Pictures to Morgan from Mom the Last Two Weeks

Ok here goes my excuse.  Morgan has always emailed around 7pm, yes always includes the first 4 weeks or so of her mission.  I know, double eye roll, lame.  So last week she emailed during General Conference and no I had not written to her, because I was thinking I would do it right after conference.  Troy who had to leave during the second session of conference on Sunday wrote his letter right before I was to take him to the airport and Morgan replied.  Yes, right, that was around 3pm!  And now I was driving Troy to the airport and couldn't even say hi before she got off line.  Thus no real letter last week.  I did send Scarlet Pimpernel Pictures and I did write her a post card. 

So Sunday October 14th comes around and we just finish eating and I'm moving stuff around so we can have some shelves put in on Monday and then I think I'll email Morgan, but my parents stop by to see the new house.  Boy I do not learn well or I'm just a really slow learner...  So by the time I get on and email her the following she is off.  I did send her pictures of Troy and I at Aspen Grove this weekend and another post card.  This week I'll write during the week so I don't get another sad letter from Morgan wondering how I'm doing. :(  Especially when so many things reminded me of her this week and I was continually tearing up!  Love that girl and I miss our weekly calls too.




Carlin Keller
Attachments
Sat, Oct 13, 11:51 AM (1 day ago)
to me

Dad and I went to an artistic retreat this weekend at Aspen Grove.  On the way home we stopped at the Argentine bakery 😊😊😊

Thinking of you 💗
Mom

Morgan Keller <morgan.keller@myldsmail.net>	5:12 PM (3 hours ago)
to Carlin

Awe that's way fun!

how has your week been? What's been new with you? 

President Nelsons talk on the womens session made me think of you when he told the story about the mom who knew the right times to look at her Sons phone so that she could understand what would be best for him. I know so many times the Lord has prompted you to look at Anas phone or go in her room and I know that you are in tune with the spirit and that is such an example to me! Did you have a favorite conference talk? 

Guess what? I'm the ward pianist! Hahaha. I just play the hymns from the simplified hymn book, but my companion is gracious enough to let me practice for an hour each day so who knows maybe when I get back I'll be good enough to play out of the actual hymn book! 

So I know Christmas is a ways away but I may know what I want... could yous maybe send a printed out picture of the family? I have some that you've sent me on my email but there's none of the whole family and I was hoping you could maybe send one!

I know I'm always asking you for things in my email every week so I hope you know I appreciate you so much as a mother and as a friend! i sorely miss our two hour phone calls and have teared up multiple times thinking about New York and other fun trips we've gone on. I hope you know that I feel your love and I have so much love for you I can never thank you enough!

If you ever have any questions, please ask them! I never know what to write about so much happens every week haha. 

Have a great week this week! Love you lots! 

Sister Keller

Are you still on?  

Sorry I keep thinking I'll write to you on Sunday and then stuff happens on Sunday!  My parents were over and my dad was helping us get the fireplaces working.  We attended our new ward today and it's in the original Farmington Church, where the primary was organized.  Pretty cool, there is a beautiful mural painted on the wall behind the pulpit in the original primary chapel.  

Dad said he sent a picture of percy with the flamingos.  Did he tell you that the day I put them out there Percy went running out barking at them until he got up close and realized they were plastic.  It was pretty funny.  Ethan catching those raccoons in our backyard has gotten him all worked up. Hahaha.

Loved your letter, hope you and your companion are doing well.  I love you tons.  Lots of little things have reminded me of you this week and I keep getting choked up!  

Oh, so tell me what to log into to see the other pictures you have uploaded.  I logged into you mission mail, but couldn't see anything.  And I guess you got my emails that the communications department is doing interviews before making final decisions on who is accepted into the program.  Bummer, you'll have to figure that out when you get home.  You could maybe email them and see if they could kind of defer your application until you get back...

Love Love Love ya

mom

Dad's Letter to Morgan October 14th, 2018

Morgan—

So I spent most of this last week in New York for work.  I skipped up to Connecticut for a day and saw Brett & Marcie.  Really fun.  Calvin is doing great, but kind of worries his parents sometimes with the living conditions and some of the risks they take when helping on construction projects for service time.  They hope he stays safe.  Made me grateful once again for the relative safety you (hopefully) have there in NZ. 

