Service

Hermana Henrie is peeking her cute head out from behind an Elder just to the right of the center of the picture.  Her Apopa Zone is in this picture.

Queridos miembros de la familia y mis amigos,
Dear Members of the family and my friends,

We worked as usual this week, with an added service activity on Saturday with todo (all) El Salvador! It was the National Day of Service for the organization Mormon Helping Hands here, and the members in charge of public affairs did a LOT of work putting it together. We started a campaign to clean up a river (I don´t remember its name, but it runs through San Salvador). Members from several stakes as well as city workers teamed up to clean up the banks of the river. The autoridades (authorities) put us missionaries to work going door-to-door to explain the campaign and ask people to stop throwing trash into the river. Several companionships were able to get referrals on the side. It was a lot like a normal day for us, except we had to learn what to say to the people about the river campaign. My understanding is the city will continue the campaign (cleaning the river and asking people not to thrown in trash) each year. It was fun to be part of. In the beginning, all the workers met up at the old house of the President of El Salvador to give brief speeches and give out assignments. The house is beautiful. :)

The rest of the week was filled with the usual: teaching and street contacting, with a blessing of having two investigators at church. We had one of the funniest lessons of my life with 70-year-old José. Suffice it to say it was difficult to stay on topic. Everything we say reminds him of something else, and he has a lot of knowledge of different religions. It was interesting. (And, as I said, funny.)

I hope all is well with each of you. I love you! Take care.

Hermana Henrie

These are all the missionaries from two different missions who helped go door to door to ask people to stop throwing garbage in the river.

Semana Santa

Group foto of the surprise birthday party we threw for Hna Cano last Monday (right after we wrote home). We invited a few members and investigators. Hna Glazier took this foto for us. (She and President were there because it just so happened to be the day zona Apopa had interviews with President.)

Dear family and friends,

This was an interesting week. I got to see firsthand a few of the Easter traditions of other religions. In almost every lesson, our investigator asked if Latter-day Saints (Mormons) celebrate ´holy week.´ We told them the Church doesn´t do anything special, but sometimes individuals do. They also asked what we thought about celebrating holy week, and we basically just answered, ´It´s a fun tradition.´ My favorite tradition to see were the street murals, made of colored salt and powder. They were beautiful. There were two really close to where we live, and we got to see the people beginning to work on them in the morning and then the finished product as we were coming home in the evening.

We didn´t really celebrate Easter at all, other than me reading about Jesus´ final week on earth, according to our family tradition. :) It was nice.

As a mission, we have started rereading the Book of Mormon from the beginning. President and Hermana Glazier gave each of the gringo missionaries a new copy in English. We´re reading it with a focus on Christ, marking everything that has to do with Christ´s life, mission, power, doctrine or Plan. It´s been a testimony builder to me to see how the Book of Mormon really is a testament of Jesus Christ first, and second, a spiritual history of the ancient American people.

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God´s church on earth. It is directed by Him and is the only church with His authority to baptize and teach. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, and we are so blessed to be guided by a living prophet today.

This week Hna Infanzon and I were walking in the campo (picture terrain like where Grandma and Grandpa Henrie live) on our way to visit some investigators. We arrived at their house to find the wife locked outside, trying to figure out how to let herself in. In El Salvador, the doors only have a handle on one side, so even if you don´t lock your door with a key, you can still get locked out pretty easily. She had left the door propped open as she ran a quick errand, but while she was gone the wind shut the door.

Long story short (time´s up), I ended up climbing over the wall of her house while she and Hna I held the barbed wire out of my way, making my way to the door and then letting everyone in.

It was fun. May all of you appreciate your double-handled doors.

I love you all!

Hermana Henrie

This is a street mural near our house depicting Jesus standing on top of the water, reaching out to save Peter, who in a moment of doubt began to sink into the depths.

foto of me playing a member´s clarinet. Sadly, I could barely make a noise. It´s been a really long time since I held a clarinet. Pity nobody we know has a saxophone. Hna Cano plays alto sax and clarinet too, and she played a little on the clarinet before I did.

the sister missionaries of barrio Refineria (note the Hna Cano piñata jeje) with sweet Hna Glazier

la semana

I love mangos! :D They`re in season right now, and while they`re good green, they`re even better ripe!

