{I`m ReaLLy GraTEfuL foR aLL of YoU}

hEY!

So....sorry i didnt write monday...but i figured i would just be disobedient and write today!! Sweet huh?! haha no just kidding we changed pday to wednesday this week so we could go to the temple as a zone! It was so incredible. I loved it! so this week was awesome...the baptism of the familia estrada went really smooth and they are really excited about it. Our district president sang a song with his wife and fernando bore his testimony about his baptism! it was so awesome! The other day i looked at the calender to see what day it was and i thought thanksgiving had passed haha i forgot it was this week. time flies man. I feel like we`re still in october.

Funny story...the `mascot` of the mission is named `superstrong`. so he`s been going around visiting different zones in the mission and so the assistants came to our house and we woke up at 5 am to go do visits with superstrong. Elder Poli was superstrong. hahaha it was the funniest thing ever. He dressed up with a sweet costume and cape. We had a great time visiting the missionaries to see what they are doing in the mornings haha seriously the pictures and videos are hilarious and presidente ward is way into it!

I just wanted to share something a little different than an experience this week. We went on divisions with the assistants and Elder Rodriguez..one of the assitants...asked me how my mission has changed me. It is amazing when you step back for a minute and look. You realize that your whole perspective has changed...the way you see people and yourself. The importance you feel for being obedient so you can be happy, the neccessity to share the gospel with EVERYONE, and the blessings that you have received. I also realized the importance of being animated always on the mission. J Dub, you talked about the book mere christianity by cs lewis, this past week i thought of a quote from him about love. He said if you dont feel like you love someone, you have to treat them like you love them, and you will grow to love them. Those actions will turn into feelings. I feel like it`s the same with always being animated on the mission. When you act animated..you feel like you have more energy.

I`m really grateful for all of you. and for the mission. i`m grateful for the atonement. wow it`s so cool to see people receive the atonement. Today in the temple i felt such a comforting peace that is always in the temple. There were five people there from jamaica for the first time. And so they asked me to accompany one of them to help him out during the endowment. It was such an incredible experience. It was so great to see people making such a sacrifice to come here and make promises with god.

I loved it!

Mom...haven`t got the package. Lib, i loved the story about how you drew on your face in permanent marker! Classic! jessi...FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!! J dub...haha go to sleep. marsh man i hope high school is as awesome for you as it was for me. Enjoy it...don`t do anything that you`ll regret or that could slow down your preparation for a mission...cuz it comes fast. I love you bro you`re awesome. Hey dad...after j dub wrote me this week i could picture you in your `gasoline marinated` orange jacket hahaha blowin slow. feliz thanksgivingano a todos! Con mucho love,

Elder Henrie

ps we sang to everyone on the bus on the way to the temple! awesome!

{OnE oF The HarDeST MoMentS}

Fam!

I had one of the hardest moments on my mission this week. As we were teaching Fernando in the house of his girlfriend´s family...we found out that he had moved in there. We were worried about that situation as people can`t get baptized if they are leaving together...but the mission president told us that in this case it was ok. Anyway...we kept teaching him...had the interview, the district leader felt weird about it but he said he was alright to be baptized. And then me and Elder Poli couldn`t stop thinking about it the week of his baptism. So, two nights before his baptism, we went home and prayed...and we got an answer. He couldn`t be baptized. We both felt the same thing. It was super hard and i almost didn`t want to believe it but we kept asking and everytime i got the same answer...that he couldn`t be baptized. So the next night...the night before his baptism, we went over to his house. We started to explain to him that he needed to wait and he needed to move out to be baptized. We asked him how he felt and he just started sobbing. He felt horrible. And that made us feel horrible because we should have prayed about it earlier! Anyway he kept crying and we asked him why he wanted to be baptized...he told us that he wanted to be clean and be with the Lord. He has so much faith!

So a little while into the discussion he told stopped and stood up and went inside. We weren`t sure what he was doing but Elder Poli looked and me and asked if he moved out...if he could be baptized...well yeah... All of a sudden he comes out with a box full of stuff and sets it on the floor! He said he would move out that very night! So we called the assistants to ask permission to stay out later and help him move and then we went to look for a room in a members house...it was really stressful but he ended up calling us to tell us that he had found a place to stay. Sweet! I felt like he REALLY showed a desire to follow Chirst that night. We felt sooooooo much better and ready for his baptism. The next day a ton of people showed up! Elder Poli, Elder Stoddard and I sang Nearer My God to Thee...with some sweet harmony. The spirit was sooooo strong! And then i went to baptize him. He was kinda nervous so we went into the bathroom and said a prayer. As we walked into the water i felt really peaceful. I baptized him and right went he came out of the water he was sooo happy! He gave me a huge hug and would not let go! It was really the best baptism i`ve participated in in my whole mission! It was amazing!

And yesterday the familia Estrada had the interview and they are totally ready for this saturday! At 7 00 pm they`ll be baptized! I`m doing really good this week. This change has gone by really fast. We`re hoping to meet a really high goal in december but it`s not going to be possible without the members. I`m really excited for this month that`s comin up. President Ward said he would leave us together another change unless he received revelation that told him otherwise! Sweet!

I love you all the church is awesome!

Cuìdense!

