Week 68: Gaining understanding

Elder Hendrix in Los Cristianos.

Hey there!

This week was good! I really like this area here in Tenerife. The weather has been soooooo amazing! It's like 70 degrees every day. We wake up early to go run on the beach pretty frequently. The mission is the best haha.

I really like the members here. The ward has about 45 active members and they've all great! I love our bishop too. He's such a champ. He's from Argentina and has lived in Spain for a long time. He's one of the smartest guys I've met. He helps us with lessons a lot and he is so helpful. His name is Obispo Beccaceci. I love how supportive he is.

This week we had several incredible lessons! We have some great investigators, one of which is Jyoti. Jyoti is from India and has been meeting with the missionaries for several months now. She's the nicest woman! She has been keeping commitments and is progressing really well! I see so much potential in her and I'm excited to see her continue to strengthen her testimony. Our lessons with her are very spiritual. This week we went over the word of wisdom. She had several doubts about not being able to drink coffee, but we were able to explain it to the best of our ability, and with the help of the spirit she was able to understand. It may not seem like coffee is damaging, but I testify that God is all-knowing and has a knowledge much greater than ours. He has given us the commandment of the word of wisdom because He knows that it will benefit us. And these benefits are not only temporal, but also spiritual. I know that God wants to bless us and that he wants us to protect our bodies. And what better way to protect our bodies than following the instructions that our Heavenly Father has given us? Sometimes we may not understand why He gives us certain commandments, but we just have to trust Him. And as confidence in Him grows, our understanding will grow. Like Bruce R. McConkie has explained, understanding is gained by obedience. And that statement applies to every commandment that we have been given. If we don't understand it, then maybe that's an invitation to try it. Obedience really does result in understanding! 

We had a cool spirit gut punch this week. One morning, when we were originally planning on doing our weekly planning session, we had the impression of passing by an old investigator to see if she was home. Her name is Alexandra. We've been trying to pass by her house and trying to get a hold of her for months, but we've never had any luck. Elder Knaphus and I decided to change our planning session to the next morning so we could go see if she was home. So we took a long bus ride out to the pueblo where she lives, we knocked on her door, and sure enough! She was there! We had a nice conversation with her and were able to help her rekindle those desires to learn about the gospel. She's such a sweet lady. She's going out of town this week, but she promised to meet with us when she comes home. I'm so excited to teach her! We learned a lot about patience with this experience, as well as listening to the spirit. Don't give up on someone! Everybody deserves the opportunity to hear the gospel! 

Today we had an interesting start to P day today. We went to the store to buy our groceries and Elder Knaphus tried to pull a cool stunt, but it didn't work. He picked up a box of Oreos off the shelf and tried to throw it across the aisle into the cart, but right as he tossed it a woman walked in the way and he ended up throwing the box right at her face. It was a lot more intense than it sounds, but basically it was hilarious.

We had a zone training this week! Our zone is all of the islands in the Canaries. So they put all of the missionaries on two islands and then on a Skype call. Tenerife was one of the islands, so we got to stay here with half the zone. But yeah it was a good meeting! My district did a musical number and it went well! We sang Señor te necesito and my companion played the guitar. He's a pro on the guitar. He's been teaching me a lot of songs lately. He bought a ukulele last week, so we've been having some good jam sessions. Anyway, after the zone meeting, the senior couple in northern Tenerife made us Thanksgiving dinner! It was super good! Except we didn't have turkey or pumpkin pie cause those things don't exist here really, so we had a bunch of ham. It was good!

And that's about it for this week! Love you all! Have a good week!

Week 67: Tenerife

Elder Hendrix in a tree in Tenerife.

Overlooking the island.

Still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm preaching the gospel on a tiny island just off the coast of Africa that was once an active volcano. Cool stuff.

It's been a crazy first week here in Tenerife! I already love this place! It's way different from Madrid. It's way warmer to begin with. It's a cool 70 degrees with a nice breeze all day, every day. I've been in short sleeves every day. It's been great. It's sunny every day. The island has a ton of palm trees. Oh and our piso is a 30 second walk from the beach. I have nothing to complain about. We have a beautiful view of the island from our balcony in our piso. I love this place! We leave the back door open every night so the breeze comes in, so I've had zero problems sleeping. I know you're so jealous Aunt Carly! I could brag all day long about this paradise I'm in. Not only do I get to testify of Jesus Christ every day, but I get to do it on a tropical island. How could it get any better? The only downfall is that we have to buy our own water because the tap will turn you into a zombie.

Anyway, the work is interesting. Street contacting is a little difficult because about 90% of the people we talk to in the street are tourists from other parts of Europe. And half of the time they don't speak Spanish or English. So it's hard finding new people to teach off the street, but it's been so interesting having conversations with these people! We've met a ton of English people. It's so weird contacting in English. I much rather prefer Spanish. I don't even know what to say in English. 

The ward here is great. There's about 40-50 active members in the ward, which is a ton compared to the other islands. A lot of them are Italians. There's actually a ton of Italians that live here on the island. So it's been interesting studying a little bit of Italian this week! I'm learning very basic conversation stuff. There are so many cultures here. Not nearly as many South Americans as Madrid. Its mostly native Canarians, Italians, Spaniards, and Africans. It's weird to think that I'm still in Spain. There is a Peruvian family in this ward though, which is fantastic because Peruvian food has come to be my favorite. Bishop Bececcecci is the coolest guy ever. He's from Argentina and has lived here in Tenerife for quite a while. He's so supportive and loves missionary work, so I'm really excited to work with him! He helps us out with lessons pretty frequently. There's a kid named Luis in the ward from Mexico, who is also a stud. He made us real Mexican tacos one day this week which was awesome. I remember before the mission I always thought that typical Spanish food would be like Mexican, but it's not at all. So it was nice to have some real Mexican food.

