Picture of Daniel cooper

Investigators at Sacrament meeting and Church

Elder Perkins and I had a busy week this week, and busy is a good thing. One of our inspired companionship goals for this week was to be out on the streets by at least 1:30. This goal helped Elder Perkins and I to have our lines in the water for more time then we have previously. That means we are talking to more people for longer. We are still working on talking with at least ten people every day, but we are changing the way we are doing missionary work to be more productive, and use our time more effective. 

This week we finally had some of our investigators come to church, the Zamoras. They are a family of 8 with the dad already a member. We haven't been able to teach the oldest brother very much yet, and the two youngest are three and a half year old twins. This family has been prepared by god, and at least 3 of them are committed to be baptized on the first of November. The mom is preparing to be baptized as well, but she is still dealing with coffee. 

Daniel Cooper is doing well as well. He has given up his addictions, and is keeping his commitments. He didn't come to church yesterday, but he is planning on coming next week, and I have high hopes for him as well. His wife hasn't joined in our lessons yet, but I think that she will see how much Daniel has changed, and want to know more for herself. I have hope and faith. 

Hope, faith, diligence and patience are the traits that I have been working on this week. I have begun to see the changes that have taken place within my companionship as I have sought to make myself better, and have been praying for my companion as well. We are the youngest missionaries in the area, and we are being blessed with a lot of success. I know that this is really the Lords work, and so If I do what the Lord says is best, and just rely on the Holy Ghost, I will be successful, no matter what else is happening. 

This week was transfer week. Elder Agazzani left on Wednesday, and Elder Peterson came in his place. Elder Peterson is from Utah, but he doesn't look very much like Cameron Peterson, so I don't know if they are related.  He served for 9 months in Columbia, but he hurt his leg and went home for two years, but now he is in Fresno. He is pretty cool, and is a good missionary. He is very obedient, which is a good thing. 

On preparation day Elder Perkins and I, along with my whole zone, played volleyball in Hanford. That was pretty fun. 

 Elder Perkins and I also joined Elder Arebalo and Elder Peterson to give one of their investigators a blessing. It was interesting to sit in on an all Spanish lesson. I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but when I try to speak Spanish, German words sneak out instead, it's Germish, I think it's pretty funny.

Everything went pretty well this week, I enjoy being a missionary. I am sorry to hear that Brother Tressler is gone. I am praying for his family. I loved him. 

Also, happy birthday Mayli and grandma Keeley.

Love,

 Elder Keeley.

It's finally less than 100 degrees

I had a good week this week. We have a lot of investigators that are having solid progression towards baptism. We have 3 families that are committed to being baptised on the 1st. 

The first family is the Zamora family. They are planning on coming to church next Sunday, and are excited about baptism and mutual. The Dad, who is already a member, told us how great gospel is, and how it is already changing his family. They are working towards marriage, and they actually made plans to come to church. In the past they have said they will come, but they were concerned about how reverent their 3 year old twins would be. I think that three of them will be baptized on the first. 

The second family is our bread supplier. He has two children, 11 years old, and 8 years old that have not been baptized yet. His wife and he are members, but they have not come to church as a family in a long time. They also committed to come this week, and their kids have a November 1st baptism date. I think they will make that as well. They want to change. 

Our final person is named Daniel Cooper. He really wants to change his life, and is doing the things that he has committed to do. We invited him to church two weeks ago, and he went, but he went to a non-lds one. We clarified that for him, and I believe he will be baptized.

We had stake conference this week, so it was hard for our contacts to make it.

We are looking for new people to teach, especially families. It can be hard to find people because it gets dark so quickly. 

My first transfer has gone by, and it feels like it was both really long, and really short. Everyone in my Area is staying, except for Elder Agazzani, who is becoming an English elder for some reason.

My week's focus was prayer, and receiving an answer to prayers through the scriptures and words of the prophets. I prayed a lot this week, asking for blessings for the people we see, and asking the Lord what can I do more to become a better missionary. I just felt the desire to pray, and made an effort to pray with focus and sincerity. I would pray, and then look in the scriptures, or in the prophets writings, and I also remembered lines from my patriarchal blessing. I learned that the best way for me to help others is to see the good in them, to look at the strengths, and build them up higher. I must  see the beam in my own eye, and make myself better. 

