Hello my dear family! 

Just need to say, HAPPY FATHERS DAY, DAD! I love you so much and I hope you had the best, most relaxing day because you deserve it. I miss you guys more than you know. Seriously. I cant wait to give each of you a BIG HUG in 12 months!

This week has been a roller coaster for me, but its been full of new experiences, good experiences. I have noticed over the weeks that my love for the people here, especially my sector, especially my ward, has grown tremendously. I love them with all of my heart. I think everyone wants to feel accepted, to feel loved, to feel like they have a place, right? Well my ward has done a great job of helping me feel that way and i am so thankful for that. They have been such a blessing to me. Im not going to lie, I have been struggling a lot these past 6 weeks, but people here are incredible and have helped me so much.

My companion Hermana Valladares

Every Tuesday we have had lunch with Hermana Campillay, the sweetest, most precious and tender 86 year old grandma you will ever meet. She doesnt have much, her and her two children have their own families and kids and they all share a house with separate rooms and a bathroom outside. But every week she gives us the most incredible meal, always making sure we are stuffed to the brim. This week I was still struggling... and the day we had lunch with her I was a little grumpy. I remember sitting at the little table in her bedroom eating her food and thinking of all of the problems that i felt like i had. i remember feeling so sorry for myself. after the meal, we shared a scripture with her and were thanking her for always giving us so much love. You know what she said to me? She said she felt guilty sometimes in the mornings, when she would make a cup of tea and eat some bread because she knew that people were out in the cold, suffering. SHE, Hermana Campillay with her humble home and her humble life, felt bad for being so fortunate. This taught me a really big lesson that day. Though I may be struggling sometimes, there are always people who are struggling more, and my job as a missionary is to bring the joy of the gospel to their lives. 

Kade, Koy, Eli, I love you guys more than you will ever know. I hope youre enjoying this summer!! Make the most of it, okay? MAKE GOOD CHOICES, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR, do I sound like mom yet? :)

Mom and Dad, thank you for all you do for me. I promise I appreciate you guys more than you know. I love you all so much and miss you to death!!!

xoxo

Hermana Randall

i love you guys so much!

I was so glad to read all of your emails...thank you so much for all of your strength. I sincerely believe that Heavenly Father talks to me sometimes through other people, and it was so good and so comforting to read your words. Have I mentioned that I miss you guys so much? Cuz its true. 

Some really interesting things happened this week. Where do I start? WELL first of all, Hermana Mayor, my roommate from Argentina that Ive lived with for 5 months is going home :( Turns out her ankle issure that she has been having for about 2 months was actually a lot worse than everyone said and she has to go home for recovery. That was pretty sad, but were excited for her to get better so that she can come back out!! NEXT we have an investigator named Franco, who is a 17 year old who is friends with a member of our ward. We went over to his house this week to meet with him and guess what he said to me? He goes, "Hermana, listen...I dont want to sound creepy, but I think I know you." Yeah, totally sounded creepy, but next he yelled, "I HAVE SEEN ALL OF YOUR YOUTUBE VIDEOS. YOURE AMAZING." Hahahahaha craziest thing ever. Its crazy when you feel like a nobody sometimes, a gringa lost in Chile, and then someone says they KNOW you...the you before the mission. So that happened. Then later on in the week we were at a recent converts house, Patricia, and she said, "You will never believe who I was just watching on YouTube. Some girl named Kenzie Randall....." You can imagine how shocked I was because I have NEVER mentioned anything, but turns out she was on Facebook and saw an ad for me? Im not sure. THEN you will never believe. The other Hermanas in our ward were visiting a family yesterday night.... and apparently I was on some news channel in Chile. They played my video and said that I was a talented solo artist on YouTube.... Anyway, they paused the TV and took a picture with me! CRAZY, right?? I definitely never expected any of this to happen!

