Elder Kendall -World Wide Mission

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! Hope it you all had a good time ushering in a brand new year, possibly the last one before the earth is destroyed. Haha. We had a fun time bringing it in as we were asleep in our beds. Well I'll be honest, this last week was tough, like words cannot describe how slow this past week was. We were able to have the wedding of one of our investigators at the chapel on Thursday. Her name is Tina Cribbs, actually now it's Tina Moore, and she is set to be baptized on the 21st of this month. It was so awesome to see them get married and make that commitment to one another. It was a really simple wedding. She just came in a nice shirt and jeans and there was a real simple cake. Nothing fancy at all, but the most important part was that they were willing to get married so that they could keep the commandments. Other than that we just worked our butts off. We had fun getting rejected at doors and trying to contact potientals who would just rather not be home when they said they would. Haha, I'm just venting. Obviously missionary work is hard and more so during holidays. It is easy to get discouraged, and I certainly am getting to that point. But Elder Gonzales has such a great attitude and he is helping me stay positive. I just have to keep telling myself that as long as I do my best the Lord is pleased, even if I'm not seeing too many outward results of my work. But I'm happy for it to be a new year. 2011 was certaintly the craziest year of my life. Even though 2012 will probably be the only year in my life I have to experience without seeing my friends and family, I know that it will be a good one and I'll grow a lot because of it.

So sorry if this email is a bit of a downer. Being a missionary is actually really great and I love it. But, as with all great things, there are times that are trying and hard. Which brings me to the Spiritual thought of the week. So I think sometimes in life we can get really discouraged because, even though we are trying our hardest, we are not seeing outward results from our work. This can happen with parents and their children, people and their friends, students and their schoolwork, our jobs, you name it. Sometimes when we decide we are going to try our hardest and put the most effort into doing something the Lord decides to try us and see if we really are committed to doing what we are going to do. He knows that when facing opposition we will grow and develope the most. And when success does come we will appreciate it that much more. That's why it is important to bear everything with patience. The Lord promises that as long as we are trying our best to endure to the end things will eventually be made right and we will be blessed beyond our wildest dreams. So as we are all trying to make New Year's resolutions let us strive to do our best and know that things will not be perfect. As we continually press forward with faith in Christ things will work out and we will accomplish our goals. I love you all so much and hope 2012 can be the best year of your life.

Godspeed,
Elder Chandler Kendall