WEEK 35

Elder Davis & Elder Nickel

    I am doing alright.  I have been really sick for the past few days but other than that I am doing well.  The rash is still coming and going but one of the mission  doctors gave me some medicine to try out to see if it helps.

    This past week was really cool.  Minus being sick of course.  We were able to see 24 people this week and that's even with the 2 days that I had to stay in!  I am feeling the worst today though.  I have just been running a fever and a cough and a runny nose.  Elder Nickel had it last week so that is probably why I got it.  I promise to take it easy.  I think I am just going to use the P-day to try and sleep and get better so I can get out there and work.

    As for the fireside, we sang 2 songs in Spanish and this next week we are going to sing English.  Zone conference was actually really cool too.  We got to meet the new missionaries that took the Holley's spot and everyone that taught and shared a great message.  It is so cool how much we can learn from the spirit in meetings like that when we really pay attention to what the spirit tells us.

    I cannot believe that I have been on my mission for 8 months already! What!!  But it has been so much fun  and I look forward to the next 15 months.  As for me and Chula, I am doing great and I am loving it!  Still!!!  The bike is holding up quite nicely and I am sure that it will last for quite a while.  I just love this area and the people.  So blessed I am to work here.

    I really honestly did love my package!  The tie is sick and I loved everything in the package.  I so lucky to have a mom that knows me so well and knows exactly what I need!  You are the best!

    I have made it a goal to take more pictures though.  I will send a picture of me and my companion attached to this email.  We are doing well.  We get along pretty well and are getting better at teaching in unity so that is pretty nice.  I am grateful that the Lord puts me with companions that I can learn from.

    This week we actual saw a lot of people.  We did not however see T**** or R****.  :(  But we did see V******* and 2 new investigators.  V******* lost his baptism date because we haven't got him to church yet but he said he can come next week so I hope we will get him with a date next week.  The two newbies are C*** and D****.  They are two girls.  One is 21 and one is about 16.  We had a really cool lesson with them about the restoration and C**** told us that she felt the spirit!  What?  Yeah and we are going back tomorrow because they committed to read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true.  So we will see!  *Fingers Crossed!*

    I love you so darn much and I hope you enjoy this email.  :)

    Love,

    Elder Davis

LETTER DATED MARCH 18, 2014

Dear Family,

    Thank you for the nice, bright, spring package.  I love it!  Food for days!  I don't' know what to say other than I love you and it was the perfect thing.  Exactly what I needed.!!!

    I don't know what to say because for some reason my mind is super blank.  So this past Sunday there was a mission president's fireside.  These are where the mission presidency is there and recent converts share why the accepted the gospel and their testimonies.  The missionaries in the surrounding areas perform musical numbers or sing in the choir.  Well, I had the opportunity to sing in the choir and it was a great experience.  It felt so cool to bear my testimony through the songs that we sung and feel of the spirit so strongly.  As I was scanning the crowd, guess who I saw?  Do you remember B*****, the less active I talked about in Poway?  Well he was there and I got to talk to him a little bit afterward.  He says he is fully active now!  Super cool!

    Something else happened to me that I'd like to share.  I guess my mind isn't so blank anymore.  So the past week I had been closing in on finishing the Book of Mormon for the second time on my mission.  Well, I had prayed that whole week before I finished that when I asked if all that I had read was true, that I would feel the power of the spirit like investigators do.  So I could be put in their shoes.  Well as I got down on my knees and started to pray to ask, I was filled with the spirit so strong that it was stronger than the first time I asked.  While I was feeling this I asked Heavenly Father if he was really there and I was filled again.

    Now I would just like to tell you all how much I love you!  I thank you for supporting me and allowing me to do this.  I know how hard it is for you and it means the world to me.  I KNOW without a single doubt that the Book of Mormon is real and true.  I KNOW that God is our Heavenly Father and he is there and always listens to us.  He does answer our prayers - always.

     I love you all!

    Love,
    Elder Davis

WEEK 34

  Dearest Mother,

   I am doing alright today. The rash went away for a while and then it came back hardcore.  Lately it just comes during the night and goes away later in the day. It has advanced so much that it is now on my face. I will be going to a dermatologist or something this week to try to see what the heck is causing it.  

     Other than that, this week has been good. We were not able to see T***, R****, or V******** though.  :(   Elder Nickel got the flu so we were in for half the week. But we still got to see a lot of people this week, so it was great.  V******* did not make it to church this week.  As for R****, she is like Aunt Leslie because of her attitude. I don't know how to really explain it but she cracks kind of the same jokes that Aunt Leslie does. Other than that, we found and had a super cool lesson with a couple yesterday. They will probably be baptized pretty soon! 

