Keilee Alldredge

Keilee Alldredge

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Medford is on Fire! August 22, 2016


Medford is quite literally on fire...we had 107 degrees on Friday, Saturday
was 105 and Sunday finally cooled down to 102. Thank goodness for
shade! Well, not really. It's still hot under the shade.

We had a miracles happen this week! We got a referral, a SELF referral
mind you, of a guy named Jason. We met him Monday night. Jason wants
to make his life better and his daughter, JC also wants to know more.
Jason has a son too, named Ryden. We taught them the whole Restoration
on Monday and they accepted to be baptized! On the first lesson!!!!!
We taught them the Plan of Salvation later in the week and they
accepted to be baptized on September 17! They said they would come to
church, but they didn't make it. 😒 We have a lesson later with them
tonight on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so excited!

If you remember Enrique and Ruben, we tried all week to have lessons
with them. One day we had a lesson with their dad, Ben. Ben was
drinking and told us his whole life story in an hour. He's had a rough
life. But we told him of the blessings of the gospel, of how his life
will literally change if he would just listen. He got sick this week,
so that also made it hard to meet with them. But Enrique has been
reading the Book of Mormon! 😆  We will probably have to move their
baptism day back a bit, it depends on what happens this week!

On Friday, after District meeting, our Zone leaders did an inspired
pump up meeting! We talked about setting goals and how we can achieve
ANYTHING with the Lord on our side. We need to change our thoughts to
become great, we have to literally believe one thought: I am NOT an
average missionary.

That thought has completely changed what I do throughout the day. We
chased people down the street because the spirit prompted us to.
Eternal Salvation cannot wait. Fear is of the enemy and we are
fighting for the God of Heaven and earth- Jesus Christ. We cannot wait
to share the gospel, and I will not be average. With His help, I can

rise to become that missionary I always wanted to be.

Major Medford Miracles. August 15, 2016

Wow! What a week! First off transfers happened today and....I'm
staying in Medford with Sister Peterson!!! We are going to light
Medford on fire this transfer!! 😆🔥🔥🔥
Speaking of fire, it was pretty hot towards the end of the week.
Sunday was the worst. It was more humid than hot and it was just
sticky and gross. We were out all day after church in the heat. 
After awhile you get used it.

Well, we are teaching these brothers, Ruben and Enrique! We taught
them the whole Restoration and we told them how they can know that
Joseph Smith is a prophet by reading the Book of Mormon. They then got
quizzical looks and said: "Well, he is a prophet isn't he? I know
that he is!" They want to be baptized! We set a date for sept 10!
😄😎

We met a woman named Annareli. She was outside hanging out with her
family and she totally listened to us! She told us how she
wants to get closer to God and she knows that we have been sent to
help her achieve that goal! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she has
started to read it!

We met a man named Everet last week and this week we taught him the
Restoration! He thought it was all very interesting and we asked him
if he would be baptized. He said that he will think about it, but that
he wants to learn more!

We also had a lesson with Mike! We taught him part of the Plan of Salvation.  Even
though he doesn't understand all that we teach him, the spirit hasn't
told us to drop him. We hope and pray that his family will come and
listen one day. 

Moroni 7-
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;
and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well
with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the
energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath
bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ;
that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this
hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.

I learned today from studies that I want to try to develop charity. In
1 Corinthians 13, Paul also talks about how even if we give all we
have to the poor and not have charity, then we are nothing. Crazy
right? So I am going to develop charity this week to be able to be

clean, to feel the spirit and to love others!

"Two White Chicks Here" August 8, 2016

Man, what a week!! We were so busy, and somehow, we still found 7 new
investigators! Whoot whoot!

On Tuesday we had MLC. It was super great! It was announced during
that meeting that we now will sing to members after dinner - so we
are a singing mission now!

At the end of MLC, President took us all up to the top of Mt. Ashland.
It was so beautiful up there, it reminded me of home. We talked about
being watchmen, of being leaders. It was so spiritual up there, I
really felt of Gods love for me. I loved it. :)


On Thursday we went to the pear farm and harvested pears! We started
at 8 am and worked until 1:30. It was long, but it was tons of fun!
Especially with our Zone being there, even the Yreka sisters were able
to come! We were joking and throwing shriveled pears at each
other....and yes, of course we picked too! We got a little sun
though...☀️


On Friday we taught ZTM! It was nerve wracking though, President came
to our meeting! All of us were a little stressed because of it, but
once we got up there to teach, the Spirit just took over and our
teaching just flowed. The spirit was really strong, I was so blessed
to be there and to grow my knowledge of the gospel. President really
enjoyed it! The spirit really lifted us and helped us get pumped up to
do missionary work!

