中秋節快樂 !

I Hungry , , , Just Do Eat!

Happy Mid-Autumn festival! Taiwan's special holiday :) Lots of 月餅 moon cakes, 柚子 oriental grapefruits, and 烤肉 barbecue. It was Sister Haupt's birthday and so fun to celebrate! Poor Taiwan got a lot of rain though, so outdoor barbecue was a bit of a challenge. It certainly didn't stop them from enjoying the holiday though. I love this culture!

So plot twist... transfers were pushed back a week because most of the new missionaries were waiting on visas. But they're arriving this week and transfers will be Thursday! I'm pretty sure we're going to break a record of the longest tripanionship together in the mission. 7 weeks haha. I'm actually super grateful we have been given one more week together. It would have been a bummer ending the transfer after being sick with the flu for a whole week. I definitely wasn't my best self, so I'm really grateful we were able to have a good week together. And now that the flu has passed me by, and I went to the doctor for the last time this week, I feel so much better. I really learned a lot from this experience. I realized that this set back really affected me for the worse. But now that it's over, I can see how all it took was patience, perseverance, and faith. I can see that God gave me this small trial for my benefit. It's given me a new perspective to keep my chin up when things are hard

This week was seriously so awesome. I loved every day! We went on splits with members almost every day to double the work, and really take advantage of being in a trio while we can. We also had such an incredible opportunity to go to the temple with Zhui JieMei for her first time!! She is so incredible. It was a really cool experience watching someone enter into the temple for the first time. The elders in our ward are still teaching her husband and he just passed his baptismal interview yesterday and will be baptized on Saturday! Ah, I'm so so happy for their family. 

I learned a really cool lesson this week. We were finding one day this week and we had so much hope to find new investigators. After about 2 1/2 hours, we couldn't get a single person to even give us their phone number, let alone share our testimonies with them. We didn't let it discourage us, as we were really looking forward to finding new people to teach. The next day, we went on splits with a member and I was with Sister Luo. We met this college student, Chen, and at first he didn't seem to have any interest in talking with us, but he was at least willing to listen, and then eventually we were able to teach him how to pray, and we heard him say his first prayer. After the prayer, he said he wanted to know more. He lives in Taichong, so we referred him to the missionaries there. 

I was talking with my companions afterwards, and we decided that having a small spiritual experience (no matter whether or not it will actually "count" as a key indicator) really outweighs every rejection we've ever faced. The thing is, it was so simple. In fact, I've had similar experiences throughout my entire mission. But that night it was a different feeling because I recognized it as a miracle. No matter how simple the contact was, we were able to hear someone sincerely speak with God for the first time. Having just one experience of testifying to someone about God, and really helping them to feel that He lives... it makes it all worth it. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

I am so grateful to be a missionary. It really does have it's ups and downs, but it's really taught me to never give up. And I don't ever want to leave this area, but I know I need to be okay with where ever I get sent and whoever I'm with because God knows what we need to learn more than we do.

Sister Hendricks

Taking care of my little Taiwanese companion!

Sister Luo doesn't know why we say "raining cats and dogs" so she says "raining pigs and cows"

Another transfer coming to an end...

What do you get with 5 missionaries and 1 stop light?

Hello!

Wow the transfer is already coming to an end. I really learned a lot this transfer. I've learned that the hardest times teach us the biggest lessons. I'll be honest, it hasn't been my best week. I think the most difficult part of this transfer has been being sick. It's been difficult trying to figure out how to deal with it all as a missionary. I've been feeling nauseous, weak, and throwing up all week. Luckily, we have so many members that are more than willing to go on splits so there's still work getting done in our area, but we are going to see the doctor after emailing to get the problem fixed. I just want more than anything to be healthy again. 

​This is called Gua Sha. Our stake president's wife took care of me yesterday and this is what she did. Some sort of Chinese Medicine. You rub oil on the back of your neck and then take this tool to softly scratch your neck, and if it turns red that means you're sick. She scraped my neck and it immediately turned red. But then it made me feel much better!

