Week 85 - Olympics: from Beijing 2008 to...Atlanta 2012?

hey mom!

 

One thing that I'm definately sad about missing are the Olympics! I remember 4 years ago when I would get home from football and watch the olympics. I don't know if you will remember this, but I think about it often:   

We were watching the Olympics wind down in '08 and we all started talking about how awsome the next Olympics would be 4 years later. You figured out that in 2012, I would be 20 years old and you said I would miss it because I would be on my mission. You seemed so excited when you said that...but i definately wasn't.  

A couple months before that I had decided I didn't want to go on a mission much less stay in the church--so when you brought that up I just laughed to myself and thought, "Hahaha ok, well you'll be really upset when it doesn't happen." For years I never had any intention of going on a mission--let alone going to church. But, I loved you and dad, and I thought that as long as I'm living in your house, I'd better keep my head down and do the churchy stuff...that would make you happy, yeah?

 

I remember at church one day when I was about 16, a teacher in my class asked all of us where we wanted to go on our missions. I laughed at him and said that I wasn't going on a mission. He then took the remainder of class trying to convince me why I should go. Of course that just made me mad. Who was this guy trying to tell me how to live my life? He didn't know me. Needless to say I stopped going to class. 

Fast forward a couple years and I talked to this same guy at my farewell. He didn't seemed surprised at all that I was going on a mission, and he was happy cuz he knew that I had changed and realized WHY I needed to go on a mission.

 

I'm not gonna tell you when I changed, but we can all just sit back and laugh now because the olympics are on and like you said 4 years ago, I'm on my mission. And I am so glad that I am!

 

It's almost hard for me to believe that it is monday already. Time is moving by and it is made even worse cuz Elder Hansen goes home in about a month...so he talks about how fast it goes by, and it freaks me out!

 

This saturday is L's baptism. She came to church on Sunday but had to leave early because she was sick. Pray that she'll be able to make it to this saturday with no problem. She has some word of wisdom issues but she's been going strong. When we taught her the word of wisdom she admitted that she has problems with coffee, tea and smoking--but if it's what God wants, then she'll stop. She accepted to live ALL the commandments in that same visit.

 

I just heard last night that N (in C) is getting baptized!!!! I was so happy!!! She is set for September so I am praying that all goes well until then.

 

We had a lesson H from SL. He is such a cool guy and wants to be baptized. We set a date for him for August! Pray that he understands everything cuz there is kind of a language barrier there--me with my broken english and him with his broken english hahaha. (I am getting more comfortable w english, so that's good. I'm super excited to go on exchanges w the spanish missionaries in our zone, though.)

 

I talked to Pres. Snow and he asked if we knew the specific date when I needed to be home so we can go to New Zealand. If he knows that then we can plan when I leave. Of course, I'll be coming home early...probably around the end of November, but I need to know exactly when ya'll wanted to do that. And did you guys want to come out here and pick me up? Just let me know.

 

Does anyone teach voice lessons that we know? Random, but I just wanted to find out before I forgot. I want to take voice lessons and improve my singing...so could you and Hev hit up any of your superstar connections?

 

Honestly, I haven't really taken any pictures this transfer...sorrry. I'm just too busy and forget. I'll try harder though. I haven't talked to anyone with the 'posterity' photo yet, but I'll be with Bakes this next week.

 

Tell everyone else that i love them and especially tell that to Uncle Tini and Aunty Momi: I pray for them every night. I love you Mom and I'll talk to you next week!

 

--E. Heimuli

Week 84 - Wish I Could Be There to Talk to Momi

Hey Mom!!

It's so hard to believe it's been a week already! Time is no respecter of persons (I think I'm using that phrase right...oh, English) and sooner or later we all run out of time. 

One thing I'm learning is to take advantage of everyday. Don't wait 'til tomorrow to do what you can do today. As i have lived that motto I have seen many great things happen--and honestly it makes things a lot more fun! One of my regrets in my short life is NOT taking advantage of the now. NOT focusing on the fact that I'm "in the middle" like Pres. Uchtdorf said and making the most out of where I am. I always dwelt on the past and put things off, saying, "I got PLENTY of time to do/learn that." Time is running out and I feel the pressure! I am in a position that is stretching me and forcing me to find things to improve or learn and I just wish that I had learned some of this stuff earlier hahaha. My own fault :) 

A wise man once said, "wise people learn from their mistakes, but SUPER wise people learn from other peoples mistakes." Learn from me! Don't waste time!

Hansen, Romero and I are all doing great! Things have been busy but I love it! Like I said, this transfer so far has been a lot of learning for me. I'm still struggling with the English, but I'll get the gift of tongues sooner or later, I hope. ha.

