Little Bits and Pieces

Hermana Gonzales completed 6 months this week! WOOT.
We decided to go a little crazy and get brownie sundaes at Pizza Hut :)


This is Cri. She just turned 16!! Love my sisters!


Last Monday one of the member families that I LOVE invited us over to learn how to cook fish! This is Maura helping me out. She is the cutest and always asks about you.
 She always tells me to tell you that I have a mom here that is taking care of me for
the time being. She loves you and she can't wait to meet you one day!





Maura dragging me around the kitchen Hehe. We have been eating a lot of fish
lately because the Catholics have started their 40 day meat fast.... oh brother.
 But apparently fish doesn’t count as meat. So it is a little harder to find
chicken or beef in the markets right now.




Hermana Gonzales and I with our favorite Priesthood Holders. 
 They formed a support group to help each other ;)
 Now they all get together every week! Love them.

Today I just want to share with you all a few quick experiences we had during this week. The past couple weeks we have been working a LOT with our recent converts. The recent converts here are very special and all have a little place in my heart. They are ALL so sweet and always take care of us. Armando is a taxi driver and is always hauling us around everywhere, Josue is a chef so he always cooks for us when we visit and gets worried whenever he sees us pass by without food in our hands (...which isn’t too often...we eat a lot), Octavio and Hilda are FAMILY and Carlos has been our miracle case!  This week we have been focusing on Carlos.    He  has been having problems with drinking. He really has the desire to quit and always feels horrible after he falls and drinks again. We have had a hard time knowing what exactly we can do to help him quit and fill his life with better things, THE GOSPEL. This week we met with two of our favorite priesthood leaders the ward, Hno. Phineas and Hno. James. We asked them if they could visit Carlos periodically throughout the week and help him feel loved and important. They went right to work! Tuesday we passed by and were greeted by the best sight one could hope for. Phineas, James and Carlos were all out reading the Book of Mormon together and enjoying a little snack. Carlos told us that he felt so good with them and they have decided to make it a regular thing. I love the members and am so grateful for all they do in the Lords work and their willingness to help us. With the members we see miracles! 

We have also been working with Josue and Cristian. Another family of recent converts. I love them with ALL MY HEART. They are a young couple with so much spunk! I seriously feel like I am with my friends in their house. They are so laid back and fun. I LOVE THEM! However, they have been having different problems in their marriage and in living the Gospel. We found out they had not been reading their Book of Mormon for about 1 month, they weren’t having their prayers together and it was rare to see them at church. Josue had fallen back into drinking and lots of the members knew about it. He was embarrassed to go to church and face them as well as disappointed in what he had done. We have been visiting them regularly and sharing the Book of Mormon. Cristian loves to tease and it is hard to know what she is really feeling, however, over these past couple weeks we have seen a dramatic change in her. She has started to read the Book of Mormon every day and is the rock in her family. She supports Josue with all her heart and always encourages him to read and pray. We have seen a miracle with this family. There is now a sweet spirit in their home and the love they feel for one another has increased dramatically. Josue is going through the Repentance process and preparing to receive the Melchezedick Priesthood in March. I love them with all my heart and know that The Gospel is the KEY to a Successful marriage! 

We have been working like crazies this week with Recent Converts but we definitively haven’t forgotten the investigators. Right now we are working with a REALLY SPECIAL FAMILY, Ledi, Juan and their son. This family is golden I tell you. Ledi is the mom and she is so receptive to the spirit. She has gone to church, accepted a baptismal fecha and is preparing by reading the Book of Mormon. She really does know the Church is true and wants her family to be eternal. Juan, the husband, is very sensitive to the spirit as well, however, he does have a lot more concerns. He really wants to make sure this is the right thing for his family. He was baptized in the Catholic Church when he was a baby but hasn’t gone in years. He wants to receive a confirmation from the spirit that this church really is true and that it has the authority to baptize. Once he receives this confirmation I KNOW they will be baptized and start their journey to becoming an eternal family. I love them so much and love seeing how the gospel is changing their lives. We are working a lot with our Mission leader and his family to teach them. Our mission leader and his wife really are encouraging them a ton! They are becoming good friends.  The lessons with members, along with the Book of Mormon and the Spirit are changing their hearts. I know this Gospel is true and that it can help us to be better and live closer to our Savior every day. I am so grateful for this chance that I have to share it with the ppl of LA 14! 

Little bits and pieces about this week: 

Our house is being attacked by ticks NOOOO!!! The owner of our house has a HUGE DOG! I mean HUGE, I will send a picture someday when I remember, and he is infested with TONs of ticks.... Nooooo. I wanted to cry this week, as we had to kill about 30 crawling around our house. 

The mission had changes and there is now one more companionship of Hermanas in our zone. We are growing! 

It is heating up RAPIDLY here.... we are dying. 

We have now killed 7 rats in our apartment and we saw 2 more this morning. 

I love you so much! I miss you more than you could imagine! I pray for you all daily and thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be born into the most incredible family. Thank you for always being an example to me and teaching me the Gospel. I am so grateful to have the truth in my life and to have this chance to share it with the ppl here. There is nothing of more value. 

