I bring the rain where ever I go...

Here we go,

Yes, I do see the other missionaries from San Angelo almost every night haha, they live right next to us in the apartment complex and they are seriously some of the coolest guys in the mission. And on p-day and stuff all the missionaries come over and we play scum. Which I taught everyone, and I feel like a superhero.

And yes almost my entire mission is in a tripanionship which idk how I feel about it. I fell like it is kinda overwhelming to investigators but that is just me I guess.

My apartment is a one bedroom, one bathroom that is so small it is not even funny haha. Our bedroom is so small that our beds almost touch, so it’s like we are sleeping next to each other and it is weird. It is really weird. And I am in the middle sooo it is just a party.

So it is week five here in San Angelo, Texxas. I put the two xx's on accident but I feel like it needs two.

This week has been a week; we were kinda able to go on the college campus a little this week which I had high hopes for. I was going to talk to people my own age and have a good time! Nope, haha on campus we are like the nerdy kids who no one really wants to talk too, but usually with those kids the parents at least want the kids to like them... not in San Angelo haha, even the parents don’t like us. Haha this week there has only been one truly kind person to us and that was this guy who drove by in a truck and said you rock. I smiled the rest of the day haha.

Before my mission I think I would have been super mad at these people who keep tearing us down, but now it just makes me sad for them. Their hearts are so closed off to even furthering their understanding about Christ.

And it sucks because people that don't even know me hate me and everything about me haha, oh well it is awesome haha.

So things that were awesome about my week...

We totally got to eat at this restaurant Zetners Daughters, voted best steak house in San Angelo and maybe West Texas haha. We were street contacting and we found this guy watering his plants and he was like I want to feed yall, come by my restaurant at 2, so we did and he fed us over 70 dollars worth of steak and various items. Then he gave us a tour and it seriously was so amazing it blew my mind. Then later that day we picked up Curtis and he took us out to dinner...guess where? Zetners Daughters so I ate over 4 pounds of meat/ steak in two meals it was beautiful.

It has also rained here like 5 times and apparently that is like a record or something so I bring the rain where ever I go. It was crazy though, when it rains here it floods the streets so the cars have to go really slow and the water is super high. And being on a bike makes things a little difficult so in this flash flood situation we tried to seek refuge in the mall. As we are about 100 yards away lightning strikes the light post 50 feet from us. (many prayers were said at this point in the day).

I never could have guessed how much people actually love football. They worship it. It is crazy there was like a scrimmage on Friday and the entire town went out to it, painted up and ready to go haha.

Also I felt the spirit this week during a lesson stronger than I ever had in my entire life. We were reading 3 Nephi 11 with a man named David and we got to the end of the chapter, a few verses from the end, and it says something along the lines of... if you except this gospel then Satan will have no power over you.... it felt as if the room had been lifted into another world. The light of Christ was there so strong that it was tangible. It blew my mind haha.

Well another week done and a few more to go. I hope that I will find those people who need me.

We are all for some reason exactly where we need to be at this moment in our lives, in this exact spot, I know this for a fact. Christ has put people in our path that we need to see. So see those people.

Stay sweet. Keegan

 

 

Male Missionaries do work...

Hey everyone this is my weekly contact with the real world so I need to make it special haha.

This week has been a week.

Yes, tons of people have finally started having us for dinner it is sweet. Because when we first arrived here in San Angelo the ward hated the male missionaries because the ones before us did nothing but sleep all day and didn't work. So we came in and everyone was like, okay male missionaries don't work. We quickly put that thought to rest. People are different down here I'm not going to lie.

Both of my comps are from Utah. Elder Ashton is from Salt Lake and Elder Morgan is from Orem so we are all really close and everyone we talk to never lets us live it down. They all think the only reason we are out here is because we live in Utah and we are like BOOM, no way man, and we just testify the crap out of them and they are like "touché" haha that’s how most of our lessons go.

So I assumed when I got here that I would gain ton of weight...nope I've lost a ton haha

I find myself praying a lot when I'm out here. And my prayers used to be all about me and asking Heavenly Father to help do this for me and I wasn't getting anything…but then something changed and I realized how stupid I was and after I changed my prayers and started thinking about others the miracles started coming. So I challenge you to pray for others tomorrow, don't even mention yourself once and trust me you will be so much more blessed. It sounds selfish but it’s not haha

So Edgar, the Navy Seal that I have been teaching got called into duty this week... I was livid, he was doing so well and the spirit was changing him so much. He already read the Book of Mormon and then they showed up at his door and were like, lets go. But he sent us a sweet message the other day and we all cried...metaphorically speaking.

So this week we were working with less active members a lot because there are a few hundred in San Angelo. And we went to James Fitzgerald. He was a college football star who played for Texas Tech. He walked on as a freshman after never playing football before haha. But we were getting really close and then we went by his apt one day and his land lady said that he was in the hospital and they took him away about an hour ago. So we biked as fast as we could over there and we went to the ER or the ICU and he was laying there and they are like, it’s not looking good for him. He had had two seizures and bitten part of his tongue off. So we felt the need to give him a blessing.... I am proud to say he is home and well now and I know with every fiber of my being that that is the work of the Lord so it’s pretty cool.

