Wow... I don`t know even where to start with this email. Today I am writing you from Las Colinas in La Ceiba (it`s about 4 hours from San Pedro Sula)! When President hinted to me that I might be getting transferred I wasn´t expecting it to be so soon, but... Lo and behold, here I am. I got the call on Thursday night saying that I would be leaving on Monday. So soon! I was a little sad, okay a lot sad. I have fallen in love with Mezapa! And I have had such an incredible time with Hermana Olivas. But so it is with the mission and so it is with life... I just keep thinking of Elder Uchtdorf`s talk from last conference about how we are eternal beings and that endings just aren`t apart of our nature. But that there never really are true endings, just little interruptions, and everlasting beginnings. He also threw in another little twist... Not only would I be transferred to La Ceiba, but I would be serving as una Lider Entrenadora (Sister Training Leader) with Hermana Sherman! Definitely wasn`t expecting that! I`m super excited to see all the wonderful things that I will be able to learn from this new calling. It will be interesting to juggle full time missionary, nurse, AND sister training leader - but hey, with God all things are possible :) This new change means that Hermana Olivas will also be helping me out with nursing things, taking some of the more routine calls like fever, diarrhea, stomach ache, etc. This means I`ll still get to talk with her and keep in touch every now and then. I`m excited because this means I get to do divisions with the other sisters!
This friday we get to go to Roatòn :) Yippee! This place is a whole different world from mezapa. Paved roads... what? Where are the horses and cows? Where are all the churches on every corner??? haha it`s almost like a mini culture shock... I also never thought I would EVER have a gringa companion! I`ve just gotten so used to have my companion save me if I ever don`t understand. Today at the grocery store the lady was asking us something about our change and we both were struggling to understand and finally we said, "no no gracias". She looked at us funny, but gave us our change. Then later we figured out that she had asked us if we wanted to donate the little cents to some charity fund and we were like, "NO!" How terrible... haha but when we finally figured it out we were like "oh of course!! yes yes!" This is going to mean that I have to focus a lot more during language study... haha
Boy did it tug at the heart strings to say goodbye to Mezapa. I definitely have left a little piece of my heart there. This week was packed full of lots of experiences. One day we went to visit hermana I and to our absolute dismay he was drunk :( 7 months without even a drop of alcohol and a week before his baptism he gave in to temptation. It just goes to show how much Satan doesn`t want us to make these covenants. We were able to go back with him a couple of days later when he was sober and he was soooo devastated, but without us even saying anything he recognized that him putting off his baptism for so long, and making excuses not to go to church had left time for Satan to grab a hold of him and make him fall. He was determined to change and we had an incredible lesson with him on repentance and the importance of baptism. We compared it to a man riding a motorcycle without a helmet. 50 times he could ride it without a problema but the ONE time he makes a small error and crashes it could mean the end of his life. Baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost is like our way of putting on our spiritual protection. Our helmet that keeps us safe from the adversary. The elders were able to give him a blessing and he is determined to get baptized this Saturday and never look back! I`m hoping and praying that he will be able to hold out strong and follow through! M and his daughters are doing wonderfully :) Every lesson with them is just so fun and spiritual. His daughters are preparing for baptism the 23rd of August and C is even going to give a small talk in the Primary Program next week. It was sooo hard to say goodbye, but I`m so grateful for modern technology and that we will still be able to have contact through phone, social networks, etc. It seems like this last week we found a bunch of new people that seem super promising. I`m excited to hear from Hermana Olivas to see how things go with them.
Funny story - we were teaching our neighbors that had just moved in and we were right in the middle of teaching and testifying and the spirit was strong when all of a sudden, WHAM!! The plastic chair underneath me collapsed and I fell backwards right on my back..... We sat there for a few seconds trying to figure out what had just happened and then all burst out laughing. My pride was slightly wounded, but it was a nice way to break the ice....
Well sorry for the novel, I hope that everyone is having a great week! I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am for this past year and all of the experiences I have had and all of the lessons I have learned. I can definitely say that I look at the world through different eyes. I keep thinking back at all the times that I resisted the feeling of needing to go on a mission (I will be honest, for the longest time I did NOT want to go), but am so happy that Heavenly Father loves me enough to have been patiently persistent :) To have nudged me just enough to soften my heart and open it up to accept His will for me. I can`t imagine missing out on this incredible blessing, all the people I have met, miracles I have seen and lessons I have learned. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the Lord`s work. Time sure does fly!
Until Next Week,
Hermana Bennett
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