Yellow!!

Dear Family/Friends,

So, this week has been a very yellow week! It was sunny, and beautiful, and happy! We had a zone meeting and President Wirthlin was there. He came to me and told me not to leave without a package he had in his car. I was so happy to see the box full of yellow stuff! It just made the week perfect! Thank you for the watch!!!! It is the exact one I wanted!!! We can actually know how long our lessons are with people now. We were struggling with time. We typically try to keep lessons to about 30-45 mins. We've had some that went almost 2 hours... They were amazing lessons though, so I don't regret it!!!

It is very beautiful here now. Spring finally came!! The trees turned green over night! And flowers bloomed everywhere!! It just made me really happy :)

We had some awesome lessons with Judy this week, and she came to church on Sunday! We talked about the Temple during one of our lessons, and she can't wait to go through there someday! With her baptism coming up in June, she will be able to attend the next Temple trip with the branch this fall! She has so far gone one week without smoking! She is doing awesome. We have a tough lesson coming up with her... the law of chastity. She has a man living with her right now who is quite a bit younger than her and we know they aren't married, but he takes care of her. She doesn't have romantic feelings for him, but we think he does for her. It will be a powerful test of her faith, but if she truly wants to be baptized, they will have to live separately. It's going to be hard, but I have faith in her! I pray that Larry (the man living with her) will be understanding!!

We had a couple lessons with Trent this week too. This was probably the best part of the week. Very good lessons too!! So it started with us trying to decide on what we should teach Trent. We were having a very hard time. We finally just put our books down and said a prayer. When we finished, the thought came to my head how awesome it would be if he could sit down with us to teach a different investigator. Or even sit with the Elders during a discussion with one of their investigators. Just so he could experience what it is like from our side of the couch! We decided to have a lesson where we ask him a bunch of doctrine questions, and see what he knows, and what his testimony might be. We were in the training center and having our discussion, then all of the sudden this 16 year old girl walks in and starts playing pool behind us. We didn't know this but she had been eavesdropping the whole time! She got the courage to come talk to us, and then we invited her to sit down with us for the lesson. She DID!!!! It was so awesome!!! We changed what our lesson was and followed the spirit to teach about the restoration. She had some pretty hard questions about God, and was really having a hard time understanding that exaltation/eternal happiness in the kingdom of our Father is our ultimate goal in life to work towards. We were so happy that Trent was there, because he was able to relate to her and help her understand. He taught her in his own funny way about the gospel, like a real missionary!!!!!!!! I was so amazed to see my impression become real! The power of prayer is so incredible, and I have come to rely on it with everything! I know that God hears and answers us, and He did prepare me for our lesson with Trent in the most incredible way!!! I don't know when he will be baptized, but I can see it happening in his future!

Well everyone, I love you all very much and miss you like crazy! I LOVE being a missionary though!!! Turn the TV off on Sundays. If I can go for 18 months straight with no TV, you can too. I don't care that I have the excuse of being a missionary. Just try it. It will help you feel closer to me.  The church is true!!

Love Sister Keller

OOPS!

 Dear Family,

I'm sorry I kept you waiting! I was in the library about to start my email, and then all of the computers shut off. Apparently it closes at 5. Oops :) So our neighbor was so kind to let us use their computer. 

Not many lessons happened this week. We had lots of plans to see people but most of them were cancelled. We did,  however get a new investigator that was referred to us by a member! Her name is Sherri. We have had two lessons with her so far. She is super awesome! She keeps commitments we invite her to do after each lesson, and then does more than we ask! She wants to know if what we say is true, so she researches and studies all she can. But, what is the #1 way to know if these things are true? Through sincere prayer! (Moroni 10:3-5) 

So, we have been having lots of fun this week! We found tennis courts down the road, and we just so happen to have two rackets! So, every morning at 6, we get up and go play. There is also a park right next to it so we took some funny pictures on the swings. 

For the past couple of days, Sister Bowen and I have been biking sisters! Our neighbor lets us use them. We have so many people that live near us, so it was kind of fun to go see them on bikes instead of driving everywhere. It is very hard to ride a bike with a skirt on though! When the wind picks up, "IT SNOWS DOWN SOUTH"! hahaha

By the way, since next Monday is Memorial day, I might not email until Tuesday. But I also might find a member who will let us email.  Either way, have an email sent for me to see on Monday :) Thanks! 

I love you all so much! Read your scriptures! The church is true! 

Love, Sister Keller 

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Family/Friends,

I was so happy to see all of your faces yesterday! You were all so silly with your hats and sunglasses. I loved it! Mom, I hope you had an awesome Mother's Day, and I hope I made it even better! It sure made my day better. Dad, I wish we could Skype on Father's Day! 

