November 17, 2014

What an insane week! On Tuesday, it was SO windy. People here don't know how to handle the wind, and neither do the trees. I can't tell you how many trees didn't make it through the wind. We had zone meeting on Tuesday and we did exchanges that day as well. I stayed in the YSA and we froze our little buns off. Not only was it super windy, but it was freezing cold too. On Wednesday, sister Thomas came back and the weather was the same. Insanely cold and windy. Thankfully we had a lot of lessons that day, so we didn't have to suffer too bad. We took a less active member to the family history center and one of the old people there was warning us that the next day was going to snow 4-6 inches and that we would lose power. He was really concerned with making sure we had toilet water, and we reassured him that we would figure it out. At least the old people here are taking care of us haha. On Thursday it did snow, but definitely not 4-6 inches. We were worried that our cars would be on lockdown with the snow (The mission president likes to do that) and our area is waaaayyyy too big to walk everywhere, and we had a really important lesson with our investigator, Minji, so we drove over there before the would lockdown the cars. Thankfully we got the lesson over with, and they didn't end up taking away the cars. I can't imagine not having a car in the YSA since everyone lives so far away from each other. I guess it is really early for it to be snowing here, so everyone was really shocked. On Friday Elder Snow came to our mission for a mission tour. It was a long day, but such a great one. I learned so much from him. On our lunch break, him and his wife came and sat by us because I guess we were laughing too much and they wanted to sit where the fun was happening. I found out that his grandpa (or great grandpa?) co-founded Snowflake (makes a lot of sense) so that was pretty cool! On Saturday Minji had her baptismal interview and is all set for her baptism this Saturday! We are getting really excited! Everything with her has been so amazingly easy and I have been waiting for something to happen to keep her from being baptized. So far, nothing. Keep her in your prayers! We had stake conference this weekend, and at the adult session, we had a "missionary and friends" choir, so we all invited our investigators to sing with us. Our investigator, Vivian, did it with us and it was such a cool experience. The spirit was really strong and it was just so good! On Sunday, president Taylor spoke at stake conference and it was just really good. Well, that's about it for this week. We will hopefully have a baptism this weekend, so make sure to pray for us. The work here is booming! We get transfer calls this week, so hopefully sister Thomas and I don't get transferred. She has been here for 9 months, so it is very likely that she won't be staying. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Henderson

Let it Snow!

November 10, 2014

It has been quite the week here in Washington! The weather is cooling
down a lot and people are already putting up their Christmas stuff. I
made sister Thomas start to go running with me, so she isn't happy
with me about that. I just need to work off all the crap they feed us
in the YSA. So good news, our investigator Minji, the one who randomly
came to church, is on date for November 22! We are really excited! She
is awesome and so adorable. She was making sure that she was still ok
to be be baptized and was telling us how excited her family is for the
baptism! President Taylor came to our ward on Sunday, so we introduced
him to Minji and she was telling him how excited she is to be
baptized. She is pretty solid :) we only get to meet with her twice a
week for half an hour, so we are trying to cram in as much as we can
before her baptism. We found 3 new investigators this week, two of
them used to be investigators, so we just started meeting with them
again. The other one we found while tracting, which is nearly
impossible to find 18-30 year old women who are not married and don't
have any kids. We were pretty excited about that one! Our other
investigator, Hannah, is doing awesome! We took her to a baptism on
Saturday and she loved it. She is still try into decide if she wants
to join the church, but she is excited to come to church this weekend!
Vivian is doing ok. She isn't progressing very well and has a lot of
concerns. Hopefully we can clear things up for her. She has been
investigating the church for a year now, so we hope that she will
figure things out! We got to go up to Longview this week, which is an
hour drive. I know know what everyone talks about. It smells weird up
there. We met one of sister Thomas' childhood friends there who ended
up moving her a few months ago! She isn't a member, so it was cool to
teach her! Not much else is happening. We are just trying to work as
hard as we can! And don't worry about the subject of this email.
Everyone thinks we get to do what we want because our boundaries are
insane, so it is really funny that they think that. Well, I hope you
all have a good week! I love you all! Thanks for the support and
prayers. They really do carry me :)
Sister Henderson

November 3, 2014

I think that the rain is bringing success with it here in Vancouver. We have finally been seeing the fruits of our labors! We have taught so many lessons this week, and our investigators are progressing unbelievably well! We put another one of our investigators on date this week and we finally got to start teaching her the lessons! She has been asking us since the day we met her when she could be baptized, and now that we started the lessons, she is basically good to go! It has really been one of the best weeks since I have been here! Sister Thomas turned 21 on Thursday, so we ate A LOT of cake that day. Everybody we saw gave us cake. Talk about a sugar overload. We got to go to the temple with one of our investigators and her aunt that day and take them to the visitors center. It was so good and they loved it! I really hope this helps her in her decision to be baptized! On Halloween we had to be in after dark and there was a YSA thing in Oregon, so none of the YSA's were available to teach or anything. We ended up going to an old couple's house and cleaning it, even though it wasn't even dirty. They gave us cupcakes, so I wasn't about to complain! On Saturday, one of our recent converts took us out to a German restaurant and it was the best thing I have eaten on my mission. It is unique to Oregon and Washington, so that is kind of a bummer. 

