chilango

Let's just say this week was rough and a bit challenging. Part of the fact was that we had a few events and so didn't have as much time in our area searching for people. A week ago we had a zone conference with the President and while there I got a package from the Waynesboro stake and I just want to say, thank you!! My companion and I have really enjoyed the treats and the notes and drawings are just adorable. Mail in the mission is the best thing ever! Last Wednesday we had our first ever "Women's Conference" where Hermana Stutznegger spoke to the twenty of us for a bit. She showed us a video the church recently released about garments, about challenges we face in the field and about us as sister missionaries in general. I really enjoyed it and we had a fun time all together.

The Mexico Mexico City Southeast sisters together for their conference.

During the week I found a gourmet pastry truck called Panifico that is pretty good. I got a chocolate cupcake with raspberry filling called a "Romeo" and later in the week I tried the "polar bear." I'm definitely going to recreate these when I get home! While purchasing my treat the first time, the man in the truck asked where we were from. When I said the USA he looked really surprised and said I sounded like a chilango (someone from the DF)! [William’s note: the "DF" is Mexico City proper, the Distrito Federal, a usage similar to the American abbreviation for DC.] Many people here speak of the chilango accent as something bad so I haven't decided if it's good or not that I have the accent. It's got to be better than having an American accent, right? 

Crazy for cupcakes!

Anyways, the highlight of this week was definitely all the service we did. As part of our meeting on Monday with the President he encouraged us to do service the first week of the month with our companion, the second week with our district and the fourth with our zone. So every day we asked the members what we could do for them. We ended up: helping an older lady go grocery shopping in the market, ironing laundry, washing dishes and washing windows. It was really fun to help the members and serve them a little bit more. It was hard for some of the members to let us help them but I really appreciated that they accepted our help in the end. Service really is the best way to forget yourself and focus on others. Too often we get so focused on ourselves and what we need to do that we miss opportunities to serve and help others on their way.

     Last night we got a call from our zone leaders: my companion has changes and so tomorrow I will have a new companion. There are all sorts of rumors flying about who will be my new companion, but we won't know until tomorrow. So next Monday you'll get all the details!

     I love you all and I want to invite you to serve someone this week. Small or big, quick or time consuming, take the chance to look around you and find someone to help out. And remember 2 Nephi 9:39: "spiritually minded is life eternal" or "SMILE." Be happy and serve someone!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

The sisters came across a couch in the middle of a street.
Naturally, they wanted to get a photo.