From the Field

Evite!

2008-01-07T18:11:00.001-08:00

Trying to get a headcount for the open house. If you are planning on being there, let me know:

http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/ADHIEEJDDXDSGEVWRAKF/skyler

Thanks!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Had a great telephone conversation today with our Elder! He'll be home in three weeks and we are all very excited about it. As he told us last week, the mission is going "no email" which means no more email for me to share. I told him that since he was going to be home so soon, he didn't need to worry about sending snail mail. This is the last post on From the Field barring any big changes in homecoming plans.

The family he had Christmas dinner with posted photos to the Elder Onken Fan Club site: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5401644543

We hope to see as many of you as can make it to the open house on the 19th. I imagine you'll be seeing Skyler on his MySpace or a Facebook account by this time next month.

Merry Christmas!

Debi

Note From the Editor! (aka Mom)

2007-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

Not, that I've actually done any editing, as you may have noticed over the past almost two years.

Elder Onken is getting home on January 18th (28 days from now!) He has an appointment with the Stake President at 6:30 p.m. that evening at which time he will be released as a missionary. This will be a very bittersweet moment for all of us, but especially for Skyler.

The following evening, Saturday January 19th we will be hosting an open house beginning at 4:00 p.m. If you don't know the address, give me a call or email me at debonken@gmail.com. All are welcome. Skyler's Oma is planning on providing a lot of great food and that alone is reason to come! I will provide Debi Dip of course.

On Sunday, January 20th, Skyler will be reporting to the Agoura 1st Ward. That starts at 9:00 a.m. in the Oak Park Building at 6100 Doubletree, Oak Park. If you can't make that meeting, he will be reporting on Sunday, January 27th at 1:00 p.m. to the singles ward (Westlake 2nd) located at 32165 Watergate Rd., Westlake Village.

Nothing would please Skyler more than to have all his friends and loved ones attend any or all of these events and particularly one of his Sunday homecoming talks. Don't hesitate to call me at 818-880-5551 or 818-300-5404 for directions or additional information.

December 17, 2007 (ONE MONTH!)

2007-12-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

Mom,

Computer problems. Ick. Speaking of computer problems. We are not going to be emailing anymore in the Massachusetts Boston Mission. Starting the week after christmas. So, itll be a few weeks of old snail mail letters. i guess i need a few of those under my belt.

The Holiday season is upon us and is busy here too. Lots of work to do,but everybody is too busy to meet with us these next two weeks. Hopfully, we will be able to still see people at church, etc.

This week i toured the zone leaders. I was with Elder Pratt, Elder Mallory, Elder Arnold, Elder Anderson, and Elder Amburn. It was fun and we were able to do a lot of good work. Total, we got 15 new investigators this week, which is really good. Standard is about 3. A lot of miracles that Lord blessed us with. I learned a lot, and hopefuly was able to help other learn some too.

Im glad Clayton was over the othe rnight. I love that guy. im kinda bummed that he wont be there for my homecomming. Im not sure when the phonecall will be specificaly, but probably after 7:00 our time. We have to use the cell phones (we dont have land lines anymore in the mission), and we arnt sure on the rules. So itll probably be during our free hours. i usually try to go last in the apartment, but both Elder Moss and I have phones, so whenver is best for you.

So Chelsea and Trenton will be living next door? thats pretty cool. I will be able to go over and bother them frequently. wonderful.

Im so stoked that Nick is coming out here!! Sister Colton will be able to help out with any planning arrangments that are needing to be made. We will be able to talk on christmas and iron out any details too.

This week we had some bad weather. Church was canceled due to a Noreaster (bad snow storm), and a few days earlier we had another storm that was pretty bad. We stayed off of the roads.

Well, time is short here. gotta run. i love you and miss you. ill talk to you soon!

love,
Elder Onken

December 10, 2007 (39 days!)

2007-12-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Mom,

Sounds like the holiday season is getting into gear for everybody back home. How comforting.

I think the pabsts were going on a cruise. That might be why they havnt gotten your email.

Im glad the Dubrows will come over on x-mas to talk on the phone. I always look forward to having a lot of people there. This phone call will be weird though. Itll be like right before i see you all in person.

I dont know who would like to be at the airport. i guess it doesnt really matter to me. for me it wont be weird to not be able to hug people, but for them it might be tough hehe. let anybody who wants to be there i guess. whatever you want. There will be a farewell testimony meeting the night before departures. We invite converts and members who we ahve worked with from all over the mission to come to that. I know you arnt planning on coming out here because winter bites for new england tours lol. im not sure what the flight prices are like, but i know Nick will be out of school by then, and if its not too expensive itd be nice to have someone come and meet those people who have been family for the past 2 years. I couldnt be released to Nick, but we could coordinate return flights. But that is jsut a thought/dream. i know its not a whole lot realistic. so no worrys.

What party? We have zone con on the 18th, and all the packages will be handed out by then.

We had a transfer last week, and its been crazy, but president is also allowing others who came out with me to go home on the 21st to be home for school etc. So we have another transfer to work on next week. itll be intense. That is why Elder R. Johnson will be going hom eon that day although we came out with me. the Lord just transfered him to Boston for the last few week sof his mission. Im sure he is going to love that.

Elder Pike is a great missionary. He just get sent to the City. He is originaly called as a cambodian speaking elder, but we have too many of those, so we let him experience cambridge ;) He is doing really well.

This week has been nuts! transfers and all. This upcomming week im going to be on tours all week. literaly, all day every day. from one side of the mission to the other. itll prove to be exciting, fun, and tiring :)

The week after that we have zone con and another transfer/departures. Its weird to think that people who i came out with are already home. weiird.

well. i love you and miss you. ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

December 3, 2007 ( ed. note: only 46 days!)

2007-12-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

mom, why did you send me a picture of that monster!!! AHHH!!! lol

Woh, i didnt know Matt was getting married. thats cool!

havnt heard from clayton in a few weeks. I hope he is doing well.

oh yes, the first snow that is sticking happend last night, right when we got in the car after tracting. tender mercy. 43 degrees is a warm day. Its average of 24 in the daytime. i dont want to know how cold it gets in the middle of the night.

The food poisoning wasnt too bad. it was just me. really nasty though. But im all better.

roger that on the medical.

This week has been good. We have been doing a lot of touring of other missionaries. Was able to go back up to Nashua and see some of the ward members up there. It was soo good to see them. They all want me to come back and visit when im done and to bring y'all. What a blessed place Nashua is!!!

Transfers this week. We are finishign them tonight. Im not going anywhere, but its going to be a BIG transfer. President is allowing some people to go home on the 21st of December instead of January, so we are having two transfers and have to plan them all at once. Crazy!!

We are trying to tour each zone leader companionship twice this transfer, and have zone conferences for each zone seperately. Itll be a busy last transfer to say the least!!!

well, things are good. loving every bit of it. the work is moving forward. Love ya and miss ya!! ttyl!!

Elder Onken

November 26, 2007

2007-11-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-19T09:44:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-05T17:14:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

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

October 29, 2007

2007-10-29T14:00:00.001-07:00

Mom,

Myldsmail ate your email. I thought perhaps the fires had snuck up on you and had caused you to run and therefore had no means of writing. Luckily i thought that i should check my gmail to see if perhaps at least the forward got through. Turns out though that you just sent it to the gmail, which doesnt auto-forward to myldsmail. im glad i got your email though.

Its about stinking time that he proposed. thats exciting. May 24. Which temple are they going to go for?

Thats weird, departure date. Not exciting. I feel like im living on borrowed time.

I heard alll about the fires. I think every single person i talked to was saying how bad they were. The only thing that could change the subject was the Red Sox winning the World Series. Virtually all the appts and anything like that has been canncelled in order to provide ample viewing and celebration of the Red Sox triumph. hahaha.

New laptop huh? sounds cool. Those are pretty nifty. Hows the OS? do some video chat and stuff.

Btw, ask Sister Parker is she remember Blake Zenger. He is the bishop here, and he knows her. Not from Boston though, its kinda funny.

Things are good. I have a new comp. Elder Moss. This was crazy. I pratically died on friday. Had gotten 8 hours of sleep in 72 hours. President sent me back to the appt to take a nap. I felt pretty disapointed. Like i couldnt handle the job or somthing.

This week will be busy too. Im just trying to get my head around it all. Its tough because we havnt had the time to do all the weekly planning that we need to do.

the work is great. We had a family come to church for the first time on sunday, and another one agreed to take the lessons. Both families are comming to the Trunk-or-Treat tonight. We are excited to see what happens with them.

Love ya, and miss ya!

ttyl!
Elder Onken

We have a date!

2007-10-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Elder Onken will be flying home on Friday, January 18, 2008.

Stay tuned for more details.

October 22, 2007

2007-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Im glad to hear Grandpa's funeral was so nice. It sounds like a movie, ya know? Part of the area we cover has an Army base. We have 3 members that live there, and its cool to visit them because i can just imagine you growing up in a similar environment.

Is Dad so old that he can actualy be the HPGL? goodness. hahah jk.

Ali mentioned that you had a facebook. you are now officially cooler than i am. Facebook is like the COOLEST thing to do i hear.

Lots fires eh? ill be praying for ya. Thats a bad place to have the fires, ya know? it hasnt been there for a while.

Well this is transfer week. Im stayin put. Its gonna be a crazy and sleepless week. Not much in the area ever gets done during this week.

We have this cool Jerusalem dinner though at the Ward Mission Leaders. He had one of our investigators who is Jewish over and also a bunch of converts from judaism. It was fun. we had scriptures from the O.T and ate foods found in the O.T.

Well, i gotta take off. love you. Thanks for everything. October flew by, but we still have one more week. your b-day is comming up, any plans? ill ttyl!

love,
Elder Onken

October 15, 2007

2007-10-16T21:11:00.001-07:00

Mom,

I was kinda suprised when you were on the phone. President left the room, and i was about to talk about how missionaries should not have campfires, when all of the sudden he calls he out. Im sorry to hear about Grandpa. How was the funeral? Im sorry i missed it, really.

Are you okay? i know how much you loved him. Its true though, that now he gets to go on and learn the gospel, and be free from this mortal and frail existance.

This week has been busy ,but not too bad. Stake Conference. It was nice, and we were able to hear some really uplifitng things.

I did well on the CFA. i sent dad the scores, so ill let you see them via him.

Not much time left. I love you and miss you. I pray that everything goes well with Grandpa. Take care.

Elder Onken

October 9, 2007

2007-10-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Really really dont have much time today. We were moving the mission office, and then we had a staff meeting and stuff.

Conference was great!!! i agree with the statement "the older i get, the more i enjoy conference". It is definetly true. It was cool to see Elder Eyring be called to presidency. one of his sons is the bishop in the next ward, although we meet in the same building. He said he was suprised to see his father called into the presidency.

I have such a hard time with writing in the journal. i feel the same way. i jsut hope that everythigni have saved as in emails is enough to suffice for the huge back log i have. My favorite talk was when Holland laid the smack down on the definition of Christian. It was sweet. you will like that one.

Always partys at the house now. Gosh, crazy. So Brandon Hill is still around? How is Tarrik doing? havnt heard much about him lately. Trenton's sister plays volleyball for BYU-H? They are really good. she must be talented. I would bet that Fletcher was down in St. George for that tournament/Game. He is like the BIGGEST volleyball fanatic. especially BYU.

Perhaps there is somthing messed up in the connection between the battery and the machine? is there some sort of waranty? id look into that. Im sure the machine we have back home is ancient. Im sure my computers are even more ancient, especially my linux machine. Itll be cool to see how much technology has grown since i left.

Thats good that everybody is doing well on the mission. I cant believe that Will and Brady are missionaries though. WEIRD.

Well, dont have too much fun quilting. Wouldnt want that.

This week was busy. With conference and stuff, and some transfers that needed to happen. We also found out that some missionaries are living in a house that used to be the biggest crack house in their city, and the past 3 nights people have been trying to break into their place. Kinda crazy, huh? hahah. Had some great experiences, but things are slow to pick up here in Weston 1st. We just dont have the time to put into the area that it needs in order to really grow quickly.

Well, i gotta run. love ya and miss ya. ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

October 1, 2007

2007-10-01T08:28:00.001-07:00

Mom,

Gosh. i read about Jesse and Hadas in Nick's email.... What do you say about that? Contention kills. I hope the best for Amy.

Yah, Nick told me about his new calling!! I was suprised only because he was just put into the EQ Presidency. Other than that, I can totaly see it. Hes the bomb-dot-com.

Oh man, im excited for the large fiest Oma will prepare. Im like on a Indo food starvation diet. I try to go to that place in Boston whenever we are down there, but they arnt as good as Oma's food. Im glad to hear that she is doing well. Im happy that my comming home can give her somthing to look forward to.

Oh man, i cant believe Jimmy is home!!! CRAZY!!!!!!!

I got the pics. Thats so cool. Thanks for the widows mite. very interesting indeed. You and Dad look great in scuba gear, is it a new hobby? lol. For some reason, its often hard for me to picture Dad in any other situation besides 1) readin the newspaper and sipping O.J near the back door, 2) In a suite reading scriptures or 3) working behind his desk. I guess its just that when i have seen him most, in those situations.

I got an email for Rozanna Tross, the girl from the LP1 ward who is now in Nick and Jamie's ward. What a small world.

The office moves on General Conference Saturday. We are going to be helping out there with the rest of the office "peeps" (thats what they call themsleves). We spend a decent amount of time in the office. Saturday and Monday mornings we do reporting for Salt Lake. Wednsdays we are in there for staff meetings, and thurdsays we do planning. We only get about 2 hours a day of proselyting. Its kinda depressing. However, we make those 2 hours worth it. Things are going well, we are getting to know the Weston 1st ward pretty well.

Dont have much time left to write. love ya and miss ya! TTYL!

Elder Onken

September 24, 2007

2007-09-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Mom,

you went to a LOT of church! gosh. Its crazy the Brady is going into the MTC!!! i can hardly believe it!! geeze. What did Dad speak on? Sounds like a cool fireside.

What a small world that Roseanna is in their ward!! The mormon world is even smaller, right?

Let me know how the West Point thing goes. I havnt heard much from Dad, so im not sure whats going on. I need to take the CFA ASAP though, because im getting weaker. We just dont have the time to work out. Ive lost a lot of strength already. I was at 18 pull-ups before, but now im at about 14-15 again.

The weston 1st ward rocks. its initmidating too. We have people like the ex-CEO of DELL in our ward, and Danny Ainge is in the bishopric (Celtics General Manager), two of the Marriot sisters, Orin Hatch's son. Etc. Its great though.

This week we had two zone conferences with Elder Hinkley. They were amazing. Other than that, its just been getting to know the ward. The work is going great though. The spirit has been strong. We were led to a home where there was a party going on, and we ended up setting up a return appointment next week with like 7 people there. We got all their names and contact info and gave them a bunch of things to read. Miracles happening everywhere.

Well, i gotta run. love ya and miss ya!

Elder Onken

September 18, 2007

2007-09-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Sounds like you had all sorts of adventures there in the caribbean! im glad.

So the new area. Well, we are shotgunning the Weston 1st ward. Its a really great ward. we are excited to get to work here. It's not really near Belmont because the Mission Office is moving to Natick. Which is right near where we live. So we are commuting for the next 2 weeks. Elder Ririe is awesome. He is from SLC. He plays soccer, and wants to become an OB/GYN. He wants to delvier babies. i told him that you were a labor and delivery nurse and he thought that was cool. The new apartment is filthy. the elders that were there before were messy. we have a lot to clean. but we never have time! So what do we do in the office? we are the assistants to the president, so it involves anything and everything he would need us to do. We do the reporting from the ZL's, and compile it and send it to Salt Lake. We pick-up and drop-off the new missionaries. We help with transfers. We tour the ZLs. We run the Zone conferences. We do a looot of stuff. Essentialy we dont get a lot of sleep, hardly any time to eat, very little time to proselyte, and lots of other things. like this week, our p-day is only 3 hours. Its fun though. thats for sure.

We are going to try to schedule dental appointments for me and elder Ririe with a member who will do it for free. We have unlimited miles and a sweeet truck so we can go to merrimack NH for that.

Things have been hectic! we had 2 zone conferences with Elder Hinkley. That was sweet. We also had an investigator fireside with him. we had to drive all over getting translation equipment. It was sweet having 3 languages being translated. Could have had 4, but no cambodians showed up.

The ward is sweet, but we dont have much time to proselyte. its especially crazy because we are shotgunning. Both of us have done it before though, so its not somthing new to us. Give us a week and things will be going well.

well, we gotta run. lots to do! ttyl!

love ya,
Elder Onken

September 2, 2007

2007-09-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Mom,

So we do email at the Family History Center because its the only computers that will allow Elder Lee to email in Korean. So holiday or not, we get to write.

So you got me bedroom furniture? too soon. Gosh. You have an eliptical? what the heck. crazy stuff.

Oh man, West Point Papers? my stomach hurts. Pres asked about them last week. Ill have to update him. i see that my candidate file is opened and registered. lets just get it done ASAP. My file doesnt show anything like transcripts from CHS, or BYU-H turned in. It has my SATs and stuff, but nothign else. I hope Dad does that before sending me the papers.

