Hola Presidente Murphy!
This was a great week! We worked so well together as a companionship, and I just love our investigators! We currently have the same six with baptismal dates! The biggest problem that we have encountered is the investigators feeling like they need to know everything before being baptized, and so they're really worried when we set a goal for a month later. But we are trying to work with them to explain that it isn't necessary to have a perfect knowledge of the Gospel before being baptized. We are missionaries, preaching the Gospel every day, and we are far from having a perfect knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.
So, Sandra and Dayana attended church for the third time this past Sunday, and we are so excited for them to be baptized this Saturday! It's amazing, feeling the love that I have for these people, and I've only known them for a little over a month! Sandra has been encountering some serious opposition since we set her baptismal date, and we have been so worried about Sandra, but she's working so hard, and she and Dayana both really want to be baptized. They love coming to church, and having Joselyn always accompany them is so helpful! We also have Angel, and we moved his date to the 27th of May, mostly because he's been a little hard to find, but we made some progress this week, and it's such a privilege to teach him, because he loves the Gospel, and he loves coming to church!
Mayra Erazo has her date for the 10th of June, and we have another appointment with her this week, to find out her desires for being baptized, because she's been a little hard to find ever since we set her date, and we want to make sure that she doesn't feel pressured or stressed. And finally, we have Roberto and Ximena Perechimba. They're so humble, and they know that God exists, and they're so grateful to Him for all of their blessings.
We also had a serious miracle occur this week. We have two rather new investigators, Marta and Victor Garcia, in San Rafael. We had an appointment with them on Saturday, but we missed it because we were with another investigator. However, Hermana Giles called them that night to schedule another appointment and to apologize for missing our appointment that night, and she also invited them to church. We invite all of our investigators to church, but many, especially those who are new, are always hesitant to attend, and it usually takes a lot of convincing (and a lot of help from the Spirit) to get them to commit to attend church. But Marta and Victor agreed right away, and sure enough, the next day, they were waiting at the entrance to Otavalo for us to show them where to go. They are so hungry for the word of God in their lives, and it's such a blessing to teach them. #abreloscielos
I love this area. I love these people that I have the honor and privilege of teaching, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. I can't imagine teaching anyone else, because to me, these people are my friends, and it is so easy for me to see them the way that God does. I love being a missionary, and I'm so grateful to be serving in the best mission in the world. Thank you for all of your efforts, and for the example that you are to us missionaries.
Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Kennedy
I'm so dang excited for Hermana Sandra and Hermanita Dayana! Seriously, when they showed up at church on Sunday, I was so relieved! I'm so excited for this Saturday, because I know that their lives are going to be so blessed for their obedience and desires to be baptized.
So, the Green House Effect.
There aren't any addresses in my sector. The way we find people, or remember where they live is by writing down what their house looks like, and where they live in relation to other things. #thatcampolifethough Anyway, so we meet so many people who tell us that they have a case verde, or a green house. Now, there is a wide range of colors in the houses here, but I swear that the people here are color blind only to the color green! We will show up in an area, and see a couple of green houses around where the person said they lived. We will knock on the doors and find that not a single green house contains our investigator. So, we call them, and they tell us that they'll come outside and they do, and they see us, and we see them....outside of a very cream or yellow-colored house! Meanwhile, there are like four other bright lime green houses in the area. This has happened to us like five or six times now, and it's always a green house!
Also, we were riding a bus this past week (we ride a lot of buses--it wasn't like we only rode one), and older American music was playing on the bus, and "I Love Rock 'n Roll" came on, and it totally made me think of Daddy, especially in Five Guys, when his music comes on, and he starts dancing and singing, and it made me so happy :-)
Also, #mostawkwardmissionmoment.
We were visiting a recent convert this past week. He's thirteen, and his name is Jordan. He was home alone, so we had to sit outside of his house, and we were in the middle of a lesson when three people walked up. We're like, okay, and then they say, "Hello, we are missionaries from the Apostolic church. Who are you?"
So we introduce ourselves like we do with everyone, and say, "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Nice to meet you." :-)
No joke. First thing they ask: In whose name do you preach?
In the name of Jesus Christ.
That's good. In whose name do you baptize?
In the name of Jesus Christ.
That's also good. Then, one of them starts preaching to us. And this is where I felt so grateful to the church for teaching us how to introduce ourselves. These people didn't ask us anything else about ourselves, or try to get to know us. They just went right into their message and preaching to other missionaries no less. They were more focused on us than Jordan. So, we politely asked if we can finish our lesson with Jordan, and we tell them they are more than welcome to join us. So they stop and just stand there and watch us for a while, and then walk away and wait until we are finished teaching Jordan. Anyway, super awkward moment, but Hermana Giles suggested that Jordan share his testimony of the church with them after we left :-)
Also, we had mission correlation on Saturday night, at which point the mission leader tells us that the third speaker for church tomorrow can't speak, so could I speak instead? Holy cow, no pressure. It actually wasn't bad. I can speak pretty well in Spanish now, and it never hurts to talk about Christ and the Holy Ghost. The worst part was actually that I'm so tall that the microphone couldn't reach all the way, and people couldn't hear me very well. #tallgirlinecuador
Then, we also had to teach Principles of the Gospel to our new members and investigators, and we found out in the moment, but again, I'm so grateful that we teach all day, because we had a really nice lesson about faith and repentance which was so cool to teach with all of our investigators present!
So, I finally have a picture of me with some llamas for you! I was actually kind of scared of the llamas because when they're annoyed, they spit, and there were a few times that I got close enough that they started doing something with their mouths, so that was exciting!
Also, there's this place in Otavalo called Nuevo Mercado, and it's where we can get the same quality of traditional Ecuadorian clothing for way cheaper! It's still pricey, but so worth it! I don't understand though how some of these Ecuadorian women do yard work in their traditional clothing It's so precious to me! Isn't it just beautiful? I was actually super worried about the fit, but I think it looks pretty good on me! 
I want to thank everyone for the encouraging emails this week. Seriously, I ave felt such an outpouring of love from so many people this week, and I can't express how much it means to me. It really is so helpful to hear some encouragement and advice from people. Especially Sister Koide. I know what she means, and I understand. We do need to be part of the choir in order to sound the most beautiful, but it's just so hard because the people here are tone deaf, rhythm deaf, and just sing so quietly :-) Also, thank you Mama. Thank you for helping me prepare for my mission. Thanks for helping me shop, and pack, and everything. When I was sick last week, I was so thankful to have everything I needed to get better packed in my bags. I'm so grateful for you and for how loving you've always been to me. I know that I haven't always been the easiest child, but I'm so grateful to know that you love me. I really am the luckiest missionary in the world to have so many people supporting and encouraging me. I love you all, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for your love and advice. I know that Heavenly Father loves you all and keep doing the best that you can!
Love,
Hermana Kennedy
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