Hello one and all and thank you for the brilliant e-mail!
Everyone seems to be having a wonderful time back home as the St. George McKenna’s return from Baja California were they enjoyed many days of Oceanic fun and a well needed Disneyland ‘sandwich’ (meaning they went to Disneyland in the beginning and then in the end); now they are preparing for the big night when Ellyse has preference dance which involves 18 kids in the back garden and a disappearance act by Jeff, Jackson, and Carrson. Mom has lost her first place title but is still beating dad (and I assume Max :) as well). The “£$£”%£ family had a great Birthday celebration with Aidan getting some baseball stuff and then loads of awesome presents :). Some of the clan is making their way to the cabin to watch general conference and have some cabin fun! Jack seems to continue to receive a good amount of love even with the new arrival and Charlie continues to do what he does best; poop and look cute :). In response to some questions that were asked… No, I don’t really have enough time to get to the temple and so I don’t get to go very often at all :(… I named the car Pixious because it means ‘To put into flight’ and it is also the name a certain someone gives to a certain something in a certain movie, I will leave you to find out which :)… yes, as missionaries we do get together for conference but we wont watch it with the mission president, we will just go to the local Stake Centre and stay there all day Sunday because in England they have the Saturday afternoon session, Priesthood, Sunday Morning session and Sunday afternoon session all on Sunday! So it is a full day experience.
England has gotten very, very, very, very, very cold again with bitter artic winds and snowfall, this last week has been a toughie. Especially since almost all of our appointments fell through and Elder Diatel and I were finding the majority of the week. But despite the long days, the Lord truly poured his Spirit upon us! I would like to share with you all a big highlight of this past week. It was Saturday afternoon and our appointment had cancelled and for our back up plans we could either try by on some potential investigators in the area or we could go trackting. A feeling came into my heart to just go trackting but the natural man in me did not want to go knocking on doors AGAIN so I decided to let the decision fall on the shoulders of my companion, he to felt that we should go trackting and so we walked to the street that we had planned to trackt and began with house #1. We had mixed reactions some people were polite but not interested, others would yell at us, and some would just shut the door or tell us to go away, but then we came to Gareth’s door :). Gareth is in his late 20’s, married, has one child, and is a Catholic; but (to our surprise) he let us in. We started off with some small talk, opened with a prayer, and taught the
Restoration. The lesson went really well, the spirit was present throughout the teaching and when we got to the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon there was a very sweet feeling in all of our hearts of the truthfulness of what was said. As we reviewed a bit of what was discussed and answered questions we asked Gareth how he felt about what we taught. His answer was what missionaries call ‘golden’; he told us that he had always wondered why God had ceased to call prophets and apostles to the earth and the idea that he had once again established the same organization as Christ’s church was so exciting for him! How wonderful it is to be a missionary to share with those who are truly in darkness looking for the truth, to give everyone an opportunity to learn about the fullness of the Gospel and to posses the happiness that it brings! The Church is true; there is no doubt about it.
Loads of Love
Elder McKenna
P.S. the next P-day will be on Wednesday because of transfers so I don’t know what is going to happen there may or may not be a chance to E-mail.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
hello, hi, olah, greetings, and hello
Hi!
Things back home seem to be in full swing as CAMERON BLAKE GOES THROUGH THE TEMPLE! Which is the coolest thing ever! Timette and Mike are released from their callings and Mike is put into Elders quorum while Timette is banished to the nursery. Mom is dominating the March Madness brackets (which is a bit embarrassing for everyone in the family who calls themselves men :) ) with Dad in second place and Chelsey in third! Chynna and Kai continue to rule football, Mom is getting rebuked from missionaries serving in our ward, and Memorial Day seems to be a big highlight that everyone is looking forward to; and it would seem from recent E-mails and E-mails received previous, that Max, whom I have always pictured as the Perfect Painful Planer, has lost his title and the title of ‘PPP’ has been pronounced upon Timette who seems to be the one who is constantly doing the planning! But asides from that everyone seems well excited. I was able to get the St. Paddy’s package which was a beautiful bonus to an amazing zone conference; the fruit by the foots, recess peanut butter cups, and the Mac and Cheese are amazing, they really are things that I love to
get in packages so don’t worry about if you are sending me what is right because you most certainly are :)! As for some questions that were asked… no, weather in England has returned to normal: winds, rain, no sun, and the sky is always gray :)… When it rains, we try to use an umbrella but sometimes the wind is so bad any attempt at using an umbrella results in the embarrassing ‘Inside Out Brolli’ which is always good for a laugh by not only your companion but everyone on the street, in their cars, and in their homes looking out the window :(.
