Baptize!!

Mom,

the week went by really really well. things are gettting better.

im just here to baptize people. i dont care about anything else. ya ill reactivate a couple here and there but i dont think people understand, our duty is to baptize. d and c 20:73 says it clearly, an elders calling is to baptize. i show up here in this area, they have only have had 2 baptisms in the last six months, im like whats going on here, good ward and good area and only 2 baptisms. i baptized that in the first two weeks, bishop gets all scared and now he doesnt trust me cause i wanna baptize people! he made a rule that we can only baptize on saturday nights! in our mission someone has to go to church 2 times then they can be baptized. so if i take someone to church on sunday, they can be baptized on the next Sunday after church and thats how it goes, always always always baptize people on the second sunday but if they dont get baptized but they have been to church two times, you can baptize them anyday. so in order to baptize on saturdays you have to work with someone for three weeks! you have to take them to church twice then baptize on the next saturday the week after. i just dont understand this man, i do what im called to do, he doesnt help at all in the baptisms, (hes never once left to teach with me) then he just slaps a huge rule like that. this guy is scared of baptisms and i dont know why? he thinks he can choose who is going to be saved! ill still baptize people though!

this week our mission baptized 53 people. thats a lot of people baptized haha! its the new mission record for baptisms in a week.

dont send the package then, transfers happen next week. i think im going to stay here one or two more but you never can know, the Lord might just call me to another area here in a little bit. maybe at the end of this transfer i will leave. theres a lot of elders going away this next two transfers. theres a high chance i wont train again!!! there was 14 american missionaries that were supposed to come to our mission this next wek and only one got his visa so only 1 will come and 2 sisters. yes! i have a 1 and 140 chance of training again!!! they are going to send all the american elders from our mission to serve in the los angeles mission until they get there visas but heres the best part, the government didnt even let them start there visas yet. they arent gonna show up here for another 6 months haha. yes! no training americans for a while!!! elder frietas goes home next week. elder freitas is the one that trained me remember, hes finally finishing the mission.

youre talking about that Leban guy from the shop. i dont know him but i do know that Jesus Blesses all lives that follow Him. it wouldnt hurt anybody to take him to church. same thing with baptism, if  an 8 year old child that lives 20 miles from the church and has no family that are members or want to be,but wants to be baptized,  its not gonna hurt the child to baptize him, if anything youre just setting him up for something better in the future. thats my motto. our missions gonna go to the top this year. were gonna be the highest baptizing mission in the world.

Wow,  you’ve got a powerful testimony mom! i hope you two are doing everything you can to help riley and cambria and may the Lord bless you and dad in your work with them. remember, scripture study, family prayer, and family night are more of an impact on a childs life then any other source of entertainment or sports team.

I LOVE YOU ALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Elder Bennett

o ya i forgot, this week we showed up on t.v. here in the state. look us up on the internet, i talked on the program, im a star mom! i made it on t.v.! look me up, its a program called Tarobá and the program was called Vitrine. the site is www.taroba.com.br and you should choose Vitrine for program then Tarobá for the channel. i heard ive already been put up for an oscar this year.

 

Dad,

im doing awesom!

sounds like you two had some fun in the snow. cambria is a pretty funny little girl. i hope she is finally starting to gain some confidence in school and with other things she does. i love that litttle girl!

this week our mission baptized 53 people! thats the most the missions ever baptized in a week! haha presidente tavares is super excited also! the results came in, for the year of 2012 our mission baptized 11th in brazil of 27 missions. thats really really good becuase our mission is in the south and all the missions that baptize the most are from the north. were starting off the year good now! before presidente tavares got here, our mission was 24th and 25th of 27 misssions so you can see the improvement were making with him. he preaches repentance to us like its nobodys business. he is crazy about us repenting. even though we baptized 53 this week he´ll still probably tell us to repent for this last months work haha.

were getting better as a team. its not really a team yet though cause you cant have a team with only one person doing evertything but in our team i really do put the "i" in team. hes gettin better though. love you dad, thanks for all the support in my life, not everyone gets a dad as special as you.

Mission brings challenges

Mom,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LOGAN!!!! 31!!!! hope his baby wish comes true here in a little while!

    i still cant believe chad is going to get out before me. sometimes people ask me if im the only missionary in my family and i sometimes i say no, i have a brother that is serving also. they ask where, i reply some prison in cali haha.

       i got the packages, they were heaven sent. thanks so much. i dont understand you though, hand and toe warmers? its 95 degrees right now where i am! it wont be cold until june! but thanks though.i got the letters from the sisters also. why did you have them write me without sending me pictures!? pics is where its at!

    i cant write much today, i had to write to pres. tavares a lot today. things are going, just not the way they should. there was an emergency transfer this week in the mission because two missionaries went home. one chose to go and the other had medical issues. elder schenewark got transfered and in some other city in são paulo. haha he got lucky. i cant send any pictures or anything, i dont have anymore pindrive things, take the pics and vids off the old ones and send them to me. my one i have now only has like 80 more spots for pics also. im running out here!

      i love you all, have a great week! sorry about the letter, i just dont have much time today.

