A baptism in place of a wedding.

June 15,  2014

Wow, this week has been so neat! First off, I'm thrilled to stay another 8 weeks in Wellington and with beautiful Sister Leausa. We are stoked:) We have so much work to get done! This upcoming transfer we'll say goodbye to our beloved President Kezerian, we'll say hello to President Hudson, and this transfer I'll hit my one year, so it should be a full on transfer. Exciting!

We were blessed on Tuesday and Saturday to meet Tomai. He's an 8 year old who is eager to be baptized and learn more about Jesus. He tops all my investigators with sincere desire. As he prays, he always prays he can learn something good at church. He has an inactive dad, non-member mum, and 2 younger sisters. Luckily his auntie is a member and has been bringing him to church. We are excited to be able to teach him, but through him, teach his whole family. He loved watching the movie about Joseph Smith and his eyes were just glued. It was so cute!

We had our last Mission Leader Council on Tuesday with President and Sister Kezerian. It was bitter sweet because we had to say goodbye, but it was so nice to be with them one more time. They are just the best!

My companion had her 1/2 Birthday and we had an exchange so I used it as an excuse to buy her a 21st Key and celebrate with some balloons. It was also a celebration for Javana and Chelsea's Birthdays on the 11th.. because I forgot to send them both cards ha. Sorry, but I love you both!

Saturday was the beautiful baptism of Suzanna!! Remember my favourite ginger? This is the one!

Before the baptism with Suzanna :)

Her missionary friend sent his family down from up north and it was awesome to have them. She was nervous and jittery which was cute. I spoke about faith and repentance and gave her some seeds and a little pot of flowers. I reminded her that faith and repentance never end. We must be continually water our faith and repent to keep ourselves clean. President Brown baptised her and we were waiting in the back of the font just so so happy! She was so lucky to have so many supportive ward members and YSA who have taken her under their wing. Her confirmation on Sunday was really neat as well. I was just smiling all weekend:)

The Brown Family, who live way up north, but came down for Suzanna's baptism. President Brown, a stake president up north, baptised Suzanna which was awesome.

On Sunday there was a baptism of a Samoan couple and I was asked to help sing. I sang with the 2 Elders serving in that ward. Elder Johnson gave a whole talk in Samoan which is crazy because he's only been learning Samoan for 2 transfers. We sang "Abide With Me" in half English and Samoan. Everyone commented on how good my Samoan sounded ha so that was really fun.

The last exciting thing for me to report is the power of beautiful piano music. David Hatch (who is a 1st cousin to Orin Hatch, so we are somehow related), who is a Dr. of music and from Utah, brought with him amazingly talented kids to perform all over New Zealand. On Friday they had a benefit concert that we attended as ushers and had the Mayor and other dignitaries in attendance. Then on Sunday we had a tri-stake fireside where they played amazing arrangements of hymns. It was so cool! But that best part was that we had 2 investigators and our recent convert attend the fireside.

I hope no one thinks I had a sad week because my sister got married. The Lord blessed us so much with amazing investigators, lessons, and a baptism to top off our week! I love being a missionary so much. It makes my love for the Lord grow and my desires to be obedient increase. Just like King Lamoni's father, "I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." Alma 22:15. This gospel is true!! I love you all heaps:)

Sister Kennedy

Miracle week.

June 8, 2014

I don't think I share enough miracles, so I'm just going to share straight up miracles this week. As a missionary my life is always filled with miracles, so I hope you enjoy!

Wendy's on exchanges:) Feeling slightly more American.

Almost every Sunday night we got to this complex where there's two inactive members, and two investigators that live in the same complex. We got not really knowing who will be there, but there's usually someone there we can teach. So last night was no different, but when we knocked on the door, we could see this group of people standing up the street. We went over and found the two inactive members and many more people standing around 2 broken windows. Someone had left the car without putting on the hand brake and the car started rolling down the hill. It hit 2 cars and finally stopped after hitting this building complex. It was Milia's, one of the inactive members, window. She then told us that she was sitting in the common area and thought, "the sisters will probably come tonight so I'll go hide in my room because I don't want to see them." But something kept her in the common room and that's when the car hit her window. Glass was scattered all across her bed and she realized that is she had went hiding she would have been seriously hurt. She told us that she knew she shouldn't have been hiding from us, but she knew God kept her in the other room. It was a sweet little miracle and so she sat and read the Book of Mormon with us knowing God wanted her to see us. I thought it was pretty neat.

