Picture Time!

I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to E-mail this past week but Elder Larson was
transferred… He has been transferred to serve in Manchester, Stretford and I am
now with a really good friend of mine Elder Atkin (Elder Atkin and I came out
together and have been around each other almost our entire missions!) needless
to say we are getting along just fine and these next six weeks are going to fly
by!

Thank you for all of your E-mails! It sounds like everything back home is well
good! Halloween was enjoyed by one and all! Irelynn was a bumble bee, Kai was
Iron man, and Chynna was a Goddess… Madisyn was going to be a bumble bee and
Aidan was going to be Iron man but for the ward party they all decided to just
be a family of Yankee fans… Jackson was a greaser, Carson was a roman
gladiator, Meghan was Alice from Alice in wonderland (not the Alice I taught in
Wrexham with some ‘interesting’ hobbies :) ), Ellyse was to cool for school and
didn’t dress up as anything, and Jeff dressed up as good ol’ Uncle Billy Ray
(I’ll let him describe it to you sometime :) )… Jackson and Carson won an award
for pumpkin carving… and the most exciting thing of all is that I missed having
to help prepare the house for Gwyn! Which is worth freezing over here in
Britain anytime :)! Meghan is in Japan, Tatum celebrated her 9th birthday in
Hawaii, Kai is getting ready to celebrate his eighth birthday by requesting some
chocolate sheet cake, Madisyn dominated in her gymnastic performance, Ellyse has
a nice scholarship for Snow college, is unsure what she is going to do, and is
looking for a job, while Irelynn is all about her trip to Catalina! Overall
life seems to be cruising along back home at ludicrous speed! In answer to some
questions that were asked… Yes, they celebrate Halloween over here in Britain
but it isn’t nearly as big as it is in America only a couple of people go out
trick or treating… I don’t know if I’ll die in this area or if I will be moved
for my last transfer but in any case send all post to the mission office from
now on because they will distribute it on the 23rd… YES! When Michael Jackson
died it was a huge deal over here and for about 10 days all I could hear walking
the streets or knocking on doors was Michael’s greatest hits… I don’t know, it’s
hard to say how I feel now that I approach the end of my mission, I suppose the
best way to describe it is when you leave for your mission; your full of
excitement and yet you get pretty depressed to think about what you are going to
leave behind.

Well, another transfer has come and gone, I have a new companion, the same drive
to find and teach as before, wonderful people to teach, a great ward to work in,
and yet I feel like things are moving too fast :(. It seems like yesterday I
was in Middleton celebrating Thanksgiving dinner with Elder Newson, Hyde, and
Driscoll… watching as Elder Newson drank a goblet of gravy because he was dared
by the member and almost starting the members house on fire as I tried to fix
their Christmas lights and crossed the wires in the cord shooting sparks all
over the floor and Christmas tree. And now Thanksgiving has almost hit and
Christmas is just around the corner! Time really doesn’t wait for no one… Any
who, these past two weeks have been ridiculous! Rachel wants to get baptized
but has just found out she’s pregnant with Phil’s child! Nicky’s family has
threatened to have the police called on us if we ever talk to her again! Louise
and Jane came to church the past two Sundays and have loved it! Rachel bore her
testimony during fast and testimony meeting! Louis is loved by all the YSA in
the ward! Ann Rudd had a heart attack and was rushed to Preston hospital!
There is just way too much to talk about so I decided that I wouldn’t talk about
it and just send home some pictures :)…

The first picture is Elder Driscoll and Elder Larson when they both had the swine flu and were stuck in the flat…


The second is a picture of me and Elder Eichelberger who is now back home in
California…


The third is a picture of me, Louis, and Elder Larson at his
baptism…


The fourth is a picture of the pumpkins that Elder Larson and I carved
for Halloween (look at how amazingly awesome that bat is :))…


The fifth picture is the Chorley zone with President at the end of last transfer…


The sixth picture is Elder Larson, me, Rachel, Phil, and Jordan…


The seventh picture is me and Elder Atkin on transfer day…


The Eighth picture is me and some people who came out with me at President’s house.


The Lord is truly blessing the Chorley area and I’m so grateful to be a missionary here in the EMM!

Love ya tons!
Elder McKenna

P.S. Thank you for working on the charts and for keeping me updated on what is
happening :)

LOUIS GOT BAPTIZED

WOW! I am stunned by the amount of E-mails from this week :). I usually
receive around 2 (THAT’S RIGHT 2) or so a week, but there were loads this week.
It’s funny but missionaries always talk about repentance post towards the end
and it would seem that it’s true :) but what ever the reason for the influx I’m
defiantly not going to complain :). So, THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE VIA E-MAIL! By
the way Sandy Ford E-mailed me and said that she called dad up and was surprised
when he told her that I was turning 20 this February because she thought I was
turning like 18 and I was surprised because I thought I was turning 21 so there
seems to be a bit of confusion there :) so let dad know that I’m turning 21 and
that my name isn’t Missy it’s Tristan :).

There is loads happening back home. Ellyse is deciding which University she’ll
be attending! Meghan continues to plan for her trip to Japan! Jackson and
Carson are developing their biking skills! And Jeff is beginning to feel his
age (he didn’t write that but I could just discern :) ). Kai’s football team is
dominating, while Chynna destroys the opposition by scoring 2 goals and
assisting in 2 others in a game were her team won 4 – 0 (yeah, that’s right she
was a part of everyone of their goals [HOO-RA]) and she is getting braces… now
braces may seem like a pain but take it from someone who has lived in the land
of crooked teeth and trust me when I say, ‘you don’t want crooked teeth, so wear
the braces’ :), Irelynn is on the BOWLING TEAM and she plays at SUNSET STATION
which means that not only is she following in her uncle’s size 7 bowling shoe
footsteps but she is bowling where I use to work! And to top it all off the
Zurflueh clan is heading out to Disneyland for some Halloween fun! Mom is
recovering from her illness and making preparations to go winterize the cabin.
Timette is having to deal with the pressures of a new Jet Blue system and
calming her Disneyland withdrawals while being pregnant with the newest edition
to the clan, and I just found out that Aidan is in love with Poo…… Pooh Bear
that is :) [I’m sorry I just had to write that :)]. And finally it would seem
that everyone is getting addicted to these new green, ooze, slimy, chunky, but
apparently delicious spinach things and that mom and dad have even purchased a
vitamix blender so that they could create there own concoctions. In answer to a
question that was asked… No I didn’t have the swine flu but Elder Larson
defiantly did and it was way lame being quarantined in the flat with him.
Overall life is good back home and let Charlie de Chinchilla know that I too am
excited to be reunited with him even though he does poop more than anything I
have ever seen in my life, and the mention of a movie being made when I get back
is an amazing idea and we should think of a really cool story to make it with…
suggestions would be nice :).

Well, this past week has been miraculous! I can’t even begin to describe all of
the amazing things that have happened this week! Louise and Jane want to get
baptized; Louis Villoing got baptized and then bore his testimony in front of
the whole congregation yesterday after his confirmation, Nickie Holden is going
to stop drinking, and we had one of the most amazing lessons I have ever had
with Phil and Rachel, not to mention Ann is still progressing nicely and a few
new people we picked up! The Lord is drenching us in his blessings! But of all
the amazing things that have happened I know exactly which one I want to share
with you :). Phil and Rachel have been going through some difficult times and
Elder Larson and I were worried that we were becoming more like friends to them
then missionaries and we didn’t want that to happen because we need the
influence that comes from being a missionary more then the influence that comes
from being a friend to truly help them through their problems. About 3 days ago
we had a lesson with the two of them (it had been about a week since we saw them
proper) and we just read from the Book of Mormon with them (we read the story of
Ammon and related it to the fact that we all face problems in our lives but that
the Lord can give us strength just like Ammon) they loved it and it went really
well… after we read the story we then told them, ‘Rachel and Phil we love you
tons and you are like our best friends but right now we’re missionaries, we can
be friends forever but for this short amount of time we have the chance to help
you understand what can bring true happiness into your lives and it would kill
us if we left this area feeling like we didn’t fulfil what we were called to do’
not much else was said after that, we closed with prayer and went our way. We
next saw them Sunday evening and it was probably the best lesson I have ever
been in… Rachel had read a ton and even Phil read, we asked them about what they
read and they totally understood everything and they even expounded on it and
made connections with other things that we had read together in the past, but
two things in particular were amazing… first, we asked why they decided to read
so much and Rachel said, ‘We were thinking about what you said a few days ago,
we love being your friends and were defiantly going to stay in contact, but we
understand for this amount of time you’re missionaries (then she paused for a
bit) we know that we can be your friends forever but for now (another pause) we
want you to teach us and we’re ready to learn’… the Spirit was so strong it
filled my heart with love and appreciation for a merciful Father in Heaven…
Second, we watched the Restoration DVD with them (the Spirit was way strong) and
at the end we asked Phil how he felt about it (now Phil hasn’t been against the
church but defiantly hasn’t been supper excited about it) and he told us he felt
way ‘peaceful’ we jumped at a chance to identify the Spirit and when he
understood that the feeling was from God he connected all the other feelings he
has had since we’ve been seeing him and recognized that it’s true… It was an
evening that I will never forget.

