Ice and cold ice and cold‏

Hello hello hello,

So, another week in Guthrie. Its been rather cold lately. There is a large pond by our appartment and its frozen over. Just an idea of how cold it is plus piercing wind. eek! Its been going well though. We've been teaching a recent convert's son and he has accepted to be baptized next month. Yay! Viola, the recent convert, is pretty cool. When I was in Edmond I interviewed her for baptism...now I'm teaching her and her son. Hopefully we can find some new investigators here because we only have a couple and one is getting baptized soon, so we've got some finding ahead of us. The ward here is good. They're all like a little family. Guthrie is a small town like Manti, so that gives you an idea of what its like here. Its probably a little smaller and on a more humble standard than Manti is. I went from the richest area to one of the less wealthy areas. The contrast equals out to about the same success rate of any other place. In wealthy areas, we don't teach as often, but when we do, they are commitment keepers. In less wealthy places, we can teach a lot of people, but they don't progress very fast. It just goes to show, you just have to find those who are prepared. Work work work until the Lord blesses you with someone.Well, I love you all and can't wait to talk to you Thursday evening!


-Elder Glenn Osness

In Guthrie‏

My Dearest family,

As you know I've been transfered to Guthrie, Oklahoma...which is the border of my last area, so I saw my old ward at church on Sunday. That was cool. So far being a Zone Leader means being on the phone...a lot and getting to know the missionaries in the Zone. The ward here is pretty good. Guthrie itself is a pretty humble place, unlike Norman and especially Edmond. Most of the people here have always lived here and are related in some way. Everyone knows everyone. Elder Webster is my companion. He's great...and from Las Vegas, so just down the road from home. Its weird because he's been my zone leader ever since I came to Edmond and now I'm his companion. It will be a fun transfer. Lots of room to grow now. We have some very interesting people to teach.Christmas time is here...just next week. So I plan on calling around 3pm here, which is 2pm in St. George, I believe...I'm not sure though. A couple notes about e-mailing here...I only have 30 minutes, so its like the mtc...really short to get everything done and apparently I can't connect my camera to the computer, so I don't know how often I'll be able to send pictures, but I'll see what I can do. Love ya! Can't wait to hear from you on Christmas!-Elder Osness

6 Months here, 6 Months there‏

Mymymymy Family,

Today is freezing! Its been pretty nice the last few days, but then the wind blew in the chill...a high chance of snow even. Cool, huh.So, This transfer went way fast! Just as I thought it would. As you can see we had a great district and some good things happened this last transfer.One of which, you've already seen...the baptism of Yao Yu...and now Frankie's baptism. He'll be getting the priesthood next week, which is awesome!...too bad I won't be there for it.I'm getting transfered, but only a short step away. I'm headed about 20 minutes North to Guthrie...as a Zone Leader. One other elder in the district is becoming a Zone Leader as well, so that's cool. There is one exciting point about being a Zone leader...and that is not being a District Leader. I don't have to plan District Meeting anymore! I feel my strength as a missionary isn't in meetings at all, but on a one-on-one basis. As a Zone Leader, I'll be doing that a lot more.Things are great and I feel like I've made somewhat of an impact for good in both the areas I've served in. Six months in Norman...and now cutting out of Edmond at six months. Just before Christmas too. Its nice to be in a familiar place for Christmas, but it will still be a great holiday. We'll see what happens next, as I experience more and more of the diferent aspects of missionary work.Thanks for the e-mails! Its great to hear how everyone is doing and how the holidays have been. Good luck out there in the real world!

Love Ya! -Elder Osness

Christmas Time is Coming‏

Hello Family,

Well, its December...that's exciting! So, my pictures are of the moon and a couple of stars. It was cool, so I took a picture of it. The other two are of our awesome Christmas tree that a member gave to us yesterday. Just thought I'd start off the month with the seasonal feeling.The Thanksgiving week was pretty good. The Parry family fed us for Thanksgiving and they are also the family that gave us the Christmas tree. They moved into the ward just a few weeks after I had gotten transfered here, so I've gotten to know them pretty well. They're a very missionary minded family, so they're always making sure we're taken care of. Frankie is still good for his baptism this Saturday and it looks like his wife has started to come around. Maybe all she needs to get her going a little faster is Frankie's baptism. Its exciting! Hopefully the rest of the family will get baptized next transfer...and hopefully I'll get to be here for it, but we'll see. I got transfered here just before my birthday, so if I get transfered next week, it will be a couple weeks before Christmas. It would be nice to be in a familiar place for the holidays.This past weekend I got sick, so the effectivness of missionary work over Thanksgiving weekend didn't go very far, but still a good week. The bishop called me Sunday morning and mentioned that a speaker had fallen through, so I'm thinking he's going to ask if I would speak, but he didn't. Instead he aked me to bear my testimony for the ward because I had been there so long and a transfer is coming up. He's a really good bishop. I've been blessed with great people in my life and on my mission...great members and companions. Life's been great!I love hearing from you!...and love you too!:)

Announce the Baptism!‏

(we are out of town so I am not on my own computer so I cant post the picture until next week when we get back!-Heather)

Hey Fammy,

Starting off with the picture; Its of Elder Scott and I while e-mailing because I haven't taken a picture all week.The week was pretty good. I went on two exchanges. One was with Elder Sivertsen, the one from Las Vegas. It was a fun exchange. He's shotgunning the area he's in, so we spent a lot of time finding and getting to know the less-actives. The other exchange was with Elder Martin, who was my MTC companion. He's a cool Elder, but has lost a little fire since first coming out. Some positive influence will bring it back out of him. I'm not a big fan of being a district leader because it takes a lot of my focus away from my area and places it on the needs of the missionaries in the district, so its hard to accomplish all that I want to. The good side of it though, is my companion also came out with me and is doing great and is a great help to me. Some cool knews on Franky; he announced his baptism in Priesthood meeting. He's so awesome. He's way excited for his baptism and hopefully some of that will wear onto others in his family, so they want to get baptized as well.Thanks for getting the conference call set up...I'll have more details as it gets closer to Christmas, on a specific time. Thanksgiving should be good here. A really cool family is feeding us. Congratulations on your new calling Natalie. I know you'll be awesome! You've got the personality to get things going and people involved.Thanks for the update Roger. I can always look forward to hearing your update. Keep an eye on Sarah. Oh, how's the ball game going with your corporate team? You didn't tell me you were doing anything that exciting. Watch out for the Crazeez!Well, I best be off. Its good to hear from you all! Love ya! \-Elder Osness

