FUN & GAMES

Hello dear family and friends!

I have had a pretty fun preparation day! We got to go to Goody Goodies (a foreign game store) and play games with the Elders, Trent, and Jaremy and then go out to lunch. We also got to plan a really fun Family Home Evening activity we are putting on for our branch tomorrow evening. We are going to be doing skits, acting out Book of Mormon stories, and have the members guess which story we are doing. It is going to be lots of fun and we have props and everything :) I'm excited!

This week we will be in a trio again for a 3 day exchange. This time with Sister Glenn. She will get to be in the skit as well. We have 3 stories in mind that we will be doing. Maybe I can get a member to film it and show you all some how. I don't know though.

I heard about Elder Jackson.. I saw his Facebook post saying he is going home for medical reasons.. I pretty much threw a fit in the library when I found out! Not really, but I was sad! I haven't gotten to see him while I have been out here so I hope he comes back. If not, I know he was a great missionary. I heard lots of really great things about him. An elder that I came out with, Elder Wendt, was his companion for a little while and he is serving in my zone now and he got to tell me a little about that. So, Elder Jackson, now that you aren't in New York, write to me! tell me about your mission!

Well family, it is getting pretty chilly here! I had to get my tights, coat and gloves out.. not my big coat, just my light coat. Just shows that Christmas is right around the corner!! 

I love you guys! The church is true!

"Teaching in the home is becoming increasingly important in today’s world, where the influence of the adversary is so widespread and he is attacking, attempting to erode and destroy the very foundation of our society, even the family. Parents must resolve that teaching in the home is a most sacred and important responsibility. … The leaders of the Church spend a great deal of time thinking about how to improve teaching in the Church. Why do we invest this time and effort? It is because we believe in the immense power of teaching to increase the faith of individuals and strengthen families. It is my belief that one of the most effective things we can do to improve teaching in the Church is to improve teaching in our homes. Our teaching in the home prepares us to teach more effectively at church, and our teaching at church helps us to teach more effectively at home." -L. Tom Perry

Love, Sister Keller

CHRISTMAS TWICE A YEAR!

Dear Family,

Patience Mom, letters are coming :) I haven't been able to give myself any time to write any letters. I have had lots of people write to me, and I feel terrible that I haven't responded in forever. So I just want to let everybody know I have your letters and emails! I am little by little writing you all back! 

General Conference was AMAZING!!! I absolutely loved all of the talks! Elder Bednar's talk... WOW! That was just perfect!!!! I can't wait until I get a copy of the Ensign so that I can read it all over again. All of the talks were just fantastic. I think it was the best conference I have ever listened to. I had so many questions answered and felt the spirit SO strong! We really had a party at the church! The Whites came, (member family) (love them) and then there was us, the elders, Trent and Jaremy. We stayed there all 6 hours of the day. In between sessions we were either on Facebook saying how amazing first session was, calling people to come to the next session, or playing games with everyone and eating food. General Conference is just like Christmas to me now :) Best part is we get it twice a year!

Sister Dahl and I took quite the road trip this week! She needed to see a doctor for some medicine and he works on the other side of the mission! Luckily there were some elders who needed to go too so we car pooled with them. 13 hours in a car on Friday! It was a very, VERY long day! It was a lot of fun though! We got to drive through so many areas of the mission. The elder who was driving served in almost all of them so he was excited to see all of his areas again. 

We had Zone Conference this week too. That was really awesome! President gave each of us a little bouncy ball that has a smiley face on it and told us to bounce it when ever we are feeling sad. In order to catch the ball, you have to keep your eye on it. The higher you bounce it, the more you have to "look up"  Get it? It was pretty awesome. We have Zone Training this coming Thursday now. I don't know if you heard, but there is a movie coming out called "Meet the Mormons" We get to watch it!!!! President is allowing all of the missionaries to view it at their Zone meetings. The coolest part is that my zone gets to see it before it even comes out in theaters.  It comes out October 10th. We see it the 9th.

I hope you all had a great week! If you missed any of the General Conference talks, I would like to invite and highly recommend you watch them.  The brethren all testified that the church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

BEAUTIFUL FALL

Dear Yous Guys, 

I had a pretty awesome week! It is getting extremely beautiful here with the leaves changing! It has also been really nice outside. So we have been out riding our bikes a lot! When you think of New York, I bet you think of sky scrapers, taxi cabs, and pavement. That is the exact opposite of where I am! Trees sweep every inch of the earth it seems like. The mountains look like they are painted red, yellow, purple, orange, green, and brown from all of the trees. It is just beautiful!

