Bakersfield Mission?!? Uh OH!

 

February 25, 2013

 

Dearest Family!

Bakersfield is going to be its own mission! Ahhhh! I'm super excited, actually, but nervous! I don't want to be moved over, but we'll see what happens. I'm glad to go wherever the Lord needs me. I don't have much time to write, so this one won’t be the longest...but it will suffice.  

I feel like this past week I haven't been able to gather my thoughts. I have been feeling, as I've mentioned in previous letters, like I'm plateauing. As a missionary, that's the last thing that I want to be thinking. I'm working hard to continue growing, but it seems like my efforts haven't been placed in the right areas or they haven't been enough. I've been studying the past few days about receiving revelation and I have also been reading in my patriarchal blessing a lot in order to seek guidance. I have realized that I need to be more actively seeking what the Lord wants me to change rather than doing what I desire or what I think is best. I'm glad that I've come to realize that because when I go by my own list of "things that Sister Bennett needs to change" I become quickly overwhelmed. I find myself, in those times, only focusing on how far I have to go to become like the Savior. It makes me feel as though I am disappointing my Father in Heaven because time after time I make the same errors. As I studied my patriarchal blessing, I was able to recognize promised blessings that I have yet to access, and I know that I can have those things present in my life if I will seek after them. Lately, I have been able to understand better what these wonderful people we're teaching must go through. At first, they look at the changes ahead of them as large mountains to climb without a rope or without a harness. That is how I have allowed myself to feel for the past few weeks, but through many sincere prayers and more focused study, I have re-established something that I already knew. The Savior is always standing on the tops of the mountains in our lives and attached to Him, always, is the rope of the atonement. Some of the struggle in our lives is trying to understand how to use that rope to climb up and over each mountain, but I know that our Heavenly Father isn't going to leave us alone or confused. As we actively seek Him, we will recognize how the atonement can be used for each specific and personal mountain that we must overcome. As we more fully understand how to use the atonement, it is then up to us to take one step at a time, clinging to the atonement. As I think about it, I recognize that when you literally hike up a mountain, it may seem, at times, like you are making no progress at all, but as you keep pushing forward and take only a few brief moments to look back you can recognize the progress you have made. That's what I am now striving to do. I need to understand how the atonement can be used in my life, and as I work to overcome my weaknesses, I just need to keep my eyes forward until He tells me that I can look back to see how far I have come. 

We met this last week with President Castro to talk about exchanges that will be taking place and to receive counsel from him, I felt the Spirit infusing me with an even greater drive to make changes in my life. At first after the meeting, I just felt overwhelmed. I didn't understand how I would be able to really give the sisters what they need from me. I just want them to be able to have powerful experiences on exchanges with me, and I want them to be able to go away from the exchanges with a desire to change and grow. I recognize now, after Sister Lillywhite said it to me, that I need to not be so hard on myself. I remember that President Castro had given me similar counsel when he issued the call to me to become a traveling sister. I expect a lot out of myself, but I know that I cannot and will not be perfect. However, with the Savior's help and the guidance of the Spirit I know that He will use me to take care of these sisters. I'm just going to focus on one sister at a time as I prepare to go on exchanges with each. I know that I have been called to serve as a traveling sister because I have certain gifts and abilities that will be able to bless these sisters. I am grateful for the spiritual gifts that I have been blessed with and I'm excited to seek guidance on what other gifts I need and can acquire to bless others’ lives more. I was glad to receive the direction concerning our areas and that these sisters are a part of our teaching pool. I have been focusing on them a lot, but at times I felt that I didn't know who I should focus on more - the investigators we're teaching or the sisters. Now, I just view them as all being investigators who have specific needs and challenges that I can help with. I am just grateful to be able to serve in this mission with these great sisters here. I love them so much and as I have been praying for them that love has only become greater. 

This week we taught Jimmy, Sabrina, Lisa, Kristyn, Bob, Kelly, Matilde, the Evangelistas, the Biglers (less-active), Sister Rous (less-active), Bette (less-active), and the Rabagos (less-active).

I really love Jimmy. He is just such an inherently good person and I'm so grateful that we were guided by the Spirit to find him. He needs the gospel. He doesn't live in the best situation and doesn't have the best friends, but I can see right now, in my mind, what his life will be like as he continues to progress in the gospel and is baptized. Jimmy is 20 years-old. He's Hispanic and is renting a room in his friend's apartment so that his mom doesn't have to worry about providing for him. This past week we taught him the Plan of Salvation and it was so amazing to just follow the Spirit throughout his lesson. We were able to ask questions and read scriptures that really got Jimmy to think, and the most amazing part was listening to him talk through things and figure things out for himself. Then, when he would realize something, his face would light up and he would just say "Wow, that's powerful." I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves Him. He is one of the Father's choice sons and Jimmy's future is so bright with the gospel lighting it up. Sadly, for us, we won’t be teaching him anymore. We passed him off to the young single adult ward elders on Saturday. I know that is what's best for Jimmy. He'll be able to make some really good friends who have good morals just like Jimmy. On Saturday night, we had dinner with the Stassforth family and their daughter and her boyfriend are in the singles ward. We were able to talk to them about Jimmy, and Chandler, the boyfriend, said that he will definitely get in contact with the elders and go to the appointments they have with Jimmy. I was so grateful to hear that because I was praying a lot that day about Jimmy and that he would be taken care of. I have felt a lot of comfort about it and I know that he is in good hands. 

