Michael's homecoming--video

It took me this long to be able to watch it.  I hope you enjoy it, too.  You can read about some of the funny things he said when he first arrived home.

Leaving his "son" with 4 pending baptisms, Elder Henry heads home.

Dear Dad,
     You hit the nail on the head.  I simply feel super surreal, I feel like a deer staring into the headlights waiting for the car to hit me lol.  At least -I- remembered Spencer's birthday.  Of course, a lot of good that does him, seeing as I'm still here in Brasil LOL.
     I'm pretty confident that my greenie will be able to make it here no problems.  Unfortunately for me, we have 4 more baptisms lined up for next week that the next missionary will be able to inherit. (Michael trained his current companion, so he is his "son" in mission tradition).
     I'm pretty excited about our mountain climb.  You know I've never hiked to the Y before?  I would love to go with you guys.
Love you Dad, until Thursday!
Love,
Elder Henry

Yeah, I'm pretty anxious to see you guys again.  Man it really doesn't feel like the end of the mission.  I feel like there's still another year or so left for me, now I understand why everyone says, the mission is so short.  When you are in the mission it feels like it will never end, but now that I'm here, it all seems surreal.

Also I'm planning on leaving most of my Shirts/Pants, my trench coat, a pair of shoes, and the camera here with some members and recent converts.  Paula, the bishop's wife has needing a camera for a long time, and with your permission I'd like to give it to her as a parting gift.  It probably isn't worth that much in the states, but a new camera here is out of reason for a Brasilian.  They are super expensive for what they make in a month. 

I have flip-flops and tennies, as well as tee-shirts.  Cargo shorts would be good, but I also have a pair of gym shorts (only problem is they are pretty raggy already).

I love you all, until Thursday!

Love,
Elder Henry

Another great week topped off with a baptism!

Sister Ferinho's birthday party with the zone
 

Ana Lúcia's Baptism

Dear Mom,
Nope, I'll probably order the suits next week. I talked a little bit more about prices, and turns out its not -as- awesome as a deal as I thought it was. Its gonna be about 100$ per suit, depending on the fabric I choose there the finished suit will fall between $75 and $125 and comes with the pants, which is still a great deal I think, but its not quite as good as I thought it would be. I'm thinking that we'll only have money for one suit, and I'll probably get another black with pin-stripes because the one I took on the mission is pretty battered up from 2 years...
     Yeah I'm pretty sure there's no way I can afford Alpine Village... Waaaay too expensive for me. I was looking at the BYU website right now and trying to remember a little bit about Southridge, and I'm pretty sure I had a friend the lived there, Dave. What I remember about the apartment is that it was kind of dirty, and had a really small living area. Of course the dirtiness was probably the tenants fault and not the apartment, but I'll ask Sherry a little bit about it.
     Awww, Strawberry Shortcake sounds soooo good right now.... Heh, my companion just got done writing his family in Spanish, and now he's trying to talk to me in Spanish without even realising it :P. Fortunately I'm starting to pick up on his Spanish, but he usually has to repeat 2 or 3 times before I understand. I totally know what he's going through, because whenever I wrote you guys right when I got here, I had a terrible time trying to write Portuguese, because you are thinking in English instead of Portuguese.
     Weather today is grey with a chance of rain. Good old Washington weather. What I don't understand is there appears to be -more- Mosquitoes now than in the Summer! They should all be dead already! Don't they know that when winter comes they need to DIE!? It's not nearly as cold as last year in Rio Pardo. I think it stays a little bit warmer here closer to Porto Alegre.
     Elder Mendoza is speaking really well, because Spanish is really close to Portuguese. Its really quite interesting, because about half the words in Spanish are the same as Portuguese, and the other half are completely different.
     We had another baptism yesterday, an 8 year old who goes to church with her grandma, who is going to church for like 25 years, but never was baptised because of some problems in her documents. Anyways it was a nice service, we'll see if we can't string up another baptism this week, we are on a 4 week roll here! I don't want to stop it now. What's cool is Elder Mendoza can say that he's baptised every single week of his mission until this point LOL. I'm really glad that we are able to have baptisms together, because I remember my first transfer in the mission without baptisms, and I kind of felt like, man this baptism thing is -never- gonna happen.
     Anyways I should go write the rest of the family. Love you Mom.
Love,
Elder Henry


Dear Dad,

It's still quite strange to me that we are in different seasons. You are getting the pool set up, Mom's making Strawberry Shortcakes, and we are starting up our soup season, the wood stoves are coming out, and everyone is settling down for winter. You know there is nothing more awesome than a wood stove. Food just tastes a hundred times better when it's cooked on a wood stove, and of course you keep the whole house warm. Every time I see one here, it reminds me of Great Grandma's wood stove in her house in Eugene.

Love You Dad,

Love,
Elder Henry

Let's learn Spanish again too!

Elder Mendoza, E.'s dad, E., and Elder Henry!

Dear Mom,

Do you have any contact with Elder Black's Mom? Because he pretty much didn't know anything about anything, he didn't know if his Apartment fits 4 or 6. Anyways I can't talk with him anymore about the situation because he went way out into the middle of nowhere and I can't e-mail him while I'm on the mission.

That's super cool that you guys went down to Eugene for a baptism!

Only 6 more weeks before Sherry leaves LOL. I bet she's anxious to leave. (Actually it's a little over  5 now!)

We had E's baptism this Sunday, the other man in the Picture (other than my companion) is his Dad. He felt super good at the baptism and we are going to start teaching him today as well. I'm pretty excited, it would be awesome for both of them to go to church together :).

Anyways the LAN house is closing I'm gonna have to get going. Lots of Love.

Love,
Elder Henry

PS Forgot to tell you, My new companion is Elder Mendoza, from Paraguay! He doesn't speak English, and is learning Portuguese! Maybe I'll pick up his Spanish and speak 3 languages when I get home!

Pig's Ears are yummy

Dear Mom,

Yup I got the new news about e-mails today. That's super crazy, I feel really strange sending e-mails to people that I haven't talked to for like a year and a half. I guess it doesn't really move anything in my mission because I've survived 19 months without e-mail to friends, so another 5 won't kill me, but it'll be great for Sherry and Spencer, right? It must be hard to be a Mom. You had to wait 21 years before you finally started to feel like you did something right as a Mom lol.

     I'm glad to hear that all is well on the home front. Everyone here asks me if my family is doing good, which is kind of funny because I don't ever even worry that something bad will happen to you guys while I'm here, because I know that the Lord will take care of you guys while I'm gone.

     I'll have to be a little bit shorter today, because now I have like 5 e-mails to write instead of 2 and I still only have an hour to do it all.

     This weekend was pretty rough for us, because Saturday almost all of our appointments fell through. Our only progressing investigator is doing great and is going to get her papers for the marriage so that she can be baptised in April. Man I do NOT want to wait until the end of April for another baptism. I'm getting all sorts of panicked because I just don't have that many months until the end of the mission, and I don't want to pass another one without baptising someone.       Anyways we are going to work super hard this week and next week so that on Easter Sunday we can have at least one baptism. I hope that everything will work out so we can meet that goal.