            - Elder Bennett

love you too dad, thanks for all the support. today will be short, i had to talk to president a lot today. things have been better. elder jewell is struggling,  and because were a team, his problems are my problems. haha, o the lives we live! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

                    - Elder Bennett

Time is Flying by!

Mom,

thanks for the letter. i was only guided in the right direction by my parents :D

transfers arent until february 5th so theres plenty of time. no i havent gotten my packages yet, they should have arrived already but if i dont get them this week then ill start to question about them at the post office.

ya the weathers nice here, its starting to heat up but still is pretty calm, not much. theres a nice breeze in this city so it helps.

thats too bad for tyler though, hope he gets better there.

the clevelands are gonna serve a mission, who will be home to welcome elder cleveland?

our family is getting old huh? the only thing keeping us young is cambria haha. when did we all get so old?! i turn 21 this year... where has my life gone?

i havent heard from anyone in a while either. where is dakota and what is he doing with his life? actually, who were my friends before the mission i dont remember. did i have friends before the mission? do i really care whats happening with everyone else or am i just saying this cause i want to sound nice? its a toss up...

my computer just randomly turned off and then i had to tell the guy that it shut off and i need it to come up again. i had to sit here and wait for him to work out the problem, now im irritated and dont want to type anymore. this is my letter.

- Elder Bennett

Dad,

tell president nelson i said hi also, i love that man.

richie is playing for the rams still?i thought mom said that he messed his leg up again and that the doctor told him that he was done playing sports? they lift weights directly after the game? haha coaches are crazy

why did you and cambria work the snack bar? is it a duty of the parents to do or something?

love you all also, time is flying by really fast on the mission, elder cleveland wrote me and said hes already a year and three months on the mission! thats so crazy, i remember when we were in the ctm together and we couldnt speak any portuguese now we write each other in portuguese haha. im old on the mission now though haha. my trainer goes home this transfer.

old family videos, we will have to sit down and watch some when i get back should be fun! well love you dad, thanks for inspiring me and helping me be a better man. love you a ton!

- Elder Bennett

Trying to be Like Jesus

Just a short note this week, but I will take that any day! It beats no email at all!

hey mom, my computer wasnt working very well so i had to switch computers, anyways it took a lot of the time from my hour. theres a subway that we found kind of close to the house, i think every p day im going to eat there. subways pretty good.

   why do you put trunky paragraphs in there like that one about coming home this november? youre so trunky and youre not even on the mission.

       elder jewell is doing fine, he just needs to start opening his mouth more in lessons.

   its your fault, should have never let riley get an x-box in the first place. (I happen to mention I think Riley might be addicted!)

       does riley get in the games or sit a lot?

      that would be awesome that you all complete the book of mormon before i get home, im coming up on my ninth time reading it, secon in portuguese. it might be tenth, i cant remember if i read it all in the ctm, that was a long time ago though haha.

     who are the sorensens?

    how am i going to give advice to chad, i dont know what happens in there. tell him to just keep on going and never quit.

       im sorry but sometimes theres just nothing to write about.

     o ya this week was fast sunday and fasting on the mission is awesome but at the same time you know how difficult it will be to go without eating and drinking for 24 hours. so me and elder jewell went to this expensive all you can eat meat restaurant. we ate so much. elder jewell loves to eat so he was really happy after. the food was really good and filled me up for the fast but i still was dying by the next day haha. but serious though elder jewell loved the restaurant, while he was eating he said, " this meal is journal entry worthy." basically how good his meals are determine his attitude haha.

       im trying to be like Jesus in all that i do and say, but its really hard, but always worth it.   I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

                  - Elder Bennett

 

Dad,

things are going great here in cascavel, we just need to think a little better about what areas we are going to proselyte in. theres a really good area but its really long from the building and so i think were gonna stop working there, its too long for people to get there. they have to take the city bus to the terminal, then the bus to that passes by the church, its super long, about 1 hour of waiting and traveling. just a little to difficult. anyways were gonna start branching out a bit. love you dad,

                                                                 Elder Bennett

Thought I would add some pictures that we have received recently. Enjoy!