to do the surgery and such. kinda interesting i think.

Jury duty... fun. what ever happend to my jury duty summons? im i going to have like SWAT guys kick in my door some morning and arrest me? bring your iPod, just dont listen when they call your name!

Im not going to lie, this week has sucked. Its been long, tiresome, and just depressing. Yes, i know im murmuring.... So we had like half of our appointments cancel on us. We had to drive to Boston twice in three days, and Garder (2/3 the way to boston) in between those trips. Im sick and tired of driving!

We had stake conference this weeked, which was cool, but then no investigators, and barely any members showed up :/ understandable since the stake center is 1.75 hours away from N.Adams. we slept at the Zonies appartment on saturday. there were 14 missionaries at thier appartment htat night... crazy lol.

I met Hal and his wife. very funn, very nice, and it was good to just visit with californians lol. We ate at Flo's and just chatted. it was fun sharing storys and stuff.

Elder Egbert is still having a hard time. he was essentialy "checked-out" its sad. he refuses to anything he doesnt have to do. spends 2 hours getting ready to avoid personal study. wont wear his jackets to meetings. wont take down the pictures of his girlfriend. finds excuses to sleep and such. its frustrating. his parents are making him stay out 1 month before they will let him come him. its frustrating. i wish he would just let himself get caught in the work, and he would be fine! argh!! we have a joint force working on him, to help him want to stay. Pres Thomspon, the Pabsts, the Zonies, the Assistants, Elder Lang the DL, and now the rest of the zone. if this doesnt work, then nothing will.

pray.

It was sad saying goodbye to the Thompsons. i love them, and itll be sad to not them around anymore. At least we had one final Zone Conference with them, and the temple afterwards.

We call pres england coach because of this: we call President Thompson . 'P.T', because he is (P)resident (T)hompson. So we were like , 'P.E' ,for president England, but then we thought hrm, P.E like physical education... i call my p.e teacher coach... oh there we go. Coach! hahaha whatever.

The weather has been ansty and rainy with flash flood warnings for the berkshires. not worried though.

We have had to do so much driving lately, that our gas card stopped working. we were supposed to get a new car, but the driving coordinator didnt show up where he said we would meet. we ran out of Gas and had to use 60$ of our own money to get us to mandatory meetings, and appointments etc. i had to start using my debit card for food lately, so do be supprised if there are some small charges on that card.

i can play come come ye saints, and i need thee every hour, and poor wayfaring man of greif on my harmonica! im pretyt musch a professional!

to put it plainly, this week sucked. but thats okay. Every week cant be good. its to be expected, especially on the mission, to have ups-downs and opposition. In spite of the discouragment, frustration, and accompanying stress, im clinging to the good times. The mission is the best thing ever, and im greatful to be able to serve. The church is true, and i know it. i love the people i serve, and serve with. Love you all, and talk to you soon!

Elder Onken

P.S -

birthday?

money...

i want to get a portable DVD player which was approved by Pres Thompson, but i dont know if pres Engalnd will approve of it...

I geuss you could call him at the mission office and ask for me, but im not going to so soon.

i dont know, talks from FAIR? sure. whatever, ill think about it.

