October 23, 2012

One more transfer come and gone! I can't believe it! I can't believe it has already been six weeks with just me and Elder Nelsen! It is crazy! Things are going amazing here! It has been one of the craziest roller coaster weeks of my entire mission with some huge highs and some low lows! I have a few stories!

The first story happened last Monday night at the YSA FHE. We were playing dodge ball and it came down to Me, Elder Dineheart, and Elder Nelsen on a team against about 18 people on the other team, ya our team was struggling a little bit! ha-ha  Anyways, they were all making fun of us saying things like "Well, let’s see if they really are protected!" and things like that. We taught them the meaning of faith (and humility)! Ha-ha  Elder Nelsen ran and did a crazy move and got three people out really fast but on the last one he took a shot to chest and was out! That left me and Elder Dineheart against about 15 people! So we decided to go crazy! Long story short, after much throwing, hitting, yelling, and dodging, the two of us worked together and got every single one of them out! We then proceeded to gloat and laugh at them for their lack of faith! We'll get our humility lesson sometime soon! I thought it was funny and I felt awesome afterwards so I thought I would share! Ha-ha Elder Dineheart is now going to New Mexico to be a Zone Leader and I am rather upset with that! Ha-ha

We also had exchanges again this week and I went with Elder Call into the Palo Verde Ward! It was one of the best days ever! We worked our butts off and went like crazy! We had lots of crazy things happen that turned into some funny stories and we also had some great success! We ended up getting them two new investigators.  One of them that we had a good first lesson with, have already committed to baptism and are super excited about it! We also had dinner with the Stake President and his awesome family. After dinner, he and his wife came with us to the Paramos family. (See email from last week, it was the same less active family that we had a good lesson/experience with them) Once again we had another great lesson.  It was a lesson with us, the stake president and his wife, and the two of them! It was one of the greatest experiences ever! The Spirit and a feeling of love was so strong there! Results of that lesson are fantastic! The whole family went to church on Sunday. Way cool thing, the night after the exchange, Elder Kim and Elder Call went over again and two of the children (not members, 9 and 13) told them that they want to be baptized now! It was so wonderful! It is moments like these that make the mission worth all the bad stuff!

That night we also had a district party! We decided to have a little fun because we were all doing so well! We went over to a park and played glow in the dark Frisbee! Elder Kim has a Frisbee that has lights in it and we all had glow sticks on us! It was so much fun! I really loved this district! I can't decide if this was my favorite district or last transfer was my favorite! I loved them both! I am sad to see them leave now; with transfers today we are losing both Sister Waters and Sister Hallett and Elder Call! Hopefully this new district will be just as fun and hardworking! This district was great and in the three areas of my district this week we got 12 new investigators! That is huge!! And all of them are awesome!

The best part of this week is what happened in Elder Nelson and I’s finding efforts! We found 2 new FAMILIES this week! It is wonderful! One is a deaf women, her three (hearing) kids, and her fiancé (also hearing but can sign like the kids!)! The other is a family of two deaf parents, three deaf children and one hearing child! It is wonderful! They are so nice and really, really good potentials! We are excited to start teaching them! It will be hard to contact them but we are expecting great things!

Sadly, this will be a short email due to transfers and us needing to go pick up other missionaries! But I hope that your week was as great as mine!!

Elder Banner

October 15 , 2012

This was a really fun week! This week, I went on an exchange with Elder Kim! It was way fun! Elder Kim is from South Korea, he was in the YSA ward with me the last two transfers and then he was moved into my district this transfer! It was so fun! It felt really good to be in an English area and do things differently! I loved it! It was nice to be out on a bike and it wasn't even that hot of a day! We got a lot done that day, we got them a new investigator, 3 new potential investigators, and committed 2 less actives to go back to church on Sunday! It was awesome!

