Agents of P.E.T.A.

This week was quite entertaining. For the most part, we knocked doors. Sometimes, we would talk to people. We put somebody on date to be baptized. We pray that he will have the courage to take work off on Sundays so he can reach his baptismal date. However, the week suddenly took a sharp turn when God decided that we need not limit our work to the salvation of human souls only, but that we ought to try our hand at rescuing various animals in their temporal form. A few days ago, Elder Bane and I were trudging along the roadside, which runs parallel to a deep ditch meant for channeling rainwater. The rain was coming down with moderate intensity, but the ditch did not yet much water flowing through it (the rain having just started). We were startled when from the grassy depths of the ditch suddenly emerged two sodden kittens, bedraggled yet cute. I was stunned. "What ho! Behold yonder creatures, dirty and disheveled, sodden and soaked! What ought we to do, dear fellow?"

I called out to Elder Bane."What have we to do with them?" he retorted. "Pets we cannot have, and our hearts are here pledged to continue knocking on the deafened and darkened homes."

"Alright," said I, "but the nameless creatures must yet be named, for how could they enter into the kingdom of heaven if they cannot be identified by any such sort of title? This one shall be called Cayden."

"And this shall be Jasper" He replied.

Then, we knocked on. Pretty soon, it was time to head to our dinner appointment. As we passed by the ditch again, we saw Cayden and Jasper again, and I just didn't have the heart to let them die there. So, we picked them up and walked with them, not knowing what we were going to do. We got to the main road where the car was parked, and realized we could do nothing. We could not take them home. So we left them in some bushes by the road, hoping they'd be safe. As we walked away, Jasper came out, meowing in desperation. A car on the road noticed him, and slowed down. A girl got out, and started heading towards the kittens. She was determined not to let them day. Cayden and Jasper had been saved. 

Later that day, we found a large, beautiful butterfly lying on the ground, unable to fly because it was too wet. We picked it up, named him Jude, and then walked him to a house with an alcove where a friendly lady was fascinated with him and asked us to leave him under the protection of her outcropping porch roof. 

It was awesome. We saved a bunch of animals, and it made the day very entertaining and very unprecedented.

Other than that, I don't know what else to inform you all of. I found the complete works of William Shakespeare in our apartment. That was cool. Also, I forgot to tell you last week that right before I left we put that family with unmarried parents on date for marriage so that the girlfriend could be baptized. They did a remarkable job of having the courage to talk to her parents about it.

Also, here is one of my favorite scriptures (it is an Isaiah scripture, but it is also in the Book of Mormon):

18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

 1 Nephi 20:18 (Isaiah 48:18)

Remember the deep peace and power that come as we strive to obey the commandments of our Father in Heaven. Our willingness to demonstrate faith and humility (like the Savior did) in following the Father's will, will determine our spiritual success in this life. I hope you all have a great week.

Adios

Meatball Quesadilla

Good day, fellows. This week started out nice and ended with a plot twist worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. We started out the week by going to a Zone Conference at Zion's Camp and doing a ropes course. It was a lot of fun, and Elder Quinton and I had the opportunity to be in charge of the "Trust Fall" activity. It was quite enjoyable, especially the infrequent occasions when someone would let out a  piercing, involuntary scream as they fell back (Normally the sisters where the ones screaming, but not always). On Saturday, we got transfer calls. I was convinced I was going to be staying, because Elder Quinton had already spent a very long time here. However, we were terribly startled when President informed us that I would be leaving after just 2 transfers, and Elder Quinton would be staying for his 5th transfer there. I am going to be leaving tomorrow for Lakewood. My new companion will be Elder Bane. For those of you who are interested, Lakewood is a very sketchy, ghetto place. Crime and drugs are rampant. In fact, the city of Lakewood commonly appears on the TV show "Cops". 

This is going to be a fun transfer. This is going to be the most city I have ever had in one of my areas. It will be interesting.

