DAY 517: APRIL 30

Well, this week went pretty well. We had some cool experiences and miracles, and we got someone at church! Finally! I'll tell a few stories:

  We were outside in this apartment complex which we visit frequently, talking to someone, and this guy drove by and said "Hey, go over to apartment 110!". So we finished up talking to the person and then went over there. It was a family that used to live in Florida, and their parents divorced and the dad moved here with the kids. He's pentecostal, and told us several times he "only believes in Jesus" and hasnt been bringing the kids to church. The mom found out, and came over here to fix things up. So she was there and super excited to see us, we shared a message and got to know them a little. We came back two days later with the Powells, our wonderful senior couple, and visited them again. This time, their dad was there, and kept jumping into our discussion, primarily to try to disrupt it, usually followed by all the kids rolling their eyes or one of them leaving the room. One of the big things about his church is that they believe people need to be baptized in the name of Christ, not in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So he brought that up, and I gave a simple answer, and being that he just wanted to disrupt or show that he knows more about the scriptures than us (yeah right) he kept trying to pull out other stuff about it. So I stopped him for a second and said "So I just barely answered your question, did I not explain myself very well?" and a minute later the mom jumped in and said what I actually wanted to say and said "Look, the Elders are here to teach us because we want to listen. You met the Elders in Florida and asked them all these questions already, what are you doing?" and I'm like, NICE. That calmed him down for a little bit, but then he kept trying to pull random stuff about we should only listen to certain types of music, that dancing is bad (whipped out Psalm 150 on him for that one) and for some reason tried to throw in the Ark of the Covenant and what we think it means. Overall, it was a good lesson, but the Powells told us afterward that the presence of the spirit when we were teaching and reading from The Book of Mormon and the absence when he tried to talk was blatant.

  Last Saturday, we had a day of service for the stake. We went to a city called port allen, just on the other side of the river, and helped do some landscaping and painting and other stuff. We got assigned to a crew painting a gymnasium. Mostly the ceiling. So we got to spend a fair amount of time in a manlift, that was fun. I dont think theres anything about manlifts in the white handbook. I got paint all over myself. Loved it, though. Last week on p-day we went to the park and played wiffleball, it was really fun. I also flew that kite you sent me for christmas, where its a ton of little kites on one long string. It got tangled really quick, and I'm deciding if its worth it to untangle it. Probably not.

  I got to play some more music with Roberto, the Brazilian guy (hes getting baptized this weekend!) and it was pretty fun. He bought some recording software and asked me to help him get it setup. Always one thing or another that gives you problems with that stuff, but, we still had some fun. I've realized I'm not quite as sharp musically as I used to be. We tried to play a few songs together, and I just feel a little out of practice. But I'm sure I'll get it all back after I get home.

Other exciting news, I got accepted to BYU-Idaho! I dont know my track yet, but there it is!

-Cam

DAY 510: APRIL 23

Well, it was a week just about like any other. We had a cool special training with president, about working better with the members. He talked about and asked us what we think the members love for missionaries is vs their trust with missionaries, and it turns out they are very different things. One of the senior missionaries said "I loved my kids when they were teenagers, but I never would have let them do my taxes" And it can turn out to be the same with missionaries until we build some trust.

  We unfortunately had nobody at church again, which I think might drive me crazy pretty soon.

 Sorry for the short update, but we got some other stuff to get to!

Love y'all,

Elder Cardon

DAY 503: APRIL 16

  Well, this week was about like any other, we had a fun exchange, and some cool lessons with some of our investigators.  This week was a little better than the last few have been. For whatever reason, it seems the winds of opposition have been blowing strong here in Baton Rouge, but this weekend we saw some rays of hope with two of the families we are working with. One was with Marvin and Ana, they need to get married, and he wants to. She doesn't seem like she really wants to, but tonight we're going to have a lesson with them about that topic, so hopefully we'll get them to realize the importance. We had a lesson with just him the other night, and he said that she told him she wants to get baptized. Sweet! We were a little worried about them, but I think they are starting to recognize that we have something they need. So we know they have the desires, and the other night when we came by he was super excited to see us, so that's a good sign.

