Real meaning

I have been thinking a lot about what I was going to say about this Christmas holiday or what pictures I would choose to post. I think I am just going to write about what I have learned. So far, this Christmas has been the most touching and humbling one of my life. There has been more charity, love and learning than I have ever seen in one month.
It all begin at the beginning of December when we took our car in for what we thought was only an inspection to get it registered. What it ended up being was a $400 bill for fixing a broken axle. There was no way we were going to be able to pay it. What money we could fork out was what we were going to use for Christmas. Tyler's parents let us borrow their car until we could find the money to pay for our car. This went on for about a week or two. Then one day after Tyler had picked me up from work, we were pulling into the driveway when we saw our car sitting there. We just looked at each other. We didn't know what to say. We just sat there and cried. Once we got ourselves together, we went inside We called our parents to see if they had anything to do with this. They both said that they didn't know anything about it.Who could have done something so selfless? Especially when Christmas was right around the corner?
A co-worker and good friend from work knew of our money situation and decided that she wanted to help us out so I could at least get a stocking for Tyler. Tyler stayed up all night Christmas Eve to clean our apartment.
On Christmas morning:
Tyler's parents got him some much needed church clothes. We were able to talk to Warner, Tyler's brother who was on a mission. We got to make breakfast for my family and us kids got to go in on presents for my mom and dad. I got to give Tyler the framed BOM timeline that my dad helped me build. He also made a desk for Tyler to be able to do his school work. It was a very exhausting and emotional day.
I have always wanted to think of myself as someone who wouldn't care if I didn't get a thing for Christmas. That just wasn't true. But now, I can say with all my heart that I wouldn't care if I never received another gift in my life. I just need my family and Tyler with me. I am so grateful for trials and what they can teach you if you let them. Every time I am going through some kind of hard ship I think of a specific verse from this church song that we sang in young women's.
"Sometimes he lets it rain, he lets the fierce winds blow. Sometimes it takes a storm to lead a heart where it can grow. He can move mountains of grief and oceans of pain. But sometimes he lets it rain".

I truly know what it's like to give without expecting anything in return and I have learned that there really are good people in this world. I still love Christmas just as much as ever but now, for very different reasons.

Most Wonderful Tree

After much deliberation as to whether I should post pictures of our Christmas tree, I have decided to post. I worry that the pictures won't do justice but after receiving awesome compliments from my great VT's, Carissa and Mckenna, I'm doin it. Does anyone ever really read pre-picture explanations anyway?
BTW, I am slowly trying to get rid of Tyler's beloved, hoarded magazine collection. Every time I clean, I throw 1 or 2 away. He still hasn't noticed.


Toben checking for poison..


Tyler being hot and awesome..





Here...

Probation

When I was 16, I was put on house arrest. Why I did has nothing to do with my story so I will omit this bit of info. While on house arrest, I would have to call my parole officer when I was leaving to school to tell him I was leaving. I would have to call again once I got home to tell him I was home and if I went anywhere else throughout the day, I would have to call and check in. I was aslo not allowed to leave the house without my mom or dad with me.
I am now 22 and for the past 6 months have been on another round of probation. This probation is nothing like my probation I was on when I was 16.
I work at Slate Canyon Youth Center, or 'DT' as the street folk call it. Once you start working here you have to go through a 6 month probation period which means, if they don't like, they can get rid of you. Oh the anticipation.
I am still working and am happy to announce that I have served my time honorably. Which means, I can be guilt free when I schedule in my 5 hours of daily slack off time.
Life is good.

Learning Things

I just learned something new about myself just now. Men who can juggle are really really attractive.

Not Caring

This seems to be a trend this week in blogging. Posting things you don't care about. I saw this on Caitlyn Cox's blog. This goes along great with the whole theme of my blog. It's a lot more fun to not care. Easier on the heart too.

Things I don't care about:

wearing clothes multiple times before washing them

washing a dish with soap before putting it away

swearing- sometimes it's really funny.

smiling

SMALL TALK

using tissues for a runny nose

wedding etiquette-Thank You cards? I said it when you came to the reception.

admitting that I STILL love Clay Aiken

farting

answering my phone

staying as skinny as I was in high school

eating expired food

being tan

wearing bikinis-"show the goods while you got em"-Jodi Henson

BYU

celebrities-total narcissists

world peace

True Love

Today, Tyler told me I was the worm in the apple of his eye.
He loves me.

Spel Chekk Plese

Since I get paid 8 hours a day for blog stalking, I have noticed some things. People cannot spell. I go through blog after blog, post after post of horrific spelling & grammar. I just don't understand. Are people just that confident that they think they don't need to use that cute little ABC check mark in the corner? Is it just not important in their life? Are they just so rushed and busy that they think as long as they get the time to post, we will excuse this horrible sin?
I would take time to point out a few, very common mistakes that I see on a regular basis, but that, I feel is just too offensive to the English language and to my fellow bloggers. If you do not know the difference between they're, there, and their. You're dead to me.
Seriously. I didn't even graduate!..It's true. No cap and gown for me but I can sure as hell spell 'accessory' any day of the week.
As I look through my past posts, I notice that I complain A LOT.(<----see that? They are two separate words) But that's what I do. I notice things about that world that bug me. Why hide my true feelings just cause I have a blog that everyone can read? If someone isn't around to point out every one's flaws, how can they improve? I feel this is my civic duty. Why I was put on this earth. That and to save the animals of course. Which by the way is going great.
Is it too much to ask for everyone to promise me they will use spell check before they post?

By the way. I have noticed lately that when a man is with his wife/girlfriend at a social gathering, he will start to tell a story whether it be about another person, a trip they went on, etc. Sometime during the story the man will lean over to their woman and ask them to confirm a specific fact. A person's age, the date of the trip, etc. The woman responds, then the man instantly questions the woman's answer, or rejects the answer altogether! What?! Why even ask? Is it just a ploy to remind the woman that she is always wrong? In another life I'll become and man and figure it out.

And I know what you're thinking. I spell checked this post. Just because I knew you were going to think that, I didn't.

Not working at work

Does anyone ever really work when they're at work? I for one, don't. Instead, I put together fun things for people to read.
Enjoi.

Bold the things you've done:


1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo-I was a brave, chubby 10 year old.

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch-does marriage count?

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie-Suits on the Loose.. Suits on the Loose.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy-1 word. Popples

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous-Donny Osmond. Peter Piper Pizza.

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Sad sad life Courtney leads.

Late late

I figured I would post a picture of Meagan coming home since my last post said I would. I have to be honest in all of my blog dealings.
She gave her homecoming talk yesterday and did (of course) a fab job.
In the 10 days that she's been home, she's been on like 12 dates.

