Sorry this is short!

Hey everyone! So, unfortunately, this week's email is going to be a quick one.

I will start of by apologizing! Half of our p-day is getting taken away by a meeting we have to have with President and then we want to make it into Stockholm quickly to see the King. It is what is called, his name-day, today so he is going to be there at the changing of the guard at noon at the palace so we need to hurry and see if we can make it. But I'll share a little about my week quickly first.

So the new greenies came in on Tuesday and they are all so awesome! I got a brother! ha ha Elder Sanders, my mission dad, is training again so that means that I got a mission brother. Also I got a cousin! ha ha Because my mission uncle, Elder Ross, is training one of the new greenies too! ha ha I got a picture of me, Elder sanders, and my brother Elder Milsap so I will have to send that today :) Anyways, the greenies got here early in the morning and we picked them up and took them to migration and then took them to the YSA center in Stockholm for lunch. Then we took them out contacting in Stockholm for and hour. I was with Elder Jones who is now being trained in Karlskrona, he was so awesome and his Swedish is great! I am always so amazed by how great the new missionaries Swedish is when they first get here! It really is such a huge testimony of the gift of tongues. And I'm sure that will be even more prevalent with the group coming in March and all the groups after that seeing that they will only spend 6 weeks in the MTC from now on. That is so nuts! So anyways, after contacting we take them back to the mission office and have orientation and then take them to the mission home where they have dinner with President and Sister Newell and then over night. The next day is when they have more orientation and then meet their trainers and then head on their way. It was super fun! That is probably my favorite thing about being in the office is being here when all the new missionaries get here.

Zaya is going to be baptized this coming Saturday and I will be able to be there at the baptism so that will be good! Oh and Elders Leirimaa and Hart were able to set baptismal dates with the rest of Zaya's family for the 23rd of February! How awesome is that?! Ah I am so excited for them!

Sounds like all is well with you guys back home which is good to hear! I hope you all know how much I love and miss you! I need to head now and I feel so bad since this email is so short but I will try and get back on tonight and write a little more and if I don't then I will definitely make up for it next week! I love you all so much! All is well here in Sweden, I love the lord, I love my mission, I love this people, and I love all of you! Talk to you next week!

Love-

Elder McKay.

P.S. I am picking up my new backpack today and will try and send pictures next week along with some pictures of the King hopefully!

You got an email comin' in hot!

tjabba allihopa! hur står det till?


Wow, I have a lot to cover this week! ha ha So let's get to it.

So on Wednesday morning myself and Elder Asp had the joy of getting up at four in the morning and taking the assistants to the train station so that they could catch a train down to Helsingborg in the south of Sweden to train the zone leaders there. Then, we turned around, went back, Elder Asp packed all his stuff up, we went and taught a lesson quickly, and then I had to take him into the train station to catch his train to Västerås (his new area) and then wait for my new companion, Elder Knecht. Once elder Knecht got there we headed back to the office and I started showing him the ropes and showing him how the office runs and everything, and then we headed out for the night to proselyte. It was a really busy day!

So anyways... The next few days were spent getting Elder Knecht oriented into office life and introducing him to the area. So because of the switch of companions and the fact that the assistants are going to be gone training a lot in the future, we switched back to regular companionship's instead of the split companionship's that we are used to. So that means that I am now back in Täby ward with Elder Knecht and the assistants are in Stockholm ward for the time being. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't too happy about this, I was really starting to love Stockholm and working with the YSA's and everything and not to mention we had three really solid investigators that were getting baptized in the weeks surrounding my birthday. But what happens happens, there's not a thing I can do about it. And all that matters is that those Zaya and Titti and Bell get baptized, it doesn't matter if I'm there or not. So yeah, Me and Elder Knecht are hitting up Täby now and things are actually looking really good! We have a couple really positive investigators right now and one entire family that could be getting in the water here soon.

