Time to come home: goodbye Indiana I will miss you!

Well family and friends,

I suppose it is time I should tell you, I found out four days ago that I am being temporarily discharged from my mission due to medical issues. More specifically I have been sleepwalking an awful lot. I sleepwalk multiple times a week and I have attempted to go outside five or six times. I did not realize that it was such a problem until two weeks ago when my mission president pulled me aside after a mission conference. He told me that I would most likely be going home. After talking with him and the mission doctor we have concluded that the best course of action would be for me to go home, so I could be treated for sleepwalking. I will be home tomorrow (Tuesday) before 2 O’clock. These last four days have been a whirlwind.

Thursday: I got the call that I would for sure be going home. We ended up having our last lesson with Ben as a non-member. We talked a lot about faith and enduring to the end. It was a really great lesson. He was still excited to be baptized.

Friday: we had a zone meeting where I was asked by my zone leaders to share my testimony. I never knew how attached I would get. Afterwards we blitzed campus. Sister Hain, my favorite non-companion sister, and I tore campus up. We laughed and cried a lot these last few days. I have so many mixed emotions right now.

Saturday: Ben’s baptism. It was beautiful. It went so well. He had a lot more people show up than he thought would. He asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. He bore the sweetest testimony. It was on his road to developing faith. It will always be one of the highlights of my mission.

Sunday: Ben was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. Elder Hicks, Elder Sorensen, Sister Caldwell, and I sang the EFY medley in sacrament meeting. I started crying half way through, looking at all of those familiar faces knowing I had to say goodbye. Our dinner appointment also invited Ben over; it was nice to be able to spend some more time with him before I left. It was funny because it slowly spread that I was going home for medical reasons. As we were saying goodbye Ben told me that he hopes everything goes well for me when I returned home. I told him that I am going home because I have been sleepwalking. He said, “That’s wonderful! Well that’s not wonderful; I just thought that it was a lot more serious than that.” Haha. Well I need to go. I guess I will be seeing all of you soon enough. Do not hesitate to stop by, seriously. I would love to see all of you again. Please pray that I return in safety.

Love, Sister Bennett

What A Week!

Dearest family and friends,

 

What a week! Even more plans fell through this week than last week. We still worked our hardest. We continued to see many miracles this week.

We taught the first lesson to Lisa this week, who we found on exchanges. It went very well. She is committed to read from the Book of Mormon and then pray.

We finished teaching Ben his lessons this week. He had his baptismal interview and he passed! We are so excited for him. He has grown so much. One of my favorite things about Ben is that he sees the big perspective of things. He told us that he knows that baptism is not the end, that the temple comes next and that he did not want to be baptized until he was ready for that bigger commitment. Ben is amazing; he is going to do fantastic things. I cannot wait to see him enter into this covenant with his Father in Heaven.

I know that Heavenly Father lives. He never gives us a challenge that it too hard or too much for us to overcome. Jesus Christ loves us so much that he gave his life for us. He knows perfectly what we are going through. He is here every step of the way strengthening and supporting us.

Love, 

Sister Malinda Bennett

Hello, Hello!

Dear family and friends,

This has been a very busy week. We have done lots of walking. Our lessons keep falling through. It is all a part of missionary work though. We have seen miracles none the less.

We were able to meet with Ben twice this week. He is doing so well. He is so excited to be baptized in two weeks. He is getting a little anxious as well. He has grown so much. It is amazing to me, that someone who received so much anti-Mormon literature could progress as much as he has. He was telling us this week some of the things he’s had to work through. He told us about the false things he was told about Joseph Smith. It’s awesome that he did not listen and believe it. He told us that he can tell how it could be misconstrued. He is amazing and I cannot wait for him to be baptized.

I had such a fantastic exchange with Sister Pitcher. She is such a loving and kind sister. She was in the BYU single’s ward that my dad was bishop of. She has such a positive outlook. All of our plans and lessons fell through. It gave us the chance to talk to lots of different people. I really enjoyed our time together. I learned to appreciate the little things. There are some things that we cannot change.

When one of our lessons fell through as well as our back-up we asked our member if we could go over to the church and give her a lesson. She agreed we ended up giving her a mock church tour. At the end she thanked us. She told us that she did not realize that we did that as missionaries. She said, “I would totally feel comfortable inviting my friends to come do a church tour, it is less invasive.” She also appreciated the peace and accessibility that our church houses provide.

Love,

Sister Malinda Bennett

A New Week

So sorry I am a week late getting this posted for Mlinda
Dear Family and Friends,

This week was tough. God helped me through. Thank you to those of you that sent me letter, I really need and enjoyed them.

Sister Broderick is a less-active in our ward. She had a stroke this week and her birthday was on Friday. We were able to go and visit her at the hospital. She loved our meetings. She told us, “The first thing I am going to do when I get home is pay my tithing.” We talked about how because she is in the hospital, she can’t smoke. So now she has funds to pay her tithing with. Those are the only two things keeping her from the temple! She is going to make it back there. I am so excited!

Last week at church an Elderly Sister came up to us and said, “Sisters I need your help. I have a friend I want to invite to listen to the discussions, but I don’t know how to invite her.” We set up a time to meet with her so we could help her overcome this fear. As we got to her home, later that week, she informed us, “I did it, I asked her! She accepted and she will be meeting with us today!” So we were able to meet her friend Teri and teach her about the restoration. It went very well.

