Week 15 - Thursday, May 26th, 2011

I Love being a missionary!
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Why do I love it today? Well, it's probably because members love missionaries. So much so in fact that they give us free gifts, such as bath and body works hand sanitizer - it smells so good, free Golden Spoon! and yesterday Josh told us that he was going to get Sis. McCloy and I free watches! Yes! P.S. Maddy I'm sad to say the watch you gave me has been so loved by me that it's practically falling apart. At least the strap is. And for some strange reason, it's turning pink.
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Well other than that I love being a missionary because of all the cool experiences I get and the amazing people I meet! One of those people would be Roxanne. She's 6' and she wears 4" heels whenever she can. She's hillarious. The other day she was begging to go on splits with us. She is 27 and acts like she's 20 sometimes. I absolutely love her. Now, whenever she see's us she gives us some update on her life. The latest one is that she is going through the Temple for the first time on June 3rd!!! So that she could go to her sisters sealing the next day. She is actually going through the Mesa Temple! She'll be there at 1pm on the 3rd. I told her I'd let you know.
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Another member that we enjoy working with is Sarah Chytraus. She is surrounded by non-members at work so she asks us how to answer their questions and she always hugs us and loves coming on splits with us. They're so awesome! Our members, the singles, are so full of promise and life. I love working with them.

Something else I found that I loved is reading General Conference talks. I've been reading them every time I can. I realized how pertinent those talks are in our lives. I mean I should've realized this already but I noticed it even more so now when I see what they are saying and how they pertain to people around me. Right now I have 3 favorite talks, there will probably be more later ;) but right now they're "What manner of men and women ought ye to be?" by Elder Robbins, "The eternal blessings of marriage" by Elder Scott and "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." by Elder Christopherson. Each of them, though they seem to apply to specific audiences of which I'm not a part, have taught me things that I need to work on more.

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In Elder Robbins, I need to be wise about what I say and what I mean, I've actually created a To Be list that I'm currently working on. Elder Scott taught me that the way I treat relationships with anyone is important and that I should always be letting others know how much they mean to me, and always love people even when you don't want to. In Elder Christopherson's talk I realized that I needed to be more aware of what Heavenly Father was trying to tell me and I need to be willing to take criticism. I think I've been getting better at that one and I'm working on all of the above. They are wonderful talks!

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Well I don't really have anything else to report on. We're working with a few more investigators, we're still planning on Dessa's Baptism this weekend. She's still out on her ship so we have to wait till she gets back before we can make too many plans, but she's super excited and she's telling others about how she will go to the Temple soon. :) She is so happy! I love seeing that in others so much. Becky also has a baptismal date for June 4th. She is excited, and we don't really know what else to teach her. We give her something to read and she soaks it all in and asks us questions when she can. Recently she asked about the 12 apostles. When she realized we had a similar structure to when Christ was here on the earth she got even more excited. :) We're so happy for her. Just pray that her friend will be able to find some way to come here for her baptism!

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Other than that, life is great! You all sound like you're doing wonderfully and that you are getting ready to relax for the summer! I love you all so much! You are fantastic! I pray for each of you every night and I know you are all doing wonderfully! Keep up the good work! Especially with studying PMG. That is wonderful! You guys are way too good. ;) I love you all and I hope you have a fabulous week! I'll talk to you on Tuesday!

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P.S. I haven't been transfered so I'll be here for the next 6 weeks at least! Yay!

