Gratitude and Gravy...that's what it's all about!

Sabrina and Sister Rook

Miracles: 

Y'all are never gonna believe this, but you should because this is Heavenly Father's work and he has power to do all things! Kelly and Dave committed to live the Word of Wisdom this week and gave us all of their cigarettes.!!! WOO HOO! When we went over on Tuesday to visit them we committed them to live it and the spirit was so strong. Dave described these feelings of just pure joy and eager excitement and we were able to help him recognize that that was the spirit. He was so thrilled that he was worthy enough to feel it. The following day two members of our ward went with us and gave each of them a priesthood blessing. The spirit was heavy as one of the members bore testimony of the power of the priesthood, and Kelly and Dave were so calm and simply happy. The feeling in their home has changed leaps and bounds since we first knocked on the door. They are preparing to be baptized in January! 

So the family we have been doing service for, Shannon and Richard Tinnell, and their two sons, came to church on Sunday! HUGE MIRACLE! One of the members that spoke mentioned a priesthood blessing and Shannon immediately turned to me and asked if she could receive one. So last night, we had a very sweet experience with our bishop and YM president as they gave both Shannon and Richard powerful blessings. They say they are "comfortable" with the church they attend, but they want to learn more. They need prayers. More than anyone I have ever known. So please send prayers their way. I know that they will recognize the blessings of the gospel if they just have faith and experiment upon the word....they are one of the most tight knit loving families I have ever met. They have gone through trial after trial together, and still they continue. They need this.

Ok, last but not least, Jacob and Kortney! Jacob came to church with our investigator Chris last week and we finally had the opportunity to teach them last night. We boldly testified of the Restoration and they accepted the invitation to be baptized. As we read Moroni's promise I could literally see the light in their eyes as they realized they could know this for themselves. That Heavenly Father didn't want us to just tell them what was right and what was wrong, but that they could personally ask him and receive an answer! They are the cutest younger couple...not married (yikes) but they have such faith. I can't wait to see their relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior grow. 

Also Phyllis and Richard are doing swell. Richard still hasn't come to church yet, but he will get there! 

Funnies: 

Here is a joke... 

Where was Noah when the lights went out? In d'ark

Hehe ok one more...

Did Eve ever have a date with Adam? No, it was an apple 

Spiritual Thought: 

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude this week, obviously because Thanksgiving is coming up! But I was reading about the Savior's ministry and something struck me. When Jesus Christ performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, the first thing he did was give thanks. (Matthew 15:36)

 He simply gave thanks. Thousands of people were hungry, he only had 7 loaves and 3 fishes, he was exhausted, his disciples were frustrated, and the first things he did was simply give thanks and trust in Heavenly Father to do the rest. Sometimes I am slow to give thanks....all the time I am slow to give thanks. I pray that I can learn to remember that, not only during this Thanksgiving season, but always. I pray the same for you. 

I hope all of you eat lots of turkey and stuffing and rolls and potatoes for me! Know that I love you and I am beyond grateful that Heavenly Father put you in my life. 

I LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU! 

- Sister Bengtzen

P.S. We took Miguel to the trail center this week and passed him off to the Spanish Elders! They promised they would keep us updated. He is the BEST!

DUCK in cover!!!

Hello, hello! I am realizing that my emails are all over the place, so I am sorry about that. Sometimes I just get too excited to tell y'all about everything that is going on. I will try to organize it better this week!  

Updates: 

Kelly and Dave are incredible! They definitely have their struggles, but we are moving forward. They came to church yesterday and it was a really good meeting, as it always is! We went and visited them after church and we took a member of our ward with us. He shared with them his conversion story, and at the end of it everyone was silent, just sortof enjoying the spirit of the discussion, and then Kelly looked at this member and asked, "It felt like you were coming home didn't it?" He nodded, and she smiled real big. "That's how I feel," she said. "I know that I am coming home." OH THAT I WERE AN ANGEL. My heart almost burst. Please keep their family in your prayers. They are so close. I know they are gonna get there, they just need all the prayers they can get right now. 

Karl kindof dropped off planet earth for a few days, haha but we are working on seeing him this week, so I will keep you updated. Sharlo works 7 days on and 7 days off, and this is her week on, so it is harder to get in contact with them.

Our new investigator Chris Earls came to church this week, and he loved it! He even brought his brother in law Jacob! And get this...his friend lives in OUR apartment complex. Crazy miracle! We have another appointment with both of them on Tuesday and we are bringing a stellar member with us. They are eager to learn more. SO eager. 

