June 6th, 2011

, Here's a link for a talk on patience by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: http://mormon.org/videos/, click on it and go to the site. It's the video titled "Continue In Patience" at the bottom and it has a picture of a little blonde haired girl! It's a really really good talk or excerpt from it! It's on the mormon.orgwebsite which is one of the only sites we're allowed to get on!

A really quick but awesome insert: We have an investigator being baptized! I can't believe I forgot to mention him to you before this point! His name is Saliym, (you'll recognize his name from the letter to president) We tracted into him when I first got here and was with Elder Hunt! He's being baptized on June 11th and then we're all going to an Elder's Quorum party! Man LIfe is SO GOOD! He's made some amazing progress!! He came to a members home with us last night for a break the fast/dinner appointment/FHE night! It was amazing and he had a great time! Pray for him please in family prayers! His name is pronounced like Saleem, It rhymes with "A Beem"! It's kind of a hard name to get a hold of! To be honest, Elder Hunt, Elder Marlar and I have been misspelling his name for the last 4 months! That's exciting! I'll send you a picture next monday!

I haven't put that thought up on my wall yet, but I still need to and will! I have that quote and a quote from Maximus off of Gladiator that says "What we do now...echoes in eternity!" It's at the beginning! I really like It! Get Austin to say it in a slightly British accent and you wont even need to watch the movie! ;) Naps this year are non existant...well kinda! President said they were being abused last year, so if you need one, take one, and to follow the spirit and use good judgment! We haven't taken one yet, but Saturday would have been a great day to! We were outside all day, working hard, spreading the gospel! That last 3 or 4 days it's been over 100 degrees outside, but all we can do is sing hymns and find people that will let us in because they feel sorry for Elder Marlar who sweats like a sponge! ;) It's hillarious! People get scared when they see him and ask why I'm not sweating! It's not that I'M not sweating, cause I am, it's just that compared to Elder Marlar I'm not! :)

As requests for a package? Hmm...demand that Alec put a letter in it! :) I miss him! Also Elder Marlar said (and I agree) not a whole lot of sweets! Maybe a couple pictures that were taken recently, but not of the nieces! I told them I don't wanna see them until I get home!

Oh Oh Oh, Dad, Dad Dad! Have you ever tried a Crawfish? I had some at a members house and they're AMAZING! You don't get a whole lot of meat per fish, but man I loved them. The whole meal I was saying, "Oh man my dad would LOVE this!" It was authentic, Cajun Crawfish! So So good! Plus it reminded me of all the times we ate sea food without Brad, because of course, he wouldn't like it! ;)

Justin doodles! Good luck with the fund raiser! You'll have to try hard to beat my record ;) but the McKeens have always sold more than anybody in that fundraiser...thanks to our wonderful mother and father! They took the sheets to work and got tons of people to buy some! You get so many many orders that way! Mom, if Justin doesn't read this, do what you did with me and FORCE him to call people! That's the best way for sure! I gotta go though! Kristen, thanks so much for the emails each week! Sorry I don't write back much, but I LOVE hearing about you and Jared doing missionary work, and about Kaylee's early training at motherhood! I LOVE IT!

Thanks for the package and the PooPoo paper! I got it at a Zone Meeting and the Elders around me (me included) loved it! MAN I love you so much! I love you all so much! Sorry for the last couple weeks of me whining! I'm doing so well, plus we're playing racquetball with our bishop and ward mission leader! Life is Awesome! I love being a missionary and spreading the gospel! This RESTORED GOSPEL IS SO SO TRUE!

I gotta go mom! I love you!

Your boy, Elder McKeen

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Cool miracle! We're at the library now, and it's pretty packed, so we couldn't find two computers open by each other. So Elder Marlar started at a computer, and I wrote some hand-written letters instead behind him. I was tempted to just forgo the rule about using a computer next to your companion, and go to one opposite of him, but instead I prayed and asked for a computer next to Elder Marlar, so I could follow that rule! I gave it 3 minutes, and guess what?! The lady at the computer next to Elder Marlar left, so here I am, and the mercy of the lord, writing home! Cool huh?!

You are indeed right! Sister Wojnowski came up to me on sunday and told me all about her communication with MY AUNT DEBBIE! Man that was really cool! I'm gonna write Aunt debbie so I'll have her tell you about the experience. But at the end I was so so happy and I said "Man Sister Wojnowski (She's an amazing person) I wish I could give you a hug!" Yeah, she then gave me a hug and said "That's okay, I know you're not supposed to give hugs, but you didn't hug me back!" Which I didn't! Man she's so so cool! What a cool moment! My sunday was AMAZING!!! It was a hard fast, but the spirit was so so strong during church!

So, today is Zone P-Day and next monday, the 8th I think, is transfer P-Day! Man these transfers go by so so fast! I've been in Baytown for 2 and a half months! Isn't that CRAZY?! Funny story! So since I've been out here in Baytown, I've held I think 3 girls hands, and they've all been during Prayer Circles! Now, as far as I know, there isn't any doctrine against prayer circles, I just think they're a bit weird! But we were visiting some Less Actives, and there was a mom and her two daughters, so all girls and we talked and taught outside cause the weather was nice, and cause we couldn't go inside! At the beginning, we started with a prayer, and they held out there hands for a prayer circle. That usually only happens at investigators houses, but we jumped in. I was holding Elder Marlar's hand and I was also saying the prayer. The worst part was when Elder Marlar started stroking and squeezing my hand during the prayer! Oh my gosh! I lost it! I felt horrible, because I had to pause for a long long time cause I was barely holding in the laughter! I closed the prayer so quick and once again felt horrible because I think they thought I was laughing at the prayer circle, when I was laughing at Elder Marlar squeezing my hand and stroking my fingers! The dumb part is, is that Elder Marlar is a pro. cause he said the closing prayer, and even though I was doing the same thing, he was very calm and said the prayer without incidence. A Greenie moment was exposed that night!

So quick question for father! Dadio, are you gonna do that surgery to get the metal out of your leg? I used that trial as an example during a lesson Elder Marlar and I were teaching and I wondered if you were! I know I don't have to go through all of it, and I'll only see the good side when I'm home, but I'd suggest doing it! The doctor said you could jog slightly, and get moving again! Isn't that Amazing?! That surgery, and the modern medical system is a blessing to you!

So Carol is being baptized at 7 pm on Saturday the 7th. She's amazing but needs prayers. The only thing that could keep her is tea. She hasn't drinken any for a while, but this last week is when Satan starts to hit people hard ya know? So please pray that that baptism will go through without any incidence. We have 3 baptisms at 7 pm this saturday in Baytown! COOL HUH?! We're definitely seeing miracles everywhere or stuff like this wouldn't be happening.

Please keep in there! This week has been great, but hard also. Like every week it flew by faster than anything!

Your son,
Elder McKeen

Monday, April 25th, 2011

1st story: (This one to Bishop Davis) During weekly planning, Elder Marlar and I were talking about an investigator whose name is Kenneth. He's a crazy but funny guy who smokes and wants to be better and follow "the word". We were talking about what to teach and his plans for progressing this week, when I remembered that we needed to teach him about the "Stop Smoking" program the church does for investigators like him. We honestly should have taught it to him and got it running a couple weeks ago, but I was reminded of it then. We talked about it and put it down. (We were visiting him that day for a lesson) During the prayer to leave the apartment a couple hours later, I was once again reminded of him and how I needed to grab the Stop Smoking pamphlet for him to keep....I forgot after 15 seconds in the prayer. As we were walking down the stairs to leave, I was reminded one more time to get the pamphlet for him, so we ran upstairs to get it. As I was in the apartment I thought, "I'll grab two copies, so he can have one to keep, and we can have one to read with him while we're there." I got two copies and we left. Kenneth's house is the farthest we ride on our bikes, about two miles, so it's quite the pilgrimage. While we were riding, this guy at a gas station called us over and asked if we were mormons. We said we were and asked him the same question. His wife was and he has been taught everything by the missionaries down in the South Mission. His name was Wade and he was saying how bad he wanted to go to the Celestial Kingdom. He said the only reason he wasn't baptized was because he smoked and he "didn't want any smoke in him when he was baptized." Elder Marlar mentioned the "Stop Smoking" Program, the same one we were doing with Kenneth that same day, and he said he would be really interested in it. I almost started laughing as we told him we just so Happened to have an extra copy of the program today. We gave him the spare pamphlet we had and got some info from him, not much though. He's gonna be a hard guy to get a hold of. We gave him our number and he said he'd love to meet with us. MAN!! Cool story! The Lord does surely work in his mysterious ways and I know that he DOES work for the missionaries!! If Bishop wants to edit or condense it down so it's shorter that's okay!

