Week 77: Where's the IHOP?

We had a fun ward activity this week! We had the idea of doing an American dinner thing, and the most American thing we could think of that can be found here was pancakes. So we made pancakes for the whole ward! We had tons of toppings and whipped cream and stuff. Everyone loved it! The bishopric wants us to do it every month now. It was easy and cheap and it was very successful! We didn't have as many members show up as we wanted, but we had several investigators there! They loved it! It was cool for them to be able to interact with members as well and get to know them. Before the food, we shared the message of the restoration. We began teaching and just took a few minutes to introduce the topic, and then we watched the 20 minute version of the Joseph Smith Restoration movie. It was really cool to share it with all of our friends we're teaching! 

So fun story. I went to Gran Canaria this week! I had to do an exchange over there. So I got to take a quick flight over there. It was weird being alone for the trip haha. But I was able to spend some time with the Zone Leaders, one of which being Elder Lords! He was in my district in the MTC and I hadn't talked to him forever, so that was cool to catch up with him. He's a great missionary. I was able to learn some great things from being with him for the day. I flew back here to Tenerife this weekend. The flight back was so cool. It was only 20 minutes long but man, the views were incredible. The air was really clear that day, and you could see all 7 of the Canary Islands. 

Today for P day, a member took us hiking! We saw some amazing scenery! We hiked up a huge mountain here in the southern part of Tenerife. Roundtrip we walked 9 miles. And there was nothing flat about that hike. It was brutal. I'm dead. But it was so worth it! I'll try to send pics...

Anyway, I'm doing good here in the greatest island in the world. I love Tenerife so much!

Until next week!

Elder Hendrix

Week 76: Thomas the Train

We have some of the most inspiring people in our ward. There's a man named Thomas who's from Ghana. He has lived here in Tenerife for several years. He's one of the most humble men I know. About 6 months ago, he got in a bad accident at work, which destroyed several nerves in his legs. He was originally told that he would never be able to use his legs again. He had completely lost feeling in them. He was in a wheelchair unable to do hardly anything on his own for several months. But after a few operations, he was back up on his legs and using a walker. He was making an amazing recovery. And now, half a year after the accident, he's on crutches. He always walks on his own without help. It can take him 3-4 minutes to walk 20 feet, but he does it. His progress has been incredible. 

The inspiring part of this story however, is the fact that Thomas hasn't missed a single Sunday in church since the accident. He wakes up very early each week to dress himself, which is already difficult enough I can imagine, and makes his way down a flight of stairs where a member of the ward is always waiting for him in a car. Getting ready in the morning and then going down stairs is a fight in itself for this man, but his faith in the blessings of keeping the sabbath day holy is amazing. Thomas has 2 young kids who he absolutely cherishes. They're always right there with him cheering him on when he goes down the stairs to the car each Sunday. This man's desires have been a testimony builder to me. It makes me think about those days when I was younger and I was too lazy to wake up early for seminary or mission prep. If this man, who doesn't even have working legs, can go to church every Sunday, then so can I. But I can testify that going to church really is a blessing. God has blessed us with the physical ability to go, so be grateful for it and go! The opportunity we have to participate in the sacrament is beautiful. It's something that our Heavenly Father has given us because He loves us. 

Another inspiration in the ward is Paul. He's a young man who, like Thomas, doesn't have functioning legs. He has been in a wheelchair his entire life because of a defect he was born with. Each Sunday, he passes the sacrament. I love watching him roll up to the sacrament table after the priests bless the bread. He happily takes the tray and proceeds to pass it through each row in the congregation. Paul always has a smile on his face. These two men, Paul and Thomas, are a great reminder to me that everybody has the potential to experience the blessings of this gospel. It doesn't matter how big our challenges are. The blessings of coming to church and living the gospel outweigh any trial or pain we may be experiencing.

