June 13, 2016

This week was insane!

Tuesday, we had zone training. We had an amazing meeting about loving,
encouraging, and inspiring each other; it was probably the best one
I've been too. We talked a lot about the importance of loving each
other and how it's necessary that we are always uplifting, inspiring,
and believing in each other. Afterward the entire zone was able to
have lunch together because a member cooked for us all; she always
does and yes, it's incredibly nice of her. Following the lunch we had
to go home and get a report started which took a while but we were
able to go and visit two people and have a lesson with our
investigator on date for July 2, J.G.. We talked about the
importance of Prophets in this day and age.

Wednesday, exchanges with the Assistants. I went to Blue Mills with
Elder Beyeler and Elder Odland stayed in Olathe with Elder Anderton.
Things went really well. We taught a man they had been working with
and talked about how in the eternal perspective the Gospel really is
the most important thing. There's a talk from Gordon B Hinckley called
"It's True Isn't it?" Where he shares an amazing story about an Arab
man who joins the church and sacrifices everything he has to be a
member of the church; y'all should read it. After that visit we went
and tried to contact some people before we dropped by a man they had
been teaching who's wife was a member with a goal to decide on a
baptismal date; so right as we pull up he did as well. We walked in
together and he walked in the house and said, "Y'all came at the
perfect time. I was just at the church praying and thinking about
things and I want to be baptized on July 2." Well, our plan worked
haha it was insane how things went down. But that was an insane
miracle. After that we went to teach a young man who is in town with
his grandparents from Hawaii, the Blue Mills ward is like 80%
Polynesian. The boy is not a member but his grandparents want him to
be baptized while he is here. It was an interesting visit, the boy,
who is 9, was super nervous and ended up breaking down but we talked
about the Restoration and as he felt the Spirit and we helped him
realize that he was feeling it, he calmed down and we had a good
visit. We were also able to talk to some people on the streets and
find a few new peeps to work with. And we had a nice visit with a
struggling member; all in all, the day was money.

Thursday, we got off exchanges then had lunch with some missionaries.
There are a few who are struggling but we were able to have some good
talks and discuss the importance of the mission. I am a firm believer
in one thing. Behind the badge, there is a person, a human being with
doubts, fears, goals and dreams. Sometimes when I look at missionaries
I have to metaphorically 'take off the badge' and be me. I have to
talk to them as if they were a person. They struggle, they question,
as do we all; but sometimes we take the role of the support crew, as a
brother or sister, we are all on the same team anyways. Well, after
the talk we had to work on some weekly planning. All in all, we did
have success but we only taught one person that day, the success was
just measured by the hearts of missionaries, not the numbers on the
paper.

Friday, we went on exchanges with the Olathe 2 Elders. I stayed with
Elder Spencer in Olathe 1 and Elder Odland went to O2 with Elders
Butterfield and Wright; they are in a trio. The day was good. We were
able to speak to some awesome Hispanics and get two new people to work
with. The nice thing about Hispanics is that they are so nice and
willing to talk about God in all forms so we get a lot of
opportunities to discuss the gospel with them. We had a lesson that
fell through which was a little saddening but that's the work, ups and
downs.

Saturday, we started off with a super powerful lessons about the Plan
of Salvation and discussed the principle of Eternal Families. We
helped identify the spirit multiple times and it seemed to be going
well until... Elder Odland extended the invitation to pray to know if
the Plan of Salvation was correct and then the lady, who speaks
Spanish but wants the lessons in English to practice, said, "Oh
pray?.... No." So this lady had a problem in the past with praying to
know if the message was true and when we talked with her about why she
wouldn't pray she literally told us that she knew it was true because
it felt right but that she thought of church as just a social thing
that we use to raise families... Boo. Well, we will work on it. That
lesson ended up taking longer than we thought they would so we ended
up going to lunch from there with a distant family member who lives in
Lenexa, so that was fun. But let me tell you something, Saturday was
HOT and HUMID. Midwest summers are brutal. The second you get out of
the car, you get sticky, it's just miserable. Highlight of the day was
a sweet party we had that night. It was for the Spanish members of the
ward: tacos, loud music, soccer; all the classics of a good Latino
party.

Sunday, always a great day. We had a few meetings in the morning that
went well. Church was nice afterward our appointments that we had fell
through so we just tried to visit some people.

The week was a good one. Congrats to Syd on graduating High School;
it's so surreal to say that haha. Life goes by too fast. I hope
everyone is doing well. Sorry for such long emails haha!

Much love,
E. Hinrichsen

June 6, 2016

Transfer week, it's always a killer. Find out what happened below...

