Another Message From Sister Tolliver

August 18, 2012

Dear Rhonda,

Sorry no pics this time. Just words of love and appreciation.
I'm sure you have heard that Sister Bennett and Sister Wilkenson are
very busy sharing the gospel and that they have so many investigators on
date. 4 from our ward, and maybe more.
They came over twice yesterday. Nancy had another lesson and also my
return missionary daughter, who is home from BYU-I for just a short
time, had the Sisters come back in the afternoon to introduce them to
her friend, Jessica.
The only thing these girls were bummed about was that they couldn't play
basketball (new but temporary mission rule) with Jessica, who is 6'5",
and one of the coaches at the high school.
We also saw the Sisters today with two other investigators at the RS
super Saturday activity. And we'll see them tomorrow. So, fun to
witness the Lord's work. These girls are on fire.
Love, love, love your daughter's kind but direct personality. She's
getting the work done and the Lord is well pleased.
Our ward is so grateful for all these missionary blessings coming our way.
Thanks for sharing her, I know, truly know, how much you miss her.

Warmly,
Holley Tolliver

"WHO SHOULD PRAY? HALEY"

August 13, 2012

Hello FAMILY!

Yes, the title of the email. "Who should Pray? Haley." I will address that at this time. On Monday night we ate dinner at the Barker's home. Laura Barker is my friend from BYU who was in my ward at the Enclave and she played with me on my football team. Well, I knew that I was coming to Laura's mission but I had no idea where she was from. The 3rd week I was here in Moorpark someone brought up a girl that went to BYU and was really good at basketball, and said that her name was Laura. Well, the light flicked on in my head and I asked what her last name was and it was my Laura Barker! I saw Laura that week in church and it was so crazy. Well, on Monday we finally got to go to her house for dinner. It was really fun and kind of weird at the same time. I felt like I was in limbo between being a missionary and a BYU student. It was crazy. Well, the whole night Laura would call me Haley. I don't blame her, that's who I am to her. She was trying really hard to call me Sister Bennett, but I understand why she slipped up. That made it more weird for me. I was thinking "I'm not Haley. I'm Sister Bennett. Haley is dead right now." Haha. Well at the end of sharing our lesson we asked if we could leave them with a prayer, and Brother Barker said, "Who should say it?" Then Sister Wilkinson, my companion, answered and said "I think Haley should." AHHH!!! I couldn't believe it. That was so weird. Sister Wilkinson just slapped her hand over her mouth and I laughed so hard that I was crying. It was also not something I ever want to hear her say again while we're on our missions. That was super weird.

Anyway, that was fun. I haven't gotten an email from mom yet, so I don't know what questions to address. This week I got a letter from Cortney's old roommate, Nicki Infanzon. It was the sweetest letter I have ever read. I just wanted to say thanks to Nicki. That letter really made me feel the spirit of my calling as a missionary, and it gave me even more of a drive to be an obedient hard working missionary. I am really grateful for that letter. Thanks Nicki. I know you read my blog, so there's a shout out to you. :) I will write you another letter all for yourself, don't worry. Oh and getting that letter reminded me of something that I forgot to tell Cortz. I met one of your friends in the MTC and we were on the same flight to AZ from the MTC. I don't remember her name, but I think she is going to Brazil or something? I can't remember. She said she lived by you last fall. In the MTC she walked up to me randomly and said "Are you Cortney's sister?" I was like yes! She said that she saw my tag and I look just like Cortz so she knew I had to be your sister, Cortney.

This past week has been so hot here! I just want to die because it's so hot. As soon as we start walking around I'm sweating, and it's not even humid here. Don't worry mom, I've been wearing my sunscreen. We actually talked to a lady who was in her garage one day and she wasn't interested at all in our message and wouldn't let us say anything, but then all of a sudden she walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder and said "I hope you're wearing sunscreen in this heat, young lady!" Mom, you must be praying that I remember to wear it, because everyone keeps reminding me. It's always people that aren't interested in the message that are so worried about me getting burned. That was the second time that's happened to me! Haha.

Thanks mom for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD. I love it so much. My favorite hymn these days is #221, and they have the best arrangement of it on that CD. I feel the Spirit every time we hear it in the car, which is a lot because I'm obsessed with it. Sister Wilkinson is probably getting sick of me listening to it. hahah. Also, I only have like 12 more pages left in my journal! It's ok if you don't want to send me one like my last one, because I bought one just in case. My goal is to write in my journal every day of my mission.  I feel like I'm always asking for things in emails, so feel free to disregard. haha. Oh, but one thing I really do need is a Jesus the Christ. I want to read it. Did you ever find Dad's mini version? If not, do you think you can send me one? I would really like that. It has a lot of good stuff in it, but I can't always read it because I've been using Sister Wilkinson's and she needs to read it sometimes, too.

Now let's talk about what actually matters. This week we taught Eric and Cristina, Olie Hamm (a recent convert) twice, Kayli V., Nadine, Fernando, Tonya and Caitlyn twice, Heena, Carol and Paula, the Eatons, and Wendy.

It was a busy week, but at the same time I felt that we could have done better. I really have been trying to focus on the goals that we make rather than setting them each week during weekly planning and not looking at them again until we call in numbers on Sunday night of the next week. One thing that I know has helped Sister Wilkinson and I is to really focus on our daily goals in order to accomplish the weekly goals we have set. We haven't mastered this idea to any extent, but that is something that I personally really want to work on because I know that we set goals for a reason and that as we focus on those goals and on reaching them  the Lord will help us.

We watched the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie with Eric and Cristina on Monday. I felt the Spirit so much during the movie, so much so that I know that it is impossible for them to have not felt it. I know that Eric was very interested in the movie and very focused on it, but Cristina always acts like she isn't interested or like she doesn't know what's going on. I know that she does. There is something that is holding her back from just doing the simple things, like pray, to know if God is there. She said she had lost her faith and I think that she is scared of having faith and "losing" it again. It's been hard to break through with her because she has felt the Spirit. Every time she does she just describes it as remembering feelings that she once had, and how it's nice but isn't real. Sister Wilkinson and I aren't sure what to do with them. We will probably have to drop them because they haven't been reading in the Book of Mormon, but it's hard for me to even think about doing that. I haven't had to drop anyone yet, and I just love them so much. The idea of them not having the opportunity to find out the truth at this time really makes me sad, but at the same time I know that Heavenly Father knows what's best for them. This may not be the time in their lives that they are prepared to receive the gospel. I know that because we've taught them what we have, that later they will be able to accept the gospel. I know that someday they will.

Kayli V. passed her baptismal interview on Saturday! We are so excited for her! She finally talked to her parents and told them that she is getting baptized and it went really well. She was really scared about how her dad would react, and he actually reacted better than her mom did. He said just said "Ok, it's your decision." I know that our fasting and prayers on Kayli's behalf, as well as the ward's prayers and fasting, have truly been answered. I know that the Lord softened her parents' hearts and that because Kayli showed her faith by going forward with the decision to be baptized that she was blessed. I can't even explain how much joy I felt when Kayli said that she would be baptized on the 19th. I just can't wait for her to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and receive all of the blessings that come after baptism like going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead or getting her patriarchal blessing. There is so much that has yet to come for Kayli and baptism just opens it all up to her. How amazing is the atonement? I am so grateful to be a part of this work in which I am able to see people repent and change through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is such a blessing to know what we know.

