88 degrees

Hna Fuentes and I are feeling the holiday spirit. :)

Hola, According to the thermostat on MyLDSMail, it`s 88 degrees and I`m feeling mighty fine. :)

I. LOVE. San Miguel.

We had a great week. A couple things that happened were... Yesterday afternoon, the ward mission leader accompanied us to show us a part of our area that we aren`t familiar with, which was a lot of fun. As Hno Edgar said, `Today we`re going to abrir area!`

...We had a POWERFUL lesson with an investigador on Saturday. Hno Ricardo, who was visiting with us, and also my companion Hna Fuentes both shared their conversion stories. It was very neat. I loved Ricardo`s comment that when he was with his member friends, he always heard the comment that `I know this church is true,` and he always wondered how those people knew. His desire to receive his own divine answer led him to ask God and skip a soccer game in favor of going to church, and he felt a powerful peace, unmistakably the Spirit of God telling him the answer.

I hope you all are doing well. Take care. Remember that everything God does is for our benefit. There`s a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that says that with our mortal eyes, we can`t see the complete design God is making of our lives. Trust Him, and carry on!

Love,

Hna Henrie

Christmas in the mission rocks.

El volcàn Chaparrastique, a.k.a. el volcàn de San Miguel!

Still loving San Miguel

Dear family and friends, We had a funny experience this week. Hna Fuentes and I were sitting in the bus and a man got on waving bookmarks with Bible verses on one side and a prayer you can say to `accept Christ and be saved` on the other. He passed out his bookmarks and we didn`t accept them in the first go-around. As he was talking, Hna Fuentes (in the aisle seat) was fanning herself with a folleto of la Restauraciòn. I wasn`t really paying attention until the man stopped by our seats, snatched the folleto from Hna Fuentes` surprised hand, and offered us bookmarks again with a smile, saying, `Sabidurìa por sabidurìa. ¿Està bien?` (`Wisdom for wisdom. Okay?`)

It was hilarious, and well played. We accepted the bookmarks, stuck them in our mochilas, and laughed between ourselves.

San Miguel is great! My favorite feature of the landscape is the volcano sitting just west of our area. (Don`t worry, it`s not currently active. And if there were any doubts about an eruption, President would take us out of here, like he did way back in January with the missionaries when it looked like the volcano was going to erupt.) My favorite part of the area is the humility of the people. There are lots of things that remind me of Apopa.

My companion is great as well. Hna Fuentes had a very spiritual experience where she KNEW she needed to serve a mission. She`s a little older than the typical missionaries (she`s 25) but I really admire and respect her. She`s about to finish her mission in December, but she`s not in the least bit baggy, as we say here. We`re working hard together. I love her.

I know this Church is true. I know that when trials come, and challenges arise, God is right there by our side. He knows we`re strong enough to handle the hurdles that life throws our way. But there`s a catch--we`re only strong enough if we have Him to help us through. I think the biggest reason God allows us to be tried is to help us learn to trust more in Him.

Ohh, how could I forget? We had a BAPTISM this Saturday!!! It was beautiful. I felt the Spirit very strongly. The hermana that was baptized is my age. Her name is Saraì. She will be the first member of the Church in her family. She has a boyfriend who`s a member that came from San Salvador to support her in her baptism. We`re so excited for her!

I love you all!


Hna Henrie

I had cambios.

My new companion, Hna Fuentes! 

Dear family and friends,

So much to tell you. This past week was incredible. On Monday I had the funnest Pday of my mission when Hna Merrell and I both suddenly had ganas to buy some souvenirs (we weren`t baggy at all after writing to you... no... we just suddenly realized how unusual it is to be the companion of someone who won`t judge you for blowing $20 on souvenirs... In El Salvador, that is a lot). On Tuesday, ALL of our citas fell through, until the last one. And what a lesson that was. Her name is Maricela, and she is PREPARED.

Later that night, our district leader called. I had cambios. I`m so grateful that God allowed me to be in that lesson with Maricela, because I could leave Cojutepeque tranquila, knowing that Hna Merrell would continue teaching her. She`s definitely getting baptized!

As for the cambios, I am now in the hottest region of our mission where hermanas misioneras are sent. The city of San Miguel, in the departamento SAN MIGUEL. I am LOVING it!