On Saturday, we were walking and saw a former investigator- Tommy. He
tried to run away from us, but we caught up to him. He proceeded to
tell us how he was trying to avoid us, hoping we would just give up.
Little did he knows that we are REALLY persistent. He then told us how
everyone is racist and that his life is awful and we have no idea what
he is going through. Me, just being me, said : Tommy, do you have any
idea why we keep coming back? Why two white chicks keep coming
back!?!?

Hahaha...not the brightest moment....but he agreed to let us come
back! We want to teach him the Plan of Salvation to explain how he has so much to
live for in the future!

However, we taught Tina and Donald Millard about the Plan of Salvation.  They were
so surprised about all of it, but they knew it to be true! Sister
Peterson then shared a wonderful testimony and we asked them if they
would like to get baptized. Donald was all for it, but Tina wasn't too
sure. Our member rephrased the question and she said yes! And then,
even before we brought it up, they asked about the priesthood and the
proper authority. It was so cool! We told them that the next time we
would teach about the priesthood.  They are so prepared!  We are so
blessed to meet them!

Today, I read two talks: What Lack I yet? And Testifying of the Great
and Glorious Atonement. I was feeling that I wasn't doing all I could,
I had stopped progressing in a sense. But as I read, the spirit just
filled my soul, letting me know that most of all, I was doing my best,
and that God was pleased with what I was doing. It was such a comfort.
Then, the Spirit told me how I can be better. I can bear my testimony
more of the Atonement. It was awesome to gain that direction. I loved

this week! It was so full of spiritual help and encouragement.
Brother and Sister Jacobsens.

It all started with a name tag. August 1, 2016

Sunrise on our P Day hike

So yesterday we spoke in church and we left our apartment and got
there about 15 mins before it started. As we got out of the car, I
realized that I forgot something. Something REALLY important. My name
tag. So we raced back and grabbed my name tag. We got back just in
time for the meeting to start. Our talks were pretty awesome and then
we also got enlisted to teach gospel principles on the Second
Coming....oh my goodness. And that was just a start to a crazy day.

Today, we went on a hike, early in the morning! It was awesome! But I
fell and totally destroyed my hand and my arm. But all is well, that
why we have the resurrection right?

We were finding a lot this week, but we did have some great lessons.

On Wednesday we had specialized training. We were taught about the
Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and of the Atonement of the Savior (foundation of
testimony). It was awesome, the spirit reminded me of the time then we
went to Carthage Jail with my family. The spirit witnessed to me then that
Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Sometimes the spirit reminds you of
the times that you received a witness of the truth. 

Later that night, we had a lesson with the Ponciroli's. They are the
coolest family ever! 😆 Chris, the husband, is not a member. He has
been working to be able to get baptized for almost two years. We had
our lesson on temple grounds. President and Sister Russell came with
us as well. We read 1 Nephi 8 with them, and talked about how
important it is to read the scriptures and to hold to the rod and to
continue press forward on the path. The spirit was amazing!

On Saturday we had lesson with Donald Millard. We taught him the Plan of Salvation,
and he loved it! He understood all that we taught. He was saying how
everything what we were teaching made sense and that he felt that he
had already known it. It was a stellar lesson! We invited him to be
baptized, (three times even) and he would love to, but he is worried
about his wife. So we will work with her and help her understand the
gospel as well. I'm so excited to teach them!

On Saturday, a lesson fell through and we started walking down the
street. A car pulled over and inside was a woman named Shayla! We met
her earlier in the week and she let us into her home and talked with
us. She is really cool. After talking to her from her car, she invited
us over again. We helped clean her home, and she showed us all this
Christian music that she loves to listen to. And she also played some
songs for us on her guitar. At the end of us helping her, we showed
her "Because of Him" video. While she talked to Sister Peterson, I pulled up
Alma 7:11-13 and read it to her. All the sudden her curiosity took
over and she asked all these questions about the Book of Mormon. We
gave her a copy and we have a lesson with her later this week!

