November 18, 2013
Dear Family,
This week was such a wonderful week. There were so many great things that I was able to experience on exchanges, in our area, and while we've been planning for zone conferences. All 8 sister training leaders are going to be at each zone conference - that's 4 days of zone conferences in a row. I'm going to be DEAD tired. At each zone conference, there will be about a 45 minute split where the elders have bicycle training and the sisters have a meeting with us. Only 4 sister training leaders will teach at a time, but all of us will be there. It's going to be amazing. We're going to share a message about the worth of souls (D&C 18:10) and about how this work is about people. We need to fight for these people. I'm pumped!
The highlight of the week was going on a hike with President Castro and his family. I have grown to love their family so much. It was so nice to spend that time with them and to talk about the needs of the sisters in that setting - nature. That evening, we met again to discuss what Sister Stoker and I decided would be the central focus of our training with the sisters. I'm grateful for what he shared with us on that evening. He talked about the Savior and how He wasn't clean and washed up, He had dirt on His feet and sunspots on His face because He was always out with the people. He then talked about the Savior not having a place to rest His head and that sometimes as we're traveling and going on exchanges we don't really have a place to rest our heads. That really hit me. We are so blessed to be walking in the footsteps of the Savior. We have the beautiful opportunity to gain a better perspective of what He went through during His mission as we serve and represent Him on ours.
We had four exchanges this week, and I learned so many things from these amazing sisters. It really hit me that they are representing Jesus Christ. They are all doing their best, and it is such a big responsibility to be their leader. They really watch everything that I do, and they really care about what I say. On a few exchanges this week, the sisters talked about things that I said in a sisters' meeting or on our last exchange that they still remember. That meant a lot to me. I've been a little worried about the sisters and where they could be taking the great culture of our mission, but I know that they can keep this culture...or even more so, they can build on it. As I was on exchanges, it made me even more excited to be at zone conferences next week so I can see all of the sisters again and it made me excited to share what we're sharing in our training with them. I know that what we've prepared is what the Lord wants. I could feel that as I've been praying about it these past few days.
The first exchange we had this week was with the Moorpark sisters - Sister Dixon and Sister Moure. I worked with Sister Dixon in Moorpark. She has changed a lot. I can tell that she's really stepped up to fulfill her assignment as a trainer and that she really wants to do what the Lord expects of her. We had an appointment with an investigator named Star who is preparing to be baptized on the 30th of November. It was neat to see how much Sister Dixon loves her and how that love is shown. Sister Dixon was very bold with Star, and I knew it was because she really wants the best for Star. I was just amazed by how well Sister Dixon taught. She was so personal with Star, but very focused and dignified as well. I loved that. We talked a little bit about asking questions so that we are really teaching to the needs of whoever we are teaching. She knows what to teach when she finds the need, but now she just needs to actually find their needs. Sister Dixon is doing very well. She is being obedient and she is really trying to help her companion as much as she can. I am grateful for the sisters who are in Moorpark, because Moorpark is very special to me.
On Wednesday, I was in Ventura with Sister Unga. I just love her so much. I don't know what it is about her, but I always feel so much love for her. She's so sweet and kind, and I can see how much she loves the Lord and wants to do well. She becomes discouraged easily and is pretty hard on herself, so I'm grateful that we had an exchange together because I was able to remind her about who she is. More importantly, through the message that we've been sharing with the sisters, which is about knowing our worth from our Heavenly Father, we were able to have a really good discussion about strengthening our relationship with Him and truly knowing who we are as daughters of God. He will help us see how He feels about us, and that's the most important thing. That is more important than what we think of ourselves. Sister Unga and I had such a great day together. We had 3 lesson and found a new investigator. I think she really needed that, because in her area she does a lot of tracting and declaring. We had a really powerful experience with one of the investigators that Sister Stoker and I have been teaching - Jessica. She's the one who showed up to the trunk-or-treat and asked to be taught. We finally had our first lesson with her, and it was when Sister Unga and I were on exchanges. Jessica has a lot of questions about God and who He is. She wants to know how she can please Him but still be herself. We taught her the restoration and testified often about how Heavenly Father loves who we are, but He can see what we can become. We talked about why He gives us commandments - He does it so we can actually become those divine children that He sees we can be. The lesson went really well. At the end, I felt very prompted to have Jessica say the closing prayer. I knew that she would fight it and be reluctant. I wouldn't just let her say no, because I could feel how powerful it would be for her to pray. Finally, she agreed to say the prayer. When she said the words "Dear Heavenly Father" the Spirit flooded the room. My hear started beating really hard and I felt so good! I knew that Jessica felt it. There was a long pause after she simply began the prayer. Then she started to cry as she prayed for her family and for her husband’s heart to be softened. She prayed that she would have the strength to do what Heavenly Father directs her to do and that she'll recognize what she should do. That was one of the most powerful prayers that an investigator has given, my entire mission. Prayers can change people and they definitely change lives. I'm glad Sister Unga was there, because at the end of the day she talked about how she learned the importance of being persistent. As missionaries, we know, through the guidance of the Spirit, exactly what the needs of these people are. We can't ignore their needs because we feel uncomfortable or annoying. Who's going to help if we don't and they can't help themselves? These people are so important to fight for.