party train has arrived on schedule

she is home. (she also told me to write that title.)
Pictures to come later

I hate goodbyes

Dear Family,

I’m glad that tears can’t transfer into emails because I’m scared to write this last email. I’ll start by talking about the amazing things that happened this week so that I can save that part for last.
The Empey family is set and ready for baptism! I am amazed by the dedication and commitment of Steve. For the last two weeks, he has been reading Preach My Gospel, a chapter in the Old Testament, Truth Restored by President Hinckley, and listening to the Book of Mormon on iPod in his car (he’s just finished Alma) every day. He said that he used to think that he didn’t have time for anything more in his life, but somehow, he has time to do all of this. I hope we all feel ashamed of ourselves ;) I told President that I can’t believe that I have an investigator reading Preach My Gospel! We teased Steve that he’s going to know all of our secret missionary tricks! Steve, Roisin and Michael came up to the Trail Center on Saturday and watched the Joseph Smith film. It was such a powerful experience. Afterwards, we asked Steve if he would let us prepare him to be baptized in December. He got a classic Steve-smirk on his face and said, “Yeah, I’m ready to make that covenant with God.” Yes, that’s right, he said covenant, who is this guy?! He knows exactly what it means to be baptized and is fully prepared to not only keep that covenant but magnify it. They weren’t able to come to Church this Sunday, but he said that they would be there “…next week, and the next, until next year, and then every week then as well.” Steve and Roisin decided to be baptized on Dec 6th, and Bryce wants to wait until the 20th so that his Dad can baptize him! Michael says that he hasn’t decided yet, but I’m confident that he’ll be ready by then.
We had Stake Conference this week, which kind of had me bummed at first because I wouldn’t be able to see all of the ward members my last week. It turned out to be a great blessing because I’ve served in so many of the wards in this Stake I got to say good-bye to many more people. I saw some of my favorite families from Elmwood, Gretna, and Papillion. The Lord has been full of tender mercies for me the last couple days. Stake Conference was great though. Elder K. Smith from the 6th Quorum of the Seventy came and he held a new member meeting right before the conference that we attended with the Grote family which was really neat. Bishop Lyman and his family bought scriptures for the entire Grote family, quads for the ones baptized, and the hardback Books of Mormon for the younger kids, all with their names on them! He gave them out right before the meeting and they carried them around so proudly! Elder Smith talked a lot about adversity and overcoming challenges by doing the things that we have always been counseled to do, pray, study the scriptures, attend Church, pay your tithing, etc. The Lord has been preparing us for the last days for a long time. He has been teaching us the things we need to do since this dispensation was begun. So many are waiting for some new, big thing to be revealed that will protect us from the coming challenges. I really don’t know if it will happen that way. Just start doing what they’ve always told us to do! It’s like missionary work; there is no big trick to it. There is never a time when it just clicks and you finally figure out how it works. You just become better at doing the things that we are taught to do and you grow line upon line.
Ok, so I’ll climb down from my soap box and tell you about Sylvester and Aliou. When we went to teach them this week you could see a marked difference in Aliou’s countenance. He kept saying “I am happy, I am so happy, I don’t know why, but I am so happy.” We told him over and over again that it was because he had come to church but he just laughed at that. Then Sylvester piped in and said, “No, Aliou, it is because you went to Church. Don’t minimize the blessings of God.” Whoa, I know! Then he turned to us and said, “I will be at Church this Sunday.” We explained that it would be Stake Conference and what to expect with all of that. We promised that despite the different services, he would still feel the same feelings and receive the same blessings. Afterwards, he said that he loved it and it felt good being there. He also said that when he was “convinced” of these things, that he was going to go be a missionary in France! They’ll be baptized soon for sure. Looks like I’ll be coming back to Omaha often for baptisms, if anyone wants to road trip out with me, you’ll have to provide the car, but start saving up ;) ha.
I’ve been anticipating this last week that I’m going to get the question “So, how was your mission?” about a thousand times when I get home. I’d like to take a moment and answer that to everyone who reads this email so that I only have to say it in real life about 987 times (I’m not sure how many people read this). Words like great, amazing, wonderful, incredible, just don’t quite do it justice. A wise word from one of my favorite members here helped me to put it into one sentence. Here it is: It’s more than I ever thought it would be. I’ve learned more, I’ve experienced more, and I’ve found more joy than I ever thought I would. I’ve loved more, cried more, had more faith than I thought possible. I’ve seen more miracles, more conversions, and more opposition than I could have ever imagined. I’ve learned to trust my Heavenly Father, my Savior, the Spirit and myself. I’ve learned to be patient with the Lord’s timing, others, and most importantly, myself. I’ve learned how to work, how to set goals, how to become the daughter that my Heavenly Father wants me to be. I’m not there, but I’ve got the tools and I understand how to use them. I found that when I truly lost myself in the work, that’s when I found out who I really was. That’s just some of the miracles of a mission. So if you ask me about it, please come equipped with tissues and an hour, and then I might be able to explain to you what the last 19 months of my life has meant to me. I am eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to come here. To allow me to represent His Son, teach His Gospel, and fix me all at the same time. Not to mention all the work that He had to do to help the people I teach become converted despite me. I stand all amazed.
I thank you for the support you’ve been. For the prayers you’ve offered on my behalf and the people here. Thank you for paying your tithing and allowing the work to move forward, it’s blessing millions of people and one girl in particular.
I leave you my witness that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives. That this is His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That His Gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. That the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and will bring you closer to Christ because, as Elder Smith put it, “you bump into Him a lot more often in it.” I love you all. I’ll see you soon.

Love, Sister Henson

Time to vent

For the month of November, I have noticed people writing things that they are grateful for, I have decided to take a different approach to this gratitude thing. I am going to write things that really really bother me. Yeah, I am going to complain. Don't take me wrong, I have a million things that I am grateful for but I don't think everyone wants to sit here and read how much I love my life. Aren't pictures enough?

First things first:

1-People who celebrate 6 month anniversaries. No such thing. It's ANNIVERSARY. Not Bi-versary, not quad-versary. ANNIversary. That's once a year for those who can't do the math. One time folks. No wonder this world is so afraid of generation X taking over. Were going to be having 4 Christmas' a year!..actually not a bad idea, I'll have to write that one down.

2-Happy chewers. Have you noticed people chewing gum that start to laugh or even smile, all of a sudden becomes the world's fastest and loudest chewer? It's like they lost their lips,or they just remembered that they have 5 chins and need to work their jaw out really fast before anyone notices, or they are having a good old fashioned chewing contest with a camel. I urge everyone, next time you find yourself in the middle of a laugh with that Juicy Fruit in your mouth, stop and listen to yourself. If you are guilty. Please, please don't ever do it again.

3-This one isn't so much a complaint as it is a frustration.
So there is a lady in the kitchen where I work that just found out I'm a vegetarian. I try to go as long as I can once I meet someone not to disclose this info. Once that information is in their cute little brain, I turn into a 5 year old when I'm out eating with them. They will look at the menu and show me all of things that I can eat. You would think after this long I would be able to tell. Guess not. Back to the lunch lady. She now takes it upon herself to make me a veggie Pattie everyday for lunch. Bless her heart, it is so nice of her to be taking time to do this. But a person can only eat so many veggie patties. I guess her thinking is that since I don't eat meat, I must love veggie burgers. It's been about two weeks now and I still haven't told her that I don't want to LOOK at another veg Pattie as long as I live be of her generousity. I used to look forward to that time of day where I would have my pick of every side dish imaginable. Now it's like I'm walking into a soy filled hell. yes, it's that bad. What's worse, is that she spells my name wrong. Some days I'm Cortney, other days I'm Kourtny. Today I didn't look to see who I was. I left the tin foiled Pattie on the counter as a sign of my food independence. Me? Passive aggressive?

Merry Christmas

I know at least 2 people that will appreciate this..



'Warcraft' Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing 'Warcraft'

Fairy Tale

This is the make-up I was planning to do for my fairy costume...dead fairy.

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Then Tyler offered to do my make-up cause is really good at drawing skulls, and he is. On paper.....



Thank Allie and Roger for the best Halloween ever..3 hours of Mafia, that's my kind of night.

Penelope

I wish I could be this funny. She kills me!

Sister Henson-The Gospel Blesses Families

(Message from the blog author-
I am getting really sick of posting Meagan's letters and am sooo happy to say that she is coming home on November 14th. 10:00a.m. MST. Man, I have missed her so much. I hope my postings are being read and are not in vain. Holler back.)


Hey family!
It’s been an interesting/amazing week! Just when I got a point where I thought I was perfect ;) the Lord clearly showed me my weaknesses. Ok, not perfect, but I thought I had this missionary thing figured out. Then He humbled me and showed me where He wanted me to improve. Just as I did so, the blessings flowed, poured even. You should remember the Grote (pronounced grow-tee) family. We invited them to a baptism on Saturday. The baptism was for Jennifer and Jessica Huynh, a mother and daughter that I found and taught back in Winter Quarters. It was so great to see them make that sacred covenant with Heavenly Father and have the Grote’s there to see it. It was a beautiful service. There was this sweet little family who got up to sing “I am a Child of God.” Their little boy, Porter, who is probably 5 years old, was so sweet that it brought tears to your eyes. I felt the Spirit so strongly and it made his mom get so emotional she couldn’t sing. I felt the great love that our Heavenly Father has for us. The Grote family felt the Spirit there too. Victoria, 4, was crying and said to her mom, “I can’t get my eyes to stop watering.” Shellaine asked, “Is it because you know that they will be with Jesus now?” Victoria nodded her head yes. Shellaine said she loved everything about the baptism. How simple it was and the Spirit that was there. On the way home, I sat in the backseat of their fifteen seat passenger van with Bailey and Robert and Sister Smith sat one row up with Alexa (all of the kids who are of age). We started asking them about how they felt about it and the conversation went like this:
“Have you been thinking about baptism Bailey?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you feel like you’re ready?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Should we start planning it for November 1st?”
“Uh, yeah, that sounds good.”
So I turned to Robert and had a nearly identical conversation with him. Then Sister Smith asked Alexa the same thing but she seemed a little hesitant. I turned to Bailey and Robert and told them that as soon as we got home, to go up and tell their Mom that they were ready to be baptized. As we all filed out, I caught Shellaine's face just as Bailey said, “Mom, I want to get baptized on November 1st!” “Yeah, me too!” piped in Robert. Once Alexa heard that, she expressed her desire as well. Shellaine’s jaw dropped and a look of joy came over her face. She told us later that she had been trying to decide if she felt ready and as soon as she heard her kids say that, she knew that she was ready and that it was right! The whole family is so excited. Ben, the dad, got the Priesthood last week so he will be able to baptize them! I stand amazed at this family. I continue to wait to see when they are going to have an issue or concern. We’ve taught them everything now, and they excitedly accepted everything that we taught. They have applied all of the principles of the Gospel that they weren’t living yet, which were few. I’ve waited, prepared and prayed to be able to teach a family like this my entire mission. I feel like it’s the best going away present the Lord could give me. He knows that leaving here will be the hardest thing I ever have to do, and He found a way to ease that. Just another way I know that He knows and loves me. I love the tender mercies of the Lord.
We also were able on Saturday, to help a less active member, Brother Ruiz to do some service. He often volunteers to do these mini home makeovers for veterans in Omaha. We invited some other missionaries to help and we painted all morning! (Thanks Mom for letting me help you paint, I was the only missionary there who had any experience!) But I’m glad that you’ve almost finished the house ;) Brother Ruiz has the biggest heart. He has a desire to get back to church and has asked us to teach him the lessons as a refresher. He committed to coming to Church for the next fast Sunday so that will be a great blessing.
We were able to serve in the Trail Center this weekend for the first time this transfer, and what a good time to go. I came out of the gallery at the end of a tour and ran right smack into Sister Beck, you know, the General Relief Society President! I was standing there with some recent converts from Missouri and they got to meet her as well. The woman thanked Sister Beck for her addresses, telling her that she had watched many of them. Sister Beck responded, “Thank your Heavenly Father.” I liked that. She is an amazing woman and you could feel the Spirit radiating from her. She was in town to speak at an Adult Singles Conference.
I’ll share one more quick story then I’ve got to run. Last week, Sister Smith got a letter from a lady in her ward and she stuck a $20 in there, said to take her companion out to lunch. One day, we were having a rough morning and decided to treat ourselves. It took us forever to pick a place to go, but we ended up in this little smoothie shop that does wraps and sandwiches. We ate a nice little lunch and then we felt “inspired” to get a cookie to go. As we walked up to the counter to get one, the girl working in the back had to come up to help us because the normal cashier was gone. She saw our tags and asked us about it. We taught her a very brief apostasy/restoration and she was interested! She gave us her information and we have started teaching her, her name is Kayla. She is so open and sweet. I found it interesting to see a series of small promptings that lead us to her.
Well, thanks for your prayers and support. Keep them coming!
Love, Sister Henson

