Transfer to San Jose Del Monte

Hello everybody!!

Hope all is going well, sorry I couldn't talk to you today, we had a sports fest thing at the church this morning with our zone so we couldn't email till now, but this week was pretty good! It started out pretty interesting on Tuesday when we had to suddenly take a 2 hour trip to one of the zones close to us for a sister having some problems...so that was interesting! So we rode a jeep up there and talked to her, ate some dinner and then came home. ha It was so tiring, but it was the first time we actually had a problem so that's pretty good for a whole transfer! It felt good too being able to help her out and just by talking to her about everything I could see everything I've learned being here and how much I've changed...I'm getting pretty smart here ;) ha So that was interesting...

Then the rest the week we just had normal work. It was our first full week in our area the whole transfer so honestly it was kind of long trying to find things to do, but it was good too because we were able to get some new investigators and really work hard with our investigators and people here, so although it was hot and tiring it was rewarding :) Then on Saturday I learned that it was Father's Day this weekend pala!! I didn't even know..ha So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Hope you had a great day, I love you so much :) Luckily, unlike last year, I didn't cry at church this year when they did the little Father's Day presentation, so I'm getting better! ha Hope it was good though for you guys at home.

And then finally...yesterday I got my news. I am transferring!!! Ya I didn't believe the zone leaders when they told me, I fought them to see the papers with transfers on it, but it's true! So I was only one transfer here, and now I'll be transferring to San Jose Del Monte, and there are some pretty good things about that. First, it's back with some mountains and more trees so it will be cooler, and second, I will have a temple day again!! Woo :) That's what I'm most excited about. I'm excited too because my new companion is Sister Porter, and she's from Logan! She's super nice and we talk about how great Cache Valley is..ha This will be her last transfer so it'll be the first missionary I "kill" and I'm pretty excited! I think it'll be a great transfer :)

So then today for my last Pday here we went to SM (the big mall here) and had a delicious lunch that Angie got us,

and I bought a couple new skirts since mine are pretty worn out after the last 14 months..ha and just had a good day :) I'm honestly pretty tired now, and don't even want to think about packing, but I'm excited for my new adventure. And I'm pretty sure this will be my last area, which is so weird to think about! It'll be good.

Sorry this email is so short, I don't have many stories...OH WAIT. I do have a story....this will make dad laugh ;) So every Tuesday we have follow-up calls with our district leader, so I was talking to him on the phone when I saw a RAT in our house! We've had a problem for awhile seeing the poop and stuff but I'd never actually seen it, and this time I DID. I immediately jumped on a chair screaming my head off! My poor DL just on the phone, probably holding it like 5 feet away, tried to tell me how to get rid of it and then honestly I don't know what else he said but I just ended up hanging up..haha And so I made sister Lorenzo come down and make room under this door that goes outside for it to go out (at this time it was under our fridge) and of course it wasn't coming out after my screaming...so she said "Alright. You have two choices. To stand on that chair all night and sleep there with the rat, or come down and we'll go upstairs and sleep nice with our door closed." Well it took a few minutes trying to convince myself, but I got down and ran up the stairs making this sound of have screaming half something I can't even explain...Sister Lorenzo literally just fell down laughing so hard at me! So basically I am way more scared of rats than I thought I was, but I blame it on dad! Because I think I recall a story of him jumping on the table when he saw a little mouse...haha :) So that was interesting. But that's about it... Oh and I also found out this week that Lea Salonga is my hero. If you don't know who she is, she's the voice behind almost ALL the Disney princesses and is Incredible. Her voice makes my heart want to explode...thanks to Angie forcing me to listen to her song. (Don't worry, I repented) haha Just kidding, but seriously she's incredible. Just look her up :) Well...

Hope you're all doing great, I love you and miss you all so much!!!

Love,

Sister Benesch

PS here is me and Angie earlier at the church, and then the perfect comparison of "American size" and "Filipino size" hahaha Hilarious :

The girl with the "red sweaty face"

Hello everyone, hope you're all doing great!

