I love love love love this work!

July 18, 2016

Sister Stephens drew me! 

HEY EVERYONE!!!:D

Ok, so I forgot to tell y'all about something that happened last week that was really cool! There's this family that we're sorta teaching.  Alma and Mario are the parents and they have 3 children. All of them are grown up. The youngest is married, and lives with her parents, and her name is Hope. Anyway, we dropped by theie house last week, planning on just sharing a scripture because they're the type of people that you have to get to know first and become good friends before you can really teach them. Also, they're really into the church they go to.  We went to their house planning on talking to Alma and Mario more, but Alma wasn't feeling well, so we only talked to her for a few minutes. We ended up talking to Hope and sharing a quick scripture with her.  Hope showed us her Bible that she absolutely loves:D I'm not sure how, but somehow we started talking about the Priesthood and she had a lot of questions about it. We actually started teaching the Restoration and throughout the whole lesson she asked us a ton of good questions! It was awesome to see the Spirit work with Hope, especially when we bore our testimonies. The Spirit led and guided that lesson, we had nothing to do with it.  She's not super interested yet, but she did become a lot more open because she realized that we are Christians. lol

This last Wednesday we had ZTM which is Zone Training Meeting, and it was soooo GOOD!!!! We talked a lot about fasting and praying, and it really helped me understand the purpose and power of fasting! And it made me really excited for the next time I fast! They also talked about other things like being bold and confident when inviting people to make commitments and following up with people.  This week I'm trying to apply the things they taught us. And not just people we're teaching but people we just met or only talked to for a few minutes. Yesterday Sister Stephens and I had planned on tracting and both of us felt really good about a particular street in Queen City. We started knocking some small duplexes, and on the 3rd knock we met this super nice lady named Tisha. We talked to her for a few minutes and said a prayer with her, and after the prayer we started to teach the Restoration. The whole time she was super open! Tisha has incredible faith! She told us about her life and the changes she and her husband had made not too long ago. When we got to the Book Of Mormon and told her how wonderful it is and its power to change lives, Tisha asked for one.  We didn't even have to offer. We then asked her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding that Priesthood authority, she said yes!! She told us that her and her husband had been talking about it a few days ago and would love to be baptized!! Tisha is so prepared!! She's the reason Heavenly Father led us to that street and if you're willing to put your trust and faith in him, he always provides a way. :D

This week we had another experience where Heavenly Father provided us someone new to teach.  We met this guy named Charles, and he's super awesome! How we found him is a really cool story! Tuesday we went and knocked doors, and we finished this skreet in about an hourish.   We got in our car to drive away, and we saw that we had missed one house at very end of the street. We weren't sure if we wanted to knock it or just wait till we came back to that street, but we decided to parked agai,n not wanting to miss a chance to meet someone awesome. While were knocking on this person's door, we saw that there was a car next to ours and somebody seemed to be looking at it. We walked back and this guy introduced himself as Charles and asked us if we were missionaries. We told him yes and literally the next words out of his month were, "I'm interested." In my head I was like, "what?! your interested?? we haven't even said hardly anything!" We talked to him for about 30 minutes set up a time to see him on Friday. He told us that his brother had passed away a few months ago and that he was looking for further direction and guidance in his live. He told us that God must of prompted him to stop and talk to us. Charles is awesome and so prepared! I know that God answers prayers and if we do our part and go out and work he will bless us and help us. It was a huge blessing that Heavenly Father prompted us to knock that last house, and if we hadn't, Sister Stephens and I wouldn't have met Charles.  We met with Charles Friday and taught the Restoration and set him with a date! We had a social/movie night and watched Meet The Mormons and invited everyone we could to it. We had planned on seeing Charles before it, but he forgot we had an appointment. We called him and invited him to the movie night, and he told us he could come to it. We taught him the Restoration after the movie, and that's where we asked him to be baptized. Charles is awesome and seemed to understand it.  He told us he's willing to do anything and that he's excited to be baptized!:D

