My New Favorite Book

Dear family and friends,

First off, to answer Mom`s question, NOBODY HAD CHANGES in our ward! The fantastic four hermanas misioneras are still together. We didn`t believe it at first when the mensaje cayò del lìder de distrito. We`re really happy to stay together. And Hna Infanzon is officially my longest lasting compañera. We`re going on 4.5 months now. That night, we just happened to see the bishop and his wife in the hallway of the chapel. He saw us and said, `Ah, que bueno! Ninguna de las cuatro se cambiaron!` (`Ah, how good! Nobody changed!`) We were all smiles as we said, `Nope, we`re staying together!` Then his wife told us that he had actually called the mission president to ask him to let us stay in the ward. The bishop turned beet red, but I felt really good. I know we`re doing good work when the bishop asks Presidente not to give us changes.

As for the rest of the week, it looked a lot like last week, which is good because it means we hit our goal for lessons again! We found two new mujeres, one age 22, one age 50, who are both SUPER positive! The younger one is Joana, recently married (the first miracle about her is that they`re actually legally married, which is rare in this country) with the cutest little girl (age 2). Her grandma had received visits from hermanas misioneras previously, so she already knew a little about the Church. She accepted the commitment to prepare for baptism in the very first lesson and is reading everything we give her. This past Saturday we met her husband.

More on Graciela next week. Time`s up. The zone leaders are buzzing in our ears. haha. Elderes...

LOVE!
Hna Henrie

My new favorite book :) Cheesy, but true. My favorite book is actually the Book of Mormon.

The best inspiring stories are true. :)

Miracles!

My hermanas :)

Dear family and friends,

We taught some really prepared people this week. The young couple who called to us and asked us to visit them went to a Church activity, read all of the folleto of lesson one and have started reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Their names are Victor and Mercedes, they have a little baby girl and we have high hopes for them! It´s a pleasure to teach people who are really searching.

The Lord blessed us in GREAT measure in every aspect of the work this week. We finally met several goals for lessons that we´ve been striving toward for months, and it felt really, really good to be able to reflect back on the week and know we used our time efficiently, doing the Lord´s work. He really guided us in our steps this week, from who to visit and when, to teaching by the Spirit throughout the whole lesson, which touched people´s hearts and helped them understand.

Specifially to the area of Centroamérica, every member of the Church celebrated something called La Semana de la Familia, where each ward prepared short talleres with temas such as strengthening family relationships, emergency preparedness, teaching jovenes to live closer to God, etc. It was a great opportunity for each member to invite nonmember friends or less active members of the Church to hear inspired messages about how the teachings of God and Jesus Christ bless families. Hna Infanzon and I were blessed to have at least one investigator at every single night. Two families even brought friends and introduced us to them, so we have some new investigators too! ... And in the show de talentos on Saturday all the missionaries in the zone performed a short skit. An elder took video, which I´ll put on my photo drive to send home. Dad and Tyler will hopefully be able to translate. It was a funny skit. :)

WHAT A MARVELOUS MESSAGE IS THE MESSAGE OF THE RESTORED GOSPEL! It changes people´s lives. God changes people´s lives. By helping us all live more in harmony, and on a higher plane. His expectations are high, but Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way. Brad Wilcox calls the grace of Jesus Christ our ´constant energy source,´ and I encourage each of you to pause to reflect on how you are using that energy source in your life. Don´t give up! Never give up! There´s always something in life for which we can be grateful, and there´s always hope for us to be able to change and improve. That´s what the grace of Jesus Christ is all about. That´s why He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and later, on the cross.

I bear my testimony that Christ loves each of us, even in our imperfections, and He is always there knocking at our door. Our job is simply to let him in, to accept His teachings and continually strive to live them. And when we do, a lasting peace and sense of joy come into our lives. It´s really true. I´ve lived it. I AM living it. I´m watching others learn and live it too.

I love you!

Hermana Henrie

The elders singing to me as they surprised me with a birthday cake last p-day!

It was a very yummy cake. :) vanilla with frosting similar to the taste and consistency of whipped cream and fruit on top. The writing says, ´Feliz cumpleaños Hermana Henrie´

They pushed my face into the cake. que barbaridad (that awful)... haha

We didn´t have a knife so we cut the cake with a corner of the cake box :)

On the morning of my birthday, the hermanas decorated my mesa while I was in the shower and made me a typical breakfast: frijoles con huevo y pan tostada. YUMMY! (they put two candles into the frijoles and made me blow them out before I could eat. it was funny)

Hna Huamani me regaló (gave me) this giant mango. It was delicious!

Hna Infanzon made us all bean tostadas for dinner one night this week. She made the smiley face out of mozzarella cheese. haha I LOVE FRIJOLES. Todavía no me ha cansado de comer los frijoles. Nunca jamás. (I have not tired of eating beans yet. Never ever) :D

Mother's Day Skype Call and a Successful Week

From Mom:  It was so great to get to see that cute smile yesterday. She didn't have a long time to talk and the connection wasn't great but it was wonderful to see her smiling face and meet her companion. She says, "Keep the letters coming." I sent her a bunch of piano music and she has been playing it. I know she plays for church each week including prelude and sometimes special musical numbers. She had a birthday party and one of the members made a "Hma. Henrie" pinata in her honor for her party.

