It going to be 100 degrees in Foley today!!!!

Mi mami

que tal?

Para contestar estas preguntas... mas bien, commentarios.

1. I am glad you enjoyed the tape and i hope it was of good use to you.
2. SUpplies are doing fine... i will have to take my suit (the pants) in to a seamstress, a little rip in the pocket has been slowly opening up, and since theyre my good suit pants, i dont dare try and fix them myself. Besides that all is well.
3. Thanks for attaching it. Very sweet.
4. Work is doing a lot better than last week, and hopefully ill be able to say that next week too.
5. I am in contact with the Rodriguz family, and Javier (a member) from Ft. Walton beach. Simplicio and Silvia have officially disappeared off the face of the planet, their phone stopped working months ago and when i call other members in P-goula they say they must have gone back to mexico. I am going to call president and ask permission to try and call the number i have for them in mexico. If i can ill get to buy one of the cool phone cards... lol
6. thats cool you got that video... we call that trailer park "yellowteeth" because we met a lady there with yellow teeth....
7. Nothing really.
8. The hayes family is cool. Sister Hayes is very nice and helpful for us as well. Michael (her son) has spent lots of time with the missionaries here, because he has a tough time finding kids with standards here. He is going to BYUI and i am excited to actually be able to hang out with him. They are a cool family.


Ok i have my own questions... in order to not confuse you... and me, ill letter them...

A. Are the elders in the ward spanish or english elders?
B. are you planning on doing anything big for my birthday? PLease, dont feel extreme pressure of sending me a big box with lots of stuff and spending a lot of money. I know you well enough to know you will want to do something, but please dont feel the need to spend tons of money... i will need to buy LOTS of things when i get home, remember, i have no clothes... lol
C. Is there anything i can do to help you all out, like any ideas on how to save money while preparing to come home?

So this week was good. A lot of really good things happened. First off, we had a district meeting with President on friday. He basically was following-up on what we had been doing differently since our conference with Elder Bednar. President taught us more about how to properly ask questions and the importance of it, and it is something that really has helped me and elder frodsham out this past week. On friday night, we went on tradeoffs with Brother Villa (the group leader) and Antonio. Brother Villa and i went to teach Samuel and Marta, and it was a wonderful lesson. They really have begun to progress, and a lot of the success that happened in the lesson is due to what president taught earlier in the day at the district meeting. But antonio is the coolest member ever, seriously he is the most dedicated member i have met on my mission, and we are trying to get him teh Mel. Priesthood, and if anything ever happened that would cause Bro. Villa to move away, (which is kind of possible in the near future) hopefully Antonio will be the one to replace him. But, we kind of have to baptize antonio's wife first.

Finally, on sunday, we saw a miracle. IN all the time i have been here, we have not been able to get a new investigator to church. Finally, Samuel and Marta came with their 4 kids. It was great! Unfortunately we met with the english group, i think they did enjoy church. It was interesting to me how Lucifer immediately attack after something good happened, in order to ruin my sunday again... but i have decided to stop being frustrated, at least on sunday, and allow it to still be a sacred day.

This week we have quite a few lessons planned, and we will be doing a lot of knocking. I expect a better week than last week, and i will do my best to allow that to happen.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Is there anything i can do to help you all out?

thanks for everything

love you

Elder Kenck

Hey I did it fast (no- school that is why)

Hey dad

Sounds like you should have an interesting year coming up in school. Too bad you wont be doing computers, but i guess you wont be a slave to all the other teachers who cant figure out that their printer has to be plugged in to work. lol

WEll this week was definately an interesting one. I LOVED the mission conference and the "revelatory session" we all had with Elder Bednar. He was amazing. His remarks and his attitude were real, better than anything i could have imagined. I am learning the importance of "real" life expereinces. I have spent the majority of my life in my own created daydream land. I am now realizing the importance of living life to its fullest, which means having real conversations with real people, and expereincing the realities of the world that surrounds us.

Elder Bednar focused a majority of his remarks on going after the one soul that is lost. He stated that Apostles are not sent to minister unto the whole, but instead are sent to minister to the needs of one. he shared an experience of how recently after he had been called he was sent to a stake and had a specific impression on how he was sent to help one man who had a drinking problem. I am learning the importance of helping the one lost sheep, of seeking, and doing everything i can to bring it back. I hope you can and are learning the same lessons with your new calling. search out that one lost sheep. That is what it is all about in the end. I know i am quoting someone when i say this, im just not sure who, but in the day of judgement, we wont be asked what callings we had, but instead we will be asked if we lifted the weary, strengthened the weak, fed the hungry and helped the needy.

I too look forward to coming home. It scares me to death, but i am confident the lessons i have learned here will positively impact me forever.

love you and thanks for all you do

ELder Kenck

PS, was it the Lake family that we saw when i was going through the temple for the first time? Arent they the ones that introduced us to the gospel? I cant remember.