One time in the CCM, I remember telling Hna Broadhead about my experience in sending my missionary application. As I waited for my call letter to arrive to tell me where I would serve, the only two things I asked God were these: PLEASE, let me speak Spanish. and PLEASE, don`t send me somewhere cold. Because of this very specific prayer, I always suspected God would send me to the hottest place possible in our mission. When I arrived in El Salvador, I discovered that place was San Miguel.

Elder Graigry Henrie is serving in Paraiso, Honduras. I like this map because it shows how close they are to each other.

When I saw my photo and name appear under `San Miguel` in the reunion de cambios together with my new companion Hna Fuentes (another Guatemalteca! and she`s wonderful. I`m so lucky), I just started to laugh. But when I got off the bus four hours later in San Miguel and got to work, I was filled with an incredible LOVE for this beautiful place and for these wonderful people.

Hna Fuentes is excellente. I`ll tell you more about her another time, but she`s already impacted me in grand measure.

God sure loves me. And I know He loves you, too.

I LOVE SAN MIGUEL! and I LOVE YOU ALL, too! Take care,

Hna Henrie

Hna Abadillo and me in the reunion de cambios. She finished her mission and went home to Guatemala. (Hna Infanzon, my companion from Apopa, finished her mission the same day, but the picture is only on her camera. I`ll have to get it later.) In the background: Hna Chom, who also finished her mission that day, and Hna Escalante, my former companion from Apopa as well. :)
On my last Pday in Cojute, I bought a souvenir shirt. Hna Merrell already had a cool shirt she bought in a different area. We took a picture together.
I really loved being Hna Merrell`s companion. She`s great. I`m glad we don`t live too far apart. Just a hop, skip and a jump to Rexburg...

The Week

Dear family and friends,

What a week, as my friend Ryan frequently says. We won some and lost some, found some new investigators and left some old ones. In short, it was a very normal missionary week.

Today I´m starting a brand new agenda. You return missionaries know what that means... change meeting is this week! Hna Merrell and I don´t know yet if we have changes. The district leader will call us tomorrow night with that news. (Fun fact: a missionary agenda is basically just a daily planner, personalized for missionaries. Each one has space for only 6 weeks: the duration of one cambio.)

The most positive investigator we taught this week was a middle-aged man named Jesus. He´s religious but doesn´t attend a church regularly. He wants to change his life to be closer to the Savior Jesus Christ and was very receptive to our message. We have high hopes for his personal progession. The challenge will be finding him, because he works a lot, and doesn´t have a fixed schedule. But with God´s help, things will work out. :)

I hope you all had great weeks! Enjoy Halloween when it comes. El Salvador doesn´t celebrate it or Thanksgiving, so we´re already moving on to Christmas here. That Holy Night, when our Savior was born!

Much love,

Hna Henrie

Good times in El Salvador

This week, we had an AWESOME lesson with an investigator family. They are the Martinez family, and the reason the lesson was so awesome was because of the members that were there supporting us, Hno. Antonio Rodriguez and his wife.

Members make such a difference!

We talked about the Articles of Faith. The Rodriguez couple bore their testimonios about every single one. (We only shared the first 6; there are 13 in total.) It was such a faith builder to me to see these faithful members share their powerful testimonies with their friends. They´re definitely eating their spiritual vegetables, that is to say, reading the scriptures and praying every day, because the Spirit was strongly present when they spoke. David, the head of the Martinez family, was very affected by their testimonies and felt newly committed to ask God if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.

The blessings of the restored priesthood authority and restored Gospel fulness, found only in this Church, are so much greater than many of our investigators can even comprehend! I´ve been reminded over and over again of something President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in General Conference. He gave an example of how our more advanced technology has enabled us to study the universe much more accurately, and that before we had this technology, we foolishly believed our galaxy to be the only one in the universe. (or something like that.) It´s the same with the gospel - there is so much more to God and God´s Plan of Salvation than the majority of people realize.

It is a great blessing to be a part of this Church. I know it´s true. I know it´s God´s kingdom on earth today. I wish everyone knew it. If they would only open their eyes. If only they would just take that leap of faith and ask God if our message is true. Here in El Salvador, I have met many, many very intelligent people who have studied Christ´s life and doctrine a TON. But even so, in the beginning it´s always hard for them to understand that there´s MORE. There are more blessings and understand available to them, if they would just ask God.

