November 4th

Momma! 

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'VE BEEN OUT 5 MONTHS! 

Time flies. It blows my mind. It feels like I just got out here and I'm already almost done with a third of my mission. Just goes to show how important it is to make the best out of every day out here.

I love hearing about all of your missionaries experiences! You are seriously the dream member missionary. Your willingness to share the Gospel makes me more willing to ask the ward member in  my branch to get more involved. I also wanted to let you know how much I appreciated getting Rachel's story about deciding to continue with Biology. In our weekly planning session last week, I was going to give another set of missionaries one of our investigators. He had been progressing and had just come to church for the first time, but his English is not great and I did not think that my companion and I could teach him effectively. The morning after I read your email, I was saying my morning prayers and the investigator came into my mind. I asked the Lord if I should give him to other missionaries and immediately the words from Rachel's story "You can do hard things" came into my mind. So, we decided to continue to teach him. We met with him last week and it went really well. Thank you so much!!

Something I thought I should tell you! I just found out that my release date is 30 of December 2014. 19 month mission! :) I can be your new year's gift! 

LOVE YOU!

Sister Sarah Bennion

PS Hahaha so glad you finally finished the Christmas book :)

Temple day for the sister missionaries at the Melbourne Temple!

In Chinatown!

A letter that Sarah shared that went to her Mission President:

Everything is going great in Melbourne City Mandarin branch! My companion and I are getting along really well and we are seeing a lot of success in our area. We cleared out a lot of investigators in our weekly planning session, so we spent a lot of this week finding. We were able to find a lot of great people and really feel that we will be able to see miracles this next week. 

We have two progressing investigator who is doing really well. One of these investigators, Jeff, has been looking into the church since August. He knows everything is true, but wanted to wait for his mother, who is a Christian, to come to see him be baptized. My companion and I were both a little nervous, because he had not told his mother he was coming to our church yet and the opinion some Christian churches have about "Mormons"are pretty negative. Two weeks ago, Jeff told us that he finally told his mom he was going to join our church. She asked for the name of the church and he said that it was the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She responded that, as long as Jesus Christ was in the title, she approves! He is planning to be baptized next Friday. 

This morning, I was reading in personal study from the Teachings of George Albert Smith and a passage from the book caught my eye. It is a quote from George Albert Smith that states: 

" I congratulate you that there has come into your lives this privilege and this blessing. And now I adjure you as your brother, plead with you as one of the humblest among you, do not hide your candle under a bushel. Do not conceal the knowledge God has bestowed upon you from your fellows.

Do not annoy them, but do not be unwise enough as to hide from them the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the only power of God unto salvation in the celestial kingdom.^19( ...) I have seen those who were discouraged, those who were in darkness, those who questioned the purpose of their being, and when they have had taught to them the glorious truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have changed, they have learned to be happy, to be contented, to be satisfied, to be enthusiastic in believing and teaching the gospel that was proclaimed by Jesus Christ when he dwelt upon this earth and traveled in Galilee."

Jesus Christ is really the reason behind everything we do as missionaries and as members of the Church. I am so grateful to have a knowledge of him and bring that light to His children! 

Have a great week! 

-Sister Sarah Bennion

October 21, 2013

Family! 

This last week was so full of miracles, I don't even know where to begin. I'll start with the biggest one first...

LYNN WAS BAPTIZED LAST SATURDAY!

We had a lesson with her early last week and near the end of the lesson, as we were about to mention her upcoming baptism date on Oct 25, she said "I'm getting baptized at the end of this week, right?" We readily confirmed that Oct 18 would be perfect and she was interviewed soon after! Her baptism was really amazing. She bore her testimony afterwards (she had it typed up because the night before her baptism, she couldn't sleep and wanted to be better prepared) about how she was so grateful she was for the Gospel and wanted to endure to the end. She even mentioned that she wanted to help her friends find the same happiness that she found. She is so amazing and incredibly prepared. I am so grateful that Sister Zhang and I got the opportunity to teach her and be strengthened by her example.  

Second miracle! Last week, we committed another one of our newer investigators, Vicky, to a baptism date. She said that she really liked the teachings of the Gospel so far, but was not sure if she should be baptized yet. We invited her to attend Lynn's baptism to learn more about what baptism is like and why it is important. She came and, when we met with her again yesterday, said that she really felt good at the baptism. She said she still wanted to learn more, but agreed to be baptized on Nov 9th! 

