Cojutepeque: City in the Clouds

Time in Cojute: 4½ months
The sisters' area in Cojutepeque was pure city. It was more difficult to proselyte there than any other area I worked in because of the number of different churches and the locations of the gang boundaries, but it was also beautiful and we received a lot of support from the branch members.
Companions: Hna Abadillo (1½ months), Hna Merrell (3 months)

A couple stories...

Memories of Hna Abadillo
Although I didn't record many experiences doing missionary work with Hna Abadillo, she was one of my most influential companions. Hna Abadillo and I were only together one cambio (six weeks), but she helped me a lot to trust more in the Lord and the Atonement, and to carry on even when I was tired or discouraged. Her personality reminded me a lot of Hna Gonzalez, which I LOVED. We cooked a lot of Rice Krispie treats together (she had quite the sweet tooth) and had some AWESOME lessons. She was ill off and on throughout the cambio, but we worked through it. She's a trooper.

Coackroach contact
"Today we did one of the funniest contacts of my mission. We were knocking on Hno Mauricio's door (he wasn't home) when we saw an older woman carrying two planks of wood on her head. We could see that she wanted to get them down to rest a moment but was having difficulty.

"Hna Merrell went to help her lower the planks, with me following behind a minute later. As I neared, she said urgently, 'Ayúdeme! Estos bolados pesan con TODO!'

"I set down my scriptures to help and found that she was right. Those pieces of wood were a LOT heavier than they looked. We managed to get them off the woman's head and put them on the ground. Then we tried to talk with her, but she was mute and could only communicate with hand signals. We never guessed her address because suddenly a bunch of coackroaches came out from underneath the wooden planks and distracted us. The woman and Hna Merrell both screamed. Hna Merrell began trembling, imagining what would have happened if a coackroach had fallen on her while she was getting the wood down.

"She told me just now: 'I thought those planks were going to crush me like a pancake!'

"I can only imagine the damage that could have happened if a coackroach had fallen and startled Hna Merrell.

"Al final, we left the mute woman shooing coackroaches into the street. It was an interesting day." (Journal 2, 7 August 2014, self-translated)

 me, Hna Abadillo, Hna Foster, and Hna Castro in Ilobasco

 26 July 2014--Teodoro's Baptism! Me, Hna Abadillo, Carlos, Teodoro, Hno Abarca (first counselor in the branch presidency)

Typical p-day in Cojute: playing Phase 10 over lunch as a district

E. Castro, E. Cardoza, me, Hna A, E. Tabango (E. Roldan took the photo)

A rainy day turned the street into a little river

 Rodriguez Family: Edwin (branch mission leader), Gilberto, Maria, Omar, Gilberto Sr, Tania, Carlitos, Carlos, and friend

Ramirez Family: Nataly, Samuel, Susana, Monica, Dany, and Yolanda

September 2014--Hna Merrell and I saw Hnas Garcia and Cano at Immigration! (We were renewing our visas)

with a famous statue, "Salvador del Mundo" in San Salvador

Hna Merrell is a pro when it comes to de-icing the fridge

We pulled lots of ice chunks out of our fridge. No wonder it hadn't been closing right! (It closed fine after we finished deep cleaning it.)

Making pizza with Hna Ramirez

6 Sept 2014--Gilberto Jr's baptism! His brother Edwin baptized him. Algún día, cuando Gilberto Sr se bautice, todos serán miembros.

Jorje and Beatriz (Beatriz is Gilberto's cousin; before she found the Church she was a Jehovah's Witness; she went out with us a lot)

24 Sept 2014--Temple trip!

It was POURING rain

7 Oct 2014--Intercambios with Hna Huamani!!!

Hna Ramirez gave me this dress

Sports day in zona Sensuntepeque

Wearing T-shirts and skirts in true Salvadoreño style

Hermanas' meeting at President's house

I am a happy missionary :)

Last p day with Hna Abadillo

Dear family and friends,

We had a great finding week. Last week when Hna Abadillo and I were on splits (meaning we worked with members in different sides of our area, her in Concepciòn and me in San Nicolàs) she found an incredible new investigador and I got to meet him this week. His name is Edwin, and in less than 24 hours after we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon he had read all the introductory pages (which include an explanation of what the book is, where it came from, what it`s about and who wrote it) and the first two chapters of Nephi. He is very interested in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and wants to be baptized when he receives a confirmation from the Holy Spirit that this Church really is the true Church of Jesus Christ here on earth.

During this same week we also met two new, young families who were also very impressed by the message of the Restoration. We are focusing on working with the members to help these new investigators realize that ´Mormons´ (the correct name is Latter day Saints) are normal people just like them, and to learn more about the Church.

