Hola everyone?! Thank you for the emails. It sounds like everyone is doing well which makes me way happy. If you´re happy, I´m happy! This week flew by, I can´t believe it´s already Monday again. We had a pretty good week and I am grateful to be here as a missionary in Gerona. I love everyone here so much! I´m trying to think of new and exciting things to tell you haha but not much has changed. We are still working with a lot of the same people. But them are doing really good! 

Yesterday we had 4 investigators to church and some menos acitivos again so that was awesome. Sundays as a missionary is quite exhausting as some of you know haha. And yesterday was no exception. We had a crazy ward counsel after church and then ran home to eat real quick and then we had visits the rest of the night! But I loved it so much. Sundays are the highlight of my week.And last night we went to go visit our investigator Teresa.. Oh Teresa. Haha she is great but very bitter and negative about everything. She has hard things happen in her life and she doesn´t feel like there is hope and light in her life. But she has desires to change which is key. Faith starts with a desire to believe and if we do the things to nourish our faith like reading the scriptures, praying and going to church our faith will grow! This is more fully explained in Alma 32, where you can compare our testimony or our faith to a seed. Anyways back to Teresa.  She comes to church almost everyweek and really likes being with the members there. But tells us she doesn´t feel anything when she goes.  She has also been investigating the church, well kind of, for about 8 years or so now. We ending up having an interesting but good lesson with her. She has already read the book of Mormon but we committed her to reading it again as well as praying everyday! She is already starting to change. You can see it in her eyes and in the desires she has to believe. I am grateful for the opportunity we have to teach her. I am learning so much about patience and love. 

Hmmm I am trying to think of what else! Oh on Saturday we had another successful activity with the young single adults. We played some basketball and ping pong... Way up my alley haha. It was really fun for everyone! It reminded me of playing ping pong for hours at family reunions.. Haha remember that Kath? So funny. Oh ya we continue to teach our gypsy family. Mom to answer your question.. I´m not sure if "gypsy" is a correct term to use. But I don´t know if there is another term to describe them. They are originally from Portugal but have lived here for the past 40 years. They all live together in this little neighborhood. And everyone is related and knows each other. And I´m pretty sure the marry their cousins... haha they like to keep everything in the family. But they are doing so well and we love them so much. One of the girls is preparing for baptism and we hope to get the others progressing towards baptism as well. They are a fun family and it is an adventure every time we visit them! 

Wow this turned out to be a long email. Sorry if it was boring haha. Are there other things you would like to hear about? Let me know :). I love being a missionary and time if flying by too fast. Thank you for all you love and support! I hope you have a wonderful week. I love and miss you!! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Benson 

xoxo

Hola everyone! I hope everyone is doing great. Things are going pretty well here in Girona. It has been a bit cold lately but people have been telling us how cold the U.S. has been these last couple weeks. I hope you keep warm!

Here are some highlights from the week: 

1.This last week we had interviews with President Pace... These are always the BEST. We had to travel down to Barcelona which is about 2 hours on train and metro. I think my companion and I are finally starting to get the metro and train systems down around here.  Anways how lucky I am to have such wonderful mission presidents! Unfortunately we only get to talk with him for about 15 minutes because there are so many missionaries now. But it´s totally worth it and I always learn so much from him. 

2. Yesterday Augustine recieved the priesthood so that was pretty exciting and he also said the closing prayer (in english haha we are still working on the spanish thing with him) in sacrament meeting. Yayyy he´s doing super well. He excited told us yesterday that he called his parents in Ghana and told them that he had been baptized and was now a Christian! He said they were very happy. One of my favorite things is seeing the members go up to him and trying to speak in english with him. I love so much that the members are trying to fellowship him into the ward. 

3. Our YSA group in the branch really struggles so we are trying to help them and build them up. And we went to get them all on missions! We have so many potential missionaries here. So we have been working with their leaders to get some activities going. And the first activity was bowling on Saturday night. Haha is was super fun and guess who the ganadora is... me haha. The night turned out well because we had an investigator there and a couple less actives. And everyone had a great time! 

4. Yesterday after church we were invited to go eat with a less active woman and her family. And let me tell ya it´s not just any old family. Haha it is a very big gypsy family from Portugal! I have never seen such a different culture in my life but I love them so much. They invited us out to the land that they have outside the city where the cook and party outside. Don´t worry we took the elder´s quorum president and his family with us. They cooked us this huge thing of rice and mystery meat (not sure what is was ... I think it included rabit, chicken, pork, lamb and sea food haha) over this big fire. It was fun because it was kind of like camping!  After eating we rounded them all up to share a message of Christ. There were a lot of them so it was kind of intimadating but it turned out to be a really cool experience that I will never forget. 

That´s really it for this week. The work continues on and I am so grateful to be here serving my Savior. I know that as we build our foundation on Christ (Helaman 5:12) by doing the little things (sunday school answers), we will be able to overcome any of challenges that we may face. I am grateful for the atonement in my life and in the lives of others. Thank you for all your love and support. I hope you have a wonderful day and that you know how much I love you and our Heavenly Father loves you! 