We had a lesson with Ben yesterday. We planned on finishing the restoration and going into the Word of Wisdom. Brother Miskin came with us. It went very well. Ben admitted that last week he went and had two beers after work. He told us usually he wouldn’t have thought anything of it. However, the next day he felt awful and he knew he shouldn’t have done it. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he committed to live the word of wisdom. I was able to promise him that God would help him when he struggled and is tempted to drink. I could tell that he believed my words.

This week I hit some of my lows on my mission. I am grateful Heavenly Father has put me around the same areas as other great missionaries. It is hard to ask for help, so I am learning to become more graceful when it comes to asking. We had interviews this week. President Cleveland gave me the advice that I needed. He is definitely an inspired man. Things are looking up. I had to remember this week: yes Heavenly Father will always give us the strength that we need, and a lot of times that strength will come in the form of others.

Love, Sister Bennett

Wow! What a week!

Dear friends and family,

This has been a wonderful week. We saw many miniature miracles this week. Every week we play bingo at a nursing home for service. We also go visit a less-active woman there. She does not do or say much. One day we were visiting her before bingo. We invited her to go with us. She was reluctant, so we pushed her to come join us. She agreed. She couldn’t hear the numbers well so if I pointed, she’d put the chip. All of the aides there were amazed that she came, sat down, and played. I guess she sleeps all day and only leaves her room for meals, so this was a huge step.

We met with the Daniels again this week. In the first lesson we read from the Book of Mormon. Daniel the elder really enjoyed it. Daniel the younger was having a rough day. We also were able to meet with them again last night. We watched “The Restoration” with them. Daniel the younger’s mother, Linda, also joined in on the lesson. Both Linda and Daniel the elder loved the movie. They said that many of the questions Joseph had they have. Daniel the elder really connected. He was making all of these references to scriptures and bore his testimony that he knows Joseph Smith was called of God. We urged him to act on those feelings and pray. He loved that we don’t want him to take our word, but to learn for himself. They were both amazing lessons.

We talked with Roshanna about baptism again. She told us that Mariyannah and her nephew, Davion will be baptized on the same day. Davion has also been sitting in on the lessons. We are excited to help them progress. They have not come back to church, however. Roshanna lets other things take priority over going to church.

We had an amazing lesson with Ben. He is still looking forward to be baptized. He is concerned about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. He does not know what to expect. We showed him a picture and he freaked out. He thought the boy had fire coming off of his head. He looked closer and realized that it was someone’s hand. We are trying to find a sacrament meeting he can go to where someone receives the Holy Ghost. Besides that Ben is doing so well! He is more engaged in lesson and he looks us in the eye. Where before he just would look at the ground and off into space. He is happier. He still has the same stresses of work and life, but he is handling them better with God by his side. He has come to church three times. He missed this week because he was called into work. He is amazing.

I love every second of being out here. We have a great work that we are doing. Yesterday I was able to share with Sister Caldwell what keeps me going. Why I am still here, plugging along. I am here on a mission because I have something is invaluable. I walk everyday by my brothers and sisters who are ignorant to this hidden treasure. This treasure is the knowledge of this gospel. I have been extremely blessed to be raised in the church. I refuse to walk by someone without talking to them. These people we walk by are the same brothers and sisters we fought with so we could be here on this earth. I can just imagine them, from before, telling me that when I got to this earth I needed to find them. I needed to bring them the gospel. Who may have pleaded with me, I do not know. God knows, and I put my trust in God. So I open my mouth to those who are in and along my path. It is awkward and unnatural to open up to a stranger on a spiritual level upon meeting them. I endure a moment of awkwardness because I know that I have something they need. Something they cannot get unless I open my mouth. I do not want to get to the other side and have to explain to my brothers and sisters why I would not open my mouth. I know that when I open my mouth, God will fill it. He wants their salvation more than I do, because he sees more than I see. I love this work. It is a privilege to be here doing this work for my brothers and sisters.

Love,

Sister Bennett

Tough Week

What a week! We had a lot of appointments fall through this week. So we just kept plugging along.

We had a wonderful lesson with Ben this week. Last week we found a concern. He was not sure what to expect while looking for an answer to his prayers. We took the time to read scriptures with him about how the Holy Ghost talks to us. Ben accidentally read the wrong verse, so he corrected himself and read the right one as well. It was perfect. Both of the scriptures had to do with baptism. So we ventured onto that topic again. We were guided by the Spirit and he has a date for August 24. He is really excited and we are excited! Man, oh man. I cannot wait for him to make this covenant with our Father. We still have a lot of work, and now we have a time frame to get that work done in.

We were able to meet with Michelle a former this week. She was so excited to see us again. We talked a lot. She really wants us to start meeting with her friend. She is not so sure about meeting with us herself, because she does not want to step on her husband’s toes. It was one happy meeting. Hopefully we will be able to teach all of them before long.

