Monday, December 29, 2014

Last Two Weeks of Emails

12/29/2014
Koriann,


Of all my Christmas', this probably wins when it comes to favorites. I had a wonderful Christmas day where I felt motivated to work the second our call had ended. Last Mother's day, my emotions were weighing me down so much. To the point where during our studies, I napped instead because I didn't want to feel so homesick. I've never done that since on my mission, but man, my heart just ached. I was so nervous prior to the call that the same thing was going to happen, to the point my stomach felt sick all that morning. I was relieved to find out that I could handle it much more smoothly and optimistically. The Lord really blessed me with emotional strength and motivation to pursue the best Christmas I've had.

I apologize that I was so clueless on Skype, I was seriously at a loss for words yet I couldn't bring myself to pull away from our conversation ha. I'm satisfied with how it went, lets hope that next Mother's day I will actually be obedient and keep it under an hour ha. 

The rest of our day was great, we spent a lot of time with members, we roasted smores, and we went to the ward Christmas Party. (Below is a picture of the Liava'a's. Latu is right next to me, Nehasi is on the end, and Irie is in the middle. Latu and Nehasi are brothers and Irie is their cousin. I would've attached a picture of Siosi, but in every picture, he's making ridiculous faces haha!) 

The rest of our weekend was pretty good. We decided to take Rudy and Tita out to dinner for a wedding gift and had a lesson at the restaurant. It was fun. Then we were able to talk to Agnes on Saturday. Awesome news! Agnes really wanted to join our pizza party but she was too tired last time, so we set up another pizza party for this Wednesday. Also, for Christmas, she got us a $30 Coldstone gift card!!! She's so awesome. She said she really wants to take us to get seafood on the pier in San Pedro. She doesn't quite know our boundaries obviously ha.

Today is the beginning of a new transfer and I personally am very excited to be spending another 6 weeks here. Elder Thompson on the other hand... not so much. He's been in this ward/zone for a while, he was really hoping to get transferred and I am one to conform to other people's feelings, so if you will do me a favor and pray for him to draw upon diligence. I love the ward and the work so much, but it's not fun working with a burnt out companion. But I do know the Lord has us here for good purposes. I mean, we are supposed to have 3 baptisms this upcoming 6 weeks, so we are stoked. Plus, Rudy's brother said he wants to have a lesson with us, so things are going very smoothly. I really don't know what we're doing to deserve all this good news! 

This week is going to be good. We are seeing Rosie today to re-establish her baptism, we're running district meeting on Tuesday in Barstow, New years Eve is on Wednesday, we have a Zone leader meeting on Friday, and weekends tend to be really good for us. I'm looking forward to many great things! Have a great new year! Love you! (:

- Elder Bennion

12/22/2014
Mom, Dad, and Koriann,


I would make this email detailed like the last one, but you've all stated the obvious, that in a few short days I will be seeing your lovely faces!!! As I type I get super shaky because I'm so anxious and excited at the same time!

I will share a couple highlights/news from this previous week.

We had a fun pizza party with the Liava'a's, we had a very good lesson on temples. Understandably, they were more excited about the pizza, but they all seemed to enjoy the lesson. It was an interesting topic to them, especially since Tongans are all about family first. If it were up to them, I know for sure they'd be doing baptisms for the dead and encourage their parents to get sealed.

On Wednesday we had our Christmas devotional with all the missionaries in the desert, and that's when I realized that a lot of my friends are in the valley! It was a slight bummer. But Lucerne Valley made all the missionaries beanies and Phelan bought us scarves, it was so nice of them! 

On Friday, we started teaching a member's friend named Nancie, but she goes by Sissy. She accepted a baptismal date of January 17th and she's really excited! I'm excited too, President Hobbs just has a slight fear of non-Polynesians getting baptized in a Tongan ward, and I understand why. The ward will eventually try to shift her over to the Adelanto ward, which will be good.

Saturday was Rudy and Tita's wedding and they wanted a very small wedding, and they did get what they wanted ha. It was in the relief society room and there was about 20 of us ha. Which is very abnormal for Tongans. Chris and Jasmine's wedding was way different than this one. But it brings them one step closer to baptism, so that's cool! 

Speaking of Chris and Jasmine, they got callings on Sunday! So rad. We taught Rudy and he's not ready to be baptized because of WOW issues, but he's working hard! and Rosie has been funny lately. We haven't seen her in a week and a half and she's out of town for the week, so her baptism is getting moved once again. It's alright though, we just gotta be patient!

We've been in a trio since Friday because a guy's companion went home and Elder Fernando and I have been in the same zone twice, so I'm cool with having him for the week. It's made things kinda stressful though trying to stay on top of 2 areas and he is from the Philippines, so the time zone for this Christmas is WAY different. It'll all work out though. 

Because Tongans aren't super into technology, we're gonna have to do the same thing we did at the Rich's. The Nau's only have facetime available for their tablet. I'm not sure how that works, but if there are any complications, I still remember your guys' phone numbers so I can receive permission to call you on a member's phone and get it figured out. I assume I can call Dad's phone on the tablet, that way you can see my face as if it were skype. I hope that made sense. We will be skyping at 12 p.m. PST, so 1:00 p.m. in Utah! I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you all. I'm sure that when I see you guys, I will be tear-filled, but I am so excited for Thursday! I love you all so much and will talk to you then!!!

