Nacimiento de Cristo

Merry Christmas Everyone! I'll just share a little Scripture thought and some pictures.

Alma 7
10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives. He was born for us, He died for us, and He lives again for us.

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Buena Ventura missionaries go caroling

Christmas Eve

Mission Christmas Devotional

Saying goodbye to Sister Knox at Transfers

Trinidad Family Christmas Sunda

Zone Christmas Breakfast

A White Christmas

This week I saw the hand of the lord and was overwhelmed with love for Him and the infinitive amount of blessings He has poured upon me in the last year.

On Saturday the Trinidad family was baptized. Felix bore his testimony right after and it was amazing. I am just so grateful that I got to know them. They are a beautiful family! Felix jr. Was given a preach my gospel and is so excited to serve a mission!

The other blessing was I got to go back to Windy Ridge (my first area) for the baptism of Francis. She has been through a lot to get to this point. I met her in February and she was so prepared. No words can describe just how happy i was to see her finally be able to be baptized.

I was there a year ago and being there made me reflect on everything

that has happened in the last year. I love this work so much. I love every person whom I have come in contact with. Even those who have rejected me. As I have walked where Christ walked I have seen angels.

Even though it will be 80 degrees Christmas day here in Florida, it will be a white Christmas. It will be white because heaven is white, and Florida is my heaven on earth.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! I hope this year is something special. I love you all so much!

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Buena Ventura Missionaries

District

My family here in Florida!

Francis:)

Paola and Diego!  I haven't seen them since their baptism in May:)

Trinidad Family baptism

A Sacred Time

The Christmas season is such a magical time to be a missionary. We had our ward Christmas party this last weekend and I was so overcome with gratitude and love for the special chance I have to be with each and every person there. Then I had to change my thoughts because my heart got heavy as I thought that it would be my last Christmas as a missionary. I am so grateful that my 18 months spread over 2 Christmases. What better way to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ and His birth then by doing his sacred work.

The Trinidad Family is getting baptized this coming weekend. They are so awesome! At the ward Christmas party Felix (the dad) was bearing his testimony to everyone how he knew this was the true church. He expressed how he always knew that Christ's true gospel was out there and knew that he would be able to find it. He told of how each time one of his children were born, he would look at them and know that they would follow Christ one day. I love them with my whole heart.  They are so prepared and I feel truly blessed to have known them.

Felix is right, this is Christ's church. I can hardly wait until the day He comes again. I know He lives.

I hope you are all having a Merry Christmas season! Don't forget to keep Lighting the World!

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Found a note I left on someone's door a few months
ago crumpled up in the dirt.

Florida knows how to Christmas

Ward Christmas party with Mama Davila:) She takes care of us missionaries

Ward Christmas party with the Trinidad's

Ward Christmas party with Hermana Robbins:)

FOM Gets a Taste of Germany

This week was super busy! We had a mission tour on Wednesday and Elder Klebingat from the 70 came. He is from Germany, his wife is from Russia. They were intense. It was so good though! A lot of what he talked about had to do with applying the lessons we learned from the mission to the rest of our lives. The mission goes beyond. I did not go through everything I have been through- both good and bad, just to go back to who I was before. I am changed forever.

The Trinidad family is doing so good! They are such a blessing to teach! They are rapidly progressing! After teaching them about Repentance and how we are cleansed from sin after baptism.  Scarlett said " well, I need to get baptized NOW." That probably doesn't transfer very well over email, but it was really cute. They are so excited to be baptized. That's all they want to talk about and they tell EVERYONE they are getting baptized and becoming members. They are dedicated to this gospel and I love it.

I love being a missionary! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. I LOVE Florida. It may not have Snow to make it feel like Christmas, but I tell you, Spanish people know how to decorate every inch of their house to make up for it. The Christmas lights here are spectacular! Everyone is feeling the Christmas spirit and lighting the world! I hope you are all doing well! Keep a look out for miracles and tender mercies this week!

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Making a doughnut run. Really missing Dick's Market Bakery pero esta bien.

My old companion Herman Klein who returns home soon :(

Part of our departing missionary group. Only missing 3 others.

Our Christmas Tree.
Homemade decorations from my mom and grandma.

Princess Santa hats and advent calendars.
Of course my hat is pink;)

⭐️✨Iluminad al Mundo ✨⭐️

Hola mi familia!

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! We had a traditional dinner which I was happy about! Even though I'm here in the states, Spanish people don't celebrate it too much so it wasn't too big of a deal.

Now Christmas, everyone gets excited for. It was practically overnight that Florida turned into a Christmas wonderland. I helped 5 different people decorate their trees this week. We would go to our dinner appointment and they were all decorating their house so we got to help with the festivities. To top it off, we started sharing the new #LightTheWorld. I highly encourage everyone to do it this year!

