December 27, 2010

Family,

   Well since I just talked to you all I guess this will probably be pretty short.  But it was great to talk to you all, I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. It was so special to get to talk to grandpa and grandma, I was pretty surprised, thanks Scott.  Our baptism was awesome. David was so ready and I think he was really touched by the spirit during the baptism. I felt the spirit strong.  Now is the test he goes out of town for 3 weeks soon, but I'm sure he will be fine, we'll start teaching him when he gets back. Other than that not much else new, we do have some opportunities for potential investigators so that's exciting.  Julie of course I loved the puzzle, it confused me though because at first I didn't notice that it had 2 sides. Elder Larsen also is very thankful for the Ping Pong stuff! The Lord lives and helps his missionaries every day, I love you all. and happy new year!

 

Elder Hendrix

PS: what are the e-mails for: Garrett, Angie, Ryan, and Monica (if she is still in the field).

December 20, 2010

Family,

   Oh family you are so great yall make me smile.  Sounds like the Workman Christmas party was awesome, filled with the spirit like always. I love our family (Both Workman and Hendrix) because they act just as God planned for them too, they're a place to learn the gospel, have support and feel the love of God, Its because we have such great Grandmas and Grandpas. That is so cool about Jonnys brother, its not the one that lived there before is it? January 8th is going to be a great day we have 3 baptisms scheduled for that same day, and one other that should be baptized either that day or the 1st.  But that is awesome when I was reading that story I thought of a great scripture for him, its just a good scripture for anyone who is a recent convert, Alma 32: 26- like 29, it just talks about increasing your faith as you plant a seed in your heart and feel it grow. And when you see the fruits of that seed you gain a knowledge, but that is such good news, keep thinking about how you can help the missionaries. I'll probably call you at 11 your time, and I'll call Kari's house. Love you all so much. talk to you soon.

 

PS: I still haven't had any fried chicken, grits, cornbread, or sweet potatoes. but I did eat Gator tail.. it was good.

 

D-bo,

   Sounds like the boarding is great out there, think about me while your out there.  The work is picking up, we aren't teaching a whole lot of people but the people we are teaching are great.  There is this older guy, who is set for baptism but his son has been in the hospital so he had to put it on hold, but no worries he is supper solid.  He is like 50 years old, he has two sons 15, and 13 who already got baptized. At first he didn't want to meet with the missionaries but he finally warmed up to them and was taught, hes a great guy tho, he loves the missionaries and learning about the gospel.  We are teaching a kid who's 17, named Christian, he goes to a Pentecostal church but he's friends with a girl who got baptized a year ago and he can see something different about her, so he asked her what the deal was and now we are teaching him. He has a really open mind and a soft heart he's read all the way to 1 Nephi ch 17 in like a week, and praying about it and our message. He hasn't got his answer, but he will, he accepted a baptismal date on the 8th so he wants to believe and he's humble, he's a good kid.  There are also 2 sisters 14 and 16 years old their dad is a member and they have been taught everything and been ready to get baptized for like a year I guess, but there dad has been a bum and not been interviewed to be cleared to baptize them.  But we finally got him to sign the papers and get his interview so they are getting baptized on the 8th too. we didn't have to do to much for them tho, they have been going to church for a year now, but they are solid members already.  Other than that there are a 4 people who are potential investigators, we haven't taught them...YET!  I love you bud and you better keep reminding me that you expect me to "Work harder than anyone else out there"! I love it!

 

Julie,

   I'm very glad to hear that you are making new friends at school, and it sounds like your school Christmas party was fun.  My favorite thing about Jesus is that He helps me when I ask him too, because he loves me. My favorite thing about Pres. Monson is that he loves to help people, he has lots of stories where he helped people who were sad and alone, so that's my favorite thing about him.  I love you so much.

 

PS: Who is your favorite football player and team?

December 13, 2010

Family,

    Ok so mom i want you to send me some cox's honey, and two baseball gloves: my catchers glove and whatever mitt Darren thinks you should send me. I would also like a black and red architectural pen, if you can find one, the point is like super small its for writing notes in the scriptures you might have to go to like Home Depot or something. 

