hog-n-dogs and the all-american tilt-a-whirl (not)...September 25, 2017...week 51

hello everyone!!!

good news first! johnny and marcus are still going strong and getting excited for their baptisms coming up!! and we cant help but so excited with them! ALSO remember the 2 cute girls we taught a little while back?? well Lexi came to church this past sunday and said that she got the okay to go ahead with her baptism in November!! yayayay!!! sooo exciting! sadly i probably wont be there and i wont be able to wear the cute jewelry she made us but i will be there in spirit!!

we have been going non stop member hunting out in the boonies to try to invite anyone and everyone to the Gladys Knight performance that will be happening in october! well while doing this we came across the strangest yet cutest friendship ever. a hog and a dog. how cute is that!! they were both chasing us  along the fence and everything! just the bestest of friends.

talking about gladys knight! our friends that we help serve with at the local food bank  said they would love to come and so were all planning on going together and its just going to be the best thing ever! i can just feel it!

the fair was in town and like my grandma shari was disappointed to not see the all american tilt-a-whirl. i think sister southwick and i complained about it the whole time. dont worry grandma, were right there with you! but we still went and had a blast fair contacting! we pretty much just stayed around the pigs and talked to as many people that would come by and it just made me think of jack and kyle and the pigs they raise! hope they had a good year!!

 sadly there was a death in our ward this past week and so we stayed for the funeral after church to help serve food after wards. but it definitely started off on an interesting note when the first thing that was said was, "we're here to celebrate the birth we call death." like what?? hmmm

had a fun follow up trainers meeting at gardendale which meant that 1. we were able to see all the homies and 2. we were able to have a fun photoshoot right by the temple!

for those of you who dont know i have recently discovered that my body hates gluten and so i have now been gluten free for about 8 weeks and it's been going well. im not sick anymore and so its just great! living on cloud nine! well its been interesting telling members that im gluten free but they have just been great, making these amazing gluten free meals! well one night this past week, we went to a member meal and as we were sitting down the member goes, dont worry its all gluten free, you enjoy yourself! and i was like great! yay! well were about almost done and im eating my meat with gravy and we asked her how she made the gravy, you know gluten-free. and she responded with oh just the meat juice and flour. and in my mind i was just like "flour?....as in gluten?? oh no.." so that was a fun rest of the night. dont worry, my body still hates gluten. but it was so sweet and sister southwick and i just died laughing the whole way home. i should've known better.

sister southwick and i keep seeing this dude on his little moped in the middle of the highway and we finally caught a picture!! but this time he was on the sidewalk thank goodness! he just makes our day!!

the women's general broadcast was this past weekend and i absolutely LOVED it!! i cant remember it right now but i will share my favorite line with yall next week! as for now you guys should just watch it all!! hahah but if not at least listen to sister eubanks! one of my favorites!!

i hope yall have a blessed week!! this gospel is true!!

love always,

sister kennedy

"i am ready for baptism"...September 18, 2017...week 50

hey yall! when irma came and went and barely even hit us. ive seen more rain come and go in 20 min while tracting. (down here it's called a gully washer) but grateful that it wasn't too bad. praying for all the victims of the recent hurricane. 

well update on the amazing johnny! we had a lesson with him and his family yesterday and after talking about all the spiritual experiences he's had over these past couple months, we read with him 3rd Nephi 27:21, which says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do." we then asked Johnny well what do you feel like you should do after having all of these experiences. he paused and through tears told us that he was ready for baptism. we set a date for October 14th and can't wait for the day to come! the Spirit was so strong in that room and ahh i just treasure every single lesson we have with this family! we just love them so much and are SO excited for johnny! he ended the lesson with a beautiful prayer in which he said, "dear Lord, thank you for all the sisters. i am ready for baptism. please keep me strong..." i love this little 12 yr old. what a blessing. what a miracle.

sister southwick and i took about an hour and a half to organize the food pantry that we work in for service one day and after all was said and done the lady walked in and said, "oh yall didnt have to do that. itll be all messed up by tomorrow. we get food shipments about 3x a week, but thank you." so were anxious to see tomorrow how bad it looks again. lol.

we've just been doing a whole lot of tracting and a whole lot of less active hunting and so that leads us to knock on some fun doors! one of them was the cutest muslim family who took us right in and explained to us their religion. it was so amazing to be able to hear their basic beliefs and motives to do good in life. we then were able to talk about our religion as well and just had the most civil conversation i think ive had here in the south about religion. we gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and they invited us to order a Qu'ran and read it as well (because they didn't have an extra one on hand). just the nicest little family you ever did meet!

we also were trying to find a less active member one day and when we pulled up to her house 4 dogs RAN up to the zapper line (that owners set up so their dogs stay on their property), just barking and hollering like no other. needless to say they looked pretty vicious. and i feel like you don't truly understand that until you've been chased by one, and that has happened 1 too many times out here on the mission. so i was pretty nervous to get out of the car and walk up to the door but sister southwick said a prayer that all would be well and that we wouldn't get attacked. well we get out of the car and walk up to the invisible line that is keeping them away from killing us and sister southwick took the brave step and crossed the line. i dont know how yall but the minute we crossed the line, the dogs stopped barking and just followed us to the door and back to the line. and the minute we crossed it they started barking again. we could still hear them as we drove away but what a miracle yall! God watches over His missionaries. blessings!!

well that's all. it wasn't the most exciting week of our lives. just working hard and trying to find people to teach the gospel. no joke i have just been exhausted ALL week and looking back at it on paper (or email i guess) it doesn't even look like that much. but oh well i LOVE it!! the gospel is true! the priesthood of God has been restored upon the earth!! the book of mormon is incredibly powerful and true!

