Another Baptism......

Hey mommy

This week was crazy! In a very good way though!

Ok so pretty much every night this past week we had a lesson with Geovani! We taught him pretty much everything, and still we didnt quite teach it all! He has a 6th grade education from El Salvador, which probably transfers to a 2nd or 3rd grade education here. But it all went well!

So last friday was the day we had set to have interviews. Geovani was interviewed by Elder Greenberg, and then the elders from destin had a baptismal canidate as well, named jose, and so i interviewed him. I love doing interviews! The experiences i have had while interviewing these people have been incredible. I get to do a lot of teaching, testifying and even more promising. I promised Jose some incredible blessings last friday. I promised him things that hoenstly made me ask myself "can i do that?" and then i realized that the spirit testified for me to do it. I love the moments where i have realized i am truly in the Lord's Hands.

They both passed their interviews! And on saturday we got a call from Geovani around lunch time that said he would probably be late home from work, and therefore late to his baptism. He also told me he wanted me to baptism him. So we started praying like crazy, that somehow he would be able to get home on time.

After that on saturday we went to a funeral. It was a guy in the english ward who died, i didnt even know him, but one of his last requests was to have as many Elders as possible sing "i am a child of God" at his funeral. So we did a little service for him. Basically all our day was taken up at the funeral, but afterwards Elder Clements and I left the chapel at like 5 to go grab some stuff from the apartment, and we saw Geovani accrossed the street... prayers answered! Oh yeah, i am not sure i told you that. Geovani lives with another Salvaderian family... across the street from the church. If you think about it... they have lived there for over a year... and we just barely found them last transfer... actually we didnt even find them, the english elders did... but this time, when we did find them, someone was prepared. IF that doesnt show how God works, i dont know what does!

The baptism was great. I cant complain one bit, even if only 13 people showed up. I got to take place in a required salvatory ordinance for someone else. What a blessing that is. Right before the baptism, Geovani asked me to go into a seperate room with him so we could pray. I was amazed as he truly taught me a lesson in humility. I will forever be grateful of the example he showed of needing to pray and be in tune with the spirit before a major ordinance.

UNfortunately... so begins the battle. It is tough being hispanic and getting sundays off. I found out recently that Silvia is having to work on sundays! Also, yesterday Geovani found out last minute on saturday that he would have to work on sunday, and because of that he wasnt confirmed! So just keep both of them in your prayers, the truth is in order to progress, they have to get to church!

I am doing great though! The comps are great, we are working hard, but honestly now that Geovani is baptized, the work will slow a lot! My language is jumping like crazy. I am now able to converse with people, and i love it. I am DEFINATELY minoring in spanish in college.

I am doing great. I love it here, i LOVE the branch and i am doing my best to lose myself in the work. Thank you for all you do forme! I hope that all is well with you, and i know that you all are being blessed.

Have a wonderful week, know that i am thinking/praying for you all!

I love you

Elder Kenck

PS no i still dont know anything about the calls on mother's day! Sorry. Start writing down questions please!

Short- but sweet--

This week was good. We worked hard, and we saw a lot of success. This week we had 9 new investigators.. 6 in one day! THis past week we had a awesome district meeting, about the importance of study. I had one of the best studies of my life that morning in the scriptures, and we used the training and applied it in our lives. I have been amazed at the guidance i have recieved while preparing for the sessions. Everytime i sit down and prayerfully search for what God wants to be taught at the district meeting, i get a very real and direct answer, in no time at all. Then as i sit down and prepare the lesson, it all flows together so easily that i know we are supposed to teach it. And preparing lesssons is a skill i do not have!!!

The work is going good, in fact we have almost too much work to do! But still, we found those days where NO ONE is home, or all our appointments fall through, but such is missionary work at times!

Hey i have to log off now, i will finish the email in a second!

Love you

Elder Kenck

combo of letters-- doing well!!!!

Sounds like you are all doing well. Just to let you know you will probably get my letter in the mail today, i accidently sent it a day late. But to warn you i probably wont have time to write a letter today.

I am not gaining a ton of weight here, BUT my composition is messed up. All of the muscle i had is gone and it is now fat. BUT my stud of a companion is kicking me into shape. We are running every other day and lifting weights (the english elders have a bench). Oh this week i scored like 4 goals playing soccer, it was super intense. We had a bunch of good soccer players with us on saturday, and it was raining, so it was fun!

I am doing good though. We are working hard! Hopefully by the time i leave a can figure the whole spanish thing out, but i have a feeling that i will be studying it for my whole life. I love the spanish cultures though, the people are so wonderful!

As for me, i had a wonderful week. It certainly wasnt easy, but it was good.

We set a baptismal date with our investigator Geovany. It was great, the spirit was really strong and he was very excited to do it! First off we taught him of the atonement, and that itself was great, but to cap it all off, we read alma 7:12-15. The first part talks of the atonement and the second part talks of the need to be baptized and repent. Right after reading that, i asked him directing "geovany, what do you need to do to be able to apply the atonement?" and he gave the perfect answer of repent and be baptized. After that we told him we had prayed about him , and we felt that he could be prepared to be baptized by the 26th of april. We asked him if he would be willing to do that, and after thinking for a second he said... "fijemospues" which basically means,
"well let's set it!" He is a awesome guy, with a lot of struggles in his life, but he is ready to change. I am so excited to see how the gospel will shape him.

