He died that we might live.

Coming on a mission has been one of the best decisions that I have made in my entire life.  I have changed so much.  It's funny to see the things that I never thought would change too. 

As missionaries we have the chance to truly live a Christ-centered life.  Before my mission, I didn't really understand what that meant.  Since coming on my mission, I've had about 700 days where I have an hour a day allotted to personal study. I've spent all my time studying the gospel and then trying to share with people just how awesome this gospel really is.  Coming on a mission has solidified the things that I learned when I was younger and gave me a strong determination to never fall away. 

Another thing that coming on my mission has taught me is what love is.  What love is and how to live.  Before my mission, I thought I knew.  And to an extent I did.  But coming on a mission and being around the fanastic selfless examples of other missionaries and my mission presidents, made me realize that I did indeed have a lot to learn.  I wanted to be like that.  I wanted to be one of the ones who people would talk about as being someone who really loved people. I guess only time will tell as to whether I was successful or not.  I have however discovered how to love.  I realized that it is through sacrifice, through service, through giving up of ourselves for the others, that helps us to develop love for others.  The Saviour demonstrated this love for us when he completed the Atonement.  And I will say that while my mission has been the best experience that I've ever had, it has not all been easy.  One such experience was actually just recently.  We were doing a joint lesson with the sisters.  We each (the 4 of us and the family of 4= 8 cups total) had a cup with water in it.  Because the water was clean, it symbolized our hearts when we were born.  But then as we go on we unfortunately sin and our water becomes dirty.  Everyone added things to their cups like salt and pepper, soy sauce, mayonnaise, sauce used in cooking meat.  Everyone's cup became rather dirty and not looking very clean.  It was then I realized that the only way to clean the cups was to drink the mixtures that each person concocted.  8 cups of pain later, I set the last cup down.  It was not a very pleasant experience.  I was even suffering the next morning and throughout part of the day.  I drank a bitter cup and I suffered, so that everyone could have clean cups.  But the Saviour drank the bitter cup, and he suffered for each one of us so that we could be clean and eventually return to live with Him.  As I was drinking the cups, the sister said something that struck me.  She said, 'If I had known, I wouldn't have put what I did in.'  It made me think.  If we knew how much the Saviour was truly going to suffer for us, how much he did,  would we have put more in the cup that He would have to drink?  My appreciation for all that the Saviour did has deepened tremendously.

My testimony has also grown to heights I never thought before my mission.

Jesus Christ, came to this earth.  He is the Son of God, the only sinless Being to have ever walked the earth, and as such, he was the only one capable of fulfilling the Atonement, the greatest act of love known to humankind.  He died for you and for me.  He died that we might live.  That he is our Saviour and Redeemer, that he loves us beyond measure, no matter who we are, I testify in His holy name, even Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Looking forward to seeing you

Love you

Elder Keith

23 days and counting!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

MY FLIGHT PLANS CAME ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

Yeah that's pretty much what went through my head when I got it.

It's gonna be weird.  I dunno if you've got my plans or not but for me:

 

I leave from Narita Airport at 3 in the afternoon.  I arrive in detroit at 1 in the afternoon (wait arriving before I leave... xD)

Then I have an 8 hour layover.  My next plane leaves at 9 at night and I arrive sometime around 11...  so...

I dunno how your guy's works but I have an 11 hour flight first off.  and I thought, hmmm getting there at 1pm... not bad.  but then I realized that I will still be on Japan time... which means like 2 in the morning for me...  which probably means that my 8 over layover will be spent sleeping.  then my last 1.5 hour plane ride will be spent dendoing (proselyting) the person next to me.  Then I'll be wide awake for the car ride home and most of the rest of the night.  Probably... 

well that's the end of that thought process.

I just can't think about it otherwise it messes with my head.  It's so weird to think that my 2 years is up.  This coming Saturday I hit my 2 year mark...  Well if I remember correctly then yes it probably feels exactly the same way that it did when I left for my mission. 

Yes things are moving quickly.  Actually the first 2 transfers were the slowest.  And since then every transfer has gotten successively faster to the point that I'm like.... 'Wait whaaaattt? Where did the time go?  When did Sierra get her drivers license? When did mom get grey hair (chuckle)?  When did adam turn 17?  Where did my mission go?'  Far too fast.

But yeah not too too much new that happened this past week.  This coming week though I have a lot. On Wednesday I have an interview with President Budge because my temple recommend expired.  Then I also have an interview with Elder Koichi Aoyagi of the 1st quorum of the 70...  I don't know why... I'll let you know more next week. 

