December 19th, 2012

December 18th, 2012

hey family well this week should be exciting!! I hope you all have had a great week and your christmas is going well for you all!!

Well this week is pretty exciting because its the start of my last transfer!!!!! Transfers are this week, I am getting someone by the name of elder Wilcox he is from Tuscon Arizona that place sounds really familiar I have a feeling i am going to really love this kid especially from what my mission presidents been telling me so this should be great, good thing I am stayin here in good ol Vinton, ha so if you feel like sending a letter please do, if not bottle up your feelings and tell me in a couple weeks haha :)!! Well I am super happy to be stayin it should be legit I am just glad i dont have to pack, thank goodness. I think it was awesome to hear that brody got home great job CUZ, sounds like you tore it up out there, we will for sure have to sit down and catch up on good ol times in the miss. I hope your doin well dont take to many of the girls save some for me for when i get home haha i will see you soon buddy.

So this week I have been studying JEsus the Christ its a good book, very very deep i have yet to read it on my mission but if I read a chapter a day i could probably finish it before I go home thats my goal!! But I just love the things that I am learning about the savior, this week I have come to know that CHrist is the only one that could be born of an immortal father and a mortal mother. I know that christ went about to fufill his father in heavens will. I have also come to know more than ever that Christ is our Savior and that testimony grows more and more every day just by simple Being a missionary. I was talking with my companion this week and we this calling that we hold is the highest calling within the Church, the things we learn out here i could never learn back home. I just love it when I come to know my savior more and more everyday and it really puts that desire and that yearning to want to be like him. I just love this time of year so much that we have to re-commit or re-allign ourselves with christ, I love him and my father in heaven and I know that they love you so much!!

I hope my brothers and sisters retain in rememberance ( i love it when it says that in the scriptures) how much i love you great job nana in basket ball i know soon you will be able to dunk it over all the girls mom says your the best out there you great sister and your gorgeous stay away from the boys till after your mission , I love you sister and I love the spirit that you always have with you, CADE what up buddy you getting good at football i hear, you keep bein a good brother and setting a good example to your brothers and sisters i know i look up to you alot and i love how close you are to your heavenly father always pray cade, coda bug words cant define how much I freakin love you dude, you little stud out there playing basketball, i remember i got cut from the freshman team in basket ball i am proud of you your doing a great job coda remember that your preparing for your mission now if  you can go watch a mormon message called Staying within the Lines by jefferey R. holland, coda right now more than ever these years you prepare are so crucial for your mission coda i want you to be a missionary now which means becoming like the savior , coda just imagine how sweet it would be to convert one of your friends and baptize them before you left on your mission, i wish i could have baptized someone before my mission coda share the gospel and be an example now dont wait, be like the savior at all times, coda i love you and i justwant you to have the best mission when you grow up and i know that the decisions you make now will effect the people you come in contact with then. I love you brother so much. I love all of you family and friends so much and I really do wish I could have helped one of my friends come into the gospel before i left on my mission i really do. you all can do it especially this time of year just invite and have the missionaries do the rest, i love you all and pray for you everyday. This is going to be a great transfer I know it. Merry christmas and i am excited to talk my family next week!!

BUDDY THE ELF: "OH MY GOSH SANTA I KNOW HIM!!"

                                                                                                                love elder bentley

                                                                                                               moroni 8:3

Eliminate all self defeating, faith destroying,atonement denying, thoughts words and actions. mission tour 2012 Scott D. Whiting 

