There was this change in her eyes. It was a pretty awesome spiritual experience!

     So this week was way good.  We have a new potential investigator which we had a pretty cool experience with.  Ever since I got here in Monroe we have been trying to see a guy named Andre. Every time we go over there he isn't home but quite often we run into his wife.  At first she hated us missionaries. They had met her before I got here.  And everytime we've gone over there since and she is there and he isn't, you can just tell that she isn't interested in what we have. But the 2nd to last time we were there a thought came to me that if she was there I should ask her if there was anything we could do for her.  So again he wasn't there and then I asked her. "Well since he is never here and you are is there anything we can do for you?" When I asked her that, there was this change in her eyes.  Like a change in how she thinks of us. We said good bye and I got this thought that maybe we aren't meant to go see Andre but his wife Mary. So the next day we went to try again. And again he wasnt there.  So again we asked if there was anything we could do for her. And this time she really got interested.  So we got talking with her and I could tell there was now this desire in her eyes of what we have. It was a pretty awesome spiritual experience! She went from hating us to respecting us. The spirit is working on her very well!

     Last Thursday I got to meet the new Mission President.  He's visiting every missionary apartment in the mission and he came to our apartment at  9 am.  He is such an awesome guy! I think Im going to get a long with him great. He is such a chill guy! His wife is very nice also.

   We also visited a member named Sister Meeks who likes art like I do so I drew her a picture. I drew her a picture of the gold plates turning into The Book of Mormon. I took a picture of it so you will get to see it next time I send the memory card home but I need to get more pictures first.

     We also ran into a guy who had done some research about the blacks at the beginning of the church.  He was offended about the church teaching the mark of Cain. We tried to explain to him that the church isn't racist in anyway but he wasn't having any of it. But we put his name on the potential investigators list anyway. 

     I'm sorry you guys have been having so many car problems lately.  And I too am thankful that grandma Sharon and Connie and Johnny were there to help.  Well I'll end for now.  I love you and miss you guys and I appreciate all the support you have given me. 

Love your son 

Elder Kerr

The thing I really LIKE about being on the bike is that we get stopped all the time by people wanting to talk.

Dear family,

     Things in Louisiana are awesome!  Hilton is an awesome guy! Did you find out anything about Peter Kerr? And Johnny is a big help! He loves us to death and it really feels like another home at his place! Such a great support! Im glad you got that picture from President Pena! He is an awesome Stake President and such a character haha.  Our district has 2 sets of missionaries, Elder Crockett and I and the 2 sisters in that picture. The other 2 missionaries are Elder Shumway (the one with darker hair) and Elder Bruderer they are the Zone Leaders of the Monroe Zone. Awesome Zone Leaders! 

     Let me know how feeding the missionaries go! The last missionaries that we fed before I left didn't seem like they enjoyed serving in Utah haha!  That will be awesome for Brendon to go through the Temple with his Cousin and see them get married! That will be tight! 

     The Summer is going by fast here. Funny thing is that you guys are all enjoying the Summer. Im not so much enjoying the Summer.  I can't wait for this HEAT to pass. That's interesting that Myan Burton liked biking in the summer on his mission in the South (Georgia).  Yeah we too get the wind in our face when riding but when we stop the sweat just starts pouring off of you.  And Im a big guy so that's a lot of sweat. But the thing I really DO like about the bike is that we get stopped all the time by people wanting to talk to us. It's like one big advertisement! So thats really cool! Obviously you dont get that with the car but you DO get air conditioning.

     It's been a slow week with the work here because it rained a lot.  There were even flash flood warnings.  We can't ride in the rain because of Elder Crockett's glasses but I will be meeting the new Mission President this coming Thursday at 9 in the morning!

   Our day starts with an hour of personal study and then an hour of companion study and then prayers before we leave the apartment at 10.   Elder Crockett finished making his Violin and it looks nice! Hilton said it's worth between 800 and 1200 dollars. Hilton let Elder Crockett make it for $150 and that included the case and all the materials . I'll have to take a picture of his violin.  I wouldn't mind making one.

   We did a lot more work with the less active this week. And I finally got to meet our main investigator Lavell Whitty. He is really close to Baptism. We are going to be setting a date with him this coming week but he needs to quit smoking! He is an awesome guy!! And the Lord has prepared him well for us missionaries to teach.

