Wow! I really broke my previous record for the amount of time between posts to Benjamin´s blog. Some of you may have figured that I decided not to continue with it.
Well, I am now in Mexico with the TTU program and will have quite a bit more free time.
As one would expect, I will only be able to give you a few of the highlights of Ben´s past two months. At the end of the last post I noted that he had just been made zone leader. Let me tell you a bit of what this new calling has involved. He is the leader over 21 missionaries living in different cities, some as far as 2 hours away by bus, and he has to work with each pair at least once per month. So this means that about 2 days per week he is on the road and the other 5 he is working his own area in Villa María. He also has to stay in touch with the missionaries by phone to get their weekly reports which he then compiles into a zone report which he sends to the mission president. He has zone meetings on a monthly basis and also a zone leaders´meeting with the president in Córdoba city. It is keeping him extremely busy, but he loves it. As he put it, “The weeks are going by insanely fast. Being a Zone Leader means more work, more work means less time, less time means fast weeks!!!” One negative result of his new call is that he has had less time to write us detailed letters.
Now a bit about his companions. The first 6 weeks as zone leader he had Elder Clayson from Spanish Fork, Utah. Although they were quite different in personality, etc, they learned through open communication to work together well. On May 10th he got a new companion, Elder Gardner, who happens to be from the same city as Elder Clayson, and is in the last 6 weeks of his mission. Benjamin indicated that he spent 7 months of his mission working in the office as financial secretary and so he´s very excited about working hard to finish off his mission. Ben observed that he is really patient and that they have gotten along very well. They have also had a number of very inspiring experiences. Let me share one with you. One Sunday they went to invite some investigators to church, but none of them were home. Benjamin then thought of a man, Roberto, that they had invited to church earlier in the week so they stopped by his house. Roberto´s friend answered the door and let him know they wanted to talk to him, but he called out that he was getting ready to go to church. They spoke with the friend for a bit and learned that he had spoken to the missionaries 5 years ago and that he still had a pamphlet they had given him. Well Roberto went to church and really enjoyed the meetings. He then had to go visit his family in another city, but said that when he returns in June that he plans to attend every week. Benjamin and his companion are looking forward to teaching him at that time. Benjamin mentioned in one letter that he really has come to love the Argentine people and their culture.
He and his companions have continued to have the opportunity to participate in service projects. In April he wrote about a real interesting one. A woman who was recently baptized had a leaky roof so a group of missionaries and some members cemented her roof(Photos coming soon). Basically they covered her metal roof with cement. When I asked if it solved the problem, he said yes.
Benjamin mentioned soon after he arrived that there are many stray dogs in Argentina. Well, he had his first dog bite about a month ago. They were walking on the sidewalk and startled this little dog and it rushed at Ben and bit him on the calf. He said it didn´t do much damage; he only had a small bruise mark. But the next day he did go to the owner to make sure that it had had its rabie shots and all was well.
Ben also recently had his first bike ride. He indicated that they rode all day. He didn't say so but I imagine he may have been a bit sore the next day.
Since Ben has been zone leader, it seems that he has been organzing a weekly soccer game with a number of the missionaries and members. He told us that they played 4 hours one day and that he was real sore afterwards. There is much excitement going on in Argentina for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. Soccer is very big there and they are hoping(praying?) that their national team does well. Ben indicated that it will be hard to choose a favorite if the USA, Argentina or Mexico play each other, but that he will always support the red, white and blue.
With Mexico vs. Argentina, that would be a tough one for him.
The weather in Argentina has changed from very hot to quite cold over the past two months. They are now in fall and moving toward winter. Ben likes the cool weather much better.
On May 25th Argentina had its Independence Day celebration and it was extra special since it was their bicentenial in which they celebrated 200 years of freedom from Spain.
To end this entry I will leave you with some bits of good advice from Benjamin: "Life is supposed to be enjoyed, not just endured." "Prayer is powerful and God listens to us." "Hold to the rod(the word of God)." "Never give up!"
I hope to do a better job this summer keeping you all posted. Benjamin always notes how he loves to get letters from his friends and family.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Picture time!
Sorry for the delay in pictures! Life has been crazy and time flies so fast! Enjoy!
Clearing out the tennis courts for the New Temple!
Ben playing with the Valentines puzzle he received.
It had been raining hard in his area for awhile. To cross the street for lunch he had to take off his shoes... He did mention something about how he was grossed out thinking about what was in the water.
