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

 ​Sisters in my MTC zone that are in the DC North mission as Temple Visitors Center sisters!

 At the Visitors Center with Bobbi and James in our ward :)

 The GORGEOUS DC temple

 In OldTowne Last preparation day :)

 Roaming the streets...

 Hanging out with Erin in our ward :)

 ​Teaching the Restoration to Andy and Michelle (and Jax, the dog)

 enjoy the beauty

 ​The beautiful Viginia sunset!

 selfie with the templeeee

 my cute comp and I :) who only has 3 weeks left in the mission field!!!

 The CREW at the visitors center

 the temple from the beltway!

 taking our less active to the singles ward this week!!

​

 ​first time I have done my hair on my mission.  #hallelu-yer

​being crazzzyyyy 

 The bread of life :)  bread from home!

 Here we are! In all our glory! The one with the bangs is sister

schooleys recent convert :)

 This is elder moreno... He is my fav missionary in the district movies

that we watch as new missionaries :)

 This is sister duncan. We are the SAME person. She is sister schooleys

old comp. I love her!!!

The Best Work is Missionary Work!!

This week in a nutshell:
 Me: "sister schooley, why is everyone in Virginia so much cooler than me"
 Sister Schooley (very rapidly responded): "because their black."

 TRUTH.

 HAHAHA ok sorry I just had to share a laugh with all you WONDERFUL people.  This week has been MORE than good. It has been absolutely TREMENDOUS! I am so completely obsessed with Kingstowne VA and the people in it that have truly changed my life! MISSIONARY WORK IS THE BEST WORK!!!

 We finally got one of our less-actives to come to church this week and it was SO RAD. She is so solid and wants to be involved in the gospel but it has been hard for her to make it a priority in her busy life.  As we meet with her we talk about the blessings of PUTTING GOD FIRST.  This week we challenged her to write down 5 things she recognized in her life as GOD's hand.  She did it and she LOVED it.  I think that is part of the reason she came to church.  She RECOGNIZED how much God has given her and HOW she can give back by praising him and sacrificing time out of her busy schedule to come to church!

 We have also been meeting with a less-active family from Ghana.  The Oko family.  Dad, you will be interested to know that Brother Oko was from Ghana but converted in URUGUAY.  He told us that and I FREAKED OUT.  I told him you served there and he was like NO WAY! WHEN DID HE SERVE WHEN DID HE SERVE!! I told him, and he said he wouldn't have met you because he met the missionaries in 1994. BUT still rad nonetheless. haha.  We do Family Home Evening with them on Monday nights.  They live in an apartment that is probably 800 square feet and there are 2 parents and 6 kids.  all the children share one room and have close to nothing.  This humble lifestyle continually reminds me for what I am grateful for.  They are the SWEETEST family with so much love for the gospel and for God.  When they pray you can FEEL their spirits as they give ALL glory to their God and their Savior.  It is an incredible feeling being in that home and coming closer to Christ as we teach them and they teach us.

 We have a new woman in our ward named Virginia from South Africa! she is SO RAD.  she was baptized 2 years ago and since then has done the temple work for her 25 closest relatives that have passed away.  #RAD.  she had this super rad accent that is so fun to listen to and her testimony of the gospel is incredible.  Before she found out about the church, she knew she needed more in her life. SHE HAD A DREAM that the church she was looking for would come from 2 young men wearing white shirts and black pants.  WHAT!? yeah.  and that's exactly how it happened. She met them and they answered her questions for 4 HOURS.  yeah. and now she is so solid. She invited her neighbor to come with us this Saturday to the temple visitors center because she wants him to be baptized. she gives ALL OF HER FRIENDS book of Mormons and IS SUCH A GOOD EXAMPLE.  I love Virginia, we ALL can learn something from this incredible woman!

 Sidenote, this SUPER cute lady in our ward that we meet with, Bobbi, works as like a molecular biologist for the government or something crazy like that, and her boss's kids go to school with the OBAMA GIRLS. and they are ALL FRIENDS. his kids go to birthday parties at the white house!!!! HOW RAD IS THAT. I just need to meet her boss and get connected to we can baptize Barrack #bishopbarracky

 WE HAVE A NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!! her name is Jen :) she is the cute 24-year-old lady from El Salvador.  She has got some serious sass and a desire to come closer to Christ.  Yesterday we taught her about how Christ set up his church and how we can all come closer to Him through the gospel. she LOVED it and committed to baptism.  #hallelu-YER  (people actually say that here, including my companion hahhaaha).

 The bishopric wants me and sister schooley to start teaching DANCE CLASSES to get more investigators, HOW RAD IS THAT!? except I teach hip hop and sister schooley teaches modern... but still! if we could figure that out, I WOULD BE SO AMPED. looks like my swag level hasn't gone down after all #holler

 We also got 11 member lessons this week!!! which is WAY good. our goal was 7, so we were so excited that we got more!!!

