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