Tales from Wales :)

Dear Friends and Family,

 

I'm finally here in Wales! I'm in a city called Cardiff in a suburb area called Rhiwbina (Roe-bye-na). The people here are incredibly kind, but not incredibly interested in change. There are a TON of old people here, and they mostly just love having someone listen and talk to. This whole mission thing has taken some getting used to, but I'm getting there. In our area, we do ALL bike riding. Every day, all day. The first day that I didn't have a bike, we walked about 10 miles all together. Now, we bike about that same amount. I'm going to be absolutely ripped when I get back home. One thing I was surprised to find when I got here, was that many of the older folk speak a lot of Welsh. Yay. So every time I talk to them, I try to listen and understand what they're saying based on the few words I know in the language, which are "school bus" and "welcome to Wales." Some of the words don't even have vowels in them, so it seems nearly impossible to learn, but so far I've managed.

 

My mission so far has been hard, but mostly physically. Walking and biking around has been exhausting, but I think I might finally be used to the bruises on my backside from sitting on the seat of my bike. The people I've met here are so nice, and they love to talk and meet new people. One of the ladies that we have been visiting, named Carol, Will talk for a good hour straight without letting us get in a single sentence. My new trainer (Sister Lambert) and I still need to find good ways to teach and serve people as well as listen. Sister Lambert has been amazing. She finished training the day before I got here, so we're both very new and very inexperienced. I love this work. I love the people here. I can't think of anything better that I could be doing! I've learned to completely rely on my Saviour and trust Him with all my might. Yesterday, we were talking to a man in the park. We asked him about his belief in God and Jesus Christ in which he promptly told us there wasn't one, and we were wasting our time. It was like my second day, but I decided to go ahead and bear my testimony on the Risen Saviour and His atoning sacrifice. He stopped for a second, I could see something in his eye, like he wanted to believe and the said quietly, "It's not for me." I see this happen with many people around here. They say they don't have a belief in God, yet when you bring to their rememberence the love God has for them, they sort of get sentimental, like they wish they could belive but think it's impossible. I hope I can change that in people. The peace the gospel and Jesus has brought me is incredible. I absolutely know it's true. It has to be. I miss my family too much to be here for 18 months talking about something I didn't think was true. I love you all, and can't wait to hear from you in the next week!

 

Love,

 

Sister Kuykendall