HI EVERYONE!!!
To say that it was a miracle that I survived this week... is a serious UNDERSTATEMENT! Attached are some lovely pictures of my new greenie Her name is Sister Smigel from Calgary Alberta...so many Canadian missionaries in this mission its kind of Ridiculous Lol
White Rock is ABSOLUTELY beautiful, and the houses are more expensive than Beverly Hills. Needless to say, I've gotten more doors slammed in my face in the space of a week than I ever did in the entire five months I served in Penticton Lol But I guess when it doesn't seem like you're in lack of anything, people don't realize how much better their life could be with the Gospel! Amongst those incredibly rude people, there have been some absolutely wonderful ones too!
Let me start at the beginning;]
Our ward was pretty difficult to begin with. They've only ever had Mandrin Speaking sister missionaries here for the past 5 years, and now that they have two sets of English missionaries ( My comp, Myself, and our two zone leaders), in addition to the Mandrin Sisters, they were very excited! But understandably, a little wary of the onslaught of such a missionary force in their midst. We were recieved with welcome, but it took nearly a week of dropping off cookies, keeping ourselves busy, and hunting for ways that we could further develop our trust in order for them to take us seriously. THANKFULLY, by the end of the week, topped off with a very wonderful visit with the Bishop and his family ( though unannounced ;] ), we've gained all of the information we truly need in order to get the work here in White Rock hastened! Which I'm sure is what the Lord and President Tilleman intended when assigning six of us here!
Our newest investigator, Olivia is quite the miracle herself as well. Her aunt and Uncle are members, and have been for about five years after they moved here from China. Olivia described to us, the change that came about them, and how they gained a light in their eyes that she had never seen before! The more Olivia began to acquire more Christian friends, she said that she noticed the light in ALL of their eyes ( It took a lot of self control not to talk about the light of Christ (Too soon!! ) ). But she met the Mandrin speaking sisters when they knocked on her door a little over a week ago, THEN she showed up at the Stake Picnic activity on Saturday where she spoke to another set of Elders. She told them that she wanted English missionaries to help her understand Christianity better, and to help her practice her English! They gave her our number, and she called US. Talk about a miracle for sure! We had a wonderful lesson with her.... but that night didn't go so well afterwards. The way White Rock is set up, there's a beach that lines most of the Area we cover, and we had met with Olivia on the lawn by the Pier. Unfortunately, there is only Pay parking (which costs 5 dollars an hour) all around the area, so we parked our car above the terrace ( a HUGE set of hills with beach houses on them ) and walked a distance to meet her there. And my companion and I, in all our brilliance, paid little attention to what street we parked our car on and went on our merry way.
After Olivia's lesson, I realised that it was getting dark, and we had NO idea where the car was.. after about forty five minutes of looking for the car, the Sun had gone down, and we had to rouse the poor Mandrin sisters to pick us up. We left the car overnight parked infront of someone's house, and went back home. When we did, in all my angel-like grace, tripped down the stairs into our appartment and twisted my ankle. For those of you that know me... Let's be honest, No one's surprised about me injuring myself ( Just ask Shelbey and my parentsLol). But THANKFULLY it was my left foot, and not my driving one! So after a long, anxious day at church, all six of the missionaries of White Rock split up to search for our Car. We searched for about 20 minutes before my companion comments that we should pull over and say a prayer ( I wanted to hit my head to the Steering wheel, we should have done that MUCH sooner! DUH! ) Apparently at the same time, Elder Edge and Elder Marshall did the same thing, though we were on opposite sides of the Terrace looking for the lost vehicle. After we said our prayer, the Elders called us whithin minutes later saying they had located it. And as miracles go, there wasn't even a parking ticket on it. If Heavenly Father didn't answer prayers, I would still be walking to this day, and On my twisted ankle lol
Needless to say, my experiences here in White Rock have been nothin short of a Roller Coaster so far, but I have a stonger faith in the Lord and that his hand is truly in our lives everday. Brothers and Sisters... This month has not been a very easy one. I'll be coming up on my six month marker of my mission here very soon, and its pretty apparent from my emails how much I miss all of you, and how much I miss my Family and Arizona. But last night truly changed my heart, and cured me of the depression that was due to overtake me all too soon. I had been feeling as if the Lord hadn't known me personally, and I had prayed several times to ask for him to help me to feel it, well I had a dream last night that truly answered that Prayer. I dreamed that I was in a large house, one unfamiliar, but marble and white with pretty natural wood accents, there wasn't any furnitature around, but there was a ton of people around me laughing and hugging, most I knew, some I didn't. I turned around and saw my good friend Crystal Whiteman, we hugged and laughed and were getting ready to finish saying goodbye ( I don't know why we were) but behind Crystal I saw another group of my friends, and standing there, laughing and smiling was the Savior. He had just finished hugging and well wishing another one of my friends when he looked at me, smiled widely, and opened his arms. I ran into him with a huge hug and said ," Big Brother! I'm going to miss you!" The dream after that was filled with hazy snippets of other things, but none of them seemed nearly as important as that beautiful image that I'll forever carry in my heart.
I bare with a warm, glowing heart and a fervant rejoicing that our Savior, Jesus Christ LIVES brothers and sisters. He knows each and every one of us, and if I had to guess where in the world my imagination conjured up that scene, I would say it was less of a dream and more of a memory. A memory of a place where we lived with him, before our lives began. A place where he loved us, he laughed with us, and where we said goodbye. Of all the hard things we go through in this life, if all I ever get for ANY of it, is a moment that I get to leap back into His arms and say," Big Brother, I missed you! Thank for never giving up on me." then I would die a thousand times over again.
Thank you all for your love and support, my address for my new place in white rock should have been posted already ;] I love you guys! Take care!!
