June 27, 2011

Dear Family,
 
This week was pretty awesome.  It was the best week (key-indicators wise) we have had all transfer, and Amparo (Grandmother) and Rocio (Granddaughter) got baptized which was really great.  The day before when we were just running through everything with Amparo we asked her if she got off work on Sunday so that she could be confirmed in church.  She responded, "I don't care if they give me the day off or not!  I told them last week that I was getting baptized and I don't care if I lose my job, I am still getting baptized!"  It was really awesome to hear that.  She is going to make a great addition to the branch and she has a lot of member and family support so we are pretty confident that she will stay active.  The baptismal program went really well.  Unfortunately, the night before the food we ate at one of the Mexican restaurants didn't sit too well with me, so I was literally on the toilet every 45 minutes the entire day and was super exhausted.  Nevertheless, everything else went as planned and two new members have been added to God's church.  I am really grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to play a role in the conversion of these people and to be an instrument in His hands.

We found 7 new investigators this week and a bunch of them are looking pretty promising.  We are getting them in contact with members and trying to get them from that "beginning stage" to the "sincere-heart/real-intent stage" in the investigation process.  I am confident we can have another baptism this month, and we are hoping it can be a family that we recently found and taught who were old investigators from 2007.  Also I ran out of silly bands to give to little kids and they love them.

I received the package with the stationary, and I want to thank you guys for doing it.  It is really, really nice and I know the ward members and investigators always appreciate thank-you notes when missionaries leave.

Transfer news came and I am still going to be here in Phoenix with Elder Faldmo for at least one more transfer so we're going to tear it up.  Also as you can see from some of the pictures I sent, I kind of failed trying to cut my hair by attaching what I thought was a #3 head size to the razor when it was actually 3 millimeters, so I am basically bald right now.  I told President and he said I was fine.  Also it might help me deal with the heat of the summer.  The hottest weather I have experienced so far is 114 degrees and I can say that the "dry heat" excuse is actually more valid than you think because I still remember it being worse in those heat waves in New England in that humidity.  Don't get me wrong, it is definitely still very hot.

I also wanted to let you know that I found that scripture in D&C 62:3* which talks about how are sins are forgiven when we bear our testimony.  I remember that you wanted me to find it a while ago and I wasn't able to but I came across it the other day and wanted to let you know



That's about it for this week. 
 
Love,
 
Elder Kinney 

*Doctrine & Covenants Chapter 63, Verse 3:

Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.

June 20, 2011

Dear Family,
 
I hope Dad had an awesome Father's Day.  Did you guys do anything special?

The coolest thing that happened this past week is that Antonia (Eddie's future spouse and my past investigator) had her baby girl! And the coolest part is that I NAMED HER!!!!  Her name is Michelle Michala Muniz.   I remember my last day in Paradise Valley we were talking to them about the names they were thinking of using for the baby, and none of them rolled off the tongue right, if you know what I mean...  So I suggested Michelle and Michala which I like as names and thought they sounded good with Muniz as a last name.  I was surprised when Antonia told me to write them down and give them to her.  I did, of course, and didn't think much of it until Elder Pierson told me a week before she was supposed to have the baby that she was actually going to use the names I gave her.  I got a call on the night of June 18th from my old Ward Missionary, Hermana Mora, telling me that she had given birth and that she gave the baby the names I suggested, which is pretty sweet.  I am going to give them a call later today and congratulate them.

In regard to the work, we are almost completely prepared for Amparo and her granddaughter, Rocio's, baptism this upcoming Saturday.  Amparo is awesome and comes to all of the church events and everything.  I think there will be a good turnout at her baptism because her granddaughter will be baptized at the same service.  And even more fortunate for us, she has a lot of friends and family that live in the same apartment complex, some of which, are not members but come to church activities every once and a while.  We are going to try and get all of them to come -- it shouldn't be too hard, especially if Amparo does it.

We picked up a new investigator this week who is one of the member's friends they brought to the Father's Day activity, the church meetings, and Family Home Evening.  He and Hermana Batrez seemed to get along or at least know each other so we will try and take advantage of that when we plan appointments with him.

I was reading in the scriptures this week and found a scripture in Mosiah 27 verse 14 that struck me quite powerfully.  It made me think of the role of my faith as a missionary and also the role your faith plays as parents in raising your children.  In this instance in Mosiah, we read the first account describing the conversion of Alma and the Son's of Mosiah that was sparked by the appearance of an angel.  This scripture tells us some of the angel's words when he appeared unto these sinners attempting to destroy the church of God:
 
14. And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath aheard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.
 
After reading this scripture I realized how important it is that I have faith that the Lord provide my investigators with opportunities and guidance that will lead them to repent and accept the truthfulness of the restored gospel.  We will always need to choose for ourselves, and by that I mean my investigators and those to whom I extend commitments, to put forth effort and take advantage of the oppotunities that God provides us.  And we know that it was the small and simple confirmations of the Spirit and the love of Christ that converted Alma and his brethren, not the appearance of an angel.  I know that I am not completely incompetant as a missionary but at times I catch myself not necessarily having faith in, but assuming, that the Devil will do something to distract my investigators or diminish their faith so they do not spiritually progress.  I need to have faith that the Lord will provide a way for them just like he did for Nephi (1 Nephi 3:7*)  and keep that faith even when they fall short.
 
Something pretty interesting is that there is a new missionary, fresh out of the MTC named Chris Haslam -- he knows my cousin, Levi.
 
Thanks for everything.  Hope all is well with the fam. in NC (and LV).  Send me some pics!
 