Thats cool! How is Chris doing? its good to hear you are still in contact with them.

Well mom, thigns are going well. we set another baptismal date. thats 3. All of them are pretty solid. that zone is now at 14. we have picked up from about 5 to 14. things are going well. still having some trouble with a companionship in my district though :/

yesterday we had dinner with a new member, another family, and some of the single peeps in the ward. We sang for them in Korean. it was cool. Im pretty much a professional now... yah right.

We were tracting yesterday, and we started talking with these two people who were having a campfire. One of them, a drunk man, was not necisarrily being rude, but he was semi-heckling us. He was saying lies, and nonsense into the ear of the lady there, who was intent on our message. it was a visual of how satan tries to distract us. he doesnt communicate any intelligence, just trys to reassure people with nonsense and unimportant things. However, we just ignored him and kept testifying. At one point, he just shouted, "We know all ABOUT Christ, we dont need to hear from you", and i just turned to him and said "yes, but do you KNOW christ?", and he just sat there quiet for a few moments, then we said "because you CANNOT know Christ unless you keep his commandments. its just not possible". It really impacted him and the lady. he even tried to give us 20 bucks, but we refused. It was an interesting experiecne, we will see if anything comes of it.

And im sure you heard, i got permission to see Clayton on Saturday. It was a weird experiecne. like being in a dream. combining of two different lives ive had. Im still kinda weirded out by it. IT was good to see him. We went to the temple, and i showed him how i contact people on the trains. I think his friend especially liked learning more about the mormons.

well, thats about it. i love ya and miss ya. i know your going on your vacation soon. i hope you have a good time. transfers are on the 13th i think. T-calls on the 11th, so about anotehr week.

miss ya, love ya, ttyl!

Elder Onken

August 20, 2007

2007-08-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Sounds like Vegas was fun. i cant believe you brought the Dog. i feel like youve adopted a child into the family that i have never met. Its good to hear that things are going well with Oma.

Im starting to hear from everybody how school is starting to rev up. itll be exciting here now that the ward will start to grow with law students at WENC.

I hope you dont get swept away in the hurricane. I hope your vacation goes through alright. Both you and Dad need one.

The Larsens and the Toths are awesome. i really love those families. All of Nashua is great. Every member there is just amazing. its been great getting to know them all. i hope to go back some day.

Things are going alright. Zone conference this week was good. It was primarily doctrinal. It was nice to get a little break.

well, things are going as always. im learning to love the area more and more. I hope to see some more success. We set 2 baptismal dates this week. Itll be exciting preparing them for baptism in september.

love ya and miss ya, ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

August 13, 2007

2007-08-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Wow, busy weekend! im sorry to hear about everybody's deaths. Didnt know about President Faust until yesterday. It was definetly his time to go though. How were the homecommings? thats crazy to think that they are home now.... gosh. Jimmy comes home soon too. like 3 months or somthing. Gosh. its all exciting and im missing out lol. nah, everybody else is missing out on the great stuff going on here. hehehe.

Yah, Dave and I have written a little bit. I miss him ALOT.heck, I miss all of them alot. Im excited to see Nick, Mark, and Dave after the changes that the mission brings about.

I got the package and the card. Thank you soo much!

We had a baptism on sunday. it was good. we had investigators there and everything. Its weird though, i dont feel much ownership over any of the work here yet, because its all been going on for a while. But its all great.

not a whole lot of news other than that. I love ya and miss ya. ill talk to you soon!!

Elder Onken

August 6, 2006

2007-08-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Yup, transfered. Mom always knows. Im in springfield MA serving in the Ludlow ward. Its very different than Nashua. Its very Western Massish. Cool ward ,although a little weird. Some false doctrine here and there, but im not sure what my role is in dealing with that ;p its the ghetto of Mass. some really cool people though.

My comp is Elder Lee. He is from Seoul Korea. He was in the MTC the same time as i was. He goes home in December however because of school. He is very organized. Some things too much so. Itll be a good learning experience for me. He is very fragile. i guess thats the best way to put it usually i wake up at like 5:00 so i can work out and get extra study, but he asked me not too because he cant sleep. sooo, i better get my physical test soon because i dont have much time to work out, nor does the new apartment have any part structuraly sound enough to hold my pull-up bar ;/

im glad you had fun on your trip. Your vacations sound really fun. im kinda jealous.

I cant believe they are giving their homecommings, thats CRAZY!!! Gosh!! let me know how they are.

I still feel a little bit like a chicken with its head cut off. Things are crazy here. We had a meeting in boston today, and another tommorow. A lot of investigators, and i dont know ANYBODY. so itll be a trial by fire learning environemnt There is going to be a baptism on sunday. Its hard for me to feel the same passion, because i feel no "ownership" for any of the work here. In N.Adams, and LP1 there wasnt any work when i got there, so i didnt have that problem then, and we shotgunned Nashua 1st so it was the same deal. it feels weird here in Ludlow.

The hardest part of the transfer was seeing Elder Barton and Elder Anderson go. The whole mission has just a different feel. im the old guy now in the mission... thats weird. In the leadership meeting today i was the missionary who was the longest in leadserhisp positions. president called me "the old hands in the mission". i feel like an old bannana that has been left on the counter far too long its cool to see all the fresh blood come into the mission though. Itll be a good transfer.

There isnt much left to say. Ill let you know how things are next week. love ya and miss ya! ttyl!

Elder Onken

July 23, 2007

2007-07-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Wow, new bishop? exciting!!!

It seems like everybody is busy as usual. Fuuuun.

Equal oposition in all things. Thats all i can say.

Transfers are like on the 3rd or somthing. Not sure if im leaving, but somebody is for sure. 4.5 in a ZL companionship is not normal.

Its been buggy and humid here. Today we are going to have a zone activity, but i think its going to rain. So itll be inside probably.

Wow, i cant believe that got lost. Maybe its the Lord reminding everybody of who is in control.

Well, we have the baptism this sunday. its going to be a great service. We hope everything works out.

Im not too talkative today i guess. Not much to say. I hope everything is going well. I love ya and miss ya!! ill ttyl!

Skyler's P-day Hike

2007-07-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2007

2007-07-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Thanks for the birthday package!! ive already learned to solve the rubiks cube pretty quickly. We enjoyed the cookies. Thats amazing how fast they got here!!! We were walking in the door for lunch, and the post man was standing right there trying to ring up to the apartment.

My glasses are a little too small. I was thinking about maybe getting contacts again when I get home. It might be nice having both. About the smiling thing, Its important to smile!!! GBH said "Smile, smile why dont ya?!". We share a message of joy, we need to show it!

The 4th was great!! in the morning we went to a morning devotional at a park. The church puts on this big thing for the town, and it was really great! i got to talk to a member of the 2nd ward who is leaving for his mission to poland. he just finished his second year at West Point, so we contrasted and gave tips to each other about how to prepare and what kinda things to focus on. We then did some service for 2 less-active families. We went to a barbaque at the Noel's home, and had an investigator and a less-active lady come!! it was great!! Afterwards, it was raining so fireworks were canceled, but then we went to a LA/Investigators home and shared with them a General Conference Address from the 80's by Bruce R. McConkie, "the purifying power of Gethsemanie". It was powerful. We hope that this gets them jumpstarted. It was a good 4th of July! they postponed the fireworks, until the 8th, so i enjoyed those on my birthday!! we can see the place from our apartment, so it was easy to watch from the comfort of our home. Yes, i did make Debi Dip and everybody is a fan!! I also made Satay. are you proud of me? it was good too!

Kolin is a brain about everything. I think he took astronomy before, and he LOVES that kind of stuff. Im glad they came over, Clayton mentioned it in his email. I know why the default IP address wont work. Because its the wrong router. i forget the IP address though... arg, so there are two fixes: either, Guess, so i think it might be somthing like 192.168.1.2, or 192.168.2.1 or .50, or .52 or somthing... i forget. the other thing (more technical) is to download a portscanner, or network mapping tool. I have one on my computer, but thats not worth the effort to get. go to download.com or just google, and download one called GFI, or somthing like that... then run a scan on 192.168.*.*. itll show you the IP addresses of the machines and routers on the network.

Im proud of Chelsea, i talked to her last week on email. It sounds like things are going well for her!

hahaha, come on, First Aid is standard! you were a Den Mother, you know about SOME stuff....

This week was great. A lot of good things happened. the highlight was a few things. First off, we were going to go tracting on saturday, but the Jehovahs Witnesses were EVERYWHERE in the neighborhood we were tracting. So we decided not to go there. instead, we just followed the spirit. We found this random, dead end street with like 6 houses on it. We, being prompted to stop, started knocking doors. about the 3rd door there was a family outside riding bikes. We talked to the Father/Grandfather (he didnt look that old), and he told us that he has a family of 17. Children and Grandchildren. He invited us back for next sunday to teach them!!! Gosh, miracles!!! Then on sunday the Temple President came to church. He brought some older couples from the place where he used to be a mission president, and they stayed for the whole block. President Hutchins paid us a nice compliment when we were going around talking to the new faces, he said "well what do we have here? just talking to the faces you dont know?" i said "of course", and he said "well let me guess, you must either be Zone Leaders or Assistants". We considered that a very nice compliment. He spoke with power and authority. One of our investigators came up to us afterwards and said "im just about ready to tell you to baptize me now!!!". It was great!!! It was a great birthday!!!

Well, thigns are good. Im loving it. This week i hit my 18 month mark. Can you believe that Jimmy comes home in 3 months?!?! thats weird. then im 3 months behind him. Im feeling a greater sense of urgency since i know how fast the time goes. I hope to see some really great things happen here before August, hopefully some baptismal dates and such!!

well, we gotta run. love ya and miss ya!! ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

July 1, 2007

2007-07-02T18:06:00.001-07:00

Mom,

July... crazy!!!! sounds like its been a busy weekend! truely a SUMMER weekend.

I got the package! thank you so much! Elder Householder and I are excited to make some dip. Ill see if i can bring some dip to this barbaque that a ward member is putting on. They are inviting like 10 non-members, so we are going to go over there and get to know them.
we are going with a LA/Part-member family to go watch fireworks at the local baseball stadium. It will be fun!

Tell him that by way of commandment God has told us to only eat good things. That the W.o.W tell us thats why God gave us good plants for our health.

Gregg is home?!!? Gosh, i was looking at the pics from the WH ward reuinion page and say Johnny Moffit there. He has been back for a while now, but its crazy that Greg is back!! did i tell you that a missionary in my Zone is Mark Nevers' brother-in-law? small world!!

yah, its the WEP that you are looking for, soooooo (actually this is the 2nd tech call ive gotten today. the office had me fix an SQL querie over the phone): using the hard-routed PC (connected via ethernet), connect to the router, 192.168.1.1 should be the IP address. Login, usually its admin/admin, or [routername or version]/admin. Once you have logged in, go to the security menu. create a new key by just typing in a passstring/word, and copying the WEP key it spits back out to you. Make sure you do NOT broadcast your SSID. on your laptop you will then need to manually configure teh SSID and WEP key. you can reset it, but its better to just fix it. it will save you time. reseting is just going back to default settings, aka factory settings. I think you can do it on the bottem of the router? not sure.

That reuinion is going to be sweet. im sorry that ill miss it!! lol. Are Nick and Jamie going?

Id request his records and let the bishop decide.

always DRAMA!!! gosh! one heart and one mind people...

She should ask Bishop Goldstein for help on that... he is a rocket scientist!! lol.

Did you ever figure out if the pics you got were the ones i sent a few weeks ago? there should have been some other stuff in the package too. it would have come from nashua... i want to make sure it didnt get lost.

Well this week has been long!! last p-day we had a special meeting in boston, so didnt have much of a p-day then. We were then back in the city on tuesday for Mission Council, and on friday for a mission presidents seminar that got canceled right when we got there ;/ it was too bad, but it happens. This week we found some really cool investigators, but nothing else really big yet. The zone got 93 member referrals last month. thats like a years worth according the the stake's own goal. We are showing them that the missionaries mean business!!

not much new other than that. We had a LA lady come to church for the first time in 5 years yesterday, AND she bore her testimony!! the week before that a family came for the first time in 2 years, and came again this week!!! ive had more success working with invactives, than converts!!

well, i love you and miss you! i appreciate the package. Ill talk to you next week when im 21. hahaha. love you!!

Elder Onken

June 25, 2007

2007-06-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Well, there would have been like 2 burned DVDs and 1 photo CD. Its the only ones ive sent from Nashua. That should asnwer that question. Let me know if you didnt get them, because i dont want to delete my pics.

Anything for my B-Day? havnt really thought about it much. I cant think of anything. I dont really neeed anything. clothes? socks or somthing... no more candy, ive got to cut down. I enjoy it too much. Maybe just put some money away into a bank account for when i get home... I dont really need anything out here.

So i got this really cool recipe from a member of our ward. Brother Eberhard. He is awesome. He is from Germany. Its like the healthiest stuff ever, and he said it helps your cholestoral, so i think Dad should eat it. Its called Beuhur Muslig (or somthing like that). its Oatmeal, Sugar, Milk, Blueberries, Straweberries, bananas, red grapes, and raspberrys. You soak the milk oats and sugar for like 2 hours, then cut up and add the fruit. Its pretty good too.

Yup, still in Nashua. Im glad to have stayed here. We have a lot going on, and id like to see some baptisms. I totaly forgot about chicken casesar salad pizza. good deal. Oh, btw, Elder Householder wants more Debi Dip. Its a hit here. ahh, 6 months. i remember when i was there. it seems like yesterday, seriously. It goes sooo fast. Elder Anderson (my old comp), Elder Johnson (friend when i was still in North Adams) are going home in 5 weeks. WEIRD!! Elder Reyna is home. Almost all of my companions except for Elder Egbert, Householder and Walker are home now. geeze!!

Matt is engaged?! CRAZY!! gosh. Im glad Chels has made some new friends there! thats sooo important. Im sure the bishopric doesnt want to put a spotlight on her or anything.

Did you go eat at Longboards on the pier? I LOVE THAT PLACE!! the chocolate cheesecake ::drool::. Gosh, you should call Kolin or Clayton (he should be home now) if you ever need a chaparone.

Today we had a special leadership meeting in Belmont, so P-Day has been cut kinda short. Its okay, because i was able to see my Son (Egbert) who is now serving with Elder Foley!!! im sure they are telling a lot of stories. Also saw a bunch of other missionaries who i havnt seen forever.

Things are going well, but nothing too exciting to report.

What "key" for the wireless router? are you talking about the WEP? you have to look it up on the router.

Well, I love you and miss you. ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

June 18, 2007

2007-06-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

Mom,

FIRST, before i forget:
1) Thanks for the package. i think it was probably from Dad? why? because a giant bag of peanut M&Ms... i dont know. Thanks!!
2) Did you get the pictures and CDs i set home? AND, Did that package with my books ever get home? let me know, i insured it if it didnt.

It sounds like Father's Day was fun! We spent it at the Bentalls. A great family. It was fun, and productive!!

Im glad chelsea went to the YSA ward! it sounds like shes just jumping right back into things!! thats important. do i know the Brandenbergs? do i know Rene? im not sure! the ward must be very different now, i can only imagine.

Things are going well here. I will find out tommorow night if im getting transfered. Things are going by quickly for me. Im still with Housholder. Things are good. I found out that Scott (from cambridge) is now fully active, has been to the temple for baptisms, has a calling, and is preparing to get his PhD so he can become a professors (maybe at BYU i think). Im excited!! the program that i worked with him at has also exploded. he just got a 45,000$ grant to expand it. Its been a hit!

Raquetball court was flooded, so no more of that. But we play soccer and frisbee at the church, its fun! the training is going well. Ive maxed push-ups, sit-ups, and almost pull-ups. my basketball throw is at 87 feet (102ft max). and i havnt had the time to work on my shuttle-runs and mile run. Its tough with only 30 minutes, and p-days! and even then I cant force my comp to do stuff that he doesnt want to do.

I love you and miss you. ill let you know about x-fers ASAP.

Love,
Elder Onken

June 11, 2007

2007-06-11T17:13:00.001-07:00

All i can say is "WOW!". That would have been such an awesome day in the temple!! Gosh... thats sweet!!!

Awww, Yang Chow rocks!! Im jealous. Im sure that was a good start for Dad's b-day. I think he will like the gift you give him BOTH of them

Yah, about leaving the Garden, our original home. A lot of people have interesting ideas because of that imagery. The early church fathers would often state in their epistles (Clement, Augustine, etc..) "To those of you sojourning at [place]". Because truely we ALL are travelers, and strangers here in a world that is not our native environemnt. The temple is the bridge BACK to our original home. It sets the chaos of this world and our awkwardness here into exact alignmnent. I love how in Alma 26, when speaking of the anti-nephi-lehis, we learn that none fell away, although the ammount of change for them was HUGE. and how was it done? well in Alma 26 it says because they were "gathered into the garners". D&C 101:65 tells us what the garners are. the very place we must go to recieve the blessings of eternal life and celestial glory, in other words, where we go to become what we are meant to be, and return to where we whence have come. the temple. They learned from those nephites who encircled them in protection after their conversion. We must be examples and do the same thing to those around us, that "none shall fall away".

