Preguntas Mas Rapido

Quick questions from March 21, 2016

1.  Introduce us to your new companion:

Elder Heriberto Lara:  He is from Juchitan, Oaxaca. He is 23 years old. His favorite activity before the mission was talk on the phone and surf Facebook. His favorite food is called tlayudas (like tacos/quesadillas on steroids). He has a couple years as a member, and has a few brothers and sisters that are members. He comes from a big family. Like 11 siblings. O.o He is right in the middle. Yup!

2. Any possibility he would know Jared Rasmussen? The Oaxaca mission was where he served. Hmm... It is possible. Ask him if he ever met Heriberto Lara.

3. How many missionaries are in your district now? What areas do they serve? 

We currently only have our area and the area of the Sisters, which is Atlatlahuca. They just took the Elders out of Atla, so it is just us two. :) Somos cuatro.

4. Do you want me to go ahead and register you for classes for fall semester? Any requests?

.... Yeah that'd be great. ... Is that really so close?? Question that I really want answered before I start throwing out ideas. What options are there???

5. How did you resolve the pigeons dropping unpleasantness on your drying laundry? 

Umm.... Elder Costello and I might have made a habit of sneaking up on top of our apartment building with broom handles to chase away and beat up all the pidgeons that roosted there..... They all migrated to the neighboring apartment buildings.... :) There are just a couple now that roost in a window on the other side of the building. Missionaries by day, pidgeon terrorizers by night... :)

A Rough Patch

Letter originally sent March 28, 2016

You may notice a discrepancy in the letter date and the actual posting date.  That would be thanks to Elder Kennington's mom getting a job at BYU and the blog taking a backseat.  Thank goodness for repentance, however, as we catch you up on our now-returned missionary's Mexican adventures.  Stay tuned!

These last two weeks have turned out to be pretty rough. We have really struggled with finding people and bringing them to church. Though we were able to get into a lot of houses for the first time, coming back again and getting these investigators progressing has proven to be very hard.

The Holy Week here destroyed a lot of the work that we were doing as well. Even in the ward... Less than half of the normal active families came to church last Sunday, so you can imagine what happened with the investigators... :)

I have been thinking and praying and fasting a lot to try and figure out what is going on and what we need to fix about how we are working. I am doing my best to work hard, love the people, and to be 100% obedient, but if you aren't working right there is no way that baptizing every week will be made possible. I have faith that the Lord puts prepared people in my path so I can help them to make covenants with Him. I have seen it time and time again in my mission.

I feel like what we lack is better work with members. We still don't have a ward mission leader, nor any active ward missionaries, and I believe that our work with the ward is suffering because of it. This week we are going to be focusing and giving seguimiento to the calling of a new ward mission leader and hopefully getting some new ward missionaries. What Elder Fjerstad and I did in Haciendas really worked, where the bishop called a bunch of recent converts as ward missionaries and then we had weekly capacitations with them. The members here in the ward all have the desire to share the gospel. The vast majority of the members of the church do. All we need to do is help them realize this desire.

Elder Lara and I are doing ok. We struggle a little in our companionship unity still. While we never argue or fight we don't exactly get along either. :) We will simply be practicing lots of respect, charity, and understanding/communication over the course of the next little while.

I think that about wraps it up for this last week. We are working hard and doing our best, though currently we don't have fruits to show for it. Hoping and praying that bettering our work with the ward will bring us the baptisms that we are looking for.

Love,
Elder Kennington

Moto-Taxis, Pink Trousers, and a Baptism

WOOOOO!

This last week was incredible! It was a week full of miracles.

First off, we were finally able to track down one of our investigators that was going to get baptized. She was really excited for her baptism and to be in the church, but the day before her baptism her work took her all the way out there do D.F., and since then we haven't managed to track her down. Then, Friday in the night, we had the distinct impression to pass by her house. There we found her, and she accepted a baptismal date for Sunday. In her baptism yesterday everyone felt the Spirit very strongly. Myrna has suffered a lot to be able to get to the point where being baptized is something that she wants to do, but finally getting there made it all worth it. She is very happy.

