I’m going to start this E-mail off by saying, “I CAN’T BELIEVE MOM AND DAD WERE
IN CHORLEY ON DECEMBER 23rd”! Elder Kingsley (a missionary who actually met my
parents on December 23rd) is sitting right next to me as I write this E-mail and
he has told me that he met you! I have to admit that it is pretty fun to hear
about how your parents were running around in your area right before Christmas,
but what if we had bumped into each other! Any who, the secret is out and I
want to know all about it when I get home!
The good news is that England is starting to warm up… but the bad news is I’m
going home in like 8 days so it doesn’t really matter! That seems to be just my
luck I have some of the coldest days England has ever had and then when some
nice weather kicks in I’m gone, and it would seem that now Las Vegas is having a
bit of a cold front! But no matter it will be nice to see beautiful Vegas again
cold or hot. Now for some amazing news, Louise Moyo is getting baptized this
Saturday (January 23rd) and she has asked me to perform the baptism :)! And
since she has a fear of water she went to the baths the other day and dunked
herself under a couple times to make sure she could do it. It will end up being
a bit of a strange baptism though because Louise can’t really go backward or
forward to quickly because the blood rushing to her head might make her pass
out, and so we will have to do it straight down (which is nice for me because I
wont have to worry about smashing her head into the wall like I did with
Christian :) ). Phil and Rachel are still engaged and are thinking about
getting married on Halloween :P so who knows what is going to happen with that.
Elder Atkin and I just recently dated Helen and Cath for baptism on March 14th
and they are so prepared! We just found another investigator by the name of
Nigel who has the coolest voice ever! He sounds just like the movie preview man
and when he read Moroni 10:3-5 I don’t think I was ever so excited to pray and
receive the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost :). Life in
Chorley is amazing… Life as a missionary is amazing.
I can’t believe that this is the last time I will be writing you an E-mail as
‘Elder McKenna’. It seems like yesterday I was sitting on the plane with Elder
Newson flying over to Atlanta and now I will soon be on the plane with Elder
Newson flying home from Atlanta, time has gone by so quickly… As I think about
going home I think about how amazing it will be to see all of you again! To
play crazy games and to make even more awesome memories! I think about
University and starting the rest of my life! But when I think about leaving the
people of Britain I can feel a pain in my heart… I love being a missionary! I
just don’t know how I’m going to be able to leave the dry British humour, the
amazing brick structures, and the glorious accent! But most of all I don’t know
how I’m going to leave serving the Lord at the capacity of a full time
missionary. I love this Gospel so much; it means absolutely everything to me!
With out the teachings of Christ, with out his guidance, and with out the
Atonement I know that I would be lost, depressed, and misguided. How grateful I
am for a loving Heavenly Father who wants me to succeed! Who wants me to return
and be with him again! I know that God lives! I know that Jesus is the Christ!
I know that Joseph Smith saw them both in the spring of 1820! I know that the
Book of Mormon is true! That the Priesthood has been restored! I know that
Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today! And I know that Jesus Christ does live
and that because he lives there is hope for us all!
I have fought the good fight! I have finished my course! I have kept the
Faith!
I love you all and can’t wait to see you again!
The weak servant of and empowering God,
Elder Tristan Joseph McKenna
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
IM SO COLD!
THANK YOU! I think this was the best E-mail turn out I have had for about 7
months! This is perfect because it defrosted my heart from how ridiculously
cold and full of snow England is right now! They say that England hasn’t been
this cold for at least 40 years! And I just happen to be lucky enough to be
here for it :). In Scotland it has hit about 20 bellow and because of the moist
air they say that the highlands of Scotland are colder then the Artic right now!
As for Chorley were only at about -10 so it’s not too bad (yeah right I’m so
cold!)! And what’s worse is that when I do my homecoming talk I won’t even be
able to talk about how cold it is here because poor Elder Erickson is going to
MOSCOW! I can’t even imagine how horribly cold he is going to be :(. Any way
the E-mails were amazing and I’m excited to finish strong and to see all of you
again!
Well, normally I would share what information I was given and then share this
amazing experience Elder Atkin and I had last Sunday in which we taught this
woman and her mother and dated them for baptism and how Louise is still going to
get baptized despite the persecution she is receiving and how Phil (Rachel’s
fiancée) is now making plans to be baptized himself! BUT I JUST DON’T HAVE
TIME! So I will save it all for next week and just say that I love you all so
much, I love this Gospel… I love the English people… I have loved my mission
more than I can possibly hope to express in words… This church is true, I know
it is.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
months! This is perfect because it defrosted my heart from how ridiculously
cold and full of snow England is right now! They say that England hasn’t been
this cold for at least 40 years! And I just happen to be lucky enough to be
here for it :). In Scotland it has hit about 20 bellow and because of the moist
air they say that the highlands of Scotland are colder then the Artic right now!
As for Chorley were only at about -10 so it’s not too bad (yeah right I’m so
cold!)! And what’s worse is that when I do my homecoming talk I won’t even be
able to talk about how cold it is here because poor Elder Erickson is going to
MOSCOW! I can’t even imagine how horribly cold he is going to be :(. Any way
the E-mails were amazing and I’m excited to finish strong and to see all of you
again!
