Sister Hendrick's Missionary Blog: 20 years old????

This was the haircut that should have happened when summer started. Not right when the weather starts to cool down. Oh well, change is nice!

Another great week here in MuZha! I love this area more and more every day. I feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing ward, have the two greatest companions, and meet new people every day to share the gospel with. Sister Haupt and I didn't blow up MuZha while Sister Luo was gone either, so that's good news. I also noticed a huge difference in my health this week after receiving a blessing from President Jergensen. I realized that a lot of it has to do with faith, and focusing more on the things I can do, rather than the things I can't. I had to have faith in the blessing that was given to me, and I also made the decision to change my focus and change my thoughts. Being a missionary leaves very little time to think about myself, and I realized once I focused less on my stomach pains and more on my calling, our task at hand, the needs of the people we talk to, etc. I saw a huge difference. I know that faith, hard work, love, and service have made a difference in my physical health and as a result, we saw so many miracles this week!

It was so exciting meeting with Qiu Jiating this week! They are so awesome, and really have a desire to feel the truthfulness of this message. They were both willing to set a baptismal date for Oct. 3rd! Their only concern right now is they are busy and don't see a reason in setting up a time for us to meet with them. But we have a lot of faith in them! And then Wang Jiating is also doing so well. They've been investigators for a while. Zhui JieMei (the wife) is so prepared to be baptized and has wanted to for a long time, but wants to wait for her husband so they can be baptized together. But yesterday we met with them after church and encouraged her to follow that prompting instead of waiting for her husband to be baptized. In our Gospel Principles class, we were discussing missionary work and they asked us missionaries why we were willing to serve a mission and I shared my testimony of being exactly where the Lord wants me to be and trusting in His plan for me. Zhui JieMei said she wants to do the same and knows that this is God's plan for her. She's going to be baptized on Sept. 12th! We are so excited for her! I know her husband will come around on his own time, and will see her example for their family.

Having my birthday as a missionary was a lot different than I expected. In fact, I wasn't expecting anything to happen out of the ordinary. But I guess when you're born in an area as wonderful as 松山 SongShan, you get visited by your favorite members at church! Sister Trouble and YingJie both came to 木柵 MuZha ward yesterday to surprise me for my birthday! And not to mention the members here in 木柵 MuZha that brought me gifts as well. It was so fun spending my birthday on the island of Taiwan, with the people that I love so much. Of course I miss my family and friends back home, but I couldn't be more grateful for the people I am with now. These people have changed my life and influenced me in so many ways. I love love love love love LOVE Taiwan and the Taiwanese. There isn't any where I'd rather be than here because I know this is where I need to be. I know my mission is teaching me the things I need to learn. I know God is placing people in my life everyday. I love this mission more than anything and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. There is nothing more amazing than this experience. As I type, I'm struggling finding words to adequately describe my love for my mission but I can't describe it. Partly because my English is getting worse every day and I think more in Chinese than I do in English. But mostly because there is no way to describe how incredible, how influential, how rewarding, how fulfilling it is to be a missionary.

My heart is so full!

Sister Hendricks

View of MuZha from Taipei 101!

I finally went to Taipei 101! It is so incredible!

They are all members of the church! What are the chances of seeing them in the middle of Taiwan?

Us inside the worlds fastest elevator to the top of Taipei 101!

This proves that YuYis really do work. I accidentally wore the one that was ripped in half, resulting in a very wet skirt

I can't get enough of this temple!

Celebrating Elder Alder's birthday with the district and our cute member, Lin JieMei! August 28th! (Sister Luo is next on 9/4 and then Sister Haupt on 9/27)

Elder Alder, Elder Roe, Sister Luo, Sister Haupt, me, Lin JieMei