Hola familia,
This week has been pretty crazy. I was sick for most of it. I was stuck in bed for two days straight. It was no fun. I don't ever recommend getting sick as a missionary. First Elder Rodriguez was sick, then I and Elder Godinez both got sick from him. Luckily Elder Tracy has escaped the wrath. As a result we really didn't get very much done.
At the beginning of the week we met a new kid named Sebastian. He is a friend of the Abdala family. So it was a member present lesson! We love those kind of lessons. He had lots of questions and we had lots of answers. He's only 16 but he's very intelligent. Something that I thought was awesome: After we had been talking for a while with him he told me that when he came into the room and I said, "hola como estas" he was really confused. Because when he looked at me I was a white kid. But I guess I had a perfect accent. I was so excited. That made me feel like I was on top of the world. And then of course as I already mentioned I was brought really low by my sickness.
Just at the beginning of my sickness there was a Mother's day activity. All of the men cooked and set up a really nice restaurant for the mother's in the gym. It was really amazing. The food was high quality and all the mother's were really impressed. It was run like a fancy restaurant too. No kids or men were allowed in unless they were waiters or escorts or something. The missionaries jobs were to guard the doors from everybody that wasn't a woman and to escort the mother's to their seats. You would've been really impressed. Then to top it off there was a live mariachi band. I don't know how to spell that. There were five Hispanic guys all playing different instruments and singing. The mother's loved it. They all got up and danced and sang along and had a blast. The good news, they loved it so much so we're going to do it for them again in 20 years. Haha. No that was just one of Bro Woodland's jokes.
I haven't heard anymore than you have from Amy. She probably just had a hard time figuring out using the computer. They probably had a lot to do since it was her first p-day as well. She did write a letter. That might just be what the mission president suggested. I don't know. It seems like she's okay and we'll probably hear more from her when everything’s calmed down a little bit next week.
I wrote her a letter this last week but I lost her address so I couldn't wait until today to rewrite it down from my emails. Oh well. It's a bomb letter she'll love it. And it's all in Spanish. She'll get in some extra Spanish study.
That's exciting that school is almost over for you, Matthew and Jonathan. It's also exciting to hear about all the missionary work that you are doing in the ward. Yes that's what I love to hear about!!!
Oh I almost forgot. Transfers. Elder Tracy and I are both staying!!! I love Elder Tracy. And this area is great. Elder Godinez is going to Pasco to be Zone Leader with Elder Waldo. Elder Rodriguez is staying here and training the only Spanish missionary coming out this transfer.
Also just from how things worked out Elder Harris, who is in our district, is in a threesome with us right now. We had a lot of fun doing some spanglish tracting with him yesterday. We actually had a lot of success. We found three new investigators!!!
Love
Elder Ben Arnold
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Beacon Rock
May 12, 2009
Hola familia,
I'm a little slow to emailing today because we had a zone hike this morning (at Beacon Rock). It was great. I got lots of great pictures. I can't wait to send them to you.
I got an awesome letter from Teresa Romero this week! She told me that she really liked church this last week; she didn't tell me why though. She also had a really cool missionary experience. She just got a new job at a warehouse kind of a place. She started talking to a woman a little bit older than her. She doesn't remember how but they got on the topic of religions and Teresa started to tell her about our church. She answered lots of questions that the lady had. And then she invited her to come to church. And the lady was really interested in going. I'm so proud of that girl!
Thank you for telling me about Amy. I'm super excited for her. I know she's going to have a great start to her mission. I'm a little sad that I didn't get to talk to her but I'm glad to hear that she's doing well.
Matthew you're so funny. Falling asleep. Haha. Sorry that I couldn't have called earlier. It was great to hear your laugh again.
Thanks for setting up the skype thing Jonathan. I think it added a lot more to our conversation. I can't wait to get home and do some fun electronics projects with you.
Thanks for sending that information. Now I can get those letters sent out.
Just to answer your other questions: I could hear you really well. I think my microphone was just a little weak.
Love you,
Elder Ben Arnold
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Good-bye, Amy
May 6, 2009
Hola familia,
Happy cinco de Mayo! I didn't email yesterday because our zone had interviews with president. So our p-day got pushed back to today.
I'll answer your questions first mom. I currently have two SD cards. One is a 2GB and I think the one in my camera is the 4GB one. As for that SD card that didn't work, try plugging it into your camera and then hooking it up to the computer with the camera cable. Can you view the pictures on your camera? If that doesn't work you can send it back to me and I'll get it to work for you.
