Week 46

Hello from the Philippines!!!

     Good news, the battle with Dengue is over for me!!! Won that battle fighting on my feet, I was very blessed with how that all turned out, some of the others that have gotten Dengue have had a real rough time. But I'm alright now, so thank you all for the love and prayers.

     This week has been a pretty good one, but I want to talk about some things I learned in conference, just what I picked up and some of my thoughts jumbled together and not really remembering who said what... BUT here we go!!! 

     One of my favorite things I heard is about how we need to prioritize the Gospel in our lives. It's been said many times, but an eternal perspective is so important to have. When we look at Heavenly Father's plan for us and what our purpose is here on earth, what could be more important than being faithful to the gospel and our covenants? I think if we truly understood what is in store for us if we do this, we would gladly follow. Of course, we are walking by faith right now, and that's not an easy thing to do. There has to be tremendous trust in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Guidance of the Spirit. We have to do things that nourish us, not just fill us. We have to always be on the watch for the constant attacks of the adversary. We have to bury our weapons of rebellion deep in the ground and not leave the handle sticking out. We must listen to the counsel of goodly parents, pointing us to Christ. We WILL find lasting joy in doing this. I don't know if anyone read the talk I sent a couple months ago, about Joy (hopefully someone did...), but it was quoted multiple times this conference. I know as we live the Gospel, focusing on Jesus Christ our Saviour, we will receive more joy than we can imagine. The promises are true, the question is, are you? Dang, just  came up with that, nobody steal it. But anyways, I just wanted to share what I learned, and guaranteed more to come.

     Thank you all for the love and support. I really am grateful to know that there are so many people in many different places giving their love and prayers to me. It's a great motivation to me, especially on the hard days. Until next week!

   Elder Banister

I only have one picture this week, and it is of my MTC companion the legendary Elder Briggs, whom I love and am lucky that he is my kabahay. 

Week 45

Here we are again!!!

     It's been quite a long week, let me tell you. That's what happens when you get bit by a little mosquito with Dengue. But since my "platelet" is still high (because I've been hydrated) I've still been able to walk and work, so that's been good. Gonna take a little more than a mosquito to take down Elder Banister. Definitely wouldn't recommend getting Dengue though. 

     General Conference was super awesome, one theme that stuck out to me was trusting in the Lord. That's a hard thing to do sometimes, especially in the world we live in. I'll have more to say about Conference next week after I re-watch it, I didn't retain a whole lot because it was a little hard to focus and listen. For now I have some pictures of our district activity! We went to the Daranak Falls, here in Tanay. That's all for this week! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, I'm grateful for all the support. Pray for the people of Tanay, we're trying to get the area going and every prayer helps. 

     Elder Banister