I love you mom, thanks for all the support.

Love,

Elder Henry

P.S. Almost forgot about my new companion, his name is Elder C from Draper, Utah. He's pretty new on the mission, 4 months, and I'm super super super grateful to be together with an American again. You know all my life you told me never to marry/date someone from a different country because there would be all sorts of cultural differences, and I never ever understood what you meant until I had Brasilian and African companions. Not that I didn't love them but there were just a couple cultural things that drove me CRAZY!!! Its funny but its never the big stuff that bugs you about your companion, but its all the little stuff they do that drives you bonkers :P. Anyways I'm loving my time with Elder Chidester and this transfer should be pretty AWESOME.

Dear Dad

That's great news about the Truck! I'm glad that after what 5 years of moving forward the truck has finally come to a halt! Its good to know that there are finally brakes on that truck that will stop us in the event of an emergency. I gotta go because time is up. I love you and love to hear from you.

Love,

Elder Henry

PS One more thing, I almost forgot to tell you. Remember those pig ears that we used to buy for Issac from petsmart that he loved? Yeah I found out last Saturday that Pig Ear is actually pretty tasty, now I know why he loved them so much. You just have to watch out to not eat the eardrum!

-Elder Henry

Excitement for Sherry & what a mission has done for Elder Henry

Elder Henry and soon-to-be Sister Henry

                    

 

 Dear Mom,

Happy Birthday Aunt Vikki! I hope you have a wonderful year, and can't wait to see you this Summer :).

Man it really is exciting to know that Sherry's going to be heading out on a mission. What's even funnier is that two years ago this time of the year I was finishing up my papers and receiving my call. Now Sherry will be getting her call, and probably headed out before I get home :O. Imagine, almost 4 years without seeing Sherry.

     Also I wouldn't ever want anyone to get called to California. Not that I didn't love my time there or anything, but I simply do not like California. Plus I want my sister to have to walk as much as I do, and if she serves state-side she'll drive all day long. Cabo Verde would be really cool, but my heart is set on Brasil. We'll see though, where she'll end up serving. My guess is Italy.

     I'm not quite sure I feel like I'm on top of things now as a missionary. I think its just because after all this time I have experience and I know what to do and when to do it. I suppose that this is normal on the mission when you are in the last 6 months but I don't have any problems with Português, I know how to get along with difficult companions, I know how to work with the members, I know what a weak investigator looks like and what a golden investigator looks like, and I have enough experience balancing all the different parts of missionary work that I finally feel like I'm not running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Missionary work is normal to me now. I feel like all the techniques I've learned in the mission I'm finally mastering.

     "What are some of the things the mission has done for me?"

How can I explain the answer to this question. I've completely changed on the mission, not so much my physical appearance or what I like or any of the normal things, but my entire perspective in life has changed. Some of the things I've learned are Patience, Planning, Practice, Charity, and of course a new language. I guess what I've learned the most on the mission though is who I am. I am a Priesthood Holder. I am a child of God. I am someone who has faith sufficient to bring about miracles. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a Christian, and live to serve others above myself. These are invaluable lessons that I've learned about myself. Before the mission I didn't truly understand Faith and the Power of the Priesthood. I knew what it was, I could define it for you, but I never understood the power that it contains, and now I understand so clearly how it all works. It's incredible how the mission changes your perspective of a church I've been a member of since 8 years old.

     This last week was pretty good until Sunday. Sunday was the first week in months that none of our Investigators went to church. That was a drag, you work your tail off all week with the expectation of people showing up on Sunday and then nobody shows up. Oh well, this week will be better I'm sure.

I better send this off, we are already late to our lunch appointment. I love you.

Love,

Elder Henry

P.S. I'm SUPER excited to hear about Sherry's Call XDD!!!

PPS Oh also before I forget, I received one more package from the United States, but it get hit by Tariffs and they wanted 75 U.S. Dollars to release it, so I told them to send it back. I don't know who sent it, but let everyone know that if they receive a package returned that that was what happened.

 

Dear Dad,
Personally I'm excited that Sherry is headed off for a mission. You know why? Because that means Elmo (our little red hybrid Honda) WILL BE MINE!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! All these years that she tried to steal him from me, and now she'll be leaving for a mission and I'LL be able to steal HER cell phone and HER car and all the cool stuff that SHE has. REEEEEVENGE!!!
That's way awesome that you'll get to see your old missionary companion. Where in Huntington Beach does he live? It's been a while since I've been there, but I still remember most of the main streets and places.

Got to go Dad. Thanks for the updates. I love you.

Elder Henry

Elder Henry's letter 1/21/13

Dear Dad,

I'm sitting here cracking up about the whole Bishopric rule XD. What apostasy is happening in the North Stake, the Bishop is merely a leader not a saint or an apostle. Oh my goodness, I would have just walked out at that moment... Anyways pretty ridiculous.

When I tell people here about church schedule there they are absolutely horrified. Here you only have 2 wards per building, its pretty rare to have 3, and normally you just have one. Also when you have 2 wards, one starts at 8:30 with the class block first, and the other starts at 9:00 with sacrament meeting. Then our ward, Gravataí ends sacrament at 10:10, with Parque dos Anjos (8:30 ward) starting sacrament at 10:20. Everyone is done with church before noon. I try to tell people here that this is completely backwards but they think that having church during the hour of Lunch is absolutely absurd. Still I prefer 11:00 schedule ;).

Hehe, sounds like Spencer was a little bit nervous (his first time tracting with our missionaries) huh. I can remember being that way as well all those years back, its funny because teaching the missionary lessons is 2nd hand nature for me now that I don't even really think about it. I just show up at the lesson and teach. Poor Spencer first time with the missionaries. But sounds like it was pretty good. Also your missionaries should not be knocking doors, but should be receiving references from members. Tell Spencer the next time he goes out with the missionaries to take them to his friend's houses like Ryan, or Tanner's or someone with some potential instead of knocking doors.

I'm super excited for this Disneyland trip, sounds really awesome. I can't wait to get home! Wait a minute, February, you're already planning for 2014 right? Just the four of us, why would you exclude Spencer or Tori from going? Dad you are so silly, there will be 5 of us in 2014, are you already forgetting that I exist!?

Really it sounds like a lot of fun that the 4 of you will have. I bet they'll be super excited to hear the good news. I just wish I could go too! :P
Anyways I need to get going,

Love you Dad.

Love,

Elder Henry

Dear Mom,

They buy the plane tickets usually 3 transfers before we go home, and then I'll receive an official date. So probably in March-ish I'll be getting a release date, but I'll probably be home July 18th or 25th, depending if we have another 5 week transfer or not. (I just called the secretaries and they told me that July 10th is my plane-date, but its not set in stone yet, it could still get moved around. Also that would mean I get home on the 11th). (Mom: my friends all know when their missionaries are coming home already and I need to get a couple days off, since they just re-organized my department at work.)

2. (Spencer started taking Economics and LOVES it) HAHA, I love it, me and my brother can open up a consulting firm together!

