Cambios (changes) to Cojutepeque

Note from Mom: Picture from Apopa, but I didn't want a post without a picture

Dear family and friends,

The biggest news of the week is, for the first time in my mission, the Lord has moved me out of San Salvador. I´m in Cojutepeque now, which is part of the departamento called Las Cabañas. I left Hna Infanzon in my beloved Apopa with a new companion and took up residence once more in a place named Santa Lucia.

My new companion is Hermana Abadillo from Guatemala. She´s a sweet little Latina (my height) who reminds me a lot of my trainer, Hna Gonzalez. We are fast developing a sincere and loving friendship. She has a lot of time in the mission- igual con Hna Infanzon. Could be that I´ll be her last companion. What the Lord says, goes. Personally, I´m hoping to be her companion for a good long time. She has a powerful testimony and is very sensitive to the Spirit. We´ve already had several very beautiful experiences with investigators and less active members of the Church. I love her positive, hardworking attitude toward everything. I know I´m going to learn A LOT from her! :)

About Cojute: it´s a lot more city than Apopa. That was immediately clear. (Apopa is a lot more country.) It´s nice because people are very polite and tell me I speak good Spanish and they also understand my questions during lessons (almost all the time). Our cocinera runs a panadería, and she makes the BEST ROLLS I have EVER tasted. mmmm

We´re teaching a super awesome investigator right now named Teodoro. He´s an older man in his fifties whose wife died two years ago. (hmm, sounds like Hno. Orlando from Apopa. I didn´t make that connection until just now) He´s on fire! I don´t know how long Hna Abadillo had already been teaching him, but I´ve already seen a lot of progression in him. He stopped drinking coffee completely, committed to always go to church, feels the Spirit strongly, and is SUPER excited for his baptism coming up this month! We´re going to have a Family Home Evening lesson with him tonight about the temple. We´ll talk a little about how it´s possible for him to be with his wife again, for eternity.

I´m excited. :)

Oh yeah... In the past five days, I´ve given a talk in church AND helped teach an hour-long lesson to the members of the branch of Cojutepeque. The zone leaders made sure I had a warm welcome. haha (Insert a BIG thank-you to my Aunt Debbie here. I used the quote you sent from James E. Faust about how ´private´ decisions always have public consequences, and that we should be the change we want to see in the world. It worked perfectly with my talk!)

I know this Church is true. I know God lives and loves us. I know we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

I love you all! I hope you´re all doing great. Don´t quit writing me, I love hearing from you. Take care!

Hna Henrie

Still LOVING Apopa!

Out to lunch with the hermanas in Nash Pizza :)

me and Hna Cano (la hondureña from Tegucigalpa)

Dear family and friends,

We had a sweet experience with an EXCELLENT investigator this week. His name is Orlando. When we first met him about a month ago he was very sad because he was missing his wife, who passed away recently. Immediately in the moment, we testified of the Resurrection and that he will see his wife again. He didn´t seem to believe us at first, but we started to visit him and he has been changing. This past week at the end of a teaching appointment, he told us, ´Hermanas, in my life I have felt like Alma the Younger, in the gall of bitterness. But now I feel happiness. I know I will be able to change thanks to the grace of Jesus Christ.´ (see Alma chapter 36 in the Book of Mormon)

Wow. What a moment! As a missionary, this is music to your ears- to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ change not only your investigator´s behavior, but his whole attitude and outlook on life. It´s the best feeling in the world.

I love Apopa. I´ve grown so much here. I´ve matured a lot as a missionary, and personally as well. I may have been ´born´ in Montecristo, but I ´grew up´ here.

Remember to look for the hand of the Lord in your daily lives. It´s incredible how He makes things happen just so, and as we gain perspective of our lives, we start to understand just how perfect and how vast are His designs.

I LOVE YOU! You are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. Keep smiling! As Hermana Glazier once said, a smile is a show of faith.

