Fish Fingers and Custard

He was very specific on what the title of the blog should be this week.  Apparently it's a Doctor Who reference - I guess.  Matt tried to explain it to me, but I'll just remain happy in my ignorance

New Missionary Orientation

 

Hey mom!

This has been a crazy week. I went to the doctor on Monday and she said my leg was okay, just pulled some muscles above my knee, so I got put in a car for a little bit. I figure that's okay, because I've already lost 20 lbs since I left home. It's probably because of stress, but hey. My CTR ring is too big now. I got to see my old MTC district again, and it was great getting to joke around with them again. None of them are in my zone, so we probably won't see each other again until Christmas. 

As far as work goes, we did a blitz; where you split up as a companionship and work with a different missionary to go tracting. Me and a Spanish missionary, Elder Clarke, knocked a couple doors and found a woman named Misty who was Baptist but said she would read from the Book of Mormon. We tried to get in contact with her later, but she said she was too busy to meet. We also met with Phillip, a guy who grew up in the hood and has a gold tooth. He loves God and Jesus, and loves to talk. He did most of the talking during our 45 minute lesson. He smokes medical marijuana, and as such, walking into his house is like walking into a Vegas casino. That is, if a Vegas casino decided to smoke a giant cigarette itself. Cool guy, but it's hard to breathe in there.

We helped this one lady move from her storage unit and it was so cold that my fingers were white and my fingernails were purple by the time we were done. We get to have dinner with members a lot and we're going to an old couple's home for Thanksgiving. I keep telling everyone about our fried turkey back home and they all think it's amazing. 

We also tried tracting on this one street. We met a guy who wanted to read the Book of Mormon, AND he had an eye patch, so he was double cool. Elder Evans said I seemed to have good luck when tracting, but the Lord must have heard him, because when we approached the next door, I saw a sign that said, "NO SOLICITING - ENFORCED BY SHOTGUN". Once we knocked, I heard the most f-words in my life spewed out at us from a window. So rather than write in all those f-words, I will instead replace them with more uplifting words. Ahem;

"Hey, you [amazing] idiots! Can't you read the [lovely] sign!? No [caring] soliciting!! Or is that too above your [extensive] vocabulary!? You're lucky I don't come out there and [lovingly] shoot you!!"

We told him sorry, and to have a nice day, to which he replied, "[Love] you!!" I swear as we were walking to the next door I heard a shotgun pump.

So yeah, he was scary. But Sunday was better, because Phillip came to church! He sat next to us and only stayed for sacrament meeting. Elder Evans and I are in the ward choir, but I didn't have much time to practice our songs, so when we all went up, I just lip-synched the music. I must have done a great job doing so, because a woman later told me I did amazing and had a wonderful voice.

Today was nice, because we had a zone party where we are cereal and played dodgeball. I got some white fudge-covered Oreos today and they're amazing. Try some. No right now, go to the store and buy them right now because they're amazing and they deserve your money. 

It's been a crazy week overall. Love you guys! 

Elder Keddington (R)

We are ecstatic at the difference we see in this guy today!  It's no secret that he had a very rough start to his missionary service in Portland and early last week, he was ready to hop on a plane and come home.  This letter makes my heart jump for joy as we are seeing his humor return and see that he is getting into the mission.  Connor has been blessed with a wonderful Mission President and Mission mom, who are receptive to the needs of the missionaries in their care and work closely with those needing extra help.  We love them for taking great care of our struggling Greenie.  Connor, Matt and I know that there have been many people who have remembered him in your prayers are we are more grateful than we can ever say.  We are so proud of  him and know that he has wonderful things to accomplish!

Their sweet ride

That MTC district will hold a special place in his heart, always!

A Bit of A Rough Start

Saying goodbye to a great district

Hi Mom!

Woof. What a week. A lot had happened so this will be a long email. Please forgive me. 

