Ben's Letter march 18, 2013 getting more contacts

Hello Family

Well this week has flownby maybe because I am beggining to understand people and the fact that I got letters from you guys ect (Diana it takes 8 days apparently for letters to go through) super suprising actually. Anyway this week was super cool, when I first got here Pres. Fluckiger challenged us to do 10 contacts every day and I had been slacking on that so this week after District meeting we decided to have a compitition in our district to see who could get the most contact in a day. so the next day we started to contact like crazy and that is hard to do not really knowing any thing so off we went. Well that day I contacted 16 people and among thoes was Alvero. Alvero is a gentelman who belives in Christ and is searching for the Truth and the best bible that he has found is the J W so Elder Fry talked to him and we left him a Book of Mormon, it was all super good we just need to work on being sure to get addresses and phone numbers next time but he has our number so please keep him in your prayers that he will call back. So back to the competition we ended up contacting 31 people taht day and we were in last place!!!! Matozios got 45 and Foz got 50!!! then we realized how great it was to actually do work and get numbers back. we have got almost 10 contact every day since and it has showed in our numbers. we found like 8 people when we usually find 1 or 2 we taught 17 lessons and normally get 10 and this week normally we have 3 people in sacrament meeting but we had 6!!!!!!!! we were super blest. it is awesome!!!! in total our district had 525 contact just this week with 89 lessons with everyone. and 12 people in church!!!!!!!!!!!! we have blown our zone goals out of the water and its all from contacting 10 people or more every day wow this talk to everyone thing really works I think the Lord know what he is talking about in PMG. ;)

we also have had some other things happen, one last story before I have to go, we were headed out to teach a family on the bus so as we were getting off we stood up and a lady behind us said something I didnt catch but elder Fry did so when we got off the bus he said wow we do speak a little portuguese. then he said that woman behind us said why do they always send the ugly ones. so aparently now I am ugly ha ha super funny well family this is another one of Bens Brief Blubs ha ha I will try to do better and next time I should have some good stories because I am going on a division with Elder Wertz. Elder Wertz has been out one transfer longer than me so we get to work some ``Rookie Magic`` it will be great. well family love you all tons I am out of time again but just remember your little happy ugly elder in Portugal, love Elder Bishop :)

Lisa's letter March 11,2013

Dearest Family!!!

