with love, elli: September 2015

I'm for real. I am so happy that I literally don't know what else to say... LIFE ROCKS! This Ward rocks! The work rocks! Our investigators rock! My companion rocks! The church rocks! Our area rocks! The weather rocks! You could just say that life is rockin.
I'm also eating Taco Bell right now #rockon

The funny
I GOT TO SEE ISABELLA TODAY!!!!! Probably the closest I have ever been to crying in my life! For those who don't know who that is (which you should) she's my best friend from BYU who is now interning in DC!!!

Deaunte (a recent convert in our ward) spoke at a New and Returning Member fireside last night... Let's just say this kid is as rad as it gets to begin with but holy smokes. I had tears coming down my face the whole time from laughing. It basically went like this, "brothers and sisters... I love God. And I love the sisters. SHOUTOUT TO SISTER KENNEDY AND SISTER LEWIS IN THE BACK! (As he pounds the pulpit). And I know that this church is true. I love the Book of Mormon and I know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet. I KNOW HE CANT HEAR ME BUT SHOUTOUT TO PRESIDENT MONSON. Before I got baptized, I got interviewed by this great man behind me (as he points to president huntsman) YOU KNOW SHOUTOUT TO PRESIDENT HUNTSMAN!!!" Hahahaha literally it was a bunch of God praising and shoutouts to his favorite people. Then when president got up at the end he was thanking all the speakers and the. Just goes, "and for Deaunte - SHOUTOUT TO DEAUNTE!!!" Hahaha oh my gosh it rocked.

WE WERE FED 3 dinners in one night. Holy smokes. The last one happened at 9 PM right after we finished a lesson with a less active and her non member cousin... We finish reading the Book of Mormon, she shuts her book and joyfully yells, "NOW FOR DINNER" and she continues to bring out huge bowls of pasta and tells us that in her country (she's from Mongolia) if you don't everything off your plate, you are dis honoring your host. We painfully shoved it down aaaaand could not eat that night.

Mustafa, our Turkish investigator was at church this week as was this sweet guy named Steve who just started coming to our Ward instead of the Spanish Ward. Well Steve doesn't speak super good English and neither does Mustafa, so Steve started asking Mustafa about when he joined the church, how he likes it, which ward he's in, etc. and Mustafa totally confused is answering with completely random answers that he's making up because he doesn't know what he's asking. I was literally crying of laughter in the corner... Love them

We have this lesson with this less active girl who is telling us that she hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon because she keeps becoming addicted to other things... A little confused we ask her if there's anything we can do to help/what the problem is... And she shamefully hangs her head and says, "KOREAN DRAMA! I just can't stop watching! I don't even speak their language but it's so addicting!" Hahahaha we DIED.

Man if these things are totally not funny to anyone else, I'm sorry... I just DIE laughing all the time

Miracles:

HEATHER IS STILL ON DATE! However she is unfortunately still in her wheelchair for 3 more weeks so we have to push her baptism back... BUT she is doing so well and progressing so quickly. The spirit continues to testify to her that what we say is true and she is living the standards already! She is the perfect example of "the elect". She speaks up in church, she loves the people, and she is already learning to recognize the spirit. I love her so much. And I am so grateful for her shining example in my life!!!

Lindsaaaaay is still ROCKIN it. She is really really hesitant to move forward with September 19th BUT she is still striving to move toward baptism (even if there isn't a specific date) and to keep praying, reading, and coming to church. She is so rad. She came to the fireside that Deaunte spoke at and really enjoyed it. Which is HUGE because she usually doesn't like stuff like that. We wrote her a song this week and she loved it. It was so cool to feel and see the power of music influence the spirit in that room. I love her so much and I am so grateful for her faith and diligence in coming closer to Christ. God is so good and she is recognizing His hand in her life more and more every day.

MUSTAFA is just the man. He came to church, and a scripture study class we had before church, and we had a sweet lesson with him. SUDDENLY his English has improved LEAPS AND BOUNDS. He can carry on conversation with us WAY more than before and he's asking even more inspired questions. It's incredible to see the doctrine touch his heart in such unique and beautiful ways. He's amazing. He also became our friends on Facebook and likes all of our pictures back to the beginning of time. Hysterical. LOVE HIM.

