The Dead Possum Says Hi...Week 5...November 7, 2016

hello everyone!!

what.a.week! I guess I'll just start with the best news ever! Techel'le has a Baptism Date!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!! November 26th! So excited for her! Sister Terry had me extend (invite) the Baptism Date, which is super nerve wracking because normally they respond with 10 million things about how their not ready, but she responded with, "I'm glad y'all picked a day! Okay one second! Im gonna put that in my calendar." Sistah terry and I were like *jaws dropped* did that just happen?!? Honestly, so prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel! My favorite thing she said was, "You know, I don't want to just go to another church but I'm ready to just Be a better person, and I feel like that's what this gospel can give me." Like hello perfect Mormon in the making! Only thing we're nervous about is when we do we tell her, that we don't e necessarily clap during our prayers... lol i love it though! And I love her!! Ahhh i know she is going to be filled with so much joy!!

Probably the thing that got Sistah Terry and myself down a little was that for 3 days straight every single appt. was cancelled on us, either in the morning or 5 min before. Ahh only frustrating because then we didn't get to teach these wonderful truths that have been restored to this earth. instead we're driving around from one place to another, just to get cancelled on or no one to be home. We are even doing this one door rule where we knock on a door until someone answers, so that at least we've talked to one house, but like whole neighborhoods wouldn't be home.  a little frustrating but's all good, because all those doors that weren't answered were made up for the one that was on Saturday! Didn't want to hear a word we had to said but in the end, accepted a BoM and wanted to read it and pray about it and we have a appt. next week to teach her about Jesus Christ's church here on the Earth today. Yay! 

Tuesday was Sister Terry's birthday!! the big 20! We had a good day! Started with pancakes and going door to door and then her getting taken to the ground by a very playful dog to hearing our first gunshot. So yup! It was quite the day! Actually I got a video of sister terry and the dog and it was hilarious!!! hahaah so funny!

Also, we went full missionary and rode our bikes all day wednesday! it was awesome! it was even more awesome because that was the day we biked like for about an hour for not one person in the whole neighborhood to answer their door! lol! and the whole time we would see anyone they would just point and follow us with their finger and say MOrmons! like the bikes made it so much more obvious than every other day with the name tag i guess! hahah and then again, sister terry got chased by a dog on her bike hahah sadly didn't get a video of that one but it sure was funny!

Funny things that have happened:

1. I was backing Sister Terry up one the side of the road and look down and my foot wearing the shoe with holes in it was right up against a dead possum on the side of the road! thankfully i didn't step on it #blessed. but i did scream and jump into the car. It was so funny! (mission rules is when backing up in a car, the person not driving has to stand outside to back them up so they don't hit anything! also she was wearing sandal type shoes that are braided...not holey!)

2. An old lady and her grandson opened the door. she tried to close it on us, but the young boy fought her the whole time saying no i wanna talk with them. while she was telling us about how she doesn't want to hear about jehovahs witnesses she was trying to prop herself up enough to grab the door handle, her grandson just kept pulling it out of reach long enough for us to share a quick scripture. #blessed

3. Sister terry and I made Fried Chicken on Saturday!!! Wondered why the oil wouldn't boil on its own and then it started smoking so badly we had to fan the house and specifically the smoke alarm for the next 15 min. our eyes burned for the rest of the night, but the chicken tasted great, and our house didn't catch on fire! #blessed

Kaia was afraid of getting oil splattered on her so she bundled up!
They were so lucky they didn't have a grease fire.

We chatted via email that they really fell short of the famous Smoke Open Fire fried chicken!

4. We were given the following food items from just stopping by 2 houses : a plastic walmart bag full of candy, a big mason jar full of minestrone soup, a jar of homemade jam, 2 boxes of velvetta mac n cheese, a tomato, 2 packets of cheese crackers, a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread, leftover pumpkin pie, a tub of cool whip, 4 hard boiled eggs, 2 bags of popcorn balls, 2 reuban sandwiches, and a whole lotta love! Man i love the south! #blessed

Same dinner....different night! 

5. When Sister Terry asked Auburn fans where they got their cute Auburn shirts, so she could try to find it but with Bama instead and we weren't killed! #blessed

6. The lovely family, The Hills, had us over for dinner and I had my first hushpuppy and fried catfish! Soo good! Love that family! 