Yah, i emailed Chelsea last week. Things seem to be going well for her. Im glad that she has decided on a major for school. She is going to be GREAT at it. Im sure all the guys were checkin her out lol. Hows Natalie? send me her address, id like to write her a letter.

This week is interviews. Transfers are next week. Will know NEXT tuesday. ::shrug:: things are good here. since the start of june we have gotten 8 Member Referals. Its exciting. we had a meeting with Pres. England and teh stake pres of Nashua stake, and were talking about the success. its exciting!!!

Well, we should be seeing a lot come from it. A less active lady (sister Lauth) has already set up a cottage meeting with her friends, and we are teaching them on Wed. and Thurs!! tis sweet. Taught them this week at the church, and gave them a tour. Its exciting. I think her friends will get baptized! tuaght a part-member family last night, and had a great heart to heart with another LA. Thigns are going great. love it, and love the area.

thats it about now! today is my 17th month mark. its going sooo fast. gosh.

well, i love ya. ttyl!

Elder Onken

June 4, 2007

2007-06-04T09:18:00.001-07:00

Mom,

Im sorry about your toothache. The infection in my throat is still bad, but i think its actually going away. Havnt had the time to go to the doctor. this week has been crazy!!!

What kind of truck did dad get for work? what for anyway? was it an excuse to get a big truck? Dont become like the Nephites, and their desiring of costly apparel (they would desire costly cars too if they had them).

Thats cool that Nick had a big party.

Steven, and Rob went to Europe and are touring around there with Clayton before they get back. I want to go visit around europe sometime in the future, and i guess they will be pro tour guides for me then.

Im glad Sister Parker is on my side. i have an advocate for the anti-scooter-taking-my-room pact.

We drove past Hillary Clinton this week. She was in Nashua prior to the Democratic Debate. It was a huge deal.

I think im going to be transfered. Im not sure. ususally ZLs find out around 1/2 Council (wednsday). We will see. transfers in like 2 weeks i think. it FLIES by.

Things here are going great. we have gotten 12 member referals last month, and already 3 for this month. We are trying to get 25 a month, and make that our primary teaching pool. You should all try to be that member that the missionaries need; refers their friends, and invites them over for the dicussions. It makes the work grow in the ward when others see that its not that hard. The missionaries will be much more effective.

well, i love ya and miss ya!

Ill ttyl,
Elder Onken

May 30, 2007

2007-05-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Sounds like your Memorial day was slower than usual.

I didnt know Chelsea's cat had kittens!! are they bigger than Scooter yet? it wont take too long, will it?

That dog is FAR too spoiled. I wouldnt be suprised if you decided to give him my room and have me sleep outside

New hair style? send pics. Things change so much!!

We went to a few of the members bbqs and got some referals. We cut down some trees for a member! that was fun! it was leaning over the house, so we tied a rope as far up as we could go (the tree was huuuge) and used a come-a-long to pull it straight up. used a chain-saw to cut like 3/4 of the way through and then yanked it down.

Transfers are in like 2.5 weeks. Things are good here! tons of Member Referals, and a lot of great teaching!! We taught two member referals, and they were SOOO excited. One of the epsecially was superb. She is the g-friend of a ward missionary and he is stoked to have her involved. everr since the lesson she has been praying 3 times a day. LEssons are so much more powerful when its at a members home with whom the investigator is close with, and especially if the member sets up the appointment! its great.

Zak is definetly doing a great job. he is a stud. he will get the language, hes smart like that. Ariel is going to BYU?! is she already that old? thats crazy!!! good for her. BYU is a good school.

Well things are good here. This week there seems to have been so much news of change back home. From all sorts of people. Im glad things are going along, although i feel a little left out. You know me, i hope ill be able to partake of the fun when i get home! love ya and miss ya! ttyl!

Elder Onken

May 21, 2007

2007-05-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Yah, i heard from Zak a while ago. Im so stoked that he is on a mission. He is going to be such a great missionary because he didnt just go because he was supposed to, but because he took time to find out that its what he wants. I can imagine what its like to see this huge white guy in Korea lol. We baptize tons of Koreans here, itd be interesting to see the success in the actual country.

Hows Mike? its good to hear he is on his feet. He is a cool guy, really fun. he has a good heart. tell him i say 'hi'.

Im glad Chelsea quit her job there. She will see that she will feel better because of it. She can do SOOO much better too. Shes talented in so many different things.

Some things that stuck out to me from what you wrote. Although we cant force people to change, like you said, we still need to be good example. Alma 17:11 ( i did a study of being a instrument in the hands of God, and this is a key verse) states:
"...ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls."

very true. We cant let others choices effect our own well-beign, but they should effect our heart and our inspire our love for them into action and faith. Faith is the princple of power, and can help others more than most people would think. We are truely just like conduits. Lee Tom Perry wrote a book called Righteous Influence. He uses an analogy to compare how we are all like electronic switches. If we are on, God can funnel his power through us to help others. if we are off, then he uses a differnt source. he doesnt NEED us, but makes us part of the plan that WE TOO may grow. God could use Angels to do missionary work, but he uses 19-25 year old young adults that we may grow. Its interesting. A lesson i deffiently keep learning.

This week was good. We have been focusing on member referals for our main source of investigators. Its truely amazing!!! seek, inspire and life others!!! thats the key!! We taught a friend of the McFadden family, and it was amazing, after teachin apostasy of the church, she was like "But then what happend!?!". She was so anxious to learn about the resotartion. It went great. I trust that things will go well.

I found out about one of the things that was keeping Scott from progressing back to the church. I know he is such a strong spirit, and truely Christ like because of what has happened, yet his sincere desires. He is a choice spirit, and im looking forward to hearing about how the Atonement helps him overcome his trials.

Things are good, i love you all, and ill talk to you later!

Elder Onken

May 7, 2007

2007-05-07T17:37:00.001-07:00

Mom,

Im not goign to write too much because ill be calling next week. Besides that, im just not that talkative right now.

This week was though. A lot of ups and downs and loops. Not too much news. We had set a baptismal date, but she didnt show up the church so we will have to move it.

I guess thats really it for now. The weatheris getting nicer, thats for sure. We volunteered at a MS walk, and that was fun and fulfilling.

A new missionary in the zone speaks cambodian, his name is Elder Pike. It turns out that his brother in law is Mark Nevers! small world, eh? that was pretty cool i thought.

well, i gotta run. love ya and miss ya. ill talk to you next week!

April 30, 2007

2007-04-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, tough life! facials and such... hahah jk. cool!

Yah, Dad was going to send me a packet of stuff, but i never got it. He never slows down. i think its bad. He also needs to eat better, because i know he doesnt. I actaully made some indonessian food a while ago. Bumbu Rujak! it was good! I also made Debi Dip with the second jar of sauce youo sent. Its a favorite. I think im pretty good at making it!!

Yah, the FAIR website is good. i did read some of the responses. I tried to sign up, but i dont have the time needed (obviously), but there were a few points that wernt brougth up in some of thsoe responses that should have been. Brother Bokovoy is going to be at the FAIR conference in August, so i wonder if hes doing anythign in realtion to the DVD. Ill have to ask him.

Did youo hear bad thigns about the PBS thing? Thats kinda scary. We will find out tonight. We have already had much anti stuff get around to our investigators and thigns. Not good news. however, "no unhallowed hand will stop the work from progressing".

I didnt see Lora, but Ginger did stop by! i forgot to mention that last week! sorry! Thank you soon much! it was good to see someone who at least resembled a familiar face!! they just didnt have enough time with their flight and everything. Thanks so much though!

This week has been great. We have experience many miracles. A family the Larsens had a son die at 18 only a few months ago. They ahve been hoping that his memoryu would somehow bring others into the gospel. They had this blood drive last week, and we got a few referals to visit as a result. When visitng the referals we found a new investigator, and the referal themselves were excited to have us return and answer questions.

Also, while eating pizza for dinner with a member the other night, a man started a conversation with us. we talked for one hour about the restoration. The member (a convert from baptist) bore testimony and it was so powerful. He had so many questions, and the spirit was strong. We have his info, and are going to meet with him this week. He gave us hugs when we stood up to leave.

Angel came to church! she had a great time! it was a powerful lesson on the book of mormon, and everything was great!!

my other roomates are Elder Householder and Elder Schilling. Their moms arnt on the list though.

Pray for Miracles and call down angels. The Lord has already said he will send them.

I love you and miss you. Ill talk to youo soon!! literaly, mothers day is soon! 2 weeks, right? thats crazy! ive already been out for almost 16 months!! geeze!

Love ya!

Elder Onken

April 23, 2007

2007-04-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been up-and-down.

We had investigators at church, but so much has been going on. We hope to set a baptismal date this week, but you never know

im pretty sure Nick comes home May or June. i dont think July. i think he left in May or June. Any day now, however.

Things are great here. its getting warm, and i love that! we didnt float away, but a few missionaries in the zone got flooded.

I hear from Elder McCandless (one of my roomates) that you talked to his mom on the missionary mom's site? thats so cool! he is the greatest missionary!

Im sorry I dont have anythign amazing to report. did i mention that brazilian family of 5 that walked into the church 2 weeks ago? well, they got anti'd, but want to talk about the problems. The other Elders want me to go over there and answer some of their questions. I think that would be great. I love resolving those types of concerns so that people once again feel comfrotable approaching the gospel spiritualy, without many doubts.

Sorry i dont have much to say. I love ya, and miss ya!
ill talk to you soon!

Elder Onken

April 17, 2007

2007-04-16T17:52:00.001-07:00

Mom,

The missionary apartment in Nashua is equiped with a life raft and flotation devices. We used it to get to the library today... jk. but practicaly. Our apartment is right on the river, so its probably going to flood. we are on the 2nd level fortunately. Peterborough elders are already flooded. hahahaha leave it to Nick to give some comment like that. but seriously though.

Oh yah, Nick told me of that show. Hes and ex-SAS guy who does all this survival. sounds cool. my kinda thing. Did you go willingly to Geocache, or did he somehow trick you into it? lol.

yah, itll probably be later the better. there are 4 of us here in the apartment, and im the furthest time zone. Ali and the Dubrows are excited to talk also, so keep them informed.

Yah, if you want to come to Boston lets do it in July before i enter the academy. A week before and such. the seasons are tough to catch, and are becomming increasingly unpredictable. I just dont want to be here when Boston floods We were going to go to the Lexington and Concord reenactment this morning (its Patriots Day. yah, youve probably never heard of it before), but it was canceled because of the weather. i was totaly bummed, because i want to see it soooo bad. its the morning thingy for the boston marathon. They start with the ride of Paul Revere, and then do the battle. The battle starts at 5:30 am usually, and Pres. England gave us permission to go, rain or shine, but it was canceled

Hawai'i? i guess so. mom, are you trunky? gosh. i still have a looong time. generaly english missionaries in the Boston mission serve for 2 years and 7 days. So my return date will probably be January 19th i think. its a friday i believe (or should be since trasnfers are on thursdays). Whatever.

Wow mom, your getting strong!! i use 45 lbs for flies when i do it (there is a gym in the appartment). I got a new bar, but there is no place to put it up in the new apartment!! its got me bummed! im going to figure somthing out. Im jus trying to get better at my PT scores as much as possible.

Well, we had to refer the family. There have been tons of miracles happening here, and the zone is great! we have zone conference this week, and im excited to be training. We commited 2 people to baptims this week, but no dates. they didnt show up at church probably because of the snow, but we are going to see whats us. Ive learned that you cant stress out about them and their agency, you just have to be crushed that they dont understand why its so important.

We had the chance to teach the Priests Quorem this week in church. It was sweeet. Very powerful. i was thinking of "what would i NEED said to me when i was a priest to help me decide to serve a mission". It was good. There are some really good young men in the ward.

We had some great lessons obviously, with some really prepared people. plenty of miracles, and many angles have been present. Things are great.

Well, i love you and miss you all. Tell everybody hi for me. Im glad that the snow is gone, and now its rain. I like rain more.

Oh yah, a family of 5 brazilians walked into church on friday, and asked to be taught. It was cool. the other elders are teaching them even though they are in our ward. we dont even really care as long as they are taught. Miracles are happening because we are praying and being obedient. The Work can go so great if you simply exercise your agency unto faith, and work to the best of your ability.

love ya and miss ya.

Elder Onken

April 10, 2006

2007-04-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the letter you sent mom, it made me feel special!

This ward is amazing. We had a passover dinner past tuesday, and i did an extensive study of the Christology of the passover ritual. Very interesting stuff. If youd like to hear about it, i can share a bit of it. This family the Larsens are amazing. Their 18 year old son passed away from cancer about 3 months ago, and it is inspirational to see how much strength and hope they draw from the gospel. It softens my heart and makes me want to be better when i hear the stories of faith from their family and their son. We had Easter dinner at the Phillips' home (EQP), with the McFaddens (2nd councilor in Bishopric), the Racliffes, and the Blanchettes. 4 AMAZING families. They are so cool, and are so fired up for the missionary work. We did have an investigator at Sacrament, but not as many as we were planning on.

Okay. Ask Dad if he has sent the letter of recommendation information to Dan Maher again/yet (i dont know if it ever went through). Also, did he ever get one from President England? I forget. Also, did he finish the extra-curriculars write-up and send it to Maj Houston? gosh, im a worry wort.

hahah we play raquetball every p-day. ive been getting better, but Elder Householder is amazing, and so are the other missionaries. Tell him to hit the ball low, but upwards and flick the wrist.

I know Elder Seegmiller. he was here in Nashua (the other ward though) just a few months ago. hes a cool kid.

The area isnt too big. It covers Nashua, Hollis and Brookline NH. Kinda rural expect for Nashua, which is about the size of Westlake id say. Not as run-down as north adams, but some places are older. a lot of spanish speakers, so i get to practice a bit. Shotgunning is where both elders are transfered, and 2 new ones go in. so elder Householder and I are both new to the area. Its been exciting. The Lord has shown us many miracles daily. Getting to know the zone has been the hardest, but they are AMAZING. I love the missionaries here, and things are already picking up. We have gone from 2 baptismal dates in the zone to 4 in just a week. We are looking at probably 10 for this month, which is good for the North East.

Gosh, already talking about be comming home? i still have 9 months (Wednsday the 11th is my 15 month mark), so i may be transfered one more time, im not sure. I guess you could come pick me up, but January is not very good for sight seeing. Most of the tourist stuff is closed then, but we could go visit my areas i guess. Id recommend that if you want to tour around and stuff, we would do it prior to me entering the academy in July. We could spend the 4th in Boston. that would be cool. Whatever you want. we have PLENTY of time to think about that.

Things are going great. This week we were tracking down a family who had bapstimal dates set, but when they were kicked out of their home, they lost contact with the Elders and they just fell through the cracks months ago when the transfers came. So we were looking for the daughters old place of employment, and actually found it. Remarkably, she didnt work there, but happend to call the store for some random reason while we were there. The clerk handed me the phone and we got her new info. She was very excited and said "i had been asking my mother if she had heard from you guys lately". we are excited to work with them.

Well Mom, things are going great. love ya and miss ya. i miss the city, but Nashua rocks. Ill talk to you soon. (mothers day is comming up!).

Elder Onken

April 2, 2007

2007-04-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!!

Sorry i didnt get an email from ya this week. Hope everything is going great.

Alas, i have been transfered. I miss the city and the people we have been working with. The ward is great, and the people we have been teaching are prime children of God; truely.

I have been sent to Nashua NH, with Elder Householder. He is from Thatcher, AZ. We are shotgunning the area, meaning they transfered both the ZLs there, and put us in. Elder Householder is a new ZL, but he is a very fast learner, so its been a very smooth transition for the both of us. We have were able to contact and meet most of the ward council, even with Gen Con. Its been great; we are really excited to be working here, and we have already seen so many miracles. We have been teaching a few ladies and one of them has accepted a soft baptismal commitment. She doesnt want to set a date yet, because she wants to wait for her husband and daughter to come around.

Its weird teaching anybody now. im so used to focusing on 25-35 single males, that its strage to have to worry about the shaperone rule and such. Its cool though, because there are so many more potential people for us to teach, that we wont have to refer.

The apartment we live in is really nice, and it has raquetball courts. We played that today, and man is it fun.

I was bummed to leave cambridge however. Scott Carey, the innactive guy that i told you we have been working with for so long, has finaly started to dedicate himself. I love that guy, and i wish that i could have been a part of teaching him, but i know that he is in good hands, and that we will stay in touch. We really bonded, and it was sad to leave. Unfortunately, like you know mom, really working and keeping old ties is somthing that cuases me a lot of anxiety. i dont know why. im so wierd. lol we all know that. geeze.

Well, how great was Gen Con?! we had such a powerful lesson in between sessions, and then had some investigators attend, and you there is no doubt that they didnt have questions of their soul answered.

