What were they thinking?!?

Hey everyone,

Transfer calls were last night, and the news isn't good. I'm staying (good), Elder S-- is staying (good), but Elder M--, our District Leader is leaving (BAD)! We love that kid! He's one of the coolest guys I've ever met, and he is a key member of Teancum and Friends. Aghrrrr!

On top of all of that, they made ME District Leader in his place. What were they thinking? I guess God's will be done, but MAN this is gonna be hard.

I don't trust myself with authority. I grew up as a bossy and annoying kid, and that is NOT what I want now. Elder M-- was an amazing District Leader, and now, me, a total noob who happens to be a recovering power addict is supposed to take care of this District. 

Sometimes, I really think God has a sense of humor. :P

I AM happy to be here another transfer though. I love this area, and the amazing people in it. There is a TON of work to do, and I am excited to get to be here for it! AND I get to work with Elder S-- for another Transfer? Heck yeah!!! Me and Elder S-- are both stoked for this next transfer! We can feel a bunch of baptisms coming, so maybe I'll report that later on. We have been getting a good number of new investigators each week, and it's great to work with all of these amazing people.

We're weird ya'll. Just in case you were wondering. ;P

As far as the everyday work here goes, it's never been better! Me and Elder S-- work out butts off, and the Lord has been blessing us with some wonderful miracles. In addition, obedience has been a big thing that me and Elder S-- have been focusing on, and once again, more obedience, more blessings! It's sick!

I've never been outright disobedient, but I didn't always look for ways to be even MORE obedient. Man, I can't tell you how good the Lord is to those who are obedient. He rocks!

Oh, and in other news, Elder F-- (From Chewelah) is taking Elder M--'s place! Elder F-- and I will be chilling in the same apartment, and boy is this going to be a hoot.

I'm surrounded by good people here, so I guess the Lord's setting this up to be a positive experience. But man, it certainly wasn't my plan to have any kind of leadership. I've found WAY more joy in just focusing on improving myself and helping my companion out than I ever did in leadership positions back home. I think I've learned that power is like fire, and I am a pyro. So, the Lord made sure the fire department (all of these awesome Elders in my District) was here before he handed me the matches.

If you guys could pray for me, that would be great.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant this week. I'll get over myself soon, I promise. I just needed to complain for a bit.

So, that's life here in Hayden 2nd.

Oh, and I thought of a solution to my not having anything to write home: Send me questions that you want me to answer next week over email. Then, I can just answer all of the questions each week. :)

I love you all!
Have a good one.
-Keppy

Brave New Year

Yeah, I'm skinny again. (Awkward selfie #296)
{He was sick all last week, so he lost a little weight.}

Hello hello!

Happy New Year, ya'll!

Things here in the good ol' Hayden 2nd are just cruisin' along. We got two feet of snow last night, but it's been raining since this morning, so, we'll see how long it lasts. If it drops below freezing, we're all in for a CRAPPY time on the roads. But, me and Elder S-- walk everywhere, so I guess we aren't affected by it much.

Let's see, what else interesting happened... Errrr. Uh, well, NEW FETCHING YEARS!

In our mission, we are allowed to watch one movie a year, on New Years Eve, from a list provided by President Mullen. This year, me and my peeps chose to watch How To Train Your Dragon with the M-- family, and we ate a TON of Papa Murphy's pizza to go with it. It was awesome! I love that family a bunch, and I'm so glad we got to chill with them.

Prepped for adventure! (Awkward selfie #297)

Also this last week, THE J-- FAMILY CAME TO SEE ME!!! Oh my heck, it was awesome to see them again! We all met up at Burger King, had a good chat, and played a bit O' geetar. AND, I may or may not have gotten a new and AWESOME guitar! Ah! So much awesome!

Now, I'm gonna take a chill, and finish off by saying: This day last year, I was in the MTC. At this moment last year.... I was probably on the toilet due to the MTC food that caused most of us to live on that ivory throne for two weeks.

Sorry, I'm hyper, tired, and kinda crude right now. I love you all though, and I'm thinkin' of you! 

Keep your cool, and know that this Church is true, the Book is Blue, and Jesus is a Mormon.

Love you all!
-Elder Keppner

♪"Take it all down, 'cause Christmas is over."♫

Teancum and Friends 1.5: Happy

Hey ya'll!

Christmas is come and gone folks! Goodbye to Christmas cheer and hello to winter colds and fevers. BLECH! Yeah, me and everyone in the apartment is now sick.

Oh well, God spared us until AFTER Christmas which I am SO grateful for, because Christmas was amazing!

Teancum and Friends 1.5: Serious

Christmas Eve was like most every other day, but that night we had a dinner/contest at a ward member's house. The dinner was roast beast, and the contest was to see who could find the almond in the rice pudding by eating one bowl full at a time. When you do find the almond, it's tradition to let everyone keep eating until the bowl is full without telling anyone that you found it. The winner gets what is known as the Almond Gift, which this year was a Christmas ornament. I didn't win. :(

But then.... CHRISTMAS!!! :D

Christmas Eve dinner with members (Elder S-- on the right)

We started off the day by opening Christmas presents one at a time, and MAN was it a Christmas. We all had a blast, and there were actually quite a few presents to open, which is evidenced by our trashed apartment after we opened all of them... Yeah, we should probably fix that, shouldn't we Elder S--?

*Cough*

Anyway, after that, we went to a member family in our ward (the G--'s) to Skype and have breakfast. It was good to see everyone again, and the Crepes for breakfast were amazing. 

Elder Keppner with his comp., Elder S--

After we finished breakfast, we went and hung out with the M-- family. They are one of the freaking best families ever! We had a BLAST! Everything from sweets, Ping-Pong, Nerf wars, sword fighting and good talk. They rock! We LOVE those guys!

Elder S-- with the M-- family: The Creators of our feast!

After all of the festivities, we wound down at our Ward Mission Leader's home and had a calm dinner, and lesson.

Ah! Christmas is so awesome here in the mission!

And now, it's over... Ew, EEEEEEW. I might continue to listen to the Christmas CD's I got though for a while... ;P

Anyway, aside from that, my week has just been me trying to get over my sickness. :P

Love and miss you all! Keep being awesome!

-Elder Brennan Keppner