Raise the Roof

Hey transfer updates..  Sister Sufia will be going to North Shore and I will be training again!! I'm so sad but it is what it is!  I love Sister Sufia and I'm so sad to see her go!! 

This week was kind a crazy we had to take some STLs responsibility and try to take care of our Hebron sisters. So on Tuesday thru Saturday, we were in a trio with them. 

So, let me tell you about Tuesday. We had to help one of our members, she was really struggling, so we spent some time taking care of her and making sure that she was able to cope with the death of a love one and making sure she wouldn’t do anything stupid. At the same time, we were trying to coordinate and fix and split the Hebron sisters so that they could be productive and work. One of the companions, Sister C is going home.  Sister C was one of my past companions. I'm sad to see her go but I hope she still continues with all that she has learned and that she strives to push herself to achieve more.  She is an awesome girl and I love her so much I just wish her the best. There was a lot on our plate that day. In an effort to get the Hebron sisters where they needed to be, that night we had to take them up to Chicago Heights (1hr 15mins) and come back down, and then Hebron is 40 minutes away from us, so you can get an idea of how long this took:) haha road trip !!! We ended up getting home really late. Good thing we didn't turn into pumpkins!!  Just when we thought we were done with the craziness, one of our recent converts text us and she said that she was having a really rough day. All and all Tuesday was a crazy day.  When it rains, it pours!! 

Wednesday Sister Sufia had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. We are trying to get everything worked out so she can feel better. They did a scope of her nose and her adenoids were the sizes of two LARGE GRAPES... ahahaha they gave her some medication and they hope that it will help to shrink it. 

We also had district meeting and it was really good. We went over how to teach the restoration so simply, so that it will be easier for investigators and members to understand.  

Later that night we had a lesson with Sue. She's preparing to go to the temple and we are helping her with the temple prep classes. This lesson in specific went deeper into the plan of salvation. Then we went to try to figure out the logistics of Skype so that we can start using it for our lessons. We figured out all sorts of cool things and we're excited to use it. Before you know we will be having four way Skype lessons with members and investigators. It's gonna be so cool!! The mission is really embracing the technology and the information given to us from the First Presidency. We are taking missionary work to a whole new level. 

Thursday we were able to go and help at the Salvation Army!! They do a thing call the Angel Tree. Families that are in need are able to be give Christmas presents for the little ones. We as missionaries became elves in Santa’s workshop! There were presents out the wazoo. It was so much fun to serve and to give. It’s always so rewarding when we are able to serve our Heavenly Fathers children. "17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." 

Saturday was the highlight of the week!! We were on point with the #LightTheWorld. We didn't intend on what happen to happen but we're so glad that it did. Our plan was to go and visit Sister Vickers and sing Christmas carols with her and help her to have that Christmas spirit. So, about 30mins into doing this I went outside to check on something and she heard some music playing.  Ok rewind for just a moment… When we walked into the nursing home we noticed that they were having a little get together.  When we got to Sister Vickers room we asked if she would like to attend the Christmas party… she was completely against it. After I heard the music I came running back to the room.  I insisted that she come out. With the sense of urgency and excitement we helped Sister Vickers to get down to the party. This is where the Light the World comes in. We took helping others to walk to a whole new level. We got Sister Vickers to start dancing. It was the best thing in the world. Then our toes started to pop to the beat and we just couldn’t contain any longer. We started a train with a bunch of old people around the room in a big line. I've never danced in a line so slow (everyone had their walkers and cane).  You know you’re on a mission when your Saturday night out on the town consists of a dance party with a bunch of 90 year olds. It’s the most excitement you get all week!  But for real though Sister Vickers was getting it on! She only lasted 15mins until she had to sit in her walker. But that didn't stop her.  She had her hands clapping and her hips swaying from side to side. We were asked to come back and do volunteer hours anytime. #lighttheworld #raisetheroof #foundaNewClub. 

Later that night we had a great lesson with Bev. She has so many good questions. We got really deep in the plan of salvation and we were able to help her understand some questions she has had for a long time, and how to help her brother to understand. Beth is doing amazing. She's seriously the sweetest person that you will ever meet. It's crazy to see that Light that has started to glow within her. I feel like she's a completely different girl from the first time I met her. She's still the same happy, sassy, girl, but you can see that she's figuring out the Light of Christ and what her purpose is. She’s definitely helping me grow. 

