A letter from President Gee and his wife

Dear Parents,
Again thanks to you who have responded with your messages. I can feel your faith!
Well, we did it. We had a most wonderful and unique experience Saturday evening as we attended the Tabernacle Choir Concert. There was a large, generous, and friendly audience of Oklahomans gathered to listen. The first number was "Praise to the Lord" which begins with a rousing fanfare and I think the audience was won over from the first. Standing ovations began before the first half of the program was over and continued off and on for the rest of the evening. The sound was typically wonderful. President Gee and I are still on a "high" from the power of the music and the power of the spirit. President Gee was sitting by a man who with tears in his eyes said, "I have never heard anything this good in my whole life." (He is an educational administrator and a former band teacher.) Our neighbor called to thank us for the tickets and said, "They are out of this world." I think she spoke the literal truth, though I'm not sure she understands that a prophet sent them off with the promise that angels would bear them up. They are wonderful ambassadors who sing and play their hearts out and it could be felt. People may think it is all the power of impeccable musicians but I am positive it is also the power of the Holy Ghost. There was such a feeling of love, and graciousness, and unity. I thought to myself, "This is the way missionary work should feel. People should feel the power of our love for them."
The missionaries were scattered throughout the audience. They had strict instructions not to proslyte, but they could answer any questions asked to them, and they could visit with the people. They looked great with their dark suits, shirts and ties. The sisters looked good also. Fifty of the missionaries were able to be ushers. Even though we couldn't talk about the gospel, we are hoping the association of the music and seeing the missionaries out in force will open some doors and soften some hearts for sharing the message in the future. It has been forty years since the Choir performed in Oklahoma. You can see this was a rare opportunity for missionaries and we think they loved it. We were relieved when they all arrived back in their areas safely. We hope they are energized and renewed with enthusiasm for their work. They need it because it is hot here. Last week it was over 100 degrees every day. It is a bit cooler this week, but not much. They are tough and seem to adapt to the heat.
Well, enough for now. We appreciate your prayers and faith. We can visualize a whole network of loved ones praying particularly for the Oklahoma City Mission. "On--on to the victory!" President Gee sends his love also.
Love Sister Gee

Good things bring relief‏

Dear Family,

Sorry, I took a lot of video, but only have a couple pictures and I managed to miss myself in them...so here's Elder Maesato as he looks away.I think we are finally getting the hang of working both areas effectively. In addition to that, we got an addition on Saturday night to our companionship, and he is...Elder Maesato. He's from Haiti and his adopted mother moved to St. George while he has been on his mission, so a mission friend for sure! He's great! I actually heard about him a few transfers ago because he served with Elder Medina a long time ago.This transfer is full of surprises.Last week was Zone Conference and we got to go to the Temple. Its still pretty cool to have a temple in our mission and to be able to attend it often. Last year President Gee mentioned that he wanted to get us to the temple more often and take part in that blessing sense its available. This Zone Conference was different from other Zone Conferences. Usually we train and practice...doing and learning things to improve our skills as missionaries, but this time it was completely on the spirit....well done sir! The spirit is deffinately the key in conversion and when you are converted you are compelled to act in life. Knowledge does no good if it doesn't make you do something with it and the temple is a great place to receive spiritual knowledge. The begining of conference was on how the spirit works in helping our investigators act and then we moved into personal spiritual growth with the temple, so we can bring that spiritual conviction more to our investigators. A good conference!Good things coming...Saturday is going to be a great day for two reasons...the baptism of Brother Thomas and in the evening we (the missionaries) get to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert in Norman. With all the frustration of a couple of investigators who come up and down with their testimony, I needed Brother Thomas in my life to give me some balance. The concert is a great bonus to close our day!Well, things are good here!