Hello friends!!!
I can't believe that it is Monday already, I feel like the last week
has just flown by. . . despite the fact that it went way too quickly
we had a really great week! I think the high lights of the week were
our exchange with S Williams and S Bone and then Zone Conference! :)
For our exchange, S Williams and I really focused on the power and
authority of our calling as missionaries, and praying with faith! :)
It was incredible to witness the miracles that followed. I know that
both of these sisters had struggled a little, but were excited for
this opportunity to learn and work with another companion. Along with
our focus on the power and authority of our calling, we decided to put
that to use in our finding skills. We did everything that we could all
day to follow any tiny little prompting that we received. :) I loved
how any time we had to make a decision of where to go or what to do,
we were totally in unison! We made it a goal to talk to everyone that
we possible could! We stopped at a gas station after lunch to use the
restroom and while I was waiting for S Williams, I noticed the lady at
the cash register peeking at my name tag. As I stood there, the spirit
told me to go talk to her. I'm not going to lie, I kind of fought it
at first. You would think that after all this time, I wouldn't be
nervous to talk to anyone, but somehow it still gets me a little out
of my comfort zone! But the spirit wouldn't let me leave until I
walked up and talked to her. She was so sweet! We talked a little bit
about what we do as missionaries and were able to teach her just a
little bit before she had to help the next customer. We ended up
leaving her a card and inviting her to come to church!! :) After that,
we jumped in the car and were headed out to go tracting. We prayed
about the streets that we had picked the night before , but felt like
we were in the wrong area. It was funny, as we were driving to the gas
station, I had noticed a street and felt very strongly that we needed
to be there. As we prayed the prompting came again to go tract that
street. I looked over to S Williams and said, "I know this is kind of
crazy. . . but as we were driving over here there was a street that I
felt really good about!!! I think that it was called Cherry Lane." Her
eyes got kind of big and she had a huge smile on her face as she
squealed, "No WAY!! I thought and felt the EXACT same thing!!!" :) It
was awesome!! We went and knocked on the doors and found some really
great people. Our timing was perfect and the spirit reassured us that
we really where in the right place. :) It was so great!!! :) The first
door that we knocked on this awesome African American lady answered
the door. She looked at us, smiled and said, "Oh girls! I would love
to invite you in, but I am running late to work! I am so sorry!! Could
you come back another day??" We set everything up with her door after
door, were so amazed at how the spirit just prompted us and we knew
exactly what to say!! It was awesome!!! That night we went and saw
Sheryl (one of their investigators). She is such a sweet heart, but is
not very fond of S Bone. As soon as we came in she piped up and said,
"Oh S Bishop, I wish that you and S Williams could both just stay
here!! Then I would have 2 GOOD missionaries!" It made me really sad
to hear her talking that way about S Bone. So, I told her that S Bone
was a great missionary and that she just needed some help and
encouragement. I asked her to please, please do everything she could
to help S Bone. I don't know if it will make a difference, but I sure
hope so!!!
Please keep S Bone (and all of our Sisters in my mission in your
prayers!! They are really struggling right now and they really need
the extra prayers!) Our exchanges this week were SO inspired!! S Bone
and S Sirstins both did very well and it helped them to realize that
THEY CAN do this! Particularly S Bone. I felt she was much more
confident and enthusiastic about everything after having to be the one
in charge! But it was also very helpful to have S Sirstins there
because she is a go-getter! They worked hard and saw lots of success!
:) EXCHANGES ARE THE BEST!! :)

We also had zone conference this week- I love our stake president out
here, he is the BEST!! His name is President Medley and I just think
the world of him. He have an instruction about several different
things. This is so cool though!! You'll have to find a picture of
Abinadi and King Noah, look in the top part of the painting really
closely and you will find a picture of the Savior! He pointed out that
even though Abinadi had perhaps felt all alone and thought that maybe
he had been forgotten, he was never really alone! :) He never was and
NEITHER ARE WE!!! :) :) It's so true!! There are some days that seem
to last forever and you wonder why. . . but then as you turn to
Heavenly Father he will reassure you that he is ALWAYS there and that
he will not leave you comfortless! He also talked about the importance
of getting people to the temple! There are so many people and families
that I want to get there!! Oh man, it was such a good reminder!!! :)
I love Zone Conferences!

So, really quick a have a cute story, then I have to run! We are going
to the temple this week, so I won't have any time for snail mail,
Sorry!! :) Any ways, we have this adorable little family in our ward
named the Randall's. They are a young family with 4 little girls all
under like 5. Bro Randall is in the Bishopric, so we always go out and
help S Randall get into the chapel on Sundays. The little girls ADORE
us! :) S Randall was a missionary too and they always pray for us, and
make sure to say hi at church- they are just the cutest!! So, usually
on Sunday's I try to dress up a little nicer and wear a nice outfit
and like one of the flowery head bands that you sent me. :) So,
yesterday as we were helping the Randalls into their bench, S Randall
looks at me and says, "Sister Bishop! Abby and Bella have something
that they want to tell you!!" I looked over and they were just
BEAMING!! They both said, "Look Sister Bishop!! We dressed like you
today!!!" :) Ha ha, they both had these cute flowery headbands!! Ha
ha, it was SO cute, they totally made my day!! I sure do love those
little girls!! :)

Well family!! Sorry this is short, just know you are in my thoughts
and prayers always!! I love you all SO incredibly much!!! I hope you
all have a wonderful week! Choose the right and all of the important
things!! RWLY!!!

