November 14, 2013 my elder will return!

Mom, 

hahaha its good to have boys on all sides of the world. i think i might go to europe also for a little bit to make friends there also that way i can have eyes on most of the planet! i thought that was funny what riley and dakota did at efy haha! thats my boys!

     whatever day his call comes i still wont find out until next monday. blessings from the mish!

  ya im still zl with elder denna. its cool. me and elder dennas will be friends eternally. he just has some beliefs that i dont agree with, ya know he just sees the way in a different way then me. he sees byu idaho and i see byu provo. mom are you friends with his mom? tell her i said that i dont like her son.

    the picture from last week only one person there was a member, every single one of those people wants to be baptized but they live 2 buses and 2 1/2 hours away from the nearest church in another city, one of there freinds/ relatives is serving a mission and passed the reference to our mission and seeing as how our mission doesnt have any couple missionaries theres no way to open the church up there. yish, theres at least 100 baptisms within a years work there. the church will probably show up there in about 5 to 8 years. remember that older couples, when youre holding your granbabies in your arms theres people in other parts of the world that want to go to heaven but cant because youre sittin at home holdin your granbabies.

     elder kellog got home?! that makes me next to go home. im daddy elder now?! ooo myyy gosh...

           this transfer the secretaries will call me to ask what airport i want to land in on november 14th of 2013, which is this year, stop smiling mom, im gonna get off in the fresno airport or is there one that gets me off closer to the temple? (temple marriage joke, anybody?... anybody? ;D)

   ya ive met the genaros, i think sister genaro is a 16 year old girl sometimes cause she so spunky. there a lot different then the tavares, not even close to the same actually. not better or worse, just different. the work still remains!

    im gonna send some pics to show how the week was, dont have much to say for this week except the 2013 efy soundtrack that i got off the church site and baptisms! now that i think of it we baptized these two on wednesday actually, what a coincidence. these two little brothers that we baptized just might be the firmest baptisms that ill have on the mission. here in 7 to 8 years i wanna see them on missions. these are some special boys, and the branch already loves them a lot! hey mom can you send me a picture of a rose growing out of the concrete, dont ask why, just get me a photo of this please. :D the other day we were teaching a recent convert and his friend about prayer and fernando that one kid we baptized super crazily, said ya every night i thank God for my life and God always responds to me, " your welcome :D" i was dying of laughter. its nice when you these people become your best friends! im going to eat two subway footlongs for lunch this week, ya im a hungry boy. love you mom and cambria. - Elder Bennett

Dad,

ya the church basically only grows off of the sacrifice of the members, whether it be an hour with the missionaries one week to teach someone or a couple giving up six months so that the church can extend to a city its never been to, all depends on the humility of the members giving up there time that was actually already given to them by God and just returning a little portion of it. the church is only as strong as its members.

  thanks for the words of encouragement! its wierd thinking that im already coming to the end. i cant believe it. its driving me insane. you have that feeling inside of you sometimes like you need to give even more, do a little more, be a little better, baptize a little more. its something that drives every missionary insane. ive got to give a little more and be a little better! theres many more people to baptize in the next 4 1/2 months! love ya dad!

       - Elder Bennett

SERMON FROM ELDER BENNETT

Mom,

    I’m staying in Apucarana and I’m staying with e. Denna. this is e. Denna’s last transfer also and seeing as how it’s very rare that mission presidents will take both people out at the same time, I’ll probably stay this transfer with e. Denna then another with someone else and then be transferred to go die somewhere in another zone. Basically I’ll probably stay here at least another 3 months. Who knows maybe I’ll stay here until the end...

     i absolutely hated that paragraph about the surgeries. I’m never coming home now! I don’t know for sure if I’ll need to get surgery on the knee or the gall bladder, schedule the dr’s appointments and we will see what they say. geez this woman doesn’t play any games!

