January 17, 2012

Elder Bennett will be leaving the traing center at the end of the month. If you are writing hand letters please send them to the mission home @
Elder Parker Phillip Bennett
Brazil Londrina Mission
Rua Higienopolis, 1100, Sala 61
Centro
86020-911 Londrina-PR
Brazil

Thought I might explain a few things in the letter that might help when reading:
When Parker mentions Elder Martinez group ,he is referring to the hall of fame nerf basket ball and yoyo they are looking to pass on to the next district worthy of the award. (thought that might help, cause he answers questions I have asked, and no one else probably has a  clue what he is referring to!)
He also refers to 3 friends Larry, Pierce and Robert, who are all going on missions also. 2 have received there calls and one is still waiting to send in papers. Hope that helps!


thanks a ton mom,
i love you so very much. i was pondering upon how important my mother has been in my life and then it dawned on me that if everyone had a mother that cared and raised them up as you raised me then this world would be much better. it has made me realize the immense calling that woman have as mothers. whatever way the world is like whether it be good or bad is an example of the mothers in this world. it really is a divine and important calling that only woman can fulfill. the most important calling on earth truly is motherhood.
           50 days already thats pretty crazy. i still remember saying goodbye to the family and friends then being greeted by elder cleveland in the ctm. its sure going by fast. im excited to hear that nicole has chosen to baptized. it will bless her life in more ways then she can even understand right now. its funny how you said that the sister missionaries challenged her to be baptized after the first lesson. one thing you have to understand is that sister missionaries are 10 times better then elders and we know it. they seriously beat us in every aspect its not fair. they just understand people and what they need and how to give it to them so much better. its not fair. i wish i was born with emotions. when we do our practices and some pretend investigators tell us that theyre having a problem with this or that, i sometimes cant connect. I understand much more then i did.  But like one of our pretend investigators says he knows for a fact the church is true,  that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the book of Mormon is true ,but wont be baptized cause his dads a pastor and hes got 7 brothers that would be angry with him. I dont connect. In my mind im like,Get your head straight, be a man, do what you know is true, and be baptized. course im not gonna tell him that so i literally say nothing and let the much more compassionate elder Carrell take care of it. im trying my hardest to connect with him though. hopefully one of these days Jesus will bless me with the gift of discernement and charity so i can understand. course first i gotta become humble and patient and break down all manners of my pride but youve heard enough of this.
               tell larry i said im really excited for him. hes gonna have the time of his life in costa rica. im very proud to say he is my friend although at times i wanted to punch him straight in the face hes always been a good example to me and showed me much love. i only wish i was a better friend to him. haha i have a feeling my boy pierce is going to come to brazil. theres a certain type of elder it takes to go to brazil and pierce just seems like he could be that guy. then again he could get called to some random place like tonga or something haha. i met an elder here that knew his brother holden in chile. i know it was him cause i said the guy looks like hulk haha. man roberts going to buenos aires what a lucky dog. tons of argentians are here and brazilians learning spanish to go there also. hes gonna love those people. my boy elder espirito santo is going there (which in english translates to elder Holy Ghost) but hes a way funny guy. hes gonna love it. hes also gonna get the crap kicked out of him there. they speak a pretty tough spanish. i can usually pick out some spanish from chileans or paraguyans but i have no idea what argentinians say ever. probably cause there sister missionaries were so beautiful and i had trouble paying attention to what they were saying... ;)
   im leaving the ctm in two weeks so everyone should start mailing my mission home cause it will be to late. ya we fly to londrina on january 31st all together. theres about 15 of us. we just got a guy from cape verde who is going there also which is nice cause i love all the africans. there the best kind of people youll ever meet. i hope i serve with him there. we spend the night at the mission home and find out where were going from there. then they ship us on a bus the next day to wherever to meet our trainer companion whom i hope is a native portuguese speaker. its funny cause the state of parana has londrina and its capital curitiba which are both considered the two most wealthiest cities per capita in the country and are very refined. they say its nicer then most cities in the states or you can go to azul ceu which means blue heaven or sky and thats just some random jungle place near the falls im pretty sure. im so excited this really is going to be an adventure. see the richest of the country and people that dont even have furniture and just dirt floors. o ya londrina is considered one of the coldest cities to im gonna have to buy glove scarf etc when i get there. hope theres money in my account for winter coming up in june and july or im gonna die.
 i dont know elder martinez from fresnos group has really started pulling ahead. the other districts are such goobs.  i need some of those excercise bands please once i get out and for the love of all things green on this earth,  elder stanley got a care package from some random chick he didnt ever talk to with flaming hot cheetos and mint chocolates in it and they dont sell them here and youre my mom so please send me some FLAMING HOT CHEETOS!!! also those excercise bands. jared will know what i need. ps my district gives me weird nicknames. just to name a few big cat, which is there favorite, moneybags, my favorite, bebebennetch which is baby bennett in portuguese. I LOVE YOU ALL.
                                        - Elder Bennett