Love,
Hermana Henrie

Bonus from an email chat with Mom:
Jessica: This could be my last pday writing from Apopa... cambios will be on Wednesday... we shall see.
Mom: Are you going to be OK in a new area with a new companion? Will you feel like you are leaving a lot undone there?
Jessica: I´ll be great in a new area. If the Lord says it´s time to go, I´ve finished my work here. :)

Playing with puppies at Rosa´s house!

(Picture from Hna Infanzon´s camera) City workers destroyed one of the streets we walk frequently in order to install sewage pipes for each house. It was quite interesting during the month or so to have to jump over these great big holes to get from house to house. :) Hna Infanzon said she felt like Indiana Jones. haha

Total destruction :)

It´s a low quality picture, but this is our zone after we destroyed the piñatas of me and Hna Huamani (she had her birthday last wednesday, but we hadn´t hit my piñata from May yet so we celebrated together)

one day late... with good cause :)

Dear family and friends,

Yesterday our mission president and his wife came to give a conference to all our zone, of Apopa. (going into Sara mode here because it`s more fun...) Thus it was decreed that Monday, the 16th of June 2014, be made into a normal proselyting day (with the wonderful addition of a good-bye conference with the Glaziers), and Tuesday, today, be converted into preparation day. (exit Sara mode) We`ll be back on the normal schedule next week.

The conference really was wonderful. President and Hermana Glazier gave us their last words of advice with a focus on the Gospel of Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. President offered the closing prayer as we all knelt. It was powerful. Afterward, we took a zone photo and then individual photos, and finally President and Hna Glazier spent probably an hour or more saying goodbye to each of us individually.

President`s advice to me was simple: `Can you feel the Spirit right now?´ he asked me. `Good. Now it`s your job to make sure all of your investigators and members feel it, too.`

Really, when you get right down to it, missionary work is that simple. It`s not we human beings that `convert` others, it`s the Holy Ghost that converts. As missionaries, members, and teachers, our job is to create an atmosphere where the Spirit can teach and testify directly to the heart of the learner. I know this church is directed by Jesus Christ Himself. It contains the fulness of the Gospel as taught by Christ and His Apostles. Within its organization is found the divine power and authority of God. It is the `one faith, one baptism` that is mentioned in Ephesians. And the Spirit will ALWAYS testify of it, because it`s the Spirit`s job to testify of divine truth, and this is true.

If you have any doubt, I invite you to read in the Book of Mormon and pray to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. If these two things are truly from God, then everything else the Church professes is true. I know these things are true, and I know the Spirit will testify to you personally, in your heart, if you sincerely (and specifically!) ask Him.

We had a baptism on Saturday. It was one of the most beautiful services I`ve ever had in the mission. The 30-year-old daughter of my December convert, Rosa, got baptized! We asked Rosa to give a talk about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as part of the sweetest testimony I have ever heard, she said the following: `This is the happiest day of my life. The day my daughter is baptized.` We sang `I Am a Child of God` as the closing hymn, and to hear Celina`s two little kids (age 4 and 5) singing along melted the hearts of everyone in attendance and brought a beautiful feeling to the room.

I know this is true. I`m grateful for the privilege of being able to share it with my Salvadoran brothers and sisters.

I hope you all are doing great. Take care. I love you!


Hna Henrie

Temple Trip!

EL TEMPLO!!! We went last Tuesday. It was glorious!

Dear friends and family,

Big news of the week: we went to the TEMPLE on Tuesday! and the ward had a baptism on Saturday! (hooray, Hna Cano and Hna Huamani!) Hna Infanzon and I felt very blessed to have many AWESOME lessons with some AWESOME members and some AWESOME investigators. Requirements to be an AWESOME lesson include: feeling the Spirit, a testimony shared by a member, prior commitments kept and new ones made on the part of the investigator, and watching as the investigator`s life begins to change due to Jesus Christ`s atoning power.