June 20, 2006

Hola!
IM SO PROUD OF YOU! im so psyched!!! thats soo cool. those pictures are awesome, and everybody looks so good! expect nick looks way too metrosexual. hahaha what a rico suave. I was there in spirit for sure. wtb wood ranch plz! so jealous! food here is all the same... except when you go to eat at the Lowther's becasue they make EPIC bbq, real southern style, it beats wood ranch imho (in my honoest opinion).
Circular saw eh? what kind of thigns is he going to do with that? i get the feeling that such a gift is really more for Mom than for Dad? lol, jk, but really, right? hahaha. all is well!
My Cave... i at least have some pictures i think somwhere ::cry::.. i think ill survive... maybe. i am expect a super-cave... no, a CAVERN ::chuckles with self satisfaction:: when i return.
I have no clue when Wicked is going to be in Boston. If i miss it its no big deal. i think its actual already here. hrm.
Ken... I love Ken, no joke, he is like my favorite person. he is like 80 smothing, but man, his story is depressing. He is excommunicated. He has lost 4 children, 2 sons died at the age of 21 from freak accidents at work, and he lost 1 son and a daughter who commited suicide because of the loss of their siblings. he had 1 wife die young, she also commited suicide, and another wife die after 3 years of marriage from a heart attack. needless to say he questions the existance of a loving heavenly father. Thats what we are here for, right? to help him?
I love the Pabsts. they are seriously the coolest people. You like tha slip n slide, eh? it was fun. yah, training is interesting. its pretty stressful, but quite an experienece. Elder Egbert is a good kid, but hes having a bunch of issues right now because he misses his girlfriend and wants to go home. its more serious than i make it sound, but im not sure exactly how to respond. weve been working hard, and having fun, but its hard to say "the mission is rad, you just have to get used to it", when they dont really want to hear it. i dotn know, its tough. He has an interview with Pres Thompson on thursday, so pray for him to stay. Last transfer we were talking about how North Adams needs to do without some missionaries for a while, to see what the members can be doing more, and we may just get our wish if Egbert decides to go home. i hope he will stay.
"Coach" (President England as we, I being the trend setter ::proudly puffs out chest::, have nicknamed him here in the mission) will be comming in the very first week of july. we have a specail conferance with him on the 3rd of July! which is perfect, because then we can stay the night in Boston and enjoy the 4th (the delayed p-day) in the city!! and still come back to pittsfield for the largest 4th parade in the country (supposidly). Yes, there will be plenty of rule cahnges i think. a new "white bible" will be comming out with him probably, so we will see. I love Pres Thompson, and will be sad to see him leaving. hes such a great guy.
This week has been a lot of ups and downs. im burnt out from it. i honestly feel like i need a p-week or somthing. We had a baptism on saturday, and i confirmed Michale on sunday. it was pretty cool. however, last week the Zone Leaders called us, and assigned us a specific task. the standard of excellence of new investigators per-week for a companionship in the mission is 2, but everybody has been falling short, only getting 2-3 a transfer. So ZL Farr decided to ask North Adams, the most podunk area, to get 3 in a week. He asked us to give a training about how we did it at Zone Development Meeting. This worked out well, because we needed some really good missionary experiences to get Egbert excited and wanting to stay. So we set out, and we instituted Member Referal plans, and such. we started the Book of Mormon Challenge in the RS, and the Priesthood quorems (like in the singles ward back home) in order to get MReferals. i used the survey from Dad's article in sent me, and started doing some contacting with that. We used the Area book and every method we could think of. by the end of the week we had gotten 10 new investigators by the Lord's hand. we were so dead tired, i could barely stay awake all day. Now, a lot of these people are just crazy (no joke, they are nuts), but its not up to us really to decided who to teach and not, as long as they are accountable. i just keep telling myself "hey, at least we have Sue who is a golden investigator". and thats where it leaves us today. a lot of investigators, with a lot of issues, and the possibility of the area being shut down. kinda stressful, but i know that Lord will provide a way to teach the people who he has sent to us.
On a lighter note. i got this cheap 5 dollar harmonica and have started to play it! im a pro. i can play blues improv, and hymns... its pretty much the coolest thing ever.
the weather here is nasty, and it makes me pine for the Cali summer. hot and humid, with random thunderstorms. hahahaha
last night we went to a borne-again southern baptist bible study. it was funny, because there were no real discrepencies of doctrine in what we were talking about, and they looked kinda shocked. I was wishing so bad that i could just shout out "yes, thats all good, and thats all true, but there IS more!!!!". they invited us back next week, and thanked us for our insights. it was a good experience, and a good discussion.
I think thats news for now. i love you all and miss you all. pray for ya always! take care.
Elder Onken

