What an exciting week! Baptisms always makes the week better.

Dear Mother!

Yeah, it was awesome! Ariel Flores was baptized and confirmed! It was a powerful experience! Her husband, Nick Flores, baptized her and when she came up out of the water she started to cry and hugged him! It was a powerful moment to see! I love them and they love us! =) She was very prepared by the Lord. All we had to do basically was teach the lessons and answer her questions! I love them! And it was cool to get a baptism with my trainee! I didn't get a baptism with my trainer! It was awesome! We don't really have anyone else as of right now.  It sucks, but it happens. This week we are focused on finding new investigators! We have a couple of referrals that might be legit! It's going to be awesome!

Yep, I will be home for Super Bowl Sunday!  I was in the MTC when the Giants and Patriots played each other again! So Super Bowl Sunday should be fun! =D

I was terrible at learning our ward members names before I left on my mission so I feel like I'm not going to know anybody's name when I get home! But that's sad that so many families are moving out of the ward.

The Long Beach area is around 70 degrees right now but it has been very foggy and cloudy for the last week! 

So onto my week.

Monday the 2nd

We had our Christmas Zone Conference! It was my last one of the mission and so I got to bare my testimony since I was one of the older ones! There are only 3 of us that this was our last Zone Conference!

Tuesday the 3rd

P-day

This day was so fun! We ended up playing Sand Volleyball and it was just a blast all the Elders from Gulfport played and it was just so fun! hahahaha I enjoyed myself!

Wednesday the 4th

So today we tracted and we had Ariel's interview today by one of the Zone Leaders Elder Palmieri! It was awesome!

Thursday the 5th

We tracted today also! And we ended up running into this guy and his wife that was from Russia! He went on for like an hour about how Russia is so much betther than the USA! A thought came to mind! If it is so much better why is he here in Long Beach, Mississippi in the USA! hahaha It was a good day, anyway! We went over to the Flores' to have dinner and I decided I would cook for them! I made them some fried chicken tenders and they were pretty good!

Friday the 6th

Today was a very slow day nothing happened except we had correlation meeting with our ward mission leader.  He came and picked us up and it was good!

Saturday the 7th 

Baptism of Ariel Flores! It was awesome! It was my 9th one that I have helped out with =) Love it! Anyways, It was fantastic! Oh and right afterwards we got a chance to meet a member of the quorum of the seventy Elder Zwick! It was an awesome experience like they all are! I loved it! And then after that we had dinner with the Flores' family! 

Sunday the 8th

Ariel was confirmed what an exciting week! Baptisms always makes the week much better! =)

Well I will end there!

I love you and hope all is well!

love your Son

Elder Kerr


December 3rd

Dear Mother

So I will give you an update on the last 2 weeks.

For the week of the 18th - 24th of November

I had my first gator for the celebration of Elder Fisher's birthday! It was good but very chewy!!! hahaha I can now say that I have eaten gator! Love it!

We also have been working hard with Ariel Flores to be baptized on the 7th of December! We are so excited! I cant wait! Again this week we had interviews with President McDonough! He is doing something new! He is going to be doing interviews every transfer now and not just every other one! It was good as always! We also did a lot of tracting this week!  On this one street I was just out of it! At this 1 door this like 17 year old girl answered the door and I started talking to her! Then I tell her we are Mormons! (Then I don't know what I was thinking but then I ask her) Are you Mormon? hahahahahahahahaha! We had a good laugh. I trip over my words all the time when tracting! hahaha but it was a funny experience! I think we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon! hahaha Good stuff!

Week of the 25th of November - the 1st of December!

We taught Ariel Flores some more! Then we went on exchanges with Elder Jones! He is a brand new missionary! Only been out about 4 weeks! Did some service for Jim Head and saw a couple of less actives! It was good! Anyways we went to DDM on Wednesday and I even taught because Elder Paul our DL asked me to share a little message! It was fun just like old times! I love it!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We ate at the Bishops and we hung out there for a while just had a fantastic time hahaha I loved it, so many laughs! Elder Fisher and I were just messing with his older daughters the Whole day so funny! Our Bishop here is awesome! Loved it a lot! Bishop even turned on the TV and watched a little football good stuff! Anyways later that night we went to the Slattens for another Thanksgiving dinner! It was good to! It was kind of a slower week because of the Holidays but it was good!

We had a zone Conference as well this last Monday the 2nd! It was awesome! My last one at that! And usually if its your last one they have you bare your testimony! It was a crazy thing! I was like I can't believe this is it my last zone conference! I almost teared up but I didn't! It was awesome! hahaha I got your letters by the way! So thank you so much! And Dads! My next transfer day is the 17th of December and I have no idea if I am going to leave or not! So it would be best to send things so it gets to me before the 17th or wait until after so I can let you know if my address has changed.  I am going to need to send some stuff home! 

Well I think I will end there!

I love you

And I hope all is well

Love your son 
Elder Kerr

November 12, 2013

Let grandma Sharon know I got her package and I loved it! Always do! Tell her thank you so much!.

 

So this week was a decent week! I loved it (except for the end D= )

We have a new investigator/ part member family we are working with! The Flores family, Ariel Flores to be exact. They invited us over for dinner last Friday and she told us she was interested in learning more. We answered some of her questions and then we went over The Plan of Salvation. It was so exciting! She is way legit and golden. Hopefully, she will make that commitment.

Saturday and Sunday were very crappy days for me. I was sick (still am pretty sick) I either have a stomach virus or a stomach ulcer. Either way my stomach is killing me and I have been in pain these last couple of days and haven't been able to work sadly! I hate it but oh well. I forgot my planner again. So I wont be giving a very detailed email this time. Love ya

I always enjoy my time with the President, he is just a loving guy!

October 28th - November 3rd

 

Dear Mother,

I sent Megan's letter off yesterday so it will be there soon.  We have been invited for Thanksgiving by a couple of people! It's going to be a blast! I can't wait to eat some turkey and gravy! It's going to be good! That is very awesome that Dad built a shed with the wood that he took down from next to the garage! Thats awesome! I feel I have potiential with that talent, I just need to develop it! I hope so anyways! Who is the new Elders Quorum presidency?

For Halloween Elder Fisher and I went to Walmart for a bit and ate out at this small chinese resturant! Later that night we ate at a pizza buffet with all the missionaries! Sister Wood took us out to dinner. It was great!  But we can't really do much on Halloween as missionaries and the ward didn't have a trunk or treat, sadly!

 

Here is my detailed email

 

Monday the 28th

We had our P-day today and we ended up going to Jefferson Davis's house, the President of the Confederate Army, for a tour. It was pretty cool and they had a gift shop of all kinds of confederate stuff! Brother Wade took all of the Gulfport Ward missionaries there. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed it!! After that we went to do our emails and that was basically our day! It was fun!

Tuesday the 29th

Today we had a crazy day! We tracted and found a few potentials. Then we had an appointment with a former investigator named Michael and holy crap it was crazy.  According to Michael, their were like 16 FLDS members (or someone) that dressed up like Mormon missionaries who were giving out The Book of Mormon and the same pamphlets that we give out. But then they were forcing their way through doors and saying you will listen to our message! Anyway this Michael got way mad about it and was telling us that he hired some people to take them out! I'm just like, WHAT?! This guy is crazy hahaha anyways after all this we just kept on encouraging him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. After that we went over to the Smith's and had dinner. It was way good! They had the work and the Glory movie on. Those Movies are way good! Then we headed home!

Wednesday the 30th

Today we had interviews with President! I always enjoy my time with President, he is just such a loving guy! And I love him! He is a great example to me! We talked about the short time that I have left and that this needs to be "THE SPRINT TO THE FINISH LINE!" During interviews we also had our District Meeting! It was awesome! Loved it! Afterwards we went to Chili's for dinner! GOOD DAY!