Fernando is a man who is a "prophet" at the Victory Outreach church. He said that he had prophesied of the earthquake in China and told us about other prophesies he has had that have come true. We had given him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. When we came back for our appointment he took the time to tell us that the Church is of the devil, but it was interesting because it wasn't mean. Fernando was sincerely concerned for us. I was getting frustrated, however, because he wouldn't give us the opportunity to share the message of the restoration. He talks a lot about the Holy Spirit and how it teaches him, and I know that it's true. I'm sure that the Spirit does teach him certain truths, but he doesn't have the fullness of the truth. I just wanted to scream "Read the Book of Mormon!" That would most likely not have been ok, but I know that he will receive a witness from the Spirit that it's the word of God. Teaching Fernando was still a really good experience to feel the Spirit as I shared my testimony with him right after he told us we are going to hell. That was a great experience for me. Sister Wilkinson was a bit for flustered about it, but I just felt calm the whole time. I just kept thinking, "Wow, I really do KNOW that the church is the church of Jesus Christ on the earth. It truly is knowledge."

Teaching Tonya and Caitlyn is always a treat. This week we ran into our first hiccup with them. Caitlyn told Kayli V that she doesn't want to be baptized on the same day as her mom because she wants her mom to have that be a special day for herself. I couldn't believe that. How would that day be any more special than getting baptized with your daughter? I don't know if that's truly why Catilyn doesn't want to get baptized on that day, but we're teaching them tonight so I just pray that we can resolve her concern about being baptized. After our lesson with them yesterday, Tonya texted us expressing her concerns about Catilyn. She is worried that Caitlyn is "bored" with the lessons because it all seems too simple to them both. It's seems simple because it is simple. The gospel isn't a blockbuster movie. We don't have it in our lives to wow us and give us entertainment. I know that it seems so simple to them because in their case they are recognizing that they have heard this before or that it's seems familiar because they are prepared for it. Tonight we are teaching them about baptism, reading the scriptures, and praying. I know that we need the Spirit with us always, but in great abundance tonight so that we can help Caitlyn. I know that she has felt the Spirit and that she is ready to be baptized, but she needs to know that for herself. I am so grateful to be teaching them. I talk about this a lot, but the love that I feel for them is amazing. I didn't know that I could feel so much for someone that isn't a member of my family. It really creates that burning desire within me to help them increase their faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, and that is so important in this work. I'm just grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to feel that love for them and to have been able to be involved in teaching them.

Lastly, we taught Wendy yesterday at Brother Pierson's home. She is doing really well. She's just a powerhouse. That's the best way to describe her. She always comes to lessons having learned so much and is so excited to share insights or spiritual experiences that she has had. We taught her about the priesthood and I just love hearing her testimony of the priesthood. It is so strong. She really understands how important it is to have the priesthood on the earth leading Jesus Christ's church. She is just awesome. I hope that the Bishop calls her as a ward missionary because she would be so great!

Well, we really had a great week. I realize that now as I look back on all of the lessons that we had. For some reason I was feeling like we could have done more, because we only got 3 new investigators this week and I felt like I wasn't declaring with power. I have been praying a lot to have the Spirit with me and to recognize it working through me, because I truly know how important it is in this work. That if we teach with the Spirit then we are doing things the way that they are meant to be done, and that no matter what happens, if the people accept the message or not, that we have done all that we can.

One thing that I really have been trying to be more aware of is the balance between being myself and at the same time maintaining my mantle of being a missionary. I connect well with people, really well, and that was something that was talked about in my setting apart blessing, that my ability to make friends would be a great blessing to me. However, I need to make sure that I am not too casual with people. It's been hard and I am still trying to figure it out, but I need to always make sure that they know I'm a representative of Jesus Christ. Pray that I can understand how to find that balance.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you all for your emails and letters. I love my family so much. Sister Wilkinson, during companionship inventory, told me that she loves how she can see and feel how much I love my family as I talk about them every day. I really appreciated that because it's true, I love you all. Be good.

Love,

Sister Bennett

BUMBO!

August 6, 2012

Dear family,

I saw a bumbo this week at a member's home where we were eating. For those that don't know, a bumbo is the coolest invention ever for babies. It makes it so they can sit up and seem like real people or something. Anyway, I saw it under their coffee table and it reminded me of being at Britt's house before I went into the MTC, because that's where she keeps hers. I then thought to myself, I really hope someone will get a bumbo for Erin, because Eilish needs one! EILISH! I can't believe she is coming tomorrow. I am so excited for Erin to finally have her so she doesn't burst. Tell Erin that I love her if she doesn't read this, and make sure that someone sends me pictures of Eilish. Also, thank you Britt for your email and the pictures you emailed me as well. Rowyn is so adorable, and Cortz looks so cute in the picture of them. The DeMill family pictures are ridiculously cute, as well, so send me a hard copy so I can look at them more than just once on the email.

This week was a pretty good week, in terms of growing and learning.  I am still new. That's what I say to myself about 2000 times each day. It's not really even when we get rejected or anything that I need to remind myself that I'm new, but it's when I have time to think about myself. I am still trying really hard to push thoughts about myself out and replace them with thoughts about my investigators. It's still a work in progress. I pray every day to be able to have more charity so that I can grow to love this work so much that I feel like I wish time would stop. I know that it will come, but the update on that is that I am still adjusting. This morning I was talking about this with Sister Wilkinson, about the fact that I am adjusting to a totally different lifestyle still, and that I need to recognize that I have only been here for 8 weeks. The cool thing was that she pointed out that it's great for me, because I can identify with the people that we are teaching because they are changing their lives just like I currently am. They are making the same type of adjustments. While they are getting used to feeling the spirit of God on their own, through reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know that it's true, I am getting used to feeling the Spirit in greater abundance and am also getting used to identifying the promptings, or things that the Lord wants me to do, for these people. That's one thing that I think about all of the time - the importance of the spirit in this work. The power of the Holy Ghost is so important. It is the feelings that people get as they learn about the truth and read in the Book of Mormon that is going to change them and make them want to come closer to Christ. I have really gained a testimony of that. I know that my fancy words or my "cool" personality isn't going to be what causes these people to make changes in their lives, but the Spirit teaches them of truth through their thoughts and their feelings. I pray so hard every day that I can feel the Spirit and understand better how  it works through me so that I can identify ways to be more worthy of it. We must have the Spirit guiding us in this work, because the Lord knows these people that we talk to, we don't.

This morning I was reading in Preach My Gospel about eternal marriage. Eternal marriage is possible through the priesthood by sealing man and wife to each other for time and all eternity in the temple, for those that read this and don't quite know what I'm talking about. We know that we can be with our families forever through the sacred covenant of eternal marriage. One thing that I read that I have been reflecting on is that happiness in family life is achieved when founded on the teachings of Jesus Christ. I know that that is true because that is what my life has been like. I am truly grateful that Mom and Dad raised us on the foundation of Jesus Christ and his gospel. I know that Jesus Christ is the way, that we, as a family, are  close and have been  happy in this life because of the teachings  we learned in the home. That is where we are supposed to learn these things, in a home with a loving mother and father. That really hit me and made me think about what a blessing it is that I was raised in the gospel and how important it is to teach the people here and help them gain the same witness that I have. As I teach different people and help them come into the gospel, I am helping these people create the foundation for their future families.

One cool thing that happened this last week was when we were eating at a member's home. We were at Sister Zapata's home. Her husband was gone, so we had dinner with her and her children. She is a return missionary who went to Taiwan way back when. Anyway, it was fun to talk with her and to hear about her experiences. She is actually working on sharing the gospel with her son's speech therapist, and I was just so impressed by her and her great example to me of always being a missionary and looking for opportunities to share the gospel - even when you aren't set apart as a full-time missionary. After we taught the lesson, I expressed to her how grateful I am for examples like her of people who don't stop being missionaries when their missions end. We then had a prayer, which I said, and after the prayer we looked up and she was crying a lot. She told us that she could just feel the Spirit with us so strongly, and that even when we walked into her home that it was almost like a force-field was around us of the Spirit. That really hit me. It went right back to what I was talking about before, about being worthy of the Spirit. I guess I didn't really realize that we do have the Spirit with us strongly, and that others feel that. It was nice to hear it from someone to help me recognize what it really means to be set apart as a missionary and to represent Jesus Christ.

