March 4, 2013
Hey Mom, Dad, and everyone
else.....
Ok, I'm sorry I didn't mention more about the Bakerfield mission opening up. I didn't have time last week and I hadn't read all of your emails yet. Basically, I feel torn about it. It would be cool to go and open a new mission, but it's Bakersfield...I mean come on! Also, I don't really want to be moved over because President Castro will be staying here. At first I thought that there would be no way that I'd go, because the switch isn't happening until July and I will only have like 3 months left at that point. However, we had dinner at the stake president's home, President Jones, and he talks to President Castro a ton. He's actually President's home teacher. haha. Anyway, President Jones told us that President Castro talked about how he's going to put two assistants out there and have the mission up and running, basically, in Bakersfield before the new mission president even gets there. That worries me because I'm a traveling sister. President Castro has two sets of traveling sisters, English and Spanish, and I think that may have been inspired when he did that. He may want to have a set of traveling sisters there for when the Bakersfield mission opens as well. Who knows what's going to happen. I'm just trying to not think about it at all. Whatever happens is what the Lord wants to happen and that's all that matters to me. I will do what He asks of me, but that isn't happening for another few months, so no worries anymore on my part. Those transfer calls in June will be the most nerve-racking calls of my life though, that's for sure, because whoever is in Bakersfield at the time of the switch will just be staying there. Crazy, but great! The Lord is hastening His work!
I had a really wonderful letter waiting for me here in Ventura when I got home from exchanges. It was from Brenna Lutz telling me about her mission call! She has been called to serve in the Utah Provo Mission! Isn't that awesome! She's going to be so great! She'll be speaking Spanish. The greatest thing about that is that I can see her in Provo while I'm at school! I'm totally going on splits with her! Hahah. I'm so proud of her. Obviously, I'm sure it was a bit of a shock for her at first, but she was so positive and optimistic about serving in Provo. It's the highest baptizing mission in the world....I would love to serve there! I love baptisms! Hahah.
We had a really great week. It went by so fast, but it seems like so much happened throughout the week. We have started again with exchanges, which is really great. It's so fun to get to go and work with the other sisters and I love it even more because we get to have really wonderful, spiritual experiences with them. I definitely think Heavenly Father was blessing me a lot this week, to lift my spirits because I felt the Spirit so much and just felt really good and happy this entire week.
Before I start the rest of my letter, I just want to share a cool miracle that happened just this morning. Sister Lillywhite and I were walking out to the car to come and email and a man named Ted stopped us. He said "I could tell you’re Mormons even if you didn't have your name tags on!" He said that he had talked to missionaries a lot of times, but he never had time to really engage in a conversation because he was always working. He wrote down his name and number and asked us to call him and set up an appointment so we, or whoever the missionaries in his area are, can meet with him. Well, sadly he isn't in our area, but it was still really neat! We usually don't talk to people in our apartment area because we get in trouble by the apartment manager, but this guy stopped us. He seemed genuinely interested in talking to the missionaries. I bet he'll get baptized. Miracle!
This week, in our area, we taught Tammy/Gabby/Skylar, Brother Dumond (less-active), Missy, Jessica, Sister Rous (less-active), Rich, the Biglers (less-active), Cryshauna, Richard, Bob, the Rabagos (returning to activity), and we had our new Book of Mormon class that we're teaching.
We started the week out really great last Monday night. We had Hermana Anderson with us for the night and we were just out trying to contact potential investigators. One of those potentials was Tammy. We went to her apartment and two girls opened the door - Gabby (17) and Skylar (14). They were so cute! They were really open with us as we talked to them about the gospel. They said that they used to go to church every Sunday and they really liked it a lot. Gabby also talked about remembering a service activity that they had done at their church and how fun it was to give service. They said that they wished they could go to church again, but their lives have been so crazy. They are both avid softball players and are super busy with that all week. On top of that, their mom is a single mom and works long hours every day. As we were wrapping up with them, their mom, Tammy, walked up. She was talking on the phone as we were setting up a return appointment with the girls. Right before we were about to leave them with a prayer, Tammy walked up and said "hello." We shared our message with her, briefly, and asked if we could leave them with a prayer and come back in a week. She then invited us in and we talked a little bit more before saying a prayer with them. It was great! Tammy seemed more skeptical; she said she had her own church, but she still said we can come back. The girls seemed very excited. I'm really looking forward to going and teaching them tonight. I just love teaching youth, so I hope their mom will allow them to learn.
