10/4/10....I Can't believe it's over

Elder Bentz returns from his mission this week, October 7, 2010. We have enjoyed reading his emails and hearing about his mission to Germany. Hope you have enjoyed reading them as well. We are anxious to hug him, and welcome him home. We received a wonderful letter from his Mission President this week. Here are a few highlights: Elder Bentz has served faithfully throughout his mission. He has shown kindness towards others and has gotten along well with companions and other missionaries with whom he has served. During these past two years, he has deepened his love for the gospel and has strengthened his faith in his Savior, Jesus Christ. he has gained an appreciation for the people here, their culture and their language. He has been able to teach the doctrines of Christ and bear testimony of their truthfulness and has been an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Elder Bentz has grown and developed through the challenges he has faced. Sister Ninow and I love him and pray for the Lord's choicest blessing to be with him. We are grateful for our time of service together and hope that he will keep in touch from time to time as he progresses forward.

Now here is the last email he wrote home and also to his cousin, Heidi, who has written to him faithfully these last two years.
Heidi,
Man, I can't believe that it is over, I can remember times where it felt like it would never end, but it does, and will. This last area I was in, Krefeld, has been one of my favorites, I am so grateful for the things I have been a part of here, and will cherish the memories forever...Too bad Spencer and Sarah won't be at the airport, but I know you will be. don't worry, I have been practicing my smile, I know I raise the eyebrows, I am working on it! anyway, thanks for always writing Heidi, I love you. I don't know what else I should say, but I will see you in a few days anyway, so I will tell you everything you want to know then.

Hey! I can't remember the last time you wrote me! Dad, we HAVE to go to a suns game or d-backs game when I get back. I can't wait to watch that game with you, Go Pack Go! hey, could you or mom call Michael K. and make sure he is at the airport too?. I really don't know what else I can say here. I will be seeing you in like 3 days, and I will tell you whatever you want then. I am so grateful to have been able to come out here and see and do all of the tings I have done. It is definitely sad to leave, but I am excited to come home and see you all again. I love you Dad. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

9/27/10......I can definately testify of the truth

This week was crazy wonderful. It started off just like a normal week. We had Zone conference in Dusseldorf and everything else about the week was normal, we were doing go-byz and normal missionary stuff. We had an appt with this kid we met on the streets like 3 weeks ago, Patrick, and met with him 2 weeks ago and taught him the first, he liked it, and agreed to read and pray about the BoM. Our next appt, for the Saturday after that one fell out and he rescheduled after that. We set up another appt for the NEXT saturday, so that was 2 weeks not meeting with him, and it was seeming pretty weaksauce. We went to the appt at the church, and were honestly not expecting him to show up, but he did, and we got to talking, asked him if he had read and prayed, he did, and we asked him how it went. He then proceeded to say something I ,nor my companion had ever heard before on our missions after the 2nd time meeting with someone...he said ''I read, and prayed, and as I prayed, I got a warm nice feeling all over my body, and I now know that the Book of Mormon is really the word of God.'' ...uhhhhhhhh.........What the heck do you say to that!? Well, we said the right thing of course, and ended up setting a baptismal date with him for the 30th of October, BUT honestly, how often has that happened? They read, pray, and find out that it's true. Just like that! NEVER: Usually you have to go through a lot of convincing and teaching and answering, but with this guy, he is 17, he got it just like that! It was really incredible, and neither of us were prepared for it. So now I can definitely testify of the truth of that Book, and that it is what it says it is, and does what it says it does. Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

9/20/10....Staying above the black waters...

Here at home we are getting excited for Mooker's return. He remains focused on the work, good for him.

Member Missionary work? Pu-leeze....I LOVE talking about member missionary work, especially once I will be a member again :) then I can scold people if they don't do it, and I won't feel bad :) that will be cool. Go Pack, hopefully they will pound the Bears. well, this last week was pretty good for us, we met with some cool people, and there was the largest outdoor fashion show in the world here on Saturday and Sunday, TONS of people on the streets. The weather is nice today, but it is definitely getting cooler, and we are wearing light jackets outside now. I hope it is super hot when I get back. I will mow the lawn too, don't worry. hmmm...what else, nothing happened this week, I am sorry. I am still keeping my head above the black waters of trunkiness, but we'll see how long that holds out for. Until then... Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mike?

9/13/10........A few new people to teach. Home soon

Thanks for the money you deposited. That should cover the rest of my expenses for the rest of my mission. I just need shoes and a couple more shirts and ties now. speaking of...mom, do you think that you would be able to take in a few of my shirts when I get back, make them slim fit? I saw the sewing lines and how they did it, and it looks pretty simple I bet you could, so, maybe we'll see...that is good that Matt Leinart is out as QB for the Cardinals, Hopefully the Pack can get it going this year! By the way, I will be getting home on October 7th at 4:55 PM in terminal 3 at PHX sky harbor airport, sooo, that's that. ummmm, we had a pretty good week, found a couple new people to teach, hopefully they will turn into something good here pretty soon,. General conference is coming up, and then I will be home. AHHHH!!!!!! man, with the much money left in my account I COULD buz a car, huh? well, well see...thanks for writing, I love you all, tell Heidi I love her too. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

9/6/10.......Not too trunky, staying busy!

You know, surprisingly enough, I am not getting too trunky. We are trying to get some good work done here in the end of all the things...anyway, That is cool about my cousin, Benson getting his mission call to Nashville, Tennessee, should be fun. William comes home 2 months after me, crazy. good stuff about Matt finally getting his own TV...bum...jk, man, that will be cool to just watch TV whenever I want. And xbox. And guitar. anyway...this last week was pretty chilly, and this week is a little warmer, today we are playing ultimate frisbee, and tomorrow is zoko in Dortmund, that will be cool to go there. hmmmm...well, That is about it. I am sorry about it being so short, but hey, I will see you in about 4 weeks and we'll talk then. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

8/30/2010........Keep Spreading the Word

I would love to go through all of my pics with you mom. I have like all of them memorized anyway. That will be fun. anyway, yeah, a car? that costs money that I don't have! seriously, I think a bike will be good enough for the beginning, and the Bus too. I will proably have to get a car within a year, of course, but at first, I need to get some $$$$ We'll see about it later. I really still have no idea what I want to do for school. I was thinking about it lately (I know, a sin...) and I have been considering two options, teaching, more specifically teaching German, cause that is the only thing i have going for me right now, and something with computers, so maybe an electrical engineering degree or something like that, I have no idea, I guess I will have to worry about that all at the same time once I get back. oh well. Brad is already gone? man, that was fast...Rainy too...schade....

