"Go to the Pink House"

Hola Familia and Friends!

I hope that this week has been a good one for you. Since when did July go by so fast?? This week was actually super good here in Mezapa. Unfortunately a lot of our investigators have been slowly starting to stop progressing, and a few have started hiding from us, but so it is with the work of salvation. We just can´t bring people kicking and screaming to the Celestial Kingdom… as much as we want to! But when these things happen it just means that we´ve planted our seeds, we´ve done all we can and it´s time to find others that have been prepared. When appointments fall through it just gives us an opportunity to really let the spirit guide. These week we´ve had a lot of those moments. We found a family that just barely moved in to the house just down the street from us, and the father was wearing a “calle” shirt, totally had flash backs to Team Gear! Haha He let us in and we found out that he just recently started attending a church, but he said that he wasn´t sure just where God needed him and that he just wants to follow his will whether it was in the church he was in or in ours. The spirit was super strong! But…. then his pastor drove by in his super nice decked out suburban (diezmos??) and I could tell he was a little uncomfortable after. It´s moments like that when I just repeat in my head, “power, authority, and truth… power, authority and truth!!”

M and his family are doing awesome. He went out to visit with the elders the other day and is super solid. On Saturday his family came to the soccer activity we have every week and we had a lot of fun. I felt like I was with family. I will always be so grateful for missionary work and for the people that we get to serve, and grow to love!! We´ve been teaching the whole family now, and three of his daughters are preparing for baptism mid-august!! Unfortunately I probably won´t be here which just about rips my heart out (president hinted to me in interviews that I probably will be getting transferred… AND it might even be before actual transfers…. I started to cry… haha Mezapa has stolen my heart!! But like I always say “que sera, sera” Where ever the Lord needs me I will go!)

Had a really neat experience the other day. We were walking to an appointment after several others had fallen through and I had the distinct impression come to me, “go to the pink house.” It was SO clear, that we turned down a back road and headed to the pink house that had come to my mind and there we found a woman sitting alone on her porch and were able to introduce ourselves and she let us in. Her name is E. We started teaching her and found out that her greatest desire was to have her family reunited again, that she had a son in the USA that she hasn´t seen for over 20 years. We were able to teach her about eternal families and promised her that if she accepted this gospel with faith, she would see her family together again. The spirit was SO STRONG! I know without a doubt that we were needed in that house and that exact moment. She was all ears and I know she felt it, too. I´m excited to go back and teach her again!

I was reading a talk by Elder Ballard from this last conference and I thought I would just repeat what he said. He challenged all members of the church to have Preach My Gospel, to study it and put it into practice. It´s manual for missionaries, which means all of us, right??! He also challenged us to invite at least one person every quarter of the year (which means 4  times a year) to meet with the missionaries. I know that this is not just a suggestion from an apostol, but from Heavenly Father himself! And if he asked us to do it, that means we can J My challenge is to pray to know who you can invite, and trust that He will lead us to the one. It´s okay if they don´t accept right away, this work isn´t ours, it´s the Lords. All he requires is that we do our part. Try it! Get blessed!!!

Sure love you all. Next week I complete a year….. uhhhhh…..

Until Next Week,

Hermana Bennett