A Merry Mission Christmas

Hey y'all!

This week was a lot of fun! I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas!

Monday we had a fun pday with the Dutch Fork sisters and our recent convert W. cornrowed our hair! It was a party! Then in the evening we went caroling with the Dutch Fork Sisters!

Tuesday we had our district meeting! Sister Welch and I did a musical number. We did the arrangement of "O come O come Emmanuel" by the piano guys. I was on piano and she was on violin. Then we went on exchanges. I was in Chapin with Sister Cook (who I came out with!) we helped out at the mission office and then in the evening we had a really good lesson with B. on baptism!

Wednesday: we did service at J.'s gym again helping him set up Christmas lights. In the evening we had a good lesson with C. 

Thursday: we did our weekly planning. Then we had a super good lesson with A. (the girl who's grandma called us last Sunday to teach). We taught restoration and it went really well. Then our zone went caroling at the state capitol in Columbia! It was a party!

Friday: we went caroling at an old folks home with the Dutch Fork and Irmo sisters! Then we saw C. and talked about the power of music and we sang for her! Then we went caroling again with the Dutch Fork sisters!

Saturday: Christmas Eve!!!!! We spent most of the day will J. (the recent convert) and her daughter K.! We went out to lunch and then went shopping! So it was a ton of fun! Then we had dinner with the members whose property we live on! It was a lot of fun! Then we had a sleep over with the Dutch Fork and Irmo sisters!!!! It was awesome! 

Sunday was Christmas!!!! We had a combined sacrament meeting! Sister Welch and I did another musical number in sacrament meeting! I played the piano and she played the violin again. This time we did "What Child Is This". It was super cool because after the meeting several people came up to us and told us that our song brought the spirit so strong that they cried. Then we had lunch with the branch president and his family. Then we face timed our families!!! It was so good to see them and hear their voices :):) then we had dinner with the B. family! Then we stopped in to see J. again. We sang a few songs for her! 

So it was an awesome week and a fantastic Christmas!!!! 

 

My Spiritual thought: of the week is John 3:16-17. "

 

16  ​For ​​​God​ so ​​​loved​ the ​​​world​, that he ​​​gave​ his ​​​only​ begotten ​​​Son​, that whosoever ​​​believeth​ in him should not perish, but have ​​​everlasting​ ​​​life​.

​​​​​17 ​For God ​​​sent​ not his Son into the world to ​​​condemn​ the world; but that the world through him might be ​​​saved​."

 

 The reason we celebrate Christmas is because Christ was born in the world to save all of us. I am grateful for my savior and all He does for me each day. I know He loves all of us so much. 

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

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :)

The master Corn rower

 

 

 

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Hey y'all! 

I hope you had a good week! Honestly this week went by so fast I can't even believe it!! 

Monday: we played sports with the sisters in my district! And we (well actually mainly just me) edited our district skit. I love video editing!! In the evening we had a really good lesson with B. where we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ! He is just the cutest kid ever! 

Tuesday: we had Christmas zone conference! So much fun! It was combined with the Columbia zone!! We had a couple trainings. And the trainings the Assistants gave was honestly the training I have been waiting for my whole mission. It was amazing! We talked about finding and a few other things and the spirit was so strong and it just reminded me how awesome being a missionary is! Then we watched all the district skits! Our missionary kid history skit was a hit! So fun! Then we watched a movie. I was expecting some good church type movie. But then president pulls out a hallmark movie called "Christmas in Conway." Before he told us a few religious lessons we can pull from it and then said "but basically it's a chick flick" and he was right! Haha!  But it was set in South Carolina so that was fun! But it was weird watching a chick flick... in the evening we saw C. and R. and showed them the Christmas video. 

Wednesday: we did the same service at walmart that we did last week. The we saw members the Johnsons and showed "testimony of the Book of Mormon" video! Then had branch missionary meeting!

