Honored to be a tool in the Lord's hands.

     I cant believe that Brendon will be going into the MTC this Wednesday, it's amazing!  Everyone in our group of friends are growing in many different ways.  I'm grateful to have them as my friends and the example they give to me. 

    The Baptism did go through and it went very well she even came the next Sunday to be confirmed a member and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I had the opportunity to be in the font during the Baptism. She is a really heavy set woman so me and Elder Crockett helped her in and out of the font. I was behind her when she went under and I had my hands under her back to help her up. It went really smoothly, only had to do it once. It was an amazing moment on my mission. There was some worries that she wouldn't be able to endure baptism but she did. She put a lot of faith into it and it was just an absolutely amazing experience. She is already talking about going through the temple in a year. The Lord has prepared her very well for baptism.  I was honored to be a tool in the Lords hands, to teach her and prepare her to enter the waters of baptism. 

     I also can't believe that I'm heading toward my 7 month mark. Aaron told me it even goes by faster after the 6 month mark. Im going to have another fun transfer I believe. The new Zone Leaders here are awesome guys and I'm getting along with them great. And Elder Crockett is as good as always. One of the new Zone Leaders here is a pretty good baseball player. He is from Kanab, Utah.  He played for Eastern Utah and he is probably going to be drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. It's pretty cool to be serving around him. Since I have been in Monroe I have come to like baseball a lot more. 

     That is an awesome quote from Brigham Young, "I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father … , for there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know."  And I do feel something about this Anthony Smith. I hope he is lead to baptism either by us or someone after us. It truly was an amazing experience. I love this work. Sometimes it gets hard to put forth my full effort but I don't want to be anywhere else but here, on my mission, for this next year and half or year and 5 months soon. I love this church! It is so true! 

I love you Dad. I appreciate everything you do for me. I miss ya a ton.

                                                                  Love your son 

A GREAT week in the work!

Dear family,

     We had a wonderful baptism on Saturday but it wasn't Elder Crockett's and mine, it was the sister missionaries in the Monroe Area. They had the baptism. It was my first baptism interview though. As district leader I do all the baptism interviews in my district besides baptisms we do. The Zone Leaders interview those we lead to baptism. The mission average for each missionary is 4-6 baptisms throughout their entire mission so the 15 a month, you heard, could be right.  Our first baptism will be this coming Saturday, August 18th, at 2 o'clock so 1 o'clock there I believe.  And that's with Debra Kristy.    

          So this week was a pretty good week. We set up another baptism date on September 1st for Anthony Smith. He is a solid investigator right now who was referred to us from the Bishop of the ward. During our 2nd lesson with him he said something to us that touched me to the core.  We taught him The Plan of Salvation. And he said, "there is something about you two, it's like I have known you before.  Like I have always known you."  And that just confirmed for me that in the pre-existence I was pre-ordained to serve in this mission.  Probably the best experience I have had out on my mission so far :)  One I will always hold sacred.  I hope he will enter the waters of baptism.  Pray for him please.

     I'm glad to hear that Brendon's farewell went well.  And Megan's talk too.  I'm glad Megan saw what I saw as well when I started to prepare for my mission. I did see how much closer as a family we did get. So we will have 3 missionaries in the mission field from the ward now and just 6 and a half months ago we didn't have any in the field.

          The weather here is still very HOT but there have been a few cooler days.  It doesn't usually start cooling down here until the end of September but we have had such a hot year this year that it might not even cool down until mid October. So its pretty intense down here. The weather has been very interesting though maybe because the planets are lining up at the end of the year. 

     I do remember the olympics when they came to Salt Lake in 2002. I would probably enjoy them better now, at this age, because I was never really interested back then. And yeah people hear watched it so we heard about it. I heard that the basketball team won gold so Im excited about that. And I heard that the winter Olympics will come back to Utah. That will be exciting. 

