Week 79 - Merry Christmas!

Elder Heimuli's last Christmas in the mission was a busy one.  He did not bother to send a weekly letter since he was going to talk to us on Sunday, December 25th.  First, he skyped so he could see the cutest grandbabies in the world, Hendrix and Kiegan.  They both sat on the chair and stared at Uncle Houston for a minute, then they were done.  Ha!

He talked about the Mission Christmas Conference -- a busy event that had the APs hopping! They organized the evening so that every missionary had a Christmas package to open at the event (that's A LOT of packages!).  

Then he and Elder Pau'u danced with Santa during the program.  

On top of all that, he was the photographer for their mission Facebook page, and was also in charge of getting the entire mission seated/stood for the Indiana Indianapolis Mission Christmas 2016 photo -- another huge feat.

Next he called his sister and bro-in-law in Missouri, and then called back to talk to Dad and Mom. Which made Christmas complete for the Heimulis!  Only 5 months left!!

Last Christmas Message

Dear Heimuli and Murray Families :)

So as the family gathers together this time of year, this is a separate Christmas message I want to leave with you all. It's also my last Christmas message as a full-time missionary in Indiana, a place that I love. For years when I was younger I wondered how it felt for Hema, Helam and Hevynn on their last Christmas in the mission. Now I know.

I thought about what I want to say in my last Christmas message and it's just this. My testimony.

We all know what Christmas is all about (hint to the kids: it's not about the fat guy in the red suit), but I've come to a better understanding (better. Not great, but better) of the magnitude and significance of Christ's birth. My good friend Elder Quick sent me a couple scriptures to read this week. Luke 1 and Luke 2, which are the scriptures leading up to and including the birth of Jesus Christ. Read it, then read it again.

We know the angels rejoiced, but WHY? And why did prophets of old rejoice at the mere mention of Christ being born? Because that's what we had ALL been waiting for. For the day when the Plan of Salvation, the very core of it, actually comes to pass.

With the birth of Jesus Christ comes the assurance of peace, happiness and salvation.

Before this life, we felt peace and comfort from knowing Christ would be born. And now, as we reflect on the Savior's birth at Christmastime, we feel it again.

I know Jesus Christ lives and is the Mediator for all. He died and was resurrected, and fulfilled the plan our Father in Heaven created for us so that we could return to live in His presence eternally. May we all reflect gratefully this Christmas season on the ultimate gift God sent us, and continue to selflessly and lovingly emulate the very core of who Christ is.

Merry Christmas everyone! Love you. And Happy New Year!!!

Love, Elder Heimuli

Week 78 - Nice Hat!

Hi mom :)

Yup this week was really busy! Haha, but it was a great one. Here's kind of what happened this week :)

Mon- Meetings. Nothing exciting except for a text I received that night from Gus. He said that he met with the bishop and wanted to get baptized on Friday!! I was soooooooo excited. Elder Wimmer and I met with him a lot. In fact, he fed us dinner sooooo many times and you can feel the testimony he has. He's an awesome guy. What an honor to be able to set up his baptism for Friday.

Tue- We went to the office and did a lot of work there. After work, we had to take 3 sisters to the mission home because they were leaving a little early for school. So we went to the mission home...and it was weird...this transfer all the sisters I came out with are and will all be going home. We got to take them to airport after spending the night with them (that sounded weird but you know what I mean!) and the Carlsons. 

The night before departing missionaries leave they stay at the mission home with us and the Carlsons where they leave their mark on the Indiana Indianapolis Mission theme "With Full Purpose of Heart"

Also on Tuesday, Elder Quick sent me a cool text of Luke 1 and 2 in which he studied Christ's birth. Reading those chapters makes me happy and grateful for this time of year, yet again, because the Savior's birth marked what we were all waiting for as we were in heaven. The ultimate gift, a sign of God's deep love for His children -- His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Wed- We woke up super early to take the sisters to the airport. 

It's early

It was a cold day! After we took them we went back to our apartment to study and prepare for the day. 

3 degrees. Brrrrrrr!

After preparation we went to the office then ran a bunch of errands. Later that night we visited Grandma Banks who asked us for help with her talk she was invited to give in Stake Conference coming up. She is a very faithful convert to the church through Brandon Fanaika's brother, Jason. It's a small world. We talked about Hope, and how the gospel brings Hope. But instead of me preaching at ya, read Ether 12:4, Hebrews 11:1, Alma 7:11-12, and you will see how Christ offers that Hope. These scriptures will increase your understanding if you take the time to read them :)

Thur- We went on exchanges to Bloomington with the ZL's down there. Elder Larsen and Elder Boutoille. 

L to R: Elder Larsen, Heimuli, Boutoille and Redmond

I had the opportunity to go with Elder Boutoille, and it was fantastic. 

