Hey Everyone!
This week was pretty average, maybe a little slow, and with a lot of biking. I've said before I want to try not to give "same old same old" updates, so here is a story about yesterday in church:
So every Sunday we have a translation thing set up for those that don't speak Spanish, so one of the missionaries will sit up on the stand with a little headset microphone and in the congregation they have little receivers with headphones so people can listen to the translation. This week, I asked if I could try it out. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I never really have a problem understanding in church anymore, in the MTC I was still having to think about it, then translate it into English in my head, but now I can just listen to it without thinking. But when you have to listen, translate, then repeat it out loud, things get real fast. I did fine with the opening welcome and stuff, but once we got into the talks it was tough. He would speak at a normal rate and sometimes pause between thoughts, but he read a few quotes, which, for me at least, he seemed to say significantly faster. But, I learned a lot, and hopefully will be able to do that again in the near future, and for a side job after the mission maybe. :)
So, in the apartment we are in, there has been 4 missionaries, but this morning, 2 of them moved out. They just couldnt take it anymore. Kidding! About the second part anyway. They re-did the English boundaries and apartments, so the spanish elders from here are moving to an apartment that is closer to their area that used to be for the English sisters, and the english sisters are moving to another apartment that is closer to the middle of their area, which has been extended, and now covers what the other English elders had, and they live in their apartment now. So, it will be different, but I heard that some other Spanish areas are going to be closed, so maybe we'll get some new missionaries here in our apartment, and some boundaries here re-adjusted. Another sad thing about missionaries leaving is the Martineaus, our senior couple, has gone home. Were supposed to be getting a new one in the next few months, but well see what happens.
Well, I guess I don't have anything else to write about.... So hope everyone is having a great time and hope to hear from you all soon!
-Cam
P.S. Ask me to tell the types of stories you want to hear!
May 16, 2011
May 10, 2011
DAY 161: May 9
Hey Everyone!
It was great talking to you all yesterday! It somehow seems like I just talked to you the other day, but somehow like its been forever! Its interesting how much more communication you can get in a short amount of time on the phone than through an email or a letter! I was thinking about what I would write today, because I talked to you and told you a bunch of stories last night. But, I guess I had my first real "Im not sure if I can eat that" on Saturday. We went to our investigators, Guillermo, house for dinner and a lesson afterward. They are the ones waiting on the divorce from Honduras. They are Garifunas, which is this race of people that came from africa, so their language is a mix between an indigenous African dialect, some French, and some Spanish, and apparently difficult to learn. They've taught us a few things. I'll share them if you like: "Ida bina", (how are you doing) "Ka biri" (whats your name) "ayo" (goodbye) and "Neigi badiwu dimas" (see you next sunday). Along with their language, they cook interesting food. We had this rice and bean dish that had cocoa in it, which was actually pretty good, and: fish heads. She brought out a plate with the rice, a side salad, and a fish head and set it down, and I thought, alright, Ill just pass this to Elder Christensen then I'll get the other half. Then she came out with another plate for him with another fish head. I was informed afterward that Elder Christensen was inwardly rejoicing about me receiving the fish head and him hopefully getting the other half. But, once you peeled the skin off, it was actually pretty good. A little weird to be eating a fish head, but it wasn't bad.
We have had some cool teaching experiences as well. As I mentioned on the phone, there's always a lot of hesitancy, sometimes forceful opposition, to accept anything besides the Bible as scripture. Most people here in the south are raised on just the Bible, and that doesn't exclude hispanics. Even though most of them have come from other countries, many of them have very strong "faith" in the Bible. I put "faith" in quotes because it seems that all they have is faith in the Bible, not in God and his love for us. Even after thoroughly explaining the Book of Mormon, where it comes from, and why we would have it, people still tell us "well... where does it talk about this book in the Bible?" An interesting question I ask some of them in return is "Where does it talk about the Bible in the Bible?" And that usually catches them a little off-guard. But, several times last week we've had people who are ready and willing to listen, and have clearly been prepared by the lord to listen to this wonderful message. One lady actually already knew about the apocrypha, and was totally open to the fact that there could be other scripture. One guy we talked to had met with missionaries in Honduras and was really interested in the Book of Mormon. Its cool to see that some people are really open and some are really not, but, theres only so much we can do to help open their minds a little bit for them to receive the message.
