Let's Harvest This Field, From Sunrise to Sunset!

August 19, 2013


Dear Fambam,

I AM SO SORRY! I am an airhead/loosing my mind because there is so much stuffed in there! I totally forgot to send my email last week! Forgive me!! Well, here's the one from last week!

When we were on exchanges this week in Santa Maria, Sister LeSeur played a song for me that I've been thinking about a lot since Friday. The song is called "Harvester" and the chorus made me emotional as I thought about what it means to be a missionary. The song says "From all that we've grown, how could we forget those who don't know or just don't know yet? We'll harvest this field from sunrise to sunset. The Master is coming, we are not done yet." I've been battling with myself a lot lately, or, really, I've been battling with the adversary. The tactics he uses with me are not that of temptations to sleep in or disobey rules, but he is trying to break my confidence and distract me from my stewardship. Lately, I've often had thoughts about how tired I am and how long I still have to go until I can rest. I know that those thoughts are not coming from the Lord. That song, quoted above, helped me remember that I am not done yet and I don't want to be done yet. I want to be here preparing for when the Master comes as long as I possibly can. The other thoughts that Satan has been putting in my head are thoughts about my growth. I keep doubting myself and how much I've progressed. I've been so worried lately that I haven't grown as much as the Lord has wanted me to, but I know that I have. I know that I've given this work my all and I'm going to continue to do so. As the song says "From all that we've grown, how could we forget." I can't allow myself to forget how much I've changed. The Lord has really blessed me this week with confirmations of my growth. I was able to speak at Lisa's baptism, which was wonderful, and as I pondered on that experience afterward, I remembered an interview I had with President my 4th transfer. I had the opportunity to do part of the presentation for the training, with Sister Putnam, and he had been in the room as we presented. When I came into my interview, he spoke to me about how I present myself and being confident in myself and in the authority I have. He talked about how at times I seemed unsure, as if I was thinking "What am I doing up here in front of all these missionaries? I don't belong here." I will always remember what President taught me. He told me that I need to stand tall, with confidence, and remember that I've been given power and authority from Jesus Christ to do His work. When I thought about my talk at Lisa's baptism, I realized how confident I've become with speaking and that whenever I am given an assignment to present or to speak I feel totally confident in that power and authority I have and in the Spirit's ability to guide me. I'm grateful that the Spirit helped me realize that growth.

I had an exchange this week with Sister Anderson in San Luis Obispo. I am really glad that I had that opportunity, because I had only heard about her from Sister Burwell and Sister Hegstrom. I had never actually gotten the opportunity to teach with her or work with her. She has the best attitude. She has been through a lot in her life, and she is totally converted to Jesus Christ. Her motto in missionary work is "if all else fails, just knock doors and testify." I love that because she understands why she's here. She is here to testify of Jesus Christ and even though she is with a missionary who has been out just as long as she has, she doesn't doubt. She also loves the people, so much. She really does have a desire to help them and lead them to Christ. It was a great opportunity for me to work with her, because it helped me reflect on my attitude and why I am here. I'm excited to see her as she grows in her teaching skills, since she is still so new. She is becoming such a powerful missionary. 

My last exchange was with Sister LeSeur in Santa Maria. We had an amazing day! It seems that everytime we go to Santa Maria we have the greatest miracles! It felt really good to go out the entire day and just work super hard. We talked to every single person that we saw, including groups of people. She was a bit hesitant about that at first, but she had no choice but to follow me and talk to everyone. At the end of the day, she talked about how good she felt because she knew she had done all that she could. She said that she had honestly never gone up to a group of people before to teach them about the gospel, and that she was grateful that I showed her that it is ok. I'm glad that I was able to help her see how satisfying it is to return home at night tired, worn out, and ready for bed because you've done all that you can.

When Sister Burwell and I got back on Saturday, we had a busy day. We had two baptisms and we went to a third baptism that evening because one of the investigators we're teaching, Dawn, was going. Daniel's baptism went really well. The Spirit was definitely there and Daniel couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He's such a good kid, and I'm really excited for his future. I'm also so grateful for the fellowship that he has in the ward from the Deacons quorum. He's already good friends with them, and I know that they'll keep track of him.

Lisa's baptism was beautiful. The Spirit was so strong there. She was very emotional. At first, I was worried that she was having doubts, but when I asked her what she was feeling she just said, "really good." I felt at peace about her answer and knew that she was feeling the Spirit. I spoke on baptism, and had felt very impressed to share the conversion story of Alma the younger (Mosiah 27) and to really focus on being born again. I learned a lot from preparing to speak, and I definitely felt the Spirit working through me as I spoke. I love having the opportunity to speak because I love that powerful feeling of the Spirit that I receive every time I speak. There was a good amount of members who came to Lisa's baptism, as well, and I was very grateful for that. She really needed this, as everyone does, but Lisa needed to have that healing. I know that she's had that and that she will continue to heal through the atonement of Jesus Christ. She is just a special person and it's so obvious that the light of God has truly come into her life even more through her baptism.

We got to teach Jed and Stefanie again yesterday, and Stefanie's less-active son, Cody, was there, too! Once again, it was an amazing experience. Sister Burwell and I had discussed talking to them about getting married, because, of course, they need to get married so Jed can be baptized. We weren't exactly sure of how to bring it up, since neither of us has taught someone with this situation, but we knew that we'd be lead by the Spirit to know the best way to discuss it with them. When we got there, one of the first things Stefanie asked us was "How can Jed have a baptismal date? You do know that we're living together, unmarried, right?" That was a blessing, because it would've been awkward if we had just brought it up. We shared with them the thoughts and feelings that we had about them getting sealed in the temple in a year and that they would need to get married sooner so that Jed can get baptized. Stefanie then told us why they aren't married yet. Stefanie has some debt from a previous marriage that she needs to pay off, and if she marries Jed the IRS will go after his money and Stefanie doesn't want to do that. She got pretty emotional and talked about how she doesn't want to hinder his progress in the gospel because he really wants to get baptized. I wasn't sure what to tell them. I thought they were just afraid of commitment or something, and I didn't know anything about debt or the IRS. Sister Burwell, being totally inspired, spoke up and said that the question kept coming to her head, for Stefanie, "Are you paying your tithing?" Stefanie almost jumped off the ground, and explained that her dad had just asked her the same question a few days ago and really urged her to pay her tithing. That was a miracle! We totally shifted our lesson from re-teaching the restoration to teaching them about tithing and the blessings that come. Stefanie has a really good perspective of tithing. She talked about how she doesn't want to pay tithing for the wrong reasons, and wants to do it the right way - not just for the blessings. She said that she knows that she needs to do it, but it will be very hard. I know that she can do it, and Sister Burwell and I are going to pray and fast for them to be able to get out of debt so they can get married and Jed can get baptized. I don't know how long it will take, but I know that they will receive help as Stefanie pays her tithing. I also know that Sister Burwell and I are the missionaries that the Lord wanted to be teaching them, and I feel that I will be here for Jed's baptism. I don't know how it's going to work, I just have faith that it will. I love them so much. Because they have such amazing faith, it's helped mine to grow. They're coming to church this Sunday, and I'm so excited to introduce them to the members of the ward and to Bishop Allen! I LOVE THIS WORK!

The Lord is always blessing His faithful servants, isn't He. Now I just have to continue to be faithful and I can hope for, or expect, the blessings to continue to come.

Love,

Sister Bennett

Daniel's baptism!

Lisa's baptism!