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!
       

Saying goodbye to Elder Adams!

The scriptures are so amazing and i challenge everyone if your not reading them to start...NOW!!

Hey there everyone!

So this past week has been such an amazing blessing, but i will get to that in a minute! SO new things this week. I have recently been assigned to serve with a new companion. His name is Elder McMullen, and he is from London. His accent is so dang cool and hes a good missionary! He is a semi professional rugby player and hes awesome. He says hes going to have me in shape before we leave together so yeah pretty excited about that!

Elder Adams is for sure going to be missed but it will be nice getting to know new Elders and working with them! so also lately the other Spanish Elders in our area got into a car accident. They haven't had a car for the last couple days and have been staying at our apartment. Elder Tolbert is from delta Utah and is just like Elder Adams so we are getting along good! Elder Guytan is his companion and he came out with me! hes from Mexico and knows little English and hes so funny and awesome! I'm having a ball with them and we are working very hard!

Ok so this past week we do a thing which is called exchanges. We switch companions for 24 hours and go out with other Elders. This week i was with Elder Barnet who speaks no Spanish and i was in my area! oh great. I was nervous at first but confident. We ended up going to our investigators that know no dang English. So at both lessons we have two investigators who live there so four total! We went in there with our lesson prepared and with the spirit and left with four people on date to be baptized! what a miracle! I'm so excited for the 27 of July to come! Their names are Jose and Lorena Hernandez, and Luiz and Christopher Sanantonio. it was so awesome at watch them progress and now see them prepare to come closer to our heavenly father on that date! 

So anyways besides that the area is booming! Our investigators are all progressing and we are working hard and help them do better in their everyday lives! I was reading the firth thirteen chapter of Alma the other day and it just hit me how much the lord loves us and would do anything to help us1 The scriptures are so amazing and i challenge everyone if your not reading them to start...NOW!! hah 

Well that's about it for this week but I'm glad to be out here as a missionary and saving others! Don't be afraid to share your beliefs with anyone you know! the lord will bless you for your effort to help someone! Quote by president Fenn! I love you all and hope everything is going good! have a good week everyone and be safe! love y'all!!

Elder Skyler Banta            

Mission splits!!

The Chicago Illinois mission splits and Elder Banta is now in the Chicago West Illinois mission. 

Some of our "friends"!!

Our project we finished!

Our numbers this past week were the highest in the mission

Alright so this past week was very awesome! Our area's potential is going through the roof and its just awesome! Our numbers this past week were the highest in the mission and we were very surprised when President Fenn called us and told us that! So the work is going great and the Members and starting to work with us more and help us out a lot!

 Ok so i got some news which sucks to say but Elder Adams received a transfer call on Saturday night! I was very sad and upset at the same time cause we work so good together and are really close friends already! He is going to the Naperville zone and is going to be a district leader there! I know he is going to be awesome and work hard over there! So then President Fenn said let me talk with Elder Banta now...I am staying where i am now but i am getting a new companion named Elder McMullin. All i know is that he is from England and has only been out three months longer then me! President Fenn said that he will be senior comp because he has a little bit more experience but that i will mostly be in charge because he wont know the area like i do! So i am super excited and nervous at the same time! i just really hope that we will get along and continue to work hard together! Next week i will have more information of everything but yeah that's the big news for this week! Our new District Leader is Elder Barret and he is another stud missionary! ?Anyways so that's the big change this week so i will be going to transfer meeting this Tuesday to get my new companion and say goodbye to ElderAdams! Also this next tuesday we will now have a pair of sisters in our district! i hope they are ready to work cause we gave them a part of our area that is ready to be harvested!  

