Week 33: Pressing Forward

This week was so different! It rained everyday...  So actually it wasn't really different.

So we've been trying to think of new ways to teach the restoration. I'm sure this has been done before, but I thought of teaching with a Rubik's cube. A solved Rubik's represents the church that Christ established. Perfect in every way. But after his crucifixion am the death of his apostles, things were changed. Their authority was no
longer on the earth. The doctrine was changed. When explaining this part, we start to mix the Rubik's cube. A mixed cube represents how, because of the changes, there are so many different churches. But no side is perfected. No church had the fullness of the gospel. And then we talk about how the church was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and then I solve the cube like lightning speed, like faster than your mom can eat a chick fil a waffle fry, and then boom. Christ's church restored. The same church He established. The same doctrine. It's genius right? We put it to the test and tried using this in the street contacting. And with the very first person we tried it with, it worked. She was so engaged and thought it was so cool! We got her phone number and taught her again this week. So yeah the Rubik's cube got us a new investigator! We've been using the technique so much this week and we're seeing so much success! It's a really cool visual and it's fun!

I had an exchange with Elder Holt in Vigo this week and we had a good time! We taught one of their investigators with the Rubik's cube and it went really well! Beforehand though, the scariest thing ever happened. We were outside sitting on a bench planning how we were gonna teach, when this huge sumo wrestler approached us. He just stared at me, like he was expecting me to move so he could sit down. He didn't say anything. Just blocked my view of the sun. So I got up, and he sat down. I said hello, and he just looked at me, and I kid you not, he growled like a bear. And holy heck I was scared to death haha. He spit in my face and just kept growling. So we said have a nice a day and walked away... And thus it is.

The weather this week has been the craziest I've seen yet. Saturday was soooooo insane. It was pouring rain with like 61937mph wind. I've come to the conclusion that umbrellas don't help. They really just make life harder. It's fun. And lucky for us, all of our appointments that day just happened to fail. But the weather didn't stop us from going to work! We spent all day outside passing by homes trying to find people to teach! And in the whole day, ONE guy let us in. And this guy is gold. The guy we were looking for actually didn't live there anymore, but this new guy let us in and we talked for a while! And he's interested in learning more! We had a short lesson about the plan of salvation and it went really well! It's so amazing how the Lord will bless when we put in the effort. The weather can be really annoying, but a positive attitude and some faith makes such a difference. I LOVE missionary work. I LOVE feeling drained of energy from walking against insane wind while totally drenched, all day. I go to bed exhausted every day, but the opportunity I have to be here is so rewarding. Elder Trassierra and I find ways to make it fun. Like when we're walking outside and the weather is so bad that we can't even hear each other talk, we act out slow motion fight scenes while we walk. Haha it's the best. Especially when the wind is so crazy that you can lean forward without falling down.

Easter in Santiago... To be totally honest, I didn't even realize it was Easter until I checked my email this morning haha. Easter Holiday isn't really a thing here. Hermana Bake, one of the senior missionaries, got all of us little bags of American candy which was super nice!! And that's about all that happened this Easter. But hey I
hope all of you had an awesome holiday and dyed eggs and ate candy and stuff!

I leave you with my testimony of the Savior. I KNOW that he lives!! For that, I am here serving in Spain. Sharing this message of the redeemer of the world is the BEST. Serving a mission was a sacrifice that I'm so grateful I've made. If leaving family and friends means being drenched and cold all the time, I can't complain, because I get to do the greatest thing ever at the same time. I love my Savior. And I know that he loves me. And you. And everyone in the whole world.

I love you all! Have an awesome week!

It's still raining.

Elder Hendrix

Week 32: Don't take the cheese block

The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are getting out of here!  *dramatic gasp* The sun is shining. THE SUN IS SHINING IN SANTIAGO.

Another awesome week full of teaching and weird food!

I don't have any huge stories this time, so this is just a little update on how things are going here in Santiago!

We're working a lot with members now! This awesome for us because the members haven't always trusted the missionaries. I guess something happened a while ago with some elders offending someone, idk, but things are changing! We visited just about every member this week. I feel like they trust us and are excited to work with us! It's awesome!

The Bujan family invited us over for food this week... I love that family, but chicken feet and rice pudding don't really work in the same meal. It was interesting... I'm glad I got to experience chicken feet, but if I never had it again, that would be ok. Everyone in Spain makes rice pudding for dessert. I don't understand why. It's not
dessert. It's literally rice and milk. Dessert doesn't really exist here... Like the other day we went had lunch with a member named Belenda, and the postre was a block of cheese. A block of straight cheese. And Spaniards love that stuff. Like Belenda destroyed that thing like it was a Texas Roadhouse roll. I don't get it.

