WEEK 20: TRANSFER

Monday

  Had dinner at the Osbourne's as my last dinner in Hollywood! It's a sad feeling. For p-day we played bball and chess. Elder Sambat beat me in Chess as always haha. Packed up everything tonight so I'm all good to go tomorrow morning to my new area! Transfers changed now so we don't have a meeting, we just get a member to drive us to our new area. So our ward mission leader is taking me. It's annoying having to pack everything up! Gonna miss Hollywood. I definitely know my way around it after driving in it for 6 weeks! Gonna be fun to come visit in years. We actually met a nice lady on the street today! She called across the street to us and said "Hey Mormons! Keep up the great work! Jesus loves you!" So that made our day haha. LA is getting very wicked but there are still good people in it! Really the only reason why this place hasn't been hit by a meteor yet haha. 

  Tuesday

Well now I know what it means to be stressed as a missionary. I packed up all my stuff last night, met with our ward mission leader at a gas station, and he drove me to the zone leaders apartment in Inglewood. Met my new companion Elder Stevens, got our car and we drove to our apartment. Had no idea where our area boundaries were, where the church was, and the area book hadn't been updated so we didn't know who the investigators were. It was rough. We finally figured out where the church was so we went there and tried to update the area book onto our iPads but it wouldn't work. So we street contacted around the church. Turns out that the church isn't in our area and all the people we had talked to were out of our area haha. Finally got a hold of the sister in the branch who was in charge of our dinner calendar and learned about the area a bit. Met with our branch mission leader at 7 who brought us pizza which was awesome. He is so cool. Super hard core and all in for missionary work. Reminds me of Mark Harker haha. Elder Stevens is cool from what I can tell! He is a runner. Won state for long distance running. He is from Spokane Washington. Elder Peirson who was in the MTC with me is in our district along with an elder that was in my zone before who is now the district leader. Our area is quite ghetto. Didn't really realize until I saw it haha. At least we know the police are always nearby! Gonna be a crazy transfer. 

  Wednesday

Today we had a missionary broadcast and got to listen to Elder Anderson, Elder Bednar, and Elder Oaks so that was awesome! Tons of really good instruction. Elder Griffin replaced me in Hollywood and is with Elder Sambat now. He was my district leader in the MTC. It was good to see him again! We went around today trying to contact our referrals and get things going. It's so hard not knowing the area because we don't know how to use our car efficiently. In the car so much. Our area is pretty big! My district leader is Elder Zabriskie and our zone leaders are Elders Dunn, wheelwright, and haviland. We contacted 3 referrals today. 2 only wanted bibles and the other wasn't interested anymore. We met a homeless guy today though who was pretty cool! He had been in the army and showed us his battle wounds... Haha. Tonight we met at the church with a bunch of the elders and high priests in the branch and did splits. We all went and visited different less active and part member families. I went with brother Soriano to see a sister who hasn't come to church for a few months. She let us in, we visited and we shared the 3rd lesson. Went super good and she committed to come to church this Sunday and even accepted a ride! So that was awesome. Only thing was that as I tried to walk past her out the door she gave me a hug.. Haha. Brother Soriano just laughed at me! 'Twas a tiring day. 

   Thursday

This morning after studies we called a bunch of referrals that the past missionaries had received. We talked to 10 on the phone and ALL of them just wanted a bible delivered to them... Soo looks like we will be delivery boys. Gonna try to introduce the BofM to them when we deliver the bibles though. We had to go to a training from 12-1:30 and then did weekly planning after that. Called all of our investigators and set up appointments with them this weekend so now we are finally getting a hang of the area haha. No more straight street contacting all day.. Woo! Had dinner at the Garcias who are awesome! Told us that if we ever don't have a dinner that we are to just call them and they will feed us. Did we ever tell that to our missionaries? Mom? Haha After that we went and saw a less active family. Didn't set up an appointment just showed up. They are converts and the mom has to work a ton. The 16 year old daughter was baptized when she was 10 and they have a 12 year old son who was never baptized because the step dad said no. They said the elders hadn't come over in over a year so they felt like they were forgotten. We shared a message with them and offered to do family home evenings with them and they said yes! So we will be seeing them every week now. Awesome family. Hopefully the step dad will soften up. Elder Stevens and I are getting along great! His driving scares me though. Yes mom there is someone worse than me haha. But it was a great day! 

