December 2011

 

Hello,

   okay first off, mom I'm fine stop worrying :) I never went to the doctor because I never felt that bad. And the senior missionaries were worrying about me just as much as you were so thats probably why they said I went to the Doctor, haha. They're so funny. And thank you for the meds, I've been scarfing down those vitamin C's, They're so good! And I got all the packages as well :) I opened up the CD's because I just couldn't wait for new music... I love it! I love Kalai. And Hillary's cd was a little surprising but I like it... yeah. I feel like the family looks so different in all those pictures! Brad and Ty are catching on to how cool it is to have a beard... I think when we get old we're all gonna look like Mom's brothers with their beards. haha. I keep forgetting that life is still moving forward while I'm out here, it doesn't feel like it!

   This week has been pretty awesome. We had a mission Christmas party on Wednesday, it was so much fun to be with everyone. There was a talent show too. I was signed up to sing and play the guitar with another Elder, but we backed out because of me being sick. I'll do it next year though, if I'm there! Sindy was baptized this week as well, it was a really good baptism. All went smoothly. She's awesome, definitely one of my most favorite people that I've taught. We're kinda struggling with investigators right now. Lots of chinese people leave for the Christmas season, including our  most solid investigator currently. But hopefully she comes back soon.

   I'm gonna be honest, I'm kinda hoping that for Christmas I get a transfer call, haha. It's not that I don't like my area... I'm just craving change! Variety! but we'll see... with the way things are right now it doesn't look like there will be any change in the chinese work. BUT AH i've been here so long, nobody has ever stayed in the same ward this long, haha.

   Well. I think I'm just going to call you guys on Christmas, not Skype. I was going to use Skype because Elder Han has to use it to talk to his mom, but he's calling on Friday so it'll be less convenient if we have to find another member on Sunday to use Skype I think. And I'd rather talk to you guys personally than all at once :) So I'll probably call Linda's phone. We only have sacrament meeting on Sunday. I'll probably call around 3 or 4 I think. So be ready this time! :) well cool. I better get going. Talk to you guys soon! :) love you all.

 

 Ben.

A Difficult Week

We were able to call Ben last week, as we had to break the news to him

that his sweet cousin Leah had passed away.  It was so hard to hear him sobbing on the other 

end of the phone.  Leah and Ben had a very special relationship.

Here is his email from this week... It seems he had quite an adventure with some severe winds in California!

Family,

   Yeah, it has been a difficult week. Looking at all the pictures from the funeral and just thinking about Leah is making me cry. That came as a huge surprise to me. I've been praying for Linda and Al all week, I hope everyone is doing okay. Make sure they know I love them!

    Honestly, this has probably been the craziest week of my mission. I don't know if you guys have heard about the wind storm in southern California... but I live right in the center of where it hit. We were out of power for 4 days! It hit Wednesday night, I didn't sleep at all haha. We woke up in the morning and looked out of our apartment, it didn't look super bad, just some flower pots broken and a broken umbrella is all we saw, so we didn't think much of it. When we left our apartment though... that's when we saw the damage. Tons of trees were fallen over, tons of road closures, and absolutely no power anywhere. It took us almost an hour to drive to the church building that day because all the lights had to be treated as stop signs and all the road closures. So that night we came home and used a candle to plan and stuff. And to top things off, the next day we were driving and our car broke down, so we had to have some other elders drive us around for a while. It was an extremely ineffective week, and I just felt super weird all week. But that's okay, things happen! But yeah, they say this kind of storm hasn't hit this area in a way long time, so I do feel kind of cool to be apart of it. Yesterday at church a member brought a generator, and we lit the primary room with lamps that some members brought from home and had sacrament there. It was a really touching testimony meeting, everyone talked about how grateful they were for the food storage they had saved up and how nobody was hurt. The sacrament meeting ended up going for 2 hours because so many people wanted to share, it was really sweet. Our high priest group leader told a story, after the wind storm his wife wanted to go out and find a place to charge their cell phones, so she and his son left. When he was shutting the garage, the wind caused the garage to shut really fast and it clipped off one of his fingers... at that time there was no electricity and his wife had his cell phone, he couldn't even call 911! But his son had a feeling to come back, and they were able to take him to the hospital in time. Crazy stuff.

   Well I love you guys. I hope everything is going alright. I got a confirmation in my prayers that Leah is in a better place. I'm grateful for her.

Love, Ben.

November 28, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful for all of you!

    We had a pretty good thanksgiving week. Our ward had a big pot luck and sang kareoke haha. I wish so badly you guys could see asians sing and dance. It's probably the funniest thing of my life. It was a mix of american and chinese food, who knew stinky tofu and turkey was a good combination? but yeah, it was a lot of fun.

    I kinda feel bad about that letter i wrote you now mom! haha. If I had time i would have totally written this: Mom you are the greatest mom ever, i'm grateful that you raised me the way you did, making me sandwiches, making me practice the violin, writing my award winning essay in 4th grade, buying me clothes, letting me grow my hair out, letting me grow a beard, mustache, handlebar mustache, and dying my mustache black, letting me go on road trips, letting me play the loud drums whenever I wanted, and other things of the sort. Most of all though, I'm grateful that you and dad always showed your love, even when I messed up. Even when I felt that I didn't deserve it. I love you for it! thank you.

   Being with Elder Han has been a different experience than my last few companions. He's the first companion that I'm not training or sending home. He is an awesome teacher, IF he is put into a teaching situation. He doesn't really love his mission, but we're working on that.   My chinese has gotten a lot better with him though, cause his english is pretty bad. Forces me to speak chinese, which is what i like!

  Jake is in the MTC?! Goodness thanks for letting me know, i've been waiting to know where he is going forever! haha. Whats his mtc address?

