Ceci;
Well thanks for the paper! [I mailed him two sheets of paper in an addressed and stamped envelope]. And also thanks for hte package. My companion loves that CD of the Nashville tribute to Joseph Smith. He told me to thank you!
Yup its my second week in the field and it's awesome! One week we're in the car and the other week we are on bikes but that means walking for me and my companion because I dn't have my bike yet. I don't know if Jonathan has sent it yet but I hope he has because it really sucks that we walk. Espically since the air is so thick it gets hard to breathe! I guess I snore! My companion Elder Robinson, says I snore loud! Well it's not really snoring he says but like gasping for air. I was doing abs yesterday and I can hear myself breathing weird. I don't know how to explain it but I really don't like the thick air. I gained 3 lbs this last week! They give us so much food that I am gainin weight! The missionaries say Dalton, Georgia is the area of the mission where missionaries get fat because the members love to feed us. Which is so true! So my companion and I decided to run in the mornings and lift weights at night. Also we're going to try eating healthy! Hopefully that will help my snoring issues because my companion can't sleep at night because I snore. Ha I feel so bad so if you know of any remedies of snoring really help me!
Yesterday was an awesome day! All our appointments got cancelled so we went tracting for 4 1/2 hours in this circle! 7 people opened the door for us and actually let us in their houses and gave them our message. We actually taught a couple of people the 1st lesson. Out of those 7 people we got 6 new investigators. This was so unheard of, especially in the South! This shows us how much the Lord blesses us. For this transfer my companion and I aimed to get 5 baptisms and so far it's not looking so good! We have two investigators with a baptismal date the 10th and 11th of June and that's about it. We believed this woman named Araceli and her family would get baptized this transfer but after todays lesson which went awesome, there are multiple issues that need to be taken care of. If they do get baptized it would be her and her two children the age of 12 and 9. Her other children are too young and her husband/boyfriend doesn't want to listen to our message. Other than her we don'thave any legit investigators for this transfer. For sure though next transfer we'll see more baptisms. It's going to be legit! Time is flying here on the mission! I can't believe it's been over a month now since I left! Ya there are slow days but there are fast days so it's going by quick! Actually there is a woman named Margie who is aruond 60 who really loves our message! We're actually teaching her tomorrow and we are excited to go to that tomorrow I actuall believe she will get baptized this transfer, if not this one for sure the next. She's so awesome! I'm so stoked for my first baptism. whenever that is. Hopefully soon! But ya, members are important and everything but it's way more important to actually bring these people their salvation, to bring them closer to Christ! That really gets me excited and enormously happy.
Oh my GOSH! I'm always tired! It's so ridiculous how exhausted I am always! I think I miss that the most, sleeping in and doing nothing! Love Pdays though. Get to play sports and take naps! So awesome! Too bad they go by so fast!
Need help on Jehova Witness stuff! Our next door neighbor who's our friend, is a Jehova Witness and we're having trouble answering her questions especially how to prove Jesus Christ is Jehova. I don't know any scriptures to counter the one in Genesis where it says " I God and Jehova" or something like that. I don't have any proof saying Christ was God during that time in the ancient times. Need help, so give me some tips.
Well I am happy you guys had a bike day dedicated to me! That's legit. Too bad I haven't had the opportunity to ride a bike yet. Luckily this week we have the car but next week we WALK! BUMMER! I need you to tell Jonathan to send me the bike please! It's really necessary because my feet get really stanky after a full day of walking in the humidity here! Plus it's suppose to rain all next week! That's going to SUCK! Well I LOVE my mission and my area! It's so BOMB and legit here! Other than the bible belt but ya it's awesome here! I love the pople here and the word. I love my companion, he's such a great trainer for me. I hope you guys are being awesome as usual. Tell Lina I love her and hopefully she can say my name by the time I get back! I love you and Clint! I hope you guys are doing good and nothing bad is happening. Thanks for EVERYTHING!
