No scalps this week

Our investigator who's preparing for baptism! I found him and gave him a bag of pretzels!

Well, this week was CRAZY! Here's the breakdown:

Monday: Contacted some referrals. Saw one of our on dates for baptism. He's totally prepared and loved the plan of salvation.

Tuesday: Did some service at the Food Bank. Saw one of our other on dates and taught her the plan of salvation. Bit confusing for her, but still good. Saw a less active. Did some finding. Ate some dinner. Saw some other people. And ended up at a part-member recent-convert family and put the nonmembers of the family on date for baptism after teaching them the plan of salvation. Pretty good night.

Wednesday: We had an awesome district council, watched some 80s missionary videos, did some service at the thrift store, saw a couple of our investigators, taught a lesson to some nonmembers at dinner, saw our other on date and he committed to get Sundays off! Yes!

Thursday: The on date that we saw on Tuesday dropped us while we were doing some service for her. We were ok with it. As we were leaving, she turned to us and said "You know, I was kind of terrified to tell you guys I didn't want to be baptized. I thought you were going to scalp me or something!" No scalps this week. After our lesson with her, we did some finding, ate some dinner, saw a new investigator that really wants to act on the message! She's so awesome! Totally going to be baptized. Then we taught Spanish to one of our less-actives (who came to church on Sunday!). And he sent us out with our own bag of goodies which included an entire box of strawberries, coco water, and a dessert. For each of us. He's the sweetest guy ever.

Friday: WEEKLY PLANNING! We planned. And then we had a ward pot luck for pioneer day, and the on date that we saw on Monday came! Where one of the less-actives told him that it was ok to have a cup of coffee every once in a while... Visit planned. Topic: Word of Wisdom. BUT, he still promised to give up coffee because he knows it's bad. Then, we saw the on date that we saw on Wednesday. He won't be able to get Sundays off for about a months because everyone just quit, but he promised to keep progressing to baptism. :) Good man, that one.

Saturday: Did some service. Got lost and almost drove up to Brewster, but because maps are in every pocket in our car, we were able to get unlost and then run home panicking because we thought we left our member's dog outside. We got home to find her inside. Perfectly fine. Horrid thing, that one. After that, we found some people in Manson to teach, saw one of our recent converts, and went to a member's house who has an ice cream machine because we got transfer calls.

Sunday: Church was morbid. Talks about death and how it was good. Which isn't bad, but when you have an investigator whose son just died, it touches a little too close to home... We went home and cleaned for our members who got home late last night. Their animals had done their business in various parts of the house, so that was fun. Then, we saw a less active family and the on date that came to church, the activity on Friday, and that we're focusing on this week. :) It was super fun and he enjoyed learning about the gospel. He's excited to start living it too.

As for transfer calls, here's what went down:
1. My trainer, Hermana Cain, is now a Sister Training Leader.
2. I'm leaving Manson and Chelan.
3. To go to the Yakima Valley South area.
4. With my trainer's last companion, Hermana Blackmer.



Should be fun.

Well, hope everyone had a miraculous week! Keep on keeping on, and I'll be back!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Say Cheese!

Hermana Streuling y yo.

Our cleaning pictures. We're that awesome.

The Missionary Maids

And my favorite less active family!

Picture Time!

Lake Chelan

My animals. :)

The dog, Ebony.

The cat, Gracie.

I don't even know your grandma!

Well. This week was an adventure. Here's some highlights.

Monday: We ended our day by throwing some rocks into the lake to get rid of our ill feelings for some Bible bashing potentials we ran into. That describes our day.

Tuesday: Did some service. Saw a less active who scared us by being insanely happy. (She's normally quite grumpy, so...) Had two other lessons with one of our investigators and his ex-wife. Met some awesome potentials. Put our golden investigator on date for August 1st. He's totally going to be baptized then, too! He even committed to stop drinking coffee and alcohol because we told him that we don't do any of that.

