My first clashes with the Devil

Dear worried readers...

I would like to start off and apologize for the fact that this email is reaching you on a Tuesday. I forgot to mention in my last email that P-day changed to Halloween this week... I guess now is a good time to mention too that next week it will be on Wednesday!

Now... what is up with that title?

Let me explain...

My entire time that I have been out here on the mission, I have been quite terrified of speaking to strangers. So much so that my companions have been doing all of the talking, and I have felt rather useless. Well, NO MORE!!! 

I am happy to report that I have given my first real and legit dinner message MOSTLY by myself. (I say mostly because my companions shared their testimonies after, and closed it off... but I shared the scripture and the message!)

Not only this, but we have finally started to see our labors bear fruit! Several different people that we have been trying to get into contact with have gotten back saying they would love to chat! And rather enthusiastically, too!

This, of course, led to some retaliation by the adversary. Because it had to. Life is never that easy. 

I have been hit with bomb shell after bomb shell. Non-stop for the last week or so. I have walked through a couple rounds of depression, anxiety, and I have questioned why I have been out here and why we weren't having success. 

God answered all of them for me. I lost my emotions as we found people to teach. I over came my anxiety when my trainer gave me some golden advice: Think of teaching as explaining your testimony, then relate it to the other person. That was HUGE for me.

The only other thing that I have been struggling with is FOMO. When I have been going to do my facebook bouts, I have accidentally seen some of my friends and families posts about what is going on. Since childhood, I have had a huge fear of missing out. On the mission, that fear has quadrupled.

This is one trial that God seems to have left me to my own devices on. For now, atleast. I think I can bear this one, and I will come out stronger because of it.

This week, a few other events occured:

I got to go to MLC! (one of my companions complained that he had been out 15 months before he first got to go lol)

I had another Spanish exchange! This time, I had the opportunity to use my gloriously terrible Spanish when a member asked me a question in Spanish. I proudly asked him what his question was, then answered him. As I was talking, one of the Spanish Elders looks at me dumbfounded. When I'm done, The member looks at me and says, in perfect English, ""Oh. So you don't know how to speak Spanish?"

So, yeah... much to work on!

Until next week! 

1. 6:30 Frisbee! Oh boy are there stories to tell of these games of frisbee!

Times I intentionally  slipped (dove) for the frisbee: 1

Times I unintentionally slipped: 1

People that crashed into me: 1. The other missionary walked away with a headache, I walked away with my legs incredibly sore, so walking around the rest of the day was a challenge... still kinda sore, actually lol

Just yet another example of how when I step outside to do physical activity, something bad happens!

2. A member gave us this meal that reminded me of my mom's cooking...

3. Spoils of the ward Halloween party!

4. Downtown Tucson! Reminded me of Salt Lake lol

Tis spooky time!

Hope y'all are ready for a ghost story, because I've got one coming right towards ya!

But, that was later in the week, so you're gonna have to wait.

This week started off pretty normal, all things considered. That was until we had the AP's come do an exchange with us. This experience really taught me that there are different missioaries out there, who do things very differently then how I or my companions would. 

We got to talk with a lot of people that day, so many that I can't really remember them all . We got do meet 2 different hunters, who oddly enough both had recently come home from hunting, so that was pretty cool... we got to see one of them packaging up antelope, so that was pretty neat.

So I didn't realize it, but apparently we had some goat meat hiding in the freezer... the AP decided to cook it up for his lunch, and DAAAANG that stuff smelled awesome! Problem was, I could tell that the air was getting foggy, so I opened the door to let the smoke out. My comp saw what I was doing and said "Elder Bahnmiller, you don't need to leave the door open. It's not going to smoke." Okay.....

I left the door closed, and sure enough, 20 minutes later the smoke alarm goes off. I just look at my companion like  and he just looked at me like , so that was pretty funny. Come on people, I got experience with this lol. Half of the stuff I cooked burned, so I ought to know when there will be smoke, even if it was technically "invisible". I learned a pretty cool lesson from that though. We may not see the smoke that signals the burning around us, because to us it may seem invisible. But the prophet (uh oh, did I just liken myself to a prophet?) can see the smoke, and warns us before anything bad happens.

Whats crazy is that the moment the door was opened for the second time, everyone in the apartment was able to see the smoke that hung around us.

