November 27, 2006

Hey Mom,

Im sorry to hear about Sister Wyler. I know you loved her very much. A few scriptures come to mind:
D+C 101:36: Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.

Well it sounds like you had a pretty good thanksgiving i guess. Im sorry that Chelsea and Natalie couldnt go. Thats too bad.

We had dinner at the house of some members. Dinner was excelent, and we had an investigator come with us.

That picture was with Elder Lyman, the AP who went home. Elder Anderson became the new AP. Im totaly bummed, because i loved being his comp, and a lot of things were just starting to take off.

Well, my "new" companion.... im with Elder Fletcher again lol! its a family reunion. His other trainee is one of our district leaders, and HIS trainee is in the zone also. its pretty fun. We are only missing Elder Egbert. I guess the only problem is that Elder Fletcher is waaaay trunky... And he is alway arguing against doing things. to me it seems just like rationalization so justify not working, but im trying hard not to judge it as so. He falt out told me that he doesnt really care abou the work in the area, which is really hard on me because you know how much ive been stressed about the work in the area. When we contact he just kinda stands there while i run around talking to people, and then tells me after that contacting like that is ineffective... arg. im going to stop complaining because i do that much too often. Thats somthing im working on. being longsuffering.

This week we commited David Tsai, an investigator we found, to be baptized on Dec 16th. However, we are going to have to refer him to some other missionaries because he is too young :/ it happens. oh well. Im glad that he is getting baptized. The lesson was really powerful, and we strategicaly had it in the baptistry lol .It was fun.

Its getting cold, but not snow yet... which is strange. soon though. im sure of it.

love ya so much. Miss ya. talk to you later!

November 21, 2006

Mom,

Service today, so im going to take some time to write.

Im glad to get your message. It sounds like everybody is going to be
having fun up in the mountains. Did you rent out a cabin again?

Yah, there is a big problem with MySpace usage all over the place. Its been frustrating trying to get missionaries to stop. I thought it seemed just logical that it wouldnt be appropriate to be using it. There is so much vulgarity that is on that site, i guess it wouldnt even be good to use even if you wernt a missionary!

Yah, Brian and I are writing back and forth. He is awesome. I am so stoked to have heard from David. I got his forwarded Email and a letter from him. It sounds like he is having a blast there in Texas.

We are having Thanksgiving at a members home. There is a house of members who are staying around so they can go home longer during christmas, so it should prove to be interesting. I hear the city just dies on thanksgiving. like literaly nobody is around, not even the bums. We will see.

Yesterday (P-Day) was crazy. We were having a zone activity turkey bowl, and somehow it leaked to the entire mission. Missionaries were comming from all over the place (~40) to play. Somebody in the zone must have told everybody else. Well, anyway, They all said they got permission from their ZLs, but i dont think it was approved or past along to Pres. So when Elder Beaver got hurt, it turned sour very quickly. After ambulances, hospitals and phone calls to pres, it is needless to say that it was crazy. To make a long story short, we were running around most of the day trying to sort out the whole mess, and it wasnt even involving members of our zone lol. Oh well. It was pretty crazy.

Well, love ya a ton. Hope everything goes well on thanksgiving. talk to you later!

Elder Onken

November 20, 2006

Hey Mom,
I got the boots, and i am now the envy of the apartment. They are so awesome, and they fit, they just need a little bit of breaking in. I could use new socks, and thats a good christmas present for missionaries.

I got the package from DearElder.com, and the whole apartment is greatful.

Things this week have been really good. Elder Wickman of the 1st quorum of the seventy came, and it was amazing. The ZLs went to both of the Zone Conferances he did, and we had a special ZL meeting. I felt like everything he said was aimed directly at me. I have been doing a lot of study from Alma 26, and its been amazingly insightful. Its remarkable how clear and thorough the Book of Mormon is. We have had pretty good success this week. We taught this guy named David Tsai who goes to New England Conservatory, and the lesson was remarkable. We helped him pray for the first time ever (he isnt Christian), and when we asked how he felt he said "i feel like when we pray the building are gone and im talking striaght into heaven. i feel happy". The spirit was strong. It was remarkable.

Well, i havnt gotten a letter from you today, so i guess thats all i have to talk about. thanks so much for everything. Ive really been feeling the prayers from everybody back home. love ya, talk to you later!

Elder Onken

November 13, 2006

well, i just wrote a nice long letter, but then myldsmail server went dead, so it all left. So in short:

remember, to be "possesed of [charity]", not just possesing it.
How did you get into sending presents the the MB mission home?

I cant believe everybody is comming home? thats nuts!! Christmas is so soon, the time just goes so quickly!

Boots... overshoes wont stop the problem, becasue the water goes over the side of the shoes. size 13, waterproof, and black if you really want.

Kaiser would be my choice, im excited to hear how it goes!

Where in Vermont did Dad go?

This past week sucked. the best part was seeing a squirrel bellyflop out of a tree onto the ground.

I love the package! thanks for teh shirts and the stroopwafels!! where did you get the pics from? thanks for the apologetics!!

Well, sorry, but my time is up. love ya miss ya, talk to you later!

Elder Onken

November 6, 2006

Now a whole lot of news here. The week was long, and cold. A few let downs, a few good things. Thats how it goes, ya know? Well, yah. im alive, thats for sure lol. Ill talk to you next week!


Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com