Love, 

Hermana Kendall

Valentine's Day

"We did see miracles and I am so grateful for all that the Lord gave us this week. We were able to find new people to teach, work with some incredible investigators, feel the spirit, do divisions with the best Hermanas ever and renew our baptismal covenants at church. The mission really is the most amazing thing ever. I feel so blessed to be here and to be serving the Lord. I am trying to soak up and live every moment to the fullest because I know I only serve a mission once! I could go on for hours about how special the mission is but I won't.  Just know that I love it and I am so grateful I am here."

The other Hermana Gonzales left for her mission yesterday and we threw her a going away party. This is the cake Hermana Dulce made. It was DELICIOUS! 

 And yes her name really is Hermana Dulce hehe 

Hiding out while waiting for Hermana Gonzales to show up!


Las Hermanas! Love these gals.


My Valentine's packages! You guys are the best!


I LOVE my new skirt and shirt! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Book Of Mormon

This is a picture from Noche de Hermanamiento this week. I accidentally set my camera on fish eye.... I didn’t even know my camera was capable of that. Haha the picture was so funny when we saw it that we decided to just keep it and not take another!

This is Hna. Gonzales and I (oh and our dos Amiga’s back there haha) in a
bus headed out to dinner with the other Sister Training Leaders.

This soup was literally the best thing I have eaten since being in Nicaragua.
It was almost like a Cafe Rio Soup!

At the Mexican Restaurant with Hermana Miller!! I miss that gal.

The girls out to dinner!

So this week has been about as average as a week gets in the mission. We walked, talked, taught, ate, studied and SAW MIRACLES! The week started off STRONG with a meeting in Waspan with all the leaders. First off it was a blast to see all the SISTERS and catch up for a bit. I even got to call Hermana Justavino! Ahh she is the best I miss her so much! She said she is learning Mesquito poco a poco and that she can almost teach a whole lesson now. She is so pilas! Keep her in your prayers so she can learn the language even faster :) Anyways the meeting was incredible! I learned so much. I felt like the revelation was coming to fast that I didn’t have room on my paper or time to get it all down. I seriously left so edified and ready to THROW FIRE as we say it here. After our meeting with all the leaders we had a special meeting as Sister Leaders with Presidente. We learned about making goals and accomplishing them. It was a great meeting. I learned so much for the mission and for my life after. Presidente is so awesome. He really is inspired with the things that he needs to teach us. I am so grateful for all he has taught me and all that he and his family do for us.

After the meetings he took us all out to DINNER! We went to the South mission of course haha to a nice Mexican Restaurant. It was so fun to be there with all the Sisters in that atmosphere as well as with Presidente and his family. It is funny to see them as a normal family. So cute! I just have to say TRES LECHES is the best ever and I will miss it so much. Okay there goes my food rant haha. We didn’t finish dinner until about 10:30 at night and the Bus to our area doesn’t pass at that hour so Pres. took us home in his car... that was weird. That was my first time being in a real car in the mission. They were singing along to EFY songs the whole way and chatting away. They are the best!

This week we have really been focusing on the Book of Mormon. This book has so much POWER! It really is the evidence that this church is true and it is the ONLY true church. I love the Book of Mormon. I never want to go a day without reading it. Presidente, at the meeting, said, "If we stop reading the Book of Mormon we will slowly start to see how the Heavens and Revelation are closed off." I never want to stop receiving revelation from my Heavenly Father. The Book of Mormon literally has changed my life and it is incredible to watch it change the lives of all who read it. So this week we have really tried to dedicate more time and attention to the Book of Mormon in all that we do. And we have seen miracles!! Right now all of our Recent Converts are reading the Book of Mormon daily and are seeing the difference in their lives. We were able to have our highest retention with Recent Converts this Sunday thanks to the Book of Mormon. I can’t even tell you how incredible it is to be sitting in church and to see your recent converts walk it. AHH THE BEST!!!

This week we have also been focusing on sharing the Book of Mormon more in all our lessons with Investigators. Sunday we had an AWESOME experience with one of our investigators, the Book of Mormon, and a Member of the Bishopric. Perfect recipe for a stellar lesson. This honestly was one of the best lessons I have had in the mission. The Spirit was so strong while we were able to all testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The spirit truly testified to Rodrigo that this book is true and that it can change his life. He is already developing his testimony of it and I know it will just keep growing as he keeps reading. I am so grateful for all the tools we have as missionaries to bring souls unto Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it contains the fullness of the Gospel. I am so grateful for the strength and comfort I receive from it and the chance I have to share it with the ppl here. I want to challenge you all to read the Book of Mormon every day and notice the small changes that will take place in your life for doing so. I also want to challenge you all to prayerfully consider someone that you could share this Book with. The Lord is preparing all His Children to receive this message. It is just our responsibility to share it. And the Book of Mormon is a perfect place to start.

Well I love you all with all my heart. I pray for you daily and am so grateful for your examples. 