i hope yall have a blessed week!!

love always,

sister kennedy

don't hit my car or i'll knock you out...September 11, 2017...week 49

hi everyone!! first things first! irma is headed our way we should be safe but on lock down for the rest of the night and tomorrow but dont worry mom, well be good!

we had a lesson with johnny and his family yesterday. it was incredible. there are no words to describe what it was like in their home. the Spirit was so strong that no one could keep back tears. probably going to be one of my favorite memories of my mission. it was definitely a break through lesson we feel. i keep trying to think of how to describe it but all that comes to mind, is what a miracle.

we've set a bap date for cute 9 yr. old Marcus! September 23rd!! only in like a week and a half but well make it work!! so so so excited for him. we had a past lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ and had some fun with our object lesson using oopleck! it was pretty messy and we pretty much got it ALL over the grandma's living room carpet but oh well. sacrifice brings forth the blessing of heaven! aka a bap date! (just kidding the grandma was totally fine with it and it vacuumed right up. dont worry mom, i haven't lost my manners!)

had a zone activity in BHAM today where we went hiking. and we all know how much i love to hike! yay. just kidding it was pretty fun but it rained on us the whole time so made it bearable! #irmascoming

wanna hear a joke? so 2 mormons walk into a Christian store. that's it. that's the joke. get it cause were not Christians?? or at least that what the store thinks... we went in all excited to find really cute Christian journals and stickers and what not and ended up finding all this Anti mormon junk. honestly sister southwick and i were SO sad. like no wonder everyone thinks were in a cult :( while in there i think it would be proper to say that my thoughts were of the one, the only kim kardashian when she says, "i just came here to have a good time, and im honestly feeling so attacked right now." HAHAHAHAHAH oh you just gotta love the south!

had exchanges this week with our awesome stls! i went with sister cushings and it was so much fun to spend a day with her! it was quite the adventure too! especially when we went LA hunting at 8:30 at night and walked up to the wrong house. this old man FLIES out of his door screaming and cursing at us but dont worry, he finally calmed down when he saw it was just some 2 lost missionaries. he then told us, "well thank goodness i didnt pick up my gun on the way out. normally i do...hmm that's strange but ya definitely would've come out shooting" so blessings from on high. we really are protected out here! well the man turned out to be very nice.. sort of.. and was helping me back up the car while telling me instructions of how to get to the la's home when out of now where he yells in my face (even though i was the only one backing and not even driving the car. like what?)  "DONT HIT MY CAR OR ILL KNOCK YOU OUT" so i awkwardly just laughed it off and told him thank you and ran to the car like there was no tomorrow. 

tracted a street where just an hour earlier the j-dubs had been. so those were fun doors to knock. i mean how blessed are those people?! the j-dubs and mormons all in one day?! they must've really needed to be saved. just kidding! hahaha

saw a church sign that said, "CAN YOU STAND TO BE BLESSED??" i love the south!!!

while tracting saw a piece of paper stuck in the door that said, "gone to watch football" football season is in full force yall!

love love love this video! yall should watch for fhe or somethin!!!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-03-0021-the-savior-understands-me?lang=eng

i love yall so much and hope you have a blessed week! God and Jesus Christ lives! miracles happen! prayers can be answered! how grateful i am for this knowledge and i hope that i never forget it!!!

love always,

sister kennedy

"sorry, talking to the baby momma"...September 5, 2017...week 48

this week was a fun one!

we are still working with johnny (12 yr. old) and Marcus (9 yr. old) and teaching them every week more and more about the Savior and i just love it! missionary work is truly the best!

both sister southwick and i were pretty dang sick this week and so it was kind of a slow week in the sense of we were just trying to get through it! we were able to still have fun times becasue lets be real, a mission can always have fun moments if you let it!

we went on 4 team ups this week with members from our ward! blessed to have such an amazing ward that will drive us around so that we dont have to use miles. on one of them we were able to find the smallest tunnel in the state of alabama that people use on a regular basis. yall people use this on a daily basis to be able to get from their homes to the town. i love alabama!!

had another first friday in gadsden and it was so much fun!! got to show sister southwick how fun it was and literally we just get to talk to people all night long! its like a missionaries dream.

sister southwick's mom sent us the cutest little zen garden of a beach. it's like having california on our kitchen counter

we tract all the time trying to just meet more people to teach and one day after an hour of tracting with no one answering, we saw a man walking down the street, so we thought FINALLY someone to talk to! but no right as we were heading his way and saying hi! he replied with, "soorry to talking to the baby mamma." and walked right past us. sister southwick and i were just dying laughing and trying not to show it. i mean if that's not the best reason to be busy, i don't know what is!

we decided to make crepes on night and i think that was our best decision this far in the transfer

college football started this past saturday and so sister southwick and i went store contacting at walmart because everyone and their dog was there picking up food for game day. and i kid you not when i say that we were the only ones not decked out in football gear. i swear it was like we had entered into a parallel universe. gotta love the south!!

stopped at a sonic to get some half price sodas and couldn't decide on what flavors to get, so i got them all. what can i say rather than treat yo' self. don't worry mom i couldn't finish any of them.

