My California AdVENTURAs: The Lord is in the Details

August 5, 2013

Dear Family,

It's still hard to believe that Sister Burwell and I are companions again. I did not see that coming! I am so grateful to be with her again, though. It's giving me the opportunity to grow more in the way I handle relationships with others. I've never been with a companion, or any person, this long and there are times when I struggle with that, but I've made a commitment to myself and to the Lord that every morning I will decide to do all that I can to help my companion feel His love. It's been amazing so far. I just feel like the Lord is preparing me for my future marriage. I can't imagine what that would be like if I hadn't served a mission, but thankfully I am serving a mission so I have this great opportunity to learn about marriage. Sister Burwell and I work together really well. We have the same goal to baptize, and we both expect it.

It's so neat that the Lord waited for us to be together again for the people that we've taught in 2nd ward to get baptized. Lisa, Daniel and Maliah will get baptized this transfer, and I know that is a blessing from the Lord, especially Lisa's baptism. I was there with Sister Lillywhite when we first found Lisa and it has been a long, strenuous process trying to help her find an answer and get baptized. I have seen her grow so much in the time that I've taught her, and when I saw her at church yesterday, after 6 weeks, I was amazed. She had such a light about her and she looked happier than I have ever seen her. It wasn't a question of if we would meet with her, but more of a when. She came to us and asked about when we would have our next lesson. She also recognized how amazing it is that I'm back in the ward for when she'll be baptized. Her entire conversion process has been full of tender mercies. The Lord truly prepares the people and also the time in which they will accept the gospel and be baptized. Lisa had a major surgery about a week ago, and it was interesting that she was preparing for that as she learned about the gospel, because for the surgery she had to give up coffee, alcohol, and tobacco. When we taught her the Word of Wisdom she recognized how amazing the timing was on starting to obey that commandment. There are so many little things like that that have happened with Lisa. It's just really strengthened my testimony that the Lord is in even the tiniest details of our lives.

I'm so happy to be in the 2nd ward again! I got to see so many people yesterday at church that I love. The best part was when I saw Sister Wood. We became very close when I was in 2nd ward before, and she has seriously impacted my life. I think she was the hardest person to say goodbye to when I left the 2nd ward. I thought I wouldn't see her until December, but miracles happen! She was late for sacrament meeting, so when she walked in we were already seated. We sit on the back row a lot so we can look out into the foyer and see if any investigators show up late, so she had to walk in front of us to get to a seat. As she was walking by she smiled and waved, like to everyone on the row and she didn't see me yet. Then, she got to me and her reaction was priceless. I think she almost screamed in the middle of sacrament meeting! Hahah. I loved it! We actually had dinner with her last night and that was a treat. She and her husband are so focused on missionary work. That's what we talked about the entire time we were there. She does so much for us and I hope we can at least help her in some way. I don't know if we do, but we try. :) I'm so happy to see her all the time again so I can continue to learn from her and soak up her knowledge and love for the gospel.

We got a really wonderful new investigator this week. Her name is Dawn, and she is dating a member of the ward. They've been dating for over a year now, and they're planning on getting married - although they haven't told anyone yet. Dawn is in her late 30s and has a 5 year old daughter named Ashlyn. She was raised Catholic in North Dakota, but she left the Catholic church because she didn't feel like people truly believed what they were taught on Sundays. About a year ago, Dawn joined a Baptist church because she was going through a really hard time in her life. She has such strong faith. When we first sat down with her she talked about this church that she goes to and I was worried that she was going to put up a wall before we even had a chance to teach her anything. However, as she talked to us about why she went to the Baptist church, she said that it was right for her at that time in her life and that now she doesn't know what's right for her. She said that she's very open to what we have to share, and I really felt that she was telling us the truth. She had read the Book of Mormon previously in her life, but it was for educational purposes. When we invited her to begin reading it, she said that she would and that she knew it would be different this time because she's looking for something different - she's looking for truth. I felt the Spirit a lot as we were there with her, and as I looked at her I could see what she would become. I could imagine her as a counselor in the Relief Society and I could see her in the temple with Brother Lazenbey. That was such a wonderful experience.

Last night, Sister Castro and I were able to have a really great conversation about family and about the things that I've learned on my mission that has strengthened my love for my family. Samuel came to a lesson with us last night, and while we were in Daniel's home, his little sister was having a huge meltdown. She was very upset with her mom and she was treating her mother very, very poorly. I could see that Samuel felt a little uncomfortable, so I felt bad that he had to be there for that, but, when we were talking last night, Sister Castro just talked about how she hopes that experience will help Samuel see how important it is to appreciate his parents. I thought about that a lot last night as I was falling asleep. I'm so grateful for wonderful parents who have Jesus Christ as the center of their lives. Having experiences like that have helped me recognize that blessing. It's also made me so grateful for the love in my family. We love being together as much as we can, and I've seen in other families that people are embarrassed by their family or ashamed of them, but that is not the case at all for me. I love my family and I'm glad that my eyes have been opened to the importance of the gospel in the family.

I love you all! Keep in touch!

Love,
Sister Bennett

District picture! (From L-R) Sister Anderson, Sister Burwell, Hermana Coleman, Hermana Walker, Me, Sister Hegstrom, Elder Kindray, Elder Wallace, Elder Spackman, Elder Pace and Elder Robison