Halfway Through the CCM (MTC)

We are all almost done with the CCM (MTC). It's getting harder to think of things to write about. The days are starting to melt together. Our zone got a new District...it's weird to our district to have new missionaries because we all still feel like the little kids that don't know anything.Elder Olsen and I started teaching without notes this week, it was challenging and probably didn't make any sense. But, good because we figured out what key words we are still missing in our vocab so we can learn it. It also makes the lessons feel real and you teach more from the heart which is what we are supposed to be doing, so for how bad our spanish is, our lessons still have meaning and are powerful. We also have two investigators now  Julio and Romido they are complete opposites. 

Julio asks us the hardest questions that would be hard to explain to someone even in English. Like, "Why are you guys called elders?" or "I don't need to be baptized because i've never sinned before". It's tough to find the correct words to explain to him what he needs to know and then teach him a lesson in 15 minutes. We usually explain the answers to his questions and then never get around to the lesson so it's good and bad.

Romido does not ask enough questions, we try to get to know him more and figure out what his needs are, but it's hard when he just gives you one word answers. We usually get through the lessons and just stress the parts we think he needs.  

Fast Sunday was pretty cool, we got to do the sacrament meeting for the cafeteria workers. Elder Markham and Elder Whetton are the substitute zone leaders now because our zone leaders left last week, so they have to direct all of our meetings now in Spanish.

(He sent the letter early, but don't worry he finished it...)

I wasn't done yet. We got a new district in our zone, and it was funny to see how we were acting just two weeks ago. They looked freaked out haha, but on family night they had all started to settle down and chill out more just like we did. Elder Frampton leaves next week, so after next week we will be the oldest district in our zone. That's super weird because we all still feel like we just got here, I also really like their district, they help us out a lot, and we are always in each others classrooms.
We watched a devotional from Elder Bednar, that he gave to the Provo MTC on Christmas a few years back. It was way spiritual and kinda funny, he basically said that the majority of the missionary's speak their languages so bad, that the only way people can even be converted is through the Holy Ghost. And it is so true, I know my spanish is terrible but all the feed back we get from our teachers (who are also our investigators) is how great. They tell us our lessons are good and they tell us how good we teach, and then they say we just need to get the spanish down. I love it here, I know it's where I need to be and I know with all my heart that the church is true. Love you guys talk to you next week.

Week Two!

He is doing so good! 

"It´s getting a lot easier just like the other elders said it would, the main thing is you can’t get caught daydreaming or you start second guessing why you here and lose focus of what is really important and that's bringing people to Christ and to happiness.  We have finished teaching our first investigator and have started our second.  Me and my companion know how to teach really well but the language barrier is what keeps us from really opening up and learning what investigators true needs are.  The lessons get easier every time and so I know by the end of next week we probably will just need to go in with our scriptures rather than a full written out scrip. 

I am getting more used to the food, I almost got sick last week so I pounded down 4 bananas down and that pretty much stopped all the urges if you know what I mean?   Any ways haha my district is getting along really well.  Me and elder Olsen hang out with elder Markham and elder Whetton a lot elder Markham is way cool,  he is from Arizona and commercially fishes in Alaska 2 months out of the year so we all get along really well.  We pranked another room in our casa because they kept leaving the door to our casa open all day, we took all the sheets off their bed and put a mattress in their shower.   Ya they were way mad it was pretty funny, most the people in our casa are pretty chill we usually get to bet around 11:30 because we are all in each other’s rooms talking.

A kid in our district gave a devotional about why he chose to come on his mission and it was probably one of the coolest story´s I´ve ever heard, his name is elder Osborn and when he was a sophomore, him and his friend went to his friends ranch for Easter weekend.  They just  kinda rode dirt bikes and went looking for deer antlers.  Anyway one morning his friends wanted to go back out and look for deer antlers, he decided he didn’t want to go so he just kinda hung out at the house and finally he got impatient and got in the side-by-side and went looking for them. He couldn't find them so he just started screwing around drifting and doing donuts. He tried drifting around and slid out and hit a drainage ditch and got thrown 15 feet and the side-by-side tumbled on top of him.  The roll cage landed on his pelvis and no one knew where he was.   He thought he was going to die.  Looking at what he had he had a box cutter an empty bottle of coke and a Gatorade.  Praying as hard as he could for the lord to just let him die then after 2 hours of laying there he wrote his goodbye´s on the hood of the side-by-side.  Then he stabbed himself 15 times and slit his own throat.   Another hour passed and he lived on, he started to hear the faint sound of a dirt bike and it turned out to be his friend.  His friend not being religious started to pray to god to help him get his friend unstuck.  His 180 pound friend by himself flipped the 1900 pound quad back on all fours.  They met the ambulance half way to the hospital.  The doctor told his father that he did not slit his throat by himself he was inspired by something else they called it a self preformed tracheotomy it allowed him to stop hyperventilating and the knife wounds relieved pressure in his body that could have killed him.  He was also 3 cm away from his voice box.  They said he would never play sports again and may never walk again.  He tried out for football only five months later.  He is living proof that God has a hand in all of our lives and that God really does care about his children. Love you all I’m doing great!!!!"                  


