Transfer week ( je restes a Agen)

soo this week was the end of the first transfer! wowza! thats sweet ! we got the calls friday morning and me and elder romer are staying here in Agen! boyah! 

new food i had ( probably my new fav)

Rocklette!

its potatoes, with cheese, and then some ham ontop! super dupber good! 

but, not a whole lot to tell this week!  ive got alot of pics( cause pictures are worth 1000 words) and my testimony

choose to live. live on purpose. God has given un the ability to choose for ourselves, so choose to live, choose to be good. a lady in in our branch said this yesterday " les commandements protége notre libre arbitre " the commandments protects our free agency. @2nephi2:27, find something this week to activly change and choose. new results come, and we choose to change. and most importantly, choose to keep the commandments. its will save our ability to choose. 

i love you all!

Elder Bennett!

Miracle

YAY!! WE HAD A BAPTISM!!

on saturday we had a baptism! it was aweesome! this little girl, almost 9 got baptised by her older brother, it was so aweosme, we got to teach her the lessons and have some good times, some good lunches, and some good spirit. she was so happy and excited to follow Jesus Christ and be baptised!

at this baptism we had our little branch there, we traveled up to bordeaux and did it at a chapel there! i gave the talk on baptism and helped with the music, the spirit was there so strong and i hope it touched some of her family as it did me. (pictures down below) 

so nothing else quite as big as a baptism. but it was so great, such a miracle.

okay. so i will take a little to talk about french, france, and just world stuff. 

france, 

-drive on the right side of rode

-drive kinda crazzy

-talk pretty fast

-they love thier juice ( i havent has a single meal with out juice. so that rocks) 

-customer service is a little bit diifferent

-roundabouts are so great

-alot of people smoke

-bread is big here(but everyone allready know that, but i dont think people understand, they just walk around wiht a huge bagguet at munch on that while they walk) 

--i havent found any AC yet, 

-there are alot of Cathedrals

-you have to pay for bathrooms/and water

so thers a good list for now! its pretty great here. alot of fun stuff always going on! 

Hope all is well,

Love, 

Elder Bennett

Changes

WOwoWoW.

so its kind of really cool to see how much you see your self change.

heres a list

-i like tomatoes now. so thats cool

- i like to read alot now.

-annd..... i cut my own hair this week. its not bad but...  My sister does it so much bettter, 

-also testimony for sure. my purpose as a missionary is to inivite and help others come to Christ by faith, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end. i have definitly seen myself grow closer to my savior and my love and need for him grow. 

some stories these past two weeks! 

Sooo! im in Agen, this super cool but a relativly small ville for the france lyon mission. but its awesome. we have a recent convert who is the bomb. she lives about 30 minutes bike riding from our house, UP HILL. so we make the suepr long ride up. like straight up( yes bo, thanks for teaching me alittle climbing on a bike, but its hard on a missionary beach cruiser) and then we eat some super great things and talk about even better things( the gospel, christ, ext) then we bolt downt the windy hill as fast as we can, and try not to fall. thats a blast! haha this lady is also super great and she loves the missionaries and texts us and makes sure we are doing good alot:) 

next! a little language mess up:) yay oui boyah

soo! we are preparing this little girl for her baptism on saturday and we are teaching about the holy ghost and i was doing this part of the lesson, but appearently i didnt do good enought study, so i siad " and the holy ghost is a "confiture" trying to say comforter, but i actually said jelly. so i said to this little girl, "the holy ghost is jelly. so ca va. im still alive. hahah and shes still getting baptized. 

next a little exchange

last week, i had a blues exchange ( greeny, newbies, people who dont speak the language) haha me and elder wagner went on an exchange! we tried to pass some people. contact. and, not get lost! super fun! haha it was pretty good and it was a great learning opprotunity! 

