Hello Family, and dear friends,
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We are really excited to get Maureen home on Saturday! It's hard to believe it's been a year and a half. Where does the time go!!
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If you would like to come, she will be speaking right after the sacrament in our ward at the Cooley Park building, which is the building on McClellan closest to our house. We start at 1:30.
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We want her to have a chance to see everyone before she goes back up to BYU, so Sunday evening we would like to invite you to come and welcome her home. We'll be ready by about 7pm, so if you would like to, come anytime around then.
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Thank you again for the love and prayers on Maureen's behalf. She is lucky to have all of you in her life.
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Nile and Candi
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Last email from Sister Davis!!!
We can hardly believe Sister Davis will be home on Saturday! We are so happy to see her, and are so excited to hear what she has to say about her mission experience. Thank you all one more time for the love and support you have given Maureen and our family this past year and a half. It's been so much fun to share Maureen's emails with you. Thank you for your sweet responses, and for keeping her in your prayers. I know that she has felt supported by them. She will be heading out to BYU on the 23rd, so she won't be home long. But we will be able to CALL her if the mood strikes. Very happy about that. We love you guys. Thanks for being on the journey with us.
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Nile and Candi
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There are very few times in my life when I have felt so full of different, overwhelming, conflicting emotions.... This is one of them. I cannot believe this is my last email on my mission. It's hard to believe this day is here. I've had so many lasts lately that I feel like it should just continue going for another month or so. :) We had my last Mission President's fireside Sunday night. The spirit was strong and it was in Spanish so I was straining my ears to understand what was being said but we sand the Armies of Helaman in Spanish which was fun. Also, my last "baptism" on my mission was on Friday. But let me explain the background really quick.
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Beth, Ruth and Carsten have been investigating the church for a while now. Cars became 8 a few months ago and has been dying to be baptized while his mom and sister are more hesitant. Well up until Tuesday of this past week we weren't sure if Carsten would keep his baptismal date for the 11th. Tuesday night we talked with him and he was stoked for the baptism. So we had to get him interviewed and teach a few more things... and we could only see him on Friday because they were so busy. Well we start planning everything that night and then Wednesday morning the zone leaders texted us lots of questions about his baptism. Then the assistants called and asked if Carsten should really be an investigator or a convert. Well because his dad isn't a member we figured convert, but for the past year he's been living half the time in the same house as his member step-father... so we called President and he told us that he would be a child of record. Okay, no big deal, we don't care if it counts as convert or not, we just really want him to be baptized so he can finally get the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Well... he needs an interview with the Bishop before baptism... and Bishop's out of town until Sunday night. So fortunately, Carsten could be interviewed by the 1st counselor. So Friday night, at 8 o'clock, we schedule the interview, and while Cars is getting interviewed we had our district leader show up to allow Ruth the opportunity to know what the interview was like so she could decide if she wanted to be baptized or not on Saturday with her brother. After her interview our district leader invites Beth to talk to him! We were all slightly shocked because Beth doesn't like to talk about getting baptized when it comes to herself. After about 30 min. She comes out, we give them hugs, they leave and our district leader procedes to tell us that Beth has a date for the 26th of August! I don't think I've ever been that shocked. Well the next morning her husband, the member, texts us and tells us Beth would be baptized that day if her ex wasn't going to be there. Well we texted back to see what was going to happen... and we got no response! So 20 min before the baptism starts they aren't there yet, and we still don't know what's going on. Our whole district is literally pacing the floor. (It was actually quite amusing). They finally walk in 5 minutes to the hour and only Cars is getting baptized. So we were a bit dissapointed but so happy for Carsten. :) It was a really good day, even though stressful. And we're just excited for the next two weeks! Plus we have about 2 people right now that we haven't been able to meet with yet who want to be baptized... so we're working hard. And seeing mircles. Even though it's stressful. :) That was a very long explanation, sorry but I hope you can understand how utterly stressed I was.
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Well other than that, we've had a good week. We've gotten a lot done and seen some people we haven't been able to in a while. So it's been a very rewarding last few weeks.
So to end this wonderful mission, I want everyone to know that this has been the greatest experience of my life so far! I have learned sooooo much, so don't expect me to be the same. I have changed for the better, I have become converted! I can now talk More freely to others about my beliefs and share my testimony, and I love reading the scriptures and praying and going to church and being involved with everything. :) Okay so some things never change but I really have grown, and my love for the Savior has grown immensely. I KNOW He lives! I Know He loves us and that is why He layed down His life for us. I Know that we have a Prophet today, because God restored this church to the earth in it's fulness through Joseph Smith. I know he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. I Love that book and I have come closer to my Savior through it than Anything else. It has brought me peace and joy, and comfort as I've read from it's pages. No other book has the same effect. I know it's true because I have read and prayed to know the truth and it has been revealed to me that it Is true! I Know we can each receive revelation for our daily lives and I'm so grateful that we have a Father in Heaven who cares enough to listen to us any time, any place. I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior so much. Of those things I humbly testify. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Love Sister Davis
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Nile and Candi
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There are very few times in my life when I have felt so full of different, overwhelming, conflicting emotions.... This is one of them. I cannot believe this is my last email on my mission. It's hard to believe this day is here. I've had so many lasts lately that I feel like it should just continue going for another month or so. :) We had my last Mission President's fireside Sunday night. The spirit was strong and it was in Spanish so I was straining my ears to understand what was being said but we sand the Armies of Helaman in Spanish which was fun. Also, my last "baptism" on my mission was on Friday. But let me explain the background really quick.
