Presents, Lessons, and Exchanges!

Hellooo family!

This week has been crazy, awesome, and exhausting! The work is moving forward, mistakes have been made, and the Spirit is on a ROLL!

We taught a lot of lessons this last week, and for our efforts, we have 3 new investigators!

Probably the highlight of this week was the exchange me and Elder Wa--- had here in Priest River.

Elder C--- (our district leader) organized the exchange, and Elder W--- ended up going to Newport with Elder C---, and Elder Wa--- came here in Priest River with me. When Elder Wa--- arrived, I told him that the one thing I wanted from this exchange was to "work our butts off". Elder Wa--- liked the motto, and so that's what we did. We ended up teaching 12 lessons that day, and finding 2 new investigators! We went up and down every street in Priest River, and we talked to EVERYONE! We worked hard, and we had amazing results!

Also this week, I had a talk with Elder F--- from the mission office. He and President Mullen both think that I should try to get my driver's license here in Idaho. I have been in Idaho for more than 6 months, so I have residency! :D So, as of right now, that is the plan!

I'll tell you all how that goes.

Oh! And I got my birthday package this week as well! I haven't opened everything yet, but even the gifts that weren't wrapped were GREAT!!! Videos from home, a new CD, an old card game I made back home a long time ago, and some delicious homemade cookies from my sisters!

AH! I'm so excited to open the rest of the gifts tomorrow!

Some of the ward members are throwing me a bit of a birthday party, and one of our investigators says that they have a present to give me too! Man, a birthday in the mission field rocks! :D

I can't believe I'm going to be 19 already! What the heck?!? I just turned 18! A year into adulthood, and I still feel/act/look like a kid. :/ Ohhh well. :(

Anyway, we're going hiking for P-day today, so, gotta go! :D

Thank you all for your letters, emails, and gifts! It means a lot to us missionaries to get stuff like that. No matter how bad our day, when we get something from home, it really brightens our day! Thank you all so much for all you do, and Godbless!

-Elder Keppner

LAST WEEK OF THE TRANSFER!!!

Holy cow! The transfer is just about over!

You know, when people say that the mission flies by, THEY AREN'T KIDDING!!! I'm about a week away from being a fourth of the way done with my mission! Six months looms overhead, and I don't know what to do about it! I don't want my mission to go by this fast! It's not fair! AHHH!!! 

Anyway, that aside, this week has been NUTS!!! Elder W---'s health has been bad, and then he got FOOD POISONING two days ago, which made things interesting. Anyway, not a whole lot of other changes, other than I WORK OUT A TON!!! I've worked out my whole mission pretty hard, but now my whole district is almost competing to see who can be the biggest, and well, I'm pretty sure I've got them pretty well beat. 

Mwahaha!

Anyway, not a lot else to report, but I love and miss you all, and I wanted to thank you for my package! Andes [mints] are my favorite, and $ in tax returns is freaking awesome! The thumb drive contents made me so happy, and I'm so thankful for all of you!

Love and miss you all!

-Elder Keppner

Is Priest River ready for this?!?

Man, last week was SO SLOW. We had two all day meetings, two exchanges, and an insane amount of little side projects. But, in spite of all that, we were trained on a new way to plan our week, and it ROCKS! We were able to plan out this next week in such a way that EVERY SECOND is planned out, but at the same time, it is flexible to any changes we need to make.

You know, I've never been organized in ANY WAY, but here on my mission, I've learned to organize my life a LOT, and actually, my board game making tenancies actually have helped a lot! (Weird as that may sound. ;) )

Oh! And we got to meet with some old family friends in Newport, the M---! I didn't realize how much I've missed them until I got to see them! They were VERY receptive, in spite of the fact that the father is a pastor for another Church. Now, they're probably a lot more receptive because they are family friends, but they were willing to read the Book of Mormon, so, here's hoping! :D

This is Ferdinand. (He is a turtle.)

I was hungry.

My mission has been the best thing I've EVER done in my life! Being able to come here and serve the God who has helped me through so much, has meant everything to me. And every day, I get to help other people find that same help, strength and hope that I've been given. I love these people, and I'm trying to show them that in the best way I can: to help them find true happiness.

I'm serving with an AWESOME companion, and we are playing hard, and working even harder! Actually, the harder we work, the more fun we seem to have! The weather is warming up a bit, and we're heading into the 80's now. :)

Ah! In case you can't tell, I'm pretty much in love with my mission... :D

I love you all! And I hope you have a great week! :D

-Elder Keppner