Week 53: Slackline Followup

I swear each week gets shorter and shorter. Time in the mission is weird.

This weekend was really good! We had an awesome zone training on Friday. I love my zone leaders Elder Wade and Elder Bennett. They talked a lot about being creative with finding new people. We shouldn't be afraid to put ourselves out of our comfort zone and try new things. Everyone shared ideas and things they've done before as finding activities. It was really fun! I got to participate in a musical number too which was way cool! I love every opportunity I have to do musical numbers. I sang Come Thou Fount with Hermana Wihongi who is in my district. Hermana Campbell played the guitar. It turned out pretty good I think! I'll attach a video if I can...

So once a transfer, we do a temple night as a mission with our recent converts, and so we got to go on Friday night! We took this guy named Luis who was baptized a few months ago. He's a stud! He's 17, from Venezuela and speaks perfect English. He's a cool dude. He said he really liked it! I love going to the temple. Seeing recent converts being baptized for the dead is the coolest thing ever to watch. There were about 25 converts in total that the missionaries brought that night, and for all of them it was their first time entering the temple! It was so cool to see!

Elder Hendrix and his funny zone at the Madrid temple.

Elder Hendrix and his zone at the Madrid temple.

Elder Hendrix with his zone and new converts at the
Madrid temple on August 11, 2016.

Elder Lopez, Luis (a new convert) and
Elder Hendrix at the Madrid temple.

We had an investigator in church last week named Joaquin. We had a follow up lesson with him this weekend and talked about how he liked the meetings. He said it was really repetitive and weird he didn't like it. We explained everything and the purpose of the meetings and such and he said he's willing to continue meeting with us and keep trying it! So that was a miracle! At the beginning of the lesson, I lost hope haha. He basically said there's no way he's returning. But the spirit jumped in the conversation and softened his heart so all is good!

And that's pretty much all that's happened since last p day. It's still blazing hot here. Everyone keeps saying it starts to cool down this time of year, but the temperatures just keep going up. It's not a very funny joke.

Oh I just thought of something else that happened this week! So we found this really cool family from Ecuador when we did the slackline in the park. We called them this week and invited them to a ward noche de hogar activity thing on Saturday, and they came! And they said they really liked it! We talked to them afterwards and found out that they had traveled over an hour to get there though. I felt so bad, but at the same time so grateful! They made a sacrifice to come! And they want to come back! The whole family does! We explained to them that there are missionaries in their area and there's a church that's way closer to them, so we passed their reference. And they were so grateful! The mother was saying she just felt something sweet about the building and the lesson and the missionaries and everything. I'm excited for the missionaries in her area to teach them! Moral of the story: slacklines are awesome.

I love you all! I hope you have an awesome week!

Con cariño,

Elder Hendrix

Week 52: Slack Line

It's been a crazy week! Our P day was moved to today instead of Monday this week because we went to the temple this morning. Whenever we have temple day, our P day changes to that day. So that was a highlight of the week! I love going to the temple and I'm so grateful to have one here in Madrid so close! Here are some stories from this week.

1. So we've been having a hard time trying to find new people. The area we live in is pretty dead. There are literally zero people in the streets. So we've been working hard trying to find people and come up with new creative ways to talk to people. The other day, we were in a member's home eating lunch and their TV was on, and this commercial came up and there was a dude walking on a slackline/tightrope thing across the Grand Canyon. And then I got this crazy idea of using a slackline for proselyting. Like what if we find one and set it up in a really crowded park on a weekend or something as a way to attract attention? So we decided to give it a try. Moises found one online for us and we went ahead a bought it and we got it in less than a day cause #amazonprime. So on Saturday, we went to a huge park and found two trees and set it up. Seriously, in less than 5 minutes, we had a line of like 25 people that wanted to try it. We just stopped everyone passing by and asked if they wanted to try walking on a slackline and we had a TON of success! Everyone asked why we would invite whoever to come try it rather than just use our own slackline ourselves. We talked about how we just want to follow the example of Jesus Christ and serve others and provide an opportunity for everyone to have fun. And that's how we brought up the church and stuff. And we got a ton of references! We met a really awesome family from Ecuador that we're actually gonna teach tonight. There are a bunch of little kids in the family and they had so much fun doing it! I had no idea that the slackline idea would be such a success and a great finding activity! We're excited to do it again this week and talk to more people!

