First letter from Australia!

G'Day Mate!

Well I'm finally here! 

We got to our area on Friday night. Which is absolutely beautiful! It is smaller but I love it! (She is serving in Grafton, in the northern part of her mission. She is about 8 hours north of Sydney. Which means when the mission splits in July she will be in the Sydney North Mission.) Our branch only had 16 members that came yesterday but hopefully we will get more. :) Since I called you yesterday I won't write much.

But I have had wonderful experiences this week with Heavenly Father answering my prayers. And in the scriptures none the less, which usually doesn't happen all the much for me. I truly feel so much closer to him and i really hope that I will be able to continue to build up that relationship.

One funny experience is we were out tracting on Saturday and some guy called us over and asked if we wanted a glass of wine. We told him we don't drink wine and then he started talking about how he is learning the language of theology. He was definitely drunk. But when we were leaving we asked for his name and he told us that he was Morvius, Maximus and that he was Superman. So we left and laughed pretty hard about that.:)

I know that this Church is true. I know that we do have a loving Heavenly Father who never leaves us alone. The BOM is the word of God and I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God. As a missionary I represent Jesus Christ and He is my Savior. Because of him I am here right now living and breathing. He lives and he loves us so much. He knows exactly how we feel and we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us. I love this Gospel and I'm glad I have the opportunity to share it with others. :)

Love you All

Love Sister Benjamin

 (She sounded pretty excited about the prospects of driving.  She already passed her test to drive on the wrong side of the road.  She will be the one driving as her companion does not drive.)

They got to go to the Sydney Temple before leaving for their areas

 

She found Target! All is right with the world. Her companion is from Tahiti

Her flat...she says it is super nice, and she has been told it is much nicer than the normal apartment she will experience in other places.  Her area has not had missionaries for over a year.

Last letter from the South

Hey Ya'll!

Well this week was literally nuts. Tuesday we went and visited with an investigator. She is going through a lot of really hard things in life. But she told me that she really feels comfortable around me, and she wishes that I would stay. I said that I did too, but I have to go to Aussie. But she said she would always remember me. I really think she has great potential to be baptized. Then that night we went over to the Bishop’s house for dinner. It was so crazy but so much fun. The Elders and us were there and we had a great time. We stayed there for like 3 hours, but that is basically what happens every night in the South.

On Wednesday we had District Meeting and all 5 of us, Elders and Sisters basically just had a heart to heart. We talked about how much we are going to miss each other when I leave. I really didn't expect to love the people here so much. I came here and it was so hard, but once you love the people and they love you back, you really just don't want to leave.  That is exactly how I feel. I really just don't want to leave. There are so many people that I absolutely adore. On Thursday we went out to Lunch at one of the member’s Chinese restaurant. It was delicious. And the Elders made me cupcakes and gave me a hilarious card. :) I have so many wonderful memories from being here. That night my companion and I ate a whole half gallon of ice cream all by ourselves. :) It was cookie dough and Bluebell brand. Which literally is the best ice cream I have ever had. You know me and my weakness when it comes to anything sugar. :)

On Friday we weekly planned and I got all my stuff packed. Then my favorite person probably in West Monroe, drove us up to the Mission office for the Aussie sisters farewell dinner. She found out I was leaving and she wouldn't let me get up there any other way. So we had a nice dinner that night and one of the Senior Missionaries told us a story about a man he knew when he was younger who is a direct descendant of Joseph Smith. And that his mission in life was to find the other direct descendents and apparently 1/3 of them are in Australia! So he told us that we have to go and find them :) I would love that. That would be wonderful! :) After the dinner we said goodbye and I just cried when I said goodbye to my companions and the member that drove us up. It was so hard. I really hope I see them again, but who knows what they will be doing in 16 months from now.

I went after that and spent the next 2 days in Clinton with the sisters there. On Saturday we went to a baptism of 2 little 8 year old twins. They were absolutely adorable. Then we went and visited a bunch of members, the ones they said that I had to experience. All of us really just hit it off. We sang for a couple of ladies in the ward and I loved it. We sang hymns for them and the spirit was so strong, I couldn't believe it :) We went to see one Member Saturday night. She lives in Jackson and she has 7 kids and she has like 30 grandchildren and they all live at her house. She has a really hard shell and she doesn't just automatically love people, and apparently she hasn't been to Church for a while. But she came on Sunday and I was so happy to see her. On Sunday we went to Church and as it was fast Sunday, I was fasting that I would be able to learn how to better act on spiritual promptings. And then the whole lesson in Relief Society was about spiritual guidance. It was amazing to me how quickly Heavenly Father put in my path exactly what I needed to hear. After we went to visit a member in a rest home. He had an accident and it messed up his physical abilities, so he basically only his brain is still functioning. So they go and sing songs to him every Sunday. We sang hymns for him. I love music and the power that it brings :)

