Drum roll, please!

The typical name-tag missionary in the distance picture.

Well, the transfer calls are in, AND......

I have been assigned to labor in the Washington Yakima mission, effective July 1, 2015. I'll serve under President and Sister Lewis from Utah here in Chelan and Manson. My new companion is Hermana Streuling. Hermana Taua will also be serving in the Yakima mission in Toppenish, Yakima. It has been such a blessing to serve with President and Sister Ware in the Washington Kennewick mission for the past 7 months. I'll miss them and the temple dearly, but I know that the Lord needs me in the Yakima mission right now. I look forward to opening a new mission. I just don't look forward to taking over an area that I've been in for a transfer and the elder's area too. The Elders that serve here in Chelan both got doubled out with no replacements, so Hermana Streuling and I will now cover all of Chelan and Manson! Fun, huh? (Not really. No. It's a huge area, and we don't have the miles for it...)

The rest of this week has been rather fabulous. We've seen a lot of miracles happen because Hermana Taua is being transferred. Concerns have been resolved, less-actives have been re-fellowshipped, Hispanics are finding time to come learn English, investigators have been brought to tears by the plan of salvation, I had a tuna fish sandwich for the first time, I also had seviche (spelling?) for the first time, we had a talent show with a part less-active/ non-member/ totally active family, and I got a priesthood blessing too! I never realized how much I needed any of that, but I did. Also, water is probably the greatest of God's creations, besides Jesus Christ and me, of course. It's super hot here, so we drink a lot of water. It's not as nice when you leave it out in the car to steam and evaporate for a couple of hours...

And, boy, do we have a miracle for you! So, a couple weeks ago, we were doing some service for an investigator. We had just gotten there and there was a guy walking down the street toward us. I stayed in the car to lather on some sunscreen while Hermana Taua got out to get our work gloves out of the trunk. She said "hola" to the guy, and the guy stopped and started talking to her. So, I grabbed my bag and jumped out of the car to be part of the conversation because it was all in Spanish and Hermana Taua and I need each other to understand and help with Spanish. We asked him if he wanted to learn English, and he said he was very interested! We gave him a Daily Dose card and he asked where it was. We told him at the church, and he said that he'd come to church too! So, I opened up my bag to get my planner and take his information and I had a bag of pretzels with me. He pointed at the pretzels and said "I love those", so out of the kindness of my heart and the better decisions of my abdominal muscles, I gave him the bag of pretzels, and he gave us his name, number, address, the whole scoop. He didn't come to church or Daily Dose last week, but Sunday morning, we had a crazy idea to call everyone to be at church. We called him, and he said he'd come. We thought he was just another Hispanic that said they'd come but never actually show up. Then, we got to church, helped a recent convert write his talk for sacrament meeting, and went to the Relief Society room for Spanish sacrament. We were talking to the elders when our Ward Mission Leader started talking with a guy and asked him his name. IT WAS THE GUY WE HAD CALLED! HE ACTUALLY CAME TO CHURCH! Hermana Taua and I freaked out. Not only did he come to sacrament meeting, BUT, he also stayed for Gospel Doctrine which answered his questions about the sacrament! Not only did he stay for Gospel Doctrine, BUT, he stayed for Priesthood too! Which was about prophets! So the elders, bishop, and our ward mission leader were able to teach him the restoration RIGHT THERE! And give him a Book of Mormon. And set up a return appointment. Now all we need to do is invite him to be baptized on Thursday. And he's going to be baptized. Gah. I love miracles. Anyone have any cool miracles this week?

Well, that's all I got, so love you! Have a miraculous week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Proof I'm Alive ... Just in case

Me with one of our investigators.

This is the place.

A'int nobody got time!