It has been super rainy here, like nonstop rain for the past 2 weeks. I love it! Everyone thinks that I can't handle the rain since I am from Arizona, but in fact, it is the opposite. It just makes me love it even more. It is cooling off a lot and I am loving the cooler fall weather. I had my first experience with daylight savings on Sunday. It was good because we got an extra hour of sleep. I am not, however, looking forwarding to losing an hour. I love Arizona because you don't gain anything, so then you don't have to lose anything.

I can't believe that Bryce got called to Washington! I totally called it! Congrats Bryce! You are going to love it! Vancouver actually used to be in that mission, so a lot of missionaries in my mission were originally called to Kennewick. It isn't as cool as the Vancouver mission, but it is alright I guess :) I can't believe this transfer is already halfway over. I really hope I get to stay here forever. I think that 18 months in the Clark ward would be a dream come true. It is a great place to be for a long time!  I will have to talk to President and see what her thinks :) I hope you all had a great Halloween! Have a great week and keep doing missionary work!

Love,

Sister Henderson

Temple trip with our investigator

October 27, 2014

What a week! The work here is so good. Unfortunately, we had to drop one of our investigators because she won't come to church, which was a bummer. We have been meeting with her since I have been here and they have been teaching her even longer than that. It was really hard to drop her but I don't think it will ever be easy to drop anyone, we did find a new investigator on Thursday! We taught her a lesson on Friday and put her on date for baptism! She came to church on Sunday and she was sharing a ton of comments which was so great. Our other investigator that we had on date decided that she wasn't ready, so we won't be having a baptism next week. All we can do is keep meeting with her and help her get to the point where she feels like she is ready! The weather has been crazy. It has been super windy and rainy. There was a tornado in Longview, about an hour away from me, but don't worry. I'm still alive. I'm only missing one leg so I still have another to spare. In Vancouver there were trees laying in the middle of the road which reminded me a lot of what happens in Arizona when it rains. You would have though the world was ending with everyone's reactions. 

We got a new car this week, so in the midst of the shuffle we got to drive the AP's truck since we didn't have a car, and you kinda need a car when you cover 5 stakes. We had way too much fun with it and tried to convince the AP's to let us keep it, but they gave us a new Ford Fusion instead, so we let it slide just this once :)

Funny story of the week: a girl in the ward signed up to feed us on Friday night and told us that she was going to take us to her home ward's Halloween party/chili cook-off. That was great and all, but she didn't show up until 40 minutes late so we were left to hang out with her mom the whole time. Everyone in the ward was really confused and thought we were new missionaries in the ward, and were disappointed when we told them that we weren't. The elders that are actually in the ward glared at us the whole time and were not happy with us being there. It was actually pretty funny. It was so weird being at a family ward party because there were kids everywhere and a lot of pregnant women. Kids are a foreign concept in the singles ward! We just felt so awkward and out of place. I don't know what I am going to do when I leave the YSA. It is a totally different kind of work. I love the members in the ward because they are so supportive and so missionary minded. A lot of them are returned missionaries so they are so helpful. 

That's about all for this week! Nothing too interesting, but we stay busy! I can't believe that I have been out for almost 10 weeks. It really does go by so fast! I really don't know how I have been able to wake up at 6:30 every morning. Miracle truly do exist! Thanks for all the prayers and support! They really do help me to work harder every day. I love you all! Have a great week and an awesome Halloween! Stay safe :)

Sister Henderson

Short lived joy

We are a little excited for Halloween 

This stupid balloon was only supposed to stay lit up for 15 hours. It has been a week and it is still going strong

October 20, 2014

The weeks here all blend together! This week was pretty successful but
discouraging at the same time. On Monday for FHE there was a potluck,
which we got one of our investigators to, and it was great! I really
just liked it because there is free food, but our investigator loved
it! We met with her the next day and put her on date for November 1st!
Her name is Vivian and she is so ready for baptism! She has been
taking the lessons for years but now she is 18 can finally be
baptized! We had zone meeting on Wednesday and sister Thomas and I had
to give the training. It went very well for my first time I guess. The
rest of the week was a little harder. We didn't have much success and
everyone we tried by wasn't home. On Sunday none of our investigators
came to church which was a bummer, but we did have a few less active
members come! The bishop had a fireside on Sunday night for he recent
converts and investigators and we got a few to that! The senior couple
is on fire! They went to Longview, which is part of the ward but is an
hour and a half away and we don't have the miles on our car to get up
there, so we never make it up there. There are only about 12 members
that come down from Longview for church, and the senior couple went up
there and talked with the stake president and there are 500 members
that are YSA age with their records up there! Now they are just going
to be finding those members and reactivating them so Longview can have
their own YSA ward. We are super excited about this! Great things are
happening in this ward and I am glad to be here! There is so much work
to do so we are for sure kept busy! The members are still feeding us
every night, so I'm not going hungry. Getting a little chubby maybe,
but not going hungry :) the weather has been rainy, which I LOVE!
That's about it for this week, I'm just staying busy. I can't believe
I have been our for 2 months! Time really does fly in the mission
field! Hope everyone has a great week! I love you all
Love,
Sister Henderson

October 13, 2014 Sushi Moto!

