Hola mi Familia y amgios! :D
That's random I know, but I just got my Spanish MTC words and phrases booklet, so I can practice gospel terms and such... so far, my reading of the Book of Mormon in Spanish is a little choppy, but we'll see where it goes ;]
ANYWAYS, So this has by far been the strangest transfer of my life. My first week was spent in Chilawack... without doing a single day of proselyting!! My poor comp had tore two tendons in her ankle, and was unable to walk anywhere! And of course it was her right ankle, so she couldn't drive! And because of my issues with the DMV, I literally have an absolute zero chance of being able to get A BC license... so there will be no more driving for ME on my mission! Oh well, I'm not really all that bummed about it to be honest haha. But i'm so grateful for all of the many wonderful blessings the Lord has seen fit to bestow upon me this week!
First, I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T EMAILED IN TWO WEEKS. Obviously, things have been a little nuts, and considering, I'm surprised I'm even getting things written here today... SO BUSY! But its fantastic! I'll share one of my favorite talks from conference with you, and then tell you about one of the Miracles that occurred here in Abbottsford just a few days ago.
Russel M. Ballard
Put your Trust in the Lord
"My message this afternoon is that the Lord is hastening His work. In our day this can be done only when every member of the Church reaches out with love to share the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to work together in partnership with our 80,000 missionaries now serving. Information about this great work, especially the assignments for the stake and ward council leaders, is clearly outlined on the LDS.org website entitled “Hastening the Work of Salvation.”
We know from our research that most active members of the Church want the blessings of the gospel to be part of the lives of others whom they love, even those whom they have never met. But we also know that many members hesitate to do missionary work and share the gospel for two basic reasons.
We know that when someone gets up to give a talk in sacrament meeting and says, “Today I’ll be talking about missionary work,” or perhaps even when Elder Ballard gets up in general conference and says the same thing, some of you listening may think, “Oh no, not again; we have heard this before.”
Now, we know that no one likes feeling guilty. Perhaps you feel you may be asked to do unrealistic things in your relationships with friends or neighbors. With the help of the Lord, let me remove any fear you or any of our full-time missionaries may have in sharing the gospel with others.
Make the decision to do what Jesus Christ has asked us to do. The Savior has said:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
“Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
“If ye … know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7–11).
Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling, though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may change in the future when their circumstances change."
Everyone, how happy has the Gospel of Jesus Christ made you?! PLEASE, I emplore you to take Elder Ballard's challenge, and have someone in your home by Christmas! We will never be able to repay the Savior for what he has sacrificed for us, But I know, that we CAN give him a wonderful gift for his celebrated birthday! "How great will be our joy if we bring, save one soul unto Christ?!"
And as for the Miracle we saw, we were walking in downtown Abby, and walked past what Sister Bowman and Facer call the Miracle bench. We talked to a woman named Lorrie who had been wandering from Alberta. Her family are members, and she had been taking the missionary discussions years ago! She had wanted to get baptised, but she fell victim to the all too common allure of Alocohol, and couldn't escape her weakness. To start over, she moved to BC to stay with a Friend, and was at that time searching for a job when we ran into her," I always wanted to see the missionaries and go to church again, You three made my day!" And then she started to cry. We set a baptisimal date with her, right there on the street, and have plans to begin teaching her here soon. What miracles!
Abbottsford is SO beautiful, and I'm SO grateful to be here with these two wonderful sisters! I love you all, and I hope things are going well.
And guess waht.... I have piiicctuuurees! Love you!! <3
<3 Sister Kennedy
We know from our research that most active members of the Church want the blessings of the gospel to be part of the lives of others whom they love, even those whom they have never met. But we also know that many members hesitate to do missionary work and share the gospel for two basic reasons.
- •The first one is fear. Many members do not even pray for opportunities to share the gospel, fearing that they might receive divine promptings to do something they think they are not capable of doing.
- •The second reason is misunderstanding of what missionary work is.
Now, we know that no one likes feeling guilty. Perhaps you feel you may be asked to do unrealistic things in your relationships with friends or neighbors. With the help of the Lord, let me remove any fear you or any of our full-time missionaries may have in sharing the gospel with others.
Make the decision to do what Jesus Christ has asked us to do. The Savior has said:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
“Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
“If ye … know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7–11).
Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling, though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may change in the future when their circumstances change."
Everyone, how happy has the Gospel of Jesus Christ made you?! PLEASE, I emplore you to take Elder Ballard's challenge, and have someone in your home by Christmas! We will never be able to repay the Savior for what he has sacrificed for us, But I know, that we CAN give him a wonderful gift for his celebrated birthday! "How great will be our joy if we bring, save one soul unto Christ?!"
And as for the Miracle we saw, we were walking in downtown Abby, and walked past what Sister Bowman and Facer call the Miracle bench. We talked to a woman named Lorrie who had been wandering from Alberta. Her family are members, and she had been taking the missionary discussions years ago! She had wanted to get baptised, but she fell victim to the all too common allure of Alocohol, and couldn't escape her weakness. To start over, she moved to BC to stay with a Friend, and was at that time searching for a job when we ran into her," I always wanted to see the missionaries and go to church again, You three made my day!" And then she started to cry. We set a baptisimal date with her, right there on the street, and have plans to begin teaching her here soon. What miracles!
Abbottsford is SO beautiful, and I'm SO grateful to be here with these two wonderful sisters! I love you all, and I hope things are going well.
And guess waht.... I have piiicctuuurees! Love you!! <3
<3 Sister Kennedy
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