   Our other one is with Yadira and Seraphin. We hadn't seen taught them in a while, and the last couple of times that we have been by they have seemed indifferent about us being there. But, we went over, they let us in, and they told us before we even mentioned it, that they want to come to church! That is of course music to our ears, and we were really excited to have them with us. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with them, and we left them with a movie to watch. They said they had a DVD player, but not the remote to change the language. One of my previous companions carried around a universal remote for this very purpose, and gave it to me when he left, and I've carried it with me for that same purpose. But, it didn't have batteries. They were really disappointed, because they wanted to watch the movie, so we said, alright, whats got batteries in here we can steal from? So we cannibalized a little talking doll, stole the batteries, and changed the language. Success! Then we said we'd call them on Sunday for church so they could come to church with us.

    Sunday mornings as a missionary are some of the most stressful times ever. You call about a hundred people to come to church (ok not that many) and about two of them answer. So if they don't answer you have to go knock on their door. And, per Elder Clarks instruction, if they don't answer the door, you yell "FIRE!" and hopefully they come out. Well, we called them, and they didn't answer, so we were ready to head to their house, but then he called back and said "Sorry guys, Satan tempted me, and I've got some other stuff to do." Really, man? You're going to give in that easy?!? So, he recognized it was from Satan, at least that's the first step. We'll review the next one with them soon. I need a good "Don't listen to Satan" Scripture. Any ideas? Theres about a thousand. Whats everyones favorite?

   On the exchange, I got to visit Norths investigator, Roberto, the one who used to be a musician in Brazil. We went and helped him translate at a doctors office about his finger, which he was worried might have arthritis or some other infection, but it turned out all was good! We had dinner and a lesson at his house, and played some music afterwards. The lesson went really well, we taught the plan of salvation, and he had lots of questions about it. He said that in the church classes and when we were teaching, that whenever I share a comment or teach something, he always listens, because he can tell I understand the gospel well and explain it in a way he can understand. Well thats nice. It was super fun to play music with him. He is really an amazing musician. I got to hear the sound system he bought in action, and boy does it sound good. Oh so good. I helped him make it sound even better by playing with the EQ. He has a little drum machine and effects thing, so when he plays it sounds really good. We were talking about music and recording and stuff and he said that down in Brazil you can make a pretty good living with music recording and sound production. He said that after my mission and when he goes back to Brazil, he'll pay for me to come down and do sound for him on some of his shows. And he was totally serious. Oh man. That would be so fun. Better learn Portugese next.

   Well, hope thats a good update, hope to hear from all y'all soon!

Love,

Cam

DAY 496: APRIL 9

Hey Everyone!

 

   Well, because last weeks was so short, I wanted to try real hard and make this one a nice long update. With pictures to follow!

  Like I've mentioned in the previous weeks, we are for one reason or another facing a boatload of opposition in this work. Well, the reason is because satan is mad that the church is true, so will do whatever do stop us. That's the reason, but for whatever reason it seems to be stronger than normal. Just alot of people getting anti-ed by their friends, people running away from us, or being visited by the Jehovah's Witnesses just hours after us. But, in every wind of opposition, there are a host of blessings and miracles that come with it. Let me share a few stories.

   One of investigators is named Francisca. She is the mother of Briseyda, who just got baptized a few months ago. We have taught her for awhile as well, and she has come to church just a few times. Shes told us before that the JWs come by every once in awhile, but we weren't really sure how often.  We visited her the other day, and she had some JW literature on the table, and she asked us what something meant or why they talked about this or that, and we of course didn't have a lot of answers. Mixed in with that she had one of the pamphlets we had given her, so we said, "Why dont you just read that instead."  We came back the next day with the Powells, and had another lesson with her. She told us the JWs had been there just that morning. At the end of the lesson, she said "I like the way you guys teach alot better than they do. I like that you always start with a prayer, and when you teach, I really feel like you pay attention to me and care about me." We had brought her a copy of this months liahona, and she said "Oh great, I threw away the JW stuff so I haven't had anything to read." Punto para la iglesia verdadera!