so sunday night we were making dinner and we hear our toilet bubbling?? so we go look at it and came to the mutual agreement to not use it until someone comes to look at it. anyway, it gets worse. so the next morning (yesterday) while we are studying, we hear our toilet dripping? OUR TOILET WAS OVERFLOWING AND WE COULD NOT STOP IT. We called the office managers and they sent over the plumber, come to find out, the whole floor had flooded and we were just one of many victims. so our carpet reeks and it's sopping wet with nasty toilet water. so that's where we are at with our toilet. good week, I'd say. why does this seem all too familiar?!? ughhh hahah

this week i've spent a lot of time studying chapter 31 of 2nd Nephi, which talks all about the doctrine of Christ. and while doing so i found this quote by Elder Holland that says, "Indeed, it is in the clarity and simplicity of 'the doctrine of Christ'  that it's impact is found... The doctrine of Christ is not complicated. it is profoundly, beautifully, single-mindedly clear and complete." and i just love that! this gospel is not suppose to be complicated but to be simple to understand so that we might know what our Father in Heaven would have us to do. I love this gospel. I love it's simplicity and I'm grateful everyday for it!

i hope you guys have a blessed week!

love always,

sister kennedy

i brake for sisters...august 28, 2017...week 47

hey yall!!

this week was a good one! we sadly have had to push johnny's baptism again :( BUT we are still going strong. we know that true conversion takes time and we can see it in him, here a little and there a little. we had a lesson yesterday and brought our ward mission leader and his son, Luke to join us. It was perfect because Luke and Johnny are homies from scouts. Well after we had the lesson we had planned we asked Luke beforehand to just bare his testimony to Johnny, and y'all this 12 year old blew it out of the park! He just brought the Spirit in a WHOLE new way and told Johnny about how he was nervous to be baptized but had a peace come over him as he prayed about it. He then told Johnny that he was prepared for baptism and wanted Johnny to be as well so that if he gets nervous before his baptism, he has something to fall back on. Like how sweet is that? It was one of the most powerful experiences of my mission so far. These lessons with Johnny are something special and I treasure every one of them. It was incredible how it ended though with his non member mom saying the closing prayer and getting emotional as she prayed to the Lord to help her son in this moment come to the truth. Like do you know this is true?? The Spirit was SO strong you could not deny it. i love this family!!

this week we got HARD CORED BASHED over the phone. like come on have a little class. say it to ma face. we had just met him the day prior and had this amazing conversation about Christ and how he can help us. we had given him a book of mormon and he had accepted it, so excited to read it, but also said he wanted to do his own research as well. and that my friends is when we should've realized what he was about to do. we told him to only go onto mormon.org, but rookie mistake because obviously we didnt emphasize that enough. well long story short this guy finds all this anti-junk online and proceeds to call us. he started off by telling us that he wanted to meet again to talk about the book of mormon and that he was really interested in it but just had a couple of questions. but then he starts to get really serious and goes, "sister kennedy, are you okay?? have you been brainwashed by your parents?? some things just do not add up in this religion and i think you are in a cult..." he then starts to convince himself that im stuck in this cult and starts to yell, " SISTER KENNEDY. YOU. ARE. IN A. CULT. *whispers* do you need help? *yelling again* DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO GET YOU OUT? SISTER KENNEDY! GET OUT OF THE CULT! CULT CULT CULT! GET OUT NOW! I AM CONCERNED FOR YOUR SAFETY. GET OUT NOW" so then i interrupt him to let him know that i am not i a cult in which he just started throwing all this nasty junk at us through the phone and then ended it 10 min later with the lovely words of, "yall are crazy, you're brainwashed, you're days are numbered (that on is my personal fav). dont ever come to my house again or ill have you arrested. good day. *click* just even writing this stuff cracks me up. like what the actual heck? well sir i hope you have a blessed day and i thank you for your kindness in being concerned for my salvation. i would say see you later but i dont feel being arrested so.....anyways...

well now for the fun stuff:

had a car fast, so we rode our bikes one day. didnt realize how much i missed it! we had such a fun time and our cute little old neighbor Bob was pulling into the driveway while we were going out and stopped so that we could pass by. as we passed by him he said out his window, "dont worry, i brake for sisters!" how cute is that!

had such a fun 20th birthday!! sister southwick and i had a party all day!! ended it with some fun cake that was ordered by the one the only momma kennedy. thanks mom!!

met a man who owned 15 rabbits and they were the cutest things ever

had a sonic run right before we went in for the night and as i was getting out to back sister southwick (mission wide rule) a white van drove by and this man leaned his head out the window and said "oooo ahh hey little girl" eww gross. so got back in and waited for the creepy man to drive away.

the lady we work with at the place we give service at just about everyday told me this when i told her it was my birthday, "ooo girl, you go get yourself one of those bubble blowing things and you go crazy? okay? okay!" hahah i love her!

elder christensen from the presidency of the general authorities came for our zone conference and it was incredible!! i loved every second of it! which meant that we got to see half of the mission and sister winter was there!! got to celebrate our bdays together! tender mercy!!

we have done a lot of tracting these past couple weeks and i love it because you get fun surprises every door you knock on! this week it was the cutest little puppy you ever did see! tender mercy from the Lord!

today is 11 months folks. im getting up there. sad to think about so we just dont think about.

well yall i hope you have a blessed week! Jesus is the Living Christ! I will declare and defend His name! 

love always,

sister kennedy

the pug...August 21, 2017...week 46

hey yall! so not much has happened since i emailed yall 3 days ago BUT we did see this pug in the middle of the street, just laying on it's back for literally a solid 5 minutes. sister southwick and I were a little concerned because we thought it was dead, but then it started going back and forth on it's back. so then we were concerned that maybe it needed help rolling over. but then after 2 min of doing that it hopped right up and trotted away. so all in all the most exciting thing these past 3 days was watching a dog scratch it's back in the middle of the street.

it was going to be the eclipse, which we've been waiting for ALL day but we just realized we missed the big moment. lame.

well i hope yall have a blessed week! hopefully it's more exciting then my past 3 days!

love always,

sister kennedy

ps my bday is on friyay. just sayin. peace out teenage years. it's been real. it's been fun. but it hasn't been real fun. just kidding. okay bye!

