Week 103 Trust In God & Never Give Up

What an incredible final week it’s been. We did tons of service which I can’t express how much I love! One service project we did was helping out the Cramer family with a landscaping project in their front yard which consisted of tearing out old sod, shoveling dirt, digging small trenches for a stone pathway, moving bricks, shoveling more dirt, and laying sod. Fun thing about the Cramer’s is that Lori Cramer grew up in Auberry & her sister is Phil McCauley’s wife! We had a lot of fun talking about that. 

The Cramer’s have 2 foster children staying with them right now that are being taught, Maelyn (11) & Braeden (10). They’re such awesome kids & the Cramer’s are planning to adopt them on the 21st! They’ve been taught all the lessons and have just been waiting for adoption to finalize so they can be baptized. They also hadn’t set a date yet for their baptisms just cause they weren’t sure about the adoption. Well we showed up Friday morning to help out & Sister Cramer is like, “Did you tell the Elders about what day you wanna be baptized on?” And they both said the 24th!! That was such a huge miracle. Elder Petersen & I have been praying for them so much & that everything would go smoothly with the adoption to make the baptism possible & then we just show up & they have they’re own baptismal date picked out! 

While we were working, Braeden was like, “Aren’t you the one who talked about sports last week in church?” And I was confused and then I remembered in my talk I shared the story of Jimmy Valvano & his father so I was like oh yeah that was me haha. Well this kid is so stinkin smart!! I asked him if he remembered why I shared it and he repeated the whole story back to me and then how I tied it in to trusting in God. I was amazed!! What 10 year old pays attention in sacrament meeting to the speakers & is able to repeat back stories shared nearly a week later?! Kid is a stud!! Since that him & I have just been best buds talkin bout sports & Jesus it’s great.

Well we were able to go teach Braeden & Maelyn on Sunday & it was such an awesome lesson!! We talked about baptism & the Holy Ghost & they’re so smart, especially Braeden. He was answering every question and asking some really good questions. We went over the baptismal questions & then starting making arrangement for their baptism on the 24th. Such an exciting time for everyone! The kids have been waiting so long for this and are so exciting is finally becoming a reality. 

We did tons of service out at the Boulder County Fair & that’s been a blast! We even got to be in the parade, we were running along the side handing out flyers for the Fair, but we were in the parade haha! We’ll help out again at the Fair tomorrow & then are teaching Braeden & Maelyn that night about repentance. Beautiful way to finish out, I love it. Also Alena will be going to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for her deceased ancestors on Thursday morning w/ members from the ward! She’s so awesome!!

I will forever be grateful for my mission. It has truly changed me & will therefore change the remainder of my life. 

My testimony is this:

I love Jesus Christ. I love His Gospel & am grateful for the peace & joy which it brings into my life. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah. 

I know The Book of Mormon is a true testament of Jesus Christ & that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. My testimony is that of Nephi of old when he said, “Hearken unto these words & believe in Christ. And if ye believe not in these words, believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words. For they are the words of Christ. And he hath given them unto me, and they teach all men that they should do good.” 

I bear my testimony of the love of I have for Our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the Savior & Redeemer of our souls.

I know that Jesus Christ suffered every pain, sin, & affliction for us in the Garden of Gethsamane. 

I know that he suffered physical death by Crucifixion on Calvary. 

And I know that He was resurrected & conquered Galgotha’s Grave. I know that He lives today. I know that His Gospel will bring peace & joy into our lives. He has the power to mend broken hearts, I have seen it first hand. If I had to sum the Gospel of Jesus Christ up into one sentence it would be, “Trust In God & Never Give Up.” 

There will be storms. There will be trials & hardships & things will not go as planned, but Trust In God. We will fall short, we will make mistakes, we will sin, we are not perfect. But I believe what the Savior asks of us, is to, “Never Give Up.” Keep repenting, keep working to become better, keep trying. Don’t take your eyes off the Savior & don’t ever throw in the towel. Keep coming back to Him, He will always accept you & embrace you. I promise & know that His “Arms of Mercy” are extended always, inviting us to come unto him. His love is infinite & eternal. I am so grateful for a perfect loving Savior who loves someone as imperfect as myself. And I know He does so because He is perfect, and his love is perfect. He is the Savior & Redeemer of my soul.

