Buenas tardes, Presidente Murphy!
Presidente, I just love this sector. The people here are so incredibly prepared to hear the Gospel, and they're so willing to accept it in their lives. This ward is so powerful, and being here with Hermana Giles is incredible. Every day, I learn something new from her, and I'm so grateful for the
opportunity that I have had to be her companion. She's so patient and kind, and her testimony is so powerful. She doubts herself too much, because I see what an incredible missionary she is, and I'm so grateful for all that I have learned from her.
We have four investigators with a baptismal date right now. Three are the kids of La Familia Ajavi: Lisbeth, Willian, and Lillian. Johann has been really back and forth about being baptized, and he didn't come to church this past week, but someday, maybe when he's a little older, or maybe after seeing his siblings baptized, he will know for sure if it's something he wants or not. But Lisbeth, Willian, and Lillian all passed their baptismal interviews! Presidente, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see them all so excited to be baptized. They were all a little nervous for their interviews, but they have such deep desires to be baptized, and they've been studying and listening, and they're all so excited. I know that the Gospel is going to be such an amazing influence in their lives, and I know that they are examples, not only to their siblings and parents, but also to me. It isn't easy to be a member of the Church, but with faith in Heavenly Father and love for Him, they can do anything. Their dad wants to invite his brother and his sister to the baptism, and they can't come on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, so we moved the baptism to the 6th of June.
We also have Hermano Jonathan David with his fecha for the 17th of June. Presidente, he loves the church. It's amazing to me how much he wants to learn and share the Gospel. He already knows that he wants to serve a mission as soon as possible, but honestly, he's already a missionary. He's been inviting people to our English classes, and he showed up super early to church on Sunday. He wants us to teach him from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at night, because he wants to know everything!
This sector is so special. I can't believe all of the people that we have to teach. Sometimes, it's a little overwhelming, because we want to teach every single one of them, but there just isn't enough time in the day to teach all of the people we meet. They're all so humble and so hungry for the gospel, and I can't believe that Heavenly Father sent me here, because it's just such a blessing to me to be here. I love this mission, I love these people, and I love being a missionary. Thank you for all of your hard work, and thank you for taking care of us missionaries!
Have a fantastic week!
Hermana Kennedy
Okay, so I love Ecuador. I really do. However, there are just some things that are different...like standards of hygiene, and I'm afraid that this week I discovered that I have been affected by that lack of standards. What, you might ask, has happened to me?
It's not E. coli (for which we sent meds with me).
It's not tapeworm (for which we sent more meds).
Nope.
It's LICE!
Yes, my dear friends, I had lice for the first time in my life.
I managed to escape elementary and middle school, as well as the Interlochen Lice-pocalypse of 2015 unscathed...
....but I got it here in Ecuador.
And how, you might ask?
Well, we don't know anyone with lice, but unfortunately we ride a lot of buses with cloth seats. So, our best guess is that I somehow got the unlucky seat on one of the many buses we have ridden, and there are now evil little parasites living atop my head. #bussianroulette
So, guess what we spent today doing? That's right. We went to Otavalo this morning and bought lice shampoo...the one thing that we didn't send with me in my two 70-pound suitcases.
Hermana Giles, bless her soul, spent probably three hours today combing my hair, putting mayonnaise and lice shampoo in it to get rid of the lice. She is just the best companion I could have ever been given.
And how exactly did I find out that I have lice? Yesterday, Lisbeth, Willian, and Lillian had their baptismal interviews, and Lisbeth and Lillian love doing our hair. So, while Willian was in his interview, Lisbeth started to do my hair when suddenly she picked something out and said, "Hermanita, tiene piojos!" Well, piojos aren't exactly a normal vocabulary word in my Spanish studies, so I didn't know what she was saying and neither did Hermana Giles. So Hermana Giles comes over and actually shrieked a little and told me that I have lice.
I have to admit that I actually cried a little bit. I couldn't believe that there were little bugs crawling around on my head, eating my scalp and laying eggs. And at that moment, Willian walks out of his interviews, so I was just sitting there in the hallway of church, crying very silently with three of our investigators.