On Sunday I can call whenever I want to. The phones are free on the weekends so I don't need to use a phonecard. By the way I still have that same phone card that you sent me for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it still has quite a few minutes on it. I'll just call you early in the morning at about 8:00 your time and we can set up a time then.
I actually haven't gotten the cinco de mayo package yet. So I'll be looking forward to getting it soon.
This last week has been pretty intense. We met some amazing new investigators.
First, Francisco: Elder Godinez and I were on exchanges. We went tracting into an apartment complex where one of our investigators lives. On about the fifteenth door we knocked on, a man in his late forties answered the door. Elder Godinez began sharing a brief message with us. Part way through Francisco asked us if we'd like to just come inside and talk. Elder Godinez and I looked at each other, our eyes lit up. We got inside and sat down on some white plastic chairs. He began talking to us about how he is going through some hard times right now. He almost immediately began crying. Through tears he began relating to us how he had just lost custody of his little boy. Him and his wife had gotten divorced about 8 or so months ago. And she just left. Then just about a week before we knocked on his door she came back and took their son with her. Francisco was devastated. His son is his whole life. Of course, they went to court over the custody of the child. The court was on the morning that we knocked on his door, so just a few hours previous, in the which he got partial custody. Just on the weekends. Then throughout the rest of the week the young boy stays with the mom. This had destroyed Francisco. He missed his son so much. Much of the night before we came over, he had been reading the bible and praying. Trying to understand why he was going through this. After he calmed down a little bit Elder Godinez and I began sharing some scriptures with him. Mostly from the Book of Mormon and about the life of Christ. Then Francisco said something that I've never heard anybody say before in my entire mission. He said, "That is such a beautiful book. May I have one? How much will it cost?" You could see an eagerness in his eyes. Elder Godinez ran out to the car really quick after the lesson of the restoration and got a Spanish book of Mormon for him.
The story continues...
Elder Tracy and I went back for our return appointment. Elder Tracy was really excited to meet this guy. We sat down with him and began talking to him about the reading assignment that we left with him at our last meeting. He started explaining all of these things to us that just amazed me. It was evident that he had read 3 Nephi 11 and then started from the inside cover of the book. He read all of the witnesses and testimonies of the book. Then read the introduction and everything else that is found at the front of the Book of Mormon. He also managed to read all the way up to 1 Nephi 15. He told us about Lehi and his family. And about Nephi and Laman and Lemuel. I cannot begin to describe how strongly the spirit resided in that room for that short lesson.
Since then we have also had a chance to meet his son and teach him a little bit more.
This is just one of so many people that we have found this last week. I wish I had time to tell you about them all. There's definitely one principle that I've been taught over and over on my mission. The more obedient you are as a missionary to the rules and commandments, the more the Lord trusts you and guides you to those who are prepared.
Amy leaves the MTC in 5 days! The time has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that she went in. I've met a lot of people lately that have connections to Chile. Every time that happens I always get excited and tell them, "Hey, guess what? My sister is going to Chile in 5 days! Isn't that so cool!!!"
I enjoyed hearing about the scuba shop set up in our garage. It'll be fun to use when I get home. I've met a lot of people that I want to go backpacking with when I get home too. So we'll always have friends to go with on any of our trips. Just thought you'd like to know.
Congratulations on tennis Matthew and Jonathan. It sounds like you're both getting better and better every day. What are you going to do next year when coach leaves? I think that'll probably be pretty weird. Hopefully you get a coach as good as him.
I've been using my pull-up bar a lot lately. You'll have to practice to catch up to me, Matthew. Yesterday I did three sets of ten right in a row. And then I'll sometimes do two or three pull-ups on each of the six grips without taking a break. How many can you do, Jonathan?
I love you family, Have a super wonderful week!
Elder Ben Arnold
Hola familia,
Happy cinco de Mayo! I didn't email yesterday because our zone had interviews with president. So our p-day got pushed back to today.
I'll answer your questions first mom. I currently have two SD cards. One is a 2GB and I think the one in my camera is the 4GB one. As for that SD card that didn't work, try plugging it into your camera and then hooking it up to the computer with the camera cable. Can you view the pictures on your camera? If that doesn't work you can send it back to me and I'll get it to work for you.
