Didn't I just write you guys?
I swear I just wrote you all... I don't even remember what I've saiud lately... Oh yeah, I sent pics, right. Those are words enough.
Little Elizabeth got baptized this last Saturday and Ernesto will tak his turn This coming Saturday... I'll try to get some pics to you next time. Things are really looking up around here. I said that last time didn't I?... well, y'know baptisms just seem to make everything look better. I kind of forgot for a second all of the stuff that wasn't going well and just delight in the fruits of our labors... I thank the Lord every day, every minute, for all that He does, has done, and will do to help us in His work, after all he won't let us down. Even if I may feel like everything is falling (kinda like a couple weeks ago) I just know that everything has it's season. We do everything that we can and the Lord will work everything out in His own time.
did I say that already?...
Well, I seem to be reapeating myself. It's been a long, fast week. ALways so much to do. I have to take a day at a time, do what I can, and allow myself to sleep at night, cuz there's more to do tomorrow. Keeps my brain going... heh, I guess that's how I lived before the mish, as some of you might remember. I just live a day at a time.
We have lately been teaching a number of people who speak English adn are actually... intelligent. I find myself stuttering sometimes because I'm so used to teaching BASIC basic doctrines of the gospel... which even those some don't understand. I've even forgotten details to some lessons that I never end up teaching in the lessons. woah. It feels very nice to talk teach someone who can accept and understand much easier. =)
Thanks for all who wrote. I'll print you out and read it through the week. :D
sorry for the lame e-mail. :P
Peachy,
Hna Julie Benson!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
February 13, 2008 Letter
subject?. . . .
Man, I can't even share a fraction of my experiences, and half the time I never end up conveying the message or feeling I've wanted to. To get even the slightest idea of what's goin' on here I'd have to have some kind of Truman show camera everywhere I go. ... though, that would be kind of akward. But you get the idea. Just wish you could all experience the awesomeness down here. XD
And I'm sorry about all teh dumb random comments in t eh past tha tonly a few # of people would get and laugh at... Having no relation to missionary work at all... Don't worry, I'm totally focused in the work and the people I need to help. Just remember p-day s when I just spill out my brain out onto the keyboard and occasionally there are some random... lumps... ?? wanted or not. bear with me. I'm striving for perfection here... ;)
Um, Happy Birthday to..... EVERYONE!!! I admit by now I've forgotten almost everyone's b-day and I can't keep up to date with all of them. I WANT to though. I love you all, and if I forget your birthday... it means I love you more! (but if I happen to remember and send a note it doesn't mean I love you less..) .... I just dug myself a hole... :P ohwell.
What am I talking about? .don't remember.
Happy Valentines Day tomorrow!! woo-hoo! Dia de amor y amistad. :) Spread the love!
hmm... the honest truth I've been rather ill lately. (don't worry Mom!) Lost energy, tired a lot, mm got a fever one night. I'm just pushing myself too hard. But there's SO much to do! But I'm taking my vitamins, drinking lots of water, trying to eat good, lots of fruit, excercising too. Our awesome Bishop gave me an awesome blessing! So I hope to recover and get working up to par again... well I've been working up to par, but I'm so dizzy and weak by the end of the day so I hope that gets better.
Wow, was that like the first bad news ever?? Don't think much of it then. :)
Something really depressing happened and my brain can't come up with any fun-whitted comments or stories...
Just need to feel better so I can think again! ... it's past 9 months huh?... not sure. i'm not counting. I guess this week full of random crying phases is normal then?.....
peace
Hna J. Benson
-- hopefully a mass of pics next week...? ok. :) thanks for tuning in.