I am not going to lie; this was probably one of the hardest weeks of my mission. I have learned a lot and I am also making changes. Dealing with stress on a mission is harder than one would think. I do not have the same outlets I did before. I cannot just go for a bike ride to calm my nerves. I have been relying a lot on my Father in Heaven and my Brother Jesus Christ for help, support, and strength. I know they are here strengthening me. It is times like this week where I just get to work. It is the best remedy for being stressed. To focus on others and soon my problems do not seem so big, or it gives me the time to process the situation. I have relied heavily on God this week to tell me the things to say and do. I know the next few weeks will be challenging. It is a good thing that with God all things are possible.

Love, Sister Bennett

So Good

Dear friends and family,

Time is flying by. We had such a good week. A lot of our lessons fell through. Yesterday made up for all of those cancelled appointments though.

We were able to go out and visit with Brother Merkel again. We found some needs. It was hot and we were outside. Brother Merkel asked, “Would you like something cold to drink? All I have is beer though… Wait… that’s a no-no huh!?” We had a talk about the word of wisdom. He has not been to church in a long time. He said it’s because he is sick. We asked if he would come once he was better we got a not dedicated, “sure.” We taught him some doctrine and the next time we asked he is committed to come.

The highlight of the transfer was a lesson we had with Daniel (the elder), Daniel (the younger), and Daniel the Elder’s dad. We taught the whole restoration. It was amazing. While Sister Caldwell relayed the first vision the spirit filled the room. The Holy Ghost prompted me that Daniel the Elder felt it as well. At the end of the lesson, they all committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. I asked Daniel the Elder if he felt something when Sister Caldwell talked about Joseph Smith’s story. He said yes and I was able to teach about the Holy Ghost. At the end we all kneeled and Daniel the Elder offered the prayer. It went along the lines of: “Father God, I thank you for my Sisters who came to share this wonderful message with us. They were an answer to my prayer for more family because they feel like they are my family. I also thank you for answering my prayer about finding some more spiritual guidance for my brother Daniel. I am also grateful that I now connected with my father on a spiritual level, which is also an answer to my prayers.” The spirit was so strong. He also thanked God for Joseph Smith and what he did. It was a powerful prayer. It is one of the sweetest moments to hear an investigator pray out loud for the first time. I love this work so much. I am blessed to be here.  I can’t wait to see what the future has in store!

Love, Sister Bennett

Busy, Busy Week!

Dear friends and family,

What an incredible week. Zone meeting, two exchanges, a priesthood blessing, and a new mission president later, I am still here doing what I have been called to do: missionary work.

We started the week off by meeting our new mission president, President Cleveland and his wife, Sister Cleveland. President Cleveland was the head basketball coach at Brigham Young University and Fresno State University. I love them both very much. They are fantastic at what they do. President Cleveland gave us a very profound sports metaphor of course! Haha. He explained to us the transition of moving from Utah right when his team was becoming fruitful to switching over to the struggling Fresno colleagues. After losing their first game they did a drill known as ladders or suicides. He had his fellow captains at each line to make sure they were touching the lines. Well when the report got back, they were not touching the lines. Again and again they ran, without victory. Some were simply not doing their duty by touching each line. After many attempts, President Cleveland stopped them. He simply stated, “We are going to touch all of the lines. Is that clear?” Time did not matter as much as making sure they touched all of the lines. In that moment they all took the time. They walked and placed their hand on the first line and back, then the second, and the third. They did not stop until every member touched all of the lines. He then let them go. President Cleveland humbly questioned, “When are you going to touch all of the lines spiritually?” After that drill his team came to practice and worked in unison further than they ever had before. It makes me question, “What lines am I falling short on or skimming over?” Every line is important.

Roshanna is doing wonderful. We watched the Restoration DVD with her. Then she CAME TO CHURCH!!! She says that she wants to come again and again. She loved it and said that she had chills the whole time. This week her daughter Mariyannah started listening in on our disscussions. She prayed for the first time with us and Roshanna started crying. It was an emotional week.

So last week I talked about, Daniel the man who asked about my Bible. We started teaching him. He is one of the most interesting men I have met. He talks like a philosopher and grew up in the projects of Chicago and Gary Indiana (The killing capitol in the nation). He loved meeting with us and he could sense our virtuous presence when we walked by him.

Then again at zone meeting, an echo of the lesson we learned earlier came back to mind. At the conclusion of the meeting we were asked to go to the back of the chapel. The divider was opened and our observances began to unite when we saw nothing but an exposed gym before us. We collectively soundlessly walked and took the time to touch all of the lines.

Love, Sister Bennett

Work, Work, Work

Dear family and friends,

Things are continually progressing with Roshanna. She believes that the time is here when her boyfriend Carl will pop the question. She is continuing to live the Word of Wisdom. We cannot teach her fast enough. She wants all of her family members to learn from us. She has convinced Carl’s dad to listen to our message. Her step-father was in and out of the room during two of our lessons. He was touched that we would leave our family, work, and school to come out here and preach the gospel. After we left he asked Roshanna what are names were. She told him, “Sister Bennett and Sister Caldwell.” He said, “I won’t remember that. I will just call them Jesus’s friends.” It is amazing to be recognized as a representative of Jesus Christ.

