Dear Family and Friends,
I had a really good week! Being in a trio is a lot of fun! It was a three day exchange with our Sister Training Leader, Sister Barlow. The whole purpose of this special exchange was so that we can improve our short and frequent lessons with investigators. I hope we can do them more often, as well as still doing the normal 24 hour exchanges. I really grow a lot when we do those, and I know that Sister Dahl would too.
I absolutely love the members here! They are so good to us! One family made goodie bags for the Elders and us. These goodie bags where huge, and clear full of food! It is enough to last us the week! I also love visiting them all. They are so fun. I really hope to stay in touch with them. One member wants to invite me to their wedding reception next year. I thought that was so sweet.
I don't have very much to report on with investigators. I am teaching a very old couple that have the desire to be baptized, so that is way cool! They love us. They yell from the door for us when we pull up! They literally tell us to hurry up and get in there! I think it is funny. Jeremy is preparing to go to the Palmyra Temple with the whole branch in a couple weeks. I am so excited for him! He is even more excited though! He couldn't wait to tell us he got his recommend from the branch president. He also bought a CTR ring online that he couldn't wait to show us. It is so awesome to see how much he has grown. In just 3 months he went from smoking, and no church, to a priesthood holder and now on his way to the temple! He passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday. It is now his calling to prepare the sacrament each week. I'm just so happy for him. It also really helps me know that I am doing a good job as a missionary.
I hope I can get a hair cut soon. It might not happen for a couple weeks because I can only do it on Mondays, and it is Labor day next week. They are so expensive here... it's too complicated to cut it myself though. I want more than just a trim. A lot more. Maybe someone in the branch can cut hair.
I am so excited for you all to start school again! I wish I could see you go! You all looked super cute in your "first day of school" pictures! I love you guys so much! I know that you have seen a lot of missionaries come home these past couple weeks, but don't let that get to you! It will be my turn next year! I love being a missionary! I am not ready to come home yet! These people need me here. But hey! guess what! it has been 5 months! I am almost a third of my way done! I will have spent a 3rd of my mission here in Lake Placid. WOW! The church is true!
Love,
Sister Keller
P.S. A huge thank you to the Vrba's (I wear the necklace everyday) and to the Robinson's for their packages!
I LOVED THEM!!
Dear Family,
This week went SO much better than last week. Thank you all so much for your prayers and HUGS!!! It all really helped me. I got the flowers you sent me that same day!!!! I was so surprised! They are beautiful. Thank you so much!! I have been truly humbled by this experience of training. It is still hard, but with the help of my constant companion I get through it. I seriously wouldn't know what I would do if I didn't have the Spirit with me to lead and direct me in the work. I have learned how to put my full faith in the Lord.
We had a really neat lunch appointment with some members the other day. When we arrived, we could just feel the tension that was there between the family members. They had just been in a huge argument before we showed up. Their daughter went up to her room the whole time we were there. We stayed with the parents, and had a good uplifting conversation about church stuff, and gave them a spiritual thought at the end of our meal. We then went upstairs to the daughters room to see if we could help her in any way. We had an investigator we were planning on seeing right after we left, and we had the impression to ask this daughter if she would like to come with us. It would get her out of the house and focus on the Lord for an hour of her day. She told us No, and came up with a bunch of excuses. I then had another impression to say a prayer with her. I can't explain how the spirit took over me, but that prayer was one of the strongest overpowering prayers I have ever said for someone. The moment I said "amen" her whole attitude did a 180. She perked up, and said she would love to come teach with us! The spirit was so strong at that moment! It was so cool!
This week, we will be on a special exchange. I am going to be in a trio for a couple days. One of my Sister Training Leaders will be coming to our area to teach with us. It should be interesting and fun. I think we will learn a lot!