This past week was kind of hard, as far as the work goes. We had 70 declarations, which means we declared the gospel to 70 different people (tracting or just street contacting), and we only got like 4 new investigators who are not solid at all. That was hard for me. I think the reason that it is hard is because I don't want it to be me who is hindering these people's opportunities to receive the gospel. I keep thinking about my obedience or worthiness, because I know if I am not being exactly obedient that it will affect the people I teach. I was really struggling with that, but as I prayed about it I felt at peace that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, but I know that I need to be patient. I need to show my faith in the Lord and his ability to touch these people through the Spirit. I know that every door I knock on isn't going to be someone who is ready, but it was hard to have talked to so many people and not find one. However, I did learn a lot from that. It's all about pushing forward with faith in the Lord and knowing that he knows what's best for these people and in what situations it will be best for them to learn more about the gospel. Every door we knock on is one door closer to someone prepared, so we're 70 doors closer after this week. Waaaahoo!

We got a really great new ward mission leader in the 1st ward. His name is Brother Pierson. He is so pumped and excited about the work. He has really great ideas about how to get the ward members involved, and I just love that he wants to be super involved in the teaching and in all of the work going on in Moorpark 1st ward. He talked about how whenever we need, we can bring investigators to his home to be taught. He is really great, and he has the cutest little family. Brother Lutz, in the second ward, is really great too. He is really involved and is always making sure we are taken care of. I really love his wife, Sister Lutz, as well. She is such a great missionary, and whenever we need someone to come with us to appointments I know that she is willing to come. It really is a great blessing to have such dedicated ward mission leaders.

This week we taught Wendy at the Pierson's home. We taught her about the plan of salvation with a focus on the temple and family history work. It is always really nice to teach Wendy. She has progressed so much since her baptism. She seems like a completely different woman, which is crazy because she was already so great. She talks about how she doesn't feel any different, that there was no huge change in her since her baptism, but it is so obvious to me that she has changed. She is so much happier and when she is at church she talks to everyone she sees and is always sharing her insights in the classes she is in. I love it! I love teaching her because I learn so much from her. As we taught her about baptisms for the dead and family history work I was getting really excited because I know she's going to go wild with family history work. I know that she'll find so many of her family’s names and be baptized for them. How cool is that? She also said that she would be willing to come to appointments with us, which is a great blessing because she has such a strong testimony of how the Book of Mormon and Bible work together so well. I still just feel so blessed to have been able to teach Wendy.

On Tuesday we taught Eric and Cristina again. It didn't go well. I was really frustrated with myself afterward, because I felt like I wasn't fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. I allowed them to just go on tangents and I felt like we basically didn't even teach them a lesson at all. They hadn't read in the Book of Mormon, so we were going to read with them, again. Then Cristina said that she wanted to find a good scripture so we spent about ten minutes just finding a good scripture to share with each other. It was weird. I felt like we should have had more direction to the lesson and I felt like we didn't help them feel the Spirit at all. I never want to feel like that again. My purpose is to help people feel the Spirit. I am not on a mission to become friends with people and to help people know that I am cool, but I am here to help them build their faith in Jesus Christ. We are teaching them again tonight, and I am taking control of the situation, as guided by the Spirit, and making sure that we stay on topic. I just know that without the Spirit present, nothing is going to happen with them. They need something to take place so that they can feel it strongly enough to make them want to change, because they haven't had that happen yet. I know that they've felt the Spirit, but they still need something more to happen to have that increase of faith unto repentance.

We had our first lesson this week with Paula and her dad, brother Kalanzi. Brother Kalanzi is an active member of the church. He is from Jordan. We were supposed to be teaching both Paula (20 years old) and Carol (15 years old) but Carol wasn't there, so we just taught Paula about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we taught Paula, I could really tell that she is a smart girl and that the things we were teaching her were making sense, which is really good. As we talked about Jesus Christ setting up his perfect church on the earth, I felt prompted to ask her how she would feel if she could be a part of Jesus Christ's church. She said that she would feel whole. That if she was a member of  His church, and knew that it was His church, that she could be whole because she would know that nothing is missing. That was really cool. We then taught her about the great apostasy, the time after Jesus Christ's death and the apostles' deaths when there was no authority from God on the earth to perform baptisms or to direct the church as instructed by the Lord. We then taught her about how Jesus Christ's church was restored to the earth in 1820 through the young boy, Joseph Smith. I love sharing his experience because I receive the witness from the Spirit, over and over again, that Joseph Smith did see God the father and His son Jesus Christ and that Joseph did restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth through the power of God. How cool is it to have your testimony reaffirmed every single day? As I study the scriptures every morning I strengthen my testimony because it is attacked every day. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have. I love it when I can say to every single person I meet that I KNOW that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christ's church restored to the earth in these days. Anyway, we invited Paula to be baptized and she said that "of course" she would be baptized if she found that these things were true, and we set her with the goal of finding out and being baptized on the 15th of September. That was so great!

A sad thing from this week is that we had an appointment with Nancy, we were planning on doing it at brother Pierson's home, and she didn't show up. We have called her many times and have stopped by her home many times, but we haven’t talked to her since that day. It was weird because we called her the morning of our appointment and she said that she would be there. Then we asked if it would be ok to do it at brother Pierson's home and she said yes but never showed up. I don't know what's going on with her, but I'm worried. I think that maybe the Lord is helping me understand and see how much I really love these people, because I don't want to lose Nancy. That's not because I don't want to lose someone who is scheduled to be baptized, or because I want someone to teach so we are teaching a lot of people, but because I have seen how much Nancy has progressed and I know how much the gospel has already begun to bless her life and how much it will continue to bless her life. I have prayed so much for her and to know what we should do, so I will just have faith that the Lord is doing what's best for her and that things will work out according to what he knows is best.

OH! We also taught Kayli V today. She is the one who has been going to church for 3 years and is scared to ask her dad about being baptized, even though she could just be baptized because she is 19. Well, we taught her and told her that she just needs to be baptized. That we know that if she shows her faith and sets a date to be baptized, that the Lord will take care of her parents and he will soften their hearts. That may not be before she is baptized, but I knew, as I was talking to Kayli, that everything would work out with her family and I told her that. I told her that she needs to be baptized so that she can be the gospel link for her family and so that she can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. She is a member already, basically, but she isn't receiving all of the blessings she would be receiving if she was baptized. Anyway, we were able to set her with a date of August 18. She said that it isn't set in stone, but she really wants to be baptized on that day. I know that she can be. Guess what? She actually talked to her dad and he said that it's up to her, of course, and that she is an adult and can make her own decision. He said he would prefer that she would wait a bit longer, but that it really is her choice. She said that she didn't tell him about the 18th. She just has to talk to her mom now and we'll see if it really will happen on the 18th. I have been praying especially for her, because she needs this.

I have a lot of funny stories for this week.

1. One day we talked to this guy while tracting, at his door, and he wasn't wanting anything to do with us. We did our best, but he was still rejecting us so I put out my hand to shake his hand and leave, but he wouldn't take his dumb phone out of his hand and put it in his pocket so he stuck out his pointer finger and I just shook his pointer finger. What the?

