November 26, 2007

Mom,

This week was exciting. Yours sounded pretty relaxing.

Monday i got food poisoning. enough said lol.

Thanksgiving was great. We went to the Tardiff's home and had the Grujoskis over. They also brought one of their non-member friends over. We are going to try and start teaching him.

We posponed the baptism. Odette's family and friends wernt able to come, so we decided to have it a week or two later. We will see for sure on tuesday.

I saw the Langerands. They say hi. Also, Elder Fletcher (who is now home and ENGAGED) said that his fiancee was roomates with Jamie Lang. So thats all the small world stories for this week.

This week we are working on Transfers. Itll be busy this week, and the next 3 weeks. We have two transfers next month, so till be CRAZY!!!

Things are good. loving it. I got the christmas stuff. Thanks for sending that. the time is flying by, i can hardly believe it.

gotta run, busy day, much love! ttyl!

Elder Onken

November 18, 2007

Mom,

Sorry i didnt write last week. The libraries were closed, and then we just didnt have any time after that.

Thanksgiving at the Doolans will be fun and im sure filled with laughter. We will be spending it with 2 families who have a traditionaly exciting feast. The Tardiffs and Grujoskies say it is painfully delicious.

Have they made wedding announcments yet? im still waiting for mine. I still havnt seen a very good picture of this dude that my sister is being sealed to.

How is Natalie? Is she going to Texas for Grandma's feast too? How is grandma by the way?

This are good here. Very busy. We have a baptism this sunday which we are very excited for. Last week president had surgery on his ear, and so we were given charge for 3 days. It sounds cooler than it was. Not much really happened.

The work is really picking up. We are seeing sooo many miracles. Its amazing. Sometimes we take for granted the phrase "ask and ye shall recieve", but its soo true. Its a great thing. We were able to tour around the mission this week and talk to missionaries in a lot of areas. It was a testimony to me of how much some missionaries give up to go serve a mission, and how the Lord blesses them for it.

transfers are comming up, and we will be starting them Next week. Its weird to think that next transfer is my last. I cant believe it. its sad.

However, these weeks have been the best, and im working at applying all that im learning. I hope to share it with others and perpetuate the "lessons learned" (as the military calls it). I love you and miss you. ttyl!

Elder Onken

P.S - People are already wondering about my homecomming. im just going to forward that info to you. i dont want to know myself.

New Photos

Skyler forwarded some photos that were sent to him by friends from the Nashua NH ward. http://www.missionpics.com/elderonken/Nashua-NH-pix

November 5, 2007

Mom,

Well, to answer Sister Parkers questions:
1) We were at a dinner with some old folks in the area, and i threw out the name to see if anybody remembered them. Ironically, none of them did, except the Bishop and he was defintely suprised because he knew them from Palo Alto and Seminary.
2) He has his own company where he is consulting businesses on benefit plans.
3) Weston 1st is Maynard, Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, Natick, Wellesley, Dover, and Westwood. The 2nd ward is Needham, Dedham, Lincoln, Watertown, Waltham and some other towns. im not all sure on that. There are other wards that have since split off. Like the Marlboroguh, and Northborough Wards. Also, Franklin is down in a different stake.

Elder Ririe went to train in the spanish program for his last transfer. Ill probably stay here until the end unless i decided i want to go train. As of now i want to stay. We are really branching out to help the mission, and have set a baptismal date. We are also working with a bunch of sweet families.

I know Elder Dixon. He was in the other ward. North Adams rocks. thats all you need to know. The members are sweet, but just a little different. You can tell his mom that we sent Elder Dixon there because he is very proactive, and doesnt know much about any dramatics in the branch's past. He and Elder Ames are really going to help it grow.

Any ideas for the venue? thatll be fun i think.

Ali said she loves her MacBook. you can ask her how to use it, im sure she will know a few little things.

Thanks so much for the Wendy's gift card!! its like a ritual for us to go there. thanks so much!

This week has been hectic, but we set a baptismal date, and found some sweet investigators. The work is picking up, and we are focusing on expanding the success into the rest of the mission. Our goal is 50 a month and we WILL get it before im through. The Lord has been merciful and has made our weaknessses strong. The gospel is true, and im seeing the power it has on individuals.

I hope you got those pics i forwarded to you from the Nashua ward. I love that ward. the people getting marreid are Matt and Stephanie Braun. Matt was a non-member, but now he is baptized. The Lord has completed a family. Its amazing.


love you and miss you, ttyl!

Elder Onken