WHAT THE CHECKY MONKEY IS GOING ON!

Right! So, um, ya, CONNOR IS MARRYING MY COUSIN! I have to say that first I am
so pleased that Connor is going to marry Ashley when it was the matchmaker that
brought them together :) (AKA: Mwa with maybe a little help from someone else
who gave Connor Ashley’s phone number, but alas I am still the idea man so :P)
and second I NEED TO KNOW MORE! You can’t just nonchalantly tell me that my
best friend is marrying my cousin and the wedding is in August! I NEED TO KNOW
MORE! How did he propose? Where are they getting married? Has Connor gotten my
letter and if he has tell him to respond to my last letter ASAP so if you could
just rebuke him for me and tell him that he needs to send me a letter that would
be great!

Well, moving on… Things back home seem to be going extremely well (as always)
except it would appear that there seems to be some sort of discrepancy regarding
a talent show and who should have been the winner… Let me first bring to
everyone’s mind the sort of ‘gamer’ we are all dealing with by bringing all of
our thoughts back about 5 years ago to a little game known as ‘Settlers of
Catan’. The setting was the cabin, the time evening, the game nearing the end.
Two of the three people involved in said scandal were playing with an innocent
‘missionary’ who will not be named… during said game the ‘missionary’ who was
the son of the two, up on trial, (we will hereby name them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ for
simplicities sake) was going to win, he had all the commodities and the game was
with in his grasp. This was announced to the table that on the next turn a
winner would be pronounced and that winner would be the ‘missionary’, when the
one named ‘mom’, asked if it would be all right if the missionary would give her
a lumber card… The ‘missionary’ thinking this would be foolishness for his
victory was nigh was reluctant to give said lumber card but in a desire for this
lumber card the person said, (and now we will quote from the record) “come on,
I’m your mother and I just want to build a little settlement before the game
ends” well, the missionaries heart was softened for she was his mother and so he
gave her the lumber card. What happened next is one of the dark chapters of
gaming history… the missionaries mother built her settlement and built a few
roads as well and pulled out a hidden development card which resulted in her
gaining the win! So, in summary the ‘missionary’ was strewn down in the climb
to victory by this ‘mom’ person. Now, I have been careful in not divulging any
names in relating this story for I don’t want the past to be considered in the
judgement, but I relate this story in hopes that we will not take lightly the
situation that we are in. The gamers that we are dealing with are willing to do
what ever it takes, and they don’t care who gets in their way :P.

Now that I have born my testimony I will rest my case and allow a just judgement
to be passed by the FBI (Federal Bureau of In-Laws) in which I place my full
trust and confidence.

I am finally back in Wrexham and so I can now send you some pictures to make you
supper jealous of the amazing area that I am currently serving in :). The first
picture is the name of the city that I was staying in, and yes, that is the real
name of the city! The top word is the Welsh and the bottom is the English
translation.


The second picture is of me on top of Carnarvon castle paying my
respect to the Welsh flag.


The third is a picture of Elder Eichelberger,
Darrow, Hyde, and myself (by the way I only look short because the three of them
ARE GIANTS!).


The fourth picture is me standing in the windows of my throne
room with my two body guards :).


The fifth is a picture of me and one of my bodyguards after the castle was ransacked by the Welch, my other body guard feel in the battle :(.


The sixth is a picture of me and Elder Hyde enjoying the beauties of the area.


The seventh is a picture of Elder Eichelberger and me trying to heat up pots and pans to throw into Zoe’s freezing baptismal font.


The Eighth is a picture of Zoe, Elder Eichelberger, and I before her baptism.


The picture attached to this email is a picture of Elder Atkin, Wagner, and me
in a little blown out hole in a ruined castle in the middle of a beautiful
forest that we had to climb up to get to. Basically the area that I am serving
in is the most beautiful area in the entire world!


I Love the people, love the land, and I love the work!
Elder McKenna

HI YA

Well, I am sorrey to say that I have basically no time today to write an
E-mail... I am currently in a place called Bangor on exchanges with the Garewin
Elders and we are schedueled to visit Conway Castle this afternoon :).

Your E-mails (like always) were amazing and I am glad to hear that everyone is
doing so well despite the hardships that life can bring. The Zurflueh clan
seems excited to be visiting the 'homeland' (AKA: Ireland) and the St. Geroge
McKennas are enjoying life with the boys playing on a farm and Ellyse getting
some time with her good ol' pa. In ansewer to some questions that were given...
The Welsh are on pretty good terms with the Irish since they are so close
together (geographically) and so close to gether in the pride they have for
their country (both the Welsh and the Southern Irish almost always spit on the
ground when they talk about England even in the most casual conversations ie:
'my cousin lives in England *spit* and he says he likes it')... Simon Pigot (the
man who Elder Eichelberger and I helped clean his flat) is doing better :) he is
getting back on the horse, and he is already starting to make the changes that
are going to lead him to true happiness.

