"When You Know Why Your Here, Tell Me"

So this week was a lot of fun, with some surprises as well. Time continues to move quickly, which is normal. IAN is now working on his papers for the mission!?!?! It is really happening!?! Wowy where has the time all gone. 

We had our interviews with President Baquerizo, and I have to tell you my experience, it was pretty awesome. So we started with me and my companion Elder Amato together in the interview to talk about how the zone was doing, and then my companion left and I had my interview with President. We talked about some stuff, how I was feeling about the new schedule and things like that, and then he asked me if I had any questions. So I asked about my returning to La Libertad 3 times in my mission, and explained to him how I started in Tintal, left to Girardot, came back to CasaBlanca, left again to Leticia, and once again back in La Libertad. He was kinda like" yeah... and?" So I asked him why and we kinda laughed a good amount while he said “I have no Idea Elder, When you figure it out, tell me." So that was a pretty funny moment. He hadn’t realized I had been here so long, or that I had come back so many times. He simply told me "I just know that the Lord needs Elder Kendall here, you will find out why." Which sounds good to me. 

We also had a multi-zone conference with Kennedy, which meant I got to see all my good friends from Leticia!!! I found out that Antonio still hasn’t been confirmed, and neither has Loreinny. So I’m really praying that happens like, now haha. We had to give a training on the Area Book, and it went pretty well. 

Other than that, super cool this week, we finally had investigators attend church! There is a super cool family called the Parra Family, and the Dad Alonzo, Daughter Angie, and the Son Nicholas all came to church and had a super good experience. Nicholas is 9 years old, but was participating a ton in Gospel Principles class. We split into groups and talked about a certain principle and shared it with the class. We asked Nicholas if he wanted to share what we had talked about, and he said yes! Then he totally nailed it and explained it perfectly, it was super cool. So, we are hoping that they keep assisting!

We need new investigators. A lot. 

I’m loving serving here in La Libertad, and in Colombia, being a missionary is simply the coolest.

Love,

 

Elder Kendall

Me with Elder Espinola, he finishes the mission TOMORROW! He is on the plane tomorrow

The zone shirt they made when I was in Letiticia... a little interesting huh? hahahaha

Lots of Learning, Lots of Work to Be Done

Hey everybody! How has the cold been? Cold? Here it is relatively cold as well, I have to get used to using a sweater once again, there is a whole lot of wind. Also, when it rains, its cold rain! Which is totally lame since when it rained in Leticia it didn’t even matter because you were wet anyways and it was hot! Oh well, it is good here too.

 

This week was interesting, it seemed like we weren`t given very much time to work in our area. Having to take care of a zone can take a lot of time and complications, but I have been learning a whole bunch.

Wednesday, we went up to the area of the Assistants because we had exchanges with them and it was a pretty good time. I went with Elder Mendoza, who was the zone leader of La Libertad that left when I got here, he is a great missionary and we had a good time. We contacted a bunch of people and the day went pretty fast. 

Then on Friday we had another exchange with Elders in our zone, and also from the same district. It was kind of interesting, and a little bit stressful, there is a lot of work to do here with the missionaries in the zone right now. We are trying to think of some ideas to get the zone going, because it is kinda falling asleep. But this week we are going to have a multi zone conference with President Baquerizo and also the Kennedy zone, and so this will hopefully help a lot. 

The weeks are still going by super-fast and lots of stuff always goes on. Today we played soccer and I scored a few goals which was pretty cool. Then we went on a long taxi trip trying to find a store for my companion who wanted to buy something in some store, and so that was an adventure. 

Anyways, that was the week pretty much. Hoping that we have a lot more time and diligence to work in our own area this week, because we need it. Opening an area is strange, since me and my companion are both learning about the whole area. 

Love you guys,

Elder Kendall

La Libertad, I'm Probably Here For a Reason

Hey everybody! This week also went by crazy fast, but it was pretty fun as well. 

So Monday I showed up to the chapel of CasaBlanca which was pretty cool, I even saw my convert Kelly in the chapel when we were waiting for the other missionaries to come! So that was awesome, one of the cool things of being back.

In the zone right now there are two of my past companions, Elder Justiniano and Elder Melendez, and they are both district leaders and so it has been pretty fun here. I’m really happy to be here in La Libertad, this place is pretty much my home in Bogota.

