Birthdays on a mission are very weird...

Hey everyone this is Elder Keegan here, who is now 19 years old, which is blowing my mind! Birthdays on a mission are very weird and I can’t really explain it, but it really is kind of another day, but I feel like an old man its cool.

I am getting transferred again which is insane, they don’t want me staying in a place more than a month I think haha, but good news is Elder Clement is coming with me!! Ya we got transferred together! We are going to Midland 3rd South! My new address is 3601 Andrews Highway Apt#405, Midland TX 79703! So same city, but still going to miss all of the friends I’ve made in this area and all of the love I have felt!

I am here on a mission on my birthday and really there is no other place I would rather be right now, I am so blessed to be sharing this message every single day and helping those who need me always. I really am a “wretched man”, but I am trying every day to be more like my Father in Heaven. Life really goes by way too fast, I’m not going to lie, but I really have no regrets! Live every day the best way you can. Do what makes you happy and what makes God happy and you will never need anything else.

This week we were low on people to teach so Elder Clement and I went out an entire day and just found new people to talk to. We prayed to Heavenly Father to help us get morning contacts and the number we set was really high and never been done in our area before, but we knew with the Lord’s help we could do it. So that day we saw more people outside than all of the other days combined and we reached our goal and then surpassed it, so it’s good to set goals and it’s good to put the pressure on our Heavenly Father sometimes:)

I love you all thank you so much for the birthday wishes, remember to be happy and be you and don’t care what anyone thinks cause the only way to be truly happy is truly to be you :)

Thanks for being my friends! Elder Keegan

 

We are making this journey together and we have just hit the 7 month mark...

Here we are everybody, we are making this journey together and we have just hit the 7 month mark. We are almost done and I am sad, but we still have a lot of work to be done so let’s push on!

My arm is healing up nicely....kind of haha. Ya, its coming along and the other day a random lady at a burger place saw I was struggling, so when I got up to go get a drink, she cut my food for me haha. It was kind of weird and I ate it, so ya that was cool haha.

This week has been full of blessing as well as every day of my entire life, it is so crazy how blessed I am!!

So Sister Kym entered the waters of baptism this week after being ex'd and it was one of the coolest feelings of my entire life. I was so blessed to be a part of her journey. She is so strong and I have so much respect for anybody who can do that.

This week we also have been teaching many lessons to many awesome people, we figured out a way to do it! Just talk to people on their smoke break at work!! Because every Texan smokes, and it has been going so good!!!

So I had a cool “morning find” this week too! We saw some other missionaries at a 7-11 so we were going to go mess with them and Elder Clement went inside. But I saw this couple yelling at each other, so the thought came into mind....Wow they really need the gospel… so I went and introduced myself and they ask if I knew any scriptures about friendship? And the other day I had asked a missionary for a scripture on this very same subject!! So I turned to John 15: I think 8, but I read it to them and it says “no man hath a greater friend than this, than he who would lie down his life for his friend”.... Something along those lines and after I read that I asked, “Jessica would you take a bullet for Ronny” and then I asked if Ronny would take one for Jessica, and they both said yes I would, and then I said, “then you have no greater friends than each other”, then they hugged and kissed and started walking away and I was like, “hey, can we stop by your house sometime” and they said we are always welcome. So it’s pretty cool how God gives us something and then we are able to use it later, idk it was cool and I know God put them in my path for a reason.

 

I am so blessed and I love you all and congratulations to Papa George (friend from Hood River) and his new baby boy haha. I love y’all be safe.

The story of my fractured elbow...

Hahahahhahahahaha this has been an awesome week, and I am so stoked to be a missionary in Texas. God bless America.

So this week has been so good, we have been able to actually talk to people! The city of Midland has softened their hearts and let us in their doors.
I think that me wearing a brace and sling helps them feel the love a little more :) So many blessings this week, we are teaching 5 new people and we will be attending a baptism Sunday after church:)

I have decided to tell the story of my fractured elbow this week because it has caused so many miracles it’s unbelievable.

