Christmas Card

Here are several pics from Ben's Christmas in Argentina:

Here's the Christmas Card that Ben and some other Elders made to send to family and friends! It was Ben's idea! It really is a great pic. He gave a copy to his mission leader who was impressed! Great job Ben!

Argentine Christmas 2009 Feliz Navidad #1

#2


Here is a pic of their Christmas Dinner:


A "sweet action shot" of Ben playing Ping Pong on Christmas:

New Horizons: Benjamin Gets Transferred to Villa María!

Much has happened in the life of Elder Corbett since I last updated you. I again apologize for being so remiss with my duty to keep everyone posted on his activities in the mission field.

Well, I will start by telling you about his first Christmas away from home, which was also our second opportunity to speak with him since he left home back in February of last year. It was truly wonderful to hear his voice and feel of his bright and cheery personality. And some members of the family felt that he sounded a bit different, perhaps from the Spanish that he has been speaking day in and day out. When we got a hold of him on the phone he was walking toward his apartment and some young children were speaking with him. So we got to hear a brief exchange between them, in Spanish of course. As we were talking to him he reported that the other missionaries were trying to get a fire going in their outside grill so they could have an “asado”(a variety of grilled meats). The hour went very quickly and at the end we were privileged to hear him bear a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel all in Spanish. As I told him in a subsequent letter, his Spanish is very good and he definitely has an Argentine accent(intonation patterns similar to Italian). He latter wrote to us to report that on Christmas Eve they shared an “asado” dinner with a member family and that at midnight everyone shot of tons of fireworks. He noted, “It feels like the 4th of July mixed with New Year’s Eve.”

On New Year’s Eve they had dinner with a member family, the Cabreras, and were served cannelloni and meatballs(note the influence of the Italian culture in Argentina!)
His New Year started off with a bang, two of them, in fact. He notes that the fireworks shot off by the town folks New Year’s Eve woke them up at midnight and the 30 minute “show” was probably the loudest he has ever heard. The second bang came on the 2nd when he found out that, after almost 6 months in Deán Funes, he was being transferred to Villa María, located about 100 miles southwest of Córdoba city. The day before he left he went around town to say good-bye to the members, including some of those that he had had the privilege of teaching the restored gospel and baptizing. He wrote, “It was bitter sweet, knowing that I might never see these people again.” Another exciting aspect of his transfer that he is going to have a Chilean for his new companion, his first Latin companion, Elder Espinosa, who has been out for 6 weeks less than Ben.

Benjamin reports the following about the city of Villa María: There are about 100,000 people, the majority “gringos”(note: he hasn’t explained what that means) and most well educated. As Ben put it, it is “like the OC of Argentina.” The city itself is beautiful, with palm trees and a huge river winding through it. Lots of places to eat and a big downtown . The church building is quite new and large; a big change from his experience in Merlo and Deán Funes. And speaking of Deán Funes, this past week as Benjamin and his companion were walking down the street, a car honked at them, then stopped and a man got out of the car to greet them. It was the owner of a store from that town where they always shopped. Benjamin observed how that was so rare that they would meet on the same street in Villa María, 200 miles away.

He and his companion have just moved in to a new apartment, with few furnishings and, for the first week, with no electricity or hot water. He reported that taking cold showers was an eye-opening experience. Furthermore, they had to wash their clothes in the sink. However, this did not keep them from having a whirlwind of a first week, both with their missionary activities and the weather.. Elder Corbett reported that they found 14 investigators and presented 24 lessons to them. 4 of them plan to get baptized on February 6th. He also described an unbelievable storm that hit the city. I will let Benjamin relate it in his own words: “Around 7:00 we saw a huge storm coming our way. The sky was pitch black and it was rolling in quick. I thought it was just going to rain. We went and found cover in a little “kiosco”(store) and then it HIT! Wind and rain for 30 minutes! It was the strength of a tsunami! Intense! After the storm we continued on our way. We later found out that 800 trees had been uprooted! Big trees! It was a disaster everywhere. The streets flooded with water. [But} after the storm there was a calm silence over the whole city and 2 rainbows in the sky.” And then Benjamin made a profound observation: “It’s just like our life, if we aren’t prepared, the storms in our lives can uproot us, but if we know what is ahead of us, and if we prepare, we can find protection and in the end be blessed with peace.

Benjamin noted that there in Villa Maria he doesn’t have a converter to send us photos, so it might be awhile before we get any. As always, please drop him a line to say hello.

Merry Christmas from Ben

I know it's a little late, but here is Ben's Christmas picture:




Merry Christmas from Argentina!!

Copy of Church Newsletter Article

I have been remiss in updating Ben's blog on a regular basis and with Christmas upon us I decided to post the most recent article I submitted to our church newsletter.

When we last left Elder Corbett back in October he had just been made senior companion and given a “verdecito” to train. Soon thereafter, we received a nice letter from his mission president and his wife, President and Sister Olsen, in which they informed us of this new assignment and noted, “Training a new missionary is a very sacred responsibility. The Lord and we are confident that Elder Corbett is prepared.”

