Happy Thoughtz Happy Dayz :)

Hey there!

I just need to say that yesterday was an amazing day and here's why

1. Lily Bowman, one of the most amazing gals I know, was baptized. It was probably the most beautiful baptism I've been to. It happened in the JSB 107...had no idea that there was a font in that building haha. But the room was PACKED. People were standing because there was no room. I think most of my ward was present. A boy in our ward, Aaron Potter, baptized her and Lily's roommates gave talks on the holy ghost and baptism. I hope that I never forget this event.

2. Sacrament was really really nice. Alyssa Parco gave a talk on integrity. Jacob Raymond gave a nice talk about being an example. Catherine gave a talk on the gospel in our lives. And then Zach gave a nice talk about missionary work.

3. Sunday School was excellent. Zach gave a lesson packed with a ton of themes. Honesty, Charity, and a bunch of other things. It was equally funny as it was spiritual. And at the end he read the Giving Tree which is my all time favorite book!

4. Relief Society was amazing too. Hallie gave a very insightful lesson about Temple Marriage. I liked the way she approached it.

5. I had dinner with some kids in my ward.

6. Ward prayer was hilarious!

Okay I am sleepy NIGHT

Also My parents sent me a Valentines Day package :) YAYYYYYYY LOVE THEM

Love
Kenna

I cannot wait for the mish

Sooooo my call didn't come this week :/

But it should be here next week for sure!!! I cannot wait. Here are some cool things i was looking at today...
http://hipsterrm.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/22-things-i-wish-i-would-have-known-before-my-mission/

22 things I wish I would have known before my mission

by emmilieb

Let’s get personal for a minute, guys.

I decided to post 22 things I wish I would have known before my mission.

1. It’s true. All of it. Everything we believe is really, actually, 100 percent real. I knew the Church was true, and I had always known the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true, but somewhere in the disconnect of my mind and reality it had seemed like one big great idea. Far from it, guys. It’s real. This knowledge came in really helpful as a missionary.
2. Mission calls are inspired. This is coming from the girl that prayed to God and told him he made a mistake after she got her call. False. God doesn’t make mistakes. He sends YOU to the place where YOU are needed. If you are feeling hesitant about your call, let’s be friends.
3. D & C 100:5-6. Trust me.
4. Be brave. All those times I didn’t talk to someone on the street because they looked busy or disinterested? Yeah, I wish I would have talked to them. All those times it seemed uncomfortable and I didn’t want to ruin my chances? Yeah, I should have contacted them. Talk to everyone.
5. Serve your companion. Like, all the time.
6. Don’t buy new scriptures. For the love of everything. Don’t buy new ones.
7. Your stomach will stretch. I promise you, if you don’t think you can take another bite of food during your third dinner of the night, you absolutely can. Courage, brethren, and on, on to victory.
8. You’ll forget. All those moments you think “I’ll never forget this experience, I don’t need to write it in my journal.” Write it down. You’ll forget.
9. You’re normal. One thing I learned is that every missionary that has ever tracted the face of this earth had already felt what I was feeling. I wasn’t an anomaly because sometimes I wasn’t motivated after District Meetings on Tuesdays. I wasn’t crazy because I worried about being worthy enough to be an effective vessel of the spirit. Everything I was feeling was normal. And everything you will feel will be normal. Enjoy the ride.
10. Equality. Everyone, and I mean everyone. Is a child of God. Never in your life will you have more reason to wonder, as you see some of the most bizzare or heartbreaking things, but trust me on this. We are all children of God. And he loves us dearly. Brace yourself to feel that love for the people you serve. Totally blindsided me. Totally.
11. The end does come. I promise. The end of the transfer will ALWAYS come. Six weeks isn’t eternity. Yeah, it absolutely feels like it at times. But you can do it. It’s all about love.
12. Introspection. If I ever had a problem with someone on my mission whether it was a companion, another missionary, a ward member or an investigator, it was me that had to do the changing. Every time.
13. Prayers. You will pray as you never have before, and 97 percent of it will not be for yourself. It’s great.
14. You’re going to gain weight. It’s fine. It magically comes off when you get home. Promise.
15. Be obedient. In everything. Always. 100 percent.
16. Lose yourself. I had always heard that sweet little story of “you have to lose yourself in order to find yourself.” Testimonial: it totally works, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find.
17. Get over yourself. Maybe you were a big deal on the football field. Maybe you were the best writer on your newspaper staff. Maybe you were the most beautiful and popular girl at your school. Maybe you gave the funniest talks in sacrament meeting. Cool. But you’re a missionary now, and none of that stuff really matters. What does matter is that you are doing what you can to fulfill your purpose. Because guess what? It’s so not about you. And it’s FANTASTIC.
18. Love everyone. I’m serious.
19. Study, study, study, study. You have two hours each morning. Make them count, and miracles happen. For reals.
20. Never ignore a prompting. I once had one to drive over 14 miles into what was essentially a field. Some of the greatest moments of my mission happened because of that. NEVER ignore a prompting.
21. Lock your heart. Boys are dumb. Girls are dumb. Even when they are missionaries.
22. You are enough. God has never, nor will he ever call a missionary to fail. He knows you, he knows your investigators, and YOU are enough to be His hands as you labor in His vineyard.