Another planning on being baptized‏

Dear family,

There's a random picture for ya.We met with Franky Evans and he committed to be baptized before I leave this area so, I could be there for it. That's cool. He...and us...are going to work on his family too, to see if we can't get them all baptized. I hope so! I would be great if we could. Franky is progressing great and will be a terrific member. That's really the greatest thing of the week. So great, I can't even think of anything else...We're teaching Yao Yu the lessons again and then we'll teach the new member lessons. She continues to grow in her understanding everytime we come over. I just hope I don't have to eat anymore chicken feet. Well, I can't think of any more updates.So, to the world you live in...This protest stuff is pretty rediculous. Here in Oklahoma there isn't any protesting, so I'm lucky. We just here it from the members. Good luck to Roger and Hillary in San Fran. I hope you are being affected so much by it. It might be a good time to start looking for places a little less...Homo, so Sarah and Will don't have to grow up in such a society. Its great to hear Will has arrived just in time for the holidays. We have the coolest family! Hey speaking of holidays...Christamas call is just a month and a half away. We need to figure out how we're going to manage that before it rolls around. That Fall Ball looked great Natalie! Hope it was as fun as your pictures say it was. Thanks for the mail! and speaking of mail. You could throw a two short sleeve shirts in the package. I'm a 15 1/2 neck I believe and the stafford shirts have been working out great, so that should do. Oh, no button on the collar. That looks funny. short sleeve 15 1//2 no button collar. Hope life's great!

Love you all! -Elder Osness

another to the household of God‏

Hey Family,

Well, the week went great! Yao Yu was baptized and confirmed a member this past weekend. Now to keep her strong and motivated in learning the gospel. She do great in progressing in the gospel. She is a very self propelled individual. You may be wondering what the picture is of the food in the pan. Well, I'll ask you; what is the strangest thing you have ever eaten...well, mine is a chinese norm. Yao Yu insisted she make us some chicken feet before she got baptized. I think her husband, Jay had something to do with it too. It wasn't the greatest food I've ever had...matter of fact, I'll probably avoid eating it the rest of my life, but its all about the experience, right?We also met with the Evans last week. They are are progressing, but at a much smaller rate than Yao Yu. Things are going well. This economy drop and election may make our job as missionaries more interesting. A few people may depart from a comfort zone they've grown so fond of and be tossed into a world of wonder. We'll see what kind of things begin to happen in the missionary life. Its great to hear from so many of you! Thanks for checking up on mom and my account Jeff. I liked seeing the family photos in the Japanese Tea Garden. Brings back great memories and its just a really cool place. Hope my new nephew is doing well. Sounds like the halloween parties were good fun, Natalie and Malissa. Those were some great decorative food ideas. I hope the world around doesn't have too much affect on the lives of yours back home. Good luck and God be with you!

I love you all!-Elder Onsess

Start fillin' up the Font‏

Hey Fam!

Hey, thanks for the love! I enjoy hearing from everyone! I'll definately have to spend a halloween in SanFran. Its a fun city. It looks like you had a lot of fun too Rog. Halloween here isn't as popular as it was back home. Not very many people dress up and there were like a whole 20 housed decorated for the holiday. Hopefully Christmas is better. Its a better holiday anyway. The pictures are of my companion and I carving pumpkins and our last trip to the Masonic Temple we found a book of mormon in the library there, so I snagged a picture.Well the week has been really good. I'm super stoked to work with my new companion, Elder Scott. Its way cool to have someone from the MTC as a companion. So the update with Yao Yu, she has been taught everything necessary and is excited for her baptism this Saturday. The interview is tomorrow with the zone leaders. We are also meeting with the Evans tonight and hope to set a baptismal date with them to work towards. The father in the family is in the book of Helaman and I think he now knows and understands more about the Book of Mormon than me. He's so awesome! I just hope his wife will begin to catch on because everyone else is ready to be baptized. Its been great!This will be an awesome transfer! I've got a great district. One companionship seems to lack a little motivation, but are willing to work and they want to see success, so it will turn out great. The other companionship is great. Elder Sivertsen is training a very motivated missionary and shot gunning an area (shotgun an area=two new missionaries that have not been serving in the area). They do a lot of finding, but are being very proactive and moving their area right along. Oh, my area got a new car the other day. That's exciting. I'll have to take a picture. Its a '09 Toyota Corolla. I feel pretty lucky; great companion, awesome district...and a new car. I guess I can handle being a district leader if things are this great! ha!~Well, I think I've decided my favorite season is fall! The trees are so cool in the fall and the weather has been way nice.~Love Ya!-Elder Osness

Transfer Knews...‏

My Dearest Family,

-the pictures-Gotta have the district picture for the last meeting of the transfer.Last P-Day we went to POPS. Its on Route 66 and has every soda you could imagine. Too bad I don't care about soda. The food wasn't that great either, but at least it had a really cool giant Soda figure thing land mark. Well, things are still moving along here in Edmond 3rd ward. Our baptism date, Yao Yu, is progressing great and is on the road to be baptized on the 8th of November and we haven't been able to meet with the Evans family for a while, but the father wants to be baptized. It will be awesome if he gets baptized the same day or the week after Yao Yu and then baptizes his family when he gets the priesthood and they have that desire. The area is progressing great!So, about transfers, which are tomorrow. Lucky for me, I get to stay and see the fruits of my labor. My greenie, on the other hand, is headed out and away to Chickasha. That means, by the end of this coming transfer, I'll be six months in Norman and another six in Edmond. Two areas in one year. That's weird. Oh, and I'm a District Leader now. This is no fun, no fun, planning for district meeting every week, but on the other hand, Elder Scott is going to be my companion. He came out with me, so it will be cool. I'll be a District Leader over five other Elders. It should be a great District.It sounds like things with the family are good. Natalie got a great haircut and Roger got a pink shirt...uh, I'm thinking San FranCisco is wearing in too much. haha! but seriously...a pink shirt...time to retire that bad boy and put on the biker jacket.