Hi Mommy,
Para contestarte esas preguntas que me hiciste...
(funnny subject line... to bad i am in Alabama.. but only like .5 hour outside the Florida border... )
1. It was a hibachi experience... and they gave us sushi... it was a hibachi resturaunt owned by Mexicans, and they were impressed by our spanish and gave us some sushi... which was deep-fried and therefore the only reason why i liked it... lol
2. This week was a little tougher. We didnt have any investigators in church, although a few told us they would be there. And we didnt find too many new investigators.
3. Dont worry about it, i really liked the letter and the picture from liv, it broke a super long (well for me) mail drought.
4. WE have a sonic down the street, we dont eat out too much, but i would go there in a heart beat with a gift certificate... there are sonics everywhere in the south... EVERYWHERE.
5. I am ready, i have permission, i believe it is next monday, and i am pretty confident i know what classes i will be taking, and when i will be taking them.
6. Good.

Yeah it is a super small world sometimes.. and even more so in the church. And you'll be having a MM conference? Crazy. That should be fun, and i think the rest of us will have a blast!

Well this week was amazing! I probably will only talk about the Bednar expereince...

So we as a mission prepared for the conference by studying "seek learning by faith" (which has always been one of my favorite talks) and "ask in faith". We also had a mission wide fast. So we showed up to the conferencein pensacola (which started at 9) at 8, and on the way we thought we would be the first ones there... NOT we were basically the last ones there... WE go in, the whole mission was there, and the spanish zone stayed completely segregated because we dont know any of the other missionaries... lol, but when he showed up it was amazing. He made a point of explaining to us that he was human, and we were there to listen and learn from the spirit, NOT him. It was a real experience, something much better than anything that i had imagined. Basically the whole thing wasw focused on how us as missionaries have to help others take steps of faith and do faithful actions, because that is how they will progress. He was so fun, and so awesome, yet at the time he had a countenance that showed he really is an apostle. I really cant put into words how it was, but i think i will share one thing that impressed me greatly.

Elder R is a missionary that came out on the plane with me, and to describe him, well he is from the-middle-of-nowhere Idaho, and he is a little weird. But when he came out he had a very bright and cheery countenance. This last transfer i saw him and was shocked, because that cheery and bright countenance has been replaced by a sad countenance. I guess he has had a tough mission filled with tough companions, and that bothers me, because even though he isa little weird, he doesnt deserve to be treated badly. Well at the conference, i saw him again, with the same countenance, and during the "revelatory session" (coined such by Bednar) he commented on something he learned from the talk "Seek learning by faith". Elder Bednar spent the next 30-40 seconds of his time praising Elder R for his comment and telling him how wise that was for a 20 year old and such. To be perfectly honest, the comment was good, but not good enough to merit the praise it was given. I am confident that in the moment, Elder Bednar was impressed to compliment him, to make him feel worth something. That was so iimpressive to me. THat is the role of an apostle, to do what Jesus would, and Jesus would seek those who were burdened, just like this wonderful elder.

By the end of the conference i was so impressed. I know he is an apostle, and i know that these apostles have an angelic assignment here on earth. I know we too must search out the lost, and burdened, and we must help them on their way home.

I love you mommy, thanks for all you do for me

have a wonderful week

ELder Kenck

just 2 month left!!!!!

Hey Dad

it sounds like you have been fairly busy! I cannot wait until sundays are a day of rest once again for me, but i am glad you get a chance to serve others. YOu will have wonderful opportunities to be part of receiving revelation, so pay close attention! But really, on my mission i have learned so much from the few leadership callings i have had. For example, when i was a brand new district leader, i was so worried and nervous and was therefore forced to rely on Revelation. Every time i asked what needed to be said in district training, the answer always came very clearly... even though it didnt always come exactly when i wanted it too.

So this week was our hispanic week. It went well, i have never spoken as much spanish! I was so tired though, by the time we finished. I imagine that we will do it again soon.

This week was very successful. We found lots of new people to teach. We taught a ton of 1st lessons, and we taught many people the importance of the Book of Mormon. I hope to help a lot of people recieve answers to their prayers this week, so lets see how that all goes.

The spanish group is struggling. Everyone seems to be facing lots of trials right now, and i know it will be a fight to get everyone back on track.

OH YEAH! On June 12th our branch is having a Luau activity. Perkin, a member (From Samoa) is in charge, and he has all of us missionaries doing a few dances, and sharing a spiritual message afterwards. It should be a pretty big deal. Im excited.

WEll i gotta go answer other emails. But i hope all is well. Keep on going, and please remember to read the BoM and remind everyone i love them lots.

love yo

Elder Kenck

Hey mommy,

Other questions/Comments... yeah Clements and Frodsham went to the same High School.

This week was great. We found a ton of new investigators, and lots seems to have a great deal of potential. Right now we are teaching Samuel, who is a guy from Honduras. He seems to have a great deal of potential. I believe he will come to church this week, which would be a miracle. WE havent had a new investigator at church here since i arrived, and so i think the members deserve to see that we are doing something. Also we are teaching Javier, who is a 20 year old from Vera Cruz mexico. HE has a ton of potential... he promised us he would read the BoM, and he had a ton of good questions about Joseph Smith.

