Hola Presidente Murphy!
President, I am completely convinced that our investigators in San Pablo are the best investigators anyone could possibly ask for. They are amazing! I love it here, and I just love these people!
We currently have five people with a fecha bautismal. The first are four of the kids in La Familia Ajavi: Lisbeth, Willian, Lillian, and Johann. We originally didn't expect Johann to want to be baptized just because we didn't think he was paying much attention in the lessons, but like Dayana, he actually knows way more than we thought! I had another amazing experience with Willian this week. Last week, when we found out he wasn't reading or praying, we (with Gladys' permission) decided to split the lessons so he didn't feel pressured or uncomfortable. So, I taught Willian while Hermana Giles taught Gladys and the other kids. We worked on his praying, and he's excellent now. He's more than happy to pray whenever now which is such a miracle! But when I found out that he wasn't reading the Book of Mormon (because he didn't feel he had time), I offered to write small verses for him for each day of the week in the hopes that it would help him take a small step towards reading the Book of Mormon. In all honesty, I didn't know if it would make a difference, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. And President, I have no doubt that it was the Spirit prompting me to do that. When we visited the family this week, we split the lessons again, because Willian, Lillian, and Johann still needed to be taught The Word of Wisdom (which Hermana Giles had taught to Lisbeth and Gladys the time before). I asked Willian how his reading was going, and whether or not he liked the verses I had given him. He then pulled out a notebook in which he had written the verses, the page numbers, and the questions I had written for the verses I had given him. Oh my gosh, I almost cried. More than anything I've seen so far on my mission, that moment was the most amazing for me. Not only does he have a notebook with all of that information, but he has also marked the verses in his own Book of Mormon with the papers I gave him. President, the Spirit is so amazing. With his help, we can do anything as missionaries. I thought that maybe going through all the work of writing verses from the Book of Mormon in Spanish was going to yield very little fruit, but it turns out that it was exactly what Willian needed.
These kids are all incredible. They love coming to church, and they're so excited to be baptized. However, we did need to change their baptismal date for the 3rd of June from the 27th of May. It's hard right now for Gladys and her esposo because they're about to finish their house, and they can't attend the baptism this week. We also think the the kids need a little more time to understand how to recognize the promptings and answers of the Spirit before they're baptized, but we are so excited for them. We are so excited for them to have the Spirit in their lives to guide them and help them feel the love that Heavenly Father has for them.
We also have a baptismal date set with an investigator for the 17th of June. His name is Jonathan David, and sometimes I feel like his testimony is stronger than mine. He was a referral from the elders of Punyaron, and he recently moved to Ecuador from Colombia. He's had a hard adjustment period, but he loves the scriptures, and he attended church for all three hours two weeks ago, and the only reason he didn't attend church yesterday was because he offered to help a man in his community harvest his corn. When we told him that he could be baptized on the 10th of June if he wanted, he was so excited! He said that he wouldn't be able to sleep that night because he was so excited that he could be baptized, but he wants to keep his goal for the 17th because he doesn't feel prepared, even though he has three and half lessons, is reading the Book of Mormon every day, and loves attending church. He knows without a doubt that the church is true, and it's amazing to me to see the faith and testimony that he has. We are going to try to help him feel more prepared so that he can be baptized on the 10th.
Also, our recent convert, Sandra, is incredible. Since her baptism, she has only continued to strengthen in her faith and testimony, and she has such a hunger for the word of God in her life. She has now passed me in the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and is halfway through Mosiah. Two weeks ago, she asked Hermano Casco, our mission leader, if she could take the Principles of the Gospel book home with her and has since read forty pages of it. And all because of Joselyn and her referral. And, without us even asking, Sandra gave us a referral for her aunt, Blanca Flores with whom we have an appointment this week!
I love this work. I love being a missionary. It isn't the easiest job, but it is so worth it all to see the joy that the Gospel brings to people's lives. Thanks for all you do!
Have a marvelous week!
