Disciple of Christ

Hey friends and family! 

This is unbelievable for me to be writing my final e-mail as a full-time missionary. You'll find that this e-mail is full of missionary cliches, but I don't know if there is any other way to describe what I am now experiencing.

I have hearing about missions all my life. My Grandfathers served missions, my dad served a mission, my older brother served a mission, and I have associated with many other great men and women throughout my life who have also served missions. I heard so much about missions being "the best two years". I heard that "you'll change on a mission more than anywhere else". I also heard that "it's impossible to adequately describe your mission experience". All of those are true for me. This has been the greatest two years of my life so far. I know that there are many great years ahead, but this mission truly has been the greatest that I have experienced. There is no way I could have fully anticipated what I would experience here in Canada, the miracles, the rejection, the feelings of the spirit, everything was so much more than I ever thought it could be. And it has changed me.

My mission has taught me more of the Atonement of Jesus Christ than any other experience in my life. It taught me that when I'm down, when I'm about to quit, when I'm ready to fall, The Lord lifts me up, He comforts me, He strengthens me, He bears my burdens, and He helps me to rise. I love my Savior Jesus Christ, I love the miracle of the Atonement, and the miracle that it's power and influence has had on my life, especially as I represented His name as a full time missionary these past two years. 

The greatest lesson that I have learned as a missionary is how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I thought I knew what it meant to be a disciple before my mission. Disciples go to church. Disciples read their scriptures. Disciples pray, they keep the commandments, and they do everything they're "supposed to do". Although those are characteristics of a disciple, I have learned that a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is so much more. Disciples are on a quest for greater conversion. They are striving to be better all the time, to become more like the Savior, to overcome faults and shortcomings, and to motivate and assist others to do the same. They follow Christ in faith, they obey with a believing heart, they exemplify charity in their dealings with others, they are virtuous, diligent, and they turn their lives over to God. It is possible to keep the commandments and not turn our lives over to God, and that's why a disciple is so much more than a commandment keeper. A disciple is a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I know I am not perfect. I know I have faults, weaknesses, and setbacks that I still need to overcome. However, I want to bear my witness to you all that I know Jesus Christ lives to help me overcome all faults, weaknesses, trials, temptations, and imperfections. And I know He lives for you too. He lives for all of us. If we choose to follow it, and live for it, and give ourselves to it, His restored gospel as taught through His restored church will change us. It will help us overcome all unrighteousness, and it will lift us and lead us to a better way. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a better way. The world may fight against it, but you could not convince me otherwise that this is not the path that God has intended for us. On my mission I have witnessed the power of God through conversion, through miracles, and through spiritual experiences that have changed my life and the lives of those I have come in contact with forever. All of that aside, the spirit has borne witness to my soul that this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is true. I know it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, I know that the Book of Mormon is evidence of that restoration and that it contains in its fullness that very gospel. I know that as we come unto Christ, He takes us on a path to help us become the best son or daughter of God we can be, He helps us fulfill our potential, and if we hold out true and faithful, He leads us safely home to our Father in Heaven. 

I love my Heavenly and everything that He has done for me. I love the mission that He allowed me to serve. I love the family and friends that He has blessed me with and who have been a wonderful support for me throughout my missionary experience. And I love my Savior Jesus Christ. The greatest decision you can ever make is to choose Christ in your life. That is my invitation to you. Choose Christ, hold fast to the faith, and stay true to the end.

With Love,

Elder Kendall

God Delivers

Hey friends and family!

I don't know what to say about this week, it honestly has been the hardest two weeks for work that I have had in a long time. We are getting dropped for reasons we don't know or can't explain, people don't want to see us, and we are just facing a lot of rejection. Coming off of a recent success with Ron's baptism makes it even more difficult, but I want to tell you that I know God delivers. 

Sometimes we think that life is going to be smooth all the time. We think that when we live the gospel everything is nice and easy. However, I have really come to know that sometimes life is really hard! In fact, when we are on the Lord's errand, we can expect life to get hard. 

Our lives are set up to refine us. Refining comes through many different trials, testing, and proving, and I feel that my great test is to endure. I have two and a half weeks left on my mission, and in the face of discouragement, I am reminded of a quote from President Monson, who asked, "will I falter, or will I finish?" 

As I thought about this, and considered my mission experience, I realized that if I were doing this on my own power I WOULD falter. But that's just it. I am not doing this on my own. NONE of us are going through life on our own. In these hard times and these tough weeks, we need to ALWAYS remember that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is reaching out to us, seeking to bless us, and hoping to deliver us from our trials. I promise that if you will turn to Him, whether in times of rain or shine, He will deliver you. I know that to be true, and I want you all to know that I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. It was restored through Joseph Smith. And although trials have come my way, I know that through Christ and His atonement, I will not falter, but I will finish.

 I love you all so much, thank you for the support and all that you do for me, I hope that you have an incredible week! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Final Resting Place

Hey friends and family! 

I don't know if any of you can believe this, but I only have six weeks left on my mission. What in the world is going on? Where has the time gone? I can't believe that it's already here, but something I can assure you is that these will be the hardest working six weeks of my life. We are looking forward to a successful transfer, and I am just really excited about it! 

for the past 7 months I have been serving as a zone leader in the Winnipeg South Zone, and there are two zones here in the city. Actually, there were two zones in the city. They just, shut down the North Zone, and Elder Dean and I will be taking over the new winnipeg zone. It will be an adjustment for sure, quite the extra workload for the final transfer with additional exchanges and training that needs to happen, so if you could keep me in your prayers that would be great! 