Nevin was a MIRACLE that was found months ago in a family Ward and she wants to be taught by sisters (she's an older woman) and we are the closest sisters! we had a SWEET lesson with her about the restoration and by the end she just keep asking, "how do I become converted to the Mormons? How can I believe the things you believe? Why aren't all the Christian mormons? It makes so much more sense than the other ones!" It was sweet! We are seeing her again to see her tomorrow :) SUCH a miracle!

We have these 2 homies we are trying to teach who agreed to have a lesson after we play basketball with them on Thursday. Haha we are psyched. They're going to SCHOOL us but it'll be rad. #BringingOutTheJordans

Like every week, I want to leave you with my testimony of the love of God. HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD who literally empowers us with capabilities and power far beyond our own. What a beautiful truth to know that He will give us ALL that we are in need us as we seek His will. I am so grateful for weakness! I am so grateful for humbling experiences! I am so grateful for laughter! I am so grateful for the Spirit! I will never be able to comprehend how I was chosen to receive so many blessings in this life. I have a testimony that if we "count our blessings, every doubt will fly". Our testimonies will become stronger, our consecration to the Lord will be bolder, and our Love for the Lord and his work will be more Joyful. What a marvelous work and a wonder. What a Great WORK. What an absolute miracle.

KEEP IT REAL AND KEEP THE FAITH

SISTER KENNEDY

In front of our gratitude wall!

The sisters of the Oakton VA area!

Would you believe there is an ELLISON/KENNEDY street?????!!!!!!!

Love this girl and our matching outfits!

With Jean!

"In honor and memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since November 10, 1775"

In front of this awesome wall

I GOT TO SEE MY BEST FRIEND FROM BYU, ISABELLA!!! She is doing an internship in DC this semester!!!

Sister Lewis and I in front of the Library of Congress!

FAST.PRAY.WORK..... LETTER FROM SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

OK SOMEHOW I AM GOING TO TRY TO TELL YOU HOW INCREDIBLE THIS WEEK WAS SIMPLY IN WORDS OVER EMAIL. dont know how its going to happen because this week was literally incredible.

the funny

we are at an investigators house and we were going to watch a conference talk when she got up to make some popcorn, she looks out the window and sees a tow truck and just screams, "sisters! TOW TRUCK! RUN!" literally everyone gets towed here for everything! always. its rediculous. so we sprint outside to move our car to the back of the apt complex and run back. barefoot. hilarious

we have this brazilian girl in our ward who is literally my favorite human ever. she came out with us on saturday and literally stayed with us from 1:30 pm to 9:00 pm. it rocked. but the best part was when she started rapping macklemore for us.anytime we were in the car. and with her accent it made it 10x better, I literally had tears running down my face from laughing so hard.

my sleeping patterns have been whack lately and a couple nights ago I woke up in shock because I didnt hear the alarm... so I ran into the bathroom brushed my teeth, started saying my prayers and asked sister lewis why she wasnt getting out of bed before realizing it was 3 am. so I went back to bed and then woke up at 5 am doing the same thing... flash forward to a couple nights ago when I couldnt sleep so I decided that we should sleep in the living room. sister lewis drags her mattress out there (its like 1 am) and I assure her that I will be more comfortable on the floor. #wrongo. i was miserable. so I try sleeping on our 3 foot wide couch and end up dangling off either end before admitting that the floor was going to have to do. needless to say I fell asleep around 3 am and kept waking up until we got up at 6. its been a joy ;) #iwokeuplikedis #FLAWLESS

also. random sidenote. I have this thing called "black nike crew sock obsession". and im running low. real low. on my sock stock. so if any of you feel so inclined to send a pair my way, I wouldnt complain ;)

3017 Hightower Place #108

Fairfax, VA. 22031

MIRACLES:

