WEEK 40

 

  I'M AN UNCLE!!!!!

 

  I am SUPER happy to hear that everything went well with the birth and that the babe is already such a champ.  More than anything I am glad to hear that she made it here and that she is doing well. I was super excited when Sister Riggs called me and told me the news.  I still am super pumped and it was basically the highlight of my week.

 

    What a blessing it really is to have another little baby in the family. I can't wait till I can hold her - after she is already 1 years old!!  Oh man that makes me so happy. I can't wait till the day when I can play with her and spoil her rotten. Plus she will already be walkin' and talkin' when I get home as well. Win, win!

 

   So for me, my week has been great. I already told you why of course, but it has been a good week to say the least.  The baptism for the zone leaders went well. L*** came! Plus I got to say a prayer for part of the program.  That was cool.  

 

   As for L***, he is doing very well. He is progressing so much and the gospel is changing his life.  To an insane extent.  He unfortunately did not pass his baptismal interview, so his baptismal date will be pushed back like a month.  But he has said he wants to work toward it and will do what it takes.  He is trying everything.  He will get there soon. He just needs time. :) So that is super cool.  

 

  The Temple was AMAZING!! We went to the 1 o'clock session and saw the new new video. It was super cool and it felt like the first time I'd been there in a while. Not to mention that the Celestial room is amazing!!!  

 

  For helping hands it wasn't that big of a deal. We just helped fix up a high school. Elder Nickel and I helped paint a fence that went around the school. It was pretty cool.

   

  Other than that, not much to report. Except for a pretty cool miracle!!! So we got an updated ward list and we were going around contacting all of the members in our area and guess what!? We went to go contact a less active ladies house and she wasn't there.  :(  But guess who was?... A former member of the church that had been excommunicated. Well, we struck up conversation and at first she said that she was not interested.  But we kept talking and later she said that she knows that us coming by was a sign and that she would be open to us coming by and her telling us the story and everything. SUPER COOL!

 

   I was thinking I would probably like a black or a khaki color messenger bag. If you could send me pictures of some so I can see what is out there, that'll work.  :)   

   Studying the past conference talks has been amazing.  I have really enjoyed studying the past conference and even the conference from last October. I really LOVE Edward Dube's talk and it has really been super cool and helped me a lot.  I have decided that the theme of my mission right now is as follows.... Rise Up and Just DO It.  Yes, of course I have put a Nike swoosh to perfect it as well. I will have to send a picture of it next week.  

 

   So transfers are in two weeks and guess what?  I am not sure, but I think that I could be getting transferred. I don't know why but I just feel like it is going to happen.

 

  Thank you for everything!! You are the best!!!

 

   Love,

   Elder Davis

 

p.s. Can you send me my khaki pants?  :)

WEEK 39

   Happy Tuesday!!  I am doing fantastic today. It has been a pretty good week to say the least.  

 

   Happy late Easter! Boy was Easter amazing.  I had actually been studying the Life of the Savior the whole week up until Easter in the Bible and Jesus the Christ as well. My relationship with the Lord was drastically strengthened because of it I was very humbled this past week.  I love how perfectly my studies fit with Easter and how everything turned out. Easter Morning, I woke up, expressed my love and gratitude for the Savior and all he did, studied about that Easter Morning when he was resurrected, put on my fresh tie that I was sent, and went of to church. In church, we sang as part of the ward choir and had a super great sacrament meeting.  I have to say that it was a very spiritual Easter and I will never forget it. 

 

    Yes it was nothing like being with family but it was almost just as great. :) My relationship with the Savior has increased and grown so much in the past 9 months and I have a new appreciation for what he did for me and how much he loves me.

 

   Other than that, I am doing fantastic.  This week has been very great and we have seen some cool stuff this week.  V******** is no longer in our area because we split areas. But the sisters say that he is doing alright. 

   

   R**** did not keep her appointment but we did stop by and help her clean up a party that she had and we saw her yesterday. Plus, we have an appointment with her this Thursday. Apparently she really had grown to like me I guess because she wanted to give me a hug and she said she might have something for me on Thursday. She is super funny!  She also said that she would come to the baptism that the ward is having this week. Our zone leaders are having a baptism and she's going to come. L*** is going to come too.

