Record Snowfall...he can't get away from the stuff!

Well, this past week Montréal got a whopping 18.5 inches of snow in one day (Thursday the 27th).

Here is a picture showing the aftermath:

Elder Shaver

Hey! 

Thats so cool you met with Mrs. Marlowe! (A friend of mine and his English teacher from high school...she listened to his video I recorded speaking in Mandarin and she said he is VERY good!)  I actually didn't even know she spoke Mandarin. Cool. 

Great to hear about the boys! (Just told him some funny stories about his little brothers...)  Makes me feel close to home. Thanks so much mom for updating me on everything! :)

A giraffe would be cool! (I asked if he wanted me to bring him back a giraffe from Africa...lol  Funny boy.)  But I'd have to talk to President, we aren't supposed to have pets.. you know... mission rules and all.

Ya Amber is great, she got baptized last month and is such a strong member, and a great example of Christ-like love!(A woman in his area who they've gotten to know well who added me on facebook so I have another way of getting the scoop on T!)

What kind of pictures do you plan to take in Africa? That new lens you got looks pretty nifty, what does it do again? I know you will take great pictures! Can't wait to see them! How long are you in Africa for?

This week has been interesting, we did indeed go out in the snow... it is everywhere! Pretty crazy. People must think we are crazy, but that is ok, that might lead them to inquire as to why we are "crazy". I like to look at it as just "motivated" or "unstoppable" but I'm sure people are looking out their windows thinking to themselves "Well they aren't to bright"... oh well. 

Oh I sang in Church with Elder Shaver yesterday! It was great! Then we taught Priesthood/Relief Society with Elder Bell. Taught about unity and what not. Hopefully we can strengthen the Branch.

I love being a missionary, we just get to go talk to people and teach the Gospel! It's a win/win way of life!

I love the little miracles we see everyday. Anything from and appointment coming through or having the perfect snowflake fall on your sleeve. Life is full of little miracles, that is what gets us through everyday. The best part is we try to put ourselves in the position to be somebody's miracle each day. I know the Lord is blessing my life, and can bless all our lives.

I love you all so much!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

Aprés Christmas!

It was a great Christmas after all!  It was definitely weird not having our Taylor here, but we got to Skype for more than an hour.  I also just got off the computer with him today (Boxing Day) because it's his P-day today instead of Monday so we were emailing back and forth.  He sent some pictures!  Here you go...

T with Elder Bell

Transfer day...new companion is Elder Shaver

All 7 Chinese missionaries...the seven may turn into 12 come the new year!

Elder Bell and Elder Riff with their Poutine

Christmas Concert

Elder Shaver and T on the Metro...all by themselves!

Birthday Sushi!

John's baptism

Andy's baptism

Christmas tree for the 4 roommates that Dennis sent

Opening pressies with his birthday present wrapped around him...the quilt I made out of his favourite T-shirts!  Kaitlin got him the missionary stocking that looks like a suit and tie with a name tag!  Perfect!

Dad always finds cool coins and momentos for his kiddos to have as keepsakes to remember important times and events by.

His new Citizen watch from Dad that is solar powered.  He said he feels very classy with it on and feels important when he 'consults' his Citizen for the time.  Hahahaha!

The loot.

Grandma and Grandpa Morris sent him every flavour of Pringles out there, and a bunch of his favourite candy to last about 6 months...or maybe not that long if all 4 guys indulge! 

I did mention to him how I love his 'chesterfield'!  lol  

When we Canadians use the word chesterfield, it's when we have a couch that looks like THAT!

He says its very soft and comfy though!  

First birthday and Christmas away from home.  Success.  Phew.  We made it through.

(Yes, it was harder on Mom than him ;0)  )

Good practice for next year...and the many other holidays and celebrations that he won't be home for...cuz that's what happens when you grow up I guess, right?

Things are warming up in Montreal...even tho there's snow!

Hey! 

Haha yes my companions speak english, and french too. I speak French occasionally. And we sing in all 3 but Mandarin as often as possible.

No deliveries as of yet. Might get some today. 

Haha Brother Mandin is great! Cool that Uncle Brent and Auntie Kami came to visit! 

Well life has been pretty good the past week, although quite busy, really pushing to make things happen. And we have been knocking a lot! Elder Shaver is great, he is super thoughtful and very aware of people and how they act and what they think. Im a little more go go go, I can learn a lot from him. Knocking has been pretty normal, but we have had some cool experiences. First we knocked into these fellows from Morocco, we discussed some things, they loved to talk, but not listen as much. But then the next door was a man from Mauritius! (Small island in the Indian ocean) He was super open and he even let us in! We taught him, prayed with him and I could really feel the Spirit. He is not Chinese though, so I think he is in contact with the English missionaries.

Another cool thing was Saturday we went to a lady's house with the senior missionaries serving in our branch (President Cannons father and his wife). It was her and her 14 year old son. He is incredible at the piano and they fed us a great meal! Later we were talking about family, she was amazed at 11 children and kept saying you must be a great woman (to which I agreed). I told her to add you on Facebook. Yu Fang is her name. They like us missionaries but not quite open to joining the Church yet. Fun night though.

Also I have been trying to find a mom in the ward for you to get in touch with. We have an <older sister> figure. Liu Hai Tao. She is great! She bought us hot chocolate (Which is great cause it finally snowed here) and is always willing to help us. 

Last night I found a mom! There is a lady in our ward.. Iris. They have three boys. One has soccer so him and dad don't come to church too much, but she is there every week. And they have been here 10 years so her English is great! I will ask if she has facebook when I see her again. 

Still not sure about Christmas, things happen really last minute in the branch. The back up is President and Sister Cannons (you can also add Sister Cannon on FB). Hopefully I know what the plan is by next week.

Well those are some of the most eventful things this week. 

Love you so much!

Elder Heinzlmeir

Hello Taylor!

I received an email today from the mission president's wife, Shirin Cannon.  She said "We love him so much.  He is amazing!  Thought you might be able to use this picture to blow up for the wedding. Congratulations!"

Taylor must have told her about our weddings coming in 2013...that he'll miss...lol  We talked about taking a picture before he left that we could blow up full size and mount on foam core and stand him up in the wedding party!  lol   This pic was taken with a phone, and it's not bad...but it won't blow up very well, but I was SOOOOOOO excited to see his face...and all the rest of him!

Getting familiar with a new area.

YAYYY!!! Congrats to the two of them. (I told him the news about Kaitlin and Ryan getting engaged!)

Silly parking tickets. lol Glad you had a good time.(I got yet another parking ticket in Edmonton...I always get parking tickets in Edmonton!!!!)

 Yes, we use our card for groceries. I haven't made myself anything yet :P

4 guys is great!(There's 4 of them in one apartment now.) Elder Williams and Elder Cutler are great! We all get along well, and not too messy! Plus Elder Williams likes to cook... and do dishes!

I love hearing the stories of the kids. 

I say hi to Mrs. Gondek and Mrs. Marlowe!

Pretty cool about their School.(Thickwood Heights --the little kids' school--is trying to get the classification of a performing arts school by September 2013 including music, dance, art and drama).

I think I want gel insoles, what kind should I get?(maybe his feet hurt?  lol)

Oh and still don't know where we are Skyping, still in the Chinese Branch in my new area, just work on the west side, and it's not YSA we just have a lot of YSA, sorry for the confusion.

The new area is interesting, quite different than downtown. It's good though. Elder Shaver and I get along so thats a plus too. He's a really great guy. 

This week was super cool because we taught two people on Saturday. Then that night they came to our Stake Christmas concert and sang with our branch! It was awesome! Other than that this week has just been slowly adjusting to the new area. 

I'll have some more stories next week i'm sure.

Love you all lots!! 

Elder Heinzlmeir :)

New Experiences

Hey mom!

Elder Bell and I have knocked 2 full buildings. There isn't really a mom I am close with, I'd imagine Sister Chen would be the closest thing but they are still in Taiwan and then are leaving on a mission... guess I'll just have to find one. No X-Mas tree at home, not really big in China. Elder Bell is getting more excited to Train his COUSIN! Who comes Wednesday, and I got transferred to the other Chinese area and Elder Shaver is my new companion and my new apartment has 4 Elders... fun times ahead :P

Good news about Maria (my friend from Australia who has been very sick and is slowly recovering thanks to many prayers!) and Janice! (my other friend's daughter who is getting married this week in the Calgary Temple).

Speaking of food, cool story. So this week Elder Bell and I are minding our own business, knocking people's doors in this apartment building... you know, the usual. When all of a sudden we knock into a father and son, who actually let us in! It was great (Elder Bell and Elder Riff will see them again on Friday). While we were in the lesson the phone went off a couple times. Of course we didn't dare interrupt the Spirit so we let them slide. When we check after our lesson, one of the calls was from a member that hasn't been to church in YEARS! No contact. We called back, her name is Xiao Li, and she invited us over for dinner! (This was my first DA(dinner appointment..the local members invite the missionaries over each night to feed them dinner...but where there are fewer members, there are fewer meals, so they fend for themselves) where someone actually said "hey come over" instead of us being like "FEED US PLEASE"). So we go Friday night, her husband recently came over from China and her mom was there ( both aren't members) it was so cool. We started by helping them make these little dough balls, it was fun, thought we were gonna bake or fry them.. but no.. they were boiled into the soup for dinner. We had a classic Cantonese soup, with these little chewy dough balls. Yup, it was definitely interesting. I ate quickly so they repeatedly told me to take more! I ate sooooo much! Let me tell you I was not hungry. Oh by the way the gave us tangerines and I ate a whole one by myself! Pretty crazy.

Then the next day there was a WEDDING in our Branch. A guy from Taiwan (who served his mission here) came back and married a girl in the Temple on Saturday... Pretty cool (But that meant I had to teach English class by myself, which really isn't bad considering I'm the only Mandarin missionary whose first language is English.) Elder Bell and Elder Shaver served around Feng (the guy that got married) so they got to go to the wedding with President! Elder Laboulaye and I went to work. It was pretty cool to see the branch come together for the wedding.(a branch is a smaller 'ward' which is the term that represents a geographical area and all members living in that area are in that specific ward (they are usually named or numbered) (There were more members and investigators at the wedding than that come to church! {we are working on that}) Xiao Li and her husband even came!

Well that was the excitement for this week. 

Thanks for the stories from home! Love you all so much!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir!!!

The Reformed Church that we found, Xiao Feng's baptism (Feng baptized him), and a cool orange suit that costs like 1500$ 

Seriously?  An orange suit?  lol

The Wedding Reception

Above, the District

Below, Elder Laboulaye

Speaking Mandarin like a pro...lol

I miss his face sooo much...even tho he has sent some pics recently.  I just had to add one of my own pics of my handsome boy.  Makes the letter a little more 'real'.

AND,,,only 1 month till we get to 'see' him for real on Skype!  I love modern technology!!!!!

Here's his letter for the week:

Hey! Happy Birthday Mom!

This week has been great! That turtle is so cool! (He saw the turtle pics from Maui) And thats awesome about the Woodruffs! (Friends of ours from Calgary who just received their call to the Montreal Mission!!!)  We haven't heard anything from our leaders yet. So they are called to be the Mission President?(I don't think they are the new Pres./wife...just senior missionaries for the area...) The Cannons go home in June. 

Sounds like life has been pretty fun and eventful! Thanks for all the updates!

I'm pretty ok with the Metro now, the city is coming to be more and more familiar. And yes we can listen to church stuff :)(I'm sending him some CD talks and music on an ipod because they don't drive in the city so they don't have a CD player). I haven't gone to the post office yet, sorry, i'll do it asap. (he was supposed to send me a couple things for someone else...lol)

I'll pray for Maria.  (A dear friend of mine is very sick right now so I asked him to please remember her in his prayers).

Well this week was cool! Xiao Feng was baptized yesterday, he is super cool. It was a great spiritual experience. I'm really glad I have been able to teach him, and get to continue to be his friend. I also spoke in Church on Sunday... It was so cool! 

I love Chinese people, I can say two words and they tell me my Chinese is great :) (This part is just really cute!  We all like to be told good things...especially when you're trying to speak the hardest language on the planet!)

I also love Chinese food! We went to the 1st counsellor and Relief Society President's house and they made us great soup! It was Ramen, but like real Chinese style.. awesome!

It snowed Saturday, but didn't really stick. It's below zero now though so I'm sure it's coming.

I love you all so much!

Have a good week!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

Poutine!

Hey!!

Hawaii looks super fun! Little jealous of that weather! Hope you are having a great time! Love the pics!

The weather here is decent. No snow yet! Sitting around like 3 degrees ish. No need for boots yet. Next transfer is Dec. 5  (every 6 weeks). And ya Elder Bell goes home in January! Crazy! And we do get to Skype for Christmas... currently unsure where, probably Chen's house... we will see. It will be great!

Well this week was great! Attended my first baptism! It was a lady the other missionaries in our branch taught and she is super cool! It was great to feel the spirit in such abundance. Someone we have been teaching gets baptized Sunday! His name is Xiao Feng. He is awesome! I can't wait.

Other than that, just been busy doing the work, it's great! Taught a lot and this week went by so fast!

Oh and on Thursday I went on splits with Elder Laboulaye! That was pretty fun.

Finished the Book of Mormon! Count 1 on the mission! I love the time we have to study in the mornings!

Well I'll send pics now!

Love you!!!

Elder Heinzlmeir

Like he said in a previous email, his companion had to buy him his first poutine once he arrived in Montreal.  Now THAT is some serious poutine...with BACON even?????

Assorted poutines.

The won ton soup...now that's legit!

He and Elder Bell...arriba!

This is what they call the 'Greenhouse'.  Where they do a lot of their teaching...

His District and everyone pointing to where they would be going.

Elder Nelson and Taylor

This is Taylor with his companion in Montreal, Elder Bell

Lunch gone bad...

Hey,

Haha no long weekends in a missionary life... in fact not really any weekends either. But life is great! I'm doing pretty good! 

That's sweet you got to see the Simpson's... and beach in the Winter!! Nice.

Thats so cool Shannon came up! Pretty cool B-Day present.

Edler Bell is from Hawaii so he will love that you are going there.

It's not that weird not seeing movies. I mean I'd love to see the new James Bond but we are so busy there wouldn't even be time. President doesn't really have crazy rules. It's pretty much Missionary Handbook Standard. If we have any specific questions we can ask. He and Sister Cannon are great though! We actually went to their house yesterday for lunch! They did ask about the family, like just about what home was like with so many kids, like chores and stuff.

Me and Elder Bell get along great! No complaints!

Speaking of getting sick.... Wednesday was my first Zone Conference. We had a big lunch together afterwards..... And then that night it hit! Something went wrong and everyone in the whole zone got sick!!! Like everyone... even President.  Let me tell you Thursday was not easy. But we are better now :)

I love that Montreal is in Canada, even though it doesn't feel like it all the time. So many people ... so many cultures. A lot of Jewish people, hats and all.  Language is cool. We teach in Chinese and English. Most Chinese people learn English that come over. It is harder not being in the MTC and studying it for hours everyday. 

Umm special requests. Maybe like snack stuff like chips or something... we don't buy any, too expensive.

Happy Birthday to Shannon...

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!

Have fun in Hawaii!

Love, Elder Heinzlmeir

Life in Montreal

Hey! 

Thats so cool to hear! (That I'm visiting the Simpsons in San Fran this week!) Hope you are having fun in San Fransisco! I think when I get home I want to focus my studies on children and development. So Im sure I would have loved that. (I attended a 2 day conference on Domestic Violence and Bullying and told him about it as I was sure he would have loved the 'neuro' parts of it especially)  Say hi to Sam and Joe for me. I hop Joe comes here...  Mandarin speaking so maybe I could train him! 

I hope she (Shannon) and Jenna come here Mandarin speaking so I can see them and they would be in my district.. although we don't have Mandarin Sisters here right now. 

Wish I could see the website! (My new photography website www.remindmephotography.ca) Thats way cool!

I miss those kids. (I told him a Reggie story) In our branch there are 2 sets of little boy twins. They remind me of the kids so much. 

Also sorry about the lack of pics. Have to be sneaky here at the Apple store, so I might be able to send some next week or something... it's very busy today.

The city is pretty cool! And yes! (I asked him if he's had poutine yet...) There is a tradition where the trainer buys his greenie his first poutine so Elder Bell bought me one the other day... soooo good. (Pictures to come).

I got Dad's letter in 5 days, we will see about the package (I asked him to let me know how long letters and packages take to get there). Also the cubs sent me a bunch of letters, that was pretty cool.

Bed is good, (asked him if his bed was comfy enough) settled just fine. We are doing pretty good, can't think of much... oh wait Winter boots I will need soon I'm sure. Other than that it's great!

We have a sweet branch and the work is moving along. We are busy and teach a lot, just the way it should be! So far nothing to crazy to eat other than the pineapple.

Love you lots have a great week!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

First Email from Montreal!!!!

Hey!!!

I'm living in Montreal! It's so cool! Not too cold here yet, and I just heard about the storm last night, it should be here tonight, we'll see how it goes. The new logo is sweet! 

So here is the deal. After we got to the Mission home we ate the best food we have in a long time! It was really great! Then we had a little get to know you fireside thing and went to bed. We woke up, ate breakfast, had an interview with President. Then they told us who are companions would be and took us to meet them! My companion is Elder Bell. He is way cool. His cousin is actually coming here next transfer, Mandarin Speaking, so I met him at the MTC. Elder Bell goes home in 2 transfers, and is a great missionary. Our apartment is actually pretty sweet! It's not big or anything but the shower is really nice. 

We have been very busy teaching, which is great cause it's better than finding (which is a little intimidating). But we have already gone knocking doors, and we don't have a car, we cover the east half of Montreal so we just use the Metro, and we contact on the Metro (which is probably the hardest part). 

Church was in Mandarin, it was so cool! I got to play the piano in Sacrament (I did my best at least) and it was kinda tough to follow the talks... and read the hymns, but it was great! The members are super nice, most of them are YSA age. There is a lot of work to do but I'm loving it.

Also doing E-mails at the Apple store in Montreal is pretty fun. 

I say hey to everyone! That is so cool about Jenna and Shannon! They should come here Mandarin speaking! If they get Mandarin sisters. We only have 4 Mandarin Elders, well 5 but one is in French right now. Can't wait to hear where Scott and Mitch go!

Cool story... we were knocking in an apartment building and on one floor we spoke 5 languages! Elder Bell was born in France and moved to Hawaii when he was 14. He is called Mandarin speaking but he served in the Spanish branch and had to learn Spanish, and his last companion spoke Cantonese so was teaching him a little. But ya, on that floor, we used English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Pretty cool!

So ya life is good, doing the Lord's work. Love you all!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

...and then he sent this right after (for those of you who know Taylor well...you know he doesn't like fruit of any kind and instantly stopped eating it when he turned 1 year of age...soooo...now you'll understand this next bit...)

Oh and a miracle happened yesterday, we were at a part-member family's house, and guess what they brought out for us.... pineapple! And I took the fork and ate it... without even thinking twice. A true miracle.

Mailing address:

470 Rue Gilford 

Suite 300 

Montreal Quebec 

H2J 1N3

Best surprise EVER!

Well, a surprise post because today TAYLOR called to talk to me!!!!  Yay!  He got special permission to call home and at first I was feeling a bit nervous thinking something must have gone wrong...but nope...it seems that his Mission President requested his presence in Montreal MONDAY...not the 30th...but this coming Monday!!!!  So because his P-days are Tuesday at the MTC and he leaves Monday, we wouldn't have heard from him and that would DEFINITELY leave me worried sick!  In fact, there's no doubt I would be calling the MTC and talking to my friend at the front desk again!

So he's got 2 baptisms Saturday and then he's packing up and catching a plane with a bunch of French speaking missionaries.  Cool stuff.  It will be so exciting to hear from him next time he writes to find out how his NEW adventure is going...new apartment, new companion, new city, new people, new weather...but at least he's heading back to CANADA!  It can't be THAT different....can it?  Stay tuned...and I may actually hear from him on Monday from the airport as they are usually allowed to call home to just confirm with their mommas and pappas that they are truly on their way to the mission field.  That will be a bonus call for sure!  I'm hoping they don't count today's call as his call home...but I'll be okay if it was.  Sort of. ;0)

ps...he spoke to me in Mandarin and I have to say...SO impressed.  I couldn't even tell that he is new at it!  It just rolled off his tongue.  He has worked hard, and it's paying off!  Amazing.

Montreal!

The countdown...

Hey! How is every one doing?

Things are pretty sweet at the MTC. Last Tuesday Elder Bednar came to speak! It was so cool, definitely could feel the Spirit strongly in the room. He taught us his method of studying General Conference talks, which was really cool because even a member of the Quorum of the Twelve studies the talks. It was really interesting because the focus was on getting personal revelation from the talks, what we can learn or change ourselves. I'm pretty sure he looked at me too (did I mention I was in the third row!) Pretty cool.

Wednesday was pretty good too, our lessons with our investigators have been going great! Both of their baptisms are scheduled for Saturday! Still have a lot to teach them but everything is great! I'm really getting better at teaching to our investigators needs and helping them through their trials. Or rather showing them how to receive help from the Lord. I definitely see His hand in everything I do. It's really helped me become a better missionary and help those that we teach.

I learn so much over the course of a week, it's hard to choose what to share. The days seem to be flying by now. It's a big cycle of teaching, learning and playing four square during gym. I guess I leave on the 30th so two weeks from today! 

I think the most important thing I learned this week is just how precious time is on the mission. It's time we have given to the Saviour and we need to use it wisely. We need to be focused and diligent and always remember the big picture of what we are doing. Our teachers have been stressing this. One of our teachers said "If you use your time the way you need to, the Lord will put people in your path that have been prepared, but if you don't He will take them away". Really helped to realize just how important this work really is. Salvation is on the line!

So I hope Reggie starts to be able to read, I know he can do it. Did Brianna get the card I sent? Cool that you are doing scripture study in the morning. Thats super important!

Love you all lots!

Edler Heinzlmeir

Oh and I ran into my friend Elder Nelson the other day! He is going to Guatemala, and is going to the MTC there next week. Cool stuff.

Week 9 at the MTC

Hey!!

How awesome was conference! Can you believe it! The age changes are so cool! And yes mom everyone was buzzing at the MTC (Some people even cheered...a little irreverant). I liked Elder Nelson's talk about asking the missionaries... that's me! I would love to write all I learned but it would take longer than half an hour. I'll just some of the talks I enjoyed: President Uchtdorf - Reaching your Potential, Elder Oaks - Protecting Children, Elder Christofferson - Being a Man, President Eyring - the one about the pavillion, Elder Holland, and of course the Prophet. Can't wait for the Ensign to come out so I can study them! (And maybe i'll get the Liahona and try and translate the Mandarin). 

So yesterday taught a good recap lesson on the Gospel, especially on repentance and baptism. Both of our "Progressing investigators" are scheduled to be baptized on the 20th of this month! Oh congrats Ryan btw. Looks like you guys had a great weekend! Hope you all had a lot of fun! Because of conference all we did Saturday and Sunday was watch conference and study! We did a temple walk, and had a Fireside on Sunday. Chad Lewis came, he is an ex-NFL player, went to Taiwan on his mission. He had a powerpoint of pictures and talked about experiences in his life and how they relate to missionary work, really cool. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (I know that was wrong but I can't google it).

Other than that... let me think... the days are going by so quickly now, it's already our week 9 at the MTC! A lot of teaching a lot of spiritual experiences, trials and blessings.

Last night I had a dream I was in Montreal street contacting, in French, but I randomly switched to Mandarin and could only speak Chinese! Too bad I was talking to French people.

Well other than that, I cleaned bathrooms, biked for 48 mins for gym, played a lot of 4 square, taught lots of lessons. Elder Lewis is District Leader so we get to pick up the mail everyday again.

Chinese is progressing at a little bit of a slower rate, but thats ok, just gotta work a little harder I guess.

Thanks for the pictures mom!

Well love you lots! Have a great week!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

3 or 4 Weeks LEFT at the MTC...

Hey!

I love the pics! Those are great! Elder Lewis likes the Northern lights one! Today has been pretty good so far. Temple, laundry, little bit of organizing and shopping, Elder Lewis got a hair cut, then we went to the gym.

Pretty average preparation day. Feeling good though! I wish I could print the pictures you sent off so I could show everyone at the sushe (Mandarin for apartment or dorm). Yesterday was really great! Our lesson was super good! Last week I started spacing out in some of our lessons so I was working with my teachers but still wasn't getting far. Then Sunday night after the Fireside we went and watched a talk from Elder Bednar called "Becoming a missionary". In it he said. "If you ever blank in a lesson start to bear your testimony about Joseph Smith and the restoration and the Holy Ghost will fill in the rest! So with that in mind and with a little extra planning our lessons went smoothly! Definitely receiving blessing from the Lord everyday! (Even the hard ones).

So spiritual experience highlight of the week. Last night we were in class and we were pretty out of fucus and I just wasn't feeling the Spirit the way I knew I should so I raised my hand and asked our teacher if we could say a prayer. She agreed and we all knelt down in prayer. The mood became instantly calmer and the Spirit was there and allowed us to have a great spiritual learning experience (We were teaching another district member) and is a testimony to the power of prayer. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers, without a doubt. I'm so grateful for His power and for allowing us to have His Spirit with us.

My Book of Mormon study is going great! In Mosiah and it's looking pretty colorful. I really enjoy having a focused subject of study. Our investigators love the Book of Mormon which really helps develop their faith. It's so important to read and study everyday to provide us with spiritual strength and give us revelation. Church on Sunday was great too! Elder Lewis and I blessed the Sacrament... In Mandarin! Then we got to bear our testimonies! My Chinese is getting better everyday, but still have a way to go.

I think I might be leaving the MTC on the 23rd (not sure if I said this last time) (also this is purely speculation) because the Elder in our older generation that went to Montreal left a week early (My date is supposed to be the 30th) because the French missionaries going to Montreal leave then. Just a heads up, I should know in a week or two for sure.

Also I mailed a Birthday card for Brianna. Tell her Happy Birthday for me!

Other than that... Oh I hosted new missionaries on Wednesday, saw one going to Edmonton, told him to say hi if he goes to Fort McMurray. So if new random missionaries say hi, it's cause I met them. Anyhow... Mostly just been doing the usual study, teach and learn cycle. Pretty good though.

When is Ryan's baptismal date again? (xilihui in Mandarin)

Oh when we taught at the TRC on Saturday we got the same girls we got last week so it was a super good lesson, they shared some great experiences and it was really comfortable. It's important to involve members in missionary work and gain their trust so it's cool that we do that at the TRC. (Unless we teach real investigators, which we have twice now).

Sorry for no new pictures this week, and sorry for not letting you know about the triple bunk bed, and long tie day (my pictures are a little blurry of that one). By the way, I was not in support of the triple bunk. Oh and Elder Lewis got called as new district leader starting next week (because Conference is coming they made the calls a week early), but that means we get to pick up the mail for our district! Best job ever!

Well I gotta run. Lots of love!

Elder Heinzlmeir

For those reading this and haven't seen the picture he's talking about...it's this one.  Great Aurora Borealis the other night!

Another week in the life of a great missionary!

Hey!! Love you!

Happy Birthday Dad and Grandpa!!!!! The pics are great! I wish I could print some out to have with me. And the work you did on my pictures are awesome!! I love the one with the red flower! 

Things have been pretty cool this week. Sister Sulz is on the same floor as me for our classes so I've seen her everyday. My friend Luke comes in like 2-3 weeks I think which is pretty exciting.

Today we went to the Temple to a 6:20 session... super early, then ate at the cafeteria there... best food I've had yet! Been taking it pretty easy for the rest of the day, already in Mosiah in personal study (I started again when I got to the MTC).

So today I accidentally washed my missionary handbook with my whites... so I'm going to go get a new one after E-mails. Pretty funny.

This last week has been pretty crazy. Our lessons were kinda rough the Wednesday to Friday and we were really struggling to help our investigators. We have been praying and studying a lot and on Saturday... everything clicked! Since then our lessons have been great! We are really helping our investigators learn and are teaching to there needs. I have a lot to improve on, but it's nice I have 5 more weeks here. Can't believe English Elders are only here for 3 weeks.

Our younger generation comes tomorrow and the international come tonight! I'm so excited but it's kinda strange. I hope I can be a good example. And i'll remind them to check all their pockets when they do laundry.

I don't know if I've mentioned this but I am studying the Gospel or Doctrine of Christ this time around the Book of Mormon and it is so eye opening, and really effective study to have a specific topic in mind. I think I need toimprove on understanding others needs.

Oh mom, could you send me some chopsticks? We all want to get some in our district to eat with at meals, just for fun.

I forgot! On Sunday we watched a broadcast of the Brigham City Temple dedication! I'm glad I got to see one even though I won't see Calgary's. Sunday night we watched "Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration" such a great movie? Have you seen it yet? If not you shoulf totally watch it! 

Lewis... thanks for the letters buddy! I have a challenge for you... MEMORIZE all the scripture masteries. Will you do it? I know if you do it will be a big help in your life, especially preparing you for a mission.

Jenna... I have a study question for you... What is the Doctrine of Christ and how does it apply to you?

Please send back how you are doing.

I know this is all in random order but it saves time. One of my teachers, Brother Visser, is in Josh's Bible class at BYU! Brother Visser told me last week "Josh says hi" It was pretty cool how everyone is connected.

Also can you get Shannon to send me how she felt when she was meeting with the misisonaries and how she feels now?

I love you!! God bless!

Elder Heinzlmeir

Taylor with his companion Elder Lewis

Week 5

Our older generation of missionaries left, so now its just our generation until next week on Wednesday when our younger generation comes... weird! I'm pretty excited though, I hope I can be a good example to them.

Well it's easier to go backward from today then to start at the day after my email and go till today. So yesterday was really good, service and what not, but then I hurt my thumb playing volleyball. Nothing too bad, just a little bruised, made sure I got ice on it right away. Sunday was fantastic! It was the older generations last Sunday and our Branch President, President Baker gave an amazing talk on enduring to the end. He likes to say that it's China's time to thrive and accept the gospel and that we are blessed to be a part of that. Pretty cool. Then of course we went to the Devotional! It was fantastic, Brother W. Tracy Watson spoke. He is the Director of Proselyting or something for the church. Great speaker! He spoke about the Book of Mormon and it was a fantastic faith building experience. Then we watched "Character of Christ" a talk Elder Bednar gave to the MTC. It was really inspiring. I wish everyone could watch it. Saturday was cool, we taught another real investigator at the TRC! 

Other than that just learning and teaching as usual. Both of our investigators came to Church on Sunday so that was cool, and we had a really great lesson with Apple yesterday. (That's the English name our investigator goes by)

Oh so starting this week we get to be investigators, and we teach other misisonaries in our district who are being investigators. I'm really looking forward to it.

Week 4 at the MTC

Well as usual my time has been great. My Chinese isn't that great yet, it's a work in progress but it sure is fun. It is weird sometimes to think that I am learning Mandarin, but it gets me excited! Yes Elder Lewis is still my companion and will be for the entire time at the MTC. He is a great guy, I'm sure you can tell by the pictures. He is from Danville California, in between San Fransisco and Oakland. We have similar interests, most importantly we get along great!

Cool story, there is a building called the TRC where people volunteer to be taught. Usually they are return missionaries, but last Saturday we taught a real investigator... in Mandarin! Pretty crazy.

