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
Monday, November 29, 2010
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
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
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
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
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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 =)
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