Me and Hermana Capi on exchanges

 Well, I have discovered this week that nobody a'int got no time. (Mrs. Casdorph would kill me if she read that line... 'Cause a'int a'int a word and you a'int supposed to use it!) In correct English, I mean that there are never enough hours in the day to do everything we want/ need to do! I have never wished for the days and nights to be longer more times in my life than right now! What I wouldn't give for more sleep. What I wouldn't give for more time with our investigators. What I wouldn't give for more time in the scriptures or on my knees.

It's a real struggle.

Anyway, we are going down to Wenatchee to spend P-Day with the rest of our zone, so I don't have much time to write today, so here's the condensed version of my week:

Monday and Tuesday. Exchanges. I went down to Wenatchee with Hermana Capi, had to drive, did some service at a thrift store, had no lessons, and had an awesome dinner with a nonmember in a member's home. And then I came back up to Chelan and reunited with my beloved Hermana Taua.

Wednesday, had a wonderful district council, made some false prophecies about transfers, had some awesome lessons, and had a great member present dinner lesson again! Miracles never cease to happen. Although, we did have to drive up to the most secluded place in Chelan for dinner. Sometimes, I think the mission should give us Jeeps or something with higher tires for all the off-roading we do...

Thursday, did some service. Dug out a couple tress. Ripped up some weeds. The usual. Had some awesome lessons, put somebody on date to be baptized! Taught a great English class about getting lost and how to ask for help. Tried to help one of our investigators fix his F250. Needless to say, I think I know the parts of the engine of a car now. And how to hotwire one too... The things I learn out here in Chelan.

Friday, we did some more service! (Because you can never do too much service). Did some weekly planning. And somehow, one of our investigators determined that Hermana Taua and I are going to marry into his family. She's "betrothed" to his 35 year old son (who's a member!) June. And I'm "betrothed" to his 17 year old grandson, July Salad. (Real names not used for protection purposes.) But hey! We got two vases of roses out of it. We ended up giving them to the member that we live with because she just received some very sad news and we wanted to cheer her up. That and nobody has time to take care of roses.

Saturday, Planned. Did some service. Had some lessons. Met my favorite grandma that lives out here in Washington. SLEPT.

Sunday: Church. Awesome as usual. Broke the fast with some homemade ice cream cake from a less active family. Ate lunch. Finished weekly planning. Had some lessons. Had dinner with a wonderful family. (It was their exchange student's birthday too!) Left, had some more lessons, and almost died from 3 layers underneath a blazing sun in 100 degree weather. My clothing choices will be wiser from now on.

Anyways, remember who you are and who you stand for! (The answer is Jesus Christ if you didn't know.) We get transfer calls this Saturday, so by this time next Monday, you'll know whether or not I'm in the Kennewick or Yakima mission! How exciting!

Keep on keeping on, and remember, the church is true!

Con carino,

Hermana Kennedy

Some service "shaka"

Sister High school musical! With (from me to them) Me, Hermana Taua, Hermana Capi, Hermana Wortley, Hermana Marble, and Sister Peatross.

Our zone at the temple!

Time Flies

Well, as my dear sister just informed me, I officially have less than a year until I come home! I'm not ready for it! I never thought I'd say that, but being on a mission changes you. Time flies when you're working hard for the Lord.

In other news, we had an awesome week this week! I can't really tell you any details because my planner from last month is at home, so  here's the basic rundown.

Monday, we emailed and went shopping because we wouldn't have time to do so on Wednesday. We also worked a normal work day.

Tuesday: service at the food bank, hot day, and more work.

Wednesday: TEMPLE P-DAY! We got to drive 3 hours to the Columbia River Temple with a member and back! And Hermana Taua made me sit in the front to keep the member awake so that she could sleep. Sly sly Hermana Taua. More work.

Thursday: Met some new people, ate with one of our investigators (she made us spaghetti), ate again with a member, and taught Daily Dose! Everyone came! Even the elders!

