Week 75--December 22, 2014

I can't believe it is already Christmas time again! I also can't believe that it is my second Christmas in the Mission field. It is crazy to me to think that I have been out that long. What a special time of year this is, it is a time for all of us to focus our thoughts on the Savior Jesus Christ.

About two months ago President Mullen challenged us to read all four Gospels before Christmas to become more acquainted with the Savior's Life and ministry. It has been an amazing experience doing so, along with my Book of Mormon challenge, It has given me such a greater testimony of the Savior! But right now I want to focus on the Birth of Christ, since that is what we are celebrating this week. 

Who would you be in that wonderful event. Are you Joseph, or Mary? How would they have felt being in such humble circumstances, they had very little, and there was no room for them in the inn. Then having nothing but a stable stay in, and then when the Baby Jesus was born, having nothing more than a manger and some straw to lay the baby in. I can't imagine how hard that would be. Imagine how much our Father in Heaven must have trusted them to raise his Only Begotten Son. Are you the Shepherds? It amazes me that when the Savior was born the first people to whom it was announced to was a group of humble Shepherds watching over their flocks by night. I wonder what it would have been like to see the the Angel, and to hear of the birth of the Savior, and then to see numberless concourses of angels singing praises to God. Then to see the Babe in person, how great an honor that must have been. Then the Shepherds went and shared what they had seen and what they had felt. Are you the Wise Men? I can't imagine the sacrifices that these men made to see the Savior. They traveled for two years! They left their homes and families, and brought some of the most precious gifts of the time, and then they returned back to the east. While we do not know very much about these men it to me how much they sacrificed. 

While there are more people involved in that event, I want you to think of who you would be, or perhaps who you would like to be. How would they have felt during this magnificent event? Ponder on that this Christmas week.

Well this past week here has been pretty good! We got a lot of work done, and things are going great, we picked up an awesome new investigator this week, her name is Sofie. She is from England, and she is currently living in our apartment complex. Some other missionaries talked to her initially and sent us the referral. Sofie is a musical theater student at the Young Americans Performing Arts School. She loves the Book of Mormon Musical, and through that she has developed an interest in the church. Things are going well! I am excited to continue teaching her.

We have our Christmas Conference tomorrow! I'm excited for that. It should be really good! This week will be interesting with the holiday but it will be fun.

Well I love you guys

Merry Christmas!

Elder Bangerter

Week 74--December 15, 2014

Wow, I'm really late in getting these put on the blog!  Sorry!!  Sharon

Hey Everyone!

Well transfers were this weekend, and... I'm staying in Corona!!! I'm so happy about that! as it Turns out Elder Wesche and I were the only Companionship in all of Corona that stayed together. It was a pretty crazy transfer, they combined the two zones in Corona back into one zone, there is a new AP, and Corona got totally flipped upside down.

Well the New AP is Elder McConkie. I called him up and asked him how he was feeling, and he said he was pretty nervous, but that he should be okay. Then he asked me if I was staying in Corona, I told him that I was and he said, "Dude, Elder Bangerter you are going to stay in Corona 'til Jesus comes!" my comment was "I'd love that but I don't think that will happen." to which he said "I'm gonna make sure you stay in Corona until Jesus comes." It was pretty funny. I am excited that He is the new AP, He is an awesome missionary, and he will do great!

My Birthday was Awesome! It rained for most of the day which was unusual, but it was fun. I appreciate all the Birthday wishes, and cards/packages that I got! We had a pretty cool experience too during the day, So there is a new ice-cream place called Creamistry, it is really good. Elder Wesche and I went out to get some ice-cream there for my Birthday, and we get there and we walk in and this lady comes up and starts talking to us, and then she and her husband pay for both of our ice-cream, We assumed that they were members because normally when we get payed for it is members, but it turns out that they were not members, but they have many friends who are members of the church. We talked to them for a while, and they invited us over this week to their home. It was really cool! We walked out and Elder Wesche leaned over and said "Elder Bangerter, that was Heavenly Father saying Happy Birthday to you!"

Well other news, We had a pretty good lesson with Candice this week, and we also had an awesome lesson with Sal this week too! Ridge Anderson, who just got home from his mission in Chile Santiago South, came with us. It was one of the most powerful lessons that we have had with Sal. Now we just need to get him to church!

Well I Love you guys!

Elder Bangerter

Week 73--December 8, 2014

Sorry for the late posting this week. I'm trying to finish up my school work and it's stressing me out! SB

Well another week has come and gone in Corona, Wow the time flies by. It is crazy to think that a year ago I was in Moreno Valley. It is also crazy to think that It is already December, and that my birthday is this week. On Friday I turn 20 years old, I don't know what has happened I still feel like I'm 18 and just getting out of High School!

Anyway, This week has been pretty good, lots of ups and downs but that's okay. So on to the investigators, Kassie, Kassie still isn't getting baptized, she flaked out of her baptism on Saturday, and she really isn't progressing. We were talking to one of the sisters in the ward that has become really good friends with Kassie, and she was talking to us about how she doesn't quite think that Kassie is going about things for the best reasons, and when she explained that to us it made a lot of sense. So we are going to work hard to figure things out with that this week. Then there is Candice, She just got back from Indiana, and we haven't really been able to see her since she got back, but we should be able to this week, and it'll be great!

Well things should be interesting this week. I hope that everyone has a good week.

This upcoming weekend is Transfers. I am really Hoping that I get to stay for another transfer, because I feel like there is still somethings I need to accomplish here.

I love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 72--December 1, 2014

Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone! I definitely had a great week this past week.

Well Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We started off the day by playing football with the members of the ward, It was a lot of fun. There were so many people there that we had two full games of 11 on 11. We were there for most the morning, and then at 2:00 we had our dinner, Only one this year ;) We had dinner with the Richins Family. It was a lot of fun, we got to play games with the kids, and Sister Richins made very good food. I enjoyed it quite a bit! Then in the evening we had a zone activity at the church, and we played indoor soccer. It was pretty cool.

Then there's Friday, Hopefully everybody avoided the long lines at stores, Friday I was on exchanges with Elder Reyes. It was really good, but unfortunately a big chunk of the exchange was spent at a meeting discussing the Church's new Christmas Initiative, and how we should be applying it in our missionary efforts, and helping the Ward missionary efforts. It is titled "He is the Gift" and it is much like the Because of Him initiative at Easter. The church Has Put out a similar video about the First gift of Christmas, and we are all encouraged to share the video. This can be done in many ways, Through Social Media, and the other very big way is through special pass along cards. Every copy of the December Ensign has 9 of these cards. It refers them to the church's Christmas website. I encourage all of you to share this video and to Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift, and Share the Gift.

