So happy to be a missionary!

Hello Pearson Family,
I don´t have a whole lot of time, but I would just like to say that I am very excited to talk to you guys on Sunday and I´m going to try to talk less so we can have more questions back and forth. Let´s make it a good call. The next one, it´ll be Christmas, how nuts is that?

Anyway, as I wrote in the subject, my companion is by far my favorite that I have had yet. We can always joke around, but we work very hard, and have the same intentions which makes things so much easier. We don´t have very many people progressing amazingly right now, but we have a few potentials that just need to take initiative to know and they will be ready.

We had our Zone Conference this week and that is always really good. I have a friend in my district that is has become one of my best friends here. His name is Elder Patterson and is a hard worker but has my same sense of humor so we get along really well. It´s good to be able to talk to him, because there is really a lack of drive or motivation in our district. It just feels kind of blah, but what makes me happy is that it´s not like that in my companionship. Anyways apart from being able to talk and hang out with Elder Patterson, the conference is always a good booster. We were able to watch a devotional by Elder Holland that he gave in the MTC in January that was very powerful. Did he work with words in his career before? Because he is just a wordsmith. Anyway, he talked about the importance of giving ourselves to this work, of really seeing these investigators as people, seeing them as people and thinking about how this message and help them in their specific situation and then apply that message to them.

He also talked about how we have come on our mission, but that doesn´t mean that we just go home and have done our part. He gave the example of Peter, when after the death of Jesus he didn´t know what to do, so he told the disciples, ¨Let´s go fish.¨ After they had been fishing they saw the Savior now resurrected (? it looks different in spanish) Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to the shore to greet Jesus. When he got there, the Savior asked him ¨Peter, do you love me?¨ He responded yes. Jesus asked him again if he loved him, he said yes. Jesus then told him ¨Then feed my sheep.¨ Elder Holland related this to how we need to give up our ¨old life of fishing¨ and never leave this truth that we are teaching. He said we need to convert ourselves so thoroughly that we will be able to convert others here in our mission, and after stay converted for the rest of our lives.

While he did that much more eloquently than I did, it was a very good talk that really made me think. I´m grateful for living prophets and apostles of God who direct this church. I can´t imagine how people have comfort in the fact that just the Bible is the word of God (something I here everyday) because I for one would be completely lost with just the text of the Bible. God loves us enough to give us people to guide us in everything we do if we are willing to listen. This is another testimony to me of how true this is.

Anyways, I´m loving life, working hard, and trying to make you proud. Congrats Brad and Anne on graduating!

-Ben

Hey everybody,

First off Mom, Elder Sarita comes from a family that is half active. His mom is very active and a temple worker, but both of his sisters have fallen away from the church and one of them is a single mother with a child. His dad died 6 months before he came on his mission. It was actually pretty sad because he was the one to find his Dad when he died. Anyway it´s easy to see that his mom was always a good example and a big reason that he came back into the church.

Okay this week was very good. I recieved the letters from the Stanburys , and Timothy, no there is not a dictator in Guatemala, but it is very corrupt. Solid question though, we always have to look out for the dictators in the world... I´ll keep my eye out for you alright? Also I have gotten to know Elder Sarita al lot better. He is a very driven Elder who really worries about making sure he is doing what is right. It really is so nice not to have to worry about obedience or getting along with your companion and being able to focus on working. It really makes such a difference. The first few days were a little weird because he is opinionated about some things and would just do things without consulting me at all haha, but we´ve talked a lot about talking about things and we´re both really happy working together.

We were able to find 3 families this week which we are very excited about and we will see if it goes anywhere with them. I was so happy to see that of the 3 people who we went to visit less active members in the Relief Society this Sunday (other than the presidency) 2 of them were Alba Lopez and Blanca Olivares. This actually is really sad because everyone was invited to go, and in general here in Guatemala, very very few people visit other members, whether it be for visiting or home teaching or just to support people. It made me happy and sad to see that the 2 recent converts were being an example to the rest of the members in the ward. We have a strong ward here, but I think I´ve forgotten what I really strong ward is like.