So it has been a long week! We have been doing a lot of traveling, and seeing lots of people. On Thursday night, we drove down to Utica with Elder Child and Elder Hawks for Return and Report. That was a fun road trip! We arrived at the mission home and stayed the night, along with some other sisters and Elders. Friday morning we drove to the church and met up with all of the missionaries that came with me from the MTC. I was sad that I didn't get to see my MTC companion. I don't know what her reasons were for going home, but I know that she is still such a wonderful woman, and that a mission maybe wasn't meant to be for her. Seeing the Elders who came out was great! I loved hearing their stories from their first 5 weeks. They all sound like they are doing very well and working hard!

I love you all very very much, and I want you all to know that I am very happy. I am doing really well and am taken care of! Hey, want to know something I have to worry about? Bed Bugs... Literally... The creepy crawling things here are so disgusting! Anyway, they can't change the fact that The Church is True!

Love, Sister Keller

The Light

Dear Family/Friends,

Thank you for all of the cards you send me.  I love how they are based on missionaries! They make me so happy.  I love hearing from you each week.  I am doing really well in Lake Placid. Everyone is so nice to us.  We had the senior couple missionaries come with us to a lesson with Trent the other night and they said that we are both incredible teachers and that we can really bring the spirit anywhere we go.  

My companion and I go to an Episcopalian church every Monday for dinner and to talk with foreign exchange people so that they can learn better English. Well, when we go, there are also other members of that religion who go for the dinner and their pastor is just amazed at how much the people love talking with us!  There isn't a moment that passes by that we are not talking with someone!  We have the light of Christ with us and that draws people to us.  I LOVE IT!!  The senior missionaries always tell us that people say, "Those two girls attract everyone around them!"  

When we didn't have our car, we walked everywhere.  That made people talk about us even more.  It was cold, rainy or snowing and we still walked. People notice us by the way we dress and the big smile on our face and see that there is something different about us.  They want to know what it is and how they can be just as happy.  So, we tell them "the good news". 

I love being a missionary!  One day while we were walking, a family with 2 little kids walked by us and they shouted, "Look. Missionaries!"  I love how excited members get when they see us walk by on the street.  I remember how awesome it was to see some elders riding their bikes around town at home.  Now I get to see people get happy to see us.  We do such an important work here.  We are bringing souls unto Christ.  We are helping people find the thing they didn't know they were looking for.  And when they find it, their lives are so much better and have purpose.  

I love you all.  The church is true.
Sister Keller

"HAPPY"

Dear family/friends,

 

So, on Mother's Day, I will be calling home at 5:00pm my time, 3:00pm your time. We will be able to talk on the phone for half an hour, and then skype for the other half. I have your skype address mom, and I will be calling from the senior missionaries home; Elder and Sister Miskin. Have lots of questions for me :) I can't wait to see all of you there! 

Hannah, you look awesome in your uniform! I'm so happy for you! Roaring Springs is going to be such a fun job! Mom, I got your "doughnut" talk! I love it!!! It would be an awesome seminary devotional. Thank you so much for the CD! 2 of the songs made me laugh! One was "Danny Boy", and the other was "Happy"! You have no idea how happy I was to hear that song on there!! We listen to it after a good lesson with an investigator :)

 

I got my clothes package. Thank you! Everything inside was wet though... nothing ruined. It has been very rainy here. I was jealous to see your Easter picture with you all. You had green trees, flowers, and warm weather!! It is still brown and cold here but it is supposed to be beautiful when the trees bloom!

 

We had another lesson with Judy this week. She wants to be baptized so bad! It's so exciting! We really hope she will be able to quit smoking long enough to be ready for her date. She knows what she needs to do and fully wants to. It is just hard to quit that kind of addiction! Our lesson with Trent went really well too! We went over the baptismal interview questions with him to see where he is at with learning everything. Let's just say he could be baptized this Saturday if only he had a testimony of the prophet, and Joseph Smith. In all other ways: a testimony of the God head, following commandments, living and obeying the Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, he knows are true, and has a testimony of!! All he needs to do is gain that testimony that Joseph Smith restored this gospel, and that President Monson is the prophet today! I know he can do it. He knows he can do it too! He even told us that he WANTS to be baptized!! Until then, we will just keep teaching him. All he needs to do is read the Book of Mormon to find the answers to all of his questions. 

 

I love you all! See you on Sunday :) The church is true!

 

Love, Sister Keller 

Sister Keller, Sister Bowen and Trent at church