All my creativity is gone...

Sister Peatross and I on the way back from exchanges!

Hola amigos y amigas! Familia! Mujeres y hombres! Bienvenidos a todos por esta semana! Como estan?

Look at me trying to use Spanish. I think that's more Spanish than I every use. Unless I'm talking to personas de Jalisco. Hay muchas personas aqui de Jalisco. Pero, que podemos hacer?

SOOOOOOOOOO...................... This week was pretty boring. The day to day rundown goes about like this:

Monday: We taught two of our investigators, their cousin, their less-active mom, and non-member grandparents the Word of Wisdom. It was quite interesting. We also taught a less-active, her daughter, her daughter-in-law, and her two grandchildren the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Halfway through, the daughter-in-law and grandchildren left. 3/4ths of the way through, the daughter left, and then eventually we left too.

Tuesday: We had zone training which is 3 hours of uplifting rebuking. We also got lunch at KFC where a member from Brewster. We also found four new investigators. That's the standard of excellence for new investigators IN A DAY! The joy of former investigators and families.

Wednesday: We gave service making baseball fields and cutting grass, I got a new tooth, and every appointment known to man fell through. Except our dinner appointment which fed us Taco Bell. And our 8th ward recent convert who feeds raccoon and skunks. It was an interesting night. She gave us licorice, and we got to help her download the Gospel Library on her iPhone. Pretty fun, right?

Thursday: We had a specialized zone training where we role played giving church tours. Needless to say, I feel very comfortable giving church tours now. We also got to have interviews with President Ware. It was so uplifting! He gave me a mini orange, too, so I guess it was pretty delicious. The elders bought us pizza for lunch, too, so that was an added bonus. We got to see one of our investigators that has a crazy schedule so she's only home for one hour a day. We saw her in that one hour! She's sharing the gospel with everyone and she's asking for Sundays off!

Friday: Weekly planning. Appointments that fell through. Exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders, and I got to go to Wenatchee! It's so beautiful there! Hopefully, I'll get to serve there again! I stayed there with Sister Peatross while Hermana Hall brought Hermana Garcia back here.

Saturday: Worked in Wenatchee. We had an awesome member present where we just got to testify of the Atonement! We also walked around and OYMed people, and Sister Peatross and I had quite a few Marilyn Monroe moments. If there is such a thing as a windproof skirt, I would really appreciate one. We came back to Moses Lake, and Hermana Hall and I kept weekly planning!

Sunday: Church. More church. Dinner with members. Less active lessons. Parents that are allowing us to come teach their children who are already new investigators. It's pretty great. More planning too.

And that's it, folks!

Te amo!

Hermana Kennedy

P.S. Your challenge this week is to send me subject lines for my emails, because I am not in the least bit creative. If you send me some, I might feature you and an experience relating to your subject line in my weekly email!

P.P.S. Physical Evidence of my life

Hermana Hall and I on a crazy Sunday.

The Easter Bunny

Hermana Kennedy and Hermana Hall and Frank

So, we saw a bunny outside the church. ON EASTER! Elder Butters and Elder Holden tried to capture the poor thing, but it outsmarted them and ran away.

SO.... this week we've been trying to share "Because He Lives" with everyone! It went pretty darn well. No matter who we talk to or what situation they're in, that video seems to apply to everyone!
Two of our new investigators, Bianca and Arthur, actually watched the video and Bianca started crying! The Atonement had so much power for her that day, and we're so grateful the Lord was able to guide us to discern their needs.

We've also been doing a lot of 8th ward work this week. In between sessions of conference on Saturday, Elder Walton and Elder Carter (our zone leaders) encouraged us to go out for 30 minutes and act in faith! So, we went to 8th ward because that's where our most fear was. With the Lord's help and the Spirit's guidance, we were blessed to have a lesson with one of our investigators, OYM her granddaughter, and knock on a random door on Lost lane! Behind that random door, we were blessed to find our sister Carolyn who has been being prepared for the gospel. We invited her to watch general conference and listen to the prophet, and she had some amazing questions about the prophet! We were able to teach and testify of the Restoration. We also got talking about scriptures and the Apocrypha, so we brought in the Book of Mormon. She wanted a copy! So, we did a Book of Mormon baptismal invitation and she said yes! She has a sincere desire to learn, and we have a return appointment with her this week! It was a wonderful reminder of how we need to constantly be acting in faith so that we can always be on fire with the Spirit!

