Christmas came a day late for our family this year. Kenzie couldn't do a video chat on Sunday and had to wait until today. There was no email update today and instead we were treated with a phone update. It was so great to hear her voice and to see the joy and excitement of being a missionary in her face. Kenzie continues to serve on the island of Santo Antao and is living in Porto Novo and is still companions with the awesome Sister Kinikini. They have a number of people interested in the church but most of them are having a hard time making commitments and progressing towards baptism. She said she loves the children and you can see from her pictures that they love her too. She said the heat and the humidity are pretty intense at times but that it also gets "cold" ... we can tell she is 100% an island girl because weather in the 65-70 range is now cold. It was really fun to hear her speak ... imagine a cross between English, Portuguese and Creole and that is how our conversation went today. Nate thought she had an accent and we all thought it was funny when she would naturally be explaining something and half of the sentence was Portuguese that we didn't understand. She struggled to find English words and then struggled to find Portuguese words. She is right at the point where Portuguese is starting to become natural for her - very cool to see the blessings of the gift of tongues. Here are a few "Kenzie" updates: 
- The bread is literally amazing
- There are so many dogs all over and there is no "population control"
- They eat tons of rice, beans, and chicken
- They really don't have a formal dinner - breakfast and lunch are the big meals there
- Missionary work is really hard and tough at times - to get through the tough times Kenzie and Sister Kinikini say laughing is the best medicine. They laugh a lot and love being together.
She apologized again for not having enough time to respond to everyone's emails. She loves and appreciates you all and loves the updates and emails she receives. She asked that we all do 3 things:
- Remember to serve others
- Always think of Christ
- Focus on one thing we want to spiritually improve in the coming year
Love - Kenzie (via Mom and Dad)
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