September Happenings

Ok.  September was a crazy, fun, busy, awesome month for me!  September 1st Ethan and I headed off to meet Grandma and Grandpa Keller and Uncle Kim in Alaska to go fishing!  What a blast.  It was fun to spend a few days with Ethan, even if it wasn't as cool for him as it was for me, I think over all he put up with me and enjoyed the trip.  He loved every kind of fishing we did up there in Ketchikan Alaska.  Now I didn't put every picture we took, but I did put a lot of them, so heads up there will be some scrolling to get through them all.

I sent Ethan home with all of the fish so he could make it to Comicon with Grayce.  They had a great time together and Grayce got to meet and take pictures with Spider-man.  Tom Holland.

 I on the other hand caught a flight out of Washington and headed back to Alaska.  I went up to Anchorage to stay the week with Amy and Mary.  They were the best tour guides ever!  We headed out the next morning to see Denali national park on our way to Fairbanks to chase some norther lights.  We saw some moose and an arctic wolf on our journey.  Then we stopped and rode bikes around the North Pole and spent the rest of the trip chasing glaciers!  Road side glaciers, lake glaciers (where we took a train, bike and kayak to get to it) and a cruise to a glacier out in the bay.  Alaska was so beautiful and amazing, I really had no idea what I was getting into and I go back again in a heart beat.  I saw three different types of whales while we were out and about too.

I got home from Alaska just in time to do a load of laundry and pack everyone up to go to Idaho fro Maggie and Cody's wedding.  So fun to see her so happy and to be around family.  

Of course I wasn't quite done vacationing just yet.  My New York group of girl friends took a trip down to Lake Powell.  Thanks to Bridget for making it happen and Jen for planning crafting activities we had a wonderful time boating around and seeing different places.  We hiked/walked through a slot canyon, boated clear out to Rainbow Bridge, up a couple canyons and out to the damn.  We had lunch on the water and slept on the house boat.  It was great to just relax and hang out together.

Troy and Percy having a bonding moment, hahaha.  And I got back in time for these two Seniors to take dates to Homecoming Dance.  They got a big group together and we did dinner at our house.  Ethan asked Shaylee, who he met up at Utah Business Week and Ana asked a friend from Viewmont HS. 

Morgs-- From Dad

Morgs—



It’s been a while since I sent an actual letter.  Ok, by letter I mean email.  But I just finished the conducting sheet for this Sunday and had a few minutes before I head off to some Sunday meetings.  This week has been eventful as always.  Here are some highlights:

Grant was called to be the ward clerk in his ward.  Should be a great calling for him.  He’ll be in the bishopric meetings and close to all the good things happening in his ward
Ethan and Ana both had homecoming last night.  They had the dinner here at the house with about 12 of them in their group.  Mom enjoyed it but had some stress in the days leading up to it.  Ethan’s date was a really cute girl from Bear River Utah (about an hour from here), who he met at a Utah State camp this summer.  So there was a lot of driving involved, but she seemed worth it.  Great girl.
Ana’s date turned out to be a little bit of a flake.  Somehow they got sideways leading up to the dance, and so while he came he apparently didn’t treat her well and took off midway through.  She was pretty upset last night, but she bounces back quickly.
I think we told you about Grandma Keller breaking her arm last week.  This week, she was told she’d need surgery and a titanium plate put in her arm.  She’s doing ok, but it’s hard for her.  We exchanged marco polos, and she told me the hardest part is not being able to paint (it broke her right arm), and so she gets restless with nothing to keep her busy during the day.  I’ve heard from other older people that the hardest part is just filling the time while the days go by.  It is such a difference from the rest of life where there never seems to be enough time for everything we commit to and want to do.
We spoke with a nice couple in your mission office the other day, and they gave us your specific release date (March 17).  Mom and I are trying to figure out still how best to proceed but are pinning some things down.  Don’t want you thinking about that though!  So don’t think about it.  We’ll figure it out.

Well, I need to run to meetings now.  Mom just used up most of the time I was going to use in writing your letter talking about changes to the house.  You know how that goes.

Love you enormously.  None of us is perfect, but I think you are pretty close.  Keep staying close to Christ and the gospel, which indeed has power to save.

