Hermana Kennedy and the Eight-Legged Monster

Hola mi familia!

This week has just swept by!  I can't believe you're all over the world right now, but this is what we do!  Thank you so much for all of your emails!  I seriously wish I could print them all out, and keep them with me to read when I'm feeling frustrated or sad.  I seriously do love it here, but I have had my moments of weakness.

So, I had my first big spider encounter this week.  First, my teacher, Hermano Saldana, was telling us about experiences with tarantulas on his mission (not exactly what I need to hear, right?).  He and his companion were once sleeping, when suddenly he heard his companion say, "Elder. Elder. Wake up." So he was like, "What's wrong?" And his companion said, "There's a tarantula on my face and I can't move."  Yeah, for real.  So they called the mission president, and he said that they just had to wait for it to move on its own, or it would bite him, so his companion had to stay like that for TWO HOURS! Then, he told us that once, he was making his bed in the morning, and there was a tarantula under his pillow, and it had been there all night long,  So, I normally sleep with my hand underneath my pillow, but that story killed that habit.

So, my own experience.  It isn't quite as dramatic as that, but I was in personal study yesterday, and suddenly I see something moving out of the corner of my eye, and it was a HUGE spider!  Like, if you make a circle with the tips of your thumb and index finger, that's how big it was.  I jumped out of my chair, and I feel really bad about this, but I may have said, "HOLY CRAP!"  Yes, I know.  We don't even say that at home, but man, that spider scared the heck out of me!  I scared Elder Lopez half to death, but bless that elder's heart, he killed it for me.

So last Tuesday, it started raining. And here, it's for realz rain.  So, #ccmproblems, the roof of the gym started leaking.  And we aren't talking like a few drops.  It was running down the wall, and it looked like a waterfall, and we had to put out tons of buckets, and bless the elders, they had to mop the whole floor, and there was probably six inches of water in the buckets within the space of five minutes.  Crazy stuff.

The rain continued into Friday and our gym hour.  Well, I love the rain, so a bunch of us gringos were still out exercising in the rain, and it was so fun!  For some reason, running in the rain is ten times funner than regular running. And Hermana Quayle and I ran together, and we recited all of the memorized stuff we know in Spanish (First Vision, Moroni 10: 3-5, missionary objective, and baptismal invitation).  Mommy, thanks for having me memorize Moroni 10 before I left.  I had to review it a little when I first looked at it, but boy, I can whip out those three verses in Spanish like nobody's business!

I also played a little soccer this week!  Yesterday and today, it's only us eleven gringos, so we played soccer because none of us are particularly good at it, but I played goalie, and I actually managed to block six goals!  Now, put the Latinos in, and I would be on the floor in the fetal position, but my teacher also taught me how to roll the ball onto my foot, and hold it between my ankle and foot, so I'm basically a pro now :-)

And oh my gosh, Mommy, I'm so incredibly jealous!  All the food that you are eating in Germany looks so dang delicious, and it sounds like you are having so much fun!  Seriously, I'm starting to forget my German.  One of my teachers, Hermana Saldana, wanted to hear me speak German, so he told me to speak straight German for two minutes, and I kept using "y" instead of "und", and I couldn't remember any gospel terms in German.  I'm really hoping to get it all back afterwards, and be able to quickly switch my brain back and forth like Ethan and Mark.

Since it's just us eleven missionaries today, Presidente Hansen planned a surprise for us.  We have no idea what it is, but he said to bring money, and it's outside the CCM, so I'm super excited!  We leave after email time, but we still have to wear our missionary clothes, so we aren't hiking or anything.  I'll have to let you know what it is next week.

I seriously love it here.  On Friday, I got to teach the Book of Mormon lesson in our district, and I think it was pretty good.  I started in Alma 56: 42.  It's my favorite story, the stripling warriors, and seriously, it is so applicable to missionaries.  We are those 2000 stripling warriors.  We left our homes, went into the unknown, and did it because of our love for God.  Those young warriors didn't know if they were going to be returning home.  They were young, and inexperienced, and heading into war with the Lamanites, but they had such courage and faith in God, so they didn't fear.  Helaman calls them "his stripling Ammonites", and that's what we as missionaries are to Heavenly Father.  We are going out and saving his people, and as long as we have faith in Him and His gospel, we cannot fail.  They give so much credit to their mothers and their fathers, and thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for raising me the way you did.  Thank you for raising me in the gospel, and being such good examples to me of faith and perseverance.  In the end, we are all God's stripling Ammonites.  Just as Helaman calls them his sons, so will we be called by God for our faith and our diligence.  It is a hard road we walk, but with God on our side, we cannot lose.  We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives.

Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y el Evangelio de Jesucristo bendice familias.  La Iglesia es la iglesia de Jesucristo y el nos ama.  Nosotros somos los hijos de Dios y el quiere nos a ser feliz y ser con nuestros familias siempre.  Este iglesia es verdad y yo soy muy agradecida por la oportunidad a servicio como una misionera de Jesucristo.  Yo amo ustedes, y gracias por su apoyo y amor.

Give Hootie and Chiefy some love for me.

Mucho amor,
Hermana Kennedy

This is the group of us missionaries who have been here for the three weeks I've been here.

This is Hermana Nelson (the one who tagged me on Facebook), the behind her is our cafeteria.

Hermana Kennedy, the Celebrity Impersonator

Hola mi familia y mi amigos!

Me at the Bogota Colombia temple

Thank you so much to everyone who's been writing me!  I'm seriously so grateful for the outpouring of love that I've received, and thank you to those of you who wrote to me about how to be a better teacher!  It's gotten a lot better now that I'm not talking as much, and now that my Spanish is getting better, it's becoming a lot easier to communicate (mostly because I don't have to write down everything that I want to say in my notebook)!

So, some funny things from this week...

Latinos say the funniest things.  Seriously, I am in a constant state of laughter in my classes.  Possibly the funniest thing so far was when our evening teacher, Hermano Saldana, was a few minutes late, and my companion, Hermana Poll (pronounced like Paul) said something about him being late.  He responded with, "Hermana, you don't even KNOW how much cereal I put in my bowl."  Trust me, it's made even better by the Latino accent!

Also, my morning teacher, Hermano Castiblanco, said that I look like Kate Winslet, and one of my fellow Hermanas said that I look like Drew Barrymore.  Not sure if either is true, but they're both beautiful, so I'll take it!

My district.  Hermana Poll and I are the taller hermanas in the back.

I actually get to exercise for a full hour here everyday at 2 in the afternoon.  So, I get up in the morning, do my hair, get dressed, then at 2 p.m., change, go out and run. Yes, I run. None of this namby-pamby "core stuff",  Then, I come inside, but we only have a half hour to shower.  Well, that ain't enough time for this girl, so I jump in the shower, wash the sweat off, then get out, and blow dry the sweat in my hair, and still make it to class on time. Yes, I blow dry the sweat in my hair.  So, yes, I am exercising, and I'm sacrificing my perfect hair every day for it.  But, I actually love exercise time!  It feels so nice to go out and stretch my legs after hours of being inside.

The Latinos LOVE to take pictures of themselves.  You can
just see me in the top left corner....

So, this past Friday, the two elders in charge of the sacrament meeting program come up to me, and ask "Hermana Kennedy, we know this is such short notice, but would you be able to do a musical number on Sunday?"  Little do they know :-)  I was like, "Yes, I'd love to," and thankfully there's a 4-week sister, Hermana Yardley, that was almost a piano performance major so we cranked out "Write Thy Name Upon My Heart".  We were practicing in our new chapel on Saturday night, and the entrance to the chapel is right next to the entrance to the elders' rooms, so as we were practicing, all of these Latinos started popping their heads in the door.  According to Hermana Poll, they were all saying that they loved me as I was singing.  And when I came out, I forrealz felt like a celebrity.  They were all standing there, and they all started whipping out the compliments in Spanish faster than you can say HOLA!  And it continued the next day.  It's so cute though.  These Latinos are so dang tone deaf, but they're so enthusiastic when they sing, so I think that they must all be true music lovers in their hearts.  It was great though.  Hermana Yardley is an excellent pianist, so it felt like playing with you, Mama!

Hermana Yardley and me.  I love her so much.

My Spanish is coming along well.  Yesterday, I started talking to one of the Venezuelan elders, and I was actually able to hold a real conversation!  It made me realize that I can do this.  Being a missionary is about being friends with people, and finding out about their lives, and I know that I can do that now.  It was so liberating!  I've been so frustrated lately, because I've felt like I'm not feeling the Spirit the way some people are.  Some people say that they've felt the Spirit every time we've had any kind of religious lesson, and it's been seriously stressing me out, but last night, I realized that Heavenly Father has really blessed me.  He blessed me by allowing me to learn German for so many years, because seriously, learning German has helped me so much....except in word order.  I keep ordering sentences in Spanish the way they are in German, with the verb at the end, but that's not right!  Spanish is like English!  Seriously, I still say German words sometimes.  Anyway, he's blessed me with the gift of tongues since I've been here, and that's the Spirit helping me.  I'm so used to the Spirit being a feeling, like when I read or pray about my Savior, but he is manifesting himself to me differently now--by augmenting my abilities in Spanish, in learning it, speaking it, and understanding it, and it's amazing.

