"Check It Out"

 

September 24, 2012

 

Bonjour Family,

How is everyone doing this week? It seems that you are all very busy with your lives, just like I am very busy with the work here in Moorpark. Mom, it sounds like you're going a bit bonkers. I didn't get to read your whole email, but it sounds like Ammon needs to let you play that game on his Nintendo DS that is supposed  to help your memory. He probably knows what I am talking about. I remember Sister Rich saying that she played it or something. Maybe I'm making this all up though.

I'm doing pretty well over here on the west coast. We're in the middle of the "Indian summer" right now, so we had some really hot days this past week. Phew, sometimes it just makes you feel so weighed down when it's that hot. Don't worry mom, I still haven't gotten sunburned so we're good! I got a letter in the mail this week from my sweet nephew, Dashle! It was very cute, and he has a good dad who is a scribe for him. Thanks Dad for sending me some pictures! Throw some good ones in whenever mom sends me that proactive body wash, ok? I'd really like some more pictures, especially of Eilish and Ammon. Ammon looks like a man. haha. Well, at least from what I could tell from the small pictures I got in the emails that
Dad sent. I'm not sure why they wouldn't get larger, but I still definitely appreciate the pictures!

Oh, yesterday at church was the Primary program! It was, sorry Marshall Branch, the best Primary program I have ever seen. That's most definitely because they have so many kids, but all of these little Primary kids sang little solos in the musical numbers and they were all good singers! It was great!

Also, I mentioned this before in an email, but can I get an absentee ballet to vote in November? I think I should, because it's my right. haha. People are starting to bring up Mitt Romney more with us when we're out tracting. They always like to reject us, but end by saying, "But hey, I'm voting for Mitt!" That's great Sir, but you're missing out on your salvation. How about that?

We had a good amount of lessons this week and we had some really spiritual experiences in many of the lessons that we taught. The Lord is always there to assist us and to guide us in our teaching as we strive to follow the promptings of the Spirit. That's something that I recognized a lot this week, not only was I given words in the very moment that I needed them, but I know that during personal study in the morning I am being prepared for different situations I will be in during the day. For example, we were declaring to one man and he brought up the fact that we do baptisms for the dead in our church and said that he thought that was ridiculous and was not something they did in the Bible. That morning for personal study I had been reading about baptisms for the dead in the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants, so I was able to teach him about that and easily bring it back to sharing the message of the restoration. It was a really cool experience.

We taught the Stephanie and Gavin Matweyew family this week as well as Nanci Buchalter (less active) and her daughter Kelsey (investigator), Eric and Crisitna (we actually dropped them), Nancy, Marta, Chad, Annette, Tyler, Sergio, Mathew, Gary G, Jim and Heather, Anthony, and our lovely recent converts Kayli, Caitly, and Wendy.

I got the phrase "Check it out!" from Wendy. She says that to us all the time when she's talking about the gospel. It's hilarious. She is always telling us about these crazy things she reads and then tells us about what she learned from her scripture study that week. She is so great. She took us to dinner at the "Natural Cafe." Definitely a tree hugger food place, but it was still pretty good. Luckily I haven't had to shove food down my throat that I really don't like. I'm in America! People don't care if I don't eat the onions or whatever! I'm allowed to say "no thanks" when I don't want to eat something. Isn't that great?

I love the Matweyew family. Sister Matweyew has really been warming up to us and opening up about what she thinks/what her concerns are. That is definitely a good thing. She really wants to learn more for her family. She recognizes the changes that have occurred since her husband has gone back to church and she knows that it will really make a difference to her family if she learns about the gospel. She told us that she really wants Courtney to come to church with them and learn, but she doesn't want to force anything on her, especially right now. Sister Matweyew said that she just wants to be an example for Courtney, because she thinks that as Courtney sees the good changes that are happening in their family because of the church that Courtney will come around on her own. Their family is going through a hard time with the oldest son, Zach. He has been using drugs and doing other things, and the police actually came and took him away on Friday. Sister Matweyew called us and was crying about it all and just asked us to pray for her. The sad thing was that yesterday they didn't show up to church because they said they just needed to rest and get back on their feet after everything. Well, we're meeting with them tonight and we're really going to focus on helping them see that going to church is what's going to give them strength and comfort that they need right now. They usually come every week, but whenever something happens with Zach they don't show up. It's very confusing, so we just need to help them understand. Sister Matweyew loves church. She always talks about how she doesn't get how every week she feels like the speakers are just talking only to her! She definitely feels the Spirit when she comes, so it's just a matter of helping her understand and recognize the Spirit. We'll still be working on Courtney as well, because she is actually an investigator.

Nanci Buchalter is a less-active that we found when we went to visit less-actives who the Relief Society president in the 2nd ward gave us a list to visit. Nanci is a convert to the church but hasn't gone to church since she moved to Moorpark 6 years ago! She said she just never got around to going and it didn't help that she didn't know anyone. We invited her to come to church and she came. She just needed someone to ask her to come, I guess! Her two sons are members who are also less active, but her daughter Kelsey, who is 18 and a senior in high school, hasn't been baptized. We met Kelsey and we taught her the restoration. Kelsey is skeptical about the Book of Mormon and just about religion in general because she doesn't seem to really know what she believes. She doesn't really have any friends because she does online schooling and is really shy, so we invited her to go to mutual on Wednesday. She went with her mom. It was good that her mom went to support her, but I think it was probably hard for her to get to know anyone because it's comfortable to just stick by your mom, of course. That's probably what I would've done, my mom's the best! We're working on getting some of the young women to come with us to appointments when we teach them, and we're hoping that Kelsey will be able to make some friends so she'll feel good about coming to church and participating in Young Womens. When Nanci came to church she was upset about the amount of noise during sacrament meeting. There are a lot of young families in our ward and it really is loud sometimes during sacrament meeting, but it's just a part of church. I love that there are so many families, but Nanci was telling us that if that noise level keeps up that she won’t be coming back to 2nd ward. She said maybe she'll try 1st ward if it is always that loud in 2nd ward. Oh, Nanci. We're working with her about that and trying to understand what the real problem is for her. Maybe she didn't feel the Spirit as much as she thought she would? We'll see what happens. Both Nanci and Kelsey are really great, so I'm glad that I'm able to be here to teach them.

