Just Elder W--- and Me!

Me and my new companion, Elder W---! Isn't he a BEAST?!?

Elder W--- is a STUD!

I was sad to leave St. Maries, and a piece of my heart will always be there. I miss those wonderful people more than I can put to words, and you can bet your fanny, I AM GOING BACK!!! :D

C-- teaching me and Elder H-- on my last day.

Me crushing Elder H-- at Chess...

These are two of the greatest men I have ever met: Brother S--, and C--. I love them both dearly, and I look forward to when I'll get to see them again! :D

Me and C-- were trying REALLY hard not to break down in front of the camera. I think we sort of pulled it off, but it's easier for him, because he can just hide behind that fantabulous beard. :'(

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my time here in Priest River, with my new companion, ELDER W---!!!

Ah! Where do I start with this guy?!? All I can say is that HE IS A BOSS!!! We get along VERY well, and the work presses forward! I love the people, and I'm so excited to be here!

Some artwork by Elder W---...

It's a bit weird being a trainer, mostly because I feel like I just got here, but, I guess the Lord knew I was ready. :)

I've learned so much, and I keep learning more each day! My testimony, and my conversion continue to grow, and bare fruit. I love this Gospel, and I know with all my heart, might, mind and strength that THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH OF GOD. I know that, and I will defend that to my last breath.

Anyway, that's all I've really got this week. I love and miss you all!

Enjoy the pictures! :D

St. Maries

R--- (investigator), her daughter, and a bunch of little kiddilywinks running everywhere! :)

Well, transfer calls are in, and my fate has been decided: I am leaving St. Maries.

Sister L-- (the bishop's wife, on the left), and Sister N-- (on the right). Two awesome ladies! :D

I'm doing my best NOT to be depressed, or anything like that, but it's hard. I've been here for only a few months, and yet this feels like a 2nd home to me. I know pretty much everyone in town, and they all know exactly who I am too. I love everyone here so much, and it's hard to say goodbye. :'(

Brother Webb and his cute little daughter Amy. :')

BUT! I'm not going to let it get to me. I have every intention of coming back in a couple of Summers, so I have no need to worry about it. :)

So my new area is going to be: Priest River! Another boony town (which I am thrilled about. Small towns are my favorite places to serve! :D ), and apparently it's really pretty up there!

God works in mysterious ways. I know that I will learn, and grow, and come to appreciate this change, and so I'll look forward to serving in this new and wonderful area!

I love and miss you all, and I'll write ya same time next week!

-Elder 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.

Baptism #5 is on the way! :D

Chillin' with Elder F--- on Exchanges. 

Hey Ya'll!

This last week, things have continued to press forward! And although things have started to get really rainy again, St. Maries is as beautiful and amazing as ever!

So, big announcement: S--- can finally get baptized! :D

He has been waiting for months, and now, he has gotten the green light to go ahead and get baptized! So, on May 10th, he will be entering the waters of baptism, and becoming an official member of Christ's Church!
S--- has been the most active non-member in the history of ever, and he has wanted so badly to be baptized since the first time me and Elder M--- taught him back in early January. He and his wife were some of the first people I met here in St. Maries, and they have flipped their lives around, and truly become converted to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are so excited for him, and we can't wait to see him and his wife M--- be sealed in the Temple, on May 10th, 2015.

My white chocolate cross I was given by a Christian well wisher (to hell)...

Stories from St. Maries:

So, cool story #1- 

I'M FORGING MY OWN FREAKING SWORD!!!

C---, our recent convert, is an AMAZING guy, and he invited us up to his place for P-Day last week. Little did we know, that not only is he a blacksmith, he is also a SWORD SMITH. So guess what we've been doing for the last couple of P-Days? You guessed it: We're making swords! Not decorative swords, oh no. C--- said: "I want you to be able to use these swords in battle. When you run out of ammo, a man needs a good weapon."

I almost cried.

Cool Story #2-

Also, we're now teaching a 15 year old girl. Her name is C---, and she is pretty darn awesome! Her mom has been inactive for years, but her mom is starting to come back to Church, and C--- is interested in learning more. We've given her, her very own copy of the Book of Mormon, and we wrote our testimonies inside the cover page. :) Hopefully, she too will soon want to join this amazing Kingdom of God! :D

What's left of my white chocolate cross...

