Ward Building

Boo.

This last week was awesome! And tough at the same time.

Juan, the guy that had a vision of the chapel, just got baptized on Sunday. He is an incredible convert. As of Sunday he has the official assignment of taking care of the door during Sacrament Meeting and welcoming everyone in. ... He got it because he asked for a calling in Priesthood (still before he was baptized). He is incredible! It has been a privilege to be able to work with him. I have learned much about what it means to be a Christlike man from him. The four things that I have grown to respect in a man is humility, love, selflessness, and bravery. And Juan has all four of these qualities in great measure. He has inspirired me to try and figure out what I can do better so as to have these same qualities.

The ward is struggling. These last couple of Sundays the number of people coming to church has dropped drastically. We are hoping that it is thanks to the holidays and the new church schedule (we now start Sacrament Meeting at 8:30). So Elder Zúñiga and I have pulled out the ward list and started working colony by colony, visiting all of the families that are registered there. There are roughly 600 members here in this ward, and last Sunday only 69 came. We really build the ward working with less actives, baptizing part families and reactivating inactive recent converts. There is much to do.

Elder Zúñiga is doing well. He has been battling this awful cough for the last week and a half (I think it is thanks to the cold and the altitude; out there in Chiapas it's hot. Always.) He is growing a lot. I see a lot of leadership potential in him. He has a great way with people.

The area is doing well. We still have a couple of investigators that are progressing, and at least one more that will get baptized this change for sure. She is a young girl that is part of a less active family that we are working on activating right now. She wants to get baptized on the 17th this month, and I think we could work with that... :)

Love you all!
Love,
Elder Kennington

Preguntas Bien Rapidito
Q:  Was New Year’s Day as scary this year as last year?
A:  Nope! Not at all! :D This time it was really really calm. We didn't even see any dead guys.... :/ Not that I would complain about that. :)

Q:  Did you get to do any New Year celebrating?
A:  Yep! We and all the other missionaries in the zone got together in our chapel and played volleyball and had a nice dinner of some diving tacos al pastor. :):) We have a lot of very very very competitive missionaries in the zone who don't like to lose volleyball games... :) Haha.

Q:  Do the little pueblos you serve in have names?
A:  Yep! There are five where we spend most of our time. San Bartolo, San Felipe Tlalmimilolpan, San Juan Tilapa, and Caputitlan. :)

Q:  What is the most beautiful part of your area?
A:  Any part of the pueblos out of the city. When it hits about 6:00 the sun touches the horizon and starts bathing everything in the breath takingly gorgeous gold light. I love it so much... Every day it is a huge struggle to not stop and take an hour's worth of photos... :) Haha. I think I got those genes from you mamí. :)

Juan's baptism

An awesome family that gave us food yesterday, instantly winning our undying loyalty. :) :) Jaja. (So now he is laughing in Spanish?)