Thursday the 31st

Halloween!! My 2nd one in the mission and my last one as well! Sadly we couldn't really do anything today! We basically went out to eat at a Chinese buffet in Long Beach. Then we went to Walmart and later that night we went to a pizza buffet with all the missionaries in the Gulfport ward! Sister Wood took us! It was fun and good! Then we went home!

Friday the 1st

21 MONTHS out for me! I cant believe that I have been out this long! It has gone by so fast! I will be home before anybody knows it! I'm getting excited! Today we did a bunch of tracting and then we went to the Hauserbergers for dinner and had a really good Roast beef dinner (not quite as good as the ones we had back home on Sundays! :D) Anyways, it was good! Then we went to coorelation meeting and then home!

Saturday the 2nd

Today we had a Chili cook off in our ward, the Fall Festival! It was fantastic and the missionaries were the judges of the Chili and we had to choose who won out of the 9 different chili's! It was fun and good! Jim Head, an investigator of ours, that we have been helping with yard work showed up and loved it! He enjoyed all of it! He talked with a bunch of different members! It was great!

Sunday the 3rd

CHURCH! It was good as usual! Afterwards we went out and tracted a few streets and then later that night we went and had dinner at a recent converts house named Michael. He was baptized the same time as Daniel and Howard! It was like a going away party for the missionaries that were leaving the Ward! This is week 6 and people are being transferred from the district! It was a sad time for some but not so much for me.  I'm so use to having people leave and getting new guys! Love them all though! While we were waiting, there was this older lady named Penny, a less active member of the church. We were just having a grand old time with her! She was a loose cannon! So much random stuff comes out of her mouth hahaha! Loved it! Such a sweet lady!

Well that was my week! I love you all and remember the church is true!

Love

Elder Kerr

The Church is true and the Spirit lead him to talk to us!

October 21st-27th

 

Dear Mother,

     I will let you know when I get Grandma's package! I probably got it today but I haven't been home to check the mail yet.  Training is going great, I love Elder Fisher! We haven't heard anymore about the baby we blessed and we will try meeting with the Baptist this week.  So this week was an interesting week to say the least.

Monday the 21st

We had our P-Day! We played some basketball and hung out with the other missionaries! It was a lot of fun! Then later that night we went on exchanges. Elder Paul and I went to Long Beach! We had a blast! And also I had my very 1st BIG MAC hahahahahaha. Kinda weird to think about but I had my very first one today and it wasn't bad hahaha. Anyways, that's that. Paul and I went home and started planning and then realized that we were suppose to give a guy in the ICU a blessing today, totally forgot! So we rushed straight to the hospital! It was crazy but it wasn't too serious! He was doing fine but we gave him one anyway. Then we went home and talked all night about all types of stuff back home and in the mission.

Tuesday the 22nd

So today was the official exchange day! It was way fun! We went out and heading home because a senior couple was expecting the apartments today.  We road by a missionary Baptist church and we noticed that they were having a funeral and so we thought. "Hey we are clergy we should go pay our respects".  We went in and were told that it didn't start until 1. So we head home and get the apartment checked! Then we head back to the church at 1. And holy crap that was the 1st time I've gone to a different church and it was so extremely different than what I'm use to! hahaha! There is something called prayer talking down here. Where during the prayer people are just yelling out loud!. "YES LORD!" "AMEN" "THANK YOU LORD!" (I"m totally going to start doing this when I get home!) hahaha  Then the pastor got up to speak! He just went off yelling!! IF YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS YOU WILL BE SAVED AND IF IT WASNT FOR JESUS WE WOULD ALL GO TO HELL AND IN HIS NAME WE CAN RETURN TO THE FATHER!! Just all kind of stuff and yelling until he was blue in the face! I thought the he was going to blow and then he busts out in song! hahahaha I was just like holy crap! I felt the spirit on that one, ha! Right in my ear hahaha! People standing up clapping! Yelling Amen! I tried to be reverent! There is no such thing as being reverent in that church! hahaha good stuff!

Anyways, after that we went to a place called Lil's rays! And I had my 1st Po-Boy! And the legend behind the Po-Boy is that it started in New Orleans! They were sold for a nickel for the poor people that could barely feed themselves! It's just some bread, meat, lettuce, mayo and tomatoes! It was pretty good! Then we met with a bunch of different people and it was a decent and adventurous day! I loved it!
Wednesday the 23rd!

Today we had our DDM and then did our practicing afterwards! It was good but it took up a lot of the day! We ended up double working South Gulfport and then went to dinner! Which was another great time! I loved it over there! I haven't laughed that hard for a while! We were just giving people a hard time through out hahaha!

Thursday the 24th

We ended up doing service for this guy named JIM HEAD.  It basically took the whole day! A lot of yard work! I officially hate vines now! HATE THEM HAHAHA! They're a pain to clean up! He is an older guy (in his 70's) and since we are helping him he wanted to learn more about our church. He is going to come to church and we are going to start teaching him, hopefully! Anyways, we basically helped him get his yard all put together and took out vines and weeds! He has a hard time doing that stuff! And that was our day!

Friday the 25th

We went back to Jim Heads and helped him some more! It didn't last all day but we basically did the same stuff as the day before! But we had a really cool experience today! We went to Subway for dinner and we were just sitting there enjoying our food and a guy walks by and heads to the restroom. When he returns, he comes up to us and says, "Hey, what do you guys do exactly?" We told him that we are missionaries and we talk about our church. Then he was like, "This is going to sound weird but.." And I'm thinking, oh boy, here comes some guy to try to argue with us about our beliefs!" But he said! "Something told me to come and talk to you guys!" And I'm just like no way hahahaha! He said that he was going through a difficult time and that he has never been great with God and wanted to make things right! He asked for our phone number and we got his info and before he leaves he tells us "PLEASE CALL" And so I'm just like this is legit hahaha! Love it! The Church is true and the spirit lead him to talk to us!

Saturday the 26th

So today I wasn't feeling really good and the same with Sunday the 27th so we didn't do much! But at church we had the primary program and that brought tears to my eyes! The spirit is strong with the children especially when they sing! You can really feel that GOD loves all of his children no matter what they do! It was way awesome!

That was my week! PRETTY AWESOME!

 

 

 

October 14th-20th

 

Dear Mother,

 

This was my week 4 of my 1st transfer training!

 

Monday the 14th

We had our P-day and we had a good time doing our usual P-day stuff! Playing basketball and hanging out with the other missionaries! Loved it! We ended up going to Academy Sports and Elder Paul bought some Golf Khakis which were so nice.  I don't know if you heard but the missionary attire has been changed and missionaries are able to where Khakis now and lighter colored clothes! Not like crazy colors but just lighter! So I definitely want some nice Khaki's. And you might think I'm crazy but when I get home I want to get a Khaki suit hahaha! I just think it would be way cool! Anyways, at the end of the day we went on exchanges! Elder Kent came down to Long Beach with me. We headed to bed after that.

Tuesday the 15th

Today we had an appointment with this guy named Michael. He is a former investigator, and he called us and wanted us to come by.  So we did. Now I had heard of this guy before from Elder Henrie who said he was weird so I was like, oh boy! But we went and we discussed! And the whole time he was trying to show us up with the Bible.  Pulling out the Revelation scripture on us to try to prove The Book of Mormon was false! I"m just thinking people really don't know what the Bible is down here or where it came from. There is a scripture at the end of Revelations where it says that if any man should add or take away from this book he shall be cursed and they think its referring to the Whole Bible! The Bible isn't just 1 book, it's a collection of books! But some people down here believe that GOD wrote the bible himself! Like he himself wrote everything in it! Hahaha it's crazy, but we were able to explain and challenge him and his friend to read and pray about The Book of Mormon! After that we went up to Brother McDaniel's and had Lasagna for dinner! It was good! When we were talking with him I could feel the spirit strongly! It was interesting because when you 1st meet him you wouldn't think he would be so spiritual!