Thursday: we planned for our week and then went out finding!!! Not much else went on this day haha! :)

Friday: we went and helped out at We Care again! Then we saw a less active named Angie and invited her to the branch Christmas party! In the evening we had a really good lesson with Melissa, Robin, and Petie.   We showed the video where it's the guy who's family got killed in an accident by a drunk driver and he talks about endurance and forgiveness! So that was awesome! We also sang a Christmas song for them! 

Saturday: we saw J. and S. We talked about the purpose of trials in this life and  how we can rely on Christ through them. In the evening we had our branch Christmas party! And of course Sister Pickett and I wore matching Christmas sweaters! Always a hit ;) 

Sunday: M. and P. came to church. We were also super excited because A. (who we saw on Friday) came with her daughter and stayed all three hours! Also another super exciting thing happened on Sunday! So there was a less active family that moved in recently. And their 14 year old daughter is not baptized. But she has been coming to church the past few weeks. During the afternoon we got a phone from the family asking us to come teach the 14 year old, A., the lessons and set an appointment up! It was such a big answer to our prayers! We totally felt like the part in the "Best Two Years" movie when they pray that the guy will call them back and right then he phone rings and when it's him the missionaries look up and the Hallelujah chorus plays in the background haha!! But it was awesome! Then we went and had an early Christmas dinner with the J. and their less active son. 

So it was another great week here in Chapin! 

 

My spiritual thought comes from a quote I read this morning by Abraham Lincoln (I picked this just for you Katie!). "I have bee driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day." I have really seen the difference that prayer makes each and everyday. I have no idea where I'd be without prayer and the support I receive from my Heavenly Father! 

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

Love always,

Sister Amy Bennett :) 

Christmas Tree Happiness

 An Ornament fell on her head!

 

The Three Pack Reunited

With Dutch Fork Sisters and their new cars

With her little buddy!

 

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!!

Hey y'all!
This week... haha well... basically all I did this week was perform musical numbers ;)

Monday We had pday where we filmed our district skit for our Christmas zone conference! Then in the evening we practiced with Elder Jacobsen. They came up the night before the leadership meeting so we were able to practice again, but since they are coming all the way from Charleston they were running late so that took up our whole evening haha!
Tuesday We performed the musical number at MLC (mission leadership conference). Elder Jacobsen and I did this really awesome medley/mashup of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and "I wonder as I wander". And it went super great! So good in fact that President asked us to also sing "What child is this" that we sang for the senior couples meeting! So we did two songs haha! In the evening we went to a member's house because they were having a Christmas party and wanted us to talk to their nonmember friends, sadly none of them showed up haha!
Wednesday We went with the Dutch Fork sisters to push people in wheel chairs around Walmart for service. Then we went to practice with some other sisters for a different musical number. Sadly then sister Pickett got super sick so we were in the rest of the day :(
Thursday Sister Pickett was still really sick. :( In the evening we went to our Relief Society Christmas party. At that I also did a musical number. I did a solo singing "Mary did you know?".
Friday We had our zone meeting! Sister Pickett and I and two other Sisters sang a medley of "Mary did you know" and "O Come O Come Emmanuel" #BenOnThePickettFence after the meeting we went and helped out with the mail at the mission office. Then in the evening we went to a little branch gathering.
Saturday We got to do missionary work! We saw W. and had a really good lesson with her where we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ! Then we did our weekly planning. In the evening we went out to dinner with J. and S.n and then talked about the importance of service!
Sunday: J. and B. came to church! It was so exciting!!! Yay :) We also had a really good lesson with M., R., and P. We read out of Moroni 7 and talked about getting answers to our prayers!
So it was a good week, but seriously feel like I spent the whole week singing haha!

And in honor of that my spiritual thought of the week is going to be from the first presidency message in the hymn book. It says "Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord." I love music so much and I know that it can invite the spirit in such a powerful way!
 I love this gospel more and more each day and know that it is true and ever lasting!
Y'all have a blessed week!
Love always,
Sister Amy Bennett :)

When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God!-

Hey y'all!!!

