Thursday, July 21, 2011

Week 22 - Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Dearest Family,
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Thank you for your letter, I know you are all busy so thanks for taking the time to write. I'm doing well... as for the new area, I'm in the New Poway stake, the place that we just acquired a few transfers ago so I'm pretty much at the tip of the mission, away from Everything! It's kinda sad bc I liked being in the middle of the hustle and bustle. But now I'm in a Very rich area. I live with a member who is rich and we pretty much live in a mansion. No big deal! haha it's really cool, I get to play tennis every morning on her private tennis court... I'm still not good though. I'm with Sis. McCloy still~ which means we whitewhashed the area. That's the 4th time this year for the ward we are in, Green Valley. They were pretty upset when they heard it was being whitewashed AGAIN. We called our ward mission leader and he told us how annoyed he was. Here we are two sisters who have only been on their missions for 5 months, who just got out of a very confusing area, who have only had trainers for 6 weeks and the rest of the time we've been trying to figure out everything on our own, who this is the first time for both of us to white wash and everyone in our ward is slightly upset... it's been a rough few days but thankfully because of it, we have needed to humble ourselves and we have to work harder then we've ever worked before. We cannot do this without Heavenly Father and we're so grateful for His help. Thank heavens for this Gospel and for the Atonement that helps us out in hard situations like these.
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I have felt in increase in love and support and I'm so greatful for it. The ward is now very welcoming, we've met the people and already we love the ward. Our ward mission leader is now really good with us, we call him every other night to check in and let him know what's going on. I don't think I've ever talked to anyone in our wards this much haha. But it's been really good. The ward is beginning to trust us and realize that we are here for them and that all we want to do is to help. They are very open now and we are just trying to get to know everyone in the ward still. It's hard work but I love it. This ward is really good at fellowshipping, pretty much they ask us if they can come with us to our appointments and they wrap their arms around everyone who comes in. Now if they were just good at finding they wouldn't even need the missionaries haha.
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Well I would write a lot more but we have limited time on the computers at the library. Hopefully next week we'll be down in SDSU area again visiting people and using the computers down there. :) Well I'm glad that everything is going so well! I'm glad that you all are doing well and enjoying your vacation. I hope you know I love you all so much! And really all I really need is prayers, for me for my investigators, etc. :) This is a hard time and we're trying to do our best to get through it as happy as possible. We made a list of goals we have for our companionship and the vision we have of working here, after that things have gone so much better so we have high hopes! We are working with a few people right now that I already love. We met them our first night here which was a big shock to them, seeing new missionaries, but we're working with Flo, a nonmember in a part member family, and she is making monumental strides already so we're excited for her. Though she doesn't admit it, we know that she knows this church is true, she just hasn't told her family yet which is scary for her. So we're helping her.
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We're also working with another lady who is amazing, she is ready for baptism and she knows it is true but she is going to Iran this week so we have to wait till after for her to be baptized. And beacuse our ward was at the same time Alicia's baptism was, we weren't able to go, but we heard it was amazing and hopefully we will get pictures with her when we visit. :)
Well I don't know what more to say. The work is going well, we love our ward, it's hard but worth it. The funny thing is that the week before transfers I asked Heavenly Father to humble me because I know I can't get much farther without being humble... then I got sent here. I think I'm being humbled haha. We are hoping that we can be the best missionaries we can be and we're just hoping and praying for all the help we can get haha.
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As for Tara, I actually have been thinking about writing her this week so thanks for the reminder. I will definitely send her a letter. I hope she is doing well at least and I know she is serving the mission the Lord has intended for her. :)
Well I love you all! I'll write more next week when it's less crazy. :)
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Love ya!
Love Sister Davis
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P.s. tell grandmommy and granddaddy I love them very much! And I hope they got my letter a while back.