Well, normally I would share what information I was given and then share this
amazing experience Elder Atkin and I had last Sunday in which we taught this
woman and her mother and dated them for baptism and how Louise is still going to
get baptized despite the persecution she is receiving and how Phil (Rachel’s
fiancée) is now making plans to be baptized himself! BUT I JUST DON’T HAVE
TIME! So I will save it all for next week and just say that I love you all so
much, I love this Gospel… I love the English people… I have loved my mission
more than I can possibly hope to express in words… This church is true, I know
it is.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010
WELCOME TO 2010! Thank you for the E-mails and love! It’s strange to think
that I am writing an E-mail in 2010, in 2008 the year 2010 seemed so far away
and now it seems to have snuck up and sucker punched me in the face… but, no
matter. It seems that back home the McKenna’s brought the new year in with
style.
Mom and Dad were on their cruise of Greece, Spain, and Egypt; finishing with a
stop in California where they stayed in a really nice costal town for a few days
and had a swinging New Years Eve party. The St. George McKenna’s were in Hawaii
celebrating with some of the lost tribe of Israel. And I’m sure that everyone
else had a great New Year as well… even though no one really E-mailed me… you
know, you would think, that with only three more chances to E-mail your little
brother/uncle/brother-in-law you would totally want to, you would want to give
him support in his last freezing days, you would want to fill his heart with
family love, you would want to make up for all the times you didn’t E-mail him
and at least make it look like you E-mailed him by E-mailing his last three
times… but alas, there are only TWO more times you can E-mail him now and then
after that you will have to face the judgement, in which case those who were
faithful will receive English chocolate and those who were unfaithful will get
some English Mince pies :). Choose ye this day whom ye will E-mail! Well, now
that we have that out in the open and everyone understands that you only have
TWO MORE CHANCES we can move on to happier things :).
The work is going so well over here! It feels as thought the Lord is blessing
us far more then we deserve and it’s one of the most amazing times of my
mission. Rachel and Louis are doing well, Phil still hasn’t set a date for the
wedding but I think it’s going to be pretty soon, and Louise is still dated for
the 23rd and has thrown out her tea, coffee, and wine so that she can be living
the Word of Wisdom. New Years Eve was amazing! We went to the Sumner’s with
Phil and Rachel for some delicious curry and a spicy game of Monopoly City
(which I won because I built a huge metropolis on Middleton (because I had
served in that actual city and so I knew it would be lucky) and Rachel got a
chance card that sent her right to Middleton were she had to pay 18 million
pounds! IT WAS AMAZING!) Then on New Years day we went to the chapel to watch
both Toy Stories and both Narnias, followed by an evening with the Padroven
family were we ate pancakes and played Crash Bandicoot Racing (which I think I
have played that 8 million times with Trent) and so I was able to come off
victor in that by just a few inches on my last race with Elder Atkin! That too
was AMAZING! Needless to say it has been a wonderful week but I just don’t have
much time to E-mail today so I will have to save the story that I was going to
tell you for next week. The Church is true, I love this work, and hopeful you
will all actually E-mail me.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
P.S. can someone see if Audrey ended up getting that package I sent?
P.P.S. I have to apologize for the January Birthdays because your present will
be a little late :).
that I am writing an E-mail in 2010, in 2008 the year 2010 seemed so far away
and now it seems to have snuck up and sucker punched me in the face… but, no
matter. It seems that back home the McKenna’s brought the new year in with
style.
Mom and Dad were on their cruise of Greece, Spain, and Egypt; finishing with a
stop in California where they stayed in a really nice costal town for a few days
and had a swinging New Years Eve party. The St. George McKenna’s were in Hawaii
celebrating with some of the lost tribe of Israel. And I’m sure that everyone
else had a great New Year as well… even though no one really E-mailed me… you
know, you would think, that with only three more chances to E-mail your little
brother/uncle/brother-in-law you would totally want to, you would want to give
him support in his last freezing days, you would want to fill his heart with
family love, you would want to make up for all the times you didn’t E-mail him
and at least make it look like you E-mailed him by E-mailing his last three
times… but alas, there are only TWO more times you can E-mail him now and then
after that you will have to face the judgement, in which case those who were
faithful will receive English chocolate and those who were unfaithful will get
some English Mince pies :). Choose ye this day whom ye will E-mail! Well, now
that we have that out in the open and everyone understands that you only have
TWO MORE CHANCES we can move on to happier things :).
The work is going so well over here! It feels as thought the Lord is blessing
us far more then we deserve and it’s one of the most amazing times of my
mission. Rachel and Louis are doing well, Phil still hasn’t set a date for the
wedding but I think it’s going to be pretty soon, and Louise is still dated for
the 23rd and has thrown out her tea, coffee, and wine so that she can be living
the Word of Wisdom. New Years Eve was amazing! We went to the Sumner’s with
Phil and Rachel for some delicious curry and a spicy game of Monopoly City
(which I won because I built a huge metropolis on Middleton (because I had
served in that actual city and so I knew it would be lucky) and Rachel got a
chance card that sent her right to Middleton were she had to pay 18 million
pounds! IT WAS AMAZING!) Then on New Years day we went to the chapel to watch
both Toy Stories and both Narnias, followed by an evening with the Padroven
family were we ate pancakes and played Crash Bandicoot Racing (which I think I
have played that 8 million times with Trent) and so I was able to come off
victor in that by just a few inches on my last race with Elder Atkin! That too
was AMAZING! Needless to say it has been a wonderful week but I just don’t have
much time to E-mail today so I will have to save the story that I was going to
tell you for next week. The Church is true, I love this work, and hopeful you
will all actually E-mail me.
With all of my love,
Elder McKenna
P.S. can someone see if Audrey ended up getting that package I sent?
P.P.S. I have to apologize for the January Birthdays because your present will
be a little late :).
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