Leesburg the Iceburg!

Holy. Crazy. Week. It feels like it's been 3 weeks. SO much has happened.
Let's just do a little play by play... I left Langley this week. Holy
smokes I will forever have a piece of my heart in that holy land. So
many miracles and good things came from that area. I have never been
more tried and challenged and have never felt more joy. The
experiences I had there will forever be dear to my heart. Saying
goodbye to the Ward and the people I taught was HEART WRENCHING. I
will love these people for the rest of my life. Forever best friends.
Seriously.
Also. Sister Lewis went home. Holy smokes. She is my first companion
that has gone home since my trainer. I thought I was letting go of a
piece of myself saying goodbye to her at the stake center on Thursday.
I had to hold back so many tears. That girl changed my mission and my
life. I will forever be indebted to her for the incredible friend,
companion and sister that she is to me. Love that little cutie.

1st of all, there is a family from my first area that I taught that
was getting sealed on Saturday! ahhhh! So so so exciting. Well the
blizzard messed up everyone's plans, and last minute they moved the
sealing up to Thursday night at 8 PM. Which was the night of
transfers. So things got whack. I got transferred to Leesburg which is
literally on the other side of the mission from where the other sister
that was going with me to the sealing is serving. So I ended up just
going with her after transfers to her area in Fort Belvoir right after
transfers. We tricked everyone into thinking I was her new companion
and mixed everybody up, it was hysterical. Anyways, trying to figure
out this whole thing with their sealing and how we were getting there
was SO stressful to say the least and honestly an absolute miracle
that any of it worked out. And it did. As we walked into the temple
that night, the Stolpe family was right by the entrance. I will never
forget the way sweet sister Stolpe looked up, saw me, and ran into my
arms. We just stood there and wept. She just kept saying, "I'm so glad
you're here. I'm so glad you're here". One of the most tender moments
of my life, and that sealing is one I will never forget. Sitting in
that sealing room, full of people from the kingstowne Ward (my first
area) and the sealer being one of my favorite people from the Oak Marr
Ward (my third area) I couldn't help but just cry. Cry in gratitude
for my Father in Heaven and this miraculous opportunity He has given
me to be here at this time serving His children. It was a night and an
experience I will never forget. The spirit was so so thick that I
could feel it. That family, after 18 years, is now eternal. What a
miracle!


So
Snow-Maggedon.
It's a real thing.
And it happened this week.
THE ENTIRE EAST COAST SHUT DOWN. We had to be in our apt by noon on
Friday and have literally been housebound since. The snow started at 2
pm and we have been BURIED ever since. 3 feet of snow in a day. It was
crazy. Not to mention the wind, sleet, and soon to be rain this
afternoon. #holler. So Friday night, was the first night of the
transfer and I was not about to be stuck in the apartment. So we
decided to walk to the grocery store and help people with their
groceries. Not thinking about the fact that snowmaggedon hit and no
one would be outside. LOLZ. My hair literally froze to my face. And I
couldn't see a thing. Haha BUT! Coming out of the grocery story was
Pam :) we stopped and talked with her and invited her to watch a video
about Christ's resurrection. We gave her the card and she told us she
had just lost her mom 2 months earlier and is out of work. We
testified of the plan of salvation, the rut fullness of the message of
Christ's gospel and asked if she would like to learn more. She agreed
And gave us her information to come and talk to her more. MIRACLES

The weather just got worse and the rest of the week we were inside or
shoveling. We helped one of our neighbors shovel her car out so she
could have her wine for the weekend and our other neither Ernie helped
shovel us out! He also agreed to meet with the elders and come to
church! Sweet! I love the miracles that come when we seek for
unplanned opportunity to share the gospel!

Real quick funny thing - sister Makowa has never been in snow. So on
Saturday, we were walking around and she was like "so for some reason
there are weird yellow spots everywhere. What do you think that is?"
Hahahaha that would be dog pee. Haha

We also went sledding with some kids in the Ward that live in our
complex only to find that the white handbook tells us "no winter
sports" - oops

It's been a great week! We can't drive after 6 pm, so no proselyting.
AGAIN. Going on day 4. But all is well!! I love you all and care for
you so so much! Thanks for all your love and prayers!
Keep it real and keep the faith
Sister Kennedy

THE PICS BELOW:
With some of the fav sisters
Tracting with sister labrum
#thedistrict
With Laura and Torey at the fireside
Dinner with one of my old bishops from Oak Marr :)
Saying goodbye to all the Langley homies
Sister pope and I getting ready for the blizzard after the sealing haha
Sister Makowa and I and the ICEBURG

Elli's letters!

