The winds of change. . .

...smell funny.

So let me tell you all about my new area, with my new companion!

First, my new companion!

Elder Seumanu (Wvc, Utah, but originally Compton, CA) is Samoan. My Second Samoan companion! He's pretty chill. He doesn't sweat the small stuff, but he doesn't waste the Lords time. He's a very hard worker, and he is hilarious! I don't quite recall how many Brothers and Sisters he originally had, but his Dad adopted his Aunt and Uncles 11 children from Samoa, so he's got a lot of "brothers and sisters". We're in for a very good transfer. We're also in for a good transfer, because Elder Seumanu has a hurt shoulder, and can't ride a bike. So, because of that, we have a car, with practically unlimited miles. And guess who got to drive for the first time in over a year! YEEEAAAAHHHH. That was pretty awesome. I mean, its an 08 Malibu that gets horrible gas mileage, but it's a car! It was great.

As far as the area goes, it's pretty great too! The Riverside ward used to be the largest biking area in the mission, but luckily, we have a car now. The ward is great, I felt as if I had a pretty warm welcome. Elder Seumanu was telling me that theres quite a bit of member trust in the missionaries here, because the missionaries who have been in this area have been more "real" so to speak. And after meeting the investigators here, I can see why it needs to be that way. Anyway, I'm expecting a lot of miracles, and I can't wait to everyone about them!

I love and miss you all! And it was GREAT to hear from my family! I loved it.

Elder Keenan Monnett

Gah!

It is incredibly frustrating. It's annoying. It's depressing. I absolutely cannot STAND it. But I do it anyway. Why? Because the Lord knows a heck of a lot more than I do about what is best. That's right, its transfer time again, and this time, both mean AND my companion are leaving. We're being doubled out, or, as it is more commonly known in other missions, whitewashing the area. But we're doing more than just that. They're actually closing the area, and another set of missionaries will be covering this area as well as there own. It can be a little scary when that happens, because of a natural tendency, those missionaries will most likely focus on their original area more than they will ours, and some of our members or investigators have the potential of being neglected. BUT, as was said before, the Lord knows best. I'm just a soldier on the front lines, and don't see the big picture nearly as well as the General over us. Where am I going you ask?

I am being transferred to Riverside ward. I don't know how many times I'm going to screw that up, seeing as I'm going from Riverview ward to Riverside ward, but it is about 5 miles from where I'm currently sitting, and borders the Fig Garden ward, where I've previously served. My new companion will be Elder Seulamalu (I think). I don't know too much about him (other than he's big. Like, football player big), but I'm positive we'll get along great. I'm sad to see Elder Willman go. We got along much better than I ever thought we would (not that I thought we wouldn't).

It's interesting; no matter how many times I make the resolve to not get attached to people in a ward, or to an area, or to a companion, they still managed to sneak their way into my heart like a wide eyed little puppy, and then they're violently ripped out of my heart. I know it's coming. I know it has to happen. But it never seems to make it any easier.

This last weekend we had the wonderful privilege of hearing from Elder Snow of the Presidency of the Seventy, and H. David Burton, the presiding Bishop over the church. We had a mission wide conference (the first in this mission that anyone is aware of) while these two great men spoke to us. Elder Snow stressed the importance of "hearing the words not spoken" and listening to the Holy Ghost, and it's true. One thing I noticed in General conference was that most of the things I learned or felt had very little to do with what the speaker was saying. I also learned what it is a Presiding Bishop does! Had no idea about that. He is responsible for all things temporal in the church. Meeting houses, Temples, finances, the fun stuff. They then opened it to questions, but told us that they have "no idea where the sword of Laban is" and "haven't seen the three Nephites in a long time", then told us to direct our doctrinal questions to our High Priest group. It was great. I feel as if I learned a lot from these men, and hope I'm able to apply it, not just to my mission life, but to my eternal one.

My goal for the week: Be more enthusiastic!

I love and miss you all!

Elder Keenan Monnett

P.S. Holy cow this was flipping long for me.

P.P.S. I'm inlcuding a link to my mission map! So instead of you just hearing about the areas I'm serving in, you can see them! Enjoy! My Mission Map

What's that smell?

