Fireworks All Day

We started the week with the Day of Mary.  This is where all the Catholics walk around following a shrine to the Mother Mary and shoot off fireworks all day!! At one point in the day, we had to walk through a crowd and it was nuts!!! Everyone is just like zombies! But it was sick because they used a strand of firecrackers that was no joke a kilometer long!!!!!!! It was nuts!  Everyone was also drunk so that was super fun as well! It’s a miracle nobody died that day.  I'm good at Spanish now so I just gave chicote to all the drunken people haha!

We had changes!!! I received Elder Falcon from Mexico! He is so sick! He only has 5 months in the mission and he is my trainer!!! We are straight newbies!  We have fun in the lessons and the people actually receive this better.  It's a little stressful because I have to take control of everything, and it's hard getting people from Jocotillo to our church 45 minutes away.  I was just dead so on p day so we took a nap!

This week we found so many people that are super pilas! We just have to find a way to bring them to church.  Pray for me, because my comp and I are still a little lost in Jocotillo!

I love you all and enjoy the snow in Utah...haha there isn't any! Love you all and thanks for the messages!  I can’t wait to see you guys on Christmas!!! It's hard being out here in the mission and just emailing!! I feel like my family is just something that was a dream! When I get to see your faces, it will be such a blessing!! I love you guys a ton!!!

Adios

Elder Kendall

A Jungle Tree

Well I almost have 4 months! How do you like our Christmas tree that I decorated?  I found it in the jungle.   Have you seen the new Christmas church video!!! It is awesome, it would be fun to work in that department when I get home, but we will see!

We had a reunion all of the new missionaries this week, my last one, as a new missionary! It was awesome to see all of my buds from the MTC.  When we returned to our area, we searched in this new section (our area is huge) and we found this crazy poor place in the jungle.  There were a bunch of little kids, who have never seen a white kid.  They were following us around - like in the movies when the white guy goes to Africa and all the kids love him. So sweet!

One day this week we were woken up at 4am because a bunch of crazy Catholics were shooting off fireworks and worshipping Mary.  The people are completely crazy here.  They also had a Day of the Devil, where they take piñatas of the devil and blow them up with fireworks.  It was actually kind of cool because everyone was doing it! 

Our Ward Members - we had great support at this baptism.

Well I love all of you and enjoy the season and the snow! (Lucky punks) 

ELDER KENDALL

Big White Guy

Hello!!!! This week was good! We baptized again, the only thing that is hard is having a comp that is finishing his mish. He just talks about home and it makes me a little jealous.  But I got your package!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best day of my life! Everything is awesome and perfect! Thank you for sending the printed pictures! I loved them!

I have a crazy story, I’m going to share but don’t be scared because I’m always safe and everyone is scared of me because I’m a big white guy hahaha!  Seriously, I’m big here which is actually kind of fun and sucks as well, they only make cars for midgets here.  So we had p day de Zona yesterday and we had to travel a ton to get to the place on time so we woke up at three and walked 40 minutes to where the bus passes!!  We were waiting at the bus stop and a truck rolls up and 4 people get out with bats and ski masks and start making a roadblock and then they started it on fire!  My comp and I were just sitting there wondering what is going on?  I guess they were protesting something.  We were all sad because we weren’t going to be able to leave the city! But we had the idea to go and stop the bus and turn it around before these people took over!  We ran down the street with a group of other people and stopped the bus and turned it around to get out of there! Then someone started shooting at the bus when we were driving out of there!!! I don’t think any of the bullets hit the bus but it was nuts! And I’m not sure if it’s against the rules to share this story but it was so tight, I wanted to share it.  GUAT IS NUTS!!!!! Jocotillo as well! 

We made it to Antigua for P day and it was so awesome! It’s a big tourist town that looks like an old Mexican town at the base of a big volcano! The best part was this crepe place that had the sickest vibe ever! The decorations and everything were awesome...and the FOOD!!!!! It was a blessing! 

We also had Zone conference this week and I got to see Elder Gallacher (my best mission friend) that was awesome.  I wish I could share everything about are investigators but we have too many to tell you about them all! We baptized Hermano Elder .  He is so awesome and will be an awesome member! For Thanksgiving, I bought a ton of food to make stuff and then the power went out... which happens all the time in Jocotillo.  But blessing, Hermana Ana hooked us up with plenty of food. That’s my week, and here I go to have another just like it! 

Thank you for everything you have done for me! Only 3 more weeks and then I get to see you! I love you a ton! Tell the family hi and enjoy the Christmas season, because I miss it!! 

TE AMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love every single one of you!
ELDER KENDALL

Sawed Off Shot Gun

This week was good! We had 2 baptisms!!! Which is awesome. We wanted to have 5 but things always happen. I’m going to try to keep this email sweet and short for you all, just the good stuff. We converted this lady who used to be a mob boss, no joke. When we go to her house, she is always sitting on the couch watching a movie with a sawed off shotgun in hand. So funny but she is the best!

