I am great

That's the only way I can describe how I feel.  I feel fantastic.  I am an imperfect person in the service of God and he still blesses me and loves me.

We all have weaknesses, but God blesses us bountifully.  He doesn´t demand perfection to receive help, he requires a willing heart.

To talk about all my blessings this week would be difficult.  I have seen so much love in the service of God.  God loves me and loves the people I serve.

Know that I am happy and that everything is great!

I went to consejo again this week.  It was good to see old friends and meet new ones.  Elder Caceres and I did divisions, and we had a long talk about everything.

We worked and walked and sweated, and it all felt great.

This week are changes, but we don´t know if we have changes yet, they will tell us tomorrow.  The most probable is that my companion leaves.  He is really great, and the Lord has had him here a long time, but I would guess that the Lord needs him in another place.

Nothing really crazy happened this week, but I felt the love of God in my life.

God never forgets us, he just lets us fall so that we can get up again.

Perfection is not to be the best, it is to be constantly better.

Elder Henrie

True happiness

This week was really good.  Its hard to explain why except that we were busy.  Also I got to see a missionary homecoming to a family that has been struggling a lot lately.  There was a very sweet spirit in that home, that after so much hardship, things got happy.

I was thinking a lot about that this week.  Happiness.  I realized something that I have always know, and yet never understood.  True happiness is when you live the commandments.  Always looking for opportunities to lauph and have fun, but always taking into account the Lord.

The end result is you have many positive experiences in your life, and you are unweighed by sin.  Many people do good things, but balance it with bad things, so they are only half as happy as they could be.  True happiness comes from obedience, because you have all the good things lifting you up, and no mistakes weighing you down.

You are like the balloons that kids let go up into the sky, you have no limits.

I had a really great week this week, and I will have a better week this week.  Bad things will happen, but I can use the atonement to fix mistakes and forget pain.  

When I was in the CCM, we were shown a talk by one of the apostles.  He gave us two promises.  First, the mission was going to be the hardest thing we had ever done.  Second, the joy of christ would make it all worth it.

I know that´s true.  I had one of those weeks that testified to me that I am in the right place.

I love you all, thank you for all your support and love.

God Loves you.

ELder Henrie

Why I'm a Mormon

So this week was AWESOME.

We had a Zone conference on Wednesday.  We talked about a lot of the same things that we talked about in the Consejo, but we also got to watch the Meet the Mormons movie.  It was fantastic.  I totally loved it.  I loved the part at the beginning when it showed the different views of Mormons.  You feel like that a lot as a missionary...

Hey, we´re missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have you heard of it?

(Blank look)

Or the Mormons

(confusion changes to happiness)

Oh ya, you guys can´t drink coffee can you?

Everyone in Paraiso says that because Paraiso is a MAJOR coffee producer.  There is a sign that I need a picture of that says

Paraiso, where the earth tastes of coffee.

We also had a Stake conference.  I saw a powerful example of revelation.  We had an investigator that went to the iglesia for the first time.  She has been considering getting a divorce with her husband.  The last speaker, Elder Morales of the Seventy, stood up and said [I feel impressed that I should talk to those of you who are thinking of getting a divorce[.

It was totally quiet.  He then began to talk of the importance of the family, how divorce was a last (very last) option.  He talked of many different ways to strengthen your family and fix problems.

Unfortunately, with how many people that came I wasn´t sitting by her.  But her friend that brought her told us it was very powerful for her.

THATS WHY I¨m a Mormon.  God speaks directly, not just by words written a thousand years ago.

So in general, it was a pretty inspiring week.  Miracles exist!

I love you guys.  Thank you for all your prayers.

Elder Henrie

Time flew this week

This week went by really fast. 

I got to go to the consejo de lideres de la mision.  It was fantastic, I learned a lot.  The interesting thing is that they didn´t talk about anything really new, but they showed me again how perfect this church (and its missionary program) is.  God had everything planned out.  If we follow his plan, things work out.

