Showing Faith

Hey Everybody,

This week has been pretty cray cray. We have been trying to show faith as we go out and find those that are prepared for the gospel. I am trying to open my mouth more when talking to others about the gospel and just being bold as well. Often we beat around problems or just assume things but when you ask those you talk to direct questions then you will find out if they are truly searching for the true gospel or whether they are not prepared at this time.

There is a book that I want everyone to read that really is changing my perspective of missionary work. Its called "The Power of Everyday Missionaries". We got permission from our mission president to read it and one of our ward council is reading it together. It really shows the importance of members of bringing this Gospel to all the world. The members are an essential role in sharing the gospel. Sharing the gospel shouldn't be a challenge but should just be a part of our everyday life. READ THE BOOK. IT WILL HELP YALL.

This upcoming weekend we get to go on the Trek that they are having down here. It is definitely going to be exciting. The Trek that they do here is one of the first Treks ever done by the church. They say it is probably going to be the hardest Trek ever done. Whoot whoot. Our Mission President is letting us go because there are going to be a lot In actives and Nonmembers going so it will be a great missionary opportunity.

Today we are going to a members house and branding cattle. This is going to be interesting.

Well have a great week everyone.

Love Yall,

Elder Kennedy

The Real Dallas Cowboy

Elder Kennedy working on a ranch in AZ.

Elder Kennedy giving the calf a shot

This is a cow

Howdy!

Up to the Mountains

Hey Everyone, 

Its Elder Kennedy! These past couple weeks have been crazy! I went to the ghettos of pheonix for my last week of this transfer. That was interesting! A lot of biking and a lot of talking to people on the side of the street. That was a really cool and different experience. It really made me appreciate the good times. It definitely made me feel more accomplished biking then it did riding a car because of all the people that we talked to. Now I am up in the mountains in a town called Eager. My companion is Elder Clark and he is from Wyoming. He only has two transfers left and then he is going home. We are whitewashing the area meaning that we are both new to the area. We cover 2 wards and a YSA branch. It seems like there is a lot of work to be done up here. A lot of less active work.

One thing I am trying to do is to read the General Conference edition of the Ensign and to write down in a study journal the things that I learn. As I have done this I have seen that I am actively searching for the things the Lord wants me to find and try to apply it in my life. It has already blessed my life so much with little insights and advice for me personally. I think that as we keep a study Journal we actively show the Lord that we appreciate and love the revelation he gives us each day.

Well I hope you all are doing well! Love you all,

Elder Kennedy

2nd Baptism

Hey everybody, 

Dont have much time to email right now but the last 2 days have been a very spiritual experience for us. Saturday morning I was able to baptized Jan Agardy. That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The spirit was so strong! Also, that night we were able to give a blessing to a recent converts nephew. His nephew was very sick, he was sleeping and was lying in Brother Cortinas lap. So we gave the blessing with the little nephew still sleeping in his lap. So Right as we started giving the blessing the spirit just came over me and I just felt really happy. This continued throughout the whole blessing. Right as we ended I looked up at Brother Cortina and he just started crying! He said he felt the spirit so strong and that he has never felt this before in his life. It was amazing because I have never felt the spirit so strong before. The Priesthood power is real and is here to bless us. I am so grateful for the priesthood and I hope to continue to strive to be worthy for it! The next day was Sunday and we were able to be apart of Jan's Confirmation. She received an amazing blessing and will be a great addition to the church.

 During Priesthood session we were able to be apart of Brother Cortinas ordination into the priesthood. He shared the experience that we had the day before with him and how that experience changed his view of the gospel.
 This has been an amazing past couple of days. I am on a spiritual high!

Love you all so much,

Elder Kennedy

Pretty Good Week

Hey everybody!

This has been a pretty good week! This week I have been trying to be more obedient to the mission rules and it seems to have made the difference in how my week has turned out.  

We have a baptism happening this weekend for Jan Agardy. She is a really awesome lady who is very educated in the bible. She has a Degree in bible study from ASU and is a very spiritual lady! She has been investigating the church for over 2 years now and is finally going to get baptized! I will be the one baptizing her! I am so excited and so nervous! Hopefully the baptism service is just flawless.

This morning we hiked a huge mountain in Scottsdale called Camel back mountain. It was such a hard hike but we made it to the top. So worth it!

Also this week we had the opportunity to do exchanges with our zone leaders and it was such a fun experience. We went to an almost all Somalian apartment complex and got to meet some really cool people. All we did was just talk to everyone and then they led us to some really amazing people there. 

One really spiritual experience that I had on exchanges was when we were visiting this one guy named Cory. He is on probation from something he did in his past but is an amazing and spiritual guy. He is not a member but hopefully will be baptized really soon. We were talking about temples when he told us that for his honeymoon with his wife that they went all around the country to visit all the different temples. When he said he visited the Dallas Temple that caught my attention. I asked him how he liked the temple and he said that it was probably one of the most spiritual experiences that he had. He said that when they got there he had an feeling that he said "was drawing him towards the temple and telling him to just touch the outside of the temple." this caught my attention more because as a kid i had the same experience at the same temple. I felt an impression to touch the temple. The same thing that Corey felt too. Then Corey started to cry and said that he now has an huge desioure to go to the temple and do the work of salvation for his ancestors. I thought that that was amazing that we had the same experience at the same temple. 

Well I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to hear from you all!
Love,

Elder Kennedy