FOOTBALL!!!!! BASKETBALL!!!!! yes, I can't wait to watch every single game! dad, you should look into getting some tickets for the Suns, nosebleed is fine...preseason should be just starting when I get back right? I think those are cheaper...well, more about me this last week. It rained a lot, and we are no longer in a drit(3 guys) with Elder Wildey, he is in Mönchen-Gladbach now with his comp... We have a lot of finding time right now, due to the lack of new investigators we had LAST cycle, so yeah, shoot your own foot. We are meeting with some pretty sweet inactives right now, and they are making some good progress, and Vivian is doing awesome! She is seriously the most LEGIT convert ever! she just found out too, that some of her friends back in Taiwan are Mormon too! so that is cool. anyway. We should be playing ping pong with another one of Bishop's asian friends, I will get smoked probably, but I am definitely one of the best americans on the mission at ping pong...I will tell you how it goes. oh yeah, we found out that there IS another zoko, and it will be on the normal day and time, so yeah, one last time I guess...:) thanks for writing. I will see you soon! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

8/23/2010........Vivian is Baptized, new suit, shoes

I got the email with the pics of Brad at the airport, thanks. Man, that is so insane that Brad is home. I am coming up now too...geez. anyway, the baptism went perfectly. I gave a talk on baptism, It was in English too, I like that :) She was so happy, everybody who was at the baptism was so nice and supportive, For transfers, I am dying here in Krefeld and Elder Guin is gonna kill me, so all in all, it is good. I got a new suit the other day, It is LEGIT! don't worry about me gettin' a car dad, I wasn't planning on getting one anyway. I think I will just buy a bike,m or ride the bus, I have gotten used to it :) I still have to buy some Lloyd shoes too, and some more shirts...sooo, don't worry that I am taking some more money out at the end here. speaking of, I think it would be awesome if you took pics of me at the airport while I was walking up the terminal, just me by myself, I will do something cool don't worry...man, I am gonna have to send some stuff home pretty soon here as well, soo, be expecting some packages in the near future...hmmm....the weather is pretty crappy now, but shouldn't be too bad up until I leave, my crappy american suits should hold out until I leave, I will take them home I think, but never wear them again, there is a hole in the butt of my blue suit, and so my black one is saving me up until the end....that's how it is...well, the dritt is coming to an end this week, now we can just focus on our area, it should be good for the last few weeks here. Thanks for everything...I love you all. Tschüss!

Love, Elder Bentz (aka Mooker)

8/16/10....Vivian to be Baptized this Saturday

Cool, Brad is done! I will be sending off his package pretty soon, I might be getting home before it gets to him! if it is anything like last year at least! This week started off pretty normal, but ended up as one of the most different weeks of my mission. It started with a sweet pday in Düsseldorf, playing basketball with the rest of the zone, and then going by on this sweet less active family, and they fed us a lot of noodles, so far so good...then we have German class the next day with Vivian, our investigator from Taiwan, and we started off talking about what she had read out of the Book of Mormon, and she had some questions and concerns. We resolved them and Bishop (who is also from Taiwan) came in and helped explain it too, which was perfect. After they finished, Bishop left, and then Vivian said, '' That was the last of my concerns, I think I am ready to prepare for Baptism.'' ....OK..... so that really happened. We weren't even planning on talking about baptism again for a while. Because we talked about it a while earlier, and she said she wasn't ready yet, and it seemed like it would be awhile before she would be. but then she comes out with that. It was awesome. So we set a baptismal date for this Saturday, at 3:00 and she is good to go for it. She is way committed to it too, which is awesome. That was by far the best thing that happened this week. The next day we had another ZOKO, interviews were cancelled for it, and these are the big changes: ZOKO will be only every 3 months (all of these changes are world-wide changes that all missions are already doing, but we were for some reason left out of it...) interviews also, and the whole way missionaries will be trained at the MTC will be changed pretty much the whole thing is about not teaching lessons, but people. Making missionaries better teachers, and actually helping them to become great teachers, and not just people who repeat the same lessons over and over again. It is really nothing new, they just want missionaries to know that from the beginning instead of having to figure it out for themselves, like we did...and not know it until they are a year or so out...It should help the program all over. So that was that. After that. Elder White went home to go sign up for school on time, and so he was in Mönchen-Gladbach and it is really close to our area here in Krefeld. Elder White left, and his companion Elder Wildey, from New York is now with us here in Krefeld. We are in a drit here and still have to take care of 2 areas, and so that is a little stressful, but all in all it is a blast, more missionaries, more fun, that is pretty much how i see it, no matter who it is...and so we are together for about 2 weeks total, and it is going well so far. Transfer calls are this weekend, and then I will know what will happen for my last cycle, who is killing me, and if I am staying or getting ghosted. So next emails will be pretty big as well. So, that is about it for me, thanks for listening, I hope all is well, I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

8/9/10.......Mystery Zone Conference

Brad McMullin, serving in Chicago area comes home next week. Imagine not seeing your best friend for 2 years? There are lots of ways missionaries sacrifice. They will be seeing each other soon and hiking the Grand Canyon. Our friend Wes Dean will be coming to town for Mooker's homecoming. He's pretty excited.

Brad is already home to me. I will be sending a package to him pretty soon, at his home address, for our birthday...WES!! That is sweet that he will be there for my homecoming. I love that guy...Matt and Melanie moved, cool. I didn't hear anything from either of them this week, but Melanie is pretty good about writing me and even sends pics a lot of the time. This week went well, Vivian is doing well, and already finished the Book of Mormon, She read all of Mosiah in 1 day! She says that once she starts, she can't put it down, so that is cool. She is still not where she needs to be to get baptized, but it is coming, ever so slowly...We have another zoko this week, it is a special one too, nobody knows what it is even about. Everyone thinks it is going to be a Preach My Gospel 2.0 and it will change a lot about how we are doing missionary work, pretty exciting. We are in Düsseldorf again today for Basketball, should be fun. well. that is about it for me, I will send emails only 8 more times, so get in what you want to be said :) Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

8/2/10......Homecoming, Shuss ! don't talk about it

Yeah, I will definitely be going on that Grand Canyon hike with Ed. Be sure to tell the Elders coming over for dinner, all about me and that I will be coming home really soon, and making sure they are doing good missionary work! jk, :) That will be weird to be on the other side of the table once I get back...anyway, yeah, those packages are probably at Koblenz address, and I still have not gotten them, so tell them that I did not, but still really appreciate it :) OH! be sure to take pics, and\or videos of Brad's homecoming, I totally want you to do that for mine too, I think I will be holding a camera while I am walking off of the plane...DON'T TALK ABOUT IT! IT IS STILL 2 MONTHS AWAY!!!!!!! so, this week, we had fun playing basketball in Düssseldorf with the rest of the zone, and then we had zoko and we were able to meet the rest of the missionaries who came into our mission from the merge a month ago. It was pretty cool. Vivian is doing ok. We tried to get her to see a baptism in Duisburg, a city close to Krefeld, but her GPS got us lost and we missed it, so that was too bad, but she came to church and is still meeting with us. She ended up hearing about some stuff about Mormons from some coworker, and so the last appointment we had we talked about plural marriage and why married people get to ''heaven''. I love it when people try to help us! NOT! She is still ok, and still wants to meet with us, but I don't think it will be happening for a while now though, keep praying though, it always helps. We made out some appts. with some other families this week and will see if we can't get anything from that. The weather is really crappy again today, and doesn't look like it is going to get any better. Summer is like already finished over here. It isn't hot anymore, and it is actually looking more like the beginning of Winter than the end of Summer. oh well. That is about it for me. Thanks for writing, I look forward to seeing some pics next email! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

