Sister Benson: 10/3/22

 

sister swain and i really getting into our role as hurricane soaked news reporters 

HURRICANE LEVEL RAIN

Week 46: A TEMPLE FOR JAX

This week was an exciting one! kind of haha. lets get into it :)

Monday night Sisters Swain (!!!!!) and Walker got to our apartment. It was so much fun to have them here, if you remember, Sister Swain was my companion in Waycross for 3 months! So it was super fun :) Tuesday was a pretty normal day. Sister Ballard and i had an awesome lesson with David, in which he told us 1. that hed finished 1 Nephi, 2. that he knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God, 3. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was God's church on earth, AND 4. THAT HE KNEW HE HAD TO QUIT SMOKING FOR REAL. So lots of HUGE THINGS!! He even came with us next door to the gas station to buy cinnamon gum because we heard that helps. He's for real this time. It was so awesome 

Wednesday and Thursday.... the hurricane hit. But not us haha. Although up until Tuesday night the eye was predicted to come straight through Gainesville, we didnt even get a lick of rain. Because Ian decided he didnt like Gainesville. Instead the storm devastated and destroyed the coast south of us. People here are calling it the worst storm to ever hit Florida. We are greatful it didnt hit us, but we are in complete terror of what it did down south. Gratefully, the storm went in one side and pretty much directly out to the other, which wasnt supposed to happen. It was supposed to go straight up the state and just ruin everything. So many blessings and miracles happened, but there are also many people in need of prayers and help. Although it didnt hit us.... all four of us were still told to stay inside ALL of Wednesday and Thursday. So... we did a lot of calling, texting, studying (i read from 2 Nephi 29 to Mosiah in these 2 days) game playing, celestial nap taking, food eating, story telling, doing stupid stuff that got us hurt, funny video making.... the list goes on. You try keeping four active missionaries occupied!! No just kidding it was actually a super nice break and at the end of it, i felt excited to do missionary work! So it was good :) Our power did go out for about an hour on Thursday, so we used that time to make a four person high push-up. In which i kicked a table and probably just broke my foot. (just kidding not really. dont freak out mom) We also- for all you recent RMs out there- made an epic hurricane safety zone. Iconic really. We stayed up way to late and had way too much fun, so we're very grateful the sisters got to come stay :)) 

Friday we got to go outside!! We started off with a lesson with David. He totally committed this time. I made him give me two of his cigarettes so we could reach a goal, and i threw them away right in front of him. He is doing so good!  He came to conference with us for a session on Sunday. We are super proud of him! 

THEN CONFERENCE!!! do yall UNDERSTAND how exciting it is to be getting a temple????? My wonderful friends in Waycross drove like 4 or 5 hours to get to a temple in any direction. The Tallahassee temple would be 2 1/2 hours from them. The Jacksonville temple will be an hour and a half. The importance of this.... Gods work is moving forward yall. He wants to bless every people. I think about how much emphasis that has been put on temples. Having them close to people, going as often as possible, participating in family history. Why would God have us spend money- probably a lot of it but i dont know cause im not good with money- to build temples EVERYWHERE if it wasnt one of the most fundamental things in his plan. By going to the temple each of us are helping someone have the opportunity of EXAULTATION. Of celestial glory. I think that beautiful. God doesnt NEED us. If he really wanted to im sure he could snap his fingers and give the people in the spirit world all their ordinances. But he doesnt. Why? Because he wants us to have a role in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (moses 1:39) He probably has other reasons too but i think that one is really cool. Anyways, summary of this ramble! Go to the temple!! 

Conference had SO many good things in it this time. It always does, but theres nothing like conference as a missionary. A couple of key points that Sister Ballard and I thought were touched on a lot were charity, unity, covenants, missionary work.... and so on. But looking at those four, it all goes back to the two great commandments. Love God, and love your neighbor. I would like to invite you this week to be hyper-aware of those two covenants in your life. How you can better live them, how you can better show God your love for him. I promise you that by living these two GREAT commandments, you will become a more Christlike individual, with a more Spirit centered home. 

• ANTHONY+JULIANNA: we had an awesome lesson with them about the Atonement of Jesus Christ! We love them. 
• MICHAEL: he actually read the Book of Mormon!!! It was so exciting 
• MANSFIELDS: we watched the sunday afternoon session with them! the kids did great :))

Thanks for listening to my rant :) see yall next week... and ill have transfer news. WHO'S NERVOUS??? its me. pray ill stay here :))