This coming week we have lots of lessons set up, at least four
everyday. We also have MLC this week and we are teaching ZTM. And we
are going to pick pears this week as well. We are so busy! But what
better way than to serve the Lord? I am so blessed to be here, to be
part of this zone. I really love them a lot, I hope we can teach them

well.

We all have a little Hippie in us! July 25, 2016

With the Neild Family
Wow what a week! We have been so busy! We found 7 new investigators
this week! 😄😎 it's so awesome! There is never a dull moment here as
we are working so hard to find and teach.

This past week we met a woman who told us how her parents were Mormon
and that she wanted  financial help because they were going to shut
off their electricity and they were out of food and such such. So us,
being missionaries, offered to give them our food. So we walked to our
apartment (took two hours, but we found two new investigators, yay!)
and we cleaned out our food pantry and gave them our food. And, yes we
still had food, we don't really eat much during the day. But, here's
the miracle: the next day members showered us with food!! Now we have
so much, we don't even know what to do with it all! 😆😊 God really
watches out for us!

That same day, we went and talked to a guy who lives behind us. The
one time I met him last transfer he was a little odd, so we had no idea
how this conversation would go. He has a "psycho gnome" in his front
yard and we asked him about it. He told us how he served in Vietnam
war, and when he got home he suffered from extreme PTSD. But he has
completely changed his life around and has written poetry. He read
some to us to explain that the psycho gnome in his yard is his PTSD
that is trying to destroy all that he loves. It was really powerful.
Then we took pictures with him!

We had a Pie-o-ne'er festival in Ashland! We had investigators coming,
but they backed out at the last second. But we had fun, visiting with
members and eating pie! I am so grateful for all those who were
pioneers, who did all they could to keep the gospel in their lives.
And that's true for today as well! There is a family that we are
teaching who have been struggling and fighting to get baptized,
fighting against all odds for two years. They are so close! They are
changing so much, the light is growing in their eyes and in their
countenance.  It's amazing.

Ah! There is so much that happened this week! We taught ZTM, I learned
so much about planning, of repentance, and of being an inviter. The
spirit is so real, and the gospel is true.

On Sunday, I was a little discouraged as we have so much to do, and I
was feeling the weight of it all and of the weight and wickedness of
the world. But I read in Alma 29:9-10--

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I
do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath
commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an
instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and
this is my joy.

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and
coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do
I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard
my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended
towards me.

God really hears our prayers! I know he does! And really, my whole
desire is to teach repentance, to teach others of the Plan of
Salvation. It's so beautiful, it's so perfect. And repentance is
truly how we can gain eternal life. And as missionaries, we are all
doing our best and serving and fighting and declaring. It's hard, but
one day we will fall at the feet of the Savior and say that His will

is the best and that we did all that was required.
Our neighbor and his Psycho Gnome. 


Super Awkward . . . July 18, 2016

Giant Sandwiches from the members.

On exchanges with Sis. Rhoton, a new missionary 

I don't even remember what happened this week. It's all a blur. Is it
P day? That's weird- so are hippies.

Speaking about hippies, we had exchanges again this week and switched
back in Ashland. We again went to Lithia park and saw like 50 hippies
just chillin' in the grass, shoeless, brown skinned, dreads and smoking
weed. As we were getting up the courage to drink the Lithia water, a
hippie walks up and fills his water bottle of the stuff and takes a
giant swig. He then proceeds to show us the 'true' lotus pose by
crossing his legs and then reaching his hands around the back to grab
his feet. And I guess to make the day even better, I swallowed the
Lithia water! 😳😜

This week was very full, we were busy all week long! I love Sister
Peterson! She works so hard with me! I am so blessed to have her! So
many people are outside and we talk with all of them! With the new
Pokemon go game, tons of people are showing up at the church (haha,
nab them before they run away).

One person we are teaching is named Pat. She is so cute! She's an
older woman, she is living with her brother for the time being, and his
family knows many members in the ward. She agreed to take the
lessons with us and she has lots of questions about the priesthood and
about prophets.

