Buenas tardes, Presidente Murphy,
We had a pretty great week here in Mitad del Mundo. We ended up finding a lot of new investigators which is always great, but we were also able to set baptismal dates with five people! The first is Rosa Jumbo. Her date is for the 30th of December. She already has one visit to church. Her husband is an inactive member, but she really likes church. Unfortunately, we couldn't visit her much, and she couldn't come to church because her family member was in the hospital, and after, needed to be cared for after she left the hospital, so Rosa was out of town all week taking care of her. But she was a little reluctant at first to accept a date because it is rather soon, but after a little encouragement, she is okay with it. Her husband is a serious problem sometimes though. He doesn't discourage us coming or anything. He knows the church is true, he just doesn't like the ward. But he is so hard on his wife. He is always saying right there how she doesn't understand, and she prays but not with enough feeling and basically saying that she's stupid, and as a result, she doesn't have any confidence in herself. The other week, when she came to church, in the Gospel Principles class, she would always answer the questions, but just barely loud enough hear, and after she said that she didn't know the answers, but she was always right. But because her husband is so condescending, she feels no confidence in herself.
We also have a hermana named Carolina and her two kids, Sailyn and Luis. She is an antiguo, and when we asked her this past week if she thought the church is true, she outright said that yes, she does. It all makes so much sense. Sailyn too said that she had prayed and she got an answer, and she's only 11 years old! Luis is a little more difficult because he has a shorter attention span, but we are working with him. However, they also couldn't come to church this week because Carolina had to work, so we are really, really hoping that they can make it to their goal of the 6th of January. But they are a sweet family, and we love visiting them.
And we have Carmen Pera Munoz. She's an older lady, and she has family members who are members. Her granddaughter introduced us. She and her family are from Milagro, and Carmen has attended church before and accepted missionaries, but because of changes in the missionaries, they stopped visiting her. She doesn't actually know why other missionaries stopped visiting her, but that is our best guess. Her date is for the 27th of January. Her understanding is a little slower, so we are having to teach slowly, and she wants to feel really ready, but maybe when we present her baptismal plan this week, she will feel a little less confident, and she will have a desire to be baptized a little sooner.
I love being a missionary. I can't thank you enough for letting me bring my viola back on the mission with me. I'm so grateful to share my testimony through music, and I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities you are giving me to play. I know that this is the true church and that Jesus Christ is the head. I can't believe sometimes that I'm really here, sharing the beautiful message every day. How blessed we are to be here! Thank you for your support and encouragement.
Have a wonderful week,
Hermana Kennedy
Okay, lots of stuff happened this week!
First off, our Christmas Conference! It was so fun. We had a regular zone conference for two hours, and then we did fun stuff. Each zone got to do a little performance, so on Friday, the hermana lideres and we were talking, and we thought it was kind of boring that we were just going to sing some Christmas songs and nothing more. So, we came up with the idea of doing The Twelve Days of Christmas, but adapted it to the mission (Kennedy family style). Here's what we came up with:
1 Grand Mission Quito Norte
2 awesome countries
3 Nephi 5:13
4 words in Quichua
5 cool Sectors (Costa, Campo, Sierra, Selva, and Fronterra)
6 weeks together
7 days of rice
8 hills to climb
9 months of rain
10:30 bedtime
11 dogs a chasing
12 Books of Mormon
For each thing, we had funny props and actions, like someone said four words in Quichua, or two elders holding big bags of rice, or an elder acting like a dog and chasing his companion. I think it went well, and I laughed :-)
Afterwards, we headed to the mission home, and ate delicious food, accompanied by a white elephant gift exchange. I ended up with one of those old quill holders with the little stand with an ink pot with a little rabbit next to it. Super random, but it now proudly sits on my desk.
Afterwards our zone had to practice for the Christmas Night of Music we were doing on Sunday, so we all stayed after and practiced. And that leads me to our next event: The Night of Music. It was beautiful. I was planning on playing O Holy Night while an elder sang, accompanying the hermanas on What Child is This (playing the written men's part), and soloing on the first verse of Silent Night, but it being more than that. The stake choir was supposed to learn two hymns, but they ended up only learning one, so I also soloed on I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. But Silent Night was my favorite. I played solo on the first verse, then a missionary choir sang with me on the second verse, and everyone on the third. It was beautiful. Also, Cole Murphy is a BOSS on the piano. Seriously, it was so nice to be accompanied by someone who plays at the level of Mommy :-)
Afterwards, all these people were telling me how beautiful it was, and how beautifully I played and everything, but really it was all Javi. Little did he know that when he came on the mission with me, he would end up being a missionary too :-). He may not have the sound of Charlotta, but he held his own. I couldn't thank President and Hermana Murphy enough for letting me come back with my viola. Seriously, it is like the one benefit from breaking my ankle.
Speaking of Christmas, I am allowed to call on the 24th or the 25th. Either day works, but if it's on the 25th, after 6:00 would be the best, because since Christmas is also our P-Day, we want to use it to enjoy the time to do nothing. On the 24th and 25th, we shouldn't be contacting, so I'll be in members' houses pretty much all day, so you let me know, and I'll find out if it works for them too.
And I seriously love the Advent book, Mama. I cannot even tell you how many times I've cried from the beautiful stories in there.
Also, I am counting my daily steps again. There are some days when I forget my pedometer, but I do mu best. It's actually crazy to think about my ankle. I forgot to mention it, but the Saturday after I broke it (like five days after), our ward had an activity in this park. The bus could take us to a certain point, but after that, we had to walk. That day, I ended up walking 11,274 steps, or 6.4 miles. Yeah, not really sure what I was thinking. I know the priesthood is how my ankle healed so well, because really, I don't have any problems anymore. Sitting cross-legged or crouching is a little hard because my ankle is in a funky position, but I'm hopeful that after maybe a year, it'll be a little more back to normal, but sometimes it's hard to think that I'm weak, and my ankle will never be the same.
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| We bought some great tasting pizza here today! |
I love you all lots. I sure am lucky to have family who loves me so much. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Hermana Kennedy
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| Me, opening my Christmas package. Like I said, I quickly put it away in a box :-) |
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| Puppers. I just can't HELP myself! |
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