Gosh, I hope I don't leave this area. Moving calls are Wednesday night! I really hope I stay in MuZha.  This is our apt building.

But something I've really learned from all of this is that there is always a lesson to be learned. Something I've noticed these past few weeks as I write in my journal at the end of the night, is that whenever there's something difficult that day that I write about, a thought pops into my head that Christ understands. For the past week or so, I've been pondering on how persecuted and misunderstood Christ was. He was the perfect being. He did no wrong to anyone. Yet every small, practically microscopic, problem I hold is one among thousands of others that He carries. I am beyond imperfect, and sometimes I catch myself complaining about being sick, or something. But then I have to quickly remind myself that it's not the end of the world. Christ didn't ever murmur a complaint or anything during His atoning sacrifice. In fact, His last words as He hung on the cross were "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do."

The fact that He can so easily love and forgive others.. it is so moving to me. How can I be like that? How can I push aside every pain and trouble I face and turn outward? I've grown such a strong desire to love others the way Christ loved. I'm really determined to turn this situation around. I know I'm not perfect, but the way the Gospel of Jesus Christ is set up, is so that we can always start fresh. If we have a broken heart and a contrite spirit and humbly seek for guidance, then the Atonement can really make a difference in our lives. I know I need to change and become more Christ-like.

Sister Hendricks

We all need  comfort and hugs :)

Dinner with Du JieMei and Xie Yi Ling!

Splits with members! SO much fun!

Yang Ming Shan!! 

Family and friends~

It's still really hard to see our recent convert, Xie Yi Ling fall away so quickly. She hasn't been to church once since her baptism, and it's hard setting up times to meet with her. No matter how hard we try, she still has her agency. Of course we have to respect that as our Father in Heaven does to all of His children, but it just breaks my heart. She says she's noticed it's really hard for her to feel the spirit since her baptism, and things just don't seem to be going well. We try helping her understand that she needs to obey God's commandments in order to receive the blessings He promises to us. She knows what she needs to do. The hard part is watching her do her own thing that isn't bringing her the happiness she needs. I pray she can have a change of heart.

On the other hand, we were able to attend the most amazing baptism of our investigator, Zhui JieMei on Saturday! They are such an amazing family. She's wanted to be baptized for a long time but has waited for her husband to be ready to be baptized with her. But last week, we invited her to be baptized when SHE'S ready, and accepted the date of September 12th. We promised her that her family would follow her example. God really blesses those that are faithful and believe in him. This week her husband, Wand DiXiong had an incredible experience through prayer that was a turning point in his personal conversion. On his own, he decided he needed to quit smoking and set a baptismal date! Even though he won't be baptized until Oct. 3rd, it was still the most amazing baptism - seeing this cute family make their first big step to unite as an eternal family. Zhui JieMei is seriously so full of faith and has made the biggest impact on her family, and will continue to as they all continue to prepare to be sealed together in the temple. I'm so so excited for them!

Man, I really learned a lot this week. I'm so so so lucky to be a missionary. I've learned so much and continue to learn everyday. I've noticed that I go into every transfer with high hopes and a lot of confidence, and a short week after every transfer meeting, I'm very humbled and realize so quickly that with every new transfer comes God's creative way of showing me what I need to improve. This time it's through having two companions. There's definitely a reason trios usually only last a few weeks or so. We're the only trio in the mission that's been together for a whole transfer. All I'm gonna say is Heavenly Father really loves us so he's just testing us to see how long we can go haha. I love my companions though. Even though we all have different ideas and sometimes don't all agree on one idea, I've learned that we are all here with the same intentions to serve God and to do good. None of us is "better" than the others, and none of us have terrible ideas. We're all the same in God's eyes, and we're all doing our best to build up our companionship and area despite the weaknesses we all obtain. 