Ben feels that his faith is still shaky. He is slowly starting to build his faith back up. We had a spiritual experience while we were there with him. We talked a lot about prayer. He keeps telling us that he is praying for a sign to show him that what he is doing is right. Sister Caldwell felt prompted to tell Ben, “If you pray right now and ask God, he will answer your prayer.” Ben questioned, “How do you know?” She replied, “I just have a feeling within myself that you will get your answer.” He prayed. It was so sweet. He still asked for a sign, but this time I got the impression that by sign, he just meant a recognizable answer. I also felt prompted to share that I would pray for hours when I would drive to and from my home and college. Ben said that he was driving to Michigan for a wedding this weekend and he would take that time to ponder and pray about Christ and the Church. We have faith that he will receive an answer for his prayers.

We met with our bishop last night. We were able to talk about how to help the member’s with missionary work. It was short and went well. Our bishop asked us if we could meet more often to coordinate the work. Thing are looking up all of the time.

That broadcast last night was ah-may-zing! Members are so important to this work. We cannot do it without them. I will never be the same kind of member when I get home. “Every member a missionary.” The Lord is hastening his work. It is miraculous to be in the mission field at this time. Miracles are happening all around us. The younger generations of missionaries are fantastic. We are all learning and growing together.

I was very proud of myself. I hate singing in front of others. I roped my new companion into playing her violin for a musical number in sacrament. She roped me into singing for her song… I in turn recruited our zone leaders to sing along with me. As we met to practice, Brother Brinkerhoff decided that I should sing two whole verses by myself. I was frightened, to say the least. I pushed myself and it was beautiful. It turned out quite well. At least that’s what all of the members told us. The ward was so excited when they saw two elders in sacrament meeting. They thought the long awaited second set of missionaries had arrived.

In a week I will have a new mission president. I am staying the Indiana Indianapolis mission. One forth of my friends will be gone! I am excited to see what the future holds. I love you all. It is true, live it, and share it. Hope you are all doing well

Love, Sister Bennett your favorite sister missionary serving in Indiana! ;) Love you Sister Bennett Jr.

2330 Northwestern Ave.

Apt. #3

West Lafayette, IN 47906

Interesting Week

Dear Family and friends,

We are meeting new people all of the time. This week we met a brother, Michael and his sister, Shareen at different times. Both of them said that we should talk to the other sibling because they needed God. We had a good discussion with both of them.

Roshanna is reading more. We went over the Word of Wisdom. She thought the coffee and tea was outrageous, but she was ready to stop all of it cold turkey. Her nephew, came up at the end of the lesson, and asked if he could have some tea. Roshanna said, “No we can’t have tea anymore, it is bad. In fact when these ladies leave we are going to sit down and read why tea is bad for us.” Roshanna is amazing in that way. She’s asked us questions about if things are bad or if they are a sin, and then immediately she says, “I’m not going to do that anymore.” She does not want to live in sin, she wants to do what is right.

Ben is doing a little better this week. He told us that he would come to church because it could not hurt. He did not show up however. We planned to talk to Ben about faith. He ended up asking us questions about faith and we answered his questions with the material we had studied. It worked out quite well. The only bad thing is that Ben is looking for a sign. He wants something to happen, so he knows this is what he is supposed to do. Sister Caldwell pointed out, “Don’t you think that the Sisters coming back and knocking on your door again, was a sign?” He thought about it and agreed. We told Ben that we could text him a verse reference on faith every night. He likes that idea. It has been going well.

We met with our ward mission leader and his wife this week to help them with some service. The whole time we were there we talked about how to get the ward more involved in missionary work. They explained how this ward works. Being so close to Purdue there is a lot members are trying to juggle. We talked about ways to help the members. Then last night we had dinner with our second councilor and his wife. We also got onto the topic of missionary work. They also gave us a lot of great information and ideas to help the members. We are excited to get our members more involved in missionary work. Great things are about to happen.

 

Sister Caldwell is wonderful. We have really hit it off. We are like two peas in a pod. She is excited and willing to do the work. She has been the most wonderful trainee. She does not seem like she has only been out for two weeks. She amazes me. I am excited to get to know her more.

Yesterday I had some time to think about my dear ol’ pappy. I thought about how it was unfair that I did not get to call you. I remember calling you every Sunday just to catch up on life. If I did not end up calling you, you would call me. I treasure those times I was able to spend that time talking to you. You are my favorite as I know I am yours. It still makes me laugh when Adrianne and I were at college and she asked, “Why is dad calling you?!” I responded, “I always talk to dad on Sunday.” Adrianne was flabbergasted. I think she started calling you on Sundays after that as well. I sure am one lucky girl to have a dad like you. I think about you a lot. I am glad that I get to call you mine and you get to call me your favorite red-headed step child. ;) I love you daddy.

Love, Sister Bennett

What a wonderful week!

Dear family and friends,

My exchange with Sister Donaldson has really hit me hard. I have decided to be even more diligent and exactly obedient. God is helping by strengthening me though this change. I am more excited to do missionary work than ever before.

We had another great lesson with Brother Phipps this week. He also came to church! We are so excited. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation. He always looks overwhelmed when we get into the discussions with him. We would ask if he understood which he does, he said that he was having a lot of “ah-ha” moments and that it all made sense. He is continuing to share what he learns with his family and friends. He is amazing at sharing the gospel and he is not even a member, yet.

Roshanna is also doing well. We are able to get into more doctrine with her. She did not read this last week, we read with her and she felt the spirit. When we were getting ready to leave, she told us that she really wants to read and planned on reading for the hour after we left. She is amazing.