4. Well, about Sherry that's how things go I suppose, hope she is ok. I'm still really excited to tell everyone that my sister is going on a mission ^^. Oh and I'm totally rooting for Brasil I hope you know. I want all my siblings to serve missions in Brasil >:). (I told him we are hoping for Italy, for her opera singing,which didn't fly with him apparently haha)

6. Spence is awesome :D (In response to telling him Spencer went out with the missionaries for the first time)

My heart broke a little bit when I heard that Chip left the Ducks... Oh well that's how things go.

Also those pictures were pretty funny :P.

We had another pretty normal week this week. N is doing really great. I'm really happy with her progress and went to church this Sunday as well. Hopefully this week we'll be able to resolve her doubts and help her to understand and develop a desire to be baptised.

We had a couple more investigators at church for the first time this week. The first one is named A. He and his brother went to church for the first time and really enjoyed themselves :). Its a little bit difficult to meet with him because he works swing shift, basically all the hours that we work XD. So we have to visit him in the morning hours, but we'll see more of what he thought of church on Thursday.

Finally we had a less active member come to church with her son who's not a member. His name is A, and he's a young man, 15 years old. He's actually really cool, and when we taught him this week he really payed attention to what we were saying and liked what we had to say :). It also looked like he made friends really quickly with the other Young Men. Only problem is he's really hard to find at home as well.

Hopefully this week we'll be able to find a few other new investigators and help them to progress as well as mark dates with these investigators. Feburary should be another good month of baptisms as these 4 all have good potential to be baptised :). I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of missionary work after all this time.

Love you all, thanks for writing me.

Love,

Elder Henry

Elder Henry January 14th

 Dear Mom,

If I send this E-mail 4 or 5 times, it’s because of this stupid Keyboard and keyboard shortcuts.  I still am unable to send photos, but we had 3 baptisms this weekend.  V, R, and B were all baptized.  It was pretty awesome :).

We have enough Priesthood holders on both sides of the ward, I'm not sure if in the end they will split the wards though... Because we have a sacrament meeting attendance of about ~120 after the split it'll be at 50 and 70, but the Bishop and Stake president are all for the split.  We'll see what the area authorities have to say though.  They've already sent off the paperwork and we are waiting for a response.

Splitting the ward is pretty much the best thing that can happen for the missionaries and for the Bishop.  Everyone else though complains.  But it’s good because everyone will have an opportunity to grow, and the ward will need more members, which means the members will have to work and baptize more people to make sure the ward keeps on functioning.

So far as housing at BYU, what I'll have to do is get a contract just for fall semester instead of buying a contract for a full year so I don't have to sell the contract.  We'll also have to look at prices and location, because I know more or less where to live, where not to live, and for sure I'm not going to rent out a 6-man apartment.  4 is my limit. 

The weather has not been nice and cool.  It’s been in the high 80's and 90's all week long.  Its good weather to stay in and turn on the Air Conditioning, not to go out and walk around in the sun in black pants and a dress shirt, but of course it could be worse.  It’s also been nice and cool at night, but let me tell you I'm not going to miss the weather here.

Oh!  I received all my packages this last week no problems.  I really have no idea what I'm going to do with all these Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards though...  There are a lot more than I expected. (He asked for them for the little kids in his ward for Christmas, but Brazilian mail is SLOW!)

So V, her daughter B were baptized on Saturday. R also was baptized, and his parents are also showing a lot of interest in the church.  They were talking with the Bishop about getting married in the chapel and everything.  Also they showed up to church on Sunday.  

We also have another investigator that went to church yesterday named N.  We found her a week ago, and ever since the first day we went there she has stopped smoking.  She was smoking 2 packs per day, we talked with her about it and are helping her stop smoking.  She really is incredible and full of miracles.  It’s awesome to see someone progressing so fast, it’s awesome to see that sometimes you just have to invite someone to do what is right and they are willing to accept.  Brazil really is full of miracles.

Well I better get writing to President before my time expires.  I love you thanks for always looking out for me and planning out my future :).

Love,

Elder Henry

Happy in Gravatai

Looks like Elder Henry got salad and not Churrascos that night.  Elder DePena from Cape Verde Africa is his companion.

Dear Mom,

We had a really fun Zone P-day today, we went and climbed a small hill 14 missionaries together.  It was pretty cool, afterwards we headed to the Stake Presidents house and had a big old Churrasco, I ate waaaaay too much.  We also played a little bit of soccer and had a great time just enjoying one another's company.

Last week was pretty awesome.  V and B are really excited to be baptised this Saturday.  They both have given up coffee already and are preparing themselves.  Its really funny how you can teach someone and teach and teach, until you are blue in the face and nothing happens.  Then you knock on the door of someone who is searching for the gospel and they completely open up.  Its amazing to see the change in the lives of the people you are teaching and how powerful the gospel of Jesus Christ really is.

I had a pretty cool experience this last weekend as well.  I was fasting for one of our investigators, R, who really wants to be baptised but was unsure of the day.  We marked a goal for him for the 12th of January but he wasn't sure that that was the time.  I prayed, and fasted this weekend for him to have an experience that would help him to know that he is ready for baptism.  Sunday after church we finished our fast and taught a lesson to a new investigator.  Then as we left the lesson, I had the feeling that we should go to R's.  We hadn't planned this and had other appointments that we were already late for but I decided lets try and call someone for a ride and then we'll have time to go to R's.  We called, and no one responded.  Still I decided, well lets just go to R's and then everything will be fine.

We showed up at R's house and his Dad answered the door.  Turns out R wasn't home.  Well shoot, I thought, what are we going to do next?  Then R's Dad told us that R was at the bishops house.  I then turned to Elder De Pina and said, "What do you think should we go the bishop's house?"  After a few moments we both decided that we should go.  We arrived there and talked with R, and sure enough in response to my fast and prayers, R's doubts were gone and wants to be baptised this Saturday.  What a great response to prayer and fasting.

Other than these three we are working hard to find new investigators, we don't really have any more investigators that are progressing towards baptism.  I'm really quite happy here in Gravataí.

Thanks Mom and Dad for always being there to help me with my life and mission.

Love,

Elder Henry


Dear Dad,

Great news to hear that the Ducks won the bowl game.  Thank goodness! The huge wooden O sounds super cool.  Oh the simple things that please a Ducks fan ;).  

Its funny to think that Basketball season this year you won't be organizing.  Like I know you'll participate just like every year, but you'll be a lot less involved then in the other years. 

How I do miss the snow.  The worst part is I won't even get to play in the snow until NEXT December/January.  *sigh* Sooooo faaaaaar away...  Oh well there are worse things that can happen to a missionary than be far away from snow for 2 years, right?

I better get going, I love you Dad.

Love,

Elder Henry

Staying in Gravatai, believe it or not!

Mom's note--I am so grateful that he is staying in Gravatai, because I know we'll be able to coordinate talking with him on Christmas!  We can't wait!

I'm not sure what this gathering was for, but I see many of the people Elder Henry has taught in the group!

Dear Mom,

Transfer News!  Actually there really isn't any news, I'll be staying here for another transfer with Elder De Pina.  7 and a half months in Gravataí, oh yeah!