 Well, I seem to have run out of time, but the work is going well in our area. Sister Lillywhite is a great example to me and I'm doing my best to learn the things that I need to from her before she leaves. It's hard though. It's like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant. I'm doing my best. 

 

I love you all,

Sister Bennett 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fwd: California Bakersfield Mission to Be Created

 February 25, 2013

 

 

Can you believe this!?!??!!!!! I need the whole family to start praying that I won't be moved to the Bakersfield mission! I don't want to leave President Castro! 

 

 

 

 

 ---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Fernando Castro ‪<frcastro@ldschurch.org>

Date: Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 11:49 PM
Subject: California Bakersfield Mission to Be Created

 

To: All Missionaries

The First Presidency recently announced the creation of 58 new missions in order to accommodate the influx of new missionaries. One of the new missions to be created as a result of this historic announcement is the “California Bakersfield Mission.” This is exciting news and further confirmation that “the field is [indeed] white already to harvest” in this part of the world. 

This announcement means that the current boundaries of the Ventura Mission will be realigned to form the new Bakersfield Mission. As far as which missionaries will serve in the Bakersfield Mission and which missionaries will remain in the Ventura Mission, that determination will be made through revelatory direction from the Lord, whose work this is, during the June 17^th transfer. At that transfer, those missionaries serving in areas within the new boundaries of the Ventura Mission will remain assigned to the Ventura Mission, and those missionaries serving within the new Bakersfield Mission boundaries will be permanently assigned to the Bakersfield Mission under the jurisdiction of a new mission president on July 1, 2013.

Please share this information with your family. We will keep you informed when we receive additional instructions from the Brethren. For now we simply need to carry on as usual with our responsibilities to find, teach, and baptize worthy converts.

What a blessing it is to be a missionary at this time when the Lord is raising up “laborers” (both elders and sisters) and “hastening” his work of salvation (D&C 88:72-74).

With love,

President Castro

Will You Follow the Example of Jesus Christ and Be Baptized?

 

February 18, 2013

 

Dear Family!

You all have had a TON going on! First off, congrats to Brandice and Solon! I see that they named their baby something as close as they could to my name without it being awkward. Nice work nan! I knew you loved me! Haley...Eily. Sounds alike! Just saying! Ok, maybe not. Hey, also congrats to Jordan and Amanda! I'm excited to have another sister, but saddened that she is another blackhead. That's ok, Amanda, not everyone can have beautiful red hair like us....right redheads? Right. Happy Birthday to Solon! I had no idea when your birthday was, so I'm sorry I didn't send a card! I feel terrible! I'm the worst sister-in-law ever. Forgive me...I'm a missionary. Wow! I'm just so happy to hear about all of the great things going on in your lives! Really....I'm feeling really full of joy right now, my chest is all tight! Weird! Haha.

Well, my first transfer as a traveling sister has come to an end. It went by so quickly, but it seems like it should have been 12 weeks rather than 6 because so much happened in that short span of time. I'm excited to start a new transfer. It's always nice to have a "fresh start," in a way, that comes with transfers. I'm mostly excited to get going again on having exchanges. I've missed seeing the sisters. They help me learn so much and I'm excited to see/hear about the improvements that they've been making since the last time we had exchanges with them. I'm happy to have Sister Lillywhite as my companion for another transfer. She is a great missionary and I know that I still have so much to learn from her before she heads back to New Mexico at the end of the transfer. 

President Castro sent out a message that this week will just be a five week transfer whereas transfers are usually six weeks. A lot of missions are doing this so they can get the new missionaries into the field quicker. That's exciting! That also means that I will come home a week earlier than I would have since that will affect the rest of the year. Crazy, right! I'm excited for all of the new sisters to come next transfer. This week we're getting just one English sister and two Spanish. I'm still excited though! Haha. 

Well, this week was great! It was a very successful week in our area. It was nice to spend the entire week just working here in Ventura, in our part of the vineyard. We had a goal to invite more people to be baptized because we felt we really could be doing better on that and that if we were focusing on doing that, our declarations would be more focused on our purpose. Well, we invited a lot of people to be baptized this week and we now have 4 investigators with baptismal dates! We will, sadly, need to pass two of them off to the YSA elders, but we're so excited to see the Lord help us as we had righteous desires. 