Again I say, ”Trust In God & Never Give Up.” I love Jesus Christ. I leave my witness of the One who has the power to say to the storms & to our very souls, “Peace, Be Still.” Even Our Savior & Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Riley Robert Bennett 

Week 102 Exodus 14:14

Well we got to teach Francisca on Wednesday! The lesson went great, we taught her on her front porch. Then we came back on Friday w/ a member in our ward and were able to teach her in her house! She is so humble. Every time she spoke about her father she would start getting emotional, you could tell it’s something that’s been weighing on her for a long time. My heart felt for her as she talked about the loss of her father & how she missed him & she just hopes she’s making him proud. As we taught about the Plan of Salvation she expressed how she loved the Spirit World & 3 Kingdoms. That she was able to know her father was in a state of peace & rest brought great comfort to her. Francisca is amazing & we love her! We invited her to prepare to be baptized just as the Savior was and she said that is something she wants for herself & her kids! She is preparing herself to be baptized on August 31st. Now we gotta start getting the kids involved in the lessons while we’re there!

I made a visit to Windsor to see some people & it was so sweet! I got to see Gene Cross who I first lived w/ when I came into the mission. He told me he’d come to the temple w/ me the day before I go home but I’d have to help him, I gladly told him I would! Also went & saw the Hughes family, they’re so much fun! Then lastly, got to stop by the Bertagnole family who some of them I hadn’t seen since I left Windsor a year & a half ago! That’s a lot of time for change and growth haha. Since I left, London, the youngest girl was baptized also. And Amber is pregnant w/ their 7th child who will be a boy! I love that family so so much!!

I had my last Zone Conference yesterday. It was pretty special. Myself along w/ 4 other Elders I came out w/, including Elder Gillette my MTC comp, all got to share our testimonies w/ the zones. It was a tender moment watching the other 4 Elders share their testimonies and thinking about the growth in each of them over the past 2 years. The Spirit was incredible, it was silent, quiet, but oh so powerful. I love when people testify of Jesus Christ & I love having the opportunity to testify of Him & His Gospel. It invites the Spirit unlike anything else to me.

I was able to testify of Jesus Christ on Sunday. The ward asked me to speak on “Exercising Faith.” I testified of the faith of Peter when he walked on water. The faith of Nephi when he broke his bow. I was able to testify about how the Lord asks of us to TRUST him at all times, even thru the storms. I then shared the story of my boi Jimmy V and his story with his father. We should have faith in one another. We should believe that we can become better, all of us, because that’s what Christ does. He believes in all of us, even when we don’t believe in ourselves. Keep pushing forward & putting your trust in the Lord. No matter how bad the storm may seem, just as Peter of old, keep your eyes fixed on the Savior, & trust in him. I promise it will all work out. I ️ Jesus

Exodus 14:14

“The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” 

Peace & Love. Hugz N Kisses. Bye. 

Elder Bennett 

Zone Conference 

Zone Breakfast w/ President John

Bertagnole Family!!

Gene Cross THEE 

Cheezin 

Chattin w/ Da Boyz

Week 101 Chainsawz & Chuckwagonz

Sorry it’s gonna be a long one but I feel so high on life right now...like a sloth clinging to a rocket (See Pics) 

Fredrick is such a unique little town with a sweet personality. Every year they have an even called “Chainsaws & Chuckwagons” where they have people come from all over the world to Fredrick for 4 days to do some wood carving. Each artist gets their own stump or log idk but they’re huge, and goes to town on it with a chainsaw. Then the town of Fredrick will place them all throughout the town in parks, bike paths, side of streets. So the town is decorated w/ tons of cool wood sculptures all throughout. 

Yesterday I was on an exchange w/ Elder Bohn (Wes Bohn’s cousin) and we had an amazing day! We were out at the end of the night and it was getting dark but we kept walking around and met a man named Jose working in front of his house who spoke hardly any English haha. After trying to converse w/ us for a few minutes he said, “One sec, my lady speaks English.” And went inside and brought his wife Franceska out. We talked w/ her about eternal families & she told us we could come back to teach her Wednesday morning so we’re really excited about that! Blessing that come from working till the end of the night!