Last story!:D We went and saw Alma and Mario a few days ago and Alma asked us to help her organize her closet in her bathroom. We did that in 45 minutes and then we went to town on the rest of their house! So I'm never in a cleaning mood, but for some reason that day I was. lol We cleaned their house for 4 hours, and it was so fun!! Half of the time we sung hymns and primary songs:D The cool thing is Alma and Hope told us later that they had talked about who they could call for help, but no one came to mind. And then we show up a few hours later and cleaned for hours! They really appreciated the help and thanked us several times. Although the thanks really goes to Heavenly Father not us. Its was a blessing to help them and brought us joy:D "When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God" Mosiah 2:17

I love love love love this work!! I love my Savior and it's an honor to be serving him and serving my brothers and sisters! If any of you are thinking about going on a mission, DO IT!! It will be the best decision you've ever made, and it will bless you for the rest of your life! There is nothing more fun, amazing, random, stretching, spiritual, intense, exhausting, wonderful, incredible, and rewarding than a mission!!! I know that this is Christ's restored church and that we are members of his kingdom. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet and that he saw and spoke to God the Father and his Son. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that God answers prayers! I LOVE this gospel with all my heart and I know without a shadow of a doubt this is God's work. Love y'all and have a great week!!!!:D

Love,

 Sister Keables!

It's so cool to see how God works and the Spirit...

July 11, 2016

HEY Y'ALL!!!

I don't have much time to write today, but I have a few funny stories and some exciting news! First Sherri Stevens, one of our investigators, is getting baptized this week! Sherri was excommunicated a while ago and we've been teaching here sinse before I got here. She's super awesome and can't wait for her baptism! Because of the fact that she was excommunicated, there's a lot of paperwork and others things that have to get done before her baptism. Our Bishop is supposed to get that all figured out and finished before this Sunday, so please keep Sherri in y'all's prayers! We moved her date several times and she's so ready to get baptized! 

Y'all, yesterday we accidentally lock ourselves out of our apartment!! hahaha We had planned on seeing Sherri, so her daughter Fehren who is a active member came and got us. And when we locked the door, Sister Stephens asked me if I had the keys.  I told her no, and we even dumped out my bag. We went to try the door and it was locked lol There was nothing we could do at that moment, so we just left with Fehren and went and saw Sherri. On the way, Sister Stephens called the apartment people and they didn't answer. We had also locked our car keys inside, so we couldn't use our car all day. Fehren lives in the country, so we just went tracting because there wasn't much else we could do. 

One of the first few houses we knocked on, we were offered beer twice haha.  We walked up to two guys working on a boat, and at first I didn't know what it was a until one of them said, "They don't want that."

A few houses later, we met this lady named Mary, and she was really nice and sweet.  She started telling us about her childhood and that she had grown up in it. She told us a few very personal things that had happened to her and started crying. We told her that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love her and knows what she went through, and that if we turn to Christ he will take our burdens and carry us through. Mary told us God had sent us to her because he knows she needs us. She told us she was so happy we had come and that we could come back. It's so cool to see how God works and the Spirit.  You never know who is prepared or who needs you, and I love it when I feel like I've helped someone whether or not we teach them. The service we render as missionaries, it's not about us and what we want. It's about God, his glory and his children. It's not because of us that people feel happy when were around, but because of the Spirit. In reality, the Spirit works and touches people's hearts while we sit on the sidelines:D

The last house we knocked on, we met Diane and Dock. At this point, no one had offered us water, and we had been knocking doors for almost an hour and a half. Diane and Dock are both in their mid 40's and super nice! We met Dock first, and he let us in right away and offered us water and Gatorade of any flavor. We talked to him for a few minutes and then his wife came out. She offered us water and food right away! lol (Answer to our prayer!)  We talked and got to know them for while and then asked if we could share something with them. Sister Stephens took out a Book Of Mormon and we explained it and bore our testimonies of the power of the Book Of Mormon. They asked for a copy, and we gave them one and asked if we could come back! They said yes! And we're excited to see them again:D

Love y'all!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Keables

Ultimately our purpose is to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost...