Dear family and friends,

Hmm. This was a really normal week. Besides getting to talk to my family via Eskype yesterday. (Lookin` good, family!) Some highlights:

We had FIVE investigators in church yesterday! Hna Infanzon and I brought three, and then my recent convert Rosa brought her husband and her daughter. She has a powerful testimony and a lot of faith. I admire her fire, and I was SO HAPPY to see her husband Ismael that I wanted to jump up and down for joy. They live in Nejapa, which if you remember back to a few months ago became a forbidden area to us, meaning Rosa has pretty much been on her own in the sometimes difficult transition from new member to member-for-life of the Church. Nor could we teach her nonmember family members unless they came to the chapel or a member`s house in our `new` (condensed) area. It was Hno Ismael`s first time in church, and he liked it a lot! Hna Infanzon and I have a lot of hope for that family.

We visited a new investigator and her family who had read the entire folleto of lesson one and had a bunch of questions for us about the Book of Mormon. I loved it because they really seem to be searching for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. They seem very prepared.

We continue to teach Carlos, who we sometimes nickname `the Pizza Man` because he sells homemade pizzas from his motorcycle. He always reads the `tareas` we leave him, and more. He takes notes during our lessons, and he always notes when our next teaching appointment will be so he won`t forget. This is a man who has visited several different churches and still feels there is something missing in his life. It`s a privilege to teach him the principles of the restored gospel, and we hope to see him in church this Sunday!

The Lord blesses us each day with new investigators and a lot of referrals. One GREAT thing about El Salvador is almost everyone we talk to on the street tells us we can come by to teach them. Our biggest challenge is sorting out the referrals. We give priority to the ones that seem the most positive. Something neat happened last night with referrals. We were on our way home when a young couple called to us from across the street. THEY asked US to come visit them, to answer some questions they have about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It`s really something special when people take the initiative to ask you as missionaries to come teach them. We`re excited to pass by them.

I know this Church is true, that we have a living prophet and apostles who have been called of God and given the authority of God to direct God`s church according to His guidance. We have the RESTORED gospel of Jesus Christ, including the same priesthood authority that Jesus Christ gave to His original twelve apostles.

Cuìdense, todos. To my mother and all my `second` mothers, I hope you had a very HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY!

Much love,

Hermana Henrie

A friend from barrio Los Naranjos. We just happened to run into her and her new husband on Friday after zone conference. They were celebrating in the capilla. :)

Playing `Don`t Eat Pete` with President and Hermana Glazier last P`day. :)

Una Buena Semana (A Good Week) & a Marriage Proposal (but that is not what made the week good)

We made lunch for our cocinera Hna Arely on Friday. Hna Infanzon and I made mashed potatoes and gravy. The potatoes turned out PERFECT. Ohh, they were good. It was so good to taste mashed potatoes again. Hnas Cano (hondureña) and Huamani (peruana) made a Honduran dish where you put refried beans and eggs together in a flour tortilla. Hna Cano made the tortillas homemade, and they had a different flavor from typical Salvadoran tortillas. More like what you find in the States. Delicious! Hna Arely was very happy. :) :) we love her!

Dear family and friends,

What a luxury it is to take my time reading your emails and sending fotos to my mother... but suddenly here I am writing the weekly letter with three minutes to go! How quickly we adjust to the blessings in our lives. haha va a creer que dejé eso pasar

We had a funny week. Funny as in hilarious. One event in particular I´m thinking of is when the 70-year-old father of one of our investigators proposed marriage to both Hna Infanzon and I in the middle of the street in Los Angeles. (It wasn´t a big deal, he just said he would like to marry us when we stopped to say hello. haha we just said, ´great to see you, we´re on our way to an appointment, take care, adios!´ He´s a nice, grandfatherly old man with an occasionally quirky personality)

We had some very spiritual lessons this week. I mean lessons where the Spirit was so strong in everyone´s hearts you could almost see him in the room with us. Hna Infanzon and I have the feeling that good things are coming to this area. We will continue to improve the efficiency of our work (working smarter, because I honestly don´t think we can work much harder) and I know we will see the fruits soon!

Love,
Hermana Henrie

Presidente had my package! and a DVD player for us! We use it to preview the videos we want to show investigators, and also to play our CDs. Thank you for the flash drive with Mormon Messages! We can´t wait to burn them onto a disc so we can watch them!

Hna Infanzon´s and my old shoes. :) The new ones came just in time, and they fit great!

fotos de la conferencia multizona que tuvimos el martes. :)

Birthdays in Abril, Mayo y Junio. Hna Glazier made us banana bread. :)

la zona Apopa!

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