For the third exchange of the week, I worked with Hermana Romero in Ventura 3rd ward. She is wonderful. That was a breath of fresh air for me. Her love for this work is so inspiring. We just talked the entire day about things that we've learned on our mission, blessings that we've received, and miracles that we've been a part of. It was so great. I felt the Spirit the entire day. It was just so nice to be with someone who only wanted to talk about those things. Sometimes, on exchanges with other sisters, they have a hard time carrying on a conversation just about the gospel or about missionary work. They feel like we're not getting to know each other if we're not talking about other things. That's definitely not true. I feel like I know Hermana Romero on such a deeper level because of the conversations that we had together. She is such a blessing to have in the mission. I want all of the sisters to have the opportunity to work with her and learn from her. I learned so much from our exchange.
The last exchange I went on was in Camarillo with Sister Collings. We had a good day together. We got to teach a really good lesson to a man named Shaylind, and we invited him to be baptized. He answered "yes" so quickly that it almost knocked me over from being so surprised. I love inviting people to be baptized. It's so great. Anyway, Sister Collings is a good teacher. She seems unsure when she is taking the lead, but that will change as she has more opportunities to lead. She isn't afraid to talk to anyone and she was really willing to do anything that I suggested. It was a really good day.
On Saturday, we spent a long time with the other 6 sister training leaders planning the training for zone conferences. There were a lot of voices giving input as we tried to pull together all of the ideas that we had come up with. It's really powerful to start those meetings with prayer, because usually in the prayer the statement "help us to know thy will" is included. I really feel like we had kept that in mind as we planned. It's actually pretty fun to all be together planning because we're all so passionate about missionary work and we want to help the sisters so badly. Everything came together well, and we all felt really good about what we've planned. I know that with each zone conference, the message will meet the needs of each individual sister. I'm so excited for this week! It's going to be wonderful.
As for the talks yesterday in church, they went really well. Sister Shipp, Sister Xayadeth, and Sister Stoker did so well. The Spirit was so strong in the chapel. There actually wasn't any time left for me to give my talk, but while Sister Stoker was speaking I passed a note down to Bishop Allen that said "I'd still like to bear my testimony." When Sister Stoker finished, I just got up and added my testimony to the things that the sisters taught. I was going to be speaking about the blessings of having the restored gospel in my life and was going to really just focus on having a relationship with Heavenly Father and knowing how to use the atonement in one's life. I'm sure that was in my testimony somewhere. It felt good to stand in front of the ward that I've been serving in for so long and to share my testimony of the Savior with them. Before I got up, I just said a simple prayer that I would say what they needed to hear. When I sat down, I felt good about it and I felt the Spirit really strong. I could feel how proud my Heavenly Father is of me. I love Him so much, and am grateful for how much He has changed me. The relationship that we can have with our Heavenly Father is so beyond anything in this world, and I'm grateful that I've been used as an instrument to help others begin to gain that relationship with Him.
I love the Lord. I love all of you.
Sister Bennett
Here's a picture of me with Elder Moreno. He's from Uncle Kent and Aunt Nicole's ward. Can you forward it to them?? I love you!
