Elder Banta's 1st Baptism!!

Hey Everyone!

Hows it going in good ol Idaho? I have heard that its very hot but at least you don't have the humidity we have here! So this past week has been really nice! the weather has been beautiful and not super hot. Also the work is still going good! Our investigators are progressing more and more each day and i just love watching them come closer to their Heavenly father!

Well on Saturday, (August 3, 2013) I had my first baptism. I baptized Christopher Nolasco. My companion baptized his older brother and it just went perfect! We were worried at first because They were about fifteen minutes late and were not answering their phones so it was very stressful but i all worked out perfect! We had the Stake young Mens Leader come and talk about baptism for the first talk and the second talk on confirmation and the holy ghost was given by Josh Baldabinos(a youth). So it was just all good! When we baptized them Christopher came into the room to change and said wow i feel like a totally different person! And then Me and Elder McMullen were listening to them talk together as brothers and they were arguing with each other who was gonna receive the holy ghost first hah! It was just so awesome and i love it!

So on Friday i got a MRI on my knee and the doctor said it doesn't look good! SO i went back to the apartment and asked Elder Gaytan for a blessing! so today i get the results of the test and we will see what happens! It was been hurting worse and worse everyday but it doesn't bother me because I'm too busy teaching our investigators! I sure have been blessed with a amazing first area! I am scared to leave and go to other areas that are so slow! It just scares me ha! I told President Fenn in my letter that if he could to just leave me in Joliet for my whole mission ha! 

Well so the other Elders have been staying with us because of their car and we just got work that they will be with us for another week or two! I feel bad for them so we will work in our area one day and in their area the next day! its kinda stressful but it works i guess!

So this coming Saturday we have two baptisms. One is for our investigators Jose and Lorena Hernandez and the other is for a eight year old who's parents are less active and they have asked me to baptize their son! Yesterday we were teaching Jose the baptismal interview questions and asked who he wants to baptize him and he looked at me and said Mi amigo pr favor! which is my friend please! it was just awesome to watch him progress and not hopefully baptize him this Saturday! He has a cathator in his leg and said if he don't get it out he cant get baptized but we told him to have faith and the lord will do the rest! so we will see what happens there! So as of right know i will have two baptisms this coming Saturday and i am so excited for that day to come!!!

So this past week we also had my last training meeting! It was such a good meeting but went on for hours on end! it went over so bad that President Fenn was mad ha! I got to see Elder Adams their and we talked for awhile. Hes dong good and is having fun with his new companion! 

Well that's about it for this week! I hope everything is going good at home and hope everyone is having a good summer! Please be safe and keep touch if you can!! I know that this gospel is true and i have seen how it blesses lives! Strive to do better everyday so the lord is proud of you! I love you ll and have a good week everyone!!

Love Elder Banta         

Knee problems!!

Hey there everyone!!!

So this past week has been very busy. We have been working very hard and the work is starting to pay off. We now have an investigator on date for every Saturday in August and into September. The work is picking up so fast and President Fenn is looking at splitting our area once again.

So last week we received a referral from the sisters down in Burbonaise. It is about an hour away but its still in our Spanish area. Our area is huge and just in our area boundaries, There are twelve English companionship's. So we went down to Kankakee and visited this former. We taught her the restoration and she seemed to believe but was getting distracted by her stinking phone. So i asked her if we could watch the restoration video with her. We did and the spirit was so strong on the lesson. She started tearing up and said wow...i really need to read and pray about this book! It was awesome and we put her on date for August 24 so we are excited for Cilvia Martinez ha.

So on Friday we had zone conference! Lets just say and I'll say it again that i have been so blessed to have President Fenn as my mission President! His talk there was so powerful about member missionary work and it just blew everyone's mind!!  President Fenn also came to a devotional on Sunday night at our church for the missionaries and members as well and it was also so dang good! The bishop who was conducting got up after he spoke and said well there is no way possible i can top that so I'm just gonna bear my testimony and we will end with that!! so awesome!!!

