Six months in the field. . .

and this is the first addition to Kristen's blog - who ISN'T she sending an email to every week? Kristen is having some great experiences far away in Bulgaria. Currently, her companion is Esther Dahle, a friend that she knew from Woodland, California. She got a new mission president around July 1. She says it is really hot there now - "It is SOOO HOT! I don't want to complain, but I can't wait for the Fall. Our apartment faces the east, and so we get the sun first thing in the morning, and it heats up our apartment. We did cover the windows with aluminum foil a while ago, and it made a dramatic difference. I am grateful it is not as hot as it could be, and that when we are in the shade, I don't mid it too much. The word for shade is promounced 'See-awn-ka' (Bianca with an S)...I was thinking about that as a middle name for a daughter someday, to show my appreciation for the shade on my mission." She is in Ruse right now. She received a proposal the first week in Bulgaria - but so did her companion - a man who desperately wanted an American wife. The country of Bulgaria is beautiful. During the summer season, the fruits and vegetables are delicious. She has also expressed appreciation for the delicious bread. She has many opportunities to do service on her mission. Just getting people to know that there is a God, much less knowing Jesus as a personal Savior, is a challenge. The missionaries also teach English classes. Most importantly, Kristen's testimony is being fine tuned. She is emailing many family members who are not members, who are learning a lot about the Gospel through her emails, and are feeling the Spirit. Her great-uncle Harry has purchased 'Mormonism for Dummies' and says that between that and Kristen's emails, he is getting a better feel for the Mormon faith. She is well. She looks well. Her mission presidents have both been good about emailing pictures from zone conferences, etc. She loves the work and can't believe she will be home in one year. Keep her in your prayers.

Letters, anyone?

I love mail. I would love to get mail, especially while I am in the MTC. Here is my basic address. There is a PO Box that will be added to it once I get to the MTC, but for now:

Sister Kristen Kennedy
Bulgaria Sofia Mission
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 North 900 East
Provo, UT 84604

Love you all!

The End...

I will be leaving for the MTC this week! My blog will be less regular, as my mom will be putting up stuff when she has time among the gazillion other things she has going on! Love you all!

I am SOOOO special!

It's not everyday that a person gets a song written for them. It's not everyONE that gets a song written for them either. BUT ladies and gents, I am one of the special, lucky ones. Emalee wrote a song for me on her guitar. She performed it for me. Because I like you all so much, I recorded it and am including it here on my blog. I hope you enjoy the musical stylings of Miss Emalee Joslin. Ü

HOLY COW!

I have had my mission call since September. I have been "going on" a mission for quite some time. NOW I am actually going on my mission. It is hitting me and I am excited but a little nervous at the same time. I will be in the MTC in one week. That's right! I will be back in Provo, but separated from my friends and family. Kinda funny! Jessica Light-now Mitchell and I used to walk by the MTC and the missionaries every week without thinking much about it, and now I will be one of those missionaries! wow.

Natalia...here you go!

Natalia has been wanting me to blog about something...anything! The problem is that nothing too exciting has been going on, aside from the normal getting everything in before I leave on my mission stuff. I have decided to put up some pictures of the goings on as of late. Some of them are the same as facebook, but some are a little different for your viewing pleasure!


This is a view outside the car on our way to Medford. My mom and I went to the temple. I have been to the temple 4 times since receiving my endowment...and to 4 different temples! I have been to the Sacramento, Seattle, Portland, and Medford Temples!

Jessica and I love quilting!

This is Hobbit Trail! This is the trail that made me think of my friend Neil. He would have a BLAST taking pictures on this little jaunt of a hike.


It was on this beach that I found an almost whole sand dollar! It is just missing a little piece of the middle. If I remember to take a picture, I will and then I will put that on here too!

Weekend o' JOY!

I have some of the best friends in the world. That is a general statement for ALL of you...and some of those friends made this weekend AMAZING! Jill and Fernando came up from California this weekend to see me. They traveled through fog and elk and the dead of night just to see little old me. I feel so lucky! We had fun! We went to Old Towne, we met up with my Florence friend Jessica. They all hit it off, which makes for that much more fun! We ate at Mo's...delicious! We also went to the beach to look at the ocean (duh) and at the lighthouse. Mind you, we didn't hike to the lighthouse, but we did see it from the beach. We headed back to my house where we rocked Candyland, Clue, and Monopoly. We all won a game...except for Fernando. Oh well. Side note: my mom is the coolest. She made us a snack while we were playing! It was popcorn and orange slices and chocolates. She is the best! We then headed out for a little later night fun...which resulted in us going to Jessica's house because there is nothing to do in Florence after...well, does early bird special mean anything? Seriously-but that is a whole different blog topic. Anyway, we watched a movie, but we fell asleep watching it, and then, for some odd reason, we put another one in, and had that on too! We finally made it back to my house, where we crashed for a few hours...I do mean a FEW. We went to church and then hung out a bit after church. Alas, Jill and Fernando had to leave to make their way back to California. I am so grateful for them and their sacrifice to come see me one last time before my mission. I truly think that friends are some of the best blessings we receive in this life! They make my heart HAPPY!

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Mission Hair Chop!

I decided to chop my hair in preparation for my mission because a) I needed my hair cut b) I was needing some change c) I want it short because who knows when I will be able to cut it, so starting short seemed like a good idea. What do you think?