 

   Speaking of L***, he is doing well. He is blowing my mind with how much he is progressing! He has kept all of his commitments and has come to church the past 3 weeks! He is still working on the whole coffee thing but has made great progress. He is down to 1 cup per day. That is super good because he was at 5 to 6 per day about a week ago. We had a super good lesson with him yesterday and he asked for a blessing, so of course we gave him one. He seems like he is solid and will be ready for the 3rd. *fingers crossed*  I am confident and believe that he will still be ready to baptized on the 3rd. It's gonna be sick!  We also invited a lot of investigators to the Baptism and they actually seemed like they will come. That will be cool.

 

  Dinner at President Hunt's house was super good. The food consisted of Ham, Potatoes, salad, rolls and jello. It was Delightful. :)  There were about 20 other missionaries there and we just talked about miracles that we had seen and got to know one another better. It was actually a pretty good day.  

 

   That same day we were able to help with a fundraiser to pay for a little boy's funeral that died from brain cancer. It was a very humbling experience, as I'm sure you know how we can relate. I also became good friends with the family even though they are in the zone leaders area.

 

   I have not made of the parts of the dinner you have sent me just yet.  But the ham was actually quite satisfying.  I do get enough meat :) I buy wisely with the money I have and let's face it.... I'm a growing boy.

 

   As far as money is concerned, I think that I am okay for this week. I have plenty of food and just enough money left to by what I need for the rest of the month.  I appreciate all that you do to support though! 

 

    As far as cookies, I am down for whatever you want to make.  :) Anything goes. But other than that I am okay.  I am kind of annoyed to say it, but eventually, I will need a shoulder bag or some kind of bag that isn't a back pack.  Because unfortunately, we got a notice in the lighthouse from President that they are phasing out backpacks. So I am just going to use mine for a while and try to find a way to save up the money buy a nice bag.

  

   So what I  meant about learning from other missionaries is that I have just noticed ways that I can be more obedient and more diligent by the way missionaries act. And yes, I am learning by their example of how I AM supposed to be. I have a talk called, "The Consecrated Missionary" and it has helped me a lot in my mission. You would be amazed with how much I have grown up in these short 9 months.

 

   The sisters in the picture I mailed you are Sister Larsen and Sister Lopez.  Sister Larsen just came out and she went to the Mexico MTC first.  Sister Lopez is from Mexico and went to Benemedito before it became the MTC. Super cool huh? 

 

   My medicine is actually running low. I only had a couple days left when you sent the one in the Easter package. I did not know that it was only 2 weeks worth so I apologize for not keeping you more updated in that regard and I promise to be better in the future. So yes I do need some more pretty soon.

 

   Pics are lame today but I am taking some today at the Temple and I will take more this week.  The first pic is of the sign that I crashed into and what it SHOULD look like, haha.  The second pic is of what the sign looks like now.... haha

   To close, I would just like to tell you that I love you and I appreciate you and all you do more than you can possibly imagine.

 

   Love,

   Elder Davis

 

LETTER DATED APRIL 15, 2014

 

Sis. Lopez, Sis. Larson & Elder Davis not far from the Mexico border.

 Dear Family,

Happy Easter!!!  I want you all to know how much I love you!  Thank you for supporting me and making it possible for me to be out here. 

So lately I have been working a lot on diligence and my prayers to Heavenly Father and it has changed my life.  I know this work is true and I have learned and grown so much.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and I am grateful for the relationbship I have develpoed with the Lord.  I am grateful for this Easter season and I love you all!   I hope you all feel my love and more importatnly, the love of the Savior.

Love you!
Elder Taylor C. Davis

P.S.  Thank you for the Easter box!!! It was awesome and it made my day.

WEEK 38

   I am doing fantastic today! It has been a long week but it is really nice to take a little break and what not.  I am glad you sound so happy in your email and that you enjoyed my letter.  I have realized that I have really grown a lot and I am grateful that I have learned so much in such a short time.  I am also glad that you think my handwriting looks better. I have been working on it and it has come a long way.  I am glad as well that you understand what the picture that I sent meant.