p.s. Please excuse any terrible spelling or grammar errors, I had to write this really quickly. Plus, I haven't been in school for a long time, it's not my fault!

Sister Henson-Here comes Winter!

Hello family!

So, Nebraska only rains on Monday. It’s another seemingly gloomy day here, but the work is going so well, the weather has lost its effect. Despite the cold, the Spirit is warming (cheesy!) But really, I can’t believe how the Lord has blessed us.
Let me tell you about my favorite Grote family. We taught the oldest kids, Bailey, Robert and Alexa the Plan of Salvation on Tuesday and it went really great. They asked the perfect questions that helped us know that they really understood it. It was almost a textbook MTC lesson. However, we were still trying to find a way to connect with Bailey; everything seemed to hinge on her. The Lord provided the opportunity to build trust and friendship in an unusual way. She had her homecoming dance this weekend and Sister Smith offered to do her hair in an up-do and I offered to do her make-up. She seemed really excited but was still trying to act cool and casual about it. After we got her all dolled up for the dance, she was just beaming! She couldn’t stop thanking us. When the family came to church yesterday, she seemed so much more relaxed. She started to make friends with and talk to the girls in the ward. Ben was ordained to the office of a Priest as well and the family went in to watch. Bailey said it was “really cool.” He is now ready to baptize the family. We are going to teach the kids about the Gospel of Jesus Christ tomorrow night and invite them to set a date! They are so ready. When Sister Smith was doing Bailey’s hair, I talked with the parents. I was asking them questions about why Shellaine wouldn’t let Ben keep going to church when they first got married. (Remember, he had been baptized just before they got married.) She said that she thinks that God had to prepare her a little better so that she would be able to recognize all the good things about this Church and the truth it taught. I found it incredible that she was able to see that herself. I’m humbled that the Lord has allowed me to teach them.
Joelle is also doing so well. She has lived a hard life and is still trying to overcome the consequences of some past decisions. She is so strong, independent and is building a great faith in the Lord. She is so quick to recognize the blessings that Heavenly Father is giving her and she knows that He is confirming to her that what she is doing is right. It has strengthened my testimony of keeping the commandments because Heavenly Father is so quick to bless her. She came to all three hours of church yesterday and was just enveloped by the amazing Relief Society Sisters in the ward. I love Papillion.
Vicki had a scary week but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She has been working on quitting smoking and she prayed last week that God would give her a desire to quit. Well, He did. She started having really bad chest pains and after a couple of days, she finally went to the doctor and they found that she has been experiencing a series of small heart attacks. One of her arteries was 100% blocked. They cleared it out and left a couple of stints (sp?). They told her that she has to quit smoking and she now has a desire to! I know, be careful what you pray for right?!
We took the Empey family to the Trail Center on Friday and had a great time with them. Cheryl didn’t come. I think she is nervous about the changes that this is bringing to her family. She doesn’t seem ready to change. We’re praying that her heart will be softened. The kids are great though. Bryce is excited to come to Church next week. I love that the ten year old is the most progressing and is bringing his older siblings along. I think the other kids will come as well.
Sister Smith is doing great. I just love her. I took her tracting for the first time this last week and she did great. It’s always a really humbling experience and she handled it well. So many missionaries come out with the idea that all we do is tract. I am not that kind of missionary, there is a better way! Anyway, we are having a great time doing the work. I haven’t had this much fun with the work in a long time. She is heaven sent.
The Bishop told me yesterday that I couldn’t leave until they found another Sister Henson to replace me, because they replaced the last Sister Smith with another Sister Smith. So unless someone knows another Sister Henson, I might be here for a while. I’ve got to obey the direction given by my Priesthood leaders… sorry!
I’ve got to run again, thanks for your prayers and support. I love you!
Love, Sister Henson

by the way..

this is what our baby will look like

Workin' for the other side

Taliban Toben

Frick

I swear everyone around me is freakin prego!.... I'm feelin' that crazy coming back..
(see previous post)

Sister Henson-Extending 1 more year!

Hello family!

It’s that time again, can you believe it?! So, another incredible week, of course.
I hope you don’t expect any less from Papillion.
Monday night the Hall family invited the Grote family to their home
for FHE, it was great. The Grote’s are like sponges, absorbing every
temporal and spiritual counsel given by the Church and it’s members.
I love it. The three oldest kids, who are baptismal age, are now really
involved with the lessons and are all reading out of the Book of Mormon.
The family came to visit us at the Trail Center on Saturday and had a
great time. They are progressing well. Shellaine, the Mom,went to
the Relief Society Broadcast and loved it. Since we were in the
Trail Center we couldn’t watch it with her. She went with some of the
Sisters inthe ward. Everything that was talked about was perfect for
her, many of you probably felt the same way, amazing how that works!
As you listen to the leaders of the Church, you can’t help but gain a
greater testimony that they are truly called of God. I just love Sister Beck,
she is such a powerful speaker, and so bold. But at the same time, you can
feel the love that she has for the Lord, and for the great women of this
Church. I want to be her when I grow up! Back to the Grote’s, they loved
Church as well. Elizabeth, 5, told her mom that she thought this was
“the best church we’ve ever gone to!” Their hearts are open so the Lord
has been able to prepare them to receive this beautiful gospel.
This week has also provided me with another opportunity to serve a
young single adult. We met Michelle, Marcus and Jeff towards the beginning
of the transfer. They live in the same apartment complex as Joelle. Jeff is
the one that told us he hadn’t been baptized and was excited when we told
him that it’s what we do, remember him? Well, we turned them over to the
singles ward Sisters and they began teaching them. Marcus and Michelle have
been together for like 5 years, and he didn’t seem very interested, so I was
a little worried about that. Well, last week, he broke up with Michelle and
kicked her out. They have been on and off for a while but this seems like
it will be the final one. I was worried about her so I called her and she
cried and cried to me on the phone. The more she told me about her relationship,
the more I was amazed. We all know I have not had the best of luck in dating,
and I was ableto relate to her really well. I was at that moment, grateful for
the trials Ihad gone through. That now I would be able to help one of my sisters
to find the healing power of the Atonement. I can’t imagine going through
something like that without the Gospel. It was the only way I was able to find
forgiveness and peace again. I have often seen during my mission how past
experiences have shaped me to be a specific instrument in the Lord’s hands.
We took Michelle to Church on Sunday at the singles ward. Luckily, that ward meets
at 9am, and ours at 2pm, so we could attend the entire block of meetings.
Yes, six hours of church, I loved it! (I have to say that, I’m a missionary,ha)
Also this week we had a two day blitz training in place of interviews.
It was incredible! We learned how to really fine tune our planning, studying,
and teaching skills. I told President that I wish they had done this transfers
ago;I will barely have time to repent and apply it all. Just when I think
thatI’ve got this whole missionary thing figured out, the Lord shows me a
new area to improve. He is good at keeping me humble, and that’s quite a job.
So,consider this my official announcement of extension. I will not be coming
home for another year! I also told President that they could only send me
home if they can find me. I’ll become like Alma in chapter 45:18-19 “And when
Sister Henson had done this she departed out of the land of Papillion,
as if to go into the land of Omaha. And it came to pass that she was never
heard of more; as to her death or burial we know not of. Behold, this we know,
that she was a righteous women and was lifted up by the Spirit, or buried by
the hand of the Lord, even as Moses.
But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and we
suppose that he has also received Sister Henson in the spirit, unto himself;
therefore,for this cause we know nothing concerning her death and burial.”
And it doesn’t sound like they really looked too hard for him. So, that’s my plan.
We’ll see how it goes.
Oh yes, I did want to update you on one more thing.
Do you remember Rui Cao and Hengwei Zong, the Chinese men that we were teaching
in Winter Quarters? Well, it turns out they were married, so they were turned
over to the Conestoga Branch. Anyway, they were baptized on Saturday! They will
be in the country for another five or six months and then they will be going
back to China. The Stake President, President Bartlett said that they will be
in constant, direct communication with the Area Authority for China to help them
when they getthere. They are already talking to them about receiving the
Melchizedek Priesthood. Talk about modern day pioneers! They will be able to
take thefullness of the Gospel back to China and prepare the way for missionaries
there someday! Amazing. Remember those names! This work continues to amaze me.
I am also running out of adjectives. The thesaurus on Microsoft word has some
other options, but they sound a little silly. Mind-blowing, astonishing, astounding,
pick your favorite. Either way,I’m sure you get the point. The Lord’s work is
so beyond me, it’s so beyond this life. I’ve probably heard Moses 1:39 about 15
times in the last week. There’s got to be more to this scripture that I currently
understand. But His work and His glory is our immortality and eternal life.
Being a small,small part of that work has brought me a small, small taste of the glory
He enjoys. The fullness of joy that He has and is trying to offer to all
those will accept and obey. I love this work! I'm so excited to hear from the Lords
chosen servants this weekend! I love to hear the words of modern day revelation
as it flows from the Prophet and Apostles! Enjoy it! Not everyone has it!

