High Goals

This week has been SO FULL of MIRACLES! Seriously this whole month has really just blown me away. It is amazing to see how the Lord is working here in Nicaragua, especially in CHINANDEGA. I was so blessed to see so many miracles this month and it ended with one of the sweetest experiences of my mission. I am so grateful for the Lords patience with me and my weaknesses. I am still so amazed that He has allowed me to be a part of these ppls lives and help them get to know the true gospel.

This week Hermana Alan and I have been working so hard. We always get home exhausted! It is such a good feeling :) I love knowing I really did give the best of myself. Anyways, we have found SO MANY positive and new families. I am so excited to continue working with each one of them and help them work towards baptism and becoming an eternal family. Hermana Alan and I get along great and it is so fun learning from her. We have a lot in common and such a strong desire to see miracles this month. We have set HIGH GOALS and are determined to complete them. What I love knowing is that if we truly are obedient and give our ALL we have the Lords promise. We WILL REACH OUR GOALS. Our Heavenly Father has to complete with His promises when we complete with our part and we are determined to do it. We are striving every day to be better, be obedient and be guided by the Spirit!

We were able to work with SEVERAL new hermanas this week in divisions. We are now over 11 companionships of SISTERS! Ahh. 6 of which are training. We have a TON of new sisters in our 2 zones and in the mission as a whole. I think with in the next 2 changes EVERYBODY will be training. Presidente even put two newbies together, CRAZY. I LOVE getting to know all the new sisters and working with them. It seems like every new generation of missionaries is more prepared. Seriously the sisters outstand me. I already love them all and can’t wait for them to see the miracles here in Nicaragua. Today, while talking with them, I was remembering my first weeks in the mission and how hard they were. It was great to testify to them that the mission really is the most special experience in all the world and that their lives are going to change. I know it is hard for them right now but I can’t wait to watch them fall in Love with the mission just as I have.

I was able to work with Hermana Gamboa this week. She is from Mexico and I always love working with her. This week I learned how to ask more inspired questions from her. I loved watching her find and discern the investigators needs by asking inspired questions and then teaching them according to their needs. I was also able to work with Hermana Zepeda (also from Mexico) and Hermana Sadquic, from Guatemala. I learned LOVE from them both on how to really love those we work with. It is the greatest way to help others recognize us as Christ’s representatives. I feel so blessed to learn from the sisters every week.

Okay I know you are all dying to know about our family, Guadelupe and Fransisco. Well......... THEY WERE BAPTIZED AND MARRIED SATURDAY NIGHT! Seriously I can’t even explain how big of a miracle their baptism was. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to be a part of it. All week they had been excited and ready to be baptized. We were visiting them daily with the bishop and other members, reading the Book of Mormon together and teaching them the restored Gospel. Well Friday rolled around and when we passed by for their interview they weren’t home. Their son came running up to us and told us that their other son was deathly ill in the hospital and they had been there ALL DAY! We were SO worried for them and began praying and fasting for them immediately. Saturday we went by early in the morning and they were still in the hospital.  They don't have a cell phone so there was really nothing we could do but pray. And that is exactly what we did. We prayed and then left to work. When we returned 1 hour later Guadelupe, Fransisco and their son had returned. 1st miracle. Their son was still deathly ill though and Guadelupe was heart broken crying. We quickly called the elders over and they gave blessing to the whole family. Afterwards Guadelupe said that she knew what they needed to do was prepare for their wedding and baptism so they could receive the Lords blessings and His help. They quickly got ready and we left. 2nd miracle. As we got to the church they were greeted by almost ALL THE MEMBERS! Everyone showed up to support them and they felt so incredible. They looked beyond happy and animated to take this step. 3rd miracle. They had a BEAUTIFUL baptism service and wedding. They left feeling so loved and supported.  They are so special to me. I love this family with all my heart. I know they were chosen by God to be baptized at this time and change their lives. I can’t wait to continue helping them endure in the Gospel and prepare to be an eternal family (with their 12 CHILDREN, which we are teaching.) Thank you so much for your prayers, faith and encouragement this month and with this family. I know that God is a God of miracles. I know He listens to our prayers and answers them. This month we need to work even HARDER to see that many more miracles. And I know we can do it.

I love you guys so much!!
Love,

Hermana Kendall

P.S. This week we found the BIGGEST RAT I have ever seen in my whole life in our house! Seriously the size of a CAT. You better believe I was screaming and running around like a sissy girl.

P.p.s. I know you are all wondering how we did as a mission with our goal of 102 families this month. Well we still haven’t heard a definite number but last we heard was 99!!! AHHH. Tomorrow we have consejo and we will find out for sure. We will also put the new goal for this month. We need to start exercising the faith and praying NOW for all the families that will be baptized in JULY!