Wednesday: Had an awesome district meeting. Did some more service. Saw one person. Had dinner and drove to Wenatchee for exchanges! I went to Wenatchee. Again. For the 3rd time in a row. :( I guess God just really doesn't want me in my area... :( But, we started exchanges and had some awesome but weird lessons and met some awesome people.

Thursday: We had an awesome recent convert lesson with one of the Sister Training Leader's recent converts. He's so awesome. Then we tracted until dinner. Haven't done that in a super long time. My feet aren't quite used to it anymore. Then we had dinner at Cafe Rio (yum!) with the Single's Ward Elder's Quorum President. And then, we came home! Well, I came home. And we got a new investigator, contacted a referral, and got to see a part-member family. :)

Friday: Weekly planning. Dun Dun Dun. We met with one of our recent converts whose husband asked the missionaries not to come back. Her husband was there, and he said that he wanted to be baptized! What?! He's on date for August 8th! And they want to be sealed in the temple! MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday: Service. Dropped some investigators. Had dinner with the members we live with. And their entire family. (Family reunion, you see.) And we met with another of our investigators who's on date for baptism with our ward mission leader and his wife! It was awesome, and she appreciates the support. Her brother is preparing to be baptized the same date as she is, but he lives up in Brewster.

Sunday: Church. Some awesome lessons with some less actives. We saw our golden on date and he committed to live the word of wisdom because we actually taught it to him... And then we saw another investigator who would totally be on date if she just prayed to know that the Book of Mormon was true. But, it's ok. We answered some concerns, and she's starting to open up now. :)

And that's about it. This week was fabulous, although, we're dead tired. Hopefully we get to take a nap sometime soon. We need it.

Th-th-that's all folks!

Con amor,

Hermana Kennedy

And Ham married Bread and begat Cheese...

AMALIKIAH'S BAPTISM!

Yes, mujeres y hombres. That is how the book of Sandwiches begins. It's in the Apocrypha. I suggest reading it. (Just not while starving, so on Fast Sundays.) Noah must have been a very proud parent.

Anyway... On to more serious things. Here's the breakdown of this week!

Monday: Had some less-active lessons. I'm apparently going to marry Elder Wright. I served with him last transfer here in Chelan. I don't see it.

Tuesday: Met some solid investigators from the elders. Had quiche for dinner. Went through the baptismal interview questions with Amalikiah who had his baptismal interview on Friday. Yeah. Pretty good day.

Wednesday: Drove around in the heat. Saw a couple of people. Had a couple of appointments fall through. Had ward coordination. Such an exciting day, right?

Thursday: Found a thrift store to do service at in the heat of the day! Did we want to throw away half of the clothes we sorted through? Yes. Did we actually do it? No... After that we had some lessons, contacted a referral, met a part-member family, and taught one of our less-actives how to read and write in Spanish! He's getting so much better! Another less-active moved in right next door, too, so Hermana Streuling taught him in English while I taught the less-active in Spanish. It was pretty fun.

Friday: We drove down to Wenatchee for our interviews with President and Sister Lewis. They are so awesome, and I love them so much! They both have a great sense of humor and are really excited to serve. Amalikiah passed his baptism interview and we tried to see a few people but ended up going home and (doing?) weekly planning. Two hours of our night were spent trying to find a member to drive us down to Wenatchee the next day. We eventually found one, I had a mental breakdown where I went crazy and laughed for about half an hour (Hermana Streuling has video proof, so don't ask for it), and we went to the store to buy chocolate because I really just needed a doughnut. It was delicious.

Saturday: We had an awesome Zone Training Meeting where all I had to do was play the piano, read a few scriptures, and receive revelation for one of our investigators. It went really well, and I'm excited to be a missionary this coming week! We had dinner with a less-active family and the oldest daughter came out with us for the next three hours, so we weren't complaining. We had a lesson with one of our current investigators that we've been trying to see for the past 3 weeks. Hermana Taua and I found him, and we finally taught him the Restoration. The only problem with him is he talks for FOREVER. What should have been a 30 minute lesson turned into a 2 hour lesson, but he understands the Restoration more solidly than any other investigator I've taught.

