Your trials will eventually help you bless others.

A spiritual experience this week..


We had ten minutes left before we had to go back to the house. We didnt have time for a lesson and werent near a park to contact, so we decided to knock a few doors. I swear that it is always in the last ten minutes that miracles happen.
As we went and knocked on the door of a really big house nearby, a man answered the door. He obviously had already made up his mind about the mormons. He complimented us and said that he appreciated what we were doing and that he hadnt talked to missionaries before and my companion began to testify about the book of mormon. He told us that he had read parts of the book of mormon never prayed about it, but had also read about joseph smith and the angel moroni and how blacks at one time didnt have the priesthood and that at one time there were polygamos marriages and that eventually it stopped. He then proclaimed that he assisted a baptist church but thanked us.
There was a nice pause and then I simply bore my testimony about how there had been a time when even though I grew up in the church, I doubted everything and I read a lot of things on the internet, and I came only to believe that there was a God. He seemed a little surprised to hear that I had grown up in the church and at one point didnt believe in it. I was able to testify that I asked God if Joseph Smith was a prophet. And God answered my prayer. And that I know the Book of Mormon is true and that both I and my companion know that its true and that is why we are missionaries. But when we testified the Spirit was undeniable.
We could see in his eyes that he felt it.
He told us that he would read a little bit more and look on mormon.org. To me this was a miracle.

The thing is, we all have questions. No one is exempt; we all have doubts. The faith of everyone of us is tried. And there are millions of us who have put their trust in God and received answers from God and not from any other person. And there are millions who know the whole world over that the church is true, because God is no respecter of persons, and it doesnt matter if you are in Asia or if you are in California, or if you are in Peru. If you ask God, have faith in Christ, and a sincere heart, and if you really are willing to act on the answer that you receive, God tells you. Always.

Ready your scriptures every day. Pray ... really pray. Go to church.
Love Always,
Hermana Bendixen

Thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends,

For thanksgiving well, I was a week off. I ate turkey at a restaurant the Thursday before haha. One of the ladies from the ward though made my favorite dish on thanksgiving which is called aji de gallina. I love it! She is so sweet. One of the people who was getting baptized this saturday cant because he left town this weekend. He is a really great person but he needs to put God first. Also, one of the girls we have been teaching will be baptized in two weeks. She works like crazy and studies and supports her sister. Im super excited for her.

Diego finally received the Priesthood.

We only had 15 minutes one day when we were going do visit him, and we had just went through this huge ordeal with our lideres de zona y presidente de estaca so that he could get the Priesthood on the first day of December. He told us that this day he was leaving town because his uncle had paid for a kind of a cabin on the beach a few hours away down south. We taught about the sabbath day again and some how, the Holy Ghost touched his heart and he decided to come back a day early. Later on Sunday, he told us that he had an interview with the bishop and the bishop asked him if he really thought he would be able to get back on time from his trip to get to church. He said no. Diego ended up canceling his trip. His faith is so great. I seriously am amazed by the choices he makes. He is a twenty year old kid who is really growing his testimony so much. He always says he is prideful and money is his weakness and all this kind of stuff, but really he is pretty humble and wants to do what is right, and changes his choices all with the faith that it is worth it. He is an example to me and my companion. We also recently found out that he wasnt drinking a clove and cinnamon drink because he thought it wasnt allowed because it was a kind of tea. Really its perfectly healthy. His mom was upset at him for not drinking it earlier. I can only imagine what she will say when she finds out that he really can drink that. haha

One thing we started doing with the Elders to find more people is we set up a table in the market with all of the pamphlets and books of mormon and there is this sign that says, TODO ES GRATIS. The people then just naturally come to us. It is actually a really great way to bear testimonies and set up appointments. =) My companion and I also started singing Christmas carlos at bus stops.

Im also surprised by the number of people that speak English who are visiting. We have ran into a few. Its a good thing my companion knows English. Its very interesting feeling the Spirit when we are in the lessons speaking in English. Im so used to it being strong in Spanish lol.

My companion and I in preparation for Christmas also made this tree out of water bottles and tape and then used Ensigns that we had to cut up the branches and leaves and then Hermana Jimenez made a star. She is so awesome. One day I promise I will send more photos!

Love Always,
Hermana Bendixen

=) I love the mission.

Dear Family and Friends,
This week I was a little bit frustrated because it seems like the only people who want to do the work of the lord is our bishop and the missionaries.
We told everyone in our ward council meeting specificaly to please come say hi to us right after sacrament meeting and we could introduce them to our investigators and to "Diego" who was just baptized.
The only ones I saw who did say hello were the bishop and one of the counselers. The hypocrisy of it all is that we just heard talks about the work of the Lord. All the talks were about missionary work and how we can be a friend a true disciple of Christ and share the gospel. Was anyone listening? No.
One lady started crying about how after her mission she hadnt really done anything to help but she knew the church was true and is going to change. Well.... Right afterwards when I asked her to say Hi to Patrick she seemed confused and asked.. when? I asked if she could right now. She asked where. I said right here! He was just confirmed. Next week in our ward council meeting i am going to ask everyone to raise their hand if they had come to say hi to us or one of our investigators. The hard thing is that everyone here is converts and they dont really understand how to function as a ward yet. They have never seen a ward functioning properly and so they dont really have the example.. but still, being a friend is something universal.
On the upside, Diego got baptized and then Sunday morning we called him to remind him about church. Well.. he told us that he didnt know if he could make it because his grandma who practically was his mother, was on her deathbed. We told him we knew his grandma was very important but so was the gift of the Holy Ghost. After talking for a bit he told us he would confirm with the member that was going to pick him up. We were praying like never before. Thankfully right after the sacrament they both entered, the member and Diego. After the intermediate hymn, they blessed Diego. I was so grateful and happy. I think he was too. Later that night we asked how his grandma was. He told us thank you and that she was much much better. I know that when we put God first he blesses us. =)
Please, remember that when you were baptized, if you were baptized, you took upon you the name of Christ to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort and to keep his commandments, the greatest of which is to Love God, and then to love your neighbor as yourself.
Be a friend.