I chuckled at Mitch's comment.  I'm definitely a northwesterner :P.  I'm afraid I'll just have to stick to Oregon/Washington for the rest of my life.  I'm starting to get accustomed to the weather, but it also has cooled down a little, or rather its not nearly as humid as it was a couple weeks ago.

That sounds like a great opportunity to visit with Brother Swanson.  I would love to work in an Economics consulting firm especially in a field such as wetland mitigation.  One thing is for sure, you have to have connections to get the job you want.

When do I ever talk very much about my Companions?  Elder De Pina is 26 years old, and worked for a local television station as an anchor.  He has 12 siblings.  Half of his family lives in the United States, and the other half in Cape Verde, but he's never gone state-side.  He's a hard worker.

From What I know P-day next week will be the same as always.  So far as the packages go, they haven't arrived, and probably will arrive 6-8 weeks after you sent them, or at least that's what the office staff told me about how long they take to get here.  Who knows, tomorrow with transfers they could arrive at the office and then send them with the new missionaries to our apartment.

We went caroling yesterday with a couple ward members, something that Brasilians aren't really used to.  Their reaction was really funny, I told them, "Ok this is how it works.  We knock on the door and then when they open we start to sing, questions?"

"So we knock on the door, enter and then start to sing to them?"

"No, we knock and then sing to them outside on the street."

"Sing to them on the street?  Wah?"

"Yes, we sing to them on the street."

Definitely a different experience for them, but it ended up really well.  We sang for a couple of our recent converts, L, and R as well as one of our investigators, V.  It certainly was a surprise for the people we sang to and they sure loved it!  Everyone was talking about how next year they will have to continue to do this except bigger and better.  I'm pretty sure we'll go caroling at least 2 more times, next Sunday and Monday right before Christmas.  

I would love to send you pictures, bought a new card reader, but this computer is reading the folders as executive files.  Next week I'll use a different LAN House to see if its the computers here or something is wrong on my card.

I was pretty disappointed yesterday because hardly none of our investigators showed up to church.  We'll have to work double time to help out our investigators progress towards baptism.  Sandra was married and baptized this weekend.  I baptized her, and the marriage turned out beautiful.  I was left a little bit unsatisfied because the marriage started at 8:30 and they didn't cut the cake until 9:30 by which time we had already left to get home in time for our schedule.  I love wedding cakes :(

Pretty much our week in a blurb.  I love you all tons.  Thanks for always writing.

Love,
Elder Henry


Dear Dad,
That's really cool that Spencer's seminary class did a Christmas Program.
 I don't think we ever had anything from Seminary outside of the hours of
seminary.  I'm glad Spencer is enjoying seminary there.  I'm glad to hear
that Tori has already forgotten about me...
 I'm super happy to hear all about the progress Tori is making in her life.
 Lots of hard work is paying off for her, who knows maybe we'll have TWO
Broadway stars from our family ;).  Its interesting that you mention how it
will be nice for Spence and I to spend time together again, but now that he
doesn't play video games anymore, what will we do together?!  That was like
the number one thing we did together :P.  If Spencer ends up taller than
me, it will be a life long lesson in humility that I'll just have to take.
 I hope you guys have a great Christmas Break!

Love,
Elder Henry

Reflecting on the mission so far and update

Hey Dad,
I never thought when I left home that one of the things I miss most is
laying down and enjoying a good book.  You'll have to make up a list of
good books I've missed out on for me for when I get home :P.  There have been
a couple times that this situation of a CD being cheaper than the MP3's.
 I'm not quite sure how it all works, but I'm certainly happy for when I
get the Physical CD instead of just MP3's.
     Are you guys looking at snow yet?  I'm not sure quite how cold its getting
there in Washington, I'm sure that Utah is starting the snowy season.  It's
super hot here.  Actually this week was completely miserable, I've never
experienced such heat in my life.  It was over 100 degrees, and super
humid.  I was sweating at 8 o'clock in the morning when I started studies
and during the night it stayed in the high 90's.  With 3 fans blowing in
our small apartment I still could not sleep because of the heat.
 Absolutely miserable, actually yesterday it was about 92-93 degrees
without humidity and I was thinking how nice and cool it was.  I've never
thought of 90 degree weather as comfortable in my lifetime!  I sincerely
wouldn't be surprised if this summer kills me.  I picked up Athlete's foot
last week because of the heat and humidity which is a super bummer because
I've got a bunch of red dots on my feet that itch like crazy.  Fortunately
I had bought and brought anti-fungal creme from the states so I could treat
it, and I was thinking remember when I bought all those drugs to bring with
me on the mission and we thought, am I -really- going to need all of this?
 Well the Anti-Fungal creme was the last of the drugs I brought with me
that I hadn't used and I'm still only half-way through the mission!  At
least its nothing serious, but it is a bummer to get sick and have to
continue to work.
     You know Dad, I have a lot of up days and down days on the mission, but the
longer and longer I'm here the more I appreciate everyday I have here.
 Certainly there are a lot of things I can improve as a missionary, but in
all I'm very happy with how my mission is panning out, I'll probably never
be an Assistant to the President, maybe never a Zone Leader, but I'm very
happy with my personal progress and the miracles I get to see on the
mission.  Just wish they'd happen more often and quicker ;).
Love,
Elder Henry

Hey Mom!

Mother's Day we ended up calling at about 6 or 7 o'clock my time, and I really have no idea what will happen this Christmas because we have transfers next week, so I don't really know where and when I'll be able to use a computer.  You guys are going to see Les Miserables on Christmas?  How awesome is that!

Honestly it simply doesn't feel like Christmas here.  Nobody is singing Christmas carols, no one talks about how their excited for Christmas.  The advertisements of grocery stores say "Boas Festas" which means Good Partying!  Even in Sacrament meeting this week we sang only one Christmas hymn.  I'm very disappointed with Christmas in Brasil.  Christmas in the states always seemed so magical to me, and here it just feels like another month.

     Its interesting you mention not having an activities committee isn't working out very well in the ward, but really here in Brasil we always have awesome activities with less than half the members St. Johns has.  What happens is the bishop says, alright the Young Men/Women are going to put on a dance party for the ward on this day, then they go and get everything ready and its turns out awesome.  Then the next month its the Family History Committee turn to put on a dance, the next is Relief Society, the next Ward Mission makes the activity, and everyone loves the activities.  It may be a difference of culture as well, because schools and the community here don't have extra-curricular activities, so the members more or less live in the church.

     I've been trying to send you pictures but every week I'm having the same problems.  It looks like my SD to USB adapter broke, so I'll be looking for a new one today.  I did enjoy seeing Mitch and Audrey in the E-mail.  It's fun to see pictures of people from home.

     We had a really productive week last week.  We are finally finding people who are worth our time and really have a desire to move their lives.  Some weeks you just find people who are nice and let you in once and really don't have any interest, but this week we found a lot of families that went to a ward activity we had two weeks ago.  Unfortunately hardly none of our investigators went to church this week which is a bummer, but we will redouble our efforts to help people get there next week.
     Our investigators that we are focusing on right now are J, S, R, and P.  J I believe I talked a little bit about her last week, but just a re-cap we found her knocking doors and she went to the Stake Conference two weeks ago.  Unfortunately she was ill yesterday and didn't make it to church.  She also loves the Bible and really hasn't been reading more in the Book of Mormon.  We taught her the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity this week and she doesn't really have any problems with the commandments.  It appears that her biggest problem is she doesn't really see the difference between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and every other church on the planet.  We'll review this week with her the importance of the Restoration of the Church with her, and make sure she understands the importance of baptism by authority from God.