  Friday

Had district meeting this morning. Our district has 4 sets of elders in it. The training was super good! We practiced by role playing how to promise blessings when we ask an investigator to make a commitment. It's essential because who's gonna do something  unless it benefits them? Not many people. So when we help them understand the blessings that come from keeping commitments and acting it gives them incentive to do it. I wish I had known all the blessings that come from going to church. Yes to learn but there is so much more! We as members when we invite our friends to activities, church, and such we need to always remember to tell them why. I wish so badly I could go back in time and invite all the non members in my grade to mutual, church, dinner, seminary, parties, movie nights, everything! I was such a slacker. Anyways.. We met our investigator Keith today and just followed up with him, addressed his concerns and he committed to church this Sunday! A ride from a member and everything. A tender mercy was that one of our investigators who didn't have a phone # we decided to just go to his house and when we pulled up a guy was walking down the sidewalk and it was him! Had an awesome lesson with him and shared the "always remember him" video and he also committed to church! Then to top off the night we had set up a lesson with a potential investigator, went to his house and his wife answered the door. We ended up teaching them both the restoration, and they both committed to be baptized on Feb 21st!  It was sooo cool. The husband works on Sunday's but said he would try to get it off and the wife committed to come to church! Amazing how God prepares people. Awesome day. 

  Saturday

Miracle Saturday. So we first went to deliver a bible to 2 of the referrals that we had gotten. The first we showed up and she was super nice and thanked us for the bible and asked what made our religion different than others. So I pulled out the Book of Mormon in my bag and explained it. Her first words were "So do I just go online to get one of those too?" Haha so we gave her one and got a return appointment! She was so cool! Right after that we went to the other referral but she was in the shower so we street contacted around for a half hour and got 3 peoples #s and return appointments! Then went back to the referral and she invited us in! Went inside and talked with her, ended up that we started talking about the Book of Mormon as well, she asked "So your church meets on Sunday's at what time? I want to come tomorrow." So we gave her it and a Book of Mormon and she committed to come to church tomorrow! Also got a return appointment. Then we went and street contacted and met a guy who was a "bible" guy as we like to call them haha. He was cool but it was interesting because I just seemed to be able to quote a lot of bible scriptures to him and he was amazed, asked us where our church was, asked for pamphlet, said he was going to come to church and wanted to stop by with him tomorrow! So that was crazy awesome. Right after we finished talking to him a different guy walked up to us, asked for our phone #, told us he wanted to come to church and take the lessons, and asked when he could get baptized.... Woo! Best question a missionary could get asked haha. Got his info and a return appointment. Went to our original appointment, went great and she committed to church, and asked for a ride! It was such a cool day. Oh and we met a lady named Momma D who was probably the coolest lady I've ever met haha. 

   Sunday

Church at the branch was super cool. First time I've ever been at church and the only white guys were the missionaries haha! Every member is so awesome! Everyone was Hispanic, black, Samoan, and Tongan. We had two of our investigators come to church which is a miracle because our area has not had an investigator come to church in almost a year. They stayed for all three hours and said they enjoyed it! We got to know more of the members so it was awesome. After church we took the sacrament to a few people and then met with 2 of our new investigators both who we talked to for a bit and had to reschedule. But it was all good it was nice to meet them. We had a late lunch, and an early dinner so mid day we didn't get much done but tonight we contacted a bunch of referrals and went and visited a less active. She was baptized just over a year ago... 23 and said she got offended at church so she went back to her old ways. So sad how someone could feel the spirit so strongly enough to get baptized, then forget everything they felt just because of someone else's mistake. Shows me just how real Satan is. We gain such strong testimonies and he tempts and puts doubts into our minds in just the right way to make us slowly start to forget the testimonies we once had. I remember in a talk that Elder Bednard gave about this and he said that if members were to just read the Book of Mormon every day, pray when they starting having doubts, and search for answers through the church, they would never fall away. Wish everyone understood that. Doesn't make sense to go to Satan's resources looking for answers about the church. I think it was Jeffrey R. Holland who said "It's like wanting to know who Jesus truly was and going to Judas." Not exactly like that in all cases but about 90% true in all cases haha. 

    

   Alright well it was a good week! Not stressed anymore with the new area and Elder Stevens and I are getting along great! Still working on taking more pics. Our apartment isn't too great but it works. Our area is truly in the hood so it's a party! Can't go out after dark so we set all our appointments from 6 on. Most of the gangs all respect us and we talk with them, but there are a few that think we are detectives or something so they avoid us. Just as long as they don't take to take us on haha. Can't walk on the street with our iPads or wallets. We have had a few guys stop us and ask us what was in our pockets and bags. We just say scriptures, tell them who we are, invite them to learn more and they forget their plan to rob us. Works like a charm every time! Plus my Spanish has come along a ton! Gift of tongues is real. Hope you all have a great week! 

