4 Teeth Later

May 6, 2013

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday to Dad! For Dad's birthday I got a gift...finding out that my wisdom teeth needed OUT! Lame.

Oh boy, this sure was an interesting week. I don't know that I have a ton to report on because I spent so much time inside...sleeping! The whole wisdom teeth thing happened so quickly, but felt like such an ordeal to me. That was just the last thing in the world that I wanted to worry about. I kept thinking "Oh, I wish I would've just kept it in and not told Sister Castro that my teeth were bothering me" so I could've just kept on working as usual, but I know that I was inspired to share that with her and with President. Those teeth may have ended up causing more problems later. I'm pretty amazed at how quickly I've recovered. I wasn't in a huge deal of pain, but I couldn't talk too much...I'll be honest, that still didn't really stop me. We had a few lessons on Saturday that I was determined to go to, so yesterday morning I was very sore from talking so much in those lessons. I told myself that I needed to slow down and not talk, but that didn't really register in my mind, I guess. I'm really grateful for the members in the ward and for the missionaries that are serving around me. They were very considerate of me and were so willing to help me with anything I was in need of. I learned a lot from this experience. I think it helped me recognize my limits more, and that I need to work within my means. Sometimes I almost kill myself from doing so much, but I understand that the Lord doesn't want me to burn myself out doing this work. I just need to do as much as I can and not demand more of myself than that. I also learned to allow my companion to serve me. So often I just prefer to do things on my own that I don't allow my companions to help me, but since I really couldn't do everything for myself, I was forced to let my companion help me. I saw that it made Sister Burwell really happy to be able to serve me and I need to let her serve me if that's what she would like to do. Anyway, I'm doing well, now. I'm still a little sore, but I am able to do the work as usual...now just with four holes in my mouth.

Amidst the craziness of the week, we still had two really great lessons with Aubrey and Tyler. On Saturday morning, we received a text message from Brother Wood. He told us that Sister Wood had gone into labor that morning, so she wasn't going to be able to interpret for our lesson with Aubrey and Tyler. I was just surprised that they remembered to notify us...they are so missionary minded. Well, that presented us with a problem because Sister Overton, the other sister in the ward that knows sign language, was gone all day for stake temple day. We decided to just go ahead with the lesson, so we watched Finding Faith in Christ with them. The movie didn't have ASL on it, so we just had the subtitles and Sister Pellum signed a few things to Aubrey to help her understand what was going on. I think that helped Aubrey gain a way better understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what He did while he was here on the earth. She was basically sitting on the edge of her seat and wouldn't really look at her mom when Sister Pellum was signing things to her. It helped her see the emotions that people had as they were around the Savior and the magnitude of what He did for us. When the part of his crucifixion came on, Aubrey was covering her eyes because she didn't like it. Yesterday, we had another lesson with Tyler and Aubrey and we talked about the 1st principles and ordinances of the gospel. It's always a challenge trying to figure out what we can do to help Aubrey connect the things we're teaching to visual things. That's what helps her the most. We decided to make two little people out of cloth and put ketchup on them (representing sin). Then we talked about how Jesus Christ is the "Tide-to-go" pen that cleans stains off. We talked about how when we live the gospel, we are allowing Jesus Christ's sacrifice to cleanse us from those stains. She enjoyed the visual, and I think it helped her understand that we need Jesus Christ. It especially helped her understand why we get baptized. She is so excited to be baptized and her mom is too, which is so nice to see. Aubrey was talking about how she wants to hand out invitations to her baptism. I just love that family so much, and I'm so grateful that I'll be here to attend their baptism. That really means a lot to me, and I'm grateful that the Lord is giving me this opportunity to be a part of it.

