Things are looking up up up.

September 14, 2014

This email will probably be short because we are heading out to Palmerston for a Zone Pday. Yay! it's our first one, so hopefully it goes well ha. We're playing human fusball so that's cool. Last Pday was really cool. We got to play laser tag, mini golf, and laser maze which is where you pretend like you're a secret agent and have to climb over and under laser beams. It was fun.

This week was pretty full on. We had Zone Conference on Thursday and for the first time, the Sister Training Leader conducted the meeting, ran the Sisters lunch, and then I got to do some training during the conference. It was cool to feel so involved and be able to use my skills to help the zone. It was really cool. We made a big announcement that some of our mission policy changed. In the past, we as sisters only taught women and so we would cover all the Elders areas and then try to cover our own. It was really hectic and we'd be going all over. Now the rule has changed back to the white handbook where the missionaries will find, teach, baptise, retain, and reactive in their assigned areas. Pretty neat! I don't really know how to teach single guys so that'll be a fun transition ha and it'll make the members really step up because we'll always needs a member present to teach now. This also changed our area quite a bit. We used to rotate with the Elders in the area covering the Foxton Branch, but now we'll be the only missionaries covering that and we'll go every other week to Levin and then Foxton.

The Talent Night

Friday night we had a big Talent Show at the chapel which was awesome! We had two investigators come, and some less actives. There were lots of Samoan dances, singing, primary numbers, and I even sang "Be Still My Soul". Ward activities really help bring the ward closer together so we were excited that it happened.

This week I found out that 2 of our investigators have the same Birthday as me (October 20th for anyone who's forgotten;)) and so we've made plans to party.. or get them baptised haha.

This Saturday is Ruta's Birthday.. and her wedding and her baptism! What a better 20th Birthday right?? She's the one who a member had been fasting and gave us her family's name. Ever since we've been teaching her she just recognizes the Spirit so easily and has gained a firm testimony. Bishop will marry them, right after she'll be baptised, and then we'll have a Samoan party. Can't wait:)

Samoan dance number

This Sunday we attended the Foxton Branch and we had a meeting with the branch presidency before, we gave the 2 talks for Sacrament, and then I played all the hymns for the meeting. Ha it was full on, but I really love branches. Branches really need missionaries, which I love!

Things are looking up up up here in Levin, especially as we're able to really focus on our own area and help the Foxton branch now. I have come to learn that the Lord truly knows what's best for us. This morning I was reading Alma 4:2-5 and it reminded me how important trials are to build us. The Nephites had experienced great afflictions but it was at this time that they remembered God and built up the church. 3.500 souls were baptised after this renewed testimony of faith. All things are possible with Christ! I hope you all have a beautiful week:)

Love, Sister Kennedy

Happy Father's Day!

September 7, 2014

Yesterday was Father's Day here on the bottom of the world, so Happy Father's Day!

Our Father's Day gifts.

This Friday there was a kapa haka festival with all the kids in the region (kapa haka are the dance groups that perform Maori songs and dances). We had a couple of the ward members performing so we went to support them and it was awesome! The group did their thing and then the boys would come to the front and do the haka and I just loved it! Ha it was so cool. They did some great poi and dances with sticks. Things like that really make me appreciate how much New Zealand preserves their culture.

Kapa haka

On Saturday night we had an area 70 come to the stake and give a Women's Devotional. It was very inspiring and just helped me remember how much worth I have as a daughter of God.

My companion and I at our chapel :)

I know this letter is awfully short! I went on a great exchange in Palmerston, we taught many great lessons, I fell off my bike and cut up my leg, I'm the pianist for the Samoan choir and don't really know what's going on, we will hopefully have a wedding this week! Grandma sent me a great little package, and a member from Wellington sent me a package as well. So cute!! Time keeps going by incredibly fast.. scary!

we helped set up a primary activity which was fun haha.

Your homework. Read D&C 35:13 and then tell me your interpretation next week. Ha I loved reading that verse this week. I hope you all have a beautiful week! I love you all heaps and heaps and am grateful to be far from you so I can gain a greater appreciation for you.

Love, Sister Kennedy

A Traveling week.

August 31, 2014

There's a licorice factory in Levin! Yum.

Ha this week was super long, but I got to travel a lot of the North Island so that was fun! On Tuesday we had our Mission Leader Council so I got to drive down to Wellington. It felt so weird coming back to my last area, but it was cool as well. We met at the Mission Office and it was so nice to see so many familiar faces! The seminary students meet in the basement and when i got out of the car a group of them were all waving and happy to see me. Ah so nice! Sister Gilmour, one of my companions, just joined MLC so that was an awesome reunion. Shaqaila was also there helping with the lunch and President Hudson had me and Sister Gilmour share our experience in bringing her back to the gospel which was so sweet!