We had an Outdoor Zone Conference this week and it was the BEST day of my life. We went HIKING up Yang Ming Shan, the most beautiful place in the universe. I LOVE Taiwan. It was so nice to shake things up a bit and receive personal revelation through hiking up a steep mountain to a very peaceful place where feeling the Spirit was so easy. Something that I really learned specifically is that I need to stop being a perfectionist. I focus so much on my weaknesses and the things I do wrong, that it makes me unhappy with myself and my performance. Instead of focusing so much on the things I need to change to the point where I stress myself out, I've realized I need to focus more on repentance. Because we are imperfect, God gave us His Son. If I'm not using His atonement to repent daily and actively choose to change, then I'm taking the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for granted. His sacrifice should give us hope. I know who I am because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ - I'm an imperfect being with too many flaws to count. But I'm one who is always looking up.

Sister Hendricks

Splits with Sister Li! (Carol Lee)

I found a lizard!

​Hey I'm Sister Hendricks. Yes, I live in this beautiful country known as Taiwan to be a missionary of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And, YES I am the happiest person to walk the face of the earth!

South Zone Sisters!!

The famous TRIO!

Ahh - too beautiful!

This was the best ward activity ever. Our Ward Mission Leader put together this activity to have a bunch of members come finding with us in a part of our HUGE area that takes a lot of time to travel to. We split up and got with our "companions" and went finding! It was so incredible to see so many members attend, so excited to be apart of missionary work. I really am in the best ward ever. 

My first time seeing a monkey!

Our last day together as a district! Celebrating at Juicy Buns. Elder Roe got a call the other day and he's being emergency transferred today to be Zone Leader somewhere. I'm going to miss our tiny district!!

Awesome week!

​Monthly Fireside! It was so fun seeing members from good old SongShan again :) I love Sister Chen!

I can't even explain how much I LOVED this week! I feel like I was really inspired this week to make some changes. As we always should be doing! But hitting my 11 month mark this week really put a perspective on things. From the beginning, I've worked so hard to become who God wants me to be through this experience, but I feel like I still have a really long way to go and have often been discouraged by not meeting my personal goals, or seeing immediate improvement as often as I'd like. However, having Zone Conference, and going on exchanges were definitely the highlight of my week, because I feel like it gave me so much motivation to start fresh again. 

We had a last minute exchange with our STLs this week! Sister VanTonder came to MuZha with me, and then Sister Haupt and Sister Luo went to ShuangHe with Sister Wood. It was one of the best exchanges I've ever been on. I learned so much from Sister VanTonder. The first thing I noticed about her is her burning desire to share the gospel. When I told her we had finding planned for the rest of the night, she got so excited. And she wasn't faking it, I could really feel that every part of her wanted to share the gospel with everyone she talked to. During dinner, she talked about how being on her mission is truly the happiest she's ever been. I asked her how she maintains that happiness, and she told me that it wasn't until she understood the Atonement of Jesus Christ that she came to feel this way. Finding with her was so exciting because she gave me the perspective I sometimes forget to have, which is really sharing with people the things I know to be true.

I thought about what she shared with me, as well as her firm testimony and we had an amazing exchange as we pretty much ran to every person we saw to talk with them, turned around on our bikes if we had a feeling to, stopping whatever we were doing to say a prayer to see if we were going the right way, etc. and in that short 24 hours, I felt that indescribable joy that comes from truly testifying of Christ. Sister VanTonder really helped me remember what is truly most important. I felt such a fire within me! Seeing her example gave me the motivation to have this fire for the rest of my mission. I can't waste a minute of my time thinking about myself. This week was such an exciting turning point for me. I have never wanted time to slow down so badly in my life. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is really what brings this happiness. Accepting our weaknesses as ways to come closer to Jesus Christ is what has given me this perspective. I don't have to "fake it til I make it" or just "put a smile on my face". This happiness is real, and everyone needs to feel it!

Sister Hendricks

My cute companions

Happy 20th Birthday, Sister Luo!!

This was a book shelf we found with books up for grabs. Why not add the Book of Mormon 摩爾門經 to it's collection??