We had a powerful lesson on the restoration today with a girl named Aileen. All 4 of us in the lesson were 21, so that was funny. As we shared our message with the video of the Restoration the Spirit was so strong. We testified how it wasn't a coincidence that she'd moved to Hamilton from Chile and then met her friend Danielle who's a member. It also wasn't a coincidence that she's moved to Wellington and now hearing this message. She began crying and accepted the invitation to be baptized on July 5th. It was such a miracle! I don't believe in coincidences, I believe in God's love for all His children.

Family history chalk talk in Paraparaumu.

We had an exchange in Paraparaumu and all four sisters were there for 2 days. Since we have only a short 4 week transfer our exchanges are a bit hard. Anyway, the miracle was that even though we were out of our area for so long, when we came back on Wednesday night we were able to accomplish almost all of our goals in the shortened week. We were able to speak to many people, and had great lessons. Even though time is moving quick in this world, Heavenly Father allows us the time that we need to accomplish our righteous desires. Plus, our on exchange we were there to help celebrate Sister Maliepo's 21st Birthday so we were able to give her a little key to her freedom:)

Susie opening up her cell phone.

We visit this less active member and she lives in the mental unit of the hospital. She's pretty crazy:) On Friday night she begged us to go get her a phone with her money, so after clearing it with her nurses we went to the store and bought her the cheapest cell phone we could find. We wrapped it in Spiderman paper and when she was opening it she began crying. Susie was so happy, it was cute:) She then begged to come to church, so we had a member pick her up and bring her. Ha for the rest of church we were running after her before she escaped outside. We kept her occupied with paper and pens and all things considered she had a lovely time. It made me think about how important the ordinance of sacrament is, for all members regardless of our state. She shows us what it is to be childlike, and at least she gives us a laugh with the things she says.

We went to support Te Ao, a YSA playing netball.
She's so awesome!

On Wednesday night, the Stake High Counselor gathered all the full-time missionaries, ward mission leaders, and Bishopric to discuss missionary work in the Stake. It was so awesome to see the local leaders catch the vision that missionaries can't do this work alone. We watched a clip from Elder Holland and he said that we can no longer say "there they go", it's now time for us as wards to say "here they come" and get to work utilizing the increase in missionaries. Our ward here has 8 full-time missionaries- I think that is the Lord hastening His work. I hope you are all utilizing the missionaries in your areas and put them to work!

My upcoming miracle is to be able to see my beautiful family before Caroline's wedding! I am super excited to Skype home on this week and see your beautiful faces. I hope you all have an exciting week, and especially the Kennedy family with the sealing of Caroline and Austin. We had a special ward conference on Sunday where they showed this video of this girl and all her preparation so to attend the temple at different stages in her life. It made me sad to not be able to attend the temple for a year a half, but it made me so grateful for the eternal blessings that it brings into our lives. I love you all HEAPS!

Love, Sister Kennedy

P.S. There's some more pictures of me this week on our mission blog, just so you know:)

I met the cast of Annie!

June 2, 2014

Heellllo! I know that every week seems crazy and awesome, but this week was like the craziest of my mission. Monday was a great Preparation Day where we went to the New Zealand Parliament building for a sweet tour. We got to be on the floor of the parliament room because they weren't in session. It was fun to learn about their form of government.

The day at Parliament.

Then on Tuesday was had Mission Leader Council which was really awesome. The Kezerian's are putting in place all the last things they want for their mission and it makes me want to work so much harder. Love it!

