Dec 17, 2012 Well my stories for this week aren't as good as Jared's or Shelly's, but I've got a "couple few" as the Idohoans would say, Interesting things that happened this week, I ate a habenero pepper, I was the only one at dinner that would eat one, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I lost my voice a little while ago from being on a bike in the pollution/cold weather, but it's back now thanks to Priesthood blessing, lemon/honey herbal tea, prayers, and time. Let Jared and Kista know that I am very grateful for the Subway gift card and the letter as well as the card and money from her Grandma Lewis and Lana. That stinks that they had to go through that fire thing, especially now with Christmas, shopping, etc. hope things go well for them, not fun. Also a terrible situation with the Conneticut shooter guy, that's weird, but everyone is flipping their lid it seems like. We have a baptism this Saturday, she is one of the most Golden investigators that I have ever seen, soooo ready, I'd be able to come in a year and see them be sealed, that'd be fun. Another person we are teaching, came to an LDS service for the first time yesterday. We had a Leadership Training meeting this week, it was great to see President and receive counsel from him. We saw this one Mormon Message about a kid in Canada that was driving in extreme conditions and they got hit by a Semi and one friend died and the other was in a coma for a month, but the driver walked away with just a few bruises. So it's his story of how he has been able to cope with the powers of the Atonement and how Christ has helped him. This kid is a friend of our new AP Elder and it happened on his (AP) birthday 4 years ago, his birthday was the day of the training so he was having a hard time. I went on Exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders Elder Rudd for a day. I've got some finger-wounds from making one of those Christmas displays for the Stake Christmas Program, cause: Exacto Knife. We should be getting our car back probably sometime this week or the beginning of next, they said before Christmas. Brother LaMarche has offered to have us over for Christmas Dinner and he has 3 computers that we can use to Skype, so that's where I'll be doing it, what is the Skype info that I need to do it with you guys? Putting stuff away at the Christmas thing we got to go to the roof and see all the interior stuff in the celing it was crazy, have a video of it. Forgive and Forget, I've learned a lot of that here. Things happen with members, investigators, we all get offended so easily, we need to look at things with a more Russian (hard to offend, always bold) or Eternal perspective. Being on a mission teaches you patience. It's helped me better appreciate the patience that Heavenly Father has with us, he has A LOT, more than we can comprehend. Well I think I forgot to tell you about the Mission Christmas Gathering happening tomorrow from 3pm-8pm. It's a talent show, dinner, and Christmas devotional. My talent is going to be hand-standing while saying "Your Purpose" in Russian, playing a piano duet of two songs with Elder Thomas, and we have a little Lord of the Rings skit that our zone is doing, it should be pretty fun. Anyway, I guess I'll see ya next week, hologram edition :) - Love Elder Bennett

Dec 10, 2012 Ooooo that dang spider that you sent, didn't think I'd see that for awhile, guess I was wrong.... We did get the Christmas cards as well, thank you very much, so much thank you. Send a picture my way of the whole landscaping stuff, I'd like to see it. Disneyland?! Ohhhh dang, I thought that I could hold them off long enough to wait until we could all go or something, but hope they have a fun time, those kids deserve that, they're soooo cute :) Send some pics of Mike's paintings as well, if they are good enough to sell, I'm expected like some Mona Lisa quality work. We found out that on Christmas we can do Skype, the usual is about an hour, so I guess prepare whatever needful things that you can for that. We were teaching a guy and two more of his friends some English at the church and one of them didn't believe that Sister Phyu could speak six different languages. Seeing that this was a teaching opportunity I called them up and Sister Phyu went off like Samuel the Lamanite preaching repentance (she likes to shout "Repent" all the time, it's funny to hear, especially with the Asian sharpness/accent) and about prophets and the role of the Savior in our lives. It's way cool to have her in the District to help us out. We went bowling on P-day again. We had dinner at Brother Crofts house. He lives in a part of Downtown that looks like New-Yorkish, if that makes sense, just the many trees and the layout of the houses. His wife made dinner like Cafe Rio with some of the same types of food, Lemon Rice, Barbocoa meat stuff, and the sauce at the restaurant. Their kids sang a Christmas song and the other played the chello, very talented, it was good. Sister Phyu gave one of the Burmese families a shoe-rack that she brought into the mission, it took us awhile to get it set up. She always likes to sing little songs, this time it was, "Buildin' a shoe-rack, havin' fun" whatever comes out of her mouth is funny. We also contacted a person with like a bear dog that wouldn't let Elder Dearborn in the car, whenever he moved toward it it blocked him and barked way loud, kinda scary, but it was a way nice dog nonetheless. There was this guy from Alabama that talked to us for like a half hour while we were at the New China Buffet. We went to our new investigators house for this lil birthday gathering, it was fun to get to know them better and see their three year old light up when she opened up her presents. ER Trip and Hoodlums: We had to go to the E.R with someone that was really sick. We also had the whole neighborhood ransacked by these hoodlums who spray-painted cars, fences, etc. Momma Truscott's fence was spray-painted. Also not too faraway a Spongebob flipping people off. A LOT of people were mad and a cop came and did the report for everyone that lives around, I hope we catch 'em, probably the same ones who egged us. We thought our bikes were stolen though as well, but it turned out that someone hid them at the church behind this fence thing (so they wouldn't be stolen) and we thought we brought them home. Member-Missionary Lessons: At church we taught two, basically three lessons. Two on Member-Missionary work with PMG clips and the other in Gospel Principles on the Gathering of Israel, uhhhh, hard one for new investigators, we have another baptism on the 22nd, so we're way excited for that. Thanks for all the love, support, letters, and packages, except for that dirty spider, he'll return will vengeance. Hope you all have a great week. Love you all, have a good one - Love Elder Bennett

December 3, 2012 Way good week!! whewww three more baptisms! Box of Pop-tarts, Three dollars, a new tie at the D.I., One Dollar, a "White Christmas"(meaning your investigators in white), priceless. We have been so blessed with all of the work and success in this area. We have a lot of help from the Ward Mission Leaders as well as the members especially right now considering the circumstances of us hoofin' it without a car. The weather is fine, it has been kind of rainy the last couple of days, but no sign of snow or anything like that, it's better than Logan's it'd bet this time of year. That's sad to hear about the Ward Split, hopefully the ol' Crew, will stay in our sector, which is everyone basically. Change is like manure though, it stinks, but it promotes growth, so look at it that way :) I've seen A LOT of changes that seem sucky at the first, but it turns out being really good. I was actually really disappointed at first to leave Meridian as you know, but there is a ton of work here that I have been involved in so I LOVE this area and the people that we have taught. Thanks for all the letters and packages. I did get your cards and stuff, appreciated. Tell Mike we will hang out when I get home with the whole fam, including those Diva sistas, Mibs and Lu Lu, of Shelly's. Have they let you know anything about that scholarship deferment at all? That guy was cool, that's too bad. Tell Shirley that I'm thankful for her letter. I don't remember the Dickens Festival at all or the Christmas Tree, I was a Zombie last Christmas. Well, I gotta get goin, Love you all soooooo much!!! - Love Elder Bennett