.
Beth, Ruth and Carsten have been investigating the church for a while now. Cars became 8 a few months ago and has been dying to be baptized while his mom and sister are more hesitant. Well up until Tuesday of this past week we weren't sure if Carsten would keep his baptismal date for the 11th. Tuesday night we talked with him and he was stoked for the baptism. So we had to get him interviewed and teach a few more things... and we could only see him on Friday because they were so busy. Well we start planning everything that night and then Wednesday morning the zone leaders texted us lots of questions about his baptism. Then the assistants called and asked if Carsten should really be an investigator or a convert. Well because his dad isn't a member we figured convert, but for the past year he's been living half the time in the same house as his member step-father... so we called President and he told us that he would be a child of record. Okay, no big deal, we don't care if it counts as convert or not, we just really want him to be baptized so he can finally get the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Well... he needs an interview with the Bishop before baptism... and Bishop's out of town until Sunday night. So fortunately, Carsten could be interviewed by the 1st counselor. So Friday night, at 8 o'clock, we schedule the interview, and while Cars is getting interviewed we had our district leader show up to allow Ruth the opportunity to know what the interview was like so she could decide if she wanted to be baptized or not on Saturday with her brother. After her interview our district leader invites Beth to talk to him! We were all slightly shocked because Beth doesn't like to talk about getting baptized when it comes to herself. After about 30 min. She comes out, we give them hugs, they leave and our district leader procedes to tell us that Beth has a date for the 26th of August! I don't think I've ever been that shocked. Well the next morning her husband, the member, texts us and tells us Beth would be baptized that day if her ex wasn't going to be there. Well we texted back to see what was going to happen... and we got no response! So 20 min before the baptism starts they aren't there yet, and we still don't know what's going on. Our whole district is literally pacing the floor. (It was actually quite amusing). They finally walk in 5 minutes to the hour and only Cars is getting baptized. So we were a bit dissapointed but so happy for Carsten. :) It was a really good day, even though stressful. And we're just excited for the next two weeks! Plus we have about 2 people right now that we haven't been able to meet with yet who want to be baptized... so we're working hard. And seeing mircles. Even though it's stressful. :) That was a very long explanation, sorry but I hope you can understand how utterly stressed I was.
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Well other than that, we've had a good week. We've gotten a lot done and seen some people we haven't been able to in a while. So it's been a very rewarding last few weeks.
So to end this wonderful mission, I want everyone to know that this has been the greatest experience of my life so far! I have learned sooooo much, so don't expect me to be the same. I have changed for the better, I have become converted! I can now talk More freely to others about my beliefs and share my testimony, and I love reading the scriptures and praying and going to church and being involved with everything. :) Okay so some things never change but I really have grown, and my love for the Savior has grown immensely. I KNOW He lives! I Know He loves us and that is why He layed down His life for us. I Know that we have a Prophet today, because God restored this church to the earth in it's fulness through Joseph Smith. I know he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. I Love that book and I have come closer to my Savior through it than Anything else. It has brought me peace and joy, and comfort as I've read from it's pages. No other book has the same effect. I know it's true because I have read and prayed to know the truth and it has been revealed to me that it Is true! I Know we can each receive revelation for our daily lives and I'm so grateful that we have a Father in Heaven who cares enough to listen to us any time, any place. I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior so much. Of those things I humbly testify. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Love Sister Davis
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Week 66 - Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
Here is Maureen's second to last email!! I can't really believe that she will be home in two weeks!
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Dear Family... and everyone else.
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I cannot express to you how happy I am. I don't even know where I would start. No, nothing huge has happened but I think when we realize what trial we've been going through and are able to finally overcome it that is huge miracle! So, yes I've overcome a large trial I've had on my mission. Hallelujah! But it would probably be boring for you to listen to and it would take me days to explain... so maybe someday I'll tell you. :)
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Well as for the work, we haven't been able to see Carston in a while, but he's supposed to be baptized this saturday! So we're meeting with his family tonight and we'll see if he's still on track for this week. We've been working with the members a lot this week specifically with the Martin's. Their 18 year old son is currently dating a non-member. She is really sweet and has come to church with him often. SO we're hopefully going to see her this week! She has a lot of questions and is really interested. Hopefully if we talk with her this week we can ask to teach her family too. They aren't very religious but they are open to her hanging around the mormons. :) Another family we're working with are the Pulsiphers. They have a son who is also dating a non-member and she is Very interested in learning more. Basically there are lots of people who are interested in the Gospel and we've been able to teach so many lessons lately, it's been a wonderful way to finish strong.
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Sister Turner and I are working as hard as we can trying to make every second count. :) We had a wonderful meeting with our relief society president last night. We talked about the Gospel, it's importance, why we need to live it and how it is only through the Savior's atonement that it is possible to live this gospel. She had lots of wonderful thoughts and experiences that opened my eyes to the many different ways the Atonement works through us. :) I love my mission SO much. I could never compare it to Elder Holland's love for his mission but I know that I am who I am today because of the many lessons I've learned on my mission, and I have become so much better because of those experiences. :) I will forever treasure what I've learned here. And I know I will be different when I get home, so bear with me. I was able to bear my testimony in my last zone leader council meeting this past thursday. And I can't share it the way I did there but I want you to know that I know Christ lives, I know Heavenly Father loves each of His children and that He calls us to be His hands here on earth to share that message with those around us. So share it with everyone! I love you all so much! Stay strong!