2. OH! At one house that we knocked at these people had cat graves all over their lawn! They had these little stones that looked like the paw of a cat and it had a name and dates on them (ex 1991-1997). They had 27 cat graves! I'll put a picture on this email so you can see it! It was so weird. And they had statues all over in the front area of their home of cats, even their doorbell thing had cats around it.

Kitty Paws

 

Pet Cemetary!!! 

3. At one door some little girls answered the door then ran off and we heard them saying "OH OH. It's the girl scouts! BUY SOME COOKIES, PLEASE MOMMY!"

4. One man, who's door we knocked on, wouldn't listen to our message but he wanted us to take his money. He kept trying to shove it in my hand and wouldn't let go! We were like "NO! We can't accept this!" It was pretty funny. He wanted to give us money so we could have a good meal, he said. So I told him that he could keep the money and just have us over for dinner. Hahah. He said "never." haha.

Well, I hope you all have a really good week! Keep praying for me, because I need it.

Love,

Sister Bennett

With Sister Tippetts

 

Sister Wilkinson, Sister Tippetts, Sister Bennett

 

 



Have wheels will travel. Yeah!

I WILL GO, I WILL DO, THE THINGS THE LORD COMMANDS!

 July 30, 2012

 HOLAAAH. COMO-ESSTA MY FAMILY-A?

How are my dear siblings doing this week? I haven't heard from my lovely brother Collie in a while. Colin, just know that I am going to try to write you a letter today, but I feel like I never have enough time on p-day. Plus, my hand always starts to cramp! Also, can someone smack the head redhead on the back of the head for me? I thought he was my brother. Guess not. Also, tell him I love him. I just want to say thank you so much to Uncle Brent for the email that he sent me. I must be feeling emotional today, because I started to tear up as I was reading his email. I am grateful for all of your prayers in my behalf. I truly think about that often, how I have such a loving family that is always praying for me, and when I feel like I can't do it I know that your prayers carry me onward. How is my dad doing this week? I haven't heard from him in a while, and yesterday in the car we listened to "Love is Spoken Here." Listen to that song today for me. I thought about kneeling in the entry way in the mornings before school with mom praying, and pictured that as I listened to the words, and I love when the men in MoTab come in and sing "Mine is a home, where every hour, is blessed by the strength of priesthood power." I am so grateful that Dad has always been a worthy priesthood holder. What a blessing that has been in our lives - to have that safety and security in our home. That is one thing that I definitely miss, so give Dad a hug for me and say thank you. Cortz, you can do that because you have red hair like me.

I didn't get a chance to tell you about Sister Wilkinson last week. Sister Wilkinson is my companion now. She is from Bountiful, Utah and she is 23 years old. She worked as a dental assistant before coming on the mission. She played basketball in Colorado 1 year at a Junior College, so it was fun to play with her last p-day. I have to be careful with her, because she can seriously stuff me. I will just have to use my speed and leave her in the dust. She also says "that's trash," so pray for me to not pick that up because it's annoying. haha. But seriously, pray for that because I don't want to say it. She's great. She is very patient with me and is teaching me a lot by her example.

I have just had a fire blazing under my bum this past week. Each morning when we would wake up I would have a pit in my stomach, because that was the time when my thoughts would wander to things that I don't want to think about, things that make being a missionary hard. That made me ITCH to get out of the dumb apartment and start talking to people. We taught 18 lessons this past week, not including member presents and LARCS. That's a pretty good week, but I think we can do so much better. We also talked to about 50 different people while tracting - well it's called "declarations." It's basically declaring the gospel to people on the door step or when we meet them in the street. We count those in the mission. Tell Jacob Cheadle to practice teaching the restoration in about 2 minutes and everyone will be impressed with him when he gets here. Anyway, that desire to work hard is just building in me. I read quite a few scriptures about declaring repentance to people and about how the great missionaries in the Book of Mormon basically couldn't stand the idea of one soul being lost. That's what I want. I know that as my understanding of the atonement increase, my desire to talk to and teach everyone will increase (as it says in Preach My Gospel).

Mom, I got those skirts! Thank you so much for sending them to me. I looked good in them, and they're a lot cooler than those thick ones we bought, so they are really nice to have. Thank you, thank you. I hope you got my request for the GPS. I hope that papa bear will grant that request, because they are so handy and make it so we don't waste any precious time trying to read a map and figure out where the heck we are! It sounds like Minnesota has been pretty hot lately, is that true? We don't ever get rain here.  I sometimes think we did in the mornings when I wake up, but then I remember that it’s just the sprinklers. One time last week when we went running it was really misty in the morning, that's about the closest we've been to rain though. That's really exciting that Joseph Cheadle is coming home! That's crazy to me! I'm so excited for his family, and even more excited for Jacob to come to the greatest mission in the world.

Well, I'm running out of time. Here is an update on the work!

This week we had a lot of success. We talked to a ton of people and were able to get quite a few new people to teach! On Thursday, we taught Cristina and Eric again. I have been thinking about them a lot, because we've taught them a lot but they still are not progressing. I really love them and I have such a great desire for them to progress toward baptism, but with them I have been learning that I need to have faith in the Lord and what his plan is for them. He knows what's best for them and whether that is that we teach them and help them be baptized or if it means that we teach them now and they exercise their agency to not accept, I know that the Lord is taking care of them. That's one thing I have felt a lot this past week, how important having faith is, that the Lord is going to do what is best for his children. I know that he is using us for some purpose with Cristina and Eric, because I have felt the spirit work through me. Cristina just always talks about how she lost her faith when she was 22 and how it was heart breaking and she doesn't want to go through that again. It's hard because I KNOW how much the gospel will bless her and her family. It kills me when they don't read or when she feels the spirit and she just relates it back to how she once felt, and how it is just a good memory. Eric didn't say much the last time we taught them, but we are teaching them tonight and I have been praying so hard for them to have a change within them, that the spirit will touch their hearts in a way that they can have even just a desire to know if these things are true. I just feel so much love for them that I cannot think about them not accepting the gospel without basically having tears running down my face. I know that through the spirit anything can happen, and that it is all in the Lord's hands.

We taught Anthony this week, as well. He had a friend over, named Andy, and we invited him to listen to us as we taught Anthony and he agreed. Anthony is currently trying to quit drinking alcohol because he has to take medication for psychological purposes and you aren't supposed to drink alcohol as you take the medication. That, in and of itself, is a blessing and a preparation for Anthony to be baptized. This is a very recent thing and as we spoke to him about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and as we read in it with him, we talked about how as he reads he will have the strength necessary through the spirit to stop drinking. He always talks about how he can actually focus when we teach him, and he said it again last time as we read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with him. We've explained to him that that is the spirit and that he can have that same clarity as he progresses and is baptized. We invited him to be baptized last time, when I was with Sister Tippetts, and he had accepted to be baptized on September 15th. Now we just need to continue to help him grow his faith and his relationship with Heavenly Father. His friend Andy said that he would come next time we teach Anthony, and he also said that he would read in the Book of Mormon. That was another blessing from the Lord.

On Tuesday night we got to teach a woman named Samantha. She is a mother of two boys, one of which is about 9 months old. We taught her the restoration and I was so blessed to be able to feel the spirit working through me as I taught, and Sister Wilkinson felt the same way. She was a bit distracted at times as we taught her, but when I shared the 1st vision with her she was very focused on me and on the experience that I was sharing. I know that she felt the spirit and it was really cool because she told us that she had always felt like everything had "shattered," speaking of Christ's church during the great apostasy and that it totally made sense to her. We invited her to be baptized, and she said that she would if she found that these things are true, but we didn't truly set her with a date. I just really hope that she has been reading in the Book of Mormon, because I know how powerful it is and that it is truly the best tool for conversion. I know that if anyone reads the Book of Mormon, with a sincere desire to know if it is true, and prays about it that they will receive a strong confirmation that it is true. There have been a few times when we've talked to people while tracting and they have said that they read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and received the answer that it is a lie, and I just wanted to tell them that I know that they didn't because I know that isn't possible. If they truly desire to know if it is true and read and pray about it, they would not receive an answer that it is not true, because that would be a lie from God. It is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it contains the gospel of Jesus Christ that will lead us to eternal life.

