September 16th

Hey momma! How is everything going? I heard that you were in charge of the day of service! And that it went fantastically (as expected if you played a part in it). One thing I have always loved about you, everything you touch turns to gold, whether it is an activity, leadership role, christmas party, anything. Definitely something I am working  to develop more. It is in my genes somewhere haha. 

We had a mission conference last week that was SO FANTASTIC!! It answered every single one of the questions that I have been asking in my prayers for the last two weeks. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was by Elder Maxwell, which stated "The Lord doesn't ask about your ability or inability, He asks about your availability. And if you prove your dependability, he will give you capability." There are some times on my mission where people have asked why our church sends out teenagers to teach the Gospel. It is a question I have asked myself at times. The answer however, is exactly what you said in your last email. The Lord sends out the weak and the humble, because they know that, alone, they are not enough! They must rely on the Spirit to teach and the Spirit is the thing that really does the converting. 

Funny story: After the conference, I was talking to my companion from my last area and she said I have been in the prayers of the son of one of the recent converts. The son thought that, since I was not going to the ward anymore, I had fallen away from the church, and was praying that I would realize my mistake and come back haha. 

Love you! Tell Rachel I am so proud of her and to definitely check her watch instead of the girls around her! 

-Sister Sarah Bennion

Papa Gru! How's it going? 

I have absolutely loved getting your emails! They completely brighten my day! Its good to remember that I am not the only missionary to ever struggle with language. It all gets easier with time and faith :)

I also have really loved hearing about farm improvements! I am so excited to see all the progress when I get home!! Tree house, swim-able pond, berries...all we need now is a sasquach statue and no poison oak and its about as close to the celestial glory as we can get before the second coming!

I'm glad your mission prep class is going well! If you are looking for material to give them that is really helpful, I know a talk that has really helped me since being on a mission. It is called "The Forth Missionary." It is long, but so fantastic.  

Love you papa! 

-Sister Bennion

September 9th

This week was a little difficult. We were not able to meet with any of our baptism dates and none of them were able to come to church. BUT, it was a great week for recent converts! We had 8 of them come to church this last week and they are becoming much stronger. We also had 5 new investigators and one of them came to church on Sunday. 

One of the investigators we focused the most on is Stella. She is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese and Chinese. She has a tumor in her stomach and recently had to have a surgery to get it removed. She is still in a lot of pain and found out that she is going to need more surgeries, so we recommended that she get a priesthood blessing. She received one this last Thursday and you could tell that she was really strengthened by it. 

Sorry, don't have a ton of time to email! It is sisters pday today! We are having a culture today! So excited. Chinese is coming along and everything is going good :) I promise a better email next week with some pictures! Love you!

-Sister Bennion

Pictures from Sept 2nd

September 2nd

Hey mama! 

How is everything going? Is everyone enjoying their last week of summer? I can't believe that summer is already almost over! Time definitely flies! 

Everything is going well down under. Investigators are progressing for the most part (one of our baptismal dates got anti-ed by her landlord and told her friend that she wants to stop meeting with us :( we still have a lesson with her scheduled for this week though!) and I really love the members in our branch. I'm making some progress on language; my tones have been a real problem, so I am now listening to a preach my gospel cd in Chinese whenever we are in our flat and reading from the Book of Mormon a lot out loud reeeeeeaaallly slowly. Sister Z says I sound like a Chinese kid with reading disabilities, but at least I sound like a Chinese kid haha. 

I've really tried to improve on my prayers this last week. I realized that they had become a little repetitive and I wasn't putting enough time into them. I started studying about prayer in the scriptures and found a great definition of it in the Bible dictionary, part of which states: Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. The Lord wants us to ask. He needs for us to recognize what we are in need of and come to Him. Sister Z shared a quote with me recently that states, "I believe that, in this church, answers is a blessing we have. We don't need to fool around, we can go directly to God. If he is there, He will answer. If He doesn't answer, check the batteries, something is wrong with us." So, a commitment this week: Focus on pray this week. Make a conscious effort to come closer to God and understand His will. I know that as you do, the Lord will bless you with increased strength, love, and comfort. 

Just wanted to let you know everything is great. I love and miss you and hope that things are going well! 