We had many small miracles this week.  One of our investigators that we hadn´t seen for weeks, came back, and is still positive.  Another investigator is progressing, even though I wasn´t sure if she would.

The mission is full of so many miracles.  I remember when I started, I always seemed to remember the miracles from the Ensign articles, and I thought, that is the mission. The truth is, those things do happen, but more common are the small tender mercies of the lord that you must look for and appreciate. 

A painting is what we call thousands of tiny brushstrokes.  That is what my mission has been (and will continue to be) for me.  It is bueatiful.

I have seen this week the blessings of the gospel in so many families.  It is in the family that the gospel really shows its power.  It makes a family blossom in their circumstances, and gives them hope to continue forward even as others might faltar.  God loves us, and has given us everything we need.

I thought I would be really baggy with Jessica getting home and everything.  I was for a little bit, and then I remembered where I was.  I am in the feild of miracles, where daily I see the light of God´s revelacion.

I love you all and thank you for all your prayers.

Have fantastic weeks, no matter where you are.

Elder Henrie

A Great Feeling

I don´t know how to explain how I feel right now.

I just have a marvelous feeling that I am doing what I should be doing.  That I am in the right place.

I love our zone right now.  We have such a great time together and it is just fantastic.  Today we just watched a movie (yes that is permitted).  Especially us 6 Elders of Paraiso llevamos muy bien.

I am just so happy because I feel like I am in a miraculous place.  I am seeing positive changes in myself and in the area.  I have never felt such self'confidence and control than I do here.

I was always the type of person that I let that my circumstances control me.  I am still to a point.  But I have learned something here in the mission.  You can´t change your circumstances, and if you follow them, it will only lead you one way.  Down.

What you can do is change yourself, fight your circumstances and make a situation that you can be happy with.

I still have a lot to work on with this principle, but it feels amazing.

Always remember that God´s purpose in sending us here to earth was not to just suffer the consequences of the fall.  It is so much more than just teaching us just how great it was in the presence of God so we would all want to go back.  

It is to turn us into agents unto ourselves (scripturereference).  To help us learn how to control our circumstances to help us.  To becomeconstantly better.  The best part is that we have the promise that if we use our earth life as he promised, we don´t have to carry the bad consequences of some of our actions here, just the good consequences.  

Christ´s atonement frees us from the limiting weight of sin, so that we can become limitless.  But only if we choose it.

God offers Vida Eterna a todos.  But you must choose it.  Think about it, it is an offer to be able to continue this learning experience forever, just with a glory that here we do not understand.

There´s no better deal in the entire space-time continum.

Take advantage of it.  Become the person you want to be and fufill your dreams.  If you do it by obedience to God´s commandments, he will help you and guide you to your highest potencial.

Don´t let your your circumstances control you.  Control them.

I love you all and I know that this church is true.  I know it because I have read, pondered, and prayed.  I have seen promised blessings and I have seen a happiness in my life that doesn´t seem to end.

I am still imperfect, but I know what I want, and I know its what God wants for me.  If I follow him, I will get it.

Its that easy.

Thank you for everyone that has helped me realize this.  Take care of yourselves, and remember...

Always act.

Elder Henrie

This week was fantastic and then more fantastic.

I just can´t describe how fantastic it was.

First of all.  My companion and I didn't have changes.  It means that I was with my last companion for 4.5 months (Elder Parker) and that was weird, and now it will happen again.

We are actually stoked.  We are working with a lot of people that are beginning to progress a lot and neither of us wanted to leave. We work well together and we laugh together.  It is a good combination.

We had a surprise baptism last week.  The primary president came up to us and was like:

This little girl isn't baptized, and yet her and her mom are active members.  Baptize her.

We already knew the family, they had told us they were waiting because they wanted a family member to do the baptism. The only member of the family who has the priesthood lives far away and said it was better that she get baptized.  So, we did it.

Thursday my heart was with Jessica as she flew home.  It was weird thinking about it and seeing the pictures today.  It makes it seem more real.  I really have been in Honduras for the last 18 months.

