IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?

Dear Family,

Is this really happening? Am I finally here? This is so crazy! 18 months worth of serving and doing the Lord's work now finished and I am getting ready to finally board the plane to Boise! I gotta say... It has been the hardest, craziest, scariest, awkwardest, most stressful, physically and mentally draining, exhausting, trying, challenging work I have EVER done in my ENTIRE life. BUT, it has also been the most rewarding, spiritual, heart felt, loving, motivating, amazing, life changing, happiest, blessed, work that I have LOVED doing more than anything I have EVER done. 

In 1 Nephi 3:7 we read that often quoted scripture: “I will go and do.....”.  We are so familiar with this. I like to turn back the page and look at 1 Nephi 3:5. In this verse father Lehi is asking Nephi to go do this assignment of retrieving the plates but he then tells him that his brothers have murmured when asked to do it. “Behold thy brothers murmur, saying it as a Hard Thing which I have required of them.” As you know, Nephi steps up and accomplishes the task. There are many hard things we are asked to do in life. We call this the Doctrine of Doing Hard Things. Yet here is the grand secret of it all. When we do hard things the blessings flow, lives are changed, people are blessed, and the Lord accomplishes His work through us. "Missionary work, particularly a full time mission, is hard. Yet in the doing, comes the Spirit......and the blessings" -President Rogers. 

Never in my entire life could I picture myself doing the things that I did out here. I am thankful that I was so clueless as to what was actually going to happen to me because I probably would have chickened out. But I came out here blind, and uncertain about the future but with a testimony of the things I've learned growing up. That was truly all I needed. The Lord opened my eyes and gave me the certainty of the message that I was sharing was true. He was the artist that molded me into the missionary and person that I needed to be to reach my full potential. He knew the whole time what I was capable of doing, and knew my limits. He never put me in a situation that I couldn't handle. Even when I thought I was hopeless. I have been cut at the knees a few times, but that only made me stronger and I bore testimony of those moments that God hears and answers our prayers. He knows our struggles and wants us to turn to Him in those moments. 

I realized yesterday as I was sharing my testimony in Sacrament Meeting that my very first Sunday as a missionary was a fast and testimony meeting. I stood up and bore my testimony that day pretty green about life and a bit scared. My testimony has grown so much since that day. Before coming on my mission I knew that the church was true. I knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that He lives. I knew that we had a living prophet to lead and guide His church. Today, I know more than I know that I am sitting at this computer typing this email that Jesus Christ is my Savior! I know, that Heavenly Father loves me and has a perfect plan for His children to come unto Him in His kingdom once again. For all eternity. I know that families are forever sealed together in sacred temple ordinances done by the holy priesthood authority of God.  I know that Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ, in the sacred grove where they called him to be the prophet of the restoration of the one true church in these latter-days. I do not know all things, but I would fear for my eternal salvation if I denied the things of which I do know. I know that the church is true with all of my heart, mind, and soul. 

Farewell NYUM! God be with you till we meet again! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

P.S. See you at home!

  

LAST FULL WEEK!

Dear Family,

Well guys! this is my last full week! CRAZY!!! I am only going a little bit nuts. I have like 4 almost 5 packages that need to be sent home, so I am working on those today and getting them shipped home next week. 

My week was spectacular!!!!!!! I went on my last exchange with Sister Hansen. I gotta tell ya... the spirit is so strong when it comes to knowing who needs to stay and who needs to go for exchanges! We don't just decide and pick who goes. We make it a matter of prayer and have to really ponder on what would be best. Each time, both me and my companion come up with the same answer so we know that it was by the spirit! When I prayed about this exchange, I felt like I heard the voice of the spirit tell me what needed to happen. Like one man speaketh to another. It was not something I wanted to do, but in the end it turned out being exactly what needed to happen.  I took over Manchester again and Sister Hansen and I did an amazing job. She is going home next transfer and has been really struggling with that. She really really doesn't want to go home. She has gotten so lost in the work and is truly an extremely dedicated missionary who has just worked her tail off the entire time. So every time she thought about going home, it made her sick to her stomach. That also made her feel bad because she loves her family. So she just didn't know how to be at peace with it. I am so thankful that she came with me. My attitude toward going home is great! I don't feel sad about it, and I don't feel like I am leaving something unfinished. In my opinion, my 18 months here has been exactly what the Lord needed me here for. No more, no less. I feel very humble about it all and I am so grateful for the wonderful service that I have done for the Lord. She told me that my example was something she really needed to see. She needed to see that it is possible to be okay with finishing a mission.

We did a lot of service this week. I have to get back on the roof of someone's house and finish painting the siding on Tuesday. Hahaha we told President that we were on a roof and he's like... "Oh sisters.. don't tell me that!" There is no way we could get hurt though. It is flat, and I could get down with out a ladder if I needed to. We also volunteer at a food cupboard and the library.

One time this week, were out knocking on doors and found a woman who had moved out of her town and was actually a member! She's like the 2nd lost member we've found this month! We think that she is less active though because she wasn't really trying to find the church. But still! She is someone that missionaries couldn't find in their areas because she didn't tell anyone she was leaving. God knows where all of His children are and will lead His servants to them every time :)

So, yep! it has been another busy busy week! I have a lot of stuff I need to get done. It is so weird to know that I only have a matter of days to get everything done. When people ask me when I go home I say NEXT WEEK!!!  So I better get going! I am doing great by the way. The church is true! 

LOvE yOu!!!!!!!!!

Love, Sister Keller

MOST AMAZING WEEK!

Dear Family,

Yep!! I had another baptism! Only this one happened in Binghamton. But I still get to count her because I taught her all of the discussions and she just so happened to get baptized after I left. But her name was Danielle. Me and sister Bladh were her first sister missionaries to teach her, and the day before I left for Bennington, we committed her to baptism for September 5th. She made it to the date and is now a member of the church!!! I am so happy for her! It was a long road for her, but she finally did it! 

This week was by far, hands down, the most amazing week of my entire mission!!! I had the most amazing exchange with Sister Tui in Palmyra, NY! The temple trip was so great!!!! I felt so beautiful in my white temple clothing and the spirit was so strong. We got to meet the temple president there and go through an endowment session. I loved sitting in the Celestial room. Do you remember the Miskins from Lake Placid? They got to go to the temple too because their mission is coming to an end as well. It was so great to see them there!! 

I hope you all got to see some of my pictures on Facebook. There were only a few, but I took some of all of the places we went to. My favorite was the temple of course because of how much I've missed it. But then my next favorite would be the Sacred Grove. Walking along the path to get there and seeing it in the distance brought chills to me. Stepping in to the grove made the spirit so overwhelmingly strong!!! I absolutely know with out a doubt that Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ there. I literally got to walk through the restoration of the gospel. I saw the place where the Book of Mormon was buried and kept safe for thousands of years. And then I got to go to the store where it was first published! I really really really wanted to buy a replica of the first edition Book of Mormon, but it was very expensive. So I will just buy one online sometime when I get home hopefully. 

