LEARNING CHINESE!

Dear Family, 

This week wasn't as intense as last week, but it was still pretty good. I learned how to say Jesus Christ, and The Book of Mormon in Chinese! I can't show you how, but I can spell out how it sounds. Jesus Christ sounds like: Yay Su Shir Jew Shir tzew. And the Book of Mormon is: Mormon Shu.  Birdie, our Chinese investigator taught us that.

We do service at a non denominational church every Thursday, and we got in to a pretty crazy and confusing subject on physics and the Pastor brought up a 3rd heaven. As crazy as conversations can get, there will always be something brought up that we can refer back to the gospel. We jumped in saying that we too believe in 3 heavens and he was very excited to talk more. This man had also received an Articles of Faith card and has ever since been incredibly interested in learning more about what we believe in. So we hope to stay a little longer this week and share more with him.

We had another amazing lesson with Shayla this week. Our new investigator. At first, we were a little worried because there were a couple members who wanted to attend this lesson. We were worried that having so many people there would overwhelm her, so we prayed about it just before leaving. We both got an answer that the lesson would be fine with the members and that it would be a great way for her to gain friendships with people from the ward. The lesson did in fact go really well! Better than we expected! We were teaching about the Book of Mormon, and she felt so excited to start reading it!! It really helps to teach someone this lesson after coming to love the book so much. I just love the stories and the lessons I learn as I read the Book of Mormon. I know it is truly another testament of Jesus Christ!

The Woman's Broadcast was great!! Our Relief Society president had Olive Garden soup and salad at the church and a cake to celebrate the Relief Society's birthday, and then we all gathered to watch the conference. We had 2 of our investigators there and they both loved it! I am so excited for General Conference!! We will be meeting at the church again for that as well. 
Today we are joining in with some other missionaries to watch the Saratov Approach. President gives permission to us to watch certain movies on p-day. Like the one week when we watched The Best Two Years. Movies are so fun! After that we are going to play volley ball again.

I love you guys! the church is true!
Love, Sister Keller

BLESSINGS POURED FROM HEAVEN

Dear Family,

The overall experience of this week has been crazy! I had my exchange, went to Stake Conference, gave a sweet referral to the elders, found a new investigator, and almost made a man tear his house down!!

So, my exchange was great! We met up with Sister Williams in Owego and then brought her back to Vestal. It felt like the good old times of being in a trio again. We had a really great lesson on tithing with our Chinese friends. They are the investigators who just walked in the church one day. We taught both of them which is unusual. The wife is usually too busy for a lesson with schooling, but today she made time. I love sharing a visual for this lesson using Hershey's Kisses. I give them 10 pieces and then I take one away. I explain that this one piece represents the tithe that they would pay and they see that they still have 9 Hershey's Kisses. Which still makes them happy. I then pull out the entire bag of the rest of the Kisses and ask them to hold out their hands. When I pour them into their hands they overflow and fall all over the place! That is supposed to happen because it goes along great with this scripture: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" Malachi 3:10. They can then see that by just giving one of their Hershey's Kisses to the Lord, He will bless them with so much more than their hands can hold. Blessings poured out from Heaven are a promise given to us as we pay our tithing. After this lesson, they both opened up and said that they feel the spirit and want to come to church as much as they can! They are so awesome!

At Stake Conference we gave Sister Williams back to her companion and then we were back to normal. The conference was great! We learned a lot about making our church meetings a more spiritual experience. One of President Wirthlin's counselors was there to speak which was pretty cool. He asked all of the full time missionaries to stand up so that the whole congregation could see us all. There were a ton of us! 

Last Sunday, I believe it was, we were running pretty low on gas. We had really no choice but to go to the gas station. We were just thinking "great... we as representatives of the church are getting gas on the Sabbath... We felt pretty bad about it so we needed to make up for it somehow. As we were parked, we heard a man driving by yelling at this woman walking by with huge bags of groceries. We hurried and parked our car closer to her and then got out to ask if we could help her carry her groceries the rest of the way to her house. As it turns out, we stopped her right in front of her house... What luck.. BUT! We knew where she lived now, and so we wrote down her address and gave the information to the elders because we were in their area.  They stopped by a couple days later and she wants them to come back!!! 

