Through Christ We Can Do All Things...

June 28, 2016

Hey Everyone!

It's been a weird week, with Sister Carter leaving Thursday and only having two days to pack and say bye to people and Zone Conference and p-day Tuesday, and weekly planning, it's been a very busy week. A member drove us all the way to Skreve and then took us out to lunch. IT was so good! I got to drive through my old area, which was kinda weird but fun. 

Wednesday Sister Stephens went out with a member while I stayed with Sister Carter to help her pack. We spent most of that morning running to Walmart because Sister Carter needed something, post office, and a little bit of cleaning our apartment. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! Sorry I haven't sent you or dad a card yet:( But i promise i will soon. Did you say in your email you turned 30? Sounds about right to me:D I'm glad you had a relaxing day, and I hope you let it be all about you. How old is Holly now? She looks so big and cute!!

We had a lesson at the Bishop's house yesterday with Liz and taught the word of wisdom. It went well and Liz told us she's willing to try it.  We asked her if she wanted a Priesthood blessing, and Liz told us yes. We plan on seeing her tomorrow to go over it with her. She's been smoking sinse she was 12, so she's really nervous to try and quit, but we know that she can do it. And yesterday we talked a lot about how through Christ we can do all things. 

We also saw this less active family yesterday. They're a family of eight and super nice. Part of the reason they went less active was because they read anti-Mormon books. So this was the first time I met them, but Sister Stephens has met the dad before, and the last time she went with her last companion it was super super  awkward. Needless to say, Sister Stephens wasn't overjoyed to knock on their door haha But I really wanted to meet them, and I felt really good about trying to see them. Although I was praying when I knocked on the door that the husband wouldn't answer:) It ended up being the mom that answered and she let us in right away. Her name is Amy and she's super nice and sweet. We visited with them for while and shared a scripture, and it wasn't awkward at all. They're going to be gone for a few weeks, but Amy told us we're welcome to come back. 

That's pretty much our week. Love y'all and have a great week!!!!!!

Love, Sister Keables 

Members helped us barricade our apartment :D 

Snow cones on a hot day! 

We're Literally Their Adopted Daughters!

June 21, 201

Hey everyone!! 

Sorry I didn't email y'all yesterday, we had Zone Conference and it was so GOOD! Have Tyler, Jordan, or Spencer tell you what that is. We learned a lot about repentance and the atonement. I took a lot of notes, so I can't really tell y'all the things I got out of it. We have good news, we don't have bed bugs! Yay! Lol One of the senior couples came and checked it out, so now we don't have to worry about that. 

Y'all something scary happened last night! and don't freak out because we're fine now.  Last night when I was in the shower someone knocked on our front window and just a few seconds later went to our back door and knocked on it a few times. I didn't hear any of it, but Sister Stephens and Sister Carter were talking on their beds when they heard it. Sister Carter and Sister Stephens both thought it was me so they came to the bathroom door and asked me. I thought they were playing a joke on me, so I didn't think anything of it. When I came out, they were in our room and told me they had heard knocking and both of them had prayed about whether or not to call someone. Both of them did not feel safe, and we called our Zone Leaders and they told us to call President. Our mission President told us have a member come over. There's this family in the ward named the Lee's, and we're literally their adopted daughters lol Anyways, we called them and they were at our apartment in 5 -10 minutes. By the time they got to our apartment we were all freaking out a little and super relieved when the member and his wife came. Brother Lee checked around our apartment and had brought a gun with him. He didn't find anyone outside, thank goodness. Today we're going to the police station to make a report, or tomorrow, if don't have time today. The members stayed with till almost 12 to make sure we were safe.  Hopefully, it won't happen again. 

This past Sunday the Lee's daughter, Heather, took us out sight-seeing because she's leaving today. 

We went to this place called the bayou, it's pretty much a swamp. It was really pretty, but the water was gross because there's this plant that is covering most of the water. Sister Carter was really scared because right before that a member had told us all about the dangerous animals living in the bayou: Gators, poisonous snakes, spiders, and other gross things. 

We also went to place called the 3 states. It's where borders of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas touch. 