Wednesday morning we got a call from President Kezerian and he told us that Sister Hann was going to be leaving the area that day, transferring up north. And by that day, he meant, in 30 minutes. We had a crazy packing time and got everything somehow packed up to go. There were many tears and for many different reasons, and which she packed I was on my knees. I have come to learn so well this week that God knows our needs far before we tell Him about them. He needs us to align our will with His and accept the answers that He gives us. That day I went on an exchange with Sister Hansen, from Arizona and she was so cute! We had a great day with lesson after lesson which was such a blessing. 

Thursday morning, we went and picked up my new companion from the bus stop. SISTER LEAUSA. I put her name in capitals because I love her so much:) She's like, the biggest answer to my prayers. We have a lot of mutual friends because she's from West Valley, went to Hunter high, played volleyball and basketball (we've figured out when we would have been playing at the same gyms) and she's half Samoan. She's seriously the best!

My beautiful new companion, Sister Leausa.
We're at the 360 degree of Wellington look out.

Yesterday, Monday, was the Queen's Birthday so everything was closed, that's why I'm emailing today. Because it was a holiday we had the funnest time with 2 of the YSA, Krystal and Te Ao. They took us all over Wellington and we got to play at playgrounds, we checked out this awesome memorial of a Prime Minister, and we went to Mt. Victoria which is a 360 degree view of Wellington. While we were on top we met the cast of Annie, who are all from the UK and on tour in Wellington. It was so awesome! They told us of all the shows they've worked for like War Horse, Phantom, and lots of shows. They were shy to tell us all their accomplishments. But the cool story about them. There were lots of people up top but we could see a couple of them eying our badges. It turns out, that the only reason they recognized us was because they'd seen The Book of Mormon musical. We got to tell them about our missions and help them see the real life version, and I know it left them much more educated. The Lord has mysterious ways, and i know that every encounter with people bring them closer to the truth.


We're currently in Paraparaumu on exchange and my companion and I literally froze last night. it is so cold!! But needless to say, I am laughing more, i am so much happier, and I feel that the Lord is blessing my life so richly right now. There are ups and downs to life, but the consistency can be our relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love them both so much and I know they live. Have a beautiful week!!

Love, Sister Kennedy

P.S. for the call next Thursday, I'll be using google hangout, so ya, that will be neat!

SOO many missionaries.

May 25, 2014

The 4 new sisters to come to the mission. 

This week I've had the chance to work/see over 60 missionaries. Probably a first and only for me in the mission! On Tuesday we helped with the four new sisters who just arrived from the MTC. We took them out street contacting and to chalk talk. Dad sent chalk for Easter and it's come in good handy:) Seeing new Sisters reminds me of the fun and excitement, but it also helps me see all the progress and change I've made in my ten months out. Crazy right? Time goes by fast.

Then on Wednesday we got a call at 12:30 "checking" that we were coming to pick up Sisters at 1:15pm. Ha, well they weren't checking but asking last minute and we had to cancel appointments and rearrange our day. I guess that's the joy and hard thing about living close to the mission home. We got to take out Sister Glenn and Sister Saunders who just had like 3 hours left before their flights home. So.. we took them out to chalk talk because that's what we always do:) Wednesday was transfers but since none of us were moving it was really pretty nice.

Zone Conference1

Thursday was Zone Conference (talk about everything smashed into one week) in Porirua. In this conference I had 4/6 original missionaries from my first district, so that was kind of a fun reunion. It was also quite emotional because it's the last Conference with President and Sister Kezerian. They are definitely the best and we will miss them all, but I'm lucky to have another 2 Mission Leader Counsel's with them before they must leave. I played the piano for the event and Sister Kezerian said she was impressed I could both play and sing "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" and keep it all together. 

Last night we had dinner with the Cherian family, the same family where we had the epic glass table break during dinner. So I was anticipating something really exciting to happen but it was pretty normal. We were leaving and walking down their wood stairs when I totally slipped in my little socks and slid down all the stairs. I almost took out my companion and Sister Cherian was at the bottom trying to stop me. You could say it was a little embarrassing, plus their 5 boys thought it was hilarious. Anyway, the church is still true even if the missionaries are clumsy ha.

