Happy P-day

 Feb 18, 2014

Hola familia! Sorry about the unexpected change in P-day. Yesterday we had the priviledge of getting to spend the day in a conference with Elder Carlos H. Amado of the Seventy.

Elder Carlos H. Amado

Apparently he has been a member of the seventy longer than any other! It was an incredible experience. We were there from 9 in the morning until 5 at night, learning and growing from the Spirit that he brought! I could have listened to him for him for hours more. This has been a week of lots of meditation and reflection. I read a talk called, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary," by Elder Tad R. Callister and it really opened my eyes and made me think about how I am doing as a missionary. I definitely have my weaknesses and imperfections, and there are a lot of things I would like to change but I´m excited to work on them and strive to become a consecrated missionary, not only for now, but for after the mission too! I think before the mission I thought that the second you get set apart and enter the mission field, you automatically come with all the attributes that a missionary needs. Coming here I`ve realized that that`s not the case. These attributes and habits have to be developed just like any other. And it isn`t a process that happens over night. It`s humbling, but necessary. I highly recommend reading it if you´re preparing to go on a mission, or even if you´re not cause it´s incredible!

Lots of interesting experiences this week. We´ve been contacting and finding a lot more people to teach! It seems like this week we´ve been having to defend the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith more than I have in the past, lots of people with false ideas over who we are and what we believe. But to me, being able to tesify boldy of what we know and what we believe has served to more solidify my own testimony of what we have. My love for these people is growing every day, which means that it hurts even more when they choose not to accept or decide not to keep their committments. But, my companion and I found a quote the other day that we put on our wall, "Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and lose yourself in this great cause." That is so true. I feel like it´s something I´m still working on doing, but I´ve already witnessed the joy that comes from spreading this gospel, regardless of the reaction of those around us. My companion is teaching me a lot about just being happy; Leaving a tough lesson full of love and a smile on your face.

This Sunday we had the baptism of Flavia, José, and Daniel! We were only expecting to have Josè be baptized but throughout the course of the week, the other two joined in with their desire to be baptized and it was a beautiful experience! The plug in the baptismal font wasn`t working too well and throughout the course of the baptismal service the water level kept getting lower and lower. They tried to baptize Flavia twice but the water was just too low! So we had to start filling up the font again with them standing in it and sing lots of hymns in the meantime.... haha So she ended up having to get baptized 3 times. It was beautiful to watch the reaction of her parents as all 3 were baptized and they were able to reflect on their own baptisms. Her mom said that she, too, had to be baptized 3 times! :) They bore powerful testimonies afterwards, and it brings me lots of joy!!

Funny experience: On thursday nights we call in our district leader to give him our dats for the week and then our goals for the next. When he answered it turns out that all four companionships in the district had called at the exact same time and all the lines connected all at once, turning it into a 4 way call.... haha At first it was super confusing and we had no idea what was going on, but when we finally figured out what was happening we couldn`t stop laughing! What are the odds? 

I hope you all are well and happy and healthy! I love you lots and I`ll write next week! (this time on monday... haha)

Hermana Bennett