Mom and I attended a Mormon Arts Foundation event Friday night and yesterday.  Elder Uchtdorf spoke, as did Hank Smith!  Margaret Young invited us.  It was up in Aspen Grove, and it was a lot of fun to meet a number of Mormon artists.  Some incredible musicians there!  Spiritually, it was also nice to hear Elder Uchtdorf talk about making our lives a work of art.  I think in my last letter to you I mentioned how our lives should be less a pre-determined script and more a canvass that the Lord and we with our agency paint for him.  Elder Uchtdorf’s words reinforced that for me, this opportunity to live beautiful lives, and as you know, good art takes a lot of work, and sometimes a bit of suffering.  The hard things help us create beauty in our lives, and you are doing both right now.  Working hard for the benefit of the people around you and the benefit of Christ’s Church and the greater work he is doing.

The house is slowly coming together.  Mike and Stacie have moved into the condo, so a bit of musical chairs going on. Ethan and Ana seem to like their new rooms.  Tanya is also living with us, sort of.  She frequently stays up at her new boyfriend’s place, which is kind of hard for us.  Not sure what to do about that girl.

We sure love you.  Keep up the great work.  Keep a journal!

Dad

Morgan's reply:

That's way fun! I hope Calvin is safe, I know it can be dangerous in the Philiipines. Is he anywhere near the new temple? 

That is way cool!!! I love what you said about the difficult things making beautiful paintings. It makes me think of all the conference talks about trials and our need to get through them. If we always rely on Christ we can make it through the inevitable trials and learn from them. Thank you for that!

Tanya has a new Boyfriend????? What's his name, whats he like? Man I'll pray for her. I hope she's doing better. 

I do keep a journal and write in it every day! So the things I leave out I'll be able to reread and tell yous about when I'm back haha

Apparently uncle Justin ran into my companions Aunt at his work! He told her that her niece is training his niece hahaha 

The mission is great! This week is super spiritual and I can't wait to write all about it in my weekly email! I'm glad things are going well in Utah, Ana reassured me that the dog is still alive which is good because I've been worried these past few weeks.

If you have any questions about the culture or the work please ask! I never know what to write about from the many experiences throughout the week so I wouldn't mind a little direction haha. 

Love you lots! Have a good one

sister Keller

Also on Pday last week we went and saw a bunch of NZ plants. One was called a leafless lawyer and I thought it was hilarious. No one else laughed. Your sense of humor has cursed me. So I'm sending you a picture of it so hopefully someone will appreciate it!

troymkeller@yahoo.com

6:53 PM (1 hour ago)

to me

I’m not sure whether Calvin is near the temple.  In fact, no idea where he is in the Philllipines.  That country has always confused me with all its islands.

Just read your letter—great to hear about the investigators.  Let us know who and what they are going through, and we will pray for them.

I don’t know Tanya’s boyfriend’s name, nor much about him.  He lives I think near point of the mountain, so a little ways from here.  He has come by a time or two, but we’ve told Tanya we’re not interested in getting close to another one of her guys that she’ll just move on from in a couple months. That made her a little grumpy 😊  I think mom knows a little more about him that I do.

Will think of some questions to ask you, but please tell us about the food!  What kind of things do you eat on an average day and any new foods that you’ve fallen in love with??

Letter From Morgan :)

Heyyyy my favorites!

Random fact of the week:
Stores in Opotiki close at 4 except for the internet shop, the pizza store, and subway. woo!

I realize I haven't talked much about my investigators, so that's what this email is going to be focused on! On Tuesday we set our progressing investigator for baptism which was way incredible! It was awesome for sister Ieremia because she's been working with Ruth for two transfers now. Incredible.

Three of our investigators came to watch conference on Sunday!! So exciting. Pearl has been super interested in learning more about the gospel, and has asked to take discussions but has been out of town last week. But she's back so now we can start teaching her! She came to conference and told us "I wouldn't know why, but i'd look up and my eyes would be watering" The holy spirit definitely touched her heart.