      A GREAT WEEK in the work! I have felt the spirit many times throughout this week. From just learning how to show my love more to others to visiting Sister Meeks in the hospital (She had a stroke but is expected to make a full recovery), to helping 2 families move in, we did quite a bit of service. Another cool thing that happened this week is that the Stake President's son returned from his mission in South America.  Sunday was his homecoming.  I never even met him before but I can feel how much he has grown on his mission. It's weird to see returning missionaries when I'm still on a mission.  And then, of course, the wonderful baptism of Angie Mizel from the sister missionaries work was AWESOME! 

     I'm also glad to hear that Holly's blessing is helping her out. And I'm glad to hear that Marcelo is recovering. Well I will end for now. I love you and miss you. 

                                                                     

                                                                    Love your son 

                                                                    Elder Shawn Kerr

My first baptism, staying in Monroe and 6 months out!

     I'm staying in Monroe and I'm staying with Elder Crockett for another transfer! I can't believe that I'm 6 months out and on my 5th transfer.  I'll be a year out soon enough, Jared (haha).  Its crazy!  It's been an intense week!  Last Tuesday, Elder Crockett got bit by a German Shepherd on his hand pretty good.  But we did get to see some awesome people

     So our new investigator Debra Kristy is being baptized this Saturday at 2 o'clock. She is such a sweet lady and has been prepared well by the Lord. She used to smoke 4 packs a day but she has been smoke free for 2 years now. She told us on our first visit that she wanted to be baptized.  She believed everything was true.  She was giving up her coffee and tea from then on.  She wants to go to the temple.  She is such a sweet lady.  I automatically have come to love her to death. She has been to church the last 2 weeks, it's so exciting! 

     Two Sunday's ago we were asked to speak and teach the combined 5th sunday meeting in Winnsboro. It's not our area but we did it. It is a small branch has like 26 members there last Sunday. It was my first time in a branch and not a ward. I think they are awesome down there. I can feel them closer together since there are so few of them. We talked on scriptures for sacrament meeting. Then for Sunday school we taught the 3 youth in the ward, about strengths through the Lords commandments on prayer, reading scriptures and paying tithing stuff like that. Then we taught the combined 5th sunday meeting. We taught about conversion and revelation. We taught all 3 hours but it was a fantastic Sunday. I felt the spirit strong there. A member from the Ruston high council drove us down to Winnsboro, his name was Brother Randle. He was a very nice talkative guy. He gives every member a 2 dollar bill so I got a 2 dollar bill now.
     Tell Liz thanks for her support, I appreciate it and tell her hi as well :) And yes I did receive your letter and grandma Sharon's package and money gifts.  Thank you all so much.  I enjoyed that cake mix grandma!  It was way good!  Sorry I havent replied yet.  I usually get funded by the mission, $155, the last day of every month.  Whatever day that turns out to be. 

     I'm so glad that Dad got both vehicles working. He is very talented with that stuff and I hope I can be able to do that kind of stuff as well someday! I do like doing things with my hands. 

     So you know the member that called you guys yesterday, Brother Boyle, who was feeding us? He said that if I got to a Junior college for 3 semesters and get A's I could have a good chance of getting into BYU. So Im going to do that! Go to SLCC for 3 semesters and get good grades and try to transfer to BYU! I would love that! (Brother Boyle called us yesterday and spoke to Shawn Sr. for a few minutes while they were feeding our missionary son.  He said he thinks he has a hollow leg.  And they were feeding the missionaries some good Utah food.  He has 3 degrees from BYU and thinks Elder Kerr should most definitely go there.)

     That is some terrible news! That makes me extremely sad to hear about Marcelo! And Hollys boyfriend Kim:(  Send my love! 

     I can't believe that Brendon is heading into the MTC soon. That's insane I'm way excited for him! Well , I've got to get going.  I  love you and miss you all!

                                                                  Elder Kerr

P.S.  In answer to your question mom I still do want a GPS for Christmas and I will for sure be needing some new garments maybe another pair of slacks and some new shoes but I'm okay with everything right now.  Just some ideas for Christmas like you asked.

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!