Hermana Kennedy, and Yes, Napoleon, the Chickens DO Have Large Talons

Hi family!  So much to write about, and of course, this keyboard has all sticky keys, so sorry about that.  Here's my letter to President:

Buenos dias, Presidente Murphy!

This week was kind of a crazy one!  We had the San Juan festival here all weekend which meant that almost nobody was home!  We spent all of Sunday contacting, from the time we left our mamitas house until we returned home at night.  At about 5:00 in the afternoon, we were both feeling pretty tired since we hadn't found anybody to teach, so I said a prayer and about twenty minutes later, we knocked on the door of a house we had contacted before.  We haven't ever found anyone there before, but a woman opened the door and let us in.  Her name is Gladys, and she's been wondering for a while whether she should start attending a church.  Her life is a little chaotic with six kids, so she was really interested in our message.  We have another appointment with her for this Wednesday, and I'm so excited, but mostly grateful to Heavenly Father for helping us find her.  What a tender mercy.

Hermana Bustos is improving really quickly.  She's an excellent teacher, and her testimony is so strong.  She always has a good attitude, and she's such an example to me of perseverance.  I'm really grateful to have her as my companion, because I think I'm learning more from her than she is from me :-)

We currently have one investigator with a baptismal date.  Janice still hasn't had her baby and wasn't able to attend church this past week because she was in the hospital, so we had to drop her date, but in our next appointment with them, we are planning on setting another one.

However, our investigator is Mariana Antamba.  She is the mom of two recent converts, and she has been listening to the missionaries since her son, Francisco, started back in 2016.  She's never come to church, and she's never accepted a baptismal date.  We have been praying a lot for her, and we put into practice what we learned in zone conference about each investigator needing their own time.  She knows that the church is true, but she's just a little scared and feels unprepared.  However, for the past few weeks, she has attended church which even the members couldn't believe, and she accepted a baptismal date for the 2nd of September.  It's a long ways away, but it's time that she needs.  I'm so grateful that she's finally feeling ready to be baptized, and I'm so excited for her.

Thank you for all of your hard work, and thank you for all the counsel and advice you give us.  I'm so grateful for you and Hermana Murphy!  I love you!  Have a wonderful week.

Hermana Kennedy

So reality check.  I really do love Hermana Bustos.  She's such an example to me, and I'm learning a lot from her everybody.  She doesn't complain at all, and she's a cutie.  It's just a little hard because she's very dependent.  Probably the best word to describe her is "innocent".  She's just not very independent which is a little hard for me, but it's good practice for being a mom someday, am I right, Mama?  But she really is learning so fast which is awesome, and we are already getting into more of a rhythm which is awesome too.  I still feel a little stress sometimes, but only because of me.  I just want to do a good job, and I want her to enjoy her training, and it is rather stressful to have to lead everything.  But in the next couple of weeks, she gets to be the leader in more of the lessons and stuff, so I'm hoping the stress levels will die down a little bit.  I've been ticking a lot which I don't think anyone but me has noticed, and my acne has been bad, but hopefully the stress will equal out, and it'll all be okay.

Hermana Bustos had a birthday, and our investigator, Mariana Antamba always wants us to come over for lunch, and she knew it was Hermana's birthday, so she made her a cake.  Isn't that so sweet? <3

So, crazy miracle this week.  We found this guy while contacting.  His name is Oswaldo, and he's very nice.  When we asked him if there was anything we could help him with, he told us that we could help him harvest his strawberries early Friday morning.  Okay, cool.  So, we showed up on Friday morning to help him.  Unfortunately, his field is in the middle of campo (fields and fields) and where there are lots of fields in Ecuador, there's lots of water which means lot of bugs.  Yes, for my service, I received about a gajillion bug bites all over my legs, and lucky me, I still have severe reactions to bug bites.  Well, I was feeling it.  It almost felt like my legs were on fire, because the itching was so bad, and of course, the one medication I forgot at home was Benadryl, so it was rough.  In my prayer at night on Saturday, I asked Heavenly Father to please help me.  I really, really am trying to get rid of all the scabs on my legs from the bugs, and I've been so good, and the last thing I wanted was more, but the itching has been so bad.  I asked Him to please let the bug bites heal quickly and that I would be able to focus on the work instead of how bad my legs felt.  Well, the next day, I didn't have any itching on my legs, and I kid you not, the welts have gone down significantly.  I can't even tell you how grateful I am.  Sometimes, there will be a mild itching, but I'm controlling myself and making myself live through it.  Heavenly Father really is the bomb dot com.