Also, I wanted to follow up and remind everyone of my Book of Mormon Challenge, Keep reading,

I love y'all

Elder Bangerter

 

PS- the website is christmas.mormon.org

 

Week 71--November 23, 2014

This past week was a very interesting one. Investigators going out of town for the Holiday, Investigators moving, Multi-Zone Conferences, Unexpected letters, and much more.

So, Lets start with our investigators. We were able to have a really good lesson with Candice this week. It is crazy how close she is to just stepping in the water. It is frustrating because when you talk to her you can just tell that she know's the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true, she just doesn't realize it. We have tried so much but she still doesn't realize it. Unfortunately for us she is now out of town visiting some family in Indiana until December 3. Then there is Peter, We tried to set up an appointment with him this week only to find out that he has moved to Long Beach. That was also a little frustrating! Then there is Kassie, Kassie finally talked to her friends and established that they will come down the weekend of December 13, and she will be baptized then. That is pretty exciting for us. It has taken a long time to get to that point.

Multi-Zone Conferences, Friday our zone and the Corona zone (I am in the Temescal Valley Zone) met with President Mullen and the Assistants to the President. It was a really good meeting, we talked about finding for most of the conference. There were some very good trainings given. President Mullen, along with his training on finding, trained on the Doctrine of Christ, and more specifically repentance. It was a great Conference! At the end of the conference they had The Outgoing missionaries bear their testimonies, and it was kind of sad for me, because all of the Sister Missionaries that I came out with are going home this transfer or next, depending on if they are Spanish or English, and also I saw my Trainer give his Outgoing testimony, and as much as we did not get along when we were together, he mentioned me in his outgoing testimony and it was a very tender moment. I will be very sad to see him go home in a couple weeks, but I am so very grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve around him before he goes home. 

Now, Unexpected Letters. On Wednesday Elder Wesche and I walked out to the mailbox to get the mail on our way out of the complex, and I open the mailbox and see a letter addressed to my Companion, no big deal, and then as I am handing it to him I notice the return address, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Quorum of the Twelve Apostles." I saw it and I was like "What the!" and it turns out that Elder Wesche had gotten a letter from Jeffrey R. Holland. He had a very cool personal experience with Elder Holland before his mission, and Elder Holland gave him permission to write him. It's not every day that there is a hand signed letter from an apostle in your mailbox.

Anyway I love Y'all,

Elder Bangerter

PS- Happy Birthday to My Mom who's Birthday is on Sunday!

Week 70--November 17, 2014

This has been a very good week! With Friday being one of the greatest days of my mission, and of my life so far.

A year ago I was in Moreno Valley in the Lasselle Ward, and Oscar had just gotten baptized. When I came into the ward, one of the first people that Elder McConkie told me about was Oscar. He had been struggling with Oscar. Oscar wanted to meet with us but all he would do is Bash with us. I remembered Chapter 5 in Preach My Gospel where it talks about how the only thing that any objector has to overcome is whether or not the Book of Mormon is true. We determined that with Oscar we would teach about the Book of Mormon, and focus only on that and him getting the answer that it was true. We went over everyday for a week straight and read from the Book of Mormon. Oscar was still Monotone and Sarcastic as ever, but his heart was beginning to soften. At the end of that week we shared with him Jeffrey R. Holland's talk "Safety for the Soul" and at the end of it Oscar said that he felt something. Then he realized that the something that he felt was the Spirit, and he prayed and thanked God for the answer that he had received. Then Oscar chose to act, he was baptized a week and a half later. Monotone, Sarcastic, Basher Oscar was baptized. That was a year ago. A couple weeks ago Elder McConkie and I both got calls from Oscar saying that he was going through the temple and was going to be Married in the Temple to his fiance. Elder McConkie and I were both ecstatic and we received permission to attend the sealing. It was truly amazing to sit in the sealing room with someone who has become one of my dearest friends, and watch someone who we have both come to love very dearly be sealed to his fiance for time and all eternity. Often times people say that one convert can bring thousands more. As I pondered about what was said about the mirrors, I realized that that was absolutely true, and it was as if I heard a voice say "Behold, the fruit of thy Labors." That day for me was one of the sweetest moments of not only my mission, but of my life. Because we did not give up on Oscar, countless people will be blessed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't help but feel like Ammon, When he and his brothers were reflecting upon their mission to the Lamanites. Do we not have great reason to rejoice? 

I hope that everyone is doing well,

I Love all of you,

Elder Bangerter

PS- Here are pictures of Oscar a year ago and now

Week 69--November 10, 2014

Well this was the first week of the new transfer, and it was very good! Elder Wesche and I are getting along great, and things are going pretty well for us. We didn't have too much success teaching today but we did have some really good lessons.

Unfortunately a lot of our investigators flaked out on us and our lessons. But we were able to have some good lessons with our investigators Sal, and also with Candice. Sal has been investigating the church for a long time but he is finally starting to progress again. We had a very good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him. Then there is Candice, We weren't actually able to have a real sit down lesson with her, but we did have some awsome experiences with her. So on Friday she got into a pretty bad car accident before our lesson with her, luckily she and her kids were okay. But she told us afterwards that she finally felt like she was getting an answer about the Book of Mormon, So I am really excited to see how our lesson goes with her in a couple days. 

Well that's it for this week, hopefully I will have more to write about next week.

Week 68--November 3, 2014

Hey Everyone! I am sorry for not e-mailing the past few weeks, but because of some extenuating circumstances I was not able to for the past few weeks. So The transfer has come and gone once again. Elder Schoonmaker is heading to Eastvale, so my new Companion is Elder Wesche, from Bountiful, UT. He is a good guy and I'm excited for this upcoming transfer in Circle City.

Things are going so well compared to when I came to Circle City, We have gained the trust of the members, we have a lot of people to teach, investigators are progressing, Members are giving us referrals, life is good. However things aren't going perfect. Kassie has been flaking out on us still, and she hasn't been to church in several weeks. We need to figure out what we are going to do for her. Then there is Peter, Peter is awesome, he is a former Jehovah's Witness, he knows the Book of Mormon is true, He knows that President Monson is a Prophet, he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet, he has been to several temple open houses, he is just awesome. He wants to be Baptized and he has a date to do so on the 16th of this month, his only hold up is that his wife is fairly anti-mormon, but she knows that this is what he wants, and he is talking to her this week about it. Hopefully all goes well. Then there is Candice, she is great, she came to church for the first time yesterday, we have had some very cool experiences with her over the past few weeks. She investigated the church several years ago, and had a blessing on her home, the blessing really helped her, so a couple weeks ago we go and knock on her door and she asks us for another blessing on her home, then she agreed to learn more about the church. Her neighbors are LDS and she has a great relationship with them so we have been teaching her over at their house, She reads the Book of Mormon and she prays, but she hasn't gotten an answer yet. Elder Schoonmaker and I both felt very strongly that once she came to church she would receive her answer. So this past week we told her that, and she came to church! We have a lesson with her tomorrow, so we will see if she got her answer. The other really cool experience that happened with her recently is that she asked us for a priesthood blessing, Her Neighbors had told her about them and she asked us if we would give her a blessing to help her and her husband conceive. She asked me to give the blessing, and as I was doing so I received the very distinct impression that when she gets her answer about if the church is true and she acts on it, she will conceive. I promised her that if she made every effort to follow the savior and acted upon the answers to her prayers that the Lord would bless her with what she desired. It was one of the most powerful experiences that I have had on my mission.