We had a FANTASTIC week. The Lord is really bringing miracles into our lives as we get out and work hard and try to bring others to Christ. We found a lot of great people to teach, one of them was named rukky (rookie). It was actually really funny, we saw that there was some sort of social event going on as we were walking down the street, and so we thought we would just go and knock on the door. We got about 6 feet from the door and Rukky just opened it right up, he was on his phone and when he saw us, he hung up and just said "what's up?". Literally all my companion said was "we are missionaries here to teach people about Jesus Christ" and he told us to come in and sit down! He had a million questions for us, was very receptive, and it was just great. We told him we had to leave so that we could get back to our apartment for curfew, and my favorite line of the night was when he said, "I know you have to leave and all, but I feel like we should order some pizza because I just have so many questions". It was hilarious. We found a lot of other new people to teach, so it was a great week, hopefully we can keep up the momentum! 

We also set a baptismal date with Ron, who is a YSA from Winkler, and he is the man. He's super excited for his baptism, and we are too! He'll be a great addition to the ward. 

I hope you all know that I love you, and I am grateful for the support! I know this is the work of our Heavenly Father, and I am grateful to be a part of it! I am looking forward to finishing strong, and doing all that I can to continue to invite others to come unto Christ. Have a great week everybody! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

I'm dreaming of a white birthday....

Hey friends and family! 

Yup, totally snowing on my birthday up here in Canada. Gotta love it.

we had a great week! I'll give you two good highlights:

1. We had a baptism! Her name is tracy, we found her two weeks ago as a member referral, we taught her once, she came to conference, then she told us she wanted to be baptized, and she insisted that it happened this past saturday. So, we turned her over to the sisters (because she's a single sister and we have to do that in the YSA) and they speed taught her all the lessons in a week to prepare her for her baptism! We put everything together, and the sisters were in charge of filling up the font, and they turned it off about an hour and a half before the baptism, just to give it some time before they finished filling it up. Except it wasn't quite plugged all the way. So we go and check it an hour before and the water is seriously ankle deep. So we hurried and turned on the water, then ran to the kitchen and grabbed these giant pots and started running back and forth from the kitchen with giant pots of water to help fill up the font in time for the baptism. Good times. But the service was great! We are just really grateful for tracy, and her faith, and for how ready she was! the Lord seriously prepared here so much, and it was just great to see her progression. God is truly a God of Miracles! 

2. We went to Winkler this week! Winkler always needs speakers, so Elder Dean and I were asked to go down and speak! It was seriously fantastic. Things are great at the fossil museum, they have done a lot of renovating and it looks SO GOOD. And there are people there that I helped to teach that are doing well, a part member family that is really helping out the area, and I am just so grateful for that experience! I know that area will continue to grow, and I am just super grateful for my opportunity to be a part of the work there. 

I want you all to know that I love you, I am grateful for your support, and I know this work is true. I know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of all of us, that He truly does love us, and that is why we have the gospel in our lives today. I love this gospel, I love the Holy Scriptures, and I love my Savior so much. Stay close to Him and He will fill your life with light. Have a great week everyone! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

T minus 2 months

Hey friends and family!

Well, I think the title says it all, I have 2 months left and I just can't believe the time is moving so quickly! I love my mission so much, and I am definitely going to do all that I can to make sure that I finish strong. The Lord has done everything for me, and for all of us really, and so for me that just means that I owe Him my everything, He deserves my best when it comes to my mission, and I want to make sure I give Him my best right up to the end. 

Funny story time:

1)We went to go to a dinner appointment at a member's home who lives closer to downtown, and I don't know if I've told you about Winnipeg streets before, but just as a little refresher, they're a nightmare. Honestly, it's as if someone spilled a bowl of spaghetti on the floor, looked at it, and thought to themselves, "This could totally be a map". Yup. That's winnipeg. Anywho, we couldn't find parking in the visitor's lot because apparently everyone and their grandma had to visit that apartment building that night, so we drove around the building. My companion said that the road we needed to be on should be coming up, and as I turned on it the sign said "Buses only". When we had finally realized what we had done, we went to turn around, but a bus pinned us in, and the only way to go was forward... on a bus lane. So here I am on a bus lane, driving through a bus station, wishing I didn't exist. it was pretty scary to say the least. 

2)I was asked to give a talk on sunday, and I was speaking with a young man who has a bit of a mental setback who is in the ward. He's just got some different social tendencies, and we'll leave it at that. Anyways, he got up to speak and said, "I was asked to speak on the resurrection and I am completely unprepared for this". Silence. Complete silence. Then he reads a quote by President Kimball. More Silence. Like a minute. Then he turns to me and says, in the loudest whisper I have ever heard in my life, "Kendall, Help". It wasn't like a desperate kind of thing, it was actually really funny the way he said it, but I just said to him, "You're doing good, keep going!". Silence. Another President Kimball quote, then more silence. Meanwhile, I am going through my scriptures finding a good reference on the resurrection. He then turns to me again and says, "Kendall, HELP". I show him the scripture, I tell him to read it and bear his testimony, and he does, closes, and sits down. Best. Sunday. Ever. I admire his courage though, and it was nice to be able to help in some small way!

Eric from China has a baptismal date! He has no previous knowledge of religion, so teaching him is sometimes tricky, but he is super prepared by the Lord! we also are working to get Ron, Eze, and Dustin prepared for baptism soon, so please keep all of them in your prayers! 

I want you all to know that I know this work is true. I am loving my mission, teaching people, talking to people on the street about the gospel, and sharing the light of the gospel is such a blessing, I hope that you all know that I know this work is true, and that I am so grateful for it in my life. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Kendall

Because He Lives

Hey everyone! 

I am having a great time with my new companion Elder Dean! We are working hard and are really starting to see some great success from our endeavors, I am looking forward to what this transfer has in store! We have been teaching more than I have with my previous two companions, so it's really great to be able to get out, work hard, and just enjoy the work of the Lord! What a blessing it is for me to be a part of this. 