Our ward is doing a blood drive this weekend and we have been asked to hand out flyers to let people know about it. We are also planning on giving a church tour to those who come. Well last night, we were walking to the church and along the way we were putting some flyers on doors. We came up to one house and were trying to be quiet so the dog wouldn't come chasing after us, but the man inside heard us! He ran up to his door and started banging it and broke his curtains! We were just scared stiff and didn't run away because we knew that we weren't meaning any harm. He slowly opened the door and we kindly said we are from the church across the street handing out blood drive info. He noticed we meant no harm and everything was good. But still, that was pretty scary! I felt so bad that we scared him even more! Sometime, we are going to stop by and apologize again. This time so that he can see our faces. It was really dark that night and he couldn't really see who we were. 

Yesterday, we decided to go do some tracting. It was a beautiful day and wasn't as cold as it has been so we took advantage of it. We were also inside an apartment building so that made it even better.  We decided to start with the very back building and work our way from top to bottom. The first door we came to was cute on the outside. The one across from it looked a little scary. We tried the cute one first and no answer. So then we tried the scary looking one. On the inside we could hear the movie Toy Story, and we knew there were kids home. A young mother answered the door and we introduced ourselves and taught her the restoration right outside her door. She said she had been looking for religion because her husband has been wanting to join the military. She felt that church would be a great thing to have. We were so happy that the Lord led us to her, and she was too! She even said so! We are seeing her again on Wednesday. I hope everything works out.

"When you feel like you are drowning in life, don't worry, your life guard walks on water"

I love you guys!! The church is true!
Love, Sister Keller  

"BACK" TO THE MTC

Dear Friends and Family,

I had a really good week this week. I was inspired to work harder than I ever have before, and we did some fun things this week as well. On Tuesday as you know, we had our Zone Conference. That was better than I ever expected!! Our meetings are so incredibly inspired by the Lord and are carefully planned to meet everyone's needs in the zone. I can testify of that! 

It started great from the moment we walked in the church. We were greeted by our Zone leaders, Assistants to the President, and Sister training leaders as we walked in the door. They were all saying "Welcome to the MTC!" and they gave us the little orange dot sticker to put on our name tags. (Just like all of the new kids got right when they got to the MTC to indicate they are new) We were then placed in rooms through out the church and pretty much got to experience the MTC all over again. I remember when I first got there last year, I had so much excitement to get to my mission!! I couldn't wait to get out there in the mission field and start my 18 month journey of bringing souls unto Christ. The whole purpose of this experience was to remind us how exciting it is to be here in the NYUM. I got to remember all over again what it was like to be in the MTC and have that excited feeling of being a missionary. Sometimes, we forget how great our calling is. Sometimes, we lose focus of our purpose. And sometimes, we forget how fun missionary work can be. I truly needed this experience. I have a whole new burst of energy to get out there and WORK WORK WORK! 

We also learned how to use Family History more effectively in our proselyting. If you were told that families are forever and we can be together with them for eternity, even after we die, wouldn't you want to hear what I had to say? I sure would! I love my family! I would want to do what ever it takes to make sure we could be together forever! So we introduce little booklets that help people get involved with learning who their ancestors are, and showing Familysearch.org. Then we get to talk about the restored gospel and how all of this is possible because of Jesus Christ. We were introduced to a really cool website that we can look up people we are related to. The URL is: roots-fb.cs.byu.edu. I found out some pretty cool stuff! Like, I am related to Walter Elias Disney, Elvis Aaron Presley, Benjaman Franklin, Jeffrey Roy Holland, and Thomas Spencer Monson!!! Those are just a few of the people I found. There are many more! Family History is so cool!

One of the members in the ward invited us over for dinner on Saturday and also invited one of our investigators. We watched Meet The Mormons over there as well. That was a pretty fun evening. There is another woman, whom we are not teaching... yet, that we have been doing service for. She basically says that she wants to be baptized, but there is a lot she needs to do before that happens. The member who told us to go help her told her that she will invite the "sisters" to come help. She has a very Catholic background and thought she meant "nuns". She was so relieved to see some cute young sister missionaries at her door! I thought that was funny.

