Week 15--October 28, 2013

Well this week has been a very interesting week. 

My new Companion Elder McConkie, Bruce R. McConkie's great nephew, is great. Moreno Valley is great. I am in the Lasselle ward and it is awesome, the ward isn't as missionary focused as the Lake Elsinore Ward, but the members love us missionaries. 

I had an interesting experience this weekend though, So it was the Moreno Valley Stake Conference, and the missionaries were invited to the adult session of stake conference, and Elder McConkie and I were late getting there and this guy was up speaking and it was the end of the session and I asked Elder McConkie if that was the Stake President and he said "No, I don't know who that is." So we go to conference the next morning and this guy who was speaking comes up and talks to Elder McConkie and I for a few minutes, and by our last names he says you must both be from Utah, both of us said no, he thought that it was pretty interesting that both of us having Prominent LDS last names were companions, but then he went up and sat on the stand. It turns out that he was Elder Smith of the Seventy, that was a pretty interesting feeling realizing that we had just talked to a General Authority. But He is also one of the Seventies in charge of the Southwest United States, and with President Smart on the stand, over the pulpit he said that getting to look at the numbers for missions in the area and around the world, the California Riverside Mission is the Most productive mission in the United States west of the Mississippi river (most Baptisms per Companionship).

It was a great conference and it is great to see the Lord working miracles in this area. We have a baptism this Sunday, and we are Baptizing John the Baptist, Not really but that's his nickname, He is a 75 year old black man who was a devout Baptist for 60 years and now he is getting baptized it is awesome!

I hope everyone is having a great week,

Elder Bangerter

Week 14--October 21, 2013

Holy Cow I'm Getting Transferred to Moreno Valley. It has been an amazing three months In Lake Elsinore. I have learned so much from being here in Lake Elsinore. I am being transferred to the Laselle Ward in Moreno Valley, My new Companion is Elder McConkie, I am so excited for this up coming transfer. All I have heard about my area is good stuff, and I have only heard positive things about Elder McConkie. I am Excited.

Here is my Letter to President Smart:

 President Smart,

I want to say thank you so much for the opportunity that I had to Serve in Lake Elsinore, I have learned so much from serving my first three months here in Lake Elsinore. As I got the call from the Zone Leaders on Saturday that I was being transferred My Heart was full of gratitude, I received very strong Impressions that I was leaving Lake Elsinore during General Conference, I am so very thankful that I can know that I am in tune with the spirit. 

I have seen so many Miracles the past three months and have truly learned so much. I remember when I first came into the area and I had almost no clue what was going on. But through trials and blessings I have grown so much. I think I grew a lot with Elder Elliott and learned a lot about my self, but then when Elder Reed came in I learned so much about being a hard worker and teaching by the spirit.

I have learned that as I set my mind to a goal that I can always achieve it, as long as it is in accordance with Heavenly Father's will. One thing that Elder Elliott said was that he didn't think that we could achieve the Standard of Excellence in Lake Elsinore, but I always had that as my goal, and when Elder Reed came in we set a goal to achieve the Standard before the end of the Transfer, and through many miracles we achieved that our second to last week together.

I am so excited to serve in Moreno Valley,

Elder Bangerter

I hope everyone has a good week.

Here's a picture of Andrew and his new companion.  They are living with a family again and they sent me a picture!  :-)

**Let me know if you want his new address...or, as always, you can send letters and packages through the mission home.  Sharon**

Week 13--Unlucky?--October 14, 2013

This weeks letter was hard for me, as his mom, to read in light of this story

Luckily Andrew was alright!

So this week I have learned that with every trial comes many blessings and how much the lord will bless us for our faith.

