Dear Family and Friends,
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Thank you for all the warm Christmas wishes! I hope I may be able to send thank you notes to everyone but in case I can't know that I felt very loved this Christmas and I couldn't have asked for anything more! It was a wonderful Christmas as it was on a Sunday and we really got to Celebrate Christ's birth. I think it was my absolute Favorite Christmas! :) I'm so glad we have the opportunity to celebrate the life of our Savior! And I hope I can remember to celebrate it Every day of my life. :)
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Okay okay, you're probably wondering about transfers... so I am now in El Cajon specifically in the Granite Hills ward. I live 5 minutes away from the Mission Home (so President can keep an eye on me) and my new companion is Sis. Park. We actually served in the same ward when I first came to San Diego (in Clairemont) so I already know her fairly well. She's Awesome! She is a hard worker and a dedicated servent and the first day she told me that she is so happy that I am her companion and that she wants to be exactly obedient. So that's what we're doing, being exactly obedient and working really hard. We are going to get a lot of things done in El Cajon! And the most important thing is that it won't be us, it will be the Lord working through us because we're giving our all to follow Him. I am soooo excited for this transfer! It's going to be good. And I love my area already, it's a bit more humble than Green Valley and there are so many members who want to help and so many people who are looking for the truth. We caroled with our district every night this past week and got so many potentials from it. We're excited to work with these people.
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Well Life is good. I'm not feeling sick at all mom so I think I'll be quite alright. Thank you for worrying about me. It's nice to be worried about. :) And President hopefully will get over His pnuemonia shortly. :) Other than that I have not much else to share this week... I kinda told you everything on Christmas. But girls, know that I love you sooooo much! And I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you more, but I promise I'll spend Tons of time with you after my mission. Promise!!! :)
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Two quick stories from this week:
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1. My third day in the area I invited a woman to be baptized and after a little bit she said she would. As I didn't know her very well it didn't shock me as much as it did Sis. Park. She was so happy, she couldn't contain her excitement. Apparently she has been trying to work with this woman for a while and she barely opened up to the missionaries a week before. They had one strong lesson with her and then we up and invite her to be baptized her second real lesson. Needless to say, she was exstatic.
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2. Last night we were trying to catch a lady that we've been trying to teach for a while. She meets with us once a week and usually never more than that. Well we really think she could be baptized this weekend so we wanted to meet with her. We ended up driving by her place and found one of our strong investigators outside her house working on her car. So we talked to him for a little bit and then she came out and we talked to them both. We bore testimony of the wonder of this gospel and out investigator Ron, who has a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, bore his testimony to her! She was listening so intently! It was a really neat experience. And to think, all our plans that night had fallen through, and had we not followed the Spirit we wouldn't have witnessed this miracle. Her heart was softened and she's praying to know if she should get baptized It was such a neat experience!
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I also had an epiphany last night as we visited this humble member. I know why we are here on earth. I've always known but now I Know! We are here to become like our Heavenly Father. Our Savior is the perfect example so we must follow Him. But that's why we have church, the Temple, the scriptures, the Prophets, Everything... to become like our Savior and Heavenly Father. I know there is no other way to come nearer to our Savior then through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. :)
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I love His gospel and I love the peace I feel as I bear testimony to others.I love you all and I hope you had a very merry Christmas, and that you have a Happy New Year! I'll talk to you again on mi cumpleanos hahaha.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Week 40, 41, 42,& 43 - Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Dear Family and Friends, Here are Maureen's last four letters. I'm sorry it has taken so long to get them out. Overall she is doing very well. Hearing that she is being transferred 5 days before Christmas came as a shock. I'm sure she will do well in her new area though. She has been in Poway for a long time, so I'm sure a change is overdue. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on her behalf. I know she feels them, and needs them. Merry Christmas to all of you. What a wonderful time of year to have the added blessing of a missionary and the spirit that it brings to our home. Our hearts are soft as we think of our Savior and His sacrifice for us. We hope your holidays are filled with peace, and love.
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Merry Christmas to all of you. What a wonderful time of year to have the added blessing of a missionary and the spirit that it brings to our home. Our hearts are soft as we think of our Savior and His sacrifice for us. We hope your holidays are filled with peace, and love.
.
Love Nile and Candi
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All that read this, Family and All!
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So my mind is so out of sorts, I apologize for that lack of sanity and I will try my best to write a reasonable letter this week.
.
This week has been an interesting one. I must admit it's had it's challenges, such as wealthier people would rather be doing other things during the Christmas season then meet with us. So we've had about 4 of our investigators Half drop us yesterday, yep all in the same day. AND it was one of the best planned days Ever, so it was a bit disheartening. But nevertheless we kept going and we met a potential named Dave who is 91 and has worked with the Major baseball leages forEver. I can't remember who he coached for but I'll tell you when I find out. He was a tender mercy yesterday as we were all in a saddened mood. We dropped by his house and he told us all about his wife and how amazing she was, how she was the most beautiful girl and how he could never love anyone the same. We started to tell him about how he can see her again and be with her forever but he said he already believed that. He is open to us coming back though so that was good. We went over to the Todd's yesterday to watch the Testaments with him and his family to more or less stress the importance of the Book of Mormon and we invited them to read the Book of Mormon every day as a family. They said they would. While we were watching the Testaments however, it seemed to click in my mind that Christ was left alone, despised and rejected by everyone, even for a few minutes by Peter. If He went through all of that rejection, then is it not necessary for me to suffer some rejection to bring me into a better awareness of what my Savior did for me? When we go through hardships we have the opportunity to feel what our Savior felt and be more aware of what He has done for us. It was a really wonderful realization and I realized I am never alone. I have Heavenly Parents, a Savior, a family and friends who all love me and support me. What more could I possibly need?
.
Well we had another cool experience last night. We were at wit's end on what to do last night so as we were sitting in the car we decided to pray and ask God what we should do. As we were praying I heard a trash can being rolled out onto the street. Now I know it may Seem like I am good at talking to people now, I am still as intimidated as ever. So when the prayer was finished and I thought maybe we should go talk with this guy out front (in the dark) I immediately thought "no." The thought kept coming to mind and I decided that maybe we should try it. So without sharing my thoughts to the others I asked if we could go outside and take a walk. We jumped out of the car and I'm sure Sis. Hudson and Sis. Nichols were wondering what on earth I was doing as I circled around the caul de sac to talk to this man who I scared in his garage. We talked with him for a while and he explained that we needed more than the bible and we said that we had more, we have Prophets who speak to us today since our times are different and the bible can't answer our every question. He had to go inside but said we could talk with him again sometime. Yay! I followed a prompting! Well after that we all felt better about the day.
.
I know Heavenly Father is very aware of not only his missionaries but also everyone else in this world. He knows who is ready and who is not and He puts those people in our path so that we can bless their lives. Isn't He wonderful?
.
I'm sorry I can't write more but know that I love you all! If you could send me the Jensens and Denlers address I'll write them as soon as I can. I went to the Temple today so I haven't had much time to do anything.
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Love you all!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Thank you for the warm wishes and the prayers. They have been felt and noticed here. :) I have a lot to share this week so we'll see how fast I can type.
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For starters mom- are you doing secret santa this year? And if so who am I getting a present for? And I'm sorry I didn't respond last week about what I wanted for Christmas. It's really hard to say, but whatever you give me will be great I am sure. Can't be books. :) So I've been thinking what a missionary needs and I had two thoughts. 1. an i-pod plug in for the car so I can listen to my music while we drive and 2. teeth whitener. I don't think I've ever needed it more than now! I smile too often and no wonder some people don't want to talk to me when my teeth are so yellow! Yuk! But you should let dad know that everyone who finds out my dad is an orthodontist says "of course! no wonder you have such beautifully straight teeth." haha I am proud of him.
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Okay so Sis. Bickley called you. She is obviously Sis. Bickley's mother who I got to know on the mission. She was a Spanish speaking sister so I didn't work with her but she and I got to know each other a bit as she went english and served in Green Valley right before me. And the man she's talking about is an elderly gentleman who is very very sick. He thinks he's dying and it's so hard to visit him because he can be very dramatic in his thoughts of dying. But we love him, he is one of our investigators and he Loves music. So we invited him to listen to me sing in church this week! I'm singing a beautiful arrangement of silent night and my companions are using that as an excuse to get more people to come to church. So it should be good. :) We've had the members get more involved in our missionary work and it's worked wonders! It was so nice to see them get excited about the work and start caring for these people that we care for.
.
I loved the Christmas devotional and I loved everything that was brought up there. Especially that movie. It was so neat to see, and yet a different perspective than I had always imagined.
.
Okay - So I should tell you of the Miracle on Pinebrook st. So monday we talked to that man on the street, Edwin, and left him with a card with our number on it hoping we'd be able to meet with him again. Well Wednesday was a day of miracles. It started with our district meeting. The week before had been hard as it was Thanksgiving weekend and people were busy, so we were all a bit out of sorts. So I shared the thought about working with unyeildingness (Helaman 10:3-5) and after that we talked about how we must work without ceasing. One way we can do that is talk to everyone we see. Now I will be very honest with you, though I can know go up to people and talk to them it doesn't make it any less frightening to do so. So we haven't been as good at that. Well our district leader made a challenge. Whoever talked to the most people through the week would win. (he's still working on the prize) Well while that's not so much motivation to me, it motivated the elders a LOT and as sisters we decided to make it more exciting by talking to the most people so the elders had to continue to work harder, no guy wants to be beat by a girl. haha So we've been talking to so many people this work and it's paying off! Heavenly Father needed to see we were serious and then He blessed us with miracles. So we got to work and did the best we could that day. Well while we were in an appointment we missed 2 phone calls. One from a man we talked to the other night, Edwin! He said he wanted to meet up to learn more of what we believe! Then the other was from one of our members who got a letter from one of our investigators who is currently in the "slammer" (as said by Sis. Hudson). He wanted to apologize for shoving us off and he really wanted to get back on the right track so he asked for a book of mormon! It was so neat! And then this less active we've been working with and trying so hard to get to church will be coming in January because a member in our ward is going to pick her up each sunday! We are so excited for all the miracles that have been happening and we know they are from our Heavenly Father. And while they may mean little to you all, I want you to know that these miracles have only strenthened my testimony in my Heavenly Father! He lives and He loves us and He is ever mindfull of us, always. :) I love this gospel so much. I know there is nothing else on earth that can provide me with as much happiness as this gospel can and it's amazing the love I have felt on my mission as I've served the Lord, no matter how hard and difficult the days have been. :)
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Well I can't write much more. My time is up. But mom let me know what you all want for Christmas, I can't gaurentee I'll get you what you want but I'll get you all something that you will love, I'm sure. ;)The Christmas lights are going up around here. It's making me a teaspoonfull homesick as I remember going around with family and friends to look at those lovely Christmas lights. But I'm excited to hear you on Christmas day and I'm excited to celebrate the Lord's birth and give Him gifts for all he's done for me. I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk. It is so true. :)
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Well I love you all! I hope you are staying in good health and in happy spirits. Don't forget the real meaning of celebrating Christmas. I love your ideas of serving more this Christmas. I will also try to serve as much as I can this Christmas. I know that this will be the best Christmas ever as we all unite in bringing others closer to Christ in whatever way we can. :)
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Love you!
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Oh the Weather outside is Frightful!So, we don't have a lot of snow obviously (none), but man the weather has been cold out lately. It's been raining for the past few days and let me tell you, walking in the rain with a skirt on, no matter how short the time outside may be, is just no fun. I recently went to Ross with my companions and bought a coat! Yesm, a coat. All the sandiegans may laugh at me, but I am an arizona girl and cannot stand the cold. :)
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Other than that, life out here has been great! I'vve been staying healthy while all the people around me have been getting sick. I'm sure my turn is coming soon, but I try to stay as healthy as possible. The work is just dandy and we've been meeting lots of fun people lately. Edwin, our miracle story, has been spread to the ward now and the Nielsen girls are calling it the Missionary Christmas Miracle. It's so cute. They pray for edwin every night and occasionally at dinner (without ever being asked to - reminded me of Olivia and Emmy) and Chloe, their 8 yr old, decided to talk to all her friends about the gospel and then prayed to help them be baptized, in front of them... oh the faith of a child haha.
.
Other than that nothing much has happened this week. We had MTE (mission training experience) that was based on planning and being better planners. It was interesting that President Clayton compared it to Heavenly Father and how His great work and plan for us was to become immortal and life with Him forever. So He had to create a world, and then He had to make it day and night, provide us a Savior, etc. He had a lot of planning that went into it I'm sure. And because of all that planning it is succesful in bringing others back home. So we're now working on that planning skill. You'd think I have it down now after all the birthday party plans I made when I was 7, but alas this planning is a little different and involves more then my good friends. So it's a work in progress. :)
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Well lately we've decided that we need a Christmas message to share with others this holiday season, and I wanted to share that message with you. We've been showing a Christmas mormon message lately called Kids and Christmas. In there it asks kids what they would give Jesus Christ for Christmas, so we in turn asked the families what they would give the Savior. A lot of kids said they'd give Him hugs or love or the the most important thing they owned, etc. So as misisonaries we thought about what we could give the Savior and we thought the best gift to Him would be helping Him with the great plan of bringing others back home. Well we thought about how in order to do that we must first be converted to His gospel and that we must follow Him. And Then we had the thought, We can't follow Him completely without becomming Like Him. So we invite everyone to spend this Christmas season trying to become more like Him by working on a Christlike attribute found in the 6th chapter of Preach My Gospel. As we work on those attributes, we will Become more like Him and when He comes "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as He is pure." (Moroni 7:48)
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I know that as we spend this Christmas season focusing on the Savior, we will become more like Him, we will feel of His joy and will want to help others more than ever before. We will have a charity for others that we never imagined possible. And oh what "peace on earth" would be found if we really had "good will to men." I love you all! I hope you enjoy this Christmas time and spend it focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. Love you!
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
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For starters, I had Breyers Chocolate Ice cream this week I think for the first time in almost a year! It tasted sooooo good. Thank you dad for bringing us up well. :) I also had the perfect cookies - they were perfectly moist and dry and filled with deliciousness, I'll have to get the recipe soon. :)
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So here's the rather sad ordeal. For the past week, Sis. Hudson and I have been sick. We've been coughing like crazy and our throats have been aching and we've still tried to work hard. I just felt bad when we went to the Brown's last night. I had felt good all day and then at night it got really bad so I couldn't stop coughing there. Sis. Brown tried so hard to help, she gave me lots of cough drops which unfortunately didn't cure me. But I'm feeling better today. However, I must admit I'm not as chipper as always. Today we got a call about transfers. I felt very sure I was staying so it was surprising when they called and told me to pack my bags. 5 days before Christmas and I have no clue where I'll be. I'm leaving behind the people I've come to know and love and respect the past 6 months but in the words of Sis. Nichols I'm getting "5 more cookies," I may not like them at first but Heavenly Father knows how good they are for me. So I'm off to my new adventure tomorrow. Sis. Hudson is also leaving and Sis. Nichols will remain here. I know I will miss them dearly but I'll still see them around!
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So enough about me. :) This time of year is a time to focus on the Savior. Scratch that, the Whole year is the time to think of the Savior. I hope and pray that we can all think more of Him and the joy that comes from the Gospel and the Atonement. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1st Cor. 15:22) How glorious is that!? We all will live again! And if we work really hard all our lives we will be able to live with our Heavenly Father and Savior again. :) I'm so happy for the blessing to know these things are true. I feel my relationship with my Heavenly Father getting better as I pray and study the scriptures and I couldn't be happier. :) I love you all. I'll talk to you on Sunday and inform you as to where I reside and my new companion, etc.
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Love you LOTS! Thank you for the package! I won't open it till Christmas.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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ps. I don't know when I can call due to I have no idea where I'll be or the schedule! I know that doesn't help you any.... keep the phone near? :) But I think between 1-4pm is a safe bet, my time. And I will only have about 30-40 mins to talk, just so you know. I love you all so much! I'm excited to talk to you on Christmas. :)
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Merry Christmas to all of you. What a wonderful time of year to have the added blessing of a missionary and the spirit that it brings to our home. Our hearts are soft as we think of our Savior and His sacrifice for us. We hope your holidays are filled with peace, and love.
.
Love Nile and Candi
.
.
All that read this, Family and All!
.
So my mind is so out of sorts, I apologize for that lack of sanity and I will try my best to write a reasonable letter this week.
.
This week has been an interesting one. I must admit it's had it's challenges, such as wealthier people would rather be doing other things during the Christmas season then meet with us. So we've had about 4 of our investigators Half drop us yesterday, yep all in the same day. AND it was one of the best planned days Ever, so it was a bit disheartening. But nevertheless we kept going and we met a potential named Dave who is 91 and has worked with the Major baseball leages forEver. I can't remember who he coached for but I'll tell you when I find out. He was a tender mercy yesterday as we were all in a saddened mood. We dropped by his house and he told us all about his wife and how amazing she was, how she was the most beautiful girl and how he could never love anyone the same. We started to tell him about how he can see her again and be with her forever but he said he already believed that. He is open to us coming back though so that was good. We went over to the Todd's yesterday to watch the Testaments with him and his family to more or less stress the importance of the Book of Mormon and we invited them to read the Book of Mormon every day as a family. They said they would. While we were watching the Testaments however, it seemed to click in my mind that Christ was left alone, despised and rejected by everyone, even for a few minutes by Peter. If He went through all of that rejection, then is it not necessary for me to suffer some rejection to bring me into a better awareness of what my Savior did for me? When we go through hardships we have the opportunity to feel what our Savior felt and be more aware of what He has done for us. It was a really wonderful realization and I realized I am never alone. I have Heavenly Parents, a Savior, a family and friends who all love me and support me. What more could I possibly need?
.