Sunday didn't end up being a normal Sunday at all! We woke up early to go to Ward Council.  Half way there we received a txt message that church had been canceled. We have received a snow storm and the news called for everyone to stay in. Everyone but the Missionaries that is. We grabbed our snow shovels and went to work. There are very few individuals that we knew that needed help in this winter wonderland!!! Wasn't typical Sunday but you can be sure that we felt the spirit and shared Christ’s love. 

Hey I wanted to share Sister Sufia's testimony. I'm am truly grateful for her. " I know the World is being Light because of all of our testimony and all of our Smiles. Keep shining and keep the Faith. "  

I love you all! Have a great week! Keep smilin 

Love Sister Kendrick 

Sister Parke is going home 

Thank you to the Ercanbracks for the package!!  So sweet of them!

Let it snow!

This week was a great one. It was super fun today because Sister Sufia  got to build her first snowman and go ice skating for the first time !!! It was so cute to watch her experience the joys of winter. Oh ya did I tell you?  It snowed so winter is finally here.  

Here are some experiences I’ve had this past week. 

Monday through Tuesday we were on exchanges with our sisters and I went down to Hebron with Sister Davis and sister C. It was a lot of fun!! I love getting to help these sisters ad watching them through their journey on their mission.

Wednesday we did planning. 

Thursday we volunteer at the Salvation Army and we served there, and then went to the church to help out with our ward party decorations. 

That night we went to one of our friend’s house that we've met throughout our service here in Portage.  She is 82 years old and she is the sweetest Christian women I've ever meet. We were teaching her here and there little bits as we helped her bake cookies for her program on Saturday.  

We also got to Skype Karla it was so good to talk to her.  She is such a sweet girl!! I truly love her I have missed her like crazy.  She needs so much; I wish I could just give her my testimony!! 

Friday we had our zone conference where every missionary in our stake came together to council and to discuss how can help make the work grow stronger. Our stake president’s wife gave all the missionaries a scarf. She is so cute. I've really enjoyed our last few meetings.  They've helped me so much!! They've given me a view of what’s to come.  The future is bright I can feel it.  I'm on the edge of greatness. 

Then on Saturday we went to the museum to help them with their program. They had a quite a Christmas set up and we got to see SANTA!! It was a great opportunity to go out and help others and let them know that good people does exist. It was a great opportunity too to share the Light of Christ with all that come to visit. 

Then that night we had our ward party and it was great party.  There were a lot people there.  The theme for the Christmas party was Joy Around the World. They invite return missionaries to share their testimony and to say Merry Christmas in the language that they spoke on their mission. There were a lot of them.  It was super sweet.  They shared what brought them joy on their missions and the things they have learned. Now that I have been on my mission for some time, I have a new found appreciation for mission stories. They are my favorite :) 

Sunday we got to go to church and partake of the sacrament and to listen to everyone's testimonies.  I love to hear the testimony of those here in Valpo.  So many members of our ward are recent converts and I love watching them grow and hearing their simple powerful testimony, the pure and simple doctrines. It just helps my testimony grow so much stronger!! I love this work. You don’t know how much I love this! Later that night we got to watch the Christmas devotional this is definitely going to be a special Christmas!! 

I just wanted to thank everyone that has done anything to make Sister Sufia and my Christmas one to remember!! Thank you for all your love and support.  It's and all the cute ways to help us feel as close to home as we can through this season. The Christmas spirit is strong here in Portage :) # lighttheworld 

This week is the last week of transfers and we don't know what is going to happen. Oh I hope that we stay together I love sister Sufia so much. She has been my rock!! Well have to see what comes!! 

Well I love y'all and hope you have a great week.  Remember to keep striving to serve with the light the world campaign.  Love you! Keep smilin !! 

Feeding Hundreds

What a week!  It was crazy busy!  I'm so glad its p-day because I'm tuckered out.  We had a lot on our plates this week, but that's the way I like it

Tuesday
We had exchanges with the Griffith sisters. Sister House came to our area. We had a lesson with the Oaks family, then tracked basically the rest of the day. Sister House is going home next week so it was fun to be with her and learn all of her tricks

Wednesday
Was basically just one all day long nothing really exciting.