- Elder Bennion

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Lots of Information

Mom, Dad, & Koriann,

This works out quite well to send you all three the same email as you seem to be the most interested in how things are going. I remember Brother Moore telling me that you can never add too much detail in emails, so I will try not to be short on things (:

As I reflect on our week, I have to say that we had a GREAT week! It was so exciting. Our investigator Rudy who is dating Tita Fotu is getting married this Saturday! Then will be baptized on the 27th most likely. How exciting to have another wedding/baptism combination. Elder Thompson and I marvel at how little we feel we are doing for the Lord's prepared children. Chris & Jasmine, Rosie, and Rudy all accept the gospel without hesitation. It makes you wonder if those you encounter are ready, we just may not know it. This is why we must not be scared to share the gospel! You'll never be able to say "I regret talking about the church to this person", so make sure if you get a prompting, you somehow make a way for these people to come a little closer to their Savior (:

On Monday, we went on a really nice hike! The weather was perfect. It's crazy to me how big California feels, yet we were only in Barstow. God has great taste in the creation, the world is a very beautiful place. Don't be fooled though, every morning we wake up with the windows fogged up and frost growing on the top and the trunk. On Tuesday, we had a nice zone meeting. For every zone meeting, we give one training and assign 2 other companionships to participate in sharing something we feel the zone needs to hear. It can be very stressful. It went good though. Afterward, we went to see a lady named Clara who always feeds us. We visit her weekly because she LOVES the missionaries in her home. We are very lucky to have her as a friend. Then we do our weekly scripture study on Tuesday night and that was REALLY good. I love reading the book of Mormon out loud in groups. Wednesday was pretty darn good too. We were able to see Siosi and Latu Liava'a! Such rad kids. We're going over tomorrow for a pizza party we're putting on. I really hope that this isn't considered being a 'suck-up' to Agnes. It's really not to soften her heart, Latu just talks about pizza everytime we go over there, so we thought it'd be fun. BUT I know Latu has been talking about it all week to Agnes haha! I want those kids baptized SO bad! Agnes really likes us though, it makes us happy (: Then we had dinner at the Moala's and she made an excellent Chicken pot pie with a delicious pecan pie. Her Grandmother lives in Plain city! pretty cool.
On Thursday we went on exchanges and Elder Houston and I had a fun day even though a lot of our appointments fell through. We had dinner at the Lousiale's who is our ward mission leader/relief society president and man, they are so great! They are very funny people, I so wish that you could meet all them and just know who I'm talking about, you would love the ward so much. Then we got to see 2 less active families and that was great. On Friday, there was an Elders quorum activity that we stopped by at. We had a busy day, so got food and left. Clara had us come over again to share the Restoration with her friend. Her name is Sissy. She is palongi, but as long as the fellowship is in the Tongan ward, we are allowed to teach them. She was really excited to hear about the Book of Mormon! The rest of the day went kinda wacky, but the Lord always provides a way! We say Rose and for real, she is getting baptized on December 26th. Sheesh, the process has been hectic, but she really does have a good testimony. Saturday was good too. We had our lesson with Rudy and then we were scrambling for plans all day long. Then all the sudden we got a call from Sister Hobbs. Someone asked if we could go to the hospital to give a blessing to someone. We were very excited for the opportunity. She was in the ICU and when we got to her, she wasn't conscious. But we proceeded with the blessing and man, the crazy thing is is that lady is going to continue with her life without knowing that her life might've been drastically changed by the influence of the priesthood. It's just a cool little story I will have with me from most interesting blessings I've given/received. Sunday was so awesome! We had 5 investigators at church! Then we had to go to Barstow to give a baptismal interview and the Hobbs were there too! i'm not sure how, but word got around I can do a backflip, so Sister Hobbs asked if she could record it. ha! she's awesome. I love my president and his wife. I'm very happy that we get to see them more often now that I am a zone leader. Later that day we saw a less active family, had a great dinner and then went to the stake musical christmas fireside thing. All week, Elder Thompson and I have been practicing Silent Night in Tongan so that we could sing it in Sacrament and this stake thing and I thought my chest was going to explode! I was so nervous. It's a beautiful song though, hopefully Elder Thompson and I can sing it for you on Christmas. The ward really liked it, they said we sounded pure Tongan! Later that night we went to the Batisaresare's. We haven't been over since the funeral, so we thought it'd be a good idea to stop by. I am so glad we did too. Atama is their father and he was very excited to see us. Although he is Methodist, he is such a great person. Fijian's are SO cool. They are an awesome family. We asked if we could take a picture of their flag and instead he gives us one to hang in our apartment. Man, their family really is so special. I know God has a special eye out for them.
So yeah, that concludes our week, very informative I hope!

I look forward to hearing from you all in 10 short days. We do in fact get a P day next week, so I will be able to email you next week as well. I do hate to admit it, but it is true that when I did talk to you all on Mothers day, it took me pretty much a couple weeks to adjust to missionary life again. It was painful to end the call, but I'm really hoping things will be different this time. Then again, I was still homesick, Grandpa had just passed away, and my birthday was in the next couple weeks, so it was emotionally draining. But I look forward to Christmas so much. Tongans don't really have a ton of technology, so we will probably be borrowing members laptops and skyping at the church. I'd love for you to meet someone from the ward, but I'm not sure that will be happening. No worries though. I appreciate any time I get to see your lovely faces. Christmas will be here before you know it! I love you all and am looking forward to our skype date. Send Kaylee my love!

- Elder Bennion

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

An Email to All of Us

Mom, Dad, & Koriann,

I'm writing you an email all together because we are going hiking later and this will make life easier. Also, Mason emailed me telling me how much progress he is making and how he's excited for his mission, so I need to tell him how proud I am of him. I was worried about him recently. What's neat is that he says his testimony has grown since he picked up the Book of Mormon! Same with me. I love that book. We actually just gave out a copy of it to someone at the library (: But anyway, it's interesting Mason says that because in Alma, it says that as soon as we wrest the scriptures, it bring on destruction! That doesn't sound very fun. I'm currently in Alma myself at the war chapters. I have a hard time reading them for some reason. Blood and carnage just isn't my favorite topic I guess. But I know that with each sentence of the BOM, there is something the Lord wants us to know. We had a REALLY interesting lesson this week with a girl named Shontell. She is afraid to eat pork and do her shopping on a Saturday. We showed her where Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and how the Sabbath day is now on Sunday and man, my stomach was just burning with the spirit! I was so excited to show her how the Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the gospel and she accepted it so easily! She's very excited to eat pepperoni pizza (: She's awesome.

