Christmas Eve Skype - The Silence of the Lambs

We were able to Skype with Ben in Chile.  That is our last Skype before he returns in March.  He was very happy and upbeat.  He said that the mission president gave him permission to email Sam directly, and that he and Sam sent emails to each other today.  He said that the thought of leaving Chile is bittersweet.  He looks forward to coming home to Utah, but he is sad to leave his home in Chile.  He said that the beds in Chile are not very comfortable, and he looks forward to the beds here in the US.  He said that, to date, he has never been bitten by fleas (a common problem in Chile).  He said that even when the house is infested with fleas, everyone but him gets bitten.  He says he must be too spicy for the fleas to want to bite him.  He said toward the end of the mission, all of the missionaries report being tired and walking around feeling like zombies.  He said he is starting to experience that, too.  He said he doesn’t have any idea of where he wants to go to college, but he thinks that he wants to major in computer science with a specialty in network/internet security.  He was able to Skype from the momita’s house.  They were getting ready to eat dinner.  Tomorrow they will stay in their house pretty much all day (they are not allowed to tract or contact on Christmas day).  He has a dinner invitation with investigators tomorrow night at 8pm. He said that for Christmas the Chileans buy a live lamb for Christmas dinner.  He said in the days leading up to Christmas, you hear the lambs as you walk through the streets, but today it's silent.  They take the lamb and butcher it and cook it for Christmas dinner.  He said it's an honor to be invited to their house for the butchering of the lamb, but it is terrible if the person doing the killing doesn't do it right.  He said he has never gone to see one butchered.  He said it would bother him too much.  He said that he has learned a lot of magic tricks while on the mission and that he has learned to play a lot of the hymns on the guitar.  He says that comes in handy when doing missionary work.  His bird Fezz saw him on the computer screen while Skyping and tired to snuggle up to his face on the screen and preen his hair.  They whistled to each other.  His bird still remembers him after almost two years.  That made Ben happy.

Fezz trying to snuggle up to Ben’s face on the computer screen