Speaking of Conference, was it not the most spiritual roller coaster of your life?! From uplifting talks to rebuking talks, I'm pretty sure I felt every emotion known to man! That talk on religious freedom, though. And Elder Holland's talk about the Fall? Man. Good stuff. If he were to write a fantasy book series, I'd read all five in less than 24 hours! Don't even get me started on Uchtdorf. I only wrote like 5 pages on his talk... What are all of your favorite talks? I can't seem to choose one because they all seemed to apply to me! I will tell you one thing, though. I'm definitely excited to come home, get married, and start a family! My sister will start taking husband applications starting in June 2015. If you're really determined, you will find a way to get to her contact information and submit your application.

In other news, our branch mission leader is probably the best mission leader of all time. He made us pizza in between sessions of General Conference on Sunday and bought me my favorite root beer unintentionally! He like us sisters more than the elders because we didn't tell him to cook a pizza stuffed in a turkey smothered in chocolate and Code Red Mountain Dew. We just wanted chips like Ruffles and drinks like Sprite. So, all you missionaries, be nice to your ward mission leaders and maybe they'll spoil you!

I think that's pretty much it. I'm alive. My companion is alive. We're crazy together, which I guess is better than being crazy alone. See you later! Have a miraculous week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

P.S.
I'm horrible, I know. Here's proof that I'm still alive! And my new companion, Hermana Hall, who is just as weird as I am! And Frank.

Hermana Hall - Hermana Kennedy's new companion

PUES....

PUES.... I went through 3 companions this week... Hermana Cain stayed with me until Wednesdays which were transfers. She's going to Yakima to be with Hermana McArthur. As for me, I got to stay in Moses Lake! I stayed with Sister Maez Wednesday and it was a party! We talked to everyone, and I handled everything in Spanish! Alone! Without Hermana Cain! I was pretty excited. Anyway, Sister Maez and I had to part that night as we received our new companions. Sister Maez got Sister Jackson who's from Syracuse, UT. And I got Hermana Hall who's from St. George, UT! She's my height, a red head, and younger than me age-wise, but older than me mission-wise. In other words, I'm still the junior companion! YES! I don't have to talk that much! But, I still have to talk. :(

Anyway, more about Hermana Hall. She wants to be a nurse. She's the youngest of 6 kids. She wears glasses like me! Her favorite color is yellow. Her favorite food is bacon. Is she crazy? Definitely. She loves to read, and we get along swimmingly!

Anyway... This week was pretty uneventful what with transfers and women's conference and baptisms and Hermana Cain saying goodbye to everyone in Moses Lake. SO... in exciting news, the church came out with a video about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's called "Because He Lives". It's a pretty awesome video. You should all watch it. Tell me your thoughts! And share it with everyone this Easter season! #becausehelives

Also, I had to give a talk in 8th Ward yesterday about the resurrection of Christ based off of Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk from the 2014 April General Conference. Read it and then send me the answer to the following question:

Why is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ such an important event?

Good luck! Have a miraculous week!

Love,

Hermana Kennedy

The Sick Exchange!

Well, nothing much happened this week, so I'll just give you the highlights:

Monday: We put two of our little kid investigators on date! Israel and Legolas. (Real names not applicable). They're so excited! They're going to have their mom make invitations.

Tuesday: St. Patrick's day. I got to go to the dentist. :)

Wednesday: Gave some great service at the Food Bank scooping potatoes. And, we got to drive to Wenatchee for exchanges!

Thursday: I was on exchanges in Moses Lake with Hermana Garcia! She's a native Spanish speaker! I learned so much from her! We had four other lessons, contacted four referrals, and we got to see Emma! I might have vomited off the back of her porch as soon as she opened the door, but it was better than fainting, so I'm not complaining! We finished up exchanges and I got Hermana Cain!

Friday: I was sick with a fever, but it was weekly planning day, so we could stay home and I didn't have to feel bad! I'm all better now, though.

Saturday: We found a cute new investigator, Lisbeth! She's golden and totally committed to change her life.

Sunday: We mad a music video to "At the Water" from the Nashville Tribute to the Redeemer. And we met Frank from Cars.

