Hiya family!
So, this was such an exciting week. Here's my letter to President Murphy:
Hola Presidente Murphy,
This was such an amazing week. The Ajavi kids (Lisbeth, Willian, and Lillian) were baptized! Oh my gosh, it was such an incredible day. They were all so excited for their baptism, and after the ordinance, Lisbeth got up and bore her testimony, and it was so beautiful and tender and sweet. These kids are such an example to their parents, and I'm so grateful that I was able to be a small part of their conversion process. What a blessing this sector is. The people here are so humble and willing to listen, and I'm so grateful to be staying, and I can't wait for my trainee to be here and for her to get to know these people too!
When the kids were confirmed on Sunday, it was like the crowning moment, and I was so happy to see every member of the ward raise their hand to sustain them a member of the church. Willian's blessing especially made me so happy. He was confirmed by his cousin (who is a very active member of the church), and he was told that he would be an example to his parents and his siblings, and that he would help them all find the right path in life. I can't imagine how powerful that must have been to Gladys, to see her kids making this decision. We are hoping that this will help her find the courage to talk to her esposo about marriage so that she too can be baptized.
We currently have four investigators with a baptismal date. Jonathan David is having his interview tonight, and we are hoping that everything will resolve itself, and he can be baptized this Saturday, the 17th. He's very excited, but we need to make sure that everything is in order first.
We also have a family with a date. Janice was a referral from the zone leaders in the last cambio. Her parents are dentists, and she and her family are so smart, and they pick up on everything really fast. She's pregnant right now, and her due date is the 19th, so it's pretty soon. When we first went to visit her, her mom, Ibeth, and her daughter, Emma, decided that they wanted to listen, and they've been listening ever since. Ibeth actually first met the missionaries forty years ago, but her dad didn't want anything to do with them, so she never got the chance to listen. They are so in tune with the Spirit, and their date is for the 15th of July. We are having so many problems getting them to read the Book of Mormon though. We are hoping that after she has her baby, Janice won't be quite so tired all the time, and we encouraged her and Emma to remind each other every day to just read one verse. It's really a blessing to teach them, and we are hoping that they can make the date.
I am so excited to be a trainer. I'm also a little nervous, but I suppose that's to be expected. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm so excited for all the new things I'll get to learn from my trainee, and thank you, Presidente, for allowing me to be trained by Hermana Giles. I'm hoping I can make the both of you proud.
Thank you for all of your hard work. Have a great week,
Hermana Kennedy
So, as you may have realized, we got cambios (transfers), and I'M TRAINING! Holy cow, I still can't believe it! It still hasn't hit me yet that I'm going to have responsibility for another missionary and for her way of teaching and finding and doing missionary things. It was kind of crazy, because for a few weeks now, I've been getting this feeling that I would be training after my own training, and I even heard the phone call in my head before it actually happened. In my head, it went something like this:
Elder Vela: Hi Hermanas. I have the cambios (transfers).
Me: Great Elder!
Elder: Hermana Giles is going to .... Quito! (Actually, she's going to Condado, although we will talk about that in a minute).
Me: YAY!
Elder: And Hermana Kennedy is .... TRAINING!
Me: Haha Elder, very funny.
Elder: No, I'm serious. You're training.
So, that's how it happened in my head, and then that's actually how it happened in real life too. I actually asked Elder Vela to verify it like ten times, because I seriously didn't believe him. It seems a little creepy that I had the exact conversation in my head.
But crazy thing, there's only one hermana arriving this cambio, so I am the only hermana trainer. Yep. Out of all the experienced, well-set missionaries here, President (and Heavenly Father) picked inexperienced, still very-unconfident me. What in the world? Still not sure why, because I still have so much to learn, but it's cool. She's from Argentina, and I'll pick her up in Quito on Wednesday, but until then, I'm with the Hermanas lideres de Carabuela, and tomorrow I head to Quito to sleep there, and then I get my trainee. Crazy stuff, huh?
So, funny, random thing. It was so dang sad to say goodbye to Hermana Giles this morning, and stupid me, I totally forgot to take a picture. #classic Anyway, I cried, but just a little. I'm very proud of myself. I take comfort in the fact that she still has months in the mission, so I'll definitely see her again. She is a little nervous to go to the city, because she's like me, and she doesn't love the city very much. But, two hours after she left, I was still at the bus terminal because I had to wait with the Hermana lideres, and I got a call from an unknown number. So I answer, and it's Hermana Giles! She sounds super happy and excited, and she says, "Hermana, I have a surprise for you. I'm not going to Candado, but I can't tell you the surprise, but tomorrow, I need you to bring my letter (that the zone leaders brought from Quito for her and then forgot at their apartment), and I'll see you tomorrow! Anyway, WHAT THE HECK? I'm wondering, is she coming back to this district, or will I see her tomorrow at the house I'm staying at for some reason? Anyway, I'm super excited to find out!
So, yes, the Ajavi kids were baptized this week! I love them so much, and I just cried hard core at their baptisms and confirmation. It's fine. Also, we had six investigators who showed up for church on Sunday which is so BOSS!!
Anyway, so it was a dang exciting week here in Ecuador. Wish me luck on being a trainer, because I feel horribly unqualified, and also very honored, and I'm feeling a little pressure, because I'm basically training the future generation of hermanas...at least until the next cambio :-)
I love you guys so much. I printed ten pages, double columned, 8 point font, smallest margins possible of words of love, support and information from you all this week, and I can't tell you how much I love it.
I love you guys!
Love,
Hermana Kennedy
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