Book of Mormon=Miracles Brought

I brought a Griffindor tie for p-day today

Alright so this week went so fast! I don´t know why the time likes to go so fast but it goes fast! Anyways! This week was cool.

So, I guess I´ll start things out with the coolest thing that happened this week, and it has to do with the Book of Mormon. 

When I was with Elder Karra we were teaching a family where there is only one member, the grand-daughter Sandra, and we were working with her grandma Ninfa. We have been teaching her with Elder Salazar as well, and she always told us she believed what we said but her problem was that we just use the Book of Mormon and don't respect the bible. We always invited her to read the BOM because she has never read it herself, and she always said that she would and would never keep her commitment. So, on Wednesday, we decided to read it with her!! We read 2nd Nephi 29, which talks about how the gentiles will say"A bible! A bible! We already have enough bible!" I love that chapter! 

So, we read verse by verse pausing to explain the principles of how God loves all his children and so he has commanded all of them to write his word and receive his Gospel. As we read, the spirit testified to the heart of Ninfa and she could feel that it was true. When we finished reading, we asked if she would read the book, and she told us that she really would. And then she just started to pray right there without us even saying anything. She started to pray in some sort of language that wasn't English or Spanish, so it was a little bit of a weird surprise, but the spirit was there and filled the whole room. 

Then, on Saturday, we had planned another lesson with her at 8:00 but we left our last appointment late and we couldn't make it, but I called Sandra to let her know that we weren't going to make it and she said"Elders! I have some news, some good news!" And I got really excited and asked her if Ninfa had read and she said" Yes she read, and she got an answer, and she wants to be baptized!!" So, me and my companion went kinda crazy rejoicing at the news! It truly was a miracle!

I testify that the Book of Mormon changes lives, that if we really pray humbly and with all our heart, God WILL testify to us of its truthfulness. Ninfa who before was a little hardened in the heart let the sweet peace and joy of the spirit soften it and learn the truth!

The work is true, and the blessing are real and will come. Being a missionary rules! 

So, that's pretty much the coolest thing that happened, our investigators came to church but didn't stay the 3 hours! So, we are getting some progress going.

This next week is transfers, I really hope I'm going to be staying in CasaBlanca!!

Love, 

Elder Kendall

One big old area, a whole lot of blessings

So, we are officially the walking all over the place duo, and I love it! This has been one of those weeks where you are dead tired but you feel super happy anyways! I like it when we have weeks like that!! We have already gotten to know most of the new half of the area this week, and there are a whole lot of prepared people! I've never been so busy in my mission, the days pass by like seconds!!! We have received a lot of blessings.

So, Tuesday we started the day off really good with a lesson in the morning with a new investigator Aurora Garcia. She is amazing and lives literally right behind the church, she contacted the other elders and told them how for the longest time she wanted to enter and attend the church but she was nervous about going in herself. We were able to teach her the restoration and she loved it! She accepted the invitation to be baptized the 10th of September. Awesomesauce!! 

We were able to have four lessons in all that day, thanks to a member whose named Luis Alfonzo Acosta Acosta, who is pretty much one of the best people I've met in my whole life. He is 64 years old and he accompanies us EVERY day! He is just cool like that.

Wednesday we took a good look at the new part in our area of CasaBlanca, with the help of our friend Luis, we found a nice looking family of former investigators who are somewhat interested in listening to our message again. The transition of maintaining the new area has gone better than I thought it would've gone, we have a lot of our appointments set for this week. 

Sunday was another amazing day!!! We had five people attending church again, an amazing family, the Mendieta family. The mom of the family has a family member who is a bishop in another ward near here, so before they came here to CasaBlanca they attended for about a month over there!! They are all really receptive to the message of the Gospel. However, there's a little bit more work to do with the Father. He is atheist, and doesn't believe at all in God, however he like to go to church with his family, and also to participate in our discussions, so we are  working that he can get a testimony.

There's not so much time, but also, during the week we got a text of a reference from Missionary contact that told us this, "Juan Carlos Llerena, is Catholic, apostolic, roman, and his wife is a pastor, good luck." So, we are going to go visit them this week and see how that goes XD 

I love this work and testify with all my heart that its true. I know that God lives and that he loves each and every one of us. How wonderful and great is the mercy and the Love of Our Father in Heaven!!! I testify that everything in the Gospel is here to bless our lives and to make us happy. I love being a missionary!