Friday: Weekly planning! Also, it rained and hailed (not good for the fruit trees up here) and our basement flooded, so we spent a good hour sweeping out water and drying everything up. It was also the Pinewood Derby and we invited all our investigators to come. Two of them came! With their families! And they loved it! The elders raced a car shaped like a tie. They took 3rd. We raced a pink CTR car and didn't place, but hey! It's name was the Pink Ladies. No Grease reference at all....

Saturday: More planning. More work. Service at the 2ndhand Store (I GET TO ORGANIZE BOOKSHELVES! IT'S MY DREAM!) Work, work, work. And, we actually made it to bed by 10:15. Miracles happen.

Sunday: We found out that Elder Perry died. :( Keep his families in your prayers and the apostles as well as they seek revelation for who the next apostle should be. Church was great. 2 of our investigators came, but they're from part-member families, so they always come anyway... We did monthly planning and saw some miracles from member present lessons. Go out with the missionaries!

So that's about our week! Love you! Miss you! Remember that miracles happen when you believe! Pictures are coming next week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Happy Memorial Day!

I'd like to start out my email by paying tribute to all those that have contributed to the freedom of our country--be they dead or alive. Remember them and their families in your prayers because without them I wouldn't have the freedom to serve my Heavenly Father. To all those who have served our country, thank you. May God bless you and your wonderful families.

This past week has been exhausting! The past two days alone have been so miraculous that sometimes I worry that our Heavenly Father won't be able to bless us with any more miracles! Here's the run-down for this week:

Monday: We had a family home evening with our on-date investigator, Mary and her two kids with our ward mission leader. It was wonderful and a great time for them to get to know each other, and we're excited to start preparing her for baptism!

Tuesday: We had a ton of lessons today! Three other lessons and three member present lessons. And they were all pretty solid lessons, too. Miracles happen.

Wednesday: We got to drive down to Wenatchee in our car (because who needs miles?) for zone conference! It was such a wonderful Spirit-filled day. I can't tell you what I learned because honestly, I can't remember. BUT, I did see Hermana Hall and Hermana McArthur there! Companion reunions. Oh, and of course, President and Sister Ware. I love them. I'll be sad to leave them if I get reassigned to the Yakima mission. Also, today we got our Tiwis! For those of you that don't know, a Tiwi is a little black box on your windshield that mentors you while you're driving. So, if you're speeding, it will say "check your speed" and give you time to slow down so that you don't get a speeding violation. If your seatbelt isn't buckled, it will say "check seatbelt" and you'll put your seatbelt on before you get a seatbelt violation. If you go over a bump fast enough to catch air, speed up or slow down too quickly, or take a turn too fast, it will say "aggressive driving" and you'll automatically get a violation. If you're a horrible driver, your driving privileges will get taken away. And they have proof of your horrible driving skills. So... I LOVE IT! It's only talked to me once. (Knock on wood.)

Thursday: Did some service. Had some awesome lessons. Had authentic Asian food from our Asian investigators for dinner. Fried rice, miso, and taro. Yum. We went to Daily Dose, the free English class, and when we left it was pouring rain so hard! Bad day to wear white. Oops. I can't exactly check the weather forecast, though, so it's not my fault.

Friday: Weekly planning. One of my favorite days because we can stay inside in the cool air instead of outside, but one of my least favorite days because I get so tired. Had dinner with a less active family, and you'd think by now I'd learn that "chiles" in Spanish actually means the hottest of hot jalapeno peppers. I think I've learned my lesson now. I will never say, "Si, yo quiero chiles" otra vez.

