Week 54: "#Sharethegift"

December 1, 2014

HEY!

So this is my weekly email! First off, I'd like to let you all know that missionaries really do look forward to emailing time each week. :) And I would just like to thank you all for making my days. It is SO sweet to hear from my family and friends about the things that are going on in their lives.

I CANNOT believe it's already DECEMBER? Does time fly that quickly? Well, it's Christmas season, and I actually really do love Christmas's on the mission. I found in my past that I had started to dread Christmas. So, I decided to make a change. I decided to really attempt to make it personally about what Christmas is centered on: Jesus Christ. I found that as my focus changed, my joy in the season grew abundantly. SO...I've decided what gift you can all give me for Christmas. :) Have you heard of the new initiative put out by the Church called "He is the Gift?" It's a video that will be advertized over December on youtube as well as on Times Square among other places. It's just GOOD. The website the video is found on is centered on Jesus Christ, and what we believe about Him, and how we can discover and draw closer to him. If people so choose after watching the video they can scroll through the website. So, in everyone's December issue of the Ensign they were given 9 pass along cards for He is the Gift. My request is that you find one person, it doesn't matter who it may be, to share it with. :) Or you can share it online, it's up to you. That would be the greatest gift to me, to know that knowledge and testimony of the Savior is being shared. I love my Savior so much. He really is the best gift that's ever been given to me.

This week was abundant! Elizabeth was baptized on Wednesday night, and it was just an amazing experience. She's been taught for over a year, so there were a lot of missionaries there. Later on Elizabeth said that her feeling at her baptism could only be described as the way she imagines she will feel when she goes to heaven and sees her family waiting for her there to welcome her. It was so special. What was cool was that I felt like I should invite Sister Haas, Elder Odiorne, and his comp to sing with me. Well, we figured out what song we were to sing (Be Still My Soul), but we didn't have time to practice until RIGHT before the baptism. Well, we didn't have much time, and yet it was amazing how we all received inspiration as to how to sing and break up the song so that it was interesting, unique, and spiritual. It went amazing. The Spirit definitely provides when time is not provided. :)

We also did community service through St. Vincents for thanksgiving! We helped load turkeys, potatoes, and boxes with thanksgiving dinner items onto carts, and then load them into cars of those who needed a little extra help this year for a meal. It was SO rewarding, and cool to be able to work in such a large group for such a good cause. They provided thousands of turkey dinners over the period of a couple days. I was the "Large" turkey dinner girl. I think the biggest turkey I had on my cart was 22 lbs.

Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. I've found families away from home here. :) We also found a new investigator on Thanksgiving night!

I'm grateful for YOU! Have a good week and don't freeze in the snow!

Love, 

Sister Bennett

Here's all the missionaries (left in the mission) that taught Elizabeth! Elizabeth's in the middle. :)