Love ya!-Elder Osness

Can I just get baptized?‏

Dear Family,

My week was awesome! Sorry to say some of the stuff happening in other places isn't so awesome such as the protests in San FranCisco. Keep your head up. This should be some cheery news for ya. All of the hard work in this area is begining to pay off. On Sunday we had five investigators to church. One of which, Yao Yu, has a baptismal date for the 8th of November. She's from China and married a member who lives here and she's been progressing great! We've been meeting with them for about two weeks and its been going very well. The other four is a family of five, the Evans. They would all be considered investigators except one of their daughters is only five years old. Franky, the father, is doing better than I could ever hope for with an investigator. We gave them all a soft baptismal commitment about two weeks ago, on the first lesson, which is "when they come to know these things are true would you be baptized?" They agreed. Well, yesterday Franky asked if he had to wait for the rest of his family to find out its true or if he could just get baptized. Amazing! I hope the rest of his family begins to get as exciting as he is. If things continue, next month we should have five or six baptisms. The sixth comes from another part-member family, the Manzer's, who is becoming more and more desirous to know if this is real and true. Sister Manzer knows what the church stands for is great, but has never been sure if there could really be one true church. We'll see where she goes.I always enjoy the mail and pictures. Thanks Malissa and Crystal for the package. The seat cushon is great! Thanks for the drawings Makinzie!The pictures are of me, my greenie elder Kleinman, Elder Remmington (DL) and his companion elder Miesner hanging out in the institute building, waiting for some other missionaries.

LOVE YA!

Dang false teachers

Hey fam! Well, first of all, thanks for the pile of mail in my inbox! Its always exciting to hear from ya'll. got a little Okey in me. Don't worry, it will wear off on the flight home, when that time rolls around.So, the pictures are of last P-day. We went bowling and its way expensive here. I remember paying like $6 at home. It was $11 here and I wasn't as good, crapy balls and crapy lanes, but its always fun to spend time with some other missionaries and I got a high score of 183.On Sunday we taught a great family, the Evans. We finally ran into a concern. Donna, the mom, doesn't fully understand how God gives authority/priesthood to his servants and when we taught about baptism and it being done by propper authority, up popped the concern. What's funny is, people here always seem to have a problem with us declaring God's authority lies in ONE church and they always know we are basically saying that nobody else has the right to do ordinances...or better yet, to preach the gospel. We don't even have to say anything and instantly something inside them tells them their preacher doesn't have authority, yet they want to defend that aspect. I have never told anyone their preacher doesn't have authority, but only how it is given and where it lies...they always know what that means, but for some reason don't want to accept that thought, even though we are right in front of them to offer the correct way. I wish it could be as simple as Acts 18 and 19, where someone with good intentions baptizes people, but not correctly so when Paul comes they accept the correct way. Their doing good though. Its a small stumbling block. Her husband is ready to jump in the font as soon as its filled, but we want his wife to be at a similar state so the family can be baptized. Great family, just taught by false teachers too much.Its been fairly good, someday I'll speak with enough power to penatrate the hearts of men...and women.It sounds like things at home are great! If this homosexuality stuff continues just shoot Romans 1:20something. Its a sin and completely against God!Well, love ya!

Progressing investigators

Well family,

This week was not full of teaching, but we got four great new investigators and one came to a conference session! Which was great. I've never been so excited to hear the prophet and general authorities speak until my mission...great weekend. Anyway, back to those investigators. The Evans family were taught last night...and already have come to church and have noticed the changes it has made in their lives. One of which is their marriage. As soon as Franky (father) came to church the first time with his daughter, things in the family started looking better. Then he came again...and bore his testimony in Sunday School of how he's felt about church and the Book of Mormon. Then he brought his whole family to church and we began teaching. They are a great family and hopefully I can see them get baptized before I leave this area...that gives me probably three weeks, depending on transfers, but at the rate we are going it will be accomplished. They are excited to learn and can't get enough of the gospel. That and conference was pretty much all that was real exciting this week. We have another investigator named June we've taught twice and she is enjoying the knowledge we give her, but I don't know how much "real intent" she has. God will give her some, if she keeps her commitments.So, what's new at home? Its probably started to cool down in the last few days. Oklahoma has been really nice to us the last month...weather wise. How's the house project? I bet its nice to have that tile in the kitchen. Well, thanks for all the motivation you give me! and thanks for the e-mails Malissa and Roger.

Love ya!-Elder Osness

A family to church

My Dearest Family,

Well, we taught some good lessons and some...ok...lessons, but a whole family came to church this Sunday! Ya-hoo! The Evans family joined us to church and wanted a lesson on the restored gospel, so we taught it to them. It was great! We'll also be meeting with them later this week and hopefully they can come to a session of General Conference. We have another investigator, Keiko, that would really like to see General Conference, but she's got family things this weekend. Her husband dropped us and is no longer interested in learning, but Keiko is bound to find out if its true and has set goals to finish the Book of Mormon and is reading it every night. I hope it doesn't hinder too much with her family by taking the lessons on her own now. I'm sure when she finds out its truth things will start coming around. Her husband is just too comfortable with life right now to want to make changes. We also got a great new investigator, Alicia, from a member. Alicia lives next door to the Bushman's (member). A few weeks ago, Sister Bushman told us about someone we could do service for because she is recently separated and the yard is a little much to try and keep up with, so we step into the picture. Last week, the Bushmans had us and Alicia over for dinner...and now we are teaching her the restored gospel and she is eating it up. We told her about Jesus Christ coming to America and her jaw dropped and gave her just the motivation to read the Book of Mormon. Pretty good week I'd say.Well, it was great to hear from you all. Thanks for the updates about your lives! I love you all!Oh yeah! the picture is because I haven't used my camera in a while and I thought is was time to give it a new picture, so there's my goofy self for you all.

Love ya, -Elder Osness

One to church!

Hey family,

the picture is of my old companion, Elder Farnsworth, and I. He didn't get a picture of us together, so he wanted one at the Zone conference we had a couple weeks ago. He's a great missionary!Well, we didn't teach as many lessons as I'd like to have this past week, but an investigator did come to church. It was Keiko. Her husband didn't come or her oldest daughter, but she brought her two younger kids they seemed to enjoy it. Keiko has a pretty strong desire to find out if the church is true and would want to be a part of it, but her husband Tod doesn't want to know if its true and is perfectly comfortable where he's at. Tell you what, when Keiko comes to know the truth and becomes a member, things aren't going to be as comfortable. He placing a small hinderment on her progress though because he doesn't want to do anything more than listen to the missionaries, so church, reading, and prayer doesn't occur as often as it should. She'll find out some day and I hope that will trigger something, so her whole family comes to that same knowledge. Yesterday we got a new investigator. It was co-senior day (once a week my greenie gets an opportunity to lead the area) and we had planned on seeing someone who I don't ever think about going to see because I've never met him the whole time I've been in the area, he's never home and I'm pretty sure he moved, but we went to see him. Now I know why the Lord directed us to that area. A guy was sitting on some apartment stairs, so while my companion is putting on his helmet and getting on his bike I started talking to him. Little did I know he would be interested. I began talking about what I was and why I was here and he said before I could finish, "Well, lets hear it." So, Elder Kleinman and I taught him about the restoration. It was an awesome lesson! Its really great when you meet someone that is really intrigued by our message. When I was talking about "dispensations" and "apostacy" I asked him if he had ever wondered why the bible stops...why there are nomore prophets and revelations and prophecies. His responce was awesome! He said, "yeah, why did it stop? Is there an answer to that question?" We smiled and said yeah and instantly he said, "well, tell me. I want to know. You're leaving me in the dark here, come on." So, we told him about the Great Apostacy and the Restoration (Joseph Smith). We also talked about Jesus Christ coming to America and he asked us why he's never heard this before, so I went back to why we are out here on missions and scheduled a return appointment and are seeing him later this week. He couldn't wait to start reading from the Book of Mormon. He want me to mark the section where Christ came to America, so he could read it after is meeting. Its a good week so far.So, I noticed you've done some work on the house, Jeff and Heather. I wish I could be there for the project. The more and more I'm out here the more and more I want to use my hands and do some real labor. It looks like Sarah is ready to help you paint when you're ready to. She's got some great masterpieces that Roger sent pictures of to me.Well, I love you guys. Make sure I don't miss too much while I'm out here.-Elder Onsess

