The Work Keeps Comin'

1-18-2011

Hey everyone,

Sorry, but the Martin Luther King Holiday didn’t allow me to email (library closed).   It was a great weekend!

I have a new companion now in Elder Strong. He is 21 from Orem, UT, and has 3 months to go on his mission, so he should finish up here in Brewster. He is a cool guy and we are getting along easily. He has already fit into the branch well too. Elder Crandell went to Weston.

We found 3 more new investigators this weekend. Brian was a referral from Mormon.org.  He told us he was browsing the web and came across the site. He was intending to just mess around in the chat room but instead found himself interested in the message. Weird huh? He's a 16 year old and he was excited to read the Book of Mormon.  However, as we were closing our first discussion, his mom came in and didn't seem too happy we were there. Hopefully it will work out to another lesson.

Then there's AJ and Sue who are a newlywed couple, also referrals. AJ has a good member friend in Utah who introduced him to the gospel. Recently they went to Temple Square and saw the Joseph Smith movie. They both have been reading the Book of Mormon and AJ already feels that it is true. We gave them a first discussion "as if they were brand new to the gospel" and it went really well. Sue isn't completely set with the church since she really wasn't religious as a kid, but she seems to be willing to follow along with her husband.  How golden & ready is this couple, huh?  It’s really exciting!

Yesterday, we went to the Hyannis Recreation Center with Bro. Biega and Alex.  It is such a nice facility: 2 ice rinks, full size gym, and arcade. We shot hoops and watched a high school girl’s hockey game. The game was a lot more interesting than I thought ha-ha.

As you all know, the Patriots choked on Sunday  :(  .   So much for that Super Bowl.  Massachusetts is pretty depressing when it comes to sports and losing. Not gonna be a happy next few weeks around here ha-ha.

So that was the weekend.  Lookin' like a cold wet week ahead so I'll bundle up.  Hope you all have a great week!

AND SEND LETTERS!!! LOL  Later!

Love,

Elder Henson

Snowy, White Cape

1-13-2011

Hey everybody!

It’s been a great week and a half out here. The snow keeps finding us. Had some snow on Sunday that shortened the congregation to 20 and we only had sacrament meeting. Then we had snow fall last night. It’s not as bad as up north in Boston, they got hammered, so I'm grateful.

Things are going to be a little different for me in the coming weeks. Yes, I'm staying in Brewster, just gonna have a new companion. Elder Crandell is transferring out tomorrow. He looks to be taking it pretty hard because he doesn't want to leave. Now I'll have to take the reins for a little bit since I'll know what’s going on here and my new companion will be wondering if he's lost in the twilight zone. I'm anxious to see what will happen, and I know the success will continue out here.

We ran into a lot of new investigators recently. Cole Arvidson's girlfriend, Alex, and his dad listened to our message the last couple Mondays.  Her dad was very sturdy with his beliefs and was resistant to listen to another organized religion, but he was willing to have his daughter listen so we'll go with that.

The Johnson's son and his wife walked into a lesson we were teaching about church attendance and they were willing to come to church.  But the storm ruined that deal, so we'll try for it this week.   Jim is back. He looked much better in our recent couple visits. Thank you to those who prayed for his help. We assured him that he was thought of and missed while at the hospital.

The Halls are a lovely older couple we taught last weekend and they were really interested in the Plan of Salvation. We hope to teach them that lesson this week.

As you can see I got the first of my few Red Sox caps as a little late Christmas present to myself :).  I'm excited (little nervous) for what will happen at transfers tomorrow and looking forward to many more experiences here in Brewster.

I'm sure all is well back home and I'm grateful to all of you for your continuous love and support. I'll let you know how the change goes on Monday.   Take care!

Love,

Elder Henson

Happy New Year!

January 3, 2011

Wassup everyone! 

I'm an Action Figure!

Happy 2011!  This last week was pretty solid despite the holiday and low amount of miles. Fortunately the members really came through for us by giving us rides to appointments.

Starting out with last Monday, it was a lot of fun going to Alex's hockey games and celebrating his b-day. His team won the second game. They scored the game-winning goal with less than three minutes to go. It was pretty intense!

On a lower note, Jim hasn't been doing so well lately.  He was in the hospital for the past couple days and is now home. Please keep him in your prayers.  Our newest investigators, the Melix family, are really a joy to visit. They love our company and actually have questions about the church despite being devoted Methodists. We are excited to answer their questions this week and hope that they open up to explore the gospel. 

