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

Sister Henson-Best week ever!

Hello family!
This last week has been one of the most incredible
weeks of my mission.Allow me to liken the scriptures
to it and quote from 1 Nephi 8:30… this is
the vision of the tree of life that Lehi sees.
“But, to be short in writing,
behold, he saw other [zones] pressing forward;
and they came and caught hold of
the end of the [Preach My Gospel]; and they did
press their way forward, continually holding fast
to the [Preach My Gospel], until they  came forth
and fell down and partook of the [Zone of Excellence].”
The Lord magnified our efforts this week and allowed us to
achieve the Zone of Excellence!  I have never been more
exhausted, sustained, humbled and excited!  We really did
fall down by the end of the week! Our Zone, the Omaha
East Zone, has seven companionships and our Key Indicators
were 15 with a date, 34 at church, 62 member lessons, 168
total lessons, 30 progressing and 38 new!  We actuall yes,
exceeded every standard. Well, allow me to correct myself…
the Lord did it. All credit obviously goes to Him.
I have never pleaded for something like I did for this.
Every prayer, every thought, every moment of time was
spent planning to achieve it.  It’s just an incredible thing
to see the hand of the Lord in His own work.  If we ever allow
discouragement to creep in, then our heads hang low and we
can’t see the Lord working in our lives.
When we keep out heads up,our hands to the plow, our
shoulders to the wheel, then we are able to see. And
that goes for any worthy, righteous goal
one may have.  When we press forward, the Lord is better
able to move and direct us; it’s hard to direct something
stagnant. The most miraculous thing to look back on was how
much the work, and the people we teach, progressed
through the week. Key indicators are never about numbers,
they are about doing the work the Lord’s way, which is
Preach My Gospel, and helping others progress towards
conversion. Key indicators only measure the work done
the Lord’s way,so it compels you into it. “And now, because
ye are compelled to be humble [and do the work the
Lord’s way] blessed are ye; for a [missionary] sometimes,
if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and
now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and
he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end, the same
shall [reach goals].”Alma 32:13 Here is a quick update
on those that we’re teaching.  Jenn and Cassy are
doing great.  They described the Spirit to me the other
day as “Happy happy,joy joy” and “Crazy good.”
I got a kick out of that.
They are loving the Book of Mormon and find that they
feel the Spirit most when they read it. They are preparing
for baptism on July 12th.  Friedo is also doing great. He
has been reading from the Book of Mormon steadily and is
pulling so much out of it.  I’ve been so impressed by his
spiritual mind.  This last week we had four guys from
Africa turned over to us from another area and Friedo has
been helping us to teach and fellowship them.
A few aren’t quite fluent in English yet so Friedo has
been a big help with that.  It’s amazing to see the Lord
arrange the timing with that.  Katrina, a sweet girl who is
dating one of the members,is incredible.  She came
to Church by herself on Sunday because her boyfriend’s power
went out and was having to run his food to nearby neighbors
to save it.  A portion of Omaha is still out of power from
the storm on Thursday.  I’ll fill you in later.  Will is
also doing great.  Mom, you are the best for sending the
Missionary Reference Library!  It arrived yesterday at
the Trail Center and not much later, Will stopped by
to say hi on his way home from teaching with the Elders.
I gave it to him and his eyes lit up like a little boy at
Christmas!  We talked to him this morning and he read
the first four chapters of Jesus the Christ last night at work!
He said that it raised all sorts of questions for him, so he
would sit back, ponder and the answer would come!
Can you believe it?!  The Spirit is loving him!  He is
quick to follow promptings and is a giant spiritual sponge.
We had dinner with his parents Sunday night and he did
most of the talking.  His Mom is searching for truth,
but just doesn’t know it yet.  His Dad was
uncharacteristically quiet during the conversation.
I’m excited to watch their progression.
Before I have to go, I wanted to tell you a little about the
storm on Thursday.  We were following up with some potential
investigators in a big apartment complex called Grandridge.
We have already baptized four people from there, it’s a
gold mine.  Anyway, as we were walking we heard the
tornado/storm siren go off.  The sky looked pretty clear
so we ignored it and continued on our way.  The silly thing
about the siren is that if there is a big storm anywhere
in Omaha, it goes off all over the city.
So the storm could be in an area of Omaha 35 minutes
away and it would go off everywhere.  A few
minutes later, a second siren sounds.  We look to the sky and
see a black, wall cloud coming quickly towards us!
We booked it towards the nearest members house, which happened
to be Will’s, and watched the storm from his porch.  It
lasted only 15 minutes long, but did some damage.  It flooded
one of the streets in the complex, flooding some apartments
and a car (the car it flooded was parked in the place I
always park, but for some reason, didn’t that day, hmmm….).
Across Omaha it knocked out power in nearly half of the
homes and took down huge trees.  Not sure what the deal
is with Nebraska weather but as long as it keeps the
humidity away, I’ll take it. I’ve got to run.
Hopefully this email made up for last weeks. This is
the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, it was brought
back to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith,
and the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of
God.  What simple truths we have!
I love you, thanks for your prayers!
Love, Sister Henson