The Mission is going well, I have to apolagize because I wasn't able to connect
my camera into this computer that I am using, so I cant send the pictures of
Zoe's baptisim, and as you can tell I also wasn't able to use the microsoft word
processor which seems to save me from my most grevious gramatical errors :).
Well, like I said I don't really have too much time to write so I just wanted to
say that I love you and that I miss you but that there is nothing that would
keep me from the fun times that being with family brings other then my testimony
of the Gosple and a calling to serve from our Savior.

Elder McKenna

BAPTISIM

Well, this has probably been the best E-mail update that I have ever been
privileged to have! Thank you so much for the amazing E-mails and for the
outstanding pictures!

Memorial Day weekend sounded amazing! With mom bogey boarding (and enjoying
it so much!), Trent losing horribly in Cash and Guns (just like in chess),
Timette having one of the best vacations ever with a few stops before the beach
house, and the original McKenna’s (mom, dad, and Chelsey) coming up with the
best skit ever (which by the way, mom sent the skit and, no wonder they won it
was ridiculously hilarious)! The St. George McKenna’s are settling in nicely
for a fabulously fun filled summer with Jeff going to EFY again this year with
Ellyse having to utmost honour, privilege, and benefit, to go to the same EFY as
her Father (which we all know is what she wanted) while poor Meghan is forced to
go to the EFY a little earlier and wont have the beautiful blessing of being
with her Father but will just have to hang out with all of her friends (I hope
that you can survive the heart ach Meghan). Dad’s Seminary teaching is coming
to a close for the year with high schooler’s having an extensive knowledge of
the New Testament, because of him :). I can’t believe that Cameron and David
are heading out on their missions! If you have the chance please send them my
love and if at all possible could you get me Cameron’s address. In answer to a
question that was given… No! Of course we weren’t able to watch the Barcelona
vs. Man U game, but I obviously heard what happened and how Man U scored like
the fastest goal ever and Barcelona still beat them, but a Man U loss isn’t that
big of a deal in Wales, in fact it was more of a celebration that they did lose
because basically everyone other then the people who live in Manchester hate Man
U :(. Overall you all seem so happy and the Memorial Day (cough) ‘campout’
(cough) sounded amazing!

First off I think we all know what I am going to be talking about toady,
namely Zoe’s baptism and second off I am so sorry that I didn’t bring my camera
converter thingy for the computer and so I will have to give you pictures of the
event next week :(. It would seem that I am cursed for baptisms; I thought that
this time would be different but alas it was not. Now,
I don’t want everyone flashing back to my horrible fiasco with Christian the BFTB (Big Friendly Teddy Bear) and how horrible that was because it wasn’t THAT bad but it was still pretty intense. Elder Eichelberger and I arrived at the chapel 2 and ½ hours
early in hopes that all would go right and no problems would arise… the baptism
program was brilliant (the relief society did it and it basically looked like a
wedding invite), everyone who was part of the program had been called and
confirmed that they were going to be able to come, the chapel was nice and
clean, the rooms were all at perfect temperature, the sound system was up and
running, Zoe, her family, and some friends were all on schedule, basically we
were ‘green light’… and then it happened… THE HOT WATER IN THE BUILDING SHUT
DOWN! There was absolutely no hot water anywhere! The kitchen didn’t have any,
the bathroom sinks didn’t have any, and of course the baptismal font didn’t have
any! We had no idea what was wrong and no one who would have any idea what was
wrong was available at the time (because there was a wedding in the afternoon
the same day) so in desperation Elder Eichelberger and I went to the kitchen
turned the stove onto full blast, got as many pots and pans as the stove could
handle, filled the pots and pans with cold water, and began the slow process of =0D
heating the water up to boiling, running it to the font, and throwing it into
the freezing water which was currently filling said font! It was terrible! We
did it for about 2 hours with not much of a change in the water and then our
time was up! People were beginning to arrive and in order to keep the reverence
that should be present at a baptism we had to stop the running of boiling water
to the font. We informed Zoe and Bishop Chapman (the person who was going to
baptize her) the situation and both of them were still determined so the baptism
went on… The talks, music, video, and every other aspect of the baptism was
wonderful, it was just the baptism itself… As Zoe Clarke (who is about my
height, skinny, and very susceptible to temperatures) and Bishop Chapman got
into the icy depths it was obvious that they were cold… Bishop said the words
and Zoe was dunked back into the freezing abyss and to my utmost horror (I was
one of the witnesses) her knees popped up! Bishop looked to me for confirmation
and I had to shake my head ‘no’, Zoe needed to go down another time! Zoe looked
to Bishop with her face in pure terror that she had to do it one more time, but
it was done, this time properly and Zoe was baptized! Even though every time
Zoe looks back on the actual baptism itself she will have thoughts of death,
darkness, and absence of warmth; I will never forget how exquisitely happy she
looked when she had dried off and joined us in the sacrament meeting room.
Truly she had made a covenant with her Father in Heaven by the appropriate means
and the Spirit confirmed that in all of our hearts. The church is true!
Baptism is something that is required! And Zoe Clarke is now through the gate
and on her way to Eternal Life! WHAT GREATER CALLING CAN I POSSIBLE HAVE then
to bring such wonderful people to this point!

