"Rough Beginnings, and Great Finishes"

Hiyya there everyone!

:) I'm doing just splendid to say the least. As always, I wish time would just slow down but.. that won't happen now will it? The weather has actually been great considering its February and last year's winter was lots worse. Haven't really had any snow touch me, just lots of rain.. It has been sunny the past few days, but still just as chilly. Ha, I always feel odd when it is warm enough to go outside without a scarf and sometimes gloves. There have been lots of lovely experiences since last time, so I might as well crack on and share those with yous!

Here you are, Benny's Top 5 of February:

1. A few weeks back, we were doing service at a small warehouse. Basically there was a flood, and people come here to find appliances, houseware, clothes, etc. for free. Well, it was time to finish handing out things, and we were asked to take a box of things to a nearby charity shop to see if they wanted them. Sure enough, they did. Well, they noticed we were from America and so they asked the general question "Why on Earth are you in England for?" Led to a really lovely conversation, and ended with them giving us a pair of racquets for free since we were such great boys. Funny bit is, the racquets must be from the 60's, proper wooden, and smaller faces. Oh well! A few weeks later on exchanges, we got proper racquets from the zone leaders' flat. :) Been enjoying playing a bit of tennis a few mornings last week. About time I get to play! No worries, I still got it.

2. One time we were doing a street display in Bury, and just no one was interested. It was saddening.. then I noticed a lady that had walked over to our display table, looking over pamphlets and what have you. So I walk over and noticed she has down syndrome.  Oh bless! So I kindly offer her a pamphlet to be sweet but she cheekily asks "Can I have one of them?" and points to a copy of The Book of Mormon. How can I say no to such a kind old lady? I answered back, "Sure, you can have one of them also." The story continues a few days later on a bus. I was feeling a bit downtrodden by the state of the world, overcome with its wickedness, feeling anxious and stuff. It happens every now and again.. So I pray for relief cause it always comes! Few moments later, who comes aboard the bus, but that same lady from the street display! I know God knows me, and He knew that would bring a smile to my face. Sadly she was all the way up in the front so I couldn't chat with her, but I was still touched nonetheless.  

3. Haha, this next memory I found quite humorous.. Here we were, my companion and myself, visiting a great Irish couple's home for tea! All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. It is their neighbour who lives on his own, and they invite him to join us. In walks a hunched man relying on his cane for support due to a recent fall. Later on, we learned that not only does he have dementia, but he is ninety years old! What a fragile bloke. Halfway through our desserts, the lady of the home asks him, "Emile, how's the dessert?" He replied, "Its good. I'll marry you tomorrow." Hahah, you couldn't take anything he said seriously.. I can't wait to be old and do that whole serious tone, but completely joking remarks!

4. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders, and it has been ages since I've last done that! I went with Elder Montierth to a place called Oldham (pronounced Old-um). Our first appointment was with this Hungarian family. Must of been an off day or something cause they got distracted, and maybe weren't in such good moods. I decided to make the most of it by trying to teach their young 3 year old girl, Bianca, numbers in English! She was so cute.. Later, we went by a recent convert who has been struggling lately. He has a good heart, but life is just tough at the moment. We really didn't talk about anything deep, or teach anything extravagant, but there was three solid moments I almost began to cry because the Spirit was so strong! Choked up just a bit during the closing prayer. Why that was, I really cannot say, but it was nice. We ended the evening with a tea appointment with this older couple and their grandchildren. Boy do they have a posh home! The food was amazing! Ha, during tea the granddaughters, aged 7-11, just would keep telling story after story. I found it pleasant, humorous, and entertaining. Well, the Grandma just about had enough and kindly asked for a couple minutes of quiet. Ha, I probably would have too if I was with them that often.  

5. This last one makes me, and God smile. Last year from about the middle of April to middle of September, I was serving in Ashton-under-Lyne. Frequently, we would visit and teach this lovely lady named Alex. There were hurdles in her life to get past in order for her to be baptized. We did what we could, she was still great, but progression I must say was halted. I'm not too sure what changed, but I've come to learn that she has been baptized just last week! I'm very proud of the changes she made, and happy for her choice to be baptized. I know she will be such a wonderful member of the ward over there. :)

I really am having the time of my life in England. No, I won't lie.. at times I really do miss family, friends, and Utah. I guess I just know that that time will eventually come. I'll love it when it does, but I'm gonna love this while it lasts. Here is a quote from Elder Holland that may go along with the things I've shared: "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." I know that this is true. I have recognized it in my life, and I know that you can come to recognize it in yours also. God knows, and loves His children.

Sincerely,

- Elder Bennett

"The youth of Whitefield sending off their teacher on the far left.
Have fun in Indonesia mate!"

"There's England's fashion motto for ya!"

"Bolton's town hall. What a beautiful day!"

"The Clare Clan. OH how we love them all so much!"

"One street of The Rock shopping centre. Ace place to go."

Outside of the flat, our door is to the left.

"We May Never Know"

Why hello!

