August 20th, 2012

This was a strange and crazy week! I will start with some of the small little things and then go from there!

I had an interesting experience this week involving in a blessing in Korean! We got a call from Elder Kim and Elder Dineheart (the other YSA Elders and some of the coolest people ever!) and we needed to go with them to give a blessing to a less active member who was going in for surgery the next day. When we got there I anointed and then Elder Kim was going to give the blessing, he seemed a little hesitant when he was going to give the blessing and then he started, in Korean! Elder Kim in from South Korea and hasn't been here that long and he didn't feel very comfortable giving a blessing in English yet! It was really cool! Since I have been out here I have given/been a part of a blessing in 4 languages! It was awesome!

We had another interesting experience in church yesterday.  We had one of our members who is moving (yep, another active member leaving us!) give a talk in sacrament that went to about five minutes to closing, and he was the first speaker. Normally this is fine, usually the second speaker goes up and just bears his testimony.   This time however, the second speaker got up and gave his full talk! We were 15 minutes over! The other ward was not happy because that is their Sunday school room! But it was kind of funny!

We also had a Zone Conference this week which was fantastic! It was such a great meeting and I learned a lot of stuff! The funny thing was that we only spoke about basic things but for some reason me, Elder Seare, and a few other missionaries learned a lot of deeper doctrine!  I don't know why but it just happens! It was also weird because Elder Bradley gave his dying testimony! He will still be here till the end of October, but that was his last Zone conference so he gave his farewell testimony! It was great to see all of the different missionaries down in that areaof our mission! I'll send some pictures!

We had a few baptisms this week. In the YSA we had two baptisms! It was so great! They aren't really our investigators (Elder Kim and Elder Dineheart have been the lead teachers but it was great to be a part of that! The baptisms were great (as always) and a lot of people showed up! It was really cool to see the two of them be baptized and think of all the good that they will be able to do now with this gospel! One of them is actually being sent to Iraq in a few months and he is happy to have the gospel in his life now and is grateful for the peace it brings him! I will send a picture of us with Alfrado and Christian!

The big thing that happened this week actually happened on Monday, about twenty minutes after I sent my last email.   Our district leader, Elder Barrot, went home this week so we have been wondering who would be the next District Leader, everyone was thinking Elder Bradley or Elder Maughn. Last Monday we were in the car and we got a call from President Killpack so I handed the phone to Elder Bradley to answer and I started to make fun of him (in sign) because he was going to be district leader!  President spoke with Elder Bradley for a long time, the whole time I was making fun of him and laughing to myself, and then I heard President say, "Is Elder Banner there?". That shut me up! haha  So I am now the new district leader! I know! What is President thinking? How am I going to be a good district leader? My district is so old!! There is one over 22 months, one over 20, two over 18, one at 9, and then two greenies! I'm only 8! haha It is so weird! I am now the senior companion over my trainer (mission dad)! When does that ever happen?! haha  It will be ok though, I'll just have to learn a lot. Being district leader, I did do a baptism interview the next day! Yeah, that was weird! But it went well! I was nervous to have someone’s future salvation in my hands but luckily he was ready and he will be getting baptized this week!

So that was my week! It was good! We had a lesson with one of our new investigators that went well but we still have a long way to go with him. But it was a good week!

Love you,

Elder Josh Banner

August 13, 2012

           What a week! This has actually been a crazy week! I am going to apologize now for the contents of this letter, we went on a hike through Hell this morning and I am so tired!

It was a great week! Nothing noteworthy (that I can remember) happened the first part of the week except that a companionship (Field Y Handerhan) had the power go out on their entire street. They live in a sketchy apartment complex (even more than ours) and Elder Field said that the Spirit told them to leave. We didn't question it (though I think it was just his anxiety) so we went and picked them up.  The power didn't come back on so they stayed the night at our place. It was really fun! But the more important things happened in the latter end of the week....