But, I want to share my testimony with you guys so here goes:

My testimony is pretty simple. I know the God lives. I know that he is my Father and that he love me. He loves each of us because we are his children. He loves each of us so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for us. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for my sins and again on the cross. He did everything that His Father asked Him to do. He is our perfect example, and He lives. Because He lives, we will all live again too. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and was given the power and authority to restore Christ's church to the earth. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church once again on the earth and that it is led by Jesus Christ himself. I also know that with that power and authority, Joseph Smith was able to translate the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it was given to us for our benefit. I know that I have grown immensely from reading the book and applying the things that I read. I know all this because I've thought and prayed about it. I know it in my mind. It makes perfect sense. And I know it in my heart. I feel the love of God in my heart at all times. I feel truth in this gospel. And I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a miraculous week!

Hermana Kennedy

(no subject)

So... I created this email in my head spiritually and now I'm acting in faith to create it temporally! (It was a focus at zone conference this week.)

SO.....This week, we met Moses who supposes that his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously because we're going to go back and teach him about the Book of Mormon/ Restoration! #MondayMosesMiracles

Also, the Atonement is a real thing. Study it more, especially since Easter is coming up. :) Our recent convert just finally understood what the Atonement means for her in her life! So now, that's my challenge for you! Why is the Atonement important in your life! (Watch some Mormon Messages if you have no clue.) Also, I got to hold a baby chicken. It was super soft.

Also, I love turning the housemates of your investigators into investigators. That happened this week when we were teaching our on date, Dantes. So while we were teaching him, his brother, Edmond walked up, so we taught him too. He wasn't really interested, though. BUT, right as we were teaching about Joseph Smith, their housemate, Brutus walked up and listened in. HE'S TOTALLY INTERESTED! Meaning, that he called us to set up a return appointment, and when we came back, he had READ THE PAMPHLET and CHANGED THE WAY HE PRAYED. He's golden and is going to be baptized next month. I can't tell you his full, awesome story for political/ safety reasons, but he's amazing.

Also, Zone conference is one of the best things of my mission! Especially when you see friends from home (Elder Billy Helzer) and you get spiritually fed for 6 1/2 hours! It paves the way for miracles for the rest of the day! Meaning, you're able to meet all your goals! We talked about creating spiritually and then acting in faith to create that thing temporally, so we've been practicing that lately. (Hence the start of this email.) You should start doing it too!

Also, I love finding new families that want to raise their children in Jesus and are already taking the steps to come closer to him! It's so neat when you pray with them, and they like how you pray/ how they feel when you pray! It's a pity they're moving next month... Other people will find them.

AND, I love finding nice white people. It makes my day every day. I don't know how English elders and sisters do it. They're my heroes.

And that's my week. HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! It's my favorite holiday, so send me pictures of you in your green garb!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Another Cheesy Subject Line

Hola! Como estan? As you can see, I'm not a very creative subject line person, so that's the best you get.

This week has been so miraculous! We decided to do a ton of 8th ward (white people) work, AND WE FOUND NICE WHITE PEOPLE! We have two solid potential investigators who just got home from a month in Florida! We'll let them have a little rest, and then we'll bombard them with the Spirit! They're totally open to joining the church, too! We also met a few less active/ part member families this week, and it turns out that they're all really sweet and just need to come back to church. We're all over that. We also have an investigator for 8th ward! It's amazing! The Lord is definitely rewarding us for all of our hard work.

We also had zone training this week. WOW. I love zone training! We had some awesome roleplays (I was married to one of the elders most of the time. Is that allowed....?) and some more awesome trainings by the zone leaders! We talked a lot about having boldness and living the doctrine of Christ. When we're really acting in faith, repenting, renewing our baptismal covenants, being on fire with the spirit, and enduring to the end, we become more life Christ and invite people to change their lives! Needless to say, Hermana Cain and I put that into action as we decided to be bold with everyone we met. As a result, on Saturday, we had a new investigator and an investigator who had committed to baptism! THE LORD TRULY BLESSES YOU WHEN YOU DO YOUR BEST TO LIVE THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST! LIVE THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST!!!!!