This week we taught Rita, Eve, Lizette, Jose, the Evangelistas (recent convert), Kelley, Jimmy, Kristyn, Lisa, Brother Juker (less-active), Karina, Bob, Arianna, Jessica, Sister Rous (less-active), Brother Allen (less-active), the Biglers (less-active), Cryshauna, Sister Ellis (less-active), David, and the Rabagos (less-active).

This week was my first time meeting Lizette. She was a potential that the Sisters had met tracting a while ago, but she was sick and didn't really have time to talk. Lizette has lupus, so she gets sick very often. She is in her early 30s, is married, and has an eleven year old son. She actually used to live in the same apartment complex as the assistants and she would do laundry at the same time as them a lot. They, of course, talked to her a lot about the church and then she moved. She is familiar with the missionaries, but she wasn't too familiar with what we believe. She let us come inside, and we taught her about the Restoration. She's Catholic, she was actually wearing a rosary, but she doesn't always attend. She talked about how she likes different pieces from a lot of religions, so when we taught her about the great apostasy she thought it made a lot of sense. At times I wasn't sure if she was really listening because she seemed like the type of person that wants to seem like she already knows things, but when we asked her questions she seemed to have grasped a lot of what we taught. She really felt that Joseph Smith's experience was amazing and she understood the importance of reading and praying about what we shared. She was so happy when we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she said that she really was going to read it and pray about it. We invited her to be baptized and she said, "Oh yes! Of course I will when I know!" She is set for March 23rd! We're meeting with her again this week, so we're really excited. I've just been praying that she'll feel well that day so she can still meet with us.

We also had a great lesson with Lisa. Lisa is in her 40s. We met her tracting a few weeks ago and she seemed pretty interested. When we went back this last week, she has actually read a bit in the Book of Mormon, so she was more serious about this than we originally thought. We taught her about the Restoration and she had a lot of good questions. I really enjoy it when people ask us questions, because it shows that they actually care and are paying attention. I don't like it when they just take our word for it on everything. People should be skeptical and should take this to the Lord in prayer. That's such a crucial step for every single member of the church, whether they were born in the church or not. We won’t have our own testimony of it until we ask. In PMG it says that "no one can know of spiritual truths without prayer." I know that that is true, no matter what, we need to help investigators understand the importance of prayer. Lisa, at one point in the lesson, kind of broke down and cried about her divorce. She doesn't seem to have a lot of self-worth. She kept saying that she wants to make changes but she doesn't think she can do it. I'm excited to continue teaching her and help her understand who she really is. The plan of salvation lesson will be so great for her. She also accepted a baptismal date. She'll be working toward the 30th of March! 

We just saw so many miracles this week! I almost couldn't believe how many miracles we saw. I'm just grateful that as we work hard, the Lord will reward us with these great miracles. He always pulls through, always! It's up to us whether or not we get to enjoy them by the decisions we make. 

Thanks for the package mom! Sister Lillywhite is grateful that you also sent her a valentine and I really like my new purse! It's the perfect size! Give baby Eily a huge kiss from her favorite aunt and make sure you show her my picture once a day. Thanks. 

I love you all so much! Have a great week! 

 

Love,

Sister Bennett 

 

P.S. - Sorry this one is short. I'm short....on time! 

P.P.S. - What's the status on the shoes, mom? I'm in need! :) 

 

 

 

 

Back in Moorpark with Sister Stoker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obedience is Bliss

 

February 11, 2013

 

Dear family,

Onward Christian Soldiers! We are forging onward in our area here in Ventura. We had a successful week topped off with an inspiring baptism. We had our last exchange of the transfer this week and I surprisingly was back in Moorpark for the day on Wednesday. We had some great lessons this week and saw a lot of miracles. It's neat to see that we can find miracles in every single day if we'll just look for them. I love my companion because she helps me recognize the miracles and I can see that we are growing together. We set goals as a companionship and work to reach them, as well as helping support each other with the individual goals that we have. We are preparing! We are preparing for the new sisters who will be coming, the exchanges that we'll have next transfer (if we're both traveling sisters still), and most importantly for the Lord's elect that He wants us to teach. Preparation precedes....well everything. I guess you could say that this is a lesson I definitely learned this week and have been thinking about a lot. 