It was rainy earlier this week, which got to me a bit. Rain typically makes me a bit gloomy. I felt off all day, but by Thursday things started getting better. Thank heavens I am in California. Do you know how many times it has rained since I've been on my mission? Less than 10 times! It's always sunny here. I love it. But we had such an awesome miracle happen with a guy named Rudy. He used to live outside the mission boundaries, but recently moved to Hesperia. He's met with the missionaries before and been to church a handful of times. He is dating Tita Fotu who is a member and we had a lesson on Friday and showed him the restoration dvd and he said he'd pray more specifically about Joseph Smith being a prophet. When the lesson was almost over, the spirit must've hit him hard, because he all the sudden said he's tired of waiting to be baptized and he doesn't want to go through another set of missionaries. Him and Tita are now getting married and he will be baptized sometime before 2014 is over (: AHH! So cool. The Lord is blessing us immensely! The cool thing is there are so many miracles I see. And they certainly are not mini miracles!

Our teaching pool is fairly big for the Tongan ward. President Hobbs expressed his concern to our stake president about keeping missionaries in Polynesian wards busy, but luckily we are not having that problem. There are 3 Polynesian wards in the mission, and by far, I am in the best one. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be serving in this ward. I've never wanted to better myself so much than when I realized how much I've been blessed with by serving in this ward. I've been inspired so much by their charity and thoughtfulness. This weekend was Meme Batisaresare's funeral. She's actually Fijian, but loves the Tongan ward. The Tongans are so cool, there were 3 days prior to the funeral where we spent time with the family and the ward brought them the most beautiful quilts and piled food in their home and we sang a couple of hymns and a prayer for their loss. I'm not sure what it is about being a missionary in both cultures, but Atama Batisaresare isn't a member, but thanked us so many times during his speeches for showing our support. Please remind me during skype to bring up the funeral and all the things I got to experience in their cultural.
But Anyway, we are busy and it makes me happy. We only have 3 Tongan investigators though. We got to see Latu Liava'a this week and he's such an awesome kid. He wants to be baptized so bad! We taught him the principle of fasting and he said he'd fast for the Lord to prepare a way for it to happen. For a 13 year old, he is so smart and wants to be a member so bad. He's so awesome.

I'm sure I'll have so much to say during skype, but I just want to let you know how much I love serving in this ward. I've only been here for 2 months, but this is by far my most favorite area I have served in. I have found so much joy and pleasure in missionary work in this ward, as there's never a dull day here. The Tongans are such delightful people, to the point if I stayed here for the rest of my mission, I would be happy. I know that won't happen, but I've just been living in such a different world in the best way possible. I have an enhanced desire for missionary work and been able to expand my heart because of these people and the way that they care for me personally. I often feel as though I have to pray for more charity in order to attempt to have the capabilities of loving them the way they do for the missionaries. I love them so much. Sometimes it still leaves me in awe that I am serving in a Tongan ward, but I couldn't be happier. I love you all so so much and am so excited to share stories and catch up with you in 3 short weeks. It'll be here before you know it (: I love you!!!

- Elder Shawn Lyle Bennion

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Thanksgiving

Yan Yan,

I probably will never have a Thanksgiving like this one again, which is a sad, but happy statement at the same time. Overall, every day whether it's a holiday or not is pretty much feels the same. It didn't feel like Thanksgiving (especially with the wonderful 70 degree weather), but I sure ate like it! Each dinner I made sure to control the portions, so after 3 I was honestly at a good amount. The tastiest thing I ate all day was probably eggrolls ha! Maybe that's a strange comment, but it's not very often I get ground beef here, so I was excited. The duck that we had for the first time was pretty good too. It's a bit more greasy than turkey and it's all dark meat, but I enjoyed it! We had a really good thanksgiving, to tamales though. One holiday down, one more to go. Which will be the best one yet! Wowza I cannot believe it is December already. Elder Thompson and I definitely need to do some decorating around the house. I would love to play Christmas music and watch my favorite Christmas movies, but that's alright, the spirit I feel is enough (:

Glad to hear you had a good weekend. Something important to know about the temple is found in Moses where Adam was giving burnt offerings (I think) He says "I know not, save the Lord commanded me", that should be a good enough reason that we go. I remember I didn't love the temple for a while, to be honest. Sister Hobbs told me the same thing though. We talked about how we just need to go back and observe things generally. Interesting point!

So, as for the work, the party at the Liava'a's was tight! they had a bounce house and a ton of food. Wow, Tongans throw good parties. We got to see Rose yesterday. She didn't come to church AGAIN. It's the hardest commitment, good grief ha. Her date is now moved to December 20th. It's alright, I have complete faith in her. Chris and Jasmine are great as always. We had a good thanksgiving with them. We do a lot of less active work, which is no problem, I was pretty much told that's what we'll be doing majority of the time. They just said to love the members (as if that's hard to do ha), which my heart goes all out to those people, oh man. This is definitely my favorite ward i've served in.

I'm pretty well when it comes to packages. The only thing I request (which you can coordinate with mom) is stuff to listen to in the car. I would like as much as I can get that has mo tab, book of mormon on cd, etc. along with a cd booklet to keep good care of them. I don't want much money spent on me though, so if Shelby could download it all, that would be fantastic. I would also enjoy 2 new short sleeved white shirts from CTR. My other ones are not white anymore ha. I am a 16 tall for those church shirts. Lastly, I would like a workout dvd called T-25. Or Insanity, whichever is easier to get ahold of. I would ask for P90x but the guy is so annoying and cusses occasionally, which I don't like.

I really could not ask for anything more, the ward is going so well and I love serving here so much. The Lord has been above and beyond to me. I'm very grateful for all that He has let me be apart of. I love you and look forward to hearing from you next week. See you reeeeeal soon (:

- Elder Bennion

Monday, November 24, 2014

Two Bapstims and A Wedding!