So this week had a lot of mixed feelings, but I'll focus on the good :) On Wednesday we had exchanges again and this time we went to...BALIWAG!!! I was so excited!! Actually first we went to a different area in that zone called Bustos and had exchanges with the sisters there. It was so much fun because I worked with Sister Deguplo who is still training, and I love working with trainees! They're just so excited to work and do their best and usually have no problems, and she was just like that! We had fun together. There was one appointment we tried to go to, and the jeep ride was like 45 minutes (their area is HUGE!) and so that was crazy, but we ended up at the house of this Tatay (old man) that was just adorable! You know how I'm kinda weird about cute old people..haha But anyway, he's an investigator, but the only reason he's not baptized is because he can't pay to go to church every sunday because it's so far. But in less than a week he'd read from Alma to Ether! He's awesome. He also gave me a fan because of my "red sweaty face"..haha Embarrassing. Anyway, there was no girl home so we couldn't teach, but we told him we'd walk up the street to his daughter in law's house and he could follow later, because we can't walk together...so anyway we're waiting there when we see him coming all slow, but he just wanted us to teach him so bad he was asking everyone! Sadly no one was willing, including his daughter in law so we just had to leave...that was sad. But Sister Deguplo bought mangos from him so he had money to go to church! He was great. And the other great part about working in that area is that Elder Liu is their neighbor!!! ha I was so excited to see him again, he's hilarious :)

Then on Thursday they had a CSP so I got to hang out more with my buddy...and although it was hot working out weeding and digging up tree stumps it was fun. Actually on Monday I got sick, and then until Saturday I didn't get better, so at the CSP I was kinda at my height of sickness and it was a little miserable...I cried that morning secretly in the bathroom because I didn't want to go. ha But I was ok. ha THEN I got to work with Sister Pristopher back where I grew up in the mission! I actually lived with her before when I was companions with Sister Patrus, she's also Pakistani and she's hilarious! I absolutely love her :) So we had fun. After we taught the lessons they'd planned for that day we went to visit some of my old friends, and so I got to see Sister Rosanna who I love SO much, and her nanay!! They were so excited to see me :) And even though they're so poor they bought us pizza! Actually Nanay was funny...I left her some earrings when I left the area and she told me that she keeps them safe for when she goes out with her friends and then she makes sure to tell everyone that they come from America :) haha She's still less active but she's hilarious and I love her anyway!! And then I saw Melanie, she was a YSA that I was so close with and it was just so fun! I felt like I got a little taste of how it'd be getting home...going so long not seeing someone you love and then when you see them you realize just how much you missed them! I was so happy :) So it was sad to say bye...but it was great to see them.

So besides that, we didn't get much done in our own area because when we got home Friday I was still doing terrible and so we just took a sick day..but it was good because I got better and then we could work a full day on Saturday :) But yesterday at church was hilarious because one of our investigators brought her adorable son who is like 3 or 4...and all during sacrament he was so cute! Whenever we'd sing he'd get up and grab the hymnbook and then climb back on the bench and open it to a random page and start signing along. Then during prayers he'd fold his little hands in his lap and bow his head then look up every once in awhile to see if it was over..(yes, I was peeking ;) haha) And it just melted my heart! Little kids are so precious :) So I had lots of fun hanging out with him at church. The only problem with his parents is they're not married yet and his dad doesn't really show much interest..but his mom is ready to go! So we're just waiting...but his dad is starting to show more and more interest so hopefully soon :)

So the work is going good, sadly no baptisms yet on the horizon...ha but hopefully some coming since we're done with exchanges and have a couple solid weeks until they start again! But I love you all so much!!! Hope you had fun in Moab and are having a good summer :)

LOVE,

Sister Benesch

PS Elder Liu said to say Hello just as always :) ha And then I thought you may want to see my big fat swollen hand with the rash I had when I was sick....the joys of serving in the hottest place EVER. But don't worry, it's normal now :)

Email from June 1

Hello everybody :)

I can't believe it's already June!! That means that it's summer now there and in just a few more months your Favorite Sister Benesch will be coming home! But I'm not counting ;) ha Actually this week was really good. I got to go to my first MLC (mission leadership council) and it was actually way fun! The workshops on leadership were so good, but actually most of the day was just about us as missionaries. How we can really be excited about the work and do our best. It was a good day to just think about all I've been able to do while I've been here and set goals for what I want to be able to do with the time I have left. And then the food was great for lunch so that just made everything ;) ha But it really was great to be able to see that side of the mission and just how much work so many people put into this for all these investigators and less-actives and they just don't even know it...Heavenly Father spends a lot of time trying to show us what to do in life and sometimes we just don't even notice.