The Spirit is real, The Church is true, Jesus is the Christ, and Joseph was his
prophet.

With all of my love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. next week is transfers and so I'll be E-mailing either Wed. or Thur.

P-day!

Hello! Thank you for the E-mails! And let us all rejoice in the fact that I
finally received an E-mail from the prodigal E-mailer who has returned from his
evil ways and has finally sent me an E-mail :). Things back home seem to be
going extremely well as always!

The St. George McKenna’s were happy to have the Huston McKenna’s over for the
marathon and have repented of their un-healthy eating ways and have embraced one
of the grossest sounding things I have ever heard of… it’s a smoothie that is
green because you put spinach into it, and it sounds a bit to ‘pop eye’ to me.
Football continues to be the big thing with the St. Georgians while the Huston
McKenna’s got to see the premier of Jared’s new movie ‘Gentlemen Broncos’ and
are excited for their trip to Hawaii (with Jared and his family) in the coming
days… yeah that’s pretty ridiculously awesome! Mom is recovering from her
illness, The Zurfluehs had a primary presentation, and apparently Kai is totally
ripped and grades cheese on his six pack because of all the sit-ups he has been
doing! In answer to some questions… no, I haven’t let Rachel know that I could
come to her wedding in the temple but I don’t know if they will be getting
married because they are having some relationship issues so we’ll just have to
see what happens. Overall life is good back home and thank you dad for telling
me about the trial it sounded pretty intense.

Things in Chorley are superb! Louis is still dated for his baptism on the 24th
and is progressing nicely… Rachel and Phil are working out some relationship
issues but are still excited about church and the Book of Mormon… Nickie Holdin
is still way pumped about the Plan of Salvation and getting baptized, she is
still trying to overcome some major family opposition… Louise is still way funny
with her crazy eyes and makes me laugh so much when we say something funny and
she tilts her head back laughs and it makes her eyes go in different directions…
there are so many things that I could share with you about these amazing people,
the trials they are facing, the love I feel for them, and the spiritual miracles
that I see everyday in their lives but today I want to share with you the story
of our newest investigator Ann Rudd. We met Ann Rudd one day while tackting on
her street near were Phil and Rachel live, she was nice when we talked to her
but we weren’t able to set up any definite time to see her (this was a couple
weeks back), then a few days ago Elder Larson and I showed up a bit early to
Phil and Rachel and decided that we would just knock on her door and see if she
had some time… She answered, invited us in (which we had to decline because she
is just a single woman), and ended up teaching her the restoration in her back
garden (and it was freezing cold!). The lesson was short and powerful; we bore
testimony of the book of Mormon and explained the importance of the prophet
Joseph Smith… We asked her how she felt about what we said and she responded
that she had never heard any of this stuff before and was a bit sceptical. We
left her the Book of Mormon and 3 Nephi 11 to read, we promised her that if she
were to read and pray that she would receive an answer through the Holy Ghost
(the same way she came to know that Jesus is the Christ) that the Book of Mormon
is true and that Joseph was a prophet of the Lord. We went by a few days
latter… She read the chapter THREE TIMES, a couple chapters after it, prayed
about it, and now she wants to come to church to see what this is really all
about. Were seeing her again this Wednesday and are super excited about what is
going to happen!

It’s wonderful how powerful the Book of Mormon actually is! Once more here is a
person who knows nothing about the church or it’s teachings and yet is driven to
read a chapter in a book that she doesn’t really understand to well 3 times and
then to press on in her reading! WHY! WHY would someone who knows nothing
about this church who is given a book which is so difficult to read be so drawn
to its pages that she can’t put it down and has to read on and reread! The
Spirit is SO REAL! It’s the Spirit that touches the heart and drives a person
to read and reread! The Church is true and the Book of Mormon is from God there
is no doubt in my mind about that! How grateful I am for the chance I have to
share this wonderful book with everyone I meet!

With all of my love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. Don’t forget about the Christ like attribute thingy… :)

P.P.S. So are we ok with the gift buying thing for Christmas…

hello, olaha, hi

HELLO! Thank you for the amazing E-mails and for the love and prayers! And
before anything else is said I have to ask why my father and sister were put on
trial before a jury of 8… It’s great that we won the case but I DIDN’T KNOW
ANYTHING ABOUT THIS and it sounds pretty intense! Please send some more
information regarding this Alma, Amuleck, and Zezrom sounding case :).

Things back home are going really well, like always, Chynna and Kai dominated
their football games, Mom now has the same sickness that Irelynn had when she
was up at the cabin (sharing is caring), Jen and dad’s business is going well,
and yet again I have been assigned to get a Christmas present for a member of
the family… But I probably won’t have time to find something! So please
rearrange the gift giving so that you are all buying for each other and not for
me so that one family won’t be left out because of my lack of gift giving. And
the most insane news of all Jaryn is COMING HOME! He’ll be home with in the
next few weeks and I am amazed by how quickly the time goes. I recently read a
poem which has become one of my favourites and a drive for me to accomplish all
that I can before my return home… (It was found on the outside of a sundial)

The shadow by my finger cast
Divides the future from the past
In darkness and beyond thy power
Lies the unborn hour
Behind its unreturning line
In darkness and no longer thine
One hour alone is in thy hands
The now on which the shadow stands

It seems like every day slips through my fingers and I can’t truly grasp all
that I want, try as I may I can’t slow it down and every day seems to go faster
then the next! But anyhow I am excited to be a servant of the most high God and
in hopes that I may say what Paul has said ‘I have fought the good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the Faith’ I push forward every day striving to
make each hour one which will carry no regrets! In answer to some questions
that were asked… Yes, I am feeling very healthy and my companion is feeling just
fine… The hardest thing for me to get use to when I came over here was to drive
on the wrong side of the road and for the car steering wheels to be on the right
rather than the left.

Well, I don’t seem to have as much time today as I would have liked, we are
going to Rosendale valley to play some volleyball as a zone this P-Day so I will
have to make this pretty quick. This past week has been one full of miracles as
the weeks of service always are but one thing in particular stands out to me and
I feel to share it with you. Louis Villing has been struggling with some
problems in his life including work, girls, and family. The past few weeks
leading up to his baptism have been very difficult (we even had to move his
baptism date back a week because he was having such a difficult time with giving
up smoking with all the stress he was facing) and Louis was beginning to feel a
bit discouraged. Last Wednesday we had the opportunity to teach Louis and all
we talked about was baptism; its importance and the blessings that come from it.
It was a powerful lesson, the Spirit was very strong, and Louis felt it and
recognized it! The next day Louis (who was smoking 50 cigarettes a day) stopped
smoking cold turkey, throwing away his cigarettes and has now gone about 6 days
without smoking even one! He is feeling strong and confident and we are certain
that he will be able to conquer his addiction and be prepared to be baptized on
October 24, 2009! It’s so exciting to be a missionary and to see people make
sacrifices that seem beyond possible, all because they have felt the Spirit and
know that it is true! The gospel is true, The Book of Mormon is from God, the
Spirit and it’s promptings are real, Joseph Smith was the man chosen to bring
the truth out of darkness, and Thomas S. Monson is a current prophet today
guiding this church under the supervision of our Savoir, and most important of
all Jesus Christ does live and he has performed the atoning sacrifice that makes
it possible for all of us to find strength and comfort even when we feel that
there is none available. I love you all so much and pray for your safety and
comfort every day.