Y'all, our mission President just called us and told us that Sister Carter is getting transferred to Monroe, LA! What the freak of nature?! Didn't see this coming! I got to go but love y'all and have an amazing week! 

Ps. Sister Stephens is going home next transfer! Tell Megan congratulations for me!!

Love, Sister Keables

My mission literally has been the MTC for my life...

June 13, 2016

Hey Ya'll!

It's already halfway through the transfer! It's crazy how fast this transfer is going by! Ya'll we have bed bugs! So gross! Sister Carter and Sister Stephans have several bites so far, and I don't have any. We found them last week the night before exchanges with the sister training leaders. We had to wash everything and bring everything we needed in garbage bags☹️ This email's going to be kinda short because we don't have much time today, sorry! Anyway yesterday Heavenly Father blessed us with four of our investigators in church! Two of them have dates the other two were a mother and daughter. It's a good thing there's three of us because we had four of our gators in church, and we teach Gospel Principles and Primary wanted us to come in and teach for about 15 minutes. Needless to say, it was a busy 3 hours lol Our investigators seemed to really enjoy it though, and the members were great about talking to them and getting to know them. Liz is one of our investigators, and she's awesome! She's super prepared and is loving learning about the gospel! The more we've been teaching her, the more she's told us she wants to learn:D I'm already seeing a change in her and her life, and she recognizes it. 

Sherri is also one of our investigators and today is her last day on the stop smoking workshop! I'm so proud of her!:D  Her date is June 25, and she's going to make it!  

Anyways, that was pretty much our week. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love watching it change lives and hearts. I love sharing my testimony everyday, and it's such a blessing being here serving my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love the experiences I've had and the people I've met! The gospel is true, and it's change my life. I love the joy and the peace that the Holy Ghost gives me. This is Heavenly Father's work, and he is in charge of it.  He leads it, guides it, and it because of him people come to church or are prepared. We are merely instruments in his hands, and as we serve him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength he will perform miracles among us. My mission literally has been the MTC for my life, and I will always be more than grateful for my mission. Love ya'll and have a great week!!!!!!!!! #MissionayForLife

Love, Sister Keables

I love being a missionary; it really is the best :D

June 6, 2016

Hey Everyone!!

Starting with the best part of our week, one our investigators came to church yesterday and really liked it. The members were super nice to her, and she met several great members. Her name is Liz and she's 37. She's super sweet and very prepared and receptive to the Spirit. We actually met her at Oscar's. We went back to go see him, and instead of finding Oscar there, Liz answered the door. We asked her if we could share a message with her, and she was very open to hearing it. We shared with her a little about the Book Of Mormon and asked if we could come back and see her and Oscar. This last Saturday we went and saw them with members named the Kennedy's. Sadly, Oscar wasn't there but we ended up teaching Liz the Restoration. The lesson went well, and at the end we asked her if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by that proper authority. She said yes and seemed really happy. Anyways, that's how we met her, and she's pretty awesome:D

Random story, so a few days ago this really awesome member fed us and she made is super good cake. Literally tasted a little bit of the Celestial Kingdom:D We tried to make it for some investigators, we tried twice lol Both times it looked really good and the texture was great. It just didn't taste like anything. Mom, you'll have to try making it because we could not to it justice. 

Last random story lol

One of the members asked us to help with a step class and were didn't mind helping at all. And it meant we could exercise clothes. So we meet the member at her house all ready to work out. When we pulled up and got out of the car the member asked if our p-day had been switched. We were confused and said because it was step class we could wear work out cloths. Come to find out it was a stamp class not step class. It was so embarrassing! lol It turned out well, and it was really fun even though it wasn't a step class. lol