7/26/10.......I moved to Krefeld, Please pray for Vivian

This week I was at Girls camp and one of our sunday activities was to write the missionaries. Elder Bentz moved this week, so I emailed the mission office for his new address so he will get the letters that girls wrote to him. Here is his latest letter:

I can't promise that I will write anybody else from now on...but i will try at least :) Girls Camp sounded fun. Yeah, sorry that I didn't get the address to you last week, but i guess you have it now anyways. Tomorrow is zoko, and that is always a good time. Today is the crappiest weather ever. It is training and will the entire day it looks like. We are going to Düsseldorf for basketball with some other Elders, and it will be indoors so it will be ok with the weather. My ankle is ok now, and it sounds like yours is ok too. Last week we helped with this move for our Bishop, Bishop Wang, and it took THE ENTIRE DAY! My back was pretty sore afterwards, but it's not bad now. Vivian did not come to church this week because she had a friend come from out of town. We will be meeting with her quite a bit this week though. Pray for her. :) So get this, there was this ''Love Parade'' in Duisburg, a city right next to us, and it is pretty much a giant DeBauchery fest, and bad stuff going on all of the time. anyway, 19 people died and hundreds more were injured due to the fact that a bridge was shut down, and too many people tried to get past it, and there was a panic, and some people fell off of it, the planning committee planned only for 250,000-500,000 people to show up, but 1.5 million people showed up, soooo, there will not be another one of those ... ever...hmmmm, we went by on a few inactives this last week, and did some finding time. Krefeld is not too bad of a city. ok, it is not as cool as Koblenz, but it´is green at least, and the ward is ok. well, that is about it for me. Thanks for writing. I love you all! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

7/19/10......bad week for hurt legs

Last week Elder Bentz emailed that his Pday was really full and he didn't have time to write. While packing to leave San Diego I fell and hit my leg really hard. now there is a hematoma on my shin that will take a while to go away I'm sure. Here is Elder Bentz next letter:

I heard from everybody that SAn Diego was great, and i got a lot of sweet pics from Heidi. Man, that stair roller coaster you rode sounds fun! I want to ride it too! jk join the club mom! Last week we were playing soccer after we went to this castle in Bonn, and i kicked another Elder in th shin, and he was fine, but my shin got rocked! now my left shin has a sweet yellow bruise on it, and it hurts when i walk, great! it's ok though, hopefully today when we play soccer it will go away :) So, I got transferred to Krefeld for my last two cycles. It is a pretty nice place, we have an investigator in from Taiwan, who was a referral from the bishop, bishop Wang, who is also from Taiwan, and we should be getting a baptismal date with her in the next week or so, we'll see. Koblenz is gone, too bad, I liked that place a lot, but now i am here. so, that's that., oh yeah, I am with Elder Guin, from North Carolina, he is cool. that's about it. I wrote some other stuff to other people, you will have to check with them to see what else there was. I can' remember anything else special that happened. thanks for writing. I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

7/6/10.....Germany in WC quarterfinals

Well, that is too bad that it is cold in Sand Diego, but it will be nice next year, i know it...and i will be there:) I an currently writing from our ward mission leaders home, he is letting us use his laptops and then we are going to play some mini golf, it will be my first time doing that in Germany, all the courses are made out of cement, and no artificial turf, so that is too bad, but we shall see nonetheless (nichtsdestoweniger)hmmm, this last week, Germany won in the quarter finals of the world cup, and people went CRAZY here, I can`t imagine what it will be like if they actually win it all, should be sweet, from what i hear, they have pretty good odds now...It is now super hot here, and trying to get to sleep at night is just about as bad as trying to sleep in Steve and Tausha`s old basement apartment: impossible, soooo, I gotta deal with that, but it`s not too bad actually, oh yeah, I got the package, thanks for all the stuff i asked for, i have already had some SPAM, and cholula, I love that stuff. 4th of July wasn`t eventful at all for us, the only people who remembered that it was 4th of July were other Elders, and that wasn`t THAT cool. This last week we had some sweet eating appts with members, and did some more finding time. Patricia came to church again, but the Geisens did not again, so they really need to start doing that before ANYTHing big starts to happen with them. lhmmmmmm....i think that s about it...sorry that its not too much for you all, but hopefully you won`t cry....`til then! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

6/28/10...going to see a Castle

Wow, that is cool that you are in Sand Diego right now. I hope you are all appreciating it! Well, I got some news today, my old comp, Braithwaite, is getting married on August 6th, so that is cool. We had interviews last week, and a split with the Bonn Elders, went well, Finding time all day, and found nothing really, so that`s that. That is good that Ed is planning to take us to the GC in Oct. That will be fun. that would be col to have you all there too. We should be going to a castle today for pday, the first time i have been to one, so I will be sure to get some pics too. The weather is now officially hot, and should just be getting hotter now, I love it. can`t wait to get some AZ heat! the mission merge is this week, on July first, and then transfers a week later, so i think i will just be staying here, but we`ll have to see. Ewa started her new job this week, and Florian blessed the sacrament on Sunday, so that was cool. We are trying to work more with the members now, so we should be seeing some kind of reaction coming up now...anyway. take care, and know that i love and miss you all, not to the point of being homesick or anything, but yeah,. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

6/21/10........bday package coming

WISH LIST FOR BIRTHDAY PACKAGE:

-Cholula\ Taco Bell sauce (ALOT)

-SPAM!!!!! PLEASE!!!! (seriously, multiple cans)

-Sweet Baby Ray`s BBQ sauce, Elder Smith convinced me to let him use almost all of it last time for this chicken thing he made, but it ended up sucking, AND wasting the BBQ sauce!

-Whatever else you can think of that would be good for me...but really, those top three things would be AWESOME!!!!!!!

