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