This week, as I mentioned earlier, our exchange was with the sisters serving in Moorpark! At the beginning of the week, Sister Lillywhite and I weren't sure of who should go to Moorpark for the exchange and who should work in Ventura for it. I didn't want to say much because I wasn't sure if I should go back to Moorpark so soon. When the day for the exchange came, Sister Lillywhite suggested that I go to Moorpark for Sister Kiyotani's sake. We wanted to see how well she knows the area and how she would do with the lessons without Sister Stoker there since Sister Stoker knows the people better. I had very mixed emotions about being in Moorpark, but when it all came down to it I felt grateful for the time I had there and even more grateful to be serving in Ventura now. I think that helped me a lot. It was good to see how well those two sisters are doing there and I know that they are the ones that the people in Moorpark need at this time, so that was a great side revelation for me. Now, the more important part - Sister Kiyotani. She is from Japan! She came out the same day that I did. Actually, I sat in front of her on the plane ride here and she taught a guy about the gospel the whole way! She is so great! I really enjoyed working with her. She is doing really well with her English, but she gets nervous when we are out declaring so it gets a little bit harder to understand what she is saying. She is a really great teacher. She teaches simply and powerfully. I really loved how often she bears her testimony in lessons. It made me think about that for myself and I have a goal to be better about not just testifying at the end but throughout the entire lesson. Sister Kiyotani is so humble and she is always looking to teach, no matter what. In one situation, this lady that we had an appointment with was home, but she said that she just didn't have time right then. She set up another appointment, but Sister Kiyotani didn't just say "bye" and leave. She asked how this lady's scripture reading was going and then taught her about praying as she reads the Book of Mormon. I thought that was so great. That is our job as missionaries...we TEACH! She's definitely doing that. She is a great example to me and to all of the sisters. I actually got to see a lot of people that I LOVE while I was there in Moorpark.

 

 

 

 

 

Nanci Buchalter had a lesson with the sisters the night before I came and they told her that I would be there, so she said "I need service!" Haha. We went over and helped her put away Christmas lights. It was so great hearing about her. She's been going to church every week and is set on getting herself back to the temple. Man. It was just so great to hear about everyone from Sister Kiyotani. I just felt so happy and full of love as she told me about everyone and the progress that they are making. I almost started crying, not because I miss them, even though I do, but because it just made me so happy. Weird. I haven't been emotional AT ALL throughout my mission, but that was a bit emotional. Miracle - Sister Kiyotani and I were walking down a random street in a not so nice part of town, and this car came driving around the corner. You know me, I recognize cars. I thought to myself, "That looks like Nancy's car." It didn't make sense though, because there would be no reason for her to be in that part of town. Well, I saw her son and then recognized her....so I ran into the street waving my arms (sorry mom...I know, safety first. I was excited!). She pulled over and got out. She was freaking out! Haha. I was so happy to see her, and Sister Kiyotani said that was a real miracle because Nancy has been having a hard time with her family. I'm glad I got to see her. The cherry on top of the day in Moorpark was having dinner with the Lutz family, of course. Sister Stoker is so kind. When she found out I would be the one coming to Moorpark for the exchange, she called the Lutzs' and told them that I was coming and they said they wanted to feed me. It was so good to see them! I just love them so much. It was especially good to see Brenna. We've been writing each other since I left. We just became such good friends while I was there because she came out and worked with us and things like that. Brenna, over dinner, told me that she had her interview with the stake president (for her mission papers) and he asked why she decided to go on a mission. Brenna said that it was because of me, that she said she wanted to go on a mission before, but that she didn't really. Then we met during the summer while she was home from school and kind of became friends, but then in November she came back and I was still there! Hahah. She said she learned a lot from me and it really made her want to go on a mission not for herself, but for those who she will serve. Wow. That's just funny, because Brenna helped me so much. I think with her it helped me find the happy middle between being a missionary and still being me, and I am very grateful for that. I told her in one letter that "obedience is bliss," and the whole Lutz family kept saying that to me. haha. It's just funny because brother Lutz used to give me a hard time about always looking at my watch and for being a "stickler." I know he loved it, but he still made fun of me. Brenna did say that she really loved that and is going to make a bookmark out of it for herself....haha. Whatever, obedience really is bliss! It was good to be in Moorpark and it was harder this time to say goodbye to the Lutz family, but I'm glad to be serving in Ventura. I know this is where I should be. 

This week we had more time in our area, so we got to teach a lot more lessons. That was nice for me to get back to the everyday work. We taught Bob, Brother Dumond, Rhoda, Jimmy, Brother Wages, Cheryl, Denis, Jessica, Sister Rous, Sister Ellis, Zarima, the Biglers (less-active), and the Rabagos. 

