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.
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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.
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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!
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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
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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!
.
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!
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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. :)
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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.
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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. :)
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Thank you for the prayers and all you do for me. I love you!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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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
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Week 61 - Thursday, June 7th, 2012
Here is Sister Davis' latest. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers on her behalf!
Well it sounds like things are just plain fun back home. :) I hope the summer activities are going well. I remember absolutely hating my swimming lessons. I still can't remember why I was so scared of going... but it's funny how I would now just love to jump in a pool... haha how things change with circumstances. Well this morning another one of my former companions has left on a plane. It reminds me of the clock that is continuously growing louder in my head, telling me my turn is coming. I hope Laura is okay! I'm sure she has been a great missionary and she's doing a lot of good in Cambodia. I am excited to learn some cambodian from her when I get home. :) Mom, when do you talk with Sister Bayless?
.
Well speaking of changes... Transfers has once again rolled around and by golly I'm going to die in El Cajon! (figuratively speaking) After 6 months of this area, I am now surpassing the length of my longest area by staying here, and sister Turner is staying with me! It was funny when we found out this morning. We were both So shocked that we weren't changing! We almost wanted to call President up and ask what was going on haha. We were so set on changing that we are sad that nothing is changing. Yes, we still love each other but change is fun. So in order to get the change we want we're switching up our room... somehow. :) And then we've determined that this will be our absolute BEST transfer ever. We want to work harder than ever before, now that we've finally figured out how to work with each other teaching wise. So I'm excited for this transfer.
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This past week has been an uneventful one for investigators. Most of our investigators are ignoring us. :( BUT, we found a sister and brother the other day who's mom in mormon and they are interested in learning about God's plan for them. So we have some new investigators which we're very excited about. Heavenly Father loves us. :) Even though our investigators are ignoring us, in order to get those 20 lessons a week as Elder Perry asked we've been meeting with members a Lot, and we've had some amazing lessons with them. There is one family that we're so excited to work with. We taught them the Restoration then invited them to make mormon.org profiles and invite others to check it out and they were so exctied about it! There's also another family that is eager to help us find more people so they're having a 4th of July party at their house with neighbors and ward members. :) So in that way the work is going well. Afterall Elder Perry did tell all the members of our stake that they cannot waste our time as missionaries! We have been called out here to teach so they should make a concerted effort to find us people to teach and if they can't find anyone, invite us over to practice teaching. It has helped out so much. And President Hinckley did say that the best way to find is through the members. So we're excited to work more closely with our ward members. And remember that you back home are called to the same work. So have the missionaries over, let them practice to become better teachers. :)
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That was our week in a nutshell. I also had a meeting with President and all the zone leaders yesterday, we watched a clip of Elder Holland's talk to the MTC in January of 2011 - if you can look it up on youtube, please watch it. I haven't felt the spirit radiate from one person that strongly in a while and it is just amazing to feel his testimony of this work. The talk was entitled Feed My Sheep and it brought me so much peace. I know this work is true! I love it with all my heart and I am So blessed to be out here sharing it with anyone who will listen. I know my Savior lives! I love Him and I know without Him nothing would be possible. We wouldn't be able to change or grow or ever make it back home without His atonement. And for that I will be grateful all the rest of the days of my life. I know God has a plan and how grateful I am to know that plan. I love you all! Continue in the Faith, Repenting, renewing your Covenants (or being Baptized for the first time), receiving the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. I know that is The Way.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Well it sounds like things are just plain fun back home. :) I hope the summer activities are going well. I remember absolutely hating my swimming lessons. I still can't remember why I was so scared of going... but it's funny how I would now just love to jump in a pool... haha how things change with circumstances. Well this morning another one of my former companions has left on a plane. It reminds me of the clock that is continuously growing louder in my head, telling me my turn is coming. I hope Laura is okay! I'm sure she has been a great missionary and she's doing a lot of good in Cambodia. I am excited to learn some cambodian from her when I get home. :) Mom, when do you talk with Sister Bayless?
.
Well speaking of changes... Transfers has once again rolled around and by golly I'm going to die in El Cajon! (figuratively speaking) After 6 months of this area, I am now surpassing the length of my longest area by staying here, and sister Turner is staying with me! It was funny when we found out this morning. We were both So shocked that we weren't changing! We almost wanted to call President up and ask what was going on haha. We were so set on changing that we are sad that nothing is changing. Yes, we still love each other but change is fun. So in order to get the change we want we're switching up our room... somehow. :) And then we've determined that this will be our absolute BEST transfer ever. We want to work harder than ever before, now that we've finally figured out how to work with each other teaching wise. So I'm excited for this transfer.
.
This past week has been an uneventful one for investigators. Most of our investigators are ignoring us. :( BUT, we found a sister and brother the other day who's mom in mormon and they are interested in learning about God's plan for them. So we have some new investigators which we're very excited about. Heavenly Father loves us. :) Even though our investigators are ignoring us, in order to get those 20 lessons a week as Elder Perry asked we've been meeting with members a Lot, and we've had some amazing lessons with them. There is one family that we're so excited to work with. We taught them the Restoration then invited them to make mormon.org profiles and invite others to check it out and they were so exctied about it! There's also another family that is eager to help us find more people so they're having a 4th of July party at their house with neighbors and ward members. :) So in that way the work is going well. Afterall Elder Perry did tell all the members of our stake that they cannot waste our time as missionaries! We have been called out here to teach so they should make a concerted effort to find us people to teach and if they can't find anyone, invite us over to practice teaching. It has helped out so much. And President Hinckley did say that the best way to find is through the members. So we're excited to work more closely with our ward members. And remember that you back home are called to the same work. So have the missionaries over, let them practice to become better teachers. :)
.
That was our week in a nutshell. I also had a meeting with President and all the zone leaders yesterday, we watched a clip of Elder Holland's talk to the MTC in January of 2011 - if you can look it up on youtube, please watch it. I haven't felt the spirit radiate from one person that strongly in a while and it is just amazing to feel his testimony of this work. The talk was entitled Feed My Sheep and it brought me so much peace. I know this work is true! I love it with all my heart and I am So blessed to be out here sharing it with anyone who will listen. I know my Savior lives! I love Him and I know without Him nothing would be possible. We wouldn't be able to change or grow or ever make it back home without His atonement. And for that I will be grateful all the rest of the days of my life. I know God has a plan and how grateful I am to know that plan. I love you all! Continue in the Faith, Repenting, renewing your Covenants (or being Baptized for the first time), receiving the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. I know that is The Way.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Week 60 - Thursday, May 31st, 2012
Dear Family, Friends and all other acquaintances,
This week has been one of utter chaos. In the best way possible? Okay so no, there hasn't been utter chaos but it seems very busy. It started out with some of our investigators moving off the street! Yay! but now it's harder to see them because they are working for one of our recent converts who's son isn't too happy with us coming over... But no worries, we're still plugging away. Another one of our investigator's husband decided he didn't want us coming by.... and a family we're working with, the mother's a member and the ex husband is not, well we saw them yesterday and the dad showed up really unhappy with us because we were teaching his children to pray and ask God for answers... Okay so he was probably mad for other reasons. But it made me so sad that the dad was so angry in front of his kids. He was trying to argue with us and put down our faith in every way possible. Fortunately, Heavenly Father blessed us with clear minds and we were able to answer his questions in the nicest way possible. I feel so bad for children who's parents are of different faiths and who basically fight about it constantly in front of their kids. It made me so sad to see this little 8 year old who is trying to please both parents be so confused because there is so much contention. We invited the dad to just listen to the missionaries to see what we really believe but he refused to and stormed out. It was a very sad meeting indeed. So we decided to play a cup game with the kids to lighten the mood. It helped a lot and we're actually going over today to just make flowers and bows with them for pday.
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As for our other investigators they are doing well, but none are progressing. :( We're currently praying for miracles and trying to find more people to teach. We meet with a lot of less active members who are coming back to church, including the one who was in the car accident, her name is Lacey. She is so neat. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and so desperately wants to come to church to take the Sacrament. She reads everything we give her! And she loves when we come over. In fact she told us that all her life she has been stand-offish to the "mormon church" but now that she's received this answer to prayers she feels as though she's just barely learning her culture and wants to know everything there is to know about it! It kinda reminded me of how we don't remember what our life was like with Heavenly Father before this but every now and then the spirit touches our spirit and helps us remember things that have sounded "familiar." We desire greatly to have that appetite filled and my job is to help people satisfy that quenching thirst with the "Living Water" or Gospel of Jesus Christ. :) It's the coolest job ever. And I'm not even getting paid! I'm paying to be out here. BUT getting so many blessings from it.
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Which reminds me, so this whole week has been a bit of a downer with people taking steps backword, both investigators and less actives. So it's been hard. But Heavenly Father had me learn a lesson from it this week. Starting on Sunday when we had stake conference with Elder Perry. It was a great conference and he and the Temple president and our stake president all spoke about ways we can become more converted and strengthan our testimonies. It was really good! Of course Elder Perry called the missionaries out for not teaching as many lessons as we should and he reminded us to teach the doctrines. Will do. Well that night I was discouraged thinking I was doing a terrible job and that I frankly wasn't perfect. The next morning sister Turner told me about satan's tools. He uses doubt, discouragement, and pride to keep us from coming nearer to the Savior. We started thinking about what ways we can combat those tools and found something really cool. Doubt is really the opposite of having faith, so to overcome it we must have Faith. Discouragement comes when we forget where our Hope comes from, the Savior, so we must have Hope. And pride comes when we lose love for our fellowman, so to overcome it we must have Charity. Faith, Hope and Charity.... Sound familiar anyone? I think Mormon already figured it out so I'm going to study Moroni chapter 7 more. And then on top of that Sister Turner said that we should always look to see how far we've come in our journey. One time her family was crossing the plains. no not by handcart, by car. There are no landmarks there, no windy roads, just a flat plain. Which means after a while you don't feel like you've gone far at all. Well her dad drove for 2 hours towards this one cloud that was in the sky and he thought he was going crazy because he just Never got closer to that cloud. Sister Turner compared it to our lives. We have to look at the odometer once in a while to realize that we have actually made some progress. So we made a list of all the things we've learned and accomplished on our missions. It was really good and we have a greater excitement to go out and do the work!
.
Well I love you all and I'll try to keep you as updated as possible! :)
Love Sister Maureen Davis
PS mom- give all the girls a hug and a kiss from me! I love them All so much!
This week has been one of utter chaos. In the best way possible? Okay so no, there hasn't been utter chaos but it seems very busy. It started out with some of our investigators moving off the street! Yay! but now it's harder to see them because they are working for one of our recent converts who's son isn't too happy with us coming over... But no worries, we're still plugging away. Another one of our investigator's husband decided he didn't want us coming by.... and a family we're working with, the mother's a member and the ex husband is not, well we saw them yesterday and the dad showed up really unhappy with us because we were teaching his children to pray and ask God for answers... Okay so he was probably mad for other reasons. But it made me so sad that the dad was so angry in front of his kids. He was trying to argue with us and put down our faith in every way possible. Fortunately, Heavenly Father blessed us with clear minds and we were able to answer his questions in the nicest way possible. I feel so bad for children who's parents are of different faiths and who basically fight about it constantly in front of their kids. It made me so sad to see this little 8 year old who is trying to please both parents be so confused because there is so much contention. We invited the dad to just listen to the missionaries to see what we really believe but he refused to and stormed out. It was a very sad meeting indeed. So we decided to play a cup game with the kids to lighten the mood. It helped a lot and we're actually going over today to just make flowers and bows with them for pday.
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As for our other investigators they are doing well, but none are progressing. :( We're currently praying for miracles and trying to find more people to teach. We meet with a lot of less active members who are coming back to church, including the one who was in the car accident, her name is Lacey. She is so neat. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and so desperately wants to come to church to take the Sacrament. She reads everything we give her! And she loves when we come over. In fact she told us that all her life she has been stand-offish to the "mormon church" but now that she's received this answer to prayers she feels as though she's just barely learning her culture and wants to know everything there is to know about it! It kinda reminded me of how we don't remember what our life was like with Heavenly Father before this but every now and then the spirit touches our spirit and helps us remember things that have sounded "familiar." We desire greatly to have that appetite filled and my job is to help people satisfy that quenching thirst with the "Living Water" or Gospel of Jesus Christ. :) It's the coolest job ever. And I'm not even getting paid! I'm paying to be out here. BUT getting so many blessings from it.
.