That last one I love the best. Being a missionary is the most fulfilling calling/work I have ever had. And all this brings me to... Zenia! She`s my age and a mother. Hna Infanzon met her on the bus one evening. She had had a bad day at work and had also been feeling inquieto en cuanto a some of life`s big questions: Where do we come from? Why are we here? If God loves us, why does He allow bad things to happen? and How can I really change?

They are all questions answered by the Plan of Salvation. Many important truths about God`s plan of salvation were restored through latter-day prophets such as Joseph Smith. If any of you have questions like these, I invite you to go to www.mormon.org and ask the missionaries. They can help you!

We explained the Plan of Salvation to Zenia in the very first lesson, and the Spirit was so strong there was no way she couldn`t have felt it. She accepted the commitment to prepare for baptism! Then at the end of our second lesson as we were on our way out the door, she said, `I just have to tell you guys something. I already feel a change in my life. My house has a different feeling in it. I know this is right.`

:) està preparada!

I bear my testimony that God really does love us, and because He loves us, He provides the comfort, knowledge and experiences we need, in the exact moment we most need them.

Going to the temple really put things into perspective for me. I try to treat every day as a unique opportunity to serve as a missionary, but sometimes it`s also good to step back and look at the big picture of life, because sometimes the daily tasks can kind of bog you down. It renewed my faith and my commitment to serve the Lord, whether or not I`m wearing a missionary tag.

Take care, all! Enjoy the sunny skies while I enjoy the rain. :)

Much love,
Hermana Henrie

with Hna Campos and her family. They`re in the Apopa ward but Hna Campos (in the wheelchair) considers herself our salvadoran mom. :) She`s great.

Hna Cano and Hna Huamani made everyone breakfast this morning. :)

Rainy Days

Nos mojamos quite a lot on a day everyone forgot their umbrella but me... haha can you imagine? (we were all together because we had just got back from a baptismal service. The other hermanas had a baptism)


Dear family and friends,

It`s raining today. A lot. The tormentas (storms) started about a week or two ago, but they always pass quickly although it rains pretty hard. One of our motorista friends asked us if nos mojamos (got wet), and we said sì, we did, and then took great pleasure in telling us `you ain`t seen nuthin` yet.` Today has seen a more steady, if not very strong, rainstorm. I`m happy about it. I love the rain. My sombria the perfect size for me and fits perfectly in my backpack, so I`m not really getting that wet. Just a little. It`s hard to avoid the rain puddles that go up to your ankles. And we haven`t seen anything yet. :) I got my winter coat out today. It keeps me very dry. It`s funny to hear people call this time of year `winter.´ Really, in El Salvador, I don`t think the terms `winter` and `summer` are very appropriate because the temperature never changes. Truly, the best way to describe the seasons is simply `rainy` or `dry.`

We had the best day of our lives on Tuesday. The Spirit was very strong in several of our lessons. We are always meeting new prepared people. I think last week I was in the middle of telling you about Graciela. Here we go: she`s fifty years old and has been Evangelical most of her life. We met her selling pastelitos near a children`s school, and she seemed like just another contact until we actually went and searched out her house. She invited us in and absolutely devoured the story of Joseph Smith. So much so that we asked a lot of follow up questions because we weren`t sure she`d understood it correctly. The Spirit truly testified to her that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and she accepted a baptismal date in the second lesson. She seems to be on fire with the light of the restored Gospel, praying and reading like crazy. When we gave her a Book of Mormon, she treated it like gold.

Then on Tuesday we taught another very prepared investigator. Her name is Zenia. She`s my age and has a cute, very intelligent two year old daughter. More on her next week. Gotta keep you all coming back. :)

I also made a neat connection this week. I KNOW ONE OF THE SISTER MISSIONARIES THAT TAUGHT FAMILIA ARGUETA SEVEN YEARS AGO! Hermana Hatch was in my single`s ward while I lived in Alta Apartments. One of the Argueta daughters is going to help us get in touch. I`m hoping she`ll have some references for me. :) It was really, really cool to find out she had walked where I now walk.

Take care! Love,

Hna Henrie