December 3rd, 2012

Family and Friends!! I hope you all are doing well, I sure do miss ya bein without family around the holiday can sure be tough some times but its great and ok when you know you are doing the right thing.
Well This week was kinda slow for us here we are working and working we walked basically everywhere this week it was sure crazy haha!! We had a couple cool experiences where we really felt like we needed to be in an area and in those areas 2 members stopped us 1 said that she was from california  and that she hadnt been to church in a while and she was looking to come back so we are excited to visit with her more she has a boyfriend whose a non member so we will see how it goes, and the other person we ran into was a member who has lived in our area for 6 months and she traveled every sunday 45 mintue drive to blacksburg for 6 months, thats a awesome member I tell you what, haha. We are working with a couple investigators we are really struggling trying to get them to come to church, I hate it when they dont come I  just wanna leave church and go drag them outta bed. But we are really trying to work hard I know the elect are out there I love this scripture which gives me more and more hope everytime I read it Doctrine and COvenants 29: 7
"and  ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect ; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts."
 I just hope aand pray i can find a family my mission president sent me a short letter and said "I know the Lord will bless you and open the opportunity to have a family." I just hope that will come true . I think that is the most wonderful gift i want this christmas is to find a family and there is no better feeling than bringing someone into the gospel so family and friends I would invite you to just include in your prayers for me this christmas.
Well  what a marvelous time of year it is to be a missionary. I pray that we will be filled with the spirit of christ and love this christmas season like my sweet grandma once told me what joy meant:
Jesus
Others
Yourself
The christmas I remember the most at least I think it was christmas is one time my mom  made cookies to go deliver to people and me and one of my brothers and sisters went to go deliver it to people and we saw this lady who got outta her car and one of us said we should go give her a plate of cookies we got out and delivered it and tears just rolled down her face and she said something along the lines of " thank you, you will never know how much this means to me." she had a really hard day I know that we were led by the spirit to serve someone we never meet and it had a big impact. I know this christmas seasone we can serve that same way and make someones day.
I hope my grandma knows how much I love her I hope your doin well G MA keep getting better and look out for those reindeer they can be painful if you get run over by them haha. I sure do love ya and i am thinkin of you
I love you all so much, I hope that your having a great christmas season and I pray that it will be full of wonderful memories of serving others. I love you!!
                                                                                                                                      love
                                                                                                                                      Elder chaz bentley
                                                                                                                                      moroni 8:3
Buddy the Elf: " Santa is coming there is so much to do!!"

November 26th, 2012

Well happy thanksgiving and merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you all had a great week and didnt get too Stuffed and can still move , I bet black friday helped out alot haha to work off the extra turkey!! Well I sure do love you all and I miss my family so much especially around this holiday season!!! But this is the best time of year to be a missionary I love it :)

Well We have had a preetty good week, We got fed 2 giant meals on thanksgiving , thank goodness we played football that day it helped out alot ahaha!!! We were able to teach some amazing spiritual lessons, one of our strongest points as a missionary is teaching , the spirit is so powerful whenever we teach its awesome!! But this week we were able to set a baptisimal date with one of our investigators, for january 5th she is just so solid its awesome!! I am still hoping to find a family to bring in, I have been praying really hard, I hope I can find them soon, I know they are out there!! But we have had a pretty good week here in Vinton.

I cant believe Christmas is coming up, I recently have been thinking alot about the Wise Men and I love what it say's in the scriptures about them. Another name that the wise men are reffered to as is "Magi", It says that "they were righteous men sent on an errand to witness the presence of the Son of God on the earth." Their spiritual capcity was evident they could see the star when others could not. They were led by the spirit to see christ. These were not ordinary men. They were prophets." These are things that it tells about them in the bible dictionary, I am always amazed just how much knowledge they had and how spiritually prepared they were. I truely believe they were Humble, I know that if we are humble to the spirit , it will lead us to christ.  I love to think of christmas as coming to Christ, just as the wise men and the shepherds did at the time of his birth. I think this is a great time to capture a vision and to Feel of our saviors love for everyone of us. I love my savior and I hope that I can bring gifts to him and thank him for all that he has done for me. I love this quote " WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM" Remember to seek him this christmas season.