Which reminds me, so this whole week has been a bit of a downer with people taking steps backword, both investigators and less actives. So it's been hard. But Heavenly Father had me learn a lesson from it this week. Starting on Sunday when we had stake conference with Elder Perry. It was a great conference and he and the Temple president and our stake president all spoke about ways we can become more converted and strengthan our testimonies. It was really good! Of course Elder Perry called the missionaries out for not teaching as many lessons as we should and he reminded us to teach the doctrines. Will do. Well that night I was discouraged thinking I was doing a terrible job and that I frankly wasn't perfect. The next morning sister Turner told me about satan's tools. He uses doubt, discouragement, and pride to keep us from coming nearer to the Savior. We started thinking about what ways we can combat those tools and found something really cool. Doubt is really the opposite of having faith, so to overcome it we must have Faith. Discouragement comes when we forget where our Hope comes from, the Savior, so we must have Hope. And pride comes when we lose love for our fellowman, so to overcome it we must have Charity. Faith, Hope and Charity.... Sound familiar anyone? I think Mormon already figured it out so I'm going to study Moroni chapter 7 more. And then on top of that Sister Turner said that we should always look to see how far we've come in our journey. One time her family was crossing the plains. no not by handcart, by car. There are no landmarks there, no windy roads, just a flat plain. Which means after a while you don't feel like you've gone far at all. Well her dad drove for 2 hours towards this one cloud that was in the sky and he thought he was going crazy because he just Never got closer to that cloud. Sister Turner compared it to our lives. We have to look at the odometer once in a while to realize that we have actually made some progress. So we made a list of all the things we've learned and accomplished on our missions. It was really good and we have a greater excitement to go out and do the work!
.
Well I love you all and I'll try to keep you as updated as possible! :)
Love Sister Maureen Davis
PS mom- give all the girls a hug and a kiss from me! I love them All so much!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Week 58 & 59 - Thursday, May 24th, 2012
So, I'm not sure what happened last week, but I didn't get Maureen's email off. So you get two in one week! Sis. Russell is the mission health staff. Maureen's been having headaches for the past two weeks. Hopefully they'll figure out how to get her all better. We appreciate so much the prayers that you offer in her behalf. We can't believe how close she is to being home, and how slow time is going!
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Dear Family,
For starters, the best time for me to call will probably be 6pm, I know the girls go to bed soon after but I think that will be the best time that works for me. We're going to try talking to people during the day and then we'll just come back to make calls in the evening so we don't have to worry about driving elsewhere at night. Anywho... I'll talk to you on Sunday around 6. And Happy Birthday EMMY!
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As for Everything else going on.... Sometimes we go through hard weeks so we can appreciate the good ones. The past week was a hard week. This last week was really good! I had a lot of meetings this week. Between a zone meeting, zone leader council, zone conference, and the mission president's fireside, it's been a SUPER AWESOME week. The highlights were honestly the spirit felt in all those meetings. From our zone meeting when we talked about having the Lord walk hand in hand with us as we did his work to hearing our President's testimonyat the fireside, it was just a fabulous week. It's hard to really put emotion in through these emails but you can trust me, it was a Fantastic week. And after our zone conference, where all the missionaries in a zone meet together with President, I was just so excited to go out and work and talk to every single person that crossed my path that I literally Did talk to everyone, regardless of what situation we were in. It was really cool. And there are a lot more people that are open than I thought there were. :) "The field is white, already to harvest."
.
At our mission president's fireside, President Clayton stood up and spoke to the members present. He encouraged them to share the gospel with their friends and not to be nervous when people ask about it. There are people who are sincerely curious about what we believe and they have questions. In our zone conference President talked about Mormon.org and how useful it is. There is an entire page devoted to answering questions that most people have about the church, so you don't have to scramble around for an answer when people ask you what the restoration means, or what is our stance on dancing (yes, people have asked me that). You can look up the answers yourself or direct them to the website. It's the coolest thing ever and we're actually asked, as missionaries, to go on the website for one hour outside of preparation day to learn more about it so we can help others know more about it. It's that cooL! :)
.
Well other than those fabulous meetings we are having the exciting experience of having Elder Perry come to our stake for stake conference. :) And I happen to have stayed these 6 months in El Cajon JUST so I could see him. Haha okay not really, but it's so exciting to be here for that.
.
So... I don't exactly know what else to say... this has been a Fabulous week, we've had our laughs and some tears, some really tough investigators and some really neat experiences... the same as usual. I'll let you know when anything out of the ordinary happens. :) As for your invitation this week: check out mormon.org and tell someone else (non-member) about it!
I love you all and thank you for your prayers. Stay humble. It's what I'm constantly working on anyway. AND be Excellent to each other. :D
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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.
.Thanks Mom,
I'm so glad we were able to talk on Sunday. I feel like I talked about everything I would have shared today already... But as for the new investigators, Melissa and Gina, they are both wives to less active members. One of the members has been trying to come back to church lately and so he's bringing his family around and Melissa's sister-in-law actually recently got back into the church and was sealed a few months ago! So the work is going well. :) They both have little kids that are super cute. So we enjoy meeting with them.
.
Well as for the rest of this week... We've been super busy! In fact yesterday we met with a less active woman who recently was in a severe car accident. She should have died but she came out with only a broken arm and a few cuts and bruises. She said that God must have saved her life for a reason so she wanted to get back into church and have the missionary lessons again. So we met with her yesterday and she really wants to change her life around. She wants to read the book of mormon and learn everything over again. It was so neat speaking with her and seeing how Heavenly Father gives us so many opportunities to follow Him. She knew that too. And if it hadn't been for her visiting teacher who visited her every month even though she wasn't interested in changing then, she may not have known where to turn after the accident.
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Visiting and Home teaching Is SO important. I hope you are all doing it and following up even with those that don't seem interested bc you never know when their lives will change. There is another man who started coming back to church after 40 years of not coming, after his wife passed away. And it was because of his daughter and the home teacher who wrote faithfully each month that he came back. It is so neat to see those experiences and realize that there are people that are ready to come back, who hear His voice calling them and Follow Him. It's so cool to be a part of that.
.
Thank you for the call and all that you said on the phone, it really was what I needed. And I love that each of you are trying so hard to choose the right, to give your best effort and to follow the Savior's example. I'm so grateful for the example you have been and for your diligent efforts back home. :) I love you so much and am so grateful to have a fabulous family like you! I have been blessed immensely in my life and I thank my Heavenly Father for always leading me in the right way. I've gone through struggles like every one else but I have been blessed by the examples of those around me so much. I know Heavenly Father watches over His children where ever they are, whatever they may be doing, whoever they are, He loves them immensely. I know that.
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Mom- I called Sister Russell but she hasn't returned my call yet, so I'll try again soon. I think what I really want to focus on right now is having more charity for others. I feel like I've been getting more easily frustrated lately. I don't know why but I know it needs to change so I'm going to work on it. Afterall the Savior loved everyone even when they are frustrating so I need to work on doing the same. :)
.
Well I love you all. You are in my prayers! Thank you for your examples I really appreciate them and I know they have led me to who I am today.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Dear Family,
For starters, the best time for me to call will probably be 6pm, I know the girls go to bed soon after but I think that will be the best time that works for me. We're going to try talking to people during the day and then we'll just come back to make calls in the evening so we don't have to worry about driving elsewhere at night. Anywho... I'll talk to you on Sunday around 6. And Happy Birthday EMMY!
.
As for Everything else going on.... Sometimes we go through hard weeks so we can appreciate the good ones. The past week was a hard week. This last week was really good! I had a lot of meetings this week. Between a zone meeting, zone leader council, zone conference, and the mission president's fireside, it's been a SUPER AWESOME week. The highlights were honestly the spirit felt in all those meetings. From our zone meeting when we talked about having the Lord walk hand in hand with us as we did his work to hearing our President's testimonyat the fireside, it was just a fabulous week. It's hard to really put emotion in through these emails but you can trust me, it was a Fantastic week. And after our zone conference, where all the missionaries in a zone meet together with President, I was just so excited to go out and work and talk to every single person that crossed my path that I literally Did talk to everyone, regardless of what situation we were in. It was really cool. And there are a lot more people that are open than I thought there were. :) "The field is white, already to harvest."
.
At our mission president's fireside, President Clayton stood up and spoke to the members present. He encouraged them to share the gospel with their friends and not to be nervous when people ask about it. There are people who are sincerely curious about what we believe and they have questions. In our zone conference President talked about Mormon.org and how useful it is. There is an entire page devoted to answering questions that most people have about the church, so you don't have to scramble around for an answer when people ask you what the restoration means, or what is our stance on dancing (yes, people have asked me that). You can look up the answers yourself or direct them to the website. It's the coolest thing ever and we're actually asked, as missionaries, to go on the website for one hour outside of preparation day to learn more about it so we can help others know more about it. It's that cooL! :)
.
Well other than those fabulous meetings we are having the exciting experience of having Elder Perry come to our stake for stake conference. :) And I happen to have stayed these 6 months in El Cajon JUST so I could see him. Haha okay not really, but it's so exciting to be here for that.
.
So... I don't exactly know what else to say... this has been a Fabulous week, we've had our laughs and some tears, some really tough investigators and some really neat experiences... the same as usual. I'll let you know when anything out of the ordinary happens. :) As for your invitation this week: check out mormon.org and tell someone else (non-member) about it!
I love you all and thank you for your prayers. Stay humble. It's what I'm constantly working on anyway. AND be Excellent to each other. :D
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
.
.Thanks Mom,
I'm so glad we were able to talk on Sunday. I feel like I talked about everything I would have shared today already... But as for the new investigators, Melissa and Gina, they are both wives to less active members. One of the members has been trying to come back to church lately and so he's bringing his family around and Melissa's sister-in-law actually recently got back into the church and was sealed a few months ago! So the work is going well. :) They both have little kids that are super cute. So we enjoy meeting with them.
.
Well as for the rest of this week... We've been super busy! In fact yesterday we met with a less active woman who recently was in a severe car accident. She should have died but she came out with only a broken arm and a few cuts and bruises. She said that God must have saved her life for a reason so she wanted to get back into church and have the missionary lessons again. So we met with her yesterday and she really wants to change her life around. She wants to read the book of mormon and learn everything over again. It was so neat speaking with her and seeing how Heavenly Father gives us so many opportunities to follow Him. She knew that too. And if it hadn't been for her visiting teacher who visited her every month even though she wasn't interested in changing then, she may not have known where to turn after the accident.
.
Visiting and Home teaching Is SO important. I hope you are all doing it and following up even with those that don't seem interested bc you never know when their lives will change. There is another man who started coming back to church after 40 years of not coming, after his wife passed away. And it was because of his daughter and the home teacher who wrote faithfully each month that he came back. It is so neat to see those experiences and realize that there are people that are ready to come back, who hear His voice calling them and Follow Him. It's so cool to be a part of that.
.
Thank you for the call and all that you said on the phone, it really was what I needed. And I love that each of you are trying so hard to choose the right, to give your best effort and to follow the Savior's example. I'm so grateful for the example you have been and for your diligent efforts back home. :) I love you so much and am so grateful to have a fabulous family like you! I have been blessed immensely in my life and I thank my Heavenly Father for always leading me in the right way. I've gone through struggles like every one else but I have been blessed by the examples of those around me so much. I know Heavenly Father watches over His children where ever they are, whatever they may be doing, whoever they are, He loves them immensely. I know that.
.
Mom- I called Sister Russell but she hasn't returned my call yet, so I'll try again soon. I think what I really want to focus on right now is having more charity for others. I feel like I've been getting more easily frustrated lately. I don't know why but I know it needs to change so I'm going to work on it. Afterall the Savior loved everyone even when they are frustrating so I need to work on doing the same. :)
.
Well I love you all. You are in my prayers! Thank you for your examples I really appreciate them and I know they have led me to who I am today.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Week 57 - Thursday, May 10th, 2012
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the emails you wrote this week. I'm just filled with this joy that won't go away. Recently I've been reading about the Savior's visit to the America's in 3rd Nephi and how because of the faith of the people His joy was Full. That is exactly how I feel. So content because others are experiencing the joy, not only of the gospel but of having a Loving Heavenly Father. It just makes me smile. So thank you for the wonderful emails and Mom thanks for the wonderful report you give each week. I'm so glad to hear that everyone is doing well back home. :)
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And HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY OLIVIA! I love you! And Happy early birthday Emmy - you've got till the 11th. :) Which reminds me, mom - when it's mother's day i'll be calling... what time works best for you? We have church at 10am and so we could do it 2pm or later if that works for you guys. I think we're on the same time again.... maybe. :) Will Maddy be home for that or in Peru?
