Friday, March 28, 2014

Learning Patience

Email to Ben and KoriAnn 
You're just fine! I have my days like that occasionally. I've been hard at work studying the scriptures on what I need to do to fix this impatient problem and then I narrowed it down to something: I lack trust in God. I had a neat, moving experience this weekend. I came across Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not into thine own understanding. In all ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" I read that and started getting so emotional because to think that I, for even one second, doubted that our Father in Heaven would put me in places that I needed to be. Last year was a complete 360 for me, and that is how I know that I can trust the Lord, because the second I did, my life took a miraculous turn for the better. After reading that, I came across Ecclesiastes 3:1&11 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: He hath made every thing beautiful in His time: also, he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end" which then led me to D&C 122:7 "Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" pretty neat study if you ask me! The scriptures are great and I love all the treasures that lie in not only the bible, but especially the Book of Mormon. I bore my testimony on it on Tuesday in a meeting and got so teary-eyed, because if the Book of Mormon wasn't true, we wouldn't feel the love we feel for the prophet Thomas S. Monson, and the thought that people don't believe he is a prophet baffles me. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and if he didn't call prophets, that would contradict His own ways, which would make Him cease to be God. The logic is all there, and the book of Mormon is that proof that people strive for. They're so busy trying to disprove it, when it's right in front of their faces that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, prophets are called on the earth today, the priesthood is back, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored once again to the earth. I'm very passionate about this subject and hope you are too. 
I love being on a mission very much because every second I can devote to other people and allow myself to build my relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and steer every thought on how to become more submissive, which President Hobbs says is Christ's greatest attribute. 
Thank you for emailing me, I'm happy to hear Ben is so close to graduating! I bet he loved spring break. And best of luck with the car searching; I remember those days, yikes.
I love you! 

Love,
Elder Shawn Lyle Bennion

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Staying in Hesperia

My Mom and Shawn have little conversations throughout the hour while he is at the computer on P-days.
Mom,
You don't need to send me a wedding invitation, I honestly couldn't care less haha. Thank you for your letter! I'm gonna respond today. I'll write out more in there than I will here. Today's the start of the new transfer, so me and Elder Kirkham are here for another 6 weeks (at least), God has someone here waiting for me and it's hard to be patient for that, but everyday I receive a witness that He is watching over me and wants me to be successful. I know how much he invested in the church and how he wants it to thrive, but it will be done in his due time. I love my mission and am so glad I chose to serve, wholeheartedly, I cannot think of a better way to spend my time giving to others. I love you mom (: I normally dream about you guys at least once a week, it's odd. By the way, love the family pictures, they turned out so good (: I love you more!

Love,
Elder Shawn Lyle Bennion

Email to KoriAnn & Ben

Koriann,

My P day last week was ridiculous. I wanted to write really bad, but it was just so hectic! Plus, obedience is really big here on a mission, so I figured a letter can wait one more week. I tend to justify things too often, but I decided to be a good boy about the letter writing.
Daylight savings time I swear was going to kill me ha! We got in super late that night so when the alarm went off at 6:30, I was SO exhausted and could tell how much I love sleeping here. That's the thing, bedtime is bliss. And 6:30 without fail always comes way to early! I suck at getting out of bed on time ha.
Your calling sounds like a lot of work and a lot of time is going into it! It seems demanding, but boy doesn't it feel good to give to the Lord! I love serving so much, whatever it may be. One of the people in our ward is moving and her house is a disaster but we've been helping her a bit and it just feels good. I really hope my attitude towards serving lingers for quite sometime, because I do love it. The law of consecration is so neat to me and I love fulfilling it. Our Father in Heaven who 'preserves us from day to day and grants us breath' allows us so many opportunities and so much happiness and the way we can allow him to feel happiness is by giving back to him. I just feel so fortunate for what I do. I'm learning that every soul is precious in the sight of God, even the one guy who said the F word 3 times to me and Elder Kirkham at his door. Now that was not a fun experience. That was really the only rude rejection I've had since I've been out, and I hope I can avoid that as much as possible haha.
So let me tell you what. I love my mission, but i'm having a hard time with something; Patience. I'm not sure if Ben had the same problem, but I just see my time here to be so short and I want so badly to leave Hesperia better than I found it. That is my motto, but at the end of the day, I don't really feel like I did all I could. I think it's because I take to heart the fact you can't control people's agency and I focus to much on the numbers. If you really look at what me and Elder Kirkham are doing, we're doing quite a bit, but I was just expecting more investigators and baptisms. So if you could ask Ben his expertise on Patience, I would love anything.
But yeah, life here is really good. Today is the first day of the new transfer! I've been serving for 6 weeks already! Time makes no sense out here. I'm gonna write you a letter today though! Thank you SO much for the milky ways. Unfortunately, I was not smart enough to catch on to the 4 thing, but props to you! that was brilliant. Ben is right; packages and letters are gold. I absolutely love hearing from you. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support, I love you guys! Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Shawn Lyle Bennion

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Utah Tendencies and Facts

Koriann, Mom, and Dad,

Remember when I said the work is picking up? Well, we were meeting with an Investigator named Patrick Casey, and if we can get him to quit smoking and get a confirmation for him that the book of Mormon is true, then my very first baptism will be March 22nd (': When he agreed to it, it brought the biggest smile to my face! It really is such a great feeling to bring Heavenly Father's children back into the fold. Wow I am just so excited for Patrick! He's black and in his 50's, but he is so knowledgeable about the bible. It was hard to keep up with his questions and show him the bible backed up everything. For real though, the work is picking up which makes me unbelievably happy. We try to get a new investigator every week, which we've been successful at every week except this one. But a baptismal date is pretty darn cool.
Also, get this. I whole-heartedly believe that when Nephi and his family sailed to America, they landed in California. 1st Nephi 8:1 says they gathered all types of seeds. There are these really ugly trees here called Joshua trees. They are only found in 2 places in the world: Jerusalem and California! Not to mention, when the Jaredites sailed from the Mideast, it took them 344 days to get from there to America. There's a current that goes from the Asia to California that takes exactly 344 days that passes through the Pacific ocean, which is right next to California! Call me crazy, but I think it's legit. Anyway, neat fact. Love you!


It's March! so crazy. The weather really is warming up there i'm sure. It rained all weekend, so it kept me and Elder Kirkham inside a chunk of the day, that was no fun. I was so bored! Elder Kirkham is actually younger than me! haha. Only by 5 months, but still, it's kinda funny. He keeps teasing me telling me I have Utah tendencies. In Priesthood, someone said that I give Utah prayers haha! I don't understand. But that's alright, I like Utah. I don't plan on living anywhere else for school. I like California, I just miss our family an awful bunch! I'm excited for Mothers day, but I am learning to be patient out here, i'm praying really hard for that Christlike attribute haha! Maybe one day (:
Your kids are growing oh so much, my goodness. Jordyn sends me snapchats of the babies, ask her how to do it and send me a video of Bristol walking!
Well, I got a lot of emails to respond to, but just know that I love you so much and look forward to Monday's to hear from you guys. When I get back, we are definitely going to get Panda Express. I get Fried Rice with orange and teriyaki chicken, wow I cannot stop eating it. I went 4 times in two weeks, I gotta calm it down a bit haha! But until that day comes, I gotta focus on the work. Things are great here, but I appreciate that continued prayers. Be of good cheer!

Love,
Elder Shawn Lyle Bennion