In England things are amazing! Despite the weather going from the beautiful and sunny to the ominous and hazy the work of the Lord continues to Beam and his Spirit continues to shine! This week I have decided to share with you a funny/spiritual/miraculous moment which I have had the opportunity to experience. Last Tuesday Elder Diatel, I, and a member in the Ward by the name of Luke went to knock some doors. Since there was three of us Luke and I started trackting the left side of the street while Elder Diatel began trackting the right side of the street, most of the doors weren’t interested but then we came to number 43 where a woman with 3 kids
answered. We began our conversation with an explanation of how we and are children can be together forever and that death will not separate us forever nor destroy our family bonds. She seemed kind of interested and so we scheduled to come back and teach her that following Thursday at 1500. That Thursday we returned with a member of the ward by the name of Romar (a Pilipino who is really spiritual but doesn’t speak English that well) knocked on number 43 and a different woman then the one I had spoken to previously on Tuesday answered the door… she invited us in with out saying
anything, walked into the living room, asked us to sit down, and begin teaching her… We began with a prayer, answered some of her questions, and taught the Plan of Salvation. The lesson went really well, the Spirit was strong, and at the end of the lesson I asked her ‘who she was’? which resulted in the funniest expression on Romar and Elder Diatel’s face, for they had supposed throughout the entire lesson that she was the woman whom I had spoken to on Tuesday and they had no idea, that I had no idea who the heck this lady was :). We found out that she was the friend of the woman who lived there and that the woman who lived there wasn’t interested and was going to flog the appointment but Bell (the woman whom we taught) decided that she would at least hear us out.20 She did hear us out, and we are going to see her at were she lives and share more about the Gospel with her there. When we left the lesson Romar, who upon asking a few questions gained an understanding of what just happened, shouted ‘that it was a miracle’ and indeed it was. It’s quite interesting how the Lord works, I have
said it many a time but the Lord works by Small and Simple Means to bring about the salvation of many souls and without a doubt he truly had prepared this small means in introducing his daughter Bell to the Gospel. Truly this is the Lords work, without a doubt does he loves us, and unequivocally Jesus is the Christ.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
P.S. I would use the lower lockers if the Preston temple had any :)
P.P.S. Please send all packages (because I know you are planning on sending so many) to the mission office not to the flat :)
Things back home seem to be in full swing as CAMERON BLAKE GOES THROUGH THE TEMPLE! Which is the coolest thing ever! Timette and Mike are released from their callings and Mike is put into Elders quorum while Timette is banished to the nursery. Mom is dominating the March Madness brackets (which is a bit embarrassing for everyone in the family who calls themselves men :) ) with Dad in second place and Chelsey in third! Chynna and Kai continue to rule football, Mom is getting rebuked from missionaries serving in our ward, and Memorial Day seems to be a big highlight that everyone is looking forward to; and it would seem from recent E-mails and E-mails received previous, that Max, whom I have always pictured as the Perfect Painful Planer, has lost his title and the title of ‘PPP’ has been pronounced upon Timette who seems to be the one who is constantly doing the planning! But asides from that everyone seems well excited. I was able to get the St. Paddy’s package which was a beautiful bonus to an amazing zone conference; the fruit by the foots, recess peanut butter cups, and the Mac and Cheese are amazing, they really are things that I love to
get in packages so don’t worry about if you are sending me what is right because you most certainly are :)! As for some questions that were asked… no, weather in England has returned to normal: winds, rain, no sun, and the sky is always gray :)… When it rains, we try to use an umbrella but sometimes the wind is so bad any attempt at using an umbrella results in the embarrassing ‘Inside Out Brolli’ which is always good for a laugh by not only your companion but everyone on the street, in their cars, and in their homes looking out the window :(.