I got a call yesterday from Oscar (one of mine and Elder McConkie's Recent Converts), He is going to the temple next week (November 14) to be sealed to his fiance, and he invited Me and Elder McConkie to go with him through the temple. I am SO excited! It is going to be one of the Best days of my mission. I cannot put into words how excited I am for it and how happy I am. I am on Cloud 9 right now I am SO happy. I wonder if this is how Ammon felt when he reflected upon his labors in Alma 26. 

Well I Love all you guys

Elder Bangerter

Week 65--October 13, 2014

Family and Friends,

This week has been very good! Things are going pretty well with all of our investigators. Corona is treating us well, and things are finally starting to cool off a little bit. That definitely makes biking up these Corona hills a little bit better. It is hard for me to believe that I have already been in the Circle City Ward for 9 weeks.

Our Investigators, We met with Kassie a couple times this week with a priest in our ward, things are still moving along very well with her even though she didn't come to church this week. She told us yesterday that she is set on getting baptized on Sunday no matter what. The only thing that could possibly hold her up is some of her friends. All should work out for her and she should be baptized on Sunday. Then there's the Villa kids... They are a different story. Out of the 5 kids we are working with, only 2 of them are really being supported by their parents in getting baptized, so there are some struggles there. Fortunately Albert Sr. (Grandpa) is helping us work with the parents, so hopefully everything works out with them.

We also got to go to the Redlands Temple this past week. It is always awesome to go to the Temple and feel of the spirit that is there. I definitely received some much needed guidance. It truly is a blessing to be able to attend the Temple 

This week will be a fun week, among many other things Elder David F. Evans of the Seventy, and Director of the Missionary Department, is touring the mission on Tuesday and Wednesday. My Zone will be attending a Conference on Wednesday at the mission office in Riverside. I am really looking forward to it. It's always really cool when General Authorities tour the mission, so I am excited for that. 

Now, as the subject of this e-mail says, The Challenge. I have a Challenge for each and every one of you who read this. Regardless of where you currently are in the Book of Mormon, I want to challenge you to either as a family or individually to Read the Book of Mormon from Cover to Cover between now and Christmas. Each of you get a new copy of the Book of Mormon and in the Front cover write some questions that you have that you want Heavenly Father to answer, and as you read think about the questions that you have, and I promise that Heavenly Father will answer them. I will do this too, and I want to hear from you guys on how your reading is going, Especially my family. I hope each of you takes this challenge, I know that whatever questions that you have that Heavenly Father will answer them.

I Love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

 

If anyone reading this wants a copy of the Book of Mormon, please let me know and I'll get you one.

Sharon 

Week 64--October 6, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a great week as always here in Corona, Everything is going very well for me and Elder Schoonmaker here. A lot of stuff has been going on this past week. We had quite a few meetings.

Among the meetings we had we had a weekly district meeting, we had interviews with President Mullen and a special screening of meet the mormons, and General conference. Our Interviews were a little different this transfer, First we shared our favorite scripture out of a reading assignment we were given, mine was Alma 31:35 -"Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." This scripture is part Alma's prayer before he goes to teach the Zoramites. Then the other unusual thing that happened in interviews was that President Mullen asked to see our planners and go over them with us. That was a pretty humbling experience, as President got on me a little bit about my planner. It was good for me though, and he gave me some excellent pointers to use my planner more effectively.

During interviews President Mullen showed us the Church's new Movie "Meet the Mormons." All I can say is that I would recommend it to anybody and I would encourage Everybody to see it if at all possible. The movie is very good and follows 6 individuals who are members of the church, and it shares each of their stories. There are "the Bishop," "the Coach," "the Fighter," "the Candy Bomber," "the Humanitarian,"  and "the Missionary Mom." Each of their stories are very good and I got choked up in many of them, Perhaps the one that meant the most to me was the Missionary Mom, maybe it is because I am a Missionary right now and it reminded me of my Mom, but her story touched my heart, because I have personally seen people go through the things that she went through leading up to her son serving a mission, and I know what the sacrifice is to serve a mission. Needless to Say if any of you have the chance to see it, Do it! It truly is an amazing movie.

General Conference was really good this weekend. I enjoyed all of the Talks and I was most definitely uplifted and edified by Conference. The Talks that I really enjoyed were both of President Uchtdorf's talks, and President Eyring's talk Sunday morning. I also really enjoyed Elder Bednar's talk Sunday Afternoon. I hope that Everybody got a lot from Conference.

Well this week is going to be another busy week. However the thing that I am most excited for is Going to the Temple this Thursday.

I Love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 63- September 29, 2014

Well this transfer has started off really well! Elder Schoonmaker and I hit the Standard of Excellence this week. We got a lot done this week and picked up some new investigators, which is exciting.

We are teaching quite a few people, and a lot of them are progressing very well. First we have Kassie. Kassie is a young mother, and she was being taught several months ago but we recently started teaching her again, and she is on date to be baptized on October 12. Then we are teaching the Villa family in the ward. It is a complicated situation with them but the Grandpa is a member, and 5 of his Grandchildren want to be baptized, so we are working on making that happen. If everything goes well we could have 6 baptisms this month.

Sister Hustad was confirmed in church yesterday. Everything went great and she is doing awesome.

So the Church is coming out with a new movie called Meet the Mormons, it will be shown in theaters around the country starting on October 10th, The movie will be a great way of sharing the gospel with our friends in a non threatening way. As missionaries we were instructed to stay away from the places that the movie is being shown, because the movie is not for proselyting, but it is for the members to use to show friends, and to help clear up misconceptions that many people have about members of the church. My Zone gets to see it at a special screening on this Friday, but I encourage everyone to go see it! 

That's about it for the week,

Elder Bangerter

Andrew also broke his glasses this week, so it's been an adventure trying to get him a new pair!