I love that...also, this is cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4zZH0v8DcY

LOVE LOVE LOVE

So I made a decision today. When I get my mission call, I think I am going to open it all by myself rather than with a bunch of people. Recently I have been freaking out about the timing of when I get my mission call. I wanted a lot of my friends and family to skype me and be there when I opened it. But there was always a conflict with someone, either they were out of town or unable to Skype that day, etc. In addition to this, yesterday I went to a few mission calls. There were a TONS of people crammed into this little lobby. There was one mission call after the other and idk...it just seemed really hectic, a little too hectic for me at least. Later that night I was talking to Collette and we talked about how hectic it was tonight. This morning as I was walking to class I was thinking about how I would open it up and then, I developed a plan...

When I get my call, I am going to call up my brother Stephen and immediately set up a time to get picked up by him. Then, I am going to have him drive me to the mountains and we are going to hike up. Then, he is going to give me a priesthood blessing. Then, I meander into a further part of the mountain by myself and open the envelope and read it, give myself a few moments to soak it in. Then I will run out to my brother and tell him, then go back and tell my family and friends.

I want to go to the mountains because the prophets of old were able to best connect with God up there. Moses, Joseph Smith, the brother of Jared, so many. I want to have that same spiritual connection when opening my call.

I cannot wait to do that. It will be so great and I cannot wait. Anytime now, my call will be here :)

Love,
Kenna

I love work

I need to make this a quick entry because I am sick (again) and sleepy and I have to get up at 8am. But I just gotta say that I absolutely LOVE working at the MTC cafeteria. Today I worked an extra shift and it is just so easy to meet people. I love talking to the elders and sisters when I serve them. This job is confirming my belief that whatever I career I have in the future, I will do very well working with people. It also confirms that I will be a good people-person kind of missionary and that approaching strangers shouldn't be too hard for me. Until next time :)

Love,
Kenna

Top 10 People I Would Hit Up In Heaven

Well howdy!

Well first off...I would like to share this amazing gem of a video that I found via wimp.com

http://www.wimp.com/brotherscover/

I told my roommate who is majoring in music education that she ought to teach elementary aged kids because this kind of stuff is not worth passing up.

Well today was...meh. Classes were alright. The weather was really warm today! It was partly cloudy with 44 degree weather! WOW. And I also had a really great work out today. Then I just kinda sat around watching Parks and Rec and then Collette nailed her music major audition. Then we ate food at the Cannon and went to her friend's mission call opening. She is going to Spokane WA!!! WOOOOOOO. Collette's other friend is going to Everett WA. I am convinced that Collette is going to go to Seattle. She would do so well there. WA people need to get more involved with the gospel and religion. We are lacking. We are only 5-8% religious (aka the least religious state in the nation) COOOL. So we need some missionaries down there already.

I have a lot of tests coming up and work early in the morning tomorrow so I am not doing anything fun tonight unfortunately. Oh but here is something fun...I'm goin on a date tomorrow. First date in a while so I am excited. My date is my buddy from work at the MTC. He is a real solid guy. I don't really know what we are doing yet but I will report more on that in tomorrow's entry.

The scriptures are great, today I read about the early organizations and covenants being learned by the prophets. It baffles me how small it started out and how rapidly it is increasing now. I love it. :) And with all the missionaries goin out it is just going to get bigger and bigger and better and better. YAY.

So since I do not have a lot to talk about to tonight I thought I'd do something pretty random. Make a list of the top 10 people that I would like to hit up in heaven. Why not. (This does not count Christ or Heavenly Father, they are an obvious choice. As is family and friends.)

TOP TEN PEOPLE THAT MCKENNA IS GOING TO HIT UP IN HEAVEN

#10 Glozell or whatever her real name is



I would like to personally thank her for making me literally laugh out loud at multiple times in my life.

#9 Chris Martin


Love love love Coldplay and him. I would like to let him know personally

#8 Martin Luther King Jr



One of the most influential men in history. I love his story and his words. I would love to shake his hand in heaven.

#7 Walt Disney



I love this man with all of my heart.

#6 Kid President



makes my heart smile now, he'll probably make it smile in the future too.

#5 John Locke


i hope you didn't think that I meant the philosopher. I'm talkin about John Freakin Locke from Lost. HE IS A BOSS. I know that he's not real, but idk, sometimes I secretly hope that fictional characters will exist in the millennium. If they do, then he is first on that list.

#4 Ryan Gosling


i really just want to meet him....that's it.

#3 Gordon B. Hinckley


One of the most loved men in the world. So adorable.

#2 Joseph Smith:


I have learned so much about this man in the past while and my testimony of him has grown so much. I love him and cannot wait to talk to him one day.

and finally........
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#1 George Washington:



He is SUCH A BOSS. I studied his life briefly in American Heritage last year and he is an amazing man. His #1 goal in life was to obtain a high level of being a gentleman. He was told that he would amount to nothing--BS!!!! And whenever he was present at a meeting, everyone looked up at him, and for his approval and he made the meetings legit. I think he is a boss and I can't wait to meet this guy.

Until next time.

Love,
Kenna