The next morning, Tuesday, we were again trying to contact some potential investigators and we stopped by an apartment right around the area where Jimmy lives. A girl named Missy answered the door. She is possibly in her 30s and she is from American Samoa. How cool is that? She told us that she had a lot of family and friends who are members of the church and that the missionaries had visited their home before. Right now, Missy is living with her aunt and going to school, but she is planning on going back home to American Samoa sometime soon. As we talked more with her about the Book of Mormon, she opened up to us and told us that she had always noticed a difference in her cousins and friends who are members of the church. She saw a light in them and a joy that she couldn't seem to attain. Then she said that she really wants what they have and that she knows it is because they are members of the church. We invited her to be baptized and she once again said "Yes, I would because I really do want what they have." I just felt so grateful in that moment to know what the difference is between Missy and her cousins who are members - the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have the Spirit with us and I know that other people recognize that. That's why people always like the missionaries. Not because we're great ourselves, but because we have the Spirit with us and the mantle of our calling as representatives of Christ! We invited Missy to join us for church but she said even though she wanted to come, she didn't think her aunt would like it (the aunt that she is living with). That may be a barrier for Missy, but hopefully when we go back the aunt will be home and we can teach her as well. That would definitely take care of the barrier. We're teaching her tomorrow morning, so I'm excited to help her progress toward baptism.
On our way out of the lesson with Missy, we saw the assistants standing out by the street. When we first got to the area that we were working in that day, we saw the assistants in the park teaching a lesson to Jimmy! We were really excited about that, so when we saw them standing outside we went over to talk with them and ask them how Jimmy is doing. It was so great to hear all of the updates on him. He is so prepared to receive the gospel. They told us that Jimmy expressed a great desire to be baptized now, but he understands that he needs to learn more from the missionaries first to prepare. He also went to family home evening the night before and loved it! We were told that when he walked in to FHE, he saw 5 of his friends from high school. That's a miracle because Sister Lillywhite and I were praying so much that he would know someone who is a member and can help him as he progresses. The greatest part was when Elder Cary told us about Jimmy walking up to one of his close friends from high school and saying to him, "You're a member? (This guy was a convert who just got off of his mission) Why didn't you tell me about this? You knew this whole time and didn't share it with me?" That made me almost sad, because it caused me to reflect on my high school experience and the opportunities I had to share the gospel with my friends. I hope there won’t come a day when someone walks up to me and says "You knew this whole time and didn't share it with me?" That would break my heart. The best part was that after Jimmy said that, he then replied again and said, "That's ok. I'm here now." That must have been a beautiful moment. I felt the Spirit a lot just as I heard the story from Elder Cary. I just love Jimmy a lot, and I'm glad that the Lord has placed these people in his life to help him as he comes unto Christ through baptism into His church. This work sure is amazing.
Alright, so now on to reporting about the exchanges we went on this week. We went to San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria on Thursday and Friday. The weather was beautiful but the work was even better!