 LIVING THE DREAM... LETTER FROM JAN 18, 2016
 I LOVE LANGLEY YSA. For real.

Also I have close to zero time so sorry I didn't respond to anyone!

The Funny -
We walk into smash burger on Tuesday and this big guy behind the
counter just yells "hey girl! I know you! You play ball for George
Washington University don't you? Yeah. I totally know you!" Everyone
stares. I'm pretty awkward so I just start pretending to bust out some
free throws. In the middle of smash burger. Alright. My life rocks

Later we are on exchanges with the sisters in Arlington and sister
labrum and I were knocking doors. From a distance we see our car
getting towed. No. Way. We run over as he is about to hook our car on
to his and tell him to stop. Haha then this crazy drunk guy runs up to
our car and starts hitting it and screaming at us to leave. It was
super super weird. But we left and all is well!

miracles -
LAURA GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK! Hot dang that girl is a miracle! She
walked out of the font with this huge grin on her face and she said
"I'm finally a member!" The spirit was thick. So thick. It was
incredible. I am so so grateful for Laura lounsbury and what she has
taught me. I am a better person because of her and I am so grateful to
call her one of my best friends. AHHH so many miracles

Torey is still on fire. she spoke at a fireside for new members last
night. Holy Smokes she rocked it. I was blown away at how beautifully
she shared her testimony and how strong the spirit was as she shared
how the gospel filled a void in her life that she could never thought
she could fill. Absolutely beautiful.

Jasmin and Lindsay are out of town this week so not much to update
there, they are both SO close to baptism and i am SO excited

I was on exchanges with Sister Hansen this week - who by the way was
at 2 of the same concerts I was at in Salt Lake last year. She
literally rocks my world - and we found this RAD new investigator
named Josh. He is as solid as they come and we are pumped to start
teaching him this week.

So I'm leaving Langley for my last 6 weeks and heading to a family
ward in the wilderness! No more city life for me. I am grateful for
the opportunity I will have to stretch and grow in this new capacity.
I know this church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of
God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that God
still speaks today and that His words Never Cease. I know that modern
revelation is real and I sustain and support our prophet president
Thomas S Monson with my whole heart and soul. This work is a miracle
and I know that it is never frustrated. God is at the head and ever
will be. Expect Miracles and they will happen. I can testify with
every inch of my soul that that is true. I love you all SO much!

Keep it real and keep the faith
Sister Kennedy
MIRACLES NEVER CEASE...LETTER FROM JAN 11, 2016
brothers and sisters! another week in the promised land and I would
not want to be anywhere else! I was asked to write a "newsletter" of
sorts that gets sent out to all the missionaries this week and I
couldnt help but reflect on how I literally would not want to be
anywhere else. The Lord is bringing in the elect and I am so grateful
I am here to be an instrument in that gathering!

the funny:
weekly planning was getting a little long and, like usual, I needed a
few minutes of fresh air. I went out on the balcony and walked back
inside with a brilliant idea to teach sister liu how to do the worm.
one of the greatest moments. ever. I cried from laughing so hard for a
solid 5 minutes. it was excellent.

later we were tracting and we knocked on a door that had a big window
in the front with 2 curtains hanging with little cracks so you could
see inside. sis liu was peeking in and told me she saw someone. I was
certain their wasnt anyone home so I just shrugged my shoulders and
went to knock again when the girl inside flung the curtain open and
sister Liu literally jumped out of her skin. She flew backwards in
fear but was trying to look excited to see her. meanwhile, she opens
the door and i am crouching out in front from laughing so hard. It was
a less effective door approach to say the least. and she wasnt
interested hahaha. as we were walking away I was still laughing and
had tears coming down my face. we decided to knock another building
and as we were walking in, there was a man walking out, I was trying
to warn sis liu because she didnt see him but she didnt hear me and as
the man opened the door she flew backwards in fear yet again. This
time i totally lost it. i was laughing so hard that I could not even
control myself and sat on the sidewalk for 5 minutes because I couldnt
contain it. so so funny.