   I spoke in church on Sunday about missionary work, it went alright. I don't get why I'm still so scared to talk when I have talked in sacrament meeting so often.  We also had dinner at Bishops house yesterday. The Bishop is pretty awesome. He is an attorney.  And he has a son that just barely got his call to Mexico City and leaves in November.

     Well that's been our week so I'll end for now.  I love ya and I miss ya so much! 

                                                              Love your son,

                                                                Elder Kerr

PS  Thank you grandma Ivy for the card and gift inside.  I'll get a letter in the mail as soon as I can.  And thank you to everyone for all of your love and support!

                                       

Pancake Fest on the 4th and are we related to the Kerr's in Kerrville, Texas?

     We visited an investigator named Hilton on Monday.  He is a 90 year old war vet who's in pretty good health.  He likes to make violins and loves music.  Before I came Elder Crockett had bought the parts to a violin and Hilton is helping him put it together.  He gave me a harmonica and I mess around with his other  instruments while they work on his violin.  I've decided I really like the Cello and I'm going to practice on it. So Hilton's story is that he use to go to church but he doesn't like how the preachers expect them to pay for their personal experience. So he prayed about it and he feels like he has come to terms with God to NOT go to church.  He even reads the Book of Mormon and believes its true. Its pretty interesting. After that, we played some basketball with the rest of the Elders. Did some shopping and called it a night.

     So my bike had some problems, my crank arm broke, and I took it in to the bike shop to get it fixed.  I picked it up today (Tuesday) and now it rides really well. Mostly all the people we tried we couldn't see. Slow day. We saw Lily Moore who is a less active and we invited her to come to the Ward Pancake fest tommorow. She said she will come if we got her a ride. We couldn't find anyone else to see today. :(

     Wednesday, July 4th we had the pancake fest and I helped with making the pancakes well all the missionaries did.  And  it's Elder Crockett's birthday. I held my first District meeting today and we talked about Revelation through the Book of Mormon. It went really well.  Then we went to a members house for dinner. Johnny's house. He was baptized last November and he LOVES us missionaries he is always feeding us and taking care of us. The week before it started raining like crazy and we took cover in his house and dried off.  He is always worrying about us especially since we are on bikes. We had beans and ribs for lunch and had a fantastic time. We had to be in our apartments by 6 pm today because its a holiday and there are a lot of drunk drivers. We went to visit Sister Meeks and played some games with her. She is such a sweet lady. She is a convert and has a really cool story. She lived by this chemical plant before this and she said she got this feeling that she needed to move and so she did and that Chemical plant blew up and destroyed the wall by her old apartments. I just think that is crazy. God was looking over her.

     Thursday, again a slow day. The rest of this week went pretty slow because of the holiday. Either no one wants to talk to us or they're all out of town. But we did have a scripture study class today and we discussed 1 Nephi 13.

     Friday we did some tracting but again nobody was home.  We did run into Hilton today and talked with him.  He recognized my last name Kerr. He said that his wifes Uncles last name is Kerr and started a town in Texas called Kerrville. He wanted to know if we have any lines that connect to him. His name is Peter Kerr or Pete Kerr.

     Saturday the 7th, we had a ton of A's which is Additional Invites.  And did a ton of tracting! We met an investigator named Ms. Connley. She is a sweet lady but she was in a hurry so it was short. Then we ate at Johnny's and set up for a ward pot luck at the church for tommorow.

     Sunday the 8th we went to Ward Council meeting and talked about a lot of good stuff with members and investigators. Then had church with patriotic lessons. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy then ate at the ward potluck after. We did get a less active to church today. His name is Brother Ross. We went to visit him and we gave him a blessing and it worked big time. He felt better and he came to church and payed his tithing. He was awesome! Then later that day I met an investigator named Sean. Apparently he his a really good cook. I'm going to get to know him better. Haha :) called it a night and turned in our numbers for the week. Slow week. Can't find anyone but Im still loving it here.

     In answer to your questions District Leader is cool but not a lot different. Im just trying to set a good example. I have noticed that Im getting better at just randomly talking with everyone.  And no the Mississippi River is not within biking distance of Monroe, not even close.  Well I will end for now. I love and miss ya so much! 

