quick update

Hello!

I do not have much time but I will say this week was pretty good other than the fact my comp was still pretty sick. Our week started out working with a member who is really nice and fun to work with. He has this little garden space and while we were there, insisted on giving us some melon. We still have not had a chance to eat it but it should be interesting! While there, he commented that I had a Costa Rican accent ... I was surprised and I guess a little disbelieving and he commented that he has a sister in Costa Rica so he knows the accent. But I think everyone hears what they want to hear!

     Later last week we did a family home evening activity with an inactive family with several young children. I had made a puzzle and they adored it! I was rather surprised but they kept commenting about how cool it was and would ask how I made it and if I would show them how. I will have to send a picture next week, the Internet we are using is really slow and the photos are not uploading. Our week ended with us singing a hymn in English for some members. They really wanted us to and so we sang "I Am a Child of God" and it was really hard! We almost could not sing the chorus, we are so used to singing in Spanish.

     Lastly, this week I have been reading a chapter of Jesus the Christ every day and I love it. It is a religious and historical history and I have learned so much. I would encourage you all to read it or some of it, it really is fantastic.

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

Love,

Hermana Bennett

 

A schematic of the Plan of Salvation.

food

Not too much to report this week. We were supposed to go on divisions (exchanges) with some other missionaries but we got a call the day before saying one of the missionaries had typhoid AND salmonella. We felt so bad for her and I just hope she makes a full recovery. A lot of people have said that those who get sick from typhoid take a month to recover. Yikes. In other news, we got to go up to the rooftop of one of our member's apartment buildings and the view was awesome. You can see for miles and it's all buildings as far as the eye can see, except for one hill in the distance. Apparently that's where they filmed the movie "Man on Fire" which my comp says is based on a true story. That's a little terrifying but it's the experience, right? The last bit of fun news is that on our way to an appointment we passed this crazy painted car and we got a picture of it. Just enjoy it.

So I've been waiting for the food here to make me or my companion sick ... and on Saturday my comp got the worst of it. She had eaten some street food on Thursday and on Saturday, she was in the bathroom more than she wasn't. She feels a lot better but is still pretty weak and not eating too much. But at our lunch on Sunday she didn't eat too much and we commented that we had stomachaches and couldn't eat too much. We didn't think much of it but a few hours later we got a call from our zone leader who wanted to make sure we were okay. Apparently the family we ate with called the Relief Society president and made it sound like we were dying because she then called our leader who warned us that she was trying to take us to the doctor. We quickly hung up with him and called the RS president to let her know we were fine and not to worry but we were too late. She was already on her way and sounded determined to take us to the doctor so we ran and got shoes on and grabbed our bags so we could leave for an "appointment." When she arrived we thanked her and did our best to convince her that we were okay. She didn't seem to want to buy it but she did and then insisted on dropping us off at our appointment. We were just laughing about it afterwards and we couldn't believe she had done that. I guess they get really concerned about their sister missionaries here!

     Otherwise we are doing great and working hard. This week we have been sharing the atonement with our members and I love 2 Nephi 2:6–8 and Mosiah 3:11. Read those and share it with someone. The Book of Mormon can answer all our questions if we just take the time to study it and pray. I love you all and hope you are enjoying spring in the States!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

mother's day

Well, the highlight of my week was definitely yesterday. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women in my life! I am so grateful for all the amazing examples I have and of course for the chance I had to speak with my family. It was definitely the fastest hour and a half of my life but it was awesome!

The local ward hosted a celebration for Mother's Day with some delicious food.

The rest of our week was actually really hard. Our leaders have been on our case to find more people to teach and so this last week, that is all we focused on. We didn't have very much success until Saturday morning when a lady let us in to teach her right then and there. Then on Sunday, a member brought four investigators to church! That was a nice surprise and hopefully we can meet with them this week. In addition to the emotionally draining aspect of last week, we had some really cool days of rain before it heated up again. My companion got so frustrated by her hair that she vowed to cut it that day or the next. And she did! Unfortunately the woman who cut it didn't do the best job and my companion didn't love it. So I offered to trim it for her, which I did that night. All I will say is, it looks a lot better! And she loves it now, which is a bonus. She later freaked out when she found out her hair was the first haircut I have done . . . whoops!

