Gaining confidence of leaders

This week Parker responds to my questions about him being old on the mission and not caring.(the last 2 emails) I needed clarification as to what exactly that meant. I was just a little concerned that the mission had lost its sparkle. . . .but he sets me straight! enjoy

mom, please stop talking about me losing enthusiasm on the mission, youre not understanding me, i think youre thinking that im trying to say i dont care about the mission anymore cause im old, im trying to say that im so old on the mission that i dont care about anything but the mission anymore. im not passing through anything difficult either mom but if you keep putting stuff like that in the emails im gonna go crazy.

    nah dakota doesnt need to work, just go on the mission you mole rapaz. why would he want to wait, if he leaves as soon as possible maybe he could come to my misson and i could see him in the field.

    it rained this whole week entirely so it wasnt that good to work in but we still found some  people. we baptized this young man thats a really special kid. hes 14, his baptism was really good because it was a reference from the 1st counselor in the bishopric in my ward. and that same counselor baptized him so hes all excited now about missionary work and he loves me now. that same counselor gave me a reference about a month and half ago and i baptized him also so now the first counselor loves me, im finally gaining the confidence of the leaders here. that same counselor cussed me out on the phone like my 5th week here becuase i was pushing him to hard to help with his own reference being baptized, now hes hugging me and inviting me to family nights in his house every monday hehe! remember how i told you that this area wasnt baptizing very much and all the members were not wanting to help at all in missionary work and the bishopric was getting mad because i was baptizing people that they felt werent prepared so the bishop made that  rule that we can only baptize on saturday nights? everythings changed now! now i have there confidence! bishop used to avoid me and not answer my calls and now hes pulling me aside and telling me who i need to visit and who needs help and hes wanting to help now! its because the last two references that the ward gave me ive baptized so now everyones all excited and starting to give more references and wanting to help, theyre really starting to trust me now here. the leadership was cold here though, took them almost 2 months to finally warm up to me. bishop and the first counselor both pulled me and my comp aside and talked to me about teaching the investigators that are in the other elders area. our ward has 2 sets of missionaries and so the ward is divided in half. the other area has recieved really really good references in the last month and they havent baptized any of them.were talking a family of 3, really cool also and another family of 5 and they still have done basically nothing with them, so bishop pulled me aside and told me that he understands its not my area but he would like that i started teaching them instead of the others, i cant though its not my area. but that means a lot  to me becuase of the trust, its funny though because a month ago they were telling me that im baptizing people before there prepared and now there coming to me and telling me theyd like me to start teaching them because ive got a "faster vision then the other missoinaries". im so grateful though because i have been praying and fasting and praying and fasting for them to finally start to help and trust me. i even talked to pres. tavares about this like 3 weeks ago and he said to just serve them and and continue praying and fasting. so we helped rake one of there lawns and continued praying and fasting and now were seeing the benefits.

  ya i got the package, it takes about 12 days to arrive. love you mom and family.

    -  Elder Bennett

Dad,

haha thats a pretty funny photo of them, (picture was of Riley, his brother , his cousin Dakota and a friend named Devin) they just randomly decided to nap together on the trampoline? when you talk about devin are you talking about devin hankes? are they in your ward now?

   ya were all really blessed to have the gospel in our lives but the only way to show real gratitude is by sharing it with others...

  how is dakota doing? preparing to serve a mission this summer or is he thinking about waiting? is he gonna graduate from seminary, i want him to get called to my mission in londrina and he cant if he doesnt graduate from seminary.

    the work is going good here, rained the whole week though, ive never seen anything like it, from monday until thursday and half of friday it rained. for 4 days straight you just fell asleep to rain woke up to rain and worked in the rain haha. i like the rain about 1 time a week but more then that, no.

   well this week was really good and the Lord is blessing us with miracles and baptisms and more people to baptize! love ya dad!

                                    - Elder Bennett

Carnival Week

Mom, send me that dr. scholls wart burner kit thing. i have one on my thumb thats gotta go.

  elder beaudoin and i are super good comps together!  hes from oregon and has been out on the mission for 10 months. we have fun together, its something ive missed the last couple of weeks. hes yoked though. hes my height, and weighs 220. the woman in our ward like him already.  the other day he was telling me that he has to watch what he eats because if he eats to much he gets "fat like a woman gets fat." i dont even know what that means haha

    calm down mom, its impossible to not love the work. i just dont have anything new to write about in my emails. the mission is that way, for example, on p-days i used to love sitting at my desk for like 4 hours writing letters to people, now i get in the house and just eat açai all day and sit around doing nothing. i just dont have desire to write anymore, i dont care. its just what happens on the mission. im always out working with the same enthusiasm but now im just not as excited for p-day emails and letters, ive just lost the desire im sorry. not very many new or exciting things happen anymore, its carnival week so at night when cars drive by us girls usually scream and whistle at elder beaudoin and i because were "gatinhos"  other then that your moms intuition is off.

    but get that package out though i dont think ill be staying here that much longer. this next transfer many elders are  going home so a lot of people will be transfered.

     are jared and lindsey really gonna name her emma?

