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 

corn ice cream

Well, I forgot my agenda with notes about what to include so hopefully this letter won't be too boring! This week went by quickly! And it didn't help me to know it was my last week in this area. Yup, about a week and a half ago the President told me that I would have cambios and be leaving the area. I was hoping to stay in this zone/stake but I have transfers with my luggage which means I will be leaving this city. I can either go to my old zone, Oriental, to a different ward, or I can go to the third zone, La Perla, which is what I'm hoping for. But tomorrow we have cambios and we'll find out then!

     Some quick stories from last week! We were teaching our recent converts, Perla and Vidal (they got baptized last Sunday), and Perla told us she had something she had to tell us, and that we would be proud. We were confused and asked why. Apparently when they were in the street, she heard her daughters, Paula and Perla say they want to be missionaries. Paula said she was Hermana Ingram and Perla quickly said she was Hermana Bennett, because she has curly hair too! While they were walking home, they imitated our accents, said "wow" and "uh" a lot! Later in the house they got their scriptures out and said "we have a message to share about Jesus" and "we are going to read, uh, a scripture in . . ." and so on! It was hilarious to hear her tell us the story and she tried to get her daughters to do it, but they were too shy. I am going to miss them when I leave!

The sisters enjoying artisanal Mexican ice cream—including a corn flavor!

Also this week we watched Women's Conference—in Spanish! It was so gratifying to be able to understand nearly all of it, especially since there was so many good stories! One I want to share is from President Uchtdorf's talk, which was amazing, as usual. He talked about living the Gospel and well, I'll just quote him! 

“Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us.” (Read the entire talk: https://www.lds.org/church/news/president-uchtdorf-live-the-gospel-joyful?lang=eng) 

I believe this 100%. He is always blessing us and we have to take the time to recognize those blessings and do our part to make sure we keep receiving them. Sometimes we think, "well I won't receive that blessing, I'm not good enough, or doing enough, I'm not perfect." All I will say is this: we are always enough, we are His children and if we do our part, He has to do His, he is obligated. So don't worry, be happy! Live the Gospel and reap all the blessings He has prepared for you. And get ready for General Conference this weekend! It will be amazing. 

     So, yesterday we finally got a hold of our President and got permission to go to Zocolo, downtown Mexico City, today! We had tried calling him last week and even planned things out with a family to take us. We didn't think we were going to be able to go and I was so sad. But he told us to go ahead so we called up the family and this morning after our zone meeting we drove into the heart of Mexico City. It was amazing and such an adventure! The Lopez family had planned to take us but Omar, the dad, ended up dropping us off (Patricia and us) and later picked us up. Central is amazing. A man named Porfirio Diaz, when he was President, redesigned Mexico City to be like European cities, Paris in particular. It felt like we were on vacation in a totally different world. It was just incredible! She took us to churches, for breakfast, to Bellas Artes (a center for music and the arts), the first post office in Mexico, the main cathedral in Zocolo, and to see ruins of the ancient templo mayor. Apparently when the Hispanics came to Mexico, they destroyed and built Catholic churches on top of all the pyramids. So under every church in the city, there is a pyramid underneath. She also took us to a fancy department store that has a ceiling of stained glass. It is breathtaking! We saw a vertical garden, complete with bicycles, and we ended with a special treat: frozen yogurt from my favorite chain! Yup, they have YogurtLand in Mexico!! I'll send some photos today and hopefully send some more next week!

Breakfast at the Casa de Azulejos (House of Tiles).

Bellas Artes, a center for culture and art.

The Cathedral of Zocolo.

I love you all so much! Next week, I'll have stories from my new area!

Love,

Hermana Bennett

feliz cumpleaños

Time sure does go by quickly when it's your companion's birthday!! This last week we had a lot of fun and just enjoyed it. The day after independence day, there was no one in the street but little children, all setting off fireworks. At one point we were walking down one street and saw a group of children huddled close together. A minute later we saw them running past us with their hands over their ears. We started running as well and a moment later, there was an explosion. They had set off a tiny bomb! Or something just like it. All day long kids were setting off firework bombs in the street. 

A particularly beautiful Mexico City sunset.

Randomly last week, our zone leaders called us, asking us to teach one of their investigators for them. So we went and taught him! It was a little stressful but our leaders actually left us there and went to another appointment. We didn't feel like he responded well to our message, but his wife (who is a member) was really grateful and said it helped. I guess we'll see if he progresses!

     So, here in the city people often cart around instruments and play in the street. One that is pretty common is the marimba and Hermana Ingram loves listening to people play in the street. Well, on our way to a church activity, we passed some guys setting up to play. We stopped and talked to them and before we knew it, the head guy is in love with my companion! He told us he was going to be back in the area the next morning and he promised to give us CDs of him playing and singing. Well, we went and found them the next morning and sure enough he had two copies of his cd! 

     The best part about last week? It was Hermana Ingram's 20th birthday!! I made her a cheesecake and decorated her desk for her and later we got to eat with our favorite family. They also got her a cake from a fancy bakery here, and it was so good. I love birthdays!! Yesterday we went to teach a family, and they had a surprise as well. Hermana Ingram had to walk in with her eyes closed, they played music and sat her down in front of a cake and sang to her. It was so fun! I got most of it on video. But for now I just have lots of pictures!

Hermana Ingram with her birthday cheesecake.

Studying away with a birthday theme.

Also, we baptized a family! Well, just the parents. The daughters aren't old enough but they are already talking about their baptisms. We have been visiting them for about a month and they were just so ready to make changes in their lives. It always amazes and humbles me to see people accept the Gospel and really live it. I love this work!

The sisters with the newest family of their ward.

Yesterday we also had ward conference. One of the speakers talked about the attributes of conversion, or fruits of conversion. How we can know if we are converted. He mentioned four in particular; a desire to do good, you don't rebel against the Lord, full of love and you share the Gospel. I just want to invite you all to think about your conversion, how converted are you? What can you do to be more converted and share the truth with those around you. It's hard but completely, 100% worth it. So do it!

I love you and I pray for you every day!

Love,

Hermana Bennett