Week 10 BAPTISM!!!!!!

Wassup errybody! Another great week over here hope it was the same for y'all!

    We had Rebecca's baptism on Saturday and it was so awesome! She really wanted her dad to baptize her so he worked a lot with the Bishop to get approval and he was able to! After the baptism they just hugged in the font and it brought peace to my heart to watch. We had a really great turnout too (filled up the whole middle section in the chapel!) All her family and a ton of friends that are all non member or less actives came to the baptism so we're really hoping this is a good experience for them getting back to church. The young women even did a special musical number for her it was really awesome!

   We found this lady named Eika who runs a pet grooming business outta her house and so we asked if we could do service and she was all for it! She said that elders in the past have done service for her before so we were hype about that cause service is hard to find out here! She even gave us an apple pie she made she's great! So we plan on continuing doin service for her in hopes she'll let us teach her sometime!

   We were able to reschedule the Bertagnole girls baptism for November 11th so were all really excited for that and their dad will be able to baptize and confirm all 4 of them! They're such an amazing family! We've started doing FHE with them and we share a message and then play games with them like Farkle and Ping Pong it's so much fun! Truly love their family they're awesome!

    Hope y'all have an amazing week! I'm on Facebook now so if anyone got Q's bout the Mormon church hit me up! Love you all and you're all awesome!

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550

                                                       1/2- Rebecca's Baptism

                                                                           3-Service for Eika

                                          4/5-Yorkie puppy that's a family's in our ward

6-Letter that the girl next to me holding the puppy made us in church she's the sweetest thing!

Week 9 1st Transfer, he is staying with Elder Litster

What up everyone!

  

   We got transfer doc on Saturday and Elder Litster and I are staying together here in Windsor for another 6 weeks! I'm so hype cause I know there's still a lot of work for us to do here. We was so hype bout  stayin together that we bought onesiez from Walmart and look like goons but it's great!

   This week was great we were able to do service and teach lessons! We were able to help a family load a U-Haul and take it to Goodwill to donate. I even got a dope tiger picture from the family we helped out that they were gonna donate but I swooped on it and they said it was all good. 

   On Tuesday the Bertagnole's fed us dinner then we taught them a lesson. Afterwards we played Apples to Apples and Farkle with them it was so fun! We're gonna have Family Home Evening with them tonight and then have our final lesson with them tomorrow night so I'm stoked about that! They're such an amazing family and I'm so happy we'll be here for the baptisms. We'll probably talk tonight about a date probably around that first week in November for their baptisms.

   We also got to teach Rebecca Cook who I haven't talked about in a while cause we haven't been able to meet with her but we made contact on Thursday and were able to set up the remainder of the lessons needed before she is baptized. So were teaching her the final lesson tomorrow and her dad got approval from Bishop yesterday to baptize her. So this Saturday, the 21st, will be her baptism and she's so excited it's great! She's only 14 but asks such deep questions during our lessons and she thinks really deeply for only being 14 it's really impressive. We taught her Sunday and it was so awesome watching her really thinking and us being able to have discussions about the gospel and answer her questions was so cool!

   Our mission has Facebook now and it's really weird. Never would've expected to be using social media out on my mission but I know it can be a great tool to help others come unto Christ so I'm excited about it!

  

   Next week I'll be emailing on Tuesdays cause our P-Day is switching just a heads up.

   Have a fantastic week and keep ya head up! Love y'all

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550

                                                      1- Dope Tiger Picture I swooped

    

                                 2/3-E. Litster and I in our jackets we copped a while ago from Ross bless up

                                                                  4- Onesiez

                                          5-King of The Jungle...yeah we had a photo shoot I'm a tool haha

WEEK 8 "WE WOKE UP TO SNOW"

Wassup everyone! This week wasn't the most exciting but still great! We taught the Bertagnole family twice and things are still going great with them! However, their baptism did get moved because they want to be able to have their family there for it so it has been pushed back to November.

Transfers are this next week so I hope I'll be able to stay around so that I can be here for the baptism. This week wasn't the most exciting because we did have lots of scheduled appointments cancel on us but we did have the chance to do service on Thursday and Saturday. We helped out an older member couple with some landscaping in their front yard. That was a lot of fun!

