To snow, or not to snow?

Taking a five minute break from walking all day...

Dear friends, if you would like to send our Elder Keppner a card or note for Christmas, I KNOW he'd love it! All mail for him should go to the following address:

Elder Brennan Keppner

820 South Pines Road Suite 101 

Spokane Valley, WA 99206

I would love it if you would join me in helping our Elder to have a Happy Christmas this year-- his FIRST, and possibly only one out in the mission field!

Love, Mama Rachel

.......................................................................................

Ugh. SNOW, STICK AROUND!!!

Hey ya'll! Things are going well here in the good ol' WaSpo. We've been working hard as usual, and doing our best to deal with how bipolar our weather is being. One day it's snowing, the next it's raining, and the next it's bright, sunny, and 10 degrees. 

So, when there isn't snow in the ground we can bike, which makes the work go WAY faster, and when there IS snow on the ground, we have to walk. We walk on average ten miles a day, and while it's not that far, it's a HUGE time hog. Oh well. Elder S-- cheers me up by telling me that the more we walk, the hotter our wives get, so, we press on. ;P

The ward here is bending over backwards to help us find peeps to teach. But, people in the city are so gosh darn hard hearted. I miss the country. Oh well, I'll continue to see what I can do in the city.

Oh! So this week we did our first night of caroling! It went SUPER well, and it was super fun! We are also getting ready to perform in our ward Christmas party, AND I'll be playing guitar in Hayden 4th ward's Sacrament Meeting Christmas musical number (yes, guitar was approved in Church). 

That's pretty much my week. I had some pictures for you guys though!

Elder Keppner Selfie

How we prepare to bike down the hill at 50 miles an hour.
(Tryin' to make you proud dad! ;) )

Love and miss you!
-Elder Brennan Keppner

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

BAPTISMS!!! :D

M--- was baptized! :D

This last week was AWESOME!!! :D

Our investigator M--- was baptized this past Saturday, and she had an AWESOME baptismal service! We are so happy for her, and for her choice to take those first big steps towards Christ! :D

She came to us and told us that she really does feel that gift of the Holy Ghost, and she was so happy when she came up out of the water!

Now, behind the scenes, things were going crazy. It takes our baptismal font about two and a half hours to fill, and so we went to clean our car while the font filled. When we came back about two hours later, the font was almost full, but the water was FREEZING! We decided that we had to refill it, but the problem was, the drain plug was in the drain... At the bottom of the font...

SO, we went back to our apartment, Elder H--- changed into some shorts and a T-shirt, and we went back to the church, Elder H--- got INTO the freezing water, pulled the plug, drained the font, put the plug BACK in, and REFILLED the font. The font was filled just in time for the baptism. 

Yeah, so, I included a picture of the baptism, and of Elder H---'s font diving. ;)

Elder H--- is baptized! :D

I can't believe I'm heading into my third transfer next week! Once again, I hope I can stay in St. Maries, but I'll "go where the Lord wants me to go". I'm excited for the future, and I'm so happy to be here! :D

Every day out here in the mission, I feel, well, like I'm being filled with light. I feel Christ's love, and his aid in my daily life, and I see it in those around me as well. I am beginning to be more sensitive to the still small promptings of the Spirit, and I'm finding that the little things, like prayer, and scripture study, mean so much more to me now. Things that once seemed so hard are now made easy with the help of my Savior.

I love the people in St. Maries, I love this work, I love my companion, and I love my Father in Heaven.

This Church is for real, God loves us, and peace out ya'll.

-Elder Keppner

Not much time, but awesome all the same.

My new bedroom decor.

This mission is the best!

The snow is coming down in HEAPS, and there's so much of it now, that when it melts, they're predicting that it's going to flood, so, that's fun. :/


Anyway, St. Maries has had A LOT of success recently! Me and Elder M--- have worked our rear ends off, and a lot of good has come because of it! We love it here, and we work very well together!

I told you Elder M--- and I are working hard.

 We recently committed M--- to Baptism! She's working hard to overcome her Word of Wisdom issues, and we know that she can do it! Thank you so much to those who have written me! I haven't gotten any letters this week, but I had quite a few emails, so, that works out just fine!

I'm the last one awake on our roadtrip with a ward family!

Cutest kids this side of Mount Baldy!

I wanted to mention, that with transfers, there are now a lot of new Elders and Sisters here in our Zone, and it's been awesome to get to know them all!


I love serving a mission!!! :D

-Elder Keppner

The Snow Deepens...

Cool Elder K

SNOWWWWW!!! The snow is going NUTS up here!

We now have about three feet of snow, and it's still coming down! Wedding plans and such continue, and there is A LOT of paperwork we've had to fill out, but, it's all so worth it!

We have two new investigators: L--- and R---.

