Bonus Ben Post

I got a few bonus pictures of my missionary this week. Ben's buddy Seth was in the MTC with him, and Seth sent these first two images home. They're blurry and pixelated, but there are still my boy.

Seth is currently serving in the boonies of Honduras. Godspeed, Elder.

Ben left for Peru yesterday afternoon. I was kind of hoping he would call home from the Mexico City airport, but he didn't. Then, around 1 pm, I got a call from his bank, saying that two charges of $70 had been attempted and denied for a phone card company based out of Luxembourg. I asked if the charges originated in Mexico, and when they said yes, I KNEW he'd tried to call but couldn't. At least it was something--admittedly it made me a little teary.

Just as I was plugging in my phone before bed last night, I got an email from a lady named Yissel. This is what she said:

Hello all, 

We were visiting family in Mexico City, and we had a chance to meet your missionary at the Mexico airport. The phones were not working so they were not able to call home. We took a few pictures of them and had a chance to visit with them briefly. There were 19 of them traveling together. What a great sight! They looked well fed, safe, excited and anxious to arrive in Peru. 

They send the following messages, "mom I love you", "the Mexican mafia didn't get us, JK", "I'm okay", "dad I love you", "I'm not home sick yet." They will arrive in Peru this evening and may have a chance to call/email you tonight or tomorrow. It sounded as if they would stay with the mission president tonight.

Our visit was brief but we were excited to meet them. They were eager to send a message home.

Thanks for your sacrifice. Time will go quickly. Your children were a great example for my son and daughter.

Take care,

Yissel & Matt

Dallas, Texas

She had forwarded the pictures to all of these missionaries' parents. It was so thoughtful of her. Ben is still the same crazy guy--just in a grey suit now.

And finally, this morning I received another email from Elder and Sister Jones in Mexico City.

She said:

My husband and I are Senior Missionaries at the Mexico MTC.  We have enjoyed getting to know and love your wonderful son.  He is a wonderful missionary.  We will miss him!

I'm attaching his district picture and Departure Power Point Tribute.  I thought you would enjoy seeing his smile :)

She was right.

Although I couldn't figure out how to embed the PowerPoint (if anyone knows how, let me know, please!), here is the picture of Elder Denton, just before he left.

The PowerPoint was set to the "As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman" song, all sung in Spanish. That made me really teary.

I'm still waiting to hear if he got to Peru or not, but I'm sure all is well, and he's ready to begin this great experience. I can't wait to hear!

P.S. Ben told me that a missionary either in his district or there at the CCM has a mom who reads my blog. If you're reading this--email me! I'd love to hear from you and hear how your missionary is doing!