We met with Pedro, an investigator, twice this week. He's doing really well! He's always asking questions and really enjoys the lessons. Were just trying to get him to wake up on Sunday to go to church! He has a 13-year-old sister named Cielo that the Hermanas are teaching. They live with their mom in a piso. The mom is super nice and is really supportive. She tells us she loves when we come over cause it gets Pedro out of his room haha. She doesn't usually join us for the lessons, but we're trying! We want to have a noche de hogar with all 3
of them this week. We'll see!

We have English classes every Wednesday.  I LOVE teaching English! We have two classes, a beginner and more advanced. I teach the advanced one, so we do more practice with conversations. It's so much fun! We
were talking about our favorite music and this one girl said her favorite singer is Michael Buble, and I told her that I saw him in concert one time, and she started bawling. She was seriously crying. I thought she was laughing at first... But she walked out and didn't come back... I have no idea what I did.

We have a noche de hogar with these 2 guys from Ecuador every Monday night. Jose and Jonathon. They're 21 and 13 and they're brothers. They always invite a lot of their friends and the turn out keeps getting better! First it was just them 2 and one cousin. And then Jose invited 2 friends that always come. And now Jonathan brings his girlfriend. And tonight, Jose says he has another friend coming! We're so excited! Lessons in that house are soooo much fun! We sing a song, have a short lesson, and play a game and eat food. We have a good time! Hopefully, we will be able to start teaching some of these people soon! There's some solid potential!

We had an activity with branch this weekend. A tortilla de patata competition! Everyone made a tortilla and we all tasted them and voted on the best one. The winner was this less active girl named Sheila. I'm so glad she won because she seemed so happy! She came to church on Sunday and everyone was talking about how they want her recipe! Tyler and Summer got destroyed. They got last place haha.

A tortilla-making contest at church.  Tyler Haws is the
tallest one, and his wife Summer is in red.

Tyler is awesome. He's the coolest mission leader ever. He's super encouraging and always has awesome ideas. And every time we go to his house for correlation, he has American candy. And sometimes Summer
makes pancakes. It's the beeessst.

The branch threw a surprise party for a girl named Ana Clara. She turned 15 this week. Elder Trassierra and I decided to invite ourselves and we had an awesome time! We really are building great relationships with the members! Which is why we went. Kinda. I mean there was free empanadas, but the members are cool too. :)

Ok here's the crazy story of the week. A few days ago, Elder Trassierra and I were in a papelería getting some stuff laminated, when all of a sudden this random guy comes out of no where and shoves me into the wall and gets up in my face and starts yelling at me. I had noooooo idea what was going on! I couldn't understand a thing he was saying and didn't know who the heck he was or what he wanted! I've never seen this guy in my life! Some of the employees in the store came over to try to get him to come down and then he just growls "You got a problem with me? I saw you staring me down in the conference (we had stake conference last week). You can't just talk to me face to face?? If you got an issue with me you better tell me." I was scared haha I have never seen this dude in my life and had no idea what he was saying. I didn't see him at the conference. I didn't even talk to many people at the conference cause I was playing piano! But basically, I told him it must be a misunderstanding and that I have nothing against him. I guess he's actually a member, but he's been inactive for years... I'm still confused about the whole thing. But I'm pretty sure we're on ok terms now. Weird stuff. So
random. I didn't do anything I swear!

And that's about it! Things are going great here! I'm having an awesome time and I've loved every second of my mission. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to share the gospel in Spain. Being a missionary is the best ever. Definitely the best decision I've made. I love teaching others about this knowledge that we have. This
church is true!

I hope you all have an awesome week!

TELL MY MOM HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY! SHES TURNING 29.

Elder Hendrix

Week 31: Spiritual Gut Punch pt 2

Elder Hendrix at a park in Santiago.

Elders Hendrix and Trassierra at a park in Santiago.

Elder Trassierra and I are a powerhouse! We're getting so much work done! We had an amazing start to this transfer.

Elder Trassierra is from Murcia in southern Spain. Being companions with a native is really different. The culture is so different. It can frustrating and annoying at times, but I'm getting used to it. I'm just really grateful to have been raised in the greatest country in the world haha. But I really do love Elder Trassierra! He's a machine! He's motivated, he works hard, and he has a strong testimony and desire to be here. This past week has been quite an experience. My Spanish is coming along so much faster. Elder Trassierra's English is crap, so I can't really speak it much... I'm teaching him to pray in English though. He's doing good! Besides that, he knows two phrases that he says probably 50 times a day. "I own this place" and "That is just rubbish." Haha he's a funny dude. OH AND HES A PIANO WIZARD. He's sooooo good at piano. He's been playing for 10 years. He's going to study piano performance after his mission at a big music school in Málaga. We're most definitely gonna do some musical numbers together soon. He's a great missionary and I'm excited to work with him!

