Milagros! Miracles!

Happy Independence Day!
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 This baptism was from the Hermanas. But this Saturday we'll have 4 and one from them, too. It's gonna be a party :)

This week has basically been jampacked with miracles. The district is gonna end with 9 baptisms (imagine that, last month we had 2 in the district.) And every area is going to baptize! :) :)
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What a great week. It's been full of roadtripping!

On Tuesday, we had a zone meeting, so that was pretty roadtrippy.

Then on Wednesday morning, I headed out for Los Tirrases! which is about an hour away from central park in bus. I was on divisions there with the zone leaders for 2 days, and Friday finally got back in my area. So we were there for a few hours, and Friday night we headed out to San Francisco, to see Elias's baptism, from the secretaries! Then on Saturday I was finally home all day, and on Sunday we had a surprise baptism pop up! So we jumped in a car and headed over to Barrio Lujan to do the interview. Tomorrow I head over to Los Tirrases again, and tour Concepcion while I'm at it, and then everything will calm back down.

Oh, and today I go back to San Francisco to see the sisters' baptism!

So that's basically been life. But it's been great. We've seen a lot of miracles this week. a LOT of miracles.

Let me tell the miracle of Y. The hermanas in San Francisco have been working with Y for a while now, and she was scheduled to get baptized on the 21st (today). She was really nervous, but had some sweet experiences that made her decide yes! she was gonna get baptized. So everything was looking good. Until we got to Friday.

Y started hiding from the missionaries and didn't answer the phone or anything, and they had no idea why. The finally got ahold of her aunt, who informed them that Y, for whatever reason, didn't want to get baptized anymore, and that's why she was hiding from them.

So, out of options, and without any way of communicating with her to help change her mind, the sisters did the only thing left. They fasted! And they were able to see the miracles promised with fasting. They sent a message on Saturday, which Y didn't respond to, as usual, but when they got to church on Sunday, there was Y! And she asked them if she could still get baptized today. God heard their prayers and touched Ys heart, changing her mind and speaking peace to her heart. It was a real testimony builder about fasting, and made possible that this month every area in our district has a baptism. The week has been full of experience like that.

I love this work. I was listening to a talk by Henry B Eyring today where he talked about how we'll see in our different roles in life how God works miracles to help us do a work that we could never have been able to do alone. I know that that's happening here.

Have a great week! and really pay attention to see those miracles happen.

-Elder Henry

PS Haha yeah I have been doing great writing in my journal. It's pretty tough since no one ever puts emphasis on it, but I started to think about what I wanted my kids to have of my mission and I said ok I'll do it haha.

Just a little Alvarado family fun time :-).

Temple Trip with Paso Ancho!

 Everbody ready for a road trip! To the temple!

Paso Ancho Missionaries!

  Pure young men converts here in Paso Ancho!

 Young men and almost young men (us) temple shot! :)

Temple trip! Woohoo!

So the highlight of the week was definitely the temple trip. On Wednesday we had a Ward Temple Trip, and since we had recent converts, less actives, and investigators all going, President gave us permission to go as well! It was so wonderful to visit the House of the Lord, and feel the wonderful spirit that always abides there. 

I think my favorite part about the trip was how it affected one of my favorite converts. Maybe because he reminds me a lot of me before the mission. The difference is he lives with his grandma and his dad, who's a drunk and got kicked out of the house like 2 weeks ago. It's a really tough situation for him and a really gratifying experience to step in and be that mentor for a youth who doesn't have the support system we all deserve of a family. So he wasn't doing so hot, he wasn't reading in the Book of Mormon or anything, so we went Sunday and talked to him real clearly that he needed to step up his game. On Wednesday he went to the Temple, and since then he's just been different. More receptive, more spiritual, and more friendly with the other youth in the ward. It's really, really wonderful to see change take place in people's hearts. I love the mission so much and feel like where I have converts, I leave a piece of my heart. 

Have a great week everyone! Remember to get out to the Temple and enjoy the great blessing and convenience we have nowadays of entering a Temple.

-Elder Henry

Saprissa played, so we both brought our matching (design) purple ties!

I ran into Elder Tullis! And again today at the Internet cafe, he's companions with Elder Acuña, one of my favorite companions!

