Dear Family,

Another week in the mission passes by.Pictures: A couple of them are from a couple weeks ago at the trainer/ trainee meeting. My companion was busy talking with a missionary from the mtc and didn't get in the pictures. I need to get some with him. We've been staying really busy and I don't even think about pulling out my camera unless at a meeting. The last picture is Elder Medina and I at Zone Conference. Which was great! The Norman Stake President is terrific and always has some good instruction to keep the work going forward. Out of all the Stakes I've been in, he is the most involved in the efforts of the missionaries and members. His life is his calling. He's well involved in the community and the member's lives here. Among the things learned from Zone conference I believe prayer, personal preparation, and the spirit were of the greatest value for me.I also got my "trunky papers" this week. This letter from the office is a notification of my departure day and instructions on writing an end of mission report. Three pages at first seemed so intimidating, but as I've brain stormed and wrote a few notes, I'm going to struggle to fit all that I want to write on three pages. I haven't gone through half the bullets I'm suppose to and I've got three and a half pages of notes. This is going to have to be much like the book of Ether and condense my two year experience.Things are good here and things are moving along. Oh, by the way departure day is not going to be Christmas Eve, but on the 23rd of December. See you soon, but for now its beck to work.

Love you! -Elder Glenn Osness

Greenie Talk‏ (from the pres)

Dear Parents and Families,

Greetings from Oklahoma. I was not even close to a computer last week so I didn't write a message. It will be like that some weeks. We had Zone Conferences last week and also have been interviewing missionaries for almost two weeks. That means we have seen each and every missionary in the mission. The missionaries are doing pretty well at being healthy. We hope it continues.

It is always renewing to meet for Zone Conferences. There is strength in numbers. It is good to be around fellow missionaries who have testimonies that are strong enough to be willing to do this work. It feels like safety from the storm. President Gee reminded them again how important it is to take time to listen for instructions from the Spirit about where to go and who to talk to. He did a review of Elder Scott's conference address on receiving personal revelation. Stake Presidents (or a counselor) were our guests in each Zone Conference and it is always good to receive their insights. We studied the focus doctrine of obedience and agency. There were practices on teaching the First Vision and other topics. As always there were delicious lunches prepared by wonderful Relief Society sisters, some of whom have missionaries serving at this time. We always sing "Armies of Helaman" as a thanks to them for taking care of us. Many of them wipe tears from their eyes as they see a room full of missionaries who remind them of their children. President Gee always calls on a few to share their testimonies and to give a talk on the focus doctrine. We seem to share a few laughs as we go along. After it is over the missionaries really would like to "linger longer" which they do for a little while. Then they are off to resume their work.

As President Gee interviews I visit with the missionaries who are waiting. I love to listen to them chatter away. Sometimes I learn something that I can pass along to my husband or to the parents. One thing I have picked up is that often parents do a count down of how much longer their missionary has to serve. (I did the same thing with my children.) When we arrived in the Oklahoma City Mission I realized that part of the mission culture is to try not to speak about going home and how much times is left. It makes it easier to concentrate on the work and to not get homesick. I would suggest that you can do countdowns at home on calendars and with the family, but you will help your missionary the most if you don't include them in the countdown, especially when the end is getting near. It is hard not to get "trunky." I hope that little bit of information is helpful.

I love these missionaries. It is fun to watch them grow from scared newcomers to confident and polished missionaries. I thought you might enjoy a little description of what it is like to learn to talk to perfect strangers about a message that fills our lives to the brim but is very different to the people out here. I call it "Miracles and Greenies."

The touching, tender, heart-warming, and sometimes humorous reality is that the Lord truly uses the weak and unlearned to "thrash the nations by the power of his Spirit." D.&C. 35:13. Even after months of experience this is true, but it is especially true of "greenies." Usually they have been primed and prepared for years, but suddenly having to get it out of their mouths in a logical way is at least humbling, and sometimes humiliating, depending on the day. To quote one trainer, "My companion taught all gospel principles in 30 seconds, learving me to say in my mind, 'Oh, no! What do we do now?" I hope you can see the humor!