So, as you have already seen, I am on Facebook now! It is going to be such a huge help with staying in touch with the people we meet, and be able to contact them on a daily basis now. We will even be able to have lessons with them using Facebook. We just "message" them. I have to admit, it was hard to see that part of my life again. As a missionary, that stuff had been set aside for 5 months now of my life, and seeing all of my world at home was very strange. It is so tempting to send you all a quick "Hi" but I know that, that would be disobedient. We have been given this special privilege and if we take advantage of it, President will take away ALL computer privileges. You, however, may comment/like the posts that I put on my page. I can respond as long as we keep things missionary based. I have to always maintain my sacred calling as a servant of the Lord in conversation and in photography.
I love you all so much! I am doing much better now, so it's all good :) The church is true!
Love, Sister Keller
P.S. Thanks for the play-dough. I had fun!!
Dear Family,
Oh boy, where do I begin...
My new companion is Sister Dahl. She is 21, and from Dallas, Texas! She is a very sweet girl. Man, is she hard working too! It is like there is never a slow moment to breathe with her! It has been great to be busy and work hard. That doesn't mean there has not been any stress from it all though... I have actually had an extremely hard time adjusting to all of this change. I have been very, very stressed out. Since transfers, I have hardly wanted to eat anything, and it has been 5 days now... I have never experienced this level of stress which made me not want to eat before. I force myself to put something in my stomach so I can avoid getting sick, but I don't want much. Water has been my constant friend.
Training is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. I have learned so much from the amount of time I have been out, and was doing so well with my trainer. I now have to learn how to help my companion feel the same way. Everything we do now has to be all planned by me, because she doesn't know anything yet. Yes, I expected that, but I was not ready for what the stress would do to me. It has almost been a week now, and not much has changed like the way it did when I was being trained. I guess I kind of know what Sister Bowen went through, but she didn't seem as distraught as I do right now. I know it made her feel overwhelmed, but I never saw this type of effect on her.
The only time I feel comfortable right now has been at church, seeing the members, and studying on my own. Every other moment of the day, I am overwhelmed. I have written to President Wirthlin about how I feel, and I hope he has a way to help me. I have told Sister Dahl how I feel, so she knows I am overwhelmed. She told me that I am doing a wonderful job with helping her, and I was happy to hear that. Sure, I know how to do the work, and yes, I am very passionate when I teach. I love to teach, and bare my testimony. but I don't know how to handle the stress.
I am so sorry that telling you this probably isn't what you were hoping for, but I just feel like there is no one else left whom I can turn to, to express how I truly feel.
I miss you all so much!!! I think about you every day! I really need a hug or something... can you send me one of those in a package?
None of this has shaken my testimony. I still know that the church is true!
Love, Sister Keller
Dear Family/Friends,
Hey Hey Hey! This week was amazing!!! Sooo much stuff happened! So, first of all, Jeremy's baptism went so well! Brother Sipler had to say the prayer 4 times because he wouldn't say it exactly right. It was cringing, but also funny because he would mess up the same thing over and over again. He finally got it right, and was able to baptize him. It was so amazing to see this young man make this change in his life. We see in him that he is ready to be a disciple of Christ. We asked him why he made the decision to be baptized and he responded saying he knew it would bring him closer to God. What an amazing answer!!! Sister Bowen sang at the baptism, and we watched a Mormon Message. His mom and twin brother came to support him, which was great! They were very happy for him. His brother had mixed emotions, but I'm sure they all felt the spirit. He was confirmed yesterday, and Sister Bowen was able to write down the prayer for him so he could read it all the time. This guy seriously needs to serve a mission now. He could be an amazing missionary!
Our trip to Utica went great! I had a really fun time in Hamilton on exchange with Sister Fiefia. I really hope I get to serve there one day. The people were awesome. I loved teaching and giving church tours. We went tracting in a trailer park over there and had a scary experience! This guy came to his door and was very rude. He said some threatening things to us and told us to go away. We just said something like, alright, have a nice day! Everything is all good though. It's not like I haven't had a door slammed in my face before. Sister Bowen had a fun time in Palmyra. I am excited for my opportunity to go there next year! It will be fall time, so it will be very beautiful!