With my heart brimming with gratitude and love,
Elder McKenna


P.S. Thank you Timette for sharing that spiritual moment you had in Relief
Society with me, it sounded like an amazing experience.

MEMORIAL DAY!

Hello!
Once more my E-mail is a day late because of the lovely bank holidays that
both the English and the Welch love to celebrate! The libraries were closed
yesterday, so my apology for being a day late. It would seem that a blessing
has come out of me being a day late I was able to get an E-mail right from the
Beach house and it seems that everyone is enjoying memorial day (the day were we
memorial Elder McKenna :) ) with some amazing games of Family Feud, some boogie
boarding, and a dominated talent show by Mum, Pa, and Chelsey! The Memorial Day
campout seemed to be a total success and to top it all off it appears that a new
Star Trek movie came out, so basically everyone is on cloud nine despite some
challenges that needed to be overcome :(. It seems that the McKenna’s still
know how to party!

Well, over here in the EMM we have had a Transfer! I am still serving in
Wrexham with Elder Eichelberger but my zone has changed quite a bit… which is
good and bad at the same time. Good in the idea that we have some new blood but
bad in the idea that we had to make sure everyone was able to get to were they
needed to go. It was a major pain, but we were able to overcome and it seems
that everyone is settling in quite nicely. As for my self I am doing really
well especially because this Saturday we’re still ‘green light’ for the baptism
of Zoe Clarke who is still one of the most amazing investigators ever! She is
way excited and nervous at the same time! Simon is doing much better; he has
gotten back on the horse again and has thrown out his fags and alcohol willing
to give it another try! The work continues to be the Lord’s and I was reminded
of this truth yesterday… Elder Eichelberger and I were going to go to a tea
appointment at around 6 O’clock with the Edward family. But when we arrived
they were gone! They had forgotten about feeding us in all the excitement of
the Bank Holiday weekend! Normally it wouldn’t be to big of a deal, we would
just go back to the flat and make our own tea; but because yesterday was our
P-Day and because it was now past when our P-Day ends (which is at 6 O’clock) we
felt that it wouldn’t be right to go back home and make some food, so instead we
hit the doors. We knocked doors for about an hour and a half with a some what
good reception but then… on our last door, on our last street, just before we
went to our appointment with Simon, it happened. We knocked on number 2
Summerfields, at first there was no answer and so we knocked a second time,
still no answer then we heard a sound from the side of the house; we poked our
heads around the side of the house to see a man poking his head through his side
door asking what we wanted. He was about 50 years old, close to my height, with
gray hair but bright eyes. We introduced ourselves and began talking to him
about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation, our conversation was riddled
with questions and answers in the which we were able to find out that he had
been studying with the Jehovah Witnesses for an extended period of time but had
stopped because he began to feel uneasy. He said that the things they were
saying sounded good but he just didn’t ‘feel right’ about it and that he is
still looking. We bore witness of the Book of Mormon and more importantly the
Spiritual witness that he could receive through a diligent study of its writings
and a sincere prayer. He was most excited and is so prepared for the Gospel!