And then on Saturday we had mission tour with Elder Craig C. Christensen and it was so fun! I really like him, his talk was great and then with Elder Ardern there too it was so motivating to keep doing our best in this work. They talked a lot about obedience and diligence and how we just don't have time anymore to do anything that may divert the work of the Lord. It was so great! I felt real pumped that day to keep going hard even though it's So hot :) ha Luckily it's getting closer to rainy season!! I think my very favorite part of mission tour though was when Elder Christensen was bearing his testimony about President Monson. At one point he was saying that he wished we could see the man he is behind the pulpit, and then he said "he is a minister." It was such a simple phrase but really touched my heart. I truly know that President Monson has been called of God and he is our greatest example on earth for us right now. He is such a great example of service and loving others and sharing the gospel. I really love him so much! So that was really powerful, and then it was also fun to be with the whole mission and see so many of my friends!! I didn't realize how much I missed them till I saw them, so we took lots of pictures and had so much fun..but sadly I forgot my camera. So maybe next week I can send some :)

Also a great story from this week...I don't remember if I told you a couple weeks ago about the elders taking 45 minutes to guess my first name and I owed them ice cream, but now they just say it all the time randomly to like catch me off guard, and it's so weird!! ha

So besides all that, the work is going pretty good. Honestly right now is a little hard with very little progress with our investigators and less actives, and I just don't really know what else to do..but we're going to keep trying with tracting and finding activities.

Sorry this email is so short, I just can't really think of stories from this week!! But I love you all so much, I couldn't be here without you!! Happy Summer :)

Love,

Sister Benesch

Happy Birthday Sydney

Hello everybody!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYD!!! :)

I was with Sister Sene on exchanges, she's from Samoa and acts just like Sister Tupai!! I love her so much, we had a lot of fun :) Then the last night before we left we all had a big dinner together (six sisters) and it was fun making a bunch of food and we got sprite and just talking...then had to wake up early the next morning and travel and that wasn't quite as fun..ha But I really love exchanges! I learn so much, and they make time go by SO so fast!!

Other than that, we are still teaching Joan (our new investigator a few weeks ago) and I think she'll for sure be baptized on June 14. She's so awesome, and every time we teach she just has great comments. Like we were teaching on Sunday about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a review and she says "But he wasn't just any kind of man or prophet, he was one of the greatest there ever were and did amazing things for the entire world.." it doesn't translate perfectly in English..ha but she's just incredible! I'm excited for her :) Sadly our other investigator that was progressing (brother Bok) isn't so much now...he didn't come to church and he smoked again last week. We don't really know what to do anymore with him, but we're still teaching and hopefully something will happen...it's hard to see them when they start progressing and then just kinda die off again...Oh but speaking of him we had a very interesting experience this week with his mom who is a less active that's returning now.. But we went to a members house near them because we had extra time and saw her there, then realized that she was completely drunk. I guess her cousin had died the night before and she was just so sad she decided to drink, and so we got there and she was just acting so weird, then started throwing up on herself and went to the bathroom, then passed out with her head in the bowl and of course she couldn't really breath, so me and Sister Lorenzo bring her out and then Sister Lorenzo kinda took over (she's amazing..) I was just kinda standing there not knowing what to do since of course being a little mormon girl from Utah I have never been in these situations before..ha So she got her new clothes and water and then I was fixing her hair that was Everywhere and she just looked at me and then hugged me SO tight and Sister Lorenzo looks at me all nervous and says "what if she throws up on you?!" but she didn't :) So then we got a tricycle and took her home, but I was just sitting there thinking as we were driving how grateful I am for the way I was raised...that I've never had to deal with those problems, and just how much happier life is as we're obedient to the gospel. We still have challenges, but it's less and so much easier to deal with when you have the blessings of the gospel. SO that was interesting..

I'm so excited for this week though, because although we don't have exchanges, I get to go to my first MLC meeting! It's the mission leadership counsel with President Sperry, all the zone leaders and then the sister training leaders, and I hear that the workshops are SO great and the food is good too that they feed us :) That's on Thursday and I can't wait, and then on Saturday we're having mission tour with the whole mission and Elder Craig C. Christensen is coming to speak to us (I think he's the president of the Seventy..) and so it'll be great to hear him, and also to see all my friends in the mission! So this week will be fun, and probably go just as fast as the other ones!! 