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No time for a big letter...

I did a baptismal interview for this young man who's grandmother was baptized by Elder Ritchie!

Spencer Henry
9:30 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
Uh, yeah, I seem to have failed on the picture taking part this week...
Ok thanks.
No big email this week, I am in the middle of doing a stake report...


Lisa Henry
9:32 AM (10 hours ago)
to Spencer
Such a busy busy guy! I'm surprised they don't give you extra time to do the reports so that you still can report home for the week. Or is it just that it's too expensive for the computers?

Spencer Henry
9:34 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
No. They should give me more time but the ZL's put me to do it and told me no. Meh

Lisa Henry
9:39 AM (10 hours ago)
to Spencer
Those Zone Leaders.........LOL.
Did you hear about the BYU football "miracle?" Touchdown on a play that started with one second on the clock, the qb chucked it way downfield and the receiver somehow caught it.

Spencer Henry
9:40 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
Yeah I did mom, don't worry ;-)

Lisa Henry
9:41 AM (10 hours ago)
to Spencer
I thought that was a great shot. Oh and the Ducks won. hehe

Spencer Henry
9:42 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
Oh mom, you sure are a football maniac.
Hey, speaking of futbol, the new hermana in our district is named Hna. Madrid. Like real madrid. Do gringos know what Real Madrid is?

Lisa Henry
9:44 AM (10 hours ago)
to Spencer
This one does! Haha that is awesome. My friend in Denmark loves that team!

Spencer Henry
9:45 AM (10 hours ago)
to me
Yeah it's pretty funny :) But she's pretty tired of hearing Real Madrid jokes haha

Lisa Henry
9:47 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
Well, it is a CITY in Spain. LOL. Where is she from?

Spencer Henry
9:49 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Honduras

Lisa Henry
9:50 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
You get a lot of Hondurans there, cool! You are going to have to study Spanish so you can do some study abroad stuff at BYU bud!

Spencer Henry
9:51 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Yup :-) Luckily shes cool

Lisa Henry
9:54 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
Huh never knew that. You would know haha. Isn't Elder Gonzalez from Honduras?

Spencer Henry 9:55 AM (9 hours ago)
Nope! Guatemala. Elder Cruz was my only comp from Honduras, but I've had plenty of ZL's and DL's from there......

Lisa Henry 9:56 AM (9 hours ago)
Oh yeah Guatemala. They are electing a new President...you need to use missionaries' names more ...

Spencer Henry
10:01 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Basically gringos are known for being more lovable. :-) presidents and ZL alike.

Lisa Henry
10:02 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
Well that is definitely true for you bud! You are the easiest Henry kid, and we are so glad we are your parents. You made life pretty easy on us! #spoiledparents

Spencer Henry
10:07 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Ah mom stop it you're making me blush

Lisa Henry
10:08 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
Well your tan covers it up haha
Do you need me to send anything when I finally ship your package?

Spencer Henry
10:09 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Uhhh...
There was something. But I don't remember what it was :-)

Spencer Henry
10:09 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
But the package items aren't anything urgent either, it was just convenient since Tadeo was gonna be there.

Lisa Henry
10:09 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
OK try to write it down when you think of it this week.
Are you taking good care of your teeth? Retainers?

Spencer Henry
10:12 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
Retainers I don't use. When I used them it gave me a cold because the saliva didn't go from my mouth to my throat anymore, so getting sick every time wasn't worth it.

Lisa Henry
10:14 AM (9 hours ago)
to Spencer
Are your teeth getting crooked? =O
I guess you could always have BRACES in college. haha. But yeah getting sick isn't worth it.

Spencer Henry
10:15 AM (9 hours ago)
to me
I dunno if they're getting crooked haha.
But anyways, I love you mom! have a wonderful week :) You're the best.
-Elder Henry

Goodbye August...hello more miracles in September!

Another photo with Canelo! (Seriously the cutest dog ever)

Hello everybody and goodbye august!

August was a pretty good month. September's gonna be even better!