Also this week we´ve been working with the Alba´s daughter Evelyn. She has become very interested in the church after seeing the change that the baptism has made in her mom. We have taught her a couple times and she herself has changed a lot in only a week. She is someone that is very bitter about somethings and very negative, but we have seen almost none of that side of her in this week and reminds me that those who are willing to change, can. She has so many questions including, ¨when can I get baptized?¨ so I think she will be getting baptized the 15^th of May. She really hasn´t had any big doubts about the church but her hardest thing will be keeping the commitments and keeping some of the commandments. She said she´ll prepare for that date though so we are very happy with that.

I just want to write real quick about how gratfying this work can be. I´ve never seen people change so fast, as I have here in my mission. Those who are seeking truth can find it, and it can change them if they let it. I have a very strong testimony of that which grows everytime I have an experience with a new investigator. I love this gospel. Especially for my easter letter I want to write that I´m very grateful for Jesus Christ and what he has done for me. I love you all and everything is going great!

-Ben

Catch Up on letters!

Hello my dear parents, brothers and sisters,

First off I just want to let you know that Elder Cruz left and that I´m here in Linda Vista still with my new companion Elder Sarita from the Dominican Republic. He´s a good guy, and contrary to what the other missionaries thought, I did not become financial secretary. Take that other missionaries.

To answer your questions, yes the 9 year old GIRL was baptized and is doing well. Also Alba is the only member in her church and she was referral from some of the members that live on her street. She is extremely happy and said she has never felt so good before. It was so good to hear her say that she told her old pastor that she is now in the true church. With people like her sometimes we worry that they don´t understand certain things, but this shows that she has a strong testimony of what she is now a part of. Our ward mission leader is almost inactive himself. When he asks us who were going to work with to activate we are almost tempted to say ¨you¨, but we have decided that this wouldn´t help his activity in the church, what do you guys think? Yes the members help us when they can, but people are ALWAYS working here so it can be hard. I really respect the people that have callings here and serve faithfully because it would be really difficult. Our bishop works until 8 o clock every night Mon-Sat and still serves as a faithful bishop. Of course it makes somethings difficult but he does it as well as he can.

Anyway so I´m here in the area with Elder Sarita and I think we are going to have a really good 1 or 2 changes together. He has a really cool story of how he was inactive in the church for years, but then after a night of just thinking about where his life was at, he prayed to God to see what it was that he wanted him to do. He said he felt something very powerful that brought him to tears. 2 days later, the bishop and one of his counselors happened to pass by. They invited him to church and he said no. After he thought that this might be an answer to his prayers and showed up at church that Sunday. He explains that after that day he hasn´t missed a day of church.

Due to the experiences he has had he has a strong testimony and is willing to work. He only has 3 months time in his mission, but is doing well. He is a lot more confident than Elder Cruz so it will be an adjustment because he likes to talk a LOT more than my old companion, but we can work on that… haha. He is someone who likes to do things very well, but is very thoughtful, so sometimes he moves and thinks very slow. This will be good for me because sometimes I rush to get things done. I´m very excited to work with him in this change and I think we´ll have success.

As for the work, we are back to finding, which we will be doing a lot of in this week. I love you guys and hope all is well.

-Ben

Last two wonderful letters

Wow that's a lot of Pizza!

Ben and Elder Cruz

Ben, Alba and Elder Cruz

Hey family,

Mom´s questions... Yes there are tall Guatemalan people but it is very rare. It´s about the equivalent of seeing a good looking do without rabies here, so you can know that it almost never happens. Yes I am a giant which means that I´m incredibly good looking to the girls here, once they see that you are tall and white the rest doesn´t matter. It´s been a good self confidence booster for me. One of the children in the picture was the daughter of Blanca Olivares´s son (doesn´t come from Marcos), and the other is their daughter Carla which they had together. He had a rough past, but the important thing is that they are now all together right? And yes Carla was already baptized. My companion has been in the area for 6 months and I think we´ll stay together, or I hope. Changes (as they are called in spanish so for that I apologize) are this Wednesday.