Secondly, we found another miracle on Wednesday. We had the appointment to go eat lunch with a member, but the member called us last minute and canceled the food. We were hungry, tired, and looking for something to eat, and then felt the impression to go with a certain recent convert that lives close to our house. When we got there we found the sister with one of her friends. Her friend is named Julieta, and is a member of the church. As we were talking with Julieta we discovered that she lives in our area. And that she hasn't been to church in 22-25 years. She just got divorced from her ex-missionary husband to whom she was sealed. As we were talking with her, she mentioned that she had a 13 year old son that wasn't a member. We met him, starting teaching them in her house, and the son, Ian, is going to be getting baptized this Sunday! They went to General Conference on Saturday and yesterday, and also went to Myrna's baptism. Woo!

And, on top of all that, I was finally able to work a lot out with my relationship with my companion. During the whole conference I felt like what I needed to do was try harder to demonstrate charity and tell him that I love him. After the conference we still weren't getting along, so when we got to the house I sat us down and we began to talk openly about what was going on. During the talk I felt inspired to tell him how much I want to be really good friends and how much I want to be able to help enjoy his mission as much as possible. And Elder Lara opened up. There was a lot that he was struggling with that I had no idea, simply because he didn't ever say anything. I am so grateful for the Spirit that we felt. After much consolation we went back to work, but able to work much better together. We are doing great now. :)

In the conference I learned a lot. My favorite talks were Pres. Nelson's talk in the Priesthood Session on Priesthood Power. I really want to increase my priesthood power and understanding. That will be one of the focuses of my personal studies this week. :) I also loved Elder Holland's talk yesterday. The General Conferences have always been sacred to me, and I couldn't have said it better than him. When we have celestial moments in our lives, when the hand of heaven clasps my hand here on earth in perfect fellowship, it is so hard to always realize that those moments come to an end. Just like the mission does. I will make the most of every moment that I have left.

And a pidgeon pooped on my only long-sleeved shirt as I walked under a tree. ... I guess that it "is precise that there must needs be an opposition in all things..." Haha. The pidgeons here are evil. I will condemn them all in the Final Judgment.

Love all of you to bits! And if you see a pidgeon shake your fist at it angrily for me. :)

Love,
Elder Kennington

Preguntas Bien Rapidito
Q:  Did you get to watch General Conference this weekend or will you have to wait for it?
A:  We got to watch it! I loved it!! I never expected a General Authority, let alone Elder Holland, share a meme in General Conference... XD

Q:  What was the biggest blessing from this past week?
A:  ... There were three! The miracle of finding Myrna and being able to help her get baptized was enourmous. It was also wonderful to be able to start reactivating and baptizing a wonderful mother and son. And a gigantic blessing to finally have my companions heart opened and softened so I know how to help him and help him to become the best missionary he can be. :) It was also a huge blessing that we recieved our monthly deposit. I was feeling rather poor. :)

Q:  WHAT DID YOU DO ABOUT YOUR TROUSERS????? Do you need $$ for new pants?
A:  Haha, I have them dry hanging up in my closet, pink as ever. :) Haha. I think the trousers that I have will last me out through these last 3 months, don't worry about it! :) I'm ok on that front!

Here is the story of the trousers from a week ago:
sooooooooooooooooooooooooo..... 

 I accidentally got chlorine on one of my favorite pair of pants, which completely discolored them. So I bought some dyes to try and put them back to their original color. I first had to take all the color out, and then re-dye them. First off, the dye reeked like heck. Think back to Harry Potter 1 when Petunia is dye-ing (no idea how to spell that anymore) Harry's new "school uniform." It honest to goodness smells like rotten eggs. Bleh.  

#1- After the complete discoloration  
#2- After trying to dye them back to their original gray. I swear to you that the dye was NOT pink. I even checked the package. But somehow they just finished pink. ... Harrumphf.

One of the many forms of transport here in México is by moto-taxi. You know how they have those attatchments for bicicles so that fathers can take their kids bycicling with them without making them tired. Just take a few pipes and sauder them together, put a tarp over it all and then fasten the whole lot to the back of a dirtbike and you have a moto-taxi. This is a really poor foto from inside of one. Through the little plastic window you can vaguely see the driver, and then the little door. They´re fun. :)

 Elder Lara is tired. :)

The baptism of Myrna 

New Companion But Same District and Snails Named Gary

This last week has been crazy!

We got our changes.

Aaaaaaaaaand

aaaand

aaaand

aaaaand

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

I stayed. And Elder Costello went to Metepec (the area right next door :) Haha). And I am training again. .... Again. :) Haha. Super Excited.