OH OH OH! Carol is being baptized! On May 7th! Let me tell you just in the last 2 or 3 weeks we've been making great progress and really feeling loved by them and love them! I LOVE going over there to teach and visit them! There such amazing people and they're so so humble! There's a scripture in the beginning of a chapter in alma that talks about them finding great success among the poor and those that were cast out of the synagogues, and they are a perfect example of that! They read from the Book of Mormon all the time! Jon can't read very well so we got him the BoM Audio CDs, and we weren't really sure how commited they were, but they're being baptized now. Carol has been to church 4 times in a row, and we're still working on Jon. I learned with them the great importance of becoming friends and loving your investigators, and not just seeing them as a, as Elder Holland put it "Baptismal Statistic!" There here at the library with us right now cause they don't have a computer. They're so so humble and amazing people! Yesterday we taught them the Word of Wisdom which was my biggest worry, but they don't smoke, do drugs, drink coffee or alchohal. But they do drink a bit of tea. The awesome part was they were so ready to change and felt sorry that they had been drinking it. Jon said, in very very poor broken up english, "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know we weren't supposed to drink tea." I LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! So much! Last night Elder Marlar, myself and Jon had a group hug cause we love them so much, and they love us. I get so happy and joyful when I see them! They always tell us to be careful and that even after I'm transferred we have to stay in touch. Mom and Dad? When we come back? That's who we're going to go visit! Jon is just as amazing, but has a tiny hesitancy in coming to church, so that's what we're working on. They love reading the BoM, and praying! They're super good at praying about everything! Pray for them please! Jon and Carol! They're brother and sister, and every investigator who is gonna be baptized needs help in the weeks leading up to it ya know?Thanks!

Hey Dad, ya know how I always asked you how on earth you survived in the hot and humid Brazil? And you always told me that you just didn't notice it as much? I could never understand that, until now! When you're out riding your bike in it for hours each day, I just don't care or notice it as much. You just get used to the humidity. Lately I've been feeling myself relying to much on myself, and not enough on the spirit, and it's something I have a hard time controlling. I've figured out it's a problem with my pride. Even though it's not in extreme amounts, it's to much, and I need to be more humble and recognize the lord. It seems weird but I've actually been praying for afflictions to make me more humble. :D Any thoughts from anybody? I love you mom!

I really do love the work, and am so grateful for you and your influence on me! I'm doing the lord's work, and it is work. As Elder Eyring said, "I love this work, and it is WORK!"

Hurrah for Israel and keep being amazing okay? Enjoy Indiana! Love you

Your son
Elder McKeen

Monday, April 11th, 2011

This week was a better week than the last one. There weren't as many of those time where I was hurting, physically or emotionally, but they were still there. Elder Marlar and I have had fun this week, and worked hard. We taught 18 lessons, which is very close to the goal we wanted to hit for the mission standards. We were fighting really really hard for 20, but it was impossible near the end of the week. Elder Marlar and I had a couple more head butting moments, where I was super frustrated, but we're doing great. We're human! I wouldn't have the amazing relationship with you and the rest of the family, if there weren't those fights and struggles we've had at times. They've been there. I was quickly reminded of some of the fights I had with Justin and Brad! Man, hahahaha, some of the were bad fights, but now I look at both of them as my best friends, along with the rest of the family.I love you, I apologize for the shortness of the letter, but know that I love being a missionary. Sometimes It's hard, but it's amazing at times as well. I love this church, and I love being a missionary. I love you mommy! Keep being so so amazing! Your 1 of 52,225 Elder McKeen

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Conference thoughts: AMAZING!! Fastest time of my life! We went to the church for conference and watched all of the sessions there. We had a good amount of investigator and less active members we invited come too which was awesome! My favorite session was of course and usually is, the priesthood session. My favorite talk? It's a tough one, there's a tie with Elder Uchtdorf's talk about living below our potential as priesthood holders, the talk on Pain by the Surgeon whose name I can't remember, but I think it was saturday morning?, David A Bednar's talk on revelation and light last night, and Richard G. Scott's talk about building a relationship with your spouse. The reason why I liked Elder Scott's talk was because all of the elders left the chapel wanting to fall in love and get married. I'm not gonna lie, I was love thirsty for a bit after that talk. I also loved Neil A. Anderson's talk about missionaries in the priesthood session. Hmmm....I wonder why. Mommy, read that talk, it's a really good one. Oh, and just as a heads up, I'm sending you, Kristen/Jared and Angie/Austin a talk I read the other day. I know we just had conference, but as I read it I felt I should copy it and send it to you. All I ask is you take 10 or 15 minutes on a monday night and read it together as a family. That goes for you as well Kristen and Jared, and you Angie & Austin.

Another thing I loved was how one of the speakers was name C. Scott Grow, (See Scott Grow) That made me chuckle, how one of the speakers was named, Carl B. Pratt. I'm guessing maybe a great great grandson of Parley P. Pratt? As I thought that I remembered all of the times Dad would tell us the "STUBOY" story. Never think that those little memories don't matter or are insignificant, because when I remembered that, I realized, how precious those memories, as well as memories of us playing KOOB in the front yard, us (Kristen, mommy and myself) staying up late on christmas eve talking and laughing, eating carrots and celery in london, playing that prophets card game on the train to London, playing pictionary the night before I left, (Goldfish Beard) and many many more little moments. It's those tiny memories, that I remember most. I treasure those so much in my mind and hope to never forget them. Make those memories every single day!

I had an interesting experience this last week. We were tracting and the first house we knocked on, a lady opened up and invited us in, just as her husband pulled up from the store. We went inside, and it just took off from there. Basically, an hour and a half later we left. The guy's name was Henrie, and he was...nice! We left laughing and smiling, but at the same time got no where. It was basically on the verge of bashing the whole time. He goes to the Church of Christ which produces the most Anti-Mormon Literature. (DANG STAY AWAY FROM THAT STUFF ALWAYS! It is so so horrible and damaging. President Moldenhaeur said that by reading it, apostles have been lead to hell) That stuff is evil, and I know it can seem interesting, because I've been curious about it, I've thought "What could someone have against the church?" Well let me tell you, this guy started going off and off! He knew the bible so so well, and asked us to proove the BoM out of the bible alone! Well that's a little hard, because the prophet Jeremiah I don't think had a clue that Lehi was leaving Jerusalem and was a prophet at the time. He wrote down everything we said, and I can just hear him in his sermon yesterday, spouting out at how the Mormons had visited him, but ya know, I felt like we did something! His wife was sitting there very very quietly, listening, not saying a word. We bore testimony at which Henrie chuckled because of my, as he called it "witness", and I think to her, she could feel the spirit. I promised them as a representative of Jesus Christ that if they just prayed (reading the BoM was out of their reach, it wasn't gonna happen) when we left, that they'd be told to learn more about the BoM. He wouldn't, and I just thought, you can't teach someone who thinks they know everything. I learned a lot! First of all, Get out of there and put your time to better use. It wasn't bashing, but it was basically just as unproductive.

So ya know the Pardos we had really really high hopes about? They sent us a text telling us they couldn't "keep up with us" and that for now they'd let us know when we could come back, but that they'll continue to read and pray. Man that was the hardest time I've had concerning investigators! I was frustrated and a bit mad at Satan for postponing their faith filled efforts! BLAH! We're gonna give a bit and then try to go back. Cool story though, Elder Marlar and I were out tracting, and we ran into this guy, named Richard at his house. We talked and he seemed REALLY uninterested, when I just had a thought (I now recognized it as one of those small revelations that the HG gives us that Bednar talked about) to bring up a church tour. I talked a bit about them and asked if he'd be interested in coming to one. He immediately opened and said he'd love to come to one the next day. We had it and it went pretty well. I'm always reminded at how the spirit teaches and we don't, and how we have to ask inspired questions, because frankly, there were a couple that weren't! I thought to much about them. He's probably our most promising investigator now so I'll let you know how it goes!