Okay so that is that. This was a great week of course because as a missionary, conference is like summer vacation. I didin´t mean that we don´t work but that we are as excited for conference as an 8 year old kid is for christmas. It´s a big deal. I just want to write about a few thoughts that I had during conference and what I liked. First off, Elder Bednar´s talk about revelation confirmed exactly what I had concluded in the weeks before as I had a lot of questions about the spirit, and if the occurences of strong impressions are rare. He confirmed everything for me and made my testimony grow about how these talks are extremely personal at times. Also I loved the story from Elder Christopherson (quickly becoming one of my favorite speakers) about the gardner and how it related to trials in our life. I liked when he said ¨Thank you for loving me enough, to cut me down.¨ Sometimes we have such limited perspective in things, and this always helps me to remember to think past what´s going on when things are rough. Finally, as Mom wrote about, I loved the talk about to be and to do, and how he talked about what we do is only a symptom of who we are. His comparison of to do and to be is so applicable for missionaries as there are some in both extremes and many good missionaries with the right balance who are the best missionaries. It was a good reminder of how we need both always.

Anyway it is always a great boost to hear the conference talks in your mission and it always makes me think of how lucky we are to have living prophets and apostles that literally guide us through divine inspiration. How many people can claim that?

After conference we had the baptism of Alba, which really reminded me of the situation of Josie Hoalcraft. She´s a widow and is alone. We have seen a complete change in her attitude and how she carries herself with everything that we have taught her and with her baptism yesterday. She always talks about how happy the church makes her. She has really sad stories about how a pastor took advantage of her by ripping her off to buy pieces of land that she owned, knowing that what he was doing was completely wrong and that she had very limited knowledge of the situation. It makes us happy to see the complete change in her, and how happy she is right now. She is such a nice lady and loves the fact that she will be able to see her husband again after this life.

Anyway, I have to go, I love you all and hope all is well. I will let you know what happens with changes obviously but I hope Elder Cruz stays.

-Ben

Ben, Elder Cruz, and the Olivares family after Brother Olivares' baptism

Marcos Olivares....so happy after his baptism!

March 28

Hey family!

Sorry to the brothers and sisters that I didn´t have any time to write to you guys this week, this computer has something to send pictures and I thought you would like to see some pictures from the baptism instead. But, I will write you guys another week mkay? Brad and Michelle did you ever receive my SD card and letters? I will be so sad if that got lost in the mail. Also Brad, I really do feel super fortunate to able to be serving with a people that is so trusting in God. I really have respect for those who serve in a country where people have trouble believing in him. We don´t have to deal with that struggle we just have to deal with the fight of helping them to know what it is that God really has revealed and what it is that he really wants for them. I would imagine it is at least 23% harder when they don´t even believe in God.

Also Brad, I don´t why, but I was thinking this morning about how that one time at Chic-Fil-A (I´ve forgotten how to spell that sorry) we had on Michelle´s Glee CD blasting in front of the 20 year old girl that was serving us our food. I then started to think about how shocked she must have been to see two 20 or so year old boys listening to that music. I laughed, and then I got excited that today was email.

Anyways, I don´t think Mom had any questions, and if you did Mom I´m sorry but I have to get going. So yesterday we had the baptism of Marcos and we were able to complete the family, something that is amazing. He showed up smiling and joking around as usual 10 minutes before the baptism and everything went according to plan. So I don´t have to type it all again I´m going to copy and paste what I wrote in my weekly letter to President Baldwin. He has started to ask for reports on baptismal services so this is what I wrote, ¨I was extremely content with how the baptismal service went. We were able to call the assigned speakers, members of the bishopric, etc. a week or so before the baptismal service and to our relief they all showed up very well prepared. We went around the whole week committing members to go, but yet again we were disappointed with the attendance of members. Any advice on how we could get members to support us more in our baptismal services? Anyways, we were not able to have the first part in the chapel as you have counseled because they were cleaning it. We were able to however start on time and have everything run very smoothly making it one of the most powerful services I have been to. I give the credit to the members who told us they would do what we assigned them and then followed through. I had the honor to baptize him and there was a powerful spirit present after the baptism as I saw the impact that this saving ordinance had on him. I asked him as we were changing afterwards what he felt and he told me (as he was very choked up) that he was felt good and didn´t have words to describe what he was feeling. We asked him to give his testimony at the end, but with tears in his eyes he told us that he wanted to but he couldn´t find the words to say his testimony at that moment. This simple statement had the same impact on those who were present as anything else that could have been said. We had the Bishop say a few words and were able to end an extremely powerful service.¨