In England things are amazing! Despite the weather going from the beautiful and sunny to the ominous and hazy the work of the Lord continues to Beam and his Spirit continues to shine! This week I have decided to share with you a funny/spiritual/miraculous moment which I have had the opportunity to experience. Last Tuesday Elder Diatel, I, and a member in the Ward by the name of Luke went to knock some doors. Since there was three of us Luke and I started trackting the left side of the street while Elder Diatel began trackting the right side of the street, most of the doors weren’t interested but then we came to number 43 where a woman with 3 kids
answered. We began our conversation with an explanation of how we and are children can be together forever and that death will not separate us forever nor destroy our family bonds. She seemed kind of interested and so we scheduled to come back and teach her that following Thursday at 1500. That Thursday we returned with a member of the ward by the name of Romar (a Pilipino who is really spiritual but doesn’t speak English that well) knocked on number 43 and a different woman then the one I had spoken to previously on Tuesday answered the door… she invited us in with out saying
anything, walked into the living room, asked us to sit down, and begin teaching her… We began with a prayer, answered some of her questions, and taught the Plan of Salvation. The lesson went really well, the Spirit was strong, and at the end of the lesson I asked her ‘who she was’? which resulted in the funniest expression on Romar and Elder Diatel’s face, for they had supposed throughout the entire lesson that she was the woman whom I had spoken to on Tuesday and they had no idea, that I had no idea who the heck this lady was :). We found out that she was the friend of the woman who lived there and that the woman who lived there wasn’t interested and was going to flog the appointment but Bell (the woman whom we taught) decided that she would at least hear us out.20 She did hear us out, and we are going to see her at were she lives and share more about the Gospel with her there. When we left the lesson Romar, who upon asking a few questions gained an understanding of what just happened, shouted ‘that it was a miracle’ and indeed it was. It’s quite interesting how the Lord works, I have
said it many a time but the Lord works by Small and Simple Means to bring about the salvation of many souls and without a doubt he truly had prepared this small means in introducing his daughter Bell to the Gospel. Truly this is the Lords work, without a doubt does he loves us, and unequivocally Jesus is the Christ.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
P.S. I would use the lower lockers if the Preston temple had any :)
P.P.S. Please send all packages (because I know you are planning on sending so many) to the mission office not to the flat :)
Monday, March 16, 2009
HI
HELLO and thank you for the amazing E-mails!
Everyone seems to be having an amazing time back home; with Jeff finishing his trip to Boston, the St. George clan making there way down to San Felipe, Mexico, Dad pulling the old Mercedes out of the garage and riding around in the beautiful weather of Las Vegas (by the way it hasn’t rained for 3 days over here in England! and it has been sunny all day today! A MIRACLE :) ), Cameron Blake is heading to Paraguay while Justin Wall makes his way to New Jersey to serve two years for the Lord! Emma and Jack are getting along like 2 peas in a pod; March Madness is rearing its head as the final four challenge is issued among the family, and overall everyone seems to be enjoying St. Patrick day! In answer to some questions that were asked… yes, our investigator families son calls Elder Diatel, Elder Peter Parker and there are many who have noticed his striking similarities… no, I haven’t received the St. Paddy Package yet because our Zone Conference is this Friday so I wont be able to=2
0get it till then… yes, basketball is played over here in England but you don’t really notice it at all because everyone is so into football that they don’t really bother with basketball and they have no idea about March Madness. Overall everyone seems to
be happy and the Lord continues to bless us!