I have homework for you all. I want you to all read 2 Nephi 9 this week and look at how the Plan of Salvation is being taught. I just love this chapter!! I feel like I've never read it before but it just hit me this time. I also want you to each email me and tell me how/when/where you gained your testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. Will you do this? (get commitment) Good. I can promise you it will make a Sister Missionary in New Zealand much happier:)

You are all the best and I love you heaps! I got Caroline and Austin's invitation in the mail which was exciting, and it's fun to hear about all the Memorial Day plans. I've felt so much closer to my ancestors on my mission so I hope everyone feels a bit closer to them on this weekend.

Love, Sister Kennedy, still in Wellington and literally being knocked over by 100mile winds. They don't call this windy Wellington for nothing!

P.S. This is the blog our mission mum keeps and there's actually pictures of me on it, ha so you can check it out:)

Email from week of May 18th

May 18, 2014

Wow, what a week this has been! Mission life keeps getting crazier and crazier. Wellington keeps getting colder and colder, and our investigators are getting better and better! This email will be sent in a couple parts to send adequate pictures ha.

This is what I call an "exchange-over". Like a sleepover, except better because we're all Sister Missionaries and still obedient ha. We needed to get 2 exchanges done in a week so we ended up just inviting 2 sets of Sisters to come to Wellington and then we split off from their on our exchange. My favourite part of being a Sister Training Leader is getting to work with the Sisters, so it was really fun, and successful, to have four sisters in Wellington.

Sister Hann, Kennedy, Vautier, and Olamaleva
​ 

Sister Kennedy, Hann, Boehmer and Woodbury

Random facts about the week:

-We pay 5 cents per grocery bag at the stores.
-I bought a Twix this week super excited, but it did not taste as good ha.
-This week I went into the bike shop on 6 different occasions to get all the sisters' bikes fixed ha. I'm a regular now. I still am not good with bikes, but I am getting better :)
-We're running out of K's on our car so we biked A LOT. The busiest street in Wellington is Lambton Quay, it's the shopping and business district. It was raining hard out, rush hour traffic, and we were biking down that street. Ha thrilling and terrifying.
-On the street I met this kid wearing a U of U Football t shirt. Of course I stopped him. His cousin gave it to him while in Samoa and I forgot all the names.. but it was cool to tell him I worked with the team.
-OH! Forgot to tell you, the exchange list came and I am staying in Wellington with my companion Sister Hann and I'm still STL. No complaints because that means I'll get to be here for some of our baptisms :):)
-We hug and kiss sisters all the time, but Sunday I got hugged and kissed by a YSA guy and it was terrifying. Ha I'm so awkward.

The Elders had a beautiful baptism yesterday! Anthony, the super tall one, was introduced to the church by a friend, the one with the beard in the picture, and was baptized just a little over a month after that. He asked me to sing for his baptism and that was fun. I sang "Come thou Fount". People were surprised to learn that I could sing ha so that was a fun to have the chance.

This is Suzanna!! She's officially my favourite ginger. Sunday was her first time at church and she stayed for the baptism as well which was awesome. Pray for her:) If things go well she'll be baptized the same day Caro is married, which is great! ​

We had Stake Conference, and it turned out to be a blue day. We thought it was funny we were all in the same shade of blue. ​

So Stake Conference was for everyone in New Zealand and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake. We started by hearing Elder Oaks who spoke about the importance of sticking to education even if it seems easier to drop out and just get a job. He also spoke for quite a while about RM's and how it means returned missionary and not retired Mormon ha. He also encourage church leaders to release experienced members and give returned missionaries big callings when they come home. Pretty interesting. We then heard from Sister Wixom from the primary which was my little tender mercy. She spoke in General Conference last year, I then saw her in my temple session, she spoke at the General Woman's meeting this year, and now she spoke to everyone in New Zealand. I think she is meant to be in my life ha. Anyway, she was really sweet speaking to all the children. President Monson addressed us so sweetly about loving others more and being kinder. He's just my favourite! We had 3 investigators sitting next to us and I loved hearing from the prophet and knowing these investigators were hearing from the Lord's chosen messenger. As part of the Conference we watched clips from Hastening the Work of Salvation and it was really fun to see Shannon McCullam and tell people I know her ha.