This week my scripture was Ether 12:4 found in the BoM. 

 4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

It talks about hope anchoring the soul. really kept me going this week! I invite y'all to read all of Ether Chapter 12 and tell me what stood out to you!!

Her study space is getting decorated slowly but surely!

love y'all so much and hope y'all have a blessed week!

coming atchya live from alex city, it's been real!

love always,

sister kennedy

    

"now let me tell you about MY Jesus"...Week 4...October 31, 2016

*sorry for all the grammatical errors ahead of time* 

hello hello hello!!!

Probs going to be shorter email cause not as much time! sorry missionary life...but it's cool!

Let's get right into it! We have this one investigator who is so prepared for the gospel its INSANE! last monday we had a lesson at her house and she was all like "are y'all mormon?" and we were like...."uh ya?" hoping she didn't flip out on us (cause that's what happens a lot) and she was all like "how do you become a mormon? i think i want to be a mormon." Sistah Terry (that's what i call her now...my companion) and i were like freaking out on the inside cause you know, gotta keep our cool in front of the 'gators. and we were like "ya totally um so all you have to is be baptized and a couple of other stuff and she was super accepting and last night she committed to baptism YAYAYAYAYA! sistah terry and i really started to freak out at that one! Man such a  highlight of the week. knowing that someone is coming closer to Jesus Christ. Just wow. Such an adrenaline rush. not even kidding. But so so so awesome i am so excited for her because i KNOW that this gospel can bring so much happiness and joy into one's life! man the gospel is so good! 

that whole experience kind of made up for the rest of the week. we had 2 families, yes that's right i said families, that were about to turn into a progressive investigators, which is like a baptism date and instead we had a 'drop talk' with them, which essentially means they said stuff and won't agree to follow up on the commitments we've asked them to do. also a lot of thought goes into it, so don't think we just drop them randomly, but so so so heartbreaking to see them so close to accepting the gospel and reject it at the last minute. it honestly breaks your heart seeing them turn away from it. ugh still sad to this day but then I think of Techel'le, the one getting baptized, and it makes it all worth it!!

Best excuses of the week:

we normally start it with "hi we're the sister missionaries, would you like to hear a scripture about Jesus Christ" And here are their responses:

- I've already been saved but thank you very much. door closed.

- okay and i'll share a scripture from my bible as well afterwards. smiles. 

- okay but then I'll tell you about MY Jesus. (cause you know they're different...not)

- No not right now, I'm busy *eating a bag of chips just sitting on the porch* haha that was a good one.

- nah I don't feel too well right now. "oh okay could we come back when you feel better??" nah I never feel good. *sitting on the porch and just avoids eye contact until we leave* haha

so that is what it looks like tracting (walking around neighborhoods contacting people and teaching about Jesus) the new area we been tracting. really fun! but nah i really do love it soooooo much!!! wasn't able to do as much service as we like this week due to exchanges and so that means that we exchanged companions for the night and i spent the night in Millbrook with one of the STL's (a training sister) and that was so much fun!! I was really excited because i knew we would go to a member's house for dinner (yay! real food! real dinner!) and got there and we had 1 grilled cheese for dinner lol! but's it all good because it was made with love! (that's what i call it when it's burnt on one side!) just made me love Alex City so much more!!! but that was really fun!

Funny Thing that happened yesterday! We got locked out of our house! I locked the door from the inside turned to sistah terry and asked if she had the keys and she went uhh no i thought you had them. and we both just kind of hung our heads like oh no what did we just do. so for the next 20 mins. instead of praying, our mistake, we broke into our house (which was a little too easy if i do say so myself) I ended up crawling through a window, in a church dress too, and unlocked the door from the inside. (kind of broke the lock on the window so it's even easier to break into our house now buts its all good, cause we got a picture of Jesus on the front door, so we protected) and sistah terry comes into the house and goes, did you just hand me the keys and i was all like no. and she was all like, " cause i just found them ion my pocket" hahaahahah she had them the WHOLE time! But it's all good got us laughing!

