Week 87--March 16, 2015

Well another week seems to have gone by, I'm not quite sure how it goes so fast but it does!

This week has been kind of interesting, Elder Warren has been sick again so a lot of our week has been spent inside, and at meetings that we had to go to. So needless to say we didn't get a ton accomplished this week, but that does not mean that it was a bad week! Of the time that we were able to get out we saw many miracles. One of the people that we have been teaching on and off is named Terry, Terry hasn't really been progressing because he likes to drink and to smoke. Well he was out drinking and smoking this past week and got beat up pretty bad. He told us when we saw him that he want's to stop doing those things and be baptized! It was pretty darn exciting for us!

I was reading in the scriptures this week and this scripture stood out to me. It is in Acts and it is Peter and John, Right after they are delivered from Prison, and it says: "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." (Acts 5:41) I think it is incredible the zeal that the early apostles had. I wish that I could be more like that.

Sorry this is so short,

Love Y'all

Elder Bangerter

Week 86--March 9, 2015

Well another Transfer has come and gone, and I am staying in Mira Loma with Elder Warren! I'm really excited we have a lot of work going on for us right now. Hopefully we will be able to keep it up! I have to say I Love it here in Mira Loma. The people are awesome, There is such a diversity, and it is totally different than any area that I have ever been in.

This week has been great, We found quite a few new investigators. There are two Part member Families in the ward that we have started working with, that haven't been worked with before. There is the N family, and the W family. Both families reached out to us this week and asked us to start teaching them! It is awesome! Hopefully we will be able to have some success there. Other than that, we are working with Veronica still, she is still working towards baptism in April. Lyzette has been gone all week, so we haven't been able to meet with her at all. Lots of stuff fell through towards the end of the week.

I have been reading a lot in the New Testament recently, and this week I have read several of the Epistles of Paul. While I was reading I especially liked the Epistles to Timothy. Some things that Stood out to me: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;" (1 Timothy 2:1-3) Paul Teaches us here that we should pray for all men. We should pray for our leaders whether we like them, or agree with them. I also liked this: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12) I love how Paul is teaching us to Fight the good fight! It also raises a question, Are we fighting the good fight? Are we doing those things that will let us lay hold on eternal life? Can we honestly say that we have professed a good profession before many witnesses? In the words of Alma "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" Are we doing those things to continue to grow our testimonies and deepen our testimonies? I hope that one day we may all be able to say the words of Paul "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:" I know that I am not perfect, but I know that through the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ I can say when my days are through that I have fought a good fight, and that I have kept the faith. I love what Paul teaches Timothy in 2 Timothy, This is pretty much Paul's last words before he is martyred. I love what he teaches Timothy about the Scriptures: "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

Well I love you Guys!

Elder Bangerter

Week 85--March 2, 2015

Sorry--I didn't realize that I had forgotten to actually post this on his blog! Sharon

Wow I have been in Mira Loma for 5 weeks now! It definitely does not feel that long. That means that transfers are coming up this weekend. I'm pretty sure I am going to stay put, but it is what ever Heavenly Father needs.

This week has been awesome! Elder Warren and I set a goal at the beginning of this Transfer that we were going to hit the new Standard of Excellence at least once before the end of the Transfer. We have come so close every week and we finally got it this week. We would have gotten it last week but Elder Warren was Sick so we were inside for quite a bit. It took quite a few miracles but we were able to do it this past week. It is really awesome to see that as we are diligent the Lord will bless us.

Part of the new standard of Excellence is that we have to find 3 new investigators a week. We had an awesome experience with finding this past week. So Alfredo, who just got baptized, referred us to his Girlfriend, and his nephew. So we started teaching his Girlfriend Lyzette, and at the end of the lesson I invited her to be baptized on March 28th, and she asked why I picked that day, my reply was "Because it is a Saturday." Then she asked how I knew that she could be ready by that day, and we then explained to her that as Missionaries we can receive revelation as to when people could be ready to be baptized. It was super cool. She is doing awesome. There are some things that we need to work out but She should be ready to go on the 28th.

Well I love you guys!

Elder Bangerter

Week 84--February 23, 2015

Alfredo got baptized!!!!

It was such a great experience seeing him get baptized! He is so awesome and so solid! It has been a roller coaster the past few days with him. On Friday he tells us that he want's to push his baptism back a day so his family could be there, so we had to deal with that, but we were able to help his family get there so we wouldn't have to push it back. Then on Saturday, Alfredo went to the wrong building for the baptism, so he was late, then there was nobody there when we started the service. Luckily after we started, people came in and by the time it was said and done there were a really good number of people there. The baptism ended up going really well, and Alfredo bore his testimony at the end. It was awesome! Then on Sunday Alfredo was late to sacrament meeting. So that was another stressful roller coaster ride. Everything worked out in the end and now he is a member of the Church.

We ended up having dinner with Alfredo yesterday too, His mom made Pozole, and it was super good! His whole family was there, and we ended up watching "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration" with them. It was super cool because we got to have some really good conversations with his nonmember family.

So Bishop Marcroft challenged the ward to read Alma before Ward Conference, which happened to be this week, as he was going to be speaking about it. It was a really good experience because when he talked about it, he talked mostly on probably my most favorite chapters in all of the scriptures, namely Chapters 36-42. This is Alma's record of him counseling his sons. These Chapters have always meant a lot to me because of the fact that Alma is taking time to teach his Sons one on one, and he is giving them advice. As I read these chapters they become more meaningful to me because I put myself in their shoes, and I imagine my Dad giving that advice to me. Often times I have felt like my Dad has given much similar advice to me. 

