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