That's the other news.  I officially have 18 months in the mission.  Its weird.  Very weird.  I have gotten very touchy about my time.  I don´t really tell many people how much time I actually have.  I try to keep my mind where I am right now.

I am still loving my area. I love feeling like I am progressing spiritually and physically with a companion that I love working with.  It is all fantastic.

Oh,  I finally received the package from the ward for Christmas.  I quickly finished the homemade toffees and am working through the other goodies.  I made sure to share, and this time I am controlling my sugar addiction a little better.

Thank you to all the families that helped put it together.  I especially loved the pictures from the kids. Its nice to know I am loved by so many people.

I hope you all are great there in UTAH.  Take care of yourselves.

I went to the temple this week.  They advised us with security Monday last week at like 9pm, and we left at 4;30 the next morning.  TOTALLY WORTH waking up at 3.

I loved it.

God blesses us so much here on this tiny planet called earth.  One of the biggest blessings is a family.

I love you all.  Thank you for your prayers.

Elder Henrie

Lots to be Grateful for

Its kind of wierd being at the point in my mission where I have to begin go think about how to end it.  I am sitting next to Elder Johnson (my Zone Leader) stressing about BYU in the fall.

In 5 days I fufill 18 months in the mission.

In 3 days Jessica will be home.

Things are very strange right now.

I still tell people that I still have a lot of time left.  I am trying not to make it reality yet.  I have a fear of [dying[, or just stopping to work because you are ready to be home.  I am working really hard so that doesnt happen.

Elder Johnson also gave me a really good suggestion, that thinking about it, reminds me of President Uctdorf.  He told me to find the small things every day and be grateful for them.  So thats what I do.  When I have a good lesson, I remember it.  When I meet a pleasant person, I remember them.  This Country has so many options to choose from for bueatiful things.

It is still normal that people will say hello to total strangers.

If you get into the house and they are making, food, they will share with you.

People have a belief in God that goes to their core.  It is common as a farewell to say [God Bless you[.

I am so grateful that I still have the opportunity to be here 6 months more.  I will love every second of it, working just as hard as I did in the beginning, only a lot more intelligent.

Thank you for all of you who support me with your prayers and your love.  Trust me, there a moments when I feel it.

I love you guys.

Elder Henrie

What a Week!

Abuela (Grandma) and me.  

Abuela is famous in the mission, she has officially declared herself the grandma of all missionaries everywhere

We had until Friday to invite and teach, so we did that as we could.  We also had our first Divisions with our Lidere de Districto this week, Elder Roldan.  He came to our area, and Elder Ortiz went to his area with Elder Smith, one of the guys that came with me from the CCM.

I had the opportunity to give 2 blessings this week, one to an investigator, and the other to a young member.  In both I could feel the spirit and I am eternally grateful for el Sacerdocio (the priesthood).  It is such a blessing to know that when you need the help of God more directly in your life, you can literally use his power to bless your life.

From Saturday until Lunes (Monday) we were cerrado (closed) in our house, in case something happened during elections.  I read almost the entire book of Mosiah (aloud, in Spanish, while taking notes), and I literally washed every piece of clothing I had that was dirty but what I was wearing.

We were "released" ( a joke) for about 2 hours on Sunday a ir a iglesia (to go to church).  Because of elections it was only an hour. (Elections here are on Sunday so more people can come.)

I also marked my scriptures with colored tabs to help me more easilly find scriptures during lessons this week.  I stole the idea from my companion, who uses his all the time.  The side of my scriptures now looks like a beautiful array of colors.

My funny story of the week was one of the first lessons I taught with these tabs was the restauracion (restoration).  All was good until Elder Roldan (this was during divisions), asked me to find James 1:5, and I had forgotten to mark it (how embarrassing, its quite important).  To make matters worse, I couldn`t seem to find Santiago (James) at all, and I had to give my scriptures a Elder Roldan to find it.  The lesson went well, and we gained an investigator.