A Note from Elder Pabst

Hello Sister Onken,
[Your son] is doing very well. He never ceases to amaze us with his
scriptural recall. We'll be teaching a lesson together when a
question will come up. He'll say: oh, that's located in such and
such, and then turn right to it. He's very dedicated, and doing a
wonderful job. He's now training a "greenie", Elder Egbert. We'll
miss him when he's transfered.
Here are a couple of pictures we thought you might enjoy.
Elder & Sister Pabst
PS Yes, those are his missionary clothes

June 12, 2006

To home, from the "great letter writer"
Dont get too excited, i used all of my material in last weeks letter.
So, i pretty much started crying in the library when i saw what you had done to my beutiful cave/room. Elder Johnson says im "unconsolable". i figure i just might never come home now, seeing as i dont have a place to live in 19 months.
yah, yesterday (dad's birthday) was my 5 month mark. i feel old. its pretty cool though. Did Dad get the gift i sent him? i hope so, i took a lot of time picking it out, both the card and the goodie.
please send mexican fiesta cassarole... just kidding, itd be so nasty when it got here. thats why i never ate it as a left over, because the soul cream was all soupy, adn the bread always became soggy... nasty... sounds like the food in our frig here.
Im stoked to hear that natalie is going back to moorpark, and has all this great stuff happenin to her!!! yah, im excited!!! shes gonna kick butt on the soccer pitch (thats what they say here in new england sometimes). Jazz band also!! sooo c001 (thats 'cool' in 1337 speek. have Nick translate if needs be).
Chelsea has the worst luck with Cars. she should have a sign on the hood that says "i get hit a lot, please be extra careful when driving near me".
Les Mis eh? thats pretty cool. where at? i want to go the Wicked (cultural event) while its in Boston, but its like 0359087254%$782# dollars a ticket. Oh well!
Sooo this week... hrm. Welll!!
i had to get a bunch of books (dictionary, etc) from Barnes and Noble, so if you want to send me some extra funds i wouldnt be upset. Its hard to live on a missionary budget in the most expensive mission in the world.
We have a baptism on saturday, Michael Price, but Autumns had to be moved. Her mom just wont wake up on time in order to get her to church for the whole block. I think i shoudl read her the scripture in D&C, that says the sins of the child will be upon the parents if they dont do what they can to get their child baptized.
So, Elder Egbert is my new comp. Hes from St George, but grew up in Vegas. Its been a pretty good week. We are 2nd in the zone, only to the Gardner ward, which has 140 active members,a nd 2 sets of missionaries there. We got a special "good job" from the Stake High Council. woooot. fun stuff.
So did i tell you about Ken? his life sucks, but ill only tell the story if i havnt yet, because it depresses me just thinking about it. he took us to lunch though, and wont believe in God because of all the bad things that happend to him.
Hrm... we have a special challenge from the ZLs to find 3 new investigators in 1 week and give a training on it at Zone development meeting. fun stuff.
New Mission pres this month, half way through. im sad that Pres Thompson is leaving, but itll be cool with Pres England.
Well,thats about it. ive got some pictures im going to send home, as soon as i get some time to do it.
I Love North Adams, and I love the work. Its so excitig and fulfilling to help people make changes in their lives to impove their spiritual and temporal position.
i love you all, miss youa all. take care!!
Elder Onken

