7-29-13

This week was super good as far as my comp and I. my companion is so amazing. I’m her trainer but she really was the one training me. This is our last week before transfers and I’m super nervous! I think Ima leave serrinha. so Ima leave here and have a new comp... but da tudo bem! I dont have much to note for this week because I didnt do a whole lot because we were sick! We went to another city about 2 hrs away to buy a bag...turns out it wasnt even in that city so we went to another teeny lil town and everything was closed!(small towns do that at lunchtime!) but we were able to find a bag!!! yaaaaay took about all day but we made it haha it was so much fun! sis grundvig likes doin those things too...just go without a plan really!!! also, I’m really learning the power of the Lord! yesterday we were visiting some people with a member, the brother actually and well there were alot of people there and its kinda intimidating! The bishop ended up showing up too...talk about pressure haha but sis grundvig was all ready to leave and we hadnt really even talked about anything. We were getn ready to sing when the member was talkin to her brother and how he doesnt believe theres life afer death. So i put my big girl shoes on and started talkin about the plan of salvation and a lot of things I normally wouldnt have said.... I felt the spirit SO strong during that lesson!  It truly was amazing! I know the Lord knows what people need! I know He knows each and every one of us! I have 11 months today! well yesterday and today and its going by so fast! Its crazy to think that! next month is 1 year..I have so much I want to change about me haha!!! but I love yall so much and hope the best for yall!!!!

cheiro
sis benedict

 

 

7-22-13

This week was SO BUSY!!! we planned an activity at the church, we did everything, we had everyone bring a lil dish of food and we had judges and whoever won got a mixing spoon haha afterwards we played musical chairs and I played music on the guitar! It was so fun!!!!

 

also ominhanossa! we baptized this lady, ana...haha I dont even know where to start with her. Shes got depression and is so preocupied with her kids and she actualy stopped us on the road and begged us to visit her kids. Well she was baptized Sunday! and I was sooo stressed cuz she was freakin out that she had to wait until after church and then she tried to leave like 10 times during church. I don’t even remember anything that anyone said or talked about haha oyah I also sang in sacrament...by myself....unknowing beforehand haha the other sisters were wainting for their baptizm outside and sis grundvig wanted to play the piano...so I sang all by myself. I was NOT prepared for that lol and then at the baptizm we sang and I played guitar! I played that song so fast cuz I was so anxious because ana was so anxious to leave haha nossa this week was so funny!

Its crazy how a clean house invites the spririt so much!!! We cleaned the house today and I was so happy!! oh mama I made bread again today! its sooo delicioious. and funny story i was thinkin about tiesh and how she burned the bread so bad and she didnt even know how to make bread and how I made bread perfectly bla bla bla......I forgot I was baking bread. Burned it black hahahahahahahahha but it was only a lil bit!!! I already made more!

 
This week was super stressful but it was such a good week. I have never been miore tired in my life! Today we spent a major part of the day in our house! I didnt even get to take a nap but thats okay! ummmm idk what else happened, so much I dont even know what to say!

But anyways love you so much and its crazy to think I’m already almost at 11 months!! Its going by so stinkin fast!!! I love my life, I love this gospel and I love the people here.....and mashed potatoes! soooooo goood! send everyone my love and my smell!!....(its a brasilian thing!)

love love love love love you!!

sister benedict

 

7-15-13

 I don't even know where to begin. I am just so filled with happiness and love right now. we actually just got done buying a ton of food! im so happy haha but its funny cuz nobody here has cars so they have wheel barrels for those who buy tons of food and cant carry  it all home! so we paid him to wheel barrel our food home hehe I love brazil!  we were able to bring people to church this week and we brought a less active and his brother who's not a member. were guna work with him this week, we baptized his brother and his mom! im so stoked! I love less actives! also the other dupla are going to baptized a reference we passed for them, lucas! love him so much too!!!! oh did I mention that we reactivated  guy who's got 30 years and he's obsessed with America. but yah....anyways! its so cool to hear about the genealogy. I love it!!! we actually had an experience with indexing! I understand it now because I never did it at home I think I looked at the program 1 time! but we went to the fórum..I don't know how to say it in English! but we went there to get papers of the birth of people who live in Salvador. well its this room with a buncha books! and every person here has a paper with their full names, their parents full names and then a buncha numbers! these numbers are how they find you in these big books! all it is is a book with names and a date!! its so cool! I felt like I went back in time! but when we help people get baptized and do indexing, we are helping them not be lost forever! think about it! all these people that came to America wrote their names in a book. its the only record that we have that some people exist....when we do indexing, we are saving them from being forgotten! idk it was a humbling experience for me!