Wednesday the 16th

Today was our Zone Meeting where the whole Zone got together and the Zone Leaders taught us! Afterwards we went and had lunch and then practiced. That basically took up the entire day! It was crazy! When we got back it was time to go to our dinner appointment! We had red beans and rice! Now that's a southern meal that I LOVE!!! Red Beans and rice, good southern cooking! LOVE IT!

Thursday the 17th

We did our weekly planning today! Then we went out tracting most of the day! We found 2 potentials! One names Shawn Pratt and the other's named Jay! I was pretty stoked! We hope to see them again and they seemed legit! Jay just walked right out to us and just started talking with us! It was awesome! Later that day we went to Bishop's for dinner! They fed us Hamburgers! Nothing beats a good old hamburger! Then we watched this old missionary movie which was really good!

Friday the 18th

So today we also did a lot of tracting not too much success but we did find a potential! I hope that she does well!  Today was a really cool day! It's starting to really cool off and I like it! I might not ever have to live through a hot humid summer again hahaha! It's weird to think that I will be home before spring hits! (That's crazy stuff!) We then went over to the Slatten's for dinner and had a good time there! After that we went to coorelation meeting and that was fun!

Saturday the 19th

Today we went out to Lunch with Sister Wood! Well, all of the missionaries did! Tjen we went to get Elder Fishers bike fixed and that took about an hour! Anyways, after that I wasn't feeling to good! That sucked and so we basically just went back to the pad and rested a bit!

Sunday the 20th

We had church and Daniel Reilly spoke today.  He's one of my baptisms with Elder Henrie! It was awesome! ( I don't know if I told you but Daniel, in a year is thinking about going on a mission!) I was way excited to here that he might go! I hope he does! :) ) Anyways, we did some tracting again today but nothing! We went and taught this guy named Michael and we had a fantastic lesson! We talked about faith. The spirit was really working because our intentions were to teach The Plan but we ended up talking about Faith! Next time we teach he is going to try to get his family in! We committed his family to try and come to church next Sunday! I'm super excited for this family! I hope we can help him do it! :) The church is true! It just is!

Well I'll end there.  I hope all is well back home and I love you and miss you all!!

Love

Elder Kerr

 

We put our hands on the baby's head. . . . . and the spirit rushed into the room.

Dear Mother.

Not a whole lot of detail for this week because it was a slower week but it was a decent one though. We had a couple of good experiences! We met with Frank again this week and taught him the Plan of Salvation. That went really well. He told us he is still very interested and that he is going to read and pray more. He was talking with us and I'm pretty sure that he already has his answer but just doesn't know it yet. Anyways, we also found out that he won't be in Long Beach anymore! He will be moving to Gulfport so the other missionaries will be teaching him the rest of the lessons! Which is fine, I just want to see him join the church. =)

We also had an oppurtunity to go to the hospital to give a newborn baby a blessing. He wasn't doing so good. I had never given a blessing to a baby. They had him in a separate room to make sure he wouldn't catch anything. I don't even think the parents had a chance to hold him yet. Anyways, we went in and the doctors were hesitant at first but they let us in.  We walked in and saw this newborn baby just laying there and he looks directly at us and starts crying a little.  We put our hands on the babys head as gently as possible and I gave him a blessing. At first he started to cry but as we got further into it he stopped crying.  And then the spirit rushed into the room and it was so strong. One of the times in my life that I have felt it the strongest! I finished the blessing and he was looking right at me with the most peaceful eyes I have ever seen. It was like he knew everything was going to be alright. And that he knew that we were there to help him. It was the most undescribable feeling! But I left there knowing even more that there is a God! I was tearing up the whole way out of the Hospital I couldn't hold back my tears. =) It was an amazing experience! It strenghened my testimony of God even more!

Another experience we had this week. On Saturday we went out tracting and ran into this hard core Baptist. He was telling us that our religion is wrong. I told him straight up that we weren't there to argue with him! And from that point on the spirit took over and we were able to explain to him about The Book of Mormon. He accepted a Book and we challenged him to read and pray! When we testified even his apperence changed and it seemed like he was tearing up a bit! It was another cool experience, another time where the spirit was so very strong! I can't even remember most of the things we even talked about! Anyways, that was our week!

I love ya and I hope all is well.

The CHURCH IS TRUE!!

Love

Elder Kerr

I sure did LOVE conference, I always do now!

 

Dear Mother!

I sure did love conference! I really loved it! I always do now! It's hard to say what my favorite talk was, I loved them all. I have been trying to let the Holy Ghost teach me while listening lately. So when I write notes it's just whatever the Holy Ghost brings to my mind. Sometimes it's something that has to do with what they're speaking about and sometimes my notes are nothing to do with what they were talking about! It's actually really cool when you do it this way! Anyways, I did really like the talk by President Monson in the Priesthood session! It was way awesome and I loved it! He was talking about Home Teaching! I love President Monson!

Yep, I love Steve's Blondie's! So good hahahaha I ate them right up! I was so stoked opening that package and seeing them there hahahahaha good stuff! Thanks Steve! So on to my week!

Monday the 30th

P-Day! We had a great p-day! played some volleyball and surprisingly some Soccer, hahaha, I suck at Soccer but it was a lot of fun! We didn't have a basketball so we weren't able to play any B-ball! We went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant and emailed and that was about it! It was good stuff!

Tuesday the 1st

So today we tracted a ton but didn't really get much, in fact, we went up to one door and a lady comes running out and is like what church are you guys from? "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints" GO AWAY!!!!! hahahaha and we saw a few other people outside their houses and then went in when they saw us and wouldn't open the door when we knocked hahaha Oh well, hopefully the Lord will soften their hearts one day!

Today we had an appointment with a guy named Frank that we found tracting.  We taught him The Restoration. The Lesson went great! Elder Fisher is a great teacher already! He is like 50 times better at teaching then I was when I first started teaching! I didn't even speak! hahaha But we had a great lesson and he was really interested in learning more so we are going back in a week to see what he like about The Book of Mormon!

Wednesday the 2nd!

We had district meeting held my Elder Paul out District Leader! We had a good lesson on finding investigators mixed in with planning to find them! It was good! We then went to Raising Canes for lunch! I'm going to miss Raising Canes so much when I leave here! After that we went and practiced teaching and then went back home. Later that day the Waits brought us food and it was Pizza Hut! Good stuff! We also got a referral for a Micheal Parrow! We were excited for that!

Thursday the 3rd!

So today we went out to see a bunch of less actives! And did a lot of tracting! It was good but not much came from it! I felt good because I was working way hard but sad because not much came out of it! Oh well, we did find a potiential! That will be exciting! Then we went and ate at Subway! I'm greatful to get free subway once a week here! hahaha good stuff!

Friday the 4th!

So today sucked because my front bike tire went flat and there was no fixing it! We had to walk all the way to Walmart and back to get a tube! We got it and fixed it up and then we went and did some tracting. We met with the referral that we received the other day and him and his family seem way legit! I'm way excited to teach them! After that it was pretty late! We were picked up by the south Gulfport missionaries and spent the night there so we could go to the church in the morning to watch conference and play ball! It was way awesome!

Saturday the 5th

We got up played some backetball and went and watched conference all day! It was a lot of fun. The hurricane sucked, we had a couple of rainstorms here and there, a couple of really dark clouds went by but nothing much at all.   I was disappointed hahahaha! But General Conference was legit and I loved every minute of it! We were fed some pizza in between and then had some rootbeer floats after priesthood!

Sunday the 6th

It was the same good stuff and then afterwards we went to the Harper's for dinner and we were basically done for the day! It was a good week! And I loved Conference! It's the best! And it is my last conference in the mission the 4th and final one in my mission! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Doubt your doubts, don't doubt your Faith!

love

Elder Kerr

 

 

 

 

Sept 23rd - 29th

Dear Mother

So we had a pretty good first week Elder Henrie's last day was Monday the 23rd.  We basically just did things that Elder Henrie wanted to do! We went around so Elder Henrie could say his goodbyes. I also got my haircut professionally, this is the first in the mission field. The last time I did that was in the MTC. HAHAHA. It was good! Sister Slatten usually does my haircuts for me! I love it!