We finished up the Plan of Salvation with Ben. Things are a lot clearer to him now. We also found a need. I forgot to follow up about church at the beginning of the lesson, so I brought it up at the end. He said that he talked himself out of it. He did not want to come to church again and get members hopes up to just leave again. We talked to him about it. He seemed committed to come, in the end he did not show up Sunday.

I absolutely love my time with Sister Caldwell. She is from Snowflake, Arizona. She is a gem. She is so excited to do missionary work. She reminds me a lot a lot of Kelsey Foster, which makes me happy because Kelsey is one of my favorite people ever. I love you Kelsey. It has been fun to get to work with Sister Caldwell. Miracles are bound to happen here. We have been non-stop since Wednesday. We have taught lessons, gone tracting, set up appointments with potential investigators, met with the ward mission leader, bishop, and stake president, finished weekly planning, had ward coordination meeting, zone meeting, and to top it all off we were able to witness our investigator enter into the covenant of baptism with God. What a wonderful week. We are working well together. We are already saying the same thing at the same time and one man we said hi to called us the Olsen twins.

I love my time here in Lafayette. I do love it here. I was afraid I was going to be the one transferred because I love it so much. I am glad that I was able to stay and go to Joey’s baptism. :)

Love, Sister Bennett

Hello, Hello!

Dear family and friends,

 Missionary work is stressful. It is also very rewarding. I love being a missionary so much. Yesterday we got the call… Drumroll please ;) I am staying in Lafayette and training a new sister missionary! Sister Knight is off. I am so excited and nervous to train. This is going to be wonderful. Every set of missionaries I am in contact with is changing! So crazy. We have 15 sisters coming out this transfer! Goodness sakes! :) The missionary word is changing so much!

 So I found a scripture that is perfect for the Band of Brothers and Sisters

Matthew 12:47-50
 47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
So who are my brothers and sisters? All of the other missionaries serving from the Mountainville 4^th ward, for they are about out Father’s will.
I had a wonderful exchange. Sister Donaldson is amazing. There is so much that I learned during our exchange. Having Sister Training Leaders is so important. I have been doing so many things wrong and my work has improved so much now that I am being diligent and exactly obedient. I have so much respect for Sister Donaldson. She is fantastic. We talked a lot during our exchange. Don’t stop; keep going (at doors, in lessons, when one is tired). I admire how Sister Donaldson talks with everyone. Diligence and obedience go hand in hand. Sister Donaldson takes the time to pause and listen to the spirit. She has blessed me so much. She radiates the spirit. I am so grateful for the example Sister Donaldson is and to be able to have Sister Training Leaders that we get to go on exchanges with.
Joey is being baptized this Saturday. I got the cutest call from him last Monday. It went like this, “Sister Bennett, this is Joey. I was wondering if you would come to my baptism and say the closing prayer?” So tender, “Joey I would love to say the closing prayer.” I am so excited to see Joey enter into the covenant of baptism. What a wonderful day that will be.
We had another lesson with Ben this week. Last week he told us that he remembers most everything and that we wouldn’t need to teach him, “for instance the Plan of Salvation again”. We felt prompted that we should go back over the Plan of Salvation because many of his question’s answers are rooted in the Plan of Salvation. He really enjoyed it. He said that a lot more made sense to him after the lesson. He still did not come to church, but he will come soon enough.
We also met with Brother Phipps this week. He read the material we left him. He told us that he is telling basically everyone that he knows that we are teaching him. He said most of their reactions were, “We didn’t know that Mormons allowed black people into their church…?” This allowed Brother Phipps the opportunity to answer some of their questions. What an amazing man. He has only had one lesson with us and he is already spreading the gospel to others. Our lesson was definitely guided by the spirit. He had a few more questions for us. One being, “So where does Joseph Smith fall into the rank of things?” I felt very strongly to say, “We do not worship Joseph Smith.” Brother Phipps exclaimed, “That was my question!” He was relieved to find out that we do not worship Joseph Smith. He also shared a miracle. His ex-wife that he hasn’t talked to in years, called him up and said that she wanted to talk and work things out. He is so excited. Hopefully it turns out well for him. He is progressing so much. I can’t wait to see where he goes.

 Love, Sister Bennett

Hello!

Dear family and friends,

Our investigator, Sister Collins dropped us this week. She said that her husband and she had been reading up on things and decided that this wasn’t for them. It made us sad, but her uncle got in contact with us. He is a member and he said that he would try and work on her some more. Hopefully she will find the truth.

This week I took a moment and pondered how all of the lessons in chapter three could apply to our investigator, Ben. It clicked. This is what I should be doing with every investigator. Take the doctrine from Chapter 3 and then apply it to investigator A’s life. The doctrine in chapter three will answer any questions Investigator A might have. The doctrine is meant to be personal. It is up to the missionaries to make it personal. That is what made my MTC teachers so effective. I get it.

Ben is a former investigator who was given some anti material from his family. We had our first lesson with him. He told us that he wants to meet with us weekly! He told us that he wants to get back into it. After he stopped meeting with the Sisters before, he went back to his catholic church. It didn’t feel right to him, so he didn’t go back. He wants to know the truth. I shared a scripture with him. John 14:26-27. I almost didn’t read verse 27, but I felt prompted to share it as well. He loved the part about peace in verse 27 because that’s what he wants in his life right now. I cannot wait to teach him again.