We got home late Wednesday night, and then I got sick all day Thursday, so we stayed home and I slept all day. My companion went nuts, but that's okay :) Friday, we thought was going to be one of the hardest days yet.... We looked at it and we had nothing scheduled. It was going to be a long day of finding... But we tried to get creative with it. Late Thursday planning for it, we decided we should try service tracting. We would put on some jeans and ask if any one needed help around their house our yards. We did a lot of praying to know what streets to go to and then went to bed. So Friday morning, we woke up and got ready to head out to the first street. We were a little anxious because we weren't sure how it was going to work out. But it turned out to be amazing! We came across a house that was in the back woods. A woman answered the door and was oddly happy to see us. She shook our hands and said who she was and that she had just moved there from Logan UT. She was almost crying too because she told us that she had no clue how to find the church and really wanted to go on Sunday. It was an answer to her prayer that we came to her house that day. 

The next street we tried also brought a miracle! A less active member had lived in Bennington for a long time, and when the sisters tried to go visit her one day she never answered. They tried calling her and her phone was shut off. She became a missing member. We tried another house in the back woods and found her living with her parents! That was pretty cool. She was so glad we came and she really wants us to come back and visit her again. The next street, we finally found someone who actually let us in to provide service for her. She thought she was dreaming because no body ever just walks up and wants to help clean for free. So we did some yard work and helped clean up the remains of a fallen tree. I loved Friday so much.

We also picked up 4 new investigators this week, and gave away 2 more copies of the Book of Mormon. We try to give some away every week that we've been together in this companionship. So starting from 0 investigators and then 3 weeks later we now have 10 investigators, all while being Sister Training Leaders, and traveling in and out of our area each week. I don't think I have ever worked so hard!!! I am so grateful!!!! I love going to bed exhausted from doing the Lord's work. His church is true!

Love, Sister Keller   

LIVING THE SCRIPTURES

Dear Family,

My companion and I realized some pretty cool things this week. Our area hasn't had missionaries serve up here in over 15 years. Then before that, only for about 10 years.  There used to be a branch, but that didn't last long.  So before all of that, there was nothing. Nothing, until you go further back in time when Joseph Smith was the prophet. My companion and I are talking to the posterity of the people that Joseph Smith testified to back in the 1800's. These people have no idea about the church! They haven't been taught or even seen missionaries walk around their towns until now! We thought that was pretty cool. 

We also are literally living the scriptures right now as well.  There is a story about Ammon in the Book of Mormon.  He travels into the land where the Lamanites live. He simply walks up to their king and desires to serve him.  In return, the king offers him a responsibility to watch his flock of sheep. At the same time, he is able to show the Lamanites the power and authority of God which he holds and protects them. Then he ends up teaching and baptizing their king. Okay, back to the land of Manchester. We have learned from the scriptures, that the best way to earn one's trust and respect is to serve them. So we have been walking around and try to offer service to those we meet. The part that is really cool is how we walked up to the home of the town's local church priest and offered to give service for him and also to know how to help the community around us. It was awesome how we were able to become his friend and show that we weren't there to bash anything he taught, or shove our beliefs on him, but to desire to serve. Just as Christ did.

I had my first exchange this week with Sister Maxwell. I was totally nervous about it because I don't know the area hardly at all. Quote of the day.. Me: "I don't know Jack about this area" Sister Yancey: "It's okay. Good thing I'm Jill"... Get it? Her first name is Jill... I just about died laughing. Any who... I was lost for most of the day and couldn't figure out the GPS for a while and couldn't remember the address of some people. But we ended up having a really spiritual experience. The Lord directed us where we needed to go, and we ended up finding 2 new investigators. 

When we exchanged back, Sister Yancey and I drove down to Utica with our Zone Leaders for Mission Leadership Council. Once every month, all of the Sister Training Leaders and all of the Zone Leaders travel down there and we discuss the needs of the mission. It was super fun and I was so glad that I got to participate in that. My first and only MLC... Good thing it was great! I get to travel down to Utica AGAIN tonight because I get to go to the temple TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am so excited :D I will get to walk through the Sacred Grove, see the old houses that the early saints lived in and see the printing press where the Book of Mormon was first published. Other things too, but I can't remember all of them. I can't believe it is finally time for this awesome trip! Yay!!

I hope you all know that the church is true! I do!!! 

Love you all! Love, Sister Keller

2 STEPS FORWARD....

Dear Family,

You would not believe how hard the work has been here this week. If you saw the things my companion and I have had to go through, you would be amazed to see how we can keep going. It's not quite 1 step forward, 2 steps back, but rather 2 steps forward and being shoved back. It seems like every day we have had something cool happen and our spirits are lifted and then something happens and we feel like we were punched in the stomach. Not having investigators for the first week was very hard. We were walking and walking and talking with everyone we could find! There are a few less active members we tried to see as well. One of them has a sister who lives next door to them and isn't a member. We didn't know that at the time, but we felt the urge to knock on her door. She told us that she has been praying and looking for the one true church, and has been having the hardest time trying to find it. We picked her and her daughter up as 2 new investigators!! It was a great blessing to finally find someone nice, willing to listen, and open to trying it out. We still walk and walk everywhere we go because there are so many more people that need to be found. They have waited 15 years to have missionaries come and find them. They don't know that yet, but the Lord has been preparing them for us. We have met a lot of cool people just walking up and down the streets of Manchester Center where all of the outlet stores are. Some nice and religious, some atheist, and some just plain crazy. One guy we saw sitting on a bench late at night caught our attention. We walked past him and said we would find him on our way back down the street. It would have been too awkward to approach him the way we were at the time. So we found him again later and talked with him for a little bit. He said that as a kid, one of the members we know used to live next door to him and take him to church every Sunday! He doesn't remember much about it, but still has a copy of the Book of Mormon. We got his number and hopefully we can get the members to contact him again. We most likely won't alone because he was in his mid 40's and told us that we were "wicked hot" and asked us if we wanted to go out to eat with him sometime. I thought it was funny because he still said it even after he knew we were only 20. 

We also went tracting and found an extremely anti woman. Her door was left open and so we knocked on it and a very polite voice said to come in. Then when she saw us the voice went to a deep grown, “who are you and what do you want?” The only words my companion could utter were "we are missionaries". Then before we knew it, we were being yelled at. “Out! Out! Out! Get out of my house!!” We ran out and felt like dogs. She told us that we belong to "the bad church" and called us fundamentalists. My companion hasn't ever been told that before, but I have. Just shake the dust off and move on. It is a little intimidating to come back from that, but we have to remember that not everyone is mean like that. Somehow we get the courage to walk up to another door. Pretend like nothing has happened to us. All of our attention must now be on the next person and show them that we love them even though we haven't met before. But God knows them. They are His children too and we are there to tell them that. 