With love,
Hermana Bendixen

The direct descendent of Lehi

Dear family and friends,

This week has been the one of the most beautiful and stressfull and crazy but great weeks ever. Weeks like this make the mission worth it. We had this investigator named "Carly. " I cant remember what I called her last week when I told you about how we met her when we started jump roping with her kids. She is the one who went with us to a relief society broadcast in the same night that we met her. Her daughter wants to be baptized. Well, we had this really great lesson with her where she just flat out asked.. so what time is my baptism? We are so excited for her! Well, it so happens that they have to assist sacrament meeting 2 times before we can get any one of our investigators baptized, so getting them to church is just as important as their baptisimal date. The night before my companion and I started our fast. Yep, we fasted for our investigators of course. Well, we stopped by her house to pick up her up to go to church and she wasnt there. We could have just died. We ran to a payphone and called her. And called.. and called. Her kids at the house said that she had left but that she had her phone so we must have called her about 10 times. We decided to go back to the house again, and she still wasnt there. We walked dejectedly to the chapel. I tried to be positive. I thought about how just the night before she wanted to be baptized and was so excited that she just asked what time it would be. We missed the sacramet unfortunately and we just started thinking about how maybe we just didnt have enough faith. I started thinking that maybe we didnt really do everything we could. But we really did. We were fasting, praying, visiting her every day, helping her read the book of mormon, helping her feel and recognize the spirit, we got her friends at church. As we sat in the gospel doctrine class that day the door creaked open. IT WAS HER! I jumped up and gave her the biggest hug. My companion and I didnt know if she could still be baptized but we decided to have faith and talk to her about it later. Well, in relief society they announced her baptism before we could say anything, and all the sisters were congratulating her. AH! Anyway, that was awesome. We decided to call our district leader after church and ask permission for her to be baptized anyway. We had to know that night because we had another appointment at her house later that night. Well, our district leader didnt answer. We then called our zone leaders. They didnt answer. We then talked to the assistant to the President. He said that according to the handbook that would be a no. Classic of the AP just so you know. But thats a good thing. I told him I was going to call President. He said that was fine just as long as president knew he was following the handbook. Well we called president. We couldnt get ahold of him. He was doing a couple of meetings north de chico. I called back elder custer and asked when he thought we could get ahold of him. He said maybe at 9. Our appointment with carly was at 7! At 6:55 we call President again. HE ANSWERED THE PHONE! =D We explained about how great she was and how she came to church without help and how when she got in the door she was apologizing that she wasnt there when we stopped by and everything. President gave us permision as long as her daughter got baptized too. Im so excited for her!

Sorry that was long.. but that is just an example of one thing that happens in one day on the mission. So much stress, but sooooo worth it!

OkaY. Im going to write about "John".
This guy is incredible. Well.. when we first met him, he wasnt our most exciting of investigators. In fact we were kind of dreading going to his house again because his sister in law is a testigo de jehova. Shes not very nice either.
Anyway we were passing by on the street to get to another appointment when we saw him walking back to his house which is weird because we have never just seen him on the street before. We asked him if we could stop by if the other appointment that we had fell through. He said sure. Well, as luck would have it, or as God would have it, because there really are no coincidences, the appointment did fall through so we ended up walking over to his house.
But this is the thing. Neither of us knew what we were going to teach him.
We finally decided that we would just say a prayer before we got in because none of the lessons really felt right. Well, we get inside and his mom is there which is good and another miracle because we need a woman in the lessons when we teach a man, and his sister in law wasnt there. =)
Then, he had a bunch of questions about the Book of Mormon. We explained it a little bit more and then there just came this point in the lesson when both me and my companion stopped talking. We didnt know why. We just did and felt like we had to wait.
Well then he starts saying, "I had a dream. And in this dream there was this tree." We both kind of perked up our ears. He continued. "And then it was dark and there were two groups of people. It felt like the second coming. There were good people and there were bad people. And then there was this cable running from the tree to off in the distance and I couldnt see the end of it." At this point we both just JUMPED FORWARD and started explaining all about Lehis dream. "Do you know there is a prophet who had a dream that sounds exactly the same as the one you are telling us in the Book of Mormon?"
I mean we couldnt have been more excited. He couldnt have been more excited either. We had already been there about an hour and had to go so we were just going to let him read it for his homework and come back later and explain it some more, but then he just starts reading it in front of us. And when he got to the part that says that Lehi saw a man in white robes he stopped and looked up and said.. "That was in my dream too!" Okay, so to make a long story short, he has a baptisimal date and when we asked him if he knew the Book of Mormon was true he said, "Yeah, its the word of God!" Now we just have to explain a little bit about prophets again because he thinks he might be one. lol. =) The moral of the story.... listen to the Spirit, and never judge a contact by his or her appearance.

Love you all very much,

Thank you so much for your prayers. They are working miracles!

Love Always,
Hermana Bendixen

The Time is Now

Dear Family and Friends,
For those of you who watched General Conference, did any of you get chills when President Monson said the words: "The time is now." ?