                                                                   With Aubrey

 We also taught Brother Dumond this week. He's technically less-active because he can't come to church. He has two children who are mentally disabled and he takes care of them every weekend, so he literally cannot come to church. His kids are too out of control for him to bring them. I've been teaching him for a long time. I actually taught him last June during my first transfer when I was over here in Ventura while Sister Tippetts was on exchanges. It's amazing how different he is now compared to then. He was just so closed off then and he blamed everything that was going wrong in his life on God. Now it's a stark contrast. He just has such a bright light in his eyes. He comes to our Book of Mormon class each week, reads on his own, and prays frequently. He also just really appreciates the missionaries. He expresses a lot of gratitude for us and always keeps commitments that we leave with him. When we went over for our lesson on Wednesday, he called us beforehand and said that he had a surprise for us. He was so happy when we got there. He even prepared drinks for us! Well, we sat down and he said "Ok, are you ready for your surprise?!" "Yes!" we replied. He said that he was fasting for me to have a good surgery. Smack! I was hit in the face by what seemed like a wall, which was the Spirit. We had just taught him about fasting the lesson before that. I think the reason that I was so overwhelmed about that was because I saw how happy it made him; first to be serving me, second because he was obeying God's commandments, and third - he was filled with the Spirit. I was so grateful for the Spirit in that moment and for the atonement. It had truly changed this man and anyone could see that his face was lit up with the light of Christ. I am so grateful for him and that we've been able to teach him.

I'm so excited to work with Sister Burwell for another transfer. She has become my best friend in this mission and I'm so grateful for her. We just really love being together and I'm excited that we'll get to work together to find people to teach here in Ventura. This area is ready to be worked, hard, and we're ready to do it. It's going to be a good transfer.

I love you all,

Sister Bennett

P.S. - I don't know if you realize, Mom and Dad, but naming Ammon "Ammon" was the best idea ever. He's my favorite missionary. Ammon needs to read about him in the Book of Mormon so he understands how great of a man that our little brother Ammon is named after. Good choice on the name.

More to add –

 I forgot to tell you about when I got my teeth out. As I came out of the anesthesia (I have no idea how to spell that), I was a bit loopy. I tried to teach the nurses about the Word of Wisdom because I really didn't like the feeling of being on drugs. Sister Burwell also said that I kept asking “When is my mom coming....l want her." She said I asked that at least ten times. It made her feel sad for me. I kind of did just want my mom. I also said that no one should ever do drugs...because they're the worst. I definitely didn't like not being in control. You know me...I like control. Haha. I thought I'd just tell you about it. She recorded videos of me that I tried to send, but they're too big to email.:( They're pretty funny. hahah. Someday I'll show you. Love you!

No Subject

April 29, 2013

Hey Family,

How are all of you!?!?!?? I hope you're doing so great! I wish you would all update me a little more on your lives. Colin was just in Santa Barbara....so if he had jumped over the mountains he would've been in my back seat. CRAZY! Don't ever come so close again! That's making me feel weeeeiiirrrrrrd. haha. Actually, it was fun to see a picture of him there by the pier in Santa Barbara. Anyway, what's everyone else been doing?

I'm running short on time, so on to the update.

I had a really great personal study this morning! I'm going through Preach My Gospel again from cover to cover and right now I'm in chapter 6 – Christ-like Attributes. This past week I've been on the section about Charity and it's been very rewarding as I've studied it. Today, I was reading in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. Paul is teaching the Corinthians about seeking the best gifts and now teaches what the best gift is. I realized as I was reading verses 4-8, which describe charity, that those verses really describe the Savior, Jesus Christ. When we gain the Christ-like attribute of charity, we will be like Jesus Christ because it means that we have also obtained all of His other attributes, as taught in 2 Peter, chapter 2. Basically, our goal in life is to obtain the pure love of Jesus Christ, because Paul said that it is the greatest gift (verse 13). The reason that it's the greatest gift is because it's the gift of becoming as Christ is. I just loved that so much! I had never thought of it in that way, but I know that I was being taught by the Spirit this morning. I know that it's through Christ that I will someday obtain that perfect, true charity and be like He is.

Well, this week we taught Jose, Mike, the Heaths, Brother Dumond, Aubrey and Tyler (twice), and Stephanie. So we didn't have as many lessons this week because we still had exchanges and other things that went on - service project and a BAPTISM! It was still such a great week.