Anyway, this week was pretty great! We had zone conference with president. We talked a lot about repentance and how we, as missionaries, can better teach our investigators about the importance of repenting. We often teach investigators that repenting means to leave the sin completely, which is obviously an essential part of the repentance process. But a good point he brought up was that we should teach these people that we need to replace the sin with something new and better at the same time. We often hear repentance defined as "change." But I feel like if we define it with the word "replacement", it has a newer and more profound meaning. So let's take the sins we've committed and replace them with something better! Let's take coffee and replace it with hot chocolate. Let's take pornography and replace it with Disney movies. Let's take bad language and replace it with bad lip reading quotes. Repentance is very uplifting and results in a much happier lifestyle. So don't be afraid to repent! God wants us to be happy! And repentance is the happiest thing ever! :) I loved the zone conference. I was able to do a musical number as well! I did a piano solo of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It went really well! The conference overall was very motivating and encouraging. I'm grateful for all that I learned and I'm excited to apply it in the work!

And that's about it for this week. I'm so grateful to be a missionary! My testimony has grown this week, as well as my stomach. Seriously. There's a Peruvian member family here that fed us like a 342 course meal yesterday and I'm still recovering. 

Have a great week! 

Elder Hendrix

Elder Hendrix feeding a lemur at Monkey Park.

A lemur gets a snack from Elder Hendrix.

Week 75: Serving in English

I LOVE teaching English class. We teach on Tuesdays and Fridays. We have a lot of people that come regularly and they all love it! The hermanas teach the beginner class with a bunch of little kids, and we teach the advanced class. We usually have anywhere from 5 to 15 people come. And we have a lot of fun! We usually a basic grammar principle and then play a game to practice. I've been here in Los Cristianos for about 2 months, and I've already seen a lot of progress in these people. It's pretty amazing. They all come so excited to learn something and practice speaking. English class has been one of our most successful finding strategies too. 

We have several investigators that were found because they started coming to English class. Carolina started coming to class a few months ago. Just recently, she said she wanted to hear about our church. She explained that we're just different and seem really happy, and she wants to know why. So we told her we would be more than willing to teach her! We met with her this week and taught her about the restoration of gospel. She said she really loved the lesson. We invited her to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized, and she accepted! So as of right now, she seems to be on track to be baptized next month. So that was a really cool experience! 

We've had several cool teaching opportunities through English class. It's such a great finding technique. And it's especially successful here in Tenerife because having a basic knowledge of English is required for pretty much every job because of all the tourism. Most of the work here is in restaurants or hotels. 

I talked a little about Mayalene and Miguel last week. They're a couple we met through English class as well. We were able to teach them again this week and it went really well! They said they discussed their baptism, and they have decided that they want to do it! They've talked and prayed about it and they feel like it's what they need to do. Man this couple is perfect. They're amazing! We're going to wait on setting a baptismal date though. They said they would like to learn a little more beforehand. Which is totally fine! We don't want to pressure them into it. They've made several friends in the ward already and they really love them! There's one family in particular, the Villalobos, who have been a huge help. They really want the investigators to feel welcome. This week, we had a lesson with Mayalene and Miguel, and Mayalene expressed how grateful she was for Hermana Villalobos. She introduced herself to the couple at church last Sunday, and they both felt very welcomed and touched. 

I know that members can make a huge impact on the investigators! It's easier to recognize the spirit when you're in a comfortable environment surrounded by good friendly influences. And so I invite each of you to remember this! If you see that the missionaries have brought a friend to church, fellowship them! That's missionary work! Participating in missionary work doesn't strictly mean tracting. It means service. It's means being charitable. Anyone can be a missionary. And those who are served (in this case, Mayalene and Miguel) feel loved! 

The work is going well, the weather is amazing, and I couldn't be happier. I love being a missionary!  Have a great week!