On Wednesday I drove up to Palmerston North and I joined the Zone Leaders and District Leaders to give the counsel from MLC. It's the first time I've been invited but the STL's are now going to help train the DL which is really cool. The mission is really moving forward and making good changes so we can really hasten the work! It's an exciting time in our mission.

Beautiful Wanganui!

Then on Thursday I got to go on exchanges in Wanganui and Feiding with Sister Hann, who is also one of my past companions. It was really fun to be together and see how we've changed yet stayed the same. We got to see a look out view of Wanganui from the top of a tower and it so really pretty! 

We were visiting a member and she just told us, I've been thinking of the Gase family all week. I really think you should visit them. We went to visit and we were so happy because we found a new investigator. One of the sons has a partner living with them and she really wants to have the lessons. Yay! She's really awesome and as we've taught her this week she's just been really receptive to the gospel and it's awesome because she has built in support from her partners family.

D&C 29:7 "And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts." I know that the elect are here in Levin and we are just working to find them! I know that miracles come when members pray and fast to know who the missionaries can teach, that's how we met Ruta! I hope you all have a beautiful week. I love you all heaps, miss you, and pray someone will come to your mind who you can share the gospel with.

Love, Sister Kennedy

"Strength not known among men."

August 24, 2014

I'll just start with the highlight of my week. I had my first exchanges here in the Palmerston Zone and so I got to be in Palmy with Sister Fetu'u, who's my same intake, which was awesome. The best part though was eating CARL'S JR! It's the only one I've seen on my mission and those criscut fries were just sooo good! Ha, the small things in life make me happy.

This is the beautiful beach in my area!

So here in Levin we cover the Levin Ward and also the Foxton Branch. They both have church at 10am on Sundays so we switch every other week with the Elders. This week was my first time attending the Levin Ward and I really enjoyed it. I was their piano player for the day playing all 4 songs of the Sacrament meeting, I then got to bear my testimony and introduce myself, and I also played piano for Relief Society. I'm afraid I'll run out of songs that I can play, but hopefully they don't get too bored of my playing ha.

Here in Levin, we attend a Family Home Evening with all the Samoan families here. We usually have a couple investigators that attend so we love it. Ha sadly it's all in Samoan so we just catch the few times they speak in English for us palangi missionaries. But I'm happy to have their mean feeds again:)

This is my companion biking with a pizza in her hand.
Ha the things we have to do on bikes..

In this area we share the car with the Elders and so that means we are biking heaps. The elders have more appointments out of town, but luckily the town is really flat so biking is cool. It's warming up just a bit and I think it's a lot warmer here than in Wellington. It's not nearly as windy, it's sunnier, and less rain. It feels like Spring! We had a couple of serving projects this weekend and it felt like spring cleaning outside. for some reason I enjoy the yard work more on my mission than the hours and weekends I'd have to spend on our own house.

We have this beautiful investigator named Steph! She's kind of my miracle here. She's dating a member and so has known missionaries and members for over 2 years. No one has really been able to teach here and when I got here they were just trying to befriend her. When I got here I just straight up asked her if we could teach her and she said yes. She tells us she needs more Jesus in her life because she sees how happy everyone is who follows Christ. I love her!! Keep her in your prayers, she's just great.

I read this verse in the Doctrine and Covenants today and wanted to share it: "And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength as is not known among men." D&C 24:12

I love you all heaps and I hope you have a great week! It's crazy to think school is starting again ha. I'll take serving a mission any day over starting a new semester. I know this gospel is true and that even in times we are struggling, Christ is right with us to help bear our burdens. God loves us more than we know!!

Love, Sister Kennedy

My transfer to Levin.

August 17, 2014

One of the things I will miss most in Wellington is the
awesome YSA! This is from our weekly FHE at the institute.

Saying goodbye to everyone in Wellington was really really hard. They've all become like my best friends!! On Monday we went bowling for our P-Day which was really fun. It them started the mayhem of saying goodbye to people and packing. On Tuesday we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner provided by the members ha. Everyone who loves me thought "I'll make her a cake, take her to dinner, and give her candy" so I just had a sugar headache all day ha. I got my nails done by a beautiful member, our ward mission leader cut my hair, we met all the new missionaries, and got little gifts from members. Tuesday night we picked up a sister who was going home, and I actually took her spot on Levin ha. We had more luggage than we knew what to do with and we smashed it all in our little Toyota.

Wednesday morning we had to wake up at 5:30 and it was a hard trip to make to the bus stop. We picked up Suzanna (my mission miracle) and she was a missionary for the day with Sister Leausa. It was so so hard to get on the bus, but Sister Leausa and I shouted "hoorah for Israel" (from Other Side of Heaven). I left Suzanna my name badge (the first badge I've left) and I gave Sister Leasua her first ponamu necklace.