Quidese mucho,

Hermana Benson 

xoxo 

Hola a todos! How is everyone doing? He sorry I didn´t email yesterday! We had transfers in the missionary so preparation day is Tuesday instead of Monday. I can´t believe the holiday season is over and that everyone is going back to school now! My companion and I contemplated taking down our little Christmas tree this morning while we were cleaning but I just couldn´t quite do it haha until next week! The celebrations here in Girona just ended yesterday because on the 6th of January the celebrate dia de los reyes magos. And it´s a holiday like christmas but the three wise men bring gifts instead of Santa Claus. Pretty cool! 

Guess what?!! Augustine is now a member of the church!!! YAY!! He was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was such a special day and I am so happy for him. He had us crying and laughing all at the same time. The baptism went really smooth and the spirit was so strong. And my favorite part of baptisms is when the person who was baptized shares their testimony afterwards. And because Augustine doesn´t speak spanish very well I got to translate what he was saying so the members could understand. His testimony was the best thing ever! He just kept saying how happy he was and how strongly he could feel the spirit. It is such a blessing to see him progress in the gospel. And the members are doing such a good job of fellow shipping him into the branch! Yes. So great. 

Hermana Jarman and I have been busy this week and we have seen so many miracles! I want to share one experience that happened the other day. In our mission we do something called the first contact. It´s where as soon as you leave your apartment you contact the first person you see. And we have really been trying to be better at this. Anyways we contacted this woman named Rebecca and we hardly said anything and she just like spilled her life to us. This seems to happen a lot as missionaries and I love it! So she is a woman from Mexico! Haha we were so excited when she told us this. And then she explained how she had been through some really hard things and she told us about how she developed her relationship with the Savior. Wow she is so prepared. We can hardly wait to start teaching her. She is going to be a great member! 

I am still just in aw about how prepared these people are that God has put in our path. I can testify that the Lord is preparing people´s hearts right now to accept the gospel. His work is moving forward! I am grateful to be here and I am grateful I have the chance to share my testimony that Christ lives and he loves us! 

I love you all so much! And I am grateful for you! 

xoxo, Hermana Benson

Hey everyone! 

How are you all doing? This was a great week and it was so good to talk to my dearest family on Christmas! I couldn´t have asked for a better Christmas gift. Apart from the holidays this was also a great week

for missionary work. I feel so blessed to be here are as a missionary. I love being a part of the Lord´s work. 

The miracle of the week was for sure Augustine. He is the man from Ghana who we have been teaching for about 4 weeks now. We have had a hard time getting ahold of him because he injured his back ... But we finally had a cita with him this last Tuesday. And ever since we first started teaching him he has loved the book of mormon. So anyways we sit down and like usual we ask about how is reading in the LDM is going. And he tells us that he only has one chapter left. This man has read the whole book of mormon!!! Wow. And then he started bearing his testimony to us of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. It was amazing and the spirit was so strong. The Book of Mormon is so powerful. It is crucial to our conversion in the gospel. After this great lesson with him we set a baptismal date with him for the 4th of January. And he came to church yesterday and is excited for his baptism! He is one of the most prepared people I have ever met or taught. What a blessing to watch his progression in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I just want to share a scripture with you before I close. It is found in Proverbs 3:5-6 and I´m sure you have heard it before! It says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I love this scripture because I know that God has a plan for each fo us and that if we trust in him he will give us that guidance and direction that we need in our lives. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I know he lives and he wants to bless us with everything he has. 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week! 

xoxo,

Hermana Benson 

Hola a todos! Como estaís? Can you believe Christmas is practically here. I love this time of year and I will be so sad when it´s over. Being a missionary around this time has been so great. On Saturday we had La Cena de Navidad with the branch. And it was a huge success because so many people came, including like 20 investigators! But the coolest thing happened. I was talking with a less active woman and a friend that she brought. After we had been talking for a minute the friend asked me that if as missionaries we go door to door. And of course we do haha. And I guess we knocked her door the other week and talked with her daughter. She then went on the tell me that she was looking for a church to join and that she wanted her kids to come to our clase de ingles. So right then and there we set up an appointment to go visit her and her two kids. We are going to see them tonight and I am so excited to have a whole new family to teach! Yay miracles are real and we see them everyday. Haha there were so many people there my companion and I were going crazy talking to people. The night was filled with talents and yummy food. And we went home all spanished out haha. 

