Friday, July 10, 2009
July 10th 2009 Keith First E-mail
Hey family I finally got my email account set up! I am very excited to get to correspond with you on email. My Preparation day is on Saturday so that is when I will be sending emails. Please make your emails to me short, as my time is limited, and I will get dear elder stuff faster anyway. In answer to Angie's questions: I am in a great district, we have twelve elders, and they are all great! I am in the Joseph Standing Building, 13M. La comedia de el CCM es muy bueno. However it is a little bit heavy, I may finally gain weight for the first time in my life. Believe it or not I have not been hit very hard by home sickness, I still miss you guys but I am doing fine, I know that is due to all of your prayers in my behalf. Thank you Ben for you words of encouragement, and in answer to your question we do still play four square, I find it very fun. I thought it was so kind of you to take the time to write me with all you have going on. Good luck with your last semester, I know you can do it, especially with the help of the spirit. If you will pray every time before you study, you will receive Divine help in your studies. I am doing pretty well with Spanish, the TALL Program is great! I have learned a lot with it. I did understand most of what Ben wrote to me in his letter, and I am excited to read it again latter and see how much I have improved. I have been told only to compare with my self on Wednesdays, it works!Jennifer thank you for telling me how you are doing! It is fun to hear about all of your stories! Dad and Mom, I love getting your dear Elder letters!!! They are great! Thank you for your words from sister Kreutz's lesson, they really helped me out. I was very happy to receive an email from Marcie! I am sorry that we didn't really have a real good bye on the phone, and that I was so grateful to Jared that I got to see the Sawtooth Relay DVD! I loved it. Angie I am glad that your pregnancy is going well, and I wish you the best of luck. I wanted to tell you guys about my teaching experiences so far. The first lesson my companion and I got to teach, we only had 20 minutes to prepare, unfortunately our investigator (really a teacher who evaluates your teaching) was yawing a lot and half falling asleep during our lesson. So we felt we had room for improvement. On Tuesday we had another teaching appointment, this time with two young ladies, who were volunteers from BYU. We talked to them in Spanish for 10 minutes to get to know them, they were playing the part of two sisters who knew that God and Jesus Christ existed but were not so sure he really cared about them, they had recently lost their brother to a car accident. The lesson went a lot better than the first, our teacher collected their comments, and gave them to us, this is what they said: "We felt the spirit throughout the lesson, the Elders were like conduits of the spirit. They were very sincere and humble, you could feel how deeply they believed their words. They had an honesty about them. When they started tying in our situation with what they were teaching, trying to help us, is when the spirit became overwhelmingly strong. They did a good job splitting up the lesson." Both of the girls were nearly brought to tears by the spirit at one point in the lesson. I was very grateful for the Spirit. Well my time is just about up, I love you, keep up the prayers, and words of encouragement. I love every word that you feel inclined to send me!!! Let the spirit into your lives, so you can be blessed. Love,Elder Banner (Keith).
July 4th Letter
Dear Mom and Dad July 4, 2009
My P-Day is Friday, this week we have a pseudo p-day today on Saturday.
There has been a lot going on and we are being tested. We have daily challenges that we must overcome.
I have thought a lot about the significance today holds for all missionaries. Today we celebrate our independence and we should be turning our gaze heaven word. Without this great nation and our freedom, this faith could not have blossomed and grown as it has. I am extremely grateful.
In my last letter I accidently left out the name of one of my roommates. Elder Eversole from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Elder Elg, my companion lived in Boise and his mom would like to get in contact with you.
I have heard that the spirit is very evident here, but so is the power of the adversary. This is very true it matters only what spirit you choose to tune into. Yesterday, we had a very amazing experience. In class Hermana Pena Aflora, wanted us to see what our investigators need to learn to be truly converted. She asked us to share our conversion stories the first few were not all that spectacular, but then Elder Patton stood up. Elder Patton is our gentle giant and he has a good heart. He stood and spoke of how when he was young he was very small and got picked on a lot. I know exactly how he felt, but my home life was better. He never felt very loved, he felt that no one could love him. He believed in God and Jesus Christ but did not feel they cared about him personally. He was a member his entire life. His parents got divorced and he and his mom moved to Oregon. He told us that moving to Oregon changed his life, he finally had friends. He said that there he got his first real girlfriend. He told her about all of the things that he felt made him a bad person, and he was afraid that she would leave him, but she didn’t for the first time in his life he finally felt loved by someone. Through this he finally was able to learn that God and Jesus Christ loved him, that they could love him. He became truly converted. He l=wanted to tell others that God loved them toll so he came on a mission. He said that he had become a bit discouraged again in; the MTC. He and myself, and some of the other elders were in tears by this time, and I know I had to help him. This entire day was very spiritual. Me, my companion , and Elder Patton’s companion gave Elder Patton a blessing that night. I told him after the blessing that we loved him and that he had been place in our path for a reason. I told him that he brought the spirit and touched my heat personally. I have been praying for him in my personal prayers. I am glad that I have parents that thought me that God loves me. Thank You. The Spirit of God was very evident in that meeting. Unfortunately I cannot say everyone has had the same great thing happen to them today.