Spiritual: 

in the MTC, we were shown a video silent interview on Christ, you all should go watch it. 

it asks a few questions, and you answer them in your head, i have writen down these questions and they are on the back of my name tag. i often when i have a moment of silencee. look at them, reflect in my mind what Christ means to me. i know he lives, he defeated death, sin, sufference, so i could know life, happyness, and joy. i love him, im greatful for Him. He is my friend, He is your friend. 

I love you all. 

Read the book of mormon. its a great book

Elder Bennett

p1 a little kid in the branch. 

p2 toulouse

p3 a good way to finish a big meal

rest, some videos of some fun

Happy Prune Days

haha HAPPY PRUNE DAYS! so this week was great! weve been working hard! we went on exchanges with the District leader, and we came back to our small ville of Agen, and signs were up everywhere bout prune days! haha three days of just parties. hah they had a big concert which was right out side of our apartment which was kinda dumb when we were trying to sleep. but one of the performers was someone i listened to before the mission so i kinda got to hear some songs i could know a few words too! but for some reason everyone was alot happier this week! probably because Prune days. 

haha another funny story, we were at the gare last week and there is a piano there, so i went and played a few songs taht i know, and this guy, wearing a pink wig, with a flute, came up and said, "lets play some songs together," anywas, then another man with a guitrar came, (kinda like johny depp) and we all kinda played, till i forgot how to play some parts on the piano. then i said, " i usually  only just play some religious stuff for my church, lets play that" and then i took out my tablet. and the man in the pink hair frantically said" no no no, no pictures, cause the cops and all. we cant have that" 

Litterally everytimee we go to the Gare (train station) someting 'different happends' haha but,  tis is where the miracle happends,  one day, at the Gare, we were there and man from south africa stops us and asks if we were missionaries, course we say yes. then he goes on to explain that he was a convert but hasnt been to church in a while, we exchanged numbers and he was able to come to church that following week, then we were talking with him and he has a cousin, that has 3 children. yesterday they were came to church!! its been the biggest blessing to us!! the cousin was at church as was taking note and weve got a very good chance to help him come unto christ! theyve got such good swag too! haha 

also, something really new, we can use facebook!! its going to help us communicate better and do great things!! 

anywasy, love you guys and i hope all is well,

youre in my prays,

Love, 

Elder Bennett

p1, bridge on exhchanges

p2 little boy who loves spiderman

p3, the miracles 

FB message from MTC Teacher

Hi Sister Bennett, My name is Madeline Jensen or "Soeur Jensen". I was your son's MTC teacher. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to thank you for raising such a righteous, respectful, and obedient son. Elder Bennett was a pleasure to have in class and was always smiling. He always had a smile on his face! He laughed about it when I told him that, but I truly never heard him say anything negative. I never heard him complain. I know he will be an incredible missionary. His french really improved and he was full of faith and fire to find those people in France that the Lord has prepared for him. I've been teaching at the MTC for more than 2 years now, and I must say, that Elder Bennett was a standout missionary. I know Heavenly Father is proud of him and will look after him. He was always looking out for his companion and the other missionaries in his district. He taught and testified with power. I feel blessed to have had the chance to get to know Elder Bennett and learn from him as well. You have a beautiful family! Keep doing what you're doing because it is working! All the best, Madeline Jensen

Pics of first week in France and last week of MTC

In France....

WEll, i guess im offically here in france!! haha 

we left the MTC, which was so sad. my district and teachers all became so close! helf of us were going to the Paris mission, while the other half was going to the Lyon mission! and the best teachers out there got to stay in provo! 

anyways, we left out on monday morning, we had a 3 hour lay over, then we took off on our 9 hour flight to amsterdam, and then we had to run literally run, to our next plane going to lyon. we barely made it which was so great, but they didnt get our stuff transfered soon enough so we got our stuff back later that week. 

the arrival in france was great! we were welcomed by our mission president and some missionaries. they are all so nice and super amazing! president and sister brown are from sandy utah and have got a really nice mission home here with a pool (we cant use:/) a basketball court, and a tramp. its very nice! 

i then got my trainer, and area ive been assignned to. my trainers name, is Elder Roemer. hes been out for about 10 months. and he is great. hes from las vegas.