Third miracle! Sister Z and Sister R (her last companion 2 transfers ago) taught a girl named Tina Li for a long time. She was super friendly and wanted to be baptized, but never kept commitments and had to be dropped. Tina called Sister Z and I a few weeks ago and said she was interested in taking lessons again. We set a new date for her and she started reading scriptures and praying, but her biggest problem remained that she never went to church. In the 17 lessons she had been taught over the last few months, she had always had friends over or slept in or had to work and she had not been to a single church service. We told her that, in order to be baptized she needed to come to church and last Sunday, for the first time ever, SHE CAME! It was a huge step for her and I hope the Lord can help give her the willpower to keep attending. 

I feel so incredibly blessed to be in this area and working with such amazing people!! 

-Sister Bennion

                   Above is a picture of Lynn's baptism :) she is the one in the very middle and Vicky is on the side.

October 14th

CONFERENCE WAS SO FANTASTIC. 

I loved it. It was exactly what I needed. The week before conference, we asked all of our investigators and members who came to conference to prepare a specific question. I decided to follow my own counsel and prepare some as well. And each of them was answered throughout the course of conference. One that was particularly helpful to me was the talk about meekness by Elder Soares. Meekness is definitely a defining feature of the Savior and one that I need to work to develop more. I really loved the quote by Lorenzo Snow: 

 “It is our duty to try to be perfect, … to improve each day, and look upon our course last week and do things better this week; do things better today than we did them yesterday.”¹¹ So the first step to becoming meek is to improve day by day. Each day we need to try to be better than the previous as we move forward through this process."

 Or, in the words of another certain wise and beloved man, "perfection's not a destination, its a joyful ride" :) if today was better than yesterday, if we are kinder, more charitable, more hardworking, and more Christlike than the day before, then we have succeeded. 

More news: One of our main investigators, Lynn, is so amazing! I feel so blessed to have met her. She is so humble and willing to learn. Last week, we asked if she would like to move her baptism date to Oct 25 and she agreed! I'm so excited for her to enter into her first covenant with the Lord and see how He works miracles in her life! 

-Sister Bennion

Thank you so much for the email, Papa! I also think it is so weird that people are so opposed to something that is so good. We have an investigator who has a Christian background. All of his friends have told him (and are still telling him) that our church is evil. He comes to lessons and even church meetings, but absolutely refuses to read the Book of Mormon, because his preacher told him it is the devil's book (the first character of the book of mormon's title in chinese ironically and irritatingly sounds exactly like the Chinese word for devil....which does not help matters). We are having a lesson with him today and will talk with him about general conference. Fingers crossed that it will go well! 

I really liked your comments on the marble statue. As long as there is progress, even when it is not easily discernible, I can feel good about my efforts as a missionary. And I have really come to the realization this week that I need to stop being so focused on all the progress I need to make and start focusing on the needs of other. I really need to forget myself and go to work and all of the little things will start to become less and less important :)

Love you! 

-Sister Bennion

One of my favorite candies in Australia

October 7th

How is everything going? Are you enjoying conference? I can't believe I have to wait another week to watch it! (In Australia, they show conference a week later because of the time difference). 

I'm doing good here in Melbourne. Last week was a little rough. Before I came, Sister Z had a superstar companion and has started comparing us lately. Remember my tendency to take offense quickly? Yeah, the Lord definitely wants me to get over that as soon as possible, because He has given me a lot of situations where it would be verrrrry easy to take offense. I definitely definitely have not handled them all like I want to, but I am slowly improving and learning to let things go. 

Another thing that I am really working to overcome is feelings of inadequacy. For the last few weeks, I have begun to feel increasingly inadequate. With all the troubles that have come with being a new missionary and learning a hard language, it is very easy to feel I am not good enough to accomplish tasks that are a regular part of missionary life. And what I am increasingly realizing is that I am not good enough alone. There is no way that I can do this work relying on my own strength, no matter how hard I work. Our zone leader gave us the challenge to read the whole Book of Mormon in 4 weeks and, as I was reading 1 Nephi, I was really struck by Nephi let the enabling power of the Atonement work in his life. In all the challenges he encountered, from physical to spiritual, he turned to the Lord for increased strength, understanding, and ability and was enabled to overcome all trials.

I know that the Lord can enable me to do what I cannot do alone. 

I love you so much, Mama Ogo! Have a great week!

PS Did you go to conference live????? So cool!!  

September 30th

Mama! 

