No Group Letter

Baylee emailed and said she was too busy to write a group email, but luckily I got her companion's letter.  Thank you Sister Pruitt!!

This week was good.  A lot of up and downs, but overall was good!  We have two new investigators!  We didn't even find them, they found us!  Their names are Funmi and John.  They are both from Nigeria.  Funmi has two daughters that still live in Nigeria and they joined the church not too long ago.  They have been telling their mom to find the missionaries so she can join too.  She was super against it, but is all about it now!  When we first met her, she wouldn't even touch the Book of Mormon.  I guess in her native language, the word Mormon means devil worship....YIKES!!  But after we started teaching her the Restoration and then one of my friends in the ward, Sarah shared her families' conversion story, she took the book and agreed to read it!  She is already 15 chapters in!!  So, John is her roommate and he is awesome too.  They are both here trying to establish themselves so they can bring their kids over here.  It's a hard situation. Definitely makes me feel grateful for all that I have been blessed with.  Another obstacle is church attendance.  They want to come to church but their job is all day on Sundays and work is hard to find, especially in their situation.  Please keep them in your prayers!  We are really hoping to figure something out!  We are teaching this other lady named Ebelle.  She is pregnant and doesn't have any family here.  It's so sad.  She says that she's just been relying on God because He truly is the only one she has.  She's awesome!  There's still a few more peeps that we are trying to have lesssons with but with their busy schedules, it's hard to find time.  So, I'm hoping and praying that we can all meet some of the others!  We went out to eat like nobody's business this week!  The members spoil us here!  I sure do love them!  Sister Kendrick and I went downtown today and it was so fun!  Chitown is the bomb!  

 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!! 

Well not much to write for this week. We had a lot of appointments cancel and fall through so nothing really exciting to write about as far as teaching goes. It left time for a lot of finding though, so that was really fun and we had some funny contacts, as always!!

Here is a rundown

Monday we went to go to a bible referral that was sent to us because they were not quite sure what city it was in.  Long story short, we ended up downtown at searching for this place for a good 40 minutes. Now it was 8:45 and we still were not able to find this apt. We were on the corner of a blue and red light and Sister Pruitt was a little nervous, to say the least. It was probably a good thing because it kept me on my toes.  I am so used to some of the crazy things here that it doesn't scare me, which isn't good at all!  I didn't want to leave because we had come all that way but it was sketch. We found the apt… finally!  Some random lady let us into the building because we were "Jesus girls and and we ain't fixin to harm no one" we got up to his floor in this creepy creepy 1900’s elevator.  I thought to myself this is definitely the night I'm going to die. This is how I'm going to die!  We got to his door and music was blaring. After all the searching, no one would come to the door when they were oblivious home!  I knocked a good 6 times before Sister Pruitt said, “he's not coming let's go”.  The worst!! I wasn’t about to get on the elevator again so we found the stairs and wouldn't you know it that the stairs were being painted that day and they were drying so we were forced to take the elevator. I was bound and determined to give out the Book of Mormon and Bible to someone because we came all that way. There was an elderly Hispanic man that we had briefly spoken to on the way up to the man’s apartment so when we came back down he asked, “would you girls like a drink of water”? We didn't take the water but I took it as a great opportunity to teach him more of what we had briefly spoken of before! He was a super sweet man who had met with missionaries in Mexico and he loved the great people in the church and the teachings. After talking for a bit we asked if he would like to have missionaries come back and teach him again. He wasn't interested but he asked for the Book of Mormon because he misplaced the one he had.  So, it ended up being all good. We got out of there quick and ran to the car but all is well!! 

Tuesday there was a youth activity at the Ruiz shop. I'm not sure if I've told you much about this family but they are exactly like dad and it makes me so happy when I talk to them or are even around them. Anyway, they do a lot with cars and hot rods and they have this sweet brand new super charged hub cat.  This is all beside the point. There is a youth that we have been trying to work with for so so so long. His mom is a recent convert and he is a great kid. He's really into cars and working with anything that runs, so we created this whole mutual night for him in hope that he would come and enjoy it and we would be able to get the youth to fellowship him.  I was nervous that the whole night would never happen. We had been asking the YW and YM to put it on for so long now. More than that, I was worried that he might not even show up. Never fear though, he did show up and he loved it!! We talked for a long time afterwards about all sorts of things and I showed him some of dad’s toys that I have pictures of and he got so hyped! Immediate friends!! Connections made, so hopefully we can start teaching him! Besides all of that, I got to be in a shop which the smells and sounds just bring me home.  So all and all, it was a great night!  A win win for sure. 