I LOVE YOU!
Hermana Kendall

9 Months Baby

Little Natalie's Baptism! She is the cutest! In the picture there is also Hermana Faustina. She is Natalie's Grandma, or mom really. She has been a member for 12 years. She is the sweetest! 

Today for pday we were able to go to the Mall here in Managua. We ended up running into a TON of Hermanas there. It was so fun to see them all. This is a pic of Hermana Wheat, Hermana Lagos and I! We were all in Matagalpa together and we were ALWAYS SINGING! So this is a pic of us pretending to be rock stars if you will. Hermana Lagos is in Puerto but had to come to Managua for a doctor’s appt. This is the first time I have seen her in about 6 months! She is AWESOME! 

9 MONTHS BABY!! Wow I can hardly believe that it has already been 9 months and I am officially half way through. WHAT THE!!? I seriously can't even explain how quickly the time flies by. Truth be told I was a little sad the day I completed 9 months. I am not ready to be halfway done. I still have so much to learn and so much to do! I feel very motivated to work with my everything in every moment!

This week has been pretty GREAT. One of the main reasons being that I got to do divisions in TIPITAPA!!! Ahh it seriously felt like going home. I felt like I was just with family there. We worked a lot with investigators that day but we were also able to visit some of my recent converts, Freddy and Fransisca, and a ton of the members at a Branch activity! It felt so good to be walking the streets of Tipitapa again. I love that area with all my heart. I think it will always have a little piece of me. It was great to see Freddy and the little nuggets again. They have been going through a lot of trials and it was awesome to pass by and excite them a little bit... I HOPE! He said he is excited to go to church this week and feel the spirit there. I was also able to visit Fransisca. I just love her. She is the definition of a sweet old grandma. She is in the process of changing houses but she said she will always stay firm in the church! I love them!!! That day there was an activity going on in the church and we were able to see and visit with a LOT of members, including Engel and Escarlet and all their kids, Bishop, Edger, Francis, Estefany.... just all the people I love and hold dear. It was incredible to see them all and feel their love. Tipitapa is so special and I am incredibly grateful I got the chance to be there for a short time. The only people I was sad I wasn’t able to see were Enrique and Corina. However, the reason I didn’t get to see them is because they were out and about visiting Investigators and Menos activos. THEY ARE SO PILAS!!! Hermana Moreno told me they are still preparing to go to the Temple and are as firm as could be in the church. As we were passing by the church in the afternoon, Hermana Fransis was standing outside of it waiting for someone to come unlock it so she could start cooking for the activity. We passed by so I could say hi and give her a quick hug. Fransis is the Mom of Juan, the last man we baptized in Tipitapa.  When she saw me she gave me a HUGE hug and said "Thank you so much for all you did for Juan. You changed his life. He is firm in the Church and always will be!" Ahh that was seriously the best thing I could ever hear. I love everyone there in Tipitapa and can’t WAIT for you guys to meet them some day! They have my HEART!!

This week here in La 14 has been great as well. We have seen many miracles and found a ton of new investigators. Saturday night we were able to see a real miracle, at about 7:30 we were searching for a house of one contact we had earlier on during the week. We were looking everywhere and asking every one for help. Sadly, nobody seemed to know the direction or where this family could possible live. At about 8 o clock we were about to give up and go visit someone else when an older couple heard us asking for help and came right up to us. Turns out they are members from a different ward but they know La 14 perfectly and were willing to help us. They led us to a street I didn’t even know EXISTED and told us where we could go from there. From that point we left to find the house and on the way found another family of SUPER positive investigators who after our short lesson with them helped us find the family we were really searching for. We FINALLY found the family and were able to share a VERY SPECIAL lesson with them. When we got there the dad was reading the pamphlet we had given them and their little son was making us a fresco. This family is so special and so prepared! I KNOW angels were helping us find their house that night and I can't wait to continue teaching them!

Sunday we were also able to see a sweet miracle with the baptism of little Natalie.  She is the sweetest little girl and LOVES the church. She really does know it is true and I am so grateful she was able to enter into that sacred covenant. Working with her has been awesome because we have also been able to teach her Grandma.  She really is her mom and they are the cutest little duo. They do everything together and are always giggling. Her Grandma is a member but has been inactive. Working with her and teaching her has been such a sweet experience. It is amazing to see how the Gospel being brought back into ones life softens them. She bore her testimony this Sunday and is determined to remain firm in the church for the rest of her life. I know they will see many blessings in their lives for their decision to be in the true church.

Missionary work is the best! I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had thus far and I am so excited for all the days ahead. I feel blessed to be a part of God´s army at this time and I am determined to fight with my everything. I know this is the true church with all my heart and what a blessing it is to share that knowledge with my brothers and sisters here in Nicaragua!

I love you all and miss you!!!
Love, Hermana Kendall

Quick shout out to all that sent me letters! I got your letter Grandma! THANK YOU!! YOU guys make my day with EVERY letter. Especially you Lauren!

Also to the ARAGONS!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHRISTMAS PACKAGE! I got it Tuesday this week and all the candy is already gone...haha what can you expect. My comp was obsessed with the Swedish fish ha. Thank you so much!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!