WEEK 45: ZL!

So this was a little crazy, busy and had a lot of change! Monday was normal with Pday playing basketball and dinner ending with calling some referrals and street contacting.

Tuesday night we got a call from president stating that Elder Hutchinson would be a mission office elder, and that I would go into a trio with the other Gardena elders. Crazy!

Wednesday Elder Hutchinson said goodbye to some members, then Elder Roe came and picked him up and I went with the east Gardena elders, Elder Wassum and Mayberry, now double covering the east and west in a car. We did weekly planning, and then we went on splits with 3 different members which went super good!

Thursday was the international zone interviews so we had to run that all the way till 4pm. Then had dinner and went straight to a lesson with Charlotte. We went through the 3rd lesson which went super good! At the end we talked about how to recognize the spirit and then reset her baptismal date for the 28th!

Friday was ZTM which went really good! President and Sister Haynie came to it and afterwards president called me out into the hallway which he then called me to be a zone leader! So now i am the international zone leader with Elder Mayberry. We cover the whole mission and go to a stake report each Sunday in different stakes. I’m over all the Chinese, Korean, and Farsi elders and sisters. It’s pretty crazy!

Saturday Elder Wassum went to be a zone leader in Lawndale. We had a lesson with Napoleon and read 1st Nephi 6 and really broke it down. Then brother Vanisi came and installed an AC unit into our apartment. Hallelujah! Then had dinner at the Nakilas and taught Maimai the 3rd lesson of her new member lessons. Then went into the east side and saw a guy named Edgar and set a baptismal date with him for September 18th.

Sunday we went to the Gardena and the Nuumau ward. Then went to Palos Verdes for a stake report there and I saw Elder Griffin! He's the PV zone leader. Then went to a lesson with Walter and brother Woolwine came with us. Walter is now in Alma! He's progressing really well. Then had dinner with the Florciks. Was a busy day!

Overall it was a busy week! Now a zone leader and covering the whole Gardena ward boundaries. A little stressful but it's good! Busy. I’m loving the mission and having a great time!

Love Elder Bennett

WEEK 44: AUGUST

Monday: we played basketball all pday, then went to see some less actives after dinner!

Tuesday: Was awesome! We had gotten a referral from an investigator (who can't get baptized at the moment but wants to) so we had a lesson with her! Her name is Ishimini. We had 2 members come, along with Napoleon (eternigator), ishimini's boyfriend and her sister! So 8 of us were there total! Had an awesome restoration lesson and all 3 of them accepted a BOM and are excited to read! Then we exchanged with the zone leaders and I went with elder Lara (from Spain) and saw a potential named Adrian. He's 16 and we met him on the street a couple weeks ago when his sister hit a tennis ball of the fence into the street right beside us. So in the lesson we were just talking getting to know him and he mentioned how he was raised Catholic but hi always felt there was something more and disagreed with a lot of things in the catholic religion. As we went through the restoration he just ate it all up and when we quoted the first vision he had tears in his eyes. Said "I've been searching for this. I know it's true." We invited him to be baptized on August 21st! He accepted and has been reading a ton! Only concern is his catholic family. It’s a work in progress but he's super prepared!

Wednesday: We had a lot of appointments fall through but had a good lesson in the evening with Edwin. He's going through a lot of challenges at the moment and feels that he needs to get it all figured out first then he can focus on baptism. Talked about the promised blessings and he agreed to prepare to be baptized in August. He came to a baptism with us on Sunday!

Thursday: Weekly planning, then had a great lesson with Charlotte! She talks as if she knows she's gonna get baptized haha. Says she plans to bring her other half along with her (husband). Had dinner with a member in the ward who is awesome! She made us blueberry pie for dessert but the top of the pie was cobbler... Sooooo good! Mixed it with icecream as usual haha.

Friday: We had DM but found out we weren't supposed to because of interviews! But it went really well! Didn't have a dinner so it was a cheat day and we went to in and out... But it was super good! Haha had gift cards from a member. Saw Edwin again but not much has changed. So doing well but not much progress.

Saturday: Was a full day of finding! Found a few people and also went to an investigators sons birthday party! They rented a bouncy house just for him. Had it all to himself haha. Walked a lot.. Kind of a "bleh" day. It's getting so hot here!