But yeah should be good. =D

 

Thanks for the news and everything.  You all are in my prayers every day.  Love you

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

 

And give gradma great big hug for me please =D.  Remind her that we still have a lunch date set for the week that I get back.  And tell her that I love her and miss her.  And the same thing to grandpa.  Thank you so much.

I apologize that I have not added more pictures from Elder Keith's mission. I am not that techie and I just discovered how to add pictures!! I will see if I can find some more to post. --Michele

Week 101 + or -

Hey, (and mom it's choro.  pronounced chohroh.  xD (big hug))

 

So.  Those young ones seem to be quite a handful now don't they?  Gonna be weird coming home huh? Well it would be weird anyway (no offense).  

 

Your story made me laugh too mom.  I can just picture the look of shock and almost hear their thoughts as they drive up into the yard.  That is definitely not something that you want to have happen as a missionary.  It's not something that we really have in Japan, one because no one really has that big a house/that much land, and then unless people are at the beach they usually don't wear bikinis.  xD  No, they content themselves wearing short skirts instead.  And it's not a seasonal thing either.  (-_-;)

That's way cool though.  It's become so incredible to me.  To hear how people met the missionaries and then became converted to the gospel. 

...heehee... you fell in love with the missionaries.  xD  But I guess it's not overly surprising because we are pretty drop-dead handsome guys.  And the Japanese people are absolutely in love with my eyebrows.  (-_-;) Just yesterday at church our dendo shunin (ward mission leader) told me that his daughter said that 'Elder Keith's eyebrows are cute.'  ....  uhhhh  thanks?...... but yeah then we ended up going over to that family's house for dinner, and the mom said that sometimes her and the daughter (like 15) sometimes talk about us missionaries.  And then she said that they were saying that when they talk to me, it's ok at the start, but then instead of looking at my eyes they end up looking at my eyebrows...  -sigh-  but it's all good. 

 

So now a couple things you can put on the blog. 

1.(for anyone intending to write me a letter)  Don't worry about writing me snail mail paper letters anymore.  I've only got a little bit of time left and odds are good that I won't have time to write anyone back,  and even if I do get time, I'll probably not write back on the grounds that I'll just come and say thanks once I get back.

 

2.  So I think that the scars have healed enough to say that about 3 weeks back I fell from my bike.  (^_^;)  But this time it wasn't because I was being reckless.

We had just come from a teaching appointment with the sisters and were headed back to the church for our weekly ping pong activity (which I can proudly say that I started) and I was going down a hill pretty fast.  And since there was another hill coming up I decided that I wanted to get more speed and go up the hill better, so I switched gears.  But my bike, the good ol' green hornet, needed the chain to be oiled.  Pretty badly.  And after suffering almost 2 years of excruciating abuse at the hands of Elder Keith (he learned how to bunny hop a bike, among countless other things) it was probably fed up.  So the chain came off but because I was still pedaling hard, when it came off and all my weight was on my one foot, that caused me to unbalanace past the point of recovery.  The sister who was behind me in our line of bikes said that I flew.  I don't really know how it happened.  I do know that I became well acquainted with road rash.  Probably the worst case that I've ever had in my life.  Wasn't fun.  I got 2 spots on my right hand, one on each of the upper side of my arms.  a small one on my knee, a bruised shoulder and a small one on my left hand, besides the 3 or so on the knuckles of my right hand.  So I got back up on my bike and raced to church (5 mins away) and started washing out my injuries.  The sisters pulled out the first aid kits while my companion pulled out his grammar book and started studying.  Then one of the sisters had what's called essential oils.  They're supposed to be good for healing and stuff.  So they used that and I've just been working carefully since then.  They're healed to the point now, that I don't really need to worry anymore but yeah.  It was fun.  Painful but fun.

 

(If you check the mission blog that I sent, the picture of us around the table eating, I tried to hide it, but I'm sure if you look closely you can see that I have bandages on and stuff)

 

3.  We had a record the other day.  5 big roaches in one day.  1 got away but we found him the next day.  He died.  I haven't kept track but we must be up over 60 roaches since I got here now.  Excluding the babies that is.  Well that's what happens when the woman below you doesn't throw out her trash.  Like her door is jammed and when she does get it open she has to climb on top of 2 feet of trash to get in.  And I'm not exaggerating at all.

 

4.  We gave service at a kinda like day-care where mentally handicapped people go.  It was kinda weird.  Kinda funny. Kinda terrifying all at the same time.  But everyone was way nice.  It was way fun.  So we're going back there again next week. 

 

So yeah that's been the scoop on me this past week.  And this coming week is equally as busy!  xD  Well actually this week is more busy but that's life. 

 

Thanks so much.  Love you =D

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

Shashin!!

Week 100+??

