Dear Family,
I truly don't think I have ever appreciated the Gospel as
much as I do now. I know I say this all the time, but its true. I wish I
wouldn't have taken it for granted before. But live and let learn right? So I
would ask each of you to learn from my mistakes and relish in the good news of
the Gospel. Relish in the power of the priesthood, the restoration of the
Gospel, the Living Prophet, the Temples all around the world, and the amazing
and infinite power of the Atonement. There truly is no greater gift to us on
this earth, then the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This week was wonderful. WE had a another incredible week with Alecia. I love actually seeing someone progress in the Gospel. It’s truly amazing to watch. We had a great lesson with her on Monday. We went over the Restoration and then we talked about praying to know it’s true and she said she doesn't need to pray, because she already knows its true. :) Oh my life! AMAZING. We had a Relief Society Activity on Thursday and she didn't think she would be able to come, but she rearranged her schedule and she came. Then we had stake conference this weekend (which by the way was amazing) and she was worried about her children behaving. But we sat up in the front with her, and her children did beautifully. Much better then the family did when we were younger. Ha :) They just sat so quietly and it was great. Then to just add some icing to the cake, she asked us about Baptism and when. We had said originally the 28th but if that was to soon then we could push it back and she said that should be alright! Are you serious?! :) Oh my life. So we are going to go over after this and talk about it. It truly has been incredible. The angels and Heavenly Father truly have prepared her for this and I'm just grateful that I get to witness it. :)
Another wonderful experience of the week....I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE! Oh my goodnight! I love the temple. The temple in Sydney is right on this huge busy road and its so noisy and crazy busy. But then you walk into the temple and you just feel this amazing sense of peace. I LOVE IT! We did a session and the spirit was just burning in my chest the whole time. It was amazing. But you know the worst part, is having to come back out afterwards, into the crazy busy world. But I thought of at that moment, that it has got to be like that in Heaven all the time, but the best part is, you won't have to leave! Go to the temple as often as you can. We have no excuse. It’s AMAZING!
Another wonderful experience was Stake Conference. The Saturday night session especially. Oh my life! Everything they talked about is EXACTLY what I needed to hear. The stake President spoke and basically everything he said went hand in hand, and some exact wording, to my patriarchal blessing. How cool is that? It was one of the sweetest experiences ever. I love the meetings we attend on the mission. They are probably my favourite thing.
"And Faith, Hope, Charity and love with an eye single to the glory of God qualify him for the work." These past 2 weeks have been all about these three attributes of Christ. And I think it’s because I need to develop these attributes more, and then in turn help the people here to have that as well. The article in the Ensign this month about Hope is wonderful. Read it! :) But my favourite quote from it is this: "Hope is the anchor for the soul, the sail for our dreams, and the balm for our pains. It is the one-size solution that fits all." Watching someone else truly develop the true hope the Gospel brings is an incredible experience. And that would have to be my best practice as teaching like Jesus did. But with Him those just were His attributes, so as I strive to develop them and help others, we in turn become more like him.
One last experience, talk about consecration.... I can't believe I did this, but when you are "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" it’s like you can't not follow it. We knocked on this door, trying to find someone in the ward. But an older man answered. He’s atheist and he basically told us that we weren't facing reality doing this sort of thing. We said our good byes and started driving away when I get this thought, go back and offer him a Book Of Mormon. Admit: I felt way to scared. I kept thinking he doesn't want anything to do with us. I told my companion this and she automatically said, its a prompting lets go. So we did. Knocked on the door again. Needless to say he wasn't pleased to see us. And he wouldn't take the Book of Mormon, but I told him I felt prompted that I needed to share my testimony. So I did and we left. I think his whole goal was to get us discouraged and to back off, but I wasn't going to back down from my testimony. I wished him a nice evening though, and he seemed very surprised that we were still happy. But I've come to realize that sharing the Gospel does make me happy, no matter what people say to me, or do to me. This is what I believe in and so I can't not share it when I need to.
I know this Church is true with all of my heart. I know that this is God's work and that its only possible through Him.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
Love you
Sister Benjamin
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| Blue-tongued lizard-Lexie said she wouldn't hold it because they told her they bite. Surprised she even touched it.:) |
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