Elder Corbett has been challenged by this new assignment as his companion’s Spanish is limited and he is quite shy. He noted that initially he was having to do the bulk of the teaching, but since then his companion has made good progress. And they have been working hard and right from the beginning. Benjamin noted that his companion got two huge blisters on his feet after the first week there.

One inspiring experience they had during the first weeks was an immediate answer to their prayers. Benjamin indicates that “This morning before we left we decided to pray specifically for a man who was married, humble and willing to go to church. An hour into proselyting we found a man who I first walked past, but feeling like I needed to talk to him, I turned around. He ended up being really interested, well-off, and educated. We asked him if he would go to church and he said he would. An answer to our prayers. Even if he doesn’t go to church this Sunday, I know it was an answer to our prayers. We felt so great afterwards!”

One of the highlights in November was the baptism of the Luna family. You may recall that Elder Corbett and his companion helped the couple get married in October. Well they and their 14 year old daughter were finally baptized and a week later the father received the Aaronic Priesthood and passed the sacrament. Benjamin also reported that one sister that he baptized back in October, gave her first talk in Sacrament meeting and did an excellent job. He was very proud of her.

Another special experience in November was meeting a young woman who was introduced to them by some members. He reported, “We had an awesome lesson with Mariela. It was really spiritual. We taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ in the house of a member family.” A few days later Mariela introduced them to her boyfriend and they gave him the first lesson. Benjamin notes that it was great as Mariela helped them teach it and bore her testimony that she knew it was true. He concluded by writing that at the end of that day, “We got home happy for the hard work we had done during the past week!”

They have had the chance to do service for members and non-members alike. They have generally been helping people with their large farm gardens and he and his companions have been learning good farming techniques.. Most recently Ben reported, "Today we went to do some service for the boss of one of the members. She asked if we could come by to sacar some yuyo..or take out weeds. Well we showed up and instead of some yuyo..it was more of a forest! It was massive. With the four of us we got hacked, and racked, and pulled out all the weeds. A 3 and a half hour project! There were huge ants, spiders, and beetles everrrrrywhere!"

Elder Corbett continues to have interesting experiences in which he learns more about the way of life of the people in Deán Funes. For example, “ We have been working with a couple of inactive families trying to get them to come back.. One of them is the Family Arrieta. Today we went to their house and they were boiling lamb heads. We tried some; the tongue. It was really good. At least I liked it. I think Elder Bushnell was pretty grossed out. Just the thought of eating tongue.”

(DISCLAIMER: The following pictures are graphic and may cause you to lose your appetite or if you are currently eating may cause you to lose your lunch! Don't say we didn't try to warn you! It's more than I got! -Elizabeth)

Before:

Cooking:

Final Product: YUM YUM!

Benjamin has found the zone conferences that they have every 6 weeks to be a source of great inspiration and knowledge. He reported that in one conference last month the mission president spoke much about the power of the Book of Mormon and how they needed to use it more. At that conference they received a new “folleto”(pamphlet) to help them explain to their investigators what it is. And in their most recent one President Olsen dressed up as Santa Claus and his wife as his chief elf, and they handed out a gift to each missionary, shorts(basketball?) with the mission logo on it.

The weather has been quite warm as it is getting closer to summer. One day it hit 107 and Benjamin observed that “It was so hot my sweat was sweating! [And} I’m losing weight; the fat just sweats right off!” But the temperature does vary, with several days in the 90’s followed by a number in the 70’s.

On December 1st Benjamin celebrated his 20th birthday(“You’re not a teen anymore! Or was the title of that oldie but goody “You’re not a kid anymore”?). Two member families had him over for a nice dinner with a birthday cake and then at the end of the day the other missionary companions surprised him with a cake and decorations. Then, a couple of days later at a zone conference, all the missionaries sang “Happy Birthday” to him and Sister Olsen gave him a brownie. Benjamin said it only could have been better if his family and friends had been there.

This past week the Corbett family was thrilled to receive a Christmas package from Benjamin. He sent us a nice letter along with a variety of snack food that is popular in Argentina. For example, a container of dulce de leche(caramel), which is something that Argentines love to use with cakes, cookies, etc. He sent us a few “alfajores”, very typical cookies, which consist of two round sweet wafers or cake joined together with dulce de leche or jam and covered with powered sugar or chocolate frosting. It is kind of like a “Moon Pie” . He also sent us a snack pack of Oreos, with dulce de leche filling(only in Argentina). He also sent some orange, lemon, grapefruit flavored Tang and a couple of bon bons(peanut butter crème filled chocolates). We were also glad to learn that he got the Christmas gifts that we had sent him about 4 weeks ago.

As Elder Corbett approaches his first Christmas in the mission field he certainly misses his family and friends, but he is feeling the true Spirit of Christmas. He has indicated that they have four investigators, the brother of Brother Luna(mentioned above) and his wife and son, plus a woman, Adela, who are to be baptized the day after Christmas.

We want you to know that Elder Corbett truly appreciates the letters he has received from everyone.