In other news, I watched two dogs kill a cat for fun while teaching our investigator who committed to baptism on his porch. We were teaching the plan of salvation and we were in the garden of Eden at the moment. We watched that happen, and Hermana Cain immediately said "that didn't happen in the Garden of Eden." I'm still traumatized. That darn Satan. But, it's ok. Read 2 Nephi 24:16-17 and kick Satan out of your life! He don't got no body! It's your choice to let him into your heart or not. Think about that.

Well, have a miraculous week, and enjoy the water tower!

Love you all!

Hermana Kennedy

Cats and Quails

Polly

I have a much shorter week to write about this week! So, I'll give you the day-by-day run down:

Wednesday night we saw two of our investigators (a ten year old and eight year old boy) with one of the members that we live with. The boys' mom is a member. Their dad is also an investigator. And they have a little nine-month old brother. The brother has been having a lot of health problems, and the mom was really worried because he had an appointment the next day to find out what was wrong with him. SO, we suggested a priesthood blessing. She actually agreed to it, and we set it up with some of the elders in our district for the next night at 7.  That was pretty much all we did.

Thursday we had a miracle lesson with the second Spanish investigator that I taught on my mission! She's super sweet and prepared. Now, we just need to see her. Hm... We talked to one guy that had a bunny named Poo and a lady who is a Spanish grammar Nazi. I want to learn Spanish from her. She wants to learn English from us. It's a good trade, right? We'll teach her all the Gospel words, and she'll be baptized. It'll be great.

So, we have this road. It's called Airway. To the north of Airway is a giant drop into this place called Cascade Valley. We were driving down Airway one day and looked into Cascade Valley to find...  A TRAILER PARK! Trailer parks for us are Christmas because they're packed with Spanish speakers that are prepared for the Gospel! So, we studied our maps, got sufficiently lost, and found this trailer park. It's called "Quail Run". Interesting name considering there aren't any quails there... So, Thursday, we explored Quail Run and sight-spotted all the Spanish speaking houses. (Red curtains and brooms on the porches are dead give-aways.) We knocked on a couple doors, met some really nice people, set up return appointments, and life was good. One of the last houses we knocked on had a pretty nice porch. We stood on it while we knocked on the door. Next door there lived a cat. This cat hopped onto the porch on which we were standing. I wanted to pet him because he was super fat and fluffy. So I bent down on the porch to pet him. He then jumped onto the porch banister. While he slowly advanced toward my waiting hand, Hermana Cain leaned over, speaking for the cat, and said "I want to paw  your face." What did the cat do? Paw my face. He caressed it gently until he saw my shoulder. He decided that was a better place to paw. So, he pawed that for a couple of seconds and, out of the blue, HE JUMPED ON MY SHOULDER. I had a cat scarf for a good ten minutes. And whenever we tried to get off, he clawed into my skin to tell me that he wanted to be my scarf forever. After ten minutes, he got sick of me though and left. Phew. His name is officially Polly. I'll make sure to have crackers next time.

So, the priesthood blessing went well. We had some more awesome member present lessons and all-in-all had a fabulous Thursday.

Friday, we actually finished weekly planning. Because that's all we did. All day.

Saturday, all of our appointments fell through, but we got to go to a baptism for some of the Elders in our district. Hermana Cain played the piano and I lead the music. The baptism was for a little nine-year old girl who wanted to meet sister missionaries, so we're her new favorite people. We met with one of our less active families, shared a quick thought with them, and left to have a coordination with our Ward Mission Leader for 8th ward. Life was great, but we went over our monthly miles by 2. JUST 2. Oh well. At least we have a car. I'm counting my blessings.

Sunday, IT'S MARCH!!!!!!! AND FAST SUNDAY! I LOVE FAST SUNDAY! Especially when investigators come to church. Especially when two investigators come to church!!!! And I bore my testimony in Spanish. Confidence level = growing millimeter by millimeter. We also had a stake presidency fireside, and one of our recent converts from 8th ward spoke! My favorite quote was "you can keep the commandments and still be cool! I mean, look at me!" So, you can keep the commandments and still be cool. I also started this challenge. It's called reading the Book of Mormon front to back in a month marking all the doctrine of Christ. Will you accept that challenge? Will you read the Book of Mormon in a month? Maybe I'll give you guys two because I know half of you reading this email aren't nearly as insane as I am. And if you don't know what the doctrine of Christ is, it's: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Have fun marking up those Book of Mormons!

So, that was my week. Hope yours was miraculous!

Love,

Hermana Kennedy