Hello my family and friends,

Well, I needed some time to gather my thoughts before I wrote this. I've always been a pretty open person when it comes to my feelings and I'm not one to hide the struggles that I'm facing! For the past four months I've struggled and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression.  It's not something that I've ever experienced before and honestly it wasn't something I thought I would be writing about now.  Unfortunately, my situation was mishandled and as a result for the last three weeks I've been experiencing physical symptoms that could not be remedied in country. Without going into anymore detail, I was advised by my mission president and the church doctors in both Chile and SLC that I return home to get proper care and to get healthy again.

So I'm home now, taking one day at a time and focusing on my health. I have already felt some improvement being here with my family during this time, and I am very thankful for that. I absolutely loved the eight months that I spent in Chile for my mission, and though my time there was cut short, I learned so much about myself and about the love my Heavenly Father has for me and for all of His children, and it has been a huge blessing.  Even though it was very difficult to leave all of the friends that I had made in Chile (friends that had turned into family), the overall feeling I have had since I left...is peace. I know that the Lord has a plan for me, and that even when things don't always make sense, I can put my faith in Him and let Him share the weight of my burdens. This is a priceless lesson I have learned during the last eight months.

This brings me to my blog. Now that I have come home...I wondered what I would do with it! I considered just ending it here. But I realized that I can't be the only missionary that has had or will have a challenge like this while serving. If my struggle can help anyone, then it's worth it to me to continue my blog.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures with my dear family of Chile. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have known them and spent time with them. I will always hold this beloved country and people close to my heart :)

Vivi and her mother, Rosa. Vivi always took care of me when
I was sick and reminded me SO much of my mom,
 so it was the biggest comfort for me. Les amo...

The Alarcon Pino Family! For most of my mission,
they fed us almost every Sunday and I am so
grateful for their constant kindness and love!

                                               

Hermana Campillay (to my right) gave me lunch every Tuesday
 for almost my entire mission...she, her children, and her grandchildren
became like family to me. They taught me so much about unconditional
LOVE and I will never forget them for that.

Gabriela and her beautiful kids Matias and Antonia!
I always will remember ringing her doorbell and having her kids
look outside to see who it was, and when they realized it was the
sister missionaries they would scream,
"HERMANAS!" and run up and hug us :)

The Quezada Family...one of the first families I visited on my first day
 in the mission field. They have three younger boys and it was a
BIG comfort for me to be around them so often because
they reminded me of my own crazy brothers!

LA FAMILIA GALVEZ! I truly felt like a part of this family.
They made me feel so comfortable, so loved, and so accepted.
They also called me "Hermana Seis Semanas" because I ALSO
visited them my first day in the mission field, when I understood absolutely
no Spanish, and when they asked me questions, I would
just answer "seis semanas" or "six weeks" because I always
thought they were asking how much time I
had in the mission! Love this family so much.

Mi querida Susy Kate...te quiero
muchisimo, corazon. Gracias por tu cari

My dear, sweet convert and her mom. Beatrice Andrea and
Beatrice Marcela. They changed me and strengthened me so much
during the time that I knew them...they are living proof
that God knows me and knows how to comfort me.
Les amo tanto.

Patricia, one of the strongest women I have ever met.
With all of the challenges she has had in her life, she has only
 given her very best and has been such an example
of perseverance to me. Gracias por todo!

Rosario is crazy...but always seemed to brighten
 my day no matter what. I love you!

The Leon Family--Hector and Soledad. Wow, these people
treated me like their own daughter and it was exactly what I needed.
I was lucky enough to have Hector as my Ward Mission Leader, so
I was able to see them many times during the week and it was such
a great tender mercy for me. It was so hard to leave my second parents.

The Sister Missionaries of Cordillera! Me and my
wonderful companion, Hermana Valladares, and Hermana
Martin and Hermana Alcantara :)

The Garate Family... they are investigating the church and
we literally just CLICKED! I felt so close to them, and we
have such a strong connection. They are more of a testimony to
 me that my Heavenly Father knows WHO I need in my life.

My sweet, loving companion who taught me so much about
the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. I will be forever grateful
to her and the lessons we learned together that made us grow even closer.

Cajon de Maipo!

One of the most beautiful families ever--Mauricio, Francisca, and
Bruno. They were always so willing to help me and my companion,
 and were nice enough to take us to Cajon de Maipo my last day!
Les quiero!!

My companion's first contact with SNOW.

it was actually pretty miserable trying to get this picture.

Love me some Chile.

My true loves, Hermana Altamirano, Hermana Jimenez,
and Hermana Vasquez. STAKE CORDILLERA!

I felt the love.

Had to say goodbye to my first companion ever, my companion from
 the CCM. She was a crucial element of support and love for
me since the very beginning!! LOVE YOU SHAY!

xoxo,
Kenzie :)

HELLO!