Now, onto the hard bit; so much has happened this week and there is just not enough time to describe it all. I could go into detail on how I attended our investigator’s church (in what is called a church swap) in exchange for him coming to ours and the bitter persecution that they heaped upon me and Elder Diatel; I could describe the beautiful weather and conversations that we have had with people on the streets; I could share the deep and lasting impact of an experience were a man told me ‘that it were better that a mill stone be hung around my neck and I be cast into the sea’ only to feel the Spirit confirm to my heart that what I am teaching is true! But I have decided to share with you all the conversion of a man by the name of Robert Taylor. Robert was met on a street called Station Road (or what we like to call sacrifice road because everyone who is on that street is old and catholic, which is not a good combination :) ) by Elder Diatel while I was speaking to an angry Catholic who wasn’t interested. Elder Diatel had a good conversation with him which led to
an appointment the next day… We went to the appointment, sat down, had a bit of small talk, opened with a prayer, and began to teach this humble and amazing man the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit that was there as we shared with this man the purpose of this life and his existence was powerful and sweet, the truth of that plan carried by the spirit went to his very soul and he knew for himself that it was true! We ended that amazing lesson and came back in about 3 days to share with him how we know of this plan, we started with a prayer and taught the Restoration and that same spirit that electrified the room before came flooding into our hearts once more and this man knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! He knew that the Book of Mormon was true for flesh and blood had not revealed it unto him but our Father in Heaven! We came the third time about 3 days latter and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brought so much joy to his heart knowing that there really was a way for him to be rid of the shame and guilt from his past life that he asked us about baptism and he is going to
be baptized April 18th! Truly the Lord is preparing his children to receive his word. Truly the teachings of Alma are true for it is by small and simple means that the Lord brings about the salvation of many souls! This work is the Lords and I could never describe to you fully the joy that swells within my heart to be a part of it! The Church IS true, the Book of Mormon IS real, Joseph Smith IS the prophet of the restoration, Thomas S. Monson IS a prophet today, and above all else Jesus IS the Christ our saviour, redeemer, and friend. This I KNOW and no Church of England Vicker, Catholic Priest, Jehovah Witness evangelist, will ever shake that! For what I know, I know because God has made it known onto me!
The weak servant of an empowering God,
Elder McKenna
Everyone seems to be having an amazing time back home; with Jeff finishing his trip to Boston, the St. George clan making there way down to San Felipe, Mexico, Dad pulling the old Mercedes out of the garage and riding around in the beautiful weather of Las Vegas (by the way it hasn’t rained for 3 days over here in England! and it has been sunny all day today! A MIRACLE :) ), Cameron Blake is heading to Paraguay while Justin Wall makes his way to New Jersey to serve two years for the Lord! Emma and Jack are getting along like 2 peas in a pod; March Madness is rearing its head as the final four challenge is issued among the family, and overall everyone seems to be enjoying St. Patrick day! In answer to some questions that were asked… yes, our investigator families son calls Elder Diatel, Elder Peter Parker and there are many who have noticed his striking similarities… no, I haven’t received the St. Paddy Package yet because our Zone Conference is this Friday so I wont be able to=2
0get it till then… yes, basketball is played over here in England but you don’t really notice it at all because everyone is so into football that they don’t really bother with basketball and they have no idea about March Madness. Overall everyone seems to
be happy and the Lord continues to bless us!
