I'm Being Transferred! 9-23-13

Well, the day has finally come for Sister Knecht and I to go our separate  ways :( We are pretty sad about it, we thought that we might be Eternal Companions on the Mission. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone at church and goodbye to all of the people we our teaching. Some of the ladies that we teach said that they're going to drive to see me in Manchester, haha.

This last week in Lebanon has been really good. We had some really awesome lessons with people from the fair and made good progress with our investigators that we already had. 

This last Sunday was the primary program and we had 6 of our investigators at church!!! Mauricio had a part in the primary program and he did a fantastic job. I just love Mauricio so much, he reminds me of Nick, I always tear up whenever Mauricio prays. This last week Sister Knecht asked Mauricio, " who do you want to baptize you ?" She explained that it could be one of the men in the ward or one of the missionaries, after 3 mins of thinking he said, " I want Sister Ayre to baptize me, we are really good friends" we laughed and said that it had to be a man, haha. I was flattered. 

Oh and some other really good news.......... Maria is pregnant!!!!! She hasn't been able to get pregnant for the last 11 years since she had Mauricio. It was funny because she told us that she has been really sick for the last 3 weeks and hasn't had energy. She told us that she was pretty nervous about it and told us that she was going to go into the doctor's office. So the next time we talked to her she told us that she was 4 week pregnant!! She was soooooooooooooooo happy and shocked. She knew that it was a blessing from God. The funny thing was she had been going to church for the past month and a half and has been praying for a way for her husband's heart to be softened so she can be married and baptized. She fasted also for this about 4 weeks ago exactly. We know that getting pregnant was the answer to her prayers. Maria's husband is so excited about the baby too!! 

Anyways, this last week has been filled with some really cool miracles and I am very sad to be leaving Lebanon. I am excited to see what's ahead for me in Manchester. I know that I have so much more to learn and grow and that hard changes will make you grow stronger!!! I feel so blessed for all that I have been given and the opportunity I have to serve the Lord !!! I hope all is well with you family, I can't wait to hear from you!! 

Oh and Happy Late Birthday to the Best Dad in the World!!! I miss and love you so much Dad and I am so grateful for our close relationship! I am mostly grateful to you dad for your example to me on how to be a righteous servant of the Lord. I LOVE YOU. 

Have a great week! 

Love,

Hermana Kenedi Ayre

Feeling Blessed

Dad thanks so much for your email! It really touched my heart and made me cry. It sounds like you have some amazing missionaries in your mission. The stories you shared really helped to motivate me to work harder and love bigger.

Sometimes I just can't comprehend how blessed our family is. It just baffles me how much I personally have been blessed from this Gospel and the knowledge that I have.  Whenever I think of my blessings I can't help but be brought to my knees in prayer of gratitude. We are all so blessed for this opportunity to serve Heavenly Father and give our whole attention to his work. The amazing experiences and people we will get to meet during this time will bless our lives forever.

I have pondered a lot about the story you told me concerning your mission and not wanting that to be the only highlight time you got to serve the Lord full time. I reflect on the joy that I feel on my mission and I never want it to stop. I hope as opportunities to serve the Lord continue to come that I will always be willing and able to accept. I never want my mission to stop, even though some days are really hard, haha. The personal growth I have had is incomprehensible. I can't imagine my life without this experience. I hope Amanda as well will get the special opportunity to serve a mission :) or maybe she will get married...... who knows.

Lid and Whit have sent me emails and they sound like they are just loving life!! I am so happy that they are getting married and doing good things with their lives :) I will be forever grateful to Lid and Whit for the special time I got to spend with them growing up. They were amazing examples to me.

