WEEK 42

   Good Morning!! So guess what? I am NOT getting transferred. And neither is Elder Nickel.  But..... We are getting a third companion tomorrow. What!?  I actually will not know who my companion is until tomorrow.  I was super confused when we got the call and I am still scratching my head because of what I have felt this week.  I thought and felt for sure that I was gone. Oh well. I get to stay here for at least six more weeks! :)  I have to be honest, I was kind of hoping for a change but this week I have been praying really hard and telling Heavenly Father that I will submit to whatever happens, just as long I am ready for it.  Well my prayer was answered. I guess I never learn with that one!  Like I said in our phone call, I am grateful for being able to learn so much from every companion. I wonder who our third will be?  We are actually expecting a "special" phone call from the AP's today informing us more of our situation so I will let you know when I know.

  I am so glad that you enjoyed being able to TALK with me on Sunday. It was very nice for me to. Emailing is great but is was nice to feel everyone's voice.  I have to admit though that I felt a little bad about not making a bigger deal about the whole Mother's Day part of the phone call. I wanted to express what you truly mean to me in my phone call but I didn't really get the chance and I apologize for that.  But that being said, I was very happy with the phone call. 

   I know me typing it on a computer screen is not nearly the same but I want you to know that you are my everything.  You are THE reason why I am who I am and why I have grown up so fast out here.  You taught me when I was very young what serving others meant. You have and always will be an example of loving service to me.  It makes me happy when women ask me if I miss my mom and how I can honestly say that I miss the heck out of her because she is my best friend. But, I know why I am here and that Heavenly Father will take care of her until I get back.  You have always known what's best for me and you have never done anything for your own personal gain with us boys. You know what's up and you tell it like it is.  Thank you SO MUCH for always being there for me. Especially when I need you the most...  I am truly blessed with you in my life and you being such a big part of it.  

   Okay, now to your question, the phone call actually wasn't hard on me at all.  I thought it would make me miss home a lot and stuff like that, but it actually ended up doing the opposite. It got me more pumped to Just go out and Do it.  I thought we would end up talking about worldly things and things that would make me think more of home but it didn't. If you think about it, almost everything we talked about was in some way, related to missionary work. How cool that was! Plus at the end, when I was bearing my testimony, I felt the spirit really strong in the room.  I was confused afterwards because usually when you testify to others, they feel the spirit.  But I was thinking and I came to the realization that Nana was present with me, during that phone call.  It is kind of funny because my testimony was being testified to me as I was testifying. :)  It just made me feel even more that this is what I need to be doing and what I am doing is of God.

  Okay, rambling over.  About the Khaki's, that's a head scratcher... Oh well. :) . I can't remember what they were like. Maybe they were just the more dockerish ones. If that's the case, I can't wear those anyway. I was wondering though, could you send me my newest pair of khaki shorts.  I would like them because I have nothing to wear with my Polo shirt that I have, now that I no longer have Levi's that fit.

   About the scans, yeah they didn't happen. Shocker!! But they say they ordered them and that I am good for now since I had scans just 4 months ago.  They said they will work on pre-auth so that's good. Other than that, all my counts are good. The doctor says that I seem really healthy and that almost all of my blood counts are normal. For a normal person! Except for the platelets, but that's a given...  So things are good. :)

  So we were able to see L*** and take pictures with him yesterday.  He is so cool. I hope he will be happy that neither of us is leaving.  We also were able to stop by and see R**** for about 2 minutes (literally) so that was pretty good too. :) Too bad we caught her a bad time though.  Fortunately, we were able to call her this morning and tell her the news that we are both staying and she seemed pretty happy about that. As to V*********, I haven't heard much about him but I did hear that he has a baptismal date again and that he is coming to church this week so hopefully that will go through. :)

  I had other things that I wanted to talk to you about but I can't remember any of them.  I just want you to know that I love and appreciate you with all my heart. I hope you feel my love and have a great week.

   Love, 

   Elder Taylor C. Davis

P.S.- Here is a picture of Luis!