Family photos, minus Sherry, by Tara Mansius Photography

 

Behind the scenes...mayhem of laughter!

We do miss our missionary

Thank you again, Tara!  If you love her work, you can find here here.  She has very reasonable pricing!

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

July 17th letter--from Gravataí Brasil

Elder Henry (grey sweater in left of choir director) singing with the choir in Gravataí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Dear Mom,
I'm glad that you are getting pictures from other sources, because I'll have just that many more when I come home. Cameras are a LOT harder to find in Rio Pardo. When I took out my camera during the Baptismal service, all of the kids from the branch came up and wanted to take a picture with it. I don't know if they've ever seen or used a digital camera before, probably only the ones that the American missionaries bring with them.
It's been a crazy transfer, I really wasn't happy the first couple days here in Gravataí. My companion Elder Roman is Brasilian, from Curitiba and I really missed Rio Pardo. My other areas that I've really loved I've had two transfers in, and I was super sad that I didn't get more time in Rio Pardo. The other part that threw me for a loop is the change in wealth. Rio pardo is out in the interior, and pretty much dirt poor, and here in Gravataí people are much better off. We have very very few shacks in our area, and most of the people here have cars, which is incredible for Brasil.

So far as Portuguese goes, I'm one transfer better than I was last transfer. What I mean by that is I've improved a lot from where I was, but I'm still far from fluent. I don't know that I'll ever get to a level in Portuguese where I think, "Now I speak fluently". It can be pretty hard some days, and especially with a native companion that doesn't speak any English, but its the challenge that I need right now to really better my Portuguese and get up and running.
That's super cool that you have bats in the wetlands now, all the better to kill all the mosquitoes! That's one thing I love about winter is I don't have to worry about freaking mosquitoes. Let me tell you I'm very grateful to have brought some "Off" with me, because I haven't seen any anywhere here in Brasil. I guess people here just live with it.
In the picture of the choir, my companion is on my left just so you know. We haven't taken any pictures yet this transfer, but I will repent of that soon enough!

So Gravataí is has about 20x as many problems as Rio Pardo, of course Rio Pardo was practically a walk in the park so I figured I'd be in for some tougher times in the mission. It always works out that way, pass through trials, receive blessings, pass through trials again. One of the biggest problems on our plate right now is where we live. We live with an older couple in the ward in their back house, which is pretty sweet. The only problem is it takes us about an hour to walk from our house to our area which cuts our proselyting time down by two hours. So the Assistants, Elder Allred and Persinger ;), gave us a call last week and said, "We have good news! You are moving!"
The LAN House is closing on us an hour early today for some reason. I'll come back later to finish up.

...
After a short intermission I'm back. Trust me, I keep my eye out for boys for Sherry. I already told Elder Black that I'd be more than happy to have him as a brother in law. He loves basketball, tall, handsome, a lot like dad, oh, and I forgot to mention, he has a Tesla ;), how's that for perfect match in families?
Anyways, other than the problems with our Dona, we have a lot of investigators progressing, VERY slowly which can be hard as a missionary. We also have been doing a lot of walking, and more knocking doors than I've ever done on my mission. The good news is, the whole ward is behind us in missionary work. The Sunday before I arrived, the whole Elder's Quorum each gave us at least one reference per person, and we've been working our way through the list. I figure things will pick back up after I have the area running the way I like it. I had the same struggles when I arrived in Rio Pardo, and its just a matter of time before everything is put back together.
I'm kind of excited to move this Friday to our new apartment. We will be living in a 4 man pad with our District leader and companion. Here in Brasil the only way you can get together with other missionaries for P-day is if you live together, unlike the states. So P-days are going to be a lot more crowded with activities to do.
The other really nice thing about Gravataí is there are no hills. It's very flat, which makes walking for an hour and a half not nearly as bad. We also have a lot of buses here because its a bigger city. In all, life is pretty good. We are hoping to have 3 baptisms next weekend.
One thing I wanted to put in my E-mail is why when you read Missionary E-mails we are always so excited for Baptisms. Baptisms are the physical manifestation of Faith in Jesus Christ and Repentance. What we do every day, what we work so hard to do, what we sacrifice our lives for is to help people to come to Christ, and receive the happiness that comes from his gospel. When we have baptisms on the mission, we know that our sacrifice of our lives really brought a change in people's lives. In order to be baptised in the Church of Jesus Christ, you have to be following the commandments of God, and so when someone is baptised into the church, we know as missionaries that that person is living the commandments, and thus receiving the blessings that comes from living the commandments of God. It is the most rewarding work I have ever participated in.
Anyways I need to E-mail President Wright,
I love you, and thanks for the support,
Love,