It was a cloudy Tuesday around 4 o clock, we were riding our bikes home from a lesson that just got a little heated and we were a little frustrated, and riding our bikes in silence, then out of nowhere, after the thought came into my head "I wonder if angels have wings?", I found myself soaring through the air like a baby eagle who took his first flaps of flight haha. Then this dream came to an abrupt halt when I saw the asphalt beneath me. And the thought went through my head… okay put your hand down? No you will break your wrist? Put my shoulder down? No you could break your neck. So I was like oh ya! The elbow! That is a great idea!.....I was wrong.....Literally all those thoughts went through my head....so I then proceeded to hit the ground with elbow first still thinking this is a good idea…Then I don’t seem to stop there... my body then began to slide like a rag doll for a length of 15 feet, while this was happening, I was gazing into the sky looking at a patch of blue thinking about how this could be the end and that is where I’m going. Then after what seemed like one second, I see my companion standing over the top of me picking me up and putting me on the curb so the traffic doesn't kill me....good guy.....then he brings my bike over...I was confused as he picked me up as to what was going on and why he was being so urgent. So he comes over and said....... in his words..... "Dude that was freaken awesome hahaha" and he is Australian, so in that accent. Then he looks at my arm.....and it goes silent. I look down and see a mass of blood dripping on the ground. Luckily I rolled up the sleeves of my long sleeve shirt. So not too much was on that. We made the decision maybe we should go to the hospital. So we/I was like full of adrenaline, so we were like, I can ride my bike there. So I hopped back on and we began to ride and I wasn't strong enough, so we had to get a ride. The Zone Leaders came and picked us up and we got to the hospital. The first nurse I saw was like wow.....that’s broken. So they took me back and cleaned my wound a little bit and then I had the missionaries give me a blessing...see this is where everything changed. The doctor came in and said, well it’s not broken, but we are sending it to a specialist for more x-rays for fractures. And while me and my comp were sitting there, a young 21 year old nurse came in and we began to talk to her about the gospel of Jesus Christ....this was the weirdest “morning find” (discussion) I have ever had, mainly cause I was drugged up and my shirt was off, so ya haha. But she accepted to take the lessons.... so blessing #1. Later that week I got a call from the specialist saying I have a hairline fracture....that was cool. But he said all I needed was to put it in a sling with a brace on it so I can clean my wounds and such. That was cool he said, God bless you at the end of the conversation. Then later that week we were walking and a guy was like, hey you guys look like you've been hit by bus and your still happy....why? Blessing #2, then we had dinner with a lady who felt bad for us, so she invited us in for dinner with her family and we taught them a lesson..... SO really even though I’m in a lot of pain and stuff, this whole thing has been freaken worth it, no joke. GOD is awesome and I am so blessed to be here haha.

I love y’all, thank you for your prayers and your loving. I love you so much and idk, I know this is true so I have to be here.

Look I can’t do any heavy lifting but if y'all need anything I’m always here:)

 

Love Keeg

3 pics: my arm, and my comps first snow ball, plus a 7 by 7 rubix cube I solved haha

 

 

God answers in his own time which really sucks sometimes but he does answer...

Happy Super Bowl weekend everyone!!!!!!

Okay so this was a good week filled with miracles until the Super Bowl haha, we didn’t get to watch it as you might have guessed and everyone who was watching it did not want to talk to us….and this is Texas mind you so every single person and their dogs were watching it. So I would say that is the day where the least amount of missionary work gets done in the United States of America. And apparently it wasn't even that great of a game so idk what all of the fuss was haha.

This week has been a weird week in Midland too. It has snowed and been foggy most off the week and I was wearing gloves and they froze to my handlebars which was pretty rad haha, but then out of the eye of the storm there was a beautiful sunset. (pic included).

