ups and downs

We had a rough week and today I feel like I'm getting energized for what's coming up, hopefully this week will go little more smoothly! But I wanted to tell you a little more about my companion! She is 19, went to BYU for a year, studied nursing and played a lot of sports in high school. And she is really good. Like she almost signed to play for a Division I school but it didn't feel right. It's always crazy to hear everyone's story about why and how they ended up serving a mission. We all have such different pasts and stories but I know we are all meant to be here at this time and I am so grateful I get to serve with them and make new friends.

     But a few random facts about my area. There are so many missionaries in my mission, over 200, and our area is tiny, probably 30 miles by 30 miles, at the most. Our ward boundaries and thus proselyting area is about 1 kilometer by 1 kilometer. But several wards have multiple sets of missionaries. My district is made up of our ward and one other ward, and they have three sets of missionaries. One district in my zone, four companionships, are all in the same ward! It's so crazy. Especially when my companion talks about the fact that in Utah, one set of missionaries is over an entire stake! I can't even imagine it. 

     Last week I accidentally gave my companion a heart attack. We were walking down the street and a guy stopped me saying he wanted to learn more. I of course stopped and called out to my companion but she was already really far ahead. So I just talked with him, figuring she would realize pretty quickly I wasn't behind her. It actually took her about five minutes, when she went to cross a busy street. I kept peeking out from where we were standing to make sure I could still see her and soon enough, I saw her heading back, looking scared, with the phone in her hand. I got the information from the guy and went out to meet her. She told me she walked past some creepy guys in the street and shortly after realized I was gone. She thought they had taken me and was about to call the President and tell him she had lost me. I started laughing but I felt so badly! When I explained why, she calmed down a little but still was uneasy. When we walked past the creepy men, we could hear them laughing and commenting that she had lost me. Oh Mexico. 

     Anyways, it's definitely the rainy season here. We know to expect rain in the late afternoon and have started bringing our jackets and umbrellas with us. It rains all through the night and sometimes in the morning, luckily stopping before we head out to work. But last week we had some great lessons, especially with the family Lopez that we've been teaching for three weeks. They've come to church twice and they are awesome. The dad is a less active but the wife and kids are not members. They are doing so well, they read and pray and you can tell they truly want to know for themselves if it's true. When we were in Gospel Principles yesterday, the wife was already answering questions and explaining to other members. I don't think the teacher realized she wasn't a member until the very end! Their baptism is set for two weeks from yesterday and I am so excited for them.

Hermana Lopez.

Last story from this week. So our baptism from last week, Liliana, got confirmed this Sunday and her uncle was able to confirm her. It was a tender experience and I just know she will be a strong member. Their family is pretty poor and we wanted to get her something for her 15th birthday, which was yesterday. We couldn't get to the temple to buy anything so instead we bought a cake! It ended up being quite large but it was beautiful and I wish you could have seen her face. She just lit up and got so excited, she couldn't stand still. We got some pictures with her and the cake and left them to eat it.

Katherine, her companion, and Liliana with her cake.

Sorry this turned out to be a long email. But last thing I will say is that, after the difficulties we've had with some ward members, I've realized the importance of working together. While we might have different expectations or methods of doing things, if we work together, we can do a lot more and really strengthen the ward. I know this Gospel is true, it can change lives and will change yours if you let it.

I love you all!

Hermana Bennett

españa

We had two miracles this week! One was an awesome lesson with a less active family—there were tears involved—and they came to church for the first time in years! The other was a baptism! But first, this week we had a few other highlights. One day we were contacting when we heard a guy advertising donuts (he was wheeling them down the street) for a peso, so we got some. They tasted more like fried dough but they were still tasty. Another day we saw a woman sitting down on a bucket so we contacted her and for some reason she couldn't stop laughing while she was talking with us. We explained who we were and that we had a message we wanted to share. Ignoring that part, she asked where we were from and we asked her to guess. She said Spain and immediately started laughing. She apologized but couldn't stop and kept cracking up while we again offered to visit her. All she said was "I'm Catholic" and pretty much told us to leave. So we walked away listening to her laughing behind us.

Katherine and her current companion.

But our actually crazy lesson was with a less active. I had seen her around before and we always said hi and set up a lesson but it always fell through. We finally just stopped by one day and she was there so we got to talk with her. She was a Relief Society president for a dozen years and a strong member until she got offended by someone at Church and now doesn't feel worthy to go. We tried to help her understand it was better to go than not but then she went on about how she works and doesn't have time. But the weirdest part was this: she claims to be a witch who practices "good magic." She had all these stories about how she wanted to go places or do things and then they would "magically" happen. We finally just had to leave but it was just so strange and we don't know how we can help her.