Well, its time for me to go, but Its been great to hear from all of you and I hope you have a great day!!
-Cam
It was great talking to you all yesterday! It somehow seems like I just talked to you the other day, but somehow like its been forever! Its interesting how much more communication you can get in a short amount of time on the phone than through an email or a letter! I was thinking about what I would write today, because I talked to you and told you a bunch of stories last night. But, I guess I had my first real "Im not sure if I can eat that" on Saturday. We went to our investigators, Guillermo, house for dinner and a lesson afterward. They are the ones waiting on the divorce from Honduras. They are Garifunas, which is this race of people that came from africa, so their language is a mix between an indigenous African dialect, some French, and some Spanish, and apparently difficult to learn. They've taught us a few things. I'll share them if you like: "Ida bina", (how are you doing) "Ka biri" (whats your name) "ayo" (goodbye) and "Neigi badiwu dimas" (see you next sunday). Along with their language, they cook interesting food. We had this rice and bean dish that had cocoa in it, which was actually pretty good, and: fish heads. She brought out a plate with the rice, a side salad, and a fish head and set it down, and I thought, alright, Ill just pass this to Elder Christensen then I'll get the other half. Then she came out with another plate for him with another fish head. I was informed afterward that Elder Christensen was inwardly rejoicing about me receiving the fish head and him hopefully getting the other half. But, once you peeled the skin off, it was actually pretty good. A little weird to be eating a fish head, but it wasn't bad.
We have had some cool teaching experiences as well. As I mentioned on the phone, there's always a lot of hesitancy, sometimes forceful opposition, to accept anything besides the Bible as scripture. Most people here in the south are raised on just the Bible, and that doesn't exclude hispanics. Even though most of them have come from other countries, many of them have very strong "faith" in the Bible. I put "faith" in quotes because it seems that all they have is faith in the Bible, not in God and his love for us. Even after thoroughly explaining the Book of Mormon, where it comes from, and why we would have it, people still tell us "well... where does it talk about this book in the Bible?" An interesting question I ask some of them in return is "Where does it talk about the Bible in the Bible?" And that usually catches them a little off-guard. But, several times last week we've had people who are ready and willing to listen, and have clearly been prepared by the lord to listen to this wonderful message. One lady actually already knew about the apocrypha, and was totally open to the fact that there could be other scripture. One guy we talked to had met with missionaries in Honduras and was really interested in the Book of Mormon. Its cool to see that some people are really open and some are really not, but, theres only so much we can do to help open their minds a little bit for them to receive the message.
Well, its time for me to go, but Its been great to hear from all of you and I hope you have a great day!!
-Cam
DAY 154: May 2
Hey Mom,
My new address is 4501 Herrmann st #C , Metarie, LA, 70006
This week I've been in a new area, in Metarie North, which borders with my old area, Metarie South. I am now with Elder Christensen, our district leader, and we're working with some good people. But, I'll tell you first about what we did last Tuesday, for our p-day, Elder Vails last one. We went to a place called the french market, in downtown New Orleans. Its a little like Pike Place market, lots of vendors selling art, jewelry, t-shirts and things of the like. Theres also a whole food and produce place where they have a bunch of fresh fruit and meat and stuff. We went to a place that had fresh "bigneas", thats definitely spelled wrong, there like french powdered dougnuts. We went out and got some pictures right at the waterfront, which I'll attach. While we were walking around, this guy on a bike went by and stopped and said "wow, wow, wow! Thems some nice shoes! Stop and let me see y'alls shoes!" so we all stood in a half circle (there was 6 of us) and he said "Alright, just wait a minute and imma tell you all where you got your shoes" We agreed, and he said "now somma y'all gonna laugh, and somma y'all gonna try to run; but y'all got your shoes- right there on the bottom of y'alls feet!" Then he pulled out a little bottle of shoe polish and put a little dab on each of our shoes, and then had each of us put our feet on his knee and he started polishing our shoes. The first missionary, Elder Cranney, said "hey man thats pretty funny, I'll give you a dollar for this." the guy suggested 10 instead. Elder Cranney said he'd stick with one. Needless to say, I only gave him one as well.