So this week we went around trying to get to know the area since my companion Elder Amato and I are both new here, and we had a lot of help from a wonderful brother named Jose Pineda. He has accompanied us pretty much every day and he knows pretty much everyone, so he was a life saver for us this week. There are some great investigators that we have to work with here, but I don’t have too much time to say too much but I do want to share an experience.

On Sunday we were waiting on a corner of a street waiting for Jose Pineda to come accompany us to an appointment. I was thinking for some reason about why I was in this same zone again and trying to pick out somebody in the crowd to contact. Then passed by a little family that I recognized for some reason and I thought "Where in the world did I see these people before?" Then the mom said "There are the Elders!" and I thought okay I gotta take to this lady and see how I know her. "I said hello and she stopped and said “Are you Elder Kendall?" I said yes, and then I remembered! 

Over a year ago, when I was in Tintal, one night we stopped by to teach Alexandria and Jose (Super cool Investigators) and we found their relatives in their home when we showed up. Their relatives were not very willing to talk to us and said that they were going to go, but Alexandria and Jose told them to join us for a Family Home Evening, and they decided to stay. We explained the Plan of Salvation and little by little the spirit softened their hearts and by the end of the lesson they were really excited and wanted to know more and receive the lessons! But, they lived in another area and so we passed the reference, but the missionaries never passed by and then I left Tintal. That same family is who We happened to find in the street on Sunday, after over a year. And, they live in our area! So, this week we should be able to have another lesson with them and see where it goes. The world is really small, I can’t believe we happened to be right in the right place at the right time. 

God is so good! He works in mysterious ways, who knows what will happen with this family.

That was a cool thing that happened this week.

Love,

Elder Kendall

 

My first night as a zone leader

Super cool chess set I bought in Leticia

 

 

Transfer, Really Big Transfers: Mind Blown.

Hey everyone!

Okay, so I’m pretty much just going to get into it because there are a whole lot of news and not so much time. So, transfers happened, and Elder Guerrero finished his mission and we already knew that he was leaving. What we had not expected was this to happen: I ALSO was getting transferred!! And not only was I getting transferred, but I have been transferred to La Libertad for the third time!!! I was called to be a zone leader here in La Libertad, the same zone that I started the mission in and was in about two and a half months ago. My new companion is Elder Amato who is from Bolivia, he is most likely dying this transfer or the next, and we are going to be opening the area here in La Libertad. It was honestly a huge surprise, I must have some much needed and unfinished work to do here in La Libertad! Mind Blown.

It was pretty hard to leave Leticia, I was not expecting me leaving so quickly. The time passed so fast, but I must have finished my work there. I will miss those people so much, they are the most loving people I have ever met. My heart is definitely here in La Libertad and in Leticia, Time is short, I have now learned how much you have to take advantage of it. 

But this week was wonderful in Leticia, we managed to baptize Loreinny on Saturday, and soon Antonio will get confirmed on the 26th of February. So I’m very happy with what I was able to do with them. I’m excited for the adventure that is to come as zone leader in La Libertad, and also knowing I’m going to learn A LOT. 

I love this mission, and well, I’m grateful for another opportunity to work in this part of Bogota. 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Baptism of Loreinny

Last day in Leticia

At the airport heading back to Bogota

 

Flight to Bogota and Back

Hey everybody! This year is already flying by, we are soon going to be in February... weird sauce, I was in Girardot this time last year and it was also super-hot!

Oh yeah, this is also the last week of the transfer already, Elder Guerrero will finish his mission this week and we'll see who comes to join us in our crazy corner of the Amazons!

So, this week we flew once again to the nice and cold air of Bogota for the training for missionaries all over the world. On Tuesday it was the first time in these almost three months that I have been in Leticia where we have been in an actually zone type meeting and it was weird. But it was great to talk to the other missionaries in the zone and just other people in general. One gets somewhat lonely in the Amazons. After the meeting we wrote the family, and had to wait in the lobby of the Zone leaders Apartment Complex where we were staying at to get our stuff. While we waited I talked to a cool older guy who was super nice. He even invited us for a cup of coffee sometime, which we said sure sometime if it could be hot chocolate instead. 

Wednesday we had the training, and it was really good. We got to hear insights from some Apostles and other leaders of the church on the training we received last year. They also changed some big things like some of the goals we will be making and also the schedule. President Baquerizo is going to let us know exactly how it is going to work for us here in Colombia Bogota South, and it will be interesting. 

