Week 16: Caucaia, Brazil

     Merry Christmas to all as somehow it's already happening tomorrow (that being the reason I'm writing today, our p-day got moved). Now this might make you wonder, "Elder Bennion, as the incredible missionary you are, what are your plans for Cristmas?" To which I would have to respond using the words if a fictional portrayal of Angelica Skyler and respond, "work, work", but I do get to call home so thats nice. Also I have today off and Christmas Eve is the big day down here.

      This week marks four weeks here in Brazil for me and I've gotta say, its fantastic. This week weve been given so much cake by the members, I don't know if its the holiday season but members giving us cake has become a basically daily occurrence.

      In other culinary news, this week I put on my imaginary chef hat and decided it was time to introduce my companion, Elder Da Silva to the joy of American Pancakes, that being said they had no syrup at the shop so I had to make chocolate chip pancakes to compensate (improvis, adapt, overcome). 

      We also had a big Christmas conference with half the missionaries in the entire mission. It was a great time with a talent show, food (more cake), and exchanges afterwords.

     Exchanges are when you swap with another companionship so for a day; I worked a different area with Elder Farrer which was awesome as he is also new so I could understand what he was saying and we where right by the ocean so we got the ocean breeze and I got to lay eyes on the Atlantic Ocean once more. A moral boost for certain.

      A lot of people here think Santa, or Papai Noel as they call him is Catholic, but I would have to reject that notion as we went to the ward Christmas party and you guys, he was there! I believe thats case closed.

     I hope yall are having a fantastic Christmas season, I cant wait to write you next week about whater hijinx we get up to, until then take care and heres the Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xtrv4XrgQjEyX7XK6

Spiritual Thought: No surprises here, I'm talking about Christmas and specifically about the gift of Christ. For any of you who have seen the Peanuts Christmas special, you'll remember the part where Linus reminds Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. He talks about the birth of Christ and it reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). The gift of Christmas is Christ himself. His life was totally devoted to serving others, he left us with teachings that bring joy into our lives and so much more, the chance for life eternal. Cheesy as it may seem Christmas truly is a time to remember the one who gave it all and pay it forward. Marry Christmas, remember Jesus loves you.

   - God be with you till we meet again, 

                Elder Bennion 

Week 15 Caucaia, Brazil

      Hello one and all, gather around the imaginary fire pit and prepare to be regailed with the tales of my week here in Brazil.

     The week started off stong with a meeting with other missionaries in my zone (a big part of the mission area) for breakfast and a training I didn't realy understand as alas, I still don't speak all that much Portuguese. That being said it was fun getting to catch up with the other Elders including Elder Beare.

     Walking all day every day is definitely getting easier for me and I can usually keep up with Elder Da Silva dispite him literaly being the Flash. It also helps that we visit so many cool people who are always so chill. We where literaly listening to American Christmas music with a member yesterday, so yeah, the people here rock.

      My Portuguese is getting much better as I'm now able to introduce us and talk about what we do and offer a Book of Mormon as a present while explaining it. Still have legitimately no clue what anyone around me is saying but that should come in time (fingers crossed). 

     The food here continues to be delicious and my pizza counter increases to 3! I'll admit going in to the mission, I was a bit skeptical regarding Brazilian food but its easily one of the highlights. 

      If you wish to keep up with my journey, also feel free to check out the Google photos ablum:https: //photos.app.goo.gl/Xtrv4XrgQjEyX7XK6

      Its starting to feel normal being here in Brazil which is awesome,  I cannot wait to regail you with tails of my travels in this far off land next week, till then, adeu.

Spiritual Thought: One of the coolest parts of being on a mission is how much you have to rely on God. I'll be the first to admit there's a lot about Brazil that goes against what I'm used to and pushes me out of my comfort zone, but every time I've had an actual problem I have brought before the Lord, I have seen it all but vanish. He didn't stop being a God of miracles after the scriptures where done being written, he has blessings and even miracles planed for you if your willing to come to Him in humidity, accept His will and ask. I know He loves you and wants all the best things for you.

     - God be with you till we meet again,

                  Elder Bennion 

Week 14: Caucaia, Brazil

      Hello one and all, as you can see. I'm not yet dead! I've spent the last week having a grand old time preaching the word in the most broken Portuguese known to man with Elder Da Silva, my new companion.