I worked with Sister Putnam in San Luis Obispo. It was so great to be reunited with her for a day! I loved being her companion, and it was neat to see the changes in her since the time that she was my companion. We had a day filled with tracting. That was ok, though, because Sister Putnam's goal was to teach the entire Restoration in declarations. It was an interesting day. I'll leave it at that. We had some interesting run-ins with people and a lot of door slams, which I haven't experienced for a while, I guess, because it was very surprising. Sister Putnam is good at teaching to needs because she is such a good listener. She's able to take in what the person is saying and then figure out what their true need is. I could tell because I saw the light go on in people's eyes when she started testifying to the need that Sister Putnam had discovered. That's one thing that I learned from her, ask more questions in declarations so you can meet needs. She struggled a bit with teaching the entire Restoration. She was definitely trying to do it, but it seemed like she wasn't really sure how to. We talked a lot about how to approach teaching in declarations while still trying to meet their needs. I talked to her about just starting to teach the Restoration right away and asking questions as you go, because I know that the Spirit will testify to them according to their needs and it will also testify to us so we can understand their needs. She'll do well with that, she just needs to keep working on it. One thing that I also talked to her about is being more persistent. The funny part is that she knows it. There were a few times when we finished talking to someone and she would say, I should've kept going and not taken no for an answer so quickly. I agreed and was thinking about what Elder Holland said in Preach My Gospel - the people we talk to may not understand the importance of what we share, but we sure do. We need to act like we do and do our best to help them recognize the importance of the message. Sister Putnam is doing really well. I can see that she is a lot more obedient now and that she has seen blessings in the work as a result of her obedience. That was nice to notice, because that was something that she struggled with at first when she was my companion. Now it's obvious that it's a part of who she is as a missionary.
On Friday I worked with Sister Wilkinson in Santa Maria. That's two of my old companions in two days! That was really neat, and this week I get to work with Sister Stoker. If only Sister Tippetts could come and be my companion for a day, then I would have worked with all of my companions this transfer. Anyway, it was really good for Sister Wilkinson and I to work together. We struggled a bit at the end of our time together as companions, so it was nice to talk about things and about ways that we've grown since we were companions. I was amazed at how much Sister Wilkinson has changed as a missionary. She is more calm and collected, but even more determined and diligent. She is so open about her love for the gospel and she testifies with sincerity to everyone she meets. She really does talk to everyone. We stopped for lunch at Taco Bell and she talked to two people while I was ordering my food! That's great! We had some really powerful declarations as we taught and testified of the Restoration of the gospel. I seriously couldn't take the smile off of my face that whole day, because it was just that great. Sister Wilkinson's goal was to find the needs of people in declarations and teach to their needs by asking more questions. When Sister Wilkinson puts her mind to something, she does it. That's one thing that always has stuck out to me about her. She applies what she learns and when she sets a goal she doesn't forget about it until she achieves it. She was doing her best to ask a lot of questions, but one thing that I talked about with her was finding a balance between asking questions and quickly referring to the message of the Restoration. We still need to make sure to be teaching people the doctrine, and if we don't get to it quickly enough we'll miss our chance to teach them about it. She was able to find the balance while I was there, because I quickly started teaching about the Restoration after she would ask questions. She said that she'll work on just starting to teach more quickly and asking questions throughout the declaration to understand their needs better. I am so grateful for Sister Wilkinson. She is so loving and just made me feel so good about myself. I know that she's that way with all of her companions and all of the missionaries - especially the sisters. She is so obedient and focused on the work, and I'm grateful to have spent the day learning from her and hopefully giving her some help with things that she struggles with.
Ok, I'm sorry I didn't mention more about the Bakerfield mission opening up. I didn't have time last week and I hadn't read all of your emails yet. Basically, I feel torn about it. It would be cool to go and open a new mission, but it's Bakersfield...I mean come on! Also, I don't really want to be moved over because President Castro will be staying here. At first I thought that there would be no way that I'd go, because the switch isn't happening until July and I will only have like 3 months left at that point. However, we had dinner at the stake president's home, President Jones, and he talks to President Castro a ton. He's actually President's home teacher. haha. Anyway, President Jones told us that President Castro talked about how he's going to put two assistants out there and have the mission up and running, basically, in Bakersfield before the new mission president even gets there. That worries me because I'm a traveling sister. President Castro has two sets of traveling sisters, English and Spanish, and I think that may have been inspired when he did that. He may want to have a set of traveling sisters there for when the Bakersfield mission opens as well. Who knows what's going to happen. I'm just trying to not think about it at all. Whatever happens is what the Lord wants to happen and that's all that matters to me. I will do what He asks of me, but that isn't happening for another few months, so no worries anymore on my part. Those transfer calls in June will be the most nerve-racking calls of my life though, that's for sure, because whoever is in Bakersfield at the time of the switch will just be staying there. Crazy, but great! The Lord is hastening His work!
