Dear family,
I get to do the TRC on Friday nights, so tonight! I'm excited! I didn't really know how much the missionaries appreciate it. All of the older districts say that the TRC is the best thing we get to do!
Elder Bednar spoke to us on Christmas day! It was so good! The first thing he said was that he hoped that none of us would remember any words that he spoke, but that we would only remember the feelings we got. After a few minutes he paused and said "Okay, everybody stop taking notes for a second." He told us that we would never be able to write down everything that he said anyway, and just writing down quotes wouldn't help us anyway because we would never look at our notes again. He told us to instead write down the thoughts and feelings that come to us because that way we would always remember. It helped a lot.
So like I said on Sunday, for part of his talk he mentioned that the missionary must be converted before any investigators could be. Conversion comes after testimony, and it can never stop. Missionaries that go out with just a testimony or less are not where we should be. To be converted is not to just have faith. To be converted is a lot of things, but as Nephi put it, he desired so greatly to know the mysteries of God and was always striving to keep His commandments.
For most of his talk though, he focused on the character of Christ. He told us how when we go through hard times, the natural man inside of us always wants to turn inward. We think everyone's focus should be on us, people should feel bad for us, people should all try to help us, those kinds of things. But Christ is the opposite. In the hardest time of His life on earth, after the Garden of Gethsemane, the Bible says that angels ministered unto him. And I always thought he deserved it. He needed them there at that time. But then Elder Bednar pointed out what the Joseph Smith translation says. It says that He sent angels to minister unto Peter, who was in jail at the time, not himself. At His hardest time, he was still only thinking about others.
He shared many other times in Christ's life where He turns outward when the natural man would turn inward, and then he told us to search and find more of them. He also told us at the end that there is no reason that this attribute of Christ is unattainable. Of course, it will take time to get close to that point, but we can be like Him.
I loved his whole talk. He is so smart. He is both a genius and a great speaker. And yet, he was so humble during the whole thing and made us realize that without Christ's help, he would never be able to fulfill his calling as an apostle. It was such a nice Christmas present to hear him speak.
Saturday night we watched 'A Christmas Carol' and Sunday night we watched "Mr. Kreugar's Christmas" too. It was really a great few days.
Thank you for all of the letters! I've had a great week and my birthday was fun! :D
I love you all!
Elder Derek Keele
Friday, December 30, 2011
Elder Derek Keele, Dec. 25, 2011
We get to write today! We don't have much time though.
Thank you so much for the Christmas package! HOW DID YOU FIND MY SCRIPTURES!!!??? [This is Mom. I don't know if I told you, but Derek had lost his scriptures that he had used in four years of seminary. He was really sad about it. A week before UVU got out, he left them in a classroom but couldn't find them when he went back. He didn't tell me about it until just a few days before he left for the MTC. He had gone to look at all of the lost and founds at UVU but couldn't find them. He said his friend, Audrey, was going to continue to check for them. Then last Monday, UVU police called me and said that they had been found. I picked them up and had Steph wrap them up like a gift to put in his Christmas package that we sent on Friday. He had a Christmas miracle.] That was the best present ever! Well I guess I've had a lot of really good presents this year. Thank you so much for the notes and popcorn too!
Elder Bednar spoke in sacrament meeting today! We all met in the gym and had sacrament meeting together. So there were about 2,100 of us and they had about 60 people passing and preparing the sacrament. It was cool! We even sang my favorite hymn, I Stand All Amazed! His talk was absolutely amazing. It incorporated a lot of the same message as Elder Holland's did last January. But the main focus of Elder Bednar's talk was on the character of Christ. He said that the natural man in all of us wants us to turn inward when something bad happens to us. We want people to feel sorry for us and we expect people to help us out and we only think of ourselves. But he said that to be like Christ is to turn outward when bad things happen. He shared with us a few examples of how Christ did this, and then told us to search the scriptures for more. The ones he talked about were when Satan tempted him, the real temptation was to turn inward (to think about himself). But of course he never did. And even after fasting for 40 days and having Satan tempt him, he still only thought of others. In the JST of that part of the scriptures it says that the angels that came down after that did not comfort Christ, but they went to Peter. Christ sent them to Peter. It was so cool! The whole talk was amazing and hopefully they will put it online or something.
I'm so excited for tonight too! And Tuesday! This Christmas weekend has been so great! We even watched 'A Christmas Carol' last night as a special treat.
Well I'll talk to you on Friday!
I hope you all have a great Christmas break!
