This week....Oh boy 12/21/20

 Hello there everyone! There has been some madness since my last weekly so buckle up.

So last Monday we found out I'm staying in Post Falls (whoop whoop) which officially makes me the most senior missionary to this zone this transfer.

Tuesday, a wonderful family in the ward threw me a surprise birthday party! We had cake and there were decorations, it was a blast!

Wednesday I said goodbye to ALL of my friends from this zone, shout out to Edler Morris, Sister Palmer, Elder Bott, Sister Bowden, Elder Neerings, Elder Giles, and Sister Ethington. Thanks for making this zone the best I love you all and miss you, the Zone isn't the same. But I also got to meet my new trainee on Wednesday which was super fun. He's a stud and a half. 

On Thursday, Elder McCoy and I went out knocking and I played a little trick on him. I knew where a member lived and I gave him the contact so that he was in charge. Thankfully Bro Estes played along without needing a heads up. Our big ex MMA fighting member who's bald, covered in tattoos and has a big ol beard opens the door and just went along with it. It was perfect!

Friday we had our ward Christmas party where we as missionaries served food, it was super fun! The young women's leader didn't let us leave without WAY TOO MUCH ham that was left over.

Saturday was pretty bland, we went on exchanges with some other Elders (switched companions for the day) and I got to learn a lot about Facebook work.

Yesterday was a sweet Sunday birthday with a Christmas church service as well as the insane news about my younger sister. So Saturday her and dad were out shooting and with a 9m in hand she went to check a target. She tripped and the gun went off and she shot herself in the leg. She's 100% okay, she's even walking. The bullet went straight through and missed bone and artery. So that was some interesting news to hear from my mission president in the middle of sacrament. I just about broke down before I heard all the details. 

Then today is my 9 month mark (pregnancy pictures are a thing for missionaries so I've gotta take those)

Today is also a mini p-day since we have Christmas on Friday off.

That's a little rundown of my week. Hopefully it was crazier than yours. I'll talk to you all soon love you lots! 

                       Love,

                            Elder Henry. 

I'm going to be a trainer!

 Monday, December 14, 2020

This week we have transfers, right before Christmas and all the fun stuff!

I found out yesterday that I'm going to be getting a new companion. By new I mean BRAND NEW he hasn't been in the field yet. I'll be training him and introducing him into the mission life. 

I'm so excited to start off this new year and continue this wonderful season of lighting the world!

I'm staying here in Post Falls and it's going to be such a blast! Other than that this week has been pretty slow and not SUPER eventful.

I'll hopefully have a bunch for you next week. Talk to you soon! Love you all!

                             Elder Henry

Special mission story

 Here's something I bet most to no other missionaries will be able to say happened on their mission. My companion got his wisdom teeth out this week. For the last few days, I've been a dental assistant and a nanny to make sure he stays up on his pain meds and doesn't eat anything that will mess with the stitches or the healing. While he was still loopy I was even the one who had to change out his gauze.

Other than that we were able to have zone conference which, let me tell you, the Christmas edition was over the top awesome. Especially because we got to surprise a bunch of people and see them when we normally wouldn't.

This season is the best especially to spread the light of Christ which is what the Light the World movement is all about. So my challenge to all of you is to look into it, search it up and follow the calendar. If you can only do a couple days then that's fine. The entire point is to bring light to everyone and spread it to the corners of the world in these weird times. So go check out the calendar and try to follow along in serving your fellow men. I can promise there will be more blessings and ability to understand the love of Christ than you've ever seen before. Our Savior can be a beacon of hope but he doesn't have to do it alone, he can use each of you to reach more and more people. 

That's all I've got this week

                       See you soon

                                Love you all, 

                                           Elder Henry. 

Nerf War on Turkey Day

 This week was awesome! We had a stressfully short p day (preparation day) on Monday, but Thursday was awesome!! We got to go over to a member's house for dinner and we got surprised with an hour long nerf war (immediately following stuffing ourselves with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes). It was such a blast! Saturday we went to a baptism of a 17 yr old in our ward and I was able to confirm him a member of the church yesterday! We've also been able to see some huge miracles from Facebook! As missionaries we are now utilizing technology more than ever and we use it to find new people to teach as well as teach them! We even added someone to our list of regulars because of Facebook this week!! Awesome stuff, I love you all and will be back with more next week!!

                          With much love,

                                       Elder Henry. 

Well....I have 31 teeth Nov 23

 Hello everyone! Yes the title is true- no click bait here. Due to some previous medical history I had to have a tooth extracted last Tuesday. Not going to lie, it's cooler than I thought it would be. Kinda look like a pirate. Other than that this week has been awesome. We all got to hear from the Prophet of the world on Friday, if you haven't watched that video yet, I would highly suggest it! In following the video there is a current wave of gratitude on social media that is under the hashtag #givethanks. The message was all about how we can come together and heal the hard times the world has seen this year. I've been taking part in this challenge and I reissue it to all of you as well, whether you've been doing it or not!! I promise as you do so, as you show the world what it is that you're grateful for the Lord will bless you 10 fold. I love you all!

                          Talk to you later, 

                                Elder Henry. 

Lots of emergencies that got solved :) Nov 16

 Legendary week this last one was! So first of all, we got to ship my previous companion, Elder Hansen (using the term previous since we had him for a grand total of 6 days) out to his previous mission, which is Guam. So that's exciting! Okay here are the emergencies that came up and their solutions: Elder Morris and I had to go to dentist appointments in Coeur D'Alene- which was sweet and everything checked out. Then it flash-snowed and we shoveled a bunch of people's driveways anonymously. Then we took Elder Hansen to Spokane so that he could get on his flight early in the morning. Then some Elders were going to do a baptism on Saturday but they had to be quarantined for coming into contact with someone who was sick so I went down and baptized and confirmed a new member of the church! Then Sunday we had to run and change a flat tire. So all of these amazing opportunities sprung up on us this last week and we were able to answer the call and help those around us and even ourselves. Everything is about your attitude. If you have a positive outlook on all of these hardships or burdens then you see what good can come from them. If you see them as added challenges that make YOUR life harder, then you're giving in to the natural man. I've been so very grateful for these opportunities and that I was able to step up and heed the call to serve those around me.