Sharon

Week 62--September 22, 2014

Well Another transfer has come and gone, and for the second time on my mission Nothing changed for me. I am Staying in Circle City with Elder Schoonmaker for another transfer, I'm pretty excited about it, we are doing lots of work and we are having a lot of success. There were a lot of changes around the mission. This transfer is going to be great and I am really excited for it. Elder Elliott, my trainer is in my district this transfer. I am glad he is and that I have the opportunity to serve around him again before he goes home.

This week. It's been pretty good. Sister Hustad was baptized yesterday, it was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have ever been to. It has been truly amazing teaching her, and it has strengthened my testimony that the Lord is preparing people to receive the gospel. It is such a sweet sight to see, when somebody decides to be baptized, and it is amazing how it doesn't matter how old you are you can still change and come unto Jesus Christ. Sister Hustad is in her 70's and it wasn't too late for her to come to the waters of baptism.

I was studying this week in Ether, and I read one of my favorite chapters in all of the Scriptures and that is Ether 12. While I was reading a particular verse stuck out to me, and that is verse 41 the last verse of the chapter: " 41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen." In this chapter Moroni talks about many things but it really impressed me that the last thing that Moroni asks us to do is to "Seek this Jesus," and I pondered what it means to Seek Jesus. As I was studying some things really impressed me, in the scriptures it talks about when we seek things out we should do so with all our heart and all of our souls. The savior tells us " Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" So if we seek earnestly we will find! President Uchtdorf said: "The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed." I think that as we Seek to know the savior that we will come to know more of ourselves. As we strive to learn of the Savior, almost with out us knowing it, we become more like the Savior. Then Jesus himself says: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." 

I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation, I am grateful that we have the opportunity to come here to be in families, and that through Heavenly Father's plan we can be with our families for time and all eternity. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ made it possible for all of us to overcome sin. I am so grateful that he died for us, and that he rose from the grave. I am grateful for the restored gospel!

I Know Jesus Christ Lives! He really did die for all of us, and he really does live. I know that he loves each and everyone of us. I have felt that love and I hope that EVERY person on the Earth feels that Love. I Know that The gospel truly was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I love all of you guys,

Elder Bangerter

I forgot to add this:

https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation/our-eternal-life/video?lang=eng

This is an excellent video about the Plan of Salvation and I encourage all of you to share it with someone

Elder Bangerter

Week 61-September 15, 2014

This week has been a pretty slow one. Not a whole lot has happened this week.

Everything is going great with Sister H, She had her baptismal interview this past week, and she is all cleared to go for this Weekend, we are really excited for it. Most of the week, we were dealing with some drama between missionaries, and getting that cleared up. There has been a lot on our plates with that. We have also been having quite a few problems with obedience in our district, so a lot of time and energy went into that this week.

I'm sorry that this has been short but I promise that I will have a lot more to write about next week.

Also Transfers are this weekend, I really hope that I stay, but I'm willing to do whatever Heavenly Father wants me to do.

I Love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 60--September 8, 2014

This week has been fairly uneventful, but it has still been pretty good.

We were able to Have a lesson with Sister H this week, and teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went awesome! She really is the most prepared person I have ever met. I am always amazed when we go over and teach her, She just soaks everything up and she is so in tune with the promptings of the spirit. She has never missed a reading assignment, she comprehends everything like she has been a member her whole life. We had left her the reading assignment to read 2 Nephi 31-33, and she was able to explain to us the Doctrine of Christ so well it amazed us. She made a comment about chapter 31 about the narrow gate that leads to salvation, and how it is amazing how true that statement is, because so many churches are close, but they all miss the authority of the Priesthood. It blew my mind hearing that from an Investigator. Then she told us about her neat confirmation that she is supposed to get baptized on the 21st, She was reading in the Book of Mormon and thinking about her baptism that is coming up, and her confirmation was,  the 2nd time that she will be baptized, 1st time she got it right, 21st. It was funny!

Well I'm running short on time and that's about it.

I love you guys

Elder Bangerter

Week 59--September 2, 2014

Andrew's email came today.  One drawback of serving your mission in the US is when Holidays fall on your P-day you don't have access to a computer.  Luckily they got permission to email today!

This has been a very good week here in The Circle City ward, Things are really moving forward, and the work is going great. We had another Baptism this past weekend, for Briana , it was awesome. She is doing great and she is so converted to the gospel!

We also had some very good lessons with Sister H this past week too. She is progressing so very well, she just absorbs everything like  a sponge. We were over teaching her and her phone kept ringing, so she went over and answered it and told the people calling to stop calling because she was meeting with us, and that was really the only thing that she wanted to do was meet with us and learn more about the church. It was pretty cool!

We also had Multi-Zone Conferences this past week, and they were very good. We focused a lot on planning and effective missionary work. It was a very good Conference. I really enjoyed it.

Well I love you guys

Elder Bangerter

Week 58--August 25, 2014

Well here we are again, time just keeps flying by. I can't belive I have been out for 13 months! I feel like I was just in the MTC, and now there are Missionaries coming out into the field that graduated the year after I did. Wow.

 

This week has been a lot of fun, and a very good week! For one, we had a baptism yesterday, and it went great! Our investigator Hafid got baptized, I didn't really teach him very much except for the last lessons, but it was awesome to see Hafid get baptized. It truly is one of the greatest feelings as a missionary to see someone you have been working with become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The coolest thing about the Baptism was that it was all about this family, because not only did Hafid get baptized but so did his Aunt, and as far as I know they were the only members of the family who are not baptized, so now the family can continue to progress, and will hopefully be sealed in the temple! It very much strengthened my testimony of the reality of families being able to be sealed for time and all eternity.

 

This up comming weekend we have another baptism, for a Young woman named Bri. Bri was referred to us by a member. She had some really close friends in High School, and all of them were members, or have since become members of the church. She is so awesome and we are so excited to see her get baptized this weekend!

 

Another really awesome experience that we had was with our new investigator named Karen. Karen is in her 70-80's and she basically referred herself to us through her friend who is a member of the ward. She has been around the church non-stop since she was 16 years old, when she was dating a member of the church. She said that she has been around it for so long and was just going around on the outskirts, but now she wants to see if the church is the reason the Lord is keeping her on the earth. We had a first lesson with her last saturday, and talked about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. Well she called us a few days later and told us that she had read, and she kept reading, and has read a lot of the Book of Mormon now. We met with her this past saturday and Followed up with her, and we asked her if she believes the Book of Mormon is true, she said "yup." We then asked her if she believes that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, she replied "yup." Finally we asked her the big question, and that is if she was willing to be baptized, and she said "Of course I am willing to be Baptized." We then talked to her about Priesthood authority, and her reply was that it is obvious that the Church holds the priesthood, and that no other church even comes close. It made Elder Schoonmaker and I laugh, because of how much the Lord has been preparing her. I have never met someone so prepared to recieve the gospel, it amazes me. Then to add to all of this she comes to Church and introduces herself to the Bishop, and to the Relief Society the same way, "Hi, I'm Karen, and I am getting Baptized on September 21st." Bishop almost fell over because he was so astounded and extatic. She truly is an amazing lady! I am so excited to work with her.

