Improvement and Progression!

Serious selfie...

Heck yeah!

It's a new week folks, and there is a lot going on here in the not-so-frozen-north. For one, it's not frozen. Yup. This time last year it was blizzarding, -15 degrees and cloudy. Now, it's sunny with a high of 55. It's so fetching hot! I'm out and about in rolled up sleeves and tryin' to stay cool while walking around. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to deal with Arizona heat again. :P

Aside from that, the work has been great! We're able to be up and about and people have become a little less reclusive. Now, whether that means they want to talk to us is a different deal altogether. People have been pretty responsive though, which we're A-OK with.

We've been working a lot with our investigator B--, and she's really been making some great changes in her life. She came to church for the first time yesterday, and it was super awesome!

Now, yesterday was Stake Conference, and good grief was it interesting. It started fine; Elder S-- and I were at the Honeysuckle building with B--, watching the Conference on the big screen. About 45 minutes in, BOOM: the internet died.

There was a five minute pause, and then our Bishop went up to try and fix it. Fifteen minutes later, it came back up, and we watched the next five minutes of it in peace. Then, BOOM, it crashed again. Once again, Bishop went up to fix it and called someone over at the Stake Center, but after ten more minutes of trying to fix it, he announced over the pulpit that the server at the Stake Center had crashed, and that it wouldn't be possible to fix by the end of Stake Conference. So, a new solution was presented: Bishop had a guy at the Stake Center call him, and put the phone next to a speaker at the Stake Center, and then bishop plugged his phone into his computer, which was hooked up to the church speakers.

We heard about every other word.

Super interesting stuff that. :P

Also, getting back to B--, She's quitting smoking next week! We're super pumped, and we're praying like crazy that she will be able to make it. Keep a prayer out for her!

Well, the rest is the same old same old.

Teaching, finding, tracting, praying, laughing, crying and being a missionary.

I should also mention that Elder S-- has been an amazing help at this point in my life. It's amazing all of the different things I've learned from each companion.

Guys, this mission has been the best thing that's ever happened to me. I am not the same scared little kid that stepped onto the plane in the Phoenix airport more than a year ago.

God is real, folks. He really cares about us, and no matter how many times we screw up, and no matter far we fall, He'll pick us up and save us from ourselves. He has changed my life, and I've seen Him change hundreds of lives around me.

To anyone who doesn't know if they want to serve a mission, all I want to ask is: Are you happy with where you are? The mission will change you. It will make you the best YOU you can be. You will grow so much. It will hurt. Sometimes you'll break down and just scream because of how hard it is and how much it hurts, but no matter what, if you keep on keeping on, you'll find a weird energy helping you on, and guiding you.

That energy is God.

Guess what, no matter what you believe or don't believe, God still is there, and he loves you. Deal with it.

Peace out guys,
I love you.
-Keppy

Another Week

Well, not too much happened this week. I conducted my first exchange, which was quite interesting, and I'm still acclimating to being District Leader, but I've got some great Zone Leaders who have helped a lot with all of the mission politics crap that's been going on.

But aside from that, mission work goes on! We've been working with our investigators, and we're trying to focus on bringing all of them to Church.

Church is a great place to feel the Spirit and get support from our fellow sinners, so it's a great place to bring all comers!

We do a LOT of walking by the way. It's just how you roll here in Hayden 2nd, and I have found a real love of walking, biking, and running. I'll be doing a lot more of it when I get home foe show.

Uhhhh. I'm out of stuff to say again, so, yup! I love you all, and if you have any questions for me, I'll respond to them next week.

Yup! That's it!

I love the Lord, I love this work, and I love all of you!

Talk to ya soon!
-Keppy

Work, work, work!

Chillin' on Exchanges in Colville

Hey Ya'll!

Things rockin' here in the mission as usual! We have recently been going crazy trying to get our investigators to actually show up to church, and even though we talk to them every day, and even the morning of, at the last minute, they find excuses to skip church. Why people?!? Is it so hard to sit, feel the Spirit, and do nothing but listen? Is that so hard?!? Ah! Why do people have to use their agency? ;P

Oh well, as far as me and Elder F-- go, we're great! Never worked harder, and we are constantly on the move. We've been doing a TON of service recently, which actually has been helping people soften their hearts a bit. We do somewhere within the 50-100 hours a week area, and it's been great! I'm getting SUPER good at cutting wood, raking, mowing, and moving furniture.

We love it! 

The Hand-Of-God-Chair I be chillin' on.

Oh, and it's gotten RAINY here in Chewelah. It's been raining for nearly two weeks straight, and I love it! The other Elders (including Elder F--) don't like the rain at ALL, and so they get REALLY weirded out when I'm out singing and dancing in it with a Shunk ton of energy. The cold, the rain, the trees, the mountains, I love it all! God sent me to the perfect place!

Recently, I've been feeling a bit down though. Me and Elder F-- have been working our BUTTS off, and yet, our numbers are lower than we'd like them to be. I've been asking my leaders for advice, and what they keep telling me that numbers don't define success, and to keep doing what I'm doing, so, that's what I'm going with. 

Man, I can't describe how good it feels to just go out and work hard from 10:00am to 9:30pm. It's been great! I'm so fetching happy all of the time, I think Elder F-- gets bugged by it sometimes. Especially if I get to singing at the top of my lungs. He's a bro about it though! A lot of the time, we both just kinda laugh at my antics. When you're shredding "Praise to the Man" on the guitar at 6:32 in the morning, and screaming the lyrics like a 70's rock star, Elder F-- tends to poke his head into the room with a look that's just screaming "are you for real?"

This mission thing rocks! Especially considering the fact that, IT'S ALL TRUE!!! This message I'm sharing 24/7 is something I am able to personally able to apply every day. The Spirit is a real guide for us as we go out and work, and he has led us to some amazing miracles! We see 'em every day, and they always seem to come up just in the nick of time too! Every day, I'm able to rediscover what I'm doing, and realize: I'm doing the REAL GOD'S WORK!

Every once in a while, I'll get done with a lesson, walk down the street a ways, and stop. I kinda shake my head and realize: "I'm a fetching missionary!"

It's still barely starting to settle in, but I'll have those moments a lot, and when I do, I get that awkward smile of mine, and lift my hands to the sky, usually yelling something like: "I'M A MISSIONARY!" Elder F-- then usually face-palms.

Our front yard. :D

Oh man, I love this stuff! And I love all of you! How are you doing?!? Write me! I don't get any letters/emails these days. :( 

Anyway, love and miss you all, and I hope to hear from you soon!
-Elder Brennan Keppner