Running

[Note from Mom: Got just a couple of very brief messages from Elder Heimuli.]

June 27, 2016

Hey mom,

Sooooooo I just ripped my last pair of running shoes haha! Actually, it's not that funny...so could you please send me out my other pair? It's the red and black one? Or any of the running shoes at home? Thank you mom :)  Love Ya!!


June 30, 2016

I just got the shoes...along with Hendrix's 1st bday invitation and the other goodies! Thank you!!! I am so happy haha! 

It's been a crazy busy week with lots of changes and we have just been running! We said goodbye to the Clevelands :(  But the Carlsons are awesome!!! Thanks mom! Love you!

Pres. & Sis. Carlson with Sis. & Pres. Cleveland at the Indianapolis Airport

Week 53 - Are You Done Yet?

Dear Mom,

Hi! It's me again from the blessed land of Indiana! You're right, things are pretty hectic right now, but it's whatever. Just do what we gotta do.

Attempting a cartwheel. Let's just say it didn't end well :)

This week was pretty hectic, too. We went on 3 exchanges with 3 sets of zone leaders consecutively, had a mission temple day, and cleaned out some apartments. In fact, one of those apartments was Elder Freeman's who goes home soon :(  He was staying over at another elders' apartment because his apartment had bed bugs and the last elders left that apartment a mess. We were told to go and help clean it out. Haha, it was fun to see my "dad" yet again, and it felt good to get that apartment clean. 

Got to see my trainer Elder Freeman again! He's almost done.

After that Elder Wimmer and I went on exchanges with 3 zone leader sets in Franklin, Elkhart and Niles. Oh my goodness, I'm not sure if you remember, but I was always the kid to fall asleep in the backseat on long car trips. Since Elder Wimmer doesn't have his license yet I had to drive. From Fishers to Franklin it's about 70 miles, then after that exchange we went to Elkhart which is 190 miles away, then we followed that with an exchange to Niles which is another 50 mile trip. I hate driving. I drank a lot of gatorade to keep myself awake. 

Exchanges with Franklin ZL's Morgan & Lange

Exchanges were awesome! I always get way more out of these than I seem to put in. In fact during the Franklin exchange I had a pretty cool experience. I went with an Elder Lange. We knocked on a door. A guy opened up the door and said, "Hold up, he'll be out in a second." 

I looked at Lange like, "Did we set up an appointment?" He looked almost as surprised as I was. Then a 14 year old kid came out and told us he had requested to have missionaries come over to answer some questions he had. We talked and it was a great conversation. But then his dad came out and proceeded to swear and tell us pretty much why we are going to hell. You would have been proud of me. I just stood there and listened to everything he said. But then I had had enough. I was about to bash with him when I remembered what Elder Gonzaga did when we got bashed. 

After that dad finished going off he looked at me, probably expecting me to bash back or say something. All I said was, "Are you done yet?" Oh my goodness, he was furious that I wasn't phased by him at all!! It was soooooo funny because then he just grunted and slammed the door. But his son was still there, aware of the contentious atmosphere his dad had created. I looked at the boy and just bore my testimony. I just hope and pray that he realizes we were not there to bash or to prove others wrong, but simply to share what we believe. 

Moving past that, we actually got to teach a person in our new area this week!! Yay!! We invited them to baptism but there are some complications...so please pray that they can be baptized and that we can find others to share the gospel with.

Today we had a mission temple day. It's a day in which we have all the recent converts around the mission come to the temple to do baptisms for the dead! it is such an amazing experience. One lady came and brought over 40 names to be baptized and confirmed in the temple. Such devotion from those who were just recently baptized into the church. No matter what, nothing will stop this work from progressing. The truth of God will go forward and will not be hindered by anything man can do. I've seen so many miracles and so many things out here that there is no doubt in my mind and heart -- this Church is true. 

Anyways that's pretty much what happened here this week! Now we are just getting things ready for the arrival of President and Sister Carlson. It's crazy that President and Sister Cleveland will be leaving soon. I'm going to miss them so much. But I know that the best way they would want us to honor them would be by working hard for President and Sister Carlson. 

I promise I work hard. It just looks like I'm always eating.

Hopefully we can make this the best transition and best mission possible!

Love you mom and I hope you have a great week!! Send more pics of the babies!

The best videos I can ever watch! Send more please.

Ofa Lahi Atu,

Elder Heimuli

Happy Father's Day, Dad, Papa

[Note from Mom:  Sunday morning I got this quick message from Elder Heimuli while I was headed home from having Father's Day breakfast with my Dad.]

Hey tell dad to check his email haha! I know he doesn't do it a lot but I wanted him to see my email before he went to work! Love you Mom!!

DAD, PAPA by Elder Houston Heimuli

 

D is for "dorky" -- you always make us laugh;

A for effort because you try.

D is for "Dad-things" you always do with a smile.

 

P is for "poi"(ick!) you and Mom would eat.

A is for "apple," now, that's a good treat.