Love you all! -Elder Osness

A letter from President Gee and his wife

Dear Parents,
It has been fun to communicate with several of you since I wrote last. I think we have started a good thing and I hope all of you enjoy this little update.
You may be aware that we had a unique and wonderful time during these last zone conferences. President Gee and I wanted to do something to give the missionaries an encouraging boost for their missionary work. We felt there could be nothing better than to have each zone attend the temple on zone conference day. Everyone traveled to the chapel by the temple for a preliminary meeting. We talked about how to feel the spirit and the atonement of Christ. It would be wonderful if everyone who goes to the temple could have that kind of preparation. We invited them to come fasting for this day. I want you to know that as I looked around at the room full of Elders and Sisters it brought tears to my eyes. I felt like my family was together in the temple. After the temple session and some pondering time in the Celestial Room we went back to the chapel and had lunch. President Gee finished the day with some concluding thoughts. It certainly is one of the highlights of our mission and we hope your children felt the same. We are so blessed to have a temple in our mission boundaries so we could attend together.
One of the things that President Gee explained to them is that the mission as a whole seems to be experiencing an added measure of opposition in many ways. We have several who are sick or injured and many who have trouble sleeping. Some feel discouraged or tempted not to obey the mission rules. We feel it is important to follow the advice in the scriptures and pray daily against the power of the devil. We invite all of you parents to join us with your faith and prayers. We know your strength can can bolster our efforts.
We do have many blessings as well, and little miracles happen often. We look forward to this weekend when for the first time since President Gee and I have been here, all the missionaries will be under the same roof at the same time. We are excited for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert on Saturday evening. We are hoping that hearts will be touched and that some people will be open to hear more about the church and gospel.
Thank you for all you do and for your encouraging words to your sons and daughters. As our mission theme says, "On, on to the victory!"
Love, Sister Gee

Hard to balance‏

Dear Family,

The pictures are just some great Oklahoma landscapes. Those giant wind propeller things were crazy! This past week was dificult. Having two areas with a lot of work to be done is a little tricky. So, pretty much all that is getting done is a priority list; what's most important to accomplish out of all that we need to get done. The only time we have to find new people to teach, which I don't know how to fit them into our pool at the moment is if we happen to talk to someone on the way to place to place. We do make time to tract or contact people, but usually it happens as a back-up plan to something we already have planned. The hardest part is trying to get our areas to corrilate, it doesn't help much that none of our people to see work out living in the same direction...that doesn't make much sense, let me try to explain. We go from one end of my area to another to some distance in Elder Kleinman's area, up and down and all over the place...so our bikes are slightly neglected. We only ride them about eight hours a week, but its getting better because we've been able to have a planning session to work it out better, but there are still some conlflicts we run into. The good side is...we don't have to worry or spend too much time with those that aren't as committed. We are working with a lot of really great people...and there is a possibility that I might be with Elder Kleinman in his area for Brother Thomas' baptism, which we set last week. That would be great since Max doesn't feel ready to make that commitment yet...and Brother Thomas is one of those unforgetable people's lives to be a part of.Well,