Tuesday, well we had Stake reports as usual and, it being transfer
week, we went out to lunch with some of the missionaries in the zone
believing it would be our last time together... We were right. After
lunch we had to continue with the Stake Reports  before having an
appointment with N, the young man who's mom asked us to go over the
lessons with him. Then we had our dinner followed by a few people who
weren't able to meet so we ended up trying to contact people the rest
of the night. And then... The dreaded transfer roster. Elder Gill and
I only had one transfer together so we thought we would stay together
for one more, turns out... We were WRONG! Elder Gill was being
transferred out. With the new method of transfers you no longer know
where you are going or who you are going with, only that you are
going, so it's brutal. An entire day of just freaking out about what
is going to happen.

Wednesday, we basically just went around and said goodbye to people.
It's always pretty sad when it's time to say goodbye to people. Elder
Gill was super bummed... He has had a new companion EVERY single
transfer for the last 6 transfers, Well, we were able to have a lesson that evening with
J. B., a guy missionaries have met with in the past but we have
been struggling to get to do anything really; but in his last meeting
we had a good experience talking about the importance of acting and
reaching out to God to receive his aid.

Thursday, transfer day. It was rough to see Gill go but I am excited
for the opportunity to now serve with Elder Odland, pronounced
Ode-Land. He is a fairly new missionary who has been out about 10
months, is fired up, and... Is Spanish speaking so it's great to have
him here! He is from Maine, so it's nice not to have the classic Utah
companion lol! We got home and he unpacked for a little while I tried
to figure some things out with a car rotation and just relaxed,
transfers are always stressful, especially taking over an area. We
then went and met the ward mission leader and discussed some people we
are working. We tried visiting some other members and then later on we
went to an activity for the Spanish relief society where they made
'Papusas' which are an El Salvadorian dish and extremely delicious! We
ate with the sister and a guy who wasn't a member and got to know him.
At the end we were asked to share a message on the spot so we talked
about daily bread and how we take care of ourselves physically every
day but how we also need to be taken care of spiritually every day as
well and how the relief society ladies do that by caring for others.

Friday, we had a meeting with some elders to discuss plans for the
zone this transfer. After that we had to finish stuff situated dealing
with miles for the coming month and that took a while but we got it
figured out. We were able to visit the D family, who fed us last
Saturday out of nowhere and guess what? They just fed us again! Which
was sweet then we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon
and set an appointment to come back next week.

Saturday, we had like a surprise meeting with a general authority
which was cool. Elder Soarez from the 70 came and talked to our
mission, probably because we aren't really hitting our baptismal goals
so we are 'on the radar'. He was also joined by Elder and Sister
Rawson who is the new area authority here. It was a good meeting. They
talked about the principle of setting goals and then believing we can
hit them. They also discussed the importance of loving the people and
each other, which is something I want to work on. They discussed how
love is the greatest motivator and that we aren't here to ridicule or
rebuke, but to love people into the gospel; that's powerful. After the
meeting a few Elders went to lunch and I was able to see Gill again
which was awesome. We had a good time at lunch. Sometimes it's nice to
just take a seat and relax for bit haha. Well, we had to rush home and
help someone move some things around and then we spent the rest of the
evening contacting people, where we found a good amount of success! We
had dinner with a super awesome family then were able to talk to a few
more people afterward and have two tell us they were coming to church.

Sunday, we had correlation in the morning. Which was good and church
was good except for the fact that we didn't have anyone show up when 3
people told us that they would.... Well, church was pretty good. After
church we had dinner with a super cool family that I had never met.
And to finish it off we had a sweet Spanish lesson where we talked
about the basic principles of the gospel and discussed the importance
of baptism; we discussed why it's important and he realized that he
needed to be baptized so we set a goal of July 2 for a date for
baptism! We are pumped to do some sweet Spanish work with two Spanish
companions!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well! We are super pumped to have
things rolling here in the area! I hope everyone is doing well! Have a
great week! Take care!
Elder Hinrichsen

May 30, 2016

Tuesday, we had appointments with a few people. We taught two youth in
our ward who's mom asked us to go through the lessons with them.We were able to have a sweet
lesson with W.W., a recent convert who's family is all members
as well, and they fed us one of the best things I've ever eaten; it
was a pineapple brat that they had bought out of the casing and mushed
into the shape of a burger then grilled and then topped with grilled
pineapple and spicy mustard; we haven't stopped raving about it.

Wednesday, we had district meeting. This might have been the kingpin
of the awkwardness. Things just didn't blend at all, and nothing was
clicking... Its too long to write about, but let's just say, I still
don't know what happened. After District Meeting we went on exchanges
with the Olathe 3 Elders. I went to Olathe 3 with Elder Roberts and
Elder Gill stayed in Olathe 1 with Elder Bagley. We were able to get
some good stuff done in the Olathe 3 ward. We visited a less active
family and a few other people for a little and then at the end of the
day we visited with the Relief Society President and discussed people
on the ward roster.