Okay, so today was probably the best Preparation day yet.  I have a really awesome district this transfer, and today, we decided as a district to head to Cayambe Nevado.  It's a National Park here, and it's basically a mountain trail, but like, for real up a mountain, and at the top, there's snow.  We had to take a truck up this super sketchy path for about an hour and once we got there, I think we were at about 4000 meters (13,000 feet).  The elder from Arizona, Elder Seaman, was freezing.  Then, we hiked this mountain, and it was the coolest thing I've ever done.  I felt like a backpacker in the Himalayas.  We were so high up, even above the clouds, with snow, and I kept expecting to see a snow leopard or something!  There were markers along the trail, and I'll be real honest, I was kind of a beast.  The air there is super thin, but I kept hiking, even when the other hermanas stopped.  I couldn't stand the fact that I kept seeing another trail marker, and I just had to reach it.  At one point, Elder Seaman stopped, but his companion, Elder Hernandez, and I wanted to keep going to the top, so we did, and it was totally worth the hike.  I felt like I was about to reach heaven.  It was the coolest thing ever.  We were in the snow, and of course, my camera died halfway up, but Elder Hernandez, bless his heart, took some pictures for me (which he will hopefully send me soon).  There is really no accurate way to describe my feelings atop that mountain.  I believe though, that my new patronus really is a mountain goat.

But then, I did possibly the most un-Johannah like thing in my life.  I'm not normally one to do risky or crazy things--I'm too risk adverse--but I wasn't ready to step carefully down the very steep mountain I had just climbed.  So, I decided to butt sled my way down to the other hermanas and Elder Seaman.  And Elder Hernandez followed suit!  I came on my mission, hoping that I could gain a little bit of bravery, because I've never been one to take risks or do stuff out of my comfort zone, but today, I realized that I might just be changing a little bit.  I feel more confident.  I don't feel scared to stand up for myself, or to make sure that things are right.  I'm not afraid to talk to strangers or to confront someone about something that isn't right.  And yes, I'm not afraid to butt sled down a very steep mountain :-). It's humbling to see qualities that I have long wanted but have never had.

I seriously love being a missionary.  Not just because of amazing experiences like today, but because of the people that I've met.  I realized the other day that if I hadn't come on my mission, I wouldn't have all of these new people in my life.  I wouldn't have Sandra and Dayana, or Lisbeth, Willian, and Lillian Ajavi.  I wouldn't have La Familia Antamba.  I wouldn't have Hermana Giles, or Hermana Bustos, or the Murphys.  A mission is for the people.  I love all of the people I've met here, and I can't believe that I almost never met them.  I know that my call to La Mission Ecuador Quito Norte is a calling from my Heavenly Father, because He knew that I needed these people in my life.  People say that missionaries are like angels, but really, the people I have met here are the angels.  They're my friends and my family, and I love them so dang much.  I know that this is where I am supposed to be.  Yes, sometimes the work is hard and long and slow, but the people make it all worth it.  And thank you for letting me be here.  It's so hard being away from all of you, but the things and people I gave up are worth it to be here with these people.  I love you guys so much, and I'm so grateful to know that families are forever, because in the scope of eternity, a year and a half really isn't such a long time.  I cannot thank you all enough for your love, support and encouragement.

Sweet Willian, Lillian, and Lisbeth <3

Hermana Giles and I with the whole Ajavi family <3

So, last story.  We had lunch with one of our mamitas this week, and usually the people start us off with soup, then hand us a plate of rice, chicken, etc.  Anyway, so our mamita, Rosa Quimbiamba, gave us a very ordinary looking soup, and it looked very normal, and then I fished out the chicken with my spoon, and I found the ENTIRE FREAKING FOOT OF A CHICKEN!  Yes, the day has finally come.  Everyone told me it would, but I hoped they were wrong.  But sitting on my spoon was a whole chicken foot, complete with skin, toes, and TOENAILS!  EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!  I have to admit, I freaked out a bit inside.  Especially about the nails.  I physically could not bring myself to put my mouth anywhere near the ends of the toes, but I did have to pick the skin off the top, and let me tell you, chicken feet are not bad tasting, but the mental game is a challenge.  I took a very bad quality creeper picture, because I didn't want them to see me taking it.  But yep.  #thatecuadorlife #imlovingit

Okay, one more funny thing.  So, on our way up the mountain this morning, we were driving, when one of the Latinas says in Spanish, "Oh my gosh, there's a ...... down there," and the driver stops the truck!  And everyone starts getting out.  So I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what is it?" because I didn't understand the word in Spanish.  We run to the side of the road and find....two deer.  Biggest let down of my life ever.  They're all oohing and aaahing and I'm like, mmmmmmmm deer jerky :-). Anyway, I guess deer are super rare around here, so I'm glad they all got to see something exciting, but I was just not quite as excited as everyone else.

Also, San Juan is this huge fiesta where people all don their traditional clothing and dance and sing in the streets, but unfortunately, there's a lot of drinking too, and I'm very grateful for the Word of Wisdom, because I just really don't understand the appeal of waking up in the middle of the day after being asleep on the sidewalk for hours.  But it was super cool to see everyone with their instruments and the men in these epic pants dancing and singing, celebrating Mother Earth :-)

Okay, for reals now.  I love you guys!  Thanks for all your advice on training and stuff.  It's a little stressful to have so much responsibility, but I know Heavenly Father doesn't give us anything we can't handle, so I've just been praying a lot, and trying to not freak myself out, and it's been a lot better.  I love you, ad Heavenly Father loves you all too!  Have a wonderful week!

Con muchisimooooooooo amor,

Hermana Kennedy

Seeing this poster might have made me cry just a little bit...

So I have this really random piece of very VERY blonde hair that I've never had before.
I seriously feel like Rogue from X-Men, or something....