God Be With You Til We Meet Again!

Brothers and Sisters! What a perfect week to has been! WOW! I can not
begin to convey my feelings of love and gratitude for the miracles we
have witnessed this week!

John was baptized on Saturday. There were over 50 people there, 10 of
which were his non-member friends that he invited. I LOVE John. Oh my
goodness. It brings tears to my eyes just to think about what a
miracle it has been to teach him. He was taught and baptized in 21
days. And has the most solid testimony of truth. Ever. His faith is
astounding. His role in the church and in bringing souls to Christ
will be HUGE. He is one of the most remarkable men I know and I will
forever cherish the time I had to teach him, and for the friendship
that has been kindled. The light he carries and the love of the Lord
that he radiates can not compare to anything or anyone else. I am so
so grateful.

We get to go to the temple tomorrow with 4 recent converts I have been
blessed to teach to be baptized for their deceased immediate family
members. What a sacred experience that will be and I am SO excited.
The ordinances of the temple are SO miraculous.

I was able to see an investigator, 3 recent converts, and tons of
members from Langley this week that came out to Ashburn for lunch and
who came to a new and returning member fireside last night. I am SO
grateful for those people who will be imprinted in my heart now and
forever. Their love and testimonies will forever be dear to me. I love
those people so so much.

At that same fireside, Peter who just got baptized in Leesburg spoke
and Laura who got baptized in January from Langley spoke. I couldn't
help but cry at the fact that God entrusted me with such sacred and
special people that I LOVE so deeply. At the end of the meeting, the
assistants asked sister Liu and I to come up and bear a departing
testimony. About 1/2-3/4 of the mission comes to this fireside
bringing less actives, recent converts, and investigators. It's such a
tender and special place to be. I stood up there and as I looked out
and saw so so so many people that I love - missionaries I've served
with, companions I've had, people I taught, members I love, and
leaders I cherish - I just wept. I wept for joy and gratitude that God
sent me to northern Virginia. I wept because of the love of the lord
in my heart that I just wanted to radiate to everyone in that
audience. And I wept with a broken heart that I will have to leave
this beautiful place this week.

I have no idea how this is real. It's been 18 months already and there
are no words to describe the depth of my gratitude for this sacred and
holy experience.

I don't have the words to tell you how much my mission means to me,
but I am certain that my mission has been the most life changing
experience of my mortal life. I have never seen so much change in
myself, in those I've taught, and in those I've been blessed to come
in contact with. God is at the head of this church. Christ is at the
core of all that we do and of who we are. And through His love and His
atonement we come to understand who we are and why we are here. I know
that through His love, we are able to stand as His witnesses at all
times and in all places. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God
and that he did translate the Book of Mormon through the power of God.
I know that the Book of Mormon is the convincing evidence of the
restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That book will be the tool
used to gather Israel. There is more power and truth in that book than
in any other book.  I know that God is our is our loving Heavenly
Father.  He knows us perfectly, deeply, and everlastingly. In the
words of one of my favorite hymns "Fear not, I am with thee; oh be not
dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid... I'll never,
no never. I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never, no never
forsake." He will never fail us. He will never forsake us.  He is
forever. He is eternal. And nothing that we do will ever change that
love that He has for us.

I love the Lord. I love His work. I love His children.

And I love Northern Virginia. God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

Keep it real and keep the faith

Sister Kennedy

 At the mission office for the last time

 With my favorite senior missionaries!

 John's baptism!

 With Coleman and Caitlin his main fellowshippers!

 With some Cambodian members we are reactivating!

 Lesson with Jake in Shenandoah :)

God is at the Head!

I dont even know where to start! life has been absolutely insane and I don't have much time to email! this week I have felt the hand of the Lord more than at any given point of my life. He has directed every move, he has guided every step, and he has inspired every decision. My sweet sweet Sister Makowa made her journey back to Africa this week. It has been a long and fruitful 7 months for her in the mission field and she fought hard to the end. she flew out Friday afternoon and I think a part of my heart flew out with her. I am so grateful for the time I spent with her and the work that we were able to accomplish together. she is remarkable and will forever be one of my dearest friends. 

Saturday, we had a baptism. talk about stress. luckily we put it in the Lord's hands and miracles poured down. peter is one of the most prepared people EVER. he bore his testimony on the power of prayer and about God and His work and I am certain there was not a dry eye in the room. he knows these things are true and he will not deny the power of God. The spirit was undeniable. I am so grateful for His faith and trust in the Lord and His love. it was miraculous.

I am now in a trio covering 2 wards (1 of which being ANOTHER YSA ward #round3) and we are totally and completely BOOKED. always. we are SO busy that its insane. 

we had a member bring a nonmember friend to church who has already read up to enos in the book of Mormon, begins and ends his day with a conference talk, already has a trip planned for October conference, asked for sundays off from work because he felt it was right, and we are teaching him this week. HE IS INCREDIBLE.

then had another investigator bear his testimony in sacrament meeting on the power of the Savior and the truthfulness of the book of Mormon! OK! HELLO ROCKSTAR. 

And the lord is just plopping people in our laps to be taught. the members here are remarkable and want to help us with anything and everything that we need. the work here is hastening like I have never seen before. we have an FHE tonight in which 3 members are bringing nonmember friends to meet us. nothing short of miraculous. 

I am So blessed to be here at this time with these people in this part of the vineyard. amidst all the turmoil, strife, and confusion, I have never been so certain that God has a plan for all of His children. Christ is at the center of that plan. He would never ever leave any of us alone to wander and dwindle in unbelief. I leave you my simple but earnest witness that Jesus really is the Christ. the Savior and Redeemer of Mankind. God is our Loving father in heaven. He is here. he knows us, he feels us, he cares about us. We are His work and His glory.  We are the center of His heart and He is here during the good and the bad to lift our broken hearts, to carry our heavy burdens, and to remind us of our infinite and eternal purposes here on earth. Of these things I testify with every inch and cranny of my being. I know these things to be true and I am humbled that I have been called and set apart to preach them to all the end of the earth.

God is at the head. 

keep it real and keep the faith 

sister kennedy

                                                                  Baptism for Peter!

                                                                       My new comps!

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!