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