Just wanted to let you know mom, I am still being asked to play piano for different events, so yes, I owe it all to you and I never should have quit and I should have believed you from the beginning when I was a kid. The piano is great.

We are doing a lot more teaching in the streets since winter is letting up, and I am just super happy about that! spontaneous street lessons are seriously the best! It's really great to just greet a complete stranger and then help them to learn about the restored gospel. We had a great encounter with a chinese student this week named Erik who is SO SOLID. He has zero Christian background, but he has just been feasting on everything we talk to him about! We taught him on the street and then gave him a church tour and another lesson last week, and he came to church! We are really looking forward to things with him, and we'll keep you posted on the progress! 

With Easter being this week, I wanted to share my feelings regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our easter initiative this week is called "because He lives" and I want to share with you the blessings that have come into my life because He lives. Because of the life of Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice for me, I have experienced the relief that comes through His forgiveness, the mercy He extends when I need it most, and the love that I receive when I have no where else to turn. He has lifted me when I am down, He has inspired me to be my best self, and I know that through Him I can reach my full potential as a child of God. I am so grateful for His example and His atoning grace, and I testify to all of you that He lives! I know that He can help you overcome your darkest days, your hardest climbs, your most difficult trials, and He will help you to rise up, to stand strong, and to guide you safely home to our Father in Heaven. I love you all, I am grateful for your support and at this special time of year, I hope you take the time to remember Christ's sacrifice for you. I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Two more transfers

Hey friends and family! 

It was an overall good week for us, it was a little slow at the beginning because everyone and their dog wanted to feed Elder Schmidt before he left, and for those of you who don't understand the nature of missionary companionships, I have to go with him. Ha ha so we were with a lot of members at the beginning of the week, doing what we can to invite them to participate in the missionary work here in the YSA ward! We are having some good progress, mostly with a guy named Ron. Ron was a referral from a member in the Ward, and he actually lives out in Winkler! He travels in to the city a lot, and we have been teaching him for a few weeks now. He's great! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this was the first time we had invited him to be baptized, which is very uncharacteristic of us, but the other lessons we just felt like we should hold off from the invitation for whatever reason. But yesterday, we invited him and he said that once he gets his answer he will! So we knelt down right then and there and invited him to pray and then we just sat there in silence. After a few moments passed by, we asked him how he felt, and he said he felt really good, that he thinks he can feel it more and more! We're really excited for him, we set a date for April 18th as a goal to work towards getting his answer, so please keep him in your prayers! 

With the weather picking up, (besides the snow today...) we have just been out working hard, doing a lot more street contacting and we have talked to a lot of great students recently who are ready for the gospel! We're really excited. And, we were walking through a neighborhood, and Elder Dean really felt like he should knock on this door (we don't  usually tract because we would technically be knocking in other ward boundaries and other missionary areas), and we got let in right away! We shared a first lesson, it was really powerful, and they just seemed so prepared! There names are Katya and Todd. We're going to see them again this week and are really looking forward to teaching them more before we have to turn them over to the other elders. 

With all that in mind, I would just like to share my testimony of following the spirit. Without following the spirit, we would not have been able to help Ron experience the gospel in a way that helped prepare him for a baptismal date. Without following the spirit, we would not have met katya and todd. I just know with all my heart that God is in control, and if we will just turn our wills over to Him, and ask the greatest, all-powerful, all-knowing being in the universe what He would have us do with our lives, I know He will show us some incredible things. I am so grateful for my mission and am looking forward to doing all that can to finish strong. I love you all and I hope that you have an incredible week! 

With Love,

Elder Kendall

Ch Ch Ch Charles

Hey everyone! 

I am really excited to tell you about this week, we had a lot of exciting things happen for our companionship! 

First of all, transfer calls. I found out that I will be staying in YSA still, and with two transfers left it is likely that I will end my mission here. No promises, but that's what it's looking like. I am welcoming in Elder Dean, and he is quite the interesting story. He's from Toronto, and started his mission in Portugal, where he served for three transfers, but had to go home due to bad migraines. He got treated for about 6 months and was re-assigned to our mission, and he arrived two weeks ago and has been in a tri-panionship in a small mennonite town just outside of Winnipeg. So, he has only been a missionary for about a total of five months, and has only served in english for about two weeks, and he is coming in to be a zone leader with me! It's quite the call, but I am excited for it, I am sure that it will be a great adventure for sure! 

Kevin has been doing so well, he has a calling, passed the sacrament on sunday, and was a witness at our baptism! We are really excited about his progress and hope that he continues to do well. 

Speaking of baptism, CHARLES GOT BAPTIZED! He is just so incredible, he has so much faith and it is amazing to just see how much he loves to follow the Lord. He was so prepared to accept the restored gospel, and it has been amazing to see the spiritual growth that he has experienced. We are really excited for him moving forward. 

We also were given the privilege of attending the patriarchal blessing of amanda, another recent convert, and that was a really incredible experience as well. It was amazing to feel the strong spirit as she received her blessing, I am sure that it will have an incredible impact on her progression in the gospel.

We have some great weather coming up and I am looking forward to hitting it hard and just enduring to the end as I approach my final two transfers as a missionary! I love you all so much and I am super grateful for the support, I hope that you have an incredible week everybody! Thank you for everything.

With Love,

Elder Kendall

The melting pot

Hey friends and family! 

I am super excited to be writing you this week! Things are going really well for the YSA, we are teaching more and more each week and really putting our best foot forward to hasten the work. Also, it's 6 degrees outside today! SIX! Do you know how warm that is for us? It's fantastic, and it makes the work more productive, more people are going to be out and willing to stop and listen, so we are really looking forward to the spring time.

