Guacimo Distrito Sion Beach Trip!

I broke down and finally took a nametag picture today...

Hey mom! Toe, health, and me being skinny are fine. Everything seems fine haha. We went to the beach today so there's not really much time to talk, like a half hour. But it was awesome! :)
(we had a discussion about BYU stuff and about needing to send him souvenir $ Western Union.) Well mom I love you tons! Things to do and people to save. Have a great week!

-Elder Henry

 

Hey dad!

Thanks for writing :) Sounds like fun with the pool and wrapping up the school year! Crazy how everything's coming to and end everywhere at the same time haha. I love you tons! Thanks for always writing :) I was thinking these days about how wonderful it is that in our house we say I love you to say bye. I really appreciate all the things you guys have done now that I've been outside the house for 2 years haha

-Elder Henry

 

DISTRITO SION

Victor's baptism

We were able to go to the beach for pday! Playa Cauhita.

Companions!

Heavenly Playa Cauhita

Distrito Sion!

So... monkeys love pretzels.

"I feel like I'm in an all you can eat missionary work buffet..."

Elder Vasquez (Spencer's companion he is training) baptized one of the people they have been teaching: "Baptism todo tuanis! He's super great :) and the sisters had a baptism too!"

This week was a great one. Every week is a great one here in Guacimo :) I feel like the days are so adventurous and long and enjoyable, but this change has just flown by! I just love the mission so much right now. I feel like I'm in an all you can eat missionary work buffet where I'm shoving as much down while I still can. (he has two more transfers, don't tell him though! We don't talk about these sad things!)

This week was challenging for all the right reasons. I really love the principle of seeking after challenges and growth instead of waiting for them to be forced upon you. 

(in my opinion) that's why week 11 exists in the 12 week New Missionary training program. Week 11 is where the New missionary has to do everything! So by confronting this challenge of being in charge of everything before you're obligated to do it by having changes (transfers), the New can learn the same principles as he seeks out challenges and growth in week 11, and in week 12 I can teach him all that he still needs to know so that when he does have to be in charge of the area, he can do it well and stress-free.

That said, it was a stressful week and a tough one haha. I told him starting the week that he'd get frustrated with himself and probably with me too, and that's how it was. But we were able to learn a lot and become better missionaries, and I know that it helped him a lot to see what more he could learn.

So it was a challenging week, but I'm glad it was like that, because the idea is that it helps Elder Vazquez so that it doesn't happen like it happened with me! I started training after my training and got really stressed out since I had to be in charge of everything.

Apart from that, Horacio got baptized :) He's such a wonderful guy and I'm so happy to see that he was able to make this covenant with our Heavenly Father.

The work goes on! Little by little :) A former missionary visited the ward yesterday and talked about how she saw the chapel so empty when she was there and now it was so full.

Have a great week everyone! Challenge yourselves to stretch a little farther and do a little more :)

-Elder Henry

The Dream Team is down here in Zona Sur!

Puerto Jimenez with Javier!

BBQ with the district president! :)

Some serious farmboy pullups

Hanier and Sofia's baptism! :)

My comp with "our" dog, Shiblon :) hahaha

Well, this week Ciudad Neily turned into Inferno Neily. The rain stopped and the heat came. I can now understand why everyone talks about the famous Zona Sur heat. It is incredibly hot. Literally unbelievable. and not a lick of wind.

That's been interesting, and my poor new companion Elder Nuñez is dying too from the heat haha. His skin hurts from the sunburns, which is totally backwards, since I'm the white one but it doesn't affect me haha. But it's been a great week getting to know him and, we had a surprise baptism! Their date was for this Saturday, but the daughter's going out of town for like a month (it's vacation season for the Ticos), and so we bumped it up to this week. They are super great, but I'll get to them in a little bit. I feel like this area is going to definitely be the most difficult area, in the physical aspect, but I believe that it's where I'm going to see the most success in my mission. Elder Nuñez really is amazing and know a lot about the scriptures, and we both have the same perspective on missionary work and, really, on life. He's so great and I believe that together we're really gonna explode Neily :) if it doesn't explode from the heat first.