So on Saturday night Elder Knecht and I got the always dreaded phone call from the first councilor in the bishopric saying that a speaker had canceled last second and asking us to take his place. ha ha so Sunday morning for personal study I had to hurry and prepare a talk for sacrament meeting on honoring our covenants. It was really good and only had to be like 6-10 minutes so it was really a piece of cake. So then, right after sacrament the Sunday school teacher walks up and is like, hey, can you guys help me with the lesson today? I should have called you last night but I forgot. ha ha So we then had to role play teaching him as an investigator in front of all of Sunday school and then lead a discussion afterwards so we basically taught Sunday school and then, right after Sunday school the primary teacher comes up and is like Elders! The teacher of the CTR age primary group isn't here today, can you cover? And just hands us the primary teaching book. ha ha So we had to go in and wing a lesson on choosing the right for the 4-6 year olds. ha ha It was really funny, I love teaching little kids in Swedish. It is so cute and funny to hear them speak Swedish in their little high pitched kid voices. I love it. I know every missionary says this, but I really want to speak Swedish with my kids as they grow up. I think it would be so awesome!

So anyways, after that crazy Sunday, that brings us to today! We get a semi normal p-day today but the last hour of our p-day is going to be cut off because we have to meet as an office with president at 5 o'clock and plan out everything for tomorrow because we get new missionaries in tomorrow! 10 new missionaries straight from the MTC! I think that it is 3 sisters and 7 elders. So tomorrow is going to be a very busy day running too and from every where and helping get the greenies all settled in and trying to teach and take care of our area at the same time.

Wow that is so crazy that Kyle Teuscher had to be flown home! What was it that was wrong with him again? I hope everything goes well and that he doesn't have to be reassigned state side! Let me know how things go and I will definitely keep him in my prayers! I can't believe Scotty Draper is married! That is so great! You will have to send me some pictures if you get a chance. Tell him congratulations for me!

So that is really awesome that Curtis Castillow got that job up at BYU I! I hope all goes well for them up there! We will for sure miss them though! You and the Milners for sure need to keep the dinner club going though! I can't believe you guys have been doing that for like 12 years now! That is nuts.

I am glad to hear that you have been in an organizing mood lately mom and dad!  I'm even more glad to hear that my room will be left out of that organization! ha ha Thank you. You know what you guys could do?! You could organize how to get a pool table downstairs.... ha ha just saying! I have gotten pretty good at pool since I've been gone and I want to keep my skills up when I get home! ha ha

So thank you for letting me get a backpack for my birthday! The one I am looking at is one that a lot of missionaries get and is really nice. It's called the haglöfs corker and it is about 500 crowns which is about 80 bucks. It's kind of expensive but it is a really nice backpack, and is really comfortable. Haglöfs is one of the tops outdoors brands here in Sweden. As for my package, the only specific things I can think of would be a couple more sticks of deodorant to keep in my stockpile so that I don't have to resort to Swedish deodorant, and then if you could send me my skinny knit tie I would love you to death! The one that is red and blue horizontal striped and is square at the bottom. I didn't think I would be able to wear knit ties on my mission but we can here and I actually bought one from H&M not too long ago so I would love my other one! Oh and if you ever saw a tie clip that is meant for skinny ties I would love one! Like just a plain bar tie clip that is shorter so that it fits skinny ties. If you understand what I mean? Other than that I don't have anything specific. Thank you so much in advance for the birthday package! I can't wait! it's crazy to think that I will be twenty! ha ha oh so mom, I almost forgot to explain the picture with the plastic bags around my hands. ha ha It is just an inside joke that me and Elder Hart and Elder Leirimaa have... ha ha It's hard to explain but it is from this YouTube video we have all seen and in the video they call this guy Mr. balloon hands. ha ha So that is me attempting to be Mr. balloon hands. ha ha Missionaries are definitely really easily entertained.

Anyways fam, I'm going to head for now but I hope you all have good weeks and don't forget your Swede over here in the freezing cold!

With love-

Äldste Keetch.

P.S. this past week we were at a member's house for dinner up in the middle of the forest and when we went out to get in the car to go home it was -23 degrees! that is about -9 in Fahrenheit! and it was only 8:00 at night!

P.P.S- Could you all keep elder Asp in your prayers this week? I guess he got an email today saying that his grandma passed away this last week. I love that kid more than I can ever express and miss him so much and I'm sure this is going to be hard for him so if you could all just keep him and his family in your prayers that would be great!