We had some really fun and really cool experiences while we were there as well! We had dinner with a really nice family! They are both from West Jordan and live on base down here. We had Philly cheese steaks that were great and then we sat around and talked with them for awhile. They made cupcakes and, being that they are really good friends with Elder Kim, the sister told Elder Kim that she was going to throw a cupcake at him.  Elder Kim decided to call her bluff and dared her to do it. She didn't......then. About 5 minutes later she walked up behind him and smashed one in his face! It was so funny and definitely a first since I've been out here! And of course Elder Kim couldn't let that go so he, with the help of her husband, worked together to get her back! Anyways, it turned into a huge mess but it was so much fun! We did help them clean up!

After that we went with the husband to visit a less active family. When we showed up he told us that it wasn't a good time for us to visit. Elder Kim started to ask why and told him we could give him our number for a more convenient day but then he ended up letting us in. Long story short, he had lost his job that day because of a lady he worked with and the rumors she had started. We were able to talk with him, read some scriptures, and he calmed down a lot! It was a wonderful experience as we could see the difference from when we first came to the house and when we were leaving. We left him feeling somewhat peaceful. It was during that time that he and his wife said they would go to church! It was awesome!

I had another really interesting experience on Wednesday. Before district meeting I was a little hungry (forgetting breakfast will do that) so I decided to make a sandwich. I got everything out and ready and then I decided I wanted to put some honey on it. I got the honey out and realized that it was too hard to squeeze out of the bottle. No problem, a few seconds in the microwave can change that! So I put it in for 10 seconds thinking that would be good. What I didn't know is that my finger twitched and hit the 0 button twice. So instead of 10 seconds, it was a minute. After I hit start, I walked away to grab something, as I came back about 45 seconds later I realized it was still going! I was like Oh Crap! Ha-ha.   I ran over, and opened the microwave and three things happened in about a quarter of a second. 1) I saw that the little bear (bottle), which was holding my honey, had gained some weight.  He was now huge and bloated.   2) I had the thought, I should close the door. And I started too but......too late!   3) The bottle exploded!!! So as I was shutting the door the bottle exploded, spraying my face, my arms, my shirt and tie, and the kitchen with molten honey! The explosion was so loud that Elder Nelsen, who was reading a book on the couch in the next room........HEARD IT! Remember, he is DEAF! Ha-ha.   I stood in shock for a minute and then walked over to the other room and told him what happened. It is rare that I see someone laugh so hard! Ha-ha.   He then said, I was wondering what that was! So, I went and showered and proceeded to wash all of the scalding honey from my skin and Elder Nelsen started to clean the kitchen! It took two entire rolls of paper towels and a day and a half to finally clean everything up (the microwave needed a full roll to itself)!  I still have a few burns that are visible! So...lesson learned! Don't put honey in the microwave! Ha-ha

Also this week we had interviews with our mission president!   These interviews are a time that we have one on one interview with our mission president to talk about whatever we want. It was good to have that interview and talk about everything we are doing!

We also helped a lady move on Friday...from about 4 to 10! One thing that I have learned while I've been out here is that, for the most part, families have fewer things to move then single ladies living alone! Ha-ha.   It is also fun when you move everything that is in upstairs apartments and you have to move cabinets that weigh as much as the moon! Oh good fun!

We also had a Stake BBQ this week that was pretty fun! I never realized how big our stake is! It is huge! It was cool to see everyone there! I would talk about it more but we were only there for a few minutes because we went to a baptism that happened in the middle of it! The baptism was for the YSA and was for a girl that the missionaries have been teaching for a long time! Me and Elder Bradley got to know her through it and it was great to see her baptized! She came a long way! She was an atheist before and had a hard time excepting everything they taught but she kept going because she wanted to learn and it ended up being a great experience! She is awesome and she is super strong in the gospel (for a girl that was baptized on Saturday! ha-ha).

