December 21, 2010

First things first: When to call. I know that right now its about 7:30 ish. I can call at about 2:00 in the afternoon my time and 9:00 your time if you would like. I will be calling at that time actually. hahaha I am getting what I have found out is 10 pesos of credit which gets me one hour and 10 minutes. Thats obscenely cheap. So thats what we are gonna do =)

We got some good rain this week, ie: Saturday and Sunday. It was one that got things wet like it should be, instead of ridiculously dry.

Well about the mail. We had Christmas Conference this week =) but I got nothing. =( It was great to see everyone and most of all President enjoying themselves playing games and enjoying the sunshine down here. President Salas is a hilarious man. We ended up just having a water balloon/bucket fight after it hit about 39º He was telling people to go get the dry people, and when people wanted to get him he would just be like. "ya know, Elder ___ is looking pretty dry, besides I have the hose..." Quite funny.

I dunno theres not much to talk about this week, it was kinda down ish. =/ Its the first and last real christmas away from home. I dunno whats gonna happen for Christmas eve, but thats when we celebrate. We are going to a members house thats for sure. Ok

Well I guess we will talk Saturday. I love you all!
Con Amor
Elder Ben

Decemer 13, 2010

I went straight for the picture... hahahaha. I was like... thats not Dad, and why is Aly wearing your christmas sweater? Then I figured I should read the letter.

Hooray! its over! hahaha yeah it was probably a huge hit, especially with Frank back in charge. I would love to hear it, but I can wait til next year when I can participate. Thats how a choir concert should be. See you can stop yourself. Just dont cry hahaha
Dang I was really hoping for Dad to do it

Oh well

Yeah Matias is great. We have found some more people to get baptized now. It was an interesting week. We found a ton of people and set a few baptismal dates. One with a guy who is friends with an entire family of members and practically lives with them. Funny thing is no one until two weeks ago has shared the Book of Mormon with him. He read the part we left with him, and didnt want to stop. He has been coming to church for almost a year now. which is crazy to think that he hasnt been baptized by another Elder. hahaha So when we started talking to him, his friend said, "After they are done explaining what you read we can go swimming. Do you know how to do a backstroke? Elder Lorimer can teach you. And just to be even more fashionable we can all wear white suits. wont that be fun?" We all about died laughing. He is supposed to get baptized the Sunday after Christmas. Boxing Day.

Then another crazy good miracle. A kid shows up to church from a family that we had found during the week. Well first about the family. They stopped us in the supermarket, and said Hey elder how are you. and they were all chatty and stuff. We figured they were inactive members so we go by to visit. They are old investigators, and they want to come back to church, but the parents work sunday mornings. Shoot. Well we invited the kids and hoped they would come. So one of them shows up at church, while we are gone looking for some other investigators. He tells us after sacrament, that he wants to be a man of his word and get baptized. So he will be getting baptized, not accounting for unforeseeable problems or hindrances. Great stuff

Also we have been going through the ward member list and cleaning it out and trying to get new addresses and finding dead people and people who have moved. Its been working out pretty well. We found its kinda fun to get to know these members but also slightly depressing at the same time, because they just wont or cant let just that one thing bring them back to church. they just are to prideful to forgive and forget, or leave something from their past behind. Not really depressing. Its just unfortunate.

Other fun things. This week my pocket plack well its been breaking slowly, but we were sitting in a lesson and it just falls. sort of. I had taped the back together, but if not the plack would have fallen and it would have been alot more climactic. I have been waiting on my plack for like 6 weeks, I hope it comes, cuz its kinda lame without that plack. I will have to get a picture sent. =P Its pretty funny.

Ok well I gotta get out of here, could you do me a favor?
I wanna make a fun treat (that isnt brownies) for Christmas, normally we get to have Christmas with a family from the ward. So why not make a fun dessert. Can you send me the recipes and I can worry about ingredients later for the following treats and any other treats you may think are fun.
Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake *yes you can get Chocolate Chips*, Brownie Pudding *this one would be great*, Chocolate Krinkles, Lemon Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookies, others....

This is gonna be a fun week. I love you all. Miss you a bit, but dont worry I will be talking to you next week... =D whoa christmas is coming that soon. Time flies when you are working for the Lord

Con Amor y deseos de lo mejor para ustedes
Elder Ben

December 6, 2010

Yeah. December is looking way short. Its just flying along cuz I'm having fun. Elder Lorimer and I got some Christmas Lights which are strung up over one window, and we are getting another set for the other window we have.
Oh sad little tree. That has been beaten up a ton, but hey I bet its way cheaper than getting a real tree. Too bad. I just love that real tree smell so much. That's good, of course Dad can fix it, just don't tell him he can´t. That's when the power tools come out.
Yeah we had a pretty sweet Christmas concert ourselves. We had a few non member choirs some sing with a missionary choir (No one in the zone got the invite or I would have definitely been there with Elder Lorimer because we both have great voices) and the All Cordoba Mo Tab Choir. It was short on men unfortunately but that was its only flaw. There was a 7th Day Adventist choir group. They were ok, but they had to definitely have a playback track to achieve bass but they had about 3 AMAAAZING singers. Then the rest were just meh. It was nice but most people just sang random songs. The missionaries were the ones who sang the Christmas songs. It was just fun.
Um yeah I would love a transcript. you can easily get that on LDS.org they have transcript up within about 15 minutes of the end of the show. and video is up within an hour in about 5 languages. The church has some amazing technology.
Bahahahaha Dad. He doesn't have to be the Grinch, that's why we have Sarah. =P Yeah the twinkle is there all right. I want at least THAT picture.
Do it. Skip is great, and they will of course feel the Spirit. Frank is directing I would imagine. He always made things fun.
Yeah don't worry about how kids behave there in the states, at least its not up and down off the stand during sacrament meeting. Culturally the parents just leave the kids alone until they are either hurt or they cant keep having the conversation they are having because the kids are too loud. A little too hands off if ya catch my drift. I will have to see how the Ward party goes here. We have ours on Friday. =/ or =)
Well that's true hahaha especially with the new flat bangs haircut. Poor baby indeed.
Yeah DearElder is ridiculous, and they know it. But they do not get opened. supposedly its not the package in general, its the box. That's where they nail you with customs. Supposedly now that I am seeing it work its the padded envelope. and its cheaper. Well its too late now hahaha. Its been 25 years I will give you that. Yeah small world. We will have to see.
"-we just used a chair. " Oh man that's so disappointing. No Living Nativity for the first time in 10 years. In the end the kids actually started liking it too.
Also We are gonna have the call home. I think if we do it like we did last time for mothers day it will be fine. Just call me before you open presents maybe? That would be at what 7 or 8ish and thats 12 or 1 here. Let me know what you think. Its my P-day, and I will get another P-day the monday after.

This week I started reading the Book of Mormon over again. I have been trying to read and study the Old and New Testaments, along with Doctrine and Covenants. Its been weird, but I picked up the Book of Mormon again and I testify to you the difference I feel as I work. This Book is the most correct of any book that exists on this earth. It really changes who we are and how we think. It gives us a greater scope on our lives and our purpose and testifies like no other book that Jesus is the Son of God, that He was born, lived and died, for US and that HE LIVES. It gets lost sometimes, we see so many people that focus on the Cross as a symbol of christianity. They just end up weeping and wailing, and in some peoples unfortunate confusion they seek truth and try to find it in things that will not bring it. Be it in the bible or in drugs and other worldly things. Not that all those are bad things (the drugs yes) but they flee to these things as a source of answers and they blind themselves to all other possibilities because it satisfies them in the moment. See the Allegory of the Cave.