July 4, 2016
Hey Everyone!:D

Good news y'all! I'm staying in Atlanta with Sister Stephens! We're both really happy that we're staying and are excited to make this transfer a great one! Sinse I'm staying with her another transfer, that also means I'm her last companion before she goes home in 6 weeks. What's weird is I go home 6 weeks after her.  I'm hoping the next few transfers go by really really slow unlike the rest of them have. Anyway, we had a good week and have a fun stories. 

Tuesday: We saw Liz in the morning and talked about the stop smoking workshop and we were going to start it with her, but she's really nervous about it and doesn't feel ready at all. Interesting fact about Liz. She used to do meth and about 8 weeks ago and she quit cold turkey. She's going through withdrawls, and because of that she's been sick a lot. Yesterday me, Sister Stephens and Sister Gaddy (Member in the ward) fasted for her to have the desire to quit smoking. The members really helping Liz out though, and its been great to see her trust the members more and more. 

Wednesday: There's this less active named Mary Britt in the ward and she's pretty much less active because of her health. She's super sweet and we love visiting her. We had planned to read with her from the Book Of Mormon, but when we got there she asked us to move a few things and we ended up helping her organize instead. We do the preparation in the morning but ultimately our purpose is to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and it is to help people come unto Christ. Whether that's through sharing a scripture, sharing the restoration, or helping someone organize their things. 

Thursday: I got to meet for the first time this super nice lady named Sherri Kenner.  We read with her and set her with a date. She's really open and loves learning about Jesus:D Sister Stephens already knows her because Sherri was progressing a few months ago before I got here. Apparently, Sherri moved but we found out last week she still lives at her apartment.

Friday: We did service most of the day with a member named Fehren. We helped her plant and cleaned a little bit of her house, she's one of my favorite members in the ward:) 

Saturday: We tracted for an hour and met this really nice older couple. When we first knocked on their door an older guy probably in his 70's answered and told us he was baptized, and that he's been baptized 40-50 years. I might have told him that he looked way younger then he is and he let us in. We met his wife and had a really good conversion about Christ and the importance of families. Towards the end we shared a scripture from the Book Of Mormon and told them a little about it. We offered them one and they said yes. They're really open about reading it and they said they love anything that teaches them more about Jesus. They told us that we could come back in a week because their family was going out of town for the holiday. After tracting we went and saw a few members. One of the families we saw is the Griffens, and it was really cool because her nonmember sister was there. We read with them and talked about the power and strength of the Book Of Mormon. We told her where it came from and why we need it. Me and Sister Stephens bore our testimonies and the Spirit was really strong. I offered her a copy of the Book Of Mormon and promised her if she would read it and ask God with real intent if Book Of Mormon was true that the Holy Ghost would testify to her heart that it was and she could know for herself. The Spirit really seemed to soften her heart and she accepted a copy. I love watching and the Spirit work with people.  It's truly wonderful and amazing to see. 

Sunday: So the Sister Training Leaders over this area in honor of week 6 deemed it challenge week. Everyday this last week they've texted us a challenge and half of Sunday's challenge was to compliment or say something like about each member the ward council. Luckily, yesterday we had ward council and everyone actually came. Halfway through it they got to us and we told them about our investigators that needed help or they need to know about. Right before they were about to move on, I asked if I could say something nice about each person. Well I didn't really asked, I kinda just went for it. It was soooo awkward! but what made it worse was the fact I didn't know some of their names. It took me about 10 minutes to get through everyone and I hope they've all forgotten about it by now even though it's only been a day. Next time Bishop will probably bring duct tape or just not invite us haha 

Love y'all and have a great week!!!!:D

Love,

Sister Keables