May 6, 2013
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.
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!
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