It was really neat finding Jimmy. He is Hispanic and is 20 years old. We found him when we tried to contact a potential investigator who he lives with, but Jimmy answered the door so we just started teaching him. He seemed really interested, but I was kind of doubtful about how genuine he was. I thought he was just being nice and didn't want to say no to us. WRONG! When we went back to teach him later on in the week, he was home and ready. He talked about how he really wants to have God in his life more and that he's been looking for a church but just hasn't found one. Sister Lillywhite and I taught him the restoration and he really connected with it. As we taught, he would ask a lot of sincere questions that led right into what we were teaching about next. When we shared the experience that Joseph Smith had, with seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, he had a really positive reaction. He said "Wow, he really saw angels?" I was so happy to tell him "Not just angels. He saw our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ." The Spirit was so strong when we told him that and we invited him to be baptized. He accepted a baptismal date as well. His goal is to be baptized on March 23rd. Sadly, he is a young single adult, so we'll have to pass him off to the elders who serve in the YSA ward, but that's ok. He seemed excited about the idea of going to church with people his age and I know that will be really good for him. I'm just grateful that we got to teach him because I felt the Spirit a lot and it gave me extra "umph" to keep going. Those experiences are definitely blessings from the Lord for that reason exactly, to help us keep working and pushing on. 

Bob was baptized on Friday night! It was so great to see President and Sister Castro and Samuel there. I felt the Spirit so strongly. I was really grateful for all of the support from the ward. I was actually a bit surprised, but at the same time I shouldn't have been. Bob is so great. He just talks to everyone, so I know that he's met a lot of people at church. Bob asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost, so I talked about the story of King Lamoni's conversion. His story is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon, because he felt the Spirit so strongly and then he acted on it. I just talked about how great the power of the Holy Ghost is, so how much greater it must be to have the GIFT of the Holy Ghost. You can basically read my talk in Alma. Read Alma 18:39-42 - that's when Ammon teaches King Lamoni the "discussions" and King Lamoni feels the Spirit and passes out. Alma 19:6 is one of my very favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon....it describes what exactly happened to the king. Then Alma 19:13 - the King wakes up and bears his testimony! It's all because of the Spirit, which Ammon has (Alma 18:34-35). That was my talk in a nutshell. :) There were some really powerful testimonies that were borne and I felt so grateful that I've made covenants with my Heavenly Father. I know that those covenants make us free. I know how much He loves me because He gives me the chance to enter into those covenants with Him. Once again, I'm just grateful to have been along for the ride with Bob. He was so prepared that we barely had to do anything. I'm not sure what I've done to deserve the opportunity to teach so many of the Lord's elect, but I feel very thankful. I told Bob that his baptism was so spiritual and powerful for me that I would be fine if I don't have any more the rest of my mission. I didn't say I don't want one, but I could survive from the strong feelings I had at this baptism. Hopefully we'll have some more baptisms. I really love them. :) 

 

Well, another great week to be a missionary! I doubt that will ever change! It's "always good weather" when you're a missionary. I love you all! I hope Brandice has her baby soon! Good luck to you on that one Nanner....you're definitely in my prayers. 

 Love,

Sister Bennett 

 

P.S. - I went to the chiropractor this week. Sister Ruiz is a chiropractor, a member of the ward, and she said that she would take care of me for free. I actually forgot to tell you that last week I had to go and get x-rays of my back. I just have discomfort in my upper back and can't breathe in really deep without it feeling really tight. Anyway, Sister Ruiz showed me the x-rays, which are SO SWEET! She talked about things that are going on with my back and the worst part of my spine is my neck area. She said she hadn't seen it like that before. The right side of my neck is SUPER tight...the muscles there are like always contracted. Anyway, she has realigned me a few times and I need to keep going so it will get back where it is supposed to be. Missionary medical paid for the x-rays and Sister Ruiz is taking care of me for free. I just thought you would want to know about that. haha. She's taking good care of me. She'll probably send you the x-rays so I have them after the mission. You'll have to check it out. They're saaaaaweet! I might want to be a chiropractor when I get home. I really enjoyed that. Maybe a sports chiropractor....we'll see. Ok love you! 

 

P.P.S. - This scripture describes Mom - Moroni 10:32.

 

 

 

Bob's Baptism









 

 

 

Bakersfield....Very Interesting

February 4, 2013

 

 

 

 Hey Family! 

This was one of the craziest/weirdest weeks, yet, on my mission! It was definitely full of great activities! We had Sisters Conference on Tuesday, exchanges in Bakersfield on Thursday and Friday, and then Sister Lilywhite got sick and we had to stay in on Saturday and come in early last night. It was definitely an interesting week. Plus, we had a baptismal interview for Bob, which was a highlight for sure. Well, I have a lot to write about, so I guess I'll get to it! 

