Elder Logan Hendrix: 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!