In other words, something in Marcos changed after he came out of the water. He was very thoughtful and overcome by something for the rest of the baptismal service, something very unusual for someone who likes to joke around and laugh a lot. He really felt the power of what had just happened. My district leader Elder Mckell told me that it was one of the best baptismal services that he had been to yet in his mission, and I agree, it was a really great service. It also helped that his wife was able to bear testimony before the baptism of the truthfulness of the church and the ordinance that he was about to take place. I hope that we can work very closely with them in the next weeks to make sure that they can be on a sure path to always be progressing in this gospel.

Anyways this weekend we have two more baptisms, one with Hermana Alba who has come to church all by herself for the last month which is impressive considering she is probably about 65 years old and has to walk, and one with a 9 year old who is part of a less active family that is now not so less active because their son just got back from their mission. I´m also extremely excited for conference.

I´m getting sad that this change is going to end. It is very probably that Elder Cruz is going to leave and that I´ll get a new companion. I´ve really enjoyed my time here and working this hard is extremely gratifying. Having these experiences just reminds me that this work may not be easy, but it is worth it. What we have is true, and that truth changes lives, what else matters? I love this Gospel and am so happy to be here sharing it. But I have to go, I love you guys!

-Ben

Three letters in one post!

Muy bueños tardes mis amigos,

I will procede to answer the questions of my dear mother. Yes, I am writing in my journal almost everyday, but it is hard sometimes, because we always come back exhausted. I´ve been waking up early because there is always a million things to do. And YES! I got my valentines day package (finally) I think it was in the office for awhile and they didn´t have an excuse to come to Amatitlan. So just know that I´ve already eaten all the candy and it was incredibly delicious. Now I just want more. But, it´s better that I don´t have it and that I drink more of my vegetable juice (the best way I have found to get my daily dose of vegetables). Am I going to start getting the old man jokes that Dad always gets? I don´t even care, that stuff is good. Also, we always watch conference live here in our mission so, I am extremely excited for that. Also Brad and Michelle, I was able to send your small little envelope, so be excited.

So I have a lot to cover in a very short period of time, so here I go. This week was very good. We were able to have a conference with Elder Falabella of the 70. He was born here in Guatemala (¡puro chapin! as they say) and is incredible. He taught us about agency and said something very interesting. The only way we can ever hope to become like our Father in Heaven is to get to the point where have the same amount of freedom that he has, and the only way to get this amount of freedom, is by choosing to be obedient to his commandments. Interesting thought. Anyways, at one point he was telling us his advice for baptizing more families, because as we all know this is the best way to grow the church in any given area. He asked everyone who was going to baptize a fmaily this month. My companion and I raised our hands. He called us up (of course). He began to interrogate me in front of a third of the mission what it was that I had planned for the baptism and how I was going to find more families through the baptismal service. This was my first baptismal service as a senior companion mind you. So after being officially intimidated (don´t worry I passed the evaluation okay, I´m not being sent home) he gave me some advice and committed me to do it. Then, he gave me a side hug, making it all worth it. So yes I recieved a side hug from one of the 70.

Anyways in the week we were printing invitations, making a million calls, and running around doing everything we could think of to make sure the baptism went well after being verbally committed by one of the seventy. We thought everything was well prepared but learned a little bit about the Guatemalan culture as we arrived at the chruch building for the baptism. What I learned is that those who come, come about 30 minutes late (including the bishopric) and the majority don´t come at all. This was disappointing, but what was worse is that Marcos (the father of the family) couldn´t come due to work and told about 10 mintues after the baptism had started over the phone. The family got there about 20 minutes later and they still wanted to go through with the baptisms. He will get baptized this Saturday but it was sad that he couldn´t be there.