Well, i love ya and miss ya. I like the pics of the dog. its like a piece of candy. i thought it was fake at first. hahaha. well, ill ttyl!

Elder Onken

March 25, 2007

2007-03-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

well, i wrote a whole response,. and then myldsmail times out and wont reopen.

well. anyway. sounds like things back home are same ol same ol. Its strange how much has changed since ive left though.

how big is the dog supposed to get? it was like the size of a potato in the last pics.

So who all is going to be at the OP party? its good timing with Conference. I cant wait for conference, its going to be great!!!

We have made some great progress with Seth, and he is really enjoying church it seems. Some of the other investigators, not so much.

There was the release of a big anti-mormon DVD all over the country. It will be interesting to see the fall-out of it in the next comming weeks.

I think im getting trasnfered. i dont want to, but i think i am. im kinda bummed about it. I wonder where ill go. probably to Nashua or the Boston zone.

I met two people who served under Pres Hamilotn. Dan Reese, and Michelle Call. They were excited when they found out i knew him. Then they told me of some cool indo food places near where i live. im excited to go tehre soon.

Well, i gotta run. love ya, miss ya ttyl!

Elder Onken

March 19 2006

2007-03-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Thanks for your words. Endure to the End, right? "the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea he trieth their patience and thair faith" .it is true.

I took a video of the new place, but it was too big to send. im gonna try to fix it. ill let you know what i do.

Man, Visitin and Home teaching is sooo important. We visited this Less Active guy this week on exchanges, and he said the reason why he didnt read the scriptures is because he oedsnt understand him; and that his H.T stopped comming, and so now he cant read them. It broke my heart.

ouch, i remember whenever i would hurt my finger in wrestling, i would have to type with my ring finger instead of my index finger and it was really weird.

This week has been nuts. This weird guy tried to bash with me in the park, but i just kept changing the subject to about his family and where he was from. He then was like "you dont want to argue", and i said no and he ranted at me about how it was good to argue and how the biblical jews argued with everybody and how it was good, but then i was like "but they rejected the Christ", and he was all confused. it was kinda funny. Then on the way to Harvard we talked to like 12 girls from Denmark, and one of them asked me on a date. We then explained the rules of a missionary, and its always funny to see their reactions. They asked how not partying, and doing all that kind of stuff can make someone happy, and we were able to explain to them the difference between temproary happiness, and eternal joy. They dont believe in God, but they said that it made sense.

A lot of potentialy awkward situations can be turned into very informative, and spiritual experiences. Its all about tying life back to the gospel in every way.

The weather has been crazy. Warm, then freezing with snow. Its been cold lately, but not tooo bad.

I think i might get transfered in 2 weeks. im not sure though. itll be interesting to see what happens.

well, i gotta run. love ya, miss ya, ttyl!

Elder Onken

Video Clip

2007-03-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

Video

2007-03-12T20:38:00.001-07:00

March 12, 2007

2007-03-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Oh, the poor missionaries are probably laughing about how weird you are. Thats cool though. I love quoting funny movie things. Did they even know what you were talking about?

Yah, the plan is based on a 3 step layer: God's Agency, Our Agency, and Investigators Agency. Pray for Miracles, Be Obedient, and Set goals for Contacting and New investigators. We are leaving it up to the DLs to unveil it. It will be more personable that way, and we will get mor einput.

THe new Apartment is in Brighton MA. We have some furniture. i have a video of the place, ill send it to you. We just got a table, but no desks yet. just beds. We had to go buy a bunch of dishes and silverware though it sucks. And i broke my pull-up bar!! i swear, im not that fat!! its muscle (i think). I guess i should also mention that i ripped my other suit :/ however i was able to stitch it back up. There is this nice suit warehouse in Boston somewhere where its like 80% off. I think im going to go there next month.

what the random house in San Antonio? dont say your planning on moving. ill be sooo mad; ill "smite you with the rod of my mouth".

I eat pb&j, and oatmeal, and bananas. Thats about all that i buy. Its cheap, its easy, and its tasty. Ill be prepared for your rebuke of my dietary habits. The members feed us well though. Cheryl is the ward missionary in charge of the calendar, and shes does such an amazing job. we are really lucky.

Sis Johnson used to be Jane Clayson or somthing. Shes just this former newsanchor, but now she started her family, and her husband is in the bishopric of the ward here. She just wrote a book called "im a mother". its published by Deseret. Also, there is this book called The Mormon Way of Doing Business, written by Jeff Benedict. have you read it? i met a lot of the guys in that book. it was exciting. Elder Christenson (the local area seventy) is in it. Its good, you should read it with Dad!

Well, transfers in 3 weeks. yesterday was 14 month mark. thats crazy!! love you, miss you. i hope to stay here for another x-fer "nevertheless, not as I will, but [God's] will be done".

love ya!

Elder Onken

March 6, 2006

2007-03-06T19:24:00.001-08:00

Mom,

Helloooo! Well, sorry for having to write on Tuesday. We had to work on p-day, so we are taking some time today to write.

We found an apartment, and we are moving in on Thursday. i dont remember the address, but if you want to send anything in the mean time, you can send it to the mission office.

How is Blake doing? the "Old" krew (when you talk like a gangsta' you have to use awkword spell1ng) dinner idea should be fun. Who all came? I keep seeing how the LP1 ward is constantly changing, its got me a little upset at how different the Westlake Village 2nd ward will be.

I forgot to write that letter to the Agoura 1st ward YM!!! doh!! tell them ill write it this week!! im sorry! I saw the picture of Elder Toone with the Kittens; i was like "please tell me those are fake". Nope... real. lol. i love that guy, im sure hes rippin it up down there.

Ah yes, Scooter. funny dog. i liked the pic. Im glad that Nat and Chels are doing well.

So work is going well then i take it? im glad. Im sure your excited to kinda be able to go off and do your own thing now.

This last week Zoen Conference went great. It was really interesting though. Right when it Started Pres England had to go to the hospital, because of kidney stones. Then, halfway through, the fire alarm goes off because the basement became flooded. So we had the firedepartment come. To say the least, it was exciting. We trained on Contacting without fear, and i think it went great. a few of the newer missionaries were still struggling, but ive been working on helping them lose their fear (Bible Dictionary says "fear is somthign unworthy of a child of God"), and to make contacting more fun for them. I think its great. i love talking to strangers (wait... that contradicts every pre-K teaching ever... but still...), i just dont take candy from them. Its funny how people are so scared of us, but then we just chat and they loosen up. Have not yet displayed the inspired zone plan yet, will do it during District Meetings on friday. We had dinner twice at a member of the Bishoprics this week. Bro and Sis Johnson. They are way cool. Bro Johnson went to the Naval Academy (Go Army, Sink Navy!!), and Sister Johnson used to be a this bigtime news anchor for the Early Show, and Good Morning America. It was cool to see them as just a regular family and stuff. That is what the gospel is all about!

The investigators are doing well. we have 4 new investigators at church on sunday, and we have really been increasing our teaching pool. unfortunately we had to drop Tony... or he dropped us. Whichever it is. He feels like its just too much to believe in Christ. OTher than that, We are giving out these books to some MBA student investigators called "the mormon way of doing business". our MWL has a ton so we are giving them away. Its a pretty cool book.

Nothing other than that is really new or exciting. Some of the Members in the ward who have found the blog say i should make it more blog like (Shout out to Marie, Preston, Natalie and Cheryl). Preston thinks i should put my favorite song of the day... Well, considering the fire alarm that went off during Zone Con (and we didnt even know why), i will conclude that my song of the day is: "The Spirit of God"...(Like a fire is burning). Food of the day is definetly Burnt Christmas in Mexico enchilladas, which we did not have a chance to enjoy, but at our dinner last night we did laugh about.

well, thats about it. love ya miss ya, ttyl!

Elder Onken

Best Clip!

2007-02-27T20:38:00.001-08:00

Clip 2

2007-02-27T20:35:00.001-08:00

Videos from Skyler

2007-02-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

February 26, 2006

2007-02-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-12T18:48:00.001-08:00

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

2007-02-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

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

January 29, 2006

2007-01-29T08:04:00.001-08:00

Mom,
Wow, so right at this very moment you are probably oreinting, or on the way to orient for your new job. thats so cool!

Ahh, yes, G-Mas 29th birthday. I remember her last 29th birthday. always much fun.

How is Nat's new apartment? is Ryan studying for the ASVAB? thats good.

How are the Hamiltons. i Didnt really get to know them all that well, since they left on their mission. It sounds like your having a good time w/ the ward though.

The weather. yes, freeeeezing. Especially on friday! it was -20 with wind chill. the news actualy used the words "Arctic Winds". Not a lot of snow though. there is some on the ground, but not much.

I did make the Dip, and my wrists and forearm were dying, but it was totaly worth it. There is a lot of dip there. I was kinda amazed! it was good though. but not as good as yours.

No run-ins with the spitter lately. Whenver we get into the Davis square area, i always turn on like the commando mode, and am like moving around carefuly, and scanning the crowd for her ruthless scowl. haha

The work is going great. We had such a powerful lesson with Moniz last night. He is from Rowanda, Angola, and has just been amazing working iwth him. We have asked him to be baptized twice now, but he is still unsure. He knows Joseph Smith is a prophet, and he knows the BoM is God's word. I dont know what his hold up is. i think perahps its that he is unsure of himself being able to live up to the commandments? We also have dinnner with Tony, our ivnestigator form Thailand. He has come such a long way. He now believes in God, and we have been focusing on helpin him get a testimony of Jesus Christ. We are having dinner with him on thursday with a bunch of other missionaries and a member. It will be great. If he gets baptized then he will be the first person ive ever found/taught/baptized. I guess Michael and Sue dont count becuase they were Part members, or member referals. oh yah, did i tell you that Sue from North Adams finaly got baptized? hahah im so happy for her!! i miss N. Adams, and wish i had the time to write to the branch there. It would be nice to be a ZL in springfield so i could go up there and visit on tours lol. im just dreaming. We area also teaching this guy named Seth. He is awesome, and although he has a few concerns, his sincerity cannot be beaten. He is awesome, and hope that he will come to church and be baptized soon. We are still working with Fabio from Albania. He is such a good guy, and a real friend. His family is so nice, and its so humbling to see their kindness to us. Fabio comes to church every week, i just dont know what his holdup about baptism is. He is comming ot one on Saturday ,so maybe that will sway his opinion. We recuieved a referal from some sister missionaries for a guy names Cristiano. We taught him a first lesson ,and will be teaching him again on tuesday. He is great, and is probably going to be baptized. We also are going to work with this guy named Fernando. He is from Maracibo(sp?) Venezuela. He is way cool ,and a Member Referal. We hope to meet with him sometime soon.

Elder Reyna is awesome. He is from Monterrey Mexico, called to English speaking mission. He has been teahcing me some spanish, although i suck at it lol. He is the guy right in front of me in the pic.

I actually have thought about it a fews times about how much cleaner the house probably is w/o pets around.

Im glad that you saw Matt. he is so funny. Tell him that i saw hi, and congratulations for his promotion! thats so cool! tell him ive got about a year left, and then ill come visit him.

well, love ya, miss ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 22, 2007

2007-01-22T09:34:00.001-08:00

Mom,
Yah, the weather, i heard about that!! Its not even snowing here, but it is there. Thats weird. I bet So Cal was not ready for that kind of weather.
It sounds like things are going on as normal back home. Whatever that may be. I didnt know that Matt got a divorce, geeze.
Im sure your excited to go back to work. Will it be all work in the hospital, or will you be visiting patients like with the hospice stuff?
I got the package, everything intact, thats so much. Nothing really special from home i can think of. As a missionary you learn that you really dont NEED that much.
That work is goin great! we have had some really good lessons, and its been quite a blessing to not have to do as much contacting. Elder Reyna is awesome, and we have been having a lot of fun together. The other day, we did have a running with the 'Spitter', as i have come to name her. This one lady, just always spits on us every time we walk past here. one time she tried to trip me into the train... yah. not fun. I wonder what her story is. We never get mad, just smile and walk off, and i think that bugs her most of all.
well, i dont think ill be x-fered any time soon, but thats good. i like the area and my comp. Things are great with the work, but nothing huge. I gotta run, time is gone. love ya, miss ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 15, 2007

2007-01-15T11:08:00.001-08:00

Well, good letter!
President Shumway is a good guy. He would give some devotionals at the school every so often.
Im bummed that Brother Lang got released from the High Council. I was thinking id be lucky enough to score some jell-o at the break-the-fasts when i got home.
Im glad that thigns are working out for the Jones' i love that family. Brother Jones had a huge role in me deciding to go on a mission, and i dont remember if i ever told him that.
i cant believe nick and jamie have been married for 3 years already!!! thats crazy how fast the time goes.
Ah yes, born agains. I dont get why they feel so much animosity towards mormons. Its so frustrating. "Love thy enemies", not "love having enemies".
Archaeological evidence, eh? why not the spirit? what kind of evidence of the bible is there? tents? not really. show me proof of noah's ark, moses parting the red sea, the exodus, elisha's floating axe head, Jonah in the giant fish, Baalsams talking donkey etc. thats much more "far-out" than burried plates of gold (which they actually have discrovered many, not to mention those with the Dead Sea Scrolls etc), and angels. The Moabite stone, thats archaelogical evidence of the proof that sacrifice of children works!! KJV likens it unto the Latin? except we READ it. the thing i like most about the KJV of the LDS is the lack of commentary, i run into so many people that think they are reading the bible and getting their belief from the bible, but just are reading the commentary!!! i could go on for days about the hypocrisy of the born-agains against the mormons... all it really comes down to is this: if they dont believe the book of mormon on grounds of archaeology and evidence, then its probably because thats why the DO believe in the Bible. However, they claim they believe the bible to be the unerrorable word of God (ps, compare teh two contradicting stories of Paul's conversion found in acts, or the two of Judas' death in matthew and acts), but it deosnt seem like that in review. Its really a double standard. faithless imho. but i guess its because im talking abou tthe hardest of hard core born agains that i have met with. I debated with a born again who had 2 masters in divinity... the conclusion after 2 hours is that he admited he doesnt know for sure if the bible is the true word of God, and he admittted that only through sincere prayer is anything known to be from God... he refused to read the Book of Mormon because he was scared of an answer... sad.
Well, this week went great. New comp, love him to death. he is awesome. We asked Tony to be baptized, and he said no, but said that its only because after fasting the answer was "be patient". but he is making great steps in faith!! i true miracle!!
well, thats about it for now. More later!
love ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 8, 2007

2007-01-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it sounds like things are going well back home ( i always say that). sorry your bored. i dont remember what Greg is talking about. how is his bird? i tell that story all the time, about tehg aitn bird. they dont see a lot of em here.

Viva Italia is so good. i know thats the place you went, because thats the Dubrows favorite italian place. on ventura blvd, or somthing, right? i dont remember street names anymore... ::sigh::. its like i know boston better than the valley now. lol.

i got a letter from the young men of the ward. im going to write them back, i just need some time. so you can tell them that i just need some time.

Transfers went interestingly... neither of us got moved, but then we got a call on saturday (x-fers are on thursdays), and Elder Fletcher was getting moved into the office to take the place of a senior missionary who is going home. They dont have a replacement, so he is taking the spot. he is mad. i took him to dinner to help cheer him up, but it didnt work too well. he says "im not mad, im just...". that tells me its probably self-induced, and a way to vent whatever has been on his mind. i think it will be good for him. so that happens today. my new comp will be Elder Reyna. he is from mexico. he is a new ZL, but he has been out for a while. it will be fun. hes a good guy.

yes, i know an Elder Johnson. there are 3 of em, and the 2 i know the best are both english speakers, Cameron, and Mark, but the other guy i know also. Which Elder Davenport? there are two now, and one of them is in Amherst. which area is he in? Elder Brewster eh? well tell them that he will probably be trained by Elder Foley in teh cambridge south zone (Thats a random guess, but possible). and if thats the case, he will be in my zone!!

im super tired lately, but its okay. im thinking things are getting bacvk into a good jive. hopefuly now with elder Reyna working will be easier w/o having to deal with trunkiness of a comp. well, i gotta run. love ya, talk to you later!

Elder Onken

January 2, 2007

2007-01-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom!
Well, it sounds like things back home are just falling right back into the pace they usually are in.
Things here are good. New Years was uneventful. We taught a guy and had dinner at the older Marine Corps Barracks in the United States, 1808 i think. It was cool.
Other than that, this week was fairly slow. Transfers are on thursday, and we will find out what happens tonight. We arnt quite sure what will happen, but itll be okay.
I cant believe my year mark is comming up so soon! its crazy how fast the time goes.
How was Dave's homecomming? i got an email from him. im excited to hear how he is adjusting.
Well, not much to talk about this week. sorry! love ya, miss ya, talk to you later!
Elder Onken

December 18, 2006

2006-12-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas (almost),

I did recieve all 3 packages!! i feel bad, because the only other christmas package that was recieved in the apartment was to Elder Fletcher, and it was from you! he is greatful, and was very happy to recieve it. It seems like every year Christmas comes faster and faster, and there is less and less time to prepare. I would alwasy note that in my head, because i remember being very young and thinking that we were preparing for christmas for like 2 months, and now its like a few days haha. btw, you should play the Nativity movie with Amy Grants "Breathe of Heaven" song... it fits perfectly, its cool.