Koriann,

Ready to hear about our weekend? It was my very first baptism where I got to see the person be baptized where I taught them from beginning to end and it was awesome! They also got married before the baptism and of course that was great as well. The reception was after the baptism and it was just a weekend of celebration. The Tongan people know how to treat people, that's for sure. They put a bigger emphasis on the wedding/reception than the baptism, but it's alright, Chris and Jasmine couldn't be more pleased with being married/baptized. I expected this to be the most spiritual experience of my mission, but in all honesty, I think teaching them and getting so serious about baptism prior to it was the most humbling for me. A wedding/baptism/reception was planned all in a matter of 2 weeks and to see it all come together was such a neat experience. I feel very honored to be apart of this work and to witness a weekend like this. Chris even received the priesthood right after his confirmation! They're a great couple who are already looking forward to the temple in a year. You would love them!


So now that Chris and Jasmine are baptized, it was kinda like "well.. now what?" Our investigator Rose has been having a hard time coming to church, but her life has been hectic recently, but this Tuesday we should get back on track with her and her baptism continues to be scheduled for December 13th. I really think it'll happen! And here's another cool miracle:

One of my favorite people we're teaching Siosi and Latu Liava'a, their mom is bitter towards the church right now, so I've never met her. But this week, we went over twice and I'm not sure what was different, but we talked for about an hour each time! She seems to really like us. She even made us half moon pies and invited us over for her grandson's birthday party this weekend. I'm going to return the favor by making frosted flake treats! It's so cool because I've been praying for her heart to be softened and even fasted for her on Wednesday, and look what's happening! Also, there are 5 kids in the family that haven't been baptized, and one of the daughters asks if we could come over and study the book of Ruth with her! How cool! I love that family and want to see them be baptized so bad! Now that I've had a baptism, it makes me want to work harder, so I'm really hoping to see further progress with them, I'll keep you updated. 
We're gonna have such a bomb thanksgiving, I'm so pumped. It's no excuse to be lazy that day, and it definitely won't be because we're eating with our recent converts Chris and Jasmine and the fotu's who have less active children, and our investigator Rose, who is going to feed us Tamale's! I'm excited, I already need a break from Thanksgiving food. We've had so much ham, turkey, and potatoes these past 2 weeks ha. I don't think anyone in the world is going to top the Thanksgiving we're about to have!

I love the Tongan ward so much. They're such great people. I feel like I say that a lot, but I really mean it everytime. I feel like we've built good relationships in the ward. They're all easy to get along with, but it's nice when you feel like you're worth a little more to certain people, you know? My mission is just going better than I had anticipated to be honest. I haven't had many baptisms, but I just feel so good about what I'm doing out here. I look forward to many more miracles this transfer. I can't really ask for much more (:

Just to give you an idea of the ward, half the people we work with are less active. I think a big part to do with it is the fact church starts at 9:00. Tongans LOVE to sleep, but next year we start at 1:30, so our attendance will definitely boost ha. For that reason, we go wherever the ward goes, we go pretty much. We get invited to basically every activity and if we find people through our own efforts, unless they're polynesian (which all the poly's in the desert know each other), we give them as referrals, so we don't spend much time finding new people to teach unless it's through the members.

I'm just excited to tell you all about this ward over skype. Can you believe it's almost December?! We're starting to see more decorations, and it's weird without the snow, but I still get to see my breath in the mornings ha, so that shows I do get a minor portion of the cold? I'm a wimp ha! I'm wearing a coat half the time here.

But yes, my mission is the best. I love it so much. Things couldn't be better! Have a great thanksgiving. Drive safe to Brigham. No'fua!

- Elder Bennion

Monday, November 17, 2014

Two Weeks of Emails

Last Week's Email
Koriann,

How cool is it that you are on a cruise right now?! I shouldn't bring up the Hawaii cruise, but you'll have so much fun!!! Make sure you take advantage of the food while you can. I'm excited for you to embrace the great weather. It's probably much warmer where you are at. It was pretty warm this weekend though. 80's in November... It's awesome! I am hoping for snow this Christmas though. It's more likely since I'm in the desert, but until that time comes, we shall talk about current matters.

I think that'd be so cool if you went to school to get an education degree! I think you'd be perfect for the young ones. Obviously that'd be something to pray about. I love hearing about your kids so much! Those kids are the cutest. I'm sure mom is stoked on having them for so long. She misses them so much! As do I.

So, wanna hear our big miracle? (: We've been teaching a couple named Chris and Jasmine. They're awesome people who are so prepared for the gospel. We found out that they weren't married and that they didn't want to get married until March when they had their own house. He works at Target and she's pregnant, so they're going to be crazy busy, especially with the holidays coming up. We understood and pretty much postponed the baptismal date. I'm not sure what Bishop Iongi had said to them, but right before Sacrament, Chris says to us "Hey guys, we're getting married in 2 weeks" !!!!!!! What a change of pace! The spirit is working so much within them, oh my goodness! It was so awesome. They're going to get married and baptized on November 22nd (: I love weddings, and a baptism on the same day?! There's so much to look forward to! I know the ward is super excited. Wow, they're gonna prepare a feast for sure for this occasion. Isn't that just the neatest story though? seriously, no plans on getting married till next year, something must've just clicked. I am so excited! Our other investigator Rosie didn't show up to church this week, so we have to move her date as well, but it's alright, I'm sure it'll happen first thing in December (:

The people here still remain to be some of the best people ever. I just think the world of them. My charity for people in general has grew, but for Tongans, man, I just have such a soft spot for them now. I think they can teach us a lot on how to love people more naturally. They had the primary program and it was different than any other primary program. They involved their culture a bit, which is such a neat thing to observe. Speaking of which, we had a Tongan dish yesterday. Spinach and lamb and fried banana's. I was really nervous to eat it to be honest, but it wasn't terrible. Do you know any Tongans? They're so great (: I think the reason why it's so fun here is because we get to see the members a lot, which makes missionary work so much for fruitful and even helps my testimony. It's great when they become committed to the gospel again.

Why is it that in my emails I don't mention my companions? His name is Elder Thompson, from St. Anthony Idaho. He loves snowmobiling. Overall, he's a fan of the cold. He comes from a less active family, and he used to work in Alaska. He's a good elder. He's been out for 18 months as of this month. Originally he was called to the Arcadia mission, but is now serving here. He's fun to work with. We don't have a ton in common cause he's a big gamer, but we get work done!
We have been eating so much junk since Halloween. Speaking of which, thank you for the package! Loved the talks. Feel free to throw those in more often (:

So I think that's about it. I love you and hope you are having a grand time on the cruise! Bring me a new nephew/niece! love you!

