Hermana Kennedy and There is Sunshine in my Eyes Today

Hi family!  I'll start out with my letter to Presidente:

Hola Presidente Murphy,

Well, this was definitely a week of ups and downs.  Sandra received all five lessons in preparation for her baptisms, and she has been reading and praying through this whole process.  With the help of Joselyn, her fellowshipper, she is completely ready for baptism.  And this past week, we asked her daughter, Dayanna, if she wanted to be baptized with her mom.  She has been present for all of the lessons, and has attended church, and each week, she tells us how much she loves it.  At first, Sandra wasn't so sure, because Dayanna is in the middle of preparation for First Communion with the Catholic church, and it was something that her family wanted for her.  But Dayanna told us that she wants to be baptized, and when we asked if she wanted to be Catholic, she outright told us that she doesn't.  She loves going to church with us and her mom, and she wants to be baptized.  We encouraged Sandra to talk with her family, because we know that God can soften the hearts of our family when we are obedient to His commandments.  The next day, we came back, and Sandra had spoken with her family, and they were fine with it.  And Dayanna had decided, for herself, without any questions or anything from her mom, to not attend Catacismo because she had made her decision to be baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  It's amazing to me, the different reactions that we get from children and teenagers versus adults.  Younger people love to listen to us, and they always want us to come in and talk to them and teach them, but so often, their parents are the ones to turn us away or say that they don't have time.  And I know that it's because younger people are more sensitive to the Spirit.  They feel it more, and they can sense it.

Sandra was set to be baptized this upcoming Saturday, and her interview was supposed to happen yesterday.  However, when we arrived at State Conference yesterday, we couldn't find her anywhere.  Joselyn had picker her up that morning, and they had arrived at conference, but before we got there, Sandra had received a phone call from her spouse.  We don't know exactly what it was about, but Sandra had left with her three kids, and she didn't come back.  It would have been her third time at church, but since she wasn't there, we will need to wait another week for her baptism.  We were both incredibly disappointed, because we were so excited for her to be baptized, and I know that she and Dayanna were excited too, but she has been having problems with money lately, and we think it may have been something to do with finding a locale.  All that matters is that she will be baptized soon, because I know that she will receive so many blessings for her obedience and faith.  And now we have even more time to talk about Christ and repentance with her, and we can help her prepare more!

In addition, we have four other people with baptismal dates:

Hermana Agnel for the 13th of May
Hermana Mayra for the 10th of June
Roberto y Ximena Perechimba for the 17th of June.

This really is such a special area.  The people here are so receptive and willing to talk to us, and they're all so humble.  I just love being here.  I love having this opportunity to meet and learn to love these people.  They teach me so much everyday, and I feel God's love for them more and more with each person that I meet.  I cannot wait to preach this Gospel more, and see how it touches and blesses their lives!

Have a wonderful week,

Hermana Kennedy
Otavalo-San Pablo

To be totally honesty, this week was rough.  It started out at 4:00 last Monday and kept going down from there.  We were super stressed last week after coming back from Quito, because we had to do all of our P-day stuff (cleaning, grocery shopping, writing emails, etc.) in two hours, and we are both people who get stressed out rather easily about time.  Anyway, I'm so sorry about my emails last week.  I know I sounded kind of stressed and angry, and I'm really sorry.

I also got sick this past week.  Only for a day, but it was rough.  I had a seriously bad fever.  Like, I'm not sure how to describe it other than I was so hot that I was feeling the heat in my eyes, and I'm pretty sure my contacts partially melted onto my eyes.  But at the same time, I was freezing cold that day too.  All I wanted to do was go to bed, but I believe that Heavenly Father allowed Tylenol to be invented specifically for sick missionaries, because I wouldn't have made it until 9 p.m. without the help of Tylenol :-)  This work is hard, and it's only harder when we aren't feeling well, or when we are sad or frustrated, but as was stated in General Conference, if I can't walk, I can still run, and it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other on Saturday and not complaining.

We also had the disappointment of Sandra not coming to church.  We seriously don't know what happened, and I was so sad.  I love that family so much, and I couldn't wait to see them baptized this week, but sometimes we just have to trust in Heavenly Father's plan.  And now we can use this upcoming Saturday to give tours of the chapel to all of our other investigators who are feeling uneasy about coming to church, so that's really cool!  Hermana Giles says that Week 5 of a transfer is always the hardest and the longest, and it felt like it.  I can't believe that it was only a week ago that we went to Quito, because IT FEELS LIKE EONS AGO.  In fact, we had to travel to Quito twice this week, and you know I don't like to travel.  I love being on vacation anywhere, but I don't like the part about getting there.  I hate how sweaty and gross and out of control I feel, and it was HOT this past week, so that didn't help.  If you guys could just say a prayer or two for me, I'd really appreciate it.

Hermana Giles and I in our llama sweater (courtesy of Plaze de Ponchos) which we wore in Quito :-)

President and Sister Murphy and I overlooking Quito.  Isn't it beautiful?

I love these Hermanas from the CCM.