Yuck!
The zone leaders with assistants and President and Sister Olsen
Elder Clayson is fourth from the left on the bottom.
Picture of Jesus preaching to the Scouts. Ben thought this was pretty funny.
Villa Maria
The Branch President's son Juaquin. "You talkin' to me?"
Ben's tags and the Texas flag
Clearing out the tennis courts for the New Temple!
Ben playing with the Valentines puzzle he received.
It had been raining hard in his area for awhile. To cross the street for lunch he had to take off his shoes... He did mention something about how he was grossed out thinking about what was in the water.
Yuck!
The zone leaders with assistants and President and Sister Olsen
Elder Clayson is fourth from the left on the bottom.
Picture of Jesus preaching to the Scouts. Ben thought this was pretty funny.
Villa Maria
The Branch President's son Juaquin. "You talkin' to me?"
Ben's tags and the Texas flag
Sunday, March 28, 2010
More wonderful, interesting experiences in Villa María!
Well it’s time for another update on Elder Corbett’s activities. I can’t believe that it has been a full month since I have done so!
One thing for sure is that he and his companion have been working extremely hard and they have had many wonderful and interesting experiences.
During the last week of February, as everyone well knows, the terrible earthquake hit Chile, Argentina’s neighbor to the west. Benjamin’s prior companion, Elder Espinoza, who is still in Ben’s district, is from Santiago, Chile and so he was very concerned for the welfare of his family and friends. Fortunately, soon after the quake, the Mission President called to let him know that all was well with them. Although Benjamin didn’t feel it(it happened when they were asleep), one of his neighbors said she had felt it.
Benjamin and his companion have had some scary experiences this past month. First off, they had a close call with a car one night. They were walking down a side street and they saw a truck coming so they moved off to the side out of its way. But then it swerved towards them and his companion quickly pushed him out of the way. Ben noted that the driver might have been drunk as he was swerving a lot. Thank goodness for alert companions! Then came the “flying” snake experience. One day they were knocking on door and this snake fell of this house right next to them. Fortunately it was a small earth snake and it slithered off, according to Ben, like a side winder.
Benjamin reported that his companion, Elder Kelsey, brought a ton of little CTR rings to give to the kids there. These are rings that are popular in our Church and the letters stand for “Choose the right!” a slogan that is taught to members when they are children. Ben also noted that from time to time they hand them out and that the kids love them! They will often see the children later and they always show them that they are still wearing them.
Benjamin hasn’t been able to play much soccer there in Villa Maria, either because he can’t find enough people to play or he is too busy. However, he reported that about two weeks ago they had their monthly zone conference in Córdoba City and that they played soccer as a zone. To quote him, “3 hours of pure soccer! I was in heaven! I ended up getting sun burnt, but what can you do?”
Benjamin had a neat, unusual experience not long ago. He and his companion were invited to eat at the other missionaries’ home. The owner lives right in front and she has had missionaries live there for more than 50 years. What made it neat is that a former missionary who had served there 25 years ago was there visiting her. He was in Argentina doing business for the Church and decided to drop in on her. One thing that was particularly interesting is that he works in the Church offices in Utah and that he helped write Preach My Gospel, the book that missionaries use all over the world to guide them with their teaching. Ben noted that he spoke really good Spanish, but not as good as me, his Dad(Awww! That was nice of him!)
By far the best experience Benjamin has had of late is the opportunity to teach many wonderful people and, just a week ago, to baptize a woman and her 9 year old son.
He shared an inspiring conversation with the boy. They stopped by their house about 3 days before the baptism and the boy was sick, but he told them not to worry, that even though he was sick he was still going to get baptized. The missionaries were very impressed and Benjamin wrote that it taught him that “we should have the same dedication and desire to follow Christ, no matter what our circumstances or trials may be.” After the baptism the missionaries, the mother and son went to a member’s house for an “asado”(barbecue) to celebrate the occasion.
As you may recall, when Benjamin moved in to his new apartment in Villa María in January, there was no electricity or hot water. Well despite the fact that the zone leaders and those in the office were aware of it and did get the electricity turned on for awhile, as of the second week of March, Benjamin and his companion were still without hot water, and they had also had the electricity turned off again. Well, finally, last week, Benjamin reported the following: “Still no Light and Gas! Enough is enough. Today I went to figure everything out for myself. The office elders and Hermano Urquiza obviously were having troubles. Today I went to the owner of the apartments to figure out what we needed to do. She explained things very clearly, and I got them done! Next the light. I went to EPEC. The light place. I paid a bill that the office elders and Hermano Urquiza should have paid. And what do you know?…We got light! When you want something done right…” I asked him what it was like to take a hot shower again, but I haven’t gotten a reply.