   I am actually kind of impressed myself about how much happiness my bike has brought me. Even though I wrecked it a few days after I got it.

   So I will now give you further explanation on the crash. The truth is that I have really been stressing telling you and I was even more stressed last week. So I am just going to get to the point and I pray that it won't alarm you or anything because I am totally fine. :) 

   So we were riding to an appointment and I blacked out or something for a second. I don't really know what happened. I was probably dehydrated or something. Anyway, when I regained my sight and everything, there was a street sign right in front of me and I had no time to avoid the collision.  I got up and thought that I was fine and was getting back on my bike when I looked at my arm and there was a fairly deep, quarter sized hole in my arm.

   So we called Sister Riggs and she and Bro. Riggs took us to the instacare. Miraculously, there was a member there that is a nurse that saw the whole thing and was able to patch me up quickly so we could get to the doctor.  I ended up getting six stitches and I am going to have a pretty gnarly scar on my arm.

   But I am completely okay and I am great and the arm is healing well.  :)  I apologize sincerely for not telling more but I hope that you will understand.  I love you and I am grateful for your concern.

   I am going to the doc on Friday to get the stitches out.  :) Here is a pic, but don't be too grossed out. Okay?

   As for my scans, they are going to be on the 12th of May. The day after we speak on the phone. and the day before transfer p-day.  :)

   So for investigators.... This week wasn't so great in that regard. But guess what!? We saw R*****!!!!!!! And we have an appointment with her again tomorrow!!!! AWWW YEAH! Plus, the progress with L*** has been unreal.  He still has a baptismal date and he has already been to church 3 times! He came again on Sunday and he has been reading and keeping his commitments. He just needs to work on quitting coffee and that is going to be really hard on him.  So if you want to pray to help him with that you can. I have seen such an amazing change with him already. He is going to get baptized so soon! We  might even move his date up a week!

   So yeah, I pretty much will hardly have to buy anything for the next while because of all the food Auntie left for me at the mission office. You should see it in it's glory. Just a hint.... Biscuits and Gravy for days!!!!  Man I love that woman. She has really been very supportive of me on my mission and it means the world to me. I hope she knows how much I love her. 

   So today we went as close to the boarder as we could and we took  pictures. It was pretty cool. Too bad it was foggy though.

   For Easter, as of now, we don't have any big plans. Well, except that we were invited over to one the members of the mission presidency's house for dinner the 19th so that should be fun. I hope you have a lot of fun as well!

   Elder Nickel was just feeling well like an upset stomach and other things of that nature. We are both healthy and ready to go now though! :)

 
   So I do keep in touch with about half of the members of my MTC district.  I still write Hermana Watkins and Hermana Taufoou and Elder Edson (Super sad that he went home because he was having problems with his chemical depression, but he is doing well now and still writes me.  I don't hear very much from anyone else.

 

   If you could let the ward know how much I love them, that would be great.

 

   Well I want you to know that I love you to death and I hope this email finds you warm and happy. :)

 

   Love Ya!!

   Love,

   Elder Davis

LETTER DATED APRIL 8, 2014

   I am doing well!  It feels good to finally feel better.  I have been super excited because I got to go down with the zone leaders to see how transfers were going to go.  (Transfers were today.)  I am staying and so is my companion!

   Rash wise, I am doing great so far.  I am off the medicine and so far the rash hasn't come back.  *Fingers crossed.*  Elder Nickel says he is not feeling well so I am writing while he rests.  I am glad that you reminded me of the vaccine that I need.  I will get on that this week.

   Question & Answer time:

1.  During the week we try to set up appointments for the week. If we don't have appointments, we fill all the time slots with people we'd like to visit the next day, during our nightly planning session, the night before.

2.  Of course I wear a bike helmet!  :)  Gotta keep my noggin safe.  :)  Yes, it does look a little dorky and I have been called names, but it is a rule as a missionary and I must obey.

3.  We try to talk to as many people as possible.  It is awkward at times to stop people on bike, but we do it anyway.

4.  We have not run into any very rude people so far.  Of course we get ignored all the time, but that's okay.  All that matters is that we tried.