Exchanges on Indiana University campus with ZL Elder Boutoille (from France)

So first off, it was FREEZING. So being on Indiana University campus when it's super cold, no one wants to stop to talk to you. However we set a goal that we would find someone to talk to and invite them to church. We worked with faith. It was a long day of PCing. We talked to tons of people but none of them really seemed too interested. We walked down a path where there was literally just us two and one other guy who was coming toward us. So I just called out and said, "Nice hat!" turned around as soon as he passed and he started talking to us :) As we talked he told us his roommate is a Mormon and is active. Then the man told us also spoke French. Elder Boutoille (who is from France) started speaking French with him. Of course I didn't understand any of it, so I just kinda stepped back, and smiled and nodded (I'm really good at doing that!). Boutoille asked him to come to church and he said he would! So that was nice. Again, miracles and tender mercies from God. Anyways it was a great exchange and we were able to talk to lots of people! 

Fri- We returned from exchanges to get all the stuff we needed done before Brother Toney's baptism. 

L to R: Elder Taka, Heimuli, Bro Toney and Elder Redmond

It was very low-key, but it was great! I'm not going to say too much about it except that it was a great experience to feel how much of a change he is making. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had out here, and it showed me that no matter what happens we can always change. Always. 

Great day for a great man!

We had the baptism, then we went to their house afterwards and just had dinner and talked with the whole family. Bro. Toney is an awesome man and I'm so excited for the progress he has made so far. 

That's pretty much the week. Sorry it's so short but we have a lot of things going on today! On Christmas Day, I can skype or call, whichever you would prefer. I can give you a better time Saturday or Friday because right now we are pretty packed getting ready for the Mission Christmas Conference. As for training new AP's, I don't know how that's going to work. I'll still be in at least one transfer after Redmond leaves so I'll see how it goes. May 18th will be here before we know it. 

Love you mom, and thank you again for everything you and the family have done for me. Merry Christmas :) 

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

Very Special Letter

We received this email Friday morning :)

Dear Brother and Sister Heimuli,

I thought you might like to know that I'm being baptized tonight at 6 pm. Your son will be doing the baptizing. I don't know that there is anything more important than raising our children. You've done a magnificent job with yours. Because of you raising your son as you did I am reaping eternal benefits. It's not that I didn't know its truth or that I was upset with anyone. I was just in a 12 year rut. It took my sons going on their missions to meet your son and then to me. It was the right people at the right time with the right message.

Three weeks ago I had an acute pancreatitis infection. It lasted 2 weeks right up to my foot surgery, in and out of the hospital. I gotta tell you I have a high pain tolerance but if that ever happens again I'm going straight to the hospital where I will stay until it's over. It would take a direct threat to my children to make me go thru that again!! Had foot surgery last Thursday then had to work last Friday Saturday and Monday to finish our last project of the year. Wednesday it snowed so we were plowing. It was difficult on a broken foot but the Lord blessed me and I made it thru. 

Now here I am the day of my baptism and I have to say physically I feel good. It's almost like Satan threw me a bunch of obstacles and I made it! I passed the test and now, the reward. Thank you again for your son. I hope you don't mind but he and Wimmer are my boys now. I love him as much as the five boys I already have. We will all be connected now for eternity.

Hugs to you all!!

Gus

Seventy Letter

Today we received a short, sweet note from Elder Timothy J. Dyches of the Quorum of the Seventy, who toured Houston's mission last week:

Dear Redmond and Heimuli Families,

Merry Christmas!

I was delighted to have had the opportunity to meet with several missionaries during our recent mission tour in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.  

May I enthusiastically compliment this outstanding companionship of Assistants-to-the-President as they go forward each day, exercising great faith and diligence in fulfilling their purpose to find, teach and baptize our Heavenly Father’s children.  They are great examples to all in the Mission!

L to R: Elder Cameron Redmond, Elder Timothy J. Dyches, and Elder Heimuli

I deeply thank you for your personal faith and support of this great work, as you “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men”.

All the very Best of this Christmas Season,

Elder Timothy J. Dyches

Assistant Executive Director, Temple Department

Week 77 - With Full Purpose of Heart

Hi Mom!

Sorry about not sending any pictures last time. I thought I'd send you some pictures first before I even started so no one leaves the church because of it haha! Your other question about when I'll be calling on Christmas Day, I actually don't know yet...I'll have to get back to you on that.

I also got the packages and I loved EVERYTHING in them!!! Harry's and everyone else's letters were awesome. It was also good to hear from Grandma and Grandpa. And Marqel, so thank you for having her write a letter too! Bo's little thingy (I forgot what those were called) just cracked me up haha! I'm gonna keep it, though I was tempted to throw it out ;) jk jk haha And I love the suit especially :) I'm going to wear it and take a pic and send it on Christmas haha!

Well here's the rundown of the week!

Mon- We had to regulate names and numbers and then we headed to Columbus to drop off some things for the zones down there. Needless to say I made a few stops on the way and got to see the Hydens :) It's always great to see them. I love them a lot. After we dropped off the supplies we headed back up to the Mission Home for a meeting with President. We had Elder Dyches coming for the week so we had a lot of stuff to cover during that meeting. It lasted for AWHILE!! Haha, but we were able to still get out in time to catch a little bit of FHE that night. We returned home and got ready for the next day. 