Miracles: 

MIGUEL!! I think this may be the biggest miracle of my entire mission thus far, no joke. Miguel is the most incredible investigator the world has ever known. And he has the most incredible story....so here goes.

Every P-day we shop at Walmart, and a couple weeks ago the man who was greeting us stopped us at the door and started talking to us. He told us that we had a light with us, and that it was different, and he thanked us for walking with God and lifting others, including himself. He could only talk for a moment, because he was working, so we gave him our number, and waited eagerly for him to call. Well he didn't. So next week we made a point of finding him at Walmart and asking him why he hadn't! He said he wasn't sure whose number it was so he didn't want to call. (Excuses...) We told him it was ours, and again he promised he would call! And guess what...HE DID! We ended up meeting with him 3 times last week, answering questions, giving him a Book of Mormon, reading it with him, and inviting him to be baptized. Turns out his daughter's best friend is a member and he has always admired her and her family for what they believe and how they live. He has read the Book of Mormon every night since we gave him a copy, and he knows that it is the word of God. He even called us and asked us if we could take him to visit the temple and the Mormon trail center. WHO DOES THAT?! MIGUEL DOES. The sad part of the story is that he isn't in our area, and he wants to go to the Spanish ward, so we have to hand him over to the Spanish Elders :( BUT a miracle nonetheless! We are planning to take him to the trail center and to see the temple this week and pass him off to the Spanish Elders there. And we will keep in contact as they teach him, so I will keep you updated. He is the cutest little man from Panama, has backpacked all over Jerusalem, and just lives to serve. He truly is incredible. 

Also, Phyllis invited a friend to come to church yesterday, and we are going to start teaching her this week. After the meeting she asked me, "Why are there so many different churches, didn't Jesus Christ just make one?" OH my goodness...let's talk about a missionary's dream! She loved church and felt so welcomed, so hopefully she will become a new investigator!
Also, another one of our returning less active members brought her non member granddaughter to church and she LOVED young women's! We have an appointment to teach her this week as well, and we are excited! 

Funnies: 

Sometimes knocking on doors gets pretty rough, so Sister Rook and I try to make it fun! Well, everyone in Nebraska has these tacky blow up decorations for the holidays...which is annoying...but this week I had a brilliant idea. We knocked on this man's door and when he answered I was imitating the blow up turkey in his front yard. This is basically how the conversation went:

Man: "What are you doing?"

Me: "I am imitating your turkey!"

Sister Rook: *suppressed giggles 

Me: "Aren't I funny, don't I look just like it?" 

Man: "No."

Sister Rook: *full on laughter 

[Insert awkward pause here]

Me: "Well we are your missionaries in the area!..."

Man: *slams door 

Also this week some of the Elders in our zone put a plastic duck underneath our car. I told them I used to live in Canada and a member of their ward told them that Canadians love ducks....so naturally they gave me a huge plastic duck. I will send pictures. 

OH AND BEFORE I FORGET I GOT TO SEE SISTER SMITH THIS WEEK!!!! One of our STL's had her birthday on Monday so we had a little partay and she was there.  I love her so much!  

Spiritual thought: 

This morning I was reading in Helaman 5 about Nephi and Lehi and their experience in prison. As I was reading about the cloud of darkness that came over the people in the prison (Helaman 5:28) I starting thinking about darkness...what even is darkness? So naturally I looked it up in the dictionary. Darkness is defined as a lack of or the absence of light. Hmm...somethin' to think about eh? 

In Helaman 5:40 these people in the prison ask "What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?" In response to this question they are counseled in verse 41 to exercise their faith, to cry unto the Lord, and to repent. In other words...to let the light of Christ in. Verses 42 and 43 shows the consequence of their righteous efforts. "And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry...yea and they did cry even until the cloud of darkness dispersed...and it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw the cloud of darkness was dispersed...they saw that they were encircled about, every soul, by a pillar of fire." 

I think so often the world in which we live seems overshadowed with darkness and just like those in prison, we ask, "What shall we do that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?" The answer? Let the light in. Mosiah 16:9 teaches "He is the light and the life of the world, yea a light that is endless, that can NEVER be darkened."  No matter how dark the world may seem, no matter how angry or upset or wicked people appear to be, remember that darkness is only an absence of light...and by letting in the light of Christ, it can be overcome. 