Moving on... We have several investigators that are champs! They're some good people who have desires to change and follow Christ. We've had a few very powerful lessons this week. I'm very grateful for my companion, Elder Knaphus. We're a powerhouse together. He's a really hard worker and has such a strong testimony. Oh and he plays the guitar super well! I managed to get my guitar on the plane over here, which was such a smart move in my opinion. He's been teaching me some cool songs. He bought a ukulele today for P-day, so now we're all set to have some solid jam sessions. So yeah, he's a stud. Actually, let me explain to you guys how much of a stud he is: He killed a fly one day this week by flicking it right out of the air. I kid you not.

We teach English classes on Tuesdays and Fridays. They've been a huge success as a finding activity! This past Tuesday, we had 22 people in our class. And ZERO of them are members. So we have a lot of potential investigators. A ton of people in Tenerife apparently want to learn English! We also have a Book of Mormon reading class one day a week, where we just read out of the Book of Mormon and help people understand it. There are a few less actives that come, and we even have one investigator that comes regularly.

We spend a ton of time traveling. Most of the members and the people we teach live in small pueblos outside of Los Cristianos. We probably average 2-3 hours on buses each day. Buses here are called GuaGuas. OH THE BANANAS HERE ARE ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS. The banana farms here in Tenerife ship to all over Europe. The biggest banana company on the continent is here. Anyway, we spend a lot of time traveling.

So basically, I love my new area. And the ocean smell. And the bananas. I'm so grateful for work here and for all of the people. As I mentioned, there are a ton of tourists here in Los Cristianos, so contacting as a method of finding has been rough, but it's still so cool to be able to at least invite these people to listen. I love meeting people from all over the world and getting to know different cultures. I love being a missionary. I love teaching. I'm so grateful to be here. I'm happy, healthy, and I feel so close to the spirit. I thank all of you for your love and support!

Have an awesome week!

Elder Hendrix and his district at a restaurant.

Elder Hendrix with his district.

Elder Hendrix with his district and a local member.

Week 66: Island bound

I got transferred! Leaving barrio 4 has been very hard. I loved that area so much. I made so many great friends and I just have so much love for those people there. Yesterday was my last day, so after church we just spent the rest of the evening visiting members and saying my farewells. Being in that area was such an amazing experience. I was able to witness so many miracles. One thing I do like about being transferred is reflecting on the time I spent in the area. It's hard to say goodbye, but at the same time I am so happy and grateful for all the experiences I had. My faith and testimony increased there. I'm so grateful for all those miracles and for the spirit I felt there!

I'm now in my fifth area. In the Canary Islands! I got transferred to the islands!! I'm so excited! The name of my island is Tenerife. I'll be serving in Los Cristianos with Elder Knaphus. I just arrived this afternoon. All it took to get here was a 30 minute metro ride, a 3 hour flight, 20 minute bus ride, and then another 2 hour bus ride. We live in a crater of a volcano, so that's cool. It's a lot warmer here than Madrid! It's pretty humid. There's trees and beaches and it's sunny all the time, so this will definitely be interesting! Updates to come!

And that's about all the time I got... Have an awesome week!

Elder Hendrix

Looking out the airplane window on
 Los Cristianos, Canary Islands.

Week 65: Rejection isn't failure

Today I'm grateful for hot water. I love that stuff. And I miss it so much. It's getting pretty dang cold over here Hortaleza town, and the cold showers just keep on getting colder. We don't have hot water. Actually, very few people do here. But it's ok. I'll just take a really, really long hot shower at home in 8 months.

Anyway, this week was long, but good! Good things are happening in barrio 4.

I love the youth in this ward! They're some good kids! Something new that we've started doing is a youth noche de hogar every Tuesday night. And so far, it has been a huge success! We did it last week for the first time. We taught a lesson and played a game and the youth really seemed to enjoy it! Or at least I assume they did, because at the one this week, everyone brought friends! More and more youth are coming, so we're really excited. I love how these jóvenes have such strong desires to invite their friends to these activities!

We had a cool experience in the street this week. We were on our way to a lesson with a potential investigator, but he unfortunately failed us when we arrived. He wasn't home. So as a backup plan, we decided to street contact in the area. We had a cool conversation with the very first guy we stopped. It was a old Spaniard named Julian. We stopped him and asked how he was doing. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and begun talking about God and stuff. Julian explained to us that he believes God exists, but that his faith is decreasing. He wants to redevelop his testimony of the love that God has for his children, but it has been very difficult lately. He had several questions about why bad things happen to good people. For a lot of people, it's difficult to comprehend the fact that we have a loving Heavenly Father who really does want all of His children to be happy, while there is so much tragedy in the world. We talked for about an hour. It was a nice conversation. I was able to testify with all my heart of the reality of God, and that He really does love all of His children. Sometimes we wonder why God isn't manifesting himself unto us. We wait and wait and wait and wait, and we keep on waiting, expecting to find answers to our questions. But maybe an unanswered question is an invitation to look for ourselves. I know that if we do our part and we really show our faith and really work to show God that we want answers, He will bless us and give them to us. Those of you who may be waiting for answers to questions, I invite you to reflect and what you've done personally to find an answer. Anyway, Julian ended up denying a second discussion, but I feel very strongly that he left feeling inspired with increased faith. We often have great street contacts that don't end up accepting a second visit, but I'm always grateful to at least have been able to share my testimony. Rejection can be discouraging sometimes, but the thing that keeps me going is the frequent reminder from the spirit of the importance of this work. Julian had the opportunity to hear hear the gospel. And it makes me happy when I reflect on my day and write down the experiences I'm having. I just love being a missionary! 

And that's about what happened this week. As always, I appreciate all the love and support each of you give me! I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Hendrix