Tue- Elder Dyches was flying in so we prepped everything for his arrival. We went to the office and got all the things we needed for the Conference because Elder Dyches was going to address the mission over the next 2 days, and got some things ready for MLC on Friday as well. President and Sister Carlson picked up the Dycheses and brought them to the mission home. So we had dinner with them and a meeting afterwards. What an experience for me. I realize how blessed I am to have these experiences. They are so down to earth. They are funny, humble, and filled with the spirit. During our meeting we discussed the general needs of the mission. Elder Dyches taught that whenever a change happens, lots of things tend to fluctuate, but he said our mission will be able to get back up to where it used to be. He share some insights on what we should concentrate on in the coming weeks and months of training now that Zone Conferences have been switched from 1 every other transfer to 1 every transfer. So we will be busy. After that we also discussed agendas for the 2 conferences and MLC over which Elder Dyches will be presiding. Again they are such humble people, and Elder Dyches likes to quote movies. He quoted Princess Bride a couple times (and you know I love Princess Bride) and Ferris Bueller (another movie I love!). He is awesome, and so is Sister Dyches. She is a convert from upstate New York, and she has a testimony like no other. Just being with them and learning from them has changed my perspective A LOT. It was a great experience.

So on Wednesday we had the city zones come in (Columbus, Franklin, Indy North, Indy West) so there were a lot of missionaries! It was pretty hectic to get them in and out and organize everything but we got it all done! Haha, but the best part of the day was the meeting. Good news was Elder Redmond and I didn't have to conduct the meeting or give trainings this time! We got to sit and enjoy a revelatory experience. Sister Carlson talked first, about being genuine, or sincerity. It really ties in with the mission theme "With Full Purpose of Heart". It was a great topics for me. I really think God always has to give me a constant reminder on doing things with a purpose. It's gotten to the point now that things I used to struggle with as a greenie, just happen naturally now, easy, and almost second nature. But when that happens sometimes our message, or the things we teach, is what suffers. 

When I learned about and really studied the Restoration, I had to really understand it and try my hardest just to recite the First Vision. Now I can speak with anyone about the restoration and even sum it all up in 2 min. But sometimes it's robotic. I almost robotically start teaching people. When that happens, however, the problem is that we then are no longer teaching to people's needs or helping them understand how they can change. Same thing with church attendance, sacrament, prayer. Are we doing them with Full Purpose of Heart? I know I need to keep working on that!

After her training President Carlson taught on the Holy Ghost and His role in conversion for the investigator and conversion for us as missionaries. It was great. Following President's training Sister Dyches trained on Repentance. Now what was interesting was the Bible Dictionary definition of it. At one point it says that Repentance is a fresh view about God and oneself. Interesting. I thought about that and I realized it's true. It's funny what your view is about God before and after relying on the Atonement. It's kind of like when I was in high school and I would be mad because of what you and dad would make me do, or all the rules and expectations you set for me. There were so many and I did not appreciate it at all. What teenage kid does? But now looking back, I can see how you did those things only because you loved me. It was really cool to gain that perspective in learning more about the principle of Repentance. 

After her wonderful training Elder Dyches taught a lot on being good teachers, teaching repentance and baptizing converts. But one thing that stuck out to me was memorizing more scriptures. I read scriptures. I utilize them a bit, but most of the time I can't say a verse word for word. Scripture power is real. And there is so much power behind true, word for word statements. It's like me trying to paraphrase the First Vision. It's not as powerful.. It was fantastic training. Following the conference, a couple of missionaries and I had one-on-one interviews with Elder Dyches. It was such a great opportunity for me to learn. He has soooooo much knowledge and wisdom and he has given me a lot to think about. During our interview Elder Dyches and I talked for awhile about what I learned during conference and what I can improve. There is a lot I can improve upon but I thought my main one was Prayer because I still struggle with trying not to say rote prayers. We also talked about the medical field because he is an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor so he was telling me how that field would be a great one to go into. Well after the interviews we headed back to our apartment to get ready for the next day.

Thur- Another conference, this time with all the outlying zones (Elkhart, Niles, Lafayette, Bloomington, Terre Haute) so again we had a lot of things to do! Aside from it being really hectic it was another great conference. The trainings were the same but I still learned something new that I didn't hear the day before. I learned that I can't skip corners. Sometimes it's easy to skip corners especially if you think something's so easy and you already have it down. But there is a reason we have processes and need order, and it's the same thing with missionary work. If we skip out on planning, the whole day falls to pieces. When we skip out on little details because we are lazy it makes everything else worse. The conference was great and I got to see Elder Quick! Haha it]s always good to see that guy. I love him.

After the conferences and interviews we went to Grandma Banks (the awesome member from Beech Grove where Elder Redmond was trained) who fed us. She also gave us Christmas presents. She is always so willing to give, but sometimes I'm afraid she gives too much. Some people are just born givers and are so selfless. That's Grandma Banks to a T. Next we returned to the office and prepped everything for MLC the next day. 