So this past week like i said we have been working really hard! We had a ton of member present lessons and it was just going good!  One crazy thing that happened this week...So i was on exchanges with Elder Barret. We went to Rosalinda's and Cielos. When we pulled in Cielo the daughter was siting on the porch crying and Hermana Rosalinda was on the phone inside crying! we didn't know what had happened so we started to slowly ask. We had Omar with us who is a youth in the ward and he speaks really goodSpanish. He talked with the daughter and we talked with her. She told us they got into a fight and the next thing we new is the cops we pulling us right behind us! The first officer came up to us and said wow you beat us here so what happened. I couldn't hold myself and started laughing and said were not the cops or anything and he thought we were. He then asked what we were doing there so we told him she's one of our members and we were coming to teach her! The cops found out that thedaughter was hitting the mom cause she took her phone. The cops told the daughter that if they have to come back tonight that she was going to jail. Keep in mind the daughter is only 17 years old. So they left and we went to talk with Hermana Rosalinda. She told us she took her phone cause she came home from work and walked in on her daughter and her boyfriend breaking the law of chastity on her floor. We were blown away and brought her in to talk with the mom and daughter. They started arguing and we stopped thembefore it got out of hand again. I then called President Ramirez our branchPresident to see what to do. He told them to both come to church tomorrow so he could talk with them. The daughter then started yelling at me and saying i don't even believe in god anyways so I'm not going! you missionaries are crap blah blah blah. I just said that i know god is real and that she is one of his daughters. She looked at me like i just yelled at you and that'sall you have to say? So yeah we left and i haven't heard anything since that so yeah it was a crazy day.
I have learned to be more patient out here cause before when someone would yell at us like that i just wanted to scream at them back! I'm glad i learned that and please keep them in your prayers! 

Well there is a lot more stories and stuff but I'm doing good and we have to go enjoy our last p-day here with Elder Adams. I hope everyone ad a wonderfulholiday and everyone is doing good! Miss you all and will talk to you next week! love you all!!

Elder Banta              

"The rain came down and the floods came up!"

Hey there y'all. Hows everyone doing? 

Well I'm doing good here and the temperature seems like it rises and rises every dang day! The stupid humidity is the only thing that is effecting me! Anyways well besides that I'm doing good! 

So this week we had three really huge and horribly storms! No tornado or anything but "The rain came down and the floods came up!" We sang this song is church with the primary in Spanish and it was so funny! But yes its starting to flood again! no one has seriously been effected by it yet but if it keeps going as it is they will be soon! Everyday around 4 it gets cloudy and starts to rain for a couple of hours! I love it cause i love the rain but the storms here are crazy. We have been without power on and off for about three days know! In the pics you will see what happened in my neighborhood! Lightning came through and went to work on the neighborhood. It was so crazy and Elder Adams and myself watched from out apartment two houses get hit and three trees get destroyed all within a couple hundred feet of our apartment. It was so sad and we went to help them but the fire department wouldn't let us. No one was hurt but there was damage everywhere!

So besides that this past week has been really good! We went on exchanges with our zone leaders on Friday. i was with Elder Winegar in our area and he is a English elder who doesn't know any Spanish. We went trackting in our area and ran into a bunch of people. I had to do all the talking and it was super scary. We trackted into a lady named Lupe and now she is our newest investigator. Shes very solid and accepted to read the book of Moron and to pray about it. I was super nervous but did okay i guess.

After that we had another lesson with our strongest investigator Jose Sanchez. He is still doing awesome and progressing so fast. During our lesson he told us about a movie he is going to be in. Its a old Mexican cowboy movie and he just started laughing and said listen here muchachos... 

I'm going to be in this movie and I'm a Sheriff in the movie. We are looking for a guy who has killed a bunch of people and i got a great idea. You guys come in and while we are thinking of a plan to kill this guy, you come in and teach us about the ten commandments and how we shouldn't kill. Wouldn't that be great? i just started laughing and Elder Adams said well we have to call our mission President and get permission for something like that. He just laughed and said tell your president he can be in it too if he wants. Long Story short, we will not be in the movie ha and President Fenn said that he will find out more and get back to us hah! So that was a funny experience!

Well that's about it for this week and thanks everyone for everything and sorry if i missed your email this week! I'll get you next week! love you all, be safe, and have a fun fourth of July! 

Love Elder Banta      

First talk in Spanish in Sacrament meeting!

Hey there Everyone, 

Ok so this past week has flown by and has been such an amazing week. I'm doing good and having a blast. So this week is transfer week, I just found out that Elder Adams and Myself are staying in our area. Super excited that we are not leaving. Three missionaries in our district are leaving though. Sad to see them go because we have really grown on each other the last couple weeks. Also found out that we are getting new missionaries today and that two of them are from good Ol Rexburg, ID. I don't recognize there names but i probably know them ha. Anyways so the Mission gets split tomorrow so that means that i will not be serving in Chicago. Kinda sad but not really cause i love my area!