5.  Being so close to the border is actually really nice because everybody speaks Spanish!  :)  Elder Nickel and I have agreed that one day for morning exercise, we are going to ride to the border and take pictures.

6.  So far, I have not really been in any scary situations.

7.  Our apartment is a little dumpy.  But it is in a good place for all the work we do.  But I am sure there is a better place somewhere.

8.  We actually get invited to eat a lot more here than in my last area.  They have served us authentic Mexican food.  I cannot really describe the food.  Let's just say that other Mexican food isn't anything compared to this down here.  :)  (Nothing against other Mexican food...mmm!)

9.  It was very hard for me to choose a story from the Book Mormon that means the most to me.  After much thought, I came to the conclusion that the story that means the most to me is the story of Ammon converting the king of the Lamanites.  This is so, because it is a testimony of what I have seen on my mission.  I have seen the gospel influence a 180 degree change in many lives.  I also love this story because of the great example of teaching that Ammon really is.  I always try to teach simply but powerfully like Ammon does.

  I wish I knew more about my ward, but all I know is that we are part of the Chula Vista stake.

  In other news...I got my own bike!  The Elder that was borrowing a bike from wanted his back so I had to give it up.  But I have my own now and it is super nice.  By using the money Granny put in my account, I was able to fix it up real nice!  All I needed was a pump and some lights.  I will send you a picture of it and all it's glory on Tuesday!  :)  It has been given the name of "The Ute" because of it's colors and you will see what I mean later.

   I have been studying the New Testament and it has been cool to learn so much about the Savior. I love it!

   I wasn't able to tell you about C**** and D**** in my email so I am going to do so now.  They are nieces of a member that we found.  We have not seen them again since our first visit.  But we have an appointment with them on Thursday so hopefully we see them.  D**** doesn't seem to be as serious as C**** though.  C**** has already recognized the spirit and how it feels.  She was also really smiley and I know she felt the truth of what we said.  Hopefully she kept the commitment to read and pray so we can move on.  :)

   I am so grateful for all you have done and continue to do for me.  I hope you enjoy your week.  I love you!
 
   Love,
   Elder Davis

EASTER PACKAGE FOR OUR FAVORITE ELDER

Not only am I lucky enough to be friends with one of the most incredible women in the world, I am blessed to share the missionary experience with her as well.  Her son left the day after Taylor.  (They were originally set to leave the same day and then Taylor got moved up a day.)  She has always been an example in my life.  Even more so now, as an exemplary missionary mother.  She sets the bar for the rest of us.  She always has the best ideas for packages.  Not only does she send them to her own son, but she sends holiday and special occasion packages to several other missionaries as well. I admit, I "hitchhike" off of her ideas!  I give full credit to my amazing friend for the awesome ideas for Elder Davis' Easter package.

We have these special Easter Eggs that tell the Easter Story.  We read them every Easter morning.  I made a set to send to Taylor.  Each egg has a scripture and small token that represents the scripture in it.

The picture is a little blurry.
Easter Dinner...Canned Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Rolls/Biscuits, Jello Salad

You never know if they will have an invite or not!

 New Easter tie.

Egg Dying kit. (Requires nothing but water.)

 Elder Davis loves boiled eggs...all year round.

Easter Basket candy- the box will have to settle for a basket this year.

 One important thing I have learned from my friend...cute up the package.  

No matter how long it takes!

The outside has to be cute too!

And now it is on it's way to our favorite Elder!

A STOP AT THE MISSION HOME (by Auntie Kristin)

We decided it was finally time to head out to San Diego again for a little mini-vacation for a few days.

Lately, Taylor has shared with me that he hasn't had much food and was out of money or low on funds, so before we left for San Diego, we went and did a "little" grocery shopping.  We ended up with two pretty big boxes of groceries for him which hopefully will last him a little while.  They had all kinds of things in them from cans of chunk chicken to Hamburger/Chicken/Tuna Helper, spaghetti, farfalle, mac & cheese, huge boxes of Captain Crunch and Froot Loops cereals, fruit snacks, fresh tortillas from Arizona, tuna fish, instant potatoes, noodles & sauce, rice, refried beans, spaghetti sauce, ramen, pudding, garlic salt, biscuit mix, gravy mix, ranch dressing mix and mayonnaise, stuffing mix, and some other canned items.  It was so much fun boxing everything up and knowing that he knew absolutely nothing about these boxes headed his way!

