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.