Random story... Today a drunk girl came up to us and started hugging us and calling us angels. She started telling us these crazy stories and would just sling herself on us and start kissing our cheeks but when I say kissing, they were not pecks. We had slober all over our face it was awful. It was probably the weirdest experience ever. hahahaha. 

Well, this week I am very grateful for the tender mercies from my Heavenly Father. I was on divisions in Diego Portales this week and I was with Hermana Rivero and we were teaching a less active member, and she wanted to share a video with her from LDS. org. She was trying to describe it to me, and I literally didnt understand anything. But when she pulled it up, it was the video thats called "The Light of Christ" I think...the one about the guy telling his life story while hes walking in the desert? hahaha sounds crazy but we watched it together before the mission. DANG it was something that I needed to hear. Ive learned that when we have trials in life, and were praying for the burden to be lifted, we often dont receive that freedom of the trial, but the Lord gives us little assurances, little tender mercies. Elder Bednar said that these assurances "do not occur randomly or merely by coincedence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts and frequently the Lords timing helps us to recognize them." I know that is true. No matter how much I struggle, the Lord is always going to help me if I just keep trying. He will never leave me, He never leaves any of us. 

i have a weakness for dogs.
always petting them.
always loving them

I love you all so much and Im so thankful for your support. You will never understand how much you mean to me.

xoxo

Hermana Randall

Hello my dear family.

I miss you all so much... like crazy. I dont think I will ever get past the point of missing you guys. Im so glad to hear that schools out and that you guys get to rest finally! HA just kidding we know rest isnt a thing in the Randall family. Kade and Eli, I hope you guys are enjoying your camps this week! I cant wait to hear about them! And Koy, I hope youre enjoying life at home this week as an only child :)

This week has been pretty hard. I have felt like I am being tested all of the time and its got me pretty discouraged. The mission is NOT all rainbows and butterflies haha. There are definitely times when I feel like theres a raincloud following me around all day. BUT through all of this I am thankful. At least, I am trying to be. I know that these trials, these difficulties that I am going through are for my own good. That in the end, Im going to look back on this time and cherish it because im going to see HOW much I truly grew. But for now, Ive just got to rely on the grace of my Savior to help strengthen me. 

Today I am very thankful for my companion. She has been a rock solid support for me. Its funny how God knows exactly who and what I need, even when I think I know whats better. We had the opportunity to take some recent converts to tour the temple grounds this week and it was a really great experience! I not only felt the Spirit, but I got to develop some really great relationships with the members in my ward and it was very fulfilling for me. 

Finally, family, friends, acquaintances. I just want you all to know of my love for the Book of Mormon. It has changed me as a person. It has constantly given me answers to my questions. If you have not read the Book of Mormon, or dont know what it is, I encourage you to read it! Read it because it is the most correct book on this Earth, a book with a very special and sincere promise. If you've read the Book of Mormon, great!!! i encourage you to read it EVERY day and not only read it, but study it. You will notice a difference.

I love you all!!!

Hermana Randall

 The verduleria where we buy our fruit every pday! its th cutest... haha

We had intercambios with Hermana Vasquez from Peru (from Pirque). Love these girls.

mi corazon

And as always, Im a huge fan of Hermana Jimenez.
 She CRACKS me up, and allllways makes me smile. So thankful for her!

Hermana Amarel (who i met on facebook before the mission
and was in my district in the CCM)
 was one of our guides for the temple grounds tour!!
I love her to death!

Me and Hermana Valladares with Ceci! 

Our group at the temple!! We went with Patricia and her sister Ceci.
They are both angels and I love them so much.
It was such a great experience because the Spirit was so strong. 

Carlos is about to turn 18 and hes getting his mission papers ready!
Its really funny because he REALLY wants to go to the
States on his mission, so he is ALWAYS wanting to practice English!

 At the temple with a recent convert, Joaquin, and a member in our ward, Carlos!