As you know we have been hoping and praying for more people to teach recently. We did as much as we could but not so much happened. For a good part of last week and the week before, we went around and invited a lot of people to our Branch BBQ activity that happened last Friday. We figured that would help our efforts. 

For the first time we had lots of member support with this one. Now that sounds bad and we have people in the branch that always help us and support us but for this one we had everyone help invite. It is amazing how much of a difference it makes when a member invites their friends as opposed to a missionary inviting someone! The only people we invited that showed up were people that were also invited by members as well. We ended up having around 65 people show up to that activity! Only around 20 are active members of the branch, and about 25 or so were non-members! Some that we have never even seen before! It was amazing! We really did not expect that many people and not once, but twice, we had to have a member run to the store and buy more hamburgers and hot dogs because there were so many people there! We had one member (Tamiko) who by herself brought 16 people!! That is astounding! Some were less active but most were non-members! It was probably the most successful activity that the branch has ever had! It was truly a Miracle! And that miracle brought forth fruit! We had 3 new investigators that came to church on Sunday because of that and so many more potentials! The 3 that came are super solid and we had a great lesson with them on Sunday! That is the miracle and the influence that members can have on their wards and on their friends, just by continually inviting! It was fantastic! Although I think some of the credit goes to me for the success, I did cook all of the food and let's be honest, how could it be a bad experience if I was cooking! hahaha Just kidding! But I did cook! That was so many hamburgers! haha

The next thing I want to discuss is our Sunday! We showed up to church at 7:45 and didn't leave until around 4:30! Don't get me wrong, it was one of the best Sundays I've ever had (see above) but it was long! And as soon as that was done we drove to our dinner at 5, left just before 6 and drove all the way out to the West Stake Center to interpret for a baptism. The AP's had a baptism of a boy who is a “CODA” meaning that his parents are deaf. To be honest I don't know why they didn't call us sooner but we went to interpret at the baptism.

 I was interpreting and before I go any further I need to say that this kid, Derek, is a stud! He is awesome and super solid and a great kid (he is 18). But his parents who I was interpreting for were a different story....... But before I met them I just have to tell you how many people were there! We had to move to the Chapel and we filled it! It was crazy! During the ordinance itself everyone just crammed in the room and stood! That made me nervous! haha And also the people who were speaking for some reason must have been in the biggest hurry of their life! They spoke so fetchin fast! And it wasn't just me, when it was over and I came down and spoke to Elder Bradley, he said that he had never hear people talk that fast when they were going to have an interpreter! And I had to interpret all the songs and not one of them made sense in sign, like "Come Thou Fount" I mean really? Most people don't understand that song in English! haha It was so hard but I actually did alright! Not too bad!

But the parents....oooooh my they are not some of my favorite people. I love most deaf people but there are some dirt bag deaf people just like regular people. Both of them would classify for this. They made me stand up on the stand awkwardly close to the speaker, which isn't abnormal though it didn't help my nerves, haha, and that was fine. But they were super critical of my signing, they kept correcting me, they kept asking their daughter (can hear) what I meant about things in a very rude way, and when it was finished did they say, oh thank you? No they said, "Thanks it was better than not having an interpreter"! I mean what the heck?! And then after that little comment they kept having me and Elder Bradley interpret for them with all the people that came up to them to talk (they were rude to them too). They were also very anti-Mormon and made that obvious. The dad is an atheist and the Mom is a "Christian". They obviously didn't fully support Derek's decision and when he got up to bear his testimony, every time he would say how he knew the church was true, the mom would scowl and look down. It was awful! And then after the baptism she started to throw a whole bunch of anti-Mormon crap at us! So we just left, by then we were both really angry! I really respect Derek and his choice and testimony and all that he does is spite of that awful opposition! He is awesome!

Sorry I spent so much time on this! It really was one of the best weeks I've had except for that little thing which was actually a really cool learning experience for me! That and the hike we did today.  The hike was a 4 mile (one way) hike right up the mountain and because of poor planning and a lack of communication between those who were taking us and the zone leaders (not their fault at all) we left really late so it was about 110 degrees! Oh it was so awful! It really was hiking through Hell and I don't think any of us will do it again!