     R is a cousin and P is a nephew of our Bishop.  We began teaching them this week and really want to be baptised.  R bore a strong testimony to me about how he began reading the Book of Mormon and going to church and now he isn't fighting with people, that really that desire has began to leave him.  P isn't quite on the same level as R yet but he's reading the Book of Mormon and likes church a lot.  The only problem is their Dad wants to wait a little more time before they get baptised, but we will see if we can't bring him into the church as well :).

     S is really excited for her Baptism and Wedding this coming weekend :).  I'm pretty satisfied with how everything turned out there.  Really there isn't much more for us to do but to stop in and see how things are going.  

     Hopefully we'll see some progress from our new investigators this week, and I'll have more to report next week.

I love you Mom, thanks for writing.

Love,

Elder Henry

Continued growth in Gravatai

Dear Dad,

I'm really excied to hear that Trevor Sjogren is headed out on a mission. I do
remember him a lot from the times that Brother and Sister Bankhead brought
him to church. My time is already out, but I want to thank you for the
updates from home. I love you Dad!

Dear Mom,

What teams are still undefeated in the nation? If we ended up beating Stanford in the Bowl Championship (I don't remember well, but I'm pretty sure they are in the PAC-12 South division?) could we still make it to the National title? Anyways they just have to stay awesome for next year ;).

My Thanksgiving came and passed before I even knew it. I was planning at 9:30 at night last Thursday and noticed, hey I'm pretty sure today is Thanksgiving. That was pretty much my thanksgiving... Oh well last one I'll miss out on right? That is if the world is still around next year... :O!

Man Sherry's life is like a Brasilian Novella! It's all filled with romance and life-changing decisions and all sorts of crazy stuff. Kinda lame that the commercial ended up being just a student commercial, but hey it looked like a lot of fun, and the BYU film department is one of the best there is, and every opportunity she takes will bring her one more opportunity in the future :).

So far as photos, I don't really have any in particular that I would like, its just that everyone wants to see my parents and I don't have a picture of the kids with Parents. Just of the kids and singles of each kid. Wallet size would be preferable so I can carry them with me everyday in my wallet.

We are headed off to the Temple today which is pretty exciting. In other news I and his family was baptised this Sunday. I'm so relieved to finally have it happen. We've been waiting so long and its just been trial after trial after trial, but FINALLY everyone was baptised on Sunday.

Our next goal is to split the ward. We just need to baptize two more adult men into the ward and we'll divide the ward. We are going to be working overtime now to find, teach and baptize these last two people in order to split the ward. Unfortunately we really don't have anyone that's progressing. We have a couple people with potential, but we are really doing a lot of finding right now. Fortunately we received a bunch of referrals from our ward members this Sunday so we will be contacting these people and helping them go to church.

I feel like the more and more I'm on my mission the shorter and shorter my letters home become, because we just do the same thing over and over, just the faces move. I'm going to attach some pictures and then send this E-mail.

Thank you for caring for Kelsey while I'm gone, and taking care of me as well :). I love you so much Mom,

Love,

Elder Henry

Sorry can't send the pictures because the stupid computer isn't recognizing the device. I am taking pictures though!

Staying in Gravataí!

Dear Mom,

I'm not exactly even sure if its mosquitoes that are biting me or a different animal. I don't really think I need a mosquito net or I could buy one here. I'm keeping my eye out for Brazilian nativity sets don't you worry :P.

Everyone here was asking me about the Elections on election day it was absolutely ridiculous. Everyone stays up to date on American Politics here in Brasil except me. I thought it would take a little longer to have a winner but better sooner than later I suppose.

Great news about the Ducks! So we just have Stanford and OSU to play before the championship game? I don't remember if we beat Stanford already or not. Who's number one, Notre Dame?

I'm super excited for Sherry's mission papers to get started up. How exciting it is to have another missionary preparing to leave on a mission!

Thanks for helping me out with Christmas Presents. I'm sure everyone here will enjoy the new cards. Hopefully they'll get here in time. Packages and Letters get to me pretty slowly nowadays XD. The Address hasn't moved at all. It's still Caixa Postal 13008, Porto Alegre, RS - Brasil 91010-971.

Sorry I didn't write yesterday, the Zone Leaders called on Sunday Morning and told us our P-day was going to be moved to Tuesday and transfers on Wednesday. We also got the Transfer calls today and Elder Roman is leaving and I'll be here in Gravataí for another little while. 6 months in Gravataí, oh yeah baby. I actually don't feel like I've been here for that long, but by the time I leave I'll start to realise how little time I have left on the mission. Fortunately this next transfer should be really good as I and his family are all set for their baptism on Nov. 25th and their marriage on the 24th.

Another one of our investigators (a lady) is progressing really well. Also L was confirmed yesterday and went out and bought a suit so that he could go to church. I'm really happy to see him doing so well after such little time. The Bishop talked with him on Sunday and it sounds like he's looking into serving a mission in a year. I hope he goes to the United States and then I could see him in his mission there! How awesome would that be?

Also N went to Rio Grande once again to get the papers all ready for their marriage. Looks like they'll get married in December and S will be baptised soon after :).

So we have 6 people that are really quite close to baptism. Only problem is we cut all of our other investigators, so we will have to find a whole bunch of new people now ^^;.

Anyways I better wrap this up so I can write Dad and President Wright. I love you all, thanks for always writing.

Love,

Elder Henry

Dear Dad,

Sounds like this Christmas is going to be a good one. I'm still not convinced on these tablets, I like my computers just the way they are, with a keyboard and a mouse, but we'll see when I get back. Definitely won't be buying an I-pad that's for sure :P. I feel a little bit sorry for Sherry because I know how lame it is to only get stuff you need for a mission instead of all the cool new things that everyone else is getting :P. Oh well it'll pass and she -will- need stuff for the mission.

I feel really bad, because your E-mail to me was super interesting, and I already said all of my interesting stuff to Mom. Also my time is just about up for the week, but thanks for sending such a detailed account of what happened this week. I love you very much. Also I spent 30 dollars on a farewell party for Elder Roman and 25 dollars today on contact solution. Thanks for always keeping me well stocked with money to get by.

Lots of Love,

Elder Henry

Another wonderful baptism & admitted back into BYU!

From left: V (Neighbor of L who brought him to our english class), L,  Elder Roman, and Me at the baptism

Me, Bishop, L. Elder Roman, and R (who was baptized last week) at L.'s baptism.  L asked the Bishop to baptize him which was really neat.

Hey Mom,

Great news, I heard back from BYU already and I've been readmitted to the school :).  Looks like I'll be headed back Fall 2013 to my dreams!  I'm really quite relieved that I received a decision so quickly, I wasn't too worried I wouldn't get back in, but there was always a chance.  Now the future is as certain as it will ever be.  I also gave a look at MyMap to see how things turned out with my Associate's degree, and I'm only missing the religious requirements and another English class to finish up the GE's, so I'll be able to focus on my major when I get home.  I'm very excited to see everything work out so well :D.