Crazy story: We met with a man by the name of Marcline Charles, a man
from Haiti. At first, he explained a bit about his beliefs and we just
sat there in amazement at his knowledge of the Bible and of the truths
of the gospel. It was amazing. And then I asked him what he thought
the priesthood was. He then explained Aaron and Melchizedek and how
John had the Aaronic and Jesus Christ had the Melchizedek. And then
THATS when it got crazy! He got REALLY passionate about Jesus Christ,
to the point that I thought he was going to thrown something at us. As
he was yelling and crying I thought : "Man, this was going so
good...I don't even know what is happening right now!" When he quieted
down I explained the Restoration and of Joseph Smith. He understood
that the Father's role to testify of Christ, which is stated in the
First Vision. But Marcline believes that Christ was the last one, the
last prophet. But he agreed to study the pamphlet and to let us come
back. So yeah. We survived that.

On Thursday we drove all the way up to Eugene with President Cropper,
a counselor in the Mission presidency. He kept asking us questions to see if we
were studying deep doctrine stuff. Me: "Well, I'm just studying about
faith and about Christlike attributes....so yeah. You won't get any
questions from me...." None of us really had anything, so then he just
asked us really deep questions to get our minds spinning....So
anyways, we drove up there to have MLC. It was so much fun! I loved
it!

Yesterday evening we went out and tried to find a couple that we had
meet last Sunday, Skylar and Miranda. The spirit prompted us to knock
on some doors and we found them! Miranda came out and talked to us.
Her and her husband just got married three years ago and they almost
got a divorce. But they realized to put God first in their marriage
and they read scriptures together and pray everyday. It's amazing!
They read the Restoration pamphlet and STUDIED from it! They are so
prepared! Miranda asked us for another pamphlet, and we gave her a
Book of Mormon! We are having a lesson with them on Wednesday!  They
are totally going to get baptized!


I love being a missionary! Thank you for all your prayers! I love you!
An authentic poncho of the Spanish Elders.

"Y'All believe in the lizard people." July 11, 2016

With Sister Peterson


Wow! This week has been awesome! My new companion, Sister Peterson is
the bomb dot com. She is so cool, so full of the spirit. I'm so
blessed to be with her!

Miracles have abounded this week! We have started to get lots of work
done! At the beginning of the week we had lots of finding, but by the
end of the week we had lots of lessons. We were pretty busy!

Christine (RC) is struggling a bit due to her medical issues, she got
a blessing on Saturday. But she is doing a lot better.

Kayden (RC) got baptized on Saturday! It's so exciting! The spirit was
so strong during the baptism, I know she will do great as a member and
will strive to listen.   The family took us to an Asian restaurant
called New East Asia. It was really good. Interesting enough, there is
a sauce in Asian restaurants here called Kim sauce. It's pretty good.
I got the recipe! 

Yesterday after dinner we walked down the street and contacted
potentials. We met an atheist guy, who was very determined to stay
that way (even though he accepted a Book of Mormon) and he even followed us to
the next door neighbor telling us all about it. (The line in the
subject heading is his. Eye roll) Goodness. People are crazy!

Well, later that evening, we were walking and talking to everyone we
could. At one point we met a young man by the name of Louis. He moved
from Mexico to here a year ago, and studies for two hours a day to
learn English. There was a slight language barrier, but the spirit
just kept urging us to talk to him. I then felt prompted to share the
#Hallelujah video. We did so, and the spirit was so strong! It was
amazing! He really felt it! He agreed to let the Spanish elders come
and teach him! :)

And we also found another Spanish family who were really nice. We gave
then to the Spanish elders too. I hope it was an answer to their
prayers!

This week was a lot cooler, the rains came in. It made it so that we
could be out more. Or at least have more motivation to be outside. We
met so many people just by walking! It's so cool. Sister Peterson is
really brave and is really committed to talk to everyone. It's a
completely different approach to missionary work than I have ever seen
before. And even though we are really different from each other, we
are able to work together because we know the end goal. And because of

that, work is happening! I love it so much!