Sunday: Church. WE HAD 6 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH! WHAT?! (One of them was the man we taught Saturday night.) AND AFTER CHURCH AMALIKIAH GOT BAPTIZED! He just needs to come to church next week so that he can be confirmed. :) Finished weekly planning, Had dinner with some members who had a non-member there. (We may or may not have left him with a quick lesson about the Book of Mormon and a Book of Mormon...) Taught some other lessons and saw a recent convert who gave us a rose out of her garden and asked us to think about her every time we looked at it. Will we? You know it! She's the sweetest! And she's going to the temple next month to do baptisms!! YEAH!

And that was my week. Anyone seen any miracles lately?

Spiritual thought for this week: I had the wonderful opportunity to read the Book of Mormon from front to back. I finished it last Friday. My testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel has never been stronger. I know that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. If you aren't reading the Book of Mormon every day and praying to know that it is true every day, your testimony will get weaker and weaker. But, the opposite is true as well. If you read the Book of Mormon and pray about it every day, your testimony will only grow stronger and stronger.

Have a miraculous week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Some mission funnies:

"The Holy Ghost has a pig, John." (Hermana Streuling)

"Sal Lake. It's Spanglish for Sal Lake." (Me)

"I have a Baldwin." (Me) "You have a bald twin?!" (Hermana Streuling)

(After arguing about where a toaster came from) "How did you know that?!" (wife) "Back off, girl. I listen." (Husband.)

I have no hope for humanity.

Something New

Hiola peeps! What's crack-a-lackin?

Well, for those of you who didn't know, we opened a new mission this week! It's so weird not having President and Sister Ware anymore, but President and Sister Lewis are amazing! But, to more important things: the new mission address is

Hermana Anna Kennedy
1006 S. 16th Ave
Yakima, WA 98902

So, this week was kind of a not-great week. We just didn't have a lot of proselyting time. And when we did, everyone was at the lake. Darn heat. It messes with the Lord's plans for Chelan and Manson! But despite it all, we met some awesome potentials and have return appointments with a lot of them. We also have a baptism this upcoming Sunday! He's part of a part-member family and he's so excited to be baptized finally! Hermana Streuling and I also perfected the art of getting lost in Chelan because the Elders left a bunch of bad addresses. We finally figured everything out though, so no worries. We are a lot happier now that we've figured out both our areas. Also, cleaning out the algae from the bottom of a pool around noon is not recommended. It's fun when you and your companion are pretending to be waterbenders, though! *cough*NERDS*cough* Also, if you want to know if an investigator is golden, have them read the Doctrine and Covenants and the church's release on the gay marriage issue, and if they agree with everything, invite them to be baptized! Still need to do the invite to be baptized, but we have an investigator who's exactly like that! She's so prepared, she just needs to be baptized. We'll work on that.

So, on Friday, we had the opportunity to drive down to Wenatchee and meet President and Sister Lewis. They both definitely have a sense of humor and are amazing! They're filled with so much love and excitement for the work. I'm so excited to get to know them both more this week with personal interviews.

And then Saturday was the 4th of July! I was so excited to spend it with salt-water taffy, weekly planning, and a movie night. We had to be in our houses by 6 in the evening, so Hermana Streuling and I ended up watching Joseph Smith: the Prophet of the Restoration, Legacy, "Only a Stonecutter", and "the John Tanner Story". It was pretty great. We enjoyed it with popcorn and actually got to bed early! Woohoo!

And that's pretty much it! Except President Packer died. :( And we found out from a member who said it so nonchalantly. *stab to the heart* He will be missed, but he definitely gave his best to the Lord. He's probably up in heaven talking about the good old times with Elder Perry. I can see it now...

Well, have a miraculous week! Te quiero mucho!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Kennedy

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.