Perfect love casteth out fear

Hey y'all!!!
Time is short today, with big plans for our p-day but I am still excited to talk to y'all!!! Plus
this week was awesome!

Well here is a quick rundown of the week:
Monday during our P-day time we actually went and saw B. (the nice lady from a few weeks ago whose husband didn't want us teaching her) at the iHop she works at so that was fun! In the evening we were able to teach a great lesson to an older lady named L.

Tuesday we had our district meeting where we have been focusing on faith. Then had a good lesson with R. and sang at Golden Age! In the evening we went with our Ward mission leader (Brother Baker) to go see a part member family that he's actually really good friends with. He invited them to hear the lessons and they said yes! Obviously we were really excited about that! Mainly it is the mom and her unbaptized 14 year old son that we will be working with. :)  Member missionary work is truly the BEST! 

Wednesday we volunteered at the Soup Kitchen again! I have a special friend there named B. who i always really look forward to seeing! Then we had our companionship exchanges!! I stayed in Inman and Sister Bird came and joined me! I had a lot of fun and we worked hard :) In the evening we were able to have a lesson with B. before going to our weekly Ward missionary meeting!

Thursday we had yoga day with J. (who we are teaching and working with) which is always a highlight! Then we unexchanged and I got sister Staheli back!! Wahoo!!!! Then we sang at Golden Age! Then in the evening we met a family who had been working with the Spartanburg 1st Ward sisters but just moved into our Ward boundaries! They seem really awesome! Then we had a lesson with K., the new convert, about the Articles of Faith!

Friday we started with weekly planning! Then we saw a lady named A.! In the evening we had a really good lesson with J. about 1 Nephi 7. We talked about how Nephi asked to be delivered according to his faith and that as he asked for deliverance from his brothers, he asked God to strengthen him so he could take care of the problem. We talked about how praying in faith means that we pray with trust in the Lord and with a willingness to act. We shared the quote from Elder Bednar “Nephi is an example of one who knew and understood and relied upon the enabling power of the Savior. … Please note Nephi’s prayer in verse 17: ‘O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound’.“… It is especially interesting to me that Nephi did not pray … to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances. And may I suggest that he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew and understood and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement of the Savior” We shared our testimony that God answers prayers according to our faith and how in Nephi's situation, God answered his prayer almost immediately. However, prayers are not always answered this way. Heavenly Father answers prayers in His own time, in His own way, and according to His will. So it was a great night with J.

Saturday was a great day!! In the morning we saw Sis K.! We made a craft with her and taught her a lesson. Then in the afternoon we tried to contact some people we are reaching out to. We saw a 16 year old less active named D. It was great to be able to visit with him! Afterwards we had a Ward party! It was awesome because we had invited D. to come to the ward party and then he did!! Hooray!! It was funny because at the party they had water balloons for the kids and the missionaries became quite the target! I had a magical power of all the water balloons bouncing right off me without popping. Sister Staheli did not have that power. Hahaha! After the party we saw S. and S. and were able to teach them a great lesson!

Sunday we had church! The M. family And J. came (B. is out of town). We are always excited as missionaries when those we are teaching come to church! After church we had 5 lessons that day with Brother K., a new potential named D., the M. family at Brother Rush's house, a less active named R., and then with J. and K.!

So it was another awesome and busy week here in the fantastic South Carolina, Columbia Mission!!

My quick Spiritual thought for the day:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18)
When we are focusing on our love towards God and the love that He has for us then we are able to overcome and work through any type of fear that may come to us in our lives!!

I love y'all so much!! I hope you have a great Memorial Day and a blessed week!!! We are off to have a Memorial Day barbecue with the wonderful M family!!! Also I did good taking pictures this week, but with the library being closed today we don't have computers so I am unable
to send pictures :(
Love,

 Sister Amy Bennett :)  

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Hey y'all!!!!!

How are y'all all doing today? I am doing good!! We've had another busy week, so here's the run down:

Monday we had p-day! Then we visited Sisteer K. from the ward (we normally see her every Saturday, but we had missed the previous Saturday because of my plague... which I am luckily over now! Wahoo!). Then we saw S. (also a make up lesson from the weekend). So that was good!!

 

Tuesday we had our district meeting! Then we saw the less active R.! His non member cousin was there too so that was fun to teach both of them! Then we sang at Golden Age! Then after dinner we had another awesome lesson with B.!!

 

Wednesday we worked at the soup kitchen in the morning! Then we had a good lesson with the less active K. S.. Then we saw L. (someone we were teaching a few months ago who wanted us to come back again). But during that lesson, even though she had asked us to come back, she didn't actually really want to learn more about the Gospel, or come to church, or anything. So that was kinda strange she'd asked us to come back. Then in the evening we had a lesson with J.!!