Saturday: MIRACLE DAY. We had an amazing doorstep Restoration lesson with our new investigator from two weeks ago, Kay. She's so eager to learn! She has definitely been prepared for the gospel, and she said yes to baptism! And one of her friends is in the Young Women's, so automatic fellowship there. Also, Bishop gave us a referral on Friday night, so he came with us to contact that referral Saturday night at 6. Her name's Maria, and she let us right in! We taught her the wonderful message of the Restoration with parts of the Plan of Salvation for her needs. We invited her to be baptized, and she accepted a baptismal date of June 20th! It was a miracle! After that, we went to see an eternigator who's still an investigator only because her husband won't let her get baptized. Her husband sat in our lesson with us. We've never been able to teach him because he's so set in his ways. We've only ever had the chance to sing hymns for him. But, tonight, he said "maybe, maybe I'll come to church tomorrow". He didn't actually come to church, but he's slowly opening up, and his heart is definitely being softened by the Lord! I'm so grateful for the Spirit and how it can work on people through music.

Sunday: Church was a spiritual experience, as usual, and after, we were blessed to have five member present lessons! We didn't plan any of them! We mainly visited less active families and their non-member family was there, so we were able to include them in our lessons. And get some quality OYMs too. No complaints from us. God is definitely a God of miracles.

So, keep looking for those daily miracles, because trust me, they are there!

Also, this upcoming fast Sunday, President Ware has asked all of you to join in a special fast! I'm fasting for all my investigators that they might receive a testimony of the truths that we teach them. I invite each of you to do the same, but not for my investigators. Mine are already getting a ton of prayers/ fasts. The investigators in your former missions or in the missions where you currently live need your prayers and fasts right now. Fast and pray for them, and the Lord will not only pour miracles out upon the investigators and the missionaries, but upon you too.

Also, I get to go to the temple this week! I'm so excited to consecrate some time to the Lord in his holy temple. Take some time to read President Monson's talk from this last conference, and then work on applying it!

Have a miraculous week!

Love,
Hermana Kennedy

6 MONTHS!!!!!

Me in Chelan.

Well, tomorrow, I will be turning 30 in mission years. I'm getting old! Pretty soon I'll have a cane and a grandma dress when I step off the airplane in one year. Time flies too fast when you're in the
service of the Lord!

SO. This past week. Well, we struggled at first. It was raining and we were lazy. We didn't want to do anything. We both don't really know this area. Etc... BUT, here's your day-by-day rundown.

Monday we were able to have a wonderful lesson with one of our investigators who tends to feed us every time we go over. Whether it's chips and watermelon or pesole. She's probably one of my favorite people ever. Now, she just needs to get permission from her husband to be baptized, so if you all could pray for Hermano Valdevino's heart to be softened, yeah, that would be great.

Tuesday we had a great lesson/ language study with a Taiwanese exchange student living here in Manson. She comes from a background where she doesn't believe in God, BUT, we taught her to pray. AND SHE PRAYED. AND IT WORKED. Needless to say, she believes in God now. It's
still a hard concept for her to truly understand and know, but she believes! Also, I learned how to say "I love you", "I miss you", "excuse me", "sorry", "thank you", and "goodbye" in Chinese. And in
Samoan too. And I got to teach the exchange student and Hermana Taua how to say all of those in Spanish! It was a great language study in the middle of the day. We should do it more often. We also saw our on date, Maria, and were able to teach her about the ten commandments. Hopefully she'll be able to be married soon so that she can be baptized on her scheduled date!

Wednesday we got to teach and testify of the peace the Atonement brings to a woman who's been going through a really rough family life right now. I don't think she quite felt it, but hey, a seed has been planted!

Thursday we had a wonderful day! We taught a family that has an autistic daughter. Immediately, I could connect because of my dear brother Will. My experiences with him helped me to bring peace and assurance to this family, so thanks for being you Will! Couldn't have done it without ya! They're going to try to come to church. By the time we left their house, their autistic daughter was begging us to stay. It kind of broke my heart to leave, but we had to leave so that we could have some awesome member present lessons! The members here in Manson spoil us. They sign up on our calendar every day of the week to come out with us. It's so wonderful. Yay for missioanry-minded wards!

Friday, we did a lot of weekly planning and were able to have one member present lesson with the mother of the autistic daughter. She is truly developing a testimony for the gospel, and I can't wait to see where it will lead her!