The weak servant of an empowering God,
Elder McKenna

PS. The document attached to this E-mail is one that I would really appreciate
if all of us were able to participate in… So everyone give it a look and then
E-mail me saying if you will be involved or not :).
Schedule
We will study each attribute for one (1) week, from one P-Day to the next. Thus, you will be writing your family and the President about what you have learned. Please follow the schedule below:

26 Oct – 1 Nov Faith in Jesus Christ
2 Nov – 8 Nov Hope
9 Nov – 15 Nov Charity and Love
16 Nov – 22 Nov Virtue
23 Nov – 29 Nov Knowledge
30 Nov – 6 Dec Patience
7 Dec – 13 Dec Humility
14 Dec – 20 Dec Diligence
21 Dec – 27 Dec Obedience


“…what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.” 3 Nephi 27:27

GENERAL CONF.

Greetings from Beastly Britain! Thank you for the E-mails and the love, It is
always nice to read your E-mails and to learn about all the amazing happenings
going on back home!

Trent destroyed the St. George Marathon! He finished with a time of 3:27 which
is way impressive! And defiantly destroyed the fatties! The cousins are all
enjoying each others company and Angela’s mom is heading out on a mission to
Salt Lake (which is way awesome!) Jackson is now a mountain biking champion and
most important of all I now know who Miley Cyrus is (AKA: Hannah Montana). All
in all it seemed like quite an amazing week. In answer to some questions… When
I tell the British that I am from Las Vegas the first thing that they always say
is ‘why did you leave that place to come to this dump?’ in which case I always
respond ‘because the church is true’… Yes, I am a bit worried that when I have
to face the summer heat of Vegas I may very well shrivel up and die because I
defiantly have lost a lot of heat tolerance from being over here.

This past week has been quite a difficult one due to the fact that my companion
Elder Larson got the Swine flu as well as 3 other missionaries in our zone so I
had to coordinate a lot of exchanges and I’m not feeling to well my self (it’s
not the swine flu I just have a bad cough and my voice is going away so I sound
a bit like a chain smoker) so it has been pretty exhausting. Despite all the
hardships, this week was still full of miracles and conference was ridiculously
uplifting! The talks that were given at conference were so good and in
obedience to the talk given by President Uchdorft and Elder Bednar on Saturday,
first session, I would like all of you to know that I love you tons and that as
much fun as I am having over here in England I still think about you often and
treasure the memories of the fun times we have had together! Now, all the gushy
stuff aside lets talk about the best thing about conference! At the close of
the Saturday, second session, conference (which is played here on Sunday at 1
PM) Me and Elder Larson were rallying the missionaries together to go out and do
a bit of finding before the next session when all of a sudden I heard this voice
behind me saying ELDER MCKENNA! I turned around to see an investigator that I
had taught in Middleton about 7 months ago! She came running over and per
missionary standards I wasn’t able to give her a hug (all though I probably
wouldn’t have be able to give her a hug anyways because she was about 8 months
pregnant and looked like she was going to pop) but I gave her a huge handshake!
I asked what in the world she was doing here? And she informed me that she was
visiting her husband’s parents, she then went on to tell me about how she was
married to her partner, was baptized, and is now a faithful member in the
Middleton ward! YEAH!!!!!!!!! I remember when I left the two of them in
Middleton when I was transferred to South Ribble and I was worried that they
might not make the steps necessary to get baptized but here they are faithful
members with a child on the way! MY HEART WAS FULL OF GRATITUDE TO MY GOD! How
amazing it is to know that we can have an impact for good on the lives of
others! Another amazing thing that happened during conference was that Rachel
Johnston (whom Elder Larson and I were able to teach because of that giant Saint
Bernard and her cat named Herminie (I can’t remember if I ever told you that
story…)) came which was a huge step for her! Rachel has had the hardest life
ever! She is way set in the world, has loads of tattoos, likes to party, and
yet on Saturday night she came to see the Apostles and Prophet speak and better
yet she was wearing a skirt! She had told Elder Larson and I that she would
rather die by drowning and burning then wear a skirt, and yet here she was
wearing a skirt! And when we asked why she just responded because that’s what
God would want her to do! HOW AMAZING IS THAT! ONLY THE SPIRIT COULD HAVE GOT
HER TO DO THAT :)!

I can’t even begin to describe the joy that comes from being in the Lord’s work!
And the happiness that comes from seeing people change their lives for the
better! This is the true church of God! There is defiantly no doubt about
that! And this work is the work of the Lord! The Gospel is true! And it
really is the way to pure peace and eternal joy!

All of my love
Elder McKenna

P.S. The pictures are of Elder Larson’s ripped pants and Cat (the investigator
who got baptized)

P-DAY!

HELLO! From freezing cold Britain :(… yep, that’s right; we are officially in
cold, dark, never see the sun mode over on this side of the pond but your
E-mails have defiantly sent a ray of sunshine (spiritually speaking) on a
particularly cloudy P-Day :). So, thank you for your love, support, prayers,
and E-mails!

It would seem that back home things are quite ‘cool’ as the Disneyland trip was
a great success resulting in a make over of Madisyn, Chynna, and Irelynn at
Disney 365 (which I have no idea what that is) and the graduation of Irelynn
Madisyn and Kai at the local Jedi academy going from younglings to padowans.
Mike got the new high score on the Toy story midway mania game and the Yankees
beat the Angles 5-4. Madisyn got some kind of backstage pass to see Myley Cyrus
which sounds amazing but unfortunately I have absolutely zero idea who Myley
Cyrus is… I’m guessing she’s a singer. Timette continues being the best manager
Jet Blue has ever had while Ellyse goes on a homecoming date that is basically
the best date ever had with her date dying his shoes to match her dress :).
Stephen Erikson is going to Moscow Russia were he is going to learn the true
meaning of cold, while The St. George McKenna’s prepare for the Huston arrivals
for the St. George Marathon! And the most important thing of all is that even
though Emma may be cute (not as handsome as Jack of course) she is just as dumb
as him so they make a great duo :). In answer to some questions… P-Day is still
on Monday but when we have transfer week (it happens every 6 weeks) P-Day is
moved from Monday to Wednesday because that is when the missionaries get out of
the MTC… I don’t really have any funny driving stories (except that Elder Larson
is way squeamish and so he has some funny freak-outs when we get pretty close to
things) but for the most part driving has just become normal… YES! I seriously
can’t believe how old everyone is looking! When I went through the photo albums
of Connor’s wedding I was in complete shock at how different everyone looked!
It’s funny, but for some reason as a missionary you realize that people are
going to move, get married, maybe have a kid here or there, but you never really
think about how much everyone is going to grow and how different their going to
look, so I must admit that it was a pretty big shock (in a good/bad way) to see
my nieces and nephews looking grown up! Overall everyone back home seems to be
doing well and the Lord has defiantly blessed our family with the gift of being
ridiculously good-looking :).

The mission continues to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
Every day I see miracles! Every day I have trials! Every day I see the
strength of the Lord in my life and the lives of those around me! And every day
I feel the Spirit and the love of the Lord so strong! The past few days have
been amazing, the Lords hand has been very evident, but I decided that today I’m
going to take a different approach to my E-mail and share with you one of the
funniest things that has happened this week rather than the most spiritual…
because even though a mission is one of the most spiritual things I have ever
experienced you better believe that I still have moments were I laugh so hard
that I cannot breath :). One of those moments came this past Friday when Elder
Larson and I had to attend a meeting with President Bullock and some other
missionaries at the mission home. The meeting was amazing (spiritually) but
after the meeting President Bullock pulled out an American football (he played
as a quarterback for BYU back in the day) and started throwing the ball around.
Now I’m not one to get too excited about things like that but Elder Larson on
the other hand is addicted to football and was defiantly ready for the
challenge. Now I want you to imagine in your mind the setting… some really cool
missionaries, sister Bullock, Jenifer Bullock (Presidents 17 year old daughter)
and the president himself standing in his front garden having small chat, the
chatter dies down as President begins to throw the football and all eyes begin
to turn to see the ball getting thrown around. The first few who went out for a
pass looked pretty cool as they brought the football in and then it comes to be
Elder Larson’s turn :)… he runs out about 15 steps, turns around for a button
play, President throws the football, but it goes a little low, and because of
the people present Elder Larson wasn’t about to let it get by him. He leans
down, catches the ball, and in the process completely rips through his suit
trousers in front of everyone! Luckily me and a couple others were the only
ones who noticed so it wasn’t too horrible, but I tell you what I laughed so
hard I think I hurt my stomach :). And it made me think so much about when
Spongebob ripped his pants and so on the ride home we all joined in for a
rendition of ‘Ripped my pants’ by Spongebob

Our Heavenly Father lives, he loves us, and he defiantly has a sense of humour…

With all my love
Elder McKenna

P.S. I have an amazing picture of Elder Larson holding up his ripped trousors
but I forgot to bring the picture addaptor thingy so I'll have to send it next
week :).