Cool Story #3-

Brother H---, a 74 year old member, somewhat less active, and a widower we've been teaching a lot recently hit rock bottom, and had started to lean back on his old addictions.

He had bought a can of coffee and two packs of Cigarettes, and had been drinking coffee and smoking all week. We came to teach him, and talked to him about overcoming addictions, and being worthy to enter the temple. I told him of my experiences, and told him, that to overcome addiction, you have to start NOW. 

Don't wait for the perfect day, don't wait for things to line up perfectly and things to magically get easier, do it NOW.

He was silent for a minute, and then looked me in the eye. He then told me: "I know what you've told me is true. I'll start now."

Brother H--- is a gentle and loving man, and being as old as he is, he usually moves quite slowly. But with a fire in his eye, he quickly rose to his feet, nearly leaping out of his recliner, and hobbled quickly to his kitchen calling out to us as he went: "Follow me Brethren!"

He went into the kitchen, and pulled out his boxes of cigarettes. He opened the boxes, turned on the kitchen sink, and rand them under the water. He then crushed the boxes in his hand. Then, bending down, he opened the cupboard under the sink, and pulled out his brand new can of coffee powder. He then quickly hobbled out his front door, telling us missionaries to follow. He went out in his back yard, opened the can, and flung the coffee out into the wind. He then came back in the house, but the crushed cigarette boxes into the can, sealed the can, and shoved the can into the bottom of the trashcan. Then, taking a deep breath he asked us: "Before you brethren left, could you leave me with a blessing?"

We said yes, and he then pulled an uncomfortable looking wooden chair out from under the table. Before he sat, Elder H--- asked if Brother H--- would rather sit on a more comfortable chair.

Sitting down, Brother H--- told him: "I am not in need of that kind of comfort right now."

He then turned to me, looked me in the eye, and said: "Brother Keppner, I would like you to give the blessing."

Brother H--- was the first person from St. Maries I met when I first came out here, and he is truly an inspiration. I love that old timer, and I can't wait to see him in the Temple, which is his goal right now. He wants to be worthy to enter the Temple again, and know that he and his wife will be together in the next life.

Thank you for everything you for everything you've done for me! I really do miss all of you, but I know, I will get to see you all again when I return home. In the meantime, I'm hitting the streets, and sharing this amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ, and this incredible plan of happiness to everyone I meet!

I love you all,
-Elder Keppner

Into the Waters of Baptism, and Beyond

C--- is getting dunked!!! :D

Hey ya'll!

This week was CRAZY! But, it was truly amazing. We have been working with C--- for a while now, and this past Saturday, he was baptized!

Me and Elder H--- had to do ALL of the preparations for the baptism because our ward mission leader is out of town, so, we're pretty well tuckerd out. But, it all worked out beautifully, and it was an AMAZING baptism! The Spirit was truly there, and everyone present could feel it. After he was baptized, he shared his testimony of the truthfulness of this Gospel, and of his conversion story. I swear, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Except mine. I'm to manly to cry. Yeah. *cough*

The work is EXPLODING here in St. Maries, and we now have the highest Baptism rate in the Zone. We are working hard to find more people to teach, because all of our investigators are getting baptized! One of our big focuses now however, is helping to expand our Youth program, so we're trying to put special emphases on the teens here in St. Maries. We're also working a lot with C---, and we are doing our best to answer all of his awesome questions.

Actually, for P-Day, we're heading up to his "Survival Camp", and he's going to teach us how to do Blacksmith-work, Leather-working, and a lot of really awesome stuff like that!

A new game: "DESOLATION: Wars and Rumors of Wars"

Anyway, we also had a lot of fun last week! I got permission to make board games on P-Day, as long as I get the idea for the game approved by the Zone Leaders first, I can make them! I've made two thus far, and even the AP's LOVE the games! P-day is pretty darn cool when you have four missionaries gathered around playing "Mission of Zion" or the new "Desolation: Wars and Rumors of Wars", and they are both quite popular throughout the Washington Spokane mission.