The General Woman's Conference was amazing! It was very spiritual and the messages were very powerful to me. We got to watch it at the church. There was only one person who showed up to watch it with us, so we had a great evening with the 3 of us. I don't know if I told you this, but I have been teaching myself how to play some songs on the piano. We have a piano in our apartment, so I take advantage of it. I have memorized "We Thank Thee Oh God, for a Prophet" with both hands! We were teaching a lesson to an elderly couple one day, and I noticed that they had a piano. So I asked them if they would mind if I played a song for them when we finished the lesson. I played this song, and it completely changed the feelings that were felt. Everyone got really quiet, and it brought the spirit so strong! I am now working on "I am a Child of God".  I can't wait to play for you all when I come home. 

I had to get my flu shot today. Sister Wirthlin has been telling all of the missionaries to get them, because it is spreading like mad up here! My companion is such a sharing person. She thought it would be nice to give me her cold. So we're just a couple of sniffling missionaries right now. I tried to avoid it, but it is a little difficult when you are with someone 24/7, and within sight and sound of each other at all times. Not fun... It's all good though. 

Okay! So Sunday was really cool. As you know from Sister Dalmas, her friends; the Allred family came to my branch. We were at the church building on Saturday evening using the computer when we got a phone call from them asking what time Sacrament meeting started. So I found them after church and told them I was the one they were on the phone with. We started talking, and I asked them where they were from. When they said Idaho, I said I was from there too! Then Sister Allred asked me if I knew a Lisa Dalmas. I said yes, and that she was my Mom's visiting teacher! Way cool! They also told me that they lived in the Shelly Idaho area, so I asked them if they know the Leckington's. They said "yeah, we know Shawn"! I then went on to tell them how he was the one who was part of Dad's conversion to the church. It was just a really cool conversation. 

So my branch went on their temple trip this weekend!! Guess who went?! Jaremy! After only being a member for 2 months, he got to see where it all started in Palmyra, and enter the house of the Lord. I think it is funny. I have been a member my whole life, and I haven't gotten to see any of that yet, and he is just barely baptized and got to see everything! I am so happy for him! He said it was an AMAZING time! Trent didn't get to go because of a Skeleton race. I got to see him go, and he got 1st place!! He is really good! We were very proud of him. 

I have decided to start working on a scrap book of my mission. I printed a bunch of pictures off, and I have kept all of the letters people have been sending me which I will include in the book. I have started taking pictures of me with the members, and people I teach. I am really excited, because this will be something I can look back on forever.

I have been reading my scriptures like crazy lately. I have finished the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and now I am almost finished with the Pearl of Great Price. I have developed such a strong testimony of the scriptures. I know that they are truly God's word, and they have been such a great tool for me in the work. They bring me so much comfort, and joy, and I never want to put them down! I know that when we keep our hearts and minds in the scriptures, we will be as strong as Helaman's army, the Stripling warriors. We can fight temptation and all manner of wickedness. The church is true! 

Love you all! 
Sister Keller

I WILL STAY WHERE HE WANTS ME TO STAY

Dear Family,

At the beginning of this transfer, I felt kind of uneasy about serving here in Lake Placid for another 6 weeks. I wasn't sure what more there is to be done by me, or how I was to do it. I was also feeling like I am stuck here, because I have been here for so long. I made it my goal for this whole week to remember why I love Lake Placid. To really focus on my time that I have here, and why I have been called to serve here. I did a lot of praying and a lot of reflecting with my companion. I am so grateful for the answers that I received. I found a quote in Preach My Gospel that really hit me hard. "The attitude you have toward your mission is a reflection of your love toward your Heavenly Father and His Son and your respect for the priesthood." After reading this I now have a complete understanding that the Lord sent me here for a reason. I am called to serve here because I am the only one who can touch the hearts of these people at this time. (along with my companion) These people needed a missionary like me, and the Lord knew that. He knew that I could help these wonderful people. I have seen the things I have been able to do here, and I really do see all of the good that I have done. I love my Heavenly Father, and I love His children. I need to show it more! I must also respect my mission president's priesthood authority. I know that it is through his personal revelation from God that we are called to serve where we are. I am very happy to say that I will go where He wants me to go. I will stay where He wants me to stay as well. So if I am called to serve here my whole mission, I am happy to do so. There is always work to be done. It will never stop until all has heard the gospel, and have accepted to come unto Christ by faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end! 

