Semana 15 - Tooth Fairy Package, Community Service, Ramon

Hola Familia!

It's so great to hear everything that's going on, I hope that you're all doing wonderful and the Lord is blessing you all everyday--that is my only wish (besides bringing others to the gospel) that my family will be blessed through my efforts out here.

Thank you for the packages and stuff you sent me! I got both the LdM package and the toothfairy package...not gonna lie, my first reaction when i saw Harrsions tooth was, "ewww...a tooth" and then my second reaction was, "haha he probably looks really funny now:)" And don't worry, I brush my teeth twice a day and floss--after seeing the dental state of some people's mouths out here, there's no way i won't. There's this guy named Dave who lives in the Eastside trailerpark and his teeth are pretty jacked, and every time he talks one of his teeth moves and I honestly think that one of these times it's just gonna fall right out. Motivation enough.

So the first part of this week was spent doing community service, 20 hours to be exact, because my father got in a car accident in December and this is how he had to get rid of it. So we worked on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9-5, and then Thrusday for 4 hours...so fun...haha. We did the court ordered service at this drug rehab place named 'The Extention.' That picture i sent (i hope it finally worked) was a book shelf that we found and it had a secret door that led to this back room (which we had to clean and it had dead mice in it). I just thought it was super sweet and wanted a picture. The place was funded by another Church and we saw lots of religious books all over the shelves, so we took those in the back, and put a bunch of BoMs everywhere on the shelf--along with some DVDs that we put on the tv:) The people there were pretty nice and there was a guy there who even lived in Hawaii and knew about our church because of the PCC. Crazy.

So, Ramon, the investigator that we met last week has his baptism for this Saturday and I'm supposed to do the baptizing...but he didn't come to church yesterday because he worked all that night and into that next Sunday morning. We might have to postpone it another two weeks becuase he has to attend church one more time...so we were really bummed about that. He is such a cool guy though, and really sincere. We've been teaching him and he has lived everything we teach him. He LOVES coffee, but when we taught him the WoW, he looked at us and then said, "well, i guess it's just water for me from now on." Ramon even stayed up until 4 the other night just reading the LdM...he's been reading for a week and he is up to Alma! I started reading the day i got here and I just barely finished Alma...he's a trooper man. So, I hope that we can work something out soon cuz we feel he needs to be baptized ASAP cuz Satan is gonna be working on him hard in the next couple weeks if we don't.

I just want to tell you all that the things that have blessed me so much just in this past week have been reading the BoM and listening to the words of the prophets. Read the BoM everyday and you will see the blessings that come, whether it be finding answers to questions you may have, or giving you the strength to overcome daily challenges you may face. This next weekend we have the opporitunity of hearing the words of God through his latter-day servants, the prophets. Remember that these words are FOR US. They're not just talking for their own health (sound familiar?) but they're talking to give us the guidance that we NEED directly from our Heavenly Father. When you listen, have questions in mind and i promise they will be answered.

I love you all and pray for you all!

Love--Elder Heimuli

March 25, 2011 - 100 Days!!!

Semana 14 - Temple Open House is Coming! Greenies on the Loose

Que tal?

It does seem pretty crazy that i've been out for 3.5 months, but when I look back it seems like i've been out a little longer than that hahaha! The only reason I feel like I'm still new at this is because the spanish is still a little difficult for me. I just wish i could speak it already so I can teach as fluent as i'd like to--but I'm just doing everything I can for now.

My week...

We had exchanges tuesday and wednesday, and everyone thought it'd be funny to stick the two greenies together! So, me and Elder Haight were thrown into the Spanish world. It was really cool, actually. I did most of the talking, and I was surprised at how much i could understand and say. We taught two lessons, contacted lots of people and i even got several return appointments (this wasn't my area though haha) but we'll see if they pull through--they're known to stand us up at the door haha! I learned a lot just from that experience and I really hope i get to do that again. My language is improving. It's slow, but improving. I've actually been dreaming in spanish now! It's kinda weird, but very cool!