Also, i found out that maybe Leticia problem with the husband will be getting fixed, which would mean she would be able to get baptized. Nothing is for sure yet, so PLEASE keep praying.

This week is the week! Friday we have a conference call that will start our fast, preparing us for the training with David A. Bednar on Saturday. I am so excited. I know things will be taught that will change my life.

Over my mission, day by day i have realized, more and more that there is no such thing as coincidence. I am not coincidently in Foley for no reason, i am not with my companions just because. It isnt coincidence that Elder Bednar's teaching have been a big part of my life and mission. Obviously someone is in control, and i think i might know who it is. lol.

Good things are happening in Foley. Lots more things still have to happen, but i am confident we are in the right direction. We have established a wonderful pattern here in Foley, and therefore i am convinced that miracles are around the corner.

thanks for all you do. I hope you have a wonderful week

love you

Elder KEnck

mommy's birthday

Happy birthday and hapy day!

Well life in Foley is good. It was a tough week, but still good. Everything here in Foley is just up in the air. THe group is really at a crucial point of its existance, and we have to make it stronger now so it can last. WE found a lot of new investigators this week. And i think we should find just as many this week. We have A LOT of doors to knock.

The apartment is clean! I cant tell you how good that feels. Really and truly beign organized makes a huge difference in the spirit of the room. I am going to try and be a little better organized, I have a lot of stuff right now, but i think i can get organized well. i would like to develop a few more talents like that before i finish.

We have been focusing a lot of effort on Dulce, the wife of member Antonio Tomas. She is amazing! They are literally a perfect couple. I am convinced that she knows the church is true, but i think she is just scared to make the changes shell have to make (in beliefs).

Suprisingly, we have met a lot of hondurans here in Foley. Foley is famous for being all mexicans, but i love meeting all the variety i can, and i get along well with hondurans... they always seem to be impressed on my knowledge of their country.. (9 months in FWB surrounded by them seems to be paying off!).

Just keep forrest going. Please do what you have to do. And i am excited to meet this trigger and be able to see the tiger and trigger battles.

one funny story. For companionship study one day, we accidently had a nerf gun battle. It was very epic, considering we only have one nerf gun. Frodsham just couldnt hit me, so yeah. Dont worry, we repented afterwards.

WEll everything is good here. Wee have a lot of work to do, but i am confident it will get done.

Have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful week. Thanks for all you have done for me.

love

Elder Kenck

May 18, 2009-Ha ha all caught up Tyson!!-79 days to go!

i guess maybe i could teach you a little spanish when i get home... yeah. Good job with Buenos Dias

1. Great week, defiantely with some trials, but good.
2. Yes
3. Supplies are good. I should be fine...
4. The balloon made it, thanks so much! I thought it was the funniest thing ever. The other missionaries here dont quite get it.
5. No needs at the moment.
6. No i havent gotten it yet, but i will send it in.

I am very proud of dad. It will be a great experience for him, but i am confident it will be full of trials... but very much worth it. President Monson right now is focusing all of his leadership training moments on helping members who have fallen away. Of rescuing the 1 and leaving the 99. It seems like that is Dennis' focus as well, and i am confident dad will have many great experiences working with less active members. God's work and Glory is our immortality and eternal life (Moses 1:39) and as we become more like Him, that will become more and more of our work, and our glory, and this will provide dad with an opportunity of developing that.

So this week was good. Up until wednesday it was pretty frustrating... Elder Frodsham is great. I think he was a little suprised by the situation in Foley, but he has already had a big impact on it. He is very shy, so i have found myself teaching a lot more than i would like to teach, but i will do my best to put him in situations that force him to speak. We started knocking all the trailer parks, and we found some investigators with potential, we didnt quite reach as much as we would have liked; not a lot of people were home when we were knocking, but i am confident that was just part of the trials.

I am super worried about the spanish group. It really would just take one decent blow from the advesary right now to cause it to dissolve. THe members are strong, but many of them barely have work or have different struggles facing them. We have some miracles to get though. We will be the most obedient missionaries we can and we'll work our hardest, so i am confident God will bless us and the members here.

All of the missionaries are in very intesresting spots this transfer (well the spanish ones). I too was VERY shcked by the move to put Jambon with Rigby. Ribgy will learn a lot if he survives... lol. Jambon positivley has changed a lot of missionaries, so it should be good. Elder Aldous is now in Tallahassee with Elders Clements, Allison and Flores (who just got switched to the spanish zone).

I am super excited to be here. WE have some make habits to destroy and some excellent habits to form, so it should be good.

Love you, and i hope you have a wonderful week. PLease read the BoM... :)

love you

Elder KEnck

May 11, 2009-Day after Mothers day phone call

Hey mom

Before i forget...

The mission office sent me a bike this last week. It is one of the spares they have, and obviously it isnt the best quality ever, but its better than nothing and it will work out fine.