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Love Sister Davis
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Dear Family... and everyone else.
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I cannot express to you how happy I am. I don't even know where I would start. No, nothing huge has happened but I think when we realize what trial we've been going through and are able to finally overcome it that is huge miracle! So, yes I've overcome a large trial I've had on my mission. Hallelujah! But it would probably be boring for you to listen to and it would take me days to explain... so maybe someday I'll tell you. :)
.
Well as for the work, we haven't been able to see Carston in a while, but he's supposed to be baptized this saturday! So we're meeting with his family tonight and we'll see if he's still on track for this week. We've been working with the members a lot this week specifically with the Martin's. Their 18 year old son is currently dating a non-member. She is really sweet and has come to church with him often. SO we're hopefully going to see her this week! She has a lot of questions and is really interested. Hopefully if we talk with her this week we can ask to teach her family too. They aren't very religious but they are open to her hanging around the mormons. :) Another family we're working with are the Pulsiphers. They have a son who is also dating a non-member and she is Very interested in learning more. Basically there are lots of people who are interested in the Gospel and we've been able to teach so many lessons lately, it's been a wonderful way to finish strong.
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Sister Turner and I are working as hard as we can trying to make every second count. :) We had a wonderful meeting with our relief society president last night. We talked about the Gospel, it's importance, why we need to live it and how it is only through the Savior's atonement that it is possible to live this gospel. She had lots of wonderful thoughts and experiences that opened my eyes to the many different ways the Atonement works through us. :) I love my mission SO much. I could never compare it to Elder Holland's love for his mission but I know that I am who I am today because of the many lessons I've learned on my mission, and I have become so much better because of those experiences. :) I will forever treasure what I've learned here. And I know I will be different when I get home, so bear with me. I was able to bear my testimony in my last zone leader council meeting this past thursday. And I can't share it the way I did there but I want you to know that I know Christ lives, I know Heavenly Father loves each of His children and that He calls us to be His hands here on earth to share that message with those around us. So share it with everyone! I love you all so much! Stay strong!
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Love Sister Davis
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Week 65 - Thursday, July 26th, 2012
Here is Maureen's latest. 19 days and counting! Not that we are counting.
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Dear Mom, family and all others who may come across this letter,
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I'm so proud of my whole family. You all have grown So much while I've been gone. I'm excited to see who each of you are and know what's going on in your lives. I'm sad I won't be able to live with you for months on end when I get home but know how much I love each of you. I'm excited to read Erin's letter. Did she get mine? And did she get the birthday gift I sent? I hope it got to you. As for Emmy starting 7th grade, I'm sure it will be a lot better than my experience bc there will be people she actually knows there. I only knew 1 person since we moved that year. So I sat by myself for a few days at lunch. I don't think Em will have that issue at all. ;) Besides I learned who my good friends were, because there were girls who invited me to sit with them and would talk to me all the time. I will never forget Colbi for sitting by me and being my friend, even though we haven't talked in years, I will always be grateful for what she did for me. Emmy this will be a great experience for you! :) Good job on getting cool classes. And Olivia, I know she's doing well and staying out of trouble. What grade is she in now? Well I'll have a million or more questions when I get home that I expect to be answered. :)
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As for my week.... Sister Turner and I have had an Excellent week! Seriously filled with miracles every day. It's been so neat. We taught more than 20 lessons this week, we added two new investigators, we've been talking to everyone.... it's just been great. Also, Elder Ballard was here this weekend. He held a fireside for people of all different faiths which was neat. He talked about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation in such a neat way and invited everyone to read the Book of Mormon and pray! There were a LOT of people and I was asked to conduct the music... you could probably imagine me standing On a platform, waving my arm with a huge smile on my face as there are about 650 people or more in front of me. Yeah, it was fun. And then we had a meeting with Elder Ballard just for the missionaries yesterday morning which was really good too. He answered a lot of our questions about how to be a better missionary. Anyway there were lots of other comments but I'll have to share those later. The really neat thing this week was that on Sunday Sister Turner felt like we could get at least one member present lesson, I didn't think it'd be possible as we already visited everyone lately. But we put our faith forward and tried anyway. When we got to church 3 random people walked in. We found out that 2 were less active and finally coming back to church and that one of them brought their fiance who wanted to learn more! To top it off, she invited us over THAT day to teach him. And Then when we got there, two members of another faith were there as well willing to listen. It was so neat! Miracles still happen.