We have changes this week, and there is a possibility I could lose Elder Ortiz (after this week I am officially "trained").  I don`t know if I feel ready, but I can put it in the hands of the lord and trust that he knows what is best for me.

I love you all!  I am excited for Christmas!  Please remember always that God loves you and looks out for you, you just have to find the blessings!

Elder Henrie

One thing I sent for him was the testimonies of all of his Anderson cousins and Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents.  Warren translated them into Spanish and I put a picture of each person with them.  They are a 1/4 page and cut out so he can glue them into a Book of Mormon if he likes.  I asked him what he thought he might do with them and he said:

"I`m thinking I am going to share them with different investigators to help them understand that there are other members of the church besides 20 year old young men.  I especially am excited to use the testimonies of people that are married and have families, because this is something I can`t really relate to."

Seeing the "Salvation of God"

All the Misioneros de Tatumbla, our area

Not a lot happened this week to be honest.  The biggest thing is that we had a Stake Conference in our Stake.  It was good and my favorite talk was by the Stake President, who talked about if you want a ward to grow and progress, you need to be 100% in your energy, everyone in the ward.  Because when everyone is involved and you work together, you can accomplish so much more in less time.

My biggest spiritual experience this week was Saturday/Sunday, we had been trying hard to find an investigator to go to church with us, becaus they can´t be babtized unless they go to church!  We talked with all the people we have, and no one could go for different reasons.  We walked the entire hill in our area before conference on Sunday to try to bring people (I was pooped), but no one could.  So we went to church expecting no one.

This is where my scripture theme for this change comes into play, its...D&C 123:17.   It talks about how we do all we can and then we wait to see the Salvation of God.

We arrived and one of the YW from the area of the Hermanas invited a friend to come, and he lives in OUR AREA! This was the week he decided to come, and he was our investigator in church!  It was a beautiful little miracle.

Things are heating up a little bit for the Electiones in Honduras this Sunday.  As Missionaries that means we explain to people we can´t vote, and that we don´t support any specific party.  Political rallyes for the 9 main parties (yes 9) are everywhere and so are advertisements.  We will see who wins...

I love you and I feel your prayers, thank you for your love and support.  I love reading your letters and emails.

Elder Henrie

Slow but Great Week

Yep, thats me in Little Ceasers, with a 5 buck pizza (here its 99 Limpira Pizza)

The Coke is not mine, they are against the rules for missionaries here (because we are being examples), but the table next to ours didn´t finish theirs, and not knowing we couldn´t drink it, gave it to us.  

We gave it to a member we happened to meet (at least I think he was a member...he liked sitting with missionaries at least, maybe it was the soda...)

Well, by the numbers, this week was kind of a slow week, but by how tired I am, it was great.

We´ve had it a little rough because we don´t know our area very well, and its all very hilly. On Friday, we went to La Montaña, and because we finished up there late, and it had rained all day, we decided not to take the little trail we usually take for safety reasons. The other option was to walk along the road, so we ended up walking about 1.5 hours to get home. In total I estimated that we walked 12 km that day (about 8 miles), but that may just be me bragging. All I know is that we slept well that night!

This is me in the Montaña on Friday, the day it rained a ton and we walked a ridiculous amount.  Yes I used my jacket. I have been told it snows up there sometimes, so I´m going to have a sort of white christmas.

This week because my other Journal only has like 11 more pages, I bought a new notebook, which are expensive here (or at least in the stores I like to go to). But its Avengers themed, and includes stickers, so I don´t feel too bad. It should last me past Into about February, if current writing length holds. So far that I have heard, I´m one of the few missionaries that makes a conscious effort to keep a daily journal, but I want a daily record as well, so that doesn´t bother me much!

This week we had a great little District Meeting where we talked about how you can receive the promptings of the spirit. One of the things that hit me is the difference between studying (estudiar) and really studying (escrudinar). One of the things one of the Hermanas in our District mentioned is studying with questions. I realized that even though I have been studying, and I pray before and after my study and everything, I hadn´t had a really directed study like that for a while. So Saturday (the first day we really had to study after District MTG) I started reading the Book of Mormon with questions. It became a powerful experience for me as I read and found answers for the difficulties of God´s investigators (that we have the opportunity to teach) and some of my own.