Sunsets and Spiders and Transfers

Dear Family,

This week some non-members came to church, but none of which are investigators...yet:) All the people we've been teaching haven't been coming to church, but to our surprise five non-members came to sacrament meeting and three stayed for all three hours! Some good things are begining.Transfers are Wednesday and I was sure I was going, but the call came last night that I'll be staying with my greenie another transfer. I'm excited to be here for all the good that is becoming of this floundering area, but I do feel ready to leave. I guess I just haven't accomplished what the Lord has for me here. I saw our mission president this morning as well and he had in his mind that I was going too, then he had a puzzled look on his face and said, "oh wait, you're staying, aren't you?"Our district leader's greenie went home today. He felt like he needed to be home for family support (less-active brother). He doesn't understand that this work is the best family support he can offer. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have been called to the work.Well, I bet you're wondering what the Sunsets and Spiders are about since I told you about transfers. The sunsets here are crazy. Oklahoma skies are pretty cool. I seem to always just miss the sun when I want to take a picture though, so it doesn't turn out as awesome as they really are. So, to the spiders. Nancy and Randy might recognize the spider picture a little. If you remember when we went to see Natalie in Georgia last summer then went to Florida for a while and on the walkway to the beach there were these big spiders lining the way in the weird bushes, they're in Oklahoma too! this one was crazy cool though. Its web was probably 10 ft. tall and 6 ft. wide. It spanned from the trunk of a tree to the road up to some of the branches of the tree. The spider wasn't as big as I've seen them, but the web was amazing. They're smart too. I threw a small stick in the web and it stuck, so the spider went and clipped the web so the stick fell off and then went to work repairing the web.So, back to some spiritual matters. We got a couple new investigators that have been in the potentials list for about three months or more and finally got to teach them. They are Drew and Gatlin. Drew's biggest concern isn't what you'd expect. Its not Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon...or Apastacy, or authority, but a real understanding of Jesus Christ. His concern, I bet a ton of people really have, but don't know it. He told us straight forward, what does it mean "He died for us." I thought to myself, I know what that means, but his concern is deeper than that. Many people probably know what "He died for us" means, but don't really understand it. Its an honest concern...a REAL concern. How does somebody die for our sins? How do you comprehend that? Its not doctrine or a "my ways right, your way is wrong" concern. Its the real purpose of why we go on missions and why we have the gospel...to help others understand the Atonement. Here comes the plan of salvation...and then the gospel of Jesus Christ, which makes it all work out. Its exciting to meet someone that has a real concern. Does it matter if there are prophets, or bibles, or churches, if you don't know why?Thanks for the e-mails and updates I received from ya'll!:) And thanks for your talk, Rog. Its a great spirit building talk on our families.

Love you!-Elder Osness

Slowly but Surely

Dear family,

This past week we had a few good things happen. One of our investigators we've been seeing lately hasn't been keeping his commitments to read and pray. His interest seemed to be that he wanted to know what our beliefs were and he admired our devotion to the work, so he would let us teach him. Last week we decided to drop by his home and see how he was doing and I asked him if he had been reading and he said, "you know..." (ahh, here it is. He still isn't keeping his commitments). "I've been reading. I want to know." That was pretty cool to see someone take a step to progression. In our last meeting we talked about baptism and he really liked the fact that we do them at an age of accountabilily and not infantcy. His church does and he's very against that because children are not capable of making sin and made clean through the atonement of Christ. I think we'll see him come through, now we just need to get his family listening and coming to church. We were also able to meet with the Wrights, who we haven't been able to teach in three weeks. We just decided to stop by and they asked us if we were going to teach them a lesson, so we did. They are struggling with some of the things we've taught and we've been able to clear most of them. They just can't see the importance of authority and the husband isn't very motivated to church because they have their church to go to, but it will work itself out once a few other things happen...like a testimony. We've got some great investigators, but its taking them a lot longer to progress than I thought. I hope I get to see them make the full commitment to be baptized.Those and the package I received last week made it pretty great! Thanks for all the love you send me! How are things back home, anything new and exciting? The weathers starting to cool down. I bet thats nice. I know I'm loving it here. I just wish it would stay around 70 for the rest of my mission. haha! probably won't happen, tribulation is a requirment.pictures: The District-Elder Remington (District Leader/trainer) Elder Underhill (Remington's greenie) Me (trainer) Elder Kleinman (my greenie) Sister Lolesi (trainer) Sister Reed (Lolesi's greenie)WoW...a really really GREEN district:)

Love ya,Elder Osness

The church is true...still!

My Dearest Family,

Well, Things went pretty well last week. We were able to teach alot of people, but nobody came to church. We've been going to Langston University, in the edge of our area, once a week. There's a bunch of nothing there, but now that school's in, there are a bunch of students there. Its a really secluded University, so when we go there we usually stay most the day and try to talk to and teach as many students as we can. In between classes there is nowhere to go, so they just hang around campus to wait for their next class. So far there isn't anything real promising, but we'll keep working at it and soon enough the entire campus will no about the Mormon Missionaries on campus. We got some great new potential investigators last week too. One guy's name is Rod. He's a fireman and has a couple kids, I think. We went by to see if we could teach, but he was at the fire department, but his wife was home and we spoke with her for a while. Her name is heather...oh, that sounds familiar! Ha!One of the lessons we had wasn't so good. This guy wasn't going to accept anything we told him. My companion asked him a good question because the guy needs so much proof of the Book of Mormon, he said, if their was no proof of a man, Christ, that was crucified, would you beleive in the bible. The guy thought for a moment, and said, no....sign seekers drive me crazy. He says he knows the spirit works in his life and he feels it, but he must have never felt the spirit witness to him of Jesus Christ because he even needs physical proof of that. oh yeah, he's an Elder in the Evangelist church...False Faith. The spirit testifies to me of truth and they don't have it.So, the week was pretty eventfull, but not much progression came of it...yet.A renter in your own home? That seems strange. Is it a student or something? A litte extra income isn't so bad though to fix up those household projects.Hey, thanks for the package! It came a while ago, but because of the flood thing that occured in our appartment we were at a member's home for a while and I didn't find out about it until last week. I had to wait tell today to get it because it was at the post office and the post office is out of my area, so I haven't gotten to check it out yet. Thanks a bunch for all the love and support!