Fri- MLC was great. We had training by President and Sister Carlson, and Elder and Sister Dyches. They all gave fantastic training about our roles as missionaries and how we can further increase our ability and capacity to love those we teach. Sister Dyches also did a great training on Leadership. How we should be and act, because many people are watching us, and if we walk around with our heads down, so will the whole mission. But Elder Dyches' message hit me the most. He trained on Accountability and the difference between acting and being acted upon. He talked about excuses as well, and how we tend to shove off responsibility. Why? Well a lot of it is fear of the consequences. But exercising true agency means being accountable and responsible. It really made me think about myself as I have a lot to learn a leader. Am I responsible? Am I accountable? Can people truly rely on me or is it a case of whenever it gets too tough, I leave it up to someone else? It really opened my eyes to not making any excuses and being fully accountable to myself, and especially to the Lord. MLC was great, 

After MLC we spent the rest of the day cleaning everything up and finally finishing up some more paperwork. After that we returned home and got some good sleep now that all the stressful meetings were done and all the missionaries were safely back to their areas :)

That's pretty much what happened this week :) We are excited for the upcoming week because we are going to have more time to proselyte! Anyways thanks again for everything mom! Love you and tell the fam I love them too:)

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

Week 76 - Cruz

Hi Mom! 

So we thought this week wouldn't be busy since transfers were over last week. We were wrong. We still didn't have time to proselyte again :/ But it's okay! Maybe next week!

Oh my goodness, made me sad to hear about Mueller Park Jr High. You'd think things like that would never happen close to you. I hope everyone involved in that incident is doing okay. So Weber lost the big game, huh? :( Dang! Hope Helam's not too down. He's probably glad it's over in a way. Except for a 2 year break, he's been playing for a long time. Well, you know what, they had a fantastic season! He was a part of a team that grew from Ground Zero to being ranked in the FCS. That's Awesome!!!!!!

Well here is kind of the rundown for this week.

Mon- A lot of work came pouring in for us so we spent the whole day working in the office. We also had a meeting for a while with president to plan out Specialized Training on Wednesday. Elder Dikes of the Seventy will be touring our mission next week as well so we are making all the preparations we can for his visit. After the long meeting we went to FHE and had a great lesson on the Atonement.

I was actually just studying the Atonement earlier that day and I read something interesting in the Bible Dictionary. It says that the Atonement can "correct or overcome the consequences of sin." Think about what that really means! In reality, the Atonement can help us fix what we've done wrong, to alleviate the consequences of permanent separation from God! And then it says it also can OVERCOME sin. I interpret this 2 ways:  the first way is of course that the Savior overcame death, He broke the bands of death and created a way for us to be reconciled with God as it teaches in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. And the other way is that the Atonement offers a way out from sin. You see, God won't tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), so if we apply the Atonement doesn't that mean we can overcome any temptation? Doesn't it mean that if Christ suffered for us and provided an escape, nothing is too hard to overcome with His help? We can overcome all sin through Christ. That's a fact. The hard part for us is using the Atonement and applying it in our times of need. So the Atonement took on a deeper meaning to me after that. 

Tue- Just more paperwork we needed to do for the week. We spent the day running errands and moving cars around for the office. So not much to talk about that day :/

Wed- Specialized Training. Here's where we train all the new missionaries who came in about 10 weeks ago (so last transfer). We teach a lot about how to talk to people, how to bridge a gospel conversation, and we discuss how we can become better missionaries. It's funny, this was the 6th Specialized Training I've taught and I still receive revelation every single one. The trainees in this group were very prepared. I learned a lot from them and I was taught most by mainly the spirit. I think the biggest lesson i learned in that conference was humility. Being out for a while, I think I've become complacent with the little things. We can all fall into that habit. When things get too comfortable, life becomes just more of a motion than an experience. And when we are "comfortable" we tend to stop progressing and, in turn, we tend to harden our hearts. I feel as though that's what happened to me the past couple of weeks. I'm hoping I can continue to change and move forward instead of backwards. Anyways, the training went well and it was a great conference!!

Thursday- So this day we actually had to shuttle some missionaries over to the mission home for an interview with President, and they lived about 2 hrs away. So we did that. We went to the office in the morning and we took care of all we stuff we needed to, then we had to take the missionaries over and wait till their interview was done, then take them back. So the whole day was spent running errands but it was still a good day and I'm still happy to be out here :)

Friday- So another missionary went home early on Friday for school. We decided that we would take him to visit all his converts, and the people he loved, before he went home. I'm not sure if I mentioned him before but he was the other companionship in the White River Ward when I was training Elder Ellsworth. His name is Elder Cruz and he is a GREAT missionary! He helped me a lot with stuff when I was in White River and he has always been a good friend throughout the mission. It's an honor for me to be able to take departing missionaries such as Freeman and Cruz around to see their converts and special families before they return home. This time, we visited some of Elder Cruz's recent converts and then had dinner with a Hispanic family he taught. When we walked up to the door, Elder Cruz told us that this sister didn't have heat or a finished house, so he said it would be cold. We walked through the door and he was right. This humble convert was living in half a house. And there she was making food for us and not just a couple of burritos or tacos. It was a FULL meal. I looked at Cruz and I felt bad that we were eating her food because she obviously didn't have much. But I think Hema and Helam can attest to this: Hispanics always make tons of food for guests and they are almost offended if we don't eat a lot. So I did ;)