Thursday we flew back, and our plane almost didn't get connection to the tower here in Leticia and so we almost took a little detour to Cali Colombia. But it was all good because they got contact and we landed without problem.

We talked to President Baquerizo about Antonio Casado, and he told us that if he can stay clean for 1 month more or less, he can be confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost. So we put a goal with Antonio to be confirmed on the 26th of February. Him and his family seem to be doing a little better. 

On Saturday we contacted a family that lives in our area and invited them to come to church the next day, they said they would come and we were pretty excited, but unfortunately they didn’t show up. But on Sunday we got to teach them and they seem pretty interested and so we are hoping to see some progress there with this new family. 

Our focus is new people and extending baptismal dates, we should have some good stuff this week!

I have been reading the New Testament since I have never read it before completely in my life and a lot of people here don’t listen to you if you don’t use it and so it has been really great. I love the boldness of Paul, he is never ever afraid of his testimony and shares about Jesus Christ to every person he sees. I hope I can follow that example. 

That’s pretty much it for the week, I'm still loving being here in Leticia

 Love,

 

Elder Kendall

Me in Bogota with Elder Espinola and his son!

Our adventures in the Amazons today

Finding some new people and Moving Forward

Hey everyone!

 
This week went by like lightning, but I guess that's not new because that’s how every week goes! But we had a good week with ups and also some downs but with the desires to keep moving forward.

Monday we had a super sweet family home evening with a few families. The Tamani family(who are great active members) invited us to bring as many investigators and less-actives as we could to the FHE, and so we invited a few families. The Rodriguez family, who are investigators went, along with a less-active family called the Mestanza family. We shared a short message and we watched Meet The Mormons which went super well, everyone likes that movie! It turned out great and there were lots of friendships being made. 

We have been focusing a lot on getting to meet some new people, and although a lot of the appointments we had set to talk to the new people we contacted fell, we were still able to find a couple of really good people! 

The Casado family are still in that battle with the brother Antonio, we have got some great member support this week and so it went really well, although it has not been perfect. The daughter Loreilly still only lacks that one attendance at church for her to be baptized!!! She will most likely make it to the 4th of February if she only attends!

The Rodriguez family are doing super well, they are a family of 6, and are amazing. On Saturday we had a great lesson with them where we set the marriage and baptismal date, and they accepted to be married the 3rd of March in order to be baptized the 4th! We are super pumped with them, they are a super cool family. 

That is pretty much what I have time for this week, time goes by way fast. Transfers are soon, the 5th of February is when we will get transfer call. I just love Leticia, it has been so good. 

This week we will be in Bogota until Thursday to see the World Wide Broadcast for the missionaries, I'm super pumped!

So much Love,

Elder Kendall

 

 

This is called Mojojoi... Yes you do eat it.... But I didn't....
MY companions ate it....

Always Preparing the Way

Hey everybody! 

This week went really fast! Something cool as well, next week on the 23rd of January we are going to fly to Bogota again. We have some sort of big training that will be going on. Then we get back on Thursday the 26th. 

But this week was kinda rough for teaching, we didn’t get to have a whole lot of the appointments we were hoping for. But, the great thing was that we could already fill up pretty much every day this week with work to do, so I’m sure it will go much better this week. 

Update on the Casado family: We have been working with Antonio, and he seemed pretty good. We taught the family on Wednesday about Temples and Eternal families. We went to go visit them again on Friday, but Antonio didn’t get home until late. Unfortunately he didn’t get home because his friends had invited him to drink and he went with them an drank. So we have a lot more work to do. We are really focusing on helping him not feel judged by us, the members, or his family and showing him more support and more love. We are going to do all we can to show our love for Antonio so that he is able to quit drinking. 

We have really been struggling with finding lately in these past couple weeks, but we have some great families that we have found or are working with now. We have one family called the Rodrigues Calderon Family, and they are awesome. They are a family of 6, and they are all excited about the gospel. We are just waiting and working on getting the parents married and they are pretty much ready for baptism. They showed up to church this Sunday even though it was a little late. 

Well although this week was a little rough, we have lots of good things to look forward too. Loreilly the daughter of the Casado family also is getting ready for baptism, she just needs to attend church one more time!

That was pretty much it for this week, I have seen and felt and learned a lot this week about the Love of the Savior that he has for each one of us. I have really gotten to know that He lives and He knows who I am. And I’m loving the time here in Leticia. 

Love,

Elder Kendall