Anyways after all was said and done the baptismal service was great with an incredible spirit there. The Olivares family is made up of the parents, Marcos and Blanca, and 2 children, Marvin (who is married to Gloria with 3 children of their own) and Karla. Marvin and Gloria and their family were baptized last year, so Marvin already has the priesthood. The spirit was so strong as he gave thanks to his mom with tears in his eyes for all those years that she took him to church, and told of how grateful he was for the opportunity he had to baptize her and finally give something back. The baptism afterwards was something very special for the family and everyone that was present. Elder Cruz then baptized Karla, and I will be baptizing Marcos this Saturday. They both bore testimony afterwards and although Blanca doesn´t understand everything perfectly, she has a powerful testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel and it could be felt as she told about her conviction and belief in these truths. I hope all goes well this Saturday and that the family can be completed and in a year sealed together. They all come from pretty rough backgrounds and it always impresses me to see the change that happens in peoples lives.

So to finish I want to tell you about something that happened last night that will make Mom proud. I have never been so tired in a lesson. I was sitting there teaching and it hit me hard. I was fighting the whole lesson to stay awake and was doing very well. I asked if we could end with a prayer and he asked me to offer it. I thought, ¨good I can just pray and we can leave which will wake me up.¨ Nope. In the very middle of the prayer I fell asleep. I only fell asleep for about 5 seconds but it was long enough to make me forget absolutely everyhting that was going on. I realized shortly after that we were praying but didn´t know who was praying. I opened my eyes and saw everyone folding their arms. No one was talking so I assumed I was praying. I thought ¨What in the world was I just saying?¨ Nothing came to my mind. So what I did, which is very embarrassing, was I muttered ¨sorry¨ and started over. It´s funny now but very uncomfortable in the moment.

Anyways I´m still loving life here in this area and will let you know how everyhting went next week. I love you guys!

-Ben

Hello!
Mom´s questions: Yes Mom, we only speak english at nights. Maybe I should do it in the morning too. My companion actually knows quite a bit of English, but he doesn´t like to ask me about what is right he just talks back to me. Asking questions is crucial when learning a language but I think it really does help him talking. Whenever we are walking I quiz him about his english by asking him what he would do if he was Superman and stuff like that. I laughed when he said in his latino accent ¨I would punch many faces.¨ Correct, and when translated actually sounds fine, but when said in english is very funny. So he´s a good sport about that.

So this week was incredible. I´ve never worked so hard, but it was all worth it because we had a great week. It was nuts. We were running from lesson to lesson and sprinting up 132 steps (my companion counted) at one point. The members are really helping us out and I really feel as if the Lord is blessing us here in this area. They were able to give us a couple of references this week, with one of them being a complete family (let´s hope that goes well). Unity in a companionship makes all the difference. We have been able to maintain the baptismal dates with the Olivares family, and I think everything will go according to plan. Hopefully in the next weeks email I will be able to write you about the baptisms. To answer your other question Mom, they can only meet on the weekends so we had to FLY through 2 of the lessons yesterday and saturday which I don´t like to do, but the family is set on being baptized this saturday. Their other daughter as well is going to be baptized. Let´s hope all goes well.

So I´ll let you know a little bit about the random stuff that is going on here. First off I think I´m getting a nice layer of tortilla fat over my otherwise 8 pack set of abs (who am I kidding I never had an 8 pack). Considering all they eat here is tortillas rice and some form of meat, it is hard to keep off weight due to the sheer amout of carbs we eat. Also the cream they always put on the eggs and beans doesn´t help either. The good news is that it is mango season and I´m taking advantage of it. I LOVE mangos and a large mango is about 36 cents. Guatemala is great. I also have really become a fan of fried platanos (is it plantains in english? that sounds vaguely familiar) as well and cook those every once an awhile.