Well this week was interesting. We just worked. and worked and worked. Wow. I forgot to write down some of the stuff that happened because it was the end of my agenda and there isnt space for that. Ummmm yeah. We finished that floor I told you about. It took alot longer than we thought. The family we did it for is so amazing. too bad the woman we did it for is very firmly not wanting anything, we saw the fruits this sunday. The 13 year old daughter is dating some 16 year old. She is a bit of a black sheep and has not come to church in a long time. Well she came to church this week! and she bore her simple testimony that she knows the church is true. It was quite a moment. but anyway on friday we had an investigator who is a confused wannabe Jew tell us that the books are closed and that we just have to wait for the second coming. He was catholic, his mom dies, he got confused, because he found no answers, talked to some Jehovahs witnesses, and got even more confused, started reading the bible, found out about some distant jewish heritage, and tried to convert to be a Jew. He has tattoos in Hebrew and lots of other weird stuff. He took his shirt off (unfortunately) to show us. He started going on and on about how he had more faith then us, so we just let him get his piece out, and he insisted that Jesus wasnt the Son of God, but that He would come back and that Jesus was the one that confused the people of Jerusalem, and not the whole old mosaic law things confusing them. He just went on and on. We asked him what he thought about baptism and he said that the blessed water would rain down and baptize the world and all the worthy would go and be caught up in that baptism. It was just quite an interesting chat we had. In the end he said that all the books are closed and that we have to wait for Jesus to come and save us and not read the bible or read the book of mormon anymore and that we had to pray less as well, and that he was certain that he would be saved and that he was worried about us. He also said that it was perfect timing because we showed up at 11 and he has a tattoo of 11 for the 11 apostles. Just a very very interesting fellow. It was interesting how he went on denying and praising the Christ in the same sentence. He was afraid. As Davy Jones says in Pirates... "Do you fear Death?"

The real source of all fear is this: Death. Death causes pain. It makes some question whether God exists. It makes them ask what they did wrong, why now, and why to them. It is why there are so many religions. For so long Man looked for a way to beat it. We want to conquer death in the easiest way possible. They want both things. Satan makes us fear death. we dont want to die, no one does, unless they know whats coming. Its not that we would want to die its that we cant accept it. So thats why Christ is so important. We can know that He is the reason for the season and remember that He conquered death so we could conquer it too. Thinking about that lets move on to a different scripture I would like to share today with the class.

2 Nephi 2

8) Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

The Merits of Christ ---What makes Him our Savior
The Mercy of Christ --- Why He did it for us
The Grace of Christ --- How it came to pass

That is what we talk about as missionaries. We talk about how Christ came to this Earth to help us come back to live with our Heavenly Father. He is the Only Begotten, the Lamb of God, Our Older Brother, Our Friend.
In Alma 34 we can learn a little bit more of why its so important that He come and give His life for each of us

8) And now, behold, I will atestify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
9) For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
10) For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.

Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us to be happy in this life and forever after. Thats why he created the Earth for us to come and live and learn, and knowing that we would make mistakes also sent His Son, to make up for our shortcomings. He bridges the gap to our Heavenly Father and Eternal Life.

In Mosiah 4 we learn

6) I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7) I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
8) And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you.
9) Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
10) And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

I have to go. I love you all and hope the best for you.
Remember what are you going to give for Christmas?
what are you going to give for Christ?

Con Amor
Elder Ludlow

PS staying in Parque Licoe with Elder Lorimer until mid January

November 29, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving?

hahaha it was fun. We had thanksgiving on tuesday, we got a whole chicken, butchered it and made Lemon Pepper Chicken, then with the rest made Uh-mazing Chicken Soup. Thursday was spaghetti. oh well hahahaha. Still no pictures? Thats ok, Thanksgiving sounds like it was fun for you all. Thats actually really good about Pop. His digitial recorder is kinda funny, because it types even when its just like sounds he makes. He sent me a letter in the MTC and it was just chock full of uggghhhhhhh and pbpbpbppbpbpb stuff. Well yeah Derek is gonna be huge, followed by Kyle.

Of course she gets to win here (lucky little twit), Braces and now the contact lenses. Oh and she gets a cute haircut. Clean the shotgun ok? Then she can use it to get rid of the short ones quickly.

Nah, Im good. Trunky doesnt happen all that much. Its worse when there is a lack of information/communication. Speaking of which, how are we doing? Hows work for Dad? You? Sarah? I dunno. maybe Aly has something to say? hahaha no worries really. Just plugging along getting that next golden contact. This week we were on fire, and as such stopped opening our mouths, because everytime we did the Lord blessed us with someone new to teach. Until Friday we were 1 contact : 1 new investigator Then we did some extras and we only had a few extra times that we spoke over the number of people we found this week. Thats stupid number stuff but whatever it was pretty cool. No I was not running all that much after monday. I feel fine now.

So since last monday we had no lights in our apartment. On tuesday we had an offer to fix them, from some guy stealing the lights to hook up another apartment below us. He wasnt stealing ours, but still its funny that people just do that haer and dont even bat an eye. So he is all 50 pesos Ill fix it right now. It was pretty tempting, but he wouldnt have been able to give us a receipt. So we called the mission office and they sent us a guy to fix them... It was just that the fuse was loosened and so we didnt have light.... STUPID. Now its so easy we could have fixed it had we known that there was a way to get into the high voltage box.

On thursday we had planning and that means we are supposed to plan the next week all morning. So we didnt know what was going on as we left for lunch. You see, near the apartment and the chapel, is this dirt road, where everyone chucks trash (or dead animals, mostly dogs) and no one really says anything. Its just like a public dump with no rules. So we were quite surprised to see people lined up on all sides of the street with lines dividing the dump into lots for houses and people clearing it out. Apparently these are all people who dont have houses and wanted one WAY bad, so they just decided to take the land. Of course the police are crawling all over but man it was very tense. Elder Lorimer and I were about to call Prez and get us taken out of here. The first night it looked like the end of the world. People running about. Random fires throughout. a few tents but mostly just piles of garbage, a few cars oddly parked, and that one guy from spongebob that always shouts "My leg!" when something falls. It was just apocalyptic. We are talking Lord of the Flies or Farenheit 451. Chaos. We have to walk past it all the time, but at night we just were thinking, please dont talk to us please dont talk to us. Pretty freaky. So now there is a brand new villa thats coming up in a few short months. *eye twitch*

so Friday the baptism for Matias went great. We had a visit from the South Zone, ZL´s. Matias was taught a long while back by missionaries, one of which was this zone leader (Elder Verdugo) so they got super special permission from President to come and see it. Elder Lorimer baptized, and I confirmed him. He is so good. Yesterday in Elders Quorum the EQP was explaining overcoming opposition and just ignorning and going on. Matias goes, "well the scriptures tell us that there has to be an opposition in all things, I think that these many times are in the form of our personal weaknesses, which the scriptures also tell us that we can take to Heavenly Father and overcome them, so really the opposition is there to make us grow and perfect ourselves. we just have to act." He hadnt even been confirmed yet...Hes like a future AP.