Wednesday we moved district meeting to early in the morning for a lesson that ended up falling through, which was ok. It allowed us to do some online training for Sister Pruitt. That night we went to the soup kitchen, which I love!! There is never a dull moment! It's the best 2 hours of my day. There was a new helper there that was from Switzerland. She is so sweet. When I was telling her who I was and what I do, she gave me that face like yikes!! So I asked her what she knew about Mormons and she tried to brush it off so I didn't want to push it.  Later that night, she came back to me and she said your way too nice to be a Mormon. Everything I know about your religion says you shouldn't be this nice or happy!  We had a good long talk after that it was beautiful!! She was so relieved to find out I wasn't a devil worshiper or a sister wife. I love being a representative of the church so I can help to set things straight and that I can be an example of which I hope Christ is pleased with.

Thursday we had interview in the morning and then we stayed at president’s house for quite some time planning. Always a good time! He made us some quesadillas. It was quite the party!  That night I almost died laughing! So… we helped this old lady with her garden last week and we didn't finish so we asked if we could come back and finish. Right before we left, she called us over and told us she had a special treat for us. She wanted to show us one of her favorite things. We waited while she ran in. She brought out this stuffed cat and I'm not talking like the stuffed animals you give a little kid I mean that she brought out a cat that used to be her pet that had died!! I couldn't take it I had to walk away it was so funny and gross. She took a crazy cat lady to a whole new level then she told Sister Pruitt she had two more haha not right on so many levels haha:) 

The rest of the week just seems like a blur I'm not really sure what happened haha:) 

Sunday we went to the retirement home again and we had a very nice service. I loved Father’s Day. It reminds me how grateful I am for my own father and for the knowledge of a Heavenly Father!  Words just don't do it justice for the feelings I have!! It's truly what pushes me on everyday knowing that there is someone out there that doesn't know they are a Child of God. They don't know that he loves them, someone that doesn't have this gospel and the light and love in their life. I'm so grateful!  I love this gospel with all my heart and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to share it with others each and every day! I couldn’t have asked for a better 15 months!! It's been such a blast! So fulfilling and so life changing! I'm so grateful!!

Love you all! 

Keep smilin 

Sister Kendrick 

Home Alone House

Blessed with the Best

Well this week has been a lot a lot a lot of finding. Where there is a lot of finding, there are always some good stories!

Monday: We were just minding our own business at the Mission office when a member came in with his coworkers and asked Sister Erickson, the front desk sister if there were any missionaries nearby that could share a message with his co-worker.  They were just on their lunch break and he asked if he would like to stop in and hear a message about Christ, then can pick up some lunch on the way back!! It was really neat! This kid, his co worker, Charles had so much respect for this member and he knew how much his religion meant to him, he was he was happy to listen. Wow the spirit that the member brought in, as he testified was amazing. He told Charles after our message, “you will come to know for yourself the truthfulness of this church and of the Book of Mormon and then you must choose to either accept it and live in harmony with it or you can choose to deny it, but you will know if you read it and pray about it.  YOU WILL KNOW”. He proceeded to tell his conversion story, He joined the church in Germany when the church was very young there and he told of all he had to give up, all he changed, and how blessed he had been because of it, the pure happiness that comes from the gospel. It was really fun to be a part of!  I love when lessons fall into my lap and I have an opportunity to Share my Testimony! Later that night, we went and did service for an elderly women that we met while we were tracking earlier the week before!! She was so sweet and she just needed someone to talk with her.  We offered to help her plant flowers and she took us up on that one. We plan to go back this week. I’ll send some pictures of her.

Tuesday: was really a slow day we talked to all sorts of people but slow. Nothing really stood out.

 Wednesday: We were running around with heads chopped off!  From district meeting to lunch with a sweet member to studies and then service at a soup kitchen and MCM. Service was by far my favorite part.  It always is. I love making people smile and service is the best way, by far, to put that smile on someone's face. This is our second time going to this soup kitchen and the other volunteers are now opening up a bit more, asking all sorts of questions. They can’t believe that we choose to do this with our lives and they are so impressed with us haha. These are good Christian people they all belong to the church where we do service, but they are in constant awe. They watch us very closely to see how we react and how we respond to different situations. For example, because it is at a church and the organization is Called Feed my Sheep they always start with a prayer. About halfway through the night, a volunteer came up and asked why we fold our arms during the prayer and what the meaning behind it was. Is that the only way we pray... Do you say recited prayers... and the questions kept coming it was really cool that they noticed little things like that!!