I think its funny that your trainer's name is Troy. Thats kinda cliche, dont you think? ask him whats the best way to improve someones pull-ups, and which muscles should be used. btw, i can now do over 100 push-ups in under 2 minutes without stopping.

Clayton, one of my faithful letter writers!! I miss my bro so much!!! Hes excited to be comming back to Cali after his semester. Hes either going to Pepperdine or NY. I think Pepperdine would be good for what he wants to do, but so is NY. Hahaha, im sure he just went straight to the fridge... good ol times, love the fridge raiding experience. i wonder if he will be able to come over on x-mas to talk at all.

How did Dad do on the x-mas letter? I got a christmas lette from Elder and Sister Arnell, and i was so shocked to see how much has happened since ive been gone, and how much i just didnt know about!! i cant believe Dave comes home soon! thats so intense!!

Real tree? no...or not yet. Thats Elder Boyd's assignement (i dont want to know how he will get it). Where for x-mas day? Well, we are having a Brunch (yes, brunch... or as Cory would say, a kinda Box Social) at the chapel with the entire zone. Elder Fletcher and I will be setting up the Bay Window Room as a family room, and we will sing Carols, and eat Bannana Pancakes with strawberry sauce, eggs, and sausage. As well as have a yankee swap (a.k.a white elephant) gift exchange. It shall be glorious. After that, we will probably jsut come home and call home. Not sure what time ill be calling, we will plan it as we get closer to the day. Christmas Eve? maybe the Bishops house? im not sure yet. Most everybody is going home.

We did have a party last night for a girl in the ward who has given out 1638 Books of Mormons in the 6 years she has been a member! that was cool. She is awesome. And we had a sweet lesson with Moniz, where the spirit was sooo strong as we read from Moroni 7 about Faith Hope and Charity. Something ALL people need to know about (especially at this time of year). We commited him to baptism, but he is going to pray about it first, which is what we want him to do. Probably new years at the apartment eating home made hot wings (Elder Boyd has been craving and raving about them).

Im talking to the MP this week. Dad gave me some good advice that has been a great help. Although i still hope there is a x-fer happening on the 4th.

Well, TALK to you next week!!!!

love ya!
Elder Onken
P.S - make sure Kolin, Clayton and the Dubrows know what time im calling in case they can come. ill let you know what time later this week.

December 11, 2006

2006-12-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Mom,
Congrats on your job! thats so cool! i know you must be excited!

Is the house all decorated? im sure its great. Who is comming over for christmas eve this year?

Im glad to hear the Oma is doing well.

This week has been tough with Elder Fletcher. Im really almost scared about 3 more months with him. I dont know what it will be like. I feel like im doing the workload of two missionaries, two zone leaders and the DL all by myself. hrm, and i dont want to talk to Pres about it unless he asks... i dont wanna be that kind of missionary that complains to pres about their comp, ya know?

We had Zone Conference on friday. It was really good. Everybody got letters from home, and we sat there for like 10 minutes reading them. It was really nize. We went to the temple, then went to the mission home for a testimony meeting and the letters. We had lunch ,and sang songs, and it was just really christmasy. Last night and saturday night there was teh RS christmas concert, whcih was really nice, and very spiritual. Thigns are really starting to turn into the season, which is very cool.

Well, i gotta run. Love ya much, and hope everythign is going well! talk to you soon!

Elder Onken

December 4, 2006

2006-12-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Mom,

Great letter!

The time is going so quickly! December sheesh. Today was the first snow however. It was actualy warm (for the area, freezing for me) this week. 60's some days. Pretty weird. However, its snowing this morning, and thats exciting... for the first 2 hours. lol. nah, the boots i have now will kick the snow's butt.

I hope Dad gets the chance to go to Vegas to visit Oma. I pray for her alot. I didnt know you had another interview. Its probably the one where they are going to give you the Job.

We were going to watch the devotional, but some pretty amazing things happend. The devotional was at 8 o'clock here, so we set up a lesson at 7 in the chapel, which a member's friend named Moniz. It was amazing. Moniz was ususaly kinda reserved and nervous in the lessons, but as we read and discussed Alma 32 with some members, it was amazing. By the end of the lesson he said, "when i came in here, i was asleep. Now as i leave, its like ive woken up". It was awesome and powerful. So although we had to refer David Tsai (getting baptized on the 16th still), we now have another sweet investigator. After the lesson we were going to go into the evotional, but a member asked us for a blessing. He talked to us about what had been on his mind, and then asked me to give him a blessing. It was very powerful. I like to call them "slide-show" blessings, because thats what it feels like; like your looking at a wall, then the slide goes in, and you take iin the picture and say what it tells you to say, then it goes away. Then you wait for the next slide and do the same thing. You do this until the projector turns off and the lights go on. It was amazing. By then the devotional was almost over, so we just went home. How was it?

With the Work in the area, we are now following up on alot of the work and nvestigators from last transfer. And to answer your next question, Elder Fletcher as not gotten over his trunkiness, so we rarely get to go out and contact. I dont think he wants to at all. We come by the apartment for like 5 minutes to get Book of ormons, and he goes to sleep for like 2 hours... He asked me not to push him ,but hat he will do better on his own. Im kinda stuck between a rock(being prideful and pushing him anyway) and a hard place(not doing anyting about it). I think he will get better about it though. A big problem we have been having though, is that missionaries, and some more than others, rationalize now working by saying "its not about the numbers" (in regards to reporting, thus working and getting better numbers). However, the way i see it is that every number reflects our efforts and an individual that God loves and knows. it ISNT about the NUMBERS, but the numbers reflect PEOPLE. A lot of missionaries rationalize doing just average using that
thought. ("thrusteth in his sickel with his MIGHT"D+C 4)

Zone Conference on Friday. Temple, than lunch and devotional at the mission home! it will be awesome! im excited.

No idea what will happen next transfer if either of us wll be x-fered. Fletcher has like 4 more months.

I did get the X-Mas in a box! thanks so much! i love it! its really exciting. Another missionary that lives with us was excited to have a tree in the house now lol. We are going to try and go buy one from some boy scouts down the street, and maybe get a discount for being Eagle Scouts lol.

I am so stoked for the phone call! im not sure when i will be calling, but probably near the last because everybody else in the apartment is in a later time zone. Make sure we tell the Dubrows though. i know they will want to come if they can.

I cant believe everybody is getting married! Mike Jones?! i totaly didnt remmeber that. Sean Sterling is marrying Kristen Bennett, like the one from the singles ward? Totaly didnt see that. Thats aweosme though! Im happy for them! The whole ward will be different when i get back, sheesh!

Tell everybody who asks about me this (then they can feel like they really talked to me): "Hey, im good, Boston rocks. Serving the Lord is the best thing ever, and the greatest blessing i have ever had. I hope everything is good with you. peace!!". so i expect you to memorize it, or keep it close at hand on a laminated 3x5 card for quick and easy access and recitation. you may want to make up a little jingle to go along with it. haha

I think we are going to make Christmas cards. that will be fun.

No family tree picking outing? thats sad. Look what happens when im not around. geeze.

Well. things arnt too cold here. Itll be fun to see the city when it gets closer to the holiday. I thought of some other gift ideas if your looking for some. There are some talks by Hugh Nibley that i would like, one is a series called "Time Vindicates the Prophets", that is supposed to be superb. some others are "Nibley speaks on Temples", and "Lessons on the Atonement". Anything of course i will love.

Thanks for being so awesome. I want to let you know that this week i achieved my push-up goal of 75; and i did it in 1:36. Im pretty stoked.

Things are going great. i love you so much ,and miss ya. Talk to you soon!

Elder Onken

November 27, 2006

2006-11-27T10:12:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-13T09:46:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

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

October 30, 2006

2006-10-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

Mom,

I knew you would pass your test. I wasnt even worried about it. You always make sure your prepared and you study hard. When i was at BYU-H i always asked myself "what would Mom do", and the answer was always "make sure your prepared as much as you can".

Brady has the Melchezidek Priesthood now? sheesh! I never really understood the scope of the priesthood until i had literaly witnessed miracles. Some i was able to be a part in. Its remarkable, it really is. I have done a lot of study on the Temple, and the Priesthoods, its so deep, and so enlightening!

They are having a conference in Newport on Halloween? who was the brilliant person to plan that? (just ignore that if its anybody i know lol).

Its getting really cold here. My hands freeze, and the rain drenches my feet. I need to go get some boots, but nobody sells size 13s yet. Well, Filenes does, but their selection stunk this week. Ill go get some this week i think. I guess its not cold enough to wear my winter stuff, but cold enough to be uncomofrtable. contacting in the wind is the worst part i guess... the wind is the worst part period!!

Christmas? lets see... Socks, I was thinking an electrical razor might be nice, since straight blades take a long time and the blades are expensive. Hugh Nibley's institute classes (BoM, D&C, PofGP) on DVD would be cool. Maybe some FAIR talks? or FARMS talks? they have a bunch free on the FARMS web site that you can burn and send me. i can give you my FARMS member number if you need (its also good for 15% discount on all FARMS products). Other than that, i cant really think of anything i need or want...

Who is John Pennington? What ward? I thought both the LaFevers went to BYU? Haha Bro LaFever is so rad. I remember he was on the stake youth committee when i first came into the stake. He is rad. He is a great institute teacher also. A real man of God.

Sean Sterling got engaged? Thats cool! to whom? There is this guy in the ward here who looks just like Sean, but his name is Joe Geisting. Its funny because i always wnat to call him Sean. Tell him grats for me!! Hahaha Maren is the queen of that ward. How is Elder Van Ormen doing? havnt heard from him because i dont have his email. I should get it.

ahh, the peacegiver is a good one. The apartment favorites is Truman G Madsen's Joseph Smith lectures. We can quote it well. I have been listening to Elder Murray's books on CD. The latest are New Testament Witnesses of Christ, and The Plan of Salvation. Good stuff!
Yes, the story of David and Abigail... Everything is a type of Christ in the old testament. For instance, i ran across a cool subtlety in Isaish this last Week:
Isaiah 12 -

2 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.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Notice the use of the word salvation. this is called a leitwort. meaning Theme word. In hebrew, they sometimes repeat a certain word a lot to get the point across. I.E Jonah's story its the word 'down', in Heleman 5, its 'remember', its all over the scriptures, and a lot in the Book of Mormon (which is quite interesting as a proof of its divinity and authenticity). Howoever, here is the cool part: the word salvation in hebrew, is the name Joshua. In greek however, the word Joshua is translated Jesus. so plug in 'Jesus Christ' for every time the word 'Salvation' is used in Isaiah. Pretty cool, eh? 'In THAT day ye shall call upon his name'. its a prophecy of his comming!

Yah, Jonah's story is totaly all about the condescension of Christ. Its actually even more in depth a Temple story if you really pull it apart. I dont have time for that right now however, remind me to explain it too you later. I love little subtleties in the scriptures! like for Instance: tower of Babel.
Bab = assyrian for Gate
El = Hebrew for God

So, youve got Bab-El, Gate to God, which is what they were trying to do. build a "temple" to get to God, so they woudlnt be flooded or whatever. However, how did the Lord punish them? he confounded their language! Its ironic then that we get the towers name Bab-El from 2 different languages, being that prior to the tower all spoke the pure adamic tongue. So the tower's name itself comes to mean 'confusion of language'. haha cool stuff. the scriptures are fun.

this week was kinda rough. We had a good lesson with Stefan (miracle contact from last week), and hes going to get baptized i think. Nothing yet from Jonathan, we will see. Had stake conference. Was cool. Had 2 GAs here, Elder Christenson (area seventy), and Elder Tingey (presidency of the 1st quorem of the seventy). It was rad. Had an investigator come!! Had some Catholics try and bash us, then got mad when i told them we wouldnt debate because we believe contention only comes from the devil, and we wernt gonna make him happy. Was that bad to say? they just condemned us to hell in spite of James 4:11-12, and Hewbrews 13:1. Just hearing them drives the spirit away, and leaves me with a nasty taste for days. When i bore testimony he simply interupted and said "you dont know!!". its funny how people cant comprehend that we actually KNOW with a firm knowledge in the truthfulness of the gospel. its not just a passive belief that we fortify we facts, and scripture. Its a knowledge we gain completely absent from textual facts, or evidences, but a testimony that comes straight from God, through the holy spirit. Its fullfilment of scripture, the day wen people would "deny the utterance of the holy spirit", and cling to the "vain philosophies of men", and "vain traditions of their fathers". They dont KNOW for sure, so they assume we cant either. I enjoy being disillusioned about my beliefs, because no matter what is thrown at me, i know the "foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of man". I know what I know, and God knows what i know. Dont tell me revelation has ceased, because it would take revelation to know that it has. The Church is true, and i can say that completly independant of "proofs", or evidences. It simply is because the spirit told me.

well, love ya, miss ya, ttyl!! take care!!

Elder Onken

elderonken.blogspot.com

Photos

2006-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Skyler sent a bunch of photos and we uploaded a bunch of them. http://www.missionpics.com/elderonken/More-Fotos-from-the-Field

October 24, 2006

2006-10-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Headthrow Moi? thatd be interesting. A bunch of missionaries wanted to wrestle yesterday, so i kicked their butts. Some of them with one hand.

Im so stoked for Zak! He is going to have such a great time in the MTC. Im glad that this farewell went well! I remember going to dinner with him and Mark shortly before i left. We had a pretty long discussion about missions and school and stuff. I think its important for people to really be converted, and want to serve before they go on their mission. I have seen many a missionary who seem to be just "doing their time".

Im sure you will do well on your certification. You always pass everything, and you arnt the type to not prepare at all; especially for somthing like that.

I like that article you sent. Faith is an interesting topic. It is remarkably simple, yet infinitely complex because of its application. I have narrowed faith down to this: It is really trusting that the Lord's desires will be done. There is a lot to say about faith, but the most important thing is just to remember that it is the power by which the worlds were created.

Im glad that you got to email with Sis Greenhalgh. That family is so cool. They were such a great help and inspiration to me. Bro Greenhalgh and I would always talk about doctrine and stuff. Their eBay business is way cool. its a great idea, and a lot of people are using such a service.

I cant believe your trainer's name is Troy. That is so cliche. Does he have a german accent? now that would be funny.

The ZL/DL thing has been killing me. So much to worry about and SOO much paper work to do. I have to worry about the zone in general, and now also my district even more so. Its intense, but i see the benefit of having it as such. im kinda the test case for this, since it only worked out perfect where i was in the only zone and district where the timing was perfect for me to replace the old DL (Elder Farr, who went home).

This past week was quite amazing. in fact, miraculous. you read about those miracles that happen to missionaries, well we had two. But before that, ill talk about Elder Anderson. he is from Las Vegas, and he is way cool. He has been out for about 15 months, has been serving in Marlborough, and he is senior comp (to my relief). We ahve a lot of fun, and work really hard. He is a good worker, and just a funny guy.

This past week we had laid out the Zone Plan. We were challenged by 3 general authorities (Tingey, Mickelson, Nash) to double our baptisms in 6 months. So in order to achieve that, we were given a set of goals we need to be meeting. in order to reach those goals, we had devised a multi-phased zone plan, broken up into six week increments. Each phase builds upon the prvious phase. the first phase emphasis is about getting the missionary into a HARD work cycle, and habit. I dont want to say that the MBM (our mission) is a laid back mission, but there is definetly room for improvment. The phase after the first one is aimed at building a large investigator pool. The third fase on teaching effectively and commiting, and the fourth in maintaining our level of achievement. So we commited ourselves and the zone to this plan. We had a spiritual meeting in which to explain the plan, adn get everybody excited. All but on missionary really caught the vision, but thats a whole different story. So anyway, that was friday, and so we started right away working EXTRA hard to show everybody that it could be done. Ironicaly, it was the big Rowing competition on the charles going on (i got to see the West Point team row against Navy) so we were contacting in that general area. Literaly ALL day we were contacting. the last 2 hours it was raining, with heavy rains, and very dark. We had scheduled a week in advance what is called a "window of heaven" where you tell God where you will be and he sends people there for you to contact. Although it was miserable weather ,we made a game out of it. We were running up and down the Week's footbridge (crosses the Charles river from Harvard Business School to Cambridge), not letting a single person go by without talking to them. It was kinda funny. We worked right up until 8:00, which is when we have to head back home (we live far away from our area). Nothing pretty much that whole time, but we had hope that our efforst would not go unrewarded. The next day we headed out to Boston University for another "window". On the way there, we each taught a wonderful lesson and 2 potential investigators. We thoguth that was cool. Elder Scott and I had been doing so much teaching/contacting last x-fer with no results, it was nice to just get a potential investigator! After about 30 minutes of stiff rejection in front of BU, a member comes up and gives us money for dinner! score free meal! that was rad of course. So we contacted for another hour with absolutely no success. We were taking a break, and all of the sudden this dud walking by us just stops, turns towards us, walks up and shakes our hands. He asks where we are from and we tell him, then we ask him what ward he is in. He responds "whats a ward?". we totaly thought he was a member. Then he said "I alwasy wondered what you guys believe". Then he gave us his info, told us to call him, and walked away. I was floored. It was remarkable. I was literaly in awe. I could not believe that it was just that easy. IT was like he just fell out of the sky. He contacted us!! that NEVER happens! I didnt think it oculd get any better. Literaly 5 minutes later we were contacting this guy crossing the street. We thought he would just walk right by us, and we would try to teach him while we walked with him. instead he stoped, but down his drink ,crosed his arms, and asked "What is the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and your church?". We taught him for 45 minutes. he was asking questions, and was really sincere. We taught him a ton. He kept on saying "that makes sense", and stuff like that. At the end, he pretty much asked us to teach him more. We took his info, and when we were about to say farewell, he asked for a book of mormon and was reading it while he walked about. Miracles do happen!