    It’s like that little present grandma Bennett gave to me with a dog and a cat laying together and it says, love isn’t love unless it’s shared. :D

          It’s like you said, God wants all of us to return to live with him. So why do some people think that we can put the essential ordinances of salvation off for tomorrow! Today is the day to perform the ordinances! Are we so blind to not see that somebody CAN’T enter into Gods Kingdom unless they are baptized? when Jesus says that someone will be condemned if there not baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God He wasn’t telling a joke, He wasn’t lying, He wasn’t telling a half truth, He said that someone that isn’t baptized cannot enter into the Kingdom of God! YOU WONT GO!!! it doesn’t matter if there 8 or 80, if they lived good lives or if they had a lot of faith, you won’t be seeing them in the Kingdom of God. When Jesus has said numerous times in all scriptures that the day of His coming is at the door. He isn’t saying that its tomorrow or its next week or its next year, when someone’s at the door you answer it NOW! NOW is the time to repent and be baptized, not tomorrow or next Wednesday! In this very moment! i don’t want to ever hear another person tell me that someone needs to be "prepared" to be baptized. there does not exist in the scriptures anywhere where one has to have knowledgeable preparation in order  to baptize someone, the ordinance of baptism requires a humble heart, a broken spirit, a desire to take upon yourself the name of Christ, and a promise or COVENANT between that person and God (that we cannot judge, because we do NOT know someone’s heart) that they will keep the commandments. The only reason that some time back someone needed to receive all the lessons or flip chart things 30 years ago before they got baptized was because the church, meaning the members, were not ready or trained to receive such a high number of converts at one time. i don’t ever want to hear about how in some other time, they only baptized " real converts" or people that had "testimonies" . No in your time you weren’t ready to receive as many converts as the church is ready to receive today! In my time the church is ready to receive this many converts, in my time God wants baptisms more than ever because His day of coming is at the door! In my time, the church has enough programs, quorums and leaders that are ready to receive this number of converts, if not why would the Lord allow us with this great privilege to have missionaries leave earlier for missions and not stay in the mtc as much time. Think of it, they cut the mtc time down by 7 days for people that already speak the language. Why would God do that? Because He wants, and h e needs every single moment that we can give to Him to baptize His Children! He does not want us to wait till next week, or tomorrow He wants them to be baptized today, right now, why else would He take 7 days away, one week?! He knows we don’t have time to wait anymore, not even one more single day! People need to be baptized today! The ordinance of Baptism does not ask for knowledge either, it asks for humility. It’s an ordinance of obedience, obedience is the first law in the Heavens, and God wants somebody to submit to His Will. I’m pretty sure in 3rd Nephi Jesus says that the new covenant is that someone needs to submit there will to Him, literally give everything that they have, all their dreams, wishes, desires, acts, even their thoughts must be given to Him. Knowledge never falls into this category, obedience does not ask for knowledge, it asks for humility! Who is better, someone with much knowledge, but breaks a couple of the commandments or someone that is of little knowledge, yet they keep all the commandments such as baptism! Only the humble will be saved in the end! There was an American elder that was born and raised in the church that got here in the field and did not know that in the joseph smiths first vision  he saw Jesus and God in the sacred grove, yet without this knowledge this elder was still on the mission because his humility was greater than his knowledge. can you imagine how ridiculous that would be if someone said to this young elder, " o you can’t serve a mission cause you didn’t know this." how foolish would that be, it’s because just as baptism requires a humble heart, so does the mission, actually so does everything in the Kingdom of God, He can’t mold a pride fully stiffened heart, it must be humble and soft! Jesus always sought the humble of heart, and was always accepted by them, how many prideful yet knowledgeable people accepted Him? None, those all crucified Him! Jesus asks for the humble of heart, with a broken spirit, people that want to take upon them His name, and remember Him always and keep His commandments! D and C 20 states clearly the people that are ready to be baptized in these our days, and it never anything about some sort of knowledge or how many times someone needs to go to church, or who they know in the church, how will they come to church, if they have a real testimony or real intent! Willford Woodruff, a PROPHET of God, was baptized on the SAME NIGHT that he met the missionaries and then later he went on to be one of the most FAITHFUL followers of Christ ever to live on this earth. How can we judge someone if they will stay active or if they have a real testimony or real intent? We can’t! And it’s a sin if we do! God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior have invited EVERYONE on this planet to HUMBLE and SUBMIT there will to them and be BAPTIZED. Where in the scriptures does it say that we can also decide if they are ready? Baptism is such an essential ordinance for salvation, why would God give us the power or authority to decide when someone’s ready, it’s His ordinance that He created, He is the only one that decides if someone’s ready and when! And He’s already spoken numerous times and in every dispensation, "REPENT YE REPENT YE AND BE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF MY BELOVED SON." "pride is the great stumbling block of Zion, i repeat, PRIDE is the great stumbling block of Zion." if we as members do not let our pride down, and humble ourselves before God, how are we going to baptize our brothers and sisters? We must share the gospel with every living creature, we must persuade them to submit there will to God and be baptized, but how can we persuade people to give there will and submit to God when pride fully we hold our own, clenched in our fists. Give it up! Give up everything you have to God, you will make of yourself a mere man; He can make of you a God! and when the missionaries come to you with two kids that have humble hearts, and that want to be baptized you go behind there back and stop the baptism because you think that there not ready cause there only 10 and 11, when an 8 year old sins it’s the same as an 20 year old sinning or a 50 year old or little Rose that’s your 80 year old neighbor, either way and at whatever age after 8 years old you must submit your will to God or you WILL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. This week i will visit a lady that will reap what she sewed. Love you mom!