After church we went to a members home and had tacos to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. :) It was way fun. Then we went to the Church and had a Bible Study Class. The sisters here have been teaching a lady in Clinton for about 15 weeks and I guess she got really put off one week when she visited church, and she thought we just worshipped Joseph Smith so she didn't really want to read the BOM. So she said she would come to our Bible Study class. They don't have one here but we set one up for Sunday. So we went to the Church and we had 2 members with us who are converts to the Church. We studied and we related the Bible to the BOM and we read Moroni 10 with the investigator. It was a really powerful experience. I felt prompted to share with her my testimony of the Savior. I have always struggled with my testimony of the Savior and I didn't feel like sharing it, but as I did, the spirit flooded my whole body. I told her that Jesus Christ is on my name tag and I represent him. Yes I love Joseph Smith and what he did for us, but I represent Jesus Christ. I am saying and doing the things he would be doing if he were here, or at least that is what I am trying to do. I told her that he lives and that he loves us and that he wants her to come into the fold. It really was so powerful. I didn't even know I had that kind of power to bear testimony. But I have learned that when you don't try to think what you’re going to say, but when you just start testifying and you have the right intentions, the spirit will put words in your mouth that will be exactly what needs to be said. It is experiences like that that makes me glad to be a missionary. :) After, we had dinner at a members home and we talked and she is from Utah and she went to Viewmont. Crazy :) But she was really awesome. Then after, we went back home and other sisters came and slept at our apartment. There were 7 of us. It was so fun. :)

Needless to say I had a crazy but fun week. I am so glad that I got the opportunity to come and serve in the MJM. It literally has been one of the best experiences of my life. It certainly was not easy. I really struggled when I first got here, but because of Heavenly Father and his kindness to me, he helped me through that trial. Because of that I am an even better person then I was before. I absolutely love the South and the people here, even though I never thought I would say this, I really am sad to leave. I can't believe that I am really going to Aussie today. I really hope it will be just as good or better then my experience here. I have learned so much about me, and grown in ways I didn't even know I needed to, or even could. I love the Gospel. I love being a missionary and I absolutely love the opportunity that I have to be able to share my testimony with others. I hope that I bring some into the fold of God while I'm out here. I might not see it happen on my mission, but I know that the people I meet will eventually come into the fold. I know that this Church is true with all of my heart. I know that the BOM is the word of God. Joseph Smith is  a prophet, and he did bring the gospel back here on the earth, but only through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's help. I know that President Monson is our Prophet here on the earth today. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is my Savior, Redeemer and Friend. He sacrificed his life for me out of love for me and he is the reason that I am serving a mission. Christ is who leads this Church today and his way is what provides true happiness. I am so grateful that he gave us the perfect example to follow here on the earth. I love this Gospel. I love being a missionary, even though it is hard sometimes. I am so glad to go to Aussie and I hope that I can be even better there then I was here. :)
I love you all. You are all incredible examples to me.

I hope you have a great week. :)
Love

Sis. Benjamin :)

The Visa is Here!!

Hey Ya'll!
This week has been awesome, but also super crazy!

So last week me and my companions were at the Church and my companion had been talking to President, so she comes running in to give me the phone. President told me that I had gotten my visa. I literally started bawling. I basically couldn't breathe. President was so sweet and he told me he would wait until I could contain myself and keep talking to him. So then he told me that I would be leaving that Monday. After he hung up I just kept crying. I realized that that exchange was exactly what needed to happen. (Because they went on an exchange with a sister from the next area over, they ended up meeting a lady that is friends with a family we know that has a daughter that is completely inactive right now.  Alexis and the lady talked about this girl, and Alexis felt prompted to write her a letter.  There were a lot of things that led to Alexis being in a place to meet her, and for the lady to be with the missionaries to know that Alexis was there.) So many things had been pushed in the way to make it not happen. We had to jump through so many hoops, but it is because it is so necessary. And when Satan sees that something needs to happen he will work so hard to make sure it doesn't, but we are stronger then he is.