• Well, I never messed around with the fonts or colors before, pretty cool... Well, That all sounds good about the Vacation, and Matt and Melanie, and steve and Tausha and Melanie. Heidi for some reason did not write me this week, but i found out the Lakers won! YES! I would really like the details of that game if you could get them to me, it went to game 7!! Man, everything sounds good at home. I want to go to a dbacks game too! take me! and a Suns game! and Cardinals! well, this last week was pretty slow for us. We had ZOKO in Düsseldorf, and it was good, all about finding new people to teach. Speaking of, that`s all we did last week! and found nothing...unfortunately...but hey, there`s always...this week. Patricia came to church, the first time she has come tzwice in a row, Florian did not, Ewa also did not, but we are pretty sure Ewa was sick, and Florian couldn`t find a ride in time, oh well, we should be meeting with them this week anyway...World Cup is going on and i hear that USA is donig awesome, Watching it at all? I am totally going to buy that soccer package from direct TV when i get back...We had a pretty good dinner at a member`s home yesterday, and We played Uno afterwards, pretty fun family...hmmm...that`s about it. Thanks for writing, and know that i love you all! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

New members going strong....6/14/10

Ed just told me that Rainy Hale got called to the New York, New York South Mission speaking Spanish. man, I guess nobody cares about me being gone...whatever. Man, Brad goes home in less than 2 months! It. Is. Crazy. Well, this last week was pretty lame, We had like 4 fallen out appointments, and a lot of finding time where we didn`t find anybody, and it rained last week too. The weather today is nice, and this week we have zoko, so that should be good, we have to drive all the way to Düsseldorf, which is like 280 KM there and back, and like 5 hours of driving total, lame, but so it is....Patricia came to church yesterday, and Florian received the Aaronic Priesthood, and he almost didn`t have a ride, so we called him up right as church started, and asked if hw wanted a ride, and we got one for him, because he lives way far away, and he has no driver`s license yet, so he is dependent on a ride every week for church, but it worked out well. We ran into this crazy kid from Berlin the other day, and he just asked us for directions, and we told him how to get where he wanted, and then he just starts talking about movies, and France, and Racism, and sympathy, it was way weird, but yeah, that`s about it for us. Thanks for all the updates. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Looking for new Investigators.....6/7/10

Thanks for the pics. Steve looks like a goober...(sorry, it's just he has his eyes closed on the pic you sent)how did he get TAUSHA? that baby is happy too. That is too bad about the condo in San Diego being sold, but there are definitly more than enough for everybody to go there, all the time, so it's good that you found another place. Well, I guess I will start working on my talk for the 24th of October...I am with Elder Hantla right now, He is from Sandy Utah, and way cool. Still in Koblenz. The weather right now is decent, actually quite hot at times, but it`s doable...We have to go to Bonn now every week for District meetings, and that eats up a lot of our clicks, we only have 1700 clicks for the whole month, so it goes a lot faster than you want it to. Florian came to church yesterday, Ewa found a new job, and she will be starting that in July, so that is good, she won´t have to work on weekends anymore...Everybody else right now is kind of just floating, so we really need some new investigators. any referrals? Well, hopefully next week i will be able to tell you of the new investigator we found, sorry this is so short...Thanks for writing, and the pics. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

I am not a Lumberjack...5/24/10

Alright, for transfers, I am staying here in Koblenz, and getting Elder Hantla, he is from Utah, and he is way cool. Elder Voutilainen is going to Offenbach, if that says anything to you...and.-...well, that`s about it. The rest of the transfer stuff wouldn`t interest any of you anyways...Florian`s baptism went well. The water was really low, so he had to do it twice, his knee came up the first time. His wife was so happy right after he was baptized, she was crying and hugged her sister who is also a member, it was really nice. I gave a talk on baptism there, and was sweating like crazy!!! It was pretty hot that day though.... anyways, he was confirmed yesterday, and now he is a member!!!! YES!!!!! yesterday, we also had Ward conference, and it was way nice, Elder Voutilainen got to say good bye to everybody, and there was a sweet party afterwards, and we ate a lot.Sounds like Steve and Tausha are already rich (Disney cruise with the Barclay family), going on all of those vacations and stuff...and Matt and Melanie (Hawaii with the Buchanan family) too, what gives!?!? hmmm, we also helped this member family chop wood, and I sucked at it, with an axe, the member guy worked as a lumberjack for a long time, so he was pro at it...naja. that new Robin Hood would be cool I bet, Russell Crowe is a good actor, also I saw a poster for Prince of Persia, how is that? Thanks for everything, Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Holiday changes Pday...this week

Robin and I went back up to Utah to see the baby and attend Tausha's sister, Kayla's wedding to Tyson Hall. Enjoy Elder Bentz' letter.

Kayla's wedding must have been fun, there are so many good looking girls in Manti...well, this week was pretty average, it got super hot here, and I even got a little sunburn! we helped this one member family with some garden work, and also went to this other crazy family's place, oh yeah, so you're probably wondering why I am writing on Tuesday and not monday now, well, yesterday was a holiday here, Pentecost, so all the stores were closed, and it wouldn't really make sense to have pday on a day when you couldn't go shopping, so we have it today, it all works out. Florian is ready to go for his baptism on Saturday, and Ewa is doing good too, still looking for a new job though so she doesn't have to work on Sundays...ummmm...We went by on 2 referrals we got, which is quite rare to get referrals form the office, and it turns out that neither of the addresses existed! that's our luck though, oh well. The weather is nice enough to wear short sleeve shirts and I love it. hmmmmm...what else? Patricia came to church again, but the organ player totally botched up one of the songs so it made our ward here look like a bunch of, well, it just wasn't the best performance I have seen in a ward house, let's just say that. anyways, that's about it for me.Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Another baptism scheduled.....

Well, thanks for the information on stake president and the bishop, that activity sounds nice. I love Hawaiian food. this week was pretty good. Florian had his baptismal interview, and he is good to go, so he will be getting baptized on May 29th, in Wiesbaden, in a normal Baptismal font, nothing special this time. hmmm, what happened this week? well, yesterday at church we had like 120 people at church, which is pretty crazy when you are only used to having like 40 people there. There was this Mormon biker gang, that does a tour through Germany, and they ended their tour yesterday with Koblenz branch, it was pretty sweet. We helped this one family move a washing machine that was way heavy, and also some other furniture, we helped Ewe Flügel(picture of her at baptism, below) paint her apartment, and tomorrow we will be going over there to help her finish it up. had some good lessons with the other investigators, and that was about it. I am sorry, my life is boring for all of you normal people, transfer calls are in 2 weeks, so not the next one, but that next email I will know if I am leaving, or staying, or getting someone new, or whatever, so I will keep you updated...thanks for writing, and sending the info I needed. I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Baptism of Ewa, april 30, 2010

Zone Conf, shopping, baptisms.....5/3/10

I had my gall bladder out on friday and told Mooker about it. Here is his weekly letter. Enjoy...

