“Ask The Missionaries – They Can Help With That”

 

October 8, 2012

 

Hello family!

General Conference was AWESOME!!! I am freaking out, and now I'm freaking out even more because only Mom emailed me and she didn't say anything at all about how girls can go on a mission at 19 years old now! What did you all think? At first I was just thinking, oh that's really cool, and then I realized that Cortney is 19 and she has always said she wants to go on a mission! What's the status on that? I wish someone would have emailed me about it. Cortz, are you going on a mission now? We could have two sister missionaries out at the same time! That would be so crazy, weird, and amazing! The really amazing thing about the ages of missionary service being changed is that it makes me think about how the Lord is enlisting everyone he can to go out and bring more people into the fold. The time of the second coming is so near, because he needs everyone in His army declaring the truth! The way is being prepared for Him to come again! So cool!

Kayli V, one of my lovely recent converts, who I love so much, has been thinking about going on a mission and praying about it (she's only 19). Last Sunday she was actually fasting about going on a mission and we taught her, Tonya, and Caitlyn a new member lesson about missionary work. She took that as something of a sign. Then, when President Monson announced at Conference that 19 year old girls can now go, she got really excited and she really wants to go now. I'm so happy for her! That was seriously such great news when she told us that she really wants to go on a mission! I have been telling her a lot that she should go. I'm just excited for her.

Thanks for the package you sent, Mom. It was so nice! I loved the pictures! Everyone looks so good, and that picture of Britt with Rowyn is super foxy, as well as the picture of Mom, Nan, Britt and Rowyn. Well, they were all really cute pictures. Thanks, Ammon, for the candy! I was able to munch on some while I watched conference at the stake center. Mmmmm, my favorite kind of candy - tootie fruties.

What did everyone think of Conference? What were your favorite talks? I loved all of them, especially President Uchtdorf's and Elder Holland's (of course). Elder Holland's was so powerful! I felt the Spirit a lot as he spoke, and at the end when he talked about the Lord asking each of us "dost thou love me?" I was filled with emotion as I thought about the Savior and what he asks of me. Am I reaching my potential? Am I a disciple of Christ? I just want to serve with all my might so that I am showing Him how much I truly love Him. I want to become who He knows I can become and I don't want to disappoint Him or make Him ask me again "dost thou love me?" after I have answered him that I do.

Here's the weekly work update!

We taught some great lessons this week, and I felt really good about them. I did have some struggles this week with my companion, I won’t lie. The thing is that I was really happy throughout the week, but it just felt like she didn't want to be happy. It makes it hard when she decides to be upset and I don't know any reason for it. I have been trying  hard to watch what I say and how I say things and I've been trying to help her feel happy, but I don't know how much that worked. I just decided that I'm going to be happy and I'm going to work hard and just try to serve her. That's all I can do- my best to be a good companion. I can't force her to do anything or feel any way. Pray for me to be patient. I know I can be!

This week we taught the Matweyew family, Nancy, Kelsey and Nanci B (less-active and investigator daughter), Anthony, Tyler, Rose, Brother Peters, Wendy, Annette, Heena, Connor (recent convert), Delfy, Hans, the Bergs (less-active), and our recent convert group of Kayli, Caitlyn, and Tonya.

Our lesson with Stephanie and Gavin (Matweyew) was really great! We watched the restoration DVD, which is a clip from the Prophet of the Restoration movie of everything leading up to the first vision and the Book of Mormon being translated. After we watched the movie, we asked how they both felt as they watched it. Gavin said it helped him understand a lot better what happened and he said that he felt really good while he watched. Sister Matweyew started crying and talked about how she understood what Joseph Smith went through. She felt like she's gone to so many churches growing up and felt like she was just waiting to find the truth. I felt the Spirit a lot as she was talking about that, and I know that she has finally found it. This is Christ's church on the earth, and I was so happy to tell her that. I felt so much power in those words as I shared my testimony with her. She also talked about how she's felt so much more strength in her life as she's been meeting with us. She said she has had strength to do things that are really best for her family that she never would have done before. I really felt grateful that the Spirit was there, because I had been praying a lot that when we taught them they would have a spiritual experience. Just as President Monson spoke about, our prayers are answered in the small and large blessings we can see in our lives! As a missionary, I feel like we are really able to know the power of prayer because we aren't left alone to do this work, of that I am sure.

This week with Heena, we went to the church and did a church tour with her. It was really cool to walk around the church and just tell her about what each room is used for and what she would be doing when she comes to church. We paused at different pictures of Christ and I felt the Spirit a lot as we just stood there in silence and took in the images of the Savior. Heena seemed to really be enjoying it. The best part, of course, was when we walked into the chapel at the end. I really feel like I stepped through a force field of the spirit as I walked into the chapel. It was so peaceful and calm as we sat in a pew and taught her about the sacrament and read in Corinthians about the Savior instituting the sacrament with the apostles. I am so grateful that I can feel the Spirit every day. It's something that was missing in my life before my mission, and after feeling it so often as a missionary I will never want to go back to just feeling it once a week in church or whatever. We are entitled to have the Spirit with us at all times when we have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and I wasn't taking full advantage of that gift. Now that I have started to understand it better, that gives me a great desire to help others receive that same gift after baptism, because it is so amazing to have the presence of the Spirit in your life all the time. At the end of the tour, Heena said that she really liked it and she really felt good. She is so wonderful. She talked to us about how she's been praying the way we taught her every night and now she said she's doing it in the mornings, too, before she does her Hindu prayers! That's great! She is always talking about how good praying makes her feel, and we constantly are reminding her that she is feeling the Spirit. I just want her to get baptized so she can have the Spirit with her all the time! We're working with her to get her to come to church. She came to General Conference with us Sat morning and said she really liked that as well, so she's been making big steps in the right direction. Now, we just have to help her continue progressing toward baptism. I just love her!

Anthony is one of my favorite people to teach, because I just love getting to teach youth. I think I love it because I know how the gospel will change the course of their lives, and being able to help them know the truth early on is really exciting. Anthony isn't a normal teenager. He is so focused as we teach him, even when he doesn't seem focused. When we ask him questions to range how much he understood or was listening, he is always able to answer in a way that shows that he really understood what we were teaching him. He reads the Book of Mormon in between each visit, and I can tell that he really wants to learn and be baptized. Once again I am grateful for the Spirit, because I know that Anthony can feel that the things we are teaching him are true. He has talked about how good he feels as we teach him and I am so happy that he is recognizing a difference. His lesson was really great because we had it at Tonya's house with Tonya, Kayli, and Caitlyn there. They have really taken Anthony under their wings and are trying to get him as involved as they can. They are so wonderful and I know that it will really help Anthony to have that support because I'm not sure if he has any coming from home. Every time we leave after teaching Anthony, I am always filled with so much love for him and I know that's a blessing that comes from the Spirit as well.

