2015: 2 skype calls. 4 interviews. 4 Zone conferences. 5 companions. 4 areas.

Oh the weird markers of the time.

I officially have 53 letters to President from the year 2014.  My complete year in the mission is officially over.

That´s really strange...

I feel good about this year.  It is wierd to think about the experiences.  It feels like a different world.  I grew so much and yet I made so many mistakes.

I suppose thats the point of life, repentance, change, progress.

The next week I will have to start writing 2015 on my journals, checks, and letters.  Its a little weird.

This year feels sureal, like it didn´t happen, like a dream.  Yet the Physical evidences are all around me.

I had 2 skype calls.  4 interviews. 4 Zone conferences. 5 companions. 4 areas. Played the violin in 4 concerts.

I have that feeling of regret, and yet excitement for the new year.

Time seems to be slipping through my fingers.  Weeks pass in the time that days passed before.  The time hasn't changed, but I have.

I don´t know if I could explain in words what has happened this year.  Parts of me have disappeared, others have developed.  I think the change is for the better, but we will have to wait and see.

I have come to a knowledge of this gospel. Not only that it is true, but that it is complete.  That this is the rock on which we must build, because when we build there, we cannot fall. We may not see God in the way we see other people, but at the same time, his influence is unmistakable.  He is there, on the other side of a thin curtain that prevents us from seeing us.  He cries with us and lauphs with us,  if we could only break the veil, we would see how close he is.  He has not abandoned our tiny planet to the wrath of a desolate universe.  He has promised that things will get worse, but they will also get better.  He will support us every step of the way.

I love you, and I hope you know it.  Thank you for all the small sacrifices you have done to get me and keep me here.  I know I was a hard rock, but you guys chiseled me down, and helped me become what I am now.  Thank you for that.

I hope you guys have a great new years!

Elder Henrie

Bonus:

I asked Elder Henrie what he is looking forward to in 2015 and this is his list:

BYU.

Starting over as a new person.

Being organized.

Dating.

Finding the other half of my orange. 

Finishing my mission.

Hugging my family.

A lot more...

Merry Christmas everyone!

So, I am really happy right now.

This last week has just been so full of stuff.  We had 3 concerts with the group I was playing in.  They were really beautiful.

I really enjoyed going to the Mission Christmas party.  I liked the gifts that people sent to all the missionaries from the United states.

We were really busy this week doing a lot of stuff that wasn´t teaching people.  The husband of one of our investigators died, so we went to his funeral.  Because her son is on a mission (he´s the only member in his family), she asked us to be there the entire time.  We attended the Cathloc mass that they did in his honor.  It was interesting and yet sad to see what it lacked.  I shared with her that everyone will rresurrect and it was a slightly different take then seeing Christ on the cross.

I realized how marvelous it is to have a knowledge of what will happen.  We don't understand perfectly, but we do understand that we will see each other again.

Sunday we had to go early to the ZL´s house so we could go to the Christmas Party early Monday.  I spent most of the time playing ping pong.  President Bowler shared some great messages, and got everyone excited to go and work.

Yesterday we did our last concert in the Main Park of Danli.  I hope that we showed a lot of people that [The Mormons[ are really christians.  The program focused on that.  They always started with the He is the Gift video.

I know that Christ lived and died.  But he also ressurected.  He promised that everyone will live again, and those that obey, will be with their families forever in a state of never ending happiness.  My testimony is not perfect, but I stand with Nephi in that [I know that God loves his children[.  For that reason he sent us here and gives us his gospel.  So that we understand what happens to us here, and we have a hope for the future.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Elder Henrie

Today we did a gift exchange among our zone.  I bought Hermana Cook (From California) a christmas mug, a stuffed lion, and colored pens.

Sharing the Gift

First of all. I love you mom, for everything you do and have done for me. I have been realizing lately again how blessed I am to have a stable family where my home was a safe and spiritual place. The church is true, even just for that.

 This week has been kind of crazy. There were changes, but I didn´t have changes. Elder Olivares and I are together for another change. We are really excited about that.

 I finished all the candy that Dan Wilson sent me about Monday. I was kind of in a sugar coma, but it was great. Give him and his wife all my thanks. The picture of Christ is in my house now, on the wall.

