December 30 2013

Dearest Family and Friends!

What a wonderful wonderful week!! I hope yours was as great as ,ome!!

Monday - We had a great lesson with the Urquilla Family about the Book of Mormon! The 10 and 9 year old girls read so much of the Book of Mormon already! They had things highlighted and questions and great comments! I was so impressed!!! We also received "QRidge" Tshirts from our Bishop! They are sweet!!!

CHRISTmas Eve - A day full of fun and service!!! We went to a brunch at Ma and Pa Jones' home! It was great fun!! Sister Tucker and I brought the best gift!! We filled a pill case with candy and put scriptures to read for each day! We also included a stack of Mormon.org cards and an Emergency Scripture Assistance Sheet! Pa Jones got this gift and was sooooo excited about it!! Sister Tucker and I sang Called to Serve and did a cup stacking race at the same time... It was a tie... Kinda... ;) Then we went to the Ballard's and helped her make homemade fudge and toffee! It was sweet!! Later that night we went to dinner with the Marten's and then went to the Morris' Families Christmas Eve Party. We got there just in time to watch them act out the Nativity!! It was sooo funny!!! We opened up one gift that night.... Sister Tucker and I got HOODIE FOOTIE PJS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With the LV Mission Logos on the back!!!!!!! SOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHRISTmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6:30AM Morning workout... OPEN PRESENTS!!! :) But the best present I received was when I got to FaceTime with my Family!!!! The time flew by so fast!!! Afterwards we made sugar cookies and delivered them to Less-Actives, Members, and Investigators. And did some Christmas Caroling! They were so excited It really made there days and our too! It is so awesome to be able to meet so many wonderful people as a missionary!

Thursday - IHOP with the Moessers!!!! SO great to see them! We had dinner with Bishop and his wife! He gave us "QR" (Quail Ridge) baseball caps! They are awesome! We were able to talk about our lesson for Sunday and work out some details!

Friday - We had exchanges.. So Sister Hill was here in Quail Ridge with me! We had a very interesting morning... A PIGEON CAME DOWN OUR CHIMNEY AND WAS FLYING IN OUR HOUSE!!!!! Crazy!!! I have it on video don't worry!! But I won't be able to show you until after the mission! Try to hold it together until then!! We had a great lesson with the Allen's! We talked about Lehi's Dream in 1 Nephi 8.. And about holding to the rod!! We also were able to teach Christine the Plan of Salvation just on the spot! It was a great exchange!!!

Saturday: This was kind of a Polynesian day. We had a lesson with Tee. She is Polynesian and has felt a lot of draw to our church. She drives by the Church to and from work and she wants to learn more. Her husband is kind of against it because he has wrong ideas about our church. Bummer.......but we see her about once a week and we pray for her every day. We also had dinner with the Genabagas. They are from Laie, Hawaii and are so loving! They are still on island time though so we waited around for dinner to be ready for 2 and a half hours!!!! But it was so good :)

Sunday- This was a miracle day for Sister Tucker and I. We had the opportunity to teach the combined fifth Sunday during third hour with the Relief Society, Priesthood, YM and YW. We were super nervous, but we role-played a lot so we were prepared. Our goal was to inspire the ward and lead them to action. We introduced the family mission plan and we showed a video. I think the best part was when the Bishop got up and endorsed our message with tears and all! At the end of our lesson a member stood up and testified. He said it way better than we ever could have. And then that evening for dinner the members told us that they really were inspired. Mission accomplished! We also had a lesson with Max and Karla! Max is a pretty logical guy but we think we touched him and Karla a lot. You can't deny the spirit.

I love missionary work! I love sharing the gospel! And I love helping the members get excited! Things are only getting better and better here in QRIDGE!!! I know that this is Christ's true gospel! This week we also found a lot of persecution. Grown men talking down to us and telling us how blasphemy we are. I am comforted to know that all of Christ's true followers were persecuted, even Jesus Christ Himself. What a blessing it is to know that what we are called to do is the Lord's work! It cannot fail!!!!! I love this gospel!

I love and miss all of you!

Love,

Sister Davis

P.S. Thank you for all the cards, presents, and love!!!!!!! Check out my blog for pictures!!!! :) sisterlaekynndavis.blogspot.com

December 23 2013

Merry Merry Christmas!!!!

Hello!

I'm sorry to say that this will be a short email..

Sister Tucker and I were sick from Monday night until basically today... We didn't get out much and it was incredibly annoying.. But this is how you learn to really appreciate your health!

We were very taken care of this week.. We had to cancel most of our dinner appointments and all the members brought us dinner to our house. I've never had so much chicken soup in my life!!

I am so excited that Christmas is this week! And I'm on a mission! Last year Vegas was a place on a map, this year it is a place in my heart. Last year I got gifts in boxes and this year I have too many blessings to counts. Last year Facetiming my family was no big deal, this year it will be the greatest gift! Last year I was preparing for my mission, this year I am helping other prepare to make sacred covenants with God. Last year the mission seemed so far away and this year it's going by too fast... 

