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 11

Dang there's been some big changes to the family communication!!!! Pretty crazy.

It's been a good week! Today was the highlight though, we got to go to the temple!!! Pretty awesome. I also bought The Saints book for 60 pesos, plus some other things to study, so that was nice.

One of our investigators that we go see every Friday, his name is brother Marcos and also his son Mark, they always have deeep questions. So it turns out that we moved a little fast and they just were piled with a lot of stuff and didn't get very good roots or understanding of the basics. But we work with it now and we always try and answer their questions as best we can. Something to learn from this experience for sure; start with the basics, they shouldn't be asking about Kolob yet. They're super awesome though, brother Marcos already read the whole Book of Mormon. They will be strong members when they are baptized. It's nice because they help show me what I need to work on.

 Something I studied this week was in 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. There's a lot of good things about being ministers of God. Then in D&C 121:34-46 about priesthood power. Some food for the SOUL right there. Everyone who holds the Priesthood should study and ponder these two sections of scriptures. Being worthy for it's power and to enter the Temple should be a priority in everyone's life. Study that then President Nelson's talk from back in April 2016 "The Price of Priesthood Power" and dang, what a spiritual FEAST.

I can't think of anything too cool or funny or nasty that happened this week... just trying to do all I can. There's a lottt of people that haven't received the gospel yet, so there's a lottt of work to do. Plus the last days are at and, so we gotta HASTEN THIS WORK. Get that sense of urgency burning within. The church is true and we have a Prophet and Apostles on the earth To-Day. I know that if we follow their teachings and the gospel of Jesus Christ we will receive MANY blessings not only in this life but throughout our eternal progression. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Enjoy the cold to all those back home!

Elder Banister 2

(I also cooked adobo)