Lice isn't a big deal here, because I guess it happens all the time, so to the Ecuadorians it wasn't a big deal, but to me I was freaking out. Lisbeth and Lillian then spent 45 minutes picking the bugs out of my hair and killing them. Bless those girls too. Seriously, I'm so grateful to them, because I felt a lot better afterwards even though I still knew that there were lice in my hair. Then, when we were visiting another investigator last night, Mariana Antamba, it came up that today we couldn't go to the activity today for our zone, and she asked why, so we told her that I have lice. She then proceeded to search my head for more. Anyway, I'm not sure if lice are considered parasites, even though it's a relationship that only benefits them (#sciencenerd), but if they are, then I guess I got my first parasite in Ecuador. Darn buses.
So, some funny experiences this week (in case me getting lice isn't funny enough...):
We got to pick corn in the dark with Joselyn this past Tuesday. We had just finished teaching her, and it was like 7:30, and she said she needed some help picking corn, so we went to her field close by and traipsed through the corn, and boy, I finally got to use my height for something here. There were a bunch of ears way high up that no one in this country would be able to reach, so I just reached up and picked them down. #tallgirlinecuador
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| You know, just standing around discussing the best way to kill a guinea pig. And yes, I had to stand in the back just to fit in the frame of the picture :-) |
Also, best moment of the week. Yesterday, when Willian came out of his baptismal interview, Elder Vela, our district leader, said that he was "rock solid". Boy, did that mean a lot to me. Hermana Giles and I were discussing it later, and she just said, "Girl, that was all you. I didn't do anything to help him get to this point." I know that I didn't really do anything. I was the mouthpiece for the Spirit to testify to Willian that the church is true. I'm so grateful that I've had the opportunity to help him grow in his testimony, and it was nice to receive a little credit, but really, all the credit goes to Heavenly Father. He planted those ideas in my mind, and I'm just grateful that I could hear them. It's amazing to me to see the difference in Willian since our first lesson because now, he participates in all the lessons, with or without his family, he answers questions, he loves to pray, and each Sunday, first thing he does at church is ask me if I have his Spanish Book of Mormon verses for him.
I sure do love being a missionary. It's just the most amazing calling in the world, and I can't believe that I ever thought about not going on a mission. I'm so grateful though to Heavenly Father for saving me for this time instead of telling me to come earlier. I'm so grateful that I know Hermana Giles, because she's seriously my best friend, and I'm already dreading two weeks from today when she will be going somewhere else. I wish we could stay together for the duration of our missions, maybe changing places every once in a while, because we just love being companions. We have so much fun together, and we lift each other up, and she's so patient. At first, we had to work out a few things, but we have become better. She's already decided that she's coming to my homecoming, and we are already planning all of this stuff that we want to do when we get back. Also, it's funny because her mom and you are a lot alike, from not liking Relief Society, to loving to visit as many Hard Rock Cafes as possible around the world. It's really cute, and her mom says that the reason we get along so well as companions is because we both have awesome moms! Obviously, mine is a little more awesome, but details, details :-)
I'm glad you all accepted my gratitude challenge. I wish some of our investigators were as willing as you all are :-) I was a little worried that it came off as chastising, and I promise that I didn't mean it that way. It's just something that I've noticed while being Here. It's so important to be grateful for what we have, because th people here just don't have very much. It's so sad to me to hear that all of these people want to travel, especially to the United States, but won't ever be able to because they don't have the money or the time. But we have had such amazing lives, and we are so blessed by Heavenly Father.
Family, thanks for your prayers, your letters, your encouragement, and your love. I couldn't do this without you all, so thank you. I love you all so much, and I know that Heavenly Father loves you too!
Have a wondertastic week!
Love,
Hermana Kennedy
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| Bob now has a sombrero! |
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| This is a picture of an Ecuadorian wedding. It always involves people walking through the streets, playing music and dancing. Do you think I could borrow one of those violins for just an afternoon? |
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