LITERALLY I DONT KNOW HOW TO KEEP THIS SHORT SO BEAR WITH ME

Sister Lewis is incredibly musically talented and we have been talking about how we can implement that into our missionary work. we have talked about it a lot but we never did anything. so monday night we were tracting and we tracted into this sweet persian woman who had just learned about christ the night before from a movie on netflix! She was so excited to see us there and kept saying how crazy it is that we showed up the next day! we were teaching and testifying of christ and suddenly sister lewis just asks, "can we sing you a song?" before she could answer we started singing I am a child of God and brother and sisters I know there were angels present in that moment. I did not hear my voice and I did not hear sister lewis's voice. It was like a chorus of angels on our left and on our right bearing us up (Doctrine and Covenants 84:85?88?). it was so cool. afterwards she said, I have been feeling like I need energy and upliftment but I didnt know where to find it. I found it in that song. It was SWEET.

THEN we had a lesson with a recent convert and we sang him How Great Thou Art at the end as he wrote down thoughts about his conversion to the church. again. the spirit was SO STRONG and it just filled the air. we all felt it.

even this morning we were walking to our car after an appt and sister lewis was playing her ukulele and were singing I am a child of God and this scary old man said, "come over here and play on this side of th street! that is just beautiful!" it was awesome. tonight we are going street contacting and we are going to bring the ukulele and just sing :) SO SWEET.

MLC is mission leadership council. we had that meeting this week on thursday and it was probably the most spiritual meeting I have ever been in. Something that has always bothered me is that I feel that in meetings i feel the spirit and right as I leave that strong sense of the spirit leaves... but this time it didnt. that spirit is STILL with me just as strong as it was in that meeting and that lead us to some incredible miracles. In that meeting we received some incredible inspiration for our area and it was awesome!!!

WE GOT HEATHER ON DATE FOR BAPTISM! After that meeting we decided to fast for heather and for lindsay. We had a lesson with Heather just an hour after the meeting concluded and right in the middle of it we invited her to prepare for baptism on September 27th. without hesitation she said yes and that she would do all she could do get there. during the lesson she got a little emotional as she told us that before we knocked on her door she wasnt even sure she believed in God. we met her 3 weeks ago and now she is RUNNING. she told us, "Even just looking at the book of mormon brings me peace. I KNOW that it is the word of God and I know it is true". she is an absolute miracle. she came to church this week and LOVED it and she came last week! miracles!

That night we had a lesson with Lindsay. and holy smokes. it was miraculous. we asked her about how she feels God has played a role in her life and she shared a few experiences that were so tender and so sweet. We were TERRIFIED to get her ondate because the elders shared horror stories with us but it just felt right. the spirit in that room is something I can not describe. SO MUCH POWER and at the end we invited her to pray and fast about baptism on september 19th. she did not even hesitate to agree to it. it was SO incredible. I just sat there thinking to myself, "sister kennedy, oh ye of little faith! the LORD IS AT WORK." this is seriously his work. everything about that lesson and about her accepting that date was the spirit and I KNOW that she is prepared. we have another lesson with her tonight and we are SO excited.

WE FOUND A TURKISH SPEAKER FOR MUSTAFA! AHHHH we are so excited!

I have no more time but the lord's hand is seriously guiding and directing every move that we make. I feel his loving hand at work every second. I know that success does not come with knowledge but with faith and I learn that more and more each and every day. What a MARVELOUS WORK THAT IS COMING FORTH!!! and what a miracle to be commissioned by Jesus Christ to do this work for 18 months. THE MISSION IS A MIRACLE!

keep it real and keep the faith

sister kennedy

SEEKING THE ONE.... LETTER FROM AUGUST 31, 2015

ok brothers and sisters I am consistently in AWE at the Love and GRACE and mercy of the Savior. I literally stand all amazed at the Love that he offers me!

the funny-

we have a less-active who refuses to meet with us unless we play tennis with him. so we got our swaggie on and played with him tuesday #wheresKSHEFF,RAMONAAAA,andRYDAWGwhenIneedthem #athletestudents. lets just say I CREAMED him. and sister lewis. 2 against 1. ok maybe not creamed, but pretty much ;) #noteven.

we have another less-active who refuses to meet with us unless we talk about/play football. sorry bud. not happening.