The slackline that Elder Hendrix set up in
a Madrid park.

2. Our phone has hundreds of numbers saved of old investigators that we have never heard of. So we spent a lot of time this week making calls trying to figure out if these numbers are real or still exist. We called all of them, and they were either people that don't have interest anymore, or the numbers don't work. Except for one dude. One of the numbers was a guy named Angel. He said it's been a few years since he's talked to the missionaries, but he was willing to accept a visit from us. So we met him yesterday and he's actually really cool! He's a nice guy! He has two little girls. We taught him and talked about how the true church that Christ established has been restored on the earth. We talked about following the example of Christ and being baptized in His church, and Angel said of course he would do it! So it looks like we're gonna have a baptism is the next few weeks! So we're
super excited to continue meeting with him! He's a great guy and is really faithful and loves God.

3. We had three investigators in church this Sunday! Kevin, the kid we're teaching who's girlfriend is a member, was there! And it turns out he actually has quite a few friends in the ward! Later, we had two new people we're teaching. Joaquin is an old Spanish guy who's a little crazy but super nice. And then there's Dominican María who always makes us morí soñándo when we visit her. All three of them really liked church! They're progressing really well and we're excited for our upcoming appointments with them!

And that's about all I've got time for! Read the scriptures cause they're true and will help you. Have a good week!

Elder Hendrix

Week 51: Is that Kelsee's Hair?

This weekend has been difficult, but my heart is full. Today I am very grateful for a dear friend of mine from home, Trevor Lewis. Trevor has been fighting cancer for the past year and has been a champ handling it. He's been through several operations and medications, but has stayed positive. He's been a great example to me and I have so much respect for him. His friendship has been a blessing to my family. I consider him a brother. Trevor passed away this weekend. It's been a very difficult thing to process, but it makes me so grateful for the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation. Trevor died at 29 years old. I'm gonna miss him to death, but I know that this isn't where it ends. 

I'm so very grateful for God's plan that he has for us. While it's hard to handle and process, I can't help but thank my Heavenly Father for this time that I have to be teaching people that physical death isn't the end. I testify of the reality of God. He knows us all personally. He has a plan for each of us. If we exercise our faith in him, he will bless us with a confirmation that he is there. He wants us to be happy. And I testify that a knowledge of these things really do bring us happiness and comfort.

A few days ago, before even hearing this news, I had a really special experience. My companion and I were on our way to an appointment, when this construction worker ran over to us from the sight where he was working. He stopped us and introduced himself. His name was Ivan. He's from Ecuador. He explained to us that he is a member, but hadn't been to church in over 30 years. His mother had passed away and then he became angry with God and just didn't understand why something like that would happen, so he quit going to church. He was furious. I thought about what he said. It made me think about why God would give us challenges. If he wants us to be happy, why would he allow us to suffer and be miserable? 

We shared with him a scripture in Ether 12:27. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." This verse makes me think of something interesting. If we didn't know what misery or hardship was, how would we know what it's like to be happy? Trials in our lives are opportunities to exercise faith. They're opportunities to develop humility. And when we show our faith and we put our trust in God, He will bless us! And we will be happy."I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." 

We asked Ivan if he had faith that God loves him. He said yes. So we invited him to act on that faith and show God that he really believes in the blessings and comfort that come by going back to church. He agreed to do so. We passed his phone number to the missionaries that serve in his area. He went to church. For the first time in 30 years, he went to church. All because his faith was rekindled by the Holy Ghost, confirming to him that God really does know His children and wants them to show their faith so that they can be happy. We experience trials and misery so that we are able to experience joy. We should be thankful for the trials that we are given. They help us grow. They help us progress. They help us understand that we have a purpose. I know that the plan of salvation is real. 