Great news that the Ducks won against USC this weekend!  I'm still pretty much against the Ducks headed to the National Championship without me, but if they win I won't complain ;).

Its starting to get pretty hot.  It stays about 25-32 degrees Celsius but its very humid.  Yes the mosquitoes have returned and with a vengeance, fortunately I have OFF, but we'll see how long that holds them off.  I'm scratching pretty much every part of my body already and we aren't even in summer yet :P.  I'm sure I'll get accustomed to them soon enough.

This week didn't even feel like Halloween, I didn't even eat one piece of chocolate on Oct 31st :(.  Oh well, there's always next year...

So we had a pretty cool experience yesterday.  We didn't have anything planned for the afternoon, but L one of our Investigators was progressing super well.  We had already taught him everything and he had quit smoking and working towards a baptismal date of this coming Saturday.  As Elder Roman and I sat planning for our Sunday I told him, Elder, why don't we baptise L tomorrow?  We couldn't think of any reason to wait, so we called up our Zone Leaders and asked if they could give L an Interview after church.  After some deliberation they made room in their schedule for us and we marked for them to do the interview.

Sunday Morning we asked the Bishop, "I know we don't have anything planned for today, but could we have a baptism?"

The Bishop replied with a grin on his face, "Elders you only bring me good news!  Lets do it!".

The only person who we needed to confirm with was L, so after sacrament meeting we asked him, "L next Saturday will be a little bit tricky with your work schedule for the baptism."

He replied, "Yeah I know, what are we going to do?"

"Let's have your baptism today!"

"Today?"

"Yeah why not?"

"I don't know, one more week of preparation..."

"What's going to change from today until one week from now.  You are prepared for baptism already."

After a moments hesitation L replied, "Alright lets do it!"

So at 6 in the afternoon we had a baptismal service for L.  It was great, completely spontaneous and fun.  The bishop's daughters made a cake, and we had a great time.  Nothing has made me more happy than to see L baptised, because I brought a leader into the church yesterday.  Someone who will go off in a year and serve a mission.  Someone who will marry in the temple and be an Elder's Quorum President, Bishop, and who knows Stake President someday.  After the baptism, all the men from the ward surrounded him and made him feel at home.  What an awesome Sunday.  :)

The rest of the week was pretty hard, we didn't really find anyone new, and cut a lot of people we were visiting.  It's always hard to leave the people you've established a relationship, but sometimes these people just aren't ready for the gospel yet.  One day they will be and Missionaries will pass by and help them back.

Anyways I'm going to send this E-mail so I can reply to dad and e-mail our president.  I love you very much.

Love,

Elder Henry

Hey Dad,

Glad you guys had a fun Halloween :).  That's a bummer about Tori's tablet
dieing.  I'm still not convinced that a Tablet is for me though, I've seen
an I-pad or two here as well as a couple tablet/phones that have a few cool
tricks, but I'm still a big fan of the Tower/Monitor desktop computer ;).
You guys ended up buying a Chromebook?  I know a couple weeks back (maybe
months) you were talking about looking into one, but I didn't know you
bought one.  What's it like just having an internet browser?  Is it a lot
like having a tablet, or is it better or worse?  I suppose the cool part is
it still has a keyboard and mouse which I like a lot better than touch
screen technology, but still.... It's just an internet browser.

It's funny because homemade grape juice and eggs woulds seem like such a
treat in the US, but here its an everyday phenomenon.  For example
yesterday we had homemade Mango Juice, made from real mangoes, eggs are
commonly produced in the back yard (not everyone as them but quite a few,
and the ones you buy from the grocery stores are produced here in
Gravataí), and all our meals are cooked from scrap.  Nothing is pre-canned,
ready to cook, fast meals here.  You have to work to eat here, much
different from life in the US.  But real good grape juice is really good.
I'm excited because lots of our members have grape vines at their houses,
so here in a little bit we should be seeing home-grown grapes.

Got to go, but I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,
Elder Henry

Elder Henry~Gravatai 10/29/12

 

Elder Henry, Miguel R's Home Teacher, R. and Elder Roman at R's baptism =)

Finally I have a decent amount of time to write to you guys!  I'm really grateful for the help with those essay questions, I've forgotten a lot of the eloquence of English writing (not that I was ever all that good with English in the first place).  The questions looked a lot better after the revisions.  I just put all the questions in the boxes and submitted my application for BYU.  All that's left now is to wait until February/March and see what happens.

     I'm glad you are enjoying The District (a show on BYU-TV, Michael doesn't know this is the second season, not the ones he has seen).  It's actually pretty old, the missionaries had it for training purposes even before I left on the mission.  I think its about 2-3 years old, and I've watched it over and over and over, but it is pretty much what life was like in California.  Of course they weren't serving in Compton, its most similar to when I was in Whittier so far as demographics go.  Yes it does feel like a long time since I've been in Long Beach even though its only been about 6 months.  I'm 100% Brazilian nowadays. (Well as far as an American can be Brazilian)

     Politics are such a funny thing.  Here in Brasil all I ever here is how amazing the political system in America is, and how great it would be to be an American citizen.  Here in Brasil all the politicians do is rob rob rob rob rob.  For example, a city councilman in Vancouver receives something like $30,000 a year in compensation for his work.  Certainly a nice bonus, but nothing unreasonable as he will have to continue to work at his other job in order to continue to live.  Also Vancouver has 5 city councilors. Gravataí is a little bit bigger than Vancouver with about 250,000 people but its more or less comparable.  Here they have 25 city councilmen that gain R$10,000 per month, or $60,000 (american) a year.  Plus for every act they make they gain 30% of the expected cost of the bill.  So if they make a great big bill to build a hospital for 200,000,000 Reais, they'll gain 60,000,000.  Its absolutely absurd!  I've learned to appreciate our politicians much more, because for all their faults, at least they are working to gain an honest pay unlike the politicians here.

     I've never been robbed on the mission, but I always keep a little bit of money on me to give to thieves if I were robbed.  Fortunately I'm working in a very nice neighborhood, Gravataí really doesn't have nearly as much criminality as Porto Alegre.  Also I keep my money and my ID in different places, and Identity theft isn't a huge threat here (criminals are pretty stupid here), plus my Passport is locked away safe in the vaults of the Mission so I'll be able to return one day ;).

     I see Elder Glessing every now and then, but we are in different zones for the moment so I haven't seen him for about 4 months.

     Yup I can buy milk chocolate here, even Hershey's Chocolate.  I never thought I would see the day when I thanked Wal-Mart, but thanks to wal mart I have almost all the American products I'm used to.  The only things I don't have are Dr. Pepper and Root Beer :(.  Also walmart brand peanut butter isn't all that good, but its better than nothing.

As for my Christmas Wishlist:

Photos from everyone at home

And I have one really weird request, Could you send my decks of Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards down here?  I was talking with some people and they are really expensive here, so they make for a good presents, also helps them to learn English.