Also had our halloween branch party (church group in the area) last night and we had a great turnout! i think we had 10 kids!!! yay! sistah terry and i did a cake walk for them and it took about 5 min for everyone to win. it was so cute i loved it and love them!! just the whole party was different but it was so cute and so Alex City!! We had like 10 homemade pies to choose from and wow, just wow, sooooo good!!! oh and by the way HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! so exciting! the only reason it feels like the holiday is because we don't go tracting today so that's different. actually we're advised to stay at a member's house for the evening, which I'm glad about because there has been all this talk through the town about clowns and people recreating the Purge. idk but everyone is warning us. even little girls in walmart came up to us today to warn us about it and tell us thats why they're not going trick or treating. Y'all pray for us! and Alex City! but its cool its cool!

i had a real personal moment this week after one of the drop talks and thought of how inadequate i am to be a missionary, but sisah terry has my back and totally took care of me. love her and all the things she does for me. and don't worry all good now because We are Steadfast in Christ! and can do all things through HIM.

well thats all the time i have, i invite y'all to read mosiah 24:13-14. 

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

helped me through this week and im sure it can help you in yours!!

love love love you all so much and hope you have a safe and happy halloween!!

love,

sister kennedy

April here...I'm posting notes on pictures she sent for y'all!

there's our cute girl!! 

Their typical dinner they cook for themselves most nights!

Branch (church) halloween party below. 

I think they have about 30 people in their Church branch. In Napa we have about 175 that attend our 10:00 meeting each week. We feed the missionaries in our area every night at a different member's house. It makes sense now why Kaia and her companion are feeding themselves most nights. Only 30 members can't even begin to try to feed them every night! In my next box to her...I'm sending canned food to make easy dinners. haha. 

Sister Terry's birthday was last week. 

So was Kaia's one month anniversary in the mission field.

They went out for sushi.

Looks super good!
I'm impressed....Alex City. 

Y'ALL HAVE A BLESSED DAY!....WEEK 3....OCTOBER 24, 2016

hello everyone!!

well i'm finally in the mission field which means my p-days from here on out will always be on monday! makes coming back to work after the weekend just a little bit easier. you're welcome! but ya honestly sooooo much has happened since i last emailed all y'all. yup already saying that and i haven't even been here a week. here we go:

the sunday before we left the mtc was a good day but a tough goodbye. we said goodbye to our teachers the day before and now we were saying goodbye to our district. someone had sent us some sparkling cider (thx mom) and so we celebrated with that the last night. we all said some sappy stuff but we meant it which means that it was a tough goodbye. man i love those people!! Gonna miss sister winter saying, "man, what a time to be alive." and I would respond with a song from Hamilton, "Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now!" that was for sure our motto at the mtc!! gonna miss singing and dancing and spinning to that!

After that the sisters and I went to go pack and we did so until about 1:30am and then woke up about an hour later to get ready lol. so at 3:30am we were at the curbside ready to be picked up by our super nice luxury bus. (thank you mtc) and headed off to the airport. got to call home (yay!) and then was off! ahhh! Next thing I know after a layover and another really sketchy flight with a TON of turbulence (People were like bouncing around in their seats and like jolting sideways. great first flight for sister winter to experience lol) we were in BAMA. Were headed down the escalator and look who's at the bottom, President and Sister Sainsbury! That was pretty special. Aww I just love them already!! Sis. Gilbert, Winter and I got to ride in their car on the way back and got to know them better and ahh just love them! But ya made it to the mission home and walked in the door and the smell of food hit me like a wall. ugh soooo good. wasn't southern food but soooo good! they weren't lying when they said the food here is good. but after all that we headed off to our hotel and had our last night of being companions with each other before we were off to different cities with different companions. Next thing we know it's the next morning and we're headed to the church to meet our trainers.

I can't even describe the feelings i had that morning but ya we were all holding hands, so nervous to find out who we're going to be spending the next 6 weeks with. It was a sad day to say goodbye to my beloved sister gilbert. Man I miss that girl.  My name gets called and I'm with.... Sister Terry! She popped right up with his huge smile on her face and I instantly loved her! Plus her outfit was suuuuper cute so that was a plus! After that, we were headed off to our new city drum roll please.... but i mean I'm sure my mom already told y'all..... Alexander City! Better known as Alex City but it's this super cute little town just filled with churches and nice people.