 

Thursday we had Yoga day! One of the sets of Spanish elders usually comes, but they weren't able to make it that day, but luckily there were other people in the building so we were still able to go! We had a lot of fun :) Then we visited the older lady E. Then we sang at Golden Age. Then we were supposed to have a lesson with K., but when we showed up there was some family drama going on, so we rescheduled. It was actually really heart breaking.

 

Friday we had weekly planning! Then we saw Sister M. from the ward! Then we saw A. (a man we have been teaching on and off) and he decided he's going to finally give the Book of Mormon and honest try. Wahoo!! That evening we had a lesson with the part member family the M.s. The 9 year old girl, J., is so cute. She was running to grab something when we first got there (in a GIANT rain storm). And she kept yelling from the other room, "Don't start the lesson yet! Just keeping talking about your day! Don't start without me!" It was so cute haha!!

 

Saturday we did a craft with Sister K. In the afternoon we had another lesson with B.! That evening we were working an area we don't go too super often. We were able to see an older man in the ward, Brother L. He's super nice! On our drive up to this little town, Campobello, we were on this road and we went around a corner and there was a giant tree limb in the middle of the road that we had to swerve an avoid. (it had fallen down in the rain... it rained all of Friday and Saturday). I didn't want any one to get hurt so I pulled over the car and then ran and moved the tree limb out of the road. I then noticed a little turtle in the road. I didn't want it to get hurt and I wanted to show Sister Staheli (who was trapped in the car because we were parked in a giant puddle) so I picked it up and carried it back to the car. We put it in a little box that was in the back of our car. J. loves random pets, and he wasn't too far away, so we texted him asking if he wanted it. So then we got to go give him our turtle, which we named the turtle the name of the Brother of Jared (in the Book of Mormon) Mahonri Moriancumer! So that was a fun little adventure!

 

Sunday was good! We had church and the M. family came! Afterwards we stopped by G. C.'s house. They were in the middle of something, but his wife, N., came out and talked to us for a little bit which we were excited about because she's the one who really doesn't like missionaries! After dinner we had a lesson with S. and S.!

So all in all it was a really great week!!!  My spiritual thought for this week is one of my favorite scriptures right now. It is in Doctrine and Covenants section 6 verses 34, 36-37. It says, "Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail... Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven." I really like that scripture because it talks about how because of Christ, we have no need to fear. We can overcome all things because of Him. So I really love just those feel good comforting scriptures! What are some of y'alls favorite feel good scriptures?

Well I love y'all so much and I  hope y'all have a blessed week! Thanks for being awesome :)

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :)

Most of our District! :)

On our way to Yoga!

 

The primary things we need to be doing to keep our testimony strong

Hey y'all!!!!

How is your week going?? I hope well!!! Here is a quick run down of my week:

Monday we had p-day!! Then that evening our plan, and our back up plan, and our back up back up plan all fell through. So we went with our back up, back up, back up plan, which was to try a less active. She let us in, but didn't seem super interested. We had a quick visit with her because she was just about to leave. After we shared a quick scripture she said, "Do you know what's funny? I haven't seen missionaries in almost a year. And then you two show up today. On the four year anniversary of the death of my husband." And you could tell that meant a lot to her. So that was really cool! So sometimes plans fall through because God needs us to be somewhere else.

Tuesday was a good day! We saw a lady in our ward, Sister I., then we sang at Golden Age. Then we had a lesson with the M. family! (The part member family that has been coming to church.)  Then after we had another lesson with a lady named L. we met a few weeks ago.

Wednesday we worked at the soup kitchen in the morning! That afternoon we tried a lot of people who weren't home. We did get to see a less active lady, due to health challenges , Sister S. That evening we had a really good lesson with B. and then had our ward coordination meeting!

Thursday we had weekly planning! Then we had yoga day!!! That was awesome :) Then we had a lesson with a lady named L.P. and her friend B. Then sang at Golden Age! That evening we had a lesson with K.!

Friday we had our Zone meeting (ztm) and I really enjoyed it, so that was good! We talked a lot about faith and I loved that! Also we passed our car inspection! We then went and saw R That evening we had a lesson with J.

Saturday I got struck down by the stomach plague. I'd been having some issues the day before, but not too terribly bad. But when I woke up Saturday I couldn't even get out of bed! And anytime I tried to stand up or move around too much I almost went down. I was really sad because we had to cancel some appointments :( Also we had adult session of stake conference that we weren't able to go to. So Saturday was kind of a bummer.