Sisters Conference was a success, in my eyes. When we went on our exchanges with the sisters in Bakersfield, they told us that they really enjoyed it and got a lot from it. I felt the Spirit a lot throughout the conference. It was really nice for me to be able to meet all of the sisters that I didn't really know, because I've been thinking about them and praying for them. It's good to have a face to all of the people I'm serving. It was just cool to be together with all of the sisters and to see some of my good friends that I've made on the mission. Sister Castro was so excited the whole day. I'm sure she just misses seeing all of the sisters. I felt a lot of love for the sisters and I am so grateful that Sister Lilywhite and I were given some assignments for the conference. We lead a discussion based on the talk "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?" by Elder Robbins of the Seventy. It stretched me a lot and opened my eyes to areas that I need to improve on. That was a blessing because I've felt like I was starting to plateau or something. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but I have had to look a lot deeper to see the improvements that I'm making. I guess a part of that is that I've been out a while now. I'm not making HUGE jumps and leaps of improvement like new missionaries do, but I now realize that it's about fine tuning things. There is a lot that I need to do better at, but those things aren't as obvious as "learning to teach the lessons" or goals that I may have had at the beginning of my mission. I learned a lot from the comments of all of the sisters throughout our Sisters Conference. Sister Lilywhite and I also taught a workshop on unity. It was pretty fun. We started it out by playing a game we called "Are you your sister's keeper?" Basically it was the Newly Wed game, and we asked them questions like, "How many times does your companion knock on the door?" Of course we had some more really funny questions. I mean...it's me. I'm hilarious. Anyway, I was so impressed by the maturity of the sisters and the spirit that they all carry with them. They had many profound comments that were answers to my prayers. I know that these sisters will be ready for all of the young, new sisters who will be coming to this great mission. They have that desire to be prepared and to help the new sisters succeed. I'm so grateful that I've been called as a traveling sister. I've already learned a ton and I keep thinking about what Elder Bednar said in a video clip that President Castro showed us. It was also something that Brandice and Solon talked about the night before I went into the MTC - "We need to reach the one" and then that person will reach one and so on. Brandice had talked about how she really felt like there was one person, specifically, that she had served a mission for. I have thought about that a lot. I know that if I can just reach one of these sisters, it will have a great effect on her companions, members in her areas, and especially the people she and her companion teach. That's what I'm trying to focus on and remember as I continue to adjust to the different way the work goes as a traveling sister. The Lord is helping me and I'm just doing my best to allow Him to change me. 

I had my first taste of Bakersfield this week!!! CRAZY! The air there is DISGUSTING. You can literally see it all day. Bakersfield, supposedly, has the worst air quality in the US. Our first exchange this week was on Thursday in South Bakersfield. That area is a more wealthy area. Well, it looks wealthy probably because the cost of living in Bakersfield is super cheap. It was just a normal town, so I was wondering why everyone talked about how terrible Bakersfield is. I didn't think it was that big of a deal....it was just whatever. I went with Sister Vandenhazel for the day. She's from Utah. I'll be honest - I was feeling very nervous about working with her because I know that she has struggled throughout her mission. She doesn't ever talk and she seems to have just given up on improving. I had been praying a lot leading up to my exchange with her, because I wanted to help her have a positive learning experience so she can grow and be more confident with the work. Well, the day didn't start out the best. We went to their district meeting with them and then afterward when we finally got out to start working, I parked the car at the home of an investigator we were trying and asked Sister Vandenhazel what her goal was for the day - something that I could help her with. She started crying immediately. I wasn't sure what I did wrong, but I did my best to console and comfort her. She just talked about how her mission has been a struggle and that she feels like a new missionary still even when she's going home in 2 months. She said that her goal is just to talk more, but I helped her make a more specific/attainable/measurable goal. Her goal was to lead out in declarations and teach, at least, "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father." We spent a lot of the day out tracting and walking around, so we had many opportunities to talk to people. Sister Vandenhazel didn't achieve her goal in the slightest. It was hard because I wasn't sure how to help her at least try. She did great in introducing us, but then she would just turn and look at me to continue talking. I just thought it was interesting because she knows the gospel. I was so impressed with her during companionship study. She has a really great understanding of the lessons and she knows how to teach simply. I reminded her of that throughout the day, but it didn't seem to help. I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me is her attitude toward herself. She is very negative when she speaks of herself, so I talked with her about that and helped her make goals on how to be more positive about herself. She needs to have faith and push those bad thoughts away. She is a good missionary. I know that she has a desire to improve, but she seems too scared to do it. I think that Sister Wilkinson and Sister Tagaloa could learn some very valuable things from her if she would speak up and share with them. I just felt sad because I'm not sure that I was able to help Sister Vandenhazel very much. I just hope she got at least one thing from our exchange. I know that she can improve; it just has to start with her attitude about it. 
 On Friday we were in East Bakersfield. Now that is a crazy place. It is soooo GHETTO! I can't even tell you how ghetto this area was. All of the houses have fences around them...who knows why. I swear that I saw like 15 stray dogs running around throughout the day and one pack of stray dogs creating havoc together. All of the yards are half dirt, half dead grass and everyone seems sketchy. It was awesome!! Seriously. The people are all willing to talk to us because they're in such humble situations. East Bakersfield is kind of how I always imagined Guatemala to be when Erin was there...it probably wasn't, but it's how I imagined it. That was really fun for me. I worked with Sister Romero and I loved it! She is a powerful missionary. She has a really strong desire to share the gospel with everyone. Her goal for the day was to be the one to talk to people on the street. She said she always just waits until Sister Burwell goes up to people, but she wants to be more assertive. She did a great job with her goal. I kind of just took the back seat, or acted as more of a junior companion/new missionary, to see how she would handle that. She was great. She was very focused in lessons and in declarations she got right into why we were there and what we have to offer. One thing I talked to her about a little bit was teaching the restoration in declarations. She talked about restored truths, but never talked about how we have those truths and how they can know for themselves. In situations when we had the opportunity to unexpectedly go into homes and teach, she knew what to teach or what scripture to share. She was great about telling me about each person we were visiting and where they are at in progressing toward baptism. She does tend to talk really fast. It's most likely because she speaks Spanish, but I think at times people aren't really sure of what she was saying because she said it so fast. We talked about that as well, and she said she knows that she does. She just gets really excited and talks too fast! She is a really great missionary and what I loved the most was hearing her insights throughout the day. She knows why she is here and she has a really great desire to fulfill the purpose that we have. I think she is definitely ready to train a new sister and that is so wonderful because we need these young sisters to be ready to train. I'm so glad that I could work with her. I had a really fun day there in East Bakersfield. 