First I'll talk about the exchange I went on this week. I went to Moorpark! I worked with Sister Kiyotani there and we had a super busy day. We went from one appointment to the next all day long. It was a very spiritual day for me, because they had appointments with most of the people I've taught there. We had a lesson with Kayli at the Lutzs' home with Brenna. That was a very powerful lesson, because there were two of the people that I've grown to love so much sitting on this couch and I get to teach them about the gospel at least one more time. I just felt so proud of them, because they've both grown so much since I've been gone. Kayli just seemed older and more mature. Brenna just has a glow right now and when I looked into her eyes I could just see such a bright light that the people in Provo are going to recognize and see the Savior in her eyes. Sister Kiyotani said that it was amazing how much they trust me. She said that they really took in every word that I was saying to them. I'm not sure why they trust me so much, but I'm grateful that Sister Kiyotani pointed that out. The people that we teach are trusting us to show them the way to a better life. I know that as missionaries we have walked that path and are capable of being the ones to lead people in the way to becoming like Christ. I'm not sure if I'll even get to see Brenna again before her mission, but I know that the Lord used me to help her while I was in Moorpark. I also know that He used Brenna to help me grow as a missionary. It's crazy that one of the reasons that I was in Moorpark was not just for non-members, but I know that I served there so I could meet Brenna as well. Anyway, it was a great day. We also taught Tonya and Caitlyn. That was another treat. Sister Kiyotani is doing so well. She is a really great teacher. The way she teaches is so simple that I can tell that those we teach understand her well. We just talked about opening up more to those she teaches so they can feel her love and so they can feel that they can relate to her. She doesn't really share personal experiences with people, but she recognizes this. She said it's something she has struggled with, but she's going to work on opening up more with people. She's an awesome missionary and she's doing really well with training.

We had a really great baptism on Saturday! Marnie and Melanie Heath were baptized. It was a fun baptism. The Heath kids are very active and hard to keep sitting still. There was a very sweet spirit present at the baptism and the best part was when Melanie and Mariah stood up together and said that they were grateful to be baptized. I know that it was a big day for Sister Heath and the ward came and gave the family a lot of support. That was a major answer to our prayers. It was a great day. 

          










    Baptism of Marnie and Melanie Heath

We got to teach Aubrey twice this weekend. We taught her Saturday after the baptism and Sunday before church. We had a really fun lesson on Saturday. We taught her about the plan of Salvation and with someone that's deaf, we need to teach her in a way that she can see things and understand them. We started on the stage in the church and taught about the pre-earth life, then, we went through the curtain (the veil) down onto the gym floor (earth). We then had Tyler and her put on a backpack (their bodies) and taught about agency. Then we put rocks (sin) in their backpacks until the bags were pretty heavy. We talked about Jesus Christ and who He is as our Savior. We taught about the atonement and how through Him we can have our sins taken away and become clean. Then, we took the rocks out of their bags and said that it's only through Jesus Christ that we can be relieved of those things. The best part was asking Aubrey questions at the end. She really is understanding the things that we've been teaching her. It's amazing! Both Sister Burwell and I have been praying that her understanding will be widened and her ability to learn will be enlarged. That has happened! It's been amazing. The best part for me is that the Lord is still blessing me to have a relationship with Aubrey even though I can't totally communicate with her. I feel close to her and I can tell she enjoys being around me. I just love her so much and I'm so happy about the changes that I'm already seeing in her. She just seems so much happier and excited about everything. At the end of both of the lessons we had with her this week, she said she just wants to keep learning more. She wants to know all that she can. I love this work!

We also found a super golden investigator yesterday. Her name is Stephanie and she was a referral from Church Headquarters. When we got there she told us that she wants to change, she wants better morals, she wants to have support, she wants to be closer to God, and she told us that she was committing right then and there to come to church! How amazing is that! We didn't even have to say a word ... don't worry, we did, but we probably didn't need to. I'm excited to see what happens with her.

Well, another week under my belt. It seems like there are too many under that belt. Time is flying by and I'm loving every minute! 

I love you all so much! When you write me, share a missionary experience that you've had lately! I love those! 