I really enjoyed our talks yesterday. I was very very impressed and thankful for the growth that is evident in all of you. Dont tell anyone, but i guess i am kind of excted to go home... because to be honest before talking to you all i wasnt excited at all, in fact i dreaded the idea. But it sounds like i will still be doing lots of missionary work outside of the mission, so that should be good. Until then, i still have 3 months to tear things up out here.

So Elder Frodshom is my new comp officially. I am way excited. WE have a couple of hard working weeks ahead of us, but it will be so good. I think this week we will spend cleaning up the apartment, and then visiting members and establishing a pattern for the missionary work here.

This week we found 4 new investigators. It isnt the biggest amount, but the thing is that i feel they are a better quality than normal. I think that they really do have potential to progress. I think that Frodshom and i will probably drop a majority of our current investigators, only because i dont think they have potential at this point in their lives. But we will do it prayerfully.

I am way excited though.

WEll, kind of a short email, but i did talk to you all less than 24 hours ago. I hope you all have a wonderful week. DOnt forget to read the BoM. And love everyone a little extra for me please.

Love you and thanks for all you do.

Elder Kenck

May 4, 2009-bikes are stolen

Hey mom


Well my week, was super hard. Nothing happened. The work didnt progress at all, in fact it might have regressed a little. We still have 0 progressing investigators, and we are teaching pretty much nobody. But, i am very hopeful for the future here in Foley. I have faith that things will happen next transfer.


So on tuesday we went to Mobile. It was GREAT to be with Elders Smith and especially Clements. Elder Clements is an incredible missionary, probably the best in the spanish zone, and it was a blast to teach with him and be with him. I really enjoyed my visit with the Rodriguez family. They are struggling, but i think they will be ok. Leticia has seen many trials as of late, but i think she recognizes that the gospel has helped her in those trials. Ivonne and Georgia are doing ok. I was very very upset with how the missionaries up there have been obviously abusing them. THankfully, the problem should be getting transferred next week, but damage has definately been done. Missionaries cannot go by members homes without leaving a commitment. ESPECIALLY new converts. It doesnt make sense. If a new convert isnt given commitments, chances are, he or she is not continuing to progress. I was very upset, but i am confident things will get better soon... if not i might explode. SEriOUSly.

Probably the hardest part of the week was friday. Nothing happened. We didnt do anything during the day, and as we got home we realized that our bikes had been stolen. That really upset me, simply because i have been very very careful with my bike my whole mission, and it was even locked up and someone still managed to break the lock and run off with my bike. Dont worry about sending me another one, ill find something here. But i was furious at this point, and so we went to the gym here where Mike Hayes goes to workout and i beat the crud out of a punching bag (and split open a number of fingers and knuckles). Sure that in itself wasnt the most effective thing to do on a friday night, but it i hadnt have done it, i might have done it to someones face. lol. Oh and i told an investigator he had no faith! lol That was a great day. lol... i dont suggest doing it. Basically the investigator has been taught on and off for about two years. And to be perfectly honest, he doesnt get it. He wants to be a preacher some day, and he was telling us this and that about the bible and blah blah blah wasting our time. I tried very nicely and powerfully to commit him to read the BoM... and honestly i felt the spirit very strongly. Afterwards he said (basically) that he didnt believe in the BoM or parts of the bible. Basically i told him that if he had faith, he would read and pray to know. It was hilarious what happened next... he was like "Are you saying i dont have faith?" And i was like, you tell me. PLease DONT think i am a overbold missionary, because the truth is i am not bold enough. This specific investigator hasnt been progressing, and i realized he wont progress until he realizes how ridiculous his opinion on religion/life is. I think he will probably be a member someday... but i dont think it is today.

BUt. Although this was a tough week, please do not think i am very discouraged and ready to quit. I am hopeful for the future. And this week did have it's good moments. We taught a great lesson with Antonio and Dulce (Part member family) and we contacted a referal that Antonio gave us, who seems to have lots of potential. Also, last night president asked us to watch a CES broadcast by David A. Bednar. IT WAS AMAZING. He taught the doctrine of truth, and reality against satan's counterfeits. I loved it and was truly touched.

Mom, please dont worry about me. I am doing ok. In fact personally, i am doing great. I am confident that this week will be as hard is not harder, but i also expect many new and exciting changes to come with transfers. I am confident that satan is trying me, and that always means that good things are coming.

I love you, i will talk to you all on sunday and i am really excited!

ELder Kenck

April 27, 2009

Hey mom

Transfer news... REALLY exciting... Elder Smith or Elder Frodshom will probably come here. BUT... TRansfers is still 4 weeks away...

Well it is a very exciting time to be in wenatchee! Parade week, TWO NEW WARDS! Wow that is certainly exciting. I am sorry to hear about dad's cruddy condition. i hope yall can figure out what is up with him. I will keep him in my prayers. Say hi to Sis. Toone for me. Enjoy your celebration... i dont want to know the milestone if its ok... lol. And i also got to watch AFV for a few minutes at the group leaders home. It was fun.

