Muchas Blessings

This week has been a really good one. We are seeing a lot of improvement in the way we work, and the blessings are muchas!


We got to have a pretty cool lesson this week with Lenny. We went to his house in the afternoon, but he wasn't home. Later, in the evening, an appointment fell through, so we felt we should go see if Lenny was home. He had come back, and his aunt and uncle were also there (the are very active members, who are planning on going on a mission as a couple). The uncle said, "It looks like the spirit has brought us all together!" Lenny was very excited to talk about the Fall of Adam and Eve (which had been the topic in Sunday School yesterday). He said that he really liked how we looked at it, not as a sin that all of us carry around, but as a transgression that was a vital part of God`s plan, so that all of us would be able to come to earth. He has also been reading in the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he would prepare to be baptized one week earlier than what we had originally talked about. He said, "Would that be possible?" and we said, "of course!" He accepted, and told us that he had been out of the house earlier, but then he felt the need to return to the house. He didn't know that we would be coming, but he decided to follow that feeling and returned. His uncle said the same thing, that he was serious when he said the Spirit had brought us all together. And of course, we were all just like, "whoa." The most awesome part is that he's only like 26 years old. That means it is possible that he can leave on mission someday! how cool would that be? I truly feel that he is a person that has "been kept from the truth only because he knew not where to find it."


the other day we went with a member to talk to an investigator named Jorge. He is so close to getting baptized, he is just always so busy. We went with Hno Cunibertti. We got there and saw Jorge talking with to friends in front of his house. Hno. Cunibertti started yelling, "Hey Jorge!" and when he didn't hear, Hno Cunibertti picked up some rocks and started throwing them in his direction to get his attention. In my head, I was like, "Brother Cunibertti, what's up with that?" We talked to him and he told us, "I'm sorry, but i actually have to leave with my family." We re-scheduled, and as we were walking away, Hno Cunibertti told us, "I'm going to go back in ten minutes to make sure those guys left. They're 7th day adventists, and we can't let them get Jorge!" ha ha ha i was dying ha ha.


hmmm.. what else is going on? we had interviews with President Ardila this week. I really love and respect him and his wife. I passed! ha
and also, our neighbor always listens to America's top 40 in the mornings when we are studying. it's rough trying to read the scriptures to lady gaga. but we shall survive. I have really come to love latin music though.. Marc Antony has a new song call "Vivir la Vida," which i can't complain if i happen to hear it while riding the bus.


wellll, that's it for now. les quiero mucho!

The Mission is Changing Me

This week, we accomplished some things here in el barrio Canadá!
Hna Llavilla and I are working on improving our tracting skills, so we have put the goal to talk to at least two people on the way to every appointment. We have met some pretty interesting folks ha ha and also, we are getting more new investigators! So that's awesome.

We started teaching Leny this week. He is the nephew of a couple in the ward, the Zumayetas. He has come to church the last two weeks, and the young single adults have already taken him in, which is really cool! He asked if we could come visit him after church, so of COURSE we went. He had already read the first 14 chapters of the Book of Mormon. When we asked him what he thought about it, he said that there is a lot of good counsel in it, and that it's really interesting. He's just really thirsting for the truth, and now we get the opportunity to help him along (but really, he's doing it mostly on his own). We invited him to be baptized the 9th of Febuary. He said. "Well first, i need to read the Book of Mormon, meditate about it, and then i'll need to pray to God about it." (see: the second to last paragraph of the introduction of the Book of Mormon, which says exactly that). But he said that of course he would be baptized if he found the Book of Mormon to be true. We have a lot of high hopes for this hermano.

We are also on the lookout for any less actives that we can find. The other day, we went to the house of a less active whose mom was receiving the missionaries before. The house is actually connected to a store that the family owns, so we entered in through the store. There was a woman working at the counter, and she asked us, "What do you want?" so we asked, "Is Maria (the mom) home?" This woman looked at us and said, "She left." We then tried to see if she would be interested in hearing our message. "What's your name?" we asked. She answered, "Ilda." She then said she was too busy to talk to us. All of the sudden, another girl appeared and said, "Hermanas, how are you?!" She was Carol, the daughter who is a less active member. We greeted her and said, "Hey! When can we come talk to your mom?" She looked at us a little confused, and then said, "My mom is right here..." pointing at "Ilda." and, here comes the best part... Her mom glared at her daughter and growled, "No. MARIA left." and then the three of us (my companion, me and Carol) just started laughing awkwardly. ha ha. we haven't had a single follow-up with maria/ilda.