On other big news... 17 Elders from our zone put together an acapella group singing "Come Thou Fount" and we had the opportun ity to sing, instead of the closing him, oat the Sunday night Fireside for the whole MTC! It was amazing! I really enjoyed it, and the arrangment was so good. I think we are going to meet sometime this week to record it on our cameras, then I could send it so you could see!

I got your package on Thursday! It was so exciting! (I sent him Ketchup chips, Canadian Smarties and Cherry Blasters)Then I made everyone in my district try the chips. They agreed that the chips aren't too bad, but glad they tried them. Oh and my calling as district leader is over as of Sunday, they rotate through every 3-4 weeks to give a lot of Elders the opporunity. Our new district leader is Elder Lackey. He is a great Elder. We have a pretty amazing district, and good teachers too.

I love going to the Temple! We always go in the morning to start the day off on the right foot. Then we do laundry and write letters. Then today Elder Lewis and I went to the gym, and now we are writing E-mails. We do service every Monday morning, and Elder Lewis and I are very lucky and get very easy tasks, like cleaning vaccums or disinfecting door knobs, which is a lot better than cleaning bathrooms! Then we clean the classroom Monday night and there is always a race for the vaccum because there are 2 vaccums on our floor and arounf 20 classrooms! Sundays are awesome! We have Priesthood in the morning then Sacrament meeting after lunch. Then Temple walk and Choir, followed by supper and Fireside. Then we get to watch a movie. We watched a talk from Elder Holland last Sunday called "Missions are Forever" It was sooo good! The week before that we watched Legacy in Mandarin, which was really fun, even though I really didn't understand much. Saturdays are TRC. Fridays we get pizza for dinner. Thursdays are pretty normal. Wednesdays the new missionaries arrive. It's fun trying to say "Welcome to the MTC Elder" to as many new missionaries as we can, especially after being here for so long. I think soon I can be a host missionary. Tuesdays are preperation day, so as I described before only after this I'm going to choir, then eat, then to the Tuesday Devotional.  Oh and on Wednesdays and Sundays we get BYU creamery ice cream! It's pretty good.

Thats pretty much a day in the life at the MTC, minus all the class time and studying, which is pretty much all the time, but it's great because this is the only time in my life that I will have this much time to study so I better make the most of it.

Well gotta run. Love you so much!!!

我爱你  (I love you)

汉长老 (Han Zhangloa) Elder Heinzlmeir

P.S. Those are the simplified characters. They use simplified in mainland China.

Mandarin, Mandarin and more Mandarin

We are pretty busy as usual. A lot of classes, a lot of study but I love it! Elder Nzojabwami left today but I got a picture with him yesterday! It's crazy that we reported the same day and he is already gone! I'll send some more pictures next week. I tried to take some artistic pictures of the temple. I hope you like them! I ran into my friend Elder Oliver the other day! We were in the same ward in Edmonton. And my Elders Quorum President's little brother is here. It's crazy finding connections to people! Today we went to the temple again. I love going every week! Othere highlights... Every night, on our way to our residence hall, we stop missionaries and bear our testimony to them in Mandarin! A few nights ago we stopped some French missionaries and I understood everything they said! It was pretty cool, I'm quite confident however they knew nothing of what I said. But that's alright the spirirt was there and was strong. Then some Italian speaking missionaries stopped us! I love hearing everyone's testimonies. There are so many languges here! It really is incredible!

We also went to the TRC (teaching resource centre) for the first time on Saturday. We teach volunteers and it was so cool cause they give us feedback on how to improve.

What else.. Oh we have workshops every Wednesday and the trainers are so good! Always an uplifting experience. We do service Monday morning, which is just cleaning the classroom buildings. I am also auditioning this Thursday with some Elders in my zone to sing at a fireside, we are doing an arrangement of "Come Thou Fount" I'm so excited! We sound pretty good (The Elder in charge is a piano major and a fantastic singer, really cool Elder). I play a lot of volleyball during gym time. They have a huge outdoor sand pit with 6 courts. Althought this week I've started working out. I'm at 180 so down a little from before I left actually. But don't worry we are being fed.

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

The first picture of Elder Heinzlmeir!

It just so happens, that friends of ours (retired) entered the MTC the same time as Taylor to prepare for their mission in the Republic of Georgia.  Kim happened to run into Taylor along the way...his first official day at the MTC and took this beautiful picture of him for me.  I received it today and just had to get it up on the blog for all to see his beautiful smile!  She said he is so happy and well fed and all that good stuff.  What a relief to see his happy face...

Thank-you Kim!