    Glad to hear that everything went well with the blankets and the shower. It sounded like the blankets were a lot of work. Bless your heart for taking the time to do something like that. I am sure that Shannon really appreciated it.  You are such a perfect example of service!! You amaze me Mom! I am glad that the shower went so well too and that you didn't have to do much. That is so nice of Stacie to do that for you! I m glad everyone liked my gift too.

 

    How great is it that Tyler was baptized!! How awesome for that little boy. Please make sure to congratulate him for me. I am so proud of him and happy for him as well. 

    As for Daddy, I am happy for him to be in Pennsylvania, his team's town.  I am sure that he will enjoy it. I am also sure of how much he will miss you though. I am glad that he is enjoying his new position so much. He really does deserve it.

    As for me being "the missionary that gets all the packages," I wouldn't say that I deserve that title.  I mostly get packages from you, Auntie Kristin, and Paula.  I think people say that about me because most of the other missionaries don't usually get packages.

   The Sheldon folding thing is working wonders! It works so well and I am LOVING it! 

 

   So I did receive the package you sent last week and it actually involved the best part of my week. Well almost. So I got the triple you sent and there is a recent convert of ours that has been asking for forever for a triple and hadn't received one. As he was telling us, it was brought to my remembrance that I had a triple that I wasn't using... You should of seen his big ole face when I gave it to him.  :)  Oh man I wish I could have taken a picture! Then, the next visit with him, as were pulling out our Book of Mormons to start our discussion, he pulled out his triple and said, "Oh perdon Elder Davis" with a big smirk on his face.  He was saying, "Oh excuse me Elder Davis, let me just pull out my new triple I got here." haha. It was so funny. Thanks so much for being such a big part of that gift!

    We actually had zone conference this past week and it was super cool.  As for Elder and Sister Hollie, they are already home and off their missions and I don't know when their homecoming is. President and Sister Clayton go home in June though.  I will be sure to get a hold of the info I can for you about the senior missionaries that have left and are leaving.

   

    Apparently the computers are poopy today so it looks like I won't be sending any pictures this week. :( SO sorry!  But I hope you have a great week and feel my love!  I love you so much! 

    Love,

    Elder Davis

WEEK 33

   Oh how I love you.  You amaze me each week with the experiences you have and the love you have.  It makes me very happy that Pops loved the birthday gift.  I thought it was pretty clever and that he would like it.  My opening sentence to my journal last night was, "Happy Birthday Dad!!"  I am glad that you had fun together but sorry that Dad's snoring kept ya up :( That's no fun.  Elder Nickel snores sometimes so it puts me right back at home.  I feel ya :) 

  As for me and funds.  I hate to say it but yeah I am running a little tight.  I used my last two stamps last week and I am going to buy some this week I hope.  But I am able to use the money that I get from the mission to purchase those.

  I don't want to alarm you but since I have been here in this area, I have had that rash that I had before the mission again.  It is almost gone now. I have no idea what would have caused it.  The only thing that I think that it could be was that I stopped eating anything with milk in it and started to use soy milk and almond milk. But this week have stopped using all types of milk and the rash is going away.  If it gets any worse, I will go to a dermatologist to figure out what is going on. Also, I have run out of vitamins.  I have not bought any because they are kind of expensive.  So if there is anything that I need, it would be vitamins.

    Other than that, I am doing superb!! This week has been great! The other day we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and it was super cool. I took over the area (which was super nerve wracking) but we taught 9 lessons that day! And we added a new investigator named T**** that is super nice and we have an appt with her on Friday!  We also added a lady named R**** who is a lot like Aunt Leslie.  Other than that, no newbies to report. V******* committed to come to church this week and his baptismal date is looking even more achievable!  It is actually next month. His date is for April 5th.

   I would love to tell you about one of our investigators every week.  I will tell you a little more about V******* and about our new investigator.  V******* is a 86 year old man who is living at home with his wife and looking for the truth. We have been trying to get him to come to church for a while but he hasn't been able to because his wife is super old and is a lot scenile. But this week he committed to coming so we will see what happens.  NOW...... We added a super sick woman this week. Her name is T****.  We taught her a little bit on Friday and she said she would love us to come back this Friday. She is a super nice girl in her 20's and she is going to college. Hope it goes well. Wish us luck!

   I am doing fantastic!!! This week has been amazing! I want to share an expereince from when we had exchanges this week. Here we go: So we started the day off and we were about 2 minutes into our bike ride to an investigator appt when both of bikes broke.... so... we locked em up and walked.  We then saw our investigator, P*****, and were lead by the Spirit in a lesson about the Plan of Salvation. Then, we went to go see a member that we had been trying to see for weeks and he was never there.  Guess what!?  He answered the door!!  Then we had a lesson with him and he took us to our next appointment and he became friends with our investigator and offered him a ride to church! SICK!  Then we got home, had lunch, fixed the bikes and went back out. Then we added a new investigator named T**** who is super awesome and she said she would love us to teach her more! What a day!  And that's just part of it. We saw and taught 7 other people/families that day! Guided by the Spirit!