Letter to the President:

Ups and downs this week. One of the downs, Betty got a job and was too busy to meet with us this week and get a baptismal interview. But, one of the ups was that she still came to church yesterday! And she said that she is still interested in being baptized. We find out what her work schedule looks like tomorrow and we are praying that she will have enough time. 

Another up: Yesterday after church, a girl came up to me and said, "Do you remember me?" She looked familiar, but I couldn't quite recall how I knew her so I responded that I didn't. She said, "We met on the tram a week ago. My name is Mel." Finally, I remembered. Sister Z and I were on our way to a lesson last week and I started talking with a girl next to me named Mel about the church. She had not seemed that interested and said that she was really busy taking test right now, but she still gave me her contact information. Since she was Australian-Chinese and spoke really good English, I referred her over to the English-speaking sisters and did not think much of it. However, Mel told me that she had prayed to the Lord for guidance the day before she met me and that I was an answer to her prayers. She told me the sister missionaries had called her yesterday and invited her to church so she came. 

Chinese is coming along, slowly and surely. Sister Z and I have been doing a lot of role-plays to help me improve on my speaking in lessons. I still do not understand a lot that is being said in lessons, but I usually understand the gist of conversations and am praying for the Spirit's guidance.

August 26th

President's letter:

This week went really well! Sister Z and I are getting along and I am seeing some progress in my Chinese. We definitely have seen a lot of miracles, one of which was being able to teach 11 member-present lessons (I love our ward!). Another miracle occurred during our lesson with one of our most progressing investigators, Betty. 

Betty is absolutely amazing; she had already been to church for three weeks, reads the Book of Mormon and prays every day, and had finished almost all the lessons necessary for baptism. She had a baptismal date set for late September. We met with her on Tuesdayto teach the law of tithing. I knew enough Chinese to teach a little bit about what tithing was and extend the commitment to pay tithing once Sister Z had expounded on the subject more throughly. After Betty accepted the commitment, Sister Z started talking to her about something else. I caught a few word about baptism and realized Sister Z was probably asking if Betty would be willing to move up her baptism date a little earlier. Betty seemed a little nervous, but I couldn't understand enough Chinese to know what her concern was. But, I really felt a prompting to say something, so I said in Chinese: "Baptism isn't a test. You don't need to know everything about the Gospel to be baptized and being baptized can help you feel the Spirit more and understand more." Betty seemed to relax a little and, after talking to Sister Zhang a little more, started nodding and agreed to whatever Sister Z had said. After Betty had left, I asked Sister Zhang what had happened and she said, "I thought you understood! Betty said she would be baptized next week! Your comment really helped her make the decision!" 

I am so grateful for the Spirit. This week, I was reading D&C 42:14, which states: "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." I know this to be true. I am not yet good enough (nor will I ever be good enough) at Chinese to teach anyone about something as complex as the Gospel alone. Thankfully, I will never have to. As long as I stay faithful and worthy, the Lord will qualify me for my calling and will provide me with necessary direction. 

Hope everything is going well! Have a fantastic week! 

-Sister Sarah Bennion

Dad,

Thank you so much, Dad! I loved your insight on the brain and how it evolves! I sometimes forget that learning a new language is a slow process. It's funny; at the beginning of my mission, I really just thought that I would wake up one day and be able to understand chinese. False. It is not something that can be learned immediately, but through daily study, a lot of practice, and a lot of moving neutrons. 

This week was much better. I am still trying to find a better way to effectively use my hour of language study every day, but I am beginning to pick up more of what is said in conversations. My companion is really helping. I learned how to talk about Christ's life and ministry this week in understandable Chinese! Jiayou (that is something similar to hooray in chinese...they use it a lot here)!

Fun fact! Most of the missionaries called to speak Chinese are great piano players, because piano makes you use both sides of your brain. Dad, you were meant to speak Chinese  (I don't care what Yijia says about your tones being incorrect :) )

I am so grateful for all the support I feel from the family. You guys really are such an inspiration to me. I can definitely feel the effects of your fasting and prayers. Love you sosososo much! Tell mom, mimi, and rachel I go their letters today! LOVE!!!