Sorry, I'm really gonna try to put more investigator updates in my letters, they'll all just like the large plates of Nephi. But ya know what momma and family and others? I'm out here doing this right! I try my best, mess up all the time, and use the Atonement everyday in my life. I'm here serving and doing what I should. While listening to conference, I'm not sure when or what was being said, I felt this incredible feeling of the spirit. Elder Bednar talked about how there are three kinds of revelation! One like the sun over the horizon, slow, but barely noticeable, one with the sun coming over the horizon on a cloudy day, where you can't see the progress but it's there, and then the light switch revelation, where it's just a....BAM! There's the spirit for ya! I often get frustrated because I can remember the last time I felt that...BAM, SPIRIT, and they don't happen often, but that was one of them and it was great. It confirmed my mission and my efforts as a servent of the lord and I will strive to live worthy as a missionary of that...BAM SPIRIT! I love it out here. This morning was the first time since I've been out where I've been able to say when I'm feeling down, "Today is going to be a great spirit filled day! Be Happy Jason!" And amazingly, it worked! It's just good!

I love you momma! You're the most amazing mom in my life and have given me so so much that I can never repay you. I will try though :) Keep working hard and being who you are. I love you!
Your Son,
Elder McKeen

PS Justin & Kimberly, because you're on vacation, I'll send you a letter, but it's gonna be a short one, just a heads up, that's all! Love you all!

Monday, March 28th, 2011

The baptism went great! Scary though, it was scheduled to start at 10 but at 10:10 they weren't there. I thought they'd pulled a run-away convert and booked it to almost join another church :) (Not really) I baptized her and it was a great great day. The confirmation was yesterday and that was as well awesome. We also had our first investigator at church yesterday, (I don't count Olivia, she came most every week with her way active mom), and in fact, his name was John, and he's sitting right next to me. I didn't notice but we came to the library and he was sitting here, kinda neat. Another cool thing was that the reason why Olivia and her Mom were late was because she was bringing a ton of her less active/non-member family to the baptism and to church the next day! Awesome!!! The ward yesterday was Packed! There were more there than when we had Ward Conference, so that was neat to see. It's cool how just adding more people can bring more of a spirit and contribution to classes and sacrament meeting! Thanks Kimberly for keeping Olivia in your prayers! That means a lot to me.

Bradley of mine, I got your letter and loved the pictures, to bad BYU lost! I truly thought that they would win to fulfill some prophecy or something to prove to the world that people are better off for not doing bad stuff, if that makes sense, but it wasn't meant to be. But anyways, do you remember a Christine Clinnin from Indiana? I met her in the MTC and she recognized my name. She knew or might have been converted by Elder Lyons and she remembered you, and now she's serving a mission.

So something happened this last week that kinda broke my heart a little. Elder Hunt and I were tracting and this guy answered the door after we knocked. We talked and introduced ourselves as missionaries of Christ's church. He listened but then interrupted us and said, "Can I ask you a question? Why did god make my wife kill herself? Thank You! BYE!" He just shut the door and went inside! I couldn't believe it! I was partially heart broken because I KNEW how much he needed what we have and how happy he could be! He just needed to give happiness a chance. That was hard! I almost wanted to go back and force it upon him, for his own good, but we can't do that as missionaries, or as members of the church.

BUT GOOD NEWS!!! GENERAL CONFERENCE IS COMING THIS WEEK!!! I missed it! I can't believe it was 6 MONTHS ago that I went through the Salt Lake Temple and BYU lost to USU in football! Isn't that crazy how fast time goes mom?

In Elder's Quorum yesterday we were talking about families, and how to run them as fathers with our wives now or in the future, and I thought, "Man, I am SO SO blessed to have parents like mine." AND I AM! Mom, all the kids will agree with me! Both you mom and you dad are amazing. I shared with the Quorum that the best thing is prevention and not correction of inappropriate child behavior. The example was how as long as I can remember, we read scriptures early in the morning, and said prayer twice as a family, and you know what? I grew up with that, all the kids in our family have, and you know what that's done? It means that even though Ashlyn and Geneve don't understand anything about the world and are under 5 months old, their parents are reading with them and praying with them. All because that's why you mom and dad have done with us! I'm sure Ashlyn and Geneve and Kaylee will do the same thing with their kids! We don't know when kids start remembering and developing their character, so if you make sure you start early, like Kristen/Jared and Austin/Angie do, and like you did mom and dad, you have nothing to worry about. For you there is and was no need to worry about me doing bad things, because you had taught us well, which translated into me getting good friends. I want that for my children. I was reminded of that during church yesterday!

Hey Justin, Brad and Dad, hopefully Austin as well (unless he's going with his dad and brothers), but probably not Jared, cause he's in Texas, anyways, have fun going to priesthood session this saturday! My comp and I are taking our dinner hour during a pre-priesthood session barbeque and then are gonna watch the session, so it's kinda like what we've been doing for years! Love one another!

I love you mom! I'm reminded of how much you do and how lucky I am to be born into a family with you and dad as the heads. VERY few people have that chance, and I have! I love you!

Your favorite 19 year old son,
Elder Jason McKeen

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Happy End of the World Day (According to the New World Order, today was and is the end of the world, so wait for a giant meteor, or a mushroom cloud, personally I expect it to hit in 2 hours).

Honestly, this last week has been a harder week. There were a lot of stuff that we had to do, weekly planning, leadership training, and more that kept us from being outside finding people. I wasn't feeling like a missionary, but I've realized that those things are very important because they help you be more affective when we're proselyting. We also HAD to do a long service project on Saturday, which we don't usually do, but it was kind of almost an emergency. Just little stuff like that has kept us from contacting and teaching, so that's really why it's been a bit harder for me.

I started the New Testament today cause I finished the Book of Mormon this last week. We read the BoM as a mission, so I read from that everyday as well as the New Testament. THERE'S SO MUCH TO STUDY IT'S CRAZY!

Investigator Update: Something really cool happened. Olivia is getting baptized this next saturday and she asked me to baptize her and Elder Hunt to confirm her! :D That's pretty pretty cool! You'll be getting a great picture next week of us at the baptism. It's this saturday at 10 am, so I'm excited about that. She's the 9-year-old girl who was found by a miracle!

Donovan and Michelle Pardos: AMAZING PEOPLE! We have a lesson at a member's house tonight and they're so fun and easy to teach, or, easy for the spirit to teach. They're open to so much good and ask LOTS of questions which is good!

We have lots of people we've taught once and are waiting to see if they keep commitments, so these are the people we're really really hoping for.

Last night Elder Hunt and I had a party in the living room! We moved our mattresses in there and slept on the floor, just to change things up a little. So a really really cool story happened! We were riding our bikes out of the apartment complex and a guy stopped us and called us over in his car. We walked over and I very calmly freaked out in my mind. I recognized him at once. We talked and he asked if any of us went to BYU and I said I went to a semester there before I came here. He said he'd played football there so I played ignorant and said, "What's your name!" "Michael Reed!" CRAZY! I shook his hand and told him how much I and my brothers and dad had loved to watch him play. He lives in our complex and we have his number in his phone. He said that Mac, the supply guy from BYU had sent him some shirts and asked if we wanted a football BYU t-shirt. Of Course!!! I got a pic with him and after that he asked us, "Have you ever heard of Austin Collie?" (My mind started hoping that he was inside his apartment or something) "Of course I know Austin Collie!" He said he'd just gotten off of the phone with him and they still stay in touch and hang out if they can. Way cool

Quick note, Brad, could you send me your first mission journal, of when you got to Indiana? Only if you feel comfortable, it's just that me and you are SO much alike in our minds and in most every way, so It'll help to see someone else going through the same thing...does that make sense?

Another funny story, there was a recent convert, whose name is Caitlyn, and she's I think 15ish. She was baptized after her older 19 year old sister was and they're both really really solid. Their family, mostly extended has been giving them a hard time for their conversion, and after Caitlyn put a picture of the Book Of Mormon on Facebook and said that "This is what I read in my spare time!" one of her cousins commented about how she could do that to the family, and dishonor and stuff, so Caitlyn (kinda sassy!) wrote back, "I don't know by what authority you were baptized by, but I was baptized by the authority of GOD!" .....Smackdown! It's like those Anti-Christ prophet smackdowns in the Bom! Such good people out here, but we're focusing especially on strengthening the ward now! It's very very much needed to help converts. Sorry, I'm running out of time!