Goodbyes are so HARD!

The biggest volcano in Central America is in our area!
 Really pretty and I finally took a pic.

A dog totally bit me this week! Crazy DOG!
I HATE DOGS!

Part of our District

This is the family!  I thought you would like to meet the answer to
 all our prayers.  Thanks for praying for them always.
 They will be getting married and baptized SATURDAY!

Hermana Lescaña and Ileana - Love my girls!

Teaching with Hermana Baten. MISS HER already!

 Hermana Sandra-LOVE HER!
 She is my soul sister here in Nicaragua!

This week was very strange for Hermana Baten and me. As much as she tried to not think about the fact that she was leaving it was always there in the back of her mind. She had many tiny panic attacks and we cried a lot together. I definitively wasn’t ready to see her go. The time went by WAY TOO QUICKLY! I learned so much from her and we were able to see so many miracles together.

Our last week together was FULL of miracles. As I explained before, last week was our stake conference. The conference was really incredible.  All the investigators that attended were able to receive an answer and confirmation from the spirit that this IS the true church. It was after this conference that Guadelupe decided to be baptized. She said she felt something she had never felt before and knew with all her heart that this was the only true church. Sandra was also able to receive her answer to be baptized as well! It really was a conference of miracles. I feel so grateful for the speakers, their preparation, the members and their friendship, but I am especially grateful for the Spirit that was present. It is just so evident to me that we really don’t do much in this work. It is the work of the Lord and it is His spirit that converts. The Lord just gives us the sweet privilege of being a small part and seeing the miracles.

This week I really was able to feel the spirit working through us and helping us in every aspect of the week.  I love being able to invite the spirit into peoples homes and helping them get to know their Savior Jesus Christ. The difference they can feel is so apparent and they have a desire to feel it more in their lives. I just feel so blessed to be a Representative of Jesus Christ. I am sad it is for such a short time but it is a privilege to wear Christ’s name on my chest everyday and strive to be more like Him. It is incredible that as we try to become more like Christ we are able to more fully perform our responsibilities. This week has been all about faith and prayer. I have learned so much by talking with my Heavenly Father in earnest prayer, working and then putting my faith in Him. If we are obedient, work hard and do our part we have the promise of His blessings and that is exactly what we have seen this week.

I know that God listens to us. I know it because He is listening to me. And he is responding. I love talking with my Heavenly Father every day and asking for His advice and guidance. I know He loves us and He wants me to help His children here. So I will continue to talk with Him and search for those that are ready to hear the Gospel while inviting others to come unto Christ. The Lord is answering our prayers and I can’t wait to see Guadelupe and Fransisco enter into the waters of Baptism. I know that we have to continue exercising faith and doing our part to help them. Satan is quick. But I know this is their time and they are going to be able to make this sacred covenant with their Heavenly Father.

This Sunday Rene was also able to get baptized. He is the best! He was so excited and ready for his baptize. He doesn’t really have family here, he now feels like he has a big family to help him. The Lord is hastening His work. The ppl are prepared. We just need to act as Christ would and invite our brothers and sisters to partake of the sweet fruit that we are enjoying.

Well, Hermana Baten left yesterday. It was SO hard saying goodbye to her. I pray I will be able to see her again some day. She is very dear to my heart and such a special missionary. I am forever grateful for the chance I had to work with her and learn so much. It made me sad to think some day I will have to say goodbye to Nicaragua as well. I am no where close to being ready for that day to come. The mission is my life now and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I love you all!!
Love,
Hermana Kendall

P.S. My new companion is Hermana Alan. She is from Costa Rica and is the cutest! I know we are going to see tons of miracles together. This is her First time being TL and she has the same amount of time in the mission as I did when I became TL. I know we are going to work GREAT together and SUPER HARD! We are going to be over two zones once again. There are A LOT more sisters this time. Last change we were over 8 companionships. Now we are over 11! And 6 of them are TRAINING! So many newbies came this change. It is going to be CRAZY!

Stake Conference

So this has been a week of learning for me. I love that every day we really do have the chance to be better and different than the day before. What a miracle and a blessing to be able to start over every day and commit to be better. I am so grateful for My Savior, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on our behalf so that we may repent and overcome our weaknesses. It is a lifelong process and what a blessing to have this time to prepare ourselves.