D.O.G. | Depend On God...August 17, 2017...Week 45

i'm baaaaaaack. sorry folks for the long wait but our p-day got pushed to thursday, which made for a super long week. but we survived. thankfully!

alrighty, first things first, my new companion is sister southwick and i LOVE her! she is so cute and so ready to work hard. i mean what more could you ask for?! oh right shes from california as well, so all in all this is going to be a great transfer. it was quite a funny start though. i ended up sitting behind all the new missionaries and so before the meeting started i got to talk with all of them. it was kind of fun knowing that i would be training one of them, but that they didn't know that. well the new missionaries got assigned to their trainers one by one and then sister southwick was called to stand up. she stood up, stood there for a minute, and then it was realized that President hadn't written my name down to be her trainer and so they had no idea who her trainer was. so they had her sit back down and called everyone else. finally at the end it was just sister southwick sitting in the front and me sitting behind her and all the missionaries sitting behind us. finally President got up and just started to scan the room looking for her trainer when all the missionaries behind us just started pointing at me and it was then that he remembered, and called our names. everyone was laughing, we were laughing and it literally has been that way since. we laugh all day!  like i said this is going to be a good one!

johnny is still going strong and getting ready for his baptism. we were able to have an awesome lesson with his family this past sunday about the spirit, and man it was SO strong. that will probably be a moment i will never forget on my mission. im so excited for him and this journey that he is on towards baptism.

we have been tracting a TON lately and that always make for some good stories. like the one about how there was an ice cream truck and so we flagged them down and got ourselves some ice cream. or the one about how this man opened the door with just a shirt covering him saying, "oh honey im completely naked". like no sir, you did not have to answer the door then. okay? okay. or the one where we ran into a preacher who wanted us to believe in his Jesus. because you know, they're different...or the one where they give you dr. peppers and want you to take a picture with them in their new hat. aww fun times. gotta love tracting!!

we were able to attend the temple today and man it was just what we needed. so good as always!!

here is one of my new favorite scriptures talking about Christ. It says, 1 Nephi 19:9 "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men." so perfectly summed up! i know my Savior lives and He loves each one of us!

i hope yall have a blessed week!

love always,

sister kennedy

we're all married to Jesus.....?...August 7, 2017...week 44

hey yall!!

this week was a good one. sad to say though that johnny's baptism got pushed to september 2nd, but we truly feel as if this will be the best thing for him! and we are so excited to work towards this new goal for him!!

transfer news! so we got the call saturday night, and we were the last ones they called. like how horrible is that??? normally we get our calls at 9pm but we didn't get ours till about 10:10. so it was just and hour of us sitting there waiting in anticipation. it was the worst thing ever! but the call came and we finally got our news. the trio days have sadly ended. sister pond will be headed to a little town called fayette, sister humphreys will be headed to florence to serve with the homie SISTER WINTER! and i will be staying in anniston training a new missionary. so i dont know who it is yet but i am so excited to meet her and i can't wait to show her anniston and introduce her to all the amazing people here!!

so our washer and dryers got taken away about 2 months ago so every week we've been having to go to a laundro-mat. well one day we were studying outside the laundro-mat and some man was getting into his car and saw that were studying out of books of scripture and goes "is that a good book cause ive heard its a good one! i love that book!" obviously he thought it was the bible but little did he know it was the book of mormon and that is actually is a great book! well he drove away before we could say anything but i just love the south and that something like that is not out of the ordinary!

met some lady who legit had a PET ALLIGATOR. like one that lived in her house. had a t-shirt on it and everything. it was still a baby but like at least 4ft. long, and that was only a baby! we asked if she was going to keep it a house pet like even when it got big and she was like of course..why wouldn't i?? like that was the dumbest question we ever asked hahah. we were like oh okay..aren't you scared it'll eat you or attack you?? and shes all like, nope you just dont go near it after 5. like yup okay smart choice.

had a man stop us in the mall to ask us if we were married and when we told him no, he responded with thats good, cause were all married to Jesus. i dont think any of us said anything for at least a solid 10 seconds. like what the heck??? people here are so interesting i love them so much

had a member feed us steak this week. i mean blessings from on high!!! thank you sister tola!!

we have been helping this cute older couple with their family history and this past thursday they surprised us with a pizza party! how cute is that! so after eating all the pizza we could and doing some family history we went to go shake the man's hand (who has dementia and sometimes forgets things) and he tried to kiss sister humphreyson the nose! it was the cutest and funniest thing ever! thankfully his wife quickly ran over and saved sister humphreys but man we all did get a good laugh out of it!

taught a lesson to our investigator melvin yesterday and when he asked us how we get paid, the member that went with us told him that we don't get paid and actually pay to come on our missions. melvin was so taken aback for a second and then quickly pulled out his wallet and started to hand each of us $100 bills. we were so shocked we didn't know what to do hahah but thankfully the member stepped in and said "oh no they can't accept money either" which made melvin really sad, but we couldn't help but just laugh that this man had so quickly pulled out his wallet and was trying to give us cash. well instead he gave us a bag of chips and we gladly accepted. fast sundayblessings am i right?!

saw a quote on lds.org that said, "when you reach for the Sacrament, you reach for the Savior" and i just love that. 

i love yall and hope that you have a blessed week!!

love always,

sister kennedy

MOMMM THE BOOK CLUB IS HERE!...July 31, 2017...week 43

hey yall! You know it's been a good week when you don't know which line to put as your weekly title because they're all just so good!

