March 24, 2014

Hello! I hope all is well at home! I can't believe how time flies while serving a mission! I'm about to be finished with training! So crazy! It is amazing though! I love serving and I love the people here. You don't even begin to grasp the concept of loving the people you serve while preparing for a mission. It isn't until you get here that you truly understand. I feel like I've been here forever and that I've known these people my whole life. I love them so much!

Anyway, this week was great! We started riding bikes and had some fun experiences with that! The first night we rode our bikes, Sister Carlin's bike started having problems with the brakes. The brakes were stuck so going up hills felt like climbing Mount Everest. And it feel like climbing a mountain anyway. So she was exhausted. We finally decided at around 8:15 that we had better start walking home because there was no way we were going to get home on time. So we started walking and all of a sudden there was a woman walking next to us. She had gone to pick up her car, but the mechanic wasn't there and she was afraid to walk home alone in the dark, so when she saw two missionaries walking, she figured she would be safe if she walked with us. We got to talking and found out that her husband passed away about 5 months ago and she is having a really hard time coping with that. We were able to teach her about the Plan of Salvation and how we KNEW that she was going to see her husband again. It was an amazing experience and I know that meeting Pinky was the reason we were having bike problems. Heavenly Father watches out for each and every one of us! Luckily though, one of our other investigators was able to fix the bike the next day so Sister Carlin can actually ride now!

A few days ago we got home a few minutes early and we decided that we needed to stay out until 9 to be exactly obedient. We then met one of our neighbors that I had never seen before. She invited us into her apartment and we got talking about the gospel. She love understanding other religions and reads about them a lot. However, she had never heard of The Book of Mormon before. We were able to teach her a little bit about it and she committed to read it! It was amazing! She is coming with us to church next week!

This week has been absolutely amazing and I can't wait to share all of these wonderful experiences with everyone in person. Being a missionary is the greatest blessing in my life! I get to witness God's love every day, every moment! I love it so much! I know that Heavenly Father watches out for each of us, no matter what. He wants to help us, His arms are already extended towards us. All we need to do is ask.

I love you all!

Sister Keele

P.S....Happy birthday papa-san!

P.P.S...happy birthday c-town!! 

Captain's Log Month 3

Hello family!! How is everyone? I hope you are all well and safe after the earthquake this morning :) Tomorrow is my 3 month click day! So crazy that so much time has passed already! It is weird to me that there are missionaries who have been out for a shorter amount of time than me. And that soon I am going to be 2 transfers older than some missionaries. Crazy! Anyway, this week has been absolutely fantastic!

We had a new member fireside last night and Karen, who was baptized on Feb. 9th, got up and bore her testimony!! It was the sweetest thing! She is only 16 and is the only member in her family. She's actually from Long Beach and knows where we live! haha! It's a small world!

Also, the most exciting news is that we now have 3 progressing investigators! We would have more, but in my mission the investigator has to go to church in order to be progressing and we had 3 investigators at church! There is almost nothing more exciting than having people progress!

I don't know if I told you guys, but we volunteer at an adult home every other week. We went there this past Thursday and there is a new lady there. She is so young and from what I can gather about her, she lost her memories after being abused by her husband. It is so sad to see these people there who are so confused and it is by no fault of their own. I just can't wait to see these people in the next life and see how amazing they are. I love these people so much. There is an older couple there and everytime we go they are always sitting on the couch together holding hands. It is so cute!

We also met with a part-member family that we have been working with since I got here and we were able to understand many of the concerns that he has had. We also figured out that he has had missionaries teaching him for 20 years. That is a LONG time! But I know that Heavenly Father is continually preparing him to hear the gospel!

I don't have much else to report, but I love serving here! I absolutely LOVE being a missionary and being able to witness miracles every day! I know that I was called here for a reason and that when we are on the Lord's errand, we cannot fail! I hope that all of you are having the opportunity to come closer to our Father in Heaven every day and that if you don't know who He is, that you are searching Him out. He WILL answer our prayers.

I love you all!