     - Elder Bennett

Dad,

Thanks for the support! Ya I’ve realized that you and the family must be pretty busy in places that don’t have much internet access, but it’s alright go enjoy life! i searched that talk on lds site and i decided I’m going to study it for this week, sounds like a good talk.  i was really hoping to read where Dakota would be called to but i can wait one more week. take good care of him for me! The mission is a pretty special experience. I’m staying here in apucarana this for this next transfer with e. denna again, were going to cut a mean rug this transfer! :D

   i was sad that someday i would have to return home and not be able to be an elder but I’ve been thinking a lot lately on the people that pass by me every day in the real world and ill have just as many opportunities to share the gospel, just depends on the way we see it. i really liked that video that they showed in the broadcast about that family where everyone shared the gospel in their own way and with the everyday people they pass by but the difference is that they looked at their lives through Heavens eyes, seeing people as possible baptisms. i love this work and just cause someday i won’t have a name tag on anymore doesn’t mean the baptisms stop, once a baptizer always a baptizer!!!   we need more missionary couples in the world, look at this picture, it’s us in some other city about 2 hours away from apucarana and this is all people that would be baptized there but how would we ever start a group or a branch there if we don’t have a priesthood holder that’s experienced and can lead them. This city is so golden also! Imagine, if our mission had a missionary couple, send the couple there open up a group and i can guarantee you that in 2 months there’s 50 people baptized there easy, this dinky city is full of elects!

              love you a ton dad, thanks for all the support, its better to have a home team rooting for you always!

    - Elder Bennett

The Church is My Life!!!

Mom,

bass lake is such a blessing in my life. my goal is to one day buy that cabin so we can go up whenever we want during the summer, probably wont happen though. im suprised at how not sad or missing pres. tavares i am, he served his 3 years and hes on to living the rest of his life.  i dont know pres. genaro yet but ill meet him tomorrow, were gonna have that training thing in londrina tomorrow. he showed up last night and already has meeting with the leaders, his life for the next 3 years will be nothing but go go go and serve serve serve! i saw that riley is getting to be a strong young pup, tell him my kids will be stronger then his and let him know the rule still stands, older brother always wins in the end.

    i hated clovis north, buchanan is better. to bad i played for the wrong school.

   transfers are next week, so next week i could be emailing you to tell you im staying in apucarana. anything could happen though. ya e. denna is cool but most of the time we have too much fun.

         my wife will be pregnant next bass lake trip.

  wherever dakota goes hell be awesome!!!

 i finally had the chance to see the conference on sunday. best thing eveeeerrrr!!! i found myself crying multiple times from the great stories of missionary work but i didnt let anyone see cause when the lone wolf cries he cries a lone. hence the name. i decided im gonna keep all the commandments, get married in the temple, have a successful life aka be rich and serve a ton after the mission just so that i can be called to serve a mission again as a mission president, i cant wait til me and wife are like 70 years old to get back out in the field, i gotta get the missionary tag on as fast as possible after!! i love this work! theres nothing else that matters then the work of salvation!