Elder Hendrix

Week 74: Cubans and Volcanos are neat

Tuesday was absolutely amazing! I had the most incredible experience I've ever had in my entire mission. We had the most beautiful and powerful lesson I've ever been a part of before. We taught two amazing people who are so dang prepared, Mayalene and Miguel. They're a young married couple from Cuba. We were able to discuss a gospel topic for the first time, and it was unbelievably maravilloso. I don't think I've ever felt the spirit like that in my life. It was sooo strong. Ah, it would take forever to even summarize the lesson in an email. 

Basically, like I said, this was the first time we had taught them. They're a young married couple that regularly come to English class and occasionally stay afterwards for the noche de hogar on Fridays. They even came to the ward Christmas dinner party a few weeks ago. Our friendship with them is really great. They actually cooked us a Cuban comida in the chapel one day during mediodía, and that was when we really got to know them. So they're familiar with what the church is like, but we've never formally taught them and had a discussion. A few days ago, I asked Mayalene if we could meet in the chapel with her and her husband and just chat for a little bit. They came Tuesday morning. I've been praying hard for this couple. We sat down and just started chatting, and I kept a prayer in my heart that we would be able to find a way to transition into a gospel topic. I can't describe this two hour conversation in words. It was just incredible. We taught them the restoration of the gospel. And after we finished talking about the Book of Mormon, Mayalene was in tears. Like waterfall mode. 

She started to tell a story of when they first moved here four months ago. She talked about how politically degrading Cuban government is and how it was just really hard leaving their country. They love their country, but felt like leaving would keep them stable. They thought that Spain would provide them a better lifestyle. She was crying as she explained everything. Then, she talked about her first few weeks in Tenerife. She would walk up and down the same street every day, and she always saw this little sign that said English classes on it. She saw it every day and kept on having strong impressions to call the number. "I didn't even have much interest. I guess I just wanted to go to pass the time." But she felt like she just needed to call. She talked about it with Miguel. They started coming to English class every week. We've developed such a strong friendship with them. But we had never had an actual lesson with them until this week. Mayalene explained that she now understands why that sign was put in her path. She was led to call that phone number for a reason. She said she strongly believes that this is a sign. I LOVE THIS COUPLE. Miguel started tearing up too. They asked what is required to be a member of the church. We testified about the importance of having desires to follow Christ. They accepted a baptismal invitation. They're gonna go home and talk about it and pray about it. But I KNOW THEY FELT SOMETHING. Ah man, I love the mission so much! They came to church for the first time yesterday. And they loved it! Updates to come! That lesson was just absolutely amazing. The spirit was insane. I know the church is true! The gospel is incredible! 

Moving on... We have a friend named Tonio. He's the coolest dude ever. Today he drove us up to Teide, the top of the island. It's the highest mountain in Spain. And it was totally covered in snow! So basically, we saw snow, forest, volcano rock, beach, desert, and jungle all in the same day. Gotta love Tenerife. This is the greatest place ever. And thus it is.

Have a great week!

Elder Hendrix

Elder Hendrix and the missionaries on Tenerife visit Teide,
the highest mountain on the island.

Elders Bellon and Hendrix at Teide.

Elders Hendrix and Bellon with Jose Antonio and his daughter.

Week 73: Catching buses is neat

I'm still shocked I made it through the week. It's been crazy. As I said last week, Elder Knaphus got transferred to Madrid. And I'm now training! He left on Monday, but my hijo didn't get here until Thursday. So I had to stay with the elders in the northern part of the island in a town called La Laguna. We had a fun few days together. One of the elders is Elder Jeffers, who is actually from Queen Creek, and we found out we have a lot of mutual friends! We figured out that we've been in the same place several times but we never really knew each other until the mission. So that was cool. Small world. Anyway, it was cool to be able to work in another area for a few days and see the work from a different perspective. 