The temple at dusk...beautiful!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA! I hope you had such a great week, because you deserve it more than anything! I was seriously so happy to see that you guys got to make a little time in your hectic week to celebrate it with such a cute cake and BEAUTIFUL flowers. Im impressed Dad and boys.... good work :) 

This week has been a lot better than the last. I have learned many things and I feel like I am growing from the constant struggles that I have. FIRST OFF heres pretty crazy news. I am now in a trio. We think its only for this week, but its because Hermana Mayor has had a pretty bad sprained ankle for a long time...so bad that she cant walk very much and has to rest a lot because its constantly bothering her! This has gone on for about 2 months. She was in a boot for an ENTIRE change and nothing has changed, so President and Hermana Wright decided that she needed to rest for a week in there house! Anyway, that left my dear friend Hermana Jimenez without a companion, obviously. So this week we get to be a trio. Its really funny because Ive heard all about how DIFFICULT a trio is and can be, but never ever dreamed I would have the chance to try one out! Well this is my chance. This week should be interesting!!

 TRIO WOOP WOOP...
 Cordillera officially has a trio for this week. 

Me and Hermana Valladares

We have made a lot of progress this week with our investigators. Remember Samuel? Precious, sweetheart Samuel (from Up)? Well for a while he was not progressing much at all because he just WOULD NOT for the life of him go to church. He didnt want to make the effort. It was the most frustrating thing because I literally love him so much....I want him to be able to ENJOY the blessings of this gospel and he knows its true, he has said it so many times and he just never could take that baby step of acting on his faith. WELL on Thursday Hermana Valladares and I were out in the street and we get this call from Hermana Wright, the spouse of our mission president, and she said she wanted to go out prostelyting with us because President had a meeting in our sector. WE ALMOST DIED because how nerve wracking is that?? haha. We had 2 set appointments during the time that she would be with us, and of course, when we called to verify them, they cancelled on us! HA oh the life of a missionary, right? So when we were with Hermana Wright, we decided to go visit a certain family, hoping that they happened to be there so we could teach someone! As we are walking to there house, we happen to walk right past Samuels house and he just HAPPENS to be outside! Of course, being the sweetest human being, he tells us to come in. We had a lesson with him on The Plan of Salvation...the crazy thing is, he was so intrigued by it even though he has been taught by missionaries for a year! it was like he had never heard it before. We ended the lesson and began to talk about baptism again, but Samuel said he didnt know why he could take a little baby step. He didnt know why he was so scared of commitment. Thats when Hermana Wright told him that he should read Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon....the best chapter EVER if you want to learn more about faith. Honestly, I thought "there is NO way that he has never read this chapter before...". WELL we had an appointment with him on Saturday, just me and Hermana Valladares this time. He hadnt read the chapter all the way through, so we decided to read it with him and let me tell you... something changed in him. He was so thoughtful, reading each verse over and over. Then he would stop, and start thinking out loud. Finally he said "Thats it, Im going to exercise my faith and Im going to go to church tomorrow. BUT im going to go alone. I dont want anyone to have to help me. Im going to go!" I honestly COULD not believe it. It was literally a miracle.

The next day was Sunday and was Ward Conference. And guess who was there? Samuel. We sat right next to him during all of sacrament and he was very attentive and asked a lot of questions. He didnt say much afterwards (hes a very thoughtful person) but seemed to be very content and the ward members were SO good at coming up and introducing themselves and making him feel comfortable. I just have to say that I know God is our loving Father. He listens to us. He knows the needs of each one of us. He hears our silent, unspoken prayers. He knows Samuel, and I have complete faith that He is answering Samuels prayers, he just hasnt recognized it yet. 

me and hermana sullenger... we have become SUCH great friends.
I seriously love her so much!! Shes from Utah,
and has been out on her mission for almost 7 months.
its crazy to think that shes the only one
i get to speak english with on a daily basis!!

