Orlando, Florida Mission

Orlando, Florida Mission

Monday, October 30, 2017

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!


Monday, October 23, 2017

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

Monday, October 16, 2017

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!


Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Haz Lo Justo

Another beautiful week in a Florida! The temperatures are definitely cooling down, so bless that! Had some cool experiences this week that really strengthened my testimony of the Restoration and the spirit.  

Sunday during personal study I was pondering about what I wanted my weekly goal to be. I decided that I wanted to work on following all spiritual promptings. Sometimes I still get that fear or talk myself out of a promoting like to knock on a specific house or talk to the person walking by. So this week I decided to improve that. I told the Lord that in my prayers and then we left for our correlation meeting before church. On our way there was a car pulled over on the side of the road. I thought, pull over and see if they need help. But then I started to talk myself out because we were already running late. I kept driving having this internal wrestle with the lord. Then I remembered my goal and turned around. When we got back the car had driven off. I felt better knowing I'd at least tried but guilty that I didn't listen the first time. I told the lord, at least I learned my lesson and proved I would follow the prompting. So flash forward to when we were driving from our appointment with Armando (which I'll get too) to dinner with the rijos family. Again, we were running late but I saw another car pulled over. I didn't even argue this time. I pulled over and asked if they needed help. They said they were in need of ATF and asked if we could go get some. They gave us cash and we drove to the gash station and got some. When we returned we helped them fill up their transmission fluid and they were on their way. Hermana Robbins commented that the reason we saw the car earlier today was to prepare us to stop for this one. The lord was seeing if we (especially me) would heed his prompting to stop. I told him I would follow the spirit and I'm staying true to that. 

Side note- In church they had the primary program and it was amazing. Little niños speaking Spanish is the cutest thing ever. My subject line is the primary theme in Spanish. Choose the right! 

After church we had a lesson with Armando which was amazing! He is so prepared. We both have a good feeling about him. He has so many questions and doubts that actually point him right to our direction. It was a spiritual lesson of the restoration. In his prayer he asked God if what we said was true, if we have a true prophet, if the Book of Mormon was true scripture, and after his prayer said that he felt the spirit so strongly. He felt happy and peaceful. He knew he got an answer. It was so cool!!!! Hermana Robbins and I were so excited and she even teared up. Missionary work is so exciting!

Con amor



🌴🌊☀️Hermana Kent☀️🌊🌴

We got to go to the temple this week and do baptisms with
a recent convert of mind and Hermana Christensen's from Semoran

Exchanges with one of my favorite people, Sister Sorensen

3 zones came together to help with a huge relieve effort
for Puerto Rico.  Packaged over 4.4 million boxes of food


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Prophets, Apostles, and New missionaries

Hello friends and family!

This week was pretty wild! My new companion is Hermana Robbins fresh from the MTC in Mexico. She is awesome! She is so eager to work hard and learn all that she can. We have already seen some cool miracles together. It's going to be a good transfer!

Wasn't conference just amazing?! If you didn't watch it, I'm sorry.
You really missed out. However, Repentance is real and Gospel Library is super cool. I loved Elder Anderson's talk! Not only was his tribute to Elder Hales very emotional, but his invitation to read and study the conference talks was very inspiring. Something that was told to me several years ago has stuck with me for every conference is "If Christ himself was speaking, would you listen more intently? Would you re-read, study, and ponder his words?" Well Those who speak at conference are called of God to carry his word unto the hearts of His children. Conference weekend is really amazing, but it is nothing if we do not continue to study the words spoken.

I love Florida! I had some serious Florida pride during conference as the state that holds my heart was mentioned. I was grateful to be part of the yellow angles mentioned! I love you all and hope all is well!


☀️Hermana Kent☀️

This picture is as rare as seeing a four leaf clover. 
All the Hermanas were together in 1 picture. This has not occurred in over a year. 
That's all. Welcome to Hermanaland
My new comp and hijita Hermana Robbins and our investigator friends

Missionary lunch between sessions