Hans is a man that we've shared scriptures with on his doorstep like 5 times, but we have never gotten to go in because he's a single man. We've set up appointments so we could bring a woman with us and he would usually have something come up and would cancel. We finally got to teach him this week! We actually met him at a park near his home and brought Sister Omer with us from the ward. Sister Omer served a mission in Brazil. She was great to have along with us. Hans is such a cool guy. He has a lot of knowledge about, well it seems like everything. When he had cancelled on us one day, he had told us in a text that he still wanted to meet with us because he could tell that "[our] message has great purpose." Isn't that awesome?! Well, as we taught him about the restoration he was very intrigued. He asked a lot of really great questions. At the end of the lesson he told us that what we had just shared with him is really huge. He talked about how he had never heard anything like that before. I was thinking "I know Hans, because you haven't heard the truth yet." Haha. My favorite part of teaching him was when we had him read Moroni's promise (Moroni 10:3-5). He read it out loud and before we even asked what it meant to him, he told us that it was obvious that everyone is being invited to read the Book of Mormon to find out if it's true. Then he said that the most important part of what he read was that the only way he would get an answer is if he's really sincere and desires it. He talked about how no one could go into finding out if it's true half-hearted. We invited him to take Moroni's promise and read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he would absolutely pray about the message that we shared and that if, as he prays, he is directed to read the Book of Mormon that he would do so. I know that he will if he does take the time to pray and ask God if what we taught him is true. I am so excited for Hans to learn more. He just seems like a lonely guy. He told us himself that he is a searcher. I just want to help him find what he's been looking for - the gospel! He's so great. I can't wait to teach him again.

One sad point of the week was that we had to drop Gary Gunn. That was hard for me because I really love Gary. I had been praying so much, and so hard, that he would open up and let the Spirit touch his heart, or more likely respond to the Spirit which has definitely already touched his heart. However, he just isn't ready at this time to receive the message of the truth. I think his mind is just too clouded by his sorrow over the loss of his wife, and he can't find room in there to give to finding out if our message is true. I don't know, though. I just know that what he needs is the gospel. That is what will heal the wounds that he has from losing his wife, but he wasn't willing to read or pray and he stopped coming to church. I'm going to continue to pray for him and for missionaries to visit him again someday when he is more prepared. It was really sad as we drove away from his home, because I knew that I would probably never see him again. When I finish my mission, I am definitely going to write him a letter and find out how he's doing. Hopefully by then he'll be more prepared. Only the Lord knows when Gary will be ready to receive the message of the gospel.

We had our last lesson with Tyler this week. Now he is in the hands of the YSA elders. We brought Kayli with us to the appointment and it was great. Tyler's relationship with God, through prayer, is really strong. He told us about how he's felt as he has been praying and talked about how he has been getting a lot of answers to his prayers. He had been praying a lot for his best friend, Allie, to be less against him being baptized and he found that the Lord did soften her heart. That was a great blessing, because I've been praying for those around him to have their hearts softened toward the gospel, as well. Kayli shared how she overcame her trials before she was baptized followed by a really powerful testimony. I was really glad that we had invited her to come, because it's hard to not feel the Spirit when she's bearing her testimony. It is so simple and pure. I think Tyler felt the Spirit a lot from hearing the testimony of someone who has gone through what he is kind of going through as he works toward baptism. Tyler is just really awesome and I'm sad we don't get to teach him anymore, but it's what's best for him. I just hope the elders take good care of him!

It was a good week. I see the hand of the Lord in this work whenever I take the time to look for Him. I know that we are not alone in the vineyard, just as it talks about in Jacob 5:71-72. The Lord is laboring here with me and he will continue to work here after I'm gone from Moorpark. I just hope to work with my might and bring forth fruit that is pleasing to Him.

I hope you all will have another good week! I want to hear about missionary experiences my family is having, but no one ever shares any. That means you aren't having them! Haha. Will you all pray to have missionary opportunities? It's so important for everyone to share the gospel. The Lord needs all of us.

I love you all so much.

 

Love,
Sister Bennett

 

 

Funny stories:

When we had exchanges last week, we stayed up talking with Sister Lillywhite for quite a while. In the time that we were talking I just fell asleep, but Sis Wilk and Lillywhite continued talking. At one point I kind of started waking up and I heard Sis Wilk say "Well, I guess we don't really have much more to talk about so we should probably sleep." I was still kind of asleep, however. I then heard the blinds over the sliding screen door moving and remembered that I hadn't shut the screen door before I went to sleep. The thought popped into my head that someone might be in the apartment. A few seconds later I heard running and opened my eyes and someone was in the doorway. I gasped! The first thought that popped into my head was "We're missionaries! How can this happen to us? We'll be protected!" I was frozen. I had no idea what to do. Then Sis Wilk said "what?" It was her standing in the doorway. She went to get the fan and I must have fallen back asleep after I heard her say "let's go to bed." I cannot tell you how real I thought that was. I truly believed that there was an intruder in our apartment. The worst part was that I was frozen! If that really happened I wouldn't even be able to defend myself! That was so crazy. I seriously had a heart attack. After I realized it was Sis Wilk I recognized that I was breathing really quickly and my heart was pounding! Hahahahah. It was so so so so so scary. That was the scariest moment of my life so far. Good thing it wasn't real. Right mom?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Want To Be Like Alma

 

 

October 1, 2012

 

Hey Family!

How was everyone's week? I hope you are all doing so great! I am so glad to have such a wonderful family. I feel your support a lot and when I am going through a hard time, I remember that there a lot of prayers that are said on my behalf and that gives me a lot of comfort and strength.

This week we ate dinner with the Zierenber family. They have 11 kids and all of them have been married/gone through the temple. That's two more than our family has, so I know we can do it! I really loved hearing about them and about how all of their family is doing really well and are so strong in the church. That's how I see our family in a few years. I can't wait for that day when we are all sitting together in the celestial room at the temple! That will be Mom's best day!

This week I've been reading in Alma. I love Alma. He is just such a great missionary! I love Alma chapter 5...well let's be honest I love all of those chapters about his missionary work. Alma is just so aware of the Spirit. He is also declaring that the Spirit of the Lord caused him to say the things that he's saying and he knows, through the Spirit, that the people understand what he is teaching.

Well, I don't have much time. Here's the update!

We taught Stephanie and Gavin Matweyew this week along with Mathew, Nancy, Kelsey, Anthony, Tyler, Heena, Annette, the Caudels (less active family), and Tonya, Caitlyn, and Kayli.

Our lesson with the Matweyew family was interesting. We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gavin was really paying attention and he learned a lot, but Sister Matweyew was so tired from work and moving into their new house that she was basically falling asleep the whole time. It was hard to teach when she was falling asleep. It made me feel like we weren't doing a very good job of keeping it simple and short. Gavin really enjoyed the lesson, however. He asked a lot of questions and I think it was really good for him because he said that he was really excited to be baptized. Zach, the oldest son, actually sat with us for the lesson, too. That was really awesome! He even participated in the lesson. As we asked Gavin questions, Zach was trying to help him or Zach would just answer the questions himself. Courtney wasn't home when we taught them, so I hope that she'll be home for our lesson with them tonight. Even though Sister Matweyew seemed to not be paying close enough attention, she told us that she really enjoyed the lesson and she said that she was grateful for it because she felt like she really needed it. The problem is, that the Matweyews haven't come to church the last two weeks. They didn't come yesterday, and they said that they would be coming for sure. It's hard for us to help them prepare to be baptized if they aren't making it to church each week. Sister Matweyew also hasn't really been reading in the Book of Mormon, but she said that she really wants to. She said that a lot of times at night she would think about it, but then get distracted by something else that needed to be done in their new house to get them settled in. Tonight, we're planning on teaching them the restoration again so that they can understand why it's so important for them to gain a knowledge of their own that this is Christ's church. I pray that they'll be able to feel the Spirit a lot, because I know that as they keep their commitments and get baptized that they will have so much more peace in their lives, and they really need that right now.

