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.