Last week we had a zone leader council with President Snow (meeting with all the zone leaders in the mission) where we talked for 6 hours about how the Lord wants us to do missionary work. Our mission is at an all time low for baptisms and thats because we aren't using the priesthood keys in the work. There were a lot of things discussed and it was a very powerful meeting. I was exhausted after that. Then, we talked for 2 hours about how we need to build more faith in our work. It's true. I am very excited because we are just following what the apostles ask us to do. No crazy schemes or programs (which I've always hated and felt were unnecessary) just following the guidance of the apostles with faith. It's been kind of a battle trying to get some of the members on board, but we'll do it. We don't wanna over step our bounds or the line of authority so we're taking it slow.

There have been a lot of awsome things going on here in Lithonia. One big thing is that we had a lesson with Leasa on sunday right after church and it went very well. She went in to it with some questions concerning the BoM and as she was talking to us and voicing her issues w it she slowly started to just resolve her own doubts. We didn't say anything haha. Leasa ended up saying, "well, you know what, I guess I don't have any concerns. I know it's true." When we asked what her next step was, she answered, "baptism and the temple." Awsome. We committed her for the 4th of August. Please pray for her. She needs to stay strong until then.

I got the package! No worries. Thanks so much! There's not too much I remember about my week...sorry. I keep a good journal, though, so we can talk details when I come home. Our zone has 9 companionships: 3 Spanish, 5 English (one are sisters), and one Vietnamese. 19 people total. Not that big. Camree is just in the zone next door, so I see him quite a bit. We work closely w them because we're in the same stake. I'm sorry I don't have my posterity picture cuz I was too lazy to use my camera, but I can get it from Bakes or Thomas.

I wish I could be there to talk to Aunty Momi in person but I guess that's not what the Lord needs me to be doing right now. Sounds like she has a lot of support and love right there at home and I am so glad. I love her and Uncle Tini so much and I am just so grateful for their sacrifice and love in putting money toward my mission--they have given me a chance to have wonderful experiences out here and I guess the only real way to ever pay her and uncle back is to do my best to give someone else the blessings of the gospel. So rest assured, I'm working hard!

I really do feel your love for me as you all pray and think about me. Thank you so much and hope my small prayers for you all can be felt as well. Love ya'll!

==Elder Heimuli==

Week 83 - Weird How Quiet I've Become in English

Hey Mom!

I have LOTS to tell you and little time to do so. Let's see.

First of all, over the past 2 weeks, the mission has become TOTALLY different. We were told before the Satterfields left that the mission wasn't gonna change much between Satterfield and Harding, but that was false haha. We are completely different...but the same...haha.

I left C-town, and even though it was very redneck and difficult to work in, I was VERY sad to leave. The people I met there were so awsome and I honestly thought I was gonna be there for one more transfer but, like I said, things change--and in my case, completely! I said goodbye to wonderful families like the Woodruffs, the Monroes and the Lopezes.


I'm not a very emotional person and saying "goodbye" really doesn't affect me much, but this time it was pretty difficult. I didn't cry or anything but I was definately bummed out. I also left the most wonderful district as well!


Getting to know them and serve them was such a blessing. It's amazing how much love you get for the people you try to serve. Sister Trammell gave me a hug at transfers, which surprised me, and she said, "I'm old, I can do that." Hahaha

Transfers was on Wednesday and since then we have been BUSY. I haven't gone to bed earlier than 11:30 once this week. So much to do.

My new companions are Elder Hansen (the other ZL from St. George, UT. His aunt and uncle live in Bountiful. Brandi Johnson I think is his aunts name...IDK) and then Elder Romero (greenie from Murray, UT).


So this is a first for me in a trio. Hard to get used to cuz I feel like we intimidate people when we knock at their door, but it's been really fun. These two guys are awsome! Elder Gautavai is being trained by ZLs as well in the neighboring zone. It's was so cool seeing him and talking to him!

Well, we opened up a new zone (the Atlanta East Zone) and things have been kinda hectic. No one knows exactly where the new boundaries are and our DLs were having trouble for a bit, but we're all good now. Elder Bakes (one of of my sons) is one of my DLs and is training!!!! I am so proud of him. Got me a grandbaby :) We took a "posterity" picture at transfers (where it was me and the 4 people i trained and the ones that they trained) and there were quite a few people in it. None of that stuff matters, but I thought it was fun.

This area is amazing. I still feel weird cuz I'm an english missionary now but I'm getting adjusted. It's weird how quiet I've become in english hahaha. We have some AWSOME investigators here and the ward is fantastic. I feel so pampered here cuz things are seeming to flow a lot easier. Blessings for all the hard times ha! Please pray for Leasa and Kimberly and Brandon please!

Well, that's all the time I have to write. Sorry. Love you guys lots and hope to get more time next week!

