A beautiful week. =)

Dear Family and Friends,

This week, Jose was baptized. I am so happy that he was baptized! He was so happy! His family was so happy too! (Even if it doesnt seem like it in the photos I have. haha.) My companion played the piano and I sang. My companion is a great pianist! Jose was so eager to do everything perfectly. I love his attitude. He really is someone who had a change of heart and who is turning his whole life around. Jose was also confirmed on Sunday.
My companion and I are both so excited to see the work grow in our area. We are seeing so many miracles. I still don´t think I have exactly grasped the idea yet or that it has hit me.. or what is that phrase in English that we use to say that we haven´t actually believed what has happened? this week. But, I remember yesterday that we were walking to church and I was thinking... No one came with us today to church. I was about to feel a little bad as I started to think about what I possibly could be doing wrong. I realized that I had been being exactly obedient, and then I remembered our zone meeting where our zone leaders told us not to be desanimado. They taught us that was the opposite of faith and that being disheartened is not going to help ANYTHING. I started saying out loud ¨I am not going to be upset¨¨Voy a ser feliz,¨ until I was smiling. When we entered the church, a boy met us. We had been teaching his less active mother and he told us that she says Hi, and wants to know when we were going to visit her. We had just stopped visiting her that week because she wasn´t progressing. I remembered explaining that God won´t forget her and that we would be able to find people who are ready to live the gospel. It was really hard to explain this to him, but I knew that we were doing the right thing. At the end of sacrament meeting, we found out that 6 or our investigators came to church. One of them was the mother of Irma, someone who recently came back to church and now is active. At the end of our gospel principles class, Irma came up to us with her mom and said, ¨My mom has a question. She wants to know how she can be baptized.¨ I think my companion and I were in so much shock that we hardly said anything. We got an appointment the to teach her that same night. Now, Irma´s mom is going to be baptized on the first of June. =) God is so good. We arent perfect. We just have to be obedient. I know He loves us, and this is His work, and if we do it His way, we will see miracles.
I love you all.
Keep praying, because God hears you.
And he cares, too.

Love,
Hermana Bendixen

Oh, the picture of the showerhead was an accident. haha. But, this I took a picture of it because it broke, and that is how we fixed it. =)

Life in Gamarra

Dear Family and Friends,

We had transfers this week. I continue here with my companion, Hermana Gomez. I am excited because I think we are improving a lot together. We have a baptism this Thursday. I am so excited. He is such a great person.

Last night we visited Gregoria and Victor. Surprise, surprise, they are not married. But, we know that they will progress because they are so kind and Victor is a less active member and Gregoria is Evangelical, but the nicest one I´ve met. She reads the Book of Mormon, and when she accepted a day to be baptized she was super excited because she knew that it was a blessing from God that she met Victor, and she believes that knowing that the Priesthood authority is on the earth also is a blessing. She wants a valid baptism, and is humble, and wants to do what is right. They both have been through hard things, and Victor is going through a divorce and I know that when they repent, they will be so happy together.

Yesterday in Church, 11 of the less actives that the Elders were teaching came to church. I feel so priveleged to be in their same ward.

I cant really think of a whole lot of other news.

Love always,
Hermana Bendixen

Easter in Peru

Dear Family and Friends,

Not surprisingly Easter isnt nearly celebrated as much as it is in the U.S. Im not even sure we celebrate it that much in the U.S. To me it is my second favorite Holiday and I am very excited to make it very celebrated in my home. =) Someday.

I am astonished by the lack of Hymns we have for Easter, but I am determined to compose at least one more before I the end of my life. If I am not mistaken, we only have two.. neither of which we sang in church. haha.

The nice thing though is that all the families are together during this time because there are three days where everyone doesnt work. I forgot what that was called in English. haha. We thought we would be able to meet a lot more families and share the good news of the gospel, but it turns out that the majority of them left on vacation. lol Well, we live and learn.

I am learning every day to be grateful for what God has done. Sometimes we work so hard only to find out that God is working for the same cause but in another way. We just always have to seek his will so that we can work with Him.

I saw this video that I absolutely loved, and I am sure all of you facebookers have already seen this about a bajillion times but I just would like to do a little repost for all of you who have yet to discover facebook. =)

It really captures I think the essence of the atonement.

I love you and I hope that we can always remember what the Savior did for us. He is our King and our Redeemer.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-00-1420-because-of-him?category=topics/easter&lang=eng


Love, Hermana Bendixen

Another week in Peru :)

This week Jimmy was baptized! He is a policeman, firefighter, trained in S.W.A.T. and a lot of other things. He is awesome. :)
He is a great example for many of his friends.
Here are some photos. The first is of when he just was baptized. The missionary who baptized him is Elder Bulacio. He is from Argentina like his companion, Elder Maldonado and like my companion, Sister Gomez.
Love you all, and have a great week!