That was my week! Hope yours was great!

Elder Banner

August 6th, 2012

This was another good week! We had a few interesting things happen this week. On Friday we went to dinner with the Beeston family (YSA - 4 kids in the YSA - they are awesome!), the thing that was different this time is they asked me to cook! Elder Bradley told them on Sunday that I could cook so they had us over and told me I could make anything I wanted to and they would go get the ingredients. So, I decided to make twice baked potatoes and broccoli cheese soup!

My family sent me the recipes and on Friday we showed up to cook! I was surprised when I got there, instead of feeding 6 of us there were 11 people! I have never cooked for that many people before but of course that was fine! It ended up being the Beeston's, their older brother and his wife, a girl I have never met, the other YSA elders, and the two of us! It was really fun! It took me forever to get all of that cooked (Steven Beeston helped me while everyone else went and played croquet), but in the end it actually turned out pretty well! I had never cooked the potatoes before so I was a little nervous but everything actually turned out great! It was probably the best soup I've ever made before and the potatoes worked really well! We had a great time over there, as always, and it was really fun to have that experience!

Our church schedule changed this week. The YSA changed the meeting time from 11 to 1. Yep, so now we can go to all of both wards. We show up at 8 for meetings, and then our deaf branch starts at 9. After that, we do all of the tithing and the welfare and then we have just enough time to get to the U of A institute for the YSA ward to start at 1. Then, after all of those meetings we still had more meetings and we ended up leaving church sometime after 5! So, only 9 hours of church! ha-ha. But don't worry; we did have that 15 minute drive in the middle that gave us a little break! ha-ha. Actually, I do really like it! It isn't that bad to go to that much church!  I don't think I will ever complain again that the three hours of church is super long!

Yesterday, when we got home, we had a huge monsoon that came through and knocked out our power for an hour and a half, so we just kind of hung out in the apartment and each took a nap! ha-ha. What is sad is that after I took an hour nap at 6 at night, I could still go back to sleep at 11! Crazy! That was basically it for this week; it was slower because of transfers and a few other things that happened! But it was good! I hope everything is going well with all of you!

Elder Banner

July 31st, 2012

             How is it already the end of July? One more transfer gone! Wow that is weird! I swear it hasn't been that long at all! Anyway, it was a fun week!! It was Elder Bradley's birthday this week so we did some fun stuff!

We went to 5 guys, and we had a "surprise" party for him. The reason why “surprise” is in quotations is because it was crazy! Basically, the plan was to go to 5 guys on his birthday after district meeting.  Right after district meeting, Elder Scorrato (one of the zone leaders) pulled me aside and told me that the Agardy's had a surprise lunch planned for him. So I was like great! When are they expecting us? And he said "now”!  “So you need to find a way to get Elder Bradley to Danielle's (one of our recent converts) house."

Oh dang...... How am I going to sidetrack Elder Bradley from 5 guys? So I lied... Yes missionaries do lie sometimes too.... ha-ha.  I pretended to get on the phone and then I walked away! After awhile I came back and told Elder Bradley we had to go to Danielle's to help her with something, of course the answer was yes. But as we were driving he was going to turn (to go to 5 guys) instead of going straight to get to Danielles.  I told him not to turn; we had to go to Danielle's! He was like, "Wait, now?! We are going to 5 guys can't it wait?" Oh he was angry! Ha-ha.  This would not be the first time that I told people we could do something that we really had no time for!  And, to make it even better, when we got to Danielle's........No one was there! Ha-ha.  Only Danielle! So the two of us and the other missionaries went into the other room to play pool. Of course we had to tell him what was going on and that everyone was coming.  

Everyone did show up soon after! The Agardy's, the Belnaps, the Flores' and most of the zone! It was super fun! We had an amazing lunch and everything was awesome! We also had institute that night and Danielle came with us for her first time! It was a great lesson and it was funny that it seemed to go with exactly what we had been learning about lately! It's cool how that happens!