Well we had another cool experience last night. We were at wit's end on what to do last night so as we were sitting in the car we decided to pray and ask God what we should do. As we were praying I heard a trash can being rolled out onto the street. Now I know it may Seem like I am good at talking to people now, I am still as intimidated as ever. So when the prayer was finished and I thought maybe we should go talk with this guy out front (in the dark) I immediately thought "no." The thought kept coming to mind and I decided that maybe we should try it. So without sharing my thoughts to the others I asked if we could go outside and take a walk. We jumped out of the car and I'm sure Sis. Hudson and Sis. Nichols were wondering what on earth I was doing as I circled around the caul de sac to talk to this man who I scared in his garage. We talked with him for a while and he explained that we needed more than the bible and we said that we had more, we have Prophets who speak to us today since our times are different and the bible can't answer our every question. He had to go inside but said we could talk with him again sometime. Yay! I followed a prompting! Well after that we all felt better about the day.
.
I know Heavenly Father is very aware of not only his missionaries but also everyone else in this world. He knows who is ready and who is not and He puts those people in our path so that we can bless their lives. Isn't He wonderful?
.
I'm sorry I can't write more but know that I love you all! If you could send me the Jensens and Denlers address I'll write them as soon as I can. I went to the Temple today so I haven't had much time to do anything.
.
Love you all!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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.
Thank you for the warm wishes and the prayers. They have been felt and noticed here. :) I have a lot to share this week so we'll see how fast I can type.
.
For starters mom- are you doing secret santa this year? And if so who am I getting a present for? And I'm sorry I didn't respond last week about what I wanted for Christmas. It's really hard to say, but whatever you give me will be great I am sure. Can't be books. :) So I've been thinking what a missionary needs and I had two thoughts. 1. an i-pod plug in for the car so I can listen to my music while we drive and 2. teeth whitener. I don't think I've ever needed it more than now! I smile too often and no wonder some people don't want to talk to me when my teeth are so yellow! Yuk! But you should let dad know that everyone who finds out my dad is an orthodontist says "of course! no wonder you have such beautifully straight teeth." haha I am proud of him.
.
Okay so Sis. Bickley called you. She is obviously Sis. Bickley's mother who I got to know on the mission. She was a Spanish speaking sister so I didn't work with her but she and I got to know each other a bit as she went english and served in Green Valley right before me. And the man she's talking about is an elderly gentleman who is very very sick. He thinks he's dying and it's so hard to visit him because he can be very dramatic in his thoughts of dying. But we love him, he is one of our investigators and he Loves music. So we invited him to listen to me sing in church this week! I'm singing a beautiful arrangement of silent night and my companions are using that as an excuse to get more people to come to church. So it should be good. :) We've had the members get more involved in our missionary work and it's worked wonders! It was so nice to see them get excited about the work and start caring for these people that we care for.
.
I loved the Christmas devotional and I loved everything that was brought up there. Especially that movie. It was so neat to see, and yet a different perspective than I had always imagined.
.
Okay - So I should tell you of the Miracle on Pinebrook st. So monday we talked to that man on the street, Edwin, and left him with a card with our number on it hoping we'd be able to meet with him again. Well Wednesday was a day of miracles. It started with our district meeting. The week before had been hard as it was Thanksgiving weekend and people were busy, so we were all a bit out of sorts. So I shared the thought about working with unyeildingness (Helaman 10:3-5) and after that we talked about how we must work without ceasing. One way we can do that is talk to everyone we see. Now I will be very honest with you, though I can know go up to people and talk to them it doesn't make it any less frightening to do so. So we haven't been as good at that. Well our district leader made a challenge. Whoever talked to the most people through the week would win. (he's still working on the prize) Well while that's not so much motivation to me, it motivated the elders a LOT and as sisters we decided to make it more exciting by talking to the most people so the elders had to continue to work harder, no guy wants to be beat by a girl. haha So we've been talking to so many people this work and it's paying off! Heavenly Father needed to see we were serious and then He blessed us with miracles. So we got to work and did the best we could that day. Well while we were in an appointment we missed 2 phone calls. One from a man we talked to the other night, Edwin! He said he wanted to meet up to learn more of what we believe! Then the other was from one of our members who got a letter from one of our investigators who is currently in the "slammer" (as said by Sis. Hudson). He wanted to apologize for shoving us off and he really wanted to get back on the right track so he asked for a book of mormon! It was so neat! And then this less active we've been working with and trying so hard to get to church will be coming in January because a member in our ward is going to pick her up each sunday! We are so excited for all the miracles that have been happening and we know they are from our Heavenly Father. And while they may mean little to you all, I want you to know that these miracles have only strenthened my testimony in my Heavenly Father! He lives and He loves us and He is ever mindfull of us, always. :) I love this gospel so much. I know there is nothing else on earth that can provide me with as much happiness as this gospel can and it's amazing the love I have felt on my mission as I've served the Lord, no matter how hard and difficult the days have been. :)
.
Well I can't write much more. My time is up. But mom let me know what you all want for Christmas, I can't gaurentee I'll get you what you want but I'll get you all something that you will love, I'm sure. ;)The Christmas lights are going up around here. It's making me a teaspoonfull homesick as I remember going around with family and friends to look at those lovely Christmas lights. But I'm excited to hear you on Christmas day and I'm excited to celebrate the Lord's birth and give Him gifts for all he's done for me. I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk. It is so true. :)
.
Well I love you all! I hope you are staying in good health and in happy spirits. Don't forget the real meaning of celebrating Christmas. I love your ideas of serving more this Christmas. I will also try to serve as much as I can this Christmas. I know that this will be the best Christmas ever as we all unite in bringing others closer to Christ in whatever way we can. :)
.
Love you!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
.
Oh the Weather outside is Frightful!So, we don't have a lot of snow obviously (none), but man the weather has been cold out lately. It's been raining for the past few days and let me tell you, walking in the rain with a skirt on, no matter how short the time outside may be, is just no fun. I recently went to Ross with my companions and bought a coat! Yesm, a coat. All the sandiegans may laugh at me, but I am an arizona girl and cannot stand the cold. :)
.
Other than that, life out here has been great! I'vve been staying healthy while all the people around me have been getting sick. I'm sure my turn is coming soon, but I try to stay as healthy as possible. The work is just dandy and we've been meeting lots of fun people lately. Edwin, our miracle story, has been spread to the ward now and the Nielsen girls are calling it the Missionary Christmas Miracle. It's so cute. They pray for edwin every night and occasionally at dinner (without ever being asked to - reminded me of Olivia and Emmy) and Chloe, their 8 yr old, decided to talk to all her friends about the gospel and then prayed to help them be baptized, in front of them... oh the faith of a child haha.
.
Other than that nothing much has happened this week. We had MTE (mission training experience) that was based on planning and being better planners. It was interesting that President Clayton compared it to Heavenly Father and how His great work and plan for us was to become immortal and life with Him forever. So He had to create a world, and then He had to make it day and night, provide us a Savior, etc. He had a lot of planning that went into it I'm sure. And because of all that planning it is succesful in bringing others back home. So we're now working on that planning skill. You'd think I have it down now after all the birthday party plans I made when I was 7, but alas this planning is a little different and involves more then my good friends. So it's a work in progress. :)
.
Well lately we've decided that we need a Christmas message to share with others this holiday season, and I wanted to share that message with you. We've been showing a Christmas mormon message lately called Kids and Christmas. In there it asks kids what they would give Jesus Christ for Christmas, so we in turn asked the families what they would give the Savior. A lot of kids said they'd give Him hugs or love or the the most important thing they owned, etc. So as misisonaries we thought about what we could give the Savior and we thought the best gift to Him would be helping Him with the great plan of bringing others back home. Well we thought about how in order to do that we must first be converted to His gospel and that we must follow Him. And Then we had the thought, We can't follow Him completely without becomming Like Him. So we invite everyone to spend this Christmas season trying to become more like Him by working on a Christlike attribute found in the 6th chapter of Preach My Gospel. As we work on those attributes, we will Become more like Him and when He comes "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as He is pure." (Moroni 7:48)
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I know that as we spend this Christmas season focusing on the Savior, we will become more like Him, we will feel of His joy and will want to help others more than ever before. We will have a charity for others that we never imagined possible. And oh what "peace on earth" would be found if we really had "good will to men." I love you all! I hope you enjoy this Christmas time and spend it focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. Love you!
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
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For starters, I had Breyers Chocolate Ice cream this week I think for the first time in almost a year! It tasted sooooo good. Thank you dad for bringing us up well. :) I also had the perfect cookies - they were perfectly moist and dry and filled with deliciousness, I'll have to get the recipe soon. :)
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So here's the rather sad ordeal. For the past week, Sis. Hudson and I have been sick. We've been coughing like crazy and our throats have been aching and we've still tried to work hard. I just felt bad when we went to the Brown's last night. I had felt good all day and then at night it got really bad so I couldn't stop coughing there. Sis. Brown tried so hard to help, she gave me lots of cough drops which unfortunately didn't cure me. But I'm feeling better today. However, I must admit I'm not as chipper as always. Today we got a call about transfers. I felt very sure I was staying so it was surprising when they called and told me to pack my bags. 5 days before Christmas and I have no clue where I'll be. I'm leaving behind the people I've come to know and love and respect the past 6 months but in the words of Sis. Nichols I'm getting "5 more cookies," I may not like them at first but Heavenly Father knows how good they are for me. So I'm off to my new adventure tomorrow. Sis. Hudson is also leaving and Sis. Nichols will remain here. I know I will miss them dearly but I'll still see them around!
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So enough about me. :) This time of year is a time to focus on the Savior. Scratch that, the Whole year is the time to think of the Savior. I hope and pray that we can all think more of Him and the joy that comes from the Gospel and the Atonement. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1st Cor. 15:22) How glorious is that!? We all will live again! And if we work really hard all our lives we will be able to live with our Heavenly Father and Savior again. :) I'm so happy for the blessing to know these things are true. I feel my relationship with my Heavenly Father getting better as I pray and study the scriptures and I couldn't be happier. :) I love you all. I'll talk to you on Sunday and inform you as to where I reside and my new companion, etc.
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Love you LOTS! Thank you for the package! I won't open it till Christmas.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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ps. I don't know when I can call due to I have no idea where I'll be or the schedule! I know that doesn't help you any.... keep the phone near? :) But I think between 1-4pm is a safe bet, my time. And I will only have about 30-40 mins to talk, just so you know. I love you all so much! I'm excited to talk to you on Christmas. :)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Week 39 - Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Haha other than the fact that Honey has glowing green eyes I love your thanksgiving lesson! I'm so glad that my absence hasn't kept it from going strong. :)
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Thank you for your letter! I have to be fast as our time is limited but know that I love you all and I'm thinking about you and praying for you daily! And thanks Mom for the "mushy stuff," it was much needed. :)
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So to answer some of your questions and share some wonderful miracles lately...Sister Nichols is fabulous! She's teaching us a lot, like how to talk to people. :) She's very good at getting to the point, which I need. She's been on her mission for a year now and she'll be in San Diego till February. We have been busy with her here and we are constantly teaching Todd, a father in a part member family, who is getting Baptized on Saturday! We are over the wall excited, he's changed so much! We've also worked with him a lot! He started off not even believing in God and now he believes President Monson is a Prophet called of God (for the "sandiegoites" it's really hard to believe a living day prophet).
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President's interview was good, there's not much to say about it as it lasts all of 2 minutes. He asks us how we're doing, and maybe one other question and then it's over. So it was really good. We actually just had Zone conference yesterday, it was fabulous! Our stake president of the Poway stake came to talk to us and he is such a great man. We love him so much, he really has the spirit with him whenever he talks, and he's typically a quiet man, so when he talks it's amazing to feel the authority in his voice. Well we learned a lot more ways to find people and we learned this fun game called Busc (aka Buscar - to search). Someone starts reading out loud in the Book of Mormon and then everyone else has to find the passage and start reading along, the first to find it is the next to read first. It's really fun but almost stressful in front of President. Haha, however, surprisingly, I know the scriptures better then I thought, or I got lucky. :)
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Are the Larsen's coming for thanksgiving? Oh and we are going to a member's house for dinner on Thanksgiving. And all of their 4 boys will be there. Sister Davis ( a member in our ward whom I love :) ) mentioned that it was more like a triple date with us three sisters. Good thing I'm focused on missionary work.
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Okay as for the miracles! Last Tuesday night we had invited a lady, Karen, we had met with several times to a relief society exercise activity, she came to the activity Tuesday and all the sisters in the ward introduced themselves and were very friendly. So a few days later we went to follow up and ended up teaching her about how we can have the spirit with us always; she can have God's presence with her always which is her huge desire. She also mentioned that she many times asked for answers but never recognized them so we invited her to pray to see if we had what she needed. She said she would and after having several meetings with her that led to no-where, we finally got somewhere and she is a new investigator! Well we set up a time to meet with her again but it was far away so Sis. Nichols said we should drop by with something and invite her to church. So we dropped by with Sis. Hudson's home-made muffins and left them with Karen's son with the message that we'd love it if they could come to church on Sunday at nine. We didn't think he would forward the message but we hoped he might.
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Saturday night we had 30 min left before going back home and we didn't know what to do. It was pouring outside and we really just wanted to go home. We decided to pray about it and I felt like we needed to go to this potentials house. I realized that I could dismiss the thought but as soon as I thought that I realized that I needed to give up on all my anxieties and just do God's will. So we went to this woman's house and she came to the door very uninterested and would have shut the door in our face if the dog hadn't come outside. She told us we couldn't come back, so I was a bit disappointed but I realized that even when Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac and the angel stopped him, it wasn't pointless, Abraham realized that he would always do the Lord's will no matter what. I felt like I learned that lesson so I was satisfied.
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Well Sunday we were running a little late to church. We made it there 5 minutes early and noticed someone who looked a lot like Karen sitting next to Bro. Burt. So we walked up to them and realized it was Karen, and she had brought her husband! HUGE Shock! We were smiling for hours on end. Heavenly Father truly does bless us when we do His will.
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Well I don't have much else to say. Keep up the good work. Thank you for all your prayers! And I love you all! Good luck in all your endeavors and may the Lord bless you for them.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Thank you for your letter! I have to be fast as our time is limited but know that I love you all and I'm thinking about you and praying for you daily! And thanks Mom for the "mushy stuff," it was much needed. :)
.
So to answer some of your questions and share some wonderful miracles lately...Sister Nichols is fabulous! She's teaching us a lot, like how to talk to people. :) She's very good at getting to the point, which I need. She's been on her mission for a year now and she'll be in San Diego till February. We have been busy with her here and we are constantly teaching Todd, a father in a part member family, who is getting Baptized on Saturday! We are over the wall excited, he's changed so much! We've also worked with him a lot! He started off not even believing in God and now he believes President Monson is a Prophet called of God (for the "sandiegoites" it's really hard to believe a living day prophet).
.
President's interview was good, there's not much to say about it as it lasts all of 2 minutes. He asks us how we're doing, and maybe one other question and then it's over. So it was really good. We actually just had Zone conference yesterday, it was fabulous! Our stake president of the Poway stake came to talk to us and he is such a great man. We love him so much, he really has the spirit with him whenever he talks, and he's typically a quiet man, so when he talks it's amazing to feel the authority in his voice. Well we learned a lot more ways to find people and we learned this fun game called Busc (aka Buscar - to search). Someone starts reading out loud in the Book of Mormon and then everyone else has to find the passage and start reading along, the first to find it is the next to read first. It's really fun but almost stressful in front of President. Haha, however, surprisingly, I know the scriptures better then I thought, or I got lucky. :)
.
Are the Larsen's coming for thanksgiving? Oh and we are going to a member's house for dinner on Thanksgiving. And all of their 4 boys will be there. Sister Davis ( a member in our ward whom I love :) ) mentioned that it was more like a triple date with us three sisters. Good thing I'm focused on missionary work.
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Okay as for the miracles! Last Tuesday night we had invited a lady, Karen, we had met with several times to a relief society exercise activity, she came to the activity Tuesday and all the sisters in the ward introduced themselves and were very friendly. So a few days later we went to follow up and ended up teaching her about how we can have the spirit with us always; she can have God's presence with her always which is her huge desire. She also mentioned that she many times asked for answers but never recognized them so we invited her to pray to see if we had what she needed. She said she would and after having several meetings with her that led to no-where, we finally got somewhere and she is a new investigator! Well we set up a time to meet with her again but it was far away so Sis. Nichols said we should drop by with something and invite her to church. So we dropped by with Sis. Hudson's home-made muffins and left them with Karen's son with the message that we'd love it if they could come to church on Sunday at nine. We didn't think he would forward the message but we hoped he might.
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Saturday night we had 30 min left before going back home and we didn't know what to do. It was pouring outside and we really just wanted to go home. We decided to pray about it and I felt like we needed to go to this potentials house. I realized that I could dismiss the thought but as soon as I thought that I realized that I needed to give up on all my anxieties and just do God's will. So we went to this woman's house and she came to the door very uninterested and would have shut the door in our face if the dog hadn't come outside. She told us we couldn't come back, so I was a bit disappointed but I realized that even when Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac and the angel stopped him, it wasn't pointless, Abraham realized that he would always do the Lord's will no matter what. I felt like I learned that lesson so I was satisfied.
.
Well Sunday we were running a little late to church. We made it there 5 minutes early and noticed someone who looked a lot like Karen sitting next to Bro. Burt. So we walked up to them and realized it was Karen, and she had brought her husband! HUGE Shock! We were smiling for hours on end. Heavenly Father truly does bless us when we do His will.
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Well I don't have much else to say. Keep up the good work. Thank you for all your prayers! And I love you all! Good luck in all your endeavors and may the Lord bless you for them.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Week 38 - Thursday, November 10th, 2011
Here's the latest from Maureen, it sounds like transfers went well. She's still in the same area but has a third sister in her companionship again. She'll be used to that this time. Thank you for all of your prayers on Maureen's behalf. I know she feels and appreciates them.