But before that on saturday we did service for this one family. They are almost all members except the grandma Way cool family, so we went to do some tiling in the upper part of the house, where the grandma lives. Elder Lorimer and I just hammered out about 2/3 of it and they kept asking us if we had done this before. Well in some form, we have both at least seen our dads do it. BTW Dad didnt you work in the BYU Scene Shop? When? cuz Elder Lorimers dad was one of the Foremen around the same time that I think you were there. Kirk Lorimer if it rings any bells. Yeah we just did a super job. Walls were not square. AT ALL, and we had to cut tiles with an angle grinder. It was all good considering. Also floor was no where near level. I will have to take pictures. Its pretty tight if you consider who did it.

Also we have been making these posters and stuff to make our own big Standard of Liberty to hang up in the church. It has the Orar Leer y Asistir... Read, Attend, Pray On it. and we made small ones (which I made, apparently I know how to draw) to hand out and put in peoples houses. Again pictures will come soon. So we also gave talks, about said banner. Unfortunately the only ones who paid attention fully were the young women. Ok not a bad thing but at the same time, these are not the ugliest girls in the world. the 7 or 8 young women giving you bambi eyes as you try to expound on the scriptures is kinda distracting. hahahaha. Oh well. Yeah thats about all I have to say for this week. We just keep on working. I will fill you in on any other fun developments next week. Love you all and miss you

Con Amor
Elder Ben

Lessons I Learned as a Boy

Here is a video of the story that Ben mentioned in his last email.

November 22, 2010

We shall see if it gives any kind of result. It would be nice though =) Which one? the pouch or the regular mission office one. either is fine. Everyone loves mail, especially Elder Ludlow

Not really anything. I am trying to go with the more serious angle, that or I was high on something last week. Me serious? "Why so Sirius?" =P

You still understand me though. Its not the understanding its the random grammatical and spelling errors that drive me nuts. Some of my phrasing, as Dad said have a very Spanish ring to them.

Well now he is Landon. Elder no more hahaha. Yeah that one destroys the tear dam for most people, especially when Jesus says that to Thomas in Finding Faith in Christ. That movie is a personal favorite to show to people. Many have this morbid view of who Jesus is. Whether its because they focus so much on the Passion or they focus more on the Virgen or really its just a slightly more manly, but still God-like portrayal of Christ. Its like the Del Parson painting, Christ in Red Robe. It just is the quintessential painting of Christ. We use that one inside the baptismal invites (which we use with people to help them remember the date we put with them) and we talk about Christ with anyone as we show them that picture. I have a bunch of pictures of Jesus in my scripture case that I also use. This week, we got stopped by an inactive member, who told us to come by an teach her daughter so she can get baptized. Cool. So using the picture of Christ and the Fishermen we explained how Jesus wants us to come and play, and just be his friend, thats why we need to be baptized. She just turned 8 so it doesnt count for us, but that was kinda fun. We just kept asking her if things were good or bad, and how we should always choose good things. There is a story that Gordon B Hinckley told about two boys on a road and the farmer in his field. They put two gold dollars in the mans shoes instead of hiding them. Im sure you know the story. Cute little girl says, I want to do good things, so I will follow Jesus. It was just adorable. Thats cool about Paris and Pride. I saw the thing about Paris, when the bishop of ayacucho was checking out Mormon.org

That had to be a good talk. I would love to hear it. I think he may have written it for november, I will have to go back and read that letter and if not I´m sure he would write it if you asked for the missionaries.

Yeah she told me she was possibly coming home, but really no snow until she got into CA? weird. Thats kind of funny actually. Speaking of weather, its supposed to be ridiculously hot and humid right. Well its like 55 and VERY rainy today. Back to the point though... Dia de la accion de Gracias con Matt y Julie. lol thats how you say thanksgiving if you couldnt figure it out. Take pictures with everyone and send them. mmkay? Oh pictures wise, Im gonna be slower on. She (my camara) isnt working again. Luckily there is a member here that I trust enough to let him fix it if he can. We will see. My comp is getting his camera fixed as well. He has a backup oddly enough though. So some will come through. Like the baptism we have Friday. =D

Yup Baptism is on Friday, because he has the afternoon off that day. Matias has been progressing well and should have been baptized this week, but he still needed just that little tiny bit of finalizing the baptism in his mind and settle his doubts. So he is getting baptized. Its not all that much of a wow story, aside from him wanting to serve a mission asap. Cool kid.

Other than that. I had Diarrhea this week. all week. I may in fact still have. Monday afternoon to Saturday when I couldnt take two steps without having to visit the bathroom. So I got antibiotics (the solution to everything) and a diet. Its just super weird because the last two days (Friday and Satruday) I took tons of anti stuff and was watching the food intake as well and still nothing. I drank a little bottle of pepto, and took 4 immodium. Thats alot. so hence the hospital trip. hahaha dont worry I feel lots better. I just got a bad bug. I have now 2 of the 3 missionary requirements. pooped pants while proselyting, and bit by dog, now I just need to get robbed =P Yeah.

Thats about all I gots to say for now. Im feeling good, and I am working a ton. Its what we do. Its funny how we found a ton of people and hardly tried this week (I didnt because of the diarrhea). The work is on fire here.
Ok gotta get going on now

Con amor
Elder Ben
PS HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NAP

November 15, 2010

Hahahahaha Yeah. I weather changes would have something to do with it. Wow I just about started writing in spanish. =P hahaha ok so first responding to you. then I will tell you about my week. Well you are partly right. But its supposedly one of the funnest parts of the year. Its like a week long party. they throw fireworks, eat asado, and ice cream, and instead of sending the kids to bed early on Christmas Eve they stay up all night to shoot fireworks at Santa as he goes by.
Fire in the hole! *firework explodes next to the sleigh* "Well looks like I brought all this coal to the write place Blitzen. Evasive maneuver holly lets get to those chimneys" Sorry you know I am a nerd. reminds me of Nightmare Before Christmas a bit hahaha

PS that was totally not intended.... HELP IM LOSING MY ENGLISH!!!!

On the other hand Easter is like a week long funeral. they sit inside watch like 8 versions of the passion of the christ and only eat fish and vegetables. It was kinda weird. Volviendo a la tema.... Yeah its really not that hard for us we get to talk to our families. I get to talk to you guys and well thats just great. Who cares how hot it really is. Last Sunday it was 106 so there abouts is a very hot day in Córdoba Capital. The supposed most it gets to is 117 eh. LA wins still.

Primary Program... oh those kids are just so darn adorable. They did it here this Sunday as well. Its different having about 15 kids versus the 50 or so that you have. Im sure its an adorable song. Just keep up the good work. Think of something else when they sing hahaha. Dont worry mom its for the entertainment value. Just let those tears flow.

Young Women. Wow. Of course Bob will have a copy. If its not terribly difficult to get a hold of that could you get the recorded version or maybe the Kenneth Cope CD? I need some new music but badly. However you get it, you can open up Windows Media Player and convert the songs to an MP3 or WMA format and send them in a ZIP file. I know what to do from there. Please and thank you?

Now on to the general Hi family letter of my week.

