October 7th, 2013

Oh man this was one of the best weeks of my life! I loved this week and everything that happened this week! General Conference is the coolest thing in the world! I took a note card and wrote a few questions on it that I wanted answered and every single one of them was answered in the first session! It was so cool! I have 18 pages of revelations from that conference! It was wonderful! Some of my favorites were President Uchtdorf's both in the Saturday and Priesthood sessions, Elder Bednar, Elder Perry, President Monson, and Elder Holland! It was super cool! One of the best conferences that we have ever had! One thing I that I hope everyone was able to feel was the HOPE that came from this conference! The world and country are in a bad place, and it will only get worse, but because of the knowledge of the gospel it doesn't matter! We will be fine! Our families can be safe! All because of the gospel of Jesus Christ! If you are worried or have any doubts, watch conference! That was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life! If you continuously keep the words of the modern apostles and prophets in your life then there is nothing that can bring you down! That is the source for the power to overcome the world in these last days! 

Other than conference it was a great week as well! We had the unique experience to teach a seminary class for two days! It was so much fun! I loved it! The 2nd day was way better than the first because the first we taught about Isaiah! Crazy! But the 2nd day was super fun and I really enjoyed the experience!

We were also privileged to have MLC again this week! I love that meeting! It is one of the best parts of the mission! We had a discussion on the Holy Ghost that was fantastic! I realized that I don't know He As Well As I should and I need to keep studying! It is funny that no matter how much I learn, it only becomes apparent how much I do not know! Crazy!

We were also privileged to give a few blessings this week which were really cool! I had a really cool experience with one of them! It was such a cool experience! I love the Priesthood! I love that we are able to have the power of God in this day and time! It is wonderful! 

It has been a crazy week but that is all that I have time for this one!

Love you all!

Watch, read and pray about conference!

Elder Banner

September 30th, 2013

Hello everyone! Once again another week come and gone! I can't believe it!

 So lots happened this week! But I never have enough time to email! I'm sorry!

 So one of the main things, I don't know if I spoke about this last week but we are now living with the North Stake President and his family! I love the Polley's! They are a wonderful family and it is really interesting to be living in a home again! I am super used to apt. complexes! So this week we have been getting used to living there! It is a lot of an adjustment but we love it! It is fun to be with them!

 So Elder Bleyl and I had a crazy week with lots of great experiences which has helped us to already be teaching together well and doing great! Elder Bleyl is from Richmond VA, and has a very active family! His sister was serving her mission in the Salt Lake City Temple Square mission and just got home a few months before he left. He has done a year at BYU and is super smart. Also he is way athletic so that is fun! I love him! He is a way better missionary then I am even though he has only been out a year! It is great! He is the most diligent missionary that I have ever met which helps me out a lot! I am super happy to be companions with him! He is going to help me out a lot here at the end!

We had some cool experiences with finding some new people to teach this week. We had a recent convert move into the ward a few weeks ago and we were finally able to have a lesson with him this week. And guess what, he brought his best friend! So we had a lesson with both of them and then asked his friend Chris if he would be interested in taking the lessons! He is and we are super excited to keep meeting with him! Also we were at dollar lunch down at the institute this week and there was a guy there that we were told is not a member but lives in our area. So we went up to him and somehow ended up going into another room and having a lesson with him right there! It was way cool! We will be meeting with both of them later this week!

We also had some cool experiences giving blessings this week! One of them was to an investigator of some sisters in our zone! She went into the doctor to have a spinal tap and they messed up....so she is in a lot of pain! So we were able to go and give her a blessing! It was a super cool experience as she visibly changed during the blessing and was able to go to sleep right after! She is doing a lot better and was able to go to church yesterday! It was great!

That will be it for this one though!

Elder Banner

September 23rd, 2013

Hello everyone! Once again another week come and gone! I can't believe it!

 So lots happened this week! But I never have enough time to email! I'm sorry!