I hope you all have a great Christmas! Remember the reason for the season!
watch this :)

http://bcove.me/ygi7jae8

Love,

Sister Davis

P.S. when you write me letter please incude my first name.. There are multiple Sister "Davis" in our mission.. But ONLY ONE Sister Laekynn Davis :)

December 16 2013

Hello!!

Well tomorrow is my 8 month mark!! EIGHT! Thankgoodness I still have 10 months to go! I love being a missionary!!!

There are always lots of miracles in Quail Ridge!

Miracles this week:

Monday Miracles:

-We had a lesson with a family! The Urquilla Family! They are so awesome and the spirit was very strong. It made our day!

-We got our Christmas tree! It is so cute and awesome!

Tuesday Miracles:

-We visited lots of less actives. Through my mission I have developed a real love for these people. I know that their family is praying for them and Heavenly Father sends us as an answers to those prayers.

-We had an awesome coorelation meeting. It is so great to actually have ward missionaries!

Wednesday Miracle:

-We met a former investigator that has had cancer three times. She was so inspiring! There is totally a reason why she is still alive and why we found her. God is great!

-We met with Betty Dolly this week. She is such a hoot! She needs a talk show.

Thursday Miracles:

-WE HAD OUR CHRISTMAS TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was great! We got Christmas hats! We got to watch a mission talent show! We got a Christmas lunch! It was great!

-We got to meet with the Allen Family!

Friday Miracles:

-We were able to help some of the members prepare for the Quail Ridge Christmas Party! It was really fun! Most people don't let us do service for them so it was a great opportunity.

-We had a lesson at Starbucks with out investigator Zoe.. We shared with her more about the Book of Mormon!

Saturday Miracles:

-We had an awesome Christmas Party!! Pancakes, Santa, and Lots of fun! We had a less active, Jacob, come to church for the first time tot help us make pancakes! It was so fun!

-We also had a miracle lesson with Tee! Sister Jones came with us and we knocked on her door... Yet again she was praying for help and we came!! She feels a great pull to learn about the Restored gospel!

Sunday Miracles:

-I love Sundays! We had a great lesson with Chermayne! She loves reading the Book of Mormon and finds so much peace and joy!

-We also got to know our investigator Bree better and she has a real desire to find true peace and place where she won't be judged! This is the place!

Love you all! Hope you have a great week of fun and finals and whatever else is going on during this busy time! Remember the reason for the season.. our Savior!

God is good! This is His work!

Love,

Sister Davis

December 09 2013

Hellooooooooo!

This may sound redundant but this has been a week of miracles.

 

We had:

10 new investigator

11 member present lessons

and 16 members came out with us!

The members here are getting pumped about missionary work.

Tuesday! We had Brother Klabacka come out with us to visit a potential investigator.. The guy who answered the door told us that the person were looking for didn't live there anymore... Usually that ends with a door slamminn our face, but not today! We started to talk with him and he invited us in. We shared the Restoration with him and his girlfriend! It was so great! Brother Klabacka is a convert to the church and has a son serving Colorado.. He was so excited to be apart of missionary work! We were so excited to have him come with us! We had another neat experience late that day.. We have been trying see Tee and Corey..  And we finally were able to catch them at home.. Tee let us in and began to cry.. She has been feeling very anxeious and overwhelmed. She told us that she had been praying that night and then we knocked on her door. It was such a blessing for her. We talked with her about priesthood blessings and how to find peace through reading the Book of Mormon. It was amazing! Just before we were going home we had a lesson with Chermayne and are former investigators Susan was there! We were not planning on having Susan there! It was pretty stressful but it turned out really great!

Wednesday! We had a wonderful lesson with Barbara and Sister Mellor! We shared the Restoration dvd with her and it really touched her heart! She is really sensitive to the spirit! Sister Mellor gave Barabara the Book of Mormon on CDs.. It was really sweet! We also taught Sister Dolly... She had lots of questions!! Some we really didn't know the answers to... But as soon as we opened our mouths they were filled with answers that really touched her heart.

Thursday! What a day!! We had another great lesson with Barbara.. And one with Chermayne as well! They are really doing great!! Brother Klabacka came out with us again this week! He really has caught the wave!!! We have really had a lot of sucess having the members come out with us!!

 

Friday! Well this was the day that we found a golden family. We went to contact a man named Jose in the apartments. His wife Liz opened the door and was really really excited to see us! She asked us "Are you here to say a prayer with us?" and we were like "YES!" She told us to come back by at 6 when the whole family would be there!!! We did the blessing contact with them and the spirit was SUPER strong! They are letting us have the first lesson with them tonight :) We also had a great lesson with a less active member.  We have been working very hard on reactivation. We feel like these people need lots of love and support. It is hard to come back to church. Lots of less actives that we talk to have this fear that their church friends don't want them back!!!! But it is the total opposite. This particularly LA knows that the church it true and he and his son are trying hard to come back!!!! Happy day! 