ST- Ether 12:27. Think about how you need to apply it spiritually. 

Love Elder Bennett

our driveway - it was annoying haha

WEEK 19

     Monday

So pday was really busy this past week. Our cars rear left brake light went out and so we took it to get fixed but it wasn't just the bulb it was electrical. So we spent all morning getting it to the right place with an electrician. Then the other elders had to drive us everywhere to do laundry, get food and such and then we went and played bball and ping pong at the church. The zone leaders came to our building and played with us so that was fun. Crazy how out of shape I am.. Can hardly play 3 games of half court without needing to lay down! I've been giving elder Sambat lessons on how to play bball and he is actually very good now! He had never touched a basketball before. We had to end pday early because we had to go get our car back so that's why I didn't send a weekly letter. We had dinner at a Filipinos house and they invited two other missionaries from the Arcadia mission as well so that was cool! They cover part of our mission and the Arcadia mission because they speak Tagalog so that was fun for Elder Sambat haha. Starting to warm up again after all the rain we had last week. 

   Tuesday

 Today we went and did service for an old less active lady. She is a hoarder and has 6 book shelves full of random books that she has never read before. She just collects and never throws them away! Same with her clothes. She lives in a small apartment and she added a closet but that wasn't enough so she also has clothes piled in her bathroom. Kinda crazy. We are trying to empty it out so that she doesn't get kicked out. Then we spent a long time trying to contact referrals.. It's so hard finding them here in LA because they never answer their phones and when we try to go to their address, it's gated. But we did meet a few interesting people on the street! Met a guy who lived in Downey who had Jehovah witnesses that kept trying to visit him but he said it just didn't feel right. He told us he felt a different, "Good glowing" feeling that came from us! We tried to get his info but as soon as he found out we were Mormons he said "Oh never mind you guys have too many rules." Seems to be that way for most everyone here in LA haha. Lots of people we start talking to ask "So what's not allowed in your church?" It's just so sad to see how so many people have no desire to change. Even when they know it's for the better. But on the other hand we find people on the street who are super prepared and ready to change. Evidence to me that Heavenly Father puts prepared people in our path. While we plant a seed in others who aren't quite ready yet (Alma 32). Then Heavenly Father can work with them till they are ready to listen. Makes me so grateful that I was born into the church.

    Wednesday

Today we helped a member move into the ward. He lives with his girlfriend who isn't a member and he said he planned on bringing her to church this Sunday so possibly a new investigator! Spent most of the day again trying to contact our many referrals that we have. Found a few so that was good! 2/3 spoke Spanish though.. Haha. 2 of our appointments fell through but we had a lesson with one of our investigators and our ward mission leader came along. Our investigator has a hard time with faith. He feels he needs facts and evidence to know. Doesn't believe that we have a living prophet because of church history. For example he asked, "If they are prophets, why did they delay giving the blacks the priesthood?" So it's hard but we brought it back to the Book of Mormon and how gaining a knowledge of it's truth will help him know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Our ward mission leader invited him to watch the talk given by Elder Holland on the Book of Mormon so I think that will help a lot. Elder Holland is the man. We had dinner tonight at the King's Buffet so that was awesome! Our recent convert took us there. He got baptized a few months before I got here. Elder Sambat and I are getting nervous for transfers this upcoming Tuesday! Neither of us want o leave. I feel like I'm going to get a trainer call haha. Listened to Hugh B Browns talk on the profile of a prophet today. Probably one of my new favorite talks. Who knew that Dad was right all these days about how I should have listened to conference talks while mowing lawns! Definitely wish I had done it. 

    Thursday

We went and did service for sister Lee again and got rid of 6 bags of clothes. Took us an hour and a half! She gave us ice cream though so I was happy haha. We did our weekly planning today which takes about 2 and a half hours and then we had a lesson with an investigator named Manny. He has been investigating the church for a few years and has always been hung up on a few questions. One main on is in John 4:24 which states that God is a spirit. He asked us "Who do I believe? Jesus or Joseph?" So it's been hard answering his questions because he seems to not be looking for answers but just for more doubts. We asked him what answer he was expecting to get when he prayed about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and he said "I'm waiting for God to "Change my mind and heart" so that I will know." So we explained agency and the fruits of the spirit. He has so much potential and knows the bible inside and out but won't accept Joseph Smith. We left him with a talk by Hugh B Brown entitled "Profile of a prophet." What I've definitely learned on the mission is how important it is to ask questions and just listen. Often the investigator answers their own question or says something that we can get a lead from. A missionary teaches but more often listens and is just there to testify. The spirit does the teaching and converting. We are there to invite it. 

