General Conference! 10/5/20

This past weekend was my first General Conference as a missionary which is kinda weird. For those of you who don't know what General Conference is, in our church we have Prophets and Apostles just like Christ had when he established his church on earth. Every April and October we have the marvelous opportunity to listen to them (and other church leaders) give talks through insight and revelation for the whole world. Super exciting and just awesome in general. This week was really fun. We went on an exchange and I got to spend a day in Coeur d' Alene. We did a whole bunch of service like picking weeds, picking rocks and picking corn. Okay... we just picked a lot of stuff this week. Nonetheless we are having a blast over here. Other than that not much to say. 

Love y'all see you soon!

       Love,

               Elder Henry. 

 

New Transfers 9/28/20

Every 6 weeks marks a new transfer and a new stress level. This last week was the start of transfer 5 of mine and I'm staying in Post Falls. We are welcoming some new missionaries to our area like Elder Morris and Elder Mercer and saying goodbye to some dear friends like Elder Herem, Elder Brown, Elder Arndt, and unfortunately Sister Nelson. (those are some of my BEST friends) the actual transfer day is crazy because all 270+ missionaries have to move around and drop people and all their stuff off and pick people and all their stuff up as well. We drove over to Coeur D'Alene to pick up some people at 4:00-one of them had car trouble and broke down on their way, so we didn't get him until way later. That was a little adventure in itself. Monday we had a last hurrah as a district and went and bought some really giant ice creams and walked along the lakeside. Then on Tuesday we had to have Tacos so we went down to a sweet taco truck and had a final meal together. That's about it from my end of it, hopefully everything settles down and I have better stories for you next week. Love you all and I'll see you in a little while!

Love, 

       Elder Henry

 Hello everyone! This week has been so awesome. On Tuesday, we went to the stake center and met as a zone which was super fun. I got to see some friends that aren't around here. We got to watch Elder Herem play the violin accompanied by Sister Thompson on the piano. After the zone conference we got flu shots and took sweet pictures of the district showing off their shot band-aids. Unexpectedly, President Thompson came out and rolled up his sleeve for the picture too! Other than that we've just been getting ready for transfers which is always weird-just because you have no idea who's going where. It's exciting though. I found out this morning that I'm staying in the White Pines ward! (still in Post Falls) I'm also staying with Elder Ewell and we are getting a third companion, Elder Morris! We apparently might be moving but I have no idea if we are actually moving or not. They told us last transfer we were moving but we stayed here. Oh well, guess we'll see and tell more next week. 

          Love y'all!

                 Elder Henry

Beer, TV and loud music

 This week has been... interesting. We went to visit a member of ours named Chuck and the first thing he does is say "sit down boys, I'll grab you a beer then we can turn on the TV and watch some stuff while you're here." Not knowing him, I got extremely concerned and looked at Edler Ewell with complete confusion. He seemed okay with the fact that a supposed member was grabbing his missionaries beer. Chuck came back from the kitchen with two root beers and turned on the TV to the Tabernacle Choir. Luckily, I broke no rules that day! (but I was really worried for a second ) Other than that crazy experience, this week has been pretty regular, oh yeah-except the wall of smoke that has covered the earth. Well it's just how crazy the world is nowadays. That's all folks! Love you lots, talk to you next week!

         Love,

               Elder Henry. 

Week of Gifts

 Our district is so awesome! A big thing that we have been doing this week is gifting each other all kinds of stuff. From funny things like used pickleball paddles to a whole lunch restaurant experience. Service is a pure and joyful experience that can be easy and fun. As we strive to serve those around us, we will feel love for them but also feel the love Heavenly Father has for us. If there was ONE thing I wish could be consistent as a missionary as a daily thing it would be service, that is my most favorite part of being a missionary and I wish for everyone to be able to help those around them. The feelings of the spirit that we get when we serve those around us are always available and promised if we serve. I love you all and hope you have a good week, sorry my week was just bland.

Talk to you next week!