Love ya!-Elder Osness

Yo Adrian!

Dearest Family,

I don't have any new pictures of me for this last week, but the clouds here are still cool!Last week was a little sketchy with getting sittuated in a member's home (the Bray's), but its really nice and has been pretty enjoyable to be in the comforts their basement. Next week we'll probably be moving into a new appartment, which will be a sad change. We've been living pretty comfortably for the last week.So, the new happening events in the work...well, we found a great person to teach! Her name is Adrian. The way she explained her name was by refering to Rocky. "Yo Adrian!" haha! She came to the door and was, surprisingly, happy to see us. We talked to her for a few minutes at her doorstep and gave her a Book of Mormon, left her a commitment to read and pray about it and she looked at it and said "Okay, I could probably have it read in a couple weeks." WOW! We asked if we could come by and see how the reading was going and teach her some more of our message and scheduled an appointment. She was pretty cool. Besides that we had a few dropped appointments from other investigators, but rescheduled for this week, so its really good out here.My greenie companion had his first bash with a guy last night, which went nowhere. I could barely get a word in, he was so into proving this guys questions. It was kind of difficult, but he won't be bashing anymore. I'm really enjoying my mission!So, I hear Spencer is off to basic training. That will be cool to hear how things are going with him! What else is new in the lives of our family. I haven't heard from very many of you lately...except for Roger's diligent e-mails. I can just picture Sarah standing there with her arms out waiting to help. I love my family!

Thanks for all your love and support. Love you all!

The good and the bad...oppostion in all things

Family,

Well it sounds like most everyone is doing well. A few stresses here and there, but I hope everything turns out good. (Natalie's surgery and Heather's family). The Mormon Anniversary stuff in San Fran seemed pretty cool. We know that with every good moment there is bad somewhere and with all the bad, the goodness of God will be around. Something I learned in the MTC is to cherish the hard times because those are the times that make the good times all the better. And its really true. We really don't know how good it is until there is something worse that confronts us. Lucky for me, the times have been pretty good this past week. The weather took a turn. Its been cloudy ever since the new missionaries arrived. Yesterday, there was a light mist...all day. It was awesome! The last few days have been between 70-95 degrees. Other than the weather and the overall enjoyment of being a missionary...nothing has happened. We've only taught a few lessons and no progressing investigators. We haven't been able to make contact with Andres (Baptism Date) since we set the date and our other great families we're teaching...still haven't come to church, but they will. There is good in everything. Its up to us to find it.So, speaking about the new missionaries...I'm training one of them. His name is Elder Kleinman and Music Theater is his life, if that can give you a picture of his personality. He's pretty cool...your typical drama student, but he loves athletics too. It hasn't been bad training. I think the only stress of it comes from the title "trainer," the actual work isn't different. Things are pretty good out here and hopefully more and more people accept the gospel.The pictures are of me and my greenie out enjoying the great proselyting weather in Edmond.

Love you all!

-Elder Glenn Onsess

Waterfall feature!

Well Family,

there was an exciting turn of events this past weekend. The week was pretty good, we taught a couple great lessons and tried a new way of teaching...well, not a new way, but instead of talking a little about our message when tracting we decided we were going to start teaching at the door of peoples homes. It works great and should continue to be better and better as we work out the bumps of trying a new thing. We managed to pull off two lessons with commitments to read and pray about the book of mormon and we got to pray with them, but didn't get any return appts.. We'll be working on how we can manage to do that...then we'll move on to a soft baptismal commitment at the door. (Soft baptismal commitment-when you come to know these things are true, would you be baptized?)So, back to my first statement. Training a new missionary isn't so bad, but walking into an appartment with water pouring out of the roof, through vents, and light fixtures a week and a half into the mission has got to be weird! On Saturday evening at 9:00 p.m. we opened our appartment door to a waterfall sound and flipped on the light to find...a waterfall in our appartment! We quickley grabbed our suitcases and filled them with our belongings and made a few calls to get things situated...only we couldn't find any maintenance or manager numbers anywhere and the people that lived near us weren't home, so we were in limbo. Finally, at about 10:45 p.m. we got a call from the appartment manager, who was furious with us because we didn't call him. Well, the story goes, a bathroom pipe had broken in the appartment above us and while we were out and about through the day, our appartment received all the water, which then ran to the neighboring appartment and into the parking lot, leaving us to sleep, or should I say, attempt to sleep on the floor of another set of missionaries appartment with no bed, blanket, or pillow. I now know what its like to feel homeless. Lucky for us we only had to stay in that appartment and live in our car for two nights. We are now staying at a member's home who have a full basement (kitchen, bathroom, own entrance). Good news of the weekend...we got an investigator to church, who is planning on bringing is family next week! I guess its not too bad, but the work did kind of hit a stand still for a little bit.(the pictures are of our appt. the next day)Well, I hope things are great at home!

Love you!-Elder Osness

Not a cloud in sight

My Family,

Well, Another week come and gone. This week went by way fast! I can't even remember anything from it. We're still just teaching the same people and other people are still just satisfied with life and don't want to talk to us, but that's the way life goes as a missionary. The sun really wears you out pretty quick. It was 107 the other day. yuk! Ithink I spoke too soon last week...now August is here and Its really hot...with hot wind...like home. Tracting tracting tracting, oh, all the time in the heat. Yep, that's me! Ough! Next transfer we should be getting some baptisms though...I hope. With one investigator with a date and an awesome family of five we've been teaching, there's some promise. The family we've been teaching has a problem with the nececity of baptism, but they said they understand where it comes from and are sure God will answere their prayers. We've been teaching at a member's home and our last lesson started off a little wacky. We told the members we were going to teach Lesson 3 (The Gospel of Jesus Christ), so they looked at it and read it and new how to help, but one of them just got a little over anxious and started talking about the temple and being sealed and just going way over their heads. It was annoying, but her husband helped us out and got it back to the lesson...oof! Besides that, everything is great and the family is still openminded and wanting to learn more...just with more questions about things we want to cover at a later time.We also went out to the far ends of our area...Coyle. There's nothin'! Just a bunch of people who hate life, but some of them were friendly, but the dogs sure weren't. We were biking and a dog starts barking and growling...then jolting full speed after us...yup, so we biked faster...Ha! dumb dog! The picture is me looking at the map in Coyle. There were a few good things about it...clouds, but still 100+ degrees.Well Love ya'll. Hope to hear from you soon!Oh, so is there a package headed my way? You know, the one that was going to get sent after the Family Reunion. Oh, and I'm training a new missionary. I find out all about him tomorrow.