Now, onto the hard bit; so much has happened this week and there is just not enough time to describe it all. I could go into detail on how I attended our investigator’s church (in what is called a church swap) in exchange for him coming to ours and the bitter persecution that they heaped upon me and Elder Diatel; I could describe the beautiful weather and conversations that we have had with people on the streets; I could share the deep and lasting impact of an experience were a man told me ‘that it were better that a mill stone be hung around my neck and I be cast into the sea’ only to feel the Spirit confirm to my heart that what I am teaching is true! But I have decided to share with you all the conversion of a man by the name of Robert Taylor. Robert was met on a street called Station Road (or what we like to call sacrifice road because everyone who is on that street is old and catholic, which is not a good combination :) ) by Elder Diatel while I was speaking to an angry Catholic who wasn’t interested. Elder Diatel had a good conversation with him which led to
an appointment the next day… We went to the appointment, sat down, had a bit of small talk, opened with a prayer, and began to teach this humble and amazing man the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit that was there as we shared with this man the purpose of this life and his existence was powerful and sweet, the truth of that plan carried by the spirit went to his very soul and he knew for himself that it was true! We ended that amazing lesson and came back in about 3 days to share with him how we know of this plan, we started with a prayer and taught the Restoration and that same spirit that electrified the room before came flooding into our hearts once more and this man knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! He knew that the Book of Mormon was true for flesh and blood had not revealed it unto him but our Father in Heaven! We came the third time about 3 days latter and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brought so much joy to his heart knowing that there really was a way for him to be rid of the shame and guilt from his past life that he asked us about baptism and he is going to
be baptized April 18th! Truly the Lord is preparing his children to receive his word. Truly the teachings of Alma are true for it is by small and simple means that the Lord brings about the salvation of many souls! This work is the Lords and I could never describe to you fully the joy that swells within my heart to be a part of it! The Church IS true, the Book of Mormon IS real, Joseph Smith IS the prophet of the restoration, Thomas S. Monson IS a prophet today, and above all else Jesus IS the Christ our saviour, redeemer, and friend. This I KNOW and no Church of England Vicker, Catholic Priest, Jehovah Witness evangelist, will ever shake that! For what I know, I know because God has made it known onto me!
The weak servant of an empowering God,
Elder McKenna
Monday, March 9, 2009
HOWDY
Greetings! To my family!
Things back home seem to be going well (at least I think since only MOM AND DAD EMAILED ME! :) ) with mom and dad making a trip to one of the hottest places in the world ‘death valley’ to visit Scott’s castle and to watch the beautiful colours that come from the sun shining on the soothing smog of Las Vegas as it rises in the East and sets in the West. Jeff is finishing up his novel on site, while Meghan destroyed the High school football team she played. And that is all I know… but I still love you all :).
Any who, this E-mail I have decided that I would just take the easy route and send a load of pictures back :). The first is me and my car! It may look like a car that a 40 year old football mom would drive but I still love her and have affectionately named her ‘pixious’.
The second is a picture of Elder Diatel and me (when we took this picture we were both super tired) and I am sure the first thing that pops into your head is, ‘wow, Elder Diatel looks like Peter Parker’ and yes, he most certainly does :).
The third is a picture of Elder Diatel, Elder Reidhead, me, and Elder Jollief saying goodbye to Elder Reidhead :(. The fourth is a picture of me and my district. The last one is the face of the ELDER WHO BROKE MY CAMARA!
It wasn’t his fault but when we were taking a tripod shot he pushed down the button and the camera slipped of the TV and landed on the lens which will no longer work so I AM CAMARALESS! So I’ll have to see what happens with pictures. Overall the sky is blue and the Book of Mormon is true and that’s all I need to know :).
Love,
Elder McKenna
Things back home seem to be going well (at least I think since only MOM AND DAD EMAILED ME! :) ) with mom and dad making a trip to one of the hottest places in the world ‘death valley’ to visit Scott’s castle and to watch the beautiful colours that come from the sun shining on the soothing smog of Las Vegas as it rises in the East and sets in the West. Jeff is finishing up his novel on site, while Meghan destroyed the High school football team she played. And that is all I know… but I still love you all :).
Any who, this E-mail I have decided that I would just take the easy route and send a load of pictures back :). The first is me and my car! It may look like a car that a 40 year old football mom would drive but I still love her and have affectionately named her ‘pixious’.
The second is a picture of Elder Diatel and me (when we took this picture we were both super tired) and I am sure the first thing that pops into your head is, ‘wow, Elder Diatel looks like Peter Parker’ and yes, he most certainly does :).