   OH! we want letters from young woman also! elder arf wants letters now, hes a brazilian from são paulo and he wants letters also. hes a handsome brazilian also.

    my health has been good mom dont worry haha. i had a sinus infection this week though so that wasnt fun, but im feeling better already because of the antibiotic.

   i love you all and hope youre keeping the commandments.

   - Elder Bennett

theyre super laid back! its a double edged sword though cause the members are super laid back also and never wanna work. the members will sometimes help you baptize there family and friends but help them stay firm, they will not help with that. its there culture is why they baptize so much, people just let you in thinking you wanna share a spiritual message with you and because the gospels true, you get some that feel the spirit and follow it. the thing about brazilians though is that they hate hate hate committments to anything. commitment to follow a church commitment to help people stay active anything with commitments they hate it. but everyonce in a while you find a gold nugget that recieves an answer and follows it. my new comp is way better hes already got 10 months on the mission so were a lot better team together. love you dad thanks for everything!

          - Elder Bennett

New Companion

Mom,

elder jewell got transfered, my new comp is another american named elder beaodin. hes from washington. why americans?

   no i didnt mail jareds package yet. its difficult to do that. ill do it someday.  no elder delgadillo is still in the mission. i dont know where hes at right now though.

   tell madison roubecek i said hi, and I wish her the best on the mish.

    i think i have a sinus infection because my head feels like its splitting into two. i was thinking about going to the doctor but doctors are hard to baptize so ill let it worsen up before i go. and its my p-day and i just wanna lay down.

   if you ever send me another package again, please send me that canker sore medicine stuff that dad always has.

   im sorry that my emails havent been so great the last couple times but im old on the mission and i just dont care that much anymore. i used to look forward to p-days and emails and now there just regular days also. it all starts to just become one giant blur.

   we baptized this 14 year old kid, hes cool, i think ill baptize his friends also.

   you all broke the sabbath watching the super bowl on Sunday?

    this transfer will only be 5 weeks long also.

  the love of my life is baptism. ive never experienced such joy in my life then seeing someone repent of there sins and be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority. its the only thing i want and the only thing i love. im in this for the numbers mom. nothing else matters to me but numbers. numbers, numbers, numbers! people say, "lets baptize someone!" and im like "NO! lets leave out the "some" and baptize the 1 (one)" NUMBERS! thats what im doing with my district. were all about the numbers here! its a mathematics kind of thing, you do so many of this, get so many of these and you get this. its like some sort of mathematical formula of baptism and thats why our zone and district baptized the most this week. welcome to the mission mom. ill be your guide on how to baptize. its all about the key indicators. when i first showed up on the mission i was like lets be super spiritual and people will change and want to get baptized! still the same attitude just a better way of gettting the result becuase if you stay working with good people that feel the spirit and dont get baptized, bam time wasted. work with a ton of people and let them all feel the spirit and the elects will decide to get baptized. the higher the numbers the more baptisms. just dont keep working with people that will need a little more patience or that will be baptized in the next month or even day. im trying to baptize now. Jesus wants baptims now! Jesus said follow me. He didnt say follow me when you want or follow me next week He wants it now! why should someone thats indecisive about following Jesus now be given more opportunity then someone else out there that God is preparing right now that you havent met yet. lets Go!!! its all about the numbers in this zone!

 70 references per week

 20 lessons with member

 10 other lessons

 35 contacted

 20 new investigators

 8 investigators in sacrament meeting

 BATISMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 D and C 20:38     it doesnt even say confirm, it only says baptize!!! ;D

   love you all,

-          Elder Bennett   

thanks dad,

                  transfers happened and elder jewell got transfered and im going to stay. my new comp. is cool, i know him. his name is elder beadoin, hes from washington. its cool that he will be my comp but i really want a brazilian comp. its way better that way. i just love working with brazilians and this will make 4 straight transfers with an american, a young american comp i mean. its whatever though ill baptize anywhere i go.

   tell cambria i said i love her also. i hope shes doing fine.

         love you dad, thanks for the support.

     - Elder Bennett

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!