Sister Emma Kener in Florianopolis, Brazil

hello my good people of america! this week was an interesting one. it started off good with zone conference. (i had tons of christmas cards waiting for me! so thank you so so much for the kind gesture, meant so much to me!). then a day or two later we got hit with a huge rainstorm which ended up flooding our house.  so we spent the entire day pushing the water out with brooms.  and to top it off, the storm caused a power outage so we had no power for the night, which meant we had no fans!!!! i wish you could all experience just how hot my room was that night.  so at 2:00 am, i got creative, lathered up with my icy hot, and moved my mattress down by the back door in search of a slight breeze. turns out, the bugs like that spot as well. i got like 10,000 bug bites but i'm picking my battles these days and at that moment, sleep won.  my comp was sick a lot too so it wasn't a super successful week for us, but on sunday we had a baptism! cute little 11 year old stefani an...

it's soooo hot here!  i sleep with a wet towel and put icy hot all over my body, but it doesn't help.  i'm jealous of all the snow back home! the bugs are a force to be reckoned with as well, lets just say Amber Kilgore would not do well here haha!  we're still kind of figuring out this new area.  the people can't say kener so they call me kinder ovo, cause apparently that's easier to say? go figure.  we do a lot of knocking, but not a lot of talking.  the people don't seem to be as nice here, but the members are great! we did have a baptism this week in our ward so that was cool and there is a nice American family in my ward who is from Saratoga Springs, Utah!  never underestimate the power of a friendly face!  my comp sis mendes has some limitations walking, so she wasn't super happy with me making her walk to the top of the hill to knock a door, but no pain, no gain, is the english phrase im teaching her. all in all, things are good here a...

well folks, i left my child (sis crofts) in my beloved Imbituba, and now i'm on the island of Floripa! my new area is called Rio Tavares and i'm training another newbie, sister mendes from Sao Paulo.  although I am so sad to leave Imbituba, i am grateful for this new experience and i know that the Lord has prepared a way for me here in Rio Tavares. highlights from my last week in Imbituba: - our cute investigator Janaina gave us much needed pedicures last week! - ate some diabetes worthy churros to celebrate the last week of training Sister Crofts! - found some dope sand dunes while waiting for the bus, couldn't resist rolling around in them - and last but not least, we put 2 people on dates for baptism just yesterday!  unfortunately, I won't be there for their baptisms, but I am SO excited for Tomas and Marlene nonetheless:) here's tons of pics of goodbyes and all that fun stuff.  i am feeling extra grateful for the members of Imbituba...vou sentir ...

ola americans! 8 months in and i'm feeling like a native these days! highlights of the week:  - jefersons baptism on the beach! (dope right?)   - drank coconut juice while sitting in hammocks  - bought the famous brazilian "canga" (beach cover-up) to blend in with the locals! ....but obviously for use post mission because i'm obedient:) just your average week here in missao floripa! ;)  not too much time to write today sorry folks but here's a whole lotta pics for you guys. boa semana!!  love sista kener www.emma.kener@myldsmail.net

olaaaaaaa! hope you all had a fab christmas! i got the best gift this year getting to talk to my keenweens :) sure miss those punks. christmas here is different, i think i prefer it in the US but its all part of the experience nonetheless.  a few highlights from this week:  - having american breakfast on christmas with americans  - one of our investigators was asking us why we walk so far each day and i said well we don't have a car and then her son offered us a ride..naturally we said no thanks and she replied "yeah i guess Jesus didn't have a car either"  hahaha touche girlie - update on Luiz's cigar intake: he let me take his last pack away from him... and then bought more yesterday sooo were gonna need some love and prayers from my good americans. por favor  - and last the best of all the game, we have a baptism this week!! my good friend jeferson is getting baptized in the ocean on saturday! i am so beyond happy for him. he has come so far and ...

Merry Christmas eve cuties!! Some highlights this week : -i got an early Christmas present last pday when we found a ZARA in Florianopolis!! I was one happy girl if you can imagine. -we had Christmas conference this week with the entire mission and it was so fun! It was so cool to finally get to meet all the missionaries in our mission and see all my friends again. -summer here in Imbituba is soooo hot during the day and then 5 oclock hits and we just get wrecked w rain and lightning. But you know what they say about the rain on the mission… #espososmaisbonitos (husbands get hotter when you work in the rain) #blessings - we have an investigator that is super super catholic. every time we teach him he really ends up doing most of the talking about his religion. last week we went into our last lesson because we were going to have to drop him and i asked him if he believes that Christ will come again and he said yes. and i said ok well then I guess we will fin...