Gustav-- no big deal--Email from the branch President.

Hi

I am Hermana Franco, I saw your sons (Elder Jambon, Elder Andrews, and Elder Kenck) at a baptism last night. They were concerned that you were going to be worried about them because of the weather in the local area. They asked me to let you know that the weather here is nice. The hurricane is well to the west of us and should not give us any problems. They also asked me to let you know that you may not get an e-mail from them this week. If you do not get an e-mail don't worry because their Preparation day was changed this week due to the Labor day weekend. And Last they also asked me to tell you that they Love You.

You have amazing sons. They are such hard workers and we really appreciate them.

Thank you for sharing them with us.

President and Hermana Franco

P.S. Please ignore the news they exaggerate every thing. They also asked that I tell you if the weather gets bad they will go to Crestview (stake center)

Fay was nothing but misty day--Darn!!

So fay was probably the most ridiculous "storm" ever. Seriously, the only weird thing was the directions that the clouds where moving in. We only got a lot of mist, and no rain. I was looking forward to a floodlol.

Sounds like you have a weird schedule planned for this year. That should be exciting.

I hope Gav's wedding went well. I have been thinking a lot about him as of late. In Nana and Papa's letter to me he wrote a little paragraph in spanish that had me rolling on the floor laughing. It was about dumb comps.

This week went well. I have seen so much progress in my companions, but it is still hard. Elder J is starting to make rational desicions, and he isnt as crazy. And i didnt have the desire to knock out Elder A all week. Improvement.

So guess what... Elder Lauritzen... my mission daddy... according to rumors he is already engaged... weird. Elder Harris, who is a former AP who is serving in Ft. Walton, he has literally been my sanity this transfer, we were talking about how weird that will be to be in the real world again. He goes home in 1.5 weeks, which will be weird too. He has taught me a lot about the gospel.

This week work wise wasnt amazing. My current victories dont come in the form of baptismal dates, they come just if we get out of the door on time and actually work all day.

SO next transfer i could literally go anywhere... Mobile, Foley, and even pascagoula again. I dont even care anymore, i just want to be with a companion that can actually work at a decent pace.

But i am thankful for this transfer... as hard as it has been, i have learned a lot and i can honestly say i can get along with anyone. lol... well hopefully. Remind me sometime to tell you my theory on Californians. lol

I am doing good though, just tired and ready for a change. I KNOW the gospel is true, and my studies and testimony building experiences are the few things that keep me going day to day.

Have a wonderful week dad, know i love you and i will talk to you later!

Love

Elder Kenck

Better Week-- Fay coming-- no worries....

Hey dad

Well life down in florida is good.

This have gotten a lot better this week. The contention and bad attitudes that ruled our companionship arent as common anymore. Just in time to be transfered right? lol

Congrats on making it through your masters program! That will be exciting when you get through that. Also it sounds like the world of sports is normal... heck the only thing i know about the olympics is that Argentina, Italy, and Brasil are kicking butt in the soccer section.

I am doing well here, trying to figure out how to improve in a lot of ways. One bad thing about having "interesting" companions is that sometimes they rub off on you. Elder Jambon cannot physically study (he has improved soo much!) but, his add makes it hard for him. And so these days, my studies are horrible as well. So i am trying to fix myself, and so i can be endowed with God's grace. Right now we are teaching 3 families, all from Guatamala. It is so ironic, because before meeting these families, i was a little racist towards guatamalans, because all the ones i had met before were uneducated drunks. But now i love them! So ironic how God works. Two of them, Leonor and Menfil, came to church yesterday! That was a huge victory for us. Now we just have to get Leonor's sister, Sandra (our other family) to church next week.

But i really do love it out here, thanks for all you do dad, thank you for beign strong and a great leader of the family.

Love you, thanks for everything. AND PLEASE HELP MOM NOT WORRY ABOUT ME!!! If we are supposed to be hit by a hurricane, it will happen, if not, no big deal. love you


Elder Kenck

He is safe!!!

I know that a lot of people have been concerned about Taylor and tropical storm Fay.... but he assured us that he is fine and at worst case, the Stake Centers there are build to withstand 250 mph winds... I will update from his emails soon (school is starting and I have been busy)--- thanks

Rough Week!!--Please write him!!!!

Hey Mommy

So this week i experienced a ton of feelings, the ultimate highs, and the ultimate lows! This week was zone conference, and before zone conference i was on the verge of killing my comps.. ok not seriously, but i was absolutely fed up with everything. I had a list of concerns to discuss with president during our enterview. The funny thing was, he already knew about these concerns. I hope someday i can be as spiritually in tune as him. seriously, hours before our enterview, during the conference itself, he discussed all of the concerns i had, and everytime he answered the questions that i didnt even ask, he looked straight at me with that look that says, "i know what you are experiencing." it was a great conference. At one point, we, as a zone, we signed banners of our new culture, things we want to impliment as a team. (it is a set of bullet points on the last page of preach my gospel, titled "Remember this..") and while signing it we each individually spoke of the commitments we wanted to make. I spoke of mediocracy, and how i was done just being mediocre. And it is a huge challenge! I realized that this last transfer i have allowed myself to slip into the pit of mediocracy, and i want out! lol My personal interview with president was great, he basically told me to keep going, and he knew the struggles i am facing with comps. So for a couple of days following zone conference, things were awesome in the companionship, no one lost their temper and it all was going perfectly. Last night, boom, back to normal and once again contention and pride fill our companionship.

