Since yesterday was Labor Day we had to go work - I think I forgot to tell ya'll that. Oopps. Sorry. So happy late P-day!

Carmen Deedy came to the Story Telling Festival this year! She hasn't been in ages. I can't believe I missed her appearance. What was this years charm? My bracelet is getting full I might need to transfer it to a necklace. Hmmm we'll see. I knew that Nathan Fillion had a new show but I didn't know anything about it. I'm really excited. I was at a members house, gosh like 2 weeks ago, and saw a preview for Bones. I nearly died. I didn't even try to pretend I wasn't watching the commercial. Then it was over and I was normal again.

As for the 27th I have no idea. (That is the date for Kelli's Sacrament Meeting talk). I haven't managed to think past the BYU/FSU game on the 19th. Do I have to decide now? I don't even know how normal I'll be, I might be a crazy person! People may not want to come see the crazy lady that spent way too long in the south. I was listening to myself talk the other day, I have developed an odd accent that really only comes through on words with long "i" in them. Not to mention the "Yes, Sir." and "No Sirs." I'm about to get teased. Daggum.

Oh well - on with the my going ons of the week. We found out late Monday night that a Sister in the ward, Tori Piercy had an emergency appendectamy (totally guessed on the spelling) on Sunday. The RS of the ward really stepped up they had people there in the morning helping with the kids and then they brought in meals too. Sister Hall and I went to help clean and chat. It was good to see the ward be so united in a cause. It made my heart glad. We have another Sister, Mini Stewart who had two stints put in that we visited. She is so fiesty. It's fun.

We made Brother Gibbons a Auborn State Football cake to thank him for speaking at Laura's baptism - he had been really nervous about it. I baked the cake and made Sister Hall decorate it - we all know how artistic I am free hand :)

Saturday the PCB Elders had a baptism I went to go support them and surprise surprise it was Anita Shook! Sister Hartman and I had started teaching her a year ago and I got to be here to see her baptism. It was a wonderful experience.

We finally got Karen to go to church! We sat with Nick (her son) in Nursery for the two hours so his mom could be there. We'll probably have to do it again.

Sheila's Baptism has been postponed. She is ready but other outside forces are coming in to play and she doesn't want it to be tainted by these things. I'm sad that I'll miss it but I'm very proud of her for recognizing the importance of letting some things go before she makes a covenant with God.

That's all I've got to say about that. I love hearing from you - thank you for all the love that I feel coming from all directions. Have a blessed day.

Kelli

Congrats Teil! Thanks for sending the photo you look fantastic. I look forward to seeing you in the next couple of months. Let me know what I can do to help (Kelli's cousin Teil got engaged)

Mom, you have and ewwy baggy! That's what we called them in the nursing home. (I have a tube draining my kidney - a little complication) Having a plan of action is good I'm glad you and the Dr know what your gonna do and how it's all gonna work out. Finally I get to help ya'll. It's been very frustrating being on the other side of the country knowing that I can't do a blessed thing for ya'll besides carry on and pray lots. While prayer does initiate miracles sometimes it's nice just to be there. Like dad was talking about when he was still in pain, lots of pain but when his wife was holding his hand he knew it was ok.

Sorry about all the confusion about my release date. President and I had talked about it when Short was still here but turns out the system didn't know when I entered the MTC making a mess of everything. Their dates were wrong so I knew it would all work out but I didn't know ya'll were sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear too. Sorry I would have told you more about it if I'd known the office got involved with you. (We received a letter saying Kelli would be home October 29th but it is September 17th!)

Aidea! Yeah! Yeah!! Yeah!!! I know I will always enjoy musicals. President Monson is "Show-aholic" I think it's perfectly acceptable for me to be as well. What I'll like as far as fashion is concerned that's a whole different ball game. I may need a fashion consultant, someone that can tell me whether or not I should be on "What-Not-To-Wear".

Moving on - my week was good.

In other news Laura's baptism was most excellent. We had a minor freak out when we couldn't get a hold of her the day before her scheduled date but all was well. She is very similar to Farah in that she completely turned her life around in just under two months. She is a different woman. It is such a blessing to be involved in that change.

Miss Sheila set a baptism date for Sept 12 the Saturday before I leave. She is good. She worked hard to gain a testimony and is now eager to build on the foundation she has. She is full of good questions and is going to be a power house for good. She's having a hard time with tithing she's a single mom and works as a teachers aid which doesn't pay well. What finally got her is when we told her that only full tithe payers are considered worthy to enter the Temple. She then committed to live the law. But dang it took a lot of prayer and the Holy Ghost testifying and the two of us testifying before we finally got there. That was a long lesson. 3 1/2 hrs - My brain hurt at the conclusion of it.