Our last days in the MTC were nice; we took a picture with our teachers and got to have some Utah snow before all the rain of Portland! We got on a bus and as we left the MTC, we passed a Taco Bell. Everyone started applauding and cheering like it was some kind of celebrity. Then we got on the front-runner and made our way north. I saw or neighborhood from the train window, which kinda sucked because it triggered my homesickness like none other. We got on Trax and went to the airport. That was pretty weird, because all the TSA agents called us "Elder". We had Cafe Rio at the airport and that was amazing- first real food in 3 weeks. The plane ride here was nice, and we were greeted with rain. President and Sister Bullen greeted us at PDX, but he just kinda said "Welcome Elders" then immediately walked over to talk with the sisters and his wife. Not exactly the warm welcome we were expecting. 

We drove to a church building and had a like initiation, like taking vitamin d3 every day to avoid crippling depression. We went into the chapel and met our trainers. Mine was Elder Evans from Pleasant Grove, whose only been out 3 months. We said a tearful goodbye as a MTC district, and we went to our apartments.

The first night I kept waking up because of my anxiety and so I didn't sleep too well. Then that day i was crossing between sidewalks and a car didn't stop for me. I got hit. I tried to hop off my bike, but my left leg gave way under me. I hopped up, adrenaline coursing through me, and apologized to the man. He had a little kid in the passenger seat, and i didn't want to make the situation worse, so I just kinda shook his hand and he was off. My pant leg ripped in the process, so that sucked. My bike was fine, but it is so small and had such a skinny seat that riding it hurt a lot. We were riding back to our apartment, and I felt so discouraged about everything that had happened in the past 24 hours that I just started bawling. I was so drained I almost fell asleep in our last meeting. It was a hard first day.

The next day I found that riding my bike really hurt my leg, so we had to stay inside most of the day, but we went tracting; something they say never works here, and no one was interested. By day 3 I was so discouraged. I said the biggest and most fervent prayer in my life that morning, and it was so emotional, I nearly passed out afterward. We got me a knee brace, which helped a bit but was really uncomfortable, and I'm gong to the doctor later today for a checkup on my leg. 

I emailed President Bullen and asked for a priesthood blessing, because of my leg and my depressed heart. He gave me one and blessed me with strength and comfort. It helped my heart settle a bit. They can't get me a car, so we've had to walk and get rides everywhere. I feel like such a burden to my companion sometimes. We had dinner with some members Saturday night, so that was very nice. After dinner, we went to this one lady's house, but she wasn't home and it started raining. We began to walk the 2.5 miles back home when some members happened to be driving out for date night and gave us a ride. Tender mercy. 

Sunday here was very nice. We get rides to church, and we started with choir practice. The choir director is Sister Semon, and she's been very nice to us, giving us treats from a bakery. Elder Evans is practicing a choir song with her for Christmas. Church overall went well, but after 3 weeks in the MTC, I forgot about the whole "3 hours thing". After church we went to dinner with the Caziers in the ward, and then we taught a lady named Gina. She wants to be baptized but is worried about what will happen to her sister in Afghanistan if she is. We just talked about church and priesthood with her. 

Overall, this has been the hardest week of my life so far, and it's only week one baby. Oof. Hope my humor comes back to me soon. No one laughs at my sarcasm out here.

All my love, 

Elder Keddington (U)

Good memories were made here

Jesus knocking

Snow in the MTC

A great district

Elder Evans practicing for Christmas

Almost Outta Here!

The mission in pictures

It's been a great week. On Halloween, we used those glasses you sent to prank our teacher, Sister Hanshaw. She turned around to turn on some music, and we threw them on. She laughed pretty hard about it. Not much happened out of the ordinary here, and our TRC's went well. On Thursday night, some of the guys in our district were joking around about some stuff that they probably shouldn't have been. The next morning, Elder Anderson kinda called 'em out on it in front of the sisters. There was a lot of tension between the district after that, and we had to have a meeting about it afterward. I don't remember a lot of what was said, but we Elders grew stronger because we opened up about how we really felt about everything. So that was pretty neat. On Sunday, we heard from Mitch Davis, who directed The Other Side of Heaven, Christmas Eve, and The Stray. He talked about losing yourself in the work and letting it change you. It was great. Elder Anderson and Elder Ayre are performing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" at this Sunday's devotional, so tune in if you can.