I realize that this email is a bit all over the place. You can see the week was crazy and I have lot on my mind right now haha. I love you all heaps and hope everything is sunny and beautiful back home! One time I thanked my dad for praying for me and he said, "who ever said I pray for you?" Then he said just kidding ha, but thank you all for your prayers. Many miracles are happening here and I love being a missionary!!

Love, Sister Kennedy

You look like you need a hug.

May 11, 2014

This week has been so fulfilling! First of all, Happy Mother's Day:) I had such a special Mother's Day here but you'll have to read the full letter to get the good news! It's great to hear about the Kennedy trip to see Derek Jeter, more good news about the wedding plans, and also that school is almost out! 

Miracle investigator: We met this girl named Suzanna. She was a referral and she seemed mildly interested in learning more. We met with her at the mission office and she spoke about a friend of hers on a mission who kept inviting her to learn more and how she really admired him. She's looking for a church to attend and wants to really follow Christ. Good right? She says that she can see herself in the future getting baptised. Really good now right? We see her two days later and she agrees to be baptised in June. Great! She's probably the coolest 18 year old ginger I know. She's so pretty and we are so excited for her:) Miracle!

Earlier in the week we were walking the streets of downtown Wellington and at a corner this crazy man looked at me and said, " you look like you need a hug", so he hugged me. Ha I didn't know what to do and then just luckily crossed the road. I turned around and there was a business with big windows and one of the workers gave me a thumbs up and laughed.

Paekaraeki lookout point on my exchange,
where I met the Hungarian woman:)

I went to Paraparaumu this week on exchanges and it was the best!! It's a small town about an hour north of Wellington and it reminded me heaps of Blenheim. The church there is adorable. It's really small and the chapel is the same room as the primary room and multipurpose room ha. They have one of the only Wendy's in the mission so that bacon cheeseburger tasted really good:) It helped me remember the fun of missionary work while I was there. There's this beautiful lookout we went to and I met this Hungarian woman! She's from Budapest and said that "of course" she's met missionaries before. I wonder if one of them was Kennedy nover.

On Saturday we were so privileged to attend a baptism in Porirua. We took the Office Sisters with us and we got to see Diana, the mum, and Serenity, the daughter be baptised. On exchanges I got to teach them the Restoration so it was really neat to see them:) Plus, no one played the piano so I played all the prelude, interlude while they were changing and even accompanied for the songs. I'm so grateful for the little time I practiced before my mission and now that Heavenly Father is helping my fingers so I can play a bit more now ha. Last week the entire Bishopric was missing (I can't remember if I told this story), I've never seen that happen! So the Elders Quorum President conducted the meeting and I played the prelude music for sacrament because it sounded so empty. It feels nice to be able to give my little talent to invite the Spirit.

Diana and Serenity who were baptised on Saturday.

I was asked to give a talk on Sunday, and I remember my Mum explicitly telling me I must prepare my talks and never wing it. Ha so I did, and I even typed it which seemed weird at the time. In my talk I spoke about my Mum because of course no one would know her, right? Wrong. Elder and Sister Cannon came with Steve and Cassie to church on Sunday. BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT. I had Mother's Day lunch with Nancy.. Cannon ha. They had called the night before telling us they were coming but it was so exciting to finally see them! For being in the same mission, it's been over a year since I've seen the Cannon's. I thought it was strange I had printed out my talk, but then the YW president asked if she could use it in her lesson so it was neat I could just hand her my talk.

The Samoan ward meets after us; we start at 9am and they're at 11. Anyway, one of the famous All Blacks players was in church in the Samoan ward so I was like.. really close to him ha. I also finished the Book of Mormon on Mother's Day so it was my little tribute to you Mum. One of my favourite scriptures I found was right at the end. Moroni 9:25. Be faithful in Christ, and don't be burdened down but be lifted up in Christ.

I hope you each have a beautiful week in all the adventures you are a part of! Time is flying by, can you believe it's already May? I mean halfway through May now ha. Transfers are next week and who knows how long I'll stay in Wellington, it's already been 4 1/2 months but I am loving my time here serving in windy Wellington.