Sister Keele

March 10, 2014 AMAZING

Hola Familia! How are you this week?! I have had an absolutely amazing week! There are several reasons why, but in case I run out of time, I'll tell you the biggest reason. Just keep in mind that an email will never do this story justice. I mentioned Isaiah last week in my email and said that I would tell you guys about him when I got home. But, the most amazing thing happened with him this week. So last Wednesday, we had to go get gas and for some reason, I felt like we needed to check the tire pressure. It was 10!! That is horrible! And we had checked it two weeks ago and it was 10 and we filled it up. So obviously, there was something wrong with our tire. So we called the car coordinator and he told us to take it in asap and get it fixed. So when we got to Les Schwab, there was a man stuck in between the door and the brick wall. A lady went to walk inside and because he didn't move when she said "excuse me," she SHOVED him out of the way. As the door was closing, he stumbled inside. When Sister Carlin and I got inside, he was clutching a pole in the middle of the shop repeating, "What? what...what...what..." The same girl that shoved him out of the way said, "Could you shut up?! No one wants to hear you!" This man was clearly on drugs and needed help, yet no one was helping him. He could barely stand up so we put a chair behind him, helped him sit down, and told the people to call 911. As we were waiting for the ambulance, I talked to him and got his name. His eyes were shaky and he was not aware of where he was. This was Isaiah. A police officer got there and told me to leave him alone and started laughing at him, along with everyone else. He called an ambulance and just stood there, waiting. I was devastated. How could everyone be treating this child of God like this? So what, he was on drugs. We all make mistakes. But he needed help. Not persecution. I started to cry. My heart was continuing to break for him every second we were there. Something in me was just connected to him in a way that I can't possibly explain. I could not get him out of my mind for the next week.

Then, the next Wednesday, our plans had fallen through and we decided to go see a potential we met my very first week here. We knocked twice, and no one came. All of a sudden, we saw two people walk past the house we were at. Without hesitation I pointed and said to Sister Carlin, "That's Isaiah!" We called his name, but no one turned around. So, like the stalkers that we are, we got in our car and went to find him as he had turned the corner. He and his friend had separated and we found him walking by himself. I jumped out of the car and said, "Are you Isaiah!?" He looked shocked and said, "Yeah....why?" I then freaked him out more by saying, "Were you in the hospital last week?" He looked even more freaked out and said, "Yeah...who are you?" I explained to him who I was and how I knew who he was. It was the most amazing experience. He told us that he had a really bad day that day and that he has been drifting away from God and so he turned to drugs. He explained that if he hadn't had medical attention when he did, he would have died. He said, "Out of all the people in the world, it was you two that helped me that day. And out of all the people in the world that were driving by me just now, it was you two. People that are spreading His word. That is not a coincidence." At that moment, I knew that I have been called to this mission for certain people. Isaiah being one of them.
I know that we are each called to be where we are in life, for a reason. God has a magnificent plan for us. And it is amazing when we realize even a part of that plan. I love you all! Have a great week!!

The Good Samaritan

Hello Family!! How are you guys this week? Life here has been exciting! I'll try to make this email make sense...But I can't promise that it will! :)

I have been thinking a lot this week about the Good Samaritan and how the Lord has told us to be like the Good Samaritan. There is so much around us and so many people around us. There are always people that are in need. We should be the ones to help those people even when people may think you are strange. We should be the ones that follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ! We will be so blessed if we do! I would tell you the experience I had that prompted these thoughts, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice through an email. So remind me to tell you someday about Isaiah. :)

We have been working with a lot of members that are less-active and we have seen so much progress with them! They are starting to realize the importance of church and the sacrament!

Exciting news! We finally had an investigator come to church yesterday! Now she will hopefully commit to baptism!

Speaking of baptism! One of our investigators is committed to be baptized on April 5th! She is so great! I am so excited for her!

We also went on exchanges and our STL's told us that they are fading out tracting! So crazy!! It is so weird to not go tracting every day! But we are working with the member so much more! Our STL's from last transfer got white washed and so we have 2 new STL's from the other side of the mission. It's crazy, but I love them! We also got the AP's in our zone this transfer. Which is kind of weird too. But we are the biggest zone in the mission and we have the lowest numbers, so our speculation is that they are here to try and help us. LOL! But they are so great!

This week has been great in Tiffany Park! I have truly felt the love of my Savior! I know that He loves each and every one of us! He didn't just suffer and die for the righteous, He suffered and died for ALL of us! I know this because I have felt the Atonement in my life and I have felt it change me. You all can too. I know that as you pray with FAITH and with REAL INTENT, you can be healed.
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Keele

Good morning all!! This week has been absolutely amazing! I am so happy to be here in Tiffany Park! It's amazing that I get to witness miracles every single day! I could not be happier!!