Love, Sister Henson

Mom Jeans?

The other day I was at D.I.(not D.I.s, not "The D.I.") just D.I. and I was looking for an ugly sweater for my work's ugly sweater day. I, of course, do not own anything ugly, so that's what brought me to this wonderful store. What am I saying? I don't need to make excuses for going to D.I.! I love D.I.! Anyway...There are times when you go to D.I. and find some really cool things. Most times you don't. I was taking my time looking around and trying to decide between the South Western print sweater vest or the 1950's, itchy wool, high school gold colored, button-up cardigan. I then slowly wandered over to the jeans section. Just kinda looking around. It was a good day for 2nd hand jeans! I found a few pair of cute jeans. Don't ask me what brands they were, one of those right in the middle price rang brands like Mossimo something or other. I also found a brand of "Bitten" jeans, you know Sarah Jessica Parker's brand? I feel like I have a kinship with her. She used to have a dark mole under her bottom lip that has now turned colorless. I too have a mole(I call it a beauty mark) in the same spot. Lately I have been noticing that it has been losing color and will someday be totally void of color. Sick. Me and her, we're the same. So I go try these jeans on and they're all too big, too long or too used. I finally get to the "Bitten" jeans and they fit like a freakin glove! A used glove of course, but still. As women don't we all struggle with finding that perfect jean? I know I do. These babies are almost perfect. I have been struggling with the whole "low ride" craze that just won't go away. I just don't love showing my crack to the world every time I bend over. I and HATE doing that weird sideways, one arm reach bend that you have to do just to try NOT to show crackage..you all know what I'm talking about. These jeans are about an inch below the belly button. Pretty high considering where most pants fall. They make my glutes look fab and don't have to worry about that Costco muffin top following me around all day.
$9 dollars later(I chose the itchy, wool cardigan)I get home and put these finds in the washer with scalding water and bleach(color safe) to un-D.I. them. After all that business, I triumphantly put them on to show Ty my sweet buy of the week, this is all he says. "So are those considered Mom Jeans?" I didn't know whether to cry or kill him for being a..well..man. I had to stand up for my girl Sarah! "No these are not Mom Jeans!" "Do I HAVE a Front Butt!?" I looked down just to make sure, phew! No Front Butt.
After that little explosion, I was calm again. I nicely explained to my husband that pants do not have to sit on your pelvic bone or make you look like you have webbed legs just to look good. They can be cute AND still cover those unspoken of places. And I proved that.
Thank you Sarah.
Sincerely your mole twin.

Sister Henson-It's raining and blessings are pouring

Hello family!

It’s another rainy day in Omaha; I wish the weather would make
up its mind. The only thing constant in Nebraska is the change in
the weather. Oh well, at least it’s raining on preparation day and
not a full working day. Again,I’m shocked that it’s time to write
again. I think I say this every week,but I still can’t believe how
the time is flying. Every week gets faster and faster, I’m not a fan.
I am, however, a great fan of what’s going on here. I think one of the
greatest blessings of the mission is how my heart has grown. I’m
amazed by how many people and places I’ve come to love. Every time I get
transferred, I can’t imagine having room to fit one more person, and
yet it happens without fail. I’m in love with the members, the investigators,
the area, everything and everyone. I’m getting a small taste of charity
and it’s delicious. Sweet above all that is sweet. I’ll give you a couple
of highlights from the week. Tuesday night we came out of teaching Al Kirchhoff,
the Messianic Jew, (very interesting lesson) and we ran into our assistant
ward mission leader, Brother Hall. He was out walking his dog and actually
lives right across the street from Al. We started talking and were walking
towards his house and we saw his neighbors outside. He walked us over and
introduced us to Denny and Mike. Denny and Mike and their families attend
the local United Methodist Church and I started asking them questions and we
told them about mission life and how it works. Denny ended up inviting us
to Church and we attended the 10 o’clock semi-contemporary service. It was
really interesting. They had up two bigscreens and a band. At the beginning
of the service they asked if anyone was new and Denny was quick to point us out.
They asked us to stand up and introduce ourselves into the microphone… awkward!
They also gave us a flower,which I thought was really kind. We also were able
to teach Will’s Mom on Wednesday morning. I guess she insisted on seeing us,
and she works in Papillion so she met us at the local McDonald’s for breakfast.
McDonald’s doesn’t know that they are furthering the work of the Lord so well ;) ha.
Anyway, she seems to be at the point where she has recognized the blessings
that have come to Will and now she wants to know why he’s so involved. Will is
planning on moving to Provo to attend BYU, so I think that has increased her curiosity
as well. She wants to understand what he’s gotten himself into. I think that with
Will’s help, she’ll come right along. Will’s Dad has been reading the Book of Mormon,
so that’s exciting. I don’t think it’ll be too long for them to recognize truth.
The Grote family is coming along so great! I am in love with this family! We
taught them more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Priesthood, and how Brother
Grote would be able to baptize the family. The whole family came to Church
on Sunday! It was so exciting and exhausting at the same time! Sometimes I worry
too much; I forget that I’ve got the most powerful, loving Heavenly Father on my team
to take care of it all. It was a great day at Church though, lots of talk of eternal families.
Our goal is to have the older kids more involved with the lessons so that the
entire family can be baptized together. So far though, the kids love it and the
parents are feeling really good about everything. Brother Hall and his family
invited them over tonight for FHE. I love these members. They are anxiously
engaged, and do many good things of their own free will. He called us last night
and left us a message that went something like this, “Sisters, I made an
appointment with the Grote family to come over tomorrow for FHE, we’re going to
have a lesson, roast marshmallows and have root beer floats. If you’d like to
come, you’re more than welcome. Either way, we’ll talk to you later!” The
ward members arejust doing our work for us, this is great! We also had
another neat experience finding the other day. It was hot, andwe were trying to
follow up with some investigators that had been taught by previous missionaries.
For several hours we hadn’t had any luck and we were getting pretty tired. As we walked down the street, I saw two guys outside of their houses. I knew that we only had time to
talk to one of them before our dinner appointment, so I said a quick prayer to
know which one to talk to. I felt very prompted to talk to the second guy, a Dad
(who we later found out is named Tim) who was outside playing with his two daughters.
The girls looked alot like Courtney and I when we were little, I took it as a sign ;)
Anyway, we went up and introduced ourselves and right away he started talking
about which church they went to and how happy they were there. Classic. We hear
that allthe time. My favorite response to that is asking them what they like
about their church. They usually start off talking about why they like their
church and end up giving us their entire religious background,including things
thatthey don’t like about their church or things that they have concerns about
or issues with. In Preach My Gospel in Chapter 10 under teaching skills, there
isa section on listening. There is a promise by Elder Holland that says if we will
listen, really listen, something in what they say will highlight a truth ofthe Gospel
of which we can then bear testimony and offer them more. That is a true principle;
it works every time, including this one. He started talking about interpretation
and how there are so many different kinds. So we told him about the Prophet
and how the Church of Christ has been restored. Funny how so many concerns
can be resolved with the knowledge of a restored Church, Gospel and a living
Prophet, hmmm. Anyway, he really opened up, accepted a Book of Mormon and a
return appointment. He says his wife will be very interested to talk to us.
He said it almost jokingly,which makes it sound like she will be very anti,
but hey, I’ve almost seen and heard it all at this point. (knock on wood)
Anyway, thanks for your love and prayers.
Please be diligent with them,cause I need the blessings! We’ve got a
family that needs to be eternal,several in fact!I love you!
Love, Sister Henson