And then, yesterday, we had a pretty profound experience, at least for me. We were running like crazy to meet Antony at the church for a lesson. When we got there, we waited for half an hour, and he didn't show up. I remembered something a sister from my MTC district told us. She said that her older sister had learned on her mission that the majority of times that we go to appointments, people aren't going to be there. She said that God knows that as well, and that he is always putting people in our paths that we need to talk to. Her advice was that whenever we go to an appointment and they aren't home, to look around for people to talk to. As we left the church, I thought of that advice and saw a man sitting on the grass. I told my companion to contact him (ha ha I'm the worst trainer ever). As soon as we started to talk, he said, "please, i do not want to talk to anyone." We sat silent for a minute, not really knowing what to say, and he started to talk again. "Two months ago, my baby girl died. Right now i am fighting with God. How could he do this to us? I see families all the time celebrating and having a good time with all their children and aunts and uncles, and God took my baby from me." Again, we sat silent for a minute. All i could think to say is that "I know that families can be together, even after death." My companion asked if he would like to talk to someone, and he said no. I testified that I know that God loves this man, and he said to me, "Don't tell me that. How can God love me if he took my baby from me?" I asked if i could leave him a picture of Christ. He said, "ok." I happened to have a pass along card with a picture of Christ smiling with a group of little children. on the back was a message about the family. I gave it to him, and he said, "Thank you." And then, we left. I was dying inside. I think i maybe felt a little bit of the pain Heavenly Father feels when he sees his children suffering, even to the point where they question His love for them. I also thought, "What was I supposed to say to this man? Why didn't i have the words to comfort him?" I thought that this was the man we were supposed to find and help, but in the end, all we could do was give him a picture. I felt so...terrible. And then, it slowly started raining. In perú. in the middle of summer. I honestly felt as if it was a moment for me, that our Heavenly Father was in reality crying for this man, His son, in this painful time of his life. I was also given the assurance that our short conversation with him was enough, was what we were there to do for him at that point in time. Who knows what will happen in the future. I pray that something we said will help him realize that God is very aware of him, especially in these heartbreaking moments.

The mission is changing me. I am becoming a more sensitive person, and I am learning the beauty of humility. I am learning patience and brotherly kindness. Maybe someday, i will even learn how to love my enemies. Through all of this, i am learning more about our Savior and Heavenly Father. I know they are real and that they live.

Love,
Hermana Bennett

New Years

here is a short email. oops. i will try to do better bext week....
This week we had some really good times! First of all, it was Hna Llavilla's birthday, so we went to the house of the Castillo family to eat some tres leches (a vanilla and a chocolate cake) with some people from the ward.

The other days, we taught some people about the Gospel. Right now we are working a lot with Elena. She has 6 children (all grown) and speaks quechua, a native language of Peru (she is from a province outside of Lima). She has been attending the last three weeks, and has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. Yesterday, we were running late to pick her up to go to church. All of the sudden, we saw her turn the corner from her house. She started waving and smiling, and as she got closer, she said, "Well, it looks like i'm picking you two up today!" ha she's the best. Maybe i will be here to see her baptism.

Today, the elders are going to play futbooollll for p day. but us sisters can't play with elders, and there are only four of us in this area, so we're going to go shopping for some better summer clothes in a huge market called Gamarra. Everything is super super cheap. Like, 5 dollars for a Peru soccer jersey! holla.
i would take pictures, but i'm pretty sure someone would steal my camera in Gamarra. sorry.

Also, my pensionista had a guinea pig in her fridge for a couple weeks. I was so close to getting to try it! but, alas, they used it for a party. someday.

welll, this was a weird letter. i am going to commit myself to writing a good one next week...

DON'T YOU.... FORGET ABOUT ME.... (to the tune of that one song on breakfast club/pitch perfect)
k bye ha
Hna Bennett

new years with some investigators and member

hola 2K14

Helloooo to all and happy 2014!
We celebrated by talking about our expectations for the next year and how we're going to accomplish them, and then going to bed at 10:30! ha ha

This week, I don't really have one story that sticks out in my mind to tell you. I would be ungrateful to say it was an uneventful week, but i just will have to see if anyone comes to mind to tell you about as i write.