This past week, we met a guy on the street, and he started Bible bashing on us, so Hermana Giles started trying to testify and be nice and learn more about him, but he kept cutting her off and talking about why he knows that our church isn't true.  So, I was like, okay, I can handle this.  So very nicely (probably more nicely than I've ever spoken before), I just said, "Hermano, you have such an impressive knowledge of the Bible, and I know that God loves you, but we have to go.  We are so sorry, but we have appointments with some other people in the area, so we need to go.  Have a nice day!"  And we walked away.  I thought I handled it really well, and he didn't seem offended, but Hermana Giles told me I was too blunt.  But being nice and trying to argue with him kindly wasn't working.  *sigh* I guess I still have a lot to learn about being a missionary.

Too, in case you don't remember from when we practiced it at home, but I'm not a big fan of companionship inventory.  It's really difficult to balance being critical with being kind.  Hermana Giles this past week told me that I sing super loud, and that sometimes it's hard for other people in the congregation to focus, and she wondered if my voice just naturally projects, or do I try and sing loudly on purpose.  I guess when I sing, she's seen other people look at me kind of surprised, then stop singing, and then continue singing.  You guys know, there's no such thing as indoor voices with us when we sing.  But now, I feel self-conscious singing at all.  And this after Daddy told me to always sing with our investigators, and after all of my friends at BYU told me the Latino people would love my voice.  In my mind, someone's got to carry the rhythm and melody of the music here, and it may as well be me.  It's hard though because I don't get to do many fun things as a missionary, but one thing I can still do is sing.  Goodness....

And that's why I'm so thankful for all of your supportive emails.  It's so nice to have people tell me how proud they are of me, and how well they think I'm doing.  I don't hear that very often, and it's sometimes a struggle for me to stay optimistic (especially when I'm sick).  This week, I just felt like a lousy missionary.

So, should I start sending my letters to the new address at Stonewater?  I seriously love that name!  I love that we are going from Stoney Point to Stonewater.  It feels like an homage to our home in Pennsylvania :-)  I'm so happy that you found a place you love, and I know that we can make a house a home without any problem, because I realize now, home is anywhere where you guys are.  And with fourteen acres, I can still build a house on your land someday ;-)

I really can't tell you all how much I love and need your emails.  I'm sorry again for last week, so please forgive me.  Every day, I'm so thankful to have so much family and so many friends who care about me, because I couldn't do this without you.  I've been given so many blessings in the form of people from Heavenly Father, and I'm probably the luckiest missionary in the world.  Because you're all so great, I thought I'd share a fun fact about Ecuador:

Me, with some corn that I found on the side of the road.
Because choclo is so delicious, not a piece should be wasted!

The food :-)  When I first came here, the food was a serious problem.  Not the food itself, but the sheer quantity that we receive.  They sometimes do like two course meals here, and each course is a plate or bowl filled with food.  And here, we can't leave anything on our plates, or it's offensive.  We have to eat everything.  But over time, our stomach adjusts to eating a bigger meal at lunch, and a smaller one at dinner (rather than the opposite in the States).  So at noon, even though we ate breakfast four hours earlier, we are STARVING!  And when we are handed a bowl of rice, topped with chicken, corn and beets, we can't contain our excitement!  Seriously, the rice here is so dang good!  And the chicken!  Oh the chicken!  And right now, choclo, or corn on the cob, is in season, so we have been getting a lot of that, and it's delicious!  A lot of the time, it's a toss up in meals between whether we will get choclo, or potatoes.  Both are rather popular.  And the salads are just diced vegetables with lemon juice and salt, and usually contain tomatoes.  Salted tomatoes as a salad?  Bring it on!  And I tried cuy (guinea pig) for the first time this past week!  It's a delicacy here, but I guess a lot of Nortes and even other Latinos don't like it very much, but they obviously don't have taste buds because it's very delicious!  And juice is just a fruit, water and sugar in a blender.  Real juice is way expensive.  And by "way expensive", I mean like 2 dollars.  #thatecuador life

And thanks, Mama, for the advice about wearing my shoes occasionally.  I tried to wear my boots a lot less this week, and it was great.  I actually realized that I need to wear my shoes more, because the bottom half of my legs are a lot whiter than the rest of my legs because they haven't been getting any sun!

Anyway, there you go.  Also, I'm learning how to peel pretty much every kind of vegetable with a miniature machete, so I can't wait to show off my cool peeling skills in 15.5 months!  I love you all!

Tenga un buen dia!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Kennedy

In front of the letras grandes in Otavalo (my town!)

Hermana Kennedy and Dat Gringa Life Though

Hi family!

Sorry that I'm emailing so late today, but we spent the day traveling to and from, and being in Quito, because ELDER D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES WAS HERE AND TALKED TO THE MISSIONARIES FOR AN HOUR!!!  No big deal--just my favorite apostle, speaking to us in Spanish.  So dang cool!  I just love him, and I got to shake his hand and read a scripture for him in Spanish.  Okay, anyway.  Here's my letter to Presidente:

Dear Presidente Murphy,

Wow! What an amazing day in Quito with Elder Christofferson!  I loved everything about the talks and testimonies that was given today, but I loved what he said about repentance.  Repentance is the most necessary step for men to have eternal life, and it's all possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  How wonderful it is that we could celebrate the Atonement and the resurrection of Jesus Christ this past week!