We were able to listen to an excellent devotional this past Sunday by Elder Bednar.  It's the 2009 Provo MTC devotional.  We also had the opportunity as a district to watch Jeffrey R. Holland's Mormon Message called Where Justice, Love and Mercy Meet.  It's about two brothers who go climbing, and they come to a point where they can't go up anymore, but they can't go down.  It has such a beautiful message about the Savior.  He is always there to catch us when we fall.  There are so many times in our lives where we may feel alone, or unloved, but Jesus Christ knows our pain.  He knows our tribulations, and he knows our suffering.  And he is there to help us make it.  He will be there to pull us up when we can't go on any further, and he will save us.  There's a beautiful scripture in Mosiah 14: 4-6 about it, and it beautifully compliments John 10.

I seriously love it here.  I love the people, I love the atmosphere, and I love this country.  And I can't even leave the CCM!  I like to call it "the compound", because there's a big gate around it.  For exercise time, we actually do get to leave because we exercise in the park across the street, and I feel like I'm FREED whenever I leave!

The temple is actually only closed for two weeks (not two months), so I'll get to go again next week!  Oh boy....that Spanish though :-)

Hermana Poll is my companion (sorry about forgetting to mention her name before).  Last Sunday, we had a lesson about charity being the pure love of Christ, and how we can learn to love people by serving them, so I've been trying really hard this week to serve her, whether by complimenting her, or doing what she wants to do, and it's made a real difference in every way.  We go walking around the building after every meal together because she really doesn't like being inside, and we sing together, and I love her even more.  She's a sweet girl.

Me and Hermana Poll

I sure do love you all, and thank you again for the emails!  Presidente Hansen hasn't quite figured out snail mail yet, because he only became Presidente one month ago, so I can't send letters, but I'm writing them, and I'll send them once I get to Ecuador.  I'm hoping that if anyone has sent me a letter, I'll get it, but who knows?  #ccmproblems

I LOVE YOU ALL!!
Con mucha ama,
Hermana Kennedy

This crazy fruit is called a granadia.  I peel it by whacking it against the corner of a table, taking off the peel, and sucking out the seeds inside like a vampire.  It's basically a Colombian pomegranate :-)

Just for Mark.

February 14, 2017

Oh my gosh!  I can't believe it's my first P-Day!  Seriously, I've been looking forward to this day all week, and at the same time, I can't believe it's only been a week since I entered the CCM (it stands for Centro de Capitacion de Misional).  Anyway, it's been a crazy week.  Reading all the emails from my wonderful family made me cry.  I've cried a lot this week.  Seriously, it feels like all the sisters have been crying because they're frustrated or upset because they can't learn the language, or because they didn't have a good lesson with an investigator, or they didn't like how they were treated.

One day in, and a girl in the bathroom looks at me and says, "I hear you're a good singer." I think by this point, I'd only sung one hymn with the 3-week Hermanas, so super funny, but you know.  I didn't want to be like, "Oh yeah, I'm an excellent singer!" so I just said, "Yes, I've been known to sing a lot." :-)  But then she asks me if I brought music.  On a side note, thanks for the music Mama.  I cried over that too because it was so sweet and loving of you.  Anyway, she plays piano (like legit plays piano) so she wants me to sing sometime.

We actually have Sunday meetings for the Latinos, and a separate meeting for the Gringos.  All our lessons are in English, but we have to speak, pray, and sing in Espanol.  Crazy stuff.  We have to prepare a talk every Sunday too for church, and President Hansen only tells us who is speaking after the sacrament is passed.  But Sundays are so nice.  I totally see why Ethan and Mark say that you just have to make it to Sunday.  We have English lessons, no Spanish study, and it's just spiritual stuff ALL DAY!! It's awesome!

This week has been full of accents.  First off, the missionary accent.  I'll catch myself doing it, and I'm like, "Ughhh!  Nooo!"  So I watch myself as I speak, and always make sure to go down at the ends of my sentences unless it's a question, because that stupid accent is so real :-). And everyone else is doing it!

Also, the German accent, or just German in general.  Seriously, all the time. When I can't think of a word in Spanish, the German word comes to my mind.  Suddenly, I realize how much German I know.  Like, a lot.  This would be so easy in German, but maybe that's why I wasn't sent to a German-speaking mission :-). I even catch myself saying German words sometimes as a filler when I'm speaking, and I realize that no one can understand me.  And I got a shout out from the pulpit!  We took a survey the first day that asked if we had studied any other language and for how long.  The highest year I could answer was 5+ years of study.  So, I put that, and suddenly, everyone asks me if I'm the one that studied German for five years.  And on Sunday, after the talks were given in Spanish, President says that the talks were so good, especially considering almost none of the speakers had ever studied Spanish, "unlike Hermana Kennedy, who took five years of German".  Not sure how President knew that, but little does anyone know that five years doesn't even begin to cover it all!  But I can tell that me learning German for so many years has helped already with Spanish.  I can pick up words and phrases pretty easily, and I'm improving really quickly, plus it helps having some confidence from another language.