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Dear Mom and others... :)
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Thank you for your letter. One comment you gave made me think of Heavenly Father talking to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. He gave them commandments and told them what they needed to do to live in His presence, however He told them that they had the freedom to choose for themselves. So when they chose to eat of the fruit it was their own choosing, they couldn't blame God for Making them eat the fruit which wound them up in this desert wasteland where they had to work, sweat, be mortal, etc. Instead they freely chose to come amidst the trials in order to allow man to be. God doesn't make us do anything. He gives us commandments to help us be happy and because He has to have law and punishment to be a God (Alma 42 is a wonderful chapter explaining this). I chose to come on a mission on my own. I was told by many people that this would make me happy and that if I did this I would be blessed but in the end it was my choosing that led me to be here. I did receive guidance and I am so grateful for it. Without that guidance, from grandparents, parents, family and friends I probably wouldn't be out here in the first place. Just think about that, without people to guide us who know better then us we'd all be fine and dandy but we wouldn't be joyous, we wouldn't find ultimate satisfaction in life without those people to guide us, like Prophets, apostles, etc. We can do well enough on our own but in the end, it is listening to the wise counsel of those who know better than me, then asking God myself if it is right and true that leads me eventually to the place that will give me greatest satisfaction. I love that. And I know I am in that place. :) Christ taught in parables so that those who were ready would understand, so I'm sorry if my "parables" are confusing, I'm not perfect. :)
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I love you all and I don't have much to share other then the transfer story this week. We went to transfers and found out that our New companion is actually a sister from Temple square who gets 3 months out in the mission field. She's been on her mission for a year now so she has more experience in the field but she's now learning how to proselyte. It's slightly complicated as we are trying to work in everything we've learned and fit it all together. It isn't the easiest of processes but she's a great example. We love her already. Her name is Sis. Nichols and apparently Granddad, her dad works for CES. He is currently the Institute director in North Carolina. I don't know if you know him though. She is very funny and full of energy and she's going to be teaching us a lot about contacting people which will be good. Sometimes I wonder if we're having too much fun as a companionship... ;) haha I love it. Today we're going to Julian, to try out some of their pies. We'll have to take pictures and send them soon. :)
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Know that I love you all and that I'm praying for you and hope you all have a great week! I'm sorry I can't write more, we're limited to an hour. Last note - I love what Erin learned this week and it's something we have to constantly remember and do, we need to pray to have those experiences so that we "retain in our remembrance" the greatness of God, that He loves us, He hears our prayers and answers them. It's something that I'm constantly trying to get better at and it's something that each and every one of us need to do repeatedly. Afterall that is what our Prophet told us we need to be doing right now. So thanks Erin. :)
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I love you all and hope you are doing well!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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ps good job mom at making those comments on Mormon.org! Everyone should be making profiles, tis true. They are great resources for those who don't know anything about our religion. :) Love ya!
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Dear Mom and others... :)
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Thank you for your letter. One comment you gave made me think of Heavenly Father talking to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. He gave them commandments and told them what they needed to do to live in His presence, however He told them that they had the freedom to choose for themselves. So when they chose to eat of the fruit it was their own choosing, they couldn't blame God for Making them eat the fruit which wound them up in this desert wasteland where they had to work, sweat, be mortal, etc. Instead they freely chose to come amidst the trials in order to allow man to be. God doesn't make us do anything. He gives us commandments to help us be happy and because He has to have law and punishment to be a God (Alma 42 is a wonderful chapter explaining this). I chose to come on a mission on my own. I was told by many people that this would make me happy and that if I did this I would be blessed but in the end it was my choosing that led me to be here. I did receive guidance and I am so grateful for it. Without that guidance, from grandparents, parents, family and friends I probably wouldn't be out here in the first place. Just think about that, without people to guide us who know better then us we'd all be fine and dandy but we wouldn't be joyous, we wouldn't find ultimate satisfaction in life without those people to guide us, like Prophets, apostles, etc. We can do well enough on our own but in the end, it is listening to the wise counsel of those who know better than me, then asking God myself if it is right and true that leads me eventually to the place that will give me greatest satisfaction. I love that. And I know I am in that place. :) Christ taught in parables so that those who were ready would understand, so I'm sorry if my "parables" are confusing, I'm not perfect. :)
.
I love you all and I don't have much to share other then the transfer story this week. We went to transfers and found out that our New companion is actually a sister from Temple square who gets 3 months out in the mission field. She's been on her mission for a year now so she has more experience in the field but she's now learning how to proselyte. It's slightly complicated as we are trying to work in everything we've learned and fit it all together. It isn't the easiest of processes but she's a great example. We love her already. Her name is Sis. Nichols and apparently Granddad, her dad works for CES. He is currently the Institute director in North Carolina. I don't know if you know him though. She is very funny and full of energy and she's going to be teaching us a lot about contacting people which will be good. Sometimes I wonder if we're having too much fun as a companionship... ;) haha I love it. Today we're going to Julian, to try out some of their pies. We'll have to take pictures and send them soon. :)
.
Know that I love you all and that I'm praying for you and hope you all have a great week! I'm sorry I can't write more, we're limited to an hour. Last note - I love what Erin learned this week and it's something we have to constantly remember and do, we need to pray to have those experiences so that we "retain in our remembrance" the greatness of God, that He loves us, He hears our prayers and answers them. It's something that I'm constantly trying to get better at and it's something that each and every one of us need to do repeatedly. Afterall that is what our Prophet told us we need to be doing right now. So thanks Erin. :)
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I love you all and hope you are doing well!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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ps good job mom at making those comments on Mormon.org! Everyone should be making profiles, tis true. They are great resources for those who don't know anything about our religion. :) Love ya!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Week 37 - November 3rd, 2011
Hello Everyone. This is Maureen's letter from last week. For some reason, (oh, it's because I forgot) it didn't get sent last week. Here it is now. She's doing really well, and is enjoying being a trainer. She sent pictures last week, and her area is just gorgeous. There are beautiful mountains and fantastic sunsets. Everything is green and tropical. I'm not sure she's going to want to come back to the desert! Thank you all for your love and support and prayers. Have a great week. (I went back to the correct week and posted it for that date, so it doesn't look like it's out of place. EM)
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Dear Family and Friends,
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For starters, Thanks mom for the package! It was so fun to get it. Funny story, so someone in our zone picks up the mail for the whole zone and I don't know who got it last Tuesday but the elders from Ramona (up north of us) grabbed my package on accident. So when I went for mail and didn't have anything I was a bit sad as I expected the package should be there. But I figured I'd get it next tuesday. So thursday rolls around and we got a strange text from some Ramona elders asking if I was there. I asked them what they needed and they said Once upon a time we stole your package and now we probably should get it to you. So Friday, I got the package at interviews with President and some Ramona elders were waiting for me to open it in front of them. they told me the only reason they stole it was so that they could see me open my package. I thought they were joking... elder England wasn't, so I opened it and I really should have played it up with my clothes but I just brought out the jelly beans and they went crazy. It was a hayday at the stake center as the elders were tossing around jelly beans. So thanks mom, you made the elders day. ;) And the outfits and candy I Love! Thanks! I sent a package last week with the recorder and my memory card from my camera FULL of pictures. So I hope you got it and enjoyed it.
.
So this past sunday, Sis. Hudson and I were asked to give a talk in church. Yes talk as in singular, solomente uno para dos personas. haha We got up together and gave a talk on sharing the gospel with others. It was a great talk with wonderful quotes and we spent a bit preparing for it But I felt like the delivery was awkward, hopefully the Spirit was able to inspire people. :) At least one person came up to us after and told us she got the message and was going to work harder. We talked about how to use Preach my Gospel, how the Spirit will speak through us as we provide the opportunities to share and open our mouths, etc. It was lots of fun preparing for the talk using so many materials Without the internet haha. We did Lots of reading. And of course we learned the most from our talk... maybe the Bishopric was trying to tell us something about our teaching skills.... :) It was good.Well yesterday morning we tried to see a former investigator that we've been trying for a while now. We decided the night before that we really need to go at 11am so we left a few minutes early from study and arrived at her house right at 11am. Well we didn't expect to get in but she was feeling really good and let us in. We talked to her for a little while about her experiences in the past and then we asked Do you know it is true? She seemed hesitant to answer so she told us a story about her experience with promptings and then about the time she was almost baptized when her husband vehemently said she could Not be baptized. She knows it is true but because of her husband she doesn't want to ruin that relationship so she hasn't been baptized. Sis. Hudson then talked about how baptism is a covenant of willingness and that God knows our struggles and won't make us do things we are physically unable to do. She said that He loves all of His children and won't make it impossible for any of us to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. She said that no missionary had told her that before; her countenance changed. She wants to Do what's right but the one problem now is her husband. She can't do anything until her husband consents, we told her we understood and that we'd still like to visit with her and help her continue on this path as much as possible. So she's meeting with us again next week. Her outlook is changed and she definitely felt the spirit while we were there. It was a really neat experience to start off our halloween. :)
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We had a good halloween as we talked to people who were out and about and then we went to dinner at the Carpenters. Sis. Carpenter told us what she had done that day. She was so excited to share. She's talking a class online and the teacher lives in utah. Every now and then the teacher will share something about her life. Well about 6 weeks ago her daughter passed away at age 24 because of a brain tumor. She had tried to make it to Halloween as it was her favorite holdiay. As it hadn't worked out, the mother was devestated. So Sis. Carpenter scoutted out this lady's address, sent some girls from our ward up at BYU over to her house yesterday morning to pumpkin attack her house (cut out pumpkins on sticks in the lawn). And she had a company send 8 dozen balloons over to her house with a note that said Shine Bright and Fly free (which was the same message this family wrote on floating lanterns when their daughter passed away). So Sis. Carpenter tried everything she could to make this lady's day brighter And she was just floating on a cloud. She was sooo happy. It is always so neat to see someone do service and find so much joy in it. Sis. carpenter said that was the happiest she had been all week! And that it was more neat than halloween. Service really is a fuel for loving our brothers and sisters and bringing comfort to a world of so much sorrow. I love service and I hope I never lose that desire to serve others.
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Well we had to be in by 5:30 that night so we came home and studied a book by Elder Ballard, Our search for Happiness?
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I love you all! Keep up the good work and the missionary spirit!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Dear Family and Friends,
.
For starters, Thanks mom for the package! It was so fun to get it. Funny story, so someone in our zone picks up the mail for the whole zone and I don't know who got it last Tuesday but the elders from Ramona (up north of us) grabbed my package on accident. So when I went for mail and didn't have anything I was a bit sad as I expected the package should be there. But I figured I'd get it next tuesday. So thursday rolls around and we got a strange text from some Ramona elders asking if I was there. I asked them what they needed and they said Once upon a time we stole your package and now we probably should get it to you. So Friday, I got the package at interviews with President and some Ramona elders were waiting for me to open it in front of them. they told me the only reason they stole it was so that they could see me open my package. I thought they were joking... elder England wasn't, so I opened it and I really should have played it up with my clothes but I just brought out the jelly beans and they went crazy. It was a hayday at the stake center as the elders were tossing around jelly beans. So thanks mom, you made the elders day. ;) And the outfits and candy I Love! Thanks! I sent a package last week with the recorder and my memory card from my camera FULL of pictures. So I hope you got it and enjoyed it.
.
So this past sunday, Sis. Hudson and I were asked to give a talk in church. Yes talk as in singular, solomente uno para dos personas. haha We got up together and gave a talk on sharing the gospel with others. It was a great talk with wonderful quotes and we spent a bit preparing for it But I felt like the delivery was awkward, hopefully the Spirit was able to inspire people. :) At least one person came up to us after and told us she got the message and was going to work harder. We talked about how to use Preach my Gospel, how the Spirit will speak through us as we provide the opportunities to share and open our mouths, etc. It was lots of fun preparing for the talk using so many materials Without the internet haha. We did Lots of reading. And of course we learned the most from our talk... maybe the Bishopric was trying to tell us something about our teaching skills.... :) It was good.Well yesterday morning we tried to see a former investigator that we've been trying for a while now. We decided the night before that we really need to go at 11am so we left a few minutes early from study and arrived at her house right at 11am. Well we didn't expect to get in but she was feeling really good and let us in. We talked to her for a little while about her experiences in the past and then we asked Do you know it is true? She seemed hesitant to answer so she told us a story about her experience with promptings and then about the time she was almost baptized when her husband vehemently said she could Not be baptized. She knows it is true but because of her husband she doesn't want to ruin that relationship so she hasn't been baptized. Sis. Hudson then talked about how baptism is a covenant of willingness and that God knows our struggles and won't make us do things we are physically unable to do. She said that He loves all of His children and won't make it impossible for any of us to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. She said that no missionary had told her that before; her countenance changed. She wants to Do what's right but the one problem now is her husband. She can't do anything until her husband consents, we told her we understood and that we'd still like to visit with her and help her continue on this path as much as possible. So she's meeting with us again next week. Her outlook is changed and she definitely felt the spirit while we were there. It was a really neat experience to start off our halloween. :)
.
We had a good halloween as we talked to people who were out and about and then we went to dinner at the Carpenters. Sis. Carpenter told us what she had done that day. She was so excited to share. She's talking a class online and the teacher lives in utah. Every now and then the teacher will share something about her life. Well about 6 weeks ago her daughter passed away at age 24 because of a brain tumor. She had tried to make it to Halloween as it was her favorite holdiay. As it hadn't worked out, the mother was devestated. So Sis. Carpenter scoutted out this lady's address, sent some girls from our ward up at BYU over to her house yesterday morning to pumpkin attack her house (cut out pumpkins on sticks in the lawn). And she had a company send 8 dozen balloons over to her house with a note that said Shine Bright and Fly free (which was the same message this family wrote on floating lanterns when their daughter passed away). So Sis. Carpenter tried everything she could to make this lady's day brighter And she was just floating on a cloud. She was sooo happy. It is always so neat to see someone do service and find so much joy in it. Sis. carpenter said that was the happiest she had been all week! And that it was more neat than halloween. Service really is a fuel for loving our brothers and sisters and bringing comfort to a world of so much sorrow. I love service and I hope I never lose that desire to serve others.
.
Well we had to be in by 5:30 that night so we came home and studied a book by Elder Ballard, Our search for Happiness?
.
I love you all! Keep up the good work and the missionary spirit!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Week 36 - Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Dearest Family and Friends... Yeah! (Maddy knows where that's from)
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I have so much news to tell you!!!!
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For starters Todd is getting Baptized!!! He is the last member in a part member family to get baptized and I can't tell you what a change we've seen in him! He's so different then when we started teaching him. He's much more peaceful and happy, psh if that was all this church did for people I'd be happy! It's been so neat to see his growth. He started from not even knowing if God existed to now knowing that this is true and that he needs to be apart of it. He's getting baptized November 26th, and He's telling people about it! It's so neat!
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Okay, so tomorrow is transfer meeting and Sis. Hudson and I were So sure we weren't getting moved and then we got a call this morning. I felt my heart drop to the floor. I wasn't ready to leave Green Valley! Well Elder Belt, our zone leader told us, "Sis. Davis..... (longest pause of my life).... you're staying and Sis. Hudson......... you're staying too!" So why in the world did we need the call? Because both of us are training! I barely end the training program for Sis. Hudson on Sunday and I'm back on it. Which is actually really nice bc now I'll get these things ingrained in my head, being the third time I've been through this training program with my own during the pilot program. Ha! We're still in shock and don't know exactly what to think! It's crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to help this new sister and be able to work with Sis. Hudson to help her too! It's so neat that Sis. Hudson, who I trained is now helping me train right after her training. I know she'll be great. :)
.
Okay another late development, a week ago we had something called Santana winds. They are super fast Dry winds that if there is any fire at all, it can spread rapidly! So we got nervous on wednesday but no big deal because the next day was POURing rain. And in australia apparently it's called "bucketing." so I'll let you imagine that. :) It's not always fun to go out in the rain but Some people will take pity on us and let us in. So we talked with lots of people that day.
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I've been summoned to sing in church on Thanksgiving sunday. Sis. Davis, the choir director found out I liked singing and invited me to use my talents, haha I don't know if I can promise anything good in a ward with so much talent. I am constantly humbled for sure. :)
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Speaking of humbling, I have been so humbled this week. This Sunday I realized that I needed to learn the things I'm learning this way. I could not be the person I am today if I hadn't come on a mission, I would not be the Missionary I am today if I wasn't constantly challenged by change, I couldn't learn the way I learn if I had been one of those Preach My Gospel missionaries on the DVDs, I couldn't teach the way I teach without the training program that I'm Constantly on, and I couldn't keep improving without things that take me continuously out of my comfort zone. It was a really neat realization that God does have a plan for me, He does care what happens to me and that every situation I'm in is for my benefit, my learning and growth. I was able to share that yesterday with a woman we're teaching. Her name is Kathy and she has had so many health issues that sometimes she wonders why God gives her these things. I was able to share my experience and how I'm always wondering if I'm going to be able to help those around me. She told us, "you don't have to worry. having you sit in my living room at all has changed my life and lifted my spirits like you can't imagine." She told us that we are affecting those around us and that I don't need to worry about it. It was so sweet to hear her feel that way and to have a reconfirmation that I Am doing the right thing right now. :) I know this church is true. I love it and I love being a part of this missionary service to God. There is no better place that I can be right now.
.
I love you all and hope you are all doing well and being strong. I pray for you all daily!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
I have so much news to tell you!!!!
.
For starters Todd is getting Baptized!!! He is the last member in a part member family to get baptized and I can't tell you what a change we've seen in him! He's so different then when we started teaching him. He's much more peaceful and happy, psh if that was all this church did for people I'd be happy! It's been so neat to see his growth. He started from not even knowing if God existed to now knowing that this is true and that he needs to be apart of it. He's getting baptized November 26th, and He's telling people about it! It's so neat!
.
Okay, so tomorrow is transfer meeting and Sis. Hudson and I were So sure we weren't getting moved and then we got a call this morning. I felt my heart drop to the floor. I wasn't ready to leave Green Valley! Well Elder Belt, our zone leader told us, "Sis. Davis..... (longest pause of my life).... you're staying and Sis. Hudson......... you're staying too!" So why in the world did we need the call? Because both of us are training! I barely end the training program for Sis. Hudson on Sunday and I'm back on it. Which is actually really nice bc now I'll get these things ingrained in my head, being the third time I've been through this training program with my own during the pilot program. Ha! We're still in shock and don't know exactly what to think! It's crazy. Hopefully I'll be able to help this new sister and be able to work with Sis. Hudson to help her too! It's so neat that Sis. Hudson, who I trained is now helping me train right after her training. I know she'll be great. :)
.
