Another year gone...

President and Sister Ware

Hola!

Well, this past year has been full of downs but of a lot of ups too! Thanks to everyone that's pulled me back up, I'm here on my mission right now! Muchas gracias a todos!

In other news, this week was kind of boring. Here's a run-down.

Monday: Awkwardly tracted into some members in Chelan... And awkwardly had a lesson with different people from the same family. The family members just kept leaving and coming until we were down to two. Fun stuff.

Tuesday: Served at the Food Bank. Had some studies and drove down to Wenatchee for a specialized training. We said goodbye to President and Sister Ware. We all weren't in tears or anything... It was like saying goodbye to my parents all over again. :( But the member that drove us bought us some ice cream, and it was all better. :) Had an awesome dinner and some awesome lessons with members too. We said goodbye to Bess, our exchange student we've been teaching. She went home on Wednesday. :( But, she mad us some fried rice before we left. :) Also, for exercise, we decided to start running up a dirt hill next to our house. Needless to say, I was a grandma for the next two days. Oh well. It's worth it!-

Wednesday: Had a lot of awkward lessons. We're really getting the hang of this whole mission thing. And met all of our daily goals by 4:45! So, life was pretty good.

Thursday: Did some service where we didn't pull weeds! We helped out investigator set up for a yard sale instead! Then we had some awesome lessons and an awkward homecourt. Sometimes I wish there was a "how to be a member missionary" class. Because the members are awesome and know everything! But our investigators know nothing, so the members forget that they have to teach simply... But they're awesome! Also, taught the Law of Chastity for the first time to a 12 year old boy who's on date for baptism. Como se dice awkward? And, we started teaching a less active how to read and write in Spanish! It was super awesome! One of his amigos sat in on the lesson and wants to come to English class! Miracles.

Friday: WE ACTUALLY FINISHED WEEKLY PLANNING! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! ONe of our investigators (who's a guy) almost forced us to come into his house, so we told him we had another appointment. He gave us a huge bag of cherries and we left. We actually did see another investigator and helped her clean her car. She was super happy. And to top it off, we gave her the bag of cherries! Even more happy. Then we left, bought some cheesecake for my birthday, and went home.

Saturday: I officially was no longer a teenager. So, we tried finding the Chelan investigators. (The elders left a lot of bad addresses, so...) We ended up just serving at the 2nd hand store in Chelan for 3.25 hours. We also went to Chelan Falls for the 1st time. It was kind of disappointing. So, we left to go to our dinner, an investigating family. They had made us seviche. (Spelling?) And when we got there, the investigator's daughter/ grandkids who are recent converts were there too! And they had made me a cake. :) They are the sweetest family ever! And then Bishop and his wife showed up. Apparently this was all planned, and I just didn't know about it. But then again, neither did Hermana Streuling, so it's all good. We spent the rest of the night just inviting people to church. It was awesome.

Sunday: Hermana Streuling and I ended up doing everything for Spanish sacrament meeting except blessing and passing the sacrament. We said the prayers, did the music, performed a musical number, and gave talks. It was pretty awesome. Especially since we started sacrament meeting with 4 people. Us, one of the bishopric, and a recent convert. ... ... ... And you guys think Mormon standard time is super late. You should try Spanish Mormon Standard time. After that, we spent the day in Chelan meeting less actives. We got chased down by one of our less actives in her wheelchair because Hermana Streuling forgot her scriptures. I died laughing. It was super funny.

And that's about it! Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! I appreciate all your love and support. You guys are awesome! Have a miraculous week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermanita Kennedy

Sister Ware and I

Me and my birthday cake. Quiero pastel, pastel, pastel! Quiero pastel, pastel, pastel!

Older and Wiser (maybe)

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Como fue el Dia de los Padres? Mine was awesome. I ate a doughnut for you, Daddy! Hopefully, you like maple bars, because that's what I got. :) Anyways. This week on Saturday is my birthday! It's my one and only birthday away from home. It's very fitting that I move from my teenage years to my actual adult life while I'm on a mission. A mission changes you about as much as the years do. It's pretty wonderful. I have loved changing and watching everyone else change. It's been one of my favorite parts of the mission! Anyway. Enough about me.

Let's talk about: HERMANA STREULING! I LOVE HER! Which means that we'll probably go our separate ways next transfer, but as long as we work this transfer, we will have no regrets! She is so willing to work hard while still being herself. She is a much better missionary than I will probably ever be. She always asks what she can do to help, and she relates to everyone. She has no fear in talking to everyone as well. Definitely something I need to improve on. We'll see what the next six weeks bring for us.

Well, the area just got bigger! I'm so looking forward to serving in both Manson and Chelan with Hermana Streuling! The ward's kind of freaked out that they don't have elders anymore, but I'm sure they'll love us! (Well, they already do, but...) We know that there are plenty of miracles waiting to happen in this area, and we're both willing to work hard to get them! Quick story: One of our investigators gave us directions to his house. In Spanish. Very vaguely. We only know that he lives in a trailer by a sign and a yellow compost car. So, we decided to find him Friday. Couldn't. We tried again Saturday, and we couldn't. So we decided to knock on a trailer. We were there, and we had nothing better to do. So, this little Mexican woman came out and was kind of hostile. "Diga me". So, we did! We started talking about how we were missionaries and we shared a message about Jesus Christ. She basically quoted 2 Nephi 31:21 to us about how Christ was the way. She also said that she believes there could be a prophet today. Inspired questions were definitely a thing. Inspired answers were also a thing. We kept talking and she began opening up to us, and by the end she was pretty interested in learning more! We couldn't set up an appointment because she's working in apples and cherries which means that she's not available anything except 6 in the morning or 10 at night. Not exactly possible for us... But, we left her with a prayer, and she broke down, told us her life story, and asked us to pray for her! She's definitely been prepared for the gospel and recognizes the hope that the gospel brings. We're excited to find more people like her this transfer. (And of course baptize her too.)

Something spiritual: I've always loved being a Spanish speaking missionary. Latinos are much more open and humble than white people are. I have a friend serving in New York right now (Spanish Speaking) and he reminded me of a prophecy that Lehi or Nephi made. I can't remember which prophet. But, they said that all who came here to this county were led here to learn of the gospel. It's so true! At times, they're under the impression that they're here to earn more money or have a better life for their family, but they see the blessings of the gospel and are humble enough to accept them, knowing that it can help in all other things. It gives me hope that even if I'm not successful, I'm still planting seeds that other missionaries will reap one day. It's pretty awesome.

And that's about it. Have a miraculous week!

Con carino,

Hermana Kennedy

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