This week was such a wonderful week. There were so many great things that I was able to experience on exchanges, in our area, and while we've been planning for zone conferences. All 8 sister training leaders are going to be at each zone conference - that's 4 days of zone conferences in a row. I'm going to be DEAD tired. At each zone conference, there will be about a 45 minute split where the elders have bicycle training and the sisters have a meeting with us. Only 4 sister training leaders will teach at a time, but all of us will be there. It's going to be amazing. We're going to share a message about the worth of souls (D&C 18:10) and about how this work is about people. We need to fight for these people. I'm pumped!
The highlight of the week was going on a hike with President Castro and his family. I have grown to love their family so much. It was so nice to spend that time with them and to talk about the needs of the sisters in that setting - nature. That evening, we met again to discuss what Sister Stoker and I decided would be the central focus of our training with the sisters. I'm grateful for what he shared with us on that evening. He talked about the Savior and how He wasn't clean and washed up, He had dirt on His feet and sunspots on His face because He was always out with the people. He then talked about the Savior not having a place to rest His head and that sometimes as we're traveling and going on exchanges we don't really have a place to rest our heads. That really hit me. We are so blessed to be walking in the footsteps of the Savior. We have the beautiful opportunity to gain a better perspective of what He went through during His mission as we serve and represent Him on ours.
We had four exchanges this week, and I learned so many things from these amazing sisters. It really hit me that they are representing Jesus Christ. They are all doing their best, and it is such a big responsibility to be their leader. They really watch everything that I do, and they really care about what I say. On a few exchanges this week, the sisters talked about things that I said in a sisters' meeting or on our last exchange that they still remember. That meant a lot to me. I've been a little worried about the sisters and where they could be taking the great culture of our mission, but I know that they can keep this culture...or even more so, they can build on it. As I was on exchanges, it made me even more excited to be at zone conferences next week so I can see all of the sisters again and it made me excited to share what we're sharing in our training with them. I know that what we've prepared is what the Lord wants. I could feel that as I've been praying about it these past few days.
The first exchange we had this week was with the Moorpark sisters - Sister Dixon and Sister Moure. I worked with Sister Dixon in Moorpark. She has changed a lot. I can tell that she's really stepped up to fulfill her assignment as a trainer and that she really wants to do what the Lord expects of her. We had an appointment with an investigator named Star who is preparing to be baptized on the 30th of November. It was neat to see how much Sister Dixon loves her and how that love is shown. Sister Dixon was very bold with Star, and I knew it was because she really wants the best for Star. I was just amazed by how well Sister Dixon taught. She was so personal with Star, but very focused and dignified as well. I loved that. We talked a little bit about asking questions so that we are really teaching to the needs of whoever we are teaching. She knows what to teach when she finds the need, but now she just needs to actually find their needs. Sister Dixon is doing very well. She is being obedient and she is really trying to help her companion as much as she can. I am grateful for the sisters who are in Moorpark, because Moorpark is very special to me.
On Wednesday, I was in Ventura with Sister Unga. I just love her so much. I don't know what it is about her, but I always feel so much love for her. She's so sweet and kind, and I can see how much she loves the Lord and wants to do well. She becomes discouraged easily and is pretty hard on herself, so I'm grateful that we had an exchange together because I was able to remind her about who she is. More importantly, through the message that we've been sharing with the sisters, which is about knowing our worth from our Heavenly Father, we were able to have a really good discussion about strengthening our relationship with Him and truly knowing who we are as daughters of God. He will help us see how He feels about us, and that's the most important thing. That is more important than what we think of ourselves. Sister Unga and I had such a great day together. We had 3 lesson and found a new investigator. I think she really needed that, because in her area she does a lot of tracting and declaring. We had a really powerful experience with one of the investigators that Sister Stoker and I have been teaching - Jessica. She's the one who showed up to the trunk-or-treat and asked to be taught. We finally had our first lesson with her, and it was when Sister Unga and I were on exchanges. Jessica has a lot of questions about God and who He is. She wants to know how she can please Him but still be herself. We taught her the restoration and testified often about how Heavenly Father loves who we are, but He can see what we can become. We talked about why He gives us commandments - He does it so we can actually become those divine children that He sees we can be. The lesson went really well. At the end, I felt very prompted to have Jessica say the closing prayer. I knew that she would fight it and be reluctant. I wouldn't just let her say no, because I could feel how powerful it would be for her to pray. Finally, she agreed to say the prayer. When she said the words "Dear Heavenly Father" the Spirit flooded the room. My hear started beating really hard and I felt so good! I knew that Jessica felt it. There was a long pause after she simply began the prayer. Then she started to cry as she prayed for her family and for her husband’s heart to be softened. She prayed that she would have the strength to do what Heavenly Father directs her to do and that she'll recognize what she should do. That was one of the most powerful prayers that an investigator has given, my entire mission. Prayers can change people and they definitely change lives. I'm glad Sister Unga was there, because at the end of the day she talked about how she learned the importance of being persistent. As missionaries, we know, through the guidance of the Spirit, exactly what the needs of these people are. We can't ignore their needs because we feel uncomfortable or annoying. Who's going to help if we don't and they can't help themselves? These people are so important to fight for.