On Sunday I can call whenever I want to. The phones are free on the weekends so I don't need to use a phonecard. By the way I still have that same phone card that you sent me for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it still has quite a few minutes on it. I'll just call you early in the morning at about 8:00 your time and we can set up a time then.
I actually haven't gotten the cinco de mayo package yet. So I'll be looking forward to getting it soon.
This last week has been pretty intense. We met some amazing new investigators.
First, Francisco: Elder Godinez and I were on exchanges. We went tracting into an apartment complex where one of our investigators lives. On about the fifteenth door we knocked on, a man in his late forties answered the door. Elder Godinez began sharing a brief message with us. Part way through Francisco asked us if we'd like to just come inside and talk. Elder Godinez and I looked at each other, our eyes lit up. We got inside and sat down on some white plastic chairs. He began talking to us about how he is going through some hard times right now. He almost immediately began crying. Through tears he began relating to us how he had just lost custody of his little boy. Him and his wife had gotten divorced about 8 or so months ago. And she just left. Then just about a week before we knocked on his door she came back and took their son with her. Francisco was devastated. His son is his whole life. Of course, they went to court over the custody of the child. The court was on the morning that we knocked on his door, so just a few hours previous, in the which he got partial custody. Just on the weekends. Then throughout the rest of the week the young boy stays with the mom. This had destroyed Francisco. He missed his son so much. Much of the night before we came over, he had been reading the bible and praying. Trying to understand why he was going through this. After he calmed down a little bit Elder Godinez and I began sharing some scriptures with him. Mostly from the Book of Mormon and about the life of Christ. Then Francisco said something that I've never heard anybody say before in my entire mission. He said, "That is such a beautiful book. May I have one? How much will it cost?" You could see an eagerness in his eyes. Elder Godinez ran out to the car really quick after the lesson of the restoration and got a Spanish book of Mormon for him.
The story continues...
Elder Tracy and I went back for our return appointment. Elder Tracy was really excited to meet this guy. We sat down with him and began talking to him about the reading assignment that we left with him at our last meeting. He started explaining all of these things to us that just amazed me. It was evident that he had read 3 Nephi 11 and then started from the inside cover of the book. He read all of the witnesses and testimonies of the book. Then read the introduction and everything else that is found at the front of the Book of Mormon. He also managed to read all the way up to 1 Nephi 15. He told us about Lehi and his family. And about Nephi and Laman and Lemuel. I cannot begin to describe how strongly the spirit resided in that room for that short lesson.
Since then we have also had a chance to meet his son and teach him a little bit more.
This is just one of so many people that we have found this last week. I wish I had time to tell you about them all. There's definitely one principle that I've been taught over and over on my mission. The more obedient you are as a missionary to the rules and commandments, the more the Lord trusts you and guides you to those who are prepared.
Amy leaves the MTC in 5 days! The time has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that she went in. I've met a lot of people lately that have connections to Chile. Every time that happens I always get excited and tell them, "Hey, guess what? My sister is going to Chile in 5 days! Isn't that so cool!!!"
I enjoyed hearing about the scuba shop set up in our garage. It'll be fun to use when I get home. I've met a lot of people that I want to go backpacking with when I get home too. So we'll always have friends to go with on any of our trips. Just thought you'd like to know.
Congratulations on tennis Matthew and Jonathan. It sounds like you're both getting better and better every day. What are you going to do next year when coach leaves? I think that'll probably be pretty weird. Hopefully you get a coach as good as him.
I've been using my pull-up bar a lot lately. You'll have to practice to catch up to me, Matthew. Yesterday I did three sets of ten right in a row. And then I'll sometimes do two or three pull-ups on each of the six grips without taking a break. How many can you do, Jonathan?
I love you family, Have a super wonderful week!
Elder Ben Arnold
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
It's a Small World
April 28, 2009
Hola familia,
It was exciting to hear about all of your adventures with scuba diving and caving. It makes me anxious to join you. I had already heard about that lady on Britain's got talent. It was pretty interesting to hear about.
I still haven't gotten to play tennis and on top of that it's raining pretty hard today. Which means I won't be playing today. Ni modo. It sounds like Matthew and Jonathan are doing pretty well. Are you guys getting tan? I'm really, really white right now. I don't see the sun very much here in Vancouver. Although our last pday was really hot and I got a little sunburned.