There is a good chance that this will also be my last area, but as we have just witnessed, the Lord often throws some plot twists into our lives just when we least expect it.

Well, that is about all I have for the week, so let me relate a dream I had last night:

I was eating food with my dad. My father finished what he was eating, but he wanted more. He put a tortilla on his plate, and then put about 12 meatballs on the tortilla, and put a tiny sprinkle of cheese on it. He then carefully placed another tortilla on top of his masterpiece, and handed me the plate. He asked me to go and put his quesadilla in the microwave for him. I walked over a few steps to the microwave and put the plate in, but I then realized that all of the meatballs but two had somehow disappeared during my short trip over to the microwave. I informed my father, and he got very stressed out about it. I was very stressed out, too. I searched frantically for the missing meatballs, but to no avail.They had mysteriously disappeared. Then I woke up.

The moral of the story is that sometimes, we get stressed out by little things in life (like meatballs disappearing from our quesadilla). When we start to get worked up about these little things, we just need to take a step back and realize: "Wow. I just saw 10 meatballs magically disappear from a quesadilla. That is amazing. It will probably never happen again in my entire life. Besides, the world isn't ending. It's just a meatball quesadilla. No big deal. This will make a great story one day for my grandchildren."

So there you go. That is the secret to avoiding the small stresses in life. 

We can even use this strategy to avoid larger stresses in life. Next time you are stressed out about some difficult thing that has arisen in your life, I challenge you to just say. "Heck, what am I freaking out about? In the eyes of the Lord, this is just a meatball quesadilla! He knows what is going on and he has a plan for me!"

Then, go and pray that you will be able to learn whatever you need to from the experience.

Also, if somebody wants to make a meatball quesadilla and then send a picture to me of them eating it, it would probably make my day.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Fare thee well.

--

Elder Benge

Clay Babies

Sorry I didn't write much of a letter last week. Fortunately for you, nothing much really happened last week anyway, so you didn't miss out on too much. 

It also just so happens that not much of anything interesting happened this week, either. This leaves us at a stalemate. If I don't have anything to write, what shall you read? What will my mother say? Will she beat me with her metaphorical stick of chastisement?

Therefore, I shall grasp at straws.

Last Monday, we went to Bella Bella Beach on Fox Island (an island in our area). Fun fact about Bella Bella Beach, a.k.a BBB=B^3= B(B*B)=B*(B+B[B-1]), is that on (B^2)*B you can find some  strange looking rocks called "Clay Babies." These naturally sculpted clay figures can only be found in nature in two places in the world. One of which is x where x=B(B+(B/4)[4y-4]) where 2yB+1=2B^2+1 (solve for x), and the other place in the world is some random beach in Japan. So that is cool. I actually found a clay baby, and it was very exciting. I will raise it as my own. Hopefully someday it will grow up just like me.

Anyway, our part member family is doing well. The mother of the family was able to talk to her mother about marriage and they are working out a marriage date right now! Soon, they will be on date for both marriage and baptism! That is so exciting. Other than that, not much has happened this week. We found a lady and her children who had been taught before and were planning on being baptized but had to move before they could be baptized. We will meet with them in a couple of days, so that should be exciting, too.

This week we will be having a zone conference with half of the mission at a place called Zion's camp (located in my current zone, and my old area, Belfair). It should be a lot of fun.

The rain has finally subsided here in western Washington, and most of the last few days have been beautiful and sunny. How wonderful it is to finally see the sun.

I love you all. I know that this work is the work of the Lord. I know that he watches out for us, and that he is in control of it all. The world may seem crazy, but remember that all things are truly in the Lord's hands. I know that for sure. Have a wonderful week, and here is a great scripture from the Book of Mosiah about Jesus Christ:

9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

Mosiah 16:9
--

Elder Benge

Time To Go

Time To Go

A poem by Elder Gideon Benge

Time to go.

I didn't have much to say, anyway.

Instead, I will hit the keyboard

Three times:

jvck

njmmrf

bh,

--

Elder Benge

Life In The Fast Lane

This week we had a cool experience. Lately, we have been teaching a part member family. The parents are not married. The mother is not a member, but wants to be. She just can't get baptized yet because they need to get married first. They also have a 9 year old who wants to be baptized. We met with them on Thursday, encouraging them once again to take some steps toward marriage. We also asked if we could help the daughter progress toward baptism. The father told us he didn't think she was ready yet (although later he confessed to us that he wasn't letting her get baptized because he really wanted to be the one to baptize her). Our pleas for their marriage were becoming repetitive, and our hearts were beginning to get despondent. It didn't seem like they were planning on getting married soon. They were too afraid of the mother's parents, who were very against the marriage. As we talked, the mentioned that the mother's mother would be coming down to visit in a couple of weeks. We invited them to commit to talking to her about them getting married when she came, and they seemed reluctant. I then felt prompted to invite them to join with us in a day of fasting and prayer so that they would be able to see have the courage to talk to her and that they would be able to see a miracle. We set the day of fast to be this last Sunday, and we held to it. In church on that day, we learned about marriage and repentance. The father came up to us afterward and told us that he had felt that he really just needed to man up and talk to his girlfriend's parents. It was a direct answer to prayer, because we knew that he had been the one holding them back. It was a really cool experience. I definitely know of the power of fasting. We really do come to be more in tune with the God's will as we feel the Spirit during our fasting and sincere prayer.

I can testify that God is a God of miracles. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If there are no miracles, it means that there is no faith, because God works according to our faith.

I had a wonderful study on miracles this week. I also got to go on exchanges to Belfair with Elder Stuart, one of my favorite Elders. I served around him in Olympia, and it turns out he is from Layton, Utah as well. This is his last transfer and, consequently, it was going to be our last exchange. Too celebrate, we bough a dozen donuts and tried to eat all of them in one evening. I succeeded with my half, but Elder Stuart wasn't feeling up to it. It was good to see members of the ward again. We got to teach one the recent converts that I had taught a year ago before they were baptized. He was struggling a little, but starting to do better.

Anyway, God really does love us.

Just as a final thought, I wanted to remind all of you, my dear friends and family, that true happiness only comes through obedience to God. I have a very strong testimony of that, and I wish I could make it even clearer. Permit me to say it one more time:

True happiness only comes through obedience to God. Therein lies the key to joy. God loves us. He knows what is best for us. Through Jesus Christ, it is possible to repent of our sins and overcome our weaknesses, and we receive strength to do what we never would be able to do without Him. We can only have joy in life as we submit our wills to Heavenly Father, and repent. 

Alma 41:10

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

See also Mosiah 2:41

I love you all. Have a wonderful week. Remember that God can work miracles in your life.

Farewell, be of good comfort. 

Watch out for crazy people.

Adios.

--

Elder Benge

After The Storm

​Elder Quinton and I, looking slightly sodden after a particularly heavy downpour. Elder Quinton actually doesn't look quite as sodden, but he cheated and used a hood. 

The true question is, was a just more manly than he, or was I actually lacking in foresight, or perhaps was I just intentionally making a stupid decision?

Perhaps it was some bizarre combination of the three.

You decide...

--

Elder Benge

Parting The Nimbostratus Sea

This week was very typical of missionary work in the area. We walked a lot. We knocked a lot. It rained a lot. It has been raining for the last 7 1/2 months now. A few days ago the rain was really intense. One of my shoes had mostly soaked through and we had only been out for 30 minutes so far that day. I was rather tired of the rain, but was doing my best to push through it with a great attitude. Then, the sun came out briefly. We were under a very small blue strip of sky, with thick dark rain clouds all around us. A little ways a way, over the water, we could see a very, very nasty looking storm with great twisted, clawed hands and a maw of teeth like rusted nails.  I was really just not looking forward to it. I also knew that the Elders in the area right above us were on bike and were having a difficult time and also really not looking forward to it. We said a very sincere prayer and asked that somehow, we (most especially the Elders above us, who were having a very difficult time staying motivated at the time) would be spared the rain for at least a little while longer and be able to have some blue sky and the sun shining on us. We then supplicated and asked that if clear skies were not in God's will, we desired the strength and motivation to be able to keep our spirit and energy up despite the morally pernicious storm.

