I´ve felt like a hermit in a cave these days.
First of all, because our house is a cave. We live in a little house that consists of a bedroom, study room, bathroom and a little kitchen. This house is situated behind the main house, and as is common here, is well surrounded by other houses. Sunlight does hit the roof, but never can enter directly into the windows, so it can be cold and I´ve fondly called it "the cave" with many companions. One of the days that my companion didn´t feel well and was trying to rest in the afternoon, she commented that it was so bright, so I went to work. Instead of just having the white sheet up as a curtain, I added a dark, heavy blanket. Then, I put one of the extra mattresses in front of the doorway that leads to the rest of the house (it´s just a brick archway without a door). Thus, I´ve successfully created an even more cave-like atmosphere. I should probably send some of my design ideas to Pier One. I´m sure there´s a bunch of people with in inner hermit inside that would really love the ideas. Haha Just because you´re at home doesn´t mean you can´t be serving and helping.
Secondly, because my companion came down with that freak stomach infection or whatever it was/is. However, we´re doing a lot better now. My companion can actually eat and retain things and doesn´t seem so weak and dehydrated that she´s going to pass out just from walking to the bathroom. My mysterious throat issue is still an enigma. Haha It´s funny…to me. The nurse had me go to the hospital the other week to get a throat swab and culture, o sea, cultivo y antibiograma, just in case you were wondering how you´d request that in Spanish. (we sure didn´t know) Well, as it turns out, it must all be psychological, because nothing came up. Well, not really, but that´s a joke for us, because sometimes people just think you´re "sick" or trunky, but that´s not the case for us. Anyway, we´ll get it all figured out with the doctor sometime. In the meantime, the important thing is that we can leave the house and at least do some work! I love it.
The sisters (Hnas Elias, Cajtí and Cabrera-my old companion) were sweet enough to bring us our pouch yesterday after meetings. It may have been such a small thing for them, but it was like Christmas to us. I really love that the Lord uses us to do His work, especially by small and simple things. Though they may seem little, the Lord brings to pass great things through the accumulation of small and simple things. We have this dvd that we often share with members about that. It depicts a young girl simply writing her testimony in a Book of Mormon and giving it to her friend. Of course, at first the friend just throws it onto the floor in his room, but later, he reads it, learns from the missionaries with his family, and they are all baptized. That is followed by a bunch of testimonies and comments from converts and member missionaries. Sometimes we think that missionary work is only successful if people we invite to FHE up and say they want to be baptized. But it´s not like that. We are successful as missionaries (including member missionaries) if we just do little things like share our testimony, invite friends, open our mouths and live the exemplary lives that we will if we are simply living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So do some small and simple things today. I promise you´ll make a difference.
So one of the great things I received in pouch this week was a letter and blog updates from Sonnet. Thank you so much! Hna Merback loves our family, too, from what I´ve told her and shared with her from letters and such. So, reading the blog became a companionship activity. Sonnet, we cried for you and laughed at your whit and sense of humor about things such as name confusion. Thanks. It reminded me a lot of what I go through down here. "Henrichsen" seems to be the most difficult last name in the universe all of a sudden. I´ve been in this sector for about 10 months now, so people generally attempt our last name now…but there´s still some who are too afraid to attempt, even when we help them syllable by syllable. My favorite was when a sister in the RS wanted me to help with the music (directing), but I wouldn´t do it until she tried my name. I think Hna Hampster (that´s what it sounded like) is one of my favorite things I´ve been called. I just appreciate the attempt. On the streets, though, it´s worse, so I always show my tag as I say my name. Even so, people often respond with something like, "oh Génesis" (pronounced hen-a-cis) or "Eugenia?" (A-ooh-hen-ia). Sometimes I just say…yeah, that´s exactly it. However, the worst is on the phone:
Me: hi I´m Hna Henrichsen
Other person: What?
M: hermana Hen-rich-sen
OP: What?
M: Her-man-a Hen-rick-sen, una misionera de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días
OP: I´m sorry, I don´t understand.
M: I´m Hna Henrichsen, calling from the Church…..is Richard home?
OP: May I ask who´s calling?
Haha It´s a little frustrating, but funny. I don´t know why people think they´ll get my "gringo" name all of a sudden if they didn´t understand it the first 70 times. There´s faith for you. So Sonnet, you´re not alone.
I also received a package of letters and pictures from my friend Kristy Kadish. She´s such a cute missionary. Apparently she and Diana´s family se toparon (ran into eachother) at a stake activity, so I received a picture of her with my family. So jealous! Anyway, that´s fun, even though I freaked out when I first saw the picture. Diana and fam…you´re adorable!!
We also received some important information from the Church about Pouch. This is VERY IMPORTANT, SO LISTEN UP!! YOU CAN NOW ONLY SEND POSTCARDS OR SINGLE PAGES OF PAPER VIA POUCH. The one paper needs to be folded in three (you know, the "hot dog" fold) and then you can use two little pieces of tape to close it up at the top, but you cannot put tape on the sides. I guess they´re sick of opening all the envelopes. This was supposedly effective nov 1, so don´t be surprised if some things get send back. Thus, you pretty much should send everything to:
Hna Henrichsen, Ecuador Quito Mission (misión Ecuador Quito), Calle Robles 640 y Amazonas (or casilla de correo 17-03-078), Quito, Ecuador
I hope that´s not too confusing. The point is, you pretty much will want to send everything directly down to the mission office. Love you guys.
We started teaching this sweet family last week. They heard the lessons before and were going to get baptized, but the night before the dad (who lives and works in a city far away) came home and abused his spouse. However, Irlanda and her children, "the 3 Marias", really have the desire to be baptized now, one year later. Irlanda is so amazing for not getting discouraged and depressed. She´s from the coast and is probably one of the most positive, loving, and giving people I have ever met. The best part is that her children are following her example. If they see a little old lady in the street, they beg their mom to let them go and help her out, etc. So cute. I´ll keep you posted on them.
Oh yeah, for fiestas de Quito, which celebrates the date of the independence of Quito, there´s flags up all over the place, parades, dances, parties, etc. The fun thing is that there is a Quito city flag as well as the national one, so they show their city and national pride by putting both up.
Love you.
Hna CS Henrichsen