I was watching a video yesterday about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was a mormon message with pictures of Christ during His life and scriptures desribing the way he selfessly lived and sacrificed Himself for us. As I felt the Spirit testifying of the truth of that message, i realized that, somehow in acting as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, i had somewhat forgotten about Jesus Christ and that everything i am here doing is to help people remember that He lives and loves us. I had become over-worried with numbers of investigators with baptismal dates and how many had attended church that day and other numbers that we have to report that i really had not been focusing on whether or not i had been testifying of His love to all that would hear me out. How is that possible? I guess the perfectionist in me got to focused on numbers. But, it explains a lot of the lack of succes i have been feeling here the last couple weeks. How could i share the gospel of Jesus Christ without putting all of my mind and heart into what it actually means to live His Gospel? We have to have hope, love, charity, patience, and long-suffering, just like He does. Without that, we will NEVER progress in this life. Furthermore, unless we feel the power of the Atonement in our lives, will we never feel the need to follow Christ; without understanding the Atonement, we will never understand joy in this life or the life to come.
This year, i hope to come to understand that Atoning sacrifice more. While i can never completely understand with my human mind all that our Savior went through, and all of the love He has for us, and can always feel in my heart that it is very powerful and very real when i take the time to remember. Let us ALWAYS remember Him, because i can assure you that He always remembers each of us.

Con mucho cariño,
Hna Bennett

It's A Wonderful Life!

Well, here I am, typing up another letter here in Perú. Time keeps on slipping, into the future... I love Space Jam.






Maybe just ignore that first line, especially if you have never seen Space Jam. or Kid President.


I am still in Canadá and i am still training. I am going to be honest with you, i still don't feel like i even know how to train. I am in a little bit of a funk. But, times like these are always followed by really awesome experiences, so get ready for the best email yet next week!






My Christmas was very different than other Chritmases I have had. All the fiestas here start at midnight, so we tried (and failed) to sleep the 24th. There were fireworks going off like crazy for about 2 hours. But, more importantly than that, we were able to teach Antony, a recent convert (one of the two baptisms we have had since i've been in this ward). He lives alone, and works in the banana market here. we scheduled an appointment with him the sunday before last to meet on the 24th, not realizing that it would be Christmas Eve. As i looked at my agenda for that day, I realized that we had made an appointment with him Christmas Eve night, and that more than likely, he would be out doing something to celebrate. But, (with more prompting from the spirit than i realized at the time) we ran over to meet him at the chapel anyway (since he lives in a part of town that we try to avoid after dark). We walked around the chapel, and saw a man sleeping on the grass. We almost didn't realize that it was, in fact, Antony. We got closer and started calling his name. He eventually woke up with a startle. It was obvious that he had been working and was really exhausted. The chapel was closed, so we sat on the grass with him and taught about the temple. He then started to give the most amazing testimony about how beautiful the story of the first vision of Joseph Smith is to him. While teaching Antony, i have noticed that he understands things in his very own, unique way. But as he began to tell us of how at first, he had may doubts about Joseph Smith and then about how he researched and prayed, and came to realize that Joseph was in fact a prophet, and that the priesthood is in fact very important to have, i realized that he had come to understand very well the Restoration. I was very impressed, and very very content to realize that we had not just baptized someone, but we had helped someone to become a convert (which is one of the fears i have: that i will baptize someone who will later become inactive. happens more often than not here). I then asked if he had plans for Christmas. he simply said no. I felt terrible. We were running late to go over to dinner with some members, but i knew that i would not enjoy anything if we had to leave antony alone on christmas. i sent a text to the family to see if he could join us. Stalling while waiting for a reply, we started walking in the direction of their house really slow. I was praying harder and harder that they would answer as we got closer and closer. Finally, we were almost there, and they still hadn't answered. I was stuck. I coudn't just invite someone to someone else's party, but i also didn't know how i could just leave Antony. Literally as i went to shake his hand to say goodbye, on the verge of tears, the phone started ringing. The sister who had invited us to dinner said of course antony could join us! And yet again, i had a very precise and direct answer to my prayers, which as happened over and over again on my mission. I wish that you could have seen how happy Antony was when we asked if he would like to join us. It was a very special Christmas, one that i will never forget.


so much more has happened this week, but i am just out of time to tell you! just know that this mission is very very worth every little pain that comes with being a missionary. I love it. It's the best thing I've done with my life.


Miss you all, and love you all!