So did anyone get Ryan Bogg´s adress? I would love to get that.

Anyways everything is going very well. We have been able to work hard and are really seeing the results of our work which is very gratifying. We have a member who holds free english classes and then just gives us references. We went one day this week and I taught a lesson in english just to ¨help them hear it for real¨ when really he is just trying to spark interest in the church. I realized I was saying some things very wrong due to the fact that I have only taught in spanish for the past 8 months. So much for that English minor I was thinking about... I felt very cool because they were all extremely impressed with my english. I´m glad they didn´t realize that some of the things I said were absolutely terrible english. I´ll just let them go on thinking that this good looking gringo (anyone who is white here is beautiful) was speaking perfectly.

I love this work and I´m trying to do my best. I´m not perfect, but I hope that I´m doing a good job here in this ward and we will see what happens in the rest of this change. Elder Cruz is very patient with me even though I´m sure I make mistakes considering this is my first time doing this, so that helps. This church is true never forget that. God has given us the opportunity to have what everyone in the world needs, and the means to become someone we never otherwise could become. I love this gospel and know it is the truth. I love you all and will write again next week!

-Ben

Hey everybody!
To start off I will do the weekly question session. To Michelle: My companion is from Honduras and is awesome. I will talk a little more about what´s going in in this email. Mom: I´m not really craving anything... just american candy bars are always incredible. Also in the next ¨big¨package that you send, whenever it will be (don´t make another package just due these requests please haha) I would love that bleach pen, CD´s (Ipod´s aren´t allowed here), and socks. Good socks like I have. If you could only send gray that would be good. My shoes are good and so are my clothes I´ll let you know if I need anything else. Thanks Mom! You are great.

Also, JADEN CONGRATS ON THE CALL! You´ll be a good missionary man, just ask Dan on how to speak in French. He gave us some good lessons on the Snowbird lift one day. It was hilarious. Also to everyone that hasn´t recieved a letter from me please notify my Mom, I´ve been really bad about writing becfuase it is really hard to find time and I would like to get that organized. Sorry!

Now I have to fly. This week has been amazing. It is still weird being Senior Comp and I´m learning a lot, but my life has just been so much more happy with someone who is willing to work and wants to improve and do better, not just stick with what we are doing and blame everything on good or bad luck. Elder Cruz is very shy, but has a good sense of humor and he is really coming out of his shell with me. I really think we´re going to have a great one or two changes together (let´s hope two). We´re working hard and we have a lot to improve of course, but I´m very happy right now with the way things are going. It´s incredible how much different the work is when there is a compnanionship with the same goals. There´s always differences of course, but he´s willing to work with that, and it really has been a great change.

What´s even better is that we we´re able to set two baptismal dates! It´s with two parents of some recent converts, and with these baptisms the family will be complete. It´s the Olivares Family and they are great. They are an couple and both of them are probably in their 50´s and they come from a evangelist church background (like 80% of Guatemala). When I first met them I was a little worried because they have a hard time understanding the basic doctrine of the church. Because of this we decided to review Joseph Smith and the Restoration and the line of authority. We went through this and whether it is because of their background or lack of education, not much sticks that we teach. It was going like this until we got to the end and asked them if they had prayed about these things. What they told us surprised me (and taught me a lot about not assuming based on knowledge). They wife told me that around the time she started with the missionaries she had prayed and specifically asked for a dream. Not the usual approach but what happend after was incredible. She said that in that night she had a dream, where a person dressed in all white was telling her to come. She said no that she couldn´t, but he continued to tell her to come. She said that she woke up knowing this was her answer, and even though she might not understand everything that we teach she knows this is true, and this is the church that she will stay in till the end of her life. Her husband said he had felt this was true as well. It taught me a lot about not judging and making sure that they are praying to know for themselves, and no matter who it is, intelligent, unintelligent, rich or poor, they can recieve a testimony of this gospel. Anyways I don´t really have time, but they will be baptized the 19th we are hoping. It´s been a great week and I´m really happy here. I love you guys and will hear from you soon!

.Ben