We just got back from the Zoo! I haven't been to a zoo in ages. Now, the Fresno Zoo may not be anything to impressive, but it was worth the $7 (which could have been 6 if I had known that there was a coupon in the phone book). But I digress. Saw some animals that I haven't seen in a long time, some that I've never seen (Giant Cockroaches anyone?). It was fun, I'll admit it, though I was a little skeptical when I first heard we were going to the zoo for our zone activity.

We're having a special stake conference this weekend. Bishop Burton, of the presiding bishopric of the Church, will be attending ours and speaking to us. We don't get quite as lucky as Fresno East Stake, who is getting L. Tom Perry. So close. We got a little excited, because we found out that we're having a mission wide conference on Saturday, which has been done in the time that I've been here before. We all assumed that because they were gathering everyone in the mission together, and that L. Tom Perry justhappened to be in town that day, that we were going to be hearing from him. Well, according to the assistants, he's not. Sad day, but I'm still super excited to hear from Bishop Burton and Elder Snow of the seventy. I'm sure that they'll have lots to share with us, and I can't wait to learn.

On an odd note, I've been learning a lot about Bees lately. Bees are actually very interesting insects, and one of the most profitable. In the summer time, bee keepers use the bees to make honey. During other parts of the year, they use them to pollinate. Mostly Almond Orhcards here, but they'll take them up north this time of year to pollinate apples in places like washington and the like. Theres a bee keeper in our ward, and he is going to try and take us out and be bee keepers for a day! Sounds like a blast. So do you want to know some random facts about bees? You do? Ok!

The only bees that do the work, like collecting pollen, making honey, and the like, are females. These are called the working bees. There only purpose is to work.

The male bees, or Drones, serve only one purpose. Reproducing with the queen. They have no stinger. When they reproduce, the queen bee flies up as high as she can go (usually around a mile in the air) and all the Drones fly after her. The one who gets there first, gets to do the reproducing, but theres a catch. After they're done, their male bits break off, and they die. Not so awesome. You can hold a Drone bee in your hand, and he can't hurt you. Its pretty awesome.

You know, they often compare the church to a bee hive, and I'm sure they're comparing it to the efficiency and hard work of a bee hive, but people already believe some strange things about us..... haha.

I love and miss you all! Happy Easter!

Elder Keenan Monnett

What does the Atonement mean to you?

It's a question that we should all ask ourselves. We each know the sunday school answer of course. Jesus Christ lived and died for us so that we could make it into heaven. It's the greatest sacrifice ever, yadda yadda yadda. But what does it really mean to you? Do you really know that he did that? Do you really understand what that means? Do you show proper appreciation for it? I don't. Not as often as I should, anyway. Do you really understand what role it plays on a personal level? That you can use it to literately change your life? Do you strive constantly to use it? Do you hold it close when nothing else seems to be working? Are you constantly attempting to learn more about it? Do you know what it means to take the sacrament? What does the atonement mean to you?

--
Elder Keenan Monnett

"I hear the wind blow, I hear the wind blow, it seems to say, hello, hello, I'm the one who loves you so."

And windy has it been. I don't feel like it really loves me that much.

This week I have learned patience in my adversities and my trials. After experiencing a somewhat difficult, but faith building trial not too long ago, I recongnized how important trials were. Then I did the unspeakable. I prayed for trials. I don't know what I was thinking but my prayer was answered. The next several days were all very stress filled and things seemed to just keep going wrong. I was getting frustrated. I was getting impatient. I was getting incredibly stressed, until suddenly it occured to me that I had payed for this, and I found out how to make any lousy day much much better. That night, when the realization came, before getting into bed I knelt down and prayed. Except, instead of asking for anything, I tried to give a prayer only saying what I was grateful for. It took a minute, but suddenly I started seeing all of the little things that made my day so much better. After that prayer, I felt so good about the day, and realized that I didn't need my days to change. I needed my attitude to change. I needed to "count my... blessings" and "see what God hath done". The next day, the trials didn't end, but I endured them so much better. We got hailed on. One of our investigators brought her youth Pastor with her to an appointment, who was condescending and argumentative. One guy even drove accross four lanes of traffic, down the wrong side of the road, just to hit a puddle of water and splash us. By all counts, it should have been a lousy day, but because of that focus on what was good, instead of what was bad, I didn't get discouraged. I remained ^"troubled on every side, yet not distressed... perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;" Be happy in your trials. Focus on the Good, not the Bad, and your whole life will change, even if nothing around you does.

I love and miss you all!
-- Elder Keenan Monnett