So some new news for our area is that in six weeks we will be getting Sister Missionaries, Great..... hah jk. Elder Adams said in his old area all the sisters were not very fun but hopefully the sisters here will be cool and ready to work. Our area(Joliet) is getting split though. We will be the Joliet south Elders instead of the Joliet Elders. Nothing big and our area is growing so fast that they are putting more in so I'm glad to see that our area is needing more help.

So this week we received two member referrals. We went and visited them and ended up getting two flippen solid new investigators. Both of them accepted the baptism invitation and one of them even came to church this week with us. His name is Jose Sanchez. He has had a ruff life and is ready for a new start. We have him on date for July 20 and we have taught him twice in three days so its going good. All of our other investigators are doing awesome. No new news on them but they are all still progressing and getting closer to baptism.

So this past Sunday we went to the broadcast. Wow, its so cool to see the missionary program growing so fast. President Monson looked very sick to me and hast lost a lot of weight. Make sure to keep him in your prayers.  I don't know if you went at all but i saw Elder Mason Rutledge in the stands. What a blessing for him to be out serving the lord when he was baptized just over a year ago! what a stud! So we are getting I-pads to use for missionary work. They said we will have one in a couple of weeks and we are also getting our own offices with computers and stuff in them. I'm so excited for this change and to watch it help missionaries all around the world. 

So Sunday i had to speak in church. It went very good and my Spanish is better then i thought it was. I'm so grateful for Elder Adams and his willingness to help me learn more rapidly. Elder Adams also had to speak and he did great. Our investigator came up to us after sacrament and told us good job and that he felt something when we were speaking. What a wonderful experience for a new investigator to fell the strong power of the spirit.

Anyways well that's it for this week and thanks everyone for everything. I'm doing good and working hard. My testimony of the gospel is growing more and more each day and i am so so glad i made the decision is be here serving the Lord. I know that Heavenly Father is looking down on us with a big smile on his face as he watches his gospel being spread thought the world. As it was said in the broadcast, just because you don't have a name tag on your shirt doesn't mean your not a missionary,  everyone is a missionary. Everyone can do something each day to be a member missionary. Keep up the good work everyone and remember that you should always be representing the lord, at all times and in all places. Love you and have a wonderful week everyone!!

Elder Banta   

This is Jose Sanchez. He is our newest Investigator.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert

Hey there everyone!

So this past week went very good and I'm doing awesome and still having fun! So we just returned from the Chicago temple! it was so beautiful and the rock work they did on that temple is awesome! i love the color of the temple. Its defiantly a small temple but it was good! 

So this past week we got a new investigator. His name is Felipe and he is awesome! He is having problems with his marriage so he heard about us and called us to meet with us. We have taught him twice and he is such a solid investigator.

Next is Jose Hernandez. The picture of him i will send is funny and shows how short he actually is ha. He is really short but has a huge testimony. We teach him every week at least two times and some days he will call and say Hermano Banta, Hermano Adams are you coming to teach me today? Hes so awesome and funny. We asked him to be baptized and he said yes but just not yet. planning for July!!

Next is our investigator Leo. He is only about 35 years old and reminds me so much of uncle Adam. I don't really know why but he just does! hes been taking the lessons from us for the last three weeks and he loves when we come and teach him. his wife likes us too but says she ius not changing from being a catholic. We Will get her ;). They have five kids and there all very young so we hoping to eventually baptize the entire family. There all so awesome and also have him on date for baptism for July. 

So the weather here has been so crazy. One day is hotter then hot and the next day its cold and raining and storming like crazy. We had two tornadoes touch down in our area and it was crazy. The tornado sirens were going off all week long and it was just a neat experience. Sad and scary but neat! I cannot remember which day but it got so bad we couldn't even work so we had to go home and just do stuff there.

On Friday we had our very first well my very first Zone conference. It was awesome and all the talks went good. I was asked to say the closing prayer and was nervous but did it without a st udder. President fenn is so awesome and his scene of humor is so funny. For all of you who know the story you will understand the following thing president Fenn said. We started zone conference and he got us and was sweating very bad. He took off his coat and was like holy cow!!! its so hot in here the neshak, shadrack, and abendego would probably die in here! ha hes just so funny and loves to keep us on our toes!