      Elder Da Silva is amazing but alas, he dosent speak english as he is a native Brazilian. Due to this, our conversations are usualy pretty surface level or interpreted via google translate. That being said we've gotten the important things to know down, he likes zombie TV shows, video games, and his favorite Pokémon are Lucario and Mega Charizard X. Another interesting tid bit about Elder Da Silva is he happens to be the fastest walker on the planet earth; I've always considered myself a fast walker, yet he's got me beat by a mile. 

     The weather here is no joke, A few days ago, Elder Da Silva and I where teaching a seminary class in the church at about 7:00 PM, after the sunset. I remember walking outside and thinking, "wow, its so nice out: only to check and see it was 81°, feels like 93°. So yeah, hot.

      We had a big meet up of all the missionaries in our zone this week and I got to see Elder Beare and Sister Anderson, two missionaries from my MTC district, so that was neat! Also got to speak in English wich felt weird after a few days of only Portuguese.

      Finaly, the work: its popping, everyone here is super nice and willing to talk. Our normal line is asking if they want a present, after that Elder Da Silva pulls out either a stuffed Minnion from Dispicable Me, or a toy hairbrush as a joke, before going to the Book of Mormon and having me explain it. It actually works really well.

     Thanks to everyone who reached out this past week, I love hearing from yall, can't wait to tell yall about all the fun stuff I get up to next week!

    Also for any interested, here's my Google photos album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xtrv4XrgQjEyX7XK6 

Spiritual Thought: I want to focus this week on how the Lord wants to help us. One of my favorite things to bring up in lessons is how God wants to bless us as much as we'll let Him (mainly because I can't say much eltse in Portuguese). This week was hard  with lots of walking through the hot Brazilian streets on tierd legs and I found I was in sudden need to remember this promise myself. I can tell you, its true, God wants to bless you, He often works in subtle but real ways to keep us going and help us out. He didn't lower the temperature or make us need to walk less, but he made those challenges seem less overbearing and helped me keep a feeling of peace and joy in my life despite hardship. He doesn't love me more then you, His blessings arent just for missionaries or even members of the church, ask Him for help, He will answer.