We have a new investigator this week. His name is Ponch. He loved the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is dyslexic and has trouble reading. We gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon anyway. I felt prompted to tell him that if he has the desire to read it, that God will help him. He agreed to say the closing prayer. In the prayer he asked, “Please help teach me to read this book.” What an amazing moment.

Love, Sister Bennett

Busy, Busy Week!

Dear family and friends,

 Things are really starting to pick up here in Lafayette 2. We are super busy all of the time. I love it. This week flew by. We were able to get a lot of work done.

 We were able to meet with Roshanna again this week. She has been sick and that’s why she didn’t come to church. She allowed us to serve her by cleaning up her kitchen and living room. I hope this was a good lesson within itself, that we care and love her. We did talk about eternal families with her. She likes the idea that her sister will be able to raise those children that she lost.

We had a lesson with Sister Collins. She is doing well. She even came to church and really enjoyed it. Some of it went over her head, but she liked church! She will be an amazing member. We were also able to answer some questions she has had.

 



 We also started to teach Brother Phipps this week. We found him tracting. He knew some members while he was in the army. He told us that he will be at church next week. He has been looking for a church actually. He moved her recently and is trying to find one that feels just right. He had lots of questions for us. One of them being, “Don’t be offended, but I thought black people weren’t allowed at the Mormon Church?” Brother Phipps being African American was confused why we were teaching him. We cleared that up. He has amazing potential.

 Sister Knight went to her neurologist this week. He thinks it is just migraines. He gave her medication. She will be getting an MRI and EEG though, just to make sure it’s nothing more serious. Hopefully everything will go well with her tests.

 I loved our exchange. It was super short, so we weren’t able to do as much as I would have liked. Sister Nielsen is an amazing missionary. We talked a lot during our exchange. She taught me the difference between testifying and bearing your testimony. She enjoys bearing her testimony at the end of the lesson to reinforce the points they have taught. Sister Nielson is an amazing missionary. She has a strong spirit. She knows what a good influence can do for another’s testimony. She’s not afraid to keep going.

 I am privileged to work with such amazing missionaries. This really is the best mission in the world. The small things matter. We are starting to see growth from the seeds we planted a while ago. We are excited to work hard.

 The pictures are from our travel to district meeting in Williamsport. We just so happened to get there right before the train. We got some smashed pennies. Super fun. The train conductor must have thought we were crazy running up to the track like that. Haha. Don’t worry mom we made sure the train was a safe distance away. Also there is a picture of Sister Guy, Elder Sperry, and me. We are the last remaining missionaries in Indiana from our MTC group. Lafayette 1: Elder Sperry, Lafayette 2: me, Lafayette 3: Sister Guy. We ended up all serving right by each other. Crazy huh!?

 Love, Sister Bennett

Week 20

 

 

Dear friends and family,

We finally had another lesson with Susie. She is amazing. We talked about having a change in heart. She said that she has already experienced that. She said she has learned to tame her tongue and to not let things bother her. She really has changed from the short time I got here.

We met with a referral, Sister Collins, her uncle is a member of the church. She is ready for a new church that she feels welcome at. She has enjoyed everything we were teaching her. She has 3 children and is excited to get involved with our church. She has a 19 year old son, who we referred to the Purdue Elders. They said that they went out and meet him. His mother was so excited to see them. I guess she loves us missionaries now.

We finally met with Joey again. He has been taught all of the lessons! His dad has been through the Melchizedek Priesthood classes, so he will be able to baptize and confirm his son. We are so excited for Joey  to be baptized. He is a smart young man.

 

 

Malinda's New Companion, Sister Knight



We met with Roshanna again this week. She did not read The Book of Mormon, so we read with her. We read the first page in Nephi and she loved it. She said, “This is amazing! I want to read this book. I want to read this book with my daughter and my mom and my sister!” We are excited for her to read. She loves to read. I know that she will be able to feel the power of the book when she reads it. She told us that she talked to her boyfriend and they are going to get married! She doesn’t want to live in sin anymore. She wants her daughters to know you should wait for those kinds of relationships for when they are married. Roshanna is amazing. This gospel is already blessing her life.

I am really enjoying my time here. I love our ward. It feels a lot like my home ward. Some of the Brothers in the ward like to tease me, just like my family would. It makes me feel like I am at home. I love that the  members are so willing to help in any way they can. I am blessed to be serving here.

What a wonderful Mother’s Day. I was able to speak with many of my family members. I am blessed to have the mother that I do. She has always been there for me. She knows how to calm me down. She taught me how to build a firm foundation. I love you mom! I am also blessed to have so many wonderful examples of strong women in my life. I would not be the woman I am today without all of your wonderful examples. Thank you! I love all of you!

 

This sign was in front of another church in town!

Love, Sister Bennett

One Year to Go!

To start, two things on my mind: One: I will be flying home in exactly a year! Crazy sauce! Two. A little birdie *tweet tweet* ;) told me that Nathan Anderson is engaged! What the hay bales!? How come it took so long for me to hear about this!? Anyways, congratulations Nate! I hope you have a wonderful wedding day!

