Week 15

It's been a good week here in the Philippines. Like I always say, there's plenty of people to teach here, but the trick is finding someone that will listen. Not a lot do that, but it's alright. I won't break the Lord's trust in me by giving up from a couple of measly trials. That's not an option. And it shouldn't be for anyone that believes in Christ and the Plan of Salvation. Just give yourself to the Lord so He can make you into the best you can be. He actually has a plan and He knows each and every one of us. It's such a strength in my life as I've come to more deeply understand that and be more converted. And I know it can help everyone who understands it also. Boom, Knowledge.  

On another note, one of the lessons we learned in our apartment was pretty cool. It has to do with all these beautiful young women that just seem to be everywhere we turn. We got on the subject just talking at the apartment and it was actually a helpful realization. Here on the mission is a HUGE time of growing and service and it shouldn't be spent day dreaming about sisters. Sure, the mission is a time to prepare for marriage and stuff like that, but it's not to find an eternal companion, haha. So the whole discussion can be summed up with 5 words; BECOME THE MAN SHE DESERVES. Dang, that belongs on a fridge magnet for missionaries. I should really start charging money to read these emails because they are just GOLD. Joke lang, hopefully someone gets something out of these things though.

But I really am teaching over here, not just learning. The Gospel is true and that's what we try and help people learn and live. Right now though, a lot of the focus for us is helping people endure to the end, aka we teach a lot of less active members. Two of them went to church this past week for ward conference and it was a tender mercy because none of our investigators came. I was disappointed, but when I saw them both, it was the Lord saying "it's alright, I know the things you're doing and you are making a difference". That was helpful to me and kind of the "pat on the back" I needed.

Anyways, I know I promised some pictures and stories last week, but it turns out I have a terrible memory and forgot my camera again, so whoops, my bad. Maybe next week I'll remember. Or (in the voice of Nacho Libre) "maybe in the next life". Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.

Elder Banister 2

Week 14

I met my new companion on Thursday. His name is Elder Balajadia, he's been out in the field for a little over a year. This is his fourth area. He's pretty awesome so far, I think we're going to be doing some WORK this transfer. It's gonna be GREAT.

Our investigators are doing pretty good. Brother Marcos and his son Mark are still being taught. Mark is basically fluent in English and knows a lot about... a lot of different things actually. We want to teach Brother Marcos mostly because he's the one putting in the work to find out the truth. Brother Marcos is putting in the work; he read the Book of Mormon, he's reading it again and the Doctrine and Covenants at the same time, and he's come to church a few times. Mark on the other hand likes to debate and his questions aren't sincere at all. We got a little deeper into the Plan of salvation and the agency before this life to follow Satan or Jesus. He basically tried to get us to say that "Satan's plan was better because then everyone would be saved" and couldn't see how Heavenly Father's plan is perfect.  I almost had an Alma 11:23 moment with him, but I kept my cool. The spirit isn't going to force him to believe, but I can't wait for the day when he just get's SMACKED with some spiritual power. 

Back to these safety zone videos though!!! I watched this one about electrical safety and realized some SERIOUS protection that I've received. So rewind way back to first transfer on one of the days Elder Canaya was sick. I was just doing some "treasure hunting" in our apartment and was looking through these drawers. And what do you know, I strike GOLD. There was Christmas lights in there!!! So you know, I take it out, untangle it all. There's two strands and they look pretty alright. I plug in the first one and it kind of lights up, then I look near the plug and it's like sizzling. I unplug that bad boy real quick, thank goodness. But you know me, one hint wasn't enough, I still plug in the other one. This time right as I plug it in and my hand is STILL ON IT there's a loud "pop", almost like a firecracker. The wire just basically had a mini explosion and it scared the crap out of me. the wire and the plug were disconnected now and just the plug was in the socket. That little wire couldn't handle the 220 Philippines voltage haha. Yeah, I got the picture now, not gonna mess with any Christmas light any more. Missionaries are protected, I'm glad that the Lord is patient with me when I don't use my common sense. Back to searching through the drawers. The cherry on top is I found an adapter in the same drawer, so yeah, that's when my head finally processed what I had just done hahaha. Dang, it's cool to look back and laugh at how STUPID I was even just a few months ago. I'm glad we have things we learn from every day in this life. 