well first things first Olivia came to church YAY!!! and absolutely loved it! we still aren't able to set a bap date due to extended family that doesn't want her to be baptized but oh well! she loves the gospel and everything about it and can't wait for the day she actually gets to be baptized! she talks all about "when i get baptized..." and i love it. ahh i love her so much!

we had our third lesson with johnny (the 12 year old boy of the part member family) and he is getting ready for his baptism on august 12th! we are so excited for him and for what this will mean for him! we were able to have 2 of his member friends there and i think that helped so much. so grateful for this ward and for their willingness to do missionary work.

we also had a lesson with this man named melvin and we were able to bring Brother Stewart along with us. they both served in the army for 20+ years and hit it off right away. it was really cool too because bro stewart is a convert of 14 years+/- and so he was able to talk to melvin about that journey that he went through and how its very similar with he one melvin is going through right now. it was there that we found out that brother stewart got a copy of the Book of Mormon form the missionaries and 4 days later had read the whole thing. 531 pages and all. like what?! he just knew it was true from the moment he read it and couldn't put it down. brother stewart is awesome!!

had tacos at the Andersons for dinner one night and guess what hot sauce they pulled out. tapitio. i swear probably the only people in alabama who even knows what it is! it's the little things yall.

was teaching this man who told us the funniest story! he told us how he walked into work and said to this lady "good morning how are you doin today?" in which she responded, "great! I am just so blessed! how about you?" in which he responded, " im great too! the Lord has just blessed me abundantly!" to which she got this super mad look on her face and responded in a sassy way, "why you think you more blessed than i am?!? hmm?? do you think you better than me or somethin??" this man was so taken aback he said he just walked away. all of us were dyin listening to this story. only in the south yall only in the south...

store contacting in walmart and heard over the loudspeaker, "JOSEPH SMITH TO THIS AREA. I REPEAT JOSEPH SMITH TO THIS AREA" i mean is that not a sign to join the mormon church or what?!? i mean when you here the prophet's name at walmart it has to mean that it's all true. it has to.

hit my 10 month mark on friday. man that's weird. only 8 left. that's sad. anyway moving on we got krispy kreme to celebrate so it wouldn't be too sad so yay for a dozen donuts from the best place ever (besides buttercream of course! if anyone knows how and would like to send me a custard filled maple bar with bacon on top from there, feel free to. im just sayin)but ya got donuts from krispy kreme and its like i could almost here blake in the background going "you should get another dozen just for me!" 

knocked on a door, they answered and quickly said "no thank you we believe in the true gospel" *slams the door* literally i cant help but laugh so hard when door slams occur like this! 

we've been teaching this one lady named louvenia and she has the CUTEST daughter ever! shes about 5 and every time we come over she answers the door (oh her name is zekorea by the way! like how cute is that!! her mom really like the name korea but wanted to add a little somethin more to it and so from thence comes the name zekorea)  but yes! every time we come by she answers the door and yells up the stairs "MOMMM THE BOOK CLUB IS HEREEE!" ahh i just love it every time! if and i do say so myself, i think our book club is the best.

Jesus is the Living Christ! The Book of Mormon is true! His gospel is restored on the earth! How grateful am i for this knowledge!! fun video to watch for the day or for FHE! The description for this video goes : Don’t let the whirlwinds drag you down. These are your days—to stand strong as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzWXSz9hlxw

i hope yall have a blessed week, not blessed too abundantly, but blessed just enough. we wouldn't want to make anyone mad or anything!

love always,

sister kennedy

y'all wanna come in for bible study??...July 24, 2017...week42

why hello everybody!! *michael scott voice*

i hope this week was as good for yall as it was for me! i know this week was full of funny moments that had me dying laughing and yet i just can't seem to rmember them and ugh that's frustrating. im gonna have to start writing them down during the week.

well i know one thing for sure and that is the humidity is coming in strong. so. much. fun. i just LOVE sweating the very second we step outside. ohh gotta love the south. i mena it's not horrible but im pretty sure its going to get worse and then it will be so I'll keep yall updated on how things go!

we went tracting a ton this week which i guess is normal but the heat just makes it DRAG on. but that's okay we have this thing where we try to see who can look the best before they open the door because we all know we be lookin SO rough. like sweaty hair stuck to face, makeup underneath our eyes rough. it keeps us laughing and makes tracting bearable

went on an exchange this week with sister madsen. blessings from on high! it was so fun and i had a great time! went tracting and got some sprite form this family so we legit were just tracting going door to door with opened sodas in our hands but i think the best part of the night was when we got invited in for a bible study. the man opened the door, saw that we were missionaries and said "hey yall wanna come in were having a bible study??" and sister madsen and i got all excited and started saying ya we'd love to as were taking steps into this person's house but little did we know that he wasn't finished with his sentence. so in all he actually said "hey yall wanna come in were having a bible study *let us walk forward a bit to come inside* JUST KIDDING! *slammed the door in our face and turned off the porch lights all in the same moment* quite impressive if i do say so myself. best door slam ive ever gotten. sister madsen and i just sat there in the dark (it was like 8:30pm) not knowing what just happened. we just turned around laughed it off and enjoyed our sprites. funniest thing ever.

do yall remember cute little olivia that went to girls camp?? well this past week we got to sit down in her home and teach her the restoration lesson and she LOVEd it. the spirit was SO strong, probably one of the strongest times i've ever felt teaching the restoration and when we were describing what the Spirit feels like, she stopped us and said, " I think I'm feeling that right now. Yes I feel that." like so cute! ahh i love that girl!

