My companion thinks I am a pathological liar

Guess what team? Sister Collins is BACK! And it's been a riot since Saturday. This whole week I have just laughed way too hard. Sister Bryson thinks I am crazy and Sister Collins has fully accepted that fact, so things are good. I spent most of the week with Sister Bryson, and Sister Collins had a blast in the other area and we are all just enjoying the craziness of the entire situation.

Before I begin, Ron and Mary dropped us, so there's that. But it's ok because I know they will accept it someday. We planted a real good seed!

Also Junior Ehmes cannot be baptized this week, but he is working towards it! So it will come soon!

Miracles:

I just want to share three super quick miracles with you this week that have really been HUGE tender mercies! And they all occurred in our apartment complex!

The first occurred on Saturday. Sister Collins and I had half of a left over Costco pizza from a member who took us to lunch, so we decided to give it to our neighbors because why not? Well we took the opportunity to share the gospel with them and as we were talking Sister Collins asked the most inspired question! The entire mood of the conversation changed and the spirit witnessed to these two young adults that if they wanted to receive an answer they had to ACT. Both of them accepted a Book of Mormon and committed to read it and pray.

The second miracle occurred just yesterday. I have been thinking about this random less active member on our roster and yesterday we decided to knock on her door (which is in our apartment complex). Her husband let us in and she told us that she has been thinking a LOT about the church lately and that all of these verses from the Book of Mormon have been floating around in her head. We set a return appointment and her husband who isn't a member said he would be willing to meet with us too! A FAMILY!

Then finally, earlier this week with Sister Bryson we decided to introduce ourselves to our next door neighbor and we ended up sharing the message of the Restoration with her and specifically focused on the Atonement. She cried and cried and told us that she was too busy with work to meet with us, but that she appreciated us coming. We gave her our number and I am confident that someday she will call!

Funnies:

We had a lesson on honesty in Gospel Principles this week and Sister Collins is convinced I am a pathological liar. (But I think she is just joking...or at least I hope) Anywho, after church we went to see a less active islander family and I told them that we have been practicing Karate AS A JOKE and she called me out on it. Maybe I am a pathological liar...but the first step is admitting you have a problem, so we are on the mend!

Also this week I was trying to break the ice with this REALLY angry lady and I told her that I wanted to dye my hair pink. She totally softened and we were able to share the message of the Restoration and commit her to read the Book of Mormon. Plus she also offered to dye my hair for me, so we will see what comes of that! Hahaha

Spiritual thought:

Wow, ok! So Sister Bryson is like the most knowledgeable human ever, so she always shares the most insightful things, and I feel like my studies this week have been better than they ever have before! Which is so rad.

But anyway, I learned something this week that I absolutely love. But I can only share a small portion. So to explain this small slice of what I learned this week I will use the words of Elder Bednar, because they are much greater than my own.

"Taking ACTION is the exercise of faith.

When the children of Israel were carrying the ark of the covenant, they came to the River Jordan.

The promise was, that they would cross on dry land.

When did the water part?

When their feet were wet."

- Elder David A. Bednar

Faith, we learn, is a principle of ACTION and power. We cannot have faith in something if we do not act. That's why it is so crucial that we invite others to ACT (read the Book of Mormon, pray, come to church, etc.) so that they can increase their faith in Christ. The action always proceeds the miracle. We must act in faith in order to receive the blessings that God has for us to receive. Sometimes it takes much more than a step of faith, sometimes it requires us to leap, but I promise you that if you leap into the water and get your feet wet, that the Lord will help you cross on dry ground.

I love you all and I love being a missionary. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

xoxo,

Sister Bengtzen