1st INTERVIEW W/PRESIDENT COTTERELL & PIE EATING CONTEST JUDGE

Well I hope the Gresham family reunion went well and that you were able to tell everyone hi for me and I love them! And I’ll see them in another 3 years. Thanks for the journal; I just need to catch up on my writing!

Elder Harmon is from Nampa, and went to Nampa high school. Yes Elder Rhodes is my Zone Leader and on Friday at interviews, he did mention his parents met Dad @ Jace’s coming home Mission talk. So that was pretty crazy, he is a way cool kid and a good missionary. I’m glad Jace is home and had a great mission, I miss him for sure and his energetic self.

We had interviews on Friday with President Cotterell and it went well. We learned about the new rule changes. We can now have dinner at member’s homes without having a non-member there and less active; and has to been an hour tops and include a lesson about something we are currently teaching one of our investigators. A new set a new standard of how long were in an area and how long were with our companion, the area set standard is 6 months, and companion standard is 3 months, so that was a big change for sure. We are just starting week 3, so couple more weeks then we'll be going to the Temple, and I’m stoked for it!

Marcella, ...so we were taking a lunch break and she called us and asked a question about something, then her next question was this, "even though I’m not a member, can I still pay my tithing?" I was caught so off guard with that question, so i replied OF COURSE!! ha-ha, this morning before p-day we helped her move into her new house and this will help her stop smoking and be less stressed out. She told us that she has been smoking less now and she is now not buying cigs by the carton, now just by the pack ha-ha, she’s going down slowly ha-ha. She came to church again and she loves it! I love her ha-ha!

Adam, our lesson with him was legit! He didn’t make it out to church, but he promised us that he will next Sunday! So I’m hoping that it’s a legit promise ya know. We taught him last night the plan of salvation and of course we used the puzzle, it’s so LEGIT! He really liked it, he is still doing his prayers and praying specifically about the Book of Mormon and he said he really liked the lesson last night. "It makes sense and I really like it" he says. We were so stoked last night driving home and bumpin’ some MoTab and singing it as loud as we could ha-ha.

Everyone else is doing well, just progressing slowly right now, and were just seeing how really interested some of these people are ya know, and of course finding more people to teach.

I’m looking for ideas for object lessons. (So send his way if you have some tried and true ones) We do the faith rocket (with the tea bags) and donut story and I made one up the other day about faith.

We went to the Pioneer Day at the church on Saturday that was fun and let me tell you, the country people out here get way into that kind of stuff. Some guy had a homemade ice machine thing; I took a pic of it so it'll be in the next pic letter. And homemade Root Beer, scones, pies. So we were in charge of the pie tasting contest and judging what pie was the best in different categories, it was great ha-ha. THE ICE CREAM MACHINESome Serious BBQing going on
The PIE Contest Judge...Hey someone has to do it!

My health is great, nothing is sore, teeth are good, I’m good on vits. I sleep great ha-ha. Just hate the weather right now, but were drinking plenty of water, and a lot of people around here are nice and give us water when were knocking on doors and such.

-Elder Henricksen

NEW COMPANION & EATING W/ THE 'BIKER CHURCH FOR CHRIST' MEMBERS

Well this week was LEGIT! My new comp is Elder Harmon from Boise Idaho. He has been out 9 months he is a way chill kid, and he likes to snowboard a lot too, so we started off GREAT! We have fun and serve hard! But for real this week was GREAT! But before that, meeting the Cotterell's was great! They are really cool people, and he has dived right in there and started doing work, but yeah he has made a lot of changes leadership wise, so it’s been crazy hearing about all of it for real. But we get to see him Thursday for interviews! And this transfer we get to go to the Temple! I can’t wait for that to come. Elder Harmon and I have only been together for a week and seems like it been longer because we get along so well.