Picture time!

Dear mi familia! Thank you for all the wonderful E-mails (there were a lot of
non-writers who repented :) and wrote me an E-mail) and thank you for the
stupendous support you always show me! Sorry that I didn’t E-mail on Monday but
this week is transfer week, and even though I am still serving with Elder Larson
in Chorley the P-day is moved from Monday to Wednesday for the week of transfers
(which is pretty cool because I got to go to the temple this morning, it’s
closed on Mondays).

Things back home are in full swing as Ellyse prepares for her big Homecoming
dance with the stud of the school (he is the student body president and the
American football champ), but let us never forget that even though he may be
tall, handsome, smart, athletic, and tough… your uncle can destroy him in a
video game any day and maybe in a game of chess :). Adian loves his Iron man
costume (which he is wearing for Halloween), Madisyn continues to dominate in
gymnastics, Football games are being had by all with stunning victories, hard
fought defeats and… a tie :). Trent continues to prepare for his marathon with
the phrase ‘I am going to beat the fatties’ on his lips! While Timette receives
a promotion from Jet Blue. Dad is now the first assistant to the High Priest
group leader, and everyone is getting ready for an amazing baseball game between
the Yankees and the Angles as well as a much needed trip to Disneyland. But I
have to say once more that everyone should be careful with the rollercoaster’s
because expecting mothers shouldn’t ride some of them AND TIMETTE IS PREGO!
WHICH IS CRAZY! BUT AWSOME! AND THE CHILD MIGHT BE BORN ON FEBURARY 3RD!
WHICH IS CRAZY! BUT AWSOME! (the expecting date is planned for the 25th AKA:
the 3rd). Overall life back home seems to be going fantastic and I can’t
believe that Sarah is going on a mission and that Jordan Wall is HOME!

Well, this week has been amazing, filled with the tender mercies of the Lord.
But instead of sharing a story, today I think I will just give some pictures…
This first picture is of me standing next to the church sign on the chapel in
Wrexham (the language it’s written in is Welsh)…


The second is a picture of me killing a new missionary by the name of Elder Curgenven who is serving in the Chorley ward as well (we were putting up the fence of a local member)…


The third picture is me and Elder Larson at the Liverpool docks where the fist
saints left to America (they have a really nice statue in honour of that
moment)…


The fourth is a picture of me and Elder Larson in the city of Dunham
(it’s the city were basically everyone was converted and just left to go to
America)…


The fifth picture is me and Elder Kingsley (a South African missionary
who came out with me) standing next to the monument right next to the river
Ribble were the first British converts were baptized…


The sixth picture is me and a missionary by the name of Elder Carr (he was in the MTC at the time) standing outside the Chorley Temple (Alex Carr was living in Barrow-in-Furness when I was serving there, when I was there he seemed so young and now he is
going to serve his mission in London!)…


The seventh picture is of the MTC group that I came out with; we were at the all mission conference with Elder Bednar…



The last picture is me with the Chorley Zone during an interview and training.

The past six weeks have been amazing and I am so grateful that I get to stay
here another six and see what happens with Phil and Rachel (they are seriously
my all time favourite investigators, they’re just ridiculously nice and want to
do what is right) and Louis Villing (who is going through some really difficult
times but still wants to be baptized)! The Lord has blessed me far more than I
deserve and I know that these next six weeks are going to be filled with a lot
of ups and downs but I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the
Lord here in Britain!

Love the Lord, Love the people, Love the Land, and Hate the weather!

Love, :)
Elder McKenna

Elder Bednar

Hello Everyone! Thank you for the E-mails and especially for the amazing photo
albums of the ‘Andertons’ wedding (I still can’t believe that they are married
but most importantly I am glad that they both look so ridiculously happy) and
for the cardboard cut out (Timette you did an amazing job with it) it really
seemed like good times were had by all!

Well, things back home are amazing, as usual. The St. George McKenna’s are
housing two Japanese students Gaku and Sho, destroying the football pitches,
writing amazing, uplifting, influential, and patriotic literature, and Meghan
has been accepted to go on a student exchange to Japan this coming November!
Mom and dad have retreated to the safety of the cabin to avoid the massive heat
wave that is melting Las Vegas, More people are returning home from missions and
are starting their lives (CRAZY), And Britain has now officially moved from
summer to fall (and the falls in Britain are so cold they’re basically20winters).
In answer to some questions… yes, Elder Bednar was amazing… No, I didn’t know
that mountain dew had 10 new flavours and that the Osmond’s had a show in Vegas
(but my companion Elder Larson probably does because his family use to hang out
with the Osmond’s regularly). Overall like always the Lord is pouring his
blessings out upon me in a way that I am surely not worthy of.

Alright, so this week is going to be pretty easy to know what to write about…
Elder Bednar. But before I get into that I want you to know that Phil and
Rachel are doing really well, Louis Villing is dated now for the 17th of
October, and Yestinn Freddie (the Indian man back in Wrexham) is now baptized
and is a kingdom builder! Now, onto the most mission/life changing experience
that I have had this year… When I think of Elder Bednar I always imagined a man
who was; intimidating, to the line, tough, business like, but incredibly
spiritual and I have to say that even though he may incorporate some of these
features he is also funny, personable, and an amazing teacher (he is basically
nothing like I expected)! He started off the conference by explaining what was
going to happen, the idea that all of us were going to be involved by asking
questions, giving answers, and relying on the Spirit to teach us rather then
what he said. This was something that almost everybody20says and yet it never
seems to make much of a difference because the audience usually just sits there
in silent admiration and fear while the speaker gives his 2 to 3 hour long
lecture (which isn’t a bad thing), but Elder Bednar was different. Somehow he
was able to create an environment were all of us felt comfortable to ask
questions and to offer comments; even though he was involved extensively in the
process, by giving revelatory comments and would control were the conversations
were going, he allowed us to prepare ourselves to ‘seek learning by faith’ and
by our actions we were able to be taught through the Spirit rather than the
words which were spoken. I can’t truly describe how he did it but the Spirit
was truly the teacher as I sat in awe of this mans ability to command a crowd.
The things he said were apostolic, the atmosphere was electric, and the Spirit
was most certainly present. I realized then that my understanding of how to
help someone understand the teachings of the Savoir and how to really help
another to come to an understanding of the Gospel were pitiful in comparison to
what they could be. I have come to the horrible realization that I have so much
more to grow and I am terrified by the short amount of time I have to accomplish
it. It’s moments like that; when I feel the Spirit so strong, when I realize
how caring, loving, and patient the Lord is with me that I am truly brought down
into the depths of humility! How POWERFUL the Spirit is! How truly wonderful
the peace it brings! And how glorious of a teacher it is! If there is one
thing that I took away from listening to Elder Bednar is that I have so much
more to understand about the Spirit. I am aware that I will have an eternity to
learn more, but the two year time to serve a mission (aka: boot camp for
spiritual understanding) is just too short! The church is true! And I thank
the Lord for every second I have to be a full time missionary! I love you all
so much and I pray for you every night in my prayers! May we all learn to
recognize the Spirit and act on its promptings!

An incredibly weak servant of a most empowering God
Elder McKenna

HI YA

Alright! This is ridiculous! Not only did no one E-mail me (but mom, and hers
was really short) but it would seem that no one received the E-mail that I sent
last week! There is defiantly some mishap with dads account so from now on I
think I will be sending all E-mails to Timette as well as dad in hopes that with
the two of them you might be able to get an E-mail!

Well, I don't know what is going on back home. I haven't got any pictures of MY
BEST FRIEND AND COUSINS WEDDING. and the weather over here is lamezor (there is
some kind of hurricane out in the Atlantic that is sending all kinds of gall
force winds and rain)! But there was a ray of sunshine from the states when I
received a letter in the post with some amazing talks on CD along with an
outstanding poem :) so THANK YOU very much to that person. But for everyone
else let the Godly sorrow seep deep into your hearts, repent of your ways, and
send me your love via E-mail :) or post :).