Love ya, miss ya! ttyl!

Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com

October 16, 2006

2006-10-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom!

Im glad to hear that you had fun at your quilting getaway! I sent all of my pics home, so i hope that were able to identify who is who etc. if you have any Q's, ill probably be able to distinguish them for you via email. Thats cool that the Greenalghs sent you a note! they are the coolest family in the world! Definetly one of my favorites!

Yes, the trainer... i have heard that you started that. Ive been keeping up on the working out routine, but its been tough this past week. im a bit sick, so i havnt been working out in order to help myself get better.

Dont worry about your exam, youll do great as long as you study and ask teh spirit for assistance!

Jimmy probably records it, then just attatches the messages to the email. i dont have a place where i can do that, and id actually rather write, because thats just easier for me lol.

Im affraid that i may have given you the wrong ZIP code for my address!! it is 02144, in case i gave you 01244... you can also send anything to the mission office and ill get it (385 Concord Ave suite 100
Belmont MA, 02478).

Transfers this last week, and my new comp Elder Anderson is awesome! ive been very lucky to have great companions, and the luck is still going! we have a lot of fun, and work very hard. We are looking forward to having a ton of baptisms and investigators!!

This week has been just busy busy busy with all the Zone stuff we have to take care of at eh beginning of the x-fer. we are working hard to implement our mission vision and be te example zone for the entire mission. In addition to a ZL, they have also called me to be the DL for my district, so that i can create an example district for hte other DLs to see. at every level of communication, the mission goal, or vision is changed or watered down, so having a ZL/DL makes the district just one step away from the Mission Pres, rather than two. its a lot of work!!

well, i gotta run! love ya, miss ya, ttyl!

Elder Onken

P.S - Mission council tomorrow, so i wont be able to email at service.

October 10, 2006

2006-10-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom!

Acupuncture? thats kinda cool... i guess... alternative treatments are cool. Elder Scott takes like 13054985307 herbal pills a day because of a disease he has, but he is symptom free because of it. Word of Wisdom rocks. Tell Chelsea to email me about it. i wanna hear what it was like lol. was it an ancient old chinese man? hahah

I heard about Bonnie's dad from Jimmy. death is such a different thing when you know what we do about the plan of salvation.

I thought Ben was deployed last November, are they redploying him, or was he just home for his wedding? I need to write him soon. havnt talked to him for a few months.

Personal trainer eh? thats nuts! ive been working out, and its tough to keep yourself doing it though. and running a mile is virtually non-existant as a missionary unless your comp likes to run.

We had a cool p-day yesterday. it was Elder Scott's and Elder Farr's last one, so we played a huge game of football, from whcih i am very sore, and then went to dinner. It was fun.

X-fers on thursday, we hear about who is getting x-fered tonight. will be pretty cool i guess.

not a whole lot of exciting work news going on, just the same ol. we are working with a few Member Referals and doign a lot of contacting. its all good.

well, 9 month mark is on wednsday! thats pretty cool! it goes soooo fast, sheesh. this month is going quickly also, its amazing how fast it goes.

thats all for now. ill talk to you later!

Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com

October 2, 2006

2006-10-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mom,

How epic was GenCon!!! Afterwards we were walking around the streets of Cambridge, and just wanted to shake people and tell them "dont you know what you just missed?!?!? The Prophet of the Lord and his Apostles just spoke to us!!!!". i guess thats like the work everyday though... ::shrug::. I think every person in the church should listen to the talk that was about discipleship, and trusting the atonement. Also, the talk by Elder Holland was truely inspiring, and spiritual. Its remarkable. I never appreciated GenCon until i came on my mission. Its a guarenteed place to recieve personal answers. its remarkable.

hahaha, G-ma wanted to camp in the RV parkinglot? thats kinda lame. did they scare her? that would be funny. Kolin and I would have freaked them out hard core if we did that lol. right on, good times, good times. did we every tell you about that time we pulled the prank on the theatre kids at Jen Sanetts house on halloween? that was funny.

ah, yes administrative stuff. Sunday nights we have the call-in-summary reports, and we have to wait for the District Leaders to send them to us, and some times we are up until 11:30 compiling it all together. man, i feel sorry for the APs who have to wake up early, and stay up late doing all that stuff. I know you will pass your certification, you always do well at that kind of stuff.

Yah, the sickness is starting to get around to missionaries too. i always get that virus every year about this time, and i think i got it again. i better go get some anti-biotics or whatever it is that makes it better lol.

yah, Steven should be home soon. Sheesh, thats crazy. i remember the last time i saw him i was going to a homecomming dance with Rachel lol. Geeze, and Dave is due back in 6 months i think. oh man. im comming up on my 9 month mark, and its remarkable how quickly it goes. i cant believe how many has happened in such a short span of time. man... its insane. btw, when does Zak report?

So whats with people getting married?!and some of them so young!!! I feel SOOOO old. there are guys who i knew on the mission who are already married, now THATS scary. I think mormons are the only group in the world who think 25 and unmarried is old. everybody in my ward is over 25, and are like freaking out about not being married. i guess if i go to USMA ill end up being like that, 25 and unmarried. Coach says "you should have all the kids your going to have by the time your 30", so i guess if you want a ton, you better start young.

This week has been pretty good. We are teaching a few people. one guy Aby had to cancel a meeting with the Minister of Defense of India to meet with us... thats humbling. The work is really picking up, and we are excited to baptize!! transfers next week. i cant believe how quickly the transfer went! Ill be here for a while. Pres told me ill proly be here for 8 months. ill end up have 3 areas in my mission lol. thats cool though! alrighy, not much other news i guess. oh, btw, did you see Elder Nash in Gen Con? yah, i sat next to him like 2 weeks ago. we chatted. it was cool. thats my GA claim to fame.

Well, i cant htink of anything else to say. i guess im just boring. miss ya, love ya, talk to you later!!

Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com

September 27, 2006

2006-09-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hey mom!
I am at a dinner with Tim Jost, a recent convert, and
he has a blackberry.
Today we had mission council all day, but later todat we had a chance
to stop by Sasha Weiss' home. It was cool to see a familiar face.
Gtg, luv ya

Ttyl

Elder Onken

September 18, 2006

2006-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

good to hear from you. sounds liek you guys are having a great time.

Well, responsibilities of the ZL? We are supposed to lead the zone in
work; be a model area. we are struggling with that right now. we taught
100 lessons last week and no new progressing investigators, nor any
investigators at all from that! We dont know any members because the
school year move ins are alll new, so we are trying to rebuild member trust.
We are in charge of permission for various things such as temple
attendance for those in our zone. We help to plan mission goals, we set zone
goals and plan Zone conferences. we train teh district leaders. We
collect numbers for the week from the DLs. We plan zone activities etc. We
have been told by Elder Mikelson from the presidency of the seventy,
that we are like the "stake presidents" (of the zone) in the mission
world.

Its tough, but im getting a hang of it a little more every day.

I heard about Brother Gibbs. it has been a rough week for things like
that. Mike Gagne (a part member i taught back in N.Adams) passed away
suddenly. 2 weeks prior Elder Egbert and I tried to commit him to a
priesthood blessing, but it never happend. He will be missed. This past week
Ken Demer's Son, Don, passed away from complications of his kidney
surgery 1 month ago. he was in his 30s... its amazing how much i love the
people i taught. We also were prompted to offer Don a blessing, but he
turned it down... i should have pushed it more. the effects of it on Ken
have been completely destructive. I fear for his health, both
spiriutualy and physicaly. Elder Egbert says hes "back to stage 1".

Death is somthing so sacred, that God makes it somthing mysterious and
unknown (there is scriptural referances). However, death is a great
step in life. As in creation, there is a certain ammount of destruction.
All matter desires to be broken apart into chaos, or be "destroyed" from
form. This however allows further creation, and improvements. Very
similar to an artist erasing a part of a drawing to fix its imperfections.
Death is a necessary part in order for our bodies to become perfected;
we must shed off and pass away from the imperfections we gain/make in
mortality.

This next week will be exciting. We have Zone conferance in which we
have to train the Zone is what Elder Mikelson has taught the ZLs about
missionary work. We are expected 2 baptisms a week per zone, and 1
baptismal commitment a week. As well as 1 new investigator at church every
sunday. its a lot, but he has given us the tools to do it. he taught us
how we need to teach, and how we need to find. im excited, and have
faith that we will dobule baptisms in 6 months. the spirit is such a
powerful teacher; it is so real, its truely miraculous.

We also have a Zone Development Meeting in which Brother Bokovoy will
be teaching us. its exciting. it will be truely amazing.

Well. thats about it i guess... i miss you and love ya. take care. have
fun. talk to you later.

Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com

September 12, 2006

2006-09-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Im at service, and taking the downtime opportunity to respond write.

I like what Sister Parker wrote about Cambridge, because thats the area
im around every hour of the day!!

Here is the usual day of travel:

We leave our place in Sommerville on Melvern street, and walk along a
brick bike path to Davis Square.
We take the Red Line T inbound, past Porter, Harvard, Central,
Kendall/MIT, Charles/MGH, into Park Street.
from there we usually spend a lot of itme in the commons.
sometimes we will hop on the green line and head off to BU, or Hynes
Convention Center, and do some work there.
Generaly we then either go home for dinner, or go to Harvard square for
such.
The Longfellow Park Chapel is where we go to church, and where the
Boston Instititue of Religion is located. It is right across the street on
Brattle st, from the Episcopal school of Divinity. it does have a nice
new englandish theme to it. not like the other churches you usually
see. however, most of the churches in eastern Mass arnt the standardized
churches that you see in the west. Most of the meeting houses out here
are so few, and older, that they were constructed back in the day where
the members built their own, or somthing like that.

Good stuff. well, the day has been interesting so far, and this week is
looking like it will be pretty good. We have a Zone Conference and
Mission Council to go to for all the ZLs. There are 2 GAs comming in, and
they want to meet with us all. yippy!

Alrighty, ill talk to you later. love ya, miss ya, have fun!

Elder Onken
elderonken.blogspot.com

9-11-06

2006-09-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Okay,

This week has been crazy!!!

We set a goal of 100 Lessons, and finished it on the Train ride home
last night. We had a dinner appointment accross the street from the First
Church of Christ, Scientist. I guess its a pretty interesting tour. We
are going to go through there some day.

Wednsday, we saw a guy die in Boston Commons. He had a heart attack.
all the paramedics and stuff were doing CPR, and Elder Scott and I both
knew that he was gone.

I contacted 2 alcoholics this week. one of them wants to be baptized.
NO HE WAS NOT DRUNK. but, he said hes going to take it at his own pace.
i didnt even ask him if he wanted to be, he asked me if he could. you
always hear stories about that happening to missionaries, and now ive
got my own lol.

I sat next to this guy in the train who was reading a book writen by an
episcopalian bishop, called "Why Christianity must change, or die". i
was like 'wtf(reak)?' . so we talked about it, and essentialy i was like
"uhh, okay... i see, interesting". but really this is what i was
thinking; "what kind of faithless 'christian' would believe that the church
and gospel of christ must change in order to exist in society today?".
truely faithless!! it makes me upset to think about it. how many people
do i talk to that say they believe in Christ, yet really have no faith
in him? and yet, a clergical leader of millions of people is yet
admitting to this amount of faithlessness? it makes me sick! Isaiah 24:5
reads:

"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant."

Changing, transgressing, breaking... oh man. wow.

So anyway...

yes. it has been a crazy week, but very fun. And seriously, the most
schocking part of my week (more so than seeing the man die), was talking
to an australlian and learning that Steve Irwin had died! and by a
sting ray!! oh man. sad day in the world. the end of an era.

Wow. well. that is about all ive got right now. anyway. lova ya lots,
have fun in the Netherlands. take care, ttyl!

love,
Elder Onken

September 5, 2006

2006-09-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Heya!!
Its been FOREVER since i have written, i apologize!! its been such a crazy few weeks. oh sheesh, so much to write about!!
Yes, yes. i briefly wrote an email home to Nick and some others yesterday when we were at an internet cafe, but it was a rip off so i didnt spend too much time knowing that i could write today.
I am going to miss the Pabsts so much. I got transfered like 3 days before their farewell party North Adams like 3 of their 4 missionaries that week, it was pretty sad. Elder Egbert is with Elder Maebe now, and they are excited, as i am for them. Good news: Meg is getting baptized. Bad News: Mike Gagne (part member, who is waaay cool) just passed away. he was a great guy, and he should have accepted the blessing we offered after having been prompted to give him for the past 2 weeks!! he will be missed.
Oh yes, transfered!!! Its intense! I got transfered to the Cambridge South zone with Elder Scott. Being a Zone Leader is a lot more work than i thought it would be, but im hoping its just the shock effect of a new area (which is COMPLETELY different than what im used to), and the new ZL responsibilities. Yes, im in a singles ward, ages 25+. I have never felt so stupid in my whole life. Everybody that goes there is an RM, and is attending Tufts Dental School, MIT, Harvard, or Harvard Business School. nearly the majority of Harvard business school is BYU grads, i guess. We have some amazing people in our ward. Like this one guy who holds the record for most languages known.. somthing like 25+, its crazy. A great ward, but its been hard to get to know them. it makes me appreciate the Missionaries back home like Elders Thrall, Rasmussen, and Pinneda, who managed to get to know the ward very well. My area (Longfellow Park 1st) covers everything South of the Charles river. For those Bostonians, we pretty much cover all of the Red Line, and the Green Line. My area actually covers where some friends from school go to school lol. Elder Scott, my comp is SOO rad. i love him to death... in fact, im killing him this transfers (aka, hes going home). We live in a 4 Elder appartment with Elder Mecham and Elder Murray. It is sooo much fun!!!! We live in Somerville. Its sooo much fun! i love it!
Thats such a huge compliment to hear from Pres Thompson. I love that guy, he is sooo rad. We are all really loving Pres England also. The transition went smoothly, and we are excited for what Coach can bring to the mission.
Oh, so your plan to have a new sewing room has backfired? Now your wishing you hadnt destroyed my place of dwelling? psh. jk.
Im sorry to hear that Marrie isnt doing well. ill make sure to pray for her.
I cant believe Ali Banks is getting married! thats the 2nd friend my age who is getting married!!! Its Crazay!! i feel old hahaha.
How was David Toones farewell? im so psyched that hes in the mission field! he is going to be such a stellar missionary!!!
The weather is starting to cool down here. The city is VERY different from N.Adams. i think i need to go get some new non-pros shoes, and maybe some boots also, im thinking i need to get a backpack maybe, since the shoulder pack starts getting very uncomfortable after riding the "T" all day.
Well, happenings hmmm...
Weellll. Last P-Day the pabsts took us to Jiminy Peak, which is a ski resort, but does alpine slides and stuff during the warm weather. It was so much fun. i love the Pabsts so much, and i will miss them to death.
We had transfers, which was exciting, and that night i had the chance to go the Fenway and watch the Red Sox game!! it was approved because it was mormon night lol, what a day to be welcomed into the city, right?
We had some crazy experiences, quite spiritual lessons, and other things on top of that. Like getting lost in a U-Haul in the South Bay area. it was nuts lol. we were so completely lost, but then we prayed and we found some of the people we were looking for! it was a miracle!!!
We have been working out, and last night running with everybody in the apartment. its so much fun. Nick will like this; they sell Malta here, and i have been getting big old packs of it to drink lol. its nice to drink after long days in the commons, or on the streets.
So, i had read this book called Testaments, which was writted by John Tvedtnes, and David Bokovoy. Its about hebreaisms in the Book of Mormon. Well, i guess David Bokovoy is in the Belmot ward, and we invited him to talk at our Zone Development Meeting!!! He is going to talk about temple rites in the old testament! i got to talk to him on the phone for a bit about apologetics and stuff. hahah its like a celebrity is comming to ZDM. We are also getting to work with Elder Clayton Christianson (the area Seventy) and teach people at his home.
Well, i think that may be it. Its been an exciting few days, and im really excited to be in this area. I figure ill be here for quite a while, yet again. At least 2 transfers.
Its tought being around all the other ZLs who have been out forever, and i dotn know half the people they are talking about. Its fun, and im loving every minute of the mission. I gotta send pics home soon, im pretty much full on my Camera. Well, ill talk to yall later. love ya, miss ya. take care!!
Elder Onken
P.S - New Address:
32 Malvern Ave
Somerville, MA 01244

September 5, 2006

2006-09-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2006 News from the Pabsts

2006-08-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I once again missed a telephone call from Sister Pabst who was kind enough to call to let me know how our favorite Elder is doing. He has been transferred from North Adams to South Cambridge. This is much nearer to Boston. The really amazing news is that he has been made Zone Leader. We didn't hear from our hero this week, so hopefully next week we'll get the full scoop and hear about his new comp.
Stay Tuned.
Debi aka Mom

August 21, 2006

2006-08-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Oh wise one!
no seriously. Linneya enjoyed the response. she said it made her think a lot. i totaly agree. Its like that in so many aspects of life though. No matter how we look at it. Look at the life of a gospel follower. We spend our time being in the world, trying to be free from it, however, we try soo hard to measure up to the ideals of morality placed by the world. The teachings of Christ are not of this world, yet so often we compare, rationalize, and compete again the wordly views as if they were. It so much of a "greater law", that we cant even really grasp it entirely i dont think. for example, law of consecration? just imagine the type of attitude everybody will have?... Even that idea of peoples attitudes is compared to what the worldly attitude is. it would be interesing to live in the city of Enoch.