Things are great here in Paraiso and Danli. The musical group that I am in is preparing hard for our big concert in La Casa de la Cultura here in Danli. It is a small stage, but it is going to knock the people out of their seats! We will do a bigger concert Sunday in the Stake Center.

This week my companion and I worked really well. It is nice to look back at a week, and although you may not have had all the results you wanted, you know you worked hard to make the goals. I am constantly working to be better. I am really feeling blessed for the holidays here.

The inicitive of the church is really great. We use it to contact. We invite them to remember Christ in christmas and we ask when we can come a talk about it. We usually share a scripture from the bible, and then from the Book of Mormon. It opens doors and gets people talking and asking questions. We talked with a lady named Sandra yesterday that was at first a little wierded out when we started to share from the Book of Mormon, but she became more interested as we explained it. We have another appointment to talk more about Joseph Smith and the restoration this week. I am loving every minute of my work here.

 We are busy, and I am learning to open my mouth like never before. We are seeing the blessings of that all the time now. There really are people that want to listen, you just have to talk to them to find out.

I love you guys and I appreciate you a lot!

Have a good week!

Elder Henrie

Good Times and Bad

So this week had its good parts, and its bad parts.

First of all.  I was practicing with the musical group here, and they announced to us that we were going to present on Saturday (2 days ago).  That was a big surprise, so everyone was working on it.  Elder O{Campos (El Setenta de Area) gave his permission and we were all working hard...

Then the boss of the person we had been talking to called (I believe her name is Sherry).  Apparently the conversation went something like this...

Hi, is this David? (El hombre in charge from our side of things)

Yea, this is David.

Hi, this is Sherry from the cultural department of Casa Presidencial.  I just wanted to explain to you that the person you were talking with was not authorized to be giving dates or times so that you could come.  She is really embarrassed and didnt want to call you, so I am doing it.  We just won´t have time for you in our schedule this month.

Oh...

If you want, we can give you 20 minutes to present something small on Sunday (our program is a little more than an hour).

No, that would be ok (we didn´t want to travel or present on a Sunday, to busy).

Alright, sorry for all that has happened.  But we have your number, we will call you.

............................

It was kind of annoying, but we are still going to do a presentation for the Stake and also in the Casa de la Cultura here (Cultural House). It should still be a great experience.  

..................................

In other news.  This was also an interesting week because we had to go to the Consejo de Lideres again.  It was pretty cool, they explained the [He is the gift inicitive to us.  They hadn´t done it very well before.  It was a pretty cool experience.  Elder Dalgo (El otro Lider de Distrito de aqui) and I left our companions in divisions.

I am pretty proud of Elder Olivares, he worked great even though I wasn´t there for casi 48 hours.  He is a fantastic missionary.

We had church (always great) and we went to watch the Christmas Devotional.

We decided that it would be a lot easier to tell everyone to watch it on the BYU Channel.  So, that´s what we did.

First, we made the error of telling everyone it was at 6 (correction, it was at 7 with the time change).  That was our first problem.

The other one was a little bit more embarrassing...

They showed it in english.

We haven{t talked to any of the investigators or familiys that we told to watch it, but I am sure some are mildly annoyed.  We were in the house of an Investigator, and I had to translate the entire time.  I really loved the Devotional, and the spirit was really strong.  It was great.

I really loved how everyone talked about the love of God and how we shold share it.  I loved every talk.

.................

Today I did a quick trip to Tegucigalpa to take an Elder to an Eye appointment, and here I am back in Danli to write.

It was a busy week.

I love you guys.  Special Shoutout to Dan Wilson and his wife that sent me a package.  I have almost finished all the candy.  I love the painting.

Thank you for everything that you guys do to support me.

Elder Henrie

Practicing the Violin Again

So...the biggest news of the week is...

I could be playing the violin in the Casa presidencial this 15th of december.  

Thus...this violin that I am borrowing from a member.

Now, before you all get really excited, it is not fijo (for sure), and I am not soloing.  I am probably going to participate with a choir of the Danli stake.  I am in a strange quartet of a clarinet, and 3 violins.  

Which means I will be practicing an hour a day here, just like at home.  Its very relaxing and means it can be difficult to work.  

I have no idea if President Juan Orlando will be present, but it is in his house.

