Week 53 - Not Much Happening Beyond Cleaning Up the Ward List

Dear Mom,

I'm sooo glad to hear that the kitten is alright! The name fits perfectly! :) **

I did get the packages! I got my power ranger shirts, thank you sooo much! And I got the package with the UCA Jedi Shirt and Wickles, super funny and hilarious!! :D I'm not sure about the 4th package, what was in it? If you're still having a hard time deciding on a february tie, could you send me another creme/offwhite paisley tie like the one you gave me at some point before my mission? I traded it for another tie in the MTC, which I super regret now. Because I really really liked that tie! haha

As for the 3 piece gray suit you saw me wearing, Megan's mom sent that suit in the mail last week. She asked me for my sizes, so I went to a suit shop and got all my sizes done and sent them to her, so then she went on JCPENNY and got me suit that I wanted :) It's so snazzy and I love it! Almost everyone comments on it now haha

The snazzy new suit

So this past week, Elder Brown and I have been cleaning up the ward list, and we only have 2 names left to verify!! :D Apparently, there have been hundreds of members who have moved out that didn't tell anyone, and it's been annoying us that the ward list hasn't been updated, so we decided to take care of it that it could finally be done! And we're almost there! :D

Not very much else happened this week, not that I can remember anyway haha

For some reason, in the past couple of days, I've been having a feeling that I couldn't really shake, that something has happened or was going to happen to either you guys or to someone that I care for period. Has anything been going on?

Please continue to write and email whenever you can, I love hearing from you!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss



[an excerpt from his e-mail to Mary. A few weeks ago, he had asked for her help setting up his FamilySearch so he could use RelativeFinder to see if he was related to any of the missionaries in his district. Turns out he's related to all but one. Here's more info.]

I think the closest relation I have is to Elder Talbot, our common ancestor is David Maggart, on granny's side of the family. I think he's our 7th great grandfather, so pretty cool stuff!

This past week I got the chance to go to MLC(Mission Leadership Council), because they invited the DL's to come. And we got to see and practice what we were going to be doing in our Zone Training Meeting's and District meetings next transfer. And it looks like it's gonna be good! We learned about effective studies, answering/ teaching complex questions simply, and teaching our investigators about repentance and how to use it in their lives.

Elder Wockenfuss and Elder Brown

Having a really good laugh over something!

The lady who took the pictures really...

really...

... really likes funny face photos.

All smiles

** The story of the kitten - Well, you never know from one minute to the next what life will bring.

When one of the new kittens was missing, Katie discovered that she had accidentally put it into the washing machine with a load of towels.  She found it next to the washing machine, all stiff, eyes open and locked jaw,  breathing, but unresponsive.  We were sure it was going to die.  I mean, holy kow!  It went through the nightmare of going through a whole laundry cycle!

I left to get Mary from school and when I got home, Katie had put it into a small box to let it die.  After a couple hours of being in the box, the kitten suddenly started screaming and thrashing about like it was trying to swim and find a safe place to put it's head.  We picked it up and it screamed louder, thrashing,  We set it on the floor and it walked really weird, throwing it's limbs out wide and coming to rest its head against something solid.  When we tried to pet it for soothing, it screamed.  So we left it alone to rest.  And maybe die. But maybe not.

It slept once we put it on a towel with a warm rice bag. Then all its siblings came along and lay down with it on the towel, and he was fine for the rest of the night, sleeping through the night, in fact. By morning they all had climbed up on to one of Mary's Monster critters and were sleeping in  a pile.  

This morning when he was found standing on the back of a chair, having climbed up Katie's jacket to get there, we decided he was really going to be all right.  He has been to the kitchen looking for food and water of his own accord. 

We have named him Miracle Max.  How can a kitten survive a full laundry cycle except by a miracle?  That final spin cycle is brutal, let alone having to swim for at least a half hour beforehand.

I have decided Miracle was just stunned and in shock, or knocked out when Katie first found him.  When he came to, he must have thought he was still in his nightmare experience.

I have a new washer (and dryer) that washes more gently than the older traditional ones with the rough agitator in the center.  Also, it doesn't fill up as high as the older ones, therefore allowing the kitten to be able to "walk" on top of the towels as they washed and agitated against themselves.

New rule:  put clothes and towels into the washer one piece at a time.  Check for kittens.