I got to help paint someone's kitchen this week. That was fun. Then we went and sang to some old people who can't come to church anymore. I love visiting the nursing homes and talking with some of the random people that live there. They have such funny stories to tell. I'm sure they don't get very many visitors, so talking to a new face must be exciting for them. 

I have my first exchange this week with one set of sisters. I will be staying in Manchester and my companion will be going to Saratoga Springs. It will just be 24 hours. No more 3 day exchanges. I am a little nervous to take over because I still don't know where I am half the time. But it should be great! 

That's about all I have for you this week! I hope your week goes well :) I love you!

The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

SUPER BUSY

Dear Family,

The Lord must have really wanted to do everything in His power to make sure that I am super busy these last 6 weeks, and not give me any chance to think about going home. When I got to my new area, I was completely unaware of the circumstances we were going to be in. My new area is actually a brand new area that we opened up! Sister Yancey and I would have been the only missionaries serving in the Bennington, Vermont branch, but the area has now been split in half. The elders took over the bottom half of the branch starting in Bennington. Then we cover the top half starting with Manchester. We have a whole house all to ourselves. We have all new furniture, and have had to rearrange everything to a way that we like it best. Missionaries have never lived here before. In fact, missionaries haven't served in Manchester as an area in over 15 years. So we have basically started completely from scratch. There are no investigators in this area, and only a few former investigators from back in 2003. So even though we don't have any investigators to teach right now, we have still been pretty busy visiting the less active members that live up here. This branch has really struggled over the years. There used to be a branch for Manchester itself, but so many people moved or went inactive that it went down to just the one branch in Bennington. They've had branch presidents that have had their records removed. That's how bad it's gotten... But, things have been turning around! They have a fantastic branch president right now, and the missionaries have been working super hard at getting the members excited to come back to church. I know that I have definitely been sent to this area for a reason. There is so much work that needs to be done! 

So I had a STL training meeting on Saturday over skype with the AP's, President Rogers, and all of the other STL's in the mission. It was pretty cool. We basically talked about how important our calling is, and the influence we will have on our fellow sisters. Something that stuck out to me most was how it will be my responsibility as a sister training leader to be a model of excellence. Part of my calling is to uplift, inspire, and bless the sisters we are here for. As a sister training leader, we help these sisters in any way that we can. If they need to call someone to vent about a hard day that they've had, we are someone that they can call. If they are struggling in their companionships, we help them out. We also schedule exchanges with them. So there are 3 sets of sisters in my zone. There are the Saratoga Springs sisters, Sisters Maxwell and Seadar. The Hudson Falls sisters, Sisters Hansen, and Hamilton, and the Plattsburgh sisters, Sisters McCormmies and Tui. Sister Yancey and I have already prayed about when we will be doing exchanges with them for this transfer, but not yet who will be leaving and who will be staying. We will be doing 24 hour exchanges with them. So either I will go with one of them to their area and my comp will stay here with the other sister, vise versa. And only once per transfer with each set will we do an exchange. Planning for the Plattsburgh sisters exchange was a struggle. They live so far away, and we would have a problem with our miles. Sister Tui is actually a temple square sister and will be going home with me by the end of the transfer!! So for the exchange with them, we decided that since we are going to the temple together, that will be our exchange. Then sister Yancey and Sister McCormmies will just stay back in our area and work. It all worked out perfectly!  Sister Tui and I have to try to hand out copies of the Book of Mormon while we are out since it won't be a "normal" exchange. I am so excited though to have a sister going home with me! I thought I was going to be all alone. But nope! 

My area is totally cute! There are little shops that are very popular and people walk the streets a ton, which means lots of people for us to talk to :) We'll have new investigators before we know it! I hope so at least. We've been trying really hard to talk to lots of people. I gave out a Book of Mormon to a lady on a park bench yesterday. She was smoking and had a dog with her. I love to walk up to people and talk with them and cause them to forget that they have a cigarette in their hands. Then it smokes out and they have nothing left to use. It worked on her! It looked like she barely lit it, and by the time we were done talking to her, she had nothing left to smoke. More room in her hands to hold a little blue book now :)

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

Love, Sister Keller

  

WEEK OF GOODNESS!

Dear Family,

This feels like it has been the most eventful week yet! It was so good! I will have to go day by day of everything that happened, so that I don't leave any goodness out.

Monday: P-day. Always a pleasure to have. But we had a great dinner appointment with our Ward Mission Leader's family. At the end of a dinner appointment we usually ask them if they know anyone that would like to learn about the gospel. This time, we asked them if any of their neighbors would be interested in meeting us. They told us 5 different families to try, and then walked around with us to meet them at that moment! It was great! We met 3 out of the 5 families, and they all seem so kind! One family we tried to visit opened the door and was glad to see the member, but when they saw Sister Hess and I they backed off a little bit. I had an impression to ask them if they liked to do family history work. As it turns out, that was one of their biggest hobbies! So they invited us in and we talked about lot's of different things regarding Heavenly Father blessing us with families, and doing the family history work for them. We even shared a brief message of the restoration with them. They had so many questions and by the end of our meeting they were commenting at how bright the glow was around my companion and I. It was such a cool experience. 

Tuesday: We attended a baby shower and had a sweet lesson with Johnson about the Word of Wisdom. We also finally got in contact with some visiting teachies that we are supposed to see every month which was cool!

Wednesday: Busy day of typical proselyting. We had a good lesson with another investigator and helped her feel the love of God for her. She also barely moved in to a new house, so we helped her unpack a little bit. Then a member took us out to eat to a Hibachi restaurant where they cook in front of you. She was scared the whole time because she thought they would catch her hair on fire a few times haha. It wasn't possible, but it was funny to see her reaction. 

Thursday: We felt like it was a never ending day! A good day though! We had an appointment set up for every hour block of the day. Only one fell through, but we were able to get in contact with her later. We had our Coordination meeting with the ward mission leader to discuss the work in the ward, and the people we have been meeting with. Afterwards we went to play basket ball with a couple of investigators, and Birdy. He is pretty good at defense! 

Friday: I have been looking forward to Friday all week, for multiple reasons. One was our district meeting. Our district leader had asked Sister Hess and I to give the entire training (which is very unusual). We had our discussion on Faith, and did a faith walk. We tied string around tons of trees and blind folded the other elders and sisters and talked about Lehi's vision of the tree of life and the iron rod. It was really fun! We also ran over to the hospital to visit a member. I love surprising people at hospitals because they always feel so happy to see missionaries come and bless them with company. 

Saturday: Not too much to report on, but we had fun at another baby shower, and met with several less active members from the ward.

Sunday: This was a happy and stressful day. I love going to church and feeling the spirit there. We had investigators finally come after several weeks of not showing up, and got to meet with Johnson again. He is so cool! It is like a breath of fresh air when we teach him, because he is a beautiful shade of gold! He is always willing to keep commitments, reads the scriptures, and prays about the things we tell him. 

