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.
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
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