So yeah I'm going to Australia! And I couldn't be more excited. I have loved serving here but it has definitely been so hard. I really struggled being here and the people here were not accepting at all of the Gospel. So I was just not trying very hard I guess. But I talked to my companions and we said that the moment you become fully here and happy, is when Heavenly Father will pull you out. So literally that is what happened. I started to really love being here and so many good things were happening, and then I got the call that I was leaving. It definitely was a bitter sweet thing and it still is but I am really excited to go! :) We met a lot of good people this week but not many are wanting to accept the Gospel, but hopefully we are planting seeds. One lady we talked to really wanted to understand more about the BOM, so we taught her the restoration. She asked me why I joined the Church and why I believed what I did. I told her that I had been a member all my life but I did have to become converted to the Gospel. I told her how I gained my testimony of Joseph Smith, and because I knew that he was prophet, I knew that the BOM is true, and because of that I know that the Church is true. She seemed really intrigued when I said that so hopefully she will want to learn more and pray about it herself. We taught another guy this Saturday and he is quite the interesting guy. He talks for forever though. We got there at like 12 and then we talked to him about the BOM for about a half-hour and then he told us the most random things but he knows the BOM is the word of God and this is only his second lesson. He really wants to try out our church so he is going to come on the 12th. Obviously I won't be there but I really hope he does because he needs the Gospel in his life. As do all of us.

When I found out I was leaving I felt very strongly that I needed to sing in  Sacrament meeting. But nobody here plays the piano except one, but she was leaving town and I had never played and sang before in Sacrament meeting. I was feeling really nervous and i just didn't want to do it. But I decided that I still should. It was really fun. I have missed singing a lot and as I did that my testimony grew stronger of the Gospel. One of the hardest things here on my mission is following the promptings of the Spirit, but when I do it literally is the coolest thing. I know that Heavenly Father is watching out for me and that he will never leave me alone. He knows all and he will will make sure that the work gets done no matter what. I know this Church is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that he was called of God.
I love you all! I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you strive to strengthen your testimony each day.

Love

Sister Benjamin

Alexis will be leaving May 6th for Australia!!

Louisiana Week 2

Well this week was good. We started biking this week. Let me tell ya it isn't the most fun I've had. We probably have biked close to 50 miles. And my legs are truly feeling it. We tracted a lot this week and not a lot of people like to hear our message. Most of them already know Jesus Christ and they don't want to know anymore. But there are moments and glimmers of hope. We have tracted into this guy that is an older man, he's black and he doesn't have that many teeth. But he wanted to talk to us. So we set up an appt. and we taught him the Restoration. That lesson was so powerful. The spirit was so strong, you really could have cut it with a knife. We asked him at the end if he believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and he said that he couldn't deny it. That to do something that great you would have to have the power of God on your side. Holy Cow! That lesson was amazing. I was able to testify of the truths we had taught him and that if he would read the BOM and pray sincerely the blessings of heaven would pour out on him. We are meeting with him next Saturday and hopefully setting him with a Baptismal date! :) We also tracted into this other girl.  She let us in and she had a lot of questions about Mormons and if we are able to cut our hair and if we wear skirts all the time but we were able to answer every question. We then testified of the BOM and prayed with her and she really seems interested and wants us to come back. I hope we can set her with a Baptismal date as well. Here in the south we don't have a ton of success. Or I guess other missionaries do here but in the area we are in not that many people want to change their ways or beliefs. But I know this work is the Lord's work and every day I try harder to do what he would have me do.

I have started studying Jesus the Christ and it literally blows my mind every single time I read it. Jesus Christ is amazing. I can't believe all the things he has done for me. Something else I studied is hope. I have been struggling a lot with being happy here and trying to find peace with being in Mississippi, but one day I was studying and I was just flipping through the pages in PMG and I stopped on Christlike Attributes on Hope. I read it and it was exactly what I needed to hear. Heavenly Father has not forgotten me out here in Louisiana. I'm here to work and no matter where I am preaching the Gospel is the same. All of God's Children need the gospel. So I'm trying to find those chosen elect who will accept the Gospel. Just like President Uchtdorf said we all spoke the Universal language in heaven, the pure love of Christ. And when you use that language talking to others they will recognize it and listen and be edified. The Gospel is true. Everyday I learn that. I have had so many doubts on my mission, and I full heartedly believe that Satan works harder on me here then ever before. But along with the doubts my faith grows so much more then ever before. My testimony is so much stronger because I have to push Satan off every day. Heavenly Father is real, Jesus is the Christ and the BOM is the word of God. It can't be disputed and it can't be changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We are in the last dispensation and the Gospel will touch every corner of the Earth. I truly love being a missionary and I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

 

My life will be forever changed because of my mission. 
Well i love you all.

Have a great week
Love
Sister Benjamin