Another cool thing this week was that JuanCarlos got baptized! Even though it wasn't in my area, it still felt good to see him come into the church. I'll attach a picture of that too! We have some cool investigators in this area, though I haven't met all of them. One of them is totally ready to be baptized, the only thing they're waiting on is a divorce in Honduras. They are living together here, and want to get married, but can't until her divorce from her husband in Honduras goes through, even though she hasnt seen him for years. We have some people that I still haven't met. But should soon.
One thing I've learned about recently is prayer. We all know prayer is important, and a basic outline of how we should do it, but theres a little more to it. One thing our mission president taught us in our new missionary training about prayer was about one of the most well-answered prayers we know of, and speak of quite often as missionaries, that is, the first vision of Joseph Smith. He didnt just read James 1:5, then say a little 30 second prayer than call it good. He had a question, that over much time he pondered over in reading of the scriptures. After finding James 1:5, he pondered on that scripture and his question for a period of time which isnt very clear, but was likely several days. He then decided a time, place, and condition in which he would pray. Because of his preparation, he was able to recieve an amazing answer to his prayer. Another cool thing I found about prayer is in Jesus the Christ, where James E. Talmage elaborates on the lords prayer, how each part is symbolic of how we are supposed to pray. And also that prayer is not to be seen of men, but is to speak with God, and those who do pray to be seen of men "they shall have their reward." which is just to be seen. We should proabably have a lesson on that with one of our investigators, named Salvador. He has an Evangelical Christian background, and his prayers follow suit. The first time I was in a lesson with him, we asked to pray at the end, and he gave quite a drawn-out, elaborately worded, almost yelling prayer that lasted more than 5 minutes. I was a little weirded out, but just went along, and after we left, I said to my companion "well that was quite the prayer" and he said "yeah hes been doing alot better about his Evangelical prayers." If that was better, I don't know what it was like before.
Well, thats probably it for this week, but guess what- I get to talk to you next sunday! I'll try to call after church, which I'm pretty sure ends at 4 in your time, right?
Love,
Elder Cardon
DAY 146: April 25
Hey Family!
Thank you so much for the letters! Its great to hear from everyone!! So, big news this week - Transfers. It was an obvious fact that Elder Vail was getting transferred, to the Meridian, Id area, to go home. So that pretty much meant I was staying here in south Metarie. We made a joke of "theres a 99.9% chance Im staying here" and Elder Vail, well versed in transfer suprises, said "president is known to pull out the .1% on people" Well, he did. I am being transferred as well, up to North Metarie. Coming in to this area are 2 elders named Elder Guerra, who was actually in this area about 7 months ago, and a brand new missionary, that Elder Guerra is training. I am a little bummed to be leaving, we have some good stuff going on, and some people with good potential. But, I'll be close by, and am supposed to go down there after transfers and talk with them about all the investigators in the area. It will be interesting. I will be serving with Elder Christensen, our district leader. He's a solid missionary, we gonna do work.
So this weekend was Easter, and some of you asked what I did. Well, we went to church, Duh! Something kind of funny happened in the morning: we had a ride with one of our investigators, and went were outside to wait on the sidewalk for him to come. Across the street at an apartment, there was a guy with a sound system and a DJ rack blasting some music. He had pretty good taste, so it wasn't bad, but pretty random. Just him, and his sound system on the back of his truck. In afternoon while riding around visiting people, we saw a ton of parties people were having with giant blow up houses, really at least 7 or 8. And when we got back to the Apartment the guy was still going with the music, and a bunch of kids were playing in a big blowup house there. We thought about going in and jumping around too, but not sure how that would have looked.