We got to teach Delfy again this week. That was a great experience for me because I felt the spirit as I promised Delfy that Heavenly Father put us in her life so that she can hear this message and accept it. I love that as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I can promise the people we teach things, as guided by the spirit, and know that if they take that promise that it will happen. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon with Delfy. She talked about how she knows there is a reason that we met her, just like I had said, but that she wouldn't commit to being baptized until she reads the Book of Mormon. She talked about how she'll know if it's true as she reads it based on her feelings, and that was before we said anything about it. She is so great. I felt so much love and compassion for her as we taught her because she is going through some hard things. Her son is addicted to drugs, and she worries about him a lot. I know that the gospel will bring her the peace in her life that she needs, especially at this time, and I know that she has been prepared for us to teach her at this time in her life.

We taught Wendy her first "new member lesson" this week on eternal marriage! I love Wendy. She is so amazing. I always learn so much from her when we teach her and I often wonder if she's getting anything from us. Well, I know that she is because she still has a lot more to learn, but her faith and her increasing knowledge of the gospel is so inspiring to me. I just want to sit down with her and study the scriptures with her all day. She has such great insights on the Book of Mormon and especially on the Bible, and her testimony of the power of studying the Book of Mormon with the Bible has made me have a goal to really take the time after my mission to study both together deeply. I want to start doing that now, but it's hard when I am studying for investigators as well as trying to read through the Book of Mormon again before my 6 month mark. It's just hard for me to decide what to study each day because we only have an hour! Anyway, Wendy is doing really well. She is preparing to go to the temple, and next time we are teaching her about temples and family history work. There is a ward Relief Society temple trip coming up where the Relief Society are all doing baptisms for the dead, so we are going to help Wendy prepare to go to the temple then.

Tonya and Caitlyn are doing so well. We taught them yesterday after church about the Law of Chastity. I love them. They have helped me so much as a new missionary, not because they are so easy to teach, but because I have felt so much joy as I see them learn and progress. It has helped me understand what a mission is really about and how wonderful missions are/how great my mission will be because of those experiences. With them I have really learned how all of the hard things that happen are washed away by just one spiritual experience. Those experiences make the hard things absolutely worth it. They have both been so prepared to receive the message of the gospel. Caitlyn had already decided that she was going to abstain from having sex before marriage. I love teaching her because I really feel like I'm myself. As I've been adjusting to life as a missionary there have been a few times when I've felt like I've lost who I am, or like I haven't been myself, the true Sister Bennett, but when we teach Caitlyn, for some reason I am able to be myself, sarcastic, fun, but still spiritual. I am trying to find that balance between still having my personality while being a hard working missionary. Tonya is so great because she is so loving and caring. She is always so grateful to us for teaching them and it really makes you feel good when she talks to you. It was actually her birthday this past week, so we dropped off some candy and a card for her, secretly, because we felt like that would make her feel good, and she said that it truly made her day to read the card with our testimonies in it. That was a fun experience. I am just so excited for them to get baptized on August 25th. Caitlyn is a bit hesitant about the 25th because she wants everything to be "perfect" but I know that as we are guided by the spirit we can solve her concerns. She is actually going to Girls Camp this week, so that will be great for her to have some spiritual experiences there as she gets to know the other young women in the area.

My favorite part of this last week was meeting a 17 year old boy named Mario and his mother Murrae. We were knocking on their street and met a man named Buzz who said he was a "pro- religion atheist." He said that he doesn't have faith but that he thinks religions are great. After we talked with him for a bit and got nowhere with him, we asked if he knew anyone that we should go and talk to and he pointed to a house across the street from him and said that Murrae was having a hard time because her husband is sick. We went to contact Murrae the next night and met her son Mario. As we talked with him, he expressed interest in reading the Book of Mormon and seemed really excited. Actually, while we were talking to him at his door his mom, Murrae, came home and said hello and we met her, but she just kept on her way doing what she was doing. When we finished talking to Mario and asked when we could come back he said "How about tomorrow!?" Well, we went back last night and taught Mario and Murrae about the restoration. Murrae was crying after the opening prayer and she cried many times throughout the lesson. She would then make it seem like she was only listening to support Mario, but both Sister Wilkinson and I know that she was listening for herself as well. I was so full of the spirit as we taught them that I thought I would probably explode. Mario had already read in the Book of Mormon and had found a lot of things that really stuck out to him. He asked us about how he could know if this was true and he asked us many other great questions. When we invited him to be baptized he said that he wasn't sure if he really had "real intent," as we had taught him, because he wanted to study many religions. He said that it was just like what we said about the apostasy, a lot of churches have truth in them and he wanted to find the truths in all churches and then decide which one he would follow. We then explained, again, about how the fullness of truth is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that as he reads the Book of Mormon he will come to know that for himself. I was just on a spiritual high after that lesson. Those are truly the experiences that make everything worth it, and I can't wait to teach Mario and Murrae again.

Funny story: When we were playing basketball last Monday, the ball was going out of bounds and an Elder tried to save it by throwing it back in and I got NAILED in the head. It was pretty funny. haha. That's the funniest one I could think of.

Thank you all for your letters and prayers,

Sister Bennett

"For I Am Not Ashamed Of The Gospel of Christ"

 
July 23, 2012

 Dearest FAMILY,

The title of the email is what Sister Wilkinson, my new companion, says totally explains me. I am not ashamed to share the gospel with everyone because I know what I believe. I was thinking about it and she is right. I love the gospel, I love being a missionary even when it's hard, and I love being a representative of Jesus Christ. Even if when I walk up to someone I have no idea what I am doing, I am still going to talk to them because I am not ashamed. I want everyone to have the opportunity to hear about the gospel, I want to say that I have done all that I can. (Romans 1:16 - mark it. Ha)

Mom, I’m sorry that I don't really respond to questions that well. It's just that I have a limited amount of time, so I try to let you all know what I am doing before I run out! Ah! I will try to be better. Cortney looks so cute in all of the pictures she sent to me from Aqua. I showed them to all of the missionaries emailing here with me and they all said that she looks like she is really fun! I said, "She is! She's my best friend, duh!" Haha. Probably not the response they were expecting, but it made sense to me. I also got pictures from Nan of her and Solon’s photo shoot with Uncle David. I showed those to everyone as well and they just think that Brandice is so gorgeous. I am pleased to say that they even said that I look like her. Oh yea! Anyway, they kept saying that I have a really good looking family. Yep. I do. Also, Ammon looks so old in the pictures that Cortney emailed me! Does he quaff his hair? It looks good Ammon. Also, I got your email, Ammon, but I am planning on writing you back in a letter. I will do my best to do that soon, I just don't have enough time to email you back. I haven't gotten those skirts yet, mom, but I will let you know when they get here. I think I would still like blister block, yes. My shoes don't really bother me, but I haven't worn those ones with the heel like at all, so I was waiting for blister block to start breaking them in. I can't remember if I ever answered you about having a car. All sisters drive cars, and that's how it will be for the entire mission. Also, tell Cortney thanks for the pics, but I want words, too. Also, can I use the Garman GPS that we own? Will you ask Dad? We had one that an Elder was letting us use, but he is being transferred so I don't know what we're going to do anymore. Think about it. I will take good care of it, but I've heard it's nice to have a GPS.

