Picking Up The Green Beans

Hello everyone!! 

Ok it's that time again so here are transfer updates.  I will be staying in North Shore 2nd Ward and Sister Hansen will be going to back to Morgan Park where she came from.  As for my new companion…. drum roll please.....  I will be training once again. Whoot! Whoot! This will probably be the last one so I'm super excited this will be number four haha :)  Even crazier than that, starting this Tuesday I will be the oldest English sister in the mission, oldest meaning being out the longest.  It's so weird to think that I'm on the home stretch. 

Ok enough of that I don't have a ton of time today because I’m going down to get the new sisters from the airport with the APs and show them around the city, and give then thier first opportunity to contact as a missionary.  It's always an adventure. 

This week was pretty usual.  Not a whole lot of stories. So I'll share a few updates

Jimmy and Chloe: doing great as always. They have been looking for a house so that's been taking up a lot of time. Jimmy parents are coming in a few weeks from China so they can meet Chloe and hopefully give their approval so they will get married. This weekend their offer got accepted so hopefully we can get back to our regular schedule. 

Rory: is fervently reading the Book of Mormon he has some trouble believing in Joseph Smith and he took the line if the  Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith has to be a Prophet of God to heart. Which is Awesome!! 

Tyler (the guy that walked into the church wanting to get baptized right then): Well he got baptized this weekend and it was awesome!!  There were about 30 RMs that came. They all work summer sales and that is how Tyler got interested, working with these kids. He really had no chance!  30 missionaries right out of the field against 1 Tyler haha it was great!! #membermissionarywork  It was really fun to be a part of and the spirit was so strong!!  At the end he shared his thoughts and feelings and it brought an overwhelming spirit!   It was awesome!

Sunny: we talked with her late last night at presidents home and she has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday!!   Here is a little bit of what she said and the translation

We finally got her in touch with a member that lives in China and the closest church to her is 7 hours away.  That's after the fact that she goes to Hong Kong to get baptized.  So there is still a very long road ahead but it's been an amazing journey to be on and to help her!!   We're going to figure it out one way or another!! 

Everyone else is pretty much at the same place not a whole lot, like I said :) 

Well I'm excited to embark on the adventure ahead of me! Goodbye May, Hello June!! Firefly season is right around the corner.  I'm so excited!!  

Ok that's all for today folks. Thanks for everything!! 

Love ya 

Keep smilin 

Sister Kendrick 

Adventures and Sue

Well… shout out to Brodee for graduating today!! How I wish I could be there :( Who thought this day would ever come. It's funny before I left on my mission we were talking about time and how right about the time I come home Brodee would be graduating. That seemed like a lifetime away, and here we are. It seems like I'm always chasing time! At the time I was excited to miss out on the graduation that seems to last hours and hours but how I really wish I could be there today!! You done good Brod!  I'm proud of ya!! #longlive

This week was full of adventures!  Starting off with exchanges with the one and only Sister Tanner!! Man we had quite the exchange! It's always an adventure. We were able go to the high school to teach their world religion class for two days this week.  It was a blast. It was really fun!  To put it into perspective for you, there are only 4 kids that attend that school that are members and they are all from the same family, so these kids knew next to nothing about the gospel.  They had all heard all the crazy stereotypes. It still dumb founds me some of the things that people believe about our religion.  We shared The Restoration with them and answered all their questions. There was one or two that got me tripped up but other than that it wasn't too bad. 

 Remember Tyler that walked into the church two weeks back that we passed off to the YSA sisters? Ya while we're on exchanges I got to go and teach him with Sister Tanner and set up his baptism for this weekend so that's exciting!! Stranger things have happened! He's having all of his friends (recently returned missionaries) come and do the whole program so it'll be really neat to attend! Chalking that one up to member missionary work!

I got a call this week from Sue ( a recent convert from Indiana ) and she was so excited to tell me that she would be going to the temple this week to finally be sealed to her husband!! It was such a tender call. The temple and the sealing was the one thing that sealed the deal when she was learning about the gospel. She had been waiting for this day for quite some time.  After getting the call we made arrangements to attend this wonderful event. I called the temple to see what time here session would be so that we could attend (Sue only knew the time she was to be there) I was so excited. When we were just about to go into the session I mentioned to the temple worker my excitement to be there for this sweet friend of mine for her first time. She looked at me puzzled and said oh no I think we have a mix up. Long story short, the temple had told us the wrong time and Sue’s session was half way over. I was so upset but we made the most of it. I remember from the Ogden temple that if you were to do any ordinance that afterwards you could go to the celestial room, so I grabbed some initiatory names and we were able to go and surprise Sue.  When she came in, we were there waiting for her. It worked out great!  She came in and then many emotions were felt!  She couldn't hold back any longer and the tears started to flow. She was moments from her long awaited goal. She was able to be sealed to Russ. Although he had already passed on, she said she could feel his presence there. It was a really neat experience.  I’m so grateful to have been there with her. She wished that the sisters she loves could have been there too ( Sister G, Sister Grant , Sole )  She wanted me to share with you all her appreciation for helping her to learn of this gospel and for helping her get prepared for that day :) 

