Deán Funes - One Week and Pictures!

Ben and Elder Maw hiked this mountain on his last day in Merlo. He said it took him two hours.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Deán Funes, the city Ben just transferred to:

Deán Funes is a city in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. It has 20,164 inhabitants per the 2001 census [INDEC], and is the head town of the Ischilín Department. It is the largest city in the northwest of the province. It lies by National Route 60, 118 km from the provincial capital Córdoba.
The settlement was founded as Villa de Deán Funes on 9 March 1875, when the Ferrocarril Central Norte from Córdoba reached the area. It received its name honouring Gregorio Funes, a writer and deacon of the Archdiocese of Córdoba who was a deputy to the Junta Grande after the May Revolution of 1810. It received a strong wave of immigration, chiefly made up of Spaniards, Italians, people from Arab countries, and Yugoslavians. The town was officially declared a city on 29 October 1929.
The city hosts the Northern Córdoba Tradition Festival annually on the first half of January.

Ben's new companion: Elder Davis

Elder Davis is from Holladay, Utah. He played defense in Soccer. He loves hunting and is the middle child of 7 children. Ben said he is a great missionary and leader. Ben is really excited about the transfer.

As we said, Ben transferred last week to Deán Funes. It's population is 24000. Ben said the people are really nice and listen to the Elders. He said they way they speak is very distinct: "Not an Italian Spanish accent, but more of a distinct change in tone when speaking." For those of you who know a little Spanish, he said the rr is pronounce shh. He loves it.

He lives in a larger pension than the last place. The pension is like their apartment. It used to be a church as opposed to living on top of the church building. He said it is nice condition and looks more like a house. Even though he says it's nice condition, Ben has found mouse poop in his bed and says they have huge spiders... I'm still waiting for the pictures of those! They live with another set of missionaries: Elder Basualdo and Elder Jeppson. Elder Basualdo is Spanish speaking and has been helping Ben with practicing his Spanish.

This building is just a cool building there:

Ben is so excited about his transfer. He loves his new companion and the prospects of the new city. He said their goal is to baptise a family this transfer. They have zone conference in Cordoba tomorrow.

Well I'll leave some of it for him to tell you when you write him! Task to the readers of this blog: Stop for 10 minutes and write Ben a letter! He would love to hear from you!

I'll leave you with some final words from Ben's letter, it is sooo Ben! :)

Saludos to the barrio..... Elder Corbett

Surprise, Surprise!! Benjamin got transferred!

Well, was Benjamin ever surprised when he got a phone call on Sunday(July 19th) to let him know that he was being transferred to Deán Funes in the province of Córdoba. He and his companion, Elder Maw, had understood that Elder Maw would get moved, since he had been in Merlo 6 weeks longer. So Ben boarded a bus at 200am on Monday(July 19th) and after about 12 hours arrived at his new assignment. His companion is Elder Davis, who has been serving as an assistant to President Olsen, and this will be his last transfer. Ben is very excited to serve with him as he has been a good leader and a hard worker(and also likes to play soccer). The two of them are living in a boarding house with two other missionaries, one of which is from Perú. So Ben is happy that he will get more practice with Spanish.

Benjamin's first baptisms!

These past few weeks Benjamin and his companion have been quite busy teaching the gospel to a number of people who seem to be quite interested. And the biggest and best news is that they had their first baptisms: Susana, and her daughter, Jessica decided to get baptized on July 4th(See foto). Ben described it as an extremely exciting experience for all involved and noted that he and his companion sang a duet. He also reported that it took most of the day as he and his companion had to clean the church and also fill and empty the portable baptismal font. Filling it took about 3 hours and required them to get a neighbor to allow them to use his hot water via a long hose. And they had to empty it with buckets(See fotos).

Although this may not be the first time for Ben, some members recently served them an Italian-Argentine dish, ñoquis, potato pasta, which he describes as. "ohhhh so goood. but soooo filling"(See foto). And on Father's day, Benjamin and his companion gave all the fathers a piece of banana bread that they themselves had cooked.

A couple of weeks ago the missionaries had a zone conference so Benjamin and his companion had to take a 5 hour bus drive over to Córdoba. He said it was an inspiring conference and noted that he was glad to have a number of letters delivered to him from the States.

We were a bit concerned to learn that the flu has hit Argentina quite hard, including the swine strain. Ben noted that some members in Merlo have come down with it. Please say a little prayer that he and his companion will stay well.

The area in their church building where the font was set up.



The font being filled with cold water; the hot water had to be "hosed in" from a neighbor's house. The process took several hours.



Ben with Susana and her daughter and Elder Maw. Ben's first baptism in Merlo.



It took an hour to empty the font by using buckets.




Fried Bananas, Eggs, bread, and ?

Ñoquis(potato pasta)

The Beautiful Sunrise in Merlo:

Merlo until September!

Recently Ben wrote saying they were going to the city for transfers. When he wrote again he told us that he and his companion had not been transferred. He also told us that he will probably be there until September. He said that Elders usually stay in Merlo for three transfers. He is excited! He loves the people of Merlo as well as his companion.


Here is Ben in front of the Branch Building. He lives in a little apartment on top of the building.

It looks like this may be the mode of transportation for some. What a beautiful horse!
The scenery in Merlo is beautiful. Here is Ben in front of one of the many waterfalls.

Ben is even venturing to try new foods. This is a rather appetizing picture of cow intestines they prepared and ate.

I'm not sure if he knew what he was getting into. :) I love his face in this pic! I remember when he would be picky at home, I can't believe he at this!

May 25th is a holiday in Argentina. I think this is some of the food they cooked and ate as part of the celebration!

Ben even made friends with the local dinosaur!

Another beautiful waterfall!

Another great view of Merlo! :)

I will try to update again soon! Until then please write Ben! He looks forward to mail and I don't think he has had much to open lately! His address is posted on the right. He says the Gay Lussac address is the best to reach him at! Also you can write to him using www.dearelder.com if that is easier. But don't forget to actually send him something every once and awhile! :)