BLESSINGZ

WHAT AN AWESOME WEEK!

here is my new email address: benjamin.jeppesen@missionary.org

We had transfers yesterday. I am still here in San Pedro with Elder Monteiro. At the end of every transfer we get to have interviews with President Haws, it's my favorite.
We visited 22 people on Saturday and it wasn't even everyone we are teaching. Elder Monteiro and I are super excited about this transfer because we have so many opportunities. It's a little stressful because I feel like we have to take advantage of every single one.

We are starting our tour through "Calle Jeppesen" and we are teaching the neighbors of the Hernandez family who we just baptized. There are 7 of them and they're all family. They started playing Post Malone and I took advantage of the opportunity and started dancing to it, they thought it was the funniest thing in the world. They have an Antojitos Tienda which is just all the classic fried Mexican foods like empanadas, tostadas, panuchos, mamelas. It's so good and they always feed us.
Our pastor is still coming to church... love him
My favorite food is a fried banana. they eat so many bananas here because they just grow everywhere.

Here is a picture of our ward activity I'm actually pretty tan now but I look like a ghost with these people.

It's HOT

Long week this week especially because there was just so much sun. I don't know if it's actually super super hot but the sun is so strong and nobody has A/C! It was harder this week... we came into the week with a ton of high expectations and it just seemed like not much went our way. It's okay though,  we still had miracles like we do every single week! I got to give my first talk in sacrament meeting! I honestly didn't know how well it was gonna go down but I wasn't nervous because we only have like 80 people in our rama. The spirit was really strong! Some members came up to me and said that they thought I had a lot of the time in the mission because my Spanish was good! That made me happy because I only have like 4 months in Mexico! I love the Hernandez family they're so strong and Hermano Javier blessed the sacrament for the first time it was so awesome. I was having a harder week this week but then we had a noche de hogar with a family that are recent converts and I was talking and the spirit was strong and I was just so happy and I remembered that those moments are the reasons why I'm here.
I was super excited to hear missionaries can call their families now! Then I realized we don't have a phone that can call America nor do we have microphones or cameras on the computers here. Oh well I hope my next area will have the resources.
I'm getting used to spicy foods!!! I couldn't eat jalapenos before my mission now I can't have empanadas without some habanero!
Taught Elder Monteiro that if you mix bug spray and soap you have big fire lol

MISS ALL OF YOU GUYS SO MUCH

Romans 8

This is Elder Santos (the left) and Elder Reynoso (the right). Elder Santos is hilarious he is from Honduras, he's new in his training. I always tease him, telling people that he doesn't like beans.

 I put Romans 8 for the subject because I love that chapter!
I have noticed that the principle of work is declining in popularity. Which is slightly ironic in my opinion because I have realized in my short time on earth that the happiest moments or moments of joy come from the things that I have worked hard to accomplish. I remember a few days before I came out on my mission I spent hours mowing trimming and cleaning my yard. The whole time I was thinking to myself that I cannot wait to go on my mission. Thinking for some reason that my mission I wasn't gonna be walking 10 miles a day in the sun. The little fruits and joy that come from working hard on something and seeing it through are the things I love. Like a freshly trimmed lawn, or on a scale much grander, sharing tears of happiness with a family after their baptism when the mother says "I know Heavenly Father loves me and my family because of the spirit that I feel right now". One of my favorite quotes I remember from part of a book I read junior year by George Shaw

'This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.'

The world is ugly and it is only going to get more ugly through devotion and diligence to something that helps us grow closer to understanding the Love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ we are happy.

Shout out to Carinne Crum for Turning 19 and getting her mission call to someplace in Africa that is hard for us to pronounce!!! 

Miss Everyone sooo much!

I survived my 1st earthquake

This week there was an earthquake!! It was really weird. My 1st one I think.

I had an AWESOME WEEK! We baptized the Hernandez Family and they are incredible. Seriously they have some of the strongest testimonies. I have never experienced miracles like the ones they experienced this week. There always something special when you get to baptize the family that you teach all the lessons to. 

We got chased by turkeys at first I was a little scared but then I remembered they are just birds lol.

There was a tiny earthquake I thought I got really dizzy and was gonna be sick or something but turns out it was just an earthquake. :(

I'm still super sweaty here and the food is getting spicier... They're getting used to me here and think I'm Mexican or something. I had some chicken feet that were soaked and cooked in pure habanero... I wasn't ready.

 I'M SUPER excited for this week.

I always see tarantulas and iguanas like no other here but this week I saw a crocodile which was fun.