Okay! I will tell you about TRANSFERS!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So this whole transfer, I have been praying, and working super hard to do the best I can at overcoming my weaknesses, and building new strengths. Because if I am going to be a Sister Training Leader, then I have to be able to LEAD by example! I kept the phone by my side all day long on Friday because I know that president calls missionaries to leadership positions the day before the actual transfer calls from our Zone Leaders. He called me at 8:00pm Friday night and said that he is aware that this is my final transfer in the mission, and that he would like to call me to a special assignment to be a Sister Training Leader. YAY!!!! The one thing I have always wanted to do in the mission field, and I finally get to for my very last transfer!!! That's not all though. My new companion will be Sister Yancey! I love that sister to pieces, and have served with her already once before, so I know that we are friends. AND, I will be moving out of state!!!! My new area will be Manchester, Vermont! There is one little area outside of New York that is part of our mission boundaries and that is where I'll be for the next 6 weeks! Sister Hess is taking over Vestal. She's a little bit scared, but I have seen her in action. She'll do so great!

The church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!

Love, Sister Keller

NOT TRUNKY YET

Dear Family,

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that transfer calls are this Saturday! Transfer 12 went by so fast. I wonder how 13 will be... Everyone thinks that I am staying because it will be my last one. I think that is very nice of them to say. It makes me feel like they really love me. I am not so sure if I will finish here though. I would love to serve in one more area. I have been really praying to know how I can make my last transfer great and one that I won't get trunky. No one thinks that I am trunky, or could get that way, but that is because I am trying so hard not to be! Definition of trunky: a full time missionary who comes to the end of their missionary service and talks about going home, thinks about going home, packs their bags 5 weeks early, loses focus on the work, stops caring, doesn't care about the rules... etc. I don't do those things, but I know that it gets harder not to when the big 13 comes around. So I am kind of hoping I will finally get to be a Sister Training Leader or something in a new area. We'll see :)

I was able to give away a Book of Mormon this week! It has been a little while, so I was excited to do that. We had a fireside at the church on Friday. A couple of women came because they heard about it in the paper. It was so cool, because they got to hear two returned sister missionaries talk about their missions. One went to Japan, and the other went to Armenia. After hearing their stories, I am so thankful that I came to a state side, English speaking mission!!!  When the meeting was over I ran up to them and gave them a Book of Mormon. They seemed excited to read it. 

Our mission conference was really cool! We drove all the way to Syracuse in the AP's van which crams 12 missionaries inside. President Rogers is changing a ton of things! Mostly teaching methods, and rules and such. I am loving all of it!!! Other missionaries, not so much... Some are really upset that he isn't doing what President Wirthlin did. It doesn't bother me. I know that he has been called, and set a part to do what he is doing now. He gave every missionary a piece of paper that we were to write down some goals for what we hope to accomplish for the rest of our missions and when we go home and stuff. Then we sealed it up in an envelope and he plans on having us open them up and go over them when we have our "Going Home" interview with him, to see how we have accomplished those goals. I really liked that. 

I have a pretty busy week this week, I hope it goes well! The church is true! 

Love, Sister Keller

NOT MUCH

Dear Family,

I really don't have too much to report on this week. We did have a really good week though. Great lessons, and great spiritual experiences. Our lesson with Johnson went awesomely well. He committed to come to church "on some Sunday". That's good enough for us! But only because we know that he is genuine, and has a legit reason for waiting.

 

We received some referrals from a couple members this week. We only could contact one so far, but that was a really cool experience. So the family that the member told us about had experienced a horrible car accident a long time ago leaving the father paralyzed. They sued the car company and won and got a super nice fancy house that is accessible for his wheel chair and things. They didn't know that we knew all of that, but it helped us start a good conversation with them. We walked up to the mother washing her car and introduced ourselves and said we were in the neighborhood. We told her that we knew a little bit about their experience from some neighbors and she wanted to introduce us to her husband. They were so welcoming and offered us some water. We were able to teach them the restoration and bare testimony of the Savior. They are pretty religious, so they weren't really interested in more, but they have a lot of potential in the future! Plus they just had a great experience with a couple of nice Mormon's, so now they know that we are good people.

Instead of a zone conference tomorrow, we will be having a mission conference!!! Well half of us. But that is going to be huge! We will be traveling to Syracuse for the meeting. I am pretty excited! I already love what the new mission president is doing. I can tell that he has big plans for change in the future :)

Well that's all folks! The church is true! 

Love, Sister Keller

WE ARE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Dearest Family,

This week went by pretty fast! Everyday was jam packed with stuff to do, and then we had a big Stake Event on Saturday in Elmira. It was like a giant picnic for the whole stake. It was so cool to get to drive through my old area! It is a lot greener now, and the people still look the same. I loved seeing them all again. All of them still remember me which I thought was so cool. I must have done a good job at really making them know that I cared about them. They have become such wonderful friends. Same with the Binghamton Ward and Lake Placid Branch. I will be excited to come back and visit these places. A sister who served here came to church on Sunday to visit everyone and they all remembered her too.

Last Monday, my companion and I went to a thrift store. Yeah, I did that. But don't worry, I haven't changed my mind about them. I still don't like them haha! It was cool though because the cashier was asking us lots of questions about the church and wanted to know where we were from. She was a non member, but has nieces on missions. We gave her our number.

We do service once a week at a local Christian church to clean their building. Sometimes the Pastor asks us to talk about some different things regarding what we believe and what he believes. We've given him a Book of Mormon, and pamphlets and such. He finds it all so interesting! Well this past week, he didn't have much to say. So he asked us to just share something with him or tell him something cool.  Alright buddy, you asked for it! So we taught him the restoration. He found it to be pretty eye opening. There is some conflicting doctrine to what he believes about priesthood, but he never said it wasn't true! He just had a very open heart and was willing to listen to our lesson. People like him are so kind. People like him, who listen to other's opinions and don't judge them right away is what the world needs. We should all be able to communicate openly, and share what we believe. Then agree to disagree if that is how it is going to be. But that doesn't mean we need to then fight and hate. We are all brothers and sisters, and have a Father in Heaven who loves all of us. Why waste time arguing? It doesn't get anyone anywhere. It just brings more hatred.

We had a great lesson with our Chinese investigator, Johnson. Birdy came too. At first, we weren't sure if he was wanting to learn for the right reasons. Like wanting to improve English or something. But we asked him lots of good questions and as it turns out, he has seen lots of great things in the church that have sparked his interest. He's pretty solid.

We have a new baptismal date with Adrienne! It is for September 5th. She took a trip out to Oregon to visit the member who referred her to us. She went to church with her out there, got a quad, and a ctr ring! This girl is awesome!!! I don't know if I'll be around for her baptism, but I am so glad that I have been able to teach her this far. Transfers are August 19th. 