 So one of the main things, I don't know if I spoke about this last week but we are now living with the North Stake President and his family! I love the Polley's! They are a wonderful family and it is really interesting to be living in a home again! I am super used to apt. complexes! So this week we have been getting used to living there! It is a lot of an adjustment but we love it! It is fun to be with them!

 So Elder Bleyl and I had a crazy week with lots of great experiences which has helped us to already be teaching together well and doing great! Elder Bleyl is from Richmond VA, and has a very active family! His sister was serving her mission in the Salt Lake City Temple Square mission and just got home a few months before he left. He has done a year at BYU and is super smart. Also he is way athletic so that is fun! I love him! He is a way better missionary then I am even though he has only been out a year! It is great! He is the most diligent missionary that I have ever met which helps me out a lot! I am super happy to be companions with him! He is going to help me out a lot here at the end!

We had some cool experiences with finding some new people to teach this week. We had a recent convert move into the ward a few weeks ago and we were finally able to have a lesson with him this week. And guess what, he brought his best friend! So we had a lesson with both of them and then asked his friend Chris if he would be interested in taking the lessons! He is and we are super excited to keep meeting with him! Also we were at dollar lunch down at the institute this week and there was a guy there that we were told is not a member but lives in our area. So we went up to him and somehow ended up going into another room and having a lesson with him right there! It was way cool! We will be meeting with both of them later this week!

We also had some cool experiences giving blessings this week! One of them was to an investigator of some sisters in our zone! She went into the doctor to have a spinal tap and they messed up....so she is in a lot of pain! So we were able to go and give her a blessing! It was a super cool experience as she visibly changed during the blessing and was able to go to sleep right after! She is doing a lot better and was able to go to church yesterday! It was great!

That will be it for this one though!

Elder Banner

September 17th, 2013

Hello everyone! This is going to be a really spastic email! I am going to be all over the place because that is how this week was!

 So the reason this one was so weird and crazy is that, last Monday, Elder Berry was asked to be the new Assistant to the President! (He is still freaking out about it!) I am excited for him and he will do great! I am going to really miss being his comp though! But being that they had to do transfers and a lot of other stuff I was left alone a lot this week! I should clarify, I was never alone I was just handed off to different companionships this week! But it was a lot of fun!

 The big news this week is Alec was baptized!!!! It was great! It was a wonderful experience and I loved it! And more importantly he did as well! There were quite a few funny/different things that happened during it. Including a few people on the program not being able to come which made it feel a little thrown together! But it was great! Alec had asked me to baptize him which was a really good experience! But he being about 6' 3" and a lot bigger than me made it a little difficult! Also the font wasn't completely full, he doesn't like being under water and he had thrown his back out earlier that day at work! All of that came together to make it a very humorous baptism! But we got him dunked! Even though it had to be done twice and I had to basically bench press him to the very bottom! We both looked like we had been baptized at the end! It was great! I will send pictures next week! I forgot my cord with transfers!

Speaking of that my new companion is Elder Blyel!! He is a stud! He is from Virginia, been out about a year and been serving Spanish his whole mission. I was told by Elder Berry that he is one of, if not the, best teacher in the mission! I am excited about that! He is also 6' 5" which makes me have quite the lineup of companions! I am excited to be with him! We also moved apartments and we are now living with the Stake President, President Polley and his family so that will be fun! 

 I was also able to do a really cool baptism interview this week with an 87 year old woman! It was way cool and she is super ready for it! She wants it more than anything and I am excited to see her get baptized soon!

We had a really cool experience last night with a lady in Elder Johnson and Elder Teicherts ward! I spent a lot of time with the two of them this week! This lady is a recent convert that is having a lot of problems! We were asked to have a family night with them and share a message. When this lady walked in she looked down! She looked super tired and depressed and just unhappy. It was sad. But we had a cool lesson with her and I was able to share some scriptures with her that really struck her! You could see her countenance change and her really get the message form the Spirit! Her whole body language changed and she became excited and really involved in the lesson! It was such a cool experience!

That will be it for this one!

Love you all!

Elder Banner