And actually I'm still rocking the short sleeves, so it doesn't really look like Christmas here... but it's December and people have put some decorations up so I'm trying to imagine the snow haha ;)

This week was another good week! (which tends to happen a lot ;) )

Here is the run down:
Monday was a fun p-day! We went and hung out with the Dutch Fork Sisters and said goodbye to Sister Burt because she was getting transferred, :( sad day! Then in the evening we saw a less active named W. B.! She is basically just like Mamma Oddie off of "The Princess and the Frog". So that's pretty fun! She's had 3 people in her family die in the past month and so we watch a video called "Mountains to Climb" and talked about the reason for trials in our lives. Then we went and saw W.! We read out of the Book of Mormon with her. We read where she was at in her reading, which meant we read right in the middle of Second Nephi. Gotta love that Isaiah!

Tuesday: So Tuesday morning the Zone Leaders called us saying that President called them asking for Elder Jacobsen (the zone leader I sang with at the mission home a few weeks ago) and I to do a musical number at the meeting President has with all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders (which is taking place tomorrow). The one problem was Elder Jacobsen got transferred to be a zone leader in Charleston and so we had to go practice with him on Tuesday before he got transferred ha ha! So we put together a little musical number that will hopefully be pretty good haha! Then we met a lady named K. and showed her the Church's new Christmas video!!!! #LightTheWorld Then we saw TJ again and also showed him the Christmas video (we've been doing that a lot this week and LOVE it). We also had dinner with a former investigator named A.!

Wednesday: We helped out at We Care again! That was really good! Then we went and had a lesson with a lady named N.! Sister Pickett and I finally got to teach a full restoration! That was a first for our companionship and it was awesome :) In the evening we saw B. and J. again! B. is just as cute as ever! We taught him the Plan of Salvation using cut outs and then had him teach it back to us. Teaching 9 year olds really is just the best!

Thursday: This week the Chapin, Dutch Fork, and Irmo wards did a combined "Nativity Celebration" where they had a ton of nativities set up and then had live music going. So on Thursday we spent a good chunk of the day helping set up for that. Then in the evening we had a really good lesson with M., R., and P.!!! We also showed the Christmas video to them, hehe :)

Friday: We had weekly planning. Then we went and did service at Jerry's boxing gym again! And then we went to the Nativity Celebration. Okay here's where it gets fun! Sister Welch (Dutch Fork) plays the violin and had this great idea that we could do a harp/violin duet as part of the live music at the celebration because the member in the Dutch Fork ward was bringing her harp anyway. (Which was a fantastic idea!) The funny part was that we didn't get to practice before hand. So literally the first time playing these songs ever was in front of people! It went mostly good haha! I only had to ask Sister Welch where we were once ;) But it actually went really well all things considered! So it was a blast!

Saturday: We saw W. B. again in the morning and... also showed her the Christmas video ;) Then we had lunch with C.! Then we went to the Nativity Celebration again! We played the harp and violin again and it went much better the second day! Then we went to go see J. and B., but when we arrived, J. wasn't back from work yet.

Sunday: Church was good! Then we had lunch with members, the B.s, and J. and S.! So that was fun! In the evening we went and watched the Christmas Devotional with M., R., and P. In good old Bennett fashion we had quite a few technical difficulties, but we got it all figured out and probably watched about half of it, haha! But they did make these amazing gluten and dairy free cookies, of which I ate way too many! They take such good care of us! We also got to watch it wearing snuggies. Which made me decide I should never own a snuggie because I'd be way too tempted to leave the house wearing it, haha!

So we definitely had another really great week!

Well along with the churches Christmas initiative of service for my spiritual thought of the week I want to share Mosiah 2:17, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." I have LOVED all the service opportunities I've had throughout my mission and continue to have every day! Service truly is such a blessing and makes the world a better place!

Well y'all have a blessed week and a fantastic start to your Christmas season!

Love always,
Sister Amy Bennett :)

Service at the Boxing Gym

 

Snuggies during the Christmas Devotional