I can´t say that it´s been the easiest week of the mission. I have had A LOT of good experiences this week with the priesthood power...but unfortunately there were some very bad decisions made by some of the missionaries here. Last night we were talking to an elder about what is going to happen. He had made some mistakes here in the mission and is really scared. It´s just hard to see President Ward show so much confidence in his missionaries and then seeing them let him down. I am grateful for the rules on the mission. I´ve come to realize why we need to obey. It´s not just because we have to, or even because we want to. It´s to become more like Christ, to develop the characteristics that we´ll be needing after the mission. I read Isaiah 48:10 this week: "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." The mission that God gives us here really does refine us if we take advantage of it. I feel like I am still being changed by the experiences that I am having daily here on the mission.
This last Tuesday, we went to Chorrera and did divisions in the area of Barrio Centro (my old area) to see how Elder Portillo (the District Leader) was doing. I went with him and we started contacting in a little neighborhood by the church. The second house that we contacted let us in. Turns out the lady inside, hermana Vergara, is a member. And I recognized her from when I had been in the ward. She seemed really surprised that we were there and asked us who had called us to send us there. We just explained that we were contacting and felt like we needed to be in that area. It wasn´t some huge sensation...just seemed like the right place. She told us that she had been really sick and needed a blessing. She had been thinking about it that morning and was hoping that she could talk to the missionaries. Her son, who has the priesthood, lives in San Miguelito and couldn´t be there. We gave her a blessing that was really special to me. I don´t know what will happen but I felt like she would be ok and be able to heal. After the blessing we taught a guy that was visiting her from Tocumen and then continued on our search.
The next house we went to was a lady named Lesbia. She told us that she had not been feeling well because she had fallen earlier on the street and was having knee troubles. When we talked about the priesthood, she asked us if we could give her a blessing. I felt like we were guided to visit those people who were in need of a blessing from the priesthood. It really was a great experience for me and I think it really helped Elder Portillo.
One more awesome experience. We are teaching this guy named Kenny, he´s from Peru, probably one of the most sincere guys that I´ve met, but he doesn´t progress. He lives with a family of recent converts so we teach him with them every now and then. He´s always had doubts about the Book of Mormon and its origin. When we got there on Wednesday, my companion asked him if he knew the story of the people of Israel. I thought it was kind of an odd question haha but that´s how the lesson started. We said a prayer and my companion began explaining the story. I figured I would just go along with it because he had to have some sort of point. We talked about the twelve tribes and their dispersion...and how Christ came to visit the lost sheep here in the Americas. My companion showed kenny a little piece of paper that had a list of scriptures that he had studied about the topic. Kenny was reading it and saw a question written on the bottom of the paper: "Where does the Book of Mormon come from?"...he looked at it, pondering for a moment and then looked up at us. It was obvious that he had felt the Spirit very strong during the lesson. He said, "this is the question that i´ve had ever since this book came into my hands." He finally understood it! He almost didn´t come to church yesterday because of work, but it rained really hard and he couldn´t work. So he went to church instead :) I LOVE this guy! I wish you could meet him. He´s an incredible person and has so many good questions. I guess what I learned was to stick with your companion in the lessons, because the Spirit really does guide this work. I asked him afterward what had made him go in that direction, and he simply replied, "it´s what I felt"
So those are a couple of the experiences that I was able to have this week. I am happy here in Panama. After what happened this week in the mission I thought about the scripture "wickedness never was happiness". I wondered what was it that made people so unhappy in their sins. From my studies I concluded that with each sin, we become less like our Father in Heaven and in a state contrary to his. "They are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness" (Alma 41:11)
I love you all! Be happy because the church is true!
Elder Henrie
Hey dad!
Quick note...Jotam will hopefully go on a mission in one year with his brother Wilfredo. This Saturday i´m going to the temple to see Ceferino Castillo receive his endownment to go on a mission! I´m really excited for him.
This week i´ve been reading a bit about the kingdom of israel. It has helped me understand what we are really doing here as missionaries, gathering the house of israel. Wow, lots of interesting history. I understand why you have loved studying the old testament. Thanks for teaching me to love the scriptures!
Love you dad!
Elder Henrie
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