Stay true to the faith! Remember, even though in comparison to God we are nothing, for God, we are everything. (That´s from another quote by President Uchtdorf.) It will all be worth it!

Love you lots,
Hna Henrie

Rainstorms :)

We´ve been having some intense rainstorms. In El Salvador, it typically rains hard for 30-40 minutes at a time, then drizzles for a while or stops raining for a while. This is how it looked on Thursday as we headed out to work after lunch.

Dear family and friends,

How great to hear from you! Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to send me a note. Or a picture. (shout out to Aunt Connie, who always sends lots of pictures :D)

This week, it´s been raining a lot. People tell us we´re nearing the end of ´winter,´ meaning the rain will stop soon, so I´m enjoying it while I can. It´s funny, because technically we´ve been in ´winter´ time for months now, and it hasn´t rained nearly as much in all that time as it did in this past week. I love the rain. It cools everything down and calls down the fog from the top of the mountain.

Man oh man, but Cojutepeque is beautiful.

Funny moments of the week: when I went on intercambios with Hna Huamani (I served with her in Apopa), we got to talking about Apopa and missed the bus stop to Hna Huamani´s new area. We basically just jumped out of the bus while it was at a stoplight and ran back to where we were supposed to be. :) Then the next day, on our way to change companions again, the same exact thing happened. Only this time we were on the freeway. Luckily, buses make stops on the side of the freeway all the time here, no biggie, we just made the bus stop and walked alllll the way back up the hill toward our meeting place.

Other than that, and the rain, it was a very normal missionary working week. I love love LOVE being a missionary. I also have new respect and love for my companion. Hna Merrell did many small acts of service for me this week. I´m grateful to be serving with her, in Cojute, El Salvador! As my friend Hna Boren often said in her letters home: God is good.

Love you all!
Hna Henrie

I had an intercambio with Hna Huamani!!! (I served with her in Apopa) She finally got transferred out of Apopa and is now one of my Hermanas Líderes! It was one of the best days. I love and admire Hna Huamani a lot.

Our cocinera gave me a dress. I chose to wear it today.

General Conference

Dear family and friends,

The big event this week was General Conference. Five wonderful sessions of soaking up the timely advice God has for our lives. Some of my favorite themes were: 1) stand up for what you believe in. Do you fear man more than God? 2) Don`t jump out of the ship of Zion (a metaphor for the Church of Jesus Christ). If we stay strong, she will carry us safely into the harbor. 3) Actively `come unto Christ` by making time to pray, study the scriptures, teach and strengthen your family, and attend the temple. As we develop these habits, peace will fill our lives. There is NOTHING we can`t overcome with the Savior`s help.

Hna Merrell and I also experienced many tender mercies of the Lord this week. Here`s one of my favorite stories:

We met Hno. Jaime and his wife purely by chance. They`re an older couple (probably in their sixties or seventies) and we found them when we contacted the wrong house by mistake. As we attempted to explain lesson one (as typical señores, they had many comments that didn`t have anything to do with the lesson), we were stunned when Hermana Rosalinda said out of nowhere, `Josè Smith was a prophet of God. Mirad, vos, in this picture, Josè Smith is receiving the Priesthood.`

It turns out, Rosalinda is a member of the Church! It`s just been a while (years) since she last attended. Jaime, on the other hand, is not a member, but he readily accepted our baptismal invitation. Then they committed to attend Conference with us.

At the end of the second visit, we asked if they were ready for tomorrow. We meant to attend the Conference, but Jaime said, `Yeah, for the baptism, right?`

`No, la Conferencia,` we replied.

He said: `Oh good. I was kind of worried. Baptism is serious stuff, and I wanted to be more prepared!`

My jaw almost literally dropped. This man has so much faith he was willing to be baptized the same weekend in which we met him. He felt the Spirit strongly during the Conference (they attended the Sunday morning session) and is moving forward con todo.

Needless to say, we feel really blessed to have found him and we look forward to more miracles in this coming week.

I hope you all have seen miracles in your lives this week! I love you!

Take care,

Hna Henrie