L--- is a funny guy, and he is a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN. I mean, he is NUTS about Jesus, and says "AMEN!" to everything we say that he likes, and he is constantly telling us how much Jesus means to him. He went on a Church Tour, listened to our first lesson on the Restoration, and then said he'd pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true.

R--- is a different case altogether. She told one of her Less Active LDS neighbors some questions, and he told her to talk to the missionaries. So we met her and her boyfriend, and the daughter they had together at their apartment, answered her questions, and taught the Plan of Salvation. Some of her questions were: "I'm terrified of dying. What happens when I die?" "I don't want to go to Hell. What do I have to do so I don't go to Hell?"

She also came to church this Sunday, and she really liked Sacrament meeting, so, we have another lesson with her later this week! Yup! She was so sincere with her questions, and she has always been extremely honest. After all three hours of Church, we asked her what she thought of church. She told us that the second and third blocks of Church were "Long, and kinda boring. But I liked the first meeting a lot!"

Also, I wanted to note, that Elder H---, one of my best friends from the MTC just had a family tragedy. His brother committed suicide. Please pray for him. He was crushed, but he gave an amazing testimony about how this is the true church, and that we can't be held back from our calling by ANYTHING. He told us, that no matter what, God will allow us to fulfill our mission. Because of this, and having talked with him, I can truly say, that we have NO excuse to complain or give up on our missions. If he can wade through ALL of this stuff, we can carry on through our small daily challenges.

On a happier note, I can't believe I'm getting close to the end of this transfer! I'm about one seventeenth of the way done with my mission already! It goes by so fast! I really don't want to be transferred out of St. Maries! I love it here, and I feel like I just got here! I hope it's not wrong to ask God if I can stay here for a few more transfers. :-/

I LOVE hearing anything and everything from you guys.

-Kep

(Mom's note here: I am including a picture Brennan sent that shows a REAL road he found called "Kidd Island Road." Those of you familiar with the Keppner Family Game Brennan created will understand! :-D )

Who knew that Kid Island exists in Idaho???

Weddings, baptisms, and haircuts

My quilt! :D (Made with love by Granna Williams!)

Our apartment!

Hey everyone!

Things have been CRAZY here! My one baptism has now become TWO baptisms and a WEDDING!

Ice Scraping! Every morning! And guess what?
I LOVE the FREAKING COLD!

Here's the story:

S--- was getting set to be baptized, but in our next lesson about Temples with him and his wife A---, they asked if they could be married in the temple if they weren't married legally...

Both me and Elder M--- just about cried.

You see, they had told us that they were married, but it turns out that they CONSIDERED themselves married and that they weren't LEGALLY MARRIED.

When we calmly told them that they would have to be legally married to proceed with the baptism, A--- (the wife) started crying, and saying that they couldn't do it.

When we asked why, she said that they didn't have any money.

We told her that the wedding would be free, and completely provided for by the Church.

She then said that her one and only relative, her grandmother, lived in Florida, and would not be able to afford a plane ticket to see the wedding. She refused to be married without her grandmother.

Me and Elder M--- stopped for a bit so that the spirit could guide our next words, and then we told her that she would have to receive the answer to this problem herself from God. She hadn't prayed up to this point, but she promised that she would pray to know what to do.

The next day she greeted us, and told us to "get in gear for a wedding"! She said that she had received an answer, not only that she needed to get legally married, but that she should be baptized, and that she should work towards being married in the Temple next year. S--- and A--- both then asked to have the wedding, and the baptism on the same day, and we said that we could do that.

So! Now after only a couple of weeks, I'm staring down planning a wedding, AND two baptisms!

I can't tell you how happy I am. For once, I can honestly say that I've "Done some good in the world today". I've been able to be an instrument in God's hands and even if I never got another baptism, I will still feel like I served a successful mission, because God, through me, has made an impact in the lives of these two wonderful people.

My hair before getting it cut...

So, as far as everything else goes, things have been both busy, and productive. We now have five investigators who come each week to Church, and we have taught a LOT of lessons. Everyone knows who us missionaries are here in town, but they all also know that they can trust us, and if they ever need anything, they can "Just ask the missionaries! They can help you!"

My hair AFTER getting it cut. (Today)

Oh, we also get fed by members EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. The ward LOVES us missionaries, and we certainly won't starve out here. We spend WAY under our budget because the members give us tons of food. I now have about $200 dollars on my card, and I'm only given $80 per two weeks. I also wanted to let Mom and Dad know, that I eat EVERYTHING the members serve me!

I now actually quite enjoy Lasagna. :)

Our district pet! He was next to a trash can with a tear under his arm. We patched him up with plastic wrap, and placed him in our living room. :)

I love and miss you all, but I'm safe in the knowledge that you'll all be there when I get back, so I'm far from trunky. (Which is good because I've only been out a month. ;) )

Please continue to write me! Letters are the best gift ever get from home here in the mission field, and I treasure each one!

Love you all!
-Kep