      Friday

Today we had district meeting and I had to give what we call a "Stepp" (scripture, testimony, experience, preach my gospel and a promise) talk on the importance of member present lessons. The scripture I used was Alma 9 verse 1 and then Alma 10 verse 12. Just shows how important it is for investigators to see that normal people have testimonies as well (because missionaries aren't normal). We have had so many lessons without members present and it seems like the investigator still makes progress but when we bring a member they accept our invitations and keep their commitments. Makes me with that I had gone out with the missionaries more during high school. I regret so much not inviting the non members in my grade to activities and church even. I've got some work to do when I get home haha. After district meeting we had exchanges with the Spanish elders. We had no lessons set up for today so elder Meherg and I drove and walked all over trying to find our referrals and less active members. One huge thing I am so grateful for back home is the lack of gates around houses!! It's so annoying going to someone's house only to find that it's gated and they won't answer their phone. But we did meet some awesome people on the street. Set up an appointment for tomorrow on the street which was awesome. We got a text from one of our investigators and she said "I read the last chapter in Moroni and I challenged his promise. I felt a warm peaceful feeling go through my whole body as I prayed. I know it's true." Soooo that is amazing!!! Just another testimony to me that the spirit is real. We all have access to it. Just gotta pray sincerely which is the hard part. 

    Saturday

So today we exchanged back, went and did service again for sister Lee and we got all the clothes done! Her apartment looks so much better now. She actually had a ton of nice skirts and dresses so we took all of the clothes and put them in the young women's room at the church. We went to our investigators house for our lesson and she had a friend over who had just talked to missionaries the week before! Shared about the Book of Mormon and she said she really wanted one so we gave one to her and read the intro with her. She teared up and she felt it must be true. She and our investigator both committed to come to church tomorrow! I love how the Book of Mormon speaks to people. Read the intro and bear your testimony and bam! The spirit is there. Had dinner with the Tongan family in our ward. They are so cool. We asked them if they had any friends they were working on to bring to church and they said their neighbors were ready for us to come over and that he would set up a visit with them... Woo! I love this ward. Super cool thing that happened tonight was before we went and visited our less active we decided to walk the street for a bit because we were 10 mins early. We were going past a 99 cent store and a lady called from across the parking lot for us. We had never met her but she was one of our referrals that we had been trying to get a hold of. Her son was with her and she told us that he wanted to get baptized and asked us to come over this week! Definitely a miracle. 

        Sunday

    Well church was awesome! Our bible bashing investigator came to church!! Miracle haha. He had a great experience and we feel like he is going to be more receiving now. Our investigator who has been moving her date back each week came up to us this Sunday and said she was ready to be baptized and that she wanted to do it next week! So cool. It was so hard to set a firm date with her before. Had a long day of trying to talk to people on the street and contact referrals but did find one! It was weird because in the info it said he really wanted to get a Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized. So we found his apartment, knocked, he opened the door and I asked if it was him, he said yes and that he wasn't interested, shut the door. And we had just received his referral the day before! So we were super confused. We tried to go see our investigator who didn't come to church after that. Her grandma answered the door and we saw her peek around the corner in the back of the house. Asked for her and her grandma told us she wasn't home sooo yeah. Rough time! Tonight we went to our other investigators house who is a famous fashion designer in Guatemala. We watched the John Tanner Story with him and during the part where he get healed, our investigator paused the movie and said "I can feel it. Chills up and down my arms." He committed to be baptized and to start coming to church! Annnd we got transfer calls afterwards. I'm getting transferred to Inglewood in the South West Los Angeles Branch. My companion will be Elder Stevens and we will both be new to the area so that will be fun! Apparently it's a very "Ghetto" area. Just what mom wants to hear haha. It's rough to leave Hollywood with everything about to pick up but it''s all good! I'll miss the people but I want to explore the rest of the mission too! Mixed feelings. Gonna miss Elder Sambat. He's been such a great companion! This transfer flew by. 

   ST- No missionary effort is wasted. Every member a missionary so think of some way you could plant a seed in a non members heart. 

   Love Elder Bennett