Apart from that, Monday till Wednesday was just crazy stressful getting everything ready for the new missionaries and, on top of that, planning a zone service project. But the cool news is that Elder Carter is in Puerto Jimenez, my MTC comp and a really good friend, and elder Gonzalez, my last companion, is in San Vito! Some other missionaries that I know and are really cool also came, and all in all I feel like we've got the dream team down here in Zona Sur. Ooosh! But planning for the new houses and travel and everything was a huge pain in the neck, especially when the 7 mattresses we bought didn't come on Wednesday like they had told us, but rather Saturday. And the salesman wasn't on top of the situation at all. (I got so fed up with him haha dumb furniture salesman). (Spencer worked as a fine furniture salesman his senior year, to pay for his mission).

So all in all this week was pretty stressful for me, but I really liked it and am super happy. Especially for Hanier and Sofia. Hanier is such a great lady. Every time I see her she reminds me of Mom. I don't know why, I just get the feeling that that's how Mom was before she had the Gospel in her life. and I'm so happy that she could also be baptized, just like Mom :) but it was such a miracle this week. We have been working with her since I got here in Zona Sur. She was progressing really well but was having trouble with receiving a sure answer that this was the true church. I knew that we just needed to have a little bit of patience, but I was starting to get worried because a lot of vacations and stuff like that were coming up which can interrupt people's progress. So we went on Thursday to see what was up. She was recently operated, like a month ago. So when we get there she told us that the scar had started to bleed again and that on like Tuesday she had gone and been operated again. Then when we started teaching her, my comp asked her if she was ready to be baptized. I already knew more or less how she was and knew she'd say that she just needed a little more time, and all that jazz. but, to my surprise, she said "yup!"

What?! It was just a miracle. She had received her answer! The Spirit had touched her heart.

She hasn't told us that she had any sort of special experience, I just have a feeling that the operation she had had something to do with it. All I know is that miracles exist.

So we programmed her baptismal interview for the following day, and on Saturday she was baptized. She has been so unsure about it all and then all of a sudden is was so calm and obvious for her. It reminded me that I really am not the one who makes this work work. It's the Spirit. God knows His children and knows when to give them the answers they're seeking.

The other great thing is that our investigators who live on the farm are progressing really well as well! They've gotta get married which will be a little stressful haha but aside from that they're looking good for their baptismal date on December 26th. And their daughter should be moving back home this month too, who they also want to be baptized. Yesterday they came to the Christmas Devotional and it seemed like they liked it a lot. I love them so much. But I honestly just feel like God's calling his people. God prepares the people.

Have a great week, everyone! I love you all and hope you can all see miracles in your lives, too.

-Elder Henry

Guyabana! It makes a pretty delicious drink.

Geese!

This animal is called a "mountain turkey"

Bad hair day ducks!

This one was me favorite, his stuck up hair doesn't even match the color of his other feathers...

A weird fruit!

Oops, Someone left the fire hydrant open

A cool looking frog that was outside the house

Another pig! With piglets :)

it's a tiny little turtle

Life in Costa Rica (Just kidding - It's just Christian sitting in a trashcan)

Don't forget to switch on the breaker when you move into a new house.

Diana's baptism! Sorry that there weren't more photos, the camera was dead until I went to San Jose...

Hello, English speakers!

I sure do miss speaking English sometimes haha. 

This week was pretty unusual. Actually, thinking about it, I haven't had a usual week since I got here to Zona Sur. I think it's just part of being down here and being a Zone Leader, haha...

So Monday and Tuesday were indeed quite normal, but that was it. Wednesday I was on a bus all day to San Jose, with Elder Carbajal and Elder Aviña, to get our Cedula's (ID) renewed! So we stopped on by Paso Ancho to eat a nice dinner with the Alvarado family, and say hi to the Paso Ancho missionaries. It was so great to see my kid (Elder Gonzalez). He's doing great and I'm so proud of him. He's really become a great missionary.