I love you all so so much! Pray for me please, but don't worry about me please :D I'm doing so well and splendid! It wouldn't be worth while if there weren't hard times now would it. I know this church is true and Justin and Kimba....prepare for missions if Kimba you decide to serve! I love you!

love,
Your son: THE Elder McKeen (just to let you all know the word THE means Texas Houston East mission)

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Holy Cowie! Another week huh? Dang they go by so fast. Guess what? It's thundering, lightening and raining outside! Beautiful! We're going shopping after this. So one thing I thought I'd share real quick is a talk I read. It's titled the fourth missionary and how we can become that missionary that few become. I read it and the one thing I wanted to work on was turning not just my body and spirit to the Lord, but also my desires, and dreams, and make my desire, what the Lord desires. As I thought about this I wondered, and have been wondering this for a while, "Does that mean I can't have fun as a missionary? That I'm supposed to be a missionary and have no fun?" I hope not, we're told a lot to be a missionary, but also to be ourselves, and I WILL go crazy if I don't have fun over the next 22 months. (Yup, almost 22 months! :) ) I was wondering how I can go run in the rain during lunch, or play a mini game of mini golf in my apartment during dinner, or do other harmless but fun stuff like that, if that's one of MY desires. I bet the Lord would rather have me studying my scriptures at the time, rather than do little harmless fun activities during dinner. That's something that's been on my mind so if anyone has any advice PLEASE let me know. (So it just barely, within 5 seconds just started POURING, and the only reason I know that is because we can hear it through the library roof! :D FUN FUN)

Investigator Update: :( Sad story, Rick and Corinna Brown said they weren't able to change right now! They said they agreed with much of what we told them in the short 35 minute lesson we gave Rick on the doorstep, but that they just weren't ready. The first thing I thought of was that I bet Satan had a party over that two weeks until we could meet with them. We knew it was too long to wait, and that's why we stopped by every other if not every day to see them, but that wasn't enough. But ya know, I left there kinda of sad, but not, because although I would have LOVED to see them converted, we planted an AMAZING seed, and I KNOW it'll happen in the future. Maybe within the year, but it'll happen.

Olivia, the 9 year old girl whose mom we tracted into and is a member, is just doing great! She reads a picture Book of Mormon we gave to her most every day, and prays and teaches her non member dad and sister the Plan of Salvation chart we gave her. So so great! She's going to be baptized the 26th of this month, march, so we're just still going with her on that, just making her feel comfortable and understands everything as much as a 9 year old can.

We have two more baptism dates with a brother and sister named John and Carol. It was on exchanges, but Elder Hunt said they had a fantastic lesson. We'll see how they do.

We taught an AMAZING AMAZING lesson to a referral married couple named Donovan and Michelle. Actually, we didn't teach the lesson, the spirit did! It was probably the best lesson I've had since being a missionary. Elder Hunt and I were guided an incredible amount by the spirit to ask question inspired by him, discern their needs (which were primarily based on faith and how they can gain a knowledge of what we teach and what they read), and teach principles to what they need! It was so so great! They didn't want to commit to baptism, because that was a big part was them finding out for themselves, which we were fine with, but they said they'd read the BoM and pray, and pray and pray. They're such great people. Mid twenties, enjoying life but have been searching through many religions, looking for one that allows them to have a "good feeling" about what they are apart of, and also learn about Science, and other religions, and use that knowledge, or testimony, that they'll gain if they have the desire, to correctly discern what is true and what isn't. Just like you dad, as you read the Book of Jasher. You have a firm testimony of the gospel, and you can use that to pick out what is true and what isn't. .They wanted the same thing. By the way dad, I love the Book of Jasher stories you send. Keep them coming please. Elder Hunt and I read them....I just love hearing everything from you and mom.....I also told them about my strong testimony, but how I still wanted to learn about other religions and that's why I took the World Religion's class at BYU. I wasn't "Looking", but I was "Learning" about other religions. AMAZING LESSON. Next one is tomorrow, on tuesday.

Oh, and Brad and Dad, please keep the newspaper pictures of BYU basketball coming. I hear a bit, and talk to members, so it's nice to fill in the gaps. I was happy to hear about Daves! What a stud! Not for what he did, but what he did...if that makes sense. He chose to follow God, and not man. But Brad, just the pictures, with a date on them would be nice. Not the stories please! Love you both.

Oh, and mom, I did indeed get the package! I loved it! The Stafford shirt is just what I need. The MM shirts are kinda heavy, that's all. But please don't go buy anymore. I can easily make due. I'm perfectly content. And an answer to your question mommy: YES! I cook all the time for my companion and I. I'm gonna get stuff to make Lasagne today, and we make Dad's cornbread ALL THE TIME. Probably 3 times a week, and also biscuits. We're eating well! BUT, please don't send me anymore sweats :) I'm getting tired of sugar, and I just eat it and eat it if it's there. A member made us the BEST cake a week ago. It was a peruvian cake I think but it was named "Tres Lechase?" It means "Three milks" and I'm sure you've heard of it. It's a legend! If you so desire to send me food, and I would love more food, send me muffins like you have, or rolls, or amazing stuff like that. Sorry, I don't mean to be picky. I don't mean to be fat either, and that's why I'm saying. :) Love you! Oh, and thank you so much for the Jerky, it was gone 20 minutes after I opened it.

So, I've been trying to buy really good, healthy food, like strawberries, bananas, apples, carrots and celery. And lately, after I eat the bulk of the meal I grab some carrots and celery and some Peanut Butter and eat it! It reminds me so much of our trips to London as a family, and eating PB, with carrots and celery. Elder Vainuku, from tonga thinks I'm crazy. By the way, he made us some Tongan food the other day. AMAZING AMAZING!! Dad, if you ever want a fun idea that puts out amazing results. Make Tongan food! Everything is cooked in Coconut milk! So so AMAZING!

Funny note, dad, I was laying in bed, and I heard the noise of a freight train traveling in the distance. I knew it was coming up to a road crossing, even though I couldn't see it. Wanna know how? I heard the distinct, 2 long, 1 short, 1 long. Isn't that weird how I remember that?

Another thing to Kristen, Jared, Angie and Austin. On my wall, I have pics of Mom, Dad, Kristen, Angie, Brad and Alex, all as missionaries, but I felt like something's missing. When you get the time, could I get a picture, maybe two, of Jared and Austin as missionaries in Boston and Oklahoma? I talk so much about my family, that I want everyone to see. If it's not to much to ask, could I get that one picture of Austin where he's looking through a peep hole with a santa hat on? I love that one!
So a funny story: We went to an asian buffet, called Hibachi, and by the way I tried sushi for the first time. eeh! But anyways, I was walking around, carefully deciding whether I'd like heart burn, or constipation, and what foods I should pick according to those wants when I heard the BeeGees on the radio! At an asian buffet, in Texas! Crazy ehh? I've been reminded of the family so much. Dad, it was definitely a tender mercy of the lord.

I also had a question to all, but I thought of dad when I thought of it. What happened to the Hill Cumorah Box that the plates were contained in? We know where that hill is, but not where the box is? Is that one of those, hidden-by-the-lord moments?
Also, I thought of a good present or idea if anyone is bored or wants something to do for christmas or birthday, but I'm fine without it. I wanted a Shopping/Email idea list, instead of writing them in my planner. I'm fine doing that, but just to be a bit more organized, and to be reminded of home more :) Just a home made one, or a store bought one, just something.

One last story: Elder Hunt and I were biking around, and we saw a man whose car had broken down in the middle of an intersection, so we quickly set our bikes down and ran to help him push. We pushed it out of the intersection, when I realized that an Army soldier, dressed in Camo had come to help as well. I don't know why, but I thought it was just such a cool moment to see us as missionaries, and an army soldier do an act of service. We didn't talk cause he ran off, but just a cool sight to imagine. A man, with two missionaries and a soldier in camo helping this guy push his car.

I must be going now, but I love you all! Each day, more and more I learn and am reminded of my dependence on the spirt and on god! I know that missionary work is a privilage and an amazing opportunity given to us by our Heavenly Father. No work is greater than this, that the saving of a soul. I will represent the McKeen name well and work hard! I love you all! I think I'm gonna start doing more of the small plates of nephi, with more spiritual stuff, than the large plates with just political and social stuff. What do you think? I love you all!

Justin: Way to be getting 5 days of reading in this week! I'll send you an amazing letter but just keep on going dude! I love you so much and I want you to succeed!

Kimberly: How are you? Sorry if the letter I sent you was a bit weird, I realized after I'd written it that it was, but that's okay. You're 12! Weird stuff huh? I love you and I'm so happy You gave a talk and did well in your play. I'd love to hear about it... MAYBE IN A LETTER :D I love you!

Sorry, Kristen and Jared, no time to write today but I love you!

I love you Mom! That letter I sent you only containted .000001% of all I owe you and will forever owe you! Keep being such an amazing person! I love you!

