January 13, 2017

This week was pretty much exactly the same as last week. They have our days to every 15 minutes planned out, there's not much new. Tomorrow we start teaching real investigators so I'm excited for that. We have role play lessons with our teachers, which is good but it's hard for me to get too into it or to pray for fake people. Yesterday my fake investigator that we've been teaching for a week told us she has drug problems and is in a custody battle for her daughter, which shook things up pretty good, especially because my companion didn't understand what was going on and I was changing the lesson plan. That makes lessons difficult sometimes. We're going to the temple today, it's closed so that's lame but they said the visitor center will be fun town. It's fun to be outside the walls. My district is still fun and we are still learning cool stuff. Last Sunday we talked about the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost and the difference and it didn't make a ton of sense, but this week our district talked about it some and it was really cool. The light of Christ is the inherent goodness in people, because Christ's grace is so perfect it is in everyone. We compared Christ's light to real light, it helps stuff grow and brings warmth and makes you happier and stuff, idk. But the light of Christ is you realizing that you maybe shouldn't touch the stove, and the Holy Ghost is like your mom telling you not to touch the stove. As a district we couldn't find anywhere in the scriptures where it mentions the holy ghost in the preexistence or where the holy ghost comes from, but we know he took Adam to get baptized and the beginning of the world, but then he wasn't on the earth again until after Christ died. We didn't have a teacher for any of this so maybe we're wrong, but that's what we figured out as a district. Also we learned that when the money changers are in the temple and Jesus goes and chastises them, but the head priest was making money off of the money changers by renting out plots in the temple so he gets mad and threatens Jesus,  and Jesus says "destroy my temple and i will raise it up in 3 days" and     you think he is talking about the temple until you realize your body is a temple and he was talking about the resurrection. Not much new is going on, we play soccer and volleyball a lot which is fun. One of the bosses is in one of our classes most of the time, and our teacher is like our age so he gets really uptight when his boss is sitting in our classes which makes things really boring. Idk what else to say.  Does my truck work?  Tell Andrew I'm mad he didn't email again. What's going on with life in fallon? Is everything still frozen? I should've brought a better jacket. Are you gonna get my retainer here? I love you. Let me know what's new, and tell Baylee to email me please.

It is fun here, i feel unproductive which isnt my favorite but im having fun. Thanks for the videos. I hope my retainer gets here too. Its going to wreck my mouth when i wear it after having not worn it for a month

Mom: Why don't you feel productive?

because i am not learning much spanish, ive plateaud a lot. we arent shceduled to learn present regular verbs until day 30, and thats what you learn first week of freshman year. I try to practice speaking, but i feel like sitting in a classroom isnt the best way for me to learn at this point

Also, everyone in my district thinks you hate me because you havent sent me any packages ;) i wouldnt complain if you sent me some jerky or something through that website :p