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As for the work in El Cajon, California... it's going really well. We've had a few interesting things happen this week. 1. Our tire was getting flat and mom, although you taught me how to fill a tire I figured I'd probably mess it up, so we asked a lady to help us who gave us a few pointers... I officially can fill up a tire. Ha! took me long enough. 2. We helped at Mormon Helping hands. ( I don't remember that when I lived in AZ do they do it there?) Sister Turner and I were so excited to work, we were making gardens for a half-way house so that they could support themselves food wise. So we leveled the ground make planter boxes. Moved the planter boxes which were heavy. It took four men to carry one and sister turner and I and two beehives manned up and carried one all by ourselves. Then we shoveled in dirt and compost and finally planted lots of plants. It was so much fun. I'm excited for my own garden someday. Maddy says we can put one in the backyard of our housing in Provo. I'm excited. :) 3. These past few weeks have been a bit discouraging. I know it's satan who tries to get us to be discouraged and we should remember the Lord is on our side. Well we had a zone meeting just yesterday and I cannot explain to you all that happened but it was Exactly what I needed. We were talking about the goal we had for the upcoming month as far as baptisms go and when we said the prayer I was feeling discouraged and thought the 6 of our wards could do 6, one each. But I realized after we all talked about our thoughts that I had the lowest goal of the group. And on top of that we had missionaries who thought we could reach 12! The highest we've ever done in a month is 6. I was astounded at the faith of these missionaries. And yet it was so inspiring. One of the new elders asked if he could share a few words. He said he'd served in France for a little while and had to come home for health reasons but he was in CA for the remainder of his mission. He said that the first week of his mission in France, all 7 of his investigators dropped them. If anyone could be discouraged it would be him, but he said that he and his trainer just prayed and worked harder and because of it God placed 7 others in their path who were ready for the gospel. Each of them have now been baptized and 6 brought their whole families to the church and they are each working on a temple sealing. He said that God has a plan and He has His hand in everything and that if we would just let ourselves follow Him and accept His help and work like there is no tomorrow we would see miracles.
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The spirit was there so strong and we all Knew that we could reach that goal of 12 for the month of May. So I'm telling you all this so you can hold us accountable. We are praying for miracles daily and we're going to give it our all. I know that God's hand Is in this work and that He is with us all every step. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a very loving and supportive familiy. :)
I love you All!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
.
And HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY OLIVIA! I love you! And Happy early birthday Emmy - you've got till the 11th. :) Which reminds me, mom - when it's mother's day i'll be calling... what time works best for you? We have church at 10am and so we could do it 2pm or later if that works for you guys. I think we're on the same time again.... maybe. :) Will Maddy be home for that or in Peru?
.
As for the work in El Cajon, California... it's going really well. We've had a few interesting things happen this week. 1. Our tire was getting flat and mom, although you taught me how to fill a tire I figured I'd probably mess it up, so we asked a lady to help us who gave us a few pointers... I officially can fill up a tire. Ha! took me long enough. 2. We helped at Mormon Helping hands. ( I don't remember that when I lived in AZ do they do it there?) Sister Turner and I were so excited to work, we were making gardens for a half-way house so that they could support themselves food wise. So we leveled the ground make planter boxes. Moved the planter boxes which were heavy. It took four men to carry one and sister turner and I and two beehives manned up and carried one all by ourselves. Then we shoveled in dirt and compost and finally planted lots of plants. It was so much fun. I'm excited for my own garden someday. Maddy says we can put one in the backyard of our housing in Provo. I'm excited. :) 3. These past few weeks have been a bit discouraging. I know it's satan who tries to get us to be discouraged and we should remember the Lord is on our side. Well we had a zone meeting just yesterday and I cannot explain to you all that happened but it was Exactly what I needed. We were talking about the goal we had for the upcoming month as far as baptisms go and when we said the prayer I was feeling discouraged and thought the 6 of our wards could do 6, one each. But I realized after we all talked about our thoughts that I had the lowest goal of the group. And on top of that we had missionaries who thought we could reach 12! The highest we've ever done in a month is 6. I was astounded at the faith of these missionaries. And yet it was so inspiring. One of the new elders asked if he could share a few words. He said he'd served in France for a little while and had to come home for health reasons but he was in CA for the remainder of his mission. He said that the first week of his mission in France, all 7 of his investigators dropped them. If anyone could be discouraged it would be him, but he said that he and his trainer just prayed and worked harder and because of it God placed 7 others in their path who were ready for the gospel. Each of them have now been baptized and 6 brought their whole families to the church and they are each working on a temple sealing. He said that God has a plan and He has His hand in everything and that if we would just let ourselves follow Him and accept His help and work like there is no tomorrow we would see miracles.
.
The spirit was there so strong and we all Knew that we could reach that goal of 12 for the month of May. So I'm telling you all this so you can hold us accountable. We are praying for miracles daily and we're going to give it our all. I know that God's hand Is in this work and that He is with us all every step. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a very loving and supportive familiy. :)
I love you All!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Week 56 - Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Here's the latest. I had to laugh about the truck washing incident. It just goes to show that service goes a long, long way. Also, we now know Maureen knows how to wash a truck; I'm sure her Dad will put this information to good use when she gets home! Thank you to each one of you for your thoughts and prayers for Maureen. We are so grateful for them and so happy that she is doing well. -Nile and Candi
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Dear Everyone -
This week has been a week of laughs. I don't know why but it just feels like it. It really has been a good week though. We met with Beth twice this past week which was really good. She's having a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon so we read with her and helped her to better understand and apply it. We met with Don and Ron and they have been out of sorts lately, we're trying to help them get over frustrating life situations by applying the gospel. It was really neat what we ended up talking to them about - we told them how God wants to give us blessings. He's Waiting to give us blessings but He has to let us ask for them and do things that show we are willing and ready for them. So He gives us commandments and promises that He will bless us if we just keep those commandments. He can't break that promise. So if we were just obedient we would be blessed. I also realized while studying this morning that the Savior wants to bless us as well, so much. I was reading in 3 Nephi 17 this morning and He asks the people to bring their sick and ill and injured family to come to Him and be healed. I noticed that He didn't say "I'll come and heal all of you, no worries" but instead He asks them to Bring those who need healing to Him. Just as they had to come to Him and show forth their faith in His healing power, so must we turn to Him if we want to be healed, physically or spiritually. He doesn't just heal everyone that believes in Him, He invites us to Come to Him, Follow Him and He will heal us. It's something that we all have to work on, truly coming to Him.
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Well the other day I found out that someone I had worked with a lot in Green Valley (Lisa) is getting baptized on May 12th! If her husband lets her. We're praying for her. She is such a sweet lady, I'm so happy for her. As for everyone else we're working with - We've worked a lot with less active members here in El Cajon. So many of them are so ready and willing to come back when they feel the spirit. One family in particular we're working with is about to have a baby. So we asked them what we could do for them. The husband, who is less active, said "you can wash my truck." He was joking but we took him up on it and came over yesterday to wash his truck. It was so entertaining because the whole time he was making comments like "I can't believe you're washing my truck," "I can't believe you're washing the wheels," "I can't believe you're drying my truck," "I can't believe you're thanking me for letting you wash my truck!" It was quite entertaining. Following the awe-struck comments he invited us in and told us that he had been praying to know if President Monson was a prophet and if this church was true. (his wife was surprised) He said he had been feeling a "yes" but he wasn't 100% positive. He ended up asking a lot of good questions and we were able to answer them. AND he's been coming to church every week! It's so neat to see people's lives change. They are not people getting baptized, no, but they are changing their life around and using the Atonement again. How neat is that!? It doesn't matter who the person is, we should invite All to partake of the Atonement and come closer to the Savior. :)
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As for Uncle John... He moved. We were supposed to visit him on wednesday and we went to find him gone and his sister telling us he'd moved back up to Nevada. We were pretty sad but hey, there are missionaries in Nevada! And we talked to him, he told us he's going to church and he's going to hunt out the missionaries. So we'll follow up with him.
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We had another Mission President's fireside in Spanish. It was really good - the spirit was so strong and Sister Turner and I were able to sing Called to Serve in Spanish, Memorized! :D We also had interviews yesterday which was really good. President and Sister Clayton are great examples and we are so grateful to have them here with us. They really have the spirit with them and they were called to this mission at this time for a reason. They have taught me a lot.
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Things are going well out here - we had two random people come into our church building on Sunday, checking it out because they lived nearby - so we're going to go visit them. We had a lizard run into our garage... and now it must live under the boxes because we haven't seen it since... And we have a serious ant problem - no worries, we have windex, paper towels and gorilla glue - solves everything.
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Well I hope you are all doing well! I love you and pray for you daily. Stay out of trouble, study the scriptures and preach my gospel, pray daily and go to church. Those things help us to live the gospel every day of our lives!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Dear Everyone -
This week has been a week of laughs. I don't know why but it just feels like it. It really has been a good week though. We met with Beth twice this past week which was really good. She's having a hard time understanding the Book of Mormon so we read with her and helped her to better understand and apply it. We met with Don and Ron and they have been out of sorts lately, we're trying to help them get over frustrating life situations by applying the gospel. It was really neat what we ended up talking to them about - we told them how God wants to give us blessings. He's Waiting to give us blessings but He has to let us ask for them and do things that show we are willing and ready for them. So He gives us commandments and promises that He will bless us if we just keep those commandments. He can't break that promise. So if we were just obedient we would be blessed. I also realized while studying this morning that the Savior wants to bless us as well, so much. I was reading in 3 Nephi 17 this morning and He asks the people to bring their sick and ill and injured family to come to Him and be healed. I noticed that He didn't say "I'll come and heal all of you, no worries" but instead He asks them to Bring those who need healing to Him. Just as they had to come to Him and show forth their faith in His healing power, so must we turn to Him if we want to be healed, physically or spiritually. He doesn't just heal everyone that believes in Him, He invites us to Come to Him, Follow Him and He will heal us. It's something that we all have to work on, truly coming to Him.
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Well the other day I found out that someone I had worked with a lot in Green Valley (Lisa) is getting baptized on May 12th! If her husband lets her. We're praying for her. She is such a sweet lady, I'm so happy for her. As for everyone else we're working with - We've worked a lot with less active members here in El Cajon. So many of them are so ready and willing to come back when they feel the spirit. One family in particular we're working with is about to have a baby. So we asked them what we could do for them. The husband, who is less active, said "you can wash my truck." He was joking but we took him up on it and came over yesterday to wash his truck. It was so entertaining because the whole time he was making comments like "I can't believe you're washing my truck," "I can't believe you're washing the wheels," "I can't believe you're drying my truck," "I can't believe you're thanking me for letting you wash my truck!" It was quite entertaining. Following the awe-struck comments he invited us in and told us that he had been praying to know if President Monson was a prophet and if this church was true. (his wife was surprised) He said he had been feeling a "yes" but he wasn't 100% positive. He ended up asking a lot of good questions and we were able to answer them. AND he's been coming to church every week! It's so neat to see people's lives change. They are not people getting baptized, no, but they are changing their life around and using the Atonement again. How neat is that!? It doesn't matter who the person is, we should invite All to partake of the Atonement and come closer to the Savior. :)
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As for Uncle John... He moved. We were supposed to visit him on wednesday and we went to find him gone and his sister telling us he'd moved back up to Nevada. We were pretty sad but hey, there are missionaries in Nevada! And we talked to him, he told us he's going to church and he's going to hunt out the missionaries. So we'll follow up with him.
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We had another Mission President's fireside in Spanish. It was really good - the spirit was so strong and Sister Turner and I were able to sing Called to Serve in Spanish, Memorized! :D We also had interviews yesterday which was really good. President and Sister Clayton are great examples and we are so grateful to have them here with us. They really have the spirit with them and they were called to this mission at this time for a reason. They have taught me a lot.
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Things are going well out here - we had two random people come into our church building on Sunday, checking it out because they lived nearby - so we're going to go visit them. We had a lizard run into our garage... and now it must live under the boxes because we haven't seen it since... And we have a serious ant problem - no worries, we have windex, paper towels and gorilla glue - solves everything.
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Well I hope you are all doing well! I love you and pray for you daily. Stay out of trouble, study the scriptures and preach my gospel, pray daily and go to church. Those things help us to live the gospel every day of our lives!
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Week 55 - Thursday, April 19th, 2012
To continue on the Miracle from last week...
We met with Uncle John on wednesday and gave him his very own copy of the Book of Mormon. He cried. The Book of Mormon has touched him so much in his life that he was so happy to have one again. When his wife passed away he read the book for days and it was the only thing that brought peace to his life. He was ever so grateful to us for giving him that gift back. Well we talked to him a bit about his life. He ended up telling us that he had experiences in the past that he regretted and he didn't think he could Ever be forgiven for them. I asked him to read Alma 36 that night - he said he would. Well on Friday, Sister Turner met with him while I was on exchanges. She said they sat there for 5 minutes while he explained how the chapter had touched his heart and how he knew he could be forgiven now before he asked them "so what do I need to do to be baptized?" :) It was the sweetest, neatest experience. He wanted so badly to do what was right and be forgiven and the spirit bore testimony to him that it was through baptism. :) So he'll be getting baptized May 5th! We are so happy for him and the blessings he will receive from this choice! It is the best gift ever to see a person who has little hope and happiness left in life to change almost overnight, and come to the conclusion that there is happiness and help ahead and that they can have the Savior's atonement active in their lives. :)
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We had a great Easter too! We ate dinner with the Keleman family - and talked to their less-active kids. The oldest, who we had never met before was so interested in our message and wanted to share her thoughts too. It's amazing the people that are prepared either to find the gospel or come back to the Gospel of Christ. God prepares His children in so many ways and then lets us (members and missionaries) find them and see the miracles occur right in front of us, sometimes we don't have to do anything but smile. We just told Uncle John who we were and suggested a scripture he could read and God did the rest. Sometimes that is all that is required. I hope that I can open my mouth always and share with others the truths of Christ's Gospel and just let them know how much Heavenly Father loves them. He will bless those children who follow Him and He blesses us all with opportunities to come and Follow Him. I hope I can always follow Him and give Him my all.