For my first miracle: we have been working with a part-member family since I got here. The are so amazing...I love them SO much! The wife is a member, but hasn't been to church in YEARS. Her husband has taken the lessons before and has pretty boldly told our mission leader that he does not want the lessons taught in his home. Well, we go over there once or twice a week and share messages with them. We had been hardcore friend-zoned for like 2 weeks though. BUT, this last week, we shared a message with them and they were so close to coming to church!!! But, we all know that Satan works hard on the people that are having their hearts softened and opened. And they had a contractor coming to their house during church to look at their kitchen because they are remodeling it. They'll come to church soon though! I have faith that they will!

Second miracle: We have been trying to get in contact with all of the sisters in our ward that are less-active. This week, we have been able to get into some of their houses and teach a lesson or share a message. It's a miracle because no one has been able to do that in a long time! God truly is preparing people!!

Third miracle: We knocked into a guy named Art and he felt the spirit so strongly as we recited the first vision. I have never felt the spirit so strongly during a door approach! It was absolutely amazing!

Fourth miracle: we are teaching an 8 year old the lessons, even though she is a child of record, and it was amazing! She was so happy about the things we taught her during the first lesson! We asked her if she would pray to know if they were true and she turned to her mom and said, "Can I do it NOW?!" It was so sweet. She loves missionaries and even though she doesn't have to take the lessons, she wanted to anyway. And it is really helping her mom because her mom is less-active. I love this family so much!

I absolutely love being a missionary! It is the hardest thing I've ever loved! It is so hard having doors slammed in your face and people saying you believe in a crook. But when you find that one person that is SO ready to hear the truth, it makes it all worth it. You forget about what everyone else said that day. You forget about how discouraged you felt before talking with them. You remember that THIS is why you came on a mission. That God has prepared people to hear the gospel specifically from you. And it makes everything worth it. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the fullness of the restored gospel on the earth today. I know that with every piece of my heart and soul. And I know that everyone of us can know with 100% surety as well. We just need to ask our Heavenly Father!
I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Keele

February 18, 2014 Russian Mission?

Hello family!! How was your week? Mine was great! :) Missions are the greatest thing ever!! I am so happy that I am here!! Heavenly Father really knows how to make me so happy!

On to this week! So we have this apartment complex in our area that is FULL of people who are originally from Russia. Oddly, there is a member who is less-active that lives there who is NOT from Russia. We always feel weird going there because we only hear Russian. Anyway, we went there to see this member and as we were walking up to her building we hear this lady calling to us in Russian. Um, yes??? Short version of the story is that we went up to her apartment and taught her a lesson. It was a very scattered lesson, but a lesson nontheless. We were able to teach her how to say Jesus Christ in English. We taught her with pictures. It was amazing. At the end of the lesson she said she wanted to speak to missionaries that spoke Russian. We don't have Russian missionaries in our mission, but there ARE some in the Seattle mission. Actually, President Eaton's daughter is a Russian speaking missionary in the Seattle mission. Small world, right? So we were able to have the missionaries call her. I'm not sure what happened after that, but we planted a seed! :) Also, at the end of the lesson we were asking if we could say a prayer and we weren't sure if she was understanding us because she spoke and understood so little English. I realized that prayer is a universal language when she went right into a prayer in Russian. It was such a cool experience!

Also this week, we had to take our car in to be fixed. We have been smelling gas pretty strongly and we figured that probably wasn't good. lol. Since our car is still under warranty, we had to take it to the toyota dealer in Renton. It was so fancy! Sister Carlin thought it was so weird because she had never been to a car dealer before. haha...she's from a small town, what can I say? :) Anyway, we were looking for opportunities to share the gospel and when we went to pick our car up, we found that opportunity! There was a man that was wearing an "I love Jesus" hat. Sister Carlin said, "You love Jesus? We do too!" and then I asked him, "How did you come to love Jesus?" I was not expecting the answer he gave us! He said that he is a refugee from Vietnam and he came here on a ship during the war. When they were on their way here, they saw dangerous things and it was scary. They talked to God because it was what other people did. However, when he got to the refugee camp, he bunked with someone that taught him the 10 commandments. He learned the 10 commandment and recited them everyday when he would get discouraged. From that, he read the Bible and grew to love Christ. What an amazing story! We were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon right there in the middle of the service center! It was amazing! It just goes to show you that people have truly been prepared to hear the unique and amazing message of this gospel!

