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.