-Sister Sarah "Sunshine" Bennion 

PS I read a really interesting talk this week called "A Heavenly Manifestation" by Heber Q. Hales. It is not doctrine, but it definitely gives an interesting prospective on what the Spirit world could be like. It reminds me of something I heard in the MTC: "We are missionaries now, missionaries when we go home, and if we are do really well in this life, we get to be missionaries in the Spirit world as well! So enjoy the work!" I love my calling!

August 19th

I'm in the city! AND I'M SPEAKING CHINESE. My companion is from China; her name is Sister Zhang and she is one of the hardest workers I've ever met! She had me making phone calls in Chinese on day one to investigators! And remember how I was saying I don't really like finding? Yeah, we do two hours or more of finding every day. I am verrrry quickly gaining a lot of experience. 

As you can probably imagine, these first few days have been pretty challenging. I definitely do not think my Chinese is sufficient and I really wish I could speak and understand more! It is so frustrating that I have not been able to help out that much in lessons as of yet and it is easy to become discouraged. The amount I need to learn is overwhelming and there really isn't time to study. One of the scriptures that has really helped me is Ether 12:27, in which the Lord says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them." I have definitely seen my weaknesses this past week. I have definitely been humbled. And I definitely know that, as I have faith in the Savior, that the Lord can strengthen me. There is no way that I can learn what I need to and do the work I need to without the assistance of the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be refined and I am praying that I can have the faith necessary to see miracles! 

August 11th

I have LOVED all the pictures of Mary's wedding prep! The day is speedily approaching! I really can't believe it is happening so soon. Make sure to take a ton of pictures at the wedding and, when you wake up from your stress-enduced coma after the wedding, send them to me!

Missionary work is going well!

This week has been great; I have definitely seen a lot of miracles, especially with the less active members. A little less than two weeks ago, we had the oppurtunity to visit a family who had not been to church in years. Their oldest daughter answered the door and said that she was going to another church and was not really interested in coming back. But after we talked to her for a bit on the doorstep, she invited us in anyway and began to talk  to us. She said she had been bullied in church when she was younger and had told herself she would never go back (because many of the people who had bullied her were still in the ward). However, she also told us she had always wanted to go on a mission and that none of the churches she had visited had the kind of mission experience for young people that was offered in the LDS church.  We talked with her about, even though the Gospel is perfect, the people are not and how important the Gospel was. At the end of the lesson, we invited her to come on splits with us the next week. She agreed, but canceled this last week. However, we invited her to church again and she came yesterday! For the first time in years! And she agreed to go on splits with us later this week!

Aaaaaaaaand more big news: I'm getting transferred!  So today will be filled with packing, prepping, etc. I am pretty sure I will be assigned to the Chinese branch and am so excited! I'm ready to start speaking Chinese all the time!

I have really loved my companions and our area! The recent converts are amazingly strong and have already been helping teach new investigators! But, even though this has been a great area, I am really excited for the oppurtunities and experience that will come this next transfer in a new area!

There was a fireside this last week and Brad Wilcox was one of the speakers! He was so hilarious and I loved his thoughts on how we know the Gospel is true. After the fireside, we were about to get into the car when some elders asked if they could catch a ride, because it was getting late and they wanted to get home on time (it is not against the rules for elders to get rides with sisters here). It all would have been fine EXCEPT that one of the elders was a 200+ pound Samoan and, since I am in a threesome companionship, I had to be in the backseat with them. Defintely uncomfortable for all parties. In a normal sitauation, I wouldn't want to be that close to a guy (this is Sarah Bennion you are talking to :) ) and, as a missionary, it was pretty much unbearably awkward or as the Australian would say "Awkward as" (In Australia, they always say "___as" instead of finishing the simile..."cool as" "awesome as" etc).

I know this week is going to be busy /hectic, but keep up the great work, Mom! You are amazing and DEFINITELY not spiritually lacking! You have a lot on your plate and you are handling it all extremely well! Remember D&C 10:4!

I love you so DANG much! Have fun this week!

-Sister Sarah Bennion

PS Attached is a picture of my companion and I with a koala cookie and a picture of me with my Australian long lost cousin :)