Here and GONE!!!?

My companion, Elder G--

Hey ya'll!

CRAZY stuff going on here! My companion Elder G-- has been the BEST! We work so dang hard, and the only thing he complains about is the cold (it's 19 degrees). But now, as my good friend Elder M-- says: "Plot Twist!!!" Elder G-- got his Visa to Taiwan! So, we're dropping him off tonight at a mission office couple's home to stay the night so he can catch his early morning flight. So crazy! I LOVE this kid, and I'm really gonna miss him. I hope I was able to teach him what he needs to know. :'(

Goodbye to Elder G--, my son. He will take my posterity to all the world! :D

So, I'll be getting a new companion soon, and so the work will go on.

As far as the area goes, it is DANG COLD! I LOVE it! But everyone else here doesn't seem to like it so much. Oh well. Riding a bike in it is COLD to start with, but when you ride uphill for a few minutes, you're all warmed up. So, I tend to bike without a jacket.

The members here are GREAT! We get SO many referrals, and the members are good at following up too! The ward loves us, which is AWESOME because we love them too!

My only hope now is that my new companion will be as hard working and obedient.

I'm running low on time, but I wanted you all to know that I'm doing GREAT! I love the work, and I love being here.

We've started putting bananas in the hands of anyone caught sleeping. It is a tradition never to be forgotten. ;D

Love and miss you all!
-Elder Keppner

WINTER IS FINALLY HERE!!!

My comp and one of our inmates. :D
(He still has not told us which one of these Elders is his companion!)

Holy crap, it SNOWED last night! It melted as soon as the sun came up, but it SNOWED! Winter is finally here, and I am SO ready for this!

As far as the work goes, it's AWESOME! We talk to an insane amount of people every day, and it's getting crazy! We came into the area with zero investigators and no up to date records, and that was CRAPPY. The entire first week was spent trying to find ANYONE to teach. And now, two weeks and a lot of work hours later, we are back on track! We have investigators, less active members, and active members to teach in abundance now, and it's awesome!

We have to be smart with our planning though or we get WAY behind. We literally spend all day rushing from appointment to appointment in a desperate race against time. 

...Man, that sounds a lot more epic on paper than it feels in real life.

"Baptists at Our Barbeque", anyone...?
(That movie is one of our family's favorites!)

Anyway, the work is on the move! Biking is awesome too! We actually get to talk to people as we see them on the street, and we are really trying to work on talking to everyone. And there are some real blessings coming from it!

Apartment life is good too. We plan our day, talk to each other about the miracles of the day, report our numbers, and then get down to the serious business of playing home-made board games. My games have become SUPER popular, and it's super weird when you talk to a missionary at P-Day that you've never met, and they ask you if you are THE Elder Keppner that makes the board games.
SO weird.

Also, my companion is SO FETCHING-- I don't even know where to start, AWESOME! He listens, he teaches, his testimony is strong, he loves to work, and things couldn't be better! We're rockin' the dream team here in Hayden, and the spiritual high we're getting off of it is addicting. Is it bad to be addicted to the Spirit? *Shrug*

I love and miss you all, and have an awesome fetching day! :D
-Elder Brennan Keppner

CRAZY CRAP!!!

My new area!

Hey, ya'll!

This last week has been CRAZY! So, I got emergency transferred away from Chewelah! :'(

There was a group of missionaries that made some dumb decisions down in Hayden, Idaho, and so Monday night, I got a call from President M--.

"Hello, is this Elder Keppner?" He asked. I said yes.

He then said "Elder Keppner, you are being transferred to Hayden 2nd, and you will be training. You will be leaving tomorrow morning at 9:00am."

I sat there dumbfounded for a second. "President, did we do something wrong in Chewelah?"

"No." He replied. "You've done everything right. I'm sending you there because I know that you can fix the problem. You are the solution, not the problem. Training is a privilege. I'm putting my trust in you."

After the call, I packed, made some calls to the AWESOME members here in Chewelah, and took off. I'll be honest, when I first got the call, I was TICKED. I couldn't believe that after tons of hard work, two new on-dates, and a whole ton of new investigators, I was getting transferred away, for something I DIDN'T DO. I raged well into the night, and I finally just hit my knees, prayed for strength. I'll admit, I cried a bit.

Elder W--, at the Halloween party! :D (Also from AZ and an old friend.)

The next day, I rode down to Hayden 2nd with Elder W--! Elder W-- is heading to the good ol' CDA, but we were heading the same way, so we rode together. When I got there, it turns out, I'm sharing an apartment with three other Elders! We are two separate companionships, but when we all turn in for the night and get done with planning and such, it's GAME NIGHT!!! We play board games, tell stories, and talk about our day. It's AWESOME! We all get along SUPER well, and we have a blast.

Halloween costumes for Teancum and Friends

Now, my new companion. His name is Elder G--, and he is SO FETCHING AWESOME! He is green, but he really wants to work. His last companion who got ET'd didn't like to work, and Elder G-- wanted nothing more than to hit the streets and talk to people. So that's what we did! Last week, we really worked hard. Oh! Did I mention that I'm now on a bike?!? Yup! Full time! And in the middle of our area, there is a HUGE fetching hill. And while it sucks to go up the darn thing, going down at crazy speeds is SUPER fun.

Ugh. The one downside is that I'm now in the city. To be honest, I'm having to swallow some of my pride, and go out and work. There is a real difference between the city, and the country. Personally, I really prefer the country. I've lived in the city my whole life, and now that I'm back in it, I feel trapped. Everyone has WAY more money than they need, and they all seem to be competing to appear the best looking, richest, and or most popular. I can't stand it now. To those of you at home, I'll be sure to visit all you folks in the city, but I'm heading out into the boonies.

All of that aside, I'm working hard, teaching lots, and having a BLAST while I do it!

Have an awesome day, ya'll!
-Elder Brennan Keppner


PS: So, us four guys in the apartment kinda started a band. It's stupid, but it's SO FETCHING FUN! We're called "Teancum and Friends". We only have one song done, but we're writing more. We are also making a music video to send to our families soon, so, keep an eye out for it ya'll! It'll knock your socks off!