Sunday: Church was super good and we watched the missionary atonement video and then discussed it. Some really good points were brought up! The thing that stood out to me was that missionary work requires us to be selfless. It's a work that isn't for us, it's for others. Hence why missionaries are told to lose themselves in the work. After church we had a lesson with Walter (Methodist) and he has read 1st and 2nd Nephi already! He's enjoying it and said it all conforms with the bible so far. He hasn't had any red flags come up. Taught the plan of salvation and it was interesting that he had never thought about the pre earth life before. He was mind blown to see the scripture references in the

bible towards the three kingdoms. Says he is going to specifically pray to know if it's true or not. Then we went to a baptism with Edwin which went super good! Had some awesome refreshments afterwards. Was a great week!

I'm doing great and am surviving the heat so far! Now that it's August that might be another story later on haha. Definitely have a wicked farmers tan. Love you all and have a great week!

Love Elder Bennett

WEEK 43: DON'T LET THE BED BUGS BITE...

Monday: We had Ryan and Phelina (investigators) come to the church in the morning to play bball. Ryan had challenged me to a 1 vs 1 haha. Before they had to leave we had a church tour and showed them all the different rooms and where they go for the 2nd/3rd hours. Was really good! Then we had the branch elders and the Palos Verdes elders come play basketball. Was super fun! By 6 my legs were dead haha. We had dinner, then we're about to go to an appointment and she cancelled.. So we street contacted/called potentials for the rest of the night.

Tuesday: Had a lesson with our investigator Napoleon. He is an older African American guy who basically acts like a member, comes to church each Sunday, has a super strong testimony, everything but can't get baptized because his girlfriend whom he has grandchildren with refuses to get married because it's "for the church". So he's in the process of moving to Idaho to live with his daughter so he can get baptized. He super cool though and everyone in the ward knows him. He's been coming to church every week for the past 2 years. At this point we just read a chapter from the BOM with him then break it down afterwards and he ends up teaching us haha. He's read all the standard works. In the evening we had a lesson with 2 less actives and their unbaptized 8 year old. They just came back and want their son to get baptized! So we are teaching him the lessons.

Wednesday: Had our ward scripture study in the morning and had a new investigator show up with Napoleon! So that was awesome. The scripture study is perfect because it's run by a ward missionary, he has a projector with a bunch of slides going through the BOM, anyone can show up and follow along, make comments and such, and it's also a potluck so most everyone brings food! Trying to get more investigators to come. In the afternoon we stopped by Rebecca (Phelina's Mom) and read 3rd Nephi 11 with her.

Then on our way to our dinner we were going through an intersection on our bikes, and this lady who was going straight as well suddenly decided to turn and smoked Elder Hutchinson! Knocked him off his bike, he skidded to the other side of the cross walk on his side bag and everything. I thought he was gonna be dead haha. But he's fine! Only thing is a good scrape on his elbow and a hole in his pants. Bike was perfectly fine as well! Miracle! We got the ladies info/insurance and then suddenly we heard sirens and 2 police cars showed up, 22 fire trucks, a patrol officer, and an ambulance haha. Someone must have called 911 when they saw the accident cuz we didn't call. So it was pretty intense! I called our dinner and said we were gonna be late because my companion got hit by a car... Lol best excuse for a missionary I'd say!

Then in the evening we had a member come to see our BD Edwin. He's so close to being baptized just is still unsure. Pretty sure it's the Catholic in him. Family opposition. Read through the baptismal interview questions with him and he's fine with all! Just a matter of time.

Thursday: Weekly planning for most of the day, had a lesson with a LA, and a RC. Then had our ward mission leader and a ward missionary come to see our investigator Charlotte. Taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went great! Spirit was there and the members bore awesome testimonies!

Friday: Had district meeting then I went on exchanges with the ASL north elders. Was really fun! Quiet but fun.. Haha. There is just a special spirit there as we teach those with disabilities the plan of salvation. We had to exchange back in the evening because our apartment has bed bugs!!! So we then took brother Vanisi to see a less-active with went really well.

