Semana 43 in 9 de Octubre (November 17th, 2014)

This week was AWESOME because I got to be in a gringa trio!!! It was seriously the funnest thing ever. We got a new sister named Hermana T. She stayed with us for the week temporarily, but she's leaving today to go to her new area so we're pretty sad about that. Seriously love her so much, we're basically best friends already the three of us.  Also this week was mine AND Hermana Burrell's birthday so that was exciting too!!  

We are teaching a lovely family called Familia Papa, or as me and my companion like to say "Potato Family" (Warning: my sense of humor has gotten a lot lamer since my mission).  They are so sweet and inactivated basically immediately after they got baptized but they were so happy to receive us and expressed their desires to reactivate so we're gonna be workin pretty hard with them. The dad has problems with alcohol so he's gonna need a lot of support, but the mom told us that she had a dream about a big white lit up building where she felt that she should enter with her husband to married religiously. It was super cool and we taught her about eternal marriage and the temple and invited them to prepare to go to the temple as a family and be sealed for time and all eternity!! I just love helping families, and they came to church on sunday!!

On Saturday we did a really fun Tristake service activity with all of the members and missionaries in Iquitos...it was super fun!!  We painted and cleaned up trash and cut the lawn with machetes. That is like my favorite and definitely the most inefficient thing ever. But there we were just like our whole zone of 20 missionaries and also President Gomez just hackin away at the grass with machetes.

One thing I learned this week is that sometimes we try to compartmentalize ourselves into little boxes and throw labels on things and say that we either are or aren't patient or kind or spiritual or successful and that honestly is insanity. I honestly think we need to just stop saying that we are anything because in certain situations the lord gives us certain qualities and characteristics and in others he doesn't. Maybe in some circumstances I'm a hard worker but in others I'm totally lazy! Or maybe in one campanionship I have a lot of patience but withj someone else I really have to learn patience. It's really cool how God gives and takes our spiritual gifts as we need them, or as He needs us to use them.  it really is a testament to how we are just tools in the hands of the Lord.  So I'm gonna stop over analyzing myself and deciding if I'm successful or not successful, spiritual or not spiritual, patient or not patient and just have peace in my life. We're all children of a Heavenly Father and that's all that we will ever need to be.

Love you all!

Hermana Benyo

1 &2 Hackin' away

2, 3, & 4  Frog we found in service! Sapaso!!

5. Me and my best girls

6. Hermana Burrell's birthday!! woohoo!

Semana 42 in 9 de Octubre (November, 10th, 2014)

Hey everybody!

This week was great!

Went to Lima and got my passport all taken care of. That was super weird because I was by myself the whole time which I havent dont for a good year. I was alone with the male Choffers from Lamoni Tours who work for the church there in Lima. I've gotten to know them pretty well now Cause I've had to go to Lima several times now.  The one that works during the day was named Hermano Elvis and he was cool, he basically just had to drive me around all day and took me to the embassy.  The embassy was super cool and we had to go in and it was the most American thing I've seen in a long time, walked out of there super trunky,was my first time in a while being on 'US soil'  but after 2 hours of waiting I had never been so happy to leave my country.  Then I went and stayed the night with the Hermanas from the Lima East mission, for real they are SO rich compared to Iquitos like their house is basically a palace.  Their mission is super super different that Iquitos because it's all gated communities and you have to buzz to enter or talk to the watchman to knock doors, so I mena I'll stick with Iquitos, but it was cool to see what another mission is like. Also ran into my friend Hermana Heiner from the MTC who is serving in Lima so that was a fun reunion!

Hermana Burrell and I had a baptism this week, our Investigator Laura got baptized, she is awesome and has a great testimony, There was a good turnout also at her baptism

Other than that we are working and trying to be more and more dilligent and have lessons every 30 minutes which is the new goal of the mission. I have found that when we use our time wisely and help as many people as humanly possible in the day we not only have more success but we have the constant companionship of the spirit and we are just plain HAPPY. 

Hermana Burrell's birthday is this week so were gonna celebrate. 

Not much more to say, but hope everything goes good with you guys this week!

This computer is rejecting my camera so I'll send photos of the baptism next week!

