Elder Benson - Arizona Phoenix Mission

I Feel My Savior's Love and My Love for Him

I feel like this week has been very good to us. The Lord's hand has been in the work. There is no doubt about that. I have been with Elder Studyvin who has helped be be happier and we continue to work hard. The "little things" are getting done to a better T and I am seeing mini-miracles through the process. I feel that my motivation to do the work has developed from a obligation to more of a desire. The study of the scriptures and more sincere prayer, focused on the Savior, has made the difference.

We had Elder Arnold come visit our mission for our mission tour. It was a great visit with a lot of tips and pieces of advice on how to improve on missionary work. The biggest takeaway I got out of it was to work more closely with the members, especially through our leaders, and invite everyone to hear the message about the restored gospel. This includes inviting everyone present in the home to hear as well, while asking for referrals. I can say that that was a great piece of advice. (I will explain later in the email). One thing that was pretty special was that during lunch he took all of the STL's and Zone Leaders into to do quick interviews. We went in as companions and then individually. It was funny because he asked if I had a girlfriend. I gave a nice little smile and said I didn't. I think he was looking to catch me on something, but I passed. :) He also said in the interview that he wanted me to tell you two, mom and dad, that he commended your efforts to raise a great son. (I cannot tell you how many times I have hear that on my mission. You definitely done a great job ;)

The work here truly has grown and Elder Studyvin and I have been working well. We have been getting a lot of different Ward lists put together such as Future elders, Part member families, un baptized children 9+yrs, and Less Actives (we have been working with the Hermanas and the list has gotten into the hundreds. It's amazing how many people are just within our reach and right in our very midst. This is what we can call as the low hanging fruit.). We have been taking some time to go through some of these lists, especially the less active list, and we are already starting to find people that no longer live there or are not even interested. Through this process we even found a couple moving to Chile on the first of April. This is going to help the leaders a lot find out who actually live in the Ward and who they can help.

Speaking of working with members and part member families. We actually had a great lesson last night. This was right after we had finished the missionary devotional and we were hurrying over to a lesson we had set with our recent convert, Mariana Banuelos. On the 20min drive over there (I took an exit late and took an extra 5min). I was thinking if it was worth the drive this late at night to go and give the lesson. Other doubts were floating in the back of my mind, but I knew that there is always something good that can come out of even the small things. So we went over and caught up with them to see how they were doing and asked if we could open with a prayer. In the prayer the prompting came into my mind that we should ask if anyone of her kids were there and if they would like to hear just a quick message about Christ. She was a little hesitant about inviting her oldest son in, but she did it anyways.

So we hooked up my iPad to the TV (thanks mom for the adapter) and showed them the most recent church initiative #Alelujah. (Btw if you haven't seen it yet, go on gospel library and check it out! The 300+ person and 1000+ virtual choir is amazing!). When we finished we asked everyone what were some of the feelings that went through their mind as they watched the video. The first person to comment was the oldest son, Roberto. He pointed out how every one of them looked like they had so much peace. We testified to him that he could have that peace as well in his life and asked if we could come by the next day to share that with them. He accepted! So we will be visiting with him tonight and see if we can set a date with him tonight.

We also have Rosario kids on date for April 10th, everyone except the oldest daughter who is 14 years old. She knows it is true, just has a doubt that she doesn't feel comfortable yet. She said she'll tell us, but it has to be in private. She is a great girl and is doing almost everything that a Mormon would (she even says that she is a Mormon and defends us against her friends who make fun of us) she just has something looming over her that is preventing her from making this decision. If I finish here, I am hoping and praying that I will see her baptism before I leave. I want to see that whole family in white more than anything.

Btw I am super impressed with another on of your little excursions that you decided to make mom and dad! It seems like that as you both work to with your heart, might, mind, and strength, you at times get a nice little treat to relax and enjoy the wonderful world that our Father has created for us. Rest well and have fun!!

Photos:

1.) We had some member give us some food. So we enjoyed it in the church.