Ups and Downs

Hiya! :D 

This last week was full of ups and downs. 

We had the two confirmations of the daughters of Hortencia, one of the women that just needs to get married so she can get baptized. She is very excited to have her three daughters now members of the church, and for the Spirit that they now feel inside their home. All four of them are very excited; actually, they talked with us last week saying that they had decided to do a fast so that the father's heart would be softened and that he would listen to us and get married with Hortencia. We joined in with them, and it was one of my favorite fasts of my entire mission. Fasting together with recent converts is something else. 

We are kind of struggling with another woman who got baptized about a month back. Right after she got baptized she lost her job, and she blamed it on the church and on God. It was extremely disheartening to see someone who was so ready and so excited to follow Jesus Christ turn right around and then attack the very thing that she accepted. It kind of reminded me of situations when someone receives a heart transplant to save their life, only to have their body reject the new organ. We are working hard to try and bring her back. 

Our work with the ward is doing really well. The bishop created a ward missionary family plan that we are giving to each member of the ward with their families, so as to get this wonderful ward even more involved. Elder Fjerstad and I have been developing a series of little messages and lessons with the goal of helping them complete with this plan by making them more spiritually autosufficient. 

Elder Fjerstad and I are doing great! We just found a family of four a couple days ago that came to church yesterday for the first time, and they loved it! We are so excited for them, and will be putting a goal for baptism with them in our appointment tomorrow night (we didn't have a lot of time to really get into baptism when we first found them). They are really excited to start coming, saying that they learned more from one day in our church than a lifetime in the Catholic. If at all possible, I would love to stay with Elder Fjerstad one more change to make sure they get baptized next month. 

That about wraps it up on this end. I love you all so very much! Thank you for everything that you do! 
Love, 
Elder Kennington 

Preguntas Bien Rapidito  
Q:  What do you enjoy most about being district leader? 
A:  I love doing interviews. They are incredible spiritual, and it is such a rich environment to be able to help some resolve doubts and realize that they are indeed ready for baptism. 

Q:  Does Giselle’s dad seem any more inclined to marry her mother? What do you think is holding him back? If they get married can Giselle’s mom get baptized? 
A:  As soon as they get married, Giselle's mom is going to get wet. :) SHe is awesome. Her family and us just did a fast so that his heart could be softened, because as of right now it doesn't seem like anything for him has changed. I think what is holding him back is tradition (he is Catholic), fear (he still has never come to church), and a little bit of pride (he always has to be in the right. 

Q:  Do you take public transportation much in this area? What is it like? 
A:  Haha... They are called camiones. Imagine big old rickety buses racing each other down the freeway. Mexico is fun. :) 

Q:  Have you been out to the volcano yet? Was it amazing? 
A:  That, hopefully, is next week. I can hardly wait. I have heard that it is gorgeous, and I will be taking lots of photos. 

Q:  Does the ward do any kind of a party to celebrate Dia de los Muertos? 
A:  Still haven't heard anything on that front. I am hoping so... :) 

Q:  Has Hurricane Patricia done anything where you are? 
A:  Not really. We escaped everything. We were very far away from where all the action was.