First thing I did in the Field was a feast-of-sharing which is like serving food to everyone and anyone who wants it. It was a great first thing to do in the field. wasn't too scary and i can serve people food all day! so that was nice. We then went to walmart and I said my first y'all in the south. just thought i'd record that somewhere.

the next morning we went tracting a little bit (just door to door) when our appt. fell through and the first door knocked on in the field.... got SLAMMED in our face! haahahahah still can't get over it. Sister Terry said that was the first time that had ever happened. lol just my luck!  

But ya this week has been awesome! It is definitely a foreign country that's for sure. The whole first day i had pretty much no idea what some people were saying. it's a lot of mumbled deep southern accents. but I love this place. it totally ranges where we go in this small little town. we could either be in a super nice neighborhood, our on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere or in the projects. ya i really like going to the projects because everyone there is so humble. We met a super cute couple at the end of the street, last door, (last floor, 4th door, nbd) who let us in right away and now they're progressing investigators! love them! soooo sweet! but ya we went back in that part of town a day after we taught them and heard that there was a shoot out the day before. i guess after we lef...so don't worry we good. we good. but kind of sketchy to hear about. don't worry we only go there before like 1pm. but we are gonna stay away for just a bit because while we were walking out of there we walked past a man just fiddling with a knife in his hand. no big deal. just scared me a ton. but like i said, we good, we good. the spirit really does guide us in everything we do and we know when to be places and when not to be places. please don't worry about it but i wanted to let y'all know cause it was a very big part of my week. (this is kaia's mom chiming in...please pray for her safety and guidance as they serve those in need....as we emailed back and forth on Monday she is in a very rough city and pretty much in the projects most of the time and the people they visit there actually watch them walk as far as they can see them to keep them safe until they can't see them anymore)

ya we've met quite a bit of people and i already love teaching. just being able to spread the gospel is uh-mazing! i want everyone to know how much this gospel can help their lives and bless their families. this past week, too, I wrote down my testimony of the Book of Mormon and want to share it with you guys cause I mean why not?

     

   The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I know it is true. Not because I have this overwhelming confirmation, but because I have peace in my soul and happiness throughout my day, that I don't have when I don't read it. It brings me guidance and a sense of purpose. And it brings me closer to my Savior, which I can feel so strongly. i invite all of you to gain a testimony for yourself as well, to know if what i'm talking about is true or not, by simply reading a Book of Mormon and praying about it to our Heavenly Father if it is true. Just go online and request a BOM from lds.org and you'll be set. I can promise you that your life will be changed for it. 

Last thing before I leave.....Random thoughts!!!

- had my first fried chicken while teaching about the BoM! At a persons house and the husband was cooking it and we all sat and ate and talked about the gospel. I mean how much better can it get?!?!

-bike shop fell through and didn't have my bike there. buts all good cause they gave me a different one and it works i guess lol. we'll see.

- we have our own car since it's just the 2 of us in alex city but trying to ride our bikes more cause you know, physical activity.

- pray at least 10 million times a day and I love it!! y'all should try it sometime!

- everyone smokes cigarettes here, so sister terry and i come home everyday smelling like it. nbd not like we're on a mission or anything. but all's good cause we have showers!

-  i'm in a branch  (which is really small church) and it's so cute! The chapel used to be a small baptist church so ya it's really tiny and I love it!

- so many old ladies here and i love all of them! they just take us right in and awww just love them!

- got cold overnight so only had to deal with the heat like one day! 1 point for sister kennedy!

- it really is beautiful out here!

- sister terry and i made fried rice! yay! go team!

-everyone here says, "y'all have a blessed day. you come back now, ya hear?!" looove that 

My motto for the week! "The Lord doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." So true and I feel that everyday!

love you all so much!!! i see all of you in the people here! I see Brody in the little boys that come to our church. i could go on and on but i think about you all and miss ya!

talk to (email) ya in a week! whether ya like it or not!

love,

sister kennedy 

one final picture at the MTC with Sister Gilbert

 friends for life 

 arrived in BAMA and heading all different directions

Kaia's new companion and trainer, Sister Terry!

Kaia's welcome to her apartment with sweet notes.

inside their apartment 

study area....Kaia needs pictures to put up on her side of the wall!

driving down dirt roads to get to neighborhoods 

 Alex City....gas is $1.99 per gallon!

beautiful countryside

the humble abodes she visits daily...but only before 1pm!