On Friday we had a movie night at the church. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, that is now in Spanish. We had alot of people there, and I think it went well. They were planning on doing it with a projector, but couldnt find it, so we just set up a smaller TV, and started watching it. A few minutes into the movie, the guy came in with the projector, and start setting it up. I went up and helped him, and we got it done pretty quick. I'm sure he would have figured out all the cords and patching the sound into the church system eventually, but, needless to say, he was lucky to have me there :)
We had a fun FHE the other night, we did a lesson and a game about the Sabbath Day, we wrote a bunch of activities down like "Going to church" "listening to music" "playing sports" "reading scriptrues" and then everyone drew one and we talked about whether we should do it on the sabbath or not. It was pretty fun. Sister Martinez, like always, made an excellent food afterwards.
Well, Im out of time, but love and miss you all!!
-Cam
Thank you so much for the letters! Its great to hear from everyone!! So, big news this week - Transfers. It was an obvious fact that Elder Vail was getting transferred, to the Meridian, Id area, to go home. So that pretty much meant I was staying here in south Metarie. We made a joke of "theres a 99.9% chance Im staying here" and Elder Vail, well versed in transfer suprises, said "president is known to pull out the .1% on people" Well, he did. I am being transferred as well, up to North Metarie. Coming in to this area are 2 elders named Elder Guerra, who was actually in this area about 7 months ago, and a brand new missionary, that Elder Guerra is training. I am a little bummed to be leaving, we have some good stuff going on, and some people with good potential. But, I'll be close by, and am supposed to go down there after transfers and talk with them about all the investigators in the area. It will be interesting. I will be serving with Elder Christensen, our district leader. He's a solid missionary, we gonna do work.
So this weekend was Easter, and some of you asked what I did. Well, we went to church, Duh! Something kind of funny happened in the morning: we had a ride with one of our investigators, and went were outside to wait on the sidewalk for him to come. Across the street at an apartment, there was a guy with a sound system and a DJ rack blasting some music. He had pretty good taste, so it wasn't bad, but pretty random. Just him, and his sound system on the back of his truck. In afternoon while riding around visiting people, we saw a ton of parties people were having with giant blow up houses, really at least 7 or 8. And when we got back to the Apartment the guy was still going with the music, and a bunch of kids were playing in a big blowup house there. We thought about going in and jumping around too, but not sure how that would have looked.
On Friday we had a movie night at the church. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, that is now in Spanish. We had alot of people there, and I think it went well. They were planning on doing it with a projector, but couldnt find it, so we just set up a smaller TV, and started watching it. A few minutes into the movie, the guy came in with the projector, and start setting it up. I went up and helped him, and we got it done pretty quick. I'm sure he would have figured out all the cords and patching the sound into the church system eventually, but, needless to say, he was lucky to have me there :)
We had a fun FHE the other night, we did a lesson and a game about the Sabbath Day, we wrote a bunch of activities down like "Going to church" "listening to music" "playing sports" "reading scriptrues" and then everyone drew one and we talked about whether we should do it on the sabbath or not. It was pretty fun. Sister Martinez, like always, made an excellent food afterwards.
Well, Im out of time, but love and miss you all!!
-Cam
DAY 139: April 18
Hey Everyone!
