28 April 2014

What a week! Some days felt really long but overall it went by really quickly. I can't believe I've already been with Hermana Gurley for two weeks—we are just having fun and working hard. Our zone leaders actually called us last night to congratulate us on getting such great numbers. That was a nice surprise!

     So we have two investigators right now. One was actually supposed to get baptized yesterday but she just got really scared all of a sudden and we would help her understand and feel more confident but then our next lesson she would have another excuse against getting baptized. Yesterday we actually took her to another baptism (and got lost on the way) hoping it would help, but it didn't so I think we're going to have to stop visiting her so much. But on a happier note, our other investigator, Leticia, was a chain smoker when we first met her and after explaining to her and helping her find out for herself that the Church is true, she hasn't smoked in four days! Our Bishop gave her a blessing and she just prays for help. It has been amazing to see the change in her and her 3-year-old son. Her baptism is set for this Sunday and she is so excited.

     I am doing great! My companion also wears Chaco sandals and everyone always comments on it and then on Thursday several people asked if we were sisters with one person asking if I was her mom! We had a good laugh over that! On Friday the family who signed up to feed us lunch couldn't and instead gave us money. We decided to make pineapple and banana pancakes—a little slice of home. They were so good!! Funny note, our landlady has a dog named Guera, which is also what everyone yells at us to get our attention. She is this tiny white dog and my companion is obsessed with her.

Pineapple and banana pancakes—quite the combination!

Last night we had this great devotional but I left my notes about it at home. So I will have to share that with you next week. I also started reading "Our Heritage" which is a brief history of the Church. I love it and I love learning about this period, there are so many inspiring stories from the early saints. I love this Gospel and I know it's true. I hope you all will take a moment to learn something new about our history and take the time to thank Heavenly Father that we have the opportunity to be born in this time and to know the Gospel. When I think about all those who have only heard of the Church in passing, I know I am blessed to have been born into a faithful family with so many examples to follow. I love you all and am grateful for your support!! Have a great Monday.

Love,

Hermana Bennett

A pizza restaurant with a name close to that of our Italian family.

miracles

So the biggest news from last week is that we had cambios. We managed to get a ride to the building where the President announced the new companionships and it was crazy. There were so many people there! And I think all but two companionships of sisters got changed so I had quite a few options for my companion. However, you'll never guess who I got . . . One of my best friends from the MTC—Hermana Gurley! When he announced it, I said "nuh uh" but she was coming towards me so I got up and I literally haven't stopped smiling since. So yup, I am with an American and it is going wonderfully! After cambios everyone was telling us how lucky we were and how jealous they are. We have had so much fun this week and we are working hard. Nearly everyday I marvel at the fact that the President put us together, but I think it's a trial run to see if two American sisters can be together in Mexico City. Whatever the reason, we are both doing great.

Katherine and Hermana Gurley at transfers.

My first day in my new area (I am in Nezahualcoyotl—the Heroes ward) was a little overwhelming, I think my new area is bigger than my last, but I can understand everything my companion says about the people we are going to visit. That makes it easier to know what they need to learn and focus on. We had rainstorms our first three days together and it has been so hot but I don't even mind. We also had a pretty strong earthquake here on Friday! We were studying with our district in Polanco (about 15 minutes from my area) and I just thought I was nervous (we were practicing a lesson) and then we realized everyone was standing up and leaving. We waited outside until the shaking stopped, but even then we continued to feel a little dizzy.

Rainy Mexican weather.

I also learned on Friday that in Iztapalapa they do a reenactment of Christ's final hours before his crucifixion, including his death. And they crucify the person as well. It is crazy and makes me wonder why. Apparently they believe that person will go straight to Heaven no matter his actions. As our district leader said, Christ suffered so we don't have to.

     But for happier moments, on Saturday we went out to buy some fruit in the morning and make photocopies of a paper. While doing that we saw a bici-taxi, driven by an older man, who happens to be the one my companion Hermana Gurley, has been wanting to take a ride in since she first saw him three months ago. So we hopped in and he took us home! It was about as slow as walking but it was definitely an experience! And Saturday night we had a lesson with some recent converts who wouldn't let us teach them until they had time to clean their house and get dressed up in heels for the lesson. I thought it was kind of silly but now that I haven met them I understand. They are two of the funniest sisters I know and they just love learning more about the gospel. They are a joy to teach.

     Sunday went well—I had met nearly everyone throughout the week during lessons so that was nice! Our ward is quite small with only a few active families but we are working to get more people to church on Sundays. And today, we deep cleaned our apartment—it had gotten really dirty over the past few months since my new companion's former companion didn't really believe in cleaning and only sprayed stuff to make it smell nicer. But don't worry, it's clean now! Plus, I have a washing machine in this apartment!! It was so nice to not have to wash my clothes by hand—as fun as it was.

Spreading happiness through the Gospel message.

And I don't know how many were able to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Easter Concert, but they did Handel's Messiah. You should watch it :)

     So things are going great! Thank you all for your prayers and kind emails—I definitely couldn't do this without your help! I love you all! 