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Well i've got to get going. We're going to play sports at the park with our zone today. And I still have to write President. But know that I love you all sooooo much! I'm so grateful for your examples and for the prayers, they really have been needed and have brought lots of miracles. Thank you. :)
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Love Sister Davis
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Dear Mom, family and all others who may come across this letter,
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I'm so proud of my whole family. You all have grown So much while I've been gone. I'm excited to see who each of you are and know what's going on in your lives. I'm sad I won't be able to live with you for months on end when I get home but know how much I love each of you. I'm excited to read Erin's letter. Did she get mine? And did she get the birthday gift I sent? I hope it got to you. As for Emmy starting 7th grade, I'm sure it will be a lot better than my experience bc there will be people she actually knows there. I only knew 1 person since we moved that year. So I sat by myself for a few days at lunch. I don't think Em will have that issue at all. ;) Besides I learned who my good friends were, because there were girls who invited me to sit with them and would talk to me all the time. I will never forget Colbi for sitting by me and being my friend, even though we haven't talked in years, I will always be grateful for what she did for me. Emmy this will be a great experience for you! :) Good job on getting cool classes. And Olivia, I know she's doing well and staying out of trouble. What grade is she in now? Well I'll have a million or more questions when I get home that I expect to be answered. :)
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As for my week.... Sister Turner and I have had an Excellent week! Seriously filled with miracles every day. It's been so neat. We taught more than 20 lessons this week, we added two new investigators, we've been talking to everyone.... it's just been great. Also, Elder Ballard was here this weekend. He held a fireside for people of all different faiths which was neat. He talked about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation in such a neat way and invited everyone to read the Book of Mormon and pray! There were a LOT of people and I was asked to conduct the music... you could probably imagine me standing On a platform, waving my arm with a huge smile on my face as there are about 650 people or more in front of me. Yeah, it was fun. And then we had a meeting with Elder Ballard just for the missionaries yesterday morning which was really good too. He answered a lot of our questions about how to be a better missionary. Anyway there were lots of other comments but I'll have to share those later. The really neat thing this week was that on Sunday Sister Turner felt like we could get at least one member present lesson, I didn't think it'd be possible as we already visited everyone lately. But we put our faith forward and tried anyway. When we got to church 3 random people walked in. We found out that 2 were less active and finally coming back to church and that one of them brought their fiance who wanted to learn more! To top it off, she invited us over THAT day to teach him. And Then when we got there, two members of another faith were there as well willing to listen. It was so neat! Miracles still happen.
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Well i've got to get going. We're going to play sports at the park with our zone today. And I still have to write President. But know that I love you all sooooo much! I'm so grateful for your examples and for the prayers, they really have been needed and have brought lots of miracles. Thank you. :)
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Love Sister Davis
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Week 64 - Thursday, July 19th, 2012
We are excited that Maureen will be home in a month! We got her flight plans today and can't believe it's already here! She will be flying home the 18th of August, and will be speaking in church on the 19th at the Cooley Park Ward Building. Our sacrament meeting starts at 1:30pm. I know she would love to see you all there. Thank you, thank you, for all your thoughts and prayers on her behalf. We love you all and we are so glad you've been along for the journey. We can't believe how quickly it's gone, and we also can't believe how we have been blessed in these past 18 months! I am a believer in missionary blessings!
Love you all,
Candi
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Dear Family,
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I don't know where to begin this week. A lot has happened. We've extended the baptism date for Denise for July 28th. We had an interesting exchange with her the other day. She is a sweet lady and has lots of medical conditions. On Saturday we went over the baptismal interview questions with her. She passed with flying colors though we still have a few things we want to go over with her. Well on Sunday she couldn't come to church for health reasons so when we left church we looked at our phone and noticed a text message from Denise. It said "PLEASE CALL." Sister Turner looked at me and said, "Sister Davis, Denise Texted." "yeah, okay we should call her." "No, she Texted, she can't text she only has a landline and it's from Her phone." After a stunned pause we called her and she was crying. We told her we'd be there in a minute. We arrived at her house and talked to her for a little while. She felt bad because she didn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Apparently she had read some anti-literature earlier in her life. But she still wanted to be baptized! We talked to her about it and really relied on the spirit to know what to say to her. It was hard. Then we told her about the text message. She was so surprised. She hadn't sent a text... Well Sunday night was my last English Mission President's fireside. :( Sister Mitchell and I sang Lead Kindly Light. It was really pretty. The choir was good and I saw a few of my former investigators. We saw Denise and talked to her and as we hugged her she said "God must know how to Text." :) So After a long hard day on Monday (with many canceled appointments) we met with Denise at the Garcia's house and we watched the Restoration with her. At first I was really nervous for her response - but I shouldn't be. I should just trust God, have faith in His converting power. Well after the movie she said "That was powerful, I want to watch that again." And then at the end of our meeting she leaned over and said "I guess if God can text, then why can't He show up at Joseph's place?" It was so priceless! She's going to pray about it still. But she more or less got her answer, and it's because of the mysterious text we got. I'm sure that God works in Mysterious ways and it's so powerful to see the effects of His hands. :)
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Well we also saw Donna and Ron last night which was another good experience. They have been going through SOOO many hardships lately and it was good to finally sit down with them. They haven't been coming to church lately so we were going to talk to them about Diligence but then they told us how Ron has been working non-stop every day this week, how he hasn't smoked for the past month now, how Donna and Ron have been praying together to get help on certain situations, etc. They've been diligent, now they just need to be diligent in the Gospel. They talked about the peace they have felt this past week even though it's been hard and Donna said "I bet that's because we've finally been praying together again" we told them that if they wanted to feel more peace they should read and come to church as well. They agreed and we all felt really good. At the end Donna said, "I always feel so much better after you come visit us!" I just love being a missionary and being a part of these people's lives. It's so heartwarming. I've been setting goals to continue after the mission too, don't you worry! You will have to put up with my schedule, as I'm going to keep it as long as possible. That includes at Least an hour of study! ;) It will just make everything better. I know that when I do my best to sacrifice something for the Lord I receive so much in return. So I'm going to continue sacrificing for Him, all i've got, until I can look in a mirror and see His countenance in mine. :)
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I love you All! Keep being missionary minded. Thank you for the continuous tips and advice. :) I need it. And invitation this week: ponder and pray about 1 thing you can sacrifice to come closer to the Savior. It works wonders.