On Wednesday, April 2nd, we were off to San Diego.  The boxes were all packed and in the car.  I was so excited to drop these off!  See...excited!!

As we were driving through Gila Bend, I saw this sign.  I quickly grabbed a picture - for two reasons...1) It says "Some day is today" in Spanish, and 2) It's hosted by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I thought it was ironic that here we were, heading out to take these boxes to our nephew who had to deal with Lymphoma and may not have been able to go on a mission, and then we see this sign.  But, I also thought about the ginormous phrase on the sign...Some day is today.  Sure, this sign was promoting donating to help find a cure for leukemia and lymphoma, but more so, I thought about how we need to stop putting off preparing for Christ's return and make that "some day" today.  I thought about how we need to stop putting off making our lives better "some day" and do it today.  I thought about how we need to start reading our scriptures today, not "some day".  I thought about how we need to start thinking about serving a seniors/couple mission today, not "some day".  I thought about how we need to start opening our mouths about the gospel today, not "some day".  It really was a thought provoking sign!

We soon crossed over into California and I was about to burst out of my seat.  We still had about 2.5 hours to go, but I was so excited to just drop off the boxes that I jokingly kept asking Clint, "Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?"  And, he just kept replying in a calm voice, "Almost" or "Just about."

The mission home is only about 3 miles from the highway we come in on so it was a quick and easy trip to drop off the boxes.  This is a picture of the entrance off the parking lot.  Over to the left, on the side, is the main entrance.

We found the mission home quickly, grabbed the boxes, and headed inside.  There were a few missionaries sitting in the kitchen eating and we asked where we could take the boxes.  We headed down the hallway and there were all these cute missionaries - sisters and elders - in the office.  One elder saw us with the boxes and asked if he could help.  We told him we were there to just drop off these boxes and he offered to take them.  I jokingly said sure...but you're going to actually give them to the right missionary and not just take them for yourself, right?!?!?  We just laughed.  He put them in a stack with a few other packages and we were on our way.  Uncle Clint peeked his head back in, jokingly hoping to see Taylor, but I told him that he wouldn't be there because it was a Wednesday and he'd be out working.  So, we headed back out to our car to head on our way.  We never mentioned Taylor's name or who we were - just that we wanted to drop off a couple boxes.

Look at all those cute little missionary cars...with the "tho' your sins be as scarlet" little red hot rod car from Arizona among them all!  Kind of ironic when you think about it, isn't it?

As we were walking back to the car, there were two missionaries that came out about 30 feet behind us.  I could hear one of them talking to the other one saying, "We'll head back to Chula and ..... blah, blah, blah...."  All it took was for me to hear "Chula" and I swung around and asked them if they were heading to Chula Vista.  One of them, Elder Fowler, said yes, and I asked if he knew Elder Davis.  He did!  I was so excited!  (Although, I'd really wanted to keep it very quiet that we were there until after we'd made it home...but, oh well.)  I shared that we'd just dropped off some boxes for him and that we were his aunt and uncle and were there on vacation.  We visited for a few minutes and Elder Fowler shared with us that he was from Orem, Utah and knew our cousin, Carl Kunz.  Small world, isn't it!?!?  Then, Elder Fowler wanted to take a picture with us so he could show Taylor.  I wish we'd had a picture taken with our camera too, so we could record the memory, but we didn't and Elder Fowler erased it after showing Taylor, so I guess this entry will just have to do.  Elder Fowler asked our names and I just told him to tell Taylor "Auntie" and he would know who it was.  Right after that, we said our goodbyes, and we were off to the land of sun and surf.

It is always a little hard knowing that Taylor is not far from us when we are there, but we never seek him out.  He is there on God's errand and that's all that matters.  We let him just keep on doing it...and that's the way he would want it too.