Monday, August 20, 2012 { TRANSFER!! }

"Alright so this week is not going to have any pictures but there will be some next week I promise! my grammar is going to be terrible because I have a lot to say and the key board is terrible!

First off to start the fact of the matter is that i dont make a very good city kid. atleast not a big city like sao paulo without time to relax. sao paulo is super stressfull and was taking a huge tole on me and my health. i was always super tired and trying to sleep a little extra and get so much done and the air there is terrible and polluted like none other. i may not smoke but heck you might as well with as many people you walk by or behind that are doing it and all you do is inhale the crap. it is terrible you litterally have black mucus. that is not a very good sign in my opionion but hey what do i know? Oh I know what i know, that Jesus Christ lives and that i am a representative and i will be for another year and four months and i am going to love every minute of it!

Lucky, i have been transferred to the interior of the state of sao paulo. on our trip out there we took a bus and well i almost cried when we hit the place with just trees and green and grass and cows. if i had been close enough and stopped i think i would have givin it a big hug. I also saw a horse with a guy riding it down the street this week and I actually walked on a dirt road and some grass and man it was just lovely. the air here is not poluted, there is dust when you walk and I love it! the tallest building i have seen is 3 stories and man have i slept good.

Speaking about sleeping. Well since we are opening this area, which is call Vila Angelica, we dont have a house so we are staying in the house of another companionship of missionaries and well lets just say that I am not a fan and we are sleeping on basically a therma rest every night and living out of our suitcases and it is just crazy. we are trying to get out of there as soon as possible. I think the earliest i got to bed this week was 11:30. Oh and it is dry and hot and i have been getting lots of sun! I love sun and yes, to all those who are worried about my little white boy self, I am using sun screen.

My new companion is Elder Nóbrega and he is from brasilia, BR. HE is super awesome and he only has four months left not to mention that he is super helpful for the fact that he started his mission in this area and was here for six months so he pretty much knows where we are going and all the members and all the basics which is good because we dont have a map for now. He and I are way to much a like and like way to many of the same things but it is super nice because we always have something to talk about and know more or less how we want to teach the people but the great part is that I can talk to him and he talks back with opinions and experience! :) I didnt get a deaf mute this time.

This ward is imensely different than the other ward I was in they actually are super happy and want to be going to church and love the gospel and it shows in their lives that Christ is the focus. They have actually called ward missionaries and they have been doing a lot of the work her in the ward and have some families for us to teach already not to mention they are super glad to have us here in the ward to the point where they were already ready to give references and all that good stuff when we arrived here. We already had a lunch calender and didnt have to go hungry which was awesome.  I am thinking that I will probably gain a little weight in this area but we will see how it goes once we get into the groove of things. The plan is that he will be my companion here until the next transfer, we will estabilish the ward and get all the good stuff going and then he will leave and I will train again probably but only the Lord knows what will happen. WE RECIEVED 18 REFERENCES OF FAMILIES AND FRIENDS this week in four days. We have atleast half the ward who wants us to come and do a family night in their house and they have friends who are not members already invited.

The other hting i love about here is that the food is finally a normal price. I can buy 2.26lbs of oranges for 30 cents. Can you believe that? I know what i am going to be eating and it doesnt start with cereal. It starts with fruit and oatmaeal and all the good stuff that gives you energy and it wont cost me a fortune!

I want you all to know that I love you all individually and that I miss you lots and that Christ lives!!!

Stay firm because remember we are the foundation upon which the rest of the world will rely!

Love,

Elder Hendrixson

Monday, August 13, 2012

"Alright so this week was a tough one! We only had the ability to teach eight lessons this week which means 40 hours of proselyting! Thats a lot of rejections and very few succeses. Luckily we had a few perks from the investigators that love us. My companion and I recieved three 13X9 pans of Chocolate Cake! Needless to say I am stuffed and I am loving it! Not to mention this means that our investigators really do feel something special about us so that means we can be a little bit tougher on them because all is fair in love and war, right?

The biggest and hardest thing on a mission to do is love the people and love them enough to tell them what they dont want to hear!  I mean it is super tough to sit there and watch what has been their foundation for years crumble and fall and they lose the shine in their eyes and realize that they need to recieve the Holy Ghost and the only way to do that is through being less worldly. Making a few sacrifices and staying true to Christ. It is super sad when you have an investigator with so much potential but they just wont listen correctly. Many people listen but few hear with their spiritual ears and are too caught up on the translations of man and refuse to have the spirit testify of truth.

