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