Hna Bennett






The Castillo Family










Christmas caps for the whole mission

Parrot Prayers

hello all!


this week has been... well actually i don't really remember most of what happened... but i will try ha.


the other day we had one of the most memorable lessons i've ever had. We went to the house of a contact named julio that herman rubio and i taught on the sidewalk the other day (i was going to say "that we taught in the street," but then i realized that that might seem like we were actually teaching him in the street and that is not what happened at all. too many cars). anyways, we went to his house and he and his wife welcomed us in. we sat down, and the started telling us about their lives. they have been catholic since birth, have been married 52 years, and are very active in their church, so that was cool to see. the whole time, there was this chanting playing on their tv in the background, which was pretty except for their was really bad feedback and it was making this screeching noise the entire time, but i don't think they could hear it because they were a little older ha. anyways. julio started telling us about how his wife had been travelling the last couple weeks, and then she interrumpted with, "and i came home and found my husband fat. all he had eaten in those weeks was bread and cookies." and then julio looked just so cute and innocent and said, "but my love, I was HUNGRY!" we continued the lesson, and then in the middle of one of my sentences, julio said, "Wait, you have to see my bunny!" his wife was like, "Julio, they don't want to see your bunny." but nevertheless, he showed us to his backyard and sure enough, he had a pet bunny. he said, "it's my pet. not for eating." then he also tried to get his pet parrot to talk, but then said he was too cold to want to respond. ha so he said, "here, i'll show you my other pet parrot." We went back inside and he started clapping. all of the sudden, one of those sound activated parrots started squawking up on his shelf ha ha ha. we shared a little message with the two of them, which they said was nice, and then we asked the wife to say a prayer to close. she gave a beautifully sweet prayer, and as soon as she said amen, her husband said, "in the name of the father, the son and the holy ghost, AMEN!" and gave two loud claps to set off his toy parrot ha ha. He's the best!


Christmas here is going to be awesome. i think. people have told us that everyone will be a little bit more receptive to hearing about jesus christ, which is great news for us. we are seeing a lot of christmas lights and nativities go up. and, a lot of people are inviting us to come eat christmas dinner with them :)


i have to bear my testimony that our Heavenly Father is so very aware of each of us, and wants us to find joy, especially within our own families. we are given the people we have as family for very specific purposes, and i have been blessed with such a wonderful group of people, with whom i can't imagine life without. and that is the blessing of this gospel, that we can literally be together forever, even after this life, through the powers of the priesthood. i pray every day that we can, as a family, work towards achieving that goal. i hope you all can feel those prayers! i love you!


hna bennett










The Canada Christmas party guest of honor!

Training 101 and Intro to Paneton

A couple hours after we got done with emailing last time, Hna Rubio got the call about transfers. She is now in a new area, training (what a champ) and I am still in Canadá, also training! My companion is Hermana Llavilla, from Cusco, Peru. She has about two weeks in the mission and obviously someone thought it was a good idea for me to teach her how to be a missionary ha ha! It has been a good time for me to step up and take on some more responsibilty. Also, she has been to Macchu Picchu like 3 times and has all these connections and tips for me (aka Dad, i'm going to be sending you her suggested itinerary so you can start planning for next december ha). So far, we've done pretty well in this week! and, seeing how i don't have anyone to speak english with anymore, i am started to forget how to speak my own language a little.


We have had a couple lessons with a family that has been talking to the missionaries for about a year. There is Omar, Rosela, and their two kids Joselyn and Aaron. In our lessons this week, they told us that they know the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. They are now praying to know when they should be baptized. Sometimes i think as missionaries, we (myself included) get caught up in how fast we think others should progress. When i first got here, we questioned whether or not we should continue to teach this family, but we kept working with them. Now, after a year of missionaries coming and going, they are ready to move forward. I may even be able to see them get baptized. And, looking really far into a year in the future, i may even be on my mission when they enter they temple to be sealed as a family (which is already a goal that they are very set on). how cool is that?


We are also teaching a new investigator, named Fani. She has a two year old named nicolas who is the bomb. In the second lesson, we planned to invite her to baptism. As it got closer to the end of the lesson, i started getting nervous. I didn't want to push her away from us by asking her to be baptized (you would think i would be used to doing it by now, but sometimes, i let my own silly worries get in the way of being a missionary). but, all according to plan, we invited her to baptism. and you know what? she said yes. in that moment, i felt the spirit in the way the scriptures describe as a burning of the bosom. And it built up my testimony that we as missionaries have to put the same faith in God that we teach. When we put our confidence in him, we recieve the blessings he promises, every time.


i just want to leave my testimony with you all that i have seen this gospel change many many lives already in the short 6 months that i've been here. my own life has been changed by this experience. I invite all of you to feel this same thing. Pray. read (the bible, the book of mormon, and all of the modern-day revelation found through living prophets). and act on that which you find to be true. NEVER be afraid to act on what you know is true. i love you!


Hna Bennett






P.S. They have this stuff called paneton here, and it's probably similar to fruitcake (which i've never actually tried). I've eaten it like 3 times a day since december started. anyone out there have some good lines to use to get out of eating it? help a sister out. please