Alena’s baptism was such a spiritual experience. One I will never forget. I have so many wonderful things to say about that woman. I have never been to a baptism with more non members before! She invited so many people!! She had multiple friends there and a ton of family it was incredible to see all the support she had! And she was introducing them to everyone! Missionaries, members, President & Sister Palmer, it was so cool to watch! She has grown so so much just in the past 3 weeks since we first started teaching her & I'm so proud of her growth & feel so grateful to have been able to watch & be apart of it. 

There was such a great support from the ward, nearly the whole chapel was full. Something really cool hit me, my mission in a way had come fill circle. I remembered first being in the Trilby building across from the temple with a nearly full chapel for the baptisms of Rebecca Cook & the Bertagnole girls in Bison Ridge at the start of my mission. And now here I was towards the end of my mission, in that same building, with a nearly full chapel for Alena’s baptism, it was a tender lil moment. 

Here’s an example of how awesome Alena is! So we had the program in the chapel & did the ordinance of baptism in the relief society room. Well, while we were walking to the relief society room to perform the baptism, she leans over to me & says, “Can I tell you something but you have to promise not to be mad?” And I’m thinking oh my goodness what in the world did this girl that she’s about to confess to me the minute before her baptism. And she says, “On Fast Sunday when I told you guys that I fasted, I’m so sorry but I lied, I actually drank water that day & I feel so guilty.” I couldn’t help but laugh & hug her & tell her how much I love her. She truly understands repentance. 

Well the baptism itself was memorable. When we got to the font we realized that the drain hadn’t fully been put in so it was slowly draining the font the entire time. The water was at most, barely above our knees. So, we did the baptism on our knees. I have now performed 2 baptisms on my knees haha. Anyways, all went well and the Spirit was very strong. 

At the end of the program Alena shared her testimony & it was so powerful to hear her testimony of the peace & joy that comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She said, “I promised myself I was going to make 2019 my Year of Peace...and I believe God sent you to my doorstep.” Alena is so sweet & humble. I know God did lead us to her. I can’t help but think what would’ve happened or what her life would still be like if we had passed her by because we were too concerned about being late for dinner. I know there are people like Alena all over the world, searching for peace. We have a responsibility to find them.

I really really ️ Jesus Christ

Peace & Love 🤟

Elder Bennett 

                                                 What A Joyful Day

                                                              Rocket Sloth

                                             God Bless America

                                                                     Posted

You know that scene from Avatar w/ the blue people when he gets his dragon thing...

Somewhere In My Area :)

                                                    Horse wisper

Week 💯 World Record Contributors 💯

WEEK 100!!! You know we gotta do it big...so we went to see Saul, The Worlds Largest Sticker Ball today located in none other than Longmont, CO at a business called Sticker Giant where, you guessed it! They make stickers. Saul weighs about 375lbs, made up purely of stickers, a real thicc boiii. And we got to contribute to Saul’s growth today by slappin on a good ol FOCO & Jesus sticker :)

Quick update on Alena! Elder Hansen and I finished the lessons w/ her and went over the baptismal questions on Wednesday morning before I left. She went to a baptism on Saturday and was touched by the Spirit & super emotional, was then interviewed by President Palmer on Sunday, and is still extremely excited for her baptism on Saturday!! 

Aight so Peak View has gotta be one of the weirdest areas I’ve been in yet. We cover 4 little towns: Firestone, Fredrick, Dacono, and Erie. And everything is super spread out. Definitely not used to it as I’ve been in bigger cities most of my mission. Also we are the southern most point of the mission and border the Denver North mission. There is a huge horse farm here that a member owns where they house about 80 horses and we get to help out there & that’s a ton of fun!

One amazing family I’ve met so far is the Briggs family! Which is a Mom (Emily) & 2 kids (Drea & Ray). We’re teaching Drea, a 12 year old. Her mother is a returning member who just got her first ever temple recommend which she’s really excited about! Her dad isn’t active anymore and the mom & dad are divorced. She spends a week at a time at each so Drea is gone this week at her Dad’s. Anyways, we got to teach the family Friday & Saturday & focused a lot on Drea. She’s the only one not baptized, her brother Ray is. She’s very shy & has a hard time trusting missionaries cause she feels they always pressure baptism on her. So we’re trying to work patiently with her and gain her trust. We had some fun on Saturday and taught faith using a bag of Skittles which I dumped on the ground...then related it to the gospel. It was fun! 

