Well hey, another month has gone by and another fast week as well and here i am writing you all. i hope you have all had a good week and it was awesome to hear from you all in your emails. first of all i want to apologize for not writing back to some you. here in the mission, i keep myself really busy, and as a consequence really tired and not with a ton of time, so sorry for not getting back to all of you as it is not my intention to not write you, its just that i have not had the time recently, but i am going to be better about that. I also want to make a shout out to MICHEAL CLAFLIN who got his mission call to the Belguim, Netherlands mission Spanish speaking which is totally awesome. i didnt even know that there was sapnish speaking in the Netherlands, but that is incredibly unique and super exiting. i wish you the best as you prepare to leave this summer to serve the lord, and i have plans to write you before you leave in july which means i should have plenty of time to write some advice that might help you, but thats just awesome that you have your call!!!! I also want to congratulate MARCUS DALEY again, on his call to Texas Fort Worth and i also wish you the best as you prepare these last couple crazy weeks before you leave. its really awesome to hear about all you guys getting mission calls and preparing for a mission.
Well for how its going down here in Guatemala, its going really really good. Elder Galvez have been working really well together and teaching very powerfully and with the spirit and we have been seeing a ton of success already in just the week and a half we have been together. It was a little sad to see Elder Cachipuendo go, but i think i was ready for a change, and a little bit more life and excitement in the work which i think Elder Galvez brings with his funny personality and animo. There have been a few things that he has not been super obedient in that i have been trying to help him work on, but other than that we have been doing some really good work together and like i said wednesday, we both have a lot of common interests, so its been good to be able to share in that a little bit.
Right now we are working with a ton of different pèople and i cant really write a whole lot about all of them, but this saturday we have the baptism of Melisa who is 15 years old and is super pilas in la iglesia, reading the book of mormon and marking it up all on her own and even went with the youth in our ward to an activity where they had a little quiz or something testing thier knowledge of the BOM, so she is really awesome and we are excited for her. The 16th of march we have a baptism set for Alex Garcia who is 13 and works for some members in thier house. he is super super smart about the bible and knows all of the bible stories and everything, probably a little better than i do, and he is super exited about being in young men and learning with the other guys there. We are also working with the family of Selvin and his wife Lucinda for the 16th as well. Selvin is a good friend of Favio, our convert, and came to church with his family all by himself with his family, and is super positive. his wife lucinda isnt as positive because she was baptized once before and doesnt want to get baptized again even though she likes the church and everything. so we have been working with her and we had an awesome lesson on the atonement with ella ayer en la iglesia, and she really felt the spirit, and is thinking about being baptized with Selvin on the 16th. we are also working with a ton others but i dont have time to write them all, but we are working with a brother of a member who actually knew the church when it got started here in Catarina almost 25 years ago. he went to all the meetings and everything when they were held in a little house next to his, but he was never baptized because of personal challenges he has had. we had an amazing lesson with him, and his sister where i was able to share my testimony with him, and i dont know why, but i felt the spirit so striongly when i shared my testimony of how through the gospel we can overcome our trials and challenges, and i could tell he really felt the spirit really strong. however he said he wasnt going to be able to attend church sunday so we were sad about that, but we were in sacrament meeting yesterday, and about half way through, he showed up in a white shirt (big deal here in guatemala) by himself. it was awesome!!!! in total we had 6 investigators and one family in the church yesterday which is the most i have ever had in my mission so far, it was an amazing feeling and i felt like my favorite team won the super bowl or something, it was awesome. So pretty much, the work is going well here, and i am getting along and working hard with Elder Galvez who has really brought some new energy into the area and given me a refreshed desire to dig in and really work hard, so im doing good.
Thanks again for the birthday package as i have been enjoying the reeses and oatmeal creme pies which is like currency down here haha. We also found a gym down here in Guatemala! go figure, so we are starting to go back to the gym which has brought me to the sad reality of how much muscle i have lost the the little bit of weight ive gained haha. The gym is nothing like you would consider a gym in the states haha with equipment that is like 50 years old and car parts as weights, but it gets the job done more or less haha.
So pretty much thats whats going on with me, im doing good, still learning how to speak better spanish, teach better and work hard. Oh and yes, i could have changes again in a couple weeks and possibly training, but we will see what happens, pretty crazy!!!! I love you all so much, and i am super exited for how the work is expanding and progressing with everyone on missions or leaving, and really i am super grateful that i am serving my mission right now at this point in the history of the world and in my life. i just want to share my testimony of how real this gospel is and how in reality Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are actively engaged in our lives, in this work and in the lives of every person on this planet including these pobre people living in the middle of nowwhere guatemala. i have just been realizing how many people are on this earth all with hopes and dreams with a desire to be happy, and it is such a great priviledge i have to be a representative of christ for these people. its when missionaries forget this fact that they have problems, and i know it is that which has gotten me through trials here in the mission. its my advice to Micheal and Marcus if they read this, that they really put that into thier hearts. that you are going to serve as a literal representatives of Jesus Christ for the people in the mission where you have been called. Keep that in your hearts and you will find happiness and success in your missions and strength as you prepare for the daunting task of leaving practically everything behind for 2 years. i wisah i would have learned and applied that in my life before my mission. But all in all, i know that this church is true with all my heart. I love you all with all my heart and i ask for your forgivness for things i may have done to wrong you or ofend you in the past. I hope my letters help you and ofer a glimpse into the work of the lord. Keep strong and carry on in faith and love everyday!
its a priviledge to be your son, brother and friend.
-Elder Henderson
P.S. here are some pictures of Elder Galvez and i, me eating a strange fruit we found on some tree on the side of the road and just a crazy view from the back of a truck!
We went to the beach today to see a lighthouse which was pretty fun, so here are some pictures of that and other stuff. Disfrutanlos!!!!!
Oh, and a special shout out to Curt. We were on the Mexican border today when we were at the light house, so one of the pictures is of me pointing across the river at mexico haha
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