Marach 5, 2010

Hey! Things are going so good! I have never been so busy and tired in my life. We teach any time we can. Yesterday we taught 12 lessons. Usually we do 5-10 plus our study time and class. Before this week we were doing 1 or 2 lessons a week. We love teaching. We have really been pushing ourselves this week. I prayed last sunday at the fireside. They say where you were from so a few people came up to me afterwards asking me about people in fallon. One of them was a sister who i became friends with when i first got here and she knew my companion. She asked me if I was related to cousin Mark- he works for her dad. Then she told me her uncle worked for some people in Fallon. I asked her what his name was and she told me Duane Coombs. I couldn't believe it! So we chatted about Duane and Heather and Desi. Also Gayle Tolzmann's sister is her. And one of my other friends here had classes with Heather Bake (lewis). Craziness. As far as missionaries in Chile go... all but the ones going to concepcion will leave on monday. They were all held back for a week because the airport was closed with damage but it is back open. The roads into concepcion are still ruined so they have to wait til the 15th. S was supposed to leave last monday but she will be leaving this monday instead. They will have so many opportunities to serve. We have talked a little bit about messages for families or people affected by the earthquakes. There is a good chance we will come across people who have families both in Haiti and Chile. The language is coming along. Definitely not fluent and its a struggle but i know that the Lord will help me to figure it out. Usually it takes 5 or 6 months in the field to be fluent. Its so crazy to think that i'm leaving in 4 days. There are 11 of us going to Florida together and 5 of us are from the same district. I'm so excited we get to stay together but REALLY sad that E Shatzer and E Lowry will be on their own. Our district has been really close and we spend all of our time together. I see Holt almost every day still and I think we go into the field the same day. I always chat with him for a couple minutes. He is going to be such a great missionary. He looks so happy its amazing. I have definitely had the best week of my mission so far. I'm loving it! We are having so much fun and working ourselves to death. I don't know how people have a chance to sit around and do nothing their last week here. We were told thats what always happens as soon as people get their travel plans but it was the complete opposite for us. Today is our last p-day and there is still so much to be done. I love you so much and i love hearing from you! the church is SO true. there is no doubt in my mind that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph smith. I know that the book of mormon is true. There is no other book that can answer the questions of every person in the whole world no matter what stage of life they are in or how they grew up. I know that we have a prophet today- Thomas S Monson. God lives and loves each one of us. in the name of jesus christ amen
LOVE HERMAN

February 26, 2010

Hi family! this week has been so crazy. We sat down yesterday and set the goals of what we want to accomplish in the next two weeks. We really want to stretch ourselves and work our hardest. Its amazing how much you can accomplish in such a short period of time here at the MTC. We got our travel plans yesterday and i about had a heart attack. i don't feel ready to leave here yet. We leave here at 4am on the 9th to go to the airport. we then leave at 8 and have a 45 min layover in cincinati. i'll most likely be calling at like 5am to talk to you on the 9th. Sorry its so early but i won't be able to do it during my layover. This week has just been really busy. Lots of meetings and stuff. Oh also i have been asked to pray at the fireside on sunday. that almost gave me a heart attack as well. i'll be praying in front of like 2500 people and i don't even remember how to pray in english. Me and Hermana H have been doing a lot of teaching the last couple days. We're trying to get used to teaching with just the two of us. Its hard but we'll get the hang of it. almost all of our friends here at the mtc are either leaving this week or are already gone. i guess thats what happens when you're here for 9 weeks. you just watch everyone come and go. I did finish the book of mormon again this week. i finished it on my 7 week mark. It was so good! i would spend all day reading if i could. last sunday Janice Kapp Perry taught relief society. She is such an amazing lady. We were able to sing a medley of a bunch of the primary songs she has written and then an hour later our district of elders that were leaving sang armys of helaman in sacrament which she wrote. Next week our district is singing before we leave. i'll probably bawl my eyes out. I do that a lot around here. Ummmm I can't even remember what else has happened this week. I'm sure i'll think of more as soon as i send this but i'll prob send a letter too, hopefully i have time i have a bunch to write back to this week. Tell everyone i said hi and that i love them. did you get my pictures i just sent home?? What else is new at work? The church is so true and the lord blesses us so much. I know that God lives and that he is our Father. I know that Christ sacrificed his life for each one of us and felt every pain or sorrow we will ever feel. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he saw both God the Father and Jesus Christ and they called him by name. I know the book of mormon is true and it can answer any question we ever have in our lives. I love you all so very much.
Hermana Hendrix

Pictures!!