Its so great to know that everything is going great in good ol' Provo! I can't believe you didn't go to Awful Waffle...you guys really need me. I got an email from Hannah last week and it sounds like she is doing so good! I'm so happy that she likes BYU :) And I'm so excited to hear that Mary's place is looking great! It was weird to hear that this is your last parent weekend with her.....ulg our family is getting way too old. 

This week was a really great one! We were finally able to meet with a girl who we had not seen for a couple weeks. Her name is Lynn. We taught her the plan of salvation and, the whole time we were teaching, her eyes were completely lit up. At the end of the lesson, we asked her if she would commit to being baptized in November and she immediately said yes. She also came to church this past week, along with two of our other investigators. So, so amazing. 

Another cool event this week! The girl that I found on the tram (I wrote that her name was Mel a few emails ago, but she actually goes by the nickname Mouse, I don't know where Mel came from haha) was baptized yesterday! The church is true and I am so glad I got to play even the smallest part in building it up. 

Today in my personal study, I found a great talk in the Ensign about integrity. It mentioned the story of Thomas More and how, despite being beaten down and stripped of all he had, he refused to compromise his standards. As Joseph Worthlin said, "Integrity means always doing what is right and good, regardless of the immediate consequences. It means being righteous from the very depth of our soul, not only in our actions but, more importantly, in our thoughts and in our hearts. Personal integrity implies such trustworthiness and incorruptibility that we are incapable of being false to a trust or covenant." Integrity is the foundation that all other Christlike attributes are built upon and, if it is not solid, we cannot be aligned with the Lord and cannot have full access to the blessings of the Spirit. So, challenge for the week! Live life with integrity! Set your standards and hold fast! Never settle for less than befits a child of God :)

I love you, Mama! Hope you have a great week! 

Love Sister Bennion

Hey Papa! 

So glad you had a good time and provo! And glad that the cougars are finally cleaning up their act! I want to be greeted by a good team by the time I come back :) 

I loved your comments on facing challenges with a different attitude! It is something that I have actually been working on this week and I have found a lot more happiness in teaching in Chinese. I've realized that now is the time that I can relate with my investigators most, because a lot of them are not able to speak English very well and are in a new country far from home. And, during our companion study role play today, I was able to teach alone in Chinese for about 10 minutes!! Progress! 

Love you!!!!!! 

-Sister Bennion

Chinese Celebration 

                                                          This is for you Papa Gru!

September 23rd

Mama! Thanks for the email!! I loved all of the lines from the talent show and I loved hearing about Rachel's miracle! It is so weird, I have been praying for Rachel all week without really knowing why. There is the answer :)

This last week was really great, it was Chinese Moon Festival. Some of the recent converts in our ward made us a feast (and I got to try mooncakes...not a huge fan haha). 

I got your package!!! I loved everything! The stickers actually gave me a good idea. I have been realizing that I need more motivation to use the new chinese words I am learning every day in conversation, so I told Sister Zhang that unless I use all 5 of my words in a conversation for the day, she gets one of my sticker. Sister Zhang is really into it and I am definitely more keen to learn and use new words haha. And don;t worry, I am sending off the squares asap! 

Love you! You are in my prayers! 

-Sister Sarah Bennion

Papa! 

So glad everything is going good on the home front! I wish I could have seen the talent show! Mom sent me some of the missionary door lines and I definitely was cracking up. The only thing that was missing was a visit to Gru's door :)

Language is getting better, one slow step at a time. My listening is improving pretty quickly, but I need to spend more time speaking. It is really easy to get caught in talking English, because I want to get my point across quickly and I have to talk to a lot of people on the streets in English anyway, but it is a habit that I definitely need to stop. This week, I am focusing on complete immersion and a sense of urgency in language learning. 

The talk is called "the fourth missionary". I am pretty sure it was written by one of the seventys...I will try to copy and send it to you if you can't find it. 

LOVE YOU! Sister Sarah Bennion

Hey President! 

Another great week in the city! We were able to set some appointments with people who are really interested, one of which we were able to set a baptismal date with! We were also able to meet with one of our investigators, Stella, and teach the ten commandments. During the lesson, she told us that she is going to have surgery on October 10th, so we are going to try to prepare her for baptism before that date comes. 

Sister Zhang and my companionship is going well; we set a goal to focus on finding this week to reach the standard of excellence.

Thanks for all you do! Hope everything is going well! 

-Sister Bennion