The Briggs family has a fun thing they do where they nickname the missionaries, Elder Petersen has been donned the name “Elder Pumpkin Patch” and I was donned the name “Elder Velvet Bunny Wabbit.” 

We talked to a really nice older lady named Rosalee on Thursday who was sitting out on her porch. She’s 81 & she said she had questions about life that no one has ever been able to give her answers to...until we came along! Basic principles taught in the Plan of Salvation were the answers to the questions we had. Crazy how this woman has been alive for 81 years & has been stumped by these questions which I’ve been taught the answers to since I was in primary. Truly a blessing being born & raised in Christ’s Church & not something I should ever take for granted. 

I  Jesus. Peace & Love y’all 🤟

Elder Bennett aka YOBOIGATOR 

More Goodbyes From KF/HP 

              Crane Family Missing Zach who’s going to Fresno on his Mission

                                 Ward Family Missing Katherine

                                            Ben Smith & Elizabeth

                                                 Leonard Family

                                                     Horse Whisperer

                                                                 Sau

Week 99 Land of The Free

’m getting transferred to Longmont/Firestone, CO (South of Loveland, North of Boulder) to be in the Peak View ward w/ Elder Petersen from Texas. So for 1 month I’ll be out there haha. Not the way I expected to nor wanted to finish out my mission but I’m doing my best to, “Trust in the Lord” and have a good attitude about this. My ways are not HIS ways.

We had an incredible week over here in FOCO! We taught Alena many times throughout the week and she is just absolutely amazing!! Her faith is so inspiring to me. She came to church on Sunday and even fasted for the 1st time in her life & prayed to know if The Book of Mormon was true, if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if she should be baptized on July 20th. When we asked her how she had felt while fasting, she said, “JOY!” She said she knew it was the Holy Ghost confirming to her the truths of all these things and that she should be baptized July 20th. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she said she was giving up coffee & weed so that she can prepare herself to be baptized & have the Spirit w/ her. She amazes us more & more everyday. We taught her yesterday & she asked me to be the one to baptize her, what a great honor I feel, I love her so much! We’re going back tomorrow to finish the lessons with her before I leave the area.

Tuesday night we were able to meet this lady named Toni and do some landscaping for her. She was a referral from a member in our ward. The member talked to Toni at a garage sale and Toni told her how her husband died in February and she’s been struggling to manage working, parenting, and keeping up with the yard. She told us her story while working in the yard & it was really sad, my heart aches for her. It was nice to help her out physically but I only wish she would let us heal her spiritually. We tried to set up a lesson but she was hesitant, but Elder Hansen will continue going back to check up on her!

We did another Hot Pot dinner with Sulan! She is so so sweet & always prepares so much food! We never come close to finishing it and she always gets frustrated with us it seems for not eating all of it but it’s so much haha. 

We also were able to do some service for Sulan after the dinner which she was very grateful for. It was beautiful weather, nice temperature, but you could see storm clouds coming. We went back in for some cake and then the storm of the century came thru and wrecked us. Some of the hardest rain I’ve ever seen which later turned into hail. Tons of thundering, it was really cool to see Mother Nature do her thing. However, 5 minutes into the storm I realized that I left the car window down so we took our cake to go and took off but it was too late the whole car was just soaked. As I hop into the car the cake and all it’s whipped cream falls into my lap haha. It was the most hectic scene ever, being pelted by rain, trying to start the car with whipped cream on my hands, lap, and the seat, all while Elder Hansen keeps yelling at me to roll the window up haha. Oh it was great.

It’s been tough doin the whole farewell tour. The Saints here are some of the best & have changed my life & vision of things. No doubt a piece of my heart will always be in the Harmony Park & Kechter Farm wards in South FOCO. I know anytime I visit here it will feel like home. I love the Saints here greatly & am saddened to leave them, I wish I could stay & finish out here. However, my ways are not HIS ways.