WEll as for Foley... its tough. I cant help but feel a little guilty for the lack of progress. It is a tougher group of people to teach, mostly younger guys and families that were born and raised Catholic... aka... they went to church twice a year, and spend the rest of their sundays drunk. So i think a lot of missionaries lose hope and faith here, and when faith is gone, well we no longer can be tools in HIs hands. I still have hope, and i have some faith in Foley. I want a fresh start asap.

I love the members. They arent perfect... in fact at all. But they have testimonies, and i see SO MUCH potential with them. I feel especially close to Antonio. He was baptized at age 13 but was inactive until about a year ago when Elder ALlison found him. He is now probably our most consistant member, and i have no doubt he will be a leader in the church someday. Unfortunately, his wife, Dulce, isnt a member. By all rights she is; she comes every sunday, participates, and everything, she just doesnt get the importance of it all.

I had wonderful studies this week. My studies focused on virtue, change, and Diligence in temptation. I also noticed an interesting pattern. When one truly applies the gospel, he/she has a strong desire to learn more... of everything. I am excited to go to college. I still havent established all the patterns i want to have established, but the ones i have established mean so much to me, and i know they will truly have a huge effect on my future.

Tomorrow (at 4 am!) we are going to mobile for a tradeoff. It will be good. I need a vent/advice session with Elder Clements... who in 2 weeks will be the new ZL... so proud... and i think that my circumstances may be changing soon. And i am way excited to see Leticia, Ivonne, and Georgia.

Thanks for all you do. I am trying to do my best. I have all the strong desire to do my best, now i just have to put the pencil to the paper and go. I hope to tell you about success next week!

Love you and thanks for letting me be here

Elder KEnck

April 20, 2009

hi mommy,

I am glad you had a fabulous stake conference. Church here was not so great. The villa family came, so basically 5 hispanics came to church. I had to give a talk, but i guess that it was all more like a member lesson then a talk. Foley needs some serious change, and i am really trying, but there is only so much a can do.

We currently have zero progressing investigators. We have like 40-50 people that we visit, and so we are visiting lots of people, and if teaching is involved we almost dont have a chance to do it the right way because we have a hard time meeting with them again and following up with things. I have learned that following up on commitments is just as important as the commitment itself. If we dont follow up, we arent exercising our faith that they are actually doing what we asked them to do, and if we dont exercise our faith, they wont exercise theirs. Patterns have to change. Foley needs to come out of this rut it has fallen into. I hope it can happen this transfer.

Let me tellyou some of my goals. I want to read D&C before i get home, but i dont want to spend my time in Personal study on that, so i am reading when i wake up (it helps my mind to come into perspective) and at lunch/dinner. Also i want to read through PMG one more time as well. In spanish this time. I probably will finish the BoM 1.5 times before i get home. And i dont want to gain weight.

So those are some of my goals. Check up on them for me.

I love you mom, hope all is well and everyone is feeling good. Have a wonderful week. Please pray a little harder for me, i need a little extra strength to try and get something going here.

Love

Elder Kenck

oooops-- missed last week

What a week it has been! Between general conference, and zone conference and a super trade off in foley, i feel like my brain is about to explode! Saturday and Sunday, conference, monday, zone conference, after zone conference Elders Allison, Stone, Tebbs and Zabriskie come to Foley for a tradeoff (because they get rides to zone confernce on the mission office van, and they had to wait an extra day with us.) It was great to have them here, but i was thankful when they finally left. I loved being with Elder Allison, who is the second best missionary ever (2nd only to my son, Elder Clements... who really is the best and the most likely one to fill the upcoming zone leader vacany... and maybe even the ap vacany... just kidding, spanish elders dont do the whole ap thing... but if they did Clements would be ap... sin duda)

I realized a lesson, one that i have learned mulitple times on my mission, but one that i seem to forget... of how I should not wait for my cirumstances to be changed, instead i must get a\up and change my circumstances. I have a lot of things i want to do in Foley, but it is hard to impliment new things with a companion that has been in one area for a while... my old mind set was, just wait for a transfer... but i was very much chastisied from the spirit by thinkign that way, and now i realize i probably should get up and do some changing.

We have one investigator that is really progressing. His name is MIguel, from Tabasco Mexico. He is VERY intelligent... in fact he even uses old spanish forms of conjugating verbs (liek Hubiese and Fuese... like you would understand that... lol) and he is truly looking for the truth. Today we are going to try and teach him the truth of the law of sacrafice and recompense... how God blesses us according to our faith, and our righteous actions. Hopefully by teaching this lesson he will realize that he needs to take some steps of faith aka come to church, read daily, in order to recieve blessings. If this lesson goes well he should be prepared for a baptismal commitment very soon.

Well i am doing great. I am tryign my best to apply myself as best as possible. I realize the pattern i establish here may be the pattern i have for the rest of my life, therefore if i want to be successful tomorrow, i have to figure out how to be successful today.

I love you, thanks for helping me be here. I hope you can understand this email, because i am exhuasted. Love you lots

elder KEnck

He loves thunder!!