So, as I mentioned  last week, our investigator Rory got into some anti and that we would be having a lesson with him to discuss some of his questions and what not. Well the day that we had set he cancelled. We tried calling him throughout the week to set up another lesson and nothing, no response. So I thought that we had for sure lost him. I was super sad because as much as we would like to act like anti isn't a thing and that it doesn't persuade individuals, it does! Well, our week went on and then Thursday night rolled around and we got a call from Rory asking if we would come over the next night. We agreed and that was it.  The call was short and abrupt. It had me worried, that's for sure. Well I studied my little heart out and I was ready. As we arrived at his house I have to admit I was nervous but we had brought some stellar back up, a very very knowledgeable member.  As we started the lesson, we asked if we could pray and then the first two questions out of the cannon were hard! The member and I were sharing reasons and answers and bearing powerful testimony of all that we believe and this went on for about 40 minutes then he thanked us for answering his questions and being so patient with him as he strived to learn and understand. He explained, “Early this week I had decided that I was done learning and that I would just take the knowledge I had and move on and I was fine with that up until the night before last.  I was sleeping and I had a dream of which I learned that I needed to give you a chance to explain and answer my questions and that I was to continue to search this religion out and that I was to call the missionaries and I was to learn. So I don't know what this is about, but I'm going to continue to learn. So thank you for coming tonight and sharing your testimonies, and I will continue reading the Book of Mormon and seeking an answer.  In the meantime, I'm going to continue to learn so would you come back and teach me."   That took me for a loop to say the least and I'm excited to help him continue to learn and to grow. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways.  I'll tell you what, the Spirit was strong in that lesson for sure, I was eating it up!! 

Well there's a little look into my week. It's the last week of the transfer so I'm excited to see what will happen! I hope that I'll be able to stay here! There is so much happening right now! I just want to be able to continue to work here in North Shore.  But come what may and Love it, I guess. 

Well enjoy the last few days of school!! Love ya all

Keep smilin 

Sister Kendrick 

Happy Mother's Day

Hey y'all thanks for coming yesterday! It made me so happy to see you smiling faces!! I think I said this yesterday, but I was literally so excited to see everyone I woke up ever hour Saturday night ;)  It was so good!! Although I miss you all, I'm so happy about being out here. I've learned so much and I'm so excited to come home and to share with you all!!  

I practically told you everything I did this past week over Skype so there's not much to share over this email other than we did lots of service . We are just plugging along with 2 weeks left in the transfer. It's crazy! Time flies!!  I'm not sure if I'll stay or if I'll go but either way I'm going to make the most of these few days I have in this promise land of an area!  Love you all!  Hope you have a great week and once again Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women in my life, especially to my mother that has always been there, from the start!! I wish I could just come home for a day and give you a great big huge and talk for hours!! Words can't express the blessing it has been to be your daughter!  Heavenly Father has truly blessed me!! 

Thank you all again! Words can't express how happy I am!

Well, I love you all!  I hope you have a great week!

Keep on Keepin on and Keep smilin 

Something is in the Water

 Hey so it's been a different week to say the least... 

*We got a media referral this week for a man named Rory. We have taught him 2 times in the past 4 days and we are meeting with him again tonight. He has been a Born Again Christian for about 40 years and then he got diagnosed with a tumor near his spine that could potentially paralyze him or kill him.  He had a really hard time with that diagnosis. He thought it wasn't fair and that God was punishing him so he has been blaming God for the past few months and that's been solving nothing but he is still really hurt. We had this big long conversation why bad things happen to good people and why we need to turn to God and not away from Him. It's in moments like this, we need to have faith more than ever. As we were talking, I shared Kennedy’s story and it brought him hope and peace. The next time we had a lesson with him, he shared a quote out of Our Search For Happiness and he loved it. He was able to get passed his hard feelings and listen to the message of hope we have to share. He has been reading the Book of Mormon so we’ll see where this goes but I'm excited!! 

*Jimmy and Chloe are trying to buy a house right now so they have been really busy and Jimmy has had finals so that's not been fun.