Saturday: Pioneer Day! Our stake had a BBQ, live music, and pioneer activities going on at the church. Super fun! Edwin came and it was fun watching the stick pull. Afterwards we went and saw a member who just found out she has cancer. Her husband isn't a member. Shared the plan of salvation with them and gave her a blessing afterwards. They are an old Japanese couple and are so sweet! Sad to see her energy go away. Then we went and saw Napoleon again with our RC Anneliese. Read
Alma 46! Then spent the rest of the night attempting to kill all bed bugs. Bought 91% alcohol and sprayed every bit of the room down, vacuumed everywhere. None were in my bed, they were all in my companions box spring. It was nasty!

Sunday: Edwin came to church! Was super good and the talks were awesome. Brother Villalon (Filipino) talked about the Filipino pioneers. Cool to hear the history of the church there. His wife was the first convert in her village. Got baptized in the ocean. After church we had lunch then went and tried to street contact/visit potentials and less actives.. It was sooooooo hot!!! Idk what the
temperature was but Gardena was a ghost town. No one on the streets, no one opened their doors, and the only cars were on the main streets! Not many people here have AC (doesn't make sense) so they were all hibernating. We literally walked around/knocked on doors for 2 hours and saw 2 people. Had dinner at a members house (no AC) and he served his mission here 15 years ago! Cool to see his mission photo album. After dinner he came out with us and saw our investigator Theresa. Shared a message with her and it went great!

Overall it was a great week! Always eventful when someone gets hit by a car haha. Love y'all!

Love Elder Bennett

WEEK 40

Monday

For Pday we had to run around a lot and pick up things. Elder Hutchinson had to do a few errands and we didn't get to the church till around 1. Played basketball with Elder Lupeni and the ASL elders. Also played a game called chair soccer which was really fun! Btw if all those who email me could email me Sunday morning, that would be awesome because I can read your emails Sunday night and pre write.

After Pday we had dinner at a Hawaiian families house, then went and saw our investigator Edwin who is preparing to be baptized on the 10th. It was super cool as he talked about how he felt at church. Says he just feels a peace as soon as he walks in the building, and the rest of his day always goes better. When he prays about baptism all he feels is a good feeling! We are going to take him to the visitors center on Friday. We then biked home and got home at exactly 9:30 and our apartment was about 95 degrees! I'm gonna have to get used to the heat before I'll be able to sleep good at night haha

Tuesday

Well it was my birthday! Don't feel any different. Still a teenager so I guess nothing has changed! Does feel weird to think that without the age change, I would be just going out now. Don't know what I'd have done this past year if I'd been home haha. This morning we went to find a referral that we had gotten, got to the apartment building and none of the doors were marked. And there were about 60 apartments...

So we were in the courtyard debating if we wanted to tract the whole building when a guy walks out of his door, and says "Are you looking for Tony? Because that's me." Haha so he invited us in! He has talked with a number of missionaries on the street before but finally decided he'd give them his address and listen. The lesson was powerful and he had tears in his eyes as we shared the first vision. In his prayer at the end he asked God to help him find all the truth that he knew was in the Book of Mormon. He super sincere! Then we met with our investigator Napoleon who is cohabitating and trying to move out. He has come to church for the past 2 years every week. Just doesn't have the money to move out! Then we saw a less active named Andy who just recently sold an app to a company for 18 million dollars... He always tries to tempt us into driving his thunder bird, charger, corvette and porche haha. But we haven't given in! Then for dinner we ate at the Vanisi's who are always helping us with the flat tires we get. Brother Vanisi is awesome! They bought me a cheesecake from kings Hawaiian, and gave me a card. Awesome family! It was his birthday on Monday and we got him a card. It was a great day! Other than the 3 gun shots we heard as we were getting into our apartment. Good old LA!

