{I wAS on FiRE!}

what up fam?!

Sounds like all is well in the henrie house. Well...this week we´ve got changes...what a fast change! We have had problems this week...and lots of sweet experiences as well. We found a great family last night at about 8. They kept asking the perfect questions! How can we know if a prophet really is called of god? Shouldn´t there be one ture church? Is there any more scripture inspired by God? haha wow! Nope sorry...couldn´t tell ya. We are hoping to see progression in them.

A family came yesterday to district conference! La familia soto góngora. Really cool family! Its a guy that crashed his car by the church about a month ago and we helped him out. They showed up late but i was sooooo excited to see them. I know it was because we fasted for them...i really feel the blessings of hard work now. And a couple other people showed up too...sweet sunday.

We also found this kid this week named Luis...he read the book of mormon, thought about it, and prayed, and he got his answer! He couldn`t come to church because he went on vacation with his mom but he is really animated! He´s a great kid and i think we´ll see progress there too.

Alberto is kinda progressing but not really....he didn´t come to church yesterday. We are having a family home evening with him tonight so we´ll see what happens.

Dad...good work losin weight! I´ll look forward to a gnarley six pack when i see you next time!

Mucho amor,

Elder henrie

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FELIZZZZZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom! Happy birthday! I love you mom! I hope you have a killer birthday this year. It´s been so good having you and the family encouraging me so much here in the mission. I will be having a busy day on your birthday...we´re going into the city to have changes. Will be fun to see who my new comp is.

Seeing as how it´s your birthday...you need to know that i´ll be thinking about you and praying for you. The day we were born has to be the most important day of our lives (i think elder falabella said that so it´s doctrine haha). You have been such a good example to me. I have been able to use a ton of what you have taught me here in the mission! I don´t know what the missionaries do that don´t have that support. Thank you for everything...i LOVE you a ton!

con mucho amor,

Elder henrie

ps the camera is sweet i´ll take some sweet fotos soon. pps i scored four goals playing soccer last week on p day! I was on fire!!!

ha ha good manners

{I'M sweATIN HardCorE EverY DaY Here}

Hey fam!

That`s crazy that it`s so cold there. I`m sweatin hardcore every day here. It´s been an interesting week haha new years is kinda crazy here. Some sweet panama traditions...burning a ´muñeco´, its a big doll stuffed with newspaper...don`t know why but it´s really funny. And youre supposed to throw twelve cents over your shoulder at midnight to throw away whatever bad happened last year and start off good. And then of course...lots of fireworks and beer.

There was a really cool baptism in one of the areas in our zone yesterday morning and we got to go to it to sing. This kid, a returned missionary, baptized his father, José Aizpurua. It was honestly one of the greatest moments i`ve seen on my mission. After he was baptized he started crying and his son started crying in the water with him while they hugged each other. It had been such a long time that they were trying to get him baptized...he was the last in all his family to be baptized. Pretty much everyone there was crying. It was incredible!

This week we started teaching a 17 kid named alberto. He is a reference of our neighbors who are members and he`s really positive. Yesterday he came to church with a shirt and tie! It was cool...we´re going to put a baptismal date with him tonight at family home evening! Hope it all goes well.

ps my leg is fine...basically healed...i took some anti biotic pills and they took out that infection. good stuff.

sad story this week. One of the missionaries got sent home 3 weeks early because he just couldn´t control himself. After two years of serving...he went home three weeks early without honors. It was a pretty sad story. The mission is doing good though. Presidente Ward came to Alcalde Diaz yesterday to have a meeting with all of the leaders..and i think things are going to go well next change here. Elder Poli is probably out of here the 12 of january...haha happy birthday mom :)

this week has been a little tough but things are picking up here. We´re hoping that Alberto will progress and read the book of mormon.

J Dub i hope you´re feelin better bro. Sounds like it´s pretty rough. And i felt bad about mom´s food poisoning story...:( bummer.

i think i´m going to buy a new camera today because the old one is long gone by now.

i love you all the church is true. Had some sweet experiences this week...just need to work harder on recognizing god´s hand every day. Sometimes it´s tough when you´re tired haha. The book of mormon has helped me out a lot in the tough times in the mission. I always feel better when i read it. And i KNOW it´s true. I´m not sure if i was positive before the mission. But i´ve seen how much it changes the lives of people who really live what it teaches us.

I love you all A TON!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Henrie

{ChRisTMas WaS InCreDiBle!}

Familia!