Exciting news of the week! One of our investigators is committed to be baptized on March 14th! We are so excited for her! The elders were teaching her daughter and she got baptized on the 9th and because of new rules, we are teaching her mother and sister now!!! It is great to see people's testimonies grow!
I know that our Heavenly Father loves us each and knows us each individually! I love Him so much! I know that as we come to know Him more, we will be happier and we will be able to live with Him once again!

Love,
Sister Keele

ETERNAL SALVATION-CANCELED

Hello familia!!! It's been an interesting week here in Tiffany Park! Last Monday after I got off of the computer, 3 of us missionaries were able to teach a lesson in ASL!! This sweet woman at the library was deaf and we just started talking to her and it turned into a lesson! Her mother passed away 2 years ago and so now she is talking to God a lot more! Her life has been difficult since her mother's passing, and so she cried a lot during the lesson! I had the great opportunity to say the prayer at the end of the lesson. After I prayed, she gave me a HUGE hug and kept saying "Thank you!" to all of us! It was so tender! The Lord truly provides opportunities for us to serve His children!

Now on to explaining the Subject line of this email. On Saturday night it started snowing. So, naturally, everyone in Washington FREAKS OUT. By the time we woke up on Sunday morning, there were 2 inches of snow or less. And guess what?! THEY CANCELLED CHURCH!!!! It was so weird!! People were literally parking their cars in the middle of street and walking home. Soooooo weird!! It wasn't even that bad!! I'll send a picture of it to you guys. It was just so foreign to both Sister Carlin and I because she's from Utah and I went to school in Iceburg, Idaho. There were only 2 wards in 2 stakes that didn't cancel church so we went to one of those meetings. During the sacrament, I looked up and saw a friend with Down Syndrome passing the sacrament! It made me so happy!! And, there was a middle-school aged boy there with autism!! I felt so at home!! lol!!

Now to the rest of the week! I got sick one day this week and the nurse told me I had to stay inside. I hated that. It was soooo boring and I just wanted to go outside and get to work. I felt really badly for Sister Carlin. But there's nothing I can do about it now. And I'm better, so it's okay. :) One of the families in my ward has a son that went to BYU-I and he lived in Somerset and knows some of my friends there. It was really strange to hear about people's lives. I am just in a totally different spot than they are. Some of my friends have gotten married and engaged and it's crazy to me that not every one is out serving a mission! lol!

We have been working with a part-member family and I love them so much! She is less-active and has been for quite some time. Her husband is not a member and doesn't really have any interest in the gospel. They didn't even let missionaries into their home until Sister Carlin got here. We have been making HUGE progress with them! We were working on incorporating family history into our missionary efforts and so we did with them. When we mentioned family history his eyes LIT up and he got so excited! So now we are working with them even more!!! The Lord really has prepared people for His gospel!!

On Saturday night I learned a HUGE lesson on humility. It was the hardest lesson I've ever learned. We had an appointment with a family in our ward for an in home lesson. Sister Carlin has been trying to let me take the lead sometimes so that I know how for when I'm not the junior companion. This was one of those times. We got in there and started the lesson. I hadn't even gotten a full sentence out when the brother stopped me and started critiquing my teaching skills. I was horrified. Nothing I said was good enough for him and I felt completely shut down. I was actually angry with him. How dare he do that. He wasn't the one that was called to be a missionary. I was! I was so angry that I couldn't feel the spirit. I sat there for the rest of the time praying for strength to get through that hour. Praying that I wouldn't burst into tears in front of them! I didn't even want to speak. I wanted to sit back and let Sister Carlin take over. It was time to go home and plan after that and I couldn't even concentrate on planning because I was so upset. I went into the bedroom, closed the door, started bawling my eyes out, and praying with all of my heart. I told Heavenly Father that I was angry and that I never wanted to see that man again because he was so rude to me. I just poured my heart out. And I got the most humbling response ever. I felt like my Heavenly Father gave me a huge hug and said, "This isn't about you. This is about my children. Forgive him, and move on." I realized even more that this was never about me. It has always been about my brothers and sisters who need the gospel! I have been called to serve my Heavenly Father, not care about what other people say! It wasn't that member who stopped me from feeling the spirit, it was me who stopped myself from feeling it.

I know that this gospel is true. And that our Heavenly Father gives us the answers we NEED, not the answers we want! I am so grateful for that!!

I love you all!! Have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Keele