We also got two of our investigators married so they can be baptized! They are awesome but for some reason they keep drinking freaking coffee... so we can't baptize them yet, but we have patience and faith!

We did baptize Jorge and Roxanna!  Always awesome to help people come to Christ. During their interviews I went on divisions with Elder Daybell from Utah and he is a Brand new missionary so guess who was señor comp...Elder Branson Kendall! Man it was awesome!!!! I’m so stoked to get out of training because it was fun.

What wasn’t fun is that I got so sick on Sunday! I was just throwing up, but we still had to work. We would have lessons and I would just walk out to throw up! But I was blessed for pressing forward because now I’m good.

For Pday we went on this five-mile hike to Agua Tivia! It’s this natural spring in this canyon and it was so pretty! The water was so clear and it was warm! We couldn’t get in because of the rules but the member that took us was swimming and he was making fun of us!! If I ever mention Hermano Christian, it’s this hombre that looks like Chris rock and he is hilarious. 

Well keep praying for Jocotillo so we can baptize enough to build a church here...we are close! I love you all and thank you to everyone that writes me!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I love you guys!!!! Enjoy thanksgiving!! I’m probably going to eat a little bit of chicken haha!!! Take some pictures of mashed potatoes so I can be jealous! Love you!
Branson

Closest I’ve got to chilling haha!

McDonalds & French Toast

Hello!

Right after last weeks pday, I went on divisions with the Zone leaders and that was super fun! We ate at McDonalds and the Zone Leader is American so that's always a little better. The next morning we ate a ton of French toast, which was awesome! I like being in different areas with different people. We have to travel a lot and whenever we travel we have to wake up at 3am, that’s always fun!

Not much new this week just the normal crazy Guatemala things. We are planning on baptizing 5 this week so pray for us! We also had divisions with the assistants and they spent the night in our house and that was just crazy! We don’t have electricity right now so pray for us;)

Thank you for everything!!! It's going by fast, I hear it's snowing a ton, I will try and not think about snowboarding! This computer won't let me send pictures so we are going somewhere different next time because I have some sweet pics!!!

I love you and tell the family hi for me and send me some pictures! I’m trying to make a Christmas card but I can’t find a Christmas hat hahaha! I love you a ton!
Love you!
Branson

Tiny Taxi

Did you know you could make pancakes in a microwave? I didn’t.

So funny story to start, we were driving here today to email and we were all in this tiny taxi.  It was just pumping with music! All these people in the taxi with us just started dancing and the driver was honking the beat of the song! I was like what is going on here, so funny. Everyone is just crazy here.  

My comp and I opened this area, so there aren’t very many members.  It’s a little lonely here, but we did baptized this week! We have worked with her for about a month and she is awesome.  Now we are preparing the rest of the family for November 23rd! We might have 8 baptisms that week, which would be cool.

Since last week, I’ve played the guitar 10 times. People just bring their guitars to me. It is so awesome!! We also got to drive around in a Range Rover this week! It was weird being in luxury. We just barely contacted this huge family that basically runs Jocotillo, and they are all so rich.  We just go from one big house to the next! And when I say rich I mean a normal house in the states! It feels like a blessing though.

Remember how I asked you all to pray for the bus; well it didn’t work hahahah the bus broke!  It was nuts trying to get everyone to church this week! We just shoved everyone in trucks and somehow got up there! It's funny, when you don’t have a way to get people to church, all of a sudden they want to go!

For p-day I threw around the football.  Really weird but it was awesome!! Well I love you all and I love the emails!!

PAZ y AMOR

-Elder Kendall

Big Spiders

Hello,

We have one investigator that was supposed to be baptized this week, but she drank coffee!!! Coffee of all things. So we wait.  

This week was awesome. We have a ton of big spiders that live outside of our house, so Friday night I went out and just smashed them with a bat!! No joke when I say these things are the size of your hand. 

Halloween was awesome! We dug a grave...nooo haha!  We dug this big hole for an investigator but it looks like a grave in the pic. 

And then I just bought a ton of candy!!! Like a ton! 

I also got to play the Guitar!!!!! My investigator told me to sing for him in English so I sang ¨We Are Going to be Friends¨  hahah!  It was so tight. 

Saturday was Dia de los Santos and there was a ton of drunk people and I kept telling them to hug my companion and they would! I got a lot of hugs that day too.  

Good news! It’s been really cold here!!! I even sometimes have wear a sweater!!!! Can you believe that, a sweater...in Guatemala!! For P-day we had a Futbul game and invited some of our investigators to play and we had a really good game.... I’m pretty good! 

So I need you all to pray for something, we have a bus that takes our investigators and us from Jocotillo to Our church an hour away. The guy that owns it might sell it and if so we are in trouble. So pray that some other way will come up that we can get these people to church or to bring a church to JOCOTILLO!

PAZ Y AMOR
ELDER KENDALL