We received a headquarter referral this week. Those come from Salt Lake. They told us someone wanted a bible in our area. We called the person and told them we would love to bring it to them. They didn't want us to and hung up the phone pretty quick. We didn't give up though. We mailed the Bible to them and had a personal note attached with it and our names and phone number. Also an articles of faith card. We tracked the package, and it got to them. Hopefully they will have an interest in us. We also received an interesting phone call from an excommunicated member the other day. She called the church, and the Clerk, Brother Parrish, referred her to us. She told us that she wants to come back to church! She also wanted a priesthood blessing. We are very excited for her. We have been keeping contact with her and are becoming friends. She seems like a very sweet lady. I just wish she lived closer. Her home is just barely outside of mission boundaries, so we can't really go visit her. President Evans (branch pres.) is still trying to decide what to do. She would love to come to our branch, but she isn't in the boundary...
I am excited to see what happens!! 

Guess what! The Jehovah's Witnesses came back... They knew me by name, and said they wanted to meet with us! uhhhh... Okay! Sure! Nothing wrong with that :) So this should be a cool experience for Sister Dahl and I to share our beliefs and bare testimony of truth :) Because the church is true, you know :)

Love, Sister Keller 

STAYING PUT

Dear Family,

I got my transfer call on Saturday! No surprise there. I am once again, staying in Lake Placid. I knew that was coming, but I hoped for a change. Hopefully next transfer I'll go somewhere else! This means I will be here for 7 months! I think the record is 9. 

So we had a pretty fun week! We went to Return and Report on Thursday which was a lot of fun. I loved seeing all of my friends there who are trainers as well. We had District Conference on Saturday and Sunday which was awesome! Elder Bennett of the Seventy was there to speak! It was fun, we all drove to Malone to attend. My entire zone was there, so I got to see the 2 Elders from my MTC district. 

We had a sweet district activity today! (that is why I am so late emailing today) We went to a huge base ball field and set up volleyball nets, played soccer, and kick ball. I took a picture, but I don't have my camera with me. I'll send it next week. 

I pretty much just have one progressing investigator now. She is not the only one we visit, but she is the only one showing any sort of interest in learning more. We have really been working hard with her. We visit her every single day, and she finally reads the Book of Mormon! She always told us she hates reading but now that she actually started, she can't put it down! She wished she had just picked it up and read it a long time ago. It has been so awesome seeing how far she has come in these past two weeks. I am very happy for her! She is seeing the blessings more clearly and understanding that God really is answering her prayers! 

I am doing really good with reading my scriptures! I am almost done with Doctrine and Covenants. That book has some amazing stuff! I am learning so much more about the church from studying it. Once you get into sections 120 and on, it gets deep in doctrine! I love it!! 

I love you all so much!! the church is true!!

Sister Keller

I KNOW WHO I AM

Hey there everyone! 

How is life in the West? Good I hope. Things have been pretty awesome here. You wouldn't believe how much things are changing already! They have so many trees here of all kinds and the leaves are just beautiful. It has been nice seeing colors other than green. It has also cooled down quite a bit.  Fall comes fast! 

So we had a pretty good week, but also some sad times. A less-active member of our branch just died recently. I loved going to see her. I am glad that I got to bring Sister Dahl to see her a couple times before she passed. She was just the sweetest lady. I knew how much she struggled though, so I am happy that she is in a better place and with her family again.

Sister Dahl and I experienced some hard-core Bible bashing with an investigator. We no longer consider her a progressing investigator. All she wants to do is learn bits and pieces of the gospel. At first we thought she was really interested. But as it turns out, she found joy in trying to prove every bit of doctrine wrong with her bible. She said there were some things that fascinated her about the church. Like, temple work for example. So we are going to teach her what she wants to learn for now rather than wasting our time with this bible bash nonsense. In time, we pray that the Lord will soften her heart and she will realize that what we teach is true.