Thank you all for your prayers and goodness. And I forgot my camera, but I'll give a sneak peak for next week. Way back when I had the cleaning test of the bathroom, and was victorious. Well, there's an upstairs too, so there's something to look forward to. Love you all and hope you're doing good!

Elder Banister 2

Week 13

Hello to everyone where ever you are. I almost ran out of time to write this because of these "safety zone" videos. They kind of suck you in. Kind of reminds me of my relationship with Netflix before leaving to serve. Not very "healthy" I guess you could say. But now it's for the Mission so I'll watch as many as I can. 

This week was a bitter sweet end to the transfer. (Dang, I should write poetry with this sappy stuff.) We said goodbye to Elder Santillian yesterday as he was going home. I learned a lot from him and know that he had a good time serving his mission. He'll be missed for sure. On the bright side he was my first kill in the mission, so that's nice. (meaning I was his last companion before he goes home). Boom, the glass is half full.

Out long time investigator Brother Marcos came to church for the second time to see Elder Santillian off, so that was awesome. We continue to teach him every week and he's super awesome. Him and his wife May taught us how to make bilo-bilo the other day. It's my FAVORITE dessert so far here in the Philippines, and now I know how to make it so...... bilo-bilo blessings I guess you could say.

Yesterday and today I've been trying to prepare the apartment for my new companion. LOTS of cleaning. The apartment was a MESS when I got there and that was terrible. The least I can do is make it better for my next companion when he comes. Isn't that what we all should do? Learning from our experiences isn't that hard, but applying it is sometimes more difficult. Anyways, there's some elder Banister wisdom for you all.

The less actives that we are teaching are starting to warm up to us and it's nice. The members play a big role in that too. read 3 Nephi 18:32 to make sure you're helping them out like you should haha.

I hope everyone is doing good and thank you all for your prayers. They aren't being wasted, that is for sure.

Elder Banister 2

Week 10

My favorite picture so far was taken this week. FEAST YOUR EYES.

Hello from the Philippines!
This week has been good, I feel good and the heat is being slowly cranked up. We had interviews and trainer trainee meeting this week. Good stuff, I learned a lot. We've been focusing a lot on less active members trying to help them receive more blessings from remaining faithful. We keep pressing forward though.  Another "wonderful" cleaning opportunity arose this week. More like 3 weeks in the making. Do you all know what happens when you leave your extra rice in the pot on the counter for a couple days? Not much, smells a bit, that's about it. But 3 WEEKS will make a world of difference. The smell was getting bad about 1 week in, so I covered the little hole in the lid. Problem solved! But a couple weeks in, there was more problems. There was a moldy rainbow, flies all over trapped inside, little maggots crawling around inside... yeah, that's what happens after 3 weeks of sitting on the counter. So glad I know that. That was definitely something I needed to know for my salvation. And the SMELL when I took off that lid. WOW ! ! ! ! ! Truly blessed to have had this opportunity. And of course the rice didn't just fall out, I had to scrape through the smell, the maggots, and mold, with a spoon, biting my tongue so I wouldn't start murmuring. Anyways, there's a few lessons to learn. One is that if there's a problem or sin in our life it's much easier to take care of it now before it grows into a bigger and more disgusting burden in the future. Another thing that I kind of already knew but was reaffirmed was that when you are a man, you're going to have to do things you don't want to do. Anyways, this week was good. Thank you all for your prayers. I didn't take any pictures of the rice because I didn't want to risk my camera getting ruined. Hope you all have a good week and for those back home, enjoy the cold!
Elder Banister 2

Week 9

We also got to go biking again!

Everything is good in the Philippines 
This week has been pretty good, we've been able to work with bishop to show us where some less active members are. Yeah, turns out I really don't know the area very well haha. It's nice to have the support of the ward. I got some letters this week that made me pretty happy. One of them was from the McMurdie's and the other was from Tom Jenson. That was awesome. 