Love,
Sister Bennett 



With Sister Kiyotani 

            



P-Day Fun 

                             

  

And We’re Official

 

April 22, 2013

Dear Family,

Did you hear that I'm official now!?? There was an announcement a few weeks ago that all missions will now have a "mission council" which includes assistants to the president, zone leaders, and sister training leaders. That's right - we have a legit title now. We're no longer "traveling sisters" but we're "sister training leaders" and all missions are required to have them. It's pretty amazing because President Castro has been doing the exact things that the first presidency has asked the sister training leaders to do for about a year and a half now. Basically, he's inspired. Now he doesn't have to worry about taking time to make all of those changes, because we're already up and running in that area.  He can focus on helping with the Bakersfield mission. Isn't that so cool!??

We had another busy week. I think that I start every letter by saying that, though. We were in San Luis Obispo on Thursday and Santa Maria on Friday, and President's interviews took up most of our day on Wednesday, so that didn't leave us with a lot of time in our area. That's ok, though, because while we were in our area we were very blessed. We had another great lesson with Aubrey and Tyler as well as Brother Wages. I'll share more about that later on.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how my companion and I can prepare more to help the sisters in the mission understand what they can do to baptize each month. This morning I really started pondering on daily and weekly goals that we set and how effective they've been in our companionship. I love goals. I love them because they help me stretch and grow while helping me gauge my personal growth. The same goes for daily and weekly numbers we set for our goals. They can help us really grow if we're being effective in our goal setting. Sometimes I just feel like we make up goals at night and don't even have a shadow of thought about them the next day as we're working. There have definitely been times on my mission when I've been a lot more focused on those goals that we set each day and we've been more successful. Sister Burwell and I discussed that this morning and we're going to really work on setting meaningful goals and focusing on them daily. Hopefully by the time we go on exchanges with the sisters next transfer we will be proficient in this area and we'll be able to teach them how to do the same. I know that these steps, starting with smaller/daily goals, will help the sisters gain the larger goal of having a baptism each month. I think that will help them understand why we even set daily/weekly goals, as well, because I, for the longest time, didn't even get why we did it. Now, like Nephi (1 Ne 10:1) and Moses (Moses 1:1), my vision has been raised and, in turn, now I'm going to do my best to raise the sisters' vision as well.  The Lord has really raised my vision in all aspects of the work. I truly feel that he has brought me up into an "exceedingly high mountain" because He wants me to bring others up with me.

In my interview with President Castro I was very open with the questions that I had and the ideas that I have for the sisters. I don't usually just say things that I think we should do, but I told myself that there is a reason that he has me in this position. I'm so grateful for the trust that President Castro, and the Lord, have put in me. I am willing to do whatever the Lord asks me to do because I love Him. The things that he shared with me in my interview really meant a lot to me and I am grateful for the opportunity to be given this assignment. I know that I can have a great effect on the sisters in this mission. At times I'm intimidated by the thought but in my patriarchal blessing and in the blessing I received when I was set apart, I was promised that the Lord would qualify me for the tasks that I'm given and I was told that with my testimony and with humility, I will lead others. I have a lot of faith in those promises, and I've learned a lot of patience through this process of changing and growing to be more qualified to fulfill my responsibilities.

Now for a report on the exchanges we went on. On Thursday I worked with Sister Baliar in San Luis Obispo. Her goal for the day was to ask more questions in declarations to check for understanding. I thought that was a great goal, because I know that is something she has struggled with before - people understanding the things that she is teaching. She did pretty well with her goal, so I just talked with her about taking it even further into lessons and declarations. She's so good at asking questions at the beginning, but as we go further into teaching the restoration she just blows through without stopping to see where  the person we're teaching is at. She is super humble, so she took all/any advice I gave her very well. She just kept talking about how much she loves exchanges and that she was very grateful to have me there. That was so nice of her to say and it put things into a better perspective for me. I go on many exchanges in a transfer, but for each sister this is their only one and they really look forward to it. I'm so grateful that the Lord helps me so much on exchanges. I have seen Him help me recognize each sister's needs and I've seen Him give me more energy to fulfill the tasks of the day. Sister Baliar is doing well, she's grown a lot since I worked with her two transfers ago.