Well...Christmas was incredible! Joshua got baptized! And his father, Tomàs, baptized him. We talked to Tomàs after and he was describing his feelings to us about it. He said that when he was in the water he felt like he was in heaven and bringing his son out of the water was the most incredible thing he`d ever felt! It was so special to see him. And his wife (that he is separated from) came to the baptism and then to church the next day for the confirmation. It was sweet! Oh...and yesterday at church, the people that we had planned to pick up all told us they couldn`t go...so we started inviting people on the street. We met a guy named Maximino on the street who said he had to go paint a house and then would go to church. We thought it was just a lie...but sure enough...after sacrament meeting he showed up!! It was a cool experience. And another guy that we hadn`t planned on picking up came with us. So it turned out to be a good sunday. Juan Carlos, a recent convert, showed up with a shirt and tie...looked super guapo. His wife couldn`t come because his baby had an `accident` on the way to church...haha oops.

I was thinking about the questions that you all asked on Christmas...and i think i realized that the hardest thing for me on the mission is worrying that i`m not doing everything right. But i talked to president about that and he talked to me about how there isn`t one missionary that will go home perfect. But i do want to go home with no regrets!

Well..sorry it`s short this week. I went to the doctor and they said it`s really serious. No just kidding i`m going later on today..hermana ward called this morning just to make sure i was going to go.

Love you all! Feliz año nuevo!!!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Henrie

ps it was AWESOME to see you all! [on SKYPE] And i STILL can`t BELIEVE that j dub and jess are gonna have a baby!!! That`s NUTS!!

Reply to Grammy:

Hola abuelita!

Hi grammy! I hope your christmas was great and that you are ready for a new year! I love christmas...but it always passes by to fast. Since february we`ve been saying...christmas is comin´. And now it passed! I love you and pray for your health.

Cuìdese!

Elder Henrie

{We'Ve FouND sOMe GooD FamiLiES}

Henries!

Soooo...christmas? This week has been kinda nuts...we had a missionary with some health problems that got sent back to Costa Rica. So his comp has been with us and we`ve been in and out of his area and ours. Yesterday two of the people in that were going to get baptized in our zone didn`t pass the interviews. Two young teenagers, boyfriend and girlfriend...they didn`t really show the desire to keep the law of chastity after their baptism. The young kid, jonathan, kept saying how hard it would be. and i kept thinking in my head...But it`s sooooo important!! Don`t you get it?! You cannot be happy without keeping this commandment! Sometimes it takes a lot of patience when you just want people to understand...

It`s been a good week though...we`ve found some good families...and i can`t wait for christmas! The Christmas party is going to be sweet! Oh and the mission gave us permission to use Skype for christmas to talk to you all haha gnarley! It will probably be in the morning when we use it...we just need to find out where we`re going to go to use it. That will be awesome though...

I feel bad for J Dub....that`s going to be really tough. If it makes you feel any better j dub...i think my leg is infected but it`s getting better. And i have a weird rash going on haha life in panama.

Well not much else to write...and i`ll be talking to you really soon haha

Love you all!!

Elder Henrie

Marsh!

Dude hymns are great during christmas! It makes it so much easier to get into homes. And we`ve had some cool experiences singing to people! Find people to serve this week!

Talk to you soon!

Love you bro!

Elder Henrie

Hey mom!

Well...thanks for all the bad news hahaha no just kidding. That`s tough about j dub...dealing with that problem.

I`m glad you told me about that though. Not gonna lie i`ve been thinking about [that] this month for some reason and i really feel like i need to refocus 100 percent on the Lord`s work. So it`s kind of a relief actually!

I know God put me here in Panama...and the time is going by fast.. I don`t have time to waste thinking about what`s going to happen after the mission. Christ has promised 100 times more than what we leave behind and i know that that is a true blessing.

I love you mom. really. The mission has changed how i look at my family!

Cuìdate!

Elder Henrie

{I'lL Do whaT I CaN tO Not LeT yoU DoWN!}

Ok family!

Hope all is well! This week was great. Kind of hard because it`s been raining a ton! Haha it`s supposed to be summer here but i think the weather is confused...Christmas is sweet! It`s a great time to have good experiences with the people here. Especially the families. We learned yesterday that Fernando has been living in his car to avoid living in the same house as his girlfriend haha wow he`s awesome. He`s moving back with his parents in Colón in a couple weeks. And he says he`s wanting to serve a mission!! He´s going to leave with us tonight to go teach! Sweet!