This week are transfers, but I'm stayin' here in Paso Ancho! And my kid Elder Gonzales's sticking around for another transfer, too! That surprised me a lot because normally when a new missionary finishes his training, he or the trainer has changes, but we're just chilling together still! So I'm pretty excited. It'll be great to have 6 weeks with a companion where we've already got the rhythm and everything down.

So this week we saw some super awesome miracles. I have just seen how the Spirit touches the hearts of people.

For example we have this great investigator! And she has been doing everything and steadily receiving her testimony. But she kept saying that she was "50% sure" or "50% ready to be baptized" When, really, she had her answer already! Anyways, on Saturday night, she called the member that we've been working with with her, and told him that she had felt the firm impression that she needs to get baptized, now. Even though there's some barriers she knows that she's gotta get baptized! And her 2 sons are also doing well. So it seems like the 3 of them are gonna get baptized in September.

A lot of things like that! They were literally miracles! Nothing about showing people how they need to do anything, simply seeing the desire grow out of them out of nothing! it's been really great and I can see that the Lord is really prospering our district. we have a lot of really great possibilities for baptisms in September.

It's honestly just been an incredible time here in Paso Ancho. On Sunday we had an attendance of 136, which is a new record. It's a really high attendance and it looks like it's staying there! There were enough seats for approximately 5 more people. So things are looking good for our goal here, the expansion of the chapel. Apart from that, people are bringing friends to the church, and we're meeting people who want to come back to church, and everything's just working! It really is a testimony to me that God's will can't be frustrated.

There's a scripture which I love in Alma 50 (or maybe it was 51), that talks about the time that the people were living as being the happiest time that had existed among the Nephites. That's pretty much how I feel! We have to be sent challenges, and that's a part of life, but God also gives us times to enjoy and just have things go right.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

My new epic chess set! My companion always makes me be the conquistadores =(

Missionaries with Jackilyn!

Elders with Lorena!

ICE CREAMMMMM!

I love Paso Ancho!

Tracting this week

Hey everyone! I don't have too much time this week (too busy seeing all the wedding fotos), but I wanted to share 2 things.

Number 1. I've been here in Paso Ancho for 4 months now. When I got here, the ward had 1 convert in the first 5 months of the year, and the attendance was about 85-100. This Sunday we had an attendance of 134, and instead of 1 convert, there's 9. It has been so wonderful to see the miracles happen in this ward. 50% raise in attendance, people joining the Church, and just a huge change in the attitude of the ward. After church, it's now normal to see the majority of the people associating with each other and making new friends. It has been so great, and wonderful to see that I've been permitted to be a part of God's plans in this ward.

Zona Los Yoses!

Service Project!

 211 Selfie with Marcos :) 

 215 Garuto! My favorite cat here. It's like a man version of Tina!

 221 We made some rockin homemade juice! No pitcher? no problem! Laffy Taffy's got the answer.

223 Chillin under a fruit tree!

224 Elder Gonzalez with Canelo!

268 Happy birthday, Hermana Turner!!

Number 2.

First off, an explanation of the week

This week has been great. Just absolutely wonderful. When the days have ended, I have been wishing that we had had 3 or 4 hours more to work. I've just felt absolutely wonderful. Area's going well, my kid is doing well, the District did well, everything is awesome! I am absolutely in love with being a missionary. In love!

That ties in with the second thing, a sweet experience from this week.

On Friday, one of the missionaries in my district was pretty down. She had had a rough few days. I talked with her and did what I could, but felt pretty helpless. I remember in my night prayer asking specifically that she could feel how I've felt these days about working, and about being a missionary. with that, I hit the hay and life kept on goin.

Then, Saturday night rolls around! While talking (I talk with my missionaries every night), she told me that she had something way awesome to tell me. Ok, what is it? She told me that she had had a great day that day. Awesome! But the next words that came out of her mouth floored me. She said something like this: "Elder Henry, it has been so great today. I just feel exactly like you did yesterday! I felt like the day went by too fast! I wanted more time to work!"

It was a real testimony of how God answers prayers. And when we pray for specific things, it's really easy to see his hand when He does answer. 

I love this work. I know that, truly, when we are in the service of our fellowman, we are in the service of our God. I have felt so uplifted as I forget about myself and just try to help others. Sometimes my companion makes fun of me, because our nightly prayers take so long as I pray for them, name by name.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!--Elder Henry

Welcome to the ZOO!

