The Gospel is TRUE!

August 20, 2012

 

Dearly Beloved,

Kayli V. got baptized yesterday!!!!!!!!! I am so happy! When we finished up at the stake center and were walking to the car I raised my hands in the air and shouted “The gospel is TRUE!!"  More on Kayli in a bit.

I am so excited for Jacob Cheadle to come to the great California Ventura Mission! It is the best mission in the world, for him and me, that is! This is where the Lord has called us to serve! I am so excited for him to be in the MTC, right this second! The MTC is still the happiest place on earth as far as I'm concerned, but the mission field is so much more rewarding! Tell Sister Cheadle that she has nothing to worry about when it comes to Jacob. He now has the best mission president. President Castro is so inspired and just loves us so much. We are well taken care of here in the California Ventura mission.

I'm not sure why your emails aren't coming through. I don't know if it's from this end?  We email in the family history center, so yes we email at the church. Oh, and I always print the emails that I receive so that I can read them later when I actually have time. Tell Dad that he can say however much he wants because I don't use my computer time to read the emails.  You too, Mom. You're never just babbling on, I love hearing about everything! Sister Tolliver is just too sweet. She and her family are such great missionaries! Her daughter Heather is home from BYU-I and she served in Canada. It was great having her present for our lesson with Nancy this week, which I'll talk about more in a bit, but I love the Tollivers. They are really good to us.

Baby Eilish is so cute. I showed the pictures to all of the missionaries here that email with us, and they said that she is a way cute baby. I don't even think newborns are cute, remember, but Eilish is definitely cute! Good work Erin and Zach. Also, I can't believe how big Erin's kids are. They must not realize in the womb that their mom is only like 10 pounds and shouldn't be having such huge babies. Haha. I think it's so funny that the littlest woman has such big babies. Tell Ammon and Cortney "hi." Oh and Damian, Erin, Britt, Brandice, Colin, Jordan, Dad, Grandma, Uncle Brent, and everyone. Hello.

Last Monday, Sister Wilkinson and I went on a hike with Kayli V., Jade, and Caitlyn. Sister Burwell and Sister Opeka, who are serving in the Thousand Oaks 1st and 2nd wards came with us as well. Sister Burwell is awesome and hilarious. I really hope I can be her companion at some point. Last transfer, I told Sister Tippetts that I hoped that, but Sister Tippetts said it would never happen unless it happens early because we're both too good of missionaries. That was nice. I still hope for it to happen, because we would work really well together! We'll see! It's all up to the Lord! Anyway, I hate hiking, as you all know, but it was still really fun. It was fun to talk with Kayli, Jade, and Caitlyn. I've really connected with them and it's been a blessing because they are more open with us about their concerns when it comes to progressing in the gospel. It was fun to go out and do something for P-day. Usually we just like to sit in the apartment and I write a ton of letters and get carpal tunnel. I still did manage to write some letters last week, so I felt pretty good about myself. Anyway, enough with the small talk. Let's talk about the work!

This week was a good week, even though I feel like our numbers didn't reflect that. One thing that I've been thinking about a lot is always doing the best thing with the Lord's time while we are serving Him.  I can't remember if I've talked about this before in my emails, but it's something that is really important to me. This time is not my time, while I'm serving, but it's the Lord's time. I always feel like there is more for me to do, like I could be using every minute more fully, but I know that as long as I am following the Spirit that I should feel good about the work that I'm doing. Sister Wilkinson is helping me with that, with being confident in how much work we are doing because we really are working hard!

This week we were able to teach Tonya and Caitlyn twice, Eric and Cristina, Nancy, Kayley Krikoviac, Delfy, Kathleen, Tyler, Mario and Murrae, Kayli Vitale, and Heela.

Kayli was baptized yesterday! It was such an amazing experience for us! I am so, so grateful to have been a part of teaching Kayli and that to be able to be at her baptism. The Spirit was so strong for the entire time. It was so wonderful to see how many members of the ward came to support Kayli in taking this step. The room was packed and Sister Akina, Jade's mother(who introduced Kayli to the church), actually had Kayli stand up at the beginning of her, Sister Akina's, talk and look around at all of the people there supporting her. The best part was, that as she did that I knew she had the support of her Father in Heaven. I know how pleased He is with Kayli's decision. It's amazing to see the results of how the Lord works to prepare people to receive the gospel when they do. Kayli was raised in a way that she was ready at this time in her life to hear the truth and accept it. I know, without a doubt, that this was the time when she was supposed to accept this message, because the Lord knows what's best for each of us. He knows us personally and we are so important to Him. I felt that a lot during the baptism. It really was just the best experience for me. It reminded me of something Dad said to me, that throughout his mission he definitely had hard times, but he couldn't remember any specifics or anything. I remember him saying that he could remember the spiritual moments and that they all still stick out to him. Even just one spiritual experience, like Kayli's baptism, can erase an entire 18 months of hard moments, of that I am sure. This work is God's work. The gospel is true!