I cant express how grateful I am that I get to be apart of the work of the Lord in these times. How exciting that the whole world is now working together!
The other week, our President told us that we were going to be the example for all of the world when it comes to retention. He told us it was a time to write in our journals. Presidente Uceda was speaking with the 12 apostles about who they could use to be an example for the rest of the missions. President Uceda who is the area authority for here in Peru said, "I know of a place." He is working with our President and this week we are all being trained anew.
Im also really excited because my companion and I are growing so much together. We started studying preach my gospel during our weekly planning and found out that there were about a million things we could change in how we plan and how to take care of our area book that no one had taught us. Im so excited because I can already see how inspired God is. Little miracles happen every day.
We were talking to this less active member the other day and he told us he didnt believe in miracles and that they didnt happen anymore.
It was funny because I couldnt remember much except that Moroni 7 talked about why people say miracles cease. We assigned it to him even though we were late for another appointment and even though when I read through it I wasnt sure if it was what he needed to hear and almost just left him with Eter 12. Well when I got home I reread Moroni 7 in English, and EVERY WORD dealt with his questions. I love that. I love that when we are really listening and trusting in God, miracles like that happen.
Conference was a miracle too. The talks as always specifically apply to one person that we know and to ourselves.
Other miracles, we had eight investgators come to church. Granted it was General Conference and so there were three other opportunities for them to attend, but it still was a miracle to me because many times we are happy if one make the sacrifice to come to church.
I see miracles in how God answers the questions of our heart with other people. Other missionaries talk to me and end up telling me just what I need to hear. And I know its from God.
There is the miracle of obedience, how when we are so dang tired when we try to get up in the morning but we do it anyway and we do our exercizes and when we really study and pray hard, we are not tired. We just arent. I have never slept better in my life.
We've seen miracles in how the members help us. When we had to be at four appointments in 2 hours we were able to find the ward members who could go on splits with us.
My companion and I ran into a very argumentative person from another religion one day. She had been seeing that street in which we found him in her mind for a while and knew that it was a prompiting to go contact on that street. It took a while to be able to talk but we smiled and bore our testimonies and eventually left, and though and we werent able to get any new appointments from that time my companion learned something. Her high school was practically all mormon and she had never had to deal with The next day when we were on splits, my companion had to bear her testimony in another appointment with a very special investigator when his sister in law showed up who is also from the same religion and also very argumentative. I am soo soo soo proud of her. She told me later how the experience went, how she was still able to teach the investigator the gospel in spite of the invitations to fight.
I know God was prepping her for that moment.
Then of course there is the beautiful miracle of seeing people really fainding faith in God. Here in Peru, practically everyone believes in God. One of our investigators didnt. Now we are seeing a complete change in him. He prays sincerely, he receives answers and he is reading the scriptures. He attends his meetings. He is a busy student but still sets aside time to learn.
Then there is a girl who showed up to church. I will call her Maria. Maria is 21. My age. She is renting a room where her and her sister live. Her sister is 15. She supports her. She is looking for a better job where she doesnt have to work 12 hour shifts every day of the week because she is also studying as a nursing student and she doesnt get any sleep. This sunday she showed up to church with her sister. Im so proud of her. When people act on the commandments and follow them, then we see faith.
Its so easy to look past these people.
When I first met all these people I didnt think much of them. I didnt think anything bad about them.. just that they were normal. But really thats what all of us are. Normal ordinary people who are children of God. All of us are on our own paths learning and growing. And so when someone is normal... a.k.a all of us... we need to share the gospel with them. Its beautiful how you can feel God´s love for a person when you get to know them.
Its a huge responsibility right now being a missionary and realizing the whole world is looking at you. Just knowing that I am in charge of the little area I have to see the work of the lord progress her is terrifying. But I remember that Christ is here for all of us.
He supports us in our trials. When we think we are alone and even our companion isnt there, God is. He literally does send seen and unseen angels to protect us and to move the work forward.
Really I know he lives and that miracles happen. I am determined to make the last 11 months of my mission better than the first 7.
I miss and love you all.
I hear about the scary things happening in the world right now. Im so glad to know that God has a plan for everything and that he is merciful. Its hard to know what is truth and what is a lie here.. but whatever happens I know God takes care of us and he can work miracles if we trust him and serve him.

Love Always,

Hermana Bendixen

Less than a year left in the mission.=0

Dear Family and Friends,

I felt like I have learned so much.  I relearned things that I had forgotten again.  Our mission president is drilling us on how to reteach lesson one. 

 Its great because now we get some training from the zone leaders which we didnt have before.  Usually only the elders got help from the zone leaders.

  Before I always cringed when we said we were going to teach about the restoration of the church.  But that is how we ended up teaching the lesson.  I feel ten times better now because when we teach lesson one, we are really teaching about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We testify more of the Savior and how we can follow his example. =)

We passed by a contact that we had this week.

 It´s funny because I didn´t think that much would happen, but it turns out that the husband of the woman we contacted was reading the BOM the night before we came to visit them.  He is somewhere in 2nd Nephi I think. We were so excited. 

Also, the spirit was really strong as I learned from the Hermana Solis how to teach lesson one in a way that applied to the investigators. 

 At first I thought we were missing out on things that we really had to say and then she told me something.  If it doesnt help them move towards repentance, you dont need to say it.  I thought that was awesome.  The spirit was so strong. And he said he will be baptized when he knows that the prophets really are called of God. I was pretty bummed because I didnt see our new investigator on sunday, but when we passed by his house later that day, he told us how he went to the stake center in Palmeras and how he will be seeing general conference next week. =)   I know his faith is being strengthened and I am so excited for him! 

Another crazy thing happened that I would love to share.

And really miracles happen ever day but I just recently started recording them in my journal.  I didnt realize how much doing that helps you be grateful.  No wonder the prophets have told us to keep one.

Anyway, this one day had been another day where appointment after appointment fell through and we weren´t sure why nobody we contacted didnt want to hear a little bit about Jesus Christ.  Well, we were walking down the street where there were these 3 kids playing with a jump rope. My companion is awesome and asked if we could jump in. It was pretty fun, Im not going to lie.  

We were just playing jump rope with the kids for a while when one of their moms came over and said hi and we introduced ourselves.  We asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ with her. She said sure and was super friendly.  We found out later that her mom and sisters are mormon but that they live in a different city. She told us how different they were now.. how they dont drink, how they treat eachother differently, they have a relationship etc. 

 She flat out said she could feel a different Spirit of peace when we talked to her. We explained the Holy Spirit and how to pray and that in about twenty minutes we were going to go to a meeting for women all across the world where the prophet was going to speak.  We asked if she wanted to come and she asked if she could bring her kids.  We said sure! and we all hopped in a taxi to go to the stake center.  It was really cool to see how the prophets begain to testify of the same things we had just talked to her about.  About how through Christ we find peace, and how we need to pray sincerely. She had also told us about one of her rebelious sons who was 16 and doesnt live with her and it was awesome to see how in this conference for the Relief Society, they talked about how the best way to help their kids is with the gospel.  I was so grateful to God that we were able to teach someone and really help.  We´ve met her since then and she is praying and finding more peace in her life. She is also excited to read the words of the prophets from ancient america in the Book of Mormon. 

