Beautiful Conference

Wow. That's all I can think to say.

Conference was just that good. I don't know if they just stepped it up this conference, or if I'm just more in tune with the spirit, but I absolutely loved conference. Shoot, I didn't even once fall asleep! It's sad to think I only have one more of those left on my mission. But, I'll make the best of it, that's for sure. The only really depressing thing about conference was LACK OF INVESTIGATORS! We had an investigator promise she would be at the last session of conference, so all throughout conference I was getting super excited for her, because it was so good! 15 minutes before the last session started, she texted and said she wouldn't be able to make it. Sometimes missionary work can be so... depressing. Sometimes you put a lot of trust in people, and they really let you down. But, we make the best of it, and we move on.

Gas prices in California recently rose over 4 dollars a gallon, which to me seems ludicrous. I have no idea what the rest of the country is like right now, but I would have to assume that because of all of California's ridiculous taxes on things, this is about as expensive as it gets. Slap a 9% sales tax on top of all of the already ridiculous taxes, and you've got one expensive place to live. Throw that on top of a high unemployment rate, and you've got some humble people. Now we just need to find them....

I came across an interesting sight the other day. One I've probably seen a dozen times, but it didn't really occur to me the oddity of it until then. I came around a corner in the city, to see a row of palm trees, and in the not too distant background behind said trees, were snow capped mountains. Now, this obviously isn't the only state with palm trees, nor the only state with snow capped mountains, but it is the only one that I'm aware of where the two are in view of each other. I'd send a picture, but I didn't have my camera on me to take one, so you'll just have to take my word on it. It was pretty cool.

Long email today! Last bit. A brother in church gave an interesting thought. He was talking about some of the things he owns that he needs for work. He said that if his truck were to break down, he would have to go get it fixed right then. He could not wait till the next day, he could not take a day off of work. He needs it fixed so he can use it for work the next day. He said the same thing about his laptop. If it were to fry, he would need to have it fixed or replaced as soon as possible. He could not let it wait, because it's very important to him. Then he said to put yourself in the place of the truck, or the laptop, and the Lord is the owner. We need to put ourselves in a place of importance to the Lord, so that when we start to break down, we are so important to His work that he needs us fixed that moment. If we aren't important to his work then he doesn't need us working right then, but if we are instrumental in accomplishing his will, then he will hold us up. He will give us what we need to keep moving on when we start to break down. I have definitely seen that as a missionary, and my challenge to all of you is to put yourself in a position were you are so important to bringing about the Lords work, that he will not let you break down.

I love and miss you all.

Elder Keenan Monnett

Crazy weather

Really, it has been Odd for this time of year. For the last week it has been in the 50's and raining, not exactly an ideal California Spring. But I think the last of the rain in gone, and we'll have clear skies and sun for the next 7 months.... yay.... not really.

So I don't have a lot of time, but I'll share a couple stories, and one of them is related to the weather.

We had a dinner appointment scheduled with a sister in the ward, and her address was listed in the ward directory as being at Herndon and West, which is in the very southeast corner of our area, so we biked all the way there, were running a little late, then, upon ariving, she called and informed us that she actually has moved to Herndon and First, which is about 2 to 3 miles away from where we were... So we start heading east to try and bike to her house as fast as we possible can. It's about 50 degrees outside, which isn't even so bad, but we were heading into about 10-15 mph winds that were heading the opposite direction. We finally got there and we were beat, but the dinner was great, so, worth it? I think so.

That's actualy the only story I have time for right now, but I'll tell everyone all about my companion from Louisville, Ky next week. I love and miss you all!

Another week come and gone, so long Elder Westra

I think Elder Westra is one of the better companions I've had on my mission, which makes it really depressing that He's being transferred to Porterville 2nd ward. We didn't even get to be together for an entire transfer. In his place will be coming Elder Willman, from Kentucky. Elder Westra is pretty bummed out about leaving. First and foremost probably because he has an amazing companion that he doesn't want to lose, and secondly because he's been working so hard to get this area running, and it's just now starting to come around. It's a frustrating situation.

Conference is coming up! I have such a greater appreciation for General Conference now than I think I ever have in my life. A chance to hear from prophets called of God is such an amazing opportunity. Prepare yourselves for conference now! It will mean so much more to you if you prepare, if you Identify one problem, or one quiestion that you have in your life, and then listen to an answer to that. It can make all the difference in the world. Suddenly it's not just a bunch of old men talking, but it's your Heavenly Father helping you to make your life better. Give it a shot. That's about all the time I have for today!

I love and Miss you all!

Christmas sometimes DOES come early!

Miracles still happen today!

In our apartment, we have hook ups for a washer and dryer, but we lack a washer and dryer, so we have to take our laundry elsewhere and pay for every load we use. This may not sound so awful, but mothers will cringe when I mention that because of that, we tend not to wash things like bedsheets very often because we don't want to spend the extra money. Well the other day, I threw some things in the Washer and dryer closet to store them, and made the joke "hope we don't get a washer and dryer anytime soon". 3 hours later, we got a call from the missions housing coordinator saying that they had just closed a missionary apartment down, and had a washer and dryer they needed to get rid of, and asked if we could keep it in our apartment. You're darn right!