We went on exchanges on Saturday and it was such a blast! We helped out with the service then Elder Anglin and I went out on foot tracting and had great success! When we left the apartment to go out tracting we talked with a younger guy working on his car who was very nice but shut us down pretty quick. We were walking away and as we got further away I felt prompted to go back and talk with him and after a while I told Elder Anglin we need to turn around. We went back and he wasn't there anymore. So at least I thought I could put those feelings at ease and not wonder what if. We started walking back and as we did there was a woman and her daughter holding hands walking way in front of us on the other side of the street. Well as we continued walking they crossed over to our side we caught up to them and started talking with them. Her name was Josephine and she stopped walking and stood there and listened to us. She seemed really touched by our message as I saw she was tearing up when I talked about how families can be together for forever. We gave her a Book of Mormon and got her number. When we walked away Elder Anglin pointed out to me they were way behind us when we turned around to walk back and had I not said to turn around to go see if that guy was working on his car,  and cause we did this,  they passed us and we were able to catch up to them and talk with them. It was a testimony to me of the importance of listening to the prompting of the Holy Ghost even if we don't know why.

Love you all! Have an amazing week!

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550

                                                                 1. Service squad pic

     

                                                  2. View from a member's house we had dinner with.

 
                                                                         3&4. Got to feed some goats

5. This morning we woke up to snow!! Then by like 2 it was all gone haha

Week 7 Conference High!

    What a great week I had! I feel like I'm still on a high off the spirit from conference!

    This week we taught the Bertagnole girls the Plan of Salvation this week and they are so active and excited for every lesson it's so fun to be able to teach them! 

    I was able to see James Richey this week that was really cool! It was so nice being able to talk to him and talk about Fresno with someone who actually knew Fresno haha. Hope I get the chance to serve in his ward sometime.

    We had zone conference and I was able to see my boi G Money!! Elder Kellogg and I were able to catch up and take some pics together it was awesome, I really hope we get to be comps at some point or work close together, I know we would do amazing together!

    Really cool experience while out trying to contact people. We went to a house for a man named Mike that the last missionaries in the area had left notes on and said we should visit. We went by the house and no one answered so while we were walking in the neighborhood we were passing by a park and there was a young family pushing their daughter on the swing. I told Elder Litster what a happy family they looked like and he said "Yep you should go talk to them." So we went up and started talking to them and they were really nice! They told us that they had their little daughter in the swing Lily who was about 18 months and they were pregnant with their second child. The father expressed to us that he had been looking for a church that would be best for raising his family in and for the their spiritual growth. I wanted to scream to this man that what he was saying was exactly what our church was about! I however calmly told him that's what our church is centered around it families and how they can be eternal and we had a message that would bless him and his family and we wanted to share it with them. He said he's busy with work and it's hard to set a good time but was open to it so we left our number with him. As we left and exchanged names and numbers we realized that it was Mike we had just talked to! Such a cool miracle that we were able to talk to him and his family in the park and introduce ourselves right after we had tried their house. It just so happened to be that day that Mike was sent home from work early cause of weather conditions. The Lord's hand truly is in all of our lives some way everyday preparing us for others or them for us.

    Conference was amazing and I absolutely loved it! I gained such a deeper appreciation for the leaders not only of the church but for the leaders around me in my life personally. It was so uplifting hearing the testimonies of the leaders of the church and such a blessing. Just a reassurance of the truthfulness of this gospel. If anyone questions anything of The Book of Mormon, I suggest they watch Tad R. Callister's talk cause that man throws it down! Loved it.

 Much love everyone have a phenomenal week!

Also our P-Day is changing to Tuesday next transfer which would be Oct. 24th I believe.

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator

1215 Walnut Street

Windsor, CO 80550

   

1- G Money $$$  

 2-Told you I was gonna dye that sucker blue. Gene the homie 

Week 6 PRAYERS NEEDED

Before I go into my week I want to ask everyone to remember my sweet nephew Levi in their prayers. Levi was just diagnosed with Leukemia and will be going through chemo soon. Please pray for him as well as my brother Logan and his wife Janaye. Their family really needs the prayers right now.  Please pray for them, I know that there is power and comfort in prayer. Thank you everyone I love you all.