Wednesday was the training meeting for the new missionaries where they get assigned their trainers. Since I'm all the way over here in the Canaries, I had to skype in. It was weird to have that meeting. I feel like just yesterday I was in my own training meeting where I was assigned my first companion. My hijo is Elder Bellon from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He flew in to Tenerife Thursday morning. He's a cool guy and excited to work! I'm so excited for this opportunity I have to train a new missionary! We've already had some great experiences together. Elder Bellon is a funny guy. He asks all the typical greenie questions. It's entertaining. "Am I allowed to go to the bathroom?" "Am I allowed to eat the cereal?" Haha! I remember my first few days in the mission field. Adjusting was rough. But its funny. Yes, you can use the freezer to freeze things. That's what the freezer is for. Yes, stop that man. No, he won't kill you. Yes, I'm sure. Elder Bellon is a funny dude. I'm grateful that the Lord has put his trust in me with this chance to train.

Elder Hendrix and his new comp, Elder Bellon.

As I mentioned, we've seen several miracles this week. My gratitude for spiritual promptings has increased tenfold. I know that God guides His missionaries. He wants us to find prepared people. He blesses us with His spirit which can be recognized according to our diligence, faithfulness, and obedience. It's so important that we're always looking for that guide throughout our missions. On Saturday, we were on our way to the guagua station where we needed to catch a bus to head to a appointment. We were almost gonna be late, so we were walking quick. The bus had just arrived and was about to leave, but I saw a man sitting on a bench nearby and I had the strongest impression that I needed to go give him a Book of Mormon. If we didn't catch that bus, we wouldn't be able to get to the lesson though. So why would the spirit tell me to go talk to someone else? Why would God's will be that we fail a lesson? I didn't understand. But I trusted in this feeling as if it were the spirit speaking to me. We left the bus and approached this man. His name was Jose David. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a minute and gave him a Book. He was the nicest man! He gave us his reference and says he would be happy to meet with us! We were able to testify of the Savior and it was a cool opportunity for Elder Bellon to express himself as well. I'm grateful he was a part of that experience. He's already seen some pretty amazing miracles in the first few days of his mission. The story gets better though. Of course we missed the bus, but then we had the thought of catching a taxi to the next bus station and attempt to catch the same bus there before it arrived. So we ran to the taxi station, and there was only one taxi. We took it. And we made it to that next bus station before the bus got there. And it only cost €3 jaja. So were able to give away a Book of Mormon to that man AND get to our appointment. Miracles happen in the mission! I know this wasn't just a coincidence!

So this past Friday was brutal. We had 4 food appointments. We had a brunch thing with this member named Jose Guzman, then we had lunch with the Villalobo family, then this Finnish member family that's here on vacation contacted us and wanted to take us out to dinner that evening, so they took us to an Argentinean restaurant and we ate a TON of meat. And then, to finish off the night, we went to a noche de hogar with a family where they fed us a Spanish tortilla. And here I am 3 days later, still recovering. I considered fasting for a few weeks afterwards.

Oh yeah...HAPPY NEW YEARS! New Years here was crazy. There was a huge party/concert thing right outside our balcony on the street that was so loud. And they had fireworks all night. I learned this weekend that Tenerife is one of the most popular places in the world to spend New Years Eve. It was cool to watch the fireworks and stuff for a while, but it started to get old after trying to fall asleep for several hours. When the alarm went off at 7:00 am, the party was still going on and the music in the street was still blasting. Oh my goodness, I have never seen that many drunk people on the way to church before. So that was great. New Years here in Tenerife is crazy.

Anyway, something we've been doing with the members a lot lately is show them this Mormon message at https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-12-21-new-years-look-not-behind-thee?lang=eng and talk about how this new year is such a great time to reflect on the past year and think about goals we want to make to improve. And so I invite each of you to do the same! Remember that change is always possible! Through the power of the atonement, we can make changes in our lives and increase our potential. I'm grateful for this new year of 2017 and for all of the exciting things that are coming up this year! 

Anyway, I love you all! Have an awesome week! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Elder Hendrix

Elders Bellon and Hendrix with Jose Antonio, a non-member friend.