Tuesday, August 20, 2013

8-19-13


 hi mom!:) ummmm...life is great. Its craaazy! I’m just loving teaching portuguese again. Shes comin along!

um I am just so everywhere today. I’m super tired. It really is the worst feeling to feel so dang tired all the time! Im doing 1 year here in a lil bit. It passes by SO fast!

 

 

  Its interesting too. mama. about a few months ago when I was senior to an American I thought. I’m being prepared to train someone who speaks not a lick of Portuguese. Its soo true. I was senior to an American, trained and trained again. I feel like the lord was showing me what was coming. (I hope I’m making sense!) and with my comp now, Sis Mann, I don’t think im a finish training her, idk why but I feel like this next transfer I’m going bye bye! 

   Oh mama I renewed my visa woot woot! I’m legal here for another year :) the only thing, they put was a guy not a girl haha gee thanks! but nossa I so wanted to be there!!!  


 

but ok I think I’ve bugged u with enough pics :) I wish I could send more...but o man I got loads for yall you can see those in about 6 months :) I love you and pray for yall every day and thank the lord for you guys!!! I’m glad to hear everyone’s well and doing great! tell the yw I love them and they should serve missions ;) tell the boys that they need to go too, even if they don’t want to! love you tons and miss ya :)

love sis benedita




idk if you’ve noticed but im sending pics as I’m writing so I’m sending like a lil bit at a time with pics haha

 

Monday, August 12, 2013

8-12-13


This week was soooooo crazy! I spent 3 days in salvador, nobody told me I would stay the night with the president so I didn't bring anything! gaaah elders...but it was so awesome. I went to pick up my new kid at the airport Sis Mann and from Logan Utah...shes just a doll. she doesn't speak or understand anything I say but that’s okay. she'll get there.  We’ll get there! she plays piano super well and she sings and plays guitar too! I’m so happy :) she reminds me a lot of sis grundvig actually! she has the same mannerisms.  It was hard to say goodbye to Sis Grundvig! I cried a bit! but this week was kinda hard for us teaching wise. We traveled I think every day! spent 3 days in Salvador, had a zone conf and lunch was in another city!!!...omylanta ....ISAWTHEBEACHFORTHEFIRSTTIMEINMYLIFEIALMOSTCRIEDIWASSOHAPPY!!!!!!!  The beach is so beautiful!! omylanta!!! I have sooooo many pics haha.  A movie video or something was here in Salvador, I saw that too! It was actually way cool!!!!
   It’s super hard the mission but I absolutely love it. I get a lil freaked out that its going by so fast! I do 1 year here in a few weeks!!! aita vei! but I am stoked too that I’ll be seeing yall in a bit haha i love you and so grateful for yall!!


love ya

sis benedita

 

Monday, August 5, 2013

8-5-13


I am absolutely loving the mission. We have transfers tomorrow and guess what...yep im stayin here in serrinha(yay!) and I’m training again..(crap!) im really nervous! but it will be good, I’m stoked! I dont even know where to start. We are super corrido...er rnnin all over the place today so this letter will be short and a bagunça....or in other words..hope ya understand!

 

We had a miracle baptism this week, viviane, she has been investigating the church for 10 years and was baptized Saturday...I’ll explain it all one day, its actualy a really neat story. sis grundvig and I sang...went HHHORRIBLE!!! hahaha but super funny! I’m so glad people here arent too learned with music haha

 

umm....I almost died today! We went to climb a hill with a saint on top of it..its like tablerock but in place of the cross think of a huge virgin mary! well we went there to take pics...I fell about 5 times and scraped my knee real bad it hurts! I told sis grundvig that the saint doesnt like me haha she doesnt like mormos very much!!! but I am so happy. I know there’s so much that I havent even said!

 

 I love my comp and its gunna be really hard to change but I just love the people here! It’s still frustrating when you walk an hr in the blazing heat to talk with someone you set an appointment for and they werent even there! grrrrrr! but ta tudo bem! sou muita grata por ser uma missionária e por estar aqui!! mama muito obrigada por tudo! o seu apoio é muito importante pra mim!!....crap writin in ´port...ask chris to translate!

 

Translation :    but ta okay! I am very grateful to be a missionary and to be here!! mama thank you for everything! your support is very important for me!....

 

 Basically I  am sooooo stinkin happy! Filled with so many experiences and miracles that happened this past transfer...I do 1 year this months....dont like it at all! but it goes  by so stinkin fast!!!!..thank you for everything.

sis benedict

 



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Monday, July 29, 2013

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

 

 

Monday, July 22, 2013

7-22-13



 
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

 

Monday, July 15, 2013

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

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

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