                                                          your son, Elder Kerr

PS Here's a few pics from my last area in Meridian and here in Monroe.

                                

                My last day in Meridan. . . . saying goodbye to some of my favs.  Dustin and Dallas Heims.



Elder Ison and I on Transfer Day.



       Downtown Meridian, Mississippi and the tallest building in Meridian that is completely abandon.  It reminds me of the "Tower of Terror".  There were a lot of abandon buildings.

                                                              My last District in Meridian.

            Using the flight simulator at Meridian's Navel Air Base.  Was given a tour and had dinner with a member there.

                              Crossing the mighty Mississippi River into Louisiana on transfer day.

                                                  My new apartment in Monroe, Louisiana.

I've got a pretty good farmers tan now, had and awesome week and got preached to by a Jew in the Bible Belt.

     The new apartment is nice but not as nice as my last one obviously because it was brand new.  This one has that old apartment smell to it but it's still nice and has a lot more room.  I'm slowly getting use to the biking, luckily there's like only 3 hills total in my area so it's not hard to bike here it's fairly flat.  Elder Crockett is used to it so he's a much faster rider but he slows down for me.  Elder Crockett is from Washington state and was in the Utah National Guard for a year before coming out. So I've been drinking a lot of water almost everyone asks if we want some.  I got a camel pack and I fill it everyday before we leave the apartment.  My arms are getting a lot tanner.  I've got a pretty good farmers tan now, haha!
     I did get a letter from the President explaining my new appointment as district leader.  Part of my responsibilities include collecting and turning in numbers, teaching district meet every Wednesday and being a support and good example to my district.  My last two companions were district leaders and new ones at that so I learned a lot from them.
     I had an awesome week this week.  Met all kinds of members.  Last week went to a baptism in West Monroe.  Then last Friday we went to get some milk and met a man who looked like Osama Bin Laden.  He had a long grey beard and was wearing a yamika.  Yep we got preached to by a Jew, ha ha.  First time getting preached too and he wasn't even a Christian.  And I'm in the Bible Belt.  This guy was furious that we worship his brother Jesus Christ and not God.  He wouldn't let us talk at all so he doesn't have a clue what we really believe.  The only good thing that came out of that was that he recognized us Mormons as Christians. 
     On Sunday we tried to see a few people but no one was home.  Along the way a man stopped and offered us some water.  He said he'd have it for us when we circled back around.  When we went back he wasn't out so I just continued on.  Then I got a thought "What are you doing?!  Go get that water and talk to him!"  I almost ignored it but I'm glad I didn't.  We started talking to him and he wants to learn more.  Really nice guy and he wants us to come back. I have a good feeling about him.  I'm glad I followed that prompting.
     Happy birthday, Jared! I hope you had a good one!  That's very exciting that Brendon got his call to Tallahassee, Florida!  That's the 3rd person in our group of friends to go to the southern states.  That is way awesome! Mission tour in the future, haha!  Well I'll end for now.  I love ya and miss ya.

                                                   Love Elder Kerr, your son

P.S.  Tell grandma Sharon I got her card and money so she won't worry.  And tell her thanks!
                                                    

Transferred to Monroe, Louisiana (a bike area), 108 degrees and made district leader.

                                                          My new address is:
                                                       1401 Erin St.  Apt #177
                                                          Monroe, LA  71201

     Monday, June 25th - Well, I will email the rest to you tomorrow but I just wanted to let you know that I'm getting transferred and will be leaving tomorrow.  I'm either being transferred to Vicksburg, Mississippi or Monroe, Louisiana and I'm going District Leader.  Yeah already, I'm going district leader after only 5 months of being out. I'll be getting a lot more responsibility.  When President told me that I was just like, wait what???  Hahahaha!  I was really surprised!  I'm both sad and happy.  Sad because I'm going to miss my district and Meridian and happy because the President felt I needed more responsibility.  I'm also a little scared about it but I know the Lord qualifies us for His work so I'm confident that I'll be alright with it.  I will email you more tomorrow.

     Wednesay, June 27th-  Well I'm in Monroe, Louisiana with Elder Crockett who just got done with his training.  He's showing me the area and having me meet the members and our investigators.  Well I guessed pretty good. 