   I am so blessed to here. We are also having a lot of fun getting to know the members and building good relationships with them.  

   

   Glad that the shower went so well. How great for Abby to be able to be so blessed! It's actually pretty cool because one of my friends from my MTC district is there in the mission that she is going to. Tell her to say hi to Elder Elowitt.

   

   How great it will be when Bishop Floyd says that there are 3 full-time missionaries serving for our ward!!

  I love you so much and I think about you every day. I hope that this letter finds you happiness and that you can feel my DEEP love for you. You are THE reason why I have grown and developed into the man that I have become, I really do mean that. I LOVE YOU!!!!

  Love,

  Elder Davis

LETTER DATED MARCH 4, 2014

Elder Davis' "desk" 

 Ocean Beach - Pday last week

We asked Taylor to send a picture of all the ties he had, so we could see what colors and styles he needed.

No wonder he requested no more stripes!

Hello,

   I am doing great!  It has rained quite a bit this wee.  But it has not phased us.  We just go out anyway!  Rain coat for the win!

  As for my pants, they haven't changed much because I use the extra shoelaces you sent to keep my pant legs tight to my legs so they don't' get caught in my bike.  Looks less unprofessional than a bright orange rubber band that some of the missionaries are using.

   As for my appetite, holy cow I am hungry ALL THE TIME!!!  And, I have lost weight!  I work out every morning so hopefully that will help me maintain muscle.

   I still use my backpack.  I didn't start using the filter again until I got to this area.

   I am not exactly sure how many meds I have left.  Probably about two weeks. 

   I am sorry about not sending letters the past few weeks.  It has been chaotic and I also ran out of stamps.  Then the post office was closed when I went there.  Plus, I have bee really low on money this last month.

   What a great experience you had to go and do splits!  That sounds like so much fun!  I didn't know that there was that much work in Saratoga Springs!

   For pday last week we went to Ocean Beach.  I have enclosed a picture. 

   I love you to death and thank you immensely for all you do.  You are the best parents a son could ask for.  Thank you for everything!  I hope this week is great for you!  Love you!

   Love,
   Elder Davis

WEEK 32

 The table Elder Davis set for dinner on Valentines Day.

 Valentines dinner.

Elder Davis' "comfy" bed. 

 Elder Davis at Ocean Beach

 

    Today I am doing great! This week has been awesome!  In other news, it has rained a couple times this week. and yes we do bike in the rain.  :)  Raincoat for the win! :)  Our investigators here are legit! We had a super sick lesson with one of them the other day! She was just baptized about 3 weeks ago into the Baptist church and she had some questions about what happens after this life. So, we taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! It was super sick.  We also have this really cool old lady named L*** that we are working with and a 14 year old boy named O******. Oh and we have this 86 year old named V****** that has a baptismal date!! Oh yeah!

 

    For our P-day last week we went to Ocean Beach and it was super cool. I tried to take some pics but I am not that good of a photographer. But I did fix that pick of me in front of the temple on my own.   I will be able to go to the temple again next transfer.  

 

    Things with my new companion are super awesome!! He is a super cool kid and we get along really well.  We have a lot of the same interests and we laugh a lot together.  How is he different? Well, he used to do MMA and fought UFC so that is pretty cool. He is a convert of 3 years and he knows the scriptures super well.  

 

   Super cool that Tyler is getting baptized!! How awesome. I am so happy for that little guy. He will be even HAPPIER after he is baptized! 

 

   My best experience this week was super cool. It was actually during sacrament meeting.  As you know, this week was fast Sunday. Well, during sacrament meeting, after the bishop said his words and invited those who wanted to share their testimonies to feel free to do so, the pulpit and almost all of the chairs behind it were filled by members flooding in to share their testimonies! It was the coolest thing that I have ever seen in sacrament!! The best part of it was that there wasn't one single child that was up there! It was all adult members! What a neat experience!

 

   Dad, I am daily thankful for your example and ALL you do and have done for me.  I also want you to know that I am LOVING it here in my new area.  My companion is awesome and I am truly blessed in about every aspect of this area. I even have a SUPER comfy bed.  :)   Super Cool that you were able to go out on splits!! What a sweet experience. How'd you like it? What did you teach?   I do not have pics of the zone or district, or my companion yet unfortunately but I promise to work on that this week.  

  

   I love you to death Mom!! I hope you know that.  I hope that this email finds you happiness and that you have a beautiful week!

 

    I want you to know that I know that this Gospel is the one and only true Gospel. I know that without a doubt.  I know that I am blessed to be "born of goodly parents."  I love all of you so much and I hope you know that. I hope you have a great week

 

    Love,

    Elder Davis