September 9, 2013
Dear Family,
It was a crazy week! Don't worry, though, I loved every minute. Sister Burwell and I had to take a Spanish sister to the airport because she went home for medical purposes. On our way back from the airport we got to stop at the temple for Sister Burwell's birthday. Then, when we got to Ventura we picked up our new "temporary" companion from Temple Square - Sister Klemm. She's from Germany and she's hilarious! Crazzzzzzy week PEOPLE! CRAZY!
We saw SO many miracles and Sister Burwell and I had a great experience going to the temple for Sister Burwell's birthday. I felt rushed trying to get to the temple, because we didn't want to be getting back to Ventura so late in the afternoon, but the traffic was so terrible on the 405. When we got to the temple, finally, I was a bit flustered. We rushed in and got changed as quickly as possible, but I was held up for a minute because I saw Sister Matweyew's (from Moorpark) mother-in-law. I had to stop and say "hello" to her, which I was so happy to. That was a little treat to see her. She told me that brother Matweyew received the Melchizedek priesthood and gave Gavin a priesthood blessing for the beginning of the school year. That helped me calm down from having to rush so much. Then, Sister Burwell and I walked over to get a name and the sisters there told us that we missed the session by 5 minutes. What? I'm so grateful for Sister Burwell. I know she could tell I felt bad that we would be getting back to Ventura so late, so she turned to me and said, "Where is there a better place to be for an extra hour and fifteen minutes?" She also said that she felt like the Lord wanted us there for a little extra time. I was so thankful for her perspective on the situation. I learned a really good lesson. "We can't control the wind, but we can control the sails" came to my mind. Our lives have a lot of bumps in the road that we don't really expect. They happen everyday, but we can choose how to react. That's a huge lesson I've learned, repeatedly (because I have a thick head), throughout my mission. The remainder of our time in the temple was wonderful. The new endowment film is amazing. I learned so much and it made my love for Heavenly Father's plan deepen even more. I'm so grateful that we can go to the Lord's house and commune with Him. I know that the temple is literally His house.
I have really enjoyed having Sister Klemm with us for these past few days. She has such a fun personality and the way she teaches has been great to learn from. She is always so positive and that's been good for me, because I've been tired and I think I've been letting it make me grumpy. Sister Burwell and I will miss her a lot, but I'm grateful she could come and experience the amazing miracles that happened this week with us.
Jed and Stefanie. The miracles and faith do not cease with them. I think a huge reason why I needed to be here to teach them was so I could learn from them. Sister Burwell and I have gotten so close with them, and it's funny because we don't really know that much about them personally. We know them spiritually. We've shared so many spiritual experiences with them that it's created such a strong bond. Those are the relationships that I want for the rest of my life, relationships built on a spiritual foundation - Jesus Christ. We had two lessons with Jed and Stefanie this week. The first lesson was on Wednesday and the Bishop was able to come with us. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom. Stefanie has an addiction to cigarettes. She has been smoking since she was a teenager, so it's really hard for her to quit. Before we even started teaching about the Word of Wisdom, we really focused on the Savior and His atonement. We read Alma 7:11-13 with them and talked about how He knows all that we'll go through and He's overcome it all as well. He will help Stefanie overcome this, I know He will. We talked about the blessings of the Word of Wisdom, the greatest of which is always having the Spirit, and both Jed and Stefanie talked about how they want that. Bishop explained the 12-step program to Stefanie, and she immediately said that she wants to try it. She also said that she wants to quit smoking through the program and have it as a calling to be in charge of it. I thought that was a neat goal. Well, on Saturday we had another lesson with them. This was a miracle lesson. We were planning on teaching about the Law of Chastity. Jed and Stefanie need to get married so Jed can be baptized. When we got there, Stefanie asked us to talk to Jed about seeking perfection. Jed struggles with the idea that we can't be perfect in this life. He's really hard on himself if he makes any mistakes. We shared a lot of personal experiences that we've had with the atonement. I felt like I could really relate to how Jed was feeling...to an extent. Sister Burwell is always getting on my case about not being too hard on myself. I shared some of my feelings with him and the things that I've learned as I've come to feel and understand the atonement more in my life. I've seen the atonement change Jed already. He is such a special person and I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves him. As we were talking with him, he said he just doesn't want to do anything to mess this all up because he feels so good. He never wants to loose the Spirit. I felt so strongly that I needed to stress the fact that he needs the gift of the Holy Ghost. After each of us bore our testimony of the importance of the gift of the Holy Ghost, Stefanie turned to Jed and said, "We need to get you baptized as soon as we can so you can get the gift of the Holy Ghost." She then turned to us and told us that she told Jed at the beginning of us meeting with them that they were not going to get married until next year. Then she continued to tell us that she knows they can't wait to do that. She told Jed that they need to get married so he can be baptized in October. All three of us had our jaws on the floor. I almost started bawling. I just felt so much love for Stefanie right then and I could feel how proud Heavenly Father is of her. Her faith has grown So much since we first started teaching them. I know that increase of faith has come because she paid her tithing. It is an immediate blessing from putting the kingdom of God first in her life. She said that she didn't want to die, stand in front of the Lord and have Him ask why Jed wasn't baptized and she would have to answer "Because I was in debt." She said she has no choice but to trust in the Lord to provide. I know He will, because He always does. When we obey the Lord is bound, isn't that what the scriptures teach us? Jed is getting baptized on October 19th. That will be one of the best days of my mission.
Another quick miracle, we taught a lady named Diana on Saturday. She was a referral a long time ago from the Hermanas and I've met Diana many times. We were always trying to find a time to teach her but she's so busy that it never worked out. Finally, we got to teach her on Saturday. She expressed so many desires that she has when we asked why she was willing to meet with us. She wants her family to be closer together (she has 4 children), she wants her kids to have God in their lives, she wants to have good friends and support from good people, and she wants to have a better individual relationship with Heavenly Father. We were pleased to tell her that she will receive all of those blessings through the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. Her Dad, Phillip, was there and he's so nice. He gave us bananas to take home and he came in to pray with us at the end. He even asked us to kneel! He beat us to it! Diana told us that she would definitely come to church the next day. When we were at church yesterday, we were walking in from our car and there was Phillip sitting on the church steps reading his Bible! I was so surprised that I almost didn't recognize him! He told us that Diana's kids got an infection called "hand, foot, mouth" and it's super contagious so she couldn't bring them to church around the other kids. Phillip told her he was still going to go and that he'd tell us "hi" for her. Haha. He loved church! He talked to me about the first time he met me and another sister I was on exchanges with. He came out for a prayer before we left that time, just like this last time. He said every time we're around he feels so good. He feels something different. We explained the Spirit to him and told him to look for that feeling again while he was in church. He sure felt it! He said that he'll be back next week, he'll be at our appointment with Diana on Saturday and he signed up to feed us dinner! That was an amazing miracle. I was just like "Where did you come from????" over and over again to Phillip. Haha.
I love these people so much. I never could have imagined how much joy I would feel as I have done this. I am so grateful for the examples in my life that helped me get to this point. Going on a mission was the best decision I've ever made. The course of my life has changed dramatically because of that decision. This truly is the best year-and-a-half FOR my life.
Love,
Sister Bennett
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