Love,
 
Elder Kinney

*1 Nephi 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

June 13, 2011

 Dear Family,

I'm not going to have time to write the family email today so I am going to include some stuff in the letter I send to dad.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!! I know its next Sunday but by the time I will be able to email you again it will be over already. I can't beleive that I am coming up on a year. I have learned so much and I am loving the mission.

Right now we have a really solid baptism of a woman named Amparo (means refuge or protection in English) and her granddaughter on the 25th of this month.  When we asked her if she had asked for time off of work that day she told us no but that it doesn't matter.  "If they do give it to me I'm getting baptized, and if they don't I'm still getting baptized."  It is always good to hear enthusiasm like that from those that you are teaching.  Our other really good investigators are this couple named Ricardo and Heather who have two little girls that are 2 and 3 years old (Hadasa and Trinity).  They are really starting to get into the Book of Mormon a lot and are taking the discussions really seriously.  One roadblock is going to be getting them married, but at the rate they're going it shouldn't be as hard as some of the marriage situations we've had in my last branch.

My companions are yelling at me that we need to leave so I will write dad a letter later today and send it.

 

Love,

Elder Kinney

June 6, 2011

Dear Family,

I am kind of sick right now with a soar throat.  I am trying to take it a bit easier because biking in 108 degree weather all day sure isn't condusive to recovery.  It is really, really hot here and when the wind blows it is even hotter.  I can't wait until it gets to those few days where it will be 120.  I will be sure to send you a picture when I come home after one of those...

I don't have a ton of time to write but I will try to fill you in on some updates.  The baptismal date we have with Amparo has been moved to the 25th, so she has enough time to ask for time off from work and so she can also be baptized at the same time as her 8-year old granddaughter.  Originally, that was the plan for the 11th but since her granddaughter is 8 she is organizing her baptism through the President and is going to do it on the 25th.  So it's not necessarily a bad thing, she is still progressing a ton and coming to church.  Hopefully, there will be a lot more people at the baptism now.

We have found and dropped a lot of potential investigators.  It is really hard to find "prepared" people but we have a few that look promising.  Some of our potentials and investigators have husbands that don't want anything to do with us and refuse to let their wives be baptized or even talk to us.  Circumstances like that are so frustrating for missionaries, but really there is nothing we can do but pray and not be contentious.  We were also able to get Ruth (from my last area) to kick out her boyfriend for good.  He was a roadblock for the baptism of her two daughters.

I wish I had more time but everyone is waiting for me.  Hope all is well in NC and that Dad and Matt enjoyed their 100- mile bike ride.

Love,
Elder Kinney

June 1, 2011

Dear Family,

This past week was pretty awesome.  We had a baptism on Saturday of a woman named Maria Rubio.  I sent Mom a picture or two of her.  She was such a prepared investigator.  I don't know if I already told you, but she actually gave up drinking coffee on her own because of a prompting from the Spirit.  By the time we taught her the Word of Wisdom, she was already way ahead of us.  That was probably one of the easiest baptisms I will see on my mission.  She is such a strong-willed person and doesn't have very many friends because she doesn't like to drink or do any of that stuff.  She got pretty emotional once when I shared Mosiah 18:8-11* with her, which describes more in detail the covenant that we make when we are baptized that includes being a part of and contributing to the family of the church of God.  She will be a very strong member, something that our branch is in dire need of right now.

The branch here isn't as strong as the Via Verde Branch was, so hopefully I can help change that.  I actually gave a talk at church last Sunday about following the example of Christ at all times, in all things, and in all places.  The reason I landed on this topic is because Maria Rubio told Elder Faldmo and I that she knows an active woman in the branch who is having an affair with another man and she's the only one who knows about it.  Maria also told us this woman is a very different person depending on who she is with.  Maria was worried that she might not be able to be baptized because of her knowledge of this situation.  We told her to not support it at all and then we called President to ask him what we should do.  He said as long as she does nothing to help hide it or show any sort of support she can be baptized.  So we did that and told her she should encourage this person to talk to the Branch President and repent.  So my talk was about how the example we set as members of the church is extremely important, especially for those with whom we associate.  At one point in the talk I told the story of Ammon and how, because of his example, many people came unto Christ, accepted His gospel and were baptized.  I then compared it with the story of Corianton, the son of Alma the Younger, and how his example of breaking the law of chastity with the harlot, Isabel, caused many to not believe in Alma's words.  There was a study done by the Church on the public's opinion on Latter-Day Saints.  They found that it was better for a person to know zero or four or more members than than it was to know 1,2 or 3 members.  That means they had a worse impression of the Church if they only know 1,2 or 3 members because of the many people who don't live up to the covenants they had made and, therefore, aren't letting their light shine so others glorify the Father (Matthew 5:16**).  So hopefully that helped whoever that person is in the branch who's having the affair.

We have a baptism coming up on the 11th of June, which is really solid but we are also trying to find and prepare someone else to be baptized after that.  That's our challenge at this point.  Elder Faldmo is a great guy and has an awesome sense of humor.  He is really easy to get along with but his Spanish and teaching skills could use some work.  I am trying to let him teach more in the lessons so he gets more comfortable with the language and can focus more on the investigators and the Spirit.  I think that's all for now.  It was great reading your letters.  I also sent a picture of the farewell party the members in my last area threw for me and Elder Landsaw (because they were transferred to another area).

Love,

Elder Kinney

*Mosiah chapter 18, verses 8-11

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

 11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

** Matthew chapter 5 verse 16

 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.