Well this week was just a work week. We started off and we found this awesome family. We knocked and they asked us to come in before we could even finish telling them who we were. They are very interested in coming to church and getting closer to Heavenly Father. Really they asked us when they could come to church. We told them as soon as they wanted (as in Sunday Morning) and they unfortunately cant come. =( The dad is a zebra (referee) for one of the bigger soccer teams here in Cordoba. He then said. Well in two weeks, when the season ends, We will be there. Way cool. Well that was Monday just to start us up. We then later in the week started working just all over the place. We had a fantastic week and finished Sunday afternoon with a family of 6 in total making 24 new people we found this week. That's a lot hahaha. But really the success of this week was our work with the members. We have EVERY Tuesday night, at our disposal the second counselor of our bishopric with his car. He is way good and is helping us a ton. At first it was gonna be a one time deal. Then he says, "you know I could just do this every week, yeah lets do that." Yeah things are going great here with Elder Lorimer. We keep on swimming and plugging away and we are seeing TONS of success.

Maxi is amazing and starting to recognize his answer of the truth of the gospel. Matias is being brave and going to keep going and wants to serve a mission. Oh we have a girl (shes like 26 so I cant really call her a lady but whatever) who is listening to us too. Her mother died two months ago, and she basically grew up without a father, as her father died at 6 months. She finds it hard to believe in God, even though she wants to. along with that she is studying like a mad woman to do Social work. Just has those fantastic questions and is very willing to listen. We took a recent convert with us to see her and they both hit it off. Mabel is great like that, she even went to bring her to church. Unfortunately Evelin was sleeping after having studied all night. =( We will see next week.

As a district we have been trying to find the funniest thing that happens to us during the day. Whether it be something that one of us said, like a slip up of english in the middle of a spanish sentence, or someone who says something funnier, like trying to cast demons out of us, or when I trip and almost faceplant it. =P Its been just making time fly by like crazy. Its hard to imagine that 4 weeks have passed with Elder Lorimer. Hes a great comp. We both have that control freak things but its working great to just get stuff done. We push each other A LOT. Its great =) Ok on to some deeper stuff.

Really I have been thinking about what it is that we do here as missionaries. We invite people to come unto Christ. The rest comes when they act and we are here to support them in every which way. I invite you all to come unto Christ. Look for Him. Look for the blessings in your lives. Search for the things that you want to change. Give them to Him. He will take them and smile and love you for it. He loves me, you, and even that guy at the office that sometimes pisses you off. He wants to see you again. Our Father misses you too. Every day you are here He wants you to be there with Him by His side. He always has his hand stretched out to us all we have to do is reach out and take it. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He suffered everything. He does it because He loves us. I serve because I love Him. I beg each of you. Accept my invitation. You know what I mean. Talk to those two kids in shirts and ties. They will smile and gladly tell you what you need to hear and how you can get just a little bit closer. Its what we do, all over the world, every day. We invite you. So really if you see them all the time or you happen to see them, talk with them. for two 20 somethings they know a lot of things that can really truly help you. I love you all, and hope the absolute best for you in each of your lives and daily adventures. Just remember find the adventure.

Keep moving forward
Con amor
Elder Ben

November 8, 2010

Hey Fam!
Well Aly, it looks good =) [Ben's little sister just got her braces off]
Lucky Invisalign style. I wonder what we can do about that for good old Elder Ludlow...?

Poor grandma and grandpa having to stay in Paris for a night. Unless they were just stuck in the airport. Probably were huh, Well they are home now. =)

Yeah I heard from Sarah. She seems to be doing good

Hahahahaha I passed the day well. working. Its what we do. Yeah Im doing ok with the money thing. I just am trying to keep pluggin along. Mostly just working and trying to lose myself in this.


On to the letter for the week then
Well this time last week I was not feeling that hot. Kinda crappy really. So I went to play some soccer to sweat it out and kick it off. That wasnt a good idea. It was really hot and I gave myself a heat stroke, and ended up sleeping the day away. Tuesday I tried to get to work. Mostly because I was trying to just leave it behind. I did that, but it just was miserable as all get out. I tried my best though and we had a bit of success that day. It was a fun day aside from all of the sick and dehydration problems. The siesta I started getting slightly loopy so we stopped and got some drinks. We did a taste test of Powerade vs Gatorade. gatorade is tastier but Powerade has better stuff in it for you. LOL. Its a true sign of crazy/missionary boredom. It was kind of like after I got my wisdom teeth out. Oh well we just kept plugging along. All our appointments fell through all afternoon and night. It was just a trialling day really. Wednesday I still felt crappy but a little better. I didnt work quite as hard, because of the weird loopiness of things. so took it easy, took some drugs and worked some more thursday. We had pizza and mac and cheese and brownies. It was a kinda fun moment of weird food combinations. Yeah so we had a few great moments this week aside from my being sick then my comp getting sick. Friday we met with one of our most difficult to find investigators Maxi. He is a genius. just brighter than a 100w bulb. We started telling him about prophets to explain the word of wisdom, and we ended up just getting straight to the point because he just accepts everything and knows its true immediately. So we taught him the first vision with the word of wisdom and he is of his own will using the pamphlet as a guide to try and stop some of his various problems along with prayer the book of mormon and coming to church. He is just a great kid. Saturday we met with Matias and he just is so ready. We have to meet his family and he will be baptized. He doesnt really think his mom will accept him after his baptism but we are just gonna pump him up and make sure he understands that its what he needs to do and to not be worried about what others will say, his mother will still love him. Yeah then they both came to church and they just are so loved by this branch. Everyone wants to know the story about them and when they are getting baptized. They are both incredibly spiritual and have a love for the things they are learning. Maxi is loud, Matias kinda quiet. So its funny because they both told each other. " Hey come to church next week, dont fall, keep on coming." It was way good. Well the branch loves them so much that they want us to now go by all of their friends and they want to come with us. Such good stuff.

[Ben's sidenote for the kids in Primary in the ward back home]
Oh for you kids in Primary. Sing. Its not just something that the old people are telling you to do, just because. Its because they love you, and want to see you do some thing that can be great. And if you dont like singing dont do it for them. Do it for your Heavenly Father. In D&C 25:12 it says that the song of the heart is a prayer. So sing like you are saying a prayer and the Lord will bless you, maybe He will bless you to like it. Believe me I was there, and didnt want to. Now I do kind of regret it. You will be surprised how much fun it is later on. Singing is great so sing on like your favorite singer or band, and just belt it out. If you keep on worrying about what others will think you will never do anything more. Just stop worrying about it and get on with it. With care Elder Ben Ludlow

Well thats about that. I am doing better now with the cold. Its just the usual hang around cough. So dont worry. Its gonna be a hot one this week, I am drinking lots of water and doing everything I am supposed to so the Lord is blessing me, and you as well.
I dont know what else to say.

