{It'S AlL WoRTH It}

~Me doing sixteen thousand birthday pushups on top of the office building! Ofi!~

Hey fam!

Wow....I think the only think I can express right now is gratitude. I´m an uncle! How cool is that! I honestly am so happy that James is doing well. We fasted for him on Friday night through Saturday and also a few other things that we needed help with. I have seen miracles and many blessings this week. Looking back on things right now I have seen many fruits of the labor that I have been doing for the past months. Eric Sera just baptized a friend, Ceferino is still getting ready for a mission, the Salinas family gets sealed this Saturday (they changed the date so I could go), Tomás Chávez from Alcalde Diaz is the President of the young men´s quorum, José Remice has the Melquisedek priesthood and his wife is the secretary to the relief society, Valentina and Chelita are still doing well, and Jotam and Wilfredo got baptized on Saturday! And I´m praying that other converts and reactivated members are doing well.

Both of the parents of Jotam and Wilfredo came and felt a peace. They were confirmed yesterday and are excited about the church. Will is going on a mission, I´ve got a new baby nephew who is a STUD, I´m learning a ton every day here. An Elder just called to thank me for helping him through some rough times on the mission. I feel like God is honestly pouring out blessings into my life. And I know it´s because of obedience and prayer. Even with so many trials and hard moments that I´m faced with, I´m no longer afraid of it. I feel like anyway who misses this opportunity is missing the best thing that i´ve ever done.

I was talking to Elder Poli about it yesterday...because he´s about to come home. I´ve never heard him sound so peaceful and happy. We just talked about converts, memorable lessons and moments, life, wow. I´m proud of him. He just kept saying how glad he is that he has done what God wants him to do. He talked about the love that he felt for everyone in all of his areas. That really is what the mission does. I know I´ve got a lot to do...I have a lot of disappointments to face and hard work to go through, but it´s all worth it. Because it brings more joy that I´ve ever felt before. John Bytheway said that there´s a difference between happiness and peace. I think I understand that difference.

I love you all. Pray for Dani, the familia Pérez, and Edwin and Rosa if you would :) pray them to church and baptism!

Elder Henrie

ps this month the Panama mission baptized more than we´ve ever baptized before! Sweet! We´re thinking that it´s about 140 confirmations, but we´re waiting for a few numbers still. What a miracle!

Felicidades mom!

You´re a grandma! I am super happy about little James! He looks healthy and strong. Quick story. We started a fast on Friday night coming back from David (David is on the other side of the country, we went for a training meeting). We had stopped in Santiago, my town, to eat McDonalds. After McD´s we started the fast and about an hour later, around 10 pm, Elder Dangerfield called saying that Jotam was set for baptism and that he wanted to be baptized with his brother! God had immediately answered our fast and everything went well in the baptismal service. At first their mom didn´t want to come to support them but my comp called her to talk her into it. She didn´t sit by her husband because of the problems in the family but she did feel peace. She looked genuinely happy for the baptism of her sons. We told her yesterday that they were going to receive the authority to baptize and that they could baptize her someday ;)

Mom I love you. Thanks for teaching me. Our family is truly blessed. I have witnessed so many good things in the mission. I feel happy! I feel sooooo good about everything. It´s such a blessing to get here and I feel such an urgency to get things done. I also am trying to slow down in those important moments to really take in what God wants me to see...like the talk that Elder Uchtdorf gave in the last general conference.

Today I read about the importance of the scriptures from Elder Christofferson´s talk from the may conference of last year I believe. And then I really tried to study the scriptures after, not just read them. I liked a scripture in Mormon 9 that talks about if we are happy now, we will be restored to happiness after the resurrection. So let´s keep this happiness forever!

Gotta go! I love you!

Elder Henrie

this letter is specifically for Marsh man!

Hermanito!

Dude I can´t believe you´re turning sixteen! I love you bro. You´ve been an awesome example for the family. For real I feel like you´ve been really strong through the trials and I know you´re gonna be an awesome uncle to little James. Do everything you can to be happy starting another year of life. That´s what life is all about. Everything we do should be focused on our own happiness and the happiness of those around us. Make good choices in high school and don´t drive too crazy :) I learned my lesson already haha

It´s really a sacred experience to be here on a mission and I hope you feel good about the decision to go. I feel like I had good preparation but it definitely could have been better, aka don´t sluff seminary too much, it actually helps on the mission. Remember the good times in life. I´ve got lots of good memories with you. I remember once a nice bike race we had coming back from the library when dad got some flat tires! Haha i can´t remember who won but that´s not important.

Tomorrow eat lots of cake for me...I´ll be thinking about ya!

Love you little bro...right now it´s time to go to pick up my new companion in Chorrera. His name´s Elder Ortega from Guatemala. Really awesome missionary!

Take care hermanito! ¡Feliz cumpleaños y que cumplas muchos más! ¡Te quiero mucho!

Elder Henrie...el guapo de la familia

ps the photo is me doing sixteen thousand birthday pushups on top of the office building! Ofi!