Saturday, we had an amazing zone training meeting in Wenatchee. We got to ride the bus down. One of the themes was light and how when we are filled with light, we are able to cast out all darkness. Light comes from truth which comes from testimonies which come from the Spirit. i would encourage each of you to share a little light with someone else this week by telling them a simple truth such as: "the gospel of Jesus Christ has blesses my family" or "I know this church is true". See
what a difference it makes.We also gave service for a 2hand store here in Chelan. We dusted. A lot. Thank you mom for teaching me how to dust. The little old ladies there really appreciated it. We had some wonderful other lessons and talked to some less actives about the temple. Hopefully they'll be able to go again soon.

Sunday, we had stake conference. It was full of spiritual enlightenment which is only for me and I can't share with you because I don't think it will have quite as big an impact. I do think I should
share one experience though. The stake president here talked about how snakes will stay at the edge of trail paths, but they'll never be in the middle. (Forgive me if that's false doctrine. It was from an
experience that he had while hiking. Don't shoot the messenger.) He related that to the strait and narrow path of the gospel. If we're in the middle, it's just fine. We'll be tossed and turned around a lot,
but we'll never be in any immediate danger. It's when we stray to the edges of the path that we have to start worrying about our eternal salvation. So, stay on the middle of the path! Life is so much better
there anyway. Had some other lessons, and I got to pet a pig!

I think that's pretty much it for this week. I'll send pictures sometime. Keep looking for the little miracles that happen every day, and I promise you'll be able to see them! I love you all and sustain
you!

Con carino,

Hermana Kennedy

Me and President Ware.

Me in Chelan. I'm not a vain picture taker at all.

Hermana Taua and I on a totally "ratchet" day.

Me teaching the restoration to some llamas, Kuzco, Opal, and Sasparilla.

We heart attacked our recent convert, Cathy's door.

I present: The mustaches

HAPPY (late) MOTHER'S DAY!

Hermana Taua and I! Love it!

Hola!

To begin my letter today, I would like to thank all the women in my life who have had a profound impact on me. Here's a few: (I apologize in advance if you are not listed. You can write yourself in if need be.) MOMMY! Grandma Dupaix, Mary Dupaix, Rebecca Brown, Carrie Gritton, Sarah Holgerson, Susannah Liddle, Kathryn Lyman, Keri Jensen, Shannon Weaver, India Sherman, Alison Tucker, Sydney Sands, Michelle Dart, Clarissa Reed, Sarah Parry, Nicole Saville, Michelle Unice, Tawna Allen, and all you other wonderful women! Happy Mother's (or future) Day to you all!

Um... So, with transfers this past week, nothing really new or exciting happened. I did get to eat some pesole with jalapenos with some investigators last night for Mother's Day. And they invited us back for more tonight! So, we're going to eat some more pesole! They're a really sweet family, but the dad won't let his wife be baptized. :( (I also found out that Hermana Taua can't handle jalapeno peppers. She learned her lesson, though!)

Speaking of Hermana Taua, she's the best! She's from Hawaii and is so sassy! I love it! We're practically the same person! Our favorite color is red, we need our daily dose of sugar, we both love to accessorize, we both committed to work out every morning, we both love music, etc. Etc. Etc. Basically, we're praying that we'll stay together for the next 9 months because we've already seen miracles! Watch, we're going to be separated next transfer. The Lord always has his sense of humor.

In other news, up here in the Wenatchee/ Chelan/ Manson area, they celebrate Apple Blossoms! And I mean celebrate. There's parades and pageants and all the good old stuff for 3 WEEKS. Not 3 days. 3 weeks. Which, I'm not complaining about. We get to go to the parades and talk to everyone and see all the cute little band kids marching down the street in the little feathery hats. Sadly, we can't ride the dancing horses with our Hispanic investigators. :( Also, I get to drive in this area, so all I see is the boring road! I don't get to see the beauty of the green mountains or the blue lake. I just get to see pavement and yellow lines. The Lord really does have a sense of humor. He sends me to the most beautiful place in the mission and makes me drive so that I can't take pictures or appreciate any of the scenery. This is what P-day is for!