And the next day was Sunday... Also my birthday! Ugggghh I can´t believe I´m 21 haha weird. So we went to church and all the little girls from the age of like 5-14 attacked me with besos, abrazos, and cartas. And then later that day we had the christmas fireside that my companion and I organized. We had the scriptures read of the story of Christ´s birth with musical numbers in between. The spirit was strong and we were all reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. And then after we had some refreshments and then relief society president came out with a hug cake for me haha. It was so sweet of everyone and I felt very loved! It was for sure a birthday to remember. And Mom thank you thank you for the birthday package! Just what I needed. ;) 

Since we are celebrating the day of Christ´s birth I just wanted to share with you my testimony. I know that we have a Savior who lives. I know that he suffered and died for us because he loves us. And if we live his gospel and apply his atonement we can one day live with him,  our Heavenly Father and each other again! How great is the message! I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony of the Savior everyday. I am so grateful for my Savior and I love him so very much!  And that is why I am here serving a mission. I hope you can all find time to ponder about our Savior and all he has done for us. How blessed and loved we are! 

Juan 3:16

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! You are in my thoughts and prayers! 

xoxo,

Hermana Benson 

P.S. I want to wish you a merry christmas (said in a spanish accent)! 

Hola a todos! How is everyone doing? It is so great to hear from you. Things here in Girona are starting to pick up. We have truly been blessed. I am loving the area and people so much. Being a missionary is such a blessing and I am so grateful to be here serving the Lord. 

Okay so during the day we went to a zone enfoque in Barcelona. And there I got to see some missionaries that I haven´t seen in a while so that was great! It was so fun to see Hermana Tyler again. Love that girl. Oh and I also met this hermana who is friends with Alison and her sister is visiting teaching companions with you mom! Haha I can´t remember her name though. Cute girl! Anyways so after the meeting we missed our train, haha happens to often as a missionary, so we got back to Girona a little later then planned. So then we were hurrying to an appointment and we got a little lost... Haha it happens as a missionary, especially when you are new in the area. And we were walking really fast trying to find this apartment and we walked past this man sitting on a bench. And we got about a block but I knew we had to go back and talk to him. So we turned back around and started talking to him and he invited us to sit down with him. He is a 40 year old man from Ghana named Augustine and has been living in Spain for about 3 years. He was so excited to talk to us and to learn more about Christ and the church! And then we asked him why he was so excited to talk with us and he told us that it´s because he could feel something inside when we were talking with him. And he kept saying I am happy, I am happy. So cool! The spirit is real. It´s the spirit the moved us to talk with him and it´s the spirit that touched his heart. Since then we have met with him twice and he has come to church! He loves the Book of Mormon and told us that he knows that it will tell him what he needs to do. And he is going to be baptized on the 21st! We are so excited to continue to see his progression in the gospel. He is awesome and we love him! There are people that are prepared to hear and accept the gospel. We only need to invite them! 

Whheew that was a long story haha but a good one! Hmmm I am trying to think of what else to tell you. Not much else is knew! We are still trying to get to know all of the members and trying to figure out our area. Oh we are planning some great things for Christmas. We will be having a christmas dinner and talent show haha. And then we are having a christmas devotional with musical numbers and scripture readings. I love this time of year! It´s the most wonderful time of the year! haha. Well I hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your love and support! I hope to hear from you again soon. I love and miss you all! 

Besos y abrazos,

Hermana Benson 

Hola a todos! Hey everyone! How are you all doing? As you know I was transfer this week. I was sad to leave San Sebastian but I am so excited for what the Lord has in store. I am now serving in Girona. It is a little city north of Barcelona. There is a branch here that needs our helping making a ward. There are four Elders here but we will be opening the area for Hermanas. And we are so excited and ready to get to work! My companion is Hermana Jarman. She is from Mesa, Arizona and so so nice and cute. I already feel like I have know her for years. She just finished her training with my mtc companion Hermana Hopkins. 

Things have been a little crazy just trying to get everything for our piso and trying to find our way around this place since we are both new. But it will be an adventure and I am grateful to be here. I know that the Lord would not send us here if there were not people prepared to accept the gospel and be baptized. And it´s kind of nice starting all over. We need to start getting to know the members and start finding people to teach. We are going to be talking with everyone! Haha. Oh also here in Girona the speak Catalan because we are in Catalunia... Like the signs and everything are in Catalan but everyone speaks spanish as well. Looks like I am going to start having to picking up a few phrases haha. The people here also want to be their own country and leave spain. We were talking with this lady on the train last night and she was telling us all about it. It´s interesting but I doubt it will happen any time soon. 

I am really excited to get to know and work with the members! I love members and menos activos.. okay I really love them all. But we hear from the Elders that they are excited to have some hermanas here so I can´t wait to meet them. We actually met to young women last night. They were great! And we met with our ward mission leader who is so amazing. He has vision for the missionary work in their branch and he hopes that someday really soon we will be able to go on splits with the members all the time. And they recently just called 8 ward missionaries! Wow I am so excited and I know that we are going to see many miracles here! 

Well that´s really all for now. Sorry I am just emailing today, we did not have time yesterday. I hope you are all doing well and that you have a great thanksgiving! I´m not sure what we will be doing but something great haha. I am thankful for all of you and for the opportunity I have to share the gospel. God lives and he loves us. I love you and miss you all x 10! 

Besos y abrazos,

Hermana Benson