 

Well I guess that's it for now

 

I love Y'all

 

Elder Bangerter

week 57--August 18, 2014

Well it has been a very good week! We had lots of great experiences this week.

So on Tuesday we had a lesson with our investigator named Hafid, and Hafid is great! He is getting baptized this upcoming Sunday! He is 15, and from a part member family, we got a referral for him and He is just awesome, ready to go! Then on Wednesday I had my first District Meeting as a District leader, I feel like it went pretty well! Thursday I got to go up to Riverside for The District Leader Training meeting, all the District Leader's in the mission came. President and Sister Mullen both gave very good trainings. So did the Assistant's to the President, It was really cool to see President Mullen's plan for the mission. 

Other things that happened, We had Dinner with a member that served in the same mission as my Dad, and at the same time. It was cool to look through his mission pictures and find a picture that Dad was in! We also got a call on Saturday from our investigator named Bri, and she told us that she wanted to be baptized, it was really exciting! Yesterday we got challenged to participate in the ALS Ice bucket challenge, and a member is going to video my companion and I getting Ice dumped on us today.

Well that is about it for now

I love you guys

Elder Bangerter

 

**note from Mom** Hopefully he emailed Steve to tell him who the guy from his mission was, because I have no idea who it is and he didn't say.  :-(

Week 56--August 11, 2014

Well Another Transfer has come and gone and I have been transferred again. 

 

 This has been my second area in a row where I was only there for one transfer. But I am only getting transferred to the next ward over, the Circle City ward. I am with Elder Schoonmaker, I'm pretty excited to go, and I only have to move across our apartment complex. In addition I was asked to be the District Leader, so that'll keep me busy.

This week has been kind of tough, Elder Celeste has been sick quite a bit, and then two of the missionaries in our apartment complex are going home, one tomorrow, and one in 6 weeks, so they are both very trunky and have made it a little hard to work, but things will go great this upcoming transfer. It'll be interesting to see how things go. It'll be exciting! Also one of the missionaries that came into the field with me got called as the new AP, Elder Blomfield. I am pretty excited for that

I love all of you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 55--August 4, 2014

Well this week has been pretty uneventful.

We spent a lot of time getting some situations figured out. We got Elder Celeste some new glasses, and had a cool experience doing so. We spent some time deciding on what he was going to do as far as getting lenses, and we spent a long time talking to the cashier about the church and we had a great gospel discussion. She asked us a lot of good questions. We really weren't able to get a hold of Ted this week, he has been pretty busy, and Jordyn has been out of town. Things should settle down this upcoming week, because school starts on Monday.

Well transfers are this upcoming weekend and I am pretty sure I am staying put, but Everything could be up in the air. There are 21 new English speaking Elders coming in to the mission, so I may train a new missionary. We'll see.

I love you guys,

Elder Bangerter 

Week 54--July 28, 2014

Well this sure has been an interesting week to say the least.

Unfortunately we really haven't been able to get in contact with Ted or Jordyn this week but we have been able to do a lot of service, and we have had some really good experiences talking to people on the street. One really cool experience with talking to people on the street that I had this week was talking to a guy as we came out of Wal-Mart. We came out and I started talking to him and asking him if I could give him any help (he only had one arm) he said no, and then I asked him if he had ever talked to missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He replied that he had but that he was a born-again Christian and wasn't really interested, I then asked him if he and ever just wondered what makes us different from everyone else, or why we do what we do as missionaries. He replied that no he hadn't, so I began to explain to him why and taught the message of the restoration to him, after he heard the account of the First Vision he began to cry, and said "If only I could know that that really happened." I told him that he could and that the Lord has given us a way to know if it is true, and it is through the Book of Mormon, and reading it and praying to know if it is true, I explained what it was and how it has blessed me in my life and bore testimony of the truth of it. I pulled out a copy and gave it to him, and he couldn't believe that I was just giving them away, he gladly accepted it. Unfortunately he doesn't live in my area, so I forwarded his info to the missionaries that cover where he lives. 

The really cool experience we had doing service: On Wednesday a Lady who used to live in our ward

and is a Part-Member family called us and asked if we could help her move some stuff from one storage unit to another. We agreed to do so. We had a great experience getting to know her mom who is not a member, and invited her to take the missionary lessons from Spanish missionaries, and she accepted. Then her Daughter who is the member pulled out this case from the storage unit and gave it to me and said she wanted me to have it, It was a brand new Violin, she bought it several years ago, and had never played it and it was just sitting there, one of the strings broke when she first got it. I told her that I couldn't ever accept a gift like that. She insisted on giving it to me, so now I have a brand new Violin, I don't even know how to play Violin. I am not sure what to do with it, but I guess I'll have to figure something out.

We get to go to the temple tomorrow and I am so excited!

I love Y'all

Elder Bangerter

Week 53--July 21, 2014

It has been a crazy week, as always. It was good to hear from so many people this week. I think I got more letters this week than I ever have thus far on the mission. It helps when there's a family reunion and I get mail from that:). Also on that note to my friend Tori Anderson who got her call to the Virginia Richmond Mission Speaking Spanish! I was Excited to hear that!

Well this week was another pretty tough week, but we were able to make a lot of progress with our investigator Ted. We had a few lessons with him this past week and we did some service for him. Unfortunately he did not come to church, but regardless we were still able to make a lot of progress with him. I feel very good about him, and He is so open to the gospel, but first we need to get him to Church! As far as progress goes with our Investigator Jordyn, she has been in Mexico for the past few weeks and just got back a few days ago and we haven't really been able to meet with her, not from lack of trying on our part.

Other News, as of this past Thursday I have been out on my mission for a year. It is a weird feeling because I really don't think that I have been out that long, and it feels like time has just been flying by! In light of hitting Hump Day, I participated in the tradition of burning a white shirt, so on Thursday that is something that we did! Unfortunately I don't have my camera today, but I will include pictures next week.

Well I hope that All of Y'all are doing good.

I love you guys

Elder Bangerter

Week 52--July 14, 2014

This week was kind of rough. Not too much happened, but fortunately the week ended on a good note.

So this is kind of how our week went:

Monday- P-Day, it was good, we got quite a bit of stuff done, pretty normal day.