Tuesday the 24th

Transfer day! I said goodbye to Elder Henrie and Elder Mossman, who were leaving the District. Then basically just hung out at the church all day until the new missionaries got there. Got a text message saying that I would be training Elder Fisher. He came in and he is a way awesome guy. He just barely graduated High School so he is about Megan's age. He's part Tongan, he loves sports and especially Rugby! A sport that I really want to try out when I get home. Sounds way fun. hahaha. We had a dinner appointment with the Clawson family. His first dinner appointment with the guy who played for the BYU football ( I think I told you guys about him, he was the one that took Sam Bradford with a broken collar bone!) haha anyways it was good. I was planning on taking Elder Fisher tracting right away but it was raining super hard all day! It kinda sucked! Oh well, we went to the pad and he unpacked and we then planned!

Wednesday the 25th

District meeting today! It was a great meeting with our new District Leader Elder Paul. He has been out about 8 months or so! He is way cool. So I guess president wants young leadership in the mission. I guess he doesn't want missionaries going home as leadership anymore. We have a lot of young leadership. Anyways after the meeting we went out to lunch and then we went out to see Howard and the Smiths! After that we went out tracting for the first time and surprisingly the first door we knocked on, the guy is a less active Mormon hahahahaha. I was like well that's convenient! His name was Gilbert Dasiova and we are going to try to come back and see him. Anyways, we didn't have a lot of success but we got a return appointment with a guy named Tim. We lent him a copy of The Book of Mormon and got a return appointment! We will see where that takes us!  He was pretty dang nervous! But so is everyone really there first time haha! After that we went to see the Slattens. Some really cool members and we talked with them for a bit. Sister Slatten loves missionaries coming over (she was the one to cut my hair) and we got to talk to her for a bit.  After that not much happened but it was a pretty good day to break him into missionary work.

Thursday the 26th

Now today was not a good day we went tracting and got nothing we tried a bunch of people and no one was home. But the Gulfport South missionaries hadn't emailed yet so we went and picked them up and took them to the library. Then we went to the Stevenson's for dinner and they made us MANTI TURKEY!!!!!!  I WAS LIKE, YES!!! I REMEMBER GRANDMA SHARON MAKING THIS FOR US! It was GREAT hahahaha!

Friday the 27th

We did our Weekly Planning! It was kinda slow because basically I was trying to show Elder Fisher how to do it and he was basically making the decisions. But it made sense, he's brand new but he definitely is catching on.  Then we went and tried contacting this referral that we received! She was hesitant at first but we lent here The Book of Mormon and got a return appointment with her so, hopefully, she is solid!  Then we went and got subway because we get free Subway once a week here in this ward! It is sick!!! Love it! We did quite a bit of tracting today, it was good! We did about an hour and a half tracting which can be a long time. But we tracted this big long street! Mt. Bass! And really for most the part no luck but we were going to this house and for some reason I thought this guy was going to yell at us so I was hesitant! But I said a prayer and we went anyways and he comes out and is like, "I'm not interested in anything you're selling boys" and we just say "We aren't selling anything", He says "is it free?" and we say "YES" and he says "can I eat it." You could but it wouldn't taste good haha. We started teaching him right there and he was interested he started reading The Book of Mormon right when we walked away and we got a return appointment and he said that he is looking forward to it! So me and Elder Fisher are really excited! His name is Frank and we are planning to see him on the 1st (so tommorow!) It will be good I hope :) After we tracted we went out with Brother Clawson and went and tried seeing a bunch of less actives! We got to meet 2! One was Amanda Cross and her husband Daniel. We just told her straight up, "we are here to invite you back to church" and she started to open back up to us! We got in and left a little message and we are going to start teaching them. I don't think Daniel, her husband, is a member! So I'm excited about that! Then we met a girl named Sherri Allen and we were straight up with her as well and invited her back and she started opening up to us. She said that she is interested in giving us a call and having us teach her and her family!  This is a part member family so the first thing that popped into my head was to teach them that Families can be together forever! It's going to be good!

After that we went to correlation meeting with our new ward mission leader, Travis Engebretson! And then went back home and planned! It was a great day!

Saturday the 28th

Today we saw Howard again, with the Smith's and then afterwards we went and saw Ezzard a recent investigator. We invited him to be baptized and he wants to! He basically has been taught everything, he just needs to read and pray and come to church. And have the Faith to do it! So we will be working with him! It will be exciting! We committed him to come to church and to read and pray to prepare himself! It will be good!

Sunday the 29th

Fast and testimony meeting!! I love it!  It was a great Sunday! Elder Fisher's first Sunday in the mission field! He got up and bore his testimony! And it was awesome! Not much happened after church but it was a great week! I loved it! And I love Elder Fisher!  He is from St. George my 2nd companion from that area. Elder Averett was the first!

Well I'll end there! The church is true everyone, the church is TRUE!

love

Elder Kerr

Elder Henrie is headed to El Dorado for his last 6 weeks and I'm training!!

Dear Mother,

     Guess what? I'm training a brand new missionary!!!! I'm super excited!!! This is my first time training someone! I'm very nervous but I'm also very excited as well. I plan to take him out tracting right away! It's going to be super awesome! Elder Henrie is going to El Dorado, Arkansas his last 6 weeks. This was very unexpected we both thought he was going to stay in Long Beach until he went home but nope!! He is leaving and I'm going to be training anyways I will send a longer email tomorrow! I love ya and talk to you later

love Elder Kerr

We had a Stake Priesthood meeting that got us pumped up!

Sept 2nd-8th

So this week went alright! It was a very hot week and I sweated a lot!!! Hahahaha

Monday the 2nd

We had a our P-Day and did our usual! We played basketball and some football, just for a little bit! Then we did our shopping and all that kinda stuff! No emails because of Labor day so we did them the next day!

Tuesday the 3rd

Today Howard Dunaway came back from out of town.  He was up in Picayune! So we went and visited with him for a bit and then set a return appointment! Later that day we went and saw TJ and Jamie Evans and taught them a new Member lesson! Jamie is a recent convert and we are trying to start the new member lessons with her! It went really well! We committed them to have Family Home Evening, amily prayer and family scripture study! It was awesome!

Wednesday the 4th

We had our District Meeting today and that was way good. I love District Meeting especially because we get to see all of the other missionaries in our district! We talked about planning. Later that day we made a less active list and organized it so we can start trying to see some less actives and bring them back to church! Way exciting!

Thursday the 5th

Today we saw a guy named Webster and he was nice and ended up giving us each a tie! He showed us all these pictures of his distant relatives! And we talked to him about our church and family history program! We also did some tracting today but nothing. We went and saw the Favre's, today a less active family, who we asked if we could come by and teach them the missionary lessons again. They agreed and then we committed them to come to church again, ( they ended up coming too). We saw some other members today as well! Sister Henson and Brother Capps! It was a decent day but we were very hot and sweaty at the end of it!

Friday the 6th

Today we did our weekly planning and then we went and saw Howard. We read in Doctrine and Covenants section 1 with him! After that we went tried seeing several other people but no look! We rode a good bit of bike miles today! And sweated a ton again! We ended up riding into Gulfport and we live pretty close to Pass Christian! Anyways we ended up tracting for a bit! During tracting we were able to teach some people on their door step! It was way cool! It was a decent day!  

Saturday the 7th

Slower day today not much happened! Except we found out that we are getting a new Ward Mission Leader! We will find out next week at some point who it is!

