Amar, Compartir, Invitar

Man, I love serving a mission!! It's the best!! This next week, I will officially hit 3 months in Benito and that's a pretty crazy thing if you ask me!! It also means I am officially a fully trained missionary and that I could at any point within this next transfer, receive a greenie for me to train!! HOW NUTS IS THAT?? But for the time being, let's focus on Benito!! 

First and foremost, the people here are so amazing!! They are so kind and so compassionate!! Sure it's a little tough sometimes, but it makes me tougher too!! As tough as it is though, there is no better way to describe this place other than simply Amazing!! The lessons, the activities, the sights, songs and smells, and the example of hard work, dedication and love!! This week, we had a little bit of it all!! But let's start from the beginning!

On Tuesday, we met Élder Sarabia, one of our zone leaders, at the bus stop. He spent the day with us to find out what really happens here in Benito, and he is the best!! He is such an amazing leader and an incredible example to everyone he meets!! And can I just say, this guy knows how to teach. He was so fluid with his lessons and he was amazing at getting the investigator involved in the lessons. There were a few times I needed to remind myself that I was teaching too, not just him!! We talked a lot about the teaching method we were using and we love it:

Amar, Compartir, Invitar, or in other words, Love, Share, Invite!

Love them completely, just as the Savior did.

Share what you know and what they need to hear. There is no reason to explain more about the importance of tithing when in reality they need to hear about the atonement of Jesus Christ! I really like this because we are here in Benito to help others come unto Christ, feel his love, and hear his voice, and we don’t always have to teach what we planned, because in all honesty, were "teach(ing) people, not lessons''.

Invite them to follow him! Our message is true, and can help everyone who is willing to listen, but it's their choice to follow him. We can't make that choice for them, so all we can do is invite them to "Come, Follow Him".

I have learned so much from my time of using this method, and I can promise you that it really works. Just ask our 2 new investigator families!! THAT’S RIGHT, 2!! Pretty awesome right!! Now of course don’t give credit to me! Give it all to Christ, who lived every moment with these things in mind. I'm so grateful for his example in my life and his love for me and for all those who have lived, are living or will live!

On a different note, we had an activity at the church building with our amazing members! I sadly don’t have any pictures, but I'll be sure to get some next time!! Nothing too special, just played some games, ate some food and had a good time!! Man, I love them all so much!!

ANNNNNDDD we also got some of the stuff fixed at the house!! No more spiders (not completely gone, but tons less), and we have hot water!!!!!! YAY NO MORE COLD SHOWERS!!! 

This week has been amazing and I'm so grateful to be here in Benito!! I love the mission and I love the people. I am so grateful to the example of my family and friends and the influence that you all have been in my life. Have an amazing week, but like always, don’t have too much fun without me!!

Here are some photos, not many this week, because I forgot again.... but here they are!!

This is me getting some food made for the activity!!

And the second photo is of the amazing and incredible Sister and Elder Montes!! (They are the best). They helped us get our house fixed up a little bit!! 

Short but for a good reason!!

Man what a crazy week it's been!! I sadly don’t have very much time to write today, but I thought I'd just fill you in!! First and foremost... we went to Villa Ahumada!! It was my companion’s first time so we took some time to go see the cool stuff that Villa has to offer!! We also bought some boots!! They are the besssst!! 

Sorry this email was so short, but I love you all so much and have an amazing week but don’t have too much fun without me!!

What is in the Soup??

Hola hola!! What a week!! Let’s see, what did we do??…. Well, we have been hard at work and have been looking to find inactive members in Benito, Flores Magon, and El Berrendo andddddd we have found the names of a ton of people!! Now the only challenge is tracking them down, teaching them a lesson and inviting them to come back to church!! Piece of cake right?? NOT! Of course it will be a challenge, but it's gonna be awesome because through Christ, we can do all things!!!

On another note, we had a meeting with President Henke and there is a chance that we might be moving!! Why you might ask …. well it's a long story! First and foremost, you need to know that everything in Benito works through electricity. The water, the lights, the refrigerator,  all of it. So when the power goes out, it's a pretty bad thing for the people of Benito. On Monday, the power went out, and after 3 hours without power, we called our members to make sure they were ok. We ultimately found out that they were fine and that it was only our house which didn't have power. So we went and bought some new fuses, replaced the old ones and .. nothing. We weren't sure what to do, so we were just waiting for the power to come back on at some point, but the 3 hours turned into 3 DAYS! Crazy right???!!! 

This really affected our way of life, and we were stuck with no light, no way to shower, wash dishes or our laundry, and no way to keep food cold in our fridge. We had to get creative and we went to our water tank outside our house and filled buckets of water to take showers, ate only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and bought a ton of flashlights!!  Finally, as an answer to our prayers, the power came back!! We were both so excited, until we cleaned the bathroom and found a massive spider!! If the power going out wasn’t a good enough reason for a new house, the spider sure was!! Now we just need to keep an eye out for a new house, but until then, we'll just have to hope and pray!! 

Now... what is in the soup.... The question of the day right?? Well we have an amazing member in Benito who makes us food every Sunday. This last Sunday (yesterday) she made us some food that I didn't recognize the name of, Menudo ... and it ended up being … cow stomach... Aaahhhh!!! It wasn't my favorite, but it was so nice of our amazing member to make that for us!! She's the best and I'm so grateful for members like her!! 

Not much more to talk about, so here are some pictures of me fixing my bike, filling a bucket to get water for showers, and a picture in front of the Benito sign!!! Have an amazing week, but don’t have too much fun without me!!

A Week FULL of Conferences!!

Buenas Tardes!!

First and foremost, we had another zone conference! So that means, off to Ciudad Juárez!!! We got to Juárez on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we had the conference. There wasn't much of a difference from the last conference, except this time, I was with my new companion, which was pretty AWESOME!! He is so cool and he is such an amazing missionary!!

After the conference, we left for Benito!! It was a long ride back, but since we are new comps, we had a lot of time to talk and get to know each other!! Turns out we've got a lot in common, especially how we both equally dislike getting shots!! (SHOTS ARE THE WORST)

Once we got to Benito, we hit the ground running and went shopping for groceries because we had absolutely nothing. (and a new fuse, ‘cause, ya know, we need power) The next morning, we prepared stuff for the General Conference, got some snacks for the members and called a ton of people, but no matter how hard we tried, Elder Anrubio and I ended up watching General Conference on our own... 

We both were pretty bummed out about it, but we both learned a really important lesson. When they don’t come to the first session, invite them to the second or in other words, keep trying. There's a phrase here that I love, "el éxito es seguro”, which means success is certain. I love this phrase because it means we will succeed, even if it's not how we expected. And that's something for life in general right? We might not succeed exactly the way that we thought, but a change of perspective can illuminate our success. 

To be honest, this week was very difficult. We had little success with our lessons and lost two of our investigators, but I feel confident in knowing that we are making progress, even if we don’t see it yet. 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for each and every one of you. Keep being amazing and keep trying because "el éxito es seguro". 

Have an amazing week, but don’t have too much fun without me!