Love,

Elder Kendall

Emergency Transfers = Crazy Sauce

Hello!

Okay, so this was probably one of the craziest weeks I've had in the mission so far, and so I will try to capture it for you guys the best I can in this email. 

Monday and Tuesday were both pretty normal, we have been working hard to get the members to work with us and we were able to see a bunch of the fruits of those efforts! We talked with our investigator Cenaida, who has four children and a really bad sickness in her leg that she has had for nine years and doesn't let her really walk. She was always really distracted by her kids, because they don't want to join in on the lesson when we taught her, making it nearly impossible to teach her principles of the gospel. On Tuesday we finally taught her and one of her daughters, Angie. Cenaida really paid attention and her daughter as well was pretty interested. We made plans with a brother in the ward to pass by Sunday to bring Cenaida and her daughter to church, it was awesome!!!

Thursday we were presented by the Young Men's President to a less-active member and her friend who is named Angela. We were able to teach Tatiana (the less-active) and her friend in the morning, and the lesson was fantastic. Angela has known about the church for three years and really likes the spirit she feels when the missionaries come to teach, but she has pretty much given up on attending any church. We have a Family Home evening tonight with the whole family of Tatiana (husband and kids are non-members) and Angela is going to be there as well, it was awesome! Thursday night I started an exchange with Elder Siguenza in Tintal which ended Friday.

Friday, I was in Tintal!!! I love that place, a lot of good memories there. We started the exchange on a good note with Elder Siguenza leaving the keys in the apartment and us having to bring a super cool ladder and he had to climb up to the third floor and go through the window to get the keys! I love Tintal. ALSO! Do you guys remember Alexandra?? Well, we had a lesson with her!!! When I was in Tintal this was one of my favorite families and people of all time here in Colombia, and we were able to have an appointment with her!! The only problem she has that is keeping her from being baptized is that she needs to be married, and that night she told us that she already has all her papers and preparation and just get married and she is ready for baptism!!! I was so very happy to hear that, and so hopefully once they get the marriage all planned I will be able to see her baptized!! 

Then, Friday night we got calls from the zone leaders. There were emergency transfers because about 12 missionaries have finished and are going home this week. Aaaaaand, they closed Casablanca 1, and so now before there were four elders here and now its just my companion and I!! They also changed my district, and now the Sister missionaries of Roma and the Slders of Bosa are in my district! No more Tintal and Patio Bonito!!! 

Saturday Elder Valeriano left to his new area and Elder Bailon, who was my zone leader in Girardot, came to stay with us in our house until today. Also, Saturday we had a baptism!!!  So, like I said this week was crazy. We have been teaching a less-active family called the Gomez's, and they have a son that turned eight years old but was never baptized because they were waiting for the Dad, Jorge Gomez, to be able to baptize his son, Mateo. So we have been working with them and last week he finally had his interview with the bishop and set the baptism for this last Saturday the 30th. So we helped out with the service and filled up the Baptimal font, and other cool stuff. The baptism was great, it was cool to see the Father baptize his son. Everything went well and we left to go home. When we got to the house, I got a call from the Ward Mission Leader who told me that there was a small problem. It turns out that when they tried to fill out the form for his baptism, they found out that he turned nine years old that same day of his baptism!! And so, having nine years old it was now a baptism of us the missionaries and not of the ward like we had thought. So we filled out the baptismal forms and had a baptism! 

Sunday........ five investigators came to church!!!! We picked up Cenaida and found out that not only one but two of her daughters was going to come with her to church!! It was a really good feeling, we worked really hard this week and we had a great Sunday!! 

I know that God knows me personally and that he has listened to my prayers and to the prayers of my family and friends. What an amazing week!!! We have a whole lot of work to do now and I just love being a missionary!!!

I wish time would go slower! I'm heading up towards a year already and I really don't know where time goes. I love you guys and hope you have an amazing week as well!!

Love, 

Elder Kendall

Elder Bailon before he left.....

Elder Amaya packing for the United States

Our door broke... Coke really works wonders!!!!

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

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

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

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