We are still figuring out this mail thing, continue to send dear elders and such but i can´t tell you when they get here cause i have yet to get one.... I am glad to email though because I have a lot to say today.
I got bit by my first dog! we pass this pathetic little thing every day and i have(had) such pity for it. one day we were walking past and some other dog barked at us. out of nowhere this little devil was nipping my ankle! i didn´t no how to react! it didn´t bleed or anything, it didn´t even penetrate my pants but it was surprising...dogs here scare me....
The scariest experience i´ve had here however had nothing to do with dogs. we had a reference in an area of town my companion din´t know. (oh by the way we don´t knock doors here. in fact we can´t contact. we work through member references...and the Spirit) anyway we went to this part of town and passed this alley that had a bunch of apartments in it. it was by far the scariest place i had ever seen. i even said so to Elder Ortiz. anyway we were looking all around for this one house and finally asked someone. Guess where our reference lives? in the spooky alley. so we went in. i cannot even begin to describe the darkness there, the smell ( it was terrible) and just the lack of the Spirit. it was physical. i can honestly say that was the only time i have been legitely scared here. but good news! we found René Molina! he was our reference. so yeah. that is good...
funny fact: they sell Gringas here. The first time i saw that i was super surprised! prostitution? but no. when i asked Elder Ortiz he told me a gringa in this context is basically a taco with cheese....strange...

Also, WHAT CAN I DO TO STAY SKINNY? the food here is getting to me. I´m not getting fat yet but with the limited exercise and generous sisters, i am going to get there.... Any tips as to what to eat, what to do with my thirty minutes of exercise would be greatly appreciated.


it was hard for me to read and see pictures about thanksgiving. I´m thankful for each and everyone of you. I love you with all my heart and there are times when i just want to cry cause i miss you so much. but i am here to do the Lord´s work. sometimes its harder than others. but it is his work and Elder Ortiz tells me that i need to enjoy the mission cause i will never have experiences like this again. President Uchtdorf recently gave a talk about choosing to be happy. we watched it in spanish on sunday. its way powerful and i definitely suggest reviewing it.

Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!
Elder Ben Williams
ps the mission is weird. our mission president gave us permission to go see ice age 4....not sure how i feel about that. but i am slowly learning the norms of this mission....


Note from Lorene: If anyone wants to email Ben some "stay skinny and 30 minute workout suggestions", send them to me and I can put them in my weekly email Sunday night.

Pictures...

...from last week at the MTC

....and the first week in Mexico

Elder Ortiz and myself first day!

This is from today. some members of the district gathered and we made tortillas and ate lunch together.

Noche de Hogar with the less active members of our ward





I am trying to learn as much as i can and in all reality the hardest thing is adjusting to the reality of the mission. Sometimes i have to remind myself that i am no longer at the MTC. These are real people seeking the truth and for some reason they have accepted me and my companion as bringers of truth. Old people ask us for advice. People who have so much more experience than i will have for another 40 years. That is insane! & yet, I know the Lord is guiding me. I have bben set apart from the world, quite literally, and I am focused on helping others come to salvation. That is gratifying.

Dear Family....I love you all!

Dear Fam,

I just want to share a little more of what has happened this week.
1. We have an investigator with a date for baptism. He got really sick recently and wants to change. Pray for him please. His name is Geraldo.
2. We are preparing a man to go to the temple but he has a problem with the word of wisdom, specifically smoking. Pray for him to be able to overcome it.
3. Pray that my companion will be more obedient. Now before you go thinking he is breaking rules, he really isn´t. or at least I don´t know. So really actually pray for me to become accustomed to things here, especially the culture.
4. This was the first day that I missed you all so much that it almost made me cry.

Sadie and Josh, Mexico is so different! Nope, I haven’t seen any horses here but there are tons of dogs. They are everywhere! I can’t believe how many things have happened in the past week. Church was different, our ward here only has 90 members and guess who gave a talk? Me! I can hardly speak Spanish and they had me give the talk...wow. I am glad that you are reading the Book of Mormon so much and I love you!


Sam! I can’t even begin to explain Mexico. It’s crazy... it is nothing like Vegas.... well there are tons of cars and stuff but that is about the only thing that is like Vegas. The church building is tiny and really...different, but the church is the same here. It’s hard for me to adjust to all the cultural things here. For example, we eat breakfast at like 7 and then we don’t eat till 2! crazy! Dinner for like everyone is at like 9 or 10 at night. I love you.

Linz, just wanted to share real fast something with you. My companion has repeated multiple times to me that the reason we are out here is to invite people to come unto Christ, not to baptize. So in preparation to serve the Lord, I would suggest a study of the Savior´s characteristics. Preach My Gospel chapter 6 it has a ton. Just a suggestion. Good luck with classes and everything. I love you.

I don´t know when or if I will be able to write a letter, which is tough for me. It is wonderful here. It is busy and different but wonderful. Just to give you like a visual idea of what Mexico is like, think of the houses on D street. That´s what it looks like. Now think of really happy humble people. That is what it is like. I can´t believe Mr. Cap passed away. After I read that I felt like I got punched in the face. I love you Steph and hope you are praying hard and relying on the Lord for guidance. Elder Bednar gave a talk this past conference about giving up our weapons of rebellion. It was powerful. It’s definitely worth reviewing if you have time.


Mom & Dad, Pictures next week! Promise. Also I don´t know when I’m gonna be able to write hand written stuff... I only have so much time and Elder Ortiz doesn’t seem to like writing letters much, I´m going to try to write as much as possible.

I love you all so much! Pray hard, play hard and turn to the Lord when times are hard.

Mexico!!!

I don't even know where to start. This is so crazy! I can't believe I’m actually in Mexico! ahhhhh!!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you what this place is like. It is beyond anything I can compare. I’m just gonna give a brief little overview of the past two days.