There is one more family that I wanted to mention. They are members of the ward and we go to their house every Sunday for dinner. They have gone through so much and are  really put into hard situations. It is a mother and 2 boys. When I first met them, her 2 boys didn't really have much to think about the gospel. They felt annoyed rather than edified most of the time. But just recently, I have seen a change in them. One of them bore their testimony last fast and testimony meeting, and last night the other said that he wanted to share his! They are young, but have completely changed! It is amazing what the spirit can do, and what blessings can come as we focus on the gospel. I have no doubt that missionaries coming into their home once a week has made a difference as well. I love this family so much!!! 

Not as much as I love you guys though! I hope you have a great week!! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

GOSPEL MEMORIES

Dear Family,

We received another new investigator this week! He is a friend of Birdy's so we get to teach another Chinese man. He is pretty cool. His knowledge of English is a little less than what Birdy and Amelie knew so teaching him is a little bit harder. But, I am ordering a Chinese name tag, because of him so that is fun. 

I got to give a short talk in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. 2 other elders and I were asked to speak on a favorite gospel related family memory. I had about a week to think of something, and all that went through my mind was the Temple. The temple is like, my most favorite place in the world, and I realized that I have some of the most sweetest memories from them. Some of them were how I was able to be baptized for Granny a year after she passed away. Another was when I got to receive my endowments and sit in the Celestial room with Grandma, Mom, and Dad there. Although those were such special memories, they weren't the ones I shared. The memory I shared was a memory that I didn't know I had until a couple years ago. But it is one that is very dear to my heart! I remember the day I was sealed to my family. I had this memory of being inside the temple as a very young girl, and having Hannah there as well. I remember seeing Mom and Dad inside a very beautiful room. I wasn't sure why I had this memory, so I asked Mom why I did, and she told me that it was because we were being sealed as a family for time and all eternity that day. Now, I didn't know the reasons why it happened when I was a young girl instead of before I was born, but that doesn't matter to me. All that matters to me is that it happened. and I get to have that extremely wonderful memory. I know that the Lord works in His own timing, and all things happen for a reason. The reasons why my family was sealed later in my life, I know not, but I'm glad it happened that way. People, mostly converts, came up to me and shared their stories of how they remember being sealed to their families as well. They were so grateful that I shared my experience and reminded them of their special day, and that wonderful memory too. 

Speaking of family, I found a brother whom I am related to! Sort of.. His name is Brother Pettingell, and he is in the ward here. I went on to Family Search and he gave me a book to see our history line, and we have the same Grandpa 10 generations back! We aren't a direct line, but we have the same roots. I thought that was so cool!! I remembered that Pappy's mother was a Pettingill, and so that jogged my memory. The spelling is different, but the grandpa that we are related to had the same spelling. It changed after a couple generations from "E" to "I" in my family line, and stayed "E" in his line. Families are awesome! The church is true! 

Love, Sister Keller

     

UPLIFTING WEEK

Dear Family,

We had a pretty uplifting week! It started off great! I can remember how hard it was for all of us to get involved in the Bishop's life and get on good terms with him, so we all prayed as a unit of how we can better strengthen that relationship with them. We had a Family Home Evening  with them as you know and invited them to do online missionary work. They were excited about it! Not only that, but it became a great way for the Bishop's wife to be in contact with us easier. She sent us an IM about her daughter needing prayers because she was sick. We promptly did so and followed up to see how she was doing a few days later. She told us that she had a full recovery and had a new strengthened testimony of the power of prayers! Their family loves to have missionaries over now. On Tuesday they invited all of us to come over for a themed dinner! It was a PJ,PB&J party! Everyone came wearing their pj's including the bishop. Talk about building friendships. Luckily that was our last appointment for the night :) But it was lot's of fun! 

We got a new investigator on Thursday! She was a referral from a member. They work together at the mall and she had been sharing with her how much the gospel has blessed her in her life. She has been searching in many different religions and has found truth, but not all of it. She has been seeking the one that had it all. We asked her what it would mean to her if she knew that this church was true. She said that she wouldn't need to search anymore. We are so excited to meet with her again! She said that she is going to have lots of questions so we will be ready for that. But I have no doubt that the the church is true and can bring joy to everyone. She will see that. 

On Sunday we were asked to sub for a primary class. They were the 4 and 5 year olds and there were 10 of them! Our lesson was on "I can be a missionary" It was sort of last minute so during sharing time, I came up with a lesson plan. I thought it would be fun to have them know what it is really like to be a missionary. So we got them in to companionship's. There was enough kids for everyone to be in one with their own gender which was super cool! Then we had them act out what a missionary does the moment they wake up, to the moment they go to sleep. We wake up, get on our knees to pray, exercise and do jumping jacks, eat breakfast, put on our name tags, study, and head out to work. We had them as a companionship knock on the door from the outside and do a tracting door approach. They were so cute! Then we pretended to teach each other about Jesus Christ and show pictures. It was lot's of fun! 

EEEEK! I'm totally nervous about later today.... Someone is in need of our help. They are handicapped, and need help with getting their laundry cleaned. Their home is infested with bed bugs though. We will be in a laundromat the whole time but getting it there and taking it back is what we are afraid of. We have a plan to avoid anything coming into our apartment. Luckily we wont have to step foot into our home until we have clean clothes because we made sure to have some to change in to and wash our buggy ones downstairs in the complex. Just pray for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller 

HEAVENLY GUIDANCE

Oh the joys of transfer week. Luckily for me it wasn't too stressful. I get to stay! So does Sister Hess. I figured that is what would happen, since I am still training her. I am really praying now, for the Lord to help us have a desire to keep working hard and find new people. After staying in the same area for a while, it gets difficult to keep up the excitement. You start to get tired of the same people putting us off and finding the same results day after day. So we really want to have new experiences and not feel burdened down by staying here. I know that there is still so much work to be done here, and so many people to see. We just need Heavenly guidance to show us where and when. I have a feeling that we will be getting some pretty exciting training's from President Rogers soon. He has a hunch that we all need some more motivation and to rethink our missions. I am not saying that I am slacking or anything. I am more excited than ever, and I only have 12 weeks left! I want to make them the best!

President Rogers and his wife are pretty cool. We got to see them last week and they wanted to shake our hands and talk with each of us individually. They just love all of us and can see the missionary spirit that we all have. I could tell they were tired and overwhelmed. Their first day here was traveling and meeting all of the zones. He said that when they were waving goodbye to President and Sister Wirthlin, they could just feel the weight of the load press down on their shoulders indicating that now their journey had officially begun. They also said that the load on the Wirthlin's seemed to be so light that they were floating in mid air hahaha. I am excited to serve with them for the next 3 months.

