Weeks 3 & 4

Reference key:

Me, the author

My conversation with my editor

*you, the audience are represented here*

My editor

// sections with no humor //

******Also, first of all, if this next email is confusing, I'll put a "translated" version for people who don't speak {insert Elder Bahnmiller's previous name here}.******

¡Hola y buenos días!

It's a new day, and every day different challenges are presented at the MTC.

(Also, I need to pre-tense this and say sorry for the lack of humor. I had to wake up at 5:30 to reach the laundromat before all of the machines were taken. Bear with me here :) )

So, what happened these last two weeks?

To start off, I can't really remember too much from last week, so you will receive the "I assume this happened, but am not sure" report. Yo editor do I really need to disclaim this? It's not like anyone would know if I didn't include something... Oh, I see. You want me to be as sincere and realistic as possible? Then why did I hire an editor....?

[INFORMATION REQUESTED. ELDER BAHNMILLER'S WEEK. BEGINNING REPORT...]

(Also. For those that don't get that reference, I put that in there for my Dad, who BETTER understand what I'm referencing here. Alright, now to my week...)

Last P-Day, I had the opportunity to view a proxy sealing at my local temple. That was quite the blessing, and an amazing experience. I now know how the entire process works, and I can share this information more effectively to those that I teach in Peru.

A couple of days later, I received my reassignment! ... for those of you who don't follow me on facebook (first of all, what are you doing? Come on, live updates!), then I will share my reassignment here.

I have been reassigned to labor in the *Tucson, Arizona mission! I leave next week for the field!

After so long in confinement, I'm breaking FREEEEEEEE! (Joking. another reference for my Dad, although I doubt he'll get that one unfortunately)

And, what happened quite literally 2 days ago? I started what is called **SYL, or HSI for Spanish speaking missionaries. *what is HSI? TELL MEEEEE!* Aight aight I'm getting there, hold on!

SYL means Speak Your Language! Or for Spanish, it's Hablar Su Inguas! This means that I have to speak and write nothing except Spanish! I'm just realizing I'm writing this in English LOL.

I do have to say that I have seen some amazing blessings in the way of my Spanish speaking capability. Whereas I didn't know how to speak a lick of Spanish when I entered the MTC, I can now confidently say that I can give a basic 1. Testimony 2. Prayer 3. Lesson in Spanish. I can also sight a scripture reference in Spanish now!

// I do have to sincerely thank God and all of my support back home. My language learning I can attribute entirely to God in heaven, and my sanity I can attribute to all of the amazing people at home who read these emails. It makes me so happy to think that this email may put a smile on someone's face, or brighten someone's day. Also, I have decided that if for whatever reason you send me mail, I will give you a shout out at the end of my emails. A little taste of home every now and then is a huge blessing for me :)

My spiritual thought for this email is this: Trust God in all things, and constantly seek His help. There would be no other way that I am here with my current (and still growing!) knowledge of both the Gospel and Spanish without my Father in Heaven, my Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I can say relatively certainly that I have seen each of Their hands in my time here at the MTC.That is pretty crazy to be able to say, as before now I don't know if I could confidently say that I have seen all of their hands in my life. 

Just like me, They have a constant hand in all of your lives. God loves His children enough that He didn't just leave us here without a Savior and a Guide. All three of Them are incredibly necessary for our everyday lives. Here is my challenge for you all today.

1. Contemplate how God the Father has spoken to you. What has He done for you, and how has He blessed your life?

2. Contemplate how you have felt Christ's love in your everyday life, and how you can show that kind of love towards others

3. Contemplate how the Holy Ghost speaks to you! See how it has touched your life, and pray on how your connection with the Spirit can grow, and how it's influence can become more noticeable.

 //

Alright! That sums up my Email! I would like to thank all of my sponsors an... WHAT? I promised to what? Oh fine.

Here are the amazing people who blessed me with mail this week! Thank you!

My Aunt and Uncle Byrne

My Parents and siblings!

(Also, last week a member of my district, Elder Vasquez wanted a shout out, and I forgot to do that so here is his shout out.)

(Also, did you think I wouldn't include any humor? Lol)

Thank you for reading this absurdly long email!

Sincerely,

Elder Bahnmiller

Footnotes:

*He forgot to put his mission here. Like, what bro? You are literally serving here for who knows how long

**Bro what? Clearly he can't spell. For reference he put YSL here

Here is the one with no humor and simplified.

¡Hola y buenos días!

It's a new day, and everyday different challenges are presented at the MTC.

So, what happened these last two weeks?

To start off, I can't really remember too much from last week, so you will receive the "I assume this happened, but am not sure" report. 

Last P-Day, I had the opportunity to view a proxy sealing at my local temple. That was quite the blessing, and an amazing experience. I now know how the entire process works, and I can share this information more effectively to those that I teach in Peru.

A couple of days later, I received my reassignment! ... for those of you who don't follow me on facebook (first of all, what are you doing? Come on, live updates!), then I will share my reassignment here.

I have been reassigned to labor in the Tucson, Arizona mission! I leave next week for the field!

Finally, I'm going to the field!

And, what happened quite literally 2 days ago? I started what is called SYL, or HSI for Spanish speaking missionaries.

SYL means Speak Your Language! Or for Spanish, it's Hablar Su Inguas! This means that I have to speak and write nothing except Spanish! 