This upcoming week we have another baptism! His name is Charles, he's from Nigeria, and he is just the best. He has had such incredible experiences with the Book of Mormon, and getting his answer, and he is so faithful. We teach him commandments like the word of wisdom and he's just all "WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" and then he just lives it. Just starts right then and there. It is really exciting, and we're just super happy for him! We'll let you know how it goes! 

Random funny story, we were teaching our new investigator ester (also from nigeria) and as we were teaching, the spirit was really strong, and my companion asked her, "do you feel like what we have taught you has built your faith in Christ?" and she totally misunderstood him, made this totally disgusted face, and said, "NOOO WAY". Wow. If you could have seen the look on his face. We clarified and it turned out to be a good lesson, but those moments? Priceless. 

I called this the melting pot to tell you a little bit more about Winnipeg. There are so many people from so many different countries here, it's crazy. I have taught people from Nigeria, england, paraguay, uraguay, The Philippines, Australia, China, Korea, Mexico, India, Brazil, and so many others, over the course of my time here I must have contacted people from over 30 countries! It's crazy because I have truly come to learn that no matter where we are from in the world, we all have things that we need. We all have burdens that need lifted. We all have a need for the atonement in our lives. I have truly come to see how the gospel is universal on my mission, and I know that because of those experiences that God truly loves all of us, and that no matter where we are or who we are, He is actively seeking us out, and is waiting and willing to bless us if we just simply have faith in Christ. I love this gospel, and I can't wait to share it for at least a little while longer. 

I love you all, thank you for the support, I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Kendall

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Hey friends and family! 

We had a so so week this past week, lots of -40 temperatures. It. Was. freezing. we also had an exchange out to portage la prairie this week for a few days, so time spent in our area was minimal. It is really hard to have exchanges, it's great to go out and help the other elders, but our area needs work to be done! We are looking forward to a great week this week though. BUT! I do have some highlights for you.

Kevin got the priesthood this past week, and he is doing INCREDIBLE. seriously though, that guy is a champion. We are so grateful to be teaching him, he has strengthened my faith so much and it has just been really great to see him progress. 

A recent convert named amanda just took her first trip to the temple! She loved every minute of it, she told us that she didn't realize just how much peace you could feel at the temple until she experienced it for herself. I love that! It's great to hear that she is able to have that experience and to be able to take more steps to come closer to her Father in Heaven. 

We had a very powerful lesson with Charles about the word of wisdom and the importance of obeying the commandments of God. It was great to see his jaw drop as we explained that Coffee was against the word of wisdom. However, when we committed him he thought for a while and said, "I had no idea that drinking coffee was against the will of God, but I am willing to do what he asks... yes. I'll live it." WOW. I love watching the faith of our investigators as they make these changes, it's not easy for any of them, but man is it worth it! 

We had a fireside last night and I sang another duet for it. It's weird, I am not a singer by any means but apparently I am doing something right because they keep asking me to do it. Anyways, I am grateful for the experience, it helps me to overcome fear and get out of my comfort zone, I will always remember the advice from my mission president at the beginning of my mission when he told me, "there's no growth in the comfort zone, and there's no comfort in the growth zone. Go out and make yourself uncomfortable!" Ha ha good ol' President Thomas. 

Please pray for Charles, jarrett and Mckenzie, Dustin, Stephen, Matthew, Ron, Eze, and for our finding efforts! 

I want you all to know that I love you so much and that I am grateful for your support. This is a wonderful work and I am so grateful for the part that I play in it. I love being a missionary, nothing has brought me greater joy than to serve the Lord, I know that as I put Him first that everything else will fall into place. I love this gospel, and I am looking forward to another great week! I hope you all have a great week as well! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

How GREAT shall be your JOY!

Hey friends and family! 

This week was fantastic! We are able to see Kevin Cho get baptized. Kevin was an absolute miracle story, it was SOOO incredible!

So. Kevin. We had been teaching him for a few weeks and his progression was going really slow. We met him mid december and taught him for the first time at the end of December, which is when we set his baptismal date for February 7th. He wasn't ready basically all of January, but he still said he wanted to keep his date for the 7th. So, we got to the last week of January. We taught the word of wisdom, and he was really shaky about it, so we went back the next day to follow up. That day we probably taught the most spiritually powerful lesson of my entire mission. We asked if he was ready, and then we just sat there in silence... He said yes! Then his recent convert sister said, "are you sure?". More silence followed, but his response was incredible. "Yes, I know this is true." Kevin was baptized on Saturday, I was able to have the honor of baptizing him, and it was just a wonderful experience all around. We have seen so many miracles since I have been in this area, it truly is a wonderful thing to be a part of. 

I know that this gospel is true, and I testify that there is no greater joy than participating in the salvation of another soul. I am so grateful to have met Kevin, I am so grateful to be serving my mission, I love this gospel so much and am grateful to have it in my life. Jesus Christ lives, Joseph Smith restored Christ's church, the Book of Mormon is evidence of that truth, and I know that as we come unto Christ, our joy shall be full forever. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, thank you all for the love and support! I love you all! 

Elder Kendall 

The work goes on

Hey friends and family! 

It was a really great week for us! lots of ups and downs, but good things are happening in the area! I don't know how much you know about canada, but helping people progress towards baptism is quite the tough endeavour. (well, getting anybody to even listen to our message is quite the tough endeavour.) However, right now elder schmidt and I have four baptismal dates, and we should be adding two more this week! We feel truly blessed, we have put a lot of hard work into the area, and the Lord has really provided. we also were able to find two more investigators this week, and are looking forward to a couple more this coming week, so if you are praying for our finding thank you so much! 

We also got a new bishopric in the YSA ward, hopefully we can keep the momentum going with these great men and that we will be able to move the work forward! they're pretty funny, just a couple of old bald guys leading the YSA members, but they are the right men for the job! 