And, last but not least of the experiences Benjamin has had during the past month, on March 29th he got a phone call from the mission president in which he was informed that he had been called to be zone leader. Having only been out 13 months, and having served as district leader for only 6 weeks, Benjamin was certainly not expecting this new, weighty call. He was definitely humbled, but is excited about it and particularly because he will remain in Villa María.
In closing, we want to note how Benjamin still LOVES to get letters and packages from his family and friends here in the States. At the beginning of March he hit the jackpot! He received a Valentine’s Day package from his Mom and Dad with M&M’s, a photo key chain, photos, and his favorite deodorant and also about 5 letters from friends and family.
One thing for sure is that he and his companion have been working extremely hard and they have had many wonderful and interesting experiences.
During the last week of February, as everyone well knows, the terrible earthquake hit Chile, Argentina’s neighbor to the west. Benjamin’s prior companion, Elder Espinoza, who is still in Ben’s district, is from Santiago, Chile and so he was very concerned for the welfare of his family and friends. Fortunately, soon after the quake, the Mission President called to let him know that all was well with them. Although Benjamin didn’t feel it(it happened when they were asleep), one of his neighbors said she had felt it.
Benjamin and his companion have had some scary experiences this past month. First off, they had a close call with a car one night. They were walking down a side street and they saw a truck coming so they moved off to the side out of its way. But then it swerved towards them and his companion quickly pushed him out of the way. Ben noted that the driver might have been drunk as he was swerving a lot. Thank goodness for alert companions! Then came the “flying” snake experience. One day they were knocking on door and this snake fell of this house right next to them. Fortunately it was a small earth snake and it slithered off, according to Ben, like a side winder.
Benjamin reported that his companion, Elder Kelsey, brought a ton of little CTR rings to give to the kids there. These are rings that are popular in our Church and the letters stand for “Choose the right!” a slogan that is taught to members when they are children. Ben also noted that from time to time they hand them out and that the kids love them! They will often see the children later and they always show them that they are still wearing them.
Benjamin hasn’t been able to play much soccer there in Villa Maria, either because he can’t find enough people to play or he is too busy. However, he reported that about two weeks ago they had their monthly zone conference in Córdoba City and that they played soccer as a zone. To quote him, “3 hours of pure soccer! I was in heaven! I ended up getting sun burnt, but what can you do?”
Benjamin had a neat, unusual experience not long ago. He and his companion were invited to eat at the other missionaries’ home. The owner lives right in front and she has had missionaries live there for more than 50 years. What made it neat is that a former missionary who had served there 25 years ago was there visiting her. He was in Argentina doing business for the Church and decided to drop in on her. One thing that was particularly interesting is that he works in the Church offices in Utah and that he helped write Preach My Gospel, the book that missionaries use all over the world to guide them with their teaching. Ben noted that he spoke really good Spanish, but not as good as me, his Dad(Awww! That was nice of him!)
By far the best experience Benjamin has had of late is the opportunity to teach many wonderful people and, just a week ago, to baptize a woman and her 9 year old son.
He shared an inspiring conversation with the boy. They stopped by their house about 3 days before the baptism and the boy was sick, but he told them not to worry, that even though he was sick he was still going to get baptized. The missionaries were very impressed and Benjamin wrote that it taught him that “we should have the same dedication and desire to follow Christ, no matter what our circumstances or trials may be.” After the baptism the missionaries, the mother and son went to a member’s house for an “asado”(barbecue) to celebrate the occasion.
As you may recall, when Benjamin moved in to his new apartment in Villa María in January, there was no electricity or hot water. Well despite the fact that the zone leaders and those in the office were aware of it and did get the electricity turned on for awhile, as of the second week of March, Benjamin and his companion were still without hot water, and they had also had the electricity turned off again. Well, finally, last week, Benjamin reported the following: “Still no Light and Gas! Enough is enough. Today I went to figure everything out for myself. The office elders and Hermano Urquiza obviously were having troubles. Today I went to the owner of the apartments to figure out what we needed to do. She explained things very clearly, and I got them done! Next the light. I went to EPEC. The light place. I paid a bill that the office elders and Hermano Urquiza should have paid. And what do you know?…We got light! When you want something done right…” I asked him what it was like to take a hot shower again, but I haven’t gotten a reply.