Okay another late development, a week ago we had something called Santana winds. They are super fast Dry winds that if there is any fire at all, it can spread rapidly! So we got nervous on wednesday but no big deal because the next day was POURing rain. And in australia apparently it's called "bucketing." so I'll let you imagine that. :) It's not always fun to go out in the rain but Some people will take pity on us and let us in. So we talked with lots of people that day.
.
I've been summoned to sing in church on Thanksgiving sunday. Sis. Davis, the choir director found out I liked singing and invited me to use my talents, haha I don't know if I can promise anything good in a ward with so much talent. I am constantly humbled for sure. :)
.
Speaking of humbling, I have been so humbled this week. This Sunday I realized that I needed to learn the things I'm learning this way. I could not be the person I am today if I hadn't come on a mission, I would not be the Missionary I am today if I wasn't constantly challenged by change, I couldn't learn the way I learn if I had been one of those Preach My Gospel missionaries on the DVDs, I couldn't teach the way I teach without the training program that I'm Constantly on, and I couldn't keep improving without things that take me continuously out of my comfort zone. It was a really neat realization that God does have a plan for me, He does care what happens to me and that every situation I'm in is for my benefit, my learning and growth. I was able to share that yesterday with a woman we're teaching. Her name is Kathy and she has had so many health issues that sometimes she wonders why God gives her these things. I was able to share my experience and how I'm always wondering if I'm going to be able to help those around me. She told us, "you don't have to worry. having you sit in my living room at all has changed my life and lifted my spirits like you can't imagine." She told us that we are affecting those around us and that I don't need to worry about it. It was so sweet to hear her feel that way and to have a reconfirmation that I Am doing the right thing right now. :) I know this church is true. I love it and I love being a part of this missionary service to God. There is no better place that I can be right now.
.
I love you all and hope you are all doing well and being strong. I pray for you all daily!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, October 20, 2011
??? Missing a week?
Hey, don't know what happened this week, as there was no letter to post. Sorry, I'll have the next ones up as soon as I get them from Maureen's Mom.
Em
Em
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Week 34 - Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Wow! Everything sounds like it's going well. The dinners, lunches, talks, etc, all completed, now it's just halloween and the holidays coming up! :) I miss not making the pumpkin cookies and carving pumpkins while listening to scary music... i almost want to wait another semester before going back to school but I think I would get WAY too bored at home. I keep hearing from RMs who are so bored at home and who just can't sit still. I'm sure I'll be like that for quite a few months. The members in our ward are doing well! They now come up to Us telling us how so and so shared the gospel this week and how they said this and that. It's really cool to see them getting excited about the work. We have a great ward who are finally getting out of their comfort zone. And to tell you the honest truth I think it's because I'M finally getting out of my comfort zone again. I'm attempting to talk to everyone (haha you should just see me striking up random conversation with people in the street) Fortunatley I have Sis. Hudson to help me. :) She is a great companion, still has things to learn as we all do but she does everything so well and just shines with her love of the gospel and the importance it has in her life. :)
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So a few random happenings as of late:
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1. We have fog. And I mean thick and intense fog. Sunday morning we were driving to ward council and I could barely see 20 feet ahead of me! I don't think I've ever been in something so thick before! It was pretty cool. And each morning when we exercise we have a bit of foggy overcast. I'll send some before and after pictures haha.
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2. I've learned something lately. If we have a change in perspective we get a change of attitude and when our attitudes are changed, our actions change. Mondays are always difficult days because no one wants to set up things on Monday. Well yesterday during study I had a new perspective of the work. That when we work hard and focus on the Lord and His work we aren't so intimidated or fearful so I determined to have a better attitude about Mondays and to just work my hardest and focus on others instead of myself. As a result, we worked harder and we made sure we were always busy fulfilling our purpose, helping and inviting others to come to Christ and yesterday was the Best Monday ever. I think it was better then some of our other week days too! So there you have it. :)
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3. I've also learned that teaching with the Holy Ghost is like reading a new book or having a light turned on in your head. I feel like each time I teach others with the Spirit, I myself am learning so much more! I'll be saying something and then everything clicks and I know what I'm saying is true or I'll start saying something I've never even thought about so I know it must be the Spirit. It is truly a miracle. And Elder Holland said that when we are enlightened as we teach we can know with a surety that the Spirit is present and is leading the discussion. People cannot be converted without the Spirit. We were teaching a man a few days ago and he's trying to understand faith and how he can have it in his life to believe what we believe. While we were talking we were being completely led by the spirit. Unfortunately, a comment was made by another family member that completely changed the atmosphere and the spirit left. Out of no fault of the family member there was immediate contention and we could Not teach anymore. We tried to bring it back but it never really came back. We had to apologize and stop our teaching. We showed a mormon message and then set up another time to visit and left. It was sad to think that we were doing so well and that the Spirit was there one minute and had to leave the next. I know the adversary is trying to keep the work from continuing but God's work will not be stopped and every soul's salvation is so important to the Lord that He won't allow some mere servent (aka me) to mess it up. How wonderful that is to know.
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4. Last night we were teaching a woman who's name is Carolyn. She is a friend to one of our members. Their grandson invited her son a few weeks ago to attend church and they both ended up attending which is how we met them. It was so neat to see how the members were being so brave. Well we talked to her and she sounded slightly interested but not so much. We decided we'd try calling her anyway so we got her number and after weeks of her being out of town we finally got a hold of her last week and she set a time to meet with us yesterday. We still didn't think she'd be that interested but we went in with hope and talked about the Book of Mormon. We read the introduction with her and she was so fascinated! She said she'd come to church again and that we could meet with her on Sunday! We were walking on the clouds as we left. :) It's always been so wonderful to see a new-found light when people investigate the church and realize that there is so much hope and peace available in this world.
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5. Members have been asking us when we meet, why did we come out on a mission in the first place? It's always interesting to remember how I was when I was younger and apparently I thought I'd go on a mission, but it was never anything I think I really planned on. But here I am, serving the people in San Diego, California, studying my scriptures like never before and sharing my testimony with everyone I meet. :) I know there is no other place that I should be then here and now. I love it here and I know that what I'm doing is right. And it feels so good and I've gained a much better relationship with my Heavenly Father. I'm still working on it and always will be but I love where I am now and I wouldn't change that for the world. President Sabin, our stake President in Poway asked me "what are you going to do after your mission knowing all you know now?" Honestly I'm not sure as to the peticulars but I know I'll be attempting to be the best member missionary ever, I will study my scriptures daily, I will communicate with my Father daily, I will attempt to keep all the Christ-like attributes I have gained and I will always want to be the best person I can be to everyone around me. I never want to change. I Love who I'm becomming on my mission. And I'm so thankful to my Father in Heaven for helping me come out here and learn.
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I love you all and hope you are all doing really well in life! Keep up the missionary work, keep your life worthy of the spirit and enjoy every moment of every day. I Love my Father in Heaven and My Savior.
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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So a few random happenings as of late:
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1. We have fog. And I mean thick and intense fog. Sunday morning we were driving to ward council and I could barely see 20 feet ahead of me! I don't think I've ever been in something so thick before! It was pretty cool. And each morning when we exercise we have a bit of foggy overcast. I'll send some before and after pictures haha.
.
2. I've learned something lately. If we have a change in perspective we get a change of attitude and when our attitudes are changed, our actions change. Mondays are always difficult days because no one wants to set up things on Monday. Well yesterday during study I had a new perspective of the work. That when we work hard and focus on the Lord and His work we aren't so intimidated or fearful so I determined to have a better attitude about Mondays and to just work my hardest and focus on others instead of myself. As a result, we worked harder and we made sure we were always busy fulfilling our purpose, helping and inviting others to come to Christ and yesterday was the Best Monday ever. I think it was better then some of our other week days too! So there you have it. :)
.
3. I've also learned that teaching with the Holy Ghost is like reading a new book or having a light turned on in your head. I feel like each time I teach others with the Spirit, I myself am learning so much more! I'll be saying something and then everything clicks and I know what I'm saying is true or I'll start saying something I've never even thought about so I know it must be the Spirit. It is truly a miracle. And Elder Holland said that when we are enlightened as we teach we can know with a surety that the Spirit is present and is leading the discussion. People cannot be converted without the Spirit. We were teaching a man a few days ago and he's trying to understand faith and how he can have it in his life to believe what we believe. While we were talking we were being completely led by the spirit. Unfortunately, a comment was made by another family member that completely changed the atmosphere and the spirit left. Out of no fault of the family member there was immediate contention and we could Not teach anymore. We tried to bring it back but it never really came back. We had to apologize and stop our teaching. We showed a mormon message and then set up another time to visit and left. It was sad to think that we were doing so well and that the Spirit was there one minute and had to leave the next. I know the adversary is trying to keep the work from continuing but God's work will not be stopped and every soul's salvation is so important to the Lord that He won't allow some mere servent (aka me) to mess it up. How wonderful that is to know.
.
4. Last night we were teaching a woman who's name is Carolyn. She is a friend to one of our members. Their grandson invited her son a few weeks ago to attend church and they both ended up attending which is how we met them. It was so neat to see how the members were being so brave. Well we talked to her and she sounded slightly interested but not so much. We decided we'd try calling her anyway so we got her number and after weeks of her being out of town we finally got a hold of her last week and she set a time to meet with us yesterday. We still didn't think she'd be that interested but we went in with hope and talked about the Book of Mormon. We read the introduction with her and she was so fascinated! She said she'd come to church again and that we could meet with her on Sunday! We were walking on the clouds as we left. :) It's always been so wonderful to see a new-found light when people investigate the church and realize that there is so much hope and peace available in this world.
.
5. Members have been asking us when we meet, why did we come out on a mission in the first place? It's always interesting to remember how I was when I was younger and apparently I thought I'd go on a mission, but it was never anything I think I really planned on. But here I am, serving the people in San Diego, California, studying my scriptures like never before and sharing my testimony with everyone I meet. :) I know there is no other place that I should be then here and now. I love it here and I know that what I'm doing is right. And it feels so good and I've gained a much better relationship with my Heavenly Father. I'm still working on it and always will be but I love where I am now and I wouldn't change that for the world. President Sabin, our stake President in Poway asked me "what are you going to do after your mission knowing all you know now?" Honestly I'm not sure as to the peticulars but I know I'll be attempting to be the best member missionary ever, I will study my scriptures daily, I will communicate with my Father daily, I will attempt to keep all the Christ-like attributes I have gained and I will always want to be the best person I can be to everyone around me. I never want to change. I Love who I'm becomming on my mission. And I'm so thankful to my Father in Heaven for helping me come out here and learn.
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I love you all and hope you are all doing really well in life! Keep up the missionary work, keep your life worthy of the spirit and enjoy every moment of every day. I Love my Father in Heaven and My Savior.
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Week 33 - Thursday, October 6th, 2011
Wow this is a long one to respond to.....
So my week has been great! We didn't meet with many investigators but I feel like we're getting on top of things again which is really good. Those investigators we do have are doing well. They are all the stubborn sort who don't like to meet often so we're going to try and explain the importance of meeting more and coming to church. But their interest is sincere and they do want to know more, so that's been good.
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As for the members, they've been great. We've been working more with members this week inviting them to work on missionary work and just get to know their friends more and invite them to things. Unfortunately, our ward council, which is top notch, has not been focused on the Rescue as much, even after that talk by Elder Alonso. Bishop is on top of it but it doesn't seem like the rest of the council is interested in helping the missionary work with less actives. It's somewhat frustrating as they just assume the missionaries do everything. Maybe I should share with them what Elder Perry told us. When he visited he told us that as we work with the ward council and combine our efforts in helping the missionary work then the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings. I believe it! Now I just need to be humble enough to let the ward council actually help and I need to encourage them to help in the work. It may come through serving them first though. So we'll see how it works out. ;)
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One of the families we've been working with lately is the Tengburgs (or Tengyburgers according to Sis. Hudson) They are such a great family and so full of life and energy and a desire to serve. They may come to Mesa to go to the Easter Pageant in April (only 6 months away haha) and if they do I'll give them your number - they said they'd love to meet you. I love them so much, they are just a fabulous family! Anywho, I really don't know what more to say about our week - it was pretty slow this week. But something sis Hudson and I are trying is to memorize a scripture every day - it's not working out too well bc we keep forgetting but we can "try, try again." :)
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Mom - good luck with the holidays. And you don't need to worry - something I learned this week is that worrying is like rocking a rocking chair. You can go back and forth as much as you'd like but in the end you are in the same spot. :) So no need to worry, it'll all work out. And as for things you can send... maybe a blouse or two or a few cardigans (quarter or full length sleeves) but I may go shopping today to look for things. I just need a change of clothes... the shirts are starting to get worn. :p Oh bother. Other then that I can't really think of anything... okay maybe some sweets... you know me and my sugar tooth - I've been pretty good lately though so maybe it deserves a treat haha? Anway, I love you all and hope you are all doing well! I pray for you each night!
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Last thoughts, A while ago Sis. Hudson told me that her teacher in the MTC would tell them that if people, whether investigators or members, have doubts in the church or are second guessing and justifying things then they aren't reading the Book of Mormon every day. There is no way you can read the Book of Mormon every day, study and ponder and pray about it and be lead off the path. How neat is that? So I've made sure I'm studying the Book of Mormon every day and it's so true. The more I read it, the more I ponder the message it contains, the more I understand, the more I understand the more I know it is true and that no one but Prophets inspired of God could write that book. Every page testifies of Jesus Christ and His divinity. It is really a very special book. :) So keep reading the Book of Mormon, study and ponder it Every day! I love you all!
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
So my week has been great! We didn't meet with many investigators but I feel like we're getting on top of things again which is really good. Those investigators we do have are doing well. They are all the stubborn sort who don't like to meet often so we're going to try and explain the importance of meeting more and coming to church. But their interest is sincere and they do want to know more, so that's been good.
.
As for the members, they've been great. We've been working more with members this week inviting them to work on missionary work and just get to know their friends more and invite them to things. Unfortunately, our ward council, which is top notch, has not been focused on the Rescue as much, even after that talk by Elder Alonso. Bishop is on top of it but it doesn't seem like the rest of the council is interested in helping the missionary work with less actives. It's somewhat frustrating as they just assume the missionaries do everything. Maybe I should share with them what Elder Perry told us. When he visited he told us that as we work with the ward council and combine our efforts in helping the missionary work then the Lord will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings. I believe it! Now I just need to be humble enough to let the ward council actually help and I need to encourage them to help in the work. It may come through serving them first though. So we'll see how it works out. ;)
.
One of the families we've been working with lately is the Tengburgs (or Tengyburgers according to Sis. Hudson) They are such a great family and so full of life and energy and a desire to serve. They may come to Mesa to go to the Easter Pageant in April (only 6 months away haha) and if they do I'll give them your number - they said they'd love to meet you. I love them so much, they are just a fabulous family! Anywho, I really don't know what more to say about our week - it was pretty slow this week. But something sis Hudson and I are trying is to memorize a scripture every day - it's not working out too well bc we keep forgetting but we can "try, try again." :)
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Mom - good luck with the holidays. And you don't need to worry - something I learned this week is that worrying is like rocking a rocking chair. You can go back and forth as much as you'd like but in the end you are in the same spot. :) So no need to worry, it'll all work out. And as for things you can send... maybe a blouse or two or a few cardigans (quarter or full length sleeves) but I may go shopping today to look for things. I just need a change of clothes... the shirts are starting to get worn. :p Oh bother. Other then that I can't really think of anything... okay maybe some sweets... you know me and my sugar tooth - I've been pretty good lately though so maybe it deserves a treat haha? Anway, I love you all and hope you are all doing well! I pray for you each night!
.
Last thoughts, A while ago Sis. Hudson told me that her teacher in the MTC would tell them that if people, whether investigators or members, have doubts in the church or are second guessing and justifying things then they aren't reading the Book of Mormon every day. There is no way you can read the Book of Mormon every day, study and ponder and pray about it and be lead off the path. How neat is that? So I've made sure I'm studying the Book of Mormon every day and it's so true. The more I read it, the more I ponder the message it contains, the more I understand, the more I understand the more I know it is true and that no one but Prophets inspired of God could write that book. Every page testifies of Jesus Christ and His divinity. It is really a very special book. :) So keep reading the Book of Mormon, study and ponder it Every day! I love you all!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Week 32 - Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Maureen's doing well, San Diego is a great place for her to be. I'm always grateful that she is so close to home. Thank you for all the support you give her. I know she feels and appreciates it.
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Dear Family and Friends,
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You are all too kind~ thank you for your love and support. I don't know if I could make it without all the prayers and love I receive from you. :)
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As for the Missionary Blog I'm pretty sure its californiasandiegomission.blogspot.com but I will check this week. Sis. Clayton is attempting to get pictures of everyone on there so I know there will be pictures of me on there for Olivia. As for pictures I am sending, I am planning on sending it today but we'll see how it works out. Hopefully you will have my very full memory card soon. :) oh and can you ask dad to send the other one, I don't think I ever got it back. i surprisingly am taking more pictures then I ever thought I would. Haha And I'm not good at taking pictures either. :)
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I'm glad the Denler's were able to speak, they are both wonderful speakers and so full of energy. I loved serving with them and seeing their sweet examples at the center. I have been so very blessed to work with the people I have and to see the many diligent examples of being Christ-like. I'm loving my area right now! And I love working with Sis. Hudson! She is an example to me and keeps me on my toes working. It's been a great experience to train and learn. (I really do think I'm learning more than I'm teaching). As for Sis. McCloy, she's serving in Clairemont, my first area. And she's loving it. They have to ride on bikes now so she's enjoying being more active. Although at times we are very different from each other it's strange not having her around as she's been my companion pretty much my whole mission! But this is a great learning experience for me and as I have more responsibility now I'm learning even more than before.