When we got home to Ventura on Saturday we stayed in so Sister Lilywhite could rest. Then at 8 we went to the church for Bob's baptismal interview. That was great! He passed his interview and is getting baptized on Friday. Then yesterday for church he showed up with nice new church clothes on! He usually comes in jeans and a sweatshirt because he didn't have dress clothes, but he went out and bought some on Saturday. He looked spiffy in his new clothes and it was so cool to see how much he's changed since we started teaching him just a month ago. That is so great! I'm just glad that we've gotten to teach him. We really didn't do much. Bob came thirsting for more at every lesson. 

Anyway, it was a good....weird week! 

I love you!

Sister Bennett 

 

P.S. - I forgot to ask Erin if she knew a Sister Hanshaw on her mission in Guatemala. I had Christmas Eve dinner at her brother’s house and she said that she served in Guatemala...of course I asked if she knew a sister Bennett. She said "Yes! Of course I've heard of her! I would've had to try to not hear about her!" Erin must've been a powerhouse. Nice. Anyway, someone ask Erin if she knew her. 

 

 

 

Exchange with Sister Romero

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Be Not Afraid, Only Believe" - Mark 5:36

 

 January 28, 2013

 

Dear family,

Well, another good week to be a missionary here in the Great California Ventura mission! It was a weird week for me, but good, nonetheless. I hope you're all doing well. I also wonder who's going to tell Cortney that our friendship is hanging on a string called "WRITE ME A LETTER!" Just saying....missionaries need love, too. Haha. Just kidding Cortz....kinda.

Elder Anderson came to visit! He came for stake conference. He spoke in both the adult session and the normal session of conference, of course. I really loved hearing him speak. He was less formal and super funny! He talked a lot about faith and how faith is not simply a feeling, but it's a decision. I loved that. That's what reminded me of the scripture in Mark...."Be not afraid, only believe." He had some great council that he gave us. I'll share more about that later in the email.

This past week seemed so jam packed with a lot to do! We had a great exchange on Tuesday, our meeting about sisters' conference on Wednesday, we met with the other traveling sisters on Friday, plus there was stake conference, and time needed for preparing for sisters' conference! Let's just say that it's an adjustment for me to be going to meetings and staying in to plan extra for things rather than being out doing normal work all day every day. It's been good, though! I've been learning a lot and I have been seeing the Lord helping me make the necessary adjustments.

I'm really excited for sisters' conference tomorrow. I've never been to a sisters' conference yet and I'm excited to meet all of the sisters and get to know them better. It's kind of weird that I've never been to one and somehow for my first one ever I'm partially running it! It's really neat how I just love all of the sisters so much. Sister Lillywhite and I pray for them every day. We pray that they can grow and overcome challenges, and that we can know how to help them. It was fun calling the sisters to give them assignments and information about the conference because they were all so excited. It's always nice to be around the other sisters, so I can't even imagine being with every single sister in the mission. It's going to be a really great day and the Spirit will be very strong.