Thursday
Thanksgiving!!   We had a packed day.  We started helping at the Salvation Army around 9:00.  We served about 100 people there.   It was a smaller gathering but it was really fun.  We met some really sweet people, both those that were volunteering and those that came in for lunch. After cleaning up, we headed over to the middle school here in Portage and
started round two. All the churches and religions in Portage minus the Salvation Army get together and feed dinner to the whole community.  Anyone who wants to come is welcome but it's mostly for those that can't afford or the shut ins and homeless. The first part of it I literally deboned 15 turkeys by myself and Sister Sufia, 5 hams. Plus there were like 50 other servers, so let's just say there was a lot of food.  After the preparation,  it all started and we were able to start serving the people. It was after 6 o'clock by the time we were done, then to do the dishes, we were there until 8:30.   It was a very tiring day, but I was super super excited to be there I haven't had a crazy busy day like that for long time.  It was good for me. We are literally doing something every minute and I had so much to do….. I loved it!!  We came home and Sister Sufia crashed. We helped feed hundreds of people. It was awesome I loved it!! I think I want to start a new tradition.  There's not a better way to feel the Thanksgiving spirit than giving to those who don't have anything.  It really makes you appreciate what you do have!!

Friday morning we had MLC.   We had to drive to the city. We spent most of the day there. We went over the big meeting that we just had the week before and the new policies with Facebook and Skype and things like that.  Also the #light the world! It was really good.  I love being a Sister Training Leader and having the opportunity to go to these mission councils.  I learn so much! I'm also so grateful for the opportunity to give service to those Sisters in my zone.  It makes missionary work easier for me, when I'm able to help others including these sweet sisters. Later that night we had to exchange with the Chicago Heights sisters.

Saturday
So I had the opportunity to go with sister Parke.   I love her.  She's awesome. I think that she's my soul sister. We did so much work and we found some new messages and have a ton of referrals and I was basically just really really happy because I was in South side and there's a lot less white people there which makes it so much more fun to do missionary work (I don't know if that's OK to say please take it out if it's not thanks mom, love you) Sister Park is going home this coming week, and I'm super sad!  I always connect with sisters right before they leave!! She is so sweet though, but I'm glad I don't have to think about going home anytime soon, its way stressful! It was such a successful day!! I loved it!!


Well that about sums up my week, sorry nothing very exciting, no stories... I need to do better with my emails. I get to Monday and it's like a blur, I forget so much it's all one foggy imagine in my head.  One thing that I do remember though is that you all need to get on board with the #lighttheworld ordeal that is going to take place on December 1^st until Christmas!! It's going to be a great opportunity to bring the light of Christ and the true spirit of Christmas into your life!! Look it up and check out all the sweet videos at Mormon.org

Well I love you all! Have a great week!  Happy December!!

Happy Thanksgiving

So I don't have a lot of motivation to write a group email so I am going to make it short and sweet 

This week was strange!  Everything was everywhere so I'm gonna try my best to let you in on what happened.

Here are the highlights…..
Tuesday we planned and we did some killer finding ;)

Wednesday our district got together and we did some service which consisted of us raking a lot of leaves! It was super fun to be able to all serve together!  We got a lot done. Later that night a very sweet less active family had us over for dinner they were so sweet! They really made me miss home, the parents reminded me so much of my own.  It was such a good night. We then took an opportunity to share the things that mean the most to us, the things that we are grateful for.  It's always in these moments that I reflect on all that I have and it brings me to my knees with thanks giving to Heavenly  Father for all that I have been given. It always brings things back into perspective.  That night the Hebron sister (Sister Davis and Sister Christiansen) came and slept over, in preparation for the next day.

Thursday ah man this day was crazy, in all aspects. It was so jam packed full of stuff and so full of the spirit, it was a little overwhelming.   We had the opportunity to have a conference with some pretty amazing men, Brother Donaldson, and the mission president from the district, both of which are he heads of the missionary department of the church. The problem was there was only enough time to have half of the mission go so all the younger missionaries went. That meant the companionships that I'm over had to split, it was really crazy...

The day started super early.  I had to drive to every area in my zone, pick up and drop off sisters and be on the road by 6:45 haha ya it was crazy. But once we finally mat it there (30 minutes late) it was so amazing!!   We learned so much and we were given some really cool insight and I'm excited to take it into action.  It is really going to improve the mission!!   I'm excited!!   It was a day long day.  It was great but a little overwhelming, then I had to get everyone back to their companions and back to their areas later that night

The rest of the week was uneventfully we just went finding and did stop bys.   It was ok……

Well seeing how this week is Thanksgiving I just wanted to say I'm so grateful. I'm grateful for so much, for the opportunity to put a name tag on my chest and be a representative of the Savior, to be able to teach and to be able to grow! I'm so grateful for the life I've been given I have been so blessed with the family that loves me and has given me everything I need to succeed. I'm grateful for the love that I'm enveloped with. Most of all I'm grateful for the testimony that I have of this the restored gospel, of the prophet of Joseph Smith, and of the Book of Mormon. I love this gospel!!   I'm so grateful for the influence it has in my life.

