Birthday week!

 Hi Everyone! I forgot to post the letter and picture we received from Bannon's mission president when he made it to the mission. That is the first letter and then Bannon's is after. I hope everyone has a great week!

 

Oficina de La Misión Santiago Av. Estrella Sadhalá #10 2do piso Frente a Univ. UTESA Santiago 51000 Dominican Republic +1 809 241-1145

September 12, 2014

Susan Greer
14179 Woods Valley Road
Valley Center CA  92082
United States


Dear Sister Greer:

Your son, Elder Bannon Bryce Greer, arrived safely in the Dominican Republic Santiago Mission.  I am pleased to have him here.  His trainer is Elder Starky Rafael Rodriguez Chamul from Ciudad Delgado, El Salvador.  He is an excellent missionary and will take good care of your son.  They are assigned to the Los Cocos Area in the SANTIAGO NORTE Zone. 

I appreciate so much the enthusiasm and desire your son has to serve his fellow man.  He now has the opportunity to serve donating 100% of him time to the Lord.  We ask you to help him cherish his mission, to work hard, to fight discouragement, to love his companion and the people he is serving.  He will need encouragement and support.  He will experience trials that will strengthen and profit him eternally.  Weekly letters are very important in maintaining a missionary’s enthusiasm.  We would request that your letters to him be uplifting, spiritually edifying, and mission centered.

I will do everything I can to help your son serve a successful mission.  I thank you for your support and look forward to time serving with your son. 

Sincerely,

John L. Douglas
Mission President

 

 

Bannon with President and Sister Douglas

  Another great week! It was me and my companion, Elder Rodriguez's, Birthday on Monday! It was a good day. Nothing super crazy or anything obviously, but i was fun. We got to go to a Taco Bell here! That is like a big deal here... Haha. We got to have American food and listen to music I actually understand! I was surprised that Elder Rodriguez liked Taco Bell at all because I feel like to Native people, that type of Americanized Mexican food would be nasty to them, but I guess not. Later that night we had dinner and Family Home Evening at a member’s house in our ward. They were super cool and it was way fun. They gave us cupcakes and we blew out candles which was nice.

  On our way home, we saw a guy on the sidewalk fall out of his chair and start to have a seizure! He was foaming out the moth and his body was just twitching and his arms kept flailing in the air. It was way scary and sad. Everyone was just watching him and one guy even said "Just forget it, let him die!" Like what the heck! I was like, "This guy is freaking dying and all of you are just standing there watching?! At least call the police or something!" But I guess things here are a lot different. There isn't really a police system or ambulance. Or so it seemed. I honestly didn't know how to help him though. So I said a prayer and he ended up stop seizing and was eventually ok. Super sad though, I wish there was more I could have done, but I know it is bad to try and help them during their seize or whatever, so I'm glad he was ok.

  Way cool spiritual experience on Sunday! So we were walking to this lady's house for a lesson and I saw this lady sitting under a tree. I said hi and kept walking. When we got to the house of our next lesson, she wasn't there. So we turned around and went on our way to another place. On the way back, we passed the lady under the tree again. I said "Saludo" and kept walking. Something told me I needed to turn around but I just kept walking. The further away I got, the more I felt we should turn around and talk to her. I just kept walking, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I figured that was a prompting and Heavenly Fathers way of telling to turn around now and talk with her. So I stopped and said "Elder wait" "what?' He replied. "Come with me." And we turned and went back to talk with her. When we got to the tree where she was sitting before, she was no longer there. Dang... I wasn't going to give up though! So I walked to a nearby house and yelled "Saludo!" And she came to the door. After about a minute of talking with her, She invited us in. I started the lesson and taught for a while. I was pretty confident with what I was able to communicate to her and thought it went really well. After I taught her, Elder Rodriguez taught her a little more and cleared up any questions. The lesson went great and we set up another time to meet with her. After, we were walking to another appointment and I was telling Elder Rodriguez how I thought it went really well and I did ok, but I should have said this, and I forgot to say that. He just looked at me and said, "I don't care if you taught the worst lesson ever or if she had no idea what you said. The important thing is that you listened to the spirit! That is all that matters! And I am so proud of you.... And I am a really bad example... Because I felt the spirit so strong the whole time we were walking away too. But I didn't act on it. I had just got done saying a prayer of forgiveness for not listening to the spirit when you said 'Stop'. Always listen to the spirit! Now you are ready for the mission." It was such a great experience. I know without a doubt in my mind that the spirit and Holy Ghost is real and guides you in your life. It is your best friend as a missionary. I learned how important it is to listen to promptings. If I hadn't, we would have missed that opportunity to share with that lady.

All in all, another great week in paradise.

-Elder Greer