One of the things I´ve struggled with in the mission is that when things don´t work out, when the people we wanted to teach aren´t there, or when you get the feeling that they don´t want to talk to you, its difficult for me. I get depressed, and for me that means I focus on the failures, or what I think went wrong. Although this is good to a point (its how you improve), when I dwell on it, it drives the spirit away and with that goes the best of my Spanish, meaning I can become kind of useless in a lesson. Its something I´ve been thinking about for a while, and on this Saturday, I asked what things I could think about to lift me from my sorrows.

Surprisingly (for me at least), the answer I got was that I needed to remember my Temple Covenants, or the ones my parents made that affect me. Or just to remember the feeling of the temple. Doing this helped me remember the best of this life, family, and God. It brings the spirit, and with the spirit, comes the confidence to do the Lord's work.

Our new house (or at least part of it).  It is pretty big, and I like spreading out.  

There is also a spacious yard and a Patio.

Our new house is great, I feel comfortable, and I love to relax in one of the large comfy chairs and read the book of Mormon. I actually didn´t eat that many oranges this week, but I plan to eat more this week!

Know that I love you all and can feel your prayers.

Elder Henrie


PS. Thanks to all the people that send me letters, I do get them, I just don´t usually mention it. Thanks Aunt Debbie, AUNT Connie, The Davis Family, Mom (of course), Tyler, Melanie.

Elder Ochoa

New House, All is Well

First of all, we did move.  Its a bit expensive, but the house is huge and supposedly has hot showers (we have to figure out how to use the sophisticated thingy that`s attached to the shower).  Its nice to have the change from almost no space, to extra space, I feel like I slept better last night because my bed had no clothes or other stuff on it.  For any would be missionaries that were worried by my last letter, realize that the President of your mission understands that comfort is important to study well and feel the spirit, and will accommodate (to a point) you living the best option in your area (you cannot rent a mansion, sorry).  

The only sad thing is that we found out yesterday that the Stake President wants to change the boundaries of our area so its actually mas arriba (farther up) the mountain that we thought.  So because right now our House is at the end of the old border, we might be house hunting again, but the President approved for us to live there until we can find something similar mas arriba.  But we will enjoy the house while we have it.  

The new house even includes lemon and orange trees (which are really common here), and the oranges are fresh right now, so I`m looking forward to an orange or 2 (or 5) a day, plus fresh lemonade.  I plan to use them while we have them, though I promise I won`t eat more than is healthy.

Because it also has a nicer oven than we had in our last house, I`m also thinking of cooking more.  Also, because we actually have a cheaper store closer to our house.  Its called Paiz, but based on the bags and everything, its WalMart. (the bags say WalMart in small lettering on the bottom).  Like I said last week we also have other big American Stores, like Office Depot, Cinemark (which we can`t use), and PriceMart, which I think is Costco.  It has the same layout, and you need a membership to enter (one of the Assistants to the President has one you can borrow). 

This means it is easy for me to find and eat Peanut Butter, which is a nice little treat I got myself.  Its a bit expensive here, but the little bit of Peanut Butter is a good pickup when I need it.  (its my Tub of Happiness, if anyone gets the reference).

Meanwhile this week we spent a lot of time getting to know the members and the area.  Most of the recent baptisms in our area have come from an area called La Montana, which is a 40 minute Mototaxi ride from our house.  Everyone there has farms, and the missionaries have learned the best way to have a person listen to you is to serve them in that area, so we will be doing a lot of weeding, and other gardening. I also helped gather fresh cilantro, which was a sweet smelling experience.  We usually take a mototaxi up, and we walk down, because there is a path down that is pretty fast.  It means that we have been doing a lot of walking, and yesterday we were both pretty sore.  Its also really built my testimony of member missionary work, because we have a couple of fiel (faithful) members who come with us to serve.  One, Sandy Salgado, knows the investigators better than we do (because we`re new), and knows who to visit and when. 

