Friday, February 7, 2014

I´m a mini-missionary-mom!

Monday February 3, 2013

Another week, another month, and on to February! I hope that January went well for you all - It was definitely a month I´ll never forget. Full of lots of surprises and lots of new experiences. It´s been a month full of self-reflection and I´m learning more about myself that I didn´t know before. After reading the talk by Elder Nelson in the October Conference, I´ve decided to focus a lot of my goals on self-mastery. We all have fears, we all have weaknesses, we all have those sins that "so easily beset us" (alma 7:15) - sometimes it´s hard to get the strength to pull yourself out of bed when the alarm goes off or to say no to that second slice of cake :) Sometimes it´s hard to keep your mouth shut when you´re annoyed. Sometimes it´s hard to get the courage to talk to the person on the bus, or say "buuueeennnnaaaaaas!" for the upteenth time at the upteenth house. Sometimes it´s scary to do what the spirit is telling you to do, when it doesn´t make sense or when the outcome is unknown. But I´ve learned a very valuable lesson - when we can become the masters of our own selves, when we can let go and let God, that´s when Heavenly Father can use us most effectively to move His work forward. It takes time and it takes a lot of patience, but when we can have enough self-mastery to let our will be more in line with His, that is when we "become perfected in Him" (moroni 10:32). It´s a rocky road, but now is the time to start climbing! In the words of Pres Uchtdorf, the best time to plant the tree (or start on that goal that you´ve been procrastinating) was 20 years ago, but the second best time is to do it today :)


Update on what´s been going on since Hermana Aparicio´s surgery. She´s been having to rest for quite sometime and unable to go out and work in order to recover from her surgery. The first couple of days I did divisions with other missionaries while she was able to stay at the house of the members. There was one night in particular in which we were trying to plan out the day and NOTHING was working out. The more we tried, the less inspired we felt. So, we decided to call up the sister training leaders in order to help us find a solution, or if they could do divisions with us as well. After 20 minutes or so they called us back with some great news! 
Hermana Juarez
One of the counselors in the Stake Presidency had a 18 year old daughter that was willing to come and do divisions with us. It turned out to be an incredible experience for everyone! When President found out, he came to our house and set her apart as a full-time missionary :) She has been incredible to go out and teach with! The first day we went contacting in an area that I´d never been to before, and we ended up finding some great contacts. We read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with one man and without one word or invitation from either of us he said, "well it looks like I need to read this book and pray about it. Where can I buy one?" When we told him it was free, that Heavenly Father wanted all His children to have this book he was so excited! He told us to give him some time to read it and then he would tell us all about his experience with it. I´m excited to see how it goes. 

Sadly, Hermana Aparicio will be returning to Peru tomorrow so that she can fully recover from her surgery as well as some other health problems :( I´m so grateful for the time we´ve had to be companions and all of the experiences that we have shared. She is an incredible missionary and an incredible person. I think I´ve learned more about life and relationships and myself from this transfer with her then ever before! I will always be grateful for this time. She was able to have a special impact on a lot of people in her short time here. The spirit has worked so well through her words and her invitations.  It´s truly been a miracle to see changes and to have been a part of it with Hermana Aparicio. This means that Hermana Juarez will be staying with me for another week until she starts back into school next monday! I think it´s been a great opportunity to jump in head first and get a real look into missionary life before she will be serving her own mission this upcoming year. 


 I love you all lots and lots! The future is full of lots of surprises and lots of unanswered questions, but that´s the beauty of it all. Tommorrow will always take care of itself when we first seek the kingdom of God - sufficient is the day when we have are goals set on eternal life (3 nephi 13). Until next week!!


Hermana Bennett

PS - we had left over home-made salsa (which they call "chimole") and I decided to put it in macaroni and cheese.... surprisingly it was extremely tasty! I don´t know if it´s just because I´ve been lacking variety that it tasted so good, but I would highly recommend it if you get the urge to whip up a box. Catrachan (Honduran girl) Macaroni and Cheese :)

Super Easy Homemade salsa - tomatoes, onion, green pepper, lemon juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, y ya :)