LIZARDS

September 17, 2012

 

Hello to my family!

Thanks for the emails Mom, Nan, and Cortz. To the rest of you...no thanks. California is great! Moorpark is the greatest! It's been super hot here, though. Mom asked if it was cooling down at all - nope. It's been the opposite. It's been the hottest days of the year here. It was in the 100s the past 3 days. On Saturday I seriously thought I was going to die. We were just standing there talking to a lady at her door and sweat was dripping down my face. Disgusting!  I'm sure I looked and smelled bad. Oh well. I'm a missionary. Oh and about the lizards title of this email. I don't know if I've said this, but I see at least one lizard run across the sidewalk in front of me every day. Seriously. I have never seen so many lizards. They're on the houses, running on top of cars, inside McDonalds (probably - I just made that up though). I'm just saying - they are everywhere. Kind of cool, huh? Until there's one in our house...hopefully that won’t happen.

Mom, about what happened with moving that lady. I did write about that in my letter to President Castro, but he didn't say anything about it. He did write me back though, which never happens. This is what he sent: "Sister Bennett: Thank you for your weekly letters. You are doing wonderfully. Try not to think too much about the time you have left in the mission. My recommendation would be to focus on the next day ahead. Set daily and weekly goals and concentrate in accomplishing them. That should help push out of your mind thinking too far ahead and risking becoming a little anxious or unsettled. You are doing fine. It is a pleasure to have you serving in this great mission. President Castro"" That's what I'm going to be doing this week - just focusing on the next day. I've been thinking a lot about goals and how I need to focus more on the goals we set, so we'll see how that goes.

I had an epiphany (how do you even spell that?) this week. I was trying to understand why I always feel like I'll be here forever. That was before reading President’s response to my letter about focusing on the next day only, which I know will help. I realized that what Dad said to me before my mission was right. I was always so focused on "fun." Everything I did before my mission needed to be fun. That's all I cared about. That's why I didn't do as well in school and why I didn't spend more time studying the scriptures or doing other things that I should've been doing. It was because I only cared about having fun. Missions are fun, don't get me wrong, but it's a different fun than what I thought was important before my mission. Now, I have to adjust to recognizing that life isn't all about fun. Life is full of joy and happiness, but I don't need to be having fun every second to have joy. I find joy in sharing the gospel and it is fun. I just need to continue adjusting to being a missionary and recognize that like Dad said, life isn't all about having fun every minute of every day. I'm here to work hard, so I need to get over how I used to be. I know I have already changed a lot in that area, but I need to continue being patient with myself as I keep changing and growing. Anyway, Dad, you were right! I'm glad that I have such good parents who are able to recognize things in me that I can't.

Another thing that I thought about this week has been how Heavenly Father has really blessed me with the gift of feeling love for other people. I was talking to Sister Wilkinson about it and was asking if the way I feel love through the Spirit is considered to be charity or just a spiritual gift that I've been given? I'm guessing charity, but I don't know. I just really feel like I have especially been blessed with the spiritual gift of loving those we serve. All of my spiritual experiences so far have been associated with feeling incredible amounts of love for people we teach or just talk to. I was thinking about this one morning in personal study because I was doing a personal study activity in the back of chapter 4 - recognize the spirit. It talked about recording in your journal, or reading in your journal, about spiritual experiences that you've had. It talked about recording situations when you were lead to talk to someone in an unusual way, or other things like that, and then it talked about feeling love for others. That was the only one I really identified as how I've felt the spirit the most. I haven't had any crazy stories where we went to this place and met some person and they wanted to be baptized when they saw us, but I have felt so much love for other people. It has definitely been a blessing from the Lord. I know that for sure. Pretty cool, huh?

Heena took us to dinner this week! We went to some restaurant called Elephant Bar. While we were sitting there I heard some people at the table next to us say "Joseph Smith." I wasn't quite sure I heard right, but then I heard the name "Brigham Young" so I knew they were talking about the church. I told Sis Wilkinson that I wanted to go and talk to them, so we got up and walked over to their table. They were a group of 3 older couples visiting from Florida. They were visiting the Ronald Reagan museum in Simi Valley. They had been talking about Mitt Romney of course! It was really cool to talk to them. Sister Wilkinson ended up starting a conversation with one couple and I was talking to another at the same time. I answered a lot of their questions and shared a part of the restoration, about how Joseph Smith was a prophet who restored Christ's church to the earth. They had some really funny questions like "Do women have higher standing when they have more children?" I replied by saying "No, but I think my mom might have thought that. There are 9 kids in my family!" Hahah. They laughed a lot at that. It was good that we got to talk to them and answer some questions. They had really good things to say about the church and I gave them a mormon.org card and told them to go on there whenever they hear different things about the LDS faith because of Mitt Romney. They said they would. That was fun! :)

It's so cool to see how much I have grown in just these 4 months as a missionary. I know there is so much more for me to learn, but it's been good for me this past week to take a moment and recognize how much the Lord has already been molding me into a better person/missionary. I need to recognize that more often, because it really helps me gain the perspective that I should have - I'm here to learn and grow as I help others learn and grow. It's been a good "eye opening" week.

We taught the Matweyew family this week (Gavin and Stephanie), Tyler (twice), Nancy, Amanda (less-active), Annette, Brother Mason (less-active), Sam, Maurice and Erica, Ally & Donna, brother Luke (less-active), Kipp and Monique (less-active), and our recent converts - Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli.