So I have been praying a lot this week. Like a lot a lot. About the man I want to be and my future.... but then it hit me so hard that I shouldn't be wasting my prayers on petty stuff about me, I should be praying for somebody to teach. Anyone, just someone new… so I prayed all week and nothing happened. Not even a single good morning contact. But I knew the Lord would hold his end if I did my part. So on Saturday night it was 8:45 and we need to be in by 9:00 unless we are teaching a lesson. Soo we were getting antsy and then we received a text from Bro Zigler, a way rad guy who served his mission in Australia, saying that he had a friend at his house that was interested in the whole church thing so I’m going to invite y’all over for "cupcakes" and we will see where it goes...So at this point I was giggling like a little girl and biking incredible speeds to get the front door of their apt. When we got there we sat down on the couch and his wife brought us cupcakes while he and his friend were studying for their exam. Then out of nowhere to break the silence this guy is like, “so you guys don’t drink beer”!!! …and we were in :) Haha it was awesome, now we wait and see where it all goes, but it was so awesome that the Lord would do that for us. You know? God answers in his own time which really sucks sometimes but he does answer.

My mish has been a roller-coaster I’m not going to lie, my emotions are all out of whack and I find myself in the fetal position a lot :) but you know when it comes down to it, it’s always worth it. It’s weird to think that I only have 75 weeks left, according to my mom. I can’t even fathom that. The time is just shooting by at times haha.

I’m blessed and I know it. I read my Patriarchal blessing a couple days ago and I was so pumped to see the personal revelation from God to just me. NO one else but me.

Everyone this is the true gospel I know it with everything that I am. I really hope all of you, no matter who you are, will read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is the word of God. And I promise that no matter where you are in your life either the richest person in the world like where I am at, or are just struggling for day to day. It will 100 percent improve your life and even more importantly bless your families lives.... Because there is nothing more important than the family.

I love you all and if you need me I am here.

Love Keegan

 

 

No matter how weird it is here in TEXAS, He needs me here and I can see why...

Here we are in the library of the University, which I live right across from. It is fun. There are a lot of kids here my age and its weird-ing me out to see like what I could be doing right now. But I would rather be here ANY DAY because this is where the Lord needs me. No matter how weird it is here in TEXAS, He needs me here and I can see why.

I have found out ways to talk to the more- wealthy sort of people which softens their hearts so the Spirit can testify to them that this is true. And I am so blessed that God has given me this knowledge so I can help out my fellow men.

SO a couple of cool things happened this week… It was Australia day on Sunday so that was a party haha. Really though, it was pretty cool. I biked over 200 miles, he (my comp) has like a mileage counter thing. And I found out that there is always an oil rig in sight no matter where you are in Midland so that was pretty cool.

So we are teaching Marie and she is one of the most amazing women in the world. She is so Christ-like and awesome and I am so blessed to be able to teach her. We took her on a church tour this week and we ended the tour in the chapel. We took a minute to just sit there and think. When we did this the spirit came over all of us and we all began to almost weep. She looked over at me and said what is going on.......I looked back and told her that is the Spirit of God and He is telling you these things are true. It was one of the coolest moments of my entire life. The Spirit will testify truth to us! Ask and you shall receive! The House of the Lord is truly there if you ever need a place to think and to get away…go to the chapel and feel of the spirit because it is always there I know it.

It has been an amazing week filled with soft hearts and blessing left and right.

Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established to the earth.

I love you and I am so blessed and honored to be here.

I’m always here if you need anything but no one seems to take me up on my offer. I’m here.

Love Keegan

 

 

 

 

One-fourth of the pie is gone and eaten...

Well it is here, my six month mark. One-fourth of the pie is gone and eaten... the mile runner has just done a lap..... the bear has devoured the legs of a dear......okay that got a little weird haha. Yah, it happened I’m here, it doesn’t feel like six months. I mean six months is a long time and I really am happy that I have been working and that I haven’t been wasting the Lord’s time you know? I’m nowhere near being done. I have to be like the train and keep choo- chooing for the Lord. Thank you everyone for everything you’ve done to help me so far…really idk where I would be without all of you!

