January 27 2014

Helloooooooooo!
Can you believe January is ending sooo soon! Where is 2014 going??

Monday - The Spirit is an amazing tool that we have as Children of our Heavenly Father. We were able to teach Jacob about the Spirit. I love the analogy we used.. We gave him an empty water bottle and asked him to crush it.. He did! Then we gave him a full water bottle and asked him to crush it.. He couldn't! We explained that when we are filled with the Spirit we can withstand the pressures of the world and the advisory! I am so great for the Spirit! I also know that the Book of Mormon answers every question we have! We had an amazing experience with our investigator, Matt. We asked him to write a question that he had down on a note card, then we read in the Book of Mormon where he was reading! We read 1 Nephi 9-10 and everyone in the room had their questions answered! It was powerful!

Tuesday - We taught Matt the 1-5 Commandments of the 10 Commandments, we focused on the Sabbath day. Matt truly wants to live as Christ would have him live! He is such an example! Later, we were able to have a prayer with John! He is in his 60's, retired, paints, and loves golf. He told us that when he was young he thought that he was God's gift to women, but now he realizes that he has made lots of mistakes. He hasn't been able to feel forgiven of those choices. He told us that he doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs. He lives alone and is very lonely! He really felt the Lord's love while we were there though! Before heading home for the night we taught the Genobaga family about faith! The parents loved our lesson! They were so excited! We are hoping to be able to help then get back to church!  

Wednesday - We taught the Plan of Salvation to Dustin and Maddie! Dustin had lots of great, thoughtful questions! He wished he had heard these things sooner! The Spirit really touched him and he committed to prepare to be baptized in February! Maddie was so excited!! We then taught Matt Commandments 6-10, focusing on the Law of Chastity! We were really nervous, because Matt live in a 3 bedroom apartment with 5 random people. He really understood and valued the commandment and wants to live a chaste life!

Thursday - We had a really great district meeting!!!! We learned about teaching lessons simply without fluff! It inspired us! This truly will help us with our lesson tomorrow with Matt. We met the nicest lady named Maryan! She is the wife of a less active in our ward. She is letting us give her service this week! We are so stoked! Later we met with Matt and Chermayne! It was great to see them both in one day! We found out more about Matt's background.. His dad passed aways when he was 12, then 3 years ago his only brother died, and 2 years ago his mom passed away. He is all alone! He has no family. No one to wish him happy birthday, no one buys him a Christmas present, no one takes care of him when he is sick.. It just brakes my heart! I am so grateful that we have been able to share with him about Eternal Families!! Chermayne has lots of great questions but most of them are about Revelations.....yikes! We are a little nervous about that!

Friday - Sister Tucker and I were on Exchanges! So I was here with Sister Veazey! We went to try and contact a less active, but he had moved, and we met a lady named, Suzi, she was a convert and has been less active for a long time. She asked us how we found her, we told her Heavenly Father knew where you were. We are going to go over a teach her next week! We then went to an apartment complex that we had never been in, because we don't know anyone that lives there.. We choose a few apartments that we were just going to knock and contact the people, but no one answered... We talked to a few people on our way around the apartments, with no real luck or interest. Then we saw a man smoking on his 2nd floor balcony! so we introduced ourselves awkwardly from the ground. He let us come up to give him a Mormon.org card. He is working on creating a TV serious.  We told him the Killers, lead singer is Brandon Flowers, has a video on there and he was super excited to check it out! it was great! After dinner, Sister Veazey and I taught Matt the Word of Wisdom. He was accepting of it, because he believes in modern revelation, but has some challenges to over come! We had Tyler and Justin there, and they shared powerful personal experiences about overcoming there challenges! I know that Matt will be able to overcome these things with the Lord's help! Tyler and Justin gave Matt a priesthood blessing. It was so powerful! I haven't felt the Spirit so strong since I was at the Temple. I know that Matt's mother, father, and brother were there with him!