City boy teaching the country folks
Elder Henriquez
PS Can you tell Jonathan to send me the bike as soon as possible! and thanks for the awesome package! I'll try responding faster but I get so busy sometimes but I'll make my best efforts! Here's a petal from an awesome flower of some tree!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
1st Letter from the field
Henriquez Family,
Okay here is my real letter! It's my 2nd day out on the field and it's crazy! I'm way more busy then usual. Well I stayed up all night the day I left because I had to be at the travel office at 3:30am to pick up all the materials because I was the travel leader. I left to Salt Lake around 4am and got there around 5:30am. The line was soooo long for security that it took us an hour to get through. So by then it's around 6:40am and we were suppose to board at 6:30am and the plane left to Atlanta at 7:05am so we were rushing there. We got there in time but I didn't get the opportunity to call. Landed in Atlanta 3 hours later and that Airport is huge!!! There's a train station that actually takes you to your terminals, I didn't know that at the time so we wasted most of our time walking to our gate. Sooo dumb! That's why I only had 20 minutes to call people and I only talked to Mom, Dad, and Jacob. Than I landed in Knoxville and there were no pay phones to call. I was the only one able to call my family because there was only one pay phone that worked.
The President was already waiting for us since our flight took forever to land. President & Sister Griffin are awesome people. They fed us great food. So far the whole place reminds me of Twilight. A little town surrounded by Forest, its so crazy.
My companion is Elder Robison! Way chill guy! He's from Idaho and loves to wakeborading and snowboarding so that's what we mostly talk about. He's been in the field for 3 months so he just finished training and now he's my trainer. Crazy but he's so humble and nice, I think we're going to get along fine but.... he's a slob just like Jacob, this might be issue.
Oh I'm serving in Dalton, Georgia! I'll be here for 3 months till next transfer. So we can't start tracking till I have a bike so I hope Jonathan sent it already. But luckily we are full of appointment till Sunday. S hopefully it gets here by than. My apartment has a washer and dryer, way chill! So I just had Cinnamon toast crunch with sour milk! It's 2 days expired! I ate it so I wouldn't waste my cereal but I regret doing that now.
Stay strong and faithful. Oh and President Griffin said the coolest thing to me when I arrived! He said, "City boy teaching to the County folks." So I'm going to put that on every letter till my mission is over.
Elder Henriquez
P.S. can someone ask Jonathan if he sent the bike with helmet and bike lock please? need one pronto!
Okay here is my real letter! It's my 2nd day out on the field and it's crazy! I'm way more busy then usual. Well I stayed up all night the day I left because I had to be at the travel office at 3:30am to pick up all the materials because I was the travel leader. I left to Salt Lake around 4am and got there around 5:30am. The line was soooo long for security that it took us an hour to get through. So by then it's around 6:40am and we were suppose to board at 6:30am and the plane left to Atlanta at 7:05am so we were rushing there. We got there in time but I didn't get the opportunity to call. Landed in Atlanta 3 hours later and that Airport is huge!!! There's a train station that actually takes you to your terminals, I didn't know that at the time so we wasted most of our time walking to our gate. Sooo dumb! That's why I only had 20 minutes to call people and I only talked to Mom, Dad, and Jacob. Than I landed in Knoxville and there were no pay phones to call. I was the only one able to call my family because there was only one pay phone that worked.
The President was already waiting for us since our flight took forever to land. President & Sister Griffin are awesome people. They fed us great food. So far the whole place reminds me of Twilight. A little town surrounded by Forest, its so crazy.
My companion is Elder Robison! Way chill guy! He's from Idaho and loves to wakeborading and snowboarding so that's what we mostly talk about. He's been in the field for 3 months so he just finished training and now he's my trainer. Crazy but he's so humble and nice, I think we're going to get along fine but.... he's a slob just like Jacob, this might be issue.