Wow, That is news about the surgery thing...anyways, yeah, I will be skyping around 3 or 5 o'clock here or even earlier..., so that would mean around 7am for you all, might have to skip church or something, oh well, and make sure to call michael Kraus over, even though it is early, maybe call him a day before...and Matt and Melanie too....Steve and Tausha wrote me and told me their info, so i should be able to do it with them too...It will be cool, because that day, Mothers day, will be the day that Ewa will be confirmed, and also i will be giving a talk that day, I should be able to show you all some pics of the baptism and stuff, sooo, hmmm, what happened this week, we met with Florian Steinhauer again, and he came to church again too! sweet. After the lesson, he made us sooo much food, meat on the grill, Germans love to grill stuff, it was way good. We settled all of the stuff for the baptism, and had quite a few lessons this week, the most i have ever had on my mission, 12, tell matt that, and I'll bet he never got that high...neither had i, hopefully it will stay that way, but this week is zoko, and that is one less day to do stuff, but yeah, this week should go by pretty dang fast, zoko, baptism, phone call, pretty sweet. The weather is really nice now, and i took in my pants to get them taken in, now they fit nice and european like, meaning extra tight,,, :) also one of ym shirts I got it slim fitted, looks pretty good. But yeah, I shouldn't be spending too much more money on stuff until closer to the end, I want some nice shoes, and some more european shirts, which are way better, and slimmer. but yeah, oh yeah, this week we watched this movie, One Good Man, it is about a bishop, and his life, made by members, pretty cool, the ward here was able to get a copy of it, and we had an investigator come to watch it, so we came too :) it was pretty good..anyways, thanks for writing, and hopefully everything works out with skype, and I will SEE you on Sunday, til then, Tschüs! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Weather is warming up...Baptism on track 4/26/10

Well, you did not say anything about the skype thing, so I assume you don't want to do it, oh well, Mother's day is on May 9th, so, we'll see what happens...This last week was pretty crazy, we ended up moving the baptism of Ewa to May 8th, that will be easier for everybody we and she figured, because now it will be just one day between the baptism and the confirmation, instead of 8 so that is better. We had 2 people come to church this last week, and Florian was one of them, totally unexpected too, It was way cool. We had a split with our DL over here, and we had a nice time, don't get to do splits too often here in Koblenz, pretty far away from everybody else...but yeah, transfers, were supposed to be last week, but that Icelandic volcano postponed them until this week, so the missionaries who were supposed to go home last week ended up having to stay another week out here, lame, I don't think that will be happening to me...I hope... but yeah, thanks for the pics, Rachel looks alot more like Kathy than i remember, Andrea is a cute kid...how are steve and tausha doing? I don't get to hear from them that often...They're pretty busy though...but hey, about skype again, if you do end up wanting to do it, That would be pretty sweet if you were able to get Matt and Melanie over there too, and perhaps even with Steve and Tausha, just make two phone calls...We will be going over to our Ward Mission leader's home to do it, and he is way cool about it...sooo, just sayin', and don't forget about Michael getting over there too...So, yeah, I can't remember anything else really cool that happened this last week...soo, thanks for everything, take care and know that i love you and only have 5 months left!!! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker...

2 Baptism dates coming up....April 19, 2010

This week in church we met a man who had just returned from Switzerland and met an Elder Bentz. He wondered if our sons mission crossed over the border. It doesn't.

Well, I am not in Switzerland, sorry...but I have also heard of another Elder Bentz out here, from some girl in church, she came up to me and asked me if I was some brother of another guy, Elder Bentz, who looked really similar...?... anyways, I am staying in Koblenz, and so is Elder Voutilainen, so this will be 3 cycles together, We set another baptismal date with Ewa Flügel this week, and she should be getting baptized on Apr. 30th, so like 2 weeks, should be sweet. we are going to have 2 baptisms this cycle, it is pretty exciting, and the whole mission is doing really well right now too. So, May 9th is Mother's day, I heard that I might be able to use Skype, so, I will give you some more info on that in the next few weeks, but yeah, don't forget to call Michael over there too...Tausha wrote me, and told me all about the Andrea doing the rollover, and dance class she is teaching, and law school, Steve looks like a freaking lawyer...I have seen the posters for Clash of the Titans, looks pretty sweet, 3D? dumb. but I want to try :) Florian is doing really well still, and he is still looking towards baptism, we will be having a baptismal interview with Ewa Flügel this week, and then she will baptized, and then like 3 weeks later, he will be, pretty sweet. Yeah, 165 days? sweet, that is roughly 5 1\2 months... but yeah, don't think about that! anyways, we did some more yard work this week, and it is a lot warmer now, so that is nice. Well, take care family, I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

PS Next package, please send some cholula...(mom says)Sorry mooker glass bottles filled with liquid are against postal regulations internationally. Won't be happening.

baptism in May...April 12, 2010

We taught quite a few lessons, had General Conference, set a baptismal date, walked around....wait, what? YES! we set a baptismal date, not with Ewa, we actually didn't meet with her this whole last week, sadly, she had to work alot, but we set it with someone who we didn't even expect to set it with!. His name is Florian Steinhauer, he lives super far away, and is married to a member from Brazil, but she is inactive, Elder Voutilainen felt that we needed to go by on them, we did, taught a spiritual thought and set an appointment to come back the next week. We came back, and were just having some small talk at the beginning, and he was telling us about some dumb stuff that happened at work, and then he said, '' but i do have good news too...ich will mich taufen lassen.'' meaning, i want to be baptized. ... ....We're all like, yeah, ok, just expecting him to say, that he found something cool, but then he says that, and we're like, yeah...WHAT!!??! well, that's great. we are going to be teaching him for a while, the date is for the 29th of May, and he will be coming to church with his family as well, within 2 weeks once he gets his driver's license, that will be good. So, that is the big thing that happened this week. Transfer calls are on Saturday, so next week i will know and tell you if anything is happening or not. only 4 left, not too much longer...so, that is about it for me.I bought some new pants...European pants...they are slim fit, and are way better than my American ones, which make me look like freaking MC Hammer...so, that was about 60€, worth it...I need some shirts and shoes now, and then it will be done, the whole clothes buying thing...so....oh yeah, we also did A LOT of service this week, and last too! and this week! freaking gardens...but yeah, keep me updated... I love you all! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Forgot about the Pday move!

Well, it's come to this, I don't even get a weekly letter anymore, well, I guess I will write something... General Conference was pretty cool, we only were able to see the Priesthood session, and the one where Jeffrey R. Holland talked about pornography, so, good ones, but not all of them, i am gonna have to wait for the Ensign to come out, and then just read them then, but it is never the same as seeing them live, oh well. This past week was pretty good for us, we did not get the opportunity to meet with Ewa, because she had to work, but we will be meeting her tomorrow, that should be good. hopefully setting a baptismal date with her, because now it is warm enough outside :) Gas is...1,60€ per Liter? i think that is around the price of it at least, to fill up our car, from pretty much empty to full costs around 50€ every time, we have an Opel Corsa, it has a sewing machine for an engine i swear. Yeah, Zone Conference was really nice, it is always nice to be able to see the other missionaries. We also had interviews with President this last week. hmmm....other than that i can't really remember anything that happened. We have been teaching a lot more lately, and it is going great, The Geisen family was pretty cool this last week, we got to teach his wife now too! and we found another new investigator that lives SUPER far away, so we can only go over there once a week, unfortunately, oh well, so it is with a car...but, yeah, that is about it for me, thanks for writing? Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Pdays moved to mondays...March 30, 2010

