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Videos from Skyler

February 26, 2006

Hey Mom!
Im sure you had a blast in vegas!! thats sooo cool! hows Oma? i worry about her a lot. Ive met like 3 dutch people this week. i shared with them the 3 phrases i know in dutch: ich van mou - I am tired; Yeh reich net as tenacas (sp?) - you smell like toe cheese; and Yeh vent erech moi (sp?) - you are beutiful. Those are the 3 useful phrases Dad taught me!! hahaha. they just laughed as i struggled to pronounce it right. lol.
That new dogs looks so rad!! hahaha. its so small. the pen is the size of its neck. thats crazy! i know you love it though. you dont take it everywhere though, do you? that would be sad.
im not sure why Elder Reyna left so quickly. I think perhaps it was because they needed a spanish speaker in the spanish zone. im not sure. Anyway, i think im gone in a few weeks, but i hope i stay until may. That would be great!
You should totaly go to dinner with the Dubrows. Im not sure where, i forget all the places back home.
I ripped my suit pants, but its NOT because im fat!! its because the suit is waaaay old, and so is my backup, but i think it will be okay lol.
This week has been great. The weather is warming up, but today its snowing. Its not too bad, but the wind is what makes it cold. Elder Walker and I are really working hard to make this zone grow. We have zone conference next week, and us and the district leaders are going to do the whole thing.
We have to move because extra missionaries came in, and since we dont live in our area, we are the ones who are getting kicked out lol. we went looking, but nothing amazing.
We found some new investigators on the trains, and have been contacting like mad men. Its fun, and some great stories with some great people we have met. we had a very powerful fireside last night, and it was very spiritual. During the musical fireside, i was reflecting on music concerts back at CHS. I was remembering what it felt like to listen and enjoy the music, and was comparing the differences. I noticed that the biggest difference to me, was not that i felt good during the music, but that inbetween the songs there was somthing very different. In a normal concert, you feel good after the song, and then it kinda mellows out as you wait for the next song; When the songs are of Christ, and the testimonies are beign borne, the warmth the comfort lingers, and even grows in between the songs. it is amazing.
We have 2 new investigators this week ,and want to get 3 this next week. we should be setting some baptismal dates soon!
I have been worrying a lot about how to get the zone to really start to blossom. its somthing that has been on my mind for the past few days and even weeks now. Elder Barton (one of the APs) told me at transfers that "the zone is in your hands now, lets see what you can do". So ive been feeling a lot of pressure to make some big changes now taht im the sr ZL for the zone. well, last nigth before i went to bed, i was reflecting upon the problems in the zone, thats keeping us from being super successful. We had polled the zone, and the DLs and came down to a few concerns, but nothing really concrete or laid out. Last night it came to me in a wave of inspiration, excatly what we were to do. I m exctied to now present it and see how everybody likes it.
These past 2 weeks have been booming with work. We have prayed for miracles, and they have showed up. Its amazing how simple it is what we need to do, if we only ask and have faith. It is truely remarkable. we have 6 baptismal dates for march, and more on the way!
love ya so much, miss ya a ton!! take care, ttyl!
Elder Onken

February 19, 2007

Hey Mom!

Im sure your having a blast quilting up a storm. Hows your new job going?

Things are cold here, but its already starting to warm up.

My training is going well. Ive been doing what he recommended, and ive seen some great improvement.

Im very mad at MyLDSMail. Once again its "fixed".... but i still cant get access. i think i lost some important emails also. So PEOPLE, if you have not heard back from me, its because i did not get your email, so send it to my gmail account.

So what kind of dog did you get?


Things are going well with the work here. There were transfers this last week, and Elder Reyna is gone! I think there is somthin wrong with me; they keep sending my companions away! lol. Im with Elder Walker now. we were in the MTC together. Im senior ZL, so there is much more for me to do with the Zone now. Im stoked to finaly be able to really help build the zone; even if its just for a little bit. Elder Walker and I have been doing some great work this last week, and im stoked to be working with him. We had a lesson last night with an investigator, and it was quite bold. Those are always good lessons if the person is ready to make commitments, but if they arnt, it roots out those who are not quite ready.

Anyway, we have set a pretty high goal for baptismal dates, and ill keep you updated on how that goes, but im not going to tell you how many we are tryin to set. Pray for us though, to find great new investigators, and that those we have will progress towards baptism. love ya miss ya, talk to you later!

Elder Onken

February 12, 2006

Hi Mom,

MyLDSMail isnt working... again. This time its not even forwarding emails to my gmail account, so i didnt get anybody's emails. This week has been pretty cool. in two ways. its freezing, and we had some good success. Im a little sick right now, but i think ill be over it tommorow. Some random happenings: 1) do you remember John Suhoe(sp?) from the Canoga Park stake? well he is in one of the wards here. it was weird seeing him. 2) I met this member in the Belmont ward who served his mission with Tarrik, his name is Castleton.

So I think Tony is going to be baptized. we couldnt meet with him this week due to some work issues, but he said he fasted about baptism, and said "we have some things to talk about". he sounded pretty excited. We had two investigators at church ,and they seemed to enjoy it. They had great fellowship, which makes it SOO much easier on us.

Also, the guy from service, Scott Carey, dont know if i told you about him. He came to institute, and is way excited to start becomming spiritual again. He was baptized in the church when he was young, and his family is still active, but he never really has been. I am excited to see him grow in the gospel. i think it will be a great help to him.

Thats really it. How is your new job going? how is everybody? i hope everything is alright back home. ill talk to you later! love ya!

Elder Onken

February 5, 2007

Hi Mom,
Well, im glad that Chelsea is doing well. Does she read this? hahaha. Have her and Natalie been going to church? I got an email from Kim Benning, and i told her to go to church. maybe they can form a group and go together.
So that comment on the blog is from a member in the ward. We were over there for dinner (They have us over a lot), and we were eating pasta. She told us how she added some cinnamon to the pasta, because everything tastes good wtih cinnamon. Well, i made the comment that the first thing that came to my mind when i tasted it was "its like christmas in italy". it truely was, and now thats the dishes name.
Go to the Temple. The power theirin is beyond our knowledge.
So you like your new job then? thats good. My training is going alright. We are so busy lately. We are trying to make reporting more effective with the DLs, so its taking a lot longer. which means less time to prep for the CFA. thats okay though; like you say, first things first.
How are the Langs? when do they project their home will be done? havnt heard from Julia lately. i hope shes feeling better.
Hahaha yes, feed the missionaries. Sharkeys rocks. Did they get the pizza thing? i forget what its called... thats weird when you start to forget things lol.
This week has been mixed. It started great. we had a great dinner with Tony, and an excelent lesson with Seth. We had tours with the APs and did some really great work. There were two baptisms on saturday ,and i spoke at one of them. it was a great service. the spirit was strong. Unfortunately, None of the investigators who said they would come actualy showed up. Tony is working 24/7 for the next two weeks so we cant meet with him. Moniz had to cancle our appointment for sunday. worst thign about that was that the MP was going to come!! arg. sometimes its just so frustrating that the people you are trying to help wont accept it (it seems). Sometimes the burden seems too heavy, but thats when youve got to thorw it all on Christ. When you care about the people you teach, its hard to not get frustrated when they dont keep commitments. I know this week will be better.
Well, i love ya and miss ya. ttyl!
Elder Onken