a bunch of no shows‏

Dear Family, Pictures:

All the pictures have to do with last weeks P-day adventure to the Museum of Natural History. Its a great museum that the University has. As you can see we had fun in the native oklahoma area with a large canoe and the where's Elder Osness wall of many faces:) Outside there was a steel buffalo, so we took a group picture there. It was a good brief on Oklahoma History and Natural wonders of time.This past week wasn't bad, but we didn't see as much progress with some that had made solid commitments. We had four investigators committed to come to church and none showed, but a good member who hasn't been for a very long time came and brought with him his fiance. After church we talked with him and he said we could come by and practice teach the lessons, so hopefully that will be an opportunity to share what is most important with his fiance and see some lights come on. We had a real great start to the area, but just can't seem to keep it up to a constant. Hopefully in this week we can see some avenues open up.Its transfer week! Elder Baker and I waited patiently for the call last night to see what surprises would come with transfer calls. The news....Elder Baker is leaving me....and I'm training again! Elder Madsen from Mayfield, Utah. There sure are a lot of us from Utah. I'm going to have to start saying I'm from Arizona or something. I can predict the response every time somebody asks us where we are from. "So, where are you from? Utah...Utah... Oh, both from Utah! Wow, they must send all the missionaries from Utah to Oklahoma. We sure do get a lot from Utah." Well, I'm pretty excited! I always get a little nervous before I have to train...hoping I can do a good job and make the transition an enjoyable, fulfilling experience.Well, I love you all! -Elder Glenn Osness

Ties That Bind‏ (from the pres.)

Dear Parents and Families,

We just had an exciting weekend with several baptisms. President Gee is smiling a lot, which makes my life happy as well. We had a good month in August and September was even better. We know we are being blessed. The missionaries continue to work with their might, especially asking for guidance to find prepared people. The members are starting to catch the vision of working with the missionaries, and of course after all is said and done, we are just having some miracles. President Gee has told the missionaries over and over that we are a team. While not every companionship has baptized recently, we all share in the joy and the accomplishments of each other. We feel the power of your prayers in our behalf. We are learning that specific prayers bring specific blessings, so we suggest that you could pray for the following:
1. Pray that the immune systems of the missionaries will be strong and that they will be able to fight off illnesses, especially the flu. (We have several missionaries who are sick with some kind of flu bug. We still don't have official word from Salt Lake about shots for the flu.)
2. Pray that the members will show love and concern for investigators and step forward to fellowship them.
3. Pray that the missionaries will get better and better at perceiving directions from the Holy Ghost.

We are hearing often that when missionaries pray to know where to go that they find someone who will listen. For instance one set prayed individually about which street to go to. They got different answers so they decided to go to both of the streets. They found someone to listen to them in the area between the streets. This may seem like a "coincidence" but we are feeling that in the Lord's work there are no coincidences. It is really faith building. Perhpas that is what Elder Ballard meant when he said the Lord is micro-managing his church.

Now, about "Ties That Bind." One of the most endearing and charming things about the mission culture is how important the Elders think their ties are. That is the only way they can express their individuality. It makes me laugh to hear them talk about their ties. One missionary said, "My ties are my treasures." They trade ties. They observe each other and know who wears what color of tie. Perhaps your missionary would like a new tie or two for Christmas. You might ask him about that.

Speaking of Christmas, it is only three months away. I once asked missionaries what they like to get for gifts. Mostly they like anything that comes but some of the suggestions were: stamps, gift cards, ties, lots of letters from loved ones, and pictures of family. They are inundated with sweets from members during the holidays. You might try to think of healthy food gifts like natural snacks, etc. Sometimes their white shirts get looking a little dingy so a new shirt might help. When it gets cold neck scarfs, hats or ear muffs, and a good pair of gloves make life much more pleasant. You might find some kind of clothing that won't let the wind through to wear under their proselyting clothes. I hope this gives you some ideas to start thinking about.
President Gee and I try to give the missionaries some little thing for Christmas. We would like to give them the new Gospel Art book this year. We know some of them already have one, but they can give one away if they want to. You might want to avoid sending them another copy for Christmas.

Thank you again for your support, prayers, and interest. Stay healthy and happy. Love, Sister Gee

Another Home Game‏

Dear Family,

PICTURES: OU had another home game, so it was off to the family fun zone on Saturday. These may give you a small idea of what its like here for Oklahoma Football.This week was great! You know how a while back I was talking about how many great people we were teaching and how close they were to progressing toward baptism...well, most of thos have fallen away, we're still working with a couple of them, and two got baptized. What made this week great though, was we found eight new investigators. A few of these people are showing more promise than others, but its a bunch to work with and help develop faith in Christ, repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.The way one of these new people was found was interesting. We talked to a girl on the street a while ago and she said we could come over and teach her and her family if we wanted another time, so we did. She was asleep, but her step dad said we could teach him, so we did and got another time to come by. When we came by he was there...and the girl we had talked to...and her mother...and her boyfriend...and her neighbor...and her neighbor's cousin. The neighbor, Jacob, is our new investigator. They all listened to the lesson, but Jacob was the only one who participated and had questions and when it came down to giving reading assignments and coming to church, he's the only one that made the commitments...and he kept them, though he wasn't home yesterday for his appointment and we haven't been able to get ahold of him, so...hmm. He loved Lehi's vision in the Book of Mormon and church was great, so I don't know where it all went. We'll find him again. The others we found hopefully start making more progress.Things are pretty great here in Norman. Love ya!-Elder Osness

