December 2,
2013
Dear Family,
Sister Stoker and I had some great experiences this week together. It was nice to have so much time in this area to go out and teach people. I had been missing that since I was always away from 2nd ward on exchanges. We were able to find a few new investigators and met with a
lot of the converts that I have taught while I've been here.
We had a cool little miracle on Tuesday. We decided to go and try an investigator, Jessica, even though the time we had planned to go and see her had already passed. She lives in an apartment complex that I feel like I've spent my entire mission at. There are a lot of people who we're teaching that live there, so after we tried Jessica (and she wasn't home) we decided to just stop by the other investigators who live in that complex. No one was home. The apartment complex was like a ghost town, which is very unusual. We can normally talk to quite a few people just as we're walking around. As Sister Stoker and I talked about why we were there, we thought maybe we shouldn't have gone there since we hadn't planned to be there at that time. At that point we decided to get back to what we had planned, but first we needed to talk to someone before getting into the car. We felt that there had to be a reason we were there. We don't just go running around our area without purpose. As we walked back through the complex, we figured someone would have to be outside walking that we could talk to. On the way, I turned and looked up one stairwell and saw that a door upstairs was open. I made a quick left and grabbed Sister Stoker's bag to drag her along behind me. We knocked on the door and a man named Sean opened the door. He was ready to hear what we had to tell him. He actually got out a chair and set it in the doorway so he could sit down and listen/talk to us. It was amazing! He's one of the new investigators we found this week. Such a miracle!
On Wednesday we had Sister Heslop with us for the day. Her companion, Sister Appel is sick and went home. Sister Stoker and I wanted to have Sister Heslop with us for the day because she's been stuck inside her apartment for most of the transfer. She's a brand new missionary. That was really fun. I could tell that she was enjoying it a lot, and that it was exactly what she needed. We actually had a lot of lessons planned that day, as well. We taught Jed and Stefanie finally. That was our first new member lesson with them since Jed was baptized. It was so good. I love them so much. I had really missed them a lot, even though I got to see them at church. It just wasn't the same because I never got to actually teach them until this past week. Jed has been struggling with his OCD. His mind just goes crazy and it's hard for him to get control. That weekend when he was married, baptized, and then confirmed really took a toll on him. We taught them about what it really means to endure to the end and talked a lot about how this life is a time for us to learn. Jed expects perfection of himself, and often times when we go over there we need to talk with him about the atonement and what this life is really about - being clean and becoming better. The Spirit was so strong in their home as we taught them. I know that the Lord is pleased with them and the progress they are making, no matter how fast or slow they're coming along. I know he is growing.
Thanksgiving at the Mission Home was so wonderful. All of the sister training leaders were there, as well as the assistants. I just love being around the other sister training leaders and I especially love being around Sister Castro and the rest of the Castro family. My relationship with Sister Castro is one of the greatest treasures of my mission. She has become such a wonderful role model in my life and there are so many attributes she has that I hope to someday posses. She is such a great reflection of the Savior. She has been a huge factor in my conversion to Jesus Christ throughout the course of my mission. I love her so much. I also love Samuel and Hannah. They are such treasures. They always make me feel so loved and appreciated. It's so kind of them to be excited to see me and that they pay so much attention to me. I will miss them so much when I go, but I hope to see them often when they return to Rexburg. I'm really grateful for that entire family.
This past week has truly been a roller coaster for me. I have been pondering so much on my mission and on what the Lord has done for me as I've served Him. He has been so kind to me. Well, really, He's done so much to show me how much He truly loves me. This morning, I was reading in Ether chapter 6 about the Jaredites traveling to the promised land on the great waters. When they finally got to the promised land, after being at sea for 344 days, they "bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them” (verse 12). The Spirit came over me so strongly as I sat there at my desk. I felt overwhelmed with what I believe were most likely the same feelings those people felt. I felt so extremely grateful for the MULTITUDE of His tender mercies that have been over me on my mission. He has never stayed His hand from me. He has always been so involved with me and has kindly guided me throughout these past 18 months. I will be forever grateful to my parents because they provided for me this opportunity to come and be a part of His work. The greatest blessing of all is that I am now converted to Christ. I have tasted of the fruit of the atonement, and I want more. I am going to spend the rest of my life partaking of that gift that He has personally given to me.
I'm sad to say goodbye to this part of my life, but I'm excited to see what the future holds. I'm also so excited to see all of you! It's so unreal to me that I get to hug you all in just TWO DAYS! That's nuts! We will talk soon, wont we? Craziness. SOOOOOO WEIRD! I'm excited though. I just want you all to know that. I know that this is the way it's supposed to be. I'm not supposed to be a missionary forever.
See you soon. EEEEEK!
Sister Stoker and I had some great experiences this week together. It was nice to have so much time in this area to go out and teach people. I had been missing that since I was always away from 2nd ward on exchanges. We were able to find a few new investigators and met with a
lot of the converts that I have taught while I've been here.