 On Friday, we went to go check up on a family that just had their 5th baby and they weren't home so we did some street contacting and we met the RADDEST guy named Stuart from Scotland (yeah that was his full name.  Im kidding).  His accent was SO THICK you could barely understand him but he was HYSTERICAL. He was telling us stories allllll about his life in Scotland and then about the Middle East, where he met his wife.  Then we started talking about the gospel and he told us that he has a Book of Mormon that was given to him 20 years ago! That he has kept but never read! His biggest issue with the church is that he LOVES going to the pub, and smoking, and drinking coffee... SO we talked about the Word of Wisdom and WHY we follow it, and low and behold he WANTS US TO COME BACK.  I was so so so amped.  He's GOLDEN.

 This week was truly nothing less than spectacular.  and to finish it off we had an incredible Sunday that was based on judging others.  President Uchtdorf gave a talk called "lord, is it I" that was given in the priesthood session of conference and BOY was it incredible. it was focused on rather than us thinking, "wow my friend john really needs to hear this" or "you know sally could improve on this" it tells us that instead we should ask, "Lord is it I?" we need to have the COURAGE and HUMILITY to be able to ask this question so we can further improve ourselves to become more like Christ. LET Christ mold and shape you into who HE WANTS YOU TO BE. I want to invite ALL OF YOU, Mormon or not, to watch the Mormon message entitled "THE WILL OF GOD". It. Will. Change. Your. Life.

 Let God be in charge, get EXCITED about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the desire to SHARE it with all who come into your path will COME.

 I love each of you DEARLY, I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it has molded and shaped me, and I am absolutely 100% OBSESSED with being a missionary.

 Keep it real and keep the faith,
 Sistah "swag" Kennedy

​being artsy outside sister field's house... haha

​taking in the BEAUTY of Virginia. This is what EVERY street looks like. you cant even see the houses because the trees are SO thick.

this is Money cat.  EVERYONE here has a cat. LITERALLY I can count on one hand the amount of people I know without a cat. but this one is my favorite because it literally weighs 17 pounds.  #rad

dinner with another set of sisters and their recent converts :) at dinner I gave a Book of Mormon to our waiter and asked him if we could teach him the lessons he responded by saying, "well who wouldn't want to be taught by two beautiful ladies like you". welp. looks like were passing him to the elders. hhaha

​these members in our ward have 20 Halloween blowups in their yard! and this is their son who puts them ALL up every year! 

 guess who just taught their 11th member lesson of the week, WE DID!

Carwassshhhhhh... don't mind my ALWAYS greasy hair...

 on the pier of the Potomac river :)

 ​yay for Oldtowne and the Potomac :)

 swaggin out with maiii gurl

hanging out in Anj's (one of our investigators) beauty parlor while she finishes up with a customer...

.​when it rains here it POURS. There was a flash flood... so we were saving ourselves!

The Hardest Thing I Have Ever Loved To Do!

One of the lines of my favorite missionary songs is "The hardest thing I've ever loved to do, is letting go of everything I ever knew."  THOSE are the words of the week.  man its been a week full of MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB!!! So much growth is coming, but we have to be PATIENT! Patience is KEY!

Last Monday, after emailing we went to Dairy Queen. WHile we were in line this woman got in line behind us and asked us who we were and what we did. Sister Schooley started to order and so I talked to her and she looked at me and started to cry as she told me that both of her parents were dying and seeing us gave her hope in God. She knew there was a plan for her parents and she wants us to teach her more about the gospel of Jesus Christ! HOW RAD. such a perfect answer to my prayers

MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN WE ARE OBEDIENT!!!! We also had transfers this week! and we got to watch MEET THE MORMONS!!! you all need to GO SEE IT!!!! it was so rad! I also saw sistah SWAGGIE Kelly, SIster Williams and ELDER RISENHOOVER!!! For those of you who don't know, I met him when I went through the temple! We went through the same session and found out we were going to the same mission a month and a half apart! so Thursday I saw him for the first time since may! AHHH SO COOL!! He is doing way good!

Also at tranfers, my zone leader got transferred into MY ward!!! yay! he is SO RAD and he is going to help the work progress so much!!! So great!

Not a ton happened this week... we are still being pushed to work with members, so its been a lot of that.  We also pulled weeds this week for a lady in our ward who has dialysis.  and pulling weeds here ROCKS compared to home because it is SO wet! It was literally like the easiest job in the world.  #holler

I also built a shelf yesterday for this older lady in our ward... and it only took 45 minutes.  It was way rad. definitely put that on my resume! hahahha

Anj and Harry came to church yesterday!!! IT WAS SO GOOD! they really liked it! it was anju's first time coming and she seemed to enjoy it! we are going back this week and are going to talk to them more about baptism! I just love this work and the gospel of Jesus Christ, sorry this letter is short this week, we are trying to get to the Arlington Cemetery today :)

I love you all and I am praying for you DAILY!

Roman 5:5-6

I love this work, I love this gospel, I love my savior, and I LOVE being a missionary.

keep it real and keep the faith,

sistahhh kennedy

With Elder Risenhoover and Sister Kelly

 So much Sass!

He can't handle our swag!

 We kept getting made of and we couldn't stop laughing!

 Our last pic with Sister Taylor

 Just call me the navigator!

