June 27, 2011

WOW!!!!!! what another great week!!!! I dont think life could get any
better as a missionary!!!! I hope everyone has had a great week. I am so
excited to tell ya about the week I had.
Well this week has truely been a great learning experience for me. I had a
great opprtunity to be able to listen to the spirit. And we have been so
blessed as a companionship to find so many new people to teach!!!
Well last week I told ya the story about the rough lesson we had with this
lady. For a couple days after the lesson I prayed really hard heavenly
father to comfort and to guide me by thy spirit to know what to say to help
this Lady understand the Plan of Salvation. i prayed to help me become a
better teacher of this gospel that we would get our lesson across to her
clearly. So on Wednesday we got done eating dinner at Sister Thomas's and
went and said Hi to the Stowers for a bit. After we got done and got in our
car Elder Whitehead turned to me and said so Elder Bentley who do you want
to go see i remember just taking the time to listen to the spirit go to
Anita's. So I did I drove straight there. I remeber an overwhelming spirit
come upon me as we said the prayer before we got out of the car.( As a
companionship we always pray before we get out of the car, it helps alot
with out teaching appoitments or whatever we decide to do). So as we went
inside. Anita sat us down and said Elders i prayed tonight asking heavenly
father if you could come by and see me tonight. Thank you so much for
stopping by. At this point I was just astonished , I was amazed I had the
chance to listen to the spirit to know what we should do. The lesson that
night went so well!!! better than the last one!!!! She understood the plan
of salvation better, and seemed to accept it a little bit more. I am so
greatful I answered her prayers. We were so blessed this week to teach so
many people. Through teaching these people we found 8 new people to teach
and all the lessons went so well!!!! I am so greatful for Elder whitehead
and the chance we have to work together in this great and marvelous
work!!!!! I love it!!! Yesterday I had the chance to confim Zach Lamb member
of the church . I was so scared I was going to mess up the prayer again I am
so great ful I got the special opprtunity to do this for him!!!! I am so
greatful I had the chance to baptize him and his mom in the church!!!! I am
so greatful for alll the friends I am making here in Logan!!
So this week we get our new mission president !!!! President Pitt!!! I am
so happy I get the chance to experience 2 mission presidents. I have learned
so much from President Thornock but I am so excited to learn from President
Pitt. He is going to be touring the mission and coming to see us here in
Logan at least we wont have to clean up our appartment to much!!! ha ha
So I have been progressing so much in my gospel studies!!!! I am almost
done with 2 Nephi. I am so greatful Nephi simplifies what Isaiah says. I
sometimes wonder what was going through Joseph smiths mind as he read about
himself. I think that would be so crazy I dont know how I would react ha ha
. Probably one of my favorite verses I read this week was in 2 Nephi 31: 20

" Wherefore, ye must pressforward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a
perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if
ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the
end, behold, thus saith the father: ye shall have eternal life. "

I love that scripture so much!!!! its exactly what i needed to hear after a
hard week. I know if I just have a perfect brightness of hope everyday and
show my love towards everyone!!!! I will pressforward in this work. i will
press forward to having eternal life!!!!! I love this scripture so much!!!!
I hope everyone can apply this to themselves as much I applied it to mine.
If you ever have a bad day or anything think of this scripture and have that
perfect brightness of hope for a better day. And i promise things will be
better as we do this and especially as we listen to that special special
gift of the Holy Gohst which Heavenly father has given us all. I am so
deeply greatful heavenly father gives me trials and hardships even as a
missionary. I have learned so much from them and they have been such a
testimony builder for me. I am greatful for the chance I had to answer
someones prayers this week. I love my heavenly father and I am so greatful I
didnt pass by this special opportunity!!!!!
I hope you all know how much I love ya!!! Thank you all for you letters
and emails you send I really am thankful that you all take that time to
write a missionary 2,000 miles away!!! I love you all so much!!!! Thank you
for everything . Have a great week !!!! Your all the best.
love:
Elder Bentley(moroni 8:3)

June 21, 2011

P.S. Well I heard about our ward splitting. And I am really foing to miss
this awesome castlegate ward. I am going to miss brother Howell and his
great leadership and example in young mens I know that brother howell has
always been example to me but not only to me but to my family. I will
continue to look up to as an example Thank you brother howell for everything
you have taught me and continue to teach me and I am so greatful to call you
my friend!!
Bishop White!!! I dont even know where to begin. I would have never thought
I would gain such a good friend like you before leaving on my mission. I
thank you for being such an awesome friend to my family!!! YOur someone I
look up to as well !!!! I love your family they are so awesome!!! We will
always be the pals to root on the cowboys!!!! thank you for teaching me on
how to become a man and I promise to always!!!!! have the coin on me :) I
have never been caught without it !!! P.s whers your coin?
Bishop Oakes Thank you . Thank you for teaching me so much while growing up
thank you for realizaing the true meaning of repentance and thank you for
helping me gain such a strong testimony of this gospel. You have such a
great wait no not great an OUTSTANDING family!!!! I appreciate all you have
done to push me to where I am today thank you for keepingworthy to serve a
mission and thank you for being there for me in the toughest times please
tell your family hi for me.
I love ya brethern Thank you so much for being a light to me and the type
of father I want to become thank you so much I cant say it enough!! I love
you all.
-elder bentley

