identity

Dear Family,

Can you believe it´s actually the end of October? That´s crazy! It sounds like you are totally creative with the RS activities and treats, Mom. I hope my Halloween cookie cutters are put to good use (Caroline and James). I mentioned that we should dress up for Halloween. I bet you can guess what my companion and I will be…missionaries!
My companion has been getting slowly better this week. Whenever we cannot work as missionaries, I just become more anxious and grateful to be able to get out to work when we can. There´s just an irreplaceable satisfaction that comes from teaching, serving, and inviting people to come unto Christ. I´m very grateful to be where I am, doing what I´m doing.
Yesterday at church we were definitely blessed. First of all, it was a struggle for Hna Merback (my comp) to get there, as she woke up very weak and sick feeling. The Lord saw our efforts and dedication in getting there, though, and sent many new investigators and visitors to us. I love that! We had the fullest class we´ve had in the Cotocollao ward for a while (with 4 investigators). Some of them were young students from the Catholic University that have to investigate many religions. We could have just given them dry facts, but there was another interested person there, too. Also, we´re called to testify of Christ, so we decided to share the message of the Restoration, just as we normally do when we begin teaching people. I was grateful for the Spirit that was there, testifying of the truth of what we taught. All the women shared that they felt the peace and tranquillity of the Spirit at the end of the lesson. Unfortunately, none of them actually live in our sector. Igual. That´s not a problem; we teach all people without respect as to where they reside.
I´ve been thinking about classification and identity recently. This led me to my patriarchal blessing with a specific curiosity as to what the Lord has told me about myself. I can´t say that I found many written answers, but I did receive them through the Spirit and the RS lesson in the next few days. As people, we identify ourselves by work, by interests, by skills and in many other ways. As I thought about my identity, the most important thing that I could think of was, "I am a daughter of God". This reminded me of all the years of repeating the Young Women´s theme that begins with a simple, but certain identification of our divine nature and potential. As we teach people, they generally agree when we say that we are all children of God. I think what people tend to miss is the inferred connection to our potential and great worth as individually loved children of a Father in Heaven. We want to be able to arrive home and know that He is proud of us, of what we have done as His children. I think this simple knowledge of who we are really helps us to avoid the sorrows of despair and many sins, because we are focused on living on a higher plane, ever striving to live closer to our Father. I hope you all remember your great worth and divine potential each and everyday.
One reason that my companion is great is that she really lives doing the "small and simple acts of kindness". I am always finding notes of gratitude or encouragement in my planner or my scriptures. Yesterday I gave my agenda to Camila because she wanted to see it during sacrament meeting. When I looked through my agenda later in the day, I found several notes from her, such as, "te quiero hermana Henrichsen", and a reminder of her upcoming birthday. This paragraph is just to remind people that we should try to do the small and simple things. They don´t require too much effort and time, but they make a difference in the lives of others. It can be as simple as a smile or compliment. It can also be something simple we do that can help share the Gospel with others. Maybe a small service, a kind word of hope and encouragement, or maybe a pass along card (those aren´t down here, by the way). I´m working on it myself, because I´ve felt the difference it makes in my day. (Thanks, Hna Merback)
Thanks for all your love and support. Share the Gospel; it can not only brighten up someone´s day, but their eternity.

Love,
Hna CS Henrichsen

Ecuabit: Much to our chagrin, PDA (public displays of affection) is definitely the norm here. The funny thing is that some people get the idea we´re some type of nuns, so when they see us coming down the street, they´ll specifically start smooching, thinking that´s something that will shock us or something. Little do they know.