Another thing that happened yesterday is that there were these kids that looked like they were about 7 years old. 

 All of them were screaming and one of them was choking another one.  We ran over and I told them to listen to me.  They started accusing one another of how someone threw his shoe in a bush and bunch of other ridiculous stuff.  I told them the two boys that they both needed to say sorry.  I promised them that they would feel better if they just said sorry. 

 The little girls were so cute they just kept nodding their heads in agreement.  I asked if they could both just do that.  One of them said ya.. and the other after said.. ya. 

My companion pulled out stickers with happy faces. Then they got really excited and they both said sorry immediately.  It was so cute seeing the expressions in their faces change.  I dont know why but everyone here puts happy face stickers on their foreheads so we did that for all the kids and afterwards the two boys gave eachother a really big hug! It was so sweet. Especially when the littlest girl who looked actually like she was about 3 or 4 ran over and gave them both a hug too. 

 When we left they were all smiling and super happy. 

I hadnt thought that anyone saw, but later my companion told me there had been a man on the other side of the lawn who was watching all of it. He smiled and waved to her when we left and then when I looked back, he had a huge smile on his face too.

I have this little game I play with myself while we are walking on the street. We see how many people we can make smile as we smile at them and say Buenos Dias! o Buenas Tardes! etc. Its really fun and always rewarding to see someone else smile.

Love you all and I am so grateful for all of your letters!

Keep being strong. Christ lives and directs his church, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ really is what brings lasting peace and happiness.

- Hermana Bendixen

Hola!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was great.  We really learned a lot about how to help our investigators.  Our president called my companion and I in to train us one on one. He told the elders that if we werent home that they should go out and find us.  Ive now heard it from at least 3 different people that he thinks we are the companionship with the most potential.  Everything that our president told us was super helpful.  He was telling us how with this wave of new sisters, there wasnt anyone to train them and so that its not that we arent working hard enough or are not obedient.  We really just dont have the tactics, techniques, or skills.  We just havnt been trained in the field.  

I also learned a lesson in how important it is to be positive.

Not that I havent learned that before.  Its just sometimes we have to relearn those lessons over and over again.  Sometimes it take a while.  It really starts right with yourself.  No one can change your atitude but you.  You have to be the one that kills that negative thought at the get go.  I have started this habit of saying, "Well.. at least we arent in Antartica" when ever we are freezing. Or whenever someone doesnt want to see you anymore or when they arent progressing we just have to say, "Well great, now there are two more other lessons we can teach to two other people who God has prepared!."  

There is a wonderful sister here who spent the night with us because we are close to the the airport and she was sending her companion back home in the morning. Her name is Hermana Daisy Chambi.  She is the epitome of exactly who I want to be.  She is always turning outward and always happy.  She gave us a ton of advice.  I wish everyone in the world could meet her.  

We are going to go forth with a new mindset and although we always believed we could do what we were called to do (help others to come to Christ)  we are now seeing what we can change to be better instead of being a little bit sad because we cant see a way out.  It really starts with you. Isnt that great?  We have the choice to change.

Love Always,

Hermana Bendixen

Dear Family and Friends

I`m so sorry that I haven`t written for about a month.  I am well.  I almost just started typing in Spanish. haha!  

In this new area I am learning a lot.  We had two more baptisms in the same family and they are preparing to be sealed in the temple.

Something that is really sad is that our area is split and its breaking our hearts because we just love everyone so much, but with the elders and us splitting the area instead of sharing it, we can spend more time teaching people instead of rushing to lessons.  I know that these changes really are inspired and Im just waiting to see the miracles that are going to come because of faith and obedience.

Okay funny story.  The other day, my companion was talking with the bishop, and he asked her where were her tights.  A lot of people here ask us that because it`s cold outside and they expect us to be wearing more on our legs.  The thing is that in spanish tights are called panties.  So it sounded like the bishop was asking "Where are your panties?"  Her face turned bright red and she was like.. " Como??????????" Hhaha.. We had a good laugh about it later.

When I try to start telling you all about investigators its ridiculous.  A million thoughts swarm into my mind.  Different emotions too.  Im super happy for some people but then really discouraged about other people.  There are tons of people who feel the spirit and know that they should be baptized, and everything makes sense to them, and then on Sunday they dont show up or we find them going to buy something as we are walking to their house to pick them up.  I think I just really need to learn patience.  The thing though is that missionary work is something urgent.  No one knows when the Savior is coming but we do know that these are the last days and the field is white already to harvest.  

A lot of the problems come too with people who just dont want to quit or find another job because it interferes with Sunday worship.  If there is one thing I´ve gained a testimony of on the mission, it is the sabbath day and families. It is blatantly obvious that the families that are the happiest are those who are living the gospel.  

I love the scriptures in 2nd Nefi 9, 49 through 51 where it says that the gospel is free and it gives life eternal.  Money doesnt satisfy, and it can only buy the temporal. I love Nefis psalm too where he talks about how he puts his confidence in God, because God never lets you down.  

Really, when you side with God, you will always win.  

This week I had a rough spot.  We went back to the house to check and see if someone had called us back.  I sat at the desk and did not want to leave again.  It was then that I looked at a quote on the desk by Elder Holland.  I got it from my old companion. 

 It says something like this:

 " Dont you quit. You keep on walking.  Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some dont come until heaven.  But for those that embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."  I know my companion didnt want to leave again either.  And miracles happen.  We got up again, and we left the house. We followed through on our part, and even though all of our other appointments fell through, God blessed us with 4 lessons that day with other people.

I hope you are all well.  I pray for you all, all of the time!

=)  Smile.  The gospel is true.