"just to answer some questions the CCM is 90 acres and a lot like a college campus with big walls around it. There are something like 850 missionaries here and at Provo they are pushing 3000 missionaries on a 30 acre campus, so we are pretty lucky here. All  we basically do is study, that's why it sucks when you don't have a a investigator to prepare for, like we did at the end of  last week. Your brain just pretty much shuts down and you can't memorize anything after like 6 hours of studying."

Elder Framp and Elder Keyes and Elder Harvicston

His District

Elder Markham and Elder Olsen and Elder Keyes

First Week

First week!

We got to the MTC at about 2 in the afternoon, then we were allowed to just chill. My companion Elder Olsen didn't get here till about9:00 that night. The next day we jumped right into it we had like 5 different orientation meetings. It was a long boring day with a lot of little things they want you to remember but aren’t really that important. Elder plant from the airport is in my casa and then his companion elder Erickson who is from Idaho and then my companion who Elder Olsen who is from Montana.  All of the boys in our district are going to the same mission and then the Hermana's are all going all over the U.S. I really like everyone in my district they are all way chill, also Elder Frampton is in my zone so I see him all the time which is a BIG help.

All of the Elder's that have been here longer seem like they are three year's older then us when they have only been here like 2 weeks longer than us. Everyone in my zone helps my district with all the language teaching and how to eat the food without getting sick haha. The food im gunna be honest is the craziest things I have ever seen like most of us probably haven’t seen meat/cheese/mystery food like this. I usually just wrap whatever the "food" is into a tortilla and drowned it in hot sauce. I’m always excited for breakfast and dinner because the nuetella bar is open and me and Elder Olsen make banana nuetella sandwich's. But tonight is pizza night and they said that is the best night of the week they get a ton of costco pizza's. I’m starting to eat more and more of the food you just kinda have to close your eyes and pray you don’t get diarrhea. Elder plant in my casa got sick yesterday.

We have taught our investigator 3 times and each time we read to him less and less, the first time we taught him we pretty much read him the first three pages of preach my gospel. But we are getting it, it’s pretty amazing that after only 4 days and can get the jest of what someone is saying in a different language. Yesterday was Mexico's independents day so we had a huge party for that and watched dancers in their native clothing it was pretty cool. We also sang the Mexican national anthem and the president of the CCM named off the founding fathers of Mexico then wave a huge Mexican flag yelling viva la Mexico as fireworks shot off indoors! So that was pretty crazy and fun I'll send pictures next week because I forgot my chord to upload them. Everyone is so nice here and you can pretty much talk to anyone and figure out a mutual friend you have except for the Latinos and natives only the people about to leave can communicate with them. We get a new teacher tomorrow and two new investigators by the end of the week but our first teacher was way cool his name is Hermano Martinez. Our branch presidency is way cool, we have presidente Rodriquez and presidente Romero we haven’t met the other councilor yet he has been out of town. Presidente Rodriquez  is way cool and can speak English very well he was called to be a councilor when the CCM opened last year and could barely speak English at all and now he directs and teaches priesthood and sacrament meeting. Romero though he can barely speak at all and I don’t know if he knows exactly what's going on because he'll stand up and share story's that doesn’t have anything to do with the lesson's haha But he is a very nice and genuine man that all he wants to do is help the missionary's. But I’m almost out of time so I love you all and hope to hear from you.

Elder Keyes and Elder Olsen 

Officially in Mexico

He made it to Mexico, City!

Austin's flight left last night at 12:55 am. It was a bitter sweet goodbye, but my family is so proud of my brother. 

The airport experience was crazy!