That's all for my crazy week, more to come in the following week. 

                            Love you all, 

                                   Elder Henry

Snow again...Also stake conference!

 Every now and then we run into some people who don't like us for whatever reason. There are also those who have no idea who we are. Yesterday was sweet because we met a couple of each. 

It started snowing yesterday and didn't get very much but it's enough to be annoying. So we had stake conference this week which was awesome! The very first speaker was someone in our ward who was a less active member when I got to the area. Now he's doing awesome and has a son who wants to serve a mission. This week has been eye opening for me to realize the impact we can have on those around us. That doesn't mean you have to be a missionary or even a member of the church. You can change so many people's lives by being yourself and being there for people. Showing Christlike love is one of the most effective ways to help people. That's something I'm going to issue to all of you. I challenge you to show that love to all those around you this week. I can promise that you'll see more joy in the world especially in these funky times. I can also promise that you'll feel that love come back around 10 fold if you focus on turning it outward this week.

Love you all so much!

            Talk to you next week Love, 

                                     ELder Henry 

Another transfer.....what happened?

 Possibly one of the fastest transfers of my mission. Between teaching like crazy and resolving some mild conflicts, it seems like I blinked and missed the last six weeks. I'm staying here in beautiful Post Falls with Elder Morris and we're getting Elder Hansen! This week was funky since we had a zone conference, then weekly planning, then Halloween all back to back. For those of you who don't know, zone conference is when a big group of missionaries meet with the mission president and complete trainings. Weekly planning is when you sit down for 3 hours and plan everything for all the people you're teaching. Then on halloween, we stayed inside for an extra 3 hours to clean the apartment (DEEP clean). So it's just been weird days after weird days. I've been doing just fine and thriving out here. That's mostly what I have for this week. See y'all next week love you lots!

             Elder Henry. 

Snow? Mullet? What's going on?

 10/26/2020

Starting off this week, I noticed my hair was getting a little long, just on the sides and back, so I figured I should get it cut. Only problem is that the back of my hair is an intentionally matched mullet with a best friend of mine. So I cut my hair into an actual full mullet for a couple hours and some sweet pictures. Fast forward to Friday and guess what it decides to do up here? SNOW on Oct 24th it just snowed from 11 am to 2 am the next morning. So now everything is slick, icy, and really really cold. Luckily I was somewhat prepared and haven't had the chills. On the first day of snow Elder Schaumann and I went out and had a snowball fight with a kid we're teaching and his twin brother. Our service last week included helping to butcher a pig. You just never know what you'll be asked to do.

Also shout out to Sis Nelly for freezing my hand. We started a language study (both of my companions speak French along with Sister Nelson) so they call once a week and practice while I sit there only knowing English. She called while we were walking and I had my exposed hand holding out the phone so she could see. Didn't think now would be the time to bust out the winter coat, show boots and an extra pair of pants but low and behold- that's been my outfit the last 4 days. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Talk to you soon.

Elder Henry. 

My companion got bullied by a 14 year old girl

 10/19/2020

Over the last week some great things have happened. One of which was our lesson with our Bishop and his family. He has 5 kids so it's already loud and super fun because there is all of this interaction. The family starts talking about the Dodgers and how there's a game on but they're not watching. Elder Morris leans over to me and asks where the Dodgers play- city, state etc. Truth be told I don't follow baseball so I told him I didn't know. Bishop noticed and asked what the question was. Elder Morris explains the situation and then justifies it by saying "I just didn't know because I'm not a sports person". Tommy, the youngest kid, says "what does that make you then?" Sweet little Roni, the 14 year old daughter, pipes up and responds in the funniest way by saying "probably a nerd". I cannot explain to you how hard everyone laughed at that comment. So since then Elder Morris has been getting the worst of it, all in loving jokes of course, about being a nerd. Other than that wonderful experience, this week has been awesome. We are able to sing at church again and we had 2 people come to church who weren't members. Plus we had a less active family show up and start coming the last two weeks which is super exciting because we love them!

That's about all from me. I'll talk to you all later! Love ya! 

              Elder Henry. 

*pics of Caleb and his companions with a downed street sign, an antelope head 🤷‍♀️, whose tail is longer....  and on the railroad tracks*

Service on service on service

 

Gee whiz! When you go around and teach about the Gospel of Christ, that's one thing, when you go around to be in the service of your fellow men, and you can actually make a difference in easing their burdens. You see a change in people and are able to truly help them. This week, I reached out through social media to anyone that is local and needs help with any chores, service, moving, painting, just about anything. We got a lot of responses. Just none within our boundaries of work. As missionaries, we are assigned to a specific area, and we do all of our work within those boundaries. From the 30+ responses for service that we received, none of them were within my area of service. So I sent out all the info from this past week to get all these people the help they need from people who are closer to them. Mosiah chapter 2 verse 17 from the Book of Mormon reads: "17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Service is a pure love and one that we could all do to bring up humanity. So I challenge you this week to do service. Do something for someone around you that will ease their burdens so that they will see the love you have for them. If we don't start coming together as people the world will get really lonely. Every little thing might mean the world to someone else, so don't think your efforts will be in vain. Show the love you have for the world and it will come back around.

Love you all, talk to you next week!

                  Love,

                           Elder Henry. 

*photos from an elk farm last week and new roommates*

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