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. 

    

I am going to Long Beach, Mississippi!

Dear Mother

I am going to Long Beach, Mississippi! I will send a longer email when I get there.

You've probably guessed where I'm going with this. . . . my bike was stolen.

Dear family,

     Yes, this is definitely one of my slower areas. My companion, Elder Hopman, is doing good. He's just a very quiet guy but a good kid!! I'm coming close to the end of my 4th transfer here in Atlanta so there's a good chance I may be transferred, but you never know I could end up staying another transfer! I did get grandma Sharon's package so thank her for me and I did get Aarons letter so that was some good highlights of the week! So I will go on to tell you more about my week.

Monday the 10th

We went down to Shreveport the day before and spent the night with Elders Eisinger and Elder Huntsman (who is actually from Midvale) It's the first time I've met someone from Midvale, UT in the mission! We eventually got to talking about all the people that he and I know and I guess he knows Josh and his family and he Todd and Brendon and Nate. He knew a lot of the same people that I know! It was kinda crazy actually! We got ready and headed to Zone Conference and had a great meeting about becoming better teachers. I enjoyed it a lot! After lunch Elder Eisinger gets a call about how 2 kids were on their porch area snooping around.  So let me explain I brought my bike down to Shreveport to see if I could get it fixed and I left it at the Elders place during Zone Conference, in the porch area. Anyways, you've probably guessed where I'm going with this but my bike was stolen! So I have no bike now, that was kind of a bummer. Anyways we got done with Zone Conference and I told President about it. It looks like I might be able to get a bike from the Mission office. So that would be good. After dinner we went and tracted with the ZLs and then went to bed because we have more meetings tomorrow.

Tuesday the 11th

There were 3 more meetings today 1 for the sisters, 1 for new missionaries and 1 for District Leaders! I had to go to the District Leader meeting and it was a good. We talked about policies that we have in the mission and making them work for everybody or at least most everybody! Another good meeting! Afterwards we had to try to get our car fixed.  We share with the New Boston Elders. It turns out the left axel is wearing out so we need to get that replaced for sure but they didn't have the part. So we decided we are going to take it to the Toyota dealership up in Texarkana. Then we headed back up to Atlanta and the New Boston Elders spent the night.

Wednesday the 12th

Since our Zone Conference was on Monday our P-Day was moved to today and we did emails and such and then we headed up to New Boston so we could leave them the car.  Oh yeah, I got Grandmas package today so thank you so much for that!  It's always nice to receive those goodies, it's most appreciated. Around 5 we got picked up by Brother Simmons and headed back to Atlanta and called it a day.

Thursday the 13th

Today we were taken out to lunch by Brother Gunn and had some really good pork chops at this place called the Texas BBQ! IT was was way good and, of course, they were fried. I swear they fry everything in the south hahahaha but it was way good! Then we went to Beth Harpers house with Dennis Gunn.  Beth Harper and her husband are really good friends with Bro Gunn. Our plan was to have Bro Gunn so that, Richard, Beth's husband might feel more comfortable and might become more interested in taking the lessons with her.  And it went pretty well so we we'll see what happens. Then we went to the Turners for an but they forgot so we weren't able to teach Janice today. After that we went over to the McQuiveys family to see how they were doing and they eventually asked if we wanted some dinner and so we stayed for dinner. We kinda lost track of time so they gave us a ride home and we called it a night.

Friday the 14th

Today the Simpson's, who are the apartment inspectors for our area of the mission, came up today to look for us a new apartment. The apartment we're in is really old and so they said we need to move. We found this duplex that is really nice so we got it set up to move in there in about a Month.   But it made me kinda sad because I will probalby be gone before that happens. But we will see. Then we went to visit Colleen. She is always so happy to see us. Then on to Jeff Brown's and then the Robinson's. They were all good visits.  I decided that we should tract this one street and to my surprise we actually got 4 return appointments! It was awesome! Hopefully something comes out of it! Headed back to the apartment and got some dinner and then called it a night!

Saturday the 15th

So today was a slower day. We tried seeing the Strader family but they weretoo busy.  Then we went to see Kenneth Webb, a less active member. He's a pretty cool guy. We talked about fishing and how much he enjoys it. Then we tried to visit an old investigator named, Shad and we also tried seeing a referral but she wasn't home. We had a short visit with Shad because we got picked up for dinner to go to the Neilson's.  We did a little service for them so that was fun.

Sunday the 16th

Church was great. We had some great lessons on Tithing and on developing and sharing our talents! It was way good! After church we headed to New Boston to do exchanges. So I am up in New Boston with Elder Bytheway and we will be doing this exchange for a while. So I stayed up in New Boston and called in numbers and called it a night.

It was an eventful week and yeah if your ready for some pictures I will be ready to send them. But I guess the only thing I need. . . . is a little cash.  I don't ever ask for money but I got pretty low this month and could really use some. So if you could find a way to send some or put some in my bank account that would be great. I love you and miss you all. It's going by way fast.

love your son

Elder Kerr

Three buffets this week, hahahah. It was way good though.