P is for "practical" whenever you teach.

A is for "asking" me to go grab that thing.

 

Oh Dad, Papa,

You are so cool, so cool to me.

 

D is for the grades you probably got in school.

A is for "athletic" cuz you were really cool.

D is for "dumbing things down" for me.

 

P is "providing" and I'm so grateful.

A is for "always making sure we were full."

P is for "pain" you always run through.

A is for "aspiring" to be just like you.

 

My Dad, my Papa,

I'm so grateful for you,

Cuz you're so cool, so cool,

You know, cuz you're so cool to me.

 

D is for "direction" you always provide.

A is my...bum...when you kick my behind.

D is for the "drills" every single day; run every detail, every single play.

 

P is for the "power" you hold in your hand.

A is for "able-bodied man."

P is for "prayer" you taught us to pray.

A is for "absolute" in every single way.

Oh Dad, oh Papa, 

I said, you are so cool.

Let me just say, that I hope today is a great day for you

Cuz you means a lot to me.

Happy Father's Day!

Week 52 - Enjoying the Journey

Hi Mom!!

Awww those babies are soooooo cute! It's crazy how big and how smiley they are both getting. Just too cute! Hendrix is turning 1 already? :(  Just makes me think how much bigger he and Kiegan will be when I get home. Speaking of that, everyone was looking good in those photos you sent, especially in that Lagoon Day photo. I forgot to mention it last time, haha! 

Everything here is going great! This week was President and Sister Cleveland's Farewell Conferences. 

L to R: With Sister Kip Cleveland, President Steve Cleveland and Elder Wimmer. I've learned so much from these people.

Even though I always have to speak or teach, I really love these conferences. It's always great to see everyone.

I think I told you already we are sending another great group of missionaries home in just a few weeks. 

The CREW!!!

President gave great training on "Enjoying the Journey." I think everyday we go through missionary work, or life in general, with a grim attitude. But when we enjoy the task at hand, make it fun, or do it gratefully with a different attitude, we can feel joy in our heart. It's not goofing off, that's not what I'm saying, but it's just finding joy amidst the work and trials we experience. 

Oh, this week we went on exchanges with the IU ZL's Elder Holle and Elder Larson! They are awesome. Me and Elder Larson hit our year together on our exchange:) I love these guys!

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 is a scripture that came into my mind when President gave his training:

"Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.  Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.  For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart."

Just doing me at the conference

It kinda made me think about it, too. Am I truly enjoying my work as a missionary? And in turn, am I working the hardest I can? It was such an inspired training. 

Wimmer and I gave training on Endings and New Beginnings. Because the Clevelands are leaving, President wanted us to concentrate on helping the missionaries make the transition from him to President Carlson. I know it's an important time for all of us. I can't begin to say how grateful I am for President and Sister Cleveland. They have been so good to, and for, this mission. 

Me, Elder Tafuna and Elder Taka just jammin and singing for President and Sister Cleveland!

While preparing our training Elder Wimmer and I enjoyed thinking of and talking about a bunch of memories of how President and Sister Cleveland have helped us personally. 

I'm gonna miss the Clevelands

Even though our time with them is ending we are excited for another new chapter to begin with President and SIster Carlson.

So that's been the highlight of my week! 

I can also tell you what hasn't been the highlight! Elder Wimmer decided to buy the 2nd hottest kind of hot sauce in Indiana...here they literally call it Da Bomb. After seeing what happened to a few people who tried this hot sauce we decided we'd just throw it away. And maybe one of these days I will be better at learning to go with my decisions. However, I thought I'd just get one little taste in before we tossed it out.

Mom, I thought my face was about to explode! I threw open the fridge and started shoveling whatever I could find into my mouth (as you probably remember, I do that anyways!) just trying to calm down the fire in my head. In the fridge all we had this week-old chicken and rice thingy. Gross huh. And I wiped it out. After eating it all I wondered why my mouth felt hotter. Later that night after the fire had calmed down I realized it was spicy Oman chicken rice. I was literally just making it worse haha. However, I learned a valuable lesson...I will never ever ever ever ever eat anything spicy ever again. So that's my down this week. But other than that it's been a fun and exciting week! 

Well, as you can see we had muffins for zone conference. I ate a lot of them.

It feels so weird that I've hit my one year point, and now I feel even more urgent in this work. I feel like I need to get going even more. This coming year will go by even faster than the last one!!

Anyways tell the family I love them, Ofa Lahi Atu!!!

Elder Heimuli

P.S. About your letter mom, I just have to say it again. I will never date a Poly. [Note from Mom: Hmm, famous last words.]

Week 51 - Keep the Mission Together

Hi MOM!!!!:)

How was Washington DC? Did Dad and Harry survive without ya? haha jokes, all jokes! Wow Hevynn and Bo bought a house!? Where? I wish I could help fix it up. 

