Family,

Well, it was a pretty good week for us. We've been working a lot with the members. We've really won their confidence and gained their support. I love that the ward realizes that we're working hard. Man I'm so tired. Being a leader is hard. I do not feel even CLOSE to qualified. There are so many things I don't feel like I do very well. It's a really big burden. I never did want to be a leader. But... here I am, just doing the best I can with it all.

Welllll.... I don't really have much else to talk about. Just trying to stay afloat with all the problems I'm dealing with; with my district and with our investigators. I seriously feel like I STILL have no idea what I'm doing. I can't even imagine what a bishop must feel like... Anyways, I hope you all have a great week and I love all of you!

E' Bentz

our favorite dogs, Daisy and Skippy (:

beautiful sunrise (:

just chillin'

The little things

Family,

This has been a tiring week for me too, but it's been good nonetheless. Having four missionaries in this ward has been a huge blessing for it. We always have a lot of investigators in church, and the members are getting more excited about missionary work. We are looking forward to some good baptisms in September (FINALLY). Looks like all our efforts have been paying off. Well, I don't have too much to talk about this time. There were a lot of frustrating things that happened this week, but I don't need to talk about it. There was one cool little experience I had, though. The other night, I was talking to one of my converts, Macarena who's 11. She told me, "Elder Bentz, you have to print me a picture of you so that I can show my kids who baptized me." I swear I almost broke down and cried right there. It made me feel so good. The life of that little girl is forever changed because we were able to guide them to baptism. It's little experiences like that that let me know that I'm doing something good here. Well, I hope everybody has a great week and that you're all adjusted to being back to school. I love you!

p.s. YES SHE CAN USE MY COMPUTER. IF SHE WRITES ME MORE =P I already told her that!

anyways,

love elder bentz

oh yeah, here's the explanation to that picture where I'm playing the drums:

we were walking down the street one night, and suddenly we heard some weird music coming from a house. We went to see who was playing, and we saw this family jamming out together! We asked if we could come in and see, and they let us in. I told them that I play drums, and asked them if I could play a song with them. So they let me play like two songs with them. It was so cool! I had actually talked to that family before, but they never could let us in. so, it was pretty much using my talents to get into a house haha. It was a cool experience.

((((((((:

they always give me this cup when we eat with the Robledo family.
Hahaha

this is macarena, my little convert.
This is the pic im gonna print for her

The Right Place at the Right Time

Family,

Well, it was another extremely challenging week. We had to fight really hard to find people, but in the end the lord blessed us for our efforts. This area has definitely been a test of my endurance. I don't know if I told you already, but we're in the part of the area that the missionaries hardly ever worked in before. It's really small, and pretty rich, so the people are not very warm and welcoming. We've gone through just about every name in the area book, so we've been doing a lot of walking around trying to find people on our own. One advantage to our side of the area is that we have the majority of the active members, so we've been trying to work with them. Speaking of that, i have a cool story: The other day we were looking for a reference, but we couldn't find the address. So we went to a member's house to ask if she knew them. We talked for a bit, and she asked us if we could go to their house one night to do a family home evening. We said yes, and didn't think much of it. A few days later, we stopped by the church to get something. This sister came up to us and asked us if we were ready for the FHE. Then she explained to us why she asked us to do it with their family. She said that her husband abandoned them last week and that they were all having a really hard time, and that they were in need of a spiritual uplift. Me and e' santizo were both in shock. We had no idea!!! So we had the FHE with them the other night. It was a really awesome experience. We talked about trials and how they're ultimately for our good. We shared Joseph smith's liberty jail experience and i shared Jenna's cancer story. They almost all ended up crying. I hadn't really known this family very well before, now they all come up to us and talk to us. The mom said that the visit really helped them out and gave them strength. All because we were in the right place at the right time. One more cool story: the other day, we went to a visit we had, but it fell through. So I picked a random street we were close to, and we started clapping doors. Nobody accepted us, but then we saw two ladies trying to carry this ENORMOUS wood board by themselves with one end propped up on a bike. They were obviously struggling, so we helped them carry in 5 blocks back to their house. Then we sat down and had a lesson with them. Simple, but awesome. Being in the right place at the right time. Well, I hope you all have a great week. i love you! 

love, e' bentz

The Power of Prayer

family,

Well, it's been a pretty good week. The beginning was pretty normal. Then one night, one of the lessons we had fell through. So we decided to go see an inactive family we'd been trying to contact for a long time. It was already kinda late, so we didn't think they'd open (the people here don't tend to open the door after dark. And it gets dark really early). But we went to their house, and they let us in. Turns out, the mom and the grandma are baptized but the kids of the mom aren't. We gave them a really good lesson about the temple and about being sealed together forever. It's something they all really want. We have a baptismal date for the kids at the end of the month. gosh I hope it actually happens... anyways, nothing else really interesting happened until Sunday, which was the baptism of Victor Breppe. It was such a spiritual experience. It was the most spiritual baptism I've ever seen until now. For a musical number, we did a medley of i love to see the temple and families can be together forever. e' santizo played piano, i sang/played the flute, and the other two elders sang. Then Nicolás, Victor's son, baptized him. Everyone was crying, including me. Then after, the whole family got up to share their testimony. And we all cried some more haha. It was incredible. And all because we went to their house one day and challenged them to pray for their dad. now, I'm not saying it was because we went there. He probably would've gotten baptized anyway. but, I'm so grateful that heavenly father allowed me to be a tool in his hands to be able to witness this miracle. they all want me to come back to see their sealing in a year from now. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but I'll do all I can to be able to see it. Well, i hope y'all have a great week. I love you!