Well I love all Y'all!

Elder Bangerter

Week 83--February 16, 2015

Happy President's Day Everybody!

What a crazy week it has been. I have definitely seen many miracles this week. It's awesome how our Heavenly Father works. But to start off I got a text message on Saturday from Elder Child, and he was trying to make me trunky, the message went something like this, "150 days, 21 P-Days, 14 District meetings, 5 Zone meetings, 1 Multi-Zone conference, 2 Temple trips. We can show how many months we have left with one hand. If our mission was a marathon we would have ran 20 out of 26 miles, and If we were running at an 8 minute mile pace we would have 48 minutes left. If our mission was a football field we would be crossing the 20 yard line on the way to a Touchdown. Are you trunky yet?" It is crazy to me that I have been out for that long. It definitely does not feel like it. Luckily I am not getting Trunky yet. I really wish Time would slow down. This is already starting my 4th week in Jurupa.

So many miracles have happened this week, and it is so awesome. Perhaps the biggest miracle this past week is that Kassie got Baptized in Corona! It was so Awesome to go back and to watch that happen. It is definitely a testimony to me of the power of member missionary work. My last week in Corona, Jordan T returned home from his mission, and at his homecoming he blew off all of his family to come talk to any investigators that we had at church, that day Kassie was the only one there. Apparently over the past few weeks Jordan has gone with Elder Wesche and Kelley to go teach her, and she finally committed to be baptized. It was awesome to go to that Baptism and to see that happen, It definitely strengthened my testimony of why I am out serving a mission. It was awesome! 

Our week was crazy busy. We have had meetings everyday, but we were still able to get a lot of work done. We hit the Standard of Excellence in every category except for finding this week. I know that as we continue to be diligent we will be able to achieve our goals.

Alfredo had to push his Baptism back to this weekend because of various family problems, so He will be getting Baptized this Saturday.

Well things are going great here!

I love all of Y'all!

Elder Bangerter

Week 82--February 9, 2015

Hey Everyone!

Jurupa is awesome! I absolutely love it here! Things are going great! We had a great week and got a lot of work done. 

Elder Warren and I set a goal for ourselves that we would hit the Standard of Excellence at least once before the end of the Transfer, and we came so close this week but just barely missed it. It really came down to things that we could not completely control. So we did all that we could do, and just missed it. We saw a lot of Miracles, and some not-so-miracles, but I guess that everything has to have an opposite. Alfredo is still on track to be baptized this weekend, and he is doing great! It is amazing how much the gospel has changed his life. He referred his Mom to the spanish missionaries, and she got baptized on Sunday. He referred his sister to the missionaries in Eastvale, and her whole family is getting baptized with Alfredo on Sunday. It is incredible the power of the gospel, and how it effects families. I wish that every investigator that I have ever had would share the gospel with their friends like that. President Mullen has been harping on the whole mission to ask their investigators for referrals, and now I definitely see why! It is exciting! Things are going well with Veronica, she came to church this week and she is keeping her commitments. Unfortunately she is not progressing quite how we would like. Maybe the Lord has something else in mind!

I've been studying in the New Testament a lot recently and this scripture has stuck out to me. It is in Romans 5:19 "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners,so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." That really stuck out to me, because it shows that if we are obedient and keep the commandments like we know we should then we can influence many to good and to be Righteous.

Well I love you guys,

Elder Bangerter

Week 81-February 2, 2015

Well a week has come and gone here in Mira Loma. Mira Loma is definitely a lot different than Corona, or any of the other area's that I have been in. Most of our area is fairly rural compared to the rest of the mission. There are lots of Horses and lots of Dogs everywhere. We have 6 Horses in our backyard! It is so crazy!

So This week has been really good! We had a lot of really good lessons. Our teaching pool is pretty good sized so that is nice! We are teaching a man named Alfredo, He is awesome! He is on date to be baptized on February 15th. He is awesome, and very converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, he has been through a lot and has struggled quite a bit with several things, but he is making the changes necessary to change his life. We are also teaching a lady named Veronica, she also has been through a lot in her life, she has been involved with drugs, and the wrong crowd of people, then her husband was killed by a drunk driver, and since then she has been striving to turn her life around. She doesn't quite have a testimony yet, but she loves the church and going to it. She is going to eventually be baptized. Other People we are teaching, are Freddy, Morgan, JD, and quite a few more. They are all in the beginning stages.

So I have never been chased by a Dog on my mission until Saturday, then I got chased by 5 German Shepherds. Not too fun, but luckily I didn't get bit. There are so many dogs out here and really the only thing that you can do is kick them and hope they run away. 

Monday it rained pretty hard, and I crashed on my bike and ended up breaking my axle, but luckily our Ward mission Leader works on bikes and he was able to get it fixed.

Well that has been our Crazy week. Elder Warren and I are doing great! Elder Warren is awesome and I enjoy being with him. He is still super green and he is a work horse. He is a little bit nervous and doesn't quite know what to do in some situations, but he is new and this is his first time taking over the area so it doesn't surprise me.

Well I love all of you guys,

Elder Bangerter