I am glad you have seen success with your headaches! I would love to find a cure for "after-too-much-salsa" syndrome. I still sweat horribly when i eat really spicy food, but i can take it real well now-a-days. In fact i usually pack on the salsa, especially salsa verde!

I am officially sick of thunderstorms. And the best part is they have only just begun. At least none woke me up at 3 am like last week. lol But the weather has been beautiful, i have found myself very jealous of all those that can go to the beach...

This week was good. Slow, but good. We are really struggling with our investigator pool. No one is progressing... well, 1 person is progressing, and i cannot overlook him, because he really does have a lot of potential (Miguel). But besides him we dont have much going. President (in Zone conference) talked a lot about how when we approach an obstacle, the natural thing to do is look from side to side, for some sort of distraction or easy fix. When in reality, the problem may be an easy fix that just requires a special effort directly on the trial. I find that we may be too easily distracted, searching for the all to easy quick fix, when the answer may be right in front of us. I will be doing my best though to figure out how to get some stuff going, and i think (that by talking it out in the email just now) that the easy answer may be using the members more. I LOVE REVELATION. SEriously, out of all the things i have learned on my mission, the patterns of revelation are probably some of the greatest 'secrets' i have learned.

I love you dad. Thanks for helping me get out here. Have a wonderful week, please love everyone a little extra for me.

Love you

Elder Kenck

Foley work going slow!!

Hey dad

What a week. This was a very challenging week. We had a wonderful lesson with a new investigator who has lots of potential. WE will be teaching him on wednesday, and i hope to get in contact with him tonight or tomorrow. We are really struggling with our current pool of investigators. I have a lack of hope in many of them, and many will potentially be dropped this week... if my say goes.. lol. WE'll see what happens though, and no one is getting transfered for another 6 weeks.

The members are doing great. We spend a lot of time with the Avalos family. Jose Avalos is basically a Miami raised mexican. To give you an idea of him, imagine someone mid to upper 30s 5' 6'' maybe 230 lbs, huge crazy scar on his head, dressed like a gangster... yeah thats our first counsiler. lol. I first met him a year and 1/2 ago, and back then he was way involved in bad things, (drugs, etc). Today he is a completely different person. It is a great testimony builder for me of the power of the atonement. YEah, today he still kind of dresses like a gangster (no more bling-bling chains, thankfully) and he still talks like a gangster, but he truly has experienced an extreme change of heart. His wife is amazing, (Lily) and is one of the best cooks i have ever met. They have two kids (Jasimine, 15, and Joe, 11). We visit them often. I think a huge key in making the needed changes in the spanish group is utilizing the members. If we can teach them to help us, then we will be that much better off.

I am doing ok though. I am just tired. By the end of this last week, i was so dead, i just feel like my energy is gone, and therefore my desires to push others in the right direction is gone as well. But i have to stay positive, because i have learned that attitude is really everything. If i can stay positive, and if i can stay happy now, then i can always be happy. That is something i must learn now.

If you have any advice, i would love to know it. Write me a letter or something anything. specifically how to make others do soemthing? I need all the advice i can get.

Well have a wonderful week, know i love you and i am trying.

Elder Kenck

Foley, AL-- work slow

Mami

Let me tell you i love it when you use a translator, some times it turns out ok, and other times it is horrible! lol

To answer those questions...

1. Good.
2. Tough, but good.
3. Foley is decent... hmmmm... i guess Foley would be comparable to Cashmere.
4. AMAZING!
5. I will need to buy a pump for my bike... i think someone stole my pump off my bike, but i will buy that here, just so you know...
6. I havent heard from anyone. Rumors in the spanish zone tell how once a missionary goes to Foley, they never get mail again... ok, i need to stop being so lazy and send a few letters out. lol
7. IM glad... i probably owe you a letter now... huh?
8. Thank you!

WEll this week was tough. Basically to sum up our current situation, we have ONE progressing investigator. And the worst part is she will soon stop progressing, because her husband wont allow her to come to church, and it is impossible to truly progress until one comes to church. So really i have no idea what we can do with the current investigators, but many are in danger of being dropped, most have been taught for a long time, and they just havent been progressing.

The members are doing good. Not perfect, but good. Most are struggling to find work, and those that have work have little work at that. Church started a whole 25 minutes late (spanish standard time...) but the meetings themselves were very spiritual. I see tons of potential here. The members really are being changed by the gospel. But we have a long way to go. I hope to end my mission here.

So this week my comp and i woke up and ran 4 days of the week. And we both have gained weight so far... ha. I am trying to cut back excesively on portion sizes... that seems to be my weakness. I dont eat horrible food, i just eat too much of the good stuff (bread, meat, etc). It also doesnt help that we had a couple of days were the members fed us more than once (saturday we got 3 meals!) And so yeah.

Also this last week i was really struggling with spanish for some reason, so we spent a couple of days speaking a lot of spanish, and immediately i have noticed a difference. I might try and get the group members involved in helping me improve my spanish, i think giving them a call and chatting for a few minutes would not only help my spanish, but it would probably build a solid relationship as well.