Con Amor
Elder Ben
PS Love you all and miss you a bit. would love to hear from more of you =)

November 1, 2010

Well this was a great week. We worked a ton and even lost a day. Wednesday was the census, and by law you arent allowed to leave until you have been censused or until 5pm. So at 4 we got censused and left to get to work. We knocked some doors and didnt get anything. So we passed by the relatives of a part member family in Ayacucho (I found them last week) and well I thought I knew a little about them. The mom told me that she and her two daughters had just passed the anniversary of her husbands death. We shared the Plan of Salvacion with her, and I NEVER thought that this woman would ever accept any kind of help from the Mormons. Her brother is Dante(a man from Ayacucho whose wife is extremely active and he just barely is being slightly sociable with the missionaries) who leaves the room when we would start teaching at his house in Ayacucho. It was great but I think that this is the key to get the whole family baptized. Great moment of "oh so thats why I´m here". Well we kept on working and working and working. Saturday was a great day though. So we get to the conference (we had to be there at 7:30) after waking up at 5 to get there on time. We are pretty tired, but we got to hear the most general authorities you will hear outside of conference. Elder Gonzales President of the Seventy. Elder Arnold, Elder Spitale, and President Salas (future GA) topped off with Elder Neil Lindon Andersen (Dad are we possibly related or is that a normal name) who really was the cherry on top. Its the most general authorities that have ever been in Cordoba. Well President Salas started off batting strong telling us that the cordoba mission is the 12th of 14 in baptismal statistics. =( Well we are talking a bit on how to improve when everything gets quiet, this big guy comes up to the door opens it and holds it as all the GA´s walk in with their wives. Sweet. Well we start things up and we are listening to what they have to say, most just give their testimony. Then Elder Andersen goes. He tells us that the groundbreaking for the Rome Italy temple happened last saturday, done by Pres. Monson. =) It was kind of fun what he had to say. If I remembered exactly I would tell you. Anyway he continued and just kind went on a little, some scriptures, and such. Stuff about how the 4 languages he speaks were slightly mixed up in his head. Then he just pauses and says, President Salas can you come up here a few minutes I need you to translate my english. It will be about 5 minutes. So he starts and the Spirit just fills the room even more than it had. It was something you could touch in that moment. He told us things that I cant really remember all of, but I definitely remember his promise. That when we dont have words to speak, speak of Christ and the words will come, but not only come but be new things that we didnt even know we knew as we testify of His Merits, Mercy and His Grace. He said also that general belief in Christ will decrease and will increase only in this Chuch. It was a little bit interesting. We know even more than we think we do because we have the BOOK OF MORMON: ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST, where we can go to find the answers that we lack, and find the truth of His Merits, Mercy, and Grace. I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true and as Joseph Smith said, A man will get nearer to God by reading that book than any other book. Well something like that. I think thats two quotes in one, but its what I know to be true. Anyways Elder Andersen finished (sorry some of that was my testimony) and he heads off to the Groundbreaking, which after that moment was pretty boring compared to being with him in the same room and 200 missionaries alone. Well we did that left, said hi to friends, took some pictures (like my MTC group) and we went out to work. I was happy, and I just worked. Not much happened that afternoon, but Sunday morning we went to go find our investigators that were going to come. No one opened up, so we came back to the chapel and went about our business. Well not 15 minutes later Maxi shows up. He came ALONE for his first time, and ended up helping teach the Gospel Principles class, and talking to the employment specialist. He may be getting a job, and he is getting bpatized here soon. well as soon as we can. So yeah pretty cool, then as the sacrament meeing was ending in comes another guy. His name is Matias. He had listened to the missionaries in another area, and wanted to get baptized in the area that he actually belongs to. Us. So he is getting baptized the 20th. then we had lunch and left to go do some more work. (Siesta = Sucess) and found an awesome family that has pretty much been friends with the missionaries and members forever (aka "Dry Mormons") and they were leaving to go to church. We asked them if we could sing a song and we were there for way more than the 2 minutes it takes to sing Familes Can Be Together Forever. We talked about Christ and what it really means to be close to Him. We watched Finding Faith in Christ to help them feel that they could believe even though they have some really tough challenges to face. They were glued to whole time and just were silent. We asked them how they felt. " I feel good, peaceful, but I dont feel satisfied. Its like there is something more and I think I can believe" So we shared Alma 32: 27 It was great. We saw the Lords hand this week, and we will see it more and more as we keep working. So that was my week. It was great, but I am going to top it this next week here. Way pumped. =)



Hahaha yeah hes got some good stuff. I have seen that plan of Salvacion guide here. The Simpsons are way big down here. Like crazy big. So I would imagine it works well. dunno.
Now now mom, Dont get trunky for me hahahaha. I am glad Landon made it back in good spirits and loved his mission so much. Pass it along that when you see him, it has been a great pleasure to read how excited he was every week.

Yeah thats about it. Love you all.

con amor

elder Ludlow

October 25, 2010

I know, I understand. It was a weird transfer, but now I am with Elder Lorimer and we are working like crazymen. In 4 days I talked to 46 people and we found 18 people!!! Thats the work of a week done in 4 days, so this week is going to be nuts. (You wanna help me find my nuts? Tempting Hammy. very tempting) Oh and I got to enjoy a baptism, Sofia. She was all ready to go, and I just happened to be around. Well Its a great area here in Parque Liceo. This is a launching point for many, many, many zone leaders and several assistents. Not that I want to be one of those, its just I have some very big shoes to fill, because thats what they expect from us. Its still a branch, we have a chapel(that looks like every other chapel) and we have alot of great members. Its just that those great ones arent all we need to reach ward status. We have a couple sets of families that we are working with, to help us. They are all very willing(many return missionareis) and we are just set to go. Well we have alot of possible baptisms this month coming up, but that means REALLY working. Thanks for liking that RAP letter. I tried a little bit, but I just really like OLA. Honest .rar is a file format that is just like zip it just makes it alot smaller. The comics are for you to enjoy and get an idea of what we as missionaries go through. The comp checklist is fun, as with the trauma checklist. Its just a fun book some Elder had and I took pictures of the fun ones that I liked. My side was the one without tomatoes so you pegged me pretty good there hahaha, though now I even eat those, they must be cooked though, raw, uncooked, natural, alone I cannnot do. =P

also we didnt move to that pension... oh well.

Honest a CD with a few holiday songs will not make me trunky. I have Disney music, and some other good spiritual, study music. For me its Christmas as long as its cold so Christmas in July is the kind of deal I am working on. That will be interesting. I would like some more music though, not that I necesarily want christmas music, I more want some Especially for Missionaries(Sarah would know) and just good mo tab. I have Called to Serve(the album) but other cds would be nice from mo tab. I do agreee, most elders have left a stocking or some lights in the pens when they have left. Sure its not as nice as gifts, but packages are WAY expensive. I can get some nice stuff here or get some souvenir stuff with that. its about 100 dollars(if you include shipping and the contents) which is 400 pesos, which gets me pretty far. Anyways. just rambling. I have to get something before that though to survive. Things are rough. The dollar keeps increasing, but also we have problems with the government making it hard on distibutors, which passes the prices down to EVERYONE. At least thats what I heard. Dunno, but things have significantly increased in price. A 350cc coke was 1 peso in January, now its 2.50. Yeah. stupid. I am taking some money out again. Also writing to Pres about it. We need an increase in our allowance but we needed it done yesterday. Oh well. I accept the situation as it is, and do everything like I should to change it. =)Yes, not only do we get to see the groundbreaking(its going to be by satellite so not gonna do so well on pictures, you will see it in the news reel next conference which I beg you to record if you see it on the public broadcast station.) but we get to have a mission wide conference with Elder Neil Andersen. WAY COOL!!! Trust me the temple here is going to just blow our minds. We are already seeing movement in the opposition side which means huge blessings are coming down the pipes.

GO WALK!!! Go both times ;)

Thank you, love you, Hope you are doing well. and seriously RAP is not just for us here, its for EVERYONE!!!.

