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.
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
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| This is the group of us missionaries who have been here for the three weeks I've been here. |
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| This is Hermana Nelson (the one who tagged me on Facebook), the behind her is our cafeteria. |
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