Brazil Campo Grande Week #57

Before his Haircut

After His Haircut. Nice Job.

Hey everyone good morning, I am really grateful to be able to write you guys today. I think I have been taking p-day for granted lately this last while It truly is a blessing to be able to read your emails and write to you every week. This last week has been a tough one for me. My family has occupied my mind and dreams alot. I have been having to bare alot of weight it feels like on my back. With new responsibilities and difficulties that i am facing. I have spent alot of time on my knees pleading for strength and comfort, and indeed I have felt the  presence and help of the Lord, I felt his love and it warmed my heavy heart. Our Bishop here is wanting us to do some activities which I am willing to do no problem but still I felt alot of pressure from him. I have also been really stressed because we have been working so much these last several weeks but we are seeing almost no fruits. Ive never gone so much time without having a single investigator in church, and I feel like the Bishop and members are wondering why there aren't any investigators at church. I'm not sure why we haven't been having any success. We have been praying and fasting and planning and sacrificing so much so that we can help our investigators go to church and have the desire to follow the example of the Savior. I had many moments this week when I felt very alone, almost like I had been forgotten. But I was reminded of how Good our Heavenly Father is to us I know that he loves and cares for us. Last week we went to Walmart on p-day, just me and my companion Elder Bryson Tibbitts. I was a little disappointed because it was about the size of Stewarts or Jubilee But still I bought some stuff. The didn't have any peanut butter which I was really hoping they would have. But today We will be going back to the center with the assistants to go drink a milkshake, that will be nice. It is nice being with the assistants, we are very close friends. This week we visited alot with 3 investigators in particular, Edinaldo, and a couple Josíe and Gabriele. We visited them several times over the week we took members there to visit and meet them. They all had motorcycles already and everything was ready for them to go to church but Sunday morning came, and we called Gabrielle and Josíe and they said the were awake and were getting ready to head to church, but they never came, we called several times but the phone just kept on ringing and the never answered we even tried with a members cell phone. Edinaldos phone was just turned off and went straight to voicemail. But the Lord did bless us and we had a less active young man go to church and he brought his girlfriend who is only 14 years old, the problem is she lives in the other Elders area, so we will see if she wants to be taught at her boyfriends house who lives in our area or at her house which is in the other area. Either way though i was glad that she was at church yesterday. I really hate when we pray and fast and do everything possible to get our investigators to go to church and something happens and they don't go. I prayed so much to Heavenly Father begging him that everything would work out so that our investigators could go to church. But they still didn't go. I'm still not quite sure what The Lord is teaching me or what he wants me to do differently, but  I shed many tears this week in behalf of our difficulties. I am grateful though for the hardships that we have, it makes us stronger and helps us realize how good we have it. We made alot of contacts and contacted references this week but there were just alot of uninterested people, it kinda bummed me out. But on the bright side we visited alot of less actives and almost all of them went to church yesterday, we had 9 less actives in church yesterday. We have been able to help reactivate 2 families in this last month or so. That might not mean anything to other missionaries and we they aren't the same as baptisms, but to me it means alot and I would rather help reactivate a family then baptize someone every once and a while. But I know the Lord is happy and to him, their souls are  valuable and even though it is not his will to allows us to have alot of baptisms he is giving us success with the less actives and I am grateful for that. I sometimes wonder if you guys back at home think to yourselves, geeze Skyler is in Brazil in south America he should be baptizing every week. I sometimes think the same thing, I wonder if you guys are disappointed that I'm not baptizing and sending pictures of a whole lot of baptisms  every week.  I wish we were baptizing more because we are doing all we can to find new people to baptize and finding families and stuff. But I guess the Lord has something else in mind for us at this time. I'm glad that the Lord sent me to a mission where the church still isn't very strong because I will be able to see the things that don't work and be able to help our home wards back at home after the mission. All I know is that the Lord always has a greater plan in mind for us. So this week like I said we walked alot talked to alot of people, taught alot of people, and tried to make our Heavenly Father proud. I hope everyone at home is proud. I was sad to here the Jacob Augustus has to go home to have surgery and stuff, I will be praying for him. We have been focusing alot on planning and being more obedient and teaching with the spirit. I know I have felt a difference in our lessons and I have felt the people who we have met have their hearts touched. I know we are the Lords instruments and I hope I can always people ready and well prepared to help Heavenly Father. This week we had lunch at a rodizzio which was really good they brought us out a ton of meet on a stick and cut the pieces off that we wanted. I enjoyed it very much. We were going to have an exchange with the zone leaders, but Elder Tibbitts foot was hurting really bad that day because he had blisters and they had become infected so we missed a days work cause he couldn't stand to walk on it but we talked to president Reber who is a foot doctor and he gave him some advice and now his foot is alot better, we also had a zone meeting this week which was good. We haven't had any baptisms in our zone yet so I haven't had to interview anyone but this week we will be having a district meeting so I will probably give a training there but the district leader duties aren't too bad so far, I just accompany with everyone at night. I enjoyed the emails from everyone and looks like everyone had a good time at the nitro circus show that must have been great. Also I got mu hair cut this week by Elder Moraes one of the assistants that we are living with, he actually did a great job and was one of the best haircuts I have had in a while, and it was free! Well I need to get going, but I want you to all know how much I love you and am grateful for you all I love you so much and am always praying for you all. Thanks so much for your prayers and can feel the strength of your prayers and without them I don't know what i would do. I hope and pray that everyone will have a great week this week. Love you all so much! Com muito amor

-Elder Kennington