     Tuesday, Elder Ison and I headed to Clinton which is one of the transfer points.  I'm going to miss serving with Elder Ison and I'm really going to miss Meridian and that district we had a great time together.  We met up with the rest of the missionaries in Clinton (which is near Jackson half way to Monroe) and waited for the transfer van.  This will be the last time I see President Tucker and his wife.  The new mission President arrives this Saturday.  It's going to be crazy. 

     Finally, the van arrived.  I said goodbye to Ison and we headed west.  I got to sit and talk to Elder Whitehead again (from the MTC).  We talked about where we had served last and where we thought we were going.  He's probably going to Texas.  We stopped in Vicksburg for a bit to get gas and I got to see the Mississippi River for the first time when we crossed the bridge.  The drive actually didn't seem that long we got to Monroe fairly quickly it seemed (Meridian to Monroe is just over 200 miles).  They told me I was getting off here.  I met Elder Crockett and a member named Johnny.  Johnny apparently likes to feed the missionaries all the time and will be feeding us anytime we don't have a place to go.  I also found out that this is a bike area, no car now.  And guess what it's 108 degrees here and has been for a while. Hot!!!!  I'm probably going to die out here.  I'm not used to riding bikes so it's killing me!  Hopefully I'll get to lose some weight with all this biking! Hahaha!!  We got to play some basketball with a bunch of different missionaries.  And I'm already known as the beast for my post moves . . . hahaha!  It was a lot of fun.  I have a feeling I'm going to like it here a lot well except for the whole bike riding in 108 degrees thing.  I get to play a lot more basketball, a bunch of different missionaries get together every Monday and play.  So I'm pretty excited about that.
     I got to meet the Zone Leaders and the two sister missionaries here.  Sister Jenkins just got out of the MTC and sister Vanroosendall is training here.  I also got to meet the Stake President, President Pena.  Great guy, always seems to be in a good mood, and he takes his calling very seriously but in a good way.
     So this morning there was a baptism in West Monroe that we went to.  It's always a good sight to see someone enter into the waters of baptism.  Her name is Carolyn.  It was wierd because right before she was suppose to enter the font the power went out and the lights started to flicker like crazy.  It was crazy!!  But we got in done and had a good service.  After that we had a lunch apponintment with Sister Wear.  She's Chinese and I had a hard time getting her food down into my stomach but I got a lot of it.  She's a sweet lady but really worries about her son, who is at scout camp right now.  For some reason she has a really hard time not having contact with him.  I felt bad for her so we gave her a blessing.
     And now we're here emailing.  I hope I can survive this heat!  I'm sure I will love it in time.  I hope all is well.  And I hope you all have a good time celebrating grandma Ivy's 80th birthday.  Hopefully she got my card.  I love and miss you all! 

                                                      Your son, Elder Kerr

P.S.  I did hear that Miami won the Championship.  I was very happy about that and will want to get their championship stuff if I can find it out here.

Made the family tacos for my district, funnest exchange yet, and a transfer is in the air.