*Sister Hansen has also been sick this week, so that left me with some time on my hands.  I got some good studies in, which was great.  Even though we study for 2 hrs a day, I don't ever feel like it's enough.  Most of the time it is not for ourselves, it's always for the lessons we are teaching and our investigators.

 *Sunny is doing well.   She's planning on traveling to Hong Kong to meet with the missionaries and get baptized but there's some preparations that still need to be made 

We went on exchanges this week and I was able to spend some time with Sister Tanner.  Man alive did we have a crazy day, one to remember. Let's just say we shouldn't be allowed to be within 100 miles of each other because whenever time we're together, something crazy happens haha. We had a great lesson with a guy named Gabe about the tree of life, always a fun chunk of scripture to teach.  Sister Tanner keeps telling me I need to be a seminary teacher, and every time she does I laugh so hard I cry!! But we had a good time!! Love her!! 

Oh here's a good story for you.  There is something definitely in the water and I love it!! 

So yesterday we had got a phone call and a text from the 1st and 2nd counselor of the bishopric so I looked at the text first and it said “sisters we need you to come to the church as soon as possible there is a man here that wants to get baptized no joke".  I called them and they told me the same thing, not many details. We live about 20 minutes from the church. We grabbed our stuff and ran over.  We got there and we met Tyler.  He was dressed up white shirt and tie, and some work shoes haha;) 

Ok pause for a second and let me tell you want I was thinking. I was positive that the elders were messing with me. They have been giving me a hard time about people just walking into the church wanting to learn more ever since Jimmy and Chloe walked in. I think they feel jipped. If it wasn't them teasing us, I thought this guy was going to be crazy, and if it wasn't that then for sure he had to be a fluke guy that just wanted to get baptized at the first church he saw and it just so happened to be ours. Ok not one thought that was good!   I know!! Where was my faith?  I am a terrible missionary. 

Ok so back to the story: 

Me:”Hi Tyler I'm Sister Kendrick. How are you doing today? What brought you to the church? "  

Tyler: “Well I came to be baptized into the church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that is” ( ok elders, good one) " I've been learning about the church and I want to join" 

Me: "Ok well let's sit down and you can tell us what you know and how you got introduced to the church" 

He went on about how he had a friend that hired a man and "there was something different about him".  He couldn’t put his finger on it. Well about a week or so went by and he somehow he came to the conclusion that it had to be his religion. He didn't say that they had a conversation about it or anything like that so I'm not sure how he learned that he was Mormon.  Regardless, he somehow must of, and he took it upon himself to start studying this religion because he wanted to change his life and it looked like this guy had it together.  So this all started about a month ago.  Since then he has been studying the about the church. 

Me: “Wow Tyler!  That's so cool.  What all have you learned and what all have you studied?”

Tyler: “Well I know about the word of wisdom and I love it!! I have been clean from all of that since the day I read about it.  It just makes so much sense. I know that there is a prophet named Monson and there's 12 men under him what are they called again?" 

Sister Hansen: “Apostles." 

Tyler: "That's it and under them is the seventy, so I got the organization down I could keep going if you want me to. haha. I also know that today is Fast Sunday and that's why I'm here. I've picked this day out and I'm actually fasting for my baptism. I thought that might be a good thing to fast for.  I'm not even hungry and I feel great!  So I was so excited to get baptized today" 

Ok now I knew for sure that I was being pranked! What person fasts for their baptism before they have met with missionaries? 

Me: “Wow Tyler that’s great! You've learned a lot about the church, but before we get too far, I have to explain something to you.  I don’t want you to get your hopes up. You won't be able to get baptized just yet. We have to have a few lessons with you to make sure this is what you really want and also so you know what you’re getting yourself into. Baptism is a big commitment and we want to make sure you’re ready. It sounds like you've done your homework but we still have to share a few lessons with you, starting with the restoration of the gospel.... 

I got half way through the very first part of the lesson and he stopped me and said 

Tyler: “I know all of this. I know you don't believe me but I do" 

Ok reality check! Maybe this guy is being real right now. Maybe he really wants to join the church. 

Me:  I closed the pamphlet "ok Tyler let tell you something. It's pretty rare this happens and so we just want to make sure you understand, but it sounds like you got it all. One last question I have for you. Have you heard about the Book of Mormon before? 

Tyler: He pulls open his phone “yes I know what that is.   I have the gospel library app and I've been reading it I'm almost done with Neffy ( Nephi as we would say it)  and I read that I should pray about it and I have  and I know that the book is true. My prayer was answered. 