There was something that was said during this past general conference by the
newly called Apostle Elder Anderson which was said to him a few years back by
President Boyd K. Packer which continues to echo in my soul… President Packer
0Asaid, “I know who I am.” Then after a pause, he added, “I am a nobody.” He then
turned to Elder Anderson, sitting on the stand behind him, and said, “And,
Brother Andersen, you are a nobody too.” Then he added these words: “If you ever
forget it, the Lord will remind you of it instantly, and it won’t be pleasant.”
Those words ring truer with the ending chime of every day. This is the Lord’s
work; he knows which of his children are ready to listen and which aren’t. If
there was one thing that I have come to understand more then anything else it
would be that I am truly… nothing. I hope that all of us will always remember
the council given by President Packer so many years ago, for it applies to all
of us today. I’m so grateful for a Lord who supports me and cares about me, and
I’m so grateful for a family who rocks!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Elder McKenna

MOUNT SNOWDON

Hi, Hello, and happy mothers day!!!

We all know what day it was yesterday so in honour of such a wonderful day I
thought I would start off this E-mail with a bit of wisdom from Sister Packer.
She said that one of her sons was disagreeing with a request that she had made
of him and his bigger brother hearing this disagreement walked over, smacked his
brother in the back of the head and said ‘don’t you know yer suppose to mind the
one that born ya!’ How true it is and with the tradition that comes from an
extraordinary day like mothers day I would like to apologize, to me mum, for all
the dumb things that I have done over the years to cause you grief and hope that
you will forgive me for the many more to come :); I guess I just want to say
that I LOVE YA MUM!

Now with all that mushy stuff aside lets discuss the action going on back home…
The St. George McKenna’s continue to fight for the win in the football
tournament with Meghan up against two teams in one day! The *^&(*!”’s continue
to live the good life as Madisyn continues to excel in gymnastics DOING ROUND
OFF BACK HAND SPRINGS! And Aidan has finally forgiven his mother for not
allowing him to get ‘Nana’ a monster truck which he was just certain would bring
joy to her very soul :). Chelsey is living in an upscale black community (with
Lawyers, bankers, Etc.) and is enjoying some of the most delicious, scrumptious,
and finger licken good fried chicken, though the wait for a portion is about 45
minutes :) [By the way that was from Mom not me]. Overall, life is good, and
the Lord continues to watch over our family, giving us joy and happiness in
these times of trial in the world.

Let’s see, I have been pondering on how all of you get to go to Disneyland like
every other week (which makes me a little jealous) and so I have decided that
for this E-mail I’m going to fire back by making you ‘green’ with envy by
showing you just how amazingly beautiful Wales really is so that you can see
were I get to live and work every day (so take that you Disneyland goers :P).
But I also want to share with you an experience that I will not soon forget.
Last Monday the Rhyl Distcrict (Elder Phillips, Driscoll, Hyde, Forward,
Stanger, Tonks) and ourselves decided that we were going to hike the biggest
mountain in Wales called Mount Snowdon. Now, there is just no way that I can
describe to you the amount of pain and suffering that happened on that mountain
but I will attempt to explain it in 4 scenarios: The start, The Journey, The
Climb, and the Top…

The start: it was a nice beautiful sunny day in Wales, we had arrived at Mount
Snowdon at around 0730; I was wearing about 4 shirts and 3 trousers as were some
of the other elders but Elder Driscoll and Elder Phillips came wearing nothing
but some shorts and a sweatshirt. They made fun of the rest of us because it
was hot and talked about how we were all going to melt on the hike, we talked
and laughed as we found the trailhead and started on our Journey.

The Journey: It was a fairly tall climb in the beginning but nothing to serious,
as we journeyed we would chase after sheep and talk about how out of shape all
of us ‘old’ missionaries are getting. We started to notice that it was getting
a bit cloudy and a bit chilly but we took no thought, and laughed and played as
we continued on the Journey until we got to a place called the halfway house, we
spent about 5-10 minutes there enjoying some liquid refreshment and preparing
for the next part of our hike.

The Climb: this is when things started to get a bit different on our journey,
the rocks started to become more jagged and the climb a bit steeper, it was
starting to rain pretty bad, the clouds had now moved over the mountain and fog
was thick all around us, the hot sunny day had quickly turned into cold and
rainy, and though a sense of cold was prevailing upon us all (especially on
Elder Driscoll and Phillips) we still had a determination to make it to the top.


The top: Our clothes were drenched, the wind cut through our bones like a hot
knife through butter, Elder Driscoll had snot frozen on his face but no one took
any notice, Elder Phillips hair had turned white and was beginning to freeze,
tears were running freely as the freezing wind continued to stab at our eyes.
In these conditions we held a council at about a (unknown to us) 10 minute hike
from the top there were many nominations to go back and a few to press forward,
Elder Forward in his determination to keep us moving began to climb onwards
quickly disappearing into the fog, and in a moment of desperation Elder Phillips
(epitomizing our pain and suffering) screamed, with spit spewing from his mouth,
‘Elder Forward it’s not worth it’ and began to sob. With those words lingering
in all of our minds we pressed forward having to now follow Elder Forward into
what seemed like eternity but was in reality about 15 minute. We eventually
reached the top and descended back down to safety… Truly a moment that will
never be forgotten.

