Love

Well, I'm still here in Newcastle Emlyn with Sister Allred. Because I thought I'd be leaving, I was super dramatic and started saying goodbye to members and everything. When we got the call saying I was staying yet another transfer, I was a little embarrassed, but that just meant that we had a bit more time to work this week than other companionships who were moving.

On Tuesday, we had a lesson with a man in Carmarthen. He's been taught on and off for years, and at this point in time he's going through a bit of a rough patch. He's had some custody issues with his daughter, and it just sounds unpleasant. Because of all the things that have been going on, his yard has been quite neglected. Both the front and the back yards had about 3 ft. long grass and weeds, bushes were weighing down with branches, and leaves were wet and rotting on the decks. At the end of our lessons with him, we always ask if we can do service for him. Each time he says no, he's been a bit overwhelmed, but he'll get around to it in the next couple days. Finally, we decided he really needed help with his yard, and we pretty much just informed him after this particular lesson that we would be there the next day at two to work in the yard. He sort of chuckled, and said okay. I'm pretty sure he thought we were joking, because the next day when we came with a couple in the ward, their lawn mower, gloves, and yard clipper things, he seemed quite surprised. I must admit, I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It was a huge job, and I was praying the whole time for Papa Doug's help and inspiration. I knew that he'd know how to deal with all the work we had ahead of us. When we finally finished, he just sat outside in awe. We hadn't done a beautiful job, but he just seemed so grateful. I think he finally realized that we actually cared about him, that we consider him our friend. And though he's a tough guy, I even saw him cry a couple tears as we finished. After this experience, I was reminded of something I was told before I left for Britain: the mission is all about LOVE. I felt at that moment that I was sorta going back to the basics. I remember in the beginning when I didn't have any skills as a missionary, and all I could offer was my love to people. That really is what it's all about. It's so easy to get caught up in nit picky things, and how to do things just right so people will listen. But really, it's just that simple. Love is the key to moving this work forward.

Though we didn't see any huge miracles this week, we saw many mini miracles which added up to a great week. We met and got to know some really neat and interesting people. The times I love my mission best are when I can talk to lots of people about something I love - the gospel - and I can learn something from them in return. Each person I meet changes me in some way. I don't know how to describe it.

Funny: I'm not sure how many of you know what LARPing is, but it's an acronym for "live action role play." Basically, it's where grown people play make believe. They pretend like they are in a film or video game, and they act out battle scenes or something. We saw a huge group of LARPers on Lampeter University campus on Saturday. They were all dressed as people and creatures from Lord of the Rings and had plastic axes and swords and were fake stabbing each other on the football field. We asked one of the orks (spelling?) for directions, and he was super friendly.

Sad: We were served lamb yesterday for dinner, and when Sister Allred found out, she cried. She thinks sheep are cute.

Birthday: I had a lovely birthday! I wasn't wanting to make it a huge deal, but we had district meeting on that day and one of the elders in the district remembered so they brought me a cake. Other than that, it was a normal yet wonderful day.

Sorry for the massive e-mail. I love my mission. I love the people. I love you.

Sister Kuykendall

Classic phone booth picture

Flora from the Phillipines

My friend, Gloria