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