And He's Outta There...Out of the Office, I Mean

Not a dull moment exists in the mission. The Lord doesn't like stagnant progress. :)

Long story short, I am getting an area change!! We had two elders go home this last week (one early and one finishing his misison after having extended it to halfway into the change), and that turned everything on its head. On top of that Elder Demars is finally coming back, and President isn't still too certain about the progress his knee has made (he was hit by a car and had surgery a couple months ago).

As such, they desperately need another Elder, and President asked me to go fill this new position. It will work out really well. Elder Demars will come into the offices to have a little more recuperation time and I will be back in the field full time!

My new area is called Haciendas, and is back in Toluca. It is actually about half an hour away from Universidad, so if we have a spare P Day I am going to go back and visit all of my converts. ...

I must admit that this last week has been a little tough.

Speaking of converts, for example. Do you remember Jairo, one of my converts back out there in Toluca? The 22 year old that was super ready for baptism and started struggling a little while afterwards? I just got the news yesterday that he has developed cancer. It sounds pretty... Serious. He was my first baptism that I taught from start to finish, and saw the full arc of his pre-baptism progression. His family already has so many difficult things going against them. My heart is broken in half for them, especially Italia (his mom, another convert of mine). She is active and fighting so hard to stay strong. They know very personally what it means to be in the Refiner's Fire.

I really have no idea what is happening with me over the next little while. Whether President is going to have me work in Sauces for a while, if he is going to have me come back to the offices, or if he has something completely different planned for me. I trust in what he has in store for me, because I know that he personally seeks revelation from the Lord on each decision he makes. I know that I will go where the Lord wants me to go. And I will go willingly and throw my heart into it. This will be a good chance for growth. ...

I've missed the missionary growing pains. :):)

Love you all. Hope that you have a good week, and feel the love that your Heavenly Father has for you. I know that He loves His children.

Elder Kennington

Preguntas Bien Rapidito
Q:  What does your 100 pesos for food a week cover?
A:  Ramen. I bought some oatmeal. Milk. cereal. The like. :):)

Q:  Where did President Whitehead and Sister Whitehead learn Spanish?
A:  President Whitehead served a mission in Uruguay, and Hermana Whitehead (I think) learned it all here, through lots of study and practice and the gift of tongues. :)

Q:  Let me rephrase my European Spanish vs. indigenous heritage question. I was wondering if you can tell in physical appearance those who come from a European ancestry compared to those whose ancestors are more indigenous?
A:  Oh. Not really, no. Those roots were really far back, so they are a little tricky to pick out. Though there is the occasional random white person that is a native that we run into. :)

Q:  What is the percentage of American missionaries in your mission? Is the mission about evenly divided between native Spanish speakers and gringos?
A:  We have about 60-70% Americans and the remainder are Latinos. The Latinos were the ones that had more time in the mission when I got here, and now they have all left. The majority of the Latinos that we have in the mission have 8 months or less.

Q:  How long does it take to get to the temple from where you are?
A:  It is about 35 minutes from the offices. Though from where I am going today, it is a good couple hours (dun dun DUN cat's out of the bag!).