- Elder Bennion
This Week's Email

Koriann,

How cool is it that you are on a cruise right now?! I shouldn't bring up the Hawaii cruise, but you'll have so much fun!!! Make sure you take advantage of the food while you can. I'm excited for you to embrace the great weather. It's probably much warmer where you are at. It was pretty warm this weekend though. 80's in November... It's awesome! I am hoping for snow this Christmas though. It's more likely since I'm in the desert, but until that time comes, we shall talk about current matters.

I think that'd be so cool if you went to school to get an education degree! I think you'd be perfect for the young ones. Obviously that'd be something to pray about. I love hearing about your kids so much! Those kids are the cutest. I'm sure mom is stoked on having them for so long. She misses them so much! As do I.

So, wanna hear our big miracle? (: We've been teaching a couple named Chris and Jasmine. They're awesome people who are so prepared for the gospel. We found out that they weren't married and that they didn't want to get married until March when they had their own house. He works at Target and she's pregnant, so they're going to be crazy busy, especially with the holidays coming up. We understood and pretty much postponed the baptismal date. I'm not sure what Bishop Iongi had said to them, but right before Sacrament, Chris says to us "Hey guys, we're getting married in 2 weeks" !!!!!!! What a change of pace! The spirit is working so much within them, oh my goodness! It was so awesome. They're going to get married and baptized on November 22nd (: I love weddings, and a baptism on the same day?! There's so much to look forward to! I know the ward is super excited. Wow, they're gonna prepare a feast for sure for this occasion. Isn't that just the neatest story though? seriously, no plans on getting married till next year, something must've just clicked. I am so excited! Our other investigator Rosie didn't show up to church this week, so we have to move her date as well, but it's alright, I'm sure it'll happen first thing in December (:

The people here still remain to be some of the best people ever. I just think the world of them. My charity for people in general has grew, but for Tongans, man, I just have such a soft spot for them now. I think they can teach us a lot on how to love people more naturally. They had the primary program and it was different than any other primary program. They involved their culture a bit, which is such a neat thing to observe. Speaking of which, we had a Tongan dish yesterday. Spinach and lamb and fried banana's. I was really nervous to eat it to be honest, but it wasn't terrible. Do you know any Tongans? They're so great (: I think the reason why it's so fun here is because we get to see the members a lot, which makes missionary work so much for fruitful and even helps my testimony. It's great when they become committed to the gospel again.

Why is it that in my emails I don't mention my companions? His name is Elder Thompson, from St. Anthony Idaho. He loves snowmobiling. Overall, he's a fan of the cold. He comes from a less active family, and he used to work in Alaska. He's a good elder. He's been out for 18 months as of this month. Originally he was called to the Arcadia mission, but is now serving here. He's fun to work with. We don't have a ton in common cause he's a big gamer, but we get work done!
We have been eating so much junk since Halloween. Speaking of which, thank you for the package! Loved the talks. Feel free to throw those in more often (:

So I think that's about it. I love you and hope you are having a grand time on the cruise! Bring me a new nephew/niece! love you!

- Elder Bennion

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Adding one more email

Dad,

You know, I never realized how strong your testimony of the Savior was until I got emails from you out here, I love reading all your insights. This morning I was reading Alma 13 and I love how it talks about how the priesthood and the church in general has been thought out from the beginning of time, indicating that God has a perfect idea for each and every one of His children's circumstances. His plan is so immaculate, so it only makes sense that he'll provide the perfect cure for what it is that we need help with. Now here's the twist: it won't be given to us right away, but me must work for the things we want. That's where people get confused I think. I've seen here in California too many people attend easy churches, and it's too bad. This church really is an all or nothing church, and those who stay in idle are in a dangerous position where we really need to analyze which master we will choose to serve.

I heard from Bishop last week and asked me what he can do to help these upcoming missionaries be converted and be strong enough to complete a full time mission and I think the key to it is you really have to know and trust your Savior. That's the best answer I can give honestly. That's helped me mission put me at ease. I feel as though I'm learning how to do that better, and I exercised that trust in Him in both missionary and personal matters. It feels good to have confidence in Him. I know my mission puts everything on hold and I just want to be able to fulfill my mission knowing that nothing from back home hindered my efforts.

The Tongan ward may just be my favorite place to serve. It's challenging, but it's true that the most interested people come through members, and here we get to see and work with them all the time. If we find people through our own efforts, it turns into a referral for that ward's missionaries, so it makes sense to work with the Tongan's. I just never in my life expected to serve in a Tongan ward, but I am just so happy about it!!! My heart goes so far out to these people. I have a legitimate hard time in explaining how much I love them as a whole. This is at the Moa's and it was Brother Moa's 63rd birthday yesterday and Dad, i'm not kidding, he will do anything for the gospel. He goes to every single meeting, works in the temple weekly, always willing to feed us, and offers his time for any appointment we have with the people we're working with. He is the kindest man I have possibly ever met. I just want you to be able to visit this ward and feel how I do towards them. They're fantastic people.

Sounds like everything back home is pretty ship-shape. I love our family so much! I saw a picture of Brighton and Bristol, aww they're the cutest kids ever! Man, I think being on a mission makes me love every aspect of life more, especially everyone back home. We all need more charity for others, even if they aren't blood brothers or sisters. Life is grand (: Thank you for emailnig me, I love you Dad, and I miss you tons. Keep your testimony shining bright!

- Elder Bennion

Monday, November 3, 2014

Lots of Emails!

Mom,

I didn't mean to give you the idea I was having a hard time, I just really wanted to write you last week but we went golfing and had practically no time to email. So here we go:

It was no surprise another great week in the mission field! The work was a little slower than normal, but there were so many good things that happened at the same time that I don't mind one bit! The Tongan people are very good at arranging activites and I went to my very first trunk or treat this Halloween and it was so awesome! Tongan people are the best. They're such good people, ugh I love em.

