Week 35--March 17, 2014

**He put the subject of his email as "Multi-Zones, Hospital visits, Earthquakes, and More"  That certainly sums it up!**

 

This week has been quite the week,

Monday P-Day: Not too much happened, but enjoyed E-Mailing with people.

Tuesday: We were out talking to people and we stopped by a Less active family, the Richcreeks, turns out that Brother Richcreek had just been sent to the hospital for pneumonia, and so forth.

Thursday: We had Our Multi-Zone Conference with President Smart, It was very good and we were able to receive a lot of personal revelation. Then we ended up spending the rest of the evening at the hospital with a Recent convert and her son with downs syndrome. He is an awesome kid, and I have grown to love him, we gave him a blessing and within an hour he started improving drastically.

This morning there was an earthquake, I felt it at about 6:20 and it woke me up but it didn't do anything else.

Anyways sorry this is short.

Elder Bangerter

Week 34--March 10, 2014

Friends and family,

It has been a very good week in Moreno Valley, We got a lot of stuff done and that was good. We were one statistic away from achieving the Standard of Excellence this week and that was investigators at church, but we were able to teach lots of lessons this week which was very good!

This week was an interesting week too, Our bikes almost got stolen, my lock stopped working last week so we were using my companion's Lock, so at some point, we aren't sure when someone tried to take bolt cutters to his lock to steal our bikes, but fortunately they weren't able to cut the lock. I did find out that there was no warranty on my lock so I had to buy a new one, and since then I haven't had any problems.

This week we did have a lot of lessons, which was great! President Smart asked all the wards to have a missionary dinner calender coordinator who calls less actives and try's to get them on our calender to feed us and this is the first week it really went into effect, so we were able to work with a lot of less active and Part member Families. It was great.

This up coming week we have Multi-Zone Conferences with President Smart, I am very excited for that! They are always good!

So We were at a member's house this week, the O'Connor family, and Sister O'Connor showed us a new Mormon Message that really touched me and Tugged on my Heart strings. It was about Bullying, it really hit me hard because of all the bullying that I saw in High School, and the fact that I found out from my dad that my high school made national news because of Cyber-bullying. I think that it is an amazing message and it can be applied to any, and everyone.

here is the video. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3267475157001

On another note I have been reading a lot of talks recently and this quote stuck out to me from one of them.

"There are many others who, for different reasons, find themselves waiting on the road to Damascus. . . They remain waiting for the Christ to be given to them like a magnificent Carl Bloch painting—to remove once and for all their doubts and fears.

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." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf Waiting on the Road to Damascus

I really do like that quote because a lot of people, weather they are members of the church or not, are waiting for some huge event like Joseph Smith's first vision, or Saul seeing the savior on the Road to Damascus, to convert them to the Gospel. Conversion is a life-time process, I am constantly learning more about the gospel. Too many people want some huge conversion, when in reality every conversion is through the spirit, whether big or small it doesn't matter. Most conversions are small, and gradual, the spirit whispers softly and speaks through our feelings, you just have to listen and pay attention for the soft feelings of the spirit. I may not know everything but one thing that I do know is that Jesus Christ Lives, he loves each and EVERY one of us. I know that through his sacrifice we can be with those that we love, our families, forever with him in the Presence of God. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the gospel, My second companion Elder Reed told me to share the thing that I love the most about the gospel with people, and bear testimony of that, and that is what will help the conversion of others. What I love the most about the gospel is I can be with My family Forever, I know it is true, I want everyone to feel that joy.

I am spending 2 years away from my family, so others can spend eternity with theirs.

I love all of you

Elder Bangerter

Week 33--March 3, 2014

Friends and family,

It was quite the week here in Moreno Valley. We got Rain, and More Rain, and then when we thought that the rain was over we got some more Rain. A month ago Southern California we had a fast for rain, and now a month later we got it. A Lot of it!

In other exciting news Elder Mulcahy and I finally have someone on date to be baptized, Kenny, he is the brother of a member in our ward and he is living with his brother for the time being. So we have been teaching him and he has been to church twice now, and he is currently on date to be baptized for March 29th. We had been praying and fasting for someone to teach that would be prepared for the gospel. Kenny was our answer.

The other Big thing that happened this week is Elder Mulcahy (Mole-Kay-Hee) got sick this week and was out of commission for a few days, and the day that he got better was the day that it rained the Hardest, when we were riding that day I don't know if I had been more soaked in my life we literally had to ride through a river.

Well I hope everyone is doing well,

Elder Bangerter 

Week 32--February 24, 2014

Today marks the beginning of my 6th transfer, Wow it is crazy to think that I have been serving for 32 weeks (2 weeks in the MTC). And President Smart threw me for a loop this transfer...Absolutely nothing changed for me, I get to stay with a companion for more than six weeks, I don't have to change area's I just get to focus on the Work!

Well as I indicated in my last e-mail I was Incredibly sick, but now I feel a Ton better. I am glad that I do because being sick is just not that fun, especially as a missionary. It sucks having to be in bed all day when you could be teaching people about the gospel.