One of things I've learned on my mission is just how much the gospel blesses our lives. We meet people everyday and some that throw away their lives for drugs or alcohol and it's so sad. Their lives could be so much better and they could be so happy. The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to bring us joy, its meant to give us direction on comfort. I've met so many people whose lives are so void of the Spirit, life, or anything good. When we live the gospel, search our scriptures diligently, pray earnestly, allow the Sacrament to change us, and repent daily. When we do all those things daily we will have peace, we will have joy. And best of all we will feel the Spirit in our lives. We will know what to do when trials and challenges come, we won't need to be lost or confused. Or wonder why were even here. Heavenly Father has blessed us with all the tools road maps we need and it's up to us to use them. The gospel literally changes lives, it changes black to white, it changes hearts. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves us and want us to return back to our heavenly home. I know that matter how far we stray our Savior is always calling us back, and he will always love us. He's not waiting for us to become perfect or overcame our weakness he love us as we are with a full understanding of our struggles. He didn't just die on the cross so that we could be cleansed from sin. But he did it so that it heal us, help us endure, strengthen us, give us hope and so much more. I testify that as each of us strive to live the gospel we will find guidance again and again. Through my 14 ish months as a missionary I've felt joy, sorrow, pain, and peace. I've had really hard time were enduring was really hard, but I've also felt and see the joy of people turning there lives over to Christ. Living the gospel is hard, and life is really hard, but living the gospel makes it possible. It even makes it worth it all:D I don't know if that sounds cheesy or lame, but it's true. Life is rough and sometimes the burdens and trails we face seem to become heavier and heavier until we just feel like we can't do it anymore. I've seen what life is like without the gospel and not having it in your life. It's dark, it's lonely, it's empty. I love the gospel and I love my Savior and Heavenly Father. I love being a missionary, it really is the best:D And I don't have the words to say how grateful I am to my family, leaders, friends, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all that all of done for me. Love ya'll and hope ya'll have a great week!!

Love, Sister Keables

Miracles and Trios~ I'm in Atlanta, Texas!

May 30, 2016

Miracles and Trios

Hey everyone!

Guess what!  I'm in Atlanta, Texas! It's a tiny tiny town and just barely in Texas :D Another twist in the mission, I have two new comps: Sister Carter and Sister Stephans! Sister Carter is from Elk Grove, California, which is just outside of Sacramento. Sister Stephans is from Ohio, and she's been on her mission for 16 months. Sister Carter has been on hers 4 months; she actually started her mission in Vicksburg. Both Sister Stephans and Sister Carter are great missionaries, and so far I've loved serving with them.

Heavenly Father has blessed us a lot this week and one of those blessings happened yesterday. A few days ago we met this lady named Fawn when we were tracting. We taught her some of the Restoration, but she didn't have time to hear all of it, and with there being 3 of us it makes it take long to teach, plus we hadn't taught it together up to that point. Anyways, she said we could come back and we got her number. Yesterday when we were eating lunch and Fawn called us! She said that she felt like God sent us to her and that she wanted to meet with us. She talked to us for about 30 to 40 minutes telling us what's going on in her life and that she wanted to be happy again. It was so cool! And no one ever does that. Fawn is so prepared and ready, at least it seems that way, and we are so excited to start teaching her! Early that week we had dropped a few people and Heavenly Father is really blessing us for doing that.

Yesterday we were trying to see some of our people and we met this really cool guy named Oscar. He was in his front yard planting flowers and we were trying to his neighbor across the street. We went over and started talking to him and found out that he had met with Elders before and already had a Book Of Mormon and a few pamphlets. Oscar was really nice and was super open. We asked if we could share our message and he said yes. When we got to the end we asked if he would be baptized and he said yes! He said he would need to ponder and found out for himself. Side note: So a lot of the time when we ask people to be baptized they'll say, "I've already been baptized or I'm Baptist," or something like that. Oscar didn't even say what denomination he believed in or get weirded out when we said what church we were from. Instead, he was very receptive to the Spirit and willing to do something.  We have a return appointment with Oscar this coming Thursday and we're pretty excited:D So far it's been the a great transfer, and I'm excited to see the work here bloom. This area has a lot of potential, and I know if we are doing are best Heavenly Father's going to bless us. I love being a missionary and love watching the gospel of Jesus Christ change people's hearts and lives. I know Heavenly Father prepares people everywhere, and it's our job to find those people and making sure we are doing our very best.

That's pretty much been our week and I have a few pictures for ya'll :D Anyways love ya'll and have a great week!!!

Love,

Sister Keables 

 With Sister Carter before the transfer

 I'm in Texas! 

 Chalk Talk/ Gospel

 I love this puppy!