   this big guy named junior gave a talk in sacrament meeting and he said many times i hear members say, " the church plays a big part of my life!" he got real close to the mic and then said in his big black man voice, "what?! the church plays a big part in your life?! ...no! the church is your life!" i felt the Heavens open in this moment and realized that even i before the missoin would say that to my friends when they asked about the church. sometimes id reply that it plays a big part in my life, or that its the most important thing in my life and just the other day i had been thinking about that, how much greater that life is when we give it away to the Savior. now i know that the church is my life, and its a better life!

  e. denna is doing his online application to byu idaho right now and when i saw i started booing him loudlyin this computer place, such a terrible trunky thing to do. im gettin old on the mission also. its a very wierd thing.

 that lady we baptized last week, her nephew got baptized this week. i forgot to tell you, her name is mariluz, we met her on thursday at 7 at night, she was baptized on friday at 7 at night, shes super firm also, such an elect daughter of God!!! love you all, promise ill send pics next week though but this week i dont have any.   - Elder Bennett

Last Week for Pres. & Sister Tavares

No letter to Mom this week! She feel asleep and did not get a letter off to him. But Dad did thank goodness!

Dad,

ya it’ll be weird when the new mission pres. shows up but it’ll be an exciting time, I’m pretty sure it’ll be an adjustment though. we didn’t get to watch the broadcast either, were gonna watch it this Sunday though, im pretty excited to see it though, should be awesome!!! Baptize brayden while he’s in Clovis haha but seriously.

    last week for Pres. Tavares, should be crazy with the new transitions in his life hell make. he wont have to worry about 190 young people across two states so his life should be a lot less stressed out haha!

   we baptized this miracle girl this week! we found her on thursday, taught her on friday and baptized her friday night, met, taught and baptized her in less then 24 hours! she was confirmed on sunday also!!! it was super awesome! the Lord has blessed us so much!

  winter is getting rough here in apuca, nobody wants to get up for church on sunday mornings and walk in the cold rain, not even half the members. so imagine how hard it is to get people to come with us. the Lord blesses us with miracles though!

   this week an elder that is from my branch here, that was serving in the sao paulo north mission returned home because of back problems, but he was one of my best freinds from the ctm! he has two brothers and his dad and grandma that arent baptized, we plan on baptizing all of them this week! this has to be! an elder that i knew in the ctm returns home from his mission and nobody in his family is baptized and he returns home when im serving in the area where he lives, the Lord has already prepared it!!! love you dad! say hi to everyone up in mesquite!