Everyone here is really nice, and there is almost 0 danger of anything bad happening.  I don`t know quite how to explain it, but everyone here is kind of laid back and is content to just say hello as you pass.  We`re still careful, but I feel really safe here.

Because our area looks and feels a lot like snowbird, or Utah in general, I feel really comfortable here.  All that hiking was actually great practice for this area, which is Hiking every day.  But its beautiful and interesting, which is a plus.

Halloween was good.  We had dinner with a member, it was good, but we didn't do any specific Halloween stuff. 

Know I`m safe, comfortable, and working.  There is de masiado (more than enough) work here, so we depend on the Lord to direct us where we need to go.

 Please send this to National Geographic, I'm sure they'll want it!

 My first MotoTaxi with my companion

 A look at our area from one of its highest points in {La Montana}.

 All this is our area, its huge!  There is more than this as well

Moving day.  The Guy on the truck is Hmo M., a recently returned missionary of 11 months that is always eager to go out with us.  He speaks English almost perfectly, with only a hint of an accent on certain words.  He went to San Pedro Sula (Honduras).

Ordinary Week - No transfers

Things were pretty good this week. We didn´t do anything to out of the ordinary.

There was a bit of trouble in the area next to ours, so we were asked to remain inside for a day just in case. Hopefully that is the end of it.

Honduras is nearing a presidential election, so we may have to deal with that soon, I hope that it all goes smoothly.

In general I am safe and happy.

Have a good week everyone!

I survived my first change!

Elder Henrie


This is my zone, minus me and Elder Hernandez and Elder Kliener. They are a good group, and we lost about 9 of them this week to changes, which was sad.

Bicycles, Big Spiders, and Rain Storms

Goodbye to Elder Amaya

Elder Amaya left this week, and it was a little sad.  The day he left with Elder Ortiz and Elder Vasquez (one of the Zone Leaders) was also the day of interviews with the president, so our Zone was all gathered together.  

I was on splits with the other zone leader, Elder Sears (de California), after they left, we realized that neither of us had keys for our houses.  So we jumped in the car with Hermana Hernandez (wife of President Hernandez) and drove through a freak flash flood kind of storm. We arrived at the bus stop and invited them to wait in the car for the bus with us.  The bus came, and because no one was out, it began to leave.  Being the closest Elder to the bus, I jumped out and ran to catch it (it being the last bus of the day to Tegucigalpa).  I then helped get Elder Amaya´s stuff on the bus.  I was only outside for about a minute, but I was soaked!  It was quite an adventure.

 President Hernandez and his wife with the bike pinata

The first and last bike I will use on my mission (it was a pinata).

Because our zone had the most baptisms last month we had a little party with the president during interviews. We bought a pinata shaped like a bike because we were told for sure that we can´t use bikes this week. There was a rumor floating around that we could.  Some Elders actually bought bikes, and now have to deal with the bother of selling them.  This is definitely a walking mission.

We have been visiting the pareja (husband) of a member this week.  He is interested, but always seems to not be there when we can teach him.  But she is a great friend of the missionaries and we usually talk with her.  She has been having a really hard time lately, wanting to follow all the commandments, but having a hard time with her pareja (husband).  This week she seemed especially down, and the scriptures and song we shared didn´t seem to do much.  

I was just sitting there, wondering what we could do to lift her, and I had a prompting to give her a blessing.  I remembered somewhere in the white bible that she needed to ask, so I quickly asked my companion.  I then explained a blessing and asked if she wanted one.  Her immediate answer was yes.

Then in a flash back to BYU days, we gave her a blessing, with my companion Elder Ortiz (de Pueblo, Mexico) as the voice.  I admit I don´t remember the words, and I didn´t understand much, but after she was crying tears of happiness.

