Monday, July 25, 2016

Walking, its what a missionary does!!!

Elder Amaya and his future family.....
Aight so this week we walked!! We walked a lot!!! But it's cool, because I can pretty much walk all day now and my legs don't hurt or get tired because, that's what missionaries do!!! I hope you guys are ready to hike when we can go to Zions again because I can walk pretty much forever now!!!

We didn't have that many lessons this week, but one of them we had Tuesday was a highlight for sure. We were visiting a Part-Member family that we have been trying to teach for a while and they haven't really been progressing. The mom and dad aren't members and the Mom really wants to get baptized but her husband doesnt want to get married.... So we have been working on the dad. But! As we were there we met a cousin to the family that's named Brian! And he is awesome!! He has known about the missionaries for about a year already, but they never were able to really focus on him. So, we presented the Questions of the Soul and the Book of Mormon to him. And, by the end of the lesson he accepted a baptism date!! It was pretty cool, he has a lot of questions about families. 

Sunday...... Nobody (investigators) came to church....... 
That was really kinda a bummer, we really need people to start attending because nobody we are teaching has gone to church yet. I have really come to appreciate the importance of attending church in my mission, and that is our main focus this week. ATTEND CHURCH!!! We should be getting some good references from some of the members this week.

That's pretty much it for the week, missionary work is tough but there's still nothin else I'd rather be doin!! Time goes fast!!!

Love,

Elder Kendall

Monday, July 18, 2016

B-Day Photos... I HAVE A CAKE!!!

Hello everybody!

The importance of going to church.... It´s really important!!!! People don't really seem to get that around here, but that is what we are working on. (With a lot of Patience and a lot of Love) We are going to be working on getting people to church.

This week we had some good stuff happen, me and my companion are getting to know each other more and learning how to teach together. The Lord has helped me a lot this week, trying to figure out where to go and who to visit. 

Monday we had an awesome lesson with an investigator called Laura Junka, and for the first time her husband was there too!! They are an awesome family!! And they are married!! It's so perfect!!! We had been teaching the sister Laura for a while and finally her husband was there for the lesson. They both accepted a baptismal date for the 13th of August. But they just need to attend church!! They didn't attend this last Sunday, and that is going to be our focus with all of our investigators.

Thursday was my birthday!!! And, in the morning we had our meeting with President Baquerizo! It was really powerful, we learned a ton about how we can work with the members, which is something we need a whole lot here. We ate pizza and stuff and it was cool that I got to talk to President. 

Friday we met a new investigator who was a reference from the Perez Family, his name is Ender. He came all the way here to Colombia from Venezuela, and is trying to get work and new life here in Bogota. He was super prepared and in the first lesson also accepted a baptismal date for the 13th of August! He told us how he knows the Book of Mormon is true because two young guys like us wouldn't leave our families and our lives in our countries to come here and preach something that isn't true. Finally somebody gets it!!! He also said how he felt that God had sent us there to talk to him at this time, he had the goal to be baptized before about seven times. I know that he came here so that he could finally find the truth which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Sunday, nobody showed up to church!! It was a little bit of a struggle bus for me to realize that no-one had come and was feeling pretty down about it. But I remembered a verse in D&C 121:7-9 that helped me out a lot. "My son peace be unto thy soul..." Was pretty much what I needed to hear.

I give my testimony that this work is true. I know it with all my heart, and soul. I love being a servant of the Lord, and I see the blessings of that service each and every day.

Love you all,

Elder Kendall









Me, my companion Elder Salazar, Elder Amaya and Elder Valeriano

Monday, July 11, 2016

Transfers, Package, and a New Companion

Hello!!

So, I don't have all that much time this week (Sorry Mom) But this week was tranfers!! Also, so my mom can be in peace...

I Got my Package!!!! Thank you so much mom you are the best ever!! And family also!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

So, this past 6 weeks went by like lighting and I have already been here for a transfer! I got the call Sunday night and the only one that was leaving was.... 
MY companion Elder Karra! I was pretty bummed to see him go, we had a ton of fun and work this transfer, I love that guy! Some great memories. And now I have a new companion! His name is Elder Salazar, he is from Peru! He is awesome, he is new in the mission with 4 months starting, we are going to learn a lot together I think.

Me and Elder Karra celebrated my birthday with the best stuff, fried chicken!!! It was really good by the way, it is going to be different having a birthday in the mission but, I feel like it will be good still. 

 Getting Investigators to attend church!!!! That is what needs to happen!!! 

These ten months as a missionary have been the best, I love every moment even when its hard. We had some big miracles this last week and I am really hoping to see the fruits of it! 

Love you all,

Elder Kendall
ohhh yeah... just realized confession time,,,  I didn't wait until my birthday to open my presents........ XD XD hahhahahah!


My birthday celebration



I got a cool new backpack

Me and Elder Karra

Monday, July 4, 2016

Happy Birthday America!!!!

WOOO! 4th of July!!! I hope everything goes all good with the fireworks!!

So this week we are somewhat starting from scratch, a lot of the people we have been visiting lost interest this week. But that just means we need to keep finding and do some more work! 

So first off today, we got to go to the temple!!!!!!!! It was a pretty powerful opportunity to go today, It made it an awesome holiday! And also, We played Football!!!!!! It was pretty fun, it was kinda hard to play with some of the Latin Elders that hadn't ever played before but we figured it out. I figured out that I'm kinda outta shape.... XD I think we might start running in the mornings.....

We were able to have a good amount of lessons with investigators this week. We have a brother in the ward that accompanies us everyday after 5:00! His name is Luis Alfonzo, and is amazing. He always has some jokes to tell, and he has memorized like 50 Psalms from the Bible. He is pretty cool. 

Tuesday night and Wednesday I did an exchange with Elder Schvanavelt in Patio Bonito. It was pretty fun, especially because I had been to Patio a few times before. It was a good day, we focused on setting baptismal dates on the investigators that didn't have one, and we were able to with one sister that has attended church once! It was a good time, Elder Schvanavelt is from Idaho, and is a really good missionary, they have been killing it this transfer in their area. 

Oh yeah speaking of transfers, they come THIS SUNDAY! This transfer has gone so fast, we are already going to see if my companion Elder Karra is going to stay or go. 

Friday we were able to find a new family! It was a sister that Elder Karra had contacted a long time ago and we went back to them and we were able to talk to her and her son! They are a good family, they are very active in another church and the sister is afraid of anything that is outside of the Bible, like a lot of the people here. We have been working with a lot of the less active families this week, and it has been a good experience.

Sunday was awesome. None of our investigators were able to go, and it was kinda sad, but three of the less actives that came to church this week were able to have an interview with the bishop and we rescued three less actives this week! Two are a couple, the Grijalba family, and they are working so that they can get the rights to get sealed together in the Temple with their daughter! One is the sister Claudia Sanchez who served a mission and is really sick, she has a lot of health problems with her legs and almost always can't walk. But they are so good people. 

This week went really fast, and I have been learning a lot here in Casa Blanca, and we got some good work to do this week.

Love, 

Elder Kendall