Easter

We have two new emails posted from Elder McKeon. We can't wait to talk to him on Mother's Day!

April 21, 2014

Hey everybody!

This week was filled with up's and down's. 

For the past few weeks I have had a problem with my feet. Every time that I took my socks off at night, a layer of skin would come off with my socks. I thought it was just athletes foot, so I would wash my feet 3 times a day and use a cream. They kept getting worse, so Sister Ferrin told me I had to go to the doctor. She was actually a little upset that I had not taken care of it earlier. We went to a skin doctor and he told me that I got some sort of virus in my shoe (my brand new shoes). The doctor told me I had to boil all of my socks and throw away my shoes. I now have to wear these ugly leather sandals. People stare at me as I walk around, dressed in a white shirt and tie, with ugly leather sandals. Hopefully my feet will get better soon.

I also had the chance to talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. I knew that it was Easter weekend, but they wanted me to talk about missionary work. I told the story of the good Samaritan and how we all need to be like him and find the people that are wounded spiritually (aka less active members and people who haven't heard of the Gospel). I thought it was an ok talk, but then a lot of the members and the stake president came up to me afterward thanking me for my talk. I hope it was fitting for the day, but it seemed to have an impact. Hopefully the ward members will continue to help us in our missionary efforts.

I still don't understand what is happening in our zone. This week, no one in our zone was baptized. We had 3 people commit to baptism, but they all fell through because of Word of Wisdom problems or work. My companion and I are working really hard to figure out what is going on. Please pray for all of the missionaries in our zone to have success this week. We are going to have a fast tomorrow, and I am asking if you would please join us to help our zone improve. We are really needing your help.

I know you are praying for me, as I am for all of you. But please just add the rest of our missionaries in your prayers.

Love,

Elder McKeon

(Priesthood BBQ)

April 28, 2014

Hey everybody!!!

This week was better. We are still not where we should be, but its getting better! In my zone we baptized 3 people. It should have been 6, but they didn't pass the Baptismal Interviews, so that made me really sad. Fortunately, they are preparing for next week to be baptized! 

(Elder McKeon with Elder Rees on his last day on the mission.)

Something really cool happened this week. We always teach José and his family on Saturday nights because that's when all of them are home and we teach the whole family. Well, we went over on Saturday night and we were going to teach José the Word of Wisdom...again. We always try to have the Spirit with us even in these "not-so-spiritual-lessons," but it's not so easy when you are talking to people about alcohol, drugs and smoking. But, José is a great man and he doesn't do any of that stuff. However, there is one thing he does have a problem with, like ALL Brasilians, and that is coffee! Everybody here drinks it. We tried to explain why we don't drink it and the blessings that come from living the Word of Wisdom. When we got to the part to invite him to live this commandment and stop drinking coffee, he responded with,"Yeah, it was about time for me to stop anyway!" Obviously it will be difficult, but this is an improvement! As we finished the lesson, we asked him to pray and he did such an awesome job. You would think he was already a member of the Church. Afterwards, we asked him about his thoughts on baptism and he smiled and told us that he is very close to that committing. We are hoping that by the end of the month he will be baptized and join his family. It is incredible to see someone develop their own testimony. It is one of the reasons I love being a missionary.

(P-Day activity)

My feet are getting better everyday, but the doctor still said that I have to walk for another 2 weeks with my leather sandals. Everybody makes fun of me and calls me "Apostle McKeon" because they look like super old sandals from the time Christ was here.

Well I love you all and have a great week!

Love,

Elder McKeon