Now, the pictures are just a bunch of different locations on Mount Snowdon and
one of me on a pier at the beach in a place called Llangollen.


Love ya all,
Elder McKenna

A picture of the beginning of mount snowdon



Elder Phillips is chasing a sheep


A beautiful picture of how green it is here.



Elder Phillips drinking a juice box with the rest of us



A picture of most of the group on the mountain



An awsome picture! but notice how the fog is beginning to come



A picture of the Fog



A picture of when Elder Stanger and Elder Phillips helping each other to keep
moving.



A picture of when we all took shelter in a little rock bunker



A picture of when Elder Hyde saved my life

hiya

HELLO! Thank you for the amazing E-mails! And I have to apologize for the lack of E-mail on Monday. It was a bank holiday and in Wales that means everything shuts down :(. Now I don’t have any time today because Elder Eichelberger and I had to train this past Tuesday and are now on an exchange with the Elders living in a place called Rhyl… So this will have to be quick.

This E-mail I feel needs to be one of sincere apology and one with my deepest love as I try to convey through words the comfort that I am sure only the Spirit can bring. I am sorry for the lack of recognition in my last E-mail concerning the passing of Gordon, I didn’t know if I should mention anything because I felt that if I did it would only reopen wounds that might have been healing but I obviously made a mistake. I am sorry for the loss, of the entire family, by the passing of Uncle Gordon but I send my condolences especially to a loving mother whom I would fain have the rocks fall upon me before hurting her feelings. I may not have known Uncle Gordon very well but from what I have heard in the past and from what I have read this day there is no real doubt in my mind or heart that he must have been a great man. I wish I could write something that would touch your hearts, something that would bring solace to your soul, anything that would bring you comfort and peace… but all I can really think to do is to bear my sincere testimony of our Savoir. I plead with you to look past my failings in communication and open your hearts as you read… For I know with a surety that can only come from our Father in Heaven that Jesus Christ does live! I know that because our Father loved us so much he sent his only begotten son to be the exemplar, the master teacher, the bread of life, to perform for us what we can not do on our own, for surely he hath bourn our grief’s and carried our sorrows, he has suffered for our pains our afflictions our temptations, and he has taken upon himself death that he may loosen the bands of death! There are many things that I don’t know in this world and many things that I don’t understand… but if there is one thing that shines in my soul with more clarity then the sun on a cloudless crisp day is that because of Christ’s love and because of his sacrifice we can be with our families forever. The Plan of Salvation is real, it is from God, Joseph Smith did restore these precious truths, and our families are eternal.

With all the love and solace I can convey in such a short amount of time,
Elder McKenna

PS I’ll be calling in the morning around 7 AM :)

:)

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 :)

hiya

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.

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 :)

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

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

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!

EMMA!