Job Interview

Tyler has a job interview today where I work. Slate Canyon Youth Center. It's a detention center for the troubled youth of our state. He is interviewing with a man I know to be one of the funniest men I have ever met in my life. Let's call him, Alan. I told Tyler that he needs to be preparing some good jokes to impress this man. It's also an ongoing joke that I treat Tyler like my child and whenever he has a problem at school, I pretend like I'm going to go down to the school and talk to the teachers myself. Who wears the pants in the relationship?

Today morning 7:50 a.m. Tyler driving me to work...


Ty: I should wear just a little bit of make-up tomorrow for the interview

Me: HA HA HA! Yea, a little lip gloss for that little bit of shine...

Ty: ha ha Some nice eye shadow and a little liner..

Me: A little blush on the apples of your cheeks for that much needed color...

Ty: No. That's too obvious

Me: Oh. Ok.



Later Today 11 a.m. -Me and Ty texting

Ty: I should show up to the interview with a hypodermic needle sticking out of my pocket.

Me: HA HA HA HA!!

Ty: Then I'll just spend the rest of interview apologizing for bringing the needle.

Me: haha Before you go into the interview you need to ask them if I can come in with you cause your really shy.

Ty: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA and I'll whisper everything I want to say to them into your ear HAHA!

Me: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!

Ty: I should ask Alan before the interview if we can say a prayer to comfort me. (Blasphemes??)

Me: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! All of this with your make-up on.

Ty: HAHAHAHAHHAHA I forgot about my make-up! HAHAHHAHAHAHA

Me: You should bring Toben(our Yorkie) with you too.

Ty: And pretend the interview is for him.

Me: Try to convince them that he loves working with troubled youth.

Ty: I can't breathe! I'm laughing out loud! (He's in class)

Me: I know! I'm trying so hard to hold it in!!! HAHAHAHA

Ty: Married Laughing!!

Me: I can't tell anyone else about this conversation cause no one else will get our jokes.

Ty: HAHAHAHHAHA You should put this whole conversation on the blog.

Me: I totally will!

Baby Mama Drama

Alright, so some of you are aware of my insane baby woes, some of you aren't, so here we go. About a year and a half ago in April when me and Tyler got married, I didn't even THINK about having a baby. It wasn't even in my vocab. Not that I was anti, I just didn't even realize that that was an option. Then my dear friend Ana Stein had her baby in August, just 4 months after my wedding. So sitting there in the hospital room with Ana, visitors and baby, it hit me. I NEED A BABY! But I wasn't to the crazy-obsessed stage of getting prego...yet.
So time goes on, and every once in a while I will ask Tyler how he feels about having a mini Jarman. Of course his answers were very vague and very short. Other times I would ask him he he feels about certain baby names. Same vague answers. It wasn't until about Februaryish of this year that I really started going mad with babyitis. I would spend ALL DAY at work looking up baby names(I have a full two pages of boys & girls names), baby clothes, baby food, baby slings, bedrooms sets, I would even pretend I was pregnant and look up how big my baby was at any given week of womb-growth. It was pretty bad. Every baby I saw on the street would make me lose all concentration for everything else. I would point out the babies at church to Ty, like he cared. During this stage of babyitis, things were a bit crazy. Seriously, ask my mom.
Then finally Tyler literally had to sit me down and say enough is enough. I was going way too far. It was true. So I settled down, for a little while. Then my sis-in-law,Cait, around May started talking about how she wanted to start trying for a baby. Then it all came rushing back. We talked about how fun it would be to get prego at the same time and have babies the same age so they could play with each other, blah blah blah blah.
Here we go again.
She then left to go sell with her hub in Chicago and things settled down once more for me and my crazy antics. Around June, somehow, I got Tyler to agree that in August, we would start trying to get preg...That was enough time to wrap our heads around the idea of a little monster running our lives, right? So we started praying about it, and it was like instantly, the next day, all of those feelings just vanised. I was even at the point that I was so mad at myself for even previously thinking about having a baby. It's like, "okay you're pregnant, have the baby, then what?" Take care of it? How fun is that? Thinking about it logically, there was no good reason to have a baby. I was ready to have it be me, Ty and Toben for the next 40 years.
I was really confused for a few days but I also felt so free. My life wasn't consumed by everything baby anymore. I was able to actually enjoy life and what I have instead of thinking about this baby that I didn't have. I even lost a few pounds...go figure.
So it has been a very nice, baby-less summer. Me and Ty have been able to actually enjoy be around each other, Ty has gone back to school, we rearranged and painted our living room and I started a new, cool job. Even with the wonderful news of my sis-in-law getting knocked up, I still had no feelings of jealousy or bitterness.
So it's September now....crap. Those freakin baby lovin' feelings are back!
Now don't worry, those feelings are about a half a percent the size than they were before, but they are definitely there. I have been trying to figure out what triggered these old thoughts and feelings, and I can't for the life of me, pin point what brought it all back. Dilemma.
OK, I get that some people want to wait until their husbands are totally done with school for all that financial stability, and some people thinks it's their personal duty to shoot out a baby 9 months after marriage and every year after that. I still can't figure out what kind of person I am.
I know how much things change once a baby comes. I really do. But I think I'm OK with that. It's not like we are actually social with other couples. So I'm not too worried about losing our social lives.
I don't really know what the point of this post is, all I know is I just needed to get it out somewhere. And where better that on the WWW?
If anyone has any suggestions/opinions or if you think I'm a complete mess and want to plan the rest of my life for me, please, feel free to contact me.

Who knows, Christmas is coming soon..

September?! Seriously?!