And, last but not least of the experiences Benjamin has had during the past month, on March 29th he got a phone call from the mission president in which he was informed that he had been called to be zone leader. Having only been out 13 months, and having served as district leader for only 6 weeks, Benjamin was certainly not expecting this new, weighty call. He was definitely humbled, but is excited about it and particularly because he will remain in Villa María.
In closing, we want to note how Benjamin still LOVES to get letters and packages from his family and friends here in the States. At the beginning of March he hit the jackpot! He received a Valentine’s Day package from his Mom and Dad with M&M’s, a photo key chain, photos, and his favorite deodorant and also about 5 letters from friends and family.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Baptisms, another "verdecito," a call as district leader, and his year mark
Another month has passed in the life of our missionary and he has had some memorable moments.
First, we want you to know that Benjamin loves it in Villa María. Not only is it a bigger city than the first two he was in, he is particularly thrilled that the members are “super faithful", they have a great branch president and enthusiastic members helping with the missionary effort(they sometimes even go with the missionaries to participate in the lessons)
One inspiring experience he had soon after arriving in Villa María was with a handicapped man and his parents. He wrote that they were walking down the street and he felt like they needed to knock on the door of this certain house. An old lady answered and said she was attending to her son. They were confused because the lady was about 70 and they didn’t believe she had a young child. When she let them in they met her 41 year old son who was in a wheelchair. He suffers from muscular dystrophy. They gave the parents and son a short lesson and when they were finished the dad asked the son, if he wanted them to come back. He asked him to close his eyes if he wanted them to come back, and he did. As Benjamin noted, it was "such a cool experience."
Another amazing experience that they had was with the Guerra family. The second Sunday after they started teaching them, Benjamin and his companion were meeting with bishop and ward mission leader before church and they noted that this family needed help with transportation to get to Church. The bishop said he could go pick them up that day so they wouldn't have to take a remi("taxi" in Argentine Spanish). And I will conclude this story with Benjamin's own words. "After the meeting I went to call the family but to my surprise they were already there at the chapel!!! They had walked 50 minutes to get to church! I was so amazed! It was a miracle! They really have great faith!"
Then came probably the most memorable day in the past month. On February 13th they had two baptisms, Claudia and her 14 year old son, Alex, whom they had been teaching for the past 6 weeks, and Elder Corbett got a call from the mission president to inform him that he was going to be assigned his second "verdecito" straight from the MTC in Utah, AND that he was called to be district leader in Villa María. His new companion is Elder Kelsey and the following story of what happened when Benjamin went to Córdoba city to pick him up gives you an idea of what type of a missionary he is going to be. I will let Ben tell it in his own words: "We got to the mission home and there were ten trainers. Then the new missionaries got there and they looked excited but at the same time really tired. I am sure I must have looked the same. One of the trainers asked one of the missionaries if he felt excited to work. He said "No sabo mucho, pero sí."("I don't know alot, but yes." Those who know Spanish will note that he used the wrong form of the verb) After all of the "verdecitos" had had their first interview with the President, he called out the list of the new companions. Elder Corbett with….Elder Kelsey! He was the missionary that had answered the question. HA Ha" Ben observed that although his Spanish isn't really good, he isn't afraid to talk to people, and he has a big desire to be a great missionary.
The last thing to report is that on February 25th(just yesterday) Benjamin celebrated his one year mark on his mission! He indicates that the tradition there is to burn a white shirt in honor of this accomplishment(we hope he picks the one that is the most threadbare! Ha!) Although we certainly have missed his bright personality and caring ways here in our family, the time has passed relatively quickly. Benjamin has also observed how fast time is passing, noting that some elders he had known quite well from the beginning of his mission just went home, he wrote, “Their time is up and one day I will be right where they are! That means I need to take it to another level, push myself harder!"
To close this update I will use some of the closing remarks from a few of his recent letters: “I miss you all and each day pray for you. Keep strong in the faith. Pray everyday and love one another. Count your blessings! I am blessed to be serving a mission for the Lord! And I know that this work is the work of our God!”
He loves hearing from his friends and family!
