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

Transfer 5, Week 3

District Temple Trip! :D

Hey everyone!

Man, time is speeding by! We're already half way through another transfer! We're just teaching, preaching, and praying our guts out. There is so much work to do, and I'm busy out of my mind!

We got a two new investigators this week, a mom and her 18 year old daughter, and it's been awesome to teach them! They're both strong Evangelical Christians, but they are willing to learn more about our savior Jesus Christ.

M--, the daughter, has a lot of questions, and it's been really cool to have all of the answers. MAN I love the Spirit! 

A dinner we went to with M--, her mom, and several ward members.

M-- was having a rough spot in her life, and she said: "Out of nowhere, you two came along, and helped me out. You two must have been sent by God."

It was really cool, and both me and Elder W-- agree that this is a Godsend.

Man, Priest River rocks! Our ward members are great, our investigators are great, and I LOVE working! 

A sign we came across...

Man, I hate standing still. I'm kinda the "Go go go!" guy in our district, and you know what? I'm okay with that now. Our District is really close. One of the Elders is having a really hard time right now-- he stood tall though, and we are all working together to get through life's challenges!

So, last night, we went over to a ward family's house for dinner. It's a big family, and they are AWESOME! We watched The Testaments with them, and LAUGHED all night!

We had a good laugh with the family, and then had a really cool lesson! My goal right now is to buy a good guitar with my tax returns. This family is trying to help me find one to buy, but it's kinda difficult. I will go on though! :D

Oh, and today, our district went to the Temple together. It was so awesome! :D

Anyway, I love and miss you all! Keep writing, keep emailing, and I'll keep writing you all back!

Ah! I love you guys!

-Elder Keppner

I forgot to mention baptism #6...

The Baptism! :D

So, I totally forgot to mention, that last week, was my sixth baptism here in the mission...

Yeah, I can't believe it slipped my mind. :P

Anyway, her name is E---, and she is 9 years old. Her father was inactive, but part of our mission is to find the lost, so, we brought him back to church! We taught him the lessons again, and he found his testimony again! We were teaching him and his daughter together, and E--- said that she wanted to be baptized! So, we taught her the lessons, just like any other investigator, and she got baptized! That day was super stressful though with getting everything set, but we made it through. (See picture below)

STRESSSSS!

As far as THIS week goes, things have been pretty much just us missionaries, doing our missionary thing. 

We teach lessons, see miracles, give blessing, talk to random people, and stay up until 10:30 talking at night.

 Speaking of nights, me and Elder W--- had an interesting night this week. You see, he accidentally over-dosed on his sleeping pills, and, well, he was high as a kite that night, before he finally crashed, and crashed hard. He doesn't remember anything from that night, and he woke up with a killer headache.

*cough*Hangover*cough*

Aside from that craziness, and the fact that I met S--- H---'s GRANDPARENTS UP HERE, things were pretty tame. :D

Anyway, I love and miss you all! And keep writing!

-Kep

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