Elder's Gaytan and Tolbert this week will be staying at our apartment and riding to appointment with us because they got into a wreak and have no car for a week. Its going to be fun and hopefully we will help them in their area because their area is very slow. We have had a lot of fun so far together and we are always looking at ways to challenge each other to go contact someone or knock on someones door ha!

So this past week i finally got permission to go to the doctor and have my knee looked at. The community care took x-rays nd said the bone looks fine! i kept telling them that i know its not the bone but they said they have to do the x-rays for precautions. So they said it don't look good and i now have appointment on Thursday mourning with a knee specialist. We will just see what happens and hopefully everything is fine!

Well thats about if for this week but thanks so much everyone for all the pictures and emails you have taken time to send me and write me! its nice hearing from you all! I was reading in the Boo of Mormon this past week and continue to find new things. I challenged everyone to read it awhile back but just in case you didn't get where i was coming from....Everyone needs to take ten to twenty minutes out of our lives and read the Book of Mormon. I have seen how it changes [peoples lives and it will change yours!!! REPRESENT!!! Everyone be safe and continue to have a amazing summer!!! I love you all and wish you the best!

Love Elder Banta    

We are not aloud anymore to carry backpacks.

Hey Everyone!! So how is everyone doing back at home? I hope everything is good and that everyone is having a good and fun summer! I'm doing great and having fun. we are so so busy that its stressful ha. But oh well because i would rather our work be really busy then slow ha!

So this past week like i said has been crazy. We are now teaching Ten Investigators and since Saturday, five of them are on date to be baptized! So its just crazy. Three of our investigators are families and we not counting them yet cause they are not one hundred percent progressing so hopefully next week we will even have more! Our area is so busy that we have had to split our area this last past week. And by that i mean two of the youth come out with us and one goes with me and the other goes with Elder McMullen. Yeah its just so busy right know. The other Spanish Elders area is dead but they can't come help us because they are like twenty minutes from us and can't be driving all those miles as a missionary. So yeah is has just been a super hectic week. So this past week we also had some really high goals. We worked hard and almost reached them all! We contacted 100 new people and got like 29 PNI's and almost 30 member presents. Its so great that our branch is finally helping us as much as possible! 

So this past week also Omar a Recent convert came on a mini mission with us. He was with us for four days and four nights. He is so awesome and is getting ready to go on a mission. Hes so funny and we have a lot of fun with him. His testimony is growing so fast and he is gonna be a awesome missionary. At first we would just put him on the spot in a lesson and he would get embarrassed but he told us he is glad we did that cause now he jumps in on his own and shares his testimony or how the lesson we are teaching has blessed his life! Its awesome and we are so proud of him! 

Also on Friday night we went on exchanges with the Ap's. They are like under the Mission President and it was scary cause they are in charge of telling us what we are dong wrong and what we are doing right! I ended up being with Elder Edwards and Elder McMullen was with Elder Lavelua. That exchanges ended up going awesome and they told us to keep doing what we are doing and the success will continue to raise. We told then okay and to look for another apartment cause our area is gonna soon need split again because of the such rapid growth and they just laughed and said alright.

So also this week we got a new world wide announcement for all missionaries across the world. We are not aloud anymore to carry backpacks. We have to wear or carry side bags and i think its dumb hah! a lot of missionaries have spent money on backpacks so i wonder how this rule is gonna effect us all ha. So i went and bought me a side bag and i hate it! I miss my backpack but hey if the prophet came up with the rule we better follow it hah!

Well that's about it for this week but this Saturday we still have Luiz and Christopher on date for baptism so I'm super excited for them to be baptized!  I know this gospel is true and that it blesses families and that because of their decision to be baptized. Luiz and Christopher will be blessed! thanks so much everyone for everything you have done for me! i love you all and hope you all continue to progress in your lives and have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Banta!