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

Priest RIVER!!!

Hey everybody!

This week has been a bit slow, but we are SO PUMPED for this next week. As a district, our goal is to teach 100 lessons! Me, Elder W---, Elder C---, and Elder W--- are READY FOR THIS!

We all see each other every day, and we all ride to P-Day and meetings together, so we are all aware of what everyone else is doing. 

Our firework show with a member... :D

All of that aside, this week was good too! We saw some CRAZY firework shows, some crazy wildlife sightings, and lots and lots of lessons learned. Also as general news, one of the Sisters I was in the MTC with went home this month. The announcement said Medical Release, but me and the Elders that came out with me are kinda worried about her. She was kinda the big sister of the group, and so we're all praying for her.

One of the 500+ eagles I've seen while on my mission.

Me and Elder W--- have done a lot of talking recently. Elder W--- and I are both dominant personalities, but I tend to back down rather than let it come to an argument. (Don't act so shocked mom. I really don't like to argue. ;P) President Mullen, our Zone Leader, and our District leader all gave us some advice and suggestions on how I can take the lead more, and how Elder W--- can submit more, and we are both working hard to follow their direction. Elder W--- and I are close friends, and so we talk about everything openly, and we help each other out. Man, I love this guy. :D

Priest River beauty! :D

I LOVE THIS WORK! I love being here, and seeing all of these miracles! I love the people I meet, and I'm so glad that I came out here! This is the BEST DECISION I've EVER MADE! This Church is true, and I would die defending that truth. I would also live my life to show my faith, hope and knowledge. IT'S ALL FOR REAL!!! I promise! With everything I am, I KNOW that this is true! And I'll praise God every day of my life! :D

More of this amazing area!

Nothing else big has happened, but I've got a bunch of pictures to send home now!

I love and miss you all,

-Elder Keppner

Six Months, and I'm stayin' here with my bro!

My man, Elder W---

Hey ya'll!

Transfer calls are in, and I'm staying in Priest River with Elder W---! Actually, our whole district is staying! We're excited to have another transfer together, and we are going to ROCK our District!

We've had an awesome transfer, and we've learned SO MUCH! For the last week of the Transfer, Elder W--- and I made a goal to teach 70 lessons. We only made it to 50, but that was still a HUGE success, and we are seeing SO MANY blessing from it! 

We have several new investigators, and a couple of new children of God preparing for Baptism! Ah! How could I ever hope to describe missionary work? How could I EVER explain the feeling you get when someone changes their entire life around to follow Christ? It can't be done!

I can honestly say that this has been the best six months of my life, and I fully expect that the rest of my mission will only get better! Every day has new challenges, but the good ALWAYS outweighs the bad.

I am so happy, I can't even put it to words! I know that what I'm doing has meaning, purpose, and importance. God truly guides and directs our lives, and I get to see it first hand EVERY SINGLE DAY! I am in awe of how much he loves us, and how willing he is to help us in every step of our journey through this life.

I know this church is true, and I am so happy to be a part of this work!

I love and miss you all!

-Kep

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

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

Rocking the new area

I always thought it would be bigger...?

This week has been amazing! I don't have much time to put it all down, but the work is truly pressing on here in Priest River! As to our progress here, it's been great! Elder W--- has a bad leg, and has been sick for the last bit, but we still go forth in faith each day! Elder W---, in spite of all of this, has been cheerful, and willing to learn! He is a great trainee, and I love working with him!

We recently were at dinner with a ward member, and we were determined to get an investigator that day.

Before we left dinner, we talked to the waitress, and asked if she would be interested in talking to missionaries. She said yes, and now, she's our newest investigator!

So many little miracles have been happening every day, and I can't believe how much we are being blessed for our efforts.

My testimony has grown so much these last two weeks. I've been learning to study more in-depth, and my knowledge of the Gospel has increased dramatically. I LOVE studying the Lord's words, and I truly love learning!

Jesus is the Christ, this is his true Church, and I will teach, and preach, and defend that to the very end.

Love you all,
-Elder Keppner