Transfers! And Happy Fourth! July 4, 2016

Transfers are upon us! I am staying in Medford and am getting Sister
Peterson for my companion! Sister Connelly is going to Springfield for
her last six weeks. She is excited! I am sad to see her leave, but I
know she will great things in Springfield. I can't wait to see what
Sister Peterson and I will be able to accomplish here in Medford! 😎

Today, we have to go into our apartments early tonight to get out of
the fray of crazy Oregonians. 😏 😬 ✌️

This week we had lots of lessons set up! Mike Fehely is doing great,
he's older, so he doesn't retain as well and it hard for him to focus,
but we taught him the beginning section of the Book of Mormon. I
invited him to baptism, but he said no. But maybe, in the future, he
will accept!

We are also teaching Kayden, she is getting baptized next week, but it
will be a child of record baptism. She is so cool, I love her so much!
She is progressing well.

Christine is a recent convert and we taught her a really good lesson on trials and
how they make us stronger. In fact, she helped answer my prayers- we
were talking about faith and how it sustains us. She said: "You know,
the faith was always there. All I had to do was trust in the faith,
trust in the feeling that was already there." Wow. So profound! Our
answers are already inside of us, all we have to do is trust in the
knowledge that God has already given us!

Yesterday, we finally got a lesson with Tommy. He awesome and African American.
His kids remind me of JeKobe...hahaha. We retaught the restoration
with him, he was a little confused with the priesthood and of
prophets, but as we talked of the Atonement, the spirit was so strong,
it was just a warmth that filled the room. He agreed to read the Book
of Mormon and to pray about it. 😊

Food for thought: The Atonement is real. Trust in the knowledge you
have received, hold on, don't jump ship.  God will always be there,
His love is always there. Keep praying, keep trusting, and one day,

you will receive more blessings  than you can comprehend.
Brookhurst crew. 
We call these WhoVille trees. 


Killin' it in Medford. June 27, 2016





With Sister Connelly
This week was great! It was full of ups and downs, but what week isn't?

As the STL, we had to help the zone leaders and the district leaders
plan for ZTM. Our teaching section was on faith and obedience. It was
an awesome teaching part! I studied a lot about obedience. I had three
readers read these verses: Alma 26:31, Isaiah 1:19 and D&C 82:10. I
then explained that one way for us to eat of the good of the land
(investigators) we should be obedient in everything, because then the
Lord will be able to bless us. The feeling in the room was very
powerful, it was such a joy to study and teach.

It was interesting because earlier in the week I had been struggling
with feeling as though as I haven't been receiving revelation. But now
I know that I can trust in God. I need to exercise patience and wait
on His timing, for I know that when that revelation comes, it will be
really powerful and wonderful. So, I am asking the same questions,
waiting for the time that God is ready to let me feel it, because I
know that it will be the right time for it. 😊

Yesterday we had a miracle! During the week we felt prompted to knock
on a door of an apartment that's near the church building. It turns
out that this older man, Mike, had just moved in. He battled with
cancer and a stroke for a number of years, and during that time he had
met with the missionaries. He wasn't interested quite yet, but we
invited him to church. And guess what?!? He came!!! All by himself! A
member was kind enough to sit with him, and afterwords we talked to
him about it. He really liked it and appreciated that "We don't talk
religion and politics in the same sentence..." He said that he would
like to have us swing by later in the week but that he wants some time
to think about it. 😉

Also, our ward mission leader texted us on Sunday and told us that he
had been receiving a prompting for us to go see Alania, a former
investigator. As soon as we read the text, we knew we had to leave
immediately. The spirit was practically dragging us out the door. So
we rushed over to her house....but she wasn't there. We stopped by
multiple times during the day and she wasn't there. But we will keep
trying!

Today for P-day we went ice skating. It was awesome! And I fell....a
lot! I've been out of practice for so long!
Ice Skating

Today in personal study I read in D&C 11. It's been kind of tough with
the work in this area, we really have to be hunters and seek out people.
But what I got from it is that I need to treasure up the word, I'm in
a waiting period for the moment. I need to trust in God and know that
all will work out. For really, that's all He asks. Trust in Him, and
try our best to live the commandments. Don't jump ship when it gets
hard! Hold on, and He will steer you through it. And at the end of the

storm, you will realized how much a better captain you've become.
We stole the Spanish elders hat. Multiple times. All because they didn't lock their car!