            Last night we had Family Home Evening with the YSA and we had Christmas in July.....meaning we make cookies, decorated them and then went caroling to people in the ward! Yes, that was interesting! People were pretty shocked when they opened the door! Ha-ha.  It was really fun though! We had some good time to chat with some of the members and they are beginning to really like the two of us.....but really....who wouldn't?!! Ha-ha.  It is good! We got to know a non-member that was there last night pretty well! Hopefully we can see him again sometime! Last week we actually had FHE with Danielle and her brother and mom, both non-members! It was fantastic! We had a great dinner then gave a short lesson in which they were really involved! I really like that family!

Well that will be it for now!

Take Luck!

Elder Banner

July 23rd, 2012

July 23^rd, 2012

"Rambling"

This week has been slow once again! The heat down here really isn't that bad but the summer has been hard just because there is not much that we can do! We did go through our part of the YSA ward and clean out the ward list, we found out the like twenty people we have on our list no longer live there! So that is what we did with that! Also, we did have a huge activity with them on Saturday! The YSA ward rented out an indoor rock climbing place called the bloc! It was so cool! And we even got permission to join them! It was so funny to do the rock climbing in full Pros (Shirt, tie, pants, everything)! They did give us shoes which was good and helped… a lot! Ha-ha

The walls there are the highest bouldering walls you can have. Bouldering involves no ropes at all; they have giant mats at the bottom! It was so much fun and super intense! They had some places where you were climbing upside down and some where you had to jump to the next hold (especially if you are short like me)! It was such a fun experience! Sadly, I didn't get pictures of me and Elder Bradley on the wall itself, we were too busy climbing it! But I do have a few of the place itself that I can send!

After rock climbing for a few hours we all went to Bishop Bell's house and had a BBQ there! It was great and we had some awesome hot dogs and food there! After that was a giant pool party at his house as well! This we couldn't do.....dang it! ha-ha.  So us, and a few of the members that didn't really want to swim, went to the other side of the lawn and played volleyball....for like 4 hours.....wearing full pros.........in the thick humidity (it rained hard that morning).......and by the end all of us were dying! Ha-ha.  We lost the will to do anything and for the last half hour we basically just kind of stood there and threw the ball back and forth! Ha-ha

It was so much fun! It was an awesome day!

Other then that I do not have lots of things to tell or a lot of stories to share. But there are some things that I can talk about real fast before my time is up! One thing that is really interesting, as far as my experience goes; concerning a mission, is the opposites involved. Out here on the mission you have some of the greatest and most amazing experiences that you will ever have; which will most often than not be followed soon after by some of the hardest things you have gone through! You will also meet some of the most amazing and exceptional people; and some of the best friends you will have while you are on the mission, and you will also meet some terrible people out here! And I'm not talking non members or anything like that; I mean members and other missionaries especially! I always thought I would get along with everyone and all that good stuff but I have met other missionaries in the MTC and also missionaries out here that I just can't stand to even really talk to them! And I'm not the only one; everyone knows who those missionaries are! We have had to be doing a lot with one of them recently which is probably why I am spending so much time talking about this! Really missions are full of these opposites! Everyone says that the mission is the best two years! Which is true, but also, depending on your mission, it can be the hardest two years you will ever have! But we cannot taste the sweet without the bitter!

I do love being out here and these have been some of the best months ever but it is not all yippy skippy like a lot of people say! But this mission is perfect for me and I am learning a lot! I don't have lots of crazy experiences that I share or anything like that because a lot of what happens really wouldn't mean that much to anyone but me. One thing a mission does is give you the opportunity to learn about yourself and to grow! My strengths as well as all my weaknesses have been shown to me and I now can do work on those things that I am lacking! Sorry I am just rambling! Sometimes I just have to ramble! ha-ha

Well I hope things are going well for all of you!

Till next time!

Elder Banner