Thursday, January 30, 2014
Updates (January 6th 2014)
Hello Everyone! :D Time for another update! Sorry things have been so sporadic lately! I think every last one of you knows pretty darn well how absent minded I can be...Or always am, I guess I should admit! But things have been nothing short of simply wonderful this past week, and I'm excited for the chance I have to be able to share with you these experiences! But first, I came across this story online; to say this is inspiring... is a great understatement, but here, see for yourself!
He Was Somebody Special
by Frank D. Day
He walked into the seminary classroom somewhat frightened, maybe a little belligerent, certainly not at ease. He came because most of the students in his grade came to seminary, but he came alone. Few spoke to him; no one walked with him. He had almost no friends.
For one so young his life had been a most difficult one. His father had been killed in a drunken brawl. His mother was not interested in sending her children to church, and she was not really interested in sending them to school. She was on state welfare, and much of that money was used to purchase liquor for herself and her boyfriends. There were two other children in the family; all three had different fathers.
Even the most basic material goods were lacking in the home, including adequate food and clothing. The boy had only a sweater to keep him warm in the cold weather. As he walked to school, he would take the sweater off as he approached the building because it had large holes in it and he didn’t want his peers to see. (I say peers because he had no friends.) He wore no socks because he had none. His hands were rough and chapped because the house had only cold water and no soap with which to wash. This boy was thin and lacked vitality. Food was not plentiful, and that available was of the junk food variety. He lived in an unkempt area on the far side of town and was uncomfortable when he visited any other section of the community.
The first day of class I invited him to sit on the front row. He did so willingly but not comfortably. I tried to make friends with him, but it was very difficult. He appeared to trust no one.
After school had been in session for several weeks, I asked if he would like to give the prayer. He quickly and emphatically refused. I later learned that he had never heard a prayer until his first day in that class. He had never been to church, he had never belonged to the Boy Scouts, he had never held the priesthood. As the days passed there was little change in his willingness to communicate, to smile, or to seek friends.
A month before the Christmas holidays, one young lady requested class time to present a matter of concern. The young man was absent that day, and as she stood before the group her message was simply, “We are not friendly with him, we do not speak with him, we do not walk with him, we do not associate with him. This seems to me to be very wrong. After all, he is important too.” Then she suggested that they could and should be friendly to him and help him to understand how important he was—his importance to them and to himself. They all agreed to respond to her recommendations. Then she suggested that they each contribute a small amount of money toward buying him a coat for Christmas. This they also willingly accepted.
One did not have to be told they were succeeding. It was in his eyes, in his walk, and in his smile. It was obvious to everyone that there was a change in his life. He walked a little taller. He was able to look others in the eye and smile as he extended a friendly greeting.
One day there was a note on the teacher’s desk which read, “If you cannot find someone to give the prayer today, I will,” and he signed his name. Strangely enough no one would give the prayer that day, so I called on him. He did not close his eyes. He did not fold his arms. He did not bow his head or do any of the things we normally do in prayer. He simply looked up to the ceiling with his hands by his side and said, “Oh, God, help us. Amen.” No one smiled. No one coughed. No one said a word. It was a wonderful prayer to him and to every member of the class.
Two or three days before the Christmas vacation, the young lady who had proposed the plan came to class with a beautifully wrapped Christmas package and again requested class time. She stood and thanked each of the students for their kindness and their willingness to respond to her earlier suggestions. Then she spoke for just a moment about the value of individuals regardless of their status in life, their home background, their scholastic abilities, or their popularity. She said that every one is very important. The young man, a bit suspicious at first, suddenly became aware the young lady was about to involve him in a new experience.
After some moments, she took him by the arm and had him stand by her side. She told him how much they appreciated him and how valuable he was to the class. She said they all appreciated him and were pleased he was their friend. By now he had tears in his eyes, but so did the teacher and most of the class. She then laid the package in his arms, and the tears increased. After a moment or two passed, another young man in the class said, “If you will open the package you can see what’s in it.”
Slowly, methodically, with great care and a desire not to tear the paper, he opened the package and held up a beautiful jacket. He continued to display his emotions, and so did the class. After some moments, the same boy said, “If you’ll unzip it you can put it on.” He opened the zipper and slowly put his arms into each sleeve, pulling the jacket around him and displaying a happy smile through the tears. He wore the coat every day until the last week in May.