BUT I have one more story!!! I almost forgot to write it...so on Saturday after we got home from the Elders baptism we started our planning and then Sister Lorenzo looks behind me and says "Now don't freak out..." but there was a spider as big as my hand behind me on the wall...and it moved FAST!! I was freaking out. ha So we're both screaming and trying to kill it, and we're both holding Baygon (bug spray that will kill it) and throwing things around the room and moving the table and couch and everything to kill the dang thing!!! Finally we sprayed it enough that it moved slowly and I got it with a shoe...but Man it was scary. I will be fearless when I come home to those tiny spiders we have. haha

But I guess I'll just end with my Greatest miracle this week...which was when I found hairspray that actually keeps my hair curly and not frizzy! YES!!! haha I haven't worn my hair curly in forever, and so I did on Sunday and Elder Doroson (my zone leader) just looked at me and starts singing this song "For the first time..." haha It was funny. So now I don't have to wear grandma buns everyday :) But everything is going great, just wayyyy too fast! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! Hope Syd has a great birthday too!! LOVE YOU! :)

Mahal,

Sister Benesch

Brownies and butterscotch bars

Hello there everybody :)

Hope you're all doing great, I had a really great week this week! We had zone interviews on Wednesday and it was great, but so sad because President and Sister Sperry gave out there goodbye cards and took pictures with everyone...I'll be so sad when they're gone! I've really learned so much from President Sperry and I love them a lot. Although I'm sure President Burton will be just as great :)

Then on Thursday and Friday we were in Malolos! It's about an hour and a half away so we woke up at 5 to be there in time for personal study, but it was so fun! I didn't really know the sisters there yet, so getting to be there with them and getting to know more sisters here was a lot of fun. Exchanges went great. I think honestly I'm going to learn way more from the sisters I work with than they learn from me..ha It really was a great experience to work with them and recognize those things that I want to do better in myself. It's kinda weird being the one that like gives the evaluation and things that they can do to better their area and things...it really will be a big learning experience for me, and I think I'll improve a lot! It's been fun :) I did have some pretty funny experiences on exchanges though...first. The jeeps in Malolos are extra small and short, and so basically I don't even fit on the seat. ha One time it stopped really fast and I wasn't holding on, so my heavy back flew forward and since it was over my shoulder it brought me with it right off the seat and onto the floor! So that was super embarrassing with everyone looking at me like trying to speak English saying I needed to hold on and seeing if I was ok..ha Stupid American. So I just replied in Tagalog and got back up. ha No worries, I was totally fine, just my pride was a little hurt ;) But then the next day on a different Jeep I saw this sign that said "God know's hudas not pay"...hahaha I still don't know if it's a joke or something but I thought it was hilarious. My favorite part about being here is the signs I see :)

Sadly though after exchanges we got back on Saturday and Sister Lorenzo was sick, so we did our weekly planning then only had one appointment because she couldn't even walk her stomach hurt so bad..but it was nice because it gave me some time to rest since I was SO tired! Then Sunday she still didn't feel good so we took it slow again, but we did go to Angie's for dinner (the one we skyped at) and we got to eat brownies!!!! They were so super delicious :) So that was probably my favorite part of this week...the brownies, and also butterscotch bars! I've found here on my mission that I have like an addiction to sweets..ha

But we did get some new investigators, Sister Joan and Sister Bam that seem great! They both seem so prepared and ready to receive the gospel, I'm so excited to continue to teach them and give them baptism dates. Bam is 14 and Joan is 23, but they both just seem so prepared as we teach, and they're great in answering and asking questions. They are just the kind of investigators that are easy and fun to teach :) So I'm excited about that because our work has been suffering a little bit with us never being here. But it's going ok.

Also, this morning we got to deal with our first problem as STLs! ha There's just always more drama with sisters than elders..ha But I realized that Sister Lorenzo really is great dealing with problems and just listening to her talk to the sisters showed me how much I can learn from her. I know I'll learn a lot about patience and love during the next few transfers, and I'm excited. I think she's for sure one of my favorite companions. We never have problems and we just have so much fun...I'm constantly laughing because she's just so hilarious with the things that she says! It's the kinda of funny though of her saying things in English not meaning to be funny, but it's hilarious...so hard to explain over email. ha but it's funny :)

Well that was basically my week...it's been great! And not to be trunky or anything..but I only have 22 more weeks! That's my lucky number :) So I'll be seeing you people in no time!! I love you so much, I loved seeing you this week!! Thanks for all you do, hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Benesch

Transfer

Hey Everybody!