Love,

Hermana Benyo

Semana 41 in 9 de Octubre (November, 3rd 2014)

This week was busy, busy, busy! 

On wednesday we had my first mission leadership council!  It happens at the beginning of every month and all of the zone leaders and sister leaders from Pucallpa, Tarapoto, and Moyobamba fly in, which is super fun to see friends that have been off in other cities in the jungle! There we present our zones results for the month, discuss the challenges and successes and as a council come up with solutions. Then President and the AP's give trainings so it basically lasts all day--it was pretty awesome. On thursday we had a work visit with the sisters from area Secoya, Hermana Rodriguez and Hermana Blackmore. Hermana Burrell went to their area and Hermana Blackmore came to 9 de Octubre with me. She is so so sweet and awesome! I think I got to help her a little bit with some of the challenges she's been facing so it was cool to have my first work visit and help the hermanas and set goals with them also. Later we had to visit the sisters in Secada and the next day we had to take the sisters in San Juan to the clinic, so they've been keeping us pretty busy this week.  

I'm loving loving loving our area, it smells bad and there's literally a river of garbage and yet to me it's the most beautiful place ever.  As far as work goes, were kind of trying to resucitate the area because we recently just split it and there weren't many people being taught on what is now our half, but it definitely has a ton of potential.  Our investigator Laura is getting baptized on Saturday, got postponed for stake conference and she is stoked!  She was telling us yesterday that people were saying bad things to her about the church and so she started having doubts, but then she always grabs her Book of Mormon and the spirit testifies to her that it's true. She is an exscellent lady and extremely prepared.

On Saturday and Sunday we had the 9 de Octubre Stake conference, which was so fun because I got to see everyone I love so much from Las Colinas ward. All the members and my convert families were in church (that's a victory here in Iquitos with the 30% convert retention rate) yay!!! I got to see me and Hermana Centeno's recent converts the Torres Amias Family and Guido and Betsi and the kids. I am filled with so much love for these people, honestly.  When I got there saturday night at the stake center Guido and Betsi were waiting there with the kids and the girls ran up when they saw me and it was so so sweet!! Mi leche!!!!! haha They were super sweet and gave me a stuffed turtle and a really really cute turtle necklace and earrings...love 'em so much!  That was an awesome 'I love my mission' moment.

So not going to lie, I was starting to feel a bit burnt out.  Coming to a new area always exhausts me I don't know why. Like the thing is I have such huge desires to serve with all my might and I try to but sometimes we try to run a little bit faster than we can. After running on full speed for months and months and months it starts to wear down on you. I talked to Hermana Burrell (who has 14 months so she knows what I'm feeling too) and we were kind of on the same page. We'd been a bit more sluggish the last week walking a bit slower, walking past people without talking to them and it had affected the spirit.  We really got to talking in our conmpanion study and we both simultaneously received the same revelation through the Book of Mormon in our morning studies: Faith, Patience, and Diligence.  Like honestly I was reading the end part of Alma chapter 32 and it kept repeating the words faith patience and dilligence and I thoughbt back to a district leader of mine that would always make me repeat that when I was having a difficult time "Fe, Paciencia, Diligencia" and I would kind of just do it robotically like 'yeah whatever, Elder" but then up until this moment I don't think it ever got through to me. If I don't have faith we aren't going to have miracles, If I'm not dilligent we won't find people to teach, and If I'm not patient I'm gonna burn out. It was excellent for us and now thats our new motto "Fe, Paciencia, Diligencia".  I love the Book of Mormon, it is such a source of revelation, inspiration, and it feeds a weary soul. From that moment we jusat worked to have the spirit and that made all the difference. When we study well in the morning, the spirit accompanies us the rest of the day and we find the energy and power source to do so far beyond our own capacity. We're feelin' good now, ennabling power of the atonement.

Haz lo justo!

Hermana Benyo

1. 9 de Octubre on the river

2. Me and the tree of life

3. Me and the Itaya River

4. At stake conference with converts Guido and Betsi (they gave me the necklace and earrings I'm wearing, they are super cute, love 'em!)

5.  Me and Hermana Burrell at my first monthly mission leadership council

Semana 40 in 9 de Octubre (October 27th, 2014)

SO MUCH happened this week.

