Blessings Beyond

November 25, 2014

It has been almost a year since I have returned home from spending 18 months in the California Ventura Mission. I'm now back visiting the mission with Brynne Burwell. We came for a very special event. Today, we attended the sealing of Jed and Stefanie Colvin. After just over a year, they experienced the fulfillment of promises that God made to them when Brynne and I first met them.

It was so amazing to be there because I experienced so much with them. I can still distinctly remember the first lesson we had with Jed and Stef. They told us about their situation with being married. Stefanie told us that she and Jed couldn't get married for a year and she gave us a few reasons of why that was so, but I didn't really listen. As she spoke about their situation, I felt the Spirit wash over me and distinct thoughts came into my mind. I knew the Lord had other plans for Jed and Stef. I felt and knew that they would be in the temple a year from that time to be sealed for time and all eternity. It was one of the clearest promptings that I have ever received.

Of course, the opportunity to come back to California to participate in and see the fulfillment of those promised blessings was too wonderful to pass up. Jed and Stefanie are so special to me. Being in the temple with them today was a very unique experience. That isn't something that all returned missionaries get to experience. When I walked into the endowment room, after changing into my temple dress, I felt so much joy when I looked in front of me and there sat Stefanie. She had a huge smile on her face. I then looked across the room and met Jed's eyes. You can see the Savior in those eyes. They were filled with joy and the Spirit. I could see the peace that was resting upon him. It was a beautiful sight. As we went through the session, I kept my eye on Jed and Stef and just wondered what they were feeling and thinking. I was praying for them to have an experience that would bring them closer together and especially closer to God.

When we were standing in the celestial room waiting for Jed and Stefanie to come in, I felt so much gratitude for the opportunity to have met, taught and come to love those two. I am so blessed to have been in the situation and circumstances that allowed me to serve a mission. I'm grateful that the Lord knows us each and placed me in the Ventura mission where I met all of these people that I love so much.

Finally, Jed and Stef joined us in the celestial room. Stefanie was overcome with emotion and expressed her love and gratitude for Sister Burwell and me. Jed looked so snug and confident. I was nervous that he would feel overwhelmed but he looked happy and at ease. That was a blessing. Next came the sealing and it was wonderful. It was so powerful when Jed and Stef knelt across the altar from each other. I was sitting at a vantage point where I was looking at Jed's face. He was gazing so deeply into Stefanie's eyes and I could not only see how much he loves her but how much Heavenly Father loves them both as well as their family unit.

At the end of the sealing, the temple president turned to Brynne and me and said that our role as Jed and Stef's missionaries not to just get them to the temple, but we will be their missionaries forever. We will and should always be a part of each others' lives. I know that is true. I want Jed and Stef to be there when I am sealed and when I have children. I always want to be a part of their lives. That's what I plan to do.

It has been an amazing experience to be here with them. My mission truly didn't end on December 4, 2013, but the blessings and ripples from my service go far beyond just 18 months. I am happy to continue to find out even more of what blessings those sacred 18 months will continue to bring to me in my life.

Love,
Haley

Onward, Ever Onward, As We Glory In His Name!

 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!

Love,
Sister Bennett

The first two pictures are from Thanksgiving at the Mission Home.

Elder Wallace and me

Elder Kleinman and me

Sister Hegstrom and me at my last transfer meeting

Hermana Linford, Hermana Bartschi, Hermana Wright and me at my last transfer meeting

Elder Eastman and me

Samuel Castro and me

The view from "the cross" on the north side of Ventura. We had lunch here on our last day.

The group of missionaries that went home with me.

Elder Martin (Assistant to the President) and me at the mission home.

My family and me when I arrived home to Minnesota! Colin was taking the picture. 

Zone Conference​d OUT....NOT REALLY!

November 25, 2013

Dear Fambam,

Wow! This week flew by! I can't believe that all of the zone conferences are over and we're moving on into week 6 of the transfer. That's FOUR zone conferences this past week that we attended. IT WAS EXHAUSTING! This has been the fastest transfer of my mission, but it's
also been the most growing transfer for me as well. I have learned so much from the sisters, President Castro, and from the Lord. I know that I really needed to go through the things that I've gone through this transfer because they have forced me to make choices. I've constantly been choosing between relying on myself or relying on the Savior throughout this transfer, and each time I've realized how impossible it would've been to just choose to rely on my own strength. I could never have done it. I had already learned to much about trusting in the Lord in my mission, but this transfer I've learned about really loving the Lord, knowing Him, and putting Him first. I feel so much more fulfilled and I know that He can help me with things that I'm going through when no one else can. He can meet my every need. That is something huge that I've been learning this past transfer but especially this past week.