Dad

Pictures Dad sent to Morgan this week

I rolled in a dead catfish and then came home and stunk up the place. This is me after my bath rolling around to get the good smell off me.

Ethan saying hi on a Sunday morning to Sister Keller

This was congrats for having passed the Utah bar. Pretty hilarious.  (Funny for Troy since it's the 3rd time he's had to take the Bar Exam! We really need to quit moving around :)

Dinner after baptisms.  Mom was in Lake Powell with NYC Girlfriends (25 years).

Did I ever send you this shot?  Percy hanging out in the movie room while we watch a movie. He seems to love the bean bags but only if we are in there watching a movie.

Preachin' the gospel and tearin' up carpet

Fun quote of the week: "I like looking at how aesthetically pleasing chocolate is, but I don't like the taste" -Sister Wihongi (yes, she is proof that Maori's are crazy)

Heyy'all!!

This week has been cool beans! The first half of the week was service, service, and more service! We had two special guests come speak on Sunday, and so the chapel was being re carpeted in preparation, so we had the opportunity to tear up carpet for a few hours! My arms have not been so sore my whole mission, that's what I get for slacking on my early morning exercises this transfer... We also got to do some gardening which was great because this weather has been great this week! :)

Our two special guest speakers were Elder Nattress from the general authority seventy, and Bishop Waddell from the presiding bishopric. It was really great to feel the strong spirit both of them brought when they shared stories from their experiences. Apparently since the quorum of the twelve and the general authority seventy are always away visiting wards and stakes on Sundays, they don't have a fast Sunday most of the time. So instead they do a fast Thursday where President Nelson calls on who is going to bear their testimony :) pretty scary....

For my spiritual thought this week I'd like to share a cool poem one of the recent converts we are working with online wrote! Honestly it seems long but I promise it's worth the read :)
It all started when I awoke in the Tunnel

I don’t remember how I got here

All I know is that I have to walk forward

Until I reach the End

So far, I’ve walked this Tunnel for 18 years

Along the way, I’ve encountered many things here

One of them is Temptations

He tempts me to do things that make my Walk easier

The strongest Temptation

Is a Remedy that numbs my Feet

Making my Feet Numb to the Pain from the Sharp Rocks

That are everywhere on the Tunnel’s Floor

Even though I’m Numb to the Pain

The Rocks still cut and bruise my Feet

But the Numbing that is given by the Remedy

Only lasts a few hours

And then, I’m left to deal with the Pain in my Feet

All by myself

But, there’s also another source

That I use for my Feet

That source is Shoes, they really help a lot

I still step on Rocks all the time, every single day

But the Shoes are my Armor

They protect my Feet

And if you’re wondering

I’ve taken my Shoes off plenty of times

So my Feet can breathe

But I always put my Shoes back on

Because it hurts too much without Them

All I need now is my Shoes and the Faith

That They will bring me to the End of the Tunnel

Into the Light



I'll send pictures! I love love you all!

SK

--Fast and ye shall find--

Fun fact of the week: In New Zealand they call bell peppers "capsicum"!

Kia ora whanau!

This week was great! It's been one of those weeks that's been so busy I'm pretty sure it's only been a few days, but also so much happened it feels like two weeks worth of work done into one. The definite highlight of this week was we did a "fast and find"! On Wednesday, we woke up and ate breakfast with the district, then from 10am to 9pm we fasted and did nothing but find. We had no appointments, no OTC (I didn't know President Erekson could do that??) and just contacted potentials and street contacted the whole day! Basically I walked for 5 hours straight and could barely feel my feet by the end of it but t'was worth it when we found 2 new people to teach!! We had a lesson with one of them on Saturday and it went well! Everyone has different concerns but nothing we can't work past :)

The rest of the week was going to appointments from all the finding, and trying to catch up on studies :)
I'm so grateful for my time and opportunity to serve in New Zealand! I have met so many amazing people and it has brought so much joy into my life. Something my dad told me at the beginning of my mission I didn't quite understand is "what you're going to remember in 20 years is not the experiences, but the people." Even now I can't recall every P day that I've had, but I do remember specific doors we knocked on that weren't interested, or members from different wards when I went on exchanges. Cherish the people in your life, they will give you some of the best memories.

