It's too far to swim home.

July 29, 2013

Whelp, this is it! This is my last day in the MTC and I leave tomorrow morning at 10am.

This week we heard from Elder Haleck who is in the Quorum of the Seventy and part of the Area Presidency. He had a lot of really great things to say about missionary work. He said that often when they are assigning missionaries, instead of selecting the mission because of the region that they are selected because of the Mission President. That just made me so excited to meet both my Mission Presidents because they will change my life! Now for the funny thing he said. He served in Samoa, which is where he's from. The first night of his mission he was in a little village on the water and he went outside and was just looking into the darkness of the water and the thought came to him, "Well it's too far to swim home, so I might as well get to work!" We all laughed but that's super true to hear. I would die trying to swim home, so I am going to stay and get to work!

This week on Wednesday we attended the Hamilton New Zealand Temple and it was AMAZING! The drive was about an hour and a half so we got to see quite a bit of countryside. I saw lots of sheep and milk cows. It was a rainy day so there was beautiful fog all along the green mountains. At the temple we got to do two sessions and they had the cutest temple workers. They have a cafeteria in the basement so they gave us our first big feed! They had so much food and treats for us. It was a wonderful time in the temple. They have a visitors’ center there with the statue of Christ and it was great to visit there as well. There were six Elders who went through the temple for the first time and their companions were their escorts. That was such a wonderful session to be in because this will probably be their only time attending the temple. They are all from Papua New Guinea and it's so hard to attend the temple. 

I've learned lots about different cultures! Papua New Guinea is growing so much in the church. They just got a second mission and apparently missionaries see baptisms every week. They speak over 800 languages in all the islands there, and they don't have any sister missionaries there because it is so dangerous. I bet you didn't know that, huh.

My companion and I had a lot of really great learning experiences this week with our "investigators". We committed our investigator Jacob to baptism on Tuesday! The Spirit was so strong as we taught about the Plan of Salvation and we didn't plan on asking, but the Spirit prompted and it was so amazing to hear him answer "yes"!

Last week I was reluctant going to class and struggled staying awake, but this week I am sad I won't be in class anymore! I've come to love class and although it is still hard, I've become better at being willing to teach and talk to my district as if they were investigators. My district has become really close this week, I'm lucky that most of them are serving in Wellington. It's crazy to think I've only been with all the missionaries here for 12 days because it seems like I've known them for so long! All the Tongan sisters have taught me words, they taught me how to dance, and they also braided my hair so I could look more Polynesian. When I pray I talk with a little accent, so that is exciting!

I'm sorry I haven't sent pictures home yet, but it's been difficult...so here are pictures! This was just a couple hours after arriving in the MTC.

I love you all and wish you the best in this week! Next time you hear from me I will be a real proselyting missionary in the Wellington Mission :)

Love, Sister Kennedy

I learned how to play Rugby

July 22, 2013

Dear family and friends,

I don't have long to write, and yesterday I just hand wrote you a letter so it has most of the stories from my first weekend in the MTC. It won't get to you for a long time, but I don't think that I will recap everything I already said. You'll just have to wait in anticipation!! I'm sorry I haven't uploaded any pictures yet. I've only taken a few, but I didn't have time to grab my camera before class started and I didn't know that I would get to write today. Every day we have to walk out in a courtyard to get to class and the cafeteria, and this morning there was a beautiful white fog all around. It was quite beautiful. It's been very cold here and the sun is weird here. It doesn't fully rise until around 8:30 am, but then it sets around 5 and is completely dark at 6 pm. It messes with my sleeping! I feel way tired in class and "shut my eyes" while trying to stay awake in class at 7.

Class has been really hard, teaching investigators and being taught so much. So yesterday was a wonderful breather as we had Sunday worship. The Leadership meeting was really great and I enjoyed that a lot. During sacrament everyone had to prepare a 5 minute talk on Faith, and then after the sacrament they just announced the program. Surprise talks! Of course they called my name to speak, but I think it went well. We all sang Called to Serve during the meeting and it was so great! It just made me smile to hear such powerful singers all together.

Yesterday we also got to watch the Restoration video, we had Temple Preparation in anticipation of our visit on Wednesday, and we watched a devotional given in Provo by Elder Nelson. I really loved Sunday and am looking forward to next week already.

I'm learning all the good things of Polynesia like how to give a kiss on the cheek when you hug the Sisters, understanding a few works they speak in Tonga, and understanding the lingo they speak here. It really is so fun to have such diversity in the MTC. We have so many cultures and languages that people speak here. The English is all so different, it's hard for me to understand but I am learning.

I learned how to play Rugby on Saturday!! We went out for exercise and since there was a baptism in the Stake Center where we go for sport, we played on the field. I mostly just ran around and tried to touch people on the other team with the ball, but by the end I had held and passed the ball twice and it was very exciting! I'm not good and I really don't know much, but I played. There are a lot of people here who have brothers playing on professional teams in Australia and New Zealand, and a lot of Sisters have played themselves. I still have a lot to learn.

Sister Keung is the 1st counselor's wife and she has become my little Mom. She brought me a water bottle from home, checks on us at night before we go to bed, and visits with me during the day. I love her! We have such wonderful people helping us here and we're all a little family because there are only about 50 missionaries and then the teachers and leadership, so we're quite small. But I love it!

Good luck this weekend in all that is going on. I love you all!

Sister Rachel Kennedy

I'm alive!

July 18, 2013

Dear family,

I am alive and well in New Zealand! We arrived early this morning to a chilly Auckland. From Salt Lake I traveled with 3 sisters and 11 elders. In LA we met up with 4 more missionaries making our total to 19 missionaries traveling to New Zealand. We are all going to Wellington and it is a great group of kids!! Both flights I sat by Elders. The food was decent on the flight and I was able to sleep for a good portion of it.

This morning when we arrived they had 2 car buses for us and we arrived to the MTC before the sun had really come up, it actually rises pretty late. We received our missionary name tags and I was given the calling with my companion to be a Sister Coordinator, and part of the leadership team. My companion's name is Sister Sudweeks and she's from Pocatello Idaho. She's a great girl. We have our own room.

This MTC is the greatest!! We all got personal interviews with the MTC President and then I got another talk with his wife as we discussed the calling. They feed us 4 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, supper and dinner. Ha. Everyone's accents are so great but also hard to understand., hopefully that will come soon. Today we are pretty relaxed just settling in, but then tomorrow we will hit the ground running. We get to go to the temple once and that is next Wednesday. We'll spend a long time there participating in 2 sessions, visiting the visitors center and then the temple feeds us. I will email on Sunday, meaning Saturday for you.

I feel really great and think this is a wonderful fit. Everyone here is so loving and nice. Even just the people at the airport had a wonderful feel about them. I'm in the Mormon district, so that's cool. Ha, I don't have much else to say other than I'm SO HAPPY!

Love,

Sister Rachel Kennedy

Called to Serve

Dear Sister Kennedy:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the New Zealand Wellington Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel.

You will be an official representative of the Church. Your purpose will be to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost
, and enduring to the end. As you serve with all your heart, might, and strength, the Lord will lead you to those who are prepared to be baptized.

The Lord will reward you for your goodness of your life. Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experience await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children. We place our confidence in you and pray that the Lord will help you become an effective missionary.

President Thomas S. Monson