WELL DONE! It seems that my last rebuke with an outpouring of love was successful, for the E-mails have flowed like water from the skies of England :). And I have to say that I am so grateful for your support even when you don’t write an email I know that you still love and care about me and it gives me strength every time I look at my ring (which has the McKenna Crest) to know that I belong to the best family ever!
I can’t believe that mom has another dog! ‘Emma’ seems to have stolen the hearts of everyone with her cute puppy dog traits, looks, and nature! But lest we forget that there is another dog in the family I would like to just bring to remembrance the quality of the well loved dog named Jack. He can’t stop in the middle of the stairs he has to either go all the way up or all the way down, he can’t swim, he runs into things, he can’t play fetch to well because he losses the ball, and most important of all he’s afraid of the dark. So as we all express love for this new addition let’s not forget that Jack is still around… :) Anyway, everyone has told me how amazing this little ‘Emma’ is but I have yet to see a picture :(. Well, moving beyond the replacement of Jack, things seem to be going just fine as everyone prepares to make another trip to Disneyland! And Angela has a blast hanging out on the island of Roatan with the Hess’s! Madisyn continues to ride the ‘big bike’ while Aidan is rockin’ the ‘wicked pink big wheel’ which just shows how manly he really is. Trent runs a marathon while Ellyse prepares to take that ACT. Jeff continues to write his novel that is ‘Anti-English’ :), while mom and dad celebrate their 43 years of being married! Overall the Lord just continues to bless us! And in answer to the question asked… no, England doesn’t have any good beaches except for maybe a few in Devon but even they aren’t good, and the English people never holiday in their own country they always jump to places like France, Italy, Greece, etc. (which I can’t really blame them because it just rains here all of the time).
Now, onto the mission. This week has been one filled with funny moments and spiritual highlights, so I have decided that I would share two moments with you all, the first being one of the funniest things that has happened on my mission and the second one of the most spiritual. Now onto the funny! We went split tracking the other day with two young men from the ward that are getting ready to go out on their missions. The guy that I was with was really nice but he was sort of nervous and as we approached about our 20th door I told him that he had start this door, he refused, but just as the door was opening I left him there by himself so that I could talk to this guy who was walking along the road. There he stood all by himself as the door opened and a woman holding a child was inside, she looked at him and asked what he wanted and the young man (who was all by himself) just blurted out the phrase ‘were in the area today giving you a message’ and then just froze like a popsicle. About 30 seconds later this woman asked him what the message was about, he then just said ‘your family’! By this time the woman was well freaked out and I came back just in time to see her with the weirdest face shut the door. IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER! Now onto something spiritual… We have an investigator by the name of Nibbs who has been smoking cigarettes since he was eight years old, and this last lesson we came, started with a prayer and began to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ which has the first principal of ‘faith in Jesus Christ’. As we discussed this principal and shared a scripture on faith with Nibbs he’s eyes moistened up and he told us that when he came to church last Sunday he felt incredibly bad as he left the building between meetings to have a smoke, not by anything we said or did, but that he just felt really bad on the inside. He then told us that as he puts faith in Jesus Christ he will be done with this habit that the spirit obviously doesn’t approve of. It was so amazing to see the Spirit work upon this man! Here is a man that we haven’t even taught the Word of Wisdom to and who has smoked for over 40 years, giving it up right there on the spot because of an undeniable feeling that as he described to us was something that is well known to all who have experienced it. How wonderful the Spirit is! How merciful is our Lord who has sent us this influence that fills our hearts with peace and gives us renewed strength to do what is right! I really do know that this is the truth for I feel it in my very soul, and these things cause my very heart to burn with in me! It is a feeling that no earthly thing can duplicate it is a precious gift from God!
Elder McKenna

BAPTISIM!

HELLO! Every Wednesday I feel that I can’t have as wonderful a time reading your e-mails and hearing about your lives as I had last Wednesday and yet again I am humbled and filled with gratitude to hear how amazing you all are and doing! Thank you for the love sent via E-mail :).

Things back home, like always, seem to be filled with excitement, adventure, mystery, and the thrills that come from living a McKenna lifestyle! As Madisyn begins to settle down from her Christmas Vacation (which finished at the end of January!) and THREE trips to Disneyland, Timette continues to press forward wasting no time to spread the joy of the gospel and the power of temples as she invited her friend to go through the Draper temple which just opened up! And as for the St. George McKenna’s football is still on the brain as Jeff prepares for the PRESIDENT’S DAY TOURNAMENT where he will be coaching not one but two football teams to victory leading Jackson (AKA Renaldo Jr.) and Meghan (AKA [place really good football players name here] Jr. :) ) to destroy the competition! And the coolest thing of all is that David Martin is going to Chile for his mission! You have to send him my regards! In answer to some questions I received… Yes, England does celebrate Valentines Day and it’s exactly the same lovey dovey stuff over here as it is in the Good ol’ USA… I haven’t really been fed by members at all until I got here, I have been fed more times by members in the past 3 weeks then I have my entire mission! Overall the Lord continues to shower his blessings upon us and my heart continues to brim with gratitude in response.