Nancy didn't show up to her appointment on Tuesday morning, so on Saturday we stopped by her house and she was home cleaning, as usual. She wasn't doing too well. She told us about a situation she is going through with some man that has been stalking her and keeps calling her and harassing her. The whole situation has made her depressed and she didn't look good. We talked to her about prayer and about how she can get comfort from her Heavenly Father in those situations when she is really down. She told us that she had been praying, but hadn't been reading in the Book of Mormon. I told her about how there were a lot of times at BYU when I was feeling down or alone and when I opened up the Book of Mormon and just read a few verses or a chapter that I felt weight lifted off my shoulders and I really felt comforted. We read with Nancy from the Book of Mormon and invited her to read whenever she was starting to feel sad or down. That night, Nancy came to the Relief Society broadcast with Sister Tolliver and we rode with them. The broadcast was so good! Nancy was so happy by the end of the dinner and the broadcast. The sisters that we were sitting with us were really great with her and made her feel very welcome. The talks that were given in the broadcast were perfect for Nancy and for me. They really focused on how the Savior knows us and how we are not alone. I love how much each of the speakers talked about the atonement. I felt the Spirit a ton during the conference, and it was a much needed boost for me. Nancy came to church yesterday, as well. She finally went to the first ward and Sister Tolliver (who is actually in the 2nd ward) was nice enough to go with Nancy to the ward that she is supposed to be in. Everyone was very welcoming and I think Nancy really enjoyed it. During the 3rd hour in the 1st ward, Sister Wilkinson and I actually helped Brother Pierson (the ward mission leader) teach. Since it was the 5th Sunday, they had a special meeting on missionary work. Sister Wilkinson and I taught about the importance of members in missionary work. I felt theSspirit a lot as we taught and I think the members received it well.

We had another really wonderful lesson with Tyler this week! He is so great and so elect. He told us all about going to the Young Single Adult ward in Westlake. He loved it there and he said that he couldn't wait to go back next Sunday. Sadly, he got called into work yesterday so he couldn't go, but he was really mad about it and said that he was going to make sure his bosses never did that again. He's awesome. We taught him about following the prophet. He told us that it really makes sense to him to have a prophet on the earth and he said that he would go online and read a talk by President Monson to prepare to watch General Conference this weekend. He told us that he doesn't have any support from his friends and his family about being baptized. He talked about how they didn't know what they were talking about because they had never learned about the church for themselves. Tyler just has such strong faith and he's a really great guy. He said that he isn't just going to take someone’s opinion on things, and that he knows how he's felt as he's met with us, gone to church, and read the Book of Mormon. He was just so happy as we taught him, and he said that he felt like he was on some high ever since he went to church that past Sunday. We reset him with a baptismal date of October 27 and we're most likely going to pass him off to the YSA elders this week.

Anthony, who we got as a referral from the Spanish elders when they went to contact a referral we gave them, is another great investigator. He is the 16 year old who we met last Sunday, who is a cousin to Cody - the kid who shared the gospel with Tonya and Caitlyn. We met with Anthony two times this past week because he really wanted to. On Wednesday we taught him the Plan of Salvation. Each time we've met with him, he is really quiet at the beginning of the lesson, but by the end he is really energetic, happy, and asks a lot of questions. It's neat to see how he reacts to feeling the Spirit. He has prayed at the end of each lesson as well, and he always talks in his prayers, about how he's grateful for how he feels as we teach him and the happiness we bring. That is so cool! The Spirit has really been working on him and he is so open to it. He read between each visit we've had with him. He told us, when we met with him on Saturday, that he read for a while right after we taught him on Wednesday. The best part of the week in regards to Anthony was yesterday morning. Anthony was planning on going to Cody's house and staying overnight on Saturday so he could go to church Sunday morning with Cody. Tonya had sent us a text that night asking about Anthony (because she knows him through Cody) and if he was going to church because Tonya wanted to give him a ride. We then figured out that Anthony hadn't gone to Cody's house like he had planned to, so on Sunday morning we went over to Anthony's apartment, with Tonya so she could give him a ride, to wake him up for church. When we got there, his mom opened the door and said that she had just dropped him off at Cody's house. Anthony had gotten up and ready on his own and had his mom take him to Cody's house! That was so great! Anthony said he really liked church and he spent the entire day with Cody, Caitlyn, and Kayli. He actually came to our new member lesson with Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli because he was still with them at that point. That was interesting, but he said that he really liked it. I'm really excited about teaching Anthony, but we still need to get him to have his mom sign his permission form. Cody said that might be a problem, but I've been praying a lot for her heart to be softened so Anthony can learn.

We were supposed to teach Heena on Wednesday, but she got caught up at work and forgot that we were coming. We were planning to teach her next week, but on Saturday as we were following what we planned for the day I really felt like we should go visit Heena. We went to her house and knocked a few times and no one was answering. I was really confused, but then as we were about to leave, Heena opened up the door. She fed us Indian food for lunch that she made and we were able to read in the Book of Mormon with her. She kept talking about how we always have such perfect timing because she was about to go take a shower and she wouldn't have been able to hear us if we hadn't come then. It was really good because we were able to talk to Heena about church and about what was holding her back from coming. We realized that she just doesn't want to go and feel like everyone is trying to make her be a Mormon. We talked to her about doing a church tour this next week, and she said that sounded really good. I'm not exactly sure why we needed to see Heena right then, but I'm glad that I listened to the prompting from the Spirit so we could see her that day.

Yesterday we went to 2nd ward for sacrament meeting, and it was fast and testimony meeting. The Bishop was conducting so he bore his testimony, and after he finished he invited the new converts to come up and share their testimonies in the meeting as well as the youth. Tonya got super nervous! A few other people got up and bore their testimonies first, but then Kayli was the first of our recent converts to get up and share her testimony. I felt the Spirit so strongly as she shared her testimony. I just felt so much love for her and I felt so grateful that she has been baptized after waiting so long to receive the blessings that come from being a member of the church. She has such great conviction and while she was standing up there sharing her testimony she looked like a missionary. We always tell her she should go on a mission, and I think that she will. She will be such a great servant of the Lord as a missionary, and I know that she would just touch the hearts of so many people. I was getting kind of emotional as she bore her testimony and I just felt really proud. She has already grown so much more since she's been baptized. It really seems like everything is coming together for her in her life. She is more confident now and she's so much happier. She reads in her scriptures all the time and is so willing to share her testimony with others. Her testimony is simple and so powerful. I am just so glad that the Lord allowed me to serve in Moorpark at this time so I could teach Kayli and see how the gospel really blesses people. Tonya shared her testimony as well and I was sure that Caitlyn wouldn't get up because that's not something that she would really ever do. Surprisingly, she did get up and share her testimony. I almost lost it then. Her testimony was so pure. The best part about her bearing her testimony was how happy she looked up there as she shared it. Tonya has told us about how Caitlyn is just steadily changing and jumping into the gospel. Tonya told us how Caitlyn has changed the goals she has for her life and how she is recognizing what's really important to her and what she really deserves as a daughter of God. I love those three. I think I say that every week, but I really am so grateful that I have been able to teach them.