Lets play "What sickness does Hermana Randall have this week?"

Ulcers...? No. Tonsilitis...? No. Sinus infection...? YES! hahahaha

Its okay, we can all make a joke out of how my body is completely failing on me. hahah. But no, in all seriousness, Im okay, Im alive! Just a little sick and on my 3rd antibiotic this month, is that healthy?:::::::)

Its so funny because everyone, knowing that I say Im "from Alaska" (sorry, Texas), theyre all questioning me because my body isnt really responding like Ive lived in cold weather before. hahaha. 

I thought I would show you where we spend
HOURS AND HOURS of studying every day :)

Well, this past week we had a Zone Conference with President Morgan, and let me just say, he is fantastic. What was cool about it was that I actually got the chance to sing "Lead Kindly Light" or "Divina Luz" as a musical number (started crying at the end, of course). BUT President asked me to perform it AGAIN this week, in front of half of the mission, in a conference with Elder Gonzalez of the Seventy. WOW. Im super excited and feel so honored, but Im super nervous because at this point, I dont know how Im even going to sing!

I have the worst memory ever, but I cant remember if I told you guys that Hermana Maxfield, my companion from the CCM, is living with me? She replaced Hermana Sullenger who is from a different sector, even a different ZONE but we live in the same house, weird I know. But its been super great to have her to talk to.... reminds me of how much I actually appreciated her tenderness and sweetness. 

Me and Hermana Maxfield at the MTC

Found out that my family went to Florida for the first time ever just now and I think there is a hole in my heart. hhahaha nah just kidding mom, dont even worry. I know how guilty/bad you feel :) But im so glad you guys are enjoying your time! You have no idea how much I miss and love you guys like crazy. crazzzzyyy.

xoxo

Hermana Randall

HOW ARE YOU GUYS? I hope youre enjoying the wonderful Texas summer (ha just kidding I know its miserable). This week has been better than the last week. Wanna know why? Well, just wait a minute...

First of all, whoever told me that "when it rains in Santiago the streets turn into rivers" was a liar. The streets turn into flippin oceans. I kid you not! It is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life.....hahahaha the cars are literally swimming and for some reason I find that the funniest thing ever. Earlier this week it was raining SUPER hard and me and Hna. Valladares had to go to the center of Santiago for an appointment. Welp, we came up from the metro and I literally couldnt believe how much water there was. Funny thing was, I wasnt wearing rainboots (I actually dont have rainboots) so when we took the micro and finally had to get off, the water was literally up to our knees and it was so freezing cold that I had a mini flash-back to when we were on trek in Alaska and us teenagers, dressed up as Pioneers, had to cross the glacier-fed rivers. Miserable. But instead of complaining, Hna. Valladares and I were literally laughing our heads off. It was a pretty great, painful moment.

Second of all, Beatrice Andrea was BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY and it was the most wonderful experience.

We're braiding Beatrice's hair!

It was EXTRA great because I had been planning on singing in her baptism, but I wanted it to be a suprise, since shes ALWAYS asking me to sing! Well, after the first two talks, Hno. Hector, our ward mission leader, announced that I was going to sing a special musical number and Betti whipped her head around at me with her mouth gaping! hahaha I walked up to the stand and was super nervous because I was going to sing "I Know When I Am Baptized" BUT in español, ya know. Soooo I sang "Cuando me bautice" without practicing beforehand because what is time? I dont have it. Anyway, as I began to sing, Betti's eyes WELLED up with tears. I had to look down at the words to make sure I was singing the right thing and the next this I know, Beatrice is sobbing with her hands on her face, looking at me, and I just got the warmest feeling inside. Her  mom (who is also named Beatrice) was crying too, and I looked around at the people that were there and so many people were crying. Its always been so interesting to me how strong and powerful music is. Its touch is so influential. During this moment, the Spirit was so strong, and I know He testified to every single person in that room.The rest of the baptism was beautiful.

Beatrice bore her testimony after, saying she was so thankful that we came to their house that one day, a little more than a month ago...that we changed her life. But obviously WE didnt do anything. It was all the Spirit, it was all this Gospel. It changes people. It changes families. (Little somethin extra= Hna. Valladares and I looked like complete noobs. We forgot to bring a towel so we had to dry off pobrecita Beatrice with paper towels and she was shivering and we were all laughing. hahahaha you live and you learn right)

Beatrice and Johvanny, the guy who baptized her. Hes about to leave on his mission in 2 weeks!