Also, we set a MARRIAGE DATE with two of our investigators this past week! Jarrett and Mckenzie. They are having their fair share of struggles right now, so PLEASE pray for them, that the spirit will soften the hearts of their families and that they will be able to make it to their baptismal date! 

Random thought of the week. Sometimes in Canada, people throw snowballs at you... fun times. 

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of this great work. God is so incredible, and so loving to allow us to be a part of bringing this great work to others. I have never felt so much joy in my entire life. Preaching the gospel brings joy, and I am grateful to have that joy in my life, and to be able to serve the Lord. I cannot give much but I can give my part, and as long as I rely on the Lord, I know that my part will bring miracles to the work. I love you all, I hope and pray that you are doing well, thank you all for the Love and support! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

19 months and counting

Hey friends and family! 

I am really feeling the urgency on my mission right now, I only have 5 months left! This whole mission thing really does go by fast, I think that now would be a good time to talk about some lessons that I've learned so far:

The spirit is the single most important element in this work. Period.

Complaining doesn't help. If you want things to change you have to make change happen! 

You have to work until you're tired, and then keep working. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

sometimes you shouldn't tell Filipino people to feed you something crazy, because when you do you might end up with an un-hatched dead duck  on your plate. It's squishy, and feathers don't go down easy. 

The Lord is always your best companion. rely on Him, and you will ALWAYS be successful. 

Bible bashing is like... actually I don't have an analogy for that, it's just really stupid. 

I still haven't seen one stinking polar bear up here. or an igloo. or the Northern Lights. 

Nothing is more rewarding than serving a mission. This is the Lord's university. 

Our Saviour will never let the work fail. He is our master, and He is all knowing, and all loving, and all powerful, and the work will roll forth when we put our trust in Him, seek His will, and believe on His name and in His matchless power. I promise that when we do that, no matter what our endeavours are in live, we will succeed. True success, happiness, and joy is found in living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I testify of that truth, and know that when we come unto Christ, we will not fail. 

I am so grateful for my mission. I am grateful to be serving here, to serve for the Lord, and to help others come unto Him. Dustin, Kevin, Jarrett, and Mckenzie all still have baptismal dates, but could all really use your prayers!  also, please pray for Stephen and pray that we will find new investigators this week! 

I love you all, I hope you have a wonderful week, thank you so much for the support! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Happy New Year

Hey friends and family! 

happy new year from up north! It was a great "holiday" for us, we had some great times with some member families, and have a lot of exciting things to look forward to for the new year, I am really just grateful to be a missionary for the next almost five months (wait... what?) in the mission field! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone, but I am really excited for what the rest of my time here has in store! 

We are doing really well as a companionship in terms of work, we currently have four baptismal dates coming up, which is HUGE for one companionship up here in Canada, so we are really excited about that, we feel like there is a lot of great work going on, and ask that you keep a couple people in your prayers! Dustin is getting baptised in march, he has a lot of addictions so he needs some strength to overcome that, if you could keep him in your prayers that would be great! Kevin is doing well overall, I think he feels overwhelmed because the church that he used to go to was very relaxed, and in our church you have to, well, do stuff! So he hasn't been very good at reading and as a result his desire seems to be a little stagnant. He'll come around though! The last ones are Mckenzie and Jarrett, they just need a witness that this is all true. They are ready to live it, but a personal witness from God will help them to REALLY want it! They came to church this past week, which for them was crazy because they NEVER come, so we are really seeing some progress from them and are looking forward to what the future has in store for all of them! 

Canada is cold. but seriously. it has been -44 with wind chill, and we can't go outside once it hits -40, so we are expecting some slow work coming up. Please pray that we will be able to keep the momentum going as we move forward into the cold months, and that we will continue to have people to teach! 

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of the far-reaching effects of the atonement. Lately I have been asked to give a lot of blessings to investigators, members, and other missionaries in my stewardship, and I just know that no matter what their struggles are, the gospel and take those weaknesses, and those struggles, and use them to mold us into who God wants us to become. The effects of the atonement are LIMITLESS, and I know that as we turn to Christ, we will see those miracles take place in our lives. 

I love you all, thanks so much for the support, you are all the best and I hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Kendall

Don't Stand on a basketball

hey friends and family!

So, I know that it seems like the subject makes no sense, but it will once I tell you a funny story. Elder Hirschi and I got a call one night around 10:20 from our mission president telling us that he had an assignment for us to take two of our sister missionaries to the hospital, because one of them had broken their wrist. We picked them up and took them to the hospital, and got the story from them. Sister P was having a rough night, and was crying a whole bunch, and so sister L wanted to cheer her up. And, as we all know, when we want to cheer somebody up, we try to balance on a basketball while singing songs to the sad individual. So, that's what Sister L did, and she slipped and broke her wrist. we were at the emergency center of the hospital until 1 in the morning, and we ended the night with a nice little gift from the police on our wind shield. Moral of the story, don't stand on a basketball!

This week has been good, we went on a little road trip out to portage la prairie for exchanges, which was good because that was the branch I was in when I served in Winkler, so it was good to see some familiar faces. There's this one lady that REFUSES to talk about any gospel topics with missionaries, but also happens to love missionaries and has been feeding them very regularly for the past five years. Her husband got baptized six months ago, so it is a very funny dynamic in the home. I love trips to portage!

Also, on saturday we found out that Elder Hirschi is getting emergency transferred to the second most northern part of the mission for his final transfer! He leaves in two days, two weeks before transfers actually happen, and I will have a companion for that short time before I find out who my new companion is. It's all very confusing, and kind of stressful because I am still getting used to knowing where I am in this city, but hey, it should be an adventure! 