Nov 26,2012 When turning, choose the "Right" Well....... have a lot of stories for you today. I have debated whether to tell you about one of them in particular, but I remember when you told me that you wanted to hear ALL that happened, the un-cut edition of my mission, wow that rhymed really well, nothing really witheld, sooooo here ya go. First off, know that we are TOTALLY fine and safe. We were heading to a dinner appointment lead by Idahoan directions, so we were very confused, "Go West from the old water-tower and go as far as Berry's Market and then you keep goin and see a yellow house with a green-roof. So I go to this general direction and the GPS tells us to go down-town, so we are lead astray and call him and he says that it was close to where we were, so we make the travel back. We are on Washington S. going south and then find the water tower again and so now we are heading north on Washington S. (telling you the addresses so you can Google Map them if you want) making a turn onto 3600 N. we made the turn so we are facing west. We heard no brakes from their car and when we were hit and turned over 200 degrees, we were just confused at what was going on. As you know the left-turn is pretty much out of luck in any situation. I feel so very blessed though , I couldn't really get a lot of sleep that night, just thinking of the "what ifs" ya know, just so grateful that everyone is ok and safe. I had a terrible nightmare that President Cannon wouldn't talk to me afterwards and then sent me to Texas. Like I said, TERRIBLE, President Cannon would never do that, he's like that lady that if you slapped her, he'd compliment you on your swing, so nice and kind, the dream took me for a loop. I took a thing of flowers to the driver's house and just said, "I'm glad we are all safe, hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving" I feel that they really appreciated that, they are nice people. Oh well, it happens, I have heard MANY stories of missionaries in accidents in the mission. There was one just the other day (not trying to scare you or anything). Also a blessing in disguise because Elder Dearborn is from Denver so he probably knows how to tackle the roads in heavy snow better than I do. Church policy is that if the damage is over $1500 then you lose your driving priviledges and the companion drives, makes sense, but that dollar amount is basically nothing with how cars are made now-days with the plastic and fiber-glass. Car people are going today to get an estimate so we'll maybe get it back soon, not sure on a date yet, we'll just have to wait and see. Still don't know if telling ya about it was the best thing to do, hope you know everything is ok. We are riding our bikes and getting rides from members lately, so it's brought us closer to them. I've been thinkin', for my Christmas thing that you want me to ask for, I just ask that you know things are going great, I have mountains of Pop-tarts and Reeses so I'm good until probably years from now. I honestly can't think of anything that I need. Also, let Justin know how cool that is that he is in the Summit, and to tell David and the crew hello. Let's start on a good note shall we? I am so dang lucky right now! Brother Simpson, one of our Ward mission leaders goes to Utah every other week or something like that. He had more packages of Maddox Turkey Steaks than he needed an I can't remember how we started talking about it, I think I mentioned that I missed Logan's Turkey Steaks, and he offered to give one of the bags to us that we usually buy at home, I'm in heaven, think I'll cook one up here pretty soon :) That's awesome to hear about the Mega-plex theater thing in St. G, you may all go to see the Hobbit in my stead next month when it comes out and let me know how it goes, good FHE activity :) Was the Pi one the tiger and the boy on the boat? Please let Sue know how much I appreciate her cards and money that she sends, she's so kind. No transfers for us, I was called to be the District Leader so that'll be interesting with training as well. Elders Sangio and Kelliher are going to Burley and Meridian, I'm gonna miss those two hooligans, love 'em to death. We will get two new Elders in their area and Sister Pugh and Sister Anderson will take the place of Elder Sangio and Elder Kelliher. Sister Pugh is from Burma so that will be awesome to have her help us with teaching those groups of people. We have baptisms this Saturday,we are excited about that. We went to the Temple on Tuesday, ahhh so amazing, it gets you away from the stress of the world. Did you figure out that coded message that I sent? We had a great Thanksgiving at the LaMarche's, that's a sweet letter that he wrote, he is so amazing, he has helped us out tremendously. There were fireworks here in the area as a start of the Christmas season. We went with E. Kelliher and E. Sangio to a member's home where they had a hot chocolate and donut get-together, it was fun. That's where we received the transfer voicemail, we were all really suprised at what transpired. Elder Hardy is staying and training in Meridian, he constantly lets me know when they eat at Chick Fil A. Well, upward and onward as they say, It'll be good to see ya on Skype or whatever. Alright, well, sorry that I had to start out the way I did, hope ya understand. I love ya all, together we can do this, together we can bring change, thank you, thank you. Hope you have a stupendous week and Merry Thanksgiving and Happy Christmas :):) - Love Elder Bennett

Monday, November 19th, "20:5:13:16:12:5 __ 4:5:4:9:3:1:20:9:15:14" Speaking of "Matrixes", I have given you a matrix/code of numbers that correlate with a letter of the alphabet. To find out the title you have to de-code it, bwwaaahhh huh ha, I'm so evil. Here is a hint... 1=A, 2=B. Can't believe it's been another week out on the mish. It really is crazy that one year ago I was Zombie-Billy and I came home and was in that awful state that I was. So grateful for all of you, Heavenly Father, and the Savior for healing me at that very complicated time in my life. We didn't go to Boise for the Cultural Celebration, but it was broadcasted at some of the local stake centers. We took two investigators with us. One of them is preparing to take his GED soon, he is suuuuuper intelligent and loves "mathmatics". I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors. We have set up lessons with him that a portion is dedicated to helping him study English, Math, Grammar, etc. and the rest is Gospel study and reading from some of the pamphlets, lately it's been on the Restoration. We have 3 baptismal dates as of now. They are set for December 1st, so we'll have a white Christmas and "white Baptisms" I guess, this was our Zone goal (Have some for December). There was a mini-Thanksgiving hosted by the 2nd ward, Brother LaMarche has a picture of it on his iPhone that he'll send me. He invited us to have Thanksgiving at his house, we're excited for that, him and his family are so awesome. That's cool that Judy got that Honda, they're usually pretty good, maybe you should go that route. Lambo is decent, but I'm tellin ya, he'll give out soon, it's only a matter of time. So we had Zone Conference this week, it was from 8:30 am - 5 pm, talk about a long day, but a good one. We found out some more information about departing missionaries. Now the procedure is to leave the Saturday before transfers because it's more convenient for going to the last trip to the temple with President as well as flying out, scheduling, etc. but who knows if it will change when President Cannon leaves in July :( :( :( I love that man, he is truly one of the most loving, patient, charitable people I have ever met, as well as Sister Cannon. Anyway, with this change, I would come home Oct.26th instead of the 31st for example, I think that's my dates, idk. Not getting trunky or anything, just letting you know of the recent news. Since it was the Zone Conference of the Holidays, we got to play this hat game where you switch hats to this music, like musical chairs, and if you don't have one when the music stops you're out. There were so many cheaters. We also got to watch, "The Other Side of Heaven, OSOH is a pretty good movie, I forgot what really happened in it so It was a good refresher. I remember when he came to the Benson Stake and talked to us and all I got from it was that rat bit the soles of his feet off, I was younger, less attention-span. I knew those girls that you mentioned from SV, good for them. That was a good quote that you left in your message. It'll be cool to meet all of these Russian people that you claim are migrating to St.G. Well I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving, I'm gonna miss the circus, but I'll be there next time :) Thank you for all of the letters and packages, I'm spoiled :) Love you all, talk to ya next week! Oh p.s. There is a woman in the Relief Society in the 2nd ward who is like related to Elder Kelly that I served with in Novosibirsk. She said that he is very competitive in family games. Anyway, we'll obshatseya (converse) paposhye (later)! -Love Elder Bennett

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 2:35 PM Prrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvviiiiiiiiieeeeeeeetttttttt to my family and friends on this wonderful Tuesday of November. So there was a situation yesterday where the library was closed for the Veteran's holiday and the Family History Center was having electrical work done so it was not in operation, these means we're pretty much out of luck, on getting emails out :) President said that we would have an opportunity today to do our normal hour and fifteen that we usually do on P-day. That is why I didn't write cha yesterday, It's not because I ignored ya or anythin of that nature... Ty gave a talk? Wow, he's surely growing up fast, I thought it was a few years before he started doing that. Last P-day I got some music at Desert Book , pretty good, but stuff get's old fast especially when you have a 300 mile Road Trip to Boise and you're the driver. Hey I get to see you soon on Skype, I'm not sure on the deets, but it'll be fun to hear yall voices and hear about the pork loin yall are makin for the holidays. Right now one of Momma Truscott's friends is on vacation so we have two extra furry creatures runnin' around the house, Skippy, a sassy Corgie that I love, and Joey, this dog that's half-shaved curly hair so it looks like a girl, but it's a boy dog. And of course, Tuffy, chiwawa, and Bob, who loves to just be lazy in this tower carpet thing that she bought him. We've been helping an investigator build his shed. We picked up a new investigator who came to church this last Sunday and stayed for all meetings and really liked it so we're way excited. We also have a few baptismal dates coming up here,one is set for December 1st, so we'll see what happens. Oh yeah, soooooo I tried the new battery on the camera and it worked for like one hour and now it doesn't. I think it might be the camera itself, it won't charge any more, so I can't take any pics. Well we're heading out to go do some missionary work with Brother LaMarche (Ward Mission Leader) so we'll talk to ya later! -Love Elder Bennett :) :) :)

short email from Elder Bennett....Please Tell Pat Dagley thanks for sending me her letters and for the newsletters. She is a great friend, sounds like she is doing great! I like to hear from her, and get the goings on in ole Newton. Love Elder Bennett