Thursday: as we were headed back to our car from knocking with not a whole lot of success, a lady was reading a book on her front porch. We kinda just gave a sort Hello and I asked if she was enjoying her book. She said yes and I thought that would be the end of it.  She did not seem too interested in talking but I was wrong, as always. She started asking all sorts of questions. We had a good long conversation, she said she had to get going and said “how about you girls leave me with that pamphlet you are teaching me from and give me one for my daughter and you come back next week to teach us more.”  That doesn't happen all that often!!  We ran from there to a temple tour with Salma's Family and  and her older brother!!  I'm not sure what I have said about him but he's a really cool guy and really Catholic which is great but we have some intense conversations about the gospel.  It's been a hoot for me. So I was super stoked to give him a temple tour. It was all going great.  We planned the tour more geared to Salma but that didn't last long.  It got deep pretty fast, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted Bart (Salma's brother) to have all his questions answered and I wanted to back them up with scripture, but it was way over Salma’s head and that was the real reason we were there, so I just kept saying a little prayer for guidance and help. The lesson was pretty much over and I could tell that Salma was lost. I was feeling sad that I missed a great opportunity to help her grow and to create a spiritual experience for her. At the end of the tour, they are able to go and sit and ponder what has been talked about and just to feel the spirit. Well we sent them all to do that and about 4 minutes in, a temple worker started to talk to Salmas mom and dad and Bart so it gave us a perfect opportunity to take Salma to the waiting room by the baptistery and we had a little heart to heart!! I shared with her my love for the temple and how I gained a testimony of it at a young age just like her.  It was super tender and for a split moment in saw Salma in white and with that image came tears. She smiled and said I'm so excited to go to the temple when I turn 18.  I'm so excited!!! I love this girl so much!!!

Friday: we were at the library doing some studies and as we were leaving this wonderful African women stopped us and asked us all about our ministry. She just moved here and has been seeking for a church and she went on and on about how she loved what we were doing and she wished that she had our same calling. Super sweet woman!  She got our number and asked if she could contact us!! The next text stated, “hello Jesus children! Could we meet up?” haha love it. That was a first! 

Saturday:  We started off the day with a killer workout!! Let's just say I couldn’t move on Sunday!! Then we did some service with some of our members… love it!! I love getting my hands dirty!! We did quite a bit of lawn work and had a nice lunch!! After that it was a tough day for me!  It was a long hot day!!  I thought I was going to lay down and die!!  It was so sticky hot and I was not having it!  We made it through, thankfully.

Sunday was even hotter than Saturday!! As we were finding we knocked on a door and the women let us right in.  She was so happy to see us, which is very unusual.  I thought maybe she was a less active member of some sort. But no, come to find out she had talked with the missionaries on the train but she had to get off before anyone could get her info and she had always wanted to learn more so she pulled us up a seat and we had a great restoration lesson.  She kept saying, this makes so much sense!! (with the enthusiasm that only black people have) It was a great lesson!! She picked up on things so quickly and made so many connections!! It was a great lesson!! We're going back this week to see her. Fingers crossed that she read and is even more interested in the next lesson! She has the cutest boy also!! Love it!!

Well as it going to be Father's Day this week.  I just want to thank all the fatherly figures in my life. But most of all for my dad!! I love him so much and I'm so grateful I was blessed enough to be one of his daughters! Words cannot express the feeling of gratitude I have for my dad and the hard work he puts in on my behalf and for my family. Anyone who knows him, knows what an amazing person he is!! So grateful I've been blessed with the best!! I love you dad and I miss you so much!! I can't wait to give you a great big old hug here in a few weeks thank you for setting such a great example for me and loving me enough to expect great things and for helping me grow into the person I am today!! Love Pete!!


Well thanks for all you guys do in my behalf I hope you have a great week!
Keep smilin
Sister Kendrick

Knockin On Doors

So this week was wonderful!! I got my new greenie Sister Pruitt!! She’s from Arizona, love her!! She came trained, for sure! She's awesome!! We are rebuilding our area right now.  We did so much finding but we had some pretty cool experiences and other than that not a whole lot happened this week. Here are a few of the contacts we had... sorry there's not more! 

1.       We went to the temple so I could show Sister Pruitt how to do tours and while we were there, the workers were planting flowers. We started to talk to them. Come to find out one of the workers wasn't a member. We talked to him and asked if he wanted to learn more. He said "sure come back tomorrow I'll still be planting flowers!" So we came back the next day and taught him the restoration! He's super solid and is learning more with the Elders where he lives.

2.       We met his girl from Camaroon, Africa. Super sweet had a dope life. She literally does so much service and is head of organizations. Teaching kids and helping them become great people. She came to America to do more good, so we invited her to do service with us! She's amazing. 

3.       We knocked in to quite a few Jews. I love leaning about others beliefs. This week my go to question to them was "can you tell me about your prayers" really interesting…. loved it. 

Well sorry not a whole lot of interesting stories for this week, but I love ya all. 

Well I love ya hope you have a great week 

Keep smilin 

Sister Kendrick