Saying goodbye at the Wellington bus station.

I got to Levin and was feeling okay, but then I came home and my door was covered in pictures and lollies from Shaqaila. Ha she stopped by driving through and it was so cute! It helped me to feel loved in this area even though she doesn't live here. I'm the only new missionary in this area and the only new sister in the Zone, so I actually feel pretty weird. I'm the only new thing in the equation and so I don't yet feel like I have my place. I know it will come though.

A warm welcome on my door by Shaqaila:)

I've met really great members and it's fun because my trainer, Sister Taleni, actually opened up Levin. So it feels fun to fill her shoes. The flat we live in actually reminds me a lot of the ranch house, so that's fun. I know that I'm going to love Levin the more I'm here. My companion is Sister Martin, from California, and I actually took her out street contacting in Wellington on her first day so that's fun. She's so cute!

My new companion, Sister Martin,  and the candy lei she gave me:)

Our new Zone theme is "Be a Pen". Ha at first I didn't get it, but the theme comes from President Uchtdorf's talk "Pride and the Priesthood". As missionaries we want to be a pen because pens are always reliable, they work regardless of how small or important the task is, and they never complain. With further study I think it'll be a great theme.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!! My family all seems to flying all over the world, but it wouldn't seem like the Kennedy's to be sitting still. I think I have become the ward and branch pianist here ha. We switch every other week between a ward and then a branch, so I guess I better learn some sacrament hymns quickly.

I love you all heaps!!
Sister Kennedy

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

A blessed week.

August 3, 2014

Let me tell you all about my great, great week!!

The cutest kids in New Zealand!!

On Thursday we got a call from the mission office telling me that I had mail. Yay! I could either pick it up or wait for it to come in the mail. I was eager so I decided to pick it up. Turns out, the patriarchal blessing to Grandma Kennedy came in the mail. I read it, which was touching, but then I looked at the date it was given and it was given on July 31st 1932. Well, I was reading her blessing on July 31st 2014. Wow!! It was a super little mercy. The next day Grandpa Kennedy's blessing came in the mail and I was super stoked to find out that the same patriarch who gave him his blessing, gave President Monson his blessing. NEATO! (to find out who the patriarch is, watch On the Lord's Errand, the movie about President Monson.) I can't remember if I've told you all about a really cute family we are working with. Our new mission president met the mum at the airport (his first go at street contacting and met her) and then gave us the referral. Their family is originally from Zimbabwe and she has three children. Her husband is still in South Africa and hopes to come soon to join his family. We've been teaching them for a couple weeks now, but they all came to church yesterday :) After the older kids finished primary and young women's, they both said "that was so fun, can we come back next week?" Ha, the 3-year-old had different opinions, but we were so happy that they really enjoyed church. It's a hard thing for them to change churches, and they aren't rushing into baptism, but they can feel the goodness from the gospel. It's funny because she was living in Auckland for a couple weeks trying to find a job and a home there but nothing really worked out. As soon as she moved to Wellington she found a great job, a home, and everything just seemed to fit into place. What a miracle that we now have the chance to teach them after their long journey from South Africa :)

Turns out, I'm super allergic to cats and cigarette smoke. It also turns out that we have 2 investigators that both smoke and have heaps of cats. This week we went to both of them in the same day and I thought I was going to die haha. We're going to work on getting the lesson at a member's house this week so I don't stop breathing :)

Shaqaila, who's an amazing pianist here in Wellington, decided to interview me for an essay she's writing at school. It's a journalism course about an occupation she wants to go into, and she chose the occupation of religious missionary. Yay! So, we had a half an hour of interview, and it was fun because I got to speak about Rachel for half the time, then Sister Kennedy. She then followed my companion and I around as we were street contacting so she could get pictures of me "at work". Ha, it was really fun and helped me to see how much I have grown on my mission as a missionary, but also as Rachel Kennedy. Get ready to see a whole new me when I come home haha.

Our recent convert, Suzanna, joining us in teaching.

A big ole blessing we've had this week is being in a trio almost every day! Our recent convert, Suzanna, really wants to serve a mission. We've been able to take her out with us almost every day on teaching appointments, street contacting, and rescue visits. It's been so fun because we can see her growing and now we have loads to talk about. It's really amazing to see her change from who she once was to who she wants to be through Christ. She told us how much she hates change, but as she was taught the gospel the changes became so easy. Neat!

Next week are transfers and most times I think I'll be leaving, but other times I think I'm staying. I guess it doesn't much matter where I serve, but how I serve. "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves-- to choose the way of everlasting death of the way of eternal life." We all have the choice! I love you all heaps :)

Love, Sister Rachel Kennedy