So I am a violinest for this december.

I feel a lot like I am with our christmas concerts in our house again.  The atmosphere is similar, they have actors that tell a story about a family and the true meaning of christmas.  It should turn out pretty cool.

I am arriving in the last stages, the other members of the group have been practicing for a while, including several other missionaries.

Other than that, our week was a lot of working.

This week, it will be a lot of working with music.  

It should be a pretty good week.

Elder Olivares and I are getting along very well, every day its fun to get out and work.  We are hoping to spend christmas together.

I am happy, wealthy (with blessings), and still learning the wise part.

Thank you for your prayers and everything you do.

Elder Henrie

I found fast internet

I cannot describe how happy I am right now. Literally, I feel free! Libre soy! Libre soy! (Let in go in spanish from Frozen)

I seriously feel so good to be with fast internet again. Seriously, All my photos uploaded in 23 minutes....YES!

Down to business. This last week was AWSOME. I also had a cough all week (I still do a little).

I relearned the importance of opening the mouth this week as I did it on a bus. We had a fantastic zone conference with President Bowler.

My companion and I are working really well together. The fun story of the week was that President Bowler promised us in the Zone Conference that if we tried our best to be obedient, God would bless us. Last night, My companion and I left a lesson at 9:22, and we have to be in the house at 9:30. So we began to run, slight couph and all. We ran, and a guy in a wierd motocar stopped and offered us a ride. We took it and made it to our house right at 9:30. It was our little miracle.

This week was a lot of walking and talking. I am very satisfied. This week for P'day, we watched How to train your Dragon 2. It was cool. It was a good end to the perfect week, and a good start to a better one.

I was reading in Alma 12 this week, and I realized that although I always had a testimony that the church was true, the mission has taught me that it is also complete. There are so many questions that people have about the doctrine of Christ, the plan of salvation, and about God´`s relationshiop with man. This church has the answers. I do not mean to brag, but I feel like I am. Many churches have a lot of truth, but we have the full picture, the complete puzzle, the choclate chips as well as the cookie. It just fits so well, I could never leave it for something else.

To give a small example: Lets say that there is a super powerful being who is our creator and father of our intelligence (like God for example). If he really loved everyone and was just, he would talk with everyone, not just with people on one continent (like the Book of Mormon and the Bible). And that is just one of many. You can´t find anything better.

I love you guys. You are fantastic and I know you guys always support me. Have a fantastic week"

Elder Henrie

Awesome week

So, this week was awesome.

In that we worked a lot.  

We really tried to put the plan that Elder Duncan left us to use in this week.  We divided our area, we visited members, and we just in general worked hard.

My companion is great. Elder Olivares loves to work and is so eager to share the gospel.  I hope that I can learn from him.  

I love everything about my area.  It has a great balance of fields and city.  Our house in the mero centro de Paraiso, but our area includes parts very rural.  We live in the middle of one of those random places you find here, where you can buy everything, but the trick is finding someone who won`t rip you off.

The good thing is that it makes it easy to compare prices!

The people here are very friendly.  They are willing to talk and like to talk, the trick is switching it to the gospel.  Its quite easy with the christmas photo I have from last year.

me: Hey, me gustaría mostrarle una foto de mi familia!

persona: Ok.

me: Mire, esta es toda mi familia, y un amigo (Yannik).

persona: Wow, tiene una familia bonita, es esta templo cerca donde vive usted?

me: Si, pero en nuestra iglesia tenemos templos y capillas.  Templos son muy especial....

Its kind of funny.

Sorry for that random dialogue, I don`t know what to write really.  

I am good, healthy, and happy.  My knee is healing up well and it doesn`t hurt.

We are working right now on finding as many people as we can, so that we can be even more busy than we already are.

For your information, the pictures of what looks like a disco party was a party we had with some menos activos.  She was turning 18 and the family hasn`t done so well economically this year, so we called the Jas (jovenes adultos solteros) and orginized something special to invite her.  She was embarrased at first, but got used to it afterward.  It did have a missionary purpose!

Things are going great.  I am looking forward to the day of the Turkey (the literal translation of what people call thanksgiving here) and all the rest of the holidays.

I love you guys, everyone.

Elder Henrie