We had a very annoying OYM (open your mouth) experience. So we are just walking along the side walk, being friendly, saying hello and smiling, handing out cards etc.. All of the sudden we see a group of people walking by, handing out cans of beer for FREE! We couldn't believe our eyes. People were gladly taking alcohol off of the street while ignoring our friendly "hello". Just shows how much Satan is influencing the world today... Other than all of that, we had a pretty swell week with teaching our awesome investigators and recent converts. 

I finally got the package with the skirt and two shirts. Thanks!!!! I've been wanting those types of things!! They fit perfectly too. I also got a letter from Mema and Papa. I love getting their letters. They are so sweet. I still get my weekly letter from Grandma and Pappy! I love those!!! I also got my hair cut! It was long enough to donate! I don't know how to do that sort of thing, so I am sending it home. I know how much you like getting pieces of me in the mail. :)

I think it is really great that you are trying harder to have FHE, and scripture study, and prayers together. TRUST ME, the more you work at it and the more often you do it, you will feel so weird when you forget to read scriptures or say prayers. I literally can not go to sleep without saying a prayer first and tell Heavenly Father how grateful I am for each day. 

I am a Latter-day Saint. I am a full time, totally committed disciple of Jesus Christ. I wont look back, let up, slow down, or be still. I know where I came from, I know why I am here and I know where I am headed. I am no where near perfect, I have so much to learn. My faults are obvious to everyone, especially me. I have a friend who is perfect and He can help me along my way. I strive to live by inspiration, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor with power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Celestial. My road is narrow, the mountains are high, my way is rugged, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised deterred, lured away, turned back or stopped. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate with the enemy, pause at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I will be the very best I can be in every aspect of my life. I am a Latter-day Saint. I must go forward until I am called home, give until I drop, teach until all know, and work until Jesus comes again. And He will come again. He will find me doing the best I know how to build His kingdom here. I know that the church is true! 

Love, Sister Keller

LABOR DAY

Hello! 

Trent is here letting us use the Olympic Training Center to email again since the Library is closed. We've had a pretty cool day. I have been showing Sister Dahl around town and letting her see the cool visitor centers. Tried to go shopping, but we get sick of Gap after a while. It sure would be nice to have a Walmart or a Target closer to us. They are in Plattsburgh which is an hour away from us.

This month will mark my 6th month mark!! I have a 3rd of my mission done! It's crazy that I have been in Lake Placid for that entire time!! Just a year left to go! I have been having so much fun here though. I really, really love the people here. Especially the members. This branch is just awesome. They are all such great people. My current investigators are awesome as well. We are teaching Marybeth, Brandy, Brittany, Lonni, a family of 5, and the elderly couple I mentioned before. They are all pretty fun. We enjoy teaching and getting to know all of them. 

We had a super awesome weekend! During 3rd hour on Sunday, we and the elders taught everyone the Restored Teaching Method. It is basically the way we teach investigators. We wanted to show the members how we teach the Message of the Restoration so that when we invite them to come with us, they know what to expect of the layout of the lesson. The members really enjoyed our lesson. We were able to follow up with one family that evening at a dinner appointment on how they liked it, and they are excited to start working with us more. It was awesome to see how many members came up to us right after church to tell us they are willing to come teaching with us! I do have a strong testimony in the way we teach investigators. It is simple, short, and spirit filled. 

On Saturday we were out on our bikes.  We had so many opportunities to talk with people on the street because of it. We rode past one man sitting in his truck with a map and he looked pretty lost. So I told Sister Dahl that we should turn around and see if we could help him find his way. He was so grateful for us, and we were able to point him in the right direction. We didn't get to give him any literature, but we still planted a seed for him. Next time he sees missionaries, he will remember that a couple of sisters helped him find his way. Right after that, we rode a little further and a biker called out to us. She was so excited to see us riding along and told us she and her husband were riding across the US. They told us about their life, and said they may not look like Mormons because of the motorcycle get up but they were! I though it was awesome. We found all of these people from just being outside riding around and gave ourselves that time before we met a potential who turns out to be a really awesome woman we hope to teach about family history. 

Well everybody, you are awesome! I love you all this much!
 [-----------------------O-----------------------] (pretend that is my arms stretched out) 

The church is true! 
Love, Sister Keller