Alrighty... I promised a ghost story, didn't I?

This week we had a bit of an encounter with the paranormal. Me and my companions were out tracting and got to the point where we were doing what we called "inspired knocking" which really just means that we would knock on the doors that we felt inspired by the spirit to knock on. Anyway, my companions got a phone call, so they were very busy with that when all of a sudden I felt I needed to look up and to my right. When I did, I saw someone in a dark covered patio watching us. Kinda creepy, but Ok. I pointed him out to my companions, and after there phone call we went and started to talk to him. He seemed wary at first, but after we didn't prove to be malicious, he let us onto his patio and we began to talk with him. We talked with him about the next life, and he explained something that I thought was kinda scary but also really cool. He said that the reason he was out on his patio was because his motion detector had picked up an "orb". An orb, he explained, was a being from the other side that could see our entire existence by staring into our eyes. Ok, cool... he then explained he had come out of his house to try and find it, and he couldn't really see it, but the camera showed it was there. He then said that after a moment, the orb had zipped away towards us. At this point I'm rather skeptical, but people have interesting beliefs, I suppose. But, he did show us his security camera/motion detector. And, on it, was a blue orb that just floated there. After a minute we see him come out of his house on the camera, and he starts to investigate the orb, which he can't see, but he was looking at his phone to see its location. What startled me was when the orb zoomed away, the position that he was in was the same position I saw him in when I had spotted him on the balcony for the first time.

I don't know how I spotted him, because his balcony was very dark, but I think it's kinda cool. This I think really shows that no matter what you believe in, or see, missionaries are sent by God, and people (and orbs) realize that. I dunno if that "orb" was faked, but I guess I now have a spooky story I get to tell my future kids about lol

I would like to say that I don't really believe in ghosts. I know that there are people on the other side, such as deceased family and friends, who want the best for us. I also know that there are the 1/3 of heaven who followed satan, who wants our downfall. So, I know that there could be some "paranormal activity", but I don't let this kind of stuff shake me or my testimony in Christ. If its real, cool, it doesn't really affect me, so why change my testimony?

(By the way, sorry for the REEEEEALLY long email lol)

So, yeah. My spiritual message today is to not let outside influences damage your testimony. A lot of things in this world may seem upended or crazy. There are a lot of subtle and not so subtle events and people that vie for our attention and worship. Distractions. Distractions from the being we should put our faith and our testimony in. This being is Jesus Christ. Putting your testimony in him, and your faith, will calm your heart and ease your mind as you see things from and eternal or "Celestial" point of view.

Thanks everybody for reading! Have a great week!

- Elder Bahnmiller

(Also, quick shoutout to my parents for sending me the most glitter filled package history has ever seen. My apartment is positively covered in glitter now...)

1. A service project I got to participate in! I would have put in the story, but this email is to long already. Essentially, I picked rocks for 3 hours and helped build a canal for some water in a local elementary school. If you are confused, I am too.

2. A member here has his own desert turtle pets. I got to hold one (they are actually pretty heavy)

3. BREAKFAST FOR DINNER! LOOK AT THAT DAD, ITS A REAL FOOD PEOPLE HAVE FOR DINNER!!!! mwahahahaha! (For reference, my Dad for some reason doesn't think breakfast is a dinner food...)

4. A lego Eiffel Tower that the bishop here built with his family during fall break. From the perspective of a lego fan, this thing is dope.

5. Big spider that I found yesterday hanging over a members patio.

Flour and a Pepper

Aight, buckle up tight, yall are in for quite the ride!

This week was craaaaaazy. 

The End.

Just kidding.

Alright, so this week started quite sad, honestly. One of my companions wanted to go home for personal reasons, so we went to the temple so he could recieve some inspiration from heaven. He sadly decided to go home. On Wednesday, we got his travel plans and we helped him pack. We then sent him on his way.

Then there were two.

At this point, both me and my otro (other) companion were quite depressed. To top that all off, we had these meetings with a member of the 70 named Elder Alonso (these were FUEGO, by the way). These were 4 meetings in total where we would sign in online for 3 of them and in person for one. Our in person was on Friday, and the Elder that had just left was supposed to conduct, so that fell onto my otro companion. He did pretty great, but I could tell he was a bit out of his comfort zone.