     Yesterday we had a baptism and it was the longest day ever. We had a baptism all set up and we had to pick up another investigator so her neighbor went by for her. We got to church and realized Liliana, the 14-year-old girl who was supposed to get baptized, wasn't there. So we talked to her neighbor who said she was really sick and couldn't leave the house, plus her dad had gone into work. During the second hour of church we went to talk to her but she wouldn't come out and we had to talk to her mom (who is a little bit anti). Her mom was annoyed and said not to come back until Tuesday, that Liliana would be better by then. We went back to Church and after it finished, we called our district leader who said he was coming over to talk with her. So we went back a second time, but guess who answered the door? Yup, Liliana was up and walking around. The Elders asked if her dad was home and he came out to talk with us. The Elders offered to give her a blessing and so we went next door (they wouldn't let us in their house) and the Elders proceeded to talk with her and figure out what changed between Saturday and Sunday. Basically she was scared and her dad commented that baptism wasn't really necessary to which the Elders pulled out some scriptures to help him understand. And once he was on board, Liliana changed her mind and agreed to get baptized right then. Unfortunately our ward mission leader had cancelled everything so we took everyone to the next closest chapel, about twenty minutes away. They were still setting up so my companion and I took her and her family around on a tour of the chapel. We explained every single room, the sign outside, we talked about family history, temples and the pictures in the church. When we went back we found out the Elders hadn't come back yet with the baptismal clothes! Luckily another set of sisters were there and they each got up and bore a lengthy testimony during which time the Elders returned. Then we took pictures and had the baptism!! Such a long day but completely worth it.

At Liliana's baptism.

My quick spiritual note is this: we have been teaching a lot about repentance this week and the fact that there are two types of sin: sins of omission and commission. When we actively are breaking the commandments or doing something wrong, it is obviously a sin. But good to remember is that when we neglect to do that which is right, such as reading the Book of Mormon or attending church, we are also sinning. So please keep that in mind and do what is right!

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

Love,

Hermana Bennett

Bonus: All the sisters in the Mexico City Southeast Mission.

what language are you speaking?

This week went by quickly! We were really busy, met with lots of new investigators, taught quite a few lessons and walked a lot. Last week, we got a reference from a member in another ward where our zone leaders are serving. The member wanted the elders to teach but she agreed to us going with them to the first lesson. It was a little nerve-wracking, we didn't know how much they were planning to teach and to be honest, we didn't even know if we were in charge. It ended up going well and hopefully we can help her out; she's a 26-year-old video gamer with no social life, but she wants to change. In other news, last week we did a family home evening activity with the Restoration DVD. We did a charades type activity and they loved it. They kept inviting more people over until I think we had three families with a total of 15 people. It was crazy but it went so well. Most of them are less actives but there were a few non-members as well!

     While we were contacting we decided to talk to this older woman in the street. My companion started the contact, I spoke and then she just looked at us and said she didn't understand us. So I started to speak again and try to explain it more simply, but she just grabbed my shoulders (and shaking me a little) said that she didn't understand our language and that she has her own and we speak differently. We were both surprised and I was incredulous but she walked off and afterwards, we just looked at each other and burst out laughing. We think she was being serious, she couldn't (or didn't want to) understand us. In contrast to her, we were checking on some investigators who weren't home so we contacted the people standing outside near the apartment. The men we talked with seemed a little off and I noticed one guy was shaking but I figured he was on drugs or something. When we walked away, we realized we had been speaking to people outside of Alcoholics Anonymous!

     Anyways, it's going well here. It's hard work, we have ups and downs but the Gospel is true and I am glad for the chance to be here learning more and helping others to understand it. I know it's true and am grateful for the experience. I love you all and am so thankful for your support. I hope you have a great afternoon!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

rain, rain go away

So we had cambios this past week and I have a new companion! Her name is Hermana Ingram and she's another American! It's crazy that I have a second American but it is fun and we are learning a lot. She's 19, from Elkridge, Utah and did a year at BYU before her mission. She is tall, blond and speaks really good Spanish. I wasn't sure how it would go but it's been a fun, if tiring week. I got sick on Tuesday with the flu (or something like it) and am slowly getting better. But this last week we worked hard and got a lot done. We have so many appointments for tomorrow and Wednesday, we will literally have to run to get them all in!

     This past Saturday, we had a miracle. One of the investigators, Rosa, has been wanting to get baptized but was just plain scared. We had our new district leader talk to her and he was able to help her get through it and on Saturday she was baptized!! It was a bit nerve-wracking because until it actually happened, we thought she might back out. But she went through with it and is really happy. But the best part is, she isn't scared any more and seems to be at peace.

Katherine and her new companion at Rosa's baptism.

The only other thing this week was that we had several big rainstorms and one day it was a torrential downpour. We had to go to another building for a meeting and what should have taken 10 minutes took over 40 and then we decided to get out and walk. The side streets off the main road were all flooded, cars were unable to go anywhere and it was just pure pandemonium. It makes me grateful we don't have to travel far on a regular basis and that we can walk almost everywhere.

The flooded streets of Mexico City.

One scripture I will share is in James 2:17, which says faith without works is dead. Many of our less active members that we teach have never really understood that and I guess to some extent, I didn't either. But if we believe the Church is true, we will attend the services. If we believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, we will read it. And if we believe that Heavenly Father loves us and listens to our prayers, we will sincerely talk with him daily. I know these things are true and I hope you will act on your faith and show what you believe, what you hope for. I am so grateful for the chance to learn and study the Gospel for these 18 months and I can hardly believe I am already at my 6-month mark. It goes by quickly! 

I love you all!

Have a good one!

Love,

Hermana Bennett