I testified of the power of the priesthood, and that I knew that Christ had suffered this, and she could use his help. My voice got a little shaky because the spirit was strong.  I don´t know what was said, but I know we helped a child of God.  That was really special.

Other than that, a lot of normal work.

A tarantula that was in our house.  I offered to pick it up and put it outside, but was advised to use the broom.  It was definitely one of the biggest spiders I have ever seen.  I hope Jessica is ok.

Yo con la famila Pavon.  Great family in the ward.

The mark of an Elder here that was "Born in the south"  My iguana belt.

It cost 350 limpiras, or about 17.50, which is good for a belt.  I have been assured it will last longer than a leather belt, but I got it for the novelty, I will wear it to special days and such.  I was told by Elder Ortiz that this color (the deep green) is rare in iguanas.  This is an example of something cool I can buy only here.

The closest thing I could get to a sunset.

Yep, that´s Honduras.  I finally found a good scenery spot.

General Conference

Wow, what a week!

We spent most of this week inviting people to conference it seemed.  We knew that it would strengthen their testimonies and we wanted as many people as possible to go.  We committed as many as we could.

Then conference actually came.  For us it meant getting out the door to invite people, and then walking the 40 minutes to conference.  At least ours is close enough we didn´t have to take a bus like some other Elders in our zone.  Because the ´´gringo room´´ hadn't been set up yet, I got to watch the first session on Saturday in spanish.  

Depending on the translator doing the talk, I could under stand a lot, or nothing.  One of the seventy spoke really fast, and the poor translator was just spitting out the words.  I got notes from that talk, but I didn´t understand a lot!

On Sunday morning, we were packed with people from everywhere!  Not many could come Saturday because of work, but they could all come Sunday Morning!  The power actually went out and so they hooked up a generator to keep going.  I sadly missed Elder Scott´s talk.  But it was still great.

After Conference, it was back to work for us, but it was good with the spirit of conference!

I fasted this weekend because I wanted to follow the example of Alma in Alma 5.  I don´t know why this didn´t really sink in before my mission, but I respect Alma a lot more.  I admit that in my life I´ve had my moments where I want to know, and I ask for an ´Alma Experience´, I want an angel, I want something big.  In Alma 5 Alma is talking about how he gained his testimony, and he says roughly (in my translation to modern English):

I know this is true, and you want to know how I know?

(at this point there was probably someone who didn´t make the cut into the book of Mormon that said) 

Well, duh, you saw an angel, were knocked unconcious for three days and woke up talking about how you were made clean and wanted to share the gospel!

But then I can imagine Alma getting really quiet and powerful, like any prophet that wants to share something deep (have you ever noticed that President Monson might raise his voice a little, but never yells?), and says:

I fasted and prayed for many days so that I could know this.

This has really hit me hard in my mission because I have been having the doubt (like probably every missionary), Do I know enouph?  Because I haven´t seen an angel, I havn´t seen Christ and God like Joseph Smith, I haven´t miraculously healed someone, etc etc.  But reading this, I realized something that I´ve been taught all my life, but never quite clicked to my own life...Angels do not bring testimony.

Sure Joseph Smith saw Dios y Jesuchristo!  It was a marvelous experience that ended the apostasy.  But he wasn´t ready to organize the church until 10 years later!  Even after Moroni directed him to the plates, he told him you are going to have to wait 4 years or so to mature and prepare before you translate these.

I have been stressing this with investigators this week and I know I will do it through all my mission.  God does not expect us to know everything.  He gave us the veil so we would forget.  It is only here on earth, as we make our decisions blind to the knowledge we had, that our true character can be refined, and strengthened.

I know that I don´t know everything, and I have been learning to take comfort in that.  If I knew everything, it would mean I have nothing to learn, and if I have nothing to learn, then my life would be kind of boring.  

I liked in conference when ¨ (Can´t Remember Who) ¨ talked about how God chose our trials for us because he knew what things we need to learn.  This is part of the reason our eventual deaths can be viewed as peace.  It means that person has learned everything they need too.  They passed, and now they get to go enjoy the peace and happiness of God.