Sandra Paucar, our investigator, attended church again for the second time.  She is such an incredible investigator, and we just love teaching her.  Every lesson is an opportunity for us to learn more, and with the help of our recent convert, Joselyn, Sandra is learning to recognize promptings and answers from Heavenly Father.  She really wants to be baptized, and she continues to pray and read the Book of Mormon.  Seriously, she read the introduction, the testimonies, and through 1 Nephi 3 in just two days!  We are so excited for her!  And it's such a great opportunity for Joselyn, because she gets to not only review the lessons, but she participates in them as well and bears her own testimony of the things we teach.  And the Spirit in the lessons is so strong.  Sandra has been unsure about receiving answers from Heavenly Father, but she was telling us that every time she prayed and read the Book of Mormon, she felt tranquility and happiness, so we read some scriptures together to help her understand how exactly Heavenly Father sends answers to us, and in lesson 3 this past week, we emphasized the importance of the Holy Ghost in receiving answers.  She has actually been having a really hard time lately with work and her family, but since beginning lessons with us, her spirit has lightened, and she's happier every time we teach her, and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for blessing her with those feelings.  What an incredible work this is.  I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to be here with these people, because I just love them.  I'm so grateful for the opportunities that I am having not only to teach, but also to learn every day from the Spirit, our investigators, and from Hermana Giles.  I just love her.  She is such an example to me, and I'm amazed every day at her perseverance and love for the people.

It was wonderful to see you and Hermana Murphy today, and I can't wait to see you both again on Friday!

Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Kennedy

So yeah, lots of awesome stuff this past week.  First off, Easter, or Pascual.  While it's no Kennedy Celebration of the Egg, these Ecuadorians know how to celebrate, and they do so through Fanesca.  Fanesca is a type of soup with tons of different grains and vegetables in it.  Seriously, look it up.  It's awesome, and so very delicious.  In addition, they have arroz con leche y mashed potatoes.  We had a ward activity on Saturday, and everyone came together to make everything, and eat everything, and man, it was so dang tasty.

So, sometimes it's a little hard being a Gringa in a Latin American country.  We are stared at ALL THE DANG TIME!  And people aren't even subtle about it.  They look at us, see us see them, then turn to their friends, say something, and then they all stare at us.  In our heads we're like, "Yeah, we know, we're fully aware that we're white."  And a lot of the time, random men and boys will try to speak to us in English, but it's super creepy, and meanwhile, we speak way more Spanish than they do English.  But at the same time, sometimes it's fun to be a Gringa.  We have a family of investigators, La familia Ajavi, and they have seven kids, and their oldest is named Lisbeth, and she's just adorable.  She's thirteen, and she loves us.  So, at their house this past week, she was super giggly, and after we had ended the lesson and were just talking with the family, she leans over to me and whispers (in Spanish obviously), "Can I have a piece of your hair?"  When in Ecuador, right?  So, I said, "Sure!"  Next thing I know, she reaches up, grabs a piece and pulls it out of my head, then sits there staring at it.  Then her brother comes over, and she's like, "Look at her hair!  It's so pretty!"  Meanwhile, I'm hoping she doesn't do any voodoo magic with it, or anything.

Also, people are always coming up to me in the ward and telling me how red I am.  Yes, my skin gets very red in the sun, and here, we are super close to the sun, so Imma be red for the next 16 months.  There's just nothing I can do about it.

Also, a woman called me fat this past week, but Ecuadorians add -ita to the end of everything, so when she said that I was gordita, it's hard to feel offended because it just sounds so cute!  I know I'm not thin or anything, but I'm definitely not the biggest person around.  Maybe height wise I am, and next to Hermana Giles, maybe, but it's just funny how the culture is here.  And all I can do is laugh at how darn cute the people are here.

I'm so darn grateful for Hermana Giles.  Every day, I thank Heavenly Father for giving me such an amazing trainer.  Today, in Quito, I got to see my friends from the CCM (all of whom have Latinas for companions), and they're all having a really hard time because the cultures are so different, and two of them have actually changed trainers since the first day.  So yeah, I just love Hermana Giles.

Also, I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I'm in an area with a lot of indigenous people, and they speak Quichua, so it's super cool because I get to learn a few words every week in Quichua.  #ecuadormissionarylife

Man Mama, I just love your emails.  That's so exciting about the lakehouse!  It sounds so beautiful, but of course, it's in Michigan, so of course it is.  And that is so sad about Mark's last concert.  I cried through the blog post, because it really is amazing what Mark has done and accomplished.  I miss him like crazy, and it is so sad that he has to give up that dream.  He IS an artist through and through. But he's so talented and motivated, and I know that this isn't the end for him.