I love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Check It Out"

 

September 24, 2012

 

Bonjour Family,

How is everyone doing this week? It seems that you are all very busy with your lives, just like I am very busy with the work here in Moorpark. Mom, it sounds like you're going a bit bonkers. I didn't get to read your whole email, but it sounds like Ammon needs to let you play that game on his Nintendo DS that is supposed  to help your memory. He probably knows what I am talking about. I remember Sister Rich saying that she played it or something. Maybe I'm making this all up though.

I'm doing pretty well over here on the west coast. We're in the middle of the "Indian summer" right now, so we had some really hot days this past week. Phew, sometimes it just makes you feel so weighed down when it's that hot. Don't worry mom, I still haven't gotten sunburned so we're good! I got a letter in the mail this week from my sweet nephew, Dashle! It was very cute, and he has a good dad who is a scribe for him. Thanks Dad for sending me some pictures! Throw some good ones in whenever mom sends me that proactive body wash, ok? I'd really like some more pictures, especially of Eilish and Ammon. Ammon looks like a man. haha. Well, at least from what I could tell from the small pictures I got in the emails that
Dad sent. I'm not sure why they wouldn't get larger, but I still definitely appreciate the pictures!

Oh, yesterday at church was the Primary program! It was, sorry Marshall Branch, the best Primary program I have ever seen. That's most definitely because they have so many kids, but all of these little Primary kids sang little solos in the musical numbers and they were all good singers! It was great!

Also, I mentioned this before in an email, but can I get an absentee ballet to vote in November? I think I should, because it's my right. haha. People are starting to bring up Mitt Romney more with us when we're out tracting. They always like to reject us, but end by saying, "But hey, I'm voting for Mitt!" That's great Sir, but you're missing out on your salvation. How about that?

We had a good amount of lessons this week and we had some really spiritual experiences in many of the lessons that we taught. The Lord is always there to assist us and to guide us in our teaching as we strive to follow the promptings of the Spirit. That's something that I recognized a lot this week, not only was I given words in the very moment that I needed them, but I know that during personal study in the morning I am being prepared for different situations I will be in during the day. For example, we were declaring to one man and he brought up the fact that we do baptisms for the dead in our church and said that he thought that was ridiculous and was not something they did in the Bible. That morning for personal study I had been reading about baptisms for the dead in the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants, so I was able to teach him about that and easily bring it back to sharing the message of the restoration. It was a really cool experience.

We taught the Stephanie and Gavin Matweyew family this week as well as Nanci Buchalter (less active) and her daughter Kelsey (investigator), Eric and Crisitna (we actually dropped them), Nancy, Marta, Chad, Annette, Tyler, Sergio, Mathew, Gary G, Jim and Heather, Anthony, and our lovely recent converts Kayli, Caitly, and Wendy.

I got the phrase "Check it out!" from Wendy. She says that to us all the time when she's talking about the gospel. It's hilarious. She is always telling us about these crazy things she reads and then tells us about what she learned from her scripture study that week. She is so great. She took us to dinner at the "Natural Cafe." Definitely a tree hugger food place, but it was still pretty good. Luckily I haven't had to shove food down my throat that I really don't like. I'm in America! People don't care if I don't eat the onions or whatever! I'm allowed to say "no thanks" when I don't want to eat something. Isn't that great?

I love the Matweyew family. Sister Matweyew has really been warming up to us and opening up about what she thinks/what her concerns are. That is definitely a good thing. She really wants to learn more for her family. She recognizes the changes that have occurred since her husband has gone back to church and she knows that it will really make a difference to her family if she learns about the gospel. She told us that she really wants Courtney to come to church with them and learn, but she doesn't want to force anything on her, especially right now. Sister Matweyew said that she just wants to be an example for Courtney, because she thinks that as Courtney sees the good changes that are happening in their family because of the church that Courtney will come around on her own. Their family is going through a hard time with the oldest son, Zach. He has been using drugs and doing other things, and the police actually came and took him away on Friday. Sister Matweyew called us and was crying about it all and just asked us to pray for her. The sad thing was that yesterday they didn't show up to church because they said they just needed to rest and get back on their feet after everything. Well, we're meeting with them tonight and we're really going to focus on helping them see that going to church is what's going to give them strength and comfort that they need right now. They usually come every week, but whenever something happens with Zach they don't show up. It's very confusing, so we just need to help them understand. Sister Matweyew loves church. She always talks about how she doesn't get how every week she feels like the speakers are just talking only to her! She definitely feels the Spirit when she comes, so it's just a matter of helping her understand and recognize the Spirit. We'll still be working on Courtney as well, because she is actually an investigator.

Nanci Buchalter is a less-active that we found when we went to visit less-actives who the Relief Society president in the 2nd ward gave us a list to visit. Nanci is a convert to the church but hasn't gone to church since she moved to Moorpark 6 years ago! She said she just never got around to going and it didn't help that she didn't know anyone. We invited her to come to church and she came. She just needed someone to ask her to come, I guess! Her two sons are members who are also less active, but her daughter Kelsey, who is 18 and a senior in high school, hasn't been baptized. We met Kelsey and we taught her the restoration. Kelsey is skeptical about the Book of Mormon and just about religion in general because she doesn't seem to really know what she believes. She doesn't really have any friends because she does online schooling and is really shy, so we invited her to go to mutual on Wednesday. She went with her mom. It was good that her mom went to support her, but I think it was probably hard for her to get to know anyone because it's comfortable to just stick by your mom, of course. That's probably what I would've done, my mom's the best! We're working on getting some of the young women to come with us to appointments when we teach them, and we're hoping that Kelsey will be able to make some friends so she'll feel good about coming to church and participating in Young Womens. When Nanci came to church she was upset about the amount of noise during sacrament meeting. There are a lot of young families in our ward and it really is loud sometimes during sacrament meeting, but it's just a part of church. I love that there are so many families, but Nanci was telling us that if that noise level keeps up that she won’t be coming back to 2nd ward. She said maybe she'll try 1st ward if it is always that loud in 2nd ward. Oh, Nanci. We're working with her about that and trying to understand what the real problem is for her. Maybe she didn't feel the Spirit as much as she thought she would? We'll see what happens. Both Nanci and Kelsey are really great, so I'm glad that I'm able to be here to teach them.

This week we were planning on passing off Tyler to the young single adult elders. We had it all planned out but about an hour or two before our appointment, Tyler texted us and told us that he didn't think we should meet because he was having doubts and thought that he should just wait and go to church on Sunday. We called him and convinced him to just let us go over and teach him without the YSA elders. When we went over Tyler talked about how he's having doubts because the Book of Mormon hasn't been clicking with him as much as he thought it would. Well, we then talked with him further and realized that he hadn't been praying before reading in the Book of Mormon. We talked with him about a few other small concerns/questions that he has, but then I bore my testimony to him that as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it he will come to know that it's true and those concerns that he has will be washed away. I felt the Spirit a lot as we taught him. We also read in the Book of Mormon with him and he said that it helped him a lot to see how he should read so he can apply it to his life. Then, at the end of the lesson we invited him to pray. He doesn't like to pray out loud because he says that it feels insincere because he is just saying what sounds good. He told us that usually he just whispers when he prays and we told him to do that! Finally, he agreed and said the prayer. It was so powerful. I could barely hear him, but at one point I opened my eyes and looked at him and he just looked so sincere, like he was really pleading with Heavenly Father to give him help and comfort and to help him know if this is true. It was so amazing that I couldn't even hear him, but the Spirit was just filling me up! That was such a cool lesson. Tyler is so awesome and I'm still sad that we need to pass him off to the YSA elders, but I know that it's for the best. He actually went to church at the YSA ward yesterday and he texted us afterward and said he had a really good experience and that he was excited to go again next week! Plus he said that he was planning on going to a barbecue that they are having tonight for Family Home Evening! Sister Wilkinson and I were almost screaming- we were so happy that he had such a good experience at church. He's so great and we were so blessed to find him while we were tracting! Knocking really does work!

