"The MTC is Going to Kill Me! Literally!"

Hello there everybody! 
Ahh! This is so exciting! No worries, no worries, I am doing fantastic! Don't let the title fool you! Well, not completely I guess, its rather accurate! You'll see.. you'll see.

Onward! Plane ride, was just sooooo sooo lonnngggg... hahah, lets see, like 4 hours to Atlanta, then.. 8 til Manchester? I honestly can't remember. Perhaps the most interesting thing was the flight to Atlanta. Prepare yourself, its just incredible. Sister Sant sat next to me, and both of us are from Sandy. We were sooo curious who the third person on the same row was gonna be. Would they be cool? Old? Weird? Anyways, this guy sits down. We get talking and this is what he's all about. Chase is 20, he is flying to his parent's estate in Alabama to move a plant inside, then he will fly back home to Los Angeles. Wait, it gets better. This weekend he is going to New York for a "watch show", because.. he basically runs his own corporation, buys watches, the nice Rolex kind for thousands of dollars, then sells them to other people? The watch he wore was a nice gold Rolex, and its like 1 out of 8 in the world? Incredible. I'm just speechless. We get talking more, and the following I say without any sort of pride or.. boasting. I had been praying that week to hit the ground running and find someone at the airport to talk to spiritually. I prayed with faith, and the spirit hit me so hard, and I knew, that I would find someone. Chase was the someone. We had talked about what we were going to do, before we landed, I talked about the Plan of Salvation, and gave him a pamphlet. We exchanged emails, and I will write him or see if he writes me! Great guy! Jet lag from 7 hour of time difference? Meh, maybe a little. Not really..

On to the MTC! Bet you're wondering where the death part happens. Hehe, you'll see. I am so blessed and lucky to be companions with Elder Carpentier. He is French and has been here for a month! Oh and you pronounce his name: Cah-poh-shi-ay. Yeah, he has been here for a while and knows sooo much, so its kind of like a trainer? It takes a while to get used to having a companion like all the time, but man.. he grew on me! Sometimes I'll accidently say things with a French accent cause his is so strong! I understand him, sometimes others don't. He makes me laugh a lot, heres perhaps a few reasons why. We're eating dinner, and Elder Carpentier and Elder Bybee, (he is in the german district) love to mess with each other. Like they are mean, but still in a joking way? Anyways, Elder Bybee does something mean, and so before we pray, Carpentier says "Listen carefully to my prayer." He prays and then in the middle he says "Bless this our food, all except Elder Bybee's" and man, it was hard to keep in my laughter, we just busted up laughing after he finished. Too funny.. Another time, we were eating dinner, and it was this sort of meat pie? Trust me when I say Heavenly Father blessed my tongue. Somehow it tasted good, but looked like slop? Haha, I'm laughing already.. he goes to eat it, and well. It was hot. Really, really hot. Haha, I always laugh when others get hurt and I just lost it. His reaction was priceless.

On to the food perhaps. Keep in mind, there is a picture in the line saying "In the MTC" with a real chubby Elder chomping down, and next to it says "In the field" with a rather skinny Elder with nothing on its plate. I realized that having food, and having someone cook is a blessing. The meals are usually good, but of course there is things I really don't like. I look forward to dinner because of the desserts! They are always so dang good! Also, there is this soda here called Vimto. There is nothing like it in the states, but it is soooo delicious! Always have it for lunch and dinner! Sometimes I'll mix it with lemonade too. Favorite meal? That I can remember would be pizza. Wow, I'm boring.. but it was so good!

My district is fantastic. There is me and my companion, Elder Larson from Utah, Elder Boehme from Canada, Sisters Garrett, Gilbert and Sibisi. Utah, Idaho and Zimbabwe? We have so much fun together and mess with each other. Of course we study well and prepare for our "investigators" but we have lots of fun! I love them a whole lot! So yeah, the MTC is rather small. There is maybe.. 40 missionaries total? about 15 are in the German District?

So I'll wrap up with a real good spiritual story of sorts, a good laugh, and how I almost died. When I use the term "investigator" it means that its really a teacher pretending, but boy, do they act good! It is such a great way to learn how to teach and apply what we learn. Out of like.. 5 visits, only 1 went poorly, and thats because our teacher literally fell asleep and was someone sleep talking? It was weird. Anyways! Our first visit with Dom went well. We taught the Restoration, and his family are LDS so he is rather interested. Second visit, I honestly don't know what happened. We just got to know him more, more of what he was wanting to learn. Basically the Holy Ghost just was so strong, and it felt way too amazing. So amazing, he even prayed with us before we left. I just imagined my first investigator praying for the first time, and I got teary eyed. I know its not a real investigator, but the Spirit was still there, and so strong. It was phenomenal.

Another funny story. In the showers, there is a missionary from New Zealand. He is really entertaining, pretty funny at times, and loves singing in the shower. Like that song from 'Remember the Titans'. Really. Loud. He doesn't hold back at all. Well, at a meeting with the MTC president, he ever so kindly says "Elders, I am just informing you that there is a balcony near our offices, and whatever sound you make resonates really loudly off the balcony." Oh.. yes. He heard that Elder belting his songs out nice and clear. So funny, but even more funny? He still. sings. way. loud. hah.. love it. So how did I almost die? Well, before bedtime, we have snacktime. One snacktime, my companion was messing around with another Elder who was kind of mad at him. I dunno, it was all rather nonsense, but everyone was laughing. Unfortuately for me, I was drinking some vimto, and laughed. It got like stuck in my throat, and I just couldn't breathe and was gasping for air. It was getting scary, but finally, I caught my breathe. Yup! I almost died here from laughing!

I'm not too sure what else to say. We went to the temple today, and it is my favorite. I do love the St. George Temple a lot, and the Salt Lake Temple as well! This one, well, has this beautiful gold accent, and its in England. I have never felt more at home than in any other Celestial Room. I just let those tears come down, and I just feel at home in England. So, obviously, its my new favorite.  I love the gospel, I know of its truth, and as much as I do love the MTC, I can't wait to leave next Saturday, preach the truth, and help others become truly happy. Side note, I kid you not. I sometimes speak in a British accent without even meaning to. I swear, it freaks me out. I don't mean to!

With love,

- Elder Bennett

Sister Sant, Chase, and Elder Bennett

the airplane provided dinner and it was so good!

cheeky picture of Sister Sant and I 

driving on the wrong side of the road!!

my companion, Elder Carpentier and myself at the Preston Temple

Elder Thompson and I. love this guy, he's from Canada 
but sadly going to the Leeds mission

Elder Boehme with the greatest face, Elder Larson, and Elder Carpentier
 In the room we spend soo long in being taught and studying.

yeah.. he's been here for a while. i don't blame him in this one. haha

the sisters of my district. Garrett, Gilbert, and Sibisi
 they are silly sisters.

These Elders our roommates!
 Elder Seidl is from Slovakia, he's a gentle man
  Elder Mateer is from Sussex, he's just great too
Both are in the German district.

just a house on our way to the bookstore today,
 a lot of them are similar to this one just old
 England I guess you could say