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We actually have been able to talk to lots of people that we hadn't been able to meet before and it's so neat to see how God puts us into different peoples paths and how Sis. McCloy needed to be here for certain people and to get us into different places but now it's our time to do the rest. Heavenly Father really knows what He is doing. that is something I've recognized a lot lately! He helps in everything we do, and He really does go before us to provide a way for us. Last night we were able to teach someone we've tried to meet for months now. Her sister is a convert to the church and we think she's seen the different ways of life and although she is Very rich (if you've seen fancy houses on movies that are modern that everyone has parties at, you've seen her house) she realizes she's missing something and her poor sister has it and she's recognized that it comes through our church. So we met with her and she wants to read the Book of Mormon find out if it is true and she wants to learn more! We are so excited for her!
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I really think that Heavenly Father has been blessing us and because we've been finding people on our own efforts, as we work with the memebers we will be blessed with much more through the members. This Gospel is amazing - Everyone Deserves to know about it and have the choice to choose it. :)
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Flo is doing well she watched General Conference and enjoyed it, we are trying to get her to do baptisms for the dead at the temple and get her patriarchal blessing! We're so excited for her and for all she is able to do. She's changed a lot. Don't worry mom we'll wait patiently for her gift. :)
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Life is well here, the weather is great, today it's sprinkling outside but we love it. Conference was unbelieveable! We loved it, it was so critical for our investigators and it helped in so many ways. We were surprised that President Monson got up halfway through the first session, but we found out later that it was because He came in late. He was probably running some important errands for the Lord, so it doesn't surprise me. He was so chipper it was so neat to see and hear him. It was really neat to see what the Lord wanted us to hear right now and how those talks usually all blend together to form one or two themes but this time they were all Very different. I liked it though, I learned a lot.
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I was also slightly surprised at the boldness of Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard (though less so with elder Ballard, he's Always bold). It was really great and I've come to appreciate conference so much more on my mission. I hope you all had your questions answered. I know mine were in many ways. It was a great experience.
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Thanks for the missionary work you are all doing at home and again for the prayers. I know Heavenly Father is watching over me! I love you all!
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Love, Sister Davis
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Dear Family and Friends,
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You are all too kind~ thank you for your love and support. I don't know if I could make it without all the prayers and love I receive from you. :)
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As for the Missionary Blog I'm pretty sure its californiasandiegomission.blogspot.com but I will check this week. Sis. Clayton is attempting to get pictures of everyone on there so I know there will be pictures of me on there for Olivia. As for pictures I am sending, I am planning on sending it today but we'll see how it works out. Hopefully you will have my very full memory card soon. :) oh and can you ask dad to send the other one, I don't think I ever got it back. i surprisingly am taking more pictures then I ever thought I would. Haha And I'm not good at taking pictures either. :)
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I'm glad the Denler's were able to speak, they are both wonderful speakers and so full of energy. I loved serving with them and seeing their sweet examples at the center. I have been so very blessed to work with the people I have and to see the many diligent examples of being Christ-like. I'm loving my area right now! And I love working with Sis. Hudson! She is an example to me and keeps me on my toes working. It's been a great experience to train and learn. (I really do think I'm learning more than I'm teaching). As for Sis. McCloy, she's serving in Clairemont, my first area. And she's loving it. They have to ride on bikes now so she's enjoying being more active. Although at times we are very different from each other it's strange not having her around as she's been my companion pretty much my whole mission! But this is a great learning experience for me and as I have more responsibility now I'm learning even more than before.
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We actually have been able to talk to lots of people that we hadn't been able to meet before and it's so neat to see how God puts us into different peoples paths and how Sis. McCloy needed to be here for certain people and to get us into different places but now it's our time to do the rest. Heavenly Father really knows what He is doing. that is something I've recognized a lot lately! He helps in everything we do, and He really does go before us to provide a way for us. Last night we were able to teach someone we've tried to meet for months now. Her sister is a convert to the church and we think she's seen the different ways of life and although she is Very rich (if you've seen fancy houses on movies that are modern that everyone has parties at, you've seen her house) she realizes she's missing something and her poor sister has it and she's recognized that it comes through our church. So we met with her and she wants to read the Book of Mormon find out if it is true and she wants to learn more! We are so excited for her!
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I really think that Heavenly Father has been blessing us and because we've been finding people on our own efforts, as we work with the memebers we will be blessed with much more through the members. This Gospel is amazing - Everyone Deserves to know about it and have the choice to choose it. :)
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Flo is doing well she watched General Conference and enjoyed it, we are trying to get her to do baptisms for the dead at the temple and get her patriarchal blessing! We're so excited for her and for all she is able to do. She's changed a lot. Don't worry mom we'll wait patiently for her gift. :)
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Life is well here, the weather is great, today it's sprinkling outside but we love it. Conference was unbelieveable! We loved it, it was so critical for our investigators and it helped in so many ways. We were surprised that President Monson got up halfway through the first session, but we found out later that it was because He came in late. He was probably running some important errands for the Lord, so it doesn't surprise me. He was so chipper it was so neat to see and hear him. It was really neat to see what the Lord wanted us to hear right now and how those talks usually all blend together to form one or two themes but this time they were all Very different. I liked it though, I learned a lot.
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I was also slightly surprised at the boldness of Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard (though less so with elder Ballard, he's Always bold). It was really great and I've come to appreciate conference so much more on my mission. I hope you all had your questions answered. I know mine were in many ways. It was a great experience.
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Thanks for the missionary work you are all doing at home and again for the prayers. I know Heavenly Father is watching over me! I love you all!
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Love, Sister Davis
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Week 31 - Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
Dearest all who read this,
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So this week has been a really good week! It started with a challenge. Flo found out that she lost her job which was really hard for her. Satan tries really hard right before baptism and for the first year after and of course the rest of your life to distract you and keep you from doing God's will. It can be difficult but God will help you and He won't let you be tempted "above that ye are able" 1 Cor. 10:13. So she's been better but to help ease the struggle we gave her a picture of her and us on her baptism day and we put tons of sticky notes on top with fun sayings or memories that would uplift her day (I used Aunt Kristin's sticky notes too. :) )
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She's doing better. But we met with Rob finally again and we had an amazing lesson. We were in the scriptures a lot and we explained the first half of the Plan of Salvation to him, at first it was hard for him to take our words as real even though this plan sounds great, so we invited him to pray about it because obviously that's the only way He can know. He prayed that night and ever since he's been more happy amidst all the difficulties and He's trying to share the Plan of Happiness with others. It's so neat. He's completely changed!
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We met with Todd this week as well and he was so happy. We talked to him about the role of the Holy Ghost and how important prayer was and we asked him how much he desired to know these things are true for himself. 10 being the highest he said 8.5! We would've been happy with a 4. He's doing great and he is beginning to understand and want what we're telling him! It's so neat to see this change in him as well!
.
Well after the broadcast on Sunday for Relief Society I realized a few things and was reminded on a few other things. God speaks to us through his servents. He directs them to tell us just what we need to hear, and I felt like Pres. Uchtdorf really did that for me in his talk.
It's just so neat. He gave us God's word to Us, Right Now! And it applies to us all in some way, not always the same ways but it is so neat how it works out like that. It must be inspired. :) And Heavenly Father is pretty smart to know what we all need to hear and how Exactly (and who) His servents need to say it so that we can all learn and grow right now. That is just beyond neat to me.
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Sis. Hudson's friend was in the MTC and got to listen to Elder Holland do a Q&A. She said that one person got up and asked, what does Jesus Christ want us to know right now? And he responded, "that He is who He says He is and that what He said is true and that He loves you." How cool is that! It made me realize more strongly how much He is a part of this work, not only that but He really wants us to come to Him, He just wants us to exercize a bit of faith in Him, and believe what He said and what His prophets say today. So my challenge to you, have a question or two ready for conference. I Promise He will answer them through His prophets and servents. He wants us to know, He wants us to believe and He loves us more than we can even imagine!
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The last thing I really have to share for this week is that the dynamic duo of Sister McCloy and Sister Davis is coming to a close tomorrow. :( I'm staying in Green Valley with Sis. Hudson but Sis. McCloy is leaving us. :( I didn't expect it though she has this whole week. When we got the call I wanted to cry. It's been a hard run the two of us. There were times we did fabulous together and times when we drove each other crazy because we couldn't really understand each other. But I know that because of our 6 months together I will never be the same person again. She has made me the person I am now and I am so grateful for that. Heavenly Father has a plan and he knows what will help us best. I know it will be great fun when we hang out after the mission because she has truly become a sister to me. :)
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Well I love you all! Thanks for all you do and for the examples you set for me. Each person I have ever come in contact with has made me the person I am today and I want to thank each person for what they have done and their role in my life. I love my Heavenly Father and His plan for me, I know He loves me and every person on this earth who ever was, is or will be. He is the Father of us all and I appreciate all He's done for me as well. I could Never go through this life without Him or My Savior! I love them both.
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Love you all, keep being awesome!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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So this week has been a really good week! It started with a challenge. Flo found out that she lost her job which was really hard for her. Satan tries really hard right before baptism and for the first year after and of course the rest of your life to distract you and keep you from doing God's will. It can be difficult but God will help you and He won't let you be tempted "above that ye are able" 1 Cor. 10:13. So she's been better but to help ease the struggle we gave her a picture of her and us on her baptism day and we put tons of sticky notes on top with fun sayings or memories that would uplift her day (I used Aunt Kristin's sticky notes too. :) )
.
She's doing better. But we met with Rob finally again and we had an amazing lesson. We were in the scriptures a lot and we explained the first half of the Plan of Salvation to him, at first it was hard for him to take our words as real even though this plan sounds great, so we invited him to pray about it because obviously that's the only way He can know. He prayed that night and ever since he's been more happy amidst all the difficulties and He's trying to share the Plan of Happiness with others. It's so neat. He's completely changed!
.
We met with Todd this week as well and he was so happy. We talked to him about the role of the Holy Ghost and how important prayer was and we asked him how much he desired to know these things are true for himself. 10 being the highest he said 8.5! We would've been happy with a 4. He's doing great and he is beginning to understand and want what we're telling him! It's so neat to see this change in him as well!
.
Well after the broadcast on Sunday for Relief Society I realized a few things and was reminded on a few other things. God speaks to us through his servents. He directs them to tell us just what we need to hear, and I felt like Pres. Uchtdorf really did that for me in his talk.
It's just so neat. He gave us God's word to Us, Right Now! And it applies to us all in some way, not always the same ways but it is so neat how it works out like that. It must be inspired. :) And Heavenly Father is pretty smart to know what we all need to hear and how Exactly (and who) His servents need to say it so that we can all learn and grow right now. That is just beyond neat to me.
.
Sis. Hudson's friend was in the MTC and got to listen to Elder Holland do a Q&A. She said that one person got up and asked, what does Jesus Christ want us to know right now? And he responded, "that He is who He says He is and that what He said is true and that He loves you." How cool is that! It made me realize more strongly how much He is a part of this work, not only that but He really wants us to come to Him, He just wants us to exercize a bit of faith in Him, and believe what He said and what His prophets say today. So my challenge to you, have a question or two ready for conference. I Promise He will answer them through His prophets and servents. He wants us to know, He wants us to believe and He loves us more than we can even imagine!
.
The last thing I really have to share for this week is that the dynamic duo of Sister McCloy and Sister Davis is coming to a close tomorrow. :( I'm staying in Green Valley with Sis. Hudson but Sis. McCloy is leaving us. :( I didn't expect it though she has this whole week. When we got the call I wanted to cry. It's been a hard run the two of us. There were times we did fabulous together and times when we drove each other crazy because we couldn't really understand each other. But I know that because of our 6 months together I will never be the same person again. She has made me the person I am now and I am so grateful for that. Heavenly Father has a plan and he knows what will help us best. I know it will be great fun when we hang out after the mission because she has truly become a sister to me. :)
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Well I love you all! Thanks for all you do and for the examples you set for me. Each person I have ever come in contact with has made me the person I am today and I want to thank each person for what they have done and their role in my life. I love my Heavenly Father and His plan for me, I know He loves me and every person on this earth who ever was, is or will be. He is the Father of us all and I appreciate all He's done for me as well. I could Never go through this life without Him or My Savior! I love them both.
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Love you all, keep being awesome!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Week 30 - Thursday, September 15th, 2011
To start the email off I thought we'd go off in a bang... FLO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! :)
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There wasn't that fun? :) She was baptized on Saturday the 17th and let me tell you that was not an easy morning! Our mard mission leader and bishop were out of town and were flying in 45 minutes before the baptism started. So we were asked, last minute, to do lots of things including (and not limited to), picking up the programs, filling up the font, setting up the room, getting the baptismal clothing, etc. So we run around picking things up 2 hours before the baptism so we can fill up the font with enough time. We got the programs and went to grab the baptismal clothes from a members house. he told us the night before that he was going to put them in a box outside his front door. Of course we show up to his house and no box. no clothes. no nada. We tried not to freak out, we called everyone we could think of who could help and then decided there was nothing we could do right then so we went back to the stake center to fill up the font. Of course we couldn't find the keys the elders left us so that took another 20 minutes, and finally we got things going. We arranged the room, checked the font every now and then, called the stake primary presidency (no one responded) and tried to look calm as we know how easily Flo gets worried. So we kept it cool and fortunately the sisters who began teaching her were there and talked to her for a while. It was 5 minutes to noon and we still couldn't find any clothes. The stake president tried using his keys to unlock things. He had every key But the one to the primary closet. Ha! well we told Flo what was going on and she just started laughing. She told us she knew that the only she would get baptized was if there was a huge challenge - and here it was. :) Our stake president's wife finally told Flo that she could borrow her temple dress to be Baptized in. (You should know that Flo Loathes, and I mean it, skirts and dresses of any kind!) But she turned to us and said "Heavenly Father would give me this irony." She accepted and was baptized in a temple dress while her husband who baptized her wore someone's white shirt and the white pants we found in the closet. It was altogether such a humorous moment that even Flo was smiling. This was Heavenly Father's last test to see if she really was willing and she passed with flying colors!
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It was such a wonderful experience. The next day she was confirmed by her father-in-law and she just beamed the rest of the day. I have never seen her so happy in her whole life! She was so happy! It was really the Best Day Ever.
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It's so great to see one of Heavenly Father's children remember who they are and their place in this life and desire to come back to Him by making that covenant. She's set on being sealed in the temple in a year's time and we're invited. I'll have to come back after! :) I'm sooo happy for her!
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Anyway, as for the rest of the week... we've had miracles galore. we've had two experiences where we've double covered our area (another sister came up with us and we split in two and divided and conquered) We found two new investigators which was really interesting how they came about. One was through a member who randomly called us up the night before asking us to come teach her the next day and the other showed up at an investigators house, I off-handly remarked that I thought he came for the discussion and he ended up staying and offering his experiences with prayer. It was really neat! We were also able to see lots of less-actives who we usually can't find at home! It's been a great week and we have a stronger drive to work harder this week seeing how many blessings came last week.
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Other then all of that i've realized lately that I've become a little casual in being a missionary and I need to step it up more. Not that it's bad but I just haven't been giving it my all and I think that's why we haven't been having as much success. Now that I know what I need to be doing I feel like it's only going to go up from here. :) I just need to work on the faith vs. fear feelings.
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Well I'm glad everyone is doing alright. Sounds like Erin had a good date and that Emmy and Olivia are being Very helpful. That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you all and I love you all so much! Keep being those wonderful missionaries I know you are! I pray for you every night! Love ya!
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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There wasn't that fun? :) She was baptized on Saturday the 17th and let me tell you that was not an easy morning! Our mard mission leader and bishop were out of town and were flying in 45 minutes before the baptism started. So we were asked, last minute, to do lots of things including (and not limited to), picking up the programs, filling up the font, setting up the room, getting the baptismal clothing, etc. So we run around picking things up 2 hours before the baptism so we can fill up the font with enough time. We got the programs and went to grab the baptismal clothes from a members house. he told us the night before that he was going to put them in a box outside his front door. Of course we show up to his house and no box. no clothes. no nada. We tried not to freak out, we called everyone we could think of who could help and then decided there was nothing we could do right then so we went back to the stake center to fill up the font. Of course we couldn't find the keys the elders left us so that took another 20 minutes, and finally we got things going. We arranged the room, checked the font every now and then, called the stake primary presidency (no one responded) and tried to look calm as we know how easily Flo gets worried. So we kept it cool and fortunately the sisters who began teaching her were there and talked to her for a while. It was 5 minutes to noon and we still couldn't find any clothes. The stake president tried using his keys to unlock things. He had every key But the one to the primary closet. Ha! well we told Flo what was going on and she just started laughing. She told us she knew that the only she would get baptized was if there was a huge challenge - and here it was. :) Our stake president's wife finally told Flo that she could borrow her temple dress to be Baptized in. (You should know that Flo Loathes, and I mean it, skirts and dresses of any kind!) But she turned to us and said "Heavenly Father would give me this irony." She accepted and was baptized in a temple dress while her husband who baptized her wore someone's white shirt and the white pants we found in the closet. It was altogether such a humorous moment that even Flo was smiling. This was Heavenly Father's last test to see if she really was willing and she passed with flying colors!
.
It was such a wonderful experience. The next day she was confirmed by her father-in-law and she just beamed the rest of the day. I have never seen her so happy in her whole life! She was so happy! It was really the Best Day Ever.
.
It's so great to see one of Heavenly Father's children remember who they are and their place in this life and desire to come back to Him by making that covenant. She's set on being sealed in the temple in a year's time and we're invited. I'll have to come back after! :) I'm sooo happy for her!
.
Anyway, as for the rest of the week... we've had miracles galore. we've had two experiences where we've double covered our area (another sister came up with us and we split in two and divided and conquered) We found two new investigators which was really interesting how they came about. One was through a member who randomly called us up the night before asking us to come teach her the next day and the other showed up at an investigators house, I off-handly remarked that I thought he came for the discussion and he ended up staying and offering his experiences with prayer. It was really neat! We were also able to see lots of less-actives who we usually can't find at home! It's been a great week and we have a stronger drive to work harder this week seeing how many blessings came last week.