P.s.s. I'll have to write more about my new mission pres. next time - honestly I don't know much about them bc I haven't really seen them since that first week but I'll let you know for sure.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Week 21 - Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Well, Transfers are tomorrow and Sis. McCloy and I got the call. We're leaving the center tomorrow. :( We are pretty sad about it because we love the singles here soooo much. They are just so awesome and full of energy! But I honestly think the elders in our district and who worked in the center with us are even more sad. (We cooked for a few of them) And apparently we keep everything lively in District meetings haha. I guess it comes as no surprise though as we've thought we were being transfered for the past two weeks. And we'll see tomorrow where we're going. We think we'll probably go up to the new stakes as everything down here is spanish proselyting. It'll be fun!
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Other then that, things have been going really well here. We've been meeting with members and Alicia who is still getting baptized on Sunday and we're coming back for it. :) She's amazing. We actually met with her last night and her roommate decided to sit in on our lesson! First time we've met him and he asked if he could listen. We were teaching her commandments but we welcomed him. The only awkward thing was that we have no idea what commandments he's not keeping. We think he was drinking an alcoholic drink as we talked about the word of wisdom... it was interesting. But after all of us bore our testimonies we asked if he wanted to share anything and he said yes, "thank you, I really enjoyed the lesson." We happened to bring all the pamphlets with us so we told Alicia to leave them out for him to read. The really cool thing is that when we were deciding to take the pamphlets I just randomly thought, "Hey lets take all the pamphlets, she doesn't have any right now, so why not?" Then it just so happened that her roommate was there. What are the coincidences? :) sometimes inspired thoughts won't be a big thing, sometimes they'll come as just a thought.
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This week has really been a good one. I learned a lot and I've felt the spirit so strongly this week. I really feel like I've been doing all that was right, I've been following the inspirations that I'm given. After watching Pres Monson's movie, On the Lord's Errand, I felt like I needed to follow promptings even more. SO I am trying my best and I want to always be on the Lord's errand as well.
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I know this has been very short. I'm sorry, we have a lot to do today before we leave.
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Mom a few notes:
1. Yes, that was a senior missionary, Elder Robison. We were taking goodbye pictures and we just have to be goofy and send it to you.
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2. No President didn't change any rules yet, he wants to wait 6 months bc things are already working so well right now.
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3. Thanks for the jokes mom :)
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4. Bro Thomas DID get baptized and that was the best day of my entire mission! Sis. Cluff and I sang the Olive Tree. It was wonderful and I absolutely loved it. We were all crying, and Bro Thomas gave the best testimony ever! I really have never been so happy then at that moment. AND he told us that while Sis. Cluff and I were teaching him he found out he Was going to be baptized! He Knew and he didn't bother telling us till a transfer later. I guess he had a dream about it after one of my first visits there. We are so happy for him, and Sis. Thomas was exstatic! We promised to be there when they were all sealed together!
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Well that's it for now, you'll find out next week where I'm going to go. Till then, love you all, keep doing your best, have fun at girls camp and enjoy living life! :)
Love, Sister Davis

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Week 20 - Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Okay - I'm feeling a large letter today. Just sooo much to share!
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Answering some questions, no I don't need stamps, Yesterday was great! We saw fireworks from a distance for about a minute before returning to our room (luckily we live on a hill so we could see a lot). Sea World does do fireworks. I love San Diego and the weather, but I think I'm getting accustomed to it because I already think it's really hot and it's 85 degrees. :) It's hard to sleep at night bc sometimes it doesn't cool down enough, but I'm still getting good rest at night.
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Sis. McCloy is great. We just found out this morning however that her brother got in an accident. He was in the canyon and his truck ended up rolling about 8 times down the mountain. Fortunately, he's alright. He needs surgery on his mouth bc he broke his jaw and his nose was ripped open, but he is going into surgery today and should be going home tonight so we're all very relieved it wasn't something worse. Sis. McCloy hopes this will help her brother not be so reckless. :) I haven't really been sick yet, just a slight cold now and then. Nothing big at all.
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Preparation days have been good. Honestly we usually just e-mail, shop for groceries, write letters, relax and go back to work. A few weeks ago we played soccer, and we were planning on going to Old Town today but it won't work out. Maybe next week.