So, have I mentioned the Ecuadorian bugs before?  No?  Let me tell you about them.  The bugs here are incredibly aggressive, and even though I put on bug spray religiously every day, and spray my clothes with promethrin, there just isn't anyway to avoid the bugs.  And actually, I haven't picked my scabs, because who has the time or energy for that?  They're healing, but as it turns out, we didn't pack me any Benadryl or Gold Bond, so yes, I scratch them.  They aren't nearly as bad as the Michigan mosquitos though, but in this mission, everyone has scabs on their legs.  It's inevitable.  And have I mentioned my boots before?  No?  Let me tell you about them too.  Yes, I wear them a lot, but it's because they protect my poor lower legs from the bugs.  Seriously, I don't have a single bite on my lower legs where my boots cover, or above the hems of my dresses.  Yesterday, I actually wore my black Danskos, because yes, they are super comfortable, and the boots don't look good with everything, and sure enough, I have two bites on my feet now.  Ugh!  I can't help wearing the boots though when I'm climbing the mountains of mud and rain and crossing the roads of literal rock.  I need supportive, sturdy shoes.  My boots are honestly BUILT for this area!  Anyway, super long explanation.

I sure do love you, Mama, and I miss you like crazy, but it's a happy kind of missing, because I know that the blessings you guys will get from my mission make it all worth it.  Hermana Giles has actually had a really hard time with missing her family, but every day, I think of all of these happy memories with you guys (Harry Potter world, Medieval times, the days we spent together before I left), and I'm good.  I love you so much.

I know it's hard to have faith sometimes, Mama, especially when your faith is being tested for two years, but Mama, it's all good.  Esta bien.  Everything is going to work out.  Ever since I submitted my papers, I've had this overwhelming feeling that the house would sell during my mission, but I never said anything, because I didn't want to jinx anything, but Mama, it's okay.  Heavenly Father loves our family so much, and we have been so blessed throughout our lives together, and this is just one obstacle.  It's so important to remember the happy things in our lives.  Every day, we have appointments and people who disappoint us, but I'm seriously learning to be happy despite the circumstances.  When I need a bathroom, and I find one with pee on the floor, and no toilet paper, and no soap, at first I was like, "This is gross, I just miss America," but now I'm just grateful that there's a toilet.  We just need to find the silver lining in our lives.  I have such an amazing family that writes me every week, an incredible companion, and the best area I could possible imagine, and this mission is such a blessing from Heavenly Father, even though sometimes it's really hard.  Anyway, I love you Mama, and I have faith that with Heavenly Father's help, anything is possible.

Except maybe me growing wings.  That's a little beyond my reach :-)

Anyway, there's so much that happened this past week, and I wish I could write it all, but there's just no way.  Seriously, thank you for your emails.  They recharge me every week and give me a renewed energy.  Thank you for your love and support.  And no pictures this week because of traveling to and from Quito, and we didn't have time to go home to our apartment and get all of our camera stuff, but I have so many fun pictures of the Fanesca!  Just something to look forward to I suppose :-)  Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Kennedy

Letter: April 17, 2017

Hola mi familia!  Lo siento por mi escribiendo malo, but I'm on a bus headed to Quito, because Elder Christofferson is here!!  How awesome is that?!?  I'm so excited to hear him speak, and I'm seriously hoping to get a picture with him.  I'll write about it after it actually happens!

Anyway, yesterday was Easter.  It wasn't quite the same as Celebration of the Egg, but it was fun to celebrate an Ecuadorian Easter!  People here celebrate with a type of soup called Fanesca.  It's a soup that contains an unknown number of grains.  Some people say seven, other say twelve, but all I know it that there's a lot of stuff in it.  We attended a ward activity on Saturday, and the whole ward came together to make it.  We got there at 11:00 to help peel the several different types of vegetables in quite possibly the largest pot I've ever seen.  No joke, you could have fit Hermana Giles in the pot!  It was awesome!  The Fanesca had to cook for like three hours, so while it was cooking, we got everything else ready for the Easter feast.  We also had to make arroz con leche, peel potatoes for mashed potatoes and while we couldn't participate, we got to watch everyone play soccer.  To be totally honesty, Hermana Giles and I didn't do a whole lot to help prepare the food, because in the time it takes us to peel one potato, the Ecuadorian women peel eight.  But there were parts of that Fanesca that we did help peel so it counts!  Plus, it was nice to spend some time with the members.  We don't get to know them very well aside from our mamitas, so it was cool to work with them and celebrate Easter with them!  These people are just so amazing. All of the kids help with the work without being asked and without complaining, so even if they aren't like super good friends or anything, they still work together because that's just how the culture is!

Oh man, Elder Christofferson is such a boss!  He spoke to us for an hour and a half IN SPANISH!!  I got to shake his hand, and seriously there are so many thanks that I wanted to tell him, but it was just like Comic Con!  You go up, shake his hand, then have to move on, because there are 100 more people waiting, so I just had to smile as hard as I could and try to convey how awesome I think he is in my handshake :-). But I did get to read a scripture for him in Spanish, and I was the only Gringa to do that, because #YOLO and I would have regretted it if I hadn't volunteered.  Aren't missions just the coolest?  He was here in Ecuador for leadership training, but he took the time to speak to the missionaries too!

