with love, elli: Happy Day, All is Well!

HOLY SMOKES. I has been a crazy 9 days since the last time I wrote! I have so many stories to tell and so many miracles to rave about :)

Starting with last Monday. SO it was preparation day and Sister Schooley and I were trying REALLY hard to get everything done that we needed to so we would have time to go to Arlington cemetery. Well. We were rocking in until we got to the house of the person who was taking us and we had to wait for them to get ready... when they were ready they lost their dog so we had to go look for it and it took forever (and it was unsuccessful). At this point we had about 2 1/2 precious hours left of preparation day so we were pushing them out the door. We got going and they informed us that we had to make a "pitstop" at the cell phone store... well that store was 30 minutes from our initial destination. But with happy hearts we agreed we would go with them to the store. Keep in mind we were driving a VERY old truck that is wide and hard to drive down narrow roads... As we were driving there, there was a LOT of traffic. We were stuck at a red light, and she tried to get into the turning lane. Well she couldn't fit and the NAILED the car to our right... Sister Schooley and I didn't know what to do other than kind of scream. Sister Schooley told her to pull over so we could talk to them but instead she just floored it and went through the red light... uhhhh what? Sister Schooley and I just looked at each other and she parked the car, got out, and pretended like nothing happened. On top of that, we were in the cell phone store for an 1 1/2 hours and got home just before preparation day is over... Moral of the story, we have basically waited 16 days for preparation day... But now here it is and all is well!!!

Other than that this last week was just miraculous! EVERYONE here either works for the government (in law usually) or is in the military. And by everyone, I literally mean EVERYONE. I couldn't name one person who doesn't. With that being said, we were able to go onto 2 military bases this week! Only the Army base and the Coast Guard base! It is WAY cool to see like a little city within a city. They have everything there that they need, they never have to go off base! It's way rad.

Every Thursday we volunteer at the Methodist Thrift Store to do service :) It is GLORIOUS. The women who work there are the sweetest things in the world and they are so gracious toward us! We usually help them by stocking cans of food for the homeless shelter or we organize toiletries. It is one of the highlights of my week every week!

There is a sweet family in our ward that we have been working with that we absolutely LOVE. Their neighbors come to their house to have family home evening with us and it is just a total blast. However, this week their little 2-year-old was diagnosed with Leukemia. The dad was just called to be the elders quorum president, is in the middle of medical school, and the mom just got called to be in the relief society presidency. It has been such a sad and stressful time for them but through it I have really seen the beauty of how a ward can come together to offer support and love to those in need. Everyone has been helping them in any way they can and they have been absolutely overwhelmed at the outpour of love they have received.

There is a new senior couple in the mission!! The Sampsons :) THEY ARE MY FAVORITE. They have totally taken me in as their granddaughter and they are just always loving on me. hugging me, kissing my cheeks, and just telling me how much they love me. It has helped me a TON knowing that I have some home away from home! They had us over for dinner with week with a less-active family in our ward and it was just delightful. I truly come to love this place more and more every day!!

We have a recent convert in the ward that we have been working with named Carol :) she is 76 and literally the most accomplished woman I know. She was the second woman in the united states to get a P.h.D (I cant even spell that right, how pathetic is that) in Cardiovascular Physiology and also has degrees in nursing, science and law. She has worked aside President Obama numerous times and has more connections than any person I have ever met in my life. We are helping her put a project together to present the "no child left behind act" to the king of Saudi Arabi #WHAT yeah. That's real. and she is so impressed with how much sister schooley and I have helped that she wants us to help her present it!!! of course we cant because we are missionaries, but it was a cool idea! haha She also keeps telling us that if we ever need a letter of recommendation that she will write one for us. #HOLLER. AND she scheduled a PRIVATE TOUR of the capitol building for her, sister schooley and I next Monday! MY LIFE ROCKS. yeah its so rad.

For those of you who watched conference, there was a talk given by an Elder Kacher of the 70 in the Sunday afternoon session that was absolutely incredible!! His son is in our ward and we have dinner with their family all the time! how cool is that?

sidenote: the high school that "remember the titans" is based off of is in our area! we drove past it last week, hopefully next time we can stop to get a pic ;)

We had the opportunity to go the visitors center this Saturday and it was WONDERFUL. We learned about the importance of the temple and how we TRULY can be together with our families forever. IT WAS AWESOME! I love the temple and all of the incredible work we can accomplish inside of it!

A family in our ward that we have been working with has been good about praying for missionary opportunities! This week while they were on a walk, they stopped and talked to this woman on the street who told them she was looking for a religion. They invited her to church and testified of the truthfulness of the gospel and she CAME! How rad is that?! Praying for missionary opportunities WORKS! so keep doing it :)

We also had ZONE CONFERENCE THIS WEEK! It was SO RAD. Every time President Riggs speaks you can feel of his love for the Savior and for this work. He is an inspired man! We learned about the atonement and the fall of adam and eve. It was INCREDIBLE. He spoke about the beauty of the atonement and how it makes every negative thing about the fall, a POSITIVE thing. HOW TRUE THAT IS. We have so much to be joyful about because of the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. He has given us so much HOPE in this life and in the life to come because of his infinite and atoning sacrifice. Just the thought of that gives me chills. We are all children of a LOVING Heavenly Father! He is so merciful and willing to help us if we strive to become one with Him so he can better help us understand who we are and what we are capable of.

We also had a mission conference with Elder Kopischke of the seventy. Him and his wife are from Germany and they shared an amazing message with us. We spoke all about how the Holy Ghost works through us and how he can answer every question we have. With that in mind, Elder K told us all to write down EVERY question we had about the gospel that has been troubling us or that has been on our mind. So we did. And he PROMISED us that every question we had would be answered by the Holy Ghost. And it was TRUE. Some of my questions were not even brought up during the conference but they were answered as the spirit spoke and testified to me of the truthfulness of this everlasting gospel.

Each and Every day I am striving to become more and better through my Savior Jesus Christ. I invite all of you do the same and your blessings will be everlasting.

I love my Savior and his atoning sacrifice, I love the Holy Ghost and how it bears witness to us, I love President Riggs and Washington DC South, and I LOVE being a missionary

Keep it Real and Keep the Faith,

Sister Kennedy