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Okay as for Pres. Clayton. We met him on Thursday morning. He and his wife and and two of his daughters came to meet us. We divided into 2 zones at a time so it wasn't overwhelming for him. He told us about his family and about himself. He graduated from collage at 18... so he's pretty smart. He's an anesthesiologist and he likes to laugh. I think it's quite entertaining. Pres Donaldson hardly ever laughed. We knew he cared about us but he didn't usually use emotions to show us. So it's funny how Pres Clayton will laugh after every other sentance. :) He's really good. He's very nice and fun-loving. I'm excited to get to know him and his family better. And as you know Sis. Clayton is Elder Ballard's daughter. So guess who's coming to visit the Clayton's come August? And guess who wants to meet all the missionaries? Yeah, we're pretty excited. The Clayton's are awesome and we're really going to enjoy having them here. :)
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Okay as for my news....
1. Happy Birthday ERIN! I can't believe you're turning 16 already. Stop growing up. ;) And be careful on the roads. I have something I'm sending, so I'm sorry if it's late. Couldn't mail it sooner. Love you!
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2. The beginning of this week was really hard. We just haven't had investigators to teach and frankly it's been annoying. BUT, we found 2 new people this week. So that has been good. We hope to find even more as we work harder. I just have to realize I continuously need humility. That's when Heavenly Father blesses us, when we're humbled.
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3. So one of the new investigators has been coming to church with her boyfriend for the past 2 weeks. So this past Sunday we asked to meet with her after church. We met and asked her what she wanted more than anything right now, she said she wanted to be a part of this church. She said that she felt like each time she came she was "coming home." She said she wanted to be baptized! So we invited her to be baptized promply after that comment and she'll be baptized July 17th. We are so happy. Heavenly Father definitely blessed us with a miracle. She is super sweet and we're more than excited for her. We even went to the Mormon Battalion yesterday morning to watch the Josep Smith movie. It was a really powerful experience. She's golden. :)
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4. One thing I realized the other day is that... we shouldn't be afraid to share the Gospel bc, let's face it, Truth is on our side, and so is the Godhead. :) That's pretty much all we need. We just need it to sound enticing to others. So that's the part we're working on.
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5. I read the Spirit of Revelation by Elder Bednar again per Granddaddy's request. ;) It was good to read it a second time and realize the things I needed to do to have that spirit with me. I love that talk.
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6. The mission preparation class is good. Right now we're doing more practicing just so we can help the members know how to talk to their friends and prepare them for the mission. It's been really good for them. And you realize it's a lot easier than you think.
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7. I also learned a bit about Charity recently... I've needed it, once again. I found something really neat too. 1st Peter 4:8 - read it and check the footnote. It's really true.
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8. Again I want to share that I Love learning! It's wonderful to start off your day learning something new and being able to apply it through the day. I know that it's just that good to start the day with study and prayer, it shows Heavenly Father we're willing to put Him first and we learn what we need to do for that day too.
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9. The Gospel is Amazing. Enough said.
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10. I hope everyone had a good fourth of July/Independance day. It's neat to remember these inspired men who were called to bring about this great nation. I know they were inspired of God. It makes me sad to see all the people who refuse to accept God, especially in our nation, which was founded because people wanted the freedom of religion.
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11. I think I'm beginning to figure out how to teach. We are trying to be very bold now, and get people to the next ordinance. We're going to teach more doctrine, because doctrine understood, changes attitudes and behaviors. We'll see how it goes this week.
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12. Last but not least... I'm so happy to be on this mission. I KNOW this is where I'm supposed to be and I wouldn't be happier anywhere else then here right now. This is where I need to learn and better myself and prepare myself for the future. This is the place where I'm gaining a stronger testimony, where I get to see people's lives change for the better, where I get to use all of the gifts God has given me and use them to bless others. I love it here, and I want to be the best missionary I can be and help others come to true happiness. I love it!
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Thanks for Everything! I love you all!
Love, Sister Maureen Davis

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Week 19 - Pictures!!

Sis. McCloy & Sis. Davis!

Sis. Davis, Sis. McCloy and Sarah!!

P-Day

Random Panda at the Zoo

Sis. Davis & Sis. McCloy showing off their new haircuts!

