No Call for Christmas :(

Dear Family,

I just finished writing a long letter to you about my life in the MTC so i wont get into it that much in this email because i dont want to type that much so just wait for my letter. Sorry you have to wait but a sister in my district wants to use the computer after me so i am trying to hurry so that she can have time to email her family. I am so excited about being her during christmas! they have stuff for us to go to tomorrow and i am way excited! I hope you guys have a great christmas give Dan and Tristy a big hug for me i whish they would have come down before i came in so that i could have meet my little nephew! but thats ok. and no i have not gotten any mail from anyone but you and Heidi and she sent it to me through Dear Elder. I dont like the Dear Elder letters because they are less personal so please write me. i love to see your handwriting. I still love it here! and i Love my companion and the other elders in my room. Elder Dillman is way annoying, and that is saying something coming from me. the my companion and his companion dont really like him because he gets on our nerves a lot but we are all really close and laugh a lot! Thank you Ryan for praying for me to learn portuguese. it means a lot and i need all the help that i can get! it is really hard! (see letter) Lou, we have not been able to go and do a session yet because the provo temple just closed on the 19 for cleaning. but we have walked to it twice now. we took some pictures there. i loved it! Like i said i LOVE my companion! He is AMAZING i could not have a better companion in the world! And Dad i am writting in my journal every day so that would be about 10 pages. some days i have written more that one page so we will see how many pages i will fill up. it is a good thing that i have 3 journals to fill for my mission. and if i think that i will need another one by the time i am leaving the MTC i will buy another one at the "Book Store" (See letter) I dont know when my letter will get to you. I will put it in the mailbox today. Dad will propably know about when it will come. I love you all and again wish you a merry christmas!

                                                                  Love,

                                                                          Elder Vaughn

First Email

Hello Family,

This is my first e-mail to you from the MTC. How exciting! Lou mentioned in one of her letters to me that she was going to tell you to write small e-mails so that i would not spend all my time reading the e-mails. you dont have to worry about that because i can only e-mail people in my family. that is one of the rules so i only have to read one e-mail. and if it is extra long i will just print it off and then on my next p day i will email you back, some of the elders here taught me about that. so email me as long as you want! i mentioned in my letter to you that i love it here and that is still true! i am so happy right now! I love my companion and i love the elders that i share a room with i cant tell you how much it means to me to be here right now! I hope you are doing well. and that you are not missing me too much. because i am going to be honest with you i dont miss anything or anyone from home, I am far to busy for that and besides that i love it here and would not trade the last 4 days here for anything in the world! learning portuguese is really hard and i am struggling with it! but i know that with the help of the lord and the help of my companion and the other elders in my district i will be able to get it down in no time. and again just to rest your heart about how much time i have to email. i have only used 8 of my 30 min. there are numbers counting down on the top left side of the screen and it will kick me off when my time is out but i have had plenty of time to write this email. i love you guys and hope you dont miss me too much.

                                               Love,

                                                        Elder Vaughn

The Big Day!

I wanted to create a blog to share news about Ben on his mission.  So, ... here goes.  Robert, Ryan, Linda, Kathy, Emily and, of course Elder Vaughn.

Elder Benjamin Vernon Vaughn was called to serve in the Brazil-Manaus Mission. 

For most of their lives, Ben and Ryan have been inseparable.  They still are.  Only miles separate them.  Their hearts are still as close as ever.

Robert, Kathy, Elder Vaughn, Ryan, and Linda at Olive Garden for our last meal together for three years.  Sending a missionary is hard.  I think it is the best kept secret in the Mormon Church just how hard it is.  We felt so sad, even though we knew it was the right thing. 

We watched him walk away and then we drove away.  In the car a few minutes later, Robert said, "Well, it's been 10 minutes.  Only 1,051,190 minutes until he comes home."  When we all laughed, I thought it would be okay.  Then we got Elder Vaughn's first letter.  He said, "I hope that you are doing as well as I am!  I love it here in the MTC! Just because I am gone does not mean that you all should be sad.  Be as happy as I am and the time will fly by."  Then I knew it IS okay.

Please write to Elder Vaughn.  His address is:
Elder Benjamin Vernon Vaughn
MTC Mailbox #278
BRA-MAN 0215
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793