November 4th 2013

Hi Everyone! This email will be SUPER quick, I'm really out of time, but I thought I'd share a cool thing I discovered while reading one of the old Relief Society Manuals :]

" I really wanted to share something I discovered in my Studies this morning, from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

While being taken from Far West, Missouri, in November 1838, to his imprisonment in Richmond, Missouri, the Prophet again taught the gospel: “We were visited by some ladies and gentlemen. One of the women came up, and very candidly inquired of the troops which of the prisoners was the Lord whom the ‘Mormons’ worshiped? One of the guard pointed to me with a significant smile, and said, ‘This is he.’ The woman then turning to me inquired whether I professed to be the Lord and Savior? I replied, that I professed to be nothing but a man, and a minister of salvation, sent by Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel.

“This answer so surprised the woman that she began to inquire into our doctrine, and I preached a discourse, both to her and her companions, and to the wondering soldiers, who listened with almost breathless attention while I set forth the doctrine of faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance, and baptism for remission of sins, with the promise of the Holy Ghost, as recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles [see Acts 2:38–39].

Each member of the Church has a responsibility to share the gospel. “All are to preach the Gospel,” the Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.”

“The woman was satisfied, and praised God in the hearing of the soldiers, and went away, praying that God would protect and deliver us.

I truly discovered that teaching the Doctrine of Christ is exactly how the Prophet urged his first missionaries to conduct their sermons, and how they received thousands of convert baptisms all across England, and South America! I've been doing my best to improve my focus on the Doctrine of Christ and I truly feel as if it has made a big difference in how I've been acting towards my calling as a missionary, and have found a brand new desire to talk to everyone, and overcome my reluctance of talking to everyone. 

We set a new Baptismal date with Vanessa for December  14th. She's truly a wonderful girl, and despite some rather interesting circumstances concerning her guardianship with her uncle, I know she's truly been prepared to receive this gospel. I'm SO grateful for the opportunity that I've been give to serve along side these two wonderful sisters as well. I love abottsford! And I would be very sad to see it go. But I suppose wherever the Lord wants me, that's exactly where I should be! 

I'm SO grateful to have such awesome friends and family like you guys!  I promise the email I send next week will be MUCH more interesting ;] Love you!

love <3 Sister Kennedy 

October 28th 2013

Hi everyone!!! This week has been absolutely INCREDIBLE! I can't even begin to tell you about the miracles that I've witnessed, so first I'll just start with a short little bullet list of people we are working with, and a little bit about them.

-Vanessa- She's seventeen years old and from Ghana! She's an incredible teen who's ABSOLUTELY hilarious! She's christian, and has had some really amazing experiences as a christian. She lives with her Sister and Cousin, and has only been in Canada for three months! We set a Baptismal date with her for November 30th. We originally tracted into her, and she let us right in, she's SO cute!

-Li- He's a Chinese man who's lived in Canada for Seven years, and has had experiences when he was a child to help him to know that there IS a God. He's a very humble man who's very well spoken in English and is always hungry to learn more about the Gospel. He's a little different teaching experience, but He's also VERY in tune with the spirit, and excited to learn more! We invited him to baptism and he said No, but he also said! "Toooo Soon, How can I know that its the truth yet?" All he needs is that Mandrin Book of Mormon that we got for him... and He's Golden!

-Star- Her story was pretty incredible. We were on splits with a YSA named Taija, when we met Star. Her sister and her walked right up to us and said, " you're Missionaries?! That's SO cool!" We began talking and got to know them both a little bit, but ended up leaving a short time afterwards. two days later, we had a baptism to go to, and didn't have an investigator to come with us! So acting upon a pretty strong prompting, we knocked on Star's door, and invited her to the Baptism. After a little bit of strange conflict with other members of her home ( She lives in a Recovery House), she said ," You know what? I'd LOVE to go!" We spent about an hour talking to her, and listening to her life struggles after the baptism. She's not quite ready for the gospel at this time, but she cried and thanked us for our kindness and for helping people where we could.

-Amy- Probably the biggest miracle we saw this week came in the form of a returning member named Amy. She's the nicest, funniest person I've ever met in my entire life, and has three adorable kids! Both my companions had felt the prompting to go see her, after some of our other plans fell through, so we arrived at her house. At first, no one answered, but I knocked a third time and she answered! We came right in and she was SO glad to see us. We gave her a copy of President Utchdord's talk, Forget me Not. She began to cry and tell us just how much this meant to her. After we cheered her up, her friend popped by, so we left. Only an hour later, she called to tell us that day had been the one month mark since she stopped smoking, and that just a few minutes before we had come, she had just been about to give up and go buy a pack of cigarettes because of how alone she felt. She didn't tell us these things because her friend had arrived, but she felt that we were truly an answer to her prayers in the form of a miracle.

I'm SO grateful to Heavenly Father for the many miracles that he has blessed me with up till now, and for all of the love and support that you all have shown me as well. Thank you SO much for writing me, and I'm so lucky and blessed to have you in my life! I love you all! And I'm sorry if you didn't get a personal response this week, promise you'll get one next week!

<3 Love,

Sister kennedy

P.S. HOLY CROW, only 10 months left, Howww weiiiirdd!

October 21st 2013

Hi Everyone! What an amazing week we had here in Abbottsford! I can't believe all of the amazing miracles we've gotten to see! I'll have to be very brief since i'm practically out of time! But one of the awesome things that I've studied this week was the Christ-like attribute of charity:

 

Mathew 25

 31 ¶When the ^aSon of man shall come in his ^bglory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
 32 And before him shall be gathered all ^anations: and he shall ^bseparate them one from another, as a ^cshepherd divideth his ^dsheep from the goats:
 33 And he shall set the sheep on his ^aright hand, but the goats on the left.
 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his ^aright hand, Come, ye ^bblessed of my Father, ^cinherit the ^dkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
 35 For I was an ^ahungred, and ye ^bgave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a ^cstranger, and ye took me in:
 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye ^avisited me: I was in ^bprison, and ye came unto me.
 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
 39 Or when saw we thee ^asick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have ^adone it unto one of the ^bleast of these my ^cbrethren, ye have done it unto me.
 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the ^aleft hand, ^bDepart from me, ye ^ccursed, into everlasting ^dfire, ^eprepared for the devil and his angels:
 42 For I was an ^ahungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the ^aleast of these, ye did it not to me.
 46 And these shall go away into ^aeverlasting ^bpunishment: but the ^crighteous into ^dlife ^eeternal.

Truly we follow the example of Jesus Christ as closely as we can, both as Christians, and as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints!

Because of all of the amazing things that I have seen happen this week, I only have time to share one, but her name is Lorrie. Lorrie is a Native woman who has struggled with alochol abuse for many years, and has been desperate to get her life back together! We met her on what we call the miracle bench right off of George Fergueson Highway, and she was SO excited to see us! Her family lives in alberta, and her brother was a bishop, but he passed away sveral years ago. When we met her she said, " Thank you SO much for being here, you've made my day so much better." then she started to cry. She gave us her phone number, and said she'd come to church! She was So solid! But when we tried the phone number, it didn't work! A few days later we were walking down the street again... and we saw her again! Truly miracles! We got the correct phone number, and had the chance to help her attend church! She said to us," I felt SO good getting up today, and I'm so glad to be here! All I want to do is turn my life around!"

Miracles, charity, and great faith attends all those who will simply believe. I'm SO grateful for all of the love and support you give me each weeek! Love you guys sooo much! Write Back soon!

<3 Love Sister Kennedy