We also had dinner last night at the Fox family's house again.  They decided to have steak.....and a lot of it! They bought about 8 pounds of meat and told us we had to do our best to eat it! Ha-ha it was so good! I think I had about a pound and a half before I had to stop! That is along with a potato, a lot of broccoli, and two corn on the cob! Oh it was a wonderful dinner!! It is nice to have things like that!

That is my week! Hope yours was good as well!

Elder Banner

October 9th, 2012

TUCSON IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!!

I will talk about (the best) conference (ever) later in the letter! Here is what happened earlier this week!

On Tuesday we had a bishopric meeting for the whole stake. That was interesting! It is still weird for me to go to those things! I feel like I shouldn't be there until my hair starts going gray or I have a family waiting at home! I always feel so young there! I also had to interpret for that meeting. Seems to be a common occurrence these days. But it was a good meeting just really long and most of it was on budget about things that the branch doesn't have so it seemed kind of pointless.

We had the 100 year anniversary of the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) this week and they had a big convention that lasted from Wed. to Sun. We were able to go on Thurs. to do a booth there! We were so excited! We got everything ready, Elder Bradley drove back from New Mexico to help us, and then we drove over there! It was at the Hotel Tucson so they had a big convention room that we set up in. There were other people that had booths there as well! It was a really cool thing! We got set up and waited for it to start at 1. And then by 2.....there was still no one there. By 3 we had talked with all the 4 people that had gone through the room. At around 5 and after having only about 7 people total come in all of the other booths started to close up so we (very disappointed) followed suit and packed up. Then as we walked out we saw the problem! There were so many deaf people! All of them were in the lobby just talking and talking. No one made it to the other room. It was actually really, really sad. That is to be expected (to a point) with their culture though. So all in all it was a real disappointment. It wasn't a total waste as we talked with some formers and less actives as we were walking out but it was a huge disappointment. Oh well!

General Conference!!!

This was the best general conference ever!! I loved it!! It was amazing! I am so excited that Tucson is getting a temple! It is different to be in the mission field and have your mission get a temple! When that was announced everyone just started cheering and celebrating! It was awesome! Also the new missionary age requirements! That is really cool! When they said that I pictured all of the people at home who now can go, and what they must have thought about that! For all of you I would strongly council you to discuss with God and find out if it is right for you! No one should ever go on a mission because of fear, tradition, or guilt. It is your decision and will be one of the best experiences of your life should you choose to go. Yet, there will also be many of the hardest and worst times of your life throughout the service. Make sure it is your choice or it will be much harder for you!

But anyway! Conference is amazing! And even more so while you are on your mission! It is the equivalent to the super bowl or something like that! I love it! Due to the fact that ASDB was having their huge celebration this weekend. It was basically just me and Elder Nelsen at the church for the ASL broadcast. Yep! It is really sad, but that is deaf culture! It doesn't matter that the prophet of God is speaking to us, Deaf first no matter what. But that is their loss as it was one of the most amazing conferences ever! I don't know if it is just me, being a missionary, but most of the talks seemed to be about missionary work, bring back those that are less active and even Elder Nelson's talk to non-members! I loved it! The spirit and the feelings and impressions are amazing throughout participating in conference and it makes me extremely grateful to be a member of this church at this time. No other time or people in the history of this world could have ever been able to experience what we recently experienced! I encourage everyone to go back and reread, re-watch, and relive conference! All the talks are already on lds.org. That is my experience of conference!