Alive and Well in Alabama! October 19, 2016

Hi mom! 

Just wanted to say I have arrived in my first area and I'm alive and well. Already said my first ya'll! I'm in drumroll please....... Alexander City!!!! (aka Alex City) It's this super cute little town with a lot of projects. There's not even a ward, just a cute branch that's held in this super old, used to be, baptist church! It's so cute! I already love this place and my trainer! Her name is Alyssa Terry from Utah. And I love her! And the members in the branch! Love ya'll so much! Talk (really email) to ya Monday!!

Love always,

Sister Kennedy

1508b Stonehenge Drive

Alex City, AL 35010

Things to send:

Shampoo and Condtioner

7 seconds

a new alarm clock (i left it at the hotel)

a robe

It's Time to be Like Laban....Week Two...October 13, 2016

hello hello hello!

It's Thursday again which means you get to hear from me! Lucky you! Just kidding. Probably already annoyed by my e-mails! But doesn't matter cause I'm still sending them whether you like it or not! So here it goes.

Last week I kind of talked about my district but didn't go into much depth and since most of my stories are about these people I'm hanging out with, I thought I would just tell them to you so you know who they are!

The Elders:

Heading to FLorida, Jacksonville - Elder Willets (from Logan, UT), Elder Neeley (from Conneticut), and Elder Atkin (grom Chico, CA)

Heading to South Carolina, Columbia - Elder Trudeau (from Gilbert, AZ), Elder McArthur (from st. george, UT), and Elder Young (from somewhere in UT).

The Sisters:

Heading to Alabama, Birmingham - Sister Gilbert (from Lehi, UT), Sister Winter (from American Fork, UT) and Sister Haws (from Provo, UT).

So a lot from Utah but it's all good cause we are family. We literally try to hang out 24/7. Especially during our exercise time! We'll all go out and play beach volleyball for the whole time! Everyday we've gone out there, whether it's 2:30 in the afternoon, or 7:00 in the morning. It's pretty cold at that time, but we tough it out as our feet are literally in pain from how cold it is! We're actually so close that we've all gotten a pretty gnarly head cold this past week. It started with Sister Winter and Elder Willets and has made it's way all around the district. #blessed. And playing in the freezing cold probably didn't help that, but oh well! We honestly have so much fun together! 

Funny story time! We were practicing talking to investigators and somehow Elder Neeley had to portray a woman and started throwing a fit because he was too manly for that, which resulted in him pulling a man card out of his wallet. That's right, a real man card, with his name and everything on it. So our teacher Brother Gill, asked if he could see it and the minute he had it in his hand he goes, "There now you don't have one. Be a woman!" That had us all laughing. But what followed was even funnier because then to get it back we wanted him to do a manly thing. SO we made him do 100 push ups with only 4 30 sec. breaks in between. SO for the next 15 mins we proceeded to watch Elder Neeley try to do 100 push ups to get his man card back! lol! and after he sort of finished, Elder Atkin goes, "Well if I can do more than 100, I get your man card." SO then for the next 15 min. we cheered on Elder Atkin while he did 110 pushups. We were all dying, especially Brother Gill! It's was hilarious!

But ya so this week was pretty awesome because at our Tuesday night devotional, Elder David A. Bednar, an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ, came and spoke with us. It was incredible! All the sisters in our district got to be part of the choir that sang to him and the we made it on the big screen!! Which is pretty cool because the devotional was being broadcasted to all the MTC's in the world! Having him in the room was just simply incredible. Here we all are, missionaries of the Lord, testifying of modern day prophets, and he was in the same room as us! Just so cool!! He talked about how he takes notes at General conference and how he uses the words spoken by prophets and applying them into our everyday life, because really they're words given to us by our Heavenly Father who wants us to be happy. SO it was just amazing! No words to describe it!

We had our last lesson with Jacqi and found out that she is a real investigator with a baptism date almost ready, just waiting for her husband to come back from a long business trip so he can be there to witness it. Oh man I love her so much and her sweet spirit is just amazing! At that last lesson we all just bore our testimonies of this gospel we all love so much and told each other how much we appreciated her. It was a tough goodbye, but it's okay because we still see her around the TRC building and she runs up to us to give us a hug and tells us all about what's new in her life! I love her so much!

