May your hammer be mighty
Hey everyone!
How is everybody doing? Is everyone really excited to go to Florida this week? Thanks you guys for going without me, but we will just have to plan a big trip when I get back. It´s coming up soon right? Only 1 more year and 5 months. Time is so weird on the mission. Sometimes it feels like it was so long ago, but then again it feels like it is going by really fast. This transfer is going to go by really quick. Tomorrow I have interviews with President, and next week we have Zone Conference on Black Friday. Brazil doesn´t celebrate thanksgiving, and I probably will have the same old missionary lunch.
Our mission has been going through some difficulties lately. We have a serious fault of good missionaries that are here to serve for the right reasons. We just got a bunch of new elders last transfer (40), and we will recieve 30 more the next transfer. And all of our good experienced leaders are going home. So our mission right now has a lot of unexperienced elders, and a lot of slackers. And it seems that our mission president is changing as well, he is only putting elders in leadership positions that are sucking up to him, exaggerating their numbers, and telling him how great of a missionary they are. This is bad as well because they aren´t the best elders to lead. If I have an opportunity to be a leader here on the mission I will take it, because I want to improve our mission, and help other missionaries, but that isn´t my focus. Sometimes it makes me frutrated because I want to help, but I don´t have the chance. I just need to remember whose reward do I want? Because the laborer is worthy of his hire, do I want the hire of men, or do I want the hire of God?
Just a little drama of mission life, it´s interesting because before the mission I thought all the missionaries were awesome hard workers. Your vision really changes when you are able to see it from the inside out.
My camera is a Sony, so the kind of memory card that it needs is a memory pro stick duo. The more space the better, and also if you could send a pen drive as well to keep some mission files on that would be awesome.
So what´s going with Brazil. Well the soccer championships are coming to a close. Like football they only have games on Sunday. So every Sunday afternoon the work basicaly stops. No one wants to hear about the gospel, they only want to watch there favorite teams. Luckily it will end soon, but we will need help in June, when the World Cup starts. It certainly will be crazy.
So dad, my area is limited to this little neighborhood. But on Pdays we can go and visit a lot of places. Today we didn´t do anything because we didn´t have any money, tomorrow we will get our allowance, and the next Pday we will go somewhere awesome. Everyday is an adventure down here, and I can´t let one day slip by. Today I got a hair cut, and wrote a couple of letters. Mostly just relaxed.
We have been working really hard. It stinks because our numbers don´t show it. And I am afraid that our leaders are thinking we are slacking. We are working so hard, every night when we get home, we plan, and crash. This area is hard and so it is difficult to teach, and have people progress to baptism. We have been working really hard with the ward earning their trust. We figured that the best way to earn this trust is through service, like King Benjamin. So after every visit we ask is there anything we can help you guys with. We also have been praying for Service opportunities, and the Lord let loose with them. Last week everyday of the week we have had a service project, painting, sanding, cleaning, and we still have 4 more projects this week. The ward is starting to get really excited about missionary work. The only problem is that we are using more time to serve the ward than to do missionary work. But it is for a good cause, everything good in life needs some sacrifice. We really need more references from the members, we hardly recieve any, so we have to do a lot of street contacts.
Well next transfers are the 15th of December. I think I have a good chance to be transfered. I have been working really hard to show President that I am ready to be Senior next transfer. Hopefuly he will notice our hard work.
The temple is just outside of our mission boundaries. But once every quarter everyone can go to the temple, except the Elders on the beach. That includes me, I hope I am transfered so that I can have a chance to go to the temple.
Well I need to get going. Everyone have a great time at Florida! I love you all very much! Be Good!
Love,
Elder Harry Kenning
Spiritual Thought:
“Even when you feel the truth of [the] capacity and kindness of the Lord to deliver you in your trials, it may still test your courage and strength to endure. The Prophet Joseph Smith cried out in agony in a dungeon:
“ ‘O God, where are thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?’(D&C 121:1–2). . . .
“The Lord’s reply has helped me and can encourage us all in times of darkness. Here it is: ‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).”