We prayed, and felt good. The storm approached, I was steeling myself for the break of all hail or something, but deep inside I was still praying that the rain wouldn't come. 

The clouds approached, soon, we were overshadowed by malicious looking choppy gray lumps. But the rain didn't  come. We could still see the rain not too far away. Still, I prepared myself, knowing that those rain clouds were still moving our way. Deep inside, I was still praying. I knew God could change the weather if he really wanted to. 

Well, the rain never came. After a little bit, having lost all sight of any blue skies, we suddenly and unexpectedly found ourselves under blue sky again with rain all about us. Pretty soon, the clouds split, and we found a thin streak of blue sky stretching off into the distance before us, with threatening black clouds all about. All day long, the dark gray rain clouds hovered ominously nearby, always seeming on the brink of destroying us, but they never did. We had wonderful warm and sunny weather for the rest of the day.

It was honestly really awesome. I was just so grateful that God really cared about us that much. It was truly a witness to me of the power of prayer and of God's deep love for us.

Sometimes, God allows us to go through storms in order to build our character, Sometimes, we build our character as we witness the approaching storm and rely on God for it to be dispersed. Either way, the relief and growth comes because of faith in God. Either way, we are spared by heaven's power, and are able to look back at the experience, marveling at what God has done for us.

Anyway, that is really all I have for the week. Happy Mother's day.

Adios.

A typical "Washington" sun. Can you spot it?

--

Elder Benge

Eviction Notice

By the way, just an update on that family of 5 we find a few weeks ago, we tried to stop by and visit them last week... and they had been evicted from their house. That was really sad, but I think wherever they are now, they will almost certainly turn their lives around and seek the Gospel. I believe they are going to accept the Gospel sometime soon, wherever they are. They are in the hands of the Lord of the Harvest, and he knows what he is doing. 

But yes, that is missionary life: You find some way cool people to teach, and then in a few weeks after they accept a baptismal date, they get evicted and disappear.

The vicissitudes of the work are real. 

Anyway, we are teaching a part member family right now that is way solid, so hopefully we can baptize them before they get evicted or hit by a meteor or something.

:) Have a great week.

--

Elder Benge

Heart Of The Storm

I apologize dearly for not writing a mass email last week. In all honesty, I completely forgot to. I am not sure how that happened. I wrote to everyone, and then sat back and waited for my companions to finish emailing. I sat and stared, convinced I had done everything on email, and wondering why I had finished so early. As we left, I suddenly had an epiphany! Elder Benge, I thought to myself, you never wrote a mass email, you noob! So that's what happened. The only interesting thing I can remember back from two weeks ago is that we got our transfer calls. However, everyone in the house is staying the same, but Elder Porter and Elder Stapley are now covering the Gig Harbor Ward, instead of the Crescent Valley ward, and Elder Quinton and I are just covering the Wollochet ward, instead of covering both the Gig Harbor and Wollochet wards. So, things changed, but not really. Our area just got smaller, and that's it.

This week we had a crazy lightning storm, though. Washington almost never has thunder and lightning. Before this week, I can honestly say that I had only ever heard thunder once on my mission, and the lightning storm was very far away. Well, last Thursday was a very hot and muggy day. We had our sleeves rolled up, sweat coming down our faces, and not a care in the world. As we joyfully frolicked in the sunshine, I noticed some very strange clouds in the distance. It looked like the sky was covered in bluish shaving cream. Within moments, the sunshine was gone, and the land was dark. Overhead, goober-like clouds levitated, looking very ominous, threatening, and moldy-whipped-creamy. Then, we saw the lightning and heard the thunder. It was a sound I had longed to hear for a very long time. I rejoiced gladly at the approaching thunderstorm. My soul was almost as electrified as the clouds overhead.