Love,
Sister Bishop

Ben's letter March 11, 2013

Hello Family

so anyway things have been great but let me answer some of your questions first. so I have got a letter from Tim and Mom they came on the same day on Sat i think so idk but I havent got any from Di. so if she sent it to my address i should get it soon but anything sent to the mission home i wont get till my next zone confrence on the 22 so we will just see. well mom the people here are really nice they will say hi to me and all but if you bring up religion they will make some silly excuse like the other night we were walking home and contacting people as we went and it was my turn so i stopped the guy and said hi I am E B my comp name and then said we are diciples of Jesus Christ. by this time he had stopped and was listening to what we said then after I said that he said sorry guys i am in a big rush and i have to go sorry. and then he left. so we just kept going. but everyone in our area knows the Elders. and they love to make fun of us because Helder is a name here but the H is silent so they always honk and wave and Say OH ELDERS and just laugh because we turn and look and its almost as funny as Bishop Bishop. BTW the members here love my name they cant prounounce the sh sound but they try really hard and then they make that same joke it is super funny for them.

So My ward mission leader is so cool he is trying to keep us so busy and he is doing really well actually mostly because we have to wait for the bus to come and get us and go from place to place but its all good. they my ward is doing a choir so we went and last week it was really interesting. untill now i never realized how blest I was for being able to have bro Thomas and our ward choir ect people here just sing a diffrrent note if ya know what I mean. but this week we started to sing a song i recognized and then i realized it was Arise And Shine. the one we sang for this last trek idk but i was so excited I was having so much fun. it was great. The problem is that with the portuguese words some of the tempos are off so its hard but so fun i loved it.

we also have such an awesome district there is only 3 companionships of Elders but we rock!!!! we have the zl Vargas and Harvey and us and Elder Terry and Wertz and it is so much fun to go do stuff with them. and they are all super jealous of my ties. they think that my ties are so cool its super funny. speaking of ties Diana the first time I wore my awesome orange one we were walking down the street and this teenager stopped me and asked me where I got it and I was like hey elder what did he say. . . oh um America and then he was like dang it and left to catch up to his friends before we could say anything more but now I like the tie even more well have to see if stuff like that continues to happen the next time I wear it. ps Elder Vargus is from Costa Rica so I will ask him what part but if hollie is in that area that would be super cool. do you think that you could get me her email address and then we can email ect I just want to be sure to get the right address. but that would be great.

so the weather here right now is Windy and Sunny with a 100 % chance of rain almost every day. so we just go out and hope we are dressed for the weather. but its interseting. so Lisa the other Day I got to mark an inv. for Bap it was so cool his name is Luis and he smokes and has been working with the Elders for a long time but we had a lesson with him and were able to teach him and I contributed when I could but it wasnt much then E Fry turned to me and said commit him to stop smoking the 23 and Bap the 30 so with his help i did and he said yes so we are working with him and he should be bap. the 30 so please keep him in your prayers. but we have been super blest when we teach him. becaue of his family we sometimes teach him on a bench out side and one day it had been raining off and on but had stopped for a bit so we had a lesson with him and set goals with him and then as we were leavign we went around the cornner and started walking up the street and it started to rain again it was so awesome that we werent rained on.

So We just heard that now for some sweet reason we can now do emails to basically everyone and we have 1.5 hrs to do it now so idk if that is just portugal or a new thing for missionaries or what but its sweet!!!! lisa is it the same for you too or not? so I finally have tome to write all taht i want to and its great!!!!

anyway Elder fry is from Oregon so I dont think we know their family or anything but he is super awesome. Lisa I dont live by a jungle but we pass some really interesting looking fields when we are on the metro but nothing super wild dang it. so random story they have just come out with double decker busses so I hope one of them will eventually be on my bus route taht would be super cool. next question have you been feeding the Elders around there cause we have got lunch every Sunday so far, from members and from a couple that are potential investigators. so idk but some of these people are trying to get me super fat. with almost every meal they have a soup and then rice with some sort of diffrent gravey of some thing with salad and then dessert one right after another so I get super full but they are so nice. they speak in their broken english and I speak in my broken portuguese and when we dont understand we have elder fry translate its a great cycle and most of the time they just talk to E. Fry and I focus on eating and tuning into the conversations when I can or whatever. so its great.