   I love you guys, freaking love you guys. I mean it! If I don't show it i'm sorry! haha.

Have a good week!

love, ben.

 

 

Thanksgiving 2011!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

   They are having a boy! man. I don't think our family will ever have girls. But thats awesome! I'm way happy for them. Make sure he can say uncle Ben before I get home! haha.

   This week was transfers and... I'm staying. It's official, I'll have served in the Mountain View ward until my year mark :) Elder Wong was transfered to Hacienda Heights and Elder Han came up here with me. I don't mind staying here, I love this area. I'm way excited to work with Elder Han, he'll be my first companion that isn't going home soon or that I'm training. He's an awesome teacher and has the coolest conversion story. We should be getting a lot of good done here. Elder Tryon is coming up to serve in the Mountain View Ward with me now as well :) I'm way excited, I love that guy.

   For Thanksgiving this week our ward is having a big party. Our ward has a lot of single members and people with no family here in America, so they decided to just have Thanksgiving as a ward activity. It should be great! This past week we had another baptism, Sister Y--. She's made a lot of friends in the ward and the transition has been smooth for her. Our ward has stepped up so much lately, it's pretty amazing. Yesterday morning, Elder Johnson and I (He's going home tomorrow, I think you have been emailing his mom?) were able to meet with the Pasadena Stake Presidency to talk about the possibilities of having a new Chinese branch. We've pushed really hard for it, and they've decided that it's a good idea and they are going to try and start it soon. It's so exciting! We'll have 3 different units to work in instead of just 2, and we'll be getting more chinese missionaries, and we'll be able to get more people to church. There's no reason why we shouldn't be baptizing every week once we get everything settled and going. That's the goal, at least. :)

   I pretty much peed my pants reading Noah's aspiration letter you sent me! hahahaha that was so dang funny! He is so weird. He looks so grown up in the picture you sent me, stop it noah! No big deal though, i'll still be able to beat him up when I get back. I gained weight when I was with Elder Wong. He's kind of a big guy, comes from a loaded family and is always hungry, so he bought me a ton of food, haha. Well, I look and feel like i've gained 20 pounds but I weighed myself this morning and I was only 3 pounds heavier, what the heck. I talked to Elder Vance (from Lehi) a couple weeks ago and he's gained 20 pounds, but looks exactly the same. Why can't I do that.

  I still see 747 like crazy too! In fact I probably see it more here than I did back home. That's funny that Scott mentioned that haha. Well I better get going, I love you guys! have a good Thanksgiving.

(Ben and his best friend Scott, who is serving in Colombia, have their "number"... They would see it everywhere, and now they are both seeing it on their missions--)

 

Ally's Home-- November 14, 2011

   Can't believe it! She's already home. I'm sure she was an awesome missionary...

I'm so glad Joseph and Jordan got their calls! They will be awesome missionaries as well. What language do they speak in Ghana? Portuguese? Either way, black people are cool. Amy's boyfriend sounds like a good guy! And Ally looks great. Send them my love!
    This week has gone really well. We're being blessed with people that are more people that are prepared to receive the gospel. This week we taught a lady who had heard so many bad things about the church that she thought she would never even think about associating with us. But, she went on a business trip to Salt Lake and went to "Music and the Spoken Word" and was completely moved. She was treated so well by everyone that talked to her in Utah as well. So we took her on a tour of the chapel on Friday, and she feels that she needs to start coming back to church. She explained how she's felt lonely for a very long time, and was scared that if she died nobody would even know. We assured her of the family she has in the eternities as well as a ward family for her right now, she accepted a baptismal date right after that. The next day we took her over for dinner at a members house, we had 6 recent converts and all of their home teachers there, it couldn't have been a better environment for her to feel the spirit. She's now diligently studying the Book of Mormon and is loving what she sees so far. We have another lady that is preparing for baptism this Sunday. She experienced Christianity in China, but never had the time to really learn and accept it. She came here from China to "settle down", and feels that now is the time for her to accept Christ in her life. All these people have so many different backgrounds, but they all came here for the same reason, which is to accept the true gospel. So dang sweet! I love being apart of it.

   This week I've been thinking a lot about what a good life I have. The family I've grown up in was perfectly tailored to my needs as a son of God. The friends I have and had before my mission were and are perfect for me, and they shaped me into the exact person I need to be to be able to serve this mission today. God really does know us so well, his tender mercies are manifest in so many ways. I'm so grateful for all of them. I love you all so much, and please let all my friends know that as well!

Have a good week!

Love, Ben.

November 7, 2011

 (Ben and his first companion teaching English... One of his favorite things to do!)

Hello!

 This week has been pretty crazy. We're not as busy as we have been the last few months, but we still have much to do. Theres only 2 more weeks left of probably my favorite transfer yet. So much good and many miracles have happened the last few months, it's been awesome. We have 1 more baptism set for this month so far, Sister Y_. She's from Fuzhou, China, and she's loaded. She is determined to take us to China when we're done in California, haha. She has a mansion and lives in one of the "prettiest cities in China". Man if she's paying I'm totally going, even if she is a little weird. But yeah, she's scheduled to be baptized on the 20th. For our appointments we teach her english for a half hour and then the gospel, it works out pretty well. Lately she's been wanting to learn the gospel more than english, so that's good. We've hardly done anything to help her gain friendship with the ward, they are all still excited from the success we've been having that they are starting to love missionary work more and more and doing it themselves. :) I love it.