Please pray for Jones, Cody, and Shay, and pray that we can find more people to teach! We have been having a hard time in that department lately, so please pray that the work will move forward!

I love you all, thank you so much for the support, I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Kendall

Winterpeg

Hey friends and family! 

I am so sorry for the lack of an e-mail the past... month... it has been a very busy time of year for me with a lot of meetings and performances to take care of, but since I am one of the very few piano players in the city I have had quite the workload with the holiday season! but here's a little update on the area:

YSA wards are the best. Everyone is so involved, they want to invite their friends and we have found a few investigators because of it! We had to turn over a couple of them because they are single sisters, so the sister missionaries will be doing the bulk of the teaching, but it is still going really well! Courtney and Hillary are the ones who are doing the best, and then for my companion and I our most progressing investigators are Jones and Jarrett. both of them have their fair share of struggles and things that they need to change, but we are doing all that we can to help them along the way! 

We just had a mission fireside, and it went really well! I arranged three songs for it, one was the lyrics of away in a manger sung to the tune of come thou fount, which one of the sister missionaries sang, another was hark the herald angels sing, which a recent convert played on her flute while I accompanied, and the final one was a song called stars of glory, which I did the piano arrangement for and than sang in a duet with one of the sister missionaries! It was really scary, that was the first time I ever sang I song for anything, so I was scared, but it actually went really well, so that's great! I will be doing a few more arrangements for our Christmas zone conference coming up on the ninth, which will be really great as well! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Speaking of which, all of you should know by now that the church came out with a new Christmas initiative, which involved extensive social media efforts, as well as special pass along cards for us missionaries to hand out! Our minimum effort is ten a day, and since winnipeg is FREEZING cold right now and lot of people aren't on the streets, we have been doing more tracting lately which I missed a lot! I haven't been able to do a ton of it in my previous two areas, lately we've done about an hour a day, maybe more, and it has been really great! The Christmas initiative is very well received, even when people don't want to learn more. We actually knocked on a man's door, and I noticed through his front room window that he had a nice piano, so we talked about it a bit and I asked if I could play him a song, and he invited me in, so I played him a tune! Then he and his wife did a piano vocal duet of amazing grace! Ha ha it was so great! I am just really grateful for the christmas initiative, it is making our work so much more productive, and I am really looking forward to how it will help our work this month! 

I hope you all know that I appreciate all your love and support, I invite you all to seek out an opportunity to share the gift of our savior Jesus Christ with as many people as possible this Christmas season! I love you all, I hope you have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Kendall

The Piano Bench Mission

Hey friends and family! 

Guess what this weekend was? Yup, that's right, the best weekend of my mission. 

WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS! Their names are amanda clinton and Erika Cho, they were fantastic baptisms with wonderful talks, and I got to play piano for both of them! What a wonderful experience that was, I did all the hymns and both musical numbers, and I was really happy to be able to contribute in some small way to those baptisms. We also have another date on the way on November 8th, so please pray for Kamille! 

I also got to play piano for a mission fireside, they do them every month so that was great to be a part of, I did an arrangement of come come ye saints. by the end of december I will have played at least 12 musical performances for various occasions, and Elder Hirschi thinks it's so funny, so we pretend that I have been called to the piano bench mission. 

I love serving in YSA! It's very different, there hasn't been a sunday since I've been here that we haven't learned about eternal marriage, so that's a little strange, but hey, families forever are what the gospel is all about! We joke about the fact that we can't teach families in YSA, so we're working on helping others form families. :) ha ha Gotta love missionary work!

I don't have much time, but I just want to say thank you to all of you. I love your support, it means so much to me. I hope all is well back home, or in Guatemala, or wherever else you are in the world,and I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all!

With Love,

Elder Kendall

Saying Goodbye to Winkler life

Hey friends and family!

So, as you can plainly see, I am leaving Winkler! I spent 7 1/2 months here, and they have been months filled with a lot of growth and a lot of miracles! I am so grateful for the work that I have been able to be a part of while I was here, it was hard but oh so good, this place will always be a home for me, and I am just so grateful for all that I was able to do here. I have made so many friends and touched so many lives, and many people have touched my life as well. I know I was able to make a difference, and what a difference Winkler made in my life! I am grateful for the wonderful adventure that I had here, and I am looking forward to the new adventure in the YSA ward in Winnipeg! I am going to be serving with Elder Hirschi, he is one of my good friends out here in the mission field so I am really looking forward to serving with him, I know it will be incredible!

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that we teach His true gospel and that this is His true church! What a wonderful blessing it is to have the Savior on our side. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon, I KNOW that it is the word of God, our own personal handbook of instructions on how to find peace in this life and return to live with Heavenly Father and experience eternal joy. I am grateful for my opportunity to be a missionary, this work is incredible and there is no where else I would rather be. I love you all, thank you so much for the support, I hope you all have a wonderful week! You are in my prayers!

With Love, 
Elder Kendall 

40 Friends in Heaven

Hey friends and family!

I had such an incredible week this week, we were able to see a lot of miracles. I had a wonderful lesson this week with Eli (the spelling has changed again... I am not quite sure why...) and Let, they are doing well, and we were able to have a powerful lesson on the Book of Mormon and the power that it has to change our lives. Eli seemed to really enjoy it and we should see some great progress from him, PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM! We also had a really great lesson with Trevor, he works security at the fossil center, and we had been chatting back and forth while we volunteered, but we finally got into his home this week! We are hoping to see great things out of him as well.