Well family I love you all tons Tim I am glad to hear taht you almost have a date planned for your birthday that should be super fun. Mom If i understand correctly you are going to be called to the RSP and be the president is that right? good for you I will keep you in my prayers like you said well family my time is almost up so I Love you all super tons ctr and all the important stuff. love your Little Elder in Portugal.

Love Elder Bishop

Lisa's letter March 4,2013

Dearest Family!!

Hello Friends!!! :) I just have to say, you guys are the greatest!!! I
love you all SO stinking much!!!

This week has been so great!! :) It's been one of those weeks that you
are just happy, the work has it's challenges of course, but you just
give it your all and see the miracles that Heavenly Father has poured
out on you!! I am SO grateful for the 12 week program and the
structure that it gives to help train a new missionary. I've seen this
week especially as we've studied and practiced teaching the
Restoration what a HUGE blessing that it has been. Sister Sirstins is
great. She is not afraid to just jump right in and start teaching,
which is SO nice! Instead of coaching her along and helping her to do
her part in the lessons, I've had more of a struggle keeping the
lesson focused, simple and short! :) We've had some really great
spiritual experiences with our investigators. Like this week with
Martin and Sharon we talked about the Role of the Holy Ghost in
conversion and how to recognize it. It was amazing because Sharon
doesn't have much of a religious back ground, but was able to
recognize some of the ways that she has felt the spirit in her life!
Sister Sirstins is really, really good at relating to people and
sincerely bearing her testimony and I think that's one of the things
that hit Sharon the strongest. It's interesting how different
companions will do different things and sometimes they remind you of
each other. Yeah- Sister Sirstins reminds me SO much of Sister
Burnham. Ha ha, it's so funny sometimes!!! I just kind of shake my
head and think, "You two would have been perfect companions!!!" It's
great though, I love her a lot and she is great!! I honestly feel that
President sends me these missionaries to train me! I have a lot more
to learn from S Sirstins than she has to learn from me, that's for
sure!!! :)

We have really tried to focus this week on faithful finding and
immediately starting to teach at the door. It has been such a great
experience, it is SO hard!! Last night we had planned to do some
finding to finish off the night. We picked a street and as we drove
there we were a little intimidated because the houses were all HUGE
mansions. But we felt really strongly that there was someone on that
street that needed us that night! We prayed and the spirit whispered
to me, "Sister Bishop, even people in big houses need the gospel!!" I
quickly repented and prayed for the spirit to help us. Earlier that
day I had also been fasting that I would be able to be a better
teacher, a more bold witness of Christ and a better trainer for Sister
Sirstins. As we got out of the car, I just felt completely at peace,
knowing that we were in the right place and that the spirit was there
to help us!!! The first 2 doors they wouldn't even answer, they just
came to the door and waved us on. But the 3rd door was a complete
miracle!!! :) A teen age girl opened the door and we asked to talk to
her parents. Her dad came to the door and we introduced ourselves. As
I started talking, the spirit just kept prompting me exactly what to
say. He kept whispering, "DON"T STOP TALKING!!!" So I didn't!!! After
a few minutes, the man at the door just looked at us, smiled a little
and said, "Well are you going to stand on my porch all night in the
cold and tell me this? Or would you like to come in for a few
minutes??" We walked in, sat down and he said, "Okay girls, I am a
really to the point kind of guy! So tell me, what is it exactly that
you guys are trying to do? Do you want to convert me?? I'll tell you
right now that I am probably the least likely person to do so. I have
a church and although I don't go as much as I should, I still believe
in God. So tell me, what do you want??" :) I was SO stoked!!! (This
experience actually reminded me of an instruction we had at a sister's
training meeting with Elder Lamb and Elder Davis where they talked
about being bold and playing Bad Cop-Bad Cop. It was DEFINITELY Bad
Cop-Bad Cop mode!!!) I explained our purpose and used the HTBT bullet
point that talks about baptism. Then we taught a SUPER short, BOLD,
powerful Restoration. At the end we committed him to reading the Book
of Mormon, praying to know that it is true, and invited him to be
baptized!!! :) He was a little bit blown away and wasn't quite sure
what to say. :) He promised to read and said that he would actually
like to come to church soon. He appreciated the boldness and the
straightforwardness of the lesson. We got his number and told him we
would check back up with him in a week. (I realize now that I
shouldn't have let him off that easy, I could have pushed a little
more for a return appointment, but he knew exactly why we were there
and was really impressed.) It was totally awesome!!! It was such a
testimony to me that Heavenly Father really does hear our prayers, he
will answer them and he will help us to turn our weaknesses into
strengths. I had NO idea what it was the Byron needed at that door
last night, I honestly don't even remember what I said to him! But I
do remember the feeling of the spirit speaking through me and it was
INCREDIBLE!!! :)

