Friday, April 17, 2009

Biking in the mud

April 14, 2009

Hola familia,

I did get my Easter package. I also got one from Grandma. So I've been spoiled. I've got a lot of candy now so I'm going to be a hyper boy this week.

I've never seen the video of Amy opening her mission call. That would be cool to see. I didn't see it in the Easter package. Maybe I'll look a little harder just to make sure that I didn't miss it.

I'm loving it here in Vancouver. It has rained quite a bit but I'm really enjoying it. Amy instilled a love for rain in me. The members that we live with have been out of town for quite a while and only just barely got back last night. So I haven't had that much of an opportunity to get to know them other than just this morning.

My new companion's name is Elder Aaron Tracy. He is from California. He's been out three transfers so this is his fourth. It's really funny because we have so much in common. We're both computer nerds! We've had a few intense discussions. Just while we're driving in the car getting from appointment to appointment. That's the other thing. Vancouver is so much bigger. And there are fewer Hispanic people. It's like less than 4% population of Hispanic. Which is so much different from Pasco.

We had a really nice Easter dinner with the Reshke family. The food was great. They both served Spanish speaking missions. And they attend the Spanish branch. Brother Reshke served in Chile. So I was excited to tell them about Amy going there soon. Also President Alder, our ward mission leader, served as a mission president in Chile. So many connections to Chile. I heard that the Spanish down there is crazy. That they slur lots of words together. They also cut off practically all of their s's.

Elder Tracy and I just found this really awesome group of people that we're teaching. They are three couples that all hang out at one house. All three of the guys are out of work right now. It's so much fun teaching them. There was a time when we were teaching them that I was so overcome by the spirit that I felt like I was trembling. Everything was completely silent in the room with all their attention fixed on us. It was amazing. I don't ever think that I've taught that powerfully with the spirit.

I didn't really have any allergies in Pasco. But when I first got here my eyes started to itch and my nose was irritating me, so I had to take some medicine at first but now I feel better and it's not bothering me.

I did remember to bring my bike with me, which we have already used quite a bit. Now that's a story. Our car has to get the rear brakes replaced so we've been doing a bunch of bike riding. We'll be able to use the car again on Wednesday evening. We rode up and down some really big hills. We also rode next to some railroad tracks in the rain and mud. It was so much fun! We also watched some Hispanic people play volleyball for a while. We tried to play with them but it began to rain really hard and they stopped playing.

Have a great week, I love you
Elder Ben Arnold

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