 Elder Henry

Pickleball pros

 August 31, 2020

Each of us 5 elders in the apartment play pickleball every morning for our exercise. We also each specialize in different things. We figured with our growing skill and our specialties we should come up with nicknames that reflect each of these. Elder Arndt is named "Power-House" for his exquisite spike. Elder Ewell is named "Low Blow" for his extremely flat hits which are hard to return. Elder Henry is named "The Controller" for his ability to place the ball just out of reach and just in bounds making it hard to judge. Elder Herem is named "Spin Master" for his spin hits that alter the trajectory of the ball after the bounce. Elder Schaumann is named "Singles Killer" if you play him one on one, you're donzo. These are all just for fun but it's awesome to see each of us specialize and grow in these ways. Similarly everyone has spiritual gifts that aid in our growth and understanding of our Heavenly Father and his plan for us. As we strive to grow these talents and aid others in theirs as well we can see the blessings that come hand in hand. With Elder Arndt's spikes and Elder Herem's spins they are near unstoppable. We can combine our spiritual gifts and help each other use them to win those spiritual or even physical fights with the adversary. Utilizing our scriptures and the teachings of Prophets are similar to getting new rackets or a sweatband. In a pickleball game those tools can aid in our success, likewise using scriptures can keep spiritual sweat out of our eyes. It can help clarify everything and allow for more growth than we thought possible. That's just a fun little analogy I thought could help someone this week.

Love you all, take care!

Elder Henry

Lots of Photography

 August 24, 2020

It's been a very good week this week. We have been all over the place but one thing I can tell you about Post Falls Idaho is that it's very much photographable. We will be just driving or walking and boom there's a gorgeous picture just waiting to be taken. There are fields of alfalfa with mountains in the background and a bright blue sky with some clouds. There's a crazy sunset that makes a sweet silhouette picture. 

Other than taking photos, we started playing pickleball and that has been our morning workout! It's actually crazy fun and we've met a lot of people who are extremely good at it. We met a spider (which I took a picture of) one morning while playing. 

There is also this awesome family (that are members) and are super sweet. They had us over for sacrament yesterday which turned out to be someone's birthday party and dinner so that was awesome, and we had some insanely good steak. That's my week in a nutshell, hope y'all stay safe and know that you're loved! 

Talk to you next week!   Love you all, Elder Henry

First Transfer

 August 17, 2020

Only 5 months in and this is the first time I'll have to move. I get a whole new companion, a whole new group of elders, a whole new apartment, a whole new district and a whole new zone. And this is the first time my ward, the White Pines ward, has its own set of missionaries. (me and Elder Ewell) So far it's been a crazy week~ we have stopped by a lady named Giliene's home twice and given her a blessing once on Friday and once yesterday. This ward is super awesome! We have met with a bunch of families already and gotten to know them well. I wish there weren't so many because I can hardly remember any of the names! But I'm glad they're all here and so amazing. It's kinda funky comparing the members here to where I was before because there are two sets of Elders in the apartment and two meals get dropped off every night. Idaho is a little more generous when it comes to members feeding us~crossing my fingers that I don't get fat. Anyway I got to ride an electric skateboard this week so that was really fun. I love you all and hope your weeks get brighter and brighter and that you are all staying safe and healthy during these weird times. 

Talk to you next week, much love!

             Elder Henry 

Lots of service

 August 10, 2020

Lots of service this week. We totaled a whopping 7 hours with members and 1.5 with non members. Service work varied from shoveling recomposed cow manure from a truck bed to a yard, to riding our bikes for 45 mins to help load a moving truck. We even did some demo work on a house and helped take out some of the rock that covers the whole thing. I have to say serving is by far one of my favorite (probably most favorite) things to do as a missionary. It's just pure service to those around us to help brighten up the world. We got our transfer calls this morning which have me going to Post Falls, Idaho. I head over on Wednesday and will be there for the next 6 weeks (or more) which will be fun. Hopefully you all have had a good week I love you all and I'll keep in touch!

         Elder Henry

Facebook as a way to find people?

 This week there was an emphasis on using Facebook as a tool to find new people. So my apartment was eager to use our video making skills to aid in the bringing of people to the page! So we went out into downtown with a boom mic (a taped broom handle with a foam football on the end of it). We asked people a couple simple questions about themselves and threw together a sweet video composed of what brings people joy in Spokane. Luckily we didn't get any of the tweakers who would've more than likely responded with "cocaine and hookers" or something along those lines. So far, we've been able to reach quite a few people which has been awesome! We also found out that someone has put our information on Craigslist advertised as free labor so that's fun! Also not sure the legality of it... But we've gotten more service opportunities out of it so that's a good thing! Hopefully you're all able to enjoy your time at home and with loved ones during these weird times. Remember you can always turn to the Lord in anything and he'll be there more than you could ever realize! Love you all talk to you soon!

                  Elder Henry