Your son, Elder McKeen

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Okay, so some AMAZING miracles have been happening! This week I've been reminded SO many times that my efforts are mostly to prove to the lord and myself that I can follow him, and that success is a blessing, not something that is corolated with my obedience. First miracle: Tuesday, Elder Hunt and I were tracting at 10:25, and weren't seeing a whole lot of people because of the time of day, and the neighborhood we were in. After a bit, I was reminded of a house that we thought to visit. It was where a lady had someone die in her family, and I thought there would be no better time to go to here. We knocked, and no answered, we knocked again, and no one answered. I thought that was a little weird, because the thought to visit her came into my mind kind of like a prompting, but I brushed it off and said it was just my mind. We looked down the street and decided to go right on the same side of the road. A couple houses down, we knocked on the door, and this guy game to the door whose name wasRick Brown. I noticed he was remodeling his house and painting a new room he'd put in. We talked for 5-10 minutes about that, and everything I said was stuff like "Oh man, my whole family and I painted our whole middle floor once, so so fun!" or, "My dad and I love doing stuff like this, putting in rooms, BUILDING LOFTS, and more" or, "My mom loves to paint our house, we get the whole family to help and it's so fun!" or "My brother in law Austin who's big into remodeling, put windows into our living room and let us help, it is so exciting!" I was quickly reminded of all the fun times we have with PAINTING, building, remodeling, and more! Keep doing that! NEVER pay someone to paint the house! It's more fun and unifying to do it with people you love. ANYWAYS, we eased our way into the gospel and HOLY COW! Rick and his wife were text book golden contacts! AMAZING! His wife's mother had just died and neither of them were at all happy with their religions, (Protestant and catholic). They had been jumping between churches, each sunday trying to find one they liked! We taught him a first lesson in his garage and he loved all we were saying! He'd say all the time "Ya'll know this makes A LOT of sense" That's when I thought "I KNOW! THAT'S WHY I LOVE IT SO MUCH!" He loved the ideas of prophets and understood the apostasy really well! He also was drawn to the part that we emphasized a lot which was that he can find out FOR HIMSELF if the BOM is true, and if what we teach is true, through prayer. We let him hold a book of mormon, and at the end he said "Would ya'll mind if I kept this book to read?!" Holy GUACAMOLE!!! I was so so amazed! I was on the clouds for the whole day! And now, just retelling it is making me crazy! We left and walked down the street, and I was basically crying, and I DON'T CRY, but I'd NEVER seen something like that before! NOTHING! Angels had truly prepared his heart, and his wifes, to accept our message. The down side is that we can't meet with him for two weeks, so we're gonna set up an appointment for this weekend. He's a shift worker and couldn't make time to meet with us, but we went over almost everyday to meet his wife, and talk. Such nice people, that welcome us in their home everytime. Cool Miracle!

Olivia Martinez, the little girl whose mom we tracted into is getting baptized!!! Very cool! Her mom is a member, and had been looking for the church. She's 9 years old so she has to be taught by us, which was cool! She's getting baptized in under 3 weeks, so that's REALLY cool! Another great part, is that her mom, who's super amazing....well....we were teaching Olivia, and we set a baptism date and we mentioned that Baptism are great ways to invite others who aren't members to them. She said she'd already gotten a friend of hers and her 2 boys to say they're coming! AMAZING! She's a great member missionary, who is so excited to learn and teach. She's invited them to the baptism, and to come sit in on a lesson. Her friend is really excited! Sounds promising!

A member, whose name is Sis. Humphrey, also has a friend she wants us to teach! Sis. Humphrey is a Recent Convert, and while we were teaching her and visiting with her in the lounge of her apartment complex, her friend walked by who is ready to hear the gospel. She's not satisfied with her religion and asked Sis. Humphrey lots of questions about us! She walked by and said "Oh I'll be seeing you two gentlemen very soon!" We're doing a church tour with her this saturday! Very cool!

Now some funny stories! We were talking to a Recent Convert named Cameron, who's 18, solid kid, has his struggles, and is the text book Texan! He can't see himself working for anyone but the military. So many times we'd be talking and he'd say, "I just wanna shoot some A-RABS!" I couldn't believe it!

Another funny story that will illustrate what kind of place I'm at: We were at a member's house, eating dinner, and were during a lesson with them when all of the sudden it goes silent, and we here these GUN SHOTS from out side! Someone asks, "Were those gun shots?" The members said, "probably". Oh well, and we continued with the lesson. What the?! :)

So many times I've found myself getting frustrated, mostly while tracting, cause I've had literal doors slammed in my face, just like the "Hello, I'm Alma, and this is (SLAM!)....Hello, I'm Alma (SLAM!!!).....Hello, (SLAM!!).....He (SLAM!!!) (That's for you Brad and Justin! Remember laughing our heads off at that part?!) After this happened a couple times, I'm not sure why, but I was reminded of Dad, Brad, Justin and Myself, at the Byu v. Utah 2006 game. As we were walking to the stadium, there was SO much booing, and taunting going on, and I remember, being 14 at the time, kinda scared, and dad, just LAUGHING! I decided that all I could do with so much opposition, is just laugh it off, like dad did at all the BYU v Utah games we've been too! I love you dad!

The rain here is AMAZING! We haven't even had that much, but one morning, we were playing ultimate frisbee in the church field, and it just stated coming down, heavy. We stayed and played, because in 1 minute we were soaked! It gets worse than that all the time! The cool part was that we were playing, and I was of course in my white Orem city League shirt, and someone threw me the frisbee, and it was out of my reach, and I dove and BARELY caught it! It was awesome! Everybody screamed and cheered! I was reminded of how much fun ultimate frisbee is and was with Shawn, Micah, Brad, Nick, Matt, and everyone else in the fall! I quickly caught myself being prideful and cloating in my ability, so I said a prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for my love of sports and athleticism!

So much to write and so little time! I was realized how important scripture study is! Because of exchanges, and sunday church at 8, I went almost 2 whole days without studying from the scriptures, and I can't tell you how down I was! I felt so so crappy! I read this morning, and really had the scriptures open up to me, and it was incredible the difference! The scriptures, The BOM is the word of god through his prophets! I know it!

I love you all, I know that this church is the ONE true church, and I love our testimonies! I share it so so much out here, especially with people who don't want to talk to me! It invites the spirit and strengthens myself! Strive to bear your testimony at all times, both in words, and in your actions! I can't write individual snipits today, but I love you so much mom! This gospel is true and I know it! You're an amazing momma!
Your son,
Elder McKeen

Monday, February 28th, 2011

CONNOR'S COMING HOME TO ME!!!! The Texas, Fort Worth mission! Yay!! Connor I was screaming when I found out where you're going! Even though I'll never see you! HOW FREAKING EXCITING!

Holy Guacomole! It sounds like you've had a fun and exciting week! WITH SNOW!!! BLAST!! I'm jealous! The weather her is for the most part still amazing, but I love snow so much!!!! I can't believe Cristi's home from the mission!!! So weird! How is she? I miss her muchly! Congratulations AUNTIE DEBBIE!!!!! and Weatherhead familia!

Funny story for the week: Elder Hunt and I were going to visit a Less Active to set up an appointment for later in the week. It was 7:30ish and we knocked on his door a couple times. After no answer we started to write a note on a pass along card to leave on the clip by his door, when all the sudden we hear "Who is it?" Really harshly behind the door. (There were no peep holes in the door for him to see us) We said we were the missionaries, and we heard a sigh of relief. He opens the door, and this LA member is in a towel, dripping, with a samurai sword! He says "Ya'll almost had a big problem on your hand!" His neighbors can get roudy and crazy so he was being prepared! CRAZY!!!

Another cool story: We were in the same neighborhood a little later that week, and we stopped by this guy who was fixing his car. He took a couple minutes to meet with us but we could tell he wasn't interested, but we just kept asking and talking. After a bit, he said he was Presbyterian, and I introduced us a Members of the Church or Mormons, he said, "That's really cool you say that proudly, like you're proud to be a member." I said thanks and felt pretty good! Cool story, although we only left him with a card. Little seeds here, and little seeds there! I starting to realize that a HUGE part of our work as missionaries, is to give people a good feeling about us if they don't want to learn more, and plant seeds EVERYWHERE!!!

Sidenote: Mom, Pineapples take 18 months to grow fully! Payden and I wanted to grow one but we wouldn't have it done by the time we left for our missions, so if you want something to do, and I would LOVE IT! Grow a pineapple, or, start it in 4ish months, so we can eat it when I get home. I thought of it and it'd be a good thing to take the time away. PLEASE DO IT! I'll remind you later.