pioneer day is today and so we had a fun zone activity in BHAM and got to watch 17 miracles. blessings from on high! also we had the best sunday yesterday! we sang with our 8 person choir in church yesterday and then got to hang out in primary and help them with their pioneer activities! got to wear bonnets and everything! gotta love mormon culture.

well i hope yall have a blessed week and if you ever get the chance to, watch 17 miracels. is a great movie about the pioneers. it sounds weird but its amazing and powerful and i just love it!!

love always,

sister kennedy

it was ice cream from the Lord...July 17, 2017...week 41

hey you guys! is it bad that saying you guys sounds weird to me and im not even saying it out loud. im literally just saying it in my head and its weird. oh gosh i've been here too long. jk i love the south and i love saying yall and im going to try my hardest to get everyone back home to say it on a regular basis within a month. wish me luck

this week was a great one! we we're able to teach a lot of lessons, meet a lot of people, and hand out a TON of Book of Mormons, which is like my favorite thing ever. we have a lot of great people that we are working with and we are excited to see how the gospel will bless their lives.

update on our cute little 8 yr old lexi! she will be baptized not this saturday but next and we are so so so excited for her!!

got to go up to Madison this week for zone conference and i absolutely LOVED it. it was exactly what i needed and honestly a turning point i feel for me. i am grateful for President and Sister Sainsbury and all the hard work they do and i just love them so much!!

plus we got to spend the night in madison since it was about 3 hours away and guess whose place i got to spend the night at?!?!? sis willy's!! ahh i've missed that girl. tender mercies from the Lord.

went tracting a lot this week and one night we were knocking doors at about 8:45pm and no one was answering and we were just about to head back to the apartment but decided to knock just a couple more till we had to go in. the very next door we knocked was on nancy's carport side door (because the front door had been covered with a hug spiderweb which occupied a huge spider. thank you but no thank you.) well she opened it right away because she was eating some ice cream for a late night snack in the kitchen. it was approximately still 80 degrees outside and so seeing us looking rough and sweaty she let us come in right away and have some ice cream with her. i mean can you say miracle or what?? it's the little things yall! anyone who knows me knows that i LOVE ice cream and i had just vowed to not eat it for a month but you guys. but i was craving some ice cream real bad and when someone offers you something you don't say no. and the Lord knew of this rule of politeness we have and so He knew i would have to eat it and so really all in all it was just a huge blessing. God is good yall. plus we got to introduce nancy to the Book of Mormon and she just loved it! we're going back to see her soon and i'll keep yall updated!

we got a call this past week from a member that is from alaska visiting his father and step-mom here in alabama. well he felt impressed to give them both a blessing due to some health problems that his dad was facing and so we were able to help get that all  in order for him with priesthood members form the ward here in anniston. we were actually able to sit in on those blessings and it was probably one of the most powerful moments on my mission. I am so grateful that the priesthood authority of God has been restored to this earth and that you can see His power in simple blessings of comfort given to those in need and healing blessings given to the sick. it truly is a gift that we are able to have this priesthood in our own homes. well after that beautiful experience we all shared together we are now buddies with Judy and Sam, his parents. He has gone back to alaska and so we've decided to start hanging out with them! they are so cute and we have plans to go back and play some games with them. ahh i love them already!!

trio life is fun as always! we are just having a party!! sister humphreys showed us the other night some really intense karate moves and had both sister pond and i pinned to the ground. yall she is tiny but mighty!! 

well i think that's about it for this week! i came across this video about service this past week and i think this has become my new favorite mormon message ever!! and that is saying something! just take 10 min out of your day, i know i know it's long but it is SO worth it!! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAuqdPWTGLI

well i love yall! have blessed week!  feed the missionaries, share the gospel, read the book of mormon! (i feel like those should be the new go to answers in church. im gonna make it happen!)

alright bye!!

love, sister kennedy

"i'd be honored to me you"...July 10, 2017...week 40

first off happy 4th yall! i hope that you guys had a fun day and that it was filled with fireworks! i know mine was. we went to the lake right by our house talked to the ten million people that were there. at one point this boy named alex came up to us and asked us what we were doing and so we told him. at first we were a little hesitant but then saw his real intentions and ended up teaching him the restoration with pre-show fireworks going off in the background and everything. he gladly accepted the Book of Mormon and was so excited that there was another book of scripture. probably one of the funnest first lessons i have ever taught!

we had our last lesson with our cute little 9 yr olds and they are just the sweetest! we were able to teach them all the lessons within about a week so that was fun being able to see them everyday! we came one day and they had made us all this jewelry and so we gladly put it all on right then and there and then wore it for all our other lessons with them and promised we would wear them at their baptism! Celeste, one of the girls said that as she was praying to Heavenly Father the night before she told Him "I'd be honored to me You." is that not just the cutest thing you ever did hear? oh my heart!!

a sister from our ward had us come over and learn how to make and can salsa using tomatoes straight from her garden. it was so fun and definitely a learning experience! i can now say i know how to somewhat can food so if ever need help just ask me and id be happy to get you in contact with someone who actually knows what they are doing!

there was a family owned BBQ food truck at the 4th of July celebration at the lake and all the family was sitting outside the truck. we quickly learned their story and became homies and man i just love the south. as we were leaving they were all like come on girls looks like yall need hugs bring it in!! and then we went around getting hugs from everyone at the truck! did i say that i love the south?!? because i do!

drew the Plan of Salvation in the park near  our house! that was fun felt like a little kid again!!

met this man named aaron yesterday at church visiting from NY. he is a recovered alcholic and drug addict and has just about the coolest story ever. he's been clean for quite some time and now has the cutest little family that is strong in the gospel. and he owes it all to that. this gospel and finding Christ. he gave us the best advice on what to say to someone when you see them struggling to try to get clean. " i love you" and i know that we hear it all the time but hearing it from him was something special and more meaningful knowing how much of an impact those words can have. 