Week 19 - Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Well I make a list of things I want to tell you all and today I just about wrote you my grocery list. :) I knew you'd appreciate it at least. Haha ps I was wondering, how much peanut butter do you put in peanut butter cookies? I wanted to make them but of course in my recipe I completely left out the most crucial ingredient! I'm a bit stumped as to why I didn't include it, but if you could lt me know that would be fabulous!
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So I've decided that ever since Leaving for the mission, i've kinda been a fan of change. Interesting right? I mean I not only got rid of 3/4 of my stuff at home, cut my hair, cut my hair again, and painted my nails Bright pink (yeah I know), but I'm also a bit stir crazy and I kinda want to move to a different place. I love the people I work with and we're getting lots of member visits and referrals and I enjoy the people and the center but I kinda want a change. Haha I guess my Mission President leaving tomorrow isn't big enough. It's actually really sad. We had a final Mission President's fireside with Pres. Donaldson on Sunday. Sis. Cluff and I have been trying to get the Donaldsons a gift before they left since we were companions, so we Finally got it to them at our practice. During the fireside we all sang with all we had. Amor (the lady in the District II video who was taught by Sis. Voyles and Zaldivar who was married to Teddy and had two kids) she actually gave her testimony at the fireside. It was really interesting to see her up close and realize she was real! And in mission lingo I realized that Sis. Voyles is my grandmother. :)
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Haha well we watched a mormon message called Moments that Matter Most and I suggest that everyone watches it. I Love it. And then Pres. spoke and pretty much everyone cried as he said it was his last fireside and we were the best missionaries ever! He closed by saying He knew our Savior and Joseph Smith. And we all knew exactly what he meant. We love President and we are going to miss him and Sis. Donaldson sooo much! But it's all for the best and Pres. Clayton will be awesome. I gave Sis. Donaldson like 4 hugs and Pres told me after the mission I could find him and give him a hug. Which I will be doing. :) PS if anyone is interested, who will be in Utah at the time, wants to listen to the Donaldson's give their homecoming talk in church they will be speaking July 10th at the Cedar Hills 10th ward at 9am (address = 9737 Chesterfield Dr. Cedar Hills, UT) just saying *cough cough* those who live in Utah should Definitely go! *cough* :)
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Well other than all that we had two miracles las week! :) One Alexis FINALLY answered her phone and wants to meet with us. Two, Jen talked with us again, she is willing to find out the truth and she Came to Church! If you knew Jen, you would be screaming with joy. I know I had to stifle back a shout of praise when she walked in. We weren't expecting her to show up at all! We still have qute a bit of work to do with her bc she isn't sure if she wants to change her lifestyle but as soon as she gets that witness we'll be miles ahead. :)
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I feel like most of this week has been visiting members getting them to invite their friends, so we haven't really met with any investigators. It's a bit slow right now. But we're hoping to pick it up this week as we may get a new investigator through Mariah! And we're having every female in the two wards pray to know if there is someone they know who is ready for the gospel. It seems to be working, now we'll have to find a way to get the members to invite them. As much as I love the singles, sometimes they just don't feel obligated to do anything. But we're still working with them. There's always hope. :)
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I'm praying for everyone back home! And I realized last week that all my friends are returning, it's kinda strange. I think Perry may be home soon too. Tell everyone I say hi when you see them! :) It's really strange to think that I'll be home in a year and a month. I just got out, and i'm almost 1/3 of the way done! crazy.
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Well I attached pictures of the new watches we got, me, Sis. McCloy, me, Lynette and Josh (who will soon get engaged, don't tell Lynette); Sis. McCloy, me and Sarah, one of my favorite members ever; and Sis. McCloy and I with our new hair cuts.
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Well I love you all! Keep me updated with your lives!
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Love, Sister Maureen Davis

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Week 18 - Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Thank you for the letters! It so good to hear from you all!
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And thank you mother for all the kind advice you give me. I'm trying my best to be good at being healthy. As for Mission Prep class, it's going well! We talked about Revelation this past week and this week we'll be discussing Teach People, Not Lessons. I really like it, though we tend to just discuss the topics then have a seminary-type lesson.