Sunday the 8th

Today was a great day! We got the Favre's to come to church today.  Howard was ordained to the office of a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood! We then got to go see some people with Brother Butler! Later that night we had a Stake Priesthood meeting that was awesome! It got us pumped up to do even better! The mission has a plan to work with the members more and bring the people back to church! It was a great!

Well that was my week and I was very excited to hear BYU beat Texas!

love you all!

The Church is true!

love

Elder Kerr

 

 

August 26th-Sept 1st

 

Dear family,

The Baptism went really well! Elder Jones the guy I replaced came down from Jackson to perform the baptism.  It was a good day and everything went really well!

Monday the 26th

It was a P-day and we had a Zone P-day and played a bunch of Volleyball which was a lot of fun! I loved it! Anyways after that we went to the Brush's for dinner and we had some smoked pork with rice which was delicious!

Tuesday the 27th

We went over the stop smoking workshop with a less active named Jeff! It went pretty well! I hate seeing people so addicted to Smoking, it's never a good thing! Later that day Elder Mossman came down and interviewed Joel for his baptism. During the interview I sat out in the back and looked at Joel's Harley and I'm just like it would be so cool to have a Harley! Way sick but anyways the interview went great and he was ready to go!

Wednesday the 28th

We had a Zone meeting today! So the whole zone got together and the Zone Leaders taught us! We reviewed what the Seventy taught us last week! It went really well! Anyways it was a great meeting very spirit filled!

Thursday the 29th

Joel's Baptism was today and Elder Jones came down and performed it! The Baptism went great and Elder Jones and the guy he was training spent the night here! His Trainee is from Uganda Africa! He has a crazy accent and is a way cool kid!

Friday the 30th

Today we did some weekly planning which took most of the day!  After that we went and tried seeing a bunch of people but not a whole lot of luck really! We decided to go to Subway for dinner and when we got there we ran into the Harper's.  They ended up taking us next door for dinner at a Chinese Buffet! It was way nice of them.

Saturday the 31st

Today we went and practiced teaching the Slattens The Plan of Salvation! It went pretty well! But then Our next appointment cancelled on us. But they did feed us dinner for Lunch which was way cool! Anyways we went to see the Smiths. And then we were Invited back over to the slattens for a Birthday party! It was Fun! Sister Slatten loves having us over and every time we say we need to leave she doesn't want us to hahaha After that we went and had correlation meeting with our Ward Mission Leader and Then went home and went to bed!

Sunday the 1st!

Happy Birthday to Todd! I heard he got himself a pretty nice present! =) Today was fast and testimony meeting! It was a good Sunday! After that we tried contacting a couple of referals and then later we went out with Brother Gentry and saw a former investigator named Ezzard! He is a way tight Black guy that really wants to be baptized! And I think he will be. Anyways, we were able to talk with him for a bit! Then we went to see a recent convert to try and help them with Bro Gentry! TJ and Jamie Evans! We talked with them and then we all shared our favorite scripture! It was a good meeting and we set a return appointment to go teach Jamie the New Member lessons! It will be good!

That was my week! I hope yours went well!

love your son

Elder Kerr

We should be having a baptism this coming Thursday!

     This week was a fantastic week because we got to hear from a member of the Quorum of the Seventy! Elder Kopischke was his name! He taught us so much and we were very blessed to be taught by him! General Authorities are amazing men! He was way funny and he was able to teach us very well! I learned a lot! And I also got to see a bunch of missionaries I haven't seen in a long time! It was a good time! Half the mission went to Hattiesburg Mississippi to meet and be taught by Elder Kopischke! Good stuff! That was Thursday! http://www.lds.org/church/leader/erich-w-kopischke there is a link to more about the seventy I was able to meet!

     We didn't get to officially teach Bryan Young this week but we left him a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet for him to read and we should be meeting with him this coming Saturday to go over it! He feels like he needs to read a lot more of The Book of Mormon to be able to answer more of his questions.   Anyways, I hope it goes well!

     We should be having a baptism this coming Thursday, Joel Kozlowski! he will be baptized on the 29th of August! It will be way exciting! He has been taught ever since I came into the mission! He says he is definitely ready to get this done! We are way excited for him! We are also going to teach his kids that are over 8 years old and have them be baptized as well! There are like 5 kids that are over 8! It will be the first time for me to teach children! So I'm excited for that!

     Then we are going to start the stop smoking workshop with an in-active member of the ward! That will be good! Its always good to help people quit smoking! I believe that's all that really happened last week!
I'll end there! I love ya and miss ya! 

Love your son

Elder Kerr

P.S. I got the package from grandma Sharon! Tell her thank you for me! =)

Today we had an amazing lesson on the Restoration! I loved this lesson, it was so good!

Dear family, 

     I have sent out the memory card today! So it should make it there soon, in a couple days, I think!  School is starting! It's crazy to me that in only like 3 years all 3 of us will be graduated! So onto my week.

Monday the 12th

Today was the start of a new transfer! It was a pretty good day! We were able to meet with Joel! Who is getting ready to be baptized! We had a good lesson on Baptism with him! Then we got fed by a recent convert Mark and Sandy! They fed us Lasagna! It was good!

Tuesday the 13th

Today was the transfer day! We went and said goodbyes to the people leaving our district! It was a sad time to see Elder Hosea go home! It's weird to think that I am becoming one of the older missionaries in the mission! Super weird! hahahaha. But I got to play some basketball with a bunch of missionaries which was a lot of fun.

Wednesday the 14th

Good old District Meeting today! We have 3 new missionaries in our district, Elders Kent and Palmeri, and Sister Booth!

Thursday the 15th

It was a slower day today not much happened!

Friday the 16th

Today was a pretty good day! We got like 4 lessons in and passed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon! Hopefully, we can bring these guys closer to Christ and continue to teach them.

Saturday the 17th

Today we had an amazing lesson with a guy named, Bryan Young! He is cop. We had a lesson on the Restoration! I loved this lesson, it was so good! We actually found him tracting and have challenged him to read and pray! He was just so legit and is going to do exactly what we have asked him to do! Anyways, It went really well and it just made me happy all day today! I loved it so much! We are going to go see him again next Saturday! I'm super excited!

Sunday the 18th

Today I experienced a Tropical Depression for the first time! It's just under a Tropical Storm! And seeing what a Tropical Depression can do, I can't even imagine what a hurricane would be like! Crazy stuff! But it was a good Sunday!

 Slower week but loved what we were able to do! The CHURCH IS TRUE

 

love

Elder Kerr

Pray for Amber and Joel. Thanks for all of the cards, letters and packages! It was awesome!

Dear family,

August 5th-10th    

     I did get a lot of extra mail for my 18 month anniversary! It was awesome and much appreciated! I got packages from Connie, Crystal, Nicole and Samantha.  Thank you all very much!  And I loved the Superman Shirt, mom! I threw that on right when I got it!  I also got several letters, cards and postcards from Jenny and the girls, grandma Sharon and grandma Ivy and some ward members.  Thank you all! 

     Congratulations Josh on your call to Tonga! THATS AWESOME! I'm so proud of you!!!! Did anybody guess right, who was the closest?  I don't have my planner on me because it's the start of a new transfer so I have a new one.  I am staying with Elder Henrie another transfer which probably means that I will stay with him until he goes home because he only has 1 transfer left!  Anyways it's coming up fast! We are still in a finding stage for new investigators. We tracted quite a bit and found a few people that told us we could come back but when we did they didn't answer.  But the other missionaries are super busy at the moment so hopefully we will start again.

     Please pray for Amber and Joel. Joel has been an investigator that has been taught for a while now.  He wants to be baptized really soon but the Bishop and others are concerned that he doesn't quite understand the commitment of joining the Church. So hopefully, we can help him to better understand!  Pray for him! 

     Our Zone Leader, Elder Hosea, is headed home this Wednesday! He is a great missionary and I look up to him! He will be missed! We had a BBQ with him on Saturday and had a little going away party for him! It was legit! Anyways sorry this week wasn't too detailed! But I love you and miss you! Not to long until I will be home too!