Con Amor

Elder Ben =)

October 20, 2010

Well my new comp is an old acquaintance from like my second transfer. His name is Elder Lorimer. He is from Seattle Washington, attended BYU-I, and if I remember right is an Econ major. We are in Parque Liceo, which is like one area over from Ayacucho. I'm still in Norte, and I am loving it. We have something like 25 potential baptisms, and we find 20 new people each week. I'm stoked to get to work and get to know the new area here. Our side project is strengthening the members, as it is a Branch, so that they Pray, Read, and Attend Church. In Spanish Orar, Leer, Asistir or Ola. Like Ocean waves or Ola´s the restaurant. Really if every member would READ DAILY, PRAY DAILY, and ATTEND WEEKLY (that includes the activities) the church would be a whole lot stronger. That's honest to goodness one of the major differences between the average member and the missionary. We all should be keeping similar standards, but if we all got up and went to bed on time, read our scriptures and prayed personally and as a companionship (or husband and wife) our lives would improve in a degree that wouldn't allow us to ever stop doing it as we would really truly see the blessings the Lord gives us DAILY, and that He really LOVES us, each of us, so much that He wants to give us blessings, and that He sent His SON, JESUS CHRIST, to give us an example and a pattern for our lives and to sacrifice His life, for each of our mistakes, each of our pains, and sicknesses, and that He understands. I know it. I have gone to Him with those things, and felt relief and strength. I love the Lord. I serve Him. I know that this is His work, and have seen Him work in peoples lives and change them in ways that they never imagined. If those that are not members of this church are changed by the things that we teach, just imagine how they could change you as a member. We teach more than just those three things I mentioned (READ DAILY, PRAY DAILY, and ATTEND WEEKLY) but those are the ones that truly allow everyone to feel the Spirit and to feel the Lords love for us. Is there any greater thing in this world, or that which is to come? Love is the answer, the reason, and the way to just be happy. Love everyone, which means that we have Charity (the Pure Love of Christ) and from charity we get faith, hope, patience, humility, obedience, diligence etc. and we become more and more like our Savior, and our Heavenly Father. I know this is the Lord´s work and I am doing it.

Oh so fun little deal. I forgot to pass on these two stories. Last week we went to see Nico, because well, we hadn't done it in awhile. We were talking to him and just chatting. We give a prayer and get ready to leave. Well just before Nico we had been to see that ie Hno that gives us milk. Well we give the prayer and I get the impression, give Nico the milk. that's weird, but ok. I gave it to him. and asked him if the kids(he has 3: 8, 2, 7 months) had milk. He said no, but now they do. Its fun, and yeah its great when you finally have one of those moments. Well Sunday was Fast and Testimony as well. So Pablo(the bishops son) was being a good Aaronic priesthood holder and watching the door. well I looked over and saw him with tears in his eyes trying to tell himself that he could leave the door and go give his testimony. Well sure he could go, but he didn't understand that, so I went over and told him to go, at first he said that he had to watch the door, but I just told him to go give his testimony. He got up there and just gave one of the best ones I have heard. He went in and said I no longer need to rely on borrowed light from my parents. I now know for myself that this the only true church of God on the earth and that He has called prophets and that we have the Book Of Mormon.... So on. He finshed and came up to me and gave me a big old hug, and I sat down. Those are two things I figured you all would enjoy. Yeah, gonna go tear it up here in Parque Liceo with Elder Lorimer Love you all, and hope the best for you.

REMEMBER

R A P (READ. ATTEND, PRAY)

Con Amor

Elder Ben

October 10, 2010 (10/10/10!)

Hi mommy

So this week... Well we worked. We just got out and dug our hands in. Ok better said that we tried. We had a good start, I said like three months ago that we were going to baptize twin 12 year olds. Well they are finally getting baptized the 23rd. =) Sad thing is that this next week we are getting transfers. they are going to be on tuesday instead of saturday, so we dont get our day to say goodbye, and we dont have P-Day until WEDNESDAY So I may not be responsive on monday, dont be mad =P But yeah I may end up missing the baptism by like 3 days. =( Its ok, if I stay I get to see it anyways... Im pretty done with the comp, after 3 months everyone pretty much is done with their comps, unless you are like best friends. Hes fun because he gets all stick up his butt "Im and obedient missionary, you should be too," for things that I am being obedient, but he sees as disobedient. I have tried working things out with him, but he just is kind of hypocritical, because then he goes and does something semi disobedient. Like Indiana Jones. He says it doesnt make him trunky, but thats like me saying going on facebook wouldnt make me trunky. But enough about complaining about the comp, (Murphy says we stay together once more) Back on topic, So with the twins we were talking to them and then their parents like appeared. Now we usually just say hi with them because they are working alot, even though they support their kids in this, we have never talked. Well we were talking with the father Pablo, and we invited him to pray, and he said, well I dont know how, so we explained. He said ok, I´ll do it. He did an amazing prayer! like a member hahaha. So he said, well for my first mormon prayer it seems pretty good to me. We are going to work with the twins some more to get ahold of their parents because they are actually pretty interested. =) That and we are going to work with the youth in the ward some more here to go on divisions this week. I just hope it will all go well. Its kind of a fun place here in Ayacucho. =)

I can just see grandpa driving that car. He also washes it alot too I bet. *High five to that Elder* The link is just a picture. It happens to not be just any picture, but of the temple of Cordoba.!Yeah if milk was free that would be nice, but I wouldnt drink it. Wait I do have free milk. Its free powdered milk from a member. So I prepare it myself. I am also not in Bahia Blanca where the cows wander all over and people would offer me "free milk" that is VERY fresh.I had giant honey nut cheerios. Which were ok, I am going to get Cocoa puffs this week. It lasts about 2 weeks.

[referencing little sister Alyson] Yes pictures. thanksI am going to print some pictures today, maybe. We are going to walmart in a bit here. hahaha"I like the dollar store cuz ya dont have to dress up like when you go to the walmart..."But yeah. I will be the bouncer on said line =P *holds up sign that says "you must be this tall to enter" and velvet rope*Nah dont worry. Tell her to watch it though. ;)

Ok well gotta get out of here.

aight

Peace out

Con amor

Elder Ben

October 4, 2010

Hi mommy.

Look I had my interview with President Salas. I feel a whole lot better. =)

Look what I found =) http://www.countrywebsites.lds.org/ar/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=531:imagen-computarizada-del-templo-de-cordoba&catid=43:ano-2010&Itemid=82 Its in Spanish but I think you will like it. I almost teared up a little when I saw it.

You may share this part I figure.

I also always have liked blue... so the rest of my answers will be in blue, especially to your questions.

I talked to Prez about being a better missionary, and he was really just comforting. The thing was that I had felt heavy with some things from my past. Like I said Old Elder Ludlow, wont be coming back anytime soon. Hes gone for good now.

On to your questions as they will help me to answer in a better form how my week went.

I had money spent to get to stake conference and other conferences, normally we have travel fund, but that didnt reach the special zone conference and other such meetings with Elder Arnold So I payed. that and medical expenses and stuff like that. I am getting payed back this week dont worry. No. I am still trying to sell my suit

Lunch is like dinner and lunch all at once. Its a big meal. So I eat like at that. I found a place where I can buy like 7 pound bags of cereal, and a hermano that gives us free milk. so I have breakfast now. Look the skinny is good, but even Prez noticed. thats not good if prez notices. So while I am going to be fasting once a week, its not to be skinnier its to be a better missionary. Do not worry mum. I am not terribly worried about things like money I have seen that the Lord does provide before so I know that He will again

How come you had to get a new place? Is the new place better? Bigger/smaller? Cleaner? Closer to the work?