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Other then all of that i've realized lately that I've become a little casual in being a missionary and I need to step it up more. Not that it's bad but I just haven't been giving it my all and I think that's why we haven't been having as much success. Now that I know what I need to be doing I feel like it's only going to go up from here. :) I just need to work on the faith vs. fear feelings.
.
Well I'm glad everyone is doing alright. Sounds like Erin had a good date and that Emmy and Olivia are being Very helpful. That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you all and I love you all so much! Keep being those wonderful missionaries I know you are! I pray for you every night! Love ya!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Week 29 - Thursday, September 8th, 2011
Thanks Mom,
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It's always so fun to read your emails. So I've realized that no matter How often I eat it I just don't like broccoli. Doesn't matter if they steam it, eat it raw, fry it, bake it, etc. I just don't enjoy it :( I know you thought I'd have a greater span of liking food.... I'm working on it. Maddy told me in all capitals that I need to branch out. Haha I like tai food now, and I have tried squid - dried - but still not a fan. :)
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So as for miracles this past week.... So last tuesday night, we met with Rob who we haven't been able to see in months, and we had a Great lesson and guess what? He got a baptismal date that night!!! He'll be baptized Oct. 8th. Flo is getting baptized this saturday - which was a close call, she almost changed the date to Oct. 22nd then we told her she was ready no matter what she decided and she jumped on that and asked her husband if they could continue this week! So we were ecstatic! Her husband who was less active will be baptizing her! (as for what she would want... no idea, maybe a necklace? She's not very girly but she likes simple jewelry) That was miracle number two and three. And an investigator from our last area, by SDSU texted us that night as well and told us that one day it just hit her, everything we had been teaching her was true!!! That was the greatest miracle of all! She was so against it at first and now she's getting baptized Sept 24th!!!! We were soooo happy. And we think it was because we took time out of our pday to teach a lesson to this lady, who is sweet, we invited her to read and pray about the book of mormon and she said she would but we think she was more interested in learning for knowledge's sake. Anyway because of that we had at least 4 miracles that night!
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This week has been good, hard but good, we've realized lots of things that we can be doing to better the work and Sis. Hudson has been helping us to just jump up and do. It's kinda fun, when one of us is tired someone else will jump up and say "let's go" and we do. We really like our companionship and we hope president won't change it for a while. :) Well I don't know if you heard but all of southern california and part of arizona had a Huge blackout on thursday. We were visiting someone and didn't realize how big the problem was until we went past lots of stop lights that weren't working. We had no clue what was going on but it was neat to see neighbors coming together, helping each other with extra sources of light, and water, making sure everyone was alright and having bbq's for dinner as communities. It was cool. We were called in early so we were all safe and sound. In fact for dinner we had ice cream (save it before it melted) and a can of raw green beans. Yep! It was fun, we all sat around the table eating out of a can in candlelight haha, we took pictures too. It's been quite the adventure here and we've loved it.
So nothing much else to write. :) The work is going well, we're still learning and growing and loving all we're doing. It's great being out here and I'm so glad that you guys are making the effort to be missionaries back home! that's wonderful! :)
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I know Emmy is being a trooper, tell her she's awesome and she'll make a great missionary! And so will Olivia! And Erin and Maddy and everyone else haha.
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I love you all and I pray for you often! Know that I care about you a lot~ Oh and my companions and the elders here say hi. :)
.
Love ya~
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
It's always so fun to read your emails. So I've realized that no matter How often I eat it I just don't like broccoli. Doesn't matter if they steam it, eat it raw, fry it, bake it, etc. I just don't enjoy it :( I know you thought I'd have a greater span of liking food.... I'm working on it. Maddy told me in all capitals that I need to branch out. Haha I like tai food now, and I have tried squid - dried - but still not a fan. :)
.
So as for miracles this past week.... So last tuesday night, we met with Rob who we haven't been able to see in months, and we had a Great lesson and guess what? He got a baptismal date that night!!! He'll be baptized Oct. 8th. Flo is getting baptized this saturday - which was a close call, she almost changed the date to Oct. 22nd then we told her she was ready no matter what she decided and she jumped on that and asked her husband if they could continue this week! So we were ecstatic! Her husband who was less active will be baptizing her! (as for what she would want... no idea, maybe a necklace? She's not very girly but she likes simple jewelry) That was miracle number two and three. And an investigator from our last area, by SDSU texted us that night as well and told us that one day it just hit her, everything we had been teaching her was true!!! That was the greatest miracle of all! She was so against it at first and now she's getting baptized Sept 24th!!!! We were soooo happy. And we think it was because we took time out of our pday to teach a lesson to this lady, who is sweet, we invited her to read and pray about the book of mormon and she said she would but we think she was more interested in learning for knowledge's sake. Anyway because of that we had at least 4 miracles that night!
.
This week has been good, hard but good, we've realized lots of things that we can be doing to better the work and Sis. Hudson has been helping us to just jump up and do. It's kinda fun, when one of us is tired someone else will jump up and say "let's go" and we do. We really like our companionship and we hope president won't change it for a while. :) Well I don't know if you heard but all of southern california and part of arizona had a Huge blackout on thursday. We were visiting someone and didn't realize how big the problem was until we went past lots of stop lights that weren't working. We had no clue what was going on but it was neat to see neighbors coming together, helping each other with extra sources of light, and water, making sure everyone was alright and having bbq's for dinner as communities. It was cool. We were called in early so we were all safe and sound. In fact for dinner we had ice cream (save it before it melted) and a can of raw green beans. Yep! It was fun, we all sat around the table eating out of a can in candlelight haha, we took pictures too. It's been quite the adventure here and we've loved it.
So nothing much else to write. :) The work is going well, we're still learning and growing and loving all we're doing. It's great being out here and I'm so glad that you guys are making the effort to be missionaries back home! that's wonderful! :)
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I know Emmy is being a trooper, tell her she's awesome and she'll make a great missionary! And so will Olivia! And Erin and Maddy and everyone else haha.
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I love you all and I pray for you often! Know that I care about you a lot~ Oh and my companions and the elders here say hi. :)
.
Love ya~
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Week 28 - Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
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I just realized that I'm a missionary! Ha! It's a strange feeling. I've been thinking about a mission for so long that it's strange to actually be here. There are just moments of clarity that hit and say "you're a missionary!" It's something I only imagine other people being that it's strange actually being a missionary. I know that's all jumbled and hard to understand but if you were on a mission right now, you'd know how I feel. :)
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So anyways.... Questions:
do you get my pictures that I send from the Mormon Battalion? If so then you would have received a picture a week ago of me, Sis. McCloy and my new companion Sis. Hudson. :)
Mom - I was wondering if you have any of that ELF fair foundation left. If so can I have another one? I am running out of mine fast. And dad mentioned you may be sending a care package.
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Okay, so as far as being a missionary goes... this last week was REALLY hard. And I mean I don't think I've had a harder week then last week (besides the time I had to tell Bro. Thomas that he wasn't ready for baptism and see his wife's pained expression) At the time we were trying to help our investigators and it seemed like all of them either ran away, told us they didn't want to see us, or are moving. Which is pretty accurate. But it was just challenging after working with these people for a while just to see their progression stop and not realizing if it was due to us or other forces (namely the adversary) so we got really frustrated. Especially last Sunday. Well this past Sunday Flo again told us she didn't want to meet and needed more time. That made us Really anxious. And then the other lady cancelled on us Again. Rob is now in hiding and we can never get a hold of him which is really weird, and Todd is moving back to Virginia. Yep, life is swell and on top of that everyone we talked to acted as though we weren't great missionaries because of all that was happening to us. Talk about real bummer. We came to the conclusion this Sunday that Heavenly Father is teaching us patience and is allowing us to feel the way others feel so that we can better help them.(and satan is working on us so that we don't do as much) In fact, realizing that made all the difference.
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If we are expected to help others out of their predicaments then we must know how to help them out of it, in a way by going through similar experiences. Afterall, we cannot expect to convert others if we are not first converted ourselves. So that has made things easy on us and we've definitely been strengthaned by the Lord and your Recording (thank you family! That was one of the highlights of my week it so was so nice to hear from you - Promise I'll send it back soon) We just put in our best efforts, no matter how difficult the day was. One thing specifically we worked on was talking to everyone we see. We've met a few people because of it and although they all live out of our boundaries we get refferal karma. So we should receive refferals soon haha.
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Well we kept trying our best and worked hard anyway, we also tried to stay optimistic. And you know what? It paid off and Heavenly Father blessed us greatly. Sometimes we have to go to the 11th hour alone, but that is when the Savior steps in and helps us through. He definitely helped us this time. Yesterday we had scheduled a time to help Flo with unpacking her art belongings and stacking them in her garage. We went over there and began helping, it was actually lots of fun and we enjoyed organizing art supplies in the heat... :) She then decided we needed a break and we all went inside to get a glass of water. we ended up talking for a long time and Sis. McCloy bore her testimony and Flo ended up telling us that she just realized that whenever something amazing is going to happen, that's usually when huge trials come. She said she knows this church is true because she's been going through really rough times, and because she's accepted that, everything is so much easier! and She's happy! And She wants to get baptized soon! She isn't even worried if her husband will be ready to baptize her or not, because she just wants to be baptized!!! I have never been so happy in my life! This really reminds me of Alma the younger's story, how he explains how terrible his suffering was and at the same time when he chose to look to the Savior and have faith, how great was his joy! In fact it was as great as his suffering had been. That's how I feel right now.
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How great is my joy for Flo, for the hard time she's gone through and for the fact that she chose to follow the Savior even when she didn't completely understand. That is faith. :) Yesterday was amazing and we finished up by reading 2 Ne. 4:16-38, you need to read it. If Nephi was so blessed and still made mistakes and had to overcome them, how much more do I have to do? It's a great chapter. I love the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, it's just so... True!
Well after that the day went exceptionally better and it ended with us meeting with Todd and finding out that he'll be back in two weeks for a little visit and we can teach him again then!
Great Days are here again - now to talking to the other lady about her baptismal date and finding Rob again, and finding more people too. :) Life is sweet.
.
Well among all that we talked to someone from France and I've decided to have a Lot of respect for those missionaries who serve in France. I know they have a hard time and yet they keep trying anyway. Way to go!
.
Oh! this last Sunday we taught in Primary - that was interesting. It was kinda fun to be back in primary and also very tiring. They have a LOT of energy, if only I could take some of it and use it for missionary work. :)
.
I've also decided, and I may have told you before but now I've really decided, that I want to serve in the MTC. How cool would that be? Teaching all the things I've learned and helping other missionaries get a head start on the best experience of their lives. I think that would be so awesome.
.
Last random thought, promise. I've met Santa's biggest helper Ever. His name is brother Huish, he's in our ward and ever christmas time Santa comes to his house on vacation (because where else would he go on vacation but in California?) and at night he greets children. Some of his workshop is in the Huishes back yard and he allows it to snow two weeks before Christmas at their house. It's pretty amazing. The Huishes actually have an indoor Jungle. Not kidding, I've seen it. they keep it there all year long. They've blessed so many lives because of it and he has many amazing stories to share concerning his winter wonderland. It is really neat. They are great member missionaries, setting examples and telling everyone about the Gospel. :) They also told us about a girl named Jackie Evanko? if you don't know about her, look her up on I-tunes, she's the 10 year old. :) Anywho, I digress, Mission life is awesome. It's really great to serve the Lord and to come closer to Him then I've ever been before. I know He lives and loves each one of us! He is our Savior and Redeemer, our Brother and Friend, and I love Him so much.
.
I love you all and hope you are all doing splendidly! Love you!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
I just realized that I'm a missionary! Ha! It's a strange feeling. I've been thinking about a mission for so long that it's strange to actually be here. There are just moments of clarity that hit and say "you're a missionary!" It's something I only imagine other people being that it's strange actually being a missionary. I know that's all jumbled and hard to understand but if you were on a mission right now, you'd know how I feel. :)
.
So anyways.... Questions:
do you get my pictures that I send from the Mormon Battalion? If so then you would have received a picture a week ago of me, Sis. McCloy and my new companion Sis. Hudson. :)
Mom - I was wondering if you have any of that ELF fair foundation left. If so can I have another one? I am running out of mine fast. And dad mentioned you may be sending a care package.
.
Okay, so as far as being a missionary goes... this last week was REALLY hard. And I mean I don't think I've had a harder week then last week (besides the time I had to tell Bro. Thomas that he wasn't ready for baptism and see his wife's pained expression) At the time we were trying to help our investigators and it seemed like all of them either ran away, told us they didn't want to see us, or are moving. Which is pretty accurate. But it was just challenging after working with these people for a while just to see their progression stop and not realizing if it was due to us or other forces (namely the adversary) so we got really frustrated. Especially last Sunday. Well this past Sunday Flo again told us she didn't want to meet and needed more time. That made us Really anxious. And then the other lady cancelled on us Again. Rob is now in hiding and we can never get a hold of him which is really weird, and Todd is moving back to Virginia. Yep, life is swell and on top of that everyone we talked to acted as though we weren't great missionaries because of all that was happening to us. Talk about real bummer. We came to the conclusion this Sunday that Heavenly Father is teaching us patience and is allowing us to feel the way others feel so that we can better help them.(and satan is working on us so that we don't do as much) In fact, realizing that made all the difference.
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If we are expected to help others out of their predicaments then we must know how to help them out of it, in a way by going through similar experiences. Afterall, we cannot expect to convert others if we are not first converted ourselves. So that has made things easy on us and we've definitely been strengthaned by the Lord and your Recording (thank you family! That was one of the highlights of my week it so was so nice to hear from you - Promise I'll send it back soon) We just put in our best efforts, no matter how difficult the day was. One thing specifically we worked on was talking to everyone we see. We've met a few people because of it and although they all live out of our boundaries we get refferal karma. So we should receive refferals soon haha.
.
Well we kept trying our best and worked hard anyway, we also tried to stay optimistic. And you know what? It paid off and Heavenly Father blessed us greatly. Sometimes we have to go to the 11th hour alone, but that is when the Savior steps in and helps us through. He definitely helped us this time. Yesterday we had scheduled a time to help Flo with unpacking her art belongings and stacking them in her garage. We went over there and began helping, it was actually lots of fun and we enjoyed organizing art supplies in the heat... :) She then decided we needed a break and we all went inside to get a glass of water. we ended up talking for a long time and Sis. McCloy bore her testimony and Flo ended up telling us that she just realized that whenever something amazing is going to happen, that's usually when huge trials come. She said she knows this church is true because she's been going through really rough times, and because she's accepted that, everything is so much easier! and She's happy! And She wants to get baptized soon! She isn't even worried if her husband will be ready to baptize her or not, because she just wants to be baptized!!! I have never been so happy in my life! This really reminds me of Alma the younger's story, how he explains how terrible his suffering was and at the same time when he chose to look to the Savior and have faith, how great was his joy! In fact it was as great as his suffering had been. That's how I feel right now.
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How great is my joy for Flo, for the hard time she's gone through and for the fact that she chose to follow the Savior even when she didn't completely understand. That is faith. :) Yesterday was amazing and we finished up by reading 2 Ne. 4:16-38, you need to read it. If Nephi was so blessed and still made mistakes and had to overcome them, how much more do I have to do? It's a great chapter. I love the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, it's just so... True!
Well after that the day went exceptionally better and it ended with us meeting with Todd and finding out that he'll be back in two weeks for a little visit and we can teach him again then!
Great Days are here again - now to talking to the other lady about her baptismal date and finding Rob again, and finding more people too. :) Life is sweet.
.
Well among all that we talked to someone from France and I've decided to have a Lot of respect for those missionaries who serve in France. I know they have a hard time and yet they keep trying anyway. Way to go!
.
Oh! this last Sunday we taught in Primary - that was interesting. It was kinda fun to be back in primary and also very tiring. They have a LOT of energy, if only I could take some of it and use it for missionary work. :)
.
I've also decided, and I may have told you before but now I've really decided, that I want to serve in the MTC. How cool would that be? Teaching all the things I've learned and helping other missionaries get a head start on the best experience of their lives. I think that would be so awesome.
.
Last random thought, promise. I've met Santa's biggest helper Ever. His name is brother Huish, he's in our ward and ever christmas time Santa comes to his house on vacation (because where else would he go on vacation but in California?) and at night he greets children. Some of his workshop is in the Huishes back yard and he allows it to snow two weeks before Christmas at their house. It's pretty amazing. The Huishes actually have an indoor Jungle. Not kidding, I've seen it. they keep it there all year long. They've blessed so many lives because of it and he has many amazing stories to share concerning his winter wonderland. It is really neat. They are great member missionaries, setting examples and telling everyone about the Gospel. :) They also told us about a girl named Jackie Evanko? if you don't know about her, look her up on I-tunes, she's the 10 year old. :) Anywho, I digress, Mission life is awesome. It's really great to serve the Lord and to come closer to Him then I've ever been before. I know He lives and loves each one of us! He is our Savior and Redeemer, our Brother and Friend, and I love Him so much.
.
I love you all and hope you are all doing splendidly! Love you!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Week 27 - Thursday, August 25th, 2011
Dear Family and friends,
.
Well I want to tell you a bit about the sister we're training. Her name is Sister Hudson, she actually knows Chelsea Ellsworth! They were in the same Book binding class together. Small world right? :) She is a really sweet sister with such a drive to serve and do her best. We admire her so much for it. She has been teaching us a lot. We've been so blessed to have her to work with. She's actually making me work a lot harder then I did before haha. I have to be the one to set the example and yet I feel like she is a better example to me. President Clayton did say in our training meeting that we learn more as teachers than those being taught. So I'm definitely learning a lot.
.
I've also realized that being a trainer isn't really a calling saying that you're a good missionary. President told us that we were chosen because 1. God knows how this will bless everyone's lives, and 2. because we are very obedient, and we have to set that example for them. I think of it more as, because I was obedient, Heavenly Father's blessing me with learning a lot more of how I need to be a better missionary. He's giving me the opportunity to grow more, not because I'm a great missionary, but because I have the desire to learn and grow and I'm showing that by being obedient. Obedience is the first law of everything right? :) When we are obedient, the Lord shapes us, molds us into a better person, the person He wants us to be. I was thinking about it today and it makes sense that the Prophet has to be the most obedient man on earth! I admire President Monson for serving the Lord no matter how hard the task may be, no matter if we can't see the outcome, he trusts the Lord enough to be exactly obedient to His will and that's how I want to be.
