Hello!!
Well this week was great! We had a lot
going and so many fun experiences.
We spent the 4th with members
and John and Fummi. They came to a barbecue and loved it. It's so much fun to
watch investigators connect and make friends with members. It's like a proud mom moment. They are
progressing beautifully! Later on in the week they accepted a soft commitment
to baptism!! They have been such a blessing to me and truly a tender mercy!
Just because I am in Chicago things get a little crazy here at night and
especially on holidays we have to be really really careful with what we do, so
for the remainder of the night we had to be with a member or at home. We chose
to go to a Fourth of July block party at a member’s home. It was really really fun!
And to top it off there were a lot of less active and non-members there that we
were able to meet and be with.
Wednesday we were just in the grind. We
have been trying to get in touch with quite a few members. It was our last
district meeting of the transfer which was really sad because I've grown to
love many of the great missionaries I've served around!!
Thursday after planning a bit we went on
exchanges with the YSA sisters. That's always a hoot!! I got to go to the STL
area which is always so much fun. They live right on the lake front and right
outside the city so there are so many people to talk to and so much going on
all the time. We went to dinner with one of the members that just moved in. She
just started her residency she's doing her rounds at some of the coolest
hospitals here. I was so jealous haha. It’s so fun to be in the city because
there is always someone around you that you can share the gospel and the
"good news" with. It’s fun to watch people’s faces as they learn what
it is we do as missionaries and what it is that we believe. I would say for the
majority of the time individuals agree with the things we teach or they like
the idea that is presented…family relationships that penetrate and last
beyond this mortal life, the fact that simple truths taught by Christ have been
lost and changed by man and that there is a need for a restoration.
These things start the gears going in their heads and you can see it on their
faces. They'll nod their head and even share their thoughts on the matter, but
there is no desire that pushes them to continue to learn and their desires
for other things greatly outweigh their desire to seek spiritual truths. It's
really sad to me.
Yesterday was a lot of fun I started off
the day with a giving a talk on the Atonement. I was asked to give it a t
8 o'clock the night before. I'm getting really good at speaking last minute.
It's fun for me because in a way, it shows me how much the Gospel is a part of
me and that I know what scripture references I can use for this or that and seeing
my individual testimony on one subject or another. The Atonement is always a
really fun topic but yet always challenging for me because it's hard for me to
put words to my thoughts and feelings for the Savior and the role that he plays
in my life, in the church, and in the whole plan. I'm always humbled by the
opportunity to speak of him. To make it
even better, Fummi came to church!! This is exciting because they have a
very wishy washy job right now and they are taking any work they can get which
for the last week has been two 14 hr shifts on Saturday and Sunday so they have
yet been able to come to church. Fummi
was able to get work off this week to come!! We had a great day! After church
the members came gathering around Fummi and just loved on her it was a proud
moment!! She was laughing and she was so happy!! I'm so glad!
Shortly after church we went to a
Mongolian party. It was their national day and there was a ton of people!!
By a ton, I mean 4 thousand people haha... I don't know if I have told you this
but we are now over the Mongolian group.
A group is a step down from a branch. It's been such a great opportunity.
I'm learning so much. So just a little
background, there are so many great Mongolian Saints that have been leaders,
missionaries and great Saints that have had great faith, but as they have left
Mongolia to come to America, they don't understand the language and they start
to fall away from the Gospel because they can no longer understand. It makes it very difficult for them. Heavenly
Father is aware of all his children and he has allowed us to create a group of
which Mongolian Saints can gather together and hear the Gospel be taught in
their native tongue. It's been remarkable!! We are reaching out to so many who
have fallen away and have given them an opportunity to come back, to love the Gospel
again, and build that relationship with the Savior once again!! Hence going
to the Mongolian national holiday with some of our members to meet less active,
in-actives and their friends was very important. Fun fact… the first child
baptized in Mongolia is the group leader. He was also the second stake
president in Mongolia and the first Mongolian missionary to leave his country,
crazy right!! That’s what I mean by great saints!! We meet so many people
and we're super excited to continue working with them.
We had dinner with President and Sister
Bingham. I love them!! Then we had a lesson with Jimmy and Chloe. Jimmy has
been busy studying for the GRE, I think it is.
It has been very stressful for them.
On top of that, they are in the middle of buying a house and
moving. They have been very busy and we
haven't had a lesson with them for a bit. They still come to church but
they haven't had a whole lot of time lately, so we welcomed the chance to sit
down with them again and have a lesson. They are remarkable in their thoughts
and feelings towards the church. They have come so far!!
Man well this week flew by. Today is the
last day of the transfer and I'll be staying in my area with Sister Pruitt. I'm supper excited! There is so much happening here! I'm excited for the coming weeks.
I thought I'd share with you a quote
that I've come to love and a quote that I has got me to the point that I'm at
today:
"The greatest decision I ever made
in my life was to give up something I dearly love to the God I love even more.
He has never forgotten me for it.”
Think about that for a moment, if you
would.... profound isn't it! It's so true though. This I've come to
know:
HE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU FOR THE
SACRIFICES YOU MAKE!!
He has done far more with my life in
this past 16 months than I could have done in a lifetime. Giving up my time, my
life, to serve God in this great work could be the greatest thing I've ever
done and God has truly blessed me for it!! What things will you give up for
the God you love?
Love ya
Keep smilin
Sister Kendrick
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