Hello all!!! This week has been kind of a weird week!! But, we have seen so many miracles!! I'll start with telling you something kind of hard that happened to us. We have been trying to get a hold of this potential since I got here and haven't caught him at home yet. So we were knocking on his door and saw a lady across the street walking to get her mail. And the mailboxes here are all in the same place at the end of the street. So we went over to ask this lady if she knew if our potential still lived there. And that made her son EXTREMELY angry. He thought that we were trying to teach her something and started yelling at us. He was saying things like, "Can I chase YOU down the street?!" "How about I shove my religion down your throat?!" It made me so sad for him. I wanted to walk up to him and start telling him how much Heavenly Father loves him and how much happier he would be if he understood that. But, I decided that my safety was more important at the moment, so I resisted. :) I know that he just isn't ready to accept the truth yet. Also, people tell us some crazy things when we knock on their doors, but I think the most hurtful one so far has been, "I gotta go. I have bigger and better things to do." OUCH. If only they knew how important this gospel is for their ETERNAL SALVATION!!! Sometimes I wish that people didn't have their agency. BUT, then I remember whose plan that is and that if I just stay faithful and keep on trying, the Lord will bless us. Because He knows who needs the gospel right now. He knows WAY better than I do. I just need to remember that! :)

On to more positive things...I love being here in Washington. One of the senior couples told us today that "if you want to go on a foreign mission, just go to Seattle!" It's so true! I have met so many different people! To name a few I've met, Seeks, Behei's (idk how to spell it), Muslims, Lutherans, Protestants, Atheists, Fortune Tellers, Free Masons, people that believe in Taro, and so forth. And I've met people from all around the world. There is a whole development in our area that is primarily Russians. (Brooke, tell Edvardo Svdorski he needs to move there!) I love it! People are so open to the gospel! You just need to find the people that are prepared!

I did my first church tour yesterday! It was so powerful! It's nice because the pictures in our church building are all in order! So we were going around and teaching the restoration and when we got to the picture of the first vision, I recited it and the Spirit was so strong!! I know that our investigator felt it! I almost cried because it was just an AMAZING feeling!

I went on exchanges this week with the STL's! It was awesome to see how other missionaries do things! Both Sister Carlin and I learned a lot and are implementing those things in our area. I don't know if I told you guys but we were white washed into this area. Which means, we are the first sisters here so we are starting from scratch. It has been rough on days because we don't have any progressing investigators, but it has, for the most part, been really good. We always laugh because Elder Moses (one of the elders in our area) has been in this area for his whole mission. He's been out for, I think, 4 transfers. And his companion, Elder Lewis, just finished his 12 week training right before I got here. SO they know the area pretty well. And we'll knock on doors and people will say to us, "Oh yeah! Moses and Lewis were just here the other day! They come over all the time!" And they give us referrals all the time and it gets pretty hard to find referrals for them because it seems like they know everyone already. haha!

I love the ward that I'm in! The members are absolutely fantastic! The sister that sent mom the picture has a son in Sacramento and her other sons have served missions as well. She took us out for dinner last Monday and asked if she could send a picture to you because she always appreciated it when other people did that for her. I thought that was super nice of her! Our ward mission leader is great as well. He and his wife are working on their mission papers right now. I think they might have just turned them in maybe. He works at the temple and was part of our session today. It was pretty cool. He is so good to the missionaries. He is so dedicated to this work and would do anything to help it move along!

I love this work so much. I have been really trying to not focus on myself so much this past week. In one of the devotionals at the MTC the speaker said, "Is this mission about you, or is this mission about them?" And so I've realized that it is not about me AT ALL. This mission is about the people that have been prepared by the Lord to hear the gospel. Sure, I'll learn a lot in the process, but that is secondary to what I am here to do. I started out in the MTC studying for myself during personal study and I've realized that I was doing it all wrong! I should have been studying for the people the Lord has prepared all along! So this week I started studying differently. Oh what a difference it has been!! I feel way more prepared for our lessons and way more confident in what I am doing. And if I don't know why I am studying something in particular, I ask myself, "How could this help me with the people I meet today?" I love studying that way!

I have also realized that the Savior is our friend! I have known that for a long time, but it really clicked with me today! In John 15:13 it says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That is exactly what the Savior did for us! He suffered and died and was resurrected so that we could be saved. He took the punishment for us. He literally bled from EVERY PORE in His body. Can you imagine pain that great? I sure can't. But not only did He do that, but He did it willingly. Because He loved us. I think of how much I love Brooke and Brittany and how I love them, not only because we are sisters, but because we are friends. And we are brothers and sisters to our Savior. He feels those feelings toward us, magnified so greatly we can't even comprehend. I am so grateful for my Eternal Friend, Jesus Christ! I invite you all to learn more of Him and get to know Him so that you too, can feel of His love.
I love you all and will talk to you soon!

Sister Keele

P.S....I think I am going to buy a GPS....roads here make NO SENSE! :)