Jim and Heather are a couple who we just taught for the first time this week. We met Jim last week when we were trying to find his neighbor. He had invited us back for a time when his wife would be home. Well, we showed up and he had forgotten and his wife was definitely surprised. We started to just teach them on the doorstep, but then I just asked if we could come in and sit down with them to share our message. I was surprised that I even did that, but it worked and they let us in! We taught them about the restoration and as we talked about prophets, Heather asked why there isn't one today, because she said it didn't make sense to her that we would only have prophets back then - especially when times are so different now. That definitely made us excited. As we taught them the entire restoration, they had a lot of good questions and they said that everything we taught them really made sense. Sadly, we won’t be able to teach them until next week because Jim is out of town, but hopefully they will be reading the Book of Mormon during this time and praying about it. I'm really excited about teaching them because I really want to teach families so they can have what I have - the opportunity to be sealed to their families for eternity.

Anthony is another new investigator that we got from a referral from the Spanish elders. He's 16 years old, and his cousin is actually Cody - Cody is the kid that introduced Tonya and Caitlyn to the church and baptized Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli. When we met Anthony, we just asked him if we could sit down with him outside for a bit to share our message and he agreed. Anthony is really cool. He is hispanic, but doesn't have any accent, and he has really long black hair that is kind of curly. He was really quiet at first, but that didn't last with me trying to get him to either laugh or open up a bit. By the end of the lesson he was asking questions and he asked, when we invited him to read just the introduction and testimonies after it in the Book of Mormon, "Why can't I read the whole thing?" He then asked how many pages there are in the Book of Mormon and I instantly said "531." He and Sister Wilkinson laughed really hard about that and then he said he was just going to start reading it all. We also invited him to be baptized on Nov 3rd and he agreed. However, when we asked if his mom would be ok with us teaching him he told us he could ask but that she would probably say no. He seemed sad when we told him that he would need permission to meet with us. When we saw Cody later that day, he told us that Anthony's mom and her sister are pretty vulgar about the church or something like that, but we're praying that their hearts will be softened and that we will be able to teach him. I really want to, so we'll see if that is what the Lord thinks is best for Anthony.

It really was a good week this week! We had many more teaching opportunities that are definitely worth mentioning, but due to lack of time the few that I wrote about will have to suffice. I love sharing the gospel with others. This week in personal study, I did an activity at the end of the "Use time wisely" chapter in PMG about the last day on my mission. It just has you take a moment and think about what you want to say that you've done as a missionary, what you've become, and what differences you want people to notice in you. Then it has you write down how you will achieve those goals. It was good for me to think about what I want to become on my mission, because this really is the time when the Lord can shape and mold me into the person that I want to be for the rest of my life. Looking back through my study journal at goals I had just last transfer and my first transfer, I can see that some of those changes that I wanted then have already taken place or have come along a great deal in the process of reaching those goals. It's so amazing to see how the Spirit can change us and how repenting and applying the atonement in our lives helps us to reach our potential. I have a long way to go, but I do know that I can reach that potential through the atonement of Jesus Christ. How great is that knowledge?!

I love you all! I am happy and I am healthy!

 

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIZARDS

September 17, 2012

 

Hello to my family!

Thanks for the emails Mom, Nan, and Cortz. To the rest of you...no thanks. California is great! Moorpark is the greatest! It's been super hot here, though. Mom asked if it was cooling down at all - nope. It's been the opposite. It's been the hottest days of the year here. It was in the 100s the past 3 days. On Saturday I seriously thought I was going to die. We were just standing there talking to a lady at her door and sweat was dripping down my face. Disgusting!  I'm sure I looked and smelled bad. Oh well. I'm a missionary. Oh and about the lizards title of this email. I don't know if I've said this, but I see at least one lizard run across the sidewalk in front of me every day. Seriously. I have never seen so many lizards. They're on the houses, running on top of cars, inside McDonalds (probably - I just made that up though). I'm just saying - they are everywhere. Kind of cool, huh? Until there's one in our house...hopefully that won’t happen.

Mom, about what happened with moving that lady. I did write about that in my letter to President Castro, but he didn't say anything about it. He did write me back though, which never happens. This is what he sent: "Sister Bennett: Thank you for your weekly letters. You are doing wonderfully. Try not to think too much about the time you have left in the mission. My recommendation would be to focus on the next day ahead. Set daily and weekly goals and concentrate in accomplishing them. That should help push out of your mind thinking too far ahead and risking becoming a little anxious or unsettled. You are doing fine. It is a pleasure to have you serving in this great mission. President Castro"" That's what I'm going to be doing this week - just focusing on the next day. I've been thinking a lot about goals and how I need to focus more on the goals we set, so we'll see how that goes.

I had an epiphany (how do you even spell that?) this week. I was trying to understand why I always feel like I'll be here forever. That was before reading President’s response to my letter about focusing on the next day only, which I know will help. I realized that what Dad said to me before my mission was right. I was always so focused on "fun." Everything I did before my mission needed to be fun. That's all I cared about. That's why I didn't do as well in school and why I didn't spend more time studying the scriptures or doing other things that I should've been doing. It was because I only cared about having fun. Missions are fun, don't get me wrong, but it's a different fun than what I thought was important before my mission. Now, I have to adjust to recognizing that life isn't all about fun. Life is full of joy and happiness, but I don't need to be having fun every second to have joy. I find joy in sharing the gospel and it is fun. I just need to continue adjusting to being a missionary and recognize that like Dad said, life isn't all about having fun every minute of every day. I'm here to work hard, so I need to get over how I used to be. I know I have already changed a lot in that area, but I need to continue being patient with myself as I keep changing and growing. Anyway, Dad, you were right! I'm glad that I have such good parents who are able to recognize things in me that I can't.

Another thing that I thought about this week has been how Heavenly Father has really blessed me with the gift of feeling love for other people. I was talking to Sister Wilkinson about it and was asking if the way I feel love through the Spirit is considered to be charity or just a spiritual gift that I've been given? I'm guessing charity, but I don't know. I just really feel like I have especially been blessed with the spiritual gift of loving those we serve. All of my spiritual experiences so far have been associated with feeling incredible amounts of love for people we teach or just talk to. I was thinking about this one morning in personal study because I was doing a personal study activity in the back of chapter 4 - recognize the spirit. It talked about recording in your journal, or reading in your journal, about spiritual experiences that you've had. It talked about recording situations when you were lead to talk to someone in an unusual way, or other things like that, and then it talked about feeling love for others. That was the only one I really identified as how I've felt the spirit the most. I haven't had any crazy stories where we went to this place and met some person and they wanted to be baptized when they saw us, but I have felt so much love for other people. It has definitely been a blessing from the Lord. I know that for sure. Pretty cool, huh?