Tuesday- Tuesday as a whole was a pretty good day, we had District Meeting in the morning, then we decided to move up our much needed Weekly Planning session. We had a great planning session, got ourselves organized, made some really good plans, and so forth. As we are Finishing up, one of the Elders that we live with comes bursting in screaming at us, telling us how Pissed off he is at us, and so forth. Two weeks ago we had let the Assistants know that this Elder was staying out late, and there were two nights when he didn't get home until after midnight. So on Tuesday this missionary's car was taken away. He was majorly pissed off at us and started throwing some of his weights around (he is a college rugby player), and it was just bad.

Wednesday- We got a call from the vehicle coordinator that we needed to take our car (2014 Chevy Cruze) to the Chevy dealership because of a recall on the front axle. So we got to spend from 9am to 4pm in Riverside at the Chevy Dealership. Then our lesson that evening canceled on us, and all of our appointments fell through. 

Thursday- We had all day to Proselyte, and nobody answered the door all day. It was hard.

Friday- We had one on one interviews with President Mullen, and it was great. It was good to get to know him quite a bit, and get to know his expectations for us and how we can help him. the rest of the day, we spent finding some part member families and working through some of our lists.

Saturday- We had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators named Ted. The lesson was very powerful and it helped him a lot to progress. It was definitely the Highlight of our week!

Sunday- We taught Gospel Principles and a lesson to the Priests during the second and third hours at church. We got some stuff done in the afternoon and evening, and then were ready and excited to get on to this week! This upcoming week is going to be great!

Well I love all of you

Elder Bangerter

Week 51--July 7, 2014

This week was great. Elder Celeste and I had an awesome week. We had an especially good 4th of July, because we met President Mullen, He is great I am so excited to work with him. We got to know him a little bit as a group and he gave his first training as our Mission President. The biggest thing that he talked about was "Don't be Stupid" and he quoted Jacob 6:12. It was a good meeting and I am excited to have interviews with him this upcoming week. 

We picked up a really solid new investigator this week. Her name is Jordyn, she is the friend of one of the youth in the ward, Last week she went to EFY, and the week before she went to Girls Camp, She is one of the most prepared people that I have ever met. She is ready to accept the gospel! I am excited to work with her and see how she progresses. Besides that we have been working a lot with the Youth, and we have had a lot of success so far from it. We feel like the key to success in this ward is the Youth. They are great!

That's it for now,

Love Y'all

Elder Bangerter

Week 50--June 30, 2014

This past week has been a very interesting one.

Last week Elder Celeste, and I got doubled in to our new area, (Doubled in means that we are both new to the area), and unfortunately we didn't have very much to work with, but we did experience many miracles this week! 

On Monday we met with Brother Solesbee, our ward mission leader, and I have to say that he is the best Ward Mission Leader that I have served around. He is awesome and his vision for the work is great and we feel that it is spot on with what the ward needs. We worked with him and established a game plan for the work in the ward, and as we have done so we have seen SO many miracles. He feels like the members in the ward are doing a great job of sharing the gospel with their friends, and as we have visited with close to 30 families this week we have seen that that is true, the problem is many of the members don't know what the next step is, or how to follow up on the commitments that they leave. We have been working on helping them with that. 

As Elder Celeste and I were Studying on Wednesday, we both ended up reading the same chapter in the Book of Mormon, and as we were pondering on how to help the members we both were touched by the same verse, Alma 26:22

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance,even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance." 

We felt impressed to share this with the members of the ward, and along with that we felt impressed to share Chapter 11 from Preach My Gospel with members. We shared our plan with Brother Solesbee, and as we did so his comment was, "Elders, this is exactly what the ward needs." As we Implemented the commitment to the members we have gotten more referrals than I have ever gotten on my mission! I am very excited to see what the Lord has in store for me here.

I love all of you guys!

Elder Bangerter

Week 49--June 23, 2014

Sorry about how late this is.  I was trying to edit it on my iPad last week and it wasn't working.  I meant to get on the computer to take care of it bu, obviously, I forgot!  Sorry again!!  Sharon

Well I got the call Saturday night saying I am getting Transferred again, Into my 5th area. I am being transferred in to the El Cerrito Ward in Corona, which is on the opposite side of the mission from where I am now. I am getting Doubled in with Elder Celeste, who was just companions with Elder Reed, one of my old Companions. I am really Excited, because being doubled in brings Miracles! It is also very crazy to me that I will be hitting my half way mark in a couple weeks in Corona. I don't feel like I have been gone for a year, only a couple months. 

Well, this week in Hemet was very good, we saw many miracles, Our Investigator Misty is going to get baptized this coming weekend, and it is a great thing to see. We got her to quit smoking, she moved out from living with her boyfriend this week, she is all ready to go. I will get to come back to see it and I am grateful for that. Misty has come so far while I have been here. It has been awesome seeing it all happen. 

We had Multi-Zone conference this past week. It was President and Sister Smart's Last Multi-Zone Conference and they gave us 10 tips to a happy life. Here they are:

1) Commit to living a Christ Centered Life
The First and Great Commandment: Love God
The Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30)
Gratitude (Alma 37:37)
Christlike Attributes (PMG pg. 126)
Dating Tip: Run as fast as you can toward God, and if someone keeps up, introduce yourself
Find an Eternal Companion who is committed and trustworthy
The Family: A Proclamation to the World

2) Be Obedient - it is as easy today as it was when Moses told the Isrealites to look at the brass serpent and live (Numbers 21:6-9). This was very simple; too simple for some (See Alma 37:46). We need to look to the Savior and live. Today the simpleness of the way includes:
Reading Scripture (daily)
Pondering / Meditating (daily)
Praying (daily)
Go to Church (Weekly)
Attend the Temple as often as your circumstances allow

3) Attitude: Choose to be Happy
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13: 17
“But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi.” Alma 50:23
Don’t worry, be happy scriptures: D&C 100:15, D&C 98:3, D&C 121:7, D&C 122:7, John 14:27, John 16:23
Keep a good sense of humor… (Trust Fall)

4) Be Flexible and Adaptable

5) Work Hard
“Sir, I am a true laborer. I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good…” (William Shakespeare)

6) Have a Purpose: define a Vision, Goals, and Plans for your life. "Dominate Chapter 8"

7) Take Care of Your Physical Body
Eat right
Exercise
Wash your hands
Get the right amount of sleep

8) Control Your Thoughts
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
"If you think you’re beaten, you are …" (Poem)
Recognize a bad thought and push it out
String Activity - the mind is a very powerful tool
Don't Get Too Caught Up in What Other People Think

9) Have a Forgiving Heart
It has been said, “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.”
"Be quick to admit wrong, even when you are not." (President Uchtdorf)

10) Serve Others
Model your life after the Savior

It was very good and very spiritual. It is sad to see them go, but I am Excited for when President Mullen comes in next week.

Well that's it for now.