This week was pretty good. We of course had a few run-ins with drunk guys, bible bashers and people yelling stuff, but maybe those types of stories are getting old. But if you want to hear them, let me know! Maybe that could be something everyone could do... Tell me what kind of story you want to hear, and I'll do that. If not, I could at least try to make some up. This week we had a cool lesson with this apartment full of about 6 people from the Dominican Republic. The DR is known for having really quickly spoken spanish. It was the first time in a while where ive had to struggle a little bit with the language. They also just like to talk alot, so they were pretty hard to teach. But, as soon as we could get focused, we taught them the restoration, and it was interesting to see them react at such different levels. One guy, Fernando, just loved it, and was really excited about the Book of Mormon. His wife, on the other hand was rather the opposite. She had a really hard time accepting anything other than the Bible, as do many people. But, we answered her questions, hopefully resolved some doubts, but I can see that its still going to take some more time with her. We met them one day at a Mexican tienda, where we were doing a thing offering free Finding Faith in Christ DVD's. We met one of their roomates there, got the address, and went to bring it over, and that's how we meet all of them. When we brought the DVD, one of them was super excited about it, and rather than staying in and talking with us, went into the other room halfway through the lesson, and started watching it. Maybe a little too excited... But any ways, we have another appointment with them tonight, and hopefully they will be there and able to meet again. We also found out that Fernando is friends with one of the members of the ward, so were going to try to use that connection as much as we can.
So, being Elder Vails last week, theres bound to be a few perks. Today a nice member family, the Vasquez, took us out to lunch. They called us last night and asked us where we wanted to go, and we mentioned there was a new panda express, or maybe just popeyes, a place kind of like KFC, but apparently better. They said "do you like seafood? How about Red Lobster?" and we were like well... Ok then. So today they took us out to Red Lobster, and we ate bastante. It was excellent. They mentioned that they had thought about moving to Seattle. I told them do it! Its great up there! They are wonderful people, its fun to be in a ward with them.
We've been teaching a guy named Jaime, who is a guy in probably his 50's, who is from Honduras, and said he had some experience with the church when he was down there, about 20 years ago. We talked about it, and he said down there, he had gone to church a few times, and he had gotten to know some members. He met with the missionaries, and he said they were sloppy, not serious about the message and didn't bring the spirit. One of the members there cheated him out of a large sum of money, he didnt say how much, and since then he has been mistrustful and wary of, and maybe somewhat contrary to the mormon church. But, the first time we taught him he was impressed by our example, and that we talked about the spirit, and that we took it seriously. He knows the things that happened before are in the past, and he is willing to listen. He is pretty active in another church, doing some of their technology, so weve had a good conversation about that stuff. :)
But, despite the normal oppositions that come with doing something good, we are pressing forward, and doing the work we can. One of our awesome investigators, Juan Carlos, is doing well, and is going to be baptized on the 30th! Its definitely hard to keep people progressing, but with the help of the lord, its all possible.
-Elder Cardon
This week was pretty good. We of course had a few run-ins with drunk guys, bible bashers and people yelling stuff, but maybe those types of stories are getting old. But if you want to hear them, let me know! Maybe that could be something everyone could do... Tell me what kind of story you want to hear, and I'll do that. If not, I could at least try to make some up. This week we had a cool lesson with this apartment full of about 6 people from the Dominican Republic. The DR is known for having really quickly spoken spanish. It was the first time in a while where ive had to struggle a little bit with the language. They also just like to talk alot, so they were pretty hard to teach. But, as soon as we could get focused, we taught them the restoration, and it was interesting to see them react at such different levels. One guy, Fernando, just loved it, and was really excited about the Book of Mormon. His wife, on the other hand was rather the opposite. She had a really hard time accepting anything other than the Bible, as do many people. But, we answered her questions, hopefully resolved some doubts, but I can see that its still going to take some more time with her. We met them one day at a Mexican tienda, where we were doing a thing offering free Finding Faith in Christ DVD's. We met one of their roomates there, got the address, and went to bring it over, and that's how we meet all of them. When we brought the DVD, one of them was super excited about it, and rather than staying in and talking with us, went into the other room halfway through the lesson, and started watching it. Maybe a little too excited... But any ways, we have another appointment with them tonight, and hopefully they will be there and able to meet again. We also found out that Fernando is friends with one of the members of the ward, so were going to try to use that connection as much as we can.