Great Grandpa Ray June 20, 2016

So this past week, after daily planning, we started talking about our
family history. It eventually lead to me talking about grandpa Ray and
of his sacrifice. As I looked at the pictures of him, I realized
something. Throughout my mission I have some some particular spiritual
experiences where I always thought it was the Holy Ghost, or some sort
of angel watching over us. And whenever I pictured this person, I
realized that it looked a lot like Grandpa Ray.

As my companion was in the shower, I prayed out loud. I asked Heavenly
Father if my suspicions were right, if it is Ray who is watching over
me. Quietly, a presence came into the room. It was him! He hugged me
and said that he loved me. I felt that love, it was deep and powerful
and tears came to my eyes with the simplicity of it. He then told me
that because he was unable to serve his own mission, that he would
watch over me on mine.

Since then, I now know what he feels like. Sometimes, he is suddenly
just there, as we stand on the porch, eating lunch, or as we are out
in the sun. I am reminded of that quote from Elder Holland that people
from both sides of the veil are watching over us, cheering us on,
helping us on our struggles and adventures of this life.

So I just thought that y'all would like that. I guess it's just a good
reminder that we are never alone and that families are truly together

forever.

Wherefore, ye must press forward . . . June 20, 2016

Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Truck with Sis. Connelly
What a week! The scripture in my heading is 2 Nephi 31:20. It was so
true for this week- Sister Connelly has finally realized that her
mission is coming to an end. On Tuesday and Wednesday we struggled a
bit to continue to move forward. We had a rough start to our week,
nearly all of our lessons fell through, and Stanya dropped us for the
time being. (Ah! It's so sad, she was on date for baptism) and
Jaslina, our other investigator who was on date is a little hesitant
to meet with us because of her boyfriend.

And yet, through all the struggles we have become stronger. I have
seen my companion grow in her capacities to serve and her testimony
too of the Savior. One day was really rough, and we found one
potential and one new investigator (named Rob). God really watches
over us. She got a blessing too, and the Lord said: " know that every
door you knock and every action you do is seen by your Savior, and He
is pleased with what you do."

We also had a great pick me up on Friday! We had a zone conference
with the bottom half of the mission. Elder Johnson and Elder Hansen of
the Seventy came to talk with us. Elder Hansen asked us: "Do you know
that God loves you?" Us- yeah. "Well, do you love God?" Yeah. " then
obey them!" He talked more about obedience.

Elder Johnson talked about teaching the first principle of the gospel:
God is our loving Heavenly Father. He took two hours to teach us, and
we realized how much better we need to get at teaching it. For our end
goal is not baptism. It's to teach others to become like Heavenly
Father. But we have to understand who He is in order to have the faith
necessary to change. It was really powerful.

I also participated in Missionary Leadership Council (MLC). We talked
about what we learned and what the mission needs to learn this coming
week for Zone conference. It's really fun and stressful! Being a
leader is hard.

Since that meeting, I have been pondering a lot about what kind of
missionary I want to be. I've realized that obedience is the only way
that God can bless us. And so if I want investigators, I need to be
exactly obedient. And sure, it's all up to God's timing. Reading the 
scriptures really creates the strength and force field around you to
keep the spirit with you. So pray. So read. So stand up for what is
right. Be the kind of person who will stand up for the right, who
stands out from the crowd because you have the spirit around you. That
will be the kind of friends I will look for when I come home. The ones
who let the Atonement change them.


Love you all! Hope y'all have a great week!

Zone Unity. June 13, 2016

Top of the Valley!
So first off, this week has been full of excitement! We were told to
find 5 new investigators this week as part of a leadership challenge.
All together, we found 259 investigators!! Its awesome!

On top of that, Sis. Connelly also got food poisoning this week, so we
were stuck inside for an entire day! It was so stressful. But it was
also interesting, I read seven chapters of the Book of Mormon.

Stanya is doing well! She didn't come to church yesterday, so we will
have to push her date back a week. But she loves the gospel. Hopefully
she will still be able to continue to press forward.

Today for a zone activity we played the mini Olympics! We did all
sorts of different competitions all ending with water buckets being
dumped on you and rotten eggs being thrown across the fence. Yes. We
are still teenagers. Hahaha...
Mini Olympics with our Zone.

We found some great people this week, and I am so excited for the
coming week and what adventures that will come as we serve the Lord.