I love these sisters!

I love seeing SongShan members everywhere I go! Huang JM and Sandy :)

Me and cute Sister VanTonder :)

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

Sister Trouble and Karen! I LOVE THEM!

They brought me a cake! Ahh I love them.

Our investigator family, Wang JiaTing's son, MaoMao and I! This cute little guy and I share the same birthday! He turned 2 yesterday :)

Tripanionship of Power!

Sister Good is so crazy! These are all the sisters in the mission at the temple tour training except for the ones that were on the east coast.

This week was so amazing! Yesterday was probably one of the most exciting and fulfilling days of my mission so far. I've been on my mission for almost 11 months (in Taiwan about 6), and I still haven't had the challenge of taking over an area, other than when going on an exchange for about 24 hours. But today after we email, our companion Sister Luo (and several other missionaries) was invited by the President to participate in a "Taipei Mission Tsunami". Basically they get a bunch of missionaries from different areas together and send them to an area that really needs help for a whole week to build up the area. So for the next week, it will be Sister Haupt and I in MuZha. I'm only one transfer ahead of Sister Haupt, so it will be great practice for both of us to take over the area. I've always been a little scared to do so, but after yesterday, I have a lot of confidence in God's work, no matter what missionary is in charge of the area. 

So, yesterday. There's this neighborhood up in the mountains in our area that has a bunch of people, including a LOT of less active members. It takes a lot of time to ride our bikes there, and taking the bus there is pretty expensive. Basically, missionaries seldom go there because it's super inconvenient. But we had this awesome member drive us there yesterday to visit less-active members. And since we are so blessed to have 3 of us, we went on splits to double the work. So Sister Luo went with our member, and then Sister Haupt and I went knocking on doors in the neighborhood. At first, there wasn't much success. We walked passed this lane and I had a feeling to go there but we just kept walking. About 15 seconds later, Sister Haupt said "what are you feeling?" and I immediately turned and pointed at the lane and said "there" haha and we started knocking doors and then this lady walked out of the apartment building that we were knocking doors on, so we started talking with her. We asked her if we could say a prayer with her and she said she'd love to and then it immediately started pouring rain, so we stepped inside the doorway of the apartment building. Then Sister Haupt started to say the prayer and then the lady's husband suddenly steps out of the elevator and the lady (her name is Zhou), starts talking to him all excited that these two missionaries from America were helping her say a prayer. So we invited him to pray with us too, and he looked so amused/confused. Then Zhou invited us to come inside because of the rain and at first I said "Oh no it's okay, we don't want to interrupt your afternoon" and right after those words from Satan left my mouth, a small voice told me 'Sister Hendricks, Sharing the gospel is not something to be sorry about. Be a little bold.' and I quickly said "Actually if we could just have 15 minutes of your time, we'd love to share this message that will bless your family" and they agreed and let us up to their home. Just like that. We sat down, introduced ourselves and shared a simple but powerful overview of the Restoration of the gospel, completely lead by the spirit. These people are INCREDIBLE. The father, Qiu, said he has so many friends who are Christian or Buddhist and they are very dedicated and guided by their religion and he envies that because he's never had a true "feeling" towards any religion or belief in anything. 

The amazing thing was that the whole time, I didn't think once about what I needed to say, or how to say anything in Chinese. I truly understood everything they said to us, and I truly felt the Spirit working through Sister Haupt and I as we taught and testified. The reason I say that this day was the most exciting and fulfilling day of my mission thus far is because I truly felt and experienced the power of the Spirit guiding us. Telling me where to go, telling Sister Haupt to talk to this lady, telling us what to say at just the right time. I seriously get chills as I think of the promised blessing in D&C 84:85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." I can truly testify with all my heart that I KNOW this is true. I absolutely know that God guided my companion and I to these people.