We had a lot of extra zone leader stuff, and we went on 2 exchanges this week, so that was good. I have an awesome miracle to share with you though that is on my top 3 of most unreal things that I know for sure God was apart of.

When I was in Alta Loma, there was a family that was in the Highland ward that gave us a ride to our car. The daughter likes the screamy music, so naturally I told her I liked it and that she should keep listening it. I came home the night and realized what overall I had requested. I told someone as a representative of Jesus Christ to listen to corrupted music that would instantly dull their spirits and take away the comfort of the holy ghost that could easily influence them for the worse. I have felt so upset about that since I spoke to her. So, I was on exchanges with the AP's in the highland ward and thought it'd be crazy if somehow we met up with that family again. So our day is great and our last appointment is with the Adams. We talk and what not and then their daughter Paige comes out wearing all black and right then I knew it was that family who gave us a ride in Alta Loma. I was absolutely flabbergasted! I've never used that word, but I was so in shock and I began apologizing for what I said and over email, it does not sound that cool, but I wish you could've felt the way I did that I'd be hoping that I would somehow run into this girl again and tell her my testimony of how music is great, but can very dangerous to people's well-being. I was in awe because that was the 3rd time they rescheduled that appointment, AP's only go on exchanges with zone leaders, and I just so happened to be in that ward for the day. Wow, it was a tender mercy. That burden was on me for months!

I also have to tell you about another fun exchange I went on. I found out that an Elder Browning in our zone likes the same music I do, worked at a movie theater, and loves Spongebob. He goes home in 2 weeks, but I got to work in his area on Saturday and we had such a blast! I wish missionary work were like that everyday ha. But I want you to know that I am in very good hands and here's a brief example:

It was very cold on Saturday and Elder Browning didn't have anyone signed up for dinner, so we contacted a potential investigator and he offered us gloves! Then we stopped by their ward mission leader and they gave us pizza, and we tried a less active lady and this story is awesome: We knock on her door and she lets us in and says "You know, about an hour ago, I talked to the Elder who baptized me, and I haven't heard from him in a year and a half" it was so cool! We were there for about 30 minutes and she was saying how she loves the church and wants a book of mormon again and wants to go to church again. That was a very inspired place to be, huh?

My mission has been like that quite a bit (: So, to re-state, I am in very good hands. I'm doing great, honestly, don't you worry about me (: The Tongans always keep me happy and the Lord continues to show me that He loves me and is watching out for His servants. It's so great to know that of any group in the entire world that gets prayed for most, it's missionaries. The prayers in my behalf are working absolutely. I continue to endure in happiness as my days are filled with miracles and faith building assurances that prove to me that the gospel is the one thing that will keep the world from falling apart. What an influential knowledge we have that shapes who we are consecutively and is always giving us something to work toward. I realized that out on a mission, there are no boring days. There's always something to keep you busy. I love my mission an outrageous amount and am very happy with how things are going. I love you and am always happy to hear from you (:

Until next week!

- Elder Bennion


Chris and Jasmine (investigators)
Also, the less active lady dumped her whole halloween bucket into Elder Browning's backpack haha!
Oh my goodness! Martha Fitisemanu is my favorite! ahh! I'm so happy you get to be friends with her (: she's such a special woman and am so excited for her future! Please tell her I miss her so much and hope all is well for them. She's just an incredible lady. It makes me happy you connect so well! both her stepkids are back from their missions! wow, I need to meet them! alright, love you!

Koriann,

No need to be worried about me, it may not seem like a good reason, but we went golfing for P day and we did 18 holes and had to give someone a blessing so we didn't get to do really anything that day. I wanted to leave by 12 holes, but I stuck it out. I am much more relieved this P day and feel at ease, hallelujah. It came quick actually!

So, being a zone leader is more work than I thought, but this week I made it a goal not to complain or murmur. I read an interesting talk and went on exchanges and my companion for the day said unfortunately we are more like Laman and Lemuel than we think, which I agree with. The talk said something along the lines of how by complaining, we aren't accepting the trials that the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us. I know that he knows what's best for us, and by applying that in my work, my week was very refreshing and optimistic. I was very happy to see a difference.

This was probably the slowest week I had in the Tongan ward, but it was still super good. I'm not sure what it is, but I just adore the people so much! Plus they are great at going all out for activites. We had our Halloween party on Thursday and it was so much fun. Lots of non members attended, which is always a preference for the missionaries ha. I have so many pictures I want to attach!

Our investigators are doing very well. Chris and Jasmine are super cool, but they need to get married before they are baptized. They already want to be, but financial reasons is holding them back. Rosie is doing great, she is so prepared for the gospel. And we started meeting with a family again named the Batisaresare's (Batty-sorry-sorry), they're a Fijian family and they are awesome. Their step mom is a member and the kids all know the church is true, but their dad is Methodist, so I think it's holding them back a bit. 

I want nothing but my undivided attention to my mission. It's just treating me so well. Plus I realize that because we represent the Lord, the time that we have on our missions isn't our day, but it's His, and I don't want to be distracted with His time. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it was a quote given by M. Russell Ballard, and I think it's accurate. So there's that!

My mission is going very well and I'm very happy with where I'm at in my life. I have a great zone and great friends here. I'm very blessed due to these sacrifices and it wouldn't be right to be asking for more. Thank you for filling me in on your life, have a fantastic week!