Love all of you guys

Elder Bangerter

Week 48--June 16, 2014

Well this week was very interesting, and it was really hard with Elder Plotkin. I am getting to the point where I am getting super irritated with him. But thankfully I have gotten to the point that I am a whole lot more level headed and I don't let stuff get to me nearly as much.

Well we should have a baptism this weekend. We have been teaching Misty for a long time, and we just barely got her to quit smoking, and to live the word of wisdom, and she has agreed to get baptized this weekend. There are a few things that could happen that would stop it from happening. I am sorry this letter is short, but I'll send a good e-mail next week.

Transfers are this upcoming week, I am almost positive that I am staying, 

I love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 47--June 9, 2014

This has been a super weird week, Lots of ups and downs. One super cool thing this week was that we hit the standard of excellence. It was great to achieve that. One other super cool thing was something that was caused by my wonderful, loving, caring, beautiful Mom! I got a Package with two clickers to count Happy thoughts, among other things. That Package and those two clickers were a Miracle. Because of the Clickers, My Companion who suffers from Bi-Polar Depression was able to stay happy all week and to enjoy missionary work. It was awesome!

Well work here is starting to pick up, and It is awesome, we have some investigators that are progressing very well, one of them is Misty. Misty is getting married at the end of this month and then she should be getting baptized shortly there after. 

We are still working on finding, more people.

I love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

For anyone interested, I got the clickers from http://www.billionclicks.org.  I actually won the two I sent them, but anyone can purchase one.  :-) Sharon

Week 46--June 2, 2014

Well this week has been a good one! We had a good morning this morning, we went and played 9 holes at the local course with a member from the last ward that Elder Plotkin served in. I actually did pretty well according to the member, I shot 16 over par my second time ever going to play golf. It was Lots of fun!

We had a Baptism on Saturday, It went great! It was a great service! The girl who was Baptized was Mady. She is 12 years old and She has been waiting to get baptized for at least 2 years now, but because of circumstances with her mom she wasn't able to be baptized until now. It was a very exciting thing to see. Satan most definitely did not want the baptism to happen, there has been so much opposition with her getting baptized, and the one that I saw while I was here was that she broke her foot and was put in a cast that could not go in the water, just a few days before the baptism. Thankfully all went well and she got Baptized!

Things have been going kind of hard with my companion, he has been being extremely rude, and a jerk to me for quite a bit of the week. Then there are days where he is supper pleasant to be around. I guess that is his Bi-Polar kicking in.

Things are going very well right now. We are definitely in the Finding stages of the work, and are building the area back up.

I love Y'all

Elder Bangerter

Week 45--May 26, 2014

Well this week has been a very interesting week.

Hemet is definitely one of the weirdest places I have ever been. It is lots of fun here though.

I guess I will start off with that we have a Baptism this upcoming weekend, it is super exciting. This week has also been kind of a culture shock for me, for a few reasons, first of all I am living in an apartment with not only my companion, but one of my former companions, and a missionary I have served around quite a bit, so that is interesting. Then we are in Car for a few reasons, one being that our area is huge. The other really weird thing is that I am the Designated driver. My Companion is Elder Plotkin and He is from Riverside, CA, He was originally called to serve in New York, but because he has really bad Bi-Polar depression, he was reassigned to his home mission. He has 6 months left on his mission. So there are some challenges there.

Hemet is great, and I am Loving it here.

Sorry this letter is short.

Elder Bangerter

Week 44--May 19, 2014

Well I am getting Transferred to Diamond Valley in Hemet. I am splitting the ward with the ZL's (Elder McConkie & Taylor), My Companion is Elder Plotkin, and we are in car, because Elder Plotkin can't ride a bike due to some health problems. Hemet was actually the only place in the mission that I heard about before the mission, from Daniel Meehan, he said that it is a really interesting place, it is the international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, among other things.

I have kind of mixed emotions getting transferred today. I have truly come to love the people living in Hidden Springs. When I came in to Hidden Springs I wasn't too excited and I really didn't have the best attitude about the ward. I knew it was going to be hard, and I wasn't too excited to not have very much going for us. But as I served here I have seen so many miracles, one of the biggest of which happened overt the past few weeks. That was us Finding Tony and all the events that led to him getting baptized. We got referred to him 3-4 times in one week. Then as we taught him we could see him change as he embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was great to see it. Then as we were teaching Tony, his friend Miguel, who speaks very little English, was listening from another room, and as one of us bore testimony it touched his hart even though he didn't understand what we said he was touched by the Holy Ghost, and was baptized 3 weeks later (last night) and he asked me to perform the Baptism. As I performed the Baptism in Spanish my heart was full of love and gratitude, and my testimony of the Spirit was strengthened because the Spirit transcends Language. I am truly grateful to have served here.

I am excited to see what Hemet has in store for me. I realized on Saturday that It was my 10 month mark, it is crazy to think in two months I will have been out for a year. Well I guess I am off to my 4th Area and my 7th Companion.

I love all of you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 43--May 12, 2014

Well another week has come and gone. It was great to get to Skype home yesterday and I hope that everyone had a good Mother's Day. It was definitely a good day for Elder Rock and I. 

Unfortunately because of Calling home yesterday this E-mail will be short. Tony got confirmed as a member of the church yesterday and received the Aaronic Priesthood. It has been great to see him grow in the gospel. Besides that Not much is happening, we are trying to find new investigators.

One thing that I would like to share is that in two days it will be 185 years to the day that the Aaronic Priesthood was restored to the earth. Not to long after the Melchizidek Priesthood was restored. I know that as I reflect upon these Momentous events, my heart is full of gratitude that the Authority to lead the Jesus Christ's Church has been restored, and how much that restored Priesthood has blessed my life and my family.

I love all of you,

Elder Bangerter

P.S. Congratulations to Joseph Siddoway and Jaren Strader on receiving your mission calls. Give'em Heaven!

Week 42--May 5, 2014

Well it has been a great week in Moreno Valley. It's hard to believe that I have been serving in the Moreno Valley Stake for 28 weeks. It has been a long time but at the same time it feels like it hasn't been very long at all. I don't think that I will be here much longer before I get transferred, probably in 2 weeks when transfers roll around, but we will see, I could very likely stay for another 6 weeks, and I wouldn't mind that at all. It is hard to believe that next transfer will be my 8th transfer, and that next transfer will be President Smart's last transfer, before President Mullen comes in.

Well the big exciting news this past week was that Tony got baptized! It was a great baptismal service, we had part of it in Spanish, because Tony brought a friend with him who is interested in the church who only speaks Spanish. It was very good. I did get to do the Baptismal Ordinance, which was exciting.