Oh I'm serving in Dalton, Georgia! I'll be here for 3 months till next transfer. So we can't start tracking till I have a bike so I hope Jonathan sent it already. But luckily we are full of appointment till Sunday. S hopefully it gets here by than. My apartment has a washer and dryer, way chill! So I just had Cinnamon toast crunch with sour milk! It's 2 days expired! I ate it so I wouldn't waste my cereal but I regret doing that now.
Stay strong and faithful. Oh and President Griffin said the coolest thing to me when I arrived! He said, "City boy teaching to the County folks." So I'm going to put that on every letter till my mission is over.
Elder Henriquez
P.S. can someone ask Jonathan if he sent the bike with helmet and bike lock please? need one pronto!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
05/23/2011
Okay so I'm in the field and I think I sent a letter I'm not sure. I forget because I'm so busy all the time. Well
I'm in Dalton, Georgia. The Dirty SOUTH!! It's awesome here. The food is way bomb and the members
here are awesome. It's really the bible belt here and it get's crazy sometimes. We already got in a bash my
second day here. It was dumb cause we proved him wrong every single time but he was too stubborn to
listen to our message. But there are humble people that do listen to our message and those are the people we
are looking for. My companion and I have faith that we can do it. So have that in your prayers so the Lord
can guide us to find those people.
Sway Henriquez
I'm in Dalton, Georgia. The Dirty SOUTH!! It's awesome here. The food is way bomb and the members
here are awesome. It's really the bible belt here and it get's crazy sometimes. We already got in a bash my
second day here. It was dumb cause we proved him wrong every single time but he was too stubborn to
listen to our message. But there are humble people that do listen to our message and those are the people we
are looking for. My companion and I have faith that we can do it. So have that in your prayers so the Lord
can guide us to find those people.
Sway Henriquez
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 6th letter to Candi
Dear Candi!!,
......A sister in our district left today and it was so painfull to watch. Last night we watched a talk from Elder Holland called the "miracle mission". It hit everyone so hard and how he said how important a mission is. You should watch and you'll understand how I feel. Being here just for two weeks has changed my life so much. I'm a completely different person now! It's incredible how the Lord's work can change somebody. I love my mission! It's one of the greatest experiences I'm going through and I feel so awesome doing it. Serving a mission has and will continue to change my life. When the Hermana told us she was leaving the 6th of May, it killed my hear and soul. Watching someone who has suffered as much as me or Christ just throw it away because she feels she's not strong enough tears my soul in half it hurts me so bad to hear those words slip through her lips. I use to think when missionaries came home that the mission wasn't meant for them but now I KNOW that the mission is meant for every 19 year old man and any sister who even has the slightest interest in going.
.....TRC is a place where members and even non-members allow missionaries to teach them. It's a time where we get to practice. This was mine and my companion first time doing so they assigned us to room 41. Before we even knocked on that door I prayed with my companion asking for guidance and to be inspired by the spirit! We knocked, got in , and did the typical routine to find out information of the investigator. It was a 21 year old man, he was a member and he was acting to be an investigator. Usually I do most of the talking because my companion is a shy, timid, guy! My style of teaching is to ask a lot of questions to find out what they really need. I asked this man "what do you fear in this world?" "He was going to say something than he hesitated an said do you want me to be real like how I really feel or act and just be the investigator?" My companion was about to say to act as an investigator but before he could I rushed and said be YOU! Be the real you and tell me how you really feel! He looked at me and saw how serious I was. When he asked me that question I wasn't me anymore, i was one in one with the spirit! He said he's having trouble doing the Lords will and he doesn't understand why the Lord doesn't give him certain blessing. I quickly gave him doctrine over obedience and how the Lord blesses us for being obedient! After that I gave him the scripture Ether 12:27 where it talks about how it makes our weaknesses to strengths. Everything was quiet and I took a deep breath and gave him my testimony over this subject. I honestly don't remember what I said in my testimony but what I said brought him to tears. this experience was so amazing and I'm so grateful for it. The Lord used me a his messenger and the feeling was so amazing I'm so anxious to get out in the field!