Investigator wise;

Rhonda, we moved her baptism date back to the 22nd of August, and told her about the little rule we have if our gators are baptized they need to be at church at least 3 times, so she is going to be there at church next week and we had a way sweet 2nd lesson with her about the plan of salvation, by the way that puzzle thing you sent of the Plan of Salvation, we have used that like 3 times already, it works great, but she was concerned about the spirit world and the 3 Kingdoms of Glory, then we busted out 1 Peter 4:6 then 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, and she felt better after that! But she loves the Book of Mormon still and reads exactly what we leave her with and can tell us perfectly what she read! This week she is reading Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, so that is going to be GOOD!

Adam is doing GREAT! We went over and showed him the Restoration video and talked about praying to know and receiving your answers through the Holy Ghost, and it went great, he is praying and we committed him to do it again ha-ha. But he is a way sweet guy, and really wants to learn about our Gospel and find a church that fits him. He told us them the day when we knocked on his door, he was telling his friend that he needs to find a church, and later that day we were tracting and found him! So legit, I love being lead by the spirit! Ha-ha. But he will be at church next Sunday as well.

Marcella is doing GREAT she has been at church the past 2 Sundays and is loving it, and this Sunday she pretty much told everyone is our class that she is a soon to be member ha-ha. so this is what she wants, were just helping her with the quit smoking thing, but this is what she wants, so it’s going to be FUN! We have been going over every Wednesday and just going over the lessons that she already knows, she is almost teaching us ha-ha.

Anthony, we tracted into him on Friday...then he set up an appointment for the next day and he was there and we taught him a SWEET and spiritual first lesson, and he already trusts us so much, he told us some personal stories and really let us know what’s going on, he is turning 20 tomorrow on Tuesday and he is way legit! He has a girlfriend that is Mormon at the Smithfield ward. But he is way interested and he wants to have god back in his life and it was just a great lesson, and he said he will be at church next Sunday as well, so next Sunday we should be having like 5 gators at church!

Linda is doing great! We taught a great 2nd lesson with the puzzle! And man it just went great, she believes the Joseph Smith story and she likes the Plan of Salvation! And she accepted a soft baptism date and she as well will be at church next Sunday ha-ha. And we had other sick lessons with other (investi)gators this week that will hopefully progress and stay on the path that they are going on right now.

Saturday, at the park near us there was some loud music going on, so we decided to check it out and there were a lot of people there we could talk to. So we went over and there were a lot of Motorcycles there, loud music, people just everywhere and all of them were the typical biker, big, sleeve less jacket, big beards and just chillin', but they were from the Biker Church for Christ! And let me tell you, they were THE nicest people I have ever met! We talked to the main pastor for like 20 mins about our religion and theirs as well, and everyone there was shakin' our hands and just talkin' to us, and invited us to eat with them and such, it was SO tight! But that was a cool experience.

So we are still not being fed that much by members, so the Relief Society now has a Missionary cupboard for us in the kitchen of the church ha-ha. So every p-day and Sunday we just check it out and take the stuff that we need. Stuff like soups, fruits, snacks, and anything they buy. It was way sweet! But on not being feed much by the members…it’s ok were working hard and doing the WORK! But it was a great week, and I miss you guys so much and love you with all my heart! Hope everything is going well in Utah and you're always in my prayers!

-Elder Henricksen

CHANGE IS COMING & REALLY HEATING UP!

Sad news...Elder Collard is leaving me :( he got a call from President Cotterell and he is going to be a district leader. So good for him, but now I am going to be taking over the area! So I’m hoping I can do it!

Well Rhonda and Mary are doing great! We saw them 2 times last week! Everything is still looking great for August 8th to be baptized! So still be praying :) we taught them the first half of the Plan of Salvation and they liked it! Rhonda is more comfortable with the Book of Mormon and loves reading it! We committed her to read the first couple chapters on 1 Nephi and she explained what happened perfectly! It was LEGIT! She always says that it reminds her of the Bible and loves IT! She discovered the Cross-references on the bottom and that made her love the Book of Mormon even more! We are really stoked for her! We are seeing her tomorrow night and will teach the 2nd half of the Plan of Salvation.