I love the "Sodalicious" costume. Clever, very clever. Looks like it was a fun Halloween back home. I'm glad you're enjoying your job, because you were made for that line of work. We kind of celebrated Halloween here. We all got into "costumes" and went dorm-to-dorm Trick r' Treating. For some reason, we all started singing the national anthem, and it was so loud and patriotic. Not sure what it had to do with Halloween, but hey.

I got to be a Host Missionary for new arrivals at the MTC, and I hosted Elder Chugg, who's going to the Philippines, and Elder Palesh who's going to Eugene, Oregon. One of the new Elders, Elder Schneiter, is way chill. We made drawings of him, and they're pretty great. Speaking of drawings, I got to educate the people in my district about some of the in-joke characters Caden and I made. It was really nice. I'm always educating my district about Doctor Who. I'm pretty sure I could serve a Doctor Who mission if I needed. "Will you commit to watch Doctor Who, not skipping nine, and agreeing that bowties are cool?" Yeah, that'd be great ;). I got some great packages, and it was overall a great week. Ready to head out of here Wednesday morning.

"K-A-T I'm outta here"

Elder Keddington (S)

 

We're excited for him to be able to get into the field and get to work.  I think great things are coming!

 

Elders Sonne, Rowe, Schneiter, Benesch, Hunt and Keddington

Makeshift Halloween costumes

Trick or treating with the National Anthem

Lloyd - the District Mascot

 

Finding the MTC groove

Hey Mom!

Man, it's already been a week? That's crazy. So many things have happened over this past week, so this may be a longer email, but hey, Sean was a good bad example ;)

I'll start off with the business stuff. We started TRC Investigators this week, which are essentially BYU students that come here to be taught by missionaries as a part-time job. Some are members, some aren't, but we have to meet with each one 4 times a week. Elder Benesch and I had two girls, Arielle and Emily. Emily was a challenge, because she didn't really believe in God and didn't like praying, so we had to share our testimonies on the power of prayer with her. One day, she said she was wondering how she could feel peaceful, and how mormons are always so happy. We basically told her about priesthood blessings and personal prayers, and how they help us. She seemed interested in that. Arielle, on the other hand, had faith that God existed, and that he loved us. We thought all of her lessons would be a breeze, but one day, she came in all depressed and said she was having a hard time in school and felt worthless and unloved. We were really touched by this and taught her about the atonement and how Jesus suffered all of our sorrows and pains, and how he understands them perfectly. It really seemed to lift her up, and by the next lesson she was gleeful and even said the closing prayer. We have 2 new ones this week, Scott and Daryl (who's female), so we'll see how that goes. We heard from Matthew Holland and Elder Stevenson of the twelve this week. They each gave great talks and our district was talking about them afterward.

Okay now the fun stuff. Remember that alarm clock you got me? The really old-fashioned one? Well he's a LOT louder than we expected, and we all nearly had a heart attack the first morning we used him. We named him "Big Ben", and now he haunts our residence. We sleep in fear every night, knowing that he could shriek silver screams in our ears at any second. Elder Hunt's mom sent him a pumpkin, who we now call "Harold". He protects us as long as we keep things spooky. Elder Anderson and Elder Ayre are a bit girl-crazy, always admiring Sisters from afar. Speaking of crazy, the district down our hall is insane, worshiping their "Bro Code" and punishing all who violate it, even without knowledge of doing so. We get gym time every day, and Elder Benesch and I dominate at volleyball, but one day I just didn't have the sauce, y'know? So I missed a ball and it got kicked into my face accidentally and my nose started bleeding. We were laughing about it for a while. We're always up late at night because we're laughing so hard, and the Sisters in our district have no idea why we're giggling at the breakfast table. It's going to be weird leaving here a week from Wednesday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAIA! (our little doggie)  I hope you got spoiled, and got all the presents you asked for! I miss you so much, and all the Sisters in my district think you're adorable. (Btw, I started the joke of calling the Sisters "Seesters", so credit to me on that one)

Well, I'm going to spend the next week trying to burn that picture of Dad out of my mind with bleach, so wish me luck on that!  (I sent him a picture of Matt's ridiculous Roller Derby halloween costume)

Allons-y!

Elder Keddington (E)

 

ALSO! There was a man ushering at the devotionals who looks exactly like Donald Trump. He had the weird hair and everything.