240 Hey, jaguar friend!

242 Somebody wanted to eat me!

 229 First station, exotic birds!

232 The big birds like this one in the zoo weren't in cages for the most part, just chillin there on wood structures.

236 Hey there Simba!

 253 Just a funky flower that you don't see back home

 230 Turtles have some crazy parties

 277 More cat friends :-)

278 He hopped from my bag to Elder Gonzalez's!

I feel like Spongebob!

Photos wouldn't work this week, so here is one from an awesome member a couple weeks ago =)

This week was fun. It got kicked off with a good Monday and Tuesday, but the fun stuff started Wednesday.

We had a multi-zone conference with President Duncan! (Area President). It was really great. I got a lot of good ideas out of it, and I liked that he focused a lot on Faith in Jesus Christ. That we shouldn't be jumping to the topic of baptism before we teach them about faith and repentance. All in all, it was awesome. Lots of good new stuff to work with.

Then on Thursday we started the day off early with service at 8:30 in the morning, and we rushed around to finish lunch to head off and do an interview at 1 PM which then got canceled when we were about 30 second from the bus, so the day calmed down and we got some good work done. We found a new investigator who's super awesome. She lives with her grandma, because her mom died when she was little, so we're excited to go back and keep explaining her about the Plan of Salvation and how she can be with her mom forever.

On Friday we went to Los Tirrases! Which took forever. From Central Park, the bus took like an hour and 15 minutes. So we get there to do the interview and when we show up to the house, they weren't there :( So we headed on back to our area. We got back super late, at 6:30, but we were still able to fit in 4 lessons.

Then Saturday and Sunday were pretty normal days.

I think that I've turned into Spongebob.

The mission is funny because it sounds really, really routine. Wake up at the same time every day to study at the same time then eat and head out to work at the same time all day and we don't get payed! Exactly like Spongebob :-) But as I've given all I have to the Lord, I've seen that he fills me with joy. I simply enjoy it! I can forget about time and everything about life, and just focus on a few people looking to have a better life and a few missionaries to become better missionaries, and better people. 

I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready!

I've been reading a ton in Matthew this week, and It's been really interesting to me to see the dialogue between the Pharisees and Jesus. It makes me think a lot about the relationship between obedience and grace. The Pharisees were (ridiculously) obedient to the rules, but simply didn't understand the principle of grace. Christ paid for all of our sins, and nothing that we do pays for them. We could never! Our obedience is supposed to be a token of our love and dedication to follow Christ, but if we don't do it out of love, then it's not really useful. I've felt a change in my personal happiness and I've felt more fulfilled as I've started to obey simply out of love instead of obeying because A. I have to do it or B. because there's a present waiting for me.

I love you all! Have a great week.

Elder Henry

Do Your Best, God Will Take Care of the Rest

Ran into some of our friends from the west mission in central park!

Ezequiel's baptism :)

Check out the size of that cactus! WHAT?!

We found a church! (we went to San Francisco to do an interview).

more San Francisco exploring, some fun looking shrubbery.

Dance Alliance performance!

Sunbrella! The sun was super hot so my comp whipped out his umbrella so that he wouldn't burn... which made me laugh. :-)

Making Venezuelan arepas with the Alvarado family! Yumm

Hey everyone! I'm sorry that this letter is gonna be real small, the time seems to have escaped me today. (He had some surveys to fill out before he could write, he wasn't wasting his time =) )

This week we got to go see Dance Alliance! (the traveling dance group from BYU-Idaho). That was something super unexpected (I never thought we'd have permission to go) but really enjoyable. It made me remember that, sometimes, we get so focused as missionaries on the work and numbers and this and that that we don't take time anymore to just enjoy the beautiful things of life.

Aside from that, it's just been getting used to my duties as a District Leader. I got a little stressed out but remembered that the important part is doing our best, and trusting that God really will take care of the rest. I know that God will touch the hearts of people and of my missionaries, too, if I'm doing all I know how to do and trying to work through the Spirit.

I love you all a ton! August is gonna be a great month. Have a nice week!

-Elder Henry