Love you all and hope you have a great week! Continue to pray and read

the scriptures! Your testimony will grow so much!

Hippietopia. June 6, 2016

Man, it's hot and humid here! It got up to 104 this week! But
thankfully, I think I am finally getting used to the heat! Kind of.
Haha.

We had a great, busy week! We went on exchanges with the sisters in
Yreka, California. It's like a completely different country down there!
It looked a lot like home, and it was dry heat too. We passed by Mount
Shasta. It's HUGE!  I had lots of fun with Sis Johnson. She's so
cool. The next day, we switched back to our companions in Ashland.
Ashland is famous for three things: 1) the Shakespeare festival and 2)
the Lithia water! And 3) Hippies. Well, actually, hippies are
everywhere in Oregon. The Lithia water is naturally cleaned water
through different minerals, but it smells like sulfur and tastes
nasty. It is apparently really "healthy" for you. I posted a video
below. 😅 😎
I had to try the Lithia water. 

Stanya is progressing well! She is still on date for June 18. The
sisters taught her about the Word of Wisdom while we were on
exchanges. They asked her if she would live it and she said : " Well,
it's a commandment from God, and He promises all these blessings, so
why not?" 😀😀😆 She is the best ever! I love her so much! We are
learning Samoan words from her too! We met her brother, Jimmy,
yesterday and her cousin, JR.  They are interested in learning more too!
😊 Miracles!

Also, during exchanges, the sisters met with Jaslina, a new
investigator! She is now on date for baptism!! Yay! It's funny, because I
haven't been there for any of her lessons...sigh. I guess Heavenly
Father needed me to be elsewhere. Haha. I'm excited to have a lesson
with her next week!

This week, all the leaders in the mission have set high goals for
finding new investigators. We are praying to find one new investigator
everyday. It's lofty. But President Russell told us: "The greatest
miracle is about to happen this week. Pray and God will hear you, he
will help us achieve this goal."

I'm so happy to be here on a mission. My prayers have defiantly
changed. I sometimes pray out loud, and those are sacred experiences
for me. I know that you too can pray, and that you have prayed, but
when was the last time you prayed out loud? A very powerful thing
happens when you do. Angels come beside you, your words become more
holy, your prayers are more meaningful. Truly, God will consecrate
(or make holy) your prayers for your good. He answers prayers. 2 Nephi

32:9 How blessed we are to have this knowledge!

P Day Ninjas. June 1, 2016

Me, Sis. Hepworth, Sis. Johnson, and Sis Connelly at the Medford Temple.
So! Medford is great! It's been hard to adjust here, I find it weird
to be in the city. 😳😜😱🚗🚗

Today has been crazy!! We were blessed to go to the temple (I love the
temple! The spirit and peace there is indescribable- please make an
effort to go as much as possible!),  then we ate at Jaspers. It's The
burger place of the mission, because it has weird burgers. I ate the
Jiffy burger, which was a burger with bacon and peanut butter and
jelly. It was good! I am totally bringing my family back here to try
it! They also have camel, buffalo, kangaroo, and deer from New Zealand
meat. So yeah. I got the normal stuff. We have been really busy trying
to get everything done that we needed to. Thus, we are ninjas.
My Jiffy Burger from Jasper's.

We had a great week! We have had so many miracles and wonderful
adventures! We are teaching a Samoan woman by the name of Stanya, she
is so cool! We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she just totally accepts it.
The spirit is so strong around her! She is on date to be baptized June 18. She
also has a cat named Kiwi. Which I found out that my name, Keilee, is
"cat" in Samoan. 😺
With Kiwi, the cat. 

We are teaching an eight year old named Kayden. She is awesome too!
She is adopted by her grandparents, who are LARC. So in teaching her
we are also teaching them. We taught her about faith and how it's a
seed you grow within your heart. She then said at the end how she
feels the seed grow in her heart and that this is the path that God
wants her to be upon. 😊 I love the spirit.

Speaking of, on Saturday we drove past apartments and the spirit just
suggested to me that we should go and tract it. So we went last night
and met a couple, Alan and Alyssa. Sis Connelly told them about the
Book of Mormon and I bore my testimony of it. It was so sweet to find
them. And so many other spiritual experiences have happened! It's
awesome!