This week I have been able to spend a lot of time with Presidente and His wife. I have learned so much and couldn’t been more grateful for their guidance and love. They really do just want the very best for every single one of us and are striving to help us reach our potential. This week we had a Zone Conference with Presidente and I learned a lot about how to teach more effectively. It is awesome that even though I have been teaching these lessons for more than a year now there is so much I can improve on. I love learning how to invite the spirit better into ppls lives. Presidente is AWESOME. Him and his wife are teaching several ppl as well because they have committed to baptizing a family this month and He is sharing tons of tips with us. I would LOVE to have Presidente in one of my lessons! Hermana Baten and I have been applying a lot of the things we learned and have seen a big difference in the spirit we can feel in every lesson.

This week I was also able to do divisions with some really special sisters. Tuesday I went to CORINTO!!! That is where my Mini-missionary was from, where Hna. Baten started her mission and HERMANA GONZALES! It was SO awesome to finally go to the place that so many of my companions have talked about and LOVE! Corinto is THE BEACH, literally. This área really is so prepared and GORGEOUS. We ate lunch literally on the beachfront. It was a DREAM and I could hear the waves all day long while working. It convinced me that I must live close to the Ocean. But more than that Hermana Behan and I were able to feel such a sweet spirit with the humble ppl we met there. Hermana Behan is an AWESOME missionary. She has such a great energy and desire to share the Gospel with everyone. I love learning from every single one of the Hermanas and feeling of their beautiful spirits. We were able to find 2 new families and put several baptismal fechas! PILAS.

I also was able to do divisions with Hermana Drollinger and we had a REALLY beautiful lesson that I will not forget! We are working with S__. She is THE BEST! I really do love her but she has a lot of doubts about the authority. Well we were able to show her a short video clip and then read from the Book of Mormon. After Reading she said that during our message she felt a cool air run through her body that pushed her to follow what we were saying. We were then able to explain the Holy Ghost and how God talks to us. I KNOW she will be baptized and her family will be eternal!

So this week was Stake Conference here in Chinandega Oeste. We really had a great time inviting everyone to Stake Conference and encouraging them to take any questions they might have to stake conference with the Promise that they would be answered by the speakers. Conference Started Friday night with a Leaders meeting where we were addressed by Presidente Collado and the Stake Presidente Narviez. I learned so much from them both. Presidente Collado talked all about the Mission Goal and Committed EVERYONE to giving the missionaries one reference within the next 6 months. He taught how every member MUST be a missionary. Something he said really stuck out to me. He said if a prophet has to quote another prophet we better repent because it means we didn’t obey and capture what our prophet was telling us to do. How many prophets now have said EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY!? Almost every single one and what are we doing to take on this responsibility? If we haven’t done our part up to this point today is the second best day (the first being the first day the prophet taught us) to repent and do our duty!

Sunday morning we were able to go to conference and once again hear from our Presidente and many other inspired speakers. Once again Presidente Collados message really stuck out to me. He said the best way to show that we Love God is by sharing His Gospel. How are we showing our love day to day? Our we helping God’s children receive their Salvation and all the blessing the Lord has prepared by sharing the knowledge of the Gospel? If we aren’t, today is the second best day to repent and start sharing it, start showing our Love for our Savior. It was a VERY special conference and I learned so much.

I was asked to sing I know that My Redeemer Lives. So my companion and I were seated on the stand and were able to see all the beautiful Nica members that came. We almost had 1000 ppl show up. I will never forget that conference. S__, G___ and R__ ALL SHOWED UP! And they all felt such a sweet spirit there. They received many answers to their questions and confirmations from the spirit.

This week has been really special for me. I am learning to trust in the Lord. This work is incredible and HARD. In fact it is impossible without the Lords help. But with it, we can see MIRACLES.
We have SEVERAL ppl that are progressing towards baptism and we have the Faith that they will be baptized in these upcoming weeks. I know this is the Lords work and that He leads it. What a blessing to be a part of it here in the Beautiful land of NICARAGUA!
Love you all!!!
Hermana Kendall

P.S. The rainy season has started here and is hitting us HARD! I LOVE it because it really cools us off. The rain here is INSANE. The streets literally fill up to our calves with wáter. We wade through mini rivers all day.... it is actually pretty disgusting haha. Hermana Baten and I always walk around making weird squealing noises because we can’t bare to think about what is in the wáter...... ewww

P.P.S. Guadelupe and Fransisco and still progressing towards baptism but need your prayers. Satan is working hard to keep them from receiving their salvation. Rene is AWESOME! And has such a strong testimony of the Church. He has quit working on Sunday to be able to be baptized! Love HIM!

P.P.P.S. This is my last Pday with Hermana Baten....NO! I love her with all my heart and feel so blessed to have been her comp. We have seen so many miracles together and I have learned so much from her. LOVE HER!