So, more funny things about Ecuador:

The traditional clothing here is so rockin'!  The women have these gorgeous embroidered shirts.  They're usually white with flowers, and it's kind of awesome because they actually don't look very good on super skinny Gringas!  #blessed :-). The skirt actually depends on the region.  The women in the more indigenous parts (actually in the campo) wear these pleated skirts that match the flowers on their shirts.  In the lower regions, they wear a slip underneath with a wrap-around cotton skirt over top.  The shoes are called Alpargartas, and though they look flimsy, they're actually super durable.  And I have serious hair envy here, and not just of the women.  A lot of the men have longer hair than the women, and both wear their long dark hair in these perfect braids.  The traditional clothing for the men are these straight-legged white pants with black ponchos and white Alpargatas (the women's are black).  Mark would love it.

Also, everything here is so dang cheap.  I can buy a sweater made completely of alpaca wool for $19 (and that's without bartering).  All the stuff here is so dang beautiful, and when I come home, I'm leaving almost all of my stuff here and bringing two suitcases full of Ecuador home with me :-)

The people here LOVE to talk.  No joke.  You say one word, and they tell you their life story.  Ward council can take up the two hours because we have to give our progress report of investigators, but we can say their name and what help they need, and suddenly someone else will remember an activity that they need to discuss with everyone, and fifteen minutes later, Obispo will turn to us and ask who else we have.

Sometimes it is really hard being a Gringa.  We get stared at all the time, and it's not like the people are super subtle about it either.  And people are always telling me how red I am, and I'm just like, "Yeah, you would be too if YOU lived here and had my skin color."  Not out loud, of course.  Also, we have people (men especially) that will say things in English because they think we don't speak/understand Spanish.

It's cute though.  Because Ecuadorians add -ita/-ito to the end of everything.  We aren't Hermanas.  We're hermanitas.  A dog isn't a perro.  It's a perrito.  It's so fun to walk up to the house of an investigator and have the daughters call out "Hola hermanitas!"  And women always kiss each other on the cheek when saying hello or goodbye.

I seriously love this place.  I love being a missionary, and I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending me here.  Seriously, sorry for the handwriting, but I'm writing on the bus from Quito, and the buses here tilt and shake and are stick-shift, so they lurch a lot too!  I love you guys so much!

Love,

Hermana Kennedy

Hermana Kennedy and the Sisters Grimm

(These two stories must be read in a funny British accent, so sit down, pour a cuppa (herbal tea, of course), and let's get started.)

Who Needs Red Riding Hood?

Once upon a time, there was a missionary in the land of Ecuador named Hermana Kennedy.  She loved walking the streets of San Pablo, teaching the people about the Gospel.  She loved the mountains and the rain, and she did it all in her purple rain jacket. But one day, while walking along, the big bad sun came out in the sky and burned the little Hermana (very badly, I might add).  But she found that if she wore her rain jacket, she was too hot, because the big bad sun in the sky was very strong, and because Ecuador is very close to the sun.  So, she needed a solution.  She found that by buttoning the top button of her rain jacket (without actually wearing it), she could make a cape for herself which would protect her from the sun and still keep her nice and cool.  And so, she become known (mostly to herself) as Little Purple Proselyting Hood, and in this manner, she could happily proselyte among the people of Ecuador without worrying about the sun burning her (although, to this day, she's still feeling the sunburn on her back).  And she lived happily ever after.

The Pied Pipers of Pijal

Once upon a different time, two Hermanas were contacting in the town of Pijal which sits rather high in the mountains of Ecuador.  They weren't having very much success that day, and they were feeling rather downtrodden, so they decided to pray to Heavenly Father to help them keep going (and not feel too sad about the lack of interest that people had about their message of Jesus Christ).  After their prayer, a puppy (from who knows where) suddenly happened upon them, and it was very friendly.  It wanted nothing more than to be pet by the two sisters, and they were more than happy to oblige for a minute or two.  Their work needed to continue however, so they left the happy puppy and continued on.  They came upon a house where another puppy was sitting and playing in the grass.  They thought it very cute too, but they went up to the door of the house (instead of petting the puppy)

and knocked.  No one answered.  So they walked up a small hill to another house above the house with the puppy and found a black and white cat sitting there.  One Hermana who loves cats, pet the kitty and found it to be very friendly.  But they found no success at the house.  No one was interested in their message. But as they walked away from the houses, the little puppy began to follow them.  In fact, it followed them quite a ways, and the owner of the puppy yelled at them to bring her dog back.  They brought the tiny puppy back to the house, and began walking away again, only to find that the puppy, once again, followed the sisters.  So, they pet it and took a picture with it.  Then, Hermana Kennedy took a piece of bread from her bag, walked back to the house with the puppy, set it down, crumbled up the bread on the ground, then RAN AWAY AS FAST AS SHE COULD.  Though the little hermanas found little success that day, they also know that the animals were sent to comfort them, and then followed them because Heavenly Father knew that the sisters needed a little cheering up.  These sisters became known, far and wide, as the Pied Pipers of Pijal.

We now come to the conclusion of our stories, so please stop reading in a British accent, because I'm serving a mission in Ecuador, and not England :-)  Thank you for your attention.

Anyway, here's my letter to Presidente this week:

Dear Presidente Murphy,

Wow!  Being a missionary is just the best calling in the world!  I love every day that I'm here, and I love the opportunities that the Lord has given me in the three weeks that I've been in Ecuador.  This week was just full of miracles.