Music STILL speaks to my soul

I have to write about music again, because I had a new experience with the joy involved. As you know, in our church we often only sing the verses in a hymn that are in the staff. There are other verses, but they don't get sung as often. This Sunday I was looking over the last verses of "How Firm a Foundation" and I was absolutley blown away. I think sometimes when we sing songs we miss the meaning because we sing them and either don't pay attention to the words or the song breaks are not in line with the words, so there is a bit of a loss. SO I was reading the other verses and it hit me. The words in the other verses are amazing. I was especially hit with the 5th verse; it talks about dross to consume and gold to refine. I had not ever really thought about the words and the message, but as I actually looked and read and let it work on me, the song took on such a stronger meaning, especially for me at this time in my life. I would strongly encourage you to read songs, not just while you are singing them, but to read them as they are written, there is great power!

Oh. My. Goodness.

I don't know about your family, but ours tends to get silly, just on Sunday nights. Tonight was no exception. I was kneeling, and Emalee was kneeling next to me, but she wanted me to shift over just a bit. She said, "You just need to move your butt". I said, "it is kinda big". Derek came back with, "You are going to be such a cute pregnant lady". :blank stare of confusion over where this statement came from: My response,"Well, we don't carry our babies in our butts..." Laughter ensued for a few moments. Derek is dying of laughter and says, "That would give new meaning to baby-sitting!" We were able to calm down enough, but just a little taste of Kennedy family prayer on Sunday nights.

Side note to Dani...I think this would be a Derek-ism...

Young Love...

Emalee is on the forensics team at school. To clear up some confusion, it has little if anything to do with dead bodies. It is actually a name for speech and debate. The kids do things from poetry interpretations to Lincoln-Douglas style debates. It is creative and unique and quite interesting.

I had the opportunity to be a chaperone for her forensics meet for her school. I was able to judge events, meet some of her school friends, and interact with kids! I really do love being with kids, and trying to have some connection with them. This point leads to the point of my entry.

Many of you know that I am leaving in about 3 weeks on my mission, and because of that fact, boys and dating and such have not been my focus recently. However, this weekend, it was kind of pushed into my face because one of the boys on Emalee's team was totally flirting with me. Don't you fret, I did not flirt back! It was so funny to realize what he was doing, to have the kids make comments about it, and to have him deny the whole thing. He even said something about the senior girls being "immature" about some things and not getting that he and I could just talk without flirting. I did enjoy talking with him, and trying to be someone he could talk to, but I did not intend for him to practice his flirting skills on me. It was entertaining, to say the least. I appreciate his efforts, but sadly, I will not be reciprocating. Alas, my heart is locked for the next 18 months, but after that, who knows?? ;)

Zone Conference!

I had the opportunity to go to a Zone Conference for the Eugene Mission. President Macdonald and his wife had invited me when they came to our ward and I had talked with them after. When they found out I was going on a mission, they invited me. It was an amazing experience. I got to spend the day with the sisters in the zone, and they are all wonderful. I felt immediately included and had fun with them. The conference itself was also amazing. We learned about being diligent in our scripture study, giving things up to the Lord (and being blessed when we do give things over to Him), and becoming low maintenance and high yielding missionaries. We learned from the assistants how to be more unified and how to have productive companionship inventory. It was a great day and I was grateful for the opportunity to get a taste of mission life, especially now as I am getting so close to my mission and things are happening all around me.

Music Speaks to My Soul!

I have been going through a rough patch the last few days. No need for real details; that is not the point of this entry. HOWEVER, I have to tell you how much joy music brings to my soul and how healing it truly can be. I am not only talking about hymns or soothing music, but how artists like Nat King Cole and Aretha Franklin also help my heart and soul. And we cannot forget how the music of Kelly Clarkson blaring also helps the healing process. I am specifically talking about the album "breakaway" that always deserves to be blasted when played. I can't hit the right notes, but since it so so loud, it does not matter.

Music is an incredible gift that we can use in our lives, that speaks to us on different levels. A guest lecturer in a theater class once said that words speak person to person, but music speaks spirit to spirit. I believe that is so true. There are ways we are touched by music that just speaking cannot do.

More 'S' happiness...

I have found a couple more things that start with S that I also love:

S is for Skies that have rainbows in them:



S is for Socks that have puffins on them:




I love puffins! They make my heart happy. They are so awkward, but that just makes them more endearing!

My NEW Alphabet

I don't know if you have had the chance to look at the Cyrillic Alphabet. This is the alphabet I will be using on my mission. My mission president suggested that I familiarize myself with the alphabet to make my time in the MTC a bit easier. Just thought you would like a look-sy. You may want to pray for me a little extra when it comes to my language learning. Enjoy!



picture compliments of:
http://www-tc.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/reference/img/cyrillic-alphabet.gif

Karma....

strikes once again.

bite me.

Recap!

I realize I have been remiss in keeping this updated, but it doesn't really feel like anything too exciting has happened. I can give you a picture recap of the past little bit.



Lora was able to come up for Christmas this year!



Samuel came up too! He was the driver in the excursion.



It snowed on Christmas morning! Amazing! It didn't stick to the ground, but snow was involved.



Jessica and I celebrated New Year's at a YSA activity in Salem. Good times!

Nothing else has really happened. Getting ready for my mission, turning 25, that's about it. I have about a month until I leave, and I am getting more and more excited!