For the third exchange of the week, I worked with Hermana Romero in Ventura 3rd ward. She is wonderful. That was a breath of fresh air for me. Her love for this work is so inspiring. We just talked the entire day about things that we've learned on our mission, blessings that we've received, and miracles that we've been a part of. It was so great. I felt the Spirit the entire day. It was just so nice to be with someone who only wanted to talk about those things. Sometimes, on exchanges with other sisters, they have a hard time carrying on a conversation just about the gospel or about missionary work. They feel like we're not getting to know each other if we're not talking about other things. That's definitely not true. I feel like I know Hermana Romero on such a deeper level because of the conversations that we had together. She is such a blessing to have in the mission. I want all of the sisters to have the opportunity to work with her and learn from her. I learned so much from our exchange.
The last exchange I went on was in Camarillo with Sister Collings. We had a good day together. We got to teach a really good lesson to a man named Shaylind, and we invited him to be baptized. He answered "yes" so quickly that it almost knocked me over from being so surprised. I love inviting people to be baptized. It's so great. Anyway, Sister Collings is a good teacher. She seems unsure when she is taking the lead, but that will change as she has more opportunities to lead. She isn't afraid to talk to anyone and she was really willing to do anything that I suggested. It was a really good day.
On Saturday, we spent a long time with the other 6 sister training leaders planning the training for zone conferences. There were a lot of voices giving input as we tried to pull together all of the ideas that we had come up with. It's really powerful to start those meetings with prayer, because usually in the prayer the statement "help us to know thy will" is included. I really feel like we had kept that in mind as we planned. It's actually pretty fun to all be together planning because we're all so passionate about missionary work and we want to help the sisters so badly. Everything came together well, and we all felt really good about what we've planned. I know that with each zone conference, the message will meet the needs of each individual sister. I'm so excited for this week! It's going to be wonderful.
As for the talks yesterday in church, they went really well. Sister Shipp, Sister Xayadeth, and Sister Stoker did so well. The Spirit was so strong in the chapel. There actually wasn't any time left for me to give my talk, but while Sister Stoker was speaking I passed a note down to Bishop Allen that said "I'd still like to bear my testimony." When Sister Stoker finished, I just got up and added my testimony to the things that the sisters taught. I was going to be speaking about the blessings of having the restored gospel in my life and was going to really just focus on having a relationship with Heavenly Father and knowing how to use the atonement in one's life. I'm sure that was in my testimony somewhere. It felt good to stand in front of the ward that I've been serving in for so long and to share my testimony of the Savior with them. Before I got up, I just said a simple prayer that I would say what they needed to hear. When I sat down, I felt good about it and I felt the Spirit really strong. I could feel how proud my Heavenly Father is of me. I love Him so much, and am grateful for how much He has changed me. The relationship that we can have with our Heavenly Father is so beyond anything in this world, and I'm grateful that I've been used as an instrument to help others begin to gain that relationship with Him.
I love the Lord. I love all of you.
Sister Bennett
Here's a picture of me with Elder Moreno. He's from Uncle Kent and Aunt Nicole's ward. Can you forward it to them?? I love you!
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| Sister Bennett and Sister Unga |
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| Sister Bennett and Sister Romero |
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| Sister Bennett and the Goetsche family |
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| Sister Bennett and the Dottl family |
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| Sister Bennett and the Stassforth family |
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| Sister Bennett and the Laws family |
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| The Laws made me a Harry Potter dinner! |
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Sister Bennett and Sister Ruiz
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Sister Bennett and the Prince family
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| Sister Bennett and the Wood family |
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| Sister Bennett and the Norman family |
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| Sister Bennett and the Rabagos |
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