The secret to being a successful missionary is to just do the things that are in the Preach my gospel. Do what a missionary is supposed to when they are supposed to. This is the Lords work, and if we do what he told us to do, we will be successful. He will help us as we try to do what he has asked.

My hair is looking better now. It's still growing. I had my part re shaven today.

Here is my new daily planner.

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Love,

Elder Keeley

PS

My haircut is Apostate, but it is growing back.

Work and Adventures

I got a haircut this week.

Elder Agazzani, One of the Argentian missionaries cut it for me. It started off pretty well on the sides, on setting 3. It looked pretty good. He started on the top at about setting 8. It was going good, but all of a sudden, my hair was very short. He had accidentally switched to setting two. I was almost bald this week, but It looks okay now, a week later. 

We also got free bread. Last preparation day the other missionaries ran into a member at Walmart who is the bread distributor for the area. He gave us a lot of free bread, and treats made of wheat, such as donuts. I also discovered that Chocolate milk can be a staple of my diet. I eat a lot of grains, fruit, dairy, and Mexican. 

We went looking for less actives a lot this week. That's always fun, and it gives us opportunities to meet people. One of my favorite things to do as a missionary is to give away copies of the book of Mormon to the people that I meet on the street. I know how great of a gift it is.

This week I rediscovered the Joy and inspiration that comes from just reading the book of Mormon. I have decided that instead of occasionally taking a nap during my lunch time, I will read the book of Mormon or other inspirational articles instead. I got to go to a baptism for two girls that were born in the covenant, not new converts, it was a great experience. They were confirmed afterwards and I thought about how great it was for me to always have my dad to give me blessings, and things like that. Then I realized that God is everyone's Father. We all receive those blessing from are Father, it doesn't matter who does the talking.

I went on an exchange, but we stayed in my area. We went looking for less actives in Caruthers, and only got to see one family, because we were ensnared in a story. 

The Zamora family is progressing. We taught the law of Chastity to them, and we learned that they aren't actually married, but they are planning on getting married as far as I know. They are progressing pretty well. We also taught a new investigator named Armando, and his family. He loves everything we teach, but he has a hard time with modern revalation and scriptures, but I believe that as he becomes converted to the Book of Mormon, he will be able to overcome that hurdle.

It is good to be a missionary.

Love,

Elder Keeley

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1st Conference in the mission field

My first conference in the mission field was fantastic!

Here are the biggest things that I got out of conference that I can do to become a better missionary. 

First, Make more of an effort to talk to everyone that has been put in my path about the restoration of the gospel. Talking with everyone has been something that Elder Perkins and I have been working on during our whole missions, but I am continuing to work on it. Talking to people will allow us to find the people God has prepared, and allow God to put more prepared people in our path.

Second, have a more liquid teaching pool. Talking with everyone will help with this, but a large part of this is just being willing to "drop" people that are not progressing in the gospel because they are not keeping commitments. It will be difficult for me to let them go, but even more difficult to convince my companion that we could use our time more efficiently. I know that the Lord is preparing people to live the gospel, and we need to find the white wheat. 

Third, is to just spend as much time with my line in the water as I can. It is up to me to do my best to always be prepared to go out and do the Lord will. Nothing will happen if we do nothing.

My favorite talk was Elder Bednar, it was a powerful but simple message about prophets. I think that the new Apostles will be very good. I felt that allowing God to mold us was talked about a lot. 

This week I also had interviews with the mission president. That was a food experience. A lot of missionaries went up to Fresno to give service at a free dental convention. We set up and stuff, I thought it was pretty neat. 

We weren't able to contact Abel during the last week, so no new news on him.

We were able to meet with the Zamora family in their home and taught them a strong lesson about the word of wisdom, and eternal families. They are our most progressing investigators. 

A large hurdle for us is that many of our investigators haven't been keeping the commitments to read and pray, and come to church. They believe what we teach, but don't act on their knowledge. 

We also had a district meeting this week (like every week) and I really like the direction that my district is going. I feel like my prayers are being answered. Good things are going to happen. 

Elder Perkins and I keep running into Ron on the street, that's always a highlight. We are actually making some progress with him, even though we don't intentionally visit him, and he is crazy. 

I love having so much time to spend studying and teaching the gospel. 

Sorry, I left my camera in the apartment, so no pictures. 

Love,

Elder Keeley