I am now with my new companion, Sister Wilkinson. She is the sister that I was with whenever I went to Ventura, so she isn't really "new" to me. She is just officially my companion now. We did a weird transfer. Normally we would have transfers tomorrow, but because I was with Sister Tippetts we switched yesterday so that Sister Tippetts could be in Ventura today to help with a new sister that is coming in. I said goodbye to her last night. It was fine for me. She officially leaves the mission on Wednesday. I am really excited to be with Sister Wilkinson. We both have a burning desire to work hard and improve. She has been here for 6 months, so we're both new missionaries which is great. I think it's good for me, because I know Moorpark so I will kind of have to lead her as she gets to know the area. That will push me to be better because I have more responsibility, kind of.

Mom, you asked about the wards. I really love both wards here. The members love us even more than we love them. They haven't had sisters here since like 1985, so they are just eating us up. Our dinner calendar is already full through August, which is great but kind of scary. I am working hard on only eating one helping at each home. The members are all great about missionary work, so we spend a good amount of time with them. I really love Sundays because I get to feel the spirit so much, and the ward members just build our confidence so much! I'll have to tell you more about specific families later. I just really love Moorpark. Actually, it was really hot here the past few days, so I haven't loved the weather, but I do love Moorpark. haha. And don't worry mom, I put on sunscreen every day. I haven't been burned yet! Are you proud??

Now for an update on my people -

This week was the best week yet, because Wendy was baptized! We were able to meet with her once during the week to finish the lessons and to talk about her baptism and set it all up. That was good for me to see what needs to be done to get everything ready for a baptismal service. The baptism itself was a really good experience for me. It was so wonderful to see what it looks like when a person progresses in the gospel and is converted unto baptism. At her baptism, Brother Wright, the old mission leader in the Moorpark 1st ward who played a big role in helping Wendy, spoke on baptism. I really enjoyed listening to him talk about how important faith is. I felt the spirit so much as Wendy was baptized by her fiancé Craig. It was a great experience because it was also Craig's first time baptizing someone. After she was baptized, Wendy just had a glow about her. She literally looked brighter. Sister Tippetts spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost, because Sister Wright had gotten bronchitis. Sister Tippetts gave a really good talk as well. Wendy was then confirmed yesterday at church, and I was so excited for her. Baptism is so important, but it really means nothing without the second half, the baptism by fire through receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I love Wendy so much. She had been a rock for me as I have been going through adjusting to being a missionary. Whenever I was having a hard time and was able to teach Wendy, I was quickly reminded of what the purpose is of me being here. I am here to help others build their faith in Christ. It was just a wonderful day on Saturday as well as yesterday, Sunday, especially because I just love Sundays as a missionary. I love being able to partake of the sacrament and feeling the spirit when I attend church. I am grateful that the Lord allowed me to be a part of teaching Wendy, and that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to have the spirit with me as I taught her.

On Monday we taught Sister Olie Hamm. She was baptized in March and we realized that she hadn't been receiving the new member lessons. We taught her about the restoration with an emphasis on the priesthood. It was a really good lesson and I was personally able to learn more about the priesthood that strengthened my testimony of its importance. It was also good for me to participate in teaching a new member lesson so now I know what should be done for teaching Wendy those lessons.

We taught Cristina and Eric on Monday as well. It is always interesting with them because they come with a lot of questions, which is good, but it isn't usually about the things that we've taught them. They have asked us about polygamy and about gay marriage, and they do ask questions as we teach them lessons but it is hard to keep them on track as we teach. We planned on teaching them the restoration on Monday, but first we had Eric give an overview of the plan of salvation to Cristina because she had missed it when we taught Eric. After he did that, we started teaching about the restoration and it was good. They understood everything we were teaching but they still would get off topic and we'd be randomly on a tangent about who knows what. That is a goal that we now have with Cristina and Eric, we need to get to the point quickly so they can't take off running with another topic. They invited us to come over on Friday to have dinner with them and teach them again for Sister Tippetts last time with them. Friday was great. We ate with them and then we were able to teach them the entire restoration lesson. As I shared the first vision with them I really felt the spirit strongly, especially as I looked at Eric. I know that he felt the spirit strongly. After I finished bearing my testimony about Joseph Smith, we asked how they felt as I shared Joseph Smith's experience. Cristina then talked about how it made her feel warm and remember how she felt when she had faith in God, but that it was like a movie. It makes you feel good but isn't real. Then when we asked Eric he went along the same lines as Cristina by talking about past feelings and how he had never had the type of feelings that we've talked about. That was a bit frustrating, because I know he felt the spirit as I shared the first vision, but he didn't really understand that we were asking how it made him feel at that moment I guess. He also said that while I was sharing it, that he was thinking about things that he had read about Joseph Smith on mormon.org or lds.org and how it was interesting that we don't share all of it. Cristina's mother was actually sitting in with us as we taught, and she was very receptive to the message. They all agreed to read in the Book of Mormon and pray about it. Afterward we felt kind of sad because we thought it had gone so well because we felt the spirit so much, until they started talking about how they felt, but then we remembered that they had both prayed before that appointment, even Cristina had who doesn't believe in God anymore. I have faith that the Lord will work with them and help them to have a desire to read in the Book of Mormon and find that it is true. If that doesn't happen while I am here in Moorpark I will be a little sad, but it will be ok because Heavenly Father knows what's best for them. I just need to trust in Him that they will be taken care of. I am really grateful for both Eric and Crisitna. I really love them so much and am happy that I am able to continue teaching them.

We got a new investigator this week named Delfy. She had been taught before by the elders, a while back, and we had gone over and talked to her husband last week who accepted a Book of Mormon. When we went back to see them the husband didn't come out, but Delfy sat down with us outside and we taught her part of the restoration. She said that before she had trouble with Joseph Smith, because she thought that we worshiped him. As we taught her the restoration she was able to better understand that he was a prophet and that he restored the church, he didn't start a new church. She said that it made sense and we invited her to pray about Joseph Smith to know if he was a prophet of God. Delfy is really struggling because she is having some difficulties with her son. She reads in the Bible everyday and is looking for help in her life. When she said the prayer after we taught her, she prayed that Heavenly Father would help her to know what she should learn from us coming to see her. That was really great to hear, because at first sister Tippetts and I were worried that she just wanted to meet with us so she had someone to talk to about her son, but after she prayed our fears left. I think it is so remarkable how Heavenly Father helps us to have a greater capacity to feel love for others. I really felt a great desire to help Delfy, and I know that the gospel is what is best for her at this time.

We taught Heena Patel for the first time this week, as well. She was the woman that we had knocked on her door and she wasn't home, but as we were leaving we went to talk to a lady at the mailboxes and it was Heena. She is an Indian woman who is very open and really wants to learn more. We taught her about the restoration and both sister Tippetts and I talked afterward about how strong the spirit was in her home as we taught her about it. She told us after we shared the first vision, that she felt peace as we told her of Joseph Smith's experience. She said that it felt the same as when she had opened the Book of Mormon, because when we first met her we had promised her that whenever she was feeling lonely or sad, that if she would open the Book of Mormon and read even one verse that she would feel peace. She said that when she heard the first vision that she felt that same way. She is so great! She is definitely a searcher, and I am so grateful for the blessing of having met her at those mailboxes. What a miracle!

