Invitation to Act

Hello friends and family! Wow, what an amazing general conference
we had.  I am so excited for the announcement about missionary work.
It is a testimony to me that the work of the Lord will continue to
roll forward, and that He is ready for the next step in that work.  It
truly is a marvelous work and a wonder.  So this past week was
transfers, which are always bitter sweet.  Luckily I'm staying in the
University ward, and my new companion is named Elder Chesley.  He is
from Cedar City, Utah and is an awesome missionary.  He kind of looks
like Justin Beiber if he had spiky hair, haha.  He's really awesome
though and we're already getting along really well.  We are going to
do work this transfer.  So we had a really awesome experience this
weekend.  We had to drive up to Omaha on Friday to pick up a couple of
things for transfers.  We had a pretty busy day with appointments, so
we weren't able to head up there until the evening.  About ten minutes
after we left Lincoln, we got a call from the assistants.  They said
that there was a concert fireside going on that night that was really
important for us to go to.  The concert was by Gladys Knight and her
choir she directs called the Saints Unified Voices.  It was super
awesome.  They had it in the stake center up in Omaha, and I felt for
a night that I wasn't a Mormon, haha.  She and her choir did all this
jazzy gospel music (Carsen would have loved it) and they rocked the
house.  Although the music was fun, the testimonies that her and her
husband gave were powerful.  When I was serving in Conestoga one thing
that was a challenge was the cultural barrier between most blacks and
the Church, which is predominately white.  I believe it was a very
positive experience with the Church and the black community, and it
was one of the most spiritual meetings I've ever been to.  Gladys and
her husband both have amazing conversion stories, and I'm very
grateful I was able to go.  Other than that things are going great.
Our investigator Ashley is doing really well, and Bryanna is still on
track to be baptized on the 27th of this month.  Our ward is the best,
and I'm so grateful to be here.
       So, probably until the end of my mission, for my spiritual
thoughts I'm going to share with you how you can do missionary work.
I've realized that I've asked many of you to share with me missionary
experiences, and although they are definitely there everyday, I know
that before I was a missionary I didn't really know how to share the
gospel.  My first piece of advice would be to read Preach My Gospel.
Preach My Gospel to me is like scripture, and like the Book of Mormon,
has strengthened my faith in Christ and increased my ability to live
and share the Gospel.  Sometimes when we talk to people about the
Gospel we have a good experience explaining our beliefs and sharing
our testimony.  While these things are vital and important, they
ultimately lack in helping others live the Gospel, unless we invite
them to act.  Usually when a conversation like this happens, people go
away feeling enlightened and informed, but they don't know what to do
with the information they have been given.  There are plenty of things
we can invite people to do.  If it's a close friend we can invite them
to dinner, church activities, family home evening, firesides, and even
church if we are feeling really saucy.  Often times we meet people
only for brief moments, like on a plane for example.  It's important
in these situations to have something you can give them.  A copy of
the Book of Mormon is a great tool.  You can give it to them, invite
them to read it, mark some passages, and also invite them to pray
about it.  Another great tool that everyone should have received with
the Ensign are mormon.org cards.  Mormon.org is an amazing website
that is non-threatening and allows people to learn more about the
Church.  Even better, there is a spot when you can put a link to your
mormon.org profile on the back.  This is a great way for people you
meet to read about your testimony and the ways that you live the
Gospel in your life.  The most important thing when we talk about the
Gospel, however we share it, is we always need to invite people to
act.  I promise that as we do this, we will see those we speak to
become converted to the Gospel, and we will in turn be more converted
as well.  I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week.

Godspeed,
Elder Chandler Kendall

P.S.- A big shout out to my good friends Zach and Laura who just got
married this past Saturday!  Love you!  :)