Man, I can't even share a fraction of my experiences, and half the time I never end up conveying the message or feeling I've wanted to. To get even the slightest idea of what's goin' on here I'd have to have some kind of Truman show camera everywhere I go. ... though, that would be kind of akward. But you get the idea. Just wish you could all experience the awesomeness down here. XD
And I'm sorry about all teh dumb random comments in t eh past tha tonly a few # of people would get and laugh at... Having no relation to missionary work at all... Don't worry, I'm totally focused in the work and the people I need to help. Just remember p-day s when I just spill out my brain out onto the keyboard and occasionally there are some random... lumps... ?? wanted or not. bear with me. I'm striving for perfection here... ;)
Um, Happy Birthday to..... EVERYONE!!! I admit by now I've forgotten almost everyone's b-day and I can't keep up to date with all of them. I WANT to though. I love you all, and if I forget your birthday... it means I love you more! (but if I happen to remember and send a note it doesn't mean I love you less..) .... I just dug myself a hole... :P ohwell.
What am I talking about? .don't remember.
Happy Valentines Day tomorrow!! woo-hoo! Dia de amor y amistad. :) Spread the love!
hmm... the honest truth I've been rather ill lately. (don't worry Mom!) Lost energy, tired a lot, mm got a fever one night. I'm just pushing myself too hard. But there's SO much to do! But I'm taking my vitamins, drinking lots of water, trying to eat good, lots of fruit, excercising too. Our awesome Bishop gave me an awesome blessing! So I hope to recover and get working up to par again... well I've been working up to par, but I'm so dizzy and weak by the end of the day so I hope that gets better.
Wow, was that like the first bad news ever?? Don't think much of it then. :)
Something really depressing happened and my brain can't come up with any fun-whitted comments or stories...
Just need to feel better so I can think again! ... it's past 9 months huh?... not sure. i'm not counting. I guess this week full of random crying phases is normal then?.....
peace
Hna J. Benson
-- hopefully a mass of pics next week...? ok. :) thanks for tuning in.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
February 6, 2008 Letter
I pierced my ears!!!
jk....... =) hehe
Sorry, I felt like an idiot when I didn't even mention anything about Pres Hinkley the last time. :P SO much happens around, I even forgot for a second that our dear Prophet passed away. That Monday we were busy with a day full of citas adn knew nothing about it until a member stopped us on the street
and asked if we'd heard teh news... "What news?..." No one had called us at all that day, so if she didn't stop us we would have never known until the Zone meeting the next day where they had mentioned it again. It would have been a bigger surprize. When we found out we just stood in front of an investigators house staring at the locked gate.We sadly held eachother for a moment then slowly walked back to the member's home to sit and the the news sink in... It's hard to be way out here and recieve such ill news....
Well, .. we all know that he's happy beyond descrption. =) And that's comforting enough. We kind of got to watch the funeral conference but missed the end and the funeral part because the satelite was being dumb... because of the sudden rain storm. Oh, well. That's what DVD's are for.
We've got about six, er, five baptisms lined up for these next two weeks. =D Wish me luck with all teh paperwork and stuff... and everything else. I can't do it all alone. We are teaching some great people, but Satan just has his stupid little tactics to bring even the best down. He's actually extremely smart in that respect... but I still hate 'im.
A lot of people here are trying to convince me to get my ears peirced..... ........
Today I ripped a little peice of pornography out of a public car and threw it out in the street. Nobody needed it anyway. :) They driver got all flustered and said, hey, that's private. heh, in a public car?! noway. People don't do that.
A couple nights ago we had a long ways to walk to our next cita, and we would have been late if we walked... so I stopped at the police station and asked for a ride. The were all just standing around, and their huge car wasn't even being used. So.... we were officially escorted to our destination. *smiles proudly*
....can't think of any more stories at this moment. there should be a couple next week though.