Saturday! We met with a part member family! We have been trying to get the husband more involved! But he is a work in progress. We asked him if we could start teaching him the lessons.....he said "Keep asking me and maybe one day I will say yes!" WOW!!!!!! okay well....we will keep working with him....One day he will come around! We told him the the gospel is like starting with a foundation and then building up the walls. His response to that "I AM DONE BUILDING WALLS!" I guess that at one point he worked in construction...Whoops :) But he texted us that night and thanked us for coming over :) YES!!!!!!! We also had a sweet lesson with our investigator Carlie! She is really  nice and she is trying to make her life better......her situation is really tough. I just love her so much though!!!! Now I am starting to see how much Heavenly Father loves his children...especially the ones that stuggle...YAY for blessings :)

 

Sunday! Was such a great day!!!! We had an amazing lesson with a couple named max and karla :) They were really nice and wanted to know more! He is more curious then anything, but that is a great place to start! Then we went to our ward mission leaders home and watched the Christmas Devotional!!!! While watching we helped Sister Morris put the decorations on the tree! IT WAS SO FUN!

I love being a missionary! And this is sucha great time of year! I just wish someone would have told me how cold it got in Vegas!! Thank goodness for lots of layers!! Miss and Love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Davis

December 02 2013

Hi!!!!

What an amazing Thanksgiving and Birthday week!!!!!

Let's break this down by day...

Tuesday- I picked up Sister Tucker!!!! I LOVE HER! She is so great and is full of bubbly fun! We had dinner with a family in the ward. They have a daughter serving in New York! We shared a spiritual thought with them about Prayer, The Spirit, and Missionary Work - It was so powerful! They really are becoming missionary minded!!! It was great! We had a similar lesson with a young man in our ward preparing for a mission. Something I shared with both of them is how many times we the Holy Spirit blesses us with a name of someone we need to share the gospel with.. But our natural man justifies that name out of our minds.. we think to ourselves.. "I don't really know them that well" or "I don't want to hurt our friendship" But I testify that every single person that is placed in our path is so that we can share the gospel with them. I know that that is true! When The Spirit prompts you to share the gospel - LISTEN! Never Ever Ignore The Promptings of The Spirit - Not Ever!

Wednesday- We had a lesson with Ms. Betty Dolly! She is in our ward and we asked her if we could practice the lessons on her. We taught her The Restoration - she asked us a lot of wild questions - things she wondered before she was baptized and questions that she has gotten from other people. At the end of our lesson we invited her to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet.. She stood up and in a loud voice said "Now WHO told you to ask me that! WHY did you ask me that???!" We were sure taken back... And explained that we knew that The Spirit could witness that again to her. She went on to explain to us that on Sunday she had decided to leave the church.. That she was struggling in many different aspects of her life. But that she knew that Heavenly Father was aware of her because He sent us to her. We reminded her of why she became a member of the church over 30 years ago. It was pretty special. I know that The Spirit works with-in us to help those in need!

THANKSGIVING!!!! We started at the Jones' home at 12pm! We had the most yummy turkey! It was so great! They really have adopted us! What a blessing it is! Then we went to the Johnson's at 2pm! We had more food and they made me a Birthday Cake! Super Sweet!! At 3:30pm we went to Bishop Durham's home for dessert! I was stuffed alllllllll day! We were also able to visit a less-active Sister Brown- who is in her 80's and is alone. It was great to be able to visit her and let her know she is loved.

**** HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! November 29, 2013!! ****

Such a great day!!! Sister Tucker is so great! She decorated my desk and for our morning exercise I opened presents!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE ALLLL the presents and packages I received!!!! Everything was SO perfect and exactly what I needed!!!! We had an appointment with the Honeycutt's, a family in my ward, whom I just LOVE! They got me cupcakes and a gift card, and balloons! The family we were having dinner with forgot it was my birthday... They figured it out when dinner was almost over... as soon as they discovered that the husband literally jumped up and ran out the door... a little while later he came back with 2 cakes and a Happy Birthday sign.. It was kinda looney but sweet! I also went back to the Jones' house for apple pie! It was a great day!!!

Saturday- We had an awesome lesson with the Stewart's in our ward. They had us come and practice the lessons on them. The Spirit was so sweet! As we talked about Joseph Smith and his experience in the Sacred Grove we were all brought to tears. It was a very special experience. We also had a great lesson with our investigator Carlie! We taught her that she lived with Heavenly Father before she came to Earth and why she is here on Earth. It was a sweet lesson! She is really striving to be close to her Savior! I know that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will bring her that closeness she seeks!

The Holy Sabbath Day- We went into Primary today and taught all the kids about Christ and when he established His church on the Earth! They LOVED having the missionaries teach them! We are famous in their eyes! We had dinner with David and Amanda.. They made me brownies for my birthday! David brought all of his missionary planners from Atascocita Ward and I got to see what he was doing there as a missionary! We had a couple great lessons last night!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that this is exactly where I need to be!

I love and miss you! WRITE ME!!!

Love,

Sister Davis