Stake Conference, 18 yr. old missionaries, and being poor.
Hey everybody from the best place on the world!
How is everyone doing out in Maine? Everyone is getting cold out there, and I am just soaking up the hot tropical sun here. Jake just think I am by the beach, tropical conditions, and the waves here are great. Too bad your not here to go surfing in the warm tropical water.
Anyway this past week has been a huge roller coaster ride. We did a three day division with the Assistants, and it ate up a lot of our time. We weren´t able to follow up with our baptisms very well and unfortunately they fell through last week. But we hope to baptize them this Sunday. We have been working with a lot of incomplete families here int he ward. It has been working very well. Also when we have been knocking doors, we knock close to the Member´s houses. This also seems to be doing well. We have been finding a lot of cool families. Sometimes I think that it shouldn´t be us knocking on the neighbor´s doors of the members, it should be the members. But we do what we can.
Last week we had Stake Conference. Our Mission President spoke, and he spoke very well. He got all the stake excited for missionary work. The focus of the Stake Conference was Missionary work, and the reading of the book of mormon. I have been noticing that in our ward that the families who are excited to work with us, and do missionary work, are the families that who are reading the Book of Mormon. It´s interesting but the Book of Mormon blesses us in every aspect of our lives; including blessing us with missionary opportunities.
So Mom, I didn´t want you to go all crazy about the whole 18 year old missionaries. What I said was completely true. I double checked with my mission president and found out that it is only for Brazilians. Back in the States it will continue with the same age. Half the Young Men here in my ward will be going on missions within the next few months. What happens here in Brazil is that when you turn 18 you leave the young mens, but there isn´t another program to support them. Usually between the ages of 18 and 19 they get a job, start college, and get a girlfriend. A lot of YM with this age have been falling through and not going on missions. So the area presidency decided to lower the age limit here in Brasil. Interesting isn´t it? Who knows maybe towards the end of my mission I will train an 18 year old. I sure hope I will have the opportunity to train someone, that has been my dream for my whole mission. I hope that the Lord will give me that chance to help a new missionary start on the right foot. Dad did you train anyone on your mission?
My area has been going well. We have been working and teaching with the single focus of baptizing. We have a good teaching group going now. We try to play ´´all the keys of the piano´´ at the same time. As we are preparing people for this week to be baptizes, we are at the same time looking and finding new investigators to be baptized in the following weeks. That way our work and growth is constant and effective. Rather than just focusing on one family for the end of the transfer.
No I have not been getting anything from Grandma lately... Actually I haven´t been getting any letters in general. I know it´s normal that me being missionary isn´t anything new, and people of gotten bored of writing me. But I also have noticed that I have written a lot of letters and sent them but I don´t think they ever reached their destinations. I wrote one to the Baileys, and one to ´´G´´. But I don´t know what has happened to them.
Can you get me the email address of William? I can write him since we are both missionaries.
Also I am so excited for Kason, going to Russia! How crazy is that! I am sure his mom is quite nervous, but it will be great for him.
Lately me and my comp have been rather poor. So we have been getting really ghetto foods. Today for lunch we had chocolate milk with ramen. It was good. I made scones the other day. And my comp loves my garlic bread that I make. Usually that is all we eat at home is chocolate milk, and bread. We have had to use our money for transport to do interviews, divisions, and for meetings. I am grateful that this week our allowance will be deposited in our accounts.
Anyways I need to get going! I love you guys so much!!!!! Be good!!!!
Só Batiza!
Love,
Elder Kenning
Spiritual Thought:
Dad maybe this will help you with ward conference and your talk this week. It is really good to get the members to magnify their callings and their job right. I got htis story Sunday at Stake Conference.
Here we go:
There was a pharmacist who was an Atheist closing up his pharmacy. And there appeared a little girl was said ´I need to her this medicine.´´ He readily and rather irritatedly told her that he had closed and lock the place, and that there was no way he good get the medicine. But the young girl showed him the slip and said ´´but sir it is for my sick mother.´´ Very angrily and hurriedly he opened up the pharmacy and stormed in getting the medicine. He didn´t even bother to turn the lights on. He grabbed the medicine and gave it to the girl with a sour look on his face. The young poor girl took the medicine looked at him and said a pleasant ´´thank you´´ and graciously went on her way. And in the moment of closing up the pharmacist realized that in his hurriedness he had grabbed the wrong medicine, actually he grabbed the medicine that would have the reverse effect of the correct one. The medicine that he grabbed would make the young girl´s mom sicker, maybe even kill her. The pharmacist took off running frantically through the city looking for the young girl. Looking in every alley way just to give her the right medicine. But being rush hour he was not able to find her.
How many times do we do the same thing with our callings and responsibilities of the church? How many times do we act irritated because it is inconvenient then we do a ´´rushed, half job´´?
This atheist returned back to his pharmacy defeated. He knelt on the ground and started to talk to the being who created him, to forgive him. Crying and completely exhausted kneeling on the ground he felt a light tug on his white shirt. He opened his eyes and saw the young girl with a sad face. The young girl said: ´´Sorry sir to bug you some more, but while I was running home to give my mom the medicine, I slipped and fell, and the medicine fell from my hands and broke on the ground. Can I have another one?´´
How is everyone doing out in Maine? Everyone is getting cold out there, and I am just soaking up the hot tropical sun here. Jake just think I am by the beach, tropical conditions, and the waves here are great. Too bad your not here to go surfing in the warm tropical water.