I love love yous all!! Have a great great week! :)

I'm going to send a lot of pictures of Sisters that I serve around because I absolutely love all of them and they've become good friends and play such an important role in my life??
1) Sister Allred... again.. she's crazy but I love her
2) sister Mecahm-Brown ! we have the same brain wave and our minds just function the same?
3) The most amazing Tahitian in the world who can cook ,clean, sing, dance, and fight??
4) sister Wihongi who is such a Babbbbeee and crack up and appreciates my weird humour
5) sister Raymond who blesses her food even when she lost what are the odds and has to eat vegimite and salt on a spoon (yuck) and who has seen every meme and the entire "important videos" playlist so basically is amazing.

La Vie en Rose

Fun fact of the week: in French, an S at the end of a word is silent :) Thanks to sister Mariteragi for teaching me bits of French haha.

Bonjour à tous!

I realized for the past 3 weeks my fun fact of the week has been longer than my weekly email... so I am going to do a short fun fact and try to tell some stories this week :) Two cool experiences about people we are working with!

1) There is this family we have been working with, where two of the kids are baptized and two haven't been. So while teaching the follow up lessons we are teaching normal lessons to the kids who haven't been baptized. One concern with this family, is the kids are very very mean to each other. Even though individually they are sweet and have a testimony of the gospel, put them together and they are sarcastic and bitter towards one another. I'm used to a good dosage of sarcasm since it tends to be a part of my humour, but with this family it's just used to hurt each other. So I sat them down and made them say 3 things they loved about each other instead of our normal lesson. Honestly at first it was really hard for them to even give one compliment to each other. Their aunt had to do a bit of bargaining/threatening, but after a while they got the hang of it. By the end, the spirit was so strong and there were hardly any sarcastic comments being made to each other. I just felt so much love for and from the kids :) it was a good lesson.

2) We have been working with this woman for a while who has a lot of interest, but is struggling to know that God is there. This week we committed her to pray about a specific concern or question in her heart. I ended up giving the promised blessing, and I promised that she would receive an answer that week. As I was giving the PB, I was pretty nervous since I personally don't have power to answer her question. But I really felt that that was the promised blessing she needed, so I gave it to her. A few days later she texted us and told us she had prayed and knew that God was there and  felt His love for her! It was so great to see that promise fulfilled :)

That leads me onto my spiritual thought (which i haven't given in a while...)! For her to receive that blessing, she had to have faith and do what we committed her to do. Another factor, was I as a missionary had to have faith that God could make it happen. Even when we aren't missionaries, when someone we know or love is struggling and we want to help them, we can pray for them all we want but if we don't have faith that Heavenly Father can bless them, they may not receive the blessings he has in store for them. That was cool for me :)

Okay so this email is way longer than my last few so hopefully it makes up for my lack of writing these past few weeks.. months... transfers....

Love you all!!
Sister Keller

I Te Aroha E

Sad fun fact of the week: U of U beat BYU in football again....
Story behind fun fact of the week: one of the people we are working with online is from Norway but he keeps us up to date with random things because he loves social media and the internet. The night after the "big game" he messaged us and said "BYU lost to U of U again... a lot of people in Utah are mad it's funny" so even in new Zealand as a missionary I cant escape the competition that is college football...

Morena!
Sorry I didn't write last week, we had a super fun P day driving out to the bush so I didn't have time to really respond to anyone.

What's been going on in Rototuna?
-I have a new companion, Sister Mariteragi (pronounced Mari te rani) from Tahiti!! She speaks beautiful French online, and is a happy, hardworking missionary :) It's gonna be a great transfer!
- We had someone set for baptism on Saturday, but she took a spontaneous trip to Australia on Friday and hasn't come back yet... a little concerning...
-we're teaching a guy who speaks mostly Mandrin, but we have a member who speaks fluent mandrin as well so we are super excited for our appointment tomorrow!
-we had Zone Conference last week which was AMAZING as always. President Erekson is always so inspiring.

I hope yous all have a fantastic week! Remember I love you lots but jesus loves you more :)

Sk