Not too many stories. Evelyn is still doing great and will be baptized May 17!! However...I sadly won't be here. Yes, I am transfering!! My next area is...in the same stake. ha I'm literally transferring like 30 minutes away to Meycauyen (I can't spell it yet..) and I will be companions with Sister Lorenzo who actually was Sister Surio's follow-up trainer so that'll be fun! She's a Filipino, so it'll be my FIRST since Sister Mabini training so hopefully I'll finally really learn to speak Tagalog! ha But the exciting thing actually about where I'm going is that...I've been called to be a Sister Training Leader! It's basically the same level as Zone Leader, but we're over multiple zones. So I'll get to go on exchanges with other sisters, and the Really exciting thing is that Baliwag is under us so I'll get to go back there and check up on everyone!! I'm so so excited :)

I'm excited for the opportunity too because I know I'll really learn a lot. I just want to take this as a chance to really take all my weaknesses and change. To be more diligent and obedient and just do the best I can. I've really looked up to my STLs while on the mission so I hope I can be like that for the other sisters now. It'll be a lot of fun :) And I get to go to more meetings with Pres so I'll get to see him before I leave! I love that man...he's hilarious! haha

But as far as this area goes, I just have been saying bye to people and it's so sad! I've really learned to love people here so much, even though it's the shortest amount of time I've spent in an area. We had one less-active return to church now (came 4 sundays in a row) and if her daughter comes again next sunday she'll be returned! I've just seen so much progression in the area, it's truly been miracle after miracle. I've learned so much and just can't believe I'll be leaving. Things just happen so fast! It really motivates me to do my best these last 4 transfers to not waste a single second since it'll end so fast.

Sorry this email is kinda short, there really isn't much news besides that. Me and Sister Clark have just had SO much fun and I'm so sad it'll be over...but we now have a bucket list of about 50 things for when we get home so it won't be for too long before we hang out again. ha Well I love you all SO much, thank you for everything! I couldn't ask for a better family :) LOVE YOU!!!!

Love,

Sister Benesch

Chicken Legs

Hello there everyone,

Since we just emailed on Wednesday this email might be kind of short, but it was a good couple days! ha On Saturday Rufina was baptized!!! YAY! Two little girls from less active families were also baptized with her and she joked that she's like their grandma getting baptized with them..ha but it went great. I really love her so much :)

However the day of her baptism was SO hot, we were trying to teach people and just dripping sweat, it was even hard to breath. Then we rode the jeep to the church and it started to sprinkle and then it dumped on us while we were walking and we had one little broken umbrella! We showed up to the church looking like we'd jumped in a pool...but it was crazy weather. Sadly because of that Sister Clark got a fever of 101 that night, but I was a good doctor and she was all better the next morning :)

So I can't remember if I told you this but I'm starting to write a miracle a day in my journal, and I decided I could share a few with you now. One day it cooled down a little bit at night and me and Sister Clark realized that we had chicken legs!! We never realized how small they are when they're not all swollen!! So Elder Kumar couldn't tease me about my "chubby leg" as he calls it :) haha It was awesome! It gave us hope that when we go home we'll be smaller! Also, another miracle was that little broken umbrella we had for atleast a little protection because actually it was one we had borrowed from Rufina and bringing back to her...neither of us had our own with us. And then another good one, one night we were both not feeling good from walking around all day in the HOTTEST weather you can imagine and there was orange juice on sale for 25 pesos!! And for the size it was, it usually would be like double that. I was so excited! I drank it all (800 mL) in like 5 minutes. ha It was great :)

That's one thing though that I don't think I could have imagined before I came here-the heat. It might only be around 100 degrees, but then when you add the humidity it literally is hotter than anything I've ever been in. You just have sweat pouring down you all day, and literally when I change into pajamas my clothes are just wet...it's so nasty! There are tons of ants everywhere, even in our water, that we have to pick out and you just feel itchy from the sweat. Not going to lie it's a little miserable sometimes, but it definitely makes me appreciate laying in my bed each night with the fan full blast blowing on my face :) It's an adventure for sure.

Well the rest of this week was good, Sister Evelyn is still doing great preparing for her new baptismal date, and then our other investigator sister Luz is really doing great too. Neither have drank coffee again so I think they'll be ok! :) Sadly transfers is next week so I might not be here :( But me and Sister Clark are hoping we can have one more together.. Oh I also spoke in sacrament and that went pretty good. I spoke about the "it" from the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors, saying their mother's knew "it" and I think it was pretty good :) ha But that was basically my week.

I love you all so much, thank you for all your support! Hope you're doing great :)

LOVE,

Sister Benesch