 This has been a week of miracles. There is a man in our ward that was baptized less than a year ago while on a trip to Salt Lake City. His conversion was a miracle by itself. He was offended by some of our church members and hasn’t come back to church. Since that time he has been MIA, and no one has heard from him or been able to contact him. We decided to go and find Brother Merkel. Long story short: we went further than we were supposed to and walked down a long driveway that wasn’t Brother Merkel’s. We walked back and ended up finding his house. He wasn’t there. We started to leave and then he pulled up. If we wouldn’t have spent that time walking down that pathway we would have missed him. We were able to find some needs of his and pass it onto the ward.

 Other good news: One of our less-active members quit smoking this week! Our investigator, Roshanna, brought up the law of chastity without us saying anything. She told us she knows it’s a sin for her and her boyfriend to be living together without being married. She expressed her desire to get married.

 I am blessed to be serving in the best mission in the world.

Love, Sister Bennett

Another Busy Week

Dear Family and Friends,

 What a week! This week has gone by fast, and yet seemed so long. I am so sad to see Sister Fullmer go. I am going to miss her terribly. Six weeks was not long enough. She is such a special Sister. I am excited to get to know Sister Knight though. She is very bubbly.

 We met with Sister Jackson this week. She was in the hospital again Monday. They figured out what has been going on and she is back to her normal self for the most part. She asked us to teach her son, Brendon, so we taught him a lesson. He is eight years old, and does not know anything about the church. Sister Jackson’s twenty-two year old daughter, Shirsten, also sits in on the lessons.

 Being a trainer is hard. With each new companion it takes time for adjustment to see how your strengths fit in with each other.  I thought at one point this week, “Just be yourself, everything else will come with time.” I have tried to remember that.

 This week I found one of the highlights of my mission. Before we went home, one evening, I felt like we needed to go say, “hello” to a man in our ward. He had a woman, Crystal, over at his house. She told us that she had questions for us. We came in. We talked and discussed for almost an hour. She has a hard life. She is beaten, bruised, and lost. She told us that she wanted to give up, that she was done; it hurt too much to even breathe. I testified that there is hope. I told her how beautiful she is. I saw her, I really saw her. Not as the crushed spirit before me, but as the beautiful daughter of Heavenly Father that she is. I testified of the love her Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ has for her. We both got emotional. She told us that she wanted to talk to us more. We exchanged numbers. I cannot wait for her to also see the potential I see in her. This reminds me of something I wrote down in study this week, “Look what Christ did for potential.” Christ atoned for my sins, because of the potential he saw in me. He saw me for who I am, and how I could be, once I recognized that potential. I have the opportunity to help Crystal also see that potential within herself. It is amazing to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands, and to feel the Holy Ghost work through me. I love this work.

 Love, Sister Bennett

22 April 2013

This was a long slow week. I didn’t feel my best, but we pushed through. The start of last week was rough. I have been having a bad allergic reaction to something and I hit the climax Monday. I almost blacked out. I am doing much better now. I had my doctor’s appointment today and he thinks it is a medication I was taking. I’ve been off of it for a week and it has helped. Hopefully I continue to get better.  

 

So we got the call last night. I am staying and will finish training a sister! We have a 12 week training program that we do as missionaries. The sister I will be training has finished weeks 1-6 and I will be training her on weeks 7-12. I am so excited! Sister Fullmer is leaving and will also finish training a sister. I am going to miss Sister Fullmer. I know she will do great things. We have had so much fun together. She is an amazing missionary. Our time together has flown by.  She is such a strong person and missionary. She has done great things, and will continue to do great things. She is so happy. She sings all of the time and has a spring in her step. She wants to be better. We did hit a few hard spots, and we are stronger now because of them. I will miss her so much.

 

We have a new investigator. We found her by knocking on the wrong door. We visited her another time and prayed with her. We finally had our first meeting with her this week. We taught Roshanna the restoration. She told us that ever since we prayed in her home, the whole spirit in her house has changed. Good things are starting to happen. She told us that when we talk, she gets goose bumps and chills. We explained that she was feeling the power of the Holy Ghost. She loves to read and is excited to read The Book of Mormon.

 

We were asked to teach seminary this week. It was a lot of fun. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really good. Our transitions to and from each other are a lot smoother.   I thought it turned out very well. One of my favorite lessons thus far.

 

I loved church yesterday. We had ward conference. We talked about how our efforts should be focused on finding our gift/talent and then living up to that privilege. We talked about being strong women and I think Sister Collins is right. It will be the men looking for a return missionary instead of the other way around. President Ellis then talked to us. He told us, “You are doing much better than you think you are doing. Don’t get discouraged.” He then gave us all a blessing. It was sweet.

 

I am looking forward to this new transfer. Great things are happening. I love this work.

 

Love, Sister Bennett

4/15/2013

Hello family and friends!

 We got a call Monday evening from Susie’s mom. She told us that she would never allow her daughter to be baptized into the “Mormon church”. We were devastated. We then got a call later this week saying that we had Susie’s mom’s blessing for her to be baptized. She’ll even come to the baptism. We are planning on having a meeting with Susie and her mother, so she can see that we aren’t crazy or brainwashing Susie. Hopefully that goes well.

