July 15, 2013
Hola Mi Familia,
Sister Hegstrom is a cut above the rest as far as new missionaries go. Last night we had to do the 12-week training program because we had meetings all morning and lessons all afternoon. When I shared what I learned from my studies, I asked her if I could practice with her for the discussion that Sister Burwell and I will lead for zone conferences. She was really excited about the idea of doing that because she was feeling sad that she wouldn't be at the same zone conference as me. We read the scriptures that Sister Burwell and I plan to share and I asked the questions that we've planned to ask. I was floored by Sister Hegstrom's responses. She has such a wonderful perspective of this work. That companionship study was the most spiritual companionship study that I've had in my mission. We both felt so uplifted and so happy after we finished, and I can see how companionship study really can unify a companionship. We received a lot of revelation together during that time, and I now feel more prepared to lead a discussion with the other sisters. I just wish I could bring Sister Hegstrom with me so that the newer sisters can hear her comments. It would mean a lot to them to hear someone who’s in their same situation and has the focus and perspective that Sister Hegstrom has.
This transfer has been hard, stretching, and tiring, but I am so grateful for it. I would do it again in a heat-beat because I have learned so much. The Lord is so good to me. He really knows me so well and knows the experiences that I need to have to continue progressing. My testimony has become so strong this transfer and I've become more aware of the tender mercies of the Lord in my life. I always used to try hard to see them, but now I just notice them all the time without a lot of effort. I just feel so indebted for these experiences and the miracles of missionary work. I love my mission so much. I never imagined that I could love it so much or how much I would change. I feel like a completely different person than who I was when I began this journey and I am so grateful.
Alright, now I need to report on the exchanges that we had this week.
On Tuesday we were in Camarillo, again, but this time with Sister Kiyotani and Sister Xayadeth. I worked with Sister Kiyotani for the day. She is still as focused as ever. I would definitely say that she is the most focused sister missionary in this mission. She totally understands her purpose and does all that she can to fulfill it. The thing that is hard for her is sharing herself with other people. She has a hard time relating to people we talk to in the street and also to her companion. I was grateful to work with her because I knew I could show her that it's ok to be yourself and a missionary. I love meeting so many people every day and letting them know me. I have a testimony of the importance of connecting with people by being yourself. Sister Kiyotani said that it helped her a lot to watch how I teach people, because, she said, I teach them like they're my best friend. I didn't ever think of it that way, but that was really nice of her. I was just grateful because she said she saw ways that she could improve in the area of connecting with people.
On Wednesday we did an exchange with the Moorpark sisters. I was in Moorpark again! I had to be since I was working with Sister Snow and we like to have the new missionary stay in their area. Sister Snow is brand new and she's great! She just wants to learn as much as she can. She asked me so many questions! I have never had anyone ask me that many questions before, but it was cool to see her desire to improve and to understand how she can do it. She is definitely a "go-getter." She has no problem talking to people on the street or at their doors, and she does well with teaching in lessons. I talked to her about really focusing on the doctrines in chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel. She isn't shy about talking, so now she needs to refine the way she teaches and her focus as she talks to people. She doesn't like being new, just like I didn't, so I talked to her about not running faster than she has strength. She almost wore me out and that's impossible! I just told her to be patient and allow the Lord to change her. She wants to be at the point that I'm at after four weeks. I told her that she's not getting out of going through the learning process. I had to do it, so she does, too! She did really well with taking advice and trying new things as we worked together on our exchange.
On Friday we had our last exchange of the week. I worked with Sister Mason in Agoura Hills. That exchange was a huge blessing to me. On the past few exchanges, I felt that they weren't as successful as they could've been. I'm not sure why, so I was feeling a little worried and discouraged. I had been praying about it a lot, and I realized that I had done all that I could with those sisters, and it was up to them to take something from our exchange together and to apply it. The Lord blessed me to have the opportunity to work with Sister Mason. She was hungering for more. I could just feel her desire and her spirit so strongly as I was working with her. I felt so grateful to have her in this mission. I was getting worried about the new sister missionaries because of the past few exchanges that Sister Burwell and I have had with them. They just didn't seem like they were as dedicated as expected. I felt like I had been tricked with Sister Hegstrom because she's just very special, but Sister Mason re-instilled my faith in the Prophet’s call for younger missionaries. She is wonderful just like Sister Hegstrom. I just enjoyed being with her because she is so positive and so focused. She's very patient as well. I felt grateful that I could be the one to work with her and share with her things that she could do to reach the goals that she had already set. Our day together just flew by! We saw some wonderful miracles and I learned a lot from her. She teaches in such a sweet, reverent way. I could just feel that she loved the people we were talking to. I can't wait to work with her again!
Now, for a quick update on our area. We had some sweet little miracles the past few days.
On Saturday, Sister Hegstrom and I were going to try to see a less-active woman that the Bishop had asked us to visit. She lives in a big apartment complex, so when we got there I peeked at my planner really quick to get the apartment number. I thought "Ok, it will be on the back of this building." We went around the back and the first door I saw I went up to, thinking it was this woman's door. As I was knocking on the door, Sister Hegstrom said something that I couldn't understand. A lady opened the door and said "Oh, I'm busy!" I quickly asked if she was the lady we were looking for. She opened up the door more and looked as confused as I felt. I figured it out that she wasn't that lady, sooooo we started declaring to her. She told us that she is Christian but hasn't been able to go to church for a while. We shared a little about the restoration with her and she said she couldn't talk much then because she was watching her granddaughter. Then she said, "Well, can't you come back next week? I can talk then!" Sister Hegstrom and I looked at each other so surprised and said "Of course we can!" As we were walking away, Sister Hegstrom helped me understand that I had gone to the completely wrong apartment, so we moved on to try the apartment that the less-active lady actually lived in.
Another little miracle that we saw happened yesterday. We were walking up to the home of an investigator that we had an appointment with, and all of a sudden we hear "Hey! Are you those missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?!" I immediately thought to myself "Uh-oh." Whenever we hear something like that, the person is usually not the biggest fan of the church. We looked in the direction that the voice came from and saw a lady waving at us. She, most likely seeing the alarm on our faces, quickly explained that she is a member of the 3rd ward and was helping her friend move in. Her friend, Kathy, walked up and introduced herself to us. As we were talking, I asked Kathy is she was a member of the church as well (I already knew she wasn't). She said no, and her member friend said that Kathy has been asking the member a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. That made me really excited, but then the member kept talking and got us a little off track from the Book of Mormon. As soon as the member finished talking, I asked Kathy if she really did have questions about the Book of Mormon because we're the ones that are sent to answer those questions. She said yes, that she really did. We asked if she had a copy of the Book of Mormon still, since she was moving. She didn't, so we gave her one. She excitedly told us that she would start reading "tonight!" We set up an appointment and will be teaching her next Monday! That was a miracle!
The Lord is really blessing this area. We've found so many new people to teach and I know that there are baptisms around the corner for this area! This work is so amazing!
I love you all!
Thank you for your emails and prayers!
Sister Bennett
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