Fast Weeks, Slow Months

Hi Family!
Wow this week went by really fast! It is really the weirdest thing. It feels like each week goes by in a flash but at the same time it feels like months go by really slowly. ha ha It is the weirdest sensation. So this week way a good one here in the office! Not too much new or out of the ordinary, just another week finding, teaching, and baptizing. Although we did receive some unexpected news on Friday! Äldste Asp will be leaving us and transferring to an area called Västerås this coming Wednesday :( so that was a bummer to find out! None of us want Elder Asp to go... he is the best! But I am happy for him to get out of the office and back into the field. President told him he will be in Västerås preparing to train in March. So that is awesome! President and I had an interview after words and he said that the reason he is moving Elder Asp before me is just because Elder Asp is quite a bit older than me in the mission and he wants Elder Asp to have the chance to train and everything else. He also told me that I will still most likely be transferring out in March, but I'm still not sure where to or in what position. So we will see. I kind of have mixed feelings about leaving in March. It will be really nice to leave the office and be a full time proselyting missionary again, but we are having so much success right now in Stockholm and it will be hard to leave that and turn it over to someone else you know? So we'll see what happens. It's still a couple months away so I don't need to worry about it too much. So on Wednesday I will take Elder Asp to the train station and then pick up Elder Knecht, who will be my new comp. He is really young on the mission, he just barely got done being trained a month ago, but he grew up in Sweden before moving to Orem so he knows Swedish fluently. So that won't be a problem. Other than that, no one really knows anything about him so we'll see how it goes! ha ha I'm sure it will be fine. I will for sure miss Elder Asp though.

So mom, that is so awesome about the Bluth side of the family! And that is so crazy that the churches they went to are all around here in Stockholm! I searched Hemsjö Sweden and it is down by Göteborg! So both the places I have served so far! Göteborg and Stockholm! How crazy is that?! Looks like I am in Sweden for a purpose:) I will maybe start asking around to see if people remember any Bluth's!

So this week the Erickson's went to the temple and they came back and were like Elder Keetch! The Backlunds tell us to say hello to you and that they love you! ha ha I guess they had seen the Backlunds at the temple and had talked with them for a bit. So that was neat! I need to try and take a trip to the temple before I leave Stockholm so that I can see them and say hello! That is so crazy that the Boyer's have already had their farewell! soon enough they will be here, living one floor below me! Crazy!

So just a quick update on our investigators, Bell and Titti are both going forward and are looking good for the 9th of February. As for the Horia family, Zaya will for sure be baptized on the 2nd of February but the father and the other two kids are going to have to come after. We are planning on two weeks after Zaya for them so please pray for their continual progression! They are so amazing! also, if you could remember Hang (hong) in your prayers that would be really appreciated. He is a less active Chinese member that is going through a really hard time right now and is shutting God out instead of doing the opposite like he should so he could definitely use your prayers!

Well family, I know that this email is really short and I feel really bad but I need to head for this week. Know that I love you each so very much and miss you all very much too! But I love it here. I don't know if I have shared this but since I am in Stockholm area now, I work at the young single adult center in downtown Stockholm with Elder Leirimaa. So it is super fun! We go there on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights and work with the youth and teach their friends and stuff! It is so awesome! The youth here in Sweden are so amazingly strong and fearless to share the gospel with their friends so we get alot of awesome investigators from them! So that is super fun!

Anyways, I need to head, I love you all and will talk you next week!

Love-

Äldste McKay Keetch.

Getting the Dop in Stockholm!!

New Years Fireworks!

Tjabba familjen! How are you all doing?!

