Summer Heat

A Great Day at the Temple! Elder Bentley and Elder Chamberlain

Fortunat at the Temple 

Us with the Agwu kids and brother Agwu 

 

Dear Family!

Well this has been a fantastic week! Everyday had something to look forward to. That just made this week fly by! Time is running out, and there are lots we still need to do.

Tuesday, the morning started off with a ward breakfast. It was the bishopric that took care of that. You could tell they had everything down to a science. It was hilarious walking into the church and seeing a bunch of older men cooking pancakes and French toast. But there was a great turn out, Keysa and her kids also came. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces so the whole motive behind it worked. Shortly following the breakfast came District meeting. It was Elder Chamberlain's first meeting that he ran. He did a pretty great job. Following the meeting we met Elder Vogel and went to go do some service for Keysa. She had some wooden fences that needed to be taken care of. In Utah we would've just thrown them onto a trailer and took it to the dump, but out here it's not that easy. We had to cut everything down and built a wood stack so they will have some firewood for their pit.

Wednesday morning we were supposed to meet with Fortunat but he was asleep. Not by accident though. The Lord needed us to knock some doors around his home to find a family right up the road. The Lady told us to come in and told her kids to come and listen to us. We had a great lesson with them and got on our way. The Lord knew they needed to be found. Later that evening we went to the Temple visitor Center with Keysa and her kids. The sister missionaries had a little tour/ lesson planned out in hopes to get the kids more interested in the gospel. As far as we can tell, the two daughters are showing willingness to get baptized so we will have a good visit this coming week with them. How thankful I am to have a temple so close and to have the utilities in the V.C. to teach.

Thursday evening we went and had a family home evening with the Centeno and Lee family. Roger and Dolly live with sister Lee and she has been pretty bold with them about the gospel. It has been nice for us to be bold with them and to tell them how it is. They seem to be coming along, just medical appointments and work get in the way. We will see what we can do to help them progress. They fed us a nice Filipino meal. They had some Lumpia, it's like a spring roll, but better. I am quite fond of most of the Filipino food that I have had on my mission. We invited them to read and pray daily in hopes this will encourage them to continue on the investigating path. They are blessed to live with members who are willing to answer their questions and to give support to them.

Friday evening we had our interviews with the Johnsons. Also we had the Agwu's baptism. Everything worked out pretty well. Interviews were running a bit late so that gave us a chance to fill up the font in a way that the water would be warm. The hot water heater dispenses all the hot water quickly so you constantly have to turn the font on and off so it will be warm. The baptism was very well attended. Ume and Ugo were both baptized so that made everything complete. They were both super excited about getting in the water! Then afterward we had our interview finally. Everything worked out and we got through the night.

Saturday we met with Fortunat. Even better we went up to the temple with him to do baptisms. The recent convert temple trip allows them to walk in through the front door of the temple and down the side staircase. But they get to see the huge mural that is at the end of the bridge. We got to be the witnesses and it was great watching how excited he was to be baptized for his father. It made it even more special to him because his father died 17 years ago to the day. It defiantly was a night we won't forget!

Sunday we got to meet with a couple of people. First we met with this newer guy we found, Nathan. He goes to an Episcopal church and has a true desire to find out truth. The only problem we are having is he has this wall of skewed opinions on the church and everything that makes it hard to teach for his understanding. At this point all we can do is pray for his heart to be softened. Following that we went over to the Smith home again. We taught Melissa another new member lesson. We had a great visit with them and afterward brother Smith grilled up some burgers and brots. They also made some stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon which were amazing! 👌🏽

We have been so blessed to be here in this area, especially with the work continually moving forward. I am blessed to be with Elder Chamberlain and to spend my last transfer with him. The time is flying and we are wrapping up all the loose ends.

Love,

Elder Bentley