Take care:)-Elder Osness

It ain't so bad!

Hey Fam!

Another week gone. My mission is going by so fast! Its so crazy! This week was the hottest week since I've been here...103, but still more tolerable than St. George. Everyone from here keeps on telling me its going to get so hot, just you wait. And I tell them, so far its been just like home or not as bad...except for winter. ewuah! The winters are about the same temperature as home, but with slicing wind...Summer is like St. George with a little more moisture. It makes it nice. I sweat a little more, but its not as hot. St. George Summers are like an oven. Here, they are hot with a little wetness, so even a little breeze feels really good. My short sleeve shirts are stained with sweat from where my bag rests. They're really white except for my shoulders and my back. And my shoes are getting their use. I've already got some holes wore into the bottoms and the soles are begining to separate themselves from the rest of the shoes. Well, enough about weather and my attire.This past week was pretty good. We set a baptismal date with Andres that we can work towards and prepare him for; 16 August 2008. And we a few others that could potentially be baptized soon after. That family I wrote about that we tracted into on the 4th of July. We taught them at a member's home and they keep commitments great. Keiko read Alma 34 and the book of Moroni. I'm not sure how much her husband read or her daughter, but they seem to be moving along great! I'm excited for some events that should be occuring next month in Edmond!So, I heard a little something about Pixar and BYU. My companion told me that they got BYU set up with courses and and programs and everything they need to develope prime employees. I might have to do some good studying when I get home and see what I can do to get in there.

Thanks for all you do for me!

Love Ya!-Elder Osness

just movin' along...

Hello Family,

Nothing really new, except for some awesome new investigators! I think, next transfer this area may have a few baptisms. We have one investigator that has been coming to church for a couple months, Andres, I'm pretty sure he'll be getting baptized soon. He is awesome! Yesterday, we got two new investigators; Keiko and Tod. They are great! They have three kids, one of which has already begun reading the Book of Mormon. She started before we taught them. The family was tracted into on the 4th of July...by us and said she didn't know much about our religion and said we could come by sometime. We left Keiko with a Book of Mormon and a chapter to read. She and her husband went online to mormon.org and did some research and reading and their oldest daughter (13yrs old) started reading the Book of Mormon. She was fasinated that Jesus Christ came to America. They feel really good about it and our next visit will be at a member's home.That's really all the news I have. Good week thus far. So, how are things with ya'll? (getting a little Southern on ya) How was the family reunion? Sounds like Roger and Hillary enjoyed their time in St. George.

Love Yous guys! -Elder Osness

Just hanging out

Hey Fam!

(the pictures are of the Masonic Temple because I haven't taken any since.)Not much new stuff has happened this past week. We taught a really cool guy on Sunday in Elder's Quarum. He's going to be baptized...some day. We're actually going to set a date tonight with him. He's been coming to church for a couple months and the previous missionaries had supposed he was a member, but found out otherwise, so we are teaching him. He told them he wasn't a member...yet. His name is Andres. He's truely a Golden investigator. He eats up everything we teach and is ready for more. One lesson and he's already got a testimony. I love meeting people who are ready and searching for the gospel. That's really only thing I can think of that is super exciting for the past week...So, how's life with every one?

Love ya!Elder Osness

New investigators

Hey fam!

PICTURES- my new companion and I in the outskirts of Edmond (not a very good picture, I'll take another one, but I filled up my memory card.) The other two are at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie. The statue was cool so I got a picture with us around it and the theater one is way cool. Its just like in the movies and they still have plays there...only for Masons though. The tour guide played the organ for us and it sounded like the Phantom of the Opera. It has way good acoustics in there! This area is kind of hard, but its moving along. I've only been able to teach one of the investigators the area previously had, but good news We've gotten some great potentials in the last couple of weeks and three new investigators...soon to increase. The ward is coming together more in their missionary work and are becoming more and more willing and wanting to help. Its been great! The 4th of July was good. we didn't get to see any fireworks, but we went to a BBQ a a member's home with a bunch of the other ward members and we met an awesome family while tracting! Good things are happening hopefully they can turn to the best things.It's definately getting hot, but I already bought a camelbak, so no worries. Thanks for the packages filled with goodies, shirts, and the supplies.

Love ya!-Elder Osness

New #

I don't remember if I gave the phone number out, but my new one is (405)924-5034. It will more than likely change again before I call home for Christmas. Every area has a new number, so every transfer, I get a new number.Love ya and tell everyone 'sup for me. Oh, want to know something cool. I got a package from Kellie for my birthday. Hmm, that's weird, she's married. She's a cool friend! -Elder Osness

Edmond 3rd

Dear Family,

First of all, thanks for all the e-mails and love! I logged on to my account and I had 10 e-mails, all from my family! I always enjoy the mail and hearing what's new. I totally spaced my birthday...and Nancy's. Happy Birthday Nancy! I knew it was coming up, but when it came around, I forgot. I think it was mainly because of transfers. I was transfered to Edmond 3rd ward the day before my birthday and am companioned up with someone that has been out for about 3 months. He just got done with his trainer and I'm his braker. His name is Elder Farnsworth and he's from Eagle Mountain, Utah. There are so many of us from Utah here! Its weird. My new area is so green and hilly! Its a car area and my companion is way too used to the car. His trainer and him only got on their bikes a couple of times...not anymore. Its bike time! Our area stretches out pretty far and its extremely Rural, but we have about four square miles of rich housing developments then its absolutely nothing with a few houses here and there for the rest of our area. I've heard its a tough area, but everybody needs the gospel...even wealthy people. I'm going to try and get the members more involved a little more. From what I've seen they're pretty good members, so it should work. Our ward mission leader is super motivated, so it should be great. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but when I do you'll be surprised at what it looks like. I wasn't expecting to have all these hills. My brakes on my bike are almost completely wore down now...and I've only been here a week.Today we are going to a Masonic Temple for P-day. Its huge! Don't worry, we aren't becoming masons. Its a tourist atraction now and missionaries get in free.The pictures are of my last P-Day in Norman. We went to Oklahoma University Football Stadium and took pictures. It sounds like everyone is full of events. Roger's new Thor coming soon, the Kelsch's shopping spree and dried fruit...which I'm stoked to eat up (Kyler finally got his wii), Nancy's Happy Birthday, the one year stats of Micah, and...hmm Jeff and Heather...you got to see Nick's picture. I guess that could be a cool event:) I couldn't find it on their blog, so its cool enough, I guess.Thanks again for the mail...and the AP's called me to tell me I had a package from the fam...Coolio!

