Hello Hello!
It so great to have this opportunity to write to you! I am so grateful for your love and support! I am grateful for your examples to me! This has been a great week! Of course all weeks are truly great as a missionary! I've never experienced a bad week. There has been hard moments, but that doesn't not mean the work or the mission is bad. I am grateful for the hard moments, because the miracles and good times are so sweet! Today is my 11 month mark, which means I have 18 months left on my mission! Well not exactly 18 months, but that would be nice! I am so grateful for this time that I have to serve. I cannot believe how fast it is going by! I feel like I was just packing for my mission and having a melt down because my suitcases were too heavy! Wow! Time flies!
Last Monday we had the chance to go down to downtown Boulder City, which is really about two blocks long and only 3 mintues away from us. We went to all of the antique shops and saw such cute things! I am so glad I'm a poor missionary, with little space, and little time, otherwise I would have been so tempted to take all the stores home with me! They had such darling things! I could spend hours looking at everything. I love the small town feel! It is so unique and so homey! Later that night we went to see a couple in our ward. We had contacted the lady two doors down from them last week and they told us she posted about us on her facebook after we left her doorstep. They said she wrote that "two cute lady missionaries gave me a book today.. now I need to find something for them to read.. any ideas?" We were pretty shocked that she posted on the world wide web about us and the couple told us that there were lots of negative things written in the comments of her status... But they wrote on her wall and bore their testimony to her and invited her to read 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for members that back us up! I am so grateful for their testimonies! Afterwards, we had an amazing activity!! We are holding a Family Home Evening activity every Monday night now and it is so great! We had our investigator Mikalina, who's 10, there and some other members. We read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End! It was a great discussion! Then we played a game! We put an oreo on our forehead and had to get it into our mouth without touching it with our hands! We just had to move our face and tounge to get it! Mikalina won and I was the last to get it in my mouth, but it was so funny! They had a great time!
Tuesday we went to the Temple for my quarterly Temple visit. Sister Tucker and I arranged so that we would just happen to bump into each other there! We went to the session together and had lunch at the Temple! It was so great! I love to see the Temple! I love to go inside! I am so grateful that we have a Temple in our mission! Sister Bird came out with us today and we went to see a less active man named Brother Bradley. We is in his 80's and has a stomach problem that he caught while in Mexico 15 years ago. His hearing aids broke so we had to practically yell to communicate with him! It was fun! We talked about faith and he agreed to receive a blessing of healing! We are going next week with Sister Bird's husband, the former Bishop. After Brother Bradley we went to see another less active man, Brother Swoope! I love Brother Swoope! He is in his 70's and has had lots of heartache, with the passing of his mother, wife, friend, and girlfriend all in the last year and a half! We talked about Faith with him and invited him to come on Monday nights! He is so sad and holds such a heavy burden. I know that if he would come back into the fold he would fins peace. But he is scared to get close to anyone, because everyone dies. We also had a lesson with Caitlyn, our 13 year old investigator. SHe has been taught many times by missionaries. We had an overview lesson so we could see where she was with everything. There are some many points that we realized she doesn't grasp. Now we know where to start! We also saw Mikalina and taught her the importance of reading her scriptures, going to church, and praying daily. She is such a gem with a true desire to follow the Savior! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed us with the opportunity to influence his precious daughters.
Wednesday we had a great district meeting! Sister Hess came out with us and though we weren't able to have a lesson with anyone, we were able to get to know her and street contact a man who was just visiting from Montana. It was a great experience for her to see that we don't teach people 24/7 - lots of times we just visit people who don't answer their doors! We got to visit a lady in our ward Sister Guyette. She is such an inspiration! She walks to church each Sunday, stays all three hours, and walks home. She is 93 years old. I hope I can be like her when I am that old. Her testimpny is so strong and she strives to share the gospel with her neighbors.What an awesome lady. We practiced one of our lessons with Sister Snowden today and she told us she would like us back the same time every week to practice! She even made us brownies! So sweet! At the conclusion of our night we had an experience that I will truly never ever forget. I wish I could put it into words for you, but it is just not appropriate to share at this time. I will, however, tell you this.. Heavenly Father put us in the right place at the right time. Our appointments fell through so that we could answer a desperate call. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father's awareness of each of His children. I am so grateful for Bishop Taggard and Brother Sargant. They came to the rescue. I felt peace and my Father's love during this time of chaos and confusion. He protected us. I know He lives!
Thursday we met with Mikalina again and read in the Bok of Mormon, she is reading so much and is so excited about what she is learning! She loves the gospel! We had a great dinner with the Taggards! Sister Taggard has her own line of chap stick and perfumes and soaps that she makes herself, she let us pick some out and they are so good! While Sister Area was talking with Sister Taggard, Bishop and I played a little ping-pong! So fun! I haven't lost all my skills yet! Even though I hadn't played in 11 months. We met with Brother Norris, a less active, and his daughter Halena, who's 11. We had a great little message with them and invited them to pray every night together, they were both excited about that challenge! Sister Area and I met up with Sisters Fierstneau and Cummings to go on exchanges!