in the spirit of it being the 4th i want to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon that prophesies about the land it takes place on. aka the americas cause you know the Book of Mormon takes place int h ancient americas starting around 600bc anyways:

Mosiah 29: 32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land.

i am grateful for this gospel and for the knowledge I have of my Savior. and i am grateful for this free land to be able to tell others of this knowledge freely. i know that freedom isn't free and so I am grateful to those who sacrifice so that we may continue to have this right! i hope yall have a blessed week!!

love always,

sister kennedy

what day is it?!? HUMP DAY...July 3, 2017...week 39

*mrs. doubtfire's voice* why HEllloooooooooo. sorry just felt like shaking things up for todays hello. and legit when typing that i just wrote sister doubtfire. gosh i am such a missionary.... anyways heres my week for yall. sorry for wasting 10 seconds of your life with that weird intro

went on a hike on monday and got stung by a sweat bee. was fine all day until the next morning i woke up and my eye was swelled shut. got better throughout the day but was still a little swollen at transfers ughh.  oh well it made just about everyone we see laugh so at least it brightened up their day i guess.

got the glorious news that because theres gonna be a trio we couldnt fit in our old apartment so we got to leave that place and go to new apartment HALLELUJER legit almost cried when i got the news. so tuesday we spent all day packing and moving homes and saying goodbye to everyone. it was quite the day.

had to go to transfers because sister durbin left ughhh miss that girl but got my new companions sister pond and sister humphreys. seriously the cutest girls ever!! this is gonna be a fun transfer for sure. and the new apartment definitely helps with that one. guys i can actually sleep through the night with the lights off. it is amazing. didn't realize how sleep deprive i was because of hat place but this last week it hit me and man im exhausted but oh well. i guess well just keep on keeping on.

met a lady that told us how she was saved from the streets from doing 20 years of crack and prostitution and never once got aids so blessings. one way to look on the bright side of things in life am i right?? she then proceeded to pray for us and even slipped in a little speakin in tongues.

had a little kid yell out in Sacrament "no! i want another cup because im still thirsty!!!" hahah kid just keepin it real

had a man give us some great advice at the amazing hobby lobby(like the best store in the entire world) he said, 'being a good Christian is not just refraining from sin, it's being like Jesus." i love the south!

teaching this little 9 yr old girl named Lexi who is picking between two baptism dates for this month! we are so excited for her and she is just the cutest thing ever! all during Sacrament Meeting yesterday she would turn around and wave and smile to us. cutest thing ever!

also teaching this lady named Crystal! she has the sweetest spirit and im am so grateful that we are able to teach her. she is a seeker of truth and is very interested in the Mormon church. she told us "you know i was raised southern baptist so this will be a little bit of a change but im excited" and then at our lesson she asked if we wanted anything top drink "water? lemonade? sweet tea?" and then stopped herself and said "Oh wait. do WE drink sweet tea?" ahh i just love her and am so excited to keep working with her and her husband Sam!

WOAHHHHHHH HALFWAY THEREEEEE WOAHHHHH LIVIN ON A PRAYER!!!!! yall i hit my 9 month mark on wednesday and it's a little strange to think about. halfway done. a little sad, a little confused that it's gone by so fast, and a little concerned that i still have 9 months left. im just kidding really i think im just pushing it out of my mind so i don;t have to actually think about how one day i won't be on my mission because that is just a little too much to think about at the moment. i am so grateful or the experiences i have had so far on my mission and i will treasure them always. heres to 9 more months!!  here's on of my favorite scriptures at the moment to celebrate!! Ether 12:11 " Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled." I know that this gospel is the more excellent way and I am so grateful for that. The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I am grateful for this knowledge and I hope that yall have a blessed week!

love always,

sister kennedy

family (sized tator tots) can be together forever...June 26, 2017...week 38

hello hello hello!!

this week was a fun one! we laughed so much! man i have just loved serving with sister durbin. sadly we got the call on saturday night telling us that she will be leaving. ughhhhh but that's okay because she will be headed to my one of my favorite spots EVER alex city!!!! (glenns take care of her for me!!) i KNOW she is going to love serving there! i got the news that instead of having a new companion i will be getting 2! so i will now be a trio! im super excited and feel like it'll just be a party the whole time! still dont know how were going to fit 3 beds in our "house" so we will see. praying our housing coordinator is just like "okay ill move yall"... a girl can dream.

we have had so many solid investigators just appear from out of nowhere and we have really been able to see how God truly does prepare people. literally had 4 different people come up to us and say i want you to teach me! 3 of them are 9 yr olds and the other an adult form a part member family! we are SO excited to start teaching them!! literally  miracle after miracle i swear.

at a member meal and ask the little kids if they've seen spongebob and the family goes not we dont watch this show. so me being the smart person i am goes "really? not even the movie?? you know the one that goes (and proceeds to sing) *im a goofy goober ya you're a goofy...goo...ber??..." DEAD SILENCE YALL the mom just looked at the grandma the grandma just looked at the mom and i swear you could hear a pin drop. thank goodness sis durbin broke the ice just cracking up which got everyone to start laughing cause it was just so dang awkward. moral of the story dont sing spongebob songs at member meals.

currently have 5 dead cockroaches just laying around our house cause were too lazy to clean them up after all the effort we put into killing them. i know were gross. sue us. 