 

It's so great to hear that he is finding his way at the MTC - and is loving it!  Lots of prayers were offered on his behalf to help him with his homesickness and Heavenly Father answered them abundantly.  We are so very grateful!

 

Our district with Big Ben

Glasses from his Halloween Package

America

Some cool, bronzed, worn-out missionary shoes

Matthew Holland

Harold

 

 

 

A whole new world!

Hi Mom! 

The MTC is WAY different than I thought it would be. The first few days are so hard for someone who doesn't socialize much like me, but as long as you're friends with your companion/district, you'll get better each day. I've already had so many cool experiences here, it's unreal. I was feeling really depressed and had major anxiety the first day here, so when we met our Branch Presidency on the second night, I asked the First Counselor Brother Hoggan (hoag-un) to give me a blessing. I still get a bit sad every now and then, but I remember the blessing he gave me and my district supports me a lot. We had a class with one of our teachers, Sister Hanshaw, and I really opened up and said I was grateful for their friendship and to be in their company. That made Sister Hanshaw a bit teary-eyed. 

My companion is Elder Benesch (ben-ish) and he's from Farmington. He really likes to ski and do outdoorsy stuff. He's kinda like a mix of Austin Bush and Caden's brother Tanner. We have ten people in our district; six elders and four sisters. besides me and Elder Benesch, there's Elder Hunt (who has the most contagious laugh), Elder Sonne (like 'Johnny'. He's really funny and cool), Elder Ayre (who has apparently been to our house, but neither of us remember such a thing), and our district leader, Elder Anderson. He's done one year at BYU and he's the most genuine guy I've ever met. He cares about all of us, and it's amazing. We all love joking around and talking about movies, specifically dumb ones like Hot Rod :D

The sisters are Sister Udy (yoo-dee), who's really sarcastic and chill, Sister Robinson, who's really bubbly and funny, Sister Freeman, who has a really strong spirit about her, and Sister Beverlin, who's the oldest out of any of us. She's pretty quiet but she too has a strong spirit. 

These new buildings at the MTC are HUGE and amazing. There's a mural on each floor of different things; like Moses walking with the people of Israel through the parted sea, or Nephi praying to know how to help his family. I have pictures of them, but they're on my camera, which I can't connect to the computer, so I'll have to send them later.

The Cafeteria is pretty good. There's a new item every meal, and we haven't had the same thing twice yet. There's a drink wall with all sorts of juices, sodas, and milks. Everyone goes for chocolate milk. We usualy have classes during our day, and they go for about three hours at atime, but it never feels like a drag. Our other teacher, Brother McKenzie, shares funny stories.  We scheduled meetings with practice investigators yesterday, and one of them, Emily, has been to London and found a TARDIS on the sidewalk just sitting there. I'm jealous. 

It's been a really good few days so far! I still get a bit homesick, but I know it'll get better. I'll try and get a picture with Brother Hoggan, and i'll send the pictures from my tablet rightly.

Love,

Elder Connor Keddington (B)

Shower Hair

Class with Brother McKenzie

A Familiar Flag (Ghana)

Elders Benesch and Keddington

Big 'Ol Daddy Long Legs

Temple Trip

Dr. Pepper is always watching...what a creeper!

Elders Benesch, Keddington, Hunt, Sonne, Anderson, Ayre and Sisters Beverlin, Freeman, Udy, & Robinson

Mission: Day 1

Today, Elder Connor Keddington began serving his mission.  He has been called to serve in the Oregon Portland Mission.  He is excited and we are excited for him.  It's never easy to send them off, but we have a much different perspective on it this time around.  By the time we got home from dropping him off, we had an email waiting:

Alrighty then. I've made it to the MTC in one piece. My P-Days here are on Saturday, so a bit different. It's pretty nice here so far, but the boys in my room left me with the top bunk; their mistake. Hopefully all transpires well here and I do well in my classes. I'll bring home a good Report Card.

This has been: Connor's First Email Home.

Sincerely,

Elder Connor Keddington (B)

 

This kid has a great sense of humor and is going to be a great missionary!

 

 

Elder Hodson was his host

c