We started the week off really well with the Matweyew family. We talked to them about baptism and about the goals that they have set in order to know for themselves if this is true so they can get baptized. They set the day to be baptized as October 20th and I can really tell that they want to know this is true, especially Sister Matweyew, for their family. We taught them about the plan of salvation. The lesson went really well. Sister Wilkinson and I were very unified in our teaching and I felt that we were both really focused on helping them understand what having a knowledge of the plan of salvation will do for their family. Brother Matweyew loves his family so much. He feels that it is his responsibility to get his family to the temple someday and he said that the weight of that responsibility is great. When we taught about the spirit world and how people who have not accepted the gospel will have an opportunity to accept it in the spirit world, brother Matweyew shared with us that his dad, who is very active, had a dream about a year ago in which Sister Matweyew's mother was basically asking for them to get her temple work done. She needs someone to be baptized for her in the temple so she can accept the gospel. Sister Matweyew was crying as we talked to her about how her mother is most likely being taught the same thing that Sister Matweyew is being taught right now, or she already knows that it's true and is aware that Sister Matweyew is learning about it right now. The Spirit was really strong. The opportunity we have as missionaries to help families see their potential is so amazing. We can help the Matweyew family accept the gospel and ultimately enter the temple to be sealed as a family. That's why I love being a missionary, because my family is so important to me - I know what great comfort and blessing it is to know that I can be with them forever. I want that for all whom we teach. That knowledge is definitely something that drives me as a missionary, and to feel the Spirit with the Matweyew family is so rewarding because I know that this is what they've been waiting for.

We also went over and did some service for them on Friday night. They are moving into a different house here in Moorpark, so we went over and helped Sister Matweyew pack boxes and we helped take Courtney's (18 year old daughter) stuff to the new house. We hadn't seen Courtney in a long time, so it was good that we could help her. We really want to teach her, but she works every time we come over. Well, she used to. Now she is only working on the weekends, so she will be home when we teach them on Monday nights! What a blessing! We invited her to come to church and she said that she would, but sadly she didn't come with her family. I'm just excited for the opportunity to teach them tonight with Courtney there, because we want their whole family to be able to learn about this and accept it together. We just need to help Courtney see how important this is for her in her life and help her feel the Spirit.

The highlight of the week, for me, was teaching Tyler on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday we taught Tyler about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really great because we were able to bring Sarah V with us. Sarah is going on a mission to New York in October. She goes to the singles ward right now, so it was perfect for us to bring her along so when we hand Tyler off to the YSA elders it will be an easy transition. During our lesson, Tyler told us that everything we were teaching him was really hitting him hard. He said that after the past weekend, when he went on vacation, he's been thinking about a lot of stuff and he said that he knows that he needs to repent. He told us that he couldn't believe our timing on the lesson. That what we were teaching was exactly what he needed. What a miracle! The Lord knew exactly what Tyler needed to hear and He helped us to prepare a lesson that would help Tyler's faith grow. As we continued in the lesson, Tyler started to get kind of fidgety and we asked what he was thinking about because he was obviously  deep in thought at the moment. When we asked the question he answered and said "I'm just getting nervous because I think I really want to be baptized." I almost shot straight out of my chair. He had already said that if he found out that these things are true that he would be baptized, but he was expressing a great desire to be cleansed from his sins. He talked about how he was going to repent and how he really wanted to feel the Spirit again in his life, because he had recognized that he didn't feel it as much as he once did. The Spirit was thick in that room. I think I could touch it, it was so strong. On Thursday, we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and keeping the Sabbath day holy. He said that it all made sense, and even though he just turned 21 and had bought some alcohol just that day that he had been looking for, for a while, he was going to try his hardest to stop drinking because he knows that it is necessary for him to be baptized. The Spirit is amazing. It truly can touch the hearts of people and change them. I am so excited for Tyler and I'm a bit sad that we don't get to teach him the rest of the way, but I know the singles ward elders will be so good with him. Maybe in a year Tyler will be going on a mission! That would be so cool!

We taught Brother Mason this week about the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well. I had really been thinking a lot about Brother Mason and how we can help him change his life so he can be happy. I realized that we need to focus on one thing at a time. Brother Mason says that to stop smoking and drinking he'll need to just stop cold turkey, but first he needs to get into the habit of coming to church. It just must have felt overwhelming to him to think about needing to stop smoking, drinking, and get to church each week and read the scriptures everyday when he hasn't been doing any of that consistently. We talked about how we just want to focus on him coming to church every week first. That he just needs to sacrifice at least one hour, every Sunday, so he can go to church and feel the Spirit there. Well, he came to church yesterday! That's the second time in the past 3 weeks! I was so happy to see him there! Last time he came, we were at the other ward, so I was happy that we could be there to see him and make him feel good about coming to church. He only stayed for sacrament meeting because his leg bothers him a lot, but I just thought it was so great! It's so rewarding to help those that have fallen away make steps to come back to our Savior.

When we taught Amanda this week it was not the best teaching situation ever. We showed her a clip of people bearing their testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith and we read in JSH about the first vision, and we were hoping that it would be a really spiritual experience for Amanda, but I didn't feel the Spirit at all. Her daughter was running around like crazy, and Amanda just seemed like she was barely paying attention to what we were teaching her. I think that happened because we didn't create a spiritual atmosphere when we got there. That's really helped me understand why we do "How To Begin Teaching" from PMG. When we got there, Amanda was just telling us about all of these fun things that's she's been doing and dates she went on and we didn't really set the tone for a lesson. We just said a prayer and dived in. Especially with Amanda, we really need to make sure we focus and take control of the situation. She needs to understand our purpose in coming over and that will happen as we use "How To Begin Teaching" with her. We'll be seeing her tomorrow night, and I am really determined to be more on task with her so we can have a spiritual experience. I'll be praying for that a lot today and tomorrow.