For our exchange on Friday, I worked with Hermana Hernandez in Santa Maria. She's from Mexico! That was a treat working with her. She is probably the most humble/teachable person I have worked with. I could just tell that she was trying to learn as much as she could from me. Throughout the day she would always whip out her planner and start writing things down. Finally, I asked her what she kept writing and she said she was writing down the advice I was giving. She was so grateful to be working with me for the day, just like Sister Baliar. She talked about how with Sister Wilkinson sometimes she doesn't get as much of a chance to learn the little things and that she wasn't sure what to do, but she said that maybe she felt ok about things because she knew that I would come and teach her what she needed. That was amazing. I was, again, just so grateful that the Lord helped me know what I needed to do for Hermana Hernandez. I had been praying a lot that I would know how I, Sister Bennett, could help her, because I know there are reasons that each sister that I go on exchanges with needs to work with me. I just felt that the Lord really trusted me that entire day because I felt the Spirit a lot. It was different than I've felt it before. I just felt very connected to Hermana Hernandez and very in-tune with what I should say and do to help her. The best way I can describe the feeling is love. I felt the kind of love for her that I have always felt for my little sister, it's different than the kind of love I feel for investigators and other sisters. It was crazy and very eye opening. Hermana Hernandez will continue to do well. She expects a lot out of herself and she'll be very successful. I'm just so grateful that she decided to serve a mission after overcoming so much. She is/will be a huge blessing to this mission.

I just wanted to quickly mention two of the lessons we had this week. First I would like to share about Brother Wages and then about Aubrey and Tyler.

I have prayed about Brother Wages a lot, because he is such a great man but isn't progressing as much as he could be in the gospel. He has been baptized for a year now and has not received the Aaronic priesthood. He is very hesitant because he hasn't felt ready or worthy to have the power of God given to him. As I've prayed about him, I started to think about myself and what has held me back, in the past, from doing certain things in the gospel. It's always been that I've relied on myself more than the Lord. When I wasn't confident in myself, I just wouldn't do things. That was the absolute wrong way to look at things. I shouldn't have been thinking - "can I do this" - but I should've thought - "can the Lord do this...through me?" I realized that Brother Wages has encountered the same problem but hasn't yet realized how to overcome it. I'm so grateful that I have learned to trust in the Lord rather than in myself. The results have been magnificent. The Lord has changed me and I've seen Him do amazing things as He's working through me. After sisters' training, a lot of sisters came up to me and told me how great they think I am and how much they felt the Spirit as I taught. In those moments I really felt amazed at what the Lord had done with me that day. I knew that nothing that happened had been on my accord, but that the Lord had been working through me to help the sisters. I shared those experiences with Brother Wages and we also shared 2 Nephi 4:34-35 and talked about not trusting in ourselves over the Lord. The Spirit was very strong there and the Woods were there and they shared experiences and testimonies with Brother Wages, as well. At the end we invited him to pray about a day to receive the Aaronic priesthood and also to teach us about the priesthood in our next lesson, rather than us teaching him. He was very receptive and willing to do those things. I'm really excited for when we'll meet with him this week.

The other experience I wanted to share was teaching Aubrey and Tyler again yesterday. My love for Aubrey, especially, is just growing more and more every time we teach her. I don't really understand why the Lord trusts me to be one of the missionaries to teach her, but I am so grateful. This is a whole new experience, teaching her. It isn't like teaching a child, but it's like teaching someone who speaks a completely different language than I do. I'm so grateful for Sister Wood, because she's so patient with us and is so willing to do whatever she can to help us teach Aubrey. Even though I don't know sign language, I feel very connected with Aubrey and I have felt the Spirit almost stronger than I ever have in the lessons we have with her. Sister Wood told us that we're going to need to be very creative with how we teach her, because it's hard for her to connect with the things that we're teaching. We need to find ways that she can see the things that we're teaching. We've planned a pretty great lesson on the Plan of Salvation for her this Saturday. It may take a bit of work, but it's so worth it. We set her and Tyler with a baptismal date of May 25th, and I hope we can be guided to know the best way to teach her so she'll be prepared for that date.

Well, wonderful week. I love being a missionary. That's for sure!

I love you all! Thanks for your letters, not you Cortney, and your prayers,

Sister Bennett

P.S. - I love scaring Sister Burwell. It's one of my favorite activities to do when we're at home. I seriously get her all the time. I'm the best. I attached a picture of what she found the other day when she opened the bathroom door. I turned off all the lights and just sat on the floor and waited for her to come out. I got her preeeeettty good!

