First Post from Chile!

Families and Friends...

It has been a long time coming but I am finally in Chile and I am proud to tell you that I have been assigned to OPEN yes I said open a brand new sector in the city Antofagasta which is called Angamos, I will be serving with Hermana Cram who is from Utah and has been serving for nearly a year now. She is a great trainer so far and has a very loud laugh, teaching with her is so smooth and easy, we really know how to switch off teaching . Of course the first day was overwhelming but things like this, like well moving to a new country always is but by honestly I havent freaked out yet so I suppose I will be anticipated that and let you know when it happens ;) So since Wednesday starting with nothing we tracted and tracted...and yes we walked a lot....my feet sweel throughout the day because we walk so much but honestly it doesnt really hurt. 

So I must tell you about Antofa, it is well ugly to be perfectly honest. Mainly because there are a lot of rolling brown hills just filled with dirt and sand. But I spend so much time in the city that the outside scenary doesnt even matter. The city looks like your typical latin american neighborhood, with so many bright colors, loud music, fast bus and cars, so many smells coming out of tiny tiendas and little venders selling anything and everything you can think of. It is definitely a beach city though no doubt, which I can easily relate to. Hermana Cram and I are the only sisters in our district, the rest are Elders, Elder Congleton is our District Leader, he is a recent convert and from Laguna beach, he is a great leader, he is always giving us so many references and referrals which truly shows that its not about which missionary can baptize the most, but rather how we can work together more efficiency for God´s children. His companion is Elder Silvester, who was with me in the newb group and my flight companion, Elder Marroquin is from Guatemala, oh and by the way our entire zone and mission is about 60 percent latin...he is companions with Elder Sepe who is from Idaho I believe he is a newb as well. 

So let me begin with telling you that on Thursday we found these Colombianos there names are Michael, Luis Miguel and Daniela, apparently Michael had been taught before. They are cousins and we have taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ and they came to church with us this sunday and stayed for the whole 3 hours! They are awesome really, I can connect with Michael the most even through my broken spanish mainly because while we were on a bus ride oh speaking of which, there is no such thing as speed limits here, the buses or micros are crazy...Michael and I figured out that we like the same kind of music and tv shows, he really tries to speak slow for me and I help him out with some English because he really wants to learn it. Most of the time when we tract we contact people who 70 percent of the time have either shared with the missionaries before or have a friend of relative in the church, the people here are kind of funny though and apparently harder to gain interested at least that is what Hermana Cram told me, but I wouldnt know the difference. When you approach them, they are a little weirded out for about a min and then once they realize you are from the US they engage in conversation and I also get brownie points when I tell them I am from California, they all say, "ohhh que linda, que bacan!" Then you come to find out that it is hard to shut them up! hahahaha...Chileno Spanish is well difficult to understand mainly because they do speak so fast and they do cut off a lot. I am not impressed neither am I wooed when they speak HAHAHA. But I try to manage the best I can, some people are harder than others for example men are harder for me to understand and old women. But I just try to say a couple things in every lessons...Hermana Cram has been so excited because she said most trainees dont say anything for a couple of weeks but I try my best to help her out. 

The other day we fasted for our investigators Michael, Miguel and Daniela to come to church and to progress but then on sunday after church we look up an investigator from last years records whose name is Manuel, I can tell you know now that I love Manny and I believe that sometimes when you think you are fasting for something it can prepare you to receive something else and I believe that is what happened with Manuel. First of all he immediately let us into his house by unlocking the gate...oh little tangent, so here in Chile, everyone has a gate around their house and usually there´s a doorbell and speaker but if there isnt then you have to stand outside and yell, Hallo! Usually they either come to the gate to see who is it or they talk to you from their door. So with Manuel´s house we pushed the buzzer and we said, "hola, estamos buscando para Manuel porque somos misioneras de la iglesia de jesucristo del los saintos de los ultimos dias." And then we heard the buzzer unlock he comes out to greet us, brings us inside and we just start talking, we shared the first lesson, the restoration. He said that he had received a message from the missionaries before the gospel of Jesus Christ but hadnt gone to church because he says that he is lazy, but when we asked him to read a passage he needed glasses and I will tell you right now that this man is either not lazy or changed because he spent like 15 minutes searching for his glasses, going outside and inside of the house because he so desparately wanted to read this scripture...once he found them I was impressed to talk about Joseph Smith and recite the first vision along with my testimony about this man called of God, the spirit touched heart and testimonies were strengthened, in what I managed to say in Spanish, I know I dont much in Spanish but I know that this Gospel is true, that is why I am here. We gave him the baptismal challenge and he said that he knows that he does want to get baptize one day and that he will when he gains the strength to go against his family´s wishes because they are catholic and dont want anything to do with the church. I know he will get baptized, his heart is sincere but real intent can get in the way...I hope and pray that he will have the faith to accept the answer he will receive from God. 

