September 24, 2012

This week I really don't have very much to write about.... this week was really normal and nothing completely new happened!

Really what I can talk about this week is how I am doing with all of the changes that happened recently! Things are going good! I love Elder Nelsen; he is a great guy and a very good missionary. It is still weird to have a deaf companion. I am still getting used to not being able to just talk all the time (1 thing I've noticed about myself is I love hearing the sound of my own voice ha-ha). But it is good! My signing is getting better, as well as my interpreting. 1 really important thing I need to work on....Elder Nelsen told me again today.....that I still sign very English! Ha-ha My mind still doesn't fit with straight ASL, I can understand it of course, but when I sign I still sign English. Now it is getting better! I am starting to shift my signing style! Oh that is hard! But it is good as I want to be able to become good at signing and be able to sign ASL! Elder Nelsen is teaching me a lot! It is weird because teaching is sign language is so different. If President puts me into English it will be another weird change because I will be used to signing! Ha-ha

One other thing that is different is being the only hearing person around sometimes. We had three dinners this week and of the 6 people we went with, one was hard of hearing and the rest were deaf! We were taken out to a restaurant and of course I was the only one who could hear, and all that implies! None of this is any problem at all! It is not like I don't understand what's going on or anything like that; it is just that it is different in many ways I can't explain. Before I always had Elder Bradley that would hear and understand the awful squeaking of the chairs and the fans (very common in deaf houses, as they can't hear that they squeak they are never fixed). It is also different being placed down a notch culturally. With me and Elder Bradley it wasn't as apparent being that we were both down there but now that it is just me....I can feel the difference! The branch is good, they aren't as bad as others but there is still a noticeable difference between me vs. them. It is almost like racism but instead of being lower because of my skin, it is because of my ability to hear! Ha-ha Never thought I'd be experiencing that! Ha-ha But it isn't a bad thing, I am not persecuted or anything, it is just a little different! And now I am rambling..... Ha-ha I do have to say that Elder Nelsen does not condone any of this! He actually helps me out a lot with everything, he is great and he is kind of stuck on the other side! Ha-ha But it is good! I am experiencing a lot!

Yesterday I woke up really sick......yup always fun! Ha-ha But I did notice that is only like the third day I haven't been good for the whole mission! Of course excluding that time me and Elder Bradley were poisoned......that was a couple weeks of hell...ha-ha but even then it was just our digestive systems that wanted us dead! Ha-ha Anyways I woke up feeling down and of course we still had to be at meetings and I was conducting Sacrament and we had to do tithing and welfare so it wasn't even an option of staying home! Ha-ha I realized then that I have not missed church in almost ten months now! That is actually a great feeling! I'm not saying I didn't go to church before....I just would miss a week every couple months due to being out of town or sick! It is really cool to see that streak! I think on Sunday I was just worn out! We have been so busy and running all day everyday that I think my body just needed a rest! We came home after the branch's meetings....we were able to skip YSA...and just slept and read! It was great!

Oh I just remembered something I can add! I did interpret for another baptism this week! It was great! The girl who was getting baptized is half deaf in both ears....ya we probably have taught her or at least been told about her more than a week before her baptism considering they have been teaching her for two months but...I guess the AP's are allowed to poach.....but it is fine because she belongs in the YSA (too bad she lives on the other side of town or we definitely would have taught her). Anyways it was a great experience! She is 18 and was so excited about being baptized! After she was baptized she got up and bore her testimony and shared how much she wanted everyone else to have what she now had! She will be great in bringing other people to Christ! I always love baptisms! They are great! There is always the sweetest spirit present there!

Also our ASL classes are going well! We are teaching 3 classes a week now and then some other people on the side! It is actually pretty good! We have a few new people that are really good and they actually are starting to bring other people to the class...some non members...so it is going great! We love it!

Anyway that is enough of me rambling about the week! Next week I'll have some more stories for ya!

Elder Banner

September 17th, 2012

This week was one of the most hectic and busiest weeks of my whole mission! There really is no reason for it; it just became busy so so fast! Every single night I collapsed onto the bed and didn't move till the next morning (part of that may be that, with Elder Bradley gone, I inherited the temprapedic mattress that he inherited from Elder Karlson!! The most comfy bed ever!!). Anyway, I don't think I will be able to mention most of what happened this week but I will try to explain a few things!