Heena took us to dinner this week! We went to some restaurant called Elephant Bar. While we were sitting there I heard some people at the table next to us say "Joseph Smith." I wasn't quite sure I heard right, but then I heard the name "Brigham Young" so I knew they were talking about the church. I told Sis Wilkinson that I wanted to go and talk to them, so we got up and walked over to their table. They were a group of 3 older couples visiting from Florida. They were visiting the Ronald Reagan museum in Simi Valley. They had been talking about Mitt Romney of course! It was really cool to talk to them. Sister Wilkinson ended up starting a conversation with one couple and I was talking to another at the same time. I answered a lot of their questions and shared a part of the restoration, about how Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored Christ's church to the earth. They had some really funny questions like "Do women have higher standing when they have more children?" I replied by saying "No, but I think my mom might have thought that. There are 9 kids in my family!" Hahah. They laughed a lot at that. It was good that we got to talk to them and answer some questions. They had really good things to say about the church and I gave them a mormon.org card and told them to go on there whenever they hear different things about the LDS faith because of Mitt Romney. They said they would. That was fun! :)

It's so cool to see how much I have grown in just these 4 months as a missionary. I know there is so much more for me to learn, but it's been good for me this past week to take a moment and recognize how much the Lord has already been molding me into a better person/missionary. I need to recognize that more often, because it really helps me gain the perspective that I should have - I'm here to learn and grow as I help others learn and grow. It's been a good "eye opening" week.

We taught the Matweyew family this week (Gavin and Stephanie), Tyler (twice), Nancy, Amanda (less-active), Annette, Brother Mason (less-active), Sam, Maurice and Erica, Ally & Donna, brother Luke (less-active), Kipp and Monique (less-active), and our recent converts - Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli.

We started the week off really well with the Matweyew family. We talked to them about baptism and about the goals that they have set in order to know for themselves if this is true so they can get baptized. They set the day to be baptized as October 20th and I can really tell that they want to know this is true, especially Sister Matweyew, for their family. We taught them about the plan of salvation. The lesson went really well. Sister Wilkinson and I were very unified in our teaching and I felt that we were both really focused on helping them understand what having a knowledge of the plan of salvation will do for their family. Brother Matweyew loves his family so much. He feels that it is his responsibility to get his family to the temple someday and he said that the weight of that responsibility is great. When we taught about the spirit world and how people who have not accepted the gospel will have an opportunity to accept it in the spirit world, brother Matweyew shared with us that his dad, who is very active, had a dream about a year ago in which Sister Matweyew's mother was basically asking for them to get her temple work done. She needs someone to be baptized for her in the temple so she can accept the gospel. Sister Matweyew was crying as we talked to her about how her mother is most likely being taught the same thing that Sister Matweyew is being taught right now, or she already knows that it's true and is aware that Sister Matweyew is learning about it right now. The Spirit was really strong. The opportunity we have as missionaries to help families see their potential is so amazing. We can help the Matweyew family accept the gospel and ultimately enter the temple to be sealed as a family. That's why I love being a missionary, because my family is so important to me - I know what great comfort and blessing it is to know that I can be with them forever. I want that for all whom we teach. That knowledge is definitely something that drives me as a missionary, and to feel the Spirit with the Matweyew family is so rewarding because I know that this is what they've been waiting for.

We also went over and did some service for them on Friday night. They are moving into a different house here in Moorpark, so we went over and helped Sister Matweyew pack boxes and we helped take Courtney's (18 year old daughter) stuff to the new house. We hadn't seen Courtney in a long time, so it was good that we could help her. We really want to teach her, but she works every time we come over. Well, she used to. Now she is only working on the weekends, so she will be home when we teach them on Monday nights! What a blessing! We invited her to come to church and she said that she would, but sadly she didn't come with her family. I'm just excited for the opportunity to teach them tonight with Courtney there, because we want their whole family to be able to learn about this and accept it together. We just need to help Courtney see how important this is for her in her life and help her feel the Spirit.

The highlight of the week, for me, was teaching Tyler on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday we taught Tyler about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really great because we were able to bring Sarah V with us. Sarah is going on a mission to New York in October. She goes to the singles ward right now, so it was perfect for us to bring her along so when we hand Tyler off to the YSA elders it will be an easy transition. During our lesson, Tyler told us that everything we were teaching him was really hitting him hard. He said that after the past weekend, when he went on vacation, he's been thinking about a lot of stuff and he said that he knows that he needs to repent. He told us that he couldn't believe our timing on the lesson. That what we were teaching was exactly what he needed. What a miracle! The Lord knew exactly what Tyler needed to hear and He helped us to prepare a lesson that would help Tyler's faith grow. As we continued in the lesson, Tyler started to get kind of fidgety and we asked what he was thinking about because he was obviously  deep in thought at the moment. When we asked the question he answered and said "I'm just getting nervous because I think I really want to be baptized." I almost shot straight out of my chair. He had already said that if he found out that these things are true that he would be baptized, but he was expressing a great desire to be cleansed from his sins. He talked about how he was going to repent and how he really wanted to feel the Spirit again in his life, because he had recognized that he didn't feel it as much as he once did. The Spirit was thick in that room. I think I could touch it, it was so strong. On Thursday, we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and keeping the Sabbath day holy. He said that it all made sense, and even though he just turned 21 and had bought some alcohol just that day that he had been looking for, for a while, he was going to try his hardest to stop drinking because he knows that it is necessary for him to be baptized. The Spirit is amazing. It truly can touch the hearts of people and change them. I am so excited for Tyler and I'm a bit sad that we don't get to teach him the rest of the way, but I know the singles ward elders will be so good with him. Maybe in a year Tyler will be going on a mission! That would be so cool!

We taught Brother Mason this week about the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well. I had really been thinking a lot about Brother Mason and how we can help him change his life so he can be happy. I realized that we need to focus on one thing at a time. Brother Mason says that to stop smoking and drinking he'll need to just stop cold turkey, but first he needs to get into the habit of coming to church. It just must have felt overwhelming to him to think about needing to stop smoking, drinking, and get to church each week and read the scriptures everyday when he hasn't been doing any of that consistently. We talked about how we just want to focus on him coming to church every week first. That he just needs to sacrifice at least one hour, every Sunday, so he can go to church and feel the Spirit there. Well, he came to church yesterday! That's the second time in the past 3 weeks! I was so happy to see him there! Last time he came, we were at the other ward, so I was happy that we could be there to see him and make him feel good about coming to church. He only stayed for sacrament meeting because his leg bothers him a lot, but I just thought it was so great! It's so rewarding to help those that have fallen away make steps to come back to our Savior.

When we taught Amanda this week it was not the best teaching situation ever. We showed her a clip of people bearing their testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith and we read in JSH about the first vision, and we were hoping that it would be a really spiritual experience for Amanda, but I didn't feel the Spirit at all. Her daughter was running around like crazy, and Amanda just seemed like she was barely paying attention to what we were teaching her. I think that happened because we didn't create a spiritual atmosphere when we got there. That's really helped me understand why we do "How To Begin Teaching" from PMG. When we got there, Amanda was just telling us about all of these fun things that's she's been doing and dates she went on and we didn't really set the tone for a lesson. We just said a prayer and dived in. Especially with Amanda, we really need to make sure we focus and take control of the situation. She needs to understand our purpose in coming over and that will happen as we use "How To Begin Teaching" with her. We'll be seeing her tomorrow night, and I am really determined to be more on task with her so we can have a spiritual experience. I'll be praying for that a lot today and tomorrow.