I have so much more to tell you about Chile but I am pressed for time, we only get an hour to type and I still have to email President but I will fill in the blanks next week and hopefully I can send some photos already but I forgot my cord so that will probably be next week too, I love you guys so much and I just want you to know that things are going great, they really are, there are but moments when I feel lull but they really do pass and I move on, I hope to hear from you soon because that just adds to my day :) 

Con Amor, Hermana Kennedy

Letter from the Mission President

Dear Parents and friends.

Our new January missionary group arrived today from the United States!  They were tired and hungry but after we fed them and they perked right up.  We are so excited to have them here with us and serving in this wonderful land of Chile.  Your son, or daughter, will be writing to you tomorrow once they are up and running.  We have asked their trainers to take them to a Cyber shop so that they can write to you and let you know of their new assignments.  Unfortunately, several of them are traveling overnight (right now) to their new area which for most is a 7 to 12 hour bus ride……..  A lucky few were assigned to serve here in Antofagasta so they will not have to endure the lengthy bus ride.  Here is a summary of the assignments made today for your missionary:

Elder Skinner (assigned to Elder Ceballos in Arica)

Elder Sepe (assigned to Elder Marroquin in Antofagasta)

Elder Stokes (assigned to Elder McCusker in Tocopilla)

Elder Osorio (assigned to Elder Garrido in Arica)

Elder Stratford (assigned to Elder Newman in Arica)

Elder Church (assigned to Elder Richards in Tocopilla)

Elder Silvester (assigned to Elder Congelton in Antofagasta)

Sister Catron (assigned to Sister Van Meter in Iquique)

Sister Gorge (assigned to Sister Nuñez in Iquique)

Sister Kennedy (assigned to Sister Cram in Antofagasta)

I have attached the photos of our first day together below (just click on “view photos”).  We feel so blessed to have such a great group of missionaries join us!  Thank you for your great sacrifice and dedication to the gospel in allowing your missionary to serve the Lord at this special time.

Presidente Leland E. Bruce

Misión Chile Antofagasta

Ready to leave the MTC!

Chile!

Mission President and his wife (both very attractive people)

Missionary Mug Shot

Missionarios! 

Notches in the New Year

Mi Familia y Mis Amigos!

 

Another year marks yet another accumilation of time and we press forward into 2013. This new year also marks another disposition for change, growth and the classic new year's resolutions and although my first hours of the new year were spent in a fetal position fighting off a violent flu virus; I had a lot of time to meditate about this while in quarantine. 

 

I think as humans we are so hilarious sometimes to say the least...we like to exaggerate how long the 365 days can take but at the same time it happens fast enougth that we can nearly remember exactly what we were doing this time last year. The truth about it is another year passes and another one comes, adding yet another notch onto what I'd like to call our "life belt," please bear with me and the corniness...Imagine that attached to each person is this life belt and each one has these loopholes meant for holding personal tools. Throughout the year we have attained certain tools that go in these loopholes on our belt, ones that we can choose to use whenever we want. Some of these tools can be used to help fix other people's tools so that both can use theirs to help construct what I'd also like to call the "Kingdom of Heaven." (I know how original)

 

Some of us obtain tools disfigured, broken or we let them get rusty, all of which are not very useful-so what is a tool without a purpose? What is a person without tools to create?! We are always creating something that is the beautiful thing that God gave us, the ability to make, shape and form! Whether its from a peanut butter sandwhich to a canvas painting to creating human life; He blessed us and intended for us to create that we may act and not be acted upon. I know that the greatest blessing he has given us is the ability to create a new us everyday, month and every year. He has all given us a tool that we can access so that we may be able to start that change. A tool that never wares, nor breaks nor rusts but if we dont use it often we can forget how to use it or wait too long to think that we dont need to use it. This tool I'd like to call the "fix-all" tool or better known as the Atonement.