Blessing - Last week I had the opportunity to be part of a really cool blessing. We were at the Agardy's house and TJ had the feeling to call one of their neighbors about work. He did and after talking with him for a little while he invited him to come over. This guy was.......MESSED UP!!! Never, never, ever, EVER become an Alcoholic! His life was in the toilet, he was so unhappy, he was trying to get better but he kept getting worse and worse, and I could keep going on and on but we'll make a long story short by saying he was almost suicidal.  He came over and we started talking to him and then TJ offered him that we could give him a blessing. He accepted and I, Elder Bradley, Elder Nelsen, Elder Matson, and Elder Densley all got around him to give him that blessing. Elder Bradley was the voice and gave a very interesting blessing. When he finished this man said, "TJ you are not going to believe what just happened!" He then described how this "light" seemed to enter him and it was the best feeling he has ever experienced! He went on and on and even asked TJ why he invited him over that night to which TJ just told him that he didn't know. It was an amazing experience and one of the experiences where you can truly see the light from the dark. The man put down the bottle of Vodka he was holding, took a Book of Mormon and left. Elder Matson called me last night and told me that he showed up to church on Sunday, sober, and has started reading the Book of Mormon and is now one of their investigators!

  

ASL Class - We started our ASL class again, which is weird now that I am the lead teacher. I am teaching something that I am still learning! ha-ha We have a class on Tuesday nights at the institute on the U of A campus and then on Thursday nights down South in Sahriuta.

District Meeting with the AP's - For my district meeting this week, the first one with the new (smaller) district, we had some visitors. The AP's showed up! Fun stuff!  To be honest I don't really care what they think but it was still a little different to have them there because if I screwed up or started preaching all manner of false doctrine (frequent occurrence ha-ha) then President would know! Anyway it was a really good meeting! I didn't spread toooooo much gossip or personal opinions about some of the mission rules... ha-ha And it was a great meeting! Elder Nelsen is awesome and lets me just speak for the district meetings so that I don't sound special in two languages at the same time. We go over the training for companion study on Wednesday mornings.

Elder Ballard - We had the opportunity this week to have Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles come and visit us! We had a special meeting with him of Friday where we had the whole mission come. The meeting was for missionaries only and it was great! We were all able to go up and personally meet him and shake his hand! One thing that surprised me is that he is short! He is shorter then I am! I always pictured him taller! Though, of course, physical height does not determine inner-awesomeness!! Ha-ha (Yep that was partly for my own benefit!) But it was a great opportunity to talk to him for the brief time I had and to hear his talk to us! The spirit was so strong there as only a member of the quorum of the 12 can bring! He is also very funny and kept cracking jokes because it is a more relaxed environment compared to conference! After an amazing and inspirational talk he gave us a question and answer opportunity which was also cool to hear his personal advice for our work!

Branch Activity - We had a branch movie night this week that we put together! It was a success and we had 4 Non-members come as well as 3 (very) less actives and they had a great time! The movie was "How to train your dragon" so of course it was good!

Service with TJ - We went with TJ Agardy on Saturday to one of the projects he is doing to help him out. We were cleaning out a shed and a backyard of a house they are fixing up. It was great to be doing stuff like that again but this one set a new low for me. That shed was so full of crap it was unbelievable. And I say that very literally as there was a big pile of dog crap in one of the corners. Luckily it was long dried but that was still a ........different........experience to shovel that into bags to be removed. But it was great to be able to help TJ! He always does so much for us!

Dinner With the Fox Family - We had dinner with one of the members of the YSA and her parents on Saturday and we had so much steak it was unbelievable! They cooked two huge plates for the 4 of us (the YSA girl had to work last minute so it was just the two of us and her parents.....a little awkward at first....but great!)!! I had 3 HUGE steaks and they still had lots of leftovers! It was awesome!

Church - Was good as always. I am conducting this month and with the busyness of this week I forgot to assign speakers so we were the speakers!!! OH YA........... But it actually was good! Elder Nelsen and I decided that he actually could get away with calling the branch to repentance about the deaf culture aspect that was there so that is what we did! I laid the floor for him and he came in and talked about how in this church there is no culture! No Mexican, no white, no black, no deaf, and no hearing culture! This is the Lord's church and he doesn't care what color you are, or your hearing orientation! It was amazing and just what they needed! When I say called the branch to repentance I'm not saying they were bad and I am not saying that Elder Nelsen and I were spewing Hell and Damnation to them! Of course not! They are amazing and I love them each so dearly but there is a very real culture difference even within the branch between the deaf and the rest of us! Elder Nelsen did it with love and with great understanding and it went over very well! We had lots of people get up and thank us after it was done! Then we were doing tithing and welfare and Elder Nelsen has never done it before, Elder Bradley is gone, our clerk was gone, and President Krakowiak had to leave.......which leaves......me. So I had to do all of it! I had Elder Nelsen and I was teaching him but oh my there was a lot that needed to be done! Then we had YSA.....and I am now the only interpreter.......and church is long....

