Monday, April 4, 2016

Hey everyone!

 ​YanZiJuan's Baptism!
​Yan Zi Juan and her baby! Her baptism was so beautiful :)
I learned so much this week, and I know it's because it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped it would. Getting an area running is a lot harder than I had anticipated. Lot's of our new investigators lived in other areas, stopped answering calls, etc. So we're just starting fresh again! It's been really difficult for us to find new investigators and a lot of our leaders have been following up with us and giving advice and what not, and I've just been so confused as to why we can't find new people to teach and why are the new investigators we are meeting gone so soon?

This week I was talking with my companion and realized there's a lot she's still trying to figure out how to do. She expressed the concern of not knowing how to get people to talk to her on the street because she feels like the Taiwanese don't care about Taiwanese. They only stop to talk to other missionaries because they're from America. She also said it's really hard for her to know what to say and how to listen to the Spirit in contacts, etc. She said all she wants is to have a happy mission, but all she feels when we go out to talk to people is super tired and doesn't feel like it's fulfilling in any way. So I was pondering and praying about it throughout the day and then when we finished our dinner one night, we had a full night of finding planned. Literally my theme for this transfer has been to pray for the guidance of the spirit in everything I do and say to positively influence my companion. So when we went out to find I felt impressed to first talk with her. I told her that tonight was going to be a night that we would never forget, and I suggested that during our finding time, we wouldn't focus on key indicators or what we needed to say or what time it was or anything. We were only going to focus on looking at people through God's eyes and see them as our brothers and sisters. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on the street as a missionary. I can't explain it, but people just stopped and talked to us. Very few people rejected us that night. And while we were talking to people, the Spirit was present. My companion didn't seem nervous or anxious or anything, we just talked to them with love.

By the end of the night my companion told me she felt like she actually made a difference tonight. She said it's so easy to forget the purpose of why we're here and what we're doing when we're so focused on all the little things we have to do. But when we remember that we are a family of God and we are all brothers and sisters, then there's nothing happier than being a missionary! 

It's been a wonderful week. And not because we got a thousand new investigators or anything, but because we loved the people and shared the message of the Savior with them.

Sister Hendricks
 Congratulations to my best friend getting married this week!!
I love Taiwan!

"耶穌愛你" (YeSuAiNi) Jesus loves you :)
Celebrating my 18 month mark with pasta!
I love my companion!

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