Alright, all that gloom and doom aside, the work of the Lord continues to be
sweet and this last week was defiantly not short of any miracles! But as
always, my time is short and with so many wonderful things happening! It is
absolutely impossible for me to share all of them with you in one E-mail so once
more I am left to choose one in particular that I feel inclined to share. His
name is Louis Villing: He is about 25 years old, works at a paintball arena as
the warden, has a strong faith in God, but feels that organized religion is
incorrect and doesn't have the truth. He was found when Elder Larson and I went
on splits with the YSA of Chorley Ward 1 and he is GOLDEN! The first lesson
(restoration) was full of questions and the main points were understood (after
some reasoning). The second lesson was on the Plan of Salvation and it is this
lesson that I'm going to relate. We taught this lesson using 'Sprit Bob'
(that's when you have a little person and walk him through all the steps of the
Plan of Salvation) we started with the Pre-Earth life and walked Spirit Bob
through the steps. The Spirit was there as we related Bob to our own existence.
In the beginning many questions were asked but as Bob continued on his journey
the answers came and distilled upon his souls as the dew of heaven. How amazing
it truly is to see someone who is confused, frustrated, and in some instances
even a bit fearful of the world around them and their place in it; gain an
understanding of why they are here, where they came from, and were they are
going to go. To see their views of the world go from one to the other and to
see their entire countenance change as they begin to feel the truth of what is
shared is a blessing I can't even begin to describe adequately in words. The
Plan of Salvation is true; the spirit bore witness to all of us. Louis came to
all three hours of church last Sunday, loved every minute of it, and wants to do
what it takes to be baptized! The church is true, Jesus Christ does live,
Joseph was a prophet, The Book of Mormon is real, and these truths bring an
everlasting peace to the soul as a PB and J sandwich brings peace to the
stomach!

All of my Love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. Elder Bednar is coming to the mission on Friday and were having an all
mission conference! That makes 3 apostles! CRAZY!

Bank holiday!

HELLO! Sorry that I wasn’t able to get an E-mail off yesterday but
unfortunately the British love to celebrate their bank holidays and as a result
on Monday the Libraries were closed and I was unable to access a computer :(.
But I have the chance to write one today!

So, I still haven’t received any pictures of Connor’s wedding, and I’m a little
scared to think that Timette might have sent them (because that’s what mom
wrote) but for some reason my account wont let me see them! So Timette if
you’ve sent any photos via E-mail please resend them so that I CAN SEE SOME
PICTURES OF MY BEST FRIEND AND MY COUSIN’S WEDDING! Well, Things back home seem
to be going really well, everyone is starting to go back to school and settling
in nicely… Trent is preparing to run the St. George Marathon… Jeff is coaching
like 3 million football teams… Jackson is ripping up the single track tails in
preparation20of massive feast of Mountain biking upon return a certain
missionaries return :)… Sunday dinner lives on with a wonderful viewing of
International man of realastate, Kung-Fu Fun, and Kool Kai and the seven girls…
Chynna and Irelynn are both wearing mascara now (CRAZYNESS)… ELIZABETH, SHANE,
AND LUKE are back from their missions (CRAZYNESS)… Chelsey and Mike have adopted
an abandon puppy… A Disneyland adventure looms in the future (some of those
roller coasters could be a little intense; I’m just saying that sometime it’s
not good to ride one :))… In answer to some questions… I’m fine on the
toothbrush side of things… The temple is in my area and the building we meet in
is actually on the Temple grounds… Yes, I have the chance to go to the temple
more now.

Sorry to rush through things today but I don’t have much time to write. As for
things over here in Chorley, life couldn’t get better! Our teaching pool is
increasing more and more as the Lord keeps pouring out his blessings upon us!
This is truly an amazing time in my mission it seems that miracles are happening
multiple times a day! Something that I want to share with you just briefly is
about two of our investigators named Rachel and Phillip… We found Rachel and
Phil about 2 weeks ago there a young couple, who aren’t married, some religious
background but not much, live together, have a cat, and are way funny! Anyways
we’ve taught them about 4 times and because they’ve told all their friends and
family about how there seeing the Mormons they have already been given a lot of
persecution and they basically know all the commandments because everyone has
just thrown them out there. But they are continuing strong and despite the
persecution and the change of life that is coming up in their future they are
still excited and the last time we taught them we said that in order for them to
get baptized they needed to either get married our move out AND THEY SAID THEY
WOULD GET MARRIED! No one in this country gets married and yet here is this
young couple making huge changes in their lives so that they can live the
commandments of God! This is the true church; there is no doubt about it… Well,
I wish I could write more but suffice it to say Joseph Smith was a prophet,
Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today, The Book of Mormon is true, and Jesus is
the Christ!

Love,
Elder McKenna

E-mail (1)

Alright! Something is wrong with the E-mail system! Somewhere down the line
information is being lost... I haven't missed one week of E-mails for quite a
long time but here I am feeling like Pahoran fighting the E-mail battle to the
best of my abilities while receiving a massive rebuke from Captain Moroni (aka
my family) when in reality I am guilty of no crime! But I take no offence... in
fact I am filled with joy knowing that my family wants to receive provisions/an
email and that you are still strong in the E-mail ways :). So let us come
together now and conquer! I'm going to send my past E-mail to the Wankier's as
well as this new one and I will send it to Dad and hopefully everything will be
back to normal.

Anyhow... Things back home seem to be going alright... actually I don't really
know because I hardly got any information other then the fact that none of you
have received an E-mail and I think in retaliation have unjustly held back your
E-mails and information :(! Especially pictures of Connor's Wedding! He has
been married now for like 8 million seconds and yet I haven't gotten any
pictures! But I am confident that the Godly Sorrow of your mistakes will seep
into your hearts and you will make the correct choice :)... SEND ME SOME PICTURES!

Despite the lack of information from the American front things over here on the
British side are going very well. Elder Larson and I are seeing a ridiculous
amount of blessings! When we came here we had no people to teach, we didn't
know any members, and had no idea where anything was (it was like opening an
area) but now Elder Larson remembers how to get around and just tells me
(because he doesn't have his licence so I drive and he navigates :)), we know
loads of the members (they are super nice) and our teaching pool has grown a
lot! The Lord is showering his blessings down upon us and I am way excited to
see what the future holds! There are so many things that happened this week
that it is hard to decide what to write about... But I feel that I should share
with you a moment that I will not soon forget. I was on splits with one of the
YSA from the ward by the name of Bradley and we were trying by on some potential
investigators just talking to people as we went from PI to PI. When we stopped
this woman and her daughter who were rushing home, they didn't have much time to
talk but said that we could come by another time, I tried to set up an
appointment but they just walked inside there home, and so I didn't think much
of it and we moved on with the day (which was Sunday)... Monday evening Elder
Larson and I were doing some finding near by the street where this woman lived
and during the down times we talked about how nice it would be if there was like
a Spirit GPS system that we could carry around that would just say were to go
and then we would do it and it would be so much easier... We didn't find much
success and decided that we would move to another area, we got in the car and
while we were driving I was thinking in my head how much I just wanted to know
what Heavenly Father wanted me to do when I had the smallest feeling to stop the
car... so we did and it was on the street of the woman whom I have previously
mentioned earlier, Elder Larson got a call and so I talked to someone on the
street (they weren't interested) and then I had the smallest feeling to knock on
the woman's door... thinking that she wouldn't be home or she wouldn't be
interested I just walked to the door and knocked on it while Elder Larson was
still talking on the phone across the street. The woman answered the door and
said, 'hello, come on in' and walked into her living room leaving the door open.
I was a bit shocked and it took a few seconds to realize what just happened! I
called her back and asked if my friend could come as well, she said yes. I then
waved frantically for Elder Larson to come he came still on the phone not
realizing what was taking place... when he came to the door and understood what
was happening he quickly ended the conversation, we went in, taught the
restoration to Carol and her daughter Amy (her partner wasn't interested) and
the Spirit was so strong. Carol had been struggling for some time with a lot of
hard times she was facing and at the end of the lesson she said that what we
taught her just makes sense! I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who
answers prayers! I am so grateful for the still small voice of the Spirit! The
church is true! It just is and it's amazing!

