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