Hola familia!

I hope all is well. Here is my weekly report----This week, we have had TONS of rain, we have been running home soaked everynight which is fun because we live outside our area so it takes about 15 minutes to get home. In the daytime it will be really hot and at night POURING rain with Lighting and thunder that ive never expierienced before, its pretty cool. This week I have been making french toast everymorning, at night Im excited to sleep because I know when I wake up Im going to have french toast, its the little things here in the mission that make me happy. Umm, what else...the other day a member took us out for tacos. we fit 8 missionaries into a ford focus. 1 in the trunk, 4 people in the backseat with one laying across their laps and 3 in the front seat(it was stickshift by the way) not to mention all of our backpacks. Nevertheless, the tacos were amazing. My companion is from guerrero mexico yet he has lighter skin than me, so when we are in the streets lots of people think its funny to try to talk to him in english and he absolutely hates it. I think its great because I act like I dont understand, lots of people tell us that I look more mexican than him, I love it. well I gotta run, I hope you enjoy the photos, the scorpion accompanied me today as I did my laundry (you know your in mexico when scorpions help you with laundry), Mis pantalones, my desk, elder velez and I giving service and finally me in a taxi. Love ya!!

To Dad,

This week was good. We had a zone conference with president and his wife on wednesday. So we got up about 5 in the morning and traveled by bus about an hour to a little town called Celaya it was really cool. About 50 missionaries. The president was really funny, he served in peru so he can speak spanish but his wife cant. He was giving a talk in spanish about how when we return home life is different with our wives, they are eternal companion. He was kindof focusing on how hard it is and we were lauging, she sort of realized what he was talking about, got up and walked up to him and grabbed his tie really hard, we were all lauging. He defended himself by saying to her that he was telling us in spanish that she kisses well and smells good. It was really funny... they are really good people, she is just like mom. Always asking me if Im ok and I have everything I need. Our bishop here is really good, hes pretty young, about rickys age, but he has alot of enthusiasm so he helps us out alot with the members. The area Im in is pretty poor, read ericas email and you will get an Idea, its pretty ghetto. There are a few private propertys that are really nice but who knows, they probably harbor and sell drugs. My comp is a nice kid, we are almost the same age. He was born the 26 of january and is from guerrero mexico which is really close to acapulco. He graduated from a school ran by the LDS church in mexico city so hes pretty smart and knows just a tiny bit of english which helps me alot. Im not really sure what he likes to do, I think he likes dancing.

Hola madre!

Como estan todo la familia?? Thats funny that you guys are watching big brother again, typical! My comp and I had lunch with a family who has a little more money, they love to watch tv and I was telling them how you have your weekly shows that you absolutley have to watch. They were lauging and the mom of the family said she definitely can relate with you. We eat really well, we only eat once a day at 230pm, but we have food in the apartment so at night if I get hungry, plus there are tons of ¨abarrhotes¨ which are basically tiny liquor stores where i can buy a soda and my favorite...pinguinos(hostess cupcakes)! all for about 15 pesos, a buck fifty. Well I gotta move on to the next email, mi padre ricardo. Love ya madre, no estoy tomando la agua porque es puro polvo, te amo!(I'm not drinking the water, it's pure dust)

Right now we are in the 4th week of our transfer. Transfers are 6 weeks long and when the 6th week comes its not guarenteed that you will be transferred to another area, for example, I have been in the ciudad de Irapuato for 6 weeks. When this transfer is up, I will have about 8 weeks here, but I think Im going to be transferred this transfer because Im new, but who knows. Our daily routine here is 630 am we wake up, every single day with the exception of lunes where my companion tells me we can sleep a little longer but im not to sure how correct he is on that so I get up at 630 nevertheless. study till 10am sometimes 11 when I want to study spanish, and after we leave the house. Everyday we walk across a huge field filled with trash, rats, and tons of dogs, basically we walk, walk some more and walk. Everyday at 230 we have lunch with members and at 9 we return to the apt and get ready to sleep, sometimes I study more because I love to study. Irapuato is pretty ghetto. There is tons of graffiti, tons of cholos and gangsters, lots of cars, lots of dogs (dead, alive and dying) there is no trash systems so people throw trash wherever they please so sometimes the streets absolutely stink. At times I feel like its LA or santa ana, but I like it because everyday is exciting and there is so much activity. This place never slows down, only sunday morning when everyone is in the catholic church!! Basically that's the low down.

Goodbye,

Love Elder Benjamin