Some things that made it a good week was yesterday while we were out by the creek side we were talking to some kids. Then one of them said that I look like Batman! I was like "That's Rightttt, Yes I do!" It's funny though, some of the kids call me "daddy" in their Filipino accent so now my nickname is "Daddy Banny". 

Now I have to take some time to Brag about my Mom. So I'm ashamed to show you a picture of the bathroom we used for a whole transfer without cleaning, but it's vital to the bragging time. Most all of the missionaries have ZERO idea how to clean, the poor elders. I decided that since I'm most likely gonna be here for 2 more transfers, I'm gonna start taking care of my house. If I ever find myself not wanting to clean something, I ask myself one of 3 things; 1- do you have anything better to do? 2- what would mom do? or 3- do you want to impress your future wife when you're married? (if 1 and 2 don't work, 3 always does). So basically I manned up and used what my momma taught me to clean that beast. It's sooo much better now.

I'm finally feeling a little sick. It's about time, I was starting to think it would never happen. "it's the beeesssttt, I love it" (Nacho Libre voice). In the words of Elder Uchtdorf, "Trials show us what we are made of". So I guess you could say I'm finding out what I'm made of. Anyways, things are good, I hope everyone is safe. Mahal ko kayo. Here's some pics, don't judge

Before

After some repentance and bleach

Week 5

Hi Mom
It's been a good week. 2 hour church was weird, but I liked it of course. We were able to have some of our investigators come and that was cool. We taught some kids this week: Kevin, JR, Jan-Jan, Krika, and Rosalin. It was pretty fun to teach them. They live by the creek in houses smaller than a bedroom but they're all happy people. I kind of wish we could go live there to see what it's like, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let us. But it's alright. I got your packages too, Elder Canaya was super happy. We get along great, I've been lucky so far in the mission with Companions. I ate the "Wunder Bar" that dad sent and wish I had more haha. Tell Tayla thanks for all her bracelets too. I'll have to save all the Christmas stuff for next year though. I don't know what to say about the food, it's pretty good. Lots of rice for sure. I ate chicken feet for the first time this week, that was new. There's also this soup stuff that's basically vinegar and lime juice too that I drink at this place we like to eat. It's super gross and I just chug it fast so I can get it over with. It's cool that you get to speak in stake conference, I'm sure you'll give an amazing talk. I don't know what to say about gathering Israel. Just that it's happening now and it's something everyone can be a part of. Hopefully you can see the pictures now, if not then I'll have to put them on a different drive and you can just log into that drive. We went biking today as a district and it was fun to bike again. Hopefully everything at home is good, I miss and love you all. 

Elder Banister 2

Week 2

Well I'm not dead yet. The field is a lot different for sure. Out of the little mtc bubble. I'm in marikina city, in the sumulong 1st ward. You should see the way people drive here. It's basically a free for all and there's always scooters or dirt bikes whizzing by. I'm already getting used to it though. Not as stressed about getting hit. The food is good too. I took a bunch of pictures but left my USB cord at the apartment so I'll have to send them next week. The area is all city, we teach usually along this creek where most the people in our area live. Tagalog is still coming slowly. Everyone looks at me weird and I wish I could just go off on them in Tagalog sometimes. The apartment isn't too bad, I've only killed 1 full size cockroach so far. And apparently there's no big spiders here in the city so that sucks. The ward is super nice and welcoming. I got to bear my testimony to them Sunday. I have to play the violin again for the Christmas concert. I've used this skill way more than I thought I would already. I also might get to baptize my first convert on Saturday if all goes as planned. Her name is Diana. She's 21 and wants to serve a mission also. Some exciting things already and it hasn't even been a week. Hope Christmas is good back home. Enjoy the cold, I never knew how lucky we are. Enjoy your hot showers too.
Elder Banister 2

Dang I almost forgot!!!!! I ate Balot at the mtc on the last day!!! What a snack, let me tell you. It was sooo good that my body didn't want me to swallow it!!! I had to force it down with this vinegar onion stuff that goes with it and some water. YUM am I right?! Anyways, I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you. Also can you send some recipes. like cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, rolls, bread, anything you think I could make in a box oven.I'm gonna make one maybe today. Love you