I gave myself my first missionary haircut! It'll probably be my last as well, because it was a total failure, but I heard you have to do it atleast once:) It is VERY difficult to cut your own hair, and i'm not entirely sure how the back of my hair looks...i'm too scared to check it out haha!

The Atlanta Temple has an open house coming in the first two weeks of April, after General Conference. Tranfers is happening the first week of the open house, so i hope i stay here to help give tours and such! The missionaries will be helping a lot when that happens. Our mission will assign 12 elders every day to help with traffic and be guides, so that would be cool if i got that opporitunity. We've been focusing a lot of our attention on trying to get the members to invite their non-member friends to come along with them! This is why our mission has been slow lately. Satan knows what affect the Temple will have on the people here and how much it will bless them. He is working very hard and it has been a battle, but we can finally see success!

One cool experience I had happened on Friday. Our whole night fell through (which has beeen happening frequently this week) and we were very dicouraged and were about to go home early to work on another project like we did the night before. Something told us to visit a member named Elizabeth. We went over and we see her outside her tailer. It's dark, so when she recognizes who we are, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Where were you last night?!" Elder Jones and I were confused and said, "What do you mean? You didn't call us?" Elizabeth then says, "My friend here came over last night and said he wanted to be baptized. I told him that the missionaries will know to come over and teach you. It's ok though, cuz you're here now and he's inside." The spirit lead us to that house and I'm grateful we didn't return home that night. I don't know what would have happened if we didn't go over. We met her friend that night, Ramon, and we set a date for April 2nd.

I know we are called for a reason, and if we just listen to the spirit, we will know what to do and find the people we need to find.

Also, our other family is getting married, and Juan is getting baptized, hopefully on the 2nd as well.

I love you all and pray for you all!

Love--Elder Heimuli

Semana 13 - Japan, Wahoo, Elders in the House

Que onda mi familia?

First off, i'm glad hear everything is goin good with the family in respect to the tsunami/earthquake. I heard about it that night it happened. All of our investigators and branch members know that my family is from Hawaii, so they all rattled off to me in Spanish, asking me how my family is and everything. They were all, honestly, more stressed about the situation than i was. haha. When i heard about it i knew that the family and Elder Soliai was doin fine, it was just this calm feeling that came over me. Plus, we got 3 missionaries out right now, so why worry, right?;) I pray for all those people who were effected, though, and i know that the Lord does everything for a reason.

I got the package that you sent! Thank you so much! Last night we had nothing else to eat but the two cans of Wahoo and the crackers, so thanks! The other elders love it haha! It's a good thing that today is P-day so we can restock on foodage! Sorry i didn't write letters to the kids last week, i got really busy towards the end of the night! I'll do better this week:)

As for what you can send me...i'm good for now! Maybe some referals that we could teach down here would be nice hahaha our pool is gettin dirty!

We didn't have a baptism this week. The progression here is really slow for most of our investigators, we are hoping to get 3 of them baptized by the end of this month, and maybe even 2 others that we found this week. One investigator, Andres, is a very simple, humble, cool guy. We found him last week. He is a neighbor of one of the less actives in the branch and we helped him translate a letter he wrote into english. He really loves the Book of Mormon, even though he doesn't understand it super well, but he accepts all of our teachings and seems excited about it. We hope to get him to church this week and set a date for him this month! Crossing my fingers!

Some info on the elders i live with...

Elder Haight and i live in the same house, so nothing different there. Then there's my dad, Baby Jones, who you already know about. Then there's Haight's dad, Elder Carpenter (i think i spelled that wrong). He is a really cool Elder, who has been out for about 15 months. He went to high school at Canyon View High, but he moved a lot growing up. He's never lived in the same place for more than 5 years. He's lived in Cali, Utah, England, and somewhere random, like Kentucky or something. Really smart and really loves sports. He played all the main sports in high school. He loves the Packers and almost DIED when he couldn't watch them in the Superbowl this year!