then we were assigned the City of AGEN! WE ARE WHITE WASHING IT. which means neither of us have served there before. so weve been lost a few times! but weve made it back great! we have no real progressing investigators, but Ca va, we will get there. 

the french,

me: i want to work on my patience,

*wait till you get to france,* 

hahahha its great! i can understand mostly what the general idea is. but speaking, wow. thats rough. everyone keeps saying it will come. so i know ill have to wait that one. 

as for some experiences here in france, one man we met, hime and his little some were just on the street so we went and talked to them, we got talking and the kid was getting a little ready to go, so my comp has a rubix cube so we gave it to him to play with for the time, i missed it up. and that litte boy about 4 solved it into the flower!!!!!!!!! what in the world. we all started freaking out. it was awesome! they hopefully will become some of our good amis! 

yesterrday was our first day at church and we met all the branch, there are about 26 people regurarly, and one recent convert, she texts the missionaries every moring and night wishing us  good day and a good night! hahhah she is so sweet! then we went over to the branch presidents house and had dinner, holy cow. THEY HAVE GOOD AND LONG DINNERS. HAHAHAH but they have some crazzy cute and crazzy boys about 4 and 2. they were so awesome and when we were leaving they were hugging our legs begging us not to go! haha they rock! 

ive learned how gratefuly i am for the spirit. how much i need it in my everyday. even though i can speak or understand much, i often ask the spirit what i should share, and what the spirit of the convo is. its so amazing because it tells me what to say, and when to say it, and how to act. i love it. for all, and expecially for future missionaries, try and memorized the scriptures and their locations. it will come in handy so many times. 

anyways, i love france, and i love this gospel it is so ture and im glad ive been raised in it. i love my savior.

Avec amour,

Elder Bennett

First Assignment in France

Dear Parents,

Elder Bennett has been assigned a wonderful trainer/companion Elder Roemer. They are serving in Agen France. Although his current address is:

Les Missionnaires

Elder Bennett

35 rue Montesquieu, Apt 31B

47000 Agen

France

It is NOT recommended you send letters and especially packages to their current address as the mail delivery is somewhat sporadic. IF you do send mail to his current address, please address all mail or packages in the format listed above. A much better solution of sending letters and packages is to send them to the mission office. Mail is delivered there dependably and there is always someone available to receive it and pay for any tariffs if necessary. The mission office address is:

Elder Bennett

Mission Française de Lyon

59 Rue de l'Abondance

69003 Lyon

France

We are grateful to have your wonderful son in our mission!

With warmest regards,

Sœur Rigby

Secrétaire de la Mission

Mission Française de Lyon

Made it to France!

Soon to go to France

this is the last time ill be writing you guys from the MTC, next time, i will be in france, trying to figure out whats going on. eek!! doesnt that just sound so fun! im so excited! 

sooo the adventures that this week was filled with, first...

SUNDAY DEVOTIONAL:

this was our second time fasting in the MTC which kinda makes it hard to focus sometimes because we are all so tired. we had jenny oaks baker! shes an amazing violin player and she was so inspiring. she taught us about how much god watches over us and is in our lives. then....

after the devotional we got a supprise!! 

Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar were able to come!!!! we all watched a film called Character of Christ, then our guests did a Q and A session with us!! it was so awesome!! 

the character of christ, is to turn outward in love compation and charity, when the natural man would turn inward. there are countless stories that we can find when christ turns outward to other people, when the natural man would turn inward in pride, pity, and sorrow. 

its cool. and everyday there are things we can do to act like Christ. 

most of the rest of the week was normal until yesterday. 

