Josh Mission Email June 29 2026: Pole to Pole

Hey everyone! I’m coming at you this week from the other side of Maryland. I am now in the Annapolis Young Single Adult ward. It’s a huge switchup! The last couple of transfers the average person that we have been teaching was at least triple my age, and now everyone is just within a few years of me.

Working in English is definitely a trip, it feels very weird to be locked in on everything someone is saying and then just have the response come naturally. Sacrament meeting yesterday was neat, I understood everything that was being said.

YSA work is kind of like Chinese work in that we try to contact everyone, but we only teach a subset of those we end up finding. It’s been cool to spend a lot of time finding and getting to know the area.

Other things:
🐕 got barked at by a human. We knocked on her door and through the door she yelled “JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES?!?” and I was like nope annnnnd then she started barking.
📖 We go to Institute, which is the young adult scripture study class. It was a good time and I learned it is so much easier to remember people’s names in English instead of Chinese
🎲 We also have a weekly board game night. This week the two people who usually bring all the games weren’t able to make it, and so we ended up playing a 6 person card game with like 10 people. I think we had one rotation around the table early on that took like 25 minutes 😭. No one had a rule book so it was all just guessing. I thought it was hilarious, but I think the guy next to me fell asleep at one point. We persevered and figured it out though 💪. I got clobbered though.
😋 We get fed well around here! I thought I was done for being out of the Chinese area, but we get dinner through members, institute, and board game night so actually we’re chilling. It averages out to about 3 meals a week, which is the same or a little more than the Chinese area.

🚨🔥SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
Doctrine and Covenants 88:63
“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” I love how powerful the promises in this scripture are. I think we all know the basics on how to draw closer to God, so this week I want you to reflect on what keeps you from doing what is necessary to access these promises. Are you busy? Tired? Bored? Just not feeling it? Out of the habit? Whatever it is, take some time to reflect on how you can overcome these barriers. Never wait until the day that they’re just magically removed, because our circumstances rarely improve without action on our part. But they can and will as we put in that effort! Make a plan, act on it, see the blessings.

Also, next P day for me is saturday for the 4th! This should be the best place in the world for July 4th P day, but we dont know what we’re allowed to do yet (there are some safely concerns with large gatherings and the possibility of protests in the city) so we shall see what end up going down.

Love you guys!
Elder Banks