Love your Son

Elder Kerr

July 29th-August 4th

Monday the 29th

P-day! Today we played some ball with the other Elders and had a good time! Your average p-day! We were fed by the Bensons, that was awesome! They are a great family! He was telling us stories from his mission.  He served out of country and he was telling us all these stories and it just made me say to myself. "I'm glad to serve in the states! hahaha

Tuesday the 30th

Yesterday Elder Henrie rolled his ankle pretty badly so we weren't able to do much today! But we did finish a few things we weren't able to do on P-Day so that was good!

Wednesday the 31st

We had a DDM today! And it was about teaching the people and not the lessons. Teach what the people need not just recite the lessons! It was good! We then went on exchanges! I went with Elder Mossman in Gulfport South and we had ourselves a good time.

Thursday the 1st

We changed back to our companionships. Elder Henrie and I took a list of less active members and primary children. Nobody was home. We also stopped by and started teaching a man named Michael. Some missionaries found him a while ago and we decided to stop by to see how he was doing! We talked about the Book of Mormon a bit and set a return appointment! It was awesome! We also stopped by to see how Howard was doing,our recent convert! He was doing really well but his car wasn't he had to trash it.  Anyways, Howard and his Aunt Smith told us that the Sunday when I confirmed him a member they teared up because they felt that God was speaking through me. They felt they heard God's voice through me! I was really touched by that. Another amazing experience! I loved it! Good day.

Friday the 2nd

Today we did some weekly planning already planning for week 6! This transfer went by fast only 4 more transfers after this one! It was good! We tried seeing a bunch of people today but we couldn't find anybody. We did have dinner with Michael and Daniel today with the Sisters! That was a pretty awesome time! I loved it!

Saturday the 3rd!

Today we contacted some referals that we had and tried some other less actives! But no one was home again. We did visit with a recent convert named Mark! He showed us his big fish tank.  He had Clown fish in the tank like nemo! He had a salt water tank which I haven't seen before! It was awesome! We tracted today as well! We went out and we did find someone that wanted us to come back. His name was Bryan Young! I'm way excited for that! I haven't had too much success on my mission through tracting! So hopefully he is legit!

Sunday the 4th

Fast and testimony meeting today! It was a good, it's always interesting to here everyones testimony! After church we went out with Brother Wade, the Elders Quorum President, and did some Home teaching with him. It was awesome! We saw the Evan's and the Gramma's! Great families! After that we took our dinner! which I very much enjoyed! Good Sunday!

Well that was my week! It was a decent week and I enjoyed it! Anyways, I hope all is well and I hope everyone has a good week. 

The Church is true!

Love
Elder Kerr

We had 3 men baptized on Saturday! It was an awesome event. . . . an answer to their prayers!

Dear Mother

     So things are going good here. Elder Henrie is kinda trunky, he has his moments! But we're still do'n the work. He sometimes makes me trunky hahaha! It's coming up quick! I'm trying not to think too much about it hahaha! Anyways, sorry this won't be too detailed of an email this week.

     We did have the 2 baptisms on Saturday and the sister missionaries also had a baptism! So that was way tight! We had 3 men baptized on Saturday! It was an awesome event! It went so well. The Bishop said that they are an answer to their prayers! When the Bishop was first called he said we really need Priesthood in the ward and so they prayed for it and now they have 3 new men! It's awesome! I got to confirm Daniel and Howard on Sunday as members which was a really cool experience! I loved it!  We also did a lot of service this week!

     Oh, and a pretty cool story! There is a member here that is only going to be here for a little bit because of school but he played for BYU football! His name is Colby Clawson! And he played with Max Hall and Austin Collie and Dennis Pita and all of them! He was linebacker #41 and he was the guy injured by Sam Bradford in the game BYU played against Oklahoma. the one year, and beat them! Yeah he is in the Ward that I'm in now! He is the Gospel Principles teacher! Its freakin awesome! I almost want to get his autograph! hahahaha But anyways it was a good week! Those 2 baptisms are solid! Anyways, that's all for now.

I love you all and thanks for following!

Love
Elder Kerr

During the blessing, I felt strongly impressed to say, "You will quit smoking and have the strength to do so!"

Dear Mother,

     I did get my bike taken care of basically.  And yeah, we don't get fed here as often. It's not like my last area where we were the only set of missionaries in the ward.  Here there are 4 sets of missionaries. It still rains almost everyday but it's not for the full day! Just for a little bit. That's what it is like during Hurricane season and I don't think it ends until October or something like that. So yeah, I guess Katrina and Issac hit here around the same time in August! So we will see what happens but I know if a hurricane as big as Katrina were to come, all the missionaries down here would go up to Jackson and wait for it to pass. Anyway, we will see.  I do want to see a Tropical Storm though! That would be way cool.

     Yeah, I need to be better with my money. I am terrible and have always struggled with that even when I was home. I'm going to try to do better next month though. I'm glad Megan got my letter. Sorry it took me awhile to reply. . . . . . but I will reply. Sometimes I take along time with letters. I have written so many letters on my mission.  It's like ugh, I wish these letters could write themselves. hahaha

     Oh, have I gotten any friend requests on my Facebook? There might be some missionaries who were in my mission with me that will be in contact through facebook.  Anyways, let me know.  Some may try to come to my homecoming.  That'd be way cool.

     We should have 2 baptisms coming up this Saturday the 27th, Howard and Daniel!!!! I'm way excited for that. So Boom! They both asked me to Confirm them the following Sunday!

     I guess I will take out student loans and go to SLCC when I get home and get 2 years under my belt.  I want to work hard because I really do want to go to the Y!!! But we will see in the future I guess it really depends on what I want to go into then I will choose what school.  Anyways, on to my week

Monday the 15th

P-day and we played some basketball and had a great time playing around, I loved it! I love playing basketball! I'm stoked to play for the ward and the Foo's back home! Good times! But it was just an average P-Day.

Tuesday the 16th

So today we tried seeing a couple of people with the time we had! We were able to see Howard. We have been trying to help him quit smoking. While we were there we could tell he was still having a hard time. So I felt impressed to give him a blessing before we left! During the blessing I felt strongly impressed to say, "You will quit smoking and have the strength to do so!" Then we left and got picked up by Brother Harper. We went to give a member a blessing who was about to have surgery. Then the Gulfport Elders picked us up and we headed to interviews with President! We were there for a while and I had a fantastic interview with President! I loved it! I love President McDonough! He truly was called to be a mission president here in the Mississippi Jackson Mission. MJM!!!!

Wednesday the 17th

We had District Meeting today and that was awesome as well. I love our district here! It's just a lot fun and good times! Right after District Meeting we went to see Daniel! We were talking with him and he said that he totally quit smoking as well! So that is way tight! And it looks like he will be ready for the 27th as well. It was a good time.

Thursday the 18th

So today we went and tried to see Howard again. He wasn't feeling well but his Aunt, who he is living with, said that after we gave him the blessing to quit smoking he hasn't had 1 urge to smoke. The day before a friend took him to see his doctor in Laurel and he was smoking and offered him a smoke and he didn't want one! The guy even noticed that he was reading "The Book of Mormon" and asked about it. He told him about it and gave him one! It was legit! Howard said, that was his answer, the blessing worked to help him quit smoking!  It was awesome! =) Blessings work people!!!

Friday the 19th

So we did some weekly planning today. We were able to see Howard and Daniel again and help them get ready for baptism! It was good! I'm very excited! But basically the rest of today went to crud because everything was cancelled on us or rescheduled!

Saturday the 20th

So today we went to a ward play! The Ward set up a free play this weekend for Thursday, Friday and Saturday! It was way good! I very much enjoyed it! It was very well done! And a lot of non members showed up the 2 days before this! It was funny and well done! It was about a ward struggling with attendance and having a lot of in-actives! It showed members reaching out to invite them back to church and it was very heart felt! It was good! and Daniel was able to come!