Anyway, this week... Not sure where to begin. It's been crazy.

We found a teaching registro in our carpeta for a guy named Gonzalo. He was taught a few years ago by some elders. We gave him a call, told him that we're the missionaries, and he actually asked us if we could meet him asap. This never happens haha so Elder Trassierra and I were so pumped. Gonzalo is from Paraguay, has lived in Santiago for 5 years, and is 21 years old. We met with him  on Thursday, and hoooooly heck it was a miracle we've been waiting for. To start, we asked him about his experience with the missionaries in the past. He said he loved meeting with them. He had great spiritual experiences learning the gospel. He went to France to study for 2 semester though, and apparently the missionaries didn't take note of it. So he was forgotten about and wasn't in contact with the missionaries when he came back. Well, last week (about 2 years later), he found his Book of Mormon in his room and felt prompted to open it up and read a little bit. Well, he didn't stop. He read the entire book in a week. And literally the very next day, he got a call from the missionaries. We were talking about his experience with this, and he explained to us that he KNOWS it is true. He said he doesn't understand it very well, but he has no doubt that it is a book full of precious truth. He said after he finished the last chapter of Moroni, he knelt down in prayer, like the missionaries taught him to do years ago, and he prayed. And he said he felt so much peace and comfort. He has received a testimony of the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon. And he said when we called him the next day, it was just another confirmation that God loves him and that this was no coincidence. And I can testify that is true! This was no coincidence! I know there was a reason why we called Gonzalo at that particular time. The Lord has prepared him. He will be baptized next month. We're so excited to see him progress and make that covenant with God. I don't even know him that well, but I have so much love for him! Hearing his testimony was so powerful. He's ready. Ah! I'll keep you updated!

Next... Pedro. Another guy we found in our carpeta. There wasn't a phone number on his registro, so we passed by his house this week. He was home and he let us in! He last heard from missionaries about 5 years ago. We taught him the Restoration of the Gospel and he was so engaged! He was asking so many questions and had so much interest! I see some solid potential in this guy. He's from Paraguay as well, and is 18 years old.

Oh next. I KNEW I LEARNED HOW TO RIDE A UNICYCLE FOR SOME REASON. We were walking around the center of Santiago doing some street contacting, when we saw this dude riding a unicycle in the plaza. And so I thought, hmm, I can ride a unicycle. So I looked at Elder Trassierra and said "Hey I'll bet you've never seen an approach this original." Haha I walked up to this 20ish year old college kid and asked him how long he's been unicycling and such and where he bought his unicycle and I told him I could ride one. He didn't believe it, so he asked me to try. And I did. I rode that thing. I may still be a bit of a greenie in the mission, but unicycling is engraved in my soul. I haven't lost it at all. Haha so there was an instant connection made. He said he's never met anyone in his life that can ride a unicycle. He started teaching me some tricks and stuff. And then I was somehow able to transition our conversation into a gospel topic and it was just perfect. Best contact ever. I always knew that all the work I put into learning to ride a unicycle wasn't for nothing haha.

Elder Hendrix riding a unicycle in Santiago.

So as I've mentioned, Tyler Haws (former BYU basketball player) is our mission leader. We had an idea of seeing if we could take investigators or less actives to see one of his games. We were almost sure that President Pack would say no, but we figured we might as well try. So I gave him a call last week and asked, and he's like "Tyler Haws? You talking Haws?! Get 6 extra tickets and we'll call it good." Hahaha so we got to see Tyler play on Saturday with my mission president and his family!! We brought 2 less actives, Jose and Jonathon. And wooooooooaaahhhh that game was amazing!!! The game ended 77 to 77. And so they went into overtime. And that ended 88 to 88. So they went overtime again! And then like halfway through that, Tyler's coach just started flipping out and threw his clipboard on the ground and walked out. It was soooooooooo intense! We're supposed to be in piso by 10:00, and at this point is was like 10:20, so I looked at President Pack and asked him if we need to head out, and he just stands up and shouts "Nobody is going anywhere until we figure out where the coach is!!!" Haha it was hilarious! I'm not a huge basketball fan, but I don't think I've ever been more into a game. It was awesome! Unfortunately, they lost 99 to 100. It was soooooo dang close!!!! And Tyler played so well! That was so cool we got to go! AND the mission president and his family came! Our less actives we brought loved it too! Ah such an awesome night!!! I got to see a basketball game on my mission hehehe.

