Sorry Mr. President, I Don't Dance

November 3, 2008

Hello one and all! It was as pretty good week last week.

I just wanted to start off by thanking the family for that wonderful packag=
e. THAT CHOCOLATE WAS DELICIOUS! And it's always good to get hand writt=
en letters from the two of you (No matter how angry they might be) So th=
ank you very very much, it sure makes things a lot easier when you know y=
ou have some of the most wonderful people in the world standing behind an=
d supporting you.

We had Stake conference on Sunday which was actually a regional conferenc=
e broadcast from Salt Lake City. President Packer spoke, as well as Elde=
r Jay E. Jensen and a couple of other people who's names I have, sadly, f=
orgotten. One of them told a funny story about some early pioneer settle=
rs who came to Arizona under direction from Brigham Young. Upon settling=
down here they wrote back "If you touch it, it stings you. If you pet i=
t, it bites you. And if you eat it, it kills you."

Also general Sherman of Civil war fame once wrote "We went to war with Mexi=
co once in order to take Arizona, and I think we ought to go to war with =
them again to compel them to take it back."=20

Of course it was all in good fun and the conference was awesome. We receiv=
ed some amazing advice. I particularly liked one thing that President Pa=
cker pointed out. Every prophet has their specialty. Missionary work, c=
olonization, temple building, etc... Well clearly, President Monson's sp=
ecialty is welfare. He has always been concerned about taking care of th=
e physical needs of those around him and making sure that they are cared =
for.

Well isn't it interesting that he should become prophet JUST before a major=
economic crisis hits the world and those sorts of needs are about to sta=
rt popping up everywhere. Especially when considering how long President=
Hinckley's life was preserved. President Monson truly is the man to lea=
d and guide the church in these days!

Speaking of Stake conference... a week ago, the zone leaders had a meeting =
with the stake president and they told me that he had some interest in me=
eting me. Well I went up and said hi to him at Stake Conference and it t=
urns out that he went to Business school with Dad! He said "I just want =
you to know that I think the world of your father and mother". I didn't =
realize that my parents had close friends in Tucson!

Oh and speaking of the economic crisis, people are starting to feel it arou=
nd here. We have(had) a few investigators who can't find jobs anymore so=
they're packing up and heading back to Mexico. Nothing too drastic but =
we're starting to see a few effects from it, which is why I ask about it =
from time to time.

So I did another baptismal interview this last week... and I'd just like to=
say something about the difficulties of filling out a Mexican baptism an=
d confirmation record. But isn't it just like filling out a baptism and =
confirmation record for anyone else, you ask? Oh no. Writing "Johnson, =
Mark David" Isn't that hard. But when you start getting involved with "=
Juan Carlos Ramon Pedro Medina Arroyo Sanchez de la Rosa"... things get a=
little trickier. I swear I spend half an hour just trying to figure out=
which names go where.

Oh yeah, a quick little heads up for everybody: Craig C. Christensen of th=
e 70 is going to be coming into town and we're going to be having a zone =
conference on Monday so don't wait up for an email; it won't come until T=
uesday.

On Friday my companion got in a fist fight with the pavement (fell off his =
bike). His arm and finger got chewed up pretty good but he's recovering =
really fast. He was trying to take a corner without using any hands. It=
was really hard not to laugh.

We had to come in early on Halloween. I carved a pumpkin after the fashion=
of my pirate face (picture to come by mail within the next week). It wa=
s of exceedingly fine workmanship, if I don't say so myself.

This week I have been reflecting somewhat on criticism, humility, the gospe=
l, and our ability to change. The natural man hates criticism, because h=
e has a stronger desire to appear good than to be good, and criticism is =
a reflection of his looking bad. The saint loves criticism, because he h=
as a stronger desire to do and be good than to appear good, and criticism=
helps him to see where he can appear.

So if you're wondering why this email is breaking my recent streak of writi=
ng shorter and shorter emails, the answer is because my Mother wrote me a=
letter addressing the length of my emails, and took about the same tone =
that Joseph Smith took near the end of his life when writing to or about =
William Law and his associates. Thankfully I was able to use that critic=
ism in a constructive way, rather than getting angry (Which is a great b=
lessing from God since my initial reaction was to do quite the opposite.)

Well we've found a few more investigators since last week. The work isn't =
exactly going at a neckbreak pace but it's starting to pick up again. Ev=
ery investigator is a blessing and I'm certainly greatful for the opportu=
nity that i have to serve here and meet the people of South Tucson.

Well everybody that's about it for this weeks edition. I love you all so v=
ery much. Thank you for your continued support. I do have the best frie=
nds and family in the world.

Love,

Elder Ben Wilson