Hey, I got that package, thanks for all of the stuff, especially the Sardines? thanks dad...good choice with the cup Ramen, I guess the next and last package is gonna be my bday package, and then that's it! unless you want to send me some more stuff too :) that pic of Matt is pretty cool, and Chloe is looking old. Where is Mike and his wife living now? still in the ward? WEll, this last week was pretty cool, we had zone conference, and we had to travel for 5 hours! we got thrown off of the train, because we didn't have the right ticket, well, it just didn't start ''working'' until 9 AM, and it was only 7AM, whatever, we got off in the tiniest little dorf, and had to wait an hour! but we got there nonetheless, it was pretty cool, We set a new mission goal of 200 baptisms for 2010, which is quite a bit compared to our last one for 2009, of 100. We are all pretty excited about it, and teaching 20 lessons a week, so that will keep me going until the end at least :) but yeah, we had daylight savings time this last week, and now it stays light longer. We did a butt-load of go-bys this last week, and a lot of walking. General Conference is this weekend, and we will be going to Wiesbaden for that, those are always fun, we are going to have a couple investigators there too! that always helps :) btw, is dad writing down all of the movies for me to see when i get back? I hope he is...anyways, we are meeting with Andreas Geisen, that referral again later this week, he is pretty cool, but he has like 7 dogs, and we get really dirty whenever we go over there. yeah, thanks for writing, oh! btw, our pdays will be changing to Mondays in two weeks, so, that is when I will be writing from now on...you're gonna have to get used to it... yeah. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Referrals equal............... investigators

That stinks about ASU going up for tuition, I don't know what I am going to do...I gotta get a job either way...hopefully I will be able to get some type of scholarship, but we'll have to wait and see, anyways...This last week was pretty cool for us, we had a lot of good lessons and we got a referral from the mission office telling us about this guy, who was referred from a friend in Australia. We go by, and we get let in, start to talking, and it turns out, that this referral, Andreas Geison, met this other guy, Robert Sinclair, an Irish man living in Australia, over the internet, playing Command and Conquer, a PC game, and they became instant best friends, even though neither of them can speak the other one's language very well. weird, anyways. This guy is free evangelical, and very open, he likes that we stress the importance of the family, and the pre-earth life. He seems pretty legit, and hopefully will be making good progress soon. We met with Patricia and Ewa again, and it went well, we have Zone conference this week, and then General Conference next week, so that should go by fast. and then I hit my 6 month mark!!!! well, I have 6 months left, I mean...yes.....anyways, thanks for writing. take care everybody, and tell Steve and Tausha and Matt and Melanie to write me! I don't know anything!!!!! whatever, I didn't write either of them while they were on their missions...thanks TSCHÜSS!

"Dreck Weg Tag"....Clean the church grounds

Cool stuff about the laptop and garden, everyone sounds good too. This last week was, not too cool, we had finding time alot of it, and yeah, that is about it. Ewa came to church, and then yesterday to a member's home for FHE, so that was cool. We also had a good lesson with Patricia, about the benefits about knowing the church is true and stuff, went well...We also had ''Dreck Weg Tag'' where went around the area around the church building, and picked up trash, and it went well, a new convert's son came , who is not a member, so that was also cool. We had dinner over at the Rumbach jr's home on Sunday, and they gave us this pretty lame casserole, the mom is American, but still, casserole's are and should be an American thing, It was all just whole grain and stuff, pretty...healthy? At least we have eating appointments, so that is good, they are a really nice family, and we should be meeting with them some time later this week to teach a friend of theirs. We also went over to this one family's place, and this guy, Bro. Baumann, is crazy! He has this old Thompson rifle, from like world war 1, and he showed it to us, and he sleeps on like two hundred pounds of dynamite, so does his wife, they are really perfect for each other...their food was good, we had a stew, and some tea, that we found out later was from black tea extract, so...yeah, Germans are a little...yeah....anyways, can't think of anything else really except that we are going to have Zoko next week, and that's about it. The weather is getting better, I think we are done with the snow finally, and it is starting to warm up, I can't wait for Summer! Thanks for writing, take care and know that I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

It all went pretty well.........March 9, 2010

Well, this last week wasn't too eventful, we got transfer calls, and we are both staying here, My companion will be here now for 7 transfers! (that's pretty dang long) He is not too happy about it, but it's ok. Address is still the same, so feel free to send me some packages. We went on a splits with the young men, and went over to this inactive lady's house, and it went well, the young men had a good time, I, through a weird course of events ended up going with 3 young men to this one lady and her family, but it turned out well. Today, I saw a lady with one of those cactus things on the antennae of her car, and I asked her if she had been to AZ, but she said that New Mexico is where she got it, but she went through AZ too. Everyone loves the outdoors over here, especially american outdoors, we have a lot more than they do :) but yeah, also helped out with a move, had a tiny little trailer, and it took quite a while, but went well, my back was kind of hurting afterwards, but whatever. I am now in my 12th cycle as a missionary, which means that I only have 4 MORE possibilities of being transferred, and then I am gone, it really does fly by. That's about it for me. Take care! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Shut down by a neighbor....... but attend a baptism

Happy Birthday! Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag! That sounds cool about Spencer's talk, and Bro. Child's, also, about you getting a laptop! Yeah, I started writing letters last week, I am really far behind, tell them that I will be getting some out pretty soon. Well, last week was decent. We wete not able to meet with Ewa, because she had to work, but we will tomorrow. Cool\not cool story: Yesterday, doing some doors in the area, and we get let in by these two nice Russian people, we got to talking, and they were really nice and liked us, we watched this DVD called finding happiness with them, and they liked it, they are already christians, we got to talking a little more about what our message was, and the Book of Mormon came up, The guy didn't seem to understand the word Mormon, but before we could explain to him that it wasn't a word, more a name, he got on the phone with his upstairs neighbor who is supposedly his go to person for religious questions, and she ended up telling him that we are a sect (which I think we are, in the actual meaning of the word, just like every church that is christian is a sect of Christianity, correct me if I am wrong...but...) which is not good in German, meaning that we are more like a Cult, sooo...we were actually talking pretty good with his wife who seemed good with it, but he came back, and there was now a wall, he completely shut down, and didn't even let us talk anymore, all because his freaking dumb neighbor told them that we were a sect! We are the CHURCH of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I really hate people sometimes, When we left I left a pass along card in the neighbor's mailbox that said DANKE! (I hope she gets it that it's sarcastic...) but, so it is in the life of a missionary, hopefully that lady will be held accountable for it and burn in hell...well, let's not get carried away, Anyways, the rest of the week was also good, but that was about it that I can think of that was really exciting for you to hear about...
OH GOOD NEWS, we were able to go to the baptism of Lauritz,in Friedrichsdorf, my last area, and it was awesome, he was really glad that I was able to come, it was really nice to go back, and see all of the friends I have there in F-Dorf. It went well, he got baptized, and then we had cake and ice cream, and it was all great. Got some good pics, and yeah, that's it. Just thought you would like to know that as well. that's about it for me, Take Care! 7 months!!! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Pres. Uchtdorf in Germany.....

