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