Beatrice with her mom and grandma

 Well, I love you guys so much. Thank you for all of your support..... you will never ever know how much I appreciate it. I LOVE YOU

xoxo
Hermana Randall

Helllllooooo,

This week has been a crazy one. Full of ups and downs...the usual. But FANTASTIC NEWS! If everything goes according to plan, Beatrice, our investigator thats 12 years old, will be baptized this Sunday! I have faith that she is prepared to make this big step! I have just fallen in LOVE with her and her mom, they are so sweet, and so loving. But I STILL dont have a picture with them... I promise to get pictures to you as soon as possible! We have another family, the Garate family--Samuel, Gloria, and Pascale, who have baptism dates, and I just love them so much. Every time we are over at their house, they give us EVERY different kind of food to eat, they always want to make us happy and I just love it. Their challenge is making it to church--that seems to be EVERYBODYS challenge. Its incredible how the attendance in our ward plummates when its raining Sunday morning! haha. I  guess I never really realized how important it is to go to church every Sunday so that we can partake of the sacrament BEFORE the mission. Sad, right?? haha that was something I needed to learn!

I received some really good news this week... after a lot of thinking and talking to the husband of one of our investigators about his mission, I decided this week to call my new mission president, President Morgan who is an absolute angel, and talk to him about the proposition of having a ukulele. You know what he told me? That is was a fantastic idea! That he knows firsthand that the Spirit can touch people so strongly through music. IT MADE ME THE HAPPIEST PERSON EVER! (Other part of the story...as I had been really looking forward to getting a ukulele, i bought one today, brought it home, started tuning it, and then bam one of the strings broke. woohoo yay me.) Also, our stake is having a really cool activity called The Voice Cordillera.... and missionaries can participate! If you know me, you already know that Im signed up :)

I love you guys so much, Im sorry I dont have any pictures to send!! BUT you all should look up Nunca Pense por David Archuleta en YouTube.... its a new song in Spanish, but its amazing...its about Family History!!! You gotta do it!! 

xoxo,

Hermana Randall

My dear family and friends,

Cambios, changes, have been made in the mission....and I AM STAYING IN CORDILLERA WITH HERMANA VALLADARES! I am so happy to say the least, because we have the most incredible ward and the most amazing investigators and I am so so so thankful for the opportunity to be in this sector just a little bit longer. Something pretty sad is that Hermana Jimenez, who was in the CCM with me, who came with me into the field, and who has lived with me for 7 months straight, has changes and is moving to another sector. She has ALWAYS been the one to make me laugh, cry with me, she is like my sister. I am going to miss her like CRAZY.

I broke down and bought a DOUBLE CHOCOLATY CHIP FRAPPUCINO

Add these are our ZONE TSHIRTS! hahaha my district leader is a goof and picked out the colors, not a big fan but I love Cordillera.

This week has been pretty rough because on top of everything, I got tonsillitis and had to take two different antibiotics and still feel pretty darn crummy but it doesnt even matter because I am in love with our investigators. Seriously. Its been almost "healing" in a way for me. To know them, to have the relationship that I have with them. Not this Sunday, but the next, our investigator Beatrice, the sweetest most loving 12 year old ever, is going to get baptized and hopefully her mom soon after! It makes me so happy because every time we are with them, they are just so eager to learn, and so loving! The mom (also named Beatrice) was going through a deep depression when we found her, when I was struggling so hard....and now she is doing so much better and hugs and cries and thanks us every time.

The Novayesky Miranda family....Mauricio is less active and his wife Fransisca is one of our investigators and their PRECIOUS son, Bruno! they came to church this Sunday and it was so great!!!!

Samuel, Gloria, and Pascal!! They have baptism dates and they are the most amazing, receptive family!!!!!!!

We have another family--a family of three. Samuel and Gloria are the parents, and Pascal is the daughter and shes 19 years old. We contacted Samuel a while ago when he happened to be outside of his house and he said we could pass by...when we did, he wasnt there, but his daughter Pascal said we could come in and wait for him! So we began to talk to her. Eventually, after our 3rd visit, the mom, Gloria, who also suffers from depression, came out of her hiding place (her room...haha) and admitted that she had been listening the whole time and now wants to know more. We go every Sunday and teach them the lessons and they are just incredible. This past lesson we taught them about the Restoration of this Gospel....and it was my turn to talk about the First Vision and Joseph Smith. All i can say is that the Spirit was so strong and after I quoted the first vision and testified ( while i had tears in my eyes) Pascal was bawling! It was such a great feeling. They tell us that they notice a HUGE difference in their week when their hermanas dont come to visit. I love them so much.  

I just want to say that love heals. Love heals whatever wounds we have. Not just the love that we have for other people, or the love that people have for us, but the love of Jesus Christ. His love is so pure and so perfect that no matter how hurt we are or how deep the wound is, His love can fix it. I am so thankful for my Savior. He has literally saved me, over and over again.
I love you allllll so much.

xoxo
Hermana Kenzie