It might sound something like this:

We are missionaries from our church and we have a message about Jesus Christ. It will bless your family and it has really blessed mine because we have a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and we meet every six months in general conference because Joseph Smith saw a vision in New York and was called as a prophet. So here is a Book of Mormon to witness it is true and you will know it is if you pray about it. So would you like to know more? (Possible slamming of the door.)
If they say "yes" the missionaries try to hide their surprise and go forward to teach.
The miracle is that the trainer I quoted above and her companion baptized the woman who was at the door.

In Doctrine and Covenants 35:14 the Lord says: "And their arm shall be my arm and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me."
That is what your sons, (and even your daughters and parents) are doing out here. They are fighting manfully for the Lord. We are proud of them and we know you are also. We hope you have a great week.
Love, Sister Gee (and President Gee)

1 out of 6‏

Dear family,

Well, I have some new pictures this past week, but I didn't bring the cable to the library to attatch them to the e-mail...sorry.This week we had the new missionary/trainer meeting and learned all the things I'm still not perfect on...close, but...haha! I still have a lot of refining to do. Things are good here. We seem to cycle through our investigators pretty rapidly. We've been getting lots of new people to teach and then they haven't been keeping their follow-up visits. Every few though, we get somebody who wants to continue. This past week six people gave us strong commitments to come to church...and one came. Pheobe, who is a daughter of Samantha, who has recently started coming back to church...sound familiar. This situation has been the avenue that has progressed the most since I've been in this ward. A single mom with an unbaptized child wanting to come back. In our last visit she mentioned she would like to start the lessons to prepare Pheobe for baptism. Great! can do! She'll get to grow up with a great foundation.Everyone is getting bombarded with opposition though. It seems the more these people want to do what's right they get blasted with a world of struggle to get there. I hope they can press through the difficulty and get rooted in the faith of God so they can be delivered...just as in the last verse of 1 Nephi 1. Those who are faithful are delivered. They still must go through the trial though. All must press through the trial to be free of it. Then we have grown and been refined more and more through every trial.Love ya!-Elder Osness

Gloomy Joy‏

Dear Family, Sorry, no pictures...The week was good though! We have found some great new people to teach and hope to see some great progress! Things have been kind of floating on by the past month with people coming and going in our investigator pool, but I think we're about to move foreward with David. He's a great person who has been to the church, not our ward, but non-the-less come serveral times and is very sincere. We taught a terrific lesson last week with a member and things are looking good. Elder Madsen sounds like me when I first came out. His words were something similar to mine when I was teaching Angie in the begining, "I feel a baptism coming!" Ha! Things are going great and we're enjoying this transfer. We also taught another really good lesson. An appointment fell through, so we went to visit our back-up plan and she had two friends over and they said we could teach, so we did and at least one of them needed to hear many of the testimonies shared in that lesson. The spirit was very strong during the lesson the only down fall is they are young single adults...which means we hand them off to the singles ward/univerity ward. I hope things with them continue well.Even with the gloomy weather the past few days we are doing good and enjoying life!Love you all! -Elder Glenn Osness

Where The Action Is‏ (from the pres)

Dear Parents and Families,

Another week has flown by already. The beautiful autumn weather I was predicting hasn't come through. We have had a week of pretty heavy rain and cooler temperatures. I sometimes feel sorry for the missionaries who are out in the storms until I see one of them grinning from ear to ear. I have to remind myself that some people think it is fun to get wet.

For your information we are still trying to decided what to do about flu shots. It seems the vaccine isn't readily available so we are trying to figure it out. If you have specific concerns please feel free to let me know about them. We have had some sickness in the mission that lasts from two to five days. Right now most of them are getting better. We certainly appreciate your prayers in behalf of the health of the missionaries. We came up with a substitute for the handshake. We call it the "pound." We make a fist and quickly touch knuckles. Some of the wards have big bottles of hand sanitizers strategically placed so everyone can stay sanitized during meetings.