Fireside - And because that isn't enough we had a Mission President's fireside last night! Just add one more hour! It's all good! ha-ha Needless to say, my hands and arms were very tired last night. But I will get better and I love it! Also it was a great fireside! I really enjoyed it! There was one part, when I was interpreting a duet of "A Child's Prayer” that I almost lost it! I can't explain why but signing that song changed it for me! I had a moment of personal revelation and a confirmation to my testimony that was so strong and unexpected it almost distracted me! I love this gospel! It is amazing!

Nail in tire - Oh and we found a nail in one of our tires.....again. So we need to go get it fixed today! Awesome!

That was a brief (though it does not seem it) account of my hectic week!

Love you all!

Elder Banner

Transfers.....destroying me......

September 11, 2012

Well this is an interesting week to report on! This would be one of those roller coaster weeks!

So last week I reported that we got a new companion, Elder Nelsen. He is great and I really do love him! The branch already loves him (obviously, he is deaf!) and he is such a hard worker! The three of us really were busting our butts this week trying to get some new stuff going for us. And it worked! We have a teaching pool of around 8 or 9 now (half of them are actually really solid) and we found two new investigators! It was a really good week and we had some really good lessons with them. Unfortunately, due to the lack of cars among them, there was no one that was able to show up for church. This was ok because we had a really good experience while at church with the branch and the speakers that were there. Brother Agardy came with the High Councilor from his ward and it was great to see him speak! It was a super spiritual meeting! I am going to start to really understand sign language now (or it will kill me) because I am using it so much! Now I get to use it all day as I converse with Elder Nelsen, I usually interpret when we have a hearing person come to the branch, I interpret for the entire YSA ward, and I interpret for whenever we are with people that don't sign. Imagine how many people that is.....every time we go to a store....every time we go out to eat....every time we talk to someone on the street...and whenever we visit anyone that is not deaf......it is a lot! But that is ok! Because I will be a pro sometime in the future!

We also were able to go the the temple this week! That was honestly one of the best and most spiritual experiences in my life! It has been a long time since I have been. About 4 months, I don't think I have gone that long missing the temple since I turned 12. Maybe when I was a little younger but it is totally different now actually going through. That was one of the best days ever! It felt like home! It really did! We were able to have the ASL going for Elder Nelsen and it was cool to see that again. It actually showed me how far I have come with the language as I was able to understand everything they said! And I am not exaggerating! I understood everything! But the best part was the Celestial room! The feeling in that room is not of the world. Having been so long without that peace, it was even more apparent. I couldn't help but have the biggest smile on my face the whole time we were in there! Also there was some serious revelation being received there! I received an answer to a question that I have had since day 1 in the MTC! It was beautiful! Also Elder Bradley received some cool revelation that we discussed in there. And then as everyone else left, there was only me and Elder Maughn left in there. He came over from the other side of the room and shared some revelation that he had just received about his life. It was such a great experience! Few experiences can build friendship like that. It truly was an amazing day! That was a good example of our week till Sunday. Sunday night however is when the roller coaster dropped......

So being transfers, we had a few other companionships come over to our place to be with us for the calls. We had popcorn and cards and all of that jazz! It was fun! We waited for a long time for the calls to come.....and then they came. The other Elders went into the other room one by one as they were called to get their calls. Of course we weren't going to be moved! We were doing good, having a good week, and why would they move any of us. So.....when our phone started ringing, I was startled!  It was Elder Walker (the new AP, I love him! And funny story, he knows the Sweeten family from Moab! Ha-ha) and he asked me to put it on speaker phone. Then he told us that Elder Bradley is getting transferred to New Mexico!! What the?!? Why?! He only has the one transfer left and they are sending him to white wash an area! Oh I was not happy at all! I guess that shows how good of a guy Elder Bradley is. We have been together for 7.5 months and I was so disappointed when he has to leave! Also that changes so much for me! Now I will only be with Elder Nelsen which means I am going to have to weather the "Deaf Pride" storm alone. I will also have to interpret everything now; Elder Bradley would whenever he could. And then I found out that my district will be changing as well. And two of my best friends in my zone will also be transferred to the other side of the mission. The two areas that are really doing well are gone. That was a rough night for me. I mean, it wasn't that bad but I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and I was extremely disappointed and even angry. I don't think I have been angry since the MTC! It has been a long time! Ha-ha

