Semana 24 in Punchana (June 30th, 2014)

Sooooo much has happened this week since I last talked to you. We had zone conference on wednesday and it was really good, President Gomez is changing a lot of rules to help our mission be more obedient and focused. I think it's a good thing, but now for p-day we can't leave our areas (we normally go do fun stuff with our zone and the other 3 zones in Iquitos). It might be a little boring but it'll help us be more focused I think.  

So then Wednesday night at 9:30 the assistants called and told me that there's emergency changes and I got reassigned to the zone Punchana.  It was kind of a shock and really fast, not going to lie I was pretty sad leaving Las Colinas and the zone there in 9 de Octubre, but I know that everything happens for a reason.  My new area is called Punchana and it's definitely different, but I'm sure I'll get accustomed. It's much more city, none of the muddy dirt roads and wooden houses that I've come to know and love, with tons of motokars whizzing by and the people are a little more hardened than I'm used to, but I know that I am here where the Lord wants me to be. My new companion is Hermana Lozano, she is AWESOME and Mexican, which is basically my dream (love Mexicans, they are the coolest). She's super awesome are really hard working so we're gonna get right to work together.

Something interesting happened this week in the midst of the crazyness.  On Tuesday, when I was still in 9 de Octubre, we celebrated San Juan and there were tons of festivities in the streets. While Hermana Centeno and I were walking a woman greeted us in the street. At first we thought she was a member because she acted as if she knew who we were. Honestly that actually happens kind of a lot, people in the street greet us and we're kind of just like 'uhhh who are you?' but I had a feeling to go talk to her. We asked her if she was a member, she said no and that she had never talked to missionaries before, but she was so oddly friendly we asked her where she lived and she said Punchana. I was a little bummed because Punchana is like 25 minutes in motokar from my area in 9 de Octubre, but I took down her address so that we could pass the reference to the missionaries in Punchana. So then the next day I got an emergency change to Punchana, and the sencond day I remembered about that contact! I asked our district leader if the street was in our area and turns out it was! We went to look for the house and it looked like the street ended at the river bank and the number we were looking for didnt exist. But we kept walking and found this continuation of the street where the houses are built out on stilts on the river and they lived there in the little wooden floating houses.  We finally found the house and when we got there they were so friendly and said that theyhad been waiting for us and we're worried because Monday theyre going to travel up the river.  They accepted baptism and came to church the next day. Like for real, that doesn't really EVER happen when we teach contacts, and It was so cool to me, there's been so many times in my mission that I feel like the Lord has been leading me. Unfortunately this golden family travels up the river months at a time and only will be here a week or so and then leaves again, but we gave them a book of Mormon and I know that this experience happened for a reason. Man, being a missionary is the coolest!

Love Hermana Benyo

1. Zone conference in 9 de Octubre

2. Hermana Centeno and I