I do have to say that I have seen some amazing blessings in the way of my Spanish speaking capability. Whereas I didn't know how to speak a lick of Spanish when I entered the MTC, I can now confidently say that I can give a basic 1. Testimony 2. Prayer 3. Lesson in spanish. I can also sight a scripture reference in Spanish now!

I do have to sincerely thank God and all of my support back home. My language learning I can attribute entirely to God in heaven, and my sanity I can attribute to all of the amazing people at home who read these emails. It makes me so happy to think that this email may put a smile on someone's face, or brighten someone's day. Also, I have decided that if for whatever reason you send me mail, I will give you a shout out at the end of my emails. A little taste of home every now and then is a huge blessing for me :)

My spiritual thought for this email is this: Trust God in all things, and constantly seek his help. There would be no other way that I am here with my current (and still growing!) knowledge of both the Gospel and Spanish without my Father in Heaven, my Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I can say relatively certainly that I have seen each of their hands in my time here at the MTC.That is pretty crazy to be able to say, as before now I don't know if I could confidently say that I have seen all of their hands in my life. 

Just like me, They have a constant hand in all of your lives. God loves his children enough that he didn't just leave us here without a Savior and a Guide. All three of them are incredibly necessary for our everyday lives. Here is my challenge for you all today.

1. Contemplate how God the Father has spoken to you. What has he done for you, and how has he blessed your life?

2. Contemplate how you have felt Christ's love in your everyday life, and how you can show that kind of love towards others

3. Contemplate how the Holy Ghost speaks to you! See how he has touched your life, and pray on how your connection with the Spirit can grow, and how his influence can become more noticable.

Until next P-day,

Elder Bahnmiller

Week 1 and 2 at the Provo MTC

Hola one and all!

What you hold in your hands (or reading on your laptop) is the first installment in a looooong line of emails, directed towards you, the people of my life.

The purpose of these emails will be to give you an insight into my time as an ordained missionary in the Lord's kingdom. Congratulations on being one of the lucky few who receive these emails!

First, a rundown of my MTC experience thus far.

Week 1:

Week 1 was full of new sensations and places to explore. I met my district and my companion for the first time, and discovered that I had been placed in a powerhouse of a district. We are all so different, and possess many different strengths and weaknesses. For example, I found out that instead of my room relishing their sleep, they prefer to spend their time in bed debating morality and politics of complicated social issues (to which I took little part and tried my very best to sleep... ;D). 

The food leaves something to be desired, and the workload is something else. I am consistently in classes and studying, and this leaves me tired and feeling fulfilled at night.

Week 2:

Week 2 was brutal. The mundanity of our consistent and repetitive schedule led me and several members of my district to wish that we were already out in the field. It didn't help that this week was the beginning of what the MTC called "immersion". This means that all of our classes were spoken ENTIRELY IN SPANISH. The first few classes were quite difficult, but I am happy to report that I am steadily learning the language, with the Lord's help! I am now consistently understanding about 70 - 80% of the words spoken, however I can barely speak or write yet. But, hey, progress is progress!

Every Tuesday offers the amazing opportunity to hear from our general authorities of the Church. During my first week, I had the honor to hear from a General 70, a man named Elder Godoy. The talk he gave was both funny and inspiring. He spoke to us of his own conversion, and how the missionaries played a role in that conversion. He spoke how we need to make sure that all of the friends we bring to the Gospel need connections, for through those connections a love and the nurturing power of the Gospel are able to reach them. He spoke how he unfortunately didn't have such connections, and because of this he was left to wander for a short time. However, it was through the love of a member during a FSY camp that he finally found those connections.

For my second devotional, I was blessed in hearing from an apostle! I knew that an apostle had come to the MTC when I saw that the lines for the devotional were not only "out the door", but spanning several walkways away from the gym. Several members of my district, understandably, were unable to find seating and were forced to go into the overflow, which we were all disappointed in. However, this quickly became a blessing when we realized that Elder Stevenson was in the overflow, speaking to the listeners inside. I was quite awed to see a member of the apostles in the flesh. What was even more astounding, however, was the fact that he joked with the listeners. I could tell that he had a deep love for missionaries, and everyone in that room. Because me and my district didn't want to create a scene, we stayed by the door to not disturb his words. What this meant for us was that when it came time for him to head into the gym to speak, he passed us and shook each of our hands. So, not only was I blessed to see him in the flesh, but I got to shake his hand as well!

Don't worry, this already long email is almost over. I have just 3 more short things I would like to share with you.

The first is that I got my district hooked on Chess, which was pretty funny because they all booed when I brought out my small board originally. They all love it and I will glance over occasionally to see them playing a quick game.

The second is that I am seen as the tech guy in my district. When we originally got our phones, they weren't working. I fiddled around with mine a bit, and got mine running. Because of this, several other members of my district asked me to fix theirs, which I thought was pretty funny. Not only this, but I was told that the very computer I am writing this email on was "unfixable" and that "several people had tried to fix" this computer. The fact that you are reading this email is a testimant to the fact that I got it running! (Apparently no one here knows that you need to turn on the computer for it to work lol)

The final thing that I would like to say is this:

God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ love you

You can see their love through out this world. In the placement of our planet and the order of the planets, to the air we breathe. Everything that you can see and touch speaks of a loving creator. Remember your Identity as loved Sons and Daughters of a loving God in Heaven. I testify of this, and their existence. That is why I have taken this massive step into the unknown. To share this truth with the world. I so testify, en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Sincerely,

Elder Bahnmiller