Another miracle that happened this week occurred when we went to teach the Eaton family. The Eaton family is very interesting. They are the family where the mother is a convert, who actually just went through the temple last Monday, and two of her children were baptized (Bianca and Marcos) but one wasn't (Carlos). We went to meet with them, because we've been teaching Carlos and have been trying to reactivate Bianca and Marcos, but only Bianca was home. This was a miracle, because Sister Tippetts and I had been talking about how we wanted to meet with her alone but we didn't know how to go about doing that. We wanted to meet with her because when we taught her the restoration she expressed that she wasn't sure if there was a God. She felt like there was a higher power, but didn't know if that power is actually God. As we talked with her and she told us about her experiences and why she got baptized I felt so much love for her. She is a daughter of God. She has gone through really, really hard things. She got baptized for the wrong reasons, but even though at first I was taken aback by her story and was a little upset about why she got baptized, I still felt love for her and felt a burning desire for her to know how much Heavenly Father loves her. I don't know what difference it will make to Bianca at this time in her life to have talked with us that day, but I know that there was a reason that things worked out the way they did so that we could teach just Bianca. I am so grateful for that miracle that we were blessed with.

One thing that has really been ingrained into my mind from the start of my mission is the importance of the spirit in everything that we do as missionaries. I am working hard to be worthy of the Lord's trust, and I am continually striving to feel the spirit working through me - meaning that I am trusted by the Lord. I have learned so much already on my mission, and now I am learning how to focus on a few things at a time. I realized that one thing that I really need to focus on is others. I need to lose myself in the work. I am too concerned with my weaknesses and how it is hard sometimes to be a missionary, and I know that as I focus all of my attention on others that I will love this work more, and that days will fly by as I really focus on my purpose as a missionary. I also have learned some great things about declaring the gospel this past week and am excited to implement those things when Sister Wilkinson and I declare because that is a focus for me this transfer. I want to improve my declarations; I want to teach with power as we talk to everyone. I am so grateful to be here serving in the California Ventura mission.

Well, the miracles keep coming! Keep me in your prayers, because I definitely need it.

OH! My funny story of the week! We had the best rejection yet. We walked up to the door of a house and the door was open with the screen door closed. We walked up to the screen door and there was a man sitting at the back of the room at the computer not wearing a shirt. We introduced ourselves and said we are representatives of Jesus Christ. He then said "I don't believe in Jesus, so if I talk to you at all I will just be flirting with you. Now that would just be inappropriate, because I am only wearing my underwear. I'm just being honest." We then realized that he was serious. He was only wearing his underwear. We then gladly left his home and took a few minutes to laugh it out before we knocked on the next door. It was SOOOOO FUNNY! Hahahahah. I love it.

Have a great week! I love each of you so much!

Love,
Sister Bennett

I'll attach a picture from Wendy's baptism. Wendy is the woman getting baptized and Craig is her fiancé that she met on Battle Star Galactica!

Haley and Sister Tippetts at the baptism of Wendy.

Red Hair, Don't Care. Gingers Can Do Anything.

July 16, 2012

Family!

That quote, "Red hair, don't care. Gingers can do anything," came in a letter from Colin. He said that is what Cortz says, and I have adopted that as my mission motto. When people are mean to me, I just think "red hair, don't care." Isn't that great!? Mom, can you post my emails onto my blog please? My friends want to hear about what's going on with me. Also, when you post them you should post a link on my facebook. I showed you how to do that the night before the MTC. Remember? You wrote it down in a notebook. Britt should be able to help you if you need any. I just keep hearing from my friends that there are only like two letters on my blog. Hah.

This past week I have really been thinking about how I want to be a hard working missionary. Brandice said something in a letter to me about how we can't work ourselves to death, and talked about how important planning is. I was thinking about that a lot this week, because I just want to work harder. It's not that I don't work hard, but I just feel like I can do a lot more. There are definitely some times when I don't want to get out of the car and go talk to people, but I'm working hard to change that attitude because I have about 14 more months of doing that. haha. Anyway, I was really thinking a lot about how important nightly planning is, because to be honest it really drives me nuts sometimes, but since I got that letter from Nan I realized that as we take the time to plan that is how we are going to get the most work possible in a day. I have a greater desire to talk to everyone on the street, because I want to feel exhausted when we come home at night because I've talked to so many people. The problem is that sometimes I don't say as much when we are declaring to people on the street. For some reason when I'm with Sister Tippetts declaring, I just let her do all the talking because I'm trying so hard to focus on what the spirit is telling me to say. I talked to Sister Tippetts about that and she was saying how a lot of times we just have to open our mouths and have faith that right in the second we will be filled with words, but first we have to show that faith. I thought that was really good, so that's something I'm going to be working on a lot this week - really trying to teach in unity when we meet people instead of just letting Sister Tippetts do all of the talking.

Now, on to investigators. This past week we had a lot of great teaching experiences. We were able to teach Christina and Eric on Monday. They are a married couple who have very interesting beliefs about everything. Christina used to be a Jehova's Witness, but no longer believes in God. She now believes in energy. Eric has all sorts of different beliefs on things, but he does believe there is a higher power of some kind. We have taught them a few times now, and Christina read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, which was good. Eric, however, did not read it. When we went to their home on Monday it was a bit crazy because Christina was in the middle of making dinner. We helped her chop up some food and when Eric got home, we sat down with him and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He said that it all made sense, but that there is no way to really KNOW if it's true. We talked to him about prayer and about how just experimenting with prayer, showing that tiny bit of faith (as in Alma 32), that we knew he would be able to get an answer and know, like we know, that the plan of salvation comes from God. We invited him to pray alone to know if the things we taught are true, so I really hope that he was able to take time and pray. I think that if we are able to get Eric to take steps forward and feel the spirit, that he will be a great help with Christina in helping her have a desire to know for herself. We are teaching them again tonight, so we will see if he was able to pray.

Last Monday we were also able to teach Kayley K. She is the young woman, 14 years old, that we taught with the Bennett family. She is really good friends with Laurel Bennett. We taught Kayley about the restoration. It was a really great lesson. Whenever she had questions she asked them, and as we taught her I know that she was able to feel the spirit, especially as we shared the first vision with her. We talked to her about seeing if her parents would want to learn as well, and that is definitely something that Kayley wants, but she said that she wanted to know for herself before she tries to get her parents to also learn. She is so elect. She has such a great desire to learn and know the truth. She reads the scriptures and prays daily. I know that the gospel is going to have such a great impact on her life. I am so excited to get to teach her again!

On Thursday we got to teach a lady named Sue. We met Sue when we were knocking a few houses after we had passed by for a potential investigator. At first when we met Sue, she was trying to sluff us off and kept saying she wasn't interested, but as we kept talking to her we found out that she really likes doing family history and has been thinking about how she wanted to get back into doing that. She had heard about the great family history programs we have in the church and we set up a time when we could come back and teach her about why family history is so important to us. Well, on Thursday we got to teach her the plan of salvation. She really loves family history. She had gotten out all of her family history that she had done in the past, and she was so proud as she showed a lot of it to us. As we taught her about the plan of salvation, relating it back to family history, I felt the spirit so strongly as I talked to her about my knowledge of the plan of salvation and how that knowledge has affected me in my life. As I shared my testimony, I felt so grateful for the knowledge that I have about the plan of salvation and the knowledge  I have that my family will be together forever. What a comfort that is. Sue is so great. We are planning on taking her to the family history center for our next appointment, and teaching her about the restoration. I'm really looking forward to it.