Love, Elder Keele
Thank you so much for the Christmas package! HOW DID YOU FIND MY SCRIPTURES!!!??? [This is Mom. I don't know if I told you, but Derek had lost his scriptures that he had used in four years of seminary. He was really sad about it. A week before UVU got out, he left them in a classroom but couldn't find them when he went back. He didn't tell me about it until just a few days before he left for the MTC. He had gone to look at all of the lost and founds at UVU but couldn't find them. He said his friend, Audrey, was going to continue to check for them. Then last Monday, UVU police called me and said that they had been found. I picked them up and had Steph wrap them up like a gift to put in his Christmas package that we sent on Friday. He had a Christmas miracle.] That was the best present ever! Well I guess I've had a lot of really good presents this year. Thank you so much for the notes and popcorn too!
Elder Bednar spoke in sacrament meeting today! We all met in the gym and had sacrament meeting together. So there were about 2,100 of us and they had about 60 people passing and preparing the sacrament. It was cool! We even sang my favorite hymn, I Stand All Amazed! His talk was absolutely amazing. It incorporated a lot of the same message as Elder Holland's did last January. But the main focus of Elder Bednar's talk was on the character of Christ. He said that the natural man in all of us wants us to turn inward when something bad happens to us. We want people to feel sorry for us and we expect people to help us out and we only think of ourselves. But he said that to be like Christ is to turn outward when bad things happen. He shared with us a few examples of how Christ did this, and then told us to search the scriptures for more. The ones he talked about were when Satan tempted him, the real temptation was to turn inward (to think about himself). But of course he never did. And even after fasting for 40 days and having Satan tempt him, he still only thought of others. In the JST of that part of the scriptures it says that the angels that came down after that did not comfort Christ, but they went to Peter. Christ sent them to Peter. It was so cool! The whole talk was amazing and hopefully they will put it online or something.
I'm so excited for tonight too! And Tuesday! This Christmas weekend has been so great! We even watched 'A Christmas Carol' last night as a special treat.
Well I'll talk to you on Friday!
I hope you all have a great Christmas break!
Love, Elder Keele
Elder Derek Keele, Dec. 23, 2011
Okay, I have 20 minutes. I'll write fast haha.
P-Day:
My p day is actually Fridays. Just that first time it was on Saturday. So since we can't go to the temple, we just have a lot of time to write letters or stuff. I haven't heard any thing about being able to clean the temple yet.
Jolley:
Yes! He is the first counselor in my branch presidency! They're all really nice! And he said that I could meet Jessica when she gets home! He rocks! .....!
Fireside:
The fireside on Sunday was so good! It was a guy from the MTC board or something. He talked about how words can only go so far when teaching; you can't CONVINCE someone that the gospel is true. The important thing is that they feel the Spirit. The missionary's job is to give them the agency to choose for themselves if they want to accept the gospel. If the Spirit is there, He will witness to them that it is true.
And he also had two hermanas go up and share their story. One of them was a friend to the other and shared the gospel with her. And now they are both in the MTC together!
Other:
I'm not sure if you know, but my leaving the MTC date is February 13th. It's going to come so fast! I can't believe today is already Friday. I feel like I've been here only a few days.
Question:
President Larson is my branch president. He taught at 4th grade science at Shelly Elementary school in American Fork for like 14 years. Can you ask the cooks if they know who he is? He is really great, but many people in our district don't like how stricted he is on the rules. That'll change though :D
Anything else? I saw Taylor yesterday! It was so good to see my best friend! I've actually seen about 15 people I know, including Elder Hubler, a friend from EFY, a classmate from 4th grade, and that guy that went throught the Timponogos Temple for the first time with me! I'm not sure how I recognized him, but I did so I went up and talked to him haha.
I'm so grateful for my companion. He really works hard and likes to do what we are supposed to do. Other people do what they feel like sometimes. But our district is awesome! We are all good friends and are doing what we're supposed to. The next step is to use ALL of our time wisely, not just the necessary time to plan the lesson and then goof off. But that'll come soon.
So to conclude:
-'Dear Elder' -> Rocks. It saves time, is quicker, and more convenient (for me at least)
-Our district -> Awesome
-My companion -> Great
-Spanish -> All coming back very well (I am being so blessed.)
-MTC -> Fun and really good
-Food -> Tons. Really good
-Gospel Study -> So nice to have time to study!
I Love you all! Have a great Christmas!