I would like to make a few comments about "where the action is." Actually, the action is wherever a missionary can be found, but I would like to describe district meetings. These meetings are held on Friday mornings, five out of the six weeks of transfers. They are under the direction of the district leader. He plans the theme and makes assignments to carry it out. Unless the district is especially large, each missionary gets to participate each week. That is what makes it "where the action is." The district leaders get the experience of conducting with dignity and being responsible to make sure it is a spiritual and uplifting experience for the other missionaries. Sometimes there is prelude music, if they are lucky enough to have a piano player. Sometimes the opening hymn has beautiful harmony. Sometimes it doesn't, but it is beautiful anyway because the song of the righteous is a prayer, even if it is slightly out of tune. Our mission theme is written on the board to encourage everyone. It says, "Courage brethren, (and sisters) and on, on to the victory!!!" Missionaries participate by giving "trainings" which is a fancy word for a talk, on some aspect of missionary work. They always have a practice on some skill, usually led by the district leader. He will explain the purpose and demonstrate with his companion how it should be done. If President Gee is there he delights in letting them practice on him. He can be scary but also fun. Usually everyone learns a lot. (President Gee and I try to visit a district meeting each Frday.) Everyone gets a chance to give feedback on what went well and suggestions for improvement. It is a little stressful and a step out of the comfort zone, but it is a good stretching experience. The meeting usually ends with a training on some doctrine. At the end they often make a list of their investigators who they can pray for. Then they kneel down and pray for each one of them.

This last Friday President Gee and I visited Midwest City District. They were practicing on testifying as they teach and as they resolve concerns. The practices are sometimes challenging because we are really pretending. However, on Friday as they were practicing testifying, suddenly there were tears in the eyes and that remarkable feeling in the room as the Spirit bore witness AGAIN that the teachings are true. It was a touching meeting.
When district meeting is over, the quiet reverence gives way for the business at hand. What is for lunch??? Sometimes they go to a restaurant to eat. Chinese buffets are very popular because they get all they can eat for not much money. If they are especially ambitious they have lunch together at the church. Last Friday the Elders had made Buffalo Wings and brownies. We were impressed.
These meetings build the missionaries line upon line as they prepare and participate over and over and over. I kind of liken district meetings to what happens in the church on a ward level. This is where everyone gets a chance to be on the front line. Zone meetings are more like what happens on a stake level. They are held less often with more missionaries. They are all good. The organization of the Lord's church, and the missionary force is a marvelous work and a wonder.

I hope this helps you to visualize what a district meeting is all about. Please continue to pray for the work. I often visualize hundreds of family members praying diligently for the work to progress and for the missionaries to feel joy. Who can describe how much good comes from prayers of faith. Have a good week. Greetings from President Gee. He is still smiling. We had another good week with the baptisms. Love, Sister Gee

Miracles Never Cease‏

Dear Parents and Families,

We hope you had a wonderful weekend enjoying the conference sessions, as did the missionaries serving here. One of our sisters kind of summed it up when she said, "Every talk was for me." It is a miracle that answers to questions and encouragement to face challenges can come uniquely to everyone by the same talks. There was great enthusiasm for Elder Hollands powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. One sister said she loved Elder Anderson's talk about the open arms of the Savior and his love for everyone.I'm sure you will enjoy hearing from your own missionary about the things that were especially meaningful to him or her. As for me, I loved it all. I feel like I get to go to heaven for a few hours. The subdued music spoke to my soul, especially "O Divine Redeemer." When Elder Holland was "speaking with the tongue of an angel," I was so excited to think I am a missionary and part of spreading the good news.