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I love you all! Sorry this week is short, but know how much I love you. Our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ love you so much more than me. So turn to them, ask for help, ask for strength and allow the Atonement to bless your lives. I know it will. It has most assuredly blessed mine forever. I love my Savior with all my heart. And I say these things in His name.
I love you.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
We met with Uncle John on wednesday and gave him his very own copy of the Book of Mormon. He cried. The Book of Mormon has touched him so much in his life that he was so happy to have one again. When his wife passed away he read the book for days and it was the only thing that brought peace to his life. He was ever so grateful to us for giving him that gift back. Well we talked to him a bit about his life. He ended up telling us that he had experiences in the past that he regretted and he didn't think he could Ever be forgiven for them. I asked him to read Alma 36 that night - he said he would. Well on Friday, Sister Turner met with him while I was on exchanges. She said they sat there for 5 minutes while he explained how the chapter had touched his heart and how he knew he could be forgiven now before he asked them "so what do I need to do to be baptized?" :) It was the sweetest, neatest experience. He wanted so badly to do what was right and be forgiven and the spirit bore testimony to him that it was through baptism. :) So he'll be getting baptized May 5th! We are so happy for him and the blessings he will receive from this choice! It is the best gift ever to see a person who has little hope and happiness left in life to change almost overnight, and come to the conclusion that there is happiness and help ahead and that they can have the Savior's atonement active in their lives. :)
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We had a great Easter too! We ate dinner with the Keleman family - and talked to their less-active kids. The oldest, who we had never met before was so interested in our message and wanted to share her thoughts too. It's amazing the people that are prepared either to find the gospel or come back to the Gospel of Christ. God prepares His children in so many ways and then lets us (members and missionaries) find them and see the miracles occur right in front of us, sometimes we don't have to do anything but smile. We just told Uncle John who we were and suggested a scripture he could read and God did the rest. Sometimes that is all that is required. I hope that I can open my mouth always and share with others the truths of Christ's Gospel and just let them know how much Heavenly Father loves them. He will bless those children who follow Him and He blesses us all with opportunities to come and Follow Him. I hope I can always follow Him and give Him my all.
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I love you all! Sorry this week is short, but know how much I love you. Our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ love you so much more than me. So turn to them, ask for help, ask for strength and allow the Atonement to bless your lives. I know it will. It has most assuredly blessed mine forever. I love my Savior with all my heart. And I say these things in His name.
I love you.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Week 54 - Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Hellooooooo Everyone!
So I feel like to share my sentiments I must quote from the District II movies we watched before we came out. "Im so happy... which is weird... because I am sooo tired." :) I have been so tired lately. We get in at night and I'm ready to crawl into bed. It's just a crazy busy life being a missionary. We run around preaching the Gospel, talking to random people everywhere we go, sharing our beliefs and our testimonies, laughing... and crying... and everything in between. It's an emotional rollercoaster which is more draining then anything else. But it's worth it. :) I love being a missionary and it scares me how little time I have left. Over and Over I've realized how much I want to get done. If only I knew these things at the beginning of my mission. But anyhow... the work still progresses and is wonderful. It is such a rewarding experience.
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This past week has been really fun. I went with the Green Valley sisters which was good, but it was also kinda sad. Flo has regressed a bit and the sisters had no idea why. I was slightly upset that they hadn't stayed more on top of things but I realized that I didn't know what had happened and I didn't need to judge anyone. (Just like President Uchtdorf said) Fortunately I was able to go over and see what was going on. She wouldn't come out and wanted us to leave so I sent in a note to her and when she realized I was there for the day she came out and talked with me. She's doing alright, she just gets overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we do in the church especially when she has a job too. She found out she was getting let off and it had been hard for her, so I told her that God sometimes gives us trials to work through to polish us. ;) I hope she listened to General Conference. She'll be okay. I'm not too worried about her but I do need to write her more often.
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On Friday I was able to go to Imperial Valley. I don't know if you know where that is, but it's an hours drive from Yuma, AZ. Yeah... I was really close to home and it was weird because the closer we got to El Centro, the more I felt like I was in Arizona and it was a little strange. However, it was a really good exchange and I've decided I love the valley. It's really neat there, there is just a special spirit there. Sister Hansen and I were able to discuss what we wanted to do for our Sisters conference next week in our two-hour drive. :) so there is a lot of things going on to keep us on our toes. Then of course we had amazing General Conference! I loved it so much and I took lots of notes. I loved Elder Oak's talk, and President Eyering's, President Uchtdorf's, President Monson's, Elder Holland's, and Elder Ballard's. And I loved Elder Anderson's too... okay so I liked them all so much for many different reasons. They all spoke in a different way to me which was really neat. And I knew that whoever was next to me was getting a completely different experience! All of my questions were answered as well. It was a great weekend. And to start the week, I had a zone leaders council meeting to go to. We ended up talking about ways we could be more exactly obedient - it was a neat experience because I realized the importance of being exactly obedient. It's more than just following rules, it's for our spiritual well-being. We have the spirit more with us when we are exactly obedient. And it's easier to keep going down the right path if we are always making the right choices.
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As for our miracle this week... We've been trying to contact one of our investigators lately and it's just always hard to get a hold of her. Well we finally found her outside one day with her husband and a friend. The friend's name is Uncle John. Uncle John asked us for a Book of Mormon. Uncle John Used to meet with the missionaries a few years ago and he's interested in asking us more questions. We said sure! :) Heavenly Father prepares people and literarly puts them in your path at times. he had just come back from turkey hunting and had happened to be outside with his friends, who happen to be our investigators... perfect. :) I love missionary work. I'll update you on anything else huge that happens. For the time being, we're praying for miracles and for the opportunities and strength to find and teach the people around us. "The Field is white already to harvest" Doctrine and Covenants 4:4
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Well I love you all! Take Luck and pray for the opportunities to share the gospel with those around you!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
So I feel like to share my sentiments I must quote from the District II movies we watched before we came out. "Im so happy... which is weird... because I am sooo tired." :) I have been so tired lately. We get in at night and I'm ready to crawl into bed. It's just a crazy busy life being a missionary. We run around preaching the Gospel, talking to random people everywhere we go, sharing our beliefs and our testimonies, laughing... and crying... and everything in between. It's an emotional rollercoaster which is more draining then anything else. But it's worth it. :) I love being a missionary and it scares me how little time I have left. Over and Over I've realized how much I want to get done. If only I knew these things at the beginning of my mission. But anyhow... the work still progresses and is wonderful. It is such a rewarding experience.
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This past week has been really fun. I went with the Green Valley sisters which was good, but it was also kinda sad. Flo has regressed a bit and the sisters had no idea why. I was slightly upset that they hadn't stayed more on top of things but I realized that I didn't know what had happened and I didn't need to judge anyone. (Just like President Uchtdorf said) Fortunately I was able to go over and see what was going on. She wouldn't come out and wanted us to leave so I sent in a note to her and when she realized I was there for the day she came out and talked with me. She's doing alright, she just gets overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we do in the church especially when she has a job too. She found out she was getting let off and it had been hard for her, so I told her that God sometimes gives us trials to work through to polish us. ;) I hope she listened to General Conference. She'll be okay. I'm not too worried about her but I do need to write her more often.
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On Friday I was able to go to Imperial Valley. I don't know if you know where that is, but it's an hours drive from Yuma, AZ. Yeah... I was really close to home and it was weird because the closer we got to El Centro, the more I felt like I was in Arizona and it was a little strange. However, it was a really good exchange and I've decided I love the valley. It's really neat there, there is just a special spirit there. Sister Hansen and I were able to discuss what we wanted to do for our Sisters conference next week in our two-hour drive. :) so there is a lot of things going on to keep us on our toes. Then of course we had amazing General Conference! I loved it so much and I took lots of notes. I loved Elder Oak's talk, and President Eyering's, President Uchtdorf's, President Monson's, Elder Holland's, and Elder Ballard's. And I loved Elder Anderson's too... okay so I liked them all so much for many different reasons. They all spoke in a different way to me which was really neat. And I knew that whoever was next to me was getting a completely different experience! All of my questions were answered as well. It was a great weekend. And to start the week, I had a zone leaders council meeting to go to. We ended up talking about ways we could be more exactly obedient - it was a neat experience because I realized the importance of being exactly obedient. It's more than just following rules, it's for our spiritual well-being. We have the spirit more with us when we are exactly obedient. And it's easier to keep going down the right path if we are always making the right choices.
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As for our miracle this week... We've been trying to contact one of our investigators lately and it's just always hard to get a hold of her. Well we finally found her outside one day with her husband and a friend. The friend's name is Uncle John. Uncle John asked us for a Book of Mormon. Uncle John Used to meet with the missionaries a few years ago and he's interested in asking us more questions. We said sure! :) Heavenly Father prepares people and literarly puts them in your path at times. he had just come back from turkey hunting and had happened to be outside with his friends, who happen to be our investigators... perfect. :) I love missionary work. I'll update you on anything else huge that happens. For the time being, we're praying for miracles and for the opportunities and strength to find and teach the people around us. "The Field is white already to harvest" Doctrine and Covenants 4:4
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Well I love you all! Take Luck and pray for the opportunities to share the gospel with those around you!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Week 53 - Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Hey Family- I hope you got the pictures and have been able to look at them (from my st. patty's day package). I figured that would be easier then sending memory cards home.
There's so much to share this week that I don't know exactly where to begin...
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This week has been an MTE week and it'll continue for the rest of this week as well. Basically we all get together in different groups of zones to listen to President and talk about what we could do better - whatever he feels inspired to talk about. Well after the first MTE there is something called coaching, where a coach goes out with a companionship and helps them throughout the day to apply what they've learned. Well as a trainer sister I get to go coach half of the proselyting sisters companionships, usually the english ones. To prepare us, we had a leadership training meeting with President and the Mission Department (which was a special treat).
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So for starters Sister Clayton came out with us Tuesday evening to coach us, then we had the leadership training meeting on Thursday which was an all day event. The head person over the proselyting department actually was the mission president in Mesa, Arizona about 5 years ago. Go figure. It was really good and we learned a LOT! I really couldn't tell you all of it now... so you'll have to wait till I get home. :) But the biggest thing we talked about was teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ because that is really the core of Everything. And how better to explain that we believe in Christ than to teach His doctrine and how we follow Him. It was really neat and that is something I will strive to apply throughout my mission. I also realized how little time I have left. Because of this, my companion and I have made a decision that we cannot talk about home.... because it just wouldn't help. It's helped in that we are more focused and I love it. I'm truly trying to apply the Gospel in my life and in my teachings and I'm loving everything I'm learning.
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Well Friday I went and coached Sis. McCloy and Lee after their MTE - which was lots of fun to be with them in my old area Clairemont. We saw lots of miracles. Then yesterday, after my own MTE, I went with some spanish sisters. It was hard. I understood a lot of what they said but I couldn't say much back so I was shockingly quiet. But we saw a huge miracle last night and I was able to bear my testimony along with the other sisters amidst a lot of contention in this family. I said it in English but one of the sisters translated it and the spirit was soooo strong. We all testified of the Savior, of His divine roll and of our Father's Plan for us. It was the most powerful lesson I've been in for a while. And even though there was contention before and we were so confused, as we testified the Spirit touched all of the hearts there and everyone was silent. It was just so powerful. :) So tomorrow I'll be going with Sister Mitchel and sister Richardson to Green Valley and then I'll be with Sis. Park on Friday in Imperial Valley - which is like 4 hours from home. haha Anywho.
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I love working with these sisters, they are so great and I am so fortunate to see miracles with them. It's the greatest assignment Ever! I realized just the other day why Heavenly Father gave me this assignment. Before going to El Cajon I think I was getting a little lazy in Green Valley. Not terribly but I know I wasn't giving my all. Now Heavenly Father is telling me that I have more to give and He's giving me motivation to do it - I have to be able to help other sisters so I better get it myself. :) It's a gentle reminder from Heavenly Father that I need to change and give more of myself.
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Well the last thing I wanted to talk about was about church last Sunday. Our ward is truly becomming a missionary-minded ward. Last week was fast Sunday and everyone who got up bore their testimony about a missionary experience they've had lately. It was really neat. Bishop also got up and bore his testimony. He's been working with a family that has basically asked him if he knew of any churches they could attend. He's pretty excited. He also met with elder Hainey who is over our area this past week. Elder Hainey said that today it isn't missionary work we're doing as members of this church, it's Gathering Israel. It is the time to prepare for the second coming. We are the voice of warning, yet also the voice of comfort and assurance that all who follow Chirst's doctrine will find peace and joy. It's so neat to share that with others. And there are people who have that Israelish gene, they are looking for home and are waiting to find it. They are all around us. Sometimes they will ask us to find home and sometimes we need to invite them. But if we open our mouths we will be able to bring so many of God's children back home and how great will be our joy! :)
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I love this work! I love all that I get to do every day and I'm still trying to become a better person. I hope that the Lord can mold me into the person I need to be and that I'll be humble enough to listen. That is my constant prayer and I'm grateful that the Lord allows me to learn and grow. :) I Love you all and hope all is going well back home! Talk to everyone and share who you are with them. You never know who is ready to hear the gospel message.