The weak servant of an empowering God
Elder McKenna



P.S. this is August 24th the other E-mail was last weeks.

E-mail (2)

A new P-Day in a new land :). Thank you once again for the E-Mails and I must
give great thanks for the wonderful package which I was able to receive on
Friday and for TWO AMAZING LETTERS which I also recieved! I must say that the
TWO AMAZING LETTERS! Caused me to do a bit of a dance when I received them (they
arrived in Wrexham but were hand delivered by my old companion at a meeting
Elder Larson and I had to attend) and was a great cause of rejoicing in the
Chorley flat later that evening :)!

Sorry for all the confusion… as I said in the last E-mail I have been
whitewashed into the Chorley area which means a couple of things. First, I no
longer know what is happening in the Wrexham area… When I left Wrexham Alice and
pals were struggling quite a bit, Jamie Owen was just baptized, and we had just
taught Yestin the word of wisdom (after we did he took his kettle (which was
full of freshly made tea) poured all the tea down the drain, threw away all of
his tea bags, coffee, alcohol, and is progressing very quickly to his date
of baptism). Second, I have had the craziest few days trying to learn the area and
manage all that comes along with it… The Chorley ward is amazing! There are on
average about 150 members who attend church a week (that is the largest
congregation that I have seen in 18 months) and we not only cover Chorley 1 but
also Chorley 3 because there are two companionships covering 3 wards! But
however amazing the ward is it doesn’t make up for the fact that the
missionaries before us have left us no investigators and a horrible
dysfunctional record system, but we have things under control and are getting
out there looking for some fresh blood :). Third, Elder Larson and I have had to
attend like a million meetings this past week and I am just completely burned
out in that aspect, but Elder Larson and I get along like American peanut butter
and jelly between two delectable pieces of thick sliced white bread :). But
overall life is great.

Back home seems to be quite exciting as the summer holidays come to an end and
the wee ones are now back in school AKA: Prison :). Ellyse is now a senior so
she is feeling the joy of being ‘Queen of the school’, Meghan has taken her
rightful place as ninth grade class president, Jackson is in the fifth grade
being taught by a ‘nice’ teacher as said by Carson who is enjoying his football
development under the master sensei (Jeff McKenna) himself. Mom is enjoying her
time at the Shakespeare festival/cabin, and everyone else is living life to the
fullest. But, no one has sent me any amazing, stupendous, delectable, remarkable
photos of Connor and Ashley’s wedding… so… get on that :).

It’s interesting as I have passed the 18 month mark and have reflected on the
past months of my mission my heart is pained at the idea that one day I will be
leaving all of this behind… I miss you all something terrible but it is
beginning to dawn on me as I continue in the work that every day leads me closer
to a time in my life where this will no longer be my full time duty… As I look
around at the many wonderful ‘Brits’ whom I have made my abode for over a year
and a half I can’t help but feel the overwhelming love of my Heavenly Father for
the welfare of these outstanding people. Despite the abuse, the bad names, the
insults, and especially the weather I can’t help but feel an overwhelming love
for my brothers and sisters in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. 5 months… it
just doesn’t seem real… I know that this church is true, that Jesus Christ
lives, that Joseph Smith was his prophet, and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet
today, the Book of Mormon is a true record… The Spirit is real I feel it every
day and I thank my God for this precious20time that I have left to serve with all
my heart, might, mind, and strength.

With all my love,
Elder McKenna

ahhhhhhhh

HELLO! From ENGLAND! That’s right they must have thought that I was becoming
to Welsh so they have sent me back to England :). I am now serving in the
Chorley zone (which means that I’m in charge of the Temple :( ) I am white
washing the area with a missionary by the name of Elder Larson who is from
Florida and he is way cool, we’re going to have a bucket of fun :). And I have
heard that the last E-mails didn’t make it so I have resent them and have
requested that mom is in no way reprimanded, rebuked, and or made fun of for
losing them :).

Now, I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT CONNOR IS MARRIED and even more I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU
MAKE A CUT OUT! You have to send me a million pictures of the wedding and I
have to see what the cut out looked like. It honestly fills my soul with joy to
know that you did that :). Elizabeth is coming home in the end of August! Max
is an old man :P! And Irelynn is graduating the fifth grade! It seems like
back home things are just exploding with excitement! Well, I have no time but
needless to say that it was nice to hear a ‘why hello there’ and to have a few
good E-mails, but I have to GO! There is no time, but I will let you know some
good things next P-day (which is going to be on Monday). By the way I think I
have completely forgot to mention that Jamie Owen was baptized this past
Saturday (Elder Eichelberger and I started teachings him) he

P.S. my new address is
11 Regency Gardens
Regents Park
Euxton PR7 6NW

NO TIME SORREY!!!!!!

HELLO :)

Thank you for the E-Mails! They always bring a ray of sunshine on a cloudy
P-day in Wales :).

I have to apologize for missing the last E-mail session I was down in Garewin
last Monday and we all decided that it was time for another Snowdon exhibition
(since it was so sunny that day) and so instead of risking the chance for the
clouds to return we just decided to go up the mountain in our prosylting clothes
:). It was defiantly worthy of a missed E-mail. And I will have to apologize
again because I don’t have much time to E-mail today :(. So I have decided that
I would just send lots of amazing pictures :)!

The first picture is a picture of the view at the top of mount Snowdon, it was
pretty amazing!


The Second picture is a picture of Elder Perry (my son :) ) and his companion
Elder Darrow when the clouds started to come in


The Third picture is a picture of the four of us on the top of the mountain


The fourth picture is a picture of my companion Elder McIntosh in the midst of
the fog which hit us right near the top


The fifth picture is a picture of Elder Perry and I on Exchange this castle was
just sitting next to a playground… I have never seen so many castles in my life!


The Sixth picture is a picture of me in a neighbourhood in a place called
Llandudno.


The Seventh picture is a picture of me trying to look cool in a horrible wind
storm on the Isle of Anglesey.


Overall life just couldn’t get better in the land of funny accents and I am
excited to see what this next week holds (I probably wont be able to E-mail next
week because of transfers).

All of my Love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. I CAN’T BELIVE THAT CONNOR IS GETTING MARRIED!

P.P.S. I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THAT CONNOR IS GETTING MARRIED!

P.P.P.S. the non-writer continues to dwindle in his ways maybe in the next two
weeks he will repent :).

HELLO!

Now that is what I like to see… some people are changing there ways, I got some
emails from people that I haven’t gotten anything from for quite some time; but
there is still one non-writer out there and he knows who he is (notice that I am
getting more specific :)) and hopefully they will feel the godly sorrow that is
due, repent of their ways, and rejoice in the day of their letter writing! But
only time will tell :)…

Life back home seems to be going fantastic (as always)… The Wankiers are
enjoying the time they have with the wee ones and it would seem that Aidan is a
massive T-Rex fan and also a bit of a cheerleader (which was revealed while
watching Jurassic Park when he began cheering the T-Rex on when it was eating
the Raptors). Jeff had a successful EFY and is still the Father of Ellyse
McKenna. I received a picture of Chelsey’s new car :) and I think… it looks…
just… mank (and none of you will know what that word means :) ) but as for
Chelsey herself things seem to be going just fi
ne, she continues to gain
insights into the world of big words and funny drawings and soon, as I have
stated in the past, the cure for cancer shall be within her grasp! The
Zurfluehs are doing well with Jenni growing the property management into 300
properties! And they have hired a full time worker on the Tenet Pro program
(but we all know that there is no way that she can be as good as me… right :P).
Apparently the Transformer movie is really good and just as exciting as the
previous one so I am up for so more feed back because right now we have only one
witness for each side and as we know it is by the mouth of two or three that
these things will be established :). I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT TYSON PARKER IS HOME
NOW! I also can’t believe how close Jaryn is to coming home! It’s just
ridiculous! Tell Tyson that I say ‘Hi’. Now onto the conundrum that is Connor
Anderton… I have received nothing but a wedding invitation and THAT IS JUST NOT
GOOD ENOUGH! Tell him that I need a real letter not just some ridiculous (all
though it did look very nice) non-letter wedding invitation and kindly remind
him that all though he is in love it was matchmaker extraordinar (and maybe one
other person) that brought them together so tell him that I need a letter! In
answer to some questions that were given… no you can’t forward E-mails from

friends to me, anything from friends has to be through the post only the family
can E-mail me… yes, that last picture of me and Elder McIntosh was taken in the
flat… Mom and dad can’t pick me up because of the visa restrictions for
Missionaries in the UK… Now, in answer to these last questions, when I get home
I would love to go to Disneyland! And if you want to get me things for
Christmas don’t buy me missionary stuff just buy regular stuff and give it to me
when I come home.