So the week started off pretty well on Monday we hiked up the Ortega Mountains and got to see the Ocean, which was pretty darn amazing. Then we had French Toast for dinner and it was awesome. Tuesday was a pretty regular day. Wednesday was interesting, we were on exchanges and I was with Elder Baker in The Ortega area, we had multi-zone conference with President Smart It was really good we talked about adjusting to missionary life. Then we went back to proselyting  and It POURED rain all afternoon but it was a lot of fun. Fast forward to Saturday we need 5 member present lessons and 5 other lessons to achieve the standard of excellence for the week and while riding between lessons I got in a bike wreck, but  My bike doesn't even really have a scratch on it besides on the pedal, my pants that I was wearing is a different story. So what happened I was coming around a corner at a fairly good speed and took the turn a little wider than I expected and there was a car coming so I slammed on my back break and my bike went out from under me and I slid with my bike on the asphalt to a stop. The thing about it that I wasn't very happy about was that the lady in the car just drove off. Anyways the whole thing wasn't too bad I only ended up with a torn up pair of pants and a bloody knee, my knee was scraped up until where my garments started and then there was nothing, my pants got all torn up but there wasn't a single mark on my garments, no dirt, no blood, nothing. luckily we were only a block away from our house so I was able to clean up and get going again. Then later that Day I got Beer spit on me, and then when we were riding home Some guys threw full beer cans at us. It was one heck of a day. But then on Sunday we had 5 investigators at church. Then by truly a miracle we got all the lessons we need and we achieved the weekly standard of excellence.

I am running short on time so I'll have to stop there but it was a CRAZY week

Elder Bangerter

Week 12--October 7, 2013

I can't believe that in 10 days I will have been out on my mission for 3 months, to me that is crazy. There is a saying from the MTC that really helps explain the paradox of time while serving a mission, "The days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days!" It is so true though, time flies by like it is nothing.

It has been a great week this week capped off by an amazing general conference. The spirit was very present through every message. When President Monson spoke on Sunday morning I almost started crying when he was talking about his wife, and also later because of the spirit that was present during his message. The spirit truly did manifest and confirm to me that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God. I have absolutely no doubts in my mind that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's chuch restored on the earth today. I was so very impressed by every single message, I could take something from every one of them and apply it to me. 

We had a special stake meeting called by our stake presidency 2 hours after general conference was finished yesterday, for the whole stake. It was truly amazing, with the stake splitting two weeks ago, to see the concentration of the new stake presidency in a new stake. As the meeting started, it was called the Inaugural meeting of the Lake Elsinore stake (We were previously in the Menifee stake), President Wilson called all the Youth age 15-18 to come sit in the choir chairs on the stand and he said that through General Conference we have seen that as the Morals and Standards of the World spiral downward, the Faith and Valiance of the youth spiral upward. In President Wilson's words "the mission age has been lowered again, the age for all members of the church especially this stake the mission age is what ever age you are." The stake presidency has set the focus of the stake to be on missionary work, the goal is for every family to bring someone who is Less Active in the church back to church, and to baptize one person. I am so glad that I have to serve in Lake Elsinore Right now, our stake presidency is pushing missionary work, our bishop and ward council have been pushing missionary work, It is truly Amazing. President Wilson was talking to one of the general authorities about why the brethren are pushing missionary work right now and the general authority told him that the lord is trying to save as many of his children as he can before the world becomes too corrupt.

I am so glad to be serving here right now, we have 2 people very solidly on date for baptism at the end of this month, and we have picked up 12 new investigators over the past few weeks. I hope that I get to stay in Lake Elsinore for longer than the Two weeks that are left in the transfer, because I want to see these baptism's through and see the miracles that the lord is continuing to bring in to Lake Elsinore right now. But I get the feeling that a week from Saturday I will be getting a call either from President Smart, or my Zone Leaders that I will be transferring out of Lake Elsinore. I'll go where the Lord wants me to go and where he needs me.

I hope that all is well with everyone, I enjoy the mail and packages that everyone is sending me.

Elder Bangerter

Those interesting in watching or reading messages from General Conference can access them here.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2013/10?cid=HPFR100413105&lang=eng

Week 11--September 30, 2013

It has been an amazing week! Last week almost all of our lessons flaked, this week we were so busy with lessons that we could hardly make all of them. It was a nice change.

The week started off really well when we had a special zone conference with Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy, It was like 4 hours straight of revelation. And It's not very often when you get to role play with a general authority. Yes, I got to role play with a general authority, in front of the mission president and 1/3 of the mission. It was an incredible experience, the spirit was so strong during the role play that it was amazing. It's incredible the spirit that he brought with him. I really learned in the conference that the spirit is happiness,  not that it leads to happiness, it is happiness, and we need to share that with everyone.

The rest of this week has been amazing, we had one lesson short of the standard of excellence. That was a bummer but we were just led by the spirit all week and had amazing lessons.

It has been great getting mail from everyone it really makes everyday that much better. I hope all is well.

Elder Bangerter