You can only imagine my expression. Then it accrued to me that I have no idea where he lives. When I asked him my heart dropped.  He lives outside of my area. He is a  YSA…  Sister Tanner!!   I told him the bad news that we wouldn't be able to teach him but that I was going to call the missionaries that would and have the come and meet him.  I called Sister Tanner and I told her that she needed to come to my church ASAP and come meet her new golden investigator. She to thought I was joking but after awhile she realized I was completely serious!!   When she got there, we all went to sacrament meeting. As soon as fast and testimony meeting started, he leaned over and asked if it would it be ok if he went up there and shared his thoughts.  A little nervous, I said sure.  He went up and shared just that and told the ward he was excited to be baptized and came back down.  Long story short, the sisters are going to teach him. It will be Sister Tanner’s first Baptism! Whoot! Whoot! Well deserved. He was super upset that he couldn't be baptized yesterday and even more upset that he has to wait 2 more weeks but he said it's worth waiting for haha!!  So crazy things happen, I should just start planning on it especially up here there's something in the water!!!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Kendrick

Payday in China

Well here's to another great week!! I can't believe it's already May!! That's crazy talk!!  Well I'm going to keep it short and sweet.

I'll start off with Jimmy and Chloe. This week, it really clicked for Jimmy… what this is all about, the spiritual aspect of it. I asked them if they have seen changes in their life since they have been investigating the church. Jimmy spoke right up which is unusual for him.  He kind of likes to take everything in and listen. He didn't hesitate to share with us that he has felt an overwhelming peace in his life. He's going through a lot in school right now and with working, it’s been very crazy and stressful. But he's been able to find peace through it all.  He also shared that he feels such great love for those around him.  It was interesting. Chloe agreed with him. They are finally getting everything!! They believe in God and in Jesus Christ.  They have a strong belief in them now. Jimmy said that fact that They understand what we are going through has made a world of a difference. Chloe was cracking me up because she didn't understand why this wasn't taught in school in China. She said how she wishes she would have known this her whole life, but more important she wishes that her family and friends knew about it. They have been praying every day and searching out the Gospel for themselves finding answers to questions.  They've been praying for those in their family and praying for the truth. Now it's time to lay the good stuff down. We're going to be going over the commitments this week, should be interesting. We’re going to put their faith to the test, ready or not here we come!! I'm excited to see how they react to their willingness to follow the Savior's and His commandments. 

As I mentioned last week we were able to do a huge temple tour for the Kalamazoo Stake in Michigan. They came down to the temple. I've never seen the temple so packed it was wonderful. There were probably around 170 members there and we were able to give a tour to 40 of them. We gave a tour to all walks of life, including two pastors, two investigators, three less actives and there were just members that were able to enter into the temple and do a session. Some of the youth even came to do work!   It was a wonderful day to be at the temple!! Super neat experience, I honestly can't get enough of the temple and the spirit that's there! What a great day!! 

We are teaching this little girl named Salma. She's probably one of my favorite people here.  She's so knowledgeable about the gospel. She blows me away with what she knows!!  It super fun because I can have deep lessons with her and she eats it up!! We finished up the plan of salvation and the question she had, man oh man. It was fun seeing her trying to work them out in her mind. She said at the end, this makes so much sense!  Why doesn't everyone join this church!! Now we just need to hope and pray that her dad will let her be baptized, but if not we will keep on keeping on and she'll be ready for the day that she can be:) 

President Bingham’s son got married this week so we spent some time helping Sister Bingham set up the lunch in and decorating the church and then the next day we helped prepare the food for them. It ended up being a great day for them. I cannot imagine trying to plan a wedding and serve a mission at the same time, but it all worked out!!

Last night we were waiting to get in touch with Sunny.  We have been messaging her over what they call WiChat and last night was one of those payday moments. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying with her family and every day she has some questions about all the pamphlets. We were going over them with her and we had to call in the translator. I took a quick video so you guys could someone being tough in Chinese. Super awesome! The problem is in China, she can't be taught there by someone so we are just working until we can figure out how to get her to Hong Kong to be baptized.  She can attend the branch but she can't be taught by any of the members.  She can ask a question and they can answer it but that's about it. We're getting around their stupid rules.  She's going to learn the gospel one way or another. Something that was really cool she told our translator was that she's been studying about Joseph Smith and when she heard his story and read his testimony she felt an undeniable feeling and she knew it was true and she knows that he was a prophet of God.  She said she can't stop praying, she loves the feeling and the strength and happiness that it brings to her day! I was eating it up!!  What a great end to the week!!

Well I love you all!   Hope you enjoy your week! 

Keep smiling! 

Sister Kendrick