Love to all the world and beyond,
Hna Julie Benson
hermanajuliebenson@gmail.com
http://juliesmission.blogspot.com
jk....... =) hehe
Sorry, I felt like an idiot when I didn't even mention anything about Pres Hinkley the last time. :P SO much happens around, I even forgot for a second that our dear Prophet passed away. That Monday we were busy with a day full of citas adn knew nothing about it until a member stopped us on the street
and asked if we'd heard teh news... "What news?..." No one had called us at all that day, so if she didn't stop us we would have never known until the Zone meeting the next day where they had mentioned it again. It would have been a bigger surprize. When we found out we just stood in front of an investigators house staring at the locked gate.We sadly held eachother for a moment then slowly walked back to the member's home to sit and the the news sink in... It's hard to be way out here and recieve such ill news....
Well, .. we all know that he's happy beyond descrption. =) And that's comforting enough. We kind of got to watch the funeral conference but missed the end and the funeral part because the satelite was being dumb... because of the sudden rain storm. Oh, well. That's what DVD's are for.
We've got about six, er, five baptisms lined up for these next two weeks. =D Wish me luck with all teh paperwork and stuff... and everything else. I can't do it all alone. We are teaching some great people, but Satan just has his stupid little tactics to bring even the best down. He's actually extremely smart in that respect... but I still hate 'im.
A lot of people here are trying to convince me to get my ears peirced..... ........
Today I ripped a little peice of pornography out of a public car and threw it out in the street. Nobody needed it anyway. :) They driver got all flustered and said, hey, that's private. heh, in a public car?! noway. People don't do that.
A couple nights ago we had a long ways to walk to our next cita, and we would have been late if we walked... so I stopped at the police station and asked for a ride. The were all just standing around, and their huge car wasn't even being used. So.... we were officially escorted to our destination. *smiles proudly*
....can't think of any more stories at this moment. there should be a couple next week though.
Love to all the world and beyond,
Hna Julie Benson
hermanajuliebenson@gmail.com
http://juliesmission.blogspot
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
January 30, 2008 Letter
Life saver . . .
First of all, Thanx to you ALL for all the family news, baby talk, and good laughs and smiles!! It means the world to hear how the family is doing.
... Well, Thought I'd tell you about a little service I did the other day. One night we were walking home at night, showing a member, Eliza, where our new house was. On the way we passed by a big group of guys sanding around (something) at the corner of some random church. We stopped because there were a couple investigators we knew and chatted with them. I asked what was going on, what everyone was staring at, adn I pushed through the crowd to see a guy sittin' on the curb holding a poorly wrapped hand, with blood all over the place... ?"Oh, ..." I said, "that sucks" Apperantly he got his finger cut off (likely "someone" else did it) and had been drugged up for teh pain. All the people just stood there... I thought, well, isn't anyone gonna do anything about it? but fortunatly some help was on the way. I had happened to have a handful of white Life Saver mints (;D) and handed a couple to Chris (an awesome guy who lived in Florida most his life but can't go back to the states for hte next 3-4 years for...legal reasons, but begged us for a book of Mormon in English and loves the meetings at church. He's determined to come every Sunday, as long as he doesn't work. He has a good heart. =) But anyway, I pushed through the crowd again with a Life Saver intended for this guy missing his finger. I bent down next to him, opened the wrapper (cuz he obviously wasn't going to do it...) and put it up to his mouth. (in Spanish, er ...Dominican) "Here, take it, it's really good. There from the States!" (which automatically makes them outstanding) ;D But since he was kind of drugged, he slowly nudged my hand away and smeared blood down my arm. I kindly put it up to his teeth again and assured him that it's pretty tastey. He stared at me for a moment and his buddies started eggin him on "abre la boooocaaa, open your moooouth!" Then the whole crowd grew louder with a big swelling "woooOOOOAH" Then the guy smiled and without a word accepted the mint. The crowd cheered! I clapped excitedly and lightly patted him on the head. I looked at the blood on my arm and laughed, wiping it on in inside of my dark skirt as we walked towards home. At least someone was trying to brighten his spirits... =) So, a message to all: take some time each day to brighten someones day... it will leave you both with a lasting smile!