Week 14 - Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Dear Mother -

Life is going swell. Better this week than it has been in a long time. Dario, the one who was totally golden and ready, and who was a former Jehovah's Witness, hasn't really responded to us. For a while we were frustrated then we tried texting him the other day since he never picks up his phone, he texted back that he was at the hospital with his Mormon friend. We have no idea what happened, who was hurt, how he is doing or anything. He just thanked us for thinking about him. And we haven't heard back from him yet. As for the lady who needed a babysitter - Mariah is her gem! She loves Mariah and she is so sweet. She thanked us for finding such a wonderful girl for her and so fast too! She and her husband are Methodist, so we're going to work on her slowly. :)
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Well this past weekend we decided we needed to find more people. After the whole switcheroo where we are now teaching only sisters and the elders teaching only the brothers, our numbers have fallen dramatically. Now we only teach two girls who both have baptism dates and they're still working towards them. They are superb sisters. They are both in the Navy. One is actually out to sea right now and won't be back until the day before her baptism. She is reading a shrunk down version of the PMG lessons. She says she's studying them and loving them still. We'll just have to get her an interview right before she's baptized. But she's golden. Becky, the other girl, has a friend in the 9th ward that decided to take her to church one day. She is absolutely golden! She actually spoke at a "Why I Believe" fireside the other night and bore her testimony that she knows this church is true. It was soooo neat to hear her and how she has been prepared for this moment! We're taking her to the Mormon Battalion tomorrow to see the new Joseph Smith movie. Have you seen it yet? It's geared to non-members so we'll see how awesome it is tomorrow! :) We're soooo excited!
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So yesterday, we realized we needed more girls to teach. We started talking to girls who were once interested but who we hadn't talked to in a while. We got two more appointments with sisters we haven't taught yet and a possible new investigator! We're excited but NOT satisfied. :) That's President's favorite line. "Always be grateful but Never Satisfied." We like it.
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This morning I had scripture study that I didn't think would be too important just because it's preparation day and I didn't think of what to study for yet. I've learned that God will find a way to teach us, especially when we don't expect it! Well I was reading my notes I had made about my setting apart blessing, and I realized that I had been told that if I stopped doubting and fearing that I would be able to more fully bless others. I realized that I've been way too fearful when it comes to talking to people. I thought "why am I so scared?" I realized that I am scared I won't know what to say to people, but God promises us that if we study his words we will know what we need to say in the moment we need it. (D&C 84:85) And then I thought "well these people don't want to listen to me," and I remembered that God said only the elect will hear His voice and it is them we should teach. So if they don't listen to you, be persistent, if they still don't listen, leave them with something nice, if they still don't listen some odd years down the road, there is nothing more we can really do. So I thought is there anything else I fear? I get scared that others will judge me. Then I thought, "that's just silly. Who cares what man thinks? Is he going to judge you after this life? No. So why does it matter what he thinks. We should be more concerned that we are doing everything that God wants us to do, for it will be Him (the Savior) who judges us in the end. Plus, He can give us more than man can even imagine up, just saying." :)
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Afterward I turned to my scriptures to where I'm reading right now - Ether 12. Haha it talks all about faith and that if we have faith amazing things can happen. (Faith is mentioned 34 times in that chapter- I suppose it's somewhat important) I realized that Heavenly Father really needs me to learn faith right now, and it will take me my whole life to learn but I'm willing to start and do my best right now! I'm so excited for tomorrow now! I'm going to be working even harder.
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I love you all and I hope you had a wonderful week and that you will have another great week! :)
Love Sister Davis

Week 13 - Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Dear All -

The mission has been good. I usually take notes of things I want to say throughout the week so I don't forget in the excitement of typing. :) But this week I completely forgot as I was more preoccupied by the phone call I was making on Mother's Day. Mom- I sat there waiting for an hour with Sis. McCloy, trying to calm myself down so that I wouldn't cry while on the phone. I was sincerely surprised when I got on the phone and it felt like I was just up in school talking to you guys on Skype. I loved talking to you all!

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And I know president trusts me. The other day President called because he thought we needed to make some changes, which we did. We talked to him about being worried some people wouldn't accept the changes even though we were Told by the President. So he told us he had complete trust in us (Sis. McCloy and I), that he liked our companionship, and that the others needed to learn something from us. I'm not going to lie I was sincerely surprised because for the longest time I thought President was sending me there to humble me completely (which he was to an extent) and to just learn. I'm glad to know that he trusts me and because of that I want to work all the harder. I guess I learned from that experience that when we are encouraged and told the good things we are doing, we want to do them more to prove ourselves worthy of those compliments. I should be better at doing that.

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I love this mission! I hope you all have figured that out now. I am just truly ecstatic! And yesterday we had a Zone Conference. I think those are my favorite things ever. Pres. pretty much taught us how to work with ward council and some pretty cool doctrinal things about the second coming. (We thrive off of 2nd coming stuff - not gonna lie.) ;) Well we also listened to a talk Elder Holland gave the month before I arrived in the MTC. It was an absolutely amazing talk (as always) about what we need to be doing to be better missionaries. Mainly we need to Study MUCH better, We need to Plan More effectively and we need to Teach with a LOT more vigor and enthusiasm! he told us to be persistent and Pres helped us learn how to teach about the Book of Mormon more effectively. If I could have recorded yesterday's conference and played it over in my mind all night instead of slept I totally would have. :) I wish I could share more. Just know that I absolutely LOVE this Gospel and I want to have a greater Enthusiasm for it.

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Elder Holland also said that the reason Preach My Gospel was made was for the Missionary (member) to become more converted to the Gospel so that they will stay in the church always. Pres. Hinckley told the missionary committee that however missionary work was working at the time, needed to change dramatically because the missionaries weren't staying converted to the gospel. And if the missionaries aren't converted - somethings wrong. Hence Preach My Gospel was made. It's Awesome. Everyone should study it. It's not just for missionaries at all. He also said something that astounded me. When I signed up to be a missionary, I didn't realize it would be a whole life/eternal thing. But it is. Just like Peter who was a disciple when Christ was on earth, he couldn't just go back out to fish and become the same person he was before after Christ died. Christ told him 3 times (By that time Peter was probably a little sensitive to three's) to go and Feed His Sheep. We are never finished! We have to keep serving our whole lives long. And all who have desires to serve Him are called to the work. We should All thrust in our sickles. for it is our divine calling, to become more like Him by serving others and bringing them to Him.