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Love Sister Davis
Love you all,
Candi
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Dear Family,
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I don't know where to begin this week. A lot has happened. We've extended the baptism date for Denise for July 28th. We had an interesting exchange with her the other day. She is a sweet lady and has lots of medical conditions. On Saturday we went over the baptismal interview questions with her. She passed with flying colors though we still have a few things we want to go over with her. Well on Sunday she couldn't come to church for health reasons so when we left church we looked at our phone and noticed a text message from Denise. It said "PLEASE CALL." Sister Turner looked at me and said, "Sister Davis, Denise Texted." "yeah, okay we should call her." "No, she Texted, she can't text she only has a landline and it's from Her phone." After a stunned pause we called her and she was crying. We told her we'd be there in a minute. We arrived at her house and talked to her for a little while. She felt bad because she didn't know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. Apparently she had read some anti-literature earlier in her life. But she still wanted to be baptized! We talked to her about it and really relied on the spirit to know what to say to her. It was hard. Then we told her about the text message. She was so surprised. She hadn't sent a text... Well Sunday night was my last English Mission President's fireside. :( Sister Mitchell and I sang Lead Kindly Light. It was really pretty. The choir was good and I saw a few of my former investigators. We saw Denise and talked to her and as we hugged her she said "God must know how to Text." :) So After a long hard day on Monday (with many canceled appointments) we met with Denise at the Garcia's house and we watched the Restoration with her. At first I was really nervous for her response - but I shouldn't be. I should just trust God, have faith in His converting power. Well after the movie she said "That was powerful, I want to watch that again." And then at the end of our meeting she leaned over and said "I guess if God can text, then why can't He show up at Joseph's place?" It was so priceless! She's going to pray about it still. But she more or less got her answer, and it's because of the mysterious text we got. I'm sure that God works in Mysterious ways and it's so powerful to see the effects of His hands. :)
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Well we also saw Donna and Ron last night which was another good experience. They have been going through SOOO many hardships lately and it was good to finally sit down with them. They haven't been coming to church lately so we were going to talk to them about Diligence but then they told us how Ron has been working non-stop every day this week, how he hasn't smoked for the past month now, how Donna and Ron have been praying together to get help on certain situations, etc. They've been diligent, now they just need to be diligent in the Gospel. They talked about the peace they have felt this past week even though it's been hard and Donna said "I bet that's because we've finally been praying together again" we told them that if they wanted to feel more peace they should read and come to church as well. They agreed and we all felt really good. At the end Donna said, "I always feel so much better after you come visit us!" I just love being a missionary and being a part of these people's lives. It's so heartwarming. I've been setting goals to continue after the mission too, don't you worry! You will have to put up with my schedule, as I'm going to keep it as long as possible. That includes at Least an hour of study! ;) It will just make everything better. I know that when I do my best to sacrifice something for the Lord I receive so much in return. So I'm going to continue sacrificing for Him, all i've got, until I can look in a mirror and see His countenance in mine. :)
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I love you All! Keep being missionary minded. Thank you for the continuous tips and advice. :) I need it. And invitation this week: ponder and pray about 1 thing you can sacrifice to come closer to the Savior. It works wonders.
.
Love Sister Davis
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Week 63 - Thursday, June 28th, 2012
Dear Mom and Family and Everyone Else!
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1. Jessica is married!? since when? She hasn't written in forever. 2. I'm very sorry to hear about Aaron. I pray that his family will be comforted at this time. I know how hard that can be as I knew someone here on my mission who went through the same experience. 3. I KNOW you will do well in your new calling. As a swan, turtle and puffin once said, "no fear" haha. Heavenly Father blesses each of us as we give our best and have Faith in Him. :) 4. I hope Maddy is able to stay on top of things, I'm sure she is doing well. 5. I know Erin would love any camp, I remember camp fiesta. I can't remember if I did it with anyone else but I remember loving the opportunity to help others, especially some cute kids. :) 6. I'm glad that everyone is doing alright and I hope you enjoy your vacationing. Where are you all going for the family reunion by the way? 7. Minerva will be back in 2 1/2 weeks. I don't know where exactly in Mexico she is though. We asked her to find a ward down there to attend so maybe she'll meet up with Elder Glover!
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Other than that everything is going well! Denise, our new investigator, came to church and she left us a message on our phone this morning and sang us a song about how God is good. It was quite entertaining. :) We love her. Donna and Ron are doing well, they didn't make it to church but they are excited to fast for the first time next Sunday for Peter. He is just down on himself so as Donna and Ron are a part of his family now, they want to fast for him. It's so sweet. We've seen other people too but it's summer and people are starting to leave town. It'll be hard for the next few months.