Well I hope maddy knows how much I love her happy birthday CUZ!! I cant believe your already 13 I promise you me and all the cousins will have to party when I get back home!! i love you

And I dont know how I could ever forget my dear aunt stacy, I love you so much I hope your birthday is just so flippen great, Your someone I look up to alot aunt stacy and I am so great that heavenly father placed you and maddy into my life I honestly dont know what I would do without you. I love you so much. I pray that your family is doin well, kayer and micah, reggers, trea and brecklyn, and uncle david. I lvoe you all so much , have a great birthday the best aunt ever I love you!!

Congrats on the QC BULLDOGS WINNING STATE i never though I would hear that in my life time, good job Bryce Oakes and John CAMMACK!!

"Well remember not to eat the yellow snow, always remember the 4 main food groups elves eat candy, candy canes, candy corns, and SYRUP"

-buddy the elf

I love you all have agreat week, and god bless each of you this holiday season.

                                                                                                                      -love elder chaz allen Bentley

                                                                                                                      moroni8:3

November 19, 2012

Happy Turkey Day everyone!! Its such a great time to be a missionary. I hope you all are having such a great week and i hope that your families are all doing so well!

Well i got my new companion this week?! Elder Whitby, he is a hard worker, He is from Washington, grew up on a farm, great kid and has a strong desire to be here!! We were able to have a pretty good week this week, 'befire elder Clay left we were driving down this street and i saw this house and for a couple weeks everytime we drove by I have always wanted to knock on it, so we did it was so spiritual when we first talked to her, the prayer we left her with was so so amazing and so powerful and she said she was really needing something more in her life right now. Then we went back on Thursday with members and taught her, it was so powerful in that room, the spirit was overwhelming and I could just really feel how much God loved this lady. I know that god's elect are out there and we just got to find them.

Well this week I have been studying alot from the bible. And I am just going to summarize what stuck out to me this week, we all know that Christ went into Gethsemane and he told his disciples to stay awake and watch with him because his heart was heavy, and exceeding sorrowful. Matthew 26 :39

" And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, Let this cup pass from me : Nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt."

and from the next verse he prayed for at least 1 hour and went back 2 more times to pray. I just wonder what christ was praying for during that hour, I feel confident to say that he was praying for each and everyone of us. He knew us he loved , he know the trials, the sufferings , and everything we would face while in this mortal life , he loves you so much that he was able to walk and take the wieght of the world , during those lingering hard hours from the Garden to the cross. Christ does love you and I think it would have been so cool to be there with him during those moments.

I am thankful for a savior, and for our father in heaven who loves us unconditiionaly. I am thankful for my family I am great that we are sealed as a family and that we can be together forever. I am thankful for my mission and the people that I have been able to serve. I am thankful for blessings from our father in heaven. I am greatful to know that we have angels amoung us every where to lift us and bear us up in our time of need, I am thanful for the priesthood and a living prophet. I am thankful for all my many blessings and all that god has given. I challenge each of you to only give prayers of gratitude for this week and see how much you are greatful for .

I love you all I hope you have agreatt week I miss you and I hope you have a wonderful thankgiving. God bless you!!!

                                                                             love

                                                                         Elder Bentley

                                                                 moroni 8:3

November 12, 2012

Well Big Gulps Huh? How are you all doin!! I hope your having a splendid week!! I tell you what its gettin cold here, BRR!!

Well transfers are this week, Elder Clay is leavin he is heading off to charleston, WV, I sure will miss the Elder!! But I am getting someone who came out at the same time as me, his name is elder Whitby!! I am stoked he is one of my good friends in the mission,we are goin to tear it up!! I am stayin in Vinton, man this is going to be a blast, I was hopin to train 1 last time but its ok:)!!