Friday Sister Fierstneau was in my area here in Boulder City! We had one of the best days I have had here! Sister Peterson, the Stake Presidents wife, came out with us. We had no lessons planed, but we had a lot of faith! After trying two doors and having no one answer we went to visit Patricia. She lives next to a member and her daughter actually joined the church when she was a teenager and served a LDS mission. I had only met Patricia once, and she was not interested. She didn't let us in. We went to the door, she answered, we introduced ourselves, told her we wanted to share a message with her, and she let us right in! She talked and talked! I was praying that I would be able to take something she said and be able to start on message of the Restoration. She talked about prayer! I told her we had a message to share with her about prayer and asked if we could start with a prayer! We began to share about Jesus Christ, she told us that the thing she loved most about Christ was that he loved the little children. We testified of that and began to share Joseph Smith's experience. We shared that he was just a child and Christ loved him. That Heavenly Father answered his prayers. We shared Joseph's experience in his own words and asked her to pay attention to how she felt, because the Spirit testify of truth through the feelings we feel. We shared Joseph's words...
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me...When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Patricia smiled so big and said.. "I'm SO HAPPY!" She felt the Spirit so strong. We explained to her that the Book of Mormon is that convincing evidence that Joseph Smith was called to be a Prophet. We read 2 Nephi 25:26 with her. This is the Purpose of the Book of Mormon, it reads,
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."
That really touched her. We left her with a Book of Mormon and invited her to come to a knowledge of the truth for herself. It was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever been in. We truly followed the Spirit.
We talked and walked a lot on Friday. We met some really amazing people! We met a lady named Dorthy who had learned about the church 50 years ago, but had lost contact with missionaries when she moved. She said her Book of Mormon was packed away, so we gave a new one and invited her to read! They we met Donnie, a father of 5, and he invited us back to say a prayer with his family. We street contacted a family in our ward who is active, but I didn't recognize them until they said their name.. That was a little awkward, but hey! We were talking to everyone! A young man in our ward Jackson introduced us to his neighbor and they invited us to come back and say a prayer with them. Our night ended on a great note, we met a lady named Corrine. She was taught by missionaries in 2010. She invited us in and we shared a short message about faith. She told us she has been really stressed and working late every night, but tonight she decided to come home early and then we knocked on her door. She told us that we were an answer to her prayers and that we were welcomed anytime. She knew right where her Book of Mormon was and we invited her to read Alma 32, because it is all about faith! It was an truly amazing day! I love being a missionary!
Saturday we went to visit Brother Swoope, but we saw Wanda, our 88 year old investigator outside watering her yard. We stopped and helped her pick weeds. Sister Miller was with us and she helped too! It was great to be able to serve her even if we were in skirts trying to be modest and get down and pull weeds. Afterwards we met with Brother Solomon, a less active man. He is very lonely. We talked to him about prayer. He says he will prayer for others on occasion, but that's the only time he prays, because he knows that God never fixes his problems when he prays. We invited him to pray this week and he said we could come back next week. Then we hurried off to a Baptism in Quail Ridge!! We were almost late! But we made it! It was so great to see all of the people I love. Ashley was baptized by her husband Tim. He is a returned missionary and they were just married 4 months and then moved into our ward. I was able to teach them just a little bit before I was transferred. She is pregnant and is having a baby girl in August. They are so special and really have a love for the gospel! It is amazing! I miss Quail Ridge, but I know that my time there is done. I am happy to be in Black Canyon! After the Baptism I was able to have lunch with my Grandpa Davis and Uncle Jason! It was so great to see them! I shared a really cool spiritual thought with them! Hopefully they learned something! It was so great to be able to share my testimony with them! After lunch we took Mikalina to a Baptism that the elders were having. She leaned over to me and asked if you have to be Baptized in order to serve a mission. I told her yes. She wants to be Baptized and serve a mission soooo badly! But her mom won't allow her to be Baptized.. Yet! I know she will though! One day!!
Sunday was amazing! I was able to go to the Why I Believe Fireside. Carlos, who was baptized in the YSA Ward in November spoke. He is amazing! I love him so much! We were really worried, because he was late and wasn't answering his phone. Come to find out his phone died and he got a flat tire! But he made it in time. I know that the adversary was trying to keep him from coming!! But he made it! His testimony was so pure. He shared how he had met with missionaries on and on for about a year, and how he always told them.. I want to learn, but I don't want to be Baptized, so don't ask me. He shared that Sister Davis and Sister Berger really sealed the deal for him. That we shared 1 Nephi 8, about Lehi's dream with him and that was it! He knew he had to hold to the rod a join the church. He shared that he was going to ask us when he could be Baptized, but that we beat him to it! We asked him first! He shared that he has since been filled with so much joy and power. He shared that he shares the gospel with all of his friends and that he always has his friends over to eat with the missionaries! He invited everyone there to share the gospel and promised them peace and joy and love. He told everyone that he hopes to have his missionaries in his life for a long long time. He is such an amazing missionary! After the program he came right off the stand a reached out to give me a hug, he was so sad when he remembered that he couldn't hug me... only a hand shake. He is so precious to me! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent me here so that I could bring him the gospel! Oh how grateful I am to be a missionary! I love this gospel so much! I know that Heavenly sent us here to share it with others! I know that this is the truth!
I love you all so much and hope that you will find peace and joy this week! Remember that Heavenly Father has a bigger plan for each one of us!
Choose The Right!
Love,
Sister Davis
.JPG)
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