Don't eat too much turkey... Have a great week!!


Keep smiling

Pictures I received from her 3rd companion....Ashley.  Service project Saturday afternoon.

Hide and Seek Blindfolded

Hey    J

Tuesday:

We had to teach Zone Training for an hour.  That was an adventure in and of itself!!   We planned and prepared and planned and prepared the days leading up to it in hopes that we would be able to teach all that was assigned to us in a way pleasing to the Lord. We wanted to help those missionaries learn and grow, not by what we were saying but by the spirit, so it took some time. Monday night we went over it so many times. Let’s just say that I'm so glad that I am speaking English. Sister Sufia was trying so hard, but sometimes the language barrier is a real thing. I understand her perfectly (most of the time) now and I know exactly what she is trying to say but other people sometimes have a hard time. So we went over it so that we all could understand.  Then we taught it to Ashley and we finally got it down. So when Tuesday came it went pretty smoothly.  I hope that we did a good enough job. I hope that someone learned something from it.  We had to teach about 3 day planning/nightly planning.  It was a good review for me, it’s funny I’ve been doing this mission thing for 8 months now and I still am working on improving the basics... you think by now I would have it down.  How frustrating it must be for Heavenly Father to have to work with such an imperfect person such as me. The rest of the night we went finding, and we found a family that invited us to come and teach them so that’s exciting, stay tune to see what comes of that one.

Wednesday we spent the day planning because our Thursday was going to be crazy. Later that night we stopped by some potential new investigators.  We are trying to pick the work up but it’s like trying to play hide and seek blind folded and I'm the blind folded one.  It doesn't work, or let’s say it’s a slow process.

Thursday was Sister Sufia’s 21^st Birthday!!  First off thank you to everyone that was so kind in making an extra effort to let her know your love for her and for wishing her a Happy Birthday!! In her words “It was the Best One Ever" She was so cute.  She didn't want me to do anything for her birthday; she didn't want me to worry...any of you that know me know that that's not going to stop me.  With the help of a few members we were able to have some fun surprises for her!!  She loved every minute of it!! She even started crying because she was so grateful and so happy. (Oh and she never cries) We took her to Red Lobster where she ate her favorite…..shrimp.  She was in Heaven.  For whatever its worth I’m super glad that I was able to be her companion on her birthday.

Earlier that day we had a great lesson with the Oaks Family!! They are doing so well!! We read Joseph Smith History with them. The First Vision is so powerful.  It brings the spirit into the lesson like nothing else. Brother Oaks was able to be with us this lesson.  His testimony is growing brighter throughout the whole conversion of his wife too. It’s so fun to watch the two of them share testimony with one another.  They are growing strong and they are planting their roots firm. It’s so fun to be a part of it!  Their family is so amazing.  The little ones made a card for Sister Sufia for her birthday!! They are so sweet. One thing that has been fun for me is to hear all the things the little kids call us. The Oaks children call us "The Church Girls" and also by our names but it’s fun because as soon as they see us the let everyone know loud and clear…… The Church Girls are here :) 

Friday morning we did some service at the museum and we helped set up the Christmas decorations.   You all know how much I like setting up Christmas decorations haha but it was good.  Sister Sufia sang songs as we decorated the tree I just laughed hahahaha... We went and set up some volunteering opportunities at the local nursing home. I'm super excited about that.  Later that night the YSA had a concert, Calee Reed and Stephanie Madsen came and shared their stories with us. It was a great night. The spirit was so strong!!  I love music!!  The best part about it was that Micaela came!!! She is a recent convert that's had a lot going on in her life and we haven't seen her for some time!! It was so good I was so happy.  All and all it was a great night!! 

Saturday: 

That morning was the ward clean up and we raked leaves for 3 hours.  There are so many leaves here.  The rest of the day we did less active stop bys and findings. 

That's about all for this week….. Funny story, so we were in the store contacting and this old grandma grabbed my arm and was like, “what's wrong with her face”? Talking about sister Sufia, and I responded, “I don't know is there something wrong?”   I totally forgot that she has a massive burn.  It's just become normal.  I told her about it and we both laughed for hours :) 

Ok Challenge…… share with someone or on face book why you are grateful for the gospel in your life.

Well I love you all!!   I hope that you have a good week!! 

-Sister Baylee Kendrick-