   - Elder Bennett

COURAGE

Mom,
they celebrate fathers day a different day here though so looks like dad get two fathers days from me, which is still not enough from what he deserves. :D
thats awesome to hear that mason has already returned, i heard college is a lot of work so i decided im not gonna do it.haha
we had a huge miracle happen this week with us! theres this young man named fernando who is 16 and already been to church about 3 times but his mom never let him be baptized. he was taught about 9 months ago by some other elders and they took him to church 2 times but the mom is super difficult and she would never listen to what they say nor let him be baptized. we took him to church last sunday and talked to him about baptism and he said hed like to but he was scared of him mom. we asked him if he was still drinking coffee and he said that he had stopped 9 months ago when the other elders taught him the word of wisdom, even though his mom didnt let him get baptized he stopped drinking coffee and was keeping all the commandments, thats a strong young pup right there. so everyday in the week elder denna and i passed by the house to teach him but he was never there cause he also works all day to take care of the family and studies at night, his mom doesnt have a job and never gets off the couch, so wed always try to talk to the mom and shed never come to the door or talk to us. one time we caught her in the front and were able to talk to her for about 5 minutes, we were talking about nothing, just small talk trying to get to know her, and then when we started asking about fernando she started yelling at one of here kids cause he brought the ball in the house,and she left the room and we called her to come back and she never answered us or came back. she knew what was happening. so on friday, with the week almost over elder denna and i were sitting in the house and talking about how we could get this signature to baptize this kid! and out of nowhere elder denna gets crazy and starts gettin me all excited about how were just gonna go their and put the baptismal form in front of her and beg her to sign it, just beg, beg, beg! now were both going crazy, super excited to get stuff done, we say and a prayer then we leave with confidence to where fernando lives. theres fire in our eyes mom, weez be crazy in this moment, i walked by this full grown man in the street bout 6'4' 260 lbs. and he started crying in the middle of the street just from the sight of us. we show up on the street where he lives and start talking with his friend whose a member whose name is gabriel whose street name is "Bat" hes a little guy, but you dont get a street name like Bat without gettin stuff done. so were talking to him about fernandos mom and how he thinks we could get the signature and he said you cant his mom is an angry person. while were talking he points to this little bridge thing that crosses over some train tracks and says thats fernandos dad right there. (fernandos parents are divorced and his dad lives in a city called Jandaia, he visits 1 time every 1-2 months). we took off running for his dad, because if the mom isnt nice, maybe the dad seperated from here cause hes cool and shes not. we make it to him out of breath and begin to talk him, hes an awesome guy with a humble heart. approves the baptism!!! We still faced challenges though because fernandos mom is absolutely against his baptism and knows were wanting to baptize him so shes got him on lockdown in the house and also is a controlling mother so she told him if he ever gets baptized in that church shell kick out on the street. friday we werent able to get him. so on saturday night we went to gabriels house and told him were baptizing fernando tonight! it was about 6 30 at night. and gabriel who also is scared of his mom was like, forget about it, shes crazy man she told him if he gets baptized shell kick him onto the streets! we were like if he doesnt get baptized he cant enter into the kingdom of God! id rather live on the street in my mortal life then be doomed to an eternal hell! he went with us to his house and we waited outside on some bricks behind some truck and gabriel went in there to get him, they both came out!!! i dont know how gabriel got him out of the house but like i said you dont get the nickname "Bat" gettin nothin done! so we were talkin to fernando and he was like ill go to do the interview but im not gonna be baptized. we all walked to the church together showed up with him to the interview and when we showed up he said im not gonna be baptized man, my mom is very controlling! he walked out of the interview and said, im gonna be baptized right now!!!!!!! the Holy Ghost does miracles! talking to Elder Bandeira, who is my district leader and did the interview for him to be baptized, Elder Bandeira said that in the interview he invited fernando to be baptized but he said he couldnt be baptized and that he said his mom told him shed kick him out of the house and also kill him, but fernando sat there thinking to himself for a while, and then said, " ill be baptized." Elder Bandeira said that in this moment he started crying because of how much courage that the young man showed in that moment. when Elder Bandeira cries, its for a good reason. when fernando was getting changed for the baptism, he said, " looks like ill be living in Jandaia with my dad here in a little bit" what courage! what strength! can you believe this, a 16 year old going against his mom for what he knows to be true! Jesus said that any one who loves there father or mother more then Him is not worthy then. this is a valiant and worthy young man! during the baptism i couldnt help but think of a modern day waters of mormon. how alma used to teach that little group of believers near the waters of mormon and they were all taught and baptized there without there friends, relatives knowing because king noah was gonna kill whoever was a believer. here we have two young man doing the same thing, one watching out for the other, and following Christ in secret because king noah (the mom) would kill them.
yeah so while you all were in bakersfield having a blast i was sitting on some bricks hidden behind a truck in brazil trying to baptize someone haha.
im very grateful the Lord put the father in our path though, it was a perfect answer to our prayers.
i dont care where dakota gets called, he better baptize people there or he is no cousin of mine! i think hell get called to somewhere in europe.
ya ill be watching the training for the new mission presidents also on sunday :D
im super excited for the new mission president coming and im gonna miss pres. and sis. tavares. i just hope that this new mission pres. wants baptisms alot otherwise ill be forced to do the worst thing ever. mutiny.
LOVE YOU ALL
- Elder Bennett
that picture is me and e. bailey hes from rocklin, do linds and jared know his family.

Dad, hey we get to watch that training session next week also with the new presidents, were all pretty excited also haha.
Crazy to think that mason already got home, i hope he marries soon!
were all working really hard in the zone here, our zone is moving up slowly but surely were getting there. why are the bennetts having there reunion in nevada?
i hope this new mission president means business and wants baptisms. i love you dad, have fun in nevada with the family
- Elder Bennett

 

THE WAR HAS ALREADY BEEN WON!