So cambios happened and I got changed! I'm back in my old zone 9de Octubre and i could not be more thrilled. Leaving Punchana and my companions was sad, leaving áreas is always sad, but I feel so happy and blessed to be back in my zone. Before I was here in 9 de Octubre in the área Las Colinas and now I'm in the area 9 de Octubre.  Me and my companion are the Sister training leaders for Zone 9 de Octubre and Zone Secada and get THIS: my companion is a gringa. Yeah so my life basically got turned upside down this week but I'm so happy about my new área and companion and also the chance to get to know and serve the sisters, we've got three other companionships of sisters here in 9 de Octubre and 2 more in zone Secada.  My companion hermana Burrell is from Texas/Utah and is super great and helping me learn everything I need to know.  We're going to do work visits this week and I'm excited also to get to do a work visit in my old área!

So 9 de Octubre may be in the same city as Punchana but I assure you that it is a COMPLETELY new world. I didn't get a chance to take pictures this week but it's the coolest área ever. We're right on the river and there's tons of hills and dips and rivets and bridges and Wood houses built on stilts...it's seriously a laberynth. It's small but there's tons of houses within a really compact área, under bridges etc.  So excited to work here. So here's the crazy part. In this tiny área that is like 8 blocks by 4, there are about 800 baptized members of the church.  The bishop here is so cool fore real, and we're really focusing in and strengthening the members here before we will be able to do anything and I know that if we work this way we will find tons of investigato as well.  The bishop asked us to help him with the President of Relief Society and the Ward Secretary...two callings which I've never had but hey, it's preparing me pretty good for future service in the church. 

I love Iquitos so much---and will always have a special place in my heart for 9 de Octubre and for that I feel like I won the lottery when I got transferred back here.  The Ward attendance is only at about 100 so we'vew got plenty of work to do and for real I am so happy, is it cool if I never come home?

Love you all,

Hermana Benyo

1. Me and my new compi Hermana Burrell (she's SO cool)

2.  A super cool abandoned ship in our área

3.  River so pretty here in 9 de Octubre

Semana 39 in Punchana (October 20th, 2014)

Well, not much to say this week.

As I mentioned our area got divided this week and we have the part now where we almost never worked so we are scouring this three block wide area for all it's got!  We've found some less active members that we're teaching and basically every hour of the day talking to everyone to find people that need our help.

We are teaching a sister named Sara that was listening to the missionaries 2 or 3 years ago.  Honestly I am so glad we found her because she has lots of challenges and needs the gospel, and I think it helps a lot now that we are Hermanas because before she was listening to Elders. I love listening to people, especial people who have had difficult challenges, and giving them the solution that will truly bless their lives: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It looks as though our trio is coming to an end. This week we had interviews with Presidente Gomez. I tell ya, I have never walked out of an interview with President Gomez on anything less than cloud 9 and ready to conquer the world. So greatful for him.

Well, it looks like our lovely trio is sadly coming to an end.  Today we find out about changes and one of us is going to leave.  I'll let you know what happens next week!

Short and sweet that's all for now folks, stay safe and try not to catch ebola please!

Love,

Hermana Benyo

1. My trio 'n me yesterday at church

2.  This was meant to be a dorky picture that turned our pretty

3. Luana, one of our pensionista's lovely grand daughters

4.  These niñas love to do this every time we try to leave the house

5. We're a happy family.

6. The district...was thinking seriously about cropping me out of this one

7. The zone Punchana

Semana 38 in Punchana (October 13th, 2014)

Wow wow wow

I realiza I'm a bit behind the rest of you, but General Conference was AMAZING!!!! Seriously so inspired I loved it! It lifted me up and inspired me like you would not believe. I am so greatful for the restoration of the Gospel and the opportunity to sustain the prophet and apostles and the true revelation that they receive from God.  So many new goals and plans met to tune up and self-evaluate.  I loved the speaker that said we should all learn frequent and joyful repentance because if we're not constantly learning form our mistakes and tuning up to be more obedient, we aren't progressing. 