We found the sweetest, little family this week. Their names are Rob
and Mia. Mia is a Filipino lady and they have been married for like 3
years. We tracted into them and felt really good about their home.
They didn't let us in right then, but asked us to come back later. We
went and saw them last night and Mia was SO excited to see us! She
welcomed us right in and we quickly found out that her brother and
uncle are also LDS!! Her brother served a mission even!! She has
witnessed the blessing and happiness that her brother has experienced
and was eager to let us teach her also. We taught the Restoration. (It
was a bit scattered and I had to keep bringing it back on topic
because both Mia and S Sirstins LOVE to talk! ha ha!) But, it was
really neat! At the end of the night we had given Mia a Book of Mormon
and she promised to read it every day with her 2 kids. S Sirstins was
able to extend her first baptism invitation!!! It was funny, she was
so nervous even though we had practiced it several times. I had to
help her get it started, but then she extended the invitation and Mia
accepted!!!! :) We are going back this week, but we haven't set up a
time because Mia wanted to make sure that Rob would be there! We are
so excited- this has got to be one of the families that we have been
praying for!!! :)

This week S Evans and I attended the Zone Leader Council meeting with
President and Sister Holmes. It was so awesome!!! We discussed the
needs of the mission and planned out our training meeting for the next
few months. It was the first time sisters were there and we were able
to give some really good feedback on ways to help the sisters.
Especially with all of the new sisters coming in and EVERYBODY
training next transfer, it was busy, but super exciting!!! :) We
organized exchanges and we are doing 2 this transfer!! (That's A BIG
DEAL!!!) We usually get 1, if we are lucky!!! So, lots of really good
things happening!!! :)

This week is going to be great, with Exchanges and Zone Conference we
have a lot to look forward to!! Plus all of the miracles that we
witness on a daily basis. I'm so grateful this week to be a
missionary!! It truly is one of the BEST jobs ever!!! I love it so
much!!

Well family!! I love you all SO much!!! :) Keep up all of the good
work, choose the right and all of the important things!!! And REMEMBER
WHO LOVES YOU!!! :) Have a WONDERFUL week!
Love you all the BESTEST!

Love,
Sister Bishop

Ben's letter March 4, 2013

Hello Family

so sorry for such a short letter last week I was trying but we only had time to print off our email an write the president and then all of you and after we literally ran home because it was faster than the bus. so I didnt even read your letters till later that night so sorry about that so first of all most importantly to dad because i want forgiveness in this life and the next. what has helped me want to serve a mission? well that comes from so much of what I was taught as I grew up. every time I heard a story from you or mom they always were so powerful and involved with faith. and that was something that I always wanted. just about every homecoming or farewell had the same message so i was so excited to serve and I had been taught that for me it was never a question of if I should serve but when and then that was something that I wanted to do so bad that I knew for me it was when I was 19 and if I had been born 6 months later or so it would have been when I was 18 :) then just going down the list in 2 ne 31 Obedience <it is a commandment to serve and your examples and stories have taught me that through all of thoes late night talks that we had as a family. I could go right down the list and say repentance was key to having the spirit there for me as I taught and then enduring to the end and I am not done enjoying yet:) so I hope that that helps idk mostly it was your examples to me and all of the important stuff that both of you and the spirit taught me and I am so greatful to have learned:)