Anyway I am blessed to have all of you in my life. I pray for you daily, so ya haha. Sometime I feel like Mormon Chapter eight, where Moroni is alone after everyone is gone. Then I get a letter or something and it makes my day so thank you! I love you all, stay strong. Remember who you are and what you stand for. And remember you are in someone's life for a reason.

Don’t be afraid to be the light. Keegan

The world down here is a different place...

Well here we are week three. Ya I know it’s been three whole weeks and only 101 to go haha ya its cool.

Yes I did get my suitcase and it was a beautiful day in the home. The lady from American Airlines called me for like an hour and we talked about life and religion and how she thinks it’s crazy to serve two years. Anyway she said she would go to church and meet with the missionaries to see what we are all about haha she was sweet. And I am happy to say there was nothing missing from that beautiful leather bag. Nope I didn't get a box from you, mom I wish I did that would have been cool....

Oh my tripanionship is going well. I like my trainer Elder Ashton he is sick haha and Elder Morgan has lived in a bubble his entire life so he seriously is like a baby it is cute.

Dad got to work with Neon Trees? That is seriously the coolest thing I have ever heard he should have had them autograph something haha.

Okay so this week’s story begins at Lynn’s. We decided to go contacting in these apartments that were just kinda off to the side that no one has really ever paid attention too. So we were stoked. We go in and the first person we see is this 56 year old lady with no teeth. And there is where the magic began. She has had a hard life but she has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and she is going to get baptized.

It has gotten pretty rough here over the last little bit. I had no idea that the KKK and White Supremicists were still around, but man they are everywhere it is kinda scary. Skin heads on like every street and its crazy. The world down here is a different place.

This week I learned how to do a wheely and ride it for like a mile that was pretty cool. Also I have been teaching my comps card games and I keep losing so I get pretty livid. haha There are a lot of dead animals on the side of the road...

So we have four baptism dates right now and like six new investigators and all of them but Lynn are black it is so cool.

Everyone be a light in the world. Reach out seriously share the church with everyone you can because it will make life better. The gospel is something solid. It is a foundation for the rest of your life and if you have the most solid foundation possible you can do anything.

Everyone in Texas has a gun, and they all love Mitt Romney that is seriously what everyone has in common.

This week has been different, I don’t really know what to write, I'm sorry. It has been hot and sweaty. It’s been so sweaty that I can't wear grey pants because you just see sweat. It is delicious.

Well everyone read first Nephi because he has more faith then anything and if we are more like Nephi the world will be a perfect place. I love you all, be safe, be strong, remember who you are and what you stand for.

Elder Keegan

A Young Boys Hopes and Dreams in Texas...

Picture a young 18 year old boy... boarding a plane to Lubbock Texas with hopes and dreams in his heart of a marvelous place filled with love and a fruitful amount of people for him to teach......then picture the same boy 30 minutes later looking out the window and seeing absolutely nothing but desert for a hundred and fifty miles and only three houses that entire time... this is a fact.... haha ya it was kinda a shock to look out the window and see nothing. Then to get off the plane and find out that they had lost my bag with my glasses and contacts in it, plus a number of other items haha, I have been flying blind for a few days now, but what I have been able to see has been nice. They picked us up from the airport in and van and we drove to the church haha, it is in the middle of nowhere. From there we stayed at the church doing classes all day for two days, then I went to where I am currently serving San Angelo. A modest humid green town, that has been over a hundred degrees the last five days. The bus ride to get here was 13 hours long with no AC so I was pretty stoked to get off that bus. When I get off I see my new companions. Yes, I am in another "tripanionship". My trainer is Elder Ashton and my comp is Elder Morgan they are both pretty short nice guys, I like them a lot and I am learning a lot. Being in Texas is hard. The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done. All of the people here like us and love what we are doing. "WE be talking bout Jesus Christ". They all love it, but not a single one wants to join our church. They all say it’s okay I've already been saved. In San Angelo there are over 290 different churches so there a lot of conflicting beliefs. But we still try so hard every day. We have rode our bikes over 40 miles a day every single day I have been here and my legs look great. My bike is way good but I was riding the other day on the highway and my tire got stuck in the railroad track so I flew seven feet and popped a tire it was sweet cause my watch was like scrapping on the ground and I smacked it really hard, but is totally fine haha. I also scraped my arm pretty bad, but you know.

I sweat a lot down here, it is weird.

Everyone in my area is also rich, so that doesn't help the cause haha. They all work in the oil field. If you live down here you either work as a cop, in the prison or on the oil field doing who knows what. That isn't a joke. The first real lesson I got to teach was yesterday and it was to a guy named Curtis, he is this huge black guy who is a cop and he makes a lot of sense with what he is saying but it is wrong haha. They say your testimony has to be the strongest here because people here can convert you to their church just like that and that is for real, it happens all the time. There is only one racially diverse missionary in my mission so that's that.

Picture Texas, what you think it would be like with all of the stereotypes and everything, and you’re right. It is exactly like all of the stereotypes. I catch myself taking to people in a southern accent all the time and it is weird. I have seen one American flag flying since I've been here and 172 Texas flags.

The people are really nice and I do like it here, but I just wish more people would listen to what I have to say. The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done but it will be worth it.

I use 3 Nephi 11 more then I use any other scripture down here because people don't know that Christ came to the Americas and called prophets here and it makes me so livid.

There are a lot of bugs. Keegan