Monday, July 16, 2012


July 16, 2012

This week I don't have very much to report at all!
This was a very, very slow week! We had tons of rain this week which is fantastic and very much needed but the missionary work stops during the big storms. Most missionaries don't want to go out in bikes during times like those and the few that have cars (us) really don't like driving through the rivers and find it really dangerous so this week was a lot of hanging out! There were a few good things that happened this week! We were looking for one of our YSA members and ran into a guy that was very interested in hearing about us and our message. We talked with him for about an hour and then sent the other missionaries by. They called us back the next and told us that this guy read the entire Book of Mormon in one night and he started it again! He is one of those 'golden investigators' that you hear about! So while it does seem that myself and Elder Bradley do much of our work we are at least doing something!

Also we had an interesting experience this week that I hesitate to write about being that I know that some people will worry about us, but before I write it just know that we are safe and this wasn't as big of deal as it sounds! We got a referral from the Spanish sisters about a deaf guy in this certain apartment complex, now we all know that most of the time referrals from the sisters don't really work out. Most of the time the people think that the two girls will come back so they say yes but then when two guys show up all of the sudden they are not interested!  That is what we were thinking as we showed up at this apartment complex. When we got there I was looking around and wondering what was different with this apartment complex, it seemed different. Anyways we finally found the apartment we thought we were supposed to be. But it could have been one of two doors about a foot apart from each other. Just as Elder Bradley rose his hand to knock on the first door, two guys dressed all in black rode up on motorized bikes. These dudes were scary looking, with dark sunglasses, dark (scary) tattoos, and just their overall demeanor. They asked, "You two Mormon missionaries?" to which I replied "yes we are! We...." But then he cut me off by saying loudly, "You two need to leave right now!" At this point I thought he was being nice and just telling us this was a bad place to be so I started explaining that there was a deaf person here that we were trying to find but once again he cut me off. "No! You need to leave now and no one here is interested in your message. And you can get away from my apartment! (the one we were about to knock on)." This sentence contained many more words which are not generally used in polite conversation but that is the gist of what he was saying. It was at this point that I noticed that both of them were packing heat!  Both had large handguns on their waists, one had his mostly hidden but the other one, the one talking to us, had his just on his hip! Right then I realized this was not the best place to be so I said, "alright we'll leave." But Elder Bradley said to me "No. We don't need to leave just because they say." Right then the guy said again, "You need to leave this apartment complex" Once again filled with explicit words. As he said this he half drew his gun! So I was like “Ok, lets go try a different door” and I started walking! The next thing that happened was actually pretty funny looking back on it.  Elder Bradley walked right up to the guy and said right in his face, "I am going to stay here until I find a deaf person and you can't do anything about it. So...do you know any deaf people?" Asking a referral from a man holding a gun! That was a new one for me! haha  It really confused the guy as well! He stammered out that he didn't know any and that we still needed to leave but it seemed as if he was feeling uncomfortable now! Elder Bradley then said that we wouldn't knock on his door again but we weren't leaving and then we walked off! When we got a little bit away I turned to him and asked if he knew they had guns. He looked at me and said, "They had guns?" haha He didn't see that but then he explained that it wasn't a big deal. What were they going to do? Shoot us? In the middle of a apartment complex in broad daylight? This was true. He then explained that with people like that you can't just back down and leave, they have neither right nor reason to make you do anything! So that day I learned to be bold when I'm being threatened! haha  As we were driving away he told me that he thought something like that would happen! That complex has had multiple occasions of people pulling guns on missionaries! haha  I wish I would have known that earlier! haha So yes we are safe, sound, and more wise then before! It was actually and interesting experience now that it is over with! And I don't want any of you (Mom) worrying about us! We are just fine!

Other than that, the week was rather uneventful! I did have a funny realization this week that me and Elder Bradley have been companions for more than six months now! That is pretty weird! haha Not much at all is going on with the deaf branch right now. Summer is terrible for deaf work as most deaf people in Tucson leave for the summer! With the YSA we are starting to see some success though! We have just been getting to know all of the people and having a lot of fun with them! On Monday we played 'Minute to win it' games and Elder Bradley's team came in first (team of all the athletic guys) and my team came in second (a team full of girls with two more nerdy guys)! haha Anyways, we have had a few people come up to us and tell us they want us to start meeting with their less active friends! It's not investigators but that is huge! Hopefully we can start to reactivate some of those people! So that is our week right now!

Till the next time,
Elder Banner

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