Good job on your talk in sacrament meeting Jonathan. You might be surprised but I haven't spoken in a single sacrament meeting since I've been in Washington. Weird huh? Thanks for your amazing letters, Jonathan. I'm always lifted every time I get them. I love seeing the return address with Mom and Dad's names crossed out with "Jonathan" handwritten above. haha.
Spanish Conference was amazing! I got to see all of the Spanish missionaries from the entire mission. So I got to see all my friends who are still in Pasco. Besides that though there was some really good training. First we heard from President Alder. His topic was faith unto repentance. He gave us lots of good ideas on how to help people act on their faith and do something about it. The thing that was great about it was that he focused a lot on the culture of the Spanish people and gave us suggestions on how to be more polite and have a greater influence. The other speaker was President Piñon. He was so sincere during his role-play examples that he even began to cry. You could feel how much he loved those who were acting as the investigators. He was also the one who translated at the Mexico temple rededication. Which was really cool because I got to watch that. It's funny how small of a world this is.
Which reminds me... Dad. I met a guy named Jacob who went to BYU and got a bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. And he was so excited that I knew Mike Jensen. He just couldn't get over it. And what's more he is not a member of the Church. He was born in Jerusalem and his native tongue is Arabic. But he speaks English perfectly. He's going to be going back for this fall semester to get a degree in law. He's already been accepted into the program. He'll be going at the same time as Elder Dudoich. I'll try and get them to meet each other.
Raquel is doing great. She came to sacrament meeting this last Sunday. We were so excited about that. She's even been changing her work schedule so that she would have more time to meet with us. Isn't that so cool?
We haven't been able to meet with the other group of people that I talked about last time. So, no update with them.
I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. That picture where I was wearing a shrunken sweater; it wasn't mine. It was Elder Blomquist's. So you don't need to worry. I still have all of my sweaters intact and wearable.
I've been looking for the smartsensors here dad but haven't found any. I've found lots of products from competition. I'll keep my eyes open though. Our area covers pretty much everything north and west of road 500. Maybe you could find out where they are installed so I could go find them. I think Elder Tracy would love to see them almost as much as me. I've already told him all about that stuff.
Amy, you're going to be out of the MTC before you know it. Don't worry about not being ready for Spanish when you get to Chile. Because you won't be. Two months is just almost no time at all to become fluent in a language. The harder you work though, the quicker it will come. Just don't get frustrated and keep grinding away. It took me about six months to finally feel comfortable with it. I'm glad you've noticed the power of teaching with the spirit though. That is MORE important than speaking Spanish well. Just a quick example. We were teaching Raquel the other day and having a hard time helping her understand a specific principle. Elder Tracy and I were both praying that she would understand what we were teaching and then just out of nowhere we hear this, "Ohhhhh, I get it now". The spirit just, boom, put it into her brain. What we couldn't explain to her the spirit could. As long as we give it all we’ve got, the rest will be made up.
Matthew my Homie G. What's going on with you besides being busy with school, tennis, scuba diving, and caving? Tell me about Washington D.C. too. Do you still wear some of my clothes? How tall are you and Jonathan?
I love you so much my dear family,
Elder Benjamin Arnold
Hola familia,
It was exciting to hear about all of your adventures with scuba diving and caving. It makes me anxious to join you. I had already heard about that lady on Britain's got talent. It was pretty interesting to hear about.
I still haven't gotten to play tennis and on top of that it's raining pretty hard today. Which means I won't be playing today. Ni modo. It sounds like Matthew and Jonathan are doing pretty well. Are you guys getting tan? I'm really, really white right now. I don't see the sun very much here in Vancouver. Although our last pday was really hot and I got a little sunburned.
Good job on your talk in sacrament meeting Jonathan. You might be surprised but I haven't spoken in a single sacrament meeting since I've been in Washington. Weird huh? Thanks for your amazing letters, Jonathan. I'm always lifted every time I get them. I love seeing the return address with Mom and Dad's names crossed out with "Jonathan" handwritten above. haha.
Spanish Conference was amazing! I got to see all of the Spanish missionaries from the entire mission. So I got to see all my friends who are still in Pasco. Besides that though there was some really good training. First we heard from President Alder. His topic was faith unto repentance. He gave us lots of good ideas on how to help people act on their faith and do something about it. The thing that was great about it was that he focused a lot on the culture of the Spanish people and gave us suggestions on how to be more polite and have a greater influence. The other speaker was President Piñon. He was so sincere during his role-play examples that he even began to cry. You could feel how much he loved those who were acting as the investigators. He was also the one who translated at the Mexico temple rededication. Which was really cool because I got to watch that. It's funny how small of a world this is.