Everything is going great here! We have a pretty fun day planned today. We are going to play Volley ball in the gym around 2 and then go to a members house to watch The Best Two Years. This weekend is Stake Conference, so we will be traveling to Owego and Ithaca for those. That should be fun! We will also be having 3 day exchanges. 3 of us in Vestal this time. Sister Bladh and I are pretty good friends! I really like serving with her! We have done a lot of really great things in this area.  I hope you all have a fabulous week! I love you! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

HEAT WAVE?

Dear Family,

I don't know if either Mom or Hannah got the letter that I sent last week, so if you didn't,HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it was fun! I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for it, but I will for your next birthday! :)

How about that heat wave of 40?! I've been driving around with my windows down and I literally have sunshine in my soul today! It is just beautiful. 

So the name of the town I live in now is Vestal. The elders live in the actual town of Binghamton. There are 6 of us in the ward. 4 elders and then us. My apartment  is cute on the inside. It looks pretty much the same as Horseheads, but a little bit roomier and fancier. I didn't need to take pictures because it looks that similar. The area is cute. It has pretty much everything that I need, and fun places to shop at. 

Right now we currently have 9 investigators. They are pretty awesome! One of them got involved with the church by randomly walking in the church while missionaries were having a district meeting. What better time to walk in the church, right? There are quite a few recent converts we are visiting as well. The work here is pretty great. Get excited, because we have baptisms coming up!

It's great not training right now. It is different because training is all I knew. But now that I'm serving with Sister Bladh, who knows just as much as I do, it's pretty cool. So I only have about 6 1/2 months left. That is about 5 transfers, including the one I'm in now. I could possibly stay in this area for the rest of my mission, and possibly train again. I'm thinking I will have at least one more area though :)

I am so glad to hear that Hannah did some genealogy! You should keep doing it! Fast too! Get those names in the Temple before anyone else does the work for you. They are waiting!! Speaking of temple work, when I go this September, I would love to take a name with me. Could you find one for me when the time comes so that I can have a family name to do? Thanks!! Tomorrow we have Zone Conference. It is going to be awesome because the whole thing is going to be about teaching family history. I am excited to learn how to use it more. 

The church is true! love you guys <3

Love, Sister Keller

          

FAREWELL HORSEHEADS

Hello Family!

I got my transfer call to Binghamton New York! I will be serving with Sister Bladh. For once, I will not be training!!! I will get to see what serving as a normal missionary will be like. I will only be little over an hour away from where I am now, so I am staying in the Owego Zone. I am super happy about that. Sister Frisby is going back to Ithaca and Sister Howard is staying and taking over Horseheads. I won't get to be the driver anymore :( That's ok though. I don't know the area anyway. But I hear it is a pretty big and it will be a ward. They are in the same stake as Elmira, so I will get to see some of the families that I knew here. 

I am a little bit nervous to leave and be with a new companion. I'm sure things will be fine, because I have been praying that it will. I have also had more medical problems than spiritual problems on my mission. It seems like with every new area, something wrong has to happen. It is really stressful, and I don't want to have something happen to me again. I'm thinking maybe I should get a priesthood blessing. I haven't had one in a year, and I think that it will be nice to get one. 

I stood up in Sacrament meeting to bare my testimony. I read in my scriptures that morning in Alma about boasting, and how excited Ammon was to share his experiences with testifying to the Lamanites. He was so full of joy and he gave the glory all to God. That is how I felt with this area, and I wanted to share that with the ward. I was so happy that I did what I came here to do. I strengthened so many of the members and brought a family into the church.  So I can understand how Ammon felt. If seeing such great things happen and bringing souls unto Christ and being excited knowing it is all the work of the Lord, is boasting, then I will boast!  That was a pretty sad day for the Elmira ward though. They are having 5 of their missionaries leave!! 3 of the elders are finished and also bore their testimonies, and then there is Sister Frisby and I leaving. They were coming up to us and giving us hugs and telling us how much they will miss us. I feel so loved here! I will miss this area like crazy! On Tuesday night, one of the families will be throwing a Going Away party for all of us. 