Tonya and Caitlyn are just becoming more and more ready for the moment when they get to make that same covenant at baptism and begin their journey on the strait and narrow path. I love this work because I not only get to see people change through the atonement, but I am also able to better see the blessings in my life. Those that find the gate that leads to the strait and narrow path are few, but how blessed are we to have found it! I don't know what I did to be able to have this knowledge, but I am so grateful. Once again, I must say how wonderful Tonya and Caitlyn are. They are so valiant. I love hearing them share their insights about the gospel, especially Tonya because Caitlyn is quiet, and I love hearing about the things they learn on their own. They both have amazing faith. Tonya is getting baptized this Saturday, if all goes well with her interview with the President this week, and Caitlyn is planning on getting baptized next Saturday. I am just so happy that they are finally going to be able to be baptized and receive the blessings from Heavenly Father! This past week Tonya and Caitlyn had a scary situation with Tonya's ex-husband, in which they were afraid for their safety, and it was so cool to hear Tonya talk about how she felt calm and guided by the Spirit. It was also fun to hear about an experience they had together in which they weren't sure what they should do, and after texting us and we didn't respond (because we were in zone conference) they both had the idea to call the Bishop at the exact same time. They have had so many experiences with feeling the Spirit. It makes me so excited for them to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so that they have the Spirit with them always. They are doing really well.

A definite highlight of the week was seeing Nancy again. We hadn't been in contact with her for two weeks! We had gone by her home almost every day last week, and called her every other day, but we never got in contact with her. Well, on Wednesday Sister Tolliver, who referred Nancy to us, called and said that Nancy had just stopped by her home randomly and talked to Sister Tolliver's return missionary daughter, Heather. Nancy told Heather that she wanted to meet with us again, but didn't have our number because her phone had been erased. What a miracle! We then met with Nancy on Friday morning and we set the date of September 1st for her baptism! She is doing really great! She has a really strong testimony and faith in the Savior. She came to church yesterday, as well, and we are so excited that we are able to resume teaching her and preparing her for baptism. The Tollivers have been so great, and it's just given me the greatest testimony of how important members are in missionary work. The work will always be more successful when members are involved, and especially as members bring their friends to be taught by us. I know that it's really important to help members in the wards we serve in feel the Spirit so they have a desire to share the gospel with their friends so that we can teach them.

Kayley K. is finally home from vacation! She actually went to church last Sunday with Laurel Bennett. We got to teach her on Wednesday about the Plan of Salvation. Laurel's other friend, Olivia, was there as well and we're planning on teaching both Kayley and Olivia this week again. The lesson went really well. Kayley just absorbs everything, but I always wonder if she is understanding everything. She is a very smart girl, but it always seems like she's just looking for more. I guess that's a good thing, because we have so much more to teach her! She's been reading in the Book of Mormon as well, and she talked about how she wished she could just sit down for a while and give it the time she knows she should be giving to read it. How great is that? We invited her to be baptized, again, but she expressed a desire to know first before she sets a date. She said she doesn't want to promise anything to herself unless she knows that she can keep it. We talked to her about how setting a date is just making a goal and showing Heavenly Father that you have faith that he will answer your questions, but she didn't want to set a date. We'll see what happens this week in our lesson. Kayley is going to have to choose, at some point, between the gospel and softball. Her family is huge into softball and she has it most Sundays. I know that as she reads the Book of Mormon her testimony will grow and she'll have the desire to be baptized. I just pray that we will have the Spirit with us in extra abundance so that we can help her know what to do and how to approach the situation with softball. I definitely know what it's like to have a great love for softball, but I know how much more important the gospel is. Hopefully the Lord will help me use that commonality between Kayley and I to help her out. I know that she'll be baptized.  She has felt the Spirit so strongly at Youth Conference and at many other times, and she is aware of that. Now it's up to us to have the Spirit so we can help her progress. She's just great!