LOVE YA!-Elder Osness

Moving on...

Family,

PICTURES-(1-A member's home (Siharath) with the Zone Leaders. 2-The last district meeting of the transfer; combination of two districts. 3-My companion and I at the same member's home.)

Transfer calls came in and I'm leaving Norman. Its been an awesome area! Six months in one area is a long time though. I'll miss it, but I'm sure no matter where I'm at, I'll enjoy the time I spend there. I'm going to Edmond 3rd ward. My Birthday is the day after I leave Norman! That's weird. Its supposedly the richest area in the entire mission...Norman 2nd being the second richest. I'm just a high roller, I guess. Oh, and I'll also be senior companion now. I'm excited to help progress the area. I will also be in the same District as one of the missionaries that came out with me. That should be fun. This last week we had one of those experiences, where the person has been waiting and prepared for us. We were riding our bikes and saw someone so, like a good missionary would do, we went to talk to her and she, Suhmayyah, said "why don't you fallow me to the house, its hot out here. You can tell me your whole shpeel there." So we did and ended up teaching her the Restoration of the gospel. She later told us that she had been praying to know where to go or what church to attend because every church she had been to "just wasn't for her and didn't seem right." She was thinking of that question just before we had come to her. We assured her that God answers prayers and he sends his prepared servants. We actually got pretty BOLD with her. She said she had already been baptized and we pretty much told her that her baptism wasn't done by the authority of God...and she accepted the explanation we gave her with ease. I hope this area continues to improve. Thanks for all your support and all the Love! I always love your mail...well my mail, from you. Keep me posted:) p.s. let me know if they are going to allow martial arts in the Olympics in August.

Love, Elder Osness

Mail!

My Dearest Family,

Wow! Thanks for all the e-mails! It took like a half hour to go through it all. Its really great to hear AND see all the fun you are having. Sorry to say, I don't have any new pictures this time. I promise I'll get back on it and take some cool pictures. We've just been so on the go this last transfer that I just haven't thought of pulling out my camera.With the last week Oklahoma has had some really cool storms. I can't get enough of the storms here! The clouds are super thick and lightning infested. Its way rad! This morning It rained a heavy rain and flooded every street in Norman, so we didn't get our P-day started tell later. We couldn't go anywhere without getting completely soaked...and I don't mean just really really wet, I've been really really wet here, but soaked like I'm walking underwater soaked...I should have taken pictures, but I'm sure Oklahoma isn't done showing me the weather. At about 1:30p.m. the clouds dispersed and all the water dried up. Its crazy! One minute its just cloudy, the next the city is under water, then a few hours go by and its all dried up with sunshine all over town!Missionary work wise, its all the same. Talk to some people, teach some people, people telling us to go away, ext.. There was one girl that was funny. I was talking to her and all the sudden she says, "you can stop talking now. I'm an Athiest." (She's probably agnostic, not many people are truely athiest). So then I offered her a pass-along card for a DVD called Finding Faith in Christ and she said, "it wouldn't do you any good, I'll probably just burn it." cRaZY! But its okay. I talked to another girl a little later and the first thing she said was, "I like your tie." hahaha! She said we could come back another day. There are so many funny people! I love being a missionary! Thanks Roger and Natalie for all the pictures and mail! Its always a light on my day to hear and see how life is with my family. Thanks for sending me an e-mail from Nick too. I don't have much time to write anyone else so we don't here from eachother very often. Oh, that reminds me. There is a guy in the ward here that one a gold medal in the Olympics in the late 90's I think. His name is Sharopov. He's from Russia, Ukraine area somewhere. He's way cool...and a convert. Which reminds me of another thing. The OLYMPICS are soon! Man! That's a bumber, I don't get to see it. They're going to be in China too. That's cool. All well. Let me know if they are going to allow them to put Kung fu/Wushu/Martial Arts in the runnings this year. I know it was a discussion of topic before I left.Anyways, I may be getting transfered to a new area in a couple of weeks. I've been here for 6 months! Wow! I like Norman though. Its a great college town...just like St. George!

So the best way to send a package to me is through the mission office which is
Elder Glenn Osness
416 SW 79th St. Ste 210
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73139-8121
(i-pod, cable, car adapter)
Thanks a bunch! I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Love, Elder Osness

Oh Yeah, a baptism

Yo Fam Dizzle,

So, I finally took a couple pictures. I've been so busy and time goes by so fast that I can't keep anything straight or even think half of the time. One is of our Zone Leaders and my companion and I going to the driving rang on a P-Day and the other is of a baptism we had last week that I totally spaced on telling you...oops:) Like I said, we've been really busy and I can't think straight. The baptism went great! Brother Joe Steadman, a convert of a year and a half, baptized his children on 7 June 2008. Craig (10), Conner (10), and Summer (12) have been taught by us for a couple of months with the desire to be baptized. Here is a little background on the situation. Brother Steadman was married, had some kids, then was divorced and met a member of the church, was later baptized and married. Over time, he convinced his ex to allow their children to be baptized. She saw the improvement it made in his life and finally thought it would be okay for her children to join the church, so we entered the picture and taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the kids are baptized and Brother and Sister Steadman will be sealed to eachother this weekend and we will be able to attend. Yeah, its pretty much just awesome!Besides that, its the same old same old. We have some really good investigators that will probably be baptized next transfer, so I probably won't be a part of it. I've been here for a quarter of my mission! When you're in a good area for so long it really grows on you. It will be way cool to come back in a couple years and see all the people in my Greenie area.So, the family sounds like it's holding together just fine. That blog about the tomatoes was super funny. I can totally picture Cassy and her expression in not liking tomatoes. It made me think of when you got the leftover cake at some church thing and she yelled, "We get the cake? Yay, we get the cake!" Oh yeah, We were talking to this girl on OU campus and she was from India, but she had the funniest voice. She was the voice of Minnie Mouse. It was the funniest thing, I was talking to someone while my companion was talking to her, so when I finished I went over to where he was and stood there while he was talking, then I heard her voice and man! it was hard not to laugh. That was a strange shock.Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Oompah Loompah's in the Temple, eh? haha! I think that's a really good idea to have the members take turns cleaning the Temple. Its a good experience for people and it helps people gain a greater respect for the building as they are a part of the cleaning. That's actually how the Temple here is cleaned too.I really liked Roger and Hillary's pictures by the Painted Ladies. San FranCisco has so many beautiful scenes. And it sounds like Sarah's doing well at the Gubler's. I hope your new office turns out great Randy. Thanks for all the e-mails and pictures!I love you all! Can't wait to hear back next week.