But we have a lot of work to do. I am excited to be here. TO be honest i have no idea what to do with our investigator pool, heck half the time i just want to dump em and start from scratch, but then other times i see lots of potential in some of them. Who knows what will happen. I would really like to see a baptism though, the group hasnt had a baptism for more than a year.

Well i love you, hope all is well, and let me know if there is anything i can do for you.

Love

Elder Kenck

I remembered to post!!!

Whats up

well it sounds like you all had a good week. Quick comments on your email... i am a little jealous of Sterling... i wish i had a native comp, and i am still set on studying outside the country someday... just so you know.

So this week was good. It wasnt perfect though. At all. But this week should be good, because frankly i am a little more committed to giving it my all, and i am sure the results will be visible, because they almost always are. Hopefully i am going to revamp my diet, and do a little better with it. I have plateau-ed at around 186, which means i have overall lost weight on my mission... but the truth is i think just the muscle went away and was replaced by fat. My spanish has also Plateau-ed, and so i am trying to discover new ways of improving... but i think it all comes down to speaking spanish is the companionship. ELder Aldous' spanish is just as good as mine. He learned very quickly, and he has a wide vocab. My problem is that i know lots of words, and i know the grammar really well, but i am not a fast thinker, and so my everyday speech is void of my true vocabulary... so i dont know how to improve that, other than just speak more. I am very good at writing and reading in spanish.

Hey, this is super random, but i was reading in the new Ensign (or Liahona in my case) about food storage. I really feel strongly that we need to update and work on the food storage. I know it isnt fun, and it costs money, but i really ahve been feeling strongly about it.

I am doing well. I love it here and i am really trying to improve and do my best. Please pray for me, specifically that i can improve and progress, in spanish and teaching skills.

Love you lots hope all is well

Elder Kenck

March 2nd email

mi querida mama



Well, this week was good. Here in Foley i see tons of potential. The ward members we have are very strong... but unfortunately few. In the upcoming weeks we will focus a lot of our efforts on A) uniting them and B) getting them to help us with missionary work. It is kind of funny, in the spanish group we have 4 main families... the Gonzales family (from mexico... Bro. Gonzales is the 1st counsoler in the branch) the Villa family (from Colombia) the Avalos family (Mexico) and Antonio and Dulce (from mexico)... and my first weekend here they took a trip to the temple together. IT was a uniting and powerful experience for some, while at the same time a dividing problem for others. Sister Villa, who is a great lady, but defiantely has a screaming south american attitude.. actually if it wasnt for her accent i would guess she was argentine! lol but anyways, she got upset with something and is convinced that the group needs to A) Repent B) stop having fun during the lessons (her sunday school class) and c) that only she or us missionaries are allowed to teach the lessons... ha. But anyways, the gospel, when applied... has a beautiful uniting power... so i guess we get to help them apply it.

As for everything else... well tomorrow i will finish the BoM for the first time ever in spanish. It has been a great experience. I am convinced that although the BoM was written for us gentiles, it was mainly written for the spanish speaking people. The grammar in spanish works so much better than in english. For example, in english we dont say "I would that you would... " but in spanish, that is perfectly acceptable. Just a lot of little things stuck out to me. I studied it looking specifically for the promises that the Lord has for us. It has been great.

I am very excited for this upcoming week. We have zone conference on wednesday, and i am really excited to see president, talk to him , and get his advice on my progression. I want nothing more than to be the means of bringing many miracles to the people here in FOley. Not qquite sure how to do it though. I like Elder Aldous a lot, and we get along well... actually too well sometimes? lol No but it is weird... he definately reminds me of gavin.

I am super thankful to be out here on my mission and for the things that i have learned from it. I am thankful that you have been changing and progressing as well. Keep it up. I promise to keep it up as well.

I love you and hope you are happy and well. Have a wonderful week.

Love you

Elder Kenck

Foley AL-- Feb 20 email

Para contestarte las preguntas que me hiciste...

1. OK that works... just so she knows one is comign...
2. Great
3. He is cool. He reminds me a lot of Gavin. The whole uncle thing... ha. Missionary relations... Aldous' trainer was Anderson, who was trained by lauritzen, making anderson my brother and Aldous my nephew.
4. Good i am glad.
5. Yeah sounds good.
6. OK i will do that for sure.

SO your going to Forks! HA Ivonne's dream vacation! lol that is hilarious! I hope you have a wgood time.

So here in FOley... Well all is well. A lot of work to do, but i am very excited to be here. There are so many hispanics... seriously theyre everywhere. I really love the members here, the interesting thing is that i have met almost all the members here at different tiems of my mission... and i honestly dont think it is coincidentle. Hopefulyl we will be doing a lot of work through the members.

WEll i am excited for Gavin and Monica! What a surpise, just the other day i was wondering when she would be born.