 We found two very nice young men who we passed onto the Perdue Elders because they fall under the young single adult category. We met Tony on our lunch break. He grew up without religion. He was asking us all sorts of questions about what we believe. We gave him The Book of Mormon and how to contact us. He said that he’d start reading it. Nick was a headquarter referral. We had a lesson with him. His mom is a recent convert I think. He said that he wanted to look into her new religion so his mom sent us. We had a good lesson. He is willing and ready to learn.

 This week we went to visit Sister Arnold. She is at a nursing facility because she had knee and hip surgery. On the way in one of the ladies, Rosalie, asked us if we could help her roommate. We followed her back to her room. Darlene was told that her cancer is back and she was afraid of dying. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. It gave her comfort. She was worried because she’d never been baptized, so she thought she was going to Hell. Poor lady. I loved sitting there talking to her. It reminded me of all of the elderly people I helped as a CNA at Beehive Homes. I love visiting and helping the elderly. She asked us if we would come back, so we told her we would.

 I love being a missionary right now. I know that even though things get hard that I am never alone. I’ve been promised that. In conference they also talked about that. It’s true, no matter what, we are never alone. They will not leave us comfortless. I’m grateful for prayer, it gives me strength. I enjoy being a part of the best mission in the world.

 Love, Sister Bennett

Sorry, a week late!

Dear family and friends (sorry it's a week late),

This week we met with Susie and she is super excited to be baptized Saturday. We are getting all of the preparation done so the baptism will go smoothly. She has a testimony now that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. We’ve seen a change in just the few weeks that I’ve been here.

Satan is working hard on people. We went back to a lady who said she wanted to learn more. She started by telling us, “I’ve been thinking this last week, and I don’t want to lead you girls on. We are very comfortable in our faith right now…” It went downhill from there. No matter how hard Satan is working, God and his angels are working harder because they have a purpose.

We had a blitz on campus this week after zone meeting. I loved it. I love meeting people from all different walks of life. It was very lively, I loved it. We found a few potentials for the Elders and we taught and testified of simple truths. This work is truly amazing. I’m not the same person I was 5 months ago. I hope I continue to change and get stronger.

General conference was amazing! I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait until the Ensign comes out so I can read over them again. Amazing things are happening in this world and as long as our families are centered on Christ we will not need to fear. There are so many things that are trying to take our attention. Most are not worth our time. Stay focused on Christ and his priesthood. Build on the strong secure foundation.

Love, Sister Bennett

Oops!!!

Malinda forgot to send her letter this week, she's been dealing with a bad rash that we were trying to figure out, so she will have two letters next week. She did send some pics though!!

Another Week of Miracles

Dear Family and friends,

 One more week full of miracles!

 There is a less active lady in the ward who wants to come back. She has slowly been moving closer and closer to Christ. We went to go see her Wednesday and we shared a wonderful talk on Repentance. She loved it and said that’s exactly what she needed to hear. Come to find out the next day, she went into kidney and liver failure. She is now in a hospital in Indianapolis. She received a blessing yesterday. She is in the process of repenting. We hope and pray that she will be okay.

 We tracted into a former this week. Her name is Komiko. We had an hour long discussion with her about how one is saved. She was borderline bashing, however she told us to come back. We have been studying hard for her. We are excited to see what happens at our next visit.

 We had a former investigator contact us this week. We met with Brother Wu this week. He wants to be baptized. He’s read most of the Book of Mormon and part of Doctrine and Covenants. He told us his only concern is that he does not want this to tear his family apart. I felt prompted to tell him that we have members of our ward whose spouse are not members. I told him that we could get him in contact with one of them for support. He had this look of relief on his face. We also told him how much God wants this for him and his family. We told him to pray specifically for help with this matter. We promised him that God would answer his prayers if he prays specifically. I could tell this also gave him comfort. He kept telling us, “I’m going to pray.”

 Seeing as Sunday was Easter I was thinking a lot about the Atonement. I love studying the atonement. At the beginning of Preach My Gospel it says, “As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase.” In my previous studies I wondered about the difference in the phrases of thy will be done from the different testimonies of his disciples. What I ended up finding was interesting:

Matt. 26:39 “Oh my Father, if it be possible…”

Mark 14: 35 “Prayed that, if it were possible the hour might pass from him.” 36 “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me…”

Luke 22: 42 “Father, if thou be willing, remove…”

I cannot imagine the agony he must have been in. Heavenly Father did not leave him helpless.

Luke 22:43 “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” 44 “He prayed more earnestly…”

Christ then understood his purpose. He knew what was at stake. He knew what He and I gained from finishing what he started. He also knew what it meant if he did not go through with it. He chose us. He chose you and he chose me. The Father did not force him to go through with the atonement. He gave him the knowledge so he could choose us. Our Heavenly Father does the same for us; he will not force anyone back into Heaven. That is against the purpose of our life on Earth.

 As a missionary we all choose our Father and His will. That’s why we are here on missions. It’s not until we see that the Salvation of our brothers and sisters is at stake that we become Disciples of Christ. I hope you enjoyed your Easter as much as I did.

Love,
Sister Bennett

Pics from Malinda's New Area

These pictures were sent to us by the Brinkerhoff Family from the Lafayette 2nd Ward, Indiana!