Hello family!
Sorry to trick you and make you think that you’d get an
email yesterday,but it was Labor Day and libraries were closed.
So here it is, in all its glory. Papillion continues to astound me.
When I left Winter Quarters I really couldn’t imagine being able
to love another area or another ward. I didn’t think I’d have place
in my heart. But I truly love it here. We have had some incredible
experiences that have let me know that the Lord wants me to be here.
I’ll start off by telling you about a miracle the Lord gave us;
it was kind of a funny experience. Thursday was our temple day
and we were supposed to be there by 3:30pm for the 4 o’clock session.
Papillion is a good, solid, 30 minutes away. We had to take the car
in for an oil change that day so we scheduled it at 2pm which should
have left us plenty of time to get there. Well, the oil change ended
up taking an hour and a half! As we drive away from Jensen auto and
tire at 3:30, my heart sunk. I wanted and needed to go to the temple so
desperately, I didn’t know how we’d make it. I knew I couldn’t pray for
the Lord to help me speed there, I was pretty sure that wasn’t allowed.
So I tried to worm my way around it by praying that the Lord would clear
the roads so that traffic wouldn’t be bad. I don’t know how the Lord
did it, because I really wasn’t speeding that bad, but we
made it in 15 minutes! Just in time to run in, change, and be in our seats.
Really, I didn’t speed that bad! And don’t worry, I repented and told
President Newman about it, he just laughed at me. I was very grateful!
Oh yeah, we found that McDonald’s family! I know can you believe it!
We told our district about it after our meeting on Tuesday so we all
headed over there for lunch, excited to find this new family. Right as
we got out of the car, a man started walking towards us and recognized us
right away as missionaries. We started talking to him and he accepted a
Book of Mormon and a return appointment! Only one problem, he didn’t
live in our area! He lives in Gretna! The Gretna Sisters were there so
they set up the appointment. I haven’t given up hope though, that we’ll
find a family for us there too! I’ll keep you posted.
As for the work in MY area, it’s great. The Grote family is doing awesome!
We took Bishop Lyman over there on Friday and we taught more about the
Restoration, they again had great questions. We also taught them about
eternal families which was a surprise for them. Shallaine, the Mom,
said that she had always been taught that after we die we don’t remember
anything about this life. So we don’t remember each other. How sad is that?
She said that she never really believed that anyway. They loved that doctrine
(probably because it’s true) and the Spirit was so strong as we taught it.
Angel is doing great. We taught her the Restoration and she caught on so quickly.
She is probably the smartest 13 year old I’ve ever met. Teaching her has
been a lot of fun. We are also teaching Vicki Baldwin. She has been taught
for a while now and it’s time for her to be baptized. We were also able
to visit a couple of families on Sunday who aren’t active. It was
interesting how that night, all of our appointments cancelled, and our
backups failed, and so we had to go to our plan C. It turned out that its
right where the Lord wanted us to be. One of the families, the Rodgers, was so
welcoming and was excited to have us there. They hadn’t seen the
missionaries for a while. For the last couple transfers, not much work has
been done here because one of the Sisters was sick. Anyway, as we were about
to leave, Ron, the Dad, said “Sisters, I’m so glad you came, not 10 minutes
before you knocked on the door, I was packing up my things to go to the hospital,
but now I’m feeling so much better. In fact, I don’t even have any pain.”
He is suffering from several medical conditions and has been in and out of the
hospital the last couple years.
Okay, one last story for you. Last night, we were out trying to visit some members.
This ward is huge and the Elders Quorum President gave us a list of people that
no one knew and asked us to find them. The Spellmans were one family on the list.
We went out to visit them, but alas, they were not home. I saw their neighbors
outside so we started walking over towards them. The Mom,Cheryl, was out on the porch,
talking to her friend. As we walked up the drive and said hello, we got one of
those dreaded looks. She asked, quite shortly,“Can we help you with something?”
“Yes,” I said, returning her look with a smile, “we’re the new missionaries for our
Church in the area and we were trying to meet your neighbors who belong to our Church.
Do you know a good time for us to try and catch them?” Long story short, we just
started to chit chat about them, then Papillion, then the military where her
husband works,and kind of random things. Each time, I would try to make mention of the
Church, or missionaries, or something like that. After a while, I asked her if she
was familiar with the Church. She then informed me that her husband was a member and she
sent her son inside to go get him! They are Steve and Cheryl Empey, and their names
were no where to be found on the ward records! He seemed quite surprised to see us,
and at first it didn’t seem like a good surprise! Anyway, we started talking about
the Church and she claimed to be agnostic but had a Roman Catholic background.
I asked her if she had ever read from the Book of Mormon and she confessed that she didn’t
really know what it was and had kind of tuned out every time Steve tried to tell her.
Well, I took that opportunity to teach her briefly about it and as soon as the Spirit
came, the phone rang. Satan is such a jerk. She had to run in and grab it so we
talked to Steve for a couple more minutes and asked if we could come back and teach
them more. He readily agreed and even seemed excited. I think he’s been inactive
for some time because he has never read the Book of Mormon all the way through.
They have four children and are so great. I love seeing the Lord use us to find and
teach those who are prepared. It’s really an incredible feeling. We don’t really do much,
we just obey.
Well, I’ve got to run. Thanks for your prayers and support. Keep it up!
The Church is not only true, it’s the means for peace in this life, and in the life to come.
Love, Sister Henson

Sister Henson-I'm a little bit country.

Greetings from the cornfields of Papillion!
Yes, that’s right, I got transferred. Do not mourn,
I love it here already! The members here are incredible!
I feel like they’re yoked up with us to do this great
and marvelous work. They are all on board and take
initiative. Amazing what happens when members are anxiously
engaged in the work. Papillionis just south of Omaha,
a little northeast of Gretna. So I’m back in the country,
but this time with a little more city.
They actually have more thantwo fast food restaurants,
which is all Gretna had! President Newman estimated that
around 30,000 people live in my new area. No pressure,
Sister Henson, they just all need the Gospel. We’ve already
met some great people and I’m excited to begin teaching
families again. It’s quite an adjustment, I’ll admit.
But teaching families at the Trail Center has helped a lot.
I amserving with Sister Smith. This was her original area
last transfer until her companion went home. I almost feel
like I’m opening an area because neitherof us really knows
the members, investigators or the area. Sister Smith was
only able to come here occasionally. Really just long
enough to keep in contact with the few investigators they had.
We will still be serving 2-3 shifts at the Trail Center but
I’m out of the trail center apartments and now in our own place.
That is also quite a change. So far, my favorite experience has
been teaching the Grote family. The husband is a member but must
have been baptized as a child because he doesn’t know a thing about
the Church. Their names are Ben and Shellaine and they have 7 kids!
Perfect right?! Sounds like a member family already! We reviewed
the Restoration with them and taught a lot about the Book of Mormon.
They wereasking great questions like, “So what is the difference
between the power ofthe Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost?”
and “How did the Book of Mormon help you when you were a teenager
growing up?” They are very open and already we have had several
families in the ward express a desire to have them taught in their
homes. I think one of the reasons the ward is so great is because
they are largely military families. They are used to moving and
having to put themselves out there to make friends. Because of this,
the ward is used to going up and greeting new people that they see at
Church. They are also very obedient and know that the Lord has
asked us to share the Gospel. Once you are obedient to a
commandment, you see the wisdom and joy of living it and you become
converted to it. That’s where these members are Sunday was a good day.
We walked into Gospel Principles class and there was a girl named
Cody there who had brought her sister Angel. Before class started
we all introduced ourselves and when Cody introduced her sister
she said, “and this is my sister, Angel. She’s just learning about
the Church but I’m trying to get her baptized, so, Sisters, you’ll
want to talk to her.” I about died! I’ve never heard a better introduction!
Needless to say, we set up a time to go teach her and we’ll definitely
help her to be baptized. Because the area has been largely
untouched for a couple of transfers, I feel like it’s really ripe.
Or white, I guess. The field is white, already to harvest…
Anyway, I’ve been praying that I would know the best way to find
people to teach. The night of transfers, I had a dream that Sister Smith
and I found a family at McDonalds. It was a big family that we
just started talking to while in line. I laughed about it when I
woke up and told my companion. Over the next day or so I kept thinking
about that dream. I became worried thatI was treating it lightly when
it could have been an answer to pray. But I don’t even like McDonalds.
How would I know when to go there to find this family? So, last night
I prayed that if that dream was a real means of communication,
that the Lord would make it very clear to us when we should go there.
We woke this morning and began our usual routine. During our personal
study, Sister Smith pipes up and says, “Oh, by the way, I had a dream
about McDonalds last night!” I then began to drill her for every piece
of information she could remember about the dream. She too, saw a family,
in line,and talked to them. She also saw that we were with a group of
missionaries. The only time we go to lunch with missionaries is after a
district meeting. So,sorry district, but now we have to go to lunch at
McDonalds every time we have a meeting! This is a sacrifice for me too,
because I don’t like it. But just get chicken nuggets and quit complaining!
Ha, isn’t that crazy?! I’ll let you know if we find them.
DeMon was baptized on Sunday. I wasn’t able to be there but I heard
it was a really neat experience. I’m happy for him. I hope I’ll be able
to go up and make it to all of the other baptisms we had scheduled for next
month. Actually, hopefully I’ll be too busy with my own that I won’t be able
to make them! Anyway, I’m excited to be out in the country again,
amid the beautiful corn and soy bean fields. I’m also getting a
chance to work on my tan as we are out finding. That’s what
missionary work is all about right? Getting a tan? Ha. I love this work!
Thanks for your prayers, please pray for the area.
Love, Sister Henson

Courtney in the kitchen?

So who knew that I would find a like for baking?? I don't know how it got started, but it was just in the past few weeks. I have never been good at it, seriously just ask my mom. My chocolate chip cookies usually turned out looking like dinner biscuits. I have been married now for about a year and 4 months and I STILL have not made a full, sit down, made from scratch dinner. Gasp, I know. That is unheard of here in Provo. But I own it. Tyler is the cook in our family and he is great at making up his own recipes and keeping us from starving.
It's not that I don't try, I really do. I come home with the intentions of running right into the kitchen, throwing on an apron and making a fabulous meal every night..but then I walk into the kitchen, open the pantry doors, look around, walk over to the fridge and realize that I have no idea what I'm doing. My idea of dinner is a slice of cheese and some Crystal Light. To actually put ingredients together to make a full meal just baffles me.
But it's different when I bake something. I actually get excited to see if my concoction of different things will turn into some edible.
So with my first attempt I started with a simple loaf of Banana Bread. It was incredible. Heavy, moist and the perfect mix of that salty buttery taste. In fact, it didn't even need butter. The best part of the whole thing was that Tyler tried to make the same exact thing the next week, same recipe and everything. It turned out..not so perfect. Pretty dry and a doughy section throughout the whole loaf. That boosted my ego just a little. The next day I made it again, and of course, perfection.
So now I am moving onto a multi-layer cake. Citrus Poppy seed Cake. I can't freakin wait.

