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
Thursday, November 17, 2011
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... :)
.
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. :)
.
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
.
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
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