Lots of Love,
Sister Maureen Davis
There's so much to share this week that I don't know exactly where to begin...
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This week has been an MTE week and it'll continue for the rest of this week as well. Basically we all get together in different groups of zones to listen to President and talk about what we could do better - whatever he feels inspired to talk about. Well after the first MTE there is something called coaching, where a coach goes out with a companionship and helps them throughout the day to apply what they've learned. Well as a trainer sister I get to go coach half of the proselyting sisters companionships, usually the english ones. To prepare us, we had a leadership training meeting with President and the Mission Department (which was a special treat).
.
So for starters Sister Clayton came out with us Tuesday evening to coach us, then we had the leadership training meeting on Thursday which was an all day event. The head person over the proselyting department actually was the mission president in Mesa, Arizona about 5 years ago. Go figure. It was really good and we learned a LOT! I really couldn't tell you all of it now... so you'll have to wait till I get home. :) But the biggest thing we talked about was teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ because that is really the core of Everything. And how better to explain that we believe in Christ than to teach His doctrine and how we follow Him. It was really neat and that is something I will strive to apply throughout my mission. I also realized how little time I have left. Because of this, my companion and I have made a decision that we cannot talk about home.... because it just wouldn't help. It's helped in that we are more focused and I love it. I'm truly trying to apply the Gospel in my life and in my teachings and I'm loving everything I'm learning.
.
Well Friday I went and coached Sis. McCloy and Lee after their MTE - which was lots of fun to be with them in my old area Clairemont. We saw lots of miracles. Then yesterday, after my own MTE, I went with some spanish sisters. It was hard. I understood a lot of what they said but I couldn't say much back so I was shockingly quiet. But we saw a huge miracle last night and I was able to bear my testimony along with the other sisters amidst a lot of contention in this family. I said it in English but one of the sisters translated it and the spirit was soooo strong. We all testified of the Savior, of His divine roll and of our Father's Plan for us. It was the most powerful lesson I've been in for a while. And even though there was contention before and we were so confused, as we testified the Spirit touched all of the hearts there and everyone was silent. It was just so powerful. :) So tomorrow I'll be going with Sister Mitchel and sister Richardson to Green Valley and then I'll be with Sis. Park on Friday in Imperial Valley - which is like 4 hours from home. haha Anywho.
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I love working with these sisters, they are so great and I am so fortunate to see miracles with them. It's the greatest assignment Ever! I realized just the other day why Heavenly Father gave me this assignment. Before going to El Cajon I think I was getting a little lazy in Green Valley. Not terribly but I know I wasn't giving my all. Now Heavenly Father is telling me that I have more to give and He's giving me motivation to do it - I have to be able to help other sisters so I better get it myself. :) It's a gentle reminder from Heavenly Father that I need to change and give more of myself.
.
Well the last thing I wanted to talk about was about church last Sunday. Our ward is truly becomming a missionary-minded ward. Last week was fast Sunday and everyone who got up bore their testimony about a missionary experience they've had lately. It was really neat. Bishop also got up and bore his testimony. He's been working with a family that has basically asked him if he knew of any churches they could attend. He's pretty excited. He also met with elder Hainey who is over our area this past week. Elder Hainey said that today it isn't missionary work we're doing as members of this church, it's Gathering Israel. It is the time to prepare for the second coming. We are the voice of warning, yet also the voice of comfort and assurance that all who follow Chirst's doctrine will find peace and joy. It's so neat to share that with others. And there are people who have that Israelish gene, they are looking for home and are waiting to find it. They are all around us. Sometimes they will ask us to find home and sometimes we need to invite them. But if we open our mouths we will be able to bring so many of God's children back home and how great will be our joy! :)
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I love this work! I love all that I get to do every day and I'm still trying to become a better person. I hope that the Lord can mold me into the person I need to be and that I'll be humble enough to listen. That is my constant prayer and I'm grateful that the Lord allows me to learn and grow. :) I Love you all and hope all is going well back home! Talk to everyone and share who you are with them. You never know who is ready to hear the gospel message.
Lots of Love,
Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Week 52 - Thursday, March 15th, 2012
Dear Family,
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Life has been good. We've been chugging along as usual. :) I can't remember much about this week except for Sunday. Sunday was a really hard day, we had so many goals that we were trying to meet and we seemed to not be able to meet any of them and I was just plain frustrated. It was hard but I realized that I needed to try working harder and to trust God more. So after a pretty dismal afternoon and a difficult conversation with someone who is Extrememly opposed to the church... we just wanted to go home BUT, Heavenly Father knew it would be a difficult day so He blessed us with a Mission President's Fireside that night. It was truly a tender mercy. We got there and were able to practice the song we were singing that night, and immediately we started feeling better. However the best part of the whole thing was when President got up and bore his testimony. He talked about the spirit we felt as we listened to the music and the testimonies and then said "so what?" What will we do now that we've felt that spirit? When Elder Zwick was here, his main question was "Am I Willing?" Am I willing to change? What am I willing to change? He told us that if we are willing to change, we will have the Spirit. If we are Not willing to change, we won't have the spirit. So what are we willing to change? It was an eye opener for me. Recently I have been a bit stubborn with the way I do things in my work. I want to do it my way at my own leisure and that's just not how it works. So I realized I needed to change to have the Spirit with me in my work, I need to be More willing to do God's will and not my own.
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President also mentioned the power of the Atonement, that we can change, that because of the atonement we have the opportunity and ability to change and become more like our Father in Heaven. I didn't really understand that until yesterday morning when I felt very overwhelmed during study. I felt like I'm not trying hard enough, that I haven't been a good example because we haven't been able to find Anyone in a few weeks. I was so frustrated with myself and Sis. Turner piped up and said "do you remember what President talked about last night? The Atonement can help us in this predicament too. We don't have to continue feeling like we can't do anything and that we're hopeless and helpless. We don't need to feel like we're bad missionaries. Because of the Atonement we can put the past behind us and start clean and fresh Today!" I had to laugh about that because that's what I'm teaching everyone but I apply it to sins of commission and in this case I guess we've been guilty of sins of omission. But regardless of what the case may be we can be forgiven. We can start fresh and clean! The weight was lifted off my shoulders and I realized just how important this gospel is. That we can't receive the fullness of the Atonement's effects without baptism by the Priesthood authority of God. What does that mean? we must be baptized by someone who holds that Priesthood to truly have a remission of sins. Yes, we feel better but the weight cannot be taken away without access to that atoning grace. I understand that now and I'm so grateful that I have that in my life and that I was able to feel that yesterday morning. :) I know this church is true. I know the Savior did perform that Atonement, purely out of love for us and for our Father in Heaven. That Atonement covers Everything we do if we follow His example, are baptized by those holding the Priesthood power and allow the Atonement to work in our lives by having faith and repenting. It is necessary for those feelings of guilt and shame to be gone. I love my Savior! I'm so grateful for all He has done for me and I hope and pray that I can share even a bit of that truth with others. :)
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I love you all! Thanks for letting me share my experience, not that you had any choice in the matter... ;) But I truly do love the Lord and this Gospel and I know He loves each and every one of us! :)
Keep setting wonderful examples and let the Atonement work in your life by being "willing to change" always.
Love you,
Love Sister Maureen Davis
PS Happy Early Birthday Mom!
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Life has been good. We've been chugging along as usual. :) I can't remember much about this week except for Sunday. Sunday was a really hard day, we had so many goals that we were trying to meet and we seemed to not be able to meet any of them and I was just plain frustrated. It was hard but I realized that I needed to try working harder and to trust God more. So after a pretty dismal afternoon and a difficult conversation with someone who is Extrememly opposed to the church... we just wanted to go home BUT, Heavenly Father knew it would be a difficult day so He blessed us with a Mission President's Fireside that night. It was truly a tender mercy. We got there and were able to practice the song we were singing that night, and immediately we started feeling better. However the best part of the whole thing was when President got up and bore his testimony. He talked about the spirit we felt as we listened to the music and the testimonies and then said "so what?" What will we do now that we've felt that spirit? When Elder Zwick was here, his main question was "Am I Willing?" Am I willing to change? What am I willing to change? He told us that if we are willing to change, we will have the Spirit. If we are Not willing to change, we won't have the spirit. So what are we willing to change? It was an eye opener for me. Recently I have been a bit stubborn with the way I do things in my work. I want to do it my way at my own leisure and that's just not how it works. So I realized I needed to change to have the Spirit with me in my work, I need to be More willing to do God's will and not my own.
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President also mentioned the power of the Atonement, that we can change, that because of the atonement we have the opportunity and ability to change and become more like our Father in Heaven. I didn't really understand that until yesterday morning when I felt very overwhelmed during study. I felt like I'm not trying hard enough, that I haven't been a good example because we haven't been able to find Anyone in a few weeks. I was so frustrated with myself and Sis. Turner piped up and said "do you remember what President talked about last night? The Atonement can help us in this predicament too. We don't have to continue feeling like we can't do anything and that we're hopeless and helpless. We don't need to feel like we're bad missionaries. Because of the Atonement we can put the past behind us and start clean and fresh Today!" I had to laugh about that because that's what I'm teaching everyone but I apply it to sins of commission and in this case I guess we've been guilty of sins of omission. But regardless of what the case may be we can be forgiven. We can start fresh and clean! The weight was lifted off my shoulders and I realized just how important this gospel is. That we can't receive the fullness of the Atonement's effects without baptism by the Priesthood authority of God. What does that mean? we must be baptized by someone who holds that Priesthood to truly have a remission of sins. Yes, we feel better but the weight cannot be taken away without access to that atoning grace. I understand that now and I'm so grateful that I have that in my life and that I was able to feel that yesterday morning. :) I know this church is true. I know the Savior did perform that Atonement, purely out of love for us and for our Father in Heaven. That Atonement covers Everything we do if we follow His example, are baptized by those holding the Priesthood power and allow the Atonement to work in our lives by having faith and repenting. It is necessary for those feelings of guilt and shame to be gone. I love my Savior! I'm so grateful for all He has done for me and I hope and pray that I can share even a bit of that truth with others. :)
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I love you all! Thanks for letting me share my experience, not that you had any choice in the matter... ;) But I truly do love the Lord and this Gospel and I know He loves each and every one of us! :)
Keep setting wonderful examples and let the Atonement work in your life by being "willing to change" always.
Love you,
Love Sister Maureen Davis
PS Happy Early Birthday Mom!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Week 51 - Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Okay, logistics first, keep asking Maddy about registration dates, i think I'll probably get on next week to see what I need to do about it and then I'll let you know more. Thanks mom!
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As for everything else... This was a long week. We've been stuggling to find people for a while now and we're just praying to get more out of our comfort zones to do so. I did exchanges on Friday with Sis. Hudson! It was so fun to be back with her and surprising how easy it was to teach with her, we still have the rhythm down I guess. :) It was really neat, we met with our latest new investigator, Dylan who was less than enthusiastic but the family (who are less active) were so excited and they were bearing testimony to him. It was really neat!
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While on exchanges we learned the importance of member work. There was a lady we met with from my ward who was sweet as ever and who shared a really neat miracle story about missionary efforts. She had been talking to someone she works with about religion without ever identifying her religion. So the lady she was talking with told her that for the past five years she's been having a dream and she said she thinks it's God speaking to her through this dream. Sister Oaks, the member, said she believed her and that she knows God can speak through dreams. So this lady was surprised and ended up telling her about the dream. She dreamt that she was walking around this beautiful tree, And on the tree there was fruit that was like an orange but Golden. Her greatest desire was to have her family try some of this fruit! So she looked around and saw a long path from the tree with fruit scattered down the path. That's all she remembered. But sis. oaks was astonished and told her she knew someone else who had a dream very similar to that and that it was found in the Book of Mormon and it actually explains what it means in that book. The woman was so surprised, she wanted to read it! So sis. oaks is going to get her a copy of it this week. It was so neat. The Lord really prepares people to hear His gospel and the truth. It's so neat!
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The rest of the week was fairly good, Beth and Ruth should have a baptismal date next week, Beth is going to pray for a date, she's finally ready! We're so excited for them. as for Minerva, we're still working with her. We just did a family home evening with the family last night and we ended up playing bula, bula haha they all loved it (including my companion) So I'm just spreading the traditions. :)
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Oh and this last testimony meeting was so sweet. Everyone got up and bore their testimonies about missionary work! And the less active woman we've brought back to church stayed for Gospel Principles class and made so many wonderful comments. Things are looking really good for that family too.