This sister told us the story of how she was taught for 4 years. And I thought, "That's a lot of frustrated missionaries!" But then she said 1 missionary came and she told him to go away. And what did that missionary do? He visited her every day even when she told him not to! Because of his genuine care, tenacity and determination, this sister finally decided to listen and then, just a couple of weeks later, she was baptized. She is a strong member of the White River Spanish Branch. After we visited all those people, we took Cruz to the mission office and waited for his sister who actually drove to Indiana to pick him up. So that sums up our day on Friday.

Today we had service and we are planning to see Elie tonight :) With all the conferences and preparations for upcoming events we haven't been able to hit our area hard yet but we are still working on it :)

Anyways that's about it! Tell Dad thanks for the money. We have been on the road A LOT so that helps so much. I really appreciate it. Our mission Christmas event is on the 21st. We have a lot of preparations to make for that, haha! How are the Christmas hirings going? I know you're really busy around this time of year, so thank you for everything you do for us mom!:) Tell grandpa happy 80th birthday from me and give him a nice big hug from me! I miss him a lot and I miss grandma too! Love you lots!

Ofa Lahi Atu 

'

Elder Heimuli

Week 75 - All God Truly Asks of Us

Hi Mom!

Sounds like Thanksgiving was a blast :) It was good here as well. But what a great game to play -- a game to remember everything you're grateful for :) I love it! And I am grateful that you all thought of me. It really means a lot to me. That scripture you read is a great scripture. I'm going to go home and write it down because just as you're grateful for a father who is Christlike, I'm grateful for my family, who are all Christlike. I'm not lying when I say that I truly believe I'm the most selfish one in the family. Even now on my mission, I know you are always praying for me, thinking of me, working hard, helping neighbors and friends, balancing church callings, etc. Yet you all find time for me and take time to express your appreciation to God and to everyone around you. I'm grateful for my parents and grandparents who have led the way for all of us children :)

Well, here's what happened this week.

Mon- We did some more transfer prep then headed off to pick up the new greenies. 

It's always fun to see their faces when they first come into Indiana! They are so happy and they are ready to work :) It's all of that greenie fire haha! This is the 6th set of missionaries I've picked up and I'm still uplifted by their determination. So we just spent the day with them, then had a meeting with President about transfers which were happening the next day. Oh and a side note, one new sister is from Bountiful and she graduated the class after me! We talked about alot of the same people from home so it was fun. After meeting the new missionaries we headed back to the office to finish any last minute changes. 

Tuesday- Transfer Day. The longest day of my life haha!  We woke up around 5 am and got ready, then we headed over to the mission home and made breakfast for the greenies.

After that we took them to the chapel and had them meet with the various office and medical staff. Then Elder Redmond and I pretty much gathered all the missionaries together and made the necessary switches. We ran around, moved cars and gave cars to certain missionaries, collected keys and stuff for areas we were closing down, made sure everyone knew who their companions were and where they were supposed to go. We resolved any issues with luggage and new stuff. So that took about 3-4 hrs. After that we took all departing missionaries home and we had a little testimony meeting altogether.  

Elder Wimmer was in this last group that just left. It was sad :( It's so weird seeing all of my companions go home. Elder Redmond leaves in 3 months which will be weird, too! Anyways following the testimony meeting we went to the temple for an endowment session. Following that we all headed back to the mission home to chill. 

We ate dinner with President then we all just kind of talked and chilled. It's fun also to see the reaction missionaries have at the end, and in the temple. You can really tell where their heart lies. I noticed one elder who was just weeping in the corner near the back. He was nodding his head as if to say, "I tried. I did my very best." That's all God truly asks of us -- just for our devotion and time. Not all of our Ability, but all of our Availability. After all of that, we slept.

Wed.- We woke up at 330 am to go to the airport to drop off all of the departing missionaries. This group was awesome, especially since one of my friends was leaving too. Elder Wimmer was and is a great missionary, and I learned alot from him. I hope that I can be like him as a missionary. After that we handled all of the transfer fires. There weren't many fires to put out, but there were questions about everything. Following the fires we went to Presidents and discussed what  we needed to do for the upcoming Recent Convert Temple Trip on Saturday. So even though transfers ended on Wednesday, we still had a big event on Saturday. We finished the meeting and helped with any other minor issues, then went home and finished our studies, then went to bed. So it wasn't super exciting but it was busy haha!