My message for all those I love this week is to pray, read the scriptures, and listen for the words that will bring a testimony to our hearts and that only comes from the Holy Ghost (2Nephi 33:1-2)

May all of you be part of the choosen and not just of those who were called because the Kingdom of God is becoming even closer each day and if we are of the chosen, we will stand in those last days without the knashing of teeth and wailing that will come when our conscienses are accounted for with a clarity that no man can deny.

Love your neighbor and be brave to share the gospel with those who are your friends and family because we are all children of God and in the last days we will all be brothers and sisters.

Alright so on the funny side! :D We were marking another day to visit one of our investigators and well as she was walking away she blew my companion and I a kiss in front of the Bishop and well needless to say it absolutely floored him, not to mention all the women 15-70 have started referring to my companion and I as dear, honey, beautiful and all the other from above really awkward nicknames. It is rather hilarious! :P

Also we passed by the birthday of a member in the ward just for cake and well while we were singing happy birthday I had the pleasure  of recieving a full glass of soda on top of me. It is a very strange sensation when carbonated water with sugar is spilled on top of you, I also hope it doesnt happen again. Oh and my companion walked into a stop sign! he was busy talking to me and not paying attention!

Pictures, My companion and I were exploring one day and we took a break to realax and decided to take some pictures and we had a little fun just messing around. After we took these we were walking past a shrine of spiritualists and well I didnt know and my companion didnt know and they were moving some palm fronds to the other side of the street and we asked if we could help and well I recieved the response of, "Get thee hence from my prescence SATAN!" Then she started screeming and trembling and talking in a strange language, I almost died of laughing infront of her, so I just kept walking.

Oh and I almost forgot about this experience. My comp and I were walking home one night through our little park of Iniquities: Drugs, marajuana, violation of Chastity, and just about whatever else and we encountered and entire group of spiritualists doing their little ritual cirlce screaming and chanting and well it was all kinds of strange but mostly hilarious!

Love all of you and wish you a super great week! :P

Elder Hedrixson with an X

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

What you put in always has a result. ;)

Alright so I know the subject line is a little weird today but the fact is true. Just use your imagination and see what comes to mind. Whatever thing you put in always has an image or a memory or result that comes to be. Just like if you put a sheep amongst wolves or visa versa. What you put in always has a result. One of the best things I could think that all of us to do and to realize is that spiritually we need to be like the Spartans and use the system created to protect us to prevent us from the most harm. They had a system that made sure that they `loved their neighbor´ but why? Well one it is one of the greatest commandments that God gave us and because their live along with their neighbor were at stake if they didnt do their job. Just think, if we all had this mind set, how many fewer members or friends would become less-actives in the church or how many fewer of us would fall in to deep traps of sin?

Here in the ward I am serving this has been one of the biggest and greatest problems is that people are "too busy." Please be friends to those around you and make sure to help those who are members who possibly dont have many other sheep to keep them from being the stray sheep devoured by the wolves because they were forgotten by the herd and the shepherd. Let us be an example of the believers in all of our actions and doings.!

Message:

Lucas 10:13-I think it is thirteen but it should go a little bit like this. "Go ye forth; therefore I have sent ye as lambs/sheep amongst the wolves."

As missionaries we are literally out here in pairs and the wolves are all around us. Yet even more important is the fact that all of us who are members are as sheep amongst the wolves. Some of us though have callings to be pastores, but not only some of us. The thing is that we all have an individual and undeniable responsibility to cry wolf when something has come amongst us-the sheep-to destroy.

As members of the church we are sheep because we are separated from the world who are the wolves! The wolves dont necessarily have to be physical danger. Anything that will cause spiritual harm is a wolf. Therefore anything that we do to permit the wolves into our lives, not only affects us but all those around us within the herd.

Also one other thing that I have been hearing a lot lately that I have been clarifying for members and for everyone else we talk to which is a lot! Is that the world has come up with the idea that the people are the church. This sounds all great and wonderful but the fact is that we are children of God, The Gospel of Christ is the system by which we can assure our eternal salvation, and The Church is a necessary part that cannot be ignored but that it must have the one and only true Priesthood.

The church as a physical place for gathering is a necessity! If you want to disagree then deny Christ because Abraham was told to build a tabernacle. Elijah and Elias built altars unto the Lord and so did Adam. Then if you want even more proof look in the Book of Mormon 2Nephi 6:7-13 where Nephi is leaving his brothers as inspired by the Lord and when they are leaving it tells of what they take with them and also what the Lord commands him to build-a Temple! A place for gathering specific for the Lord has always been a main and basic principle and even was when the church was restored.

I love all of you and hope that you are well!!

Just to rub it in, Brazil is about 60 degrees and sunny right now and for the next couple weeks and the food is still great!! It is going to be fruit season soon and I am excited!

Love, and a great big hug to all of you!

Elder Hendrixson