"choose ye this day whom ye will serve"

This last week was a bit frustrating as we tried to find new people to teach. Everyone we taught seemed interested but not enough to make the effort to make changes in their lives. Plus, none of them would commit to come to church yesterday so for the first time in a long time, I didn't have any investigators at church. But we did have ward conference and we were asked to be in the choir! More on that in a moment.

     The highlight of this last week was definitely on Saturday when our President called for a mission conference rather unexpectedly. Usually we know weeks in advance but last week on Tuesday we got a call saying we all had to be in Neza for a conference. Rumors spread like crazy as to what would happen and it was interesting to see what our President chose to spoke on. He asked everyone to fast from Friday after lunch until Saturday morning at the conference and I really enjoyed fasting with such a clear purpose. I guessed he would speak about the biggest problem in our mission: disobedience. I was right. I remember when I first got here I was shocked at how good missionaries would ignore a rule or choose to follow their companion into disobedience. In my mind, choosing to serve a mission was the equivalent to promising to always obey. It was really hard for me when I got here and felt overwhelmed by the flagrant disrespect so many missionaries showed. Luckily our President is doing his best to help those missionaries. He focused on every single one of us choosing, that day, to serve God, to obey and to honor our commitment to him for the rest of our mission. He went as far as to offer all the missionaries a chance to leave, to go home; he even had chairs up front for anyone who decided that being obedient was too much. He spoke clearly about certain rules and warned us that he knows what goes on, and that members see us and call him when they know we are breaking rules. It was refreshing for me and I am excited to see how the mission changes. I know we can be better, more unified in this area of Mexico and I hope everyone else sees it too.

     As I mentioned earlier we had ward conference and with guest speakers we were asked to join the choir. Let me just say that Mexicans, bless them, are not the best singers. It was kinda rough to be in the choir but it was really fun! I think the hardest part was that none of them sang confidently and so I tried to but the words through me off a little; especially because we sang two children's hymns which were so much harder for me to get the hang of! But we had fun and the choir director bought yellow scarves for all the girls while the guys all wore yellow ties. After sacrament meeting a woman gave my companion and I a jug of hot arroz con leche and loaves of sweet bread. You can bet we went straight to the kitchen and had some! It was the best treat ever, especially since it's been a bit chillier lately. The members are all so nice! I love it.

     My last comment is about a Mormon message that we watched at a member's house. It is about one man's testimony of the Book of Mormon which also explains the history of the Book of Mormon. It is just great and I love it! Plus it is a guy from London so that's fun too. Anyways, you should all watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dNYpXZIN_c) and make the commitment now to follow the Savior. I promise it will bless you, strengthen you, and help you in more ways you know. 

I love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

A display for El Día de los Muertos.

translate, please!

Last weekend I got really sick with something like the flu. Sunday evening I was able to receive a blessing from our President, who happened to be in the area, and after resting Monday, Tuesday morning I woke up completely better. I was grateful to have gotten over it so quickly, especially when my companion got really sick later on last week. It worsened to the point that she had no voice, at all, for two days. She would try to talk but it was like a bad cellphone reception, you would hear one or two words and then nothing and then maybe another word or two. She determinedly kept going and it got to the point that after she talked, people would turn to me and ask me to "translate" what she had said! It was fun for me but frustrating for my companion though she was a good sport about it. We got her some medicine that eventually worked and by Sunday morning she had her voice back. 

     A highlight from this week was we had a baptism yesterday! It was actually scheduled for Saturday but due to poor communication we ended up having to postpone it until yesterday. But it all worked out and Miguel got baptized by a recent convert. It was a great experience for all who were able to attend! It was actually surprisingly chaotic!

The sisters at Miguel's baptism.

One of the talks that caught my attention was from President Uchtdorf on Saturday morning. He spoke of light and truth and how if we don't continue to nourish and strengthen our light, it will dim until we wonder why we believed it in the first place. Don't let that happen; allow your light to grow brighter, help others who may be struggling, and continue to seek truth and light and to strengthen your testimony. Your own testimony equals the strength of your conversion and your foundation in this gospel. Here's a link to his talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/receiving-a-testimony-of-light-and-truth?lang=eng. You should read it!

     I love this gospel, I love this church. It is true and I love helping others learn and make the changes they need and want in their lives. On Saturday I hit my 10-month mark!! Only 8-months left to change lives as a missionary!

I love you all and am so grateful for your love and support.

Have a great Monday!!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

introducing "the sister of the ward"

Last Tuesday we had cambios and to my surprise, I am back in my old zone! My new area, Reforma, is right next to my old one. It was a bit weird at first but it feels normal now. My area is pretty big and it covers a lot of busy streets which make it seem even larger. But my new companion is Hermana Del Barrio (which means sister of the ward), a Chilean from Santiago who is just adorable. She has 14 months in the mission, and only three years as a member. I am learning so much from her and I just love it. I was actually made senior companion this time and that was an even bigger surprise. But we get along great and we are working hard to find people to teach. 

Katherine and her new companion.

The members here are all really nice and are very friendly. They have all asked if Hermana Lopez and I are sisters . . . I guess white, curly haired girls all look the same to them! But it's all good because when I say no, we're not sisters, I tell them that we were companions in the MTC and they get excited again.

Ready to study!

I don't have much else to say, this week went by quickly! One thing: General Conference! These four sessions were amazing and I loved them all! I don't have time to write much about it today, but if you didn't watch or listen to the sessions, I would encourage you to do so this week. I loved that Jorg Klebingat spoke about taking care of yourself spiritually and physically. Overall I noticed the theme on Sunday focused on strengthening your testimony, on making sure you have a solid foundation. In truth that is one of the most important things, having the firm foundation so that when you are tempted, have difficulties or something bad happens in your life, that you always know where to turn to. The Gospel answers all of our questions but we have to do our part and seek those answers.

I love you all!! 

Have a great Monday!

Love,

Hermana Bennett