Love, always,

Hermana Bendixen

Leaving San Diego

This week has been absolutely incredible. 
I honestly dont know how everything happened but I know that God was with us. Both of us tried so hard. Our numbers were amazing this week. We had 32 lessons.  We fasted, we prayed, we were absorbed in the people. We had a baptism even though it seemed like all the odds in the world were against us. Our investigator was robbed and beaten up. She couldnt leave her house beause she lost her glasses and she didnt want to be baptized because her family decided to leave  town. We ran into several gangs on accident. Someone told the young men that they couldnt go with us to appointments but after talking with the bishop that changed. Satan works like crazy, but God is stronger. We saw a million miracles this week. Last week we didnt see many of our investigators come to church but this week there were 6. We were protected from what seemed like hundreds of people. 

Just now when we were told that I was going to leave, we started to sob. How crazy. How crazy how in one week everything... every single thing can change. 

I wont know what city Im going to until tomorrow at transfers.  Right now all I know is that I have to pack up again and go where the Lord calls me to go.

I have met so many wonderful ´people here.  I cant believe Im leaving it all.

But I know that there are people who need me somewhere else and that another missionary will come here and be able to help the people here better than I could.

Love Always,

Hermana Bendixen

PorFin!

Dear Family and Friends,

I began to wonder if I would ever see a baptism in Peru.  If I ever would see someone really have the testimony and the conversion strong enough to change.  

"Fernando", a 13 year old boy passed the test. =)  We had been teaching him for about a month and his mom was really excited for him but rarely would sit in the lessons.  One time just came up and interrupted us and said.. "Every time you come in my house I feel something different, a peace, a love, its inexplicable." She went on and on, and I was so excited and happy that she had recognized something so vital,so important.. the Holy Spirit.  I had the hugest smile on my face and I asked her "Do you know what that is?" She said what? And I got to explain.  She is great.  However, the time came as it does with all people under the age of 18 to get a signature from the parents that he could be baptized.  It really is crazy. 

 I have met so many youth here who want to be baptized but are waiting until they are 18 because their parents wont let them be baptized, and they are strong.  They still come to church, they read their scriptures, and they pray always.  I seriously am so impressed.

But that was tangent. Sorry.

When it came time for the mom to sign the permission slip of "Fernando"she wouldnt sign.  She was so excited for him before asking what it would be like and all sorts of things, and but when we asked for a signature, we were outside of house talking with her for half an hour.  It was crazy.  We decided to come back later that evening after she had talked with her husband.  Unfortunately Fernando had not been very nice to his mom when she mentioned that he should probablly go to church for a few more months before being baptized and he reacted poorly and so his moms feelings were hurt.  I honestly dont know how she eventually signed, but she did, and she told us at first she was scared, but after thinking about it some more she felt a peace.

Fernando was baptized this Saturday and confirmed in church.  He told me he felt like his feet werent touching the floor when he was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He is so great.  He told us thank you over and over and how he felt so much joy.  His mom wants us to baptize her son.. but her son only is 6 years old.  His brother came up to us later and wants us to talk to him about the gospel. Fernando really wants everyone to be baptized in his family, and I can see how the gospel is already helping them be more unified and is filling their home with more love.

One day one of our appointments fell through and Martin told us that we should  stop by the house of "Claudia."  She is about 75 years old and cant come to church because she is very very sick.  I got to hear her testimony though and it brought me to tears.  I thought Id share her story with you.  Martin is a teenager who was baptized 3 years ago and likes to go to appointments with the missionaries often.  He passed by her house with the missionaries 2 years ago and all three of the young men felt like they should knock on her door.  Claudia told us how this day she decided she would change and do what God wanted and that is when the missionaries knocked on the door.  With time she came to have a testimony of the gospel and wanted to be baptized.  One of the elders told her that she couldnt be baptized because she has basically a hole in her body, a permanent wound with a bandage that cant get wet, so even when she bathes she is very careful to cover her bandage with a towel. She looked at him and said "Oh what little faith you have... I am the one who is sick, and you are healthy, and still I have faith.  I will be baptized."  The Elders were scared to baptize her, but she decided to be baptized anyway and told the Elder, and YOU will baptize me.  That day of her baptism she went into the font with nothing but her white baptizmal clothing and her bandage beneath.  She was baptized, and after she was buried in water and rose again clean and went to change, she inspected her bandage.  Her daughter looked at her in astonishment and said.. "How come your bandage isnt wet?? How is it possible?! Tell me!  Why isnt your bandage wet?" And you know what she said?  "Because Jesus had his hand right here over my bandage."  

Really it was a miracle. 

I feel so blessed to be able to be in Peru with people who have so much faith.  Its incredible.  What boggles my mind still is how her son and daughter arent members, are strict catholics and refuse to let the grandaughter of Claudia be baptized.  Her time will come.  I know.  Im hoping that little by little her mom and dad will want to talk to us.  Luckily, the next day I got to talk to her dad, in Engilsh.  He didnt talk to the missionaries before, but he said something about being in Iraq for some kind of security job and then I found out he spoke English and we had a pretty good conversation. I love that when that happens... when someone doesnt really want to talk to the missionaries, but they because you are different and understand a different part of life that they understand also, then they want to talk and then they realize that the gospel really isnt just for a couple of people living in San Diego, Lima, Peru.  Its for everyone in all parts of the world.  Its really beautiful.

I know with all my heart that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true.  I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that through him the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored.  It is beautiful how it is going forth to all the world.  When my Dad was serving here in Peru there was only one stake.  Now there are 100. I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

  Pray Always.  Read your scriptures. Go to church.

Love,

Hermana Julia Chanel Bendixen

The work moves forth.

Dear Family and Friends,

Did you see the ¨"Special Broadcast: The Work of Salvation?"

I cant tell you how excited I am.  I teared up when they showed the MTC.  I just want to tell you all that I know this is the work of the Lord.  If you havent watched it, you should. I hope all of you

Some of you know I was transfered from Chancay to San Diego, Pro Lima.  I have been here two weeks with a new companion.  She is from Guatemala.  My Spanish really was put to a test.  Thankfully we can communicate.  =)  Its funny.  You never really know how much you know until its tested.  We are very different but she is sweet.  