Kayley K. dropped us this week. I was crushed. Kayley had been making so much progress and I know that learning about the gospel was making her so happy, but she is so involved in school with her AP classes and everything that she decided that learning from us was just adding too much right now. I can't even explain the way I felt after Laurel Bennett told us that Kayley didn't want to continue doing lessons. I felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I almost cried. I just know what a difference this would make in Kayley's life and I know that she needs this. Everyone needs the gospel. I have felt the Spirit so much with her as we have been teaching her and I know how much Heavenly Father loves her. She needs the foundation of the gospel in her life, and especially at her age of 15 it would just prepare her so well for the future. It was really hard for me to think about her not learning anymore. I guess this isn't the right time for her. I know that she will come back to the gospel someday and learn more. I pray for that day to be sooner than later so she can receive the blessings. Laurel said that she'll keep inviting Kayley and I know that Kayley will probably keep going to activities and everything, so I have faith that everything will work out the way Heavenly Father sees it should.

It really was a good week, but last night as I was looking at the numbers from this week and thought about things, I just felt like we could have worked harder. I know that it is possible for us to reach the goals we set each week if we work hard enough and trust in the Lord to help us reach them. I just want to make sure that I am working my hardest all the time. I don't want to get to the end of my mission and wonder "did I do enough?" We should be able to have more new investigators each week and when we first became companions we were doing really great, but we've been tapering off for some reason. This week I'm really going to be focusing on what we need to do better so that we can find more people to teach. I know that as we are obedient and work hard, we will find, so I guess we need to work harder! This should be a good week. I hope Sister Wilkinson will be able to keep up, because we are going to be very tired from all the work we're going to be doing.

I love you all. Have a great week and do some missionary work!

 

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

P.S. - Funny story. Gary G offered to let us live in his house so we could save money. It was really funny. He's like our dad. He just wants to take care of us. hahah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ding-Dong Ditch

September 10, 2012

 

Hola Fambam,

I'm sorry about last week. Trust me - I wasn't happy about the situation of not being able to email you all. The internet stopped working right after I sent my letter to President Castro. That part was lucky, that I got my email sent to him, but I didn't get to read any of your emails. Well, actually - later on Monday we went on a bike ride with Kayli and Catilyn, so when we went to the Akina's home to get the bikes, Jade printed off my emails for me. That was nice, because I really wanted to read them. They're always a nice pick me up and I like to hear about what's going on with all of you. I sent a hard copy of the email I sent to president, so hopefully you got that, Mom. Thanks Solon and Nan for the pictures from Cancun. It looks like you had a lot of fun and Nan is looking adorably pregnant (if that's a word). I got my mini Preach My Gospel this week in the mail from Uncle Brent! Thanks so much Uncle Brent! I love it! It's so cool and Sister Wilkinson is extremely grateful as well. I also got my journals finally. They were brought by people who were at transfer meeting because those packages couldn't be forwarded. Thanks so much for sending them mom! They are so super cute! I love writing in my journal, so it was really nice of you to send those.

It sounds like things are getting back to their normal routine at home. Mom is back to work doing her stake business, Ammon is back in school, there are too many veggies in the garden...as always Dad, and Cortney's clothes are on the floor. That's just the way things are supposed to be. Haha. I hope Cortz is happy to be back in school! Will you email me your new address Cortz? Also, I need someone to get Blythe Beecroft's address for me. I sent her a letter for her birthday, but it was returned to me because it was the wrong address.

Well, like I said I'm staying in Moorpark for this transfer! I feel like I have so much work to do, because I want to leave this area better than I found it. It talks about that in the white handbook, that we should strive to leave every area better than we found it and I really hope I can do that with Moorpark. I mean, it is possible that I would stay next transfer, too, but I highly doubt it. I guess we'll see in 5 weeks what happens. I heard that Jacob Cheadle is in Bakersfield! That's insane! It's probably so hot! I had Sister Opeka find out where he was going because she went to transfer meeting and I see her every Monday at emails.

So last Sunday, we found out that Amanda V smokes - the less-active we've been teaching. That was crazy, because she hides it so well. I freaked out at her. Just like Sister Tolliver said, I tell people what I think. I told Amanda that she's dumb for smoking. Haha. She just laughed at me, but I told her the goal is for her to stop smoking before I leave Moorpark. I honestly think she wanted us to know, because she wants help in stopping and she knows that we can help her. She told us about  how she stopped smoking before, when she had prepared to go to the temple, that she always sucked on lollipops. Well, on p-day I bought some lollipops, so we went over to her house and I left a note on the bag and ding- dong ditched her and left the lollipops on the doorstep. Haha. It was really fun, and that actually wasn't the first time I've ding-dong ditched someone here in Moorpark. I guess it's becoming a habit - leaving things on people's doorstep and running away. Let's be honest, I'm a gifts person. I like receiving and giving gifts. That's how I feel and show love, so I love giving stuff to people we teach. The other time I ding-dong ditched someone was Tonya; on her b-day I left candy with a b-day card for her. Haha. Fun, right?

So I learned some bad news from Sister Opeka going to transfer meeting. Sister Greer, my MTC comp, went home. I guess they said she was really sick. That makes sense because she has endometriosis, but man that hit me really hard and made me a little depressed. I hope it wasn't because of anything else - that it really was because she is sick. I am especially sad because I was hoping that I would get to serve with her again while here in California. Maybe she'll come back to the mission? I don't know. I wish I could write her a letter, but I have no idea how to get her address.