This week we only went on one exchange in Agoura Hills with Sister Lupashko and Sister Cooper. I went with Sister Lupashko. Guess where she is from!? The Ukraine! Pretty sweet, huh? I love her accent. Hahaha. She is a temple square missionary! I loved talking to her about temple square, all day. It is just so intriguing how things are done there. They watch movies sometimes! What the? Sister Lupashko said that she saw Harry Potter there and Despicable Me. Oh well, I guess different mission, different rule. I'm happy to be where I am, because I think I wouldn't like that. The Lord knew where I needed to be. Haha. We spent the whole day out tracting and trying to contact potentials or former investigators. I was hoping that we could have a lesson, but our only one fell through. That was ok, though, because I think Sister Lupashko needed some time to work on declaring. Sister Lupashko is really great. She is very optimistic. That is probably what stuck out to me the most. There were some people who were very rude, but she was so sweet to them. It really made me think about the Savior and how He would react if he were out tracting with us. I just had so much fun with Sister Lupashko. It's so cool getting to go on exchanges. I get to see all of the different areas of the mission plus I have the opportunity to get to know the other sisters a lot better. There are quite a few international missionaries serving here, so it's sweet! I get to go on an exchange with a sister from Japan in a few weeks, too. She's serving in Moorpark! Jealous! Haha. Just kidding, I really like Ventura.

Ventura is a cool city. It's right on the coast. When I stand on the steps of the church, I can look down and see the ocean. It's not a very wealthy area. It's really diverse. There are some people with wealthier homes that live more up on the hill sides, and then down in the city are people in poorer circumstances. The weather here has been really nice this past week, but today it's pretty windy and back down to 60. haha. Everyone makes comments about me loving the winter since I'm from Minnesota. I just don't feel like it's winter at all! I really just keep thinking it's fall or something, but somehow it's almost February! The ward that I'm serving in is an older ward. Most of the people are in their late 40s-60s. They're good people, though. I like Ventura a lot. The people here are ready to hear about the gospel! That's for sure!

This week we taught Julie (less-active), the Walkers (less-active), brother Callahan (less-active), Rhoda, Lisa, Sage, Bob, another Lisa, Steve (recent convert), Jane, Denis, Ariana, the Rabagos (less-active), and brother Bigler (less-active).

The time that we did have out working this week, mixed with the preparation for sisters' conference, was really great. We had some wonderful lessons with Bob. He is so prepared to be baptized. He is truly "feasting upon the words of Christ." Every time we meet with him, he comes with questions galore and has so much to share that he has learned in his studies. We talked to him about prayer this week, because we didn't feel that he was quite understanding the blessings of prayer. He has prayed with us a lot, but it wasn't always the correct way and he always said that he just feels normal when he prays. We taught him about the relationship that we can establish with our Father in Heaven through prayer and shared many scriptures about miracles that have come through prayers of faith. I have a strong testimony of prayer. It has changed my life - the way that I have learned to pray throughout my mission - so I was happy to be able to share some experiences that I've had. Bob came to both sessions of stake conference and he really enjoyed it. He wanted to shake Elder Anderson's hand, so we went through the line with him so that he could meet an apostle of the Lord. When Elder Anderson got to Bob he recognized that Bob isn't a member (especially because Bob was wearing jeans). He had been moving along as he shook the previous people's hands, but Elder Anderson stopped on Bob. He said to Bob "these sisters have a special spirit about them. Can you feel that Bob? I sure can." Then he told Bob that the church needs him, and Bob responded by telling Elder Anderson that he's getting baptized. Elder Anderson told Bob that he is proud of him and then he turned to Sister Lillywhite and me and said "I'm really proud of you two sisters. Thank you so much for your work." Smack! I felt the Spirit so strong. An apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ, told my companion and me that he is proud of us. That is like hearing the Savior himself speak those words to us. That was such a great experience just hearing Elder Anderson speak, and then meeting him was just an added bonus. The best part was that when we met with Bob last night, he told us that he noticed in all of the people who spoke an obvious assurance about the gospel and a peace that they've received in their lives from it. Then he said that he knows that will come for him as he continues to immerse himself in the church. That is amazing! It's crazy seeing how different Bob is now since the first time I met him on his porch smoking a cigarette. The power of the atonement of Jesus Christ is real and anyone can apply that power in their lives if they will just make the choice to come unto the Savior.

There was one other experience that I wanted to mention quickly. On Thursday or Friday, Sister Lillywhite and I were just out tracting a street and we met a lady named Lisa. As we were talking to her, I just felt the Spirit so strong because Sister Lillywhite and I were teaching with so much unity and I know that we were both following the Spirit. I had a, kind of, out of body experience, and for a moment just thought about how COOL it is to be a missionary. We were just standing on some lady's porch on some street in Ventura, California teaching her about the truth. I don't know that Lisa realizes that what we were sharing with her will change her life and bring her peace and happiness, but I knew it as we taught her. It is so awesome being a representative of Jesus Christ, inviting all people, all day every day, to come unto Him. Pretty amazing!

No more time to write! I love you all so much! Choose faith!

Love,
Sister Bennett

                                                     On Exchange with Sister Lupashko