Peace & Love,

Elder Bennett aka YOBOIGATOR 

New Addy

11371 Arbor St A103 

Firestone, Colorado 80504

                                                  Horsetooth X Joe

                                                    Baller Landscapers

                                               God Bless America

                                                Hail or Golf Balls?

                                        Sulan & Her Family #FreeKimi

                                                         Alena

                                                       Sam Bell? GOAT.

                                           Van Tassell Family

                                                      YeaYea Stance

                                         After We Pulled Away #IHateGoodbyes

Week 98 I Am The Gardener Here X G Money

WHAT A PHENOMENAL WEEK!! Blessings on Blessings on Blessings! 

Tons of outdoor work this last week so shoutout to Pops, the master gardener, for all he taught me.

Elder Kellogg (G Money)was going home on Saturday so he got out w/ us for his last 2 days! He was w/ us on Thursday & Friday until we dropped him off & we had a ton of fun together & taught some baller lessons!

We had such a huge miracle happen on Wednesday! So we street contacted a woman named Alena (Uh-Len-Uh) a few weeks ago at the start of the transfer on our way to dinner, while running late, but getting chastised by the Spirit that we needed to talk to her. Very similar to Tom Bielecki & what happened there. Well we chatted w/ her & she seemed very interested & she told us she wanted to go to church the next day so we gave her all the info & exchanged numbers! Next day she wasn’t at church and she said she had to work & when we asked to come by sometime to teach her she said yeah sure anytime she’s outside we could talk with her again but she never gave a set time. So we would go by all the time at all times of the day but she would never be outside so we figured she wasn’t really interested. She was pretty much off our radar until Wednesday she texted us in the morning & told us she was outside and that we could come by to talk w/ her!

We went over and she started telling us about how she’s been wanting to come to church and already has been working on making changes in her life but knows she can’t do it alone & needs God’s help! She was already repenting w/o even knowing it or being invited to!! So we opened up to Ether 12:27 w/ her and had her read it & it was incredible. She started crying while reading it, then afterwards, said, “That’s me right now.” We Taught the Restoration & we’re able to testify to her about the healing powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ & how they help us become better thru repentance. We invited her to be baptized July 20th & she accepted & said the most humble prayer! 

We met w/ her on Friday morning while we had Elder Kellogg right before having to drop him off at the mission home. She told us she had been reading The Book of Mormon and praying & was up to 1 Nephi 13. She came to church on Sunday and despite it being a train wreck she loved it & met great members! We taught her the Plan of Salvation on Monday while in the Goodell’s home & she told us she was starting 2 Nephi. While teaching the P.O.S. she kept saying, “This is so fascinating!” And, “Why don’t more people know about this?” Her progress has been incredible to watch in just one week! We’re teaching her again tomorrow & are so excited for her, we love Alena!

We were able to serve those whom we’re teaching which was great! We helped Ben move into an apartment in our area & mowed Sulan’s lawn for her! We also went back on Wednesday last week and taught Sabrina & her daughter Charlotte who is 9, then we finished painting for them. They are such a sweet family! They leave tomorrow for a big summer trip and don’t come back until after I’m home so we went by yesterday to say goodbye. So grateful to have met them all, such a wonderful family!

Also while w/ Elder Kellogg we taught the Reiche family the Plan of Salvation in the Padilla’s home & then had S’mores afterwards which was great!

Saturday we were able to go to the temple to be there for Charles Ward’s receiving his endowment. He’s the member we live w/ and his step son is going thru the temple on Wednesday!

The McMurray’s left July 1st & we got to meet President Palmer & his family today. They seem like such a loving and amazing family, looking forward to getting to know them more! After meeting the Palmer’s we went & hiked Horsetooth w/ Joe from Laramie. Should have pictures of that next week. I feel so incredibly blessed & have such a deep love for my brother Jesus Christ. I’m just lovin life.

Peace & Love 

Elder Bennett aka YOBOIGATOR 

                                            Farewell G Money

                                            Snakes In The Grass Keep Mowin

                              Sabrina, Charlotte, Bailey, & Lucas Barstow

                                        Spencer McMurray

                      Cason’s Proud Artwork of Darth Maul Jesus Made In Primary