Something had happened in his life that had never happened before. Someone gave him something, and in that gift was an expression of appreciation and love that he had never known. He later related to some of us that he had only had one Christmas present in 14 years, and that had been an orange.
Needless to say, the young man’s life had changed. He became happy in his school work, he participated in many activities, the other students enjoyed him, and he made many friends. If the story ended there it would be a great story, and the young lady who recognized the worth of a soul would have performed a miracle. But the miracle continued. This young man filled a mission, married in the temple, and is the father of two lovely children. One of the other children, his half sister, has also married in the temple. She and her fine husband are both active in the Church. The third child, a half brother, also filled a mission and has completed his college work. And the mother—oh, yes, the mother. She reports that each night she thanks her Heavenly Father for many things, including a young lady who knew the value of her son and was willing to make her feelings known. Secondly, she thanks her Heavenly Father for the great principle of repentance and forgiveness. Third, she thanks him for her membership in the Church, for a loving Savior who helped a family change. Then she thanks him for the privilege of being the secretary in her ward Relief Society and for the love and kindness of all her sisters there.
Yes, he was someone special, and the class was special.
Perhaps the most significant lesson learned from this beautiful, shared experience was a clearer, deeper meaning of those forceful words of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (D&C 18:10).
[illustrations] Illustrated by Lee Shaw
Remembering that our service to others, starts with the desire to serve God. I'm SO grateful to the Lord for the chance to be able to celebrate the Birth of our Savior, every day of my life! And the Christmas Spirit can carry with us, through ALL of our days of the year. I hope you are able to refocus your New Years Resolution on centering your testimony upon the most important aspect of our lives, preparing to meet our Father In Heaven :]
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Events N' Such:
-Our investigator Minh, is doing super well! He has lots of concerns, but after his experiences in Laos, its hardly a wonder he even has a humanity left! He's been working on understanding the necessity of Jesus Christ, and gaining trust in the Spirit to guide him to the right church. He's been reading the Book of Mormon, and has agreed to a Church Tour for next week!
- We found a new family this past week! A couple, named Lia and Daryll. Initially, we spent about 20 minutes on the porch talking to Darryl, and answered some of his questions. He looked inside, and told us to wait a minute, and went to speak to Lia. After a Minute, both he and Lia came out, and spent a few minutes talking to us. When Lia realised that we weren't ( too) weird ;] She allowed us to come inside and to share the message of the Restoration with them! Come to Find out, Lia and Daryll are from Brazil! They were apart of a traditional Mennonite colony there, and left to escape the suppression their church had on them! When we shared the Restoration, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads! They have three kids, and they already are SO excited to learn more! We are seeing them this week, and we are even MORE excited to share with them the truths that will answer all of their questions!
Thank you so much for all of the amazing friends and loved you have been for me :] I'd never be able to accomplish half of what I do if it wasn't for the love of you all <3 I've still got time, so I'll be sending out individual ones out here soon, love you!
<3~ Mariah Kennedy
Racoons, Hospitals, and bathtubs?! (December 3rd 2013)
Hiiiii Everyone!!! :D Sorry its been SO long since I've sent out an email, but things have been going absolutely FANTASTIC here in Abby! :D
Funny moment of the Week ( to explain the weird Subjects lately):
-Two or three weeks ago, Amy, a returning less active we've been working with, said, " Man, I have SO many questions for when we get to the other side. The first thing I'm asking is WHERE are the SASQUATCHES?!" We then preceded to talk about Parley P. pratts Experience. LOL, she's hilarious!