  We had the opportunity to help a new family move into our ward yesterday, they're from Beijing but have lived in Provo for the past couple years. They said they went to the church in Beijing for a while, but I'm not sure what their story is just yet. I'll have to find out. But yeah, they'll be a great addition to our ward. 2 more Melchizedek priesthood holders! That's exactly what we need if we are going to make a branch in Alhambra soon. litterally 5 minutes after we had finished moving them in, there was a crazy storm, it was so awesome! They were so grateful Heavenly Father had allowed them to move in at the time they did. They are a very humble family. I miss having variety in weather! haha. The streets were pretty flooded and stuff, it was cool. It didn't last very long, but it was still awesome. It's getting pretty cold down here, I'm excited to start wearing a jacket. The afternoons are still hot, but it gets way cold at night. Maybe it'll snow here someday... but that's dreaming. haha.

  I was reading in the New Testament this morning when Jesus was talking to the lady Samaritan at the well, after He had told her that He was the Christ she went into the city and everyone came out to see him. His disciples came back with the meat they had bought, but he replied that he had meat already, and that meat was the work of fulfilling his Father's will. He looked out at all the people and told the disciples that "the field is white already to harvest." Then it continues to say how many of the Samaritans believed on him from that time on. It made me think about how the Lord really has prepared these people through his own means, and we are just his disciples for the "harvesting of souls". But if we cannot see that these people are prepared, then we will not know. Thats why we, like the disciples with him at that time, have Him to help point them out to us. The church is true!

I've thought of some things for my Christmas list. A simplified character learning book (I'll let you know which one) and .38 size pens and pencils. You can't buy those in America, and they're perfect for writing chinese. Thanks! I love you guys, have a good week!

love, Ben.

October 31, 2011

(We are so humbled by this boy!  What a great missionary he is...BUT~ I wish I didn't know his apartment is infested with cocroaches! Oh my...)

Family,

   Man so many crazy things have happened this week it sounds like! Disneyland... Brendan is home... Ally is coming home... sounds like a good week! And I can't believe Tyler got his mission call. I cried a little when I read that, that is so awesome. He needs to be there.

   This week has been incredible, to say the least. So many good things are happening. 4 people were baptized yesterday, the most our little ward has seen since it was started. All the people baptized this month have become best friends. We were able to go eat a dinner at Jiang Dong's on Saturday with the 4 that were getting baptized the next day... she talked about her baptism and gave them advice like she's been a member for years, instead of just a week. Also, she met a family while walking on the street and brought them to church yesterday, she is just awesome. One of the couples baptized yesterday, Sun and Liu, they are so awesome. The gospel has changed their life. Sister Liu was interviewed for baptism by President Becerra on Thursday, and after the interview President talked to me about how prepared they are. He said she told him about how she plans on having all of her children serve missions. Also, her husband is now applying for BYU, they really want to move to Utah. They've only seen pictures but they feel so good about it. He's applying for a Masters in Law, he's a really famous lawyer in China. We found out that he is actually the reason why Google has been shut down in China. haha. Funny guy.

   This week we had to move out of our apartment cause the plumbing was so bad... and when it was fixed we moved back in for a day, and then last night we left AGAIN because it's so badly infested with cocroaches.... ah. but it's being fumigated right now so hopefully everything will work out by the end of the day.

   We might be having some crazy changes happening to the Chinese work. Right now, we are pulling as many strings as possible to get a new branch started in Alhambra... giving us 3 units to work with. Some areas of our work have tons of chinese people, but it is almost impossible to have success in those places because they are so far away from the church building. If we can bring a building to them... people would retain, l;ess-actives would come back, and many more would be baptized. 4th Nephi 1:1-2 explain how I feel about it perfectly... So many of the people were baptized because the church was brought to them, not because they were brought to the church. President Becerra is on our side as well as the branch president of the very first chinese branch in Southern California... but, it will all come down to the stake presidents, but we really feel good about it and are really praying that it will come through.

   I'll be sending some pictures home today! I'm sorry I've been so terrible at that. and about the Christmas list... Mom you know how bad I am at those, and now that I'm on a mission I'm afraid I'll be ten times worse. So bear with me :) All I can think of right now is running shoes and G's. But i'll see what I can think of.

  I love and miss you guys like crazy! thank you for the popcorn balls! I have yet to eat them... but since it's halloween they'll be eaten by tonight. Today is a special P-day, we are having a bonfire with the zone tonight, it is going to be great! anyways, you guys are great. 我爱你们。 谢谢你们给我那么多。

戴长老。

October 24, 2011

 

 

Hello!

   This week has been an awesome one. Jiang D--- was baptized yesterday, and it was my favorite baptismal service yet. She has the strongest testimony, and because of her our ward has grown so much closer together. She has really brought the relief society together, especially. She gained her testimony from the day we knocked on her door, she has been being prepared for this for a very long time. It's only been 3 weeks and she's already read most of the Book of Mormon and all of the Gospel Principles book, she wants to teach in class now! haha I love her. And she taught me how to make dumplings... so be prepared for a good asian meal when I get home.

   This upcoming Sunday we'll be having another 4 baptisms in the ward. 2 younger couples, both of the woman are pregnant and due in June :) They love the gospel and the commandments. Last monday we had a family home evening with them at a members home, and we had a really good discussion about the temple. They can't wait for that day. One of the couples that I talked about last week, Sun and Liu, were talking about when they have their baby, they're going to tell him all about "Dai Shushu" (Uncle Dixon), as soon as they said that I started crying as we talked about God's eternal plan for all of us. We bore testimony that He know's each and every single one of us, and them accepting the gospel at this time in their life is part of their own specific plan of happiness for their young family. It was such a beautiful experience! It's times like these that make every single sacrifice worth it.

  Well family, know how grateful I am for all of you! Without the things you've taught me theres no way I'd be where I am today. I'm grateful for that. I've sent some pictures of recent happenings, i'll try to send some real ones in a letter home soon! love you guys! And thanks for the pumpkin cookies this week, I was craving those!

 

love, Ben.