4th of July was alright. It wasn't near as exciting as it was last year. The weather was rainy and we didn't see fireworks. We could hear them from our apartment though! That was pretty cool. So a couple elders from our unit wanted to invite us to go to a baseball game that day. They said that a member would take them, a less active member would be there, and it would be tons of fun. It seemed like it would be okay given the circumstances of who would attend. My companion really wanted to go and I thought it would be totally fun to be able to go to the game. But then I felt like that was not such a good idea. For one, it wasn't p-day, two, we technically aren't exactly allowed to take part in or sponsor athletic teams which to me means going to the games. Three, I have this little feeling of guilt inside me every time I think I am about to do something that will cause someone else to be disappointed in me. To me, that is worse than punishment. So I was a "party pooper" and decided we weren't going to the game. I prayed that the Lord would make up for it and cause the rest of our evening to be worth while for my companion since we chose to do what we are actually called here to do and that is to bring souls unto Christ. We did end up having a super fun evening of teaching some members and getting them excited about doing missionary work. They had a super big desire to find friends to hear from the missionaries after we were finished with them. This isn't missionary work, this is missionary fun! I'll go to games in 12 weeks. The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

TENDER MERCIES

Dear family,

So I find out this Saturday what will happen for transfers!! I'm pretty excited! I have no clue what will happen though. Since I'm still training, I could possibly stay another 6 weeks, but I have also been here for a while already. Most of the members think that I will finish my mission here since I will only have 12 weeks left! I hope to change. One more area sounds pretty good to me.

As challenging as this week was, we couldn't help but notice all of the blessings and tender mercies we received from our Lord. We had almost all of our investigators express feelings of not wanting to commit to anything more. We have been struggling to find new people to teach on our own, and have been really relying on Heavenly Father to help us. I really felt His love for us this week though, and how much He is aware of us! 

We had a very hard day on Wednesday, and just continually tried to see the good in it so that our spirits wouldn't weaken. Then the next day we talked with so many wonderful people on the streets and on the bus ride home we took after meeting a member referral. That person wants to investigate the church now, by the way! A woman from our ward has a co worker in the mall that has been asking lots of questions about the church. So we had someone drop us off to go meet her. She is awesome! I'm excited to start teaching her. We didn't have a ride home, and the only way I knew how to get home from the mall was using the free way. We weren't in our area, so I don't know the streets. We started walking and talked with tons of people along the way after saying a prayer that we would find someone to help us. We met a really nice woman at a bus stop who helped us out. The bus driver said some very kind words to us as we were getting off. Something about meeting us in Heaven someday if we never meet again here. We just knew that we were meant to be there at that time to meet him. We gave him our card and number so hopefully he will find us again or missionaries find him. 

We had a less active member come to church that I have been working with since the moment I got to this area. He finally came for the first time in so long! Hopefully now he will start to see that he is cared about and missed. His daughter even started praying a couple days before for help. She has recognized that prayers work. I am just so happy to see him making an effort to get his life back in order.

I took a step back one day and said a prayer for personal guidance. It was pretty powerful. After I said my prayer I learned that I need to bare my testimony more. That is how I can become a more consecrated missionary right now. My testimony is the most powerful witness I have of our Savior and I know that if I share it at every opportunity I get, then I can never go wrong. Especially with the people we are teaching and who are struggling right now.  The church is true!!!

Love, Sister Keller

TELL ME...

Hi!

I promise, there won't be any creepy crawly pictures in this email :) It was pretty cool though, you have to admit. Who does that sort of thing? Missionaries!

We had a cool week. So Sister Hess has been out for a month now. When new missionaries come into the field, Presidents gives them a Book of Mormon to hand out and then report back to him how it went. The very first Book of Mormon you hand out is a pretty big deal! I have a picture of the couple I gave my first copy to! So the days went by and not one opportunity came for her to give her book away. We went tracting a couple times, met a young fellow who she could have given it to, but didn't have it with her at the time. We were so bummed out!! We were praying and praying for the opportunity to come and it never did. Last week was return and report for her and she really didn't want to return and not have a story to tell about giving her book away. So Tuesday night as we were planning for the next day, I just had a huge leap of faith and said that tomorrow is the day!!! We were going to give that book away and we weren't going inside until we do. We told Heavenly Father our plan, and left it in His hands after that. So the next day, the hours went by. The very last hour of the day comes around. 8:00 pm and we haven't given it out yet. We only have an hour before we HAVE to go home. So we decided to go for a walk and bring nothing but the book. We even took a picture of her with it because we knew that we were going to give it away. It came close to 9 and still with a tiny bit of hope left we stuck around outside. I remembered that we needed to check under the hood of our car for the oil for some reason, so we did that. As I was standing there about to get  the oil stick a man came outside and saw two girls with a puzzled look on their faces and asked if he could help. Not that I didn't already know where the oil stick was, but I gladly asked him if he would help. That gave Sister Hess the time to build up her courage to hand him her Book of Mormon. She DID, and he ACCEPTED it! It was so cool!!! Heavenly Father took our challenge and was seeing if we really would hold on to our plan to not give up. Blessings come when we endure to the end!!!

Return and Report was awesome. We got to see President Wirthlin for the very last time. We didn't get to stay in the mission home because it was getting set up for the new president and his wife. So we stayed in one of the office couples homes, Elder and Sister Wiggins. They are such a sweet couple. He takes care of our cars, and she takes care of our mail. Among other important things. But we learned a lot and got to report on everything that we have been able to do since she's been out. It's been a really fun transfer so far. 

So a couple of people we are seeing are going through some very difficult situations. It's been hard because most of their problems are out of our control and we can't do anything for them. It is up to them and their willingness to come back to Christ. We can only bring them so far and then it is up to them to accept it or not. I am just so thankful that I have had the gospel in my life. I am so thankful for the commandments and for everything that God has given to us. The church is most definitely true because everything we learn from it brings happiness in our lives as we live it. Tell me that alcohol, tea, coffee, tobacco, and other harmful substances brings you eternal joy! Tell me that the scriptures aren't true! Tell me that God doesn't hear and answer your prayers! You can't, because none of those things are true. I know that the word of wisdom is there for a reason and it is a protection to our bodies. I know that the scriptures are the inspired words of God, and they are true. I know with out a doubt that God does hear and answer our prayers. Have a little faith. The church is true!

I love you all so much! Families are forever! I truly am so thankful for each one of you!!!!

Love, Sister Keller

FEAR FACTOR!

Dear Family,

"For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:" 1 Timothy 4:4.

I had a pretty exciting week! It stared with Zone Conference. That meeting was so good! Emotions were crazy though. That was President Wirthlin's last conference. They had a hard time holding back their tears. President couldn't look us in the eye for more than 2 seconds because he would start tearing up. He loves us all so much. He is so excited for President Rogers! He is from St. George UT. We got to see a picture of him. President has been skyping him and telling him about each of us, so he will come into the field knowing more about us than we think. We did a lot of really powerful role plays of teaching the restoration. I have really come to know what a blessing it is to have the gospel in my life and all throughout my youth. I love sharing this message with everyone because it really isn't changing their belief, it is adding to what they already know, and building more of a stronger foundation. Then saving ordinances happen!