Party in the Parking Lot" Hello once again friends, family, and all creatures alike who are reading my emails. If you could just sense the subject of this letter with the tune "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus, it has a nice ring to it... With all of the different wards that we cover, there were Ward Halloween Parties & Trunk or Treats for each one of them. I forwarded a few pics from 2nd wards that Brother LaMarche took with his iPhone, pretty good costumes huh? As you probably guessed, we were dressed as missionaries. Everybody was happy to see us at the Trunk or Treats with our garbage bags that we got from the janitorial closet except for really only one guy who said, "Get off your mission and go have kids if you want some" and denied us candy for a few seconds until he threw it in our bag, ughhh, You're not the only one who mentioned the "Hump-Day", Elder Hardy did as well. Let Sue know how grateful I am by the way for the card and the Subway card ($15) that she sent in the mail, it helps out. Also, thank you for your package that you sent with the Reeses, lovely creations they are, Fruit-Roll ups, way good too, and the Skittles. I love hearing from you, Papa (his crazy hospital stories and what's going on), Justin (wise council and how he is able to get through his busy life), and Mike (him liking Indians and whatever else comes up that week). He looked pretty good in that clown/zombie costume, I'm sure he scared a few people for sure. Elder Dearborn really is so funny and has a sense of humor, you were so worried about me offending someone with my sarcasim/humor but he just sends it back, we make a great team.. ---- was baptized this Saturday, he will be one of the General Authorities one day I swear, he is so awesome. I'll email some pics. , They are finishing up the Chick-Fil-A here, will totally be done in a month :) hahahaha Tell John Mayhew and J Hutch that I say hello. Also thank Sarah S. for the letter that she sent, she's a good friend, she says that Aaron Austin says hello to me and that she hasn't heard anything from Adam Aguillon on his mission yet. . The ----- were at church yesterday, we are working with 'em ( great family, the little girl was bawling because she wasn't up there singing with the Primary Program, so I think they'll get her involved with that soon. We heard that there were about 8,000 applications in the first week of the announcement and it has leveled out at about 4,000, that's a ton. The election tomorrow, mercy. Well I got to get goin', so we'll talk to ya next week, "Bye everybooooddy" - Love Elder Bennett,

Oct 29.condensed version I was laughing my head off last night when Elder Kelliher was telling me this story about one of the people that they met with and had them over for dinner. Apparently Elder Kelliher has this picture that he carries around of this huge/legendary Elk that someone shot and the guy asked him , "Ahhh did he save the liver?!" Then Elder Kelliher was like "Uhhh, no", then the guy got so mad because that's like his favorite food. As a matter of fact, we actually had potatoes, carrots, and.... onions and calf liver for dinner... that meat has a different taste to it... We had the baptisms this weekend, it went great, she has such a strong testimony. We also have a baptism scheduled for this Saturday he is awesome, so the ward and us are excited. Elder Haleck of the 70 came to a Zone Meeting as you see from the picture. I think he spoke not this last conference, but the one before that. Kayla having a baby before Krista? OHHHHHHH I love those wiggle cars, I pushed Elder Reed in Walmart and he was going so fast that he crashed into one of the isles and fell off, it was pretty dang funny. Lambo isn’t worth fixing, sell it for $1000 now while it runs and just tell him to buy a newer one. Good for Mike for keeping his grades up. Dang glad to hear that Justin is doing great. Don’t send the Russian coat, it’s to heavy, I’m fine right now, just keep money on the card and if I need one I’ll just get it, if I buy stuff like that here its better than if you send it in the mail. Its not that bad, there are times we both scream in the car, like we did earlier in yours when it was just cold in the morning or night while its defrosting. There have been a few Halloween parties here, there was a bounce house at one and there was a girl that talked to us and said she wanted to be baptized, pretty cool, we got some candy as well, which Bob sat and pawed at all night. That is soooo crazy about the whole East Coast storm stuff, right now I'm in 3rd Nephi a couple chapters before Christ appears to the people of Bountiful to manifest himself as the Savior and bless them and there were a lot of signs of destruction before His coming and when He was crucified in Jerusalem, it kind of reminds me of what's goin on right now. Well, I've gotta get back, so I'll talk to yall later, I love ya and hope that you all have a wonderful week! Enjoy the pictures :) - Love Elder Bennett

Oct 22, Elder Bennett had alot of experiences in this weeks letter, but for the privacy of others it won't be published in the blog. So this is pretty short..... Ohhh, what a wonderful sight to go outside, it's pouring rain, and see that someone has egged your car. Don't know who did it, but when I find 'em I'm going to have Bob use his back feet (his front ones are declawed) and mess them up a little bit. Our car has taken a few hits this week, I'm pretty sure that I told you about that lady that backed up into us and made a dent above the rear light and scratched it up. We have to get the claim thing approved and then take it into a body-shop for 3 days and get it repaired . It has been fun to be a trainer, Elder Dearborn is great, he is a funny kid. Why did you give the stray away?! You should have kept it! Oh so Elder Dearborn used to be a salesman for a Toyota outlet and he claims Toyotas, Hondas, and Subarus are the way to go on efficiency. That's funny that Tim described Hunter's friends as the next Disney Channel show waiting to happen, I laughed at that. That's way good that the missionaries came over. It has been rainy weather today, but I'm glad it was raining so the eggs didn't hurt the paint. We just did some shopping today because it was too bad of weather to do anything outside. Hope it's nicer down there where you are, enjoy the wonderful St. George climate that I love. Thanks for all of your support, love, and letters, you're the best!!! - Love Elder Bennett

Monday, October 15, 2012 3:23 PM Wayyyyy condensed version this week Well it's official. Transfer calls came through and President said, "Elder Bennett, you will be staying in Twin Falls South 1 and you will be training a new missionary, Elder Reed, you will be serving in Boise East 2 with Elder Vanzaling (Elder Hardy's previous comp., in one of the pictures. LOT of responsibility comin' my way. So, plans are that we are going to the Transfer Spot at 1:35 and head to Boise where I'll be staying for a couple days with missionaries that serve there. There is a training meeting at 5:30 today so I'm lookin' forward to that to find out more. Apparently we go out and do some contacting with the new missionaries, eat, and have some training/preliminary meetings before we head back home Wednesday sometime. The five baptisms went through but it was slightly a fiasco and like National Lampoons Baptism for awhile. The water-heater ignitor thing was not working so the water was freezing cold! One sister kept coming up and was cold so someone suggested that there be a "spotter" that goes in the water and helps her back up and makes her feel secure. I went in the bathroom threw off my stuff and was "skipper", the Bishop said, "Well that was fast!" and on that time it was full-immersion so it turned out good. She is such a great lady and the Spirit is so strong with her. With the difficulties that we had with the water we tried to prepare ourselves for the one with the four kids that was going to be less than an hour away, so we got those big church garbages (empty) from the kitchen and went with a member of the Bishopric to go get hot water from his house and come to dump it in and raise the temperature a little bit. Well, by the time we got back, somebody unplugged the drain so the water level dropped and the whole effort was basically wasted. It was good though and there was a lot of wet eyes when the mom bore her testimony of adopting these four kids. Wonderful night though, even with all of the hooplah that ALWAYS happens with any big event. That was a Ukelele that you saw. Elder Reed bought it from some other missionary. We use it for baptisms and he plays the "I Know When I am Baptized" song and we both sing it. So, we ate Coconut Breaded Trout last night, uhhhhh, sooooo goooooood, and the brother who fed us has been taking Martial Arts for years and taught us a ton of tips/stuff that he's learned, he's way good, like Liam Neeson good. We don't have a Mazda, its a Subaru Impreza, and it's a lovely car, waaaay nice handling. Missionaries do Weekly Planning which takes 2 hours or so usually at the church for a more official and less distracting environment, you get more done. Brother Gardunia, my Ward Mission Leader who's married to the Salisbury, txtd me and said that he was in Newton yesterday. Jessica Jenkins is a way talented writer and has a way of expressing her feelings, I appreciated her remarks.Thanks for sending that it was a great help to me. It's not that cold here, it's now suit-coat season. Well love you guys, have a spectacular week!!! Elder Bennett