Once more the moment comes were I have the privilege of giving you as much of an
insight into my week as I can in but a short amount of time and in words that
are almost always difficult for me to express. This past week something has
happened that has never happened on my mission before and it is what I will
share with you all today. Thursday July16, 2009 Elder McIntosh and I were
walking a street known as Holt… a street where a good amount of people usually
are, and we were having alright success we had met some people who set up
appointments with us but nothing to solid or amazing until we met a man walking
around the corner by the name of Yestin. Yestin is from India and when we
started talking to him about the Book of Mormon he started to get very excited
and wanted to meet with us later that day but couldn’t meet in his house because
h
e lived with like 6 other people so we made arrangements to meet him right were
we met him in about 4 hours… We went back, he was there, we walked to the chapel
(about a 10 minute walk from were we where), taught him the restoration and the
Spirit was very strong. The following Saturday a baptism was happening in the
Chester ward… we invited him to come, he came, he saw it, he loved it, and he
wants to be baptized! The next day he came to all three hours of church and
loved it! Now he is preparing himself to be baptized for the 29th of August and
is so ridiculously prepared to hear the Gospel! Once more I can not even begin
to describe the outstanding feelings that come from being involved in such a
marvellous work! It wasn’t my words, personality, or even my good looks ;) that
have caused this change on Yestin… surely it is the Spirit sent by God to help
his children understand the potential they really have! I absolutely know that
this is the Lords work, he knows his children on a very real and individual
basis, and above all I know that he loves us so much and I can I feel it within
my heart every time I speak to someone on the street… Our God is a God of love!

With all my Love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. I would still love a tooth brush head to the posh tooth brush you gave me
for my B-Day :)

Hi

Once more, bravo on the E-mails it is always nice to hear about how life is back
home and it is somewhat disappointing to hear that the new Transformers movie is
a dud (according to the movie critic extraordinar Mum) but good to hear that
everyone is doing so well. I have to say, before I begin to give a recap, that
there are those who write and there are those who non-write and with those who
write I am well pleased (you know who you are) but with those who non-write (and
you know who you are) I am sorely displeased and the time of judgement is nigh
(about 6 months), so let us remember that repentance is always available SO
WRITE ME SOME LETTERS! That includes family and friends! (CONNOR ANDERTON!)

Well, The Wankier clan is having quite an enjoyable life as they go to the New
York Yankee baseball game, in their new stadium, sitting on the front row,
behind right field! Going to Huston to spend some time playing with cousins!
Stopping in California for a day to go to Sea World! And by the end having
stayed in 4 separate time zones! The ST. George McKenna’s are doing quite well
with Ellyse heading off to EFY were the tip-top talented Jeff McKenna will be
presenting a talk and (as stated by Ellyse) this talk will determine weather
Ellyse will be known as Ellyse McKenna claiming a relation to her father or just
Ellyse the young woman with absolutely no relation with Jeff McKenna :), but we
all know that Jeff is going to knock one out of the park. As for the Patriarch
and Matriarch (mum and pa) it has been revealed that they are pleased that they
can’t come to pick me up! Due to an amazing cruise that they will now be taking
through the Greek Islands, onto Egypt and the Pyramids, and finishing in the
North of Africa, the cruise in total being 18 days beginning on the 10th of
December and ending on the 28th! The Lord is defiantly keeping his eyes on all
of us and pouring out his blessings upon us during this struggling time in the
world. In answer to some questions that were given… Yes, it will probably snow
in the winter because that is just the way my life in relation to this countries
weather is :(.

Onto life over here in now once more rainy and cold Britain (to be honest there
really is no point in telling you what the weather is like today or even in the
afternoon of today for it is liable to change even while I am writing you this
E-Mail). Life is good, as it always is when you are serving the creator of the
universe :). Our investigators are doing very well, Elder McIntosh and I are
getting along pretty well (we have quite different personalities but we are
managing just fine), and the work of the Lord is going forth boldly and nobly.
So in contemplating what I should write about this week I have decided that I
will tell you the story of a group of investigators that we have rightly dubbed
‘Alice and Pals’… Around 4 days ago Elder McIntosh and I had one of those days
that is just full of finding, we basically just walked around town centre for
about two and a half hours just stopping people and trying to share the Gospel
with them, we then began our journey back to the car feeling quite tired when we
spotted Alice and ‘pals’ (they are all about 20 years old and looked quite
interesting) but alas we stopped them and began talking to them. In the
beginning they were what you would expect 3 teenagers would be like when talking
about God but after a bit of chat they actually started listening, then asking
questions, and finally we walked to a nearby park and taught them right then and
there about the restoration and made an appointment for the following day… The
next day we got lost trying to get to her house (Alice had lived by herself in a
new part of the city that isn’t in the A to Z Maps) so we had to call her and
she handed the phone over to her house mate who gave us directions to the house
and told us that he would stand on the ‘corner’ of the roundabout so that we
would know which place to turn in he also said that he would be wearing all
black and a black beanie, we got to the roundabout, saw him on the ‘corner’,
went down the road he was standing next to, rolled down the window, and met the
3rd of Alice’s pals… When we got to the house we walked in to find out that
Alice lived there, so did her roommate (the one wearing all black), and so did
like 10,000 other people! We ended up teaching another two of Alice’s pals and
the lesson went really well, most of them that were listening were excited to
have us come back and there were some who weren’t listening who wanted to listen
the next time we came around, and even though there was a device used for
smoking Mariana and it had something in it that was defiantly not sweet tobacco
:), just lying on the floor and my companion actually tripped over it :P. It
was so amazing to share the gospel with so many at one time! It was an
experience that will not soon be forgotten. It’s so funny how you meet people
like Alice and pals and yet they listen to the words of the Gospel, truly this
is something special, truly the Spirit is a personage that can touch the hearts
of men and woman, surely this church is true, and with out a doubt this is our
Heavenly Father’s work and glory! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

With all my love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. everyone always asks what they can send me in a package… well I really need
a new tooth brush head to the posh toothbrush I got for my Birthday :)

P.P.S. Did Mimi get her Birthday present because I think something happened with
the post over on this side :(.

P.P.P.S. Someone rebuke Connor and tell him to write me a letter!

P.P.P.P.S. The picture is me and Elder McIntosh

Hi

Once more, bravo on the E-mails it is always nice to hear about how life is back
home and it is somewhat disappointing to hear that the new Transformers movie is
a dud (according to the movie critic extraordinar Mum) but good to hear that
everyone is doing so well. I have to say, before I begin to give a recap, that
there are those who write and there are those who non-write and with those who
write I am well pleased (you know who you are) but with those who non-write (and
you know who you are) I am sorely displeased and the time of judgement is nigh
(about 6 months), so let us remember that repentance is always available SO
WRITE ME SOME LETTERS! That includes family and friends! (CONNOR ANDERTON!)

Well, The Wankier clan is having quite an enjoyable life as they go to the New
York Yankee baseball game, in their new stadium, sitting on the front row,
behind right field! Going to Huston to spend some time playing with cousins!
Stopping in California for a day to go to Sea World! And by the end having
stayed in 4 separate time zones! The ST. George McKenna’s are doing quite well
with Ellyse heading off to EFY were the tip-top talented Jeff McKenna will be
presenting a talk and (as stated by Ellyse) this talk will determine weather
Ellyse will be known as Ellyse McKenna claiming a relation to her father or just
Ellyse the young woman with absolutely no relation with Jeff McKenna :), but we
all know that Jeff is going to knock one out of the park. As for the Patriarch
and Matriarch (mum and pa) it has been revealed that they are pleased that they
can’t come to pick me up! Due to an amazing cruise that they will now be taking
through the Greek Islands, onto Egypt and the Pyramids, and finishing in the
North of Africa, the cruise in total being 18 days beginning on the 10th of
December and ending on the 28th! The Lord is defiantly keeping his eyes on all
of us and pouring out his blessings upon us during this struggling time in the
world. In answer to some questions that were given… Yes, it will probably snow
in the winter because that is just the way my life in relation to this countries
weather is :(.