JUSTIN: I'm putting your little section here at the middle, so PLEASE READ THIS K? I know how much you love writing letters, and how much you LOVE receiving them from me, yes handwritten letters! I thought of a deal we can make while I was riding on the bike this last week. (We have lots of time, I learned to whistle while riding my bike that I love, but now I'm memorizing scriptures in the little 10 minute sections we have while riding) So you love letters from me, and I PROMISE YOU, that if you will read just ONE chapter from the Book of Mormon everyday, for 5 out of the 7 days of the week, then I will write you a hand written letter on P-Day! Cool huh? I'll send one to you today, to get this deal under way, so you'll get it wednesday probably. A couple rules though: You must start at the beginning, and read the chapter after you read the day before! No skipping around, finding the short chapters. If you come across a short chapter, that's all you have to read. Also, if you read 5 out of the 7 days of the week for 3 weeks IN A ROW, then I'll write you a THREE page letter. So there is an incentive to not miss a week. Pretty cool huh? So just make sure you sit down for only 10 or 15 mintues A DAY, for 5 days of the week, and read a chapter in the book of mormon. I Wanna write you a letter, so please do it! I PROMISE as a missionary, if you don't miss a week, I won't miss a week! Unless you've been going for 12 weeks straight, cause I can't write a 12 page letter! DO IT DUDE! I know you can! You'll grow closer to our Heavenly Father by reading and feel his love for you. You'll also grow closer to me, because you'll be getting letters from me. PS: It doesn't matter if you're going on vacation, or tired, or at a friend's house, or traveling, or whatever. Find 10 minutes in the car to read ONE chapter a day for 5 days of the 7 in a week. Wow, hopefully I've pounded that enough in your head! I wanna write letters to you, so DO IT! It'll give me one more thing to look forward to each week!

Man, missionary work is awesome! It's hard, really hard! But awesome! I love those days where I'm just so excited to grow, and to work! Wanna hear a funny joke a Recent Convert told me? How do you make a bunny happy?..........Give him a slide ruler and a pencil so they can multiply!!!! BAHAHAHAH!

Mother of mine! Thanks so much for the package! I got it saturday night, and was kinda bummed cause of no mail, but walked to the apartment and it was outside the door! EEEH!!! So exciting! We had muffins this morning for breakfast!

Miracle of the week: While I was on exchanges (BLAST), Elder hunt and Elder Hugentobler were tracting, and they ran into a woman named Sister Martinez! She's a member, but had moved and couldn't find the church. Her husband isn't a member, her 19 year old daughter is baptized, and her 9 year old daughter isn't. She was THRILLED and had prayed that God would guide someone to her to help her find the LDS chapel her in Baytown. She came to most of church yesterday, and we're teaching and preparing her 9 year old daughter for baptism tomorrow! So exiting huh?!!!! YIPPEEE!!! God loves us so much! So So much! Remember that all of you! 3 Nephi 14:9-11

Okay, I love all of you, but now I have a goal and a plee for you! As I've been looking back on memories that I miss from home, and stuff I remember, I was drawn, as I was at our Ward Conference this week, to the memories of us reading the Book of Mormon as a family. I realized how much, although I was asleep some times, and tired and mad, how much those times as a family meant to me. I think about them a lot and miss them. WILL YOU, Family at home, Mom, Dad, Justin and Kimberly, read just one chapter from the Book of Mormon each day, maybe not everyday, but on the weekdays? I miss those times so much and I long for you to have them like I did. It's so so so important to have those bonding times around the scriptures as a family, and not that I'm not there, and Brad, Kristen and Angie aren't there, there are less people to get in the same place and time. It's only gonna get harder, so establishing the habit now is important. I remember Angie challenging us to have FHE each week while she was gone, and I remember, WE DID, mostly, maybe missed a couple, but we did really well! So please just try! You have no idea how much those memories mean to me now.

Kimberly: How is school going and your tryouts and performances! You're crazy ya know that? I saw the email you sent and just laughed and laughed! I love you and Justin so so much! Keep staying sweet and small and amazing! I love you!

Dadio: I'm writing you a letter, and am half way done, so I'll get it sent to you today.

Mom: Keep the Faith! I love you and pray for the family every single day! Love you!

Your son, Elder McKeen

1st letter from THE field

So, what's been happening? P-day is monday but it was a holiday so we didn't think the library would be open, but it was! So look for the emails on monday, except for today!

WHEW!! Well, here I am, in a city called Baytown, (not sure where it's at)! First of all I'm exhausted!!!! Every single night I just die! I have to say my prayers, and read my scriptures standing up because I'll fall asleep if I don't and I can't let that happen! It's great here! Of course if you asked me yesterday I'd say I was having the worst time of my life! It's been hard, I'm not gonna lie! Missionary work is NOTHING like I expected it to be like! I've been here for 6 days and we still haven't taught a lesson to an investigator which is SUPER frustrating! I get really comfortable when I teach and it's really the only time I feel like I'm working hard and feeling the spirit guide myself! We flew in to the airport and before we even landed on the ground I could feel the humidity! Right now though the weather is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It's only been hot once or twice! For the most part it's amazing! Right now when it's not hot I love the humidity! My companion and I (more on him later) were riding around at night, going to remind someone of an appointment we had and the humidity was so so high that we could see the water in the air! It looked like fog or mist out of a garden house but it was everywhere. When we got back to the room there was water on the bike, everywhere. One thing I love here is when I'm riding around and I can feel the little droplets of water on my face. I can't see them, but the humidity is so thick and high here that I can feel little tiny microscopic rain drops hit my face every now and then and it makes me so happy! We got of the plane, met our mission president and his wife! Wonderful nice people! We went to this Barbecue Restaurant which was a fantastic way of easing into Texas! The weather was amazing and the food was better! We then went to the mission home, took those pictures you saw and talked A LOT about what would be happening for the next two years! I met my companion and then we went to our apartment, got the two FANTASTICLY AMAZING packages i received, (Thank you SOO much) and went to bed. I loved both packages! I knew what was in the first one but I needed everything that was there. The second one was so great! Thanks mom, Kristen, Jared, Kaylee and Ashlyn! I loved loved loved the pics and the sign + letter from Kaylee (SO CUTE!) and everything else! It was so good to see you and see everyone'shandwritting! Also, I haven't had the opportunity to write since the MTC, but thank you for the rolls in the package! I was once again THRILLED to have it! I got some other amazing packages and don't worry to all! I will write you back! I was told we were allowed naps on P-Day, so I decided to best prepare me for this week I should take a nap instead of writing letters! I took a 2 hour nap and wrote one letter! (who's it too? Guess!)

Okay, so the first day! We had some appointments, that fell through, so we went tracting! Apparently, and I thank my Heavenly Father for this, I'm just good at tracting and contacting people! The very first door I knocked on was a woman named Susanne! She's Methodist and her and I just talked for 10ish minutes about what we believe, or what she believes and what I know to be true, and she said we could come back Yesterday and 7:30. Friday, we went back to remind her of her appointment, and we met up with her brother Jack! Super cool guy! He lived in Utah for a while and knows SO MUCH about the gospel! He pulled up and yelled "YEAH LDS!" He really just knows the factual stuff, and not the spiritual stuff! He knows a weird amount about our temple ceremonies which was weird! But we dropped by last night and he was super awesome and asked us to please come back! I figure that with people like that, who have taken all the lessons and don't put in the effort, it just takes the right missionary, so hopefully I can get his rear in gear! Super cool guy but very opinionated! We're on the verge of bible bashing each time but somehow leave and cheerful as can be each time! Just a cool guy!

My companion's name is Elder Hunt, funny right?! Not the same guy, but the same name! He's a red head and is just a bit older than me! He's been out serving for 8 months I think! He works hard and we're still both learning from each other which is good! He doesn't mind me suggesting ideas and stuff! Even though we're both really friendly and great, it still takes just a time until we'll be close! It was the same at the MTC! ;( I can't tell you how much I miss the elders I was rooming with! One of them called me to ask me something and I almost cried, not really! But I miss all of the missionaries in my district so so much! :(

I challenge you at home to do more member missionary work! Out here it's super frustrating to see members who can make such a difference in others lives by inviting them to do stuff and take lessons from missionaries with them but wont! It kills me cause that's such an affective way of doing it!