I had a really wonderful letter waiting for me here in Ventura when I got home from exchanges. It was from Brenna Lutz telling me about her mission call! She has been called to serve in the Utah Provo Mission! Isn't that awesome! She's going to be so great! She'll be speaking Spanish. The greatest thing about that is that I can see her in Provo while I'm at school! I'm totally going on splits with her! Hahah. I'm so proud of her. Obviously, I'm sure it was a bit of a shock for her at first, but she was so positive and optimistic about serving in Provo. It's the highest baptizing mission in the world....I would love to serve there! I love baptisms! Hahah.
We had a really great week. It went by so fast, but it seems like so much happened throughout the week. We have started again with exchanges, which is really great. It's so fun to get to go and work with the other sisters and I love it even more because we get to have really wonderful, spiritual experiences with them. I definitely think Heavenly Father was blessing me a lot this week, to lift my spirits because I felt the Spirit so much and just felt really good and happy this entire week.
Before I start the rest of my letter, I just want to share a cool miracle that happened just this morning. Sister Lillywhite and I were walking out to the car to come and email and a man named Ted stopped us. He said "I could tell you’re Mormons even if you didn't have your name tags on!" He said that he had talked to missionaries a lot of times, but he never had time to really engage in a conversation because he was always working. He wrote down his name and number and asked us to call him and set up an appointment so we, or whoever the missionaries in his area are, can meet with him. Well, sadly he isn't in our area, but it was still really neat! We usually don't talk to people in our apartment area because we get in trouble by the apartment manager, but this guy stopped us. He seemed genuinely interested in talking to the missionaries. I bet he'll get baptized. Miracle!
This week, in our area, we taught Tammy/Gabby/Skylar, Brother Dumond (less-active), Missy, Jessica, Sister Rous (less-active), Rich, the Biglers (less-active), Cryshauna, Richard, Bob, the Rabagos (returning to activity), and we had our new Book of Mormon class that we're teaching.
We started the week out really great last Monday night. We had Hermana Anderson with us for the night and we were just out trying to contact potential investigators. One of those potentials was Tammy. We went to her apartment and two girls opened the door - Gabby (17) and Skylar (14). They were so cute! They were really open with us as we talked to them about the gospel. They said that they used to go to church every Sunday and they really liked it a lot. Gabby also talked about remembering a service activity that they had done at their church and how fun it was to give service. They said that they wished they could go to church again, but their lives have been so crazy. They are both avid softball players and are super busy with that all week. On top of that, their mom is a single mom and works long hours every day. As we were wrapping up with them, their mom, Tammy, walked up. She was talking on the phone as we were setting up a return appointment with the girls. Right before we were about to leave them with a prayer, Tammy walked up and said "hello." We shared our message with her, briefly, and asked if we could leave them with a prayer and come back in a week. She then invited us in and we talked a little bit more before saying a prayer with them. It was great! Tammy seemed more skeptical; she said she had her own church, but she still said we can come back. The girls seemed very excited. I'm really looking forward to going and teaching them tonight. I just love teaching youth, so I hope their mom will allow them to learn.
The next morning, Tuesday, we were again trying to contact some potential investigators and we stopped by an apartment right around the area where Jimmy lives. A girl named Missy answered the door. She is possibly in her 30s and she is from American Samoa. How cool is that? She told us that she had a lot of family and friends who are members of the church and that the missionaries had visited their home before. Right now, Missy is living with her aunt and going to school, but she is planning on going back home to American Samoa sometime soon. As we talked more with her about the Book of Mormon, she opened up to us and told us that she had always noticed a difference in her cousins and friends who are members of the church. She saw a light in them and a joy that she couldn't seem to attain. Then she said that she really wants what they have and that she knows it is because they are members of the church. We invited her to be baptized and she once again said "Yes, I would because I really do want what they have." I just felt so grateful in that moment to know what the difference is between Missy and her cousins who are members - the gift of the Holy Ghost. We have the Spirit with us and I know that other people recognize that. That's why people always like the missionaries. Not because we're great ourselves, but because we have the Spirit with us and the mantle of our calling as representatives of Christ! We invited Missy to join us for church but she said even though she wanted to come, she didn't think her aunt would like it (the aunt that she is living with). That may be a barrier for Missy, but hopefully when we go back the aunt will be home and we can teach her as well. That would definitely take care of the barrier. We're teaching her tomorrow morning, so I'm excited to help her progress toward baptism.