 

 

October 17, 2011

Family,

  Sounds like you guys are having a blast, I'm way jealous of that ramp! I still remember the old BMX days, when we built that dirt course next to our house and were always jumping. . . I can't believe Ally and Brendan are already coming home. The last letter ally wrote me was when she hit her half way mark!

  Things have been going crazy good this week. We have been blessed with some incredible investigators. Jiang D--- will be baptized this Sunday, and we also found a couple from Beijing, Sun and Liu, that will hopefully be baptized in November. The couple came to church for the first time yesterday, and the husband was asked to introduce himself in priesthood. He stood up and bore a testimony of how the spirit in the building has moved him in a way that he couldn't explain, and how grateful he was to be there. They have all been fellowshipped so well; our new plan of working with the ward closely has worked SO well. We're having a family home evening tonight with a member, and 3 investigators will be present. They've all become such good friends with each other and the ward members. We're also having an investigator dinner on Friday at a different members house. A foundation is being set for the work to explode in our ward, and just the chinese work in general... it's so exciting to be apart of! Eric B--- gave me his guitar last week to fix up and stuff... MAN i can't even begin to say how nice it has been to play a guitar again! I've been arranging hymns during lunch and I think I'll play some in one of the upcoming baptismal services, that'll be way fun. Also... our sink has been clogged for a week and so there are dirty dishes everywhere and our apartment smells like poop. A chinese man tried to come fix it this morning, but he looked at it for a few seconds, said "bu xing" which means "no way", and walked out. Our apartment has so many problems, I think we'll try to convince the mission that this apartment needs to go.

  Well I planned on sending some pictures today... but I just realized I forgot my camera. I'll try to go get some developed today that I can send in a letter home. So be waiting for 'em! P.S. am I getting garments for Christmas?... 'cause these are no longer garments... they're grayments. Anyways, love you guys! Have a good week!

 

Love, Ben.

October 11, 2011

 

  Dear Familia,

   Happy anniversary mom and dad! that is exciting. 28 years.

   This week was transfers so that's why I'm emailing today. I didn't get transfered, but Elder Tseng in our district did so we had to help him move. I'll be with Elder Wong at least one more transfer, maybe 2. I'm thinking I won't be leaving this area at least until my year mark, maybe a little after. Then i'll finally move out of this apartment! haha. I've been here since the beginning.

   I wanna see pictures of the ramp! Reminds me of the good old days of building the half pipe off the fence... and mom yelling at me when i tried to snowboard off the roof. Good times!

  This week has gone really good. The lady that I talked about last week, Jiang D---, is still progressing really well. Better than I've seen anyone progress on my mission so far, and it's all because of our ward members. We've been working with them more closely, and they've really started to get more involved in missionary work. They've taken her and really made her feel welcome to the ward, she's excited to be baptized. She's already read up through 2nd Nephi, and believes in the restoration. People really are prepared to receive this gospel, and it happened to be right now for her. I'm just glad we were prepared to receive her when the time came.

  September was kind of a rough month for our district and zone, everybody's numbers dropped really low. Nobody really knows what happened, it just ended up that way. But nobody is discouraged. Everyone has an even greater drive to keep working. The month of October is looking good for us now, I'm excited. Yesterday we were able to get all the chinese elders together and take pictures and stuff, but I forgot my card reader! So i'll have to send them next week.

 Well I hope everyone is doing well at home, especially Noah! I remember those days, sometimes they were rough. Elder Wong is a lot like Noah sometimes, we get into the same type of arguments. But I always win, just like I did with Noah :) haha. I love you guys, keep staying righteous.

Love, Ben.

October 3, 2011

  Well I'm super glad you guys had a good time with Eric! haha. He called me Friday morning, "Hey Elder Dixon where do you live? do you think your mom would let me stay there for the weekend?" Man that kid. haha. He's a good kid, and he'll be a good missionary soon! We took him out on splits with us a couple weeks ago.

   I loved conference so much this weekend. I was able to receive answers to questions i've been wondering about, and that has been a blessing. I really loved Henry B. Eyrings talk Sunday afternoon, I don't think I've ever seen him get so emotional, I loved the spirit he brought. As well as Hollands as well.. it's so true! kids need to stop being dumb! So Noah and EJ, when your friends want you to be dumb, don't be dumb. Keep your standards as high as mom and dad think they are! haha. I loved Sister Daltons talk as well. I've always loved her just because of that EFY experience I had with her. I mean... Of course I can't really take heed to what she said yesterday right now... but it was still good. It really made me want to be better missionary now so I can be a better father later. 

   Have you guys had a chance to read the new Ensign? I think it is my favorite one yet... the power of the Book of Mormon is so real! We found a nice old lady named Mrs. J knocking inbetween sessions on Saturday, and last night we were able to take her on a tour of our church building. She just came to America from Beijing, and is very interested in religion. She hasn't been baptized in any church yet, but she's read through the bible multiple times and has quite a bit of knowledge. As we were introducing the restoration to her, she cut us off and started to tell us all the hardships and trials that have led her to come to America. She explained she still didn't know why she was here, she has no money and can't speak english. After she said that the spirit was really strong in the room, and we testified that the reason she has been led to America was to find the Book of Mormon. The spirit was really strong with us, but she just took the book and set it to the side and continued to talk about her life story. We asked if she'd read it and she said "yeah if I have time." We were kind of disappointed, we thought for sure that the spirit had testified to her that it was true! At the end of the lesson, we asked if she'd say a prayer for us. Turns out she had never said an audible prayer, and really didn't want to say one. We finally convinced her to say one, and almost immediately as she said the words "Heavenly Father" she burst with tears and she continued to have a hard time speaking throughout the prayer. She knew what we were saying was true, and after that was really excited to go home and read the Book of Mormon. She's scheduled to be baptized by the end of the month :) we're really excited about her. It's been kind of hard for us this transfer to find people to teach. I don't know what it was, but as soon as Elder Wong got here almost all of our investigators dropped us. Things are finally starting to pick up though, as we're trying new ideas and working with different members in the ward. As long as progress is being made, we're doing alright.

