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)