Thur.- THANKSGIVING! Well, we started off with a turkey bowl of course :) I was sooooo happy! I think Elder Redmond was a little annoyed with me because I starting bothering him early in the morning to get up so we could be the first ones there. Needless to say it was a blast and we got to see alot of other misssionaries. Well, right after the turkey bowl Aunty Tua called and told us to come over to her place for Thanksgiving lunch. Well we had nothing else planned so we did :) It was at Pastor Manu's house. He is a really nice guy. We ate ALOT of food. Like ALOT ALOT. Haha we still had another dinner to get to as well, but we got to catch up with Aunty Tua and her family, and we got to spend time with all the nonmembers there. Then she told us about Dr Fruean's wife's funeral celebration they were having the next day. We said we would come and she insisted we bring Elder Taka too. After all of that delicious food we went over to Sister Banks' house. She is a single old woman who loves missionaries. She is the kindest, sweetest, but also most stubborn and opinionated person :) She is so much fun to be around! She fed us EVEN MORE!!! Trust me, I'm still trying to work off all that food!! haha. But the entire day of eating, I was really grateful for all of the loving people who were more than willing to have missionaries with them on Thanksgiving. Literally mom, everyday, a member asks if we have a place to eat. Members really take care of us out here. It's pretty humbling to have other people help me. I am not humble in that regard. I am one who doesn't like to accept help from others. I'm pretty prideful that way. But I am grateful for the humbling experience of not only helping others on my mission, but also to receive help from others. To learn to appreciate what people do for me because the greatest appreciation we can show is to accept a gift. It's like the Atonement. It's a gift God has provided, paid by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.. We must learn to be humble and learn to accept this gift, and to use it. That's how we can show God our love and appreciation, by not being scared of the Atonement but by embracing it. That's what I'm thankful for :)

Fri- So the day after Thanksgiving we were in a food coma. That day we walked outside and we saw a bunch of people moving in and out in the apartment below us. We walked up and asked them if they needed help with anything and they said they were okay. They were actually helping their grandma move in,. We asked "Where is she from?" and they replied "Salt Lake City, Utah."

Haha! I was shocked. It looked like a nonmember escaped Utah unscathed and unconverted ;) haha, well I told them I was from Utah and only like 10 min north of Salt Lake City. The movers told us they had toured Temple Square and would love to go back to see it again. I told them there was a temple right here in Carmel Indiana and they did not know that. We offered to take them on a tour if they ever had the time. Next was the celebration for Pat Fruean. Instead of a funeral service it was all music and traditional dances. It was good. Reminded me a lot of home.

The performances were great and we really enjoyed it. Then we got to talk to a lot of people afterwards. It was funny, Elder Redmond introduced me to a member named SIster Afiaka (?). As I talked with her she told me she lived in Hawaii and then in Orem. I asked her if she knew the Pili's and she said, "Yes, Ifo is my cousin." I told her I'm related to the Pilis :) She asked me who my grandma was and I said Norma Murray. She rolled her eyes and said that this thing happens at every Poly function! Haha so I guess I met a distant cousin at the celebration ;)

Again, just a little tender mercy God gave me that day :) After all of that food, talking, and cleaning up we headed back to the office and finished some more work, then we went to bed.

Sat- So we had the Recent Convert Temple Day today and it was a success! Not many people came, but it was great :) I actually got to talk to a recent convert who told me a cool story about how he was found. He goes to Purdue University. I asked him what made him interested and he told me the Plan of Salvation resonated with him. It just made sense that God would do that. God wouldnt  just desert anyone. He told me how his father died and he felt like his dad deserved a second chance. Again, another gift God has given us that we can use. Anyways it was just really cool to see how much we have to offer people. How much truth we have readily available for others to partake of. It's really just an issue of doing it.

So my week was just a little boring but very busy :) I hope to write more about investigators next week since we weren't able to see any of them this week ;/

Love you mom, and tell the family I love them as well!!! 

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

Week 74 - What Would That Question Be?

Hi Mom!

The kids all went to see a Harry Potter-ish prequel? haha sounds fun! And those pictures of the babies playing are cute :) I'm so glad Harrison finally cleaned out that Hollow!!! Wow, 50 coats, 200 weekend food packs and 60 BOMs? That's amazing :) Those young women in the NSL Legacy Stake are awesome!!!! You're right, we have a lot to be grateful for :)

How are you Mom? You seem to be running around a lot, is work okay? Is Dad feeling better?

Well mom let me give you the run down of the week:) 

Mon- We had to drive to South Bend for Zone Conference the next day. So on the way we decided to go PC Purdue campus again.


Unfortunately the ZL's were really busy so we couldn't PC with them, however, the sisters were out PCing. So we decided to PC by the sisters and whatever investigators Elder Redmond and I found we would give over to them on the spot. And a crazy miracle happened! I was walking around and some girl was just hanging out by herself looking at a book. On campus it gets awkward trying to contact people because college kids are really busy, a little selfish, caught up in themselves and don't really like people interrupting what they are doing. Actually I think I just described most of us :)

Well I decided to interrupt her, and she was really nice. We got to talking about school and eventually into her beliefs. I asked her a question that I just love asking to people on campus, "If God said to you that He would answer just one question, right here and now, what would that question be?"

She paused for a minute and then asked, "What about the people who don't believe in Christ? Where do they go?"