YES! Usually I get to this part of the E-mail and there are just too many amazing things that I want to write about! Like today I could write about how we met a young lad on Monday, talked a bit with him about the gospel, walked with him to his house, taught the Restoration, and committed him to be baptised which he accepted! I could write about when Martin Pass (our biblical scholar) had a concern that I had never even thought of before that was answered perfectly by a scripture used in the Book of Mormon and that the Spirit slammed him to the ground (well not literally but if our discussion was a wrestling match he would have been pinned :) and left him with nothing to say! I could write about the long hours of trackting, in the cold and snow to finally see fruit when a man by the name of Neil was taught the restoration. But today I want to share with you the baptism of Robert Halliver and his letter which I received this past Thursday… Robert Halliver is an investigator that I was teaching in Middleton who had accepted an invitation, whom I never got to see baptised because I was transferred the day after I had extended the commitment! But no matter, for not even being at the baptism would be as wonderful as was this letter! As I read about the challenges that he was facing and the hardships that he had experienced since he had agreed to be baptised my heart was troubled but as I continued to read I came upon something that produced a ‘sacred moment’ (as I like to call them). He wrote, “I was lying in bed thinking about weather or not I should get baptised because there was just so much opposition when I remembered the things that you and Elder Taylor taught me to do, so I rolled out of bed knelt down and prayed… and now I know 100% that I should be baptised.” On February 7, 2009 Robert Halliver (who has a tattoo on his back that says ‘Even God can’t judge me’) was baptised a member of the true church of Jesus Christ. I could write 3 pages more on the trials he has had to face, on the changes he had to make to live the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, on how he came to know that Christ does live and that Joseph Smith is his prophet, but I don’t want you to focus on that. What I want you to know is that Robert Halliver has felt the Spirit, he has felt that unquenchable love that burns with in your very heart, and now as I bear my testimony to you in this E-mail and to those whom I meet on the street, I can say with conviction and surety that I know Jesus Christ lives, that this is his church, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Lord, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet… and know that Robert Halliver carries this same testimony! ‘How great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father’

How I love the Lord…
Elder McKenna

P.S. the picture is me and Rob :)

HI YA

HELLO and greetings from your sibling/son/English guy who is NOW 20! :O

To start off this E-mail I have to ask, what happened to my last E-mail! I sent an email last Wednesday which was full of awesomeness and no one received it! I have sent the E-Mail that I sent last week as well as this one… the last weeks E-mail is entitled Gruesse :). Any who, it seems like things are wonderful back home! Chynna apparently has an I-phone (which reminded me about when I had to stand in line for about 3 hours, was late to work, and had to talk to Hippie Amie because Chelsey wanted one right when they came out >:( but hey, I’m not bitter) and is going to a football tournament in Arizona where she intends to destroy the other girls! While Irelynn is being crowned student of the month as well as cheer a cheer cheerleading in PALM SPRINGS where she intends to destroy the other girls! Max is making arrangements to run a Marathon by the end of the year, which I think if he does run a marathon he should wait for me to come home so that I can cheer him through the finish line! Plus the Zurflueh’s are making there way to IRELAND for their Spaghetti thingy! And to top it off, it would seem that Charlie is still receiving oodles of love! The St. George McKenna’s rejoice in the new ski lift at Brian Head while Ellyse (having to decide which boy she would allow to ask her to prom) has finally decided to allow a young suitor to take her to the junior prom. And in answer to some questions that were asked… no, no one even knows what the Super Bowl is over here in England… yes, England is so green which is not enough compensation for how much it rains… My favourite food in England is called a ‘donor kebab’ which isn’t English at all, but is soooooo GOOD :). Well, it seems that the Lord continues to pour his blessing out upon us!

Well, like always, here I am writing the second part of my E-mail, thinking about what I am going to write to give you just a glimpse of the adventure that is my life in England, and I have decided that today I will share with you two things… the first will be funny the second spiritual. First, just yesterday, me and my companion were teaching a man by the name of Martin Pass (a bit of background on Martin: He is Church of England, one of the nicest people that I have ever met, rides on a motorbike, has an awesome beard, and knows more about the Bible in his little pinkie then I do in my entire body :)… so you can assume that when we teach him many silent prayers are said) in a members home by the name of Mike. We have been trying to keep all of our lessons on basic doctrines and principle of the church despite Martin’s attempt to dive into deep doctrine (i.e. is David in the Celestial Kingdom). So yesterday we were teaching about the priesthood; its role and how it is passed down. The lesson starts off all right; we share some scriptures like Hebrews 5:4 and then talked about how Aaron received the Priesthood, we then went to Jesus Christ anointing his Apostles, how Matthias was called, and how Paul, even though he saw and heard Jesus Christ, still needed to be anointed for the ministry. Overall it was an excellent lesson and Martin’s only response was that he had to think about it… but then our fellow shipper (who is a really good guy) started to talk about random things and started to drift the lesson towards deep doctrine, as me and my companion fought to bring the lesson back we had to watch as it drifted from the priesthood to men becoming Gods! And the worst part of the night was when Mike (our fellow shipper) couldn’t remember what the lineage of Shem was and turns to us and asks us, ‘Elders, what’s the lineage of Shem’… WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT! My face turned bright red as a flustered through my brain not having any idea who Shem was let along his lineage! Well, needless to say the lesson could have gone a ‘bit’ better (And for the record I now know the Lineage of Shem) :). Even though sometimes even missionaries get confounded there is nothing more powerful then the Spirit that comes from pure testimony. Just yesterday I had such an opportunity, as Elder Diatel and I were talking to people on the street I met a man who had just recently lost his father and brother in quick succession, who was bitter, and had lost all faith that there is a God… I proceeded to explain the Plan of Salvation, and how we can be with those again who have passed on… he started to tell me that it wasn’t possible for me to know such things and that it was just in my ‘imagination’! I stopped him and began to bear my testimony. I told him that I did know, weather he wanted to believe me or not, that his brother and father still existed, that they were waiting on the other side, that God does live, that Jesus Christ is his son, and that because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice he could not only live with his father and brother again but that he could find a peace in this life that only Christ can bring. As I finished my testimony the Spirit came down like electricity from above. He physically moved back as if hit by the Spirit and said with moist eyes you really do know, don’t you. My precious family, this is the truth.