We had a cool little miracle on Tuesday. We decided to go and try an investigator, Jessica, even though the time we had planned to go and see her had already passed. She lives in an apartment complex that I feel like I've spent my entire mission at. There are a lot of people who we're teaching that live there, so after we tried Jessica (and she wasn't home) we decided to just stop by the other investigators who live in that complex. No one was home. The apartment complex was like a ghost town, which is very unusual. We can normally talk to quite a few people just as we're walking around. As Sister Stoker and I talked about why we were there, we thought maybe we shouldn't have gone there since we hadn't planned to be there at that time. At that point we decided to get back to what we had planned, but first we needed to talk to someone before getting into the car. We felt that there had to be a reason we were there. We don't just go running around our area without purpose. As we walked back through the complex, we figured someone would have to be outside walking that we could talk to. On the way, I turned and looked up one stairwell and saw that a door upstairs was open. I made a quick left and grabbed Sister Stoker's bag to drag her along behind me. We knocked on the door and a man named Sean opened the door. He was ready to hear what we had to tell him. He actually got out a chair and set it in the doorway so he could sit down and listen/talk to us. It was amazing! He's one of the new investigators we found this week. Such a miracle!
On Wednesday we had Sister Heslop with us for the day. Her companion, Sister Appel is sick and went home. Sister Stoker and I wanted to have Sister Heslop with us for the day because she's been stuck inside her apartment for most of the transfer. She's a brand new missionary. That was really fun. I could tell that she was enjoying it a lot, and that it was exactly what she needed. We actually had a lot of lessons planned that day, as well. We taught Jed and Stefanie finally. That was our first new member lesson with them since Jed was baptized. It was so good. I love them so much. I had really missed them a lot, even though I got to see them at church. It just wasn't the same because I never got to actually teach them until this past week. Jed has been struggling with his OCD. His mind just goes crazy and it's hard for him to get control. That weekend when he was married, baptized, and then confirmed really took a toll on him. We taught them about what it really means to endure to the end and talked a lot about how this life is a time for us to learn. Jed expects perfection of himself, and often times when we go over there we need to talk with him about the atonement and what this life is really about - being clean and becoming better. The Spirit was so strong in their home as we taught them. I know that the Lord is pleased with them and the progress they are making, no matter how fast or slow they're coming along. I know he is growing.
Thanksgiving at the Mission Home was so wonderful. All of the sister training leaders were there, as well as the assistants. I just love being around the other sister training leaders and I especially love being around Sister Castro and the rest of the Castro family. My relationship with Sister Castro is one of the greatest treasures of my mission. She has become such a wonderful role model in my life and there are so many attributes she has that I hope to someday posses. She is such a great reflection of the Savior. She has been a huge factor in my conversion to Jesus Christ throughout the course of my mission. I love her so much. I also love Samuel and Hannah. They are such treasures. They always make me feel so loved and appreciated. It's so kind of them to be excited to see me and that they pay so much attention to me. I will miss them so much when I go, but I hope to see them often when they return to Rexburg. I'm really grateful for that entire family.
This past week has truly been a roller coaster for me. I have been pondering so much on my mission and on what the Lord has done for me as I've served Him. He has been so kind to me. Well, really, He's done so much to show me how much He truly loves me. This morning, I was reading in Ether chapter 6 about the Jaredites traveling to the promised land on the great waters. When they finally got to the promised land, after being at sea for 344 days, they "bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them” (verse 12). The Spirit came over me so strongly as I sat there at my desk. I felt overwhelmed with what I believe were most likely the same feelings those people felt. I felt so extremely grateful for the MULTITUDE of His tender mercies that have been over me on my mission. He has never stayed His hand from me. He has always been so involved with me and has kindly guided me throughout these past 18 months. I will be forever grateful to my parents because they provided for me this opportunity to come and be a part of His work. The greatest blessing of all is that I am now converted to Christ. I have tasted of the fruit of the atonement, and I want more. I am going to spend the rest of my life partaking of that gift that He has personally given to me.
I'm sad to say goodbye to this part of my life, but I'm excited to see what the future holds. I'm also so excited to see all of you! It's so unreal to me that I get to hug you all in just TWO DAYS! That's nuts! We will talk soon, wont we? Craziness. SOOOOOO WEIRD! I'm excited though. I just want you all to know that. I know that this is the way it's supposed to be. I'm not supposed to be a missionary forever.
See you soon. EEEEEK!
Love,
Sister Bennett
The first two pictures are from Thanksgiving at the Mission Home.
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| Elder Wallace and me |
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| Elder Kleinman and me |
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| Sister Hegstrom and me at my last transfer meeting |
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| Hermana Linford, Hermana Bartschi, Hermana Wright and me at my last transfer meeting |
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| Elder Eastman and me |
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| Samuel Castro and me |
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| The view from "the cross" on the north side of Ventura. We had lunch here on our last day. |
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| The group of missionaries that went home with me. |
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| Elder Martin (Assistant to the President) and me at the mission home. |
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| My family and me when I arrived home to Minnesota! Colin was taking the picture. |
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