Wednesday

In the morning we went to our wards bible study at the church. We had a few recent converts and investigators there and it went really good! Afterwards we had lunch, then I went on exchanges with Elder Monger who is in the ASL program. He is 90% deaf so it was tough to communicate but he is awesome! We spent the day visiting less actives in their branch and we even went to long each because their boundaries go part way into that mission haha so I left my mission! Then we went with the branch president to see an investigator who's nephew is deaf. He has a ton of questions like our investigator Marquel. Things like "Why did Moroni take the gold plates back?" And "What archeological evidence is there of the Book of Mormon people?" And "How does he differentiate between us and the JWs when they claim they know their book to be true through the power of the Holy Ghost?" So it was a fun lesson! Haha but we tied it back to read, ponder, pray and president Sutton bore a powerful testimony. It seemed to catch Michael (the investigator) of guard as president Sutton bore testimony and the spirit just flooded the room. He accepted the invitation to read, ponder and pray after that! Then we went and got subway to end the night. Crazy that we now have a new mission president!!

Thursday

This morning we went to the "Meet the President" meeting and met President and Sister Haynie! They are from Washington and turns out that sister Haynie is a Peterson, who was born in Magrath, grew up in welling and taught school in Magrath? So that's crazy awesome! They said they both have visited Magrath many times. They are both awesome and they have an amazing spirit about them. They both bore their testimonies to us and it was just so motivational! President Haynie has met a ton of general authorities, from Spencer W Kimball, to Henry B Eyring. They are gonna be great. We then had lunch, did weekly planning, had dinner at our ward mission leaders house, then visited a few less actives! One quote from sister Haynie that stood out to me was "We need to have a current testimony. Not one that happened with a spiritual experience long ago, but one that has been reaffirmed regularly." Amen! Haha

Friday

Had no district meeting today because of the meeting yesterday. We were supposed to go to the temple with our investigator today but he didn't get back to us! Wasn't picking up his phone, or texting us back. So that stunk. We ended up making a route of potentials and less actives to walk to so we could get some street contacting in. Didn’t have too much success finding, but then a car pulled up with an African American couple in it and they asked us if we were LDS missionaries. They then asked "Could you please come and teach us? Our address is ...." Then drove off so that was awesome!! Definitely a tender mercy. We then had dinner at the Parkes, then street contacted some more. We found a guy from Mexico who hasn't seen his family for 20 years. He has been living in LA and has been just sending the money he makes here to them. He was super excited at the idea of eternal families. It was a good day! Got 2 new investigators, and a few new potentials.

Saturday

Our first 3 appointments fell through today... So that was frustrating! But then the ZLs texted us to meet us at the church and get our mail and I finally got my birthday package! Woo! Which definitely made the day awesome haha. I'll admit it was pretty rough getting it back to the apartment on bike.. But worth it! We had an awesome experience though as we went to see a less active who we hadn't met yet. I called her on the phone to see if we could come by and she said "Well sure but I'm going to another church." So I said "Sweet we will see you tomorrow at 3!" So we went over, and she had invited a friend over to listen as well who isn't a member. It was a little awkward at first, but they warmed up to us quick and we started talking about the Book of Mormon. She got baptized 20 years ago, and said she knew it was true then, and so we asked her how she knew, and she said she felt the spirit when she prayed about it. So we then asked her what it felt like. And she couldn't remember. We then talked about how Satan is always trying to make us forget spiritual experiences, or brush them off. It was like a lightbulb turned on in her head and she said, "So I need to read and pray about it again to feel the spirit again." Plus Rudy (the friend) had some good questions. He is Catholic and has met with missionaries before but said he felt enlightened this time. Said he learned a lot and felt something different. Told us as we left "Don't think you wasted your time. You helped both of us. And now we can spread the word as well.” Miracle!

Sunday

Fast Sunday was great! Testimony meeting was awesome. Had a lot of "different" testimonies but they were sincere and the spirit was there! We then went and visited a guy who is a literature teacher, and Methodist preacher.... Quite daunting as we listened to him explain his accomplishments, but it was amazing as we bore testimony his attention became focused and you could tell he felt the spirit. Amazing how the gospel can excite the minds of the most intellect, and the most unlearned. After that we had dinner at the Lee's and she made apple crisp and had vanilla icecream!! My favorite (well peach is but close enough). Then we went and saw a less active who bore his testimony today. We had a lot of people today tell us his testimony touched them. He fell away from the church after highschool, but came back when his wife joined the church. It was a great day and a great week! Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

Love, Elder Bennett