Ben's Missionary Letters

  Trasfer came an went thie last weeek and i couldnt be happier with where Ive been assigned. I was assigned to open up a new zone in Beni! Beni is the is the department north of Santa Cruz and the wilder part of our mission. There three zones in the three largest cities in Beni, Trinidad, Riberalta and the newest which we will be opening this transfer Guayaramerin. Guayaramerin is the smalest of the three that sits right on the border of Brasil. Theres a huge river, La Mamoré that seperates Brasil and Bolivia but that doesnt stop anyone from boating across. So that make Guayaramerin and interesting mix of culture with Brasilians, Bolivians and people from all over. Ive been practicing Portuguese. To get here we had to take a two hour flight from Santa Cruz to Riberalta. Of course there was all sorts of complications with the flight and we ended up taking of 3 hours later than planned. We landed at the smallest airport Ive ever seen and were greeted by an insufferable heat and the ...

 It's been a while since I've written but I thought I'd let you all know how the last there weeks have gone. Still here finishing out my sixth month here in Progreso. I've been here long enough that I don't even have say anything to the barber, he just recognizes me and gives the same cut. The area of Progreso for me has been a challenge in many ways, I've now spent more than a quarter of my mission here and I've seen very, very little progress (ironic because the name of the area is Spanish for progress). In these last months I've been working harder than ever trying everything to somehow get a baptism, from tons of member work, organizing ward activities, and just plain old knocking doors. It's seem the more I do the less success I have. It's frustrating to see my other friends in the mission baptizing and having so much success. That being said I confronted all these frustrations these last few weeks.  We had lunch with a member Juan Pablo Cas...

 Lots has happened since the last time I wrote an email, mainly with transfers. My oldest companion Elder Aquize finished his mission and went home to La Paz. Alls well there, he got home the same week as his brother who was serving in Cochabamba and were excited to see one another after two years. We had a fun last week together and finished strong with lots of baptisms at the Noche Blanca so that was exciting.  My new companion arrived that week named Elder Luna. The streak continues as he's from La Paz as well, so far all my companions have been from Bolivia. We get along great and as well work hard. Already super grateful for his enthusiasm and work ethic. One of the most Christlike missionaries I've ever met and he already come into the area and Zone with ideas to share. We've had some great discussions as well. One of which we had last Friday was very difficult but very spiritual. We visited an inactive member my age who said she really wants to come back to the churc...

  This week I got the good news from one of my previous companions, Elder Nunez. He told me Mithzi and Reynaldo got married and Reynaldo was going to be baptize this next weekend!! I was super excited to hear that as in my last area I had been working a lot with the family and had grow close to them. When I left Guabira I commisioned Elder Nunez to help them reach their goal to be married and baptized. It made me happy to see he had followed through and even happier to see them making promises that would bless their family. Though I could attend I was happy to at last watch the wedding viturally and congragulate them. It's hard to describe the happiness I've felt watching this family come to Christ and learn to live His commandments. They inspire me seek more of the Lord's elect.  Also we had a really fun appointment this last sunday. We have been visiting a less activity family, la familia Saraias, in ward regularly and helping them come back to church. This last sunday a ...

  This last week was our wards 2 year anniversary and they went big for it. Every single day of last week there was a ward activity. With our new goal to grow closer to the ward we made and effort to show up to every activity and bring an investigator. I definitely thought it was worth the time and had a blast at every activity.  Tuesday was definitely the best activity, it was the festival Mormon (named after the prophet not the nickname of the church). It was a big dance festival where the youth of every ward prepared a traditional dance from a different region of Bolivia. Our ward had been rehearsing for weeks and it really paid off. The costumes and dances were amazing and it was clear each ward put a lot of effort to prepare. Each ward had a color assigned with ours being yellow and it was fun to watch all the ward get hyped up and excited when there ward was up to dance. I lost my voice cheering and it seemed our investigators had a good time too. Plus the entrance fee w...

 This last week we had our current mission president. The mission is a bit sad about it as he had a big impact on the Bolivia Santa Cruz Norte mission. He helped a lot of missionaries through the pandemic and through other difficult times. Hearing his last testimony was powerful, its clear President Hawkins believes firmly in our abilities as missionaries and that the Lord is working alongside all missionaries. In my last interview with him, he told me the same and and it was very encouraging to hear. We got to hear lots of "dying testimonies" this last Zone conference from some great missionaries including my companion. One that stood out was from my friend Elder Teceros, a missionary the lives in our same house. When I arrived to my current zone, Elder Terceros was in a tough spot, struggling with depression and self doubt. It seemed every leadership council we were talking about how to help Elder Teceros. I prayed a lot for my friend, and for a while it seemed he was strug...

  It's been a while since I wrote but a whole ton has happened. First off Elder Christofferson came to visit which was a special experience. It was cool to see the entire mission get together to hear a general authorities speak. We also got to hear some amazing insights from our area President who is in charge of all of North-western South America. He spoke on how to work with ward leadership better and how to help our leaders feel excited about missionary work too. After President Christofferson spoke touching on various topics each on felt catered to our missions needs. Both him and his wife had flawless Spanish which was quite impressive and inspiring for me. There was a brief Q&A, so I asked the question " what does it mean to be a special witness of Christ". He told us that actually the calling was actually to be a special witness of the name of Christ and then bore testimony of his name. That was powerful. We brought an Elder from our ward who was set apart the ...

  Transfer news came in this Saturday and it was definatly not what I expected. I was pretty certain I would stay anouther transfer in Guabira, mostly to finish training Elder Nuñez and I was looking forward to that. As well we have a ton going on this next transfer especially with baptisms so i was planning on seeing that all though. But this Saturday I found out im leaving the area to go back to Santa Cruz. They also told me Im going to be the Zone leader in Zona Pariso which is exciting. Needless to say i had mixed feeling abiut the news. I really wanted to stay but the new assignment did sound exciting. But also super nervous as its my first leadership position. The good news is from what Ive heard is the new area is has a lot of work to do and my new companion is a great miaaionary. It gives me confidence knowing Elder Nuñez is going to stay because he alredy know the area like the back of his hand. Im sad to leave but confident in my trainees ability. We did have an absolutly...