 

The language is coming along really well (at least I feel like it is). We had a lesson with new investigators this week...two cute grandparents and their son who is like 40 years old....and during the middle of the lesson I was talking about this earthly life in the plan of Salvation and the old man, Fernando, began to smile really big. He finally said "I just have to say, I am SO IMPRESSED with your Spanish. Youre an American and you can speak so incredibly well!!!!" Okay I feel like he was just trying to make me feel good, but oh well, it worked!!! it made me so happy. Its been a really good week and im praying that I can do some more growing this week. Tomorrow we get to take a recent convert to the temple to do a little tour of the temple grounds and one of our investigators is probably going to be able to come too! I know that they will be able to feel the peace and comfort that the Spirit brings. 

ZONE PICS!!!!!!!! from zone conference this week....
our last with President and Hermana Wright!! sad day...

I love you guys so much, and I am SO thankful for this Gospel. Remember to always say your prayers and to read your scriptures every day, even if its just a little verse or part of a chapter. I promise that doing that will bless us so much!!!! I love you guys SO MUCH!! Until next week!

SHOUTOUT TO MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WORLD, JOSHUA KELLER, WHO JUST GOT HOME FROM HIS

MISSION IN THAILAND. Josh, I cant believe youre finally home....it seems like it was just yesterday that you left! I love you tons and Im so happy you get to be with your family!! Congrats!!!

xoxo

Hermana Randall

"The Lords got this"

Hello ALL,

I hit my official 5 month mark this week! Woohoo!

I hope you guys have had a wonderful week! Before I start, I have GOT to wish my wonderful, amazing, talented, loving mother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I have to say, one of the best compliments EVER that Ive gotten so much on my mission is that I look just like you, mom. Everyone says that when I show them pics of my family, and it always makes me the happiest girl. You are an angel, momma. I hope you have the best day tomorrow! Just know that I will be singing happy birthday to you alllll day long in my head.

Oh, I also just want to say how grateful I am for those who have sacrificed their lives for our wonderful country. This Memorial Day I may be very far from home, but my heart is forever grateful for the men and women who put their lives on the line for the love for their country. What heroes they are to me. Dad, thank you for being my hero and for teaching me through your sacrifices. I love you!

My trip to the temple was AMAZING!

me encanta ver el templo

This week has not only been the hardest week of my mission, but the hardest week of my life. I dont want anyone to think i am being dramatic or using those words lightly, because it truly has been a very rough week. The rough thing about it, is that I almost cant tell you why. BUT I can tell you one thing that I have been learning. That Satan is real. In the Church, we focus a lot on the love that Jesus Christ has for us. He is the center of our beliefs, He is the head of our Church and He guides us every day. But I think sometimes we forget to acknowledge that Satan too has a purpose...he has a plan and that plan is to make us as miserable as he can. This week I had really been struggilng with so many feeling of self doubt, lack of confidence, etc. It got so bad that I couldnt sleep at night. I couldnt stop thinking about the fact that I felt so inadequate to be a missionary, so unprepared to teach the gospel. Then, it got to the point where I was asking myself, "wait, do I even have a testimony?" Of course, I began freaking myself out. LUCKILY I had the support of my amazing companion, Hermana Valladares, and another missionary in my pension, Hermana Sullenger. They both gave me unconditional love and advice, that literally answered my prayers with exactness. I was able to go to the temple and feel of the Spirit SO strongly...a feeling of insurmountable peace overcame me, and I wept because im so grateful for my Father in Heaven and His love for me. I also had the chance to receive a priesthood blessing from my Ward Mission Leader, Hermano Leon which made a world of difference. I was told that in the premortal life, when we lived with our Father before this life, Satan also knew me.....and he knew how loyal I was to my Heavenly Father. He knows my weaknesses and shortcomings, and knows that as a missionary, I want to be as successful as possible. I can truly tell you that I have felt him attacking me from all sides, but that it has only been through my Savior that I have remained sane. Im so grateful for the tender mercies that I have in my life. 