  About the shoes, I think it'd be best if I just went and picked some out so I can get the right size and stuff. That would be great. and thank you for the blender! I've been craving smoothies for months.

I love you guys! please pray that we'll be able to find more people to teach this week! Thanks for everything.  

Love, Ben

(This young man, Eric, lives in Ben's Mission.  He spent Conference Weekend with us.  Heading to Conference with Brad and Cami!  He is currently filling out his mission papers!)

 We played lot's of ping pong!

September 26, 2011

CAMI IS FREAKING PREGNANT! Man alive. I freaked out for at least 8 minutes straight when I got that letter. What am I going to do with a 6 month old Brami running around when I get home! haha. I can't even comprehend it right now. My guess is a girl, too. Just cause brad's so whiney.

This week has been pretty great. We went to the temple this morning, and took a detour through Hollywood on our way back. That city will probably sink first in the 2nd coming... haha. But we got to see all the cool sights... and we drove past the Pantages Theater which flooded me with memories of Wicked with the Bergquists... haha. Good times.

I've actually been sick all week. I'm finally getting better today, but I've been stuffed up and coughing like crazy all week, it's been pretty dumb. Elder Wong is doing well, sometimes he gets on my nerves like crazy though. He's quite lazy, so I feel like I'm pushing him all the time, which in turn makes me feel like a huge jerk, haha. But things are going well. He's learning. and for some reason he also thinks I'm the funniest person on the planet, so that's nice too. We had a mission conference this Friday, a lady  came and spoke to us about how to do member missionary work. It was incredible! I've always wanted to work with members the best I can, but It's hard to figure out the best way. She outlined everything for us which has given me a vision and a way to accomplish it! We've been able to build lots of trust with our members this past week, which is going to change everything we do in Chinese work. I'm really excited!

I don't have so much time today but I love you all! Keep working hard and being good... everything will work out.     и稲琌程產畑

September 19, 2011

Hello!

   This week has been pretty great. Things were slowing down for a while but they're starting to pick back up again. We've had to drop a few investigators this week, but doing that has given us time to find the people that are even better prepared. Training Elder Wong has been way fun. I learn a ton every day from training, and the responsibility makes me work a lot harder than I think I can.

   We had a ward party this week for the "mooncake festival." The missionaries put on a little play about the story of the holiday, it was super funny! I'll have to send some pictures some time. Our relationship with the ward has been getting a lot better, which is awesome because we definitely need that. Our ward has a lot of struggles, people don't like each other and stuff like that. But they're finally getting things figured out, and their trust in the missionaries has grown as well.

  I'm having a hard time thinking of what to write... nothing crazy or exciting happened really! And it doesn't look like i'll get to read an email from you guys today. I hope everything at home is going all right! I think I've prayed for you guys more than I ever have before this week and I'm not really sure why. I love and miss you guys every day, and your guys example drive me to work even harder. Always be good!

love, Ben.

September 12, 2011

Hello fammmmmmmmz.

  I can't believe it's been 10 years since 9-11! that blows my mind. It feels like just yesterday we were watching it on TV before I went to school.

  just to clear things up, I fell out of the tree AFTER Elder Toole called you... and I'm fine. really. I just got a stick stabbed into my side and i didn't pull it out 'till the next day so it's nice and infected for now. But it's healing and doesn't really hurt anymore :) no worries.

 This past week has been okay for the work, we didn't teach as many lessons or find as many people as we hoped, but it's been okay. I'm really trying to change how missionaries work in this area i'm serving in, Mountain View North, and making that transition has been kinda hard but it will pay off in the end. For the past few years all the missionaries in this area have been mostly working in the city of San Gabriel, which is where all the chinese move to when the first come to the Los Angeles area. Because of that, lots of them have no jobs, are really unstable, or illegal. You find a LOT of chinese, but you rarely find the people that are going to last in the church. We're trying to move completely out of San Gabriel up to working all day in Arcadia, because thats where people have stable lives and have families. Those are the people that the Lord has prepared up to the point of being able to accept the restoration in their lives. We're still working on finding the most effective way to work in Arcadia, and because we're showing our faith the Lord has already given us quite a few blessings, we have lots of really good potential investigators, that, if they turn out to be ready to accept the gospel, could make some awesome improvements to our ward. It's kinda hard right now but it will be awesome for the chinese work in the long run! Some sad news though... Lydia and her mom haven't been able to meet with us for a while now and it's not looking like they are going to be able to. She called the other day telling how grateful she is that we could meet with her and teach for this long... which kinda was a hint that she won't be able to teach her anymore :( I don't know if it's her husband, or if it's because she's just to busy. Hopefully we can find out this week.

  Tonight we're teaching the Geng family in our ward. The mom and 18 year old son are members but the father isn't. He's been meeting with missionaries for about 7 years now and has come to church every single week since then, but for some reason he won't get baptized. He even has a sort of calling in our ward as the "ward cook" haha. He cooks for all of our activities. While studying this morning I was thinking all about him and what we could possibly do to help him realize that he needs to be united with his family. I thought a lot about the role of the father in a family and how awesome of an example Dad has been to me. I thought of one certain experience when i was 14 or 15 years old when dad came into my room before I went to bed and said "I want you to know you can tell me anything. no matter what it is, I will not be dissapointed or judge you." Looking back on that, I noticed just how much that one experience has changed my life in so many ways. I've always known I can trust my father. They also have a 5 year old son that they just brought to America from ShanDong, so tonight we're going to teach them the importance of the role of the father. I'm going to share that experience, and I really hope that he'll see how important it is for him to be a good example to his sons by joining the church and partaking in the ordinances of the temple.