     So far as Weddings go, we marked the wedding for I and his family last week or two weeks ago.  Finally after a 5 month bureaucratic nightmare we marked the date for their wedding for November 24th, and the whole family will be baptized on November 25th.  I was so relieved to have that taken care of, now its just a wait for them as well as arrange everything for the wedding.

     S and N are on a bit of a hold, but they are only missing one paper and if everything goes right we should have the paper we need in hand here in 2 weeks, so they'll probably be married in December close to Christmas time.

     R was baptized which was very exciting on Sunday, and now we are going to work with his Grandma to help her into the church.  She was in sacrament meeting this Sunday and she really liked the church.  She also has a strong Christian background which means that the commandments won't be a problem for her at all.  I'd love to see the whole family in church together every week.

     Well that's pretty much my week.  Oh I almost forgot, this Saturday we had a huge ward party for the Youth to raise funds for EFY.  It was a blast and our investigators loved it!   I attached a couple photos of the activity.

Love,

Elder Henry

Dear Dad,

Man how I miss halloween, last year the missionaries got a TON of candy for Halloween, and this year nothing.  They don't even have Halloween here, how sad is that :(.  We had a pretty good week, and I'm excited to see our mission grow.  We really need more missionaries here to help the work.

     The LAN House is closing up, but thanks for keeping me up to date on the family.  I'm glad to hear Tori is working hard on her homework, and that the Ducks are creaming their opponents.

Love,

Elder Henry

Everyone gathering for the prayer at the ward party.

A picture of our ward activity, the place was packed with over 300 people who showed up.  More than double our weekly Sacrament attendance

Elder Henry Oct. 16th

Dad,

I'm cracking up over here about your un-manly oil change experience :P. It's pretty stupid that a job that takes us 15 minutes at home without all the fancy tools they have at the Oil change took 30 minutes there. One thing I'm learning a lot of here in Brasil is the People don't have money to go to a specialist to fix stuff, so they just fix things on their own. It really doesn't take a whole lot of knowledge to change a tire or oil, just a little bit of time. Everyone here is their own handyman ;).

The weather is just the opposite down here. We are enjoying a beautiful spring down here, its not to hot yet, but the rain stays away for most of the time. Although it is still pretty grey down here, about as grey as Washington. Its funny but Rio Grande do Sul is just about as close to the weather in Washington as any other place I've visited in my life. The only difference is it gets hotter here than Washington.

Meh can't say I'm surprised BYU lost to OSU. BYU is still back in the glory days of the 80's and never seem to change their strategies. At the least it sounds like it was a fun game.

So Sherry will wait until April before she leaves? Depending on where she goes we may still have a quick moment to see each other :). We all know how long visas can take to arrive!

I'm glad Spencer has learned from his older siblings mistakes. Nothing is more trouble than a girlfriend at 16. I only wish I had had the wisdom to listen to my parents when I was younger >.>. Oh well we live and learn. Way to go Spencer :).

So today we are heading down to the Temple, that's why I'm e-mailing on a Tuesday instead of a Monday. We are pretty excited but its always super hectic to get P-day done with and go to the temple in the same day o.o. Thanks for the E-mail.

I love you all tons :)

Love,

Elder Henry

Dear Mom,

Sorry about the switch of E-mail days. We are headed off to the Temple today, but since the Temple is closed on Monday we have to go on Tuesday. Anyways we are doing well and excited to be working.

We are working with a couple of families right now and are super excited. I and L went this weekend to pick up the last few papers for their marriage papers as well as S and N. Of course its taking longer than we had hoped, but sometimes our planning isn't the same as the Lords planning. I'm sure he's got things all taken care of upstairs.

We also started teaching a family of 7, M and her 6 kids. They unfortunately weren't able to make it to church this Sunday because of M's work schedule but she is really quite excited about the church and our visits and is reading the Book of Mormon. We had a Family night with her and 2 of her kids last night (the other 4 decided to stay home). It was a lot of fun, we played around a bunch and also taught them about the Plan of Salvation.

J went to church this Sunday and is really excited about her Baptismal date of the 26th of October. I'm hoping that the rest of her family will have the same desire to go to church and read the Book of Mormon as well. Its crazy just how powerful the Book of Mormon is. It really changes our lives, thoughts, and outlook on life. I only have to look at my life to see the change the Book of Mormon brings, but yet I have so many more witnesses here on the mission of people who have read the Book of Mormon and have changed their lives because of it.

Anyways that is pretty much what happened last week. Yesterday we have a big Churrasco at one of our member's house that was absolutely delicious. I'm pretty sure I gained a kilo or two.

I love you all and are always in my prayers and thoughts.

Love,

Elder Henry

Such exciting missionary news!

Elder Henry with some of his wonderful investigators

 Dear Mom,
I pretty much had the exact same reaction (as the rest of the family) when I heard the announcement,  I pretty much spent the rest of the weekend wondering, "Does this mean Sherry will serve a mission?  I hope she goes, this seems like it was made just for her!".  I'm really glad to hear that she's going to serve a mission!!!!  I can't tell you how happy this makes me, of course we won't see each other for another period of time, but its soooo worth it.  BAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!  I'm soooo excited XD!

     Of course pretty much every one's world got turned upside down this weekend with the new announcement not to mention Spencer.  One less year to go until he hits the field as well.  How crazy, you and Dad could have at least one child on a mission for the next few years depending on the timing when Sherry heads off.  Seriously one of the most exciting announcements of my life :).

     I already called President Wright to receive permission to figure everything out at BYU so I can return studying there in 2013.  I'll be sure to keep you updated on the process :).  Looks super easy, all I need is an ecclesiastical endorsement and my transcript from Clark, I don't even have to do the essay questions over! =D

     So the last two weeks of stuff that happened.  Sorry once again that you all didn't get something to read last week, I'll try and compensate this week.

     Other than the news about missionaries, I really loved General Conference, of course it was nice not to have to walk for two days, but the spirit that accompanied the conference was excellent.  We had a very early morning Priesthood session because of the time difference we watched the re-broadcast at 6 in the morning on Sunday Morning.  It was pretty scary walking around the streets of Brasil before the sun came up.  Brasil really is a different place in the early morning hours about 5:00 all the drunks were out on the streets and it was the first time I actually felt scared here in Brasil.  Fortunately I won't have to do that again for a long time ^^".

     Sunday Evening we watched the last session of general conference in the comfort of one of our member's homes.  We brought N and S over and had a really good experience with them there together with a bunch of members.  S has really been progressing a ton and has been reading the Book of Mormon.  I'm really happy for the progress, and we went and marked their marriage at the registration office today so everything is set for S to be baptised on November 11th.  Other exciting news is I and his family are just about ready for their marriage as well.  I's papers came back, and we just have to get a paper from L M's hometown so they can go to the registration office to legalize their marriage.