Love, Elder Osness

Oh, the experiences missionaries have

Hey Fam,

How's it? I've been doing really well. My new companion and I are still tearin it up! I love the work! Its experiences like these when I know I'm here to help. I met the coolest kid EVER! last week. He grew up in Pennsylvania in a large mansion, but his family was extremely poor. They were living with some other people who owned the mansion. Sounds pretty nice, but it was a really bad situation. His parents (mother and step-father) were very much into illigal drugs and over time it caught up to them. The mansion was raided by the police and they were all taken to jail, except for Tony, the guy I was talking to. He was young and was naive of the entire situation. Once his parents were released, his mom ended her life and his step-father turned to God. The influence of his step-father helped him come to the reality of God. To make this long story short. Tony put his life in the hands of God and put all his efforts into bettering himself. He sought out his biological father and asked his advise on what to do with his life. His father really wanted him to go to college so he went to a community college, it was a struggle, but he put his trust in God. While there he joined the track team and to his suprise he was a high quality runner. He broke a couple records there and got a scholarship to the Oklahoma University, where he ran into us and the gospel has been brought into his life. Because of his desire to allow God to bless him, he has become very blessed and is going to work towards running in the Olympics in four years. And there is so much more to his story. He's very inspiring, how he can come from such a down life and have more hope than most anyone else.There are so many horrible things to feel bad about, but as we have hope in our lives and heed to the council of God, we cannot fail. What a glorious thing the gospel is! Well, sounds like home is great! Natalie gets to experience some of the annoyances I'm going through with allergies and the buzzing June bugs.And Sarah sounds like she's taking after Roger on the food subject.Oh, and way to go with Spencer's date to prom! We need more girls to take stand like that. I hope the night was still fun even though you didn't dance at the dance. Thanks for the the e-mails and pictures! Love you all and can't wait to hear from you again!Love, Elder Osness Oh, question. I'm curious about the update on my iPod. The reason I ask is I would just like to know when it gets sent so I know its not lost somewhere or if you still have it. Thanks for all you do!

Love ya!

Crazy Drunk kids just out of high school found some light

Hey Family!

Its been a hot week! It makes a big diferense when you wear a collared shirt all day out around the hot sun. Speaking of sun, those were some really cool pictures of the people and stuff holding the sun. I'll have to try that out. I haven't been taking any pictures lately. I need to start doing it more often. My companion and I have been so busy. I feel like we never have enough time to do everything. I think, in the last week and a half we've only been in our appartment before 9pm one time. We've been having a blast!Last night we were walking by some appartments and there were a bunch of people about my age at a pool drinking and smoking having a good time, then they saw us and one of them yelled to us, "hey! want to talk religion?" I said out of instinct, "sure." Just after I said that I thought to myself, that could just be an excuse to fight because a couple of them were pretty hammered, but I went anyways. The guy was totally crazy, but we got a few potential investigators out of it. The guy that yelled to us said, "you get 15 minutes then I get 15 minutes with no interruptions." I said, "cool." No more than 30 seconds had gone by and all of the people (10) that were partying came by to listen to what I was saying and the guy I was talking with said, "man, why you all coming over here to but in and ruin our discussion!?" Then one of his friends said, "hey, we want to hear this too, man! I want to know about God and religion." So, I ended up talk to everyone about God and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people had their own ideas and others were super intent on hearing our message. It was pretty sweet. One of the girls had taken the lessons about 5 years earlier, but after her mom died her family had stopped. She was pretty cool and seemed very out of place with the group she was hanging out with. Another guy looked like he was ready to do anything we wanted him to. He looked as though a light had finally shown in his life to give him direction and cause. It was so cool!Anyway, How are things at home? Seatle with Roger, Hillary, and Sarah looked pretty fun. Seems like all is well with Natalie, Jeff and Micah. Thanks for the pictures! I love to see and hear from my family. Thanks for the e-mail Kyler! It was good to hear from you.

Love ya!-Elder Osness

My new companion!

Oh my Family!

-The Pictures- District picture (all those in my last district), the 4 elders one (Elder Kimball (Assistant to the President), me, Elder Pace (Zone Leader), Elder Krall (my trainer, District Leader)), and the monkey picture (we went to the musium of natural history and there was a mirror with large ape stickers, so we stood behind it as though were were really there with the apes).

How's life in the real world? Anything good? Hope so. It sounds like Roger and Hillary are having a great time. It's exciting to have a new addition to the family coming and definately good to hear all the new words and things my nieces and nephews a learning! My week has been way good! After transfers, my new companion took off and worked the way I knew missionaries worked. With my trainer, my last companion, we averaged about nine or ten lessons a week and 50-70 contacts per week. *contacts are people we talk to on the street or people we tract into. With my new companion, in only three days, we taught eight lessons and got 161 contacts! Its great to have a companion that is on the same page you are. He's a super hard worker and has a ton of faith. His hard work ethic comes from growing up on a farm, I think. He's from Delta, Utah, so not too far away. He's naturally a shy, timmid person. I can see it in his personality and he talks it, but he knows what he's supposed to do and does it, so together we've been "tearin' it up!" He's very humble. Probably the most humble person I know.Its a lot of fun working with him. His Name is Elder Skyler Roper.Last week we were talking to some people and this guy was pushing a table up some stairs in the apartment complex we were at and while I continued to talk to a guy, Elder Roper helped this other guy carry his table up to his apartment and when I finished talking to my person I went in and to where Elder Roper was and we taught Antuan and Jerolyn (the table guy and his wife) the Restoration. I was sweet! Just yesterday, I was talking to a guy from Nigeria and he wanted us to teach him, so right then and there we taught Olu. Its so fun! There is a wide variety of races here in Norman because of Oklahoma University, so I get to experience almost every culture. I'm loving it! Well, hope to hear from you soon!

Love, Elder Osness