Henry B. Eyring, “Adversity,” Ensign, May 2009
How is everybody doing? Is everyone really excited to go to Florida this week? Thanks you guys for going without me, but we will just have to plan a big trip when I get back. It´s coming up soon right? Only 1 more year and 5 months. Time is so weird on the mission. Sometimes it feels like it was so long ago, but then again it feels like it is going by really fast. This transfer is going to go by really quick. Tomorrow I have interviews with President, and next week we have Zone Conference on Black Friday. Brazil doesn´t celebrate thanksgiving, and I probably will have the same old missionary lunch.
Our mission has been going through some difficulties lately. We have a serious fault of good missionaries that are here to serve for the right reasons. We just got a bunch of new elders last transfer (40), and we will recieve 30 more the next transfer. And all of our good experienced leaders are going home. So our mission right now has a lot of unexperienced elders, and a lot of slackers. And it seems that our mission president is changing as well, he is only putting elders in leadership positions that are sucking up to him, exaggerating their numbers, and telling him how great of a missionary they are. This is bad as well because they aren´t the best elders to lead. If I have an opportunity to be a leader here on the mission I will take it, because I want to improve our mission, and help other missionaries, but that isn´t my focus. Sometimes it makes me frutrated because I want to help, but I don´t have the chance. I just need to remember whose reward do I want? Because the laborer is worthy of his hire, do I want the hire of men, or do I want the hire of God?
Just a little drama of mission life, it´s interesting because before the mission I thought all the missionaries were awesome hard workers. Your vision really changes when you are able to see it from the inside out.
My camera is a Sony, so the kind of memory card that it needs is a memory pro stick duo. The more space the better, and also if you could send a pen drive as well to keep some mission files on that would be awesome.
So what´s going with Brazil. Well the soccer championships are coming to a close. Like football they only have games on Sunday. So every Sunday afternoon the work basicaly stops. No one wants to hear about the gospel, they only want to watch there favorite teams. Luckily it will end soon, but we will need help in June, when the World Cup starts. It certainly will be crazy.
So dad, my area is limited to this little neighborhood. But on Pdays we can go and visit a lot of places. Today we didn´t do anything because we didn´t have any money, tomorrow we will get our allowance, and the next Pday we will go somewhere awesome. Everyday is an adventure down here, and I can´t let one day slip by. Today I got a hair cut, and wrote a couple of letters. Mostly just relaxed.
We have been working really hard. It stinks because our numbers don´t show it. And I am afraid that our leaders are thinking we are slacking. We are working so hard, every night when we get home, we plan, and crash. This area is hard and so it is difficult to teach, and have people progress to baptism. We have been working really hard with the ward earning their trust. We figured that the best way to earn this trust is through service, like King Benjamin. So after every visit we ask is there anything we can help you guys with. We also have been praying for Service opportunities, and the Lord let loose with them. Last week everyday of the week we have had a service project, painting, sanding, cleaning, and we still have 4 more projects this week. The ward is starting to get really excited about missionary work. The only problem is that we are using more time to serve the ward than to do missionary work. But it is for a good cause, everything good in life needs some sacrifice. We really need more references from the members, we hardly recieve any, so we have to do a lot of street contacts.
Well next transfers are the 15th of December. I think I have a good chance to be transfered. I have been working really hard to show President that I am ready to be Senior next transfer. Hopefuly he will notice our hard work.
The temple is just outside of our mission boundaries. But once every quarter everyone can go to the temple, except the Elders on the beach. That includes me, I hope I am transfered so that I can have a chance to go to the temple.
Well I need to get going. Everyone have a great time at Florida! I love you all very much! Be Good!
Love,
Elder Harry Kenning
Spiritual Thought:
“Even when you feel the truth of [the] capacity and kindness of the Lord to deliver you in your trials, it may still test your courage and strength to endure. The Prophet Joseph Smith cried out in agony in a dungeon:
“ ‘O God, where are thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?’(D&C 121:1–2). . . .
“The Lord’s reply has helped me and can encourage us all in times of darkness. Here it is: ‘My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes’ (D&C 121:7–8).”
Henry B. Eyring, “Adversity,” Ensign, May 2009
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