:)

Greetings and happy P-Day! First off, thank you so much for the amazing
snackies and the NEW CAMERA, I will no longer be mocked when I pull out my
disposable camera and wind it up :)!





And thank you for the E-mails; I was most impressed by the amount of E-mails that I received this Monday. It’s always nice to receive so much information on what is happening back home; and it seems like a whole lot is happening! The family reunion sounds like a ridiculous amount of fun with the beech house, white elephant auction, and the talent show which is apparently going to be dominated by the Zurflueh clan (according to them). Ellyse’s lamb received the blue ribbon in the Jr. Livestock show (a happier day I’m sure for Ellyse then for Mr. Lamb :( ), Meghan has been elected
student body president (first the middle school and then the world :) ), Jackson
smashed a huge goal in his last football game, and Carson is reading the Book of
Mormon all by himself! Chynna, Irelynn, and Kai are still amazing and Jenni is
in boot camp mode waking up at 5:22! Every morning! To work out! The Huston
McKenna’s continue to have Star wars battles, surf, read books, and rock n’
roll! Overall everyone seems to be holding the McKenna name high and the Lord
continues to keep us safe in his hands.

Well, there has been quite a lot that has happened this week. So many
things that I could share with you… President Packer was amazing! And the
coolest thing was that he didn’t even really speak about anything in particular,
he opened it up for questions and answers, and then he just sort of talked to
us, it was so nice to see his personality (he is well clever and witty) and to
see that even though he has a commission from the Lord he is still a human being
and has a unique personality. As for the work it continues to be the Lords and
his hand is seen in it every day. One simple experience that I would like to
share with you is the finding of an investigator by the name of Tina. Elder
Eicelberger and I were stopping by on a potential investigator whom we had
scheduled an appointment with on Tuesday; he wasn’t in, but across the street a
woman was walking with a pram we went over to talk to her, scheduled an
appointment to see her that Friday at 3 O’clock. The following Friday I was in
the Wrexham area on an exchange with Elder Riddley we went to the appointment at
3 but no one was home, we left a note and continued on with the day… then at
around 8 O’clock we were waiting for our fellow shipper to arrive so that we
could see our investigator Simon (who is dated for baptism!) but while we were
waiting I had a thought come into my mind that we should stop by on Tina again,
I looked to Elder Riddley who had the exact same thought so we ran to were Tina
lived (because we only had about 5 minutes) knocked on her door once… twice… and
just when we were about to walk away we knocked one more time (really loudly :)
) and sure enough Tina answered the door and invited us in! We apologized that
we couldn’t come in right then but scheduled to see her the next day. We came
by the next day, she was in, and we taught her the restoration. The Spirit was
there, Tina was prepared, and the Lord had truly guided us! And the most
amazing this of all is that she is moving TODAY so if we wouldn’t have caught
her we would have lost her and her chance to learn about the Gospel would have
been postponed!

HOW GRATEFUL I am for a merciful Lord who works by small and simple means. How
wonderful it is to be a tool in the hands of the Lord, how amazing are the
promptings of the Spirit! How magnificent is it to be a missionary an advocate
of the truth! It truly was such a simple thing to just go try by right then,
but if we hadn’t she would have moved and who knows what would have happened but
the Lord didn’t allow that to happen! This is the work of the Lord, The church
is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today and
Jesus Christ as well as our Heavenly Father love us… To that there is no
question.

With all the love I can muster,
Elder McKenna

P.S. I’m not positive on what time I’ll be able to call on Mother’s Day but I
will let you know next P-day.

P.P.S. can anyone get a confirmation on if Audrey got her package

P.P.P.S. The first picture is of me and Elder Eichleberger, the second is me
with an ace picture of a missionary in Wales, the third is Elder Riddley and I
with the Welch flag!

life in Wales

Hi, Hello, Greetings, and salutations from the lush green and SUNNY land of
Wales! Once more I’m grateful for your E-mails and I have to express my gratitude for the ridiculous amounts of sun that we have been experiencing here, it has been sunny the last 3 days and I think I even got a tiny little burn on my nose! IT’S AMAZING