Elder Hendrix with other missionaries and two members at
Tyler Haws' basketball game.

President and Sister Pack, their son, the missionaries and
two members at Tyler Haws' basketball game.

Anyway, this week has been such a success. Elder Trassierra and I are working in unity and getting work done! We found new investigators, less actives, and everything is just going great! We are having success up here in the north! Things are changing!

The north may not have a lot of members, and it may seem really hard to find people to teach, but it's not impossible. The start of this transfer has been amazing and I'm so grateful to be up here with Elder Trassierra. I have a testimony of the importance of exercising faith in the work. As Nephi promises us, if we press forward with faith, with a steadfastness in Christ and a brightness of hope, He will bless us. I know that He knows the challenges we face. He loves us. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to understand that our trials are only benefiting us and making us stronger. If we put our trust in Him, and faithfully go forth doing His will, he will perform miracles in front of us. I KNOW this is TRUE!

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Santiago should have won.

Elder Hendrix

Week 30: La Carrera

So as I've mentioned in previous emails, the work here in Santiago is slower and a bit discouraging sometimes. We haven't had many teaching opportunities. The relationship between the members and the missionaries is not great. We really don't have any of their support for some reason. I think there was a companionship a long time ago that might have offended them or something, so it has been really difficult to work with them. We really want to change that because, with their help and support, Santiago could have some serious potential. So our district got together one day this week and we started brainstorming. What is an activity we can plan to do with the branch that will provide them an opportunity to bond? I went on a split with another Elder in my zone, and he was telling me that they are having a ton of success with finding people because they plan fun activities for their branch to invite friends to. Literally all of their investigators are references from members. And that's what we need in Santiago! We need member support! And so I explained this to my district. Guys, we need to have an amazing activity with the branch that will be fun and exciting and successful. We have tried an FHE type of thing several times, but it hasn't worked out. What is something that will catch everyone's attention? What is something that they would want to invite their friends to? And then the most brilliant thing ever popped into my head. Pinewood Derby. Hahahaha what if we had a little pinewood derby in Santiago? It was just a fun idea. But then we started looking at it more seriously. We made a car out of a block of styrofoam and made wheels out of thick poster board, and it works! And then we made a track. And it worked! So we decided what the heck. Let's do this. So we went and bought a ton of styrofoam blocks and stuff for wheels. And we made little flyer things to give to members. And they are SO pumped!!! Everybody wants to do it! They're all talking about how cool their cars are gonna be and how excited they are! We've never had an activity where more than like 5 people come, so this is so exciting!!! It's gonna work!!!!! We are officially holding the first annual carrera de la Rama de Santiago on April 9. This activity is gonna be a success! Members are starting to trust us! I'll keep you all updated! Great things are happening up here!

Elder Hendrix built a pinewood (styrofoam) derby for the ward.

We had stake conference on Sunday. My companion and I had to go a few hours early because we had usher, so while we were waiting for people to start coming, I was playing some piano. And then the 70 that was presiding came up to me and asked if I would play some prelude. They never told me when to stop... So I played piano for almost 2 straight hours.. Haha it was great!

Transfers are today! I'm staying in Santiago, but Elder Wither is going to Madrid. It was a short 5 weeks with him, but it was a great experience. I love that guy! My new companion is Elder Trassierra. ANOTHER native! He's from southern Spain. His train doesn't get here until tonight, but he sounds like a cool guy! I haven't met him, but I'm excited to! This is gonna be a fun transfer!

While I wait for my new companion, I get to hang out with the Bake's all day. They took me and Hermana Bingham (who is also waiting for her new comp) to the beach again today! We went to this really famous sightseeing place called Finnesterre (end of the world). It's like a big cliff that goes over the ocean. It was sooooooo ridiculously windy. There's this tunnel place thing in the rocks where you can stand and lean forward and the wind holds you up. It's so cool! Pictures to come...

Elder Hendrix at Finnesterre (the end of the world)

This weekend has been really difficult. I received news that a very dear friend of mine has passed away. Any of you that knew Keli know that she was an amazing young woman. I am so grateful to have had such an awesome friend like her. Times like these are when I'm especially grateful to be teaching others about the plan that God has for us. I know that He knows each of us personally and knows the challenges we face. He loves us. I know that the Plan of Salvation is designed for us to be able to experience eternal joy and happiness. Keli and her family will most definitely be in my prayers.

I love you all and I'm so grateful for all of your support! Have an awesome week!

Elder Hendrix