Elder Henrie

{ I lOvE The peoPLe HeRe}

Hola!

Utes lost?! man what a bummer. But it doesn`t matter because i`m in Panama! hahaha Ok one of the best experiences in my mission happened this week. We went to visit the familia Estrada to set a baptismal date with them. We had already tried the day before but they felt like they needed to prepare more. So the next day we took Elder Stoddard (from CA) and Elder Monroy (from Mexico) to sing a hymn in their house and bear our testimonies. It was super powerful! Elder Stoddard shared about how he gained a testimony about the Book of Mormon and the spirit was incredibly strong! Then we committed them to be baptized the 20th of november and they still had some doubts. Elder Stoddard asked them if they had received an answer about that day, they said yes, and so he promised them the lord would help them in their family if they would be baptized. They ACCEPTED! Ohhh baby! We left the house and started running up the hill singing at the top of our lungs..haha really an awesome moment that i`ll never forget! I love that family! They are so amazing!

And Fernando is doing well...his parents are still against his baptism but his testimony of the book of mormon is super strong. I hope his parents come in from Colòn to see his baptism. this thursday at 7 00 he`ll be baptized. Pray that it will be a success!

We also had a cool kid at church today. His name is William..and his wife is Gissel. They are a really young couple and they have a little baby...William Junior. Gissel also had another child, but she died really young. I think they are both 20 or 21. We need to talk with them about marriage...but they are really receptive. William has changed a lot from his old life...he was in jail and he`s had lots of problems. Really cool family!

Even with all the success...i felt like it was a little tough this week. But every time i have an experience like we did with the familia estrada...i realize that it`s all worth it.

Oh...funny experience...i was on the stand waiting to give my testimony yesterday and one of the members (kinda less active) bore his testimony. He talked about how greatful he was for the `apostles` on the stand behind him...ooops. I looked at Elder Poli and i almost started cracking up. He`s a really good member though. haha just kind of a funny moment in church

i love you all! Panama is sweet! My area is beautiful and we are teaching really great people. I love the people here. I don`t know what i`d do without them :)

Mucho amor,

Elder Henrie

Mom!

That`s so awesome about your talk! I guess you learned to always be prepared. haha i remember my first day in Chorrera the speakers didn`t show up so the bishop asked me to talk...haha kinda winged it. Thanks for sending a package! I hope all is going well up there in Utah.. and i hope your cold! Last night it was slightly chilly because it was raining and i thought the panamanians were going to die of hypothermia hahaha

I`ll be looking forward to your talk! Love you mom!

Elder Henrie

{tHe miSsIOn is hARd. ReaLLy harD}

Well...

Interesting week. Kind of a frustrating sunday haha but things are going good. Saturday night was hilarious! We were at an activity in church when one of them members came in and said ´Elders come here!´ So we ran outside and saw a car chillin in the rain gutter (The rain gutters are huge here ps) and he was kinda drunk. So we were trying to pull him out for a while but we couldn`t get it. Finally, someone brought their truck and towed him out...Elder Poli was pushing and the wheels caught on the mud and he got nailed with mud! It was so funny. So we went back to the house real quick so he could change (it was about 8 pm) and went to an appointment that we had...they weren`t there so we went by the house to contact. As we were walking to the house around 9 15, elder poli asked me if i had the keys...uhhhhhhh. no. Turns out he left them in the taxi! haha luckily we had contacted the taxi driver and had found out that he was an inactive member that lived kind of by our house. We tracked down where he lived and found his friends drinking outside his house...they called him and he said he was on his way. Haha by on his way he meant ´I`ll be there in an hour or so´ haha anyway he showed up around 11 and we finally went home and went to bed. Interesting night for sure!

It was pretty sad talking to that guy who was drunk. You really realize that sin doesn`t make you happy. we`ve talked to a lot of people who are drunk and they always come up to us asking for help in that moment...telling us all their problems and how much they want to stop drinking and be close to God. And then we go by when they`re sober and they don`t want to listen. they really say how they truly feel in the hard moments

Fernando is doing awesome! His baptism is planned for the 11 of November at 7 30! We taught him again on sunday and he is solid! He`s going to invite his parents but they don`t really understand spanish...we`ll see what happens i really want to meet them. Fernando said he doesn`t speak mandarin, i can`t remember what type of chinese it is but i don`t think it was cantonese either. Are there a bunch of different dialects dad? i would assume so...

Those were some sweet photos of biking haha that trail got dominated eh?! And thanks for the sweet poster! How awesome! I`ll send you guys a good one of Elder Poli with his mud shirt haha that was a hilarious night!

Things are good here! The mission is hard. Really hard. haha but it`s such a good experience! I love seeing people really change. And i love how we don`t really do anything. We just tell them what we know....and if they ask God if it`s true they start to change themselves. I love the people that i have taught on my mission. I miss a lot of them. But i hear that they are doing well. The familia Salinas from Santiago is preparing to go to the temple this month to do baptisms! Sweet! Arnulfo Flores is struggling a bit with his testimony so i need to write him today. The family that we are teaching here...la familia Estrada...is doing well, but they didn`t come to church on Sunday. We`re going to try to set a baptismal date this week to see what happens!

I love you all the church is true!

Love,

Elder Henrie