     We've been finding a whole lot of new people to teach.  One was actually a pretty funny experience.  While we had an exchange a couple weeks back we knocked on a door and a young woman  J answered the door.  She was alone so we had to teach her on her front porch, but she accepted the Book of Mormon and marked to return.  After about a week of showing up late to appointments and her having already left and missing appointments we finally returned a second time to talk with her.  She mentions that she was talking to a friend on Facebook that had been gone for two years and didn't know where he had gone.  Turns out he's one of the recently returned missionaries from our ward, Andrio.  So we bring him to the third lesson and turns out they were best friends in high school and she's super curious about the church and reading the Book of Mormon.  It was fun to see just how small the world is in the church :).

     We also found a family of 6, and a couple other people that we only taught once but have a lot of potential.  I'm very excited to see what this month brings, especially after a long time of not having much success :)

Love,

Elder Henry

Artur opens up his birthday presents from the missionaries

A very rare sight here in Brasil, a game of American Football!

Final District meeting of the transfer

Dear Dad,

The new rules for missionaries really changed the dynamics especially for Girls.  Its a lot easier now for girls to serve a mission before they get married.  Of course you are the third person I'm ranting to about this change, but its really quite huge.  I kind of wish they had waited until Sunday night to announce this change as I probably would have payed more attention to General Conference if they had :P.

     I looked up some stuff on BYU.edu to look and see what I need to do to re-register at BYU for Fall 2013 and it looks pretty simple.  I'm glad that I did it on a P-day though, because it sure brought back a ton of good memories from college.  I try not to think about it too much or I might just start to get trunky. :P

     I'm happy to hear our Ducks are still on the up, although it seems to me they haven't really played any of their hard games yet.  We still have Stanford and USC, and looks like OSU will be a real big challenge this year as well.  Also the ducks tend to have a much harder time away from home than at home.  We'll see if they can continue their good playing and make their way to a National Game against Alabama and BEAT the SEC!  Of course it will be a shame to miss such a great season but the sacrifices we make right?

     So did cousins get rid of the White Van and swap for the Nissan Altima or do they have 3 cars now?  My standard of cars had dropped a ton nowadays, even a Toyota Carolla or a Honda Fit looks like a cool car after being around all these little Euro-cars.  

     Thanks for all the encouragement Dad.

Love,

Elder Henry

Drenched by rain but feet are dry!

Transfers are next week, so I'll find out next Monday. Most likely I'll stay and get a new companion. About time Spencer got his Driver's license! Spencer really does look super young to be at Clark College. But I also looked pretty young when I was there and it didn't really bother me. In fact I still look young, everyone here things Elder Roman is a lot older than me, and they say that I look like I am 16-18, maybe 19. I suppose that's a good thing for when I get old...

The Ducks game sounds intense! 49-0 shutdown?! Of course it was Autzen stadium, but still I was pretty concerned with the Duck Defense after they lost the National Championship two years back. Hopefully this year will be much better ;). Who's Number One? Alabama? I know its probably some SEC Scumbag, but hey its good to know who the Ducks have to beat this year.

Its funny that you mentioned that Sherry said Missionaries that serve in foreign countries need an adjustment period, because I still feel like an American, like I've never even thought, "Oh after the mission I'll need a couple months to get used to America again". Its probably true though, after the mission I'll miss the food in Brasil a lot. Fortunately I'm compiling recipes one by one for when I get back. Let me tell you, there will always be Condensed Milk in my house after Brasil. They use it in EVERYTHING here, well at least all the sweet stuff.

Thank you for changing the names on the blog, I wouldn't ever want to betray the trust of my friends here in Brasil because of that.

The Nike Waterproof boots (link for those interested: http://www.footlocker.com/product/model:25338/sku:65031009/nike-acg-air-max-goadome-mens/black/black/&SID=7111&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEM-_-Engine-_-Google-_-Plusbox ) work like a charm. I wear them every single day, and my feet have never been more dry. Also my feet never get too hot in them, I really have no idea how they work so well, I'm just glad they do. Also when it rains here it POURS, its never just a dry mist. Last Monday and Tuesday it rained buckets all day and night. Some people's houses were flooded in a different part of Gravataí, because of the storm. Also we get a TON of thunderstorms here. It's soo cool, someone in our ward said that there were over 2000 lightning strikes in Rio Grande Do Sul last weekend, and I totally believe it. The only problem is the wind breaks umbrellas here Super easy, I've already broken 4 umbrellas and I refuse to buy more. Unfortunately that means I eat a lot of rain walking around the streets, and that in turn makes a person a little sick. But I'm still living which is good.

Fortunately its officially Spring time here, which marks the end of my year-long Winter. I'm finally getting to see some sort of hope of Spring/Summer once again :D.

Last week was pretty hard for us missionaries. We had 2 days of rain, (which is the worst when you have to work in the rain), and also 20th of September is the biggest holiday here in the south. Its the day that started the Farropilha revolution when Rio Grande do Sul tried to seperate from the rest of Brasil. Holidays are also really hard days for missionaries because everyone is Drunk and doesn't want to talk with you, or even worse the people are drunk AND want to talk with you, but at least it makes for some fun contacts :P.

I had two pretty cool experiences last week that I'd like to share with you. Last Monday we lost our cellphone in the rain, as well as all our contacts (which were on the cellphone), so its been pretty hard to coordinate with people and mark appointments and the like. Saturday morning I woke up and was getting ready for the day when I had the distinct impression, "I really should put the number of Sister and President Wright in my planner just in case something happens. It would really suck to be stuck somewhere without a phone and without their number in an emergency." Of course being me I then thought, well nothing ever happens to us, but just in case I'll write down the number of the other Elders and if anything happens I can call them and ask them for the number to President and Sister Wright, or whatever we need. So I wrote down their number and went on our day. After lunch Elder Roman comes up to me and says, "Elder I'm really not feeling good. I am in a lot of pain right here in my tooth." Fortunately I had wrote down the number to the other Elders and was able to talk with them and get Sister Wright's number in order to find out what we needed to do to help him out. After about 3 hours we found ourselves a dentist and he was able to clean out the tooth and fix the problem. I really didn't think much of the impression that morning, but it turned out to save Elder Roman a lot of pain and suffering because I listened to what the spirit had to say.

Sunday we had an amazing lesson with S. She went to church yesterday for the third time and really is liking it, but still has a lot of questions and doubts. We went there last night with the intention of marking the date of her baptism and brought a member, R, with us. We decided it would be best to teach about Apostasy and then share the scripture of Acts 19:1-6 that talks about how people were baptized once, but were rebaptized to receive the Holy Ghost, because she had been baptised once before in the Baptist Church and it was a really spiritual experience for her. We started to teach her and R talked all about Apostasy and the necessity of being baptised once again by authority and to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. After about 40 minutes in the lesson I reminded her of an experience she had had last Saturday. She had received an answer that the Book of Mormon was true, and I reminded her of just that. She told me that she could not deny what she had felt at that moment. I testified to here that really she had received an answer and the Spirit just enveloped the whole room. The power the filled the room is completely indescribable, as I bore testimony that the Book of Mormon really is true, and invited her to be baptised. She paused for a moment and then replied, Yes. We marked her Baptism for October 27th.

I love my life as a missionary, it really is hard, and there are days and weeks that just go absolutely wrong, but in the end the experiences we get to see, the changes and conversions that take place are worth every pain I have ever felt as a missionary.

All my Love,

Elder Henry