.
This last Sunday was very stressful. We were in Gospel principles and we had a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Our teacher is very good and is great about teaching investigators we bring but after the lesson, Flo went back to thinking we had the choice to choose to drink or not, and she didn't understand why God would command us to not drink. Obviously drinking is not the main issue, as she still hasn't had any wine or coffee in the past two weeks, so she must have an issue with something else. We're just trying to figure out what it is now. Well after Gospel Principles we had Relief Society and the person giving the lesson didn't know they were supposed to so we had an imprompto Testimony meeting. The theme ended up being we must all follow God's will, even if we don't understand it. I bore my testimony and so did Sis. McCloy along with a few other sisters. I don't know about anyone else but I thought that was one of the greatest Relief Society lesson's we've ever had. I know the Lord allowed that to happen so we could help Flo. I just pray and hope that she felt the spirit and realized the importance of following God's will and not her own. Obvioulsy He knows best.
.
Well I'm low on time but I want to let you know about a few miracles that have occured lately. A few days ago we were trying to follow Elder Ballard's challenges to talk to 10 people every day, we saw some kids in the street and started talking to them. Their mom came out and we began talking to her. She said she had been taught before by the missionaries and that she was interested but her husband didn't like it. So we asked if we could practice giving her the lessons, as Sis. Hudson needed practice, she agreed and we're meeting with her on thursday. She seemed really happy to meet us, and we were so happy to find her at the right time and place! We also got a call that night from our investigator who we haven't been able to meet lately, Rob. He hasn't been able to come to church because he's not allowed to bring his girls to church with him. Well he told us that his ex-wife allowed him to bring them on Sunday! so he and the girls were there! It was Amazing! The Lord truly blesses us as we do His work, work as hard as we can and are exactly obedient in everything!
.
I love this work. I love being a part of it and I love letting people know of the amazing blessing we have of having the truth restored here on the earth today! It's awesome.
Keep being amazing missionaries! I love you all so much and I pray about you often! Keep my investigators and Sis. Hudson in your prayers! :) She needs them when I'm training. haha
.
Love you!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
.
Well I want to tell you a bit about the sister we're training. Her name is Sister Hudson, she actually knows Chelsea Ellsworth! They were in the same Book binding class together. Small world right? :) She is a really sweet sister with such a drive to serve and do her best. We admire her so much for it. She has been teaching us a lot. We've been so blessed to have her to work with. She's actually making me work a lot harder then I did before haha. I have to be the one to set the example and yet I feel like she is a better example to me. President Clayton did say in our training meeting that we learn more as teachers than those being taught. So I'm definitely learning a lot.
.
I've also realized that being a trainer isn't really a calling saying that you're a good missionary. President told us that we were chosen because 1. God knows how this will bless everyone's lives, and 2. because we are very obedient, and we have to set that example for them. I think of it more as, because I was obedient, Heavenly Father's blessing me with learning a lot more of how I need to be a better missionary. He's giving me the opportunity to grow more, not because I'm a great missionary, but because I have the desire to learn and grow and I'm showing that by being obedient. Obedience is the first law of everything right? :) When we are obedient, the Lord shapes us, molds us into a better person, the person He wants us to be. I was thinking about it today and it makes sense that the Prophet has to be the most obedient man on earth! I admire President Monson for serving the Lord no matter how hard the task may be, no matter if we can't see the outcome, he trusts the Lord enough to be exactly obedient to His will and that's how I want to be.
.
This last Sunday was very stressful. We were in Gospel principles and we had a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Our teacher is very good and is great about teaching investigators we bring but after the lesson, Flo went back to thinking we had the choice to choose to drink or not, and she didn't understand why God would command us to not drink. Obviously drinking is not the main issue, as she still hasn't had any wine or coffee in the past two weeks, so she must have an issue with something else. We're just trying to figure out what it is now. Well after Gospel Principles we had Relief Society and the person giving the lesson didn't know they were supposed to so we had an imprompto Testimony meeting. The theme ended up being we must all follow God's will, even if we don't understand it. I bore my testimony and so did Sis. McCloy along with a few other sisters. I don't know about anyone else but I thought that was one of the greatest Relief Society lesson's we've ever had. I know the Lord allowed that to happen so we could help Flo. I just pray and hope that she felt the spirit and realized the importance of following God's will and not her own. Obvioulsy He knows best.
.
Well I'm low on time but I want to let you know about a few miracles that have occured lately. A few days ago we were trying to follow Elder Ballard's challenges to talk to 10 people every day, we saw some kids in the street and started talking to them. Their mom came out and we began talking to her. She said she had been taught before by the missionaries and that she was interested but her husband didn't like it. So we asked if we could practice giving her the lessons, as Sis. Hudson needed practice, she agreed and we're meeting with her on thursday. She seemed really happy to meet us, and we were so happy to find her at the right time and place! We also got a call that night from our investigator who we haven't been able to meet lately, Rob. He hasn't been able to come to church because he's not allowed to bring his girls to church with him. Well he told us that his ex-wife allowed him to bring them on Sunday! so he and the girls were there! It was Amazing! The Lord truly blesses us as we do His work, work as hard as we can and are exactly obedient in everything!
.
I love this work. I love being a part of it and I love letting people know of the amazing blessing we have of having the truth restored here on the earth today! It's awesome.
Keep being amazing missionaries! I love you all so much and I pray about you often! Keep my investigators and Sis. Hudson in your prayers! :) She needs them when I'm training. haha
.
Love you!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Week 26 - Thursday, August 18th, 2011
Thank you Mom,
.
I noticed I received a letter that I wrote to you From you, I must have been included in the forward somehow haha. Alright ready for some breaking news?! Transfers are tomorrow. Sis. McCloy and I are Still companions But we're getting a third companion. In fact, we're both Training. I've never been so excited and terrified in my life! Haha I think there is only one english speaking sister that is coming in because all of the other 6 english speaking sisters are staying the same. It's so weird when there are so few of us. Well we're training, we have to get a new bed and potentially a bigger table to study at. But yeah, it'll be good. We'll have to learn to rely on the Lord even more. :)
.
Other then that, Flo is pretty much going to be baptized this month. She has this fear of baptismal dates, but she's decided on baptism and when we met with her Sunday, although she was previously Very opposed to stopping her alcoholic consumption, she found out on her own when Sis. McCloy read 2nd Ne. 28:21 that Satan likes to drag us down carefully through little things, she realized this was one of them. So she pretty much threw out all the alcohol in her house and is telling her friends that she isn't drinking anymore and she hasn't had coffee or tea, so it's going Great! She'll be baptized shortly. The other lady's date should be moved up tonight because she is no longer going out of town. Rob, we haven't been able to meet in a while, we're praying he answers our call sometime. And Todd is progressing very well, the whole ward notices it. He is happy at church and he talks to everyone now so it's a matter of him taking more initiative. They're all great, we're still working on finding up here. No one is outside so we have to work with the members a lot more. But it's been really great and everyone we've talked to so far hopes that we stay for some time. :) It's nice to feel loved
.
Well I don't have as much time today but I want to tell you all how much I know this gospel is true. I know you hear that a lot from me but it's really interesting to see how Heavenly Father works with us and gives us those little revelations, line upon line, telling us He is there and that He's involved in the work. I realized how much He gives me those little testimonies every now and then and just like Elder Bednar's talk they really do grow upon each other like the sun rising until it's the perfect day. He has been letting me know how much He and His son are involved in this work and how much they love each and every one of us! It's so great to feel their love and that peaceful feeling when I know I am doing something right. It's a great comfort and blessing. And if anyone wants to gain a stronger witness for themself I would ask them to bear their testimony in church, to their family, etc. That's how my testimony has grown so much, when I have testified to others what I know. It's so great. :)
.
Well I love y'all. keep being missionary minded and work hard!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
.
I noticed I received a letter that I wrote to you From you, I must have been included in the forward somehow haha. Alright ready for some breaking news?! Transfers are tomorrow. Sis. McCloy and I are Still companions But we're getting a third companion. In fact, we're both Training. I've never been so excited and terrified in my life! Haha I think there is only one english speaking sister that is coming in because all of the other 6 english speaking sisters are staying the same. It's so weird when there are so few of us. Well we're training, we have to get a new bed and potentially a bigger table to study at. But yeah, it'll be good. We'll have to learn to rely on the Lord even more. :)
.
Other then that, Flo is pretty much going to be baptized this month. She has this fear of baptismal dates, but she's decided on baptism and when we met with her Sunday, although she was previously Very opposed to stopping her alcoholic consumption, she found out on her own when Sis. McCloy read 2nd Ne. 28:21 that Satan likes to drag us down carefully through little things, she realized this was one of them. So she pretty much threw out all the alcohol in her house and is telling her friends that she isn't drinking anymore and she hasn't had coffee or tea, so it's going Great! She'll be baptized shortly. The other lady's date should be moved up tonight because she is no longer going out of town. Rob, we haven't been able to meet in a while, we're praying he answers our call sometime. And Todd is progressing very well, the whole ward notices it. He is happy at church and he talks to everyone now so it's a matter of him taking more initiative. They're all great, we're still working on finding up here. No one is outside so we have to work with the members a lot more. But it's been really great and everyone we've talked to so far hopes that we stay for some time. :) It's nice to feel loved
.
Well I don't have as much time today but I want to tell you all how much I know this gospel is true. I know you hear that a lot from me but it's really interesting to see how Heavenly Father works with us and gives us those little revelations, line upon line, telling us He is there and that He's involved in the work. I realized how much He gives me those little testimonies every now and then and just like Elder Bednar's talk they really do grow upon each other like the sun rising until it's the perfect day. He has been letting me know how much He and His son are involved in this work and how much they love each and every one of us! It's so great to feel their love and that peaceful feeling when I know I am doing something right. It's a great comfort and blessing. And if anyone wants to gain a stronger witness for themself I would ask them to bear their testimony in church, to their family, etc. That's how my testimony has grown so much, when I have testified to others what I know. It's so great. :)
.
Well I love y'all. keep being missionary minded and work hard!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Week 25 - Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Hellooooooo Family!
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So, as of today, yes I've been out 6 months! Yikes how time does fly. Sometimes it feels like it's been really long and like we have forever till we're done and then there are times that we feel like there isn't enough time left for us to do all that we have to do! It's interesting. It's official. This is the longest period of time spent away from home And, not surprisingly, the longest time I haven't called my family. Haha But it's been really good, and yes I've said it a lot already but I Absolutely Love being here 100%! It's been wonderful and a great experience. I've learned so much! So I will share a few of those things as I love to share my wealth of information. :) Ps tell Bro Jennings that I did get the picture and I laughed really hard. Thank you for it! But yeah I can't write anyone other than immediate family and I actually just found out that I can write my Grandparents too.... yeah so Grandparents you can write me! I must have missed the memo at the beginning of the mission. :)
.
Anyway, about that acquired knowledge...
.
1. Family Mission Plans: it may seem silly, but because some families have made goals for the year of what missionary work they could do we've had more people open to the gospel! And the goals they make are anywhere between praying each day as a family, studying scriptures as a family, to inviting someone to dinner, having a block party, and inviting someone to church or to an activity especially when you or your child has a part in the program. :) It's great and I challenge everyone to do it whether you are with your family still or a young single adult. Do it!
.
2. Don't do missionary dinner calendars! Invite the less actives, nonmembers who may attend the ward, and the ward council to have dinners for the missionaries first. It's not about the food, we can feed ourselves, surprisingly enough, it's about knowing the people and building faith.
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3. Mom if you ever wanted a tabby cat, we got one. :) One of the members in our ward has been trying to get rid of their cat and I thought I'd ask. Just in case.
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4. On Friday, I went on exchanges with an Australian, that's right a real live one! And I must say her accent rubbed off on me. I was trying to explain to sister McCloy what she told me and ended up speaking with an accent. hey it's what happens when you're around her. It's contagious! But the more important thing is what I learned from her. I could take a whole day to tell you but I'll just say that she has helped me be myself and be 50% less stressed then I've tended to be lately. I went to her area in Santee, it's spanish speaking, and I practiced my listening in Spanish. I understood most of it or got the context clues anyway, but I chickened out and didn't say much. Still, there was a reason I was supposed to be there that day. We met with two girls who could speak english so I was able to help them grow in their learning. It was a really neat experience. And I learned so much. Too much to tell so I'll have to share later. :) Just know that I have had many growing experiences that have helped me so much.
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5. We had a sisters meeting today. First one ever for me. We met, had a brunch and talked about how we can be better sisters and how we can show more love to each other and we talked a bit about exchanges. It was really good! We also talked about obedience. And the thing I got from it was, it doesn't matter how silly the rules are, or how difficult or non-sensical. As we are exactly obedient as we obey those rules, we will be blessed greatly! That is something that I'm working on. I'm actually going through the mission handbook and seeing what rules I haven't been good at and that I need to work on. It's been really good knowing that as I am obedient the unexpected miracles happen. I love it.
.
6. Last thing I've really learned is that when Elder Ballard was here, he talked to us about something he had challenged in a talk a long time ago, called the 90 day challenge. I don't know if you remember it or not but the point was, if as a family we prayed to find someone for the missionaries to teach in the next 90 days, and then we worked on it, talked to everyone we could and prayed constantly, we will find someone in 90 days for the missionaries to teach. So I want you to put it to the test. I invite you to do it and see if Elder Ballard is telling the truth. I know you will be blessed for doing it and you Will find someone for the missionaries to teach. Just imagine if every family did this, how many people would be ready to come back to our Father in Heaven. So many of them are ready and being prepared, we just have to go out and find them and the missionaries can't do all the finding. But I know it'll be a wonderful experience so i invite you to do it!
.
Okay quick updates:
.
- One of the ladies we're working with has a date for Baptism. Flo Almost had a baptismal date - she told us that she knew she was going to be baptized! We went over the interview questions and the only one she has a hang up with is the word of wisdom - she likes her wine. So we asked her to pray for the desire to change. She's nervous but she knows it'll happen eventually. We are still working wih Rob and Todd, it's just hard for us to meet with them but they have progressed a lot since we got here. It's so wonderful to see them all progressing! We love them and love working with them so much! We are working with a few part member families, trying to help them see the importance of doing this all together. The work really is going well and I think a lot of it has happened because we've been submissive and have listened and heeded our leaders even when things seem impossible. Always follow your leaders!!! Obedience is the first law of everything. Obedience is how we got to earth in the first place and obedience is our ticket back to Heavenly Father. We must be obedient. :)
.
Well I love you all! I hope you are all doing well and being the best missionaries you can be!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
Ps tell Olivia and Emmy thank you for the notes and thepictures, they are so cute. I love them a lot! And tell Erin not to be afraid of Mrs. Snyder. Just faint and she'll love you forever. haha that's how it worked for me. ;) other then that tell Maddy to be good and enjoy BYU! Tell Dad good luck at work and that I'm proud of him and Mom I love you so much. Thanks for all you taught me. You're wonderful!
.
So, as of today, yes I've been out 6 months! Yikes how time does fly. Sometimes it feels like it's been really long and like we have forever till we're done and then there are times that we feel like there isn't enough time left for us to do all that we have to do! It's interesting. It's official. This is the longest period of time spent away from home And, not surprisingly, the longest time I haven't called my family. Haha But it's been really good, and yes I've said it a lot already but I Absolutely Love being here 100%! It's been wonderful and a great experience. I've learned so much! So I will share a few of those things as I love to share my wealth of information. :) Ps tell Bro Jennings that I did get the picture and I laughed really hard. Thank you for it! But yeah I can't write anyone other than immediate family and I actually just found out that I can write my Grandparents too.... yeah so Grandparents you can write me! I must have missed the memo at the beginning of the mission. :)
.
Anyway, about that acquired knowledge...
.
1. Family Mission Plans: it may seem silly, but because some families have made goals for the year of what missionary work they could do we've had more people open to the gospel! And the goals they make are anywhere between praying each day as a family, studying scriptures as a family, to inviting someone to dinner, having a block party, and inviting someone to church or to an activity especially when you or your child has a part in the program. :) It's great and I challenge everyone to do it whether you are with your family still or a young single adult. Do it!
.
2. Don't do missionary dinner calendars! Invite the less actives, nonmembers who may attend the ward, and the ward council to have dinners for the missionaries first. It's not about the food, we can feed ourselves, surprisingly enough, it's about knowing the people and building faith.
.
3. Mom if you ever wanted a tabby cat, we got one. :) One of the members in our ward has been trying to get rid of their cat and I thought I'd ask. Just in case.
.
4. On Friday, I went on exchanges with an Australian, that's right a real live one! And I must say her accent rubbed off on me. I was trying to explain to sister McCloy what she told me and ended up speaking with an accent. hey it's what happens when you're around her. It's contagious! But the more important thing is what I learned from her. I could take a whole day to tell you but I'll just say that she has helped me be myself and be 50% less stressed then I've tended to be lately. I went to her area in Santee, it's spanish speaking, and I practiced my listening in Spanish. I understood most of it or got the context clues anyway, but I chickened out and didn't say much. Still, there was a reason I was supposed to be there that day. We met with two girls who could speak english so I was able to help them grow in their learning. It was a really neat experience. And I learned so much. Too much to tell so I'll have to share later. :) Just know that I have had many growing experiences that have helped me so much.
.
5. We had a sisters meeting today. First one ever for me. We met, had a brunch and talked about how we can be better sisters and how we can show more love to each other and we talked a bit about exchanges. It was really good! We also talked about obedience. And the thing I got from it was, it doesn't matter how silly the rules are, or how difficult or non-sensical. As we are exactly obedient as we obey those rules, we will be blessed greatly! That is something that I'm working on. I'm actually going through the mission handbook and seeing what rules I haven't been good at and that I need to work on. It's been really good knowing that as I am obedient the unexpected miracles happen. I love it.