Basically we arrived in Leon and drove straight over to the mission office. We dropped off our stuff and then all 17 of us new missionaries went over to the mission home for la comida which is basically like lunch...only it’s at like 230 in the afternoon. We introduced ourselves to the president and his wife and well everyone that was there. It was kinda strange because presidente del valle had the gringos speak Spanish and the Mexicans speak English. Apparently it is my job to help my companion learn English. Crazy! Anyway, we slept there that night and the next day we met our companions. My companion is elder ortiz and he has been out here 6 months. He is 18 years old and is a great missionary. He is my trainer for the next three months. After that short time I will be a trainer. Can you believe it!

So my mind is really sorta exploding. I don't even know what to say or how to say it. I guess that is sort of why they give new missionaries a preparation day right after they get to their area. Speaking of which, I am in Amerigas, Aguas Calientes.Elder Ortiz keeps saying this area es lo mejor and in all seriousness I believe him. We are in the middle of a pretty big town and it’s really pretty nice. Sorry cause I forgot my camera but some day I’ll post some pictures for you. I am surprised at how much Spanish I know...and how much I still have to learn. Elder Ortiz and I are going to visit some families today for la comida and also to teach some lessons. I am so excited! I know I’ve already said this is crazy but let me just add this...I already love it =)

Real fast I just want to give you some info. You can still send me letters! It may take a tad bit longer to get to me and for me to reply but you can send them. Dear elders to. And even packages which may or may not make it to me. I’ve talked to some people and they told me that the stickers and such don't really matter. If someone wants the package, they will take it. And in all seriousness I don't need anything, ok. The address you should send it to is as follows

Mision Mexico Leon (accent on the o of mision the e of mexico and the o leon)

Elder Benjamin Williams

Calle Torre Vieja #128

Colonia Arbide

Leon, Guanajuato 37360

and I can probably send you letters back...maybe... but yeah. vamos a ver. this address will not change by the way. What happens is you send it to the mission office and they send it to me. Ok that is all that I really have to say.

I love you tons!

Elder Ben Williams

Ps please pray that my head will stop spinning! I feel super overwhelmed but I’m still smiling. There is a lot for me to learn but that is ok because you know what, it will all come in time =)

pps my new preparation day will be Monday.

Please Send Letters for Elder Williams to:

Elder Ben Williams
Mexico Leon Mission
Torre Vieja #128
Col. Arbide
37360 Leon, Guanajuato
Mexico

This is the address of the mission home where letters and packages to Ben can be mailed. When we are notified of Ben's first assignment the address for letters may change.

Another option for writing to Ben is to use www.dearelder.com
 Select "pouch"
Elder Ben Williams
Mexico Leon
This is a free service!

The District & Elder Lloyd

Final Week At the MTC!

I feel as though this week breezed by. I am trying so hard to remember what happened but there was just so much! I'll do my best to just give the best parts but you may have to bear with me because my memory is pretty shot. My preparation day is today (Saturday) and that definitely threw me off a little. The reason for that is because yesterday was in-field orientation. I'll talk more about that but I just wanted to explain first why my "electronic journal" is a tad late this time.
I think I’m going to start this letter in the middle of the week. It isn't because nothing happened last Saturday through Tuesday. It's just I really want to talk about Wednesday. Why? Because that was the day i got to be a host. Mom, you sent me a letter last Wednesday talking about how new missionaries may be greeted by me as their parents dropped them off on the curb. That is exactly what happened Wednesday. MY district and I had the pleasure of showing incoming missionaries their rooms, classrooms, and really just taking them on a tour of the MTC. I hosted one person. His name is Elder Jones. He's from California and is on his way to Budapest, Hungary. Can you believe it? When he told me i was in awe! He was the first future Hungarian speaking Elder I had ever met. Then I took him to his room. There were so many Hungarian speaking Elders! it was like a secret part of the MTC I had yet to discover. That experience was strange but really wonderful for me. It was weird being the old guy on campus and helping my fellow servant of the Lord get used to life here at the MTC. The best part was when I dropped him off at his classroom. All of you future Elders get ready. Your teacher is gonna speak to you in your mission language the minute you get to class. Elder Jones seemed to be alright until his teacher greeted him in Hungarian and then proceeded to say things at a mile a minute. I could literally feel his confusion. I think I may have understood her better than he had. That brought back memories of my first day...oh nostalgia....
Anyway, that was a really fun different experience. As was our last lesson with Brother Lloyd. Brother Lloyd taught....or rather refocused us that night on our purpose as missionaries.
That purpose is this: To invite others to come unto Christ to help them receive the Restored Gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, to repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. But he put it in different terms. What we are really offering our Brothers and Sisters is eternal salvation. We are bringing them into God's kingdom here on the Earth and preparing them to be with into the eternities. I feel as though with that in mind, my desire to share the word has augmented.
I mentioned In-field. I really don't have too much time to really talk about that. Basically, it was helping us realize our responsibilities outside of teaching such as finding, using the members, etc.
Sorry I can't write more. I just don't have the time. I just want you all to know how much I love you. You are my favorite people in the whole world and I can feel your prayers. I am sorry to those who have in recent days written me because in all honesty, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to write back. Today I plan on writing mostly to my family because I really have no clue what mail is like in Mexico so I will just keep you posted (ha! no pun intended) when I get there.. I hope you understand.
Remember who you are and who you represent.
Once again I Love You.
Elder Ben Williams
Ps pray for me as I leave for Mexico Monday Morning =) I leave the MTC at 5 my flight leaves at 8:20.
pps Pray for the people affected by Hurricane Sandy. From what I have heard, they need all the prayers and help they can get.