   You know how you hear jokes about how the missionaries come into a neighborhood and everyone who is outside runs into their house? That actually happened.

   Another one is a lady named Luz Maria, we met her at a store awhile ago, and have taught her two or three times. We went by the other night and she told us "Sorry guys, I cant meet with you anymore. My sister told me some stuff about your church that I don't like."  And then gave us some junk about Joseph Smith was this and the Book of Mormon isn't true and bla bla. Though I was really down about all the people shanking us, I said to myself "Nice try satan, but you're not getting this one." So we asked her to at least let us sit down and talk for a little bit. We of course started with a prayer, and told her the things she heard weren't true. We gave the example of a stream coming from a mountain. When you get it at the source, its clean and pure and is exactly what it is. But down further out, its got mud and junk and other stuff in it. We basically said your sister heard stuff about our church that had been polluted and twisted, but if she would listen to us, she could get the real deal. It made me think of that story in conference, about the priest that told a family their child who recently died was going to burn forever because they didn't baptize him and its their fault. But, he of course wasn't mad at him, because thats all he knew. We explained that we weren't mad at her sister, that's all she knows. The only water from the stream of the church came from down the mountain with the mud in it. But now we had the chance to tell her the real deal. We suggested that we read a little bit from the Book of Mormon. She said she threw hers away after what her sister told her. We sat the for a minute with our jaws dropped, then she said "But do you have another one?". We said "alright, lets read a few scriptures, and you can tell us if you think this book is evil" We read 2 Nephi 25:26, Moroni 10:33-34, and a few others, and needless to say, at the end of the lesson she asked "When are you coming back?"

   So last week we played kickball on p-day in the rain. It was a blast. We got super muddy, but luckily nobody got sick. Heres some pictures of us afterward.  I also got 2 sweet jerseys from a little Hispanic store, one says Mexico, one Honduras.

  Having been a long-time taco master, I've cut up alot of onions. Hundreds, perhaps thousands. And last week, for the first time in my life, I cut my finger while cutting an onion. Dang it. 

Well, the time has got me, so I'll get you another one next week! Loves yall!

-Elder Cardon

DAY 489: APRIL 2

Well, we had a great weekend at conference, we were for the most part by ourselves, we had a few members and one investigator (finally) with us. One of the members that came was the Pahuamba family. I dont know if I've mentioned much about them, but they are just the greatest little family ever. They have the cutest little kids. Theyre the ones who had the baby on christmas eve and we went and caroled for them. I sent a picture, ya? Well, all the kids were there and it was just so fun to be with them and help keep them entertained with froot loops and tootsie rolls. We watched it at the stake center, in our own little room in spanish, and all of the sessions were just excellent. some of my favorites were Richard G Scotts, Jeffery R. Hollands, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

 Last week on P-day we barbecued. It was awesome. Steak, chicken and hot dogs (and tortillas). We have a little charcoal grill on our back patio, and I marinated some chicken all night, and we had an awesome man day of just eating a bunch of meat. Needless to say, it was great. Elder Edwards, who used to live here, was a pretty good griller, so we had some good stuff.

  Other exciting news: Last week was transfers, and like I mentioned, we stayed, but the english elders with whom we live got double transferred. and then their area got closed down. So now we live alone in a 2 bedroom apartment and each have our own bathroom. Its pretty nice. :)

Sorry for the short update this week, but we've gotta get going today!

Love,

Cam

1.The Baton Rouge Zone, with Elder Clarke and President and sister Wall.

2. Us diligently studying (my desk isnt always that messy. Just most of the time)

3. A delicious Tres Leches cake I made. One of the best, probably. :)

DAY 483: MARCH 27

Hello family!

  Well, this week was quite adventurous. After that opening line, you might expect something exciting, but don't get your hopes too high. It was pretty normal when it comes down to it. This week is transfers, and I am going. To stay! (lol) With the same companion, Elder Hernandez. This will make 6 transfers in one area. By the end, it will make nearly eight and a half months! Wow! We've been doing well with everything.