Brother Chen is from China, and has a loooot of questions haha. Although we have four missionaries in our ward, no one will talk to him because he asks such complicated questions, so I end up teaching him. It was tough at the beginning because he'd ask such controversial questions, or ask deep doctrine about the bible that I didn't know how to answer. I would always smile and try to direct it back to the Spirit and my testimony of the Book of Mormon. This week on Sunday, he actually asked questions that were related to our church specifically, and really seemed interested. We are teaching him this Saturday and I'm actually excited for once. I really think he'll be able to understand the importance of the gospel with time :)

After church we went and visited a less active who has always had door conversations with missionaries that lasted less than three minutes. But he completely opened up to us about his struggles and even invited us in to talk about church! He says he misses church but doesn't feel worthy to come back. We were able to reassure him about Christs atonement and he said he and his wife want to come back. I was beaming the whole walk home!

Life in Opotiki is different but awesome as always! I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but there are a looot of gangs here in Opotiki. So a few times we've been warned to double lock our doors, and once there was a huge riot on the street. But they've never caused us any trouble so we've had no fears about it haha. The people are so generous, and church members are so willing to help its fantastic!

Welp this was sort of a long email but I hope yous enjoyed it! Always feel free to write me, I love hearing from everyone even when I dont' have time to respond.
Love yous lots!
Sister Keller

Did I ever mention New Zealand is Beautiful? Well here's a bit of proof in case you didn't believe me ;)

Also thanks to the Elders for taking MORE dramatic pictures on my camera

1. my mission mom and dad!

2. the family 

3. did I say dramatic...?

4. The district family picture! <33 div="">

Letter from Dad

I assume you’ve been able to watch conference. Been a good one!



We are officially moved into the new home, but it is a bit of a mess.  Boxes everywhere!  We are getting things in order.  I think by the time you get home, we’ll be pretty close 😉



Percy seems to like the new place.  He was very confused for a while, and he has already wandered down the street a few times, leading to phone calls from neighbors.  He’s helping us to meet our new neighbors!



Yesterday, Ethan caught a raccoon in a trap that the old owners left behind.  Raccoons are a bit of a scourge nowadays in Davis County.  They have really taken over and eat up a lot of other wildlife.  So we are supposed to call animal services, who come and take care of the animal (put it to sleep), but they were closed over the weekend, and I was out running errands, so Ethan put it down with a pellet gun.  Bother.



It really has been a great conference, with many good lessons.   I need to re-read or listen to everything it feels like.  I feel that general (and strong) desire to improve and be better that I usually feel after conference, but the specifics that I was feeling prompted to do are already starting to fade.  I used to try and take copious notes, but these days I just relisten to the talks.  All good options.



Hope you are enjoying all the good things on a mission.  The most precious commodity of course is time when you are a missionary.  There are so many people to visit and talk to!  Part of faith is to not rush and to spend time where the Lord wants you to.  Love people, including companions, which is always the hardest, even with great companions.



Love and miss you but am so proud of what you are doing.



Dad


Mom's note:
Morgan doesn't get to watch conference until next weekend.
I didn't get my letter written to her this week because I was watching conference and then ran dad to the airport and she hasn't written before 7pm, but of course she was on today at 4!  Mom guilt.
I did send her the pictures of us at Scarlet Pimpernel with the tickets she bought last year...

Letter from Sister Keller - Fun Fact of the Week!

Fun fact of the week! 

There is a pretty famous flavor in NZ that is Orange chocolate chip. It tastes like those chocolate oranges you get at Christmas haha 

This week was busy but way fun! We had exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday, so two sisters from Gisbon (which is about 2 hours away) came up and tracted around Opotiki with us! We learned a lot from them and it was way fun. Sister Adlard (one of the sisters from Gisbon) knows one of the Elders in our district and asked him to make pasta for us. He is an amazing chef and it was honestly some of the best pasta I've ever had hahahahah 

So there is this really cool thing in Opotiki called the Pawars. So the Pawars is when all of the kids play sports (like rugby, basketball and handball) and all of the adults come and watch. it's a huuuge event and people fly in from Australia to watch kids of all ages play in the Pawars. I'ts way cool to see a community so involved with the youth! The pawars also bring a lot of fundraising opportunities. Since the Hamilton Temple is closed down for a while, our branch is raising money to go to the temple in Samoa in July. So they decided to do a fundraiser at the Pawars, and worked very hard all weekend. We spent a good chunk of our weekend helping them sell food. It was super fun to work with the members!