Monday, October 8, 2012 1:28 PM One of the nicest, most spiritual ladies that I know, is being baptized on the 13th as well as the Hadlock kids ranging from ages 8-10.we are excited for this upcoming Saturday, it's going to be a busy one for sure. Oh some good news for you. You said that it was probably about time for me to send the camera card, I sent it out this morning, so hopefully you get it soon. There are some pretty funny videos on there and quite a few pictures, so enjoy. Let the kids know I love 'em and that I enjoyed those paintings/pictures that they sent me a little while ago. I hope they have a Happy Halloween and enjoy wearing their Pokemon costumes. Sangio Sub: I was on exchanges with Elder Sangio (Samoan name), our District Leader, on Tuesday. He's a great Elder and so kind, I imagine him as being a seminary teacher or something when he's older. They have a pretty nice set-up where they live, a separate entrance, own kitchen, and bigger bed-room and study room, but, it doesn't really compare to having Bob, I love that cat, he always like to come in and chill with me on my bed or when I'm getting a drink in the kitchen. We had Subway for dinner, it's been awhile, I love that place, they have amazing cookies. There's this girl that we taught and she is going to be baptized soon. Goes to show that you can plant a seed or have an influence in someone's coming into the fold even if you don't serve in that particular area. I felt like I "planted a lot of seeds" in Russia, but didn't really get to see the harvest, it was tough and really gets you down. But you have to have faith that every soul is great in the sight of God and that there is no effort wasted. I totally feel like I had a purpose there and that it prepared me for now and now makes me more appreciate the success that we've been having in this mission. . Jack-in-the-Box Churros: Way good, I had those and one of their breakfast sandwiches after the Bishop Store House Drive and right before our Zone Meeting that is presented and organized by our Zone Leaders. Conference: Not a lot new to you guys for the last two days, because you were doing the same thing as me. Loved Conference though, so many amazing talks. I always love President Monson's and President Utchdorf's addresses that they give. I'm pretty sure that President Gibbon's dad gave the closing prayer, tell me if I'm wrong. He just got released from the 70. So a couple other things before I head out. The 2012 Corolla in Red is a popular mission car, it always reminds me of our "Friday Field Trip Days" when I see one, I've even had to ride in one which is more weird for me to see an Elder driving it and not you. I love our Subi though, it handles so well and can turn on a dime. A car that I might get later, that or a Prius to save gas, and of course Midgie if she works by the time I get back. About Mike, an important factor is if he feels prepared. There are missionaries here that are 19-27, so it's quite a gap. If he is not quite ready at 18 then he can wait a little bit and I'll help prepare him for missionary life, we can sort of serve a mini-mission together if he wants for like a week or something. I didn't see that Holland Conference thing but it sounds cool, Ty and Jake will be going to China I bet. Wow Taylor getting married! That's way weird to me, tell him congrats from the his ol Ruski brutha from anutha mutha. That was a good quote by the way, it could be tied with the "Plan of Salvation". Well I love you all to pieces, peace n blessins, let Sarah, Justin H., Justin T., Papa, Mike, for sending mail, I'll try and get back to them as soon as I can. Tell John Mayhew that I saw him in Dollar Tree today at the check-out. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEE - Elder Bennett

Alex Bennett Monday, October 1, 2012 5:02 PM Well, another week has "flown" by as you have said. They all just seem to mesh together, it drives me nuts when I can't remember what even happened the day before for example because things are just so busy. An investigator that we have, called us up and asked us what she needed to do to be baptized. This is way cool because she has been investigating and attending church for like two years and is finally ready to become a member. We went on splits with one of the wards and I went with this guy in the bishopric who served in Seoul and the guy that we visited was married to a Chinese lady who went to like all major parts of Asia. So it was like a waaaay Oriental day for me, and I'd dare say that I ate Ramen that night as well, so even more so. A different day of splits (well they call them "splits" all the time regardless of whether we actually split ways, but we just had a third male on this night) and I took the Area Book with me so that we could contact former investigators or potentials if our appointments fell through, which they did, so it was very useful. We went to District Meeting and everyone except for us was late so I made the coolest set up of tables and chairs, it looked like a council that would happen in like Star Wars or something. We had dinner at a home. This beef stuff, fried lamb, rice, and these grain balls. Gave another talk in Sacrament yesterday. People who complain at having to prepare a talk given week's notice shouldn't, because we have had to with like a day's. It went way good though, mine was on Personal Revelation and how we can receive it for this upcoming General Conference. Today I got up did some of my laundry, ate a Brown-Sugar Cinnamon Pop-tart, we played soccer at this park with like 20 or so missionaries and then went to McDonalds for lunch. We then went to the D.I. to find some good deals. I found a cool dollar tie and a sweet Brazilian Jersey for Justin T. Yeah I have no idea what's in store for transfers either, I've been wrong twice on my guesses for the last ones. Alright, we'll talk to ya next week, peace n blessins. - Love Elder Bennett

Monday, September 24, 2012 6:33 PM So ok, I'm sure that you have all heard about those people that go to the park and have live reinactments, yeah, so there are people here of the "Belegarth" clan who meet every Thursday we found out, and are faithful followers of the "Medievil Combat Society". We were going to try and teach them the Gospel but the guy said he was Wicken, so we kind of avoided that part of conversation. Their weapons are padded and have some foam under-neath the covering of some of them. The whole thing is ridiculous, but is fun to watch. There was an awkward situation at McDonalds the other day with the cashier lady. To understand the premise of the whole story you have to know that she is very Anti-Mormon and hates the missionaries. She slams drink cups on the table and treats us so much differently than the other customers. She asked for a name when Elder Norris was ordering and he said "Elder Norris" and she wouldn't accept it or say it because she said that It would be making her be part of our religion and that it was not the name that our mother's gave us. I asked to to say "Elder Bennett" and she got even more fiesty and started getting in a argumentative mood. I asked if I could talk to the Manager because we shouldn't have to deal with that, we go there frequently because it has a dollar menu, so we've run into this problem a lot. The Manager admitted that she was in the wrong and should not have been acting like that and that she HAS to call out any name that we give her, it could be Allah Jihad Malby Osama, and it's policy to call it. So after that whole National Lampoon order, the Manager talked to her and we saw from a distance her getting fired up and then it having to go outside. He started taking her position behind the desk sooooo we don't know what became of it. There was a college-aged girl that brought 4 little ice-cream sundaes to us though and she said that she was not a Mormon but she really respected what we do and apologized on behalf of the other ladie's actions, that was really sweet of her. We had Zone Conference so it was good to see a couple of missionaries that I have not seen for awhile. I re-arranged the room and it's so much better now, Elder Reed agrees, we have a nice place to study and it seems all-around more convenient. She has a little chiuaua and a cat (I love him! His name is Bob and he loves to hang out with us everyday and he's always waiting at the door inside and rolls on his belly when we get home). Hope Mitt wins it, even though the world is goin' to pot regardless. We are very busy right now, we have 9 baptismal dates set for October 13th so we're going to see what we can come up with scheduling wise. One of the families is from Iraq and speaks Arabic, they are soooo nice. I forgot to mention that every two weeks on Thursday we help unload the truck and load it into their cars in the church parking lot with the people from the Bishop's Store House (picture with me and a lot of boxes). Elder Hardy and I are like PB & J, I hope you have a good time getting to know his family. Momma Adams is a Travel Lady for Disney so she definitley travels a lot, she said that she was going to China with her in-laws, husband. EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY is right, 14 million is better than 55,000 or however many missionaries are out. P.S. They are making a Chick-Fil-A here!!! hhahaha, and I'm pretty sure that building is one also (in St.G) Let Sarah, and Justin H., Mike, Papa, and Justin T. I'm really grateful for their letters, I'll try to get back to them soon. Love you all, talk to ya next week!!! - ELDER BENNETT :)