Wow, I'd never heard someone on campus ask that question. So I explained to her the Plan of Salvation. And I told her it was like getting a second chance. As soon as I said that her eyes just lit up!! That's exactly what the Atonement offers. Second chances. A chance to do it again and grow into someone better than who we were. She really took this to heart and as soon as I finished I called the sisters over and introduced them. They set up an appointment the next day with her. After PCing on Purdue we headed up to South Bend for Zone Conference the next day.

Tue- Zone Conference in South Bend. Got to see my bro Elder Quick so it was good to catch up with him.

Oh and I ran into Sister Hapairai, the one whose husband is related to Russell Hansen! She was really nice. She and the Stake Relief Society fed all of us missionaries there at zone conference!

The conference went well. After the conference we just packed up and drove all the way back down to Fishers to prepare for the next day. 

Wed- Zone Conference in Indy North. Great conference! Afterwards we just did planning for transfers.

Elder Redmond, Elder Pau'u and me at zone conference

Thur- Zone Conference in Indy West. Yet another great conference. 

Front row, second from the right

After the conference we were finally able to get in contact with G one of our investigators who used to be on date. We took her off because she was busy and we were busy so our schedules didn't line up :( However she is still progressing. We talked to her about church, then during the lesson Elder Redmond and I both received a prompting to ask her about her prayers. We asked how they were going, and if she felt like she was talking to God. She said no, she felt like she was talking AT God, but not TO Him. The spirit helped us to find her need. We explained to her that real prayer means real intent. It's easy to spout out a prayer and call it good, but then you're only talking at God. If we take time in our prayers to speak to God, He will communicate back. She seemed to understand that. We talked more about prayers and understanding our relationship with God. She was happy with what she learned and we are going to help her come to church this Sunday! After that lesson we went back and prepared for Transfers.

 

Fri- No Zone Conferences! It was good to have a break. By break, I mean we had lessons and service planned all day haha! We had a little lesson with a member from our ward. We just talked about increasing our faith and lifting our vision. After that lesson we had lunch with Todd and Loretta the awesome RC's from Columbus :) They were in town for the day so we decided to have lunch together!

After Lunch Elder Redmond and I left to do some service with Bro Toney. It was fun to see him again and to catch up because with all the Zone Conferences going on we haven't been able to meet up with him for awhile.

After the service Redmond and I had a lesson with E. When we showed up, his friend D was there, and E was still at work. We gave D a lesson on the gospel and again we had a prompting. We were explaining faith when we asked if he believed in Jesus Christ. He answered yes. We asked if he believed that Christ suffered for us to deliver us from sin? He didn't. He never knew that Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. He didn't know Christ was resurrected either. All he knew was that He died on the cross. When we explained to him all that Christ did for us he understood, and even asked us what he needed to do to please God and Christ! "Because Christ did this for us," he asked, "What can we do?"

Oh my goodness, we both almost fell out of our chairs!! After the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he accepted a date for Dec 17th. E came in after the lesson and we put them both on a date for Dec. 17th. Now E and D both work alot, however E has work off this Sunday :) And he will be coming to church! We are so excited!!!! After putting them both on date another friend walked in!! His name is S. As soon as S walked in, I turned to E and said, "Is there anymore we should be aware of?" Haha!! After the lesson we went back to the office and worked on transfers some more. 

Which leads us up to today :) Transfer Call Day!!! We have been working all morning to get transfers ready and we still have a bunch more to do. Time is just flying by and it's crazy how much there is still left for me to do. 

Love you mom! Thank you for everything. Sorry for the short letter :/ Not a very eventful week, haha. Next week is gong to be busy as well with transfers, new missionaries and departing ones. Elder Wimmer goes home next Tuesday :(  I can't tell you how crazy it is seeing all of my comps go home ,especially the ones who have helped me out a lot!

Anyways Love you mom :) Tell Dad, Hema, Norma, Hendrix, Helam, Alyssa, Kiegan, Hevynn, Bo and Harry I love them too. Haha our family is getting big. Tell Heels good luck today on his last college football game.

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

P.S. Pics!  They came to church!

Week 73 - James 3

Hey Mom!!!!!

Wow Kiegans first BDAY!!!!!!!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! Haha that's so awesome. And not to mention your wonderful bday was also this week, and yes we did get that situation all sorted out :) haha It was busy and hard but we got it all figured out. And is there a link or a video of Helam's senior tribute? I'd like to see Helam's last home game at WSU!!! What a stud. He's one of the best football players to me. 

Tell Aka congrats from me!!! I'm soooooo excited for her, she will kill it! Poly sisters are always the coolest, too :) And no drama, haha!! You're all going to NZ without me, huh? Haha I guess it's okay, I'll forgive ya this time ;) Well again mom you are very busy, and again I'll just say be careful! You're not as young as you use to be, haha Especially the way Aunty Lani portrayed it. Oh my goodness she just cracks me up!

Well this week has been full of Zone Conferences! 

Monday- So we did our office stuff then went right to campus. We had a lesson with A which went well. We gave her a restoration movie to watch and to think about till we met again. She is awesome and has a lot of potential. We are hoping to put her on a baptismal date soon. After the lesson with her we went to lunch with Brandon who's a member. He took us to get some burritos at a place called Moe's.