Saturday - We took Matt to an awesome baptism! There were some Elders in our zone that were baptizing a 10 year old! The spirit was super super strong. It made Matt really excited for his own baptism! We had a lesson with Jacob! We talked about the Godhead and we focused on the role of our Heavenly Father. He committed to read his scriptures and pray everyday! I know that that will truly help him to build a relationship with his Heavenly Father! It is cool to see how much he has changed since we first meet him and invited him back to church! I am so impressed with his desire to know!

Sunday - We had a wonderful lesson with MATT!!!! HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!! He is progressing so well! We saw him every single day last week! We met at Tyler's house and watched the Mormon Message "Mountains to Climb." It was so awesome! It really brought the spirit! If you haven't seen it watch it! We also had a delicious dinner with the Klabacka family! It was ribs and potatoes and asparagus! It was super good! Brother Klabacka was telling us all about his quail hunting! Sadly he hasn't caught anything yet! We suggested that he order a quail costume and just attract the quails to himself! We also met with Maddie and Dustin!!!! They rock!!!! We've been using an analogy to help our investigators want to meet with us every day! We explain that... "Going to the gym brings physical strength and will help you endure the physical challenges you meet in life... But if you only go to the gym every other week your progression will be very slow. This is the same with spiritual strength. We gain spiritual strength to help us endure life's trials. If you only CPR once in a while, you won't progress.. If you only meet with Sister Tucker and I once a week you will not gain as much spiritual strength.. We would like to come by every day for 15mins to help you gain more spiritual strength... Will you allow us to come by everyday?" They have all said YES!

We have also had so many members come out with us! This week we had 21 members come with us to find and teach! It was amazing! It has been hard getting members out with us, but FINALLY in the last month we have had so much success with member work! I've tried to apply the tools I learned in Robindale YSA to the Quail Ridge Ward! I am finally starting to see the ball begin to move!

I am so grateful for the gospel and the tender mercies we see each day! I love seeing and feeling Heavenly Father's love for his children. He is aware of each one of us! I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives! He loves you! The most important thing we can do is Remember! Remember that He is always there for us! Remember that He suffered for us! Remember He is willing to guide our paths, if we are willing to follow His footsteps! Remember, Remember.

I love you and miss you! Choose The Right!

Love,

Sister Davis

January 20 2014

Hello Family and Friends!!!

Vegas is great!! Full of miracles! Full of blessings!!!!

Monday:
-We had a wonderful meatloaf and mash potato meal with the Osterander Family! They have two sweet little boys!!!!! Frankie is 7 and he will be getting baptized soon! We are working with him every week! He has so many questions about the plan of salvation. He is really fun to teach :)
-We played some hardcore kanaki (it is like a combo of football and rugby) with the Elders for P-day sports! It was fun! We beat them all day eryday!!!!

Tuesday:
-WE WENT TO THE DENTIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the best! Brother Timpson let us come for free!

-We had another lesson with MATT!!!!! HE IS SET TO BE BAPTIZED and is super solid! He loves the Book of Mormon!

-We had a lesson with Chermayne! We watched the Restoration DVD and she loved it! She really felt like she could relate to Joseph Smith.

Wednesday:
-We had another lesson with MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was able to meet Brother Allsop and David! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he just soaked it all it!
-We met with Sister Stoneking and she was really nice! She has two little sweet children! We were a little nervous going over because it is a little scary to visit less actives who don't want to be contacted. You never know how less active someone is until you meet them and find out why they are less active!
-We had a great lesson with Norma!!!! She has already been going to church in another ward because she is the caretaker of a Mormon lady there! We are excited to have more lessons with her!

