We walked for days trying to save miles...

August 8, 2016

Hey y'all!!

This transfer sped by! And in answer to your questio,n transfers is next week. I'll most likely sta,y but you never know what could happen. This coming transfer will be my last, which is so weird to think about. I feel like I've been out 6 months and still have plenty of time, but I'm determined to make the most out of the 7 weeks I have left!:D 

This past Tuesday we went on exchanges with some other sisters in our District, Sister Anderson and Sister Ausen. Sister Anderson came with me to Atlanta for the day, and we had a great time together! She's a wonderful missionary and she taught me a lot. While I was with her, we went and saw Shortly and Carolyn. They're potential investigators, me and Sister Stephens have only taught twice before, but it had been a while. We followed up on the Book Of Mormon and asked them if they had read, but Shorty and Carolyn hadn't read much and didn't seem to remember it very well, so we went over it again, but this time from a different angle. We talked more about the history of the Book Of Mormon and why we need it. We invited them to pray about the Book Of Mormon and if it was true specifically. Me and Sister Stephens both felt the Spirit very strong when we testified of the power and truthfulness of the Book Of Mormon and how it could bless their lives if they are willing to let it. We have an appointment with them tomorrow.  Pray it goes well!:D

Tuesday morning we had a really good lesson with Liz. We talked to her about obedience and following the Prophet. Something Sister Anderson is really good at is following the Spirit and using the scriptures when she teaches. She pulled out a few to help Liz understand and it really clicked for her. We also told Liz that a Apostle is coming to Stake Conference next week and invited her to come to it and pray about Thomas S. Monson being a prophet. She seemed excited and really wants to come! The apostle that's coming is Neil L. Andersen!!! It's going to be in Shreveport, and i'm so excited! Plus Elder Anderson wants to have a special meeting just with converts and investigators so Liz might get meet him, not just see him!:D 

Exchanges lasted from Monday evening to Wednesday lunch time because we had district meeting. Sister Anderson has only been out 7 months, so she's not new but not old or ancient like I am. lol It was fun being with her because it reminded me of some things I need to work on or should start doing. I was able to help when it came to things she wanted to work on.  All in all, we both learned lot:D 

Thursday we walked for days trying to save miles, met several people walking, and there was this old couple who said we could come back, so that was cool. One of the members actually picked us up on the way home and called us crazy for walking in the heat. Haha! This member's name is Sister Nelson, and she's probably the funniest member in the ward. She was telling us about a friend of hers named Taylor and that we needed to go to her house and teach her. Sister Nelson asked what our plans were for the next few hours, and said she would be willing to take us right then to go see her friend. Sister Nelson drove us there, and we got to talk to Taylor for a few minutes. She wasn't feeling well so we weren't able to stay for long. 

 Early in the morning we had planned on walking to Liz's house, but instead we talked to this lady named Janine. Me and Sister Stephens are both working on talking to everyone even if it might be awkward. lol Janine was mowing her law,n but we went up to her and talked anyway. At first we were talking to her about our church then hers and then her family. She invited us in to cool down and she also gave us some Gatorade. We got to talk to her for about an hour and she told us we could come back. 

Sorry this email is so confusing y'all, but i'm a little scatterbrained today:D Love y'all and have an amazing week!!! Promise I'll write a better email next week!

Love, Sister Keables

Our District!  We all word black because it was Sister Stephen's last District meeting!

 Only in the South someone writes scriptures on our car! 

 Went into a lesson and found this on our car! 

With Liz :D

Some Fun Pictures!

August 1, 2016 

 Cereal galore! 

 Thank you for the package! 

My mission has changed my life...

July 25, 2016

HEY EVERYONE!!:D

This past Saturday our ward had a fish fry, and one of the members rented a bounce house! There wasn't a huge turnout, but it was still fun.  The members gave us some of the extra food, so now we'll have food for days!! haha I mostly ate dessert because I'm still not a big fan of fish. Have y'all ever rented a bounce house? Because I don't ever remember us ever renting or getting in one. So I'm assuming Saturday was my first time, the only problem was the fact that i was in a skirt :( 

Anyway, there's this really awesome lady named Mary we met a few weeks ago. She told us a lot about her childhood and the rough the things she's been through.  Mary is a super sweet lady. This last week we stopped by to see her, and she told us that she's told everyone about us and how kind we were. Mary has a lot of potential and is really open. She was hurt in the past though because of a preacher and since then she refuses to go to church. So she's open to learning more about Christ, but not so much going to church. Mary told us that she knew God had sent us to meet her and share what we know, and she felt like there's something different about us. We were going to teach the Restoration, but it just never seemed to come up. And from what she's told us, it doesn't sound like the Restoration would help her needs and concerns. We talked a little about repentance but mostly it was her talking about her problems:D I think when people see our tag, they also see counselor and therapist.  We can't but they can lol Not complaining, I just think its funny:D 

We had a few good lessons with Liz this week, but the best one was a few days ago. A member named Joyce Ward came to the lesson with Liz and we talked about prayer. It was a really good lesson and defiantly inspired! Liz expressed several concerns and we talked about how prayer could help her and it was defiantly what she needed to hear! Also in the beginning of the lesson Sister Ward told Liz she used to smoke and started around the same time she did! We, or at least I, had no idea that Sister Ward used to smoke, and she was able to help Liz and understand where she's coming from, so that was awesome too!:D 

We also saw Zina this week, and she came to church! She's still praying about her date which is the13th of August but from what she's told us, hasn't received an answer yet. She's doing well. We asked her yesterday if we could meet with her twice a week instead of once and she was all for it. We heart attacked them last week because it was her daughter's b-day and brought them brownies. It was a lot of fun, but the best part was decorating the daughter's car too. We COVERED the door in hearts and put several on Quan's car:D That's daughter's name, and she's super sweet and cute. 

Charles, the guy we told y'all about last week, fell of the face of the earth :( We called him and he hasn't answered, which is weird, and we've stopped by his house a few times and still hasn't answered. Last week, when we met him, he seemed super awesome and prepared, so were not sure what's going on with him. We refuse to let it get to us because Satan is just trying to be stupid and discourage us, but as long as we do our part and did our best then the Lord will bless us. One of things I've learned from the Book Of Mormon is that when Satan tries to get you down, just trample right over him and keep going!:D 

Y'all I hit my 17 month mark next month?!! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! It's hard sometimes not to think about it, but I'm trying my best not to. I still have time and I want to give my all and give the Lord my very, very best! I promise him more than a year ago that I would give a full 18 months of my life, and he hasn't forgotten me for it. I would have never had guessed or imagined the experiences, people, friendships, areas or memories I would gain. My mission has changed my life, and I'm beyond grateful for how much it's changed me. I have loved it so much, and it will always be something I'll cherish and always remember :D Love y'all and have an amazing week!

Love, Sister Keables!

We made elephants! 

 Now this is real time country :D

 The bugs here are massive! 

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

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!