- Elder Bennion


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Update for last week and this week

October 13th
Koriann,
This week has been quite crazy for me as well, it was quite an adjustment being in the desert again, it took about 3 days, but I'm pretty used to it by now. It's much much better the second time around. I can now pass Hesperia and remember all the people I grew to love and speak mostly good about it. It was still the perfect place for me to start though, I recognize that. It hit me the other day that we should never doubt the Lord because He's never been wrong before, and He's not gonna start now! ha. It was a great discovery.
I just love your emails so much!!! They're very informative and I love that. I am getting the biggest smile from them being in TV! ha, that's so great. That's adorable. 
I hear that you are a great babysitter, I know deep down with how hectic it is, that you love it. Kids are great! We always need positive stress in our lives, not to mention you are doing a great act of service for her. I love seeing neighbors that have good relationships. Californian's tend to be kinda private, some of them are not people persons. Tongan's on the other hand are such a different story.
So, my first week here was very busy! We had a lot of appointments which is such a great thing. We work a ton with the members because really that's how we stay busy. Sacrament is majority in Tongan, but yesterday it wasn't thankfully. Tongans are very very laid back people who are in no rush to get anywhere ha. No one prepares lessons for Elders Quorum or Sunday School so we end up teaching both. Tongans also love to sleep ha. And eat. And socialize. But they're such good people, they will always put the missionaries first. Someone bought my groceries last week and we accumulated $60 in three days for dinner. If we don't take money, in their culture it's like bringing shame to their family, so we just take it. The people are so Christlike, I'd say that's what impresses me about them most. They love their Savior and they sing so beautifully. It's a completely different association than a white church, but I enjoy it very much. We had a scripture study class on Tuesday and we did play volleyball on Friday. It was a good week. I'm sure I'll have many further stories to report on, but I gotta respond to some other emails. Thanks for the email, love you and have a great UEA break! (:
Love,
Elder Bennion

October 20th

Koriann,
I don't get to hear from Drake and Shelby as much as I want to, plus I don't really hear about any of their gospel progression "/ It stinks! I did hear from Shelby today though, thankfully. She seems to be doing well. I feel as though I always have something to look forward to in my emails due to how much the gospel makes families so close-knit, so thank you for updating me. 
Boring UEA huh? It'd be nice if we could get a holiday break sometimes ha. Or maybe a longer P-day would suffice (; just teasing, the time they give us is just the right amount! Not to mention, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven, right? (: We read in D&C about how every blessing you receive is based of your obedience! So cool. As a leader, I try to be more obedient and set a better example, it's good.
That's too bad the scouting isn't great there. The way they do it here is they make it a stake thing, that would keep him busy! I think it's a better idea, personally. Then again, there are a lot more LDS people there than here. But the testimonies we get to hear from the Tongan's are so strong. They sing so cool in Sacrament, I can't explain it! haha.
Wanna hear a miracle? There's a couple named Chris and Jasmine we're teaching who are friends with the Male's in our ward and they came to church on their own this week ha. Also, our investigator Rosie came to church! This area is so great. We should have 4 baptisms in November. This ward is showing me that it's really not us doing anything; it is the spirit. The work that we have is all basically provided by the ward, which I am very appreciative of. It's built my faith in member missionary work.
LOOK AT THIS PIG. That is basically a Tongan favorite ha. IT'S HUGE! it was kinda tasty, but very, very fatty with a super crunchy skin.
But anyway, I seriously LOVE the Tongan ward and the people so much! They're so awesome to the missionaries. We've been really busy lately and have been teaching pretty consistently. I couldn't really ask for more here. With each area I get transferred to, I find myself enjoying the work even more. I know that the Lord knows what's best for myself, and He's proved that to me SO MANY TIMES. It's so refreshing to have a Father in Heaven that knows how to provide for His children. I've learned so much more on how to trust Him and His ways above my own. I am so excited to be serving here and am looking forward to another great week. Keep praying for me and doing your own missionary work, and also go to the temple (: 
Also, if you could let Gabby Calhoun know that I'm trying to reach out to her, it's just difficult ha. Also tell her to watch "the faith of our fathers" talk by Uchtdorf. I thought of her the ENTIRE time ha.
That's all for now, love you so so so much! Give your family a giant hug from me!
- Elder BennionView IMG_0872.JPG in slide show

Monday, October 6, 2014

New Responsibilities





Alright family, get ready for this outrageously awesome news.
My mission has been relatively fast paced. My first 6 months I was your average greenie. Then I was called to train Elder Boltz, then 6 weeks later they asked me to be a district leader. Now the beginning of a new transfer is here and the assignment still proceeds to push me in a positive manner.
On Friday, the AP's called me and told me that President Hobbs would like me to be a zone leader. Of course I accepted, but they hadn't told me where I was going to be serving, just that I would have a leadership position. That night my brain was racing as I contemplated where I would be serving next. I had a good feeling I was going back to the desert, Victorville in specific. 
Well my speculations were correct. I have now been called to serve as a zone leader in the Victorville B zone in the TONGAN WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM FREAKING OUT! I AM SO EXCITED!
hahaha, I love Tongan's so much. There was a Tongan sister in our zone last transfer, and most of them are like her apparently, so I am so so so excited to be serving here. I have heard so many great things and I seriously love my companion Elder Thompson already. He is from Idaho!
So naturally when you hear you're gonna be serving in a Tongan ward what are your first thoughts? I'm gonna gain weight, right? Elder Thompson said that isn;t true, so don't worry, I shouldn't get plump, but he said to expect a lot of pig. Guys, I am so excited to be serving here. We cover the entire high desert and every Friday, the Tongan's and Samoan's gather and play Volleyball haha. We're off to a good start of this transfer!
I had such a great time in Alta Loma and am so happy I got to serve there for 6 wonderful months. I love the people so much, but was ready for something new. I hope I made an impact on the people there and can only hope I fulfilled what the Lord wanted done there. That area will always be so close to my heart and I have so many wonderful memories there, the people were so great and I'm so happy you got some pictures. I gotta let you know how much I loved getting to know the Rich's, the Martinez's, the Tate's, and the Fitisemanu's and of course Brother Wilson who housed us. I'd say they contributed most to my love for Alta Loma. Wow, it was a good area. I am very happy with my life and am so excited to be on a mission.
The Rich's took such good care of me there. I remember very first skyping there! They had us over for both general conference sessions and it was a very memorable experience. They have great traditions there. She is an excellent cook. 
So that is my news. Bittersweet indeed, but like Elder Robbins said "Which way do you face?" I face completely toward the Lord and I know that He has plans for me here. I'M SO EXCITED TO BE SERVING HERE!
Love you all! (:

Text Messages

Hi Brother Bennion, we love your son and will miss him when he transfers to another area. He is a wonderful missionary. The Martinez Family!