I know that God loves us. And I know that He has Trevor in His hands.

Con cariño,

Elder Hendrix

The subject line is a Trevor quote that only like 4 of you will understand...

Week 50: Out of Time!

Elders Hendrix and Lopez in Madrid 2nd Ward.

I go home in one year today. Where the heck did time go? It's crazy.

This week was cool! We're continuing to meet with as many members as we can in attempt to work with them and get them pumped for missionary work. We had a ward activity last weekend and had a great turnout! One of the young women in the ward brought her boyfriend and we got to know him and he told us he really wanted to learn more about the church. We had two appointments with him this week and we invited him to be baptized and he said yes! So we're having a baptism on the 27th of August! We're meeting with him a few times this week to talk more about the covenant of baptism to make sure he's not just doing it for his girlfriend, but that he's doing it for himself. He really is a great kid! He's 14 and his name is Kevin. He actually came to church
yesterday and he connects really well with the other youth in the ward. So as of right now, it's looking good!

We did exchanges with the zone leaders this week and it was such a great experience! I got to spend the day with Elder Wade. He's an awesome missionary. I learned a lot of good stuff from him. He's a great teacher and I'm excited to apply what I learned into my own area here in B4!!

Sorry I'm out of time! I'll have more info next week! Love you all!

Elder Hendrix

Week 49: Barrio 4

It's been quite the week here in Barrio 4! We had an investigator that the missionaries have been teaching for a few months named Moises. And he got baptized on Saturday! He's such a cool guy! His sister, Esther, was baptized earlier this year, so the missionaries had been teaching them both and Moises finally decided to be baptized this weekend! It was a super cool experience for him! He was really happy and has such a strong testimony. I had the honor of confirming him a member of the church and giving him the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was such a sweet experience! I'm so grateful for that opportunity I had! We're really excited to continue teaching Moises and Esther. They're really great people. They're from Bolivia and they're in their 20's and they're a lot of fun!

Elders Lopez and Hendrix
with Moises at his baptism.

I love the members here so much already. The ward has about 70 active members and they're solid. This ward loves missionary work. There's so much energy here and I'm so excited to work with them! We got to visit a few families this week so I could introduce myself, and they're all just such nice people! There's a ton of Latinos here too. We have a ton of appointments to eat this week, so that's good! One thing I absolutely love about Madrid is that there are so many South American cultures here. Which means all kinds of food. Members are always feeding us unfamiliar foods. And it's awesome cause I love trying new things! The Bolivians make an empanada type thing called a salteña and they're sooooo good. It's basically a shepherds pie inside of an empanada. Basically, it's amazing.

Right now, we don't have a lot of people to teach. But we are determined to find some! We did a lot of street contacting this week and we received a lot of references, so we're super excited!

My companion Elder Lopez is a cool guy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I had his time in the mission. He's very shy and he gets discouraged about the Spanish, which is totally normal. That's how I was when I started the mission. He's only been out for three months, so I'm really excited to help him and teach him what I did to improve. Learning a language is not easy. It takes a lot of time, hard work, diligence, and patience. I'm really pumped to work with him and help him get out of his shell and build some confidence! His Spanish really is good. He just doesn't believe it, but I feel like most missionaries are like that. They're better than they think. He's a stud.

Today for P day, we played basketball with like half the mission. President Pack invited everyone to the stake center by the temple to play! So that's what we did all morning long. Fun stuff! I suck at basketball though.

Love you all! Have an awesome week!

Elder Hendrix

Week 48: Rosario's Baptism

It's been such a crazy week!