Sunday the 21st!

So today was a great Sunday! I was able to learn a little bit about Family History! I definetly need to learn more about it so you will have to teach me more about it Mom! hahaha. It was good though! Then we had a Linger Longer as well! We had some really good food! I loved it! Anyways, it started to rain hard so were'nt able to tract much as we planned to do but we did get some tracting in! Then we got fed by the Harpers! They fed us Steak and a potatoes! It was way good! I loved it! Anyways we got numbers in and headed to bed!

I hope all is well with everyone and I love you all and thanks for following!

The Church is True!

Love

Elder Kerr

18 MONTH ANNIVERSARY AUGUST 1ST

Dear friends and family,
     Elder Shawn Kerr is coming up on his 18 month anniversary in the mission field on August 1st!  It would be so awesome if we could flood his mailbox with letters or cards to celebrate this HUGE milestone with him.  His address is:                         
                                                                Elder Shawn Kerr
                                                                4401 Beatline Rd.  Apt 5D
                                                                Long Beach, MS   39560

Long Beach is ready for harvest, we could have 3 baptisms soon.

Dear Mother

     I did get grandmas package the day before I left from Atlanta, so that was cool! Thank her and I did get a letter from Megan and I will reply soon! I do get to see the coast quite often! I'm like maybe 3 minutes away from it! There is a road that drives along the beach through Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi so I see it a lot.  It's not super beautiful like the pacific coast! It's just very muddy looking water but it's still pretty cool, I'm not going to lie, I love it! I'm so glad I have been able to serve down here! I could stay here the rest of my mission but we'll see! After this transfer I only have like 4 left!!!! So yeah it's going by fast! The time I will have left by August 3rd is the same amount of time I served in Atlanta! IT'S CRAZY!!!!! And my companion only has like 2 more transfers left!!! Way weird! Oh and in that pic on the mission blog was Elder Bytheway not Elder Hopman.  He was in my district too. 

     Long Beach is ready for harvest, basically we could have like 3 baptisms really soon.  All we need to do is get them to stop smoking and they will be good to go!! It's going to be legit! Then we have plenty of people to keep working with who are interested! So it will be good! I just wish we had a car fulltime! We would be able to get so much more done if we did! Oh, well!

So onto our week!

    

Monday the 8th

Just a normal P-day we did our emails! Then we went and played some basketball with the Zone Leaders, Elders Hosea and Canaan! It felt good to play after not playing very much in Atlanta! I loved it!! So awesome! It drained me though and after that we went to Raising Canes for lunch! I'm going to miss Raising Canes when I leave here! The best chicken fast food restaurant ever!!!! They need to start them in Utah! After basketball we didn't really do much! We walked on the beach a little bit.  It was a good day!

Tuesday the 9th

So we did some tracting today and we got a few return appointments. We weren't able to see a lot of our investigators but the Dees took us out to a Pizza buffet that was pretty good! Sister Dee is so nice! It was pretty legit! We tried seeing other people but no luck.

Wednesday the 10th

Zone District Meeting! The entire zone got together and was taught by the ZLs.  It was a great meeting and we saw a lot of people that we haven't seen in a while! Then we went to a Chinese buffet that only cost about 5 bucks! So that was cool! Then we did some more tracting because President has asked us to do more than we have been.! I have never really enjoyed tracting! Then it started raining big time! It sucked! We weren't able to do anything in it! It was way lame!

Thursday the 11th

Today we got up and noticed it was way cloudy.  Then it just started to pour for quite a while! It sucked! It's been raining a lot lately and since we are on bikes we haven't been able to do anything! I'm not liking all the rain. We did get to go see Joel today though! Joel has been taught by missionaries since April of last year! He basically believes everything, he is just struggling to stop smoking! But we are going to get him to stop! And its going to be legit! Then he will be ready for baptism!

Friday the 12th

So today we went and saw an investigator that was found right before I got here! Her name is Daniella! We got there and she was like, of course, you guys can come in! It was crazy she just started crying and saying that she is going through so much crap right now! And I'm just like well our purpose is to bring people closer to Christ and we started talking about The Book of Mormon! And she wanted 3 of them so she could give them to other people and then we can start talking to them as well! It was pretty legit!  After that we went tracting some more.  Then we got ready to go to Howard's, another investigators house. We are going to teach him the Stop Smoking Workshop to help him stop! It went pretty well. Then guess what? We started to hear thunder and we had another appointment in about 45 minutes.  And we were on bikes! Elder Henrie and I were like, we're going for it! We are not going to let the rain stop us today! On our way then. . .  snap my bike pedal breaks off!!!! I'm just like, of course! I have the worst luck with bikes breaking! Then it started to rain harder and harder! Luckily a member saw us and took us back to the apartment and we called our appointment and rescheduled! It has rained hard like everyday this week! It sucks!

Saturday the 13th

Today we took my bike in to get fixed! We dropped it off and they said it should be ready by Monday (Which is today).  It was way slow and nothing happened at all today because we didn't have any kind of transportation! And it started to rain really hard again! We did have correlation meeting with Bro. Harper and that was good!

Sunday the 14th

Great Sabbath day but we were expecting to have 5 investigators at church today but only 1 showed up.  I was pretty bummed about the others but at least we had the 1! It was a pretty good SUNDAY! Loved it like always. Our appointment cancelled on us but we did go to the Gentry's! And they fed us dinner! The Gentry's are awesome! We were laughing the whole time we were over there. They showed us on youtube this funny video going around about the general authorities! Its hilarious! It's called "How General Authorities Eat Their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" watch it and show it to people! It's way funny! Things are going good! And it's going by fast!  I love you and I hope all is well!  THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

Love
Elder Kerr

I love this District already!

Dear Mother,

Yeah, I'm in Long Beach, Mississippi and I love it!! On the coast here in Mississippi there's Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, and then passed Biloxi is Ocean Springs and that is the end of our mission.  Elder Henrie is my new companion.  He's been in other zones with me.  He was in the Monroe Zone when I was and he was in the Texarkana Zone when I went up there. He's only been in this area for 6 weeks. He is from Manti, Utah and has been out 20 months, 3 months longer than I have. I'm like the 3rd oldest in our district.  It's weird to think that I have been out this long, to be one of the older guys. Anyways, we have a bunch of investigators here already! It's awesome! I have been teaching quite a bit lately! We have 3 people with dates and we're just trying to get them prepared!

We are car sharing in this area so I did need a bike.  Elder Ison has given me his. But I am going to need a new helmet, mine is broken, and a few other things for it to make it a little safer. Oh and another thing when you send the memory card can you send my contacts I'm down to my last pair.  So on to the rest of my week.  I left off on Tuesday the 2nd!!!

Wednesday the 3rd

Today I finished unpacking in the morning. Then we went to the Library so I could email more details of the week. After Email we went over to a members house named, Bucky Waits. He is an awesome guy very nice and friendly.  He fed us a sandwhich and ice cream! After that we went tracting and had a pretty crazy experience! We went to a door and introduced ourselves and told him why we were there.  He said, "oh really."  We mentioned that God has called a prophet on the earth again. And then he just started going off on us his. It was frustrating! It got me angry! We ended up staying on his porch for like an hour or so and all he wanted to do was Bible Bash. It was crazy! I hate when people do that! So that kinda put a damper on the day. But we tried seeing some other people, not a lot of luck. But I did meet a recent convert named Joey who is solid in the gospel and he was just recently baptized! He was awesome!