It is hot here! Whew. It gets up to about 90 degrees by the time lunch
hits, and with the humidity, it feels more like 110! It's crazy! But
I'm getting tan, so that's cool. And people let us in more to get us
out of the sun. 😊


Love you all! Thank you for the prayers! Mosiah 4:6-30. Service is awesome!

Medford is Calling My Name. May 23, 2016

Chris and Connie Rowe, Sis Lunt
Well another transfer is upon us! I am down in Medford now, with
Sister Connelly!! We are going to be STL's (sister training leader)
together! We are like the moms of a zone. It's kind of stressful, but
I'm so excited to be part of the zone here and to lead others. It will
be so much fun to be with Sister Connelly. She is awesome!

The last week in Sutherlin was full of great things! We had a FHE with
the Finlaysons and Ron was able to come for dinner and for the FHE.
We watched the Testaments movie, and the spirit was amazing. Ron just
loved it. He will get baptized, but it will be when he is ready for
it. I pray for him a lot. I hope he feels the peace and healing that
comes from the atonement of Jesus Christ.

We also had a lesson with Jose. We planned it out to go over baptism
and the Holy Ghost and the priesthood. He opened up to us a lot and
our lesson went so smoothly. The spirit was definitely there. He told
us about when his brother died and he wondered where he was. I felt
prompted to read the scripture in Alma 40 that the "spirits of all
men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave
them life." He loved it so much, he had me read it again. So much pain
Jose
was lifted in that moment.

We also had a lesson with John. Ha, he's such a cranky old man but I
love him! We found out that he knows nothing about Jesus Christ. It
was interesting because we had no idea what we were going to teach
him, but we felt a good place to start is the Godhead. And he doesn't
know much. So it created just the perfect jumping start for Sis Lunt
to be able to teach him. He gave us hugs after the lesson, telling us
how he really does enjoy having us over, even if he gives us a hard
time.
John 

The Leach Family





I am going to miss Sutherlin so much. Such amazing people! But I'm

also excited to see what God has in store for me here! Love you all!

"Elder, That's a Cookie." May 16, 2016


Man, this week was crazy! On Wednesday we had Specialized Training
down in Grants Pass. However, we had people from Salt Lake coming to
inspect our cars. Basically a BIG DEAL.  On Tuesday we came in with
our zone to deep clean our cars. And as the elders were waxing our car
they said : "Sisters, did you know your tire was low?"
Us: " Oh yeah! We knew it was low, we were planning on filling it up
after this..."
Elders: "No sisters. It's really low. It's flat."
Us:  "Seriously? On today of all days!"

So long story short, we had run over a NAIL ( of course, Sutherlin has
tons of them) and it made our tire flat. We spent the night with the
STL's and went with them to the meeting. The quote in the subject
heading is from Pres. Russell. He's the best! He was bribing us with
cookies to answer questions.

After the meeting, we got our tire fixed and on Thursday we had to drive to
Eugene to get the car inspected. We passed. 😂

We had a great week nonetheless! Even though we haven't found anyone
new, we have been busy everyday doing the work of the Lord! We were
able to meet with John. He is a new "investigator". He lives right
next to the reservoir, he is a referral from elders in our zone. The
second lesson we had, the member we brought got in an argument with
John about Joseph Smith being a prophet. Sigh. So we set up another
lesson for later that week, intending to drop John. We sat there in
the lesson, listening to him tell us that he will never change, that
we can't convince him of our religion being the true religion. As he
was speaking, the spirit just told us that we should not drop him. So
we gingerly taught him about prayer. During the lesson, he prayed.
Slowly but surely, he is changing. We just feed him bit by bit, and
what we teach him stays with him. He thinks about it. And slowly, his
ideas are changing. It's really cool.

We met with Ron too this week. He is starting to heal from the pain of
losing his wife. He is so cool. His birthday is this week, so we are
making a cake for him today as we are seeing him today for dinner and
tomorrow for a lesson! It's awesome!

Spiritually, so many things have happened this week. I can't even
explain it all. I feel like I don't have enough time to write down all
the miracles that happen. Just to sum up: Heavenly Father does answer
prayers. And while we go through trials that are hard, they make us
better. I know now more than ever that I will not return the same I

came out.

The look on your face when the Elder's tell you your car has a flat tire.