So. The title of my e-mail is in reference to my trip to the Regina temple this weekend. We attended with the Portage branch, we drove down with Elder and Sister Menlove, the senior couple that works with us in Winkler every sunday for church, and it was just such and incredible trip. The spirit in the temple was so strong, it is just the tiniest little temple but it was so incredible, not only did we get to attend with portage, but the Gateway ward (the first area I served in) was there as well. It was wonderful. I got to see so many people that I had been serving, and a tender mercy happened when a less-active young man that we worked with in Gateway named Alfredo attended the temple, and I was able to perform the baptisms for the names that he brought there. Wow. What an incredible experience! It was my first time doing baptisms in the temple as the baptizer, and I loved it so much. I got to do forty baptisms, and I just know that those people were in attendance and were so grateful for their ordinances to be performed.

I want you all to know that I know that this is the only true and living church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I testify that Joseph Smith did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, that the gospel was restored through him, and that the Book of Mormon is the fruit of that restoration. I have read that book cover to cover and I KNOW that it is true. I love you all and I am so grateful to be supported by such wonderful friends and family. I hope you all have a great week! 

With Love, 
Elder Kendall 

Times are Changing

August 12, 2014

Hey friends and family!

I just want to say that I am so grateful to be serving as a missionary. This is the best work ever, and I am so happy to be a part of it!

Our week was so great. We were working very hard, and not having a whole lot of success, and it was really tough. Winkler has been really tough throughout the summer, and it has been hard to get consistency out of our investigators and new contacts. We kept going though, and were just praying really hard and making sure that we were putting our trust in the Lord, and we saw miracles this weekend! We found five new investigators from friday-sunday, it was unbelievable! The people just seemed to come out of no where, one of them was even a potential that we had been trying by every so often for the past three months, and they were NEVER home. But the Lord provided a way! Things are going to pick up here, and get established, we are learning more about faith in the Lord every day, it really is the foundation of our work, and our purpose, is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His ability to work miracles.

As far as change, we just had our second service at the fossil museum, which was just as great as ever, but at the beginning of September Megan Andrew, our only english speaking member, and The Menloves, a senior missionary couple from idaho, are all leaving! So we are working hard and praying hard that we will have those families that can replace them and help build the kingdom more fully in this area. Please pray for us! I know that there will be miracles when we join together and pray in faith.

I love you all, things are going well, I love being a missionary, there is no where I would rather be! I hope you all have a great week!

With Love,
Elder Kendall

Moving On

August 5, 2014

Hey friends and family!

It was a long week in Winkler.We moved and deep cleaned all week. It We had to clean our old home so much, it was really long! I have never done such detailed cleaning in my life. And we also had to move all the supplies and everything, it took a really long time this week, all we had were two boxes and our little car to move everything in, it took so long! But I am grateful for what we had, it was just a blessing to have a car at all! I am glad that we are in a new place, and that we have exciting things to look forward to! I am really grateful for where I have lived since march, I was really blessed to be in that home, but now we are even more blessed with a new location for church! Things are progressing really well, we are getting into better contact with investigators who are finishing up a lot of extra summer work and vacations, and we are connecting with our members a lot better, I am really looking forward to the work that is in store. One particularly good thing that happened this week was another really great FHE with the Fitzgerald family, it went really well, we shared the restoration DVD and they had a lot of good questions and I think that they are capturing the spirit really well. They have their fair share of concerns to overcome, but we are going to be there to help them along every step of the way.

I love being a missionary so much! This is the most wonderful work that we could ever be a part of, and I am just so grateful that I have the privilage of contributing in some small way to the work of the Lord. I love my Savior, and I am so grateful to be serving here in Winkler. Keep everyone in your prayers, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

With Love,
Elder Kendall

I love Lindsey Sterling

July 29, 2014

Hey friends and family!

So, don't you fret, I have fallen in love with a young lady named lindsey stirling on my mission. She's actually a famous mormon! For those of you who don't know, she is a hip-hop violin player/dancer that is apparently getting to be pretty popular! So. Here's a story. We were walking to follow up on a potential one day, and we passed by this truck that said I love Lindsey Stirling on the back Windshield. (just so you know, someone in winkler claiming that they love a famous mormon isn't exactly all that common.) So, even though we are not doing a lot of door knocking, we decided to give it a knock! I mean honestly, who would pass that up? We knocked and a young man named Jamie answered the door (He's the one in love with Lindsey Stirling... Typical.).We started talking to him about just a bit of everything, and it was a rather hot day, so we asked if we could come in to "get a drink" (A.K.A teach the restored gospel). We talked for a long while, and then his mother, Nella, came home in the middle of it and started talking with us as well! She had so many good concerns, and so many great questions, and we were able to teach about the restoration of the gospel and how that can bring their family closer together, and give them increased guidance and direction in life. It was wonderful! She received it very well, or at least that was the impression we got, and we are looking forward to getting in touch with them again.

I know that miracles are real. God is a God of miracles, and He will not let His work fail! Please keep praying for us and for the area, your prayers are working! Also, please keep Elli and Lett, Brittany and Sandy, Joanne, Eva and Dillon, Jim, and Jamie and Nella in your prayers! I love you all, thank you for the support, I hope you have a wonderful week!

With Love,
Elder Kendall   

Miracle on 3rd street

July 22, 2014

Hey friends and family!

I am so glad to hear that you are all doing so well and that you are enjoying your summer vacations! It has been really crazy here, we have two extremes going on with weather. It's either really hot, or really rainy. We have had major flooding in the part of the mission that touches down into the states, and a bit in manitoba as well, it's really intense! there have been a lot of missionary flood relief projects, I've seen photos of missionaries up to their waists in the streets! Please keep the mission area in your prayers!