I am doing really good in TN, there are some really challenging factors that are happening in our area right now with leadership in the ward and the Spanish group. My mission is really hard because there are hardly any Spanish people left to be taught in our area that haven't already been taught the missionary lessons. But we have sooooo many anxious English people waiting to hear the gospel and how could we deny them the opportunity to learn. So our schedules are being filled with mostly English appointments after the fair. It is hard to define who you are as a missionary when you have been called by a Prophet to speak Spanish and to grow the Spanish branches and wards in the south, but you are in an area where there are not many Spanish people. Sister K and I have to rely on the spirit every day to tell us who to teach and visit.

Anyways, transfers are coming up and I am not sure what is going to happen.

I love you family and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hna. Ayre

Golden 9-12-13

Hey how are things going? Amanda sent me an email, I hope things get better for her soon. Fall semester is hard after having such a fun summer school experience. Hey, but how are the little boys?  A boy Mauricio that we teach just turned 11 yesterday and he is just the cutest. He reminds me so much of Nick. I miss Nick and Alex a lot. Tell them that I say hello and LOVE them. 

Things with the fair referrals are really good. Yesterday we met the most amazing people ever, they are Golden. I get nervous when it comes to teaching people that are so ready to hear the gospel, BUT I know that I just have to rely on the Lord and he will direct me in all things through the spirit. 

I still haven't got the packages yet, but I think I should have them by Friday. 

Maria and Mauricio attended church for the 5th week in a row. Yep, they are ready to be baptized but she needs to get married.............. I hate that part.

Debbie our neighbor is awesome as ever. She knows everything is true. It is just a matter of time with her. We love all of our investigators so much. 

Oh and this week was full of emotions. You could make some of our mission a reality TV show because we are around so much drama.

I have been exposed to so many different life situations out here. It makes me truly grateful for you mom and for dad. It makes me really appreciate EVERYTHING I have. Being on a mission makes me so excited to get married and have a family and scared at the same time, haha. I know if I trust in the Lord and if I keep the covenants I have made with God that all will be great! 

I hope that you have a great week, 

LOVE

Hermana Ayre

 

Excited About the Referrals

I feel as if it has been forever since I wrote you. Monday was Labor Day, so the libraries were closed. This week has been great! We were crazy busy with contacting referrals from the fair and teaching all of the investigators we have already. BUT we would never complain of having too much to do, hahaha, we are so grateful for a full schedule!!!! 

Last Thursday we did a big missionary night in our ward that Sis K and I organized. We had 16 missionaries come into Lebanon and we had 15 members sign up to do splits with all of us. Then we went out and contacted a lot, a lot of referrals from the fair. Every companionship came back with amazing stories. The majority of the people who said they were interested, are interested! 

When we show up to these homes they are so excited to find out about the gospel!

One lady Sis. K and I contacted, Amber, told us that she has been looking for a church to go to. She went to church with her grandma when she was really young and then never went to church after that. She knows hardy anything about God, Jesus, Prayer, and so on. She told us that she believes that there is a God and she believes in Jesus and that is really all she knows. She expressed to us that she wants to have religion in her life and that she wants to raise her child in a church. Amber is 21 and has a cute 6 month old baby. 

Everyone had amazing stories of people they contacted, it also really fired up the ward members to do missionary work! We still have about 50 more referrals to contact in Lebanon out of the 239 referrals we received! 

Last night Sis. K and I had dinner with Maria, Mauricio, and Armando. Armando still won't allow Mauricio to be baptized and won't marry Maria yet... but we pray every day for his heart to be softened. Armando is a really nice guy, he just doesn't want anything to do with the church. Oh, and last Sunday Maria fasted for Armando's heart to be opened and that she could be baptized! We are so proud of Maria, she is amazing! We know that the Lord will provide a way for her to be baptized 1 Nephi 3:7. 

Anyways, I am doing really good and I am still LOVING Lebanon. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share the gospel with others, the Lord's work is amazing, even though it can be really hard at times. 2 Corinthians: 4 pretty well sums up what a mission is like, haha. Well, family I love you sooooooooooooooo much and I can't wait to hear how yall are doing! 

LOVE

Hermana Ayre