I hope you all had an amazing week! We don't get to watch conference until next weekend, so I'll write some of my thoughts about the talks next Monday. Thanks to everyone for supporting me! I love reading your emails every  week so don't be afraid to send any!
Love yous all!

Sister Keller 

1. Amazing pasta cooked by Elder Hermansen

2. A church burned down across the street from us

3. My cute Soa! (companion in Samoan)

4. I. HATE. COCKROACHES. (Seriously does anyone know how to get rid of them??)

Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Centre Theatre

Last year Morgan saw that Hale Theatre was producing and showing The Scarlet Pimpernel!  So we got tickets, except that Morgan is on a mission and didn't get to go see it :(

Troy went with me and Mike and Stacie, poor Mike had to imagine what he could hit if he were bow hunting to get through all of the songs and he survived a musical production.  We also ran into Grant and Kirsten there, so fun to see them.  Grant and I liked it, but were a little disappointed that they changed a couple of our favorite songs and took out some of our favorite Sir Percy lines.  For a small stage they did a great job.  Erin Royal Carlson, who was in Madrigals with Kat and from whom Morgan took some voice lessons from, was Margarete and did a wonderful job.  Her voice totally made us think of Jane Eyre.  I would love to hear her sing songs from that musical!  Wish it would make a come back on Broadway loved seeing it on a full stage.  Plus always looking for a reason to go to NYC :)  

Letter to Mom and Dad from Morgan and Dads response

From: Morgan Keller
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2018 9:08 PM
To: Father; Mama
Subject: What a week!

I wrote down a bunch of things I wanted to share with you guys so sorry if it's a bit scattered! 

Okay so one thing I wanted to tell you guys but not necessarily my group email, is that I love the members but I'm pretty sure everyone is a little crazy. One sister drove us back to our flat 5 minutes before sacrament started because our window was left open and she thought we would get robbed, one shared a recent fight he and his wife got in in his talk in sacrament, and one of our investigators threw a full out birthday party for their dog. I mean I know you both are thinking this issomething I would do, but she invited 10 or so people, and baked a cake for her dog. MAde of chocolate. We wonder how the dog is alive. Then again we went out and she was smoking weed so you never know! Anyways that's been interesting but good! Another interesting thing is that acting educated (Talking with a larger vocabulary, not using slang) actually puts me at a disadvantage because it alienates me. It's difficult because when I think professional I think to act as formal as possible, but people act different as soon as I start using bigger words. It may just be an Opotoki thing though.

Have either of you read the fascmiles in Abraham? I was looking at the second one and the last few points caught my attention. They went through the effort to say that they don't have a translation for them, and that was kind of itneresting. Anyways wondering if either of you have any insight on that. 

We were helping a member move out of her house and she invited a friend and her daughter over to help. It was hilarious because I was talking to the daughter who was painting walls and asked her if she liked painting. SHe replied "I love anything that I can get messy with!" haha made me think of me. 

Dad did you ever have a difficult companion on the mission? What did you do to overcome challenges between you two? 

So I've kind of been called to be a pianist for the choir haha. Thanks for making me take piano for 2 years when I was 10! But it's not too difficult and as long as I practice an hour every day, I know I can get the music down. Also it's very relaxing to be able to practice piano for a bit. 

Also guitar is a huge cultural part of New Zealand so everyone has guitars! I almost played one in sacrament but there was someone better than me haha. Anyways so there are definitely ways for me to get my music in. The longer I'm here the more I realize how much a fit NZ is for me. 

In choir we sang The Lords Prayer in maori. You should look it up and listen to it! It is sooo beautiful. I love the culture!!

Here are some words I've picked up on that are NZ slang. (I can't think of examples in context so if they are confusing you could probably look it up and find out through the good ol internet) 
Sweet as (or really anythign as)

Far out

True (They say it after EVERYTHING)
crack up (hilarious)
yous (i've gotten into the habit of saying it already haha) 

Love and miss you guys so much! I had a sweet memory of sitting between you two during sacrament meeting and I know yous probably think I'm busy and don't think about family, but not a day goes by that you don't cross my mind. Keep up and at it!!

