I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.

TOO BAD!

No snow. It sucks.

Oh well. Mission life is good. We just had transfers, and no one in my "group" of Elders is leaving (all of us who like to get together on P-Day and play board games, play guitar/ukulele, and swap mission stories). So I'm going another round here!

The most exciting part of this last week was the ward Christmas party. Me and my group of Elders got together and prepared a special musical number to perform, and got it set up with the Sister in charge of the whole thing. So, as the evening was winding down, we went up and performed "Let It Go" from Frozen. I played a Taylor guitar a member in the ward let me borrow for the occasion, and we all sang. We invited everyone to sing with us on the chorus, and it was a total success! Everyone still is telling us how awesome that was, and apparently it's all over youtube and Facebook now. :/

Oh well. Fun times!

Also, I should note that we worked our butts off, and now have our first real investigator in a while! His name is G--, and we've been doing a TON of service for him recently. Good times, good times. Anyway, I love and miss you all, and I couldn't find my camera, so no pictures today. Next week I'll send twice as many though.

Love ya!
-Elder 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!

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

S-- Gets Dunked!!!

#1: S--- is prepped for the swim of his life! 
(We're in normal clothes because we all just got done with the Church cleanup.)

This last week has been crazy!

We had A LOT of lessons, and we made a lot of progress!

St. Maries is one of those areas, where you will always gain success equal to the amount of work you do, and we are working HARD.

The highlight of this week was our latest baptism/confirmation, S---! 

He has been waiting since the day I got here to be baptized, and now, at last, he has been baptized, received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and the Aaronic Priesthood.

The L--- family after S---'s baptism!!! :D

He is so thrilled, and so is the entire ward! In January, our average church attendance out of our 250 members was about 60. Now, we have an average of 75, and it's increasing! We are working hard, and it's really paying off.

Brother B--- cookin' up some grub for the ward BBQ, immediately following S---'s baptism. 

Also worth noting, me and Elder H--- performed a musical number in church this Sunday. I sang, and Elder H-- played piano. We performed "O My Father", and it went VERY WELL! The problem is, everyone wants us to perform musical numbers every Sunday now. :(

To finish, WE GOT TO SKYPE HOME!!!

It was awesome to see everyone, although, its really weird to see how grown up everyone is. SO much has happened since I've been gone, but I know we'll have all eternity to catch up!

In the meantime, it's out to the field to harvest.

We are only asked to work our hardest, do our best, and let the Spirit do the rest!

Love and miss you all, 

Elder Keppner.