"Does that mean you're not interested?"

New Year's Eve wasn't as exciting as yours. We went to the Biegas for dinner and that was a good visit. However, it really felt like a typical Friday and normal curfew. I was in my bed watching the clock go 12 and then fell asleep. I know, lame... So that was basically the week.

I got news that the Chiefs are in the playoffs! Too bad they gotta go through New England to get to the Super Bowl.

My favorite scripture right now is D&C 19:23.

“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.”

Bro. Biega showed me it and it is such a simple yet powerful scripture.

Thank you to all sending me letters and packages. I love ‘em.  Hope all is well with you all, back home.  I will get back with you again next Wednesday when transfers roll around.

Have an excellent week!

Love,

Elder Henson

Merry Christmas! :-D

12-27-2010

Hope you all had a splendid Christmas weekend! 



M-ride... "no ride."



A lot of great and weird things happened this week. Starting off where I left off last week with the snowstorm that hit. Remember that family in the branch with the farm? Well, I got to be a farm boy for a day because we got snowed in at their place!

They live on a private road that doesn't get plowed so our pathetic front-wheel drive car had no chance of getting outta there that night. The next morning we had to shovel our car our and then follow previous car tracks to slide our way outta there. It was a fun night but an exhausting morning because we also went to shovel our branch president's driveway. Ugh, snow...

The rest of the week went by pretty fast due to little miles left for the month. We did however have some great lessons. The best of the week was with the Pabsts family. We hadn't seen them for a while, just Jenny, so we really hoped that our plan of salvation lesson would gain their interest.  Jenny answered a lot of our questions very well, showing how well she listened to last lesson. Ms. Pabst has read to Mosiah already in about a month and also asked great questions. The other 2 girls Emily and Sarah participated too. We set a date for February 5th with all 4 of them and plan to teach them accordingly to be ready for that date.

Christmas Day was not like a normal Christmas back home at all, but it was one to not forget. We opened our Christmas presents that morning and went to the Arvidsons for dinner and stopped by the Biegas as well.

I am very grateful for all the presents I received from you, my friends back home and members of the branch. It really shows me how much love people have for me and that makes me so grateful and blessed.  My favorite present was my phone call home. I wanted to do it early but I was afraid you would be too busy opening presents so I didn't end up calling them until that night. It was such a joy to talk to all of you.  It doesn't seem like I've been gone for too long though but it was still awesome to say “hi” to and catch up on your lives, as well as answer questions about my mission experiences.

Jim got confirmed on Sunday! He was so full of the Spirit and will really be a great member to the branch. He was so excited to take the sacrament too. "Oh, do I get to take this now?!" ha-ha It was great to see his excitement.

MORE SNOW came last night and this morning. It just continues to come. The wind is just howling! Lights were flickering on and off in our apartment but luckily it didn't go out on us.

We got to go see Alex Biega play a hockey game this morning. He has a tournament today on his birthday! It was great to watch and we'll actually get to see another one tonight as well.  Reminds me a lot of me playing ball at that age and, like Bro. Biega, my dad yelling to me to do this and that ha-ha.

 

This week will be somewhat the same as last week because of miles and snow. Hopefully we can get some good work in during the week. I don't know the rule on New Year's Eve yet, just that we'll be at the Biegas for dinner.

Thanks to you and everyone for your support and prayers. I know the Lord is blessing you for it. I love you all and pray for you too. Thanks to those who sent me cards too. They were much appreciated. I hope that you have a great week and a great start to the New Year.  Talk to you soon.

Elder Henson

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!"

12-20-2010

Hello everybody!

What a great week!! Went to the temple, did a lot of hard labor, had our first baptism, and ITS SNOWING! Looks like it'll be a white Christmas after all.

Jim's baptism went great! We had about 25 from the branch that attended at our chapel. Performing a baptism is awesome!!! Even though the water was FREEZING cold, it’s one of those things that I'll cherish forever. I was somewhat nervous most of the day, but the Lord comforted me when I needed it and I didn't have to repeat the ordinance. Jim was so overwhelmed the whole day, but he was full of joy. We were so proud of him. I hardly remember that first day we met him but he slowly but surely progressed and he is going to be such a good member of this branch.