Mom,

mason gets home on saturday! man how time flies huh!!!

 nick nelson already got home!!!!

  ya it was the last one with pres. tavares! hes awesome! he leaves in 3 weeks...

   youre gonna get surgery again?! what is that 2 surgeries since i left? hope all goes well!

i dont know but maybe ill stay here til the end, we´ll see what happens here in a couple of weeks!

      this weekend was really rough, the zone had 7 people to baptize and everything fell on saturday and sunday. the zone only ended up baptizing 2 people this week. thats so terrible. the opposition was rediculous here! i felt like i was literally in a spiritual war this weekend but i am very proud of how the zone responded. i was able to see very strong testimonies shared with people to baptize them but in the end people have there free agency and act for themselves. as much as we try people choose iniquity this week. we still won though, i hope satan knows that, were in a war thats already been won because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

   dont have much time but love you all! im loving life but i think that life is loving me more! she treats me so well! :D

        some of the elders in our zone had a baptism that they marked for 4 oclock on sunday. they had nobody go except for the guy that got baptized and his grandma and niece. there wasnt even enough priesthood holders to be witnesses there. elder denna and i had to walk across the city to go watch the baptize to have 2 witnesses. thats incredible! not one member went to the baptism!!! that mom, is why apucarana is the oldest district in brazil. its been a district here for over 40 years and still hasnt become a stake. that is why, eu estou nem aí!  love you mom!

              - ELder Bennett

 

 

Dad,

   no its just a little conference thing with pres. tavares and sis. tavares. its really cool cause you get to see everyone. i love the mission so much! lifes good and cant get any better! hope that everythings goin all good there also! baby dakota till he gets on the mission dad, love ya ton, thanks for everything!

   love Elder Bennett

Baptism=Courage

sorry mom but i still dont have an address..

 so you choked huh? haha never gonna eat alone again o stop mom everyone eats alone.

   hey so the big story this week is that we had this 14 year old young man that has been attending church but was afraid to  get baptized. me and elder denna were trying to get this young man out of his house a long time, for about a week but he knew the minute that he leaves with us were going to invite him  into  the baptismal font. reason that he didn’t want to be baptized is because he had an abusive uncle that was beating him for just going to church and so he was really scared to think what he’d do to him if he got baptized in the church.  Anyways the uncle hit the mom which is the young man’s grandma. So the grandma kicked him out of the house. yay the uncle doesn’t live there anymore! but the young man was super scared to get baptized because the uncle still passes by there and he said if he gets baptized and the uncle finds out then he’ll start drama with everyone there. Also the young man’s mom struggles, she suffers from depression because her first husband, the young man’s dad, got shot and died a long time ago. She married again, and the second husband was murdered in the street also so she is sad from all that and super depressed. Anyways we asked permission from the branch pres. and pres. Tavares if when we get the opportunity can we just baptize this young man at any moment with just us? We explained the situation and they allowed us to. so on Thursday elder Denna and I decided wed baptize him Friday,  then on the way to his house we was like, this uncle is crazy, why would we let the devil have one more day to work on him and ruin this baptism, lets baptize him today. We invited him to go to the church to play basketball with us. on the way there i called my home boys, other elders, and we all shot some hoops de boa with him and then we were like hey let’s do an interview right now to see if God thinks you’re ready to be baptized. He agreed, and when he got out of the interview and with all the missionaries there we were like, hey what about just getting baptized right now! That’s a great idea, he  was baptized 10 minutes after! i love my life! on the way home from his baptism we asked him, what will you do when you’re uncle finds out you got baptized, he said, and this touches my heart every time, " take care of your own life!" baptism changes lives!!! Baptism gives courage to people to be true disciples of Jesus Christ! Baptisms is what Jesus wants that’s why He changed the ages for missionaries, He wants Baptisms now! Who am i to deny Jesus?

    _Elder Bennett

 

thanks dad, im doing awesome, we baptized again and already have 1 for this sunday, we are being very blessed!

  dont have much time sorry cause were gonna go to londrina for the leaders conference thing, it steals my pday traveling but its an awesome conference! love you dad thanks for the support!

           - Elder Bennett