Each day there is a video and activity to help "light the world". I am so excited! It starts on Friday so y'all better get ready! At the very least you should all go and share it on Facebook. :)

We spent all day on Saturday sharing the video. I love Christmas on the mission. Everyone is just so much more receptive to the spirit and a message about Christ. Especially this year, with all the devastation in Puerto Rico and all the service that has been going on, everyone is feeling a little more giving! I think this is going to be the greatest Christmas ever!

Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

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

Don't hide your light this Christmas. Help us #LightTheWorld.

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Exchanges with Sister Straten

Happy in my jacket!  I seriously was so happy when I got
this.  I immediately put it on and felt right at home.  It
was so nice to remember what Omi's house smells like:)

To Be Like a Little Child

This week was absolutely fantastic! We started off really well! Our investigator Felix whom we met last week and came to church last Sunday accepted baptism for December 9th! He came to church again yesterday and was just telling everyone that he believes it's all true! He is so sweet and humble.

We got to help with the most amazing service project ever this weekend. We spent all day Friday and Saturday (7:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.) at a hotel in Orlando helping with a convention for the Prader- Willie syndrome. It's a rare syndrome and one of the effects is that their hypothalamus doesn't work meaning that their brain doesn't ever tell them when they are full. So they are starving all the time. If not watched, they literally would eat them selves to death. It's pretty intense and a very difficult thing to live with. So us missionaries (about 50 of us) took care of all the children while their parents were in classes learning. It was seriously so incredible. My companion and I along with 6 other elders helped out with the group of siblings.  Those kids are saints. They expressed the challenges of having a sibling with PWS. It is not easy. My companion and I were in charge of

10 children between 6-8 years old. We played lots of games and had lots of yummy food and icecream. I loved these children. I truly felt the savior's love for each child. Ironically in my scripture study this weekend I read 3 nephi 17. Verse 24 says

"24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them."

Now, I am no angel, but it felt like a heavenly opportunity to administer to these children. We had to be careful because there are a lot of rules about what we can and can't do with children as missionaries. It was extremely difficult not to pick them up. Haha. I love being a missionary more than anything. I understand so much more as to why we are commanded to be like a little child. I loved the opportunity to feel a little of how Christ felt in 3 Nephi 17 with the young children gathered around. Oh to be like a child, innocent, pure, forgiving, understanding, and able to love so quickly and unconditionally. This church is true. Jesus is the Christ and loves each one of us no matter who we are. I'm grateful for the time I have had this last year to become a new person through Him. I hope to become just what the scriptures instruct- like a little child.

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

The Hunters Creek Zone

My group of Ninos

My soul twin Ryleigh (she's a heart stealer)

Some Polaroids the kids took

Serving Sister Nelson by helping her put up her Christmas Tree:)
#PumpedForChristmas

These two adorable studs!

The Gospel Blesses Families

Wow. Hermana Robbins and I are already off to a great transfer. We visited the Pacheco family on Tuesday and they told us how they drove by the temple and they wanted to go on a tour. So we made about a billion phone calls and found some members to come with us. It was absolutely amazing! The sprit was so thick. (I mean, it was the temple. How could it not be?) They were all so excited and recognized the difference. I love the temple. I also really loved going back to my beloved Windy Ridge. :)

I've been reading in 3rd nephi and holy moly. There are some serious similarities to our day. However, my love for my savior has grown so much. He is there for us. It makes His heart ache when we turn from in in sin. I know Jesus Christ lives. I am grateful for His sacrifice, resurrection, and Atonement. I highly recommend reading 3rd nephi!

Sorry for the short email this week. I hope all is well! Florida is still beautiful and I love it with my whole heart!

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Missionary "Fun"

This week was pretty good! Hermana Robbins and I are staying together for another transfer! This begins transfer 10/13 😬 Time is going to fast. We went to Wild Florida for p-day as a Zone. Saw lots of cool gators. Got a haircut by a goat. It was a good time.

We had a few experiences this week where we got to watch firsthand how the Gospel brings people comfort. Hermana Robbins and I were looking at our (very large) area map prayerfully deciding where to go. We legit both felt promoted to go to this very specific complex. This was crazy because our area covers 3 towns and we both picked the exact same place. So obviously a serious miracle was about to go down. So we went and talked to several people and knocked several doors. Nothing super big happened until the last door. A lady opens up. She wasn't Spanish, but obviously we still wanted to try to share the gospel with her. She invited us in and was very tearful the whole time. Honestly this story isn't THAT exciting. Nothing really came from it. We shared a powerful message about Gods love. She told us she never lets missionaries in, but something inside her told her to let us in. We left feeling good and like that was the reason we needed to be there.

Until Sunday happened. A member of the English ward came up to us crying and asked if we were the missionaries who drove the red Toyota corolla. He then told us about how he is going through a really hard time and was driving and said a prayer that god would comfort him.

Apparently at that exact moment we drove past and he took that as his sign that God loved Him and was aware of him. So who knows the true reason we both felt promoted to go to that specific complex. The point is, God is real and hears and answers prayers.