Last one! Leonardo received the Melchezedick Priesthood Sunday and gave the Opening Prayer in Stake Conference. He is so PILAS!

Weeks are Flying By!

Diana was baptized yesterday!  I absolutely love her and her family.
We always have some good laughs together.

This week has flown! I can’t believe I am here writing you guys again. We’ve had our ups and downs this week but we are excited to get working again tonight and see the miracles the Lord has in store for this week.

Tuesday was a fun day for me because I was able to work with Hermana Salinas. She is an AWESOME sister and was in this area a year ago. We were able to feel a really special spirit together and laugh a LOT. My favorite lesson was with Guadelupe and Fransisco. Turns out that she had taught them once when she was here! It is crazy to see how the Lord truly prepares his sons and daughters to receive the gospel. We taught them The Plan of Salvation and that the key that opens the door to the Celestial Kingdom is baptism. They were both very interested in that point and said they were willing to work towards receiving their key and entering into Gods kingdom. We were so happy to see their desire to be baptized and we are going to do EVERYTHING in our power to help them accomplish it.

Tuesday it rained HARD and we were walking through a literal river of sewage. Our area is REALLY dirty and I still cringe thinking about what we walked through.... Oh well we are Nicas now! After making our way through the river we finally got to Reina and Eyner house. Reina is Guadelupes daughter and she is a member, however, her husband is not. We had a great lesson about the restoration with them and Eyner accepted a baptismal fecha. I am really excited about working with them as well. They are a cute young family and have a huge potential to become an eternal family!

It is always fun to be in divisions but it is always great to be back with my COMP! Hermana Baten and I were able to work REALLY hard this week in order to find new investigators and help those that we have continue progressing towards baptism. We have two investigators that I just LOVE, Rane and Pedro.  Rane is a single dad that works as a carpenter. He is super hard to find at home but ALWAYS makes time to listen to us. We love teaching him because he is sincere and really understands the message. He has a real desire to be baptized and change his life. He had an accident last year and can’t see very well so we have the privilege of reading the Book of Mormon to him. I LOVE reading the stories with him and watching him gain a testimony of it. He knows this is the True church and loves his Savior. His biggest challenge is that he works Sundays!! We are working hard with him so that he will be able to come to church with us and be baptized in the upcoming weeks.

Another really special investigator is Pedro. He is married and has children as well but they all attend different churches and don’t have the desire to listen to us at the moment. Pedro is AMAZING. He LOVES the Book of Mormon and is ALWAYS reading it when we get to his house. He is really gaining a testimony and his life is changing through this book. I loved teaching the Plan of Salvation to him because he really had no idea that such a plan existed. We saw his eyes light up and his hope rise. He wants to keep the commandments and be baptized as well. He understands our message and believes it. His challenge as well is that he works SUNDAY! Darn it! We are working hard so that he can gain a testimony of the Sabbath Day and talk with his boss in order to go to church.

Well this week we had a Multi-zone conference with Presidente in Leon. It was fun to see all the other missionaries and a privilege to listen to Presidente as always. What I loved most about the reunion was what we learned about prayer. After watching a Mormon Message by the Prophet we learned that the answer to prayers is a miracle. The missionaries should always be praying to find the chosen and the chosen are praying to find the truth. When the missionaries are in tune to the spirit and connected with the heavens they will be led to those that are searching for the truth. Everything starts at our knees!

Well lastly, as you saw in the pictures, we were able to see Diana baptized this week. She is the BEST! She has such a beautiful testimony of the church and was anxious to be baptized. Her mom and brother are already members. The baptism was a little crazy but we made it happen. Saturday was her baptismal service but upon arriving at the church we were told there was NO WATER in the church. AHH NO! We had to reschedule for Sunday before church but Diana was still excited. Well Sunday morning rolls around and we receive the call that there is still no water!! After running around for HOURS trying to find a church with water and transportation to get us they, we were able to make it happen. We had a beautiful baptismal service and she was confirmed right after.

Every soul that comes to Christ and enters into the waters of baptism is a miracle. What a blessing to see so many miracles. I know as we continue to work hard we will see the miracle of 102 FAMILIES this month!!

Love you all!!
Hermana Kendall

P.s. Our awesome investigator Mauricio is who drove us all to the baptism.... He’s rich ;) So pilas!

P.p.s. Next week is Stake conference and I some how got talked into singing a solo......

P.p.p.s This week has been outrageously hot because we are awaiting the rain! The air is FULL of water and there is no wind. We are literally in a sauna...

A Sea Shell by Her Ear All Day!

Our super pday at the beautiful beach in CORINTO!