Which reminds me... Dad. I met a guy named Jacob who went to BYU and got a bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. And he was so excited that I knew Mike Jensen. He just couldn't get over it. And what's more he is not a member of the Church. He was born in Jerusalem and his native tongue is Arabic. But he speaks English perfectly. He's going to be going back for this fall semester to get a degree in law. He's already been accepted into the program. He'll be going at the same time as Elder Dudoich. I'll try and get them to meet each other.
Raquel is doing great. She came to sacrament meeting this last Sunday. We were so excited about that. She's even been changing her work schedule so that she would have more time to meet with us. Isn't that so cool?
We haven't been able to meet with the other group of people that I talked about last time. So, no update with them.
I've been meaning to tell you for a long time. That picture where I was wearing a shrunken sweater; it wasn't mine. It was Elder Blomquist's. So you don't need to worry. I still have all of my sweaters intact and wearable.
I've been looking for the smartsensors here dad but haven't found any. I've found lots of products from competition. I'll keep my eyes open though. Our area covers pretty much everything north and west of road 500. Maybe you could find out where they are installed so I could go find them. I think Elder Tracy would love to see them almost as much as me. I've already told him all about that stuff.
Amy, you're going to be out of the MTC before you know it. Don't worry about not being ready for Spanish when you get to Chile. Because you won't be. Two months is just almost no time at all to become fluent in a language. The harder you work though, the quicker it will come. Just don't get frustrated and keep grinding away. It took me about six months to finally feel comfortable with it. I'm glad you've noticed the power of teaching with the spirit though. That is MORE important than speaking Spanish well. Just a quick example. We were teaching Raquel the other day and having a hard time helping her understand a specific principle. Elder Tracy and I were both praying that she would understand what we were teaching and then just out of nowhere we hear this, "Ohhhhh, I get it now". The spirit just, boom, put it into her brain. What we couldn't explain to her the spirit could. As long as we give it all we’ve got, the rest will be made up.
Matthew my Homie G. What's going on with you besides being busy with school, tennis, scuba diving, and caving? Tell me about Washington D.C. too. Do you still wear some of my clothes? How tall are you and Jonathan?
I love you so much my dear family,
Elder Benjamin Arnold
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I like to pull weeds!
April 21, 2009
Hola familia,
I'll start by answering all of your questions. It is a little harder to find people to teach here in Vancouver. But Heavenly Father is leading us to them so it's still fairly easy. There are four of us Elders in the Spanish branch here. Elder Godinez, Elder Rodriguez, Elder Tracy, and myself.
I haven't yet sent that winter stuff package. I have it all packed up in a box and just need to send it. Hopefully I'll get that done really soon though. I got the Spanish Cds. They came after I got to Vancouver. But that's okay. There's a Spanish zone conference coming up, actually it's tomorrow. I'm super excited about it. So, I'll see Elder Blomquist and I'll give it to him to give to Ramona Marin. It'll be really exciting to see all of my missionary friends from Pasco again.
The family we live with are the Boyle's. They're an awesome family. I've been enjoying something that I didn't like doing at home very much. And that is weeding! Sometimes in the morning we use it for our exercise. We go outside and work hard in their yard for a half an hour. We've made quite a bit of progress already. I never thought that I would enjoy doing something like that so much. It also makes exercise and working out time a lot quicker and more fun.
I think that I'm finally going to go play tennis today!!! Elder Tracy bought himself an inexpensive racquet. We probably won't play for very long but I'm excited for it. We're also going to play ultimate frisbee and work on tuning up our bikes.