Another great week here in the best mission in the world! On Tuesday a
member took us out to Sushi and I tried it for my first time! I loved
it! It was delicious! Where has it been all my life? On Wednesday we
got a new investigator who has been taught all the lessons and is so
ready for baptism! She came to church on Sunday and loved the YSA! We
are super excited and as going to put her on date this week. We also
got to watch Meet the Mormons on Wednesday. They wanted all the
missionaries to watch it before it came out, so we all got to see it
at the mission office, and then they fed us lunch (free food!). I
loved it! It is so good! On Wednesday night we did exchanges with the
Hermanas who are our STL's and I got to stay in the YSA with Hermana
Clanton and sister Thomas had to go to the Spanish area. Because I
stayed in my area, I had to drive all day on Thursday and it was
great! It made me realize how much I miss driving! While we were on
exchanges on Thursday, another member took us out to sushi! So I got
it twice this week, not that I'm complaining. On Friday the transfer
letters went out. We were nervous because earlier this week, president
said that only 10 companionship son the whole mission were staying
together. Thankfully, no letters came for us! We are the only ones in
our zone that stayed together! This is for sure Sister Thomas' last
transfer in the YSA. She will have been here for 9 months by the end
of this transfer! She will only have one left before she goes home, so
she will get to have one more area! On Saturday we got to go to the
temple! Sister Thomas' first two converts, an older couple, were going
through the temple for the first time! It was so good and I just love
the temple! On Sunday we got another new investigator, so that is
pretty exciting! The work is progressing here so much and I am so glad
I get to be a part of it! The weather is beautiful and is starting to
cool down. I love the mornings here because they are always foggy and
it looks super cool! It hasn't been rainy yet, but everyone says it's
coming, so we will see! I am doing good, but I got sick this week. The
cold is going around and missionaries are around a lot of people, so
we get sick easily. But I am not going to let it stop me from working
:) there is too much to do! I love you all and hope you all have a
great week! Thanks for all the support!
Love,
Sister Henderson

Sushi!!

October 6, 2014

What a week. The week are just flying by faster and faster! I seriously don't know how today got here so fast! I guess that is a good thing, right? The first transfer is over next week! Crazy! So this week, we got a new investigator, Victoria, who is Chuuk. There are a lot of people here from Chuuk but they are some of the most humble and Christlike people I know. Her dad answered the door and made us come in and sit down and gave us both water and then he sat in on the lesson with us. We are so excited to have Victoria! She is so open and receptive to the message! We got a senior couple this week in the YSA and we helped them move in on Wednesday. They are so cute and energetic and are perfect for this ward! They are so excited to be here and I know that they will do a lot for all these young single adults! Our ward now has 3 sets of missionaries! It is much needed though because there is so much work to do! We cover 5 stakes and go as far as Longview which is about an hour and a half away, so we don't have the miles to go up very often. I feel like we are always driving because everyone is so far away from each other, but I am grateful for the car! I feel like there are not enough hours in the day to do much but we are always busy! Conference was so amazing! It is like the Super Bowl for missionaries :) We all get so pumped to hear the prophet! It is even more amazing as a missionary because we look at everything so differently! I didn't have a favorite talk, because they were all so amazing! I learned a lot about things that I need to change to make me a better missionary. If everyone hasn't had the chance to see the video I shared on facebook, watch it. The sisters that made it are in my district and all the other missionaries that dance in it are in my district as well. They tried to get sister thomas and I to be in it too but we didn't know what they were talking about so we left. So I almost got my chance to be famous. Oh well. I am just impressed with it! I wish I was that creative! The weather has been unusually warm... 78. But i am loving it! It is finally getting to be boot and cardigan weather! I am super stoked! It rains on and off but has been sunny the past couple of days. Everyone tells me to wait until it starts raining nonstop and I can't lie, i am pretty excited. The members are still spoiling us, we have only had 3 dinner appointments cancel on us since I have been here! They feed us very well! I need to start doing more crunches and push ups or I am going to gain 5,000 pounds in the next 18 months.Well, that is all I have for this week! I am doing great and I am just trying to push myself as hard as I can! I love it here so much and I couldn't think of a better mission to serve in! I am pretty biased, but this is the best mission in the world! :) The members are fantastic and the YSA's are on fire with missionary work! I hope everyone is doing well! I Iove you all! Have a great week!

Sister Henderson