Monday, September 17, 2012 6:22 PM Condensed version, names of people baptized left out for privacy Well, you saw the pictures, I was able to baptize someone for the first time in my life, pretty cool stuff. They are such a great family that is so receptive to the Gospel and love God, I love 'em!!! Interesting stuff though, for some odd reason the font started draining and nobody knew about it. So when it was time for the baptisms the water was like lower than half level and still draining, no one knew how to stop it! So we had to act fast and Elder Reed and Brother LaMarche had to baptize on their knees. Since the girl was short enough I didn't have to do that, but since it was more shallow, her dress came up a little bit and I had to do it again and the guys legs came up so Brother LaMarche had to do it a few times as well; but everything worked out in the end and we were able to get it done :) Unfortunately the day after I was sick. Elder Reed was sick this last week and I think I caught it from him, It was fairly short-lived looking back, well yesterday, but I was achey, ohh my back felt like I was 80 years old, chills, runny nose, etc. it's never fun to feel like that on your mission. Feeling much better today though, which is very good, can't be too effective if one of your "other half" is out; Anyway, thank you all so much for the letters you sent last week, it means a lot to get letters from Justin. Awww thats super nice what Momma Adams said about me. Well I gotta get going so we'll talk to you later!! -Love Elder Bennett

Monday, September 10, 2012 8:23 PM I have had to buy a couple of language books because I am kind of in the melting pot of Idaho right now. We are teaching Burmese, Karen, Deaf, Napali, Middle-Eastern, and English speaking as well. We're waaaay lucky that we have a few interpreters to help us, but I'm trying to learn a few phrases to connect with the people. I think that I am going to have to send ya another type-written letter sometime this week because I want my letter to be more explanatory. Let Michelle Adams know that I am sooooo grateful for the great friend and lady that she is, she is just so kind. Where we live now has a cat named Bob that chills with us in our room all the time. We've met a lot of people around here. About the car, I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiine. You should worry about the drivers around me, when we were going to Wendy's today, there was a Lady that has no idea what's going on and totally pulled out and almost hit us, we were on the main road mind you, she was coming out to the main road. It has "sports" mode, which is cool sometimes, all around good car, wouldn't mind having something like that when I get home. We ate at that Salisbury girl's house, Sister Gardunia, she said she was from Logan area, I asked what part and she said Newton, and I was like me too!!. She did dancing and stuff with Shelly and knew you guys as well. I got the packages by the way, thanks for that, the Skittles have lasted forever. I haven't heard back from Joclynn yet :( That's cool that Lindsay wants to have correspondence, let her know I say hello. It's not as bad anymore not being in a bike area and being exhausted all the time; Well like I said, I'll try to get around to writing a longer letter, we were doing a lot of stuff today including soccer, volleyball, basketball, Coldstone, etc. so I didn't have pondering/clever letter writing time. Anyway, I'm gonna get goin' Be grateful for the pics that I sent ya, I was able to buy a SD card thing and send a lot of them today. Anyway, LOOOOOOOOOVVVVEEEE you!!!!!!!!

Dear Family, Pretty dang excited with the whole being in a car-area thing. I'm the area leader a.k.a. Senior Companion so that means that I'm the designated driver of the companionship. My baby is a Subaru Impreza and it has really good handling and even a "manual"-like mode that you can kick into if you want. I didn't really know what to think when we got transfer calls on Friday and I found out that I was leaving, sad times, I loooooooved Meridian! I thought I'd at least serve another transfer or two with Elder Hardy, we're like best buds, good to know that he lives close by in St G. It was hard to say my last good-byes to everybody, but at least it was Fast Sunday and I was able to let a pretty big majority of members know how grateful I was to serve there, definitely taking a road trip after the mission to visit people. I'm serving with Elder Reed (from Ohio, and like a fire-ball of energy) in Twin Falls, it's about an 1 1/2 - 2 hours away from my previous area. I'm lucky because the Twin Falls temple is close by and I heard that you get to go there about once a transfer. Elder Hardy and I went to Star and Caldwell on Saturday for a couple of baptisms that happened with people that he had previously worked with. He baptized one of the girls,and did a really good job, it was fun to be a part of all of that stuff for the day. There was a wedding reception for a lady that cut the missionaries hair (also a well-known member) in Caldwell right next to the building that the baptisms were in, so they wanted to go to that for a little bit. I'll fill you in on more that's happening in the new area as time goes on, kinda short on time today because of the travel, adjustments, etc. Really excited though because Elder Reed said that there are a lot of prospective baptisms that are getting ready to happen here. I love ya all ta pieces, Love Elder Bennett :)

Letter came in the mail today .....Dear Family and all those near and dear to me. Here the old typewriter is more reliable than the fancy new technology can be at times. Well on Sunday we ate at the Adams home and was able to produce the video for 'yall, I've still got a baby face though, so I don't understand why you would say "I sent out a boy and now your a man". I will eternally look like a 12 year old . Will you let Angie Ransbottom, the Everetts, and Sue know how grateful I am for their letters, cards and money, and Pat for the Newton updates. People around me are getting sick, Elder Hardy was and now Elder Miles, I am drinking Pineapple juice and taking double doses of Vitamin C, so hopefully I can stay immune to the Zombie Infestation that is going around. Good for Adam A. , he's a great kid, always has been an extremely hard worker. Let Justin T. know how thankful I am for his constant support and compliments, he's a wonderful brutha, I'm excited for him and all of the progress that he's seening with his work. Well things are going great up here we are seeing alot of success and excited for the next couple of weeks. We have 2 baptismal dates set and are teaching some who will be close soon, so life's good. We had interviews, President Cannon is such an amazing man, I respect him so much. I'm very fortunate to have him as a mission president. He is so loving and just wants the best for you, I can honestly feel how sincere he is and how much he cares about this mission. Transfers are Monday, there are going to be quite a few changes. We had a sweet Zone activity on P-day. Nerf wars. That is so weird that Tim is 33, I thought he was like 30, wish him the best for me, that he will be blessed with a job in St. G , wouldn't that be great? Well I better get goin, I just got a package from the ups lady like 5 seconds ago. thank you :) Love, Love, Love Elder Bennett