I went on intercambios in tridad on Saturday
 while Hermana Valladares was at the temple.
I got to see Hermana Miller!!!! LOVE HER
We flew out of DFW the same day!

The temple at night! I love this place with all of my heart.

 Well, now its time to brag about my companion. 

Dang, I got so lucky. Honestly at first, I was a little frustrated with the way things were going with me and Hermana Valladares. But through the trials that we have gone through this week, we have grown so close. She is so strong, and such an example to me...IN A GOOD WAY! She has been there with me every step of the way, and is always 100% willing to help me out when i am having a moment of weakness. I feel so much love from my Heavenly Father because of her. He knows me, and He loves me. He knows what I need, and I am so grateful for that.

 Me and Hermana Valladares!! AH horrible picture, but shes the greatest.

I love this Gospel so much! I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is always waiting for us with open arms. 

Hope you all have a great week!!

xoxo,
Hermana Randall

Hey Fam Bam,

How are you guys this week?? Sounds like everything is going great with the crazy basketball and school life!! Haha its so funny reading your emails about how crazy and packed the weekends can be sometimes with basketball, but I honestly miss it so much. Weird? Yes...but its the truth. 

This week has been filled with its ups and downs, thats for sure. But I definitely can be thankful to the Lord for giving me so many experiences to grow from. Hermana Valladares is a really fantastic missionary...she is an incredible teacher, and I already have learned so much from her. Im really thankful for the example she is to me. Saying that, its definitely been an adjustment (and still is) but I know its something thats going to make me stronger. 

I had two experiences this week that really made me appreciate the mission and my companion. One was earlier this week when me and my companion were visiting a less active member (also a member of two years) and her family. She has three kids. The two 11 and 9 year olds were downstairs with us when we arrived at her house. When we walked into her house, we could just tell she was SUPER stressed. She had just gotten home from work and was helping her kids with their homework (it was English homework so i basically did all of it for them...you know, thats what missionaries are here for.. ;)  Obviously I could tell that we were probably the LAST people that she wanted to have over, she probably wanted to help her kids get ready for bed, clean up the house...etc. Then, thats when her kids started throwing full on TEMPER TANTRUMS, screaming and crying and carrying on. I felt so awful. I kept thinking, "dang...we should probably leave...get out of her hair" and a couple of times I nudged my companion, trying to hint to her. But she just shook her head. I thought, oh gosh this is awful! Heck is breaking lose and the poor lady probably doesnt want to hear from us! But my companion asked if we could sing her a hymn, and of course she said yes. As we began to sing, "I Need Thee Every Hour" you could just feel the entire mood change in the house. The Spirit was so strong, and the contention just melted away! Afterwards, we shared a small scripture and were able to talk to her about everything that was going on. It was amazing to see the example of my companion....my first instinct in this situation was to get the heck out of there! But Hermana Valladares knew that Gabriela needed to feel the Spirit in her home, and by the end of our visit, the kids were hugging their mom and saying the closing prayer. Its amazing what the Holy Ghost can do to people's every day lives! The Spirit is so powerful!

My other experience is definitely more of a miracle. As the Hermanas of Cordillera (who happen to live a street away from our Stake President), we have the responsibility of opening the Stake Center every Tuesday for our District Class. This past Tuesday we were opening it up, and this lady and her boyfriend came up to us, and she says, "Do you have something you could give to me about what your church is about?" Literally we were shocked. Someone was ASKING us to share with them? hahaha that isnt something that happens very often. Anyway, we set a day and a time that we could visit her, and that was YESTERDAY. Yesterday we stopped by her house at the time we had planned and she wasnt there....but the place that she lives is a little scary, not going to lie. There are MANY people who live in the same little complex, a bunch of people who kind of gave us the creeps. As we were walking down the street, pretty bummed that she wasnt there and pretty creeped out that we didnt want to come back, we hear people yelling after us and there she was, walking down the street towards us! Basically we were able to have a really great lesson with her, and shes AMAZING. Not only her, but her boyfriend wants to listen AND their neighbor. This shows me that when we are obedient, our Heavenly Father has complete trust in us, and will send His children our way. He can have trust that theyre in our hands. Im grateful for little miracles like this, thats for sure. 

