Hello family!

Well, first Ill give you an update on the back...All of a sudden this week I started getting these shooting pains down my leg while I´ve been walking. It literally shuts off my leg for a couple seconds after a couple seconds of excrutiating pain. haha, it is really terrible. I asked about the cortizone shot, and no one (including the members and people here) trust the doctors for something like that. You have to realize that the ¨hospital¨here in Resistencia even is a couple of buildings that look like houses and you walk on dirt paths in between. The medical care here isnt that hot. Also I looked for medicine balls and no one seems to know what that is here...so thats a no go. But it seems like a good idea. To sum it up, the back isn´t doing too hot, but before anyone makes any decisions I want to know what exactly is going to happen first. I don´t want to get a call saying that I´m going stateside without knowing whats going on....but I'm sure that you are working on it and everything is going well.=)

So, not too much exciting has happened here. My cooking skills are improving. I´ve been cooking with members and Elder Amezcua and I can cook a lot of things now. Who would have guessed I would learn that on my mission? Also, we found a place that sells blacks beans in El Colorado during a district meeting and so we cooked a lot of beans...and you can guess what happened during the nights...haha.

Also, our chico Mauro that was supposed to get baptized, his mom sent him to live with his dad. So, he is not going to be baptized that soon. But, we have some new machachos, Antonio and his brother who are 11 and 13 years old. They came to church yesterday and loved it. They accepted a baptismal date for the 29th and their mom was so happy that they are happy that she had us come by for torta yesterday. So that seems to be looking good. We´ve also found a whole bunch of part-member families where the mom and dad are inactive members but they have 9 or 10 year old kids that haven´t been baptized. So we´ve been activating them and teaching their kids at the same time. When I arrived in San Martin average attendance was 12 and yesterday it was 34. So we are making some progress! =)

Also,  we came across an Indian reservation this week. We went in and found a member. He spoke broken spanish. About 1 out of 100 speak spanish. They speak an ancient Indian language called Toba. So, we didn´t get a lot done there....haha but we did manage to find that one member, Elu¨iogi. (pronounce ee-loo-ee-he...well kind of) and he came to church yesterday with his kid. So that was cool.

Ummm...not too much else has happened. President Heyman called me and talked to me though.  He wants me to think about coming home to get help. But, he thinks I´m going to get hurt. I don´t know.

Anyway, that´s it for now. I love you bunches!

Elder Benson

One of the homes outside of San Martin.  We like the Directv dish.

Hey All,

 

Dad, what in the world happened to you?? Size 34?? You lost a ton of weight since I have been gone!! You are gonna be in better shape than me when I get back from this oil-infested food! =) haha that is so good! I'm glad that you have continued to work hard and are now reaping the rewards of your success. That is part of the reason I like to work out so much, is because I can see the results and then set more goals. Its exciting huh??=) Great job!

Also, I did talk to the doctor from Salt Lake, I told him that I could do the work here still but it was painful. Don´t worry, I'm not going anywhere for awhile. I have work to do.=)

Umm, I'm still having a lot of fun with Elder Amezcua but also, we had a poopy week. Saturday was the baptism of Mauro, and everything was set. His mom approved, he was excited, we bought food, we gave out invitations, we filled the font and everyone was there for his baptism and he didn´t show up. We went to his house and he his family were no where to be seen and we still haven´t been able to find them. So..that kind of sucked. ha,

Ummm, also I have some pictures of the area that I am going to send, so youll have a better idea of what it looks like. Also it was Elder Amezcua´s birthday on the 30th so we ate tacos that he taught me how to make. I have learned how to cook a lot of Mexican food. I'm going to be a champ when I come home. I can make tortillas, tacquitos, guacamole, picante sauce, churros, breakfat burritos, and some other authentic Mexican all from scratch! =) what?? haha it´s pretty fun.

Also, I was reading in the scriptures this week with a purpose of how I can help the people here. I learned a couple things. One if we want to help others, (including our family) we first have to have a love for them and see them as what they could become. This can only come through diligent reading and praying. Next, after we see them as our Heavenly Father would, we must seek for a specific way to serve that person. Every person is different and thus need different help. To find know how to serve them comes through prayer as well. Lastly, we need to follow through and act. Through this, we can strengthen their relationship with the Lord as well as our relation with them. That is my consejo for the week=)

SOoo...yeah my back hurts a lot. Keep praying for me please. Other than that, I am learning a lot and I now have 20 weeks in the mish! what? Time flies huh? haha, anyway love you bunches. And keep it up with the weight losing! That is great! =)

City of San Martin

San Martin