Even the mission President likes my Mission of Zion Game, and there are rumors that it may be used in Zone training sessions in the future... But hey, if my talent can be used to help the missionary work, than I couldn't ask for anything better. :D

For Easter Sunday, we had an awesome church service! We usually have about 60 people in church on Sunday, but yesterday, we had 110 (we have the exact amount because we talked to the ward clerk... ;) )!
After Church, we went over the the O---'s home for dinner. The O---'s are an AWESOME old couple, and they call us missionaries their "sons". Also, there is a part member family living with them, who we have been teaching a lot recently. Sister W--- is the mom. She hasn't been to church since she was a teenager and she just divorced her husband. 

It was a big mess, and we missionaries did the best that we could to help out. She has a 15 year old daughter, C---, who has not been baptized, and has never been inside an LDS church.

So, at the O---'s home, we had quite the party! In addition to the O---'s, us missionaries, and the W---'s, C---'s friend L--- was there too. We had a HUGE feast with a full turkey and everything else you could think of, and then we played piano, laughed, joked, and sang together for hours! After that, we missionaries taught a lesson about Jesus Christ and his teachings, said goodnight, and headed home.

A St. Marie's sunset

I can't tell you all how much I love this work. I'm a missionary, a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I am so happy to be a part of this wonderful work. 

I KNOW that the Lord lives. I know that Jesus Christ took upon himself all of the pains and sins of the world. I know that this Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is God's Kingdom here upon the Earth.

I love my Savior, and I love all of you.

Smell ya later,
-Elder Keppner

Win some, lose some, but God always comes out on top. :D

Hey Everyone!

Things have been going crazy here in St. Maries!

I've got good news, and some bad news, but since I want to end on a positive note, I'll start with the bad:

We had R--- on date for this last Saturday!

HAD.

At the last minute, her mom talked her out of it, and told her some anti-Mormon crap. Now, we're trying to help her through all of that stuff.

Also, R---, our other investigator, decided to get baptized into the Foursquare Church. A church known for their hatred of the LDS Church.

It's been hard to see them struggle, but they have their agency, and they have a right to exercise it as they want to.

The good news:

C--- is getting baptized next Sunday! We're so excited for his decision, and we are working a lot with him. As we've been teaching him the gospel, he asked me, if after we were done with our missions, we would come back, and be mentored by him. He said he wants to teach us the things we'll need to know if we are going to be ready for the future. He knows leather work, medicine, black smith work, gun making, fire arms, and so much more! He's pretty much the coolest guy I've met, and we're so excited for his decision to be baptized!

The work goes forward, and my testimony keeps growing! It's just like it says in Alma 32! As you exercise your faith, it grows ever more!

Thank you for all your prayers, and I can't wait to hear more from you all!

God bless,
-Elder Keppner

Transfers again?!?

My haircut! :D (C'mon and smile, Elder!)

So everyone, it's that time again! TRANSFERS!!!

So, here's what happened: NOTHING!!! :D I get to stay in St. Maries, which, to be honest, is what I've kinda been praying would happen. If I could spend the rest of my mission here in St. Maries, I would be SO FLIPPING HAPPY. But, I'm sure that the Lord will only send me to the places he wants me to be, so, I"m really not TOO worried about it in the future. Anyway, me and Elder H--- are REALLY getting along now, and serving a mission with him, in this awesome area is, well, the best time of my life! :D 

We had an awesome time watching General Conference, and we managed to get some of our investigators to watch too! How grateful I am for the Lord's Prophet and Apostles, and I'm so glad that we get to hear their divine council at least every six months!

Fishing in St. Maries! :D

Also of note, me and Elder H--- went to the H---'s, a member's home for P-day today, and we had an AWESOME time! We went fishing, played music, got music/singing lessons from Brother H---, and got haircuts from Sister H---! We didn't catch anything, but we had a good time, and we talked about the gospel with Brother H--- ALL DAY.

Anyway, I don't have much more time, but I wanted you all to know how much I love you, and that I know this Church is true. I grow in that knowledge every day, and I will continue to do so every day of my life.

Love ya!

-Elder Keppner