I got to go to the temple again on Tuesday with the rest of the zone. The feelings in the temple never change and I was so glad to be there. We also got our Christmas packages that day. I love the big Dell box. Everyone kept joking that I had a computer, ha-ha. I'm excited to see what's inside on Saturday.

I was in Plymouth on exchanges for a couple days. It’s a very interesting and historic area. You'll see that cool statue that I got to go visit.  It was huge!!

We did some service at Bro. Carmack's farm, moving hay bales into his barn. When I said hard labor, I mean hard labor. We were just wasted after we finished off those 150 bales! Ugh, again I am so glad I wasn't raised on a farm ha-ha.

Elder Crandell and I are loving those 12 days of Christmas presents. Some of those scriptures are real stumpers. Grandma also sent me a box with a cute nativity scene. We also got 2 Christmas trees, one cardboard from our fellow Elders in the Cape Cod branch and a artificial one from the primary. Yeah we got hooked up with decorations and grateful for it.

 Did I mention it’s snowing?! Just came down last night and probably for a while longer. I'm both happy and frustrated about it at the same time.

This week will be pretty booked. The snow is gonna slow down things a bit I think, but the weekend will be fun. We have a couple member homes to visit on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I'm very excited to call home!!! I don't know what time exactly but I'm shooting for the afternoon or evening home time. I don't think I'll get any Christmas shopping done this week but I'll get some presents and goodies to send home.

I love you all and wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas. Thank you for all your continuous support that helps to keep me going. Take care and I'll talk to you soon.

Elder Henson

The Freezing Continues...

12-13-2010

Wassup Everyone!

What a great week here on the Cape! Things continue to become better and better as Christmas draws closer.

We have a baptism lined up for this Sunday with Jim!!! If all goes well with the interview this week, I will have the honor of baptizing him! I'm so excited for him and amazed how much he has progressed in the last couple months. He is such a sincere and charitable person and God is giving him the blessings he's deserved.

We also got another baptismal date set with Jenny for January 14th. She really wants to learn the gospel and has understood the first and part of the second lessons very well. Hopefully (if transfers allow) and all follows suit, that will happen as well.

The last couple days have been very busy with a lot of work. Saturday during my tour with Elder Castro in Brewster, we didn't have anything planned except meals and we just took the branch list and started stopping by all the less-actives in Hyannis. We ended up with 5 potentials and a couple lessons throughout the day. My faith in the Lord grew that day because I thought the whole day would be a bust and it ended up super. Then yesterday after church, we met at members’ homes one after another and had a couple lessons that day too, including the one with Jenny accepting her baptismal date. God is continuing to bless this area day by day and I am grateful to be witnessing those blessings happen. It’s amazing how true missionary work is.

I got a good amount of mail this week. My friends Elder Tyler Weeks, Elder Lance McDowell, and Natalie Peterson all sent letters. The YSA back home sent me a letter with messages from them. I got Blake's Sunday school class's package with their letters and an overwhelming amount of sweets. And I got the package with the thermals and goodies too, (the thermals fit fine). Thanks to all of you for those letters and packages. It’s what influences me to keep on working and serving, knowing that I have a strong support system. To all you who haven't yet, don't be bashful, feel free to send letters!!!!! Ha-ha!

The weather has been FREEZING this week!!! Temps were in the 20s and 30s all week except for the past couple days. I wore everything! My thermals, my trench coat, my skull hat, my gloves. Anything to keep me from being a Popsicle! It was COLD, especially when we were bold and tracted.

How things going back home?  ALLYSON! Congrats on the soccer championship and the goal!! That's awesome!!! I wish I was there!

To clarify, ANY picture is what I’m referring to on the Christmas list. I can't wait for the other Christmas packages to come. We have had a few families invite us over for Christmas so we should be taken care of for that weekend.

The branch takes such good care of us and makes sure we are good. So to all you that have Elders in your ward/branch, check to make sure they are taken care of for the holidays.

The holidays are cool here in Massachusetts. I enjoy riding at night and seeing the lights through the trees. It's different. I've been humming and singing NSYNC Christmas songs constantly, just as if I was home ha-ha!  I'm excited for the next couple weeks!!!

I love you all!!!!! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I know that this work I'm doing here is true and is worth it. Pray to the Father in the name of Christ and he will pour out his blessings upon you and answer your questions.

Take care and I'll talk to you all next week! :)

Elder Henson

2010 Christmas Devotional

2010 Christmas Devotional (link)