SHOUTOUT to my brotha-from-anotha-motha for getting his mission call to ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA ASL SPEAKING this week! Im so happy for you, Alec!!!!! 

I love you guys so much, and miss you even more. Dont forget it!

Lots of love 

Hermana Randall

 Hermana Jimenez! s

Shes my friend for life!

Hermana Rivero and I! Shes one of my favorite Argentinas

 

hola como estaiii

In case you were wondering, thats some Chilean spanish for ya. 

Well, I dont want to save the best part for last....I LOVED SKYPING WITH THE BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD LAST NIGHT! It was the sweetest experience for me, but definitely scared me at how much you boys are growing up. Its only been 5 months and holy cow, you guys are turning into men and I dont like it! But Im seriously so pround of the MEN that you are becoming. I love and look up to you so much! It was really funny because as soon as I heard your guys' voices, and heard someone say, "mom, stop..." I felt at home. hahaha I love our family. I sobbed my eyes out for a solid 5 min and had makeup running all down my face!! They thought I was crazy! dang i had missed you guys way to much. i felt like i was right back at home!

This week has been rough, but it has been worth it. With every freshly new companionship there comes challenges and adjustments, of course. I expected that. As hard as this transition has been, I feel like the best that I can do is just pray and ask for patience. Every companion that I have had and am going to have has something to offer me...there is something that I need to learn from the experiences that I have with them, from their different way of growing up, from the way that they handle stress...etc. Thats definitely easier said than done and i would be lying if I said that I dont get frustrated and that its all rainbows and flowers haha. BUT theres something that the Lord needs me to learn, and maybe there is something that I can offer to my companions as well.

my windowsill...that temple is the temple in guayaquil, ecuador....
where lexis serving and it makes me think of her! love you lex!

Well, we have two new baptismal dates with a girl names Pamela and Veronica for June 7th. They are both amazing girls, both have kids and are both divorced. Its crazy to see the peace that the Gospel brings to their lives. We had a lesson with Pamela this week....and at the end of it she was explaining to us that its just the craziest thing, because when she is with us, she has the craziest, best feeling inside...that its something different that she has never felt before. It was a great experience for me to be able to tell her that that feeling that she has, is the Holy Ghost and he testifies of truth and that those feelings that she was having, the reason why she was on the verge of tears and didnt know why, was because of that. She is a great woman with great faith, and I am really looking forward to teaching her again and having her progress! Its the kind of thing that I want SO bad for her because I know how much peace its going to bring her, I know how happy she is going to be.

LANGUAGE WISE, this week has been awesome. Its been a GREAT blessing having a companion who only speaks Spanish and who happens to be very patient as well. I feel like I can actually communicate with people, have an actual conversation with these people. Yeah, it might not be super advanced, but my understanding has come along so much. I have so much more confidence now, because of it! I have really truly grown to love my ward so much, and Im starting to feel a part of it now. The ward members are so supportive and so loving to me. We have a FANTASTIC youth group, who are always willing to help us when we need it! I love the mission, and i love Cordillera! this place is amazing, and I consider it such a priviledge to serve here.

This scripture has come to mean a lot to me on my mission...for more than one reason. Don't forget it...

"Y ésta es la confianza que tenemos en él: que si pedimos alguna cosa conforme a su voluntad, él nos oye." 

1 Juan 5:14

xoxo

Hermana Randall

my companion is somewhat of a master chef. haha 

but honestly, I really love her cooking. 

typical honduranian meals, apparently! love it.