Sister Sarah Bennion : April 14th

I LOVED CONFERENCE. It was so fantastic.

Conference talk that reminded me of Mom:

"What are You Thinking?" by Elder W. Craig Zwick. The story where the wife jumps out of the speeding car to "save the baby" was too much for me. Such a Kristi Bennion thing to do (Reminded me of the "Get me out of here" incident of 2012)

Conference talk that reminded me of Dad:

"If Ye Lack Wisdom" by Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis. He had such a Papa Gru accent. I was trying so hard to stop myself from bursting up laughing the whole time (because it really was an awesome talk)

My favourite talk was President Uchtdorf's on gratitude. I have been feeling like my prayers have not been as meaningful as I would like them to be lately and, even after looking at what Preach my Gospel said on the subject, I still felt like I was missing something. After listening to his talk I realized what it was: genuine gratitude no matter what my situation is.

Another great conference experience has to do with one of our investigators. She is one of the nicest, happiest people I have ever had the privilege of teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but is not sure God exist, even after meeting us for about 3 to 4 weeks. She agreed to come to conference last week and we told her to prepare a few questions that she had beforehand. We told her that, as she went to conference and really listened with an open heart to the messages she heard, she would find answers to all of the questions she had prepared. She could only come to the morning session of general conference and had to leave quickly after it had finished. But, that night, she sent us a text telling us how much she had loved conference and how it had really helped her faith in Jesus Christ and God grow. She also told us that she really wants to pray and attend church regularly.

I am so grateful for the amazing, inspired leaders of our church. I am grateful that God has given us a modern day prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and I am so grateful for the revelation that we are able to receive.

(Except from Sarah's letter to Rachel)
I definitely think that obedience it is a Christlike attribute that is worth strengthening, especially in the next few years, when every decision you make is important. As for counsel, I have 2 thoughts to share:

1) Last week, we had mission president interviews, where all the missionaries in our zone get to sit one on one with the mission president for about 10 minutes. When the mission president finished talking to me, he ended with a spiritual thought that I thought was very interesting. He told about the story of the Battle of Waterloo, where the French soldiers, headed by Napoleon, were fighting the British. The battle was barely won by the British and was a pivotal turning point in the war. At the end of the battle, some people asked the Duke who was over the British soldiers what the secret was that produced the outcome of the battle. The Duke answered: "The British soldiers were not any stronger or more courageous than the French soldiers. They were just strong and courageous for 5 minutes longer." The mission president then went on to talk about the importance of pulling through to the end, of knocking on one more door, making one more phone call at 9:30pm, and making sure personal study is an hour instead of 55 mins. When he was talking about it, I realized something that I needed to work on. I think of myself as an obedient missionary. But, as you know, time management is not one of my strengths and there are some times when my personal study is 5 minutes late. I realized how important it is to really nail down those things that seem little, but can make all the difference in the long run. Obedience is not just about being exact on the huge rules/commandments (Word of wisdom, law of chastity, etc), but following what seems like the "little ones" with the same exactness.

2) Last month, I gave a training in our Zone Meeting about obedience. In it, I used one of the stories I found when reading from the Bible in my personal study. It is in 1 Kings . It tells about King Saul, who was commanded by God to destroy all of the Amalekites and all their possessions. King Saul went over with his armies and wiped out all of the Amalekites....except their king. He also spared "all that was good" of the Amalekites' possessions. Samuel the prophet visited him later and saw that Saul had not obeyed the Lord exactly. When Saul protested that he had just kept the Amalekites possessions because the people wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord, Samuel responded: "To obey is better than to sacrifice." God is our Heavenly Father. He knows us thoroughly and gives us commandments to protect us, teach us, and help us grow. He expects us not just to be obedient to these commandments, but exactly obedient.

I love you so much! Have a great week and know that you are always in my prayers!

-Sister Bennion

I just received this facebook letter from Sandra Qiu who just completed a mini mission with Sarah:

Hey Sister Bennion's mom,thanks for accepting my friend request! Yea,Sister Bennion is a very awesome Missionary, love her so much and I hope you enjoy Sister Bennion's pictures, have a nice day!

11 hours ago

Sandra did you serve in her ward with her?  How is her Chinese doing?

4 hours ago

I'm not a full time Missionary.I'm from Malaysia and I have a three months holiday working visa in Aus(i came here right after my high school final exam so i have plenty of time waiting college/uni to start and also because i have relatives here).Because i'm hitting the mission age in Jan 2015 ,i really wanted to know whether i want to go on a mission or not so I asked the Sister Missionaries(Sister Bennion and Sister Chen)to let experience one day doing missionary work.When Sister Bennion knows that I wanted to do that,she planned everything(made me a tag,all of us did potluck, made me a Missionary planner, make sure I wear the right attire)and let me feel like i'm a real Missionary,she's so awesome!!!She speaks super great Chinese especially when she's teaching lessons(i've joined several of their discussion).She speaks fluently and I really couldn't describe in words cause she's way too good.Sometimes when Sister Chen and some of the member are learning English, Sister Bennion and me will companionship and go out proselyting(we called that gq-ing).She always try her best to speaks as much Chinese as she can (i think thats how she improve her Chinese so fast and speaks so good Chinese).