June 21, 2011

Hello everyone !!!!!! I hope everyone has had a great week. I hope all the
dad had a great fathers day!!!
Well I am so happy to tell ya all I AM NOT LEAVING LOGAN WEST VIRGINIA
YET!!!! WHOOO!!!!!! I am so happy I get the chance to stay and serve this
branch longer with Elder Whitehead!!!! He is such a great companion!!!! SO
LAtely its been kind of hard getting a new mission president, but yet im so
excited!!!! I am going to miss the thornocks they have taught me so much
within these past 5 months I am so greatful for the time I had to serve
under them. I can really tell that it will be a test of obedience
experiencing to mission presidents!!!
So anyways this week has been a really great week!!! Except saturday was
probably one of the hardest days I have had thus far on my mission. And I
dont know if its because Im not a great teacher or what but we were teaching
a lesson to this lady. We were teaching her about the plan of salvation she
agreed with everything in the pre earth life and leading up to our life on
earth the once we got to talking about the spirit world it went all down
hill. . . She got scared when we talked about the spirit world she didnt
understand why . . . If you get a chance on earth to accept this gospel why
get another chance we even gave scripture references to the spirit world and
everthing and yet she still wouldnt except the plan she denied it close to 8
times while we were there. . It was probably the hardest lesson I have been
through. But as I have been thinking about this lesson I realized that we
left her with a commitment to pray, she has to pray to know if its true she
has to be able to find it within herself. Althougth this was hard I realized
how much my testimony had grown I know that this plan is true I know that
this life is a time for men to prepare to meet god. I really hope she prays.
I am so thankful that sometimes I have these hard lessons because it gives
me and my companion the chance to share what we know to be true. I just
hope that I can become a better teacher of this gospel. Sometimes I get
kinda jealous when I see all these other missionaries and how well they
teach. I have faith though that heavenly father will help me with this
weakness I have.
We were so deeply blessed to start teaching someone else this week and that
lesson went really well:) !!!! She accepted everything as truth and we are
excited to go teach her again!
I just want to take the time and wish my dad and my grandpa a happys
fathers day. Thank you so much for pushing me to serve a mission. I hope you
know how much I love you. Dad Thank you so much for holding your priesthood
so well thats something I look up to!!!! I love how great of a hometeacher
you are and how much love you show to those familys.DAD I love you thank you
for always being there for me and helping me get to where I am today.
Grandpa something I notice about you is that everytime you give a blessing
I admire how well you humble yourself before our father in heaven you show
so much humility and Its something I strive to do everyday!!! I miss ya
PERRY!!!! I cant believe your leaving on your mission to the state right
above that so flippen cool!!!! I know that you will do well at your
farwell!!! I have fun in the mtc learn as much as youcan!!! I hope you know
how much I love ya buddy. keep in touch and email me if at all possible.
please tell your family hi for me.
WELL I love the mebers here they are so awesome I am so glad I have gained
sucha strong friendship with all of them. I am so greatful to be serving in
this logan branch and this logan area. I hope whenever the lord desires me
to leave I hope I can fufill all the work he ants me to do here.
I hopw my family knows how much i love them I am so thankful for all of
you!!! I want my brothers and sisters to know how much I love em !!!!! I am
so greatful I have the chance to be that example to them!!!
I know that this gospel is true!!! I know that joseph smith saw god the
father and Jesuse Christ. I know that his plan of happiness is for our
benefit. I know that thomas s. moson is our living prophet today. We watched
a church movie this week on the pioneers and could you ever imagine if those
hard working saints didnt cross the plains who knows where our church would
be I am so thankful them and especially our church leaders I know that they
are called of God to be the lords mouth piece!!! I love you all so much
thank you all for supporting me and the many missionaries around the world
in this great work!!! I love it here in WEST VIRGINIA!!! ITS ALMOST
HEAVEN!!!! have a great week I miss you all !!!
love:
Elder bentley