Well, back home things seem to be going amazing as well. The St. George
McKenna’s are doing well, with Jeff coaching his football team with a Skouser (a
guest coach from Liverpool) and preparing to take his team all the way to the
state cup and claiming it in just six weeks! Which if claimed then a reward
trip to the land of amazing footballers (England) will be earned. Dad really
enjoyed his birthday with a trip to Palm Springs and Jeff’s present was
apparently the highlight of the day, the most unique, and was so good that I think he should consider giving that present at least one more time :P. In
answer to mom’s question… I came to know that Sister Bullock was President
Packers daughter through word of mouth (because the Bullocks never talk about
it, it is strictly taboo to speak about) but it was confirmed when an Elder
Reidhead, shook President bullocks hand and then went on to shake Sister
Bullock’s hand and when he did he made this comment… ‘you know sister Bulloc
every time I hear President Packer I can’t help but think that you’re his
daughter’… after the deplorable words were said there was no taking it back I
stood in fear as I witnessed the most awkward scene of my life unfold, Sis.
Bullock said nothing but ‘yes…’ and then… nothing, there was nothing said fo
about 30 seconds just the two of them standing there! I half expected Elder
Reidhead to burst into flames and melt into oblivion, needless to say all the
missionaries just know that Sister Bullock is President Packer’s daughter but no
one ever mentions it. Anyways, the Lord continues to bless the McKenna family
far more then we all deserve :).

Now, onto life in Wales; there have been a few things that have happened
this week which are worth writing about… First Wales is a different country to
England and you better never make a comment that combines Wales and England
together, for they are different :) (Even though they are exactly the same)…
Second, the Welch language is ridiculously hard and even though the people born
in Wales learn the language in school and are extremely proud that they have one
of the oldest European languages, no one knows how to speak it! Except for the
occasional old Welshman… And third this is the Lords work... I would like to
share with you an experience that Elder Eichelberger and I had just yesterday
when we went to an appointment in the middle of what is called a ‘council
estate’. Now I can’t recall if I have ever explained a council estate befor
but basically think of North Las Vegas and you have what is a council estate.
We had the appointment at 1600, it was a beautifully sunny day, and when we
arrived at their house Heidi and Gareth (the two people whom we were coming to
see) were sitting in their front garden in the sun with about 8 other friends
all of which were different ages and quite angry. Our conversation started off
pretty contentious but after a bit they started to settle down, then eventually
they sat down on the grass, and Elder Eichelberger and I began to teach. The
Lord then poured his Spirit upon us in great measure. As we spoke the Spirit
was felt by all and the faces of those listening changed from anger, lack of
interest, and even hate to a greater understanding of the truths. The way I
felt as I shared the Gospel with those children of God will never be forgotten.
Their questions went from foolish and entrapping to sincere and genuine; their
hearts went from hard and unbreakable to soft and ‘squishy’ and the Love of the
Lord was felt by all present. Once more, I most proclaim who can possibly deny
the power of God or of the Holy Ghost! Here were people that were out for blood
seeking to humiliate and yet by the end they were quiet, contemplative, and
pensive. And the best part is that it had absolutely nothing to do with myself
or Elder Eichelberger it had everything to do with the Lord and the power of his
Spirit! The Church is true, the Plan of Salvation is from God, He does love us
and he truly wants us to become as he is and return to be in his presence.
These things I know and there is no power on the whole of the Earth that can
bring this witness to me or to anyone but our Father which is in Heaven! And I
will do this work, and I will have hard time, and I will do whatever he requires
of me in utmost gratitude and humility for the beautiful knowledge he has given
me of the truth!

With all the love my feeble and weak heart can give,
Elder McKenna

P.S. I didn’t ever get to see that Picture of Max and Elvis…

P.P.S. Tell Connor’s mom that she should tell him that HE BETTER REPLY!

hiya

Hello! Sorry for the late E-mail, things have been really crazy lately. This
past Monday was a bank holiday so all the libraries were closed and Tuesday
Elder Eichleberger and I had to prepare for the Zone Conference (I had to give
my first ever Zone Report and like always I totally said one of the missionaries
names wrong! In front of like 50 missionaries and the mission president! I’M
SUCH A FREAKIN GOOBER) so I have had to E-mail today (today being Wednesday) and
I really don’t know the next time I will be able to E-mail because PRESIDENT
PACKER is going to come and address the England Manchester Mission in an ALL
MISSION CONFERENCE! (By the way I don’t know if I ever told you that President
Packer is Sister Bullock’s father, can you imagine trying to go on a date with
the daughter of an apostle :P). The conference is being held this Tuesday in
the Chorley stake centre so I don’t know what is going to happen but I will try
to E-mail on Monday.