Dear family and friends,

Life is good. God is real. Sometimes there are times in our lives when the only thing really keeping us going is our faith. Our faith that God knows what we need. Our faith that everything that happens has a lesson attached to it, and invites us to learn and grow. Our faith that the blessings for our obedience will come, even though they`re not always immediate.

This week my companion and I saw many `tender mercies of the Lord` (see 1 Nefi 1:20). As one of the apostles once explained, tender mercies are moments orchestrated by God that just let you know He is there, and He loves you. They give us hope in moments of trial and strength in moments of doubt.

Allow me to share some moments of the week with you:

1. We received a new investigator that the other hermanas misioneras had been teaching until she moved out of their area and into ours. She is very positive and accepted a date for baptism! It was a real miracle because lately many of the people we`ve invited to be baptized don`t want to make the commitment.

2. We went visiting with an hermana we`ve never gone out with before. She brought her 4 year old son, who is VERY active and extremely hilarious. At one point in the afternoon, he was running ahead of us toward the street where sometimes pass cars, and his mother was calling him to come back. He didn`t obey... until a man painted as a clown suddenly came around the corner and spread his arms out, mimicking Guillermo (who had his little arms outstretched as if he were an airplane). Guillermo skidded to a stop, flipped around and started running back toward us with a panicked look on his face. Hna Infanzon and I were dying laughing. It was the very LAST thing any of us expected to happen. haha

3. One of my recent converts bore her testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday! I was really nervous she wouldn`t have the chance because she went up to the stand as the bishop was sharing his testimony, and normally when the bishop shares his testimony it`s the signal to all the members that their time to share is over, and the meeting is about to end. But recent converts don`t understand things like that, and I said a silent prayer that the obispado would allow Rosa to share her testimony even though it was outside the norm to do so. They did! And after Rosa got up an investigator of the other hermanas misioneras to share his own powerful testimony. It was one of the best fast and testimony meetings I`ve ever attended. :)

I know God is real. He is our loving Heavenly Father. He knows exactly what we need to progess, and sometimes the best teachers are not the easy ones. We just have to keep enduring, keep working, and keep looking forward with faith and hope. If your spiritual batteries need a recharge, spend a little extra time in the Book of Mormon. It is a POWERFUL book.

I love you!

Hermana Henrie

The Mission Life

 We have a water tank filled with chorro (tap water), which we use to bathe and wash dishes when the water goes out. On this day we accidentally left it open and it started overflowing. I hurried to turn it off and then ducked under to catch the last few cooling drops of water. :)

Wasn`t General Conference good? I think the Sunday morning session was one of the best sessions of conference I have ever heard in my life. It had `Hermana Henrie` written all over it (figuratively, of course). I hope you all had a chance to listen and/or watch. Three of our investigators came (one of them came twice), which was INCREDIBLE and an answer to our prayers. What an incredible opportunity it is to learn at the feet of living prophets and apostles. I know these men are called of God to be special witnesses of Him.

Funny story of today, Hna Infanzon and I had been collecting plastic bottles (the 2 liter kind that trae juice or Kolashanpan soda) to give to a family that sells them to be recycled. We each had a giant black garbage bag of bottles (we`ve been collecting for quite a while, ever since I arrived in Apopa 5 months ago). We were walking down the street with these giant bags (my size) over our shoulders. My arm got tired so I went to swing the bag to the other shoulder without checking the traffic and WAP! hit a mototaxi by accident, probably scaring the bejeebies out of the poor driver, but he didn`t stop, just sped on while I stared after him, mouth open wide in surprise.

Just another day in El Salvador... :)

The work is moving forward. Grandma, sometimes I feel like `just` a planter too. But although we don`t always feel as if we`re seeing outward results for our efforts, I know every effort counts, and no work is wasted. Keep it up! Pray for mission opportunities, then take advantage of them. It gets easier with practice, I promise. We all just need a little faith to take the first step.

Much love,

Hermana Henrie

I drew the four hermanas misioneras in Refineria. Hna Cano is from Honduras near where Graig is. :) Hna Huamani es de Peru.

A little perspective... that is not dirt, it`s my sandal tan. haha all the members are concerned about how Hna I and I are `quemando` (literally `burning´ but contextually `tanning`) in the hot sun of Apopa. (Of course, we think it`s great, but here it`s considered beautiful to be white) Don`t worry, it could be worse. The hottest areas in the mission are in el departamiento de San Miguel and La Uniòn.

The four hermanas misioneras from barrio Refineria. :)