  Last week we had an exchange with the Zone leaders, which here is a little different because they dont speak Spanish. Last transfer, I went into their area, so taught in English, which is a bit different, but just fine. Here it was a little different, because Elder Thornton didnt know any spanish besides "como estas", so its a little weird to teach people just by yourself when you don't have a companion to go back and forth with. On the day of that exchange, it rained like crazy. And I mean crazy. So crazy that in the morning they told us not to go out unless we had set appointments, and the power flickered a few times. I was hoping for something a little more crazy, but it let up after a little bit. On that same day we had our english class. We've been trying to get it going a little more, weve put out some fliers and have got some calls, but still are only getting 2-3 students weekly. We have some teaching material stuff, and usually end with a game, this week was a rendition of "Mother, may I" being "Elder, may I". One time we sang "head, shoulders, knees and toes" and it was just hilarious to hear it with funny accents.

  We had a ward party on Saturday! It was pretty fun. It was focused on games for the family. We invited a ton of people, gave out every single flyer we had, and didnt get any investigators there. Go figure. But, we still had fun playing games with the all the ward kids and stuff. We played musical chairs, which was a blast, because we did an adults game as well. So all the missionaries and several ward members got around a whole bunch of chairs, and we walked around them to the stimulating music of Justin Beiber (no one could find the Mexican hat dance?). I get kind of competitive with games like these, so you know this was fun. Well, I made it pretty far, until one of the last three. It was me, my old companion Elder Rawlings, and Sister Harro from the ward. So the three of us walked around, I really wanted it to end with just me and Elder Rawlings, because that totally would have been a smackdown (maybe thats not the right word. Would have been interesting, he's about as competitive as I am). So anyways, we were walking around, and then when the music stopped, Elder Rawlings grabbed the one right behind me, and Sister Harro tried to sit down in the other one, but, not letting that happen, I grabbed the chair, flipped it around and sat down. There came quite the reaction from the bystanders, saying "Trampa!!" which means cheating. So, after sitting down for a second, I gave it up, then them two went for the last one and he let her win. Not much you can (or should) do to battle it out with a married woman when you're a missionary. Or ever. Elder Hernandez took a video, I'll send the link to my dad.

  On sunday we went to a members house for her daughters Birthday party. She asked me to make a tres leches cake, I guess I've earned a rep for my tres leches. She didnt want to tell us how old shes turning, so she told us twenty something. Well, shes a recent convert, and her baptismal record with her birthday on it is still in our area book, so the something was no longer a mystery. But, on the cake, I wrote "Feliz 20-algo". Wish I had taken a picture. Anyways, fun little party, we ate some pupusas and the cake. This one turned out not quite as good as others I've done, and let me explaind why: I've made tres leches alot, it is seriously so good, you should make one sometime. In my old area I bought some baking powder, then brought it with me to this area so I wouldn't have to buy it again, and then found there was already some here at this apartment. So when ever I've made them, ive just grabbed whichever one my hand happened to reach for. A few of the cakes I've made have turned out really well. Part of what makes a tres leches delicious is that it is nice and fluffy, like a sponge, and then you add the milk over it and it soaks it up and is delicious. But if the cake doesn't rise properly, it doesn't soak up very well, and ends up being kind of flat, and cant soak up as much milk. So I tried adding a little more baking powder, and it helped alot, and it came out nice and spongy. Then this time I did the same amount of baking powder, and it came out flat again! Then I thought perhaps it wasn't baking long enough, it was cooling to fast, etc, and couldn't quite get the right touch. Then I figured it out. I looked on the bottom of the baking powder can that was already here, and figured out I had been using expired baking powder. So that's why it wasn't coming out right. Guess how long ago it expired. Just guess. Got a guess? Guess higher. Nope, guess again. Nope, higher. Yup, you guessed it, that baking powder expired in June 1995, about 17 years ago. I suspect future tres leches cakes will turn out a little fluffier.

