Prayer

(Random picture but he sure looks happy!!)

 Hello friends and family from the beautiful Lincoln Nebraska.  I hope all is going well wherever you are in the world, and I hope that you continually find joy in life because of the Gospel despite trials and hardships.  Well on Saturday Samone was baptized!!! I was really amazing.  She showed up that morning and was very bubbly and excited.  She said she stayed up until four the night before with her friend making a dress, and all she could talk about was how excited she was to be baptized.  The service was great.  Two of her friends from the ROTC program, including her friend who introduced her to the Gospel, gave great talks.  After that I had the privilege to be the one to baptize her.  There was much support there at the baptism, and luckily we were able to do it in one take, haha.   She came up very happy and smiling, and bore a great testimony after.  She talked about how her whole life she has been searching for a church that would bring her closer to God and Christ, and how through diligent prayer and scripture study she was able to learn for herself that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in fact Christ's Church, that the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was indeed a true prophet of God.  The next day on Sunday Elder Chesley confirmed her a member of the Church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost.  He gave a great blessing, and she was very happy and enthusiastic afterwards, despite her lack of sleep.  One of the biggest things I've learned from Samone is that consistent prayer and reading of the scriptures truly does have the power to bring us to Christ, to follow His Gospel, and to have the courage to keep the commandments.  Every time a concern came up, or she had trouble accepting something we taught, she prayed and read her scriptures, and I know that through that Heavenly Father guided her through the Holy Ghost to find truth in her life.  What a wonderful thing to be a missionary and to see the amazing miracles that God has for His children who sincerely seek Him out.  

     So my spiritual thought of the week is about prayer.  Throughout my mission I have learned many things about prayer, and I day by day learn more about it's importance in our lives.  One thing that I've really learned is that we cannot truly help our brothers and sisters unless we first pray and seek guidance for them.   Alma says in Alma 29:4: "I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction."  What this means is that God grants unto us, through prayers, according to our desires.  If we have desires to do good, and pray with real intent, meaning we are willing to act on Spiritual promptings for things that we need to do, then God will grant unto us according to our desire.  If we have desires to bring people to Christ, the Holy Ghost will guide us to those that are prepared, and all we have to do is open our mouths to them.  So, if we truly want to have missionary experiences in our lives, we need to pray for them, listen to the Spirit, and then courageously invite all around us to come unto Christ by living the Restored Gospel.  I promise as we do such we will find much happiness in our lives, and those around us will be drawn nearer and nearer to God.  I love you all so much, and hope you have an amazing week.  

Godspeed, 

Elder Chandler Kendall 

   

Repentance

 (Chandler going to serve the lord... he's doing great!)

Hello friends and family once again from Lincoln, Nebraska.  I hope you all had an amazing Christmas break, and are looking forward to a wonderful 2013.  I'm sure if we all live the Gospel that it will be the best year of our lives.  Not that we won't have challenges, but we will be happy and be able to have the Spirit with us.  So we've had some pretty amazing experiences over the past week or so, so many that I couldn't even begin to tell them all to you.  But one really amazing experience that we had was last week at the Winter Quarters Trail Center with our investigator Samone.  So Samone has been doing really amazing.  She goes to school here in Lincoln, but she is from Omaha.  One thing that we've struggled with Samone is helping her be consistent about coming to church and reading and praying.  Lately we have been able to help her remember everyday to read and pray, and to attend church, even when she is up in Omaha.  We have been really impressed by how well she has done all of these things, and it has increased her testimony a ton.  When we were first teaching her, she was very reluctant to be baptized, but we had an amazing experience at the trail center.  We watched a movie about Joseph Smith which was really amazing for her to see, it answered a lot of her questions.  After that we went and took a tour of the place.  There is a glass room upstairs where you can look out and see the pioneer graves and also the temple.  As she walked in she immediately began to cry and to talk about how grateful she is for the Church and for the Gospel, and how she cannot wait to be baptized.  It was amazing.  Well, she is going  to be baptized this weekend, and I cannot wait to see it.  
      So spiritual missionary thought of the week. One thing I've the mission has been focusing on lately and I've been pondering and studying about it repentance.  One thing I've noticed as I've studied those who have sincerely repented is that they always seek to share the Gospel with those around them.  Whether it was Peter or Paul or The Alma's, or Zoram or the sons of Mosiah, or anyone in the scriptures, sincere repentance causes us to change our view about ourselves and the world, and to see how much those around us truly need the Gospel.  I believe that if we truly repent, we cannot not help people, whether it's sharing with them the Gospel, lifting their burdens, forgiving those who have offended us, relieving the poor and the sick, or seeking further to relieve the pain of those who are around us.  I know that as we truly and sincerely repent and seek to do these things we can gain a full remission of sins, have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, become more like Christ, and be prepared to live with Him, our Heavenly Father, and our families eternally in the celestial kingdom.  I am grateful to all of you and all you have done for me, and hope you have a most amazing week.  

Godspeed,
Elder Chandler Kendall

Recognizing Answers Increases Faith

Merry Christmas friends and family from 

the not yet white Lincoln, Nebraska.  

(Chandler taking a nap in his hammock)

I hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season and finding many ways to serve the people around you.  Christmas is such a great time of the year where we have many opportunities to learn how to lift each others' burdens and show our appreciation for the many wonderful blessings we receive from our Father in Heaven, especially the great gift of His Son and our Savior.  Things this past week were really great.  The Lord blessed us with the opportunity to teach many of our investigators before they left for the break.  Simone is doing really great.  Although she is back up in Omaha where her family lives for the next couple of weeks, she has committed to read and pray everyday, as well as attend the singles ward up there.  She has had to make some hard decisions while learning about the Gospel, and I am very impressed with how much she's been able to rely on the Lord for strength to keep the commandments, even when it is hard.  She has taught me that even if nobody will support us in doing what is right, Christ will always be there to lift us higher and to be our friend.  We also were able to meet many people on campus who told us they would love to meet with us after the break is over.  I am very excited for all the wonderful miracles that will happen as the Lord continues to prepare people to learn about the Gospel, and as we have the opportunity to help them understand and live Gospel principles.          So my Spiritual thought this week is about  how recognizing answers to prayers increases our faith in God and Christ.  Lately, I've seen the Lord answer my prayers in ways I never expected.  One thing that has been amazing is that the Holy Ghost has manifest to me when these times have occurred.  For instance, my companion has a hard time doing personal study and focusing on the scriptures.  I've been praying really hard for him to be able to focus and enjoy the words in the scriptures.  Last week we gave a training to our zone, and he gave his on personal study.  While not fully realizing it at first, I realized as I listened that this was an answer to my prayers.  It was one of the best trainings I've ever heard, and since then he has been telling me everyday of all the great things that he is learning in his personal study.  When I recognized this, it increased my faith that the Lord does answer prayers, and in His own time, and in His own way.  I now recognize many things that are answers to prayers in my life.  I know that as we pray for the Spirit to reveal to us answers in our lives, our eyes will be opened to see that God is intricately involved in the events that happen day to day.  I'm grateful for all the prayers He has answered in my life, and I know He will answer yours as well.  Have a great week, and a very Merry Christmas. Godspeed,
Elder Chandler Kendall