June 13, 2011

Hello everyone is staying nice and warm in Arizona!!!!! This week has been
an a great week for me!!!
The work here in Logan is going so great!!!! I am really happy that
Heavenly Father has put me in such a great place with such wonderful members
and such wonderful people!!!! We have been so blessed this week to continue
to find people to teach!!!! This week we had the opprunity to set 2 new
baptisimal dates. One is for Anita Frye on July 16 its been such an amzing
experience for me to teach Anita everytime we go over to her house she
always has an answer to her prayers!!! She always tells us how perfect us as
missionaries are. She has changed so much since the day we have taught her
she really built a better foudation Christ and his doctrine. I am so
greatful that the lord has put her in my path so I could have the opprtunity
to teach her. We also set a baptismial date for Alex Dalton for July 23 I
really hope that he will continue to make an effort to want to be baptized
and accept the gospel into his life. But thats pretty much it. We continue
to teach ALOT!!! Which we are really happy about!!! Its also been fun to
watch other companionships progress in this gospel. These 2 elders that are
in our district had been strugglin for a couple of weeks. They couldnt find
anyone at all!!! And through their hard work and faithfulness they found 10
new people teach!!!! I thought that was pretty cool!!!!! I really looked at
that as an example because I know if I ever struggle to find people I know
that through Faith and hard work that Heavenly Father is preparing me to go
in somebodys path. The MEMBERS here are so awesome!!!!! I really love this
branch I am serving in!!!!! I am so greatful for how much all these members
sacrafice to help us missionaries progress in this gospel.
This week I had a pretty funny experience!!!!! Elder Whitehead and I went
down to Huntington Last monday to play some basketball!!! After basketball
we went with our district leader Elder Gurney and helped him set up
appoitments so we got out of the car and walked to this apoitment while we
were walking we run into this DRUNK guy nammed Ronney, elder Gurney knew who
he was. So as he came up to us he had slobber running down his face he
pointed at each of us and said Elder Gurney was a wierdo and told him to be
quite, Then he told Elder Whitehead he was scared, Then he pointed at me and
said my face looked like I just got done changing a stinky diaper!!!! ha ha
It was pretty funny anyways he went on to tell us a story about how he never
got a dirtbike when he was little, Then he asked us who save him if he
walked out into a busy intersection I told him I would and he I LIKE YOU
YOUR A GOOD GUY!!! ha ha!!!! Then we continued to our appoitment went our
seperate ways after we got done with the appoitment he was right outside he
tells us to go pray on a street corner with him once he said this we were
like o boy we thought of MAtthew chapter 6 verse 5 (read it!!)anyways we
get to the street corner we fold our arms and he puts his left hand in the
middle and starts praying, it was a little different from the way we say it
ha ha but he tells us how anyone can be saved on a street corner and we told
him only by the priesthood and proper authority you can be saved ha ha then
we told him we had to go and this is where it gets prettty funny anyways as
we are driving away we get stopped at a stop sign he was still by our car we
told Elder Gurney to DRIVE!!!!! but instead he roles down the window. After
he does he said you too in the front be quite, ( Elder Whitehead was in the
passenger seat and I was in the back) you in the back get out of the car and
pray with me. All of a sudden Elder Gurney and Elder Whitehead start laughin
then they both turn around and said get out of the car Bentley I was just
Thinking O BOY!!!! So I got out of the car and that was the longest walk
around the car ever!!!! I was scared ha ha but I went by ronney and he said
I want you to pray and he puts his left hand in the middle looks up at the
sky and says pray like your talking to a man. luckly we werent on a street
corner ha ha . I then told him I am going to pray the way I know how to pray
and tried telling me not to I did ANd Elder Gurney and Whitehead were
cracking up the whole time!!! They said after I got back in the car that
they were going to drive away ha ha. I thought this was a pretty funny
experience and thought I would share it with ya all :)
THis week I have been studying a talk about Desires by Dallin H. Oakes this
last conference and There are alot of things which I desire to have have
which can not carry with us for Etenity. But since I have been on my mission
my desires have changed. I realize I should desire more to bring souls unto
Christ, I desire my Family being together for etenity. And one of my
greatestest desries is to be obedient, to be the mssionary I know I can
be!!!! I really enjoy the quote at the beggining of his talk .
" desires dicate our priorties, priorties shape our choices, choices
determine our actions."
I know that is true everything we do today shapes our actions. As a
missionary it is our desire to be OBEDIENT everything we chose to do from
6:30 in the morning to 10:00 dtermines our actions . I have found so many
blessings come through being obedient it just seems like everything has a
better flow to it and that all those stress that could weigh me down are
lifted off my back .
But I know that these eternal desires requrie alot of Faith in Enos 1:12 the
lord says that according to "our faith" he will grant us our desires.
Its my greatest desire that everyone this week will focus on those eternal
desires. MAybe have the desire to read and study the scriptures more have
the desire to attend the temple with your family and have the desire to stay
away from those wordly things that effect our choice and our actions. I
promise as you do this that the Lord will bless your life as much he has
blessed mine with such a wonderful family. I promise That those things that
are distracting us from the lord will earse as we set our desires on the
things that matter the most. As I read my scriptures and say my prayers and
focus on the needs of others rather than myself I know that eternal
blessings awiat. Let us all check our desires and change those ones that are
not that important. I love you all so much !!!!! I love this gospel. I know
its true!!!! I know for a surety that this is the true church on this earth
today. I know that we have the fullness of the gospel. I am so greatful to
help these people in Logan west virginia everyday!!!! I am thankful to be a
diciple of my Savior Jesus Christ!!!!! I hope you all have a great week take
care.