Goodness me, its only been about a month and it is amazing to see how fast things can change! So I was white-washed out of Crosby, and got transferred into Whitefield. Whitefield is just to the north of Manchester. Its quite an interesting place to serve with different areas comprised of different religions. Like to the south closer to Manchester there is a highly populated Jewish community and to the west there is a Muslim community.  My newest companion is Elder Miller, and he is from Arizona. That would be only my third American companion. Crazy, innit? I like him, we have a good amount of fun. I think he is a great combination of both obedient and chill. He has been out in the mission field for six weeks longer than myself. The ward over here is quite small, and a good portion of them are goldie oldies. Thank goodness I've come to learn the dry sense of humor of those goldies.. There are also some great families that have already had us over for tea which is always very nice. The flat I have isn’t near as nice as my last one; loads smaller. However, it does have a sort of haven feeling to it..? Like we live in a tree house or something..? That is the best way I can describe it to ya. Sadly, we don't live close to a bus stop nor the church, so we travel quite a bit..

Definitely have had a handful of very interesting experiences so far in this new area! Oh yes, lets share some of them with yous. So we went up to a nearby town called Bolton to do a street display as a district! Its a very open town, perfect for displays or other street performers, (that is quite common). Ha.. as we draw nearer to the typical location, we hear like this rap music going on across the town square. Then I saw them. This wonderful group of black, non-denominational Christians rapping to songs but with lyrics changed to Christian living. We felt like we needed to take our approach up a notch after that.. ;) A few of them came over in-between songs to chat about our believes and theirs. Overall, it was nice to have some background music while doing something, since we all know it makes things better. Like, listening to some good tunes while cleaning? Nice! Or have you ever listened softly to church music while reading a talk..? I have. Its quite pleasant as well.

Oh and let us not forget about how I made two ladies cry! Look at me go! Yeah! Ha.. So a different day, we were just talking to people on the streets. Well, we stopped one lady maybe in her mid twenties and she was really nice. She said she believes in God, but after a death in the family it was a bit hard. I told her that as missionaries we teach people and encourage people to seek out their own experiences with God. She got super intrigued and asked if I ever had an experience before. Kind of laughing, I said "Well, yes, of course.

Many really!" She got quite interested, and just because she was much nicer than lots of other people I decided to tell her just that. Kaley got really touched by such a compliment and began to like wave her hand, "oh stop.." and crying a bit. Maybe she had a tough day..? I don't know, but I was glad I said that cause she was very chill with sharing her number with us afterward. Both of us are very excited to meet with her again cause she was such a nice and fun lady. The other lady I got to cry was perhaps one of the sweetest, purest, of old ladies I've met.She is originally from Africa somewhere, but has lived in England for quite some time. She sweetly made us a wonderful tea, and shared her conversion story with us. She was oh so polite, and

maybe a bit shy too. Bless.. I loved visiting with her. The best part came when we decided to share a Mormon Message with her called “You Never Know". If you don't know what it is.. find it and watch it. I love it cause it always invites the Spirit. After the video, we felt that calm, peaceful silence. Then we asked her what she thought, and she said in tears, "That's how I feel.. I am that lady.." I could tell she was trying not to cry in front of us. Such a tender moment.. I'd like to add my witness to President Gordon B. Hinckley when he said, "You never know the good you do." One quick example of this in my life was when I was serving in Liverpool. We were doing a street display and I talked with and got a number off a young university student. She never had time to meet up, or come to activities but I did try to keep in touch. She had mentioned she actually had a friend who was a returned missionary. Just the other week, I ran into that RM and he told me that when he got back from his mission, he felt inspired to pray for her. Recently they have had a good chat involving the gospel. I would have never known that if I hadn't bumped into him. I'm glad that God gave me that experience to show me that I won’t always know the results of the small goods I naturally do. At times, we don't always know the good we already do, but we also don't know the extent of the amount of good we can do in another's life neither. We, as children of our Heavenly Father, have so much potential to do so much good around our individual spheres of influence. Whether its a neighbour you begin visiting just once, every month, or keep in

contact better with your family telling them how you are doing. One may volunteer to babysit for a young couple so they can have a date night. You never know how those around you are doing, but I would bet

that if you assumed everyone was struggling to some degree, you would want to reach out even more. It is my hope that we accept the good things we are doing, and throw in a few more good deeds this next

month too. I love serving God and His children. I love this gospel and church very much. I am grateful for God's perfect plan of happiness, for His guidance, and the tender mercies He sends. 

Love you all, wherever you may be.

Be good. Be chill. Be happy!

- Elder Bennett

P.S. I've recently weighed myself and I reached 14 stone 4 lbs! I've

gained weight! Yes, I am well chuffed about that cause that's hard for

me to do.

P.S.S. 1 stone is 10 lbs. :)

Elder from the Whitefield area

Typical rainy England.. glass is half full, cause it isn't snow! Heeheeha!

One morning I just had a terrible headache.. Pain never looked so good? XD

A Scottish fiver just popped out of a cash machine one day. Neat!

Blurry, green photo with Captain Korrrtthh! :) Love that kid.

Classic game of English pool.. It wasn't a dodgy place cause it was during the day! :)