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I love this gospel, I love serving, I love my Savior and I love you all!

Love, Sister Maureen Davis

Week 12 - Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Dear Family,


Thanks for the love and support! I love you all so much! In fact today I was pondering on what I will do with my sisters when I get back. We will have a blast for sure. :)

It sounds like you are all very busy but having a good time. So I'm assuming Maddy got into BYU for Fall semester afterall? Does she know where she's going to live? And it's so strange to think that Erin's driving and that she'll be 17 when I get back! Weird! She better get that personal progress done quickly. What might help her, is that I think I've been able to apply the goals I've learned in Personal Progress to life many times here on my mission. It was designed for a reason! Emmy - I'm not surprised that she hit two home runs! Good for her! And Olivia - I hope she had a wonderful birthday. I can't believe she's 8 already. And that she's getting baptized already! Tell her I'm sending a late birthday present to her.

As for what I have been up to over here... I've learned a few things this past week:
1. The Bible Dictionary is my new best friend. I look up everything back there and it's shocking how much information is back there that we forget about. We use it All the time.

2. Our day goes so much better and we are allowing ourselves to learn more when we set a time aside in the morning to study the Scriptures. Try it!

3. We went to the Temple last P-day, it was Sis. McCloy's first time there and it was a great experience and interestingly enough we heard from the Temple Pres and his wife in a devotional that night. They told us to go to the Temple as often as we could in our busy lives, that by sacrificing our time to go we will receive even greater blessings and that going to the temple will prepare us for the hard things that come up in our lives. Going to the Temple includes doing Baptisms.

4. We had a mid transfer meeting yesterday as we are getting two new stakes in our area. Sis. McCloy and I will be staying in the Center with Elder Yi and his new companion Elder Au (Ow). :) Some of President's remarks were: Exact obedience is when your heart is in it; your progress is dependant on your obedience; obedience always requires sacrifice; The allures of the world are nothing compared to the sweetness of the spirit and Elder Bednar said "Everything is hard if you do it yourself." Let the Lord help you.

5.General Conference talks from the Apostles and Prophets will help you learn the Doctrine of Christ and know the scriptures much better - so I'm attempting to read as many as I can. :)

6. I have been humbled once again. So... at the center we haven't done much teaching. Mostly because we were trying to help the elders work with each other. (They were having a really hard time). Because of it I think I was more proud and stubborn and I figured I could fix everything and get them working together. So the other day at transfer meeting we all were a bit relieved to see that Elder -- and Elder -- weren't companions any more. As I talked to Elder -- later that day, I realized I misjudged him, and Elder -- and that I'd been thinking a lot about myself and not about others. So I had a very humbling experience and I want to learn more and work harder! I need to remember my purpose as a missionary, to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel." :)

7. Kids are soooo entertaining. So we went to visit one of Sis. McCloy's former investigators bc we had a packet to give her. Her daughter Abby is turning 4 this week but when we asked her what age she was turning she promptly told us she was turning "question-mark years old." She doesn't want anyone to know how old she is so that she can have many birthdays. :) When her mom asked her who Joseph Smith was Abby said she was playing with him and began playing leap frog. Now I can say that I have met a girl who's played leap frog with Joseph Smith. Haha

8. There is a Rapunzel ride at Disneyland due to the new movie Tangled. I want to see it again... :) And I've officially decided that when I get home and after a few weeks of the girls being in school (before BYU starts up) we need to go for a weekend to Disneyland all together bc I want to. :D

9. Be moldable - God won't work with a dry piece of clay, He'll put us aside and wait for us to be moldable, when we've decided we're sick of going our own way, to mold us into who He wants us to be.

10. I don't know why, but i've been told 3 times now that I look like the girl from the 80's mormon movie. The girl with short blonde hair? I know who they're talking about... it just makes me laugh.

Those are pretty much the things I've learned this week among others. :)

As for random thoughts and questions:

-When I get back home I want to go to as many temples as I can!

-Tell the girls to save some Nancy Drew games so we can play them when I get back. ;)

-When I'm about to say something and I forget what I'm going to say, Sis. McCloy calls them uninspired thoughts, and lately I've had Many uninspired thoughts. :p

-Last but not least... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM! (on Sunday of course) I hope it's absolutely fabulous and I hope you get all the Hoopes and Yoyo cards and chocolate your heart can desire. :) You're awesome! I love you!

I love you all and I pray for you every day! You're all awesome and inspiring and I am excited to fulfil my mission (for all Eternity) and to come back to hang out with my fam too! Keep being fantastic people, and always remember the Savior. If He's in the front of your thoughts always, you will never go wrong!