Since the computer went haywire on Elder Bennett, Elder Hardy's parents were kind enough to send us their son's letter,here is the condensed version with the highlights of the week Letter from Elder TJ Hardy August 21, 2012 We headed to the mission nurses house and helped her and her husband move the furniture into their new house with Elder Bailey and Elder Miles. We were there for most of the day - they also made us lunch and a big one too! After we got done with that we headed back to the house got our bikes and then went to dinner at a Scout Pack Meeting at the Park near our house then we went around and made some visits. We met an investigator and he is great! I really think we can have some great success with him! Wednesday (15th)-- Went out contacting and had a few good conversations. Went and got free snow cones down at the Maverick gas station where the Elders get them for free. After that we went and did some more contacting in that area and then we went to dinner with the Former Elder Quorum President - The Allen Family. They are super cool. We were there for like 2 hours just talking about missions and it was a ton of fun!! He had some great stories. Then we went and saw a part member family as we do every Wednesday and we talked about life after death. Thursday (16th)-- Today we got did our morning usual then headed to the church to do our weekly planning! That took a long time today because we were both out of it and couldn't keep our attention! It took forever and then we had a hard time finding members, investigators home to teach. Then we had dinner tonight with the Testa Family - we all got talking about the Gospel in general. Friday (17th)-- This morning we headed to the church and had our weekly District Meeting and had district lunch. We got trained on Christ-Like attributes - went well. For lunch we went to 5 Guys and a member paid for all of us. He went up to the cash register and dropped a $100 bill on the table and said this is for them. Talk about a blessing! It was neat. Once we got done with DM and lunch we headed to our house and got on our bikes and went and visited some investigators. After that visit we headed to do some service for some potential investigators but they didn't answer. We then headed to one of our investigators to do some yard work. Saturday (18th)-- This morning we went to the School across the street from our house to help the Hunter Ward with some service that involved cleaning the school and pulling weeds, etc... After that we got ready for the day and then did our studies then we had lunch and then went to the church to do our weekly progress records and then went and delivered them to the Ward mission leaders and bishops and stake president. After that we headed to dinner, after dinner we went and visited some members to see if they were working with anyone and if we could help them at all. Got a call from Michelle Adams saying she bought us groceries and that they had ice cream cake that they wanted us to come over and have with them so we did. She bought us a TON of groceries and this really really helps out with the money situation. Sunday (19th)-- Went to the Hunter Ward at 9am then to Settler's Bridge at 11am after sacrament we went with 2 priests to a members house to assist them with shut-ins then headed back to the last ward of the day we finished up there. Then went on splits from 3-4 with the Meridian 2nd ward and then went to a lesson with an investigator. After dinner we went to an investigators house and helped him move some furniture so that the carpet cleaners could come and clean his carpets in the morning early. Monday P-Day (20th)-- Today we went to our church and played volleyball with a good 20+ missionaries and had a great time! :) Then we went to lunch at Subway - After lunch we went to Big Al's Bowling Center. (brand new) and 17 of us went bowling it was ton of fun!! It's been a good week but with summer coming to a close and school starting up we should have even more success. In the splits with Meridian 2nd ward we were able to find 4 potential investigators that we will be dropping by this week to see if we can't get them to let us share the gospel with them! :).

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 3:51 PM, Alex Bennett Ooooooo, I'm kinda mad right now, I had a way long email, almost done and some weird thing happened and kicked me off and didn't save it as a draft at all, sooooo huh, I guess this is today's email since I spent a ton of time already typing. Shoot. Maybe in the event of a miracle I'll be able to recover it.

Tap, Tap, Click, Tap, Wa-wa-wa, Tap, Tap..... Monday, August 20, 2012 6:04 PM That, is the sound of my lovely type-writer that I got from the D.I. for twelve bucks! Elder Hardy and I decided that we wanted to be able to write letters faster.I love it though, it's a "Brother 540-E" or something like that. Every key-stroke produces a click/tap on the paper, it's not a super old-fashioned one or a new one with like a word-processing screen, it's in-between the two I guess. I have been able to put out SOOO many letters of appreciation for meals, friendships/associations with investigators/members, etc. during some free time such as during lunch or after nightly planning, I LOVE it. Speaking of Russians,I met another one the other day. We were at the Jackson's for dinner which, by the way a cool fact, are related to Elder Daniel Anderson that was in my District in the MTC, he was DL for the first 6 weeks, and then it was me. He went to the Samara, Russia mission, Sister Jackson is his Aunt, what a small world, she was talking about her nephew from North Dakota who was serving in Russia and it all came together. Anyway, this Russian speaking guy is from Ukraine, I probably shouldn't have called him a Russian then, but he spoke the language. He's Pentecostal, very common to see where I was, but really a nice guy. He gave us his phone number and said to call him anytime. I knew when Justin was saying that the potatoes that you used on Sunday weren't from Idaho that everything was going to go wrong, it's the only way to go. That's way cool that you got to meet Elder Hardy's dad, he sounds like a really nice man. I'm sure the two of us (Hardy & I) will probably see each other a TON considering we are going to Dixie the same Semester. And, BY THE WAY, crashing on the bike is very common :) Didn't you know that 4 out of 5 missionaries crash on their bike here every day... Ok I made that up, but it's probably not far from the truth. Do you guys want to hear a pretty sweet song on LDS.org? Of course you do, it's on the Youth Music section and it's called "Take it Home" by Jen Blosil. I love this mission, I'm so grateful to be serving here. I have a Jewish friend now, we just helped them move some heavy stuff in their new house the other day. We thought we'd never see our helmets again the other day when we got a ride from a member. We were trying to get to an appointment on the other side of town on our bikes and this car pulls to the side of the road and he asks if he can take us anywhere, we were way happy to get a ride so we locked up our bikes to a fence thing and went with him. We were going to put the bikes in his trunk but we decided to do otherwise so our helmets were there and we forgot. Later we realized, we'll never see him again. Luckily he mentioned that he sold some stuff to a man which we knew, We called him and he had his phone number so we were able to meet up and get them. So after District Meeting we went to 5 Guys, Burgers and Fries.... There's this guy, he came and disappeared, but he just slapped a $100 bill on the counter and paid for all of us. We did some grounds-work with the Hunter ward at Discovery Elementary on Saturday and mowed a ladys lawn again on Friday. Has Sister Adams gotten a hold of you, she's a really, really nice lady that is so accommodating to us, she has a son out in Germany right now, her first one, so it's been tough for her, but she feels good when she's able to help the missionaries here. A Less-active that we have been working with came to Church yesterday! It was way cool to sit by him and also see one of our investigators sitting behind us. We set a baptismal date with a guy for September 15th, he's a great guy and has opened up a ton. His wife is a great support and a solid member, so we hope for the best. Also we are going to set a baptismal date with a kid for September 8th, he's 9 years old. We're seeing a lot of success and getting excited for the next couple weeks, things are movin' along.Had a great P-day today, as a zone we played volleyball at the stake-center, ate at Subway (not as a zone), and then went bowling at Big Al's (as a zone), it was dang fun. Well, I better get going, you guys have a wonderful week and we'll talk to ya real soon :) :) :) - Elder Bennett

That's sure nice of Pres.Gibbons to write all of those nice things, he's a wonderful Mission President and individual. No accidents on the bike this week, proud to say. If you are familiar with Monsters Inc., when there is an accident on the Scare Floor and they have to reset their record of like 564 days or so with no problems to 0, that's how I feel now with the bike stuff, we'll see how far I can go without another one. Justin brought up giving the kids some father's blessings, it reminded me that we have given quite a few of those lately. Mainly for health issues, but also for comfort, what a blessing that, well... blessings are to us in our life :) Hardy was also telling me about how one of the people that I signed up at Summit is their family's good friend and was mentioning a boy that went to Russia, etc. which turned out to be me! What a small world. It's surprising I haven't gained weight with all this food but you know my super-human metabolism, I can live off of a blade of grass and Pop-tarts. We picked up a new investigator this week. We had dinner at a house and two of his friends and co-workers came over to eat and have a lesson. They are both pretty interested and want to learn more. For dinner the members picked us up and took us to the Cheesecake Factory, it was way good, I had fries in a cup, which I don't think I've ever had before... We're going to Boise today so Elder Hardy can get a new suit, I guess there's a Chick Fil A at the College, maybe I'll hit that up. We were able to help an investigator move some stuff into a U Haul and he had us over for dinner, he's makin some progress. The coolest guy ever, promised us that he and his family were going to church on Sunday, we were WAY excited, but I guess something came up. Hopefully next week for sure. It's way hard to get meetings with the summer!!! Everybody is gone! We mowed a lady's lawn again, we almost got attacked by this huge infestation of wasps in her backyard, Elder Hardy is terrified of them and snakes, as you know mine is sharks. Well we gotta get goin, love you guys, tell everyone I loooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvveeeeeee theeeeeeeem!!!!!!!!1 - Elder Bennett