We got stuck in a FLASH FLOOD after a lesson that we were having outside and we parked - it felt like - LIGHTYEARS away. we were SOAKED. the rest of the night people wouldnt talk to us...

probably because we looked homeless. haha

we have a member who made sure to let us know that one direction is taking a one year hiatus. Im a little bit torn up about that... keep me updated people

MIRACLES

remember heather? we tracted into her last week and this week while we were at dinner with a member and we felt prompted to go check on her... the member happily suggested she come with us and it was incredible. we taught heather the plan of salvation and commited her to be baptized. she agreed and then came to church on her own on sunday! it was incredible! she loved church and loved the people. it was sweet. she has been reading the Book of Mormon faithfully and she just rocks my world. we are SO excited for her.

LINDSAY continues TO ROCK IT. we had a super revelatory practice teach for her and in the lesson she literally said the EXACT WORDS we had practiced her saying. it was such a dream. she is progressing SO WELL and is working so hard to receive her answers. She HAS SO MUCH REAL INTENT THAT IT BLOWS MY MIND. I love her SO much and I am so grateful for her!!!

MUSTAFA came to church again and we had a great lesson with him! He doesnt really understand much but MIRACULOUSLY during stake conference there was a youth speaker who got up and told us about how his family just moved here from TURKEY!! what!? we have been praying and fasting to find turkish speakers for weeks and it was an incredible answer to prayers. we have been in touch with the family who are connecting us to more turkish speakers in the area that can help us teach. SO STINKIN COOL.

Jane has been sick all week so we havent been able to see her but she is still rockin it and still progressing! she is so wonderful!

Sister Malufau (my first baby) and I were on exchanges this week and we were FINDING like mad. it was 8:30 and nobody was giving us the time of day, all day. we said a prayer that we would find a new investigator before going out that night and we knew it would happen. we were walking and sister malufau just said, "I really think we are going to find someone. God will send us a prepared person, right?" I smiled and said, "you are so right. he promised us someone and we have been doing all we can to find them. they will come". lo and behold within seconds of this conversation this RAD guy comes struttin out of his apartment and we stop him. He looks at us and says, "THE MORMONS! I had 2 guys stop me one time and they never came back! I was waiting! when can yall teach me more? can I give you my number? can you come tomorrow afternoon? Im a chef I can cook you dinner!" Literally. JAW DROP. both of us were doing all we could not to look like idiots and jump up and down. we walked away with tears in our eyes with so much gratitude for God sending us yet another miracle that we didnt deserve! It was sweet too becuase that afternoon we did training on having the faith to find and we were able to use it! so awesome!!! they went back and taught him the next day and they said he is SO PREPARED and he accepted baptism!! ahhhH!!!

AND WE GOT A REFERRAL FROM CHURCH HEADQUARTERS THAT WE ARE PSYCHED ABOUT! #holler

a few thoughts from this week:

I've been thinking a lot about being a facebook mission and what that means. I remember being pretty ticked when I first found out because I wanted my mission to set me apart from the world... and as time has gone on I have realized that it is teaching me exactly that. The lord wants us to consecrate our lives to him both on and off of our missions and being completely separated from the things of the world until we go home can do a lot of damage... but because we have been blessed with those resources here and now I am able to learn how to control those habits being right in the middle of them. GOD IS SO GOOD! His plan is so perfect, His grace REALLY is sufficient and His love is unfailing. I love this gospel SO much and when I think of the incredibly small efforts I give and the BOUNTEOUS miracles that follow, I cant help but weep at the fact that the atonement is REALLY working in my life and more importantly, in the lives of these incredible people that I love SO SO MUCH.