I got the camera cards today, really good timing, exactly 7 days this time...thanks for sending them so pünktlich. Hopefully you got all of the pics off, and everything is saved. Well, that is good news about Amare stoudemire staying, I am totally going to some Suns games when I get back. OH!!! Mom, we went to this party for an inactive member this last week, and there were nothing but non members there. We taught 2 lessons, and we got one lady's contact as a referral for some other missionaries in her area. It was way cool, anyways, I ended up showing everyone at the party, the picture of my family, the one where you are all at the Temple in St. George Utah for the wedding, and everyone saw you and were really surprised that you were 50 ( I told them...) because you looked so pretty and good, so, I thought you would like to know that mom. :) Sooo, this week, yesterday, we had a Zone Development Meeting (ZDM) and it was in Frankfurt, and we had to travel for like 3 hours on trains to get there, but it was good, it was about the 7 traits of missionaries who baptize more, so it was good, then we went and had lunch at a really good place called Vapiano's. We have been having some really good lessons with our Investigators right now. Patricia, from Ghana is really opening up to the message, and waiting for her answer to the BoM and Ewe, from Poland is going well too, waiting for it to warm up so she can be baptized in a lake or river here. We gave her a Polish Book of Mormon the other day, she really liked it. She is also trying to find a job so she doesn't have to work on Sundays, please pray for her to get that. It is finally starting to warm up now, I think it snowed for the last time now, and it is bearable outside to go out without a jacket, but still a little ''nipply'' outside. OH!!! also, we had an area stake conference on Sunday, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf was in Berlin with the area Presidency and addressed all of the saints in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, it was really awesome, he spook in German, and Barbara Thompson from te general Relief Society also. She went on her mission to Hamburg when she was younger, it was sweet. He talked about how the German speaking saints need to step up the faith and start doing more missionary work and stuff, cause the whole world right now is picking up on missionary work, except the German speaking areas. It was way sweet. That is about it happening for us right now, hopefully all is well at home, and you are enjoying the weather. Just to let you know, I will probably not be sending home any more camera cards for the rest of my time, It's not too long, don't worry, I will not lose them like Matt. We'll see...Well, Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Quasi Baptism date?

A! everything sounds good about that Valentine dance mom put on. Also, quick note, have you sent my camera cards back yet? if not, please do! I am on my last one here, and would like my other ones back so I could use them again. well, We had Karneval here yesterday, where there are parades, and tons of people in the city, we watched some parades, and everyone was really loud, and singing and dancing, and this one lady next to us offered us some of the cheese that she brought with! I took some of course...It was way fun, I don't know what they celebrate it for, but it is way cool, we don't have anything like it in the states. We also had zone conference with Elder Teixeira from the area presidency who came and talked with us. He shared some really sweet experiences with us, about how his family came to the church, and things we could do to be better. It was really helpful, I am glad that they have that kind of stuff on missions. Also, we set a quasi baptismal date with one of our investigators, she said she will get baptized, but not in any of the fonts, she thinks they are ugly...oh well, she said that she wants to get baptized in the river here, or in a lake, but that won't be happening until it gets warmer, so, we'll see, but it is still good that we have her. Her name is Ewa (Eva) she is from Poland and is really nice. 50 years old about...Thanks for the money, that should last for the rest of the time. I bought some ties last week, don't worry, they're nice. well, that's too bad about Amare Stoudemire and the suns, I am sure the Cavs will do well this next season, with LeBron AND Stoudemire, that will be good, and I will be home to see it! yes...take care and tell mom I love her too. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Valentine Card for Elder Bentz

Sweet, that everybody liked their smoking men, That pleases me. Sounds like a sweet Superbowl game. I got the Valentine Card and letter already too, thanks, it was nice to see that so many people like Kurt Warner. Yeah, Koblenz is really beautiful, not right now, but in the summer time, like the rest of Germany, only in Summer. It should be coming soon enough though. It is still pretty cold, and should be nice in about a month or so, we'll see. Nice to have Matt and Melanie over for Sunday dinners. Well, this last week was pretty good, we are meeting with this 7th day advantist right now, who knows his bible really good, it is kind of hard to get through to him with anything, but it is at least entertaining to hear all that he knows about the bible. We have zoko tomorrow, with Elder Texiera from the area presidency, it should be good. I will tell you about it next week, I am sure. Man, I only have like 8 months left! that is like... only 36 emails left! (estimation...) well, that is about it for me, thanks for everything. know that I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

New Companion in Koblenz

Elder Voutilainen my companions name..this week I got to Koblenz, and it is a lot more different than I expected. We have a car, but only use it to get to District meeting once a week pretty much, which is like 120km away, about an hour and a half car ride, so that is lame, and our windshield is cracked now too, we gotta get that taken in. The branch here is really small, and there are alot of inactive members, but they live REALLY far away, and we don't have enough allotted miles to get to all of them, so that is too bad, but, we do have an English class every week, and last week, my first day here, two Russian ladies came in and said they were there for the English class, and they found a flier that was given out like 7 months ago, so that was pretty cool, they seemed pretty interested in the church as well, so we'll see where that one goes. We have a couple of investigators right now, who could be having a baptismal date pretty soon. My companion is from Finland and pretty cool, he likes techno and stuff. It is a cool area because it is right where two big rivers meet and\or split up, alot of tourists, but still good. It is still cold, and snowy, hopefully it will let up pretty soon. It is February now too! My last one in the field. crazy that January is already over. but so it is. Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

January 26, 2010 .... off to Koblenz

I am leaving to Koblenz tomorrow. After 6 months here in Bad Homburg, I am leaving. I am going to be with some Finnish guy, I can't remember his name, let alone pronounce it, so I will probably be getting that to you next week. It is a car area there, and a tourist town. I think it might be a branch too, so that should be interesting. I am going to miss Bad Homburg, The ward here is awesome, lots of cool members that I have been able to get to know really well. Lauritz is still doing awesome, we met with him yesterday, talked about Lehi's dream, because right now, he is just reading on his own, and we are just making sure that there are no more problems before the Baptism. It is going really well. He made the comment yesterday about the vision, that it is comparable to the restoration too. It totally works! Angel showing where something is? confusion in the world? (dark mist) and persecution. It was way sweet. We got some good pics on Sunday at the Temple together. We went to go teach a new investigator with Michael De Molder, who is preparing to go on his mission, Bishop's Son. It went really well, and hopefully she continues to investigate the church. So, man, that is cool about Favre getting owned. Poor Cards hopefully it is a good game. I am going to be pulling for the Saints, I would like to see them do it. Funny, we talked about the Fall too, we are probably on the same lesson plan, new manual too, way good, no more pics from people in like the 70's. better. Thanks for the pics too, Steve and Tausha and Andrea look great, Next time you all get together could you take a picture of all the people with the last name of Bentz? I would like that, all in one picture. I will kill all of the spiders I darn well please thank you very much! but I will keep in mind that they play a vital role in the earth's ecosystem. That is it from my side of the pond. Thanks for everything family! know that I love you all! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Missionary Pictures

Elder McMullin shares a birthday with Elder Bentz and
sent him a birthday package from Chicago, IL

Elders performing "Eye Of The Tiger"
Mooker bought guitar in Germany

Elder Bentz overlooking the Rhine river

Elder Bentz at the Frankfurt, Germany Temple

Elder Bentz at the zoo

Missionary friends in Germany

The work goes forth.....January 19, 2010

Mooker's brother Steven blessed his daughter Andrea Grace Bentz on January 17, 2010. An event that you miss when you are on a mission.