The weak servant of an empowering God,
Elder McKenna

I'VE BEEN TRANSFERED!

Greetings from the land of rain, wind, sun, and snow!

Yep, that’s right it has snowed yet again in England with temperatures reading about -3 Celsius but in reality (due to how fetching wet it is) are really about -100000 Kelvin :)! But, things back home seem to be sizzling as the ST. George clan celebrate the B-Day of the Carsonator by having some pizza in a place that sounds amazing (Pirate Island Pizza were you eat pizza in a Pirate of the Caribbean atmosphere!) and Meghan is getting a Japanese exchange student which she has promised to take care of :). As for the Zurflueh clan Chynna had an amazing B-day with a visit to the mall with a very hefty sum burning a hole in her pocket :), apparently Chynna is becoming the Abercrombie and Finch girl which is brave of her because I’m scared to walk into those stores let alone buy stuff :). As for mum she is reverently rocking the temple as she continues to serve as a Temple worker and Dad just keeps on keeping on with his seminary responsibilities. Overall the Lord is blessing us… by the way I have to apologize for the seals I don’t think they are staying on so I will have to try some different things to make sure you all can bask in the wonder that is the McKenna seal :), and I think with my new Birthday letter ideas for the following year it should work perfect! And in answer to a question; yes, we do eat tons of Yorkshire puddings over here in England, it’s the norm to an English tea.

Now, onto the craziness that is the EMM! I have been transferred! After 6 short months of service in the Middleton ward I have now been asked to serve in the South Ribble ward back up North near Barrow (my last area) in the Preston Zone. And check this out! I will be in a car area and I am the designated driver! Look out England, Elder McKenna is now on the roads :)! My new companion is from Germany and apparently he doesn’t really speak good English :) so it should make for an adventurous 6 weeks ahead. But sadly it also means that I must give my son’s leg a hug (because I can’t reach any higher) and say adieu to the BFG :(. And now as I look forward to the future as I have hope for what awaits me in my new life in South Ribble I can’t help but look back at what has happened to me here in Middleton; this is were I had the privilege of seeing Christian enter into the waters of baptism, this is the area were we have an investigator by the name of Robert Halliver (who wants to serve a mission) dated for baptism for February 7th, were Cat is kicking out her boyfriend so that she and he can live the law of chastity, were Muhammad and Emmanuel have born there testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and from God, this is were I was able to see the Lord bring back into activity some of the purest spirits in the ward, and most of all this is were my testimony of the spirit and it’s power has been solidified… for now I truly do know that the power of the spirit is real, I have felt its influence as I have born testimony to men like David on a dark street, when I have stood up to the ranting of an angry preacher, as I have been stopped dead in my tracks so as to be introduced to Muhammad (who is committed to be baptised), but most of all I have felt it as I have had the opportunity to bear my testimony that I know Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us. The power that electrifies a room as one bears their testimony that the Redeemer of the world did walk the earth in a tabernacle of clay 2000 years ago, that he did suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross on Calvary all of the pains, afflictions, sickness, sin, everything that we will face in our lives and everything that we are yet to face, but most of all to feel the Spirit touch your heart as you know it is touching theirs that our Lord and Savoir, the creator of worlds, the advocate with the father, who sits in yonder thrones surrounded by concourses of angles, loves them with a love that is incomprehensible, with a love that is perfect and that all though he may ask us to follow him… he is forever running to help. Christ does live and he does love us this I know and bear testimony of…

A weak servant of an empowering God
Elder McKenna

P.S. I can’t believe you guys just figured out that I will only have one Birthday in England… did you even know that I am now past my year mark of going home!