Love you heaps!
Sister Kennedy

Oh! I forgot. This weekend New Zealand is having a nation wide Stake Conference broadcast from Utah. And you know who is speaking to us? President Monson and Elder Oaks! Bringing in the big guns. Needless to say, we are so excited to hear from the prophet again:)

To my mother, who knows.

May 5, 2014

This coming week is Mother's Day! And although it will be Mother's day next week when I email, it will have already passed for me, so I wanted to send this letter in dedication of my mama and all the women who have taken part in shaping who I am. This is from Julie B. Beck's talk in 2007, "Mother's Who Know" and I'll try tying each of the subjects into our adventures this week.

Mothers Who Know Bear Children 

We had a great service opportunity this Saturday in helping our investigator move to a new flat. She has this little boy named Robert and he's hilarious. They are from Russia and their English is pretty limited, but this little boy just makes me laugh. Children are great, as my mother should know, because I am her daughter:) Plus, it always feel good to get the chance to give meaningful service.. in my Utes shirt:)

Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants 

Alma 56: 47 "They had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." The Wellington Stake had their big trip up to the Hamilton Temple this week and I was so jealous that I couldn't go! The YSA loaded up 2 big passenger vans and I was pretty tempted to just jump on myself. I've never been away from the temple for so long. The testimony meeting after the temple was so spiritual. I love hearing about the feelings that people have after attending the temple. It will be such a sweet reunion to get to attend the temple again! A recent convert got to attend and do baptisms for the first time which was awesome, and my convert Elizabeth received her temple recommend so she can go soon!

Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers 

My companion got sick, and I got resick. So I guess in line with being nurturers, we helped each other by passing each other tissues and such ha.

Mothers Who Know Are Leaders 

I really enjoy being a Sister Training Leader. I don't know how long I will continue to serve. Our mission is going through massive changes before our new mission president arrives in July, and with that a lot of leaders will change. That way, President Hudson will have a mission full of missionaries who have had time serving as leaders. Seems smart to me! I had an exchange with Sister Russell, from Idaho Falls, and she's the cutest. While we were on exchange we set two baptismal dates, which was such a miracle! It was funny- it was a pampering exchanges. I plucked her eyebrows, she curled my hair, we painted our nails and even gave each other back massages. We sound like such girls.. but sometimes these things much be done ha.

Mothers Who Know Are Teachers 

We have this Uni student we are teaching named Hayley. She's like the best! Sometimes investigators surprise me, and she has definitely surprised me! She didn't seem that she was actually very interested, but this week she committed to a baptismal date in June, she came to church for all 3 hours, and she attended the YSA break-the-fast and like loved it all. So neat!! Good things are happening. Mainly all our progressing investigators live in Karori, which takes like 20 minutes to travel to. But oddly enough, the first branch in New Zealand was in Karori so that is some rich Mormon heritage.

Mothers Who Know Do Less 

Not really an option as a missionary.. but taking time to enjoy the beauty really helps me appreciate all that God has given to me. I really do live in the most beautiful place in the world.

Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable 

My companion and I, Sister Hann, outside our cute church. We are pretty immovable in the picture. We had this intense lesson with an inactive woman on the subject of the Spirit World and baptisms for the dead. She had invited her flat mate to join us, and so it was a pretty intense first lesson for this Chinese girl ha. Anyway, we were speaking about the Spirit World and she believes that we are just asleep in our bodies until the resurrection. I was speaking to her about when I saw Grandma Kennedy die and how as soon as she was gone, it just wasn't her anymore because her spirit wasn't there. This woman told us that we each only have one angel to be with us. I got so emotional as I spoke to her about the many ancestors that I could feel with me at that moment helping me. It was such an amazing experience feeling especially Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy and my Grandpa Stratford. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that our spirits rise to the spirit world and that we have such unseen helpers in this life. I know my family who have passed are helping me heaps out here in New Zealand. I know our families can be together forever.

I hope everyone has a beautiful week! I love being a missionary and the work here is slow, but so fulfilling. This gospel is true!

Love, Sister Kennedy