Twelve Days of Christmas

For Christmas we sent Angie our own version of the 12 Days of Christmas in photos. Some family members have requested I post it on her blog so they can see it.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my family gave to me- twelve photo worthy moments,

















Yes, I know there are more than 12 here- I just couldn't narrow it down!

Eleven sugar cookies,

We sent Hermana Hendrix a package of sugar cookie mix, sprinkles, cookie cutters, and frosting for her and her companion to enjoy on a p-day.

Ten tidbits from home,

Nine ugly chickens,

This is an inside joke of the family. Here are the ones I took and the rest were just pictures I found on Google.

Eight foreign figures,

Seven summer loungers,

Six busy bees,

Five crazy nuts,

Four chocoholics,

This was a picture of Shane, Stacey, Ridgely & Riley at Lake Tahoe this summer. I don't have digital copy of the picture to put on here- sorry!

Three gorgeous girls,

Two brave knights,

And a dwarf that is grumpy!

Christmas Letter

There is a tradition in our ward to have the mothers of missionaries read letters from their missionaries out in the field for the Christmas Sacrament Meeting. My dad can remember writing his "Christmas" letter to the ward when he was on his mission. Here is Hermana Hendrix's "Christmas Letter":

Dear Ward Family,
I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I left Fallon to go to Utah so that I could prepare for my time here in Florida. This holiday season has been very different from the last one. Right now I am serving in the Snapper Creek YSA branch in Miami. I love being a missionary and seeing people's lives change through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This season is an even more special time when we can focus on His birth and purpose on this earth. I had the privilege of listening to President Uchtdorf at our mission Christmas conference. It was so special to shake the hand of a prophet and to hear him testify of Jesus Christ. At the conference my mission president made a statement that really made me reflect on my relationship with my Savior and the sacrifice I am willing to make to allow him into my life. He said "There was never enough room for Him in the inn. Would you have been the inn keeper that told Him you were full? Or would you be the inn keeper that shouted out for Him to come back and give Him your bed?" How often do we invite Him into our lives? And do we make room for Him to stay? All He is waiting for is our invitation inside. As we take the sacrament each week we have the opportunity to "let Him inside" each of us. We can take His name and be like Him. We also have that opportunity when we enter the waters of baptism. When we make covenants with our Heavenly Father we can prepare ourselves to return to the mansions He has prepared for us. At that time He will welcome us into His inn, which has room for not only us but our entire family. As you share this Christmas season with those you love help them to feel the love of Christ that can radiate from each one of us as we share the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have something that they all desire- but may not know where to find it. True joy comes through obedience to the commandments of God, given to us through the scriptures and a living day prophet. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a chosen prophet of God and that he leads and guides us. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the son and that we can each know for ourselves through prayer. I know that he restored the true Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. I know that God lives, that He loves us, and that He has a plan for each one of us. I know that He sent His son to atone for our sins and to overcome death and that through Him we can be perfected. I love you all. You are always in my prayers. I hope you each have a very Merry Christmas!

Love,
Hermana Hendrix

December 13, 2010

you already knew the secret (click here to see the secret for yourself)! no fun! just kidding.

lots of crazy stuff happened this week

A- Sister Clegg had to go home for medical but will return when she gets better

B- My companion got transferred but is still in my apartment

C- Sister Denson is my new companion and she has served in this branch before so its going really good

D- This week was Christmas conference and President and Sister Uchtdorf came. I was front row and we all got to shake his hand and give her a hug. They're adorable

E- Did Niki get her Birthday package?

F- I got your Christmas Package and the fudge went the first day and the bread is almost gone

G- I have served my entire mission in Miami. All the cities I'm in have miami zipcodes. Miami is HUGE but downtown is also in my area. If you want to know where I am look up kendall which is just north of homestead

H-I LOVE YOU!
ALSO Good news! so i've had this rash on my arms/ exzema my whole mission and it has gotten so bad my hands bleed all the time and nothing worked but my new companion told me about some stuff and said it would work so I bought it. It cost $20 and I almost died but it's working SO much better! It's cerave. Some lotion cream. So expensive though! But DEFINITELY worth it. I saved all of the stuff I was supposed to and ate some of the carmels as well. as far as Christmas plans we have none and probably won't and as far as mail... I hear from Sister Felton and you... which is GREAT :) OH and I got grandpa's package. It was so like him! haha I loved it. He writes letters like dad does. On whatever he can find. I also put up the tree above my bed and it looks great. Sadly I don't recognize more than 1 or 2 kids. the first one though was Zane and that brought a huge smile to my face!
I love you SO SO SO SO MUCH!