January 6, 2017

So we didn't get to the CCM until like 7:00 last Tuesday but it was pizza night so we got a good dinner. Wednesday was quite possibly the longest day of my life, it sucked. The first week was pretty rough, I haven't been home sick or anything, the days were just so long and you work so hard, it's exhausting. This last week was good though. It's pretty wild down here, new years everyone was shooting fireworks like crazy all day and all night, all over the city. In the morning there were lanterns and dud fireworks all over the lawns here. We joked about it being like a prison in here because we aren't allowed to leave and there's a ten foot fence all around that's topped with razor wire. We were supposed to go to the temple today but they're rioting in the streets about gas prices so the roads are all blocked off. I guess thats what the fences are for. But the riots mean we can't go to the temple, so that's stupid. Theres no news in here so we didnt know what was going on, but there were alarms going off like crazy, and sirens, and helicopters with spotlights, and we had to wait until we saw our teacher the next day to ask what was going on. Also, it's Elder Oldroyds birthday on the 22 (he's one of my roommates, he's also the kicker for BYU). So we were trying to get someone to bring us in a cake if we paid them, we asked like 4 people, but the aren't allowed to take anything in or out  (again prison). They said the closest thing to cake they've ever seen in here is donuts. Then last night these two elders knock on our window at like  10:455 which is after everyone is sposed to be in bed, and the gave us a death by chocolate cake. We have no idea how they got it, but we were soooo excited. And my companion got 2 dozen donuts yesterday so we were pumped. There's like 8 guys here, including my companion, that are going to guadalajara and they are super fun. We call ourselves the guadalahomies or the guadsquad and have a handshake and everything, they're fun. They left a note in our classroom that said "roses are red, violets are blue, don't tell the mission president that I love you" and our teacher saw it and was concerned, it was super awkward. My district is so awesome, there are 6 elders and 2 Hermanas and we're all pretty close. My companion is elder koyle and he is so weird I love it, he isn't like socially awkward weird, but the way he views the world is ridiculous, and he always shares his weird observations and they are so funny. I write his funny quotes in my journal. He worked as an electrician and he talks about it all the time, one of my favorite quotes is "if I got sent home for an injury my dad would say 'welcome home you stupid idiot, I hope you remember how to wire a switch. Your but better be in the truck at 6. If not, you're sleeping in the truck tomorrow night. Oh, and it's cold'" and he talks like napoleon dynamite. Everything he says is like a 6 funny, but elder Oldroyds laugh is so funny  that it makes everything way more funny. We also have elder Whiteman in our room, he is super smart and knows a bunch of stuff. Our district is the only intermediate Spanish district right now, so we all have the best Spanish in here, and we have ipads while we're in the CCM.  I'm the district leader so that's cool I guess. They spelled my name tag wrong, I have new ones now but by the time I got them everyone already knew me as elder koening. There's green parakeets flying get around like pigeons here. Our Casita is next to the road so we always here gunshots at night but we just pretend they're fireworks. We have a Latino friend and all he knows how to say in English is "high five" and then after you high five him he says "don't touch me". It's pretty funny. It's crazy how spiritual it is here, I am speaking Spanish so well, I can hold full conversations in our lessons, it's like I can remember all the Spanish I've ever learned. But one night our zone leaders told us to go over to their room during language study and we asked our teacher if we could go over there and he said it was okay. So we went over and they were being super crazy and out of control so we left, then we were trying to do language study and it's like I forgot all my Spanish because I didn't have the spirit. It was weird. My district is super focused and spiritual and on topic. We hardly ever goof off, we have a good time but we still have sweet spiritual discussions all the time. It's pretty cold in the morning, like 50 maybe, but it gets up to 80 during the day. The food is alright, I just eat everything. Everyone always complains about the food, but I think they're going to die when they get out in the field.  And tell Andrew I'm angry he didn't email me. What's going on around home? Tell me things.  Hope it's all going well. Much love.

Elder Koenig Mexico Guadalajara Mission December 27, 2016

December 27, 2016
Hey, im here and I am alive. I am also very hungry. My P-day wont be until next friday. My district in the mtc gets iPads. I have met a lot of cool guys from my mission but still havent got into my room. I leave this MTC February 6th.  sorry, theres not much time

Welcome Owen!

On Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Owen Andrew arrived to K and A!  I, arrived just twenty minutes or so before he did.  It took him a bit longer, but I had a longer drive.  Everyone is doing great, and K and A are going to be such good parents, I can already tell.  I was able to capture a few moments of their happiness.  Owen weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and is 19 inches long

 

Girl Time

My mom planned a "Girl visit" this year.  It was to be at my house, and my mom and sisters were going to come visit me!  Such a treat, because I don't get a lot of visitors in my neck of the woods.  Well, turns out that only one sister could come.  So, I asked if K  could join us and we give her a baby shower, since she wasn't planning another visit here until who knows when.  They said yes, and so I planned a party.  I asked what they wanted to do while they were here, and it was decided that we would "pretend we had no cares in the world."  And so we did.  I took them to try out paddleboarding, we relaxed by the pool, went thrifting, and chatted.  It was a great time, and we missed the other sisters.  Maybe next time!   And, of course they helped me throw a shin dig for K.
We had turkey pesto sandwiches wrapped up in parchment paper, watermelon, and salad.  Each guest decorated a letter of the alphabet for baby O's alphabet wall, and took home some alphabet soup.  And dessert was a popcorn medley in a block. Thanks for the help ladies, I always put you to work when you come!  Hmmm, maybe that's why they don't come very often? #bestsistersever