The next day we had a lesson with Paul. He is still working on his addiction, but so far so good! His date is July 24th. He has been struggling with gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Prophets. We have taught him so much and it is mostly up to him now. Gaining a testimony needs more than just hearing the word. You need to ponder and study on your own. Paul likes to write. He wants to be an author as I have heard. So we committed him to write an essay on prophets. He is making it 10 pages long!! And completely with using church related resources! Hopefully this will help him gain a testimony.

Our exchange went super well!! We had a ton of fun!! One of our very first lessons was with a member who had a very hard question regarding Family History. She read and interpreted the bible to say that doing our genealogy work is a sin and a waste of time... With the spirit on our side, we were able to help her understand what the scriptures mean. We were able to conclude that the scripture was referring to people thinking that they can be saved based upon their ancestors good deeds. Of course, that would be a waste of time! If that was true, then we would all be doomed because Adam transgressed against the Father's commandment to not partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

Our following appointment was to a less active member's house. She still has a strong testimony of the gospel, but is struggling with some other personal things and hasn't come to church because of it. Her daughter, however, doesn't have a testimony anymore. So we had made a plan to all go together to see her and simply become her friend. It is always a good thing to become friends and show people that you are really interested in them and show them that you care. That is what Christ would do. Well, being interested in what she was interested in wasn't very easy... I think you all know my fear of spiders... and snakes.

The church is true!!!!
Love Sister Keller

SUCH A COMFORT

This is from a letter that Kenzie mailed me this past week.  I thought it was so powerful and shows just how in tune to the spirit she was before she even started this amazing journey.  
I will be posting her weekly email later on this afternoon so be sure to check back again to read that too.
Tina

....So, a couple nights before I got my mission call I was having a really rough time.  I was feeling so scared about what was going to happen because I had no idea yet, not a clue where I would be going.  Not knowing before hand what it would be like to not live at home, and feeling overwhelmed by the fact that I wouldn't have any of you there to talk to.  I became so close to each one of you! So that night, I knelt down and said a prayer.  I told Heavenly Father how scared I was.  I hold Him how alone I felt that I thought I was going to be without you guys.  Even though I knew that I would have a companion,  that still didn't calm my fears.  I sat there for so long it seems just telling Him how I felt.  But then a really peaceful feeling came over me.  For a moment I didn't feel scared at all and totally relaxed.  What happened next I hold very sacred to me.  It was what you would call a vision.  I saw myself kneeling down in all of my missionary clothing and it looked like I was saying a prayer.  The Savior then walked up and held out His hand for me to grab.  I took it and he took me to the front door of someone's house.  I knocked on it and He stood there beside me the whole time.  That's where it ended.  Because of that experience I had, I knew that Christ was going to be with me every step of the way during my mission and I would NEVER be alone.
Joshua 1:9  ...Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
  

TESTIMONY

Dear Family,

This week was certainly a lot better than last week! It was pretty hard getting adjusted to everything. Going from a trio, down to a duo, and then training was a little stressful. But it has really gotten easier! My companion is awesome. We get along really well. She is a little shy at first, but she is one of those people that when she says something, it is usually really funny, or really powerful in teaching moments. I have been praying that we could become friends, and so far we have been having lots of fun.

On Monday last week, we went to a Family Home Evening at Brother and Sister Talley's house with a bunch of other members. The lesson was simple. We went around and took turns asking a question about doctrine or something related to church to get answers of things we didn't know. There were lots of really good and difficult questions! Sister Hess and I seemed to have answered most of the questions. That's one of the funnest things to do as missionaries. I asked a question as well, but not because I didn't know the answer. I wanted to see what they would say or how they would react. I asked them all a question that I once had to answer for a man who was Muslim and did not have a Christian background. It stumped them all! They were looking in the scriptures, looking up talks by prophets, and just couldn't seem to think of how to answer! Once they couldn't think anymore, I told them the results of what happened when I had to answer the question. I bore my testimony. I spoke nothing unless it were guided by the spirit. The man who asked me the question believed the words I testified of!! Our testimonies and the knowledge that we have of the gospel is the most powerful thing we have. You can't ever go wrong when you share your testimony. 

We had another fun night of doing FHE at the Bishop's house on Tuesday evening. All 3 sets of missionaries were there. Our lesson was centered on faith and listening to the spirit. We did an activity of moving all of the furniture around to make big road blocks, blinded an elder, and he had to find his way to the front door. He had to listen to the still small voice telling him which way to turn and try not to bump into anything, all while the rest of us were yelling and screaming to go the wrong way. You can imagine how hard it was to hear the quiet voice. But it is so similar to how it is today in the real world. Things around us are very loud, and our peers may seem like they know what they're doing. But only the Lord knows the outcome of our decisions. Why not make it easier on ourselves and listen to the one that will lead us to the happier outcome?

 

Sunday was awesome!! We had two investigators show up to church. I am so glad they did, because there were so many powerful testimonies shared. Birdy and Amelie bore their testimonies!! They truly know that the church is true. They too had little to nothing of a Christian background, and have come a long way! They know that all of their blessings have come from God.

We won't be having any baptisms this month. Some things came up with some people, and they won't be ready this soon. But they will come around! One of our other investigators had a pretty hard week as well. They were so sad about everything that they had happen to them and didn't think they were worth any of our time. We just have so much love for them all and told them that we came thousands of miles away from our homes to spend this time here with them. There is no way that any amount of time with these wonderful people is a waste! 

I did something for the very first time in my life... It was so horrible and frightening and I am so sad that my companion had to witness it...but... I hit a squirrel while driving! BUT....he was only handicapped! I looked in my rear view mirror and watched him limp off the road. So everything is still good :)

 

I love you all! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

MAKE FAMILIES THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES

Dear Family,

Everything is going pretty well on my end! My companion is nice. Her name is Sister Hess. She is 19 and from Utah. I like teaching with her! She doesn't seem like she is new when it comes to teaching people. We have a couple people we visit that have a lot of struggles and I thought for sure that she would be a little nervous about teaching them. But she testifies like a pro! I love it!

So during 3rd hour on Sunday we taught with the other 2 sets of elders about the ward's new mission plan. It centers on 3 different ways to develop a family mission plan. One is online missionary work, the 2nd is member missionary work, and the 3rd is reactivating members. I really do believe that everyone there was pumped about doing missionary work by the end of the meeting. Sister Hess and I taught about member missionary work.  Family mission plans are pretty great. They help you get excited about building the Lord's kingdom around you! Have any of you thought about creating one? If not, I highly encourage you to make one. I can promise you that you will find so many opportunities to share the gospel with those you meet. 

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

Love, Sister Keller

"It is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities.”—Elder L. Tom Perry

TRANSFERS!!

