Year of the Harvest

June 10, 2013



Dear Bennett CLAN! 

This week went well. We were very busy finishing up exchanges and we had our first Mission Leadership Council. I can't believe that another transfer is drawing to an end. I felt like we just started doing exchanges this transfer. Now we're all done and are preparing for all of the new sister missionaries arriving in a week! I don't understand how time works on missions. These past 5 weeks flew by, but at the same time it feels like it was years ago that Elder Robbins came to visit us. No matter how long I'm a missionary, I don't think I'll ever get a handle on how time moves in missionary work.

The Mission Leadership Council is basically the same thing as Zone Leaders Council, which we've been to before. Now it's just official that we, the sisters, are to be at the meeting each month for the entire meeting. It was great because I feel that I received a lot of revelation for working with the sisters. There are 18 sisters coming next week!! Basically, that revelation was very needed. I feel a sense of urgency with the new sisters coming in. I want to be able to instantly instill in them the same culture and the same vision that this mission and the missionaries in this mission have at this point, because we are growing, spiritually, as a mission. I really feel that the Lord is putting so much trust in the young people of the church because there is no hesitation to stock missions full of new sisters and elders. These missionaries coming in HAVE to be more prepared. If they weren't then the change in age for full-time mission service wouldn't have happened. I feel like it's up to us, the sister training leaders, to help the new sisters see where to put their attention and focus right away. As a new missionary, it's easy to get lost in all of the changes that you feel pressed to make. I think a big part of our job on exchanges will be to help them know how to prioritize and set goals. Also, I feel that trainers can be better prepared. These new missionaries are up and above where we, the older generation of missionaries, realize they are. I think that the trainers need to let the new missionaries play a more active role in their companionships. It's so important because so many of these new missionaries are going to be required to train after 12 weeks or back up train after just 6! I've been doing my best to teach this to the trainers that I've worked with on exchanges, but I think in the training meeting that should be stressed so much more. 

I also loved what we learned in Mission Leadership Council. President Castro talked about the way the Lord sees things. He works with individuals and I love that we talked more about how we, as missionaries, need to focus on individuals and build baptisms with individuals in mind. There are too many times when I've seen the sisters just throwing out numbers while setting goals in nightly planning without a thought of who those numbers represent. If we want to do the Lord's work in the Lord's way, we need to see things how the Lord would see things. It teaches us in the scriptures that His sheep are numbered, not counted (as Elder Robbins taught us). With each number the Lord knows the individual. That just stressed to me how we need to do the same. With each number, we need to see and know an individual that the number stands for. When I think of times in my mission when I've had the most success in reaching goals or having baptisms, I know that I was more focused on each individual child of God rather than on how many lessons I got that day or how many baptisms I had that transfer. On top of all of that, I was the happiest at those moments in my mission. I know that if we focus on Heavenly Father's children like He does, we will have more joy in this work. That's what I want the new sisters to feel. That love and joy will be a driving force for them in their missions, and so it's up to us and the trainers in this mission to TEACH them how to feel that love and joy.

We had two exchanges this week. The first one was with the San Luis Obispo sisters. I worked with Sister Stoker. She has changed so much since I trained her and even since our last exchange together. She has become an amazing sister missionary. She is focused, obedient, diligent, goal-oriented, a Preach My Gospel missionary, humble, and driven. She still gets stressed easily. I could see that training has been hard for her, because she really takes it seriously. She said she understands why I was so serious when I was her trainer. Haha. I just talked to her a lot about letting Sister Thurgood take the lead. I said that Sister Stoker has shown her how to be a leader for five weeks and now it's time to hand it over to her companion. That will be good for Sister Stoker to trust her companion. They're doing well there in San Luis Obispo.

The other exchange we had was with the Santa Maria sisters. I worked with Sister Wilkinson for the day. She was so excited to have exchanges with us. She's still working really hard, as always. I'm always impressed with how she talks to everyone she sees. She is happy to be training and enjoys her companion. As she shared things with me about her companion, I was so happy to see how much Sister Wilkinson loves her companion and puts her companion first. Sister Howell needs a friend, and Sister Wilkinson is fulfilling that role. She's such a stellar missionary and I learned a lot from our exchange together.

This week, in our area, we taught Suzanne, Bree, Brother Dumon (less-active), Daniel, and Stephanie. Lisa came to church, as well!

Suzanne is so ready to be baptized....SHE PASSED HER INTERVIEW! She'll be baptized on Saturday! Crazy, isn't it. Woah. This work is just insane. Suzanne is a testimony to me that the Lord truly is working in our area when we are away doing exchanges. She came to us. As we've been teaching her, I've seen her change even though it has been a short time. She is willing to do what the Lord asks of her because she has already seen many blessings from being obedient. She told us, in a lesson this week, that she has seen her faith grow so much already from meeting with us and from coming to church. As we went over the baptismal interview questions with her I felt the Spirit come over me many times because she invited it to be there with us through her conviction and testimony. She truly understands what it means to repent. When she talked to us about what it means, I was amazed at her answer and then the thought came to me that she understands so well because she has done it. That is why I've seen a change in her - she has partaken of the atonement of Jesus Christ and through His grace she has changed. There's an obvious light in her eyes . That's what this is all about. People like Suzanne are the reason I get up everyday at 6:30am, study, go out the door at 10:00am and talk to strangers all day...everyday. Really, it's the love I feel for these people that pushes me out that door and opens my mouth. I just feel so blessed...over and over again..by my Father in Heaven, to have the opportunity to know these people.

I don't know that I can share anything better than what I've shared about Suzanne. I guess it would be important to mention that there are two kids - Daniel who's 12 and Malia who's 9 - that want us to teach them and be baptized. They're from two separate families and both talked to us this past weekend about wanting to be baptized. Blessings. This truly is the year of the harvest!

The work is going so well right now people and this isn't the only place that is harvesting! I'm pretty sure the field is white in Minnesota as well....and Utah...and Arizona....and wherever Britt is now because I have no idea where she is. Now get out there and (Nacho Libre voice)PREACH! TEACH! BAPTIZE! GO AWAY! READ SOME BOOKS.....about missionary work.

I STILL love you all, a lot. :)

Sister Bennett