      - God be with you till we meet again, 

                Elder Bennion 

Week 13: Presidente Kennedy, Brazil

Hello all, the much anticipated time has come and today I write to you from Presidente Kenedy, Brazil in an apartment with three other Elders; there is much to say so let's get down to the details. Monday night I enjoyed Arizona for the last time (there was mist!), packed, said bye to Elder Corless and Parmenter, and headed to a hotel for the night. I woke up bright and early Tuesday morning at 4:00 AM with the missionaries going home for Thanksgiving, we all grabbed our stuff and headed off. We got the the airport and where given a super important envelope with out birth certificate, Visa, and Passport, natural I lost mine within an hour of getting mine. I left it at the check baggage station and didn't notice until about 5 minutes later when I noticed, to my horror, it was gone. Luckily an employee hunted me down while I was looking for it and I made it to my flight in Atlanta, Georgia. After we landed all the other missionaries had connections to make, but I had about a 9 hour layover so I bummed around the airport all day being board, pacing, and getting McDonald's at the end (woo!). Just before the flight a huge group of about 25 missionaries all arrived, including Elder Anderson, an awsome Elder from my MTC district (shout out Distrito 13-E). We got to catch up on our time state side as we prepared for our flight to São Paulo, Brazil. As we boarded the biggest plane I had been on in my life, I was upgraded to comfort class and realized I had no idea what comfort class was like. They handed out hot towels (wich I didn't know what to do with, so rejected) and served Dinner and Breakfast (alas my appetite was shot due to flying so no dice there either). After a horrible night of trying and failing to sleep, we landed in São Paulo. Wednesday we got off the plane and rushed to get our bags checked again for the flight to Fortaleza. We then went through the Brazilian TSA who where so chill; they didn't care about like anything, I walked through the metal detector and like an idiot forgot my watch, the guy held my watch, had me walk through again and then handed it back to me. Long story short we got on our final flight and where finaly off to Fortaleza. On the flight over me and another Elder talked to a Brazilian man who spoke great English and at the end we even gave him a Livro de Mórmon (I did it Irmão Dalglish, LdM dispensed). After getting to the airport we got our bags and got to meet our new mission present, Presedent Fetosa, who fed us lunch consisting of rice, beans, and sausage, and then gave us a rousing speech in Portuguese wich another Elder who had been there for a while translated for us English speaking missionaries. After that, we where off to our areas and one solo Uber ride with a guy who did not speak English later, I got pared up with three other Elders, two Zone Leaders (Elders who manage a large area of the mission) and one other new missionary who didn't speak Portuguese. Before you ask yes this needs it's own paragraph, prepare yourself for... THE BRAZILIAN PIZZA REVIEW! Its good, it doesn't really have sauce or cheese, but it more then makes up for that because the crust is stuffed with the greatest chocolate I've ever tasted, its sounds weird but your gona have to trust me on this; its fantastic. It's a bit of a contrast going from pepperoni and onion (wich is what my pizza had) to chocolate but in a good way, variety is the spice of life after all. As my email is currently mad long I'll keep the rest breif, we've been walking the streets of Fortaleza all day every day, the people are always so awsome and realy nice and the food is great (see my pizza review). Thursday some menbers made us an "American Thanksgiving" wich consisted of chicken, rice, and mashed potatoes, it was awsome and realy cool to get a taste of home day one. That being said, the heat is no joke hear and being dry is a thing of the past with such high humidity and limited to no AC. The Portuguese is a bit rough but I can more or less get my point across and have even taught a few short lessons to members after lunch. Overall it's been an awsome week and I'm starting to get into the swing of things. This Tuesday is transfers and so I get to meet the missionary who's gonat teach me the ropes for the next three months. Can't wait to write yall next week and tell yall about how I probably got heatstroke! Spiritual Thought: I'll try to keep this one breif, the Lord has got you. He wants to help you in all ways and always make sure you can get though whatever challenges you may face. This week should have been miserable and hard for me but I was able to remember that this is the Lord's work and He has am eye on me personally; dispite all my troubles I have enjoyed this week and found found joy in serving the Lord and helping others. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding". I can tell you these words are true, I promise you with all the energy of my soul, you don't have to suffer alone or carry more than you can bear; His job is to make your burdens light and He already payed the price. All you need to do is ask. Lean not unto your own understanding, don't worry how impossible your situation, He's got you. I have leaned on my Savior and because of that I stand today where I truly couldn't be without Him, you can to. - God be with you till we meet again, Elder Bennion P.S, I know it's mad long this week, my bad I'll keep it shorter in the future but lots happened this week so... yeah, tchau tchau!

Week 12: Chandler Arizona

The date is set, the tickets bought, this time next week, I'll be writing from Brazil! This week I received my travel plans and I fly out tomorrow morning to arrive Wednesday afternoon in Fortaleza, Brazil. I am so glad to have had the chance to serve here in Arizona and meet all the fantastic people here. That being said, I'm definitely glad to head out to Brazil, nice as practicing with members is getting immersed in Portuguese is definitely important. This week we had an awsome meeting with my district and we held a "funeral" as one Sister was done with her mission. Definitely gonna miss all the awsome missionaries here, its so incredible to work with such incredible people. In other critical important news, I actualy won a game of chess against another reliving human being. This may not sound terribly impressive but if so you've never played me in chess, I happen to be outrageously awful at chess. But I was able to decimate Elder Parmenter (once out of the 3 games we played). So yeah, next grandmaster right here. When I arrived in Arizona with an umbrella, they called me mad, but this week, it rained and they where all proved fools as I stood dry under my umbrella and they stood wet under the unforgiving sky. I'm exaggerating, it wasn't that bad and Elder Parmenter had a Poncho, but still, I got to use my umbrella! Spiritual Thought: I have been thinking about lighthouses this week, mostly in terms of metaphors. Life has many challenges and often we can feel alone, lost, and powerless as waves crash against us and threaten to pull us down into unthinkable depths. Rain and storm buffet us and in these times it is easy to declare all is lost, but when we need direction, if we are willing to look and listen, the lighthouse is there. The job of a lighthouse is to help bring ships to safety, to direct them against unseen perils. The keeper of the lighthouse knows the waters and the shore, he has a plan and knows how to navigate around the dangers. Similarly if we look unto Chist, we can see what we need to do. He has a plan for us and knows what we must face and understands the pains we have suffered as He felt them. Look unto Him, He wants to help you and askes only your cooperation in return. I know that if we take that first step of turning towards the lighthouse, He will see us to shore safely. - God be with you till we meet again, Elder Bennion

