Hermana Kennedy and the Flight of the Bumblebeads

Hi family!  Here's my letter to President (sorry thats it gonna be another hashtag emailcuzbadspacebar):

Buenas tardes, Presidente Murphy,

It was great to see you this week.  Thank you for your advice in my interview.  I think I've been struggling with a lot of self-doubt lately, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.  I guess I've just been feeling like I'm not doing enough, and I know that we can always improve. I also need to remember that I can't be perfect, and that's okay, but I should give a perfect effort.  Thank you for your advice.

So we changed the baptismal date for José because they changed their marriage date.  He and Diana are getting married on Friday because her sister is getting time off work to come and be there with them.  The ward is also asking at what time so that they can go too.  So his interview will be Saturday, and he will be baptized on the 30th. We started teaching him about tithing this week, and he seems a little unsure, so this week we are going to focus on him gaining a testimony of obedience and understanding the doctrine behind it.  He knows that the church is true and he prays each time to Heavenly Father to help him be baptized (and to later help his family be sealed in the temple), so we know that he has desires, but he is also not about following blindly.  We are going to make sure he understands and that he feels comfortable with everything.

Miton is still set to be baptized on the 7th of July.  Every time we visit him, he tells us all of his goals for the future including being baptized, receiving the priesthood, serving a mission, and being sealed in the temple :-)  It's amazing to see how much he understands.  Sometimes we use scriptures that after reading them, we think that they're maybe too intense for a child, but then we ask what he understood and he understood what we read perfectly.  I truly believe the his Spirit is ready for this Gospel, and he has a sincerity about him that will help him a lot in the future.  The only worry we have with him is his mom.  We said this past week that he is getting baptized in about three weeks, and his mom burst in saying that he isn't getting baptized until July 7th, but I think it's snuck up on her that June is almost gone.  Anyway, this week we are going to make sure that she knows that his interview is in two weeks, and his baptism is in three weeks, because we don't want any surprises.

And Adrian is set for the 14th of July.  We changed up how we are teaching him with a lot of verification in the lessons, and it's going much better.  We verify his understanding of every principle, and if he didn't understand, we go back and teach it a different way.  It takes a little more time, but it's helping and that's what matters, that he understands.  His mom is also doing a lot better, and she is so diligent and faithful in involving her kids in the Gospel.  I love their family, and even though I'm helping baptize a lot of kids here in Otavalo, I'm grateful to meet these families and see how the Gospel helps them as a whole.

We love working with Barrio Latino.  They are giving us a lot of referrals, and we have plans to set three more baptismal dates with their referrals this week.  They are really trying to work hard with us, and we have a mission leader again for which we are very grateful.

I love Otavalo.  I really am so grateful for being able to come back here to finish my mission.  It's like it all came full circle.  Thank you for all the opportunities you have given me and are still giving me.  Thank you for your example and diligence.

Have a great week,
Hermana Kennedy

Me with some dope street art.

Okay, so cool thing.  Adrian's mom, Dolores, makes Dream Catchers (I think I've mentioned this in a past email).  It's super cool because when we are over, we help her sometimes, so little by little, I'm also learning how to do it.  I know how to wrap the outer circle, how to make the star in the middle, and how to add the feathers at the end.  It's just a few middle parts that I'm missing, but I've got seven more weeks to learn :-)  I actually want to do an hermana's activity next transfer with her teaching us all how to do it.  Anyway, like a week and a half ago, after teaching Adrian (because we always teach him, and then help her), she brings out this huge bag containing beads from a couple of big containers that she knocked over.  They were now all mixed together.  She asked if we could help her sort them a little.  Well, we barely made any progress, but I offered to take them home and work on sorting them in my free time in the morning and at night.  Honestly, you know how monotonous tasks help me with my Tourette's, and since my symptoms have been off the charts with the stress lately, I was really more than happy to help her!  And she was thrilled when I said yes!  Well, there were four main colors mixed together, along with a couple of other stray colors--black, brown, light blue and purple.  Let me tell you, those beads consumed my every spare moment.  Seriously there must have been two thousand of them, and they're so small, so I became super focused separating them.  But I also loved it because it was something I did that gave me control (#BeingAMissionaryIsntAlwaysEasy).  Anyway, I finished Saturday night, and I thought I was done with them.  However, after finishing triumphantly on Saturday, I went to bed only to then DREAM about those darn beads!  I was like NOOOOOOO!!!!  I gave them all to her Sunday at church only to then have another dream Sunday night.  Oh my goodness, I was so glad to see those beads go...only to have them come back.  AHHHHH!!!!!  But it's okay--I was so glad to help her, and I love that I'm learning a new skill.

A wall of cats. You could say it's a caterwaul ;-)

Also, Happy Father's Day again yesterday, Daddy.  I love you a lot.

It's starting to turn into summer here.  The rain has sadly stopped, and the season of wind and dust has begun meaning that I'm going to be walking around half blind all the time.  And San Juan starts this Sunday!  That's that holiday I told you about last year where people go out and dance in the streets.  Everyone is getting ready, and the ward loves making jokes about inviting me to come and play my viola with them while they walk since we can't join in the dancing ;-)

Me with the other hermana lideres (sister missionary leaders)

I had a lovely P-day today, running all of our errands early this morning, printing out my emails, stopping to buy Argentinian empanadas and heading home.  I changed into pants and a shirt, I sat in bed reading and eating.  Also, I totally ate more than to the middle of a $4 box of Froot Loops I bought today.  Man, do I miss cereal.  It was so good.  Like, amazingly good.  But man is American cereal expensive here, and it's limited to Froot Loops, Trix and Frosted Flakes.  I don't think things like Cracklin' Oat Bran or Grape Nuts will ever catch on here, but that's okay.  God Bless America.

Me with Hermana Willis and Hermana Millburn, two hermanas from my group.

Speaking of which, I'm getting really excited for the 4th of July.  I have lots of plans to celebrate our beautiful country.  I love America, and this past week, I started randomly singing the National Anthem, and it made me a little teary-eyed because seeing the contrast between there and here and thinking of all the rights and liberties we enjoy in the States just makes me love our country more.  I always think of the Air Force base in Germany--how when they would play the anthem at 5 p.m., everything and everyone would stop, and people would get out of their cars.  I just love America.

Okay family.  I love you a lot.  Like, more than you all know.  Thank you for writing me and loving me and supporting me.  I sure am lucky.  And a special thanks to you, Mama, and Glo.  So many missionaries don't get any emails from their family, but I know that come heck or high water, there will be an email from you and another form Glo each week, and those are the two I look for first each week.

Also, those pics of Baby eating her bagel are adorable.  All the pics you send me of her just solidify the fact in my mind that she is, in fact, a Kennedy <3

Also, I get to see Hermana Giles tomorrow, and I'm so excited!
Love,

Hermana Kennedy