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Thanks for the emails each week. They really brighten my day. I love you all and hope all is going well back home. I hope the nasty bug has left too. :) Love you! Give everyone a hug and a kiss from me.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
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As for everything else... This was a long week. We've been stuggling to find people for a while now and we're just praying to get more out of our comfort zones to do so. I did exchanges on Friday with Sis. Hudson! It was so fun to be back with her and surprising how easy it was to teach with her, we still have the rhythm down I guess. :) It was really neat, we met with our latest new investigator, Dylan who was less than enthusiastic but the family (who are less active) were so excited and they were bearing testimony to him. It was really neat!
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While on exchanges we learned the importance of member work. There was a lady we met with from my ward who was sweet as ever and who shared a really neat miracle story about missionary efforts. She had been talking to someone she works with about religion without ever identifying her religion. So the lady she was talking with told her that for the past five years she's been having a dream and she said she thinks it's God speaking to her through this dream. Sister Oaks, the member, said she believed her and that she knows God can speak through dreams. So this lady was surprised and ended up telling her about the dream. She dreamt that she was walking around this beautiful tree, And on the tree there was fruit that was like an orange but Golden. Her greatest desire was to have her family try some of this fruit! So she looked around and saw a long path from the tree with fruit scattered down the path. That's all she remembered. But sis. oaks was astonished and told her she knew someone else who had a dream very similar to that and that it was found in the Book of Mormon and it actually explains what it means in that book. The woman was so surprised, she wanted to read it! So sis. oaks is going to get her a copy of it this week. It was so neat. The Lord really prepares people to hear His gospel and the truth. It's so neat!
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The rest of the week was fairly good, Beth and Ruth should have a baptismal date next week, Beth is going to pray for a date, she's finally ready! We're so excited for them. as for Minerva, we're still working with her. We just did a family home evening with the family last night and we ended up playing bula, bula haha they all loved it (including my companion) So I'm just spreading the traditions. :)
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Oh and this last testimony meeting was so sweet. Everyone got up and bore their testimonies about missionary work! And the less active woman we've brought back to church stayed for Gospel Principles class and made so many wonderful comments. Things are looking really good for that family too.
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Thanks for the emails each week. They really brighten my day. I love you all and hope all is going well back home. I hope the nasty bug has left too. :) Love you! Give everyone a hug and a kiss from me.
Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Week 50 - Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Dear Family and Friends... yeah! :)
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Hey I love you all. I've had a great week. From meeting with Elder Zwick, twice, in zone leader council and zone conference, to the miracles we've had with some less actives coming back to church, to our exchange with the spanish sisters. It's been a good week. I wrote down Lots of notes from Elder Zwick but they have all seemed to escape my mind. I do remember that he warned us to protect our companions from making mistakes and not being exactly obedient because that can lead to bigger things. And I remember how much he and his wife stressed using Preach my Gospel, not only as missionaries but as members. It just states our doctrine so purely and simply. It was great and I'll have to share more of my notes when I get home. :)
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As for the exchange it was good, I'm getting better at knowing what to do for these sisters. Sister Hansen and I talked about the vision and goals we have for our sisters and I'm excited to work more with them. In fact I'm going to be with Sis. Hudson again this friday! I'm excited to be with her again and see how she's doing. We're singing in the upcoming fireside in Poway. Which reminds me, today when I was at the Temple I saw Sis. Davis and Brother Gaughan, both wonderful members I served with up in Green Valley! It was so cool to see them there. And Sis. Davis did a double take when she saw me. :) I also saw Sis. Tengburg, another one from Green Valley at our zone conference lunch. I love Green Valley people. :) It was a really good day at the Temple today too. We had some investigators that we prayed for there and I think we have some ideas of what we can do with them so I'm excited.
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As for the miracles with some less actives. There was this lady who hasn't gone to church in forever. She just didnt think it was important, so we talked about the sacrament and preparing for it. It was like a light went on and she realized that she needed to prepare so she said "sisters, I'll be there. and I'll prepare too." She was there just as she said! Even though her grandson was in the hospital. Her home teacher went and gave him a blessing after church and when they gave the blessing, the spirit was so strong that an athiest who was dating this lady's daughter asked to learn more about that feeling. So on friday we taught him and he was excited to learn more. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us with miracles when we are working hard. We've been so blessed lately. I love this work and everything about it! I hope you are all doing well and staying humble and keeping up a great relationship with our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants only the best for us. I know that is true and I love sharing it every day of my life. :)
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Ps - I love working with the people in El Cajon. I love to "consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking step into the sun. There's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than - no hold on. Sorry, that's the Lion King. But the point still stands: leave them alone!" Okay sorry I had to throw that on. Sister Turner's sister sends her a Dr. Who quote every week so I thought I'd share the latest one, just for you mom. ;)
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Hey I love you all. I've had a great week. From meeting with Elder Zwick, twice, in zone leader council and zone conference, to the miracles we've had with some less actives coming back to church, to our exchange with the spanish sisters. It's been a good week. I wrote down Lots of notes from Elder Zwick but they have all seemed to escape my mind. I do remember that he warned us to protect our companions from making mistakes and not being exactly obedient because that can lead to bigger things. And I remember how much he and his wife stressed using Preach my Gospel, not only as missionaries but as members. It just states our doctrine so purely and simply. It was great and I'll have to share more of my notes when I get home. :)
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As for the exchange it was good, I'm getting better at knowing what to do for these sisters. Sister Hansen and I talked about the vision and goals we have for our sisters and I'm excited to work more with them. In fact I'm going to be with Sis. Hudson again this friday! I'm excited to be with her again and see how she's doing. We're singing in the upcoming fireside in Poway. Which reminds me, today when I was at the Temple I saw Sis. Davis and Brother Gaughan, both wonderful members I served with up in Green Valley! It was so cool to see them there. And Sis. Davis did a double take when she saw me. :) I also saw Sis. Tengburg, another one from Green Valley at our zone conference lunch. I love Green Valley people. :) It was a really good day at the Temple today too. We had some investigators that we prayed for there and I think we have some ideas of what we can do with them so I'm excited.
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As for the miracles with some less actives. There was this lady who hasn't gone to church in forever. She just didnt think it was important, so we talked about the sacrament and preparing for it. It was like a light went on and she realized that she needed to prepare so she said "sisters, I'll be there. and I'll prepare too." She was there just as she said! Even though her grandson was in the hospital. Her home teacher went and gave him a blessing after church and when they gave the blessing, the spirit was so strong that an athiest who was dating this lady's daughter asked to learn more about that feeling. So on friday we taught him and he was excited to learn more. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us with miracles when we are working hard. We've been so blessed lately. I love this work and everything about it! I hope you are all doing well and staying humble and keeping up a great relationship with our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants only the best for us. I know that is true and I love sharing it every day of my life. :)
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Ps - I love working with the people in El Cajon. I love to "consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking step into the sun. There's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than - no hold on. Sorry, that's the Lion King. But the point still stands: leave them alone!" Okay sorry I had to throw that on. Sister Turner's sister sends her a Dr. Who quote every week so I thought I'd share the latest one, just for you mom. ;)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Week 49 - Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Dear Family,
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This has been a Very exciting and busy week. For starters the whole mission got shifted. haha in other words about 75% of the missionaries got switched. Sis. Park is training and she got sent to Imperial Valley (or the desert) which is about a 2 hour drive away from everything, to whitewash an area where they mostly speak spanish. :) She'll probably learn a few spanish phrases. She's a great missionary so I know she will do well. I am now serving with Sis. Park's trainee, Sis. Turner. She's from Canada - my first foreign companion. I'm trying to learn canadian from her. :) She is a fabulous missionary and has the strongest desires to do what is right and bless everyone's lives. We are already off to a great start in teaching together. We also discovered that we have very similar likes, I don't know how we figured this out but we both absolutely love the movie Tangled, and Pride and Prejudice (6 hr version), and Dr. Who, she knows "My Turn on Earth" and we were singing the Golden Rule song the other day and to top it all off she is a fan of the Nancy Drew games. She about screamed when she found out I knew about them. Haha again, no idea how those subjects came up but I'm expecting other similarities. :) She's awesome and she keeps me laughing, which is great. We're having a lot of fun with the work.
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Well back to transfer meeting, so since Hermana Petty (the spanish training sister) left they've needed to fill the spot and since Sis. Park is going to the desert she won't be able to come and do exchanges every week so... President called Hermana Hansen and I in and we are now the new training sisters. Oh boy. So I get to go on exchanges with sisters every friday starting this friday and I go to meetings twice a month for leadership and zone councils. So far I'm learning a lot and I really think Heavenly Father has a lot of things for me to learn, not only from other sisters but other elders too. The only real scary part is that both Hermana Hansen and I are new to this together so we're trying to figure it out. It'll be entertaining.
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Well, this month is our yearly mission tour, so Elder Zwick from the first Quorum of the 70 will be coming to train us, tour our mission and speak at our zone conference. I'm excited! He will be training us in a zone council meeting on Tuesday the 21st so I will be having preparation day and emailing on Monday the 20th instead, just so you know. :) And he's going to interview certain missionaries too. We're excited to learn from a general authority and I know it will be a great experience too. President and Sister Clayton tell us that he's very enthusiastic so it will be lots of fun. :)
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I'm sure I'll get your letters today and I'm so excited to hear from you! I got Olivia's valentine last week. It was so cute, I loved it and I showed it to all the sisters at our transfer meeting. Thanks Olivia! I also had lots of fun with the bubble wrap and popped ever bubble. ;)
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The last piece of news is that Beth and Ruth will not be able to be baptized this saturday, Ruth's dad needs to sign the parental permission slip and he wants a few more weeks. We actually might start teaching him. So we'll see but they're going to postpone the baptism for a few weeks. We're a little sad but not heartbroken. They really want to get baptized and I know Heavenly Father will bless them with miracles.
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Well I love you all and I wish you the best in all the activities you are busy doing. I love you all Bunches!
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With love,
Sister Maureen Davis
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This has been a Very exciting and busy week. For starters the whole mission got shifted. haha in other words about 75% of the missionaries got switched. Sis. Park is training and she got sent to Imperial Valley (or the desert) which is about a 2 hour drive away from everything, to whitewash an area where they mostly speak spanish. :) She'll probably learn a few spanish phrases. She's a great missionary so I know she will do well. I am now serving with Sis. Park's trainee, Sis. Turner. She's from Canada - my first foreign companion. I'm trying to learn canadian from her. :) She is a fabulous missionary and has the strongest desires to do what is right and bless everyone's lives. We are already off to a great start in teaching together. We also discovered that we have very similar likes, I don't know how we figured this out but we both absolutely love the movie Tangled, and Pride and Prejudice (6 hr version), and Dr. Who, she knows "My Turn on Earth" and we were singing the Golden Rule song the other day and to top it all off she is a fan of the Nancy Drew games. She about screamed when she found out I knew about them. Haha again, no idea how those subjects came up but I'm expecting other similarities. :) She's awesome and she keeps me laughing, which is great. We're having a lot of fun with the work.
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Well back to transfer meeting, so since Hermana Petty (the spanish training sister) left they've needed to fill the spot and since Sis. Park is going to the desert she won't be able to come and do exchanges every week so... President called Hermana Hansen and I in and we are now the new training sisters. Oh boy. So I get to go on exchanges with sisters every friday starting this friday and I go to meetings twice a month for leadership and zone councils. So far I'm learning a lot and I really think Heavenly Father has a lot of things for me to learn, not only from other sisters but other elders too. The only real scary part is that both Hermana Hansen and I are new to this together so we're trying to figure it out. It'll be entertaining.
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Well, this month is our yearly mission tour, so Elder Zwick from the first Quorum of the 70 will be coming to train us, tour our mission and speak at our zone conference. I'm excited! He will be training us in a zone council meeting on Tuesday the 21st so I will be having preparation day and emailing on Monday the 20th instead, just so you know. :) And he's going to interview certain missionaries too. We're excited to learn from a general authority and I know it will be a great experience too. President and Sister Clayton tell us that he's very enthusiastic so it will be lots of fun. :)
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I'm sure I'll get your letters today and I'm so excited to hear from you! I got Olivia's valentine last week. It was so cute, I loved it and I showed it to all the sisters at our transfer meeting. Thanks Olivia! I also had lots of fun with the bubble wrap and popped ever bubble. ;)
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The last piece of news is that Beth and Ruth will not be able to be baptized this saturday, Ruth's dad needs to sign the parental permission slip and he wants a few more weeks. We actually might start teaching him. So we'll see but they're going to postpone the baptism for a few weeks. We're a little sad but not heartbroken. They really want to get baptized and I know Heavenly Father will bless them with miracles.
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Well I love you all and I wish you the best in all the activities you are busy doing. I love you all Bunches!
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With love,
Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Week 48 - Thursday, February, 2nd, 2012
Here's Maureen's latest. Sounds like the sisters are getting a shake up.