Super Conference‏ (From the pres)

Dear Parents and Families,

This week we had the much anticipated "Mission Tour." Every September a member of the General Authority Seventies is assigned to come to our mission and see if it "feels good." This year our guest was Elder Michael Ringwood of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He was sustained in April General Conference and this was his first mission tour. He is tall, slender, and soft-spoken. When he speaks he speaks with the power of the spirit. He was able to interview a very few of the missionaries, but he was able to look into the faces of each one of them. He will be speaking in the Sunday afternoon session of conference in October, so be sure to be watching so you can see him.
The north part of the mission met in Edmund on Wednesday and the South part met in Norman on Thursday. It is always an inspiring sight to see the missionaries gathered together. I told them on Thursday that the word "synergism" comes to mind. Most of them looked blankly at me, but I explained it means the total is greater than the sum of its parts. There is a power when they get together that can't be denied.
The two days were similar but not identical. It is interesting for me to watch good men become men of God when they have a mantle and when the spirit is guiding. Both Elder Ringwood and President Gee stood up, ready to let the spirit direct the things they said. Both days Elder Ringwood told them he would be most delighted if each one learned something that wasn't spoken. That would be personal revelation just for them. (You might ask your missionary what was most meaningful to him/her.) He reminded them of the words of Elder Scott that their willingness to raise their hands and participate indicated that they were ready to be taught by the spirit. We had many, many comments from the missionaries. Part of the time was spent going through II Nephi chapter 31. If you want to join in the study you are invited to do so. It was to the missionaries a powerful example of the Father and the Son, teaching in unity.

Elder Ringwood told many stories. I will share just two of them.
When his youngest son was born, his oldest son was ten years old. As the baby brother was placed into his older brother's arms, the ten-year-old looked up at his dad and said, "Why do I love him so much!" That is the kind of love we need for the people we are teaching.

The next story comes from a brother who lives in Europe. One night he had a dream. He was separated from his family by a wide gulf. They were beckoning him to come to them, but he was with his friends. In the dream he decided to stay with his friends. Then he heard a voice say, "In two days I will send my messengers." Two days later missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knocked on his door. He told them about the dream. He said, "I saw the faces of the messengers and you are the ones that I saw."

There were many examples of the way the missionary work is directed from the Lord. I hope you catch the feeling again that these young missionaries really are the messengers of God. They are his angels. They just need to be reminded over and over so they don't lose the vision of the work they are doing.
On both days, as Elder Ringwood talked, the theme emerged that miracles are happening but we may never know about them. Sometimes it will be years later that people will accept the gospel. His words were very encouraging.

President Gee spent part of the time talking about the focus doctrine of prayer and fasting. Many of the missionaries shared thoughts and feelings. President Gee shared an experience he had many years ago. He was married at the time. He has always loved, even adored his father. One day his Dad was working in his acre of potatoes, which was his special little project. He was weeding them by hand. Somehow in the process he lost his glasses. His eyesight was not good so he couldn't see to search for the glasses and without them he was almost blind. President Gee could not stand to see his Dad be miserable so he went himself and crawled up and down every row, searching for the glasses. He had no success. In the potato patch he offered a prayer to Heavenly Father in behalf of his dad, and asked if he could be blessed to find those glasses. As he continued to search he walked carefully between the rows of potatoes. He saw a flash of something and found the glasses lodged up under a potato plant. These everyday experiences build faith that Heavenly Father is mindful and watching over even the simple things. Think how mindful He is over helping his messengers reach his children.

Well, the day was full of such examples and the spirit was strong. Elder Ringwood felt good about the mission.
The work still seems to be going well. We are sure every prayer offered in our behalf is being heard. We have the armies of Helaman here and an army of others praying for them. Please pray that the members will catch the vision of their part in this work. Have a good week. We pray for your families as well. Love,Sister Gee
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pictures are the highlights‏