My first couple of days I was really worried.  When we moved into our apartment there was a hole above the kitchen roof and we spent the whole day sweeping and cleaning our apartment out.  We didnt have hot water either, but I thought this was normal so we were both showering in cold water.  Let me tell you, showering in cold water is an exercize of the lungs.  I  literally jumped for joy when the elders came by later and surprised us with a water heater and blankets. haha Yep, we didnt have blankets or a phone either.  But its because this is a new area and missionaries had never lived in that apartment before.  

The ward here is really strong and the people here are constantly giving references and helping us visit people.  It has made all the difference.  My companion and I are opening up an area for the sisters.  And usually this is really difficult, but with the help of the members, we were able to find an investigator now who wants to be baptized on the 20th of July and our agendas are full.  I know the reason the work here is progressing is because the ward members are helping the missionaries.

If ever you doubt your impact in missionary work, just remember that your purpose is the same as ours.  To come unto Christ, and to help others on their way. 

This week I was reading in the Book of Mormon (As usual lol)  and I came across a prophecy that I had read at least 6 times before but it really had a huge impact on me this time. I think because it directly applied to what I was doing.  I was reading in 2nd Nephi, 3:19 through 22.  It says:

 19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the ^afruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them^bfrom the dust; for I know their faith. 20 And they shall ^acry from the ^bdust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words. 21 Because of their faith their ^awords shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.a  A couple of things caught my eye.  For members of the church, its common knowledge that the Book of Mormon is a record that was written by prophets anciently in the Americas who were descendants of the house of Israel and that it is another testmanet of Jesus Christ.  We know that these people in the Book of Mormon were a branch of Israel and that some of these descendants today live in America.  This scripture is talking about how the gospel will go forth in its fullness through the Book of Mormon (and how the descendants of Israel will accept it.)  I had always had a general knowledge of this so I read past this quickly, but now I am here, and I can see with my own eyes the faith of the people here.  And I can especially see how the gospel is going forth through the Book of Mormon and my small knowledge of Spanish words to my brothers and sisters here in Peru.

Love you all,

be strong.

Hermana Bendixen

hey you wonderful people!! =D

I hope you know I miss you all like crazy!

 Here are the pictures. =)  

Con Amor,

 Hermana Bendixen

The People in Peru

Dear Family and Friends,

Where to begin...

... I keep wondering how I´m going to write about these people that we teach.. what names I will use in place of their real names...

As Im here thinking about what to say, my mind keeps running over the members.. the incredible amount of members that we want to strengthen, but who wont even keep simple commitments like reading their scriptures.  

There is definitely a mescla of emotions.  I just want to see their faith grow so badly, but there really is no progression without action.  Everytime someone actually realizes we are serious, and then they keep a commitment, I am so happy!

I think of the baptisms that the Elders have had.  Its so hard not to compare. I think sometimes the only reason us sisters are up here is to be an example.  Our mission presidents wife told us that this branch needed us if only for our example.  

Last week the teacher didnt show up to teach relief society, so my companion ended up teaching.  The lesson was on charity and then we were about to talk about how we could improve as sisters in the relief society in charity one towards another, but I felt like I really had to say that we shouldnt judge.  I through in my two cents about how it is impossible to have charity towards others if we begin judging them first.  Well, we began with another person talking about how we could do nice things like sending text messages or tagging them in photos on facebook or something like that and then this other lady jumped in about all the things the relief society president should be doing, and then basically then there was chaos and everyone was talking and pointing fingers.. and all i could think was.. no wonder people dont want to go to church if everyone hear is lacking the point of relief society.  

The theme of relief society is Charity never faileth.

What on earth was happening....

My companion pretty much had to yell.. no she didnt yell.. but she talked VERY loudly and said

THIS IS NOT CHARITY

Thankfully and miraculously the spirit was brought back as she bore testimony of the golden rule in Mathew 7 and slowly everyone was humbled again.

One of the other things that has been really hard about this week is that nearly every single one of our appointments fell through.  Even the people who dont even leave their house because they watch t.v. all day.  These people who would probably stay in their house if it were on fire..were not home.  None of our investigators came to church this week.  But the good thing is that because of this we really were able to work on contacting people.  

When I thought of missionary work before I always thought about knocking on doors, but that has been about 1 one thousandth of my mission.  Let me just say that is really cool seeing how you can tell how when you start explaining something and someone is really bored, but then you touch upon something that answers a question to their soul.  There was this one girl who was talking to us about how both of her brothers had died.  She thought they were lost, but we were able to tell her about the resurrection and the spirit world and how there really was life after death and that she could see them again.  

I think the coolest part though is when you are bearing testimony of something or just basically reading doctrine, and the spirit just comes, because the spirit will always testify of truth.  You can see how someone begins to understand as opposed to looking at you with a blank face.

Im reminded of these two investigators..  A man and his son.  They seemed so intrigued by the fact that yes, there is one God, one faith, and one baptism.  

Im also reminded of this other mother.  At first she only wanted to talk to us because we were Gringas.  But then we bore testimony of the book of Mormon.  She felt that it was true, how God loved all his children and wanted to bless the people in the Americas with his gospel as well as in the  old world.  How it truly does testify of Christ.

Im reminded of this couple.  They told us they never let people in there house, but for some reason, they let us in.  They learned about everything, they really began to understand faith in their lives, they are growing closer to God and their prayers are becoming more personal.  They are now trying to get married so that they can one day go to the temple and be sealed for eternity.

Im reminded of this old woman who lives in shack in a wheelchair.  Her neighbor is a boy of 14 years old whose family is abusive and whose mother  father and older brother are alcoholics.  He was recently baptized and he wheels this sister to church.  

There faith always strengthens mine and brings me to tears. 

Im reminded of another recent convert.  She is a little bit richer.  Not not rich, but she is not living in a shack made of cardboard and a dirt floor.  One day when we were teaching her she was feeling depressed.. we took her to this other shack of the sister in the wheelchair.  Now she will occasionaly bring over food and she is happy.  She literally has grown so much in these few months in her testimony.  She is second counselor in the relief soceity and is scared because she doesnt know much, but everyone in this ward is a convert.