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*sigh* Tomorrow is transfers again. Man, Heavenly Father wants to keep me on my toes... yet again I won't be missing a transfer meeting. Sis. Park is leaving. And just as we were becomming power-house sisters! It makes me sad but I know it is for our good. Sis. Petty, an Australian sister, who came spanish speaking just left to the airport. :( We've been going crazy trying to get everything accomplished and get her on her way. I'm just surprised we didn't start crying. She was an amazing sister missionary. One of the first who really made me feel at home here even though she didn't know me. So we'll miss her and I've decided we should visit her in Australia soon. ;) haha
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So yeah, Sister Park is leaving and will be training (which means she's whitewashing and opening up a new english sisters area! that's so exciting) But I will stay in Granite Hills and will get someone new tomorrow. With the small number of us I assume it'll either be Sis. McCloy again, Sis. Hudson again or Sis. Turner (sis. parks prior companion) unless President Really switches things around! It's funny having 8 english proselyting sisters in the mission, we get to know each other pretty well. I've been companions with 4 of them so far (not counting two others now at home). Now we have 2 new so that will bring us to 10! woohooo!
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Anyways... Update on one of our favorite investigators: Beth and her daughter Ruth have a baptismal date for Feb 11th! It was so neat to see the spirit working on them. We taught part of the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked a lot about baptism. Beth was listening intently and Ruth enjoyed listening as always. We then invited them to be baptized for Feb 18th. Ruth said she would then realized she had something that day and she'd be at her dad's anyway. But it was pretty funny because as we planned for them earlier that week we had the idea of either Feb 11th or 18th. So we invited them for the 11th and they both said they'd do it! While Beth was thinking about agreeing for that date Ruth kept saying "say Yes! say Yes" haha Carston told us he was excited to be baptized on July 1st. After he turns 8 haha. It was just so amazing to see them progressing. And they repeatedly told us how reading scriptures as a family has helped them so much. It was a wonderful experience and we're so happy for them.
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Side notes: mom the shuffle won't work because there is no button to push play unless you have the special headphones which I obviously cannot use. ;) but it's alright I've been using the music on my ipod in the car. So thanks for that! Oh and I finally made my birthday cake which was delicious! And we went to the mission home today for lunch so President could say goodbye to sis. Petty, all the new missionaries were there so we got to meet them. Hmmm... I can't think of much else. My mind is wandering as I'm still thinking of the numerous things that need to be done before Sister Park leaves tomorrow. But know that I love you all so much! I miss you but know that everything is well.
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I love you all! XoOxooxXxooOxXoo :)
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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*sigh* Tomorrow is transfers again. Man, Heavenly Father wants to keep me on my toes... yet again I won't be missing a transfer meeting. Sis. Park is leaving. And just as we were becomming power-house sisters! It makes me sad but I know it is for our good. Sis. Petty, an Australian sister, who came spanish speaking just left to the airport. :( We've been going crazy trying to get everything accomplished and get her on her way. I'm just surprised we didn't start crying. She was an amazing sister missionary. One of the first who really made me feel at home here even though she didn't know me. So we'll miss her and I've decided we should visit her in Australia soon. ;) haha
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So yeah, Sister Park is leaving and will be training (which means she's whitewashing and opening up a new english sisters area! that's so exciting) But I will stay in Granite Hills and will get someone new tomorrow. With the small number of us I assume it'll either be Sis. McCloy again, Sis. Hudson again or Sis. Turner (sis. parks prior companion) unless President Really switches things around! It's funny having 8 english proselyting sisters in the mission, we get to know each other pretty well. I've been companions with 4 of them so far (not counting two others now at home). Now we have 2 new so that will bring us to 10! woohooo!
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Anyways... Update on one of our favorite investigators: Beth and her daughter Ruth have a baptismal date for Feb 11th! It was so neat to see the spirit working on them. We taught part of the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked a lot about baptism. Beth was listening intently and Ruth enjoyed listening as always. We then invited them to be baptized for Feb 18th. Ruth said she would then realized she had something that day and she'd be at her dad's anyway. But it was pretty funny because as we planned for them earlier that week we had the idea of either Feb 11th or 18th. So we invited them for the 11th and they both said they'd do it! While Beth was thinking about agreeing for that date Ruth kept saying "say Yes! say Yes" haha Carston told us he was excited to be baptized on July 1st. After he turns 8 haha. It was just so amazing to see them progressing. And they repeatedly told us how reading scriptures as a family has helped them so much. It was a wonderful experience and we're so happy for them.
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Side notes: mom the shuffle won't work because there is no button to push play unless you have the special headphones which I obviously cannot use. ;) but it's alright I've been using the music on my ipod in the car. So thanks for that! Oh and I finally made my birthday cake which was delicious! And we went to the mission home today for lunch so President could say goodbye to sis. Petty, all the new missionaries were there so we got to meet them. Hmmm... I can't think of much else. My mind is wandering as I'm still thinking of the numerous things that need to be done before Sister Park leaves tomorrow. But know that I love you all so much! I miss you but know that everything is well.
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I love you all! XoOxooxXxooOxXoo :)
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Week 47 - Thursday, January 26th, 2012
It sounds like Maureen is really having a great experience with her newest companion. We're so grateful that she is happy and progressing. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for her. I know that they help her.
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Candi
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Dear everyone!
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I'm sorry I don't have too long to write but I do have a few things to share. Not so much about the miracles this week but more on the side of what I've been learning this week. Heavenly Father truly has a plan for us and He's organized it so well that I don't believe anything is a coincidence. :)
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For starters, I have an amazing companion that is teaching me so much. She is a hard worker and teaches me how to work more effectively and helps me know what I'm supposed to do. But what I've really been impressed about and what I'm really learning from her is my purpose as a missionary. And I've begun to realize what I'm Really doing here on my mission. I'm bringing people to the gospel and helping them receive those saving ordinances that Only come through Christ's church. Not just non-members but members alike. When I get home I will know and hopefully will always remember what I must do as a member of Christ's church, help Everyone receive those ordinances! Never will you see me miss church (unless it's a dire circumstance) because the Sacrament is far too important. Never will I slack in my callings because the people whom I serve are far too important for me to be lazy or "too busy." Never will I pass up an opportunity to go to the Temple and perform those sacred ordinances for those who have never had the opportunity. Never will I Not teach my children about their Savior because they need that testimony early on in life. And Never will I forget what my Savior has done for me. I will wear out my life in serving Him. That is what my mission has taught me. :)
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He has a work for me to do, and something I learned this past Sunday is that I need to have more faith in His plan. This past Sunday was stake conference. Only it was a regional conference for all of Southern California, so a few members of the 70, Sister Thompson of the Relief Society presidency and Elder Perry spoke to us. I loved all of their talks! Elder Johnson spoke to us about faith and how many of us feel that faith is, "if I pray long enough or if I fast enough I will get what I want because I have faith that God will give it to me." I used to think that way too. When I was about 8 I thought I had enough faith like Peter, and if I used my faith I could walk on water like him! I tried, several times, to walk on the water in my pool. Unfortunately I just kept falling in. However, in my eight-year-old mind I reasoned out that if Heavenly Father ever needed me to walk on water He would let me (like if someone was drowning or something). I almost figured it out that day I tried walking on water. Faith isn't hoping for something long enough to get it, praying about it and fasting over it tirelessly. It is believing that God has a plan for me, even though I can't see what that plan is right now; it's knowing that He has a plan for me that will lead me to true and lasting happiness that I can't even fathom in this life. And then working on following HIS plan to bring me to that place. We exercise that faith when we pray to know His plan and let His plan come to pass and help us on the way when it's hard. That is faith. So when it comes to walking on water, if it's part of His plan for my happiness, it will happen. But regardless of whether I walk on water or not, I know I will be happy as I follow His plan for me. :)
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I love Heavenly Father, He loves me, He has a plan for me and He wants me to succeed in that plan. He encourages me to walk the path of faith with Him, though I cannot always see the way. He gives me an iron rod to hold on to: scriptures, Prophets, revelation. And most importantly He gave me a Savior, who is Christ the Lord; who redeems me, who enables me and who provides resurrection and a possibility of Eternal Life. His plan is flawless and perfect and I love it. I love teaching it, I love sharing it and I love seeing it light others lives. I love my missionary service and I couldn't be near as happy without it. :)
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I love you all!
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Love, Sister Maureen Davis
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Candi
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Dear everyone!
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I'm sorry I don't have too long to write but I do have a few things to share. Not so much about the miracles this week but more on the side of what I've been learning this week. Heavenly Father truly has a plan for us and He's organized it so well that I don't believe anything is a coincidence. :)
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For starters, I have an amazing companion that is teaching me so much. She is a hard worker and teaches me how to work more effectively and helps me know what I'm supposed to do. But what I've really been impressed about and what I'm really learning from her is my purpose as a missionary. And I've begun to realize what I'm Really doing here on my mission. I'm bringing people to the gospel and helping them receive those saving ordinances that Only come through Christ's church. Not just non-members but members alike. When I get home I will know and hopefully will always remember what I must do as a member of Christ's church, help Everyone receive those ordinances! Never will you see me miss church (unless it's a dire circumstance) because the Sacrament is far too important. Never will I slack in my callings because the people whom I serve are far too important for me to be lazy or "too busy." Never will I pass up an opportunity to go to the Temple and perform those sacred ordinances for those who have never had the opportunity. Never will I Not teach my children about their Savior because they need that testimony early on in life. And Never will I forget what my Savior has done for me. I will wear out my life in serving Him. That is what my mission has taught me. :)
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He has a work for me to do, and something I learned this past Sunday is that I need to have more faith in His plan. This past Sunday was stake conference. Only it was a regional conference for all of Southern California, so a few members of the 70, Sister Thompson of the Relief Society presidency and Elder Perry spoke to us. I loved all of their talks! Elder Johnson spoke to us about faith and how many of us feel that faith is, "if I pray long enough or if I fast enough I will get what I want because I have faith that God will give it to me." I used to think that way too. When I was about 8 I thought I had enough faith like Peter, and if I used my faith I could walk on water like him! I tried, several times, to walk on the water in my pool. Unfortunately I just kept falling in. However, in my eight-year-old mind I reasoned out that if Heavenly Father ever needed me to walk on water He would let me (like if someone was drowning or something). I almost figured it out that day I tried walking on water. Faith isn't hoping for something long enough to get it, praying about it and fasting over it tirelessly. It is believing that God has a plan for me, even though I can't see what that plan is right now; it's knowing that He has a plan for me that will lead me to true and lasting happiness that I can't even fathom in this life. And then working on following HIS plan to bring me to that place. We exercise that faith when we pray to know His plan and let His plan come to pass and help us on the way when it's hard. That is faith. So when it comes to walking on water, if it's part of His plan for my happiness, it will happen. But regardless of whether I walk on water or not, I know I will be happy as I follow His plan for me. :)
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I love Heavenly Father, He loves me, He has a plan for me and He wants me to succeed in that plan. He encourages me to walk the path of faith with Him, though I cannot always see the way. He gives me an iron rod to hold on to: scriptures, Prophets, revelation. And most importantly He gave me a Savior, who is Christ the Lord; who redeems me, who enables me and who provides resurrection and a possibility of Eternal Life. His plan is flawless and perfect and I love it. I love teaching it, I love sharing it and I love seeing it light others lives. I love my missionary service and I couldn't be near as happy without it. :)
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I love you all!
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Love, Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Week 46 - Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Here is Maureen's latest. She is on fire! So, consider yourself warned. Actually we couldn't be more proud . . . in a good, humble way.
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Dear Arizonans, Utahns, Californians, and wherever else you may be,
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This week has been so good. Sis. Park and I are busy teaching everyone that breathes... okay maybe not that many but man are we always so busy. We had another baptism this past week, which makes two this year already. It was really neat and the spirit was so strong there. The lady being baptized, Brenda invited her husband and a friend who are not members. Her friend was crying the whole time and wanted to learn more from the missionaries. :) And her husband is getting closer to baptism. We usually share a message while the person baptized is getting dressed so we showed a mormon message about listening to the Holy Ghost and how we need to live by faith in a world governed by sight. We challenged everyone there to follow what the spirit invited them to do as they were at the baptism that night. It was so powerful! Then Bishop got up and invited all those who were not baptized to pray about it and be baptized. Then Brenda got up and bore her very first testimony (as she put it). It was such a wonderful baptism - the spirit was so strong and we heard so many amazing testimonies that night.
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Well, at church on Sunday Beth and her whole family came and Stayed all three hours. It was so neat and the kids loved it. I guess in the past they've been bored. But it was a great experience for everyone there. Then we met with their family again last night. We talked to them about why it was important for them to get an answer to prayer and to know if the Book of Mormon was true. We shared with them that if we want to live with Christ and Heavenly Father again we must follow the right path and make sure what we are doing is on the right path. So we must pray to find out if this is the path Heavenly Father wants us on. It was so neat to see them understand that. We taught them how they would get their answers to their prayers and how the Holy Ghost speaks to us and then we invited them to be baptized. The 7 year old perked up and said he wanted to be baptized. Haha then both Beth and Ruth said they would be baptized too! It was so neat and Dale (the husband) was so happy with his family and their decision. They told us that they have loved having us over because their family has come closer together and they've needed that time together for a while. It's so true. The Gospel blesses families, it brings more love, patience, and peace into our lives and our relationships. And it was so neat to actually see that take place in this family over the past few months. Ruth told us that she knows we are messangers from God. A 10 year old can recognize it. I hope that many others will feel the blessings of the Gospel, it's effects in our families and our lives and choose that road that will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father.