Thursday:
-We had an amazing district meeting that inspired us to do more missionary work!
-WE HAD SUCH AN AMAZING LESSON WITH TEE & BROTHER TIMPSON!!!!!!!!!!! The Spirit was so so so strong! We showed the Restoration DVD and afterwards Tee asked some really good questions like.....do we believe in the gift of tongues? and stuff like that! She had been asking her family what they would think if she became Mormon....they didn't really respond very well...but she made a really great connection with Joseph Smith and the fact that the true church has always been and will always be persecuted! Brother Timpson was weeping when he bore his testimony :) It was so cute!

Friday: NINTH MONTH MARK!!!!! EKKKK!

-We had another lesson with MATT! We taught him the importance of Attending Church, Reading the Scriptures, and Praying! He is so excited to come to church!!!! We had the lesson at Tyler's with David there as well! David and Amanda are bringing him to church! It is so great to witness Matt come closer to Heavenly Father.

-We met with Sister Poynor and her son. We shared a great message about faith! I love this quote about faith, "To have faith is to trust in the Lord's perfect goodness, love, and wisdom, even though we do not perfectly understand."

Saturday:

-We had our first lesson with Dustin! He is dating a member and has been reading the Book of Mormon together! The lesson was pretty great! He has grown up in a really rough part of New York.. He always ran from religion, but feels a real draw to hear us out! He has one question for us "What you believe about after death?" We are planning to teach him about that this week!

-David, our ward missionary, created a list of everyone in the ward in alphabetical order by street name. It has been so helpful in planning!! He is so great!

 -Sister Tucker and I saw a really nice guy in an apartment complex.. We said hello, but didn't talk to him... Then we saw him AGAIN.. and didn't talk to him again... But he stopped us and asked if we were selling something.. We were able to tell him we were Missionaries.. and he told us that we could come back.. But didn't know his apartment  number.. He gave us his phone number and we gave ours to him.. We didn't think he would call or that he gave us his right phone number.. BUT before we left the complex he had called us with his apartment number! What a blessing!!!

Sunday:

-MATT and CHERMAYNE CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!! They LOVED it!!! And said they would for sure be back next week!!!

-Sister Tucker and I spoke in Sacrament! The Spirit was so strong! I spoke first on The Restoration and Sister Tucker spoke on The Gospel of Jesus Christ! It was so great to have our investigators there. The Stake President, President Romney, came to our sacrament meeting!!! It was just amazing!! Wish y'all could have been there!!!

-We had dinner with the Marten's! They made us Ribs!!! They were so good! Brother Marten is a sweetheart, and always tells us how proud he is of us!

I am so grateful for this gospel! I love serving the Lord! I love seeing hearts soften and lives changed!

Love,

Sister Davis

January 13 2014

Helllllooooooo!

 

Happy Monday! I am always grateful for Mondays and to be able to write to all of you! This week has really been a week of blessings and miracles! I don't really think that my emails express how grateful I am to be serving here in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission. There has been so many ways I have recognized the Lord's hand in my life this week.

Monday -
- Our Zone Leaders came with us to the Genebagas' house to bless there home and their family. They are from Hawaii and are not active in the church. The Elders did a great job helping them understand that they need to live the gospel in order to receive all the blessing the Lord has in store from them. Brother Genebaga said that he needs to find his white shirt before Sunday!
-We also had Tyler, a less active, come with us to visit a few potential investigators and less actives.. It was a really special experience. Tyler really was touched by the message we shared with a less active couple. We were also set an appointment with a referral named Matt!

Tuesday -
- We have been trying to contact this guy named Dustin, who went to the Gladys Knight fireside. We have not been able to see him until today! He told us that he lost our number and that he has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to meet with us! He lives with his girlfriend who is a member of the church. We were able to set an appointment for when they would both be home. It was such an awesome feeling to know that Heavenly Father is preparing His children.
-We had a lesson with a 70+ year old man named, Bob. He had met two Elders a few years ago and read some of the Book of Mormon.. He has a lot of health problems and has had many trials in his long life.. He was comforted to know that we have a Prophet today! We are excited to teach him again!
-We stopped by a less active lady's house, her name is Barbara. Her husband is very anti and she has an 11 year old son who is not a member. We happened to come by when her husband was out bowling... We were able to visit with them and teach them about prayer... They said we could come back next Tuesday and share another message with them.

Wednesday -
-Brother Jones came with us today and we were able to teach Matt the Restoration! It was great experience.. He is an interesting guy.. And was so receptive to our message. He said he will put forth the effort to find out the truth for himself.. He committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. It was a powerful experience.
-We met with Doris, she is 92 and is a Do Not Contact. We have become friends with her! She told us that she planned to read the Book of Mormon in her old age... Well it is about time! We were able to read the Intro with her and commited her to read 1 Nephi 1! It was so powerful!!!
-We had a great lesson with Jacob! He has questions about our Plan of Salvation and we were able to talk to him about it. I am really grateful that we have the Book of Mormon to answer the questions of our souls.

Thursday -
-We have a new district leader and we had a great training today.. We all went to lunch as a district! It was really fun!
-We had another lesson with Matt, at Tyler's apartment. It was really good! He read in the Book of Mormon and felt really good as he prayed. He compared Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot's family. It was really awesome! He really has a desire to come unto Christ.
-We met with the Munoz family and taught them about the restoration. They were baptized two years ago, but have not been very active. They made it a goal this year to become more active in the church!
-We have tried to meet with Velez Family, they had met with missionaries one time. Everytime we go she always tells us she will call us or she cancels the appointments we have. But this week we had Brother Faux, a ward missionary, with us and she actually let us in! We talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. She was really excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We have a lady in the ward, Blanca Chucon, coming with us this week for our next appointment! It is going to be great!!!
 

Friday:
-We had some awesome weekly planning! Our area is really flourishing now and that always makes it super fun to weekly plan. Hopefully we will see some investigators out at church this next week. That has been our biggest struggle so far. Satan really draws people away from coming to church because he knows that they will be hooked!
-We met with the Genobagas again Friday night so that the Elders could give more of their family blessings. The Spirit was incredible. Something that impressed me about the blessings is how much the Elders expressed the love of Heavenly Father for this family. Keep reading until Sunday to find out if they came to church!!!!!

Saturday:
-We had a lesson with Jacob!!! He is still preparing to go into the Marines! We are really focusing on helping him find his faith again so that when he enters into the military he will be able to stand firm! He has been asking great questions and reading 3 CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON BETWEEN EVERY VISIT!!! AWESOME!
-We had a lesson with a former Do No Contact named Clara. She is the sweetest old lady ever! We asked her if we could start reading the Book of Mormon with her (since it worked so well with Dorris) And she said YES!!!! She said that she would read the first chapter before our next visit!!!! She even shared a spiritual experience that her granddaughter had! She will be back to church in no time!!!!

Sunday -
-Today at church we had three less active families come to church! They haven't come since I've been here! The Gronemans, the Genebagas, and the Osteranders! We were floored when we saw them come in! It was so exciting!!!
-We met with Chermayne, whom we haven't had a lesson with in a month!! We read in the Book of Mormon with her, and she said she felt peace. We asked her after the lesson if she had any questions or thoughts about anything we've talked about. She went on to tell us that tonight she was going to tell us that she didn't want to meet with us anymore. But she realized that she hasn't been putting her all into this. She decided she wanted to come to church this next Sunday! We told her we would be speaking and she said that this is not a coincidence that she wanted to come next Sunday! What a blessing!

 

I truly feel so blessed to be apart of this gospel! I know that this is the Lord's work and that he is guiding us everyday!! I hope you all can recognize the Lord's hand in your life. I know that this is where true peace is found in this life and in the next!

 

Love and Miss you!

 

Love,

Sister Davis 

Jamuary 6 2014

Hello Family and Friends!!!

Wow! The end of 2013 and the start of 2014!

What a blessing it is to be a missionary!