So far training has gone really well. At the end of the day we are VERY tired, and that's a sign we're working hard. It's all worth it! Hna Carlsen is very sweet, she is so excited to be here and get right into the grit and grime (sometimes literally speaking) of the work here. She has such a great love for the people and really enjoys meeting our investigators. She is doing really well with her spanish and is progressing rapidly. We have lots of fun talking and laughing and getting to know eachother. (recently we've been laughing and laughing over a certain amusing calander... don't ask) She feels ready to help me teach soon. Things are goin' great!
We are slowly settling into the house. Finally got bars over the windows so we could have some privacy from the street... The landlord just took off to New York to work some more. I might see him if I stay for the next 2-3 months, which is likely... who knows. but anyways.
And for those who don't get my e-mails can still check the blog that Mel set up for my. Thanx! it looks great!! http://juliesmission.blogspot.com (JD, I still don't have all the CA buddies e-mails, could you send them over? thx! )
..This internet cafe is freezing...brrr... I can't imagine what it might be like there. it's been so long. eep!
Thank you all for your prayers, things are really looking up. but the work goes on and P-day is, well, over.
Later,
Hna Julie Benson
First of all, Thanx to you ALL for all the family news, baby talk, and good laughs and smiles!! It means the world to hear how the family is doing.
... Well, Thought I'd tell you about a little service I did the other day. One night we were walking home at night, showing a member, Eliza, where our new house was. On the way we passed by a big group of guys sanding around (something) at the corner of some random church. We stopped because there were a couple investigators we knew and chatted with them. I asked what was going on, what everyone was staring at, adn I pushed through the crowd to see a guy sittin' on the curb holding a poorly wrapped hand, with blood all over the place... ?"Oh, ..." I said, "that sucks" Apperantly he got his finger cut off (likely "someone" else did it) and had been drugged up for teh pain. All the people just stood there... I thought, well, isn't anyone gonna do anything about it? but fortunatly some help was on the way. I had happened to have a handful of white Life Saver mints (;D) and handed a couple to Chris (an awesome guy who lived in Florida most his life but can't go back to the states for hte next 3-4 years for...legal reasons, but begged us for a book of Mormon in English and loves the meetings at church. He's determined to come every Sunday, as long as he doesn't work. He has a good heart. =) But anyway, I pushed through the crowd again with a Life Saver intended for this guy missing his finger. I bent down next to him, opened the wrapper (cuz he obviously wasn't going to do it...) and put it up to his mouth. (in Spanish, er ...Dominican) "Here, take it, it's really good. There from the States!" (which automatically makes them outstanding) ;D But since he was kind of drugged, he slowly nudged my hand away and smeared blood down my arm. I kindly put it up to his teeth again and assured him that it's pretty tastey. He stared at me for a moment and his buddies started eggin him on "abre la boooocaaa, open your moooouth!" Then the whole crowd grew louder with a big swelling "woooOOOOAH" Then the guy smiled and without a word accepted the mint. The crowd cheered! I clapped excitedly and lightly patted him on the head. I looked at the blood on my arm and laughed, wiping it on in inside of my dark skirt as we walked towards home. At least someone was trying to brighten his spirits... =) So, a message to all: take some time each day to brighten someones day... it will leave you both with a lasting smile!
So far training has gone really well. At the end of the day we are VERY tired, and that's a sign we're working hard. It's all worth it! Hna Carlsen is very sweet, she is so excited to be here and get right into the grit and grime (sometimes literally speaking) of the work here. She has such a great love for the people and really enjoys meeting our investigators. She is doing really well with her spanish and is progressing rapidly. We have lots of fun talking and laughing and getting to know eachother. (recently we've been laughing and laughing over a certain amusing calander... don't ask) She feels ready to help me teach soon. Things are goin' great!
We are slowly settling into the house. Finally got bars over the windows so we could have some privacy from the street... The landlord just took off to New York to work some more. I might see him if I stay for the next 2-3 months, which is likely... who knows. but anyways.