   I love dads hand written letters and i want some from everyone (mom your off the hook), and i was super excited when i heard that he shot a bull that's really great.  I don't think i told Y'all yet but I'm in a driving area and I'm the driver, Elder Larsen can't renew his license from Georgia so he can't drive so I was really surprised when i was told i would drive.  Well the work has been kinda slow, Kevin dropped us his parents didn't want him to talk to us :(.  But we picked up another really solid investigator named Christian he is 18 and we've only taught him once but he's what elder Larsen calls "Elect", so that's real exciting, he's got a great fellowshiper too which is huge.  David has been taught all the lessons and actually was going to be baptized before i even got here but his son fell out of a tree the day before his baptism!  But this whole trial has strengthened his testimony which is crazy but he'll probably be baptized on the 1st.  But that has really been it until Yesterday.  So... we cover two Areas because both missionaries in the area south of ours went home last transfer and president didn't put any new ones back in.  We cover the McDonough/Stockbridge ward, and the Jackson branch now.  So this week we went to the Stockbridge ward, after sacrament meeting the Branch President called us and told us that Christian (he lives in their area), along with 3 other investigators were at church! And two new sisters moved into their ward and both of there husbands are interested in learning about the church, can you believe that, that's 6 investigators!!! Now I'm trying to not get too excited but I'm Faithful and Hopeful.  So I'm really excited about the Jackson branch, it will be tough trying to cover two areas but we'll figure it out.  Ive been learning a lot about faith and hope lately and yesterday was such a blessing.  If we as missionaries have Faith, the LORD will bless us, if we show trust in him then he shows trust in us.  Faith is so important, but without Hope we have no Faith.  We need to have hope everyday that when the time comes the LORD will, allow us and help us to, affect his children for good, and have faith that He will put people in our path.  Please help the missionaries there, pray everyday that the LORD will put someone in your path that could use the missionaries and give the missionaries that referral.  The most effective way to do missionary work is through member referrals. I love you all Keep on Keepin on!

 

PS: I'll call Kari's house on Christmas. and there was something else but i cant remember.

 

Julie,

   How are you? I love you too!  Are you making new friends at school? Are you being nice to all the kids in your class?  What is your favorite thing about Jesus?  What is your favorite thing about Pres. Monson?  My house is good, i have my own bathroom and my own closet. It is really cold here, I'm kinda surprised.  I'm only teaching one boy right now, his name is Christian he is really nice and i think he likes what we are teaching him about Jesus, and i hope he wants to get baptized like you did. How did you like your baptism, how did it make you feel?

December 6, 2010

Dear Family,

    I am here in Georgia and i love it, people don't lie when they say there are lots of trees.  The housing here is different there are hardly any subdivisions like out west, most of the communities are built like cabin communities each one has a little forest on each side of it and in the back too.  Kids are so lucky here, their back yards are forests so they can just go explore the forest its cool.

    My companion is Elder Larsen, from St. George.  Hes great, He is obedient and wants to bring people to Christ, Hes real laid back pretty mellow guy.  This is his second time training i guess, he was a Zone Leader last transfer now he is the district leader.  This is also his last transfer (he goes home in 6 weeks), and he has been in this area for 4 transfers previous so he knows it really well i know i can learn a lot from him i already have. Funny thing he knows a couple girls i was good friends with in high school they went to school at Dixie and he met them there and became good friends with them, but most important is he is real obedient and I'm grateful for that. ill send you some pictures i have taken up to this point in the mission.

    So ya we had an interesting time getting to the mission.  (What ward is Alan Bake in?)  Atlanta was having some bad weather on Tuesday, so when we got over Atlanta we circled for about a half hour, then the pilot came on and said we were gonna have to go to Nashville, Tenn to re-fuel and wait for the airport to open up. So we waited in Nashville for like 2 hours, we couldn't get off of the plane so we waited on a packed plane, it was lame but turned into a good story. We had a 30 min flight back to Atlanta, we landed at 6 and we were suppose to get into Atlanta at 2:15, so we were a bit late!  When we got there we met Pres. Satterfield and the AP's and went to Peachtree City where the Mission Home is. We ate dinner, no soul food :(, and since we didn't have much time we did a testimony meeting/interviews with Pres Satterfield.

     Pres/Sis Satterfield are sooo awesome, Sister Satterfield is real sweet, but when she talked to us she was really bold and straightforward, she let us know that these two years aren't a sacrifice on our part, but an obligation and privilege....she made that clear. Pres Satterfield is great, It sounds like the mission has changed A LOT since he took over.  When he started he said he would get lots of calls from members complaining about missionaries, and that's been a big focus it sounds like-- making sure we are mature and setting a good example as representatives of Jesus Christ-- Elder Larsen says its been a change for the better.  The members here are great they love the missionaries, Elder Larsen says these are the best members hes had in his whole mission, they are great and they treat us well.  I'm still waiting to have some soul food though!

