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