 

While here at the MTC, I have realizd some of the tools that I already posses on my belt and definitely some that I need or that need fixing. But most importantly I am learning how to use the Atonement and how to access the several utilities of which it posses in order to make new tools that I need or to mend the ones that are broken. Though this process as most of us know takes a life long effort, I have felt the strength and confidence from my Heavenly Father that I am ready for the field, this has probably taken longer for me to say this than I would have liked but I have just given so much time to thinking about what it is that I can actually do to make a difference to my brothers and sisters out there. It's like you go on a mission knowing what you are getting yourself into but at the same time you dont know...because each person is different and we touch or interact wih so many different people on a daily basis, I just cant imagine the extent of that over a year!

 

But there are some questions that have stood out to me during my stay here at the Training Center and I hope that they continue to stay in the back of my mind and if not the fore front of my mind throughout the mission. The first one is for some of us who already look down and see the long chain of notches each holding plentiful amounts of experiences, thoughts and expressions of a year's time; for us the question is, "You have come so far, how? Why?" The second one might actually help answer the first, it states, "Who do you stand for? Why?" I hope in some way or another we can all answer these questions for ourselves and live true to it because I fear that as I see notches added to my belt and others as I look around, the more I have seen us constantly exchaning and interchaning tool for others whose shaped dont fit nor fix. What do we change for? Do we change just for the sake of chaning? Among a very fast paced world that is always changing and indeed trying to improve technology for mankind-I often wonder that when we choose to change it is because we seek improvement as well?

 

I know that some maybe most are just following suit to the place we inhabit, letting our enviroment dictate how or how often we should change. Perhaps it is of our best interest that we take the time to look down at that perfect, beautiful and indestructable tool we have...becaus before you know it or try to exaggerate it, another year will come and another notch will collect on our string of life. Though I will be thousands of miles away from all of you in a very short amount of time (namely 3 days), I can promise you that I will be comtemplating and striving to change by trying to fix my broken tools and trying to use my own more frequently and I say this in hopes that I will be doing this with all of you too. To those who believe in the unbelief, that think that this year has nothing to offer much like a disappointing last year, I promise you that this is not true. If all your hope is gone or small even starting off in this early beginning, I hope that these words or some sort of inspiration can lift you up enough to keep moving and keeping doing all that you can to build, to create, to fix, to change. 

 

Here's to another notch creating to happen and to a Very Happy New Year!

With Much Much even Mucho Amor, Hermana Kennedy

Almost time for Chile!

Thank you for your several Dear Elders! They were entertaining as usual and detailed which is how I like them...so awesome news today! I got my flight plan!!!!!!! I leave next Monday at 4 in the morning and my flight is at 7 I believe and we have a four hour lay over in LAX so that means I get to call you guys at home, we will have to figure a time when everyone can be home at the same time so I can talk to all of you! Also, because I am leaving next week, that means if you are intending on shipping any packages to me they MUST be sent no later than Monday just to make sure I get them in time. Also, I might be mailing back some stuff that either cant fit in my suitcases or that I see fit to return because I dont want them to either be ruined or stolen on my mission namely those beautiful earrings you gave me, I have worn them here at the MTC but I dont want them to be taken by any Chilean...

 

ALso, im sorry you waited for my email yesterday and it didnt come I was welllll lying in bed sick with yet another virus...shhh Im technically not supposed to tell you this because MTC didnt want a million phone calls from worry wart parents but I will not hold back if you promise not to freak out because everything is all well and good now. So I recovered from my para-influenza virus last week but then two days later I contracted another gastro whatever virus pretty violently and so did at least 10 percent of the MTC. In fact, by the second day of this week, after the virus had been caught within the first 48 hours, every district in the whole MTC had at least one person in their district who got it except for 4 districts in the entire MTC. It was probably the most voilent stomach flu I have ever had which consisted of vomiting and dry heaving a totally of 11 times within 5 hours, diaherrea, chills, abdominal cramps and nausea. It took me a little bit longer to recover because my body was still trying to recover from the previous virus but rest assured that I am well and eating my weight back on, I mainly just wanted to share it because it was probably the most ''exciting'' thing that happened to me and took up more than half of my week thus far.

 

It has been hard to focus more than ever though with our departure so near but I really am going to miss the other districts here and my teachers so much mainly because most of them will have already graduated BYU by the time I return from the mish but with that being said I am so very excited to finallly leave! Mom, I do know Elder Watmough he came in a week before Christmas and is part of the newest district in our zone, he along with Hermanas Cluff and Lefevre are going to Antofa. I do not know the other Elders nor have I met them in the MTC but I do know at least half of the people I am traveling with to Chile, they are my original companion Hermana Catron and two elders from her district Elder Church and Elder Silvester who I have actually come to know pretty well.