Elder Henry
P.S. Since packages can sometimes take months to get here, I have a couple of things that I'll be running out of in about November that I can't find here. Gillete Fusion Razor blades, Mapleine (artificial maple flavoring), actually that's about all I can think of at the moment. There's no rush on getting a package down here for me, but one thing that the office staff told me about packages is don't mail them in USPS boxes. Those are checked/taxed the most and sometimes they take 3 weeks to get here, other times 3-4 months. Just depends on your luck. You can try putting pass along cards taped to the box, especially those with Maria and Jesus at the tomb after the resurrection.

June 12th, second week in Rio Pardo

Elder Henry with his District in Rio Pardo

Elder Henry and Elder Black out teaching, finding, and testifying!

View of Rio Pardo from my bedroom window early in the morning

The Sign Says "Don't Put Trash Here"

It was really cold last week, but fortunately you sent me prepared :). The new long sleeve plaid shirt you sent me for Christmas is doing me wonders, and my new sweater is keeping me nice and warm. If I conjugate any of my verbs wrong or spell any words incorrectly, please forgive me. The spell check here is in Portuguese.
I can understand June-uary :P.  It's been cold here the last week or so, but not very rainy.  Fortunately we have lots of stuff here to keep us warm during the cold.  Well except the really usful things like, heaters and insulation to keep your house warm...  It's like camping everyday out here, and I'm even sleeping in a sleeping bag.  At least we have warm showers and flushing toilets :P.  Oh and a washing machine! 
     Everyone has doors here, but the reason you clap is because people have gates and fences, so you usually can't reach the door. You also don't enter without permission because A) its rude, and B) Everyone and their Dog has a dog. So about 98% of the time you clap to enter.
The town itself is very heavily German influenced. It was founded in 1809 by german settlers, and there is a large German population. Although Santa Cruz has more German/Brasilians than Rio Pardo. I haven't run into anyone who actually speaks German though, so I guess its pretty much like it is in the United States.
     We actually didn't have church this past sunday so we could hop on a bus and head over to Santa Cruz to watch the temple dedication. It was pretty neat, although I have no idea what it looks like, because they didn't show any of the outside of the temple :P. I only kind of know what the inside looks like. President Uchtdorf gave a very inspiring talk about the early saints of Brasil, especially Manaus. Its incredible how fast the church has grown in Brasil in the last 40ish years.  
     From what I remember from the Holland Conference, Elder Holland had with him the Mission Presidents and their Wives from Porto Alegre North and South, and then a couple of people from Brasil. I don't remember if they were area authorities or just from the Missionary Department from São Paulo.
It was fun to read about the other missionaries :). I mostly skimmed through them because they charge by the Hour down here for our computers, but they were fun :). If you have time I would love to continue to get some from my missionary buddies (really sherry's missionary buddies XD).

This week we were super busy! We set a goal as a district to teach 100 lessons in total, which works out to 25 lessons per companionship. We worked hard and had a bunch of lessons pop up out of no where! I know that the Lord was helping us to reach our goal (Which we did, our district taught 101 lessons last week and we taught 25).

     We have a ton of investigators right now, so I'll give you a brief summary of the ones who are really progressing:
First off Adriana (45ish). We made a stop smoking plan with Adriana and she's sticking to it! It appears that the blessing we gave her last monday really is helping here. As of Sunday she had gone from 10 cigs per day to 5, and if she continues to follow the plan she'll quit by this Friday :). I have absolute faith that she can meet this goal.
     We are also teaching a Part Member Family, Daisy and Juliano. We went on splits last Tuesday and Friday (which I survived!) and I taught Daisy and Juliano with Ernesto (a member of the ward) While Elder Black was off with our Branch President teaching elsewhere. Juliano is a really nice sincere guy and wants to know more about the church. He accepted a baptismal date of July 7th, but they are really hard to meet with because Daisy works, and Juliano works two jobs. They have a daughter who's 1 and a few months. They aren't married legally so we will have to marry them before Juliano can be baptized. Daisy has been less active in the church for many years but wants to come back :).
     We are also teaching a family, but because of the splits I haven't been able to actually meet with them, but they have a lot of friends in the Church, and are progressing rapidly. The son William accepted a date for baptism, but they parents, Gilmar and Maria want to go to church first before they set a date.
     We are also teaching a lot of Children/Young Men/Women aged people. Gabriel (14 Male) loves the church and wants to be baptized. He can't read which is hard, but we are going to help him start.      
     Talison (14 Male) found the church through our weekly activity at the church. He loves to play futebol with all the other young men and has a baptismal date for this Saturday. He's been a bit of a stinker the last couple of days though and didn't meet with us at all last week.
     There's also Camila (13 female) who's the friend of an awesome member family. She was almost baptized before, but wasn't, because her Mom didn't want to join the church. Finally we have two young kids that are children of a less active Mom. The Mom's name is Alini. Her Kids, Laura (10 Female) and Claudio (9 Male), have been to church a few times already and also love the saturday Branch activities. We had our first lesson with them yesterday.