    My watch broke again... so i'll probably send that back. I might just buy a cheap one from wal-mart. We'll see. But for now, have another good week! I love you guys!

Love, Ben.

(This is an Elder serving in the Chinese program in Ben's Mission, he is from Beijing China.  Even the Chinese Elder is taller than Ben ;)... but not nearly as handsome!)

September 6, 2011

      I don't have a whole lot of time today but I wanted to shoot an email out! This week has been great. My trainee's name is Elder Wong, he's a good Elder. He was born in America but his parents are from Taiwan, so he can speak Chinese. kind of. But he works hard and is willing to learn, and I really admire that about him. We've had a good first week! We're trying to do new things in this area that will hopefully get the work moving faster and better, and so far we've made some good progress. Lydia's mom, sister Zhang, is set to be baptized on the 18th. But we didn't get a chance to meet with her this past week 'cause she's been pretty busy, so pray that she can still make her date! We've also been meeting with a brother Fu for about 2 months now, he's got a date at the end of the month, but he's kinda crazy so we'll see. He's convinced that because of background of atheism he'll never be able to believe in God. But he's slowly progressing. I fell out of a tree this morning trying to pick fruit for a less-active, it's super painful. But I can deal. Hope you enjoyed that phone call from Elder Toole, mom! he's one of my favorite senior missionaries, haha. Well I wish I had more time but we've got an appointment soon! Have a good week and thanks for the music! I love mindy gledhill... does she have any other CD's? I would love that. And thank you for the cinnamon rolls, they made me gain 10 pounds. love you guys! love, Ben.

(info from Mom... I received a phone call from Ben's Mission this morning!  Of course, I thought something was wrong ;)  Elder Toole (an older senior missionary) said... "No, everything is fine... in fact I am looking at Elder Dixon right now-- he is a great young man."  I made sure Elder Toole told Ben I love him!  They just had some questions about his health insurance that I answered.  Now that I have read this email, I wonder if he really is hurt ;)... Elder Toole said everything was fine, so I choose to believe that!)

August 29, 2011

  Glad you guys had a great weekend in Vegas! But i'm gonna skip the comments about your email and jump straight to the big news. Got transfer calls on Saturday... I'm training this transfer! I'm not exactly sure why President Becerra picked me, honestly. i'm the freshest of the chinese elders... but I know God does things in His own way. I'm kinda nervous, but mostly just way excited. I'm pretty sure he's a native, not exactly sure where he's from though. He comes in tomorrow. I'm way excited, I feel like with this new start that It'll be a lot easier to not hold anything back anymore. I can be at 100% all the time, especially because this new missionary's next 2 years depends on his first impressions of missionary work! I've already planned some things and set up some good appointments that'll be sure to get him off to a good start... it'll be a good time!

  It was sweet to look at all the pictures of Grampa Jack, I miss that guy. I'll try to write him today! It'll be a super busy day though so I'm not sure if I'll get any letters sent out. But tell him one will be coming in the next couple weeks. It was cool to see that picture of the whole Huntington fam, one day I hope accomplish the handlebar mustache just as Uncle Scott has... a man of men! It has been SO HOT this week by the way, I could possibly die of heat stroke in the coming days. Who knows.

  We set a baptismal date for Lydia's mom this week, she's doing great! They love coming to church, more than I've seen in any investigator of ours. The ward has fellowshipped them so well. In our lesson with her on Saturday, we asked her what she feels like when she comes to church, and she said it's a feeling of peace that she can't describe. Of course, that's the normal answer for missionaries and that's what we expect because we know how the Holy Ghost works, but she doesn't! She's slowly learning through her own experiences how the spirit works... it's an incredible process to be a part of.

well I love you guys! hope the littles are having fun in school... is Noah still considered a "little"? haha. He always will in my eyes. have a good week!

Love, Ben.

August 22, 2011

Picture of the FISH Ben ate this week... hmmm..

 

     Hahaha man those pictures of you whitewater rafting are freaking sweet! And mom... I always thought my love for extreme sports came from Dad, but I guess I was wrong. haha. too cool.

  This week has been a great one! Our little vietnamese family were all baptized yesterday :) it was one of the sweetest baptismal services I've been to so far. Meiho, the mom, told us her conversion story from her point of view. She's been working at this one restaurant for a while, and everyday she rides her bike home on the same route. But for some reason one day she decided to take a different route home. And thats when she met the missionaries, on the corner waiting for the light to tell her she could walk across the street. She met with us a few times, came to church, and then she brought her oldest son to meet with us. They met with us a few times, came to church, and then she brought her next son to meet with us. Meiho commited to be baptized, and because of their strong family relationship the kids decided to follow their moms example. Such an awesome family. President Becerra interviewed her for baptism, and during Stake Conference yesterday he shared her conversion story and even though he couldn't understand her language, he knew from just looking into her eyes how good of a mom she is. it's all just been so awesome. I've gotten to know President pretty well this past transfer, he's an incredible man. He is very personal and loves the chinese work, and is planning to make some changes to it as well. He wants more chinese elders, so we'll see how that goes! He puts a lot of trust into our small little unit.

  Because Elder Au is leaving next week... everyone is feeding us like crazy. It's almost not even fun anymore, haha. I'll have a good time next transfer trying to lose all the weight I've gained! One of our less-actives took us to the Arboretum in Arcadia this week, it was so cool! It made me miss my camera like crazy, though. oh well. I sent some pictures of it. I also attached a picture of me and Lydia, and a picture of the huge fish I ate this week. mmm.

  I can't think of anything for you to send me in a package... I could use some new music! maybe the latest Alex Boye album if possible. Or anything. I love you guys! have a good week.

love, Ben.

 

Ben with "Lydia"

 

At the Arcadia Arboretum with a less active member!