......Candi- Tell everyone how I've changed and how I'm going to continue to grow to be a better man. Tell the family I LOVE them and miss them. These two years are going to be the greatest two years of my life. Well like it says in D&C 93:2 Christ is the light to mankind! Christ is leading me with his light to be a stronger and more awesome man! I love him for that, I will walk till my legs can no longer bare me! I will crawl till my arms collapse I will shout and praise the Gospel till my voice is no longer heard, for I know that everything I suffer and go through is not even a fraction what Christ went for ME and everyone!
Goodnight! Love Elder Josue Henriquez
......A sister in our district left today and it was so painfull to watch. Last night we watched a talk from Elder Holland called the "miracle mission". It hit everyone so hard and how he said how important a mission is. You should watch and you'll understand how I feel. Being here just for two weeks has changed my life so much. I'm a completely different person now! It's incredible how the Lord's work can change somebody. I love my mission! It's one of the greatest experiences I'm going through and I feel so awesome doing it. Serving a mission has and will continue to change my life. When the Hermana told us she was leaving the 6th of May, it killed my hear and soul. Watching someone who has suffered as much as me or Christ just throw it away because she feels she's not strong enough tears my soul in half it hurts me so bad to hear those words slip through her lips. I use to think when missionaries came home that the mission wasn't meant for them but now I KNOW that the mission is meant for every 19 year old man and any sister who even has the slightest interest in going.
.....TRC is a place where members and even non-members allow missionaries to teach them. It's a time where we get to practice. This was mine and my companion first time doing so they assigned us to room 41. Before we even knocked on that door I prayed with my companion asking for guidance and to be inspired by the spirit! We knocked, got in , and did the typical routine to find out information of the investigator. It was a 21 year old man, he was a member and he was acting to be an investigator. Usually I do most of the talking because my companion is a shy, timid, guy! My style of teaching is to ask a lot of questions to find out what they really need. I asked this man "what do you fear in this world?" "He was going to say something than he hesitated an said do you want me to be real like how I really feel or act and just be the investigator?" My companion was about to say to act as an investigator but before he could I rushed and said be YOU! Be the real you and tell me how you really feel! He looked at me and saw how serious I was. When he asked me that question I wasn't me anymore, i was one in one with the spirit! He said he's having trouble doing the Lords will and he doesn't understand why the Lord doesn't give him certain blessing. I quickly gave him doctrine over obedience and how the Lord blesses us for being obedient! After that I gave him the scripture Ether 12:27 where it talks about how it makes our weaknesses to strengths. Everything was quiet and I took a deep breath and gave him my testimony over this subject. I honestly don't remember what I said in my testimony but what I said brought him to tears. this experience was so amazing and I'm so grateful for it. The Lord used me a his messenger and the feeling was so amazing I'm so anxious to get out in the field!
......Candi- Tell everyone how I've changed and how I'm going to continue to grow to be a better man. Tell the family I LOVE them and miss them. These two years are going to be the greatest two years of my life. Well like it says in D&C 93:2 Christ is the light to mankind! Christ is leading me with his light to be a stronger and more awesome man! I love him for that, I will walk till my legs can no longer bare me! I will crawl till my arms collapse I will shout and praise the Gospel till my voice is no longer heard, for I know that everything I suffer and go through is not even a fraction what Christ went for ME and everyone!
Goodnight! Love Elder Josue Henriquez
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Phone call and new address
Josue will be leaving the MTC on Tuesday, May 17th. He will be calling from the airport between 5-6am UT time to the Henriquez Home. All is welcome and he would love to hear from all of you!
With his move, please direct all letters to his mission home.
Elder Josue Henrriquez
Tennessee Knoxville Mission
11320 Station West Dr Ste 101
Farragut, TN 37934
Photos to HOME
These are photos of Josue and his district, 48D!