Wendy is getting baptized this Saturday, the 21st! I am so happy about that, especially after the few days when Hermana Tippetts and I hadn't been in contact with her. We were worried that she hadn't been able to stop smoking and drinking coffee so she was avoiding us. Luckily, she was just really busy with work! I am so excited to be able to have my first baptism. Wendy is such an amazing woman. She has such a strong testimony of Joseph Smith and of the restored gospel. When Sister Tippetts and I went over the baptismal interview questions with her, she said that she got the chills when we asked her if she believed that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. That was so sweet. One thing that I really love about Wendy is her love for the scriptures. She was talking to us about how her fiance is coming to baptize her, and this will be the first time that she meets him because they met online playing a game called Battle Star Galactica. Wendy first started reading the Book of Mormon because Craig had told her about it and said that he would read it with her. So every night they get onto Skype and read the scriptures together. Right now they are reading in the Doctrine and Covenants. It's pretty crazy because when they Skype they only do voice, they don't see each other. Wendy said that one of the dates that she hopes she and Craig will have is just reading the scriptures together. I thought that was so sweet. She is going to be such a great member of the church and will be such a good member missionary!

My favorite part of the week was teaching Tonya and Caitlin. Tonya is in her forties and Caitlin is her 15 year old daughter. They were introduced to the church by Cody, a young man in the second ward who has introduced a lot of people to the church. They are both such great people and they just take in everything that we teach them and want more! Sister Tippetts and I were talking about them and talking about how easy it is to teach them, and Sister Tippetts was saying that that is how the truly elect are. You are always teaching to their needs because their need is just to learn and know more! We taught Tonya and Caitlin about the plan of salvation. Caitlin had mentioned before that when she was at youth conference she had really liked it when people had talked about how families can be together forever. As we talked about the plan they both just took it all in and said that it made so much sense. The best part of the lesson was when we talked about ordinances that we do while on earth, one of which is being sealed in the temple to our families. As we talked about it, I looked up at Caitlin and she had the biggest grin on her face and she made such a cute face at her mom. It was so sweet to see the spirit touching their hearts and telling them that it is possible to be with our families forever. I can't wait for them to get baptized. I think they were nervous about how soon their baptismal date is, but we talked to them about how baptism is just the first step and that we don't need to have a perfect knowledge of the gospel to be baptized because it is just the beginning!

Oh, here's one miracle of this past week. One night we were passing by for a former investigator named Heena. We went to her house, this was after dark, and all of the lights were off and it was super dark. No one answered the door so we started back toward the car, but we still had like 10 minutes left before we needed to head back home. As we walked toward the car we saw a woman down the street at the mailboxes, so we booked it over to go and talk to her. Well, as we talked to her we found out that her name was Heena! How awesome is that. As we spoke with her she told us about how her husband had gotten baptized into the church but was leaving her and hadn't been living with her and her son for like 3 years. She was really sad and talked about how she gets very lonely sometimes. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her that it will comfort her. We have an appointment with her this week! What miracle to have caught her at those mailboxes!

Funny story. This happened a few weeks ago, but I realized that I hadn't told you about it. One day we had gone over to an investigators home to set up another appointment with him, sadly he wasn't home. As we were about to leave we saw a guy sitting in his garage, so we walked over to talk to him. He wasn't wearing a shirt and we were a little afraid that he wasn't wearing anything at all. As we approached him we saw that he was wearing pants, so we were relieved about that. We said hi and introduced ourselves as Sister Bennett and Sister Tippetts and the first thing he said was, really loudly, "I'M HUNG OVER." We were like, ok....great. We talked to him for a bit and gave him a Book of Mormon and right before we left he was like "Ok, I'm not hung over anymore, weird." Hahaha. It was so weird and hilarious.

Yesterday Sister Tippetts and I taught the gospel principals class and we taught the elders and priest quorums! We taught the priesthood about missionary work and how to normally and naturally share the gospel with their friends. That was actually kind of fun teaching them. I wasn't nervous at all to teach either class, even though President Castro was in the Gospel Principles class. He had come so that he could interview Wendy for baptism. Anyway, it was really fun to teach and I felt the spirit a lot so I learned a lot while we taught. After church I started to feel kind of sick. My throat was hurting and I kind of had a headache, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from working the rest of the day. I took a few ibuprofins and we went out to find new people to teach. I did pretty well for the rest of the day until we got to Brother Levine's home. He is a less active member that we had decided to stop by and see. As we sat there with him I all of a sudden felt terrible. I got the shivers like crazy and couldn't stop my legs from twitching. I felt bad because Sister Tippetts was just doing all of the talking and I wanted to help but I couldn't talk. Then at the end of the lesson she turned to me and was like "Sister Bennett did you want to say anything." Then I had to admit that I was feeling super sick and kind of teared up for a second. We got out of his home at about 8:15pm and Sister Tippetts took me straight home. When we got home I took my temperature and I had a really bad fever, 102 degrees. I went to bed immediately. I felt so sick. I wanted to cry and I kept thinking about how I just wanted to pack my bag and come home so I could have a hug from mom. I'm such a baby! But it was really hard! I could barely even sleep, I was so hot and cold all night. Sister Tippetts told me this morning that I kept talking in my sleep and I would say things like "I'm dying," "It hurts," "I can't breathe," "I just want to work," and my favorite "I just love her....SO MUCH." We both decided that I must have been talking about mom when I said I just love her so much. Hahaha. How embarrassing. I asked Sister Tippetts if she was laughing way hard at me. She said she probably would have if it hadn't been so sad. She said it was the saddest little voice, and that she kept wondering if she should wake me up. haha.

Oh, on Friday Sister Tippetts and I went down to Ventura to do interviews with President Castro because we had missed them when he came to our zone due to exchanges that Sister Tippetts needed to go on. It was so good to have an interview with President. He addressed all of my concerns. When I came in and sat down with him he just spoke for about ten minutes without me saying anything and everything that he talked about were things that I was struggling with. He really made me feel so good. Maybe he just knows how to boost my confidence, but he kept telling me how grateful he is that the Lord put me in his mission. He said that one of the many reasons I am in the California Ventura mission is because President Castro needs me there. He talked about what a great asset I will become as a missionary and how he has already seen so much change in me since that first day that he interviewed me. He also talked about patience again. He said that I need to be less critical of myself, because I am doing great. He talked about not focusing on all of my weaknesses, but just to pick out a few things to work on each week and to have patience as I work to make those weak things strong.

Oh, also I'm super worried about the status and welfare of my hair. It's turning blonde! Ahhhhh! I don't know why this is happening to me, but I'm totally becoming a California girl. Seriously, my hair is getting a lot lighter, so pray for it to stay red. I have gotten a lot of compliments about the color of my hair, so that has made me feel really good. Now I know what it's like to be Cortney....except no one gets as many compliments as Cortz. Let's be honest. Oh, and another thing. I hate dogs. I got bit by one at Tonya and Caitlin’s house. This huge dog kept jumping on me and I was trying to push it off and he dug his tooth into my bicep! Ugh. Dogs are the worst and everyone has them. I can't stand them.

Well, I am doing well -kind of. My throat is really swollen. It's kind of gross actually.  Sister Tippetts looked at it and was like "Gross. It's super swollen", and I said "Yeah right." But when I went into the bathroom and looked, my left tonsil is super swollen and like pitted. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it will get better in time. I just want to play sports today, but I don't know if I feel well enough. That makes me mad. Oh, Mom did you pay rent for July and August at the Enclave? Sorry that you have to do that. I just wanted to check though. Also, can Cortney get Anne Jepson's address for me? Oh and can someone find out where Blythe Beecroft is? She is my worst friend because she has yet to write me. Cortney can talk to her for me, too.

Anyway, I'm continuing to grow and improve as a missionary. It's not easy but it's worth it and as the days continue to go by my love for this work just grows more and more. I am so excited for Wendy's baptism! I'll have to send you pictures of the baptism! I hope you all have a great week. Attach pics of Cortz in Aquatennial to the next email, and send some so I have hard copies. I love you all so much. I am so grateful for your prayers and for how great everyone has been about writing to me. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family and such good friends (Adrianne!).

 Love,

Sister Bennett