Throughout the week with all of the zone conferences, I felt like I had so much that I needed to accomplish. I knew that this would be my last opportunity to leave something with the sisters. I just wanted to help them as much as possible, because I worry about how they're doing and how they're progressing. It made me anxious, at times, to be at zone conferences because I felt like I didn't have enough time with each sister. However, when I prayed about it each night and throughout each day, I felt a lot of peace and comfort. I knew that I had done what the Lord wanted me to do with the sisters and that He accepted the work I'd given each day of zone conferences. It was really nice to just be around the sisters. I enjoyed their comments and their testimonies. We have some really amazing sisters in the mission, and it was a blessing to be at each zone conference to learn from them. I have a lot of faith that the Lord will help them and change them into who this mission needs them to be. I just need to not worry about it and trust that He will help them become what He wants them to become. I felt so much love for each of them as I got to see them and work with them this week. When we taught our last time, on Friday, it was overwhelming how much love I felt for them. I just wanted them to know how much they are loved by the Lord and how much I personally love Him. I know He is aware of each of them, and I just hope they can come to see that for themselves like I've learned that for myself throughout my mission.

I really enjoyed spending so much time with the other sister training leaders; Hermana Bartschi, Hermana Wright, Hermana Linford, Hermana Coleman, Sister Randall, and Sister Kiyotani. I love them! They are some amazing sister missionaries. I especially enjoyed getting to know Hermana Linford and Hermana Wright better, because I've never really had the opportunity to work around them before. They are so powerful. We all got along so well and were so united on everything that we wanted to accomplish with the sisters at zone conference. I love being around missionaries who are so focused on the work. There was never a moment when we were talking about past experiences at college, dating, or hobbies we had before our mission. We got to know each other by discussing spiritual things and especially by talking about the sisters and their needs. I always felt the Spirit while we were together. It was really fun to get to spend that time with those sisters. I learned so much from them. I especially learned a ton from Hermana Wright. She is so quiet and dignified. I can tell how she just chooses her words so wisely and never forces things. She is never really the center of attention, but all I wanted was to hear from her about her thoughts. I love the way she teaches. She is super bold and doesn't hold back, which was a surprise because she is so quiet. I am grateful that the sisters have her to look to as an example. Her humility is inspiring and I think it's exactly what the sisters need right now.  The Lord was very kind in allowing us to have that precious time to be together and learn from each other. Plus, she's super funny. We got to have the Hermanas stay at our apartment for two nights, and we had so much fun. It felt good to just release some tension by laughing. We laughed SO MUCH. hahah. It was really fun.

Miracle! Cheryl, who I taught when I was in 4th ward, is getting baptized on Wednesday! It's so amazing because I really wanted to see her get baptized. I wasn't sure if it would happen before I left, and if I was gone I hoped that somehow I could come back and be at her baptism. I love her, so much. The 4th ward sisters called us last night, very excited, and told us that she's getting baptized THIS WEEK. It's so perfect because Sister Lillywhite will be here and she started teaching her when she was here in 4th ward, plus it's barely in time for me to be there as well. I was SO happy when they called us. Then, on top of everything, they said that Cheryl asked if I would speak at her baptism. I am so honored. I felt so excited for the opportunity to speak one last time at a baptism...but not just any baptism, Cheryl's! The Lord is so kind!

Also, last night we went to dinner at Sister Prince's home, in the ward. She had her neighbor, Bill, over to eat with us. He's had dinner with us before when Sister Lillywhite was here and we had given him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We invited him to meet with us and learn more then, but he declined. Well, Sister Xayadeth and Sister Shipp ate dinner with the Prince's last week and Bill was there then. They invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and he agreed to do so. Then, last night when we went, we built on what the other sisters taught and showed him the restoration DVD. At the end we bore our testimonies and invited him to take the lessons. He said that he'd like that, so we have an appointment with him on Tuesday! Isn't that great! It was so amazing to me how his heart has changed. I've seen him at both sides, and now he's more prepared and open to hear this message. That is so neat to see how people really can and do change.

Well, that's about all I have to say. It was an amazing week. I loved it so much. Honestly, it was probably the best week of my mission. I felt the Spirit so much everyday and I really enjoyed the opportunity to testify to and teach the sisters one last time. I love my mission
so much. I am so grateful for the experiences that the Lord has continually blessed me with as I've been serving Him.

I love you all. Thank you for being so supportive of me.