Dear family,

That is exciting that Megan has graduated! Thats very awesome and SLCC is where I"m going to go first also. Anyways, I am very happy for her. And yeah Happy Fathers Day to Dad this Sunday. I love you so much. Thank you for everything that you have done for me.  We had Zone Conference this week so our P-Day was later in the week!!!

So onto my week.

Monday the 3rd

We hung out with the New Boston Elders today and we went up to Texarkana and had Golden Corral! It was so delicious! I haven't been to one of those since I was home! So it was way cool!! We went around to other places in Texarkana then we headed back down to Atlanta and hung out for a bit then they went home. We got picked up by the Bishop to go out to eat at Uncle Juans a Mexican resturant that I really love!! And that was our P-Day.

Tuesday the 4th

Today we got our apartmemt checked by the Senior Couple in Shreveport, the Simpsons!! Then we planned on going on exchanges with the ZLs up in Texarkana. I was going with Elder Milligan up in Texar and Elder Ison was coming down to Atlanta with Elder Hopman. We rode up to Texar with the Simpsons and checked the other apartments with them. We actually played a prank on some of the sisters up there in Texar. We knocked on their door and acted like we were the apartment inspectors! hahaha they thought we were serious. We then continued over to the ZLs and then went with them to a chinese buffet. I loved it! Then we went on exchanges and were off to do some work. We were invited to a birthday party and had a good time for a little bit over there hahaha.  We then continued over to teach an investigator of theirs and we had a pretty good lesson. Very enjoyable! But she is going through a lot of troubles in her life right now and I'm just like I know this gospel can bless your life. It was an overall good lesson. After that we headed back and got ready for bed.

Wednesday the 5th

We headed back down to Atlanta for DDM and to change back. We had a good DDM the ZLs taught it today! After Lunch we went and did some service for Carolyn one of Jeff Brown's friends. Cleaned up her yard then they took us to Pizza Hut for their buffet! It was a good day of service.

Thursday the 6th

Today we went to see Colleen in the Nursing home and then to see Beth Harper. We had a great time talking with her and seeing how she was doing on reading The Book of Mormon! I really hope that some day she will be baptized! Anyways after that we went and saw The Sheild's family and talked with them a bit. They are a very nice family. We had dinner with the Fincher's and we got to help make dinner which was a lot of fun. We made Shepherds Pie which was something I learned to make by Elder Crocket one of my old companions! It was good too. After that we headed home and called it a night!

Friday the 7th

We helped the Bishop today to set up for his family reuinon. Then he took us out to lunch at a Chinese Buffet! This was our 3rd Buffet this week!!! hahaha it was way good though. Later that day we were invited to go to his Family Reunion and had a great time! I loved it! 

Saturady the 8th 

The 2nd day of the Reuinon and we went to that, this one was down in Vivian and that was a lot of fun. I got little heat exhausted and maybe a little dehydrated so I had to rest for a bit. Then we tried to see a few more people and called it a night! We got a lot of referals today as well. 

Sunday the 9th 

Wasn't as epic of a Sunday today but it was still good! We went over to the Neilson's and had New Boston come down. We then headed down to Shreveport to get ready for the next day which is Zone Conference. And that was our week. 

love you all and the Church is true! 

I'm 16 months out and it's going by way fast. I can't believe it really!!!

Dear Mother

     I can't believe that Megan is going to graduate so soon! It really doesn't seem like I have been graduated for 3 years already!!! Holy Crap!!!! hahahahaha And Jared, when I get home will almost be old enough to start driving that's crazy!!! And now I am 16 months out! It is going by way fast I can't believe it really!!! It's exciting!!

So on to my week

This week isn't going to be a very detailed week because we ran out of planners so I didn't have something to go off of for details. I now have a planner for this coming week.

We had a zone P-day this week and had a blast I loved it!! We played all types of games with everyone!!!! It was great! We tried seeing a lot of different members this week as well. We did service for Jimmy Phillips. We helped him sheet rock and got a lot done!! We tried to go see the Reynolds family.  They live on a giant farm with like 400 acres!! We did a lot of hometeaching with Brother Doran and we saw Beth Harper! I love that lady so much I plan to keep in contact with her when I leave this area! 

 

We also had a crazy Sunday this week. It's a very long story but basically there was a really strong member of the church a while back that was one of the first Bishops of this ward.  He was such a hard working Bishop getting the attendance up to like 200 a week. Anyways he lost his hearing and I guess he read some stuff and fell away from the church. Nobody knows exactly why but he did. Recently he got cancer and is dying and so he's been on everyone's mind. He is a very well respected man in Atlanta. Anyway, he came to church this last Sunday. Everyone was shocked and a lot of people were worried as to what he was going to say. It was fast Sunday.  He had a lot to say and he said a lot of good stuff as well. To work better as a ward and to help the Bishop. It was an epic week! Sorry for not that many details this week but I love you and I hope all is well.
love your son

Elder Kerr