God's Favorite Tarantula

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! I'm probably having a better day than most of you because outside of a mission Mondays kinda suck. But as a missionary Monday is “da best” day! Last Monday we went to the mall to hang out and do some shopping and today we're planning to chill at the Stake Center. It's nice to have a fun day off to compensate for all the long and hot ones! 

This week was a pretty good one! We had amazing dinners + a spiritual thought with our members this week which I'm always grateful for! We also had amazing lessons with our friends: 

Diana-  She's married to a member named Neil and they're one of the families we play volleyball with every Thursday! We taught her about the Restoration and it went so well. She even got emotional. She is just the sweetest.

Lawrence- He is cool! He is also not currently a believer in God or Jesus Christ but is open to the idea. So far I've never really taught someone who isn't a Christian so this will be a new experience for me. It will be so cool to witness him feel God's love and find his faith!

Cintia- She has been taught by missionaries for a while! She actually had a baptismal date but ended up backing out so it's been good to be able to meet with her and find her needs! We also had a very powerful resto lesson with her and her sons. It was so cool how much she participated and how intently her boys were listening!

I also had an opportunity to go on an exchange to Mebane this week with Sister Evans! We went to this tiny town in their area called Saxapahaw (which is right out of a hallmark movie) and had a lesson with a guy named James. He told us that he hates Nephi. (What?) He thinks that Nephi is prideful and that he also had no right to slay Laban. He was pretty hung up on it but the member that came with us gave some good insights and calmed him down. We also had a lesson with Jaquan who is super cool and knows the bible very well and is interested in The Book of Mormon. We were all able to share our testimonies and insights about the scriptures we read. It was a very cool lesson. 

STORIES OF DA WEEK: Our friend Jessica who I talked about last week kinda went crazy on us. She accused us of somehow hacking her phone, locking her out of her bank account, targeting her, and ruining her life. We think she was definitely high on something though when she was texting this because it was kinda just rambling and made no sense. A day in the missionary life I guess: hacking & attacking?

We went to go knock at a house with a giant pride flag and I was so scared and got called out  for looking scared by the guy that answered the door. Then he proceeded to show us his garden. On the same street we also met this cool Hindu guy named Al. He is a retired librarian and his views on God are quite interesting. He believes that God decided to split up into millions of pieces so all creations are just a piece of God and that our ultimate goal is to reunite back together into God. He also said that because of that people have no more or less value than a tarantula. ???

Highlights: 

   –Awesome lessons! Taught a lot of Resto.

   –Service with Vivian! Her church is the one we do the food bank service with! This time however we were making food for a hot meal + sermon in Durham that her church hosts for the homeless. I got to peel the potatoes and cut the onions. Only a few tears were shed.

   –KEI IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! He is someone I taught in Creedmoor and was actually my first lesson of the mission! I'm so happy he made the choice to be baptized! Extra prayers for him these next couple weeks.

   –Got to hear some Benson this week.

   –There are so many fireflies here! It's so cool! If I were an insect I'd probably be a firefly cause they're slow but fiery which describes me pretty well too.

   –Sis Marchant is so funny I love her.

   –Haven't seen any more cockroaches!

   –I journaled out all my frustration this week 10/10 recommend.

   –Went to a delicious Peruvian chicken restaurant called Alpacka with Sis Evans!

   –Church was so awesome and restored my sanity. Also got to go to Seer's baptism which was awesome.

Lowlights: 

   –This week was hot and next week is supposed to be really hot!

Spiritual thought: 

Alma 5 is such an amazing chapter! In the NCRM it gets quoted like all the time. It's a great chapter about the gospel and our missionary purpose. I love how the chapter description states it so simply: "To gain salvation, men must repent and keep the commandments, be born again, cleanse their garments through the blood of Christ, be humble and strip themselves of pride and envy, and do the works of righteousness." And I love this verse about missionary work! 

Alma 5:49 

And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again.

This chapter is such a good one and there's so many good verses! I invite ya'll to go read it!

I am so grateful to be a part of this great work and teaching the gospel to ALL people! The gospel is simple and it's for everyone! We invite all to come unto Christ. Jesus loves you!!! 

I hope ya'll have an amazing week! To those of you in Utah please enjoy the mountains for me! I'm not jealous at all!

Peace and Love

- Sister Kendrick

Pics:

Filling the Font 

Blackberry Picking

Sister Marchant trying a blackberry, she doesn't like fruit 

Fun picking berries but sooo HOT

Sis Kendrick