Sunday I was slightly improved so we were able to go to Stake Conference!! Yay!! It was awesome! And B. and the M. Family came which was fantastic!! It nearly did me in so we came home and I took a nap haha! Then we went to try to see K., S., and S. But their dad had unexpectedly come to pick them up for the day so we didn't actually get to see them. That evening we had a little fireside type thing. Our ward mission leader invited B., J. , and some of the Elder's investigators to come to his house for dinner and to watch the Testaments movie (about Christ coming to the America's). There's the part towards the end where one of the wicked people is trying to escape during the giant earthquake and he gets smashed by the rock carving of himself. At that part B. put his arms out and shrugged his shoulders and said, "well I guess that's fitting." it was pretty funny!

So that was our week!! And hopefully this week neither of us will get sick haha ;)

A quick spiritual thought for the day:
Our stake president in stake conference yesterday gave a talk about the "primary answers" of "read the scriptures, pray, and go to church."  He talked about how we call them the "primary answers" because they are the answers we teach our kids in primary. But they should be the "primary answers" meaning these are the primary things we need to be doing to keep our testimony strong. They are the basis of our foundation and as we slack on doing these we grow bigger and bigger cracks in our foundation until it crumbles and we lose our testimony. So even though they are simple and the "primary answers", I've seen on my mission just how primary these things are to our testimony.

I hope y'all have a great week and you know how much I love y'all!!!! Have a fantastic week!

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :)

 

 

Loving His way more than we love ourselves and our own agenda...

Hey y'all!!!

We had another fantastic week here in Boiling Springs, but I can't believe it's already Monday again! Time is still going way to fast!!

 

Run down of the week:

Monday we had p-day!! Then in the evening we had another lesson with B. She's been going through some hard things recently, so she's really appreciated the support system we've been giving her.

Tuesday we were able to see the less active K, again! After our lesson we helped her clean around her house because she works a lot and her day off is when she cleans, but she had unexpectedly had to baby sit another little girl (along with taking care of her adorable little baby) and so she hadn't been able to clean. Then we sang at Golden Age! Afterwards we saw B. and had a lesson with him! Then we saw an older man named B. We had met him once before. We had a good visit/lesson with him. At the end he said, "Now I want you two girls to remember that you have a friend in South Carolina (talking about himself)." It was so sweet!

Wednesday we worked at the soup kitchen! Then we visited Sister K. from the ward. In the evening we met a potential named C. (I swear every other person we meet is named C.). He was pretty intense haha, but we still had a good lesson with him!

Thursday we had yoga day and singing at Golden Age!!! In the evening we had an appointment with a lady who was working with the Elders in Spartanburg, but then moved into our area. She and her four friends all listened into the lesson! It's cool teaching several people at one time, but it's also a little hard because they are all on different spiritual levels. But it was fun! Then we had a lesson with K.!!

Friday we had weekly planning! Then we went out with Sister F. and saw a lady named A. Then we had a lesson with R. about missionary work! His baby possums are getting bigger! haha :) They are so cute though! In the evening we had a lesson with J.! At the beginning of our lesson he showed us how to make rope out of tree bark! It was really cool!!!

Saturday we got to teach an older lady named M. We met a less active who has a really weird work schedule so missionaries in the past have had a hard time catching her. She was about to leave for a wedding, but after a few minutes of talking to her she said she wanted us to come back. She gave us her phone number and her work schedule. She said she normally didn't like inviting the missionaries back, but that she had a good vibe about us and wanted to have a visit with us! So that was awesome! Then we saw a guy named B.  (we taught him last Saturday as well). This week he had his nephew and his nephew's cousin there as well so that was really cool!! Then that evening we saw S. and S. We did a fun lesson on service and talking about how Christ led the example on doing service. We each had three pairs of paper shoe prints. On the first pair we wrote down service acts that a girl did in a video we showed. The second pair we wrote things Christ did to serve others. On the third pair we wrote what we can do to serve others. Then each took turns placing the shoe prints in a funny path on the ground and followed it (because we should follow Christ's footsteps and serve others). It was so much fun and S. loved it!!!

Sunday was awesome!!!! We had Church! The M. Family came! B. was really sick so he unfortunately wasn't able to come. Then we had a visit with the less active G. C.! It was a really cool visit!! Long story short, he explained to us why he had asked missionaries not to come back, but then told us how grateful he was that Sister Staheli and I were visiting him. He started crying and saying how much it's helped him at this hard time in his life. That was awesome! Then we saw the M. Family at Brother R.'s house! They had wanted to ask Brother R. some questions and Bro R. invited us to come along so that was great! Then we got to call home!!! That was fantastic!!! Definitely a highlight of my week!!! :):) Then we saw Sister K. again since she lives alone and it was Mother's Day.

So this week was really great :):)

 

Quick Spiritual thought: This morning I read a conference talk "Yielding Our Hearts to God." from the October 2015 Conference. It was a really good talk about how much we need to trust in God and His timing. One line that really stood out to me was "Can we love Jesus Christ and His way more than we love ourselves and our own agenda?" I liked that because sometimes it's really hard to turn our will over to God and Christ. But the more we focus on our love for Them and Their love for us, the easier it is :)

 

I love y'all so much and hope y'all have a blessed week!!

