Sister deBenito's Mission: Week 18- Sometimes They Say It Don't Be Like It Is, But It Do

Monday
It was beautiful outside so we threw open the windows and door all day. It was a super chill day. I made hermana Brooks some eggs, cornbread and of course we had to have watermelon as well, for breakfast. We stayed home and hung out most of the day. That afternoon we finished our laundry and went grocery shopping. We got a call later from Taylit Ortega (one of the members in our ward) saying that they wanted to push Miguel's baptism back a week because so many people would be out of town for Memorial Day weekend. That was disappointing because we have transfers Wednesday so we didn't know if we would be able to go to his baptism.

Tuesday
The Paxman's (one of our senior couples) always make such good and healthy food. It makes me happy. Elder Barnes and a Elder Evans came this time too. Elder Barnes is the funniest. We always laugh a lot when we're all together. We went home and did 12 Weeks and then noticed our landlord, Sister Blair outside doing yard work. We ended up trimming plants and pulling weeds. She's super funny and really fun to talk to. I'm so happy it's finally summer and we get to spend so much time outside. We just went contacting and met a lot of people after dinner. Sadly it felt like most people weren't home that evening. David was home, but had just gotten off work so he told us to come back Wednesday. That night at 8:30 we had exchanges with Sister Harris and Sister Bowen again.

Wednesday
Exchanges with Sister Bowen! It was so fun! The whole day we talked about life and how much the mission is making us better people.
This is sister Bowens last transfer and she has definitely been such an example to me how to finish out strong.

We had a lesson with a man named Gilberto and at first he was really rude to us, saying Sister Bowen didn't know Spanish and how we didn't know what we were talking about. The Spirit guided me in my words and I can honestly say that those words that came out of my mouth were not mine but I knew that let Gilberto know that we are representatives of Christ. He was on the verge of tears when I (aka the Spirit) stopped talking. Sister Bowen continued and by the end he accepted to read the Book of Mormon and told us that he would pray to know if it was true. What an amazing feeling. Later that night we got back together with sister Brooks and Harris and took a bunch of pictures:)

Thursday
District training meeting was pretty fun. We decided to have it outside under a tree. The elders brought popcorn and goldfish too. We mostly just went around the circle saying what we had learned from our companions and talked about how important it is to have the spirit with us at all times. We had lunch with the Neilsen's. They got us Jimmy Johns. That was really good, I ate too much. Sister Nielsen is just adorable. She's like another grandma and every week she reminds us that we are her adopted grandkids. We love them. After, we went with the district to help Sister Baker in Salem with yard work. She's such a neat woman. That yard needed a ton of work. I got to use the weed wacker. It was quite the task. My hands were completely numb afterwards. Somehow all three of our dinner appointments cancelled, which was weird but very convenient. Sister Baker made all of us this pasta thing. It was like heavy whipping cream, bacon, mushrooms alfredo sauce. It was really good. After dinner we ran home, showered really quick and headed out to a lesson. His mom ended up not being there, but we gave him a restoration pamphlet to study and told him we would be back. Then we went contacting and had to wash our car, because the next day we had to go to Provo to get some dings fixed on our bumper.

Friday
At noon we went to the mission office to get our bumper fixed. We were the last ones so we were stuck in Provo for 4 hours. We ended up going out for lunch. It was such a beautiful afternoon. We took a walk and went to Bruges on center street for lunch. Super good. I love that little neighborhood that surrounds the mission office. It's so cute. I enjoyed walking a ton. A million people honked and waved at us. Being a missionary in Provo is probably the closest I'll ever be to being considered famous. Once we got back we basically just chilled with Elder Lee and Elder Zamudio. I love them. That evening we had dinner with the Rodriguez family. She made us cafe rio style salads. We told mission stories, and it was hilarious. We love the members in our ward!

Saturday
Such a good day. President is now allowing Spanish missionaries to go with their ward to the temple. Yesterday was our ward temple day, so we got to go to Payson. The temple was amazing, like usual. We got there a little early and had time to go do sealings. Those are beautiful. As we were in one of the sealing rooms, Hermano and Hermana Rees walked in. It was a really sweet experience to be with some of our members from the ward. The endowment was in Spanish. It was super neat because I hadn't done a Spanish session since the CCM. I was pretty nervous because I couldn't remember from Mexico but It was comforting to realize that I had grown a ton in my Spanish and could keep up. It was a lot of fun I love the peace and clarity you find at the temple. Heavenly Father loves us so much and all we have to do is turn to Him and trust that His plan is perfect.

After the temple, we went to Cabana Grill on Main Street in Payson. The Nogueira family used to own it, so we were hoping to catch them there. Unfortunately someone bought them out. The food was still good. The owner was there and wanted to feed us for free. Super sweet. It was pretty good. Then we went home and started weekly planning because we didn't have time the day before. Hermana Varela texted us and asked if we would be willing to help out with some yard work. The Varela's are my favorite. They are so sweet, so fun and all attractive haha. I mowed the yard. The mower we broke so is was pushed by brute force haha. That thing was heavy! I was quite exhausted and sweaty afterwards. It felt great. Then we trimmed some bushes. Hermano Varela was changing the oil on their car so I watched and got a refresher on that. He's super cool. We changed clothes at their house to head to our dinner appointment down the street. Dinner was with the Aguero family. So funny. Their kids are hilarious. All nine of us gathered around the square table. They dumped so much food on my plate, I thought I would die. During our spiritual thought we had everyone pull out their cell phones and prayerfully select a name in their contacts and send them a scripture verse or text or video or something. It was cool, they all like it. After dinner, we headed back to the Varela's to help with a few other things and then they wanted to make us s'mores. I was crying tears of joy because it was my first s'more of the season. The Tonga family is their backdoor neighbor and the had some music playing haha. So I was super content in yard work clothes, smelling like grass and campfire, not wearing shoes while eating s'mores. It was a really good day.

Sunday
Super good day. Church was great. David is always so happy to be at church. After sacrament meeting there was a young woman sitting by herself. Immediately I walked over and started talking to her. She has been going through a lot of hard things recently. It was awesome to watch my companion just connect to her as well. She's struggling with depression and anxiety right now. We started talking and asked if we could take her out to lunch on preparation day. After church, we went home and had lunch. I did my companions nails. She hadn't had her nails painted in so long. Then our 4:15 meeting with the Canyon View Stake. We had dinner with the Rees family. They are so fun. Their backyard is like a little oasis. It was gorgeous outside. We had tamales and mole. It was super good actually. That evening we went contacting and felt impressed to visit the Castillo family. We ended up having a lesson, getting a new investigator, and having them pray about baptism. That was really cool. Super good day.

This week has been really good. I'm sad this transfer is coming to a close. Sister Brooks has been such an incredible companion. I love her so much. We've had a blast together these past three month. Good news, I'm staying in Spanish Fork with Sister Perez. I've been called as a sister training leader straight out of being trained which is super cool because it has never happened before in the history of this mission! I'm so excited to learn more and continue in the Lord's work. It will be awesome! I love this gospel. I love sharing it with other people. I'm extremely grateful for how it has blessed my life and the happiness it brings. I hope all of y'all have a really great week! Love you guys!

Love,

Hermana de Benito