When I got here and was sleeping in a comfy bed with sheets and thought about the hot water shower and the food that I would be offered, at first I thought that I would turn it all down and not take advantage of it. I thought I was going to be like Uriah who said that he couldn´t possible go home to visit his wife, knowing full well that his men were out fighting in the battles, but then I remembered that it was that kind of attitude that got him killed. So from the get go I said yes to every time they offered me anything special. Peanut butter, ranch, bacon! steak, ice cream, sleeping in, taking naps… I said yes to it all! But I still was very helpful to them in every single little detail. I cleaned, I served, I cooked, I washed… I was like Annie. I told them I had to earn my keep. They laughed. :)
FYI : So when I was in the hospital, my companion was usually at my side or right outside the door just waiting around and trying not to be worried about me. The assistants were outside on the phone dealing with endless problems.
In this adventure I have been treated to McDonald's on the mission twice! Talk about spoiled, and the Benton´s took me out to eat at this American restaurant called Kansas near the mission home. There was valet parking and I ordered salmon with yummy potatoes and a salad. The appetizer we shared was cheese covered potato wedges and it was divine. We went back to the mission mansion for dessert and ordered Freddo´s ice cream. YUM.
The Benton´s are so much fun and absolutely hilarious. You are going to be the best of friends and they are very anxious to meet you. I tried to explain 'Rage' to them and Phase 10, I think they´ll pick up on them quick. President Benton LOVES having people over for fancy dinners. On Sunday he invited the 6 office Elders and we had steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cop, rolls, salad, ice cream and oreos. We all kinda miss American food… can ya tell? It was like a scene from Pride and Prejudice because he gave us all a topic to research (examples from the scriptures of people using their agency wisely and unwisely) which we later used as the after dinner spiritual discussion. I kind of felt like we were being evaluated to see what we would all contribute to the conversation and being the only sister I was even more nervous to make sure to hold my own. He seemed happy with my contribution with Jonah as the bad example and Ruth as the good one… he likes people who are loyal! Then those who can play the piano were invited to select a hymn and everyone else stood around the Steinway and Sons grand piano and we sang hymns. I played Be still my soul flawlessly as I had been practicing it all week long.
This part will shock you: I have loved this week in the mission home. I finally got to take advantage of some long needed R&R and solitude to really just think and be myself. I was completely blessed to just be calm and not stress about the fact that I wasn´t working because I knew that 2 others were. The Lord answered my prayers and helped us get the mini and I have been keeping in touch with the work and all, but I have been able to just let myself BE here and know that I will soon BE there. I have been having thousands of conversations with President and Sister Benton and have received so much counsel on just about every subject. Not just about the mission and the work, but about how much President thinks I should get an advanced degree and be a lawyer-- as to what kind of man I will find and marry and how I will win him. President says that I need to wait for the one who deserves me and that I´ll probably find him in law school. Sister Benton taught me about how I don´t need to downplay my strengths, I just need to use them to support instead of compete. They are both so wise and so interested in me and my life. They sincerely care about me and want me to have the best of the best. They are just like my real parents. They are very spiritual of course, they don´t play mind games and they don´t make you feel dumb. They relate everything to the gospel and are strictly obedient.
One night the pain was really severe and I asked President for a blessing and he gave me one that reminded me of my Daddy´s blessings… clear, sure, and inspired. There is nothing like a Father´s blessing – be it your real father, or your mission father… they are just amazing! I feel so blessed to have been raised in a home where I always could count on a Father´s blessing when I needed it.
To answer your question… the hardest thing to leave will be them. President and Sister Benton are so important to me. I will miss them dearly, but in under 2 years they will be finishing their mission and I will be able to see them again.
The dislodged ribs were quite painful, but they have settled back into place and now I just have a residual cough that may last a month more. Lame.Mom – would you be so kind as to make President and Sister Benton one of your beautiful cards and send it to them for having taken care of me this week? Thanks!
This week I have been a mini assistant helping them with details and translation and stuff. They really appreciate me and keep telling me how great I am and how I would make a great assistant. I decided that my dream would be to return to the mission field in the next day or two, finish my mission and then just move into the mission home and be their personal assistant until they finish and then we can all come home together. I bet you don´t think that´s the best idea because I´d still be here and not there, but I´d have the freedom to write and call and text and all that jazz, so we would be as close as we were when I was in college. And of course I would come and visit for a little while first. I think what dawned on me is that I want to do some kind of work like this… taking care of all the little details for people who are too busy with more important things. I can be a good personal assistant.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon and highlighting some 25 odd key words in various colors to see just where each topic is discussed in it. It is so cool to do that! I have never read it so fast and never had such a great experience doing it. I can´t wait to show you how beautiful it is! I´m going to finish it today.
