Kendrick, Noah

Greetings from the Bronx. It has been a busy couple of weeks. We haven’t had any baptisms  but have some people on date for this week and the first part of November. Last week I went to  Manhattan. I feel like I’ve been there and done that. The group I went with have all been before,  so I didn’t have to play tour guide.   On Saturday I went to Philadelphia to the temple. The Manhattan Temple is closed for  renovation so the closest is Philly. I was invited to go due to one of my recent converts getting  his endowments out. This was a person I baptized in Queens, so we were invited to attend. It  took a little over two hours to travel there by bus. We didn’t get to do any sight seeing while  there. It was a great experience to go through an endowment, see the Philadelphia Temple and  support a new member. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend the temple for about 9 months  when I was able to do baptisms for the dead in the Manhatt...

Greeting from the Bronx. It has been a busy couple of weeks. To start off, we were able to get Nurys from the Dominican Republic baptized. I talked about her in my last email. She is one of the people who had cancer. It was really special for her to get baptized. She has been looking for the assurance that everything is going to be O.K. Her baptism has brought her that peace and comfort. Her husband has been inactive for years but has started to return and has been helpful in helping teaching her. The pictures are of him with his wife. We watched General Conference at the church house. We invited everyone we could. We invited our friends we are teaching (investigators) and had one person show up at the church, but 8 people confirmed they watched it at home or on their phone. We also had 13 of our recent converts watch as well. Weather has been pretty mild. Highs are mid 70’s and lows in the 50’s. Probably a lot like home. The leaves are starting to change and fall. It is comfortable to...

Hola everyone. All is well in the Bronx. Having said that I’m in the Bronx, means I stayed here for my last transfer. It is crazy to think I am in last area. Remember though, I am staying two extra weeks. I don’t know if I will move my last two weeks for a trio. I guess I could have one two week transfer, but officially this is my last. We had a mission tour last week. This is when a General Authority comes and tours the mission, gives devotionals and meets the missionaries. Elder and Sister Daines from the Seventy came and gave two separate devotionals because of the size of the mission. Elder Daines spoke about covenants and baptism. He focused on teaching how the Savior would. It was good to remember and refocus on why we are missionaries. I have zone conference this week and I get to hear from President and Sister Taylor. This is the second zone conference since they have come into the mission. We are teaching two people who are looking good for baptism this week. Nuris from the Do...

Happy Labor Day. Everything is going well in the Bronx. I have another week and a half here then I have transfers. That will be my last full transfer before I come home. I am staying two extra weeks after my last transfer to help out a Spanish trio. I can’t believe how fast it has gone. I have loved being here and doing missionary work, yet I have missed everyone and look forward to reuniting. Since my last email, we have had another baptism. Her name is Rosa from the Dominican Republic. Rosa was a referral from the missionaries in Philadelphia. She was being taught in Philly and moved to the Bronx. We finished up the lessons and she was baptized. Last week we went to a some members houses with the bishopric. We did the sacrament for them. One was an elderly couple and the other was sick. It was amazing to be part of blessing someones life with the Priesthood. They cried in gratitude that they were not forgotten and knew the Lord was aware of them and sent his servants to bless them. L...

Hola from the Bronx. It’s been a few weeks. All is going well. I just wanted to check in where it’s been a while. There is honestly nothing new or too excited going on here. We did have a baptism last Sunday which is awesome. It was Sister Yudelky I talked about in my last email who was sick and postponed her baptism. We were able to get it scheduled and taken care of (picture below). We have been doing more street contacting and have a couple people who I believe will get baptized in the next week or two. I have faith we will keep finding people who are ready. Weather here has cooled a little. The highs are in the 80’s which makes it a lot more pleasant to be on the streets. We have had a few rainy days lately. Having said the weather isn’t to bad, the Bronx is still not the place to visit or plan a vacation. I have been studying how everything testifies of God. I have been more mindful of how even the ability, knowledge and material to build such big buildings came from God. It is am...

Greeting from New York. I wanted to write and tell everyone I’m still alive and doing well. I just had transfers and I am staying in the Bronx. Two transfers left. I got a new companion, Elder Alba from Oregon. He has been out for about 6 months. We were suppose to have a baptism this week for Sister Yudelky. She got sick so we had to postpone until this week. Sister Yudelky was found while I was on an exchange teaching in English in another area. She was invited to church and felt the peace and truthfulness of the Gospel. We taught her the lessons and she accepted the invitation to be baptized. The Bronx is a pretty rough place. I see a lot of homeless people, people with mental problems and people who are addicted to drugs. We are instructed to not make contact with them due them being in no condition to feel the spirit or accept the Gospel. It saddens my heart to see people in that condition. Regardless of the conditions of the world, my heart is full of the goodness of the true Chu...

Greeting from the Bronx. It has been a busy couple weeks. I am starting to get use to the area. The hardest thing to get use to is how there are pockets of people. In Flushing it was mostly Chinese people. The Bronx is mostly Dominicans. It is really interesting how people gather in pockets to different boroughs. I have been on a few travels the last few weeks. I spent some time in Manhattan last week and today I went to a Yankees game. The missionaries here are treated well. The Spanish people are glad to hear about the Gospel. I would explain it as, they love God and are glad to hear more about Christ. It’s the commitment that is the struggle. They make a lot of excuses like, it’s ok, I have Jesus in my heart.  The missionary work here is the same as my other areas. We do all street contacts. We work in the areas of the apartment buildings mostly. We do spend some time near stores or parks, where ever we can find the most people. We had a media referral come in from one of the Ch...