I love being a missionary. I love the people of El Salvador. I love all my companions, current and past. I`m so grateful for the privilege God has granted me to serve Him here, full time. As Hna Boren often says, God is good. :) He truly is guiding every one of our lives so that we have every possible opportunity to grow, to find peace in this life and to have eternal happiness in the next.

I know that what I teach every day is true, because I feel the Spirit testifying to me of its truthfulness every time I teach. Let us carry on in faith!

Con mucho amor,
Hna Henrie

Baptism!

Dear family and friends,

We had a great week. Hands down the highlight was the baptism of Hermano Teodoro. It was kind of a crazy service. Because of a youth activity Saturday afternoon, we planned the service for 10 in the morning so we wouldn`t conflict. The member that had committed to bring Teodoro to the baptism fell through at the last minute and we had to go get him ourselves in a taxi (he has knee problems, which is why he couldn`t just walk). I almost wound up giving the discurso (talk) as well because it didn`t look like the member we had asked to talk was going to be able to come. But, as is true with all pruebas in life, we just looked for solutions to every problem and kept going. We started the service at 11, and it was beautiful. Hno Teodoro took another step closer to his Heavenly Father.

I love being a missionary. I love you all and hope you`re doing GRRREAT! Remember the Lord has a plan, and nothing will frustrate it. Just look for solutions to your problems and be patient in finding the answers. They will come in His time, in His way.

Con mucho amor,

Hna Henrie

Conferencia de hermanas!

Dear family and friends,

This week we had a conferencia de hermanas! That means all the sister missionaries in our mission, from Apopa to San Miguel, traveled to our mission president´s house for a special meeting. Both pairs of hermanas lideres shared messages, then the assistants to the president, then Hermana Vasquez, and finally Presidente Vasquez. There are 29 sister missionaries in total. It was a beautiful meeting.

The other great news we received this week was that Hno Teodoro had a great baptismal interview with our district leader (he also talked with the mission president, but that´s another story) and is getting baptized this weekend! He´s very excited and plans to invite all his family and friends. We´re excited because he knows quite a few people in his colonia. He´s great.

Also, when I was at the conferencia de hermanas, I had a chance to talk to Hna Infanzon a bit about how our investigators there are doing. Remember Orlando? She told me he was all set to get baptized on Saturday! He is now one of the newest members of the Church, and all excited to go to the temple and start the process that will make his family an eternal one. She told me Orlando has been golden all the way. He was just waiting for LDS missionaries to knock on his door again and give him an invitation to be baptized.

I know this church is true. It is the only church on earth that is guided directly by Jesus Christ himself. It has the power and authority of God. Everything good in my life, I have thanks to Him. I will never tire of sharing this message. I encourage all of you who are reading this to take a moment and check out mormon.org. It explains everything. It will be worth your time.

Take care, all! I love you LOTS!!!

Hna Henrie

The ´daughters´ of Hermana Gonzalez. :) taken at the conferencia de hermanas. me, Hna Winters, Hna Dumay, Hna Foster.

enjoying Cojute

Hola, buenos días, dear family and friends,

First of all, error correction: Cojutepeque is actually in the departamento called Cuscatlan. (Any of you who tried finding it on a map perhaps already figured that out. haha) It´s Ilobasco, from where I wrote last week, that is in Las Cabañas. Fun fact: our mission zone also includes areas from the departamento Sensuntepeque. Which means our two zone leaders get to travel up to two hours every time they have an intercambio with the elders.

Hna A and I had another great week here in Cojute. We worked really extra hard yesterday to get Teodoro (remember I told you about him?) to church. And he came! He came, and he enjoyed it a lot. He´s committed to attending the district conference this coming weekend as well. (which, other fun fact, will be held in the departamento of San Vicente. I feel like I´m getting to know a lot more of El Salvador. haha) If he keeps this up, he will be super prepared for his baptism this month!

Also, we saw a miracle yesterday! There is an investigador named Gilberto Jr. that is the older brother of our branch mission leader. Hna Abadillo has been visiting him and teaching him for quite some time now, and he´s made progress in steps and bounds; going to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying. The challenge has been that he lives at military school during the week and is only home on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. He doesn´t have much free time at school which is why his progression has been one step here, a huge bound there. (¿Me entiende?) About the same time I arrived in Cojute, he started to be more constant. We invited him to baptism on two separate occasions but both times he said no, saying he wasn´t sure yet if it was what God wanted him to do. We turned our focus to recognizing answers to prayers. And yesterday, after two weeks of focusing on this, and having him be more constant in reading and praying, he told us: ´I know this is true.´ And he accepted a date for baptism, in August.