     Last week we also brought a member to a lesson and it turned out interestingly. Members here tend to be a bit of a wild card and he was one such. He is an older gentleman and didn't have the chance to serve a mission so he loves to go out with the missionaries. However it was the first time with us and when the investigator said they couldn't right now, he proceeded to teach them about the Book of Mormon, gave them a copy (that looks like it is from the 90s) and challenged them to read it. All without ever looking at either of us. It was quite an experience to see him go and it was fun too! Speaking of which, we ran into a young member of our ward who was with her mom and grandmother and great-grandmother. The great-grandmother is hilarious and always saying the most random stuff, half of which we don't understand. She comes up to us and starts talking to us, but we have no idea what she's saying so we just smile and nod. Her family just smiled and took her hands and we just walked away, wondering what just happened. We still have no idea what went down, but she's a character!

     I hope you all had a great weekend and that your week goes well. I love you all and love to hear from you.

Love,

Hermana Bennett

A gorgeous Mexico City sunset. The beauty of God's creations is all around us!

ups and downs

This week went by slowly but we managed to accomplish a lot. The most stressful part was getting our investigator, Leticia, ready for baptism. She needed an interview with our mission president so we got one set up and then she had to cancel at the last minute for work. So we kept talking with the president and he said there was no other time we could do it this week and we started freaking out because Leticia was so ready. Our president gave us permission to have a stake president interview her so after worrying all day Saturday we finally got an appointment set up for Sunday morning. So we pick her up and meet up with some Elders who take us to the other chapel for the interview (where we had to wait nearly an hour) and then the interview was really long and we got nervous. But they came out and he wanted to talk with us, nerve-wracking, but basically all he said was that she is really ready and we did a great job teaching her. So then we go to church (we missed sacrament meeting) and get the font ready and set the chairs up and then go to Relief Society. We went back to the font only to find it only half-full. And there was no more water anywhere in the chapel. Like it was completely out. So we were going to haul water from another building but it didn't have water either so we decide just to go for it. We get her changed, gathered all the members together and we start the service. I should also mention, our water heater is broken so the water is ice cold; they keep trying to fix it, but to no avail. Anyways, the water is so low, Leticia had to sit on the floor of the font while the bishop kneeled to baptize her. It was crazy, she was shivering she was so cold, but it worked and she is baptized! Despite all the trials and problems, we persevered and she is so happy! It was quite the experience.

At Leticia's baptism. Worth the effort and difficulty!

The rest of our week was pretty slow compared to that. We had a Relief Society activity where we folded paper for an hour and a half and then made this thing (I still don't know what it was supposed to be), which our Relief Society president then took apart right as we were about to leave. So we took the pieces with us and gave them to Rosa, one of our investigators. One good note is that on Friday we taught four new people and they all seem pretty interested! Hopefully our next lessons are as good as the first was.

     This last week we also had a lot of windy days and one day my skirt wasn't cooperating. We walked past a group of men loitering on the streets and after we're pretty far past them, my skirt flies up in the front so I quickly pull it down only to feel the back of it go up as well! I was so embarrassed and the loiterers whistled at us as well. We just laughed about it and then my companion's skirt did the same thing the next day, but she was lucky and no strangers saw.

Another tracting story: what sounded like a screaming
person turned out to be a goat atop a building.

On Saturday we had sopes for lunch which are this tortilla-type things that are made from blue corn and then loaded with beans, cream, onion and cheese. They were so good! We also made brownie batter from a mix—minus the egg—and ate it with Oreos. And then yesterday we made chocolate chip pancakes. Those taste like my childhood! Basically we're just having fun and working hard. My comp misses biscuits and gravy the most but doesn't know how to make them from scratch so we might try for that next week.

     But anyways! I hope you are all doing well and I remembered to bring my notes from the devotional I mentioned last week. This pertains specifically to missions but I think applies to everyone.

     1. Obedience: is the price

     2. Faith: is the power

     3. the Spirit: is the key

     4. Love: is the motive

     5. Christ: is the reason.

We can do anything and everything if we have the right motive and the desire to help others. I know this Gospel is true and that with our faith, we can prepare ourselves and help others in whatever they're facing. Being on a mission has taught me a lot about others and how to understand and apply principles of the Gospel to every single facet of our lives. I know that by doing this, we can have the Spirit with us, to guide us and help us all our days. I love you all and hope you all have a great day!

Love,

Hermana Bennett