 

August 15, 2011

helllooooo.

   Man, you guys are going around having all this fun after I leave. haha. Sounds like a good time! and EJ looks so pro in those diving pictures! I'm impressed. I can't believe Matt and Natalie already have a baby, it feels like we just went to their wedding not to long ago, awesome!

   This week's been a good one. I think I pushed myself harder than I ever have and the blessings really came out. Brother Jin was confirmed in sacrament yesterday, and Meiho, Zhineng and Zhiwen are all getting baptized next Sunday. We're really excited for that. This week we started teaching a really special family. A mom and her 7 year old daughter. They've been in America for about a month now, so they're still adjusting to everything. We knocked on her door and invited her to a church tour, she was hesitant at first but she eventually accepted. She knew absolutely NOTHING about Jesus or anything, it was a really hard lesson to give and I didn't think it went very well at all, but she still agreed to bring her daughter to church. So yesterday they came and our ward moved upon them and fellowshipped them SO well! It was incredible, they usually have the hardest time fellowshipping new people. But the spirit really moved upon them yesterday and they made such good friends with this lady and her daughter. They were taken care of so well, we hardly had to do anything. And then they came to our wards family home evening last night and had a blast. It's so cool to see the mom, Zhang, just in 3 days develop the habits of a follower of Christ. She went from never saying or even hearing a prayer to saying the closing prayer in one of the church meetings in just 3 days. :) so cool. And one of my favorite parts of working with these people in America is they always trust us missionaries to choose english names for them... So last night I named the daughter Lydia, after the band :) it's such a pretty name and fits her perfectly! Theres also lots of Jordans, Brysons, and Scotts flowing in and out of our english class, too. haha. Nobody has accepted the name Noah or EJ yet though... they don't seem to like them very much. haha. One of the Scotts is set to be baptized this month! I'm determined to baptize each one of my friends... haha.

So today I thought I'd update you guys on all the weird food I've eaten since I've been out. All types of squid, octopus, fish head, fish tail, pig intestine, pig stomach, curdled pigs blood (yes, they really eat it.), pork tongue, actually pretty much every part of the pig, molded vegetables, and theres more that I can't think of. I've stopped asking what the food is, actually. I think my favorite is the pig stomach, it's super good.

Well I hope everyone at home is happy! keep being good! love you guys.

Love, Ben.

1st Baptism!

 

 

Hello!

  We've had a great week this week. Jin DeTao was baptized on Sunday! :) It was an awesome experience. He's one of my favorite people that I've ever met. Super funny and super solid. He gave his testimony during the service and I was nervous that he'd start telling dirty jokes or something, but he gave a super powerful testimony, especially about the restoration and the atonement. He was super grateful to the missionaries for helping him quit smoking after 36 years, but I honestly feel like we hardly helped him at all with that. He truly relied on the atonement for everything. Awesome guy. We've also got 4 more baptismal dates set for this month, the cantonese/vietnamese family of 3 is scheduled to be baptized on the 21st. They're an awesome family, they read the book of mormon in vietnamese every night as a family, and the mom is making huge changes in order to apply the gospel into her family's life. We were able to give her a blessing the other day, and it was easy to tell the faith she had in the priesthood after that. And she's the only one that understands mandarin so I can communicate with her, haha. We've been teaching and finding a lot more these past few weeks, and it feels so good just to watch things play out in the Lords way. Our ward is struggling though, for the past few months we've only had about 60 people showing up to sacrament every week. So these next few weeks, now that we're able to eat with members again, we're really trying to focus on getting the ward re-involved in missionary work. I feel like i'm finally catching a vision of what I want my whole mission to be like, and I'm slowly being able to put it all together and make it happen.

   Sounds like you guys have had a rough week with all the sicknesses! I've been sick this week as well, but nothing that'll kill me. :) Hope everyone is feeling better by now! We had an awesome zone conference yesterday, I love President Becerra. He really knows exactly what he's doing, and he knows the doctrine so well. He's always making new changes and trying new things, like he just put texting on all our phones. Not that it will really do anything for us because you can't type chinese on american phones... but maybe! haha.

  Things are going well! I'm a happy man. thanks for everything! Enjoy the pictures! I really don't take very many pictures... I'll try to take more. haha. love you guys! Have a good week.

 

Love, ben.

 

August 1, 2011

 

 

Hello!

 Man I can't believe i'm missing Shark Week and the X games... BUT oh well. I guess missionary work is pretty alright. :)

 This week has been a pretty awesome one for us. We've got 4 baptismal dates set for the month of August, so we're pretty dang excited about that. 2 of them are cantonese people though, and all I can really do for them is say the prayer at the beginning of the lesson and occasionally nod my head, but they are awesome! Jin should be being baptized this Sunday, if things go alright! He has to have an interview with President Becerra this Friday, so that's when we'll know for sure. And our other baptismal date is a guy that we picked up this last week, we met him while street contacting outside of an asian supermarket, and then he agreed to come to the church that night and meet with us. He accepted the message of the restoration so well! That lesson strengthened my testimony that people are more prepared than we will ever know sometimes, and if we don't make the effort to reach out to those people, some of them will never get the chance! He's set to be baptized by the end of this month. ALSO we had another miracle happen this week as well. We had about 30 minutes of time to go knock some apartments, so we went to a road that looked pretty promising. It didn't have any parking on it, so we pulled onto the next closest road. We decide to just knock the apartment right in front of our car. It had 5 doors, the first 4 were vietnamese so we almost didn't knock the last one, but we did anyways and it was our former investigator Tyler! He had just gotten back from Shanghai and agreed to start meeting with us again... We had no idea he lived there! It was such an awesome miracle. These experiences really strengthened my testimony that the Lord's work will and must go on. He will shape us into the tools he needs as long as we're worthy and ready. freak man this work is awesome. 

