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!