So after that nice Wednesday of waiting around all day to get to San Jose, we had some nice Thursday waiting to leave the office so that we could go wait to get the cedula so that we could head on over to wait for the bus where we would, of course, wait 7 hours to get to Zona Sur, where a house change was awaiting me! It was a pretty boring 2 days haha. The cool part though was that missionaries from the West Mission were there too, including some friends that I hadn't seen for a while.

Then on Friday we had a change of plans and, instead of going into the super fancy but really small apartment we had found, my companion had found a much larger, nice, 3 room house! So we headed over to check it out real quick, called the owner who lives far away, and made plans to move in the following day because we didn't want to have to pay another month in our then-current apartment.

So Saturday morning at 6:30 we get to meet the landlord, who's a cool guy, we see the house from the inside, which everything was good, and we're gettin' ready to pack up and head over at 8 am when we realize that there's no water, and no electricity! The people who had been living there before didn't pay their water bills. Oh dear.

So we kinda hijacked water for 2 days, and were living without lights. Luckily, today, we paid the water, and realized that the problem with the electricity was that the breaker was flipped off (oops hahaha).

So that was my unusual week.  Today I went to Panama to shop (with permission of course) which was weird because they use the US dollar, and have lots of US stuff, but they don't speak English haha. And this coming week we've only got 2 days to work in the area, because on Wednesday we go 3 hours away to find a house in Puerto Jimenez where missionaries will be heading down next change, and Thursday we head up to San Jose again for the leadership council. 

We lead interesting lives down here in the jungle!

I love you all. I really know that the work we're doing is the work of God. The adventures are great, but the most special thing about this week was knowing that my convert Isabel was able to enter into the temple and be sealed with her husband and start an eternal family. That's what the work's really about :)

Have a great week, all you English speakers!

-Elder Henry

Some highlights from emails back and forth:
"Everyone calls me an elbow here :) It means refusing to give or spend money haha." (he's a Henry kid ;) )

Mom: no pictures from Panama?
"No it's just really ugly where we go, haha just a bunch of malls."

Mom: Have you seen any cool animals yet though? "Um iguanas, and iguanas. I see a lot of weird bugs though. Did I ever tell you that some caterpillars here are like deadly poisonous?"

Mom: Nope, stay away from those. Oh wait, you are my cautious child. Thank goodness! Were you scared going over that suspension bridge you sent the picture of? Are there a lot of those?
"No the suspension bridge isn't scary at all. And it's the only one I've seen.
But yeah as far as monkeys and sloths I'm still waitin. I think that this week we'll be going on a boat, which will be a fun story. :)"

Mom: Best mission ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =) 

 (about his convert Isabel's wedding photos) "I was super happy too :) The photos turned out super awesome and they look happy as can be."

Mom asks about mosquitoes which carry Dengue down there.
"The mosquitos haven't been a problem anymore. I think I've gotten used to it. Tomorrow when I was my clothes (washin my own clothes oh yeah!) I'm gonna apply the repellent spray when I hang the clothes up."

"Oh hey about BYU housing and all that, I'm gonna room with Tullis for sure. 

And, I was talking with Elder Nelson, the secretary, and he's totally down to room with us too. He's way awesome :)"

Two pics from Pres. Hayes and a couple from his surprise visit to Paso Ancho:

 

Jungley everywhere and cucarachas too

 Some bridge raining selfie action!

 Just a cool moth I found on the wall

  Trying out Javier's hipster glasse

 What you see while walking on the road in Golfito :) If you go there early in the morning, you see all the monkeys jumping by (sadly, I didnt see them :(

 Just your average working area here in Zona Sur... A few houses and a whole lot of green

 Happy Birthday, Elder Ferrin! President Hayes bought him a cake :)

 Estevan's baptism! He's a really awesome young man.

  My comp Elder Morales selfie'd me while I was putting in the zone's numbers haha

Hello everyone! Another week in the jungle to report on.

So the week started off pretty normal. Monday we played a little bit of soccer where everyone blew me out of the water (like I said, normal haha), and Tuesday we had a good old working day.