Also, I had another really interesting experience on Sunday. It was T.J. Agardy's birthday on Sunday so we went over there between sessions to have lunch and a surprise party with them! Lunch was wonderful and delicious! But we had to leave to go back to the church (for the ASL for Elder Nelsen) for the second session before we had the cake and ice cream. No problem of course but as we were leaving they told us that they would wait to have cake and ice cream after the 2nd session so we could come back, so we did! The cake was wonderful and everything but the cool experience was what happened after! We needed to give Sieta a blessing.  She has been sick for awhile so we were a part of that blessing for her. Afterwards T.J. wanted a blessing for a problem he was having with his knee and he asked me to give it! That was pretty cool, I was humbled to be asked to give that blessing especially since there were other people there that could have done it in his family but he asked me. That was a great experience but it didn't stop there! After that Lily and Danielle each asked if I could give them a blessing for help in school! It was a really cool experience and one of the few that really makes me feel as if I was really supposed to come here for them! It was great to be in their home and teach, to have Danielle get baptized and then to continue that friendship with her. Also to be a part of the Agardy family and the friendships I have made there have been wonderful! These are the types of friendships that will never break! I love this mission!

That is it for now! I hope your experiences were great this week as well!

Elder Banner

October 3rd, 2012

How is it already Oct?! This is going so fast and seems to be going even faster! Crazy!

We had zone training on Thursday which was really good! I had to interpret the entire 4 hour meeting so; needless to say, I was super tired when it was over! Ha-ha I did have some breaks! Elder Nelsen doesn't want me to have carpal tunnel so he had me take breaks every hour or so! ha-ha.  But it was really good and it was perfect for the two of us as it goes with what we are going to teach this Sunday for combined RS and Priesthood!

Ok, on Thursday night we received a call that a deaf man in our apartment complex needed us to go over the next day and get rid of evil spirits that were in his house. We were ok with that! It is weird to be called as an exorcist! Ha-ha. So on Friday morning we went over there and we met one less-active member as well as two deaf people that I had never met before as well as the deaf man that lived there! It was cool! Anyways, we went inside and as soon as we were inside I could feel that something was most definitely not right there. It was a bad feeling! The guy told us that he had seen "ghosts" inside and he would hear them sing (he is more Hard or Hearing then deaf). Anyways we all kneeled down in prayer and then Elder Nelsen said a prayer and commanded the bad spirits to leave. As soon as he said amen the entire feeling of the room changed! The bad feeling was gone and it felt good again! Afterwards we talked to all the people there for awhile! One of the new deaf people I met is now rooming with the Less Active member and they invited us to come visit soon! And the other new deaf person is actually a very good possibility! Her in-laws are members and she started asking us some questions. Hopefully we will be able to see her again soon and hopefully start teaching her!

One other really interesting thing that happened on Saturday was I had my first contact with a blind and deaf person! It was pretty funny actually! We went to visit our investigator Jessica, she couldn't meet then, but as we were driving away Elder Nelsen smacks my arm and says, "Stop the Car"! I do and he says he sees deaf people so I parked the car and then we went and walked over to them! Joe, the husband, was a little nervous. I can't blame him! We look like cops and we had that whole "Stop the car" scenario. But we started signing to him (he had just got out of his car) and then he opened the passenger door and let out his wife Katie. She is the one that is deaf and blind! It was interesting because to communicate with her, she would hold onto our hands as we signed and she understood everything! Then she would sign normally to reply! It was really interesting to communicate with her! It was cool! They just moved here two weeks ago so we will go sometime soon to see and visit them!

We had an interesting day yesterday at the branch! We had an entire sign language class show up for their class. Which in and of itself was interesting! But through the sacrament we had one member get up and give one of the most unprepared talks I've ever heard. All this member did was read from preach my gospel about their topic and even that they didn't know what they were doing. It is hard to describe but let's just say it was one of those times that you wish your investigator DIDN'T come to church! It was awful! Also yesterday me and Elder Nelsen gave the lesson for combined RS and Priesthood about the branch and missionary work! To be honest, it was a fantastic lesson! And the two of us did really well with it! But we noticed some interesting things! One is that, for the majority of the branch, they aren't going to be fully into missionary work, some of them even were expressing doubts. It was kind of sad! But it was a good lesson! Hopefully we can really get the branch going with it!

Things are going pretty good! Numbers-wise, as always, it doesn't look like are doing too much but it actually is going pretty good! That was our week!

Elder Banner