September 9th, 2013

This was a crazy week! This week we had tons of things land on the week that took most of our time and didn't allow us to teach very much but we had a great week!

We had our Zone Meeting this week! And it went really good! It was interesting being that our zone was exactly the same as the last time that we did it! That enabled us to really expand upon the last one and really get into it!  It went really well and we heard some good things from the missionary’s afterwords! I really like those meeting even though it is a long one for us! Right after the meeting we went on exchanges so I was with Elder Smith in a bike area! It is times like that when I realized how out of shape I am! It is crazy! But it was really fun and I really enjoyed it!

We had a fun dinner at Bishop Clark's house this week that was a really interesting experience because we had a run in with a rattlesnake on his porch! It was funny because all 5 of us missionaries walked out the door and kept walking and then Bishop came behind and saw it after all of us had passed it! We didn't even realize it was there! We got a few pictures and then Bishop took care of it! It was funny that none of us even noticed! 

The coolest part of this week was that we were able to go to temple on Friday!!! That was a super cool experience! I was able to drive the transfer van up and it was a really fun ride with our zone! Then we got to the temple and there we were able to see Nicole and Salena at the temple which was fantastic! Then we went in and had the session! It was such a cool experience! I learned so much this time! It was a really weird experience for me being that this was probably the last time I will be able to go to the temple as a missionary! That made it really weird! I took a different approach with the questions that I want answered and asked what do I need to do or become before my mission is over. I was able to get some really cool revelation that, among other things, told me that I am on track! That was a cool feeling to know that I am where I need to be and I just need to keep going! It was great! I always love the temple! It really is the greatest place on the Earth! The peace there is incredible! I had another cool experience while I was in the Celestial room and feeling absolute peace! I realized that I had been in there for a while and should go out and join all the missionaries and I had the thought, "Time to go back out to the war." and right when I thought that I heard some thunder from outside! It was crazy! Ha-ha Probably doesn't seem cool for any of you but I thought it was awesome!

We also had the cool opportunity to go up on Mount Lemon for the regional YSA activity on Saturday! It was super fun and it was cool because I was able to go up last year! We also had the opportunity to go and listen to the CES Devotional last night from Elder Nelsen! It was a great talk! One of the best I have heard for Youth! I would highly suggest reading it!

The other thing I should write about it Alec! Alec is awesome! He is really excited for his baptism this Saturday! And we are super excited for him as well! Hopefully this one goes through! 4th time is the charm right? Ha-ha But it will be a wonderful experience! 

That is about it for this one!

Love all of You!

Elder Banner

September 3rd, 2013

Hello everyone! Happy Labor Day!

 It was a super crazy and intense week! I will try to cover some of the big things but I have a lot to talk about! 

We had some interesting experiences with pigs this week! Ha-ha Elder Berry and I came across a large group of javilias in an apartment complex the other night! We got some videos and pics but they aren't great because it was so dark! But it was fun! We were dumb and got way closer then we should have but it we are still alive and unhurt so we are fine!  The other experience we had was also super interesting being that we were able to help doctor up a hurt pig. This one was a domestic pig that weighed above 350 pounds! It had gotten out of its pen and a bulldog had gotten it and bit both of its ears really bad! They were gross! They had become infected and both filled with blood and puss so much that they were bigger around then my fist! We had to clean up/out the ears, drain the blood, and give it some anti-biotic. Our job was to keep it from moving! It was a really gross experience to wrestle a pig in its own filth and then to pin it down and hold it while all of that was happening but it was fun as well! They still might have to cut the ears off because they were so damaged!

But for a better thing to talk about! We have a new Ward Mission Leader! It is Lars Jensen and he is awesome! I am super excited to have him as WML! We had some really cool and fun experiences in teaching members this week! We had some cool lessons that were perfect for the people we were teaching which really helped strengthen my testimony as well! We had one specifically that wasn't actually for the person that we were teaching but ended up being for the person we brought to help. After the lesson they said, "I just want you to know that I have been struggling with that and I think that lesson was actually for me!" It was way cool! We had another cool experience like that which involved a blessing! We were asked to give someone a blessing because she had hurt her back really bad and needed some help. We went and gave the blessing (which is always a cool experience) and it was a good one! After we left it became more cool because she texted us and let us know that, up to that point, she really didn't believe that blessings worked or were inspired. But because the blessing addressed things that she had been praying about two days before and also because it had quoted part of her Patriarchal blessing she now has a strong testimony that blessings are real, effective, and inspired! It was way cool!

We also went on another exchange this week and I went with a missionary that has been out for about a month. I wish that I was as prepared as some of these missionaries that are now coming out! They know the lessons and they want to teach and add their testimony! It was really cool! We also had MLC again this week which was fantastic! That is still my favorite of all the mission meetings! It was fun to talk about how well the mission is doing! The Lord is truly hastening His work! I love it!

Alec is doing well! He passed his baptismal interview this week and I am super excited for him! I hope that he will stay strong and go through with it! He also really surprised us this week in church! For Elders Quorum we were talking about music and hymns so the EQP asked some people to share their favorite hymn and bear testimony about the words and then we sang it as a quorum! It was really cool! At the end he asked if there was anyone he had forgotten that he asked. When there wasn't he was about to move on but then Alec raised his hand and asked if he could share one! He stood up and bore his testimony on having modern prophets and what it means for each of us! It was sweet! The hymn he chose was "We Thank Thee O God, For a Prophet".

We, for Labor Day yesterday, were able to get a deal and go up to the Biosphere with our zone! It was super cool to go there and to see all the different places that they have in there! My favorite was a rain forest room because there was so much green and fresh air! It was fantastic!

That is going to have to conclude this week’s report! Love you all!