Love you all loads and loads! 

- Sister Bengtzen 

Corn pits and croutons

Sometimes weeks just fly by and all the sudden I am sitting here in front of the computer screen again and all the days are blurred together! Haha but my goodness I love this work, and there is nowhere else on planet earth I would rather be. Sister Rook and I have seen so many little miracles this week and we have just had a blast together. I don't think I have ever laughed harder at myself than in these past 3 weeks, and luckily Sister Rook is more than willing to laugh at me as well! Haha we are having too much fun. 

 Corn Pit on Halloween night.

Miracles: 

So first off, Kelly and Dave are doing well. They have family in town this week, so they weren't able to come to church yesterday, but they asked us to come over to meet Kelly's sister Audrey who is a Jehovah's witness. We stopped by for a little while and were able to answer a ton of questions about the church and about missionary work and it was a great little visit. Dave said a prayer before we left and like always it was so heartfelt and sincere. I think Audrey was a little taken aback, and the spirit was strong. They are so happy. SO happy, and it has been incredible to see the gospel change their lives so much in such a short time. They are working towards being baptized probably in the second week of December. YAY! They are just eager, and ready. Keep them and their family in your prayers though, especially Dave's daughter Jasmine. They need it! 

Also, we went to see Karl this week and found out that he has a WIFE! Her name is Sharlo and she is wonderful. Just like Karl she has great faith in Jesus Christ and is looking for truth. We invited them to come to church next Sunday and they seemed excited! So woot woot! 

In addition to all that we found 2 new investigators this week. Their names are Chris and Fallon Earls. They are a cute couple living in an apartment just down the street from us. We were going to see one of the less active islander families in the same complex and he popped his head out of the door and asked if we believed in Christ. We told him yes! And then we proceeded to answer some of his questions and teach him and his wife the message of the Restoration. Both of them accepted Book of Mormons and an invitation to church next Sunday! They are so kind, and so genuine! While we were sharing the message Fallon stopped us and said, "huh, I have always wondered why they aren't prophets on the earth." TALK ABOUT PREPARED! Haha I am so excited to see them this week. They are ready to change, even if they don't know it yet! 

And last but not least, we were going about knocking doors, and offering to do service, when we met Richard! He said he's been going through a lot with his family right now so we asked if he could use some help. He asked if we could come back and clean up his yard and we said of course! So we raked like 56 bags of leaves and I am so sore....but after we did it we talked to his wife and she was SO grateful! We set up a time to have lunch with her on Wednesday and share the message of the Restoration. She is really excited and so are we! It is amazing to see how service softens people's hearts! 

Phyllis and Richard are doing well, they had a little bit of a leaking pipe issue this week, which we helped with, but they are doing swell! Phyllis really wants to invite Richard to come to church with her, so keep that in your prayers. She needs the courage!! 

Sabrina and Sister Rook on Halloween night

Funnies: 

On Saturday there was this guy tailgating in his driveway with all his friends and family so we decided to join their party. And then on accident we literally joined their party! (But do not worry we didn't watch the game!)

We didn't have a dinner,  or any money, haha so he let us have some of his soup and cheese and cupcakes and some water. We ended up answering a ton of questions about Mormons and the guy that owned the home gave us his contact information and told us we could come back. He was so kind. His name is Eric! 

Dave asked what they call people from Utah, I told him Utahn and he thought I said crouton. So now he introduces us as "the beautiful Sister Rook" and "crouton" 

Also someone asked me if I was 15 this week....not funny. 

Sabrina and Sister Rook at YW in Excellence

Spiritual thought: 

I have been thinking a lot about happiness this week and I came upon this quote from President Monson that I just love. "The happy life grows upon us year by year, little by little, until at last we realize we have it. It is achieved in individuals, not by flights to the moon or Mars, but by a body of work done so well that we can life our heads with assurance and look the world in the eye...You don't find the happy life - you make it." 

Happiness isn't easy to achieve...but nothing worth having is. And just like everything good, everything that comes from God, it comes line upon line, precept upon precept. BUT the most wonderful thing I have learned about the gospel is that there is always room to be happier. There is always more truth to find. More service to give. More love to have! I am happy today, but I know that that happiness will grow as I continue loving, serving, searching, and experiencing. How lucky we are recognize what can make us happy now, and lead us to ETERNAL happiness in the future. 

I love you all. I really do! Have the best week. 

xoxo, 

Sister Bengtzen