The next day, Thursday, we hung out at the mission office for a little bit to get new cell phones. President Wirthlin came up to me and asked me to come into his office. I had 2 theories of what he wanted to tell me. I was either in trouble, or becoming a trainer for the next transfer. Can you guess what happened?? I am training a new sister this next transfer!!!!!! I was very surprised! I was amazed at how soon I have been called to be a trainer. The Lord knew I was ready now I guess. So I will be staying in Lake Placid for another 12 weeks! That is how long a missionary trains for. I don't know who she is yet. We always find out who we are training with at transfers. So I will know this Wednesday who she is. I am excited!
On Saturday, one of our investigators, Lonni, took us to the top of White Face Mountain. There is a castle up there and a beautiful view of everything. It got stormy really fast up there, so the clouds blocked our view. Thunder and lightening came and one struck the castle we were in! The worker was funny because he told us all that we had just been struck by lightening. It was so loud! I am alright though. The electricity in the air made our hair go crazy though. It was fun!
I love yous all very much! :) I actually said "yous" one day and Sister Bowen laughed. It is a weird accent that people in the North Country have. I am slowly picking it up now... haha. The church is true!
Love, Sister Keller
Hi everyone!
I am having such a good transfer! Seriously, everything is just going so well. Trent getting baptized was the sweetest experience. I was sad I couldn't be there myself to see it happen but his phone call made my whole day. He is back here now. He brought Sister Bowen and I a copy of his baptismal program, so I will be sending a copy of that your way soon. He also gave us the email addresses of the Elders who took care of him in California, so we could tell them thanks. We got a picture with him as well.
I am super excited for Jeremy's baptism. He tried on his white jump suit yesterday after church, so he is ready for that! We only had one in his size! It was meant to be I guess :) This Thursday we will be teaching Brother Sipler how to baptize him, and practice so that when it is time for the real deal, they won't mess up. The baptism will be this Saturday, August 2nd. Sister Bowen will get to be there for it! It was very good planning. It will be her last Saturday in NY. We got to make the program this time. It is so awesome! Everything we put in it represents parts of his journey in learning about the gospel. He has great support from his family, friends and co-workers. He is a golden investigator. A dream that every missionary hopes for!
I am so glad that I was called to serve in Lake Placid, New York. I know that the Lord had a perfect plan for me to be here at this time and to meet these people who have been prepared to hear our message.
Today is a beautiful, soaking wet day and we are very busy. We are going hiking with my district to Mt. Baker. I hope the rain lets up a little. We had to cram everything today so that we would have time for everything. Grocery shopping, laundry, the hike, and we have to be ready to go in time for our trip to Utica. I'm excited though. I get to have two sleep overs! One in the mission home, and one in Hamilton with another Sister on exchange.
I sent home a package today. Be looking for that. I really loved all of the pictures you sent!!! Keep them coming! You all look so cute! And I would love to hear from EVERYONE! Letters absolutely make my day!!
I love you!!! The church is true!
Love, Sister Keller
Hey family/friends!
I had the most awesome week!!!! Everything went the way it was planned. Trent was baptized!!!!!!!!!!!! He called us before and after the baptism so that we knew what was happening. You could just tell in his voice and attitude the difference there was from being an investigator to a new member of the church. He is now an Aaronic Priesthood holder as well!!! I am so happy :') He was the very first person I had ever had a lesson with. It was a long, hard process, but we kept him in our prayers and thoughts every minute of every day trying to know how we could help him come closer to Christ. It happened though! Finally! He is a whole different person now. He knows that God loves him. He knows that the church is true!
Now Jeremy is next :) We had a really awesome Sunday with him. We talked about his baptism the day before to help him know what needs to happen. We asked him to ponder on who he would like to baptize him. We were thinking one of the Elders should do it, but they suggested Brother Sipler. He is a recent convert to the church. He was baptized a week before I got here. Him and Jeremy have gotten to be really good friends. Our first lesson with him, we had Brother Sipler present so that he could bear testimony about the things we shared. When we asked Jeremy if this is what he would like, he loved the idea! We then went to Brother Sipler and asked him to baptize Jeremy, and he started to cry! He said it would be an honor, and gave him a big hug. So this weekend was a pretty emotional one, but tears of joy!!! I couldn't be happier right now! This transfer has just been so much fun! So many amazing things are happening.
