I'm Bad at Describing This Week But...

Don't know what I was doing... don't ask questions XD

 

 

Hello!

So, this week was really crazy. There was a lot of funny stuff, and it was kind of a harder week, but I will try to somewhat describe how it was. 

So here in Ibague, this last week, and the week that we are in right now until Sunday, are the biggest parties of the whole year. Everyone eats tamales and Lechona, goes in these party busses called Chivas, does parades, fares, and drinks and basically just parties it all up. So that made things interesting, and this week I think that it will continue. 

I am learning a whole bunch of how to be a better person and a more patient missionary with my son Elder Cuba, we had some hard times this week finding, and working together, but by the end of the week we have gotten things figured out better. And I think we are both just getting used to being with a new missionary, it has been good. 

We did a lot of stuff as a zone this week, some service and some cooking soup, which was a good time. It has been fun being with Elder Palma as my zone leader. 

We were able to find some new people finally on Sunday, a family. The dad is named Nelson, and the mom is named Angelica, and they are pretty cool! Nelson has a ton of questions about the Book Of Mormon, and so it is going to be fun to teach him.

So I didn’t do a good job of describing the craziness, but it was an interesting week still. We should be able to help some more people this week, and I’m looking forward to it. 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Where we went for P-day, a little town here just outside of Ibague called Juntas, it is really pretty!!

We went with the second counselor of the branch and his wife, his name is Camilo Barrios

 

Delicious.... I really did eat this :) It is a fish called Mojarra Roja, they fry it and then you eat with rice and salad.  IT WAS REAL GOOD!!!

Finding the Chosen

Hey everybody! So, my brother is now going to go to Nashville, Tennessee as a missionary and is going to speak SPANISH! So yeah, I guess you can say I'm pretty darn pumped. 

 

This week was a really interesting learning experience, and I think it will just keep on coming. I had thought that before in the mission the Lord was trying to make me learn patience and that I had already learned the lesson... But I'm coming to see that I apparently still haven't learned all that God wants me to learn. But it is a good thing! We have been contacting a whole bunch of people, and we weren't able to teach as many of the people that we contacted as we wanted, but we do have a few people that should be promising. 

Saturday we had an experience with looking for addresses. While we were looking for some old investigators, and we didn't find them but we did find another lady! She said that she had got to church a ton about 15 years ago but for some reason she didn't go back. We have a visit with her on Wednesday!

We are going to keep looking, because I have faith that there is someone waiting for us out there. The people here are pretty closed to religion, but I am sure that God has someone for us. 

That's all I got time for, I love it!

Love,

Elder Kendall

WE DID A HIKE!!

 

"Ping Pong" without a table... or a net :) ha!

 

PHOTOS OF MY SON!!!!!

HI MOM!! Sister Baquerizo gave us permission to write again today because my son hasn't been able to write his family untill today and so she said that I could write too!!!

My son is Elder Cuba, and he is from Lima, Peru!! He is a pretty cool guy. And once again I realize that I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!!! hahahahahhaha it has been the weirdest two days of my mission XD. Elder Cuba is from a family of seven brothers and sisters, but nobody but him is a member in his family except for a few cousins. He is 25 years old. He was telling me today that he pretty much just loves talking about the gospel to every single person and that before the mission he wished that he could do it all day and now he can. He is a convert of about two years.

I feel like really inadequate hahahahahahahahahahha Patience..... patience is a funny thing. Do you realize how long it has been since I have been with a somewhat new missionary that was new to everything? Like over a year ago!!!! hahahaha it is so weirdsauce man. 

 

And guess what!! My new zone leader is Elder Palma!!!!!!! I FLIPPIN LOVE THAT GUY!!

 

Elder Cuba!

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise Baptism, and Transfers... I'm Going to be a Dad!!

 

Me being happy after not having batteries in my camera to take pictures for like two months
(NO I AM NOT POOPING!!! XD)

                                

 

Alrighty, how is everyone doing over there?? My mom told me that my Brothers Ian, Colton, and my sister Janica are going skydiving this week.... Everyone is going crazy over there or something!

 

Anyways, this week was pretty cool, we pretty much had a miracle occur with a baptism this week. There was an investigator in our are named Yadi Silva, and she had been listening to the missionaries and attending church since January. So she had a lot of what she needed to be baptized, but she had some things that she had to change that were really hard for her. We were teaching her and she was doing good, and she seemed to us that if she just made those changes that she could be baptized. So, this last Monday we went through the baptismal interview questions with her to see if there was anything she lacked before baptism. 

We went through the questions, and she didn't have a problem with any of them. She told us how she had been praying a lot that God would help her out with her work (because she lives alone and has to work) and help her change those things, and that God had answered her prayers and had given her everything that she had asked Him for. So she told us that if God loved her so much, the least she could do was leave her past behind and give as much back as she could of her life to God. She told us that she had made those changes that she needed and that she wanted to get baptized the 10th! So she had her interview and boom, she was ready for baptism! It was a really cool thing to see, I know that God can change the hearts of people because He did it with Yadi, and she was baptized! Super cool! 

Also, there were transfers this week! And Elder Marques left, and I am going to be a Dad!!! That’s right, tomorrow I will get to know who will be my son, and most likely my last companion in the mission! I am super pumped!! We pretty much have nothing to go on in the area right now, we desperately need new people to teach, and so I am so very excited to get to talk to EVERYONE with my son and to get some work done! I can't wait to see what I can learn with a brand new missionary, I have a feeling that it is going to be an experience that I won’t forget. 

So yeah, I am pumped for this week and to see the things that we can do in Campiña!

Love,

 

Elder Kendall

 

P.S. HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

PPS - GUESS WHAT!!!! Since I was with the zone leaders here, I called Elder Thompson!!! (I flippin love the heck out of that guy) and I asked about the Vargas Family!  AND GUESS WHAT!!!!  THEY ALL GOT BAPTIZED!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I LOVE THAT!!! And I guess they are bringing a bunch of people to church and just being amazing and I just love them. So cool.

 

The Elders from the other area in Campina and us as well

Surprise!  We had a baptism this Saturday

Baptism time!  It was basically a miracle

We baptized Yadi Silva, she has changed a lot and is pretty cool!!

Just Keep Swimming...

So this week was pretty cool, we had some good stuff happen with some of the members that are in our area. It also was kind of challenging because we were not able to find very many new people to teach, and we couldn’t get anyone to attend church either and other things that happened in the week. And so to my mind came the little part in "Finding Nemo" when Dory sings "Just keep swimming" and I thought, yeah Elder Kendall, you just gotta keep swimming! 

So that is what we were trying to do, and it was a pretty good week still. On Thursday we had a family home evening with family of members who invited an investigator, and this investigator invited 3 less-active members to come, and some other people showed up and we ended up with about 10 people in the family home evening. So that was pretty fun, we shared a fun message and the members made some empanadas. 

I was also on an exchange this week with an Elder in the other area here in Campiña, Elder Hess. He is a cool guy, from Davis, Utah, and so we had some fun times talking about the mission and all the fun stuff that we have seen. He has about 6 and a half months in the mission, so he has lots of energy. 

This is the last week of the transfer, and so we will see what happens with us here in Campiña! One of the zone leaders, Elder Momberger who is from Utah, finishes the mission this week. It is crazy because when I started the mission in Tintal, he was in my district and my first exchange ever in my mission was with him in Patio Bonito! Time goes by fast!

I'm excited for the time that I have left to serve the Lord and I hope that I can do what He desires of me!

Love,

Elder Kendall