Love ya!-Elder Osness

reunited‏

Dear Family,

The pictures: Elder Kleinman and myself, our district...i'm not sure why it wanted to so bright, and a p-day activity of risk. World domination!hahaha! That game is pretty intense with six players. Well, last week was another good week. On Saturday Elder Kleinman's companion went home for work on his knee. Later in the afternoon, my companion's time was up and time to go home arrived...and I still didn't receive Elder Jackson from the MTC because of the Swine Flu containment and he is still getting work done on his knee from Basketball at the MTC, so Elder Kleinman and I are reunited. After nearly a year since I trained him we are placed as companions again to run Oklahoma City 1st ward and 3rd ward. We have two cars, two apartments, two areas, and two wards...eight hours of church. As a result we had to cancel a lot of appointments though, but its really cool to see his growth and meet the people who's lives he's been influencing for the past five months. Its a little crazy, but fun. President Gee is working on getting us a couple guys to serve mini-missions until he can get us companions again.Last night we taught a part-member family; the Thomas'. Brother Thomas has been going to church regularly and meeting with the missionaries for about a year and is now confident in making a covenant with God to be baptized. He's really humble and sincere. I'm glad I got to be a part of his walk to Christ. He's a lot like Frankie from when I was in Edmond. It was great to teach him.Dwane, in my area, is doing good too and introducing his family to us now too. He doesn't fully understand the importance of what it means to have Christ's church in its fulness here again, but is very open knows he has felt the spirit as we come to teach him, which I'm glad for. He really looks forward to our lessons.Max and Stan on the other hand aren't progressing the way they could...because the don't keep commitments, especially reading from the Book of Mormon. Its so frustrating when you do so much to show them the way and assist them in accomplishing the task and they don't hold up their part. It will work out down the road.Things are great! Oh, and I'll be going to Norman to the Mormom Tabernacle Choir on the 27th! That will be fun. Back to my missionary birth place. Well, Love Ya!-Elder Osness

delays

To My Family,

I talked to President Gee last night and there are some issues at the MTC and all the elders have to stay a while longer, so I won't be getting Elder Jackson for a while. In the mean time Elder Mora and I are doing really good except for a few flat tires and the fact that he leaves this weekend and I probably won't have my companion still...so..uhm..yeah.I'm not sure what will happen. Hopefully something gets figured out so I can still work in this area because we are doing really good and a lot is going on for us.The Adams are doing really good. We didn't get to teach them last week, but they are reading and happy to see us. We stopped in on them yesterday to say hi and they have a change of plans and might be moving this weekend to Tulsa...out of the mission, but good news too; they asked us if they could fill out a referral card so the missionaries could come by when they get in their new place. I'm sure they'll join the church...its just too bad I don't get to see it happen.On the other hand, Dwane is doing even better! He's really taking hold and reading the Book of Mormon and began talking about the persecution that the church receives and mentioned that if he becomes a member he'll be right in there with the rest of us, so he wanted to ask some questions to get some understanding on the rumours people spread about the church. He's awesome!It gets better! Max is very excited to get baptized on the 20th and has been sharing the gospel with friends and on Sunday asked us if he would be able to serve a mission after he's baptized. That's what I like to hear. Things are real good here! Just waiting for my new fresh companion.Mahalo nue loa for the e-mails. Sister Allen is Hawaiian and loves to speak her language to us when we go over and read the Book of Mormon with her. So I've picked up a few phrases.Take care of my new niece...I can't wait to see you all for Christmas!Love ya!

A letter from President Gee and his wife

Dear Parents,
I often have a desire to write to you about how appreciated your children are, but there are so many wonderful missionaries that I can’t seem to make it happen. I have decided to go modern and use e-mail to communicate with you. My plan is to send a sentence of two to keep you informed about the mission from the mission president’s point of view. We hope you will enjoy this and that it will be helpful.

The first message I want to send is concerning tornados and other newsworthy weather events in Oklahoma. The tornado season is almost over and so far it has been rather mild. If there is any weather that would put any of the missionaries in danger, President Gee watches the weather news like a hawk. The remote is in one hand and the cell phone in the other. If there are severe storms or tornados possible we can see exactly where they are predicted to be. In the metropolitan area they put maps of the cities on the television and tell viewers which streets are in danger. President Gee calls any missionaries who might be in the path to let them know what is happening. The news media makes it sound like tornados are everywhere in the mission. The truth is they seldom touch down, even if they form and when they do they cover a limited area. That doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. It just means it isn’t as scary here as you might think it would be. Besides, we feel the Lord is watching out for his messengers and prayer has great power. We want you to feel certain that we are doing everything we can to keep them safe. We love your children so much! We need your faith and prayers. Thank you for your support. Until the next time, may you all be blessed! Feel free to e-mail me anytime. My address is sistergee@myldsmail.net. President Gee sends his love also.
Love, Sister Gee