Anyway, it was great to see the family yesterday! Only one of them wrote me. I guess seeing my face was their letter to me this week. So, thank you everyone who wrote me this week! (And to my family too. I guess they're alright. ;))

Have a miraculous week, and go be the missionaries next door!

Con carino,

Hermana Kennedy

P.S. Thursday is Michelle Dart's birthday! Everyone should send her a birthday email! Her address is michelle.dart@myldsmail.net. I know she'd love it!


And Pictures!!!

Moses Lake Peeps!

Specifically, Hermana Hall and I with a member in 8th ward, Hannah
Adams. She's awesome. Love her.

My Moses Lake Spanish District! From left to right: Hermano
Perez (branch mission leader), Elder Wakefield, Elder Watkins, me,
Hermana Hall, Elder Pullman, and Elder Walimaa.

Me and Hermano Perez

Me and the Ixchiu family! (Recent converts/ part member family)
They're amazing! I love them so much! We're weird, as you can tell.

Me with the June sign. (For obvious reasons).

Our recent convert, Brianna! (She was baptized the 27th of December).

Me with one of our investigators, Jackeline and her son Jaythen.

Me with the Bifanos! My parents away from home. They're amazing. I love them.

Me with my recent convert, Emily! She was baptized is January.

Me with the people at Daily Dose: Virginia y Arturo Mancilla, Maria
Alvarado, and Anna Fox!

Chelan, my new area.

May the Fourth be With You!

Hola Familia y Amigos! Todos!

Well, the sad news is that Moses Lake is finally getting rid of me. The great news is that I'm being transferred to Chelan! It's apparently very green and pretty and is an awesome area, so I should be right at home! The scary part is that it's one of the hardest areas to work in because it's where all the migrant workers come to work! So, the Lord might be trusting me a little too much, but it's ok! I'll put my trust in him, and it'll all work out! My new companion is going to be Hermana Taua, who's from Hawaii. Hermana Hall is staying in Moses Lake and is getting (guess who?) HERMANA MCARTHUR! Why do all my companions get my companion? If you can't tell, I'm a little possessive.

WE HAVE A MIRACLE FOR YOU!!! Monday night, we were in our Spanish area, and we knocked on a door where we had talked to some other people who seemed interested before. The guy that opened this time was Ricky. We hadn't met him before, but we were able to teach him part of the Restoration and leave him with a Book of Mormon. We set up a return appointment for Saturday at 7 and we found a member to come with us--Hermano Clifford. We went, and he was standing outside waiting for us! We taught him the Restoration, and he had a million questions, which (with Hermano Clifford's much help) we were able to answer. He had read in the Book of Mormon and really liked what he read. He compares it a lot to the Bible because he's Catholic. He even prayed at the end of our lesson because we taught him how to pray. He even asked Heavenly Father to know that these things are true! I have never had an investigator like that here in Moses Lake! And now I have to leave him... He'll be baptized in three weeks, so no big deal. (Hermana Hall and Hermana McArthur just need to commit him to a date now....)

In other news, I think everyone should wish a Happy Birthday to the greatest mom in the world, MY MOM! It's her birthday TODAY! And is 20 years young. (Man, she's almost as old as me!)

Speaking of mothers, next week is mother's day, so.... God says "If you love me, keep my commandments" speaking as a parent. SO, let me rephrase that scripture. Mom said: If you love me, do what I ask you and have taught you to do. SO. My challenge for you this week is to do everything Mom asks of you! And live what she taught you. I know all your moms are awesome, so strive to be more obedient. They'll see your love for them and in return pour out more love for you!

Anyway, love you all! Have a miraculous week and I'll see you in almost a year!

Con carino,

Hermana Kennedy