So many great things happened this year!!

-Finished my Freshman year at Brigham Young University!

-Went through the Houston Temple!

-Entered the Missionary Training Center!

-Entered the Missionary Field in Las Vegas!

-Served in Robindale Young Single Adult Ward!

-Served with Sisters Cardenas and Berger!

-Served in Quail Ridge Ward!

-Served with Sisters Nilson and Tucker!
-Witnessed many people come closer to their Savior!

-Implemented Member and Family Mission Plans!

-Read the Book of Mormon!

-Celebrated my 20th Birthday!

-Trained by Neal L. Anderson

-Saw "Saints Unified Voices" directed by Gladys Knight

-Went to the Las Vegas Temple!

-So many more blessings!!!

This week I want to share with you a few of the miracles we saw!!

Monday-

-Had a great lesson with the Hymas'. He is pretty less active and she has been very active. The lesson was about the sacrament and it was powerful. Brother Hymas is hilarious. He is an old funny grump :)

- Elder Perrins was making a Chimmy Changa and we had never had a Chimmy Changa so he made us one. It was decent tasting.

Tuesday - NEW YEAR's EVE!!!

-Talked to 17 people on the street! There are a lot of interesting people here in Las Vegas! Never have I met so many different types of people! We had a guy with a mean dog and he said behind our backs "We're not going to eat the Mormons today!" Like I said...interesting..

-Brother Klabacka came out with us! He likes to tell ask everyone if we can teach them a lesson! He says "We're the MORMONS!" He is an awesome member missionary! He has a strong testimony of the missionary program.

-Had to be in by 6pm... asleep by 8pm!!! Best New Year's Eve EVER!

Wednesday - 2014!!!

-We had Brother Bybee come out with us to contact potentials and less actives. He served in Chile recently and it was fun to hear some of his stories.

-We had a lesson with good ol' Sister Dolly! We talked about why good people have bad things happen to them. 2 Nephi 2 is the best :)

- We had dinner with President Romney...not the Presidential Candidate...Our Stake President! He is related to the famous Romney though!

Thursday -

- Went to the Las Vegas Temple! I love to see the Temple! It is so beautiful! It truly is the Lord's house! I've been able to go with every companion! It truly is such a blessing to have the Temple near us!

- Met with Tyler! He's Awesome!

Friday -

- We had an awesome weekly planning session! We were a little nervous that we would get transfers.

- We also had a great lesson with Jacob. He asked "Why didn't we choose Lucifer's plan? That would be really easy!" Awkward silence! Then the spirit came in and explained it better than we ever could have!

Saturday -

- ZONE TRAINING MEETING!

      -Pizza and games for Zone Lunch!

-Carlie, our investigator, is moving!

-Angie & Pepe want us to help them become more active!

-Sister Tucker and I are staying another 6 weeks in Quail Ridge! WE ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!!! What a relief! We are looking forward to another awesome transfer!

Sunday-

-Quail Ridge meets at 11am now!

-Bishop Durham asked all the parents of missionaries to bare their testimonies! It was an amazing Fast & Testimony Meeting!!!

-Jacob came to church!!!!! :) He even called off work so he could stay all 3 hours!!

-Sister Tucker and I are teaching Mission Prep classes every Sunday with the Zone Leaders! It is so much fun!!! We trained on the "Missionary Purpose!" It was powerful!

-We didn't run out of gas.. even though we really thought we were going to!

This is going to be a great year! I hope you all have a great 2014! I am grateful for all the tender mercies we see each days! This truly is Heavenly Father's work! I am so grateful for this gospel and the knowledge we have of Heavenly Father's plan!

Miss you! Love you! Hope it is a great year!!!

Love,

Sister Davis

 

 

 

This is the Quail Ridge Ward Family Mission Plan!!!!

 

"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.  When one learns to master the principles of setting goals, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life."   Elder M. Russell Ballard (Preach My Gospel p. 146)