So tonight, the Plattsburgh Sisters are coming to pick Sister Bowen and I up to drive to Utica so we can stay in the Mission home. We are having a Sisters Conference on Tuesday over there. I'm pretty excited for that! Then next Monday, Sister Bowen and I will drive to Utica again. This time for her to go to Palmyra and see the sacred grove, go to the temple etc. I will be with a different sister during this time on an exchange in Hamilton. On August 6th, we will be in Utica AGAIN, but this time for transfers! I will get my new companion there and bring her back to Lake Placid. Sister Bowen will fly home on the 7th. We have some crazy busy weeks ahead of us!!!
Hey, we got a new car :) our old one had too many miles on it. We have a silver 2014 Toyota Corolla now. It's fun! I hope I am the designated driver next transfer so I can drive it!!!
I love you all so much! I pray for you night and day!! Everything here is going great! I love the work! The church is true!!!
Your favorite missionary,
Sister Keller
Dear Family,
I had a very good week this week. I felt a lot better and happier! No more home sickness. Sister Bowen and I have been keeping ourselves very busy! We've been knocking on doors like crazy! I would say 100's this week! We found this really beautiful apartment complex that we started tracting and met so many nice people. No potential investigators yet though. It will take us probably a couple weeks to hit every door.
So we were having a hard time getting a hold of Trent this past week. He was in Mexico and couldn't respond to our texts for some reason. He finally responded when he got to California. Everything is going super well for him!! He loved going to church with his brother and sister. I'm really happy that he gets to see them. He is getting baptized in 6 days!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!! The best part is that his brother is baptizing him. How special for him! I am sad I don't get to witness it, but he is going to call us before and after :)
Jeremy is doing super awesome! He is so excited to get baptized on August 2nd! He literally goes home from church and tells all of his friends and family how excited he is to get baptized. We know that because during our tracting time, we found one of his friends and they were saying how happy they were for him. I am so glad that he has support from his family and friends. It makes such a huge difference. We love teaching him. We will ask if he has any questions throughout and at the end of lessons, and he will just respond saying he knows it's true, and it makes perfect sense. He has got such a strong testimony. We had a really cool experience with him the other day. So while he was at work, he had a really strong craving for a cigarette. We told him prior to this to text us if he had another temptation. We didn't want him to relapse again. So at work he text us and was really worried. He didn't know what to do to make it go away. We saw this text an HOUR later! We were so worried about him! We tried to call and text back, but no response... We very quickly got down on our knees. We then drove to his work and his apartment to find him. No luck. Later that night, we got a text:"Hey sisters, I don't know if you prayed for me or something, but the temptation went away!" YES! Prayers work!! We told him that we did pray, and that he can too during another craving. We also gave him more ideas to do during his breaks, like read scriptures, listen to music. Anything to get his mind away from smoking. So every thing is good! He also said to us that he is happy to have the THREE of us helping him. Three? Wow! He knows that the Lord is right there with him as well as us!
I wasn't near the tornadoes. Just huge lightning and thunder storms. They are beautiful though!!! Sunsets/rises are very pretty here too. It reminds me of Hawaii! The mountains here are solid green just like in Hawaii. It's gorgeous!!! Also there is hardly any humidity in the north country so I got really lucky coming here for the summer time :)
Oh guess what! There are so many foods that I like now! Like broccoli and cauliflower. One thing I can not stand is a Beet smoothie.... I wanted to gag. It was at a members house. Sister Bowen had to finish mine. It tasted like dirt! A DIRT SMOOTHIE!
Well, life is pretty grand here in my little town of Lake Placid. I love you all very much! I hope you have an awesome day!
Love, Sister Keller
P.S. The church is true
