Birthdays and Thunderstorms

Hey everybody!

I love you all!!!! This birthday has been, well, to be honest, my favorite! Everything about it was great! The presents, the food, the "Happy Birthday Elder Keppner!" and all of the awesome letters! Thank you everyone!!! It really meant a lot to me, and I really appreciated it!

...! I found it!

I don't have a lot of time today, but I wanted to let you all know that I made some videos, and I'm sending them home on a thumb drive soon for you guys! Also, I'm going to include a TON of pictures on here from my birthday and for the rest of the week.

The Keppner Family Adventure Card Game! :D 
They loved it, and want to play it for a mutual activity. :D

As far as the rest of the week, it was pretty uneventful. But, we had some AWESOME lessons, and I learned a lot personally. You know, this Church really is true. Every day, I see it in action, and I know without a doubt, this IS the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Beautiful Priest Lake

This week, we had a CRAZY thunderstorm. We were at a dinner appointment when the storm hit, and the power went out. The wind was INSANE and the thunder was SUPER loud. So, we ate by firelight, and didn't think much of it. We were out of cell service, and so as we left. we came into service again, and got a TON of messages on our phone all at once. Asking where we were, if we were alright, and if we needed to be rescued from under a tree. 

Right as we got all these messages, we noticed that all of the houses around us that usually were lit up, were dark. We kept driving in the black, and then noticed something glowing and red in the road. Turns out that it was a road flare put out to call our attention to a massive tree that had fallen across part of the road. We went around, and then headed into town, dodging trees all over the road. All of the lights in town were dead, but from what we could see from our headlights, the town was TRASHED. Roofs torn off, trees everywhere, and a lot of general destruction. 

We hurried into our powerless apartment, got our flashlights out, and went to bed. The next day, we got a million freaking calls from the ward members asking if we were having church with the power out. We hurried over to the church to see if there was power. At 7:30 that morning, and hour and a half before church was supposed to start, the power came on at the church. We made a bunch of quick phone calls, but not many people came to church, so me and Elder W-- ended up blessing the sacrament.

Our moving investigator (right), and a ward member (left)

Also to note this week, one of our AWESOME investigators moved this last week to attend NIC, and while we were sad to see her go, she told us that we brought her closer to God than anyone has before. So, we're going to inform the missionaries in that area, and hopefully she can continue the lessons! 

Elder W--'s "creepy face"

Ah! This transfer is almost over. This is the last week, and this Sunday we get transfer calls again. Elder W-- really wants to leave and see more of the mission, and I really want to stay here in Priest River, so, I guess we'll see who goes where. :)

I love you and miss you, and I pray for you all!

Love,
-Elder Brennan Keppner