December 6, 2010

Hey! That's cool you mentioned the new converts going to the temple thing. We have a new senior couple here and that is their whole purpose. They meet with converts right after their baptism, help them find family names, and then get them to the temple. It is going really well. The converts LOVE it and its been really fun to help them understand they're no longer the only member in their family or that they can do their own missionary work. The temple has so much power and with it being 4 hours away or so its often hard to get them there but that is all changing. It's great! This week has been hard because we are in a YSA ward and it's finals and Christmas break. It has made it hard because 90% or more of our appointments cancelled this week. I also don't know what christmas will be like because most of our investigators are going home to their families. We'll see... also can you make sure I have money in my account. Thats all I want for christmas. I just need money to buy food to make treats for people and white elephant gifts for our zone. We're having 2 of them... ridiculous and unneccesary but i got outvoted... ok that was very scrooge like... ignore that sentence. My companion is sister lima. She's from Brazil but grew up in Connecticut. other than that not much is going on. How are things going for you??
i've written to kyle a couple of times but he never wrote back. maybe i'll try it again. I think this is going to be a long month of tracting for the other missionaries because we can't find for ourselves... only for other sets. other than that just trying to share the christmas spirit. we're going to go carolling, make paper advent chains with scriptures on them, treats for everyone before they leave and stuff like that. It should be fun. Hopefully next week goes better

November 29, 2010

This has been quite the week. The flu has been travelling through our apartment so we've all been out. I'm thankfully feeling better. I think I get sick every time something is going around. Oh well. We went to dinner at Hermana T's house. We could only stay an hour and a half and by that time the food wasn't even done so we just took a plate to go. It was fun to spend some time with them though and with Hermana Briggs because her and her companion went there too. Sounds like you had a good Thanksgiving. I thought it might be kind of hard but it wasn't. We'll see how Christmas goes. The only thing that will be hard that day is if we have no where to go. With YSA you don't get invited anywhere so we'll just pray something works out. Otherwise we'll invade the other sisters appointments :) umm other than that not much is going on. It's a little chilly out today.. probably about 70 haha Today we're also going to stop by nordstrom rack and see if we can find some things. My clothes are starting to fall apart again. I think thats just what happens when you're a missionary. did I tell you we can also wear knee length skirts now and they encourage color? weird right? I like it :) I hope no one expects anything from me for christmas this year.... I can't think of anything to give and i'm poor. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 22, 2010

I am back in YSA but it's a different one. I'm in the snapper creek YSA which is south so I cover my old area. I'm actually going to Hermana T's house for thanksgiving dinner because she's in my area and has 3 ysa aged kids. I've kind of become friends with them so its going to be really good. I love love love being back in YSA. I just feel so at home and it's definitely where I belong. And I got to do a booth at a college campus this weekend with Sister Lowe because they are the neighboring YSA. At transfer meeting president came up to me and said "I know you aren't in the same areas and you aren't companions but I think it would be great if you talked to Sister Lowe a lot" so I said "president I will gladly take that advice". It's been tons of fun. My companion is sister Lima. Her family is from Brazil but she grew up in connecticut. We definitely think and work differently. President made me senior comp Anyway.... I got your package and I LOVED it. I have like one piece left of the bread and i'm way excited about it. Funny story time- well maybe it won't be funny to you but it was funny to me- we were on our way home from transfer meeting and we were stopped at a red light getting onto the freeway and on the right of us was barrier and construction work. One of the workers was right over the barrier like two feet away and kept staring at me so I smiled and then asked my companion if we had a pass along card. I turned around and he wasn't there so I rolled down the window and he came running over. he didn't know hardly any english but he said "This is your number.. your number right (huge smile on his face)..if i call this number you will come visit me" so i hand him the card and tell him to call the number and he looks at it and yells "What is this?!? How do I call your number... what do I do with this?!" Anyway he got really mad and I laughed and just kept telling him to call the number.. great times

November 16, 2010

Hey! Today is a day full of packing and getting ready to go. I'm
getting transferred tomorrow. I'm sad because I LOVE my companion and
I'm really going to miss her but she's going to do so good without me.
We already had our christmas tree up and lots of holiday plans but
she'll get to share them with someone else. This area has definitely
been my hardest and tried me a lot as far as relying on the Lord to
know it's not baptisms that make a good missionary. We knock on doors
for hours every day and do everything they tell us to do to find
people and it just hasn't hapened. But I have learned many things
about myself as well as what I want in my life and for my future
family. This week we sat down with L and A’s mom because we
helped her with a science fair project. It was the perfect opportunity
to just talk and ask her questions. She knows the kids are ready and
wants them to be baptized but Hermano still doesn't want to change.
She said the kids have really latched on to the commandments and are
really good at picking out their parents disobedience. I was really
excited to hear that. They aren't going to be baptized any time soon
but it will come. Keep praying for them. I am really going to miss the
members of this ward. We have some really good friends here. Some are
widows, some are adults and some are little kids. its so fun! we have
little primary girls that follow us around every where we go. Today we
got to have breakfast with Hermana g and put up her Christmas
tree. It was so fun. She wanted a bow on her tree but didn't know how
and was kind of bummed. I told her I could do it and she was SO
excited. We made a huge one for on the top of it with pink and silver
ribbon. I knew all that floral design would pay off some day haha. It
made her day. Yesterday we also got to go to lunch with the English
sisters in our area. Its been fun.

ps i'm not a grinch this year. I already have my christmas tree up and
i've been singing christmas songs for about a week. I'm memorizing
them in spanish. and I've got the christmas spirit... YAHOO

November 8, 2010 Pictures

Hermana T and I

Fun at the Everglades

Alligator

sign - had to be by the sierra club or something- RIDICULOUS

Scripture cases I make for people

hats that were given to us as we were contacting garage sales haha-
mine still has the tag on it $50!