got to bring Olivia, our cute little investigator to a fireside last night in Birmingham which Brother Holmes, the General Young Men President over all the church spoke at! it was so cool and super inspiring! his whole discussion was about asking God questions and how to receive answers! like perfect for someone who is praying to ask God if the church is true! he saw that us a s missionaries were there and came right up to us after wards and said, "where is the person you are with here tonight? i want to meet them" He then went out of his way to meet olivia and talk to her and she was just awe-struck! she just kept saying "this person just shook m hand and he talks to the prophet face to face!!!" shes a cutie!!

also since it was a fireside I got to see some of my favorite families form columbiana there!! got to say hi to the sadlers and the thompsons! oh how ive missed those people! yall you literally leave a little piece of your heart in every place you serve. sounds cheesy but its true so oh well.

saturday night a cockroach flew into my bed and after jumping into sister durbins bed it flew onto her covers. after we got enough courage to run out we chased that flying demon around our room for 20 min before we killed it. its guts are still over our carpet as a sign to all the other ones to not mess with us. were so over this. im even over talking about them every week and yet the fear is still so real ughhh. that night we only ended getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep before we had to get up and go speak in church. we were zombies! but our talks went well so i say thats a success for us!

blew all what was left of our money this week of roach spray and family sized tator tots from sonic so i would say money well spent. 

sister durbin showed me this video this week and i absolutely LOVE it. it's sad but the faith she truly has in her Savior is the most beautiful thing.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zmIibuu22c

have a blessed week!

love sister kennedy

when lightening strikes...June 19, 2017...week 37

hey yall!

sorry for no weekly last week. we went hiking and afterwards tried to e-mail but the computer we were using stopped working :( so here is a quick recap of what i was going to send last week:

jasmine a cute teen in our ward went out with us to go teach some people and it was SO MUCH FUN! she is so cute and has an awesome testimony and is preparing to go on a mission after high school so it was fun to kind of show her the ropes a bit!

got to spend a lot of time with members this week whether it was on team ups or dinner appt and i just loved it! i love this ward they are all so cute and nice and amazing! we were talking with this dude whose been a member for the last 10 years so kind of recent and my favorite line of the night was when he said, " oh no you have to quit drinking tea. you only get eternal life in return. you poor thing." hahah

found the biggest cockroach yet in our bathroom and then we LOST IT. so we pent the next 30 min getting decked out with the essentials and went back into the trap until we found it and killed it. i will say we are getting pretty good at this roach thing. gross

there was a cloud that looked like a floating mountain so of course i took a picture of it

found a cute sign on a  tree so of course we had a photo shoot with it

there was a pretty sunset last night

i needed a change so i chopped off my hair. oh well it'll grow back

had interviews with president yesterday. man this transfer went by fast.

looked our keys in the car in a sketch part of town at night. props to sis ken. but by some miracle the front door that had been totally locked, magically opened and we were saved. God is good yall.

lately idk yall but i can't talk for junk! i trip over my words and just can't say what i'm thinking and it's kind of frustrating when the one thing you do all day everyday is talk to people. sis durbin thinks i need to start doing language study every morning. for english. lol. oh well i just keep thinking in my head, "Exodus4:10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent... but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." which helps me to laugh it off and just keep trying to not say made up words. pray for me.

so i guess that wasn't that short of a recap oh well! well here's what happened this week:

so like i said we went hiking with our district and sister anderson up in cheaha, a really cool hiking spot here in alabama! and we went up to this super old chapel in the middle of the forest which was pretty cool! well off in the distance we heard thunder and after seeing the church we were all hanging around outside it when we were joking about "what if we got struck by lightning blah blah blah" and all that dumb stuff just making up scenarios with each other. After that conversation got done with, an Elder pulled an Uncle Rico and said "watch how far i can throw this rock!" so he throws it and i kid you not when the rock hit the ground, 25 ft. away LIGHTNING STRUCK! it was the loudest thing of our entire lives and lasted for what seemed like forever. we just all ran around not knowing where to run to and just kind of in a shock just not knowing what to do. after we stopped running around like maniacs we all just went back into the church and sat there for like 5 minutes in silence. we then decided that we should leave so we said a prayer and headed on out. nothing much happened after that but man still crazy to think about. the fact that it didnt hit one of us or a tree that would've splintered off is a miracle for sure. God is good yall.

the Book of Mormon play is coming to Birmingham next transfer so that's gonna make for some fun stuff... if you couldn't tell that was the most sarcastic thing of my entire life. ughh.

on thursday night we stopped by the church to enter some missionary info and went back outside to our car and realized i left the keys inside the church, inside the family history library. ugh. so we went to go call someone and realized sister durbin left the phone in the car. which was locked. so it's dark now and we went all around the church trying to find an open window, but man they lock these places up good. so we proceeded to go tracting, door to door, until we found someone who would let us use their phone! thankfully it didn't take too long but man what a day.

oh and did i mention i got a huge chunk of bird poop on my hand while trying to open a window? no? okay just thought i should make it known.

had a man in his talk during sacrament tell the ward how this mormon dude on the radio who probably had a better testimony that the missionaries *as he gestures to us* like what?? hahah

well it might not be better than the dude on the radio but it's my own testimony and that's what matters. i know this church is true. i know that Christ lives and is at the head of His church. The book of Mormon is the word of God, alongside the Bible. Never does one replace the other and i know that is the way God intended it to be. I feel it deep within me that this is what is right and I'm grateful to be out here helping others find this out for themselves. If you'd ever be interested to know for yourself, just ask a member or a missionary. i promise you that if you ask God for yourself, He will make it known to you. and that is not i promise i make lightly. *james 1:5-6*

okay well i hope yall have a blessed week and stay safe! try not to get stuck by lightning!

love always

sister kennedy