love:

Elder Bentley "Moroni 8:3 "

June 6, 2011

Hello everyone I hope everyone has had a great week!!!! This week has been
another amzing week here in Logan. The Lord still continues to bless and
build this area. And I am so greatful to witness all these blessings.
Well yesterday right after church we had a Baptisim for Zach Lamb!!! And it
went really good and was really spiritual. Zach wanted me to baptize him so
I did and I really cherised this experience. As we were getting in the water
I just felt the spirit so strong and I knew that Zach made the correct
choice. Then as I said the baptisimal prayer I just never knew how powerful
and important that prayer was. I am so greatful I got the chance to teach
Zach and Crystal(his mom) it has been so awesome to be apart of their
baptism and to watch them progress in this gospel. I am so greatful for the
friendship I have formed with them and I have been so blessed to bring the
gospel into their home. We also got the chance to set a baptisimal date for
Anita for July 16 we are hoping that she will fufill this goal we have set
for her. Austin we are hoping to baptize this week so I really hope that
will happen. We are really staying busy at teaching alot of people, I am so
greatfulI have the opprtuniy to teach as much as I do.
I have really enjoyed being Heavenly Fathers investigator every morning of
my mission. This week I have studied in 2 nephi and I thought it was sad how
even after Lamen and Lemuel recieved councel from their father that if they
keep the commandment they will prosper they still sought to take away Nephis
life. How many times are we like Lamen and Lemuel. I think some times more
than we think.... Sometimes we just want to give listening to someone who
loves us and wants the best for us. Or maybe we just try to completely zone
them out of our lives and "wait" until we are proven right. Family and
Friends I promise we shouldnt let this happen within our families, it wont
make things any better to be as Lamen and Lemuel. We have to remember that
we are an Eternal Family. And that the lord has placed us in these families
for a reason. Remember just how much our heavenly father will bless us if we
stick together through these rough times in the world. We cant afford to
seperate ourselves from each other. Then that just allows satan more of a
chance to tear us down. I know I may be just 2000 miles away but I can
promise you if we stick together we will be blessed for Eternity. I have
seen families around here on my mission who have the blessings of the gospel
in their home and yet they choose not to listen they still choose to be like
Laman and Lemuel and Its hard for them, and their families and some
struggle. and I dont want to see this happen to my family and friends. May
we all find a way to better our selves and become a closer eternal family in
this gospel and in this True church today. I hope you all know how much I
love you !!!! I got a strong testimony that families can be together FOREVER
through Heavenly fathers plan, not our plan his plan. I am greatful for my
savior and Iknow if we continue to apply the atoment to ourlives and study
it that we will grow in love for our Savior. This is my Testimony!!!!! He
lives and wants the best for each of us and for you!!!
So this week has been a blast here in Chapmanville!!!! The Chapmanville
High School Baseball team won state this weekend and it was a party
throughout the town. Ciera Stowers in our ward has her championship basbell
game this Tuesday. They are UNDEFEATED!!!!!! Today we get to go
have district preparation day and we are going to be playing basketball with
a bunch of other Elders. It will have been the first time I have really
played since the Mtc.
I want to wish my grandma a happy BIRTHDAY!!!! I love you so much grandma
and I hope you had a excellent day yeterday!!!! YOur the best Grandma
EVER!!!!! I LOVE YOU MAMAW(grandma as thats how they say it WV).
I hope my brother and sister know how much I love them!!!!!! Coda I am so
proud of you and I am glad you had a good experience at the temple!!!
Savannah!!!! I hope you get to go girls camp. You will probably have a realy
fun time!!!! CAde I love ya !!! Keep doing good at X box and sports!!!! Your
the best brother in the world!!!! Shaders be a good baby!!! not BA!!!! I
love you!!!
Well I hope you all have a great week!!! thank you so much for all you do
support me. LOVE YA ALL!!!

love:
Elder Bentley
"To be cheerful when others are in despair, to keep the faith when others
falter, to be true even when we feel forsaken—all of these are deeply
desired outcomes during the deliberate, divine tutorials which God gives to
us—because He loves us. These learning experiences must not be misread as
divine indifference. Instead, such tutorials are a part of the divine
unfolding."
— Neal A. Maxwell