Oh, weird experience. Yesterday, Sis Wilk and I did a split for church because both wards meet at the same time and so we usually do sacrament meeting at one and then go to the other two hours at the other, but yesterday we were expecting a lot of people in both wards, so we got Wendy to take Sis Wilk to first ward and Tonya was my companion in second ward. It was really weird. I guess I've gotten used to having a companion, because it was uncomfortable for me to not have my companion with me. I mean, I was never alone, obviously, and I got everything done that I needed to in the 2nd ward, but it was still weird. Tonya loved every bit of it. She was so excited to be my companion. She keeps talking about when I'll leave Moorpark. She and Catilyn are very worried about that day, and I kept getting mad at them because I have at least 5 more weeks! It's not something that we need to talk about at this point, but it seems to be on their minds, which obviously makes me feel special. I love those two. Haha.

This week was actually a pretty trying week for me. I don't really know why, because we taught a lot of people and had a lot of great lessons, but for some reason I was struggling for a few days. I was going back to thinking about everything that's ahead of me - 15 more months, and I feel like I haven't been growing enough. When we are actually out doing the work I feel great and I love every minute, but it's in those moments when I have time to think that I was brought back to thoughts of inadequacy and of laziness I guess. I'm not homesick for my family (sorry...I do love you though), but I think it's just "the natural man" making me wish that I could be lazy and just sit around. I feel way better now, back to my old self, but it was a weird few days at the beginning of the week. One thing that I really learned from the experience is that prayer is so important. In those moments when I was feeling really inadequate or anxious because I feel like 15 months seems like 3 years ahead of me, I knelt and prayed for comfort and for help to clear my head of those thoughts. Instantly I would feel the Spirit and feel better, the knots in my stomach would go away and I felt peace. I know that I am supposed to be here! This is where I want to be, and the experiences I have when I'm teaching and talking with people just reconfirm those feelings!

We taught the Flaumers, Eric and Cristina, Nanci B (less-active), Penny B (less-active), Theo, Olie (recent convert), Sergio, Gary G, Annette, Nancy, Heena, Donna, Wendy, Jeff, Marta, and our recent converts - Kayli, Caitlyn and Tonya, this week!

Nanci B is a less-active that we have been trying to catch for a long time. Sister Rasmussen, the Relief Society president, had given us a list of people she wanted us to go by and see, and we finally met Nanci. She is such a nice lady. She is a convert. She was baptized in Ventura and was very involved in the ward she was in there, and she loved it! She said that when she moved to Moorpark 6 years ago she just never came to church and hadn't gone since. She talked about how she wants to come to church and knows that it's what will help her be truly happy. We taught her the Restoration and she felt the Spirit a lot. She cried a few times as she talked with us as well, and I could really tell that she wants to come to church but she just hasn't had anyone reach out to help her come back. She needs fellowship in the ward. She talked about how she doesn't know anyone in the 2nd ward (the one she is in) but knows a few people in the 1st ward. We invited her to come to church and she said that she would come. Sister Rasmussen said that on Saturday night, she went over to visit Nanci and gave her some banana bread and Nanci had told her that she would be coming to church. Well, sadly we didn't see Nanci at church. I wonder what happened? I'm sure it's hard to come when you don't know anyone, but we'll get her there. As she continues to feel the Spirit, she'll remember the importance of coming to church so she can continue to feel of the Spirit in her life. Hopefully we'll be able to see Nanci again this week.

Theo is a guy who we taught this week for the first time. His parents were members of the church but they left because of 2 Ne 5:21. His dad started his own church and Theo is a "pastor" in his dad’s church. Theo is in his 30s and he is such a nice guy. He genuinely cares about people, and it's so obvious that he has such strong faith in Jesus Christ. We taught Theo about the restoration. He had a lot of questions, and we were able to answer them all very simply. We talked to him about how the whole point of coming over and sharing our message with him is to give him the opportunity to pray about it and find out for himself, through the Spirit, if it is true. He really liked that. He has a strong testimony of the Holy Ghost and that it will teach us of truth. It was really cool when his parents came home, because I had been nervous that they would be there when we came. I had prayed a lot before our lesson with Theo that his parents' hearts would be softened toward us, because the first time we met them they were very harsh and kept telling us why they left the church. Well, my prayer was definitely answered. When his parents got there his mom came out to the back of the house where we were sitting outside. She was definitely cold toward us at first, but as we talked with her she warmed up to us and was laughing with us. We talked to her about 2 Ne 5:21 and talked about other concerns she had about the church. I felt very guided by the Spirit as I spoke with her. I knew that none of the things I was saying were coming of my own accord. It was such an amazing experience to just have the Spirit flowing through me. The words just kept coming! The best part was that Theo kept defending us. He kept saying, "Hey they're not pushing anything on me! They're just sharing and asking me to pray on this book (holding up the Book of Mormon)." I'm excited to teach him again. That was a really cool experience for me.

Donna and her daughter Ally were on a progress report that I had looked at to find some people to try to contact. For some reason their names kept coming to my mind during daily planning, but every time we went by they weren't home. Well one night, after teaching Heena, we were going to go on with what we planned for the night and I thought of Donna and Ally and said that we needed to go and try to find them. Well, they were home! We finally got to meet them! It was a very interesting situation, because Donna talked about how she was very attached to so many of the elders that had come by before, but she said that they never really taught her. That was frustrating to me, because now she expects that we are just going to come and chat with her. I know that there is a reason her name kept coming to my mind, so we are going to try to teach her. We don't know if she'll let us, since she kind of has the wrong idea about the purpose of missionaries, but I guess we'll just see what happens. The Lord wanted us there for a reason.