This week we taught the Bertagnole family on Tuesday with President McMurray so that was cool having him there with us. We taught them the restoration and the kids are all so excited to be baptized, it's really sweet! 

On Wednesday, we went by to check up on Tracey Bates because we hadn't heard from him and were able to chat with him and catch up with him. Unfortunately, he said he didn't see a reason for us to meet with him anymore but we could still stop by every now and then. That was tough to hear but he was nice about it and said we can still come by to chat still holding out hope for him.

Cool story from Thursday!! We were on our way walking to a dinner appointment and there's this house on the corner that has a bunch of cars out front and looks kind of abandoned and we were told the first day we got to the area that they think a member lives there so to maybe try it. So as we were about to pass it Elder Litster was just like I feel like we need to knock this door right now. So we go ahead and knock it and this younger guy probably  30-35 steps out with a box of cigs and lighter and so we just tell him we were told a member of our church lives here and asked if that was right and he goes "No, but I'll listen." So he lights up and we start talking to him. He tells us he's a Christian and was knowledgeable about the bible and asked really good questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he starts reading the introduction on the spot! And while he's doing that I start telling how the Book of Mormon came to be and about Joseph Smith and the first vision. It was funny cause after I recited the first vision he goes "Daaaaaang! That happened?!" And then he points at me and goes you been out longer huh and then when I told him I only been out 3 weeks he was shocked. He said I would've thought for sure you had been out longer cause I like the way you said things better and so now I get to tease Elder Litster about that and he gets all salty haha its funny. But so his name is Danny and he said he's going to read the Book of Mormon and that we could stop by this week!

Saturday was rainy and cold the whole day. We thought going out trackting people would show us sympathy and let us inside but that was not the case haha! We walked out in the rain and got soaked and although we didn't get into any homes or able to share any lessons, it was a fun experience that I'll remember.

Something cool I found during my studies. I was thinking of the scripture 3 Nephi 27:29 (originally from Matthew 7:7) "Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you" because I love the picture of Christ knocking on the door. So, I started studying that scripture, and found it 13 (might be more) different times in the scriptures! I think it's pretty important if we are reminded that many times in the scriptures and a reassurance of how critical prayers are and the difference they make. I know praying with a sincere heart can bring personal revelation that we can receive answers from. 

Also, our mission is going to be an online proselyting mission starting next transfer so we'll be on Facebook I believe in the next couple weeks.

I love you all very much. Always remember. Families are Forever.

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator 
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550

                                                Levi and Janaye in hospial bed

                                                              Levi

3-I got a special Greenie package from my "Room 8 Gals" on Wednesday. It was a sweet surprise receiving a package from the ladies I worked with at Woods! :)

Week 5 Windsor, Colorado

    This week has been great! We taught this family on Tuesday, the Bertagnole's. So background on them, they have 6 kids, 5 daughters and 1 little boy. 4 of the daughters are baptism age, parents sealed in the temple, dad a return missionary, but these 4 daughters aren't baptized. They recently moved here to Windsor from Casper, WY, where they apparently hadn't had the best experiences with the church there and had some anti-family around there so that was holding them back. They moved to Windsor for a fresh start so they have been coming to church and on Tuesday we taught their family and I was able to invite the daughters to be baptized and they said yes! So that was really exciting! We set the date for Oct. 14th. Then we have Rebecca Cook's the next week on the 21st, October will be an amazing month! But the Bertagnole's are such a sweet family!

After our lesson, they made us a poppy seed cake and we all just chilled. Their dad, Adam, and I get along really well and talked volleyball and video games for a long time so that was dope. 

   We did exchanges on Wednesday and Elder Doss and I went to this bakery that this recent convert owns and did service. I felt like I was working on the show Cake Boss haha. That’s basically what the place was and they're building this huge cake for a hotel opening up soon so that was really cool!