We have an incredible investigator.  She was a referral from Joselyn Calle (who was baptized on the 24th of March).  Her name is Sandra, and she lives in San Pablo with her three kids.  The first time we went to her house, she was super open to listening to our message, and I think it came at a time when she needed it.  She's been having trouble with money lately, and she has felt like she isn't receiving help from any source. That first lesson, she was really down and feeling sad.  Since we have started teaching her over the last two weeks, her attitude has changed, and she is a lot happier.  She loves having us teach her, and this past week, we set a baptismal date for her for the 29th of April!  Joselyn has also been a huge help, because she has been accompanying us on our lessons with Sandra, and it has made a huge difference, because she can relate her own experiences and her own testimony, all in perfect Spanish :-)

It was actually really interesting in the first lesson we had with Sandra when Joselyn accompanied us.  She was basically teaching Sandra everything, and I felt really bad about myself because I wasn't participating in the lesson at all, and I felt like I had absolutely nothing to contribute.  I couldn't understand half of what Joselyn and Sandra were saying, and I felt like a failure of a missionary.  And then I realized that through the entire lesson, I was thinking about myself.  I was so concerned with my own participation in the lesson that I missed the incredible Spirit that was present there.  Joselyn was being an incredible member missionary, and I was so wrapped up in my own feelings of uselessness that I couldn't fully appreciate the testimony builder it must have been not only for Sandra (to have her friend there testifying), but also for Joselyn to have the opportunity to be a missionary.  I have to constantly remind myself that this mission is not for me.  I know that I will learn a lot here, and grow, but in the end, this is God's work for the salvation of His children, and I am merely an instrument in His hands.  The next lesson we had with Sandra and Joselyn, I could better appreciate how amazing it was to have Joselyn there.  She can express feelings and experiences that Hermana Giles and I cannot.  Having her in our lessons is such a blessing, and it's really helping Sandra.  She's been praying, but she hasn't received an answer, and Joselyn was able to relate her own experience of not receiving an answer for a long time, but that eventually, she will receive an answer from God about the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What a blessing it is to be a missionary.  I know that this Gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ restored on the earth today.  I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and His teachings, and that we can come closer to our Heavenly Father by reading it.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and that this call to this beautiful place is a call from God.  I love being a missionary!

Hermana Kennedy

So, this past Saturday, I hit my two month mark!  Woohoo!  It's crazy to think that two months have passed since I left home, but man, I love being here.  Hermana Giles and I celebrated my second complemes with cake and a candle.  I'm two months old!

And to celebrate my two months, here are TWO funny things about my life in Ecuador:

See our heads in the reflection?

1.  Tiny buses.  No one in the world can say that they have good balance until they ride the buses of Ecuador standing up.  The buses are constantly shifting and turning so sharply that I've almost fallen over at least 20 times.  I think that I should be given a priority seat on the buses, because even though I'm not old or pregnant, my center of gravity is so much stinking HIGHER than anyone
else's, that I'm a lot more prone to fall over!  The buses are also obviously built for Ecuadorians, not 5'10" hermanas!  Standing, I can touch the top of the bus with my head, and there are always two bars at the top that people can hold onto, but while most people have their arms completely outstretched to reach them, my arms are bent at a ninety degree angle.  Imma take a picture of it this week so you all can appreciate it.  Mark and Ethan would not be able to stand upright in the buses here.

2.  Music.  Today, we went to Octaval for our P-Day, because I needed to buy an overnight bag for companion exchanges this week with the sister leaders, so we went to the Plaza de Ponchos.  But there's an empanada place in Octaval called Empanadas Argentinas (go Daddy!).  Something I have been missing a lot on my mission is my music.  I love classical music and all of my hymns and everything, but there's something about pop songs that just makes me happy.  So today, when we went into the empanada place, Sucker for Pain (from Suicide Squad) was playing, and since I know every word (including the rapping), I just about died inside.  Ugh!  It was so hard to not sing it!  Then, Don't Let Me Down started playing right after, and I just had to take a moment....  I LOVE those songs, and it was so hard to not sing, and especially to try not to listen to them.  That missionary life though....

Anyway, it's been an awesome week.  I seriously love my call to be a missionary, especially here in this gorgeous country.  I'm so blessed to be here, and I'm so blessed to have Hermana Giles as my companion.  I love you all, and thank you for your prayers, emails and other forms of support!

Hasta luego!
Hermana Kennedy

Letter: April 10, 2017

Hola mi familia!

Well, I just officially finished my first three weeks in Ecuador!  I seriously love my area!  My zone is the city of Otavalo, but my area is San Pablo.  It's actually a huge sector that encompasses half of a big lake, so Hermana Giles and I are in charge of San Pablo, Gonzales, Pijal, Espejo, and Araque.  We live in Gonzales, and we can walk to Pijal, but a bus is necessary for the other towns.

I just love Hermana Giles.  She's so patient with me, and we're a lot alike.  She understands all of my movie references and loves music.  She's super low maintenance, and we laugh together a LOT!!  It's just such a chill companionship, and we both feel liberated after our previous companionships.  She's an excellent trainer, and I never feel awkward around her, and it's just really peaceful.