We are thinking a lot about miracles here in the mission. They are happening all the time. Most of them are ordinary miracles, not the sensational kind. We keep hearing accounts of praying over where to go and what happens as a result. The most recent one I heard was that a companionship prayed to know where to go and there was not a common street in the answers they received. However, two streets were close to each other so they decided to go there. After about an hour of fruitless tracting they decided to check on a less-active member they had never met. The man was home and let them in. He had been in a bicycle accident and needed some help around the house. As the Elders drove away they realized the man's address was exactly between the two streets they had decided to tract. Those things are happening constantly.
Another kind of humerous thing happened at a baptism. A man showed up to get ready for his baptism about an hour early. To the horror of the Elders, the jumpsuit that fit him was nowhere to be found. They searched and found a pair of white trousers that would fit, but there was no white shirt. People were coming and they were running out of time. They walked through the halls of the church, trying to decide what to do. A stake leader just happened to be in the church at that time. The Elders asked him if he had any idea where they could find a white shirt. He smiled and said he had just picked up his laundry from the cleaners and he had a white shirt they could use. Now I ask you--was that coincidence?? It was absolutely another miracle.

Maybe the greatest miracle is the army of missionaries that comes in wave after wave after wave. When I consider how difficult missionary life is, how they are required to forget their own comfort and desires, and how in the general population this age is probably the most self-centered time of life, it is amazing that there is a generation willing to do this work. We just welcomed eight more Elders and Sisters last week. President Gee and I are so pleased with their preparation and potential. They have a great spirit about them. We are excited to get to know them better in the months ahead. All of the missionaries are a living testimony that this work is truly the work of the Lord.

For your information: We got a memo from the missionary committee about the flu shots a day or two ago. We will be making some decisions with our mission doctor about what we need to do. They are recommending that we find a way for the missionaries to at least get the seasonal flu shot. The cost will be paid by the families. In the meantime, they are saying to tell the missionaries to stop shaking hands, to use hand sanitizer, and to wash hands constantly. It will be interesting to see what creative substitutes they come up with for shaking hands. We still have a few who are sick, but I think your prayers for our immune systems are helping. Please continue.

May you all be blessed this coming week, and we hope you have great joy because of the service your loved one is giving to the Lord. My testimony of the power of united prayer is growing constantly. Thank you for your love and support. Love, Sister Gee

Good Conference‏

Dear Family,

pictures: two are of our district before Elder Baker left to Ada and Elder Madsen from Gunnison, Utah came to join us. The other is of Elder Madsen and I doing some laundry. I'll get some better pictures coming. There is another home game this weekend, so some time will be at the family fun zone.When Elder Madsen got here we got settled in and headed out to a great first week of work and some inspiring words of Prophets, Apostles, and other General Authorities. We have had some great new people come into the picture this past week and hope to see some progress in testimonies. None came to watch conference, but hope to see some commitment come. The days are cruising by and we just seem to be busier and busier as the days go by. This transfer should bring some great accomplishments. Elder Madsen is keeping me well focussed and has a lot of ambition to help everyone he sees. He has a lot of faith and a great testimony of the restored gospel and people just seem to let him in more than I'm used to. The first night we went tracting, we were getting close to the end of the road and he simply asked if we could come in and share a quick message about the church and the door opened to let us in. Eric is in high school and we found out he knows a few of the members and has been to church before and he willingly accepted our invitations. We hope to see many great things come because of this experience and others we have had daily since then.Among all the inspiring words spoken this past weekend, my favorite talks were given in the Priesthood session of conference, which complimented each other perfectly; President Uchtdorf and President Eyring. President Uchtdorf helped me want to be more temporally prepared and diligent and as President Eyring spoke a felt a great desire to never do wrong and always be spiritually prepared in all cases, at all times, and in all places. The most talked about by the members we've seen the past couple days was Elder Jeffery R. Holland as he laid down the power and truth the Book of Mormon holds.Its been a great week and happy to hear of another niece. I can't wait to meet Abby. Congratulations Jeff and Heather! I love you all!-Elder Glenn Osness