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We've been busy with MTE's this past week however. I went on 3 exchanges in one week! That's a lot. So I'm very tired but still pressing on. While I was on exchanges with Sister Ah Chookoon and Sister Hudson I think I figured out what the huge lesson is i've been trying to learn on my mission! As we were wrapping up for the night we talked about how we have to keep pressing forward, even when it is hard. And I realized that Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me this lesson the whole time! He had me and sister McCloy finish each others training, 6 weeks into the work. He had us then whitewash an area after 5 months in the field. He then had us train 6 weeks after that and then I was soon asked to be a trainer sister where I have to step up every week! He's put me in these situations so I would feel the need to step up continuously, and now that I've been in the same spot for 4 transfers, with the same companion, I've had to learn how to compel myself to keep moving forward. I know that it will be necessary when I come home. Because I know life back home isn't as fast paced, I will have to pushing myself to do hard things all the time! It was just a really neat realization, that Heavenly Father has planned this from the beginning. He knows what we need and puts us in situations to learn and grow and come closer to Him. I am so grateful for that.
.
After that realization I decided to make goals for when I get back (no, I'm not constantly thinking about it, Promise!). But some of the goals I made had to do with what time i'm waking up and going to bed, how much time I'll dedicate to study and exercise every day, etc. It gets more detailed but I basically just don't want to fall into old habits. I know I have changed and I am so grateful for that change! I want to keep up my mission style as long as I can and I want to do things that are worthwhile. I know some things will change but i'm going to work on staying as close to Heavenly Father as possible. :) So follow up with me and make sure I'm staying focused after my mission as well. In district meeting this past week we discussed Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16. It talks about how great will be our joy if we will bring one person to God, and how great will be our joy if we bring many more.
.
Well, Elder Simpson made a great point. If we want to help others to be converted, we must convert ourselves first. So who is the first person we bring to God? Ourself. So my invitation to you is to think of one thing you can do this week to become more converted to Christ's Gospel and His church, and then do it! :) I'll be following up next week. :)
.
And family, I hope you will have all read or watched Elder Holland's talk before next week. ;) It's really good!
.
Well I love you all and I'm praying for you! Stay safe while on your many journeys and enjoy the summer!
Love Sister Davis
.
1. Jessica is married!? since when? She hasn't written in forever. 2. I'm very sorry to hear about Aaron. I pray that his family will be comforted at this time. I know how hard that can be as I knew someone here on my mission who went through the same experience. 3. I KNOW you will do well in your new calling. As a swan, turtle and puffin once said, "no fear" haha. Heavenly Father blesses each of us as we give our best and have Faith in Him. :) 4. I hope Maddy is able to stay on top of things, I'm sure she is doing well. 5. I know Erin would love any camp, I remember camp fiesta. I can't remember if I did it with anyone else but I remember loving the opportunity to help others, especially some cute kids. :) 6. I'm glad that everyone is doing alright and I hope you enjoy your vacationing. Where are you all going for the family reunion by the way? 7. Minerva will be back in 2 1/2 weeks. I don't know where exactly in Mexico she is though. We asked her to find a ward down there to attend so maybe she'll meet up with Elder Glover!
.
Other than that everything is going well! Denise, our new investigator, came to church and she left us a message on our phone this morning and sang us a song about how God is good. It was quite entertaining. :) We love her. Donna and Ron are doing well, they didn't make it to church but they are excited to fast for the first time next Sunday for Peter. He is just down on himself so as Donna and Ron are a part of his family now, they want to fast for him. It's so sweet. We've seen other people too but it's summer and people are starting to leave town. It'll be hard for the next few months.
.
We've been busy with MTE's this past week however. I went on 3 exchanges in one week! That's a lot. So I'm very tired but still pressing on. While I was on exchanges with Sister Ah Chookoon and Sister Hudson I think I figured out what the huge lesson is i've been trying to learn on my mission! As we were wrapping up for the night we talked about how we have to keep pressing forward, even when it is hard. And I realized that Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me this lesson the whole time! He had me and sister McCloy finish each others training, 6 weeks into the work. He had us then whitewash an area after 5 months in the field. He then had us train 6 weeks after that and then I was soon asked to be a trainer sister where I have to step up every week! He's put me in these situations so I would feel the need to step up continuously, and now that I've been in the same spot for 4 transfers, with the same companion, I've had to learn how to compel myself to keep moving forward. I know that it will be necessary when I come home. Because I know life back home isn't as fast paced, I will have to pushing myself to do hard things all the time! It was just a really neat realization, that Heavenly Father has planned this from the beginning. He knows what we need and puts us in situations to learn and grow and come closer to Him. I am so grateful for that.
.
After that realization I decided to make goals for when I get back (no, I'm not constantly thinking about it, Promise!). But some of the goals I made had to do with what time i'm waking up and going to bed, how much time I'll dedicate to study and exercise every day, etc. It gets more detailed but I basically just don't want to fall into old habits. I know I have changed and I am so grateful for that change! I want to keep up my mission style as long as I can and I want to do things that are worthwhile. I know some things will change but i'm going to work on staying as close to Heavenly Father as possible. :) So follow up with me and make sure I'm staying focused after my mission as well. In district meeting this past week we discussed Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16. It talks about how great will be our joy if we will bring one person to God, and how great will be our joy if we bring many more.
.
Well, Elder Simpson made a great point. If we want to help others to be converted, we must convert ourselves first. So who is the first person we bring to God? Ourself. So my invitation to you is to think of one thing you can do this week to become more converted to Christ's Gospel and His church, and then do it! :) I'll be following up next week. :)
.
And family, I hope you will have all read or watched Elder Holland's talk before next week. ;) It's really good!
.