Catholic Church at night
Baptism of Claudia Guevara and her son, Alex
Ben in front of a Catholic Church
District Meeting with some of the other elders:
Zone Conference: Elder Espinoza to the right of Ben
Ben's Apartment Building. They live on the 3rd Floor: They've been without electricity and gas for awhile now. He says that he is getting used to the cold showers.
Villa Maria
After a huge wind/rain storm: Over 800 trees uprooted.
Ben's First Zone Leader Elder Brown:
A plaza in Argentina at night:
Ben with his newest companion, Elder Kelsey:
First, we want you to know that Benjamin loves it in Villa María. Not only is it a bigger city than the first two he was in, he is particularly thrilled that the members are “super faithful", they have a great branch president and enthusiastic members helping with the missionary effort(they sometimes even go with the missionaries to participate in the lessons)
One inspiring experience he had soon after arriving in Villa María was with a handicapped man and his parents. He wrote that they were walking down the street and he felt like they needed to knock on the door of this certain house. An old lady answered and said she was attending to her son. They were confused because the lady was about 70 and they didn’t believe she had a young child. When she let them in they met her 41 year old son who was in a wheelchair. He suffers from muscular dystrophy. They gave the parents and son a short lesson and when they were finished the dad asked the son, if he wanted them to come back. He asked him to close his eyes if he wanted them to come back, and he did. As Benjamin noted, it was "such a cool experience."
Another amazing experience that they had was with the Guerra family. The second Sunday after they started teaching them, Benjamin and his companion were meeting with bishop and ward mission leader before church and they noted that this family needed help with transportation to get to Church. The bishop said he could go pick them up that day so they wouldn't have to take a remi("taxi" in Argentine Spanish). And I will conclude this story with Benjamin's own words. "After the meeting I went to call the family but to my surprise they were already there at the chapel!!! They had walked 50 minutes to get to church! I was so amazed! It was a miracle! They really have great faith!"
Then came probably the most memorable day in the past month. On February 13th they had two baptisms, Claudia and her 14 year old son, Alex, whom they had been teaching for the past 6 weeks, and Elder Corbett got a call from the mission president to inform him that he was going to be assigned his second "verdecito" straight from the MTC in Utah, AND that he was called to be district leader in Villa María. His new companion is Elder Kelsey and the following story of what happened when Benjamin went to Córdoba city to pick him up gives you an idea of what type of a missionary he is going to be. I will let Ben tell it in his own words: "We got to the mission home and there were ten trainers. Then the new missionaries got there and they looked excited but at the same time really tired. I am sure I must have looked the same. One of the trainers asked one of the missionaries if he felt excited to work. He said "No sabo mucho, pero sí."("I don't know alot, but yes." Those who know Spanish will note that he used the wrong form of the verb) After all of the "verdecitos" had had their first interview with the President, he called out the list of the new companions. Elder Corbett with….Elder Kelsey! He was the missionary that had answered the question. HA Ha" Ben observed that although his Spanish isn't really good, he isn't afraid to talk to people, and he has a big desire to be a great missionary.
The last thing to report is that on February 25th(just yesterday) Benjamin celebrated his one year mark on his mission! He indicates that the tradition there is to burn a white shirt in honor of this accomplishment(we hope he picks the one that is the most threadbare! Ha!) Although we certainly have missed his bright personality and caring ways here in our family, the time has passed relatively quickly. Benjamin has also observed how fast time is passing, noting that some elders he had known quite well from the beginning of his mission just went home, he wrote, “Their time is up and one day I will be right where they are! That means I need to take it to another level, push myself harder!"
To close this update I will use some of the closing remarks from a few of his recent letters: “I miss you all and each day pray for you. Keep strong in the faith. Pray everyday and love one another. Count your blessings! I am blessed to be serving a mission for the Lord! And I know that this work is the work of our God!”
He loves hearing from his friends and family!
Ben and Elder Espinoza showing off their amazingly similar flags: Texas and Chile
Catholic Church at night
Baptism of Claudia Guevara and her son, Alex
Ben in front of a Catholic Church
District Meeting with some of the other elders:
Zone Conference: Elder Espinoza to the right of Ben
Ben's Apartment Building. They live on the 3rd Floor: They've been without electricity and gas for awhile now. He says that he is getting used to the cold showers.
Villa Maria
After a huge wind/rain storm: Over 800 trees uprooted.
Ben's First Zone Leader Elder Brown:
A plaza in Argentina at night:
Ben with his newest companion, Elder Kelsey:
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