A bit real quick about the area! It's not beautiful, but it's not ugly either! The weather right now is amazing! Just like utah, there are churches on every corner, but they're not LDS churches! Imagine right now driving down main street in kaysville! You look to your right and you see the big building called Davis High! Here in Baytown I do that as well, but the huge building to my right is now Davis, It's The First Baptist Church, or The Church of Christ 2, or The Bible Baptists! THESE BUILDINGS ARE HUGE! EVEN bigger than Davis High! No joke! What they say is, "The bigger the church the better the minister!" During tracting, I'll be talking a lot and so many people say, "Ya'll know it's not really about the religion I got to, it's more about the relationship with God that's important!" That makes it super hard to tell them about our church! Lot's of people also open the door and after a minute say "Oh I Baptist" or "Oh I'm Catholic!" Which basically means NO! GO AWAY! But i've just learned to say "HEY I'm Christian as well! What do you believe?!" It just gets them talking and keeps the door open! Fun!!!! I must soon go!

Dad: I can't wait to get your letter! Thanks for talking at the airport! Just hearing from you in any form gives me so much comfort!

Kristen & Jared: Thanks so much for the email! I loved the pics and the visualizations I was making in my mind with Kaylee! It's so weird you're 2 hours away! Stay amazing and work hard as the WMLs! I love our Ward Mission Leader! REALLY work at your Member Missionary Stuff! The missionaries will grow to love you for it!

Brad: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SO MANY QUESTION! That letter I sent you was when I was having a really hard time! I'm doing much better and am loving life! Don't worry about me! Question: Can you ask Nate the best way to find good investigators here in Baytown? And what you think? Also! How can I grow to love my comp. like a brother? And have fun? It's not like I'm hating him at all! I just need some help! I'm sure you know what i'm talking about!

Angie & Austin: Please keep the letters coming! ANGIE! I have a miracle I wanted to share with everyone about what you sent me that I'll try to fit in at the end! Sorry if I can't write back much cause I'm busy but I WILL make some time!

Justin: I love you dude! Keep fighting in high school! It's hard but it's worth it! Guess what? Guess who lived in my apartment complex here in Baytown? None other than Michael Reed! Yup! The BYU player a couple years ago! He lives a couple minutes away from me! Cool huh?

Kimberly: Thanks for the email and the updates on Heartland you goose bumb! :) I love you! I'd love to hear from you more! I know it's hard cause I can't write back as much! Love you!

Really Quick: Send everything to me, all letters to the mission office address you have and sent the packages to! They'll forward it to me!

Miracle of the Week: In the MTC I was wondering how I can strengthen my testimony of the atonement and Jesus Christ! I kept thinking about that quote : "You cannot convert people beyond your own conversion!" So the deeper my testimony, the more I could convert! I was really really praying and studying, when I got a letter from my dear sister Angie with her Livrette inside! (A spiritual mini notebook) I opened the front page and the first thing I read, the first entry said something like this. Angie you may remember. "Lately I've been wondering how I can apply christ's atonement further in my life and grow to love what he did for me more. After reading PMG pg 52 I learned that I'll grow to understand the depth of the Atonement more as I bring others to understand it!" Something like that! COOL HUH?! WAY WAY COOL!!! Miracle of the Week, or month! I must now go! I love you all so so much and thanks for being patient with me! I've received a lot of mail that will take me a while to write back, but funny enough, beside the packages from mom and the Cooks, I haven't received a single letter from anybody yet, while being here in Baytown! Hmmm.... :D Love you all! Thanks for your influence on me and all you do! Love you

Elder McKeen


PS (Alec you better appreciate this! I am sorry! I am endeavoring to send the journal to you stat! It's hard here! They're ALWAYS watching!)

Sorry momma! I love you more than anything in this world! I love the family and I know that what's i'm doing is hard but it's worth it! I've had some killer hard crying worthy moments out here, but also just an invite to come back and teach because I was able to teach clear enough for the spirit to testify of what I was speaking (spirit is KEY) was a fantastic feeling! Love you all!

Elder McKeen for real this time!
LOVE!

Elder McKeen has arrived!

Elder McKeen arrived in THE (Texas, Houston East) mission Wednesday, February 16th, 2011. He was greeted by President and Sister Moldenhauer, and his trainer, Elder Hunt.

The MTC

Letter #3

Hi Everyone

First of all, I learned something pretty stinkin cool! I always wondered why you don't hear much about the 12 that Christ calls in the Book of Mormon. You hear about the apostles A TON! Then I realized,they're not apostles like they are in the Bible! They're disciples exactly like me! Called to teach baptize and confirm. JUST LIKE ME! They couldn't be apostles over here in the BoM or else there would be 24 apostles! Cool!

Next thing! I have a favor to ask, From everybody who reads this! I've been trying to think of ways to further serve my companion, and I thought. He gets letters a good amount, but he's the first one in his family, besides his dad to serve a mission, so he doesn't have as much support as me! If any time you and everybody else who reads this are gonna sit down and write me a letter, instead of writing me write one to my Comp. His name is Elder Hunt and he could use all the letters he can get. He's really new to learning and stuff, he's been a member his whole life but has been surrounded by crap and filth. He's really ignorant about the gospel but has so much faith! So even if it's just a short letter could you write him? It's the same address, just his name! That would help me love him more, which takes some patience sometime. Thank you much!

Also, I have two letters I'm gonna send home but that need to be given to G-Ma (I don't have her address) and Kristen & Jared for Kristen's b-day. She didn't have an address so I couldn't get it to here without you dear momma!

You have the package down awesome! I do need just a couple more things. I had some Puritan short sleeved sunday shirts I was wondering if you could send me. No long sleeve, just short sleeved. They should be sized 16 and once again they are Puritan white dress shirts.

Here's a really cool story I feel will make you and the family proud. We were in our district here during MDT time, and one of the elders asked if I wanted to go do something that probably wasn't as productive as it should be. I was just gonna go study and was gonna respond but one of the other elders looked at me and said, "Wait, Elder McKeen doesn't like to waste time, he wont go." He said it in a really mocking way but it made me feel good. The next day the same thing happened except he said "Well we have Mr. Follow-the-rules here" which again made me feel good! I'm perfectly fine being made fun of because I follow the rules to the T!

Another funny story, we were in our District class being taught by Bro. Vallett, and these construction workers passed by and told us they'd be drilling in the next room over so it might be a bit loud. We all expected maybe a little power drill, like a fly that was annoying, but he was teaching all the sudden we hear this INSANELY LOUD NOISE! As it got louder and louder, my teacher did as well until he was YELLING about the restored gospel, trying to be heard over the loud noise! Elder Gifford and I were cracking up so so bad! We couldn't breath! Funny story! Mom, the picture of me with the other elder in for Katelyn! That's her brother and she wanted a picture of him with me so we took two, one flexing and one not. If you get a chance,could you either get it to her through an email or just a print out, what ever's easiest!

Dad! Holy Guacamole and Onions how I love your letters! (punch) Getting them in the mail allows me more time to respond in emails! Thanks for the story about the car this week! Sometimes I feel like that, I'm on the edge of collapsing but really just need a tune up. We taught at the TEC last week and that was HARD! I left almost crying because I felt like such a failure of a missionary, but I'm doing ok! By the way, if you ever want a really cool study topic, Elder Gifford and I studied and more speculated about the Adamic language that we think must have been the language at the tower of Babel and the unconfounded language of the jaredites in Ether. We also talked a lot about the Urim and Thummim that was given to the Bro. Of Jared and how it made it's way to Joseph Smith (Bible Dictionary says it's the same one) through the final battle of Shiz and Coriantumer, and made it's way to King Limhi's people in Mosiah I think chapter 8! If you haven't, look over that! It's really cool to see these two small rocks mentioned in random verses, make their way to JS, also studying the Breastplate they're in!

Momma! Thanks for being so amazing! I feel like I'm just here to tell you what I need and to have you do it, but know that I love you with all my heart and I'm glad to have you as my mommy!

