27 Ago 2001

Dear Family,

I hope that everything's going well. They are here! This week we had the amazing privilege of meeting Elder Russell M. Nelson, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. And wow, it was SO rad. He held a special "missionaries only" conference on Friday morning. This Zone Conference was unique because it was a "mission conference;" every missionary (179) in total in the mision Venezuela Valencia was present. Apparently the Mission President's Manual says that this shouldn't be done but this was such a rare opportunity. We showed up at the chapel in Valencia at 7:00 a.m. to be able to take a mission photo at 7:30. By 8:30, we had to be seated in the chapel with suitcoats on and reading in the Book of Mormon. They explained that when he entered the room we had to stand up, and that reaching out to shake his hand or anything was prohibited. Even after the meeting, we would have to stand and remain standing for 5 minutes to be able to let him leave orderly and quickly. I remember when we were reading the Book of Mormon then all of a sudden the first rows stood up, and then the rest of us. When he walked in he brought in such a spirit of power yet of humility. He and his wife (accompanied by Elder Gillespie (70's) and his wife) were smiling from cheek to cheek and we couldn't help smiling either. He just stood there looking at us and smiling, and then he leaned over and said something to President Blacker, who then walked over to the mic and announced that he wanted to shake the hand of every one of us! Everyone's eyes opened up and then turned to their comp with their eyes wide open. I immediately started thinking, "I'm sure he can see my sins! Am I worthy? Of course I'm worthy! Am I?" I started going over all my sins that I hadn't repented of but then I stopped that because I knew that was nonsense and I had to translate what I had to say into English. When it was my turn he took my hand by a long firm handshake and glanced directly into my soul. I felt way humble and I stared directly into the eyes of this great man. I nervously fidgeted with my name tag and managed to squeak, "I'm Elder Onken, and I'm from . . . Los Angeles, California." He replied, "Now where does that name come from?" to which I answered, "actually it's German. . . " That was my contact with an apostle. The Spirit bore strong witness to us that day that the Lord had chosen that very man to be an apostle, a special witness of Christ. The conference started with a talk by Sister and then President Blacker, followed by Sister and Elder Gillespie, then Sister Nelson and finally Elder Nelson. He had about 2 hours to address us, so the first hour he left open for a Q and A Session. The first (and only question that I felt was really pertinent and appropriate for the occasion and audience) was how he could get to [know] Christ with complete surety, just like the apostle knew Christ. Elder Nelson replied that, as he was a witness he had to testify. And said that each one of us were witnesses, too. He referred to the Sacrament prayers, which we read, and he pointed out that when we eat the bread we witness unto God, and when we take the water, we witness unto God again. He held up 2 fingers and said, "we witness unto him twice . . . 2 times . . . interesting, isn't it?" At the end he spoke about the mission and the ministry of Jesus Christ, and then left his testimony. Later that night he spoke with the youth and single adults. The whole time our bishop was translating for him, but at the end of that conference, he asked the bishop to sit down and he left a blessing with them in perfect spanish. His visit left a huge impact on all who listened.

I'll respond to the letters dated August 10 and 15. The first thing that really stood out was all the stuff you've bought for the house! Are we rich now? Sounds like it! New "get rich scheme" - "Send Your Biggest Eater in the Household to Venezuela!" Being district leader's cool, I guess. I have to get the dats of my district at night, report them to the Zone Leader, interview the baptism candidates of my district, and be in charge of the weekly district meeting. Elder Castillo is a stud. He's a hard worker, he's a good people person, and he's funny. I assume that he'll be made comp mayor coming up soon. My accent isn't getting better but the fluidity of my spanish is getting better. He's really excited about learning english, but doesn't know much. He's from Cumana, so he speaks way fast. He went to the MTC in Colombia.

I think that it would be SO rad to be an institute teacher.

That movie "Eye of the Storm" comes from a book that was a big seller at Albert's Audiobooks. I didn't know he wrote it, though!

Last Friday I received a package but it was torn wide open, and someone had taped it closed so the contents wouldn't fall out. I thought for sure that there would be nothing in it but inside were 4 cameras, a watch in a plastic bag, a thing of Shock Tarts and a box of Sour Mike and Ike's (or something like that). Was there supposed to be anything else in it? Ahh, must've been the July 3rd package, which according to the July 26th letter, had nothing missing. Odd, but phew!

Enclosed is the mission's study schedule concerning the Book of Mormon every morning. It's the same time (90) days to finish the Book that took Joseph Smith to translate it. 4 times in one year! I highly suggest it. Do you think it would be worth the pain to get up 30 minutes earlier to give you time to read it? Of course.

Love, Nick.