Some other pretty cool things happened this week, first we found a guy named Lester, while trying to visit a potential investigator. The cool thing about Lester, is when we asked him "How long have you lived in California?" he said, "Only a few months" so we asked him where he was from, to which he replied "I'm from Houston." I asked him "Where at?" he said "Houston" I then explained that I am from Houston, and I was wondering what part. It turns out that he is from the Spring/Klein area. He went to Klein Collins High School. We then taught him about the Restoration, and got a follow up appointment. It was just cool that he was from the same area that I am.

The other really interesting thing that happened, happened while we were going through the ward list. We felt like we needed to go see a specific name. We went and visited the name and it turns out that she was the mother of one of the people that Elder Rock was teaching in Lake Elsinore. Her name is Lisa, and she has a 12 year old Daughter who is not baptized. Elder Rock was teaching the daughter in Lake Elsinore, and she was about to get baptized, but her mom said no. So Interestingly enough we run into the girl and her mom, and her mom agreed to allow us to teach her at her home, so she can know for sure that this is what her daughter wants to do.

This week was full of Miracles,

Sorry for no pictures, My camera is dead so it is charging before I can upload the pictures.

Elder Bangerter

Week 41--April 28, 2014

Here's how he titled his email...

The week our investigator got Shanghaied the day of his Baptism

Well this week has been an interesting one, as the subject of the e-mail so nicely indicates. It has also been a pretty hard one, but that's okay!

Well I'll start with some happy things that happened this week. First, we got to got to the temple on Tuesday, which I always enjoy. It is such a great feeling to be able to go to the the House of the Lord. My prayers are always answered there. We went with Brother and Sister Wilson from our ward, and did some names for them, which they appreciated very much. I have some pictures but I will wait until next week to send them.

We picked up a new investigator this week that was so enthusiastic about learning about the church! Her name is Stormy, She is the mother of 5 kids, and was raised Southern Baptist. We had a super good Restoration lesson with her on Thursday, all was well. Now here's the catch, her husband is meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and after first being okay with her meeting with us, they discussed it as a family and decided that they did not want to investigate the church and therefore Dropped us.

Then there is Kenny, he got back from LA this week and gave us a call and said he wanted to schedule a lesson, which was pretty cool. We set up a lesson with him for Thursday, and (as we were asked to) gave him a call on Thursday, to which there was no answer. So we went over for the lesson and he wasn't there, so we called again to which there still was no answer, so we left. The next day we got a voicemail from him basically chewing us out for not calling him and not showing up to our appointment, and how he is starting to loose faith in us because we "lack basic organization and planning skills." Oh how it frustrated me! We did call, we did plan for it, we even rearranged our schedule so we could go see him. Then when he isn't there and doesn't answer his phone and then calls us out about it, it makes me angry, but I just deal with it and move on, We ended up having a lesson with him on Saturday, and it went very well, we taught about Faith and Alma 32, which ironically Dad suggested a few weeks ago via letter. The lesson went well, and we tried to commit him to be baptized. He said No.

Saturday was the National Day of Service and we helped out with a Mormon Helping Hands project repairing trails at Box Springs Mountain, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot done.

Sunday we had 3 investigators at church none of which were Tony, I'll get to that a little later,

and I was asked to teach Gospel Principles class. I taught about Baptism, and everyone there seemed to enjoy the lesson very much, and we were able to answer a lot of concerns that J.S. Ross had. It was good.

Now for the story of the week. How Tony got Shanghaied. We had lessons everyday this week with Tony, they all went really well. He got interviewed on Thursday and was cleared to go. We met with him Saturday night and I gave him one of my White shirts and a tie. Everything was all good. Now we get to Sunday, we go to Ward Council and talk about the baptism, everyone is excited, and happy that the ward was having a baptism. So we are in Sacrament meeting and Bishop announces it and Tony isn't there. So we go over to Brother Batchkoff (WML Ward Mission Leader) and He and I go looking for him because he usually walks to church, go to his house nobody was home, call his phone and it was turned off. We go back to the church to see if we just missed him, but he still wasn't there, and we missed the sacrament. So then I teach my gospel principles lesson, and we go out to try and find him again, and one of his roommates answers the door and says that Tony's brother picked him up and was going to give him a ride to church. So we try getting a hold of him by phone again, and then a number that we had never seen before called us and it was Tony. His family cornered him and made him go with them right before he was going to leave to go to church, and they made him go to Mass with them, and then tried to Anti him to the church. After talking to him on the Phone I calmed him down and we tried to see if we could get him to another Sacrament meeting, which he didn't make it to, therefore he didn't get baptized, but we were able to have a lesson with him. Then Our Zone Leaders chewed us out and said "get his butt down to the church and get him baptized" and "Just Baptize him today" and so on. I refused to do either because it was contrary to mission rules, and they would not leave me alone about it. It really irritated me, because I did everything I could to make it happen and they wanted me to do it anyway for the number for the month of April. It isn't about the number it is about the people! 

Tony is set to be baptized next week, he talked to his family and figured things out.

That's it for now

Elder Bangerter

Week 40--April 21, 2014

Well another week has come and gone. It seems like time keeps moving faster and faster, and It's hard to keep track of, but I guess that is how it goes sometimes.

Things here are going very well, Tony is going to get baptized this weekend so it is exciting for us and for the ward! He asked me to be the one who baptizes him, I am very humbled that he asked me to do that for him. This past week was an emotional roller coaster with Tony, he didn't come to church yesterday and he left us a voice mail on our phone that was 5 minutes long and it wasn't very clear, but he sounded like he was dropping us. So I called him back and talked to him and listened to him, and I am glad that I did, and because I did listen I was able to resolve his concerns and help him progress. He said that he feels guilty that he didn't come to church and that he relapsed drinking on Saturday, and he thought that we would be mad because of those things, and then he feels like crap because he comes to church in tattered clothes and he feels dirty and like he doesn't belong in the church, because of it. I told him "Tony, we are here to help you, not to get mad at you, yes we are disappointed, but we love you and are here to help you, and we are going to take it one day at a time, and concentrate on one day." I then asked him how he feels when he is at the church in the building, and he said that it was the best feeling in the world. I told him that that is the spirit and it is telling him that he does belong in the church, and it doesn't matter what you wear to church that matters, it is that you are there. I then told him that I would give him one of my white shirts and a tie to wear to church. 

It was a crazy experience and I am glad that I was able to be a part of it. I think I am probably going to be nervous until Tony steps into the water to be baptized. Satan is going to be working so hard against him this week, and I am going to be praying so hard for him this week.

Well besides that we have a few other people we are teaching, one of which is still Kenny J. Kenny has started to progress a little bit, but not a crazy lot. He had to go out to LA this weekend, so we haven't been able to see him for the past few days.

We do get to go to the Temple tomorrow, which I am excited about, I love going to the temple it is truly amazing every time we go.

I guess that is it for now

Elder Bangerter