September 22nd

Family,

Such a crazy, fun, stressful, amazing week.  We spend Monday-Thursday as translators for a Chinese senior couple on the Tasmania Senior Missionary Retreat.  On Sunday Christina was baptized!

Here are the highlights of the trip:

1.     This happened.

I actually got to pet a Tasmanian Devil.  They usually do not allow people to touch them, but since it was raining hard when we got to the Wildlife Park, they brought the animals to us.

2.     Also got a selfie with a wallaby.

3.     I got to witness Sister C’s first time being in the snow when we went to the top of Mt. Wellington.  It was a complete BLIZZARD and I was pretty sure we were going to be blown off the mountain, but Sis C was so excited!

4.     WE went to Port Arthur! It was the biggest convict prison in Tasmania where all of the worst convicts would be shipped off to.  It was not as impressive as I thought it would be because a lot of it was under construction, but still……

Criminals built these buildings while being shackled to each other.

5.     We got to spend time with the Lins!  They are such great people and it was fun translating for them and showing them Tassie.  In conclusion….sign me up to be a senior missionary.  They are living the dream.

Christina’s baptism went really well.  She was so prepared and happy.  The ward welcomed her in with open arms.  She also got the chance to bear her testimony and it was so rock solid.  We are so lucky we got the chance to teach and be taught by her.  She is going to be a fantastic member of the church.

Spirital thought:

One of the senior missionaries shared with us a quote.  It states: “The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue.  It is the integrity you demonstrate towards the faith you do have and the truth you already know."  This quote reminded me a LOT of Christina.  She studied math and science as her majors in uni and it was hard for her at first to develop faith.  However she was willing to keep the commandments, pray, read the scriptures, and go to church as as she did these things her faith started to grow.  However she still expressed to us just a few weeks before her baptism how unworthy she felt to make a covenant wit the Lord.  She felt she did not have enough faith or enough knowledge to be baptized.  We asked her to pray about it and through prayer she realized the concept that is stated so well in the quote the senior missionary said to us later on. God does not expect us to know everything or to believe everything all at once.  He simply asks us to act on the faith and truth we already have.  His call is not to be perfect now, but to “Walk with Him”, as it states in Moses 6:34.  And as we do this, He promises’ us that His spirit will be upon us and that He will abide in us.

I love you all.  See you in less than 2 months (Where does time go?!?)

Love,

Sister Sarah Bennion