Really quick, I need you to check out my America first Debit account

love you

Letter #2

Thanks for the note dad, I can understand she's busy in Texas. That's where I'll be soon and I've been asking for lots of patience from everybody else. By the way, to everybody, the BP told us only to write letters on P-Days, not at night, or at any breaks, so that's what I'm doing so the letters from me will probably be a bit scarce to be honest, but obedience bring blessings! Angie, I now know the importance of writing little notes down on stuff you can write about during the week, so on P-Days, you know what experiences you wanted to share. First, right off the back I realized I hadn't told you anything about my companion. His name is Elder Hunt, he's from West Jordan and is 21, or 22, can't remember. He's really great! I've grown to love him! After I talked with the BP, just with learning how to cope with missionary stresses and stuff, he said that he's fully convinced of the divine intervention that occurs when calling missionary companionships. He said I should try my hardest to see his short comings, as well as my own, and help each other get past those to be the best missionaries we can be. Right now, he's super, I mean really super duper new to the Book of Mormon(BoM). Also to teaching and to the church in general. This really frustrated me at first until I talked with the BP. I realized that my patience will grow huge amounts while I'm with him, as well as I will definitely get better at teaching. When we study, most of it is us going through preach my gospel, studying the scriptures associated with each section, and writing down impressions or stuff we would like to remember and discuss with each other when we're done. I'm getting better at teaching because that's what I'm doing when we study. He's new to this and so he doesn't know much so I get to share what I have with him, and it's great to see him get excited when I explain cool principles to him. Like, the scripture in Ezekial, I think chapter 3, that prophecies about the BoM by talking about the Stick of Judah and Stick of Joseph becoming one book in the lords hands. When I showed him that he immediately wanted to go share it with the elders in our district. So it's great!

Another thing: Thank you all for your letters and PLEASE keep them coming! Especially your letter dad, I loved hearing from you and your insights on the mish! People will never understand how amazing letters are until you're on a mission and that's the only means of communication between you and the ones you love! That's why I've gotten so many and feel so blessed. In my District I'm known as the missionary that gets the most mail, because I do! I'm blessed with a family that has both parents and 3 older sibilings with spouses, (except for Brad) that have all served missions. That's 7, yeah, 7 people in our family that have served, so I get lots of letter because they know how it feels when you get a letter! THANK YOU CROWLEY'S!!!!!! Thanks for the Banana Bread! I got it yesterday and was so thrilled when I saw the loaf in the box! I get the chills just thinking about it. I picked it up just before dinner, so I didn't each much of it at that time, but throughout that night I'd grab it and take a big bite out of it. It was gone in 6 hours! So delicious!

So we went to the TRC (not sure what that stands for) this last tuesday and it went so so amazing! I taught the majority of the lesson with Elder Hunt sharing his testimony and scriptures with the investigator! That's how it'll have to be for the time being, but he's got such a strong testimony! We both brought the spirit and our investigator was excited to have us back this next tuesday to teach him about seeing him wife that's passed away, again! I left the room on cloud 9 just as happy as I can be! I love teaching! If I'm prepared, it's such a rush that not a lot of things can duplicate! I always freak out when I'm thinking about going in to teach, but once I'm in there I get so comfortable and it just feels great!

So the temple is today! I can not wait! I haven't been to the temple to do a session in a month I think! Before I left we would go do baptisms, so I'm excited to talk to my heavenly father in the Celestial room for the first time in a while! I LOVE MY DISTRICT! It's sad though. We had one sister go home a couple days ago, not sure why, and another elder who has splits and fissures in his meniscus in his knee due to an excercise at the gym. Hopefully he'll be able to recover without going home! The elders I'm rooming with are like my brothers! I love them to DEATH! The other night, we were laying in bed, just talking, around 10:40, and I said, "Ya know elders, we should do a chant when we're done praying like, YA TEXAS (I said it super cheesy!) My comp. then said, "Wait I know, we can cheer, HOUSTON TEXANS!!!, Oh wait, that's a football team!" Now I know that doesn't sound funny, but we were laughing our head off for 20 minutes until the ZLs came and knocked on our door to tell us to keep it down! Man, that was the funniest moment I've had since being here!

On Tuesday, (gosh I can't believe that was 2 days ago! I agree with Alec and Payden! The days here can sometimes take a long time to get through, but once it's done, they all mesh together and go by really fast! It's some sort of time warp thing! Today, Thusday, got here so so fast! It's incredible!) anyways, On Tuesday we had a member of the seventy, Elder Duncan come speak to us! So awesome! His main message was to never think any of your efforts go wasted! You may never see the fruits of your labors, but trust me, they're there! It was a fantastic talk, although I had a hard time concentrating because of the discomfort I was experiencing from the chairs! I love all of you to death! Thanks for the letter and KEEP THE FAITH!

First letter from the MTC

Hola Familia! And Mommy, and everybody else who might be reading this!

Okay, here's what I'm going to do, instead of writing everyone a letter, I'm gonna do what Alex does and writes little paragraphs to everyone at the end, unless it's a long letter to them. I just sent a letter home today so it'll be getting to you really soon! So, second day here and I am LOVING it! For real! I've felt a couple times like I'm a sinner, or doing something wrong because I've felt awesome since I got here. There haven't been amazing times all the time, but there hasn't been lows either! Last night was a little hard getting to sleep, but I attribute that to going to bed for the first time in a year and a half, at 10:30! I was in fact in bed at 10:29! I'm being a good boy! Soooo much to tell you and only 23 mintues left! People said today would be the longest day of my life, and it's been so awesome so far! We just were in a lesson for an hour and a half and it flew by! It's kinda wierd! The food here is amazing! I wasn't to worried about not liking it because I'm usually not pretty picky. I eat an apple with every meal and stand as much as possible when I'm not in class, cause sitting forever gets a little taxing on the buttocks! Breakfast was awesome, one of the best one I've had in a long time, besides the Pull-Aparts! Wow I'm typing really fast to get as much in as possible! 19 minutes!

We went to the gym today which was AWESOME! Shawn was totally right! We played one of the most intense games of basketball I have in a long time! It felt so amazing to get out and play! There is a period where I go to the gym, and then eat lunch and there's SOO much down time! Just from getting showered and stuff and it feels wierd! I'm sure it's gonna get harder, but as for right now I'm loving it! Maybe it's because you mom and dad, taught me how to work, and I've been to band camp where you're working all day as well! I just can't express how awesome this place is! This could be beginners enthusiasm, but it's so saweet! Today in our lesson I was thinking about teaching, there seemed to be something missing I wasn't understanding! I wondered why we had set lesson guide for each lesson if we weren't supposed to just sit down with an investigator and run through what I'd learned! That's what we practiced in all my mission prep classes because I suppose that's all you can do. Our teacher at church would just say, "now, teach the first lesson to each other." and we'd go outside and run through the first lesson, section by section. That's as much as you can do outside the MTC I guess, but what hit me like a lightening bolt today, (seriously, I was so so happy when I realized this) was that instead of sitting down and teaching like an audio tape of the Preach my Gospel, we're supposed to sit down in the first lesson with an investigator, LISTEN, LOVE, & UNDERSTAND, and use the spirit of discernment that we received in our setting apart, and pull those principles out of each of the sections in P my G, and mold them to the needs of the investigator! MAN IT HIT ME HARD! A huge AHAH moment. BRAD YOU'RE A GENIUS! I wondered why you always talked about going over the basics, and being able to teach the principles easily and understandably. Because that's exactly what we'll do. Man this place is awesome. I'm here for a reason, hopefully to impact people at home and in Texas. I've already gotten the feeling that I wanna be in Houston, and not here, but this is important to teaching! I think I have my Branch President interview tonight. Keep the faith, I'm doing wonderful! Maybe in the next week it'll all hit me, that I'm gonna be gone for 2 years and will be working the whole time, but maybe it's a good sign I haven't felt dread from that yet. Maybe it's cause I've already forgotten about my needs! Mom, I know you're crying! I love you and I have a testimony but I don't have enough time to go into detail! Talk to you next week!

Dad: How is having your coolest son gone? I bet it's hard huh? Brad sent me a pic of you in Brazil and it was a great help and comfort to see you at 19, or 20!

(sorry they're short, I'm running out of time) 4 minutes left!

Mom: Stay strong and keep the faith! You're an awesome mother of stripling warriors!

Brad: I LOVE YOU BROTHER! You're a genius and I'm now saying on the record that I should have taken those opportunities to teach with you and it just hit me today what you meant by the BASICS! That's what you teach most of the time!

Justin: Thanks for your email! I love you so much and I was surprised to hear you missed me that much ;) You're an amazing kid and have fun in High school! I heard about the BYU game the morning after! At 6:30 missionaries were freaking excited and cheering at how awesome it was including how awesome Jimmer did!

Kimberly: How's your play coming? Please let me know what part you get! As soon as you know! I love you and you're an awesome sister!

EVERYONE: Thanks for the letters! I loved them and was very excited when I opened up my binder!

Love you everybody!

-Elder McKeen