Are you hungry for the truth?

Wow! Ok! Time flies. I cannot believe it has been another week, and Easter at that! I hope you all enjoyed Easter Sunday as much as I did. It was so incredible to sit in the House of the Lord and just have a sure knowledge that we are going to be together forever. I thought a lot about Grandpa Bengtzen and Aunt Mona and all those others that we love that have passed on, and I am sure they celebrated with us. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed being so far from all of you, and my heart hurts a little bit. Yesterday was one of those days, but I recognize that this is such a small sacrifice to give to a Savior that has given us everything. I just hope you all know how much I love you and miss you. I think about you often and pray for you always! I am so grateful to know that the Savior lives. That He is risen, and that He is constantly there for each of us every single minute of every day. I am grateful for His patience, His persistence, His mercy, and His unfailing love. I am grateful to know Him, and to have the opportunity to spend the rest of eternity coming to know Him and emulate Him. Thanks for all the Easter cards and the birthday wishes and the candy and the love. I feel all of your hugs way out here in Kearney! 

Miracles: 

So we are teaching this incredible girl! She is 18 and her name is Stacy. Her boyfriend is a member of the church and has been a remarkable missionary the past few weeks. Stacy has such genuine interest and is so excited to learn more about her Savior. The youth took a trip to the temple this last weekend and Stacy went along for the ride! The whole three hour ride! (I imagine Dad turning to Max as he is reading this story and saying "A three hour tour.." Haha I love you Daddy!) Anyway, she sat at the visitor's center while they were in the temple and just soaked it all in. She is working towards baptism and she is such a remarkable edition to the youth of the ward. I can hardly explain it...but she has this way of earnestly seeking after light and goodness...and I think she is beginning to recognize she has found a fullness of it. So PLEASE keep her in your prayers!

Sherletha

Also this week we were walking out of this lesson with a potential that TOTALLY tanked and we saw this cute lady sitting on the sidewalk. We went up to talk to her and it turns out she had ordered a Bible from Mormon.org that morning! We hadn't even received the referral yet! She praised Jesus and threw in some Hallelujahs and Amens and the whole shebang! It was awesome. We prayed with her and she did some singing and we gave her a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment! Haha her name is Sherletha and she said she met with missionaries before. She was the sweetest thing I had ever seen and you would've thought we'd have given her a million dollars when we handed her the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Her face was priceless! We are seeing her tomorrow and I sure hope she pauses between praises long enough for us to teach her! Haha ;) I will attach a picture.

Funnies: 

Easter Candy Coma

I forgot to tell you this one...so it is from a few weeks back, but it still kills me! For the record I have permission to tell this story, so do not worry. 

So back when Sister Church was slowly dying because of her knee, we spent the night in Omaha and she texted all the sisters in our stewardship to see if any of them had baptisms set for the following day. One of the companionships sent back "Nada Pinata" and Sister Church, all hyped up on Ibuprofen and no sleep got all excited and responded "Is that one of your investigators?!" Haha she kills me.... 

Spiritual thought:

So I have been thinking a lot this week about this life and the temptations and hardships we face. It is a constant battle that we MUST fight...but I read a verse this week that put it into perspective for me. "Fear ye not...the Lord shall fight for you." (Exodus 14;13-14) I think so often I find myself wearied by the fight and not sure of myself, or my ability to fight, but I forget that I am not the one who is really fighting. Christ has already won the battle, I just have to let him help me through to safety! I make things so complicated...we all do...but the simple truth is that Christ has won the victory. HE IS RISEN. How grateful I am for that knowledge. This week I urge all of you to bury your weapons of war and allow the Savior to fight for you. 

Oh and also...I forgot about this...but we are now in a trio! Sister Church, myself, and sweet lil Sister Stocking from Washington state! Her companion had to go home all of a sudden so we are lucky enough to spend the rest of the transfer with her! She is a doll! Also Sister Church is doing much better and her knee is healing up real nice!