Cool experience last night. It was about 8 15...we were right by the house, hadn`t eaten breakfast, lunch, or dinner haha oops, it was raining, and to say the least we were tired. But we decided to go out and push for another 45 minutes. Went to a new neighborhood that we hadn`t contacted and it wasn`t looking to promising. We had a couple rejections until finally this guy named Victor opens the door. He looked a little surprised to see us at that hour but he let us in. His wife, Milena also listened to us. Turns out they have two kids and are soon planning on marriage! Sweet! They had lots of questions about the Book of Mormon and we left them with a chapter to read! The only problem will be finding time to go back and teach them because Victor works a lot...i`m thinking it would have been better to just go home and go to sleep haha NOT. Really a testimony builder for me. I always look forward to the last minutes of the day because we see miracles a lot in the last moments of the day...when you feel to tired to keep going haha

Well i love you all! I`ll keep praying for you! I can imagine how awesome the house smells right now but i`d say a christmas in panama is going to be AWESOME!

I`m not sure what time we`ll call...i might just call real quick in the morning to let you know what time to call us...we might be at a members house but i dont know yet. Christmas is going to be kinda busy!

Dad that was a good talk on faith...i think i read about that the other day....how faith is a choice. Really good stuff. I have a goal to finish Jesus the Christ this week! It`s such an amazing book and it really helps me understand the bible a lot. James E Talmage knows his stuff.

Mucho amor,

Elder Henrie

Mom!

This week was sweet! Got pretty wet haha but i`m alive. My umbrella broke a few months ago and i`m not paying five bucks for the ones they sell by our house! Not worth it! I prefer getting wet...

Lots of good experiences in the mission. The other day we were on divisions...i was with this elder named Elder Reber. We were on the bus going back to his area at night (the bus was pretty full) and we told the driver to turn off the music. We sang silent night to everyone in the bus and got some applause haha elder Reber sings really well. When we got off there was this kid that called us and came up to us. He asked us where the church was and gave us his address! It was cool...i like the little experiences of the mission more than anything.

Lib..

Love ya sis...thanks for the email. I hope Santa hooks you up on Christmas...i hope you will sing me a song when we talk on Christmas...i`m excited to hear your voice. I remember last time we talked you told me to ´be a good missionary´. I`ll do what i can to not let you down! Haha i love you lib! Merry Christmas! ps i`d send you a picture but the assistants have my camera haha sorry i`ll tell them to mail it to me

well i love you mom. Tell the family that i love them. Wish j dub good luck on his finals and tell Matt to take advantage of the MTC...because they have hot showers and comfy beds!

Merry Navidad!!!!

Love,

Elder Henrie

{ObeDiEnCe iS HaPPiNeSs}

Hey dad!

It was a great week. I wish i could have heard Bishop Brewster`s testimony. I hope him and Brother Gasik are doing alright. And hows ryan brewster in the field? Have you heard anything?

I wasn`t able to watch the devotional last night. I payed 1.50 for the taxi to go out to the chapel in Alcalde Diaz and there was no one there so we had to pay 1 50 to come back. 3 bucks! haha it was a bummer. So we got back to our area at about 8 30 and knew there was a reason why we couldn`t watch it. We went to work and found a reference...a really positive family! It was really cool and a testimony builder that every minute has to be used well.

Tell the family that i love them! I`m thinking about you all!

Much love,

Elder Henrie

Mom!

I love you mom! Your emails always get me stoked for the week. Sounds like things have been a little tough on grammy and grandpa this past week. Thats too bad...it`s good to hear that things are going well in your calling with the young women`s..i`m sure it`s a lot of work! I really have found, like you said, that obedience is happiness. I always look at the missionaries that are finishing their missions and heading home...and i ask myself `which of those would i like to be?` the sad part is it`s a slim minority that i really admire for what they`ve done in the mission. They are all great people and good guys, but sometimes there are so many that come and play for two years and they never can see the miracles i gods wrk like that.

I`ve also learned that obedience doesn`t keep us from having temptations. The temptations in the mission are definitely different from those at home...but they are real. And one small thing leads to another.

Ok i need to tell you about one of our investigators. Joshua Chavez...his dad, Tomàs, has had lots of problems and went inactive and we found him one night knocking doors...so he made a promise to go to church and he`s going super strong right now. His son is getting ready for baptism (Joshua) and he always reminds his dad that they need to read the book of mormon! haha he`s awesome and i`m really stoked for his baptism on CHRISTMAS day!

Well mom i love you! As we say down herein panama, ¡Dios te bendiga!