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I hope dad had a god Father's Day, know that even though I couldn't call I was thinking about him. We had a dinner with the Robisons and Browns and we were each asked to talk a bit about our fathers and how important they are to us. Everyone seemed to have one defining trait about their fathers. Guess what dad's was? Funny. It just purely defines you dad. That's all I can say. :)
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As for finding, it hasn't been going too well. It is just strange trying to find people while working at the Center. But we're working on it and Heavenly Father still blesses us even when we don't deserve it. :) He's too good to us sometimes. Just this week this lady named Gena randomly walked into the center asking us for a Book of Mormon. We found out she has been less active for the past 30 years and now she's trying to straighten up her life. So she's been readine Book of Mormon and yesterday she met with us. She wants to be re-taught the lessons so that she can become fully active again and be with her 1st husband who she is still technically sealed to! I can't tell you how excited I am for her! Coming back after 30 years, Still knowing it is true! We told her she needs to reconfirm her testimony and that as she keeps reading, praying and asking through life, she will keep that testimony strong. She just soaked in everything we said, we told her to contact her bishop so that she can get things worked out and she said she would this week, before Sunday and she'd go back to Church on Sunday. We are soooooo happy for her and blessed to be a part of this experience! I was really happy and excited as I talked to her, I hope she didn't find me too strange. Sometimes I just can't contain my happiness.... oh well!
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President Donaldson leaves next week. :( so we're having a last fireside in Poway on Sunday. We're sad but excited to meet our new president.
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So as finding by ourselves can be somewhat unproductive we are trying to find more through members. Mariah is one of our star members! Last wednesday we talked to her about missionary work and who she knows that is ready she said there is a girl named Stephanie who is ready. She wanted to know how to talk about the gospel so we role-played, which I still dislike but when I was doing it with Mariah it was so easy! We talked about sharing our testimony and letting people know why we find the gospel so important in our lives. And she was like "yeah I need to do that!" so she said she would. Well yesterday she texted us and asked if she could meet with us. We met and se told us she has some goals for missionary work. Yep! She said that she wants to work on 3 of her friends and she thinks they are all interested and then she wants to help two of her less active friends come back. So we're currently working on plans for them. We met Stephanie last night and we're planning on meeting with her this week sometime! Because new members usually want to work on missionary work more we also talked to Becky about it and the next day she had talked to her dad about the church, she suggested websites he should visit to learn more and she also told a friend in Florida about the church. Although neither in our area, we are so very proud of her and her desire to share. :)
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On a sad note, Emily dropped us. And Jen and Ilima, our only two other investigators are seemingly not interested. We're still working with them though it is difficult. Jen's boss contributes to our challenges and Ilima's lifestyle makes it hard for her to want to change. But we pray for pretty much Everyone!
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We have a new member named Taylor who is going through a Very difficult time. She just found out that her ex-husband who abandoned her and her children is getting full custody of the kids as she doesn't have a job. And she was deathly sick the other day And her roommate Hates mormons. She's having a very hard time with it all but we're working with her trying to help her see that no matter how difficult life is, Heavenly Father has a divine, eternal plan for her and she can't see it all right now. If she finds a job before august and works to have a income and a house she can get her kids back after a certain time period but it is still terrible that they won't let her have them now. Well we brought her brownies the other day and stick-note attacked her door with awesome comments so that she knows she's loved and she was so grateful for them. We saw her yesterday and asked her if she wanted a priesthood blessing, she said she did so we're trying to organize away for her to do it when her roommate is away and when her hometeachers are available. It's tricky but She's far more than worth it!
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Thank you for letters! They were a wonderful surprise!
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Oh something I learned this week - Instead of asking Heavenly Father to help and bless others we should be asking Him what We can be doing to help these people! It is through others that Heavenly Father blesses us. :)
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Last but Not least ... drumroll..... Guess what?! Bro. Thomas is getting BAPTIZED!!!! I know I talked about him before. He's in Clairemont and he is the one we had to tell we couldn't visit bc he wasn't ready yet, and the one who's wife was upset we didn't warn her beforehand, and who Sis. Cluff and I absolutely love!!! And after four LONG years of missionaries talking to him he finally decided to be baptized! The day is July 9th and he asked Sis. Cluff and I to sing at his baptism. :) We're so happy!!!!