So Saturday night it was about 2 in the afternoon actually and the gastelum family called. The parents were going to the Mormon tabernacle choir that night. They had extra tickets so elder Addams and myself got to go and ride with them. They picked us up and they had a 100 thousand dollar BMW M3. It was so nice and Hermano gastelum like to drive scary fast. I wont say how fast we were going on the interstate cause i don't want to scare my mom hah! So the concert was so good and come to find out that my junior year seminary teacher was singing in the choir. Shes very young and her name is Sister Butikofer. I waved to her at the end and yelled hey you taught me in seminary and it was just funny ha. It was good and we didn't get home until about midnight but don't worry we had permission from our mission president 6to be out late for it.   

Well that's about it for this week and hope everyone and everything at home is going good! i miss you all and can't wait to see all you again. I was thinking of how old some people will be when i return and i just started laughing. Anyways well i love you all and please keep in touch. Sorry if i have missed anyone's emails but we have been really busy and i will get caught us next week. Love you all and will talk to you all soon. 

Elder Banta    

 

Cubs game!!

Chicago!

Elder Banta's apartment

Elder Banta with President Fenn

Elder Banta and Elder Adams (first companion)

First blessing in Spanish!!

Que pasa mi amigos y familia?

 

Ok where to start...this past two weeks have gone really good and fast as well! My area is asweome and is growing rapidly with new members! So I have some sad news.

 

Just like Fabian back at home, Cynthia will not get baptized because her parents told her that is she does that she cannot live at home! they are strict about thier religion and we had a very sad lesson with her last week when she told us that news. She told us that she is going to pray about this decision and is its right and she gets an answer that she is going to do it with or without her parents! we will see what happenes i guess.

 

Armondo also told us this week that he is gunna stay catholic and is getting a divorse and moving away to new York. What is happening???? Everything is going the opposite way that is should be going. This past week i have gotten really discoraged and Elder Adams is teaching me the importance of paitence! We did have some good things this week and got three new Investigators! So we are doing good but wil see what happebnes with Cynthia and Armondo!

 

This week we found a older guy named Jose Hernandez. WE taught him the first lesson and he is very sick with cancer throughout his entiore body and can bary speak! We told him about blessings and he said that sounds nice. Not thinking about it he then asked me to offer the blessing! I was so dang scared! ELder ADams said after we left that he has never seen anyone so nervous and as red as i was. Oh yeah the blessing was IN SPANISH TOO!!! i was so scared and Elder Adams had to hold the book with the giude to start off the blessing! After that i gave him the blessing and it went very good! i dont really remember what i said but Elder Adams said i did a good job so yeah. After That i went home and was so nervous that i studied for 30 minutres every night and memorized the beggining of all the blessings haha. But besides that ecerything went good!

 

So that Cubs game was so so dang cool! They lost ha but it was awesome and after the game i went down by the dougout and a player threw me and ELder Adams a ball. It was cool but it was really cold being right by the lake! Chicago was awesome! there were people everywhere and i just about got ran over by a stupid transit bus! The metro train ridfe was different and fun! everything is the city is so expensive though! Transportation all day costed 30 dolloars on is own!

 

Well everything isd going good and im doing really good! I just got told that in two weeks i have to speak in sacrament in spanish so im a little nervous for that! Church is going good and its really fun being imersed in the spanish! Well glad to hear that everyones graduation went well and congrats to everyone!! Also to bridon for being baptized!! Thats awesome! Thanks everyone for everything and keep in touch!! love you all!!!

 

Elder Banta

I can feel my testimony growing so much and I'm so glad to be on my mission. Its the best choice I have ever made in my life!

Hey there Everyone!

Well this week has flown right on by. Time is going fast here and next Sunday i will have been out for two months already. WOW. I'm having such a good time out here! The members are awesome and so so loving. This week we got invited to three members birthday parties and boy the Mexican food is just amazing! Me and Elder Adams have been working out in the mourning and then running at night to workout and try and loose some weight.

So yeah its going good and i don;t have any new news on Cynthia. We couldn't meet with her this past week cause she had finals and didn't have time. She texted us every night with a text saying Hey Elders, I'm still praying every night and reading the Book of Mormon so she is doing really good and we actually have another lesson staring up again with her tonight so I'm super excited to keep teaching her!

So this past Monday we went on exchanges. I was with Elder Hunsaker, our zone leader and we had really fun together. When we go on exchanges we go with a different elder for 24 hours. I went to his area and it was actually English speaking so i got to teach a little in English. It was honestly different cause i kept forgetting words in English and would say things in Spanish so yeah but it was really funny. It was good and now I'm back with elder Adams.