And to throw the cherry on top of conference weekend, the Area 70 president Elder Uceda was here this weekend and had conferences with all the mission, woard councils, and stake presidencies in Iquitos. It honestly was SUCH a wake up call for everyone here. He  gave us some truly startling statistics:

The church here in Iquitos began in 1967 with a branch of about thirty members. Now in 2014, there are three stakes. However, on record, there are almost TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND baptized members of the church. Of that 25,000 less than 3000 regularly attend church. He said that Iquitos is in red alert  and that EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING about the way we are working has to chang. The retention rates of  new converts are  dangerously low with lots of baptisms  and weak wards. With the number of baptized members there should be about NINE STAKES and we would be in the ranks for a temple. It was truly sobering. Like honestly yeah we know that there are tons and tons of less active members and that retention is a huge problem here but that kind of just hit us in the face. We are so concerned about baptizing baptizing that we don't even notice that  the wards are dying with about 60 to 70 every week and tons of inactive members walking the streets. Like we could keep baptizing but after 20 more years how many inactives are we gonna have if we don't get things in order?

Elder Uceda has proposed that we COMPLETELY and utterly change everything we are doing. He basically   (well, actually literally) called us to repentance and to change our mentality. We should be expecting the mission to change drastically.  He said that Iquitos is completely unlike any other mission in Peru or the area, so we have to work distinctly.  It inspired us a lot to realize the potential that this beautiful paradise Iquitos holds and  also animated the members to get to work with us in activation and retention--the work of salvation because we are in red right now. Truly exci ted to see what's going to happen. We have been in a shared area with the Elders and they told us today that it's now split to accomodate the new changes and it just so happens that the Elders have the side where ALL of our investigators live.  Our first reaction was to complain especially now that our area is like 3 blocks wide, but I know that this is like what Elder Eyring said in his talk, revelation that comes from a 70 and a mission president to help the saints in Iquitos. Maybe our first inclination was to complain but I know that this mandate comes from God and is going to allow us and help us to change our mentality and work in the way the Prophet wants us to.  I love serving in the Church of Jesus Christ and look forward to  continuing in this work throughout my life.

Another (paraphrased) quote I loved from conference ''Let's lose ourselves in rescue efforts of God's lost sheep, and we in turn will be rescued ourselves''

Let us all Press on in the work of the Lord, 

Love,

 Hermana Benyo

1. Me and my companions: Hermana Lozano, Cori (a girl in the ward), and hermana Tinta

2. My old companion, Hermana Centeno, reunited in the conference con Elder Uceda

Semana 37 in Punchana (October 6th, 2014)

Hey Everyone!

General Conference was so awesome right? Oh wait....I wouldn't know because I still havent seen it yet. There were elections in Peru on Sunday so church was cancelled and conference got postponed until next week. We went out and proselyted normal, woohoo!!! But I'm excited to see it, no spoilers please :)

This week I was so pleased to see AMAZING progress in Hermana Tinta as she is getting used to the life as a missionary. She mentioned that now she isn't thinking about her family anymore, but rather is focusing on our investigators and that is AWESOME! She seems a lot happier and the mood of our day seems a lot brighter with a stronger spirit.  She and Hermana Lozano are also getting along better, sure there's still some little struggles but we're definitely seeing big victories!

We're teaching a young lady named Glendy who is super excited and committed to be baptized on November 1st.  She went to the baptism of the Elders on Saturday and that got her really excited, we're working with the YSA to help her get to know the ward.  Monica is still really sad that she can't get baptized because her in-laws prohibited them from getting married and is thinking seriously about moving out or separating to be able to live the law of chastity and be baptized. Sure it's not ideal, but it's the best she can do.

We're trying to really get the members excited about missionary work and help them realize how amazing it is to help bring others unto Christ and be an active part in their conversion.  It's something that I want to do so much more actively when I finish my mission!

On P-day we went to every Iquitos missionary's favorite place to spend P-day: Quistococha. We used to go like every month but now that P-days have changed it's a rare treat.  It's like a little jungle zoo with a random beach and lagoon in the middle surrounded by wild jungle...(that's where we held the snake and ate the suri the last times)

Well I hope everything is good and know that I love you all,  and remember to stay anxiously engaged in a good cause!!

Love,

Hermana Benyo

Photos

1. At Quistococha

2. Me n' the monkeys (look closely)

3. Me and Hermana Lozano on the dock

4. Me and Hermana Linford being normal

5. My name plaque is getting dirty