Anyway this past week has been a huge roller coaster ride. We did a three day division with the Assistants, and it ate up a lot of our time. We weren´t able to follow up with our baptisms very well and unfortunately they fell through last week. But we hope to baptize them this Sunday. We have been working with a lot of incomplete families here int he ward. It has been working very well. Also when we have been knocking doors, we knock close to the Member´s houses. This also seems to be doing well. We have been finding a lot of cool families. Sometimes I think that it shouldn´t be us knocking on the neighbor´s doors of the members, it should be the members. But we do what we can.
Last week we had Stake Conference. Our Mission President spoke, and he spoke very well. He got all the stake excited for missionary work. The focus of the Stake Conference was Missionary work, and the reading of the book of mormon. I have been noticing that in our ward that the families who are excited to work with us, and do missionary work, are the families that who are reading the Book of Mormon. It´s interesting but the Book of Mormon blesses us in every aspect of our lives; including blessing us with missionary opportunities.
So Mom, I didn´t want you to go all crazy about the whole 18 year old missionaries. What I said was completely true. I double checked with my mission president and found out that it is only for Brazilians. Back in the States it will continue with the same age. Half the Young Men here in my ward will be going on missions within the next few months. What happens here in Brazil is that when you turn 18 you leave the young mens, but there isn´t another program to support them. Usually between the ages of 18 and 19 they get a job, start college, and get a girlfriend. A lot of YM with this age have been falling through and not going on missions. So the area presidency decided to lower the age limit here in Brasil. Interesting isn´t it? Who knows maybe towards the end of my mission I will train an 18 year old. I sure hope I will have the opportunity to train someone, that has been my dream for my whole mission. I hope that the Lord will give me that chance to help a new missionary start on the right foot. Dad did you train anyone on your mission?
My area has been going well. We have been working and teaching with the single focus of baptizing. We have a good teaching group going now. We try to play ´´all the keys of the piano´´ at the same time. As we are preparing people for this week to be baptizes, we are at the same time looking and finding new investigators to be baptized in the following weeks. That way our work and growth is constant and effective. Rather than just focusing on one family for the end of the transfer.
No I have not been getting anything from Grandma lately... Actually I haven´t been getting any letters in general. I know it´s normal that me being missionary isn´t anything new, and people of gotten bored of writing me. But I also have noticed that I have written a lot of letters and sent them but I don´t think they ever reached their destinations. I wrote one to the Baileys, and one to ´´G´´. But I don´t know what has happened to them.
Can you get me the email address of William? I can write him since we are both missionaries.
Also I am so excited for Kason, going to Russia! How crazy is that! I am sure his mom is quite nervous, but it will be great for him.
Lately me and my comp have been rather poor. So we have been getting really ghetto foods. Today for lunch we had chocolate milk with ramen. It was good. I made scones the other day. And my comp loves my garlic bread that I make. Usually that is all we eat at home is chocolate milk, and bread. We have had to use our money for transport to do interviews, divisions, and for meetings. I am grateful that this week our allowance will be deposited in our accounts.
Anyways I need to get going! I love you guys so much!!!!! Be good!!!!
Só Batiza!
Love,
Elder Kenning
Spiritual Thought:
Dad maybe this will help you with ward conference and your talk this week. It is really good to get the members to magnify their callings and their job right. I got htis story Sunday at Stake Conference.
Here we go:
There was a pharmacist who was an Atheist closing up his pharmacy. And there appeared a little girl was said ´I need to her this medicine.´´ He readily and rather irritatedly told her that he had closed and lock the place, and that there was no way he good get the medicine. But the young girl showed him the slip and said ´´but sir it is for my sick mother.´´ Very angrily and hurriedly he opened up the pharmacy and stormed in getting the medicine. He didn´t even bother to turn the lights on. He grabbed the medicine and gave it to the girl with a sour look on his face. The young poor girl took the medicine looked at him and said a pleasant ´´thank you´´ and graciously went on her way. And in the moment of closing up the pharmacist realized that in his hurriedness he had grabbed the wrong medicine, actually he grabbed the medicine that would have the reverse effect of the correct one. The medicine that he grabbed would make the young girl´s mom sicker, maybe even kill her. The pharmacist took off running frantically through the city looking for the young girl. Looking in every alley way just to give her the right medicine. But being rush hour he was not able to find her.
How many times do we do the same thing with our callings and responsibilities of the church? How many times do we act irritated because it is inconvenient then we do a ´´rushed, half job´´?
This atheist returned back to his pharmacy defeated. He knelt on the ground and started to talk to the being who created him, to forgive him. Crying and completely exhausted kneeling on the ground he felt a light tug on his white shirt. He opened his eyes and saw the young girl with a sad face. The young girl said: ´´Sorry sir to bug you some more, but while I was running home to give my mom the medicine, I slipped and fell, and the medicine fell from my hands and broke on the ground. Can I have another one?´´
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