Elder Banner

...............................

Hey family! I am so glad to hear that everything is going good with school! I have had you all in my prayers a lot this week! Thanks for all you do for me with school and everything! I will be home on the 11th of December.....which is way too close! I saw some Halloween decorations in the store yesterday and it freaked me out! I will probably land sometime in the morning! So ya! I love you all!

Josh

(I added the red, bold, italic and underline to when Josh is coming home!! It's not to close for me:)  Liz)

August 26th, 2013

Hey everyone! It has been another really good week! There are some really good things happening this week for us and for our zone! It is great! Elder Berry and I were able to find 4 new investigators this week! I don't know how solid they are but they do want to meet with us! We found each of them by just walking around and talking to people! So hopefully by next week I will have stories about D'adrian, Brendyn, Daniel, and Andreas! We also had a former investigator text us with a question about still trying to get an answer! That is super exciting!

We had a Stake Correlation meeting this week that Elder Berry and I trained at! That was fun! We had all the missionaries in the stake, all the ward mission leaders, and the High Council man over missionary work, a member of the Stake Presidency, and President Killpack all there! It was a really good one and really fun! Elder Berry and I are getting pretty good at teaching together! It is great!

One really cool thing that we did this week was we were involved in the University of Arizona Club day! Each of the YSA missionaries that work on U of An all took a slot of time at a booth that we had for the institute! It was a cool experience to go sit in the middle of campus and talk to people at the booth! It was way fun! I do wish that U of A had a dress code though. Especially when the Sororities decide to take a walk together! I guess that is why this mission is hard! Ha-ha

Alec is doing well! He will have his baptismal interview this week which we are excited for! He is awesome and knows everything that he needs to! It is great! Greg dropped off the face of the Earth this week and we weren't able to see him at all! Hopefully we can get a hold of him soon so we can get him baptized! He is ready he just needs to do it!

It was a good one!

Love you all!

Elder Banner

August 19th, 2013

Hello Everyone! I can't believe it is Monday already! Wow!

 It was a really good week! We were able to have some good lessons with Greg getting him ready for his baptism! We had a funny experience with him this week, he told us that he had a problem he wanted to talk to us about and I thought. Oh great! This has been so easy here will be the problem! Then he said, "I just don't feel like I serve enough! I want to be more involved with helping people and serving them!" That is not even close to anything we were expecting that we started to laugh! It was awesome! That is a concern that we can readily fix! Ha-ha

We also had a really cool lesson with Alec on Thursday and then he came to a baptism on Saturday and then we had another cool one with him on Sunday! It was great! He has a baptismal date now and is working towards it! Way fun! I love it! We also had a really cool lesson with the Tucson Zone Leaders (the ones on U of A) and a guy named Ricky! It was a sweet lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the Spirit was super strong! Ricky even recognized the Spirit! It was sweet! Sadly a few days after the lesson he told us that he is not ready for the lessons right now. Dang. But we'll keep praying for him!

We also had Zone Conference this week! It was great! I love those meetings, even though they are long! They are so cool!  We also had a bunch of other meetings this week including our monthly meeting with the Stake President and the High Councilman over missionary work! It was way cool! Things are going really good in our zone so they were super excited!

We also spoke in church yesterday and then taught the gospel principles lesson - all without knowing we were going to! It was great! That is the type of thing you need to get used to while being a missionary! But I love it!

Here is a portion of an email I got today from one of my recent converts! This is one of the coolest things that I have read in a long time! (Names have been changed!)

"But anyways, I moved back Tuesday and felt the urge to stop at the temple on my way in... so I did and I ended up staying there for two hours reading my scriptures. It was great. And I don't know if it's weird but every time I'm at the temple I just always want to touch it but I never really did before until Tuesday. Once I did though, I started crying. It's so crazy to think that that’s the closest we can get to God from here, I'm a huge baby now ha-ha. I love and temple and so thankful it's so close.

Sooooo, I made a goal. I want to a least get one person baptized my last year here at Eastern. I know my friend Sally, the one I’m rooming with, feel something or is at least a tad bit interested when we talk about it. She hangs out with all of us, all Mormons, and she just asks all kinds of questions even if it's just me and her. It's awesome. Me, Stefanie, Stefanie's cousin, and Sally were at Joes house telling creepy ghost stories we've all had encountered and then Joe had the bright idea to go to some haunted places and some creepy cemetery. The cool thing about it though was as we were leaving and Candice said a comment like "This isn't fair you're all Mormon; just make sure you guys surround me." I don't know why but that comment just stuck with Joe, Stefanie and I, it was a pretty awesome thing to hear... she has to feel something!! Ha-ha. Also, we went to cluff ponds and for some reason I felt like I should stay a little longer than the others... probably cause I had an uneven tan line that I wanted to fix ha-ha, but anyways I'm so glad I did, because there were these guys who were all drinking and me and Stefanie were just chillin in the sun and the guys kept talking to us. One guy asked if I would play beer pong with him so I said "I don't drink but I'll play for fun" and then Stefanie ended up playing too, but then religion came up and we found out that they were LDS. Me and Stefanie are determined member missionaries so they gave us their numbers and the one guy I was partners with came home on his mission early and is trying to get better and hang around better influences so I told him he needed to come hangout with us and he said he really wanted to. So I'm either baptizing Sally or helping this guy get back up on his feet...or both ha-ha. Sorry that was a long story. But it feels GREAT being back."

That is the point! Once you have truly been converted and changed by the gospel and the Atonement you CANNOT be content to just keep it to yourself!

Things are going well here! I am so tired all the time it is insane! I am super tired today so I apologize that this is short!

Love you all!

Elder Banner