As a missionary I am getting practice at being a dad in a weird way...

Happy Father’s Day to all the men out there!

Yesterday was your day… young or old, bond and free… but unfortunately your day is over and life has gone back to the days of the mothers :). Haha just joking, but really its weird to think that I will be a father some day and one day I will be given the opportunity to be a dad, to help someone grow, and always be there for them. I was pondering a lot of what kind of dad that I really want to be, I know I won’t know anything until it finally happens, but I still want to be prepared. I want to be the best dad I can be. I want to be the example that they need to be for them. I have grown up a lot on my mission…. spiritually, mentally, physically... and I know that if I hadn’t have served a mission there is no way I would ever have been able to be the dad that I need to be. Haha, as a missionary I am getting practice at being a dad in a weird way. The investigators that are learning with me are kind of like my children. I am helping them grow on their spiritual journey which at times can be the hardest part of our days on this earth. 

This week we have been teaching Jesus and Chelsea, they both grew up in different backgrounds. Jesus is a retired gangster and Chelsea had a nice life filled with love and stern rules. They were expressing to me this week the ways that they were raised and what they wish they could have changed about it all. I want to be the dad that his kids wouldn’t change a thing. I want to be the dad where in hard times I’m there, when life gets tough they have someone to lean on. 

And I was talking to Jesus and Chelsea we were talking about their daughter Anaya. They were saying how they wanted to be a better parent to their child, they wanted their 1 year old daughter to have the life they didn’t have and they were trying to figure out how to do it and they couldn’t come to any conclusions together about how they wanted to do it.

Before I go on I want to say I’m not a marriage counselor, I’m not trained in anything like that. I do not have a degree and I haven’t even gone to a single day of college before. But I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I have seen his hand in my life and in my family’s lives. With my lack of parenting knowledge, but my abundance of faith and the spirit of God which was in me, I then proceeded to tell them that the little things will come. The small decisions with Anaya will be made clear, if and only if you have a strong foundation. The only foundation that will not fall, the way to change the way you were raised, the way to know what you need to do for your daughter is through and only through the foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the rock. The gospel blesses families and keeps them together for this life and the next. We cannot change the past, but we can help our children’s future, if we build our foundation and help them to find theirs.

I am so blessed to have had such and awesome dad in my life. I truly could not have been here without him. I am so just overwhelmed when I truly think of all the good he has done in my life and I am so excited to have my own little family one day. So I can help them grow. I am going to build my home on the foundation that Christ himself has set for us and I know if everyone one of your families does that, they cannot fall. I know that the little things are what truly matter and if you read and pray as a family you will become closer and you will see your families’ lives be different. 

Jesus and Chelsea are now beginning to build their foundation for themselves and for their daughter. I challenge all of you to, before you try to change all the little things in your life, first go to the foundation of everything and see where you are built and then the little things will fall into place. With Jesus and Chelsea the first step they are taking is baptism. Their lives aren’t going to change completely overnight and neither will yours, but it will change and your life will be blessed.

I am so pumped to be a dad one day and be a husband and to live together forever with my family. To me that is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me. Now I just need to start my foundation and after these two years, my foundation is going to be a lot better than it would have been. I am so glad that I went on a mission. I would not trade this for the world. This is what I must do. 

I love you all so much, and I am so stoked to be with you for eternity…

Love, elder keegan