Email - Jan 5th 2009

So this has been one of the most intense weeks of my life. So it has been frigid I mean FRIGGIN cold up here. It has been almost -50 all week and has gotten down to negative -60. They canceled school today because it was so cold. They cancel if it is -55 or below. We only had sacrament at church when it is below -50. So that just gives you a ballpark of how the week has been. Well so last week our pipes for our facet broke and we were with out water for a couple of days till our member that we stay with could fix it. Well he fixed it about Sunday of last week.

Then Tuesday morning we get up and it is FRIGGED in our apartment. We just thought this was just us being in delta but we looked at the thermometer and it said in 35 almost freezing. We called our member and he went down into the boil room and the door was open. What happened was that it was SO cold in the middle of the night that the door to the boiler room contracted, CONTRACTED! Crazy stuff happens when it gets this cold. Well about a foot of water got in the boiler room which we had to dump bucket upon bucket outside in -50 weather. Lets just say in was cold.

Well they called the boiler guy and he said that he had about 20 people before us he had to see. He didn't come that night but the next night he came and said that their we at least 24 cracks or ruptures in the pipes! So that first night we decided to sleep at the church cause it was WAY to cold in our apt!

Well we put to rows of chairs together and sleep their. Well in the morning I was in ALOT of pain and I didn't know what happened. It hurt to sit and lay on my back. So I toughed it our for about three days. Laying on my stomach and then that third day I started bleeding really bad where it hurt so I called Sister Dance and she called the Doctor and the doctor said I have a Pilonidal cyst! It hurts so bad! She said that I need to take a bath twice a day and that it will keep bleeding out tell it gets better. Well I am going to see a Doctor here today just to make sure.

Well we just got water back. We went almost 6 days without water and we still don't have heat. We stayed at a member’s house the past two nights but have put about 4 space heaters up in our apt to keep warm. I am really getting to experience Alaska. I don't think I have been warm since I got here and am starting to get a cold.

On top of all that 2 days ago we have our car plugged in all night and we go to start it in the morning and it won't start. Well we ask a member for a jump and tat doesn't do anything. It is just to cold for anything to function. Well a member towed our truck behind his truck to the school and we put it in there garage for about three hours and charged the battery and it started up.

This all happened at once. Well like my dad always said, "you got to go up the roller coaster before you can go down" Hopefully we can start going down now. : )

Well one of the greatest highlights of this week it that we found a new investigator! His name is Glen. He is GOLDEN! We went over there to jump his car then we got to know him and set up an appointment for a different day. His sister is a member and he just moved up from Iowa. He accepted to come to church and our members have been helping him out a lot by giving him firewood ect.

Really no matter what happened on my mission it is experiences like these when we are teaching someone and to see them completely change that makes it all worth it. I would take my mission back for ANYTHING! To see SO many people make a complete change of their life and accept the gospel. It truly makes EVERYTHING worth it. Thanks for all the support and everything!

Love Elder Kennedy