It is funny the difference of work here. There arent as many families here in FOley, actually the majority of the hispanics here are single guys living together... which usually means bad stuff goes down... but thankfully families can still be found and mainly that is what we teach. The apartment here is a tad on the dirty side, so i guess finally i will be forced to learn to love cleaning... lol... i have heard many horror stories of missionaries white-washing an area and finding horrible apartment situations... thankfully this one wasnt too bad, but still.

But yeah, i am excited to be here.. i have lots of work ahead... but yeah.

Thanks for all you do, i hope you are all well, let me know if there is anything i can do for yall. Love you

Elder Kenck

Under 200 days left- Mom and Dad's letter

Well life here is good. THis week was good, lots of stuff happened... first and foremost we are teaching a lot of people... actually almost too many people. We have so many investigators that it is hard to focus on some of them.

Also we set a baptismal date with Manuel, Nora's son. He is nine and a really good kid, He reallly wants to do the right, and he will be a great influence on his family and friends. Besides that we are still tryign to work with Cecilia, an investigator that Elder Martins and I contacted forever ago, and she is great. Hopefully we can get her to come to church next week. The thing is, right now we are teaching so many people that are on the verge of great things. Most have just a few things that are keeping them from baptism. but those few things seem like giant roadblocks to us at this moment.

All is well though, i got a lot of things left to do here before i go. I love it here, but i wouldnt have a problem being transfered soon.

I love the constant frustrations of missionary work. Between the millions of personality quarks, the investigators that wont do anything, and the members that are constantly becoming less-active is not constantly visisted, one may be perfectly justified in asking why 19-21 year olds are asked to do this work. I have had so many of the same similar problems in my mission, that i am convinced that God is trying to teach me very specific things here. Hopefully i can learn them. lol

Hey, get that workout room going! I'll do my best and get the workouts/diet done if you all do it. Keep me updated on your progress.

Well life is good. I am doing my best to "seguir adelante" which means basically move forward, or progress. I realized this week how short 7 months is... and i was not happy. OH well though, right? lol

If there is anything i can do for yall, please let me know.

Love you

ELder Kenck

Super Week!!

Hey mommy

WHAT a week we have had. I saw MANY miracles and it all was just so perfect. It did come with its many challenges, as does every week, but i really did enjoy it and we saw many miracles.

So now i get to tell you a little about my week! Well, we accomplished MANY things this week, and it was really good. WE found tons of new investigators, and it was good. But the majority of the tender mercies took place on saturday. So Nora's baptism was planned on saturday at 11... and tons of obstacles jumped up in our path (namely, church fire-alarm went off, NOra was 15 minutes late, font leaked, etc.) But after all was said and done it was one of the best baptismal services i have ever been at. First off, about 15 minutes before 11 i see the Pascagoula ELders walk in, closely followed by simplicio and silvia! So that was amazing! It was so good to be able to talk with them and just be around them again, it reminded me of how amazing they are and of the miracles that happened at the beginning of my mission. ALso i had the chance to perform the confirmation of Nora, and that was great. She is incredible, and she understood so well the importance of baptism. It was great.
Also, we started really teaching Walter again. He is a former investigator of mine and elder martins, he had a lot of trials blocking him from progressing before. He has loads of potential, and he even came to the satelitte broadcast of stake conference yesterday. Overall it was a wonderful week.
I am doing good, trying to keep going forward and progressing. Lots of great stuff is happening here in theodore, we now have a spanish group leader (Bro Selinas) and things are slowly coming togehter for the spanish group.
Thanks for all you do! Keep reading, i am so very proud of you!

Love you and thanks for letting me be out here

Elder Kenck

Bull riding video--

This is from when Taylor was out for only 3 weeks...

Mom's email!!!

Hola mi mami marvillosa!

So this week was good. We had zone leader counsel on wednesday, and
president wanted all the district leaders there as well, hence the
reason why i went. It was good, and the very next day was zone
conference. Zone conference was great, we talked a lot about how we
need to be speaking more spanish in our companionships, and that is one
thing i definately have improved on since then. After zone conference i
was really fired up and ready to go at the work. It is funny how satan
always throws down trials right after moments of inlightenment, because
the latter part of the week was filled with tough moments. We couldnt
find anyone to teach, and the people we had already found either were
ignoring us or not home when we came bye. That stunk. But sunday was
amazing. For a while, it looked like Nora woudlnt be coming to
church... but finally a half an hour after it started, she showed up.
It ends up her and her husband got in a huge argument in the morning and
she had a million and two other trials jump out at here... but
suprisingly she is doing well. We are all set for the baptism, this
saturday, and we actually already have taught her everything she needs
and she is prefectly raedy.

I also called up simplicio and silvia. It was the first time in a
while, and it was good to chat with them and catch up. She is going
home to mexico soon, so hopefully i can go on a tradeoff to pgoula
before she goes. Also i called Lauritzen, (on a quest for simplicio and
silvia) and he is getting married this saturday! WHAT!

I am excited to be here and be able to improve litle by little. I love
this gospel and i love missionary work. If i had it my way i would be
doing this forever.

have a wonderful week, know i love you and pray for you often.

Love

ELder Kenck