  So thats about it. The other elders with whom we live are getting double transferred, so we'll have 2 new ones next week. Hope they're cool!

Love,

Cam

My address for the next 6 weeks (possibly even more) will again be:

1343 Jade Ave

Baton Rouge, LA 70810

DAY 475: MARCH 19

  Well, we had a pretty good week this week, seemed pretty normal. This may turn out to be a "same old, same old" kind of an update, because that's about what it felt like. We had nobody at church with us (again). It seems like they are doing so well during the week, and then all of the sudden, Sunday morning comes, all their priorities change, they're not home and their phone is mysteriously turned off. Come on people! We had a lesson with a less active (inactive) member on Saturday night, said we'd come by in the morning so he could follow us to church, but he said he had to do his laundry and go shopping at that time. So we suggested he do it later in the day. He said thatd work just fine. Perfect! So we went by in the morning, and he wasn't there, so we called him and he said "oh I went shopping". Really? come on!

  But besides that, most of our investigators are doing well. We had a great lesson with a couple name Marvin and Ana, and also Ana's sister, Paula. We met them on Christmas eve, and were never able to get in contact with them till now. I told a little about it, I think, but on Christmas eve we went and visited a member in the hospital who just had a baby, and caroled to them. The lady at the desk was like "you speak Spanish?!? Theres some people over here who speak Spanish, want to visit them?" So we went in and sang to them, got their number then forgot to call them for awhile, but now we are teaching them. Ana recently had her father pass away, so when we taught them the plan of salvation she was just full of questions, especially about the spirit world. Having the fullness of the gospel is such a great blessing! We were able to use some scriptures to help here understand, and I could tell it really brought her some peace, that her father can hear the same message she is! (1 Peter 4:6) Also, I found an awesome scripture about the pre-mortal existence. The Biblical info about it is so scanty, and the other standard works dont have much to say either, so we really just have a blurry picture, with just a few important points defined. Proverbs 8:22-31 sheds a bit more light on the topic. Most other churches are in agreement that we existed before this earth, but if anyone says otherwise, thats a pretty good clarification.

 

  We had a fun opportunity to do service on Saturday, for a less active member with whom we've been working recently to get back to church. They live in a trailer, their bathroom had a leak in it, and had gotten some of the other walls around it moldy. Most of the trailers here are actually not bad-looking, it really is just like a long skinny house. So we tore out the bathtub, sheet rock, and flooring around it, and sprayed the mold with bleach to kill it, and left it to dry. The biggest cockroach I have ever seen came out of there, and it was nasty! But I got it with a hammer and got cockroach guts all over the place. Woops. They gave us pizza afterward, so it was all worth it.

   Well, Hope everyone is doing great, heres a few answers to questions by my grandmother:

Where do most of the Latino people in Baton  Rouge come from?  

    Mostly from central America. I would say about 60% Central America (mostly Honduras and El Salvador), 30% Mexico, and 10% other (South America, Cuba)

 Do you notice much diference in their ways of speaking Spanish? 

     Yes. When I'm listening for it, I can kind of start to tell where they might be from. I dont think I've really developed a fine-tuned ear for it yet, though, but I can at least tell if they're from central America or Mexico. Most countries will kind of make fun of other countries for their bad Spanish. In my old area, we brought a Mexican guy to an fhe with some Hondurans, and afterwards he said "Don't learn Spanish from the Hondurans- they speak really bad" and later when we visited the Honduran family they said "That Mexican guy was really nice, but he spoke Spanish really weird" So, who knows. I've met very few Spaniards, but they are the very proud ones about their Spanish.

 Do they cook different recipes at home, and do they serve foods from different Latino countries in restaurants? 

    Yes, I really like central American food. And contrary to popular belief, not all Hispanic food is spicy. Mexican, especially northern Mexico, is where the spicy stuff is, but most of the rest of it is pretty mild. If you ever have a chance to try baleadas or pupusas, do so! not spicy and really tasty. From Honduras and El Salvador, respectively

Well, that's it, send me questions or random words and I'll answer them or work them into my emails!

Love,

Elder Cardon