   While out trackting this week we had cool experiences. We ran into a woman named Brooke who has a family and lives here and grew up in Utah. She's friends with one of the families in our ward, they live in the same neighborhood, kids go to school together, and so she said we could come by sometime this week so were really hoping we can teach her family! Then that same day we were walking home and this younger guy pulls over his car in front of us, gets out, and comes up to us and says "I just want y'all to know I really admire you guys being out here, I took my records out a couple years ago but believe in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet." So we got his number and plan on meeting with him this week.

   So while walking around this week Elder Litster helped teach me how to solve a Rubik's cube so now I know and was so hype about that!

   We had stake conference this week and just wanted to share something really quick that stood out to me.

Sister McMurray spoke and talked about how big of a difference it can make when we pray for missionary opportunities and the faith and courage to act upon them when they come. She shared a cool story about a sister missionary in our mission's mom, who did just that, then started sharing her daughter’s emails with people and how it resulted with 2 people being baptized. It was really cool and I think that's huge if we sincerely are praying for missionary opportunities to happen, that they will come and we just need to have that faith to do what the spirit prompts us to do.

Another cool message I got from a mission training breakfast was:

Prepare with Purpose

Teach with Testimony

Labor with Love

I loved this and thought it was so cool! I love this gospel and the joy it brings into my life! Much love everyone!

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator 
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550

1-This is me and Gene. Absolutely love this man and such a blessing to be living with him. I told him were talking a pic so he grabbed this wig and threw it on and said "Okay lets do this" just cause thats the goof he is. He said we need to dye the wig blue for next time

2-Just out on one of the paths we usually walk.

3-During our trainer's meeting.4th girl in from bottom of photo, is our Sister Harkness from my home ward.

4-If anyone in Fresno remembers Elder Mo'o, his cousin is in my mission and hooked me up with a haircut.

5- just because I love the Fort Collins Temple, it is so beautiful

Week 4 down 1st week in Windsor, Colorado

    I have been in CO for about a week now and loving it! My trainer is Elder Litster and he's a homie. We get along perfectly, he's from Simi Valley in SoCal and played football/wrestling in HS and graduated 2015 like me. He's been out 15 months now. We're referred to as the "pretty boy companionship" haha. We're serving in the Windsor stake in the Bison Ridge ward. We currently don't have bikes so just walk everywhere. We probably average about 8 miles a day and then my trainer and I run to the AP's apartment in the mornings to workout that's a mile and a half away. Funny cause it’s not at all what I had expected in this mission, I thought for sure that I would just be driving everywhere. Things are cool here it looks like the ward were in will be great and that we'll have a lot of success here! They do a pretty good job of feeding us for dinners, our calendar is pretty full which is nice. There are some really nice families in our ward. Our bishop is Bishop Houton who is like some world renounced orthopedic surgeon. One member said his waiting list is longer than my mission haha. But very nice guy who I look forward to working with. Me and my comp are getting along great and he's been very chill about me being sick. We're living with Gene and I absolutely love Gene he's such a homie! He's 75 and still teaching math at the college nearby. He cooks for us sometimes to, he's such a thoughtful man and we're so blessed to be able to stay with him.

     We've already taught a couple lessons and have one girl who has a baptism date. Her name is Rebecca and she's 14 and her family is inactive and trying to reactivate so we've been working with them. The dad is trying to get active so that he can baptize her so her baptism date is some ways out at Oct. 21st. She's awesome tho she is attending seminary and church and loves the Book of Mormon. We taught another lesson to an older man named Tracy Bates. He read the whole Book of Mormon in 2 months and said it’s a good book but he's not sure if it’s true. He's been active in a Methodist church with his wife most his life so he knows that if he comes to know it's true he has a lot he would need to change but said he would do it if he came to know it's true! So were encouraging him to continue reading it and praying about it to know for himself and our lesson with him went really well and we have a follow up scheduled with him next week. So, if you want you could pray for Tracy so that he might be able to receive his answer and the faith to go through with it that would be awesome!

     Things are going great out here and I love my comp and the people of this area! I'm excited to be here and working with the members and believe we'll have great success here! Love y'all!!

Elder Bennett aka yoboigator 
1215 Walnut Street
Windsor, CO 80550