Thanks for the Lagoon pictures! I hope everyone enjoyed Lagoon day! Family Lagoon days were the BEST! And Kiegan and Hendrix look so cute!! Their pictures made me smile. In one picture Hendrix touches Kiegan, then the next photo she looks like she's bothered by it haha! I love those two babies! 

Thank you for the halfway package mom! I did not see any of that coming! Haha I was shocked to see both of my companions in the photos. They didn't even tell me. But thank you soooo much :) I loved Harry's little adjustments haha!

[Note from Mom: to commemorate Elder Heimuli's halfway mark coming up next week, we sent this sign to family and friends around the world and got back over 80 photos, including pics from his companions and mission president!]

Halfway photo from Sister Welling, who took this the day she entered the MTC!

Halfway package included half-sized bottles of cologne like Polo Sexy. Not a mission-appropriate label. Harry relabeled it Polo Saintly. 

Oh this past week we dropped off the last batch of missionaries. Elder Clark was on that flight :( Wimmer and I are trying to do our best, but it's kind of weird not having Clark's help. He was awesome. And the next bunch of missionaries leaving will be sad for me too [Note from Mom: the next group to leave will include Elder Freeman, Houston's trainer.] 

Just dropping off some missionaries from the airport

We are having a farewell conference for President Cleveland next week, so again more goodbyes that are gonna be rough. When I get the address to their homecoming I will give it to ya so you all can hopefully attend for me! President Carlson will be coming in June 28th. So time is ticking away VERY quickly. Pray that we find the strength to keep the mission together lol!

We finally got to work an area. Ohh, we are so excited!

Anyways our area is great! Right now campus is dead, because school is out so me and Elder Wimmer have been visiting members and less actives around Indy to help strengthen them. The most effective missionary work is not always pounding on doors, but instead it's making connections with LA's, members, and just being friendly. So we are hoping that even though we can't always be in our area 24/7, the members can help us. I've never relied so heavily on members before. But that's one of the greatest lessons I've learned -- relying on members and relying on the Lord. Members are such a huge contribution to missionary work. True conversion comes through coming to church, feeling the spirit, being baptized, AND having people around you who share your same beliefs and who bear you up. There's no way we get through this life alone, and missionary work is exactly the same concept. 

But yeah, a year has just flown by! People have been telling me that now it's gonna really start picking up. And I'm feeling that already!!!!! I promise to just keep working hard until the Lord says my work is done. So please just pray that we can find someone to teach, and that we can have the strength to keep pushing through. Thanks mom :)

Till we meet again (next Saturday!) Love ya!!

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Elder Heimuli

Funny "only in Indiana" story. We pulled up to our apartment and it was late. With everything we have going on now, we get home late. Then we saw a possum sitting in front of our door..... so naturally Elder Wimmer (he's really athletic) went and caught the possum haha! 

Me with Elder Caulderwood, one of the other Fishers elders. I love this kid!

Week 50 - LARP

Hi Mom :)

I hope Aunty Lani recovers! That's scary, but she will comeback because she's Aunty Lani. She's always right back up! 

This week was interesting. 

Clark and me after a busy day

We had MLC so I got to see all of the Zone Leaders and STL's. It was great! We trained a lot on how we can help get members to come to lessons. It's funny to see that people think missionaries take care of all the work. Honestly there are just not that many missionaries around to do all of the work! Hema, Helam, Hevynn, Bo and anyone who served a mission, knows there's a better way to help people progress to baptism. Our training was centered on being effective. Elder Wimmer and I decided to do a fun training to get them excited about it. We had them make plans to get an investigator to church and to get a member to a lesson. So they planned it, and while they were planning we ran upstairs and changed into some "LARP" (Live Action Role Play) clothes. I had one of those stick horse thingy's and a cowboy hat with a couple of foam swords. When we came back everyone was looking at us like "What the?" Then we told them it was the MLC "LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY". 

Wimmer up at the board planning MLC

 

Getting ready for LARP

 

LARP!

 

We then had them call up those members right there, and call up the investigators and go according to the plan they made. It made the MLC scramble and set up plans, but there were a BUNCH of miracles. It was a cool experience... and fun haha! 

 

See, our Indiana Indianapolis Mission Leadership isn't ALWAYS crazy

 

Ok, yes we are!

But other than that things have just been busy. As i said we have just been getting ready for transfers so there are a lot of things to do....

Clark's LAST transfer planning. I love this guy. We are going to miss him!

On another note, we are getting an Area!! We didn't have an area this transfer, so now we are going to go proselyte in our own area. Things are about to get crazy haha!! But I am sooooo excited! There are a lot of things that are changing here, but change is good. We just need to keep working hard to get things ready for President Carlson. Here is a great scripture that has been in my mind with all that's been going on:

Mosiah 7:33

33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

Thanks for sending another package but you don't have to. I really can't think of anything I need. But I know that I don't need. Spam. Don't send Spam. I need to stop eating this... gotta eat healthy :)

Anyways I love you mom and I hope everything goes well for you this week! Love you!

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Heimuli