After that, there was a lunch that I was super excited for, because I had yet to eat any food all day. That was when the APs dropped the ball that I needed to participate in another meeting, since my comp had to...

AYE CARAMBA!!!! NO BUENO!! YO NECESITO COMIIIIIIIIIDAAAAAA!

No cap that was my reaction. In my head, of course. ;D

In said meeting, Elder Alonso commented that it looked like I had been on my mission for 22 months lol. When in reality it was like, 3 weeks!

Also, because the other ZL left (Zone Leader), I was technically acting zone leader for a couple of days. I didn't really do anything different because my comp did everything, but still....

Then came Saturday. On Saturday, we did an exchange, so that I went with a Spanish Elder into a Spanish area, and my comp went with the other Spanish elder and stayed in our area.

Saturday started with a service project! I got to pull weeds for a friend (which was strangely fun. What is happening to me?!?) What is rather sad is that there was a Solar eclipse during the time of the service project, which I completely forgot about until after... I missed it because I was serving. Best way to miss one, I guess!

After that, I got to practice my Spanish with a Columbian woman and the Hermanas. That was a lot of fun, because I got to hear the others get critiqued over their Spanish, but I was immune because I was new lol.

After that, we went and visited an older woman and got to speak with her. We even gave her a blessing, and I got to do my first anointing with oil!

And Saturday ended with a member dinner with the Hermanas. This dinner was pretty awesome. It started with a game where we spun a wheel where we had to do what the spinner landed on. Both of the Hermanas got floured, and my comp got whip creamed in the face. I also got floured, which was quite a blast.

During the meal, me and the new Hermana, Hermana Peterson, had the opportunity to try a Sobrano pepper. She dealt with hers better than mine. Although, to be fair, hers was smaller than mine, but whatever. 

Hot pepper. Oh my.

Then, finally, after my call with my parents today, I got to go skating at an arena. I "learned" how to roller skate. By wiping out 4 times. Very painful.

What was cool was that the employee manning the ring asked if I was OK, then asked about the tag on my shirt. So, missionary moment!

It's almost like God knew that I would fall...

I find it really cool that I was placed there though, not gonna lie. The fact that Missionaries are noticed, no matter what we are doing, is such a cool thought for me and also a heavy weight that we get to carry.

In any case, we are getting a new comp in like, 15 minutes so this is all for now!

Enjoy your week!

 - Elder Bahnmiller

First Full Week in Tucson

Hey everybody!

This week was very interesting in terms of content. 

I have seen many tender mercies and miracles during my short time here. One such miracle was rather unexpected. This woman, whose door we knocked on, told us that she actually wasn't supposed to be home, but at work. Her car broke down, so she had returned home to talk with the towing company. That's when we knocked on the door. If her car hadn't broken down, we would never have caught her. That was a really cool experience.

I also had my first exchange! I had the opportunity to spend an entire day with the Spanish Élders, and I got to practice my Español! We spoke with a lady in her home, and she even complemented my Spanish!

Another cool miracle occurred that day. We stopped to get gas, and I saw this amazing sunset (picture 3 and 4) and me and the other 2 Elders had to take a few pictures! What was really cool was that after we were done, a man filling up his tank next to us gave us some tips on how to take some amazing sunset photos. We got to talk to him about the gospel, and he seemed interested!

Something pretty cool was that we got to exchange our truck for a new car this week. Because the exchange zone was outside of my area boundaries, my comps and I had a sleep over with some other Elders. We brought my mattress over because the Elders we were staying with didn't have enough mattresses. However, what stunk was that our new car doesn't have a truck bed! So for 40 or so minutes I rode on the mattress in the back of the car. (The seats were down). That is probably the worst and most illegal thing I've ever done,  but we unfortunately didn't have another choice . (I honestly would have done anything else if I could, but we legit didn't have another way of getting both me and the mattress back to our apartment. My comp said so himself lol...)

Hmm, lets see, what else... Oh yeah!

I suppose I could give an update on my physical activities thus far. (This may seem boring, but its exciting for me so... too bad, I guess?)

I have pushed myself to be able to do 50 situps and then 50 pushups back to back! Before you judge me and say something along the lines of "thats awful!" or "you think thats impressive? I can do XYZ, so there!", Keep in mind that pre mission, the best I could do was maybe 15 to 20 situps, if I pushed, and 10 to maybe 17 pushups. These were definitely not in a row, either.