  

--E. Heimuli

Semana 82 - Going, Going, Opening, Training

Hey mom!!!

I am doing great! I got your package and I want to thank you all! It was great to hear from all of you guys. Thank you for the little boost cuz I needed it.

This week was pretty jam packed with good stuff so I'll try and type fast!

First off, I went to Rome. There's no Vatican or anything like that, but there is a cool gryphon statue.

I was on exchanges with the spanish missionaries up there and I met one of their investigators, Dale. He has had a hard life of drugs and alcohol and a BUNCH of other just-not-good things. He has tried to kill himself twice and is only 24. He has one son who he never sees, and a daughter (with him and his mom) that has cerebral palsy. She is the cutest, prettiest little girl I've seen. She is 4 or 5 but can't talk but has the brightest smile ever! Dale has really made a lot of progress since the first time he met the missionaries. He still has a LOT of things to work through but it was so cool to see how much they loved the missionaries cuz of what they have done for Dale.

I actually went up to Rome tuesday and then returned back to Cedartown Independence Day afternoon. It rained HARD that day. When the weather finally cleared up it was about 6pm (which was when we had to be inside) so we didn't do anything really productive. In Rome I bought 3 pairs of pants for 4 bucks!! Score! I figured it was about time to get rid of my grey pants. I have sowed those things up 7 times and they still had holes, and they were faded big time. Out of repect I thought they deserved to be retired.

President and Sister Snow are here and they are just amazing! On Saturday we had the chance to meet them at one of our Zone meetings. President Snow talked to us for 2 hours and it was so good!

I don't know if this is weird to say, but since I've gotten here in this mission I've felt like the odd one out (me and a handful of missionaries). I felt like I'm not a conventional missionary cuz everyone was always so...missionary like. I've prided myself in being able to be me AND a missionary. Those two should never be seperate. When I'm done with my mission I'm NOT done being a missionary so why should I act any different? If I'm me out here then I'll be me when I go home. Being a missionary shouldn't be something I just take off (like clothing) when I'm finished. I've made "Helam" become a missionary, I didn't just put on a "Elder Heimuli" mask to wear for two years.

Anyways, Pres. Snow talked about how we need build the faith of the people we teach (of members, investigators, etc) cuz that's our calling. Just blowing through lessons and baptizing people won't necessarily build their faith. If we build their faith first, the outward results will naturally follow. Only real people that experience real change can help other real people exprience real change (w the help of the spirit of course). This all makes sense to me.

Yay! I'm glad K is doing good. I've been talking to him now and then. He's perfectly fine. K is actually my hero cuz it takes a lot of courage to do what he did. Even though he lives in Utah where there are quite the population of judgmental people, he chose to do what he needed to do. That's a real man. I'm gonna get Prince his tie this week, so yeah!

The Satterfields were awsome. Don't do anything too straining on your time or resources; I'm sure they appreciated getting your letter! But, another thing is that they just love you Mom! They always let me know when they heard from you and how impressed they are with such a great mom that I have :) I'm sure a visit face to face from you won't be a bad idea either! Use your best judgement :)

As for transfers, we're doing them a little differently. We actually know who is leaving and where they are going and everything Monday morning. I got a call from Pres. Snow this morning (dunh dunh dunh dunh). I am being transfered from C-town and I am very sad about that. 

Also, I am going english, going zone leader, opening a new zone in ATL and training a new greenie. Yeah. Weird. Honestly, I don't like being in leadership and it freaks me out to be the "example" over so many missionaries, but it's ok. God wants me there so I'll do it happily!

Love you mom! Hope you guys have a great week!

--E. Heimuli

July 2, 2012 - Thank You to the Satterfields

[Note: We sent a long-overdue thank you to the Satterfields. Knowing this wonderful couple would be busy getting back to regular life, we told them there was no need to reply...we just needed to express our gratitude.  Imagine our surprise to hear back from each of them that very same evening.]


Brother and Sister Heimuli,

Thank you so much for your wonderful letter.  It means so very much to us!  We love your son and have really seen him grow spiritually and in self discipline - especially over the past few months!  Sister Satterfield and I are sitting in a motel just outside Kansas City Missouri - we are driving home.  This is our second day being released.  We are driving home -taking our time- to just try and get used to the idea of regular life again. 

Your wonderful letter is so helpful to us to help us in that change.  Thank you again.