And for those who don't get my e-mails can still check the blog that Mel set up for my. Thanx! it looks great!! http://juliesmission.blogspot
..This internet cafe is freezing...brrr... I can't imagine what it might be like there. it's been so long. eep!
Thank you all for your prayers, things are really looking up. but the work goes on and P-day is, well, over.
Later,
Hna Julie Benson
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
January 23, 2008 Pictures B
More . . .
- cute little chiwawa!!
- Baptism!! Joel, and his family Yay!
- Pancake District meeting!! (don't worry, we were spiritually uplifted before the actual pancaking...)
- Burger
- Swans
okaybye! ...anyquestions?okaywell I'mgonnabeprettybusyforawhilewiththisbigchangeinresponsibilitysopleasePRAYforme k?
THANKS!!!
love to all,
Hna Benson
- Snake
- cute little chiwawa!!
- Baptism!! Joel, and his family Yay!
- Pancake District meeting!! (don't worry, we were spiritually uplifted before the actual pancaking...)
- Burger
- Flamingos
- Swans
okaybye! ...anyquestions?okaywell I'mgonnabeprettybusyforawhilewi
THANKS!!!
love to all,
Hna Benson
January 23, 2008 Pictures A
pho-ta-tos
boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stu...
jk ... Photos!
- old comp, Hna Delgado, flys home tomorrow *sniff*boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stu...
jk ... Photos!
- New comp! Hna Carlsen, a sweetheart! from AZ as well
- Mario - letsa-go!
- new house =D
- we cleaned the old house. I sang a lot, the rooms echoed really awesomely.
- fun group of kids that got baptized just before I go here. fun bunch
- octrich face.
- simple pleasures of life...
PS. Mel, yes, I can see your blog pics. You're all so CUTE!! Thanks! adn Mattew Ball, I didn{t get thos attatchments, send them another way so I can open them. thx!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
January 16, 2008 Letter
We went to the ZOO today!!! maybe pics next week...
P-day is Wednesday! I guess... but we are sure it will stay Wed now. para que sepan. Just so you all know.
Aaah! another big big day!
Well I'll just get to the biggest news...
We are moving into a brand new house just down a couple new streets that's been a long frustrating process, but we are lucky to have it. ANd it's got water all the time, a less noisy street, not as much space (which will be hared to leave behind), but I will also be glad to get away from our naughty-mouth neighbors. The house is worth a LOT more that 5,000 pesos a month (which is our limit) but the owner is a friend and wants US to have it. Yay! Gotta start packing all my crap...
I have officially lost my voice... I have gripe, all my energy drains too quickly, I hurt ALL over (especially my chest and arms cuz I tried some weird pushups the other day... but hey, no pain no gain, right?) My nose is all stuffy and I probably sound like a nerd when I talk... but I laugh at myself. =)
Oh...well... BIGGEST news... since Hna Delgado is venturing home soon... I will become a trainer of a completely new missionary... osea, mission lingo: I'm gonna be a "mom" and I'm gettin' a "kid"!!! I heard she could be dominican, or from some other country or maybe american who knows. I don't believe it. I'm not freakin' out though... yet. I'm not even sure If I'll still be in this area or get "white-washed" to another area, but I doubt that. ...... ... I guess I'll just sit back and watch the fire burn ... as I face some more of life's difficult challenges. yay!
Your prayers are welcome.
Mom and Dad: info on the DR: I can't get released here... if it was up to me I might want to leave alone and have a family vacation here a bit after the mission... but, if you guys really want to come up it's very possible and all you need to do is call the mission office here. They should tell you all you need to know. I'll still feel weird as a missionary though... but that day's just too far away! Let me know what you decide for now...
Time's up. Love you all. Hope I get better soon so I can have the energy to bear up the next few months...
Hna Jules Benson
PS - send me pictures pleez!!! =)
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