Forgetting myself in the work.

Hello, my loves! Happy Monday...last Monday in April...it's almost
May? Time is flying. I truly cannot believe how fast this week has
gone by. And I cannot believe how many times I woke up and had
forgotten who I was and where I was and why I was there. It's so funny
being a missionary! I guess I really am forgetting myself in the work!
It was a packed week, we were really busy, it was an interesting one
too! I loved every minute of this week though, as always. It is so
incredible to me that there is always something to love, appreciate
and learn from even during the difficult or "interesting" times. I am
in love with my companion and the time we have to be serving here
together. She is amazing and helps me to grow so much, I just really
love her like a sister! It really feels like I have one of my sisters
with me again, which is an incredible blessing because as you all
know, my sissies are my best friends and I have really missed them a
LOT. Being with Sister Benson has helped me to see and remember how
much I love and miss my family. Sometimes I think I get in a rut and
try and avoid thinking about my family as to focus all my attention on
the area. This is good. However, I have come to realize this week that
remembering my family more and remembering my love for them fills me
with so much more motivation to work, it makes my heart swell and I
can teach with so much more conviction. Remembering my family and the
love I have for them helps me to remember how important the atonement
is to me and why I am out here. It really has been a huge blessing to
have her as my companion and laugh my head off with her as we focus on
the people here, but also continually remind each other of the reason
we are out here. I love it!

We had our district p-day last Monday and it was my favorite one ever.
This district is so great, it really is a wonderful combo of
missionaries. We played volleyball, basketball and signs and ate lots
of Papa Murphy's pizza. I am pretty sure that this is my favorite
district that I've been in. You know me. I usually strongly dislike
big groups of people, especially big groups of people my
age...maturity levels are sometimes a struggle for me to deal with and
not get annoyed. Mom probably remembers one of my biggest struggles at
home, "How am I ever going to find someone who does not drive me
absolutely nutso after being around them for awhile? I'm never going
to find someone I can deal with long enough to be married for
ETERNITY." But, I really had fun and I am improving in that so much!
You'd be so proud, Ma.

So, we have really been stressing to find people to teach. I think I
told you this before, but I'll recap real quick. Oak Hills has a
really low baptism record, like really low. However, in the past 5
months, they have had 4! Sister Benson and Sister Munger (who I
replaced) did amazing things here! Now we are back to ground zero
again because all of those people got baptized and there is no one to
teach again. Well, scratch that. There are hundreds of people that God
has prepared to be taught. We just haven't found them quite yet.
Anyways, the one woman that we are teaching is named Trish. She is
living with a member in the ward and LOVES coming to activities with
her and to church too. It is so hard to set up appointments with her,
but she wants to learn really badly! We stopped by last week and
taught her about feeling and recognizing the spirit. She is so
prepared, we are trying really hard to set a baptism date with her.
She has so much faith, but she doesn't recognize it as that and she
doesn't know where to direct that faith to really make it productive
for her. That's why we want to set a date with he, so she can devote
and direct that faith into a covenant with her Heavenly Father!

All of our appointments cancelled this week. Pretty much. But! That
lead us into lots of door to door contacting, which always, always
makes things super interesting. I feel like we talked to so many
people this week. Just tons of them. Nothing has come from it yet. And
"yet" really is the key word there! I know that Heavenly Father is
preparing people for us to find, especially if we are being faithful
and diligent through this dry patch. My favorite experience pertaining
to this topic happened last night. So, picture this. Sunday night,
getting really dark out, we're in the Cornell Hood (the nickname for
our apartment complex), and we decide to go out and knock all the
doors in one of the buildings to find this one guy that the ward has
asked us to find because nobody knows who he is or where he lives.
Perfect set up for an awkward and slightly creepy night, as we set out
to start asking everybody about a man named "David." Haha! I love
being a missionary. We knock on one door and at the same time we
knock, this woman swings open the door with her dog in hand about to
go take him out for a walk. She was so nice!! We ask her if she knows
who David is and of course she doesn't. We explain that he is a member
of our congregation that we have been trying to meet and she thinks
that is just so nice and wishes us well in finding him. We asked her
if she is religious and she said that she is not, but she isn't only
because she has never had the information presented to her. Bingo.
"Well, hello. I'm Sister Kerr and we are out here for 18 months to
present people with information about Jesus Christ and how a faith in
Him can bless our lives." She said yes! She gave us her business card
and asked us to text her and set up a time to talk with her. It is a
miracle!

Well, I need to get going! I love you all dearly and of course miss
you. But, I know with all of my heart that this is where I need to be
and this is what i need to be doing. This is a marvelous work we get
to be involved in, so get going! Thank you for my letters and emails!
I so look forward to reading my emails from my family, it makes my day
so happy. Please keep it coming.

xoxoxox, Sister Kerr