 I've still got the swaggggg

Us with The Nashville Tribute Band... we are famous!!  ;)

Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!! I don't even know where to start... we have seen SO many miracles and felt so much love from our father in heaven.  SOOOOOO lets start with last Monday.  We had preparation day which was low key, not a ton happened but it was good to relax.  Then that night we checked up on some less actives and it was WAY fun.  although, a lot of our less actives live over by Huntley Meadows Park which is SUPAH sketch... its like the Hyde park of northern VA (isn't that right Isabella? ;) ). So sometimes you really do feel like you are being followed and someone is going to jump out and hurt you, but other times its rad and we teach a lot of people!  There are TONS of people from Ghana in that area, and they are always wanting to talk to us, so that is a plus!Tuesday we had district meetings which were SO GOOD. my district is the greatest on earth. we learn SO much together.  We talked all about charity and love! and with that in mind, we practice taught street contacting and how to approach people LOVINGLY. it was awesome. I was paired up with our zone leader and it was a blast. I learned a TON from him, he Is such a rad guy.  THEN we went to help out this couple that was moving... the elders in our ward (elder shields and elder grow) told us that we should come because the wife doesn't like men... so we went and were unaware of the fact that they were both mentally disabled and needed a LOT of help. So we stayed there most of the day.  They are not members of the church, nor do they want to be, but they love missionaries haha.  so that was good! we learned a lot from them and were able to clean clean clean their house and throw a TON away.  then we tracted that night and got 3 return appointments! 2 of which we went to go meet again and they wouldn't come to the door... and we saw them inside pretending not to hear us knock hahaha #missionarylyfe

The rest of the week was a lot of MEETINGS! we had return and report, which is a meeting for new missionaries and their trainers, so we learned a lot there and it was a good time! and ANDY WAS INTERVIEWED FOR BAPTISM!!!! ahhh we was SO excited and it went so well!! yay!!! Him and Michelle can not wait to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity and they talk about it constantly.  SO GREAT! 

as many of you know, I AM NOW A FACEBOOK MISSIONARY!!!! WHOOOO!!! with that in mind, I have this account strictly for missionary work.  I can not be chatting online or watching youtube videos or any of that jazz. It is so we can allow the kingdom of God to GROW.  It is a tool that has recently been implemented by the church to help the gospel reach everyone everywhere!

We teach this CUTE woman in our ward, sister Dorey who is from Georgia and recently converted to our church. She has an 18-year-old son that we are trying to work with but he has ZERO interest in the gospel.  we are doing service for her tomorrow with him, so hopefully we can teach him some gospel principles ;)

ANDY WAS BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!! AHHH IT WAS SO COOL!!! Brother Burner baptized him and it was such an incredible day.  He was baptized in between conference sessions :) He was so ready and so excited to be following God's plan for him.  The more we go back, the more we can see how God truly is working in his, and his wife's life! They have expressed to us that although life is still hard, with the gospel of Jesus Christ, they feel SO MUCH HAPPIER than they have ever felt! They are so great!

Harry came to both sessions of Sunday conference with us!!! he is progressing so well and really being taught by the spirit! he loves coming to church and the members have loved having him! He is such a great kid.  We met with him yesterday night and he wants to be baptized!!! YAY! he wants to enter into the kingdom of God and he preparing himself to do so! we are SO excited for that! and hopefully the rest of his family will come around soon :)

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS THIS WEEKEND!!!! HOLY SMOKES. it was so so so rad! I just love the power that you can feel when the prophet and the apostles of God speak!!! MAN! I JUST LOVE IT! I learned so much about the importance of consistently looking to the prophet! He truly is God's mouthpiece and he knows all! how Rad is that!? So rad.  I also LOVED the stress of MEMBERS WORKING WITH THE MISSIONARIES!!! My mission president has recently received revelation that we need to work with the members more than anyone else.  No more tracting for sistahhh kennedy! With this in mind, we have a goal of getting 120 baptisms from now until the end of the year! THAT IS A TON. but I know that with the Lord's help we can achieve that! MEMBERS. ARE. THE. KEY!!!  with that in mind, I challenge ALL OF YOU to pray for missionary opportunities again!!! THEY WILL COME! we can NOT aid the kingdom of God in it's growth if we don't do this! we need to rescue these souls together!

Never forget that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost WANT to help us, and their capacity to do so is UNLIMITED. 

How sweet this work truly is.  I have never been happier in all my life and I know it is because I am doing the work of the Lord. 

I love this gospel, I love all of you, and I am forever 100% in love with being a missionary.

keep it real and keep the faith,

sister kennedy

 last week it was a cat, this week its a snake! see how he curled his tail around my wrist? gross.

 and a chinchilla...

 Another amazing baptism!

 watching conference with the other missionaries :)

 Waiting for the Bishop... :)

 Comp love...

 helping some potential investigators take out their trash! haha

chugging ergen-C because EVERYONE is sick in our mission haha PS check out our RAD couch and orange chair ;) hahaha SO nasty!

​this sweet woman in our stake took us out to lunch after Saturday conference :)