so me and my companion teach an 'investigator, in french. we share our testimonies and teach lessons. in particular yesterday we taught Sophie, she is a 60 yr old french lady who is devorced and as children and grandchildren. she is such a sweeet lady. yesterday we had to tell her that we had transfers so we wouldnt be able to come anymore. when we first started with sophie, she was catholic, but didnt believe god heard her, or loved her. as we taught her we saw her grow, and change. she gained knowledge of heavenly father and jesus chirst and the truth of this gospel. when we said bye it was so sad. so touching and so hard. i got really close with her. anyways, the point of this story is to show how this gospel changes lives. it can change someone from hate, to nice. to sorrow to joy. from dispear to hope and joy. from ordinary to extraordinary, from incomplete to complete, from temporary to forever. 

i love you guys and im grateful i get to serve a loving god. he is so good to us. 

avec l'amour

Elder Bennett

Travel Plans

yah!! im glad you got it!! it was kind of crazzy because i kid who has been stuggling with home sickness got a text that said his family was comming, and we were walking and ran into them so thats who you got the text from. i hope the elder is doing ok with home sicckness.

yes! i realized i forgot to do that. but yes its . Alma 31: 5

good! im glad they were welcoming!! and that the house is comming along. 

haha a few things, one is if anything big happens with the news in the real world haha you can feel me in! and i can also read emails when ever. so if anything happens you can email and i can read. i just cant respond until PDays! 

YESSSS We GOT OUR TRAVEL PLANS TODAY!!! BOYAH! 

WE LEAVE AUGUST 14TH. 

LEAVE mtc a 9;50

flight salt lake 2;35

we arive in amsterdam at 8:40 am

then from amsterdam to lyon franch at 1;25

im also the travel leader for the group of 14! haha i have to make sure everyone gets on and everything. kinda scaryy! haha anyways! love you mom! thanks for your support! 

avec L'amour

Elder Bennett

One month in the MTC...Week 5

SOOO, i guess today marks the month mark!! how fast does time fly!! 

ill start out by saying this, on sunday we had an opprotunity to go and watch a movie devotional for elder jeffery R. holland. one thing he said that really stuck out to me was this, talking about the book of mormon, 

"no wicked man could have written such a book, and no righteous man would write[translate] such a book unless it was true."

this comment is so true, the power that is in the book is truely a testiment of Jesus Christ. 

this week has consistied of the usual, always growing closer with the district, the lord, and the spirit. lots of learning french. 

this week we had 'THE BIG GAME'. me and my districts assembled a team of the best 6 Vball players and some of the new missionaries that came in actually played in highschool and things and so it was one of the best games ever played at the MTC. with great blocks, incredible spikes, and even better digs. that was 16.4X better than barnes. not that barnes was bad, just that this was good vball! 

this week we also recieved the flight plans for my mission! we will be leaving the 14th and off to france ill be. 

i love you guys and im so grateful for this gospel! 

je vous aime,

Elder Bennett

Week 4

faites commet je fais, suivre suivre moi, faites commet je fais, suivre suivre moi ( do as im doing, follow follow me,)

or in my dirsticst

fetez commet je fais, suivre suivre moi, 

(PARTY like i do)

but in all honesty, this is a simple invitiation that christ makes to us, come follow me. its so simple, so loving that sometimes we over look it. we need to follow christ and how he lived, and his example and we will become more, learn more, and love more.

this week has been so good. haha some of the highlights from this week were on

monday me and some of my district auditioned singing, we made it and got to sing for some of the senior couples. we did the song a childs prayer, it was really touching and brought several people to tears. ft,picture 1,2,

Tuesday, THE 25 WAS CHRISTMAS. it was so awesome. we all got gifts for our secret santa and we celebrated our saviors birth. i love all my friends ive made here, they know how to feel the spirit, show their testimonies and they know how to have fun! ft Picture 

me and my companion have been teaching our two (amis de leglise) friends of the church. ones name is sophie, she is so sweet and so nice. we love her. we taught our best lesson yet, it was the message of the restoration. i know that joseph smith saw god the father and the son. i encourage everyone who reads this to read just the few verses, in joseph smith history, verses 15-18. i know that there is power in our words, and there is power in our church. im so glad i am serving my savior, i love him.

i love you all and i hope you are all finding ways god is in your life, i promise he is there. 

love,

elder bennett