Travels

Of course, it was a busy summer!  That is a given, right? 
In June, D and I got to go Idaho.  While we were there,  D attended a BYU -I Adventures for Youth, at Badger Creek.  He loved it, and wants to go back next year.  I got to work for K.  Yes, I did say work.  I did have a great time, but we were busy.  We cleaned, and painted, and built, and chatted.  We painted her room and baby O's, and put shelves in his closet, and got some things organized to utilize every corner of a small apartment.  We let A help too, but he was working too, so he missed some of the fun.
We picked up D at the end of the week, and headed to Island Park for a reunion with my family.  And it rained, and rained, and rained.  Unfortunately, it rained so much, that we mostly took cover, and tried to stay warm, so it seemed we didn't really even have a lot of time to visit. But we survived, and I am grateful for T and J for planning it, even though most of their plans were rained out. 
G did not join us, somebody has to work so we can play!  Actually he had a conference in Washington Thursday through Sunday, so he needed to be there.

We were home for a few days, and off to San Diego to celebrate G's sisters birthday.  We had a really great time, although D was pretty bummed we didn't make it to the beach.  I think we mostly just ate.  My kind of vacation!

Did I mention that I really loved the food?  Okay, the fireworks were pretty good too.  From were we were sitting (inside a restaurant) we could see three shows simultaneously.  I also got to do another of my favorite things...relax by a pool in the sunshine.  G liked the giants and padres game too.  Thank you C and R for a great time.

Next, we were off for some immediate family time.  But not before we spent three days in Winnemucca for yet another conference for G.  There isn't much to do there, but we made the best of it.  G and I took an underground mine tour. (D couldn't go because of his age.)  I have to say, it was pretty impressive, interesting, and informative.  But I don't think I would like to work down there.  Then we headed to Island Park, arriving very early in the morning.  K and A were already there, and we were ready to just enjoy the time together.  Once again, it was rainy, but we, okay, they did a puzzle, and we played some games, and watched a few movies.  I think A and D are really  the brothers, they have always wanted.  We went to the playmill one night, went to Yellowstone, sat in the hot tub, the boys golfed, played racquet ball, and mostly just relaxed.  It was great!

This is "Foot Golf."  It was so fun, even I could somewhat do it. (although I made K lose, because we took turns.)  You golf with a soccer ball and kick it from hole to hole.  We loved it!

Next up was a celebration for my Grandma's 90th Birthday.  I got to see some of my aunts and uncles I hadn't seen for a while, and a few cousins.  It was a shame not more people thought it was a big deal and came to celebrate.  Here is a picture of me and Grandma, and one of my uncle Jerry.  He looks just like I remember Grandpa.  Grandpa used to dress up for special family occasions and dance around dressed as an Indian.  There is some significance to the Order of the Arrow, that he was very involved in.  One of my memories of Grandma is being at her house when her pasture got irrigated.  We didn't have a swim suit, so she would fix us up a makeshift bikini top out of a tea towel, and we would swim and play in that and our underwear....Scandalous!  But what a great time I remember having.  So good to see her.  I can't wait to get a five generation picture when baby O arrives.

Good things:
1.  Safe travels
2.  Memories
3.  Legacy

D - he keeps our life interesting

I am so far behind! Is it September already?
Just a few things about him and what has kept him busy the last several months.

 He cleans up pretty nicely.

 He turned 16 and can drive himself all over town.

 All State Choir - Apparently he sings.

 Strutting his muscular physique for the swim team.

 Snake hunter.

 Winning team of the Dust Devil Triathalon - by  8 minutes!

 Night of Boxing - I still don't like to watch it. He lost by a smidgen, But his fight won "fight of the Night."   He did make me proud, in a weird sort of way.  He worked so hard for this fight.

 He likes to hug me like this.  I think so I can remember he is bigger than me!

 Paddleboarding

 We painted all the trim on the house.  I learned I don't like heights. 

 He does, but not a shaky ladder.  He did it anyways.

 Baptisms in the temple with friends while the parents accompanied a soon to be missionary.

 the "Cool Guys"

 Trying to be Grandpa

I love this silly boy!

Currently, he has started school.  He is doing a new program that will give him dual credits at the high school, and towards college.  He made the varsity soccer team, so that keeps him busy too.  He leaves by 6:45 every morning, and doesn't return home until at least 5:45.  It gets kind of lonely at my house these days.  He is a good worker.  I had a hard time scheduling him to work for me this summer, because he was working for Grandma and keeping up the yard work at the office.  He is so much fun, and at the same time, so annoying!  The future is bright for this kid!

Good Things:
1.  children who keep me entertained
2.  children who are motivated
3.  a bright future