Also, apparently my companions love Ross for some reason. Apparently they found some 200 dollar shoes for like 80 dollars. Craaaaazy steal.

My spiritual bit for this email is a quote that I really liked from conference! That is "Salvation is a personal matter, but Exaltation is a family matter." - Elder Oaks.

I really like this phrase, because it shows that no matter what is going on in our life, you can't go alone. Life was not designed for us to go alone. Life was meant to be shared around campfires, as stories. Life was built by God to be experienced with our best friends and family by our side. 

Life was meant to be shared.

Sincerely,

- Elder Bahnmiller

Pictures!

1. My ride on the mattress

2. A picture of the absurdity of the mattress

3. An amazing sunset that I saw with the Spanish Elders

4. My selfie with one of said Elders... lol

5. A second sunset that I liked

6. One of the members that we visited made us this homemade coconut Ice cream!

Final Week in the MTC and First Couple of days in Tucson

Hola familia y amigos!

This last week was insane, and I have a bit to share so BUCKLE UP! 

The last week of the MTC was just like the rest of all of the weeks that I have had thus far, except that we had all of our goodbyes and our traveling. (Duh).

We got to hear stories from my Maestros in the MTC about their missions, and the cool stuff that they got to do while there. 

Then, half of my district left for their reassignments and their actual mission. I was pretty sad because I was close to several of them, but happy to see them off on their adventures. I had to say good bye to my first companion :( and had my whole room to myself to pack and get ready.

Packing took forever, but I was 97.32 percent sure that my suitcases were both below the 50 pound mark for plane travel. 

I had to wake up at the terrible hour of 2 AM to prepare, and I headed down to the travel office at 3 in the morning. I then got to travel to my mission!

That travel time was about 14 to 17 hours of travel, and was incredably brutal. I traveled on 1 bus, 3 trains, and 2 planes. And a car. Can't forget the car.

On our second flight, we were boarded and sat in the plane to wait for it to take off. But it didn't. For THREE HOURS. It was abysmal. Turns out, the rear of the plane had some chipped paint and they needed to go through a stack of paperwork inorder to fly. No fun.

Because of that, we arrived in Tucson to late to receive orientation, so the Senior missionaries that met us at the airport rushed us over to the stake center for us to meet our Companions.

My first companions in the Field! I was placed in a trio with Elder Smith and Elder Knight, who also happen to be my Zone Leaders as well, which is really cool as I get to watch them deal with the zone. It's really cool.

While I've been in Tucson for 4 days, we have gone to buffalo wild wings twice, which my comps call B-Dubs for some reason.

For conference, we jumped between members houses and got to witness the cool traditions they do during conference. It was also really cool because we were in a different house for each session, so I got to meet a lot of different people.

Conference itself was, of course, seriously fuego. I enjoyed both President Nelsons talk and Elder Pingree Juniors talk. Both answered questions I was having, and one itself was answered by the prophet, who really shouldn't have been in conference, so that was a major testimony builder for me. (If you haven't seen these 2 talks, I highly recommend them! They are AWESOME)

After Conference, we went and contacted a family and had dinner with them (they gave us Ice cream! Picture below), which was my first real discussion as a missionary, which was awesome. It was crazy, because I kinda expected we were going to be giving a message, but my companions didn't tell me the game plan, so they dealt their message then looked at me to finish it off, which was really terrifying, but also really cool because I felt that my voice was guided by the spirit to teach those people, so that was amazing.

After that, we met with a non member in her home, and we got to share a conference talk with her. It was amazing because the Spirit was so strong in that house when we listened to Elder Holland's talk: Fear not, and Believe only. After words, she thanked us and we went on our way.

Today we went on a hike, where I took a lot of cool photos which are at the bottom of this email.

All of the photos are from my time here in Tucson. Look forward to more Missionary work!

Also, real quick, if you haven't had the opportunity to watch conference, I highly recommend listening to at least a few of the talks. If time is whats holding back, I recommend listening to them while on commute or during a quiet moment. I testify that the speakers that speak during conference are directed so by God, and the messages they share are meant for us, God's children. If you are struggling with a problem or an issue, listen to a couple. The talks seem like they were written specifically for you. I have experienced it, and I encourage you to do so as well.

Sincerely,

Elder Bahnmiller