It is ok, I came to terms with it and accepted it later that night and everything is good now. I am just a little stressed about doing this alone. Don't get me wrong, I love Elder Nelsen; it is just going to be really different now. We will do great things and I am excited for the opportunity to learn, but I will now be the only hearing person most of the time. That actually is a big difference. But I did ask for this, this is the answer to all of my prayers! I now can become very skilled in sign, we will now have some success start to happen in the branch, the branch will be taken care of and I know what is going to happen now where before it was uncertain. This will be a good experience! This roller coaster will continue this week to a high point as we will be getting the opportunity to have Elder Ballard come down to speak with us! I am so excited for that! Also I heard about Utah State beating the Ute’s......GO AGGIES!! :)

Well....that was my week! We'll see where it goes from here!

Elder Banner

September 4th, 2012

Hey Everyone!

So Sorry I missed a week! Last week was super crazy! I feel bad! But last week we had to take our car in to get it fixed so we didn't have a car on Monday or Tuesday! But it is ok because we have it now and we really didn't have anything super exciting to report from last week!

This week is a different story! We had lots of different things happen this week! First, on Tuesday, we moved one of our active members. Yes, we lost another one. We moved Doug Cluff, he is a really good guy and we are really going to miss him! I can't tell you how disappointing it is to see an active priesthood holder move from the branch without having more come in! The branch has been getting smaller and smaller as more and more people are moving to Utah and Phoenix! It is crazy!

I also had two interviews this week, interviewing people for baptism! My district has, all of the sudden, lit a fire and is going crazy right now! If everything goes according to plan, as of right now we will have 9 baptisms this month in our district alone! That is fantastic! Right now we have 4 companionships and the goal per month is to have 1 baptism per companionship. We are going to have more than double our goal! It will be fantastic! I am so excited!

We had a baptism for one of the guys I interviewed on Saturday. That was a great experience! It was one of those guys that you normally wouldn't think to even talk to. His name is Jim; he has full sleeves of (weird) tattoos on both his arms, and both his legs, as well as a tattoo across his entire back. He also doesn't have most of his teeth and really long (and ratty) pony tail. Yet, he is one of the most ready people I have ever met. He is such a good guy and will do so well in the church.  He actually asked me to speak at his baptism! I was a little bit surprised by that but I was more than happy to do it! We had a lot of people show up for that one! Quite a few investigators as well as lots of members, and right as it was going to start President and Sister Killpack walked in as well! It was fantastic! It was a really spiritual baptism, they all are, but this one was extra spiritual for some reason and a great experience for all that were there!

The big news of this week started with a phone call from President on Wednesday night. He called and asked to be put on speakerphone. I had to go get Elder Bradley from the other room and the whole time I was thinking of all the reasons that he would want to talk to us at the same time. None of the things I came up with were really good but I think that is due to the fact that I couldn't read his emotions from his tone when he asked! Ha-ha Of course it was nothing bad, on the contrary, it was something really really good! He told us that we would be getting a new companion this week! So on Friday we went with President and Sister Killpack to pick up Elder Nelsen!

Elder Nelsen has been serving in the LA mission for the past 14 months and they decided to send him here to help us out! He is deaf!! That is going to help so much! He is one of the best and hardest working missionaries I have ever met which will also be great! While in LA he had 7 baptisms! All ASL! That is amazing! He is originally from Nevada (near Reno) and is going to be a real asset to us! This puts me in a situation that is totally and completely unique! I am living with my dad (1st companion) and my mom (2nd companion) at the same time as a happy family! But the weird part is that I am senior companion over both of them!! When has that ever happened before! Weird! And to be honest, both of them should be over me! They both are great missionaries and know what they are doing and how to do it and I am still trying to learn! This will be such a great learning experience for me! Elder Nelsen will have really good success in the deaf work that I get to be a (small) part in! And I will be able to learn how to do it! Also my signing will improve greatly as I am going to really have to interpret for him all the time! I already had to interpret at the baptism, for two of the three hours at the YSA ward and then little instances through everyday life that requires it! I am really excited to work with him! It

Will be great!

Well that is all the time I have to write, there was a lot more to write about but I am out of time!

Hope you all have an amazing week!

Elder Banner