So next Friday we are going to a cubs game! our p-day next week will be on Friday because of that so yeah the next week or so will be a little messed up scheduling wise. I'm super excited for my first Pro Baseball game and can't wait to go! President Fenn is awesome and bought our tickets in the same area so we all get to sit by each other. 250 missionaries at a pro baseball game! Ha if you all at home watch the game you might see me on TV. So yeah I'm super excited.

Sorry i haven't been able to send pictures yet. I just haven't had time and i will try my hardest to send some next week. This area is so beautiful but it is most of the time raining. I really like the rain but the lightning here is amazing. When it would pour at home, that is like a little rain storm here. Their storms here are intense and Elder Adams and myself were woken up to the thunder literally shaking out dang apartment. It's awesome but the rain keep floods up and some of the members houses are halfway under water so were all praying that the rain will stop for awhile.

So this week we had a pretty weird experience. We knocked on this door and this huge guy answered the door and was like Hey Elders come on in and take a seat, ill tell you what you believe. So we went in and this guy was super anti Mormon. In the field we are told not to bible bash or argue with the people. He started saying how our religion was messed up and said some really disgusting things about it. I was like blown away and was speechless. After like twenty minutes of this guy just laying it on us Elder Adams said ok we have to go. We got up and walked off the guys porch. He started yelling get you A's back here and how do you believe any of this BS. Elder Adams said i can testify that these things are true with all my heart and we got in the car and drove away. I wasn't scared but so dang mad at this guy. Elder Adams looked at me and said one more word out of that guys mouth i w as going to be sent home for shutting him up ha. I felt the same way but had no idea what to do in that situation. It was a good experience so i knew what to do next time. Elder Adams is awesome and I'm glad he is my companion!

Alright well that's all for this week and i ask you all at home to continue to keep Cynthia in you prayers but also Armando. He is another investigator not knowing what to do with his life. Thanks so much and i know that our Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Maybe not right away all the time but he does at the right times! I can feel my testimony growing so much and I'm so glad to be on my mission. Its the best choice i have ever made in my life! I love you all and I'm so thankful for everything you all do for me! Keep up the good work and I'll talk to you all next Friday. Love you all!!!

Elder Banta :)       

Settling in to Chicago

Hey There Everyone! 

Whats going on??? k so i'm here in Chicago. Its already so stinking hot and the humidity is getting to me! besides that i'm doing good!!

Ok first I i'm in the Jolliet 2nd South Area. I love it here! i'm kinda in the country and yes i'm in a Spanish branch so i'm speaking Spanish and not English !! WAHOOO!! I love the people here so much already! there so nice and caring and the members are awesome! My area is so dang big though! when the mission gets split in a couple weeks my area will cover half of the new mission! Crazy right! Well it looks like i wont be searving in the city but i know this is where god wants me to be so i'm not complaining  Also because of the people and how beautiful it is here!!! Also President Fenn is taking all of us missionaries to a Cubs game in like a week so i'm super excited for that!!! We have to pay like 15 bucks to go but i'm really excited for that! 

So my first companion for the next twelve weeks is Elder Dakota Adams! He is such a cool kid and were allot alike! He is from Utah and he is a straight up cowboy. He rides bulls and stuff like that so yeah he is cool. He has been out for like 14 months and his Spanish is so good and he also has a girl at home still writing him! there so cute together! Hes also super funny. When we wake up he just runs around the house and yells in Spanish ha. Its the funniest thing ever! We are gonna do work together because were so alike and yeah its just awesome!

So our first couple days have been awesome! Were teaching allot of people and people here are so nice and willing and ready to accept the gospel! Ok so here is a crazy story! so my companion has been in this area for a while and has taught this 18 year old girl named Cynthia  They have taught her all the lesson but she wont commit to being baptized. Our second day my companion said your teaching the lesson today and i was like oh crap, my Spanish is bad, what if i mess up, what do i say, and we get there and my companion just happened to forget to tell me that she speaks only English ha! so i was freaking out for nothing! So we went in and i started teaching. She started crying and said Elder Banta You said exactly what i needed to hear! I then committed her to being baptized and She committed to being baptized on June 1st. Isn't that just a cool story. I was bauling at the end of lesson and i didn't know or remember one word i said! its amazing how the spirit works through us! So i'm excited for her and her baptizim coming up soon! Well so that's my first mission story and i'm excited to be here.