The third is a picture of Elder Diatel, Elder Reidhead, me, and Elder Jollief saying goodbye to Elder Reidhead :(. The fourth is a picture of me and my district. The last one is the face of the ELDER WHO BROKE MY CAMARA!
It wasn’t his fault but when we were taking a tripod shot he pushed down the button and the camera slipped of the TV and landed on the lens which will no longer work so I AM CAMARALESS! So I’ll have to see what happens with pictures. Overall the sky is blue and the Book of Mormon is true and that’s all I need to know :).
Love,
Elder McKenna
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
P DAY!
Greetings, hello, and salutations!
Once again I have to pause for a moment and allow my gratitude to flow via E-mail to you all for your prayers, love, support, and letters. You really do make my P-day’s a very exciting day to look forward to! And on the topic of P-Days it is important to note that my P-Day will no longer be on Wednesday! The mission is changing its P-day from Wednesday to Monday so the weekly E-mail will now be on Monday! Please plan accordingly :). And thank you Chynna for sending me that awesome picture of Emma whom we are not replacing Jack with but supporting him with just like I try to tell everyone the Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible but supports. :) Any who, Emma looks like a ridiculously cute dog, and is most certainly a keeper but not a replacer.
Like always things seem to be well good back home as the Disneyland trip comes to an end and Mike emerges as the champ of not only Buzz Lightyear (achieving an impressive score of 517,000) but also Toy Story Midway Madness (achieving a score of 225,000). It is but a shame that his reign will only last so long as Elder McKenna has been called to do the Lord’s work in England and only so long for upon the return of Elder McKenna we all know that the ‘impressive’ score will be DESTROYED by an unmercifully high score attained by the ‘Ace shooter’ AKA: Elder McKenna. Any who, I can’t believe that there are so many new things at Disneyland and that the Small World ride has changed! But I’m happy that everyone who went had a blast and that mom was completely soaked on Splash Mountain (thank you Timette for the awesome pictures :). As for regular life… Aidan has moved on to the ‘big kid bed’, Meghan is now playing in high school football, Ellyse is in a heated campaign with a ridiculously good looking guy for activity chairperson, Jeff is going to Boston to finish editing that Anti-English book, Jackson will be playing a really difficult football team in the coming days which he will dominate (GO SPARTANS), Jenni is full of envy for Dad’s new car :), and most important of all dad has learned how to make little smiley faces in his E-mail’s which he has made very apparent in his last E-mail which contained at last count seven.
Now onto Mission life! This Wednesday is transfer day but Elder Diatel and I will be staying together here in South Ribble (yippee)! It really is exciting to see what is happening here and to see the Lord’s hand at work as he has his servants tend this part of his vineyard. For example just this past Sunday Elder Diatel and I had the opportunity to return to a man’s house whom we had met 7 days previous while tracking.. He apologized that he didn’t have enough time at the moment but asked if we could come back next Sunday around the same time (19:30). We did so, half expecting him to not be in, when to our surprise he was, he let us in, we had an amazing lesson on the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. There have been many of these sorts of experiences this past week and especially this past transfer (6 weeks) but something that I want to share with you all know is something that I felt this very morning when studying the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. There are many things that are discussed in this section but something that struck me, which I have mentioned in past E-mail’s and which I have pondered on before, is how wonderful the Celestial Kingdom must be… In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 is contained one of my favourite scriptures, ‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’ How true it is. As I serve my God here in South Ribble I have felt his love, His Spirit, and His strength, just as I am sure that you all feel these wonderful gifts every day! But as I imagine the wonderful joy, peace, and sublime serenity that is waiting for those who love God and show this love by keeping his commandments my heart is filled with gratitude and yet my soul is pained for I realize more and more every day that there are far too many of our brothers and sisters who know not these things for they know not were to find them. I love you all so much! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, I know that God lives, I know that the teachings of the Book of Mormon are true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today, that because of God’s plan and Christ’s sacrifice we can and will (if we do what is necessary) be together forever as brother and sister father and mother son and daughter! These things are true and let us all follow the example of Paul in his epistle to the Romans, ‘for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation!’ let us be stalwart and steadfast in our testimonies of Christ our Saviour is my humble prayer.