I'll start with the baptism. Rosario got dunked! Funny story... When we were filling the font, I leaned over the rail to feel the water to make sure it was warm, and I accidentally slipped and fell in. Luckily, there was only like a foot of water. So it could have been worse. But I had to run back to piso and change. But anyway, it was such an awesome day! The baptismal service was perfect. She's so awesome and I'm so happy for her and so grateful for the opportunity I had to watch her progress and take this step in her life. It's so crazy that we found her in the street just 6 weeks ago. She has come such a long way! After she was baptized, she shared her testimony and it was so sweet. This gospel really has changed her. Yesterday she was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Meeting her was such a miracle! She's already super excited to get a temple recommend and find names to take to the temple to be baptized for!

So crazy news... I got transferred. It was definitely a surprise. My companion is going home, and I got moved. So our area in Barrio 9 is getting white washed. It's so weird. It's hard to leave an area that I just barely got to, but it's been an awesome experience here. The members in B9 are amazing and I'm sad to leave them, but I'm excited for my new area in Barrio 4! My new companion is Elder Lopez. He's from Oregon and has been in the field for about 3 months. I'm super excited to work with him! Also, the Lord has called me to be district leader here. I'm so excited for this calling and for the opportunity I will have to lead!

And that's about all I have time for... Here's a picture...Have an awesome week!

Elder Hendrix

Elders Hendrix and Sasso at Rosario's baptism in Madrid, Barrio 9.

Elder Hendrix with other elders at a member's home.

Week 47: Falcon Punch!

I found the solution. You have to sleep with a frozen water bottle. I'm a genius and have beat summer.

Funniest thing ever happened this week. We had exchanges in Fuenlabrada with the zone leaders this week, so I got to go work with Elder Gonzalez. We went to visit a family in their ward, and they have this super awesome 3-year-old daughter. She reminded me a ton of my niece Cora. She was showing me her notebook she draws all her pictures in. The cover of the notebook was from Smash Bros and had Captain Falcon in the corner (greatest character of all time). I asked her if she knows what Captain Falcon says, and she said no, so I taught her the "Falcon PUNCH" move that he does. So during our conversation with the family, she was off in the other side of the room falcon punching the air. Meanwhile, the dad walked in and gave us each a bowl of chips to eat. Later, the girl walked towards us being crazy and swinging her arms all over the place. She got too close to where we were sitting and she accidentally hit my bowl of chips, and it went flying out of my hands, straight into the TV and put a big crack in it, and then the bowl fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. There was glass everywhere. Everyone just went silent and she looked like she was about to cry. But then all of a sudden she throws her fist in the air and yells "FALCON PUNCH!!!" Oh man it was the funniest thing! Luckily, her parents weren't mad, they actually laughed too. But wow I felt so bad! haha. Basically, you shouldn't teach kids how to play real life Nintendo...

So Rosario is doing so good! She's getting baptized THIS WEEKEND! She had her baptismal interview this week and it went really well! She's a little nervous, but super excited! I'll report on it next week!

There's this dude in our ward named Franklin. He's from Bolivia and got back from his mission in a Chile a few months ago. He goes on splits with us all the time. He's such a stud! Yesterday, he was showing us some pictures of his mission and talking about all of his experiences and stuff.  He said there was a kid in his last district that was a stud on the piano and played super good and he said that he reminds him of me. He did a ton of musical numbers. He showed me a video of this missionary playing the piano and singing, and it turns out, I know this guy! It's Chip Hixon!! Franklin served in Chip's mission and was his district leader before he left! Small world!

Before the mission, I hated fish. I just refused to eat it. I thought it was so gross. But ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to testify of the changes that happen to those who serve. I love fish now. This week, we had 3 food appointments with members in one day, all fish. I was soooooo full at the end of that day, but I'm not even mad. The Ecuadorians make some awesome Ceviche. It's basically raw fish in a salad. And it's super good! We had a lot of that this week.

Today for P day, we went bowling with some investigators and less actives and it was so fun!! Wasn't my best day for bowling unfortunately... But it's ok. The important part is that they all had a good time!

Transfers are next week! Updates to come! Love you all! Have a great week!

SHOUTOUT TO AMERICA FOR BEING THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! USA USA USA USA USA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Elder Hendrix