Her son knows the church is true, but is living with his girlfriend.  They are ages 17 and 19.  One day we were talking about prophets. We told the story of Naman and how he had to wash in the river seven times.  Without us saying anything he opened up his mouth and pointed out how at first he didnt have faith.  It looked like a lightbulb had turned on in his mind.  When we talked about how prophets ask us to do little things sometimes that dont make sense to us but we need to have faith it is like it all clicked.  We hadnt taught anything else but the story, and then his mother started talking about how she didnt like his earing in his ear.  We hadnts said anything.  His mom didnt even know the standards of the church, but then he asked us.  What does the prophet say about earings.  We said that girls can have a pair but how guys shouldnt.  He looked at us for one second.  And turned his head to the side and took out his earing. 

I was in shock, but SO SO HAPPY.

I wish I could just cart him around to everyone I knew ever and say LOOK 

LOOK AT HIS FAITH!

and then.

after.

after he had taken out his earing, he asked us why.

We explained about how are bodies are temples and that we try to be modest in appearance, but really. Its like he already understood the principle.  Yes are bodies are temples and we should take care of them.  Yes, there are temporal earthly blessings and also eternal blessings for doing what is right and following the prophet.  But faith.

His faith grew.

Well I have a lot more to say about this kid, but it will have to wait for next time.

Love Always,

Hermana Julia Chanel Bendixen

Today I officially have three months in the mission

Dear Family and Friends,

Today I officially have three months in the mission.

How crazy.

Chancay is as beautiful as ever.  The humidity has made my skin a lot smoother and the sun, a lot tanner, so I hardly use makeup now.  I finally got a watch.  It broke.  Im going to go buy another one today. Here are some things Ive gotten used to...

 

 In Peru you greet everyone with a kiss on the side of their cheek.  As missionaries we can only greet sisters this way, but not men.  Several times when you hold out your hand to a man, he will grab it and lean in to the side of your face, but then when I say )Oh, sorry only like this) and shake their hand and explain why, they get super embarassed.  I always feel a little bad but I laugh a little bit at the same time on the inside because then they wont even look at you.

I wish I could describe how Chancay sounds.  I love the way the members call us )Hermanitas.)..or little sisters.  Sometimes on the streets people will call out to us )Elderes!)  We wave because they just have never seen )Hermanas) before.  They just recognize that we are in a pair and are wearing the same kind of plaque.

Every now and then they have a funeral procession in the streets.  They walk the body through the streets in their casket to the grave site on a hill just within city limits.  The music that the band plays in the streets though is always a little bit happy.  

At the market there is always a lady that calls out )Juevitos!)  Her voice is extremely nasally, and I always smile when I hear her.  Im not sure what kind of eggs she sells but they are tiny. I think I will miss her in Chancay.  

Then there is this boy ..Christian. He is mentally disabled and he isnt a member but everyone knows who he is.  The stores that line the street hand him fliers and he passes them out.  Sometimes he will kiss your hand and ask for money.  He is someone else Im going to miss.  

Every morning at like 3 a.m. we wake up to roosters.  For the record, they dont sound very pretty.  I should send you a picture.  They are right across from our house on the roof of the house of our neighbor.

The other day I woke up and we opened the doors for some fresh air.  It smelled like fish.  It was so strong.  My companion kept asking why it smelt like that.  I didnt know what to say.  Finally I told her.  )I think I know why it smells like fish.......Im so sorry!!!)   I explained how the night before I had drained a can of tuna in the sink outside.  But I had no idea it would smell that bad in the morning. Haha.  Well thankfully the President of the Rama explained.  He said )Ahh smells like money).  We were confused.. )money?)  Yes.  He told us how it smelt like fish because the factory was working to can  and process all the fish they had.  The majority of people in Chancay are either fisherman or work at the fish factory so it meant that everyone would be getting paid.   haha.=)

Recently, Chancay and Peravillo, two different cities, were combined for one ward.  Together in these two areas we have 1,000 inactive members.  Really our work here right now is just trying to strengthen this ward.  There are people who have testimonies and then get baptized but then when they dont have the support of visiting teachers or even teachers for classes, they go inactive.  Its really sad.  The last president of the Rama right now is inactive.  There is a huge lack of Priesthood holders.  Im super excited though because now that these two ward are combined we have enough people to lead each class in church and for leaders to have counselors too!

I got a new companion two weeks ago.  Sister Moody.  She is awesome. She has 7 months in the mission now.  She can at least communicate with the people really well and understand basically everything but hergas... er slang..  Yes, she is white like my first companion.  Because of this we again get a lot of attention.  Her hair is blonde and her eyes are blue.  One day we took a tally of how many people cat called or said something else creepy to us.  We counted 24. One day the elders were walking with us back from a service activity.  One guy practically did a 180 when we walked by. They told us it looked like he was going to eat me.  I know this sounds ridiculous but honestly this is probablly one of my biggest trials in Peru.

I guess its nice that people think you are pretty, but it doesnt help my self esteem. I really just feel like a piece of meat.

 The good thing is that Hermana Moody and I both want to work really hard to help this area. 

 

Unfortunately there was an elder that everyone knows, but in name only.  He baptized 86 people on his mission and 22 of them were in Chancay.  All but two are inactive.  He never taugh the commandments.  He only taught that people needed to get baptized.  I know people have been saying this my whole life but if any future missionaries out there are reading this, DONT DO THAT.  Please.  And dont be the companion that lets your companion do that.  I cant tell you how difficult it is trying to figure out where everyone lives. Its practically impossible. The work here really is finding these people who got baptized and then never even went to church. Sometimes I wonder if I will never see someone hear about the gospel for the first time and be baptized because I will be working so much with inactives and strengthening the ward and teaching them how to strengthen eachother.  

