. I got to talk to THE BEST FAMILY ON EARTH, that I get to live with for eternity!
. I got to serve breakfast at a homeless shelter.
. I had my first selfless Christmas and really got to think about others and their needs rather than my own! And the reason we celebrate Christmas!
I, of course, was missing home, but am so happy with the wonderful, sacred holiday that it was this year!
THE MOST INCREDIBLE MIRACLE EVER HAPPENED THIS WEEK and his name is John. Everything about this story is miraculous, so buckle up!
The woman we live with, Sister Weitz has a niece who lives in Georgia. This sweet little niece is 8 and wanted to baptized in the Hazeldale ward since all of her relatives live here. So, Sister Weitz arranges this all and invites us to come since she will be inviting some potential investigators to it! Oh ya, and it starts at 7 pm. Halfway through the service, during the talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost, we hear 3 loud knocks on the door of the room, we see the door pull slowly open and watch as this unknown man walks in, sits down and totally becomes enveloped in the talk. This man is listening so intently throughout the rest of the baptism, we kind of shrug it off and think, "one of the members must have invited him," and make a mental note to go meet him once this is over. The service ends, we start picking up coloring books and cheerio's that the kids next to us spilled all over, we look up and HE IS GONE. Oh no, we lost our chance! Sister Lyons and I start speed walking, towards the door, then start running down the hall, then realize we are missing our third, Sister Larsen, put on the brakes and sprint back to find her so that we can go find this guy! We get down to the end of the hall and run into Bishop. He starts talking to us about church and the meeting that had gone on earlier, and all I am thinking about is, "where the heck did that guy go?!" As we are half-listening to bishop, we hear 2 people coming down the hall! It's him! Being escorted by a member saying, "Here they are, these are the people you will want to talk to!" This is John. We sit down on the couches with him and our bishop and begin to chat. Turns out, he had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend and angrily got into his car and started to drive around, just thinking. The thought then came to him that he wanted to look for a church, granted, it is now close to 8pm! He saw our church building, which is 1// set back off the road, 2// has little lighting, 3// no cars in the parking lot on the side he came in on, but decides to pull in and try going in! The door on that side of the building was unlocked for some strange reason, so he let himself in. He finds his way through the maze of the dark church building to the clear other side where the baptism is going on. He knocks, comes in, watches the confirmation and then starts asking around where he can learn more about what we believe!
Who goes driving around at 8 o'clock at night looking for a church! How often does an 8 year old girl from Georgia get baptized on a Sunday night, that late in the day, so that the church would actually be open?
We chatted with him and the bishop for a half an hour and taught him about the Book of Mormon and his loving Heavenly Father. It was truly, the most incredible experience thus far! In his own words, he said, "I have always been taken care of physically, mentally, emotionally. But, I know that I am missing something spiritually and I need something." In typical Kensey-style, my eyes filled up with tears, because I can only imagine what it would feel like to feel that something that huge was missing from your life! Sister Larsen placed a Book of Mormon into his hands and I was overwhelmed by the spirit in that room, and my heart about jumped from my chest. My heart was racing and when I saw him hold that book; I saw him receiving answers to his questions, I saw him changing, I saw him finding happiness, I saw him finding and knowing who he was, I saw his family sitting in church, I saw him as God saw him. I wish I could feel that way forever and ever and ever. He admitted to feeling the spirit too! As he went to leave, he said, "My girlfriend is never going to believe this!" I could hardly believe it and I was there. I woke up the next morning and wondered if it really had happened! I am so excited for what the future holds for John.
Super quick funny story!
Christmas eve we enjoyed breakfast with a wicked fun, young family in the Hazeldale ward! Their daughters are 14 and 12. We are up to the counter dishing our plates and S. Lyons did some funny quote from A Cinderella Story. We both then start quoting it and the girls are looking at us like we are nuts. Girls aren't ever supposed to look at you like you are nuts while quoting that movie, because EVERY girl LOVES that movie. We begin throwing more quotes out there for them to bite onto, but nothing. So then we sadly begin to explain ourselves, which always kills a funny moment. They are still staring at us with blank expressions. THESE KIDS HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT MOVIE AND DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO HILARY DUFF IS. I was truly flabbergasted. Now I understand how it feels when my parents would start singing a song, expecting us all to know it, tell us the artist thinking it would help and then saying, "You don't know who that is?!", looking completely heartbroken. Been there. Done that now. And it was devastating. Good gravy, I'm only 20 that shouldn't be happening! Hilary Duff will always live on in my home though!
I hope you had a splendid Christmas! Write and tell me about it, I would love that! Things are going so well here. That miracle story was just a taste of the good things going on here, I wish I could write you about all the miracles that happened this week, but my legs are asleep and I can't sit here much longer! I love my mission so much and am having the most wonderful, spiritual, happy time ever. I feel so blessed to be given this time in my life. My testimony has grown so much and I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost that God has given me, so that my testimony can keep on growing! Great news: that gift is available to us all! Ask the missionaries about it! Read your scriptures and say your prayers, I promise it makes a difference. God really does want to talk to you! It may seem that we have to put a lot of effort into getting answers, but when you think about it, it truly is so that we value those answers! Don't feel discouraged, seek and you will find.
I love you. x's and o's.
Sister Kerr
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