Dear Family,

The week was pretty eventful!....ooooh. So, We'll start with Zone Conference. Zone conference was great! Edler Ringwood came and spoke with us and had a bunch of inspiring words. He used a few scriptures as the basis of his discussions with us; D&C 4, D&C 88:...can't recal, I have it written in my notes which are not with me, and 2 Nephi 31. D&C 4 was all about serving with all your heart, might mind, and strength...what I got...heart is service spiritual motive(testimony), might is commitment/will power( that is a toughy), mind is our inteligence, strength is our physical. It was very motivating. D&C 88 had to do with how he went about teaching us...having us all edified and all speaking our learning and understanding, so ALL are edified. Which helped out a ton with our 2 Nephi 31 discussion. I got a ton out of it and don't have the time to go through it, but it is now a much greater chapter in my heart. Great before...better now...all were edified. The picture to depict Zone Conference is the one of me and a few elders in the gym. Its all my mission posterity, save but one. A good little reunion.The next picture of the week depicts a baptism! yay! Kaleb's baptism went well, though we were getting a little anxious becouse they didn't show up till close to go time...niether had the opening prayer or the first speaker, but it all worked out and was a great day for Kaleb. I had the honor of taking him into the water.The water didn't stop there! The last picture is of the Family Fun Zone for the OU Sooner home games. It rained all day! Lucky for us, once we got the tents put up we had some shelter and were dry in a couple hours...until we had to tear it down and the rain got worse. The missionaries get to be apart of this activity because there really isn't a whole lot of productivity on these days because like I said before college football is more important to this town than anything. This way we get to be a friendly face giving free food and water out to those passing by. Pretty much the entire state migrates to Norman for the home games, so the missionaries get to share some joyful hotdogs and every so often talk about what were all about.It was a pretty eventful week!Love Ya!

-Elder Osness

Excitable Asian Christian‏

Dear Family,

Pictures: there are a couple of our p-day activities, laundry, and the car wash, the last picture is of another spider. Oklahoma has a ton of bugs...I think it has more sects of spiders than it does churches...maybe that's an exageration, there's a lot of churches.;)The only thing that is a bigger deal than church here, is football and boy does the town close down when OU plays some ball and it will pick up this weekend when they have their first home game...too bad BYU knocked them down a bit down in Texas...ha! On Sunday I figured something failed with the Sooners by how untalkative everyone was. When the Sooners win we don't hear anything, but OU football and the big heads that come with game, but when they lose don't you bring it up. Football is insaine here. OU football is truely the Golden Calf for Oklahoma, especially here in Norman.Back to missionary life...Things are looking good for Kaleb's baptism this weekend. We just need to print out some programs, have the interview, and fill the font. Hopefully OU's game is later in the afternoon, so it doesn't interupt the baptism...I guess during this season I can't escape football in this missionary work.The week was good. Yesterday we talked to this hilarious Korean woman. We were parking our bikes to knock on some doors and this woman pops out of her house across the street and here is our conversation; "Hey! Are you the police?" "no. We're missionaries!" "Oh, really, what church? Penticostol, Presbeterian?" "No. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." "Oh, Jesus Christ...Christians? I love Christians! I'm Christian! I need to take your picture! I get my camera. Oh, I love Christians!" hahaha! We talked with her and her husband for a while and gave them a Book of Mormon, but they didn't want to learn more. There are lots of great people who love Christ, but are just so satisfied with their church they don't feel the need to learn more. We try to be clear about what they are missing and the cause of all that through The Great Apostacy, but they're okay with their church. Find them that will receive you, I guess. Anyway, we'll find some others who do want more.Love Ya!-Elder Osness

Talk with Everyone‏

Dear Family,

Pictures: well, I got some for ya. The first is of my shirt that has had enough. Good thing summer is coming to an end because that shirt had holes wearing through every seem. I've got a couple others that should do me in tell it chills out for good. Its crazy that its already starting to turn to fall...ahhh! Well the second is a sign with our missionary bikes. If you notice the sign says something about the fishing...I'm sure they won't mind us...we're fishers of men...ha ha. I know cheesey joke, but I had to. The last picture is one of Oklahoma's notorious thundar storms in action. I figured since I tell you about how awesome the clouds and storms are here, I'd catch it for ya. cool, huh!? Well, this week was a good one, though we have some struggles with a few of those we are teaching. Kaleb should be getting baptized in a couple weeks and its looking great there! Lee is having a lot of family opposition. He wants to pursue his baptism, but I know we have to resolve this huge issue with his family. I've seen opposition in this senario before, but this family is very unsure of our purpose and very upset...not a good situation, but will be resolved.I'd like to share a cool experience and it has to do with talking with everyone, or as we missionaries call it "OYMing." About a week ago we were biking to an appointment and a family was walking home from school, so we stopped to talk a bit and they gave us their information, so we could come by. Well, we came by on our appointment for them...and nobody was there...how typical. So, we kind of put them off and didn't think about them too much, but we had been tracting in the area every couple days and got a few others to say we could come by...so we got more appointments with these people...no shows. Ah, nuts...again! Well, as we were just finishing tracting another street because they fell through, I thought of Victor, the man with his family, walking back from the school, so I figured we were in the area, why not just stop in and see if we can catch him even though he didn't show for his appointment the previous week and it wasn't the right time of day for him (according to the info. we got from him). So we went and knocked. We waited, no answere...then the door opens and a man welcomes us in, but its not Victor. Well it turns out Victor gave us the wrong house number and this man, David, had been going to church with some members in a small town outside of Norman all summer and has grown close to the family and familiar with the church...and thought that they sent us to teach him...well, close...God did...and we will be seeing more of David. Cool, huh?So, talk with everyone and follow the spirit. Love Ya! Thanks for the e-mails. Life sounds good...and is!

-Elder Osness