Watch With Me

Hola todos!

I made it to my new area! Its in Paradise Valley, and its beautiful! It reminds me a little bit of St. George. My companions are Hermana Van Alfen and Hermana McInnes. Hermana Van Alfen will be with us for another week or so. Then she will be transfering to a service mission. She is absolutely amazing. She is so Christlike and I already feel like I have known her forever. Hermana McInnes just got here from the MTC, and we picked her up on Saturday. She has been temporarily reassigned to the Phoenix mission while she waits for her Visa. Then she will be headed to the Guayaquil, Ecuador mission. She is so sweet and I'm excited to work with her. 

The night before I left the La Joya area, we had a lesson with Daniel. He told us that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and that he watched all of the Book of Mormon videos. We invited him to be baptized on August 19th. He wasn't able to be baptized on his original date since we lost contact for a little while and still need to teach him some more lessons. He accepted the new baptismal date! I am so happy for him and all of the positive changes that are happening in his life. 

We had combined district council with all of the missionaries in our zone. I'm now in zone 5, so there are lots of missionaries here that I'm just starting to get to know. It's an exciting change! We also ate breakfast at our stake president's house with him, his wife, and the other missionaries in the stake. The theme was Pioneer Day. President Bagley's wife decorated everything so cute! 

One of our friends named Marjorie will be getting baptized this Saturday. She is a sweet older lady from Ecuador. She had to wait several months to be baptized because of some health issues, but after lots of prayers and fasting she finally received permission from her doctor to be baptized. It was a big miracle for her, and she is so excited. 

The church building that we go to is right across the street from our apartment, so we are able to walk to church. As we were walking in, Hermana McInnes told us that the Bishop in her home ward always asks the new missionaries to bear their testimonies during Sacrament meeting on their first Sunday in the ward. She was nervous because she is just starting to learn Spanish. She asked us if the Bishop was going to ask her to do that. Hermana Van Alfen and I both told her that neither of us have had that happen and that the bishops here let you know a few days early if they would like you to speak that Sunday. As soon as we got done talking, Bishop Cabrera came up to me and told me that one of the speakers wasn't going to make it to church. He asked if Hermana McInnes and I would be willing to introduce ourselves to the ward and give a short talk. You can imagine how surprised we all were haha. We said yes, and all went well. Now I know to never say never haha.

Last week, Hermana Cruz and I had a visit with a couple from the La Joya ward. We were talking about the Sacrament and the importance of being reverent and engaged in Sacrament meeting. As we were in the visit, Hermana Cruz thought about when Jesus Christ asked His disciples to watch with Him as He went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus Christ was about to suffer for the sins, pains, and afflictions of everyone who had ever lived and ever would live on earth, and He simply asked His disciples to watch with Him. However, as we know, the disciples fell asleep. Hermana Cruz explained that similarly, Jesus Christ asks us each Sunday to watch with Him. Although we were not in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity each Sunday to "watch with Him" as we are fully engaged in Sacrament meeting. I know that it can be hard at times to not get distracted or think about all of the things on our to-do lists for the week while in Sacrament Meeting. However, I also know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is significantly more important than all of that. I would like to invite you all to think about your thoughts and actions during Sacrament meeting and how you can better "watch with Him." I know that as you strive to be engaged and focused on Jesus Christ during Sacrament meeting, you will be more in-tune with the Holy Ghost and able to receive personal revelation. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He lives. He loves you. He atoned for you personally. Only through His Atonement can we be made clean and find true joy. I bear my testimony to you in His name, Jesus Christ. Amen

I love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Kendrick 
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Power Of The Book Of Mormon

Image
¡Hola amigos y familiares! It was a busy week with Zone Conference and lots of lessons with our friends. There is so much work to do in this area and its awesome!  Our friend Blanca and her two kids, Ashley and Gael, told us that they want to be baptized but aren't quite ready to set a date. Blanca is a little nervous about being baptized because her extended family isn't very supportive of her wanting to join our church. We had one of our lessons with Blanca at the Laytons house, and the Laytons did an amazing job of responding to some of her worries. We are continuing to pray that her and her kids will be ready to set a baptismal date soon.  Daniel and Marisol are doing so well! Last week, they told us that they are ready to change what they need to and commit to following Jesus Christ. They come to every church activity and refer to the branch members as their family. It has been so neat to see how quickly they connected with the branch, and now you would think that they...
Read more

I Made It To Phoenix!

Image
Hola everyone! I made it to Phoenix! My mission President and his wife (President and Sister Eyre) are amazing! I already love them so much. My companion is Sister Farnsworth. She's great! She's been serving for 14 months, so her Spanish is really good. She does most of the talking in our lessons haha.  When I was getting ready to leave the MTC, the wheels on one of my luggages broke. Two of the guys working at the reception desk tried to tape them on for me. Needless to say, the airport was an interesting experience. Before I left the MTC, I received a priesthood blessing from one of the Elders in my district. During the blessing, the Spirit in the room was so strong. I know that the words the Elder said were from God. I was able to feel the comfort I needed before coming to Arizona. I am so thankful for the priesthood and priesthood blessings. I know that priesthood power truly is from God.  My final devotional at the MTC was a video of Elder David A. Bednar. He talked about...
Read more

Be In The World

Image
Hola a todos!  I hope that you're all doing well! We had another lesson with the Romero family and they are doing so well! Their goal this year as a family is to come to all of the branch activities. They have lots of friends in the branch and the members have been great at helping them feel welcome. We have been praying hard for the Romero family to open up more, and every lesson it seems like they feel a little more comfortable with us.  Last week was Zone Conference week, and President Fisk introduced a new mission initiative called "the lost coin." As a mission, we started teaching quite a few people last year but only a small percentage of them ended up getting baptized. This year, we are going to focus more on using the tools that we have to find those who were taught by missionaries last year and in years passed. Then we are going to check up on them and see how we can help them to continue learning. We have lots of amazing tools as missionaries and it will be awes...
Read more