On our way out of the lesson with Missy, we saw the assistants standing out by the street. When we first got to the area that we were working in that day, we saw the assistants in the park teaching a lesson to Jimmy! We were really excited about that, so when we saw them standing outside we went over to talk with them and ask them how Jimmy is doing. It was so great to hear all of the updates on him. He is so prepared to receive the gospel. They told us that Jimmy expressed a great desire to be baptized now, but he understands that he needs to learn more from the missionaries first to prepare. He also went to family home evening the night before and loved it! We were told that when he walked in to FHE, he saw 5 of his friends from high school. That's a miracle because Sister Lillywhite and I were praying so much that he would know someone who is a member and can help him as he progresses. The greatest part was when Elder Cary told us about Jimmy walking up to one of his close friends from high school and saying to him, "You're a member? (This guy was a convert who just got off of his mission) Why didn't you tell me about this? You knew this whole time and didn't share it with me?" That made me almost sad, because it caused me to reflect on my high school experience and the opportunities I had to share the gospel with my friends. I hope there won’t come a day when someone walks up to me and says "You knew this whole time and didn't share it with me?" That would break my heart. The best part was that after Jimmy said that, he then replied again and said, "That's ok. I'm here now." That must have been a beautiful moment. I felt the Spirit a lot just as I heard the story from Elder Cary. I just love Jimmy a lot, and I'm glad that the Lord has placed these people in his life to help him as he comes unto Christ through baptism into His church. This work sure is amazing.
Alright, so now on to reporting about the exchanges we went on this week. We went to San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria on Thursday and Friday. The weather was beautiful but the work was even better!
I worked with Sister Putnam in San Luis Obispo. It was so great to be reunited with her for a day! I loved being her companion, and it was neat to see the changes in her since the time that she was my companion. We had a day filled with tracting. That was ok, though, because Sister Putnam's goal was to teach the entire Restoration in declarations. It was an interesting day. I'll leave it at that. We had some interesting run-ins with people and a lot of door slams, which I haven't experienced for a while, I guess, because it was very surprising. Sister Putnam is good at teaching to needs because she is such a good listener. She's able to take in what the person is saying and then figure out what their true need is. I could tell because I saw the light go on in people's eyes when she started testifying to the need that Sister Putnam had discovered. That's one thing that I learned from her, ask more questions in declarations so you can meet needs. She struggled a bit with teaching the entire Restoration. She was definitely trying to do it, but it seemed like she wasn't really sure how to. We talked a lot about how to approach teaching in declarations while still trying to meet their needs. I talked to her about just starting to teach the Restoration right away and asking questions as you go, because I know that the Spirit will testify to them according to their needs and it will also testify to us so we can understand their needs. She'll do well with that, she just needs to keep working on it. One thing that I also talked to her about is being more persistent. The funny part is that she knows it. There were a few times when we finished talking to someone and she would say, I should've kept going and not taken no for an answer so quickly. I agreed and was thinking about what Elder Holland said in Preach My Gospel - the people we talk to may not understand the importance of what we share, but we sure do. We need to act like we do and do our best to help them recognize the importance of the message. Sister Putnam is doing really well. I can see that she is a lot more obedient now and that she has seen blessings in the work as a result of her obedience. That was nice to notice, because that was something that she struggled with at first when she was my companion. Now it's obvious that it's a part of who she is as a missionary.