Anyway, Im learning a lot from Hermana Moody.  I am only her second companion.  This is supposedly going to be really common though.  Because there are so many new sisters who are going to be coming in, Ive been told by multiple people that as soon as Im done being trained, I will be training.  Im nervous but I know it will really help me burst out of my bubble. I want to do my best because I know I will never get an opportunity like this again.  Today I put a scripture on my agenda so that I would always remember it.  It says Perfect love casteth out fear.  Whenever Im scared to talk about someone about the gospel, I can just remember that I dont have to be scared, because I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed about in what Im sharing, and if I really care about people and love them the way God commanded us to, I would share what I know brings so much happiness.  Something else I learned is that if you cease to act, you will destroy faith.  I dont want that to happen.  Often I am reminded of the song )Armies of Helaman.)  I love how we can sing ) We are Now the Lords Missionaries) It reminds me that now is the time to act.  But really, it is always the time to act.  We will never learn, we will never grow, we can never change for the better if we dont act in faith.

Also, its time for me to step up and open up my heart and share my experiences.  I realize that when I dont open up, the investigator doesnt really understand how much the gospel has influenced my life.  Too often I think that they dont want to hear a life story, but when they hear it and can truly understand how the gospel has changed me, they can see how the gospel can help them too.

I am always inspired by some of the strongest members here.  I ran out of time, but I promise that next email, I will write some more about the investigators and members.  These people have become my world.  I sometimes feel like I just have to set the stage so everyone understands what its like down here.

Let me just say that I know that God is a God of miracles.  They happen every day.

Love Always,

Hermana Bendixen

One Month

Dear Family and Friends,

These past two weeks have been filled with a ton of great experiences.  Sorry for not writing last week.  

Last week there was this conference for the Central, West, and East Lima, Peru Missions, and Elder Christensen came and spoke to us.  My companion was called on the phone and asked to sing in the choir.  Of about 20 people.  My companion told me that I should sing too.  I was confused because I thought you couldn't sing unless you were specificaly asked to.  When talking about this with my companion, an Elder looked at me and was like.. Why wouldn't they want you to sing?  You're like the Brittany Spears of Peru.  That made me laugh. But then I was thinking.. hmm... is that a good thing?  She doesn't exactly have the best moral reputation. haha.  Anyway, when I went with my companion in to the choir practice in Lima and then the Choir director asked if I could sing with them. So everything worked out. =)

Recently we also had a Noche de Talentos.  It's really difficult getting the members to arrive to activities on time but it's so fun watching everyone once they arrive.  

Oh! Two days ago something really crazy happened.  Our moto tipped over because our driver accidentally ran over a cement block.  I tried not to fall on my companion so when it started to tip I immediately grabbed onto the side where the door was open and when it had tipped over I was holding myself up.  My companion was fine too, but unfortunately she had falled on top of the water jugs we had just bought. I climbed through the open door and then proceeded to help tip the moto upright again with her inside.  When she had finally crawled out we inspected the moto.  The door on her side had snapped off.  We felt bad for the Moto driver.  He was so worried.  We just paid him and he helped us carry the jugs of water to our house which was just down the street and told him not to worry.  

The longer I'm here in Peru the more I'm astonished by how giving their culture is.  I attached a picture of a restaurant we went to.  I just started laughing when they put our plates in front of us.  These plates were huge and there was a mountain of food on each of ours.  Thankfully we were not at a members house so we didn't have to finish it.  

Whenever we eat at a member's house they expect you to finish all of the food on your plate and ask for seconds.  We usually don't end up eating hardly anything for breakfast or for dinner because lunch is huge.

  One day we went to a less active family's house to help their children (twins)  with their English homework, and to share a spiritual thought.  We taught them again how to pray.  It broke my heart. We were explaining how your prayers could be personal and didn't have to be a memorized thing and that they were really talking to their literal Father of their Spirits.  We  told them how you could say things like, thank you for the food and for our family etc.  My companion asked them if they had food and if they gave thanks when they did.  They both were really confused and said they didn't have food every day.  She told them to give thanks at least when they did have food and that if they wanted they could also ask God to help them with their English test at school.  We were about to leave and then their mom and sister told us to stay for lunch.  We tried to explain to her multiple times how we already had lunch at someone else's house.  It was ridiculous how much she insisted.  I've never felt more guilty in my life.  She put down a delicious plate of food with saucy rice and potatoes and chicken with a side of salad.  You could see where she had torn off a little bit of our large pieces and given it to the kids.  The mom and sister didn't have any chicken on their plates.  They covered their rice with the salad and sauce.  We didn't want to insult them so we finished the food on our plates but refused seconds.  She put a few more slices of potato on our plates anyway.  Then she pulled out this sweet desert.  I can't remmeber the name of it but it apparently took hours to make.  They crushed up corn and sugar and other stuff I think and wrapped it in a corn husk.  It was delicious but they only gave it to me and my companion.  I think I must have told her a hundred times thank you and that everything was delicious.  They really take that as a huge compliment.  It really amazes me how giving people are when they have nothing.

We left to go to our next lunch appointment not sure what we were going to say.  We just didn't say anything about the last lunch and tried to eat another plate of food.   I didn't eat anything until lunch time the next day.

In one of the pictures I attached is a granadilla.  This is the coolest fruit. You crack it open and suck out the insides.  Haha.  The first time I saw it I was worried, but I tried it and it tasted delicious, even if the texture is a little bit weird. haha.  The other pictures of the ocean were taken off the road  from lima to chancay.  It's super dangerous.  There is about 3 feet of dirt and then a cliff of about 50 feet that just drops.  But the view is amazing!  

The picture with the grate is of a well at the castillo or kind of a castle or mansion that was built in the 1800s?  Anyway, An Elder was leaning over this well and his nametag fell down.  We took off our shoe laces and tied them together and on one end tied my nametag because I was the only other one with a magnetic kind.  We fished for it and eventually got it.  It was super fun!  A bunch of people gathered around to see if we would be able to get it.  The first time that the magnets attached and the Elder was pulling up his name tag, it hit the grate and fell down again and all of us were like (OOOHHH!!!!) and then when he finally got it through the second time everyone was clapping. haha!  It{s funny but that really was the most exciting thing that I think happened since I had been in Chancay. lol

There are so many things I want to write about.  I guess it'll have to wait till next week.  Love you all.  

Hermana Julia Chanel Bendixen