HAVE THE FAITH TO SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID!

Family!

What a week of good solid fun! We met some incredible people and had some incredible experiences. Too bad the evil forces in the world today are just getting stronger and stronger. Just means we need stronger and stronger men and women in God's army.

We had some incredible experiences this week! Wednesday we had training on a spectacular event that is coming up! Not sure if you’ve heard or seen these things around but...The Church is putting on a presentation of music and testimony with Gladys Knight (the real one with the pips) and she will be directing her Grammy Award Winning Choir , "The Saints Unified Voices." and Sister Knight and her husband will be sharing their conversion stories! It is going to be so sweeeeeeeet. Most importantly, the non-members who are coming will have the time of their life. It is a missionary oriented program, so basically the members have to bring a non-member to attend. They are doing 4 presentations, each with 1,500 seats. We will keep you posted on how everything goes and what comes of it!

Oh and ps, you should send the word along to the Stake Presidents. This program only goes to places where they are invited and they have to be invited by a Stake President or Mission President because its lots of work for the members and the missionaries they say...really it is just blessing their friends with this great gift of the gospel and making missionary work easier for the members and missionaries.

We spent a lot of the week inviting individuals to the Gladys Knight presentation. And it was a great success!

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK! A couple months ago, a family we were teaching (The Hokenson's) texted us saying “this church is not for us”. Well, we stopped by to invite them to the Gladys Knight presentation and the mother let us in and I asked her what her thoughts were on the church and where she and her husband stood. She said. “we are still open and still searching for a good family church.  My husband has been asking if you guys have stopped by lately and we still read the Book of Mormon every once in a while......????? I was like in pure shock - so cool though. These moments are so powerful because it shows that with all those we associate with, we NEED to invite them not just once or twice but multiple times because we never know when they will accept or when their minds and hearts will be changed to a more accepting or searching mode.

I love you all so much! I pray for you every day and love to read your letters. Thank you thank you so much for them! Have a tremendous week.

Always,

Sister Davis

Spotted this gem recently!

Halloween deco and pumpkin cookies from my momma!

BE TRUE TO YOUR FAITH!

FAMMMMILLLLYYYY!

Holy Smokes! It was a week full of awesomeness! Sister Hearne is off to be the Sister AP if you wish to call it that). And Sister Whittier just arrived this past week! She is from Idaho Falls, Idaho. I just learned there is such a thing as potato pancakes! She is so awesome and a missionary that is on fire!

News of the week.......did you know that the Stake Presidency is given a specific topic for Stake Conference?......and guess what it is about this time??? HASTENING THE WORK OF SALVATION! Darn right. I feel like if we haven't jumped on board the train of missionary work yet, or don't do so soon, it will pass by us like crazy and we will miss it.

It was a tough week but also rewarding. Heavenly Father loves us even in those moments when we sometimes don't feel like expressing our love to him. I thought it was so cool how someone in conference mentioned that no matter your talents, abilities, trials, successes, disabilities, the amount Heavenly Father loves us doesn't ever change. He loves us more than we can ever imagine at our highest points in life and yes indeed, at our lowest points in life too.

I have been so blessed to stay in this area over a long period of time to see the progress that has occured here. Different missionaries come and go, but overall, little by little, I have seen the progress of each individual. I feel like we often expect change quickly because we hear and remember those stories where change occurred over night. But hey, there are so many people who are progressing step by step. There was one less-active individual who rejected us at his door months ago when I was with Sister Elliott. We went back this week and he sounded interested in coming to activities, say what? There was another individual who would continue to do dishes and cook while we said a prayer with his family months ago, and now he is kneeling with us in prayer.

I was just reviewing my conference notes and it was outstanding to remember the great challenges we were given as members to become like our Heavenly Father. So I am curious to hear what different things are happening in your lives and in your wards regarding missionary work. What experiences you are having and what ideas are being bounced around??? Yes, I will continue to ask until you tell me.

I love you all so much, and holy cow! thanks so much for all the emails and letters. I love them and love you as well.

Love Sincerely, Sister Davis

with Sister Whittier at the temple!

"FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO"

FAMILY!!!!

Well it was an eventful week! Not much time to email today, so sorry. But it was an ‘oh so eventful week’. First off, Sister Hearne is getting transferred this week :( She will be the Sister Training Leader over all the Sister Training Leaders. What? So amazing! She isn't headed too far away from here though.....just up to the North Zone, (I am in the East Zone) about 15 min from us! But wow, thought I would get to be with her for a bit longer, but hey, Heavenly Father has something more in store.