A novel by Sister Henson

Dear Family- and all others who may be reading this-
An email this morning reminded me that it is again transfer
week, thanks alot! Just rub it in. I’m not sure where the
time goes, only that I wish it wouldn’t. Time is so twisted
on a mission; I can’t quite figure it out. Maybe it’s because
we’re trying to work on the Lord’s timetable, so it throws
our mortal minds for a whirl. I like that excuse, I’ll stick
withthat. We’ve had another incredible week. Tuesday night
we went out on splits. Iwent with Jenn, recent convert, and
Sisters Hansen and Smith went out withanother member, Abby.
While out, we both saw miracles. I went to teach Rui and
Hengwei, the Chinese students attending Creighton University.
They are almost straight from China so the language barrier
is tricky. Thankfully, the Churchhas a lot of resources. We
had taught them about the Book of Mormon they had both been
reading it. We were able to find copies for them in Mandarin
Chinese. Rui was the only one we taught that night, but I brought
the Restoration video and we watched it. We played it in Chinese
with English subtitles. It was interesting to experience the
Spirit in that way. Rui loved it and when I asked him if he
believed that it happened he replied in his broken English,
“I don’t think he want to lie to people, so yes, I think true.”
It was so sweet. He has a real, sincere, deep humility that
I’ve never seen in someone before. Let’s flash over to my
companions teaching DeAndre over dinner. They taught him more
about the Book of Mormon and read over Enos with him. He
reallycould relate to Enos. He loved that after Enos had
prayed for his own remission of sins, he started praying for his
brethren. DeAndre always talks about love,peace and unity.
If he were going for Miss America, he would wish for world peace.
But in all sincerity, mean it. He has such a huge heart.
He ispreparing for baptism on September 13th and is very excited.
He loved Church yesterday. I sat by him and after every
hymn he would make a comment about how we should start a band.
Ha! He’s really talented musically, he played the piano
for us and it was beautiful. After Church we were talking
about reading and he said “Ain’t nobody gonna keep me away
from that book (the Book of Mormon), if they do, I’ll say
(he raises his hand and sings this next part)get thee hence,
amen, halleluiah.”
Let’s flash back to me on Tuesday night.
The Elders in Contestoga hadfound a couple of young single
adults to teach when they attended a CatholicChurch last
Sunday. I know, of all places. Anyway, they were going to
meet upfor dinner and they invited us along to transition
the teaching. I walked in and just about died when I saw who
they had found. I want you to go back wit me to July of last
year when I was serving in Elmwood with Sister Johnson.
Do you remember the Ammon moment I had with Greg and his brother
Daniel? Daniel is a Roman Catholic who we taught a few times
before he left for the Dominican Republic. So, back to the
taco shop, it was Daniel! He recognized me right away and
we chatted like old friends. It was so weird! He had a
friend with him,Jolie, and we taught while we ate the best
tacos I’ve ever had. It was great. We set another appointment
for tomorrow and left Jolie with a copy of the Book of Mormon.
She’s very open and I think she’ll love and grasp the Gospel
quickly. Maybe that’ll give Daniel enough courage to follow.
On my way out, I ran into Katrina who just got back from Colorado.
We’re having dinner with her and Andy tonight. I’m excited
to see her progression asshe’s been reading the Book of Mormon
this last month.
OK, I just reviewed all the things I want to write about and
this is going totake ages. So I’ll give you the short and sweet
versions.
Wednesday we found Antonio
again. He’s the one that went to Wulu’s baptism a while ago
and said that he felt the Spirit and that it told him that he
was next! He wants to be baptized but he also said that he might
be moving to Texas by the end of the month.
I’m praying that he’ll stay. It was neat how the Lord changed
our plans to have us go over and catch him at the right time.
We had been tryingfor so long. This was also the day of
interviews with President. I just love him. He’s so much like
the Savior in that he shows you ways to improve but shows you how
much you’re loved. You feel so good around him, being in this
mission, that you always want to be better to make him proud.
Right after interviews, my district went out to lunch
at Wendy’s, we’re high class;) Anyway, I went to the bathroom
to wash my hands before lunch (Ihad just shaken a lot of
Elders hands, ha). While in there, one of the employees asked me
if I was with a church. I told her I was and which church
it was. We talked for a minute and I told her about the singles
ward and invited her to come. She replied, “Well, I’m not in a
relationship now so that sounds nice.”
Haha, whatever draws them in. She should be able to come next week,
her name is Amanda. Thursday was also a great day. I’ll share
my favorite highlight. We taught David and Marcella again.
We started out reading from 2 Nephi 31. It talks about how we
keep the commandments to show that we love the Lord. David started
to get a little adamant that we really didn’t need to go to
Church every week. He said he hadn’t been in like four or five years.
He went off and explained all these reasons why we didn’t have
to go. I took one of his issues,taught the truth, bore testimony
and transitioned to Sister Hansen. She took the next one,
then Sister Smith, and then our teamup, Rachel. He would kind of
try to argue in between each of us but by the end, he sat back
in his chair, and said, “Okay, I’m done. Ya’ll are right. I have
nothing else tosay.” He then committed himself to coming to
Church next week! I love the Spirit!
More quick updates… DeMon is doing well.
He wasn’t baptized this last weekend but is working
towards this weekend. He really wants to be baptized,but
has a hard time remembering to keep commitments. It’s kind of
an important part of the process. He’s doing better though
and we’re seeing his heart soften. Friedo is also doing great.
He has received a lot of little answers, but wants a big,
fireworks display. We’re still working towards Wednesday,the
day before transfers. Please pray for him. Sunday night, we
invited a young man named Enzol to come visit us at the Trail
Center as we were on shift that night. He works at the HyVee
grocery store down the street from us. He is friends with all
the Senior couples, and they as well as the young Elders in the
area, have been trying to get him to theTrail Center or Church
for over a year now. Then, one of our members met him selling
security systems and they became friends. He started going to
Church three weeks ago and has come every week. When he first
moved to Omaha from Georgia in 2004, he met missionaries but
didn’t really progress. Well, he came last night to the Trail
Center and Sister Hansen gave him a tour. I wouldhave liked
to go, but it was busy so only one of us could. The Spirit
prompted me to have her go, I figured it would be best for her
to develop a relationshipwith him in case I get transferred.
From what she said, the Spirit was powerful throughout the tour.
Enzol just loves the Prophet, Joseph Smith. She invited him to
prepare for baptism at the end of September, the 27th, and he
accepted! He seemed very excited about it in fact! I’m so
proud of her. She isbecoming a bold missionary. Enzol is such
a neat guy. I get so sad at the thought of leaving here.
There is so much going on,that I want to be a part of.
I want to see these people progress, but then I realize how
selfish I’m being. The Lord has blessed me with five transfers
here, I just need to be grateful and let the Lord lead me where
He wants me. If I do get transferred that is. Well, I warned
you this would be a novel. Thanks for humoring me and reading all
of it. I love you all, thanks for your prayers, please direct them
toward the area and these amazing investigators.
Love, Sister Henson
p.s. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, sorry no card, but I did think of you!

