Week 34: This Is What I Expected My Mission To Be Like

Hey hey hey it's me again. It's been another really great week again out here in the desert. I hope everything is going well back home. Hopefully you got my letter early last week. I know I haven't been really good about writing lately and I don't think this transfer will be any better. I have something like 10 letters I have yet to respond to. Every P-day when I think I will try to write I just don't have time.

I'm probably busier than I've ever been on the mission. There are days where we have 8-9 set appointments and we don't have time to eat! :) Don't worry, I'm taking care of myself though. Just to give you an idea, the mission standards of excellence is 20 lessons per week. Elder Hayden and I had 38 lessons this week, 12 people on date for baptism, we found 9 new investigators, and 11 investigators came to church this week! It really is amazing to see all the people wanting to learn more about Jesus Christ and His gospel. There is literally so much work to be done in a day we can't accomplish everything we want to but I love it! As grandma would say, sleep when you are dead! :)Up until this point of my mission I thought that I had always had overly high expectations of the mission. After this week I realized nothing is impossible if you have a desire to serve the Lord whole heartedly and are willing to head his council.

We had an interesting night on Wednesday this past week. We were at the Dixie institute building on campus dropping off our fellow shipper for the night. Matt got out of the car and a car full of girls was just pulling out of a parking spot. They must've realized we were missionaries because the lights were on in the car because they smiled and waived enthusiastically. Then we started leaving and they flipped a U-turn and followed us. We drove through parking lots and all over the place and they were following REALLY close. We thought they were going to follow us back to our house but luckily they didn't. Another interesting thing happened this week when we were asked to go give a less active woman a blessing and bless her house because she didn't feel safe in her house. Let's just say sister missionaries gave them some false information about what to do. Sometimes I really think sisters missionaries think they have mujerdocio... they are sweet spirits but at times are kind of interesting. :P

Overall I just really can't ask for more right now. We have a schedule that rivals the President of the United States, I'm seeing miracles every day in the lives of these people I serve, and I'm serving with a companion that is so much like my brother it's scary. :) Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people... (Alma 26:36) The Lord is really blessing me right now with the ability to be an instrument in His work and I'm so thankful for that. My gratitude for the things that I have been a witness of is enormous. I know that as we ride out the storm and hold out for the brightness of the blessings we receive from the gospel, we will be blessed. Life is good. God is great! And through faith we will be blessed. I'm livin' the dream! Vaya con Dios.

God is love,

Elder Bennion