I love you all and pray for you all daily :)

keep it real and keep the faith

sister kennedy

WORK HARD TO WORK HARDER.... LETTER FROM AUGUST 24, 2015

BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I am literally in awe looking back and reflecting on each and every week. The LORD SERIOUSLY blesses us with more and more miracles every week.

the funny:

we are dog sitting for one of our investigators this week and we had a SUPER busy day on Friday, so we decide to get up extra early to take care of the dog before we do anything else. we decided to take the dog on a walk for exercise time #thestruggle and before we did anything the dog PEED alllllll over sister lewis. she was seriously drenched in pee. SO. FUNNY.

this morning we ran to ihop for exercise time... haha and DOWNED piles of french toast. needless to say we did NOT run back.

we had a lesson with a recent convert this week in her home and as i was bending over to kneel for the prayer I stop and realize that my "new" rad thrift store skirt perfectly matches the pattern of their rug. embarrassing? probably. Tian - the recent convert took tons of pictures and was showing everyone at church yesterday. hahaha now everyone knows I have hideous grandma fashion #swaggie

THE MIRACLES:

DARA is one of our investigators that we love dearly that we felt strongly prompted to go visit on tuesday night. we went by and had a really spiritual experience with her talking about how we can feel God's love and how we can feel it specifically through the Book of Mormon. It was awesome to feel the power of testimony in those moments of what seemed to be despair. God ALWAYS provides a way and a lot of the time, it is through His WORD that we find peace.

WE HAD A LESSON WITH JANE THIS WEEK! AND IT WAS SO GOOD. we had a member come with us who REALLY connected with her and was able to relate to her on an incredible level. She agreed to baptism and is seriously so golden. She texted us on Sunday and asked if she could come to church. UH yeah. it was so sweet. we are hoping to get her on date this week. she is a miracle.

MUSTAFA is a referral to us from the Oakton sisters! he is from Turkey and is seriously the COOLEST. he was found street contacting a couple months back but his english was so poor that the sisters didnt know if they could teach him. They got him a copy of the Book of Mormon in Turkish and within a few weeks he was on page 257 (alma chapter 20). They were SO EXCITED and passed him off to us this week! We invited him to church on Thursday and never heard back so we werent expecting him but he showed up on his own! He is SO INCREDIBLE! we just found a turkish speaker in the area (FINALLY) and we are so excited to get him into the waters of baptism!

LINDSAYYYYY is the girl I told you about last week that I knew in colonial that the elders are teaching, well we went to the visitors center with her this week and had one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. We watched the "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" movie with her and it was SO MIRACULOUS. she has a hard time with the priesthood and does not understand why it is important. after the movie we talked about that and the spirit very strongly prompted us to promise her that if she prays and reads her scriptures this week with the question in mind of whether or not the priesthood is important, she will get an answer before the end of next week. #whoa. she agreed and the spirit was so strong. she came to church yesterday and stayed for all 3 hours and then she had us over for dinner. it. was. awesome.

We were on a district "blitz" where we just tract one area as a district and we found an AWESOME YSA girl who has a friend who just got her mission call! she is really seeking for truth and seeking to find christ more fully in her life. She wasn't able to make it to church this week but she is an absolute miracle and we are excited to teach her!!!

Victoria is out of town this week but we are hoping to connect with her as soon as she gets back!

AHHHH SISTER WHEELER CALLED ME THIS WEEK AND TOLD ME THAT GERELEE (OUR CUTE MONGOLIAN INVESTIGATOR FROM OAK MARR) IS ON DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 26TH!!! and she was put on date on my birthday. AHHH. so many miracles. I am so so so excited for her.

This week I was reminded more and more about the importance of having love as our motivator. when we are really truly helping others come unto Christ because we love the Lord and because we love THEM, that is when people change. THAT is when we are able to shout from the rooftops that Jesus Christ lives, He LOVES us, He died for us, He rejoices in our joy and feels the pain of our suffering, He is HERE. He is ALWAYS here. I WISH I COULD EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE TO MY SAVIOR FOR ALL THAT HE IS TO ME. And what an absolute miracle that because He lives I am counted worthy to represent Him and His name each and every day of my life, and specifically as a missionary. He really is my joy, my heart, my love, and my life. I am because He is. Of this I will testify until the day that I die. In the Sacred Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

keep it real and keep the faith

sister kennedy