Also, the Latina accent.  All of our teachers are Colombian, so when they speak, it's either in Spanish, or in English with an accent, so I've found that when I'm saying my prayers in Spanish, if I don't know a word and I say it in English, it'll be with the Latina accent.  Like, you know how after you watch Sherlock or Downton Abbey, or some other British show, you think or speak to yourself in a British accent?  Maybe that's just me, but that's what happens with the Latina accent.  And one teacher said that I roll my Rs like a Latina, so you could say I'm pretty special :-)

So I've been practicing teaching, and my pretend church investigator is one of my teachers.  Teaching him has really given me some insight into something:  I'm a horrible teacher.  I tend to throw information at someone, and I talk too much, and I don't listen enough.  So, could you ask people to send me emails with tips on teaching or being a teacher?  I need some serious advice.  But Jaime (my investigator) is so patient, and it is interesting to experience teaching the Gospel. I suddenly feel like I don't know anything about anything, and it's a little stressful but also good.  It's humbling, and it'll help me become better.

So, we got to go to the temple this week, and this week only, because the temple is closed for the next two months for maintenance!  How lame is that?  But interesting thing...the whole thing was in Spanish.  ALL in Spanish.  And I suddenly realized that I can't understand Latinas at all.  Our teachers are speaking at a snail's pace for us to understand them.  It was so hard, but the temple was beautiful, and we were there early, so we got to take lots of pictures.  These Latino elders love us American sisters, and boy, they sure are flirty.  Luckily, we can't understand anything they say, so that's an upside.

So, a funny "Why Eddie" moment.  We have two non-whites in the Gringos congregation, so when we were talking about lineages on Sunday in a class with President, he says that he's pretty sure everyone is in Ephraim...except Elder Lopez and Elder Hawk.  He then proceeds to ask them what line they are from, and granted, they are from Manassah, but I was just like "Why Eddie?"

It's beautiful how much I'm learning from the scriptures about being a missionary.  In 3 Nephi 27:27, it talks about us being judges of this people, and it made me think of being a judge.  A judge has to be unbiased and fair in their judgment, and that's how I have to be.  I can't judge people from what I know, because everyone has their own problems.  I'm so far from perfect, and I can't go into Ecuador thinking that I am perfect.  I have to love these people for who they are, and for what they are...children of God.  He is the ultimate judge, and He loves us all, no matter our imperfections.  He wants us to return to him, because He loves us, and that's why He sent the Savior.  The Savior and the Atonement were put into place as our chance to be redeemed and repent of our sins, and it's so beautiful to think about the sacrifice that was made by God.  He sent His son because He loves us. I know that this church is true, and I'm so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to spread the Gospel to the people of Ecuador.  I can't wait to spread the message of His love for them, and I hope I can love them the way He does.

I do love the Hermanas, and I'm so grateful that almost all of them are going to my mission with me!

I love you all so much, and I miss you, but I know that his is where I am supposed to be.

Con amo,

Hermana Kennedy

I'm Here!

Hey Mama!  Guess what?  I'm in the MTC!  Seriously, the trip here was totally crazy.  We didn´t get to the MTC until 1 a.m., and then no one who spoke English was there to help us, so it was a big game of charades.  I have a super nice companion though, and all of us that flew into Altlanta last night are basically best buds considering what we went through.  The MTC looked pretty creepy last night when we drove in, but in the daylight, it's actually beautiful here.  Everyone is so nice, and we've been sitting around all morning going from room to room doing different stuff, but this guy, Hermano Rodriguez, has been helping us practice our Spanish all morning.  I can´t  tell you the number of times my brain has substituted a German word for a Spanish word I don´t know.  But I've learned some very useful phrases, and I still have six weeks until I need to actually start teaching.  For now, all us Hermanas have been talking with each other to get better at it.  

It sure is different here than the Provo MTC.  Seriously, everyone speaks Spanish, and few people speak English.  I'm really being thrown into this language, and it's kind of awesome! Immersion is totally the way to go, baby!  I think my Preparation Day is Tuesday, or at least, that's what our schedule says.  

Ethan and Mark were totally right.  There's nothing that can prepare you for a mission.  It's just crazy, and a little overwhelming, but also exciting and otherwordly.  I'm so excited for my mission, and I'm super excited to actually get to Ecuador and start teaching, but I definitely need some more practice with Espanol :)

Tell everyone that I love them.  I love you Mama and Papa.  And give Chiefie and the kitties some love for me!

Love,

Hermana Kennedy