Sorry to hear about Elder Young. I hope he gets feeling better soon!

Obedience really is the most important thing as a missionary. Haha it's really funny cuz in the past couple years, the Atlanta,Georgia Spanish mission was known for it's disobedience...but lets see if we can't change that, right?

The Green Hornet is dead?  :( Sad day...

Well, i'll talk to ya'll and write some letters out to you today!

I love you all and pray for you all, especially for Mr. Goutman over there so he can start writting me! hahaha!

Love--Elder Heimuli

Semana 12 - Email, Spam & WWJD?

Que pasa calabasa?

So, i just barely discovered how to 'reply' to e-mails, which is so much faster than having to compose a new one and address it and everything...i'm so slow sometimes hahaha and i can't blame it on the Spanish haha!

Anyways, so it sounds like the wedding was great! I wish i could have come to see everyone and go through the temple with you all, but the Lord has something more important for me to do. Tell everyone thanks for their prayers and that i love them all. I hope everything is going well for the Murray side!

My trainers' name is Elder Jeremiah Jones (sounds like a lumber jack) and he graduated from Grantsville High School.

I recieved all of the packages that you have sent thus far and i am so grateful for them! I also got Hema and Norma's package they sent me and that was wonderful too! The other 3 elders took care of the cookies for me ha! I got all the letters from the Heimuli side, I will try to write them all back, but we'll see how far i get with the very limited time i have. For now, just tell them all thank you for their support and that i love them.

It's true that i am the driver and the cook too! My father (Jones) says he is proud to have a son like me hahaha, i hope that's sincere;) Oh, and all the haoli Elders here love spam! Crazy, but i've cooked spam every night, and i usually only get to eat one or two pieces cuz they eat it while i'm cooking hahaha. It's all good though!

(Note from Mom:  Some families send packages of treats to their missionaries.  We send Spam, Ramen noodles and nori [a.k.a. seaweed].  Ask any Hawaiian you know...Spam is Hawaii's version of steak!  And it sounds like Elder Heimuli's comps have been converted.)

I'm glad you got the pictures of me and the Satterfield's, and i am sending more pictures soon, hopefully right after i send this e-mail...but we'll see:)

So, some highlights of my week...

Not gonna lie, it's been a tough one this week. People in the south are fine to talk about Jesus, but when the word 'Mormon' creeps in they shut down. We did a lot of tracting this week and therefore, we got a lot of rejection this week hahaha! Kind of a bummer, but this week will be better! I just need to try harder to focus in with the Spirit and i'll find those who are sincerely searching for the gospel. We were knocking in one complex that was completely empty (well, it's either that or no one answered their doors). We have set a few appointments but they always fall through. There was one lady who seemed really interested and set a return appointment. When we showed up, we knocked her door and heard her son say, "los hombres de la iglesia," to his mom. We waited and no one answered the door. Bummer. We are trying again tomorrow. We exprienced similar things like that this week. That same day we knocked a door and this white trash hillbilly answers and the first words out of his mouth were, "what the freak do you want?" (except he used another choice 'f' word). We smiled and said, "Hi, we're missionaries--" and he slammed the door in our faces. We chuckled at this and started to walk away when (i guess we irritated him when we laughed) he opened the door again and let off another string of choice four letter words. I was gonna punch him in the face, but instead i thought "what would Jesus do?" The answer came to my head, "damn him for eternity." I was ok with that answer, so i turned and we walked away.

I love the Spanish people here and my spanish is getting better fast! I know that as i continue in faith that i will find those ready to accept the gospel. The branch is doin well. Our investigators from Guatemala are doin pretty ok. I hope they will be ready by this saturday, but it might not happen. Until then we will just keep working with them.

Tell everyone at home that i love them! Tell Hevynn not to be mad at me too:) I pray for you all every night and i know that God will watch over us!

--Love, Elder Heimuli

Semana 11 - Welcome to Atlanta, Where the Elders Pray, And They Knock On Them Doors Like Everyday...