-The Racoons- So, coons are a ridiculous problem.. since we keep our trash outside and we only get it picked up every two weeeekkss! And, we live next to a huge grove of trees... So I opened the door to discover two HUGE beady eyed coons staring at me as they got caught getting into the trash.... THREE FEET FROM ME! Understandably, I kind of screamed and my comp comes running out from the bathroom thinking someone broke in or something ( it was still dark outside). I scared away the little varments, but they still made a HUGE mess! And one of the stupid little things stared at me an expected me to turn around right away, as soon as I crack the door he made a move to come back! I yelled at it some more and it left... stupid little buggers -___-
-Hospitals-> You'll understand when you read below :]
Bathtubs- So we're teaching this HILARIOUS guy named Minh, and he was kind of going off on a tangent about ordaninces and he said ," I just don't GET it! I get baptized every day in the bath tub and I do it WITHOUT a priest! And I'm clean!" We all just couldn't help bust up laughing, and he now loves us because he knows we think he's hilarious! He's actually showing some real remarkable potential, so I'll keep you updated! :D
So as for an update as to our work, we're teaching this absolutely golden lady named Shelley. She was an absolute miracle! She was a refferral given to us by another area's investigator! Her mom is currently in the hopital with a terminal illness. As soon as we walked into the hospital room to teach her, you could already feel the spirit! It was an incredible first lesson, and she committed to be baptized if her health permits! She has an absolute heart of gold, and I can't wait to tell you all more about her! :D
I know that the Lord truly is hastening his work, and that miracles still happen, EVERYDAY, in my life!
Sorry this email has to be cut short ( had an insanely short P-day) But I love youuuu alll, and I hope you all have a fantastic week! If i haven't emailed you an individual response in awhile, i'm SO sorry! I promise i'll have more time next week :] I love you all SO much!!
<3 Sister Kennedy
p.s. Expect christmas mail soooon! :D
Wars....Baptisms....Sasquatches??? (November 18th 2013)
Hi everyone! This is going to be a rather short update, seeing as how I aalllwayyys forget to do this by the time emailing time gets close to the end! This week has been absolutely NUTS! But its been a really rewarding time, we had two baptisms last weekend! :D
Updates:
-Baptisms-
-Baptisms-
Rebekah- She's ten years old, shy as they come and the SWEETEST thing ever! Her mom was kind of less active, but finally allowed Rebekah to be baptized! We had been teaching her for about two transfers, but she finally accepted a date, and her dad got to Baptize both her AND her eight year old brother! Remember the pictures of the Harry Potter family I sent before?? That's them!!
-Paige- Paige's family was very less active, and started coming back to church not too long before I came to Abbotsford. Her dad had been working a TON, and wasn't really interested in coming back to church until Paige herself said, " Dad, I'm getting baptized, with OR without you"! She's quite the little firecracker, and we love her to pieces ;] Danny, her dad, realized that he didn't want that to be the case, so he worked extrememly hard to become worthy to baptize her. When the day of the event came, he not only could baptize her, but he CONFIRMED her as well! My two companions were both balling, and I beamed with happiness! Its moments like those that make all the difference in the world for us missionaries :] That aside, Danny came up to Sister Bowman and the rest of us when we visted them later that week and said, " Thank you so much for your service.. if it wasn't for Sister Missionaries, I would have never joined the church!"
Its amazing to see the incredible influence the spirit has upon the hearts of people, and upon myself as well. As I reflect back upon all of the many months that I've been on a mission.. it really IS true when Missionaries joke that its like a whole other life out here. We joke that for every week in the mission its like a year of growth. There are only 72 weeks in a sister missionaries life... and I'll be 36 years old on the 20th in missionary years -____- I feel like a hundred and 36 to be honest. But I'm super glad that I've had such a wonderful time, and for the many wonderful people I've gotten to meet! I love you all SO much, and I'll end with a short excerpt from a talk from the General 70 that we got to hear from, Paul V. Johnson:
Some threats to our peace are more individual. Physical or emotional problems, pain, personal debt, addictions, fear, worry for others, and sins—either our own or someone else’s—can obstruct a peaceful outlook in our individual lives....
No matter how daunting the challenges in our lives or in the world around us, we know we can have peace through the power of the infinite Atonement because Christ overcame the world. Faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement engenders the hope of deliverance and the promise of a better world to come. Using this “eye of faith” (Ether 12:19) to see the fulfilling of the Savior’s promises deepens the peace within us because we know of the great blessings and relief that await us if we will only remain faithful. Even in troubled times we have a great promise of peace from the Lord: “He who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23)."
Thank you sooo much for all that you do for me! :D i'm SOOO Sorry if you haven't gotten an individual response this week,I'll get you one next week! <3
Paige's baptism (November 12th 2013)
So these are some pictures of this weekend!!!! The first 2 are of paige and her dad danny :) She is 8 and Danny has just recently come back to church so that he could baptize her. It was so awesome, he really felt the spirit, which is such a huge step. He was even able to confirm her, which was a lot more than even we were expecting, it was just so amazing!!!!
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