The rest of the week has been pretty tough. Well on tuesday i gave my second district training, and it went suprisingly well. It was on love and charity. It is absolutely amazing to me the guidance that i recieve with this calling. Even though i am the district leader of the smallest district in the mission, when i kneel to pray about what we need to discuss, i truly get answers. Tomorrow we will talk about personal study and how to make it more effective. I am learning how important personal scripture study is. I have had some wonderful studies recently on the savior and how everything in the scriptures relates to Him. Maybe when i come back we will be able to sit down and go through a few of my studies together!

But the rest of the week has been full of nothing. WE have been out working hard, but for the last 4 days, it seems like every door we have knocked and no one has answered. Maybe we will be changing some things up in order to be more effective. I am trying to work on organization. I NEED HELP!!! If you can think of any tools, or suggestions, or ANYTHING i would hoenstly appreciate it.

Also, i had the wonderful chance to call Simplicio and Silvia on saturday night. THey are doing great... unfortunately i can still barely understand simplicio, but silvia i can now speak with perfectly! They are doing great, and i think it is just a matter of time before they children are members. I am absolutely planning on visiting them in Vera Cruz Mexico when i get home, so maybe that would be a fun future vacation.

All is well though. I get along great with my companions, they are both awesome and hard workers. I have loved training Elder Clements, he is doing awesome, and it has shown me how far i have come. Our little branch here is growing like crazy. President Franco, who is incredible, is now giving callings and getting organized and the branch is slowly progressing. I love the branch so much, and i would love to spend a majority of my mission here!

I am doing great. I love it out here, and i am ready to see some more miracles, starting with Geovany! I know i am supposed to be here right now. I have learned so much, but the truth is that i still have so much to learn. I wish i could tell you all of what i feel right now, or the changes that have taken place in me, but i tihnk you probably know they are there too. Keep on progressing, keep studying, praying and spending time together. PLease do what ever you can to get to the temple, and when i get home that is one of the first things a want to do. This is true, and i know it. i love it here, thanks for all you have done for me, and for allowing me to be out here!

I love you mommy

Elder Kenck

April Fools-- non funny??

Hey mom

What a crazy week it has been! I had both Zone conference and general conference! SPiritual overload!

I'll try not to wear black socks with shorts. ( we sent him more white socks---)

Well, Zone Conference once again was incredible. it was weird not having my two examples, Elder Poort and Lauritzen there, but it was ok because my own "child" was there. The message once again (and probably for the rest of my mission) was on the enabling power of the atonement, or grace. Study that theme! You read that talk by David A Bednar right mom? doesnt matter, i will send a copy home this week anyways! I had a wonderful interview with President Summerhays. I was the last one to get interviewed, and so i think president took a little extra time with me. :) He is so inspired. He promised me some incredible things as a missionary, husband and father. I look forward to the 16 other interviews i have left to go.

General Conference was awesome. A little hectic for me. I only watched like 2.5 hours in english... TOO MUCH SPANISH. My brain actually hit overload, it was exciting. I recieved a very very strong witness that President Monson is a prophet of God. I know he is God's represetative on Earth today! I am more excited to get the conference issue of the Ensign and be able to tear apart those wonderful talks!

So I had a very exciting 1st day of the month. At about 8:45 i got a call from Elder Greenburg (one of the ZLs) and he told me to go into another room because he had something very important to tell me that only i could hear. So i went into the other room and on the way he said he had to make the call a three-way call and call foley, and he told me something bad had happened. So basically at this point i am almost freaking out. Then with Elder Stone and Jambon on the line he says that the night before Elder Jambon and Zabriskie got in a fight, and that we had to have an emergency transfer. He said that after spending all morning on the phone they decided the best thing to do was to send me back to Pascagoula and elder Jambon to Ft. Walton. IN about half a second my heart broke. I didnt want to go, in fact as of now leaving is the last thing i want to do, and about a million other emotions flowed through my mind. And then Elder Greenburg told me to start packing and that he would pick me up in 2 hours. I just laughed. and then he asked me the date... thats when i realized it was april fool's day. I still am plotting ways ofgetting revenge!

The work is going great. we are working hard, and effective. We have one progressing investigator, well bascially three. One, Giovani, From El Salvador is a awesome guy. He came to 3 conference sessions this weekend. Carlos and Patricia are our other progressing investigators, but in order for them to progress more they need to get sundays off... please pray that that can happen!

I am trying my best to forget myself in this work. I am sorry if i have neglected you all, i realized once again how much i am in debt to you all. PLease please understand that this time is not my time. I am doing my best to dedicate it all to God. I will do my best to do nice things for you all, and please let me know if anyone needs a little extra attention or an extra letter. I know that by giving my all right now, that we as a family will get the most out of my service.

I want you mom to know that i know this church is true. I have recieved so many wonderful witnesses of that during my mission. and i know that i am being guided by His hands. My greatest desire right now is to serve Him faithfully, with all my heart, and to come to know His Son during my mission. The atonement is real, please seek to understand it more and more, and we do that by experimenting its power.

I love you mommy. Have a wonderful week. Thank you so much for the awesome letter you sent me. It was exactly what i needed, exactly when i needed it.

thanks for allowing me to be here!

i love you

Elder Kenck

photos

its cold!!!

My first soccer shirt
Umm-- dinner (we know he loved doing this!!)

Help!!!