Our companionship has been so so blessed. We were a little discouraged starting out our week with several visits to the doctor, taking us away from proselyting time, but I really know that God is guiding our companionship. We've received a crazy amount of member referrals and had the opportunity to do splits yesterday. I know that God won't stop His work in MuZha just because of a sickness that I can't control. We all have faith in this area, and are looking forward to a week of miracles ahead!

Sister Hendricks

Sister Oviatt, Sister Good and Me together again :)

Sister Good, Me, and Sister Haacke

Welcome to 木柵!

I'm going to miss this district more than anything. I LOVE SongShan and XiZhi missionaries!!

It's the start of a new transfer already!? I feel like after every transfer ends, they just get quicker and quicker. My time in XiZhi felt so long, yet so short. I can't even begin to think about all the changes that came from my time there. I feel like a completely different person. I feel like my mission is like a marathon with a bunch

I love Sister Stevens so much!!

of hills, and my time in XiZhi was a constant sprint up the steepest, longest hill in the race. The time where I have to work the hardest and sweat the most, but also have the most patience because it's not until I reach the top of the hill that I feel like I've accomplished anything at all. The amazing thing is, I feel I made it to the top of the hill, and now that I've caught my breath, I can look back and see what I've done. During that sprint, there were times that I tripped and felt there was no way to stand up and keep going. I know I'm not a perfect person, and I definitely wasn't a perfect companion. But the biggest lesson I learned was how to truly rely on Jesus Christ. I know that it was only through Him that I could get back up on my feet. The

My cute Sister Peng!! I will miss her so much. I'm so grateful for my time with her and all that she taught me. She's going to be such a great trainer!!

Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I feel like it wasn't until I served in XiZhi that I truly learned the reality that Christ REALLY atoned for our sins. Being the imperfect person I am, I know that I need Him in order to change at all. Because of the atonement, I now feel prepared to continue on in this marathon. No matter how many hills are ahead.

​That's Taipei 101 behind us!

Transfer day came, and I'm now in the beautiful city of 木柵 MuZha! This transfer is going to be a little special. I've been put into the only tripanionship in the mission with Sister Luo and Sister Haupt! Yes, I have TWO companions. To be honest, we were all pretty nervous at first. I've never been in a trio before. But I have been so impressed with how quickly we developed good communication, and love right from the start. There's still a whole transfer ahead of us, but I feel very confident that we can do this.

​XieYiLing's baptism!

Sister Luo and her last companion, Sister Knapp taught this investigator XieYiLing, and she got baptized yesterday! It was exciting to see her baptism. After the baptism, we returned home to drop off some things and planned to go finding for the last hour of the night. But we were so tired, seriously the biggest wave of exhaustion

Our member, Kenna Ling at XieYiLing's baptism!

overcame us all, and we were so tempted to just stay in for the night. But the voice in my head told me to say a prayer and ask for the energy to go out and work for that last hour. So we agreed that was the best thing to do and we said a prayer and went out to work. It was incredible how quickly I felt energized and ready to go. I can seriously testify that Satan will do everything he can to stop us from sharing the gospel, because the very first person we talked to was so prepared and we had such a spiritual lesson with her right on the side of the road. Her name is ZhangReiHan and she is our new investigator! 

MuZha!!

I am so grateful for my time in XiZhi that really broke me down and humbled me. And I'm also very excited to be here in MuZha! I just have to say, I am loving my mission more and more everyday, despite the hills, the sprinting, and the tripping. I know that God gives us every experience for our benefit. It's up to us to decide how to learn from it.

Sister Hendricks

My cute companionS Sister Haupt and Sister Luo!

More familiar faces! Temple Tours Training day is the best. I love Sister Gabbitas and Sister Knapp!

Had Temple Tour Training this week and saw some familiar faces! :)

Sister Good, Sister Oviatt, me, Sister Haacke, and Sister Lindsay!

​A couple weeks ago, we went to do TaiChi with Sister Jergensen and her daughter Maddie while we were on exchanges! Wow I'm seriously going to miss Central Zone so soo much!

The view from our apartment! I love this place!

Our new apartment!