To:vicki bennett Sent: Monday, August 6, 2012 5:52 PM I appreciate Justin's wise counsel and advice every week, He's totally right, if the members aren't on board, then the work is going to be slower for sure. With summer still in full boar, it's been tough because availability is scarce which doesn't make member-present lessons benefit, which is the best way to do things. Also with the BSU football season coming up, I think things are going to slow down quite a bit as well, but you just keep plugging on. We've been able to meet a few new people and some some new investigators, one of them, needed some help with her lawn so me mowed and trimmed it this Saturday. On our way there, you guessed it, I crashed on my bike again.... It wasn't into a parked car this time, just me carrying the Area-Book because we were doing Progress Records right before, and trying to slow down on my hand-brakes but for some reason pulling way to hard and being bucked off. It jacked up my knee and my upper thigh, I'll send some pics, but I think that I'll survive. If I start having more problems though, its good to know that we have chiropractic appointments for free with Dr. Moorhouse, we just went there the other day for a back and neck crackin'. There is a member who bore her testimony about a lady who is her neighbor and is Russian who is having some hard times right now, so maybe I'll meet her. We had another busy Sunday this week, we taught three different classes at three different wards. Two were about missionary work like we did a couple weeks prior, we placed 15 copies of the Book of Mormon with members and challenged them to hand them out to their friends/family, all were gone in seconds. One was in the Hunter ward co-taught with Brother Peterson, our Ward Mission Leader, to the High Priests, another in the Settler's Bridge ward to ALL of the Young Woman in the ward, and the last was the 7 year olds Primary class in the Sundance lesson. All turned out great and I'm thankful for our opportunity to do them. One of our investigators who is a Fire Fighter invited us to a huge annual Salmon BBQ, it reminded me of the Garland thing, but it was better. I'm a little person in a big world. Well I better get goin', the work is goin' great, I'm lovin' every day! Let everyone know I looooooooooove them!!!! - Elder Bennett

Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 4:57 PM Subject: Parked Cars & Coconut Bars Parked Cars = Funny story I'll explain in a second and Coconut Bars = I dunno, just because we had them last night at dinner and it made the phrase rhyme. Anyway, so Elder Hardy and I were going to a dinner appointment and we didn't want to go into the wrong sub-division, so I asked him if I could see his GPS (a few missionaries buy them to make finding easier, I wouldn't need one, I'm pretty good with a map, we just didn't have the luxury of time) and I was just quickly entering in the address and when I look up I see the back of a grey Honda Civic and it totally owned me. My front tire hit the bumper and I bounced of the bike and then it fell on me, quite a site to see, we were laughing pretty hard. Nothing serious happened to the car, just some dirt/scuff from the tire, I went up to the door and explained everything to the owner, he was way cool about it and not mad, just wanted to know if I was OK. I offered him 5 bucks to get it washed because I felt bad and he wouldn't take it, but like I said, it wasn't a big deal. It was just a little bit tiny awkward because we were heading outside of the house and got our bikes yesterday and the same guy was taking a jog (probably like a half of a mile away from the house) ran by the Christensen's. I'm so happy this transfer though, Elder Hardy and I are good friends and we are always laughing . I met this Russian guy today while we were all playing Ultimate Frisbee. He was mowing the grass on a riding-lawn-mower by us on the high school grass and once he found out that I spoke Russian he told me to sit in the seat next to him and we rode around for a second while we talked. Brother Walker,asked us to teach Gospel Essentials in the Hunter ward this last Sunday. VERY busy day that was. We also gave two talks in two different sacraments meetings with all different topics. The work is going great, our highest number of meetings was "Member-Present" ones once again, which is optimal, a lot of investigators are getting closer and attending church. Let everyone know I love 'em, and this mission, I am so happy to be here! I'm so glad that Heavenly Father has given me another opportunity to serve; where I feel like I'm making a difference and becoming a refined missionary and priesthood holder. Thank you for all that you do, talk to you next week!!! :) - Love your Mango-Peach (drinking that right now) loving son, Elder Bennett

Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 11:56 AM Subject: The St.G Crew It's so great to be able to run into all these great missionaries who are from St.G that I can see after the mission. Elder Guzman is hilarious and from Ivins, he's serving in a different District, but the same Zone so I see him quite often especially on P-days. Elder Hardy is great too, I'm really happy to have him as my companion, we'll have a great transfer together. He comes from the Slick Rock ward if you are able to see his parents sometime. He actually knows Elder Terry (from St.George) in Russia that I knew, they played baseball together. It's a small world isn't it? I did hear about that shooting at the Batman Premiere, that is crazy. That act affected hundreds of people and families. All of these things are prophesied in the scriptures though, more crazy times are ahead I'm sure, that's why it's so important to be grounded in the Gospel and be close to your family including your Heavenly/Spiritual, ward, and neighbors. We are teaching a pretty good amount though, we had 7 lessons last week with a member present and 6 Others, meaning to an investigator without a member there, and 5 Less-Active lessons so 17 total, so things are going great. We played some basketball at this YMCA place with a few other missionaries, it was fun, I still got the moves. I had some nice shots and it was fun to have some physical activity. I love you all vuuurry, vuuury, much. I hope you have a great week. Elder Bennett

Hello family, how goes the battle? It was great to hear from you and I have planned responses to write to you tomorrow morning . Since it was transfer day, things were a little crazy. I received a new companion, Elder Hardy, guess where he is from.... St. George! He is really cool and kind, I'm for-seeing a great transfer. It was super funny though, I tried to play a prank of sorts on him when we first met. I put on my Russian name tag and pretended like I was a real Russian and other missionaries went over to him and said, "Yeah, Elder Bennett doesn't speak that much English, so you'll have to help him" I think he was a little nervous. Anyway, I'll write a email tomorrow morning since we didn't have time really today, love you!!! - Elder Bennett

Subject: It was like Christmas Morning! So one of our families came to church!!!! I was so happy to see them! They came a little less than half-way through so it didn't seem like they were going to come, we were in the hall at the same time, it was great. I gave (the dad) that little ocarina . He said, "What's this" (probably joking, he just says funny stuff) and I said, "An ocarina", he was like, "What's an ocarina?!" I guess you just would have had to be there, he is just hilarious all the time, anything he says is funny. I've met two different Russian families in this last week. One was on companionship exchanges with Elder Bailey in his area.. He showed us his 100 gram tupperware container of caviar that cost him $100. He said he would join the church if we were able to get him more,. Great guy though, it was fun to talk to him. The other was closer to home in the same area that we live , and he was nice, but not really interested in our message or us coming over to teach, but he said we could drop by., but one of the people that has been working a little on the temple was able to give us a piece of left-over tile, which is sweet, I don't wanna send that one, kinda too heavy and would be expensive. For P-day a couple of us went to Jump-time, it's a place like Anti-gravity in St. George, it was a fun time. Well gotta run, Love you all, Peace N Blessins..... -Elder Bennett

This is a condensed version of Elder Bennetts letter TO: • vicki bennett Monday, July 9, 2012 1:41 PM Hope everyone had an eventful 4th, it was a great one for us; except for the whole not being able to sleep until 2:00 in the morning because rainbow-colored lights were bouncing off the ceiling and booming cannon noises. We were on pancake duty for the Sundance ward 4th breakfast, it was fun. I was in charge of going by the grills with a metal pan and getting the pancakes and transferring them over to the serving table. There was a big turn out and we ended up serving like 100000 people. Ok that might be an exaggeration, but that number would be pretty close to the actual number of miles I have ridden on my bike, my thighs on fire!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh just to clarify, It sounded like in one of your letters that you thought that I was over one ward, not the case, we manage five of them. Meridian 2, Sundance, Hunter, Settler's Bridge, and Cottonwood Park. So sometimes it's crazy to figure out which one's to work with and which people to meet, but I love it, things are going really good. Apparently I missed a good Sunday though, it was the week before I came. President Piper in the 70 who served as a mission president in Moscow I think was here, that would have been cool to talk to him. There was a kid in Elder's Quorum that went to Czech Republic and we were able to understand each other a little bit, some small similarities in the languages. I ran into those Russian kids on the 4th riding home, they were going to swim so we didn't have a lot of time to talk , but they understood me and it was neat to finally talk to them. (talked to a family about the role of the Book of Mormon and the importance of believing in Jesus Christ, and some of our investigators were even at church. We've been having great food, I've had smoked Salmon twice this week, I'm in heaven! It might sound like a generic statement, but the potatoes here REALLY are so much better, the mashed potatoes are amazing. Well I think we're gonna head out to go have some P-day fun. I love you all, try to stay cool, long-sleeve shirts do the trick, they actually keep you cooler come to find out. Have a wonderful week! -Love Elder Bennett :) :) :)

I will post a very condensed version of his letters........