Sister Henson-It's a small world

Hey Family!
It was a scorcher this week, very hot and humid.
I think I’ve lost ten pounds in the last 6 days.
Gross. Anyway, despite that obstacle, we had
another great week. We had a miracle Wednesday
in fact. We had a great district meeting in the
morning and then headed out to proselyte.Our first
appointment was with Friedo. He just finished 1
Nephi and was telling us what he had learned.
He seemed a little different though as he reviewed
the chapters. Towards the end of the lesson I
started asking him some questions to figure out
where he was at and how he was feeling about things.
He opened up and basically said that he felt a little
spiritually stagnant. That he still felt like he
hadn’t received an answer and that it was pretty
frustrating. He then said that he had come to the
conclusion that he just needed to set a date
to be baptized and show the Lord that he really
did have intent. He had set a date before after
some encouragement from us, but this time, he was
really serious. Sister Hansen and I had come to
this conclusion already, but I think the Spirit
needed to teach him that personally. I continue
to be impressed by him.
After that we headed out to see DeMon and his
brother Tony. But first we picked up Cassy to go
out and teach with us.When we arrived, DeMon wasn’t
home yet so Sister Smith and Sister Hansen went
out to tract and talk to people who were out while
Cassy and I waited there. While we waited, they
taught three new people who all want to learn more
and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon
and a return appointment.Then we went to a nearby
area to follow up with some other people and decided
to ‘divide and conquer’ again. Again, we found
four new people to teach! Then we went to a great
dinner with one of my favorite members, Jessica Heaps.
She is an amazing cook. To end the night, we
split up again to go teach Kim and then Bill, who
is Will’s dad. Bill is so open. It’s interesting
to watch him; you can tell when he’s feeling the
Spirit but after a little bit, he gets a little
uncomfortable and cracks a joke to ease it.
We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and I’m
confidant that he’ll read it. We’re going over
there for dinner again next Sunday.
Thursday was a great day too.
A member signed up for dinner, Dan, who
happens to be the son of Sherri Godfrey, who
I taught in Elmwood. She was baptized just
after I was transferred to Gretna. It was so
good to see her again and see how much she has
progressed. Dan was baptized just a few months
before she was. They are such a fun family.
Also, this weekend, I had one of those,
“wow, it’s a small world” experiences. I started
giving a tour to a family who was traveling with their
grandparents. Not long after the tour began, the
Grandma asked me where I was from, when I told
her Provo, she stopped in her tracks.
Then she asked if I knew any Judkins in Provo….
Well, yes I do! She went on to tell me about Will
and soap boxing, basically a rundown of how my mission
has gone so far. It was really funny, I felt
like a celebrity for a moment; an almost complete stranger
knowing so much about me.
So, here is a shout out to the Judkins family!
I met your Grandparents, the Haights, and Marsha’s
brother’s family (I don’t remember his name because
I always just called him Dad; it is hard enough for me
to remember the kids names). They were so neat!
The son that is going on a mission soon is a good guy.
He’ll make a great missionary. He was so sincere
and meek. I think I always seem to notice those
qualities because I so terribly lack them ;)
Anyway, it was probably the best tour that I took
that day, maybe this week! I also ran into a
friend from high school who was in Sister Hansen's tour.
He has already come home from his mission and his married,
weird!
Saturday was also a great day. We had a big, combined
ward activity in a little town north of Omaha called
Fort Calhoun.It was at a member’s house and it was
just beautiful up there. Very country. A bunch of the people that
we are teaching came, Tony, Kim, Jeremy, Meghan, Jenn
was also there. And a bunch of members brought
their friends. It was great. One of them is coming to
see us at the Trail Center tomorrow and we are also
going to hold a Bible study with some of the others
towards the end of the week. I love member missionary
work! They are becoming fearless.
So, I’ve been reading and re-reading a talk that was
given by Elder Holland on my birthday in 1982,
it’s called “The Inconvenient Messiah.”
I’m in love with it. It talks about the temptations of
Christ and how Satan was, in a way, tempting Christ
to do things the easy way. There was a need or
task, and there were two ways for it to be accomplished
or satisfied. One was
the easy or convenient way, and the other was the
proper way, Heavenly Fathers way; which would require
sacrifice, discipline and rejection. It talks a lot
about the demands of discipline and sacrifice as members
of the Church. How Christ paid a dear price for the
possibility of our salvation, the Atonement,
and how we should not expect a life of convenience either.
Most of the things that are required of us as members of
the Church are not convenient.
Home/visiting teaching, our callings, sharing the Gospel,
are just a few. But it is through those things that we
learn to sacrifice, to love, to serve, to
have charity and it is the only true way to follow Jesus
Christ. We cannot take upon us His name without being
ready and willing to do even the things that He
did. He ministered, He taught, He served, He did the
Father’s will. How grateful I am to belong to the true
Church of Jesus Christ. That He has once again established
on the earth. A Church that teaches us what Christ did, who
He is, and how to be like Him so that we can one day
live with Him. He lives,what a beautiful truth!
All my love- Sister Henson

No Words...

Please take a second and watch this inspiring video. This is love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gm7XwtIJdM

No outside food or drink

So as Tyler and I were waiting in the two hour line to see the new Batman movie-which I might add, was phenomenal. I had some time to people watch. It amazed me how many people were turned away at the ticket ripping station because they had outside food or drinks. I always assumed people were born with the knowledge that you can't bring food into a movie theater. I was wrong. Throughout those 2 hours I saw people trying to bring in McDonald's, Slurpees, Smoothies and various fountain drinks. When the ticket ripper man would drop the bomb that those things were not allowed in, the commoners would react as if he had just told them he was their real father. Completely disgusted and shocked. Ticket ripper man softened the blow a little by letting them finish their meals on the bench right behind his booth.
Sometimes it was obvious that people knew the rule of No outside food, but would try to act as casual as possible to go unnoticed. Oh no, ticket ripper man sees all. Come on kids! If your going to sneak food in, bring a girl with a purse that's way out of proportion for her body size. Those purses are a god send for movie going. I'm disgusted that I even need to blog about this. Some of my fellow humans have tremendously let me down.

On a happier note. Can we talk about how much I love pillow Tyler?

Sister Henson- I hate transfers week!

Dear Family,
 I want to tell you about an experience we had this Saturday.
There was a baptism in the Cold Springs ward that we
wanted to get some investigators to attend.  Cold Springs
is the other singles ward in Omaha so we work closely
with those Sisters and we know the other members
and investigators pretty well. A young man, Wulu,
was getting baptized.  He is from Liberia,
Africa and has been in the US for 6 months.  I
remember hearing about him when the Sisters first started
meeting with him.  They talked about his desire to
learn but the fact that he didn’t speak or read English
was a problem.  The only language he spoke was his
tribal language.  They tried teaching him English but his
progression was slow.  But he would always come to
church and all of the activities.  Two weeks ago he went
to Kansas City to visit his sister and while
there had a great spiritual experience.  When he returned,
he called the Sisters and told them that he wanted to be
baptized.  From the moment they set a date for his baptism,
the Holy Ghost was “wrought upon him.”  By the time of his
baptism, he had a clear understanding of the Gospel,
the commandments, the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation,
and was speaking nearly clear English and
could read from the Book of Mormon like never before.
It was absolutely incredible to see the Spirit
teaching him.  What a great example this was to me
that the Spirit is the Teacher.  That He teaches
and testifies of any truth. That when we have and show
real intent, the Lord certainly prepares a way for
us to accomplish the thing that He has commanded us.
It is a commandment to be baptized.  And the Lord did
not want Wulu to be baptized without understanding
the covenant he would be entering into.  His
testimony is probably the most sincere I’ve ever heard.
It was a powerful experience.  I was so grateful
that we were able to get a young man named Antonio
to the baptism.  Before the baptism started we
were talking to Antonio about his past church and he
told us that he had never been baptized in it.
When asked why, he simply said that it just didn’t
feel right at the time.  After the baptism I asked
him what he thought.  He said, “I liked it, but
I felt a weird feeling (motioning to his heart)
right before Wulu went into the water.”  I asked
him if he knew what that was.  He kind of smiled and
said, “Probably the Holy Spirit.”  I then asked him
what he thought it was trying to tell him, he answered,
"Ha… that I’m next!”  We kind of laughed but I
told him that we could arrange that. His only obstacle
will be his very devout mother.  She will have
a cow when she finds out.  Thankfully, the Lord
will provide a way over that as well.
We are also experiencing a unique challenge/situation.
One of our investigators, Kim, was not really
progressing.  She would allow us to come teach her,
she would read what we left her in the Book of Mormon
but she wouldn’t come to Church.  This last week
she started calling us every night.
Her boyfriend who lives in North Dakota was really
sick and I believe she was seeking the comfort of
the Spirit by calling us.  Anyway, she ended up leaving
for N. Dakota on Thursday because Michael had been
put into the ICU.  Saturday night we got
a call that he had passed away.  I know that nothing is
coincidence.  That we are a part of Kim’s
life right now for a reason; I hope
it is to help her receive the Gospel so she can
be comforted by the knowledge of the Plan of
Salvation.  Please pray for her.I was reminded
again this week that the emotions of a mission
are quite a roller coaster.  I’m grateful
for the Gospel and the stability that it gives
me. For the tools also that it provides to
help me keep sanity despite the world. I ache
for those who don’t have it. Friday night
for the fourth, we went to a ward BBQ
then went downtown to soapbox.  As we sang a mix of
patriotic songs and hymns, I saw all
sorts of people walking by.  You could see
the emptiness in so many eyes, the
longing their Spirits have of the Gospel,
especially for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
You can almost see their spirits pleading for it.
It just breaks my heart to see so many daughters
and sons of God who don’t know who they are.
I wish I could tell them and that they
would listen and understand.  Thankfully, the
Lord has blessed us with some incredible people
to teach right now.  I’m praying that I won’t get
transferred this week.  I know, I’m getting
selfish by wanting to stay here,
but I can’t bear to leave it yet.  President
almost hinted at interviews that
I might stay, so I’m crossing my fingers.
There will be so many changes
already; I doubt I’ll go far. Either way,
the Lord knows that I trust Him
and that I’ll go where He wants me to go.
I have complete faith in that.
Well, tune in next week, Tuesday, to see what happens!
I love you all.  The Gospel is not only
true, it is everything.
Love, Sister Henson