Week 11: Chandler Arizona

The prophesied day has come, the day of dread and terror, my visa is ready to go. In all seriousness, I finaly get to head to Brazil; I should be there before the end of the month. I'm real glad I've been keepin up with the Portuguese and also releved I get to start actualy making some real progress. So yeah, Brazil, here I come! Missionary work this week is GOING! We have five diffrent people where teaching and I actualy got to teach lessons to non-members this week. I can truly say there's no greater feeling then watching people come closer to the Savior and feeling the peace and love of Christ. My Portuguese studies are going great, I got to do a practice lesson this week with a member who was pretending to be a non-member. I've never had anti-LDS argument presented to me in Portuguese during a practice lesson before but I was able to answer questions and get through the lesson with my broken Portuguese. It was a great time and afterward we got to talk about what its like in Brazil as she served a mission there. I love being a missionary, it's the hardest thing I've ever done but I've never felt stronger, smarter, happier, and more confident in teaching. I can wait to tell yall about my adventures this week come next Monday, till then, até logo! Spiritual Thought: I was reading in my scriptures this week about the prophet Moroni. Moroni lived a hard life and saw everyone he knew and loved killed in war with another nation; what I found so interesting was how Moroni responded to them, he prayed for them, he wanted them to find the peace and joy he had in Christ. Jesus taught to love our enemies and I had always assumed it was about separating us from the world or showing our devotion to Christ, but what Moroni understood is that loving our enemies is how we find peace. There is power in giving up the strifes of this world and as Presedent Nelson said, thinking celestial. I know that God loves us and wants us to find joy in this life, all His comandments have that goal in mind, we only need trust Him. - God be with you till we meet again, Elder Bennion

Week 9: Chandler, Arizona

 Feliz Dia de Bruxas, in english, happy Haloween (Day of Whiches if you want that exact translation). This week has been spooktacular and I'm ready to get into it. 

     The work continues and where actualy getting people to teach wich is SO exciting! I loved teaching of Christ and I've definitely seen how the gospel has something for everyone.

     Portugese keeps on, on top of daily study the members of my wards have been kind enought to help me practice and so I get to teach two practice lessons a week which is so great. Im trying to try to think in Portugese more and more and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere. Mind you I'm under no illusions I won't be cooked when I hit Brazil, but you do what you can. No use stressing when it can't be helped.

     This week we had our ward Halloween pary wich for yall not in the know, is known as "trunk or treat" because you decorate your trunk and hand candy out to kids. We made 10 comandment headstones cuz they lokey already looked like graves. We handed out like 10 pounds of candy and got to dress up. If you can figure out who Elder Parmenter and I where feel free to reach out, but no points for Elder Corless who didn't dress up :( muito triste. 

     Haloween night I got to play Dungeons and Dragons and put my roommates against the evils the the vampire Count Strahd Von Zarovitch. After a great night of rolling dice and bashing the undead, the lord of undeath fell from his castle. I didn't realize how much I missed playing D&D but now I'm so ready to get back to work!

Spiritual Thought: There is a story from one of my favorite books of a man who raced a great storm. He raced it over mountains, plains, and whole contents. He ran and ran, out running the storm dispite imense hardship and pain. At the end, his body, having given all it can, falls and his life ends. When the storm catches up it pauses, the man ran all he could and the storm understood that this had to be done. We all race our storms and it is often hard or even impossible. No matter how strong our will, we will always find times that no matter what we feel despritly short, but he kept running and so can we. The story ends with the man's spirit rising to run evermore, to race the storm without tire or pain. If we do what we can we will find our storms things of the past. Trust in God, He uses weak things and makes them strong, He perfects us and that storm we tried desperately to keep ahead of today can be a small problem tomorrow.

     - God be with you till we meet again, 

                 Elder Bennion 

P.S. yeah, that's a picture of me with Szeth and his Highspren and for the record, nightblood had a smoke machine so it was indeed bleeding black smoke.