Thursday, we had to help a family in the ward move early in the
morning and so we went to help. Afterward we went and
didn't have much going on for the rest of the day, just a visit with a
less active family. What happened was when hurricane Louie, made that
up, came blowing in to Olathe and sideways rain insane winds parked us
for a little.

Friday, we hit up some weekly planning and then found a group of some
pretty sweet guys who said we could come back so we were excited about
that for sure and later we were able to visit a less active family in
the ward so that was pretty exciting. Nothing really memorable
happened.

Saturday, we had one of the coolest Restoration lessons I've had on
the mish. We visited a Hispanic family who speaks a lot of English
with a member who's known them for a while and when we showed up, they
made us a feast (pics attached) and we got to know them pretty well,
good times. After the meal we were able to have a great lesson! We
read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", the spirit was super
strong for that, then when we did the first vision, Elder Gill asked
them to close their eyes and imagine themselves with the boy Joseph in
the grove as he recited it; that was a super powerful experience,
where they themselves addressed the feelings of the spirit, insane.
Well that lesson was a very powerful witness to me of the truthfulness
of the experience of Joseph Smith. He really saw God the Father and
Jesus Christ, the spirit told me it is true. We were able to see
another boy we are trying to work with who is 10 years old and not a
member but his family is. His name is L.M. He's a super quiet
boy who is really nice, just has a few worries about being baptized,
unfortunately he is going out of town this week for basically the
entire summer, so we meet with him for a while. Not much else
happened.

Sunday, we had correlation meeting and ward council. Church was good.
We were edified about the principles of family history and learning
how and teaching others how to follow the promptings of the spirit.
Gospel principles was about baptism, unfortunately no investigators
showed up to be reprimanded for not being baptized. Well, Priesthood
was about I don't even know what, it ended up being a conversation
about a crazy lady knocking on a mans door and just being drunken
crazy and the cops coming to pick her up; not really a hot gospel
topic. After church we tried to contact people most of the day but
didn't have much success.

This week was just weird honestly. Things worked out but looking back,
it doesn't seem like it haha. We had some awkward, funny, frustrating
moments, I guess it was just a week for the books, a week to remember.
I hope everyone is doing well and loving life as you should.
God speed,
 Elder Hinrichsen

Pics
The D family's feast with us and Mama L's on Saturday. Mama
L is the member who everyone just sort of refers to as Mama, it
fits.

May 23, 2016

Sorry, just a quick email for this week.

Highlights:
- We had exchanges with Elders Anderton and Butterfield. I stayed in
Olathe 1 with Elder Anderton, we were able to talk to two Spanish
lessons and set up a few appointments for the coming week.
- So we set up an appointment with a lady through phone. In our area
book her name was G.L. and Elder Gill said the address was
incorrect. Well we asked for the address 2 hours before the
appointment and she gave it to us, but it was for an address we didn't
think was in Olathe; so we gave it to the team up then ran into
dinner, well we got a text from our team up asking us where the
address was because he couldn't find it in Olathe so after dinner we
asked G. what city her address was in... She said Salt Lake
City, Utah haha so a little off; turns out that the number we had was
for a lady Yolanda that lived in Utah, but it was her friend who's
name was Gloria Lopez and lived in Olathe; so she gave us the correct
number and address and we set up an appointment for this coming
Friday.
- We were able to get in contact with a lot of people to set up
appointments for the coming week

Honestly, this week was slow; but we are super excited to have a good
week this coming one! I hope everyone is doing well! Take care! And
much love.

May 16, 2016

This week we got a lot done


5/10/16 Tuesday
     So it was Elder Howells birthday and his companion and him had to
come up to Olathe for something so we went to a Mexican restaurant,
Bonito Michoacan for some fantastic street tacos. Well, missionary
work can't be all play; we had to do stake reports for the next few
hours until our appointments started for the evening. We met with a
recent convert here, I.P., and were supposed to review the Plan of
Salvation, but we ended up having to sit in their garage outside
waiting for their parents to get back, which just turned into us
playing soccer with them and having a quick lesson on the Plan of
Salvation. Later, we taught two of the youth, W and N, because
their mom wants us to teach them the lessons. The visit went alright,
they didn't seem too engaged but are super cool kids. We had one last
appointment with another recent convert, W.W., who's wife
and kids are members and he was recently baptized.