Love,

Hermana Bennett

P.S. I just looked up my new area on LDS maps and I am not far from my old area—I am actually just separated by one ward, or about two kilometers (according to the map)! My new area is about a kilometer by a kilometer and my old area was even smaller. But I am in a different city—Nezahualcoyotl! Try saying that five times fast :)

changes

So yesterday at church we had a surprise, our mission president was there with some area seventies and he told us right before church started, to pack our bags, and that he was putting elders in our area. I can see now why missionaries are not usually told if there are leaving until Sunday night or Monday morning. It meant saying a lot of goodbyes and a few people were upset, a lot were sad and it was just stressful. I already packed up almost everything and just have a few things left. I don't know how I managed to accumulate more stuff in my short time here, but it is going to be a struggle getting everything in! I'll find out tomorrow at changes where my next area is and who my companion will be. Since there's only 22 sisters here and 10 Americans, my choices are limited!

Katherine's entire district.

The rest of our week was good. On Tuesday we finally made our return trip the immigration where we got our visas for the entirety of our mission. We also went to the "Jew store" which turned out to be a shop full of American foodstuffs. When they first said they were going to a Jew store, I heard "shoe store" and I couldn't figure out why it was so important to go to that one. Ha ha I was so confused but oh well.

     During one of our visits last week, we were with one of the 9-year olds that we baptized a few weeks ago. She brought out all the cards that we had left with them, they had chapters of the Book of Mormon to read as well as questions to ponder. She had written out questions to every single one. It was adorable! I am sad to leave our recent converts here, they are all so awesome. Speaking of which, we had our last baptism in this area. It was an 18-year-old girl named Kyara. She just showed up to church one Sunday, and wanted to get baptized. She is amazing and has been so fun to teach.

Cleaning out the baptismal font is always fun.

Katherine and her companion at Kyara's baptism.

That about sums up my week! I recently found that we had a DVD about Church History and Doctrine and Covenants. I have been watching the videos in my free time at night and during my morning study. They are great (if a little cheesy) and I have learned so much more about our early history. I love it. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and through following his teachings and the teachings of all the prophets and of the Book of Mormon, we can learn all we need to be ready for the life after this one. I am so glad I have this chance to share that knowledge with others and hope you all will continue to as well. I love you all!

Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Bennett 

conference

Hola!

So on Tuesday we had interviews with the mission President and after waiting for three hours, we had a five minute interview. His only comment? Your Spanish is really good. Well, that scared me a bit because those with the best Spanish are often the trainers but I've heard only one American is training and she has already been told. So I dodged that bullet! As a testament to that compliment, on Wednesday night our landlady's daughter needed help translating a poem from Spanish into English and I was a little surprised to realize I could translate it more or less on the spot. There were only a few words I didin't know. So I guess my Spanish is pretty good!

Despicable Me–themed graffiti in Katherine's area.

The highlight of this week was most definitely conference!! They set up another room for the Americans and we all gathered in our room with our snacks, all set to enjoy conference. We had so much fun and the talks were all amazing. I had written down seven questions Thursday and Friday to help me prepare for conference and every single one of my questions was answered. I also heard some other great counsel and I just loved the spiritual uplift it provided. Also, on Sunday in between sessions, we had two little twin girls get baptized. They are adorable, quite a handful but so fun to teach. They had been looking forward to this day with a lot of anticipation and they were so happy to make this covenant. The baptism ended up including another baptism from another set of Elders and then those we asked to participate weren't there but it all came together in the end.

I love you all and hope you have a great Monday!

At the baptism of some sweet twin girls.

Love,

Hermana Bennett

thunder and hail

Buenos días!

We had quite a week! So much happened but I’ll try to keep it quick. On Tuesday we had a zone conference with the zone that my MTC friend is in so I made her some no bake cookies but I was out of peanut butter so I used Nutella . . . And they turned out great! On Wednesday we taught ten lessons—so awesome. Thursday the highlight was that during our lunch the mom brought out scarves that her daughter (who we have gone out with for lessons) made for us! They’re really warm and so cute! Mine is made from a blue patterned yarn and I included a picture so you can see :) Friday we were struggling finding people at home so we started knocking on doors. Our third contact invited us in to teach right then and there! I was surprised—I didn’t think that actually happened! We ended up contacting 20 times on Friday and that one lesson was so worth it.

Modeling her new scarf, made by a local member.

So on Saturday and Sunday we had these awesome rainstorms that turned into hail storms. On Sunday we were on our way home from lunch and got completely soaked. It was so fun—I love the rain! And here rainstorms mean much cooler temperatures for which I am so grateful. We had some really hot days last week. On Sunday we also had a baptism! The granddaughter of the woman who got baptized last week had hers yesterday. It went really well except the elders didn’t warm the water at all and it was apparently freezing. She was shivering but happy when she came out.

Storms can often be a big obstacle to missionaries!

With a new convert on her baptism day.

This week we got copies of the Liahona in English and the articles have answered all of my current questions. I keep rereading the articles and am loving them even more. And can I just say how excited I am for General Conference this weekend!? I am so excited to hear the prophet speak—I have already started writing down questions to help me focus better and receive more answers. So take advantage of this opportunity and watch all the sessions!

I really like Helaman 5:12. It speaks of the fact that when we have Christ and the Gospel as our foundation, we will be secure and solid when the tempests and whirlwinds of Satan attack. This week hasn’t been that hard, but I have had some tough moments and I know that the only reason I have gotten through it unscathed is because of my purpose and my foundation. Study the Gospel, love it and live it. It will help you more than you realize. 

Love,

Hermana Bennett