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :)

 

Sending Mother's Day love!!

Our butterfly friend!

 

God knows us and He will use us according to our strengths

Hey y'all!!

We have had another fantastically busy week here in the Boiling Springs ward!!! The big news of this week is that Wednesday is transfers... and.... we are both staying!!! Wahoo!!! I'm super excited!! Sister Staheli is awesome and the area is doing really well right now so we are both thrilled to have us both be staying here!! I figured I wouldn't keep y'all in suspense the whole email... but I did consider it haha ;)

Now for the run down of the week:

Monday was p-day! Nothing too exciting to report about that! In the evening we were able to see an older lady from the ward, Sister K. As well as have a lesson with a lady named B. that we met last week. That went well and we were able to review the restoration and purpose of the Book of Mormon with her!

Tuesday we had another District meeting which was awesome! There was a really great training about gaining spiritual knowledge, given by one of the elders in the district. Then we were able to see R. (the returning less active) and his friend S. The most exciting thing about that visit was that over the weekend the got a pet possum that had 8 babies! So we got to hold an adult possum and baby possums! At one point I was holding the mom possum on my lap and she curled up next to me and fell asleep with all her babies on her tummy! I never thought a possum could be so cute!! haha! But it was definitely a moment of "I'm not in Utah anymore" haha! Then we went on another exchange! Our Sister Training Leaders decided to do two exchanges with all the sisters this transfer. This time I stayed in Inman with Sister Johanson (who I was actually in the MTC with so that was fun). We sang at Golden Age retirement center that afternoon and then in the evening we saw B. again. We had another great lesson with him about prayer/the priesthood. Then we met a man named W.! So that was a great evening!!

Wednesday we worked at the soup kitchen in the morning which is always a blast!!! Then we unexchanged. We were able to the briefly see a man named M. we met last week. That evening we had a meeting with our Bishop and other ward leaders to discuss a few things so that went well!! Thursday we had our yoga class with J. which was as awesome as ever haha! Then in the afternoon we were able to see a lady named L. and an older lady named E. and then sing at Golden Age! That evening we saw K. and we able to talk with her about the importance of weekly church attendance. K. is so awesome!!

Friday we had weekly planning! Then we went and tried a few people with Sister F. from the ward. Then we had to travel down to Spartanburg to go to Firestone. We had driven over a screw earlier in the week so we had to get our tire fixed. 😑 But it ended up being a good thing!! We were looking around at some of the stores nearby (including a comic book store that J. works at. Unfortunately he had left 10 minutes before we got there). While leaving one of the stores one of the workers came up and started talking to us and he actually ended up being a less active member of our ward that had moved and we had no idea where he was or how to get contact with him. We were able to meet him and hear he still lives in our ward boundary and he's been trying to come to church, but he works Sunday morning and his ride is late and he can't make it to church. He said he's going to come as soon as he gets a car, which he is about to get one. So that was cool!!

Saturday was awesome!! In the morning we were able to meet a man named C. In the afternoon we met a man named D., who actually called us over to his porch to talk with him. In the afternoon we were walking (we did a lot of walking Saturday) to go see someone, and we walked by B.'s house. (the lady who's super interested, but her husband is not being very nice). She happened to walk outside the same time we were walking by her house so we were able to make contact with her again which was such a tender mercy!!! Then we taught the restoration to a man named B. we met last week. In the evening we were able to meet a few potentials we hadn't meet before. And have another lesson with a part member family (R. and K. N.) that we met a couple weeks ago. We were also able to see S. and K. that evening! So it was awesome!!

Then on Sunday we had church!! The part member family the M.s came, and so did B. and his unofficial step son J.! J. and K. made it to the third hour! So that was really exciting!! Then we were able to see a recently returned member, Brother K. Then a man named A. we have been working with on and off. Then we had our final pass off lesson with the M.Family. We should now be fully over them so that's exciting!! That evening we saw S. again and then had a lesson with J. and K.!! So it was a really great week!!

 

A spiritual thought for this week is that God knows us and He will use us according to our strengths. For example God knows me and He knows that I'm a little kid. And this week He used that to further his work. I actually had "dragged" Sister Staheli to go look around Toys R Us while waiting for our car which is where we were able to meet the less active Jacob. So I know that God is aware of each of us. He knows our strengths, our weeknesses, and our personality quirks and He will use us the way we are to accomplish His purposes. He's pretty awesome that way :)

Well I love y'all so much and I am excited for this next transfer! I hope y'all have a blessed week!!

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :)

 

Mother Possum and her babies!

Holding the 9 possums!

The District

Working with some of our favorite people!!