Te amo,

Elder Henrie

grammy!

that scares me that you had a kidney infection! I really don`t like thinking about you suffering with that. I hope and pray that you can be healed and get back into christmas mode soon! I love you a lot and think about you...in a lesson we were in yesterday i told them that the best memories that i have in my whole life are the memories that i have with my family. And i thought about all the great reunions that we would have together. i don`t know if one always realizes the importance of being with your family as much as possible...but those are the memories that you will always cherish. And i feel like that will just carry on in the next life...i remember reading that the celestial kingdom is a continuation of an ideal home. I know that`s true without a doubt.

Love you grammy! Take care of yourself!

Elder Henrie

{GoiNG tO HaVE to WorK ReaLLy HarD}

Hey henrie's!!

Wow...this week was a bit nuts. Sorry for not writing you guys until today...yesterday was p day but we didn't even have time to write. We had p day because changes were yesterday. We went to this place called bella vista in panama city and they did the changes a little differently this time around. It was really fun. And then we got back to Alcalde Diaz around five so the other missionaries had time to write their families and go to their areas...kinda hectic.

Sounds like thanksgiving was fun! We had rice and chicken here haha but it was EXTRA good that day. Just so you know dad i`ll be beating you in racquetball when you hit 58 haha especially if you're ripping off toenails every time you play. Things are good here in Alcalde Diaz. It just started snowing and we`re wearing our winter coats down here. Haha no! The weather is good...we're getting into summer in about two weeks...the rain should stop and we'll be back to hot days! I went running this morning with an elder from mexico...elder monroy...and it was a nice temperature. it`s really beautiful here in the mornings because there`s a lot of fog covering the hills until the sun starts coming up.

Big news of the week is that i`m staying with Elder Poli another change! that`ll make six months with him in panama...let`s just say we`re getting pretty close. Haha didn`t see that coming but we`re going to get right to work with the new members of the zone. It's been good to be with Elder Poli...he's taught me to correct people with a little more seriousness. I don`t really like telling the missionaries they need to change when they mess up...but Elder Poli told me i was too nice about it and it`s really important to take it seriously, and i`ve had plenty of opportunties to help teach the missionaries when we have problems with obedience.

The zone should be good this month. We`re going to do some cool things as a mission for Christmas...not really sure about the details...i just know that it`s going to be awesome.

We had a cool finding experience last night. We tried to get out as early as we could to start looking for people...we ended up getting out on the street at about 7 30 at night because of the changes. So we started looking for a family. We contacted this young kid from the Dominican Republic and he let us into his house. He`s 17...has been here for five months...and is living with his aunt and uncle. His uncle came in right as we started the lesson and then his aunt got home...really a great family! They have a baby that is only five months old and they had lots of questions. It really is a testimony builder that making small sacrifices to find people really helps us find families.

We don`t have any baptismal dates in our area for the moment...going to have to work really hard to baptize this month but we`ll see what happens. I love you all! I know the church is true and i know that people really need it! Time is passing to fast...i feel like november didnt even happen! Man. I love you guys so much. I always wonder how you are doing when i talk with members and investigators about my fam. But i`m not really worried about you. I know god will take care of everything. I love you all a ton!!!

Con mucho love,

Elder Henrie

Hey Mom!!

Just wanted to share an experience with you from this week. One of the areas in our zone had a baptismal date set with a young girl, 15 years old, and told us that her mom was active so it was ok to baptize her. Turns out her mom isn`t active haha oops. And the rule we have is that kids 8 to 14 cant get baptized without their parents because they just go inactive almost 100 percent of the time. The mission is also against baptizing teenage girls without their parents...for obvious reasons. So we told the area that they couldn`t baptize her and called the assistants and everything...but these elders insisted that she was ready and would remain active.

So we went to visit her and her family. Before going in i asked for the spirit to be able to know if she was ready. We talked about the commandments, and enduring to the end...and asked her to bear her testimony. That was a really special experience for me. When we received an answer that fernando couldn`t be baptized without changing...it was very clear. and this answer came just as clear. I felt peaceful, really peaceful...i felt like she was ready. The assitants said if we felt like she was ok...she could get baptized. We both felt good and left their house being really greatful for the spirit and the way that god gives us guidance.

Well mom, my times up :) but i love you and i hope this experience can help you to remembr to seek the spirit in decisions this week. It really gives us a lot more clarity on things. I know the spirit guides us and i need to work harder on always having it with me...because missionary work is ugly without it.

Love you mom!

Elder Henrie