My companion is named Elder Lara, from Oaxaca. He was in the mission about a year ago but for health reasons he had to go home right after he got here. But he is back now. THere were only two Elders that got here this change... Very few.

I didn't write on Monday because I was waiting for him in the Toluca Terminal. Haha I got there at 8:00 am to drop off Elder Costello and then my companion didn't get there till 6:00 pm. Eesh. Haha. I was there for about ten hours with another Elder just waiting. On the bright side I now have all of the brands and routes of the buses here in this area memorized. :) Haha.

We have been dashing out to Toluca every day of this week to take care of some marriage paper stuff for Elder Fjerstad because he is way out in the middle of nowhere. That's fun too. We will be finishing up all the paper stuff today.

And our baptism from last week fell because she went to D.F. Sigh. She just disappeared off the face of the planet last week. We hope to finally track her down today...

They took the Elders out of my district, just leaving the sisters. We have a new sister who is finishing up the training of the other. The new sister is kicking butt out there. We are struggling to keep up with them. :) Haha

That about wraps up this last week and a half. :)

Love you guys!
Elder Kennington

Preguntas Bien Rapidito

Q: How long does it take you to pack up your belongings to move on a transfer?
A: I can get all of my stuff packed in about 45 minutes to an hour. I got a little bit of practice now. :)

Q: What is the most common transportation mode for going to a new area? With whom do you travel?
A: Well, we take a taxi to the terminal, a bus to:
1. Observatorio, if we are going to be working in a D.F. area
2. Zitácuaro, if we are going to a Zitácuaro area
3. Toluca terminal, if we are going ot be working in Lerma, Metepec, or Toluca

Then from there we take a taxi with our new companion to the next area. It is sweet.

Q: Have you found any small shops that you enjoy patronizing?
A: There is this one street that I love that is filled with all this cultural hand-made stuff. It's really cool. Yup.

Q: What do most people do for employment in this area?
A: Construction, brickmaking, all sorts of stuff like that. :)

Q: What odd encounters with wild life or people have you have this week?​
A: Well, we are teaching this guy that has years of alcohol abuse, which has caused him a lot of damage to his brain. So while he is still a good, normal guy he has some odd quirks. Like the other day when he showed us this little fishtank that had a couple snails, telling us about his "Snail Ranch." He calls each one of them Gary. :) Haha.

Kindling Builders

Hallo mein familia tan bonita! :) Como c'est va?

This last week was full of ups and downs. We had a lot of investigators committed to church, but only about half came. The nice thing is that the reasons that they didn't come were real and valid life-just-happens sorts of reasons. They are all committed for this week, and we are very excited. We are just working on hard-core leña building (when you have a progressing investigator that isn't baptized we nickname them leña (kindling). Burning all the leña=Baptizing all the investigators and not leaving anyone behind for the next elders to teach) for the next change now. Next change will be a very good one here in Las Torres.

Thinking about changes, I am very excited to see what these ones have in store. Elder Costello and I are finally knuckling down our ability to work together in better unity, and I would love to stay one more change with him to enjoy that work. We have a lot going on here, and we want to keep it going. 

The district is doing well. The sisters have struggled this whole change. They are always very on-the-ball trying to get stuff done; they are always very excited and happy to be engaged in the work of salvation. They're awesome! The elders are doing ok. One of the elders is more than ready to be a district leader. He has been doing great. :) 

Whatever winds up happening with the changes, I am excited for the next opportunity to keep working!

Our investigators that are coming to church are progressing really well. There is one in particular that is awesome that is going to be getting baptized this next Sunday. Her son and daughter-in-law are also progressing extremely well, and are getting ready to get baptized in a couple weeks. The son needs a lot of help with a smoking problem.

That about wraps up this last week. . ... Bye! :D
Love,
Elder Kennington

Oh. And we had a drunk lady in the street ask us a couple days ago if we were strippers. .... No comment..... Haha. We both about fell over laughing.

Preguntas Bien Rapidito
Q:  What spices do I need to stock up on before you come home with all those yummy Mexican recipes? 
A:  Hmm... The normal spices like oregano, dill... I will have to get back to you on that one. Where I am at the main centerpieces of the recipes are the garlic, the onions, and the frying and stuff. And I have a secret incredient that I am bringing home so we can find it and make realy tacos. :) 

Q:  What do you know about the mission offices moving? Why did they move? 
A:  They moved just a few weeks ago, about three or four blocks away from where they were at. Basically someone else decided that they liked our offices better than theirs and so they kicked us out. :P I am glad that I escaped the offices before that happened. :) 

Q:  How much longer do you have in this change? 
A:  This Monday is the last Monday of this change. Next Monday there will have been cambios. :) 

Q:  How are you doing with the money situation? 
A:   I think I am doing ok. Today I had to buy a new backpack 'cause my current backpack is destroyed. 