Well because the rent went up. and it wasnt worth it. No, and yes its a work in progress. Its smaller, much cleaner, and on one side of our area. I would sned pictures but an elder just ruined his flash drive because these are slightly virused. this is web based so dont worry about viruses, its attacking the hardware inserted in this comp. Speaking of. what happened with that computer dad was going to "hack"?

Can I please cut and paste your testimony from the last letter and forward it on? It is pretty awesome, so read it back to yourself and let me know.

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He is my Savior. I know that He is my Redeemer. I know that we cannot even being to comprehend everything that He did for us. This week Elder Zarate came to our district meeting. He told us that he would love it if everyone that passed us on the street shouted CHRISTIANS instead of Mormons. Why do they do that even. Because we share the thing that to us seems to be the differing factor. We figure that Joseph Smith, the Book Of Mormon, the Restoration, the Priesthood, and Baptism are the most important things. Its true they are very important and it is how I know that Jesus is the Christ. What does it really mean to us to think of that. What does it really mean that Jesus is our Savior. What does it mean to be saved. Well I know something. That I will be with my family, I will have my body and Spirit together again forever, never to be seperated. I will have you and Dad and Sarah and Alyson and we will see eachother and have the same relationships we have now. I guess I should probably write to my sisters huh?... But well to think of all of this stuff that we have, why arent we just happy with that? Because we know we will see eachother again we also know that the same source of that knowledge will reveal more things for us to learn. That we can continue to develop and grow here so that someday not so far from now we will be able to apply the things we learned and take the same steps that Our Heavenly Father has taken. Heres a thought. that I have thought about recently. If Heavenly Father had to give His Son so we could come back to Him, will we as creators have to follow the same step? Would we be willing to do that? would be able to do it? That is the ultimate moment that we can achieve here in the Earth that I can figure... That we would give even our ONLY son so that we could have the rest of our children home again. I dont have words to even describe that. but I know that at this point in time I wouldnt be capable of doing such a thing. I guess its time to stop complaining and get to work and not just missionary work but on myself. I need to change myself to the point that the Old Elder Ludlow cant EVER come back. To the point that I have the patience humility charity dilligence and faith of a Havenely Father. (Mat 5 48) And if it cant get that(its almost impossible alone) I will make myself the missionary that I should have always been.

Yeah I realized that I sounded pretty down last week. but im glad that you like my testimony. Conference is always amazing. It was definitely a focus on addictions and feeling the spirit for me... I dont know what themes you picked up on. I love conference every time. It gets better as a missionary. To stay awake, seriously sit there with a pen and paper. You will be surprised at the things you pick up on for just plain ol you. also just go online and re watch it when you fall asleep. the video is up in three languages exactly one hour after conference. No excuse to wait until it comes to read it. =P

I am in fact extremely grateful for Nicolas. He is a great young man and a great father and husband now. He really is golden.

Well thats because Laura Barrus is a member of the Ben Ludlow fan club... hahaha.

The one who drags us down is Satan. He really makes us feel absolutely horrible, for every tiny itsy bitsy thing we have ever done. He hates us. Thats why I dislike hating things. I am trying to cut out that phrase from my vocabulary. Its difficult to do but it is just not very christlike to hate well anything... Just one of many. trust me the changes are the little things that probably bothered you and definitely bothered me. Its not going to be anymore physical changes. those I have had plenty of. Now maybe there will be a little muscle instead of fat but thats an over time thing. Yeah. Dont know where I am going with this.

what the crazy 50 degrees??!!!?!?!?!? And a cold. GET BETTER.

I laughed out loud to think of grandma on a camel. speaking of grandma and grandpa whats the word on that DVD?

So this week, we moved, cleaned the old apartment, cleaned the new one, un packed, all for tuesday. Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning and the next two mornings we had Zone conference. It was alot different than Olsen. This is Salas. He like to just talk to us and hear what we learned and have to say. Hes very open with us. I love it. I dont feel like I am talking to a wall of statistics and obedience. I feel like I am talking to a man, who knows Christ and wants to tell us how to get close to Him. well anyway. We then had general conference, I had an interview, and now I am here in centro helping a few elders do their trunky shopping. Its fun how they just buy a bunch of artisan stuff and candies. lol. Well I did get myself a hat. Its a kind of newspaperboy cap. Its a very british hat and I have a british face so it works well with me. =) Yeah. I am looking to have something on par with the excitement of Elder Cooley this week thats coming. I am so ready to just go to work and stop worrying about things. Look out world here comes elder Ludlow =)

Con Amor

Elder Ben

September 19, 2010

Yeah I decided to write to Weston...
Ummm if you get a good enough map of Cordoba you need to find the river, that isnt La Cañada... Here let me just send you a google maps
There
So this week, was fairly uneventful. We did the same old same old. Worked, talked to people, did service with Dario, Oh and we looked for a new pension.(IE pictures). The giant pizza is from two weeks ago, along with some comics about the mission =P

Well seems like things keep plugging along. We have another baptism here Saturday. Then next week I have general conference!!!! whoa! In two months I will have a year in the mish. *Freaks out flying around like an airplane making jet noises* PPPPBBB lol Not really. I dont want to get on any planes anytime soon.
Last week the Conference with elder Arnold was basically a huge cane drop. Cane Drop is when he kinda yells at everyone and gets really emocional. Some do it by screaming, others by guilt. he did both. Way yo go 70 powers... =P No but we talked about alot of the new doctrine of missionary work. and how we have to really get it all going on, because the Lord really wants to increase the pace now.
Whoa. Landon is gonna be home.... Trippy. and Sam... and Chris in 3 or 4. What is this? hmmmm
yup the library will roll on. they cant close it as much as they may like to. Keep on keeping on mum. Roll on family roll on crew... oh alabama hahahaha
Well Xio is friends with Linnea, and Linnea with Katie, then Katie and brittany hang out, and Sarah and brittany are friends so it was only a matter of time. Its probably funny because Sarah, and Xio and Brit talk in Spanish and Katie and Linnea are most likely lost. =P dont send that on... lol
Oh well things happen like that, so not entirely surprised with anything. I did hear that San Fran burned. Had any fires going down this week?
You got what kind of shoes? This requires a picture. Yeah go ahead and send it. I mean if we start now it might get here for Christmas.
" Me: Yeah I got a package coming... Comp: but so is Christmas... Me: ahugggghhhh"
Well I hope that you now have sufficient of a response from me. I am doing well, salud, dinero, and amor.
I hope you all have health, money and love(cuz I have lots of the last one for you all) and that you enjoy your week.
Bye Bye for now
Con Amor
Elder Ludlow

September 12, 2010

Ben titled this one: "Happy Grandparents' Day!" in honor of Grandma and Grandpa Ludlow's 50th Wedding anniversary. There was a big get together and most of their family, including their 5 sons, were able to attend.

Dad. Picture. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA =P

Can you send me that slideshow?

Bueno

this week I got transfers. I am staying in Ayacucho with elder Hayes. Wooh 6 months in the area. Now I am gonna baptize a ton. Well this week we had conference with Elder Arnold of the seventy. First zone conference and then Stake Conference. Hes a really great elder very spiritual, and all my investigators that met him told me that they were reminded of me =P I dont cry nearly as much as he does. But overall very good. Little short, but health is all well, along with money and all I am happy =)

Well gonna tell you about my adventures this week, but next week.

Con Amor

Elder ludlow

September 6, 2010

Ben titled this one: "9/06/2010 (I'm not that creative with titles...)"

Jaajajajajajajajaja mmm yeah poop!!!