Kayley K. dropped us this week. I was crushed. Kayley had been making so much progress and I know that learning about the gospel was making her so happy, but she is so involved in school with her AP classes and everything that she decided that learning from us was just adding too much right now. I can't even explain the way I felt after Laurel Bennett told us that Kayley didn't want to continue doing lessons. I felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I almost cried. I just know what a difference this would make in Kayley's life and I know that she needs this. Everyone needs the gospel. I have felt the Spirit so much with her as we have been teaching her and I know how much Heavenly Father loves her. She needs the foundation of the gospel in her life, and especially at her age of 15 it would just prepare her so well for the future. It was really hard for me to think about her not learning anymore. I guess this isn't the right time for her. I know that she will come back to the gospel someday and learn more. I pray for that day to be sooner than later so she can receive the blessings. Laurel said that she'll keep inviting Kayley and I know that Kayley will probably keep going to activities and everything, so I have faith that everything will work out the way Heavenly Father sees it should.

It really was a good week, but last night as I was looking at the numbers from this week and thought about things, I just felt like we could have worked harder. I know that it is possible for us to reach the goals we set each week if we work hard enough and trust in the Lord to help us reach them. I just want to make sure that I am working my hardest all the time. I don't want to get to the end of my mission and wonder "did I do enough?" We should be able to have more new investigators each week and when we first became companions we were doing really great, but we've been tapering off for some reason. This week I'm really going to be focusing on what we need to do better so that we can find more people to teach. I know that as we are obedient and work hard, we will find, so I guess we need to work harder! This should be a good week. I hope Sister Wilkinson will be able to keep up, because we are going to be very tired from all the work we're going to be doing.

I love you all. Have a great week and do some missionary work!

 

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

P.S. - Funny story. Gary G offered to let us live in his house so we could save money. It was really funny. He's like our dad. He just wants to take care of us. hahah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ding-Dong Ditch

September 10, 2012

 

Hola Fambam,

I'm sorry about last week. Trust me - I wasn't happy about the situation of not being able to email you all. The internet stopped working right after I sent my letter to President Castro. That part was lucky, that I got my email sent to him, but I didn't get to read any of your emails. Well, actually - later on Monday we went on a bike ride with Kayli and Catilyn, so when we went to the Akina's home to get the bikes, Jade printed off my emails for me. That was nice, because I really wanted to read them. They're always a nice pick me up and I like to hear about what's going on with all of you. I sent a hard copy of the email I sent to president, so hopefully you got that, Mom. Thanks Solon and Nan for the pictures from Cancun. It looks like you had a lot of fun and Nan is looking adorably pregnant (if that's a word). I got my mini Preach My Gospel this week in the mail from Uncle Brent! Thanks so much Uncle Brent! I love it! It's so cool and Sister Wilkinson is extremely grateful as well. I also got my journals finally. They were brought by people who were at transfer meeting because those packages couldn't be forwarded. Thanks so much for sending them mom! They are so super cute! I love writing in my journal, so it was really nice of you to send those.

It sounds like things are getting back to their normal routine at home. Mom is back to work doing her stake business, Ammon is back in school, there are too many veggies in the garden...as always Dad, and Cortney's clothes are on the floor. That's just the way things are supposed to be. Haha. I hope Cortz is happy to be back in school! Will you email me your new address Cortz? Also, I need someone to get Blythe Beecroft's address for me. I sent her a letter for her birthday, but it was returned to me because it was the wrong address.

Well, like I said I'm staying in Moorpark for this transfer! I feel like I have so much work to do, because I want to leave this area better than I found it. It talks about that in the white handbook, that we should strive to leave every area better than we found it and I really hope I can do that with Moorpark. I mean, it is possible that I would stay next transfer, too, but I highly doubt it. I guess we'll see in 5 weeks what happens. I heard that Jacob Cheadle is in Bakersfield! That's insane! It's probably so hot! I had Sister Opeka find out where he was going because she went to transfer meeting and I see her every Monday at emails.

So last Sunday, we found out that Amanda V smokes - the less-active we've been teaching. That was crazy, because she hides it so well. I freaked out at her. Just like Sister Tolliver said, I tell people what I think. I told Amanda that she's dumb for smoking. Haha. She just laughed at me, but I told her the goal is for her to stop smoking before I leave Moorpark. I honestly think she wanted us to know, because she wants help in stopping and she knows that we can help her. She told us about  how she stopped smoking before, when she had prepared to go to the temple, that she always sucked on lollipops. Well, on p-day I bought some lollipops, so we went over to her house and I left a note on the bag and ding- dong ditched her and left the lollipops on the doorstep. Haha. It was really fun, and that actually wasn't the first time I've ding-dong ditched someone here in Moorpark. I guess it's becoming a habit - leaving things on people's doorstep and running away. Let's be honest, I'm a gifts person. I like receiving and giving gifts. That's how I feel and show love, so I love giving stuff to people we teach. The other time I ding-dong ditched someone was Tonya; on her b-day I left candy with a b-day card for her. Haha. Fun, right?

So I learned some bad news from Sister Opeka going to transfer meeting. Sister Greer, my MTC comp, went home. I guess they said she was really sick. That makes sense because she has endometriosis, but man that hit me really hard and made me a little depressed. I hope it wasn't because of anything else - that it really was because she is sick. I am especially sad because I was hoping that I would get to serve with her again while here in California. Maybe she'll come back to the mission? I don't know. I wish I could write her a letter, but I have no idea how to get her address.

Oh, weird experience. Yesterday, Sis Wilk and I did a split for church because both wards meet at the same time and so we usually do sacrament meeting at one and then go to the other two hours at the other, but yesterday we were expecting a lot of people in both wards, so we got Wendy to take Sis Wilk to first ward and Tonya was my companion in second ward. It was really weird. I guess I've gotten used to having a companion, because it was uncomfortable for me to not have my companion with me. I mean, I was never alone, obviously, and I got everything done that I needed to in the 2nd ward, but it was still weird. Tonya loved every bit of it. She was so excited to be my companion. She keeps talking about when I'll leave Moorpark. She and Catilyn are very worried about that day, and I kept getting mad at them because I have at least 5 more weeks! It's not something that we need to talk about at this point, but it seems to be on their minds, which obviously makes me feel special. I love those two. Haha.

This week was actually a pretty trying week for me. I don't really know why, because we taught a lot of people and had a lot of great lessons, but for some reason I was struggling for a few days. I was going back to thinking about everything that's ahead of me - 15 more months, and I feel like I haven't been growing enough. When we are actually out doing the work I feel great and I love every minute, but it's in those moments when I have time to think that I was brought back to thoughts of inadequacy and of laziness I guess. I'm not homesick for my family (sorry...I do love you though), but I think it's just "the natural man" making me wish that I could be lazy and just sit around. I feel way better now, back to my old self, but it was a weird few days at the beginning of the week. One thing that I really learned from the experience is that prayer is so important. In those moments when I was feeling really inadequate or anxious because I feel like 15 months seems like 3 years ahead of me, I knelt and prayed for comfort and for help to clear my head of those thoughts. Instantly I would feel the Spirit and feel better, the knots in my stomach would go away and I felt peace. I know that I am supposed to be here! This is where I want to be, and the experiences I have when I'm teaching and talking with people just reconfirm those feelings!