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Well I love you all! I'm so happy to be a missionary and to be out here. It's such a blessing! I'm so glad everyone is doing well and that things are working out right now. Life is Awesome! :) I love you!
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Love, Sister Maureen Davis

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Week 17 - Thursday, June 16th, 2011

SOOOO Many Questions to Answer! Haha okay I'll begin by answering ALL of them:
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1. I'm doing well. The work is definitely keeping me busy. We have some lulls every now and then and we're trying to fit in as much finding in those times as we can. We don't have many investigators so we have to do a lot more finding!
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2. Sis. McCloy is doing great. In fact this last Saturday we had our companionship inventory where we pretty much agreed upon the fact that whenever the mission gets hard, whenever we get tired or frustrated we tell each other to "deck satan." Don't ask. We just find it very entertaining, we laugh and then we work harder. so it works. :)
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3. The Robisons and Browns are awesome! We feel like we have a better connection with the Robisons probably because we think a lot alike. The Browns are awesome and very talented. We really need their talent here so we're grateful they're here. Their daughter actually started something called One Heart Bulgaria where they help orphans in Bulgaria. It's really cool and her mission companion (they both served in Bulgaria) actually has a mormon.org movie profile about it. The Robison's are very friendly and funny. In fact Elder Robison and Bishop McWhirter of the 18th ward remind me of dad a bit. They're both just goofy and they love to relentlessly tease us! :) They're fun.
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4. Yes we have a car still
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5. If we see tourists, I don't notice them very much. Probably because we spend lots of time at the center and not quite out and about.
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6. Our area is HUGE, because it's pretty much two stakes, as we cover two singles wards from different stakes.
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7. We really don't tract. Our mission is kinda a pilot for working with members a lot more. So we try to find through members more than our own efforts. But every now and then we will go out and knock on some doors. Most of them are potentials or formers though.
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8. Gospel essentials class? Like in church? I'm pretty sure it's like any other gospel principle's class. It's good!
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9. We don't cook that much. We've been fed by people a lot more lately and we just don't have the time to cook anything extravagent. The biggest thing we make is fajitas and we'll do that at least once a week. ;)
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10. I did get the package last week. Thank you so much! The inside had ripped so the insulation for the package had kinda mixed in with everything haha but the candy still tasted really good. ;) Thank you! I like the braclet and necklace too.
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11. We're still working on finding people.
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12. Becky and Dessa are doing great! Dessa is on her ship again and we don't know when she gets back exactly. But Becky is doing really well. She was sick on Sunday so she couldn't come to church but she went to the Elder's baptism for Leo this Saturday and she was still really enjoying it. She thought it was interesting to see what happened to her. :)
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13. Yes, I'm getting exercise. Probably not as much as I need as just walking around the Huge San Diego Zoo pretty much killed me. :)
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14. I'm eating well enough. Making sure I eat every meal, I have to make sure Sis. McCloy eats too. And i'm being more healthy then before so I think I'm doing well.
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15. P-days: we usually do e-mails, go shopping, write letters and if we have anything else planned, any other cool activities such as the Zoo, lighthouses, Balboa Park, etc. Pres. just told us to have fun on preparation days within our rules of course, so we try our best. ;)
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16. We are excited for our new pres. sad for Pres and Sis. Donaldson to leave but we know that Pres and Sis. Clayton have to be amazing to deal with this lot in San Diego. ;)
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Okay, I think that's all of them.
