THEY JUST DROWNDED HER!!!

Holy guacamole! This week has been a week of miracles! As every week seems to be, and I am so happy to be here on a mission! Missions are hard, but missions are happy!

Sharyce and her kids Taijaon and Syriana were BAPTIZED on Saturday! And oh my goodness it was the most stressful day of my existence. Their baptism was at 3:00, and I kid you not, we did not know if they were going to be baptized or not until like 2:30. Haha. It was so unreal. Satan works hard, but the Lord always pulls through. This is His work! The morning of the baptism Sharyce's youngest son, Tahir, had to be taken to urgent care because of all these freaky bug bites and she was so stressed and unresponsive. We did not know what to do. We went to visit her a little later in the day and they were home, but she was still beside herself and would not even talk about the baptism. Which again made us very uneasy. Her little guy was so fussy, and then I remembered I had put cortizone cream in my bag that morning, so we ran to the car and grabbed it for her. She said from the moment she put it on him he cheered up, and he was calm for the rest of the day. Holy mini miracle. After all that drama, and a slew of other things, 3:00 came and the family was baptized. Like I said, Satan works hard, but we have the Lord on our side, so we have no need to fear! 

OH! But the best part of the baptism (and this is where my subject line comes into play) was Kiman, Sharyce's 4 year old son. Sy was the first to be baptized and mid baptism Kiman just screamed "They just drownded her!" And then Taijaon went to get into the font and he was like, "Are they gonna drownded him too?!?!" Then Sharyce got in and he was like "Drown her!" Haha I could hardly hold it together! So funny. Kids are the best. 

The baptism was loud and crazy and chaotic and perfect. Sharyce and Tai and Sy were so happy. They were practically beaming, and it was like nothing else in the world mattered in that moment. They were doing the Lord's will and that was that. On Sunday they were late to church, so we thought they weren't going to be confirmed, and that was 10x more stressful than anything else, but they came and they were confirmed and the spirit was strong and all was well. The ward is giddy with excitement, and so happy that a family has come to Christ! Sharyce, Sy, and Tai are honestly so happy. They are so ready for this step, and so prepared to be disciples of Christ. They already have been their whole lives! Sharyce is such an amazing Mama, and I am more and more in awe of her every single day. She will be such an asset to the kingdom and I can't wait to see her grow.I am so grateful that the Lord put them in my path and that I was able to see them Come unto Christ, and I will be able to see them continue! This gospel is so good. 

Ok, one other miracle in particular that I want to share is about our investigator Phoebe and her husband Tim. Phoebe is like crazy, haha and she loves Hawaii, and weird stained glass art, and hippie clothing, and smoking. Yeah smoking. She has been smoking for like 40 something years, and it is the only thing keeping her from baptism. Well the Elders were teaching Tim and we were teaching Phoebe, then this week we went over to her home and Phoebe made us lunch! So we ate lunch with Phoebe and Tim and a member and Phoebe all the sudden said "Oh I told so and so that I was going to be baptized." and we were like Phoebe, what?! And so off she went with her weird hippie analogies about birds singing in her heart and the oceans of the sea and all this jazz and now she is being baptized! And then Tim was like, "Oh I am also going to be baptized." And we were like what?!?!? It was unreal. So now we are teaching Tim and Phoebe and they are going to be baptized on July 30th. Well, Last night Sister Smith and I were prompted to go to her home and commit her to stop smoking, right then, right there. To be honest, I was quite terrified, but we prayed earnestly to know what to say and the spirit pulled through! As it always does! Phoebe was so prepared, the Lord knew she needed to commit to stop smoking that night, and that she would be strong enough, willing enough, and ready. We went in and took all her cigarettes and she promised she was done, forever. Then the Elders came over and gave her one of the most remarkable blessings of strength and comfort that I have ever heard. Phoebe was practically beaming, but the icing on the cake was her husband's reaction and their connection through it all. Tim had a stroke some time ago and has been quite disabled ever since. That event has put a huge strain on their marriage and overall relationship, and Phoebe has grown very distant from him. Through this experience, through them coming closer to Christ, and making the decision to be baptized together, everything has changed. They have started communicating more, loving more, enjoying each other more, and just all together coming closer to each other. Last night as Phoebe received her blessing she held Tim's hands while doing so. After it was offered they looked into each others' eyes for a solid 2 minutes and the love and strength that radiated from them both was indescribable. This gospel is blessing her, and this gospel is blessing her marriage. It is undeniable.

Fun facts: 

Storms here are like insane. This past week we had two giant storms that started at like 2 AM and finished up at 4 AM. I know because I was awake for the whole thing. HOLY HANNAH I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE OR THAT MY APARTMENT WAS GOING TO BE BLOWN DOWN LIKE THE HOUSE OF THE LITTLE PIGGIES! So insane, but so cool. Lightning and thunder like I had never seen before. I love it! 

Also I ate jello. RIGHT?!? Jello! It was horrible. But I ate every bite and smiled through it all :) The Atonement helps with even the smallest things. 

Also some neighbor of ours across the street has a pet monkey I think...it screamed and I saw it climb into the window the other night. I kid you not.

Spiritual thought: 

D&C 78:18 One of the best scriptures ever! I find myself getting so overwhelmed here in the mission. Overwhelmed with everything I have to do, all I have to become, but this scripture gives me such comfort. We cannot handle everything now, we are human, we have to take things one step at a time. Ultimately it is all in God's time. I am never going to be a perfect missionary, but with God I can improve every single day, as can each of us in everything we do. We make small choices every single day. We can either choose to be confident or feel otherwise, choose the Lord's strength or our own weakness, choose to have faith rather than fear, choose to be patient and loving or annoyed, etc. I hope this week that we choose Him. That we choose God. Because that is always the correct choice. We cannot bear all things now, but the Lord will lead us along.

Love you all, so so much! I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be in Nebraska!

-Sister Bengtzen