First time I've killed off a companion. In a good way

Crazy week this week. Remember how I said I was going to Santiago? Yea, the office called us and said that I would be coming back to my sector and not staying in the city with my comp for a few days, so I didn’t pack anything. Then when we were on the bus almost in Santiago they called us again and said I would be staying in STGO for a few days after-all. So I was there from Tuesday until Friday morning in the same clothes. Talk about bad communication. Also, today we had changes. I killed Elder Lopez, (A term for when you are the last companion of a missionary who is finished with his mission) he is on a plane home now to Guatemala. My new companion is Elder Aguilera from Ecuador and yes Spanish is his first language. He has about 14 months on the mission and seems like a good Elder and I am excited to work with him here in SA. I love having native speaking companions because it forces you to speak the mission language. Although, we do practice English Because he needs to learn it. Pres. and Sis Barreiros are awesome, although it is pretty hard to understand President sometimes because of his Brazilian accent, and sometimes while speaking he switches to English without realizing. It’s pretty funny. But he wants all the Latino’s to learn to speak English and says that in a few months we are going to have a conference in English. 

Our investigators are awesome. For example la familia Fuentes is super awesome. They are progressing nicely and want to get baptized. If you remember, just 2 weeks ago Elder Lopez and I baptized a man named Sergio. When we met him he didn’t know how to read and so we taught him to read with the Book of Mormon while teaching him all the lessons too. Super awesome guy and super funny. I cannot describe to you how much of a blessing it is to be here in the service of my Heavenly Father. Not only is it extremely satisfying to bring people unto Christ, but also, I have grown my testimony exponentially here. The secret to happiness here in the mission i've learned, is to give everything to the Lord and don’t look back. Enjoy every second of the service. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my time in the MTC and pay better attention to the lessons, because the teachers there really are inspired. One more thing I know is that the gift of tongues is real, but you need to qualify for it by showing the Lord your diligence and faith.

Anyway I’m excited to be here and I’m learning so much.

Con amor,
Élder Ian J. Kennedy