So, being Elder Vails last week, theres bound to be a few perks. Today a nice member family, the Vasquez, took us out to lunch. They called us last night and asked us where we wanted to go, and we mentioned there was a new panda express, or maybe just popeyes, a place kind of like KFC, but apparently better. They said "do you like seafood? How about Red Lobster?" and we were like well... Ok then. So today they took us out to Red Lobster, and we ate bastante. It was excellent. They mentioned that they had thought about moving to Seattle. I told them do it! Its great up there! They are wonderful people, its fun to be in a ward with them.
We've been teaching a guy named Jaime, who is a guy in probably his 50's, who is from Honduras, and said he had some experience with the church when he was down there, about 20 years ago. We talked about it, and he said down there, he had gone to church a few times, and he had gotten to know some members. He met with the missionaries, and he said they were sloppy, not serious about the message and didn't bring the spirit. One of the members there cheated him out of a large sum of money, he didnt say how much, and since then he has been mistrustful and wary of, and maybe somewhat contrary to the mormon church. But, the first time we taught him he was impressed by our example, and that we talked about the spirit, and that we took it seriously. He knows the things that happened before are in the past, and he is willing to listen. He is pretty active in another church, doing some of their technology, so weve had a good conversation about that stuff. :)
But, despite the normal oppositions that come with doing something good, we are pressing forward, and doing the work we can. One of our awesome investigators, Juan Carlos, is doing well, and is going to be baptized on the 30th! Its definitely hard to keep people progressing, but with the help of the lord, its all possible.
-Elder Cardon
DAY 132
Hey Everyone!
This week was awesome. We really stepped it up in our work, found some awesome new investigators, and taught some really cool lessons. Last Tuesday we went on an exchange, I went to Metarie north and was with Elder Nelson, and this is his first transfer. I definitely was really blessed to have had 3 years of spanish before the mission, and to have practiced so much in the MTC, because his spanish is... Not quite perfect. He has a ways to go, well say. It basically fell on me for contacting, but with teaching he could explain most things. One funny story about him that happened in his first week: They had just got into a lesson, and were talking, and he didnt understand hardly anything. He had been taught when you dont understand, to just bear your testimony. He had heard the word "priesthood", then they looked at him and asked a question. Being aloof to the conversation, he just bore his testimony of the power of the priesthood in his broken spanish. They just kind of looked at him funny, and his companion leaned over and said "They just asked where you're from".
We ate chinese food at a members home the other night, and he brought his friend over and we had a lesson afterward. He kept saying "vamos a comer 'chino'" which is the spanish word for chinese, and also the name of our cat. So there was a little confusion. I mentioned that and he said that very well might be whats in there. But it tasted fine, so who cares? :)
We meet alot of people who say "si, yo creo mucho en Jesucristo" (yes, I believe alot in Jesus) and then will show us their tatoos of Jesus they have. Interesting way to show your faith, but alright.
I havent had any spicy cajun food, we eat mostly hispanic food, and whatever we cook at the apartment. But, there is a member family, the Martinez, who we have FHE with sometimes, and she is an excellent cook. We had tamales, with some sauces that she had made. I asked "ese pica mucho?" (is that hot) and she said "no tanto" (not so much). So I poured it on liberally. It was lies. It pica'd. More than tanto. They think its funny to see gringos try to eat their spicy food.
Well, Im out of time, so have a great week everyone!
-Cam
DAY 125: April 4
Hey Everyone!
This was a pretty good week, conference was great! Conference is even cooler when you are a missionary. This is definitely going to be one of the "same-old same-old" emails, I cant really think of anything cool that happened this week. We did teach a really cool lesson to someone, it was really cool because he totally understood everything. Most people have questions or just dont get it or something, but he was just like "yeah that makes so much sense!" And the spirit was really strong as well, so well be going back there. Those are cool moments as a missionary.
Well, I really dont know what else to say. Hope everyone is doing well! Write me a letter!
-Cam
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