(Note:  Above, is Elder Heimuli's first letter home.  Apparently, Sis. Satterfield has each greenie write to their moms as soon as they arrive at the mission home -- God bless that wonderful lady!  The email below was written on Elder H's first P-day in the field...)

Sister Satterfield, Elder Heimuli, President Satterfield

Hola famila!

So, first off i don't have a lot of time to write today...we're at the library and i can only get 30 minutes out of this session cuz i don't have proof of residence!

Anyways, so i'm finally here in Georgia! It's great here and so far the weather has been kind. I am told that it's not gonna be that way for long. It's so beautiful here and green...well, kinda, in the spring it's gonna be a lot greener. Kinda like me (hahaha that was a stupid joke, sorry)! First of all, and i don't think i would ever think i'd say this, but i wish that i was driving back home. People here are the WORST drivers! It makes the drivers back home seem like professionals. The speed limit here is 55 on the freeway, and everyone is goin 80! Hahahaha and it's nearly impossible to find a white person out here…very very different from good ol' sheltered home. I was worried that i wouldn't pick up Spanish very well here because it's not a Spanish speaking country, but i am so wrong. A ton of areas down here are entirely Spanish speaking! I feel like i'm in the Heffe (Mexico City).

My trainer is Elder Jones and he is from Stansbury Park. He is a really good dad! He takes care of me and talks to everyone and i just stand there kinda stupidly...but i try! I just feel like a monkey, hangin around him and just smiling when someone rambles on to me in Spanish, then i turn to him cuz i have no idea what they’re saying--it's great!

The Spanish isn't that bad actually. It is shocking to realize that you learn nothing in the MTC. Well, you do learn alot and i was one of the better elders at Spanish there, but it's nothing compared to real native speakers. I thought i was ready...i was so wrong haha! It's ok, cuz i know with the Holy Ghost i can be guided with what to say and when to say it! I have felt him help me so much already and it's only been one week! So, the only thing i can do is just speak in faith and hope that it comes out ok!

Now about my week. It's been a really busy week and it's gone by super fast! The area here is really ghetto. We teach in huge areas of trailer parks and super run down complexes. There are just huge groups of Spanish speakers everywhere here! A lot of our work here in the past week has just been trying to re-activate some members of the branch. They're so disorganized here that they don't have a system of home teachers or anything, so that's where we step in. It's pretty crazy but it's fun. We just reactivated this part member family, the wife Emili is a member with her 15, 7, and 4 year old daughters, and her husband Juan is who we are trying to teach. He is progressing and hopefully something comes of it! He seems to like church (he came yesterday) so that's awsome!

We went contacting one day and we ran into this crazy guy! He kept telling us that Jesus was this pole and that Jesus was in a plane. He kept asking us why we weren't in the plane with Christ and we just told him, "Umm, cuz we're here and we didn't buy a ticket." He was obviously drunk but me and Elder Jones had a good laugh.

We met a couple from Guatemala on saturday (Luis Ernesto and Celia) and taught them. We taught the first lesson and commited them to baptism. Their date is set for 12th of March! Yay! I taught the first vision part all in Spanish and that was fun! They had a friend who was a member in Guatemala and they saw how much happier he was, and they wanted that.

Yesterday night we went tracting and had no luck for about an hour. On the last complex we tried we got invited in by a family! It was a husband, a wife, and their two young sons. We taught them about eternal families and how there is one true church which Christ established and how they can find that out. The husban seemed accepting and at the end of the lesson he even prayed. We're teaching them again tomorrow. I know the Spirit guides us to where we need to go and what we need to say. I love being able to feel the guidance of the Spirit and having the faith to act. If we all do this we will all be happier and live closer to Christ!

I hope everyone is doin good over there! I pray for each of you and i know that God is blessing our family.

My house address is:

2111 Garrison Plantation Dr.

Marrieta, GA 30060

Please forward:)

Love you all!

--Elder Heimuli