I am now in Midland TX, and it is exactly how I imagined it haha. These are probably the nicest houses I’ve ever seen haha and yah, so that is cool. My new companion Elder Tyler Clement is from Perth, Australia, the western half, and he is 100 percent Australian with the accent and everything, it is so sweet!! It kinda makes me feel like I’m "Down Under" on the mission haha. He is super smart and he graduated from high school at 14. And he is an awesome missionary, so I have been blessed.

So this week some interesting things have happened. I have gone from the very Poor to Very Rich areas overnight... It was a bit of a shock.
Idk it seemed to me that if you had more, that you would be more-happy and that you wouldn’t have as many things to complain about or you would at least be more grateful to the Lord for what you have because He has blessed you so much.....It is not the case and it makes me sick. I’ve taught people who literally have absolutely nothing and they are just so thankful to God for everything that they have. They are happy and they are blessed! But I have seen the opposite. How much more need we to be grateful than they? Everyone just truly be grateful for what the Lord God has blessed us with, look at the blessing and not the little things.

Okay so that sounds harsh, but really think about it. I have been so blessed in my life and I took everything I had for granted. I am so ashamed of what I was, but I feel so blessed to have to Lord here helping me. We all have Him with us always if we let Him.

So I am loving my mission and I am loving Texas, I love you all and I am always here for you.

Love elder keegan

 

 

It’s like I’m an undercover agent for the government...

Hola Familia and amigos how is everyone doing??

Life is a weird thing and being on a mission is even weirder! It’s weird that I am just moving around whenever I receive a phone call… It’s like I’m an undercover agent for the government.

Well, it happened again...My time in the slums of Amarillo East are over and I begin my new trek to Midland 1st N. I’m moving from the poorest area in our mission to the richest area with the best economy in the United States. My teaching method is going to have to change a little bit haha. I’m super stoked though to be back on that bike. My new companion is Elder Klement from Australia!!! So it’s kind of like I went to Australia on my mission. Good day.

This week has been so rad though, besides the fact that I got way sick and had to miss church yesterday as a missionary.....I don’t think that’s good haha, but hey the toilet was calling.

This week was so awesome we met Erica and her son Jaden...We were looking for someone else who used to live there but they didn’t, so she invited us back and we taught her the restoration of the gospel. Which Has Been Restored in it fullness. And she loved it. She had a perfect amount of questions which means she’s legit. Then she invited us Back! BUT that was the day we had Food Poisoning! Elder Anderson stayed home and I went out with the Spanish Elders! BEST LESSON OF MY LIFE. Not really, but it was awesome! The spirit was so strong and everyone was crying near the end when we were testifying, then we committed them to be baptized! Erica and Jaden and even this random lady who was cleaning in the other room but could feel the spirit and she came in and was like, “I would like to as well” haha. Man it was amazing.

Then later that night I was still with the Spanish Elders and we went to a dinner appointment with this less active famillia. It was all in Spanish, but for some reason the Lord has blessed me to be able to understand enough to stay in the conversation. Luckily they understood a little English and my new comps could interpret what I saying to them. But it turned into an amazing lesson. We found out that their son had passed away last year at the age of 14 from a brain tumor... and they blamed God for that....We shared with them the story in Doctrine and Covenants where Joseph sees his brother Alvin in the Celestial Kingdom. And we told them that we know where there son is. And that they have no need to fear!

The knowledge of where our loved ones go when we die is the most comforting thing I think. This gospel is so true...the plan of salvation is so true!

I am blessed to be a missionary at this time....God does love us just sometimes we don’t look for it. I love you guys.

If any of you need me to do anything email me!!! I would do anything for you guys. I love you be safe and stay strong.

Elder Christensen