Oh ya and a member of the 12 is supposed to come sunday, and the firsrt presidency might come near the end of January :)
Bye!
-Elder Derek Keele
P-Day:
My p day is actually Fridays. Just that first time it was on Saturday. So since we can't go to the temple, we just have a lot of time to write letters or stuff. I haven't heard any thing about being able to clean the temple yet.
Jolley:
Yes! He is the first counselor in my branch presidency! They're all really nice! And he said that I could meet Jessica when she gets home! He rocks! .....!
Fireside:
The fireside on Sunday was so good! It was a guy from the MTC board or something. He talked about how words can only go so far when teaching; you can't CONVINCE someone that the gospel is true. The important thing is that they feel the Spirit. The missionary's job is to give them the agency to choose for themselves if they want to accept the gospel. If the Spirit is there, He will witness to them that it is true.
And he also had two hermanas go up and share their story. One of them was a friend to the other and shared the gospel with her. And now they are both in the MTC together!
Other:
I'm not sure if you know, but my leaving the MTC date is February 13th. It's going to come so fast! I can't believe today is already Friday. I feel like I've been here only a few days.
Question:
President Larson is my branch president. He taught at 4th grade science at Shelly Elementary school in American Fork for like 14 years. Can you ask the cooks if they know who he is? He is really great, but many people in our district don't like how stricted he is on the rules. That'll change though :D
Anything else? I saw Taylor yesterday! It was so good to see my best friend! I've actually seen about 15 people I know, including Elder Hubler, a friend from EFY, a classmate from 4th grade, and that guy that went throught the Timponogos Temple for the first time with me! I'm not sure how I recognized him, but I did so I went up and talked to him haha.
I'm so grateful for my companion. He really works hard and likes to do what we are supposed to do. Other people do what they feel like sometimes. But our district is awesome! We are all good friends and are doing what we're supposed to. The next step is to use ALL of our time wisely, not just the necessary time to plan the lesson and then goof off. But that'll come soon.
So to conclude:
-'Dear Elder' -> Rocks. It saves time, is quicker, and more convenient (for me at least)
-Our district -> Awesome
-My companion -> Great
-Spanish -> All coming back very well (I am being so blessed.)
-MTC -> Fun and really good
-Food -> Tons. Really good
-Gospel Study -> So nice to have time to study!
I Love you all! Have a great Christmas!
Oh ya and a member of the 12 is supposed to come sunday, and the firsrt presidency might come near the end of January :)
Bye!
-Elder Derek Keele
Elder Derek Keele, Dec. 17, 2011
Hola familia,
Thank you for the emails! I'll have to figure out how to keep them in my contacts so I can save everyone's that you send me.
Wow! The MTC is great! :D I feel bad that I'm not having a rough time like most people. We have 12 people in our district, and about half have taken a year or two of Spanish in school. But I'm the only one that has taken 9 years haha. So I am just trying to help everyone the best I can. I feel a little out of place, but whether they move me to the next level or keep me here, it will be fine with me. I enjoy helping and teaching. But really, our branch president talked about how the MTC is hard on your brain on purpose so it will force you to your knees and learn to rely on the Lord's help. I'm having a great time so far and have learned a lot, Spanish and spiritually, but so far it hasn't been hard. (But be careful what you wish for. I'm sure it'll get tougher.)
My companion is awesome! I'm so glad that he loves working hard and doesn't have to goof-off every 5 minutes. He's really working hard in Spanish and doing great! (Everyone is jealous of us though because we had such an easy time with our first Spanish teaching experience last night.) But the gift of tongues is real! We have all been praying for it, to help everyone learn Spanish, and last night I understood things and spoke things that I haven't used in years! It was really cool and we're excited to teach the same 'investigator' tonight.
Everything has been great so far. Classes, food, 8 hours of sleep,... The only thing that I didn't expect is the small amount of time we've had to actually study the scriptures in English. We've had a lot of other things to read and a lot of Spanish to study. But sadly we haven't had very much personal study time. I'm sure that'll come though once we get settled.
The food is awesome! The first few days I wasn't used to eating a full meal, three times a day. So I can tell why a lot of people gain weight in here haha. But it's great.
I had a really cool experience the first night with my companion. He does like working hard, but he's kind of a funny guy. We hadn't talked about the gospel much until later that night after a teaching experience thing. But after our first one, as we were walking to the second one, he brought up something very thoughtful and gospel oriented. As soon as he said it I just had the warm feeling come in. It must have been the Spirit both testifying that what he said is true and this feeling of excitement to learn and talk about the gospel every day for the next two years! I really am so excited to be here! No more having to concentrate on other things like school, work, and homework. Now I just get to share the gospel!
