Sister Benson: 1/9/23

 

WEEK 60: RIP MY HEART OUT

Scout Benson

This week was a wild one for sure. With Sister Morley leaving, and everyone absolutely loving her, there was a lot to do. So we ran around and said goodbye to people and taught lessons and all good things.....

....except Denise. :( We went to visit Denise and she ended up telling us she didnt want to do lessons anymore because 1. she had had a traumatic brain injury just a short time ago, which made it so she got confused easy, and she didnt want to be confused about God. and 2. there were some things we'd taught her that didnt sit right. She was so kind about it, and we were so grateful that she just told us straight up instead of leading us on, but it was SO SAD. We testified a ton, but she just needed more time. She said shed keep the Book of Mormon and read it more as she got more memory and brain power back. She also told us we could visit whenever we wanted. So, Denise will get there eventually. Prayers. 

Lots of goodbyes and then.... transfers. I honestly kind of looked forward to transfers all week. I was SO sad because Sister Morley was getting RIPPED away from me so soon, but i was so stoked to see all my Gainesville homies. And see them i did. I squeezed the life out of Sister Palmer and Sister Ballard, and our ol' district hung out like the whole time. it was so so so good to see them all. I didnt realize how much my heart missed my FAM. AND THEN. I HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO THEM AGAIN. Which was garbage. I cried. Im not ashamed to admit it. They were/are true friends. Anyways it straight did rip my heart out and made me real sad the rest of the day. And i KNOW some of yall are reading this so dont think youre too cool. Anyways love them. Till we meet again again. 

But! Intro Sister Johnson! Shes from Draper, Utah. Shes been out 10 months, shes like SO tall, (5'11") she as all brothers (3), she played soccer in high school, her favorite color is orange and she has cut off a FOOT of hair since being a missionary. A FOOT. Wild. Now youre all besties. :) 

We've had a good week. Lots of udjustments of course, because of a new transfer, new comp, new area etc. So getting to know everything and all that comes with it. But its been good! Heres some highlights. 

We have been teaching the CUTEST lil girl named Zalina. Shes in a part member family, and just turned 8 this past week! So we taught her all the lessons and she got baptized on Saturday!! Yall she is the sweetest funniest kid. We've been over there every Monday and Thursday night for like weeks. So we've gotten tight with her and her family. Her little brother, Floyd, is like almost 2 and Megan- Zalinas mom- calls him my boyfriend cause hes always so stoked to see me and he says ".....hi :)" everytime. Anyways so yeah. At her baptism there was like LITERALLY standing room only, so sister johnson and i were in the backroom. Sister johnson had found a chair and im too short so i was standing in the doorway watching so i could see. well the talks have been given, the baptism has been done, she has been confirmed. Bishop gets up and he says something like "Zalina youve been taught so much by parents, sunday school teachers, grandparents..." and zalina turns her little neck alllll the way around, makes eye contact with me and goes, "and the missonaries" with the BIGGEST smile. I cried. No shame. I love my job. 

Side note, that baptism also made me cry for a secondary reason. Im not sure how many of you on this email list realize what my life was like before my decision to serve a mission, but it was on a track to not have kids, let alone have them be baptized, let alone let alone have them be baptized by their own father. None of that seemed to be in the life plan i had for myself. But standing there watching Zalina get baptized hit me hard. Because I am here today. And i have worked HARD so that all this IS in my life plan. I cant wait to bring the spirits God has prepared, into a loving, gospel filled home. I will raise them with Christ. And when the time comes, they will be baptized. And it will be by their dad, not their grandpa or their uncle or the bishop. And so i stood there in the back of the room and cried because i was SO grateful for the progress God has helped me (and devin for that matter) make so that THIS is my life. How COOL is the Atonement of Jesus Christ? That allows us to change our lives and become who he needs us to be? I truly do stand all amazed. 

Another highlight! Elder and Sister Hollands young adult devotional was absolutley wonderful. They gave amazing advice, cracked some seriously funny jokes, and brought the spirit as they always do. If you didnt get a chance to watch it, do it. We live in a day and age were guess what?? They recorded it!! ;) 10/10 recommend. We also got to watch it with a bunch of the YSA from our stake. Including two very recently returned missionaries- a sister and an elder- who grew up together. And this awkward pair my goodness yall. She was in love with him. Had to be. And he just was in love with anyone who breathed poor girl haha. Anyways ysa is so funny. 

Being a missionary is so rad yall. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. We love Lynn Heaven, we love the Lord, we love life. <3

sorry for the long email, have an amazing amazing week my friends!! feel free to send me a favorite scripture, quote or talk this week!!