any way My area is so cool we are in Maia and it is a huge area!!!!!!! by bus it would take about 1 hr or more to cross so we are really busy doing contacting. well normally its me saying hello we are deciples of Jesus Christ and we have a message that can bring you happyness,then I smile and look at Elder Fry and try to understand what It is that they say. its really funny because when someone is talking I can get the jist of what they are talking about but if they ask me a question then my brain realizes that and as it is processed i have to re think that and then I have to figure out what to say and this all takes time and i look to e fry with a look of ahhhhhhhhhhhh what and then he translates and I think man i knew that but my mind froze up. so it is really interesting and thats withalot of people but I have a hard time with some because they have really slured speach and i just smile and nod as they talk it is really interesting.

However we have had some adventures though because we switch bags in the midle of the day last time and I forgot my keys in the other bag and Elder fry thought i had mine so that was an interesting night but we got in about 10 min later but it was still super funny.

well i am runnign out of time so quick questions i havent got any snail mails yet and they probably explain more but lisa say hi to Pres. Holmes from Pres Fluckiger they know each other ha ha what was this about jakes accident in his car who was hannahs prom date can we make sure skipe works cause that is how i will try to talk to you next mothers day.

I was sorry to hear about sis. cobbs

well family Iove you all tons ctr and all the other stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love Elder Bishop :):)

Feb 25,2013 Another grand week ofmissionary service

Dearest Family,

HELLO FRIENDS!!!! So, first things first!!! Ben- I MET ELDER
JOHNSON!!!! Awww, it was so tender!!! He is this super sweet, short,
little Elder and when we got to the mission home I told S Holmes I had
to find him. She tracked him down for me and said, "Elder Johnson,
this is Sister Bishop!" Immediately his eyes lit up and he got this
huge grin on his face!! "I met your little brother and he sent you
this. . . (He holds out his hand and gives me a BIG hand hug)!!!" ha
ha!! It was so adorable!!! I loved it so much!!! Awww!! Yay for
missionaries!!!! We got to take S Sirstins out last Monday and when we
walked into the mission home to pick her up she gave all of us sisters
a big hug, but when I told her who I was she gave me another great big
hug, her eyes got a little watery and she squealed, "Wait!! YOU are my
companion!!" I immediately loved her!!! :) We had a great night and
got off to a wonderful start the next morning when our alarm didn't go
off until 7:00 and we were supposed to meet S Holmes at the mission
home at 7:20!! ha ha! I've never showered and got ready so fast in my
whole life!!! But it was great!! I miss S Mecham a lot, but I think
that is just kind of how it goes! :)