RANDOM Thoughts:

- Okay honestly, the food here is getting quite frustrating. Because every. single. day. all they have is chicken. It's getting ridiculous! ugh i just want real meat in my life right now! is that too much to ask?!! 

- We sang "God be With You Till We Meet Again" to the sisters in our zone, who left this last monday to their missions and it was just a crazy realization that we all have the same journey ahead os us.

-  We went and did a temple walk on Sunday with about a million missionaries! It was insaaaaane!!! But super cool!

- Me and my district girls all got matching shirts and they're awesome!

- Me and Sister Winter have determined that if Laman and Lemuel were alive today they would probably be drug lords. Just saying. (two brothers from the Book of Mormon)

SPIRITUAL thought:

At the devotional, Elder Bednar said that of course we're listening to the words of the prophets but are we listening to the words that aren't being said? And that just kind of hit me. Are we listening to the spirit when we consciously feel it? Just a thought for you to think about this next week!

But ya almost time to head out of the MTC myself and that is crazy!! (we leave Monday morning at like 3:30am. ahhh!) But ya ready or not Alabama I'm coming for you. As someone once said, "It's time to be like Laban, and head off!" Get it?! (a story from the Book of Mormon when Laban's head gets cut off....great story, great joke too!)

love love love you guys!

Sister Kennedy

Me and My Companion Sister Gilbert

Crazy District Fun

Zone Girls Above
4 Sisters Heading to Alabama Monday Morning

Beautiful Provo Temple

Ready or not...here we come!

Welcome to the MTC...Week One....October 6, 2016

Hello Outside World!!

Wow! What a week!! My companion Sister Gilbert says that at the MTC (Missionary Training Center), days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. So very true! But I have loved every minute of it! As I just stated my companion is Sister Gilbert (she is from Lehi, UT) and I absolutely adore her! When we showed up on the very first day with the same bag we knew it was going to be a great companionship. We both think the same and have the same desires. We also view our time here at the MTC the same way which is nice. We like to be able to have some fun every now and then! So far we've gotten matching water bottles, matching sweatshirts, and 2 matching t-shirts and not even on purpose! We both show up to the register with the same things! Just further proving we are twins hahaha! But speaking of the first day, it was so chaotic. One moment I'm driving around with Janine and Ben and the next thing I know I''m being dropped off at the MTC and running around just trying to follow my host to where i was going. She actually at one point told me to keep up and walk faster, so i did which resulted in getting blisters. Yay! But oh well it's all good! Ahh there is so much I want to tell you guys! Anyway, later that day we were at the meeting with the MTC presidency and they have cameras everywhere to show the kids who are talking in the crowd on bigger tv's all around the seats so everyone can see who's talking. (Yes the room is that big!) And, I was just a little tired from the day of craziness so yes i may have fallen asleep during the interaction talk the president was giving. But don't worry they got revenge on me because I nodded off and when my chin hit my shoulder  I woke up really fast just in time to see it happening seconds later on the delayed big tv screen. Behind me a girl was talking in the crowd and the camera was on us. Yep that happened. Hahaha hopefully that makes sense! So that woke me up for the rest of the night, which was a good thing because it was only 5:30pm at that point! One thing I loved from that day was something an instructor told us. she said, "You have the next 18 months to serve the Lord, but you have the rest of your life to reflect on how you served Him." I loved that so much and it instantly set the mood for my mission. 

Well my district is awesome!! For those of you who don't know...a district is a group of missionaries. Well let's just say a district is like a city and a zone is like a state and a mission is like a country. Make sense? I hope so! But ya my district is amazing! It's barely been a week and we are already family! There are four girls including myself! The sisters names are Sister Gilbert, Sister Winter, and Sister Haws. I love them so much! And I know I keep saying love but I mean it. I love these girls and their spirit so much. (we will all be going to Alabama together!!) They inspire me everyday!! We all room together too which is awesome! Sister Winter and I have the same sense of humor. She can always and I mean always make me laugh. I've laughed so hard until I cried here so many times in this last week I can't even count it! And Sister Haws has the sweetest spirit about her. I love her and the sacredness she brings to the MTC. Let's see what else! Oh right the Elders (the boy missionaries and there are 6 of them....so 10 missionaries in the district)! They are awesome! Took a little time to open up but once they did, we all just clicked perfectly! Fun fact! One of our elders, Elder Young, was born with his fingers webbed so they had to amputate a few, so he only has a thumb and pinkie on one hand and it's awesome! The perfect shaka! He loves that and got everyone to say "do the elder young" and simultaneously we do the shaka! Haha It's awesome! But his sweet spirit often times reminds me of Blake. My district is just amazing! Everyday the sisters or the elders will put up messages to the other group on the white board and it's been so fun doing that! I'll include pictures below of that! They are so much fun!