Dear Family,

Guess who is training AGAIN???!! Yep! I got the call late Friday night and was told that I will be taking over Vestal and training a new sister. This will be the 4th time I train! Wahoo!!!!!!! I love setting the tone for new missionaries. This is the most important calling a missionary will ever have, because they will teach them how to work which will effect their whole mission! No big deal or anything. Just kidding, its a HUGE deal. I am pretty excited. She is coming into a wonderful area and will be SUPER busy. Sister Yancey is going back to Bennington to serve with Sister Bladh, and Sister Bae will be going to Liverpool in Syracuse. So I only have 3 transfers left. 2 of those will most likely be here in Vestal training. Then I will only have the 1 left. I have no idea what will happen, but I am excited to see how it goes. I hope I finish here. 

I received a priesthood blessing yesterday. It was the first blessing I have gotten since I was set apart over a year ago. It was everything I needed to hear. A really great spiritual boost and my companion was nice enough to write it down so I can look back on some of the things I was told. Blessings are amazing. If you haven't had one in a while, I strongly encourage you to receive one. You don't have to be in pain or trauma to receive council from Heavenly Father. He wants to help, and wants to be a part of your lives!! 

I don't have very much time, or details about this week to write about, but I did have a good and busy week! We taught a lot of lessons and visited lots of members. This week we are having family home evening with the bishop and then also on another day with some recent converts. Family home evening is such a blessing to have, and I know that it brings us all closer together. Both with our physical family and our Heavenly family. I made a goal to memorize Doctrine and Covenants section 4 this week. I love that section! It is all so true, and defines the importance of missionary work to me. I love you guys so much!! The church is true!

Love, Sister Keller

BAPTISMS #5 AND #6

Dear Family,

Two more people just received a saving ordinance on Saturday! Birdy and Amelie's baptisms went so well!!!!! It was such a sweet experience for everyone to see. They were so happy and there was so much light in their eyes. For them to do this together as husband and wife makes it that much more special for their family. They can now as equal companions work together and establish their home where the Holy Spirit can be. They were absolutely glowing after they received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. The Binghamton ward is so lucky to have such sweet new members join their family.

Preparing for this baptism was pretty insane. I was sick most of the day, and the baptisimal font took 3 hours to fill. Luckily we can't leave the church while it is filling so we were able to stay and chill for those 3 hours... Sort of... We were also fanning out the whole building because a companion of mine burnt some popcorn. It was so smelly! It's gone now though, don't worry :) 
Paul gave us quite a scare this week! His baptism was scheduled for May 29th. He had a drink the other day, and said that he needed to drop his date and probably everything else. We assumed that maybe he just felt ashamed for drinking and needing to change his date. I can understand how frustrating that would be, and how bad he must have felt. So we handled it with love and explained that it is okay to make mistakes. He will need to change his date but that was alright. He wouldn't want to get baptized with that kind of guilt hanging over him, that's why we go a whole month of following the word of wisdom before baptism. He might still be a little shaken up, but he has a new date now for July. It was truly a miracle to give him a new date. Normally he would have ended it all, but we know that he has a testimony. Even if it is the faith of a mustard seed, it is still there. And if that is all you have, you can still move mountains!

Dad, your email this week was powerful! And like you said, "don't take no for an answer." We all sort of did that this week. We went over to Danielle's home for a lesson to read from the Book of Mormon, and her friend was there. We never met her before, but she has seen missionaries in the past. We invited her to read with us and she gladly accepted. Out of all the places, we read Mosiah 18. That chapter is all about baptism. We had such a good conversation about how Alma was teaching his people and then baptized over 400 people. If that many people at once were baptized then something Alma was teaching them was good. Danielle's friend liked everything we had shared, and we invited her to be baptized. She said that she goes to church, but hasn't ever been baptized before. She was a little hesitant, but then Danielle jumped in as well and was able to show by example everything that she has been blessed with since learning with us. She eventually committed to sit in on the discussions. I don't know what will come about of it in the future, but I do know that the spirit was very strong that day. 

Speaking of the spirit, we had an amazing time yesterday while we were out tracting. Sunday's usually don't have very many appointments set, so we spend lots of time talking to people. We started on a street near our house, and met a few people who weren't interested. It was hot, and we had a ways to walk back to our car. We found a cute house that seemed nice to go knock on their door, and a sweet woman answers and says "Come on in! Let me get you some water!" She ended up being a member but we had no idea she lived there because she is from a different ward. Her husband is in their bishopric. It was a nice visit, and the Lord blessed us with a kind family to offer us water on a hot day. 

After that, we drove a long ways away to look for a former investigator and met some interesting people. The first man we came to came out and said that we parked on his lawn. Then he didn't want us to leave because he wanted to know what we were all about. As we continued talking, we realized that he was very anti towards the church. He wanted to invite us inside to "chat" but we knew that  that would just be putting him on his thrown to bash. So we said no thanks and continued to bare testimony outside. He kept wanting to share his "opinion" about Joseph Smith and some other things and every time he would, he would get distracted by something and lose his thought. Just goes to show he was not preaching by the spirit! After him, we walked all the way down to the end of the road and met a very sweet woman. She had no interest in taking lessons or anything, but she did want to take a walk with us. So we walked for about 45 minutes just talking about why a few 20 year old girls were so far away from home to walk up and down the streets of sketchy places. Why wouldn't we, with the message that we have to share with the world!? She really came to like us and gave us some fresh eggs to take home from her chickens. The spirit was so strong with us yesterday!!! The church is true!! By the way, did you know that I live right across the street from the Susquehanna River? 

Love, Sister Keller

SEEING THE BLESSINGS

Hey Family!

So since I just barely spoke with you, I don't have too much to say this week. I told you mostly everything that has been going on. Everything is pretty great still! 

With our crazy transfers yesterday, President and Sister Wirthlin came and picked up Sister Bladh to take her to Bennington, Vermont, where she switched places with Sister Yancey. He then brought her here with Sister Bae and I at around 8 last night. They were waiting for us at our apartment when we got back from Skyping y'all. I was pretty happy to see Sister Yancey. She has become a pretty good friend. She told me a little bit about her past few transfers, and that poor sister has been through a lot! I hope she will be able to be happy here and feel at peace. I certainly have! I have had the most fun here then I have in all of my areas. 

I can definitely say I don't feel trunky! In the past when I called home, I always felt sad afterwards that I couldn't see you longer. I would sometimes get homesick after it too. Especially that first mother's day. But today was different. I loved seeing you all so much and talking with you all was so great!! But I don't feel sad this time! I have been working hard, and I am seeing the blessings come as we have done so. Look at how many of these wonderful people we have been teaching have come to know how much Heavenly Father loves them! They WANT to get baptized. They KNOW that it is what He wants, and they are willing to change because they know it will be such a huge blessing to them. This isn't about numbers. This is about bringing our brothers and sisters home to our beloved Savior and Father in heaven. The church is true!

I love you all so much! Seeing you this last time just gave me even more of a desire to work hard before I come home. 

Love, Sister Keller