That reason may be because of Donna's friend Marie, who we met that night. Marie had just been kicked out of the home she was renting a room in because she had tried to commit suicide. We didn't know that at first, but Donna told us later. Marie talked to us about how she needed to get all of her stuff out of the house the next day, so we volunteered our efforts to help her. Marie isn't in a good place. She is bipolar and has a lot of emotional instability. She doesn't know where she is going to live and doesn't have any family. We went and helped her the next day and it was a really weird experience for me. I felt terrible as we were there helping her move her stuff. I don't know what came over me. When we walked into the home where she had been living, it was actually a nice house, but upstairs there was dog pee all over the carpet and it smelled really bad. Marie's room was covered with stuff. She had a ton of clothes. It wasn't a pretty living situation, but it wasn't like I haven't seen worse since I've been on my mission. However, for some reason it just hit me hard and I did not feel good at all. I felt super anxious and weighed down. I still have no idea what caused it. I was feeling so down that I started thinking that I was going to go home. In my mind I was freaking out. I just kept thinking that I couldn't stay here, and then I was getting scared because I thought I was actually going to go home. Sister Wilkinson said that she could tell that there was something wrong with me. It was so, so weird. I still don't know what happened. As soon as we got home to do weekly planning, I went into the bathroom and said an audible prayer for comfort. Instantly, just as earlier in the week, I felt at ease. I felt loved and I felt glad that I am on a mission. The rest of the day I was back to myself, really happy and I was loving doing the work. Sister Wilkinson and I speculated over the whole episode and were trying to figure out what caused it. We're not sure if we should try to teach her again, because maybe we shouldn't be around her at this time? We don't know. I guess we'll see what happens. I am so grateful for prayer and grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me and is ready to give me the help I need as soon as I ask.

Teaching Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli was the highlight of my week, again. We taught them in the Lutzs' home and it was just a great experience as always. I love the Lutz family. The two youngest kids, Sadie (13) and Caden (11), both came in with us and were listening and contributing to the lesson along with Brother and Sister Lutz. I love teaching in their home because the Spirit is so strong there. Both Brother and Sister Lutz have such a great understanding of the gospel and they share things in simple ways. It was such a good lesson because I learned a lot and I know that Tonya, Caitlyn, and Kayli learned a lot as well. I just really love all of those who we had that lesson with- the Lutzs' and Tonya, Caitlyn, and Kayli. I feel like they are my family away from home. That's what's so great about missionary work, we are able to love these people and they become our family while we are serving. I feel their love for me while I am with them and I know that they will take care of me if I ever need anything. It's always nice to feel loved and feel like people genuinely care about you. Without those relationships, I don't know how anyone could serve a mission - love is so important in this work.

I really love being a missionary. I don't care how hard things become. I will keep pushing onward because the rewards that come as I serve are so great. Seeing people change through the atonement of our Savior is such a blessing and I know that this is the only time in my life when I can do something like this - devote all of my time and attention to the gospel and helping people come to know our Savior. I know that at times it looks like there are 4 years ahead of me and it feels daunting, but I know that this time is going to fly by and I'll be trying to grasp onto it with all of my strength. There are so many more moments when I feel that way versus feeling like there is too much time ahead of me. It is just so great to be a missionary, called of God to share the gospel with the world!

Here's my scripture of the week - Mark 8:35. I really love that scripture. It's something I have been trying to think about and focus on a lot.

Thanks for your emails! I'm excited to get to actually read over them. I try to skim them before I send my email so I can answer any questions. I love you all  very much! Thanks for your prayers and your support.

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

              

 

 

                                          P-day Fun!

                          (Photo sent by Sheryl Hendrickson)

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  

Letter From Haley

September 3, 2012

 

Hello Family!

I am sure that you were very confused and possibly alarmed that you didn’t get a letter from me! The internet here went down right after I sent my letter to the mission president. I printed that letter and I”ll put it in with this letter. I’m really sad because I won’t be able to read any emails that you may have sent me. That means it’s going to be a long week because I don’t get a ton of mail. Ugh… I’m frustrated that the internet isn’t working.
Well, good news – I’m staying in Moorpark for another transfer! I know this will be the last transfer that I will be here, so I’m going to be working really hard to make sure that I've done all that I can to help the work progress here. I am still with Sister Wilkinson too, so that should be good. We’ll be working very hard and we have a lot of good investigators right now, so this transfer will probably fly by. Tonya and Caitlyn are going to be really excited that I’m stay! On Firday, we went to their house for dinner and I had Sister WIlk go up to the door and I hid behind the corner. She told them that she was a solo sister for the day and that I got transferred. She told them that I would still be able to come to Caitlyn’s baptism but that I had been moved to another area. They shut the door after they went in and I gave them about 30 seconds because I couldn’t see my companion and we’re supposed to be within sight and sound all the time. I started jiggling the doors really hard and stated yelling “They can’t take me away from you!!!” It was so funny! When I opened the door Tonya had tears in her eyes. Hahahaha. Caitlyn hadn’t believed it, or I didn’t give her enough time to react. It was so cute and funny. Then we had missionary casserole! I know that Tonya emailed you about that, Mom. Thanks for sending her the recipe. She kept asking me what I wanted to eat/what my favorite food is. It was really weird eating missionary casserole here.  It was so nice of Tonya, though. Haha.