Any who life back home is just as amazing as it always is. The St. George
McKenna’s seem to be having some interesting times with Ellyse and her
‘favourite’ prom date, Meghan winning the quilting contest, Jackson taking care
of some Easter Ducks, and Carson preparing to go professional in his baseball
carer. Mom is improving on the computer (according to what Timette says, which
of course she is getting better at the computer she was trained by the master
sensa :) ), Timette and the girls were able to make a trip down to see pa and ma
and were also able to… that’s right you guessed it; go to Disneyland (by the way
I think Elder Eichleberger has been to Disneyland more times then I have!). And
I was sent an E-mail that was suppose to be some kind of picture detailing how
‘large’ Max is getting and something to do with Elvis… but I never received it!
And I am dying to know what it was, so please resend it. In answer to some
questions that I received… Yes, Wales is just as wet, cold, cloudy, and green as
England but it’s so funny because everything here is written in Welsh as well as
English, and I know have a name badge with the church of Jesus Christ written in
Welsh, but not a soul knows how to speak it!

This past week has been filled with some interesting experiences… my new
area requires that I travel to many other areas within Northern Wales and go on
exchanges with the missionaries there so many of the experiences that I will
most likely be sharing from now on will be with other missionaries in their
areas, but what I want to share with you today involves this past Sunday and an
investigator by the name of Zoey. Zoey has been taught for about 4 weeks from
Elder Eichleberger and Elder Wise (who I have replaced and he has gone home to
Germany), she is about 30 years old, and is really nice. She was able to come
to the second session of general conference the Sunday previous to last and
really enjoyed it. When she came to church this past Sunday she really didn’t
know what to expect but went on faith knowing that it was something the Lord
wanted her to do. By the end of the three hours the Spirit had touched her
heart so strong that she couldn’t keep from weeping, and through her tears she
told us that she had never felt so much peace in her life! How amazing is that!
Here she comes to a building, sits down, and listens to people talk for 3 hours
and yet she says that ‘she has never felt so much peace in her life’! How can
anyone say the Spirit is not real! The Spirit is so real, the feelings that it
places into our hearts are from God, and the blessings that come from aligning
our will with the commandments of the lord are plenteous! Honestly, were else
can you go sit for 3 hours to some people talk about stuff and leave with your
eyes brimming with tears and your heart filled with joy! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Joseph smith did see God and Jesus Christ (I know he did), Thomas S. Monson is a
prophet of God (with out question), God does live, he does speak to us through
the feelings of our heart and the Spirit (I know Zoey felt it and I have as
well), and Christ is most certainly his only begotten son and redeemer of the
world! How wonderful it is to invite people whom I meet on the street every day
to make changes in their lives so that they can ‘have the greatest peace that
they have ever felt’ there is absolutely nothing greater then the work of the
Lord.

With all the love my heart and soul can possible convey
Elder McKenna

P.S. I am now living at the following address

2 Langford Cl.
Wrexham
LL13 9EX
Wales

P.P.S. thanks for the update with Connor and Ashley, and tell Connor if you see
him again TO WRITE ME A LETTER! But do it in a loving way :)

P.P.P.S. thank you for the testimonies! I don’t think you will ever realize how
much I prize the testimony of my family…

Elder McKenna

Dear Parents,

President Bullock and I recently finished a mission tour where we visited all 68 missionary flats (apartment) in the mission during a two-week period. We have been to several of the flats previously but this was the first time we visited all of them. It was wonderful to see the missionaries in their home setting and I am pleased to say that every flat in the mission was scrubbed from top to bottom. The missionaries really wanted them to be clean for us and they were, so we left them a big box of brownie mixes as a reward. President Bullock held his regular six-week personal interview with each missionary in their flat and the Assistants reviewed the Area Books with them, so overall it was a very good experience for all of us.

We took a picture of each missionary with us and have attached a copy of the one with your son/daughter. We love our missionaries and appreciate your sending to this mission such great young men and women who were well-prepared to teach the gospel. We continue to be in awe of their faithfulness and dedicated service to the Lord. May the Lord bless you and your family during this wonderful time of missionary service.

With warm greetings,

Sister Bullock
England Manchester Mission

I have been transfered :(

Dear family,
I’m so thankful for all of the wonderful letters! Everyone seems to have enjoyed conference (despite the ridiculous amounts of snow fall) and I have to say that conference was amazing! My favourite quote was the one given by Thomas S. Monson ‘the future is as bright as your faith’ (it’s a little corny but I LOVE IT :) ). I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to write you on Wednesday but I have been TRANSFERRED! I’m now serving in the Wrexham ward in Whales! Can you believe it! Everything here is written in English as well as Welch and the people here have way better accents then they do up north :). My new companions name is Elder Eichlebereger; he is from California and is a way good missionary.
I don’t have much time to E-mail toady but I will be able to send an E-mail this Monday and P-day’s will be back to normal for another 6 weeks.

One thing before I have to log off… The church is true :)0D

With all of my Love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. Is Connor still dating Ashley? I would appreciate a Connor update :)