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Ice-cream selfie

We love the Book of Mormon

Buena Ventura ward missionaries.  All but one of the elders are leaving. 
We are all pretty sad:(

When I still thought the goat was cute

When the goat decided my hair needed to be cut

Gators

More gators

Hunters Creek Zone

Cool missionary quote from
Elder Anderson's talk: This is a Miracle

Happy Halloween!

Hello everyone!

To be honest, I really can't remember hardly anything from this week.

It was a good week though! We found several new people to teach! We began teaching a 9 year old girl. Her family has sadly become less active and now that she is 9, she needs the missionary lessons. She is absolutely darling though. She knows so much and really wants to be baptized. We just have to help the rest of her family catch that same flame and come back to church.

In my studies of the Book of Mormon this week, I was right in the deep war chapters with Captain Moroni. These chapters get me so pumped! The world we live in now is ugly. There is a lot of wickedness and corruption. The freedoms we enjoy are getting harder and harder to keep. I admire the values of Captain Moroni and how he leads his people. His focus is on edifying and protecting his people and their cities. That should be our goal as well. What are we fighting for?

What are we fighting against? What would we write on our title of Liberty? I truly love the Book of Mormon. It is written for our day so we know just how to navigate through the rough times that are currently upon us and soon to come. READ IT!

I love you all and hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Selfie

Ward Halloween party. A member gave us ears 

so I guess I was a cat..... also Elder (Parker) Zollinger

 is in the back. It's been fun serving around a friend from home!

New Beginnings for Buena Ventura

Helloooo!!!!!!! 

Wow. There is just so many good things to talk about this week. First off, Buena Ventura (my current area) upgraded this week! Buena Ventura is a branch that has a good 200+ people attending. Super huge. But this week WE BECAME A WARD!!!! I'm honestly so excited. The members are too. We have known something big was coming for a few weeks but didn't know what. The missionaries before me did some amazing things to help Buena Ventura become strong enough to make this step. 

We had some really incredible lessons this week! I'm not really sure what was in my cereal every morning, but I was pretty bold with people this week. I'm just kinda over putting up with people's laziness and excuses so I just straight up taught Repentance this week. To be honest, I regret nothing. It was actually pretty exhilarating to be so bold. I think I'm going to keep it up. 

Sunday after church we stopped by Armando. He is an investigator we met a few weeks ago. He seemed so sad and lost. Defiantly prepared. But then he became difficult to contact. So Sunday we'd had enough and just decided to stop by. He opened the door and we talked to him about how Important our message is and that he needs to hear it. He told us how he wasn't happy. And I told him that we could help him. I told him to give our message a try for 4 weeks. To do everything we tell him, and if by 4 weeks he doesn't feel any happier then we will go on our way and never bother him again. I have the faith that this is true. I KNOW this gospel blesses our lives and makes us happier than we could be any other way. I issue the same challenge to all of you. If there is some part of your life where you feel sadness, I ask, actually, I Implore you to do the little things. Read, pray, and go to church. Do it sincerely and I promise that you will find joy.  

I love this work with my whole heart. I know it is true. God lives. Jesus is the Christ. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and a HUGE blessing from God. 

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Visit from Bishop and Sister Lemon

Fiesta en Florida!

First off I want to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes! It was

an AMAZING birthday! I was defiantly spoiled by members, missionaries,

my companion, and loved ones back home. There is no better way to

celebrate than serving the Lord. Also, feels real good to be 20!!!

We boxed food again for Puerto Rico and our group of 8 missionaries

put together  1600 boxes of food in 4 hours. Boom.

In my studies this week I was studying in Joseph Smith History. I

learned something really cool that I wanted to share. These verses

happen right before Joseph smith sees the angel Moroni.

28 the space of time which intervened between the time I had the

vision and the year eighteen hundred and twenty-three--having been

forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of

very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my

friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be

deluded to have endeavored in a proper and affectionate manner to have

reclaimed me--I was left to all kinds of temptations; and, mingling

with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors,

and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature;

which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in

the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me

guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such

was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes

associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that

character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as

I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who

recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery

temperament.

29 In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my

weakness and imperfections; when, on the evening of the

above-mentioned twenty-first of September, after I had retired to my

bed for the night, I betook myself to prayer and supplication to

Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for

a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing

before him; for I had full confidence in obtaining a divine

manifestation, as I previously had one.

Joseph smith was in the act of repenting before receiving revelation.

HOW COOL IS THAT?! I have such a strong testimony of Repentance. It is

such a blessing. We need to be clean vessels in order to receive

spiritual guidance from the Lord.

I love this work with my whole heart! I am grateful the temperatures

are finally come down. Haha. I hope all is well in each of your lives!

Con amor,

🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

Birthday Celebrations

Service!

Celebrating my birthday with the Davila Family

Opening a gift from my dad

Family crest from my dad
(inside joke and he got me good)

Hermana Robbins and I contacting by a cool lake

Dia de Espanidad party.  Super rad Spanish party!