Monday, October 24, 2011

Much has been happening. My comp had some tests done today at the hospital. He´s been having headaches everyday that don´t seem to go away, sleeping problems because of them and also frequent mood swings. It´s really weird. It could be effect of the medications he´s using or something else we don´t know right now but hopefully we´ll know soon. Anyways, so we haven´t done much this week. He´s been taking it easy because Sister Lima said he needs to. If it´s effects of the medication or something worse, if he works too hard out in the hot sun he could have serious medical issues. So we´ve been taking it easy. Which sucks because everything is better when we have lots to do. Alot more to think about and alot less things to focus on specifically. Like people and their faults and other stuff that just brings you down. Like President Hinkley said, ``the secret to missionary work and a great mission is work´´. I´ve come to really understand this in it´s truest sense. I can see the effects of it in all that I do everyday. I am always happier when I´ve been teaching lessons and helping people. And when I´m not doing much of anything it´s really easy to feel discouraged. But anyways, things are good. We've got plenty of work to do this week and we have some members that are going to help us out too so thats cool. We might have a baptism next sunday if this guy we taught last week does everything we taught him. He loved church too so thats good. He´s progressing. Anyways, I love you all and miss everyone (family and friends).

Elder Bender

Monday October 10, 2011

So this week was a bit slow. Having difficulties finding people to teach. But we are working hard to find people. We are trying different things to get references and also we are doing lots of contacts. It´s really hot here lately. It´s constantly about 80 degrees at night and close to, if not above 100 degrees everyday. Ridiculous. I have never sweat so much in my entire life. It´s like I´m sweating as soon as I get dried off after taking a shower and then I´m sweating all day after that. And also during the night too. Crazy! I never thought I´d be able to handle this kind of heat. But I think I have alot of help from the Lord. The girl that we baptized last week, her father loved the session of conference he watched. And now he really wants to continue to go to church. This week we will be inviting him to get baptized. Pretty sure he will accept. Then after him we´ll continue to work with the family. We are really trying to help Jessica with her dream of having an eternal family. It´s awesome. Love that family. We had a member give us a reference on sunday of one of his really good friends. He said the guy is practically mormon already in the way he lives his life he just needs to be taught the gospel. So we will hopefully be able to meet with him this week. It all depends on if the guy has time to meet with us. So I´m excited for that. Yesterday at Fast and Testimony meeting my Comp bore his testimony and threw down on the members. He told them aout how they need to stop judging the missionaries, because they arent with us all day everyday and they don´t know the amount of work we do to help others, it´s their responsibility to be missionaries too and to help their friends and neighbors accept the missionaries, also to give the missionaries references and to be present during lessons with the missionaries. It was legit! Hopefully we will get some more references soon. We really need the work. Anyways, that´s it for this week. Until next week.  

Elder Bender

Saw this on someone's bicycle.

Spencer wearing some RayBan knockoff's.

Monday, October 3, 2001

Hello all this week was awesome! First off, Conference anyone? Heck yes, twas glorious. Also, We had a Baptism! This girl Jessica finally got permission from her Parents to get baptized. Many prayers and sacrifices through fasting have been answered with great miracles here for us. The Lord really does answer the earnest prayers of his servants who seek his will. We had some very spiritual meetings with Jessica and her family. But they still wouldn´t go to church. But, after fasting and praying for Jessica, she developed the desire to know for herself if the book of mormon was true. And she got a powerful answer. Then after that we focused our prayers on helping Jessica to talk to her parents about baptism. She told us she wanted to but that she was afraid to argue and fight with her mom, because her mom didn´t want anything to do with the church. She just liked us missionaries. Anyways, We told her we wanted to fast and pray for her when she was going to talk to her mom, and that we needed her to tell us when she was going to do it. She agreed to tell us. The week passed on and no word from Jessica. But on Friday, I felt that I should fast after lunch until lunch the next day. So I did, and I prayed that Jessica would have the spirit with her and that she would speak boldly to her mother and that the spirit would testify to her mother that this was right. Saturday night, after breaking my fast Jessica came over to the member´s house we were at. She told us she´d talked to her mom. Not only that but she said a little the night before and then that morning. Exactly when I was fasting for her. She received help from the Lord when speaking to her mother. Because that next monday night we were over at the same member´s house, and Jessica and her mother came over. The mother was excited to tell us that she was going to church with us the next sunday. She told us like 5 or 6 times thoughout the visit. That next saturday I felt the need to pray that Jessica would invite her father to church the next day too. Sunday morning came and to my dismay both of her parents were not at church. Little did I know though that the Lord had been preparing to answer my prayer and there was a fireside that night as well as a baptism and choir practice. Jessica was in the Choir and she got her parents to come and watch her sing. After that she got her Father to watch the Baptism. And then after that she got them to stay for the Fireside, which was all about the savior. Her father cried 3 times during the meeting. It was very spiritual and the speakers bore powerful testimony. Was amazing. Then the next Thursday my companion did a division with one of our zone leaders. Visited the Family with the specific intent on getting permission for baptism. It was a very spiritual visit. The next day Jessica asked her father again if she could be baptized. He said he´d think about it and let her know later that night. He came back a few hours later and told her she could. And because of all of this Jessica was finally able to be baptized. Also yesterday her parents came to the sunday morning session of conference. Which was awesome. Perfect for them and their situation. Awesome. Our God really is a God of Miracles. I love this gospel and the true church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Elder Bender

A baptism Spencer and his companion had a couple weeks ago.

Spencer and his companion with Jessica and her family on the day of her baptism.