I think my Spanish is going pretty well.  I still have so much darn grammar to learn, and I'm pretty sure that all of the conjugations are going to kill me.  Each day, I'm able to understand more and more, so I know that I'm learning, but I'm just so impatient.  #classicSlytherin. I just want to be the best.  I want to know Spanish, and I want to be an awesome teacher, and I hate that I'm not good at everything right away.  Also, the phone.  You can think all you want that you're good at speaking another language until you try to speak to a native on the phone, and suddenly you realize that you don't know anything at all.

The food here is cool.  We have a nice routine going.  In the morning, Hermana Giles will make French toast, and we'll cut up some fruit and spread some dulce de leche on the French toast, or we have yoghurt with granola and fruit.  We have mamitas assigned to feed us for lunch every day, and it's sometimes problematic, because they give us so much food, and we really have to eat it all.  And it's like two- or three-course meals.  We start with a soup which is usually just the meat, but in soup form, and then they give us the plates meal which usually comes with enough rice to feed China and enough potatoes to satisfy Samwise Gamgee.  And sometimes like today, we each get a whole half a fish.  I was so darn grateful that Hermana Giles got the fish head, and I got the tail. We had a nice little laugh about that, but this is such an adventure.  But I love dinner.  We usually stay in San Pablo or Gonzales for papa y pollo (chicken and fries) or empanadas, take it home, cut up a pineapple or some bananas, and picnic on the floor of our apartment while doing language study. It's just such a peaceful way to end the day.

So, some quirks of Ecuadorian living.

First, though I have not yet encountered a chamber pot style toilet, no one here puts their used toilet paper in the toilet because the pipes are too small.  So every toilet has a community plastic trash can next to it in which we deposit our used toilet paper.  Needless to say, most bathrooms smell pretty bad, that is, if there is toilet paper at all.  And I'm asking for a miracle if I expect there to be soap and a hand towel.  I now have, in my bag, toilet paper in the form of napkins, hand sanitizer, and a hand towel.  But honestly, we just hope that we don't need the bathrooms all day!

Second, the piedra.  Nothing in the world will make you appreciate your washer and dryer at home more than a piedra and a clothesline, especially in a rainy place like Ecuador.  For most people, a piedra is where you wash not only your clothes, but also your dishes.  It's a big stone table, and you just go at it with your sponge/brush and some soap.  Then, you hang your clothes up and pray that it doesn't rain.

It is amazing though how cheap everything is.  A bus ride from town to town is 30 cents, and a half a chicken and fries is $2.00. We went to the Plaza de Ponchos in Otavalo for my first P-Day, and I bought an alpaca wool scarf for $6.00, and a sweet backpack for $10.  The backpack is actually for a 72 hour kit that we keep in case of an earthquake, or a volcano eruption.  Yes, I look out the window every morning and see an active volcano....

The altitude here really is amazing.  I get out of breath from walking up a hill (though hills here are rather large).  Jump roping is actually an excellent indicator of how much I've acclimated to the altitude, because each morning, I can jump for longer without getting out of breath!  We're also averaging about 9 miles a day walking, but my pedometer doesn't take into account the mountains we walk up....and slowly die.  It's awesome!  Every time I reach the top of one of those "missionary deterrents", all I can think is how awesome it is that we just made it up that, and how strong my legs are going to be by the end of my mission.

And then there are the dogs.  We actually don't have any problems from the strays other than having to resist their puppy-dog eyes when begging for good.  Actually, we are kind of getting to know them.  There is a chow in Gonzales that I've named Harry, and an English Sheepdog names Winston.  Every time I see Harry, I think of Michel in Gilmore Girls.  But the dogs belonging to people are the ones we have to watch out for.  They will come after us if we come near, so with a lot of our investigators, we have to call from a distance so they can call off their dogs.  We've actually come pretty close once or twice to being bitten, but it turns out that there's a reason that we're told to bring an umbrella...and it isn't for the rain!  An umbrella s actually a sword in disguise :-). We use it to fend off and scare away los perritos!

I seriously love being a missionary!  It's so dang hard at times, but it's also so amazing.  It's amazing to live in this beautiful country with these humble people.  Even though they don't have a lot to give, they still give so much. It's amazing to have the opportunity to preach the Gospel and to see the beauty that it brings to people's lives.  I am seriously so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to serve a mission and for sending me here.  Every day, I kind of forget where I am, and then I see the mountains and the rain, and I'm reminded of what an awesome blessing this is from Heavenly Father.

Family, I love you guys so much.  Thanks for letting me come here and be a missionary.  Thanks for your support--financially, emotionally, and mentally.  Thanks for writing me every week, and by the time this letter reaches you, I may have gotten to talk to you on the phone!  I love you guys, and give Hootie and Chiefy some love from me.

Love, Hermana Kennedy

Hermana Kennedy and Incomido Taco

Hola Mama y mi familia!  Here's my letter to Presidente Murphy:

Buenos tardes, Presidente Murphy!

