YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!

Family! Mother, Father, Jordan, Cristy, Adri, Tyler, and Tucker!!!!! 

I love you all so very much. I am grinning so big right now, just so you know. It has been one hectic, wonderful and powerful week here and all over for each one of you. I am in awe of all that is happening. IT is the time! 

Sister Harmon is (as far as I am aware) home sweet home! She taught me so much and I will forever be grateful for her service and love towards me. I learned things I never thought I would or could learn.

My new companion iiiiiiiiiisssssss.....SISTER DAVIS! Yes indeed. Sister Aley Davis. The same one at my complex The Isle's, the same one in my BYU ward, the same one that entered the MTC with me on May 29th. She is my companion! Some of the nicknames we have already gotten...The Davis Sisters, Double Dave's (a restaurant here), The Sister Davis's, Are you sisters? (yes, we haven't gotten that one enough lol) and some others I may not mention ;) It has been quite fun. 

This past week was a week to be recorded in the history books. When Elder Bednar came to this mission recently he said, "When you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten." So President Slaughter took things to a new level. He released Assistants to the President, Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders and Head Sister Training Leaders to become model District Leaders and trainers. It was incredible. It has been a difficult week for some individuals but it is a test of faith that this is what the Lord wants for San Antonio! 

We attended the baptism of a gentleman named Danny this past weekend. I asked him some questions, and finally asked, "What finally helped you to make the decision to be baptized?" And he responded by saying that he truly felt at home and at peace when all the members came up to him and introduced themselves to him in genuine friendship with him. The members are essential in the conversion process, not just an important part, ESSENTIAL! 

We rode the bus here in San Antonio this past week and we taught quite a few lessons and got to set up some more appointments. It was quite the adventure! 

Yesterday we had a heart tugging, tear shedding lesson with Triana. She knows this is the true church, but is receiving quite a few negative and not so uplifting comments from her friends and family. It is hard when blinders are still on and all we can live off of is faith. We wish, hope and pray that everyone could have clean windows to see through. But we must wait and be patient for them to understand in Heavenly Fathers time. 

We have discussed and have been trying to apply the principles of finding the ELECT this past week. IT is not an easy thing at all. But we stopped teaching an individual because she was not quite a ripe peach, and we were able to use that time to receive multiple more referrals and find two new investigators who are ready and prepared. 

I know with all my heart that this is where I must be at this time, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, building HIS kingdom. We must return to him through and only through Baptism by the proper authority! The restoration of the gospel and priesthood authority is a remarkable event and we must share this with others. 

I love you all so very much~! Please remember who loves you a lot more though, our Heavenly Father. Always, Always, Sister Davis

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS ???

FAMILY!

Oh boy....the energy I feel from this work is so wonderful! I am typing so fast there may be smoke coming out of this computer any minute! The spirit is so much more powerful than any technology….. I WIN! (Adri*) 

Cheylee asked me a question last week that has stuck with me every day. "How do you feel during your lessons with investigators?" I would not only like to answer the question for her but for each one of you. When I am looking directly at one of heavenly Father’s children, a child of God, I can feel a small, teeny tiny, glimpse of God's love for each one of us. And that love continues to expands to so much more. I want them to come to Christ, to understand his role in their lives, to know him personally, to feel and understand and recognize his love and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER forget that love. Not even for one second of their day. After a lesson,your brain, your face and your body hurt because you are just praying, listening, and discerning so hard for Heavenly Father to help you understand and feel what they need. And it doesn’t stop there because you go home and study and think and ponder some more on what you could share, say, or do to help them in their journey. It doesn't hurt like ‘school studying’ hurt, because the spirit replenishes you and the feeling of the Holy Ghost is so warm, so rich, so good. Once you feel the spirit, your mind just works and hungers and thirst for more of it. The feeling when teaching is so rich, so exhausting, yet so full. It is similar to the feelings you have when you are serving someone…. but even greater! 

We had the great privilege and blessing to hear from Elder Alonso of the Quorum of the Seventy! Ahhhhhh! We attended a Saturday evening session. A General Authority had this to say about the youth and missionary work, "The youth play a VITAL role in the work of salvation." They are the oxygen in the fire! If I could go back to my days as a youth... wow! They have such an influence on the rising generation. They are the future of the world, the leaders of the church! Saturday evening we were put on the spot a bit and had a full-time missionary choir with the Elders in our zone, and our Mission President and his wife. Afterwards Elder Alonso stood up with us all surrounding him and said (paraphrasing) Do you feel the power of these missionaries? What are you doing with these missionaries? How are you using them? Sunday morning he gave two direct invitations, one about loving your wife and the other about missionary work. 