Winkler hasn't experienced any flooding, but we have had a lot of crazy experiences! The first is a little more negative, we got a bunch of anti-mormon literature left on our car when we were doing our e-mail last week, and that really bothered me, I think that has been the hardest part of serving here. In my previous two areas, we would get laughed at from time to time, or rejected, or people just didn't want to listen to us, but here a lot of people are just plain harsh. They will tell us how crazy they think we are, how terrible we are, they sometimes run the other direction when we walk down the street, it's been a very interesting experiences! However, as we all know, there must be opposition in all things, and despite the hard times, the work moves forward! All of our investigators are doing well, they just seem to be piled up with work and vacations and busy life lately, so it has been hard to remain consistent, but we are working hard to stay in touch and keep with them, that's one of the benefits of facebook! Also, the miracle that we had on 3rd street went something like this: A man in his truck drove by while we were walking on the street, and he pulled over and asked if we were mormons. We told him we were, and then he asked us for a card with the church address. We could hardly get another word in because right when he got the card he drove off. Strange. So on sunday, right after sacrament meeting, we got a ring at the door, and we go and answer and it's this guy! His name is gabriel, he liked church and stayed and participated in second hour, when we offered him a book of mormon while setting up a return appointment he told us he wouldn't need one, because he already has the book on his phone! We still haven't taught him, it's been less than a week since we met him, but we will be teaching him this week! I just want to bear you all my testimony that God is a God of miracles. He loves us and wants His work to succeed. When we have faith, He provides. I am so grateful to be a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I know this is the true way to follow Jesus Christ, so that we can gain the most happiness available to us in this life and return to live with our Father in Heaven. I love you all, have a great week!

With Love,
Elder Kendall

P.S. please continue to pray for Elli and Lett, Joanne, Eva, Brittany and Sandy, and Jim. They need your prayers!

         

Another Week in Winkler

July 15, 2014

Hey friends and family!

This week was just another week in Winkler! ha ha there wasn't too much new stuff this week, other than MIRACLES! We had all our members except for one who was sick at church for the first time ever, so that was really exciting, and we were able to find a new apartment to move into, which was really fortunate, because we were worried about availability. We were on the road a lot this week, spent a full day in portage and half a day in carman, and we'll be expecting the same in the upcoming week.

We have had a big focus on praying for families lately in the mission, and it has had great results for us! We met a man named Nathan, and luckily enough he doesn't have a church that he goes to, but he said he would like to find one! We have an appointment with him this week, and that should go well. If we are able to teach him, that will be the fourth solid family that we have to teach! I am so grateful for the gospel's unique message that we can be with our families forever. Please keep Elli and Lett in your prayers, that they can be prepared for baptism this transfer! Also Joanne, and Eva and Dillon, and Sandy and Brittany, and Jim. I love you all, I am so grateful for all that you do for me, I hope you have an incredible week!

With Love,
Elder Kendall

Let Freedom Ring

July 8, 2014


Hey friends and family!

Just wanted to wish you all a late happy Fourth of July! This is my final fourth in the mission field! That is so crazy to me, I really hope the time doesn't pass by too quickly. I am really loving my mission and am loving all the experiences I am having our here. 

We got our transfer calls this week and I will be staying in winkler for another six weeks with elder Johnson, and I have been called to serve as the district leader, which is really humbling, but I think it will be a good experience! 

This past week went really well, we actually struggled quite a bit at the beginning of the week, lots of appointments fell through and investigators left for Winnipeg on the weekend or were working, so we were scrambling to get work done. Thankfully, we were able to set up a family home evening with a less active woman (not really less active, her husband has kidney failure so she can rarely make the trip to church, she lives a half an hour away in a town called carman), and she invited her son and his soon to be wife (they are living together right now and have two kids, Justus and nevaeh). We had planned to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the lesson led right into the plan of salvation, and it was received very well, and they actually were quite interested, so we now have a new family to teach! I am so excited, I cannot wait to be here for another six weeks and be a part of the growth in this area. 

I love you all, and am so grateful for the support and love that I receive from each and every one of you! Thank you all, I hope you have a wonderful week!

With love,

Elder Kendall 

Canada Day

July 2, 2014

Hey friends and family!

I am sorry to be e-mailing late, canada day was yesterday and the libraries are closed on monday, so I didn't get to e-mail until today. Yesterday was my last Canada in the field! ahhhh! I am definitely not ok with having less than a year left! (ok so maybe it's 11 and 1/2 months to go, but still!). I am loving every second of my mission, and I am just so happy to be here!

This past week was tough, we met a lot of new people but couldn't secure appointments with a lot of them for some reason, it was really difficult. But we were able to talk with Elli and Let, and we think they will be preparing for the first week in August, we have to confirm that this week though. PLEASE keep them in your prayers! Also, we get transfer calls this week, and I would really like to stay, so please keep me in your prayers! But seriously. We had a really crazy experience this past week on Saturday. We were walking to all of our appointments and finding locations (we walk whenever we can, who needs a car?) and it just started POURING rain on us. I could have jumped in a swimming pool and I would have been just as wet as we were on Saturday. We were drenched head to foot, and no one was outside, and it was just really tough. So, during lunch we went to change and get the car. Our coats were drenched and we didn't have any spares, so we thought we were going to get soaked again whenever we were outside. We really needed to get out to all these appointments, and so I just told Elder Johnson that we should pray that the storm would clear (I don't want it to sound like I did anything special, I just made a suggestion). So, we prayed. When we were done praying we went outside and the storm was completely cleared! There were storm clouds surrounding Winkler, but completely clear skies above us. It was such an incredible experience, we were able to get to a lot of our appointments and have a successful day, and I am just so grateful for Heavenly Father answering our prayer. I want to testify to all of you that miracles are REAL, Heavenly Father does love us, and He wants us to succeed in life. When we get on our knees and pray for help and then get on our feet and go to work, He will bless us.

I love you all, thank you for the support, I hope you have a wonderful week!

With Love,

Elder Kendall