P.P.S. - I also attached a picture of Sister Hernandez and I. I loved being there, because in the morning we played basketball. Sister Wilkinson is so fun to play with. Hopefully that'll hold me until I can play again.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Is it Thanksgiving? It Should Be - I'm Full of Thanks

 

 April 15, 2013

 

Hey there!

This week was a REALLY, really good week. We saw so many miracles in our area and I'm in a state of gratitude today for the Lord and how He always keeps the promises that He makes to us. I have kept the faith that He would help us to have fruit in this area even though we don't get to be laboring here as much as we would if we didn't have the assignment of being traveling sisters. He has come through and has definitely been laboring here in our absence. We have a nine-year-old preparing for baptism, we have a family to teach, our prayers about a specific investigator attending church have been answered, and the members in the ward are starting to "catch the wave" of missionary work. Miracles; they are happening in this part of the Lord's vineyard. 

The Lord is also blessing our companionship. Sister Burwell and I are doing really well together. There are times when we have differences in opinions, which I knew would happen, but we're both learning to lead and be lead. I think a lot about an email that I received from Brandice at the beginning of my mission. She gave me some priceless counsel about working with companions. She said that everyone has a way of doing things and sometimes the way that a companion accomplishes tasks is different than the way that you do it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Really, both methods are good and right, but they are just different. That taught me a really valuable lesson about compromising. There are times when I just need to step down and allow Sister Burwell to lead and do things the way that she has done them because I know that she's seen success doing the same work in different ways. There are times when I am not as willing to compromise because I feel strongly about it, but, overall, we are both compromising often and submitting to what the other thinks. It's been amazing. Sister Burwell is so loving and is a great example of Christ-like compassion. She sees my weaknesses, because there are many and they are very obvious, but she looks past them to who the Lord sees that I can become. She does this same thing with those that we teach. I am so grateful for her and her patience and love for me. She's already become such a great friend of mine, probably the best friend I've made on my mission. She's a strength and support for me in times when I really need her. 

This week we also had our sisters' training meeting that we, the four traveling sisters, were basically in charge of. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the meeting. It was so neat to see the hand of the Lord in preparing the four of us, traveling sisters, as well as President and Sister Castro. The things that Sister Castro spoke about at the beginning of the meetings lead perfectly into what the sisters and I taught about. The spirit in that room, as we talked about loving the Lord and being exact, was so strong. I felt the trust of the Lord as the Spirit really worked through me, as well as my companions, to teach the sisters the things that they needed to hear. I was taken aback, almost, by how much love I felt for all of the sisters in the room during that discussion. I just felt so grateful for them and for the sacrifices they've made and will continue to make as they labor in the Lord's vineyard. I also felt so proud of them. As I've gone on exchanges with a lot of them and have gotten to talk to many, I've been able to see obvious growth in them and I know that growth came from great effort and also faith in the Lord and His atonement. It was a humbling experience to stand in front of them because so many of them could do the exact same thing that I'm doing, but most likely they could do it better. However, the Lord has asked me to fulfill this assignment, and I'm so grateful for it. I have changed and grown so much since I've become a traveling sister. I'm sad that I allowed my vision/recognition of these changes to be blocked at times, because I can clearly see the way that the Lord has used this assignment to change me and mold me more and more into the missionary the people in this area, the sisters, and He needs. 

Now, on to the most important thing - the people! This week we taught Jean, the Rabagos, Allen, the Heaths (like 4 times), Rita, Brother Dumond, Evangelista, Chris, Sister Rous, Lisa, Julie, Cryshauna, and Aubrey and Tyler. 

Melanie Heath is moving along great! We were worried for a little bit because all of the Heath children had been gone for a week and then they weren't home for the appointment we set, so we thought we would probably have to push back Melanie's and Mariah's baptism. I was bummed about that because I wanted to reach our goal of having a  baptism every month. Well, this week we taught them probably four times, so we're back on track! The kids are a bit wild, but they're learning. Sometimes I have to catch myself, because my patience starts to wear a little bit thin. I guess this will be a good experience to teach me about motherhood and teaching my children about the gospel. I'm really grateful for Sister Heath. She's a single mom with six kids, working and going to school. She's tired and stressed, but she's always happy to have us come and teach her children. I can see that she's putting God first, and I know that she'll be blessed for her sacrifices. She even fed us this week when I know that she's receiving help from the church with food. That was pretty humbling that she wanted to feed representatives of Jesus Christ that much. I was humbled. 