Well I love you all and I'm praying for you! Stay safe while on your many journeys and enjoy the summer!
Love Sister Davis
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Week 62 - Thursday, June 14th, 2012
I'm not sure why it's in a different format, but it's shorter than it looks. I love the Pepboys story!
.
.
Well, It's been a great week! I'd like to preface this letter by stating that it is All over the place so I hope you understand what I'm saying. :)
.
Thanks for the letters and package mom and dad and everyone. I love the outfit you got me! I don't know where you found it but "good eye" (I wish sister Turner knew some Brian Reagan jokes) haha OH and we both Loved the protein bars. They were delicious. So before I forget.... Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you and I thank you so very much for the letter. I really enjoyed all you shared and the advice too. I needed it.
.
But back to this past week... I've had meetings galore, and I've loved every minute of them. It's so neat to work with our President and Sister Clayton and our assistants. They really are great examples and very humble. At our last meeting one of the assistants shared a story about the power that comes from obedience. He said that he and his companion were visiting a member during the time we had the blackout. She told them to see her neighbor to give her baby a blessing who had a high fever. They said they'd do it in the morning as it was 8:40pm but the spirit prompted them to go to the house right then. So they did, and they knocked for 5 minutes before anyone showed up at the door. Well finally the neighbor answered with her baby in her hands, it was sweating. The elders explained the priesthood power and told her they could give the baby a blessing. She invited them in, but there was no other man there. (rule: missionaries must have at least one other adult person of the opposite sex with them.) So they said they'd run to the church bldg to find another man. They luckily found someone. It's about 8:50pm now. They came back and while giving the blessing they commanded the baby to be healed! After the blessing the baby had stopped sweating and when they checked in the next day the baby was fine and had slept the whole night through. Elder Hill told us "Obedience brings Power." And I definitely believe that. While rereading Elder Oaks talk I realized that he says, without sacrifice we cannot truly love or follow the Lord. Sometimes we sacrifice to be obedient and it is "sacrifice (that) brings forth blessings of Heaven." (Hymn 27)
.
Well on a different note, Sister Littlefield at the office called me to ask which airport I'm supposed to go to. :( I told her the Phoenix one. I don't know what it's called but it's in Phoenix I know. It made
me sad in realizing the shortness of time left. But hey, all the more work to do right?! Well other random facts are: Elder Hainey, our area 70, came to church this Sunday and talked to Minerva for a bit after Gospel Principals class. We have no idea what was said but are quite curious! He's really neat and very excited about missionary work. We like him a lot. We started the 7 day Quit-smoking program with Ron a few days ago so he should be done smoking this week! Yay! Finally. Donna (his fiance) can't get baptized anytime soon because... well lots of reasons. So now we're kinda just working with them to prepare them for whenever they can get baptized.
.
Yesterday we took our car in to Pepboys to get the brakes checked and ended up having a lovely chat with the other customers. It was really funny, Sister Turner and I had been sitting for a while and I told her that I wasn't really good at talking to people in stores about the church. Well Heavenly Father
definitely heard that and decided to throw me a bone. Soon after a man walked in and started talking to us about religion. He said he was christian and that he loved our ideals just not our theology, his name is Bill and he's an ex-cop. As we were talking about the need for repentance and change a lady who was sitting down the row from us piped up. Her name is Robyn and she's from the Church of Christ. She talked about the Need for repentance and baptism, and then Bill talked about how it isn't fair if other people who don't know about God don't get baptized and don't return to God. Then some other lady sat down in the middle of us and listened in. We asked to share a thought with them and ended up talking about baptisms for the dead. How God loves each of His children and He always prepares a way for all of them either on this earth or in the spirit world. At first they were all very opposed and then we turned to 1st Corinthians 15 explained it and read verse 29. The lady's were still not too interested but Bill (who earlier had been playing Devil's advocate) said "wow, I've never
noticed that verse before." His answer was priceless! We then summed everything up and basically answered all his questions. Then we invited everyone to check out mormon.org. It was basically the coolest meeting I've ever had in a pepboys while waiting for our cars to be fixed. :)
.
And ever since Elder Perry came we've been getting 20 lessons a week for the most part, once we had 18 or 19 but pretty much we've been talking with everyone and it's been such a neat difference and we are so much more prepared to teach people in any setting... like pepboys. I wish I would've figured this out at the beginning of my mission. :) Well my last thought was, I love the Gospel. As we were teaching that lesson to a less active we've been working with, Shawna, I really felt like I understood it even better. So when we have faith in the Savior we trust that no matter what is going on in life, He knows best. Well even when it's hard if we start changing our lives in the way He would have us live we are repenting. So you hear that faith leads us to action? That action is a form of repentance, changing our lives to better ourselves. When we repent we're continuously becomming more and more like our Savior and we show that we are willing to Always follow Him through Baptism. Well we don't get baptized each week so how do we re-commit? Through the sacrament. Also, without baptism or the sacrament we could never have the things we've been repenting of
erased, they will always be in our past. With baptism and with the confirmation we Receive the Spirit which Sanctifies us and cleans us of Everything we've done in the past, everything we've repented of. As we keep doing that the rest of our lives we will become more and more and more like the Savior till Moroni 7:48 becomes true. I know the Gospel is true. I know that we Have to live the Gospel to come back into God's presence. It is the raw outline of how we must live our lives and the most simple way of stating all our Savior taught us. I love it and I'm so grateful to share it with others. :)
.