Tyler is a 21 year-old that we tracted into. We'll have to hand him off to the YSA elders (Young Single Adults), sadly. I only say sadly because he is so great. He is searching for something right now, which we know is the gospel, duh. He's a really spiritual guy and it was so fun to teach him about the restoration. As we taught him about the great apostasy, we asked why he thinks it's important to know that there was a great apostasy. He said he thought it was because we're still in an apostasy because there isn't a prophet on the earth. I was so excited when I said, "Nope, we're not in an apostasy anymore." He was so intent as he listened. When we told him about the restoration of the church he was paying such close attention, it was great. Then we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it is the tool by which he will know that there is a prophet on the earth today. He basically reached across the table and snatched it out of Sister Wilkinson's hand! He was really excited to read it. I know that as he reads it he will gain the witness that it's true, which leads to the domino effect of knowing that the Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth once again with a prophet at the head. The power of the Book of Mormon is amazing, and I have 100% confidence in it's converting power when people read it will real intent and a sincere desire to know if it's true, through praying about it. I am really excited to teach Tyler again this week! We're meeting with him on Wednesday.

 We went to teach Mario and Murrae on Saturday, but while we were there Murrae's friend came over with wine. She was ready to have a good time. Murrae felt bad because she had made plans with her friends before Mario  told her that we were coming that night. Murrae just loves having us over, and obviously we know that it's because she feels the Spirit when we're there. We decided that we would just share a scripture with them, set up another appointment, and leave. We shared Helaman 5:12 with them, and I bore my testimony about the Savior. As I was bearing it, I felt the spirit really strongly and felt that I needed to tell Murrae that she isn't alone. She and Mario are going through a really hard time. Her husband has really poor health and is basically dying. As I bore my testimoy, Murrae was in tears and I could feel the Savior's love for her and I knew that she wasn't alone in her trials at this time. I know that through the atonement, the Savior is able to lift our burdens and comfort us because he knows exactly how we feel. I love that I am able to help people feel of that love, through the Spirit. I just can't get over how amazing it feels to bring others closer to our Savior. I especially can't explain how good it feels when I can feel the Spirit working through me. It just goes back to what we learned last transfer when we had interviews with Pres. Castro, we know that the Lord trusts us when we feel the Spirit working through us. That is the best feeling in the world.

 Another highlight of the week was zone conference. That is seriously a spiritual high! It was so great to meet with the other missionaries in the area and to learn from them and feel of their spirit. I am so grateful for the things that  President Castro shared. I can't say it enough, but he is so inspired. It's amazing to see him follow spiritual promptings right there and then. He had the prompting to ask an elder to sing, who hadn't prepared in any way, but he agreed and the spirit was really strong as he sang. A few times while the assistants to the president were teaching us, President got up and interrupted them because he felt like he had to share something right then. Anyway, I learned a lot that I can apply so that I can better help those I teach receive the truth. One thing that really hit me is that we really need to focus everything on them, our investigators. We learned about doing baptismal maps. Our focus the last two transfers was to set people with baptismal dates, but now we have a ton of people with baptismal dates that aren't converting into actual baptisms. The point of a baptismal map is to help our investigators know and see exactly what needs to happen and what they need to do in order to reach their goal of being baptized. The whole purpose of a baptismal map is to really focus on them and how we are going to help them progress toward their baptism. That was something I really liked. We used the baptismal map with Nancy and it went really well. She now knows exactly what needs to happen for her to be baptized on the 1st of September. One of my very favorite parts of zone conference was definitely eating with Sister Castro. When Sister Wilkinson and I first arrived at the stake center, President Castro pulled me aside and asked that I save Sister Castro a seat at lunch because she wanted to sit by me. That was really nice! It was definitely a highlight. It was fun to get to know her better and to be with the all of the sisters at lunch. We, the 6 of us, all sat at one table with Sister Castro. Sister Castro has such a strong spirit about her and it's always a pleasure to hear her speak because she speaks with power. I hope that someday I can have as strong of a testimony and knowledge of the truth as she does. I think the thing that impacted me the most from zone conference was a quote that was shared by President Castro stated by President Packer that talked about how when we master our thoughts we become the masters of ourselves. That's something that I've been working on a lot, and it just reconfirmed to me the importance of focusing everything I have on others.

Well, I love all of you very much!

The GOSPEL IS TURE!!

Sister Bennett

Oh, and thanks for ordering me more journals! I feel like I have so many requests, but I'm glad you ordered them for me because writing in my journal is important. After a while I'll send my first one home and you can read it! That would be cooL!