We went on exchanges on Friday with the Agoura Hills sisters. I worked with Sister Di Liberto for the day and we were in Agoura. She is a temple square sister and she's from Italy! My goal was to help her take the lead. I know that Sister Evensen, her companion, has been struggling because Sister Di Liberto hasn't been contributing as much. Honestly, just like with Sister Randall, I really wanted to work hard and help Sister Di Liberto know  how to do the work. I told her that she should be tired every night. She loved it. We talked to everyone we saw and made sure that if we got out of the car, we talked to someone. She said that a lot of the time they're just getting in and out of the car and driving. I know that Agoura is a wealthy area, but tracting isn't just for finding - it's also for teaching missionaries. That's another piece of wisdom that my sister shared with me. Sister Di Liberto is great. I think that she and Sister Evensen just need to work things out together, because throughout the day I just made sure to leave a lot of room for her to talk and when I did, she took the opportunity to testify and teach. She's so great at teaching to needs and I could tell that people feel loved when she speaks to them. It was a great day in Agoura.  

We had a day of miracles yesterday. It was wonderful. We had been praying so much and I was fasting for Lisa to come to church. She's been on the verge of coming so many times, but so often she didn't show up. We had also been asking members of the ward to pray for her to come to church, and yesterday she came. That is the best feeling in the world, as a missionary, when you've been praying for someone to come to church and you see them walk into the chapel on Sunday. Those are joyous occasions because you know that they are in the right place. I think that she had a good experience. She came to the gospel principles class that we were teaching, but she needed to leave part way through the meeting. I was just glad that she made it, because now it will make it easier for her to come next time. 

Now,the great miracle of the day yesterday, was Aubrey. Aubrey's mom, Dawnia, has been less-active for quite some time, but Dawnia has been wanting to get back to church. Sister Lillywhite and I went and taught Aubrey and Tyler, Aubrey's brother, the Sunday before Sister Lillywhite went home. I think I wrote about that experience. Aubrey is deaf. Last time we taught her we didn't have an interpreter, and her mom has a hard time doing it so we had to resort to watching the restoration DVD. That wasn't the best, because Aubrey doesn't really have an understanding of God and who He is. Well, yesterday we went over to Aubrey's house in the morning and talked to her mom about teaching Aubrey and Tyler both, Tyler is 10. We ended up meeting at the church at 12:00pm, an hour before sacrament meeting. Sister Wood, in the ward, actually knows ASL. That is a HUGE miracle for multiple reasons. That meant that we could help Aubrey more and it was especially a blessing because Sister Wood is amazing. She's a return missionary, she served in Nauvoo, and is so great with missionary work. She knew how to help us and what would be best for Aubrey. We really focused on teaching Aubrey about God and who she is - a daughter of God. I cannot explain how powerful it was to see Sister Wood say that to her in sign language. I just felt so much love for Aubrey and so excited for her to understand who she is. I also just felt so much love for Sister Wood, as well. She is truly someone that has taken the name of Jesus Christ on herself. She is the best example of someone with charity that I have met. I'm so excited to keep teaching Aubrey. I'm going to have Sister Wood teach me how to bear my testimony to her in sign language. I'm just so grateful for the miracles that the Lord has blessed us with this week. 

I wish I had more time to share other miracles of this week, but these will need to suffice. 

I love this work. 

Thank you so much mom for sending me the Easter package - I got it a while ago, but just forgot to say thanks. Haha. Also, thanks Colin for sending that other package. I loved the letters from the DeMill kids and I really loved the candy. I was wanting some Reeses eggs. Good work. :) 

Anyway, Ventura is wonderful and the work is even better! I love you all so much! Please, feel free to write me a letter! CORTNEY! 

Love, 
Sister Bennett