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
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
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
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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
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
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
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