The one about missionary work was this: “Create a list of all the individuals you know who are not yet members of this church….. friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers.” ( He said he has 127 family members alone that are not members.) And then he said, “I want you to pray, and pray, and pray again, and kneel down again and pray to know which individual the Lord is preparing to hear the message of the restoration of the gospel. And then I want you to share some knowledge you have of the restoration of the gospel with them, and then I want you to invite them to listen to the lessons with the missionaries.” Later that evening we received a text from an individual in our ward who asked if we had a dinner open. He said a friends name was running through his mind all morning and when he heard Elder Alonso's talk it hit home. He texted his friend and he responded, “YES, I will come over when you have dinner with the missionaries!!!!!!!!!!!”

Well I have ranted too much and not shared with you anything of the investigators. They are all doing amazing!

Angela is a power house. Struggling to still live all the commandments, and trying to really know if she has a testimony of the restored gospel and if she wants to give up everything and follow God. 

Pat is an older single woman who we just started teaching. As we were reading with her in the Book of Mormon this past week she opened up and shared with us a lot of her deep concerns. She has lost a few members of her family and still feels very close to them. All that came to Sister Harmon's mind was, they are just surrounding you whispering in your ear to do their temple work for them, but she can't quite understand it. 

Ahhh, well, I have to go, I love you all so very much. Thank you for your love, your support. Yes, we are feeling your prayers here, we feel them every day. And these individuals who are learning are feeling them every day as well. It takes an army to bring an individual closer to Christ! 

Much Love, Sister Davis

HOSANNA! BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE MOST HIGH GOD! 3 Nephi 11:17

 ^ aahhh, man wish I could run up and down the streets here shouting this!

FAMILY! 

Well it was a very blessed week. We had lots of happiness to fill out hearts. This work is CRAZY. And I mean crazy…..how people are able to feel the spirit and it ignites them with the true fire in their heart. Oh it’s so good. 

Sister Angela Bryce is doing wonderful! She was able to attend church this past week! Oh man, it really takes an army to get an investigator to church. Never once did I realize that in the past. She met so many wonderful people and the church is surrounding her with love. There was a story someone told me once of a gentlemen doing a trust fall off a stage. There was an older couple that was ready to catch him as he fell, so obviously he was hesitant. So they told him to fall backward, and as soon as he did a swarm of men came up and caught him. Wow, we can do that! That is the power members of the church can have with a new investigator. SO COOL 

We met with a lady who attended the Gladys Knight presentation last fall. She brought a friend, Jerry, who she does Bible Study with, to listen as well. It was spectacular! She currently attends a bible college. She was so involved and in love with the message of the restoration. She even offered to leave us with a prayer and asked if the events in Joseph Smith's life really did occur. The power of a testimony, no matter big or small is powerful as long as it is sincere. It reminds me of the story of David and the rocks he would have used to attack Goliath. The rocks were not large but were the right size for the job. David also had to know how to use the sling properly. So, like a testimony, even though it may seem small, when used at the right time (in a quiet setting) with the right technique (the power of the spirit) our testimonies can be powerful.

OH MY GOODNESS I WOKE UP ONE MORNING TO WHITE STUFF ON THE GROUND. Not sure if I could call it snow, some people here called it grabels? But hey, it was cold enough for white stuff to be on the ground and stick around even when the sun came up!

Last week on lds.org before I signed off, I caught the title of an article called, "What does it mean to Hasten the Work?" I thought about that all week. It isn't just a catchy phrase, but rather it is a commandment we must obey and not take lightly. We had dinner with an amazing family who exemplify what it means to "Hasten the Work"…. The Yenchik Family. We arrived at their home and dinner was all set and ready, and then the first thing they started asking about was our investigators, and how they could help with the work. They shared with us how their family all live in UT and recently the husband was offered a job in UT. They thought about how great it would be to live close to family again but took their decision to the Lord.  The Lord directed them to San Antonio instead. They have taken that as a duty to move the work forward here and are excited in every way to meet people and help out. Before we could ask if we could help them in any way, they left us with the question, "What can we do to help you tonight with the work?" One thing after the other occurred that week. We had contact with them almost every day. There was no time wasted in their home where missionary work was not a high priority. They knew their purpose in the work. They knew our purpose in the work. And it reminded me of the scripture which mentions that, "their hearts were knit together….." WOW, so good. 

OH and Sister Harmon hasn't has a chance to attend the temple for herself, so we attended this past week. It has been a bit cold and it rained and froze over the night before, so they shut down the major highway. So crazy, almost worse than snow packed roads…. there was black ice everywhere…. 3 accidents between 2 exits! So that caused us to be a bit late and we didn't attend a session. Instead we were able to do initiatory! AHHHHH…. Just amazing! I think it’s just as hard for us to get to the temple as it is for investigators to attend church! (this was our 3rd attempt to attend and we still had difficulty.. lol Kind of makes you laugh sometimes. 

The work is good, the people are great and I love every moment of it. I am studying like crazy, but there just never seems to be enough time to learn all that you want to learn. And the love and joy and peace of the gospel never end! But now I have to go get our food for the week. I love you all so much! Don't forget who loves you the most though, no matter what!... Heavenly Father. I know he does. 

Always, always, Always, Sister Davis

lunch with Claire for her birthday!

Claire's Birthday lunch!

our district-SA West Stake-9th Ward

YE ARE CALLED OF GOD TO PREACH THE WORD UNTO THIS PEOPLE

PS……that doesn’t just include us missionaries, ya know!

FAMILY!

I have learned so much this week. I don't even know where to begin. My mind is running and I can't stop it. It’s like a kid running down a hill so fast he has no control over his legs. While thinking about teaching with power and authority lately, I’ve thought about the power of the Spirit, and that thought has continued to come back again and again. The role of the spirit is unimaginable. It motivates us to do good, to be better, to follow Christ. Often times we want to force information onto others, we want to shock them with stories or experiences, or perhaps make them feel guilty to persuade them. As I have looked back, I have noticed that these only work for a short period of time. It’s somewhat similar to a temporary feeling of happiness. But there is a greater way of obtaining and retaining gospel principles and learning. I hope we all recognize that for ourselves.

Well I thought I might share some logistics for ya. ;) 

I have a wonderful apartment! We are blessed with the necessities...a bed to sleep in etc! We are living with two other sisters! It seems almost like college with roommates, only substitute the stress of classes and homework with people's salvation instead. My companion is wonderful, Sister Harmon. She will be returning to Magna, UT is about 2 weeks...."ahhhhhh that is so crazy" is the phrase I hear about every other day. I would be saying the same if I were in her shoes. The area we are working in is a little more downtown-ish. Busy streets, 6 lanes of traffic on the highway, and at least one day of the week we forget about the 4 o'clock hour traffic rush until we are already in it. Whoops. But I love it. We are also right on the border of the "Medical Center" here. (Where all the recently graduated BYU students come to do their residencies.) The other half are working for USAA. Because both of these are on the border of our area there are tons of young, well-educated, mixed nationality families here!

VIDYA: She is from Trinidad (in the Caribbean). She grew up half hindu and half presbyterian. It has been interesting to teach with no base or concept of accepting Christ as the son of God or as our Savior. WOW She has an amazing desire to learn, and to live what she knows to be true, but that witness of the truth seems to take a little more time to recognize.

SISTER BRYCE: We taught her the word of wisdom this past week, and it truly hit home of what it means to fully commit to and follow Christ. She took a step back and analyzed if this is really what she wants to do, if she can fully commit. I wonder at times if we are prepared for those moments in our lives. When He gives us a challenge we never expected. Do we already have the decision made and commitment  to follow Him, no matter how bitter the trials to come…..the cold, icy wind is that gets thrown into our face.

BROTHER GLEASON: His wife is a member and so strong in the gospel. We were able to have dinner with them this past week and they described the moment their son Collin was born and the spirit that was present. The great power and feeling a new-born can bring to someone’s heart.

KIERA: She is a 15 yr old cheerleader who is just soakin’ up the gospel right and left. She asks questions, loves reading and wants to be baptized. The only struggle is the fear of church and young women’s.

I can't wait for this next week we have to come. We will be seeing so many wonderful people who love and want to learn more of the gospel! Can't wait to share with you how it all goes.

Thank you all so very much for your prayers. I could surely feel them from all across the world this past week. I am reminded every day that I have an army defending us all in this great work. 

I love you all, and have a wonderful week! Filled with lots of goodness in building the kingdom of God! 

Always, always my greatest love, 

Sister Davis

Enjoy the pics! From last p-day. Check it out Apache and Kiowa on the same board...what do ya know? 

We went to a place called the Texas Institute of Culture and El Mercado (or I believe like the shops basically)