This past week has definitely been an interesting one, we had a few dinner appointments cancel on us. We have basically had to drop all of our investigators and start over, But for every Down there is an Up! The past week I have had some of the best meals that I have had on my mission, we had Halibut and smoked salmon, Freshly butchered ribs, and more ribs that would just fall off the bone, a family in our ward took us to one of the best Chinese restaurants that I have ever been to! Then we picked up some super solid new investigators, and it is great. I have come to know that when we are doing what the lord is asking of us, things may get hard but there will ALWAYS be Blessings.

I hope all is well with everyone at home,

I love y'all

Elder Bangerter

Week 31--February 17, 2014

Sorry guys!  I just realized that I didn't add Andrew's letter from last week.  Here it is.  We're still waiting for this week's letter.  I'll add it when it comes.
Sharon

Well This has definitely been one Adventure of a week. An unexpected adventure.... to the Doctor's Office.

I guess that I should explain that a little. On Tuesday my throat started to hurt, and I didn't think much of it. Then on Wednesday I woke up and I just felt so sick that I couldn't move. My throat hurt like heck, my head was spinning, my body felt really weak, and me being a good missionary decided we should go to District Meeting anyway. So we Did and the whole time I felt like I was going to pass out, and then when I tried drinking some water I threw up. So the mission nurse happened to be there and she told me I needed to go home and go to bed and rest, or go to the Doctor. So I decided that I would go home and rest it out. So for the rest of the day I was in bed. Then the next day when I felt the same way, they sent me to Urgent care. So we get to this Urgent care facility and it is in a beat up, run-down, abandoned strip mall, and it has paint in the windows offering DNA Screening, DOT Physicals, Any-Age Circumcision, and so forth. So we go in and wait for two hours before I was seen by anyone, then I go in and the guy talks to me about my symptoms, and he doesn't screen me for anything, and then says well you have 3 out of 4 symptoms for strep, then I think you have migraines (I have never had a migraine in my life). So he wrote me four prescriptions and didn't diagnose me with anything. So I filled the prescription for strep, and that seems to be working. But that about did it for my week.

I hope everyones week has been good

Elder Bangerter

Week 30--February 10, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been another good week, we were moved into an apartment on Saturday, It's a big apartment and we have lots of space so that is good, but we had to move in the middle of a transfer so that wasn't so good. And with such we have a new address. As always anybody can send letters or any mail to me through the mission office address, which is:

5900 Grand Ave.

Riverside, CA 92504

Or you can ask my mom or my dad for my address and write me there.

We finally got one of our investigators to church this Sunday, His name is J.S. Ross. He is great, and he has more Fellowship in the ward than any investigator that I have ever seen. I also spoke in sacrament meeting on Sunday and that went well. This week we had Exchanges with our Zone Leaders, those went very well and it was a good day, I was with Elder Blanchard for the day, in Hidden Springs, We had a really successful day, and we had some really good lessons, we also Ran into a basher that can't believe the Book of Mormon is true, because nobody can archaeologically prove that it is true. It just showed me the fact that if people want to find a reason not to believe the Book of Mormon, they will find a reason. But conversion isn't by Logic it is by the Spirit. Jesus Said to Peter: "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." and with the Book of Mormon we must take on Moroni's Challenge: "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things,if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." If any of you doubt the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, ask our Father in Heaven if it is true and he will manifest to you through the spirit that it is true.

"Doubt your Doubts before you doubt your faith!" -Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

Love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 29--February 3, 2014

Wow another week is over and it has been a crazy one. It has been quite the week.

Monday- P-Day Hiked to the top of box springs mountain. Then sat around at the house most the day because the Missionaries with cars all went to riverside to pick up new cars and get current ones inspected. So nobody was around to take us shopping until 5pm.

Tuesday- We went to the Temple. It was very good and much needed. It is always good to go to the temple. We got home and then went to dinner and then nobody would open any doors in the evening.

Wednesday-We had district meeting, and that was a good meeting, but it was another meeting that we had to go to this week and it was obnoxious. Wednesday was our really good day as far as lessons and investigators go. We picked up two new, very promising investigators. First We picked up J.S., he is an awesome man, He is 78 years young, black, and everybody in Moreno Valley knows who he is. We were referred to him by his neighbors and our lesson with him went great. He is reading the Book of Mormon and he Loves it. Our other new investigator is Gilbert H, He is great, he is a Dish Network installation man and he has 3 kids under the age of 5. He is awesome, he so far is keeping his commitments and he is willing to be baptized, the only thing is that he works every Sunday, so we are working with that.

The rest of the week was filled with meetings and nobody letting us in and it wasn't fun. Then Sam, our most promising investigator dropped us and it was sad. That's okay though because it is all going to work out.

Hopefully this week we don't have meetings everyday,

I hope everybody is doing well this week

Elder Bangerter

He included some pictures this week.  :-)