Just one last note:

President Vasquez had a meeting with all the leaders of the mission this past week. (It includes assistants to the presidents, zone leaders, district leaders, and hermanas líderes) Then we had a zone conference in Ilobasco on Friday where the zone leaders reported to us about their meeting. He is changing the vision of our mission from each mission companionship having at least one baptism a month (Pdte Glazier´s vision) to each mission companionship having at least one baptism every WEEK. As our mission president, he has authority to speak for the Lord, so really this vision isn´t his at all, but the Lord´s. And as the prophet Nephi says, when the Lord commands something, He always provides the way for us to accomplish it. (1 Nephi 3:7, Book of Mormon)

The Lord is hastening His work here! I feel incredibly blessed not just to be a full time missionary, but to be on the mission during this exciting time. This work is bigger than me. It´s bigger than all of us!

I love you! Hope you all have a great week!

Hna Henrie

Me by a fountain in Ilobasco 

(if you zoom in you should be able to see a plaque in the background that says ´Ilobasco´)

Countryside in Ilobasco. 

(The peaked mountain you see in the background is actually the volcano of San Vicente. Cool, right?)

feliz cumpleaños a mi paìs (Happy Birthday to my Country)

Dear family and friends,

Funny story from this week: I opened my agenda this morning to read my notes from last night about who I needed to study for and realized today is July 7! I completely forgot about the Fourth of July. The thought never crossed my mind. I hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day!!! And a big thank you to those whose sacrifices keep our country free. We will never be able to thank you enough.

It`s been a great week. I feel reasonably comfortable in my new area. I`m learning it a lot faster than I learned Montecristo and Apopa, I just have to work on remembering the names and faces of all the members and investigators. (That is, those we don`t see on a regular basis.)

Q and A with Mom:
Q: How about your new area?
A: GREAT! There are a lot of trees which means it`s not quite as hot as Apopa, and it`s beautiful. Like I said, it`s a lot more citylike that Apopa, and the people seem to be a little better off. There are a LOT of churches, maybe one or two on every corner, which makes it interesting whenever we contact people in the street.

Q: How do you get around? Is it very big?
A. We walk everywhere. I think this is one of the things that is really helping me learn quickly. The area is bigger than Montecristo but smaller than Apopa, and we almost always make our way from end to end every single day. There are only a couple places Hna Abadillo has yet to show me that aren`t part of our daily beaten path.

Q: Are there any famous landmarks around? Do you ever sight see on p-day?
A: There are lots of landmarks but I don`t think any of them are famous. haha The only sightseeing we`ve done so far is coming here to Ilobasco (oh yeah, today we`re meeting together as a zone in Ilobasco, a big center of art in El Salvador). I promise to take pictures.

Q: Have you met the new mission president yet?
A: Yes! We had a get to know you conference with him last Thursday. He and his wife shared a little about themselves and their family (their youngest daughter actually came here with them) but focused most of the time on strengthening our testimonies of the Gospel. They also came to our branch conference on Sunday. Presidente gave a talk on tithing and then gave an AWESOME Sunday School lesson to all the recent converts and investigators. They`re going to be GREAT!

Q: Tell me about your new companion.
A: Hna Abadillo is 20 years old. Her family are all members. Her parents were married in the temple. She has one older sister studying at BYU and most of her mother`s family actually live in Orem! (They attend a Spanish ward, so I don`t know if Grandma would know them. Familia Pirir, but she doesn`t know where in Orem they live.) She has another older sister who recently returned home from a mission in Costa Rica and a younger sister who`s just studying right now. :) She`s super pilas (missionary jargon for hardworking) and we are very happy to be companions. :)  She`s kind of a studious type, like me, but at one point in her life she also studied piano and enjoys music and drawing as ways to pass time. Before the mission she was studying to become a doctor, and plans to continue with that when she returns home the end of October. We`re both very practical, and really just all about la obra misional (mission work). She`s about my height.

Q: How are the members in your new area?
A: The members are very willing and excited to get involved in la obra, which I love! They have all been very welcoming and kind. There is a lady who cooks for us and washes our clothes. She`s a less active member that we`re working really hard to reactivate.

Q: How are your clothes and shoes holding up?
A: The clothes are holding up great! The shoes, truthfully, are getting destroyed more quickly than before because the rainy season has started and rain really takes a toll on shoes. But don`t worry about sending me more. I`m planning to buy some rain shoes here, it will be better and a lot cheaper. (They only cost about 2 bucks and last a reasonable amount of time.)

Take care, all! I love you!!!!

Hna Henrie

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