This week we were planning on passing off Tyler to the young single adult elders. We had it all planned out but about an hour or two before our appointment, Tyler texted us and told us that he didn't think we should meet because he was having doubts and thought that he should just wait and go to church on Sunday. We called him and convinced him to just let us go over and teach him without the YSA elders. When we went over Tyler talked about how he's having doubts because the Book of Mormon hasn't been clicking with him as much as he thought it would. Well, we then talked with him further and realized that he hadn't been praying before reading in the Book of Mormon. We talked with him about a few other small concerns/questions that he has, but then I bore my testimony to him that as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it he will come to know that it's true and those concerns that he has will be washed away. I felt the Spirit a lot as we taught him. We also read in the Book of Mormon with him and he said that it helped him a lot to see how he should read so he can apply it to his life. Then, at the end of the lesson we invited him to pray. He doesn't like to pray out loud because he says that it feels insincere because he is just saying what sounds good. He told us that usually he just whispers when he prays and we told him to do that! Finally, he agreed and said the prayer. It was so powerful. I could barely hear him, but at one point I opened my eyes and looked at him and he just looked so sincere, like he was really pleading with Heavenly Father to give him help and comfort and to help him know if this is true. It was so amazing that I couldn't even hear him, but the Spirit was just filling me up! That was such a cool lesson. Tyler is so awesome and I'm still sad that we need to pass him off to the YSA elders, but I know that it's for the best. He actually went to church at the YSA ward yesterday and he texted us afterward and said he had a really good experience and that he was excited to go again next week! Plus he said that he was planning on going to a barbecue that they are having tonight for Family Home Evening! Sister Wilkinson and I were almost screaming- we were so happy that he had such a good experience at church. He's so great and we were so blessed to find him while we were tracting! Knocking really does work!

Jim and Heather are a couple who we just taught for the first time this week. We met Jim last week when we were trying to find his neighbor. He had invited us back for a time when his wife would be home. Well, we showed up and he had forgotten and his wife was definitely surprised. We started to just teach them on the doorstep, but then I just asked if we could come in and sit down with them to share our message. I was surprised that I even did that, but it worked and they let us in! We taught them about the restoration and as we talked about prophets, Heather asked why there isn't one today, because she said it didn't make sense to her that we would only have prophets back then - especially when times are so different now. That definitely made us excited. As we taught them the entire restoration, they had a lot of good questions and they said that everything we taught them really made sense. Sadly, we won’t be able to teach them until next week because Jim is out of town, but hopefully they will be reading the Book of Mormon during this time and praying about it. I'm really excited about teaching them because I really want to teach families so they can have what I have - the opportunity to be sealed to their families for eternity.

Anthony is another new investigator that we got from a referral from the Spanish elders. He's 16 years old, and his cousin is actually Cody - Cody is the kid that introduced Tonya and Caitlyn to the church and baptized Tonya, Caitlyn and Kayli. When we met Anthony, we just asked him if we could sit down with him outside for a bit to share our message and he agreed. Anthony is really cool. He is hispanic, but doesn't have any accent, and he has really long black hair that is kind of curly. He was really quiet at first, but that didn't last with me trying to get him to either laugh or open up a bit. By the end of the lesson he was asking questions and he asked, when we invited him to read just the introduction and testimonies after it in the Book of Mormon, "Why can't I read the whole thing?" He then asked how many pages there are in the Book of Mormon and I instantly said "531." He and Sister Wilkinson laughed really hard about that and then he said he was just going to start reading it all. We also invited him to be baptized on Nov 3rd and he agreed. However, when we asked if his mom would be ok with us teaching him he told us he could ask but that she would probably say no. He seemed sad when we told him that he would need permission to meet with us. When we saw Cody later that day, he told us that Anthony's mom and her sister are pretty vulgar about the church or something like that, but we're praying that their hearts will be softened and that we will be able to teach him. I really want to, so we'll see if that is what the Lord thinks is best for Anthony.

It really was a good week this week! We had many more teaching opportunities that are definitely worth mentioning, but due to lack of time the few that I wrote about will have to suffice. I love sharing the gospel with others. This week in personal study, I did an activity at the end of the "Use time wisely" chapter in PMG about the last day on my mission. It just has you take a moment and think about what you want to say that you've done as a missionary, what you've become, and what differences you want people to notice in you. Then it has you write down how you will achieve those goals. It was good for me to think about what I want to become on my mission, because this really is the time when the Lord can shape and mold me into the person that I want to be for the rest of my life. Looking back through my study journal at goals I had just last transfer and my first transfer, I can see that some of those changes that I wanted then have already taken place or have come along a great deal in the process of reaching those goals. It's so amazing to see how the Spirit can change us and how repenting and applying the atonement in our lives helps us to reach our potential. I have a long way to go, but I do know that I can reach that potential through the atonement of Jesus Christ. How great is that knowledge?!

I love you all! I am happy and I am healthy!

 

Love,

Sister Bennett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!