We have to prepare a five-minute talk for Sunday. As I started preparing my talk, I was amazed at how easily it was coming. It is so amazing that in just three days, we can all write a five-minute talk! The atmosphere here is amazing and the Spirit really is affecting everyone, helping them out so much. I know that the Spirit was with us last night during our lesson, and that it was helping my companion and me speak Spanish.
Oh ya! And thank you all so much for your notes! I keep finding them in my suitcases, scriptures, shoes, socks,... pretty much everywhere haha. They are very fun to read and very thoughtful! Nathan, Stephanie, Dallin, and Tammie. Make sure you all let me know how things are going. Sports, school, friendships (close friendships :) ), church stuff. Anything!
Mom, thank you so much for everything the last few months! I have really been sent out very prepared with supplies and everything. There are only a few things that I have had to buy here. And thank you, of course, for everything since I was born :D I have been so blessed with a mother that cares so much for me.
And of course thank you, Dad, for your amazing example. I really look up to you in everything that you do, and you have taught me so much.
I love you all!
Until next week,
Elder Derek Keele
Thank you for the emails! I'll have to figure out how to keep them in my contacts so I can save everyone's that you send me.
Wow! The MTC is great! :D I feel bad that I'm not having a rough time like most people. We have 12 people in our district, and about half have taken a year or two of Spanish in school. But I'm the only one that has taken 9 years haha. So I am just trying to help everyone the best I can. I feel a little out of place, but whether they move me to the next level or keep me here, it will be fine with me. I enjoy helping and teaching. But really, our branch president talked about how the MTC is hard on your brain on purpose so it will force you to your knees and learn to rely on the Lord's help. I'm having a great time so far and have learned a lot, Spanish and spiritually, but so far it hasn't been hard. (But be careful what you wish for. I'm sure it'll get tougher.)
My companion is awesome! I'm so glad that he loves working hard and doesn't have to goof-off every 5 minutes. He's really working hard in Spanish and doing great! (Everyone is jealous of us though because we had such an easy time with our first Spanish teaching experience last night.) But the gift of tongues is real! We have all been praying for it, to help everyone learn Spanish, and last night I understood things and spoke things that I haven't used in years! It was really cool and we're excited to teach the same 'investigator' tonight.
Everything has been great so far. Classes, food, 8 hours of sleep,... The only thing that I didn't expect is the small amount of time we've had to actually study the scriptures in English. We've had a lot of other things to read and a lot of Spanish to study. But sadly we haven't had very much personal study time. I'm sure that'll come though once we get settled.
The food is awesome! The first few days I wasn't used to eating a full meal, three times a day. So I can tell why a lot of people gain weight in here haha. But it's great.
I had a really cool experience the first night with my companion. He does like working hard, but he's kind of a funny guy. We hadn't talked about the gospel much until later that night after a teaching experience thing. But after our first one, as we were walking to the second one, he brought up something very thoughtful and gospel oriented. As soon as he said it I just had the warm feeling come in. It must have been the Spirit both testifying that what he said is true and this feeling of excitement to learn and talk about the gospel every day for the next two years! I really am so excited to be here! No more having to concentrate on other things like school, work, and homework. Now I just get to share the gospel!
We have to prepare a five-minute talk for Sunday. As I started preparing my talk, I was amazed at how easily it was coming. It is so amazing that in just three days, we can all write a five-minute talk! The atmosphere here is amazing and the Spirit really is affecting everyone, helping them out so much. I know that the Spirit was with us last night during our lesson, and that it was helping my companion and me speak Spanish.
Oh ya! And thank you all so much for your notes! I keep finding them in my suitcases, scriptures, shoes, socks,... pretty much everywhere haha. They are very fun to read and very thoughtful! Nathan, Stephanie, Dallin, and Tammie. Make sure you all let me know how things are going. Sports, school, friendships (close friendships :) ), church stuff. Anything!
Mom, thank you so much for everything the last few months! I have really been sent out very prepared with supplies and everything. There are only a few things that I have had to buy here. And thank you, of course, for everything since I was born :D I have been so blessed with a mother that cares so much for me.
And of course thank you, Dad, for your amazing example. I really look up to you in everything that you do, and you have taught me so much.
I love you all!
Until next week,
Elder Derek Keele
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