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