Sorry if this e-mail was scatter-brained, I'm all out of brain juice XP.

Love,

Elder Henry

Adjusting to life in Brazil + Long Beach mission photos

There are lots more photos on Elder Henry's Facebook page.  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000495023415

Elder Henry forgot to tell us he'd performed a baptism!  Such a joyful photograph!

Elder Henry with Elder Dixon and some of the wonderful people in Whittier

Elder Henry with President and Sister Bubert

Departing Missionaries from Long Beach Mission at the Newport Beach Temple

Looks like a zone meeting

Elder Henry at the Newport Beach Temple

Dear Mom,
My first week and a half in Brasil and I've acclimated a little bit.  I finally saw a V6 in a truck and felt just a little bit more at home last week.
I guess the first thing you want to know is where I am.  I'm currently serving in the Chácaras das Pedras ward in the north part of Porto Alegre, just a little south of the mission office.  We cover a large area spanning from Petropolis all the way out to Monica Quintana all along the Protasio Alves avenue.
My companion is a native Brasilian named Elder Oba.  Fortunately he speaks English as well as Português, but its really helped me to learn really fast because he's always using it.  Of course there are good days and bad days for Português but its improving a lot.  A lot of the vocabulary I've never heard or used before because I was in the MTC and we only used missionary words like Baptism and Holy Ghost :p.  Elder Oba is Brasilian/Japanese and he's a little bit shorter than Kelsey.  This is is last transfer in the mission and will be going home at the end of the month.  Fortunately for me he doesn't act like it at all.  Its just business as usual for him.  Unlike most Brasilians he's not obsessed with Soccer, and we get along great.  Today he made us Sushi and just an all around great guy.
I live with two other Elders, Elder Persinger and Elder Caridade.  Persinger is an American from Ohio, and Caridade is a Brasilian.  They are the Zone Leaders for the Porto Alegre zone which makes things pretty convenient for us.
Missionary Work is pretty much the same down here except the fact that I now cover an area about the size of a stake in the States, on foot or by bus, and bus fares are expensive.  It costs R$2.85 or just under two American dollars to ride a bus, which really doesn't sound like much, but when you rely on it for your transportation and can only really afford to take it once a day...  well you walk a lot.
At times feel really useless as a missionary.  I've learned a lot about how to teach and what to do, but not being able to speak/understand is a huge barrier (duh!).  But I'm learning quickly and just keep telling myself that I'm not going to understand everything after 9 or 10 days, and just keep trying.  I try and talk as much as I can to practice and get better I'll be able to be back up to speed.
Let me tell you, the food here is outrageously amazing!  Rice and Beans and Meat and Fruit, I couldn't be happier.  Its really different having Lunch be the main meal of the day, because you really aren't hungry around dinner time, so we usually just work through it.  Which is great for missionary work, because you gain an extra hour of prime proselyting time!  You don't have to worry about me starving here, the members always feed us TONS for lunch and we have lunch appointments every day but P-day.
One last thing I forgot to mention before I e-mail President Pavan.  Elder Oba and I are white washing, or rather we are both new to the area just like Elder Dixon and I were in Whittier.  So right now we don't really have any investigators, but we have tons of appointments this week so hopefully we'll be getting started up pretty quick :).
I love you all very much, thank you for your e-mails :)
Love,
Elder Henry

From Right:  Elder Henry, Elder Persinger, Elder Oba, and Elder Caridade

Elder Henry at the Porto Alegre Brazil Temple!!!!!!!

BYU Photos

A million reasons why BYU is the most wonderful place to send your children to college.

Click on the link to see pics of the first part of Sherry's freshman year.  (Sure wish Mike would've taken photos of his freshman year!).