OK so anyways because of the time shortage on emails i don't really have enough time to email everyone so i'm really sorry, If you can i would rather write letters because i can write them whenever. So anyone who wants to write me letters feel welcome and ill try and email the ones who still email me! my new address for the next twelve weeks is 1230 Rockrun Drive, Apartment 105, Cresthill, IL 60403. If anyone has written me letters already and sent them i wont get them for a while because they only give them us to at transfers and stuff so yeah sorry ha. I will do my best to keep up on the writing and stuff!

So the first night here we stayed at the mission home and President Fenn bought us all Chicago deep dish Pizza. WOW is all i can say it was the best pizza i have ever tasted in my life. It was awesome to be there for a whole night with President Fenn and his wife and just talk and get to know them! Anyways Well yeah that my area, companion, and story for this weeks email. I'm super excited for Cynthia so please keep here in your prayers. Shes the only PI we have right know on date for baptism and were working on others so keep them and her in your prayers please. I will try to send pictures soon its just been super buys the first week here getting settled in and everything! so sorry for the inconvenience if that's how you spell that word ha. So its sad to hear about President Monsons Wife. I know shes in a better place and that President Monson more then anyone knows that!! Remember to keep them in your prayers though for sure! 

So Spanish is coming along great and its getting better bu the day. Its awesome how many Spanish people there are here in my area like probably 80 percent no joke. So i'm pretty much submersed in the Spanish! Our Branch is so awesome also. There is only about 50 Members but there all super awesome and help us allot. The Priest Quorum here is so dang cool. They have gone on splits with us allot to lessons when we need a member present and there all so dang cool. So each week we get to eat with the members each night for dinner, or whoever signed up to feed us. Every meal so far has been homemade real Mexican food and it had been Awesome!!! I get up every mourning and run for 30 minutes with my companion so we don't gain weight because they feed us so good and so much freaking food. So far though i have lost 11 pounds and i'm trying to keep going but its hard when these people just feed and feed and feed you ha! 

Ok so the area i'm in right know is a car area and yeah i'm driving. Scary right ha just kidding. But my companion doesn't like to drive so I've been the driver and he takes care of the phone. Its awesome and were having allot of fun so far. Were also being careful as well, not to scare everyone but the area i'm in the the 3rd most dangerous area in our entire mission. We've already seen thing i don't like to talk about and been yelled at by a bunch of black guys and then chased by them so yeah its been fun and scary but we know the lord is protecting us!! Sorry if i scared anyone but yeah that's just how it works down here! but i love my area and wouldn't trade it for the world!!! 

Well that's all for this week, i love you all and miss you all like crazy. Please write letters and emails and keep in touch. Its nice one day out of the week just thinking of home and writing to my family and friends. But anyways good luck to everyone finishing school for this year and i hope everything is well at home!!! I'll watch for all of your letters and emails and stuff! Oh yeah and if anyone is sending packages or anything bigger like that its safe to send that to our apartment as well. Our place is in a nice little safe neighbor hood and is sourounded  by gates with pass code so yeah but thanks again everyone!!! Love you all and hope the best for everyone!!! 

Love Elder Banta        

Ready to head to Chicago!!

It has been about 6 weeks and Elder Banta is more than ready to go to Chicago and hit the ground running!!  He leaves the MTC May 13th about 5:30 am and will arrive in Chicago around noon.

Last Week at the MTC

Hey there Everyone!

Hows everyone doing at home? We just got back from the temple for our last time here at the MTC. It was great as it always is. Our zone did a session together and all said our final goodbyes to the ones me might not see again before we leave. Oh yeah ha well i got my travel plans and im leaving this coming monday to chicago at like 4 in the mourning! im so super excited! We fly out of saltlake at 7:30 i believe and fly to minnesota. Then we have an hour layover and then we fly to Chicago. Crazy how time has flown by! Im going to miss going to the temple every week and i hope we will be able to go on our p-days out in the field!