Wow, what an amazing General Conference!  It's just amazing how any questions I might have that can be answered by the prophets and apostles!  Probably one of my favorite talks was given by Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy.  This past week, I have noticed that I tend to look down when I walk, so as not to trip or step in anything on the roads of San Pablo, but I have also noticed that I miss opportunities to serve or contact that Hermana Giles sees, and it is because she looks up.  Elder Choi spoke about looking up, not only literally but also figuratively.  When we look up, we see the world, and like Hermana Giles, we see opportunities to help children of God.  But when we look up to Christ, we better see the things that He needs us to do.  Why look down and feel sad and lonely when we can look up to Christ and rejoice in His love for us and the people we teach?  I have made a goal this week to stop worrying about where I am putting my feet, and worry more about the people around me and their needs.  It is amazing the things that we can miss when we look down, and when we look up, we look toward God, and He can bless us.  I need to trust in God, and have faith that He will guide me.

On another note, we have been teaching this incredible family, La Familia Ajavi.  They are investigators from Hermana Giles' past companionship, and we have been teaching them a lot.  The mom, Gladys, believes so much in the Gospel, but isn't married and is in the process of moving, so she wants to wait to be baptized until those two things are finished.  Her children, however, have a lot of potential for baptisms.  They are incredibly smart, and they love to listen to the lessons, and they love attending church.  We are hoping to focus on them, and help them receive an answer to their prayers about the Gospel through the Book of Mormon.  They really are a golden family, and we are hoping that by seeing her children baptized, Gladys will want more to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.

Thank you for looking out for us missionaries, and thank you for leading us by example.  I love being a missionary!

Sincerely,
Hermana Kennedy

What a crazy week!

First off, Conference.  It was so dang awesome, and I was so grateful because we got to watch it in English!  Next time, I'm hoping to know enough Spanish to be able to watch it in Spanish, but hearing the talks, I know that there is no way I can do it now.  As it says above in my email to Presidente, one of my favorite talks was by Elder Choi.  I seriously couldn't believe how applicable it was to how I was feeling!  I know that there are times in our lives when we feel like our faith is waning, or we have been asked to do too much, and we feel abandoned by Heavenly Father, but in those times, we need to look up.  It's like another Seventy said, "If I can't walk, I can still run."  It is during the hardest times in our lives that we must have the most faith.  Heavenly Father wants to bless us, but if we give up, He can't.  I know that the house not selling is really stressful, and things seem to be down, but I know that it will sell.  I've had the same feeling as Brother Kendall for a long time....since before I left on my mission.  I felt like once I left, it was only a matter of time until the house sold.  It may not be until month 17.5, but I know it will sell.  I'm praying for you guys, and I know that everything is going to be okay.

Also, how cool was it, all the talks on Family History, and just family in general?  We are so blessed to know about the saving ordinances of the Gospel that we can perform for our families.  Also, how about that University of Michigan shout out?  Totally thought of you guys.

So, just in case you didn't know, I'm serving my mission in the most beautiful country ever, and there are a couple of pictures of the hills.  Yes, I have to walk up these.





Also, at a mamita's house, she basically cut a fish in half and gave half to each of us.  I was so grateful to only get the tail!

Okay, so funny story(ies).  So, like I told you guys last week, we have mamitas that are assigned to feed us each day for lunch.  While I'm incredibly grateful for their sacrifice, it's also always a little tricky because they live 45 minutes away from our sector, but the hardest part is the amount of food that they give us.  It's basically a plate piled with rice, potatoes, tomatoes and onions, and some kind of meat (usually chicken).  But it's the drink that gets me.  It's agua aromatica, and I don't know if anyone remembers when I tried to drink herbal tea a few years ago when I was sick, but I vomited after I drank it.  Not sure why flavored water makes my stomach super sick, but as it turns out, it still does.  This is a problem since that's generally what the mamitas and other people give us when we are over.  I tried to drink it once, and my stomach was a mess.  It was bad.  So, Hermana Giles, knowing my predicament, has been the biggest blessing to me.  The other day, we were at a mamita's house, and she gave us agua aromatica, and then sat there and watched us eat.  Herman Giles guzzled her agua aromatica, and then asked the mamita for a Kleenex because her nose was runny.  At first, it looked like the mamita wasn't going to leave, but then she did, and in one motion, Hermana Giles grabbed my cup, dumped the contents into hers, and guzzled it so as not to raise suspicion.  She has now done this for me three times, and she's so dang good at it!  The trade off is that I eat one or two of her potatoes.  Seriously when she does this, it's all I can do not to laugh out loud, so instead I just sit there, shaking with silent laughter because it's just so funny.  I seriously love this girl.  She's so patient and loving and such an example to me.  She's so loving too towards the people we teach, and I hope to be more like her.

So, the subject line of this email:  Some phrases in English translate really funny into Spanish.  My favorites are Incomido Taco (Acko Taco) and Santa Baca (Holy Cow!)  Hermana Giles says that something she loves about having a Gringa companion is the ability to laugh about that kind of thing. We really do laugh a lot.  Presidente has seriously spoiled me by giving her to me as a companion!

Anyway, that's only like 1/100 of what happened this week, but I love you guys so much.  Seriously, I am so blessed to have my family, and I'm so grateful that I can live with you guys forever!  This church is true, and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior.  He died for me so that I might return to God and live with my family forever, and I can't think of any greater blessing.

So dang much love,
Hermana Kennedy