Friday, October 4, 2013

welcome home kyle.

fall has come with a vengeance! it has been storming like crazy this past week. realllllllly windy and tons of water. but, i LOVE it. my rain coat never leaves my side now and i have learned that umbrellas are for weenies! people recognize me as a true "oregonian" because i do not use one, SCORE, i am getting great rapport (thanks for that vocab word Mr. Lanious) with these people! but yeah, i am loving the fall weather and all of the leaves that are blowing into our entryway and the crispness of the air. it always has been and always will be my favorite season!
MONDAY
even though sis. stone was sick, she pushed through it so that we could go shopping. a girl can do a lot, if it means shopping! we went with one of the members in the ward, sis. johnson. she is skyler's age and is the best! she is so stinkin' funny and is just a riot. we went and i got some boots, because, like i said, it is windy and cold now! so by the end of the day, sis. stone had lost her voice completely, which is SO bad for missionary work. so we stayed in another night, but it is ok, we made the most of it and had a blast. the blast consisted mostly of me talking her head off because she couldn't say anything. hahah, we have really learned to love each other and have a lot of fun together, even when the circumstances aren't that great!

TUESDAY
tuesday we had our weekly district meeting. our district leader, has each companionship prepare a lesson for the training and practice, and then he picks a pair to teach it. then, each of us are going into the meeting already exposed to the topic, it is quite helpful. but, he keeps picking the zone leaders to teach the lessons, which cracks me up! i think he is mad at them or something, because without fail, they have taught like four times this transfer, it is so funny to me. but, they are wonderful teachers and we can always feel the spirit when they are teaching! they prepare so well together and really portray their message well. after, we practiced extending baptismal invitations and talked about why they are so important. it was a wonderful practice and applied really well to this week. baptism is such an important part of this gospel and if we truly understand why it is important, there is nothing that would keep us from it. 

today was ken day again. he is so funny and he hates rules and being told what to do, so sometimes the commandments are a bit difficult! he has a date set for his sealing, it is on november 7th! i am so happy for him, and i hope that i am still here!

we had another lesson with yahir and alondra and of course it went beautifully. those two are just the perfect investigators and so darn happy! we taught the plan of salvation and when we talked about the premortal existence and living with our Father before, yahir said, "i wish i could remember when i was with Him." holy cow that got me and has really stuck with me. Pres. Uchtdorf said in one of his talks, "though they do not remember, they too at one time yearned to return to their Father again." that is one of my favorite quotes now, and yahir illustrated it perfectly to me. he can't remember, but he wants to, and i get to help him on the path so that he can live with Him again. after the lesson their aunt that lives with them and speaks zero english, made us hot chocolate and laid out graham crackers for us in their tiny little apartment. we had so much fun just chattin' with them and enjoying each other's company. they make me so happy and we make them happy too, they are always so excited to meet with us! i love them. 

WEDNESDAY
today was our first FULL day back since sis. stone has been sick and it was exhausting! 

first, we met with bro. bruce again. after we left the lesson, we were reminiscing on our first visit there and totally cracking up! it had been so awkward and it is miraculous how much he has opened up to us and how much we love meeting with him and he loves meeting with us. he is just a crack up. he has wild, wild hair (like einstein) and electric blue eyes and he always looks like he is just going to pass out from exhaustion during our lessons.

we got to go over and help out nancy some more, by going through more of her boxes. we came across a box of old pictures, which are my favorite! i got to see her on her wedding day when she was 16 years old. she was darling. then she came across an album of her husband when he was a child. she said, "oh now isn't he darling? now you understand why i was so head over heels for him!" basically the most adorable thing ever. i hope i find someone i love enough to talk about him like that for over 60 years! that is a darn long time. 

we received a referral back on monday for someone named steven. we decided to go and contact him today! we type the address into the gps and end up at the jail. i laugh and retype it into the gps thinking i must have messed it up, nope i was right! into the jail we trotted. i had never been in a jail and had no idea that we could just walk in there and set up an appointment with someone! it kind of scared me and i was pretty nervous, but it was wicked exciting. what better time in your life to want to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ!

i wrote in my journal, "i really need a letter from one of my sisters, i miss them so bad today!"

THURSDAY
i got a letter from  my mom and addey today! answer to my prayers, literally!

this morning we went and helped ken with his lawn. we mowed and fertilized it before winter gets here. i love doing service for people, for a couple of reasons. 1// of course i love helping people and it makes me feel good. 2// i feel like a normal human being while mowing the lawn again. 3// i get to wear my pants. ken was a hoot as usual. he hates that we come and help him, well he loves it too. he is so embarrassed to have us do HIS yardwork. he is a bit of a stubborn old man!

we had another lesson with yahir today. at the end we had his mom, miriam, and alondra come in so that we could talk to them about baptism all together. alondra helped by translating into spanish for her mom. they're still kind of hesitant, just because they all want to be sure and ALL want to be ready together. it is kind of difficult because we can't teach them all together, so they are at different levels. yahir asked his mom to say the closing prayer, she said, "no only spanish." yahir said, "that's ok!" we all knelt down and miriam offered a prayer in spanish, i have no idea what she said, but the spirit was so strong! i loved seeing their family kneeling down together praying about baptism and the things we have been teaching them. i made my heart so warm. 

we invited alondra to mutual and a girl named kayla, who's mom is a less-active member. it was the best mutual ever! they did a beauty pageant, which was hilarious and they felt so welcomed and just warmed up to the girls so much! it was a perfect segway to bringing them into the ward. it could not have gone any better! like i said last week, the Lord is trusting our ward with His precious children.