Love, Sister Kennedy
To say that it was a miracle that I survived this week... is a serious UNDERSTATEMENT! Attached are some lovely pictures of my new greenie Her name is Sister Smigel from Calgary Alberta...so many Canadian missionaries in this mission its kind of Ridiculous Lol
White Rock is ABSOLUTELY beautiful, and the houses are more expensive than Beverly Hills. Needless to say, I've gotten more doors slammed in my face in the space of a week than I ever did in the entire five months I served in Penticton Lol But I guess when it doesn't seem like you're in lack of anything, people don't realize how much better their life could be with the Gospel! Amongst those incredibly rude people, there have been some absolutely wonderful ones too!
Let me start at the beginning;]
Our ward was pretty difficult to begin with. They've only ever had Mandrin Speaking sister missionaries here for the past 5 years, and now that they have two sets of English missionaries ( My comp, Myself, and our two zone leaders), in addition to the Mandrin Sisters, they were very excited! But understandably, a little wary of the onslaught of such a missionary force in their midst. We were recieved with welcome, but it took nearly a week of dropping off cookies, keeping ourselves busy, and hunting for ways that we could further develop our trust in order for them to take us seriously. THANKFULLY, by the end of the week, topped off with a very wonderful visit with the Bishop and his family ( though unannounced ;] ), we've gained all of the information we truly need in order to get the work here in White Rock hastened! Which I'm sure is what the Lord and President Tilleman intended when assigning six of us here!
Our newest investigator, Olivia is quite the miracle herself as well. Her aunt and Uncle are members, and have been for about five years after they moved here from China. Olivia described to us, the change that came about them, and how they gained a light in their eyes that she had never seen before! The more Olivia began to acquire more Christian friends, she said that she noticed the light in ALL of their eyes ( It took a lot of self control not to talk about the light of Christ (Too soon!! ) ). But she met the Mandrin speaking sisters when they knocked on her door a little over a week ago, THEN she showed up at the Stake Picnic activity on Saturday where she spoke to another set of Elders. She told them that she wanted English missionaries to help her understand Christianity better, and to help her practice her English! They gave her our number, and she called US. Talk about a miracle for sure! We had a wonderful lesson with her.... but that night didn't go so well afterwards. The way White Rock is set up, there's a beach that lines most of the Area we cover, and we had met with Olivia on the lawn by the Pier. Unfortunately, there is only Pay parking (which costs 5 dollars an hour) all around the area, so we parked our car above the terrace ( a HUGE set of hills with beach houses on them ) and walked a distance to meet her there. And my companion and I, in all our brilliance, paid little attention to what street we parked our car on and went on our merry way.
After Olivia's lesson, I realised that it was getting dark, and we had NO idea where the car was.. after about forty five minutes of looking for the car, the Sun had gone down, and we had to rouse the poor Mandrin sisters to pick us up. We left the car overnight parked infront of someone's house, and went back home. When we did, in all my angel-like grace, tripped down the stairs into our appartment and twisted my ankle. For those of you that know me... Let's be honest, No one's surprised about me injuring myself ( Just ask Shelbey and my parentsLol). But THANKFULLY it was my left foot, and not my driving one! So after a long, anxious day at church, all six of the missionaries of White Rock split up to search for our Car. We searched for about 20 minutes before my companion comments that we should pull over and say a prayer ( I wanted to hit my head to the Steering wheel, we should have done that MUCH sooner! DUH! ) Apparently at the same time, Elder Edge and Elder Marshall did the same thing, though we were on opposite sides of the Terrace looking for the lost vehicle. After we said our prayer, the Elders called us whithin minutes later saying they had located it. And as miracles go, there wasn't even a parking ticket on it. If Heavenly Father didn't answer prayers, I would still be walking to this day, and On my twisted ankle lol
Needless to say, my experiences here in White Rock have been nothin short of a Roller Coaster so far, but I have a stonger faith in the Lord and that his hand is truly in our lives everday. Brothers and Sisters... This month has not been a very easy one. I'll be coming up on my six month marker of my mission here very soon, and its pretty apparent from my emails how much I miss all of you, and how much I miss my Family and Arizona. But last night truly changed my heart, and cured me of the depression that was due to overtake me all too soon. I had been feeling as if the Lord hadn't known me personally, and I had prayed several times to ask for him to help me to feel it, well I had a dream last night that truly answered that Prayer. I dreamed that I was in a large house, one unfamiliar, but marble and white with pretty natural wood accents, there wasn't any furnitature around, but there was a ton of people around me laughing and hugging, most I knew, some I didn't. I turned around and saw my good friend Crystal Whiteman, we hugged and laughed and were getting ready to finish saying goodbye ( I don't know why we were) but behind Crystal I saw another group of my friends, and standing there, laughing and smiling was the Savior. He had just finished hugging and well wishing another one of my friends when he looked at me, smiled widely, and opened his arms. I ran into him with a huge hug and said ," Big Brother! I'm going to miss you!" The dream after that was filled with hazy snippets of other things, but none of them seemed nearly as important as that beautiful image that I'll forever carry in my heart.
I bare with a warm, glowing heart and a fervant rejoicing that our Savior, Jesus Christ LIVES brothers and sisters. He knows each and every one of us, and if I had to guess where in the world my imagination conjured up that scene, I would say it was less of a dream and more of a memory. A memory of a place where we lived with him, before our lives began. A place where he loved us, he laughed with us, and where we said goodbye. Of all the hard things we go through in this life, if all I ever get for ANY of it, is a moment that I get to leap back into His arms and say," Big Brother, I missed you! Thank for never giving up on me." then I would die a thousand times over again.
Thank you all for your love and support, my address for my new place in white rock should have been posted already ;] I love you guys! Take care!!
Love, Sister Kennedy