I kinda felt like that little girl from the exorcist that throws up pea soup =P

Mayo, is kinda like the ketchup here. It is used to cover funky flavors. and it is quite a bit different than it is in the states. It comes in bags with like frosting decorater tips.

Hahahaha yeah. The bishops wife told me the reason that they dont eat alot of mayonaisse or spicy foods... Apparently for the altitude and something about above sea levels and some nonsense. Elder Hayes asked another member and she said its just cuz they dont like it.

Its because the members love the missionaries.

Thank you for depositing the money. I am going to let it sit for a little while. I know if I take it out it should only be for emergency. I dont want to be tempted to go buy dumb things... =P

I would love music! If you can get Aly to help you to rip the cds to mp3 and you can send them via email in multiple emails. It works. I got ahold of an mp3 player a few months ago. Really any motab that we have or singles ward/rm soundtrack stuff would be great as well.

Yeah I had birthday brownies with Mama Juarez. Thats Eli, Esteffania, and Flavio (one of her "adopted" sons) They insisted on putting cream on top. It was pretty good.

The other pictures attached have titles.

Of course, at least they are realizing that its a good thing now, before they were afraid of her because she knew more than them. they have come to accept it [I think he's referring to Aly being the most effective member of an eagle project team]. Well I hope she finds something but that it all works with studying and working and social times. She is in the shark tank now mom, so she had better tell me of any cuñados that may soon be [and I think this part refers to me looking for a job and being in Provo].

Well its good they tried, its usually when they want a reference that they come to you ;) but anyways I always have the pamphlets that have pictures and I have no problem letting them use my pen. Its fine with me. I would try having like a picture or two or letting them play with you and multi task it with the parents. Or they can try teaching the kids how to pray. Dont you remember how the missionaries were our best friends when they came over for dinner because they had magic tricks and stuff?

Well this week was pretty good. We had to be on a diet because the member knew that we werent well, so we got fed little things. oh well. I had rice and noodles most of the week.

Things are plugging along. We have a potential of 12 baptisms in the next two months. We are gonna be putting baptismal dates all this week. The bishop is super stoked. I am really happy here and still in Ayacucho. I will probably be leaving this next transfer ie sunday.

Well gotta go get to work

Con Amor

elder Ludlow

Ben with his birthday present: a photo album of old pictures.
What a handsome face he's making...

August 30, 2010

Ben titled this one: "And so the cast out demons got their revenge"
Blue notes are from Mom's email, I think. Ben is responding to these "gentle prompts."


I decided to begin putting titles on my emails. Its more fun =)
Well, you did it again. Almost needed the Urim and Thummim to read your letter.
Funny you should mention that. I was reading in Ether this week.
Sinus Infection: Gone
Suit: Didn't sell it to Nico. Elder Hayes bought the suit for me two weeks ago and I paid him back from money I took out last week. also my shoes were resoled with real goma(rubber) they are heavier but they will last. with the rainy season coming it had to be done or I would have been sliding all over the sidewalks here because they are all ceramic or tile. I don't ask I just try not to fall. So Shoes and suit, bought and paid for. =)
Package: So I got the PACKAGE!!!! did you use gold pen to make clip art look like illuminated paintings? If so I approve of your actions wholeheartedly. So " AND, "yes, I got the package and opened it," " !!!!!! They opened it at customs, but Elder Law(the bolsero aka mailman) saw them and they didn't take anything out so we were safe. So I opened up the card and was pleased with the choice of the chicken. Then I opened the big old spongebob wrapped object. I am very happy with that album!!! Im gonna fill it up here real soon. Alyson´s notes were of course very Alyson.( =P when do I get to go to Hawaii?) This week I am going to make the brownies and put the candles in it and take it to my "mom´s" house for lunch on Thursday. Macaroni boxes. Those were probably the best macaroni gluing I have seen. very good. It seems to work very well for smuggling, i just hope no one uses it for bad things =P Anyway... All is well in package land. In fact I got two! Grandma and Pop sent me one from Dear Elder. I had Peanut butter, beef jerky, oreos, a yo yo, tic tacs(for after all the other foods) and an inflatable ball... Something to throw at my comp when he falls asleep studying? I dunno. Mini beach volleyball? alright.. I could probably give it to a kid here. Actually I will probably give it to Esteffania, shes 4 and very capricious, and loves to get things.... ok onwards. Basically all package things are good.
Mom: do you know who May Porter is? ask grandma...
Birthday and other accontecimientos: I had a great birthday because I was doing service all day. I had figured on doing some for Dario(who got baptized on Saturday) but at lunch on Wednesday I got asked to do some service in the morning for the Gudiño family. We tore down some shack thing that was used to store old car parts, and well they really just wanted an excuse to give me a cake. Oh well not gonna turn down cake. =) So I got me some cake, then went and helped Dario and Laura (she also got baptized Saturday) to sort garbage from reciclables. Great times there. Trash.. Random item that can be taken apart for recyclables? sweet.
Well finished up there at about 7 and went off to the Luna family. They were gonna give us pizza and have a noche de hogar. which was kinda weird since they are super inactivo. Well we got there and there was no pizza and we ended up giving the hermana a blessing of health and then we blessed the home. Well elder Hayes told the "whatever evil presence that is here, LEAVE NOW" through spiritual guidance. they were happy and we left. So we went and got Chori pan (its like a bratwurst sandwich only delicious) and had correlacion meeting with the ward mission leader. I ate alot and then had a stomachache in the morning of course. Bad. So I tried to get over it, and we had lunch at the pension. We had hot dogs. with mayonaise and bbq sauce, and just dumb stupidness. So at about 7 we leave from a great lesson with one of the 15 we found like 3 weeks ago, and I nearly died walking away from that house. I am going to be blunt and you will have to edit but I almost crapped my pants. The term explosive diarrhea comes to mind. I hold it in and get to the pension and had to go, and so did my comp. Apparently mayonaise is bad for you. It can in fact cause violent gastrointestinitis. So we spent all night with the barfing and the diarrhea. Fun fun fun. I finally got to bedish Satuarday morning at about 6:28 Needless to say we didnt leave right away, we almost didnt make it to the baptism. Thats right we were going to baptize them and everything and we didnt do it because we were sick. Well recent converts to the rescue. Nicolas(no he was not wearing my suit) borrowed my baptism pants and baptized not only Laura, and Dario, but also his son Exequiel. Hes way cool!!!! Anyway So we are still dying, but the ward came to the rescue along with my district leader who helped us get to the baptism and take care of ourselves. It was an interesting weekend. Well we got in trouble with all the mothers of the ward who told us not to eat crappy stuff just to be cheap. its not worth it and costs more in the end. So sunday morning we got to go to part of church but then Elder hayes still didnt feel good so we got to go to the hopsital instead of sacrament meeing. =O dont worry I am fine, and so is my comp now. They gave him pepto... except its a cream that you eat, instead of the good ol pink liquid.
Other demons cast out So we also taught a member who has the priesthood how to bless his home, because he had evil spirits from like january. I would tell you some of the stuff that went down but this cyber is charging us up the wazoo. anyways he got that done and was able to bless his daughter who is super catholic. Hes cool. but yeah now you know why the demons got their revenge.
Thank you so much for the package, pictures of the area and other moments to come soon.
Con Amor
Elder Ludlow
PS
More to do next week, we got some interesting things to take care of this week and the next one cuz pres of area mervyn arnold is coming. =)