I love you all, I think of you often, have a good week, and remember that God Loves you!

Elder Henrie

Note from Mom:  I found out that Graig didn't have a pillow so I told him to go and buy one.  He sent this picture to show me his new pillow.  I'm not sure why his companions' beds don't have sheets on them.  Apparently he is sleeping on some kind of mattress on the floor.

"Buenas" from San Lorenzo

The road here is a bridge over a dry river bed.  Unless it rains.  

The rain fills up the 3-4 feet until the bridge.  As you can see, 

the water doesn`t have far to go.  I wore my boots this day, 

for which I was very grateful.  They really are waterproof!

This week was pretty good, the big story I have is that in the huge storm we had (the one where the water is up to the bridge), part of our roof collapsed (a small part) in the other room. My clothes got wet, and a lot of my old letters, (including some cards) drowned. I am grateful now that the Lord reminded me to back up my pictures and my letters. I still have all of them on my camera.

The new camera is great. Things are pretty good. My companion told me he thinks I know more Spanish than an Hermana that has been here almost 3 months. I am grateful now for my semester of Spanish at BYU.

We had a baptism this week! Jaimie is 11 (but says 12) and was kind of nervous. I think it helped to see the baptism of some other Elders first. She really seemed to enjoy the experience. We are also working to prepare her sister and try to reactivate their parents.

Our area is good, and we are plenty busy right now. We should hopefully get a bunch of people to conference to get them excited. We might also have a Wedding in October. Which means plenty of pictures and stuff.

Our branch is small, but growing, and we usually have a baptism every week.

The missionaries are well known in this area, and we say a lot of ¨Buenas¨ which basically means anything from hello or goodbye depending on if you are coming or going. We also use it to announce we have arrived somewhere. It seems more popular than Hola in our area.

There are lot of dogs in our area, and this one was especially cute. He reminded me of a little stuffed dog I used to have called Aragorn.

My spiritual thought this week is about conference. To help myself prepare for the conference this week, I have been reading the last conference. As part of the spirit of the whole thing, I try to make sure I can be open to revelation, and it has strengthened my testimonies that the Heavens are not closed.

For some reason, my study has seemed to focus on how to teach and what kind of person I want to be. Both good topics for a missionary. I especially like how important it is that we build our testimonies slowly over time, and then they are strong.

A thought that came to me that I used a lot is from 2 Ne 31, when Nephi talks about baptism. Probably wherever you are in the world, or whoever you are talking too, they are a little taken aback when their baptism gets close. We had several investigators that were nervous when we started talking about dates. There seems to be an idea, that I even have thought, that baptism is the end of conversion.

For the missionary, we think that because that is usually when we turn the person over to the fellowship of the members. For the investigator, it is because it is the first big commitment that they need to make. It can seem so big, that they are reluctant to do it because of just how big it seems.

I shared several times this week when Nephi talks about Baptism as the gate to eternal life. It is far from the end of our conversion, it is the beginning of years of enduring to the end. We will not know everything, we may not even have a solid testimony that the church is true, but when we decide to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and make a covenant with him, he blesses us.

I think that it is important, that the first thing you do after baptism is called el don (gift) of the Holy Ghost. Because it is really a gift, something that God has given us to help us with our continued conversion. It is the gift that allows us to learn and to change, and to gain a testimony that has incredible strength.

To those of you who feel that your testimony is not as strong as you want it to be (yes, I am quoting Elder Holland a little) I urge you to start reading the scriptures. As you read them prayerfully, and write notes and thoughts as you read, you can feel the spirit testify to you that the church is true, and that God loves you. There is nothing more comforting than this knowledge, that you know who you are, and what you can become. You can become like God, living with him forever in glory.

The big house is the house of the owner of our house (the one with the person in front of it).  I believe they are a mixed member family.  The smaller cute red one is ours.

(See if you can find the error in the picture, look at the swimming pool)