We had dinner last night with the Hill's and they are the ones who
sent you the pictures of us! They are the greatest, I love them so
much!!! Sister Hill called though and passed on the message from Dad
and this has been my thoughts! :) I had NEVER wanted to serve a
mission. But I had been blessed with parents who BOTH served missions
and would tell stories and experiences about how much they loved their
missions. I think though the biggest thing was growing up in a home
where the doctrines and principles were taught and gaining my own
testimony of them was the biggest thing that impacted me. Instead of
just hearing or reading about faith in Christ, or covenants I
experienced it first hand. I loved how you (Mom and Dad) were always
so good at teaching by example, you helped us learn the importance of
tithing by letting us pay our own tithing each week. (One of my
favorite memories was racing to get the change out of Dad's pants
pockets every Sunday morning so I could pay my tithing!) It was like
that with every thing and I experienced the blessings of the gospel
first hand by living them myself. I learned how to pray and
communicate with my Heavenly Father and we learned together how to
recognize the spirit talking to us and guiding us in our lives. Then
when the time came and I knew that I needed to pray about going on a
mission, I knew I could trust my Heavenly Father and knew how to
recognize that voice telling me "YES!!! YOU NEED TO SERVE A
MISSION!!!!" It hasn't always been easy, in fact it has probably been
one of the hardest things that I've ever done in my life!!! But I
think that's one reason that I love it so much!! Now I KNOW for a fact
that Sister Bishop can do ANYTHING with the Lord's help!!! Even come
all the way to Detroit, Michigan for a year and a half and go way out
of her comfort zone and see more miracles that she ever thought
possible!! Seriously, missions are the BEST!!

Any ways, this week has been SO great!! I LOVE training, mostly
because you have the wonderful advantage of a new missionary full of
faith and enthusiasm for the work. Sister Sirstins is amazing!!! I
feel more like she is training me than I am training her- there have
been so many things that she's taught me this week! :) She's taught me
patience (that's always a big one with a new companion) and love and
faith to expect miracles! I think one of the best things about
training is how hard it is! Just because you have to be completely
selfless, focusing more than ever on your companion and the people
that you are working with. I've really appreciated the promptings this
week from the spirit that reminded me if I was tired or a little
discouraged or hungry, how much my new missionary would be feeling
those exact same feelings, even stronger! As I've made it a bigger
focus to look out ward I've seen already how it has strengthened our
companionship. The other thing about training is that is forces you to
evaluate where you are at-- it leaves no room for half hearted goals
or justification. (This probably sounds awful, but it has really
opened my eyes and helped me to recognize my weaknesses and set goals
to improve.) I'm going back to the basics, I'm really treasuring up
the word (one hour of personal study just never feels like enough!)
and I'm really trying to be a more consecrated, diligent servant of
the Lord. I think honestly the biggest thing that has changed this
week is my attitude. I really do love this work and with all of the
faith and enthusiasm of my new missionary I'm really feeling the fire
again! Northville of course has it's unique challenges, but I know
that with the help of the Lord, we can do all things! I feel a bit
like Nephi building a boat, I've NEVER built a boat before and I
really have no idea what I'm doing, but he's given me the tools and
I'm just going to go for it! :) Elder Law and Elder Jones (the new
Elders in our ward) seem to be doing pretty well also.I was so proud
of them this last week! They were hard at work and at our coordination
meeting, the ward council was so impressed. They can tell the Elders
are here to work hard and are determined to succeed. They are really
great!! I love our little Elders! :) Good things are happening-- we
ARE going to baptize this coming month. .. we don't know who yet, but
Heavenly Father does and He will help us to find them!!! :)

We had a really neat experience this week with finding. We had planned
to go tracting and felt really, really good about this street. We were
excited and ready to see miracles! We knocked and knocked and door
after door, nobody would talk to us. We kept thinking, "the next door,
our family has GOT to be behind this next door." Dinner time rolled
around and we were getting close to the end of the street. I was just
praying so hard, "PLEASE, PLEASE, Heavenly Father! Please let this be
our family." We kept going and still nobody was interested. A little
disheartened we got in the car and headed home for dinner. Sister
Sirstins asked if we could say a prayer of gratitude. I of course
repented quickly and agreed that that was a wonderful idea!! :) She
prayed and I felt the spirit whisper, "it'll be okay, Sister Bishop!"
All day I had been thinking that we should go and meet our neighbors,
but I just kind of shook it off thinking, "They are not interested!
The last missionaries have tried and tried to teach them, and plus we
have to find our family!! We just don't have the time!" Well, we
walked in for dinner and our down stairs neighbor was outside talking
with her son and his friend. I figured we'd just say hello quickly and
introduce S Sirstins. Well, we got talking and the 2 boys started
asking questions. Before I even really knew what was happening we were
handing them both a Book of Mormon and teaching them the
Restoration!!! Ha ha!!! We taught them, set up an appointment and
committed them to church on Sunday!!! They asked the best questions
and one even said, "Man! This makes so much sense!! That's why I don't
like your church mom, cause I feel like it's missing pieces, but these
two girls, they sound like they have all of the answers!" We walked
upstairs to grab some dinner and I couldn't even believe what had just
happened!!! Ha ha!! It was SO great!!! Even though we hadn't found our
family on the street that we had felt so good about, we had done our
best and Heavenly Father blessed us with 2 new investigators!!! BUT
the best is yet to come!!! The one boy ran into us on Saturday and
asked to make sure we were still coming on Monday, we assured him that
we would be there and he said, "Oh good!! Because I invited my cousin
and her 2 best friends too, they are all curious and we all wanted to
learn more!" :) :) What a tender mercy!!!