Caitlyn was baptized this week, and I spoke at her baptism. It was a good experience for me to speak and I love Caitlyn so I felt good that she wanted me to speak. It was really great!

Anyway, I’m sorry I can’t say more. I don’t know any questions that you asked of anything. Maybe send your email in a letter? Actually, no. By the time it gets here I will have had another p-day because I forgot that this has to be sent to you first for you to know that the internet didn’t work!

I hope you have a great week! If you want to type this up and put it on the blog that’d be great, but if not just save it for me for later, because a lot of these things I wasn’t able to write in my journal. I type way faster than I write. Haha

I love you! I hope you are doing well and that everyone is doing missionary work there at home!

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

P.S. Oh, since I’m not being transferred I won’t be seeing Jacob Cheadle. Let me know what area he is in when you find out. Hopefully I’ll see him soon!

           Caitlyn’s baptism: With Sis Wilkinson and Tonya

 

 

            

                                             With Sister Burwell at baptism

 

                                                  
                                                  Caitlyn with Sister Bennett

 

First Email From Tonya Hart

Good Morning,

Hello, my name is Tonya Walsh Hart. My daughter Caitlyn and I will be having your daughter and Sister Wilkinson over for dinner on Friday. When I asked Awesome Sister Bennett what kind of dinner she would like to have she of course said "Oh, it doesn't matter, anything is fine". However, I persisted, which then your daughter said I would love to have Missionary Casserole, that it was her favorite. I would love to make something special for Sister Bennett, she has been such an amazing gift of Light in our (my daughter Caitlyn & I) lives. I know it wouldn't be the same as mom's but I hope to help her feel joy when she and Sister Wilkinson have dinner with us on Friday. Thanks in large part to your daughter, my daughter and I are baptized, well I was last Saturday, and Caitlyn this one 9-1.

I am truly thankful for your daughter Sister Bennett, following her calling, coming to Moorpark, showing us the truth and mostly for bringing Caitlyn and I closer to our Heavenly Father. She is truly Amazing. I could go on and on about Sister Bennett, however I'm off to work. Have a Super great day. :)


Tonya & Caitlyn

 

 

Second Email From Tonya Hart

Thank you for the recipe! Sis Bennett said it gave her happy memories
of home. :) I am very thankful for your daughter in our lives,
especially today, it's Caitlyn's baptism day!!! :D
I'm going to feed them again at the end of the month, is there
something I could surprise her with that you know she'd love?
Be pleased to know your daughter is doing an awesome job on her
mission, I'm sure you already are pleased. She speaks fondly of her
family, which helped make the words she says about the church more
true. I don't know if that last sentence made since, just know we are
so blessed for just knowing your daughter. :)


Thank you,

Tonya & Caitlyn :)

                                                  I got to use an umbrella!













 

 

 

 

 

"That Was the First Time You Lied To Me!"

 August 27, 2012

 

 

HI!

How is my family this week? I hope you're all doing great. I'm excited to give you an update this week because it's been a really great one! I'm excited for Cortz to get started back up at BYU-I. I'm sure she's been aching to be back with her people. Being at home in MN gets to be a bit hard after all of the excitement of being out at school with things going on everyday and being around your best friends all the time. I hope she's taking some fun classes! I keep telling all of the young people in the ward that they should be friends with Cortz. Jade Akina, a member, is going to go to BYU-I - but not for two years. I told her that she should go now so she has the chance to meet Cortz. I always tell Kayli and Caitlyn about Cortney too because...well, because Cortney is so cool and I love her! Anyway, don't be surprised Cortz if anyone named Kayli, Jade, or Caitlyn add you on Facebook. They all want to be your friend because I told them you're a lot like me but even cooler.

Mom, I'm glad to hear that there are some more pianists that have moved into the branch. The Lord is blessing you for always giving of yourself to help with the music! That's so great. I need to be more willing to play the piano here. I don't feel confident about playing hymns because I'm not very good. You know me. I like to practice the songs a ton before I will play them. I am not as confident when I play piano as I am with sports or playing the drums, but I know that I need to do it. I shouldn't hide my talent.

Oh, I don't know if I ever told you about Charlie Alpert. He just got to MN for his mission. Before he left, he did a lot of missionary work with us and he is so great! He is serving in Colerain -  it's right outside of Grand Rapids. I read his email (his mom printed it off for me) and I laughed a lot because he described Minnesota so well. He talked about how he has to drive SO MUCH. Haha. I love Minnesota! I told Sister Alpert that she needs to send his emails to you, Mom, so you can forward them to me throughout my mission because I want to know where her serves and such. I also told Sister Alpert that if he ever gets close to where we live or if he serves in the Metropolitan area that I would send you, Mom and Dad, to take him to dinner or something. I hope that's ok. He is so great! The people in MN are lucky to have a missionary like him serving there.

Quick questions for Britt -  How did you know the Hunters  when you were at BYU? I talked to Brother Hunter, and he said he thinks he knew a Britt but couldn't remember. He said he knew you at King Henry? Is that right?

Thanks again to Uncle Brent for the package you sent to me. That was so nice. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family that gives me so much support as I serve. I really have felt so much love from all of you through your letters and in other moments when I remembered that I have many prayers that are said on my behalf.

This week we taught the Matweyew family (Stephanie and Gavin), Amanda V. (less-active), Mario and Murrae, Nancy, Kayley K., Heena, Tonya and Caitlyn, Paula and Carol, Tyler, and the Caudel family (less-active).