 Well these past 12 weeks have been so great!! I have loved serving with elder clayI tell you what he has taught me so much about he importance of bein humble,  I wish you all could hear this great missionary pray man I dont think there hasnt been a time i havent felt the spirit in his prayers, his prayers really sink down into the hearts of the people we meet on the doorstep, our investigators, and members. His prayers are so powerful. I have loved bein able to see how much Heavenly Father loves this missionary. I sure will miss serving with him, we really saw alot of miracles together, I really felt that if Christ was here he would have done the things that we did if we were, we ministered as if Christ was here. Its been absolutely amazing I hope that I can take the things I learned from this missionary and apply it to myself to help make me better. I  will sure miss my friend.

But There is still so much to do here in Vinton this work is exciting, I have a feeling our area is about to explode into something amazing , we are teaching so many people and hopefully soon someone will be ready for baptism, its been so awesome one of our investigators is like begging for us to always teach her she is so excited to learn and progress. This work is amazing and I am excited to see what the lord has in store for us here.

Well I will leave you all with my testimony, What a great time it is to be a missionary, especially around the holidays because you actually realize what you truely are greatful for. I dont think I could name all the things I am greatful for, there is just so much. But I am thankful to be a missionary, I am thankful for wonderful people that I have been able to teach and see come into this gospel, I LOVE THEM!! I just found out last week that one of my recent converts was preparing for a mission, He is coming along great. I am thankful for my family and freiends I love you all so dearly, I am confident that our family will be together forever, I am thankful for coventants and promises i get in return. I am greatful for a savior, I know that what christ went through he couldnt do it without the father. I am thankful for so many blessings the lord has given I these are the things that are most important to me that I am truely greatful for.

i hope that you all will have such a great week, and may we remember like president monson said "TO ALWAYS EXPRESS OUR THANKS". Love you and god bless you all.

GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

                                                                                                                                                                               Elder Chaz Bentley

                                                                                                                                                                                moroni 8:3

November 5th, 2012

WHAT UP FAM!! I hope you all have had such a great week!! We are doing great here in Vinton, the STORM didnt do any damage to us we are safe and sound here, so no worries!!

ALright so I will start off with something funny. This week I had the opportunity to play basketball, I was on an exchange with another missionary, and I was the only white guy playing basket ball, the missionary I was with iis not white haha, my companion walked in he was like "where is elder bentley and he was like ohh!!" It was funny. :)

Well This week we have worked really hard!! We are always so close to reaching the mission standard of excellence!!  We are just trying to find someone solid who is ready for this gospel, we are finding alot of people, but we cant really retain anyone so its been kinda hard lately, but we were able to find a SOlid new investigator who we meet a couple weeks ago we are hopimg to set her on date soon she is excited to learn!! we know Gods elect are out there and I really hope we can find a family soon!!!!! WE had a great halloween, we went around with one of our members to a bunch of TRUNK or TREATat these churches it was pretty fun!! It was a great halloween!!

Well I have grown to love the spirit so much more on my mission. Lately its been just on my mind how can anyone not be apart of this church or go in-active. IF I could I would shake them haha, There is a quote that my Grandma told me in a letter at the beggining of my mission.

" Be different from the world, in order to make a difference in the world." - Elder Neal A Maxwell

We got to be different, sometimes I feel like we only have our eyes in the world and sometimes we forget the eternal asspect of things, We got think where do we see our families at that last day when Christ comes again? Will he welcome us home, Will we have done all that he has commanded us to do? I hope that whatever questions he may ask we may answer with A FIRM YES, I hope that we will remember that its more that just living in this world , we can inherit eternal life, our lord is preparing mannsions for each of us!! I hope that we dont live in this world but that we continue to have our focus on eternal life!!!

I know that Thanksgiving is approaching fast and I thought of this thought, We all know the parable of the good samaritan, We know that 2 men passed by this guy who was lying on the ground , and didnt bother to stop or help, But we know that a Samaritan was able to stop for a minute and help this man who laid almost dead and took him to a place where he could clean him up and take good care of him. I am pretty sure that man was thankful for that samritan and I bet he didnt even know who helped him. I know we have a great privledge to reach out to those in need, I know that my father in heaven has been my good samaritan, he has been there to help me and care for me and provide many wonderful blessings just for. I love him I thank him and express gratitude for him for everyhing and knowing that I can live with him again. And I am so greatful to be able to live with him forever!!