    Ive been kind-of a Pansie when in comes to talking to people on the street and at the door, Elder Larsen has been doing a lot of the talking, but I'm toughing up and its really nothing to be scared about.  Most people don't care to listen, i haven't run into any preachers or bible bashers yet but I'm sure we will. So our very first day, the first person i ever talked to invited us to come back and teach him. His name is Kevin, hes 20 and really open to finding god, he was agnostic for a while but he now goes to a non-denominational christian youth group that helps youth learn about Christianity and encourages them to find what church suits them best. Anyway we taught him and the first lesson was great the spirit was there, he said he would pray and read the BoM we asked him if he would be baptized once he came to know our message was true and he accepted!  He doesn't really understand the importance of being baptized by the proper authority but we will continue to teach him and I'm hopeful that he will be baptized, I don't want to get too excited but it seems promising. we will teach him again tomorrow.  anyway pretty lucky the first person i talk to says he will get baptized! 

 

  Love you tons hope all is well, sounds like dad didn't get an Elk, bummer. I hope all Else is well. also mom if you are sending a Christmas package make sure it will get here before the 20th or i wont get it till after Christmas, and don't send me too much stuff. Send my big coat, and a couple pairs of those cheep little black cotton gloves asap, Its cold here i can't believe it but it is cold its been down to 30 already. a nice sweater i could wear under my jacket might be a good Christmas present tho.

 

 

Sincerely

     Elder Hendrix

 

 

PS: all of my brothers and sisters E-mail me a short e-maill so that i have your E-mail address, I'm not making any promises but it will be nice to have every ones e-mail.  :)

Oh yeah also i guess you'll want to know where I'm serving, I live in McDonough, GA and we also cover Stockbridge. They are a little bit south, and west of Atlanta.

11/29/2010

Family I Love,
    Today is Thanksgiving, and how thankful I am for you all!  Elder Holland spoke to us this morning, it was so awesome, such a blessing.  As he got up to speak I got excited to hear a powerful sermon, as we usually do.  But Elder Holland was different! He talked about his wife and family.  He invited us, for this Thanksgiving, to join his family, to share it with him and his family. It is something I will never forget.  He had his grandchildren sing a song, and I started to cry like a baby.  I learned something special I am unable to express the love that I have for my family/ How greatful I am (forever) but there is one who can, the Holy Ghost.  Only he can because families are an eternal truth, they were divinely set up, on earth, and before we came down here.  I cannot express w/ words how eternaly greatful I am to GOD for my family, but today I felt it, and I thank each of you for it! (especially Julie:))     Sincerely, Elder Hendrix

I love you all so much!

Tuesday, November 30

Here he comes!!! Georgia!!
We received a call about 7:30 this morning from Elder Hendrix at the airport on his way.  He sounded excited but also ask us to pray for him. Kari was here so he talked to her for a few minutes and of course mom but most important Julie before she left for school.
He sounded great and loved the MTC.
Later on today we got a call from Mark who said his brother Alan, in Georgia, called to tell him that his wife, Andrea, who caters the meal for the mission home got a call to say that the rain in Georgia was so bad that the plane the missionaries were on had to land in Tennessee and the missionaries had to be picked up by a van from the mission so dinner would be a little later.  It will be interesting to here about the adventure from Jeff.  It is fun to have connections.

Leaving the MTC

Jeff will be leaving the MTC on Tuesday, November 30th
the mission home address is:
Elder Jeffery Hendrix
Georgia Atlanta Mission
112 Governors Square Ste A
Fayetteville, GA  30215-4805

Nov.24, 2010

Family and Friends,

  I am vey sorry if my last E-mail didnt get to you. I sent it to my E-mail.  Well to answer you mother i have seen each elder you asked me about. I have seen each elder a few times, i dont see Elder Johnston much, but i have talked to him a few times but not as much as i would have liked. Candace sent me a letter, and it was great.  NOW, i love you all very very much and i am greatful for you packages, but remember what scares me most about Georgia is getting fat, but every time i get a package now that same fear shoots strait to my heart, i have tons of candy and treats, and i have given away even more.  I love you all but letters and healthy treats are fine. :).  I have been able to see Elder Biddulph alot because he is singing in the choir, so i sit by him and last night we had a devotional and i sat with him and we talked for like 15 min before the meating started.  It was so uplifting, we just talked about what we have learned here about being a servant of the lord and what we want to accomplish in our missions and things of that nature it was really great. Last night we heard from Elder Per G. Malm, of the second quorum of seventy, it was great. He is super funny, he talked about living up to expectations and that if we do what the LORD asks, stay true to our covenants, and Trust in the LORD we will live up to expectations.  He told a story of how two missionaries were walking through a park toward their car when they noticed an Atheist rally was going on. They ignored it and walked to their car. one Elder said he physically unable to get into his car because he knew he couldnt stand by and not do anything, his companion agreed and they walked right through the crowd and up to the stage, when the leader of the rally noticed them he stoped talking. The Elders got up on the stage, each bore their testimony, gave the mic back to the really leader and left. As the elders were leaving the crowed started clapping for them.  When they got to the car they looked back toward the crowed, the crowed was much smaller, their were many people their that were just joining in but werent really part of the Atheist group.  I cant help but imagine the many people who were saved from the influence of satan because of the courage of that single elder. This scripture came to my mind after i heard this story, "Fear not, for the LORD thy GOD is with thee". The LORD is with all missionaries in such a special way, if i keep that in mind I can be like this missionary and litterally go and deliver people from the power of satan. 