MIRACLES

TOREY GOT BAPTIZED!!!! AHHHH!!! she did it! she got baptized and was
absolutely BEAMING afterwards. It was remarkable. We had a recent
convert baptize her and it was so so special. Everything about it was
great. SO much support from the ward and she was just bouncing around
she was so so happy. She even brought her boyfriend with her to church
the next day and introduced him to the elders so they can teach him!
she is a rockstar and already an incredible missionary! I love it!

Laura is getting baptized on Saturday and she couldnt be more excited!
AH she is so so wonderful and I am SO excited for her to take this
step. she is SO dang prepared. She watched the CES devotional last
night and took notes! and she even came and cleaned the church with
us! ah I am so so psyched! life just rocks!

lindsay is wanting to get baptized in march. *gulp. I will be home. SO
weird. But all is well! the lords timing is WAY better than mine! I am
SO excited for her. She is so close. REALLY truly. she just has to
open her heart a liiiiittle more.

Jasmin is doing incredible. We had a SUPER good lesson with her and
she told us that has been reading and praying like a lot! we are SO
excited! we invited her to baptism and are hoping to give her a date
this week!

Kayla - i think i talked about her last week? - is as golden as they
get. accepted baptism, agreed to EVERYTHING and moved to utah today...
which rocks! we are passing her to the missionaries in Orem and shes
going to be baptized SO soon!

we had 5 investigators at church! WHOO! so many miracles!

We have been getting tons of referrals from the temple visitors center
which has been sweet! we have had to pass them all to family wards but
it has been wonderful to meet them all and to see how the spirit of
the temple grounds affects them. I know that the temple is an
incredibly sacred place! The gospel is SO true.

I have a firm testimony that God loves us. He loves all of His
children and that we are all here to help bring His children back
home. What a miracle. What a marvelous time to be a part of the work
of the Lord. I love my mission. and Northern Virginia will forever be
sacred grounds. I love love love this true gospel of Jesus Christ.

keep it real and keep the faith

sister kennedy
HIGHER. FASTER. STRONGER...LETTER FROM JAN 4, 2016
Brothers and Sisters! What a wonderful week it has been! And already a
marvelous 2016! Miracles are so dang real and I'm so grateful I am
here in DC South to witness them!!

The funny -
We were together as a zone for New Years Eve because we couldn't go
outside and we played volleyball for EVER. Basically it was rad and at
one point sister Liu went to get the ball, slid under the net, and was
nearly trampled as the other team tried to get it back over. It was a
THE trample of 2k16. We laughed for a solid 10 minutes

Visited MUSTAFA at work again this week. Got 2 more new emoji pillows
for free. Life rocks.

Had a potential investigator ask us on a date. Uh #no

Man, I'm getting less funny the closer I get to the end of my mission
haha sorry guys.

The miracles -
Lindsay was not baptized this week... Which was heart wrenching to say
the least. Lots of tears and prayers went into that but I know what
happened is the will of the lord. I was able to go on exchanges with
sister Lewis this week and we had a lesson with her. It was
miraculous. Lindsay is the elect, she just needs more time than
others. Love that girl

Torey is getting baptized on Saturday! Ahhhhh!!! So so so excited for
that! She is so prepared! And we have a recent convert baptizing her
who is super excited too! Miracles!

Laura is getting baptized on the 16th still and we are pumped! She's incredible

We found 4 new investigators this week that we are psyched to keep
teaching, one of them is a self referral on Mormon.org. She rocks! I
love her so so much. We also got 4 other temple visitors center
referrals and one referral that we found through tracting! It was
sweet! This work is a work miracles. I have no doubt that God is at
the head of it. His work is never ever ever frustrated. I KNOW that.
Langley YSA is the promised land and I will forever be grateful to the
Lord for sending me here.

No complaints. Just THANKS. Happy New Year all you beautiful people

PICS FROM THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS!