Today we had a 'chat'.

Today I was online at the same time as Taylor so we were able to chat.  So his letter was our conversation.  I'll just put some highlights:

• when I asked him if he really ate the duck egg, this was his response:  "ya, the whole thing :) you have to slurp the liquids inside first, with a little salt it isn't that bad"
• My response:  "That's sick T."
• I asked if he will stay an AP (Assistant to the President) for the rest of his mission and he said "haha, ya, i'm not that picky anymore, just sort of. I don't think so, President said last week that we probably won't finish as AP's, so I will have one more area, for like a month in the summer."
• He said he has been traveling quite a bit lately.  He went on split offs in Laval and in Ottawa so he was able to attend the baptism of a man he taught when he was there.
• Elder Lopez and I were kept quite busy this week. We made real tacos again, and went to the Moldovan family for dinner. 
• "I have new ideas of what I want to do in my life"...I'm going to start an international non-profit organization to help children and families"
• Then I asked him if he's speaking Spanish and he said "si, un poco, y tu mama, hablas espanol? Sabado, fuimos a una baby shower de una miembro de la barrio espanol. Come muchas commidas."  And I even know what he said as I've been learning Spanish too!

And that was it in a nutshell...she were back and forth with other things like him buying some new shoes and pants etc...which I figured didn't need to be highlighted for this post!  But he is super happy, the weather is warming up in Quebec...it's not 'ben frete' anymore (very Quebecois for very cold outside).  He still speaks all of his languages...and all is well!

A week at a glance...

Hey Mom,

Hope you had a great week! Mine was pretty good. Thanks for Jen's emails, and Bill's email, that was so nice of him! There was a typo on the church website, President isn't leaving. I was fasting about the house too, hope it sells, and you can find a new one. I hope Jamie goes on a mission, it's the best! It is so strange to see Jenna as a missionary, but it is totally awesome! Sister Training Leader, I'm not surprised. She's a champ. Speaking of winter stuff, I will probably send you my stuff when the snow melts. It's all quite bulky. Love the pics! I need to send you more. I have been neglecting my camera lately.

Monday Elder Lopez got his bag stolen out of the back seat of our car. We were parked at the church, and someone came and stole it. It had his camera and his new scriptures in it. Pretty stressful, but we are doing OK. Oh and he just bought the bag too. We went to the Ormeno family for FHE that night, the gave us great Peruvian food.

I've had some inspiration for the future. I'm going to start a non-for-profit organization to help children and families around the world. What would I need to study to do that?

Tuesday I went to Longueuil (just south of Montreal) with Elder Garrett on exchanges. He is a great missionary! He came in the same time as President Patrick, and just got transferred to be a Zone Leader. It was cool, he had many great questions! We taught some Quebecois Rockstars. Lol.

Wednesday we had our Zone Training Meeting, focused on working with members and how to de-stress. Useful stuff. We also had an FHE with Kenny. He is a member in our ward, we are helping him come back to church. He showed us his radios, which was pretty neat.

Thursday, we visited some new members, and some returning ones. It was cool because they both came to church on Sunday!

Friday we had Mission Leadership Council, basically the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders and Assistants all sit in a room with President and make plans to help the missionaries with current concerns. It is always a great time. Then we ate pizza! I went back to Ottawa on another exchange with Elder Pehrson. He is about three months older than me on the mission. We had great discussions about how to study the gospel, and how much it really has helped us. I mean, honestly, people are always wanting their lives to improve. They want to be happier, that is a fact. The thing most people don't realize, is to be happier requires a change, but they are comfortable where they are and are scared to change. The answer is right here, but we get rejected because others can't see that, they just see us as crazy people that want to force religion down their throats. When in reality, we want to help empower then to change their lives, and use the Saviour's Atonement to improve their quality of life. Elder Pehrson is great.

Saturday we had taco night wit the Lungu's, and the family we teach from Moldova. Elder Lopez taught us how to make real Mexican tacos. It was awesome! Then we had a great lesson on the power of prayer. Super night!

Yesterday, like I mentioned, some of the people we are helping came to church! They seemed to have had a good time. Then we had sushi with Victor! We are working with him to get to the temple, so we can go with him.

That's the week in a nutshell. Hope you have a great week! Love you lots!

Love Elder Heinzlmeir

 

Balut is the Filipino term for fertilized duck (or chicken) eggs that contain a nearly developed embryo. They are a common food and are eaten as a snack and prepared similarly to hard boiled eggs, served with salt.  That's what he's attempting to eat...

A cool composition...Montreal from Mount Royal

Obedience to the max

Hey mom,

Glad to hear you are feeling better! That is so cool Jenna is at the MTC. I love the MTC. Too bad she will only be there for two weeks. What's her email? And what's Austin's address, I've written him a letter but don't know where to send it.

Tell the boys Happy Birthday, I forgot to say that last week.

This week was pretty interesting.

We had a couple of Family Home Evenings on Monday, our ward mission leader is from Peru, and we went to his family's house. They made us yummy Peruvian food!

Tuesday we got everything ready and went to pick up the new missionaries, two Elders and two Sisters. They all came no problems. Then we got to have dinner with the Patrick's. Yes!

We had transfers, good to see so many missionaries together. Then we went on member exchanges with the bishopric.

Thursday we also had a day full of visits. We visited Sasha, he was born in Afghanistan, and lived in the Ukraine. He made us a zucchini omelet. It was really good. Then we went on visits with our Elders Quorum president. He is a champ, and from Colombia. I don't remember if I told you or not, but our ward is like the UN. We have people from everywhere! Ghana, Italy, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, France, England, and the Philippines, just to name a few. It's like serving a mission everywhere at the same time!

Friday we had pho with Cedric. I don't know if I have told you about him yet. He was my very first dinner appointment, back with Elder Bell. He is from Vietnam, but has been living here for a long time. He is on the High Council, and he just spends all his time with the missionaries! We go out with him often, in fact, he is coming out with us tonight.

Saturday was another great day, we made four visits with three different member families. So we are kept pretty busy.

Yesterday was super cool. On Saturday we ran out of wiper fluid, and forgot to fill up with gas and get some. Sunday came and we realized our mistake, and were quite worried because we knew we would be driving to Trois-Rivieres later, which is an hour and a half drive, and we really wanted to keep the Sabbath Day special, and not go buy some. At church, we asked the other Elders if they had any fluid, nope. Then Dave and Courtney Brule (an awesome new couple in the ward, they came out with us on Saturday) told us they have a gift for us. After Church we went outside, they pulled up in there car and said "This is for you!" and handed us a jug of wiper fluid! We were speechless! Heavenly Father was definitely watching out for us. We were so grateful. Part two, we went to Trois-Rivieres to pick up a missionary who has a doctors appointment in Vermont today, he was staying with us last night. We went and as we were coming back, we were watching our gas, to our dismay, the light for gas turned on halfway home. We figured we made it this far, we should be fine. And we made it on fumes. Didn't have to buy anything on Sunday. It was awesome.

The talks at church were great too. They were all about Family Home Evening, the importance of having it, and the blessings that come. I am grateful we had Family Home Evenings, and I know they helped me feel closer as a family. Thanks mom and dad!

Well, have a good week! Good luck with the buying and selling the house!

Love you!

Elder Heinzlmeir

New Facebook Friend

Last week, I received a friend request on Facebook...someone I didn't know, but had enough information to be okay with accepting.  Here's the message I received from Anna:

The reason why I added you is because Elder Heinzlmeir asked me to do so, (we are going to China with some of our converts, and I think he told me that you might come so eventually we could talk about the trip, to see when etc.. ) I'm pretty sure you know already, but your son is a Legend here, he is so devoted into the work of the Lord, all the members, investigators and missionaries look up to him! And we can see through his service and his testimony that he loves his family so much! I heard a lot about your family and you all seem amazing have a wonderful week! Anna

Getting a message like this not only makes my day, but pretty much makes my life!  Can I say that I'm proud?  Okay, I'm super proud.