Hermana Hendrix's MTC District

Hermana Hendrix's MTC Companions

February 19, 2010

i have been able to see holt every day since he got here. He seems way happy and i think he is enjoying it. i saw jared wadsworth too but he didn't recognize me. Also, Nephi Farr is here right now. I talk to him almost every day. I have also seen James Stubbs a couple times. He teaches an Italian district here. I also see Sydni at least a couple of times a day. I am so jealous that you got to talk to Sami! I miss her but her letters are amazing. She always knows exactly what i need to hear. She is always following the spirit. Take good care of her while i'm gone! Niki- I'm sorry about the car. Thats really gross. You can beat me up for it in 16 months. We are told that we leave for Florida on March 9th and we get our travel plans next Friday. SO CRAZY! i don't feel ready to leave here but at the same time i wish i could leave today. 6 out of our district are going to Florida and 2 are going to Nashville, TN. Pretty sure we'll all cry our eyes out when they leave. We got three new hermanas in our zone this week so its a little different but its nice. We're hoping the relief society coordinating sister calling will get moved into their companionship soon so Hermana Hebdon doesn't have to attend meetings all the time. I'm still the zone music coordinator and senior companion. I was only supposed to be senior comp for 3 weeks and they've never changed it because of everything that has been going on. Mom- you would have loved it... yesterday i was sitting in class and a mouse went running by our desks into the corner of the room. it went behind a cupboard that is screwed into the wall. one elder was on a chair freaking out and the other one was terrified all night because we never found it. Us hermanas sit right where it was and we weren't scared at all. so funny. The elders crack me up. The district calls me the prodigy because in the meeting we had with our teacher thats what he told my companions and they got REALLY mad at me over it but once we talked about things it turned into a joke. The elders also call me Jefe which means boss. Its hilarious. They all come to me for how to organize, what things in the bookstore they should buy, all kinds of stuff. We're really close and its been tons of fun. I'm so glad most of us are going to Florida together. I also made the error of teaching one of the elders how to brag about himself righteously... that was definitely a mistake haha (Alma 10:4). Thank you for all of the dear elders this week. I definitely needed them. Things get hard but your words of encouragement definitely help me through. I'm going to send home more pictures this week that we took when i send my letter. I'm almost out of time already. Also, I would really like to read those Robert Gardner stories if i could get them. Also i need primer for my makeup... i'm completely out. Tell Elaine thank you SO much for her note! I love her and i'm so excited for Garrett. This week i am reading in Helaman about living up to our names and the name of Christ I bear. Because of my given name i have been studying about angels and their purpose in life. In alma it says it is to declare the word of God to all the nations. Hopefully i'm living up to my name... oh no out of time! LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS and tell courtney bug thanks for her note and Niki quit sucking your thumb (don't worry- it was for a game I was playing with the little ones) :)
-Hermana Hendrix
Duermen con los angelitos todas noches

February 12, 2010

so i just wrote a whole e-mail and the program deleted it so i'm going to have to hurry and then just write you a letter for the rest. Thank you SO much for the treats! it totally made my week. you always know when i'm having a hard day because that is always the days i get a letter and in this case the package from you. this week has been another really crazy week just like the rest. right now with meetings and appointments we miss on average 3 hours of study time a day which includes personal and comp time but not language because that was the time she (her companion is struggling a bit and has lots of doctors appointments) felt she needed the most which was difficult for me because i felt like thats what i needed the least. so i figured out how to solve that problem and relieve a lot of stress in my life. i switched my language and personal time. we were told when we got here that we should focus on the gospel and learn the doctrine and the language would come naturally. i have definitely been blessed in that because on average i only spend 1 hour a week on the language and everyone else has 8 or more. i haven't even noticed though. i have been able to learn very quickly and the lord has blessed me so much. we are also teaching in all spanish right now which isn't easy but i love it! its been a great challenge. i just have a hard time remembering all of the irregulars in all of their tenses but its coming. something else that really helped me this week was my meeting with a member of the branch presidency. i have met with the branch president and he gave good council but i just didn't want to hear it at the time and it just didn't seem to help, but this week i met with the 1st counselor and it was SO much better. he was much more understanding of my feelings and opinion of how things are going. he told me that my aggressiveness and desire to learn and set goals is a blessing from my heavenly father and that i should be grateful for it. everyone else has said that it is a problem in my companionship and i need to slow down. Brother robinson said the lord would never give me that blessing and then expect me to stop my progression because of other people. he told me to focus it in areas where no one would see and he recommended using it in my prayers to improve them. he told me to pray to know what to pray for and then wait for the answers and that would make huge difference in how things go. he was so right! i can't believe the difference it has made in my attitude and reactions to the way things are going right now. He told me "blessed are the flexible". thats something i've really been trying to work on this week. The lord blesses me so much. I can't believe the power of the gift of tongues and my ability to learn the language without being able to study it. The lord is so mindful of each one of us and our individual needs. love you tons!
hermana hendrix
Amanda-the young womens program is an inspired program that helps us come unto christ. it teaches us the importance of our worth and our abilities in this life. it reminds us of the love our heavenly father has for us and prepares us for our futures as mothers and leaders in zion. God knows us each individually and wants us to know that. He wants us to know that we are of divine worth.

February 5, 2010

I'm so glad the show went well! I've been praying for things to go well for the business
and for dad especially. How is Elaine doing without Garrett?? He will be such a great
missionary. I'm so jealous you got to listen to my cds. They have made it so music isn't
allowed here at the MTC but it is allowed in the field so I haven't heard any music
since I got here. It's crazy.
I'm being so blessed every day I'm here. We had the opportunity to go to the temple this
morning and I love it. Our session is so early in the morning that it's always the same
workers and the same people attending. We have had the opportunity to get to know a few
of the sisters that attend and they are just amazing. One of the sisters is from price
and her husband is in a rest home in Salt Lake. She goes to the temple every Friday
morning and then goes to spend time with her husband. He suffers from parkinsons.
She is always so positive and happy and it just really puts the important things of life
into perspective. We have also been trying to get to know more of the senior couples here
at the MTC and help them. The elders help us so much that our opportunity to serve is
with the older couples and the single sister missionaries. We love it! They have the
greatest stories and it's just like having our parents here. They are only here for one
week and then go to the field so there are always new people here. Although things
haven't been easy this week the Lord has really blessed me. I was reading D&C 80
remembering why I was here and I looked at the word know in verse 4 (I think). The
footnote reminds us of the things that we should know and have to share with others.
I then looked at the other side of the page and read D&C 78 v17-19. The Lord knew I
couldn't bear all things at that time but if I was willing to do my best and have a
positive attitude He would lead me along and continually bless me. The Lord is so aware
of me and my weaknesses and my need for his help. I'm realizing that as long as I have
the Spirit things are going good. We all know I hate confrontation and we had a huge
misunderstanding this week where our teacher tried to help our companionship and pretty
much made everyone really upset about things that weren't true and I was really
worried about it because confrontation kills me. But the spirit told me to just shut
my mouth, take it, and fix it later. I did just that and we were able to fix everything
and in a calm manner without any hard feelings. If we wouldn't have had the Spirit it
would have been a disaster.  Something else that has really helped me this week is a
quote from Orson F. Whitney. He said "no pain that we suffer, no trial that we
experience is wasted. It ministers to our education,... builds up our characters,
purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable; more
worthy to be called the children of God..." I'm so blessed to be where I am right now.
I just needed to change my attitude and perspective. Our teaching has improved SO much.
We no longer have parts or prepared topics. We take in our scriptures, start with a
prayer, and rely on the Spirit. We have been so blessed to know the needs of those we
teach and the words that they need to hear. Starting Saturday all teaching is in
Spanish. i know it won't be as easy but it will work out. Also, I'm so glad you found
those phone numbers for Hermana P, she is AMAZING. She is serving in the LA
visitors center once it opens in July and is proselyting until then. She took referrals
from all of us and called our friends to share a message with them. She left this week.
We walked a bunch of the sisters to the bus this week to go to the airport at 5am.
It's so hard. I never thought I would come to love people so fast and it would be so
hard to watch them go. A few other girls I have come to love leave this next week.
Everyone leaves us. The girls leaving this week are from Tonga and Tahiti. They learned
English when they got here and they are amazing. I love them. Our sisters in our room
also leave in a week. It's just amazing how much you can love people you just met.
yo se que dios vive y nos ama. sabe cada persona y su corazon. yo se que jesucristo
sufrio para nuestras pecados y es el hijo de dios. yo se que jose smith fue un profeta
de dios. yo se que el libro mormon es verdadero. en el nombre de Jesucristo amen.
I love you all!
Hermana Hendrix

January 15, 2010

My hermanas both did their shopping at missionary mall and they got some amazing outfits but theirs were way more expensive so I'm good with what I got. I found out they have a little dress shop here so I might grab one skirt that is longer so I can wear knee highs more...good news... no nylons in my mission! I can wear the ped socks. My hermanas are both going into my mission with me which is great because we have learned that it is actually pretty rare for that to happen. There are 8 in our district and 3 of the elders are also in our mission. We don't know about the other 10 who came in the same day. I love my district. We have gotten really close this week. I got to see S on sunday and she seems to be doing really well as well. Neither of her hermanas are in her same mission. I only have 30 minutes when I e-mail so I also sent you a letter... it's more of a novel but you should get it in the next couple days. Brief outline of what you will get in the letter... ummm... the food here is gross, Elaine S Dalton taught relief society on sunday, L Tom perry gave the devotional on Tuesday, thats all I can remember. Also my Branch president is President Shelley. I think he is from here in Provo. He is amazing and really strict on the rules so I love it. Its been pretty cold here but it hasn't really mattered because we aren't ever outside, How are Cody and Avrey and Kyle doing? I haven't heard anything from them. Also, Niki loved your note. I miss you as well. That's pretty awesome I got out of jury duty. The language is going good. I can pray, bear my testimony, say the purpose, and most other things I want to. I have to tell you mom I have never missed your cooking more in my life so if you ever want to send me homemade bread or cookies or something I wouldn't be opposed. I eat a lot of cold cereal, rice, and peanut butter and bread here. We have decided the real faith comes from eating the food. Just kidding. I don't know if I told you but my companions are both from Utah, Payson and Paradise. Speaking of Utah Kyle will appreciate this one. Our mission president, Ralph Smith, during the first fireside asked everyone from each state to stand to see where all the new missionaries were from. He said Utah and over half of the 400 missionaries stood up. He then said "remember Utah was only God's 5th choice for zion" so good. Well my time is up but I love and miss you all.
Hermana Hendrix

January 9, 2010

This place is so amazing! I can't believe how fast we are all learning and how real the gift of tongues is. Thankfully I have known all of the principles and words they have taught so far and am understanding. starting the second day we were praying only in spanish and on the third bearing testimonies. I have been able to help my companions a lot with the language.
Speaking of companions, we have a tripanionship as we call it because one my hermana's companions was from south america so she is in a district that already speaks the language. My hermana's are Hermana H from Paradise, Utah and Hermana H from Payson, Utah. It's funny because all of our names start with H which isn't even pronounced in spanish... that will be a delight. Whoever said Disneyland is the happiest place on earth was wrong. Even though everyone is running around like crazy people trying to get everything done and realizing they are about 5 hours short each day they still have huge smiles on their face and its just amazing. We live on the 4th floor of one building and have class on the 5th floor of another building so my legs are getting a bit tired. During gym time we also run so its been pretty crazy. By 1pm today we had already walked 624 stairs... yes we counted haha. I can't believe how much we can accomplish in a day. Every minute of the day is scheduled and Im actually loving it. I have also made my bed every day which we all know is not normal. Ummm I got ready in 20 minutes the other morning which is also a record for me. And life has never been so great. I have the best companions I could have ever asked for and as for now the language is going great (I probably won't be saying that by next week). We have also been setting tons of goals which is kind of new for me but its also good. Everything is so organized and I'm hoping that is something that actually lasts. The church is so true and I LOVE it. I love you guys tons! Speaking of the word guys I didn't realize how often I say that. The hardest thing for me so far has been to address everyone as Elders and Hermanas. Also I high-fived another Elder the other day and our branch pres told us we can't do that because its too teenagerish... I would screw up in the first three days... but hey my childish days will be gone in time and my habits are changing daily. Even though I hate dress clothes and nylons its already really a weird feeling already when I'm not wearing them. We are actually wearing them all day today and its p-day just because we don't want to change again. So not like me. I can't believe how much I have already changed and I know that it will only continue as the days go on. God does live and He knows us so well and how we learn and the things that we need in our life to be the best that we can be. I love you so much and I pray for you every day...family is one of those words i know in spanish :) ... Gotta go because my time is up. LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS AND TONS!

Hermana Hendrix