Love,
Sister Bennett

Hermana Linford and me

The Sister Training Leaders (minus Sister Randall). From L to R - Me, Hermana Linford, Hermana Bartschi, Hermana Wright, Sister Kiyotani, Hermana Coleman, and Sister Stoker

Hermana Wright and Me

Hermana Linford and I were trying to rein-act a painting called "Seeking the One." 

More pictures from our sleepovers this week with the other Sister Training Leaders. 

Fight For These People

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!

Sister Bennett and Sister Unga

Sister Bennett and Sister Romero

Sister Bennett and the Goetsche family

Sister Bennett and the Dottl family

Sister Bennett and the Stassforth family

Sister Bennett and the Laws family

The Laws made me a Harry Potter dinner!

 Sister Bennett and Sister Ruiz

Sister Bennett and the Prince family

Sister Bennett and the Wood family

Sister Bennett and the Norman family

Sister Bennett and the Rabagos 

The Lord Loves Me

November 11, 2013 

Dear Family,

This week was such a great week for me. I felt like myself. I feel like I've grown so much closer to my Heavenly Father. I've really been trying to understand what His will is for me for the remainder of my time here. I want to do all that I can and all that He expects me to, so I spend a lot of time praying and pondering on how I am to help the sisters and especially Sister Stoker. She really needs me right now. She struggles with doubting herself and the assignment she's been given. She gets discouraged very easily, and I know that I need to help her with that. I've never felt as much joy as I have when I'm working with these sisters, and I know the reason for that is because I'm not focused on myself at all. Whenever I've gone through hard things on my mission, during the time that I've been a Sister Training Leader, when I've gone on exchanges they always changed things for me and made me feel way better. It's a choice to be happy.That's a huge lesson I've learned, and now I need to teach that to Sister Stoker. I feel that sometimes she just looks for what she can be upset about and then dwells on it rather than looking for the good things and the tender mercies in our lives. We talked a lot about that this week, because after one of our exchanges she felt really discouraged because they didn't have a bunch of lessons or find new investigators in our area. She's worried about our area because we don't have a ton of people we're teaching. However, I know that the Lord will provide us with people to teach. There is no doubt in my mind because He has done it time and time again as I've had this assignment. I don't know how to help her understand that. She needs to go forward with faith and have hope that He will provide. That's my focus right now, helping her trust the Lord more. I have experienced too many miracles from the Lord's hand to not trust Him. Sister Stoker can learn the same thing.

We had Mission Leadership Council this week and it was excellent. I learned so much about being a better leader and really about what's in store for me after my mission. I look forward to being a mother, because I know that's why I've really needed to learn the things that I've learned on my mission, especially the things about being a leader. The Lord is preparing me to raise His choice spirit children, and He needs parents who are up to the task of doing it righteously in this very confused/unrighteous world. I felt the Spirit testify to me that everything is going to be ok when I end my service here as a full-time missionary. It was hard at times during the meetings because I am really going to miss this. I love being a missionary. I love feeling so close to the Lord and being with people who are just as close to Him. I loved singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth" knowing that I am one of those servants who is bringing the world His truth. However, I know that I can have these things in my life after the mission. I will have a husband who is close to the Lord, and together we will bring the Lord's truth to our children and also to others through callings and assignments in the Church. He will be my favorite, and best companion. I know that. There is so much to be done as a member of the Church, and I'm really praying that I will be prepared to do all that the Lord needs me to do as a returned missionary.

The exchanges I went on this week were excellent! The sisters I went with, and I, had some wonderful experiences and saw some AMAZING miracles! I love miracles, so it's nice being a missionary since we see them all the time! My first exchange this week was with Sister Platt in Santa Barbara. She's brand new and she is so shy and unsure of herself. I couldn't believe it, because when she musters up the courage and starts teaching, she's so great. I really just spent the entire day telling her that she is doing great and that the Lord will help her. That's the hardest thing as a new missionary, just learning to trust the Lord to use the knowledge that you've gained to bless the lives of others. It's a blessing to go out and open our mouths. We get to test the Lord's promises every single day! Every day, I see Him fulfill those promises. He has never failed, and I know He never will. That's what Sister Platt and I spoke about a lot. She said she felt better at the end of the day, so I just hope she'll take what she learned and keep pushing forward.