There were so many good things that happened this week, I really
appreciate how Sister Sirstins just jumps right in at every
opportunity. (Training new missionaries is such a unique experience
each time because of course, they are unique! It makes it challenging
and fun!) In all of our lessons with our investigators she was ready!!
We had practiced and prepared that morning in comp study and she just
went for it!! Our last appointment of the night on Sunday night fell
through and our back up was to go tract an apartment building. I could
tell that she didn't really want to, it was a little cold and she
wasn't as well prepared as she would have liked to be with her big
warm coat and gloves, but we improvised and made it happen. :) We
pulled up at the complex, prayed and set a goal to make this 45
minutes the BEST!! We got each other all pumped up and excited and
went to work!!! It was SO amazing!!! We found 2 potentials, taught a
lesson and found a family of like 5 that asked us to come back later
this week!!! Heavenly Father recognized our desires and faith and the
blessings were poured out on us!! :)

Wow, there are so many good things happening that I feel like I could
go on for days and days in this letter! But, I think these miracles
really sums up our week. Sister Sirstins is really amazing and I'm
grateful to have this time to work with her and to see all of the
wonderful miracles that Heavenly Father has in store for us and for
this area!!! Northville is going to be SOAKING wet this coming month!!
:)

Family!! I love you all SO much!!! Thanks for all that you do, thanks
for your prayers and love!!! It really means so much!! Ben- I hope
Portugal is treating you well!!! I'm hoping that you have the most
amazing trainer ever and just know that you'll be the BEST missionary
that Portugal has ever seen!! Keep up the hard work, pray lots and
just have fun- love every minute!!!

Have a wonderful week!! RWLY!!!!

Love,
Sister Bishop

Feb 25, 2013 Ben's letter from the Mission Field

hello family

well ya know how I said that I was serving near the mission home well the next day I figured out the truth and I am serving in Maia that is about 3 hrs north of the mission home by train so my address is. . .

Elder Benjamin lynn Bishop

Rua Nova do seixo No 693 r/c Dt

Senhora da Hora portugal 4440

so now you can write me :) any way I also have Elder fry as my comp and he loves to cook so for now I am being taken care of. but the food is diffrent they have alot of rice and its not like our rice so idk but we have a huge area normally there are other missionaries here but the area hasnt had much success so there is just us but we are going to change that. our house has room for 6 missionaries and we want to get aleast 1 more set here before the next 12 weeks is up.~

miriam I did meet Pheobies grand parents on my 2 day here so thanks for having them watch out for me.

one of the hard things to do here aside to trying to talk to preople is the jet lag to give some perspective my watch tells 2 times if I want it so so I go to bed about 4 pm utah time and I get up at 12 midnight utah time it is so wierd and hard but i am getting used to it well family I dont have time because i went bowling with the zone leader today andmy day is shot I will try to write a letter but it is faster to do emails

again i am sorry this is short but I have to go I love you all keep praying for me ctr and all the important stuff

Love E. bishop