Welcome to CAR-KNEE

 Sabrina and her new companion Sister Church (and a really big potato)

Sabrina at Leadership conference

Alright team...do y'all remember when we fantasized about my mission being full of corn and cows and hay. Well HAY! Here we are! Nine months in and we finally made it to real small town Nebraska! 

I LOVE KEARNEY! 

I am currently serving in both a family ward and the YSA branch out here and our area is HUGE. Like it takes hours and hours to drive the entire length or width of our area. So that's something really different, and really fun! Sister Church is absolutely amazing. Like no joke, we get along super well and I already know the next 6 weeks are gonna fly by faster than a mosquito running from a fly swatter. Which is a bummer. But we are going to see miracles and we are going to take Kearney by storm. 

The YSA branch has maybe 20 active members...which is a little different from your average Provo YSA ward...but they are all solid and they love sharing the gospel with their friends. We are really working to help it grow! The family ward is fairly big and their are a ton of incredible families in the ward, so I am excited to get to know them. All in all this is gonna be a real adventure. 

Sabrina, Jo Lind and her big potato

Miracles: 

Our car has heated seats!!!! 

That is all...

Just kidding! There is one major miracle that I have been SO excited to share with you! So there is this lady that has been investigating for about 6 months here in Kearney and her name is Pam. Now here is some background about Pam. She is 58 and she has made some really rough decisions all of her life. 2 years ago all of those rough decisions gave her alcohol poisoning and she literally died. Long story short, she came back to life and all of her memory was gone. She doesn't remember her children, her ex-husbands, her friends, her mom, nothing. She has no idea what she's done in her life and she had to re-learn how to walk, talk, read, etc. etc. Now if that isn't crazy I don't know what is! Anyway, she is a completely different person today than she was. Her entire heart has changed and the gospel has played a HUGE part in that. I met her and instantaneously fell in love with her. She is the sweetest thing in the world! 

Well about 3 weeks or so ago she finally set a baptismal date. She committed to be baptized on March 25th! Which is happy! But as we were planning Sister Church and I both felt like that was too far away. She has been ready for so long, and waiting another month simply allows more time for the adversary to work and distract her. Why postpone the blessings? So we felt prompted to go over and to give her a mock baptismal interview. The last question basically asks the investigator if they are ready to make this sacred covenant with God. As we asked the question Pam confidently and happily responded. "Yes!" Jokingly (but not really jokingly) I told her she could be baptized this Saturday! And she said "ok." LIKE WHAT?! She said OK! So we are currently scrambling to plan her baptism and we could not be more excited about it. SHE IS SO READY! The entire ward is so excited and I just cannot wait to see how it all comes together. It's amazing how much love Heavenly Father can give you for complete strangers. He really does love us and know each of us perfectly. 

Funnies: 

The other day we ran out of windshield washer fluid and so we went to the gas station to get some. All we could see were these huge bottles and so we were confused and started asking people if they sold any smaller. People kept looking at us weird! (WE CLEARLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CARS) Anyway we bought the fluid, but didn't have a funnel, and didn't want to spill it all over the engine...so naturally Sister Church just dumped it on the window while I turned on the wipers ferociously fast. Not to worry...we eventually figured out how to pour it in and used the ENTIRE bottle. So there's that.

Sabrina, Sister Smith and Sister Church

Sabrina at leadership conference in Omaha

Spiritual thought: 

I feel like I learn so much every single day. It's incredible. But lately I have been thinking a lot about asking questions. One thing I love about the gospel is that we MUST ask questions. We MUST seek for truth and we MUST turn to God. Joseph Smith was the perfect example of this. Like James 1:5 teaches, he lacked wisdom, so he chose to ask of God. But like James 1:6 directs, he asked in faith, nothing wavering. 

Questions are good, questions are NECESSARY, but we must ask in faith...nothing wavering.  

“Questions are not just good, they are vital because the ensuing spiritual wrestle leads to answers, knowledge, revelation, … and greater faith.”  

-Sheri Dew

I encourage all of you who have questions to ASK them, but make sure you ASK of GOD. 

I love you all and I hope you have the greatest week yet! 

xoxo, 

Sister Bengtzen