Stump The Missionaries

Hey ya'll! Welcome back to another update on Sister Kendrick's mission adventures! This week was a crazy one but a good one! We currently have no more bed bugs since our apartment was treated on Thursday so that's a win. We also shipped Sister Kelly off to Cary to start her service mission so now we're finally to the point where we're starting to get settled in. Don't get me wrong the apartment is still a mess and half of my belongings are still quarantined in garbage bags but at least we're getting there haha. 

We were able to do lots of service this week! We helped out a Methodist church that was donating clothes to the homeless. We got to personally gather the items that the individuals needed and hand out their bags to them. It was an experience that makes you so grateful for what you have. Then we went to our member-friend Lee's house to help him out in his shop where he had us sorting nails (which was really just an excuse to talk). He told us his conversion story and how he was a drug addict once upon a time. Then he was taught by missionaries. Then got into anti information but was able to keep the faith. And now has a stronger testimony than ever. He's such a cool guy. We were also able to help out Lee's wife Vivian at Life Point Church with their food bank service by sorting the food and laying it out for the customers. Then on Saturday we had the opportunity to help some of our friends move. We helped them load stuff into the U Haul. Their whole family was there and they were smoking something strong and playing loud music so that was probably one of the strangest service opportunities I've had so far lol. It was pretty dirty + 80 degrees + very humid in their house so that was also fun. It was good to help though, they were very grateful. 

Sunday was also a crazy day of being a missionary! We gave talkimonies in church (short talk/testimony) which went really well! I'm thankful we didn't have to talk for long cause we had like no time this week to prepare haha. It was actually a really great meeting though because it was all about the atonement of Jesus Christ. It was us missionaries + all youth speakers so it was really cool to hear about the atonement from my generation's POV.

Sunday evening we got to go to the Malasky's mansion (definitely the biggest house I've ever and probably will ever visit) and have a lesson with one of their gardeners who came to church with them this week. His name is Justin! We were able to have a good discussion with him and his mom Maria about our love for and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and also a little bit about the restoration of His gospel! It was a really incredible lesson and the spirit was so strong! If I'm being honest I was feeling a bit inadequate to teach that day and was feeling disconnected from the spirit. This week was a hard one for me and I'd been feeling frustrated over it which was getting in the way of my ability to teach. But thankfully Sister Marchant spoke beautifully and brought the spirit to the meeting. Maria's love for her Savior is inspiring and Justin's willingness to learn more was incredible to witness. He was even flipping through a book of LDS art and landed on the Sacred Grove pic with Joseph Smith being visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He asked what it was so we were able to talk about it and recite the first vision! I love the Savior so much and sharing about The Book of Mormon. (We were able to give him a copy with our testimonies in it!) I was very happy to be able to do so. Even if I was feeling inadequate. (Which may be partly because I was in a huge mansion teaching educated people haha. Sometimes it's good to be humbled  though anyways). Brother Malasky also made the meeting into a game called "Stump the Missionaries" so that was quite intimidating haha but it all worked out for the best. 

Something funny that happened this week actually took place at church. After the Relief Society meeting this sweet older lady came up to us and told Sister Marchant that she has a beautiful voice and should sing in Sacrament Meeting! Then she leaned in to whisper to me that I should really consider voice therapy. Haha.  I'm already insecure about my squeaky voice so that made me feel really great lol.

Highlights: 

   –CHURCH

   –SERVICE

   –MALASKY'S MANSION

   –FINALLY SLEEPING IN A REAL BED AGAIN!!

   –BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD TEMPLE TRIP WITH DWIGHT COMING UP THIS WEEK!

   –BRUCE, JUSTIN, JESSICA, AND DIANA CAME TO CHURCH! 

Bruce- cool dude who's been taught for a while now 

Justin- Works for the Malasky's 

Jessica- Met her in our apartment complex. Super cool lady. 

Diana- The wife of a less active. She technically went to the other ward but it still counts.

Lowlights: 

   –Not enough time to get things done (so in turn got chewed out by the ZLs)

Spiritual thought:

Mosiah 26:30

Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

I love this promise that the Lord will forgive us as often as we repent! I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his atonement! Repentance is a change of heart and is something that we do because we love our Heavenly Father and are grateful for the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. Repenting often is a way that we can better yoke ourselves to them as we strive to become better disciples. I know that as we repent and call upon His name that Christ will save us from our misery and help us feel that joy and peace that only He can offer. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to share this truth with people every day!

Love ya'll! Always remember that Jesus loves you and can heal you!

-Peace and Love,

Sister Kendrick

Copy of Sister Kendrick's Talkimony

Testimony On How I Know That The Lord has Forgiven Me 

Hey Hillsborough ward! I'm one of the new missionaries in the area and I am so grateful to be able to speak to you today! My name is Sister Kendrick and I have been a missionary for 5 months now! I was just in Creedmoor and then came here and I love it so far! Thank you so much for everything that ya'll do to support us and the amazing work we do as missionaries! We appreciate you and are excited to get to know you better! 

Today I would like to bear my testimony on the atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can experience His forgiveness and healing. Part of our missionary purpose is actually to help people come unto Jesus Christ through the process of repentance. I always used to think of repentance as a scary word or something that we should dread doing because it means that we have sinned. But as I've been on my mission I've been able to realize that repentance isn't a negative thing at all, in fact it can actually ease our burdens and give us the peace that the Savior offers. 

A definition of repentance that I love is: turning away from sin and turning towards our Savior. Repentance is a change of heart and is something that we do because we love our Heavenly Father and are grateful for the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. Repenting often is a way that we can better yoke ourselves to them as we strive to become better disciples. 

In order to understand repentance we need to understand Jesus Christ and His divine mission. We need to understand that God really is our loving Heavenly Father and because He loves us He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us so we could be redeemed from sin and death. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two separate beings of flesh and bones and that they truly do love us and want us to return to live with them one day. 

I remember one experience that I had as a missionary where I was able to share this truth with someone. My companion and I were knocking doors one evening and we ended up meeting a man named William who is an army veteran who had been badly injured in combat. Now Willian could be described as a broken man. You could just tell that he had been through a lot in his life and he was carrying a burden that no man should have to carry. I remember that we asked him if we could share a scripture with him and he said no, but he would be OK if we just talked. So we did. We talked about God and Jesus Christ and William explained that he had grown up Christian but didn't believe Jesus to truly be the son of God, just that he was a good prophet. After a little while in the conversation I felt prompted to share a scripture with him so I did. I shared Alma 36:18-20 which tells the story of when Alma the younger was suffering from the guilt of his sins and called upon his Savior. It says:

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

My dear brothers and sisters, I know that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God. And I know that as we repent and call upon His name that Christ will save us from our misery and help us feel that joy and peace that only He can offer. I am so grateful for the atonement and how it has blessed my life. I am so grateful for the knowledge that each time I repent that I can be forgiven of my sins. I am also so grateful for the opportunity to share this knowledge with others and be a witness of Jesus Christ's infinite Atonement working in the lives of others. 

I invite ya'll to think about how repentance and the atonement have blessed your life, and how you can share this good news with the people you love! 

I promise that as you do so your spirit will be nourished and you'll be able to feel the power of the atonement in your life stronger than ever. I say this in the name of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Pics

Service at Life Point Church

Sometimes you gotta have an Energy drink 

Video calls

Frozen Video Calls - so frustrating