Hey, that is great that Andrea was blessed on Sunday, lots of hands on the poor kid, did she cry? Dang it. Kayla has a Boyfriend? ... We just finished teaching Lauritz all of the lessons, so right now we just have to make sure he is good to go by the 27th of February. He is doing really well right now. We just found a new lady yesterday who seems pretty promising, fingers crossed. Transfers is coming up, this time next week you will know if I am staying or leaving, I don't really know what is going to happen, I don't have any feelings this time. but I will keep you updated. hmmmm....what else...? hopefully today we will be able to go to the Lamborghini dealership and take some sweet pics inside the cars, but I don't know if they will let us do that, so I guess we will find out. other than that, the weather here is still pretty lame, warmer than a couple days ago, and will hopefully be getting warmer and warmer. thanks for writing, know that I love you all. ! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Baptism date pushed back a bit....1/12/10

DANG! that is too bad about the Packers, at least it was a good game to watch I am sure. and the Suns sound good too. Hopefully the Cards can go all the way this year, that would be sweet for them, The packers ...dang. ok, that nativity set was expensive but..don't worry about paying it back or anything... really....don't let her. Did my other packages get there yet? it sure is taking a long time for them. Have fun up in Utah, the weather here is pretty cold, yesterday, we were at 1 degree celsius for the whole day, with quite a lot of snow too, so that makes it EXTRA fun. I do not have big boots believe it or not, and it is working out ok, I didn't have any last year either, it's not that bad actually. Let's just say that these shoes probably won't be the ones I wear to church once I get home. Today, we went to the Temple, and played some games at the church with the rest of the District, pretty fun. Tonight we are going on a split with the Bishop and going over to Marion, that old lady who is kind of sick, hopefully it will go well, but we'll see. Lauritz has a new baptismal date for the 27th of Feb. it is a ways off, but we all feel good about it, we prayed in the middle of the lesson, and asked if it was right for him, it felt right, so that is what we are going with. It is a little ways off, but he will probably be ready before then, and then we can just move it up then. Transfer calls are NEXT Saturday, so I will tell you if I am getting transferred in 2 weeks from today, so that is that. Nothing else really, thanks for being cool, know that I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Send souvenirs home from Germany.....1/5/10

ok, The big Bier stein is MINE! that thing was Super expensive, and it is staying in our house. I DID get Heidi something, I sent three packages home, so one more should be coming too. The tiny ornaments are mine too, and also the big smoking man, the hunter one.I sent that big jacket home, because first of all, it is ENORMOUS, and secondly, I got another one from Elder Braithwaite, and it works just fine. that thing weighed like 8 lbs.! anyways, I will probably not end up buying another nativity set, because i will not be going back to Frankfurt. The Bier stein suffices. and about that money that has been spent, yeah, I bought a suit, a nice one, sooo....yeah, now I can check that off of the list, and now the last big thing I should buy is shoes. So, yeah. It is a really nice Boss suit, don't worry. Sweet news about the Packers, I hope they beat them again. This week Lauritz didn't come to church, he visited a friend, and was not able to come back in time to get there, we should be meeting with him again tomorrow though, we will pobably have to end up moving the baptismal date back a little, but he should still be going through with it some time soon. I got a lot of pictures from the Reception, from Heidi, it looks great! We are going to play ultimate frisbee today, and it will be sweet, it is a really nice winter day, about as good as it gets for the winter anyways...well, that is about it from me this week, not too much, but at least it is something. Thanks for everything! Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Mooker sent home Christmas gifts.....12/29/09

Well...don't worry too much about that spider thing from the video, he had it coming to him any ways, and beside, he is in a better place...I think...sweet, you got the other package, Did you open your plate and Bierkrug I sent? I really hope they didn't break. and all of that other stuff, yeah, just like put it in the closet or attic or something, idk. Cool, that Mike L. Is engaged. So yeah, you sent the email twice, so here is what I can say: Christmas was wonderful here, we went to 5 family's homes over the 3 days here, and had aLOT to eat, It was really nice. We went over to one family's home, and they aren't members, it was really nice, It snowed the last week before Christmas, but then the snow melted away, and now it is just cold and miserable weather over here, but so it is. Lauritz, our investigator, is making some good progress, and he should be getting baptized on the 16th of Jan. so pray for him, he needs it. He is way cool, and what is even cooler-he is from a member referral! those are great. So yeah, things are goin really good for us right now, I am still in Bad Homburg, and will prpbably leave here next transfer. The ward here is super great. So, yeah, that is about it from me, thanks for writing, and know that I love you so much. Frohe Weihnachten! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker

Looking forward to Christmas........

Hey, It looks like the wedding was way fun, Heidi sent a bunch of pics, so that was good. Man, I still got money left in that account? sweet, I was planning on buying a car over here anyways, so that's good... No, the only thing left I have to buy that will be a lot of money is gonna be a suit, so, that should be somewhere around the nieghborhood of 300€, hopefully less, I hear the after christmas sales are the best for suits, so we shall see. Dar, the package isn't there yet, it should be getting there soon, the last package I sent however didn't get there for like 2 months, so...mal schauen. Nice of Michael K to watch Chloe. Dang the packers lost. Sweet the cards won, Dang the suns are behind the Lakers, sounds familiar...Yeah, be sure to get the hard copies of the pics, and send the sd cards when you can, but don't delete the pics off of them, I will do that when I get them. Nice work on the Fräuleins, you don't have an umlaut key, so you can't really spell it right :) Well, this week was sweet, we had zoko, and then our Ward Christmas party, it was way fun, It has been snowing here the past week, and there is quite a bit of it on the ground, so that makes walking around a whole lot more fun...not, but so it is. Lauritz is still sick, so he didn't come to church again, and we have not met with him for more than a week now, so that's not going too well, Keep praying for him. We should be dropping by on Marion Günther tonight, other investigator, and caroling with some of the ward members, that should be nice. Today it is raining alot, and Rain+snow=not fun, so yeah. I didn't get any other emails besides you and Heidi this week, so that's lame, but i guess i am talking with Michael this week anyways, and then Christmas too, not too bad of a trade. Yeah, on Christmas we have 2 eating appts with the sweetest families in the ward, and then others on the other days, so that is nice, I can't wait to talk to you all, and hopefully Matt and Steve too. I will just get they're phone numbers from you when we talk. Well, thanks for writing and know that I love you all. Tschüss! Love Elder Bentz aka Mooker