Wow, we've had such a good week. Our area is really starting to pick up. I want to tell you about a few of the people that we're teaching right now. The first is Raquel. It was an interesting story how we found her. We were tracting in some apartments. We could tell that most of the people were white. You get an eye for finding Hispanic people after a while. But there were a bunch of kids outside playing. I started talking to them and started talking about Jesus Christ and why we were there. They also loved the pass-along cards that I gave to them. I've probably given them at least 50 cards all together (we've seen them a couple of times). They pointed out all of the apartment rooms where the Hispanic people live. Which was about three I think. Well it turns out that one of them was Raquel. She was really nice to us and asked us to come back the next day. So we did. And she was there! Sometimes that's a surprise to us. She let us in and we taught her a different kind of first lesson which was led by the spirit. She started talking about how there are so many churches and that she's searched for quite a bit of her life, trying to find one that feels right. And after a while she just gave up. She got frustrated. So if you can see where we went with this, we shared with her the story of Joseph Smith. And how he had the same kind of questions that she has. We read the account straight out of the Joseph Smith History. It was so powerful and amazing. She was full of questions afterward. After answering all of them and having her be satisfied with our answers I was feeling really guided and like my tongue was loose. I got to say some stuff like, "Raquel, here is the answer you've been looking for." It was so much fun!!! Probably the time when my mind is the most focused on missionary work is while I'm teaching. Everything just leaves my mind. And the spirit just comes in so strongly. Since that day we've had two more appointments with her. Actually, maybe one. My memory isn't very good. She's making so much progress. And I can see it in her eyes when we teach her that deep inside she knows it's true.
Well, have a great week family. I can't wait to go caving and scuba diving with you in the near future.
Love, Elder Benjamin Arnold
Hola familia,
I'll start by answering all of your questions. It is a little harder to find people to teach here in Vancouver. But Heavenly Father is leading us to them so it's still fairly easy. There are four of us Elders in the Spanish branch here. Elder Godinez, Elder Rodriguez, Elder Tracy, and myself.
I haven't yet sent that winter stuff package. I have it all packed up in a box and just need to send it. Hopefully I'll get that done really soon though. I got the Spanish Cds. They came after I got to Vancouver. But that's okay. There's a Spanish zone conference coming up, actually it's tomorrow. I'm super excited about it. So, I'll see Elder Blomquist and I'll give it to him to give to Ramona Marin. It'll be really exciting to see all of my missionary friends from Pasco again.
The family we live with are the Boyle's. They're an awesome family. I've been enjoying something that I didn't like doing at home very much. And that is weeding! Sometimes in the morning we use it for our exercise. We go outside and work hard in their yard for a half an hour. We've made quite a bit of progress already. I never thought that I would enjoy doing something like that so much. It also makes exercise and working out time a lot quicker and more fun.
I think that I'm finally going to go play tennis today!!! Elder Tracy bought himself an inexpensive racquet. We probably won't play for very long but I'm excited for it. We're also going to play ultimate frisbee and work on tuning up our bikes.
Wow, we've had such a good week. Our area is really starting to pick up. I want to tell you about a few of the people that we're teaching right now. The first is Raquel. It was an interesting story how we found her. We were tracting in some apartments. We could tell that most of the people were white. You get an eye for finding Hispanic people after a while. But there were a bunch of kids outside playing. I started talking to them and started talking about Jesus Christ and why we were there. They also loved the pass-along cards that I gave to them. I've probably given them at least 50 cards all together (we've seen them a couple of times). They pointed out all of the apartment rooms where the Hispanic people live. Which was about three I think. Well it turns out that one of them was Raquel. She was really nice to us and asked us to come back the next day. So we did. And she was there! Sometimes that's a surprise to us. She let us in and we taught her a different kind of first lesson which was led by the spirit. She started talking about how there are so many churches and that she's searched for quite a bit of her life, trying to find one that feels right. And after a while she just gave up. She got frustrated. So if you can see where we went with this, we shared with her the story of Joseph Smith. And how he had the same kind of questions that she has. We read the account straight out of the Joseph Smith History. It was so powerful and amazing. She was full of questions afterward. After answering all of them and having her be satisfied with our answers I was feeling really guided and like my tongue was loose. I got to say some stuff like, "Raquel, here is the answer you've been looking for." It was so much fun!!! Probably the time when my mind is the most focused on missionary work is while I'm teaching. Everything just leaves my mind. And the spirit just comes in so strongly. Since that day we've had two more appointments with her. Actually, maybe one. My memory isn't very good. She's making so much progress. And I can see it in her eyes when we teach her that deep inside she knows it's true.
Well, have a great week family. I can't wait to go caving and scuba diving with you in the near future.
Love, Elder Benjamin Arnold
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
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
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Transfer!