On Thursday, I went on an exchange with Sister Arndt in 4th ward. I love her so much. She's such a kind, loving person. She said some of the nicest things to me, and I could feel my Heavenly Father’s love through her. We saw a HUGE miracle together. We went and taught a lady named Lydia. Originally, we hadn't even planned to go and see her, but she texted us and said that she wouldn't be able to meet with the sisters on Friday. Sister Arndt texted her and asked if we could see her that day, and she agreed. We went over, and before we got out of the car we stopped to talk about what we would teach her. That morning, in companion study, we had planned to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson to a man named Ronnie, but he hadn't been home. When Sister Arndt told me about Lydia, she said that Lydia hadn't committed to baptism yet, but she loved the Church and everything that she was learning. I really felt like we should go ahead and teach her the lesson we prepared for Ronnie and invite her to be baptized. The lesson went great. The Spirit was really strong and Sister Arndt and I taught really well together. Lydia understood everything that we talked about and I felt a huge push to invite her to set a baptismal date. She said that she couldn't set a date because in the Catholic Church they were taught there is only one baptism. She said she understood what we were saying about the Priesthood, and she needed time with Heavenly Father to work through the idea of being baptized again. We invited her to pray specifically to know if she needed to be baptized by someone with Priesthood authority and we left. We went to dinner and then had a lesson at the church right after dinner. When we got out of the lesson, we had a text from Lydia. It said "I think I've gotten my answer, and I'm ready to talk baptism." WE FREAKED OUT! We called Lydia right away and she said that she had been praying and the "answer came through loud and clear" and she said she wanted to be baptized. Sister Arndt started crying and I was just beaming! I didn't know what to do, so we just hugged. That was an amazing miracle. I know that we were blessed to have that experience because the sisters there in 4th ward have been obedient and the Lord trusts them to teach His children. Sister Arndt is doing a wonderful job. She's grown a lot from her experience with training. I love her a lot.

My last exchange was with Sister Thurgood. She came to Ventura and worked with me in my area. It was a great day. We just went out and taught together like we'd been companions for months. I love it when that happens. She has changed a lot. She follows Preach My Gospel somuch more closely, and because of that we were able to work well together. I really enjoyed getting to know her better and sharing things that I've learned with her. She had a lot of questions, and I could just feel her desire to learn. She's doing really well.

One quick miracle from our area, Ghana, Bob's friend who used to really not like us, invited us to come over for Thanksgiving! We told her that we already had plans, but she asked us to at least come by for breakfast. We said that we'd come after studies for a little bit. Her heart has been softened so much! Plus, she said she'd come to church with Bob when he's feeling well enough to go since he just started Chemo-therapy treatments. That is a huge miracle!

The Lord sure does love me, doesn't He? I'm worried about telling you all about all of these great things going on because you'll see that He really favors me. Hahaha. He loves His missionaries!

I don't have time to write more, but I'm doing great. Ugh. I wish I had more time, because there are SO many more miracles. The Lord is providing us with people to teach. That's all I can say. I love this work. Sister Stoker and I are happy and working hard to help the sisters in any way that we can. We're just continuing on!

We're speaking next Sunday in church, so pray for me! It needs to be good because we're hoping that a lot of non-members will be there! I'll let you know how it goes in my next email. I love you all!

Love,
Sister Bennett

Sister Arndt and I

I’m Learning to Float … Kinda

November 4, 2013

Dear Family,

There was a lot more going on this week, so it was a lot better for me. I didn't have a lot of time to really think about myself and how I'm feeling, which is so much better for me. I'm grateful for the sisters. They've helped me feel really happy this past week, even when I'm still missing Sister Burwell a lot. Our time together was such a positive thing and I don't want to discolor the way I look at those memories because I feel bad that she's not here. That was my goal this past week, to enjoy the memories we have and to make new ones with these other sisters. I'm very grateful to Sister Castro for giving me that advice in an email last week. Last Monday, after I emailed and got everything off of my chest, we played sports with our district and I had an eye opening experience. I was still thinking a lot about what Sister Castro had written to me. It felt really good to spend time with the sisters, to encourage them and make them feel good about the things that they are doing. I love hearing about the people that they're teaching, the fun moments they have in their companionships and the things that they're learning. I loved just cheering them on as we played sports for an hour. That really lifted my spirit a lot and helped me see how happy I can be even without Sister Burwell being here. It's a lot different, but it's still good.

We had two exchanges this week. The first one was in Santa Maria, and I took Sister Kiyotani with me to work with the sisters there. We had a lot to talk about on the ride up to Santa Maria. I felt really grateful to have her with me, because I knew that the sisters that she'll work with this transfer are going to benefit so much from their experiences with her. She's so diligent and focused. She had a lot of questions, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to train her and guide her on how to be effective in this assignment.

