All good things come to an end.

August 10, 2014

I guess I knew it was coming, but after almost 8 months in Wellington I'm being transferred! I'm going to Palmerston North and I'll serve in a little place called Levin. Funny actually, I was reading the August Ensign and this guy talked about how he served in Levin NZ and how great it was. So hopefully it bodes well for me:) I'm staying Sister Training Leader, which is great because I'll get to come back to Wellington for our Mission Leader Council. My new companion is Sister Martin and I took her out street contacting her first day in Wellington, so I know a bit about her. I'm so excited for a change, but it will be so hard to say goodbye to so many close friends from the ward, investigators, recent converts, and especially Sister Leausa. It'll be a crazy 2 days until I get on a bus on Wednesday morning and leave. Whee!!

All the missionaries at Sandy's baptism.

This week I had a tender mercy and a way for Heavenly Father to tell me why I've stayed so long in Wellington. One of my first weeks in Wellington with Sister Gilmour we were street contacting and met this Indian man who seemed pretty interested in our message. We got his details and passed it along to the elders but they could never get in contact with him and he went on a holiday somewhere. I didn't think much about it. About 5 months later, we got a text from someone named Sandy who wanted to learn more. We can only teach women, and we assumed Sandy was a woman so we met a time to meet. Ha low and behold, and it was the same man I'd met on the street and we had another sister with us so we could teach him. That first lesson he committed to be baptised, accepted a Book of Mormon, and agreed to next time meet with the Elders who would continue to teach him ha. This Saturday Sandy was baptised and it was a real "see the fruit of my work" day. It was so neat to see him baptised because he really came out of the water feeling something amazing. He told me how all of this wouldn't have been possible unless I had talked to him, so I was grateful Heavenly Father let me stay in Wellington long enough to see his amazing conversion!

Because of Caroline, I've started the Doctrine and Covenants challenge. At the end of the mission, you count 138 days and read one section of the Doctrine and Covenants to the end. If you want to join me, I'm on D&C 10 today, so you can start 10 tomorrow since the days difference ha.

I got such a shock when our mission president's wife called us on Saturday and invited us over for dinner on Sunday. WOW! Ha we were both so happy about it. I have actually never been to the mission home, so it was nice for me to see. President gave us the small tour. They fed us dinner and then we got to speak about Sister Training Leaders and all that Sister Hudson can help with. It was nice(?) to give her information that I knew and also give my two cents on how things can improve with this calling in our mission. They're just the best and we love them!

Our cute family from South Africa :)

I'll tell you all a wee miracle. We had dinner with this great member, and after we left we got to our mission office and I realized that my wallet was missing. I got so worried because I'd just put heaps of money in it, both my US and NZ license were in it, and pretty much everything I need. The member lives right in the city so I was worried it would either have been run over or stolen. Anyway, we drove back quickly and found it right next to someone's tyre, and I was so relieved! Ha, just a little miracle for me.

I hope the Kennedy reunion went well and that the whole family is great! I love you all heaps, and I love New Zealand, and I love the life long friends I am making here. Heavenly Father has been so good to me. Something I have always really wanted is to be remembered in the areas that I served, and I think that's why He's kept me in my areas for so long so that I can really make great relationships. God is good!!

Love, Sister Kennedy