September 25, 2007 Letter

We just had 8 whole baptisms this past Sunday, and wow it was amazing! There was a whole family of three girls and a boy, and a couple we just barely married last week. Precious! And two other investigators. They were baptised after the 3hr church block and confirmed members of the church. The Spirit was strong, everyone was so happy! Even more awesomely, Our Pres. of the Mission, Pres. Bair, came and baptised all of them! AND even morely awesome is that Elder Mask and his wife of the 70, the Pres of the entire Carribean, presided over our church meeting. He gave a fantastic talk and stayed to see the baptisimal service right after. He speaks really good Spanish. His grampa is the guy who wrote Himno 88 (Spanish), there´s a really neat story behind it too... maybe it´s on wikipedia.com... doubt it. AND today we had big zone conference with Pres Bair and Pres Mask presiding again. They all gave us great (can I say awesome again?) words of wisdom, and Elder Mask´s was especialy powerful. He spoke twice, cuz we got to get up and stretch, get a bottle of water, a piece of ¨conference bread¨ (yes!!) then we sat down again for more spiritual fulfillment. It´s so good to feel the Spirit so strong again... it´s hard to keep that feeling with you when faced with so many problems. I´m still slow at learning, eventhough I just want to learn so much at one time (there´s not enough time to study in the mornings!) but I have to just do what I can and pray for the Lord to help me... ¨I can do it with the Lord´s help¨ I need to think that more often. Frustrating times come in waves. I feel like I´m not capable of anything, and other times I accomplished something and feel good... but not enough. I need to have confidence in myself and most importantly have more Faith in the Lord to help me. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me!!! I can feel all your support and love every day. :)
So about this point in time I can say I know a great deal of Spanish... still not enough, but I´m being a critic. But no, really, It´s still difficult to have a full conversation with someone...that´s important when we have investigators that need to talk! I want to reach that point where I don´t have to turn to my comp everytime I don´t understand when someone´s talking to me. I listen really carefully...ask them to repeat...still don´t get it. Most aren´t really willing to be patient with me and help me learn... cuz I don´t want to rely on my comp to translate everything. Y´know?? Sometimes it´s funny. They speak so fast, then I ask them to say it slower... they say it fast again, impatiently, and I still dont´get it... I want to hear it again so I can learn, but they give up and it´s just a waste of time. Why am I talking about this... ANyway, scratch all that, I was just venting. So my Spanish is coming. I still can teach a lot in Spanish...my doctrine vocab is pretty good...
Claudia! Thank you for those adorable pics! I also recieved that Spanish book last week, it is so helpful! Vocabulary and pictures, it´s great. I´m very visual so it´s just perfect for me. Woo-hoo! Hugs to the fam too! And the babies!
I´m learning so much out here... SOOO much!! But I just can´t seem to learn enough! I love the Book of Mormon! I can say that now that I´m actually learning more about it. I read in Moses the other day. Wow. About God and how powerful and loving he is. I looved it. I wanted to sit there and read the whole Pearl of Great Price AND the whole Bible all day long. I love deep doctrine. But I gotta stick to the simple stuff for now, until it´s engraven (in silver) into my heart and mind. =) Step by step... *sigh* struggle by struggle...
Today us hermanas were walking to the highway to catch a taxi to the conf. chapel. Out of nowhere I started singing ¨Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters. Never had to have a chapter one, no sir. I oughta keep my eye on her. Caring, sharing, every little thing that we are wearing. When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome: I wore the dress, And I stayed home! All kinds of weather we stick together, the same in the rain and sun. Two different faces but in tight places (?) we think and we act as one. Those who´ve seen us, know that not a thing can come between us. Many men have tried to split us up, but no one can. ;D Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister. And Lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man¨ ... If you know that song, you´ll see how funny it is. Doesn´t it just FIT?? Ha! I was laughing at myself... no one else seemed to think it was that funny... but that´s just me. ;D
Lisa! Hna Taylor, my comp, her home is so close to where you will be living in Vista Dr., Mesa! AND that is close to where Elder Mask lives too! Hna Taylor even made a package to go home cuz E. Mask and his wife were actually gonna visit her parents house! How cool is that? So when you´re down there look for the Taylors in your stake...or was is the other stake... dunno. She even said that she really recognizes your name and thinks you served in her ward!?! This is no coincidence...
Hey Mom, good luck with auditions for King and I! I hope you get the part you wanted. :) Oo! take pics of the house and yard, I´d like to see all the progress that´s been going on, if you´re not sure how to do it, ask someone to help you. Ask and ye shall recieve! Also, you don´t need to worry about rushing your e-mails off to me. It´s more important that you have time to relax and type what you need to, and if it doesn´t get to me right on time, I´d rather wait another week to hear the full story. :) That goes for everyone too. ;D
Marcia! I gave all those dolls away, and they were ADORED! I would love to have some more, big or small dolls, to give to more cute little dominican girls. :) And if you´ve got anything for boys, that´d be good too. Thanks a ton!! I´m trying to get more pics of the kids I already gave them too... in time. I did send one last time. did you see it?...
Okay, now for the good part. Ima gonna send y´all smore pics in the next e-mail, n´kay?? n´kay.
proof reading... k.
Peace out, to all =)
Love,
Hermana Julie Benson