Well I hope you al have had such a great week I pray that each of you are doing so well, I love you and may we all have a great thanksgiving. Transfers are next week, so ill email you all next tuesday i am hoping i can train 1 more time. I love you all have a great week. JUST KEEP SWIMMING!!

                                                                      -elder bentley

                                                                   moroni 8:3

October 29th, 2012

From: West Virginia Charleston Mission <2011778@ldschurch.org>
Date: October 29, 2012, 3:17:30 PM MST
Subject: All Elders safe and accounted for.

Dear parents,

Just want you to know all of the elders and sisters are just fine.  The storm has had very little effect in our mission area. 

Love,

President and Sister Pitt

October 29th, 2012

BOOOOOO!!! Happy Halloween everyone I hope your week had been absolutely great!! I am just livin the dream over here in Vinton, its awesome!!

Well this week we have been working extremely hard, we came so close to achieving the mission standard of excellence, we were just missin someone at church!! But we will get it this week, we have so much to do. I feel like we are in an intense basketball game and we keep getting behind with short time left and we cant loose haha, this game is worth so much. 

This week Elder Whiting from the 70 visted our mission, He talked about DESIRE to do God’s work as He wants it done is important for us. He asked us some questions. What is the desire of YOUR heart? What is it you really seek after? Unusual missionaries are those who see visions in their hearts and minds as to where to go, what to say and who you need to find. He drew a continuum with the nature of Christ on one end and natural man on the other. Then he asked, “Where are you on this continuum?” and “Where would your parents put you, or your companion?” We do not have to stay where we are for the atonement allows us to change and move closer to where we want to go. After desire came OBEDIENCE. If you want the blessings, you have to be exactly obedient. This does not mean that we won’t make mistakes. This means we try the best we can to do everything asked of us . Next was FAITH. What precedes your faith? Think of times where you saw your faith manifest. Last was UNITY. John 17. Unity with Deity is most important. If you are struggling with your companion, he is struggling with you. Unity needs to be there with God, companions, the mission President, etc. Do a thorough examination of yourself. When we have all of these in place we will have POWER. We have authority; now we need power. If we align actions to desires, we will receive power to teach, to listen, and to love others.

Right before we headed out to lunch we sat for about 10 mintues and I prayed and I really desired to recieve some mad rev. (revaltion) for my self and 1 word came to my mind, LOVE. I though about the first week before I started traning, the 1st thing president pitt did was he came up to me, put his hand on my shoulders and said love your companion, LOVE is the motive in everthing we do. I hope that as I work on this that I will stregnthn that power that I carry as a missionary.

We have had a pretty great week. We were able to set  a lady date for baptism for January 26th. I really think she will get baptized sooner though!!! She came to our ward halloween party this Friday and I was talking to her and she said Her son who is on a mission in Arizona (he is serving in Heber) emailed her and said " MOM!! are you going to get baptized so we can go to the temple togather?" She said that she knows baptism is her next step, it sounds like she hasnt been taught very well so we are going to go through everything to help her understand. Elder Clay did a great job at extending a solid invitation to read the book of mormon, he is a great missionary and I have loved seeing his improvement in the work and how much he has grown. But I really feel like she will get baptized sooner!! Then we went out with our ward mission leader this week, we were trying people and we werent really finding to much success. But we decided to go to see this lady named Alba Hamilton and we had a great lesson, we were able to set her with a date for baptism for Jan. 26, i too feel like she could get baptized sooner. I guess her husband investigated or was a member we arent really sure but we are going to go through everything and help her understand , she knows that the book of mormon is true!!! We were able to find many investigators through harvesting, we have 2 solid people that we need to see this week so I will let you know how it goes, I hope that one turns out really well :)!!