Make sure the ward knows how grateful I am for their support! Their prayers mean a lot. I love you guys! have a good week.

Love, Ben.

 

July 25, 2011

Hello!

 I loved that video with all the littles up in the canyon! Made me cry, haha. darn it.
It's been a pretty good week for the work. Things are moving along and people are getting closer to baptism. We had one really solid guy that we've been working with, but he had to go back to Shanghai this past week and we can't get a hold of him... BUT hopefully he'll come back soon! We're also working with another guy, Jin, he should be baptized in a couple weeks. He walks for 50 minutes to meet with us and takes an 1 1/2 hour bus to get to church on Sundays... he has great faith. It's been awesome to see him accept the message and apply it!  This week we've had to drop a couple of investigators because they just won't read the Book of Mormon, and I can't figure out why. I've been studying about it all week and I keep being led to the fact that people have their agency... it's just frustrating that people aren't willing to try sometimes.  But we're here as missionaries to find the people that ARE willing, and they come when we're doing whats right and striving to find them.

This week while street contacting, a pigeon dropped a huge duece straight onto my head in the middle of a contact. how does that even happen!? Not pleasant, but definitely a keeper in the book of memories, haha. Also we were hit on by a gay hobo (homohobo).  Los Angeles is like a different world... so many crazies here, haha. I love it.

So jealous you guys are all going to see Death Cab! That will be awesome... they were great last time I saw them. And it's a perfect first show for EJ! haha.

Well I'm almost out of time on this computer, so I hope you guys have a great week! You're always in my prayers and I love you all!

love, ben.

Email from Ben to good friend Bryson who is serving in the Washington D.C. North Mission:

     MAN it is so dang good to hear from you! hahaha I  love hearing about your companion. He sounds like an awesome guy. Good to hear things are going good for you over there! And about Elder Davie... love that guy. He's gone through a lot to get to the point he's at!

Right now I'm serving in the northern most part of the mission, we cover Arcadia and Pasadena and Temple City and San Gabriel and San Marino and Rosemead and WOW our area is huge haha. One Chinese companionship covers 1/4 of the mission cause there's only 8 of us.  My companion's name is Elder Au. He's from Hong Kong, pretty funny guy. I love Asians so much! Especially when they're learning english... so dang funny. By the way I teach english as a second language for service every week, and we give them all an english name if they don't have one already. There's like 3 sets of Bryson's, Jordan's, and Scott's hahahaha. it's so much fun. I killed my trainer last transfer and this is Elder Au's last transfer, 2 kills in 4 transfers! Elder Au has been trunky for about a year now, haha, but I'm making him work. Also because his mother language is Cantonese we have to go teach all the Cantonese lessons around the mission... my Cantonese is coming along pretty well! haha. I love mandarin, though. Sometimes i feel overly obsessed with it. There's just so much to learn because speaking it and writing it are so different! I love it, it's become such a pretty language to me.

Elder, my testimony has gotten so much stronger as I've been out here and learning about our relationship with God. It's the most incredible thing. Sometimes it almost feels tangible, like i can grab it.  Does that make sense? It's just been so awesome to set things aside and just focus on what the Lord would have us do. I love it, I've learned so much!

Anyways brother keep up the good work in the east and I'll take care of things in the west... Scott has got the south :) I freaking love that we're all out here doing this, the thing that we all promised we'd do when we were young. We all followed through with it! Nearly all of us in that deacons quorum are serving. Austin G is going to the Chinese people of Australia, Trenton is coming to California with the Spanish people, just so awesome. I love you man! Can't wait for the glorious day where we all talk about our amazing mission experiences! keep up the good work. and PAY THE PRICE for revelation!

Love, Elder Dixon.

July 18, 2011

Sounds like you guys had a fun weekend with all the family over! It's been a pretty good week for me as well. We set some goals this week that really stretched us, and it has really paid off. This week was Elder Halpin's last week with us. He's left a really positive impact on me, and I haven't really realized it until these past few days. His desire for the work and the love that he has for God is so strong. He kinda realized that this week was his last chance that he had to bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and he really took advantage of it. This week was one of my favorite parts of my mission so far as we bore sincere testimony of the Restoration to every single person we talked to. I really felt God's satisfaction in my days work every single night in my prayers. That is happiness! There is no other feeling in the entire world that could substitute the feeling of God being satisfied with what you do.

This transfer it'll be Elder Au and I. It will be a little rough, I'm the designated driver and he got his phone privileges taken away... but, I know God always provides a way to accomplish his work. This is his last transfer and he's been trunky for about a year now, but I feel like if I can just keep focused and always remember just exactly why I'm out here, things will go well. Find, teach, and baptize. That's what we're going to do. President Becerra has already made some big changes in the mission. He has gotten rid of Senior and Junior companions with the idea of it providing more companionship unity. I'm excited for more things to come!

I'm so grateful for you guys! All those family traditions and things we've done that dad was talking about really have influenced me so much. The family really is the most important social unit we have in this life... I'm just extremely grateful for the things that I've been taught from you. Those are the things that strengthen my testimony that God really does have a plan for us. They will carry on for the rest of my life. I love you, family! Also thanks for the package mom! Right as I was running out of tooth paste and deoderant I get some in the mail... you know me so well!

Love, Ben

Better Late Than Never!

Our missionary, Elder Ben, has been out for 6 months now! It is hard to believe! We are inspired by his emails every week. I am a bit late starting this blog, but I decided that it's better to be late than not at all. What a joy it is to have a missionary serving the Lord. Ben is serving in the California Arcadia Mission and is teaching in Mandarin Chinese... we love and miss him, but we know he is where he is supposed to be!

(Here he is with his little Brother Ethan on January 2, 2011 after he spoke in Church)