Im so excited to hear where Zak gets called to! I HOPE ITS THE MBM!!! THATD BE SICK. i would request to train hahah, thatd be so much fun.

Its a small world in the church; and its not on accident, or just coincidence. thats all i have to say about that.

Yosemite, eh? fun! well...... maybe they will send me to Martha's Vinyard in the spring!!! so HA! thats just me trying to not be jealous... ::Sigh::

We commited Meg to baptism! she is excited, and she is doing SOOO great. its amazing. her whole attitude is better! im so excited for her. We are going to commit Linnaya to baptism, just to see how serious she is about investigating, or if its just somthing to do, ya know? Shirley is moving up the street,a nd said she isnt ready to think about baptism right now, but after the move she will be.... AND her son. Ken now believs in J.C, and wants us to teach his sone who just had his kidney out. There are so many blessings here, i am privledeged to be a part of it! im glad that thigns are going well right when i leave, it makes me feel like its safe to leave lol.

The Pabsts are leaving the 4th, and they have family dropping of their RV here soon. they are taking us to Jimminy Peak (alpine slides, etc) next P-Day! im excited. i love them so much, and will miss them. Im going to miss the whole branch! i feel like a part of em, ya know?

Well, im looking forward to a transfer however, i think it will be good.Love you, miss you, take care!

Elder Onken

August 15, 2006

2006-08-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom!
That was an awesome e-mail!!! I think Linaya will really apprecaite and respect that reply. She already says she would like to meet you someday.
Happy b-day Jamister!!
Thats cool that yuo went to the temple! Elder Egberts sister is a missionary at the LA temple Visitor Center. that would be cool if you saw her.
I recently got a dictrionary of early chrisitna quotes by gospel topic. itll been fun to help suppliment talks, and lessons etc.
I knew you would enjoy the pictures. I want to send you a picture of Ken Demers some time, you will laugh, and love him. he is the coolest guy EVER!
This week we had interviews. I was told by Coach that pretty much im going to be x-fered on the 31st. He said "7.5 months? anticipate change". So, thatll be good i guess.
It has been sad anticipating the Pabsts leaving, and now im going, so North Adams is going to get white washed pretty much!! So much is going on. Linaya, Shirley, Ken and Meg are all doing so great! we hope to have Meg baptized beofre the x-fer is over, and Shirley and Linaya maybe have baptismal dates. that would be so awesome.
I will be leaving the berkshires right before fall, which is a bummer. im told that fall is the best season in the berkshires.
Im anxious to see where i will be going.
well, not a whole lot of news besides that... time flys! its crazy! im turning into a seasoned missionary, its unreal! Well, i miss ya, love ya, and hope all is well. take care, ttyl!
Elder Onken

August 8, 2006

2006-08-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mom,
P-day are mondays, but a lot of the time we cant get time at the library, so we have to come on tuesday (or wed, if tue is too busy).
Im sad to hear about Oma being so frail. I miss her, and pray for her every night. i really feel Opa here helping me in the work. call me crazy, but i do.
The smell of cigarettes is ever prevalent here. I think i am practicaly immune to it now, i hardly notice it. No joke, EVERYBODY smokes. i saw a 12 year old smoking at the street fair in Adams the other day.
So it sounds like the Lord is blessing you with cool things lately! Congratz on your new furniture!
hahah, of course Chelsea is allergic to her new Cat. it followed her home i hear? thats funny. reminds me of that one time that Squirrle followed me back to the Arnell's house.
3 more weeks till transfers. I dont know if im staying or not. we shall see.
This week has been kinda crazy. We set up this booth, and just spent most of the time staring at the ground, or the sky, because the spirit there was WAAAY off the babylon-scale. We actualy picked out every aspect of Isaiah's definition of the last days state of the world. it was funny, yet scary/upsetting.
Things with the work are going well ig uess. i gave a training at Zone Conferance about planning for study. im known as the missionary that studies a lot. i get random calls from people asking "hey, what does this mean?", or "hey, is there any referance to this?" etc. so i have a giant list of mini-papers of i written and fax to people on topics such as: Why is the Sabbath on Sunday, not Saturday?, and Was there scriptural imperfections in the time of the Apostles? etc.
Other than that, same ol same ol.. Ken now believes in Jesus, which is HUGE and exciting! Linaya is asking for a priesthood blessing. Meg is comming to church on time and reading the BoM, Shirley is praying about hte BoM and J.S and might get baptized. so things are going well!
Oh, btw, Linaya wants to know if the RS does any type of "Fall Madness" type activites... ::shrug::, and, she wants to know what you think about this quote,that and "LDS" lady sent her: "i take my daughter to other churches to show them that women are important". i dont know... maybei should give her your email lol.
I got a letter, and pictures from the Saxey family which was sooo cool! tell them thanks so much! i dont have their address, so maybe you could get it for me so i can write them back?
Im sending some pictures home. be expecting them!
Welll. its cooling down out here. things are going well. I love ya, and miss ya. the mission is the best and hardest hting ive done. take care, and thanks for everything!
Elder Onken

July 31, 2006

2006-07-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Howdy,
Well... not much to write about because this week has been boring, and you forget to write me soooo...
Ken Demers came to church! that was cool! he called at like 6:45 and was like "hey, will you come up here this morning and take me to church?". we were stoked.
We had a great lesson with Linaya, and she has been reading the Book of Mormon! she says she feels the spirit when she reads it; like "everything is oging to be all right". its pretty cool!
The Pabsts go home on the 4th of September, so we are having a blast with their last transfer. It was Elder Pabst's b-day, so we got him a sympathy card. it was funny to say the least.
Its been hot and nasty, but nice to not be freezing in the snow.
How is eveyrhitn back home? i hope everybody is alright! Did anybody melt? i heard there were fatalities in Cali because of the heat :/ this world is in bad shape
Well... i guess thats it. Im giving a training in Zone Conferance tommorow. wish me luck. I gotta run. talk to yall later! love ya miss ya! peace!
Elder Onken

July 25, 2006

2006-07-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Mom,
Yah, DL... we have calculated that in the missionary scheme of things, I am 5 steps from the Prophet. We actualy did that from Elder Lang (whose b-day is today), but now the lot has fallen on me. Its cool being able to work with the Zonies though. To tell you the truth, the potential of North Adams is making me so excited that it would be great to stay; a part of me is being selfish and not wanting to trust the investigators into the hands of anyone else. However, i have found that im becomming too "attatched", and the stress, and anxiety have been at an all time high, probably because of this "attatchedness" (is that a word? probably not, but i can make it up). So overall, yes its time for a trasnfer... but transfers were just last thursday so ive got some time to finish up here.
Hrm, Training is a weird thing. I know Nick liked it as i recall. Its tough, and stressful, but quite an honor and opportunity. Im going to write to Jimmy this week, so ill make sure to mention it.
Where are Blair and Rachel going to? Im sure it was hard for everybody to see them leave. they are a huge part of the ward. Did they roast Blair at the FHE? that would be funny lol. How was Clark's talk? what was his topic? I always think back to Seth and Clark and their mission stories. I think about Nick's stories also, but its different to know some other state-side missionaries stories. How is Zak? Im psyched for him sooo much. i hope he comes to the MBM!! THATD BE SICK!! Since he read these... "Whats up dude! the Mission is the best!". thats for him. k? lol. oh, and read Preach My Gospel.
Lora and Adam finaly got married eh? was it nice? im sure it was. Hahaha oh great, thats all we need, more crazy parties witht he Onkens and Doolans.
One of the ladies at service always tells me the news from back home. 115 i heard. crazy. Humid eh? its not too bad when you get used to it... T-Storms are the coolest. i have some recorded that ill send home. its the coolest thing, and (former) Elder Thrall said its the thing he misses most about the E.Coast.
This past week has been fairly standard. Linaya is doing great, and so is Meg and Ken. We have a lot of hope for them. Im trying to kick our teaching up to 40 lessons a week, but its been burning me out, and leaving dry. Its tough to find the good median, yet maintain that level of performance that should/is expected from me.
There has been a lot of stuff going on in the mission with missionaries and Coach. Its sad to see what has happened, but at the same time, accountability and responsibility is a fact of life, and an irrevocable law of heaven.
The Lord's hand is everywhere in the work. It is honestly remarkable to see how he magnifies your strengths, and lifts up your weaknesses. Miraculous is all i can say. Ups and downs, ups and downs. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Its never easy, but you know, and can see the inevitable growth and progress. I guess thats the key to not getting burnt out or stressed. Remembering to focus on the fact that "no unhallowed hand can keep the work from progressing". it shall "sweep every climb", and "sound in every ear". Its a marvelous thing.
Thansk for everything you do. I love you all, and hope all is well back home. Take care, love you, miss you. peace!
Elder Onken

July 19, 2006

2006-07-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

Howdy!

Im talking like a cowboy, because yesterday Ken Demers taught us how to put up hay. We are pretty much professionals now. He said he would endorse us as professional farmers. He is always making fun of us being city folk. I told him about G-ma and her ranch and he liked that. He always says "everybody is entitled to be foolish about somthing... and im just about as foolish about horses as they can get."

I cant believe Chelsea left her rag of a blanket!! Its a miracle!! or perhaps more accuratly defined as divine intervention.How is soccer going for Natalie? i wrote her an e-mail, but havnt gotten a response yet. should i just write a letter to her? is that better? Michael who? like Michael Natalie's friend from high school? hes cool.

I like that little improv party! How is Austin?! Tell Heather congrats! i dont think i have her email. Mikey is getting?! To whom? thats intense! Seth is getting hitched? Seth Hannaman? wow! who is the lucky lady? I dont remember Clayton's cell phone number for Rasmussen... i know there are 4's and 7's in it.... David Toone (jr.) should have it. Any of the group should have it. You will have to ask them. Tell Congratz to all the people getting married! thats so cool!

The B-Vista Memorial sounds cool. While we were haying the other day we saw a lot of monarch butterflies. Big ol beutiful ones. Sounds very "new age". Like you said, sounds like a movie. Music therapst? Elder Lang and I went to Brookestones and listend to this special music stuff that has been specificaly designed with "new age medical technology" to help you sleep/concentrate/relax/stress control. etc. it was cool listening to it. you could feel it in your stomach.

Okay, so randomly you got lasik surgery! Bad part is that now you cant do high altitude sky diving!! you will regret it, trust me.

Disneyland eh? Everybody here thinks Disneyland is like some far off mysital land. It still feels like a backyard summer activity to me.

6 months... crazy isnt it? It goes fast when i think about how long ive been out, but if i look back and outline where ive been and what ive done, it seems like a long time. Its crazy to think that Steven is comming home soon, Dave is over the hump (i think), and Nick is just about comming to his. Jimmy has been out for 9 months... CRAZY! It goes by so quickly.

I loved the video. Me covering my face was a reaction to the horrific sights of my poor, mutilated, and desanctified room! Not to mention that even Jamie looked a bit spooked, lost and confused while giving me a video "tour" or my former sanctuary. I think the whole district was finaly excited to see that there were actualy faces to all the crazy stories i tell. It was so good to see everybody. I miss everybody so much. I have to admit thought, that seeing Kolin, Clayton and Phil all sitting there polishing off the food was the best.

Today one of our investigators invited us to go play paintball this weekend. thatd be cool, but not sure how likely Coach will go for that. yes yes, Aerosmith for the 4th. . Sounds like your 4th was lame, but it was doomed to be such w/o me there anyway. How was texas? im very jealous. what did yall (Note farmer lingo) do?

What is Nick, and Jamie up to? havnt heard from them in a while. I know they are busy, so no hurry.I got a letter from Chelsea the other day, which was cool. Now that i think about it.. i dont remember if i wrote her back... oh geeze, im losing it. its crazy. We have an investigator who just moved here from Riverside, and she will talk about Cali, but i find myself already forgeting things... mostly just streets and such, but geography is becomming more hazy!!! egads!!So David Toone got his Mission call?! IM SO EXCITED!!! WOOT!! thats SO cool. im stoked for him!!

It has been nasty hot lately, and the humidity makes it disgusting. Today is the last day of the heat wave though, and we are supposed to get T-Storms this weekend. that will be a nice relief. Last week was intense. We worked our tails off to try and break our goal of 40 lessons. We managed to get 47 and 17 or those with a member present. This week we have the goal of 40 again, but we have been doing so much service that we probably wont get it :(

Transfers are tommorow, but alas, i am staying in N. Adams for antoehr x-fer, probably just to finish Egberts training. This will probably be my last one, so im gearing up to get baptismal dates for Linaya (feminist that has opend up a lot to the church), Shirley, Larry Miller (Flo's son), and Ken. Those are our primary focuses.

I got a call this morning from Coach, and he has asked me to be the District Leader. Kinda iffy about that, but whatever. It could prove to be interesting i guess.

This last sunday we have 6 investigators to church. The funny this is that Shirley and Flo have some bad history together. The night before we were at Flo's and met with some of her friends + larry and sue, and although they said they didnt want a lesson, we ended up having to split off to answer everybodys questions. Anyway, when we told Flo that Shirley was comming to church she said that she could never forgive her, and would "quit" if she came. We (and her non-member friends) gave her a hard time about saying that, and we decided enough prayer would prevent any harm. The next day, Sis. Gagne gave a great talk in sacrament about Gratitude, and although i got nothing about forgivness from the talk, Flo came up afterwards and said that "I guess i can forgive Shirley for whatever has happend in the past." Its amazing to see the spirit work in the lives of those around us. The Lord is truely blessing this area, and im blessed to be here to help.I cant recall anything else real exciting or interesting to talk about... If you have any talks you can burn or send me to me, id apprecaite it. Ive extinguished my talks collections 2 times over. Anyway. I love you and miss you. thanks for everything, and i hope youll keep praying for me and the people in North Adams.

Love ya, talk to you later!
Elder Onken

July 13, 2006

2006-07-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Mommy,
Oh so much to talk about. Sorry i didnt get a chance to write last week, but everything was hectic with the 4th, and the new mission pres.
Thank you so much for the "Birthday in a Box"! it was the best thing ever! I watched the video with my district, at the pabsts place, and we all laughed together. It was good to see everybody. Some people look different! Abbie, and Maddy especially! and Samuel looks like a gangsta or somthing! I was jealous of the Texan extraviganza, but i figured im in the better of the 2 places (not Mass, but being on a mission!). I had a super long birthday kinda. On friday had dinner at the Greenalghs, and they gave me a sweeet tie. The Lowthers came over, and gave me a picture of the Sacred Grove, somthings ive always wanted. We enjoyed ice cream cake ::yumm:: my favorite. On Saturday we worked hard, and taught tons of lessons. That night, dinner and party at the Pabst's of course. More ice cream cake, i was in heaven. On Sunday Elder Egbert and I gave talks. That night we had a dinner at the Van Uiterts, with the Pabsts and the Laws, and alas, more ice cream cake!! i was beyond myself. Oh yah, and on saturday, Ken took us up to whitingham to the birthplace of Brigham Young. its some small random pillar behind a baseball diamond. nothing to fancy, but very random.
Sunday was awesome. A New family moved in from Flordia. Linaya came to sacrament meeting, and we almost got Ken to come. I gave a talk on Agency, Accountability, and Liberty! it was amazing. the best talk i had ever given. Afterwards, Linaya (who usually has issues with young missionaries. them being so young) said somthing to the effect of ' i was worried at first about your sermons because you are so young, but your mother should be proud. I have heard ministers give sermons for years, and the one you just gave was the best i have ever heard'. It was amazing, the spirit really touched her heart and made her think my talk was somthing special! Things are going well, and she even told me that she has gotten rid of all her anti-mormon books! woohoo!
So some random retreat? the Zen center? Compassionate Care of the Dying? that had to have been interesting. Im glad that you enjoied it, even if you had to sit on the ground for 2 days.
for the 4th of july what did you all do? we went to Boston and saw fireworks, and Aerosmith at the Esplinade. it was intense! we stopped by Sasha's appartment to see if i could suprise her, but she wasnt home. i figured she was back in Cali anyway. while we were waiting in Boston Commons before going down the the Charles river, we contacted some lost German girls, and taught them abou the restoration! it was funny, i wonder if they understood. We also taught, and contacted a group of Christian evangelists. It was pretty funny when they found out we were mormon missionaries (we wernt in Pros). Its alwasy funny to see people's demeanors change. kinda sad, but entertaining none the less.
The new mission pres is awesome! President England! he is such a loving man. i already love him, and am excited to be working in the same mission with him.
We have been working super hard, and this week we will actually break our goal of 40 lessons in a week. Everybody said "yeah right", and i guess this week we will prove them wrong with a ton of help from the Lord.
Im sure there is more for me to write, but i cant even remember it now. the weather has been crazy , and the thunderstorms intense, but its fun. 6 month mark!! woohoo! it was fun to have Elder Foley in my district to celebrate together. 18 more months... the time goes so fast!! well, i love you all, and miss ya. take care, talk to you soon!
Elder Onken

July 8, 2006

2006-07-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKYLER!!