So as you can imagine, i am really frustrated right now, but i know i am here for a reason, and i refuse to just sit here and wish and day-dream about next transfer. One huge challenge lays ahead, but i am wiling to do my best and i refuse to be mediocre from this point on.

The thing that is killing me is the lack of progress with investigators. Although some people are progressing, it isnt coming as quickly as i would like. No baptismal dates, but hopefully we can set some this week. Basically i realized that maybe i am not suppost to be counting baptisms as success for this transfer, maybe my goals should lie in my
comps.

But that is honestly where i stand right now, nothing held back. Please pray extra hard for me this week, and i in return will be praying for you all!

Love you

Elder Kenck

Colombian Model???

Sounds like you had an exciting trip!

So Rexburg is booming! That is pretty cool! I definately dont want my time here in the mission to fly bye, but i am extremely excited to go to Rexburg. Some awesome missionaries will be headed Rexburg way or are already there, but i bet most of them will be married by the time i am there... ha. And that is super cool with the computers, i am really excited to have a sweet apple, so keep your eyes peeled ok?

So what i want for housing, i just want a nice apartment, centrally located, preferable with a cool ward. Yeah if you get advice from anyone i would get it from Tammy, i trust her. I dont really care though, no matter what that first semester will be an adventure, considering i only know a handfull of people that will be there... ha!

As for the whole wedding thing... dont worry. You know i highly doubt i will find that Colombian model that sings, plays the piano, is artistic, good at math, can cook, and has a personality that i can match with at BYUI, but the good news is that after these current companions, i am certain that i could get along with anyone in the world... lol.

So what else is new in the Wenatchee Valley? How is the family? Hey what ever happened to Tyson and Amy's kid? Was it born? I dont even know what "it" is. lol

Well i gotta go, thanks for all you do... know that i am truly grateful for it all.

Love you

Elder Kenck

PS Do me a favor and make sure we start building up a food storage as a family. It has been on my mind a lot recently, basically i am convinced that we may need it soon. lol, so go buy lots of rice! lol, that is my current, "anti-stomach-problems" diet... rice.

Hey mom

Sounds like you all had a wonderful trip! Good to hear!

First i will answer your questions....

1. Yes i got the package and everything is perfect, thanks! They were desperately needed.
2. Tough, but nothing is wrong with tough.
3. eh... working on it.
4. I will be transferred (99.999% positive) like the 3rd of september, someting like that.
5. I loved the package thank you so much, and i really loved the photos. I dont think there is ANYTHING wrong with photos. In fact i think it is good to always be a little homesick, because when i think about you guys, i personally work way harder. So keep em comiing! lol
6. Well that is why our investigator came, basically i was convinced that we wouldnt have any investigators at church, basically it wasnt my day to be in charge of the phone and so no one got a phone call reminding them, and if hispanics arent reminded, they dont come. But one investigator who wasnt even invited mysteriously came.

Basically i have reached a high frustration level, to be 100% honest. I want the work to prosper here, but the truth is that right now so many things are impiding the work. There are hardly any available jobs right now, and so the only jobs people have are with house cleaning, and it is impossible to get sundays off in house cleaning. Basically half our branch is inactive, all because of this one job fact, and almost every single investigator is working on sundays.

My companions... oh man i am trying. I refuse to complain, it is just hard. Basically my life right now is built upon trying to dispel contention, and in order to do that, i have to give way too much ground, which means we dont get many things done anymore. But they both are progressing, way slow, but something is better than nothing right?

So what else happened this week. Well, Giovani might be moving to Mobile Alabama. One of the stronger spanish members was talking to Elder Clements about how he was looking for a new roomate for a new apartment he got, and so Elder Clements called me and Giovani, so hopefully he can move there soon. It would be amazing for him to be in a members home! And i am pretty sure that i will be transfered to Mobile, and so that would be perfect to still be around Giovani.

On saturday, we went fishing with President Franco and his wife along with some investigators. We caught nothing, well i caught some rayos del sol, or in other words, i got FRIED! Worst sunburn of my mission by far, dont worry it WONT happen again. it was and still is bad.

So that whole kendra getting married thing was a little weird. I was looking through old pictures on Sunday and it kind of hit me that i would probably be in that place very soon. Dont worry though, i WILL NOT rush a marriage, that is way too big of a committment to make without LOTS OF PRAYER AND FASTING. So, it was still weird to think about. I dont think you have to worry for now though, because to be prefectly honest, right now girls scare me, like i am physically uncomfortable when i talk to a cute one! ha! GOod old missionary problems.

The good news is that this thursday we will be on our way to pensacola for zone conference. I have 2 billion and a half questions to ask president, basically i am sick of the lack of success and i dont know what to do anymore. Dont worry, one thing i have learned about a mission is that we learn the most in the crappy moments, so i guess i am learning a lot... right... please tell me its true... lol.

Well i love you mom, thanks for all you do for me! I hope you have a wonderful week and know that i love you

Mucho amor y cariño

Tu hijo,

el Rey

Elder Kenck