Brother Bennion. We have enjoyed your son at our house today for conference and dinner!  He is an amazing elder!!!!   Kim Rich

Monday, September 29, 2014

Update for last week and this week :)

Koriann,
i'm here to tell you right now that you gotta make the temple a priority for your relationship! Ugh. I've only been away from the temple for 4 days and it has felt so long ha. The temple was such a great place. If it were open on P days, I would definitely try to go weekly. Utah missionaries got to go once a week! Lucky ducks.
The temple was so perfect. Make it a habit and a promise to the Lord to go at least once a month! Someone's salvation is on the line waiting for you to perform their ordinance! Don't procrastinate their potential exaltation (:
Speaking of weather, I am officially a baby about the weather. It was in the 60's this weekend and was whining for the need of a jacket haha! It was embarrassing. It felt good at some points considering it's been so blasted hot here, but overall, the weather is good as always! (: It's gonna be so weird not to have a white Christmas. Sometimes they say it can be 80+!
I am so excited for conference. Elder Ballard is actually my favorite apostle and I'm so glad he emphasized Preach my Gospel, it can help just like the scriptures! The apostles said PMG was together so perfectly and they're so thrilled to have it accessible to everyone. Keep learning from it, it's such a useful source of growth for each of us, even members! Can you believe it's conference time again?! I can't believe it! Also, we had the primary program yesterday! it was great. The kids each get like 3 parts though since it's so small. There's only 20 kids ha. They sang Families can be together forever as the closing song and I nearly started crying haha!
Koriann, I seriously think i'm allergic to cats or something. I was fine all day but we got to a members house and I pet the cat and then my eye was so itchy and so red. and my chin as well! By the time we left, Elder said it looked I was stoned haha! It was so weird...
But I have enjoyed my time with Elder Boltz. Cycling through companions is normal and you get more attached to some than others, but I think since he lives so close, we will remain friends as well. He has a rough home life which is too bad. Elder says my desire has progressively slid down the more I stay in Alta Loma. Sad, but true. I'm ready to take something new. I've been here for nearly 6 months and I have LOVED serving here so much. This area has been everything I could ask for in a mission and I love the people here so much, I just want something new. This weekend was kinda rough, but I do believe that I'm being transferred this upcoming Monday. I guess we'll see!
To close, seriously: get to the temple! (:
I love you! thanks again for emailing, I always look forward to yours!
- Elder Bennion

Koriann,
It sounds like your roadtrip was a great success! I had no idea a chunk of his mission hit Kentucky. The boundaries must've been much larger back then before the number of missionaries sky-rocketed. You'll have to tell me some other cool stories if you think of any! You went through many different states, my goodness. I'm glad the car is exactly what you wanted though, I know mom was stoked to watch the kids (: You'll have to send me a picture! I'm glad Ben finally got to go back. I'm sure it's a second home to him and that memories were flooding in from his mission. It'll always been engraved in his heart because he loved those people so much.
I've only been to Kung fu Wok twice because Panda Express is like 15 minutes away and out of our ward boundaries. Plus Elder doesn't like Chinese very much.

I loved the temple so much, oh my goodness. Redlands is an older town, and it's a pretty small temple, but it was so cool to see palm trees on temple grounds, I haven't seen that before! It was so great to be at the temple again. I haven't been in 8 months! That's so long! I really wish we got to go back more often, but I understand that the work we need to do for the living is right now more of a concern, which I agree with completely. I'll have to send some pictures next week, I got a lot of em! I gotta get the Nowa's a thank you card or something, because they took us out there this morning and we had a great time with them.
My mission is so great! Here's some neat stories as of recent:

We contacted a lady who is in her 20's and she said her best friend is LDS. We talked for about 20 minutes, and she showed us her backyard and there was a trampoline. I asked if I could jump on it and told us to come back next weekend when her husband was around so I could show him some tricks. Well we went back and there was 4 of their friends there and they looked so confused as to why missionaries were coming to hang out in the back yard with them. So I did some tricks and what not, and after that, we stayed at their house for an hour because they would just so naturally curious about the church and had so many questions for us. There's a couple named Travis and Tonya that took a particular interest and they gave us their address to stop by! It's always super cool how teaching opportunities come about when you least expect em.

Also, the spirit is such a neat and vital tool we must use in missionary work. Someone in the ward offered to take us to lunch and I just felt so weird about it. We declined, and decided we needed to be proselyting during the intended lunch hour. We stopped at a former investigator of ours, Jessica, and had a great lesson with her and she said she really wants to come to church and considered baptism once again. We're seeing her tomorrow, so hopefully we can get her on the right path again (: her life has sorted out a bit since we last went, so the spirit is definitely more accessible at her home. 

My mission is super cool. Alta Loma is great as always. I've been here for about 6 months, so somedays are harder than others because sometimes I just don't know what to do, but as we continue to be diligent, we meet new people (like Travis and Jessica) on the way and we just keep pressing on because we want to be obedient. Here's something cool: I miss movies so much and they just announced we get to watch Meet the Mormons at the mission office! i'm so stoked! 

Also, missionary work truly is being done through social media, I got to witness it this weekend. Tori Tate is 17 and she took a picture of us and put it on Instagram and a comment was made by a guy named Josh, who we taught once and gave a Book of Mormon too. The Upland 5th elders ran into him about 6 weeks ago and they said he said he's been reading it! we never got any contact information other than his grandmother's address in our area, so we haven't taught him in weeks. This kid is in Tori's class and because of that picture, we've been able to re-connect with one of our old investigators! pretty neat!
We're reaching the end of week 5 of this transfer, which means I have Elder Boltz for only one more week! What?! It feels like last week I just started training! I was so nervous, but the experience has been such a positive thing for me. I've got a lot ahead of me, and I'm excited to continue serving in this mission. I couldn't be anymore satisfied with how things are going. We are most grateful when we feel like we don't deserve more than what we have, and that is how I would sum up my time in Alta Loma. This place is so great! I love you so much, talk to you on Monday!!
Love,
Elder Bennion