Starting from the left:
Elder Arianollo, Elder Henriquez, Elder Rodriguez, Hermana Lopez, Hermana Robles, Hermana Olivares, Elder Guerra, Elder Tamayo, Elder Canales
All wearing purple for the photos.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
First Letter Home From Elder Henriquez
Dear Henriquez family;
First day of the MTC has been crazy, cool, awesome, weird, and fun. There's no other way to explain it. Everyone here is so welcoming and nice. My companion, Elder Canales, is a really cool guy. He's from Fullerton, California and not even converted to this gospel a year. It's amazing to see how the Spirit, Christ, and this gospel has impacted his life. I'm tremendously grateful that he's my companion and has such a strong testimony. It's amazing to me that he's more organized and cleaner than me! So we do get along well in our room in the residence hall. All of our teachers are amazing and genius of the gospel. They will for sure guide us to be better missionaries.
My zone is AWESOME! We all get along and laugh a bunch. There's one sister that reminds me of Candi and another a mixture of Emma and Ceci. It's really funny! The one that resembles Candi is from Miami, of course ha, and the other from North Carolina, and it's really funny that their parents are from Guatemala. There are 3 Salvadorenas other than me in our zone which is 9, and it's hilarious that everyone loves pupusas, even the Mexicans.
Okay so I'm not going to get fat because there is a weightlifting room and every day we have gym for one hour. Ha, so, so, so happy. Oh and the rumors of the juice making you fart is true! Jacob wouldn't last because he already has problems. Remember Jacob on your mission don't drink the juice here at the MTC.
I've had many spiritual moments here on my first day! The Spirit is so strong sometimes that my body becomes numb, my eyes begin to tear up, and my soul enflames with joy. I'm very grateful that I'm here and I know I am here for a reason. I love you all and I hope you guys are doing great.
Love, Elder Henriquez
PS I need soap for my face from the dermatologist and I need my medication from walgreens. You guys can get it May 3rd. Also if you can send me my Portugal jersey cause everyone represents ha ha ha oh and stamps, paper, and envelopes please. Oh and a picture of my family.
First day of the MTC has been crazy, cool, awesome, weird, and fun. There's no other way to explain it. Everyone here is so welcoming and nice. My companion, Elder Canales, is a really cool guy. He's from Fullerton, California and not even converted to this gospel a year. It's amazing to see how the Spirit, Christ, and this gospel has impacted his life. I'm tremendously grateful that he's my companion and has such a strong testimony. It's amazing to me that he's more organized and cleaner than me! So we do get along well in our room in the residence hall. All of our teachers are amazing and genius of the gospel. They will for sure guide us to be better missionaries.
My zone is AWESOME! We all get along and laugh a bunch. There's one sister that reminds me of Candi and another a mixture of Emma and Ceci. It's really funny! The one that resembles Candi is from Miami, of course ha, and the other from North Carolina, and it's really funny that their parents are from Guatemala. There are 3 Salvadorenas other than me in our zone which is 9, and it's hilarious that everyone loves pupusas, even the Mexicans.
Okay so I'm not going to get fat because there is a weightlifting room and every day we have gym for one hour. Ha, so, so, so happy. Oh and the rumors of the juice making you fart is true! Jacob wouldn't last because he already has problems. Remember Jacob on your mission don't drink the juice here at the MTC.
I've had many spiritual moments here on my first day! The Spirit is so strong sometimes that my body becomes numb, my eyes begin to tear up, and my soul enflames with joy. I'm very grateful that I'm here and I know I am here for a reason. I love you all and I hope you guys are doing great.
Love, Elder Henriquez
PS I need soap for my face from the dermatologist and I need my medication from walgreens. You guys can get it May 3rd. Also if you can send me my Portugal jersey cause everyone represents ha ha ha oh and stamps, paper, and envelopes please. Oh and a picture of my family.
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