Okay meeting time! So general conference was incredible. I have never felt the spirit more strongly than when we all stood for when President Monson walked into the room. But in my journal I've written that phrase a lot, because somehow the spirit just gets stronger and stronger everyday I'm here. More times than others, but wow. You don't believe it until you experience it! But ya general conference (a bi-annual general conference we all watch on TV where ever we are in the world) was ah-mazing and all about missionary work! The whole first saturday session was the first lesson we teach investigators! God loves us - gospel blesses families- living prophet- Jesus Christ- Joseph Smith - Book of Mormon- Holy Ghost. We all love that! But even more amazing was afternoon session with the MTC choir! Chills through the whole thing! Please everyone watch when the MTC choir sings "the first vision" and tell me you don't get chills (click to watch). When the man at the very beginning of conference said that that the MTC choir would be providing the music, everyone started cheering. It was so cool! And then went they started singing, hands started shooting up and pointing to friends in the choir. I loved that. Also when we sang "Called to Serve" wow. Just wow. And Sunday conference was just as amazing! Too many great parts to count! I love what David A. Bednar, an apostle, said. "Do you believe what you know?" I'll let you think about that one for yourself! Following that session, we got a music devotional from Vocal Point, an a cappella BYU group, and they were awesome! And following that on Tuesday we got another devotional from Linda K. Burton and her husband here at the MTC! Her granddaughter is here so that was pretty special to hear from her! A lot was said that night was about the mantle we are given as missionaries that come with the missionary name tag. That here are these huge shoes we are trying to fill and feel so inadequate to do so. But slowly and surely we start to feel that mantle of Jesus Christ we are given and that's when we know we've become a missionary. But what happen's when at the end of your mission, your mantle is taken from you? You're only left with what you've become in those last 18 months and I just loved that perspective of it! After her devotional we met as a district to talk about it but it quickly turned into one of the most powerful testimony meetings I have ever been a part of. I will never forget that night and the spirit that was so very present in that small little room at the MTC. Honestly this place just feels like a little piece of heaven! 

Sister Gilbert and I taught our first investigator while in the MTC and her name is Jaqui, This cute little old lady from the south, and we adore her. At the very first meeting we just clicked on something very personal near and dear to her heart and we all sat there and cried together as we told her about the plan of salvation and how we will be with our families again after this life. We've met with her 2 other times and that same Strong spirit has been present on both meetings. We love her and she loves us!

One last little tidbit! Two times now we've sang Army of Helamen and have changed the last verse "and we are now the army of helaman and bring the world His truth": And I get chills every time I sing that, because I am now a missionary. Wow. This is so incredible and just no words to describe what it's like to actually be here. I just want to bear my testimony that I know that this gospel is so very true and I am so glad that I am able to be a representative of Jesus Christ and share it with other people. Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God called in this dispensation, so that we might have the gospel. (If you want to know more about him listen to the talk given at this last general Conference by Craig C. Christensen and i promise you, you will feel something when he talks about him and that is the Holy Ghost testifying of it truthfulness unto you.) I know Heavenly Father knows us and loves each one of us and He sent his son to die for us, so that we might be able to return to Him one day.

Love you guys Always!!
Love, Sister Kennedy

first day at the MTC...meeting each other and unpacking

me + sister gilbert = perfect companionship

twinsies

Sister Haws, Sister Winter, me, Sister Gilbert

all heading to Alabama together

the elders in our district 

notes we leave on the board to each other! 

 together as a district

peace Sister Winter...heading to Provo Temple

Temple trip as a district

send more food...kidding....send healthy food!