With love,

President and Sister Satterfield

***

Dear Bro. & Sis. Heimuli:


     Your email came in just the moment we needed it!  We are currently driving home from the mission, and the first couple of days were really hard--especially for me.  I have such a mothering heart that I suffered terribly upon leaving "my" missionaries.  I worried that they wouldn't be taken care of as well, and I kept bursting into tears.  It was like when I was raising my children and president would try to take me on a vacation, and I couldn't quite relax in my heart because I was worrying about the kids.  He finally had to say, "If you bring those kids up one more time, we're going to turn around and go home!"  Well, I saw a similar look on his face this time and knew I'd better pull it together!  I also remembered that the missionaries have a Savior, and it's not ME!  I gathered my trust and faith, and prayed instead of wringing my hands!  I'm doing better, now.


     Getting your email brought such warmth to our hearts.  Thank you.  We soooo love Elder Heimuli and have rejoiced in the growth we have watched him make.  It is obvious that he has wonderful parents whose influence will be felt for generations.  We are appreciative of your support and love.  It has been our pleasure to work with your son.


     Blessings to you both.


     Sister Satterfield

Semana 81 - Endure to the End

Dear mother,

I thought i would start off this letter on a good note:  I got my bike back saturday! We took it up to Rome on tuesday to get it fixed and we finally got it back!  E. Newman's blisters were screaming with joy!  Working yesterday was great! No one opened their doors to us...but we got to more doors in less time!

Lets see...this past week we saw some record high heat for the summer. Everyday was at least 104 degrees. Last night we were talking with Kevin and how it felt kinda chilly around 8 pm. He started laughing and said, "you know it's hot when you think running around in 95 feels cold." The heat really isn't TERRIBLE but it definately isn't comfortable. Another down side is my body's tendency to sweat profusely at ANY sign of above warm weather. I carry a towel around cuz I feel like there's a constant waterfall cascading from my forhead while we're proselyting (which seems to repel any human form of life). Gross, i know. It hit about 108 saturday and people sitting on their porches kept asking us if we were crazy...or on drugs...cuz no one in their right minds would be walking around in this heat.

Last monday the Trammells the senior couple took us around for pday. We took a break from the heat and went up to a place called Cave Spring. It's a fresh water spring--and a cave! Who knew?

Anyways, we climbed around in there and then later fed some ducks. I think I'm getting old because I LIKE FEEDING DUCKS!

Work wise, it was slow this week, to say the least. Apart from walking, it was just hard to find people at home. We struggled to teach this week. There were a few people home scattered throughout the week: Adelia (our investigator who actually goes to another church) we saw a few times. She even made us stay and eat dinner one time.

Fun family. Then there were some less actives we saw.

Saturday we had this branch bbq and I actually suggested this idea a while back because they wanted to do something to help include the spanish people. We were to do a bbq and have sports going on (soccer, of course) and we advertised this thing for 3 weeks! Everyone was invited: actives, LAs, investigators, missionaries, etc. We had a lot of hispanics say they would come. Saturday came and...0 of them showed up! Yeah, that was pretty -- REALLY -- disheartening. Really the whole point of the activity was for the hispanics and no one came. It was a good bbq though.

Church on sunday was sad, too. Attendance was poor.  Attendance of the spanish was almost nonexistant. There was one member, Maribel, who is as legit as they come. She is there faithfully every single week. The only other ones were Bro and Sis Bernal, who aren't even from this branch. They live in Acworth (about a 1 hour drive away) and were called here to help by the stake. They shared a very sad testimony about how they pray for Cedartown. They pray for the spanish members to be open and to return to church, for the investigators to be open, and for the missionaries that they can always have support despite rejection or failures. 

The Work here is hard for everyone. It is taking a toll on us spanish missionaries and i can feel it. Since I started my mission, and since i've gotten here to C-town, it's been a uphill struggle, even after my "hump day" hahaha. Hasn't gotten any easier. 

After feeling overwhelmed a few times this week I finally sat down, prayed forever, and read my scriptures, searching for some guidance. I read in 3 Ne. 15:9 which says,

"Behold, I am the ^alaw, and the ^blight. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall ^clive; for unto him that ^dendureth to the end will I give eternal life."

I talked about eternal perspective a while ago and this just kicked me in the butt again. Obviously I'm still working at gaining my own "eternal perspective." Like it says in the scripture, we are to look towards Christ and endure to the end. Not look downward ("nothing is turning out right" or "this is too hard" blah blah blah) nor inward ("I can't do this" or "I don't want to do this anymore"), but upward and outward! 

I know there are examples of "looking towards Christ" all around us (like Uncle Tini and Aunty Momi. Please tell them I am so grateful for them!). If we look to those examples, and try to be those examples, they will lift us up. I can endure. I'm asked to endure...with faith obviously :)

We meet Pres. Snow this wednesday and I'll be in Rome for the 4th of July. Yay! For the package, I keep forgetting things I need haha. Oh well. I guess nothing! We're doing great here and I love you all so much!

Love you mom!

--E. Heimuli