There was literally NOBODY on the beach! It was so much fun to go with all the Hermanas. I will just be paying for it tomorrow because I am SUPER SUN BURNT!

Hermana Teichert and I completed 13 months this week...
the time is passing way too quickly.

You better believe that it took us a good 15 tries to get that
jumping picture haha!

All the sisters in Corinto!

Hermana Batens last Mission Council!

I also got to see MILLER! It was an awesome council meeting!

I got to see Hermana GONZALES at the meetings this week!
 LOVE HER!

We got DUMPED on this week! The rainy season has arrived!

I love my COMP!

So this week has been CRAZY here in Nicaragua! We are starting a new month and there is so much in store for the MISSION and us!

Tuesday we had meetings with the Presidente in Managua. The meetings were AWESOME this month. There was such a powerful spirit and we all received revelation. As a mission we made a goal to baptize one family in the month of June. Shortly after making the goal Presidente felt that the Lord wasn’t satisfied with our goal. So we went to work again and came up with a new goal... 102 FAMILIES! Yes, you read that right. The Lord is ready for us to break the mission record and see many miracles this month. We could all feel such a strong spirit in that moment and I know 102 families is the Lord's desire. He needs these members in His church and to help establish the church here. I am so excited to work and see this miracle.

The meetings were also really crazy because we have a TON of missionaries leaving the next 3 changes (and most of them are leaders). This change we have over 30 missionaries leaving and about 30 percent of them are leaders. It was sad to share their last meeting with them. The mission is really going to change over the next 3 changes. We have about 100 missionaries leaving and 100 coming. Almost EVERYONE will be training and the leadership is going to change a lot. President is going to be moving a lot of the leaders to make them trainers and help prepare the new generation of leaders. We will see what happens with me this next change.

After council meetings we are really animated to work. So we left with all the faith we could find and saw miracles. We have been able to find several new families and ppl and we are working TONS with the members. They are going to be the key if we want to make this goal. I am determined to baptize a family with Hermana Baten before she leaves. Along with working our tails off in our area, we have been doing a lot of divisions with the Sisters. I was able to work with a newbie in our area this week from Guatemala. It made me remember my first couple months in the mission. This sister is a LOT more pilas than I was haha. It is awesome to see how each generation of missionaries is that much more prepared. We had a good time working together and got DRENCHED! This day we did visits with the Seminary President of Central America to invite all the youth to seminary. It was fun to invite and help them understand the importance of Seminary in this time of their lives. The next day I was able to go with Hermana Wheat, who came one change after me, to her area and work. The 30th of May here is Mothers Day it is wild. Mothers Day in Central America is actually a HUGE holiday! Everyone was out drinking and partying all day. We got offered so MUCH CAKE! All the parties made it a Little hard to work but we still had success together. I loved working with her because she has such an exciting and happy attitude. I feel so blessed to be able to work with all the Sisters and learn so much from them everyday!

Well after being away from my comp for a few days I was so happy to see her and work with her again. We are teaching some incredible ppl and it was fun to visit them. One of my favorite investigators right now is Rane. He is so special. He always reads his Book of Mormon and has tons of questions. He is so prepared and ready to be baptized. I always love visiting him and teaching him the truth. We also are working with a really special family, Guadelupe and Fransisco. We really feel like they are the family we will baptize this month. They have now gone to church 2 times and are good Friends of the Bishop. Now we just have to help them continue living the commandments and prepare to be baptized! But my favorite to visit is Leonardo  and Saturday he was baptized! He is just so pilas. He couldn’t have been happier to enter into the waters of baptism and promise his Heavenly Father that he would always follow him. Maybe even more so than being baptized was his excitement to receive the Holy Ghost. He is going to be an amazing member and told us that he wants to prepare to serve a mission! We will see if he doesn’t get married before haha.

Well this week was really special and went by WAY TOO QUICKLY! We had rainstorms EVERY DAY (which I love because it cools us off for a moment), mothers day talent shows, divisions, meetings with president, a baptism and a fast Sunday I won't forget (Alvaro and Marlen shared their testimony. Love them!) Miracles everyday.

The mission is the best. I love every moment I have to be a representative of Jesus Christ. Please remember our mission’s goal of 102 families! I know we can accomplish it.
Love Hermana Kendall

P.S.  Today we had a Super PDAY with the Hermanas. We finally were cool TLs and planned something haha... it was about time! We all went to the beach in Corinto and had a BLAST! It is SO BEAUTIFUL there and I LOVED seeing the water again. Oh how I have missed the beach. My favorite part of the day was teaching Hermana Baten that you can hear the ocean in the seashells. She was BLOWN away and walked around with a seashell to her ear all day haha. LOVE HER!