FRIDAY 
today we met again with brother bruce. i mentioned last time that he always looks like he is going to fall asleep and today he DID. funniest thing ever and one of the hardest times i've had with holding in my laughter. he was a total chatterbox when we first got there and were visiting, just wanted to tell us everything that was going on. then we had an opening prayer and started into the lesson. sis. stone started to read a scripture to him and i looked up and he was actually asleep. i try not to bust up, but then sis. stone and i made eye contact - bad idea! so then i say something loud to wake him up, he looks at me and i think, "well maybe reading is a bad idea, let's just try and talk about it and get him talking again." so i start talking about the scripture in easier terms and bearing my testimony, while we are making eye contact he passes out! hahaha, i am boring!

that evening we had another lesson with alondra. we taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked a lot about why we need baptism. we also talked a ton about the holy ghost and the blessing that can be to each of us. she told us that she knows that she needs to be baptized and she will be, she just doesn't know if she wants to right now. she has had experiences with feeling the holy ghost in the past, but she said, "i just want to know, i want a sign from heavenly father that this is what he wants me to do." we talked a little more, then she went to say something and couldn't, because she had started to cry. she looked shocked and said, "i have never felt like this before, why am i crying, it feels good." by the end alondra had committed to baptism and said, "before, i was praying because you guys were asking me to, now i am going to pray because i want to feel that again." what a rewarding thing to hear! she is doing this because she knows that is what He wants her to do, not us. their family is working towards oct. 19, that is when they will all be ready together. i am so, so, SO happy to be a part of their lives, i just love them so much.

SATURDAY
today we went to the church and helped sister coy. sister coy is a less-active and her husband and children are not members. she was putting on a baby shower for her visiting teacher, sister arendes, and asked for our help in set-up and prep. it was so fun to help her out and she has opened up to us an incredible amount. she told us that her daughter has expressed a desire to be baptized and said it would be okay for us to talk to her about it! we have been trying to see where things would go with their family, and having the mother tell us that was huge! the baby shower was a blast too. and we got sent home with ALL of the leftover treats, which a lot of them sis. stone cannot eat because she is gluten free. i have a LOT to eat. 

p.s. sister arendes introduced me at the baby shower like this. "this is sis. kerr, she is serving in our ward from upstate NY. she LOVES dairy." i died laughing, hahah! this is the sister that brings me milk and cheese every week. haha, it was so funny :)

oh yeah! we also went over to alondra's sisters' bday party! miriam made sure to invite us. we showed up and they served us some really yummy, spicy soup that you top with lettuce and radishes. it was delicious. then, the side dish was pig's feet, if you wanted! hahaha, of course i tried it. alondra, having grown up around that her whole life had never tried it, which surprised me. so i begged her to try it with me and she did! i couldnt believe it. it was not that bad, but not good. it was really slimy! i am such a big girl. sis. stone wouldn't try it haha!

and of course, there was the General Relief Society meeting which was just wonderful. i cannot believe how perfect it was. jennifer came and literally every talk was written for her. if you want to get to know her better, listen to that session and you will know her! it was incredible, INCREDIBLE!

i cannot wait for general conference this weekend. it is going to be magnificent! invite people over for it. what a great introduction into the gospel, where you can really feel the spirit, but not an intimidating environment. DO IT.

SUNDAY 
it was the fifth sunday, so during the third hour of meetings, everyone met back in the chapel. our bishop and ward mission leader planned a time on missionary work, where they used the work of salvation broadcast to really get people in on the loop of how missionary work is supposed to be working in the ward. bishop asked me to be the first to speak after they showed the videos and to share something that would excite the members and help them to see of the miracles that are going on in our ward and how we need them for the work to progress. i was so stinkin' nervous! i usually don't get nervous when public speaking, but i was SO nervous. i know it's because this is something that is so important to me and i wanted it to be perfect. i don't really remember all too well what i said, but i was crying, which is a good sign, because i am always crying when i feel the spirit. several people came up after and thanked me and expressed their readiness to work! we are so excited. i pray i do not leave this area at transfers, i love it and the people we are teaching too much to leave!

challenge of the week. pray about inviting someone over for general conference in your home, just one of the sessions! pay attention after you pray and invite the first person you think of, don't ignore those promptings. heavenly father can only help us if we let Him, so follow your promptings. i expect to hear a report back from each of you (my family) and anyone else who does it! i love you ALL so much. xoxooxoxoxoxoxoooxoxoxo.

Sista Kensey Kerr

highlight of this week: just watching my sister, Whitney and her family reunited after her husband's deployment. sweetest thing i have ever seen! thank you Kyle Copeland for your service and Whitney, Pepper and Kade for your sacrifices. You are ALWAYS in my thoughts and prayers. <3

watch it here!

YouTube - Videos from this email

2 comments:

  1. oh my gosh! cutest video ever whit!

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  2. I love this and can't stop watching it!!! I am so happy you are all together again!!!

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