Yo.

Hello all,

Sorry for my absence last week. We had just gotten back from fishing... I was hot, sunburned, and tired, and didn't really feel like writing a long email about the week.

Things are going well out here in New Kent, Virginia, though. The trees are still tall, the air is still wet, and the people are still THE BEST. I love this place.

News... We are still teaching Jeremy. I don't remember if I've talked about him before or not. Last week we met with him in the church building along with our branch mission leader and another member. We did a building tour and then showed a Mormon Message about the Spirit and talked about how he needs to come to church in order to receive an answer from the Spirit about this. He is held back by the fact that he teaches Sunday School at his church, and it's at the same time as ours. Such a struggle.

The highlight of the lesson, though, was our branch mission leader. At one point he said, "What do you teach to those Sunday School kids? To search for their own answers, right? Now, I'm not going to call you a hypocrite, because that would be rude, but how can you rightly teach them to search if you're not doing everything in your power to get an answer about this?"

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

It was so bold, but it was perfect, and Jeremy took it really well.

I think that if I were to have met Jeremy a year ago, I would have been super intimidated to teach him, because he has tons of questions and knows the Bible by heart. Now, though, I love the challenge. I have read the whole Bible, I know the Book of Mormon much better than before, and my testimony and understanding have grown. I love feeling the Spirit bring ideas and scriptures to mind as I talk. IT IS AMAZING.

Being a missionary is the best.

We are also trying to work closely with the members here. We set a goal as a companionship to meet every single member in the branch within the next two transfers. It might sound easy, but there are so many less actives here that the members don't even recognize a lot of their names. Addresses are wrong, phone numbers are wrong, and the people are either super busy or just plain good at avoiding church people. We're getting them, though. If I've learned anything on my mission, it's how to track people down! We're going to find them, meet them, bring them back to church, and baptize all their friends and family!

Times keeps going faster and faster, and I have been working hard lately to give myself more to the work than ever before. I have known all along that my mission will come to an end, but it's really hitting me now. Probably because my current companion goes home in two months. Because of that constant reminder, I am pushing myself to give it all to God. Everything. Heart and soul, strength and spirit. It's the best.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Have a great Independence Day.

Love,
Hermana Bennett