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