I worked with Sister Mason in Santa Maria. It was a good exchange. The day went pretty fast because Sister Kiyotani and I had to leave early to get back to Santa Barbara so we could meet up with our companions. Sister Mason talked about how she wanted to be more confident. She felt that because she came to Santa Maria and Sister Higgins is the senior companion, she should just basically take the back seat. We talked a lot about that and how she needs to keep pushing herself to grow, and taking the backseat wasn't going to facilitate more growth. She's changed since my last exchange with her. She's more outgoing with people and isn't afraid to talk and teach them. She's doing well. I felt really happy as I was there working with her, because she's so easy to be around and to focus on. Selflessness really is happiness.

The second exchange I went on was with Sister Xayadeth. Sister Stoker worked with Sister Shipp that same day, so that was Sister Stoker's first exchange. I love Sister Xayadeth. She has grown so much! She's overcome her homesickness and the little obedience setbacks and has really committed herself to this work. We talked a lot about it, and about how she did it. She said that she just realized that she wasn't happy because she wasn't letting herself be. She realized that she couldn't keep one foot at home and still be happy here, so she changed. Even what she put on the wall in front of her desk changed. She used to have pictures of her family and friends right in front of her desk, but now the wall is decorated with pictures of Christ. That was so neat to see. They've been struggling to find people to teach in their area, so I was glad to help her see different things to work on so they can find more people to teach. We talked a lot about being persistent and the Lord blessed us to see the blessings that come when we are persistent. I'm always so grateful for that! I can tell them how being persistent is important, but it's so much better when the Lord provides a physical example of what I'm trying to teach someone on exchanges. That just helps me see that He supports the things that I'm trying to teach.

In our area, we saw some cool miracles. We haven't had many people to teach, and it was making me feel a little stressed. I knew that the Lord would provide, because He has so many times before. I was just feeling impatient. That's still something I need to learn! Patience! Anyway, we spent a lot of time finding on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The great part was that we were pretty successful! I want to share one miracle that happened at the ward's Halloween party. Sister Burwell and I, back in May, talked to a man who was out by his garage working on some little motorcycles. This man's name was Sonny. He said that we could come by and talk to him more, so we got his apartment number and went by another day. When the door opened, Sonny's wife, Jessica, answered and didn't look happy. Basically, she told us that Sonny did this all the time, he invited religious people over so he could mess with them but really wasn't into religion at all. Well, since Sonny wasn't interested, Sister Burwell and I started teaching Jessica. She was very adamant that religion wasn't for her and that she wasn't interested. We left. About 4 weeks ago, Sister Burwell was inspired, as usual, to go try Jessica on exchanges. She told her about the Trunk-or-Treat that would be happening on October 30th. Jessica actually showed some interest in it but Sister Burwell didn't have a flyer at that point. Well, during Sister Burwell's last week here, we stopped by together to give Jessica a flyer and she said she'd be there. When Sister Stoker and I went to the activity on Wednesday, I had totally forgotten that Jessica would possibly be coming, but when we got there a member came up to us and said that some lady was looking for us. I looked over and there was Jessica sitting with her three kids! We went over and talked to her and immediately she turned to me and told me that she wants us to come over and teach her. She said that she needs to know more, she feels ready, and wants to be able to answer her kids’ questions about God. I was so excited! She set up a time with us right then! We gave her a tour of the church and she really enjoyed it. She felt super welcomed by the ward and seemed excited to come to church sometime. That was a HUGE miracle! The Lord just places people in our paths, and if we're listening, He'll show
them to us.

Anyway, that's all that I have time to write about. It was a pretty good week. The few days we had in our area just going out and finding together were harder.  It's a challenge, but the Lord has helped me so much. I can feel Him supporting me, and I can also feel how patient He is with me. He understands how much I love her and that it's going to take a little time for me to totally have control. I'm improving though. That's good! I'm starting to learn how to float here on my own....kind of.

Thank you, mom, for the Halloween package....Erin, thank you as well for doing an activity with the youth and sending me even more candy. I think you all want me to be chubby when I get back. Rude.  haha. Sister Stoker and I just relaxed on Halloween night and ate some of our candy. We had to come in at 7:00pm to be safe.  I could've handled it! It wasn't super eventful, but I'm trying to attach a picture of us....it's very similar to the one I sent last year of Sister Putnam and me.

I love you all,
Sister Bennett

Sister Bennett with Sister Kiyotani and Sister Higgins

Sister Bennett with Brother Laws and his gross costume

R to L = Sister Bennett, Sister Xayadeth, Sister Shipp, and Sister Stoker

Sister Bennett and Sister Xayadeth

Sister Bennett with Sister Higgins and Sister Mason