Yesterday we went over to my favorite part member family's house. Brother Jack isn't a member he's the one we went to the non-denominational church with a few weeks ago. We talked about what we had felt and learned there and how we can add to it. He knows that the church is true but he needs to take the baby steps there. He is happy learning about the Savior this way and he knows that he will be baptized and sealed to Andrea but he is going to do it on his time table. Little does he know that he's actually working on the Lords time table. I can't wait for him to get smacked up-side the head. It's gonna be fun.

Well that's me in a nut shell. I love you all very much and I'll see you soon!

Kelli

Just know that I pray for ya'll every night and expect to see semi healthy people in 24 days. No exceptions.

Speaking of healthy. I was sick this week. I'm on the mend now I had a mild case of the flu but we were so busy I didn't have time to sleep it off. I just had to take lots of vitamins - drink lots of water and try not to touch anyone. I spent most of yesterday morning pulling dead skin off my nose cause I'd rubbed it raw. That was fun.


Tuesday we did service for a recently widowed woman whom we'll begin teaching this week. We've met everyday with Sheila and she is so much fun to teach she has a deep thirst for truth and doesn't just take our word for it. She is anxious to find out for herself. Which is impressive and frustrating. She knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is God's word to us today but she wants to make sure that Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Wodruff, Lorenzo Snow and so on were all prophets too. I gave her a bunch of talks by President Monson and she is reading those and praying about him. What a kick in the pants she is.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference it was good. Then we had another lesson with Shelia then a lesson with Laura who by the way is getting baptized on Saturday. Yippie!

Thursday we planned to take our car in to get it fixed. I learned that no matter how confident an Elder sounds when talking about cars don't freak out when he thinks you have no brake fluid. Turns out it was so full that you couldn't see it jiggling around in there. Way to scare me to death Elder. Anyway we met with Sheila again then with Miss Laura and had dinner at a members

Friday we did service - I'm getting pretty good at covering books. We had a lesson cancel for which I was exceedingly grateful as I felt like death warmed over. I went to bed only to arise 2 hrs later and go to Sheilas and then Karen's. Turns out that Karen had never been told about modern day prophets - only Joseph Smith. And she's been investing for a year now - Sigh. Well now we know where we need to go from here.

Saturday we had 6 lessons back to back we came home at 8 and went to bed.

Sunday we had meetings, church, choir, a lesson with Alissa, then dinner with the Stewart's - Good times. It's been a busy week. All the days just blur together I'm finally feeling human again and could proabably use another 5 hours of sleep to let my body recover fully.

Love you!

Kelli

Tropical Storm

Elder Levacy-Sabin trying to convince me to touch the fish. It didn't work.




You had a football in your tummy mom? No wonder you couldn't loose that last bit of "fat" you just had a football tucked away in there. Will wonders never cease? (Mom here - I had a fibroid growing and had a total hysterectomy).

Well ya all didn't give me much to comment on so I guess I'll just tell you about my week.

Monday we went fishing out by a pier. The Elders told us to get cigar minnows - they bought hooks that were too big and we caught nothing. This fish just devoured the sides of the bait and left the hook alone. I was very bored and was repulsed by the ever present smell of fishy badness. I brought my cross stitch with me and mostly did that.

Tuesday we had District Meeting. A couple in the ward took us out to lunch it was a buffet and we ate way too much. Ugh! But we had no time to sleep it off we had lessons to teach. The rest of the day was spent running to appointments and making sure that members were going to be there too.

Wed we visited with less actives and had several lessons with investigators, we taught Laura the Word of Wisdom, then at 8 had a lesson with a less active. We went in planning to teach tithing but it felt very wrong so we did peace and hope instead. It was the first time I think he actually listened to what we had to say.

Thursday we planned then Sister Hall was sick so we stayed in. I don't remember what I did so I'm betting I slept too.

Friday we had service at the Library and spent the day going way out to the edge of our area to visit less active members. Our miles for the month are shot. But we got several good visits in.

Saturday we had 3 lessons back to back. We met with Miss Betty - her husband was there and was very hostile at first but calmed down and really started talking to us after a bit. We're meeting with him on Wed. We had Ashley (a male) come with us to Miss Laura's to give her a blessing to help her over come her addictions. Then we invited her to be baptized. She agreed! Her date is set for the 29th. The day after dad's b-day. We tracted after that.