To answer your question… the hardest thing to leave will be them. President and Sister Benton are so important to me. I will miss them dearly, but in under 2 years they will be finishing their mission and I will be able to see them again.
The dislodged ribs were quite painful, but they have settled back into place and now I just have a residual cough that may last a month more. Lame.Mom – would you be so kind as to make President and Sister Benton one of your beautiful cards and send it to them for having taken care of me this week? Thanks!
This week I have been a mini assistant helping them with details and translation and stuff. They really appreciate me and keep telling me how great I am and how I would make a great assistant. I decided that my dream would be to return to the mission field in the next day or two, finish my mission and then just move into the mission home and be their personal assistant until they finish and then we can all come home together. I bet you don´t think that´s the best idea because I´d still be here and not there, but I´d have the freedom to write and call and text and all that jazz, so we would be as close as we were when I was in college. And of course I would come and visit for a little while first. I think what dawned on me is that I want to do some kind of work like this… taking care of all the little details for people who are too busy with more important things. I can be a good personal assistant.
I have been reading the Book of Mormon and highlighting some 25 odd key words in various colors to see just where each topic is discussed in it. It is so cool to do that! I have never read it so fast and never had such a great experience doing it. I can´t wait to show you how beautiful it is! I´m going to finish it today.
Conditions here: a Villa Miseria is a dangerous part of town where the really poor people just build little shacks that sometimes have electricity, sometimes not that are usually like 4 walls and a roof of that bumpy tin material – my English is failing me. One is right up next to the other so they share that wall. They sometimes have brick walls too. They are so humble and so small and very dangerous at night. We drove by one the other day and I was pretty floored as it occurred to me that people live there.In my area there are many humble homes that are just built of giant bricks and uneven mortar. They don´t have real walls or ceilings, but they all have electricity. Cement floors that are uneven and breaking, if you are lucky you have a heater to plug in, if not, you bundle up and all sleep together on one bed. Poor people have dirt, normal people have cement, rich people have grass, wealthy people have live green grass. Dirt roads, stray dogs, little food. The family we are working with lives on under $300 US a month and has 4 children and needs a ton of medication each month. Other homes could pass for the states, it all comes down to what street you live on and how much money you have. The mission mansion for example… you don´t even realize you´re in Argentina except for the fact that all the appliances are in Castellano, but we are also in Acasusso which is a really rich town. Padua is not considered “campo” but it is not really city either. It has parts of city and parts of ghetto. One thing that is pretty common is for people to just move into an abandoned house and make it their own until someone comes to kick them out. It´s not legal, but that is what many needy people do, like this family we´re working with. They just found this empty house and moved in.
Guess what?!! President Benton said that I would be able to go on a division with Sister Pruner before we both finish the mission! I was so excited. He treats me like a princess sometimes.
I ran a few errands with Maria who cooks and cleans here and I was coughing almost the entire time. The cold air seems to get to me, but I can´t just hide away until winter is over. I´m going to go back to work tomorrow or the next day and find a way to just not cough. Supposedly it was Bronchitis and not Pleural Effusion or Pneumonia, but all I know is that I was sick and the Lord put me in the mission home to teach me a lot of things.
From what I have been told ________ started smoking again, but is quitting again and he even went to all 3 hours of church on Sunday. Romina was confirmed! ______ returned from Lobos or Chacabuco or wherever he was and is giving us trouble, but we will get him baptized. Lisbeth and Julio decided to get married, they just have to go and do it! And there is a lot of hope with Santiago because Beatriz (his wife, the mom of Nico) is really coming back strong to the church. I know that we can have a ton of success this transfer and I am just about ready to get back out and cough all day long in the street if I have to!
I love the mission so much and have a new vision of how I want to serve. I see things a different way now and I am ready to put in practice a bunch of things I have learned here. But one thing is for sure… I am so patient… imagine a high-strung sister missionary like me just chilling with Señorita Evita in the mission mansion for a week… the Lord has refined me and opened my eyes and I am ready to show the whole world how better a person and missionary I can be. I have just over 4 months left in His full-time service and I am ready to work every single day I have.
I pray for you a ton and hope that everyone is healing from their surgeries. I know that the Lord hears prayers. I have never felt to privileged. This time has been priceless to me because I have learned so much. I do not regret for one second that I am here “resting” in the mission home. The Lord put me here for a reason and I learned that I am not dispensable. The work will always go forward.
I love you so much and hope that the heat doesn´t get to you. I will drink lemon water and as far as meat goes… we get little, so don´t stress about it.
I am so happy, I only see the good. I love you tons!
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