I miss girls camp!!!! and mama when I heard light of Christ I thought about preach my gospel! chapter 4 talks all about the spirit! everyone has the light of Christ...everyone has the potential to this! this is how people learn that the church is true! man I don't even know how to explain it but there are so many people that ask us why were so happy! its because we aren't bogged down with all the questions of this life! we have hope and joy! we know where were going after this life! we pray, we don't recite psalms! the gift to have the light of Christ is given to all of us, but to really use it we need the gift of the spirit!!! were all children of our heavenly father! we all have this light! we just need to know how to turn it on haha but anyways! love you so much

beijos

sister benedict

7-1-13

 omylanta mama!!! howare you? i am really splendid right now actually! we have 2 new sisters here in serrinha! holy crap I dont even know where to start! 2 new sisters here,(super stressfull but  I absolutely love it!) 2 gauçhas! its been a party here haha we had a baptism on saturday! it was really a miracle. she was a miracle baptism. she initially was going to watch a diff baptism(that fell..roney afff!) but we kept with her and she said she wanted to get baptized.raiane! maybe one day ill tell the full story. but we went there and she was already taught everything by elders a long time ago. she didn’t understand why we needed to be baptized. but 2 weeks later here she is gettin baptized. it really is amazing to see the power of the Lord!

  I have had my faith really tested this week. i am learning alot to depend on the lord, i am the oldest of us 4, literally. I am the oldest in age and time in the mission. we are both training but the other trainer only has 4months here on the mish! but i love them to death and they are so awesome!!!

 love love love yall!

sis benedict

 

hi mom! im on again! we used the comp of a member to send fotos! so we used a lil time there n now were at the lan house! I have so much that i want to tell you but dont even know where to begin!

 oh ps with the heat...now you know how i feel ;) haha jk but its been a lot cooler here these days! its "winter" here, but im still sweating like a pig...hows that work haha but i have had a lot of neat experiences here and I am growing so much in serrinha but im also so way excited. i really feel like ive been called to the brasil mission to be here in serrinha! its incredible how much i love the ala..er the ward and the people! i want a car just to be able to visit everybody!!!

 

   you asked me to tell your young women about what it means to take on the name of christ...mosiah 18:8-10 talks about this so specifically what it means. for me i understand a whole lot differently! as missionaries we take His name upon us literally bc we are representatives dele! but to me it means thinking about Him all the time and really think what would he do.  For me its striving every day to be like Him. using His power to help other people. as a missionary, people look at us and get a first impression of the Church, His church. we need to be the best kind of ourselves to set that example of Cristo. its really stressful at times, but when you really get the hang of it, learn that you dont have to be a robot missionary, and actually people here love crazy missionaries(i fit in perfectly!) we take his name upon us when we are baptized, what a responsibility. its incredible to think that lil kids with 8 years take on this responsibility and have people with 48 years who are scared to get baptized!!! i am so grateful that i was baptized with 8 years, i had only a lil idea of what it meant, but now that im serving a mission, it is so much more meaningful to me. you read the bible and every little thing that jesus did, was for us! he was always teaching, always helping, always seeking for knowledge and to do the right thing! taking his name upon us doesnt mean being perfect, but it means perfectly striving to do our best! i love this gospel so much and i am so grateful to be a part of it. i am so grateful to be a missionary and really understand this gospel!!!

i love you love you love you!

sis benedict

 
ps to help the missionaries, go on splits with them, do visits with them, call them just to say good job or that your praying for them, bring them a lil bit of food...missionaries are always hungry ;) you can do just little things, but these little things mean so much to us missionaries!!! let them serve you! give them references, give them hugs :) tell them how grateful you are for them and then give them food haha