We had another pretty cool miracle! There is a story in the bible about Jesus feeding 1000's of people with only a couple fish and bread. We had a similar story happen to us, but with less people :) We were going to a dinner apt. and they didn't know that there were 3 of us. They seemed so worried about not having enough food, and were about to not eat what they prepared. But the food was blessed, and as it turned out, there was plenty to go around and there were lots left over! The Lord does bring miracles! I love the little things that bring us so much joy. The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller 

FINDING MIRACLES

Dearest Family,

We had a pretty busy day! A really fun day too! This morning we had a district activity and then district lunch right afterwards. We had a nerf war! It was a lot of fun. We set up tables and moved furniture and had chalk boards all as places to duck 'n cover. We played in our church gym. I also cut my companions hair! Not very much, just trimmed her ends, but still! That is scary!!! I would never trust someone untrained to cut my hair! But, it still looks cute :) I did a good job. I colored my hair again. My hair was 3 different colors! Dark on top, lighter in the middle, and really light on the bottom. Well, it is pretty much all one color now :) I'm not really a blonde anymore :) It is a really pretty light brown. 

So we have been having lots of fun finding miracles throughout each day. We were invited by our district leader to look for miracles everyday. So every night before my companions and I go to sleep we pillow talk about one miracle that each of us had. I've had some pretty fun ones! My first miracle happened at a dinner appointment. We always share a message or spiritual thought with those we have dinner with, and at that house, we decided to talk about the Book of Mormon. Normally what we do is discuss favorite stories, and share how the Book of Mormon helped us gain a testimony of the Savior. This time I felt the impression to share my favorite scripture. It is Mosiah 24:14 " And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions". As we read this, I saw the mother's jaw drop wide open. She said that she had been looking for this scripture for years because it was the one that led her to know that the church was true!! Can you believe that!?! It was so cool!!! So after all of that we invited them to write down their testimony inside of a copy of a pass along book and pray to know who to give it to. Then we discussed Family Mission Plans, and how they could be missionaries in their own way. hint hint :)

My next miracle was when we were able to get back in contact with a referral from the church headquarters we received back in November. We taught her the restoration and got invited to come back! When we got there, I noticed that she had a little picture of Jesus Christ hanging up on her wall that we gave to her. She kept it all this time!  The church is true!

I love you all! 

Love, Sister Keller

BAPTISM #4

Dear Family!

Hip Hip Hurray!!!! Melissa Houston got baptized!!!! Her dad got to baptize her because he was just ordained a priest of the Aaronic priesthood a week earlier. He was going to have struggles pulling her back up in the water, so Elder Oloapu was there as well and helped lift her up. But it was so sweet to see him baptize her. Everything worked out the way it was supposed to. The original plan was to have them baptized the same day, but doing it this way was a much better plan. The Lord knows best! Sister Houston was so happy! She never thought the day would come that her family would join the church. But now look at them! They can now work on getting sealed to each other for time and all eternity next year!

So we had a pretty awesome lesson with a man the other day. It was a little disobedient for us to see him though the way we did. Normally, if there is a man home and there isn't a woman present, we should come back when there is or come back and bring a woman with us. But it was just him and his young son there. We thought that his wife was in a back room or something, but she wasn't even home. All three of us felt the spirit very strong that we were okay and that he was a good person. We know better now to ask if a woman is present at the beginning of a lesson rather than at the end... He felt the spirit though and would love to learn more about the church. We asked him if he would be baptized, and he didn't say no! He didn't exactly say yes either, but he did say that he would like to investigate more. I repented!

So the past 3 days have been brutal! It has been so cold!!!! I have never seen weather as cold as it has been. We were instructed by President Wirthlin to stay indoors. If we had a teaching apt set up, then that was okay to go outside. But if we didn't have something, then we were told to stay inside and study, watch the church movies we have, and prepare for future lessons. We are so sick of our apartment! We did have lots of fun keeping ourselves active though. We made sure to make our week busy busy busy so just in case it gets too cold to go outside again, we could still work.

We found a new opportunity to do service here! We go to a warehouse where they pack food to deliver to food pantries through out the area. We make packages full of food to give to kids who don't have meals over the weekend. We get to go every Tuesday. It has been fun!

I love you guys! I hope you have a warm week! The church is true!

Love Sister Keller