Thank you for the prayers and all you do for me. I love you!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
.
Well, It's been a great week! I'd like to preface this letter by stating that it is All over the place so I hope you understand what I'm saying. :)
.
Thanks for the letters and package mom and dad and everyone. I love the outfit you got me! I don't know where you found it but "good eye" (I wish sister Turner knew some Brian Reagan jokes) haha OH and we both Loved the protein bars. They were delicious. So before I forget.... Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you and I thank you so very much for the letter. I really enjoyed all you shared and the advice too. I needed it.
.
But back to this past week... I've had meetings galore, and I've loved every minute of them. It's so neat to work with our President and Sister Clayton and our assistants. They really are great examples and very humble. At our last meeting one of the assistants shared a story about the power that comes from obedience. He said that he and his companion were visiting a member during the time we had the blackout. She told them to see her neighbor to give her baby a blessing who had a high fever. They said they'd do it in the morning as it was 8:40pm but the spirit prompted them to go to the house right then. So they did, and they knocked for 5 minutes before anyone showed up at the door. Well finally the neighbor answered with her baby in her hands, it was sweating. The elders explained the priesthood power and told her they could give the baby a blessing. She invited them in, but there was no other man there. (rule: missionaries must have at least one other adult person of the opposite sex with them.) So they said they'd run to the church bldg to find another man. They luckily found someone. It's about 8:50pm now. They came back and while giving the blessing they commanded the baby to be healed! After the blessing the baby had stopped sweating and when they checked in the next day the baby was fine and had slept the whole night through. Elder Hill told us "Obedience brings Power." And I definitely believe that. While rereading Elder Oaks talk I realized that he says, without sacrifice we cannot truly love or follow the Lord. Sometimes we sacrifice to be obedient and it is "sacrifice (that) brings forth blessings of Heaven." (Hymn 27)
.
Well on a different note, Sister Littlefield at the office called me to ask which airport I'm supposed to go to. :( I told her the Phoenix one. I don't know what it's called but it's in Phoenix I know. It made
me sad in realizing the shortness of time left. But hey, all the more work to do right?! Well other random facts are: Elder Hainey, our area 70, came to church this Sunday and talked to Minerva for a bit after Gospel Principals class. We have no idea what was said but are quite curious! He's really neat and very excited about missionary work. We like him a lot. We started the 7 day Quit-smoking program with Ron a few days ago so he should be done smoking this week! Yay! Finally. Donna (his fiance) can't get baptized anytime soon because... well lots of reasons. So now we're kinda just working with them to prepare them for whenever they can get baptized.
.
Yesterday we took our car in to Pepboys to get the brakes checked and ended up having a lovely chat with the other customers. It was really funny, Sister Turner and I had been sitting for a while and I told her that I wasn't really good at talking to people in stores about the church. Well Heavenly Father
definitely heard that and decided to throw me a bone. Soon after a man walked in and started talking to us about religion. He said he was christian and that he loved our ideals just not our theology, his name is Bill and he's an ex-cop. As we were talking about the need for repentance and change a lady who was sitting down the row from us piped up. Her name is Robyn and she's from the Church of Christ. She talked about the Need for repentance and baptism, and then Bill talked about how it isn't fair if other people who don't know about God don't get baptized and don't return to God. Then some other lady sat down in the middle of us and listened in. We asked to share a thought with them and ended up talking about baptisms for the dead. How God loves each of His children and He always prepares a way for all of them either on this earth or in the spirit world. At first they were all very opposed and then we turned to 1st Corinthians 15 explained it and read verse 29. The lady's were still not too interested but Bill (who earlier had been playing Devil's advocate) said "wow, I've never
noticed that verse before." His answer was priceless! We then summed everything up and basically answered all his questions. Then we invited everyone to check out mormon.org. It was basically the coolest meeting I've ever had in a pepboys while waiting for our cars to be fixed. :)
.
And ever since Elder Perry came we've been getting 20 lessons a week for the most part, once we had 18 or 19 but pretty much we've been talking with everyone and it's been such a neat difference and we are so much more prepared to teach people in any setting... like pepboys. I wish I would've figured this out at the beginning of my mission. :) Well my last thought was, I love the Gospel. As we were teaching that lesson to a less active we've been working with, Shawna, I really felt like I understood it even better. So when we have faith in the Savior we trust that no matter what is going on in life, He knows best. Well even when it's hard if we start changing our lives in the way He would have us live we are repenting. So you hear that faith leads us to action? That action is a form of repentance, changing our lives to better ourselves. When we repent we're continuously becomming more and more like our Savior and we show that we are willing to Always follow Him through Baptism. Well we don't get baptized each week so how do we re-commit? Through the sacrament. Also, without baptism or the sacrament we could never have the things we've been repenting of
erased, they will always be in our past. With baptism and with the confirmation we Receive the Spirit which Sanctifies us and cleans us of Everything we've done in the past, everything we've repented of. As we keep doing that the rest of our lives we will become more and more and more like the Savior till Moroni 7:48 becomes true. I know the Gospel is true. I know that we Have to live the Gospel to come back into God's presence. It is the raw outline of how we must live our lives and the most simple way of stating all our Savior taught us. I love it and I'm so grateful to share it with others. :)
.
Thank you for the prayers and all you do for me. I love you!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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