Q:  What are you eating for breakfast and dinner these days? 
A:  Macaroni and cheese. Eggs. OH! And I started making some really tasty shakes for the both of us every morning that have: 
 -Milk 
 -Two Bananas 
 -A mountain of oatmeal 
 -A couple coconut cookies- 
 -Chocolate powder 
 -A little cinnamon 
 -Two raw eggs I love it. :) 

Q:  Have you learned to make flan yet? I’m dying to learn how to make this myself. 
A:  NOOOOO BUT I GOTTAAAAAA LEARN!!!! 

Q:  Do you understand the Hispanic method for last names? Please elaborate! 
A:  Yep! I always got confused at first. But it is actually really simple. Everyone here has their first two names like normal (Owen Harvey, for example) and then they have their two last names. Their first last name is the first last name of their father. And their second last name is the first last name of their mother. For example, here I would be Owen Harvey Kennington Harbrecht. We would be the Kennington Harbrecht family. :)

I forgot to take a photo of the pizza until the last moment. :) Last piece!! It was super good! I now know how to make pizza with a filled crust. :)

Mamas Rely on Loving Members

There was never any question in my mind about sending Owen on his mission.  I was thrilled by his desire and worthiness to serve.  He has grown in so many ways being in Mexico, serving and sacrificing.  Still, as his mother I miss him terribly.  That has never eased, although I thought it would.  When members reach out to our missionary children, feed them, love them, and look after them in their mothers' absence, it makes this missionary mom's heart full.  It is extra thrilling when those members make the effort to share photos and experiences with the missionary mom.  The Garcia family in Elder Kennington's current district have reached out to me and shared extra tidbits I wouldn't otherwise get about how my amazing son is doing.  I love them.  Here is what they shared this week:

Brother Garcia said:  "Hello.  Today we got to do sushi.  Here is the evidence he is learning to make sushi:"

Come on Elder Kennington! It's going to be tasty!

Elder Costello looks just a little *too* happy about that knife!

Pizza -- It's What's For Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

February 29, 2016

HIYA!

This last week was awesome! We focused on finding new investigators and more people to start teaching, and found a lot of success. We found a couple new families to teach and a new investigator that is extremely ready for the Gospel. The new investigator is a woman that has passed through a lot in her life. She has lost children, lost jobs, gotten divorced, and a whole load of other things. But she has finally found where she can find the solace that she is looking for. She is going to be getting baptized on the 13th of March. We are really excited for her.

What really helped us out last week was looking for and asking for and begging for references from everyone in sight. We talked with everyone we could, and asked for people to teach from each one. We finished the week with a personal record for references recieved in a week (58!) the next week we will be getting at least 70. ... That is the goal anyway. We want to find even more new investigators that are ready to progress.

Elder Costello and I are doing well. We are both missionaries that have time in the mission and that have a decent amount of experience, which is nice. It makes doing divisions with the members particularly effective. Love it!

The ward is doing well. Chugging along. Nothing much to report.
Love,
Elder Kennington

 
Sunset in Metepec

And we ordered a huge pizza. Pizza and the BoM. Can't get much better than that. :)

This is a joven that always comes with us. He is twelve years old and a few inches taller than I am. I'm short.

The Elders baptized an investigator on Sunday. His name is Rey David. We totally baptized King David. :):) He is awesome!

The font water was green. It looked like gatorade. Bleh.

And finally, a family that Elder Kennington and his companion spend time with during the week (and who apparently feeds them well!) sent me some pictures they took of Elder Kennington and Elder Costello making pizza at their home.  This is the same family that Owen Skyped from at Christmas.  They are the Garcia family.

Were you caught licking the bowl again?

Nice hairnet Elder Costello!!

Where was Elder Kennington's hairnet?

Glad to see our missionary is displaying the gracious table manners with which his mother sent him into the field.

If you will compare this pizza with the anemic one they purchased above, I think that will explain their glazed, awed expressions.