Transfers and Baptisms

Happy Birthday Mom!

That sounds so awesome! What a cool trip! That's cool how they converted the church like that! You brought your equipment? That would be awesome to come next time! I guess I could be a dentist lol, but mouths aren't really my thing haha. Where did you go for the humanitarian excursion? Thats so long ago, what is that lady's age? You met a Seventy too? That's so cool!(You can find the explanations for the above on my blog at www.heinzlmeirhaven.blogspot.ca ) 

We just had another transfer call, and it is no surprise that I am staying in Dows Lake with Elder Mataoa. I will be finishing his training, yay! This week was definitely crazy! We met with Nick on Wednesday, we have been teaching him our whole time here. He was preparing to be baptized, but a week before his date of the 16th, he told us he didn't feel ready. So coming to Wednesday, we met with him, and we asked him how he was feeling. He paused for a moment, then said "I changed my mind, I want to be baptized." This caught us a little off guard, I managed to peep out "When?" He said "Sunday?" I said, "We can do Saturday" and he said "Great!" So we set our plans in order. 

Saturday was amazing. Snow lightly falling, it was just right. Nick was just beaming the whole day. Kevin baptized him, I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost in both English and Chinese. The Spirit there was so strong. Then yesterday at Church he was confirmed, and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This weekend was just perfect. I am so happy for the decision Nick made to be baptized. I know it will bless his life, and the life of his family. 

I am happy for transfers, we are working with great people, and I get to be here for Christmas. Can't believe Christmas is so soon. We have already started singing carols and things. 

I need socks for Christmas, I am down to like 6 pairs. I asked Grandma for them too. Some Tylonel or something would be nice too haha. 

I hope you keep enjoying your time in Nicaragua! :) 

Love you lots!

Elder Heinzlmeir

The best gift ever...

Today I'm starting with a letter that Taylor's Bishop's wife sent me yesterday.  It was my birthday and I consider that letter the best gift this year!  I want to share it with all of you.

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  Hi Kelly. My husband is the Bishop of the DOWS Lake ward in Ottawa were we have the pleasure of serving with your son. He is the most incredible missionary. When my son was on his mission I wanted so much to be a fly on the wall so I could see him in action. So I thought I could be your fly on the wall for a few minutes and give you a peek into your sons missionary service.

  He radiates the joy of the gospel to everyone he meets. He's obedient, faithful, enthusiastic, and working very hard with our Chinese members and investigators. Because of this he and his companion are experiencing great success. I don't know how we would manage without him.

  Yesterday they had another baptism, a nice young man . At the baptism your son gave a talk on the Holy Ghost in which spoke fluently in Chinese and English , flowing smoothly from one language to another back and forth flawlessly. I was very proud of him and felt an overwhelming feeling of love for him....just as though you were here in my place. Only a mother would understand what I mean. He was also leading the music for the baptism and during the closing song he spontaneously sang the 3rd verse in Chinese while we sang in English. It was very touching.  

  I just wanted to let you know how blessed we are to have him serving here. Thank you for all you have done to raise such a fine young man, and for all the sacrifices you have made.,..believe me it was worth every bit Emily just let me know of the passing of your other son. We are sorry for your loss. We had no idea. Elder Heinzlmer didn't miss a beat. He just kept serving faithfully. If you have any concerns or if there is anything we can do for him while he is here, please don't hesitate to ask. Love and hugs Sister Piper (and Bishop)

Another week...

Hey mom,

This week was actually pleasantly warm here. No snow yet. Your trip will be so great! Enjoy it! I'll pray that all goes well. Poor Reg and Dane, I hope they start to feel better soon.(Reggie and Dane often speak of Mac and cry and question...they were very close to Mac and it's just plain hard.)

I love the picture, that's a really cool thing! Thanks for showing me! Too bad we can't wear jewelery or I might be tempted to get one.(I sent him a picture of my locket I made for Mac.)


As for my side of things, health has been alright, not sick or anything, that's a great blessing. Physically I've been a little sore, and I did have a headache yesterday, probably just because I didn't drink enough water, but morning exercise is great! Mentally, I'm improving I guess, still get side-tracked easily, but overall focus is good, and I am really learning a lot! Language is good, it improves slowly with time, I do get complimented, although I think they compliment any white guy that can speak Chinese. Frustrations come and go, all part of becoming stronger I guess.

This week was really cool though. We had a mission conference! Elder Pieper from the First Quorum of the Seventy came to visit our mission. We got to spend a day with him, being taught and trained. It was so cool to have a general authourity right there, teaching us what the Apostles directed them to teach. He taught us how do break down what he are doing into the application of principles coming from the doctrine. It was really enlightening. In our teaching we try and teach doctrine, followed by principles related to this doctrine, and invite those we teach to seek the answer as to how to develop their own faith and learn how to seek out on their own. The Spirit was so strong. We were using the Priesthood as an example doctrine, and we learned a lot about how the Priesthood blesses us and our families. After he taught us, they selected a few missionaries to have personal interviews with Elder Pieper. I was one of those chosen. That was probably one of the most incredible experiences I have had! We spoke for a short time but the Spirit was largely present. Elder Pieper wanted me to tell you that he says hello and that I am doing a good job.(How cool is that!?)

That was one highlight of the week. The other was yesterday we had a potluck for all Chinese people in Ottawa. It was great! We had about 30 people come and everyone had a great time, and were able to feel the Spirit being in the Chapel. I'm sure this will lead to teaching opportunities in the future, which means the lives of these people will be blessed. The food was delicious!

I am grateful to be here serving the Lord. I love you so much! Have a safe trip!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

A little snow...and a little stress. But it's all good.

Hey mom, 

Thanks for the update from home. I love your books, they are like journals for our family, we can show our kids what we did when we were younger! (I was telling him how I've been catching up on my digital albums...and in particular, my blog books.  I write my blog as a living journal of our family events and experiences, and at the end of the year, I 'slurp' that year into a volume of "Heinzlmeir Haven" through a company called Blurb.com.  I then have a hard copy 'yearbook' for each year and we love looking back at the memories.  I started in 2007 so I have 6 volumes, plus I did one to cover 1989--he year we got married--up to 2006.  That volume is a bit bigger as it covers more time, and the images in that book are from scanned photos.  I'm so thankful for the digital photography world today!  Makes things much easier AND faster to process!  I also do a smaller book for trips we take as a family or individually with more detailed photos and descriptions.  AND, when each child turns 18, I do a book for them...'The First 18 Years' as a keepsake for them.) 

What a brave little dude. (Reggie had a tooth just hanging from a thread and we have some sadists in the house who like to pull teeth out of the little kids' mouths!  Last night Reg was brave enough to endure the coatings of Jenna, Dad, Lewis and Shannon...and in the end, decided it would be way better for him to pull it himself, and so he did.) 

Cool stuff, when do you leave again on your trip, it seems like you are always around the world!(We leave on the 21st for Nicaragua for 12 days to help prepare pre-missionaries for their application process...I'll be taking their pictures and helping clean dental/medical instruments and Dennis will be sterilizing the instruments.)

This week has been pretty good actually, first snow fall for Elder Mataoa. And some firsts for me too. We taught the Word of Wisdom to one of the people we are working with, and he loved it. He decided this week he would stop smoking! What a great blessing for his life, and what a great way to see the the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes our hearts, and really helps us to conquer our hardest trials. 

On Wednesday we have our mission conference. Elder Pieper of the Seventy will be visiting us, I can't wait to be inspired and learn! Pretty great experience. 

What else is new, had a pot luck after church, that was yummy.

Oh and for the mission conference I am singing with some Elders, How Great Thou Art! That will be exciting, I love to perform.

I have been a littler stressed lately, but we have these new books called "Adjusting to Missionary Life" and it is all about managing stress, so that has helped a ton. Just gotta be positive.

Hope you have a great week!

Lovwe Elder Heinzlmeir 

Skills!

Hey mom,

The costumes look great, you truly are incredible! I like the quilt idea. (I'm going to try to make a wall hanging quilt from some of Mac's favourite clothes/ties) That's awesome about Jen! (Her papers for her mission will be sent within the next week or so because her last doc appointment last week was needed...heart specialist...and he said that her heart is 'gorgeous' and that there are no signs even of the previous issues with the mitral valve!  We feel this is nothing shy of a miracle.) I did get the package! Thank you, and thanks Josh for the ties. (His friend Josh P. had me send a couple funny ties...one that can be inflated so if you MUST fall asleep during church with your head on the pew in front of you, you can place the pillow tie between your forehead and the bench so as not to leave an obvious dent in your head...thus giving away that you were indeed dozing off during church!  lol--Taylor doesn't do this...but you never know! And the other was a camelback tie with a hidden water pouch for those times when you just can't stop for some water! lol  Funny boys must come up with these.)  Definitely handy. We ate a bunch of the candy and stuff already, the cookies are great, how did you make the swirly ones?(Jenna made swirly pumpkin/sugar cookies and we sent some to T.)  Your trip will be so amazing! (Dennis and I are leaving in a couple weeks for a service trip to Nicaragua.  It's for Smiles for Central America...a large group of dentists, doctors, hygienists, offer their services to pre-missionaries from Central America who can't afford the proper medical and dental requirements for missionaries.  Dennis will be working with the dental equipment - washing/sterilizing and I am the photographer for the trip.  I will be taking around 800 pre-mission portraits and some family portraits of people who would never otherwise have a family picture taken...ever.  We feel grateful for the opportunity to give back after being the recipients of so many acts of service over the past couple of weeks.)  Better start aprendir espanol. Es el mejor! Me gusta los tacos. Anyways...

I'm really happy to hear about all that support. It is so heart warming to hear the Christlike acts of service towards our family. I would like to add my gratitude to those that helped the family in our time of need.

Service is most definitely the best medicine. It fills our lives with charity, and our hearts with the love of Christ. When we serve others, we are serving God, and he blesses us with promised peace and happiness regardless of our circumstance. I know that has been keeping me afloat in stormy waves of emotion that rattle me occasionally. I hope this writing sounds good, and shows I am smarter than before, and doesn't sound weird, indicating the goof-ball I am. Haha. (Here lies Taylor's awesome sense of humour!  I told him that he does sound smarter...if that's possible for such a smarty-pants anyway...but that he'll always be my goof-ball.  ;o) )

I have been doing well though, we went out for sushi today, I LOVE CHINESE FOOD. And yes I recognize Sushi is actually Japanese, but only Chinese people work there so its close enough.

There is a lot to focus on as a missionary, especially now, as we are focusing on working with others to help them in their missionary efforts. It requires a lot of thought processing and time. But things really couldn't be better. I feel you all close by and your prayers are being answered.

What else is on my mind. I need a haircut, I've been neglecting it the last couple weeks, and I like keeping it short, did I mention I have been cutting my own hair? New found talent! It doesn't look quite as good as when you do it. But it's a pass at least. (He always has the right answer...ie...making sure he gives me credit, AND let's me know he still needs me...even though he's all grown up.)

We had another good turn out at Church on Sunday, despite the illnesses ravaging our friends. Must be the change in weather. It's been nice out here too, but I feel like I am getting colder more easily, I didn't get a good couple weeks of minus forty last year to train my body.

Love you so much, have a good week!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir