March 24, 2014

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the sudden cut off last week! But just as promised, Part 2 of my little updates! :D

 

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Transfers just happened! And for the fourth Transfer in a row... I'm in Abbotsford... Maybe perhaps some of my associates are Psychic.... -_- But, what can you do?! I love this ward, and this city very much! I actually don't even really mind knocking the same doors anymore... but the WEATHER is starting to kill me. ENDLESS RAIN!! But at least its getting warmer :]

 

Last week was.. probably one of the most challenging times I've engaged on my mission. I'll tell you why:

 

Randy and Donna were two investigators that Sister Facer and I found around Christmas time, two transfers ago, and they were incredibly sweet! Donna has an extreme love for all things Christmas, and she turned her front yard into a light show full of Christmas Cut outs, lights, and music! On top of that, her house is nearly a hundred years old, making it look like a picture cut out from a child's A Christmas Tale! Inside was even more glorious that the outside! After we spoke with her a second time, she invited us inside to view her collection of light up Christmas Villages, but what she showed us last, stole our breath away. For nearly 20 years, she had collected the one hundred percent unique Swartsky Crystal Christmas ornaments, and cared for them like precious gems. She had spray painted an old tree branch with white and silver paint, and dotted the branches to look like a snow blanketed Oak Tree. She hung them proudly on her front window. She was incredibly sweet, and introduced us to her husband Randy! Turns out, he owns his own Photopgraphy Studio, and they had been to Utah countless times! They showed us pictures from one of their adventures down in Utah, and took a picture of the Oquierre Mountain Temple! We excitedly explained to them what it actually was! Their interest was peaked enough where they allowed us to set a return appointment to come back and teach them a little bit. When it came time see them, we received a text from Randy canceling our appointment. Disappointed, we didn't manage to set a Return appointment, and "reflected" them. It wasn't until early March that Sister Dexter and I went back to visit. Upon dropping by, we asked how Randy was doing seeing as how he was the one to answer the door.,"Well, not so good actually." Come to find out, Donna had developed lung Cancer, and was in the Late Stages. She had been admitted to the hospital, and was undergoing treatment. He invited us back after she was to come home just a few days later.

A few weeks later, after we figured she would have had time to settle in we dropped by again, and a less than happy Randy answered the door. We asked him if she was home.. and he told us that she had passed away just a few short days after we had stopped by the first time. Obviously still grieving, we left Randy with our condolences, and left with heavy hearts.

 

Distraught, sorrowful, and unable to pick myself back up, we called the Mission Nurse, who cried with us for awhile, and then calmly reminded us," Sometimes we forget the Plan of Salvation. And just how precious that Knowledge is. You sisters have planted a seed within the spirit of that woman, but simply allow her grieving widower time to heal."

 

 

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And here, Brother's and Sisters is where I would like to bear my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. EVERYONE, has lost someone that they love, and EVERYONE has questions about the deeper concepts of Human Existence. Who are we? Where are we going? What is the Purpose of this life? Will I die forever? Who is God? These are what we call questions of the Soul. The plan that our loving Father in Heaven has prepared for us, is the answer to all of these complicated enigmas.. and more! I testify, and as a representative of the Savior of the world, even Jesus Christ, that HE LIVES. That through his atoning blood, we can truly find the healing, peace, and happiness that each one of us is on a journey looking for! We lived with God before this life, and only through our older Brother's loving sacrifice, can we attain the glory and perfection that both our Father and our Savior enjoy. Through having faith in His Son, obeying God's commandments, and truly "hungering and thirsting after righteousness," can we find the greatest peace amd joy that leads to life ever lasting!

 

I love each of you so very much, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here serving our Father in Heaven, in the most beautiful place on earth! I hope everyone has the very best week ever and that you're living well! :D

<3 Love Sister Kennedy