We received this email and these photos from the Pabsts:

Here's your missionary!! The video was a big hit! Most of these were
taken while watching it. We sure enjoy him. He's doing a great job!

June 26 2006

2006-06-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

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

May 30, 2006

2006-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

"And I need shelves built into
your old closet for my fabric crates and then I'll be setting up my
sewing room." - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO x100
Hi Mom!!
you can see what part of your letter caught my eye the most.
The house looks great! i know why you waited for me to leave now! things would be broken very quickly.
Im so proud of you for graduating soon! thats so exciting! you should get a giant cut out of me for the party ,so im like there, but not. Have you contacted Clayton's mom about working at Kaiser?
You and your mini look good together. Nick calls it your happy box, or somthing like that. So we have this crazy catapillary problem here in MAss. they are EVERYWHERE. like a bazillion of them, no jok.e its nasty, but kinda funny when you see one of them fly onto somebodys head (they swing down the long strands of silk, or whatever). its funny, but nasty at the same time. Its like 90 degrees here, but 40 last week, so the weather is very humid and random. I love it!
So we have an issue with mail we believe. let me explain... Here is a diagrom of our front porch
[1] [2] [3] <--- doors
there are like 3 homes in 1 house (if that makes sense), so mail boxes must have names on them to get mail.
1. we live here (left rear)
2. landlord
3. some other person
somehow, the mail people interpret left rear as door 3... still working on that one, but we arnt sure how reliable our mail is. its been quite a problem.
We have slept outside the past few times because its so hot int he appartment, and the A/C machines smell like mold... its stick, but itll be better soon i hope.
Im sorry our house isnt the party house anymore. i guess its cause im gone.... ::laugh::....
Im loving the mission. things are going great. this past week we set Baptismal dates with Sue, and with Autumn!!! that makes 3!!! the Lord has blessed us with success. its crazy how opportunities to teach and such, are kinda floating in the air in front of us, as if the Lord is dangling it there for us missionaries to take and work with! its amazing! We had a great memorial day, and ended it with a bbq at an inactive families home. The kids were slip n sliding, and wernt exactly warm to us. that is, until we went slip n sliding in full proselyting clothing lol. im sure Elder Pabst will send u a pic. it was fun. then we played baseball, and ate hot dogs!! it was good times. The other day we also did Ear Candling. does that ring a bell at all? its weird, look it up on the interenet. its some strange hippy thing. it was cool though. somthing missionaries would do,right?
alright, i gotta run. i love you all, and miss you all. The Lord's work is the best thing ever, and time is flying by waaay too fast. I pray for you all every night. take care. Search Ponder and Pray and the mysteries of teh universe shall be unfolded before you! Alma 13!!!
Elder Onken

May 23, 2006

2006-05-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hey there!
What a past few weeks! Things have been going crazy!
It was good to talk to everybody on mother's day, even though i was sick as a dog. im better now, and the work is going great!
We have a new baptism comming up in June. Michael Price is the 10-year old son of Stacey Price. She has recently started comming back to church, and has been bringing her children.
We have also once again reestablished contact with Meg and Autumn! things are looking up, and the spirit is giving me good vibes about it.
Veronika is doing a marvelous job at the assignemnts we give her, and it wont be too long now until she asks to be baptized.
Sue has also taken huge steps. She and Larry have moved up their marriage date, and she has stopped drinking coffee. We are going to try to set a baptismal date for her.
However, on the flip side (opposition in all things, right?), there have been some devistating things happening.
a person we know has relapsed back into a smoking habit
a mother and her son were murdered on saturday, by the mother's husband. supposedly he was not happy with their conversion to the church, and decided to settle his frustration with a hammer. the media has been in a frenzy. it will be interesting to see what kind of influence this has on the work and church in all of Mass.
Our District Leader was emergency transfered this last week because of a series of dramas that has been occuring in the zone. I really dislike drama, and its frustrating to see it happen amongst missionaries. Elder Nielson (AP) , and Farr (ZL) came to our District Meeting, and i was so emberassed because of the distrcit. Everybody except for Elder Johnson and I were acting like children. I cant see why people come on missions, when they are just going to act like 5-year olds. Dad told me not to murmur so much, so im going to have to repent for this letter.
I have to change back to myldsmail, but ive set my gmail account to forward all emails sent there to the proper address. Im still worried about the fact that some emails havnt been going through! i reply to everything i read, so thats an indicator for all of you to know if i got it or not.
Things are going well with the work here, and im loving the mission. The church is true, and there is no other way to say it. i have been pondering upon the phrase "one eternal round" lately. I guess its just intersting to think about the omnipotence of God, and how much he is watching out for us all, and knows exactly what we are going through and need. Prayer works, always remember that. and read the book of mormon! its the best handbook for life!! love you all, and pray for everybody. much love, take care!
Elder Onken

May 8, 2006

2006-05-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mom,
Im glad im missing all the construction lol, you MUST send pictures!!
Sounds like youve been busy with being on-call, geeze, it must be crazy!
If you get a job at Kaiser, i think thats where Clayton's mom works!
wouldnt that be cool if you worked together?!
Yup, sunday we get to call! thatll be fun, and enjoyable! im not sure
where, and when ill call, but probably at around 12pm your time. we
have dinner every sunday with the branch presidency at 6 our time, so
im not sure what the calling time will be like... but they said they
could call from their house.
hahah send me pics of you in your new car when you get it. i lauigh
whenever i think about it. your going to be a little menice on the
road lol.
This week has been interesting...
Elder Youd is awesome, and i love him a lot, but hes soooo trunky. He
has started to kind of shuck off the rules, and it bothers me, but i
dont want to make this transfer even longer by causing contention, ya
know? is that good, or a bad attitude? its tough, but ill talk to the
Pres about it i think. Elder Fletcher and I are still going to write
our book, but itll take a long time to do the fax/revise thing. lol.
the investigators... Meg and Autumns baptizmal dates fell through. we
havnt been able to contact them for a week now... its really sad. its
all in the Lord's hands now (as it has always been). Missy has also
moved back in with her boyfriend, and doesnt come to the lessons
anymore... its sad
However, Veronika is like .000001 seconds away from being baptized!!
Sue has moved up her wedding date, and is excited to say "i can answer
yes to all the baptismal questions soon!!". We have also reactivated
Stacy Price and her kids, and her son needs to get baptized, so we
will be doing that soon i imagine!! thigns are going so well, and i
love it here!!
Here is another funny story for this week:
So, Richie and Cheryl are two blind people in our branch. this week we
visited them a few times. the first time, they taught us how to type
and read braille after we built their cd racks. However, the second
time we visited, they asked us to give Cheryl's dog a blessing... that
was interesting... "Agent, by the authority of the..." etc. Youd was
on the verge of busting up laughing, it was kinda funny, but one of
the those things we never would have thought we would have done on our
missions!
This week has been hard, but the lessons and teaching has been great!
the branch now has home teaching, and we hope to increase our numbers.
we have asbout 50 peopel come to church now, so we are almost enough
to get a building!! its so exciting! i love it here, and im loving
being in the service of the Lord. I look forward to talking to yall on
sunday. Love you and miss you!!
Elder Onken

May 1, 2006

2006-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Mom,

Congrats on finishing your school work (for the most part)! Im so proud of you! i tell anybody who will listen about your upcomming graduation. Take pics of the party, and send them to me so i wont feel so left out lol.

So your Mini is comming in soon, eh? i bet your ecstatic! i saw one the other day and took a picture of it for you, red and everything.
Nick and Jamie should now be called "the boring ones". geeze lol. Chelsea is better off without Ryan. if he keeps calling her, its a sign that he 1) doesnt want to let go, so the only reason he broke up with her is so he can hook up with other girls and not feel bad, or 2) hes playing games. in either case its a less than savory way to act. "those who live by [drama], die by [drama]".

Im glad that im not home for the remodeling work. im sure id just get in the way.

the Greenalghs are like the coolest people ever. I gave a spiritual message when we were there for dinner, and i was talking about "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also", and i guess it encouraged their kids to give up this video game Runescape that they had been addicted to.

Im still here in North Adams, but Elder Fletcher went to Cambridge (longfellow park 2 ward). Elder Youd is my new companion, and he is way cool. he was just Zone Leader, but hes going home at the end of this transfer so ill probably be in North Adams for 3 more months, which i dont mind at all!

The investigators are doing alright, but the biggest step this week is that Stacey Price and her family have started comming back to church!! im so excited for them!

Crazy story this week: Sister Harrer, this old little lady, asked us to go do so service for her. First thing she asked us to do was to bury her cat that died... she said it was the best of the 400 cats she has had... no joke. 400!!!! i admit, it was hard to keep from laughing. So we burried it ,but she kept on dropping the bag with the cat in it, and it was really nasty how its paws started dropping out and stuff. it was narly. So we said a little prayer and Elder Youd and I debated on whether or not we should dedicate the grave.... just kidding! but, sister harrer did give a little talk about how she would see the cat again at the ressurection. it was kinda sweet. After that, she asked us to spray the wasp nests, but not to kill the wasps... instead she said "i love the little guys, but the get in the house. dont kill them, if they start chasing you just run away...." i was like... uhhh, okay... there is a scripture somewhere that says that poisons wont hurt the Lord's annointed right? overall, this week was full of good service, and great lessons! Veronika should be getting baptized soon, i think we will challenge her next week. thigns are exciting, and we are going to start a home teaching program soon!! woohoo!! Im blessed to be able to see and feel my testimony grow daily. i love my mission, and i love the people! im so glad to be here. thanks for all the love and support. the church is true, no doubt about it.

Elder Onken

April 24, 2006

2006-04-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

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

2006-04-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

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

March 27, 2006

2006-03-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

Mom,
Wow, sounds like things are pretty crazay! what ever happend to my Jury summons thing? lol. am i going to be arrested? lol, thatd be more funny than bad imo.
It is starting to turn spring here. you can tell because everybody starts to reapair their roofs lol. the plants ahve started to bud, and the weather is getting warmER... i stress the -ER part, because it still doesnt qualify as warm... i think its like high 40's.
Wow, test drive a mini? how was that? i hear those things handle pretty well. manual or auto?
How are Nick and Jamie? they sent me an epic package the other day, i was so excited to get it. there was music, talks, candy, and a sweeeet singing duck! they are truely the most awesome ones. How was dinner with them? yah, Natalie and Chelsea should move in together, thatd be a good thing. A person who WANTS to be motivated, cannot do so if living with someone who isnt nor wants to be motivated. i see that alot here in N.Adams. we call it the North Adams Effect. I had Elder Johnson from Pittsfield e-mail chelsea. hes TOTALY her type, and they are the same age. tell her to check her email.
It sounds like the house is going to be completely different by the time i get back! the whole thing geeze. send me pictures of everything that is new.
Yah, Ben and I write pretty much every week. hes been a great source of inspiration and advice. hows everybody else back home in the ward? good things i hope.
Thanks for the package Mom, i really enjoyed (and am still enjoying) the snacks. Elder Fletcher and I are the only ones in the apartment.
So the past few weeks ahve been pretty crazy! When we went into Boston the other day we were able to go the the Temple! the temple in Boston is sooo nice, and it has the same kinda "didnt see that comming" effect as the San Diego temple does. it looks like a Citadel or somthing lol. While we were there in Belmont we got a typewriter from the mission. that was sweet, because all of my hand written letters practicaly resemble ancient chaldean charecters lol. Elder Fletcher and I are going to be writing a book as part of our companionship study plan. its going to be about Truth and Religion. along the same lines as Pratt's "the key to the science of tehology", btw, did you find that in my book box?
Here is an exciting event that happend while we were there. We went to visit Elder Fletchers old area, and we stoped by a members house. His name is Dennis Villa, and hes been baptized for like 20 years, but only been really converted and active for the past 5. he was baptized because his wife, but i dont know the specifics. Anyway, the really exciting and intriguing part is this... Dennis was on the commitee called the Theologate (dad, have you heard of that?). He was essentialy trained from birth by the Catholic church to do this. only 12 people in the entire world can be holding this calling at one time, so the Catholics have to wait till Dennis dies to even assign a new one. their job is to essentialy create and dictate the doctrine of the Catholic church. they describe HOW to interpret scripture, and create explinations for doctrinal incositancies. his job is so high up the totem pole that he would only answer to the Pope. hes pretty close friends with the guy who wrote "De Vinci Code", and says they both make fun of that non-sense. He was all talking about how he called the Pope last week and how they are all telling him how disapointed they are that he left the Catholic church. all he would say is how he finaly found the truth. he could literaly trace the Catholic church's creed in reverse order to the point where he could chart out the entire apostasy. he said its remarkable how the LDS church is completely in-line with the oldest pure christian teachings they have. Hes the guy who let out all the information about the Priest's sexual abuse scandals and such. Pretty much hes the smartest person ive ever met. he has like 4 PhDs. a very cool guy, and its interesting to have met him. we taught another minister this last week, a Methodist female Pastor. she told us that our knowledge of the cahtolic church was off and we should talk to a priest to learn more... we were .5 seconds away form telling her that we are friends with the one who WRITES what the catholic church believes, and hes now Mormon lol. i think its ironic, eh? he said that if every catholic took the time to learn what their church believed, they would learn that it was pagan and un-true. kinda harsh, but thats the kind of guy he is.
anyway, another lady we are teaching is Linaya... all i can say about here is that shes been investigating for 35 years and wont joing until women can have the priesthood. she seems to think our church prevents women from getting careers and such... she asked me if my mom was just a mere-house wife and i about fell on my head. i told her about your Job, your schooling, and how you still manage and make family your top priority. she was without words lol. oh well, shes a nice but interesting lady.
Oh yah, during basketball last week i bent my glasses way out of whack lol, but i got them fixed the next morning at a glasses place in town.
Well, thats pretty much it. pretty exciting past few weeks. love you all, and i hope all is well. miss ya tons, and let me know if there is anything i can do for you. i pray for you all every night and day. Prayer is a miracle working tool we have been given. In Ether it talks about how the B.o Jared no longer had faith, because he had a knowledge of God. i feel like i have that kind of position with Prayer. the reality of it is so evident and undeniable, it really has ceased to require 'faith' to pray... i KNOW God will hear and answer the prayers 'if i ask not amiss'. )just finished memorizing Nephi's Psalm, had to quote that lol). pray always that you may come of conquerer (D&C 10). its true. take care, much love.
Elder Onken

March 20, 2006

2006-03-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well hey there,
sorry that didnt write really last week, things have been crazy. ive been sick the past few days, but im feeling better today. Ive gotten a letter from Chelsea and a bunch of other people, and thats always good. thats funny that you mentioned elder Rasmussen in your letter, because my new DL (elder saurey) knows him from back home, and i think one of the new elders might even be related lol. Sounds like work and school have you pretty busy mom, how about dad? gastrointestinal studies is my favorite ya know, so if you need any help on your pojects let me know... . Im sorry to hear about Sister Nevers, that is too bad. im going to send pictures by CD from now on, its just cheaper that way. ill still try to post em myself, but if not maybe you can do it if worst comes to worst. Havnt heard from Nick or the Jaimster either, they must be super busy with everything. hows Natalie? havnt heard from her either, but im guessing no news is good news, right? We got that newspaper article because we work at the Elder Services, and all the old people collect newspapers, so we just get those extras. there were a TON of emails written about that, i think the writer was rebuked severly.
Things have been pretty slow in N.Adams. Transfers are past, and im here for another x-fer. i cant believe ive been out for over 2 months, its crazy! Flo's baptisim is comming up soon, and her referals have been comming along well also. we have 5 investigators at church on sunday, and that was cool. other than that, nothing really interesting excpet its becomming spring!!! yah!!! well, i gotta run, but it was good to read emails. take care, love ya!
Elder Onken
P.S music? you can send me soundtracks for like Sons of Provo, Best two years, the RM , and such. also, TALKS, those are good listening.