Hermana Kennedy
Okay, we have this other investigator. Her name is Janice, and she, her daughter, and her mom all love the lessons, and it's so nice because they're a little bit wealthier than most people around here (not sure how wealthy that is by American standards, but ya know #ecuadorlife). We actually get to sit on couches when we teach them, and they all have really nice teeth because her parents are dentists. They also have this big, goofy white cat. Most people here have scrawny, underfed, odd-looking cats, but their cat is so soft and friendly, and he fell asleep in my lap. #heaven But it's so funny because his name is Bigote which translated mean Moustache. It's the little things in life that bring me a little extra joy :-)
So, I wore pants for the first time this week. I know, Mommy, aren't you proud of me! I wore pants! Anyway, we had intercambios in Carabuela with the Hermanans Lideres, and their sector is very buggy. Like, ours isn't much better, but we figured we would try the pants thing. And it was fun! With my khakis and my long raincoat, I felt kind of like a detective. But it POURED in Ecuador on Wednesday. Like, rivers in the street. It's been raining all week and last week, but Wednesday it felt like all heaven had let loose her tears. So, we wore pants, and everything else got soaked, but I felt so bad for Hermana Giles. Even though I was with another companion, I was thinking about her all day. Because she's from Southern California, she gets cold really easily, and I was cold, so all I could think was that she must be freezing. And sure enough, she looked so sad and wet when we came back at the end of the night, but we had a good laugh about it :-)
Also, Hermana Giles has a bright yellow raincoat, and with my purple raincoat, we look pretty cool together. It's become the joke that we are Power Rangers :-) Every time we leave in the morning or in coats, we throw up our arms and say "Go! Go, Power Rangers!" and today, we decided to take some photographic evidence :-)But funniest experience of the week was in my lesson with the three kids in La Familia Ajavi: Willian, Lillian, and Johann. We definitely have to change up our teaching style for kids. At first, I tried teaching them the commandments how I would normally do, but they were bored and weren't responding, so I wrote the commandments on pieces of paper, crumpled them up and had each kid pick one. I was teaching follow the prophet, obey the law of the land, the Word of Wisdom, tithing and fasting and .... the law of chastity. So, teaching the Law of Chastity actually isn't awkward at all. It's simple, so it's usually pretty easy. And the lesson was going fine until then. I told them that you shouldn't have sexual relations outside or before marriage (just like we teach other investigators). But they all had blank looks on their faces, and they didn't understand. So, I asked, "Do you guys understand what sexual relations are?" They're 12, 10, and 8. Maybe in some places they would know, but these kids told me that they did not. So, I got to explain sex to three kids ... in Spanish. And I did the best I could. Very simple, in the vocabulary that I have, I told them that sex is when a man and a woman sleep together ... sin ropa, or translated, without clothes. The BUSTED out laughing! Oh my gosh, they thought it was so funny. And it took a good two minutes to calm them down, but at that point, I was laughing too. It was just so funny that I had to explain this to them, and that was the best way to explain it. Anyway, they got the point, but I was glad to have a good laugh about it. To be totally honest, I think they think I'm pretty funny. They laugh at a lot of the stuff I say which maybe isn't a good thing. It could be like Daddy's joke: you're funny....funny LOOKING! Anyway, I love those kids, and I'm so grateful that I'm going to get to see them baptized!
My invitation to you all as a missionary this week (thanks Ethan and Mark for teaching me the commitment pattern before I left :-)): I am inviting you all to say gratitude prayers this week. I want you to spend a few minutes each day only telling Heavenly Father all the thing in your life for which you are grateful and not asking for anything. So, will you all pray this week, only thanking Heavenly Father for the blessings He has given you? I promise that if you do, you will better be able to see the blessings in your lives, and more importantly you will better be able to shoulder the stress and anxiety you all feel. And like Alma and his people, Heavenly Father will make your burdens light. I know that this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father has a perfect knowledge of each one of you, and that HE LOVES YOU! I know that through the great atoning power of the Savior, you can each receive a lightness and happiness in your lives, because He knows your pain and your troubles. So, when you feel sad or stressed or upset, turn to Him and use the gift that God gave us when He sent His Son.
I love you guys so much, and I'm sorry that I can't be there to lighten your burdens myself, but help each other. I'm here teaching about the eternity of families because I can't wait to be with my family forever, and I want the people to have that blessing too.
I love you! Be grateful!
Hermana Kennedy
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