Semana 50: All Good Things Must Come To An End
I hope everyone had a good week. This week definitely was not a cake walk for us, but I learned some great lessons. First we will start off with the breaking news though. We received transfer calls last night and I will be heading up to Price Utah which is in the central/eastern part of Utah. We will be opening up the Spanish work there so; it should be an interesting experience, considering my new companion will have no experience in the area either. I'm excited to be moving on to a new challenge and getting to explore a whole new area. I've been so blessed to have had so much success in this area I think it's time to grow in new ways with a whole new group of Latinos.
The highlight of the week was receiving a missionary who is waiting for his visa to the Mexico, Mexico City West mission. His name is Elder Johnson from Melba Idaho. His is a really cool Elder and has a lot of great teaching attributes. It is funny to hear his Spanish and think back to the days of the MTC and when I came into the field. It is going to be a shock for him when he gets to Mexico coming from Utah. :) Being in a threesome tends to hinder missionary work slightly, but it has been fun having Elder Johnson join our companionship. I have decided I should have my name changed to Elder "Father" Bennion because of the two new missionaries I have with me. People told us several times this week they could tell who was the oldest in the mission and that Elder Johnson and Valdez were the younger missionaries. I guess it is a sign of the times and I'm starting to show my age out here. :S
This week we ended up having a lot of people we thought were progressing and doing really well falter on us. We have three couples, all of which have been very receptive to the gospel and accept a baptismal invitation tell us either one or both of them have a spouse in Mexico. They would need to get divorced first, get married, and then baptized. Let me just say this process takes a LONG time which is frustrating. It is hard when you find great people but legalities hold them back from baptism. I feel like Elder Valdez and I have found every single non-married couple living together in St. George.
This week has been all about finding all the little miracles that happen daily. Every day this week I can count at least one miracle. Whether it was something as small as knocking on a door close to the address we were looking for and finding someone who was interested or something as powerful as a priesthood blessing that took the pain away immediately from a grandma with a kidney stone. I think I've taken for granted these blessings and miracles I have been seeing for the past few months but I was not actually seeing them with my spiritual eyes. I love the talk given by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled Pride and the Priesthood. Pride is a feeling that easily creeps into our lives unknowingly. In a revelation to Oliver Cowdry, the Lord spake saying, " Behold, I speak unto you, Oliver, a few words. Behold, thou art blessed, and art under no condemnation. But beware of apride, lest thou shouldst enter into btemptation." The mission becomes hard at times not because we are not doing a good job. We are brought low at times to remember who has given us everything. We are tried so He can build us higher and stronger if we give Him all the glory.
It is amazing the individual progress we make as missionaries. These really are the best two years to prepare for us for life. I relish in these moments where I have to keep working and put my shoulder to the wheel. At times finding and setting a good example for the younger missionaries is hard but there is no other choice. This is nothing that can shake my testimony of this church. No matter how many people want to bash and not believe, until they come to a softening of their hearts and can open their minds to read the Book of Mormon they will never know the blessings they could receive from the restored gospel. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.) Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah." (Introduction of the Book of Mormon) How could it be any simpler than that? Vaya con Dios.
Dios es amor,
Elder Bennion
I hope everyone had a good week. This week definitely was not a cake walk for us, but I learned some great lessons. First we will start off with the breaking news though. We received transfer calls last night and I will be heading up to Price Utah which is in the central/eastern part of Utah. We will be opening up the Spanish work there so; it should be an interesting experience, considering my new companion will have no experience in the area either. I'm excited to be moving on to a new challenge and getting to explore a whole new area. I've been so blessed to have had so much success in this area I think it's time to grow in new ways with a whole new group of Latinos.
The highlight of the week was receiving a missionary who is waiting for his visa to the Mexico, Mexico City West mission. His name is Elder Johnson from Melba Idaho. His is a really cool Elder and has a lot of great teaching attributes. It is funny to hear his Spanish and think back to the days of the MTC and when I came into the field. It is going to be a shock for him when he gets to Mexico coming from Utah. :) Being in a threesome tends to hinder missionary work slightly, but it has been fun having Elder Johnson join our companionship. I have decided I should have my name changed to Elder "Father" Bennion because of the two new missionaries I have with me. People told us several times this week they could tell who was the oldest in the mission and that Elder Johnson and Valdez were the younger missionaries. I guess it is a sign of the times and I'm starting to show my age out here. :S
This week we ended up having a lot of people we thought were progressing and doing really well falter on us. We have three couples, all of which have been very receptive to the gospel and accept a baptismal invitation tell us either one or both of them have a spouse in Mexico. They would need to get divorced first, get married, and then baptized. Let me just say this process takes a LONG time which is frustrating. It is hard when you find great people but legalities hold them back from baptism. I feel like Elder Valdez and I have found every single non-married couple living together in St. George.
This week has been all about finding all the little miracles that happen daily. Every day this week I can count at least one miracle. Whether it was something as small as knocking on a door close to the address we were looking for and finding someone who was interested or something as powerful as a priesthood blessing that took the pain away immediately from a grandma with a kidney stone. I think I've taken for granted these blessings and miracles I have been seeing for the past few months but I was not actually seeing them with my spiritual eyes. I love the talk given by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf titled Pride and the Priesthood. Pride is a feeling that easily creeps into our lives unknowingly. In a revelation to Oliver Cowdry, the Lord spake saying, " Behold, I speak unto you, Oliver, a few words. Behold, thou art blessed, and art under no condemnation. But beware of apride, lest thou shouldst enter into btemptation." The mission becomes hard at times not because we are not doing a good job. We are brought low at times to remember who has given us everything. We are tried so He can build us higher and stronger if we give Him all the glory.
It is amazing the individual progress we make as missionaries. These really are the best two years to prepare for us for life. I relish in these moments where I have to keep working and put my shoulder to the wheel. At times finding and setting a good example for the younger missionaries is hard but there is no other choice. This is nothing that can shake my testimony of this church. No matter how many people want to bash and not believe, until they come to a softening of their hearts and can open their minds to read the Book of Mormon they will never know the blessings they could receive from the restored gospel. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.) Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah." (Introduction of the Book of Mormon) How could it be any simpler than that? Vaya con Dios.
Dios es amor,
Elder Bennion
I have no idea where he got this...anyone know?
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