5/11/16 Wednesday
     We went to district meeting in Paola, Kansas and then went on
exchanges. I stayed in Olathe with Elder Davis and Elder Gill went to
Paola with Elder Roberts. It was an awesome exchange. Elder Davis is
Spanish speaking and the thing is, that every contact or lesson we had
was in Spanish, which was pretty sweet. We talked to a super cool guy
on his driveway and he started asking some perfect questions about
life after death and forgiveness, it was insane. We left him a Book of
Mormon and hoped to meet with him again. We were able to have a little
lesson with two other recent converts, E and M, and talked
about the importance of the priesthood. The last lesson was with an
investigator who we've struggled to meet with, and actually, this was
the first time I'd ever say town and had a lesson with him. We
discussed the whole purpose of our visits and put it in terms of
helping them to feel the spirit more in their lives and come closer to
Christ, it seemed to go pretty well.

5/12/16 Thursday
    We exchanged back in the morning and then did some language study
before having lunch. We hit up some weekly planning to set us up for
success next week, hopefully. And tried to contact some people. Our
only appointment was that night with a man, J.B., whom the
missionaries have been meeting with for a long time. We discussed the
importance of faith and not just proclaiming to have it.

5/13/16 Friday
   We had another exchange, this time with the elders in the Red
Bridge ward. I went to Red Bridge with Elder Townsend, who is now one
of my lifelong homies, and Elder Gill stayed in Olathe with Elder
Torrico. Elder Townsend is such an awesome guy! We had an insane talk
about basically the importance of centering things on the Savior and
then about how some people are able to be more sensitive to the
Spirit. We were able to talk to a few people that day and set up a
return time for a lady, but didn't teach any lessons.

5/14/16 Saturday
   Luckily for us, we had three appointments that night . We had an
appointment with an investigator, R.V. and her husband and
children, but we got a message that a family in our ward, who is super
good friends with them, was having them over for dinner and invited us
to go as well! So that happened later. But during the middle of the
day, we spent trying to contact people and set up appointments for the
coming week. Well, at the dinner we were supposed to eat quickly and
then watch a general conference talk from President Hinckley, but we
ended up taking a little longer to eat and didn't even make it to the
video, at least not while we were there, we found out that they
watched it later. But while we were eating the families started
talking about Joseph Smith and ended up setting up plans to go to the
Historic Liberty Jail the next day so that was pretty cool! However,
we did have to cancel an appointment because we were at the house for
too long, luckily the man said he was busy anyways and probably
couldn't meet. But from the dinner we rushed to the house of a lady
and her husband where her 10 year old brother, L, stays on the
weekends. L is not a baptized member and so we wanted to work with
him. He has been taught all the lessons in the past and has been to
church multiple times, we were just going to see what his thoughts
were. Well, to preface the story, in the Olathe 1 ward there has been
a strand of 18 consecutive months with someone on baptismal date for
that month, as in someone on date for 18 months in a row; well, in May
we have had nobody and with the requirements to be clean from all Word
of Wisdom concerns for two weeks and to attend church twice,
technically, to have someone on date was impossible at that point...
But, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
So we had an awesome visit with L, he expressed his fear of water
and how he almost drowned when he was younger and so we helped him
understand that someone would be with him and that the water wouldn't
be tall and we told him we would show him the font the next day. So at
the end we asked him if he wanted to pick a date, wait and see, or not
get baptized; the kid himself chose to pick a day and we were going to
go for a day in June, which would have broken the streak of
consecutive months with someone on date, but because of the fact that
L is leaving in the beginning of June to visit family, we had to
set the day for May 28th! Luckily he has been taught everything and
been to church but wow, that was an insane visit! We went in thinking
we would maybe discuss baptism in June and then his sister and her
husband we super encouraging and we clarified some things and we might
have a baptism in two weeks! Miracles happen once in a while if you
believe...

5/15/16 Sunday
   We had L attend church and we showed him the font afterward
which helped him feel super comfortable. He thought it wasn't even
deep and so it seemed to ease his worries. Well, the talks and the
entire sacrament program were all about the restoration of priesthood,
so the Aaronic priesthood boys did all the talks and even sang a
musical number. Sunday School was about the importance of faith in
Christ. Priesthood was about the Book of Mormon. Well after church we
were able to go to the Historic Liberty Jail with the G family and
the D family, which is R.V. and her fam. The tour was
good, long, but good. They enjoyed the history of the jail and
learning more about Joseph Smith's experience there. The jail is a
super powerful place to be. There is such a spirit of reverence there.


This week was awesome! We were able to put someone on date for this
month and  find a few new people to work with so we are super excited!
I hope y'all are doing well! Much love!

Elder Hinrichsen