We taught a lot of first lessons this week with a lot of our new investigators. One of them that stands out is Adam G., he is 22 from New Mexico and is in the Air Force and is looking for a church, and I guess his grandma was Mormon...so that helps out a lot and his mom told him some stuff about the Mormons that was good, and he said it has always been in the back of his mind, then BAM we showed up! We taught him a LEGIT first last night at his apartment. He said he is really going to think about it a lot this week and pray about it! He has an open mind and wants to learn. He gave the closing prayer and man I know he is going to get his answer and will want to learn more about our gospel! STOKED!

Marcella Lee came to church yesterday!! She loved it! and yeah she is the one who pretty much told us that she wants to be baptized in the future she just needs to stop smoking, and she knows this as well, so I’m stoked for her! We are going to see her Wednesday and see what we can do, and maybe set a date with her for a goal. But she is very energetic and has read the Book of Mormon and working on the Doctrine and Covenants! So again STOKED for her!

It’s starting to get hot! July and August are the WORST! The golf towel is really coming into use and ill just have to get a camel pack for sure!

Last week for P-Day we went bowling! We are going to go again today, because I need to redeem myself, I only bowled a 130ish...I stunk it up!

Well I’ll be sending the pics today back home!

Holla’ from Goldsboro!
-Elder Henricksen

SIX MONTH MARK YA"LL

HEY YA’LL

So it’s crazy, tomorrow I hit my 6 month mark! I’m going to be burning a tie for sure Time just flies on by and man I just don’t know where it goes!
THE SIX MONTH BURNING OF THE TIE!
Thank you for the package it was great! I’m going to try to find a smaller backpack that’s a camel-pak so I can have some water and still hold stuff I need while biking. So a new eating place just opened, COOK-OUT, its GREAT! They have the best shakes ever! The Air Force Base had a fireworks show on the 2nd, was just ok. so Goldsboro did not have any firework shows on the 4th...weird I know. It was held on the 3rd at the Mall right behind us, and that was SICK! I recorded the grand finale, so when I send that home enjoy!

Anywho...this week was legit! We didn’t get to see Mary and Rhonda, they went out of town for the 4th of July, but I think we will be seeing them on Tuesday. So hopefully everything with them is going great. We didn’t really get up with a lot of our investigators this week, a lot were out of town or just not there, but we worked with a lot of less-actives, and one of which (Sally) we went over on Friday night and gave her a blessing and she came to church on Sunday! That was her first time in a long time! So that was sweet to see her there. and the other two we have been working with were there as well (Sis Grant and Bro Lassiter). Bro Lassiter is hilarious! He just makes me laugh every time we see him, but he really loves sharing the gospel with other people, were teaching him the new member lessons and teaching him how he can better share the gospel with other people. Sister Grant we have been to her home every Friday night to teach her the missionary lessons, she loves it, and she always gives us some food to take home ha-ha! LOVE IT! We actually had 3 dinners this week! It was SWEET! We contacted more people this week than last, we contacted 141 people!!! That was crazy.

One day we were riding our bikes down Berkley (it’s like the state street of Goldsboro) and a car was stalled and holding up traffic. A guys car died and wouldn’t start so Collard and I decided to push his car, at first I was like no way we can do it, but we both pushed that car far and pretty fast ha-ha! It was way legit! And of course, gave them a card and walked away once they got their car started up again. ha-ha.

I’m going through the April Conference talks again. Today I read the talk by Elder Allan Packer, about conversion and such, that was such a great talk! I love the Elder Oaks quotes he gave. "Testimony is to know and feel, conversion is to do and become!" I love that quote. I the Book of Mormon I’m in Alma chapter 35, I love reading about Ammon, Alma, Amulek and all them legit missionaries!

I’m stoked for Wednesday when I can meet President Cotterell; we have to be there at 7:30 am! He wants to interview everyone at this Zone Conference, so it’s going to be SWEET! I have heard President Cotterell is a great guy and Sister Cotterell is a bundle of love and joy!

-Elder Henricksen