Monday, July 2, 2012 4:24 PM So remember Eric Tuiolosenga that is like my best friend who's going to cook us a pig, after we helped him move (pretty much all of Saturday dedicated to it) he was kind enough to take us to this Japanese Restaurant that he goes to all the time. It was REALLY good, I ordered a Terriyaki-Beef bowl or something to that effect. I also tried octopus, which I thought would never happen in my life. I'm so sorry about what I said in the last letter, I shouldn't have said that about my companion, even if it is true sometimes. Things are getting better and he is less that way, we're becoming better friends everyday. We got to bear our testimonies twice yesterday, such amazing wards here in the mission. I can't even begin to describe how much the Lord's timing is blowing my mind!!!! It is so crazy how everything just falls into place and He places people in our paths at the EXACT right moment. We were riding home one night and it was getting close to 9:00 when all of a sudden I started slowing down and my back tire felt funny. The Infamous Goat-head thorn. So with a flat, we had to start walking and it was going to take us quite a while from where we were at to get home. If you are familiar with the old '90's T.V. show "The Magic School Bus", or I guess the books as well, this will make sense. I said, "Ugghhh, I wish we had some 'Spirit School Bus' to pick us up right now..." low and behold, literally 5 seconds later a van stopped on the side of the road and asked us if we needed a ride, like I said this stuff is blowing my mind! Another time, we were going to go home for lunch, but a feeling came to me to go to a house and try one more time. So we rode our bikes a ways and knocked again, still not home, as we were walking to our bikes, their van came around the corner and we were able to talk to them. We had exchanges this last week, I was with Elder Foley, one of our Zone leaders. He's from Missouri so he knows all about the City Museum, the Zoo, etc. He's way cool and we had a good time serving with each other Brother Norton fed us dinner that night, he reminded me a lot of Gil Merrit. Tell him it was so fun to have him as a leader, he was the best, the whole time we were eating and I heard him talk and just his all-around personality, I was like "Owwww, you remind me of Gil :(, I miss that guy". There was a "Best Smelling Car" award that Elder Foley and Elder Harrell won, it's probably because I was on splits with him the day before and they could smell my Hollister cologne... :) President Cannon is so kind and just a great friend. I've finally put a finger on it, Sister Cannon reminds me (personality wise) of Heidi Griffin, she is way nice and just easy to talk to. Oh yeah, President Cannon also gave me a Boise, Idaho mission pin that I can wear with my suit, I'll wear it with pride, really, I'm so happy to be here. There have been a few Elders that run into Russians here. Two kids opened the door and Elder Rogers said, "This is the one" So I got ready to just rattle off Russian when I saw the dad come to the door. When I saw him, that's what I did. He looked at us like we were crazy and said, "Uhhh, I have no idea what you're saying is that like Greek?" I told them the situation and they were like Ohhhhhh they live over there two houses down :) After Zone Conference, a member gave us a ride and it turns out that he is Brock Peterson's (Served in the Novosibirsk mission at the same time or close to me) Grandpa. He took us to 5-Guys. I feel so spoiled, We had dinner last night with the Christensen's who we live with, I ate some of the best rolls I've ever had in my life!. I love you guys. Talk to you soon, Love you!!! :) - Elder Bennett

Tuesday, June 26, . The title is officially, "I LOVE THIS MISSION!!!!" There is no exaggeration in that, even with the caps. My experience here has been simply amazing! I have met so many great members and people here, I sort of feel like Ammon when he goes on a mission to teach the Lamanites and king Lamoni, read Alma 17:23, he pretty much says I could serve here forever until the day I die basically. That's how I feel about this mission, President Cannon is soooooo cool! Sister Cannon is like one of the kindest ladies I have met, and the missionaries are way cool as well. I am serving with Elder Rogers right now in the Meridian 2 area. He is from Springerville, Arizona and then moved to Phoenix, so he's a Lizard as well. We work really well together, we've both been "shot-gunned" into the area so it's been kind of crazy to build a teaching-pool and work through some of the struggles that come along with that, but we've had a lot of success. . Anyways, things are truly great. I'm loving every minute of it. When I arrived at the airport, there was President & Sister Cannon just as happy and excited as can be. He took a group of us to Cafe Rio, his favorite place to eat, before we left for our areas. We live at the Christensen's home on the upper floor. It's a pretty big house and the Christensens are great, it seems like I've know him before. . Everything is SO different! We have meals provided every night from the members (there's a sign up) and it's always delicious. I feel so spoiled! Also the fact that we went to Wal-Mart to get some items and groceries is so crazy to me! It's such a posh (is that a word) experience from what I was used to. We went to 8 hours of church yesterday, it goes by faster than you would think, but kinda insane when you first hear it. . My district is really fun, and that Sister missionary from New Zealand, the one you saw the blog of, is in my district. Elder and Sister McMullin are the Senior Couple and it's way awesome to have them in our district.. I forgot to mention that at church I chatted with Brother Staheli,, who served in Ukraine. We shot the breeze in Russian for a bit, it was cool he seemed really comfortable still with speaking it. Also, Elder Rogers was telling me that there is a Russian family across the street from the park so I'll have to go place the KHNGA MORMONA (sorry don't have a Russian Keyboard) over there. I've been told that there are a lot of refugees here too. I feel so more "on top of the ball" here. The Ward missionaries are so fantastic to work with, they've got a lot of fire and want us to request help from them and really use them in the work. Missionary work always is best with the constant help of the members, we can't do it by ourselves. It's like we've got our own taxi-system here! Random people all the time pull up to us and ask, "Do you need a ride somewhere?" There is a Samoan member that we met his last name is fun to say, Tooi - oloo - sayynga. He says one of these days that he is going to roast us a pig and cook us Samoan pancakes., SOOOO many interesting people I'm meeting, I love 'em! We're going to have Zone Conference this week, so that's exciting, I'll let you know how it goes, tell President Topham, the Bishop and the rest of the ward know I love them and am loving the mission.... Well, we are going to the Robert's (Relief Society Pres.) home for Family Night to share the message of the Restoration and help them to know how to share it with their close friends and family. A thing members have wanted is to know how to use Preach My Gospel and how to share the Gospel with their friends, so we're coming up with innovative ways to do that. I love you, thank you for the emails, I love you so much, thank you for your examples, love, and service that you have given to me to help me get to this point. Have a wonderful 4th and we'll talk to ya soon!!! - Elder Bennett :)

Elder Bennett had to come home from the Novosibirsk, Russia mission in November 2011 on medical leave, he was home for 7 months. Due to his medical situation it was required that he finish his mission in the states. He was on the mission for almost 8 months so he still has 15 or 16 months left. He left Wednesday June 20th, 2012 for the Boise Idaho Mission.The Idaho Boise Mission includes 30 stakes in South Western Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Most of the population resides in the Snake River Valley in Southern Idaho and the Oregon population is in a narrow band a few miles wide which follows Interstate 84 from Ontario to LaGrande, Oregon. The Mission extends from Twin Falls, Kimberly, and Carey on the East to Ontario, and Lagrande, Oregon on the West. The Northern boundary extends in Idaho to McCall and Riggins and also includes Sun Valley on the Northeast. He is very excited to be able to get back out. He is currently serving in Meridian. So the blog will be up and running again.