 

Darren,

  D-bo, study the scriptures. Pray every day to feel the LORD's love, and to know if the god lives, if joseph smith was a prophet, if the book of mormon is true, then you will know that his church has been restored today. This is what we teach investigators, to testify to them you must know yourself!

 

Julie,

  YOUR crazy, and i love you thanks for that picture, and esspecially your letter that mom typed for you. IT MADE ME SO HAPPY! read your scriptures and pray every day. Be nice to someone ne at school every day. thanks for the update on the Niners.

 

Dad,

   How is the hunting going?

Friday Nov 19th

Mom
Today (Wed) I sent an Email but I didn't know your email address so I sent it to my old address. sorry! One thing I forgot to put in my email- Last night the closing hym at  the devotional (which was filled with the spirit, and changed my life) was "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" I'm getting chills writing about it. Mom I KNOW that he lives, every time we sang "he lives" my heart felt like a balloon, so full and warm it wanted to blow a hole in my chest.  It touched me so much I couldn't sing part of the song.  I was crying.  I could hardly breath.  I can't even think, say or write "He Lives" without my heart felling the samy way and getting choked up.  He lives, it's my message and my calling.
I hate that  I'm just like eveyother dang missionary who comes here and writes his mother these letters... but it's great and true.

Wed Nov 17 E-mail

Dear Family,

    Ok mom so I got dropped off, the elder who carried my bag took me into the building i went through a series of stations, getting my badge, my picture taken a packet with my handbook/key/meal card and things of that nature. we then went to my room and dropped off my stuff and went to the book store to get a packet of stuff with a preach my gospel a binder with a schedule in it, and a few other things. After i got all of that i was dropped of at my room, we met our district (everyone in our class) and our teacher, then went to an orientation where each of the members of the presidency and their wives spoke. then i dont remember what happened.  Well my companion didnt show up, he must have decided not to come at the last minute or something, but im in a threesome now. Elder's Midgley (from San Diego) and Elder Laughbon (from Monroe Utah) there are both real big guys, Midgley is like 6'6 240, and Laughbon is 6'5 270, im the small guy.  They are great, they are both young but they want to be here.  There are 3 companionships in our district that are going to Richmond Virginia (2 elders, 1 sister companionships) and besides my companionship there is a compship of sisters going to georgia too, Sister's Walker, and Whipple and they are so wonderful.  anyway i dont have much time so i better tell you the good stuff. So last night what the Big Tuesday Devotional, and we heard form Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the 1st quorum of the Seventies,  WOW!  He spoke with Power and conviction that ive only seen one other time in my life, Elder Hollands talk on the Book of Mormon in General Confrence.  He talked about finding our divine Identity, He quoted pres packer, "you are not who you are".  He went on to explain.  Since i have been called and set apart, i am no longer Jeff Hendrix from idaho falls, who loves sports and hunting and fishing; I am now, for the next 2 years, A servant of the LORD.  I  am acountable directly to the LORD and He only accepts and blesses those who are 100 percent obiedient. Put a book on a table and "try" to pick it up. there is no trying only doing or not doing, and I like Nephi will "Go and do, as the lord commands... always'.  he said Faith BEGINS at 98 percent obedience. If i do what he said, accept my divine Identity to be a servant of the LORD, my faith will increas.  Got to go i love you all so much.

 

 

 

PS: my p day is in on wed, thats why it took so long to e- mail. pray for me please. Julie i love you!!! Darren i love you!!!!!

Day 1

He is there!! Delivered Nov 10, 2010 at 1:00p.m.
Bruce and Darren slowed down to approx 15mph before they kicked him out of the truck.
Jeff was very excited to go, except when he would look at his little sister.

We will keep you updated!

Jeff's Mission Blog

We have created a blog to post jeffs letters