Sister Keller

troymkeller@yahoo.com 

To:Morgan Keller,Mama

Oct 3 at 7:55 AM

Morgan,

Sorry for the delayed response to your question on the facsimiles. Have read them and read about them many times.  I took a class on the PoGP from Hugh Nibley while in college, and he spent a lot of time on them.  Re the parts that weren’t translated, I’ve not seen anyone speculate too much on those, though I’m sure somebody has.  I suspect the meanings weren’t spiritual or significant.  Maybe they were crude fertility symbols.  Who knows. 

The Church put out an essay on the Book of Abraham a few years ago to respond to some criticism from people who argue that the facsimiles are common funeral documents for ancient Egypt and so can’t have the Abraham-specific meanings ascribed to them in the Book of Abraham.  This is silly.  They could have originated with Abraham or more likely been repurposed by him or by God to tell his story.  The Church’s essay is very well done and walks through the history and shows how the facsimiles have symbols that were used over millenia and meant different things at different times.  Here are some excerpts from the essay:

The book of Abraham clarifies several teachings that are obscure in the Bible. Life did not begin at birth, as is commonly believed. Prior to coming to earth, individuals existed as spirits. In a vision, Abraham saw that one of the spirits was “like unto God.”⁹ This divine being, Jesus Christ, led other spirits in organizing the earth out of “materials” or preexisting matter, not ex nihilo or out of nothing, as many Christians later came to believe.¹⁰ Abraham further learned that mortal life was crucial to the plan of happiness God would provide for His children: “We will prove them herewith,” God stated, “to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them,” adding a promise to add glory forever upon the faithful.¹¹Nowhere in the Bible is the purpose and potential of earth life stated so clearly as in the book of Abraham.

Joseph Smith’s explanations of the facsimiles of the book of Abraham contain additional earmarks of the ancient world. Facsimile 1 and Abraham 1:17 mention the idolatrous god Elkenah. This deity is not mentioned in the Bible, yet modern scholars have identified it as being among the gods worshipped by ancient Mesopotamians.³⁹Joseph Smith represented the four figures in figure 6 of facsimile 2 as “this earth in its four quarters.” A similar interpretation has been argued by scholars who study identical figures in other ancient Egyptian texts.⁴⁰ Facsimile 1 contains a crocodile deity swimming in what Joseph Smith called “the firmament over our heads.” This interpretation makes sense in light of scholarship that identifies Egyptian conceptions of heaven with “a heavenly ocean.”⁴¹

The book of Abraham is consistent with various details found in nonbiblical stories about Abraham that circulated in the ancient world around the time the papyri were likely created. In the book of Abraham, God teaches Abraham about the sun, the moon, and the stars. “I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt,” the Lord says, “that ye may declare all these words.”⁴² Ancient texts repeatedly refer to Abraham instructing the Egyptians in knowledge of the heavens. For example, Eupolemus, who lived under Egyptian rule in the second century B.C.E., wrote that Abraham taught astronomy and other sciences to the Egyptian priests.⁴³ A third-century papyrus from an Egyptian temple library connects Abraham with an illustration similar to facsimile 1 in the book of Abraham.⁴⁴ A later Egyptian text, discovered in the 20th century, tells how the Pharaoh tried to sacrifice Abraham, only to be foiled when Abraham was delivered by an angel. Later, according to this text, Abraham taught members of the Pharaoh’s court through astronomy.⁴⁵ All these details are found in the book of Abraham.

Other details in the book of Abraham are found in ancient traditions located across the Near East. These include Terah, Abraham’s father, being an idolator; a famine striking Abraham’s homeland; Abraham’s familiarity with Egyptian idols; and Abraham's being younger than 75 years old when he left Haran, as the biblical account states. Some of these extrabiblical elements were available in apocryphal books or biblical commentaries in Joseph Smith’s lifetime, but others were confined to nonbiblical traditions inaccessible or unknown to 19th-century Americans.⁴⁶