The Spirit of God

    Holy Smokes.. You guys are the Best! :) I miss all of you! Thank you for your love and for all your prayers! Its so great to hear from you all. I hope you all had fun in San Diego! Im pretty darn jealous.. Its been raining more out here finally. Apparently there was a hurricane down in New Orleans this past weekend so we were lucky enough to get the leftovers from that this weekend. Its been raining off and on for the past 2 days now. People give us the weirdest looks when they see us out walking in the rain covered in mud. The rain storms are awesome but the sucky part is that it doesnt cool down. It gets hotter when it rains! it sucks! But the work goes on..

   A lot has gone on since last week. I got through my first transfer! I was able to travel up to Columbus on thursday for transfer meeting. Elder Whiting AND my trainer, Elder Ith, both got transferred to the OSU college campus! those lucky dogs.. im jealous. So since my trainer was stolen from me i received a new companion to take back down to Kentucky with me. His name is Elder Smith. He's from Riverside, Utah. He came out with Elder Whiting so he has been out for about a year. He's an interesting guy and follows me around everywhere i go.. its annoying. I still love him though! The interesting thing about this transfer is that usually you are supposed to stay with your trainer for 12 weeks, but they stole my trainer after six! what the?? so not cool.. so i was left to basically be senior companion cuz i have to do everything now. I plan our days, set all our goals, lead our lessons and study sessions. I feel like senior companion, but Elder Smith is actually senior comp. I like to think Heavenly Father is throwing these challenges at me so early in my mission because he has something great in store for me. At least thats what i hope.. haha. Ive been super stressed lately but I've found peace in prayer. I actually had an experience where we were driving down the road with a member during a storm and it was super quiet in the car. (some might define this as awkward silence, but i dont believe in awkward silence in the car. I just like to look out the window). Anyways, it was real quiet when suddenly i just felt the spirit so strong in my heart. I felt as if Heavenly Father was telling me everything will be alright and to not be stressed. I felt the love of my father in Heaven, i felt as if He was saying "Im here to help you." It was really neat.

   Dad, thanks for the package! It was really nice of you. I loved it! I've already given myself a haircut and the spanish dictionary gave me a good laugh. My companion likes to go through my food so im going to have to draw the line somewhere haha jk. But seriously i loved the package. Thanks again. I love you so much Dad and i miss you every day. Im learning a lot out here and when i get homesick i just try to remind myself that someday i will be home and i will be able to look back at my mission and wish i could be back out here. No Regrets!!

Love

Elder Benavides

Work Hard. Play Hard. Pray Hard. :)

 1) My precious District: (from left) Me, Elders Neilsen, Luna, Whiting, Van Wagoner, and Ith

2) Me and Elder Whiting

3) View of some of Cincinnati from the bridge. (Bengals Stadium)

4) The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!!!!! :)