Sunday we went to Northstar Church. It's a non-denominational church out here. We went with a part member family Jack and Andrea Beaudette. We have a great rapport with them and going with them really helped soften Jacks heart. It was a good experience. And the teachings were so close to Mormon doctrine it was almost frustrating. I was sitting there going, "Yes that's true! Let me add to that truth!" They have the basics but they could have so much more. We'll keep trucking on.

Sister Hall has been planning a fireside since we got here and it was supposed to be last night but we had a tropical storm pass through and it got canceled. It wasn't nearly as bad as people expected it to be. The one that I saw in Tallahassee last year was considerably worse. Ah well. Well you now are officially caught up on my week. I hope all is well with you and that recovery to all parties is on the horizon. I love you and pray for you often!

Kelli

Another Week Flies By

Hey family!

This is going to be a very short letter. The Libray we usually go to is closed and we only get half an hour at the place we are at today. We had a good week - we worked hard, met all but one of our goals, and had good stuff happen.

I got to go to Priesthood on Sunday. We have fun size bags of M & M's for Missonary Moments and I hucked 'em at the men who shared the gospel with someone this week. It was weird sitting in there waiting for my turn to speak and being the only female in there knowing that I really don't belong - it was odd.

Um...I'm flustered the clock is blinking 11 min at me Ugh. OK I give up - I'm good, happy, and safe. I love you and keep wondering why you insist on doing huge medical procedures without me there to help. Ya bums! Ok love you! Bye.

Kelli

Hey All

You are right - it is an absolute bummer that I can't renew my CNA because I did private care not with an agency or Nursing Home. Oh well it will work out as it's supposed to in the end. The front door looks amazing. My question is, what color is the garage door? I think I know the answer but who knows - miracles happen everyday.

Good luck getting ready for school TM and enjoy getting back to the grind stone dad. You still have 2 weeks of boredom ahead of you.

We had a fantastic week. We managed to meet all of our goals which is no small miracle. We have four progressing investigators - three of which are Golden - one I think is turning into an eternal investigator - we'll see what happens. Not much of this week stands out - we tracted lots, did service, rode our bikes and I discovered that having a car has made me lazy. We will be riding more often now 'cause I didn't like how hard that ride was.

Oh! One of the service things we did was help a member who's dad had come to visit and had felled a bunch of trees leaving the mess behind for them to clean up. Sound familiar to anyone? I just laughed the whole time - I felt like I was home again.

The investigator I told you about last week, Shiela, we had a three hour lesson with her on Wednesday - it was intense. We covered most of the hard stuff - unfortunately she will be out of town for two weeks. She is one of the most prepared people I've ever met. We are going to begin teaching a girl named Alissa - she is dating a member and is hilarious - I'm looking forward to it.

We did a 24 hour fast as a mission I got dehydrated and plummeted into a hypoglycemic low. We started at 12 on Saturday and were supposed to end at 12 on Sunday - but we didn't get out of church till 2:30. We tracked almost all day Saturday - after 5 hours I decided that water was going to be allowed in my fast so I didn't kill myself. Sunday - after all we had to do was done - it was about 6 p.m. before we were able to eat. I had enough but to keep Sis Hall from going mad with boredom we went to the church and she practiced casting with a fishing rod a member gave her I laid on the stage - it was enjoyable.

Oh and Rass was just made AP. I'm so proud of my little brother! Go him. Ok - that's it for me.

Peace and love.

Kelli

Great Week!

We had a great week - we are finally into a groove that works for us. We're working well together and seeing many miracles. None of which are particularly amazing unless you are living our day to day life with us. I don't have much to report - Saturday the Stake had a big Activity in Bristol and we went with an investigator and ended up doing Karaoke. Both songs we tried were way too low for me and I was the bad voice in the group - it was embarassingly fun.

We "Heart Attacked" the Elders and Karen - one of our investigators. As a "Thank You" the Elders then bought glow sticks and we went to the church parking lot, cut them open and danced to Prince of Egypt - good times were had by all. An investigators boyfriend left her and took all her money with him, but she is still reading her Book of Mormon and came to an activity and to church. Now we don't have to get her married before we can baptize her so our job just got a little easier.

Sunday we had a wonderful surprise, a woman walked in, she's been studying the church on her own for quite some time (there is a boy involved) and she showed up at church on Sunday ready and willing to learn. Unfortunately she is not in our area so we'll meet with her this week and then we have to pass her to the Elders. But she is a single woman and she is only a mile out of our area so maybe we can keep her - we'll see what happens.

Dad, I will definitely pray for your vision to return to normal, yours and TM's are the only one in the family with naturally good eyes. But I'm not gonna lie, I really like the way you look in glasses.

Things with Sister Hall are going really well. Anyway that's my week. I'll talk to you later.

Love you!

Kelli