Thursday the 4th

We had DDM today and I love this district already. I'm not the district leader here because there was someone already assigned here but I'm fine with that. I actually love just being a regular missionary! Hahaha! After that we went to teach, Howard, who is a way solid investigator! He has a date and we just need to help him stop smoking! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well. Then we went to teach Daniel again and Brother Waits went with us. We taught Daniel about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chasity! It went really well. He is also very solid but needs to stop smoking! Afterwards Brother Waits took us to Sonic for ice cream! It was a good day. After that we just spent the rest of the 4th of July with the Gulfport missionaries.
Friday the 5th

Today it was pretty rainy and we didn't want to be driving the car around all day so we didn't get whole lot done but we did meet a new investigator and taught her. Her name is Amber. She is looking for a church and just basically asked us a lot of questions about ours! Then we went to Subway. We get a free subway once a week! It's pretty tight, I love it! It just rained the rest of the day.

Saturday the 6th

We did weekly planning today and tried seeing a bunch of people but not really any luck. We did do some tracting and was able to teach some people on their doorstep and lent out a Book of Mormon. It was good! Except a lot people looked pretty afraid of us. I'm just thinking gosh what do they hear about us at their churches! Anyways it was an alright day but it rained again.

Sunday the 7th

Church, my first Sunday! It was pretty awesome, we had 3 investigators show up! It's a pretty big ward! We are assigned to the Gulfport ward! My last area there was only 1 set of missionaries to the ward and here there are 4 sets of missionaries! So it's a big change but I enjoy it!! Today was also a pretty slow day. We were planning on tracting but all it did was rain! During our lunch hour even though we didn't eat I fell asleep, I was pretty beat and so did Elder Henrie! Anyways we got numbers ready and we called it a night! It was a good week and I'm very happy to be here.

Thanks for following!

Love
Elder Kerr


P.S.  I don't remember if I told you but our mission has a new blog.
http://www.mississippijacksonmission.blogspot.com/













  

Transfer Day!!! Shreveport, LA to Gulfport, MS with 3 stops in between and finally I'm in Long Beach, Mississippi.

So I'll catch up on my email here.

Monday the 17th

P-day! I did exchanges with Elder Bytheway. We go on up to Texarkana to get the car fixed and when we get there we find out that they hadn't even ordered the part! So we decided to just leave the car with them because we shouldn't drive it anyway. We got picked up by the ZLs and and hung out with them for the day. We mini golfed, ate at Cicis Pizza and hung out and played games at the church! For dinner we made some fried chicken and mashed potatoes! It was a delicious dinner! I learned to make batter for the chicken. Then we got dropped off in New Boston by bro Hutson.

Tuesday the 18th

My exchange is still going on with Elder Bytheway and we went and saw a few people. For dinner we ate at this BBQ place and man it was good!!! Plus we met this guy that had a lot of questions for us. They were like perfect questions for a guy searching for the truth.  He wouldn't accept a Book of Mormon so we just gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was legit and hopefully he will continue to look into our church. It was a good day.

Wednesday the 19th

We went and picked up the car in Texar today and headed down to Atlanta for DDM. We had a good DDM! It was way awesome!! I loved it!! After lunch they weren't able to find a ride back to New Boston so we took them back.  Afterwards we helped Brother Horsley with a new refrigerator and called it a day. It was a slower day!

Thursday the 20th

Today was Thirsty Thursday! We did a lot of walking and tried seeing a lot of people today. We tried this referral, she wasn't home but her sister was. We talked with her a bit and set a return appointment. Then we tried someone further up the street but he wasn't home. When we were walking back passed that referrals house they waved us down and we were able to talk to her sister and give her a pamphlet.  It was cool. Then after that we were walking down the road and the Ward family pulled up and took us out to eat at Luigis! It was way awesome!!! We then went and saw Beth Harper and that was awesome as always. I love her. The rest of the day was slow.

Friday the 21st

We went back to see that referral but she wasn't home, sadly! We tried some others but none. Then we got a call from Brother Brown who needed some help.  His brother passed away so we helped move some stuff out of his place. He's having a hard time right now. Then we did a lot of tracting but not a lot of success.

Saturday the 22nd

Again it was a slow day. We tried seeing some people but not a lot happened.  We did help the Neilson's with there yard.

Sunday the 23rd

We had church and, of course, it was a wonderful Sabbath day. Then we had that awesome world wide Zone Conference! I loved it! It was a great meeting full of inspiration.  Then we went to the Neilson's as usual and had dinner. I'm going to miss them when I leave!

Monday the 24th

We had our last Zone P-day of the transfer! And boy it was fun hanging out with everyone. We had a good time! We went to Cicis pizza for dinner. It will be the last time hanging out with Elder Ison before he goes home. He was my follow up trainer after Blomquist!

Tuesday the 25th

We weren't able to do much today because we had a lot of catching up to do.  But we did try to see some people.

Wednesday the 26th

We went up to New Boston for our last District Meeting of the transfer and talked about who will get sent where and such! We got picked up by Brother Simmons and headed back to Atlanta. We tried some people and called it a night.  Sorry this isn't very detailed, I'm going by memory.

Thursday the 27th

It is another Thirsty Thursday.  We go and see our usuals on Thirsday, such as Beth Harper and I let her know that I might be leaving soon! And, of course, she is pretty sad about that! We have a good time though talking with her. Then went to visit some members! Oh and we tried this sandwhich restaurant downtown and loved it! It has been in the back of my head for a while to go check it out and we finally did. It was good! Anyways, we called it night,.

Friday the 28th

We got our calls this morning and President tells me that I'm going to Long Beach, Mississippi!!!!! I'm like YES!!!!!! The Coast! I have gotten both my wishes for areas! One in Texas and now the Coast!!! I'm very excited and I'm going to be with Elder Henrie.  I already know him so I'm excited to be with him! He is way tight! After that we went home teaching with Brother Doran and then got dropped off at Walmart to get some stuff. We got picked up by brother Brown who took us back and then we went to the Neilson's for dinner. We helped them with their yard and told them the news.  I'm way excited!

Saturday the 29th

Today basically we focused on going to see people to say goodbye! We had a ward dinner that day, as well! It was awesome!! I loved it! It was Samoan based and delicious! We had a good time! And had some really good dessert.

Sunday the 30th

When we got to church today Brother Simmons came up and asked us to give short talks as one of the speakers wouldn't be there.  And that was perfect beings this was my last Sunday anyway. I talked on John 17 and told everyone that I was leaving! It was a sad time because I love this ward and I will miss a lot of people here. Afterwards, we went to say my last goodbye to Beth. She made me this delicious Strawberry cake! I said my goodbyes and then we went to a lunch appointment at the Marchan's. I said my last goodbyes there and it was awesome! We spent the rest of the day at the Neilson's! And then New Boston came down and we called it a night!

Monday the 1st

17 months out today!!! We went and ate and said some more goodbyes to the Robinsons and a few others! We went to the Neilson's and got some pictures and then the Harville's took us out to dinner at the Silver Spur.  They are another family I really enjoy! I said my last goodbyes to them. They took us back, we got ready and headed down to Shreveport, LA so we wouldn't have to drive down so early the next day. We stayed the night in Shreveport!

Tuesday the 2nd

Transfer day!!! Oh, and Happy Birthday, Jared! We met at the building, I said my last goodbyes to my zone, and we headed out to Ruston, LA! We got to Ruston and picked up some people. Then we headed to Monroe, LA and picked up some more people. That was weird being back in Monroe!! I was like, I'm home! Oh wait! haha! I said goodbye to Elder Poole there.  He is staying in that zone! I also got to see Elder Whitehead and some others! From there we went to Clinton, Mississippi.  And holy crap their are a lot of new missionaries! We have a lot more missionaries in the mission now!! I got to see 5 of my old companions there and meet some others in my old districts that I hadn't seen before! I loved it!  Finally, I got down to Gulfport and met my companion and now I'm in Long Beach and my new address is:

4401 Beatline Rd. Apt. 5D

Long Beach, MS 39560

Love ya

It's about 50 miles from Atlanta, TX to Shreveport, LA and about 400 miles from Shreveport, LA to Gulfport, MS.  Long Beach is only 4 miles from Gulfport.