So this past week was awesome and it was great! We had fast and testimony meeting on sunday and it was awesome to listen to everyone share thier testimonies in spanish/spanglish haha. It was good and me and my companion were going to go up but we ran our of time haha. On sunday night devotional we got a suprise....Chad Lewis came and spoke to us. He played for BYU and then was drafted to play in the NFL for the Eagles. He got up and the whole dovotional was like a pep talk to us to get us pumped for the field. It was so awesome! he searved a mission in China and he had to learn mandarin. When he got back from his mission the China embasy asked him to narrarate the Super Bowl in Mandrin. Ha he said when you learn a language for your mission you learn the gospel part of the language. He said he tried to learn football talk in the language but it just wasnt happening. He made us all laugh when he said he was on national tv and all he knew how to say was gospel talk during the superbowl. He said i was testifying that the quaterback would make this pass and testifying that the call was a good call. Haha we were all laughing so dang hard. He was a big guy and after the devotional we went out and i had him sign my white bible(Missionary Handbook) hah.

So this is my last couple days here at the MTC and im a little nervous to get out into the real world and be tested of how much spanish i know ha. I know the lord will help us and im excited to be in the real world preaching the truth to all sorts of people. We got a letter in the mail from our mission pres and he said because of the new missionary age we are going to be swamped with missonaries. And that it could be possible in our mission to be switched to just speak english! i heard this at first and im was like YES!!! but i hope know i dont get switched because i have been here for six weeks learning the language and dont want to have done all that for nothing. But i will go and do what the lord has planned for me!

Well next time i write all of you i will be in chicago and i dont know when my p-days are so i might not email for a week or jus until i get settled in. Well thanks everyone for all the help and for all the letters. I got in the mail a couple letters from the primary and tell the primary thanks and that they are all awesome! I miss you guys and cant wait to be our baptizing the world!!!!! love you all and please keep in touch!!! Until Next time....

Elder Banta  

Elder Heaton and the snail

Hey there Everyone!

Everything is going very good here at the MTC. We just got back from the temple and it was amazing as always. Today i did sealings for the first time ever and it was really cool. The spirit in the meeting was so strong and its awesome to know that we are sealing people together forever and for all eternity. So our p-day today went good so far. A normal P-day at the MTC goes as follows. First you wake up(early if your our district) and go do your laundry. Then you can write letters/emails. The whole day after that is basically yous to do whatever like study/go to the temple/maybe take a short nap ha/ or just prepare lessons for that week ahead of you. P-days are fun to just relax because during the week as a missionary there is no suck word ha.

So this week(today) 700 more missionaries came into the MTC. Its so wierd how many missionaries they can fit into this place. The food is getting better and im getting more use to it. Tuesday devotional last night was good. Elder Packard The Missionary Funds Dude ha came and spoke to us. He talked about how our missions will prepare us for eternal life so it was good. Sunday we got to bless the sacrement my companion and I, in spanish of course and it was really fun. Then on monday we had to say goodbye to the Older district in our zone.Elders Hatch, Head, Underwood and Pauu. Elder Pauu is a polynesian and he has a full ride to play footbal for BYU when he gets home from his mission and he is a really cool guy. He reaps all the time and makes the MTC experience alot more fun. Elders Hatch, underwood, and Head are all fun to talk to and they liked to play jokes on us. Anyways so now my district is the oldest district in our Zone. So wierd to think!!!!! I will only email home one more time and then i will be in chicago!!! Time has just flewn by!!!!!!

So my companion is a very different kid!!! We get along fine but he is just different. During personal study we were out on the benches studying and he found a snail. The stupid snail was the biggest one i have ever seen in my life and my companion was determined to keep it as a pet. So we takes it to our classroom and starts letting it just chill on his desk and just plays with it. Then Elder Clark says "I dare you to eat it" and my companion was like maybe for some money......Gross well he decides to not eat the snail but to put it on his tounge and let it walk all over his tounge. GROSS. We were all about to puke when he did it and he thought it was the coolest thing ever haha. So yeah it was kinda funny. The hermanas didnt like his puting it in his mouth so they took the snail away and took it outsde and let it go in the bushes. Ha it was a very good day. That night my companion was up puking all night and we all said it was the snail haha.

Well i cant believe that the time is flying by so darn quick. Next week i will probably say it again but just incase Happy Birthday to Jerrick Next wednesday. Its wierd that everyone is getting so old haha j/k. Spanish is coming along great and im getting the hang of it more and more each day. Thanks everone for the emails and pictures. Im sorry if i havent emailed anyone yet im just super busy here. Feel free to write me whenever you can. Love you all and will talk to ya next week.