Then, Wednesday, the divisions started. I headed on over to San Vito! A 90 minute bus ride from my area, it's straight up the mountains that surround Ciudad Neily. So I finally get up there, and it's a beautiful day. Since it's in the mountains, it's not hot! It's like normal, standard, Washington weather. A little sun, a little rain, but pretty cool temperatures. I had a great time with Elder Aviña, Who started the mission when I started in the MTC. We had a blast, he's super awesome.

Thursday morning I head on back to Ciudad neily to get another day's work in.

Friday morning, I'm out to Golfito! This area is on the beach. It's called Golfito because it's a little gulf. So it was really really pretty there. and I saw a guy with a huge fish on his shoulder. Like, 4 feet long. that was cool. And I saw iguanas. that was fun. It's really jungley there. It's really jungley everywhere, actually... haha. But I was with Elder Luna which was also a blast. He's a really nice guy. Calm, collected, focused missionary. So we had a fun time together :)

Then on Saturday, instead of ending divisions normally, we headed on to Zone meeting with President Hayes! Which was incredible. He gave a great lesson about Mosiah 1-5 and looking what more we need to improve to keep becoming better people. it was incredible. Then we celebrated Elder Ferrin's birthday with a cake, handed out the 'birthday presents', a new blender for everyone (uush!) Ate a nice lunch, and had interviews with President. It was a really great, really spiritual experience. From there we headed out to prepare Estevan's baptism, which was also really great.

Then on Sunday, District conference! So we were on the road again, to Rio Claro. It was also awesome, and a new district presidency was called. Our Branch President is now District president, and we have a new branch president. Changes are always fun, so I'm looking forward to working with the new leadership.

Apart from that, every thing's going well and normal! I really love the people here. They're pretty awesome. It's just so different from that city "I don't ever have time for anything" attitude that there was in my old area. You can just start talking to someone and, even if they don't want to receive us, it's a nice conversation.

So those are the adventures of this week. I'm pretty sure I'll have more next week :) Oh, one more!

Our house is pretty well infested with cockroaches. Luckily President already gave us permission to change houses, so this week we're gonna found a new one and change, but it's pretty gross showering with cockroaches there in the shower too. Just thought everyone would love to know that :)

Have a great week!

-Elder Henry

Q&A:
No, I can't go to the sealing :(

No, the card didn't come with the AP's.

I have 3 pairs of shoes, not 1. Remember that I bought 2 more?

I didn't do divisions with the AP's haha, I was on divisions with Golfito when they came... oops!

Today I'm going iguana hunting! Uuush.

The Halloween pic is awesome haha. It's not too often that you get to use a pregnant costume!

Transfers! And tons of photos :)

     So this was a pretty good week. I knew that this week transfers were coming, and was sure either Elder Gonzalez or I would have changes, so we just enjoyed our last week together. On Wednesday we go to the mission office and I get assigned my new companion, new area, and all that jazz. It'll be fun!

     I've really enjoyed my time here in Paso Ancho. It's amazing how little time it takes to really love the people and make great friends when you're dedicated to serving them. It's been a blast. And I'm excited for a new adventure!

     I'm pumped for these transfers! I can't really think about anything else. Just that an investigator who we've worked with for a loong time is finally getting baptized on Saturday :) He's dreamed and worked for this day for a long time. Woohoo!

Have a great week everyone! I am off to a multi zone futbol game. I love you all!

-Elder Henry

Hey dad! Thanks for the joke. 100% Calidad (quality) :)

Well we'll both be missing out on the Halloween fun, then. If you celebrate Halloween here people think you're satanic, so we won't be doing anything...

Sounds like fun having Mike and Shavonne there!

I love you tons dad :) Have a great week!

-Elder Henry

502 Ice cream trip! 

 

503 I don't really know why this statue is outside of a cake bakery, but its kinda cool.

 

516 They're haulin me away!

 

528 We found a baby bunny!

 

536 Just a kitten

 

540 Everyone hanging out after the church services :)

 

542 Goodbye, Mario! A good friend here in Paso Ancho.

 

543 One last selfie with Carlos!

 

Visiting the Primary on Sunday :)

 

547 Us and the Alvarado family :)

Elder Henry-face