Onto life over here in now once more rainy and cold Britain (to be honest there
really is no point in telling you what the weather is like today or even in the
afternoon of today for it is liable to change even while I am writing you this
E-Mail). Life is good, as it always is when you are serving the creator of the
universe :). Our investigators are doing very well, Elder McIntosh and I are
getting along pretty well (we have quite different personalities but we are
managing just fine), and the work of the Lord is going forth boldly and nobly.
So in contemplating what I should write about this week I have decided that I
will tell you the story of a group of investigators that we have rightly dubbed
‘Alice and Pals’… Around 4 days ago Elder McIntosh and I had one of those days
that is just full of finding, we basically just walked around town centre for
about two and a half hours just stopping people and trying to share the Gospel
with them, we then began our journey back to the car feeling quite tired when we
spotted Alice and ‘pals’ (they are all about 20 years old and looked quite
interesting) but alas we stopped them and began talking to them. In the
beginning they were what you would expect 3 teenagers would be like when talking
about God but after a bit of chat they actually started listening, then asking
questions, and finally we walked to a nearby park and taught them right then and
there about the restoration and made an appointment for the following day… The
next day we got lost trying to get to her house (Alice had lived by herself in a
new part of the city that isn’t in the A to Z Maps) so we had to call her and
she handed the phone over to her house mate who gave us directions to the house
and told us that he would stand on the ‘corner’ of the roundabout so that we
would know which place to turn in he also said that he would be wearing all
black and a black beanie, we got to the roundabout, saw him on the ‘corner’,
went down the road he was standing next to, rolled down the window, and met the
3rd of Alice’s pals… When we got to the house we walked in to find out that
Alice lived there, so did her roommate (the one wearing all black), and so did
like 10,000 other people! We ended up teaching another two of Alice’s pals and
the lesson went really well, most of them that were listening were excited to
have us come back and there were some who weren’t listening who wanted to listen
the next time we came around, and even though there was a device used for
smoking Mariana and it had something in it that was defiantly not sweet tobacco
:), just lying on the floor and my companion actually tripped over it :P. It
was so amazing to share the gospel with so many at one time! It was an
experience that will not soon be forgotten. It’s so funny how you meet people
like Alice and pals and yet they listen to the words of the Gospel, truly this
is something special, truly the Spirit is a personage that can touch the hearts
of men and woman, surely this church is true, and with out a doubt this is our
Heavenly Father’s work and glory! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

With all my love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. everyone always asks what they can send me in a package… well I really need
a new tooth brush head to the posh toothbrush I got for my Birthday :)

P.P.S. Did Mimi get her Birthday present because I think something happened with
the post over on this side :(.

P.P.P.S. Someone rebuke Connor and tell him to write me a letter!

P.P.P.P.S. The picture is me and Elder McIntosh

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Hello from burning hot Britain!
Thank you for the E-mails and let me just say that Wales is HOT! Honestly the
weather in this country is the WORST it is either sun scorching hot or it is
pouring down rain and the humidity is so bad that you never are not sweating,
even in the buildings because no one has air conditioning here! But the worst
part is that I’m not looking forward to the wind blasting cold of winter either
which is closely approaching again! In all honesty I love the people, the
culture, the buildings, the language, everything EXCEPT FOR THE WEATHER!
AAAAAAAA! Well, anyhow, now that I got that off my chest lets talk about what’s
happening back in beautiful, sunny, warm, air conditioned US of A.

The Zurflueh clan has returned from an amazing journey through the
‘homeland’ were they navigated the small European streets with nothing more then
a horse drawn buggy the wagon was nicknamed the ‘Tinker Wagon’ and the horse was
called Charlie (Did you happen to stop by the cave of magical wonder while you
were journeying around) and basically they lived like proper gypsies! The
little Houston McKenna’s wore out Ma and Pa in an amazing few days of nothing
but fun and adventures! Including 3 movies, 2 museums, and a trip to Monkey
Business… needless to say the trip was a success. Chelsey has a new car (I
don’t know when she got it BECAUSE NO ONE LETS ME KNOW THESE THINGS) and enjoyed
her Birthday celebrations! Chynna has basically mastered the Book of Mormon
while doing the commitment left by her Young Woman’s leader to read the book in
its entirety requiring 3 chapters a day to finish in about 3 months. Irelynn
has somehow found a journal that I kept when I was younger (about 10 years ago)
and has made some interesting comments about the front cover being covered in
little flowers… All I’m going to say is that it takes a real man to have a
flower covered journal! But Irelynn makes up for her ‘flower journal comments’
because she has found a missionary who is shorter then me :). In answer to some
questions that were given… No they don’t have any celebrations for Independence
Day over here except for the clubs and pubs which seem to think that it is a
great reason to gather together and get drunk and throw things at American
missionaries :(… Yes! I’m totally serious about getting a life size cut out of
me and placing it in the main pictures so that I can be present at my cousin’s
and my best friend’s wedding! The best way to do it is to get a big cut out of
someone in a tux (like a famous person) and then get a blown up picture of my
face and place it on the cut out’s face and wa-la Elder McKenna was present for
the sealing and marriage of Connor and Ashley! You should really think about it
:).

Things over here on this side of the World are going extremely well. The
Lord continues to perform his miracles and there is one amazing thing that I
would like to share with you that I gave a hint to in my past E-Mail. Last
Monday (June 29th) Elder Eichelberger and I were knocking some doors in a little
street that we had only noticed about 2 days previous… There were only about 10
or 15 houses and we had worked quite extensively in all the areas surrounding it
but for some strange reason had never seen these houses before… The first house
we knocked on wasn’t in, the second wasn’t interested, and so it continued until
about house 9 or 10 when a little dog would not stop barking at us from the side
garden, we knocked and a woman came out the side door… at first she wasn’t
interested, she wanted nothing to do with us and talking to her wasn’t working
to well because her little dog was barking so loud that she could barley hear us
anyway! In desperation we spoke over the barking and asked if she would just
hear us for 30 seconds at the front door without the dog, she brought the dog
in, closed the side door, and then for about 30 seconds there was nothing.
Thinking that she had no intention of coming to the front door we began to walk
away when we heard the door open up and a voice saying, ‘alright who are you’…
we began talking to her about what we represented and the things that we were
sharing and learned that she had been thorough some terrible times… her daughter
had been brutally murdered many years ago, and her husband had recently passed
away… we bore testimony of the Plan of Salvation and begged her to let us see
her the next day so we could bring another man with us, she finally agreed and
the appointment was set. The next day we came by, she let us in, we taught her
the Plan of Salvation, and despite all of her hard feelings towards God and the
negative feelings that she had in the beginning of the lesson the Lord still
poured out his Spirit upon us… The Lesson was amazing and as we bore testimony
that we knew this plan was real her heart was touched, we left her the plan of
salvation leaflet to read and pray about, and set up an appointment for when we
could share the Book of Mormon with her… She agreed to20everything and has since
read the leaflet about 5 times and is so happy with what she has read. Truly
the Plan of Salvation is the Lord’s plan and truly this is his work, How
wonderful it is to know that this life actually has a purpose and even though
death is a necessary part of life it is most certainly not the end, only a step
in the plan of our Heavenly Father!

All of my Love,
Elder McKenna

P.S. Mimi’s gift is going to be a wee bit late… :(

HI

HELLO MY FAMILY

Well, I’m sorry that this E-mail is late and I’m really sorry that it is going to be so short but we have absolutely no time! Elder Eichelberger has been transferred :( and I am now serving with an elder Mcintosh from Linden Utah (another Utahan :) but he is really good). Gary Hardie (the man himself) is doing AMAZINGLY WELL! He is so solid! He is reading the Book of Mormon every day and he is planning on coming to church this Sunday! Alright well, I really don’t have any time but I must share with you an experience that happened this past Tuesday and Wednesday… Alright I can’t! There’s no time but I will share it with you on Monday! I love you all so much!

I love you all this much (imagine me stretching my arms as wide as they can go)
Elder McKenna!

P.S. Thank you for letting me know about Audrey, it is quite nice to know that she isn’t going to EGYPT FOR THREE YEARS :)