     Dad, I'm glad you enjoyed your Father's Day card.  I'm not going to lie I got teary eyed while I was writing it.  I don't remember if I told you but I made the family tacos for my district after district meeting.  It was my first time making them and I did burn a few and they were a little too greasy but none-the-less they were pretty dang good!
     Transfers are coming up on the 26th and the time has flown by.  It helps when you have a companion you get along with.  Elder Ison and I get along great so I'd rather not be transferred but I know if I am it's for the best because the Lord knows what's best for us.
     We were in Buckle the other day so that my companion could get his watch fixed.  The store manager was from St. George yet he didn't know much about the Mormons.  I was surprised.  And the lady that was working there used to live in the very apartment that we live in right now, 303 Deer Run.  Small world I guess ha, ha. 
     The sister missionaries have been visiting a less active sister, Carolyn, who was in need of a blessing.  She lives in these government trailer homes. I'm not sure what they are called but they are extremely poor.  She's been suffering with some ankle injuries.  And she had alot to talk about for a whole hour before we could give her a blessing.  We blessed her that she would be healed.  And she was at church the next day walking in heals!  Miracles happen all the time out here it seems. 
     Another cool thing that happened last week.  When we went to see Dominic he wasn't home so we tract on his street but didn't find anyone.  Then a thought came to me to go to Myrna Cole's (remember her?)  Well, we got there and she wasn't home.  Hmmm, why did I feel impressed to go there?  So we decided to tract on her street and I felt impressed again to head to this other house and we met a man outside along the way and was able to leave him with a BOM and set up a return appointment.  So maybe that was the reason, we will see.
     We got a chance to use the new approach President Tucker suggested on a new family in the ward, the Smith's.  They had invited us over for dinner so instead of the spiritual thought we asked if we could give them a blessing.  We blessed Tim and his wife Jamie and their 5 children, Kimberlyn, Kelsie, Hayden, Julian and TJ.  We blessed them to be safe, to have the Spirit in their home and to help move Christ's work forward.  It was a cool experience!  I love that family!
     We also had a lady scare us.  When we were tracting and went up to a house and just as we were about to knock a lady opened the door.  She didn't realize we were there and when she did she screamed then shut the door saying "I don't have any clothes on."  We were just like "Sorry mam".  We explained who we were through the door and asked if she was interested, she wasn't but we left a Book of Mormon on her porch for her.  It was kind of funny and scary.
     Last Wednesday Elder Ison had a leadership meeting so I went on exchanges in Petal with an Elder Whitlock.  This was my funnest exchange yet.  We got along great!  In fact, I hope that I get to serve with him at some point on my mission.  And in Petal I really liked the area.  We tracted and got some return appointments.  The only downside of this exchange was that an investigater told us she doesn't need the Book of Mormon so she doesn't want the missionaries to come anymore.  We tried to convince her otherwise but she said no.  So we left her with our testimonies that if she really wanted to know if the BOM is true she must do it with a sincere heart.  I could tell she felt the spirit because she got a little teary eyed and said she wanted to go get some rest.  You could tell she wasn't use to having the Spirit with her.
     Well I'll end for now.  You better send any future mail to the mission home until after this transfer.  I don't want to miss any mail.  I Love ya and miss you all and hope all is well.  Your loving son, Elder Kerr.

P.S.  No, I didn't hear that the ward might be moving to the building across the street from our house.  Why would they do that?
    
 

Four months out and I got to fly in the Navel Air Base Meridian's official flight simulator! So AWESOME!!

     I can't believe that I have been out for 4 months already.  It seems like it's going faster and faster each transfer and each month. February and March went by way slow but April and May went by so quickly and this month will be even faster because Elder Ison  and I are getting along so well that it's going to be fun to serve with him.
   Last week I had my 2nd Zone Conference, my last with President Tucker, and he gave us a new tool for missionary work.  It's a new approach when introducing ourselves to people.  Instead of explaining that we are missionaries and have a message to share with them.  We say instead, "We are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ and He has sent us here to leave his peace and blessing in your home.  May we leave that blessing?"  After President Tucker gave us this new approach I felt the Spirit very strongly so I'm way excited to use it! 
     I think I told you that Meridan has a Naval Air Base (Naval Air Base Meridian) well we have a member who is training there who invited us to dinner.  He took us on a tour of all the planes and he let us fly the official simulators of the base.  It was so cool!  We got to be in the actual cockpit part of the simulator!  It was SO AWESOME! 
     I'm really starting to like different foods out here.  We had shrimp for dinner at a members house last week and I tried it and decided I liked it.  It was pretty dang delicious.  I meant to tell you, a few weeks ago we were invited to the Matheson's home for an amazing dinner.  It was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, w/vegetables.  It was one of our usual Sunday dinners when I was home.  It was so delicious and reminded me so much of home. 
          This genealogy that you found is pretty exciting, Mom.  The Kerr's dating back to 1000 AD and the relatives in Croatia! 
     Well, of course, I accidentally deleted all of my pictures again like I did on our family trip to Moab.  But I remembered most of what I had taken pictures of and was able to retake alot of them but I better have you send me my USB cord so I can start saving them on a flashdrive.  Well I'll end for now, I love you and miss you all!              

                                                            Your son,

                                                             Elder Kerr

May Zone Conference in Hattiesburg

May Zone Conference luncheon