Soon, the rain came pounding down, and I can honestly say that I have never been in a storm that bad on my mission, and probably my entire life. It was actually quite invigorating. 

That night, as we knocked after dinner is when it all really came down. We were standing at the first door, when the world was suddenly plunged into chaos as the previously mild rain intensified until the sky was shooting bullets, and all around us were the cracks and flashes of lightning. Words cannot describe the experience. We sprinted from house to house, but even just a few seconds in the swirling deluge soaked our clothes completely through. The air felt supercharged, and the sky was constantly splintered by cracks of lightning on every side. We were under the storm's supercell. We considered going back to the car, but both Elder Quinton and I felt peace about being out at that time, so we stayed, and it was awesome. And we didn't die. I definitely felt some profound peace in the middle of nature's fury.

Definitely one of my favorite experiences.

We all can, in the midst of the most turbulent experiences of our lives, still feel the peace of the Savior. The precious gift of the Holy Ghost can bring us hope and solace in even the most spiritually, emotionally, and physically chaotic times of our lives. I know that. I am so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful that even in the loudest storm, the smallest prayer can still be heard. You are never forgotten. You are never abandoned. You are never alone. Cleave always to God. Reach out to him in prayer. He does hear. Your trials and tribulations will be but a small moment. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love my mission, and I am so grateful for the experiences I have been able to have out here.

--

Elder Benge

Take Five

The greatest miracle of the transfer happened this week. Up until this week, we really struggled to find new investigators. We hadn't found anyone (Except for a bro who seemed semi-solid and normal, but when we came back, answered the door with disheveled hair, a jacket and plaid button-up shirt on, and.... no pants or anything other than that. It was a little strange. He then proceeded to spew forth a bunch of pathetic anti mormon stuff he had been pumped with from the internet).

Anyway, my companion and I had been praying to find a family that we could teach and baptize (I had been specifically praying for a family of 5). Well, on Thursday, we knocked on a door and a black man answered, and the first thing he said was: 

"I've been reading your book."

My companion, a little taken aback, responded, "The Book of Mormon?"

"Yeah. I'm on page..... 28, I think. One sec, let me go  get it."

Elder Quinton and I exchanged a surprised look, and then he returned, and soon a wonderful Gospel conversation developed.

He had met missionaries before and been given the Book of Mormon. He really respected some white missionaries that he had met in "the Hood" when he was living in California. He also really wanted to come to church now. He also happened to have a wife and 3 children, ages 16, 14, and 12. We invited him to be baptized, and he asked; "Is the water gonna be cold? I guess even if it was I could do it."

We reassured him that the water would indeed be warm.

Anyway, it was a very tender mercy. He does not have a specific baptismal date yet, but we assigned him to read Moroni 10 and pray about it, and he did it. We will follow up with him more at our first scheduled meeting this Tuesday.

He and his wife even came to church this week, but they came at the wrong time, thinking we had said it was at 11 instead of at 1. They had to leave because his wife had work, but it was still way cool. I am very grateful for our loving Heavenly Father, who does indeed hear and answer our prayers. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. This week was a good one, and I am so grateful we finally found someone to teach! Now we just need to go out and find some more.

The area here in Gig Harbor is very beautiful, despite the fickle weather. It alternates every 20 minutes between pounding rain and effulgent sunshine. Sometimes we even get a 20 minute hailstorm followed by unimpeded sun. A lot of the time it is raining while the sun is shining brilliantly upon us. It is very intriguing.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.

12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?

Jacob 4:10-12

Seek not to counsel the Lord, but instead be reconciled to his will through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Wow. What great principle. What a great scripture. There is a lot you can learn from that. Attain to a perfect knowledge of Christ through the Atonement. That is how we become reconciled with God.

Adios.

--

Elder Benge