Going to the airport was a different experience, the mood was quite somber. However, little did we know, we would all meet 3 other missionaries going to the same mission, and be on the same flight!

Elder Plant, Elder Jeffery, and Elder Lomeli

Elder Plant is from Murray, Utah, and he seems like a great kid with an outstanding family.

Elder Jeffery is from Payson, Utah. Turns out, I actually took a few classes at UVU with his mom, and his parents are related to my dad's best friend, David Dunford. How crazy is that?!

Elder Lomeli is from Cedar Hills, Utah, about .5 miles from my parents house. Austin and him know each other very well. It turns out, his dad served the exact same mission as this elder. Cool right?

We have one other boy already heading out to North Quito, Ecuador. His name is Elder Ryan Call. He happens to be in my parents/brothers and my old ward! He lives right around the block. 

All these families were truly blessed to have met each other last night.

Austin made it to Mexico, and is so happy to be there...

hey dad and mom i made it last nigh was super hard up until i met up with all of the other missionary's we all got together right before we went on the plane there was about 13 of us sisters and elders most were going to Ecuador other then the four that was down there the other elders are going to giqyuiluil (i cant spell that haha). we were the first group to arrive and kolin hasn't got here yet. my companion is elder Olsen. i am in a casa and my classes are at the Joseph fielding smith building so i will be able to get the package easy. travin is in the intermediate class so he will be in the field twice as fast as me but today we pretty much just get to chill and unpack so that's nice. tyler is out in the field now which is insane. it seemed like yesterday we were saying goodbye to him. driving to the mtc was way crazy i've never seen homes where people in a place like this the are all concrete and stacked up the side of the hill. bu um just so you know i have way more stuff then everyone else haha but im sure ill be happy mom tried to pack walmart into my bag. i write on tuesdays im not sure which time yet so it will probably be from 8-12 is so be ready i love you so much see you in two!!!!

---Elder Keyes 

 See You in Two!

Family Farewells

The Keyes family had a day to say goodbye for two years to Austin on Wednesday. There was pizza, cake, stories and tears. It was a great time, and it felt like the olden days, Grandma sang us all an old song…

Once there was a Dutchman
His name was Johnny Verbeck
He made the finest sausages and sauerkraut and speck.
He made the finest sausages that'll evermore be seen,
Till one day he invented a sausage makin machine.

Chorus:
Oh, Mr. Johnny Verbeck how could you be so mean,
I told you, you'd be sorry for inventin' that machine
now all the neighbors cats and dogs will nevermore be seen
For they'll be ground to sausages in Johnny Verbeck's machine.

One day a boy came walkin' a walkin' thru the door.
He bought a pound of sausages and laid them on the floor.
The boy began to whistle, He whistled up a tune.
And all the little sausages went dancin' round the room.

Chorus:

One day the machine got busted the darn thing wouldn't go,
So Johnny Verbeck he climbed inside to see what made it so.
His wife she had a nightmare, went walkin' in her sleep
She gave it a yank a deuce of crank and Johnny Verbeck was meat!

Chorus:

(Alternate Verses)

One day tha meat inspector came knockin at tha door,
He said "I'll start a lookin or give me money more."
Well johnny got real angry an pushed him in tha meat,
he fired up the old machine an now theres more ta eat.

One day there was a shortage there was no meat ta grind,
So johnny he called up tha pound ta see what he could find.
They said were outta busness we keep tha strays no more,
But we'll send all our future finds directly to your door."

Austin was able to take one more camping trip with his Grandpa Keyes, Grandpa Shelley, My Dad, and My Mom.

Today we spent the day at our cousin’s baptism and he was able to stand in the circle for the first time, and be their first hand as Sadie was ordained a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My husband and I were able to go to lunch with my parents and brother at Tucanos today, we stalked his belly up for the next two years!

Here is a few fun stories that were shared....
When Austin was in Kindergarten he broke both of his wrists at the same time.
When he was about two (I think)..I may have pushed him out of the window. Oops.
He has fallen out of a ski lift.
He used to play Santa everyday, he used a white wash cloth as a beard and a pillowcase for a bag.
He used to have a bug catching business and he used a milk carton as a helmet.
He put on a Backstreet Boy concert in our backyard with some friends.
He has put his hand in a mouse trap and has lost his front big boy tooth because of a stick. (that was Brett Ricks, Steven Clark and Chandler Clark's fault...just saying).

Oh there is so much more....