As for the jokes. Thank you much! They are much improved mom. ;) Haha I really like those ones. And thank you for all of your profound knowledge, it's much appreciated. It was really what I needed. Ah I love you all! Tell Olivia I miss her too but that'll just make it all the better when I come back. :) Oh and I love how all the pictures Olivia draws of us always include name tags and skirts with loops at the ends. :)
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And stake relief society second counselor huh? Hahaha oh mom, that's not my fault at all. ;) But it's true, something I do miss from home is the fact that we Do have the spirit there. It Is a place of learning, of prayer, of fasting, of faith, and every now and then a house of order. :) But it is a special place and it makes me excited to go back. Not only that but when we go to some houses, occassionally, they're nice but they're missing something and you can feel it. That's why everyone needs to be Baptized and receive the Holy Ghost! Elder Yi's motto is that we need to get everyone to their next ordinance... so he's at the stage where he's trying to get new converts to marry each other so they can get sealed in the Temple... we usually shake our heads and laugh. He's not the greatest of matchmakers. Still, the poor dear is trying his best. :)
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Haha I need to mention, as I just flipped through my scriptures that they're covered in notes and colors. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. But at least they're being used very well and lovingly. I love the scriptures. It's sometimes funny how I thought they were so boring way back when... all of a year ago. Ok not boring, but I didn't seem to understand them. I don't know how the change occured. I guess I just seemed to understand them moreso then ever before and now I see things and think how could I Not have seen this before. It's really interesting.
Agh! There's too much to write and too little time!
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Okay! So in Preach my Gospel it talks about the ward mission plan in the ch 13. You need to read that section and my suggestion, create a family or individual mission plan. It is so inspired! We need to set goals before we can ever realize what we can do, and the more specific they are the better. Man, life after the mission will be pretty much me getting excited over mission plans and scripture study book clubs or something. I think it's so funny how excited I get about these things. In fact, Sis. McCloy and I talk about our missionary prep class we're teaching and sometimes I get on my soap box and tell her how we should be implementing more and preparing more, etc. Haha it's funny, thank heavens she understands me. I really seem to have way more opinions then I ever did before, again I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. :)
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Our 9th ward council is finally understanding how it should run! It so exciting to see this dramatic change from focusing on all these activities and how we don't have time for service opportunities to "hey how can we help this individual come back to church or feel welcomed, etc." I LOVE it! And I have no idea how it started changing. I do know we owe a lot to our ward mission leader who is phenominal and who is in the words of president "getting it." We're working on the 18th ward now. They have a lot of energy but we need to direct the energy into the work. It is sure to be good. We're very excited about the Center right now. :)
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Our investigators as of right now are pretty much ilima, Jen and Emily. Yep only three, hence the need for finding!!! Especially when they only seem to meet once a week. It's really difficult to get any of them to keep their appointments actually, especially with Jen. Jen's boss hates mormons, he was one, and she happens to live in the same apartment as him... which makes things very tricky. I hate to say it but the Devil is definitely working on him, and getting him to keep Jen from really learning more. Her dad is mormon and he forces her to come to church with him at times. She doesn't think Joseph Smith is a prophet and she says the only reason she met with us is because she told us she would. It was a let down and if it weren't for our Sister trainer who was with us we may have died! But, fortunately we re-taught her the restoration and asked her to read and pray to know if it is true and she said she would. In fact her countenance had changed and become more soft. It was really cool
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Here's what I know. The church is true. How do I know? I've read and prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true. I Know I received an answer and every day I testify of that to others I know even moreso. Because the Book of Mormon is true, because it is tangible evidence of the truth of God, I know Joseph Smith had to be a prophet, otherwise he couldn't have translated the book through the power of God. And because I know the Book is true, I know that what it teaches is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that because of Him we can return to live with out Father again, that because He lives, we will live, that because He knows Me, I never have to feel alone and His atonement can heal me. I know that the only way to have access to that atonement is through the ordinances. Without being baptized by the Proper Priesthood Authority, we cannot take part of the Atonement. It just makes sense! I know God loves us and that He has designed this amazing plan for us! Oh how wonderful a plan that is. I love it! I love Heavenly Father! I love this Gospel and I'm so excited to be working here! :)
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I love you all, and I wish you the best! Please write if you have the time. I'd love to hear from you all! :) Plus missionaries thrive off of mail. ;) haha jk but really.
Love Sister Davis