Elder McKenna
P.S. Dad thank you so much for your letter and your account of how you gained your testimony, it was a wonderful thing to read!
Once again I have to pause for a moment and allow my gratitude to flow via E-mail to you all for your prayers, love, support, and letters. You really do make my P-day’s a very exciting day to look forward to! And on the topic of P-Days it is important to note that my P-Day will no longer be on Wednesday! The mission is changing its P-day from Wednesday to Monday so the weekly E-mail will now be on Monday! Please plan accordingly :). And thank you Chynna for sending me that awesome picture of Emma whom we are not replacing Jack with but supporting him with just like I try to tell everyone the Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible but supports. :) Any who, Emma looks like a ridiculously cute dog, and is most certainly a keeper but not a replacer.
Like always things seem to be well good back home as the Disneyland trip comes to an end and Mike emerges as the champ of not only Buzz Lightyear (achieving an impressive score of 517,000) but also Toy Story Midway Madness (achieving a score of 225,000). It is but a shame that his reign will only last so long as Elder McKenna has been called to do the Lord’s work in England and only so long for upon the return of Elder McKenna we all know that the ‘impressive’ score will be DESTROYED by an unmercifully high score attained by the ‘Ace shooter’ AKA: Elder McKenna. Any who, I can’t believe that there are so many new things at Disneyland and that the Small World ride has changed! But I’m happy that everyone who went had a blast and that mom was completely soaked on Splash Mountain (thank you Timette for the awesome pictures :). As for regular life… Aidan has moved on to the ‘big kid bed’, Meghan is now playing in high school football, Ellyse is in a heated campaign with a ridiculously good looking guy for activity chairperson, Jeff is going to Boston to finish editing that Anti-English book, Jackson will be playing a really difficult football team in the coming days which he will dominate (GO SPARTANS), Jenni is full of envy for Dad’s new car :), and most important of all dad has learned how to make little smiley faces in his E-mail’s which he has made very apparent in his last E-mail which contained at last count seven.
Now onto Mission life! This Wednesday is transfer day but Elder Diatel and I will be staying together here in South Ribble (yippee)! It really is exciting to see what is happening here and to see the Lord’s hand at work as he has his servants tend this part of his vineyard. For example just this past Sunday Elder Diatel and I had the opportunity to return to a man’s house whom we had met 7 days previous while tracking.. He apologized that he didn’t have enough time at the moment but asked if we could come back next Sunday around the same time (19:30). We did so, half expecting him to not be in, when to our surprise he was, he let us in, we had an amazing lesson on the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. There have been many of these sorts of experiences this past week and especially this past transfer (6 weeks) but something that I want to share with you all know is something that I felt this very morning when studying the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. There are many things that are discussed in this section but something that struck me, which I have mentioned in past E-mail’s and which I have pondered on before, is how wonderful the Celestial Kingdom must be… In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9 is contained one of my favourite scriptures, ‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’ How true it is. As I serve my God here in South Ribble I have felt his love, His Spirit, and His strength, just as I am sure that you all feel these wonderful gifts every day! But as I imagine the wonderful joy, peace, and sublime serenity that is waiting for those who love God and show this love by keeping his commandments my heart is filled with gratitude and yet my soul is pained for I realize more and more every day that there are far too many of our brothers and sisters who know not these things for they know not were to find them. I love you all so much! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, I know that God lives, I know that the teachings of the Book of Mormon are true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today, that because of God’s plan and Christ’s sacrifice we can and will (if we do what is necessary) be together forever as brother and sister father and mother son and daughter! These things are true and let us all follow the example of Paul in his epistle to the Romans, ‘for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation!’ let us be stalwart and steadfast in our testimonies of Christ our Saviour is my humble prayer.
Elder McKenna
P.S. Dad thank you so much for your letter and your account of how you gained your testimony, it was a wonderful thing to read!
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