We taught the Flaumers, Eric and Cristina, Nanci B (less-active), Penny B (less-active), Theo, Olie (recent convert), Sergio, Gary G, Annette, Nancy, Heena, Donna, Wendy, Jeff, Marta, and our recent converts - Kayli, Caitlyn and Tonya, this week!

Nanci B is a less-active that we have been trying to catch for a long time. Sister Rasmussen, the Relief Society president, had given us a list of people she wanted us to go by and see, and we finally met Nanci. She is such a nice lady. She is a convert. She was baptized in Ventura and was very involved in the ward she was in there, and she loved it! She said that when she moved to Moorpark 6 years ago she just never came to church and hadn't gone since. She talked about how she wants to come to church and knows that it's what will help her be truly happy. We taught her the Restoration and she felt the Spirit a lot. She cried a few times as she talked with us as well, and I could really tell that she wants to come to church but she just hasn't had anyone reach out to help her come back. She needs fellowship in the ward. She talked about how she doesn't know anyone in the 2nd ward (the one she is in) but knows a few people in the 1st ward. We invited her to come to church and she said that she would come. Sister Rasmussen said that on Saturday night, she went over to visit Nanci and gave her some banana bread and Nanci had told her that she would be coming to church. Well, sadly we didn't see Nanci at church. I wonder what happened? I'm sure it's hard to come when you don't know anyone, but we'll get her there. As she continues to feel the Spirit, she'll remember the importance of coming to church so she can continue to feel of the Spirit in her life. Hopefully we'll be able to see Nanci again this week.

Theo is a guy who we taught this week for the first time. His parents were members of the church but they left because of 2 Ne 5:21. His dad started his own church and Theo is a "pastor" in his dad’s church. Theo is in his 30s and he is such a nice guy. He genuinely cares about people, and it's so obvious that he has such strong faith in Jesus Christ. We taught Theo about the restoration. He had a lot of questions, and we were able to answer them all very simply. We talked to him about how the whole point of coming over and sharing our message with him is to give him the opportunity to pray about it and find out for himself, through the Spirit, if it is true. He really liked that. He has a strong testimony of the Holy Ghost and that it will teach us of truth. It was really cool when his parents came home, because I had been nervous that they would be there when we came. I had prayed a lot before our lesson with Theo that his parents' hearts would be softened toward us, because the first time we met them they were very harsh and kept telling us why they left the church. Well, my prayer was definitely answered. When his parents got there his mom came out to the back of the house where we were sitting outside. She was definitely cold toward us at first, but as we talked with her she warmed up to us and was laughing with us. We talked to her about 2 Ne 5:21 and talked about other concerns she had about the church. I felt very guided by the Spirit as I spoke with her. I knew that none of the things I was saying were coming of my own accord. It was such an amazing experience to just have the Spirit flowing through me. The words just kept coming! The best part was that Theo kept defending us. He kept saying, "Hey they're not pushing anything on me! They're just sharing and asking me to pray on this book (holding up the Book of Mormon)." I'm excited to teach him again. That was a really cool experience for me.

Donna and her daughter Ally were on a progress report that I had looked at to find some people to try to contact. For some reason their names kept coming to my mind during daily planning, but every time we went by they weren't home. Well one night, after teaching Heena, we were going to go on with what we planned for the night and I thought of Donna and Ally and said that we needed to go and try to find them. Well, they were home! We finally got to meet them! It was a very interesting situation, because Donna talked about how she was very attached to so many of the elders that had come by before, but she said that they never really taught her. That was frustrating to me, because now she expects that we are just going to come and chat with her. I know that there is a reason her name kept coming to my mind, so we are going to try to teach her. We don't know if she'll let us, since she kind of has the wrong idea about the purpose of missionaries, but I guess we'll just see what happens. The Lord wanted us there for a reason.

That reason may be because of Donna's friend Marie, who we met that night. Marie had just been kicked out of the home she was renting a room in because she had tried to commit suicide. We didn't know that at first, but Donna told us later. Marie talked to us about how she needed to get all of her stuff out of the house the next day, so we volunteered our efforts to help her. Marie isn't in a good place. She is bipolar and has a lot of emotional instability. She doesn't know where she is going to live and doesn't have any family. We went and helped her the next day and it was a really weird experience for me. I felt terrible as we were there helping her move her stuff. I don't know what came over me. When we walked into the home where she had been living, it was actually a nice house, but upstairs there was dog pee all over the carpet and it smelled really bad. Marie's room was covered with stuff. She had a ton of clothes. It wasn't a pretty living situation, but it wasn't like I haven't seen worse since I've been on my mission. However, for some reason it just hit me hard and I did not feel good at all. I felt super anxious and weighed down. I still have no idea what caused it. I was feeling so down that I started thinking that I was going to go home. In my mind I was freaking out. I just kept thinking that I couldn't stay here, and then I was getting scared because I thought I was actually going to go home. Sister Wilkinson said that she could tell that there was something wrong with me. It was so, so weird. I still don't know what happened. As soon as we got home to do weekly planning, I went into the bathroom and said an audible prayer for comfort. Instantly, just as earlier in the week, I felt at ease. I felt loved and I felt glad that I am on a mission. The rest of the day I was back to myself, really happy and I was loving doing the work. Sister Wilkinson and I speculated over the whole episode and were trying to figure out what caused it. We're not sure if we should try to teach her again, because maybe we shouldn't be around her at this time? We don't know. I guess we'll see what happens. I am so grateful for prayer and grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me and is ready to give me the help I need as soon as I ask.

Teaching Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli was the highlight of my week, again. We taught them in the Lutzs' home and it was just a great experience as always. I love the Lutz family. The two youngest kids, Sadie (13) and Caden (11), both came in with us and were listening and contributing to the lesson along with Brother and Sister Lutz. I love teaching in their home because the Spirit is so strong there. Both Brother and Sister Lutz have such a great understanding of the gospel and they share things in simple ways. It was such a good lesson because I learned a lot and I know that Tonya, Caitlyn, and Kayli learned a lot as well. I just really love all of those who we had that lesson with- the Lutzs' and Tonya, Caitlyn, and Kayli. I feel like they are my family away from home. That's what's so great about missionary work, we are able to love these people and they become our family while we are serving. I feel their love for me while I am with them and I know that they will take care of me if I ever need anything. It's always nice to feel loved and feel like people genuinely care about you. Without those relationships, I don't know how anyone could serve a mission - love is so important in this work.

I really love being a missionary. I don't care how hard things become. I will keep pushing onward because the rewards that come as I serve are so great. Seeing people change through the atonement of our Savior is such a blessing and I know that this is the only time in my life when I can do something like this - devote all of my time and attention to the gospel and helping people come to know our Savior. I know that at times it looks like there are 4 years ahead of me and it feels daunting, but I know that this time is going to fly by and I'll be trying to grasp onto it with all of my strength. There are so many more moments when I feel that way versus feeling like there is too much time ahead of me. It is just so great to be a missionary, called of God to share the gospel with the world!

Here's my scripture of the week - Mark 8:35. I really love that scripture. It's something I have been trying to think about and focus on a lot.

Thanks for your emails! I'm excited to get to actually read over them. I try to skim them before I send my email so I can answer any questions. I love you all  very much! Thanks for your prayers and your support.

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

              

 

 

                                          P-day Fun!

                          (Photo sent by Sheryl Hendrickson)