The Garden Ridge Ward is amazing. I can't believe I get to stay here a bit longer. We went on exchanges this past week and you won't believe who I went with..........SISTER ALEY DAVIS! Yep, sure did! We went and worked in her area for the day. So cool! I will get a picture to you soon. Wow, what an awesome day it was. We taught a lot of different people and she is on fire. It brought back the good old times of teaching together in the MTC. I learn so much from her teaching because she has so much excitement and passion in her teaching.

Also cool news... there is a family in our ward the Berrin Family. They are converts and have two sons who are ‘anti-Mormon’ and live crazy lives. Because of the choices of one of these sons, their grand-daughter, Vanessa, had chosen to live with her grandparents. However her father and step-mother slowly pulled her away from attending church with her grandparents, the Berrin's. So she is now 14 and hasn't attended church since she was old enough to choose not to. Well, we have been going to see Vanessa and getting to know her. Last week we asked if we could teach her. She gladly accepted, and best part of all......her mother agreed to it and said we could!!! You can definitely see the light of Christ in her eyes and she is longing for this in her life after a rough childhood and being tossed around in her family.

This past weekend was one of those rare times you get as a missionary. It is like finding gold, after sifting for hours and hours in the river. (Not like I know how that feels, but hey.) So many people we talked to expressed their desire to learn more, their desire and need for the spirit in their lives, and the happiness they feel after listening and reading. WOW. It was so cool. After working for quite a while, there is nothing like hearing the comment "I feel good right now" or "We are excited."  Simple, but profound!

I love you so much family! Thank you for your love. I am praying for you every day! Hope all is going well.

 Always, Sister Davis

QoW: What things do you wish you would have done earlier in your life as a young adult to inspire, uplift, influence and encourage other members to the work of salvation?!? (JUST ANSWER IT)

We won a 'rap' contest with the Elders and they treated us to lunch here!

GET IN SHAPE!

FAMILY!

 Well so awesome to hear you all are doing well and are safe, (ahem). As Dad always says, “no news is good news”!

What a powerful week here! I loved every moment. We had some incredible lessons with a couple of families this week and they were tre-mend-ous even though our return appointments fell through. What the prophets and apostles said in conference and what it repeats in Preach My Gospel over and over again is 100% true. It is our responsibility to invite, and allow people to FEEL the spirit, but we cannot make or force them to accept the gospel. Everyone is ready to feel the spirit, maybe not ready to accept it, but ready to feel it. We can always feel Heavenly Fathers love. I am reminded of an experience I had my first week in the MTC. We came out of our very first lesson with our "progressing investigator" and I freaked. I felt like I hadn't taught him a single thing. My teacher just grabbed me by the arms and said "Did he feel loved?" I was a bit in shock at what she had asked, but that question has stuck in my mind every time I walk away from a lesson or an opportunity to talk with someone on the street. That is all that matters when we invite…. did they feel our love for them and most importantly did they feel our Heavenly Father's love for them?

We met with a man named Craig this past weekend. WOW, so cool. He is slowly gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon. He reads it every day and prays to know if it is true. He is one who is crazy busy with family, life, and work yet wants to know if it is true. In all honesty I have been at fault many times for not understanding when people want to learn more. I doubt their desire. It made me think of times in the past when I have doubted whether someone wanted to hear about what I know to be true. It is pure fear. I didn't want to invite or tell them what I know that may help them love their siblings or parents more. I am slowly learning that it’s not important to worry about when they may want to hear, but rather how can I share how I feel about the gospel today? Because it is possible to do it today! Lately, President Slaughter has been emphasizing "faith-based questions."  An example would be, instead of asking, "Do you know of anyone who you could share this peace with?" asking instead, "Which of your co-workers is most ready to hear about this message of peace?" So cool! Every time I ask someone a question, I now try to catch myself when it’s a question with absolutely no faith involved in it. Do we expect them to accept? Or do we expect them to reject? If I am not mistaken, I believe this is a sales tactic as well. Who knew that these are eternal principles applicable to all circumstances?!?

Enough ranting...Conference was spectacular! My goodness where is this world headed? Learned so much and I hope you all did as well. And I sure hope you paid attention to those 5 million talks on missionary work also! Oh and please oh please oh please, when you have those missionary experiences, I would LOVE to hear about them. Anything……. big or small!

Well I guess you didn't hear much about my week, more of just all my thoughts this week. Just know it was a great one filled with many faith-building experiences. This week to come will be crazy awesome. You will hear more about it next week.

Wish you all the very best! 

Love Always, Sister Davis 

fun with Sister Hearne!

and more fun.....

missionary work is way fun!