It was really good! After lunch we headed to a meeting with President to discuss Zone Conferences and Transfers. It took a while but we were able to talk about a lot of things. Afterwards we had a lesson with E. Now he has been trying to come to church but he can't get work off to do it. We are praying that he finds a way, so we have to push his date back until he can come :( But it's all good. He is solid and he is loving the gospel. We were sharing the restoration with him when his friend came in and starting to listen in as well. As we explained that we can receive direction through a living prophet today, he looked at us and said he wanted to learn more!!!!! We are so excited to teach him!! He has a problem with working on Sundays too and he has a hectic schedule, but we are going to keep trying to work with him.  Anyways the lesson went well and we gave E a restoration movie because all of our Book of Mormons were gone! We handed them all out earlier that day so we didn't have any left for E. We went to FHE and then finally to bed because the next morning we had to drive all the way to Bloomington which is an hour and a half drive.

Tuesday- We had Zone Conference in Bloomington. It went well. A lot of good training about how to be effective. Elder Redmond and I gave 2 trainings. One on teaching simply and effectively, and the other on Dignity. Dignity is a big one for us because it's not always just the way we act in public but also the thoughts and the very words we say reflect a lot of our dignity. James 3 talks about how a tongue is a fire. The tongue is a blessing and a cursing in and of itself. With our tongues we can either help light a burning desire within people's hearts or we can burn down bridges, relationships, and people's own self esteem by that same tongue. Both cannot occupy the tongue at the same time, so what are we using the tongue for? What are we lighting? A fuse that will blow up, or kindling that will light up those around you? It's up to us. We talked a lot about how rumors are an example of igniting that fuse. As we have been instructed to "Not speak evil of the Lord's anointed" At first I thought it was just leaders, but I think personally (or, in other words, Elder Heimuli Doctrine) that all of His children are anointed, so we are literally commanded not to speak ill of one another. So we trained on that and the missionaries reacted well to it. After the conference we headed back to Indy and we had to finish some more office stuff and then finally went home.

Wed- Zone Conference. This one was in Franklin Indiana, and the Columbus zone was there :) Elder Pau'u is now serving there so it was good to see him again!!

After the Zone Conference we had that thing go down then we had dinner with Bro Toney. Elder Wimmer, Elder Taka, and Elder Cruz were also there so it was good to see my comp again! Elder Wimmer is awesome and he is just doing amazing being back out in the field. 

Thur- More Zone Conferences. This time it was in Lafayette and it went very well. The thing about zone conference is that it's the same things we train on for 6 conferences!!! Haha so next Tue, Wed, Thur we will be doing the same thing. After that conference we were supposed to go see E but the traffic got so bad that we couldn't make it so we had to cancel :( But we decided to meet with him Friday Night.

Fri- Day after zone conference is nice because it's a little breather. So to take advantage of that we hit the streets. For most of the day we went to East Side Indianapolis and helped out that area. We got in contact with some LA's and helped strengthen some Recent Converts. East side gets A LOT of converts. They are in a lower income part of the state and it's pretty cool to see the devotion and the faith of these new members. They are awesome!!! After that we went on campus and found 2 new investigators. Here's a cool experience. We were grabbing lunch at Qdoba's (we are always travelling so we eat out a lot) and I had this prompting to talk to some random guy in the corner of the store. I kept putting it off because it's kind of weird to say hi to a random guy who's trying to eat while everyone else around him are too. Then Elder Redmond had a prompting to talk to another guy and just left me sitting there eating lunch. Finally I decided to talk to the guy...and it was awkward...but I did it. Eventually he expressed how he was looking for a church and didn't agree a lot with the teachings of his church. So we talked for a while and then we swapped information and now we are in contact with him. But just like E he has TONS of work and school. So we are just going to leave it up to the Lord to help us. But it's cool what you do when you follow the promptings of the spirit. After campus we went to have a lesson with E and we talked about the restoration movie. He enjoyed it, and he asked if we had a copy of that book!! WE DID!!! Haha, we taught him about it then we gave him the Book of Mormon. He was so sincere and handled the book very gently in his hands. He told us he would take care of it and read it. We were so touched and so happy that he was willing to do that! We returned home and finally got to get some rest. 

Which leads us up to now! We worked out this morning with a member from Beech Grove!

He's really cool, and we were sooooo tired afterwards. But it felt good to get a good sweat in because this whole week we haven't been able to workout because of all the conferences. Oh and did I tell you apartment gyms and Instruments were banned? Yeah I was pretty bummed about it, but God really does watch out for us! We actually acquired some weights and a weight rack from members, like that one form Beech Grove! So now our apartment looks like a mini gym haha! That's about it for this week. I am loving Indiana and I am loving the work!! Love you mom and tell the family I love them!!

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli

P.S. Oh yeah and I got the packages :) Thanks so much mom! Elder Redmond and I always wear those hats haha!

 And also I talked with Coach Anderson and he said we can take care of it in the spring!