"AND OH WHAT JOY AND WHAT MARVELOUS LIGHT I DID BEHOLD'

Family!

"The farther back we look at our mission, the more it means to us." (Elder Golden) 

AHHH it was such a spectacular week! Transfers are this week on Thanksgiving! BUT good news! I will be staying here in what has come to be my home, Garden Ridge Ward, for the holidays with wonderful Sister Whittier at my side. Super excited about it. She keeps me in line and in check with every detail of missionary work. I am so grateful for her dedication to the work. 

What a blessing and miracle to hear from a member of the seventy this week, Elder Golden. 

I want to share with you some wonderful things he spoke to us about: (1) "The field is white already to harvest." He specifically promised us multiple times that there are people in our areas ready to be baptized today…… it is just a matter of us finding them. (2) When are you greatest in the sight of the Lord??? When you are doing something the Lord has commanded you to do because you want to and are excited to OR when you are doing something the Lord has commanded you to do even though you don’t want to do it! The latter one....now, THAT is having faith in Christ.” (3) “The Holy Ghost is ALWAYS with us. It is just a matter of if we are tuned into it or not. When we feel it in a meeting or reading or praying, that is when we are tuned into it.” (4) Last of all, he mentioned how there has been a bump-up in missionary work. In our mission, every ward has at least one set of missionaries and in many cases 2 or more sets. We must take advantage of this opportunity to be able to train and work so closely with the members and assist them in the work. Many did not have opportunities to serve missions and many have questions and worries and fears of how to hasten the work even though they may want to. We can help in 'training' them to help us. "Help them, help me, help you!" And so much more…………

After listening to Elder Golden, President Slaughter shared a thought with us that described the meeting perfectly.  He said, "How Gentle God's Command". So profound. That’s exactly how we felt we had been taught and what it was like sitting close to Elder Golden and hearing his counsel. 

We had an amazing lesson with a lady named Sandy (see picture). We have been teaching her for a bit now. I was a worried the whole lesson just praying like crazy for the spirit to touch her heart. And then at the end of the lesson she said the most beautiful prayer. She mentioned for the first time that she noticed we had a peace and happiness and asked Heavenly Father to allow her to find that same happiness, she mentioned she was grateful for us coming and being persistent yet patient and so much more. It may or may not have brought a few tears to my eyes. 

I could go on forever about miracles that happen every day like this. WOW 

Ok one more: there is a truth behind this madness. We would be dead in this work without the members and their influence they have on people. This past week we were striving to get a girl named Bruna to progress. She is neighbors to a family in the ward, the Bates, and in-between visits she was able to ask the Bates questions, they offered to give her a ride to church and to come to other activities, they saved a spot for her at church and have been a true friend to her. We have noticed a difference in the progression of those we have taught…. that those who have friends in the gospel and those who struggle trying to get to know people in the church. Huge difference! Some members have gone the extra mile to be a friend to those investigators we have and to be so welcoming. (oh, and another thing Sandy mentioned she was grateful for in her prayer - the love she felt from the member that came to the lesson)

Quote from Sister Slaughter "Many things are done by great people, even though they don't "feel" like doing it."

Just some numbers if you are curious that we heard at the training. We have in our mission 260 missionaries (194 Elders and 64 Sisters - 146 English and 114 Spanish) 

Holy cow this is forever long. Last of all, I know without a doubt this is Christ church on this earth, our Heavenly Father loves me and you. Thank you for all your support. Not a day goes by that I don't think of grateful I am that you taught me particular principles of the gospel. There is just no time to write them all down.

Much love to you all,

Sister Davis

Its freezing here, btw...weirdest thing ever! It’s like its being in the mountains…… it’s that cold when you walk outside, yet, it rains and rains and rains, but there is no ice or snow on the ground. I am wearing my rain boots you told me to get though Adri, thank you, and I finally used my raincoat for the first time! 

Sandy and Billy!

Modeling my new b-day dress from grandma!

Yep! They have Sweet Potato Awareness Month here!

A cold, rainy day....luckily it was our day to have the car!

“FEAR NOT WHAT MAN CAN DO; FOR PERFECT LOVE CASTETH OUT ALL FEAR”

(Someday I will obtain this kind of love)

FAMILY FAMLIY FAMILY! Mom, Dad, Jordan, Cristy, Adri, Tyler and Tucker!

I am just beginning to understanding that this word ‘FAMILY’ is incredible. What it means to have and belong to a family. Wow. It is more than a simple blessing….. it is a miracle, to say the least.

Oh the great things of Texas...let me tell you just a few. They have their own peanut butter proudly made from the one and only Texas peanut……. they have their own car editions........yes, about every other truck you see bears the label "Texas Edition" ……...and most importantly everyone does "Bible Study" YES! Soon enough though, all of Texas will call it BoM Study though.

We had some incredible teaching opportunities this week. I am so very grateful every time we have time to sit down with a member and a non-member and help them strengthen their relationship with Christ. There is nothing else in the world like it. It is like the feeling you get at the beginning of a race. You have prepared and trained for it for so long and the energy and excitement is going crazy inside of you.

We got to teach a very humble young man who has been playing basketball at the church lately. He see's the good in life, strives to do his best with all the temptations around him, and is always grateful for everything he has been given.

This past week I learned a lot about being confident in the message we share with everyone. We talked with quite a few members this week who have set a goal to let everyone they know, know that they are Saints in the Last Days and be open and willing to share things they may be afraid to share. It was so cool because we were also fortunate to see an example of the other side of this in someone whose friend was not afraid to share. We met a man named Chuck. He asked what church we were from. When we replied he said, "Oh, I have a friend named Sandy who belongs to your church." He went on to tell all the great things she had mentioned to him about the church. Sandy had shared her testimony through personal experiences with the gospel and Chuck was able to feel it. He may not recognize yet that it is the spirit, BUT he knew it was good!

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting we learned about the Restoration of the gospel and the great blessings of the Book of Mormon. The feeling in the chapel was so profound. Once again, I was so grateful to receive another testament that this is true. Christ's church has been restored to this earth through Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon truly is another Testament of Christ. I know this with all my heart.

I love you all so very much….every one of you! Have a splendid week.

Always, Sister Davis

HOW GREAT THE IMPORTANCE TO MAKE THESE THINGS KNOWN...

Family!!! 

Well it was Veterans day. Don't have tons of time because we are at a member’s home. Yep...and the kiddos here don’t have school and the library is closed! Say what? That is how big the military is here in SA.

Miracle upon miracle this week. We had so many teaching opportunities. Wow! We cannot ask for more when that occurs. There were a few individuals who attended the Gladys Knight presentation who we were able to drop off the little gifts off to. So amazing! 

One member talked in Stake Conference about her process of inviting friends to the Gladys Knight presentation. So much prayer and thought went into it. Incredible! Well, we were able to deliver one of the packages to her friend and it was incredible to see how prepared and receptive she was to the gospel. We are hoping to meet and teach her family this week! Just as Elder Ballard said in conference ….how critical prayer is and how it can heal our fear of sharing and talking about the gospel with others. 

We have incredible members in this ward who are all so excited about sharing the gospel with their friends and we love to ask them how their friends are doing, what new non-member friends they have made, and what their next step is with them. 

My eyes were truly opened this week of how many blind spots I had when I was younger. 

1) Bruna is the next door neighbor of a member in our ward. She has had a lot of past history with the church, but we met her, not through the member, but through the Gladys Knight presentation. We never know when those right next door to us our prepared! All we can do is invite as we are asked to and they may be the one our Heavenly Father has been preparing. 

2) Sister Driscoll is a convert in our ward. She joined when she was in High School and just this past Sunday shared her conversion story. She mentioned something so powerful that I hope to never forget. She said she had been searching ever since she was a little girl for something she felt was missing. She was introduced to the gospel by a knock on the door, BUT when she attended church and was sitting in the pews for the first time, she looked over and saw her best friend from school...the thought that entered her mind was, "you have the greatest blessing in life and you did not tell me about it?" She said her biggest fear is getting to the other side and having one of her friends tell her, "you had the greatest blessing in life and you didn't tell me about it?"

The knowledge I have now of the "great importance to make these things known" I wish I had had when I was younger. But all we can do is move forward with that knowledge and make different choices now. That fear of sharing when I was younger only came from the adversary and it just doesn't matter anymore, this is so much more important. 

I love you all so very much. Wow. Thank you for the letters and emails. Oh, they are like sweet treats to me. So good and they give me so much more of a push to keep going the next week. Thank you, thank you. 

always always,

Sister Davis

HE WILL TESTIFY THE TRUTH IF IT TO YOU!

FAMILY!

This week was crazy...but soooo, soooo cool! And FYI, Did you know that gas prices are under $3 down here? More money gets to go toward the missionary ipad fund now!

Remember Vanessa? Well a miracle happened this week...she’s had a fear of attending church things because she "doesn't know anyone." Well, she went to young women’s this week and LOVED IT! She texted us afterwards and said it went great and everyone was so kind and she is going to girls camp and a dance and babysitting for a family in the ward and...and...and…and etc. It was so awesome. She texted us telling she has been reading and is stoked to tell us about it too. The joy never ends.

We had the Gladys Knight/Saints Unified Voices presentation this past weekend. SPECTACULAR! I say. We got to attend with a less-active in the ward, and also with a couple of investigators, Joe and Nilsa. The choir was singing like crazy and then Gladys Knight shared her conversion story and her testimony of Christ and His church. At first I had that worry in the fore-front of my mind of, “oh my, what are all these non-members thinking”?...., but by the end, I was so engulfed in everything and forgot my companion was even next to me. I learned so much from attending. First of all, I need more passion and excitement in my belief in Christ! Secondly, this is the truth, so I better not in any way be shy or timid to share it with anyone! I have a lot of lame excuses come to my mind of why we shouldn't approach someone or invite them and I am learning that they all come from the enemy.

This past week we approached a referral house at about 7:30pm and it was already dark outside and this house looked like it had no lights on inside...and I said to Sister Whittier, “I don’t want to wake them up”. (It's 7:30, who has a bedtime of 7:30pm?) She responds, "Is that an excuse?" Indeed it was. We ended up teaching him and are going back later this week! Those missionaries from the MTC have so much faith...I love it!

If you ever get a free moment, check out the Saints Unified Voices website (suvchoir.org?) I believe. And if they have a sample of Gladys Knight speaking on there, check it out. She is a powerful speaker. I wish I could describe how amazing it was, but there are no words.

I love this gospel and the feeling we get whenever we are following Him. I know it is His church.

Always,

Sister Davis

OH WAIT I FORGOT...so funny! So we are on bikes now for half the week...and we got caught in the rain one evening. Well Texas rain is like nothing else. It just pours! So we are riding along and realize that we probably should not take the downhill corner turn in the rain as fast as we are going...but didn't think of this until the last sec. Yep, we just landed gracefully and slid all the way down the hill. Man I wish I could someone got a video of it and I could send it to you. Lol! This might be why so many prayers are said for the missionaries, because at times they can be a bit “blonde”.

Dolphin Kisses!-Sea World

We received 'a fennel'. What does one do with a Fennel?