This week was an awesome week here in Sweden! So we started off the week with our New Years celebration at the Whimmer's and it was so fun! We went to the Whimmer's house and the the Kendrick's were there and then the Karlsson's were there too. They are the family that we were with for Christmas eve that knows the Taylor's really well. So we had an awesome spread of buffalo wings and chips and dip and all the classics and we all just hung around and talked and played board games and then, when it was midnight, we went out onto the balcony and watched the fireworks go up all around us! It was so amazing! The Whimmers live just at the edge of the Baltic sea and so they have an amazing view and then if you look to the left you see Täby and if you look to the right you see Stockholm. So we were just surrounded by fireworks! It was super cool. So the next morning we were allowed to sleep in just a little bit to re-cooperate and then in was back to the daily grind. So on Tuesday we went to the Horia family and taught the whole family (except the mother) again and it went really well! At the end of the lesson we ended up setting a baptismal date with the 13 year old son, Zaya, for the 2nd of February the rest of the family has expressed a desire to be baptized also and we are confident that they will follow, that is why we put the date a month into the future. Because even though Zaya is ready to be baptized now, we want to do all we can to get the rest of the family in the water on the same day. So pray for them! Then, on Thursday, we had our monthly zone meeting called zone sharpening. It's like a mini zone conference that we all have each month after the zone leaders come back from zone leader council with president and the assistants (that was on Wednesday) and in zone sharpening we talked about having a real love for the work and for what we are doing with these amazing people here in Sweden and we discussed the importance of the baptismal commitment and it was just super good and got everyone really pumped up to go out and get the dop! ha ha So you know what me and Elder Leirimaa did? We went out the next day and got two more baptismal dates! We met Bell and Titti on Friday and taught them for the second time and we committed them both to be baptized on the ninth of February! We got the coolest text from Titti on Saturday night telling us that she had read in the book of Mormon and that she had gotten an answer that it was true! How awesome is that?! The Lord is really blessing us here in the mission right now and I know it is because of the renewed faith that the mission has for the new year. As a mission we have a goal of 260++ baptisms in the mission for the year of 2013 and I don't have a doubt in my mind that we will reach that! Last week we had 19 baptismal dates and this week we currently have 37! There is something really awesome happening in the mission right now and I am so excited and so thankful to be here and to be a part of it!

So it sounds like you all had an exciting New Years Eve full of fire! ha ha I'm really glad to hear Scotty was able to scurry up the neighbors tree and but out the fire that bottle rocket made before things got too out of control! ha ha Oh man, there really is never a dull moment at the Keetch/Draper New Years Eve bash! ha ha. Tell Sami congratulations on getting her endowments out! How cool is that, that mom and dad got to be the witness couple!? That is really cool! I remember it meant so much to me to have Cody and Aubry be the witness couple when I got my endowments out and I'm sure it meant just as much to Sami to have her two mammas on each side of her:) Mom, I am so excited for you to start working at the temple! And I'm not going to lie, I'm a little jealous! ha ha I miss the temple a lot. We will go lots together once I get home. Let Sami know that I will look for her friends! I have seen them in the computer and seen their pictures and things.  I actually could have a chance of training Elder Mangum in March when he gets here because I have been told that I will be leaving the office in March either to train or to go zone leader so we'll see what happens!

So that is super scary about Kyle Tuecher! Bolivia is that last place I would want to be bed ridden with infected appendix (or lack there of!) I hope everything goes well and that he can heal up! I will definitely pray for him. It is stuff like that that makes me very thankful to be in Sweden and not some third world country.

Well dad, as far as the national championship goes... as much as it pains me to say this... I think I'm going to be rooting for Notre Dame too. ha ha Ever since having to deal with coach Boban through jr. high and football I have never been a big fan of the fighting Irish. ha ha but I will definitely take them over 'bama. So let me know how it goes!

So I almost forgot to tell you guys! Earlier this morning we get a call from President Newell and he wants to take the assistants, Elder Asp, and myself out to lunch since his grand kids have been visiting over Christmas and they are leaving tomorrow and really love the missionaries and wanted to have lunch with us. So president said he would pick us up around 11,30 and we would go to max (like MacDonald's but 100 times better) or something. So 11,30 rolls around and president comes and picks us up and says we are going into Stockholm to eat at Saluhallen and we are all just like holy crap.... ha ha Saluhallen is this awesome market/restaurant in Stockholm that was built back in the 1800's and it is sooo nice! Its where the royal palace comes and buys all the food for the king and the royal family! ha ha So, we go there and walk through and look at all the different booths set up, some selling fish, some selling cheese, others selling meat or fresh produce, and then once we had walked though and looked at things president just hands us 1500 crowns and says eat where we want and then meet back up after, and off he goes with his grand kids to find them something to eat. ha ha So we all had some amazing classic Swedish dishes at one of the booths and just stared in awe at the 1000 crown bill President Newell had handed us to pay for our lunches! (1000 crown bills are only available if you go to a bank and specifically ask for them. that is probably the first and last time any of us will see one) ha ha it was so crazy! It was a really neat experience and the grand kids really liked it. They are all so cute and will be such awesome missionaries one day!

Well I think I am going to head for now but I love you all so very much and hope you all have awesome weeks!

Love,

Äldste Keetch

President and his Grandson