こんにちは

 

STAGE IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!! Holy smokes haha.  Well who am I to talk, I'm not looking on being married too quick.  xD  Typically Japanese people don't get married until like they're 25 at least.  It's not uncommon to find unmarried 30 year olds.  Even within the church.  (-_-;)  Not that I'm thinking about marrying a Japanese person, but being around them for so long I can see the benefits of not rushing the whole marriage thing.  But I have had countless other Elders tell me that since I'm going to BYU, I will be married within 3 months.  But my goal is to go to BYU and stay unmarried for as long as possible.  xD  Bahahahaha.  But seriously I heard the divorce rate in Utah was like 50%.  I'm kinda yadda to divorce. 

So Grandma is in a nursing home.  That's good that she'll be getting 24hr care. =D  We've still got a date to have lunch when I come home.  So Auntie Diane is moving to PEI.  That's good that she'll be with her grandkids.

So Ben's still set on moving out to BC huh?  Hm wonder when I'll see him next huh?  Is his place doing up and well?  It's still pretty rare for me to hear from Ben xD. 

Oh and about BYU... I checked the email that you sent and it said that we would receive an answer at the latest, 4 weeks after the application deadline.  The deadline is october.  So we might not know about me going to BYU til after I've been home for a couple weeks.  But oh well. 

Wait! April got married too!  Ara!!! (That's japanese btw)  That must mean that Adam is home from his mission (her boyfriends name was adam) unless she married someone else... xD 

Are things settling down with my companion?  nnnnnnn kinda?  yeah I guess.  not really. sorta...  I'm working on him xD.

Is he wearing missionary clothes when studying.  Not really.  xD 

Yeah I love my ward.  It's absolutely awesome.  I've just made such good friends with everyone.  It's gonna be really hard to leave.

Oh and I'm thinking about something that I want to do with you guys.  And I don't know if it's your idea of a vacation or whatever or not but I was planning on taking at least one day and doing some dendo (missionary work--> streeting, passing out chirashis, housing)  Just so that you are aware ;)

So yeah that's my plan.

And life has kinda entered the surreal phase for me again.  I have some friends, some of my doki going home tomorrow.  And everything's changing just as I enter my final 6 weeks on my mission.  It's so weird to think that it's coming to a close.  I think that 16 transfers was just right for me too.  I mean extending would have been terrific.  But from the looks of it, President Budge is keeping people together longer than 2 transfers and if I were to do another one with Elder Pronk (save something changes) I would not have the most happy time I think.  But I think that by the end I will be ready.  Not ready to leave Japan and the Japanese people mind you, I don't know if I will ever be ready for that.  So yeah. 

Well thats me for this week. Thanks for everything!!!! =D

Love you!!!

 

Elder Keith

キース長老

 

Week 99

Konnichiwaaaaaaaaaaaa,

 

Sounds like life kinda slowed way down and then picked up again.  But that's just the way things are now isn't it?

So important things first...  I don't actually have my passport... nor my passport number...  You're probably going to have to get in touch with Sister Galbraith about that.  She's the one who takes care of everyone's passport...  (^_^;)  That's why when you asked me about my name on my passport the first time, I couldn't give you a definite answer (^_^;)  heh heh heh, *typical Elder Keith sheepish grin*

It gets really cool at night where you are?  Awww lucky.  It gets cool at night where we are too...  *if we use the AC*... I haven't actually slept under my blankets for a couple weeks now because it's way too hot, even wth the air conditioning.

So things are coming.  My companion was told by the mission president that he does indeed have to wear missionary clothes when studying... xD  He's not overly happy with that.  Nor with the whole 100% obedience thing.  Like not that he's breaking rules left and right, but he told me he doesn't agree with the whole, being 100% obedient thing.  So I'm trying to help him be obedient anyways.

Yeah you are definitely going to be amazed at the change in me I think.  Not that it's unexpected, but just that it's so different.  Like I look back on my life beforehand, now I wasn't a bad kid of course, but I was a kid.  And like you said, now I'm not a kid anymore.  I still enjoy doing kids stuff, but the maturity I see in me (especially in stark contrast to my new companion) makes me realize how far I've come.

Thanks for your testimony.  On my mission I've really come to see what a joy it is to be an eternal family and what that really means.

So now a couple questions that I ask members all the time, but I never thought to ask before my mission.

Mom- How did you end up meeting the missionaries and ultimately, what made you decide to want to be baptized?

Dad- What generation are you?  Was it Grandma and Grandpa Keith who first converted, or does it go farther back? And how did you come to know that the church is true?

Well of course, as is typical of Elder Keith, I've got loads more to say, but my time today is short.  This has been a pretty busy week.  So I'll close here. Thanks for everything.  I love you both so much!

 

Elder Keith

キース長老