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Well other than that our week has been really good. We've been busy trying to talk to everyone. We've had some amazing members helping us out, going with us to appointments, taking our investigators to the Mormon Battalion, visiting those that need some support. It's been really good. We're going to try to focus our efforts a little more on the members and how they can be amazing examples to others. On Sunday we had our ward council meeting and we were discussing the ward mission plan for the ward this year. Half of our ward council understood that this is designed to help people come closer to Christ through the ordinances and the other half was very concerned with how this applied to them. It made me sad to see how selfish we all can be at times. We don't realize it but many times we don't do things unless it benefits us somehow. I admire those that stick up for the truth and have the desire to spread this amazing message with the world. If everyone understood that they were children of a God and that He has a plan for them this world would be 1000 times better. But that's exactly how satan works. He tries to diminish not only our self-worth but our view of God's other children and we get so focused on our physical needs. We've been listening to conference talks lately and we just heard a talk by President Uchtdorf about love being spelled out as T-I-M-E. And what we spend our time on shows what we value in life. I hope that I always take the time for God first and then my family. I know that as I do that everything else will fall into place. Satan wants us to be busy with anything: texting, movies, tv, video games!, facebook, internet, etc, whether it's good or not because when we make ourselves busy we tend to not think of others or God. I hope and pray that we can simplify our lives to spend time on those things which truly matter most. :)
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Anyway enough of my soap box. I know these things are true. I know God gives us Prophets to lead and guide us in this war against the adversary. I know that in a battle we need faithful leaders who help us to stay organized and win the fight. That's why God wants order, that's why we have Prophets and teachers and leaders and parents, etc. He's so wise. :)
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Well I love you a lot! Give my hugs to my sisters and parents. Thank you for the wonderful examples you have been to me.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
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Dear Arizonans, Utahns, Californians, and wherever else you may be,
.
This week has been so good. Sis. Park and I are busy teaching everyone that breathes... okay maybe not that many but man are we always so busy. We had another baptism this past week, which makes two this year already. It was really neat and the spirit was so strong there. The lady being baptized, Brenda invited her husband and a friend who are not members. Her friend was crying the whole time and wanted to learn more from the missionaries. :) And her husband is getting closer to baptism. We usually share a message while the person baptized is getting dressed so we showed a mormon message about listening to the Holy Ghost and how we need to live by faith in a world governed by sight. We challenged everyone there to follow what the spirit invited them to do as they were at the baptism that night. It was so powerful! Then Bishop got up and invited all those who were not baptized to pray about it and be baptized. Then Brenda got up and bore her very first testimony (as she put it). It was such a wonderful baptism - the spirit was so strong and we heard so many amazing testimonies that night.
.
Well, at church on Sunday Beth and her whole family came and Stayed all three hours. It was so neat and the kids loved it. I guess in the past they've been bored. But it was a great experience for everyone there. Then we met with their family again last night. We talked to them about why it was important for them to get an answer to prayer and to know if the Book of Mormon was true. We shared with them that if we want to live with Christ and Heavenly Father again we must follow the right path and make sure what we are doing is on the right path. So we must pray to find out if this is the path Heavenly Father wants us on. It was so neat to see them understand that. We taught them how they would get their answers to their prayers and how the Holy Ghost speaks to us and then we invited them to be baptized. The 7 year old perked up and said he wanted to be baptized. Haha then both Beth and Ruth said they would be baptized too! It was so neat and Dale (the husband) was so happy with his family and their decision. They told us that they have loved having us over because their family has come closer together and they've needed that time together for a while. It's so true. The Gospel blesses families, it brings more love, patience, and peace into our lives and our relationships. And it was so neat to actually see that take place in this family over the past few months. Ruth told us that she knows we are messangers from God. A 10 year old can recognize it. I hope that many others will feel the blessings of the Gospel, it's effects in our families and our lives and choose that road that will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father.
.
Well other than that our week has been really good. We've been busy trying to talk to everyone. We've had some amazing members helping us out, going with us to appointments, taking our investigators to the Mormon Battalion, visiting those that need some support. It's been really good. We're going to try to focus our efforts a little more on the members and how they can be amazing examples to others. On Sunday we had our ward council meeting and we were discussing the ward mission plan for the ward this year. Half of our ward council understood that this is designed to help people come closer to Christ through the ordinances and the other half was very concerned with how this applied to them. It made me sad to see how selfish we all can be at times. We don't realize it but many times we don't do things unless it benefits us somehow. I admire those that stick up for the truth and have the desire to spread this amazing message with the world. If everyone understood that they were children of a God and that He has a plan for them this world would be 1000 times better. But that's exactly how satan works. He tries to diminish not only our self-worth but our view of God's other children and we get so focused on our physical needs. We've been listening to conference talks lately and we just heard a talk by President Uchtdorf about love being spelled out as T-I-M-E. And what we spend our time on shows what we value in life. I hope that I always take the time for God first and then my family. I know that as I do that everything else will fall into place. Satan wants us to be busy with anything: texting, movies, tv, video games!, facebook, internet, etc, whether it's good or not because when we make ourselves busy we tend to not think of others or God. I hope and pray that we can simplify our lives to spend time on those things which truly matter most. :)
.
Anyway enough of my soap box. I know these things are true. I know God gives us Prophets to lead and guide us in this war against the adversary. I know that in a battle we need faithful leaders who help us to stay organized and win the fight. That's why God wants order, that's why we have Prophets and teachers and leaders and parents, etc. He's so wise. :)
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Well I love you a lot! Give my hugs to my sisters and parents. Thank you for the wonderful examples you have been to me.
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Love Sister Maureen Davis
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Week 45 - Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Thank you Everyone for the Birthday wishes! That was so sweet of you. :)
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I couldn't hear your voices on the video but I imagined they were beautiful! :) I'm so grateful to be here on a mission. And it's been a very very good birthday so far, I'll argue to say the best! I miss family of course but my lovely companion delayed getting ready this morning to make me a small chocolate birthday cake and then she wrote with an eraser on the mirror Happy Birthday Sis. Davis <3 I almost missed it! haha we went to the lighthouse today and my last companion, Sis. Hudson called to sing happy birthday, and I'm going to see her and Sis. Nichols tomorrow at a baptism!!! Staci New in our ward is getting baptized tomorrow after a lot of hard work and effort. :) We're so excited for her. She's been investigating the church for over a year now. Anywho.... I got the package today! It was awesome. I'm wearing the bracelet right now, I love the necklace, I'm excited for the teeth whitener and for listening to my ipod in the car now! And I got so excited when I saw my favorite cake and candles. man! you guys know me soooo well! ;) I told sis. Park that was my favorite cake earlier so we were both laughing when I found it. Thank you all! Oh and we went to In and Out, yum! and we went to the Lighthouse with our zone, minus the zone leaders. It was lots of fun. We have an australian elder so I naturally begin to try speaking like him and then he mimics american, it's quite entertaining. :) ps was the ipod shuffle for me or was that accidently in my package? :)
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Anywho, awesome birthday! And to top it all off with a strawberry on top, we get to go to Book of Mormon study tonight! It's the best thing ever. Learning about the book of mormon with a bunch of members, less actives and investigators, it's the best thing ever! I'm sooo excited. :)
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Welp... Life has been good, the work has been hard but really neat. Sis. Park and I are working our tails off, we're going to be the best missionaries we can be and I'm so excited! We're striving to be exactly obedient so we can have the spirit more in our lives, we're trying to be bold and loving, and we're trying to be better teachers. It is going to be an amazing experience! I also have a half companion as my companion is a sister trainer. She goes on exchanges each week and she is in charge of all the full-time proselyting sisters. So while she's on exchanges with others I go on exchanges with the other trainer sister's companion, Sis. Rudd. We cover both my english area, which is huge and her spanish area, which covers a stake. I got to meet with some of her investigators and try using my spanish skills.... I really need the spirit and the gift of understanding tongues. I just can't do it alone. But it's been good. I love both my real companion and my half companion. They both teach me a lot and I really have been working on humility lately. It's been a good lesson to learn. :)
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So miracle this past week. There is a couple we're working with who literally only have a trailer... that's all they have. The lady's name is Donna and she's been married to someone for 16 years now and trying to get a divorce because he's abusive. She's been living with her boyfriend because they don't have any other place to go as they're so poor. So naturally she can't get baptized till she gets married or moves, she can't get married till she's divorced and she can't move out or she'll be on the street... lots of hardships. So she and her boyfriend Ron have been praying for a miracle. Well on wednesday Donna was out working for the owner of the trailer park they're at (who's mormon) and she heard someone say her name. Guess who moved in RIGHT across the street? It was her husband who's been avoiding her for the past 15 years. She asked him if he'd sign the divorce papers and he said he would! Turns out he trims trees and he just got a job at the house across the street and he was willing to get the papers signed. So Saturday, New years Eve, and Dad's birthday (by the way, Happy Late Birthday Dad!) he was served the papers and in 6 months they'll be divorced.
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What a way to start off the new year. They have a wedding and baptism set for the 1st of July. We are SOooo happy for them! It was truly a blessing and a miracle from God, and they know it. :)Well I love you all! Thanks for the birthday presents and wishes! :) Know that everything is going well here and I'm loving my mission as always.
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Love ya! Love, Sister Maureen Davis
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I couldn't hear your voices on the video but I imagined they were beautiful! :) I'm so grateful to be here on a mission. And it's been a very very good birthday so far, I'll argue to say the best! I miss family of course but my lovely companion delayed getting ready this morning to make me a small chocolate birthday cake and then she wrote with an eraser on the mirror Happy Birthday Sis. Davis <3 I almost missed it! haha we went to the lighthouse today and my last companion, Sis. Hudson called to sing happy birthday, and I'm going to see her and Sis. Nichols tomorrow at a baptism!!! Staci New in our ward is getting baptized tomorrow after a lot of hard work and effort. :) We're so excited for her. She's been investigating the church for over a year now. Anywho.... I got the package today! It was awesome. I'm wearing the bracelet right now, I love the necklace, I'm excited for the teeth whitener and for listening to my ipod in the car now! And I got so excited when I saw my favorite cake and candles. man! you guys know me soooo well! ;) I told sis. Park that was my favorite cake earlier so we were both laughing when I found it. Thank you all! Oh and we went to In and Out, yum! and we went to the Lighthouse with our zone, minus the zone leaders. It was lots of fun. We have an australian elder so I naturally begin to try speaking like him and then he mimics american, it's quite entertaining. :) ps was the ipod shuffle for me or was that accidently in my package? :)
.
Anywho, awesome birthday! And to top it all off with a strawberry on top, we get to go to Book of Mormon study tonight! It's the best thing ever. Learning about the book of mormon with a bunch of members, less actives and investigators, it's the best thing ever! I'm sooo excited. :)
.
Welp... Life has been good, the work has been hard but really neat. Sis. Park and I are working our tails off, we're going to be the best missionaries we can be and I'm so excited! We're striving to be exactly obedient so we can have the spirit more in our lives, we're trying to be bold and loving, and we're trying to be better teachers. It is going to be an amazing experience! I also have a half companion as my companion is a sister trainer. She goes on exchanges each week and she is in charge of all the full-time proselyting sisters. So while she's on exchanges with others I go on exchanges with the other trainer sister's companion, Sis. Rudd. We cover both my english area, which is huge and her spanish area, which covers a stake. I got to meet with some of her investigators and try using my spanish skills.... I really need the spirit and the gift of understanding tongues. I just can't do it alone. But it's been good. I love both my real companion and my half companion. They both teach me a lot and I really have been working on humility lately. It's been a good lesson to learn. :)
.
So miracle this past week. There is a couple we're working with who literally only have a trailer... that's all they have. The lady's name is Donna and she's been married to someone for 16 years now and trying to get a divorce because he's abusive. She's been living with her boyfriend because they don't have any other place to go as they're so poor. So naturally she can't get baptized till she gets married or moves, she can't get married till she's divorced and she can't move out or she'll be on the street... lots of hardships. So she and her boyfriend Ron have been praying for a miracle. Well on wednesday Donna was out working for the owner of the trailer park they're at (who's mormon) and she heard someone say her name. Guess who moved in RIGHT across the street? It was her husband who's been avoiding her for the past 15 years. She asked him if he'd sign the divorce papers and he said he would! Turns out he trims trees and he just got a job at the house across the street and he was willing to get the papers signed. So Saturday, New years Eve, and Dad's birthday (by the way, Happy Late Birthday Dad!) he was served the papers and in 6 months they'll be divorced.
.
What a way to start off the new year. They have a wedding and baptism set for the 1st of July. We are SOooo happy for them! It was truly a blessing and a miracle from God, and they know it. :)Well I love you all! Thanks for the birthday presents and wishes! :) Know that everything is going well here and I'm loving my mission as always.
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Love ya! Love, Sister Maureen Davis
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