Elder Danesh, he is from Gianna, in South America, had a hard time. He has had a bigger challenge that most of us. He has no Spanish experience and never really felt part on the district. During a meeting with his companion and our district leader got up and left, no one knew where he went. Our whole district went looking for him. He was found and we left two missionaries to watch him, he did not want to talk to anyone. He met whit our branch president and I have not seen him since. I do not how what his gate will be, but I wish I had reached out more, and I hope we get a second chance.
I don’t mean to be negative and I am truly becoming a better person each day, and I am enjoying my time here. I love you and pray for you. Elder Keith Banner
My P-Day is Friday, this week we have a pseudo p-day today on Saturday.
There has been a lot going on and we are being tested. We have daily challenges that we must overcome.
I have thought a lot about the significance today holds for all missionaries. Today we celebrate our independence and we should be turning our gaze heaven word. Without this great nation and our freedom, this faith could not have blossomed and grown as it has. I am extremely grateful.
In my last letter I accidently left out the name of one of my roommates. Elder Eversole from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Elder Elg, my companion lived in Boise and his mom would like to get in contact with you.
I have heard that the spirit is very evident here, but so is the power of the adversary. This is very true it matters only what spirit you choose to tune into. Yesterday, we had a very amazing experience. In class Hermana Pena Aflora, wanted us to see what our investigators need to learn to be truly converted. She asked us to share our conversion stories the first few were not all that spectacular, but then Elder Patton stood up. Elder Patton is our gentle giant and he has a good heart. He stood and spoke of how when he was young he was very small and got picked on a lot. I know exactly how he felt, but my home life was better. He never felt very loved, he felt that no one could love him. He believed in God and Jesus Christ but did not feel they cared about him personally. He was a member his entire life. His parents got divorced and he and his mom moved to Oregon. He told us that moving to Oregon changed his life, he finally had friends. He said that there he got his first real girlfriend. He told her about all of the things that he felt made him a bad person, and he was afraid that she would leave him, but she didn’t for the first time in his life he finally felt loved by someone. Through this he finally was able to learn that God and Jesus Christ loved him, that they could love him. He became truly converted. He l=wanted to tell others that God loved them toll so he came on a mission. He said that he had become a bit discouraged again in; the MTC. He and myself, and some of the other elders were in tears by this time, and I know I had to help him. This entire day was very spiritual. Me, my companion , and Elder Patton’s companion gave Elder Patton a blessing that night. I told him after the blessing that we loved him and that he had been place in our path for a reason. I told him that he brought the spirit and touched my heat personally. I have been praying for him in my personal prayers. I am glad that I have parents that thought me that God loves me. Thank You. The Spirit of God was very evident in that meeting. Unfortunately I cannot say everyone has had the same great thing happen to them today.
Elder Danesh, he is from Gianna, in South America, had a hard time. He has had a bigger challenge that most of us. He has no Spanish experience and never really felt part on the district. During a meeting with his companion and our district leader got up and left, no one knew where he went. Our whole district went looking for him. He was found and we left two missionaries to watch him, he did not want to talk to anyone. He met whit our branch president and I have not seen him since. I do not how what his gate will be, but I wish I had reached out more, and I hope we get a second chance.
I don’t mean to be negative and I am truly becoming a better person each day, and I am enjoying my time here. I love you and pray for you. Elder Keith Banner
MTC Arrival and Keith's First letter
Dear Family, July 1, 2009
My branch president wanted us to let our family know that we are still alive. The first day at the MTC was not as hard as I thought it would be, it was actually very exciting! I have a great companion. His name is Elder Elg (pronounced Elge). He is a little younger than I am. He is from Boise and he went to Capital High School. He and one of my other roommates, are serving the same mission as me. My other roommate, Elder Bryan is serving in Puerto Rico. The other two Elders get along great. I get along good with Elder Elg. He is the District leader. I am the senior companion for the first 4 ½ weeks. Elder Elg thinks we might be related. I saw Tyler Gropp, Tayson Beck, and Dallon Valle today. Dallan is in my branch. I love you and will write to you soon. Thank you for your support.
My branch president wanted us to let our family know that we are still alive. The first day at the MTC was not as hard as I thought it would be, it was actually very exciting! I have a great companion. His name is Elder Elg (pronounced Elge). He is a little younger than I am. He is from Boise and he went to Capital High School. He and one of my other roommates, are serving the same mission as me. My other roommate, Elder Bryan is serving in Puerto Rico. The other two Elders get along great. I get along good with Elder Elg. He is the District leader. I am the senior companion for the first 4 ½ weeks. Elder Elg thinks we might be related. I saw Tyler Gropp, Tayson Beck, and Dallon Valle today. Dallan is in my branch. I love you and will write to you soon. Thank you for your support.
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