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