On Friday I worked with Sister Wilkinson in Santa Maria. That's two of my old companions in two days! That was really neat, and this week I get to work with Sister Stoker. If only Sister Tippetts could come and be my companion for a day, then I would have worked with all of my companions this transfer. Anyway, it was really good for Sister Wilkinson and I to work together. We struggled a bit at the end of our time together as companions, so it was nice to talk about things and about ways that we've grown since we were companions. I was amazed at how much Sister Wilkinson has changed as a missionary. She is more calm and collected, but even more determined and diligent. She is so open about her love for the gospel and she testifies with sincerity to everyone she meets. She really does talk to everyone. We stopped for lunch at Taco Bell and she talked to two people while I was ordering my food! That's great! We had some really powerful declarations as we taught and testified of the Restoration of the gospel. I seriously couldn't take the smile off of my face that whole day, because it was just that great. Sister Wilkinson's goal was to find the needs of people in declarations and teach to their needs by asking more questions. When Sister Wilkinson puts her mind to something, she does it. That's one thing that always has stuck out to me about her. She applies what she learns and when she sets a goal she doesn't forget about it until she achieves it. She was doing her best to ask a lot of questions, but one thing that I talked about with her was finding a balance between asking questions and quickly referring to the message of the Restoration. We still need to make sure to be teaching people the doctrine, and if we don't get to it quickly enough we'll miss our chance to teach them about it. She was able to find the balance while I was there, because I quickly started teaching about the Restoration after she would ask questions. She said that she'll work on just starting to teach more quickly and asking questions throughout the declaration to understand their needs better. I am so grateful for Sister Wilkinson. She is so loving and just made me feel so good about myself. I know that she's that way with all of her companions and all of the missionaries - especially the sisters. She is so obedient and focused on the work, and I'm grateful to have spent the day learning from her and hopefully giving her some help with things that she struggles with.
It was really such a great week. There are so many miracles in this work that it's blowing my mind! I'm just so grateful for all of the amazing experiences I'm having...whether they're hard or not.
I love you all sooooooooo much!
Love,
Sister Bennett
P.S. - Funny story time!!!! Ok, so while I was on exchanges with Sister Wilkinson in Santa Maria, we were going to contact a referral we had received. There was a gate outside of these people's home and I was too short to reach over and unlatch it, so Sister Wilkinson worked on it. While she was trying to open it, I noticed barking and turned around and saw these two little dumb dogs, one was a chihuahua and the other one was some fluffy little white dog (they were both ugly...because they're dogs). Well, they were annoying me, so I did what I always do when I see these pestery little dogs....I juked at them (aka - I did a quick little move like I was going to run after them...you know like a cut in basketball to get open or something). Well that was funny, both of them took off and Sister Wilkinson got the gate open then and we went to try this referral. No one was home, so we were walking back to the car and these two little dogs were in the driveway, at the house next-door, barking at us again. I turned to Sister Wilkinson and said "Watch this" and did the juke move toward them again. They ran away and Sister Wilkinson and I laughed and continued walking back to the car. Then Sister Wilkinson, who was walking a little in front of me, looked back and said "Look!" Now there were three little dogs and they were coming at me! I stopped in the road and tried to scare them away again with the "juke." It worked on the first two dogs that we had seen, but the new dog just kept coming at me. It was seriously going for my ankles! I tried to scare it away, but it was about to bite me so I kicked it in the head and started running for the car! Hahahaha! As I was running past Sister Wilkinson, I briefly saw her facing the dogs and saw her bent over waving her arm or something. I had no idea what she was doing, but I wasn't going to stop to check. When we both got back in the car, Sister Wilkinson said that she had waved the Book of Mormon at them and they ran away! Hahahah. Isn't that hilarious! It was also funny when Sister Wilkinson told me that she had thought about how they might come after us with our backs turned, because she remembered a story I had told her about Erin when she was in Guatemala. You know, when Erin turned her back and some little dog got up the courage to run up and bite her. Sister Wilkinson just thought that she needed to beware of that ever since she had heard Erin's story. hahaha. Fun stuff! My adrenaline was definitely pumping. Hahahaha.
P.P.S. - The picture attached to the other emails is of our exchange in Santa Maria with Sister Wilkinson and Romero. We were all wearing red to bed that night! Nice!
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