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