June 5, 2005

Mom,
I have decided that i will now be sending Epistles home, no longer letters. They are the same thing really, but i figured i might as well snag the title of the 'first ever e-epistle sender ever'. I think i got that idea from Nick who said that eventually id start talking like scriptures read. i compare it somewhat to actors getting "into charecter".
Yes, T-Storms, then sun, then rain, then repeat... thats been the weather, and there has been even more tiny critters and pesky wild life than ever. Elder Youd is leaving on thrusday, and i will be getting a new companion. That will be interesting. Ill tell you about him when he gets here lol.
We have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Pabsts quite often (we have officially given them those names, or in a more officail tone, such as at Ward Council or PEC we refer to him as Elder Grandpa Pabst). I love them, they are some of my favorite people in the world. Im sad that they will be leaving in September, but then i realize that i probably wont be here in North Adams that long, and its not AS sad, because i will leave North Adams first.
I have decided that Ear Candling is going to be the new missionary fad, instead of the gallon challenge. its not too dangerous, as long as you have a bucket of water, and pie tin near you!
Interesting people indeed. it seems the hotter it gets, the more redneckish people get. its funny, i love it, although it can be unsettling to the stomach at times. But all is well! you see a lot of people with issues, and its kinda upsetting and you feel hopeless, but im always reminded that they are the ones we are here to help! remember, remember "the whole need no physician".
We have taken the liberty to pasting a giant piece of paper with the words "THE ELDERS" followed by our address on our mailbox... yesterday, our mail was delievered to the right place, but today it was not... we managed to save it! when i went to go ask the mailman about maybe making sure it goes in the proper bin, she quickly jumped in here mail-mobile and drove away before i could talk to her... thats okay. honestly she looked like the type of mail carier, that is also a semi-automatic weapons carrier. Cookies and bread.... i like that idea.
I showed the Pabsts the pics you sent of home, and they saw the family. Sister Pabst was like "wow, you dont look like your brother at all...". the funny part was when i said "oh reall? most people say we do..." then i remembered how slow i am to pick up on subtlties some times lol.
I have prayed and seeked assitance from the Lord to not be so upset over the conversion of my beloved room of dwelling into a quilting machine shop. no, just kidding, im glad you have a room now. i wonder how often you will just shut the door and pretend like whatever mess is in there does not really exist.
Some people do weird things. When i heard that story all i thought was "missionary experience!!". you could have told that Lady, "thats okay, its only a lamp. there are more important thigns in life like the book of mormon, the gospel of Jesus Christ".
Sounds like fun back home. tell everybody i say "hello from mass".
This monday we went down to Cape Cod for P-Day. It was fun, and we did many fun activities which were very fun. It was fun if you couldnt tell. I met a lot of missionaries, and was able to see the ocean again. what a relief! i could sense it in the air as we were getting closer lol.
The other night, elder youd and I went on this bike/walking path (we were on bikes) to do some contacting. funny enough, we got all the way to pittsfield Elder's appartment (10-15 miles). it was getting dark, so we were going to have them drive us back... but they wernt there. so we got to ride home pretty late while we watched a thunder storm roll over the hills behind us. But we got so many contacts!!!
We did a service project for this sister in our branch! she is a weird old lady, but shes very kind. We rallied the priesthood to tackle this mamoth of a task. no joke, it was scary. her yard had overgrown so much, that i was affraid to let small children near it for fear that they may never be seen again! so, we distributed weed whackers, field mowers, and emergency resuce flares, and started to work. we did a lot, but then it started to storm, so we have to finish this thursday.
We are still leading the zone. i think the Lord has blessed us so much because its Elder Youd's last area, and hes going home, so he blessed him with the opportunity to go out with a bang.
Its been a strange week to say the least, but its been a great learning experience. Thats what life is all about, ya know? Learning. Faith begats knowledge, just like the B.o Jared learned in the book of Ether. Its amazing the complexity, yet simplicity found in the gospel. it truely is the eternal gospel, the everlasting convenant. It is so perfect, that no change needs to be made. We gradually learn more and more, line upon line, and achieve a greater understanding. Just the fact alone that every bit of reality, both temporal and spiritual can be connected back to Jesus Christ and his atonement... its awe inspiring! im so glad to be able to be on a mission! its the greatest thing ever! i cant believe in almost 5 months out! i feel a sense of urgency that i dont have enough time to finish what is needed for me to do. The Lord works in mysterious ways, but they all become plain as we acknowledge him, and seek out to follow his commandments. i could rant forever, and i know im preaching to the choir... things are good here. not to say they are perfect, because there are many things to be worked on, but thats why missionaries are here. Our fast n testimony meeting on sunday was stellar. The spirit was so strong. the church is true.If God exists, it must be. He does exist, its undeniable for those who look for him... its remarkable, the condescencion of Christ for our sake... im so happy I get to share this message with others!!
Love you all, take care. miss ya, and pray for ya always. stay safe, stay smart, read the BoM, and keep it real!
Elder Onken