On a more spiritual note, after several weeks of banging our heads into the wall we had run into, we found an opening, and moved a little further! Two less active families we have starting working with lately came to church on Sunday! They really enjoyed it, and the ward did a super job on fellowshipping! We were so happy to see some progress, and we found out that one of them might have two unbaptized daughters! God DOES answer prayers! It's just that whole in His own time and own way thing tends to throw me off, because naturally, I'm selfish, and I want things in my own time, and my own way! Luckily, I don't decide that, and Heavenly father, who does, is much much smarter than I am. I am eternally grateful none the less.

On a final note, I want to end with a thought that I got from my companion, that I really enjoyed, and it is about service. Now, it would be pretty easy to get into a lengthy discussion about works, and about what gets you into heaven, and what utlimately saves us in the end. Does doing good things get you into heaven? No. I could spend my whole life doing nothing but serving other people, and if I do not do the core things that Christ has asked me to do, then that will prevent me from achieving the exaltation that he has planned for me. But, while doing good things won't neccesarily get me into heaven, a lack of good things will keep me from it.

So what have you done for people lately?

I love and miss you all!

Elder Keenan Monnett

Seriously?

So this week has been even more crazy than last week, and it all started with Zone Conference on Wednesday...

Everything was going nice an normal, when President Gonzalez approached me after sitting down. He leaned in and said "now Elder Monnett, you know that you're being transferred to Riverview ward today, right?"

"Ummmm, no?"

"Oh, you didn't? Well you're being transferred today, so you'll need to go home right after Zone Conference and pack all of your stuff"

Upon arriving at our apartment, I was given 45 minutes to pack everything I owned and get it into the car. It was probably one of the more stressful moments of my mission. Needless to say, nothing was packed very well, and was just all thrown haphazardly wherever it would fit.

So, now, instead of being in Sanger with Elder Giesey, I'm in Riverview with Elder Westra (Pocatello, ID). Other than the absolute craziness that was moving, and the absurdity of still trying to figure out where everything I own is, things have been great. The work is slow (SLOW!), but it's picking up. I think good things will come. So now I'm in Fresno again! Yay! Literately about 4 or 5 blocks from my last area in Fresno (my old Ward Mission Leader works at an In-N-Out in my area). That's about all the time I have now!

I love and miss you all!

Elder Keenan Monnett

Broken Refrigerators and new Mission Presidents

As you can tell by the subject, it has been an exciting week. This morning, as I was eating my bowl of cereal, I noted that my milk was a tad warmer than milk should be. We checked, and found out that on full blast, our fridge could only go as low as 40 degrees, and on normal it would get as high as 55. So in a hurry, we moved all of our food to the church fridge (fingers crossed that it's still there when we go to pick it up). Not quite sure what's wrong with it, but the apartment staff promised we'd have a new one by tomorrow, so that's exciting.

But even more exciting than that is the announcement of who our new mission president is going to be this July. We got a call out (a voice message) from President Gonzalez telling us that our new mission president is going to be Larry Gillwick, and went on to say:

"some of you may have heard of Larry Gillwick. He coached the highly successful Highland Rugby team for 37 years, and the movie 'Forever Strong' is based on him and his efforts",

Ironically, my companion and I had just been talking that morning about how we weren't sure anyone could fill the shoes of President Gonzalez and the great work that he has done. Now we're getting Larry Gillwick, who was depicted in the movie 'Forever Strong'. I think some exciting things are going to happen in this mission, or should I say, continue to happen.

Other than those exciting things, we've been having delightfully spring-like weather, and very little rain. Maybe California weather isn't so bad after all. Just kidding, talk to me in 3 months.

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

Sanger!

Here I am, sitting in the small town of Sanger, which is just east of Fresno, emailing home. It has been an odd series of events that have led up to this moment, and I'll cover some of them now. When I had my interview with president, he informed that I would be transferring to Sanger, living with the zone leaders, and covering English work. I'm glad that he told me that, because if he hadn't, I wouldn't have found out till I got to Sanger. For some reason or another, these transfers have been horribly unorganized. One missionary didn't even know that he was going to be a District Leader until the day he was supposed to start.

Currently I am living with the Zone Leaders, who cover the spanish work in Sanger, with my companion, Elder Giesey (Florence, Kentucky). Sanger is quite a small town, and the population is largely Hispanic. The only large Grocery store in town is Super Walmart. The Zone leaders speak spanish, and my companion speaks spanish, so needless to say, soy aprendiendo espanol. The ward has a spanish group, instead of a spanish branch, so that means that the spanish speakers, and english speakers, meet together, and the meetings are translated into spanish. In fact, our Elders quorom meeting was all in spanish... I didn't get much out of it....

But, It's a good town. It sits far enough east of fresno that the Sierra-Nevada's aren't blocked as much by smog, so that's a beautiful sight, and there's a lot of nice country that we ride through around Sanger. Overall, I'd say its a nice town, and that I made out pretty well.

I love and miss you all!