We started the week on a high note with Sister Matweyew and Gavin. Brother Matweyew recently became active again in the church and his wife, Stephanie, has been coming to church with him almost every week. We've had trouble getting an appointment with them because they've had a lot going on with their oldest son. Finally, on Monday, we were able to go to their home for dinner and a lesson. It was so great! Sister Matweyew has the best personality. She is really fun and so sweet to us. Gavin is one of the nicest little boys ever. He is 13 years old and he actually went to scout camp this past summer. He comes to church every once in a while, so we're working on helping him come each week with his family. We taught them about the restoration of the church and the lesson went really well. We were able to answer Sister Matweyew's questions and help her connect the dots between everything her husband has been telling her and the things she has been learning at church. Brother Matweyew bore his testimony about Joseph Smith and it was really powerful. We invited sister Matweyew and Gavin to be baptized on the 22nd of September and they accepted that invitation. They said that they had been talking about being baptized and talking about the temple and being sealed, so we know that their ultimate goal really is the temple. It was just really neat to see that they had been thinking about these things even when they weren't able to meet with us. Brother Matweyew had actually been telling them all about the second coming the night before, and Sister Matweyew told us that she kept saying "Gavin, don't listen to him because the Sisters will come over and tell us what is true or not. Your dad doesn't even know what he's talking about." That was funny. She said that she told them she didn't know why he was telling them about the second coming when they barely know about the 1st! We are really excited to be teaching them again.

On Tuesday we had dinner with Mario and Murrae. It did not go as we had hoped. When we got there the meal wasn't ready, but Murrae told us that it would be about 10 minutes. I kept thinking to myself that we should leave and go tracting while she was finishing so we could use the Lord's time the best way possible. Well, I ignored that prompting and I learned my lesson. It took her a lot longer than 10 minutes to prepare the meal, and I just felt terrible sitting there talking to her. I felt like we weren't helping her understand our purpose as missionaries. We aren't here to "chat" with those that we teach. We are here to teach them about the gospel and help them increase their faith unto repentance. The worst part of the night was that dinner took so long that we didn't even get to teach them what we planned, which was the plan of salvation. We just had to share a scripture and leave. I guess that was something that needed to happen for me to learn from. Even if my companion is ok with sitting there and chatting, that is never something that I want to do again. This time is not my time, but it is the Lord's. I need to use every minute the way that he sees is best. I know that I need to take more control of different situations so that I am always fulfilling my purpose as a missionary.

We got to teach Nancy again this week. The day that we taught Nancy was the day that I was on exchanges with Hermana Clark (a traveling sister). As we taught Nancy about the word of wisdom, I realized that she won’t be ready to be baptized on the 1st of September. She has no problem with obeying the word of wisdom, but she hasn't been reading in the Book of Mormon. The reason for that is most likely because she can't really understand. She doesn't read English very well, and it actually seems like she doesn't read Spanish either, so the Tollivers are going to get her the Book of Mormon on CD so she can listen to it. Our main focus with her right now, that we think is what will help her prepare for baptism the most, is to get her to come to all 3 hours of church. She comes to sacrament meeting but usually leaves right after. I talked with Hermana Clark about it afterward and really felt like we would need to reset her with a different day to be baptized. I shared that with Sister Wilkinson and she agreed. Nancy will get there, to baptism, but it's most important that she really understands the covenant that she is making and the importance of it. I believe that she would get in the water tomorrow, just because she believes what we teach her, but she needs to know for herself.

On Thursday we caught Heena again, the Indian lady. She is so funny. She is so honest with us. She always just tells us when she has been screening our calls or ignoring us. The funniest thing is that when she calls or leaves messages it's always directed at me. She always says "Hello Sister Bennett." It's hilarious because she has an Indian accent Just imagine it in your mind. Well, when we saw her on Thursday she invited us in and was really nice. She told us that she was going to call us because she realized that whenever she doesn't see us she has a bad week. Duh, Heena! You receive blessings as you learn from us! She is held up about baptism because she talked about how she was raised Hindu and that's all that she has ever known. She said that she really believes what we have taught her is true, but she doesn't know if she should leave what she was raised in to become Christian. I bore my testimony to her about the power of prayer and how she can know if this is what she is supposed to do at this time. One of the coolest things about being a missionary is that when we promise things to people, we know that if they do what we invite them to do, that promise will be fulfilled. The Lord backs up every promise. I promised Heena that if she prays with a strong desire to receive an answer, and most importantly to act on the answer (real intent) that she will come to know that she should be baptized and she'll feel a great urge to do so. That was really cool. I just felt the Spirit so powerfully as I promised her that. At the end of the lesson we invited Heena to a baptism, and she said she couldn't go but we also invited her to church. She got a funny look on her face and then said "Ummm, the air conditioner man is coming on Sunday." I'm pretty blunt/bold with the people we teach, I mean it's me, right? So I said "Ok Heena, but church is at 9 a. I know you can come!" She laughed and said that the air conditioning man was coming at nine. I was not going to just take that! I said to her "Heena! I can't believe this! That was the first time you lied to me!" She burst out laughing and then quieted down and said that he seriously was coming then. Ohhhhh Heena. Right before we left, she said "Wait, I have to get something!" Then she ran upstairs and came back down and gave each of us a scarf from India. She said that she had wanted to give it to us last time we came over. That was so nice! It's weird how much stuff people give missionaries. Oh well, I'm ok with it!