.
6. Last thing I've really learned is that when Elder Ballard was here, he talked to us about something he had challenged in a talk a long time ago, called the 90 day challenge. I don't know if you remember it or not but the point was, if as a family we prayed to find someone for the missionaries to teach in the next 90 days, and then we worked on it, talked to everyone we could and prayed constantly, we will find someone in 90 days for the missionaries to teach. So I want you to put it to the test. I invite you to do it and see if Elder Ballard is telling the truth. I know you will be blessed for doing it and you Will find someone for the missionaries to teach. Just imagine if every family did this, how many people would be ready to come back to our Father in Heaven. So many of them are ready and being prepared, we just have to go out and find them and the missionaries can't do all the finding. But I know it'll be a wonderful experience so i invite you to do it!
.
Okay quick updates:
.
- One of the ladies we're working with has a date for Baptism. Flo Almost had a baptismal date - she told us that she knew she was going to be baptized! We went over the interview questions and the only one she has a hang up with is the word of wisdom - she likes her wine. So we asked her to pray for the desire to change. She's nervous but she knows it'll happen eventually. We are still working wih Rob and Todd, it's just hard for us to meet with them but they have progressed a lot since we got here. It's so wonderful to see them all progressing! We love them and love working with them so much! We are working with a few part member families, trying to help them see the importance of doing this all together. The work really is going well and I think a lot of it has happened because we've been submissive and have listened and heeded our leaders even when things seem impossible. Always follow your leaders!!! Obedience is the first law of everything. Obedience is how we got to earth in the first place and obedience is our ticket back to Heavenly Father. We must be obedient. :)
.
Well I love you all! I hope you are all doing well and being the best missionaries you can be!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
Ps tell Olivia and Emmy thank you for the notes and thepictures, they are so cute. I love them a lot! And tell Erin not to be afraid of Mrs. Snyder. Just faint and she'll love you forever. haha that's how it worked for me. ;) other then that tell Maddy to be good and enjoy BYU! Tell Dad good luck at work and that I'm proud of him and Mom I love you so much. Thanks for all you taught me. You're wonderful!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Week 24 - Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Dear Family,
.
Oh how I love and miss you. Thank you Olivia for the reminders of your love and your jokes. ;) And I'll try to get that address sometime. I'll talk to Trevor since now I know the zone leaders who work in his ward.
.
Well! I have a lot to share and hardly any time so I'll be brief. Thanks mom for the apricot leather! I was nice and shared pieces with the others in my zone last p-day as we were all playing sports together, even though I could have ate it all in one night by myself. haha I've been trying to save it for a little while at least.
.
Poway is lots of fun! We're beginning to love it up here! It's no longer a strange far away place but a great area, with amazingly kind members and super fun missionaries. We are the only sisters up here so we hang out with the elders on p-day. Last week we played Ultimate and softball. The elders were impressed with my catching frisbee skills, which are limited and then while playing softball I had issues and ended up jamming my thumb. Fortunately it's feeling much better today :)
.
Today we went to the Midway which is a HUGE naval ship that is now a museum. It has a landing dock for planes and it's ginormous. I can't explain much more than that. It was really hard going around in a skirt especially up the narrow stairs but I survived. We went with our zone leaders and Assistants which was fun and then Becky (our recent convert) met us there and we went out to eat later. It has been a good day. :)
.
Anyway, today I've been in a really good/happy/excited mood because last night we talked with Flo and she is really hesitant about lots of things but we asked her to be baptized and she said it will happen, we're still working on the day but we are so exstatic for her! She's great and we all have grown close together, us, Flo and her less active husband. We told her that we were privileged to have met them and have them in our lives and they said they felt the same way about us. i don't know about you but that just made my day. Realizing that anywhere I go, when we work with people to come closer to Christ we come closer together and these strangers feel like family. :)
.
Okay, So Elder Ballard was awesome! He taught us that we need to be working with the members more, in fact we had the ward mission leader and bishops there with us. So we all realized the potential of working together as missionaries and ward members. We got to shake his hand at the end of the meeting as well which was really neat and I gave Sis. Ballard a hug! It was cool. What was really neat is that they didn't seem so distant, I mean Sis. Clayton got up and introduced them as their parents so in a way they seemed like any other amazing great-grandparent/speakers :) It was really neat to be a part of that.
.
Well we've been fed by members for almost every dinner, we get dessert sometimes three times a night, I hope my metabolism can keep up with all of this, so don't worry mom, I'm alive. :)
.
As for listening to impressions, I think I'm getting better at it, Every thought I get I try and act on it, whether it's go here, or text this, or call this person. So yesterday we tried following impressions but it didn't seem like anything worked till the time we met with Flo. I've realized that sometimes after lots of trials and hard times that's when miracles happen and Flo was our miracle last night. Following her meeting we went home and I felt like texting a less active about studying the Atonement, she responded and said we must be doing our job because that's exactly what she needed at that time. I love this work I know it's the right thing and that I'm doing well. I have much to improve on but I really feel so peaceful out here serving the Lord. I know it's where I need to be. :)
.
Now the only challenge is trying to work with the members. Sometimes they are so on top of things and others just don't want to help. I try not to get frustrated haha. But it's all been going well. I'll have to tell you more about what I learned next week. Know that I love you all, I'm constantly praying for you and I hope everything is going well!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
P.s. keep up that missionary spirit! it will help you a LOT! :)
.
Oh how I love and miss you. Thank you Olivia for the reminders of your love and your jokes. ;) And I'll try to get that address sometime. I'll talk to Trevor since now I know the zone leaders who work in his ward.
.
Well! I have a lot to share and hardly any time so I'll be brief. Thanks mom for the apricot leather! I was nice and shared pieces with the others in my zone last p-day as we were all playing sports together, even though I could have ate it all in one night by myself. haha I've been trying to save it for a little while at least.
.
Poway is lots of fun! We're beginning to love it up here! It's no longer a strange far away place but a great area, with amazingly kind members and super fun missionaries. We are the only sisters up here so we hang out with the elders on p-day. Last week we played Ultimate and softball. The elders were impressed with my catching frisbee skills, which are limited and then while playing softball I had issues and ended up jamming my thumb. Fortunately it's feeling much better today :)
.
Today we went to the Midway which is a HUGE naval ship that is now a museum. It has a landing dock for planes and it's ginormous. I can't explain much more than that. It was really hard going around in a skirt especially up the narrow stairs but I survived. We went with our zone leaders and Assistants which was fun and then Becky (our recent convert) met us there and we went out to eat later. It has been a good day. :)
.
Anyway, today I've been in a really good/happy/excited mood because last night we talked with Flo and she is really hesitant about lots of things but we asked her to be baptized and she said it will happen, we're still working on the day but we are so exstatic for her! She's great and we all have grown close together, us, Flo and her less active husband. We told her that we were privileged to have met them and have them in our lives and they said they felt the same way about us. i don't know about you but that just made my day. Realizing that anywhere I go, when we work with people to come closer to Christ we come closer together and these strangers feel like family. :)
.
Okay, So Elder Ballard was awesome! He taught us that we need to be working with the members more, in fact we had the ward mission leader and bishops there with us. So we all realized the potential of working together as missionaries and ward members. We got to shake his hand at the end of the meeting as well which was really neat and I gave Sis. Ballard a hug! It was cool. What was really neat is that they didn't seem so distant, I mean Sis. Clayton got up and introduced them as their parents so in a way they seemed like any other amazing great-grandparent/speakers :) It was really neat to be a part of that.
.
Well we've been fed by members for almost every dinner, we get dessert sometimes three times a night, I hope my metabolism can keep up with all of this, so don't worry mom, I'm alive. :)
.
As for listening to impressions, I think I'm getting better at it, Every thought I get I try and act on it, whether it's go here, or text this, or call this person. So yesterday we tried following impressions but it didn't seem like anything worked till the time we met with Flo. I've realized that sometimes after lots of trials and hard times that's when miracles happen and Flo was our miracle last night. Following her meeting we went home and I felt like texting a less active about studying the Atonement, she responded and said we must be doing our job because that's exactly what she needed at that time. I love this work I know it's the right thing and that I'm doing well. I have much to improve on but I really feel so peaceful out here serving the Lord. I know it's where I need to be. :)
.
Now the only challenge is trying to work with the members. Sometimes they are so on top of things and others just don't want to help. I try not to get frustrated haha. But it's all been going well. I'll have to tell you more about what I learned next week. Know that I love you all, I'm constantly praying for you and I hope everything is going well!
.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
P.s. keep up that missionary spirit! it will help you a LOT! :)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Week 23 - Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Family,
.
thank you for the stories and updates, it's great to hear that everything is going well back home and that you are all hard at work on something. :)
.
This past week has been a lot better. We were able to meet a lot more of the people in our ward, we've met with almost all the investigators the last sisters had been working with, we just have one left and he's Always busy with work. We are working with someone named Rob, he has had a hard life and now just wants to find real happiness, as his two daughters are growing up and they need a good example in their life. He sees that and desires to be a good example so they can grow up strong while he didn't. He met with us last night and told us how he really wants to change his life around and be good and he likes what we say and how we treat everyone and our church services and he wants to learn. he is a true seeker of truth. :) He's prepared by the Lord. It's so great to see when people are prepared to learn more, when they have been truly humbled by the Lord. we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and explained how Joseph Smith fit into everything and he enjoyed it and said he would read and pray about it. He's a great guy.
.
Another man we're working with is John, an elderly gentleman who is really depressed. He doesn't think he's done anything worthwhile in his life, and he feels like a failure. He used to play the Trumpet but won't now because he thinks he is terrible at it. We encouraged him to try playing and to listen to our message which will bring the happiness he's been missing. He's hard of hearing so it can be hard at times but we talked with him yesterday and told him about the restoration. It was a really neat experience to see him following along, realizing that the priesthood had been taken off the earth and that the only way of getting it back was for God to call a new prophet in these days. It made sense to him and he knew there should be a prophet today. He just thought it was strange that he had never heard of our prophet today. So we gave him the Book of Mormon and invited him to read. He said he would that night!!! This is a HUGE jump for John. We were so happy after that meeting!
.
As for the other two ladies we have met with, one is named Flo and the other I can't name for certain reasons. But They are both awesome! Flo is married to a less active and has three kids, two of which chose to be baptized into the church as their grandparents have continued to take them to church. Flo's husband realized a while ago that there would come a time when Flo would be interested and he would have to gain the testimony he never had before. So they are both learning and on the road to conversion. Flo has asked why she has to be baptized when we told her it made sense to her and she said the one thing she has to figure out is the priesthood. So we talked to her about it and she said she'll pray about it. Our lesson went really well and we actually had dinner with her and her family last night. They are such a wonderful family and we love them dearly! Flo has made two HUGE steps lately. She is someone who doesn't like to be pressured into things and so we've invited her to come to church and stay longer than sacrament meeting a few times. Well our first Sunday there, she stayed for Gospel Principles! Huge step #1, and then this past Sunday I was doubtful she'd stay but I invited her to stay for Relief Society, and she said it was time for her to try it! Huge step #2. It was great and she made a comment in Gospel Principles about fasting! It was perfect! She is wonderful and we love working with her. The other lady we work with, her husband was recently baptized, they actually found the church themselves and have been taught over the past year, and she is so ready for baptism! As soon as she is available she will be baptized, we're hoping for the 27th of August.
.
Those are the main people we work with, we've been trying to get to know the members better and how we can help their families work on being better member missionaries, it's been really good. We have so many incredible families in this ward who, even though they are wealthier and I always am amazed by their houses, they have been humbled through hard times and they love the Lord because of it! One of these families is actually the Davis's haha. They like to come with us to appointments and their oldest son just came back from his mission so he's been coming to lots of our appointments with us. They are such a wonderful family that have gone through lots of hardships. We love them a lot. And maybe we're related... maybe. haha
.
Just recent things that have happened, we had a Pioneer picnic at the park with our stake on Saturday, it was wonderful, John came! which was really big for him. He loved it and we had cinnamon rolls galore to munch on. :) Oh! I saw the Davies family! I don't know if you remember them but they went to Aspen Grove with us a few years back and Trevor and Kristin, who were in my group started the game Hi-ya. I saw Trevor on Saturday which was really funny, we talked a bit and I found out this was his stake! What are the odds? You can tell Maddy that Josh Davies is currently serving a mission in Oklahoma, if she remembers him haha.
.
So Guess who's coming to visit us this Saturday!? Sis. Clayton's father, Elder Ballard! We're so excited to meet with him and see what he has to tell us concerning missionary work. We're so excited to get the work rolling even better. It's such an exciting time right now. The field is white already to harvest and I am one who has been called to the work. it's such a great work! I'm so happy serving here and I love this Gospel. :) the wonderful thing is the more I help others understand it more, the more I begin to understand it. It's so great and I love learning even more. :)
.
I hope Utah is treating you well and I hope you enjoy your visit to BYU today. I love you all so much. I hope you are all doing well and that you are staying happy and doing that missionary work! Members really are the way for finding. We tract a little but it is much more effective to have a member bring one of their friends who has seen the way the Gospel changes their lives and wants to know more. This is a marvelous work. I don't want it to end! :)
.
Love ya!
Love Sister Maureen Davis.
.
P.s. I haven't gotten mail yet so I'll see if I get the package later today. But I'll thank you in advance! :) Love you!!!!
.
thank you for the stories and updates, it's great to hear that everything is going well back home and that you are all hard at work on something. :)
.
This past week has been a lot better. We were able to meet a lot more of the people in our ward, we've met with almost all the investigators the last sisters had been working with, we just have one left and he's Always busy with work. We are working with someone named Rob, he has had a hard life and now just wants to find real happiness, as his two daughters are growing up and they need a good example in their life. He sees that and desires to be a good example so they can grow up strong while he didn't. He met with us last night and told us how he really wants to change his life around and be good and he likes what we say and how we treat everyone and our church services and he wants to learn. he is a true seeker of truth. :) He's prepared by the Lord. It's so great to see when people are prepared to learn more, when they have been truly humbled by the Lord. we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and explained how Joseph Smith fit into everything and he enjoyed it and said he would read and pray about it. He's a great guy.
.
Another man we're working with is John, an elderly gentleman who is really depressed. He doesn't think he's done anything worthwhile in his life, and he feels like a failure. He used to play the Trumpet but won't now because he thinks he is terrible at it. We encouraged him to try playing and to listen to our message which will bring the happiness he's been missing. He's hard of hearing so it can be hard at times but we talked with him yesterday and told him about the restoration. It was a really neat experience to see him following along, realizing that the priesthood had been taken off the earth and that the only way of getting it back was for God to call a new prophet in these days. It made sense to him and he knew there should be a prophet today. He just thought it was strange that he had never heard of our prophet today. So we gave him the Book of Mormon and invited him to read. He said he would that night!!! This is a HUGE jump for John. We were so happy after that meeting!
.
As for the other two ladies we have met with, one is named Flo and the other I can't name for certain reasons. But They are both awesome! Flo is married to a less active and has three kids, two of which chose to be baptized into the church as their grandparents have continued to take them to church. Flo's husband realized a while ago that there would come a time when Flo would be interested and he would have to gain the testimony he never had before. So they are both learning and on the road to conversion. Flo has asked why she has to be baptized when we told her it made sense to her and she said the one thing she has to figure out is the priesthood. So we talked to her about it and she said she'll pray about it. Our lesson went really well and we actually had dinner with her and her family last night. They are such a wonderful family and we love them dearly! Flo has made two HUGE steps lately. She is someone who doesn't like to be pressured into things and so we've invited her to come to church and stay longer than sacrament meeting a few times. Well our first Sunday there, she stayed for Gospel Principles! Huge step #1, and then this past Sunday I was doubtful she'd stay but I invited her to stay for Relief Society, and she said it was time for her to try it! Huge step #2. It was great and she made a comment in Gospel Principles about fasting! It was perfect! She is wonderful and we love working with her. The other lady we work with, her husband was recently baptized, they actually found the church themselves and have been taught over the past year, and she is so ready for baptism! As soon as she is available she will be baptized, we're hoping for the 27th of August.
.
Those are the main people we work with, we've been trying to get to know the members better and how we can help their families work on being better member missionaries, it's been really good. We have so many incredible families in this ward who, even though they are wealthier and I always am amazed by their houses, they have been humbled through hard times and they love the Lord because of it! One of these families is actually the Davis's haha. They like to come with us to appointments and their oldest son just came back from his mission so he's been coming to lots of our appointments with us. They are such a wonderful family that have gone through lots of hardships. We love them a lot. And maybe we're related... maybe. haha
.
Just recent things that have happened, we had a Pioneer picnic at the park with our stake on Saturday, it was wonderful, John came! which was really big for him. He loved it and we had cinnamon rolls galore to munch on. :) Oh! I saw the Davies family! I don't know if you remember them but they went to Aspen Grove with us a few years back and Trevor and Kristin, who were in my group started the game Hi-ya. I saw Trevor on Saturday which was really funny, we talked a bit and I found out this was his stake! What are the odds? You can tell Maddy that Josh Davies is currently serving a mission in Oklahoma, if she remembers him haha.
.
So Guess who's coming to visit us this Saturday!? Sis. Clayton's father, Elder Ballard! We're so excited to meet with him and see what he has to tell us concerning missionary work. We're so excited to get the work rolling even better. It's such an exciting time right now. The field is white already to harvest and I am one who has been called to the work. it's such a great work! I'm so happy serving here and I love this Gospel. :) the wonderful thing is the more I help others understand it more, the more I begin to understand it. It's so great and I love learning even more. :)
.
I hope Utah is treating you well and I hope you enjoy your visit to BYU today. I love you all so much. I hope you are all doing well and that you are staying happy and doing that missionary work! Members really are the way for finding. We tract a little but it is much more effective to have a member bring one of their friends who has seen the way the Gospel changes their lives and wants to know more. This is a marvelous work. I don't want it to end! :)
.
Love ya!
Love Sister Maureen Davis.
.
P.s. I haven't gotten mail yet so I'll see if I get the package later today. But I'll thank you in advance! :) Love you!!!!
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