Elder Tanner Bennett was a guest on a previous episode of LDS MissionCast. He agreed to share his mission letters with the readers of our blog. So each week we will bring a letter from his mission. We will interview him at the conclusion of his mission as well. So stay tuned and stay connected to Tanner’s story each week on the LDS MissionCast Blog!
Hello people I love!
I am SO sorry I didn’t get the opportunity to write you all last week, but it was for a wise purpose. I was traveling to arrive to my temporary assignment in Orlando, Florida. I absolutely love this place. Now I am leaving tomorrow… So that’s great. Let me explain.
Monday: I flew from Utah to Florida and was met by my mission president, President Clark and his wife. They are amazing people. Truly just the absolute salt-of-the-earth. I was so wiped, but we did a nice devotional, settled in and had a great night getting to know them.
Tuesday: I met my fantastic companion, Elder Jaussi he is so freaking cool. I can’t even begin to describe how amazing he is. Tuesday was spent getting my bike, tablet, phone, and settling into the apartment. Now, my area is a very… affluent area. My area is called Windermere, and it is RIGHT NEXT to Disney World. What does that mean? That means everyone here is pretty loaded, the members are really nice and feed us a lot, and the apartment… oh my goodness. The apartment is otherworldly, I attached photos. (Long story short I have my own walk in closet and bathroom, I am a little spoiled). The only thing that is a little lack-luster would be my bike. Now, usually, people will buy a bike when they get to Florida, however, because I am leaving TOMORROW, I just borrowed one from the mission office… Oof. So my bike’s name is Agatha. She’s seen some things. Been broken down, worn off brake pads, cracking paint, rusted through, greasy chain. I love her. It’s great. Also, fun fact I get to watch the Disney World firework show every night! It’s cool!
Wednesday: First day on the job. We had district meeting in the morning and that lasted a good long while. We set some awesome goals and in ONE MEETING I had 20 referrals for people who need a mandarin speaker. Woof. That was cool. After the meeting, we all went to a place called “Second Harvest.” It was super cool! My whole zone went to repackage meat at a this food bank and man… some of that stuff is NAS-TAY. However, I got to sing a lot of songs, dance and jiggle, and get to meet my whole zone. It was so cool. After this, we went to help teach the Chinese class. Apparently word had gotten around that a Mandarin elder was going to be there today, so there were A LOT of people who wanted to get to know me and practice their English. While I was there, I got to meet a lady named Sister Hoskin. Her and her husband lived in Beijing for 8 years (They are white) and they work for Universal Studios. They are an amazing couple with an incredible story. They were so excited to see me here. Both of them speak perfect mandarin, but they don’t have a lot of time to do more missionary work in area, so they gave me a TON of referrals!!! It was such a great day.
Thursday: Thursday is where we got some cooking. By that, I mean hotpot. From the Chinese class some recent converts invited us over for hot pot and to teach a non-member family. It was so cool! I will attach the picture! They LOVED me! I was able to answer some very specific questions and concerns about the gospel from the recent converts and get to share the gospel with this awesome little family. After this awesome lesson, Jaussi and I went to see a less active. He was very nice, gave us some water and talked for a bit. We couldn’t convince him to come back to church because his wife has grown very anti in the recent years. He did offer to give us water and food whenever we needed, which we thought was nice. We spent the rest of the night street contacting and inviting Chinese people to come to English class and Church.
Friday: Friday was weekly planning and contacting. It was an exhausting day, but honestly kind of amazing. We finished up moving our apartments stuff and then went out to go knock doors. It was such a cool experience. I met so many Chinese people and gave out a few mandarin Books of Mormon. There has been so much work to do here it is unbelievable! After getting home, Jaussi and I went to a dinner with the Ward Mission Leader. It was very helpful to get more acquainted with the ward and get to know how we can help the area more specifically. After dinner, the WML’s wife asked if either of us played piano. I smiled. The bishop had asked her that morning to do something special with the youth for a musical number, but didn’t think she would have time to put anything together. I offered to take it and play the song I wrote in the MTC, she was so happy. It was so cool. After we got home, my mission president called us… I about cried. My visa came and I am headed to Taiwan on Tuesday. There was a lot of exasperation felt through the whole zone.
Saturday: BIG FINDING DAY!!! I WAS DETERMINED TO FIND! I went around with an elder from the Avalon ward named Elder Geisler. He is… special…. and a terrible driver. So I spent all day with him flying all over the zone meeting Chinese people and spreading the gospel. I knocked near 20 doors with very little response. However the few people I did get to meet ALL excepted Books of Mormon, and accepted invitations to come to church and come to English class on Tuesday! At the end of the day on Saturday, I was able to place 6 B.O.Ms. and had a TON of new people accept invitations to come to church on Sunday! I was exhausted after today haha.
Sunday: Sunday was bittersweet. It was a lot of meetings, I got to be in the Chinese Gospel Principles class with brother and sister Hoskin. It was such an amazing experience, I just cant even tell you all. The musical number was great! Sadly, none of the youth showed up, so I recruited the 6 missionaries we had in the building, the WML and his wife, and it went so well!
The spirit in that meeting was amazing, and I am so sad I wont get to be here to help this work move forward anymore, however I take comfort in knowing that while I was here I was able to accomplish my purpose and invite others to come unto Christ.
Family and friends. Please listen closely. There was an amazing address given to the youth last Sunday, and my only invitation this week is this: REVIEW OR READ IT. It is a truly amazing devotional filled with prophesy, answers, and peace for members and youth. I promise you that if you will all take the time to read and review it’s words, you will be able to find more strength in your testimonies, and grow closer as a family and to your youth!
I love you all so much! I will e-mail from Taiwan!!
Love you!