When we taught Amanda V. this week, we were able to talk to her about prayer and about how answers come through the Spirit. Amanda really wants some big event to happen with her to make her know what she needs to learn from the trial she is going through at this time. I know that it isn't going to happen that way, because the Lord needs her to learn to be diligent and keep the commandments. I always feel the Spirit when we teach Amanda, and I know that we are supposed to be helping her at this time. She told us about an experience she had this past week when she was talking to her mom about Joseph Smith. Her mom isn't a member, and Amanda was explaining about how Joseph Smith was really passionate about what he taught because he knew it was true. She then said to her mom, "You know how I'm getting really excited and really passionate as I tell you about Joseph Smith, well that's because I know and believe this!" Bam! It hit her right then that she does know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and she does know that this is the true church! How cool is that? That's exactly how I first had my own testimony of Joseph Smith, it came through bearing it. That was so cool to hear about her experience. Now we're just working with her to help her read in the Book of Mormon and come back to church. She knows the truth, but she is still waiting for some big event to make her want to go back to church. Another cool thing that happened when we taught her was that she really didn't want to pray, but we talked to her and helped her realize that it was important for her to say the closing prayer at the end of our lesson. As she prayed the Spirit filled the room and I could feel our Heavenly Father's love for her. It was a beautiful prayer, and I am so glad that we followed the Spirit in urging her to say the prayer. Prayer is so important in our lives.

We got to teach the 21 year-old named Tyler again this week. We taught him about the plan of salvation and it was an amazing lesson. It was probably Sister Wilkinson and my best lesson since we've been companions. We taught with such great unity, and the Spirit was there the entire lesson. Tyler is always so focused as we teach him. He really just hungers so much for more truth. He asked many great questions that helped us see that he truly wants to know for himself if the things we've taught him are true. We invited him to be baptized on the 29th of September and he accepted. Before either Sister Wilkinson or I had the opportunity to invite him to church, he said "And I'll need to come to church. When is it?" That was so great! We'll be passing him off to the YSA elders soon which makes me a little sad because we won’t get to see him progress, but it's great because I know that he will. The YSA elders are so great, so I'm not worried in the slightest.

Now, the baptism! Tonya's baptism was wonderful. The Spirit was there in great abundance, as it is at every baptism. It was even more special than usual because Sister Tippetts came from Vegas and she actually spoke at the baptism. I was so happy to see her again. I was just so grateful that she made the effort to come down, because Tonya really appreciated it and it meant a lot to me, as well. I just can't believe that Tonya is baptized now! I felt like that day was taking forever to get here because I was so excited for her! Now she is getting ready to go to the temple next week to do baptisms for the dead for her first time. She is so excited because she just has such a love for temples. Whenever we see her she talks about how she was looking up stuff about the temple on mormon.org or lds.org. She is so great! I'm just so grateful that I was able to be a part of Tonya's conversion. What a blessing it has been for me to have taught her as well as Caitlyn. I got to have a nice chat with Caitlyn on Thursday, because Tonya was in an interview for baptism with President Castro, so while we waited I got to talk with Caitlyn. Sister Wilkinson was talking with some elders that were there. Caitlyn talked about how she has a hard relationship with her older sister and I could tell that she really wished that she had a good relationship with her. She told me that she always thinks it's so cool when I talk about my relationship with Cortney. She said she wished she had a big sister like me that she could be best friends with because, she said, it is so obvious how much I love Cortz. Well, I told Caitlyn that I'll be her big sister, because I already feel that way. I just want to look out for her. Caitlyn said she is really worried that I'll be transferred next Tuesday, but I know whatever happens is what's best. She said that she's going to write to me for my entire mission, and I believe her so that made me happy. Anyway, I just think it was good for Caitlyn to talk to me about her concerns and it was a good experience for me.

Having Sister Tippetts here was awesome! You never know what you have until it's gone, and that's how it has been with Sister Tippetts. I didn't realize how much I've missed her until I saw her again. She was just such an amazing missionary and really helped me have a running start for my mission. I love her! We'll be really good friends after the mission, I'm sure. Cortz, you'll have to look out for her at BYU-I and say hi to her for me, so look at the picture of her from Wendy's baptism, ok?

Exchanges with Hermana Clark were great! It was too short for me, however. I wished that I could have been with her all day because I know that I can learn so much more from her! Even though it was short, I did learn a lot. Hermana Clark is such an obedient missionary who has the Spirit with her at all times. The way that she interacts with people is so wonderful. You can just tell how much she cares about every single person we meet. I learned a lot from her. I really want to work hard to ask more questions when we are tracting. Hermana Clark is so good at that. She gets them to talk about their faith and what they believe and then it's so easy to know what restored truth to share with those that we meet. That is one thing that I'm working on because a lot of the time with Sister Wilkinson she just gets going on sharing the restoration like we're an audio recording. I saw such a huge difference when Hermana Clark would ask them a question, and then cater the message to what the person needs to hear. She is so great at helping them see why it will matter to them. I just really liked being with Sister Clark because it made me have a great desire to work really hard so that when I get to that point in my mission I can be like her. She just has it all put together. It was so cool to see. It just reminded me so much of Sister Tippetts.

Well, I hope this email wasn't too long. I had a lot to say! I'll leave you with a scripture to look up - Alma 26:13. This really hit me this week when I read it. The power of Christ's word is truly in us. We need to strive to represent Him in our lives and bring others unto him through being examples. I hope you all are doing some kind of missionary work, because it is our duty to share this blessing that we have.

I love you all!

Sister Bennett

 

 

 



                                                             Tonya's  Baptism

 

 

 

 

 

 

                               

                          Sister Wilkinson, Tonya, Sister Bennett, Sister Tippetts