So this week I heard of something called HARVESTING from president pitt, and we get to the door step and we tell people "we are sent here from God and we would love to leave a blessing with you and your home and find out why god has sent us here, then they willl invite us in and we will leave them with a prayer and right after we go in and say a prayer we will ask them Why do you think God has sent us here, if they preceed to ask more question after the prayer we will answer them, if not we will do what we wanted and then leave. But I had a pretty cool expereince the day I got asked to try this, it was late and we knocked on this door and this lady came, I gave the introduction and she immediately kneeled right down had no probleme with it at all, she told us after the prayer that she had a funeral for a loved one that had passed away that day , we offered to share more about the plan of salvation and we are lookin forward to going back again this week, the second time this happened a lady said I could never turn down a good prayer, and she is interested in learning more. I feel the powera nd authority in my calling eveytime I do this. The SPirit was so powerful on those door steps and its been a great opportunity to bear testimony. I love HARVESTING !!

Well I hope my dad knows how much I love him, HAPPY birthday , thank you for your wonderful example and everything I hope you have an amazing day. ilove you dad!!

I love you all so much I hope you dont have to much of a SCary week, may god bless you all and keeep you safe.

                                                                           -elder bentley

                                                                      

October 22nd, 2012

GIVE ME SOME FIN NOGGIN DUDE!!!!!!!!!! You all got some serious thrill isues dude haha :) how are you all doin!! I hope fine and dandy. .

Well  this week has been a pretty good week. Yesterday we had a great day at church, Our ward mission leader before he spoke decided to put me on the spot and make me go up and bear my testimony about missionary work. i guess it turned out good our bishop said last night, that he thinks he called me out because that is what invited the spirit was my testimony. Then the other day we were doing some things and I felt really prompted to go see one of our investigators who has cancer and might die soon. . . and we got over there and he needed help gettin up, his wife couldnt do it and he said man i wish those two boys would show up, next minute we knocked on his door, we went in and helped we know that heavenly father lead us there. We were able to pick up some new investigators this week. I am really hoping and praying that I can find a family, I have yet to find a family to bring into the church so if you all could help me out I would really love for you all to pray to help me with this. Its one of my goals I hope I can achieve before the end of my mission. But we are finding great success here. I am still learning so much and growings so much, I got alot to learn these next couple months!!

So I have been thinkin its football season and I love football stories and I thought this was pretty sweet so hope you alll like it its has a great thought behind it. .

When I was a young man in high school, one of my passions was American football. I played middle linebacker. The coach worked the team hard, teaching us the basics. We practiced until the skills became natural and automatic. During one play against our biggest rival, I had an experience that has helped me over the years. We were on defense. I knew my assigned opponent, and as the play unfolded, he moved to my right into the line of scrimmage. There was a lot of noise from players and fans. I reacted as the coach had taught us and followed my man into the line, not knowing if he had the ball. To my surprise, I felt the ball partially in my hands. I gave it a tug, but my opponent didn’t let go. As we tugged back and forth, amid all the noise I heard a voice yelling, “Packer, tackle him!” That was enough to bring me to my senses, so I dropped him on the spot.

I have wondered how I heard that voice above all the other noise. I had become acquainted with the voice of the coach during the practices, and I had learned to trust it. I knew that what he taught worked.

We need to be acquainted with the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and we need to practice and apply gospel teachings until they become natural and automatic. These promptings become the foundation of our testimonies. Then our testimonies will keep us happy and safe in troubled times.

I love the holy ghost I am greatful for its still small voice that whispers to us at any time, all we need to do is recgnoize it and I promise if we follow it we will be led to do what right, thats one of the biggest thing I have come to love on my mission is the promptings of the holy ghost!!

well we are excited for elder whiting to come we have alot to do to prepare, I hope youall have a great week. I love you and mis you. and may god bless you!!! thanks for everything !!

                                                                                                                                elder Chaz bentley moroni 8:3