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