April 7, 2009
Bueno familia,
Well, I found out what's happening this transfer. And I'm not staying in Pasco. On Wednesday (tomorrow) I'm heading over to the West side of the Mission. I'm going to Vancouver. Vancouver west to be specific. My new companions name is Elder Tracy. Not sure how you spell it yet. He's younger than me in the mission so I'll have to be the senior companion. I was hoping to go junior this transfer. Oh well. I'm excited to see a greener part of Washington. I'll miss all of the awesome friends that I've met here.
I've been cursed to move. This will be my fifth time moving. And I've only been in one area. I don't think that is very normal. I guess that I'm getting pretty good at it. Luckily some of my stuff was still packed from two weeks ago when we moved into the Strebel's.
This last week Elder Waldo has been really sick. He had a temperature of 103.8. That's ridiculous. So we spent quite a bit of time helping them go to their appointments and things like that.
Elder Blomquist and I went to breakfast this morning at Denny's, in honor of us being separated. The waitress was LDS and gave us lots of extra food. And then a guy who is a brother of some people we're teaching paid for our meal. That was so cool. We left a big tip though.
Conference was awesome!!! I loved Elder Holland's talk. The brethren threw it down this time. I also thought it was cool when President Monson said, "CEASE NOW". That was really bold. I also really appreciated Elder Perry. Talking about member missionary work. How we're an underutilized tool. And how we waste most of our time finding when that's not our calling. Hopefully that motivates people to get going on missionary work. Also the conference was broadcast to our stake center in both English and Spanish.
I still whistle quite a bit. I don't mean to; it just kind of comes out.
I'm going to send a bunch of my stuff home before I leave tomorrow. It's all of my winter clothes stuff. It has made it easier to pack.
Yeah, I did buy a tennis racket. I have wanted to play so bad. I haven't been able to use it still. Maybe I'll get to today. Maybe Elder Tracy plays. That would be neat.
I haven't gotten the Spanish Book of Mormon on Cd yet. Maybe it'll come today. If not I'll just mail it to Elder Blomquist. He's staying here in Pasco. His new companion is Elder Viera. He's from Brooklyn and 27 years old. He's been out for over a year. I'm sure that Elder Blomquist will like him.
I love you,
Have a great week, and good luck with tennis Matthew and Jonathan,
Elder Benjamin Arnold
Bueno familia,
Well, I found out what's happening this transfer. And I'm not staying in Pasco. On Wednesday (tomorrow) I'm heading over to the West side of the Mission. I'm going to Vancouver. Vancouver west to be specific. My new companions name is Elder Tracy. Not sure how you spell it yet. He's younger than me in the mission so I'll have to be the senior companion. I was hoping to go junior this transfer. Oh well. I'm excited to see a greener part of Washington. I'll miss all of the awesome friends that I've met here.
I've been cursed to move. This will be my fifth time moving. And I've only been in one area. I don't think that is very normal. I guess that I'm getting pretty good at it. Luckily some of my stuff was still packed from two weeks ago when we moved into the Strebel's.
This last week Elder Waldo has been really sick. He had a temperature of 103.8. That's ridiculous. So we spent quite a bit of time helping them go to their appointments and things like that.
Elder Blomquist and I went to breakfast this morning at Denny's, in honor of us being separated. The waitress was LDS and gave us lots of extra food. And then a guy who is a brother of some people we're teaching paid for our meal. That was so cool. We left a big tip though.
Conference was awesome!!! I loved Elder Holland's talk. The brethren threw it down this time. I also thought it was cool when President Monson said, "CEASE NOW". That was really bold. I also really appreciated Elder Perry. Talking about member missionary work. How we're an underutilized tool. And how we waste most of our time finding when that's not our calling. Hopefully that motivates people to get going on missionary work. Also the conference was broadcast to our stake center in both English and Spanish.
I still whistle quite a bit. I don't mean to; it just kind of comes out.
I'm going to send a bunch of my stuff home before I leave tomorrow. It's all of my winter clothes stuff. It has made it easier to pack.
Yeah, I did buy a tennis racket. I have wanted to play so bad. I haven't been able to use it still. Maybe I'll get to today. Maybe Elder Tracy plays. That would be neat.
I haven't gotten the Spanish Book of Mormon on Cd yet. Maybe it'll come today. If not I'll just mail it to Elder Blomquist. He's staying here in Pasco. His new companion is Elder Viera. He's from Brooklyn and 27 years old. He's been out for over a year. I'm sure that Elder Blomquist will like him.
I love you,
Have a great week, and good luck with tennis Matthew and Jonathan,
Elder Benjamin Arnold
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